Tag: Operational

11/5/16

Modern-Day Napoleonic Battles & Travels, Part the Second

Cyrano’s next entry to the travelogue ~

Jim Owczarski, 05 November 2016

One of the great joys of travel is discovering something you never thought to find.  This is particularly true for me if it’s something that runs the risk of being lost to time or cultural preference.  A good example is the small memorial sign atop the Stare Vinohrady (Old Vineyard) at Austerlitz.  For all the effort that went into making the battlefield ready for the 200th anniversary back in 2005, it seems no one bothered to put up something more permanent than a simple metal sign, painted white-on-blue, and mounted on two stakes at the site of one of the greatest cavalry charges in history.

Admittedly, depending on how one gets up there, the route to the top of the Stare Vinohrady can be quite the hike and, based on the fair number of beer bottles and cigarette butts in evidence, it seems a popular location for late night fire pits and drink-a-thons.  Still, not long after I laid eyes on the sign — and worked my way through a rough translation of its Czech inscription — I was determined at least to leave it standing and its restoration, however brief, is something I will always remember.

There, better!
There, better!

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10/5/16

Classic Reviews: Cactus Throne

Against the Odds Magazine
Against the Odds Magazine

An early game from Against The Odds Magazine that looks at what was going on while we were recovering from the US Civil War / War Between The States / War of Northern Aggression / “The Wahr” ~

Brant Guillory, 5 October 2016

INTRODUCTION

Cactus Throne is an operational/strategic-level game that covers the war in Mexico between the Republican Mexican government forces, and the Imperial forces of France, Britain, Spain, Austria, and their Mexican allies. The war was originally fought between 1862-1867.

Although there were significant political machinations that affected the campaign, especially in Europe, the game focuses on the allocation of forces within Mexico, and control of the important areas of country.

Some of the political events are included as random events. Additionally, there are events that could have happened, but did not, such as the appearance of both Union and Confederate forces from the American Civil War. Cactus Throne does include some elements of seapower, but only to the extent that it affected the land battles. Ship-to-ship combat is not simulated.

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09/8/16

Modern-Day Napoleonic Battles & Travels, Part the First

Cyrano delves deep into the world of Napoleonic battlefields in preparation for an eventual visit, and more ~

Jim Owczarski, 08 September 2016

Most images click to enlarge

People are incessantly telling me I’m missing the point.  (ed note – he frequently is, but usually about other things)

They wonder how someone can visit Paris and prefer the Army Museum to the Louvre — pace those areas given over to David — or would rather spend time crawling over an Old Vineyard in Bohemia rather than sitting in a coffee house in Vienna two hours to the south.

They even have a word for what I love to do, viz., “dark tourism”.  I suspect it’s not intended as a compliment.

But I, and I am assuredly not alone, am obsessed with Napoleonic battlefields.  I read about them, watch movies about them, play as many games about them as I can lay my hands on, and, far less frequently than I would like, visit them.  I’ve been to Waterloo twice, Austerlitz once, and, having spent this Summer taking my son to middle-American water parks, am determined that next Summer will bring a visit to Jena-Austerstadt.  The management has asked me to share my own journey to Jena as well as talk about those conflict simulations that take up the campaign and its battles.

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04/8/16

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #91

A hefty dose of groggy tabletop goodness from guys that are not the biggest publishers out there ~

GrogHeads Staff, 08 April 2016

Moscow ’41. Wargaming on the Eastern Front (Ventonuovo Games)
$15k of $5600, ends 1 May 2016

Scaling down from the theater-wide Blocks in the East, Ventonuovo’s latest offering focuses on the initial German campaign down Moscow. A block-unit and area-movement game, M’41 lets players re-fight the vital campaign that Hitler was sure would knock the Soviets out of the war. The graphics on the block stickers are fantastic, and the colors pop against the gorgeous map. The Germans are trying to seize Moscow as quickly as possible, while the Soviets are patching their lines with a mixture of remnant units and full-strength, but untested ones, leading a tense sequence of probing, responding, and exploiting on the battlefield. Rumble over to their Kickstarter page and help them get to their stretch goals.

g91-m41

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11/7/15

Battle of the Bulge – An AAR

Developed by Shenandoah Studio and Published by Slitherine

Boggit, 7 November 2015

 

“To the German Commander.
NUTS!
The American Commander”

The response of General Anthony McAuliffe (acting commander of 101st Airborne Division) to General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz (commander of XLVII Panzer Corps), on being surrounded at Bastogne by far stronger German forces.

The Battle of the Bulge (hereinafter referred to as Bulge) is a popular setting for world war 2 games, and represents Germany’s last hope to forestall the Allies in the vain hope of bringing them to the negotiating table. Bulge is a divisional level game representing the German offensive in the Ardennes in late 1944/early 1945. The game itself is a port from an iOS game to the PC and Mac, and this short screenshot article is to give you a taste of what is being offered.

Bulge comes with 5 scenarios. There is a separate tutorial which deals with all the basics fairly quickly. The game is not difficult to learn, although as with many easy to learn games winning is not always easy. The game can be played either single or multiplayer.
Bulge comes with 5 scenarios. There is a separate tutorial which deals with all the basics fairly quickly. The game is not difficult to learn, although as with many easy to learn games winning is not always easy. The game can be played either single or multiplayer.

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