The Worldwide D-Day Challenge Part Two – Assembling The Invasion!
June 8, 2015 by crew
Recently two Beasts of War members (Chris Goddard/@chrisg and James Johnson/@oriskany) got the bright idea to run a “Worldwide D-Day Challenge” (WWDDC), a campaign where players could recreate a small part of the historic D-Day landings in Normandy, France. For an introduction to this project, and a quick overview of the historical background of this “Longest Day,” please see Part One of our article series below...
Worldwide D-Day Challenge Part One
As you’ll see, things started innocently enough. We envisioned perhaps eight to twelve vaguely historical wargames in a variety of systems and scales, a nod to the veterans, maybe some light connections between the games to form a loose “Normandy campaign” structure.
What fools we were. Now with nineteen games (we could have more by the time you read this), this project threatens to grow beyond our ability to give each game the attention it deserves. Nevertheless, here are just some of the highlights of the planning, preparation, game construction, and campaign coordination that turned this grand idea into a grander reality.
Assembling The Invasion
Our first article was subtitled: “Planning the Invasion.” Well, as we all know, “no plan survives first contact with the enemy,” and the WWDDC has proven no exception.
When the Beasts of War team featured a WWDDC “Pegasus Bridge” game during their recent Bolt Action Boot Camp, our months of WWDDC planning were quickly (and happily) knocked into a cocked hat. Not only did Marc (@wendren) WIN with the Germans at Pegasus Bridge (setting a big part of our campaign down a fascinating trail of “alternate history”), but the positive exposure practically doubled the number of groups signed up for the WWDDC almost overnight.
Sword Beach
Needless to say, the dramatically different outcome at Pegasus Bridge has had the most immediate impact on nearby battlefields of “Sword” Beach.
Perhaps the closest game to Pegasus Bridge would be run by our WWDDC coordinator Chris Goddard and his wife Victoria. Using the Rapid Fire system, he’s recreated the British 13th Parachute Battalion’s defence of Ranville against German counterattacks.
But with nearby Pegasus Bridge still in German hands, the 21st Panzer Division will enjoy better operational communications with which to coordinate such counterattacks, and Chris created a quick-fix system by which additional German armour might enter his game.
We’re also joined by Simon and John (@skeld1980 and @johnp) who are using Bolt Action to see if other British Paras can capture or destroy smaller bridges over the Dives River. Perhaps with Pegasus now in German hands, these new bridges will take on a sharply-heightened importance?
But the biggest “Pegasus Impact” would probably be felt by Daniel (@pedmore) who, together with his friends Steve and Rob, would be mounting what has to be one of the biggest Flames of War games ever. Putting 5,000 points of British against 4,500 points of Germans, they must now contend with the possibility of more German armoured units entering the Sword Beach battle area from the east, thanks to the Germans holding that crucial bridge.
Meanwhile, Nick (@lateo) was busy building his Bolt Action game representing 9th Parachute Battalion’s assault on the fortified German gun battery at Merville, a few miles northeast of Pegasus.
As one of our earliest and most historically detailed submissions, Nick’s Bolt Action game consisted of a carefully-crafted scenario including rules for night action, RAF bombardment, shelling from the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Arethusa, a truly great rule on landing gliders. There are even rules for German attack dogs on the perimeter.
Fortunately for us, however, Merville was taking place at almost the exact same time as Pegasus Bridge, so the Pegasus results didn’t require Nick to significantly change his game.
Juno Beach
Working our way west, the next beach is Juno, where the Canadian 3rd Division landed. Taking a big step up in scale, I built this game in a modified version of Avalon Hill’s “Panzer Leader,” where a 1” hex measures 150 meters across (think 1/6000 scale). Because the game doesn’t rely on expensive or time-consuming miniatures, we’re free to build a truly historically detailed game that represents what was actually there.
Because each counter represents a troop of four tanks or platoon of 50 men, we could build virtually the ENTIRE Canadian 3rd Infantry against four battalions of the 716th Static Infantry Division. In short, our game board will measure four miles on a side and pit about 7,750 Canadians against about 3,200 Germans.
Of course, Juno Beach will still be getting some “miniatures” coverage, thanks to Derek (@hauptmanncanuk) and Kris, who will be taking a closer, more visceral view of the landings through the eyes of Bolt Action. Historically Juno Beach was the bloodiest of the three “Commonwealth” assault zones, a fact we’re sure to see recreated in both of these games.
Gold Beach
The next battlefield over is “Gold” Beach, assaulted by reinforced elements of the 50th Northumbrian Division. Here we have no less than three games in play, starting with Sven (@neves1789). A veteran of Bolt Action Boot Camp (where he played his Japanese army), Sven is no stranger to taking heavy casualties. This may well come into play when his British Flames of War army hits King Green sector of Gold Beach, pushing up toward the heavy guns of Mont Fleury.
As if he hasn’t already done enough damage to the Allied cause at Pegasus Bridge, Marc (@wendren) and his Bolt Action Germans will be at it again on Gold Beach’s “Jig” sector, playing against his friend Jason. Later in the day, we’ll also be looking at Beasts of War historian extraordinaire (and Battlegroup playtester) Piers, who’ll be taking his perfectly-painted 20mm Battlegroup armies into one of the engagements further inland.
His chosen engagement, Fresney le Crotteur, was the site of a powerful German counterattack against advancing spearheads of the British 69th Brigade, supported by 4th / 7th Dragoons. We’ll see if the Germans fare better in the WWDDC.
Omaha Beach
Finally we come to the American sectors of D-Day, starting with my Axis & Allies 15mm game at “Dog Green” sector of Omaha Beach. This was probably the single bloodiest sector of the single bloodiest beach (just watch the first 20 minutes of “Saving Private Ryan” – this is that exact beach), and one of the few places where the outcome of the Normandy landings truly hung in doubt.
Here, the leading waves of the 116th Regimental Combat Team (29th Infantry Division) came up against hideous fire from the German 352nd Infantry, a very solid unit that will be putting down some serious grief on our board.
Further west, we come to Pointe du Hoc, the “American Pegasus Bridge.” For sheer courage and difficulty of the job at hand, it’s tough to beat what these men of the 2nd Ranger Battalion tackled that day. Building the very distinctive arrow-shaped cliffs that soar 150 feet almost straight out of the water, plus the huge German bunkers that had to be assaulted, sounded like too much of an gaming investment.
Thus, I was very happy to accept Russell’s (@chrisg0) challenge to replay this assault using Combat Commander—a card-driven squad level game by GMT.
Utah Beach
At last we come to the final beach, code-named “Utah.” Great planning, great execution, and great luck all helped make this the least costly of the five invasion beaches in 1944. What Utah might have lacked in hard fighting on the beach, it more than makes up for with the two American airborne divisions that landed behind the beach in the predawn darkness.
The WWDDC players were quick to zoom in on this aspect of the fighting where the small, furious, and close-range engagements made perfect material for Bolt Action games. Also, since these actions take place miles inland, players could build tables with “standard” 28mm European terrain without worrying about difficult beach boards.
First up we have Ollie and Callum (@chrisg1 and @chrisg2). They’ll be playing none other than “Easy” Company of Band of Brothers fame, engaging playing some of the sharp firefights during that first chaotic night. Dennis (@chrisg3) and his better half Beverly will be recreating similar, simultaneous actions fought by the 82nd Airborne Division near the famous village of Sainte-Mère-Église.
Then we get into the German counterattacks against the American paratroopers. One of these came at the tiny hamlet of La Fiere, where German infantry backed up by captured French tanks of all things managed to push troops of the 82nd Airborne back across a bloody causeway.
We’ll actually have two games marking this engagement, one mounted by Ben (@chrisg4) in Panzer Leader and one by Blake and Josh (@chrisg5 and @chrisg6) in Bolt Action.
Another hard German counterstrike hit the 101st at the village of La Porte, where Scott (@chrisg7) and friends will be trying to hold a bridge across the Douve River against German army and also “fallschirmjaeger” paratroopers. The game will be played in Bolt Action, but using 20mm scale to better represent the historical field.
Assuming the American paratroopers can hold these counterattacks, Mitch (@chrisg8) will be fielding elements of the 4th US Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion, having just landed at Utah Beach. Pushing inland and trying to link up with the paratroopers, these Americans will run into elements 919th Grenadier Regiment, 709th Infantry Division, for a clash in Bolt Action.
With the Utah beachhead hopefully secure, it will be time for the Americans to start pushing eastward to link up with their comrades advancing inland from nearby Omaha. Here’s where we’ll see Scott and Steve (@chrisg9 and @oriskany0) take elements of the 506th Parachute infantry Regiment in one of the opening assaults on Sainte-Côme-du-Mont, using Bolt Action.
What Will The Outcome Be?
Of course, by the time this article posts, June 6th will have passed. Win, lose, or draw...the die has been cast and the outcome of our “alternative” D-Day has been decided. Players are now sending @chrisg and I battle reports, gaming photos, and heroic “cinematic moments” of their games. With nineteen games presents there is a lot of material to work through, so please bear with us as our dust settles.
If you’d like more up-to-date results, people are posting on the WWDDC Thread. Meanwhile, we’re feverishly working on the next two articles in the WWDDC series, in which we will jam-pack as much battle report material, as many photos, and as much pure Normandy awesome-ness as allowed by international law. And we may even bend a few of those regulations, as well!
If you would like to write an article for Beasts of War then please contact me at [email protected] for more information!
"Putting 5,000 points of British against 4,500 points of Germans, they must now contend with the possibility of more German armoured units entering the Sword Beach battle area from the east, thanks to the Germans holding that crucial bridge..."
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The games you outlined sounded great. I loved the photos of some fantastic looking game boards. I am looking forward to the next installment.
Thanks, @jamesevans140 . And many of these are still “work in progress” photos. Full results have already been posted by the players in the historical forums with some truly epic photos . . . which is great because I could NEVER fit everything in these articles. 🙂
Seriously, I’ve added it up. We would need at least 12-15 articles to do everyone’s game justice (most games could be their own article, while a few of the smaller ones could be combined).
What, you’re not insane enough to want to write at least 12 more articles?
@oriskany I have to fess up to the halftracks being prepainted diecasts from Corgi, as is the Sherman I used in the game. Troops are all painted by me, but only the truck and Greyhound I used were my own work. And the Greyhound was only basecoated.
As to the mowhawks, if I remember correctly they were in Band of Brothers, there is a scene in the 1st episode where a trooper is getting a mowhawk shaved just prior to the D-Day jump. Its not the focus of the scene so its easy to miss but I’m sure its there.
I actually do the same thing, but in reverse. I really put a lot of work in to my vehicles, but my infantry are all A&A Miniatures pre-paints.
And I’m sure you’re right about the mohawks in Band of Brothers. 🙂 I own the boxed set but haven’t watched it in years, and when I do I usually skip Part One. David Schwimmer (Lt. Sobel) is just too annoying. HI-HO S-I-I-I-I-I-I-LVER! 🙁
Another awesome article, really looking forwards to the next couple! It was also a pleasure to be able to add a game to the campaign alongside so many other great looking tables and armies. Hopefully we get the last of those games in before its all said and done.
Thanks, @spottedlaughter . ChrisG is chasing down our last players to round up as many results as I can. We’ll have most of them by Saturday’s cut-off, but I’ve always expected to have at least one or two no-shows. It’s the “attritional” nature of projects like this. 🙂
Your game (82nd Airborne at La Fiere) was indeed a great addition to our WWDDC Project. Hey, for anyone who wants to get the full story on spottedlaughter’s game, check out this highly-recommended link:
http://valedor422.blogspot.com/2015/06/d-day-82nd-airbornes-defense-of-la.html
@gladesrunner – it’s a CigarBox fabric mat! Bought in the UK via their agent ‘Northstar’ but made in the USA
Amazing quality imo
Thanks for letting me know @lateo ! Now I know what to get @oriskany for his b-day in October 🙂
I approve this message. 😀
I so need to buy me some of those. My spray-painted cardboard and sand-colored bedsheets are starting to look a little trashy. 🙂
I have waited and looked at the opinions and ideas coming in. We have played Normandy and put the allies back in europe. I would like to say that I would still act if people wanted me to as a central point and would in the huge hole that (and I understand why) Oriskany needs a break the writings, putting together and chasing peoples down are exhausting and he has with respect carried more of the weight than myself at times.
I would propose this next action(s) to be looked at on not a single front, but all, the eastern as well as the western push and if their were any marines out there might like to get stuck into a pacific campaign. Sounds complex, it is, do-able it is. (Players of Bolt action it would be also wrong of me not to point out Warlord will be running their own campaign Europe.) That obviously does not mean one or the other just more possible games.
I would like to take a week or possibly two at the finalisation of this. But yes would like to see where we can take it from Normandy. What I would suggest is that we would have different theatre overall commanders whose jobs would be to take on the roles of not just playing but actually co-ordinating writing up theatre diaries/reports and sending these into the joint chiefs of staff whose responsibility is then to put the same out as regular two weekly reports on a single thread, along the lines of axis/allies west axis/soviet east and Imperial/western Pacific theatres. We need not do so much if you think that we cannot, but for a brief moment in time Normandy seems to have happened in terms of bringing together gamers, yes we have a couple of games outstanding but with them complete, that should free up our skills to look at getting more people involved and given a difference in time to prepare then maybe we would have a monster on the end of our line. I think there are enough to make a start and if everyone could get just two other sets of games players each to become involved then it would be definitely do-able. And do-able is what the challenge is all about, I was reminded of something while having a cupper at my mates the other day, “We conquered 3/4 of the known world drinking tea, think what with, tea, a pocket full of dice and a box of our toy soldiers we could do.”
If you’ll have me, I’m in if thats ok with the majority and if that was the case then there are some spaces to fill and sort out who is on what. So if you want to have a go and you don’t mind me making a couple of suggestions then send me a pm. If you think we cant do it let me know or you don’t want me at the front let me know, no offence will be taken as long as none is given on my part.
Over to you, you are after all as I have always said “you are what it is about”. The gamers, the game and the history.
Sounds like a plan. I think a lot of the lessons we learned in running WWDDC can be applied to make a second campaign more streamlined, less stressful, and generally more fun. 🙂
My advice to all involved would be to keep the scope modest, manageable, and strictly confined. Don’t try to boil the ocean or reinvent the wheel. The idea of having one battle actually effect another battle should only be tackled if there is significant lead time BETWEEN battles so players have time to change their games to reflect the changes. Come up with a way to actually post the results in a running forum like we did for WWDDC. I think that helped keep players in the loop and make them feel like they were really part of a “developing situation.”
I’m honestly still working on the WWDDC articles (we have two more to go, remember) – which means at least two more weeks of work for me. Then I want to take a break from “operational command” duties for a while . . . Although I’m certainly up to contribute a game especially if it is in the Eastern Front or the Pacific. 😀
Well done to all involved! For @oriskany and @chrisg : tremendous props for your Eisenhower-like organizational skills in putting the whole thing together. Fabulous article, as always, Jim.
As for what’s next: Goodwood and Totalize of course, a British/Canadian slog on Verrier Ridge, along with the American breakout in the south, and the Canadian stand at Falaise that sealed the fate of the German army in Normandy. Don’t worry, boys. You’ve got a few months to pull that one off 😉
The monuments at Falaise / Argentan do a really good job, I feel, at ensuring credit is shared between 4th Canadian Division, 90th US Infantry (landed on Utah after 4th Infantry), 2nd British Armoured, and 1st Polish Armored. They also have a sweet Polish Sherman Firefly / Easy Eight (??) on site along with a monument to 1st Polish Armored.
I have a picture of the map showing the final stages of the Falaise / Argentan implosion from that museum, linked here:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/forumfiles/falaise-museum-01.jpg
I meant no offense to the units of other armies that sealed the gap. I’m most familiar with the Canadian contribution of course, and the firsthand accounts that we were privileged to hear.
My apologies.
I don’t think any offense was given / taken, @cpauls1 . 🙂 None at all, sir! When I went to the site I was surprised to see all these units represented. I didn’t know until I WENT there. 😀
I think the Poles were the cork in the bottle at Falaise on Mont Ormel to be fair…
True enough. Credit where credit is due. The Polish 1st Armoured Division did an amazing job holding Ormel, but allow me a moment of national pride 🙂 I was thinking of Major Currie of the “Sally Horse” (SALH) and the crusty bits of Argylls that held the line at St. Lambert-sur-Dives. There’s a photo that’s billed “the closest you will ever see to a man winning a Victoria Cross.” Major Currie is standing by as a German officer and his men surrender. The cultural contrast between the two men is striking. Poor German officer never made it to a POW camp.
Here’s a link to the photo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Vivian_Currie
Besides, according to my father’s firsthand account, the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada singlehandedly won the war :-).
BTW @piers , beautiful job on the German armoured car!
Queen’s Own **Cameron** Highlanders? Is this another of those “Canadian Scot” regiments I keep reading about? I ran across references to 1st Canadian Scots on the extreme right (west) wing of Juno Beach. We included them in Wave 2 of our Panzer Leader game.
There are a lot of them @oriskany ! In 38 Canadian Brigade Group alone (central Canadian territory) there are two highland regiments (out of five) : QOCH, and Lake Superior Scottish Regiment.
QOCH is based in Winnipeg, in the middle of the prairie pool table, so not sure how they got a “highland” moniker. As the saying goes, you can watch your dog run away for three days. There may have been an original cadre of Scottish immigrants, but they took almost anyone, including my father, a 3rd generation Canadian of German Mennonite descent (shortest book in the world: Mennonite Book of War Heroes).
QOCH only landed in France on the 7th of July, actually. They learned their lesson at Dieppe I suppose. Here’s a brief history of the regiment:
http://thequeensowncameronhighlandersofcanada.net/regiment/ww2.html
As a side note: My dad’s war ended at Woensdrecht in October, where he lost a hand. Three of my uncles came home unscathed.
Okay, so I guess it makes sense that our Juno game didn’t have the QOCH since, like you say, they landed on the 7th. 🙂
We had:
7th Canadian Regiment:
1st Bn, Royal Winnipeg Rifles
1st Bn, The Regina Rifles
1st Bn, Canadian Scottish Regiment
8th Canadian Regiment:
1st Bn, Queens Own Rifles of Canada
1st Bn, The North Shore Regiment
1st Bn, Regiment de la Chaudiere (Levis, Quebec?)
1st Hussars,(6th Armoured Rgt)
Fort Garry Horse (10th Armoured Rgt)
Both of these are part of 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade I think???
Then a whole bunch of 9th Canadian Brigade battalions/regiments that landed later in the day, along with Sherbrooke Fusiliers (more DD tanks) – part of 27th Armoured Regt)
Not even including the engineers, artillery, Light AT, AA, and other units we had in that game. What a beast!
Looks about right. The Canadian army was enormous by D-Day, and Canada had over a million men and women in uniform by the end of the war… out of a population of 11,000,000. I think that made us the fourth largest army in the world, if I’m not mistaken, with the third largest navy (after the U.S. and U.K.). That’s not including the foreign contingents, like the Poles, who were under Canadian command.
To clarify: The “1st Bn” of every regiment was the “active” battalion, while the 2nd was actually their echelon i.e. training cadre, recruiters, etc. Each regiment recruited and trained its own troops (similar to the British Territorial system I believe), and therefore each had a substantial “tail.” Having said that, Canadian battalions were, and are, quite large, with four rifle companies and integral mortar, anti-tank, pioneers, recce, and logistics… small regiments of about 700 – 800 men when you lump it all together.
There were, of course, greater resources at brigade or divisional level, and these were meted out according to the regiment’s mission: ad hoc formations much like your combat commands, if I’m not mistaken.
A good chunk of the units from Quebec had a French profile i.e. were mostly Francophone, but I believe their officers were required to speak English. Quebec was the most difficult to recruit from, as they saw the war as an English one, and didn’t want to “fight for the Queen.” The fact that the rest of Canada was fighting in France was lost on many of them… not to say that the French/Canadian regiments didn’t perform as well as their English counterparts. It was, however, quite sticky politically.
This is all off the cuff, of course. If anyone wants to elaborate on, or correct my skewed perspective of history, feel free.
Errata: I think the three regular army regiments, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCPLI), Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR), and Quebec’s Royal 22nd Regiment (R22er) each fielded three battalions. Sorry, fellas. The rest were and are reserve formations.
@cpauls1 – you write: “To clarify: The “1st Bn” of every regiment was the “active” battalion, while the 2nd was actually their echelon i.e. training cadre, recruiters, etc. Each regiment recruited and trained its own troops (similar to the British Territorial system I believe)”
THANK YOU. I have always wondered about that. (hmm, does every British, Commonwealth, or Canadian regiment really have just one battalion?)
For those who may not game on the “command tactical” or operational levels, trust me when I say that understanding how historical armies were actually out together IN DETAIL is absolutely vital. This is because when you research a battle, you get the units that were there, then look up OOBs (orders of battle), TO/Es (tables of organization and equipment) and use that to convert into whatever “gaming language” is required by your system.
No, we do not use “lists” out of a gaming book, although some games do a better job than others.
Every army is different. What “regiment” means to an American officer is very different than to a British / Commonwealth officer.
A perfect example is this regiment vs. battalion issue @cpauls1 explains so well. In American forces, three our four companies make up a battalion, and three or four battalions make up a regiment. Three or four regiments make up the foundation of a division. Brigades are one regiment + some additional support and admin units that make it independent of a division (“orphan” units for special missions).
So a regiment is 3 or 4 times the size of a battalion. Yet when I was building Juno Beach, I kept seeing “Royal Winnipeg REGIMENT,” etc, when in fact only one battalion was landing.
Fortunately started to learn my way around the British / Commonwealth systems two years ago when I ran a six-month campaign in the desert. But you can see where confusing what “regiment” means can really screw up your game design.
Another frustrating British practice is combining elements of depleted units. 3rd and 6th Hussars (just made up off top of my head), for example, might get chewed up in combat, then combined into one unit entitled “3/6 Hussars.” In an American force, one unit would just be disbanded and its men and equipment absorbed into the other, and when we see something like “3/6 Battalion” on a map, we assume it means 3rd AND 6th Battalions . . . again, you can see where that can screw up estimating how much of a forces was actually on a given field. UNLESS, of course, you’re US Marines, when 3/6th means something totally different (3rd Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment).
Don’t even get me started on the Russians. 🙁
@oriskany Just a note on nomenclature: It is not necessary to include the bn designator when referring to one of our tiny Canadian reserve regiments. For example, 1st Bn, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, can simply be designated as RWR, without the additional qualifier.
Also, to further confuse things, we have regular armoured “regiments,” that are in reality large bns of 70+ vehicles — Royal Canadian Dragoons come to mind (eastern Canada), with Lord Strathcona Horse in the west. Then there is 12 RBC in Quebec (not sure of the French end of that). We just called them “Rubber Boot Company.” Those regiments don’t have three battalions, just four squadrons of 18 tanks and a command element.
For me, 3/6 Regiment means 3rd Bn of the 6th Regiment… at least on the big NATO operational maps we used to stare at. I think there’s been some standardization in that regard in the last few decades, at least in symbology, so that NATO command staff aren’t ordering companies on battalion missions!
@cpauls1 – you write:
** “It is not necessary to include the bn designator when referring to one of our tiny Canadian reserve regiments. For example, 1st Bn, Royal Winnipeg Rifles, can simply be designated as RWR, without the additional qualifier.”
That’s sort of what I figured, since most of the maps / OOBs I found don’t have the “1st Bn.” Some do, however. But as people see on our Juno Beach Panzer Leader map, the “1st Bn” is not there. But that’s also the heart of the confusion (at least it used to be for me) . . . you have a “regiment” labeled on your map, yet display only a battalion.
** “really large bns of 70+ vehicles . . .”
Sounds about right. American tank companies have traditionally been seventeen tanks (three platoons of five, plus an XO and CO) So a battalion would be 17 x 4 = 68, plus battalion command/support vehicles. Of course, modern American companies are 14 tanks (four-tank platoons instead of five). So yeah, 70 tanks is a big friggin’ battalion. Especially a Soviet REGIMENT was like 80? (3 tanks x 3 platoons = 1 Company Co = 10 per company, x 3 companies in a battalion + battalion CO = 31 in a battalion, x3 battalions in a regiment = 93 in a regiment + regiment command / support vehicles).
** “I think there’s been some standardization in that regard in the last few decades, at least in symbology, so that NATO command staff aren’t ordering companies on battalion missions!”
Yeah, all the maps I’ve seen this on are old World War II-era maps. It makes sense once I did some research and taught myself what I was looking at.
But again, Russians are the winners when it comes to difficult maps to read when for wargame design research:
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/maps/1943SW/Kursk/s11_24_1TA_Kursk_July05_11_43.jpg
Fortunately, this site comes with a “cheat sheet” of Russian abbreviations and acronyms to help people muddle through.
now that I know what I’m looking at.
– See more at: http://www.beastsofwar.com/modern-warfare/world-war-2/worldwide-dday-challenge-part-assembling-invasion/comment-page-2/#comments
@cpauls1
As Winny said…”If I had Canadian soldiers, American technology, and British officers I could rule the world.”
I have always been amazed at how the unassuming gentle looking are more than often the bravest and largest when needed. I have and am learning a lot on this journey into WW2 I do not know as well as I first thought. I think that has in more than part to the information sown by the likes of Oriskany, Piers and glimpses and important marked dates, events and people that I would more than definitely miss if it were not for you ALL. So to you all every single one therefor that has contributed time, effort and knowledge I know its not over yet but my part in Normandy is almost over, once more leaving it to Oriskany to do another no doubt excellent job on the next two articles.
As a side note @chrisg and @oriskany , here is a personal human anecdote of WWII that happened to my late father within the last three years.
My father was vice president of the War Amps for years, and through his efforts and mention in Canada’s “Legion” magazine, a fellow Cameron finally found him. He phoned my father and asked if he wouldn’t mind a visitor. My dad, of course didn’t object, and the guy showed up at his door with a photo album of his family — he said they were all my father’s kids, as my dad had crawled out over open ground and rescued the wounded man, when no one else would, at the Battle of Bray Dunes. The man had 28 children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
My father was a humble man and didn’t even remember the incident, but it made his day! Makes you wonder how many other stories and heroics from that war have gone unmentioned, and are now gone forever. And paradoxically, it also seems to take a war to restore our faith in humanity!
Wow! It’s stories like that @cpauls1 that really personalize the war.
Finally, got some time to catch up on this fabulous thread. Things are looking really good here. I like the minis and the terrain. What is more there is my love: Combat Commander 🙂
Really @yavasa ? I’m . . . still . . . “getting used” to Combat Commander. 🙂 Of course I’ve only played once and I absolutely got my head handed to me by @naznarok (Russell). My experience was a little rough (although of course I didn’t know the system), but I played 34 cards before I finally had a “FIRE” card and I could actually shoot back.
I guess it’s unfair to judge a game on one try, though. I’ll have to give it another shot. 😀
I encourage you to have another go @oriskany At first I had a similar reaction as you. Why cannot I shoot, %$#^&@ cards and so on. I do believe it was based on the Panzer Leader/Squad Leader and other systems habits where you could just more or less fire. 🙂
My opponent Russell (BoW: @naznarok ) confessed as much at the time. “Man, you’re really getting shafted on those cards.” So yeah, I’ll give it another swing. I think Russell’s just gotten the Mediterranean expansion for the game, so we may try it again one of these days soon. 😀