SCS gaming update

On Saturday the 1st I played the first few turns of The Gamers' "Yom Kippur".  This was in preparation for a complete game of "Day of Days" that will be starting on the 20th.

An overview of the "Yom Kippur" map at game start - before Egyptian setup.

Egyptian Setup done (I think - should have taken notes!)

Another shot of The setup.  Sorry for the glare and the fuzzy pictures...

End of Egyptian turn 1, good progress in the middle and off to the left side.  At the top right of the Canal a couple of Egyptian units start on the Israeli side but are bottled up pretty well.

End of Israeli turn 1, bug out!

End of Egyptian turn 2.

More progress in the center and towards the left.  

End of Israeli turn 2, reinforcements start arriving!  In the center they have retaken the VC town space at the crossroads - but they take terrible losses from Saggars in the process (on the first three turns there are extra losses for Saggars when Israeli tank units are involved)

End of Egyptian turn 3, they try to retake the town but are repulsed - but the Israelis suffer lots of losses holding the town.  An Israeli unit made it across the Canal last turn and the Egyptians task an armor unit with holding it back.

End of Israeli turn 3 and we called the game.  It served its purpose as an intro game for "Day of Days".  the Israelis still hold the torn in the center while the Egyptian army is still holding most everything else.  At this point the game revolves around the game end and Egyptian reinforcement die rolls.

Right side of "Day of Days" map.  This is a 4' by 8' table it is setup on...

Middle of the map.

Left side of map, (oh yeah, all from the Germans point of view).

Should upload that to Youtube, a short video of the map - pixilated to heck...

Afrika2 Game Wrap up. AKA Rommel Triumphant!

Lawrence (the Triumphant Fox) and I (the rat deserting the sinking ship of the desert) finished our ongoing game of Afrika 2 on Saturday.  I'll add the appropriate whining after each photo...

End of Turn 19 Axis

Rommel Consolidates his forces after the earlier battles.  As things are he can claim a victory by holding what he has.

End of Turn 19 Allies

O'Connor rolls for reinforcements and gets a 5...  No replacements this turn.  The Allies hold position at Mursa Matruh to await next turn's reinforcements.

End of Turn 20 Axis

 The Axis further consolidate and re-arrange for the expected Allied attack.

End of Turn 20 Allies

A single allied replacement goes to rebuilding the LRDG.  Allies hold position again - moving out would allow the Axis to chop them up and return back to their supply.

End of Turn 21 Axis

More waiting for the Allies and dealing with the pesky LRDG supply bump (off to the mountains stage right)

End of Turn 21 Allies

 The Allies move O'Connor and exploit capable units with him up so that they can exploit attack the forces in Halfya Pass next turn.

End of Turn 22 Axis

 The Axis sit and wait.  (these game turns went by quickly - the only thing that took time was dealing with the LRDG and moving supply for the Germans - allied supply was easy since there was a ton of it in Mersa Matruh)

End of Turn 22 Allies

 Once again there are no replacements (another roll of 4 or 5) but O'Connor attacks!  And is bloodily repulsed!  The Exploit attack ended up on the 2-1 chart and I rolled a 2 so the Allies took 2 losses to no Axis losses.  A follow up attack in the combat phase ended up in a 1 to 1 loss.  O'Connor routs back behind the Mersa Matruh line in the exploit phase.  Without massively good replacement rolls or better then average combat at this point I figure the Allies have no chance.

End of Turn 23 Axis

 The Axis re-arrange and prepare for the next attack they know will come.

End of Turn 23 Allies

  Another batch of reinforcements (but no replacements yet again though I think the LRDG was rebuilt again this turn - so the replacements roll was a 6) but O'Connor is running out of time and attacks again, and is repulsed again (average attack roll being a 5 or 6 with a single 7 for an exchange).  The Allies REALLY needed to cause a retreat - the LRDG was positioned to cause step losses from retreating through ZOC at the time of the combats.  All the Allies can do now is hope the expected Axis counter attack fizzles.

End of Turn 24 Axis (and End of Game)

No such luck.  The Axis get nice odds in the attacks (the Allies using up their air power in their turn to try and force some kind of result).  The German 3-3-12 moved to where it would force any retreats to be through a ZOC.  Then an exploit attack was made on the stack with the 8-4-8 on top.  I can't remember if that went well, I think it was an exchange.  During regular combat though the stack was attacked and this time destroyed save that 4-2-8 by being forced to retreat through the enemy zoc.  The advance after combat allowed the units now in 49-19 to attack the stack in 48.18 and the Axis rolled a 12...  Combined with an exchange result on O'Connor's stack sealed the fate of the Desert Rats.

My replacement roll for turn 24 was a 9 (3 steps!) but it would not be enough to take back Bardia for a draw much less get me near Tobruk for a victory so I conceeded the game.

Post game whining / analysis.

1:  (the whine).  With an average roll of 7 the allies would get 2 replacement points each turn for a total of 48 replacements on average.  Granted that is not how averages work but it is a good benchmark.  I remember rolling a single 9 and about 5 sixes for a total of 8 replacements BUT I rolled the 4-5 result twice early in the game which is 8 replacements removed and then I rolled the 2-3 result 3 times for 6 more removed.  So instead of an average 48 replacement steps during the game I had a total of -6 replacements throughout the game.  Churchill had a lot of fires to put out elsewhere I suppose.

2: Supply is a pain the butt for the Germans but all it really does is force them to not go past Bardia - since supply is used just by existing there is no way to stockpile it by curtailing operations either.

3: Compared to the original things in the macro sense play much better, the Germans can no longer race from Bardia to an un-guarded Alexandria and win the game as long as the Allies stopped up the highway.  On the micro sense something seems lost.  As the Allies there was nothing I could do (save running away) to keep the Germans from getting in the rear and cutting off route paths - even having units in the hexes to be retreated through does not stop losses due to ZOCs.  While the Germans can't go too far past a port or be out of supply.  Between this and the Axis winning by holding Bardia the game ends up a battle between Bardia and Mersa Matruh - which is not very historical, there should be some imperative for the Axis to take Alexandria (not to win, but perhaps needing to get close once a year or lose).  That would be a different game though.

4: Exploit capable units.  The Axis get a lot of them and they are faster then the Allied ones.  The ability to attack three times a turn versus once for many Allied units is a major force multiplier.  Couple that with the high movement factors allowing route paths to be cut and it is a triple threat.  If the exploit and combat phases go badly the high speed unit zips back to where it started and is still in supply (never having entered a ZOC).  If they go well it can most likely be in supply right where it is.  The Allies can not stop this be forming a line - each hex of it could be exploit attack individually and there would be no column shifts for spread out units.

5: The Italians, they get no respect - they are slower than even the Allied units and eat up lots of supply.  They are very handy in defense though.

Afrika 2, Turns 14.5 through 18

Continued the Afrika 2 game yesterday, I have to admit it is starting to end up a blur since the combat keeps ending up being over the same terrain.  The combat system and supply combine to favor offense over defense.  The reason is that even at the worst odds (1-4) there is a 1 in 11 chance of causing major enemy casualties, especially when combined with causing the enemy to retreat through a ZOC.  Combine that with supply being used up just be existing (or use it or lose it as I call it) and the offense is the only way to go...

End of Allied Turn 14

At the end of the last game day I was thinking the Allies were on the brink of losing, I still feel that way at the end of this day's gaming...  Back to the game, Another 6 on the replacements roll allows me to bring back the LRDG which I sent to the mountains off to the right to hinder supply and reinforcements.  The mountains are a great spot for this since it cuts the main highway and overruns are not allowed.  Just around the bend from Bardia O'Connor gets reinforced and attacks causing very little damage (all the combat rolls were below 6 if I remember correctly).  That supply point was used to supply everyone and was not sitting around to be captured.

End of Axis Turn 15

Rommel takes advantage and kills off every unit nearby save for those with O'Connor and the first SA troops in the box behind him. This might have been the only decent supply roll the Axis got during this day of gaming, otherwise the shipping was 2 points or the ports closed for repair.

End of Allied Turn 15

Another bad reinforcement roll and O'Connor decides to run.  The SA units in the box hopefully can hold out.

End of Axis Turn 16

The Axis forces try to take advantage but I think they rolled a 2 on the combat roll causing 2 Axis casualties to no allied.  Later they use Rommel to Overrun and cause a bunch of casualties (rolling and 11 I think).  Not enough to break the 1SA though.

End of Allied Turn 16  (sorry it is so blurry)

O'Connor counterattacks (after rolling a 6 for reinforcements again and bringing back LRDG yet again).  The Allies manage to knock out the two stacks of units that were not with Rommel and the single unit that was surrounding the 1SA.  He then went on to Attack Rommel directly and I don't remember exactly how that went - probably a middle result.  All in all an excellent turn for the Allies.  Darn it, now I can't whine about the dice any more!  (but I still will, I have never rolled higher than a 6 on the replacements chart and have lost roughly 12 to 14 brigades due to the chart, WHINE!!!).

End of Axis Turn 17

The Axis counterattack and manage to destroy the 1SA box, figuring this would happen I had used up all the supply there the turn before.  I believe they also attacked O'Connor but were rebuffed.

End of Allied Turn 17

O'Connor breaks the 7 Armored out of the trap they were in, destroying a couple of Axis units along the way.  Replacement rolls no higher than 6 again.  Often 4 or 5  (I only had enough to bring back the LRDG every other turn if I recall correctly).

End of Axis Turn 18

The Axis reached a bit toooo far and suffer for it.  Rommel defeated O'Connor's 7 Armored, destroying it to the last unit but than goes on to attack the box at Mersa Matruh.  This left Rommel's stack there out of supply (those white tile spacers are to help track supply movement and range...).  

End of Allied Turn 18

The Allies mop up the remainder of Rommel's forces outside of Mersa Matruh and take a breather.  Both sides are spent at this point and replacement rolls are going to be decisive, if I get a couple of good ones I will be able to bring the units right up to the front while the Axis would take a couple of turns to do so.  With so few units on the board the Axis might be able to build up some supply as well, till now he has had to hoard every supply point.

Both Allied stacks are in Boxes and the main Allied bases are in boxes as well, the Axis can not afford the supply to build them.  Ten more turns left to go in the game which will most likely take us 2 more game days to complete.  At this point the Allies are losing badly but the Axis is in no position to finish them off.

Afrika Second Edition turns 11 to Axis half of turn 14

Continued the game of Afrika the day after my last post, only got round to putting it up on the blog today - so I have forgotten quite a bit...  Next game day should be the 27th.

End of Axis Turn 11

The Commonwealth easily manages to hold onto Bardia but the Axis put the pressure on to the supply chain up to the port, cutting it off.

End of Allied Turn 11

No shipping into Bardia so they have to use their remaining supply.  Bad roll for replacements as well (never rolling above a 6 the whole game so far).  O'Connor does launch attacks on all the adjacent units knocking out a bunch of Axis forces.

End of Axis Turn 12

Rommel cuts Bardia off from supply again, destroying another Commonwealth division in the process.  We also found out the Axis player was counting all Italian units as needing 2 supply points each - fixing that for the rest of the game helps the Axis supply situation.

End of Allied Turn 12

Bardia is open to receive supply, but the replacements roll is a 6 again and since there is no supply point in the port it cannot be used for the forces there.  Allied units move up and try to open a supply path to Bardia but are unable to do so.

End of Axis Turn 13

Axis move in to cut Bardia again, not causing as many losses to the Commonwealth this time.

End of Allied Turn 13

No supply into Bardia again, O'Connor has to retreat or breakout and chooses breakout!  No replacements yet again too.  The Commonwealth open supply to O'Connor's forces in Bardia when those forces manage to push aside the defending Axis units but the troops with O'Connor are spent (don't remember which armored division exactly).

End of Axis Turn 14

Rommel leads the attack on the Bardia survivors and destroys them.  He then leads the assault on another allied group and destroys them as well but the Axis units have taken a number of losses as well.  We stopped for the day at this point and will pick up with the Commonwealth turn 14.  Almost half way done the game and it is a nasty fight for Bardia that has lasted many months.  The Commonwealth does get a number of reinforcements this turn from the restrictions box (so they can start in Mersa Matruh) but most of them are not exploit capable - which is a major advantage in the game since it allows them to attack up to three times rather than once (Rommel and O'Connor grant this ability to units they are stacked with as well).  The Commonwealth turn will depend on the replacements received along with the O'Connor roll, either of those being bad means that a withdrawal is in order while if both are good than a counter attack may be enough to break the Axis units first.

Afrika, Turns 8 to 10

Played turns 8, 9, and 10 of Second Edition Afrika by the gamers today and will be playing again tomorrow.  The three game turns led to a seesaw battle of attrition for the most part with forces moving to attack and usually destroying the targets.

End of turn 8

The Germans moved units forward during turn 8 with plentiful supply and a couple of replacement points.  Although the Allies rolled a 3 for replacements (meaning they had to send two units away) they attacked the box that was in Fort Capuzzo and managed to destroy the forces that were there (one step loss from an overrun attack and the remaining forces destroyed in combat).  O'Conner then goes on to take Bardia for the draw!  (OK, quite a few turns left before then...)

End of Turn 9

Even without Rommel (who gets severe nasal diphtheria)  the axis counter attack.  They kill 4 allied units outright and nearly destroy the units next to Fort Capuzzo.  I can't remember what the supply situation was for the Axis this turn.  During the Allied turn the reinforcements come in and the 3 replacement points are used to bring O'Connors forces in Bardia up to strength, a roll of 2 on the replacements DR means that the 2 new units are sent away before getting off the boat...  O'Connor attacks the units next to him in overrun, then again with arty support in the combat phase, and then the one just south of him in the second exploitation phase causing a lot of damage to the Axis in the area.  The units stuck in the trap next to Fort Capuzzo use up all the supply to make sure none is available to the Axis later.

End of Turn 10

Axis shipping this turn is one point, causing sever supply strain.  They destroy the units next to Fort Capuzzo and attempt to attack Bardia - which causes losses to both sides.  They leave it surrounded.  The UK replacements roll is a 5, luckily the result ends up being no effect since this was rolled twice already.  O'Connor attacks the surrounding units and causes a lot of damage (rolled a 12 I think, D3R3 or something like that).  The NZ and Aus troops (I think they are AUS) attack a stack together and force another D3R3 result.  Since that stack had to retreat through a ZOC it took four step losses.  Finally O'Connor leads the NZ troops in a last overrun attack clearing the path to Bardia for supply (one supply point was moved to a spot where it could supply everyone when that path was opened).  The NZ troops then moved into Bardia making it impossible for the Axis to take during their turn (well, perhaps it could be but it would take a major effort and lots of luck - which both of us have been getting in spurts...).

So at the end of turn 10 the Axis are badly spent and on shoestring supply.  The Commonwealth is only better off in the supply situation.  All else being equal it is important to ATTACK in this game.  Even at 1-4 odds a roll of 10-12 is a major victory and at 1-1 or above the odds favor the attacker (in extremity of results, the best roll for 1-1 is a massive victory made even better if the defender must retreat through a ZOC while the worst result is not terrible for the attacker and the mid point roll is equal losses for each side).  Even if the Axis gets a good replacements roll they will not be able to use it for front line units since they are not adjacent to supply points while a good replacements roll will allow O'Connor to attack out of Bardia with fresh units while leaving a strong defensive force to hold it if needed.  A bad roll for either side is going to be interesting to say the least.

We managed to get three turns done in 4 hours but they were intensive turns, the next few turns should go a good bit faster since the temp is most likely going to slow down due to losses sustained these last three turns.

Afrika Second Edition

Lawrence and I played the first 7 turns of Afrika yesterday.  We tried playing the first version twice before and found the movement values so high as to make the game unplayable.  The movement values have been halved (or more) for this second version which makes for a much better simulation in our opinions - speed on the main highway was doubled which makes up the difference when just chugging down the map but now the 2mp penalty for entering a ZOC actually means something.

Game Setup

Here is the game at start, not very exciting.  UK is to the left (in the glare...) and Italians to the right.  Things start off with Mussolini ordering an advance!

End of Game Turn 1

At the end of game turn 1 the Italians have crossed the line of death (the line above the Bardia box).  The Commonwealth is waiting to build up some supply.  A major difference with the first game is the Commonwealth supply is not as mobile, only 2 truck points in the first couple turns.

End of Game Turn 2

The Commonwealth attacks!  O'Connor leads the way (he stays on the board till a 3 or less is rolled on 2 dice, one check at the start of each turn).  Five Italian units are cut off and need to have supplied restored by the end of their turn.

End of Axis turn 3

This is actually the end of the Axis turn 3, The axis tried to attack the 1-2-12 armor unit in the pic above and rolled a 3, which mean the Axis lose 2 steps.  The 1-2-12 reigns supreme and cuts supply.  the Axis end up losing a step per unit and ends up with two out of supply single step divisions.  O'Connor thinks he can use this opportunity to drive the Italians away from Bardia and Perhaps even Tobruk but Chruchill has other plans and takes 3 infantry brigades and an armor brigade away.  The Italians are having equally bad luck with their supply situation, rolling a 1 (worst) for shipping and thus being on a shoestring.

End of Game Turn 4

End of game turn 4 and Churchill takes ANOTHER 3 Infantry brigades and another tank brigade!  Just enough left for O'connor to hold position but taking ground is out of the question.  On the plus side another random reinforcement roll of 4/5 will be considered no effect from now on - rather than losing those troops.  The Italians again roll terribly for shipping as well keeping them from reinforcing.

End of Game Turn 5

I spoke too soon!  For my reinforcement roll I rolled a 3, Churchill demands that ANOTHER 2 brigades be sent elsewhere.  I leave the New Zealanders up front in a box (defensive position) and pull the rest back.  The only consolation is that the Italians roll lousy for shipping again and can not take advantage.

End of Game Turn 6

High Command finally cuts some slack and sends some troops.  Not a lot, but better than losing them...  Italians are still in bad shape but the O'Connor can not take advantage.  Which is a problem since Rommel comes in next turn.  The LRDG has also been causing problems, skulking in the mountains to the right (and mucking up supply).

End of Game Turn 7

End of Game Turn 7, alternate view.

At the end of turn 7 Rommel has moved forward (he is under that 3-4-10) by blasting the LRDG out of the way in the Mountains.  O'Connor is still around and rolled the max replacements this turn, bring back 5 units.  This allows the CW to build a nice defensive position in front of Mersa Matrah.

So far the Axis is winning (they need to hold Bardia, Tobruk, and Benghazi at game end) so the CW has to attack but with 21 turns left to go...

Both Lawrence and I like the changes that were made to this version of the game - personally this is my goto game for North Africa now.  The main changes are that movement rates are halved (while the coastal highway was doubled), Artillery now give a column shift and can no bombard, early supply for the UK was constrained, O'Connor was added, and the Axis supply shuffle was eliminated - the Axis player was given a false choice in the first edition between using air points to help supply into Tripoli or using it on the table but the supply would just pile up in Tripoli with no way for it to be moved out.

Our next 2 games days or the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving (Nov 24th and 25th).  We both have vacation we need to burn and what better way to do so?