World War II North Africa Campaign
From: Jim Davis
Like many others I started to collect toy soldiers as a kid. But I had an advantage as I am old enough that things like Grimms Fairy tales, Homer and Horatio at the Bridge were considered good things to read to children. That and all my adult male relatives being in WW2, and I had an interest in military history. My main interest has always been WW2, despite which I have collections of many other periods. For some reason the North Africa Campaign has always been a favorite, although none of my relatives fought there. I have mainly collected HO plastics for WW2, and have not been able to game the very early period as the vehicles are not available in HO. I had collected the period in 6mm 20 years ago, but it was not satisfactory to me.
A buddy gave me some Minifig 12mm infantry for Christmas -- US and German. They painted up really well, and were the right size to do a North Africa battle. I already had a couple of Skytrex British tanks. I looked over the rule sets I had been using and decided Spearhead would be the main rules I would use. This would let me use 3-4 battalion-sized groups per side, and with 10mm, it would fit on my 5x8 table. I could still use the troops with Command Decision and Battlefront WW2 for smaller battles or attacks on built up areas. Probably Battlefront as I like its town fighting system and artillery rules. I went over articles I had on North Africa and the forces used. I decided against trying to collect all the units ($$ and time).
My basic force was going to be 2 Italian infantry battalions, which could also split up to become 3 motorized battalions, and a battalion of Italian Tanks, with some support units. The DAK would have 4 Infantry battalions, with the extra stands and vehicles to appear as Motorized infantry, along with 2 battalions of tanks, and support weapons. The tanks would change over time. Early units would make use of Mk I and MkII tanks, later Mk III G, J, and finally L. Mk IV would progress from MKIVD to MkIV F2, so I needed to buy more tanks than just 2 simple battalions. 8th Army would have 4 British Infantry battalions, an ANZAC Battalion and an Indian battalion, again with support equipment. Again two battalions of tanks, actually three at times. Starting battalions would be equipped with A9. A10, and A13, as well as MKVI lights. They would progress to Crusader, Honey, and Grants. And there would be a battalion of Matilda. I did not plan to go into the period where Shermans appear, as I already had that covered with my HO collection. It ended up being a much larger list than I expected. I just retired, so I would more or less have the time.
I had made arrangements to do some work on a contract basis for my old employer. So I would have extra money coming in to pay for the project. At the cost of time expended to get the extra money. I selected the Minifig infantry, Italian Infantry, Italian Support weapons, Afrika Korp Infantry, German Support Weapons, 8th Army and British Support Weapon packs. My vehicles were more mixed, as I so far have some Minifig vehicles, and some Skytrex vehicles. I have vehicles on order from Pendraken, as well as British Infantry in Slouch hats (which will be the ANZACs, and South Africans as well). I will be ordering some vehicles from Perrin as well. Eventually I will also be ordering some 1/300 aircraft. I like to use aircraft models in a smaller scale than the armor and infantry. But I have a pretty large collection of 1/144 WW2 aircraft to use in the mean time.
Right now I have all the Italian forces I intend to use, and am painting and basing them. I have one battalion of Germans and two battalions of British finished and based. So I should be able to set up a small early war game soon.
THE FIRST SIKH WAR, 1845-6, ORDER OF BATTLE BOOK
Andrew Preziosi, Khyber Pass Games & Books, PreziosiA@aol.com,
http://www.Khyberpassgames.com,
Will be going to print sometime between January 5 and 12th and is expected to be ready to for shipment by January 15th, 2004. The book numbers some 80 pages, in an 8 x 11 soft cover format, and will retail for $16.00 US ($18.00 Canadian). (Overseas customers, please contact me direct).
A sample of this book has already been posted in the Yahoo! Groups, Colonial Wars folder in pdf Acrobat format, but if you would like a sample, please drop me an Email and I'll dash a copy off to you. (If you have the current S&T magazine #219, an early proto-type introduction to the book and subject is there in the form of my article on the Sikh War, along with a the first [greatly distilled Sikh order of battle to see nrint this side of the Atlantic)_
This book contains extremely detailed Orders of Battle, for both belligerents, which have not seen the light of day for almost 150 years; along with a concise but detailed account of the war itself, prolific notes on the Orders of Battle and how I tracked them down and corrected errors, an account of the slide to war and a detailed chapter on the Sikh Artillery, to name but a few chapters. There are also orders of battle charting the growth of the Sikh Army (Khalsa) from a cavalry raiding force in 1800 to the juggernaut it became just prior to the war.
The Sikh Orders of Battle themselves have not been printed or published in the West for over 160 years and are detailed down to the battalion, regimental and battery level, this fact alone will make the book a must have value for those of you who are interested in the Sikh Wars or British military history on the subcontinent of Asia.
Review copies of the book have already been mailed off and I will be sending a copy to several notable publishing houses for future consideration (Osprey being the most likely candidate for now). I am extremely proud of this, my first book, and I can assure you that a copy of this manuscript, along with any good solid history of the (1st) Sikh War(s), will give you almost all the information there is available on the subject (short of me learning to read Persian).
Thanks must also go to Aaron Silverman, who not only converted my Word text to Acrobat format, but also took the time to proofread and do the layout of the book. This book wouldn't make half the splash I hope for if it wasn't for his efforts.
WINTER WAR PROJECT
Michael Huskey
With my typical interest in the less well-known, less played wars I decided this summer I would begin a new project, this time out of World War 2. Granted World War 2 is hardly less played - that, Napoleonics, and Civil War are probably among the most popular of the wars played. But I have no desire to do Normandy invasion or the huge SovietGerman clashes on the Eastern Front. Nope, I picked the short but hard fought Winter War of 1939-40 between gallant little Finland and the Soviet Union.
My biggest inspiration was a book I had bought called "Frozen Hell" by William R. Trotter, 1991 copyright. He concentrates on the military aspects not the diplomacy, which is exactly the way I like it. I'd recommend the book to anyone with even a passing interest in this war, its available in paperback for about $15.
There are a few websites out there too - one especially with some detailed accounts of a few of the battles. Just do a search on Google for 'winter war' or 'RussoFinnish War'.
Once I decided to do this bloody sideshow to the main war (ok so it was center stage for the unfortunate Finns!) I had to decide how to do it. Meaning in what scale?
First of all 25mm-28mm are way too big and expensive for what I want, which are battles not skirmishes. I do not care for plastics so they were out, same with 20mm. That left the scale I own the most of in miniatures anyhow - 15mm. Then I took a look at 10mm especially the really nice vehicles that are out in that small scale. I decided to go with Minifigs 12mm WW2 range sold by Tom Dye out of MinifigsUSA in Colorado. The 10-12mm size difference is barely noticeable.
Though I've never met Tom, I have exchanged emails with him and talked to him once on the phone, a real gentleman to do business with, full of enthusiasm and knowledgeable. I sent for a hefty hunk of lead, pewter, whatever and I got everything I wanted in good time too. No backorder pain.
I'm using the Germans for Finns as the Finnish troops wore German looking fieldcaps and the distinct German helmet. The heavy machine guns aren't right but at this scale, I can live with it. Even the Afrika Corps infantry work well for Finns too as the Germans in field caps are perfect for what Im looking for. I was worried they would be in shorts but they aren't, regular trousers.
The Finns didn't really have any armor (actually they used some old British tanks in one small attack just once but it was a disaster) so no need to buy lots of that. I did purchase a couple of 37mm AT guns to use as the 37mm Bofors AT gun the Finns employed in small numbers. I also bought a couple of the shortbarreled 75mm Infantry guns used to support German infantry. They were able to be manhandled fairly easily. And that was that.
For the Russians, I bought a lot more stuff, obviously as they will have to have the big numbers. The Minifig infantry are better suited for WW2 later as most have helmets and in the Winter War the Soviets used fur hats or that pointy budovinka hat instead. But again I'm not that picky and I cant expect Minifigs to design specifically for that one front. Then I got a bunch of tanks - mostly T-26s with one big KV-2 (just because I love that huge tank) and an armored car or two. Finally, plenty of trucks too as the Soviets had lots of those to get stuck in easy to destroy road columns.
I can't say enough about how good the vehicles look and they are easy to put together too. A pleasure to paint also. I like the final look of the infantry too but I do wish there wasn't so much flash on them. It takes a bunch of cleaning up and at this picky scale its fiddly work. I know that small scales like this don't have to have that much flash either because I own some Pendraken 10mm World War I figs and they had virtually NO flash at all, except just a tiny bit under the stands.
But again, 12mm is cheap and it looks darn good once painted. Plus the smaller scale makes the battles look more realistic as regards ranges. I have never liked some of those convention games where 25mm guys are facing each other at 16" and still out of range! It just looks wrong! Don't even get me started on those huge model tanks staring at each other in long rows almost barrel to barrel. Goofy looking to my prejudiced way of seeing it.Ok, rant over - now - back to the project.
I then started working on what I would fight with my toys on - the terrain. I bought some nice white felt as the surface to lay over my table. I know that premade terrain sections look so cool but for me and our local group, felt suffices. We got tan for desert and green for most other things. Now I got snow, one huge white carpet of it!
One of our guys is great at making terrain so he made me a couple of hills, snow covered of course with pine trees nestled along the slopes, once more snow covered. They look great! I also purchased two bags of evergreens with snow on them at a model railroaders shop. Roads will be dirt colored strips of felt with some snow sprinkled over them - railroad modelers snow which comes in big jars.
There were no real city battles so I don't need to worry about lots of small buildings, I did buy some 10mm houses to use as farms etc to dot the rather bleak and primitive Finnish countryside. But where the major battles were it was mostly forest and tundra. Oh, and did I mention snow?
After painting the toys I mounted them on rectangles of hard tagboard and painted these bases white. Because these buggers are so small and our groups eyesight ain't getting any better with age - I decided to label the stands with abbreviations such as INF for the grunts, LMG, HMG for the machineguns, etc. That way we all should be able to easier tell what the heck we are pushing around on the table during the games. I numbered all the stands too so, for example, I can have stands 01 to 09 the first company or battalion, 10 to 20 for the second, etc, whatever I need for the game.
I'm like many wargamers, never really satisfied with any commercial rules sets - so I am making up my own WinterWar specific set of fast play rules. Even then, I'm sure we will tinker around with those after each game, in that never ending search for the Holy Grail of wargaming, the PERFECT rules set. See some of Sam Mustafa's articles the past year or so in this magazine. (I love Sam's writing, I always enjoy reading his stuff!)
To me, what I'm mostly looking forward to in this project is scenario creation - I've got loads of ideas to do battles from that war. The Finns will have the quality (but they were not supermen either) and the major advantages of defending homeground. The Russians will have huge numbers but major problems in everything else from bad leadership, low quality, uneven morale, and having to attack in bad weather over bad terrain. Armor was not much of a war winner for them even as it was often road bound or poorly used. In the end, massed Russian artillery fire and a brutal use of human wave assaults finally shifted the momentum of the war over to them, but at huge cost.
As one Soviet general remarked, "We gained about enough territory to bury our dead in."
I will try and write up some battle reports once we begin fighting on the tabletop if it turns out we have some interesting battles. I know some wargames magazine readers don't like battle reports but I always enjoy reading about other folks miniatures encounters.
In the meantime if any of this has peaked your interest in the Winter War, you could do much worse than a quick trip to your local library and see if you can find a few books on the war to read about more. To me it is both fascinating and sad to read about the hardships men of BOTH sides had to endure in that vicious war.
1:48 SCALE, BIG TABLE!
Paul Hayes
Just received # 126. Well done (as usual)! Congratulations on your retirement. I can relate, as I "retired" this May after 30 years as a college instructor. I have also started on all those wargaming projects.
Regarding photos - will Polaroid pictures work for your cover? I can take some of my "big" table (6' x 18') of North Africa, including a port with British and Americans making a landing. I am working on details, but an overall photo might be interesting for some readers. Infantry and armor are 1/48 scale (approximately). My primary "combatants" are a couple of neighborhood teenagers my sons and a few Marines (active and retired) on occasion.
Personally, I have been wargaming since a youngster with Dinky & SAE figures (South Africa Engineers). My "other" wargaming table is setup for 15-20mm ACW and WWII North Africa on standby.
Keep up the good work, take care,
Editor: Thanks for your kind offer; Paul. Currently, we're using digital photos for the cover. I'm sure this your offer was in response to Hal's request for pictures. Since we have a new production team, we've gone digital. Still, I'm sure the readership would love an article and a photo, if you have time!
MORE ON SIMULATION
Charles Eckart, US Mail, Denver, CO.
MWAN 126 is an especially good issue. As you can see from the enclosed essay I was greatly prompted to put down some thoughts before reading the entire issue. I haven't read much more than the three articles by Bill Haggert, Sam Mustafa, and Chris Hahn yet, although I have found time to try a small scenario of David Black's ECW rules. They are simple, fun and believable. I will use them again!
My observations come from my own experiences over many years and with quite a variety of people, professional military to wanna-be's, people with historical interest to "let's just have fun" types. The games range from Tactical Decision Games and Kriegspiel, board games, and miniatures to some that were essentially roleplaying or paper and pencil. Because of this I consider it very important that both designers and players know what they want to simulate and what are the limitations of each method available.
Personally, I collect more rules than figures, as you could probably guess. Useful mechanisms can be found in many places even when the rules may never be played. No, with the exception of Plain of Ilium and MWAN a few years back, I do not publish complete rules. Nor do I desire to although I might occasionally recommend some rule mechanism or rule set to someone.
Sam is right in saying that rules really cannot be categorized, but it would probably help if designers would state their intent rather than describe their rules as "playable grand tactical Napoleonic" for example. He did a nice job describing the intent of his Grande Armee rules in MWAN. I repeat that designers need to be clear concerning what they are trying to simulate and what the limitations are of each method. Sam seems to have been very clear while many designers have not been.
I really appreciate all your effort in publishing MWAN, Hal, and I always enjoy each issue. Thanks as well to all the contributors for articles, rules, ideas, and information.
The articles "Chaos and Control, Just Feels Right" and "Counter `Attack"' in MWAN #126 prompt some observations.
The dictionary defines simulation as "...feigning or pretending; a representation of something". Thus by definition ALL games are a simulation of something. Chutes and Ladders might be a simulation of a playground pace game. The object is to clearly define WHAT is being simulated.
What Sam Mustafa describes as "a huge panoply of human perceptions and memories is a game taht represents a battle with many individual perspectives as in an oral, written, or film history. A Homeric recitation. Players are not leaders and commanders so much as they are godlike observers.
Bill Haggert more closely describes what the military would call a "tactical decision game", or TCD; a derivative of the Prussian Kriegspiel. The perspective is that of a single observer/participant who is not expected to be many people in different places. A game that simulates leadership and command requires focus on the perceptions of one individual and an understanding of what a leader/commander does.
Higher command levels greatest influence was and is in preparation; organizing, assessing information, planning, issuing orders, overseeing deployment and use of reserves. In battle every effective leader at ALL levels repeatedly evaluates the current situation as he knows it, considers available options, makes decisions (sometimes to do nothing at the moment), and issues orders (or not). At the lowers levels of leadership greater personal physical involvement is also usually required.
Mel Gibson as Colonel Moore in the film, We Were Soldiers, gives an excellent portrayal when he steps away from the others (mentally tuning out distractions) to evaluate, consider options and come to a decision. He then returns to issue orders. Yet, when required to act directly as when personally attacked by the NVA soldier, he shoots. This is a superb simulation of a leader in battle.
Of course, it is necessary to understand the command and control capabilities of the armies in the period being simulated. Even with contemporary methods and technology the ability of higher command to influence a battle depends upon the duration of the fight. In most historic periods the army commander's greatest influence ended when the battle was joined unless he was at the decisive place at the critical moment. Alexander's comparatively small army at Arbela could not be continuously controlled by him alone. His perspective of events on the right was not the same as Permenio's on the left. Alexander placed himself at what he intended to be the decisive point, waited for the critical moment, then led by example. His personal influence over the whole battle was limited to pre-battle preparations.
Modern technology expands the view of the army commander as well as political and non-military influences. The less time it takes to resolve a battle, the less the influence of leaders not "on the spot" on the conduct of the fighting. Thus the army commanders' greatest influence often remains in preparations and use of reserves (or in modern terms, available resources).
Overall, toy soldier simulations tend to be visually appealing, more complex, competitive chess games. Or as some would have it, card games. Simulation of command or leadership requires a different focus and understanding. If you want to simulate leading a squad, don't become four squad leaders and a platoon commander. Focus on the single squad leader, what he can know and when he can know it and reduce everything else to simple resolution rules. The same goes for any command level in any period. In a "you are in command" simulation, visual appearances are less important than information and timespace-options available for decision and action. Just as in a more visual simulation that is well done, preparation is important.
So, what is a "wargame"? The very word lacks a clear and generally accepted definition. Some think them only toy soldier games, some only board games, etc. Toy soldier games are "wargames". So too are board games, map games, more than a few computer games, TDG's, and even some role play games. They can be oriented towards visual appeal, fun, competition, personal experience (to a limited degree), or analysis.
A designer must decide what focus the simulation is to have; what is its' purpose? Players must know what it is they want to simulate.
While I occasionally enjoy some miniature and board games my main interest is in the mechanics, battle plans and how the battle is decided. Much like Chris Hahn (keep writing, Chris!) Understanding period army composition, deployments and tactics and WHY they were what they were is more relevant TO ME than "how they looked". Methods of supply, sheltering, marching, intelligence gathering, communicating and control which affect plans and even when and where to fight do not usually need to be detailed in a battle game but their effect might need to be considered.
In the "You Command" simulation the post mortem of Kriegspiels and TDG's have been particularly interesting. What player/commanders didn't know was about as much as what they did know of the details at any given time during the games. But then, Napoleon could not at first believe that Davout had beaten the bulk of the Prussian army at Auerstadt while Napoleon was commanding at Jena!
What equipment, accessories and attitudes a wargame requires depends upon the purpose of the simulation. Generally, visual games lean towards lots of toys and terrain and are more competitive. Simulating leadership and command requires less visual distraction and more cooperation than competition. Analytical games are probably best done solo as they would require a great deal of cooperation among players because too much information is available and competitive attitudes will distort results. An analytical simulation is more like playtesting a designer's rules that, as Victor Schmidt points out, mot garners do poorly. (See his article "Playtesting" in The Courier).
In the end, whatever the reasons for participating in any simulation, everyone should derive pleasure from the experience. Leave ego at home. A game does not a Great Captain make!
A FEW KNIGHTS, A NEW
MEMBER TO THE HOBBY!
Preston Buck, Waxahachie, TX
I've taken a few steps to bring a new gamer into the hobby. A family of friends were visiting us and one of the sons happened into my office and saw some of my miniatures that were in progress. He was quite fascinated and I ended up showing off all my miniatures. It isn't difficult to get us to show off our toys, but I decided to take it a bit further. After consulting with his parents, I bought two boxes of plastic figures for him. He said he was most interested in medievals, so I got Livonian Knights and Crusaders on ebay. Then I swung by WalMart and bought a few bottles of craft paint in the basic colors and a packet of brushes. I spent about $15 total. I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the flash and priming them.
He was quite excited when I let him have the minis. I sat down with him and helped him paint the faces, showed him how to take care of his brushes and offered some methods. I also offered some encourage ment to him, that his skills with a brush would improve over time. And that he was painting the minis so they looked good to him. The only caveat was that if he decided he didn't want to paint or play with the minis, that I got them back. His father told me that he took the minis with him everywhere and showed them to everyone for several weeks. I've promised to stop by and help with any touch up and bring some bases. I'll also seal the minis for him since I already have the varnish. I plan on using Mayhem: Warrior Kings as rules for a skirmish game. Who knows, maybe I've introduce another person to our delightful hobby. And for less than the price of lunch!
My own gaming activity has been quite nice. I get to game about once a month with fellow MWANer Jim Davis. We tend to play AK-47 Republic and Warrior Kings most of the time and I really like both sets of rules. Though we also have played several WWII games using Crossfire and Battleground (I think) and my first naval games. My 6mm Napoleonic project continues to see steady progress and I've finished several brigades. On that same project, I've gotten fed up with having to stop painting to prep and prime the next unit, so I've got them all prepared and will finish priming them all this weekend. That way, when the painting urge is strong, I can jump right in and not be interrupted. I also finished a 15mm fantasy Orc army and am currently working on 12mm WWII East Front. I've a bunch of other unpainted lead in my cupboard, most of which is primed now, so I can jump from project to project as the mood strikes.
Another thing I've done is look through my `finished' armies to see what I need to do to really finish them. Some need to be rebased, while others need flags and varnish. My list was longer than I thought it would be, but I've worked through several items on the list. It is very satisfying to really have an army completely finished, with no annoying little mundane tasks remaining. I've also started to keep a log of my painting and miniature purchases as you suggest. That's also very satisfying when I look at the mountain of unpainted lead I have.
One other hobby activity that I'll mention. I've been perusing my back issues of MWAN. I scan through one every few days, reading the article and letters that strike my fancy. I had forgotten how much valuable information is contained in my back issues. It's been very enjoyable. The news on the Miniatures Page (http://theminiaturespage.com) says that you've transferred most of the work of publishing MWAN to Mr. Perrin. I'm glad for that. Another magazine I subscribe to recently stopped being published because the publisher wanted to retire, but had no successor. Thanks for addressing that concern so I can continue to get my MWAN every other month.
FIVE FORKS ANNOUNCES SECOND EDITION OF NAPOLEON'S BATTLES
(Nashville, Tennessee) - Five Forks, Inc. announces the publication of Napoleon's Battles, a comprehensive set of historical miniatures rules for warfare during the Age of Napoleon, from 1792-1815. The authors of this Second Edition of the rules are Craig Taylor and Robert Coggins, creators of the original. Napoleon's Battles contains more than 150 pages of rules and reference materials, and includes all of the original charts, tables, scenarios and features, as well as additional optional rules; five new battle scenarios; and an expanded list rating the abilities of more than 2,500 generals of the Napoleonic era. Over 350 combat units from 14 nations are rated in 13 categories of efficiency. Basic information on how to paint and assemble miniature armies and terrain is also included, as well as a scenario design toolkit, for the enterprising gamer. Napoleon's Battles also includes a glossary of Napoleonic terms; descriptions of the various units; tactics; and formations of the period; and overviews of each of the 14 armies included in the rulebook.
Many charts, tables, maps, sketches and pertinent quotations from the Emperor Napoleon and others add a new element of esthetic appeal to this Second Edition of Napoleon's Battles. The book is also enhanced by the inclusion of eight fullcolor, full-page illustrations by renowned historical artist Keith Rocco. Napoleon's Battles will be available for retail and wholesale order in March, 2004. The retail price will be $40.00. For additional information, visit the product website, at www.napoleonsbattles.com.
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© Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum
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