There were about 15 players that showed up for Tuesday Historical Gaming Night at Tabletop Hobbies in Lenexa (78th & Quivera) from 6:30-10PM-ish. After cruising thru Phil Gilgor's store there for "new items" (check out the new Miniature Wargames mags!) we retired to the game room to see what people had brought to play!
Last night they had about 7 players for "Russian Civil War" miniatures tabletop battle with troops, artillery, early tanks, airplanes, and armored cars!
They had a 6 player "DBA" Ancients battle with lots of bowmen, swordsmen, cavalry, war elephants, etc.!
We played in a game of "Westfront" (Columbia Games "block-game" of WW2 NW Europe). I looked the defenses over and tried to find a weak spot where I felt I could get ashore. I needed beaches weakly defended with 1 block that were with-in 3 hexes of my HQ's stationed along southern England supplying the invasion. I invaded France at Britainny with Amphipious Infantry and powerful Allied airstrikes to soften the defenders up ( the Brest hex and 1 hex east of there where the Germans seemed to be weak - just 1 block defending each hex). I got ashore in both hexes! The Germans brought up some re-inforcement blocks into the next defending hexes and used "rail movement" to bring more forces from the Balkans and Germany toward France!
I quickly brought my Mechs, Tanks, and HQ's over from England to expand the beachead. The Germans brought troops down from Pas-de-Calais and Germany to try and "wall me off" in a couple hexes. I broke out to the south toward St. Nazarine and then toward Bordouex where the Germans were weakest (my attacks with 4 blocks of Mechs & Tanks & air against 1-2 defending German blocks)! The Germans due to thinning lines of defending blocks eventually fell back toward Paris.
In Italy the Germans fell back to Northern Italy to shorten their lines and I just followed them up the boot (my only offensive moves in Italy). I shipped a lot of my Italian forces to France into the expanding beachead! I left about 6 blocks across Italy against about 10 German blocks in northern Italy (the German player stated after the game, he never had the "rail ability" or moves to get those 10 blocks out of Italy and bring them to the fight)!
The Russian showed up in the Balkans along with a small 1-block force of Yugoslavian Partisans (almost un-killable in the mountains) forcing the Germans to defend there with lot of thier blocks ( the Russians have these "massive front" pieces that roll 8 dice when they attack!). The Russian Fronts move on specific cities that the German needs to defend!
I second invaded at Dieppe against a "Fortress" block there hoping to breakout and cut the Germans off around Paris but this attack was stopped cold by the fort! The Germans did fall back away from Paris in the fall as I was able to drive across France toward the Swiss border! My airpower attacks and Tanks were able to attack weak German stacks and I'd killed about 20 German blocks (including a lot of his tanks) before "winter" (and mud) slowed my attacks down! I'd reached the Swiss border cutting off the Germans in southern France and pushing what was left of the German army in front of me to the Belgium border areas but I was behind the "historical" drive of the Allies on time!
As Spring '45 was coming (Feb.) we called the game "a minor German victory" (10:30PM real time) but I had a lot of fun playing this game for the first time!
Hope to see you next time at Tabletop Tuesday Historical nights gaming! Good gaming all, Harold Morgan in Gladstone Mo. (N.K.C. Mo.)
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