UBoater658 Wargaming

https://youtu.be/YucVqQS0qMY Bob and Mary started scanning and recording all the specimens. Carol focused on the numerous devices that appeared to be connected to many of the 'habitats.' It seemed they were providing power and possibly life support functions to the individual enclosures. Also, the space appeared to be filling with some sort of atmosphere although exact readings were ambiguous. Bob started using his neural scanner on some of the specimens. "They appear to be in some sort of stasis Captain," he reported. "Continue scanning and recording, also make sure you are sending your readings back to Sonny and the ship's computer." Bob replied, "aye, Skipper" and he and Mary began slowly moving along the edge of the space continuing their scanning. I wonder if this 'cube' is manned and has a crew Carol thought… Bob gave a gasp and then shifted his neural scanner to the opposite end of the space they were in. "Captain I am getti...

https://youtu.be/SnDErkO-xNw The Intrepid was holding position a few meters from the opening on the cube. Bob moved the drone further away from the cube to be able to monitor the entire Cube. So far there was no reaction from the cube after the initial widening of the access port with the approach of the Intrepid. Bob reported "still no changes in the Cube after our stop. Based on the size of the portal we could either enter via EVA or attach a docking tunnel." The Cube so far had exhibited no offensive or even defensive reaction to the approach of the drone or the ship Carol thought. Actually, it had done just the opposite and provided access to the interior. She made her decision. "We will be entering the Cube via EVA Suits. Sonny, you will stay behind and keep an eye on the ship and Cube while we stay in constant comms. Any comments or questions?" "Should we be armed?", Bob asked. "Yes, side arms not rifles. Also full load of survey equipment. And ...

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoAF2Y5k4dA Carol woke up with the 0600 GST Ship Announcement. I didn't expect to get a full rest period, but apparently the Cube respected our rest shift, she thought dryly. She opened comms to the bridge and said "Sitrep?" Sonny replied succinctly, "No change in artifact or ship status, all systems nominal." "Very well, on my way," she replied. She was first on the Bridge, quickly followed by Bob and Mary. "The Cube has continued its course and speed unchanged  since our entry into orbit earlier. Even though it appears unchanged, I believe it is aware of our presence based on minor fluctuations in the gravimetric waves from it", Sonny added to his earlier report. "Did the changes seem hostile?," the Captain asked. "No, more akin to a low power scan at most," he replied. "All right, then it is decision time for us. I see 3 basic options, proceed with the dirtside survey, ...

Finally back to our intrepid crew of the IISS Intrepid... On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP9TV5-qqcw Carol maneuvered the Intrepid into orbit while maintaining distance from the "Cube." "Any reaction from the artifact," she asked. "The artifact's speed and course are unchanged," Bob replied. "All right, Bob and Carol commence the planetary survey. Sonny and I will keep an eye on the artifact. Be prepared for an emergency deorbit." Hopefully, the survey will give additional information on the purpose of the artifact, Carol thought. The survey from orbit took approximately 6 hours, finishing at 2000 hours. Carol wanted it finished as soon as possible, so they continued into the designated rest time. The crew understood the urgency. Unfortunately, nothing from the survey revealed any information about the artifact. Bob projected his results on the display and gave a detailed review of the results. In the end, he summarized, "Br...

"Refueling complete, all tanks full, all refueling equipment secured" Sonny reported. "Very well, proceeding to the High Guard position, prepare to retrieve the drone," Carol said. After the ship was close to the Drone Bob said "retrieval initiated." After a few minutes, he added, "retrieval complete, all systems secured for transit." Carol answered, " Very well, course confirmed for Kotori Prime, breaking orbit." The first few days of the transit were uneventful. The crew finished their equipment checks in preparation for the upcoming Planetary survey. In their remaining time, they continued work on the backlog items (inoperable drone, wrong software version) while also manning the sensors in shifts. Carol even carved out a few hours one night for the crew to enjoy a recent holo-movie together. The crew seems to be slowly coming together she thought, even Sonny seemed to be more like his old self again. One day out from Kotori Prime, t...

After the planning meeting, Carol set a course for the nearest Gas Giant to Kotori Prime at 2G. Bob and Mary went to work on the inoperable drones while Sonny started system checks in preparation for refueling at the Gas Giant. They worked for a few hours then Carol told them all to get some rest - she would cover the first shift monitoring the sensors. The following shifts were uneventful - no contacts, either ship or stellar objects. Also, no transmissions were detected from nearby or the system. Towards the end of the next day, Carol received 2 reports… First Bob and Mary reported on the drones. They were able to fix 2 of the drones by cannibalizing parts from 3 drones which were now permanently inoperable. So now there were a total of 3 operable drones - although she was still suspicious of the 2 repaired ones. "We'll test out one of the repaired drones as high guard during our refueling," she said. "Understood," Bob replied and he continued, "we will r...

YouTube Link:  https://youtu.be/UZ4M6rj3Plk During the week in transiting jump space, Carol kept the crew busy checking everything - ship systems, survey systems, survey gear, and planning. No one complained based on the mishaps that had already occurred. And as she expected, there was a problem. Mary was reviewing the survey drones with Bob's assistance. During the checks, they found a problem with 9 out of the 10 survey drones that were onboard. Mary explained, "While we were at the base, maintenance came aboard and said they had some upgrades for the drones, both software, and chips. They were able to get through 9 of the drones but kept getting pulled off the work by other base priorities. Also, I got the impression the 2 techs were rather junior based on some questions I asked them. In their hurry, they did the upgrades first and then were going to circle back and test them after they were all done. They never got that far. Bob and I are troubleshooting and hope to have a...

Youtube Link:  https://youtu.be/RzWbQjOyXkM Carol was relieved that they were finally leaving for their first survey. The dry run survey of the system planet had unearthed a number of problems with equipment which revealed that the Scout Base's support crew were either incompetent and/or purposely lazy. That’s why she insisted on and ensured the ship and equipment were given a thorough check before leaving on this survey. Luckily a Jump Drive miscalibration was identified and resolved - it probably would not have prevented operations but it was better to address it before departure. And it gave them 3 days to review the rest of the ship and equipment. She still expected more problems during the mission but hopefully, the major issues had been resolved. Bob the Astrogator was covering comms, while Sonny kept an eye on the engines. Mary was busy doing prep for the upcoming survey. Bob called out "We have clearance for departure from base control." Carol was ready to get awa...

CAPT Burnett arrives at the Scout Base before her crew to assume her command of the Intrepid and review the status of the ship. To Carol's surprise, the base commander is a relative from her home world who was on the other side of the controversy - so not a friend. CDR Carlin gives her an icy/strictly professional reception and she knows she will get no support from him. - Was this a coincidence or setup by others? Sonny arrives first and also gives her an icy response - and seems more withdrawn than usual. She had been told he was open to the assignment and had been told she was the Captain - now she wonders. - Was this a coincidence or setup by others? The rest of the crew arrives - Bob the Astrogator who was new to Carol, and Mary the Researcher who she had worked with some during the mission contacting the new alien species. Bob seemed solid and Mary was excited to be working w/Carol again. Before actually departing the basic spaceport, a Free Trader ship was seized and the...

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLODKhaq1htAiW4xaTp62N5zqKemSSC_Xr Engineer Bono was born on a water world. His family owned a small fishing company and Sonny spent most of his time on the company's watercraft. He enjoyed being out on the planet's seas spending most of his free time on his own - exploring new locations and tinkering with the equipment on the boats. Since he was not the first born in a large family he was not in line to own the company. After completing his education, he decided to venture into the unknown and join the Imperial Scout Service. During his first tour, his ship experienced a mishap due to a crew member of noble birth who failed in an assigned engineering task which caused a jump drive failure. The crew member attempted to pass the blame on Sonny, but ultimately failed and was drummed out of the service. This further reinforced Sonny's desire to avoid the pitfalls of Imperial society. In spite of this event, his performance was exemplary a...

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLODKhaq1htAiW4xaTp62N5zqKemSSC_Xr Captain Burnett was born and raised on an agricultural planet. Her family was one of the original settlers and large land owners. She was raised working and running the farm and was in line to inherit the family lands and company.  As the planet prospered it came to the attention of a number of large interplanetary agricultural corporations. They began working with the planetary government and buying the smaller family farmlands. Eventually, the majority of the planet farming was owned by the corporations and in league with the government they started pressuring the remaining largest farm families to sell out to them. One by one they fell, until only a handful of the most prominent remained - including Captain Burnett's family. Her parents were determined to resist... until they were in an air car accident. The corporations in league with the government leveraged the press to ruin her and her family's repu...

 Learning the rules - so had to do the initial KPA attack 3 times to get it right. Version 1 - traditional move/combat: https://youtu.be/rLHOS_lwYZ4 Version 2 - include overruns: https://youtu.be/CaHYMscK69o Version 3 - overruns and contested ZOCs: https://youtu.be/IdLkSLnv3UY

 This is the start of a series on Microgame Design Group's MacArthur's War: "a simulation of the Korean War, simulating the historical campaign as well as allowing for what could have happened if MacArthur had been given the go-ahead to launch attacks against Communist China." This video provides an introduction to the game as well as an overview of the rules. https://youtu.be/OAu7fFa2xNk

Ney tries to push the Coalition back on the right flank in order to get a buffer between the lines and Quatre Bras. The French also try to push the Coalition forces out of the woods on the left flank to remove the threat to their lines of communication. https://youtu.be/PHaSIXCxxMQ The Coalition then attempts to surround and attack the French 6th Division on the edge of the woods outside Quatre Bras. If successful this would decimate the French and put the Coalition in a strong position to retake Quatre Bras. Unfortunately for Wellington, the attack is repulsed... https://youtu.be/Sa7Cf-9B1WQ

Ney decides to go ahead with a full assault on Quatre Bras with the bulk of his forces - except a horse artillery unit that moves into the woods to occupy the flanking British Infantry. WIll Ney succeed or should he have moved around the flanks instead? Success! And Wellington retreats to the north. https://youtu.be/dmeILxADK6k While Wellington was unceremoniously booted out of Quatre Bras, he has a constant stream of reinforcements coming the rest of the day and Ney does not. So he maintains his goal is to stay close and as more forces enter start looking for opportunities to flank the French and counter-attack when possible. Ney seems to be on the defensive now? https://youtu.be/VS6wRvMbnTE

Kellerman wakes up and brings up the rest of his cavalry corps, and Reille's Corps surrounds and storms the Chateau... successfully! https://youtu.be/KXLiVqwuE4k Wellington concentrates at Quatre Bras with Picton, while the flanks are weakly screened. Just buying time for the reinforcements to arrive... https://youtu.be/1FoyncJLDZM

The last entry was Warsaw Pack M+2 and things were looking very bleak for NATO. West Berlin had fallen, The Soviets had overrun Northern Germany after paving the way with Tac Nucs. Hamburg was surrounded and isolated. The Soviets had plenty of Tactical Nuclear delivery units/HQs, while the US/UK had been decimated. So NATO had 3 choices: 1. Continue the fight with its inevitable end in sight. 2. Offer a Cease Fire, which the Soviets would probably ignore, and end up surrendering. 3. Escalate the conflict to setup the US's remaining strong point - over 1300 bombers... So the US decided to do a counterforce strike to take out the Soviet strategic Nuclear assets - a handful of ICBMs and bombers - the Golf SSB's were untouchable (!?). https://youtu.be/7WZedxjRWrk Unfortunately due to the size of the US Counter Force strike the collateral damage caused enough civilian casualties, as well as taking out the Soviet command control systems, to cause the collapse of the Soviet Union. But...

 The WP assault continues, although less tactical nucs were used and all airpower saved to defend against NATO airpower. https://youtu.be/IPzYt-sQPt4

Coalition Phase of Turn 1. Reinforcements moving up, will they be in time? A good bombardment result against the advancing French infantry. https://youtu.be/D4sHgHVXp_Q

 Posted the turn 1 French Combat phase. The French were relatively successfully capturing a Corps Commander,  eliminating one Coalition unit, and pushing another back. Was able to illustrate a number of rules in my quest to learn the system. As I learn/understand the rules better the turns should go faster. Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/7q6lZky_9bI Here is the situation at the end of the French player phase:

 In preparation for M+2/next turn following the WP Attack, I discuss a number of topics: 1. End game triggers 2. Victory Point Calculations 3. Short term strategy 4. Long term/escalation strategy Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/NAdhqwHG3HA Here is a picture showing the start of the siege of Hamburg:

OSG's Library of Napoleonic Battles - it's time to learn the system. I picked up a few intro games (single battles) over the past few years but never played any of them. A few months ago I was looking at/reminiscing over the old SPI Napoleon's Last Battles. I reviewed the Decision Games remakes - I had actually made a VASSAL module for them of the 2nd Edition a year ago. This lead me to OSG and Kevin Zucker and I decided if I was going to get into the series I should start with the 'latest'. https://napoleongames.com/pages/library-of-napoleonic-battles This was about the end of last year and OSG was having a sale and I picked up Napoleon's Last Gamble (NLG - Waterloo Battles) and Napoleon against Russia (NaR). This should be enough battles combined with my 2 intro battles to keep me busy. I also had invested in a number of computer Napoleonic Battles from JTS/WDS which I may start playing in parallel - although these are at a more tactical level.  https://wargam...

Finally back to post the NATO response to Warsaw Pact Tactical Nuclear attack. While NATO forces were decimated in the initial WP attack, they were able to blunt most of the WP spearheads with their Tactical Nuclear response. This is an entirely different type of warfare than the typical conventional battle. Instead of massing forces and attempting to defeat the enemy in ground combat - now it is getting in range and decimating the enemy w/nuclear weapons. Initially, the priority target is the enemy's tactical nuclear delivery means, but as seen in this turn it starts shifting to attempting to break the will of the enemy through civilian casualties. From there it is a small step to escalating to all out nuclear warfare. Here are the YouTube links for the NATO phase: Part 1: https://youtu.be/LakR1BePuNI Part 2: https://youtu.be/zrCbafE-V40 Here is the map at the end of the turn. The front lines are thin on units with the tactical nuclear exchange. At the beginning of the next turn b...

 And the war begins with a true bang - Soviet Tactical Nuc missiles and Air Strikes across West Germany.  This is a different type of war than conventional. In this environment, combat units cannot concentrate for standard attacks and become targets themselves - instead, they move close enough to their target, but not too close, and attempt to deliver a nuc blow that prevents retaliation. My current play thru is a somewhat unique case with starting the war with tac nucs, NATO has no air yet, and all US/UK units/HQs except 1 starting out of Tac Nuc range. The Soviets can selectively move forward and try to destroy (all) the US/UK units in range before they can respond.  If Tac Nucs started after a turn or more of conventional war then it would probably be an even exchange and therefore maybe cause players to reconsider before starting. But if a side could orchestrate the current situation - surprise/mainly unanswered tac nuc attack it could be tempting. So the priorities o...

I am resuming a playthru I started a little over a year ago of Microgame Design Group's NATO 1961 game: http://microgamedesigngroup.com/N61.html From the game's website: "NATO 1961 is a simulation of the potential for war in Germany, covering events that could have led to World War Three. Players assume the roles of President John F. Kennedy and the NATO powers or Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and the Warsaw Pact general staffs. Confronted with the crisis, players can manage the conflict at a limited level or escalate it to a full-out nuclear war between the Superpowers." The game uses the escalation system that is used in MDG/Kerry Anderson's other games during the Cold War - Korea and Cuban Missile Crisis. The system adds 2 more developed phases/mechanics normally not explored in detail in other WW3 games.  The first is an extensive pre-war period starting with the crisis in Berlin in early 1961. East German refugees were streaming into the west through West ...

 I downed my first Soviet Bomber! Unfortunately, I did not use an ideal method. I collided with it... At the beginning of the turn, I thought I would have to go past the rear bombers because of speed and follow the lead, or I needed to pop up to stay behind them and do another diving attack next turn. But looking at my movement options I found I was just slow enough to stay behind a bomber and at 0 range in their blind spot and my max firepower. Collisions never happen that much anyway... I was wrong. Luckily my other flight member dodged a collision with his range 0 bomber. I was told I successfully bailed out, so I can fly another bullet plane... err Fiat again. Message from JD: "Art collides with bomber 7 and will have to bail out. Both Fiat 2 and Bomber 7 destroyed. Short game for Art as he demonstrates one reason for not going for range zero shots and tempting fate!"

Here are the last 2 turns of the scenario on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3gScZD2QyGU Both turns were relatively static - mainly exchanging fire. But ultimately that was enough for a German major victory. End of turn 13 - mainly focused on securing current VP hexes from US counterattack and causing more casualties to get over the major victory VP threshold. The artillery was set up now and could contribute to the fire on the final VP hex. About 5 points short at the end of the turn.  Turn 14 and the biggest news was the Infantry north of the final VP hex undisrupted so after the Artillery and Engineer fire was able to assault again - this time causing 166 US casualties. This was enough to put the VP count above the major victory level by a healthy margin. After the German National Anthem played, then I was able to see ALL the US forces. Then I realized I only won because of US/AI incompetence - against a human opponent things would have been different...

Not a lot of movement as we come to the end of the scenario. Setting up for the final assault on the last VP hex. Here is the link to the YouTube video of turns 11 and 12: https://youtu.be/VwC9JKKyjXI End of turn 11 - move German Infantry and a handful of Panzers to the Woods north of the final VP hex. Both US units in the final VP town were disrupted by fire so I decided to take chance and assault them with infantry and panzers in the woods to the north. While they did not take the hex the casualties they caused were shocking. Probably due to both US units being disrupted and the infantry unit still in travel mode. But the German infantry was disrupted also so no follow-on assault is possible until it recovers. Therefore I take another chance and move the Div HQ forward to try to increase the odds. End of turn 12: And thanks to the US casualties from the assault, the Germans are at a minor victory level. Maybe the German's just need to hold on until the end...

0600 Turn - The main focus is setting up to capture the remaining VP hex while holding the line everywhere else. Beyond the now 3 US Inf Bns lurking in the southern woods, a new one appeared to the west of the remaining VP town. Not good for my upcoming assault. YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZuQHpdfIBrY End of US turn 10 positions

 In this turn, I am able to close in and get a point-blank shot but... I'll leave it to JD's summary: T3 Summary: The trailing two bombers pull up sharply, hoping to force a fly-by of the Fiats. Fiat 1 blows by and gets hit by defensive fire, but Fiat 2 closes in on the leader of the third bomber flight and stitches the bomber's fuel tanks without effect. Bomber 9 fires on Fiat 3 but misses. The other six bombers continue diving at high speed for the deck as the trailing, and still out of range, the 2nd Fiat flight starts turning to line up the bomber stream

 Just finished and submitted for final review a VASSAL Module for the upcoming S&T 338 issue - Russian Boots: "Russian Boots is a two-player wargame simulating the Russian conquest of Central Asia during the 1850s to 1890s. There are two opposing players: Russian Empire and Khanates." https://shop.strategyandtacticspress.com/mobile/Product.aspx?id=39083

Following my Flight Lead diving on the rear flight of SB2's. Lead tucks in above and behind the leftmost rear SB2, while I just stay on his wing. We both get a shot off (but mine was not as good given my position). My Lead's shot is devastating - 6 hits/multiple critical - and the SB2 is going down in flames. 1 down 8 to go... Maybe I can just stay on my Lead's wing and watch the show 👀 The other 2 SB2 flights are off the image in front and the second Fiat flight behind us. 

Turn 9 is posted on YouTube. The good news is I think I got the sound levels set right between the mic and system/game sounds. https://youtu.be/aMED6K9WJ40 Some good things for the Germans also happened in the US rear. First, the Artillery unit on the road in front of the Hetzer was disrupted w/Artillery which was then followed by an assault by the infantry which destroyed the remaining guns - woohoo! The German Inf Bn then started advancing to the final objective while the Hetzers dug in. Then the German Engineer, though disrupted, was able to finish off the remaining US Artillery in front of them with direct fire.  In the north the German units mainly focused on digging in, while the Artillery unit on the road made it to Roth, just in range of the final VP hex Schonberg. Time to setup...