I do a lot of my game design in my head. Wrestling with how things will work / play / look. But with some things it helps to write down the challenges I’m facing. Here is my latest design quandary. With my Musing on Free Form and Area Movement and my subsequent thinking about big base sabots, I’m back to thinking about ground scale in Deep Battle, my draft rules for Operational level wargaming. Should I go for a tight fit, regular or loose? WARNING: This is a very abstract discussion; do not read if ground scales either terrify or bore you.
Industrial Warfare
Nation states backed by industry. The era featured mass-conscripted armies, rapid transportation (first on railroads, then by sea and air), telegraph and wireless communications, and the concept of total war. In terms of technology, this era saw the rise of rifled breech-loading infantry weapons capable of massive amounts of fire, high-velocity breech-loading artillery, chemical weapons, armoured warfare, metal warships, submarines, and aircraft. I have chosen to start the period with the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) and end with end of World War II (1945). Sub-categories: Spanish Moroccan War, Scramble for Africa, Spanish American War, Rif Wars, World War I, Spanish Civil War, World War II.
Steven’s growing collection of wrecks
I have a growing junk yard comprising nicely painted, but wrecked, vehicles. Nominally these are potential objectives for Crossfire, but I’ve only ever used one wreck. That was the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch for Papa Eicke. The rest of my junk yard are, well, waiting for inspiration for a Crossfire Scenario. These are all 15mm scale.
15mm Wargaming figures for WW2 Soviet Paratroopers
Deep Battle, my draft rules for Operational level wargaming, includes the “airborne” troop type. I have Fallschirmjäger but not Soviet paratroopers. So I thought I’d have a quick poke around and see what I can do. This post covers the Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (Vozdushno-desantnye voyska SSSR) of World War 2, including their uniform, painting guide, and which figures to buy in 15mm.
Ground Scale in Crossfire with Maps
In my previous post on Ground Scale in Crossfire I concluded that anything 1:300 to 1:1700 is defensible, but my own preference is 1:1000. I’ve taken that further and compared my preference with the extremes. What do 1:300, 1:1000, and 1:1700 look like on table.
2024 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian
2023 went pretty well although there were a few bumps and I still didn’t complete nearly enough of my plans. So what is on the megalomaniac agenda for 2024? Well, you’ll see below. As usual I present this as a brain dump of my active projects, i.e. those all projects that are more or less “in progress”. The list is then split into three parts: likely in 2024, unlikely, and background activity.
2023 Reflections of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian
My goals for 2023 were typically overly ambitious – some would say megalomaniac. As usual I didn’t achieve them all, less than I was hoping, but it wasn’t a bad run.
Deep Battle Design Notes 6 – Musing on Free Form and Area Movement
I recently shared a version Beta 0.5 of my Deep Battle rule set with Andrés Ferrari. He challenged my obsession with hexes and encouraged me to go with free form movement or an area map. Can I? Should I?
Steven’s Gurkha Battalion for Crossfire
With my Japanese battalion ready for duty in Burma, my next project was the Gurkhas to face them. This is a battalion nominally from 17th Indian Light Division, the guys who fought at Bishenpur, Potsangbam and Ningthoukhong on the Imphal Plain 1944. You might recall from my A Case Study in Balagan Thinking – How I justify collecting Japanese, my justification for collecting Japanese was that I’m (kind of, sort of) Welsh, and so are the 2nd Battalion, 4th Prince of Wales’s Own Gurkha Rifles (kind of, sort of). Anyway, I’ve now got a battalion of Gurkhas for Crossfire. Yay! Can’t wait to get that bag piper on table.
Custom made Manipuri Hindu Temple for 14th Army
The Burma Campaign includes the Japanese invasion of India in 1944. So the setting flips from Buddhist Burma to Hindu India. Our Experiment in Ningthoukhong made me realise that to refight Bishenpur, Potsangbam and Ningthoukhong, I really needed to supplement my Home made Burmese Pagoda with a Hindu Temple from Manipuri state. Here it is. I designed it and Warbases laser cut it from MDF.
Leshnov 1941 – A Battle Report for OHW 6 Hit
Chris and Adam played my version of Leshnov 1941 Scenario for Martin Rapier’s One Hour WW2 (6 hit) (a variant of One Hour Wargames). This was our first outing with these rules.
Summary: Good game. Rules were simple but played well. The scenario needs tweaking as favours the defenders too much. And that contributed to Chris’s victory as the Germans.
Cool Ruins – The Mill from Stalingrad
I designed a version of “The Mill” from Stalingrad’s to use with Crossfiregrad. Warbases cut it out for me and then I assembled and painted it. This is part of my project to see use Cool Ruins for Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station.
Cool Ruins – Batch 1 and 2 now complete
I think I obsess about ruins. I have lots of ruins already but that didn’t stop me Planning my Cool Ruins for Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station. So one of my projects for 2021, 2022, and 2023 has been to “Buy, build, paint more 3″ x 3” sectors so I can play both Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station solely with Cool Ruins” (Crossfire of course). Well, I don’t know about Ponyri Station, but now that my 75mm and 150mm sections have arrived I can definitely do Crossfiregrad.
Steven’s Japanese Battalion for Crossfire
My WW2 Japanese are ready for duty in Crossfire. I went for a high priority Type ‘A’ Battalion. Then I added in all the support elements. So I’ve got a massively reinforced Leg Infantry Battalion. Weaker formations, i.e. battalions from a Type ‘B’ Division, Type ‘C’ Division, Mixed Infantry Brigade, or Independent Mixed Brigade, would have less than this.
Modular Raised Roads sections for Burma
My research on Japanese Roadblocks in Burma. Roadblock Battles on the Retreat from Burma and Bishenpur, Potsangbam and Ningthoukhong – Gurkhas on the Imphal Plain 1944 convinced me I needed some raised road features for Burma. I designed the raised roads, S&A Scenics made them for me. and now I’ve painted and flocked them.
Musing on being stationary in Crossfire
Crossfire and Hit The Dirt have several mechanisms for being stationary. I thought I’d list them to see if I get any insight for my revised anti-tank rules