Playtesting Another Joe Carter Game

In 1942, the Philippine Islands were overrun by the Japanese.  The last part to fall was the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay.  When it fell, a small group of eighteen USN sailors from the crew of the minesweeper USS Quail decided to take a thirty-six-foot launch and make their way to Darwin, Australia.  They made it, and a book was written by the man who led them under the title South from Corregidor.  

Joe Carter, for whom I have playtested previously, created a game based on the experience in the book titled Escape from Corregidor, and graciously invited me once again to playtest the new design.  It's a great concept, and so far I have found the design to be solid and a good play.

At War with the Evil Empire, Part II

The storm front: Pact positions on the eve of invasion

There are a number of ‘special’ attacks that can be made, either before or during the Ground Combat phase for each side.  Close Air Support (CAS) can be used, with the number of units determined by die roll and Turn number, and modified by Weather variables.  Artillery barrages can be called by the Pact player, either as its own attack or in conjunction with a ground assault---but there must be sufficient ammunition, and the supply is finite.  The use of special, high-tech munitions by NATO against mass Pact formations fall under the abstraction of Assault Breaker attacks; they, too, are of limited supply, and become less numerous as time goes on.  NATO also has the option of assaults by Attack Helicopter battalions, which have the key strength of being able to assault a single division while it is in a stacked formation; unfortunately, AH units can be savaged and Disrupted by divisional AA, and can (unlike CAS units) be destroyed.

 

After all of the “special” attacks like possible CAS, Attack Helicopter, Artillery Barrages, Assault Breakers, and possibly Chemical/Nuclear, it still comes down to armor and ground-pounders shooting at each other.  An attack against a ground unit takes into account relative Attack/Defense Factors, terrain, external support (CAS, Artillery, etc.), and previous levels of Disruption, if any.   All of these are then combined to determine the Odds between the two forces, then rolling for results on a table, both for the Attacker’s assault and for the Defender’s counter-attack.  I have always liked and preferred the “simultaneous damage” approach, and it works well in RS. 

Victory for either side is determined by a point system.  For the Warsaw Pact, points are accrued by taking and holding West German population centers, each of which has a specific point value.  For both sides, points are accrued by the number of enemy units eliminated.  So, NATO achieves victory by minimizing the number of points accrued by the Pact, either by successful defense or retaking of urban centers, or by eliminating enough Pact units to put a dent into the Pact’s score when the results are tallied. 

The weakest area in gameplay is Air Warfare.  There is an optional Air Superiority system which relies more on luck than technology and other factors, and which is also somewhat clunky to use.  It is the least attractive part of the game mechanics, in my opinion, and it skews the game in that air superiority and CAS were primary to NATO defensive strategy, and would be tilted in NATO’s favor.  This is one area when Hemphill’s apparent desire to avoid a lot of “chrome” actually shortchanges the game.  For the purposes of my game, I chose to use CAS only, ignoring the optional rule. 

One optional rule that makes life harder for the NATO player is the French Intervention Rule (17.0).   In essence, France holds its units back and avoids involvement until Turn 3, when France examines the current strategic situation and decides whether or not it will support NATO, and to what degree if the answer is positive.  While the fickle nature of the French is well-known, and de Gaulle’s withdrawal of French military forces from NATO is equally well-known, the Intervention Rule was based upon incomplete knowledge on the designer’s part; we now know that France had signed classified agreements with the US to honor its military commitments to NATO in the event of war with the Pact.  While an interesting “what if” and, in its way, darkly humorous, it is not historically accurate. 

On the whole, the game is solid.  There are, however, several major weaknesses which can affect gameplay and which (to me) hurt the game’s authenticity.  It’s not a bad game to play, and it moves with speed since chrome is kept to a minimum, but I usually prefer a bit more detail and complexity in my games.  

At War with the Evil Empire: A Review of "The Red Storm" Part I

J. Michael Hemphill, designer.  Yaquinto Games, 1983.

Upon its release in 1983, I bought a copy of this game.  At the time, however, I was more into RPGs with my friends than solitaire historical wargaming, so a few years later it was sold, unplayed. 

Last year I acquired a copy of it unpunched and in very good condition, albeit yellowed with age.  Since my recent attempt to unbox and play the newest addition to the collection---Blue Water Navy---has been put on hiatus for a number of reasons, I got out RS and began setup.

Since I like historical wargames, I was curious as to how accurate the designer's unit designations and overall historicity fared twenty-five years after the scenario was relegated to "alternate history" status.

On the NATO side, Hemphill really did his homework; considering that he had to have developed the game between 1979-1982, his unit IDs and their placement for 1983 is excellent with very few errors.  I am particularly impressed with his inclusion of the six established Heimatschutzbrigaden (HSchBrig), or Homeland Security Brigades.  These were units consisting of mostly reservists that provided rear-area security and defense against para-troops or infiltration groups. While he chose not to reproduce what has been called NATO's "layer-cake defense," he did assign initial unit placement with the proper army groups, dividing the map into BALTAP (Area K), NORTHAG (Area N), and CENTAG (Area C) and assigning units with almost complete historical accuracy.  In my setup, I went one step further and ensured that my divisions were placed within their proper "layers" in each Area Command.  I also researched the location of numerous army airfields and bases so my placement of the various air assault and attack helicopter brigades would be a bit more historical.

On the Pact side, however, Hemphill is on shakier ground.  To be fair, the up-to-date placement and assigning of Soviet and Pact divisions within the German Democratic Republic (DDR) would have been difficult to obtain even by people familiar with the intelligence community, and would probably have been classified information even if it were available.  Still, Hemphill does get quite a few of the units right, in particular the Soviet divisions present in the DDR, but there are inconsistencies in the OB although they do not affect the game in any significant way.

The game, itself, was very well produced, and bears the trademarks of Yaquinto's all-too-brief history: double-thick counters, and maps of heavy, coated paper that neither tear nor wear easily. 
The artwork is well-done, with the map featuring a somewhat-abstracted West Germany divided into scaled hexes, with top-down views of terrain features and surrounded by both allied and enemy countries.  For the counters, the designers chose to go with silhouettes for the various unit-types, rather than the NATO Standard symbols, and the unit nationality is indicated by color variation.  This makes the game more approachable and easier to play, especially for new or first-time players not familiar with wargaming.  Personally, I could have gone either way as I am comfortable with either format.

The calm before the storm: initial NATO unit placement

The game is played at the operation level with most units at the division level, with a small number of brigade-units when necessary, or when breaking down Airborne or Air Assault divisions.  Combat is resolved using an Odds system, which, while not my favorite mechanic, works fairly well once you've used it.  Provision for counter-assault is made by allowing a defender to engage an attacker, although at slightly reduced effectiveness.  Terrain effects are straightforward and easy to remember.  Airborne drop survival rules are a weak point, in my opinion, since distance from friendly units would have no bearing in drop survival unless the division is being dropped in "Indian country."  There is also no provision for drift.

I will detail combat more extensively in Part II.

Unboxing the Latest

Since my wife and I have been busy preparing our house for sale, I haven't had much time for posting lately. 
Today, however, a new addition to the collection arrived: Stuart Tonge's Blue Water Navy: The War at Sea (Compass Games #1101, 2019).  The game pits the naval forces of NATO against those of the Warsaw Pact, and the scenarios range from 1983-1989.  It will cover  some of the same possible conflicts in my edition of HARPOON, but at less cost and easier solo play. 

The map (consisting of the entire North Atlantic and many of the landmasses surrounding it, as well as the Med) is quite large, so I'll be setting up on our long, 6-place dining table.  Fortunately, we have an enclosed dining room with a sturdy door, so I'll be able to begin the war with no interference from the Catzilla Crew.  
So, it's time to punch out, set up, and got to Round 2 with Gorshkov's boys.  I'll write a review soon. 

The Squadron to Date

Karen and I are in the process of packing our household up for an upcoming move.  Given the circumstances, the Gustine Naval Shipyard is closing until its relocation to Merced.  

Here is a formation shot of the squadron to date.  In the lead is the frigate USS General Pike (26), followed by the converted merchant topsail schooners USS Asp, USS Julia, and USS Fair American (all armed with a single 32-pounder).   This will be it in miniatures work for some months.  

Another Launch: USS Julia

Finished the second vessel I have been working on: The USS Julia, armed merchant topsail schooner (1 long gun, 32-pounder).   

Tomorrow I begin working on two more of the armed merchant schooners: USS Fair American and USS Asp.  

First Off the Ways (Gustine Naval Shipyard Update)

My first major shipbuilding effort came off the ways of the Gustine Naval Shipyard last night.

Karen and I have been very busy of late preparing our home for sale, so this project has taken longer than I would have liked, but it is finally done.

The vessel is the USS General Pike, frigate, 26 long guns (24-pounders).  From her launch in late July, 1813, she served as the flagship of the USN squadron on Lake Ontario and was the most powerful warship on the Lakes to date.  At her mainmast, she flies the broad pennant of Commodore Isaac Chauncey, commander of the Ontario squadron from late 1812 until war's end. 

The 1/1200 scale kit is from Langton's Miniatures, ordered through Waterloo Minis, and the acrylic base was made by Old Dominion Game Works. 

Although the exact paint schemes for the Lake Ontario squadron are unknown, the black hull with white gunwales was a standard USN paint scheme at the time, and both squadron supply invoices and contemporary images from several sources indicate it was probably adopted. 

I used the following colors for this project, and will use the same for the rest of the squadron, as well:

Vallejo Black (70.950)
Vallejo Ivory (sails) (70.918)
50/50 blend of Vallejo Iraqui Sand (70.819) and Vallejo Ochre Brown (70.856) for the deck, masts, spars, etc.
Testor's Model Master Flat White (FS 37875) for the gunwale line

I decided to depict standing rigging only, as running-rigging would be too much at this scale.  For the rigging, I used Sew-ology black, 100% cotton thread at 40/3 weight, and waxed it prior to use.

It is all held together by Loctite Gel Control Super Glue, a product which should have earned the developers a Nobel Prize for Chemistry, in my opinion.

As you can see, it is far from perfect.  As mentioned before, I am not a modeler by heart, but I think this turned out fairly well considering it's been decades since I last tried anything like it.  I have learned some things along the way, and there are some areas that need more practice (like keeping the rigging taut after placement, and giving more realistic bends to the brass sails).  Regardless, to me these will always be game pieces for miniatures rules, not hyper-accurate scale models.  I did the best I could with the skills I have, and I am content with it as a first effort. 

Currently on the ways: USS Julia and USS Asp, armed merchant topsail schooners, 1-32 pounder long gun each.

Forecast: Rainy, with a Chance of Malaria---Playtesting Joe Carter’s Devil Boats: PT Boats in the Solomons

July 1, 1943.  You find yourself at a haphazard base on the northern tip of the island of Rendova in the Solomons.  Your orders? Command a squadron of up to four PT-boats (MTBs) in support of naval and land operations in the chain through nightly patrols against the Japanese-held islands to the northwest.  Your missions will range from landing or evacuating coast-watchers to torpedo-duels with full-strength destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.  Your ultimate goal is to accomplish your missions while keeping the guys in your squadron alive.

I first made the acquaintance of Joe Carter through Board Game Geek forums on Greg Smith’s game Silent Victory, and Ian Smith’s outstanding Raiders of the Deep. He posted a number of well-designed rule variants for both games, and we exchanged comments on a variety of topics.  Eventually, I learned he had designed a solitaire game of his own.  I congratulated him on what looked like a good game and he invited me to play-test it prior to its commercial publication.  At first I had to decline as demands of my job and some homeowner projects were keeping me very busy.  Several weeks later some of the life-pressure was off and I finally took him up on his offer. After printing out the rule books and tables and assembling the game components he provided I was set.

   

To begin with, there is enough historical detail in the game that tells me Joe did his homework and knows his subject.  One of my favorites is the “malaria roll,” made before each mission.  If you fail the roll, a member of the crew of the command boat (yours) has come down with malaria and needs to be replaced at the last minute.  If the infected crew member happens to be you, the game is over.  This potential mission complication is historically accurate.  In his book At Close Quarters, John D. Bulkeley relates how malaria took hold among the PT squadrons in the South Pacific, particularly as the Japanese cut supply lines and malnutrition and exhaustion set in among the crews.  It is one of many factors in the game that can affect personnel capabilities, and losing an ace gunner to a mosquito bite can ruin your night by weakening your crew on a crucial mission.  Dysentery is another tropical pleasure which can rear its debilitating head during a mission, possibly leaving a crew member “combat ineffective” for the duration. 

In my opinion, weather should always be a factor in historical wargaming, particularly in naval warfare where Precipitation, Wind and Sea State can effect everything from navigation to detection and gunnery.  Devil Boats has a good weather generation system that is straightforward and accurate in terms of weather’s effects on a mission, whether it simply reduces detection range or is severe enough to fragment the squadron formation, leaving you short-handed.

The combat system in DB involves a number of charts and die-rolling, but it is not cumbersome and once you get the rhythm of it, it rolls along smoothly.  The progressive effects of damage to both targets and your squadron are logical and balanced, and the system works well for the various types of combat situations you find yourself in.

 

On any given one-night patrol, you may find yourself cruising to your target and back encountering nothing stronger than a rain shower.  Other patrols, you end up wondering if the whole IJN hasn’t been vectored in with orders to take you down.  I like that, because you never know when leaving the dock what you are going to run into; even a “dull moment” is never dull, especially when you are sailing into danger in what is, in essence, an armed, 80-foot Chris Craft. 

There are several different kinds of missions in DB, which is also a factor in keeping life interesting.  There is nothing quite as stimulating as idling your command boat among coral reefs trying to evac someone while small coastal artillery is dropping shells around you, or as making a balls-out, before-God-and-everybody torpedo run at an IJN destroyer.  Many of the missions are just downright hairy, and you begin to understand why William White’s old book about the boats was titled They Were Expendable, because you start to feel as though you *are.* And therein lies the main challenge of the game, because you are taking a rather fragile combat craft into some insane situations, and the main protection you have is your speed and your maneuverability; Devil Boats requires a bit more sense of discretion---a more deft touch---than a slug-it-out-between-armored-dreadnoughts game.

So, that is the game I have been enjoying over the last two months or so.  It is about to be offered by Compass Games (link at left), so keep an eye out for its appearance in the coming months.   

Getting the Band Back Together

A long-sought addition to my collection of games arrived yesterday---the 3rd Edition of Larry Bond's classic Harpoon.

Ordered from Noble Knight Games (link at left), my copy is yellowed with age, but otherwise pristine: unpunched counters, unruffled manuals, unused dice, and even the original Game Designers Workshop product registration card---not bad for a product printed in 1987.

When the original Harpoon came out in 1980, I was in junior high school and Ronald Reagan was the new president of the United States.  I didn’t learn about the game for a number of years, and when I did I was in college already, so I bought the original computer adaptation produced by Three-Sixty Pacific.  I was immediately hooked and ended up wearing out a few sectors of the hard drive on my MacIntosh Classic playing it.  I never did get a chance to buy the tabletop version of it, though, so since I have rekindled my interest in wargaming I decided to find a copy.  Of course, at last count the game was now in four editions, multiple scenario books, and at least one spinoff game---the unsuccessful Harpoon: Captain’s Edition---so I had to do a little research.  It really came down to two choices: the edition I have just acquired, or Harpoon 4. 

The boxed edition of Harpoon 4 is hard to get and quite expensive even when available.  Although it is relatively up-to-date in terms of weapons and platforms, my interest in “modern” naval wargaming ends with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, so an older edition was preferred.  I settled on the boxed set of the Third Edition as my goal.

Flipping through the rules last night brought back a whole lot of memories from the Evil Empire days, and I admit to some nostalgia for my Cold War youth. It will be interesting to fight the sea war against the old enemy that (thank God) never happened, using platforms that were so advanced at the time but which now are relegated to museums or the scrapyards.  It will feel like, well, getting the band back together thirty years after they churned the last album out. 

Although originally designed for miniatures, I won’t be assembling fleets of modern vessels for Harpoon like I will be for Age of Sail wargaming; I’ll be either purchasing or making my own counters over time, depending on the scenario. 

I have a lot of other things going at the moment, however, so Harpoon will sit on my shelf for now. 

Gustine Naval Shipyard

Gustine Naval Shipyard (Founded 2019)

I always swore that I would not get involved in miniatures-based wargaming.  It always seemed to me that miniatures-rules were simply self-justification by adults for continuing the boyhood pleasure of playing with toy ships and soldiers.  This was, of course, a position of ignorance, but I never really had the resources or time to devote to building a miniature fleet even if I were inclined to do so.

Now, however, it seems I have gone down the rabbit-hole. 

Almost all Age of Sail (AoS) naval board games are geared towards fleet actions.  A game which I currently own---Mike Nagle’s Blue Cross, White Ensign---is a case in point. (Another Mike Nagle-designed game, Captain’s Sea, is an exception since it focuses on single-ship combat, but its publication by Legion Games looks doubtful at present). Although I have yet to play it, it features fleet actions between the Russians and either the Swedes or the Turks and puts you in the admiral’s chair.  While this can be awesome, it doesn’t satisfy my deeply-ingrained desire to fight a single ship as its captain; movement-by-movement decisions about wind gauge, manpower allocation, sail deployment, etc. are what really immerse me in the world of sailing naval combat.

After researching the selection of AoS miniatures rule-sets, I settled on Old Dominion Game Works’ Post Captain: 1793-1815, a set of rules that emphasizes single-ship or small squadron actions.  It has a great level of detail and can be used for all scales of miniatures.  Since I hadn’t yet selected a scale of choice that was a major plus for me.  ODGW also offers a lot of support and add-ons on their website (link at left).  So, with the acquisition of Post Captain, I now had a fair wind blowing but no ship to sail; the next step involved Navy Procurement and Construction.

I chose 1/1200 scale for my ships, balancing as it does cost, detail, and availability (1/1000 was another option, but I was not impressed with the quality of AoS models currently available in that scale).  In miniatures gaming, the larger the scale, the more costly the models and the larger the space needed to play the game; I have seen photos from gaming cons where fleets square off on multiple linked banquet tables or from across the floors of entire conference rooms.  For 1/1200, the top of an average 6-8 place dining room table works well. 

Out of the major manufacturers of sailing ships in 1/1200 scale, I chose Langton Miniatures out of the UK; they get the highest marks for quality and historical accuracy across the field, and they are one of the few to offer the ships I needed to recreate the squadrons I wished to wargame.  They are not the cheapest choice, but they are worth the investment for those who, like me, are not “modelers” at heart and want to do as little rebuilding and high-finishing work as possible.  Painting, reaming, and rigging I don’t mind, but I don’t want to have to re-make masts and other parts from scratch because the provided originals are so poor.  My primary goal at this point is to re-create the USN and RN squadrons operating on Lake Ontario during the War of 1812.  Although overshadowed by the decisive tactical victory of Perry on Lake Erie, the inconclusive naval campaign on Lake Ontario was of greater strategic importance for the war, and the fact that neither side ever achieved a decisive victory makes it ripe for gaming. 

Before I started buying models, though, I had to get some gear together. Fortunately, I already had a pretty good pool of make-do modeling tools to choose from.  My wife, Karen, is a nurse, so I already have a variety of surgical tools in my tool box. Hemostat forceps and bandage cutters are useful for all sorts of tasks, and Karen’s old dissection kit from nursing school supplied some other items. My mother-in-law was an accomplished craftsperson in ceramics, so her legacy is a selection of fine paintbrushes and a complete Xacto kit.  Finally, my own interest in geology means I have quite a few magnifiers of various types available.  A trip to Hobby Lobby finished out the equipment list with a pin vise, superglues, some applicators, paints, a cutting mat and fresh Xacto blades.

Thus, the Gustine Naval Shipyard was born, and now shares space with games on my antique desk. In an upcoming post, I’ll share my current projects as well as some lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Welcome Aboard

Welcome to my blog reflecting on all things war-gaming.

If you are here, it means that, like me, you have felt the draw of games that require more background and analytical ability than Monopoly or Parcheesi, but satisfy our imaginations more fully than the abstractions of chess. War games have their basis in the long history of human conflict, and although their representations of warfare are necessarily simplified, they can still provide insight into the nature of a conflict, the technology used to fight it, and of the consequences of tactics and strategy.  As Adm. Sir John Woodward, RN once observed, “Wargaming allows you to try out tactics and not worry about having to swim for it.”  (Since Adm. Woodward successfully led the British fleet against Argentinian aggression in the Falklands back in ’82, I can only assume he spoke from experience.)

As a thoughtful and imaginative adolescent in the late '70s-early '80s, I bonded with similar spirits and we spent many weekends negotiating the imaginary worlds of tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Traveler, and Car Wars.  When I got to high school, I began exploring board-and-counter war games like those produced by Avalon Hill.  Unfortunately, my RPG friends were not as enthusiastic about the much slower world of historical war-gaming as I was, and I had to go it alone---not an easy thing with games like PanzerBlitz and Air Assault on Crete. When I first got to college, my mind and abilities became focused elsewhere and I dropped most gaming for a long while.

 

Now, however, I am a career educator and have been married for almost two decades; life is both settled and good, and along with some other interests I have rekindled my attachment to wargames.  I experience wargames like many men experience golf or fishing; yes, they require patience, thought, planning, and work, but there is a tranquility to be found in the center of it all that leaves you feeling mentally refreshed and reflective.

 

Getting back into wargaming after an absence of thirty-five years is proving to be an interesting experience.  Much in the hobby remains eternal, and I once again enjoy the pleasure of rolling polyhedrals to determine the fate of fleets and armies.  I have also discovered that much has changed in the intervening years, and is changing still---new generations bringing new ideas, wants, and historical insights, some of which are teaching this old dog a few new tricks.  This blog will be my “wargamer travel journal” as I rediscover the old and navigate the new. 

So, welcome aboard.  I am glad of the opportunity to share it with you.