Unity of Command - Gameplay Notes - 2nd Kharkov Scenario - Operations Plan

Supposedly, the Russians blundered into a trap with their deep penetration south of Kharkov  ...

The Izium salient has a very mobile but relatively weak head (6th Cavalry Corps, the tip of the Soviet spear) and a particularly strong right shoulder (21st and 23rd Tank Corps). I'm told to "move in for the kill" into the Izium salient, but I have butterflies in the stomach.

The Goods Keep Coming - Releases, Recent and Upcoming

A a better job to pay for all the games I want? Or no job to have time to play them? :)

John Tiller Software has a new Napoleonic game out since yesterday:
Campaign Leipzig

HPS Simulations has two upcoming games almost out of the oven. The next two links point you towards a press release posted through GameSquad  (I'm not worth to be in the press list of HPS Simulations, LOL).

Roman Civil War
Tigers Unleashed

There is one more release coming up, a massive update for Steel Beasts ProPE. More details soon.

Cheers,

Unity of Command - Gameplay Notes - 2nd Kharkov Scenario, Operations Brief

This series of entries are game play notes about Unity of Command, which I will review in the following days. They are written as an AAR with frequent stops along the way to showcase the game's features and design.

This war game features both single scenarios and a campaign which is more or less a series of scenarios linked together. For this series I choose the 2nd Kharkov scenario and I am playing as the Germans (single scenarios can be played from one pre-determined side, not both).

This series features a lot of screenshots and if you are interested in seeing them in detail I suggest you click on each of them, then when the window for images pops up right click them and select the "open in a new tab" option. Sorry about the inconvenience, you can thank Blogger for the extra work ... :)

Command Ops Battles from the Bulge - How to Derail Your Recon Pull

A fine war gaming evening and a painful reminder of what Command Ops is all about.

It's the early afternoon of D1 and the 2nd PzD is on a tight timetable to secure a crossing over the Meuse at or near Dinant (some 20 kilometers northwest of the sector shown in this map). The first significant water obstacle is the Lomme river. An earlier recon mission of the crossing at Hargimont (A) showed that the site is well defended by a US Army infantry battalion (unfortunately a reconnaissance company got decisively engaged there and is fighting for its life right now). The crossing at Jemelle (B) is useless because it can't be accessed from the south. The crossing at Rochefort (C) was reconnoitered by a bicycle (?!) company (E) and is also defended by US Army infantry battalion. The bicycle company was ordered to reconnoiter another crossing downstream (D) so KG Cochenhausen can bypass Rochefort (C) and continue pushing northwest. Fine and dandy, the trains appear to be on time. KG Cochenhausen will be entirely on the other side of the river in 2 to 3 short hours, I thought.

ArmA 2 British Armed Forces - The Awesome Stopping Power of .50 Cal

Don't do this at your virtual battlefield, fellows. Eating and drinking too much impaired my judgement tonight, but I kicked some rebel butt nonetheless. Happy Thanksgiving ... :)

The mission was to block any rebel reinforcements from entering the area of operations five kilometers south. Down there, a reinforced company is searching an insurgent compound suspected of harboring heavy weapons, including two T-55 tanks (leftovers courtesy of the now defunct Takistani Army). We are just a tiny group of lads, half observation post, half blocking force. My vehicle is in one of the extremes of a village, and the tanks the main force is looking for are just in front of me.

Unity of Command - Postcard from Stalingrad

The 371st Infantry Division (selected in the screen below) is the only operational reserve of the German south pincer aimed at Stalingrad. In the turn before, I've already lost a Panzer Division. :(  I've never went from the offensive to the defensive so freaking fast!

Click the image for a better view.

How a game that looks so simple can offer the player so many operational-warfare choices?

A review for Unity of Command is coming up.

Cheers,

DCS Black Shark 2 - Sharks Go Downtown

Irregulars. The ragtags are outgunned and outnumbered, but they still have the luxury of choosing when and where to fight.

0500. Kutaisi, Georgia. The Russian Army is consolidating the gains of a blitz invasion. The Georgian Army has been almost overrun but hostile irregular forces keep popping up everywhere. The forward reconnaissance elements of  a Russian forward detachment are at the outskirts of Kutaisi. Me and my wingman are attached to this reconnaissance patrol. We didn't expect to fight this morning.

Squad Battles Red Victory - Dragging Men Uphill

Another 200 gallons of tough love from a Squad Battles' tutorial/boot camp scenario. :)

The game: Squad Battles Red Victory (WWII, tactical level, turn based)
The scenario: Bootcamp 1, Assault on a Fortified Position. Training scenario. Topic: fire and maneuver, use of combat engineers

Mission for today is to take a German fortified position (A) manned by a German infantry squad. Specific objectives (blue squares with a number 50) are two MG42 bunkers on a hill. I am commanding a company of Russian infantry (B). By the time of this screenshot was taken, I already advanced/infiltrated my men to their assault jump off positions. Note how I am leaning my forces on the right flank. The vegetation offered concealment for a covert approach, but all my command is in a depression crossed by a gully. I feel like I'm putting fish for a barrel shootout.  

When calculated by counting men, the odds were in our favor. The firepower/terrain calculus was a totally different story ...

Getting Acquainted with "Battle Command"

Imagine commanding each platoon of a whole battalion over a hundred square kilometers 3D battlefield rendered like Google Earth ...

That's pretty much what I am getting myself into. Battle Command is a free multiplayer, real time, highly detailed tactical combat simulation from Historical Software Corporation.

"Command" Naval/Air War Game to Nuke from Orbit

Admiral, something is watching our fleet from way up there ...



The passion of the group developing Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations knows no limit. Needless to say, looking forward to play this! :)

Cheers,

DCS Black Shark 2 - My Shark is Short on Sensors (and Targets)

I learnt about the DCS Black Shark 2 upgrade at SimHQ.com. The upgrade was a surprise to many, including myself. I have been aching to get back into the Ka-50 for a while and now I have the perfect excuse.

Yesterday I took off to a CAS mission to find out how much my rotary wing skills have rusted.

North German Plain 85 / Steel Beasts ProPE - Catching Up With the Enemy (Epilogue)

In the end, the enemy was able to reach PL Navajo in numbers enough to mess with the NATO forces in Hameln, who by then were taking a break from a tough fight against the airborne enemy forces.

SITREP at 0852. Enemy tanks have broken through PL Mohawk through Voremberg (A, D). The lead element of the Soviet column is ready to pivot north (A). One lonely Leopard has occupied battle position 2 (BP2, B) but it's having trouble acquiring any target. 1st and 4rd Tank Platoons, along with a tank from 3rd Platoon (E) can't react in time to the enemy tank threat south (A and D) and are busy figuring out if the enemy can still cross PL Mohawk (center, C).

France '14 by HPS Simulations - Bewegungskrieg in World War I

France '14 (a John Tiller game published by HPS Simulations) is a grand-tactical/ operational level war game that covers the first year of World War I in the Western front.

North German Plain 85 / Steel Beasts ProPE - On Roadblocks and Thoroughfares (PL Mohawk Middle and South)

The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions: when they're ready and when you're not.
From Murphy Laws of Combat

The smoke billows and the sound of tank main guns blasting at the north of the battlefield, made panzergrenadiers elsewhere in PL Mohawk wary about their retreat routes. The few in command of those men wondered how many of those very tanks firing over there would cover their retreat or shoot their rears.

North German Plain 85 / Steel Beasts ProPE - Payback at PL Mohawk (North)

It was like Mars' spear has drawn parts of phase line Mohawk.

North German Plain 85 / Steel Beasts ProPE - The Futility of Battle Position 1

Good commanders lay out their plans from maps pinned to walls, great commanders lay out their plans from the saddles of their horses.

To everybody's relief, the Soviets had planned to move near Coppenbrugge, just where battle position 1 (BP1) was waiting for them. But the cost of the first engagement was to be high ...

Armadillo - Danish FOB in Afghanistan

Saw this documentary in Netflix this afternoon.

It was superb, I am speechless ...
Cheers,

North German Plain 85 / Steel Beasts ProPE - Seeing the Elephant (Part 2)

The men and guns of the 2nd Panzer Brigade needed targets. They got them soon enough, but at this time of battle there were no guns to shoot at them.

The west edge of Coppenbrugge, as seen from the southern edge of battle position 1 (BP1) through a gunner's FLIR .

North German Plain 85 / Steel Beasts ProPE - Seeing the Elephant (Part 1)

Minutes before the demands of battle call him for action, even the toughest veteran soldier cuts conversation, alters his facial expression and gets lost in his thoughts. There is no panic, just introspection. A last minute smoke, an anxious short walk that goes nowhere, maybe a glance of that picture that holds every reason to survive.

It was 0800 and there was no time to waste. There were battle positions and observation post to occupy.

In this blog entry, a pictorial blog entry depicting the first minutes leading to contact. This is a rush post before I leave for the office. More pictures coming up later today.

Graviteam Releases English Version of "Achtung Panzer Operation Star"

"Achtung Panzer Operation Star" is the sequel to "Kharkov 1943". Operation Star has been available in Russia for a year or so and now is out for the Euro/US market via Gamersgate.

Achtung Panzer: Operation Star at Gamersgate.

I'm going to grab this one at a later time. I'm backlogged!

Cheers,