Unity of Command - Gameplay Notes - 2nd Kharkov Scenario - The Fall of Izium (17May42 / 06Jun42)

Izium fell on the first week of June1942 to a backdrop of ferocious attacks and counterattacks.

The human toll has been horrendous, the enemy too obstinate to give up ground.

ArmA 2 - Combat Outpost Defense

This video brought to you by BO, who appears to be having lots of multiplayer fun ... :)



From the video description:

An ArmA TvT event in which we get our collective asses handed to us. As part of the beta MP TvT campaign "A Fork in the Road" which requires ISAF personnel to conduct KLE's, route clearance, weapons interdiction, raids, clear and hold mandates, humanitarian operations (building wells and schools), etc... we establish a new COP in a contested area overlooking a valley. 

Within two hours of our patrol establishing said COP, AAF conduct a complex attack on our position. Outnumbered nearly 6-1 we hold our own, but only because of the Close Air Support provided by ADFGrunt06. We eventually abandoned the position.

Cheers,

Scenario Design Center, Contributions Needed

The Scenario Design Center is a great site for all things HPS and John Tiller software. It was founded and it is maintained by a very dedicated fellow from Australia who is spending his own money on hosting.

If you are into HPS or John Tiller software, I'm sure you know about this site. A voluntary contribution will be appreciated.

Cheers,

ArmA 2 - Bunkers Need Better Frontal Cover

Have you noticed how fast your men die if they are in one of ArmA's bunkers. Those things expose you and your men to an excessive amount of frontal enemy fire. In this entry, I added an H-barrier to the front of the bunkers.

I know it looks ugly and I am sure that there is a way to pile up some sandbags to the front of the bunker. In addition, no Marine will agree to man such conspicuous, non-camouflaged fighting position. But this is just an experiment: a Marine fire team defends against a Russian squad which is attacking frontally.

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,