Game vs Book - How "Historical" War Gaming Can Be?

A few years back when I had the time to play by e-mail, one of my regular opponents almost completely dismissed a title of a well-known, thoroughly researched series of World War II games because the order of battle was "way off". I'm not talking a whole brigade missing, just the number of tanks in a couple of regiments in an scenario that spans a whole Soviet Front. Yeah, I can't blame the guy for not knowing his military history ... Eventually I talked him back into the game, but his passion for historic authenticity was hard not to notice.

The flow of any real battle seems to be dependent on many uncontrollable variables interacting in a capricious way. There is some sort of a "butterfly effect" in the way real battles unfold. In a parallel universe, where the telephone cable of the 5th Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of the Chasseurs Ardennais didn't break during the morning of 10th May 1940, would the 1st Panzer Division bet stopped cold on its tracks? Would the invasion of France fail in this parallel universe?

Teasers for the mind but fear not, I have no intention of getting into academics or esoterism!

This entry is just to introduce a series about historical war gaming. The premise is simple: grab a book where the level of tactical/operational detail is good enough to get a real life plan, apply it into a war game, and see how it goes from there. Outcomes, deviations from the real life battle, challenges that are not obvious or mentioned in the book ... How historical the war game gets and remains during gameplay? Many of you do this all the time and in that case I wish you can get and supply suggestions about good books to enhance your "historical war gaming".

So, stay tuned for the first entry of the series. Hint provided below.

Command Ops Battles from the Bulge VS KG Peiper at the Battle of the Bulge

Cheers,

Scourge of War Antietam - Burnside's Bridge - Part 2

"Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks."  Field Marshal Prince Aleksandr Suvorov

This a continuation of a previous entry.

Scourge of War Antietam - Burnside's Bridge - Part 1

So blessed by a position  favorable for the defense yet so cursed by such a shortage of men and guns.

The game is Scourge of War, with the Antietam DLC. This 3D tactical war game is certainly unique and recently it has been adopted by the United States Army College for Senior Officer Training.

This scenario is about the action at the so-called "Burnside Bridge" during the American Civil War's Battle of Antietam (by that time the bridge was named the "Rohrbach Bridge").

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 - What I Envy of Mainstream Shooters: Moving Around

Distractions as of late: playing CoD MW2 private matches with my son and getting my rear end kicked by him every time.

Panzer Command Ostfront - German Armor Counterattack

If this would be real life I would rather not come back to the battalion HQ tent at the end of this battle ...

The game is Panzer Command Ostfront (Matrix Games) and the scenario is about a German armored counter-attack after the Soviet breakthrough near Kapitanovka (Korsun Operation, February 1944). I am playing as the Germans against the Soviets (commanded by the computer).

Gary Grigsby's War in the East - Don to the Danube Expansion - A First Row Seat for WWII Soviet Operational Art

The Don to the Danube expansion for Gary Grigsby's War in the East has been released a while ago. This expansion offers new scenarios and challenges for you. In case you are playing as the Soviets, you are now on the strategic offensive and it's time to show off your operational art.

One of the first scenarios I jumped into was the Cherkassi-Korsun one. This operation is quite famous and was a tough one for both the Axis and the Soviets. I was put in command of the First and Second Ukrainian Fronts and sooner than later, the formidable order of battle felt quite diluted in the expanses south of Kiev.

Combat Mission Battles for Normandy Commonwealth Forces - What's a Good Infantry Tank Anyway? - Downtown

The game: as per the title of the entry
The scenario: Buron - The Main Event
The question: Infantry Tank? What for?

Continued from the previous entry. Spoiler alert: you may want to skip this entry if you are going to play this scenario.

Naval War Arctic Circle - Preview - Part 2

With the release just a few hours from now, the final part of my preview.

As I mentioned in the previous entry, the similarities with Fleet Command are there in the form of the tactical map and the 3D world view. Many years have passed and off course the interface of Naval War Arctic Circle  (NWAC) takes advantage of present day coding languages, with a plethora of windows, clickeable info boxes and tool tips. Does mainstream-lining get in the way of a satisfying naval war gaming experience?

Take On Helicopters Hinds - Retaking Comms Ridge

The insurgents are creeping towards our positions. We neglected the highest point in our area of operations, the one that holds a communications hub.

The game: Take On Helicopters, Hinds DLC (a helicopter sim-lite based in the ArmA 2 engine)
The mission: insert a fire team of Russian on the ridge and re-take the installation from the insurgents. Avoid collateral damage to the satellite antennas.

Naval War Arctic Circle - Preview - Part 1

Naval War Arctic Circle, a game from Turbo Tape Games to be published by Paradox, is set for release one week from now.

I had the chance to play the beta version (V 0.8.0) and, full disclosure, I have to confess I was expecting far more less from this upcoming release. Yes, I have been burned by marketing before and that sequence of one of the promotional videos showing an Abrams MBT parked in the deck of an aircraft carrier didn't impress me too well. Don't judge a war game by it's promotional videos, I guess ...