France has fallen finally.

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Originally uploaded by denis_1929

The Auggie the Hun is 3 months behind on the timetable. The Barbarossa schedule is affected or would the Germans attempt Seelöwe?

Schlieffen Plan in action

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Originally uploaded by denis_1929

Low countries have been taken with great cost. The brave and starving defenders of Brussels hanging on at all costs. The German time table has been delayed.

Close-up

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Originally uploaded by denis_1929

Panzers are poised for France

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Originally uploaded by denis_1929

Kaiser David of the Allies casts his last and final warning against further aggression.

Eurofront 2 Session 2: Germany looks West

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Originally uploaded by denis_1929

Auggie von Ludendorff looks calmly towards France. The modified Schlieffen/Manstein plan is going into effect. The Germans remain calm while Kaiser David of the Allies helps Denis plan the defence of the low countries.

Eurofront 2

Auggie and David plotting the face of Europe. Eurofront 2 is quite fun and the rules are interesting. The depiction of strategic decisions and logistical constraints are well covered by the system. The pacing of the game is quite accurate for the first few turns i.e. 1939 to early 1940. The game that we are playing has been quite close to the actual historical script.

Poland has been invaded and the decision to invade Norway has been made by Auggie. Though Auggie was a tad slow in taking Poland. The French got a turn more to beef up their troops. 50 more hours till the end of the game, we shall see!!!!

From Don to Dnepr

Just finished reading an excellent account of the third and fourth battles of Kharkov. Glantz provides a simple and well paced account of these two battles.

A game of A Victory Lost against David "Manstein" was just completed last weekend. The Russians aka myself failed to take Kharkov even, negating the simple need for the the German Backhand Blow. The German held the river lines well as the Soviets failed repeatedly to push them backwards and form bridgeheads.


Here's a map of the area.

Now on towards reading the Battle for Leningrad and maybe try out Barbarossa: Army Group North solitaire.

POG 1917 Scenario- Russians Reeling

It now Fall 1917. I think the Russians are reeling now. Augustine must be wondering how he can shore up his Eastern Front and prevent a total collapse.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_theatre_of_World_War_I#The_Eastern_Front

Books: Siege of Leningrad

"Leningrad (now reverted to its pre-1914 name of St Petersburg) was surrounded by German forces in 1941 and cut off from the rest of Russia. It was besieged for nearly three years, the great city's population suffering terribly in the bitter cold of the Russian winter. Over a million men, women and children died of starvation and hypothermia, but the city fought on and never surrendered. In 1943 the Russian army broke through to link up with the garrison and end the longest, bloodiest siege of the Second World War. "
A very interesting account of the bloody Russian attempts to break the German siege.

The difficult terrain and the defensive advantages have been well-covered. The usual problems of Russian staff planning and co-ordination of attacks leading to defeat in detail are put forth for the failures of the pre-1944 operations. The book is a good primer on Army Group North and the German 18th Army.

Now to find a good read on Operations Bagration/ Destruction of Army Group Centre.

This book has been a good companion to the current play of Drive to the Baltic. Army Group North is now on the run. Do they have enough time to run back towards Riga before the Russians cut the off?

I am piqued to play Roads to Leningrad as well.

Consim: First World War- Ted Raicer

First World War by Ted Raicer. First "Euro" by the wargame / consim designer.

The game plays well with 4 players. The starting east-west balance for deployment of troops is critical for the Germans aka "Do I need to rush my troops back to defend Tannenberg?" Very enjoyable, fast game. Elements of some WW1 issues can be discerned.

At the very least the game did not devolve to a German game with a tack-on theme. Its POG "very lite"!

Turning the Tables (TTT)

Just completed a month long PBEM game of TTT against Tim the Merciless. Despite accounts of the games imbalance favouring Germans. Tim managed attack the Germans with high odds in th initial turns and caused quite a lot step losses on the Germans. A masterly display of Schwerpunkt by the Russians.

My comments on BGG....

"Terrible thrashing at the hands of Tim the Merciless. The fun and playable game mechanics. The initial Soviet attacks can be very deadly to the Germans, Basically, inflicting step losses to the German player consistently for 2 turns with high odds attacks. The Soviet player actually won with an automatic victory in turn 2. It could also be a case of the German player not running far enough."

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8352