No excuses though, I have started the planning for a 2 day campaign with some mates and I thought I might share some of that with you.
The Plan
So the basic outline of the plan is to try and represent a escalating series of engagements as NATO covering forces try to delay a Soviet thrust towards their not quite prepared main line of resistance. This will be done through 3 gaming sessions over the course of a weekend.
Forces
At the moment apart from Soviets, we have options for
NATO. Whilst having the whole set of games between one NATO nationality and the Soviets makes the most sense, it will mean that some players don't get to use their kit - so I'm thinking of having a maximum of two national NATO forces would be OK. Our options are:
·
West German & British; or· West German & American.
If we go with the 2 nationalities approach, a way of explaining it could be the Soviets trying to advance near a lesss protected Corps boundary line.
Games
So the plan is for 3 gaming sessions - depending on the player count this could mean some concurrent battles.
Session 1 – Saturday – The Recce Battle – Each of
these would be a very small 1 v 1 game (probably max 3 AFVs per side) which will
represent elements of a Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment’s Recce Company clashing
with a NATO recce troop. The game should last less than 1 hour – with the
Soviets needing to identify the locations of the NATO recce troops and report
them, and get off the opposite end of the table, while the NATO units need to
stay hidden, and destroy the Soviets quickly. Results of these games will
have an impact on the next session.
Session 2 – Saturday – The Covering Force – Each of
these will be a small sized game – think mechanised infantry platoon, supported
by a tank troop plus odds and sods. It will represent the Combat
Reconnaissance Patrol of a Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment in action against part
of a larger NATO delaying force. The game should take 2 hrs or so – with
the Soviets needing to fix the NATO force in place and destroy them, while NATO
needs to keep intact and in the game for as long as possible, delaying the
Soviets from winning, before either losing or exiting the table in a planned
withdrawal. Again if we have the players this can be two concurrent
battles. The result from this game will have a large bearing on the next
day’s battle - basically the longer the game goes, the more time the NATO defences will have had to get ready for the next battle.
Session 3 – Sunday – The Main Battle – This will be the
main game played on a massive 27' long table, hopefully with some purpose built
terrain added. The game will be large enough for all players to be involved,
yet my aim is to make it not so large as to lose some dynamism or to create
tank car parks. The nature of the forces will be determined by the
results of the previous day’s games.
Here I'm thinking if the NATO games on the Saturday have gone badly, the Soviets will release a Forward Detachment that will try and catch the unprepared NATO defenders, well... unprepared. I'm thinking of having a NATO only time at the beginning of the game - they'll have a number of turns to try and get "ready" - without know which turn the Soviets will arrive on. They will have a number of assets, including some engineers, and will have to make decisions about what they are going to do, like to we set the bridge with explosives, or demolish that house, or dig trenches. I'll also have some civilian vehicles trying to escape the combate area, a broken down tank needing repair etc. Where do we try and delay the Soviets? Where do we make our final stand etc. Whilst NATO will get reinforcements - they won't arrive until later in the game and in dribbles as forces rush to the scene.
If NATO has done well in the previous day's games, their defensive line will be better set with tank scraps, minefields etc. The Soviet Attack with be a Forward Security Element of the Regiment - still seeking the main line of resistance. Basically they'll have more kit in place, and more engineering tasks completed. More chance of this:
Anyway - that's the initial plans - happy to have any thoughts and comments.
Have fun
Richard