Strong Point Gaming

Every battlefield has a strong point, defend yours today.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Combat Mission: Shock Force - Simulating Modern Warfare

After playing so many world war two games over the past year of gaming, I decided to look for a wargame that simulates modern combat.  Battlefront's Shock Force simulates a hypothetical conflict between the US, Nato and Syria.  The campaigns for American, British, German, Dutch and Canadian forces take place in the desert, dusty hamlets, lush orchards and Soviet era looking cities.

This game can be purchased for just $15 on the Battlefront.com website here.

What I like about the game:

1.  Fog of war.  There is nothing more annoying than moving a main battle tank into position only to have it go up in flames from a hidden anti-tank missile.

2.  Lots of missions.  The campaigns have a number of missions, there is a quick battle generator and a list of other battles.

Not so great things about the game:

1.  The graphics stink.

2.  The interface isn't great.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

The battle for Little Round Top. July 2nd, 1863.  This scenario lasts one hour.  I failed to reach the mission objectives in time but managed to fight my way uphill trading casualties almost man for man.  Over 2500 soldiers fell on each side during the fighting.  

[journeyofagamer]

Trying to capture pictures of lightning in Skyrim.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Why I like Wargame: European Escalation:

1.  I had a game-winning attack stall because I couldn't resupply them.

2.  I had a platoon of Leopard Tanks stall in some mud and not participate in a crucial attack.  In what game does that ever happen ?!?

3.  I was forced to defend my HQ from a surprise helicopter attack by Warsaw Pact forces minutes before I eventually won, with a Gazelle helicopter and some Jaeger infantry.  Had I lost the HQ, 30 minutes of perfection would have been lost along with it.

4.  Moving across open ground when you don't control the sky overhead is a bitch.

5.  Terrain matters.

6.  I worry about the placement of my supply trucks just as much as I worry about my tanks.

7.  I feel like I am defending the homeland every time I see Russian helicopters on the horizon.

8.  There is something incredibly satisfying about trapping and destroying Russian helicopters with hidden AA guns and troops.

Picture caption: British troops with BLOWPIPE SAMs await Russian helicopters in the distance.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

This is the Romanian section of the front west of Stalingrad.  Russian armored and rifle formations punched huge holes into their lines during the real war.  Even though I know their attack is coming in this simulation, it's hard to prepare for it.  I am moving German formations in behind the Axis satellite troops in an attempt to prevent the inevitable.  The real danger is that I will strip the German sections of the front too much and leave them vulnerable to a general collapse.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

German Turn 2 - The fighting in Stalingrad is increasing as Russian forces try to turn 6th army and 4th Panzer Army's flanks.  I am working to withdraw my troops on the southern flank to form a new line to protect 6th Army HQ outside the city.  The breakthrough there is almost cutoff though I have to stretch one division across a wide front. 

On the northern flank (shown here) I pulled front line units out of the city and pushed them west to meet the Russian breakthrough and on the other side of the breakthrough some armored units and kampfgruppes are forming a new line to pinch off the breakthrough. 

One thing you can't see here is my transfer of air assets from airfields west to airfields closer to the city.  During the real fighting the Luftwaffe was incredibly ineffective and unable to keep up resupply of the city because they didn't allocate enough planes and couldn't get close enough.  I am anticipating that problem and trying to prepare for it.

Really enjoying the game so far. Decent immersion.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue

Another screenshot from turn 2 of decisive campaigns: case blue game. I am really enjoying it, even though I am brand new to the rules. The Russians punched three holes in my lines at the beginning of this turn. 2 armies are now fighting off encirclement. 6th army in stalingrad and 1st panzer army deep in the caucuses (historically i believe 1st panzer makes it out). Even knowing what I do about the fighting during the war I have been unable to move my troops back far and fast enough to regroup and the Russian attacks have been relentless. I have limited intelligence about their disposition of troops beyond what i can see in an around the front lines and my aerial reconnaissance units cant penetrate their air defenses to see where their reserves are concentrating. To save 6th army, I am trying to marshal forces miles away from Russian breakthroughs for a counterattack, but I don’t see how i get there in time. i think they lasted into January of 43 before they surrendered but it will be over by December most likely for me.  The start of this scenario uses the actual troop dispositions for both armies. I have never played a game where the start was so one-sided. I can’t believe the Germans found themselves this over extended but lucky for the world they did.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Some Men of War: Vietnam modding. I fooled around with the GEM Editor to see what I could do with the Vietnam error.  This is a pretty quick map.  A ARVN platoon and team of Green Berets defend a firebase against a wave of Viet Cong attackers.  The video starts with some firing in the distance as Viet Cong attackers overrun a three man listening post...

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Some Napoleon Total War screenshots.  The Kingdom of Holland fighting the French on the Prussian Hills map and in siege mode.  The top photo shows Dutch Jaegers fighting a unit of French Young Guard as French National Guard units push past them in the background.  The Jaeger unit routed in disarray after the French units cut them off.

The second picture shows a siege battle.  French cavalry and infantry in a melee with Dutch Grenadiers.  Swiss Line Infantry and a Dutch Guard Grenadiers unit are marching slowly up to the battle from the valley floor.  Four Dutch batteries can be seen in the distance firing on the French fort.  They were ineffective throughout the battle.

I am using Darth Mod 2.3 to play these two battles.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

This is a neat way to introduce the upcoming Future Soldier game from Ubisoft.  I watched the whole thing.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Mount and Blade Demo

I've been playing the original version demo to get a feel for the game.  The Napoleonic DLC for the most recent version of this game is really pulling at me.  I've noticed a lot of people playing it and the reviews have been really positive.

Anyway for this demo, there is something really satisfying and artful when you deliver a blow in combat from a mounted horse or shoot a castle defender through a crennelation.

The demo is available on Steam icymi.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

The most interesting thing about this game review in my opinion is the explanation of the game's morale system.  I like the idea that the morale of an army is tied into the sum of it's parts.  As one unit degrades so too do the remaining units.  Take a look and watch this review. 

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Basic cards from Regiment.  Advanced cards will have a little more information.

Peek at the rules:

Discipline checks are performed when:

A unit receives fire.

Performed on units adjacent to a destroyed unit.

Performed on the loss of a commander (advanced game)

Performed when a unit is being charged by cavalry

 The discipline check is modified by the Leadership score.

Basic game:  units that fail discipline checks are removed from play, their integrity shattered during the battle.  Advanced game allows a unit to be reformed.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

A quick peek at the smoke effect in Darth Mod's Napoleon Total War 2.3.  After playing this game a few times and having trouble differentiating friend from foe and following enemy movements I am building battlefield smoke effects into Regiment.

One beef I have with Total War is the inability of skirmishers to use terrain to their benefit.  I've been reading Wellington's Rifles, a detailed look at the 95th Rifles (think Sharpe) and I've learned that the use of terrain was fundamental to their success.  Total War should include this in their next gunpowder game.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Calculating Firepower For The Wargame You Are Building

Ever wonder what ASL used to calculate the firepower factor of an SS infantry squad?  How about a regular infantry squad in the French Army?  My guess is they chose numbers based on reputation of the troops fighting and then scaled them to fit the needs of the game. 

I've been thinking about this a lot as I develop combat rules for my regiment based game. I've settled on: rate of fire x the number of men x base to hit %.

Thanks to the internet and a lot of Osprey manuals I've been able to dig up quite a bit of historical analysis (including quite a few first hand accounts) and some of the actual language in training manuals from the Napoleonic period regarding gun use in combat.

I then looked at the reputation of the troops as well as leadership.  I've decided based on the accounts I read that accuracy decreases as the battle lengthens (due to smoke and battlefield momentum considerations).

The tables I've built are a little cumbersome, and definitely make the game less accessible, but for the Grognard gamer they might create a satisfying simulation of Napoleonic firefights.

Additional Note: The advanced game rules track ammunition usage.  Each unit carries a specific number of turns worth of ammunition. 

[strongpointgaming-blog]

Increased customization is going to make the next wave of games ridiculous.

[strongpointgaming-blog]

The video gets interesting around the 6:30 mark.  Ignore the beginning.  It shows the Napoleonic DLC for Mount and Warblade.  I've never played the game before but I believe these are all gamers (not AI).  the final combat after the charge across a stream makes it all worthwhile.  It looks like French line infantry vs Austrian Grenadiers and Fusiliers from the uniforms.  Thanks to Attila16 for sharing.