More board wargaming - solo (Festung Europa) and Vassal (A Distant PLain)

Another session of A Distant Plain tonight with my Government faction winning on 5th Propaganda card with -1 victory total, Brother Coalition 2nd on -2, Dad with Warlords in 3rd on -3 and Son with Taliban 4th on -9.

As this was a learning game we will start afresh in due course with COIN factions remaining same but Warlords and Taliban swapping players.

With only a couple of minor issues (some cards need regenerated/noted as auto-discarded) the game played smoothly on Vassal.










The final positions on Victory Track.

Also managed to get Festung Europa onto table for a solo play.
Not played this much (maybe once before ?) but interesting 'light' CDG game of western front 1943-45 starting with OP Husky.

Vassal - A Distant Plain - more Barr family play

Another session with Son, Brother and Dad tonight of A Distant Plain via Vassal.
We got through a couple more Propaganda cards.
Dad with Warlords was in a winning position at one stage but combined Ops by Government (me) and Coalition (bro) saw them knocked back a bit but still ahead at end of session.
Another session planned for Wednesday which may see game completed.
Great stuff and a gaming life-saver is Vassal !!

 

Vassal - A Distant Plain a family affair.............

Managed a to start a game of 'A Distant Plain' tonight via Vassal involving my son, brother and Dad, so very much a family affair (we also used Whats App video call).
Only Dad has played the physical game so tad slow initially explaining some stuff to son and brother but once first couple of card plays done it started to flow well.
Bit of a learning curve also for me controlling via Vassal but nothing too brain reducing.
We played through to end of first Propaganda card and as yet no clear leader (strategies only starting to become clear to newbies).
Son is playing as Taliban, brother as Coalition, Dad as Warlords and me as Government.
Great fun and really nice in these odd days to have a family 'get together'.
Plan is to play at least once per week.




The situation at end of first Propaganda card.

Quick update

Must confess I thought that this ‘social distancing’ would lead to a burst of painting, virtual or solo gaming but not felt much like doing very much in past few days as in a sort of what is best described as a limbo state of mind........ plenty of ideas but no action.........

No real health worries for my wife or I, or youngster over in England (but possible financial issues) but am concerned re older members of family circle and indeed society.
Feeling blessed and relieved to be Retired as thoughts of trying to Police people in current situation just awful, so many idiots !

+++ Sincerely hope all of you and yours come through this unscathed. +++

Anyhow the above not withstanding I did manage to get A Distant Plain onto table today and get a few turns in and nice to divert mind from outside world.
Hoping to get online with my Dad later for a game of Eastern Front (from old Campaign Series) as he is just not into Vassal.





Game bathed n sunlight

Lucy one of my dogs helping out

A beautiful day outside

A round up after busy weekend

Been off line couple of days so quick round up of wargaming activity.

Attended Elimination Club (last meeting for a period due to Covid-19 issues) briefly on Friday where a 10mm League of Augsburg game using Black Powder was being played by Bryn and Shane.
No idea as to result.

Quick solo game of Colonial Twilight on Saturday and what an enjoyable time again with the ever excellent COIN system (I could happily self-isolate with these games alone never mind all my other options)

And game tonight with my Dad of Combat Commander with the ever excellent Barrikady Factory scenario from the Stalingrad Pack.

Right down to the wire with Dad narrowly failing to out number my Ivans in factory (20 units each) as Time ran out.

A good third of the factory was rubble of blazing.

++Footnote++

My parents are both over 70 but in otherwise decent respiratory health, but are worried and concerned by UK plans to combat Covid-19 by having them self-isolate for 4+ months and I fully understand why.

I am behind (or at least understand) UK Government plans thus far, but do think they need better information dissemination to at least try to allay some genuine fears and concerns.

Bottom line is that for some sadly this pandemic will doubtless have a fatal outcome and maybe for others a life changing impact physically, mentally and otherwise (think the economic issues are yet to be fully revealed/assessed) 

I did try to explain that they pretty much keep to themselves anyhow (not big into social activities) so maybe not too much of a stretch with support from me and Jan.

Strange times and am just thankful I am no longer a Police Officer as the temptation to baton to a pulp the 'bulk-buyers' and 'doomsday merchants' would be just too much for me I fear !!

The despicably selfish behaviour by some 'members' of society is truly infuriating to say the least.

If only Covid-19 targeted the stupid gene rather than elderly/infirm............

A Distant Plain - another 3 player session

Impromptu game at mine tonight with Stephen and Richard as their RPG get together cancelled.

So inset up A Distant Plain again with Stephen as Government, Richard as Taliban (his choice) and control of Coalition and Warlords residing avec moi.

Set up the ‘short’ scenario Obama's War (4 decks) although we only managed 2 Propaganda rounds, in just under 3 hours, but they were 21 cards apart !

Government was ahead at one stage but managed to pin them back avoiding possible auto-win.

Coalition done well but Warlords way of the mark as were the Taliban.

Do love the COIN games such a nice balance of game and history in playable format.



Only a pic of set up as too engrossed in playing/teaching the game

Liberty or Death - COIN game played

Excellent game of Liberty or Death with my Dad tonight.
I tried British and Indian combo for a change.

We played full scenario and played through to 1779 (5 Winter Quarters cards) with Dads Patriots and French attaining an auto win.

A really powerful card we had not seen before really helped him, Mercy Warren (?) which shifts any one City to Passive Opposition and so targeted New York City yielded a swing of 6 VP as I was at Active Support and took Rebellion to a 12 point difference in Support versus Opposition !

I was never able to get this back and with Patriots having 3 Forts out compared to 3 Indian villages it was curtains for Royalist aspirations............

We had a ding dong battle in Quebec City once French arrived with huge losses on both sides but appearance of General Lauzen (?) to assist French results swung Dads way.

Great game with a lot of Event cards we had not seen before.

Fire In The Lake - or damn those damn VC !!

Another session with Fire In The Lake 2 player with my Dad (celebrating his 75th on Tuesday !).

Played the full scenario again with Dad as VC/NVA vs my US/ARVN.

I forgot how this scenario is fairly hard to lose with VC !
Just could not get their Active Opposition levels down quickly enough as it seemed every time I converted or neutralized the populace the VC popped up elsewhere turning the locals.
The wee buggers gained an auto-win on 3rd Coup card.

Great game as usual with I think maybe my favourite of the COIN games I have (by narrow margin however as all excellent).

Also set up the small Grainville scenario again with slightly 'dolled up' terrain for Rapid Fire, for Stephen and I for upcoming Thursday game.

Liberty Or Death COIN again

Another try out with Liberty or Death COIN game tonight with my Dad.

Tried the Medium scenario and Dad stuck with the British/Indian combo against my Patriots/French.

Another great game with this most excellent system.
Managed to play through 3 out the 4 Winter Quarter cards with Rebels ahead but not quite at auto Victory levels.

Only issue with LOD is that it tad slower to play than other COINs we have tried due to a few ‘if ‘ ‘and’ or ‘but’ options with Commands especially for British with the influence of French blockades or lack of same being key factors.

I thought the battle procedure would slow things but not the case as fairly easy to sort and don't occur that often.

A Distant Plain - 3 player

Got 'A Distant Plain' onto table today for a 3 player game, was to be full 4 ball but Le Duc caught in a foreign land (well stuck in Dublin) so 3 it was with Richard and Mr P.

I took control of Coalition and Warlords with Mr P as Afghan Government and Richard as Taliban nasties.

We managed to play through 3 Propaganda cards (used Medium scenario with 5 Prop cards) which was good considering first time for both chaps.
So not finished but great fun with this excellent game from an excellent series.

Mechanically easy to play but so much depth and varied decision making for each player backed up by decent historical context (the event cards).





Only one poor pic from game (and one from prior set up) as engrossed and sun kind of blinding !

Liberty Or Death - first outing in anger

Played Liberty Or Death for first time with my Dad with he as British & Indians and I as Patriots and French using the Full Scenario set up (1775 onward).
I had played a solo game to get mechanics of game into brain, of course it is a COIN game so basic stuff is standard but as always with quirks unique to individual game and new sets of Operations (termed Commands here) and Special Activities.
Main change from other titles is the introduction of dice rolls for 'pitched' Battles (actually representing the outcome of a series of battles in an area) to establish and some political bonuses to winner (Patriots with Washington get more 'renown' benefits if they defeat a British force).
The level of casualties are recorded (the actuall casualties return to Available boxes on a Winter card) as these influence Victory Levels and indeed French Arrival.
There are also named Leaders such as Washington, Howe for each faction with some getting several that can appear on Winter Quarter cards.
Each Leader has an 'ability' such as Washington increasing Political influence after winning a Battle and reducing on losses by 1 if defending, Gage can increase Militia losses after a Skirmish activity and so forth.
Each Faction has a one use only Brilliant Stroke card with French having an additional card to bring them fully into the game, these Trump Event cards and some can Trump each other, these allow 2 Free Limited Actions and a Free Special Activity only caveat is that a Leader must be involved in one of these Actions.
French and Indians both rather different factions not really like those in other games.
French spend 2-3 Years (a year ends with turn of Winter Quarters card) niggling the British by supporting Patriots but with no actual piece in the Colonies, as they build up forces/political will to intervene directly in war.
They have very limited options as regard Commands and Special Activities but can still be thorn on British side by paying to raise Patriot units or Resources.
The Indians are erstwhile British Allies, and I confess was dubious that they were a viable faction in a game about US revolution (not that well read on their 'exploits' or influence on events), but they are actually a well rounded faction in their own right with several very interesting options open to them.
Their Raids (sort of Terrorism in modern COIN scenarios) can effect the key Patriot opposition levels (local population not keen to suffer these raids), and their Warpath special action can hurt the Patriot cause by attrition of their forces.
They can place Villages to aid certain Commands and indeed need to for their Victory Conditions.
I should add Victory Conditions for each Faction are split into 2 a primary and secondary condition which can determine who suffers the Winter card events.
British and Patriots are more recognizable as Government/Coalition types but again with several twists and quirks.
British have a lot of units with both British Regulars and Tory (Royalists) units and some powerful Commands (Muster can see up to 6 British Regular appear in one go and as many Tories as one can pay for or force pool allows !).
Britannia also rules waves (at least until French navy pokes its nose into affairs) with essentially unfettered access to the (mostly) coastal Cities via the Atlantic (kind of works like a Road/Communications network), the later French use of Blockades can disrupt this.
British and French also contest the West Indies from whence French Naval Squadrons sortie and this area is worth 5 Resources so not to be ignored.
Patriots are a mix of a Regular type and Militia (closest faction equivalent I can think of is NVA in Vietnam game) with Continentals equivalent of British Regulars, albeit less numerous, and Militia sort of like Guerrillas who can use Propaganda (again a type of 'Terrorism' effect) to stymie British Support in areas and the wee sods can pop up in Cities and Provinces with their insidious agenda.
Much more to game and its interactions, strategies than this brief outline and single play can convey but like every other COIN game I have tried it is an excellent gaming experience even with two players (would love to get a 4 player session in sometime with at least one title) and indeed solo, in fact I think this game is one of better 2 player COIN game experiences (with obvious exception of Colonial Twilight).
My only gripe with game is that an awful lot of action can occur in Massachusetts area which is very tiny (first time I have had to use on board Command Grouping areas) but that is down to geography/practicality, a less intrusive 'annoyance' is transposing of New York City and Philadelphia into Atlantic Area to give them a playable area but one can tend to forget they are actually adjacent to other regions not just Atlantis wannabes :-)
As to game we managed to play through 3 Winter Quarters cards (I should say these have varying Special Events that can effect one player) years and game ended at end of 1777 with Patriot win, as it seems in this game in two player mode you can win with a single faction Victory Level.
++Edit - nope found rule that like all other COIN games both factions must ‘win’ for a side to auto-win++
Great stuff and next play will no doubt be much different as we both now have at least some idea of strategies and interactions (certainly do not attack Washington if he has a strong army and a Fort as rather tough to defeat and a loss to him has repercussions !) never mind the ever changing mix of cards in deck and order of play.






Set up 1775 start, Stand up counters are Leaders (optional 'flat' counters available)

Later in 1777 French have appeared (white cubes) in New Hampshire. Note 2 Command Group counter in Massachusetts (contained Patriot, British and Indian Pieces

French also in Norfolk which Patriots had stolen from Royalist control

Tory Royalists (Green cubes) have mustered all across the seaboard and adjacent Colonies. Note Casualties box full (on left top) and the adjacent Command Grouping box showing the units of both faction in (yes you guessed it) Massachusetts.

Southern Colonies pretty much neglected by both of us all game

At end a narrow Patriot win but getting 11+ more Opposition than Support on board and having slightly better adjusted number of Forts built than Indian Villages.

Liberty Or Death on the table

Been trying to learn rules to Liberty Or Death (in between minis games) and have had it set up for a while playing slowly through some phases/turns.
Another COIN system game but this time with a non-20th Century setting.

Initially I thought the inclusion of Indians as a faction, in addition to British, Patriots (no bias showing there) and French, was tad odd but they are an interesting 'Ally' to British to play.

Have played through two 'Winter Quarters' cards thus far (Propaganda/Coup equivalents) and French have just entered the war full-time.

Initially the French have to spend time building up their forces/fleets before committing to land war although they can aid the Patriots.

Another enjoyable entry in the COIN realm and nice to have a different historical background.

That just leaves me Pendragon and Falling Skies to get to try to to grips with !!

Fire In The Lake

Another outing for this most excellent COIN game with Dad.
Tried the full scenario again as the last few times the VC have been easy auto winners early in game and I wanted to see if they could be thwarted.
What a ding dong game it proved to be !
I targeted the VC relentlessly with US and managed to keep them in check but almost opened the back door to the NVA as a consequence.
Judicious use of US Irregulars and ARVN Rangers managed to keep reducing their troop numbers and a couple of key events targeting their resources (including Linebacker pivotal event) helped heap pain on them as well and gave US/ARVN a narrow win eventually.
Really love this game.