Ultramodern Wargaming – Ukraine 2024
Recommendations: 13004
About the Project
Lately, I've been running war games every weekend with members of the community via web conference. Players log on and play wargames with each other in real time, regardless of location, and we usually have at least a couple spectators as well. Many times it’s been Darkstar, but we’re also running wargames in Panzer Leader, Arab-Israeli Wars, and now Valor & Victory.
BoW/OTT community members @brucelea, @damon, @davehawes, and @rasmus have taken the plunge, leading battalions across thousands of meters of desert, starfleets in pitched battles across the heavens, or vicious firefights in the jungles of Vietnam, all without leaving the comfort of their home.
Hard-core, old-school command-tactical wargames can now be run (complete with spectators and recordings) in real time, with BOTH PLAYERS moving pieces across THE SAME virtual game board, thus maintaining player agency, speedy and instant results (no play by e-mail), interwoven turn sequences, any questions / feedback instantly received and addressed, and with the game being virtually recorded as it goes, a ready-made battle report can actually be created as we go.
All of this without the players having to install any new software on their computer, on any platform (PC or Mac). All that's needed is to agree on a time, a handful of dice, and a bellyful of courage!
Every weekend can now be a boot camp! All without costing me thousands of dollars in airfare, too!
Related Game: PanzerBlitz
Related Genre: Historical
This Project is Active
WIP Video, BMP-1 Armored Personnel Carrier
Join us tonight as I try to fumble my way through painting the BMP-1 APC in 20mm, a miniature provided by our great community member Madman!
2025 Naval Clash at the Spratly Islands: Live Wargame (Oriskany v. Rasmus)
Join us for another community wargame, this time imagining what a future naval “incident” might look like at the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
Recent years have seen these islands become the focus of a sharpening international dispute, especially as China “enlarges” them with massive dredging projects and then builds naval and air bases on their newly-created land.
These bases threaten many South Pacific neighbors including American allies, and sit astride crucial shipping lanes leading to oil-thirsty economies of the Pacific Rim.
If you’re looking for a spot where future naval combat conceivably kick off, the Spratly Islands are a good place to start.
We hope to see some of you there!
7PM UK Time, 2PM US East Time
First, the general area of the engagement. These are the Spratly Islands, bitterly contested between China, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
Of course, China's been making the situation far worse with gigantic dredging projects, dumping huge amounts of sand and sediment onto shallow reefs, literally creating man-made islands which of course become Chinese "sovereign" territory on which the immediately build naval and air bases. Some of these islands and bases are created literally from open ocean in as little as ten months. They are creating real estate from which they hope to control the South China Sea.
Here is the map board to today's game. These are 1-inch markers on this grid, making this table 9 feet by 6 feet. The scale is one nautical mile per inch, or 1 : 72000 scale. The scenario is an American "survey ship" (in fact a clandestine communications intercept ship) SS Latham has suffered an engine failure and is drifting towards these new Chinese bases. The Chinese know they're being spied upon, and demand the right to detain the ship and crew. The US 7th Fleet disagrees. It's 2025, and finally we're seeing a free-fire incident in the South China Sea. General Quarters!
Here are the forces for today's game. We start with just the three Chinese Type -054A Jiangkai class frigates and the two US "Arleigh Burke" class destroyers. Both sides roll to bring on aircraft, the Chinese from their nearby Fire Reef air base, the Americans from the flagship of the 7th Fleet, the "Nimitz" Class aircraft carrer USS Ronald Reagan. This one's gonna be small but nasty. The Americans win by sinking Chinese warships, shooting down Chinese fighters, or hitting Chinese bases. The Chinese get points for damaging or sinking US destroyers, shooting down US jets, or capturing / sinking the SS Latham. We hope some of you will check out out stream tomorrow and see how it goes!Wargame Video (P2): The Battle of Chinese Farm ("Yavasa" Piotr v. "Oriskany" Jim)
In today’s video, historical wargamers “Oriskany” Jim and “Yavasa” Piotr complete their discussion on their recent game of Avalon Hill’s “The Arab-Israeli Wars.”
The subject of this particular scenario was the Battle of Chinese Farm, fought from October 15-17, 1973, during the Yom Kippur War (sometimes referred to as the Ramadan War or the October War).
We hope you enjoy it, and if you do, please consider checking out our Discord:
Thank you, and have a great weekend!
Wargame Video: The Battle of Chinese Farm ("Yavasa" Piotr v. "Oriskany" Jim)
In today’s video, historical wargamers “Oriskany” Jim and “Yavasa” Piotr sit down for a discussion on their recent game of Avalon Hill’s “The Arab-Israeli Wars.”
The subject of this particular scenario was the Battle of Chinese Farm, fought from October 15-17, 1973, during the Yom Kippur War (sometimes referred to as the Ramadan War or the October War).
We hope you enjoy it, and if you do, please consider checking out our Discord:
Thank you!
Operation Mercury: German Invasion of Crete (May 1941)
With many people taking care of their moms and wives for Mother’s Day, we’re keeping it light today with a casual game of Panzer General.
We’re trying out the scenario for Operation Mercury (May 1941) to mark the 80th anniversary of the German invasion of Crete. This was the largest airborne operation to date, indeed considered by some to be the first predominantly airborne invasion.
Elite German “Fallschirmjäger” paratroopers went up against, Greek, British, New Zealand, and Australian troops in a ferocious battle that hung precariously in the bloody balance. In fact German paratroopers took such heavy casualties that they were never used as “airborne” troops again.
We hope to see some of you there!
7PM UK Time, 2PM US East Time
Battle Report: Australian 4th RAR/C on a "Bag Job" (capture enemy leader) in East Timor
A little while ago, Dylan and I had a great game of Sitrep Skirmish for ANZAC Day, recreating the Battle of the Same (pronounced “sam-ay”) in the former Portuguese colony (and Indonesian province) of East Timor. This was part of Operation Astute, where elements of 4th Royal Australian Regiment / Commando were tasked with bringing in Alfredo Reinado, a rebel officer who’d broken away from the military in East Timor. Historically, this action took place on 4 March 2007, and Reinado actually escaped. We’ll see if his luck holds out again on our tabletop.
So here is the briefing. Most East Timorese government, military (FDTL), and Australian ops are based out of the East Timorese capital of Dili. Extending south into the rugged east-west mountain range and dense jungle, Reinado and his renegade FDTL rebels, combined with gangs, bandits, and marauders (usually remnants of former pro-Indonesian insurgent groups left over from previous wars) sought to evade contact and capture. Today’s engagement takes place at the jungle settlement of Same on the south slopes of the Timorese mountains.
Here is the map for today’s game. Ground scale is about 20 feet a hex. Each piece will be an individual insurgent, gang member, or operator. 
Here are the forces for today’s game. Dylan has two Australian fireteams of four men. Each team has a leader with an M4 assault rifle, a grenadier with am M4/M203, a marksman with an SR-98 sniper rifle, and an a-gunner with an F89A1 Minimi (basically, an M249 SAW). There’s also a Portuguese- and Tetum-speaking national, a former associate of Reinado’s who can speak with him and more importantly, his rebels. This will allow Dylan to recruit ambivalent militia to his side, or even convince rebels to stand down without having to shoot them. The SH-60 Seahawk is how they get to the battle area, basically allowing them to enter from any table edge. Meanwhile I have a force of Alfredo Reinado and his rebels (note they are trained regulars), along with a swarm of uncommitted, ambivalent gang members. 
Right off the bat, Dylan is doing well. Alpha Team under the overall commander (Jameson) enters on the south side of the board, comes up to a gang of insurgents, makes a successful interpreter check with Marilda. Just that fast (and with the quiet handoff of a stack of $100 bills) these four uncommitted gang members are now with the Australians. 
To the west, the incursion might not go as smoothly. Bravo Team (Ritchie) is likely to encounter some of Reinado’s core rebels. They CAN be turned, but there is no interpreter here and even if there were, the roll would be much more difficult. So Ritchie takes in Bravo team a little more cautiously.
By Turn 3, Jameson’s Alpha Team coerces a SECOND gang of ambivalent insurgents to join government forces, probably offering immunity from prosecution for past looting or arson (common in this conflict). With so many new allies, Dylan starts to get bold and moves out into across the central “road” toward Reinado’s safehouse at upper left
Things finally kick off for real on Turn 4. A very nice roll on the “Determine Threat” and “Street Events” tables gives Dylan a lucky break … a whole fireteam of my actual former FDTL-regular renegades suddenly loses heart and decides they’re not THAT committed to the cause. They switch from HOSTILE (red “H”) to AMBIVALENT (yellow “A”), while a second fireteam is approached from three sides by three pro-government militia gangs and Jameson’s Alpha Team of Australian RAR/C. Clearly my team is finished here, so I decide to at least sell their lives dearly, and with some find AK and FN-FAL work, chop up four enemy militia before I’m pinned down by the other militia teams and then finished off by the Australians. 
FDTL Operative Marilda now straight-up BUYS that wavering fireteam of FDTL renegades, doubtlessly offering amnesty for charges of desertion, mutiny, looting, arson, and theft … if they’ll just turn their guns … and that RPG around at me. BETRAYAL! You will pay for that with your lives! Unlikely, as the whole south end of the table is now wide open and a general rush on Reinado’s safehouse has now begun. Why do I suddenly feel like Pablo Escobar in his final moments? 
Turn 06, and it’s time to make a stand. I had a chance to actually run off the north end of the table with Reinado (thus denying Dylan a chance at TOTAL victory). But instead I wanted to keep him on the table for just one more turn because only he can turn Ambivalent fireteams again to Hostile. I manage to do this, turning one whole fireteam back to my cause, which is especially important as it contains an RPD light machine gun and an RPG rocket launcher. Unfortunately, this also allows the sniper on Bravo Team (Michaels) to put a round in Reinado’ leg, thus “capturing” him for victory conditions. Reinado’s second-in-command turns that restored fireteam around (Dylan is VERY frightened of that RPG, it could kill everyone in Team Bravo), but the rest of Team Bravo (Ritchie: Team Lead with M4, Farcus: SAW, Dayburn: M4/M203) to kill most of that new fireteam Reinado re-recruited to the cause. Return fire misses. More bad news with my other fireteam, they are also wiped out by Jameson and Alpha Team, but here I actually manage to score a win with opportunity fire: A single 7.62mm round goes through the head of Australian Team Alpha sniper Latham. He is killed instantly. 
On Turn 7, YET AGAIN Dylan nails it on the Threat Tracker and Street Events tables, and my last irregular militia are suddenly back converted to “ambivalent.” It actually makes a degree of sense, Reinado himself is out of the battle, seven FDTL renegades are now combat ineffective. Only two remain, and they’re sneaking in the back door of that eastern house to make their last “Billy the Kid” stand while nineteen East Timorese locals and pissed off Australians are sweeping up from the south and west. If I were an enemy militiaman, I’d be trying to make a deal, too. The game actually ends NEXT turn, when I decide “to hell with it” and have my last two renegades book it off the north end of the table. The game goes down as an Australian minor victory. They were able to table the militia (no red “H”s on the table) and capture Reinado, but also sustained a fatality among their Tier-One Operators. Congrats and great job Dylan on a fun game!Tank Duel at the Bitter Lakes - Live Community Game
Good afternoon everyone:
Tomorrow we are bringing some fresh blood to the wargame table, with community member and long-time historical wargamer Bernhard. We’ll be running a game of Avalon Hill’s classic The Arab-Israeli Wars with a scenario based on the tank battles near the Great Bitter Lake during the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.
This is one of the few times we see the T-62 in action with the Egyptian Army, as Brigadier General Ahmad Hilmi’s 25th Independent Armored Brigade tries to slice off the Israeli advance toward the canal along the Tasa Corridor. They are cut off in turn by counter-counterattacking elements of the Natke Nir’s 217th Reserve Armored Brigade and Keren’s 500th Armored Brigade along the shores of Great Bitter Lake.
We’ll have close to 150 tanks on the game board tomorrow, so don’t miss it!
Sunday, May 2
6:30PM UK Time, 1:30PM US East Time
The map area for today's game. Note the map is on its side to make for the best fit on a screen, north is to the left.
The Egyptian forces - the entirety of the 25th Independent Armored Brigade ... a beast of a force with over 100 T-62s (best tank the Egyptians had here) and a full battalion of mechanized infantry.
The Israelis for this fight. I've FINALLY found a pretty reliable source for the tank type make up of these different brigades, and a book that shows the order which these different forces entered the battlezone.
