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
Gulf War Panzer Leader Highlights Video - Part 01
Part one of our playtest highlights reel is up on the Sitrep Podcast YouTube Channel.
This one still has a few bugs in it, the overall system is sound but there is some “edition conflict” in a few of game values on the counters.
Stay tuned for Part Two, and again, if you ever be interested in …
- Darkstar (please let me know what faction you’d prefer – Wave two ships are of course now available)
- Valor & Victory (WW1, WW2, Vietnam, Lebanon, or Falklands).
- Arab-Israeli Wars (1956, 67, 73, or 82 Lebanon)
- Tactical Combat Middle East (Panzer Leader in 1991)
- Panzer Leader WW2 as always, virtually any theater or campaign.
- AirWar C21 (any period 1950-present, Vietnam jet combat?)
- Naval Command (any period 1950-present)
… live on our channel, just drop me a PM and we’ll try to get you sorted out!
1991 Gulf War in Panzer Leader
Had a great demo game of Panzer Leader, updated to 1991 Gulf War, using Toscach Miniatures’ Tactical Combat Middle East as a beginning guide.
Made some counters for the US, including M1A1 Abrams, M2 Bradley APCs, AH-64 Apache gunships, UH-60 Blackhawks, rifle platoons, and HMMWVs, and sent them up against a rag-tag collection of Medina Division Republican Guards (T-72s / BMPs) and remnants of a shattered Iraqi mechanized army division (T-55s / BTRs).
Just a few turns to try out the new counters, again, most of them make up just this morning.
We stream hobby every Thursday, and live games on the web every Sunday! I you haven’t already, check us out!
Chipping away at some more counters
New Videos: Australian Armor in Vietnam
@Elessar2590 and I had a great game of Barry Doyle’s Valor & Victory. Here are the “Battle Report Highlights.”
An Australian recon helicopter, returning to the base camp of 9th Bn / RAR (Phuoc Tuy Province, III Corps / II Field Force Sector, South Vietnam), has been shot down by Viet Cong RPG fire.
A rescue force of infantry, supported by M113 APCs, a UH-1H gunship, and even a Centurion main battle tank is sortied out to rescue the downed crew.
But main force battalion Viet Cong are swarming toward the crash site. It’s “Blackhawk Down,” the Australian Prequel!
Can they reach their downed comrades in time?
Poland - 1939 (80th Anniversary Prep)
My friend Piotr ( @yavasa ) and I are taking a look at Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939, using Panzer Leader, first playtest and demo game.
We’ll be live on Twitch in about 45 minutes!
8PM UK time, 3PM US East Time
Just a few pics from today's game ...
Ah, the "mighty" German Panzerwaffe of 1939. We're looking at about 40 tanks here, roughly one battalion, or about 1/8 of 1st Panzer Division's armored fighting power.
Yavasa gets bold, wiping out a platoon of "Pioniere" assault engineers while they were still in my trucks. The nearby platoon of SdKfz 231/6s tried to break up this tankette attack, but failed. 
The Germans invest Polish tanks, and set up for their set-piece assault on the second Polish objective hex.
The German assault begins in earnest, with infantry guns, mortars, and 7.5cms on PzKpfw IVs. But Yavasa is feeding in reinforcements into the battle, and close-assaulting German PzKpfw IIs originally used to spot the Polish defenders. Yes, German tanks are burning, and Polish cavalry are involved. This DID happen (German armored recon if memory serves), and CAN be successful if done carefully under the right circumstances.
We got as far as Turn 5. Yavasa has definitely picked up this game! And I'm pretty sure if this game had gone to completion we'd wind up with a 4-3 Polish win.
Here's one that got missed on the original roll out ... you can't have a Poland 1939 campaign without some Stukas. Sadly for me (German player), Yavasa was using his light tanks pretty aggressively. Note these two platoons of tanks rolling toward by captured objective hex in Jezów. Hence, I was forced to use my limited Stukas to secure my flank and rear, rather than kicking in the front door toward more objective hexes further north.So we only got five turns through what’s normally a ten-turn game. No worries, this was just a demo game / tutorial. We hope to come back and do some more at a later time (schedules permitting) to continue our 80th Anniversary Commemoration of the 1939 campaign and the start of World War II.
We might set up a forum thread post rather than a project page, so both me and Yavasa can enter materials / photos / screen shots / battle reports, etc.
AirWar C21 Videos - Elesar2590 v. Oriskany
Two 30-min (approx) videos with the highlights of the AirWar C21 game recorded recently on Sitrep Podcast Twitch Channel.
@Oriskany: Fighter Regiment 921, VPAF (x4 MiG 17 “Fresco” + SAM support)
@Elessar2590: US Navy Squadron VF-51 (x2 F-4J Phantom II)
Enjoy!
Sitrep Live Stream
Our Sitrep Live Stream kicks off in about an hour, where we’ll be featuring Australian forces, including new units, in an expanded rules set for Valor & Victory set in Vietnam. In this game we’ll be seeing how the corrected helicopter rules work, along with polished anti-aircraft rules, antitank fire rules, new Centurion tanks of the Royal Australian Armoured Regiment, and so on.
The basic scenario:
1969, II Corps Sector, Phuouc Tuy Province, Southeast of Saigon – an Australian UH-1 Iroquois “Huey” on its way back to base camp has been shot down by a National Liberation Front (VC) RPG. The bird has crashed in a former Michelin rubber plantation just a few hundred yards outside the perimeter of 9th Battalion, RAR. There are casualties, but also survivors. Now, a hasty armored force is sortied out of 9/RAR’s base camp to secure the crash site and rescue the casualties before they are overrun by elements of a Viet Cong main force battalion.
The game will be played between myself and @elessar2590 – so we’ll see what happens!
9PM UK Time, 4PM East US time, 6AM Monday AEST
Elessar2590 takes a turn as "Maverick's" Dad
Okay, everyone … I’ll try to upload some kind of video highlights of this recorded game this week, but for now, here is a traditional battle report for the game of AirWar C21 my friend @elessar2590 and I had last Sunday.
AirWar C21 is a great system by Wessex Games, available on Wargames Vault, recreating jet air combat in the modern age. Think X-Wing except real. For this game, I used the Data Annex supplement for slightly older aircraft to create a game set during “Operation Rolling Thunder,” the American tactical bombing effort against North Vietnam during 1965-68.
Elessar590 will wind up playing the Americans here. These are US Navy F-4 Phantoms in 1968 Vietnam, so just for fun we decided they were from Squadron VF-51, based aboard the carrier USS Oriskany. Movie buffs might know this is the squadron of “Duke” Mitchell, father of Tom Cruise’s “Maverick” Pete Mitchell in TOP GUN.
So let’s see how Maverick’s dad does today!
The scenario will be a simple fighter sweep / interception just north of the DMZ, near Dong Hai, North Vietnam, set near the end of 1968. Two US Navy F-4J Phantoms (Squadron VF-51, based off the Essex class carrier USS Oriskany) will penetrate North Vietnamese airspace, where they will be intercepted by four MiG-17 “Fresco” (and/or Chinese Shenyang J-5 knockoffs) fighters of Fighter Regiment 921, the first and premiere jet-powered formation of the VPAF (Vietnamese People’s Air Force) at this time.
So here’s the equipment featured in this game. Obviously we have the MiG-17, each with one Nu-37mm autocannon and twin 23mm autocannon. Now MiG-17s carry NO MISSILES, so I decided to gun them up with ADDITIONAL 37mm guns, one on each wing, via external hardpoints. The North Vietnamese will have support from a battery of SA-2 “Gainful” surface-to-air missiles, the “flying telephone pole” B-52 killers. Not the most accurate things in the world, but against these Phantoms, if even one of them hits … Please note this is the “pre-Top Gun” era Phantom, a “J” variant (flares, ECM pod, and chaff) but NO GUNS. This was the era when the US was just realizing that missiles aren’t in fact ALL THAT COUNTS in air-to-air combat in the latter half of the 20th Century, but they have a fleet of fighters without internal gunnery weapons. Future variants of the Phantom and new aircraft will ALWAYS gave guns (usually the M61 20mm Vulcan rotary cannon) but for now, quick-fix measures are the best available. Hence these Phantoms have Mk 4 external gun pod, with twin Mk 12 20mm single barrel cannon. By no means the best … but give the North Vietnamese guns … Also, each Phantom will carry x2 AIM-9G Sidewinder SRAAMs and x2 AIM-7E Sparrow MRAAMs. This is a half missile load, but those gun pods are heavy. These variants of the Phantom, Sidewinder, and Sparrow are the most advanced I can “legally” use given the timeline of the scenario. 
Here comes the initial approach. I didn’t know which side Elessar2590 would want to play. In the live stream he said he was cool with either side. So I rolled a dice and I wound up with the Socialist Heroes of the People of Vietnam. Death to the Yankee Imperialists! The Phantoms are MUCH faster than my poor little MiG-17s … but my MiGs are much more maneuverable, I have twice as many, and of course I have missile support from the ground. Then again, Elessar’s Navy pilots have missiles as well. For now, Elessar’s Sidewinders cannot get a lock (these are the G variant, they have to be BEHIND me). The Sparrows can lock on from any TARGET angle (semi-active radar homing) but they are too far away. Not so with my SAMs, which can try three locks in a turn. I get two (my radar rating is 5+ on a d10), so two SA-2s are off the rails and tracking. Now they will be hitting the Phantoms from the front … and deflection IS a major factor here. Elessar dumps chaff, but maybe I’ll get lucky … 
My missiles miss. Elessar chooses the “Unload” maneuver, going into a powered dive and basically dumping altitude for what the Phantom does best, raw speed. Two more SA-2s are off the rails (I have six in all), and these are approaching from the tail … easier to hit. MiG “Pair One” cuts inside the Phantoms for a gunnery burst. It’s not great, again note the high angle of deflection, and the range could be better … but I hold the hammer down and put a SUSTAINED BURST from all five guns on two planes (ten autocannon in all). Yes, I get some hits, but Phantoms are big and Phantom 02 survives for now … damaged but still in the fight. MiG Pair 02 could had sealed the deal but they lost initiative, and one of them fluffed their Immelmann roll to boot (almost stalled out … MiG-17s are only “medium” powered aircraft) .
Again my SAMs miss, and will spend the next 6-7 phases trying to get a lock for my last two missile launches. Man, I need some new SAM operators. Meanwhile, Phantom 02 has previously launched a Sidewinder from behind MiG 04, while Phantom 01 has launched a Sparrow from the front. I have selected a “BREAK” maneuver to avoid these warheads, and made the roll, giving me a nice bonus to evade incoming fire. I dodge the Sparrow but not the sidewinder, which rolls “6” on the d10 damage, blowing the MiG-17 out of the sky. SPLASH THAT SUCKER, YEAH! Another missile is then launched at MiG 03. Meanwhile, I seem to have forgotten how to roll well at initiative, or maneuver checks for that matter. COME ON, GUYS! UNCLE HO IS COUNTING ON YOU! 
My last two SA-2s finally launch. Do you think they hit? Oh, of course not. MiG 01, meanwhile, has been but by those Phantom gun pods, I have lost a maneuver class (control surfaces hit) and all guns … so he’s now a flying clay pigeon whose best move is to dump altitude for speed and bug out to the southwest. Damaged or not, Phantom 02 is now TAILING the SIX of MiG 02. Elessar is in position and makes the tailing roll (this rule allows you to stay behind an eligible target and move with him regardless of initiative) … but my airbrakes, slower stall speed, and much tighter turn radius will fly the bird to the Yankee dog’s efforts to stay on my six. If only my wingman (MiG 01) hadn’t failed his Split-S roll … 
Yes, this game gets desperate at the end. After cutting to within 400 feet of me at one point, Phantom 02 overshoots. I pull a Split-S, rolling on my back and curling down, pulling out and rolling back over with pretty much any facing I choose ... Right at the Phantom. Unfortunately for me, Elessar’s declared the same maneuver (yes, declarations like this are made blind). Long story short, we wind up 1000 feet lower, screaming toward each other at 12” a turn (each 1” of movement = 50 knots, each grid on this map is ¼ mile). So again we’re at 400 feet or so (blue dot designates actual position of the aircraft) … each doing 600 knots for 1200 knots closure. ALL GUNS FIRE! He only nicks me but I clobber the Phantom, doing another three points of manage. He’s now at 5 damage, over half, so he’s now “Crippled.” Crippled aircraft have half speed, which he’s now exceeding by 2. That’s two MORE damage points. He’s out of ammo, and his missile system is basically ripped out of the plane, and his damage is now 7. He has ONE DAMAGE POINT LEFT … completely unarmed, and crippled. I CAME SO CLOSE!
Well, the game ends on Turn 6 with merciful speed. As Phantom 02 bugs out, Phantom 01’s Sidewinder missile from last turn hits MiG 01 despite his successful Break Turn … and a half-deflection gunnery shot from Phantom 01 also hits damaged MiG 02. That’s three MiGs shot down and one bugged out (all MiG pilots made successful bail out checks but one), after which Phantom 01 will be escorting his limping, smoking, crippled, unarmed wingman back to the carrier. CONGRATS ON THE VICTORY @elessar2590! You’re warned, though! I’ll get you next time! 😀
