A little commemoration of the Battle of Cape Esperance -- War at Sea style

The USS West Virginia advances under the steady hand of Admiral Owen in War at Sea

Andy R. and I played a doubleheader of War at Sea Thursday in commemoration of the Battle of Cape Esperance from the naval campaign around Guadalcanal. He reports on the event with one of his fantastic write ups as always.

Trains, snipers and defeat, oh my!

Position at the end of the game

Game Store Tony and I got in a game of Memoir '44 after a long break. This was an Eastern Front game but not part of our official grand campaign.

Instead we played the Kiev scenario from the Campaign Book Vol. 1, primarily because it includes an armored train and snipers. Armored trains are an interesting and unusual unit and the snipers gave me a chance to use the Equipment Pack Miniatures for the first time.

The battle, itself, was one of our closer run affairs, with Tony's Soviets pulling off a 5-4 victory at the end when the armored train finished off the fifth German unit for the win. My Germans had managed to kill off three Russian units and capture Kiev as well, but it wasn't enough.

Often the snipers have proven to be a marginally useful unit in past games but in this one they did a good job picking off pieces, including being the finishing blow for at least one victory medal. But the definite star for the Soviet side was the armored train, which is much more mobile and tougher than a regular artillery unit. In theory it's not as flexible as a regular gun because it's restricted to the train tracks, but in my experience you don't normally see a lot of movement by artillery units in Memoir '44, so overall I'd say an armored train is much better i tn eh game than a regular artillery unit.

The Equipment Pack  pieces are, for the most part, purely eye candy, although a few new units and rule are introduced. Still, the appeal of eye candy in Memoir '44 should not be underestimated, as that's an importamt part of the game's popularity. So the Equipment Pack sniper was an improvement over the perfectly serviceable standard game solution of an ordinary solider marked with a badge.  I went ahead and used the badge, too, but it would only be necessary in case both sides in a scenario had snipers -- a case that I don't think has occurred so far.

AAM Heraklion session report

As official support for the Axis & Allies Miniatures game fades away one thing that's become less common is new official scenarios, although the online fan community has kept up its output. While there were quite a few official scenarios published before the scale change, the only new scenarios have appeared in the Expanded Rule Book and the Eastern Front and Desert Map Packs. There haven't been any published since Early War and Counter Offensive came out.

One consequence of this is that a lot of early scenarios used various proxies for units that later became available in the system, so as I've revisited those old scenarios I've adjusted the orders of battles to reflect the availability of new units.

This week marks the 70th anniversary of the Invasion of Crete, and it just so happens there's an official scenario from the Expanded Rules that covers a portion of the fighting -- Heraklion on page 44. So we played the first game of a match set, with me taking the Allies.


The scenario uses Maps 5 and 7 from the Expanded Rules. The battlefield features a small, 3-hex village near the center of the 2-map arrangement, with a 1-hex pond next to it and surrounded by several patches of woods and some hills.

The Axis forces are from the German 1st Battalion, 1st Fallschirmjaeger (Parachute) Regiment. The published order of battle includes an MG 42 machine gun team, but that weapon wasn't actually fielded until 1942. The new Counteroffensive set, however, now gives the Germans the MG 34 that they started the war with, so I substituted that. Being slightly less powerful than the MG 42 this MG team is only valued at 8 points, so I boosted one of the FJ units in the original OB to a Veteran FJ to keep the Germans even in points. As the Invasion of Crete was probably the high point for the German parachutists this seemed appropriate. That gave the German player three regular Fallschirmjaegers and the one Veteran FJ unit. Rounding out the German force was a light mortar, a Wehrmacht Expert Sniper and a Grizzled Veteran German hero.

The German units were set up at start instead of using the Paratrooper special ability.

The Allies, however, set up first. The Allied force, representing elements of the 14th Infantry Brigade, comprised the following: Four SMLE No. 4 Rifle units, one Vickers Machine-Gun Team, one Veteran (Australian) SMLE Rifleman, one Bren Machine Gunner, one 40mm Bofors L60 and three Greek Soldiers. The Greek soldiers, which became available with the North Africa set, replaced the three Communist Partisans in the original OB, which the scenario notes "represent the Greek soldiers who fought heroically with substandard equipment." In this case the point values were the same, so no further adjustment was required.

The German victory conditions were to either control all three hexes of the village OR have a unit in cover on the east edge of Map 7, which essentially meant in the hill or woods hex on that edge.

My biggest concern during the set up was to keep the Germans from getting an early shot at the Bofors, which was very vulnerable to the sniper and the MG 34. By scenario special rule the Bofors was also "Dug In," so I'd be unable to move it after the initial placement. I decided to place it on the small knoll east of the town where it could fire on all three town hexes and also cover the approaches to the East Edge victory hexes, while being out of sight from any German set-up hex. In the village itself I placed the four SMLE rifles and the Bren gunner while the Vickers went into the patch of woods south of the pond where it could cover the front of the town with grazing fire. The Veteran Aussie garrisoned the East edge victory hexes and formed my reserve while I set up the Greeks divided between the two patches of woods north and south of the Bofors knoll., ready to either reinforce the town or block any German dash for the East edge. The Greek Fury 2 special ability would give then 2 extra attack dice for the rest of the game once a German unit bit the dust, so it seemed best to keep them out of the initial firefight if possible.

Here we made a mistake, although I think it helped my opponent. By scenario rules the German units were to deploy second within five hexes of the West edge of map 5 -- but not adjacent to each other. I overlooked that, however, so the Germans set up in a tight group just West of the patch of woods west of the village -- except for the Sniper, who started in the woods in the southwest corner of the map. This part of the German deployment was a bit flawed because the sniper didn't start with a line of sight to the Vickers team.

My German opponent's apparent plan was to rely on the defensive strength of his FJ and Hero infantry (five units with defense of 5!) to carry though a frontal attack on the village via the West woods.

The first turn was spent moving the strike force into position while the sniper took a shot that managed to disrupt one SMLE rifle in town. The three regular FJ occupied the northernmost woods hex facing the ton while the hero, veteran FJ and MG 34 team took the south hex. The mortar stayed back for now due to stacking limits. The British reaction was to move the Bren gunner to the ridge north of town, joined by one Greek soldier while the SMLE and other Greek units stayed in the village.

The next four turns were basically a slugging match between the two forces across the narrow gap between the woods and the village. The Bren gunner gave the Allies an early break by suppressing the MG34 long enough for Vickers and riflemen to take it out. Frustratingly for the Germans the Vickers team proved to be especially adept at making its cover rolls and despite several potential kill shots, the Germans never could do more than disrupt it.

Meanwhile, it turned out that the knoll where the Bofors set up had a line of fire to the woods hex with the FJ squads and the withering fire (9 dice) from that weapon started to pay off and soon a FJ was down, giving the Greek soldiers their bonus. By turn 5 the Germans had lost two FJ and the MG 34 while the Allies were down two SMLE and the Bren. As it was becoming apparent that the Germans weren't going to try for the East edge victory hexes the Aussie SMLE moved forward.

With time running out the Germans made a dash into the town on Turn 6, losing the hero. The Germans conceded at that point as it was clear there were simply too many surviving Allied soldiers for the Germans to kill in the time remaining -- four perfect kill shots with 100% failed cover rolls would still leave at least one Allied unit alive in town.

Next session we will switch sides. I think the Allied set up was pretty effective and I expect to see my opponent adopt something similar, although perhaps a little more forward deployed because he tends to play aggressively and my set up may have left some units underemployed.

Even though the German force is rated at 65 points to the Allied 48 points, this does look like a challenge for the Germans -- especially because on my turn playing I'll have to follow the actual rules and set up with the Germans spread out!

Based on this session, I think that I'll have to try a more maneuver-oriented strategy when it's my turn as the Germans. Stay tuned.

No Cherry on top -- A Lost Worlds session

The Old Warrior's one-game winning 'streak' comes to an end ...



Flaming Cherry hated the job she had signed up for. A famous "Barbarian Beauty" deserved a more prestigious post than guarding the back door to a dark mage's keep. She liked it even less when she saw the threat obviously foreseen by the mage -- although not shared with her -- materialize a few feet away. The enemy's angelic features were, Cherry had to admit, not bad, but she had to wonder what the point was for being sexy when you were an angel.

That moment's wary contemplation allowed the angel to cast a quick spell, and Cherry saw a magical sphere start to swirl around the angel's shoulders. The angel was, in her turn, a little too complacent about her spell's success as a quick swing of Cherry's sword caught her unaware and knocked her off balance and sent the angel crashing to the ground -- and looking rather stunned. (-1 hit)

The angel recovered quickly, though, and the two beauties started trading blows, but Cherry was becoming frustrated as her blows were hitting twice more often but doing much less damage (-4, -1, - 2, compared to -5 and -6).

Finally Cherry got in a nice solid blow (-7), just as the Angel did the same (-4). Everything went black.

It was many days later when Cherry finally awoke. She was in great pain. The dark mage's healing spells were effective, but he had little use for those that might alleviate pain -- especially when he needed toa sk some pointed questions about intruders. Cherry realized that she was in for another bad day.

No bones about it -- a Lost Worlds Session Report

Young General and Old Warrior begin a series of duels ... .

Young general has Sir Percival, the mounted knight, while Old warrior has the basic skeleton with scimitar and shield -- although the skeleton;s sword is the rare beserker sword Karcilabran, which provides a +5 modifier for a Wild wing attack.

"Orts"

Orts didn't remember much about his "living" life. He had a vague sense that he was once a renowned warrior -- but he had been undead so long it was hard to be sure. The mage who had reanimated his bones thought him fit to be armed with a special sword for use at his guard post. "Karcilabran" the mage had called it. "It is a berserker sword, best used with wild abandon, my fleshless friend," he had said.

Sir Percival

Orts wasn't surprised when a knight appeared at the other end of the meadow. Being deceased was such a big surprise that it had driven all the capacity for being surprised from his being -- such as it was. No doubt the mage had expected trouble, although he probably hadn't expected it likely from this direction -- or he would have posted a more formidable guard. Orts remembered enough of his training to realize that he stood little chance against a mounted man-at-arms in the open, but flight was out of the question. After all, what had he to fear? So he charged, with a silent battle cry from his long-lost life echoing in his thoughts. The knight likewise spurred his mount and closed quickly. There was the clang of metal on metal as the knight parried the skeleton's blade -- and then the crack of metal upon bone as the knights sword struck off a few ribs.( - 3 points on Orts, reducing Body to 4)





Orts knew he didn't have long to strike, so he decided this was the time to abandon caution and swing wildly with Karcilabran. The berserk blade clang right through the knight's parrying attempt and dug into his leg -- rewarding Orts with a red blade! (-3 on Sir Percival, reducing body to 11)









Had Orts been able to voice an exultation, he would have, but he hoped to follow through with a high thrust into the knight's midsection using the tactic of the "Three Bit Swing" developed by Umar Burtoss -- but the knight's steed turned around and threw a vicious hind-leg kick that scattered Orts bones all over the meadow -- dissipating his thoughts. (-5 on Orts, reducing Body to -1 for a KO)

It's a curious fact about skeleton warriors that it's fairly easy to disable them by scattering their bones -- but hard to scatter them so thoroughly that the skeleton can't eventually reassemble himself using the creating mage's magic. So it was that, some time later, enough of Orts drew together that his thoughts returned. He could see that the knight had relieved him of the sword Karcilabran and had left. Once his leg bones returned he'd go report to the mage that he had an unwanted visitor.

Trenton, Dec. 26 session of Hold the Line

The Day after Christmas provided an opportunity to play an anniversary game commemorating 233 years since Washington led his bedraggled army across the Delaware in a bold bid to salvage something from his disastrous 1776 campaign.

The Young General decided he wanted the British (in this case Hessian) force, despite the historical outcome. He was impressed with the strong contingent of Elite infantry. And indeed, the Hessian force was remarkably strong, considering the historical record, with three elite Infantry units (marked 4E on the map) and five regular infantry. Rounding out the force was an artillery unit and one 2/1 General (Representing Rall -- spelled Rahl in the game notes). The effects of surprise are shown by giving the Hessians a Command Level of just 1 for the first five turns, rising to 2 after that.

The Americans did not have a huge advantage in numbers, just 9 regular infantry and three artillery units. The biggest American edge was in leadership, with Washington (2/2) and "Greene" (1/2), although by the setup Greene really should be Sullivan. The Americans have a Command Level of 3. The Americans also have a positional advantage, as can be seen from the map, with all their troops in two consolidated forces while the Hessians are spread out. The Hessians do have four hexes of town to bolster their defenses, though.

The victory conditions are interesting, with both players having a goal of 6 VPs. The Americans can get one Victory Point by taking the indicated town hex, while the Hessians can earn 2 victory points for every three units that escape across the bridge. The burden of attack is on the Americans, if the game ends without either side getting to 6, then the British win. The scenario instructions don't indicate a game length, so we assumed it was 30.

The initial turns really went well for the Americans, with multiple Action Die roll s of 3 giving the American 6 action points to work with. Hessian luck wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either, so the first five turns they had 2 or 3 action points per turn available. The Americans advanced on the bridge and generally closed along the whole line. The Hessian unit nearest the bridge was able to escape over it, and the two elite units on the Hessian left pulled back a bit in preparation for their own run for the bridge. The Americans jumped out to a 3-0 lead by eliminating the Hessian guns, the forward elite unit and the regular unit between them. So far the Hessians had inflicted just one hit on the Americans.

The next few turns saw the Americans try to push their advantage with a general advance across the front. Rall was threatened with encirclement as Washington led a regular unit to capture the victory point hex and other American units closed in. Another Hessian regular fell, at the cost of one American unit, so the score was 5-1.

The Hessians then rallied, as the Elites counterattacked the Victory Point hex and recaptured it, while Rall fought his way to them. The Americans lost the victory hex and two infantry units. This closed the gap to 4-3

Still, the press of numbers began to tell. The Americans could afford to pull badly damaged units out of the line and had enough command to rally others. The guns had been brought forward into range and Washington and "Greene" led fresh troops to the front. Both of the remaining Hessian regular units were eventually ground down and eliminated by Turn 16, making the final score 6-3. Presumably Rall and the two elite units would have surrendered at this point. Illustrating how tough the fighting was, only one of the surviving six American infantry units was still at full strength.

It was an interesting fight, although probably not a particularly authentic rendering of the battle, even by Hold the Line standards. Winning the battle with such losses would definitely have taken a bit of the shine off the trophy compared to the actual event, where no American troops died in the fighting (although some did die from the weather).

BattleLore session report:: Assaulting the Tourelles

Young General and the Old Warrior reached the end of their march through the basic BattleLore scenario book during the Friday After Thanksgiving Day Off From School.

Interestingly, this scenario is a fantastical re-imagining of the battle outside Orleans on October 12, 1428 between the French led by Jean de Dunois (The Bastard of Orleans) and Joan of Arc and the British under the Earl of Salisbury. While the general setup and situation resembles the historical fight, there were no actual goblins, dwarves or giant spiders on the field historically.

In this case, however, the scenario introduces the final bit of the basic game system, the Landmarks that can be associated with different Loremasters. The French side automatically gets a Stronghold (a keep, essentially), while other Landmarks are available if the players' war council include Level 3 Loremasters.



Young General took the English side. He was required to spend 1 level of war council on the Giant Spider, and added 1 level to his Commander to entitle himself to a 5-card hand of Command cards. He spent 3 levels to buy himself a Level 3 Cleric. His Cleric's Healing pool was placed in a hex next to the 2-hex woods in his Center section. Overall I though this was a good selection on his part.

I opted to stick with the 1 Level Commander required under the scenario rules (a choice I regretted) and bought a 2-level Cleric and a Level 3 Rogue. I placed the Rogue's Den between the wood and the hill on the border between my Left and Center sections. While I didn't regret the Rogue, I think i would have been better off making the Commander a Level 2 and the Cleric a Level 1.

The Battle itself was our usual mutual slugfest. Both of us are getting more comfortable with the Lore rules and, while Young General seems to have a knack for collecting Lore, he's losing his aversion to spending it and both of us played quite a few Lore cards. Most were useful, but none had a dramatic effect on the course of things. Command card play was likewise undramatic, as most of the action was fought in the center -- indecisively.

Young General was initially reluctant to make a bid for the Stronghold, but by mid-game he had strong effort going that was being countered with difficulty. The Ramparts failed one French archer unit miserably as it died in one-turn under a card-enhanced attack by a English heavy infantry unit, but the English were not able to follow it up.

Meanwhile the dwarves, as usual, were pretty tough in the center, although they also lost heavily. As usual the weak link in the line was the Goblinoids, and a late game offensive on the left flank was able to eliminate all three Goblin units, resulting in a 6-4 victory for the French. Curiously the Young General never saw fit to use the Giant Spider. He also never got around to using the Healing Pool. I did use the Rogie's Den to send a light infantry unit deep behind his lines, but it had little effect as it turns out. The French Stronghold was never attacked.

So far, after having played all 10 scenarios Young General and Old Warrior are beginning to appreciate the potential for Lore cards. nearly every Lore card played seemed to be worthwhile. Among the non-human races the dwarves seem always useful to have, while the goblins are almost always a weak point in the line. The only creature we've used so far is the Giant Spider, which seems to be a useful piece, but one that must be used carefully.

We're still in the early stages of using War Councils and Loremasters. I'm still going to experiment a little with different configurations, but my inclination is to favor beefing up the Commander in order to have a good hand of Command Cards and concentrating on one Good high-level Loremaster instead of having multiple low-ranking ones.

As usual it was a good and entertaining fight. Next up will be the Goblin Skirmisher expansion.

Greeneville Game Night II

The group wasn't large for our second family game night at Greeneville Congregational Church, but it was enthusiastic, and in a little more than three hours we got a lot of gaming in.

Cardboard Players Meetup Group member Margaret introduced me to a couple of games I'd never played before, although they're hardly rare -- Pictionary and Bananagrams.

Pictionary is actually how we ended the evening, but I'll discuss it first. It was reasonably amusing, but like Trivial Pursuit or Charades, I don't really consider it a game. There are no real game strategies or anything like that. It's a party activity sort of thing. The game involves one player trying to communicate the meaning of a randomly drawn word by drawing pictures, so it's kind of like charades on paper. But like Trivial Pursuit, there is a game board that serves to regulate the game action somewhat, but all movement on the board is completely random. I can see where it would be good for some groups, but I don't think I'd buy my own copy. I did enjoy winning the game along with my partner, though.

On the other hand I enjoyed Bananagrams a lot. It's kind of like a freeform Scrabble. The game rewards quick anagram-making ability and I actually did quite well, winning both games I played. This definitely goes on the wishlist.

I introduced Oh-Wah-Ree and Senet to some friends at the event. We split the Oh-Wah-Ree games and I lost Senet, but everyone had a great time.

Other games that saw the table included Lost Cities, Sorry and Clue.

SOPAC Session Report Naval Battle of Guadalcanal I

On this anniversary (Nov. 13) of the 1942 First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal my stepson and I replayed the battle using SOPAC Battle Scenario No. 6.

It looked like a tough job for the Americans, so I gamely volunteered to take their side. After all, there were two posthumous Medals of Honor awarded to the two American admirals killed in the battle.

One thing became apparent during the setup was that the given setup was incorrect. As shown by Morison the American force was in one long column at the outset of the fighting, so it appears that the USN group listed as setting up in C5 is supposed to be in D5, so that's where we put them.


The US starts with the initiative, so the Japanese had to move first. The Battleship group cut to starboard while the Japanese all-destroyer group steamed straight ahead. The Americans took advantage of this opportunity to concentrate against a portion of the Japanese fleet and moved both groups in front of the Japanese force.

The exchange of gunfire was pretty even, with both sides taking an assortment of gun and hull hits, but ominously no torpedo mounts were knocked out. The USN elected not to fire torpedoes at this time, hoping to save them against the battleships, but the Japanese gleefully launched a salvo of 17 factors of Long Lances at the US force -- after all the Japanese had reloads! They also had luck, as each of the three leading US cruisers was hit by two torpedoes. Surviving even one Long Lance is tough, but with 2 it's almost impossible and all three US cruisers -- Portland, San Francisco and Atlanta -- went down. The two US admirals were likely casualties -- but unlikely Medal of Honor recipients under the circumstances.

The US Force at the First Battle of Guadalcanal
Task Group 67.4 (Callaghan, Scott)

On the next impulse the Japanese battleships turned about to try to close on the US force while the Japanese destroyer force pulled back o reload torpedoes. The US fleet took advantage of its initiative to countermarch back towards the Japanese battleship force. The Helena-led force crossed the T of the battleships while the destroyers that had survived cruiser massacre faced the Japanese force broadside. Their prospects were grim because they were also within range of the Japanese destroyer force.

The Japanese force at the First Battle of Guadalcanal
Bombardment Force (Abe)

The gunbattle was again pretty even, as the US was able to do damage to most of the enemy ships fired at, and took some in return. Several US destroyers went down simply because of the volume of fire coming their way. Notably the USS Laffey survived a 14-inch hit that was a dud!

This time the Japanese force fired 22 factors of Long Lances at the US force. This time the Japanese luck wasn't quite so good, as the Helena was missed, as were a couple of destroyers. But three torpedoes clobbered the USS Juneau and the USS Fletcher and USS Monssen each took one. None of these were survivable hits.

The US force managed to get some measure of revenge at this point, firing a total of 7 torpedo factors from the surviving ships at the Hiei. (US torpedo factors are quartered in scenarios set before September 1943). Three hit the Japanese battleship and all three were good solid hits that just managed to sink the Japanese battleship (which had taken a couple of hull hits from the Helena's guns earlier.)

The cheers on the US ships were short-lived. Despite mentioning that the Japanese could retire with honor and victory assured, my stepson was having none of that, and announced his intention to run down the survivors without mercy. Which he did. And it didn't take long, either, just two more impulses as a matter of fact. While the US ships were able to score a few more hits, none were fatal, whereas the Japanese force just blasted away. The last US ship to sink under the waves was the USS Laffey.

The final score was 205 points for the Japanese (US force wiped out). The US got 84 points for sinking the Hiei. Kirishima was untouched. The US also picked up 5 victory points for hull hits on surviving Japanese ships (Nagara, Yukikaze, Asagumo and Inadzuma), for a total of 89 points.

The scenario didn't do a good job of recreating the historical battle. The US gunnery was nowhere as effective as it was historically, with most of the significant damage coming from torpedoes, which were ineffective in history. Likewise the Japanese torpedoes were far too deadly, sinking four of the US cruisers and a couple of destroyers. Japanese gunnery was also overwhelming. This illustrates the limitations of the tactical combat system in the Avalanche Press Second World War at Sea series, which seems overly deadly and allows too much efficiency in allocating fires. The actual battle -- while still the deadliest rumble during the war -- was far more confused and resulted in a much lower toll. Most ships had trouble finding targets, friendly fire was a problem and ships often masked the fire of friendly ships. The tactical system works better for daylight battles where both sides maintain command control, but is too simple to deal with a confused night melee like Guadalcanal I.

Veterans Day battle - Crysler's Farm Nov. 11, 1813

For Veterans Day Young General and Old Warrior took a break from BattleLore to refight a historical action, in this case the Battle of Crysler's Farm from the For Honor and Glory game, which happened to be on Nov. 11, 1813. It would be anachronistic to refer to this as a Veterans Day fight, but it had the virtue of being a familiar game system for both of us and relatively quick playing.

The set up is as shown below:


The Americans have the advantage in numbers, with eight regular infantry units, a unit of dragoons and an artillery battery, with two leaders. Their main challenge is that they have a low Command level (just a 2, which means they will get to move from 3-5 units per turn, or no more than half their force) and a long way to go to reach most of the victory objectives.

The British are fewer, but have a definite edge in quality, with two leaders, two elite infantry units, two light infantry units, an artillery battery, a band of Indians and a gunboat on the river flank. They also have an advantage in command quality, with a Command level of 4. This will allow for 5-7 units to act per turn, conceivably 100 percent of the force!

Young General, being a true blue Patriot, wanted to play the Americans. He started with a tentative advance, quickly losing a unit to very accurate fire from the light infantry and Indians in the woods. Tempted by the two Victory Points for sinking the gunboat, he also moved up his guns, escorted by the dragoons. He was rewarded with a hit on the gunboat, which prompted the vessel to start pulling back. Rashly, Young General followed and found his gunners under fire from the right flank light infantry, who also proved to be good marksmen as they eliminated the artillery unit in one long-range volley.

All was not lost for Young General, who has the the spirit of Jeb Stuart. Seeing as his dragoons were also in a forward position he made a dash for the victory point objectives along the river, scooping both of them up while taking just one hit on the way. Unfortunately, the brave troopers found their way back from enemy lines blocked and the last of them fell victim to some Elite infantry, although the dragoons inflicted a hit as they died.

At this point the gunboat, now safe from counter fire, moved back towards the riverbank. Young General, meanwhile, became aware that time was starting to run out and he made an effort to start a coordinated push forward with several regulars accompanied by the two leaders. Also playing for time, the British light infantry and Indians fell back to join the Elites defending the remaining pair of Victory hexes.

Time did indeed ran out for Young General, and when regulation play ended on Turn 25 he was locked in firefights with the Elites, lights, Indians and cannons near the objectives. He did manage a lucky shot that took out one of the British commanders, but the final score was 3 victory points for the U.S. (2 objectives and a leader) for 5 for the British (artillery, dragoon and three regulars), so the British won on time.

Young General's blood was up, and he asked that the battle continue to Turn 30. He did manage to inflict some more losses on the British -- one of the British Elites only survived because it made two successful "saving rolls." Two more US regulars were eliminated, while the Indians also left the board, so the additional time didn't bring the Americans more overall success.

It was an interesting fight. Historically the Americans suffered a defeat and the scenario does seem to be pretty challenging for them. The nature of the game system makes it hard to bring superior numbers to bear, especially when they are not well-led.

Empress Augusta Bay played

Having drawn up the outlines of a history-based scenario for War at Sea, I thought it would be interesting to play it out and see if it was viable straight up or if the scenario would need tweaking.

Right off the top, I had to come to terms with the inability of War at Sea to replicate the historical outcome -- which was a very confused affair that resulted in relatively light losses for the intensity of the fighting and was an American victory. In game terms the Japanese lost one light cruiser and one destroyer, although the destroyer was doomed because of a collision, which WAS makes no provision for. One US destroyer was a mission kill (stern blown off) but didn't sink due to heroic damage control efforts. Wargames have an inherent tendency to be bloodier than real-life fighting and War at Sea is on the bloodier end of the spectrum as far as wargames go. There's no game benefit for force preservation and indeed, a standard battle can't end until some significant portion of at least one fleet is sunk.

Instead I would be satisfied to replicate the general strategy each side followed and have an interesting fight.

The total value of the Japanese force was 145 points and the US force weighed in at 128 points, so I set it up as a 100-point game with three 50-point objective markers. Because no landforms figured in the historic fight, I used the sea map with no islands.

One notable aspect of the historical fight was that it was fought in darkness on a moonless night, so I used the official "darkness" rules from the Oct. 6, 2009 revisions and clarifications document on the Axis & Allies Web page.

Because of the OB and the darkness conditions, a number of the special abilities were inapplicable in this scenario, making the point values somewhat suspect in any case. Special abilities such as Chase the Salvoes, Antiair Specialist and Extended Range 4 were not possible to use, and quite a few others which might have been used, such as Lucky Escape and Lay Smoke Screen, didn't come up.

As a matter of fact, there were just a half-dozen special abilities that played a role, but they ended up being very important. They were:

Flotilla Leader (Yahagi) and Flagship 1 (Yahagi, Myoko, Jinstu). These basically guaranteed the Japanese would have the initiative and in the actual 4-turn battle the Japanese never lost initiative.

Long-Lance Torpedoes (All 10 Japanese ships) This meant that any torpdeo hit on a US ship was an instant kill, and while not part of the SA, all LL-equipped have a torpedo range of 3 which means they cannot be out-ranged by guns in a night scenario.

Night Fighter (Myoko, Jintsu, Yukikaze) The reroll didn't come into play because the scenario didn't last long enough, but the Night Fighter ability cancelled the darkness gunnery penalty, which was vital. The Japanese suffered because only three ships had this SA.

Radar Fire Control (Clevelands and Kidds). This also cancelled the darkness penalty and provided an extra die for gunnery to boot. This was very important, especially because two-thirds of the US fleet had the SA.

Rapid Fire (Hoels). Only used once, but it made the difference in a shot, sinking a Japanese destroyer.


Both sides were set up roughly historically.

The four US Clevelands (representing Cruiser Division 12) were set up in the center of their deployment area. Destroyer Division 46 was set up to the left, with two Fletchers and two Hoels, while Destroyer Division 45 (historically led by the dashing Arliegh Burke) was represented by four Kidds on the right. All the US ships were set up two per square with like ships together.

The Japanese deployment also resembled the historical formation. In the center were the Myoko and the Nachi (representing the Haguro). On the Japanese left was Destroyer Squadron 3 with the Jintsu (representing Sendai) and three Shigure-class destroyers. On the Japansese right was an ad hoc destroyer squadron with the light cruiser Yahagi (representing Agano), and the three destroyers Yukikaze, Isokaze and Akitsuki representing sister ships or near sisters.

Initially I wondered if this would be a fair matchup, as the Japanese force out-pointed the US force significantly (23 points or more than a cruiser's worth), but events proved that the points didn't tell the whole story in this matchup. For one thing, some of the Japanese ships are notoriously miscosted (Myoko and Jintsu) . For another, the special "darkness" conditions and OB meant quite a few SAs were useless and others (notably Night Fighter and Radar Fire Control) enhanced in importance.

Finally, the US ships had a small, but significant edge in toughness, that was of increased importance under the darkness rules. All the US destroyers had an armor value of 3 compared to 2 for the Japanese DDs, which meant that most US shots (often radar directed) would cause damage while much of the Japanese return fire (darkness-hobbled) missed. The same thing happened between the dueling cruisers. The Japanese armor values of 3 and 4 were too low to stop 8-die radar-directed shots from causing damage while the Japanese return fire often couldn't quite match the Cleveland's 5, especially if the darkness penalty applied.

The biggest wild card was the Long Lance torpedoes. These were unaffected by darkness and were big-enough to sink any US ship with a single hit and too long-ranged to avoid. A lot would come down to how lucky the Japanese rolled.

The Japanese battle plan mirrored the historical plan, which was to send all three squadron forward towards the objectives. The US plan also resembled history, with the two destroyer squadrons moving out to contest objectives and flank the Japanese while the cruisers hung back a little.

Like the historical battle, the fight turned into three separate engagements. On the US left, Japanese right, the American 46th DesDiv was defeated by the Ad Hoc Japanese squadron, with three US DDs sunk and one crippled. Concentrated US fire managed to sink the one Night Fighter Japanese DD, but the Japanese seized the objective. They ignored the crippled US Fletcher in order to try to help the embattled Japanese center.

On the other end of the line, the radar-equipped US DesDiv 45 chewed up Japanese Destroyer Squadron 3, wiping it out although not without loss. One Kidd was sunk and two were crippled before it was over, but the US got the objective.

In the center the two Japanese heavies were no match for the radar-quipped Clevelands. They had no luck with their Long Lances until reinforced by the Yahagi group, which sunk a Cleveland with one. The only other damage to the Clevelands was a single damage point caused by a shot from the Myoko. Meanwhile the Clevelands thoroughly shot-up the Japanese CAs and then the Yahagi and its two surviving DDs when the showed up.

The final score was 184 points for the US (134 in sunk IJN ships, plus one Objective) and just 91 for the Japanese (41 in ships -- CL, 3xDD -- and one Objective). One Objective was unclaimed. The surviving Japanese DD was a cripple, as were three US DDs. One US CL had a damage point.

Overall I think this demonstrates that it's a surprisingly even fight in War at Sea terms. Because I followed the historical deployment and general orders, I wouldn't say that either side's play was optimal, but it does appear that the Japanese point advantage is more apparent than real.

Martin Wallace's Waterloo session report

This intrigued me from the moment I heard about it. Like Bowen Simmons' designs of Napoleon's Triumph and Bonaparte at Marengo, Martin Wallace's Waterloo is a wargame, but one completely outside the hex-and-counter wargame tradition. It takes a completely different tack from what we've seen before, yet succeeds in being an-honest-to-goodness wargame and not just a war-themed game.

Wallace's design notes emphasize that he didn't mean for it to be considered a simulation and eh wasn't too worried about coming up with an exact order of battle or making each piece represent a particular number of men. Yet the interaction between the arms and the relative strengths between the armies ended up seeming about right and is consistent with the judgements made in similar wargames.

As it turns out I had the chance to play Chris O. at the recent gathering of the Central Connecticut Wargamers. While I didn't know this, Chris had just gotten a copy and posted a request on the club email asking if anyone wanted to try it. I rarely have Friday nights off, but I happened to have this one off and brought my copy of Waterloo, also hoping to get in a game.

This made it possible to play and finish a game within the four hours we had because both of us were familiar with the rules. I think it would have been slower going if one of us had been required to try to teach the game as well as play it. While not a difficult game, the fact that it doesn't really share any of the usual hex-and-counter mechanics mean the learning curve was a little steeper than the usual, even for experienced wargamers.

The general course of the game is simple enough to relate. I drew the French, and I think my in experience with the game hurt a little bit, as the game system is designed to reward the proper execution of combined arms tactics but I wasn't quite sure how to bring everything together. I made pretty good progress on the French right, Anglo-Allied left in the first few hours, and also captured La Haye Sainte, but ended up butting my head up against Hougoumont rather badly.

When the Prussians arrived and Chris got more action discs he was able to take advantage of my unnecessarily heavy losses to push me over the victory point limit. The final score was 16 for the Allies and 10 for the French.

It was very instructive though and I have a lot of ideas for how I might do better the next time. It's a very entertaining game system, though and Chris was a great opponent as well, so while victory wasn't mine, the fun was.

Axis & Allies: Europe nailbiter session report

Played a 3-player Axis & Allies: Europe yesterday that was such a nail-biter at the end that everyone ended up standing up for the last couple of turns!

Although it's been out for 10 years, I only picked up a copy of this a few months ago, and then only because it was on half-off clearance at a local comic book store. I gather from BGG comments that experienced players have some beefs with the game, but nothing was wrong with it from what I could see -- well, except for some damn dice. You'll see why later.

A&A Europe, unlike most of the recent games bearing the Axis & Allies name, is a true Axis & Allies system game, not just a brand. Its mechanics, strategies and tactics are all familiar to Axis & Allies players. Indeed, some innovations in A&A:Europe, such as destroyers and artillery, have become standard parts of the game. The main difference from other versions of Axis & Allies is that this version focuses purely on the European War, with the player nations being Germany, Soviet Russia, the British Commonwealth and the USA. For a three-player game, such as what we played Thursday, the same player controls British and US forces, but they are still distinct countries, moving and fighting separately during their own player turns.

While the most experienced wargamer in our trio, having played since 1969, I never really played all that much A&A. I did play the old Nova version once, before Milton Bradley (later Hasbro) owned it, and I think I played it once or twice after that, but by the time it came out I was much more heavily into detailed hex-and-counter games such as World in Flames and A&A seemed too simple. Subsequently I find my tastes evolving and something along the lines of Axis & Allies is much more my cup of tea these days. Still, my only recent experience playing Axis & Allies was an Anniversary Edition game against Mike "Private" Powell.

Mike, in contrast, was an old A&A hand, having had a fairly regular group coming over his house to play the original edition game for a while, although he hadn't played much of the newer versions, aside from the previously mentioned game of AA50 and a game of the somewhat similar A&A: D-Day against me. It goes without saying that he won the A&A: D-Day and was ahead in the AA50 game when we had to call it for time.

He brought over his friend Dave, a fellow of more recent vintage than Mike or I, and therefore someone who'd had less opportunity to gather experience. Still, I gathered that Dave had put in a few A&A games and was therefore more experienced in the game than I was.

Based on the relative levels of experience I suggested I play the western allies, while Mike and Dave split up the more critical countries. Mike ended up taking Russia, while Dave was the Germans.

The game more or less followed the course I expected, with Germany embarking single-mindedly on taking out Russia while Russia held on. The main variation was that Germany abandoned the U-Boat war, preferring to use his subs to take out the Allies navies so that he could use all his air on the Russian front. He also barely contested North Africa, so the British were able to clear that area.

My inexperience with the game may very well have cost the Allied side because I suspect my builds could have been more efficient. I ended up with some land troops in both the US and England that never got into the fight, indicating to me that a few IPCs were misallocated.

Despite that, the game came down to a hair-raising finish, with both Moscow AND Germany coming under serious attack around the same time. Unfortunately the dice took a decidedly unfriendly turn for the Allies at this precise moment. Mike noted that the most critical round in any A&A battle is the first one, as a bad set of rolls has a snowballing effect in later rounds. Units killed in Round 1 aren't inflicting damage later. The Soviet defense of Moscow should have been adequate to hold out, but a great first round of attacks by the Germans gutted the Soviet defense, (I think there was just 1 miss) and the Germans took Moscow.

Hope was not lost, however, as the German emphasis on Russia had left its homeland defense at a risky level, with just two tanks and about eight or nine infantry. The Allied plan was for a one-two punch by the Allies with consecutive amphibious invasions backed heavily by air support. The idea was that the British would be expendable, so long as they killed at least 4 or 5 German defenders, clearing the way for an even bigger US invasion later that turn.

Unfortunately the dice again displayed a pro-Axis bias at the worst possible time. Although Axis anti-aircraft fire had been notably ineffective over several turns of strategic bombing raids prior to the invasion, when the three British Lancasters appeared overhead to support the invasion two of them were shot down! As they were expected to get at least two rounds of firing at the Germans and therefore probably would have killed 4 Germans alone (with any hits by the troops or destroyers a bonus, this was a heavy blow indeed. Of course the follow-on invasion only killed a couple of Germans and there simply wasn't any way that the US forces could trade blows with the number Germans left.

Our post-mortem analysis suggested that the Western Allies were a turn or two too late. I agree. While risky, Dave's laser-like focus on Russia paid off in the end.

Couldn't catch a break

The Tide of Iron Designer's book includes a couple of bonus scenarios that were previously unpublished "demo" scenarios used during the prepublication marketing. They were designed to be simultaneously playable using one base set of the game, which made them attractive choices when I invited the redoubtable Mark K. over for a game day because it allowed me to have two games all set up before he arrived.

We played "Breaking the Line" first, in which a large American force attempts to seize a defended point atop a fortified hill from a smaller German force. Neither side receives any reinforcements and there are no vehicles involved.

I played the Americans first. My initial plan was to use Division 2 as a base of fire to cover Division 1 moving onto the flank. Division 1 would then become the base of fire and cover the final assault by Division 2.

This neat plan broke down under fire and my advance degenerated into a series of "Indian rushes" instead. I was able to get several squads into position for the final rush onto the objective, but all were cut down before they could launch actual assaults.

In retrospect I think I overindulged in "suppressive" attacks. While useful in covering maneuvering, it left too many live enemies for the end game. Failed or moderately successful suppression leaves most of the enemy in place. In contrast, Mark's Germans generally used "normal" (or as we took to calling them, "killing" ) attacks, so the American forces were taking heavy casualties -- helped by some good die rolls. Particularly annoying was a German double-mortar squad, which did a lot of damage until I got a lucky shot at it which killed off one crew. The survivors pulled back into deep cover. They played a lesser role after that, but they'd already done a lot of damage. Even "suppressive fire" can be deadly when there's 8 dice of it.

Still, despite everything, I felt that I had a shot at winning and it went to the last turn with the issue still in doubt, although a betting man would have probably laid in odds against me by turn 4 of the 6.

The switch game wasn't as close. Mark again concentrated on normal attacks. I made a stab on the right flank at threatening to deny him the 3 command points he'd normally get for occupying the "3" marker but a suppressive fire that could have pinned his unit tasked with capturing that key point missed. The two German squads on that side slowed his advance a bit, but ultimately vainly, as his barrage of fire gunned down all the hill's defenders despite their entrenchments. With the hill empty of defenders and none of the surviving Germans able to prevent it, Mark scooted a squad up onto the hill using the "Critical Objective" card (and its 2 movement point bonus) on Turn 5, for a clear and decisive win.

As we were both still getting used to the game (he'd only played it solitaire, and I had played it a couple of times) it took a long time to play, especially the first game, but as the evening wore on we sped up a lot. Mark was definitely the TOI Master after two games, but I was about to have my revenge in our next set "Chain of Command," which I'll report on tomorrow.

Session report for Red Dragon Rising

Warning long session report:

Session report for Red Dragon Rising, the coming war with China

Thought some you might be interested in how the recent Taiwan incident looked overseas to those without a dog in the fight.

Here are some clippings from the Gambrone (Botwana) Times World News in Brief column from July.

June 30

TOKYO -- Explosions were reported at multiple sites in Taipei, Taiwan shortly after midnight, local time, according to radio reports monitored here. Taiwanese bloggers in several cities also reported explosions and what appeared to be large numbers of missiles streaking across the sky from the west before all Internet traffic to Taiwan was blocked by what appeared to be massive denial of service attacks. All telephone and satellite telecommunications also appeared to be out f service overnight. There was no official confirmation from the Chinese government. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that initial indications were that a “large number, thousands” of missiles were fired from China In a coordinated barrage at Taiwan starting about midnight, local time.

July 1

TOKYO -- All telephone and Internet communications to Taiwan were still out of service today, but reports from ham radio operators in Taiwan report widespread destruction of critical sites, a complete collapse of electrical power and a news blackout. There appeared to be a lull in Chinese missile attacks. One ham radio operator reported that a Taiwanese fishing vessel had transmitted a brief report of large naval force at sea in the Taiwan strait before being cut off. The Japanese government had co comment about reports that elements of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force had sailed from their bases along with U.S. Navy forces.

WASHINGTON -- In an address to the nation, the U.S. president promised to come to the aid of Taiwan, saying that using force was not the way to reunite the Chinese people. The president also revealed the existence of a Top Secret space-based kinetic energy weapon known as the Remote Orbital Delivery of ROD, which had its first combat use overnight when it destroyed the Chinese light carrier Beijing in Taiwan strait. The president demanded that large Chine fleet at sea return to base and an immediate cease-fire be implemented. There was no comment from official Chinese sources which have been unavailable since the crisis erupted.

July 2

TAIPEI -- The Taiwanese government was able to get a radio station back on the air for a few hours just as waves of Chinese warplanes appeared over the island. Official sources would only say that the Taiwanese military forces were fighting valiantly, but admitted to “heavy” losses among all branches of the service. A ham radio operator reported a downed Chinese SU-30 on a beach along the island’s western coast, but also reported seeing what appeared to be fiercely blazing ships offshore. It was unclear what the nationality of the ships were, but there were no reports that Chinsese ships have been sighted near Taiwan as yet.

WASHINGTON -- Pentagon sources said that a massive naval battle, the largest naval battle since Leyte Gulf,” was underway in the Taiwan strait this afternoon. Details were sketchy, but the Pentagon sources indicated that Chinese naval losses were “extremely” heavy, and while there had been some losses among Japanese and U.S. naval forces, they were relatively light.

July 3

WASHINGTON -- The massive air and sea battle of the Taiwan strait continued for a second day as Chinese aircraft reportedly joined the fray. US sources said that Chinese losses continued to be heavy, but admitted that Chinese attacks had managed to get through and damage two American carriers, although officials declined to identify which ships pending notification of families. They said that the damaged vessels were withdrawing from the battle zone under heavy escort, having “accomplishing their mission.“ Officials off the record also confirmed that several US. Submarines were missing and presumed sunk, as well as an unknown number of Japanese naval vessels.

July 4

LONDON -- The British Ministry of Defense announced that a naval task force has joined U.S. Naval forces at Guam and will take part in future operations. No other details were released.

TOKYO -- Japanese government sources said air strikes were continuing over Taiwan today, but with much reduced intensity from the first days of the war. Japanese sources said Taiwanese air defenses seemed to have recovered somewhat from the opening shock of the war and were reportedly having some success downing Chinese aircraft. Meanwhile more details were coming out about the massive air-naval battle of the Taiwan Strait. Allied sources reported that the Chinese invasion fleet was “smashed” and the counterattacking Chinese air forces “decimated” in the 2-day battle. Dozens of ships, hundreds of landing craft and several hundred fighters were lost. Sources said the loss of life among Chinese troops aboard the landing fleet must have been horrendous and it may have been the deadliest naval battle in history. The Japanese reportedly lost several destroyers and the USS Reagan and USS Bush were damaged, as well as several nuclear attack submarines lost and presumed sunk.

July 5

CANBERRA -- In a surprise development, the Australian government announced that it would be neutral in the ongoing conflict in the western Pacific. An Australian government spokesman said that the government had determined that it could be most useful to the cause of peace by playing an “honest broker” between the two sides.

OKINAWA -- U.S. Pacific Command reported that a massive Chinese long-range bomber strike on the retiring damaged US carriers Reagan and Bush was intercepted by Air Force and Navy carrier aircraft and Okinawa-based fighters today, resulting in dozens of Chinese aircraft being destroyed, although not before many launched missiles at the U.S. task force. While the carriers were not hit, losses were very heavy among the screening forces, the US. admitted.

July 6

TEL AVIV -- Israeli air strikes pounded the Palestinian city of Jenin today in retaliation for rocket attacks that killed 17 Israelis this morning. An Israeli armored column punched through a gap in the border wall to rescue Israeli settlers besieged in several settlements inside the former West Bank.

TOKYO -- Japanese Ministry of Defense source reported that Chinese ground troops have been spotted moving into North Korea. Meanwhile the damaged US carriers Reagan and Bush sailed into Tokyo Bay escorted by Japanese warships.

CARACAS -- President Hugo Chavez announced the “full mobilization” of Venezuela’s armed forces in solidarity with China, while Cuba announced that its forces would go on heightened alert in anticipation of the expected US response. The administration downplayed the significance of the Caribbean , but announced that two brigade combat teams and the USS Roosevelt would move to the Gulf Coast as a “precaution.” The administration spokesman insisted these moves would not impact the war effort in the Pacific.

July 7

HANOI -- The Vietnamese government denounced the Chinese occupation of the disputed Spratley Islands today. Vietnam’s defense ministry said a “substantial Chinese fleet that had sailed from the Hainan area a few days ago had landed troops on the islands. The mystery of Chinese intentions was deepened by the move. A week into the war there has still been absolutely no Chinese comment about the fighting, even off the record. Some analysts suggested the Chinese move on the Spratley’s might be a face-saving move to make up for the failure of the Taiwan invasion. Meanwhile, Navy sources in Washington said that the last of China’s submarines forces in the Taiwan strait had been hunted down and eliminated. The entirety of China’s remaining naval strength was committed to the Spratley expedition, these sources said and the danger of an amphibious landing in Taiwan was past. (+4 China VP)


July 8

TAIPEI -- After a lull of a few days Chinese air strikes resumed over Taiwan today. There were reports of damage at several sites, but ham radio operators also reported witnessing several shoot downs of Chinese aircraft. Administration officials announced that additional naval and land forces have been dispatched to the Pacific, including the USS Nimitz.

July 9

TAIPEI -- In the latest twist in the bizarre Asian war, Chinese troops alighted on the island using a variety of transports, including helicopters, gliders and crash-landed civil aircraft. The assault troops attempted to seize several airports but suffered heavy losses in the attempt. US air strikes and cruise missile attacks in support of the Chinese troops caused additional losses and by nightfall there was just a single brigade’s-worth of Chinese troops ensconced around one airfield in Taiwan. Taiwanese officials said the situation was “serious” but not out of control.

July 10

SINGAPORE -- Alarm broke out in Singapore as the Chinese fleet made an unexpected appearance off the coast of Malaysia. Singaporean officials attempting to contact the Chinese embassy found the gates locked and embassy officials out of sight. Meanwhile, in heavy fighting, Taiwanese troops mopped up the last of the Chinese air assault forces.

July 11

SINGAPORE -- Chinese marines landed on Malaysian soil a few miles outside the borders of Singapore., supported by several destroyers. There was no armed opposition, although Malaysian officials lodged a protest at the United Nations. In San Diego additional US naval forces left for the war zone. (+1 China VP, total +5)


July 12

TOKYO -- Japanese Defense Ministry officials reported that China has redeployed most of its surviving air strength to North Korea. Japanese shipyard crews have also finished emergency repairs on the aircraft carrier USS Reagan. Work continues on the USS Bush, but officials would not speculate on how long it might take to get the Bush ready to return to combat.

July 13

SEOUL -- Missiles, artillery shells and special forces commandoes rained on South Korean border areas and the capital city before dawn as the widely expected Second Korean War started. As most civilians had been evacuated south of the artillery zone over the past few weeks casualties were low. There were no reports of significant incursions in the early hours of the war. The Chinese delegation vetoed a UN resolution calling for a cease-fire throughout the theater without comment. The US announced an airlift of a light infantry brigade combat team from Hawaii to South Korea. The Chinese-owned corporation that operates the Panama Canal announced that the canal is closed for the duration of hostilities, disabling the locks. (+1 China VP, total +6)


July 14

TOKYO -- The South Korean government announced an immediate cease-fire and treaty of eternal friendship with China today. U.S. troops disembarking from their transports were interned and incoming flights were diverted to Japanese airfields. South Korean officials speaking on condition of anonymity due to the extremely sensitive nature of the information said Chinese officials had sent word that they would use a barrage of nuclear weapons against South Korea’s cities unless the country capitulated immediately. Officials indicated the Chinese gave the South Korean government les than 12 hours to decide. The USS Bush was ready for sea, the Japanese government said. (+4 China VP , total 10)

July 15

TOKYO -- Taiwan surrenders! Citing credible threats of “intensive “ nuclear strikes across the island from Chinese officials, Taiwan’s president announced that his country was reverting to its proper provincial status and all national government offices except for vital public services were to stand-down until further notice. Stunned US officials insisted that the Chinese nuclear bullying would not stand and was “mot the last word.” Additional US forces including an Army Stryker Brigade and a Combined Arms Brigade, as well as more surface ships and submarines were on their way to the theater, officials said. (+6 China VP, total 16! China wins! In error play continued)

July 16

TOKYO -- Air battles were reported over Taiwan as Chinese fighters flew into the captured country’s airfields. Dozens of aircraft were reported downed, many as they were on their final approaches to the airfields. Meanwhile, saying that the Chinese aggression was unacceptable, the government of the Philippines said it was joining the US anti-Chinese coalition.

July 17

TOKYO -- U.S. Naval officials announced that the USS Enterprise, the last carrier still in Chinese waters was badly damaged by a Chinese suicide plane attack from Taiwan’s airfields. More than 100 Chinese aircraft were shot down during the mass attack, but one plane managed to crash into the bridge area of the carriers, causing extensive damage and forcing the US task force to retire.. No other ships were damaged, the Navy spokesman said, and loss of life aboard the Enterprise was relatively low, although the ship’s captain and the admiral leading the task force were both killed, along with several other key officers.

July 18

HANOI -- Vietnamese officials report that the Chinese naval forces formerly off the Malayan coast have disappeared, apparently heading back Towards China. Eyewitnesses report the USS Enterprise task force entered Tokyo Bay and the damaged carriers was immediately swarmed with workers, even before the ship docked.


July 19

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin announce that Russia will “under no circumstances” get involved in the far eastern war. “This is a local affair and must be resolved by the concerned powers,” Putin said.

TOKYO -- Japanese officials said North Korean aircraft have been seen flying into Taiwanese airfields. Intelligence sources suggest that the planes are crewed by Chinese pilots, but air losses have been so severe that China has had to “borrow” first-line aircraft from their North Korean allies. In a feat of naval engineering reminiscent of the work on the USS Yorktown before the World war II Battle of Midway, the USS Enterprise was ready for sea within 24 hours of arriving at Tokyo.

July 20

TOKYO -- Vietnamese sources report that most Chinese troops have let the Spratly Islands, leaving just a skeleton garrison., and apparently rejoined the Chinese at-sea forces. Meanwhile the USS Enterprise, USS Reagan and USS Bush sailed out from Tokyo Bay under escort from US and Japanese warships. All three ships were fully combat capable, the U.S. Navy said although workmen were still aboard all three ships.

July 21

TOKYO -- Saying that Japan had already done “more than its share,” the Japanese government announced that Japan was withdrawing from active combat operations effective immediately and that all US combat forces based in Okinawa would have to depart within 24 hours or be interned. Support and administrative forces and dependents were given a week to depart. US officials said they “regretted” the Japanese action, and said Japanese workers aboard the three carriers would be sent home “soon.”

SINGAPORE -- Malaysian sources said all Chinese troops except for some support cadres have re-embarked on their transports and left for “parts unknown.’

July 22

BAGHDAD -- Iranian troops seize the Al Faw peninsula today, cutting off Iraq from the sea and brushing aside the small Iraqi forces in the way. The US administration announced that three fighter wings would be dispatched to Iraq to provide air support for Iraqi forces and help them drive the Iraqi forces out.

LONDON -- The ministry of Defense issued a brief statement that Royal Navy forces had rendezvoused with U.S. naval forces “at sea.” The spokesman would provide no details as to where and for what purpose the fleets had joined.

July 23

SINGPORE -- The rogue Chinese fleet has reappeared, Singaporean officials said, this time off the coast of Borneo. Officials said it appeared Chinese forces were going to take advantage of Indonesia’s weak military to grab coastal territory that might be useful as a bargaining chip. To this date the Chinese government ahs not said a word about its war aims or even commented officially on any aspect of the fighting. The entire country is on an Internet blackout and state media has played nothing but martial music and shown patriotic films for more than three weeks.

MANILLA - A Philippine fishing boat reports seeing a vast armada approaching the coast of Taiwan today.

July 24

JAKARTA -- Indonesian officials said Chinese marines have splashed ashore on a remote section of the Borneo coast in an obvious attempt to insult the US president by occupying a portion of his childhood home. (+1 China VP, total +17)

WASHINGTON -- The administration said the Chinese aggression was ‘pointless” and resulting in unnecessary suffering all over the Pacific. Navy spokespeople said carrier aircraft from the Bush, Enterprise, Nimitz and Reagan had conducted air strikes to achieve air supremacy over Taiwan. Chinese/North Korean aircraft rising to contest the US strike were “brushed away.”





July 25

JAKARTA -- Indonesian officials said Chinese marines have re-embarked on their ships, leaving behind a detachment of troops.

TAIPEI -- US Marines splashed ashore on the beaches outside the capital city while US Army troops landed elsewhere on the island. Few Chinese troops were seen and there was no serious fighting reported. US officials said a new, independent Taiwanese government would be formed. (-6 China VP, total +11)

July 26

HANOI --- The Vietnamese government, denouncing Chinese “aggression,: said it was joining the US coalition. Observers noted the irony of the Vietnamese joining their erstwhile foes from the Vietnam era.

MANILA -- Philippine military officials said Chinese naval forces have been spotted off the shore of Palawan Island. They said that the US naval armada that liberated Taiwan was now on its way to rescue the Palawan islanders.

July 27

MANILA -- As expected, some Chinese troops have gone ashore and planted their flags, in what has now become a bizarre ritual. Meanwhile the US armada was reported to be approaching Palawan from the north and just hours away. (+1 China VP, total +12, China wins again! Game still continues in error)

July 28

MANILA -- Like ghosts, the Chinese fleet has disappeared, just as the US armada appears offshore of Palawan island. The hasty departure of the Chinese fleet left one brigade of Chinese troops on the beach, however.

July 29

MANILA -- In a day of sharp fighting that culminated in a mass suicide charge by explosive-vest wearing Chinese soldiers that caused heavy casualties among attacking US Marines Palawan was liberated.

JAKARTA -- Chinese marines landed at a remote village on the island of Celebes , today, in another move the Indonesian military was helpless to prevent. (-1 China VP, + 1 China VP. Total still +12)

July 30

WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials announced the loss of the USS Reagan today to a Chinese suicide submarine attack. A Chinese stay-behind special forces submarine armed with a directed energy warhead managed to explode directly underneath the super carrier, breaking its back and resulting in its total loss. Fortunately the ship sank slowly and most of the crew was rescued by accompanying vessels. In related news, administration officials announced that B-2 bombers armed with satellite-guided weapons had struck the Chinese fleet off the Celebes, sinking several warships. All US bombers returned safely, officials announced. (+2 China VP total +14)

July 31.

NEW YORK -- In a surprise development, Chinese officials announced they were accepting the UN cease-fire and were prepared to open wide-ranging negotiations on all “outstanding issues in the region.” Observers at the UN suggested that the Chinese had salvaged in the end some bargaining chips after a disastrous start to the war.

Final VP

China

4 VP for Korea
4 VP for the Spratley Islands
3 VP for Malaya, Celebes and Borneo
2 VP for one sunk CVN
1 VP for Panama Canal closure

Total of 14 VP = Chinese victory!


Long session report. Misread victory conditions and thought China won on points at game end, not at the end of any turm, so the game continued . The "real" end came quickly. The US probably should have reinforced Korea, but the Chinese rolled a 6 for resolving the Korean war This created a dangerous situation for the US that really couldn’t be helped. Despite completely destroying the Chinese invasion force they Taiwan still surrendered and gave China the points it needed. The end game played in error still showed that the Chinese have some dangerous capabilities even when reduced. The US should ruthlessly hunt down any Chinese expeditions that get loose around Indonesia.