War In The East - A Paths Of Glory VASSAL Game Pt2

Our ongoing Paths Of Glory game on VASSAL. <Pt1>

Turn #2

Fighting along the A/H-Russia border

Turn two began with both sides reinforcing in the east around Austria/Hungary's (A/H) border with Russia and the two VP locations of Lemberg and Czernowitz. I was trying to put a lot of pressure on the Central Power's A/H forces by moping-up as many of their corp. units as I could. By the end of turn two they had re-grouped back into the mountains at Uzghorod, but still held the strong fortifications at Przemysl. Przemysl would prove to be a thorn in my side for quite a few turns to come...

Russian breakthrough!

Turn #3
The Central Powers pushed their war status to three, just one short of entering Limited War, which would give them access to some new cards. The Allies responded (trying to keep pace) by playing 'Blockade' which game them a war status of two and a -1VP during each subsequent War Status Phase during winter. Our fighting continued in the east and I continued to push the A/H forces back and out of the mountains ultimately taking VPs at Drebrecen and Cluj. VP track is at 7.

Even with the Russian land-grab on the eastern front, I still felt uneasy about my lines of supply. One wrong move could prove disastrous, but both sides kept pushing and jostling for position.
 

Pig-dog attack into Belfort

Turn #4
All had been quiet on the western front until the Central Powers initiated a sneak attack against the French fort at Belfort. The corp. unit there put up little resistance and in moved the Hun.

No respite either in the east as A/H forces moved to cut Russian supply lines. Was the earlier French feint a distraction tactic?

In response, I moved Russian and Serbian forces to cut A/H supplies around Debrecen only to see the German 9th army heading down the road from Breslau into Martin. Fight!

A/H (circled) have their supply lines cut

I'd been surprised (and happy) to have seen little German intervention on the eastern front up to this point. Dealing with loss factor 3 Germans instead of the weaker A/H (loss factor 2) forces would change my tactics in the east. Although at this point in turn four, I didn't quite realise this yet... 

The fighting at Martin left the German 9th and the Russia 3rd armies reduced. It was the Allied Serbian forces that took a pasting though. First from the German 9th and later from the re-supplied A/H 6th Army.

By the end of turn four my Russians had pushed as far as Budapest and Vienna. The German 9th army had moved into the fort at Cracow and left the recovering A/H 6th Army to take Belgrade in the south. As the Allies I had over-stretched with Vienna in my sights. My supply would be difficult, if not impossible to hold and now I'd also need to take Belgrade back. VP track is at 6.

Eastern front at the end of turn #4

As we move into spring 1915 I'm really enjoying this PoG game. Stay tuned for Pt3. The Germans are coming to save the east!

Archduke Ferdinand to the Starvation of Germany - A Paths of Glory VASSAL Game

Paths of Glory is epic. Our three-turn taster from TableTop day would never be enough, so we've jumped feet first into a full campaign over VASSAL. Stupid? Yes more than a little, but at this stage we can't get enough of a good thing.

The Campaign Scenario - 20 turns!!

The Campaign Scenario ends with any of the following:

• if a player achieves an Automatic Victory,
• at the end of the Winter 1919 turn (turn 20),
• as a result of an Armistice (16.2.1), or
• in a draw by a player accepting Peace Terms.

There are two Victory Levels for the Campaign scenario depending on whether or not the Central Powers player played the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk event. The space which the VP marker is in at the conclusion of this scenario is compared to the appropriate levels below to determine the winner.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Event Played Central Powers Victory: 11 or more Draw: 10 Allied Victory: 9 or fewer (the historical result).
 

Germans march into Sedan

No Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Event Central Powers Victory: 13 or more Draw: 10-12 Allied Victory: 9 or fewer.

In our first three-turn game I played the Germans, so this time we've switched it around with GaryB taking the (German led) Central Powers, leaving me with the Allied Powers. 

Turn #1 
The Germans select the Guns of August and power comfortably into Liege using it to brush aside the French 5th army at Sedan. The Allies respond by re-enforcing Brussels with the 1st Belgian army out of Antwerp and by assaulting with the Russian 3rd & 8th armies into Tarnopol on the Eastern Front.

Moving the Austria-Hungary (AH) 2nd army the Central Powers look to protect Czernowitz from the Russian advances. Instead the Russian 8th continues NW to take Lemberg. For a second action running (their 3rd of the turn) the Central Powers manoeuvre their forces, this time into Liege. Trying to tempt an Allied attack at Liege and open the opportunity of a flanking attack into Brussels?

Allies Stretching Their Lines Too Far Too Soon?

Resisting the Allies only move to back-up (Brussels) and maintain their momentum in the East by clearing an AH corp out of Stanislaw and putting pressure on the VP space at Czernowitz.

This was risky. The 3rd, 5th and 8th Russian armies now had very stretched supply lines.

Moving into the final few actions of Turn #1, a few corps are exchanged in Cambai, before a combined German and AH pincer movement besieges the forts at Lutsk and Dubno with some very light corp units.

I knew that I could prevent one of the forts from falling, but the other would be very likely to fall. This sat comfortably with me as I'd already made good aggressive progress in the East and would likely maintain my supply lines by re-securing Dubno.

End of Turn #1

By the end of Turn #1 the Central Powers had broken through at Liege-Sedan, but suffered significant losses to AH armies in the East.

A bayonet or a machine gun? Paths of Glory.

Headlining our tabletop day at The Black Knight was Paths Of Glory (POG), again by GMT games. We do love you so GMT!

POG is a  is a card-driven strategic wargame which manages to cover the First World War in a surprisingly manageable way. Indeed following a relatively brief learning session last Wednesday evening we kicked off the introductory scenario on Saturday morning with very few hitches. 

The POG map covers Europe, parts of Asia and the Near East with armies and corp set-up along two primary fronts (pictured below). We elected to play the introductory Scenario which lasts just three full turns with the Central Powers trying to achieve 14 or more victory points and the Allied Powers looking to keep it at 10 or less for victory. Anything in-between would result in a draw.

 
Card play is at the heart of POG and drives everything in the the game. Each player has their own deck which is split into three parts, Mobilization, Limited War and Total War. Each of these cards can be played in a number of ways:

• For OPERATIONS - To activate spaces on the map for movement or attacks.
• For the EVENT - To trigger the event specified on the card.
• For STRATEGIC REDEPLOYMENT - To move units longer distances through friendly controlled territory.
• For REPLACEMENT POINTS - To provide you with replacements for your depleted armies and corps.

POG Cards

 The short scenario that we were playing would only use the Mobilization cards. I took on the role of the Central Powers and MrB played the Allied Powers. I elected to start with the Guns Of August card (optional at the start of the game) in my hand and lead with it to put immediate pressure on the Allies by destroying the forts at Liege to open up the Western front.

German advances in Belgium

 Play was cagey through the first few turns and focused mostly in Belgium around the gap that had been opened up at Liege. I took Brussels, Antwerp and Ostend along the coast and repelled Allied attempts at Metz. By turn three I had victory in my sights and pushed to get over the 14VP target despite being severely limited by some clever Allied card play through the MOLTKE* event (see below).

 It was not to be though as my hard earned VPs were cruelly taken in the last Allied action of the game where Liege fell and cut-off supply to my troops in Cambrai, Brussels and Antwerp. MrB won with the score at 10VPs. Devastating!

Allies cut German supply at Liege

 A great first game of POG, with many lessons learned. Maybe a longer scenario on VASSAL next time MrB?

3/4 MOLTKE * (BR:1 FR:1 IT:1 RU:2)
May only be played in August or September 1914.
CP Activation in Belgium or France costs 1 OPS per unit (not space) until the "Falkenhayn" card is played.

KoffeeKlub Evening 21st of October

Paths Of Glory

It's the weekend and that means KoffeeKlub! We have a few options available this week as Michael has offered to bring Paths of Glory, a WWI strategic wargame and Silent Death, a space combat game.

Silent Death

This week KoffeeKlub will meet at WeeGamers in Whitehead Primary School between 7pm and 11pm.

“Do days exist without calendars? Does time pass when there are no human hands left to wind the clocks?” - H.G.Wells

The Digest: 17-Sept-12 - How he learned to stop worrying and love the bomb!

"Just the facts, ma'am!"

Our gaming is rich right now and to be honest it has been for the past six months or so. 

What's changed I hear me say? Well I think that our focus has improved and we've moved away from the talking a lot (about games) to the playing a lot (of games). This was really hammered home back in June as our Q-Con write-ups reflect, we're getting many many more games to the table. That can only be a good thing!

General Patton

FAB Sicily

We've settled into a reasonably good pace with VASSAL and have completed our first online FAB: Sicily game, which ended in a dramatic last turn tie. The return game already has a very different feel to it as my Allies move away from the historical landing plans to attack Sicily on two fronts. Now all I need is Patton's hell-for-leather drive on Messina along Sicily's northern coast. Who cares about the odd slap or two?

Twilight Struggle

Elsewhere, hamming up the Cold War theme, we've played two full games of Twilight Struggle. Both games have ended suddenly, almost without warning and been victories for the U.S. player (1 victory each). GaryB and I are still learning the game and more importantly the card mix in each of the three decks (early, mid and late war).

Twilight Struggle does have a lot of luck elements in play, from the card draws to the dice rolls you can sometimes feel that the game isn't giving you a fair crack of the whip. Generally your opponent feels that way too and it becomes a contest about who can manage their luck (or lack of it) most efficiently. 

During last night's game, Mr Bingers had built-up a sizeable 9VP lead heading into the mid-war. I had NORAD in play and was forever trying to keep the DEFCON levels low to gain the advantages it offered. In the end the lure of the Big Red Button proved too strong and Mr B sent the world spiralling into nuclear war, losing the game in the process. I guess I managed my luck a little better? That didn't stop me bitchin' about it during the game though! :) 

Full write-ups to follow.

Shifting Sands

Turning back the WWII clock a little, we'll be picking up MMP's Shifting Sands, probably from next Sunday evening. Shifting Sands covers the war in North Africa between 1940 and 1943 and uses a card-driven design to bring thematic events from that period to life. It also has a VASSAL module available, but we'll give it a go face-to-face first.

New Games?

Looking further ahead I'm considering a few potential purchases covering different periods in world history.

Maria - is based on the War of the Austrian Succession, where Austria was attacked by Prussia, France, Bavaria and Saxony, while only Great Britain, Hanover and the Netherlands (by forming the so-called Pragmatic Army) helped her.

A big part of the draw with Maria is that it is a strong three-player wargame. Not many of those about.

Ardennes '44 - a reprinting of GMT's 2003 game covering the action around the Battle of the Bulge. I love the look of the map in this game and it would be a bigger investment of time to play coming in at around 6 hours. Who knows, we may end up with FAB: The Bulge to cover this period instead.

Pursuit of Glory - GaryB mentioned this one recently, a sequel to the popular Paths of Glory, also a World War I game. Paths focused mostly of the European action of World War I, but Pursuit turns it's attention to the Great War in the Middle East. 

Pursuit uses the same card-driven mechanics and point-to-point of the first game, but with some rules changes and modifications to better simulate the conditions of the war in the Middle East.

Good times ahead!