Tag: British Army
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Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 9
Second week of October 1914. BEF Report to the War Office BEF’s part of the front aint as big as we thought it would be, we cover it to Bapaume. Team Control Gloss Well this was where I stopped following the team very closely and handed over to Paul, one of the map umpires, for…
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Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 8
The first full week of October 1914. BEF Report to the War Office Orders are to entrench from south of marshed terrain In Dixmuiden towards Arras. Right flank tries to attempt a limited attack from Arras and surroundings directioned to the east to conform to the German line. It seems that a solid trench line…
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Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 7
29 Sept to 4th October 1914. BEF Report to the War Office Some more confusion, Germans frontline is from the Marsh area (Dixmuiden) to the South, direction Arras (which the Germans appear to have abandoned?) which means that the British advanced somehow without orders to do so. It seems that a change in warfare is…
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Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 5
Third week of September 1914. BEF Report to War Office 23rd September 1914 Situation Due to the fact that both the Belgians collapsed to the left of us and to the right of us the French 6th Army were thrown back as well, the BEF was in a difficult position. With bravery and in coordination with…
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Megagame: Iron Dice – Turn 1
The first turn of this megagame covered the first three weeks of August 1914. During this turn the British decided on their plan (K) and mobilised the BEF to France. British Strategic Discussions There were three plans considered. Plan F was a landing at Ostend to directly support the Belgians; Plan K landing in France…
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Megagame: Iron Dice
“If the iron dice must roll, may God help us” – Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German Chancellor, 1st August 1914. Later today I will be the British Team Control for the Megagame Makers Iron Dice game of the opening moves of WW1. Here’s the blurb from the Megagame Maker‘s website. Megagame Makers are marking the centenary…
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Book Review – Zero Six Bravo by Damien Lewis
Zero Six Bravo: 60 Special Forces. 100,000 Enemy. The Explosive True Story by Damien Lewis My rating: 4 of 5 stars I make a point of reading first hand accounts of special forces operations. I started with world war two tales of the SAS and have worked up to the present time. Since the Bravo…
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Game Design Notes: World War One Strategic Battles
This was originally written as a game design session prompt for a session at Chestnut Lodge Wargames Group back in April 2004. A discussion thread on about this excellent blog post http://sketchinggamedesigns.blogspot.com.es/2014/01/the-wrinkles-of-tactics-first-world-war.html lead me to dig it out and post it here. World War One Strategic Battles Turn structure Three turns per year, March – June…
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The Stress of Battle – Pt5 Operational Research on WW2 Heroism
This is the fifth and final part of my extended review of The Stress of Battle by David Rowland. It is such a strong piece of operational research on WW2 heroism that I thought that it would be useful for wargame designers (and players) to understand what the research evidence is for what went on in WW2 battles. This…
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The Stress of Battle – Part 4 – Op Research on Anti-Tank Combat
This is the fourth part of my review of The stress of battle: quantifying human performance in combat by David Rowland, which is an essential piece of Operational Research on WW2 and Cold War combat operations. This part covers the findings on anti-tank combat. Anti-Tank Combat Unlike small arms, the effectiveness of weapons used for anti-tank combat has changed considerably over the course of the…
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The Stress of Battle – Part 3 – Op Research on Terrain Effects
This is the third part of my extended review of The Stress of Battle by David Rowland. It is such a strong piece of operational research that I thought that it would be useful for wargame designers (and players) to understand what the research evidence is for what went on in WW2 battles. Fighting in…