The Wargaming Addict

Sun Tzu Revisited

2010-07-25T12:51:00.000+02:00

I have been going through Sun Tzu once again, and have found his chapter on the offensive strategy to be both interesting and related to wargaming.

Normally a wargame is conducted with both players having equal forces. Our battles are fought on a points system and each player has an equal number of points to compose his force. Thus both armies begin with equal combat power.

As a result it can be difficult to win a game using tactics such as encirclement or flanking, because both players have armies of equal size and strength.
Sun Tzu states that you should outnumber your enemy by 10 to 1 in order to be able to encircle him, and by 5 to 1 in order to be able to defeat him. If you only outnumber him by 2 to 1 then you must divide him before you engage him. Sun Tzu obviously never played Warhammer.

He also said that the best generals get no credit. This is because they defeat the enemy without fighting. Hence, if there is no battle then there is no glory. And no glory means no PR for the general. In fact, he specifically said that you should always take your enemies army intact without fighting – which is the epitome of skill.

However when we wargame we are assuming that the situation has reached a critical stage and battle is inevitable. Yet, historically, generals loathe engaging on 1 to 1 terms because that risks their entire army being defeated.
By recreating historical battles, however, we can experience the skewed odds that Sun Tzu mentions.

Unfortunately though, it can sometimes be difficult to find an opponent willing to take on the outnumbered side, especially when they are the historical losers. In fact, such scenarios can be rather unpopular simply because many wargamers dislike taking the side of the army that traditionally lost. Hence, there is no shortage of budding Roman generals, but those representing the Gallic tribes are rather thin on the ground.

Still, playing a wargame where you are outnumbered 5 to 1 would be a real challenge and a real test of your generalship. Yet Sun Tzu has quoted this ratio, no doubt, because such odds were considered to be insurmountable and thus an army such outnumbered had no chance of winning, which meant the general did not risk his army when engaging such inferior forces.

But trying out a scenario where you are outnumbered 2 or even 3 to 1 could provide a lot of fun and really stretch your tactical muscles. Normally, such outnumbered forces would be on the defensive and would often have occupied terrain that facilitates this – many defensive battles are great examples of this.

Next time you wargame, give it a try and see how it feels to be desperately short of troops. After the game, switch sides with your opponent and game the scenario again.

Doing so will give you a unique appreciation for the use of your forces and their combat abilities, as well as how terrain can dramatically affect the outcome of a battle.

Video Posts

2010-07-25T12:18:00.003+02:00

For those of you who commented on the video posts - many thanks for that.

However Stefan and I have decided that we will continue after the armies are painted. Somehow the videos just don’t look effective enough with big blobs of orange troops and a shaky camera.

Keep watching this space and we will have some more posts up shortly as the armies are now about half painted.

Thanks,

Justin.

Tactical Wargaming - Video 3 (Field of Glory)

2010-07-17T14:07:00.005+02:00

The third in the series of Tactical Wargaming videos. The game of cat and mouse continues...

Until next time, always remember that the very best wargaming tactics are always helped by a large dose of luck.

Tactical Wargaming - Video 2 (Field of Glory)

2010-07-17T14:06:00.002+02:00

The series of Tactical Wargaming videos continue and we re-asses our position and our tactics after the initial turn.

Until next time, always remember that the very best wargaming tactics are always helped by a large dose of luck.

Tactical Wargaming - Video 1 (Field of Glory)

2010-07-17T11:09:00.004+02:00

Stephan and I decided to explain some concepts in the first of a series of Tactical Wargaming videos while playing through a Field of Glory battle.

This video is the first of the series and shows Stephan and myself explaining the armies and explaining how we intend to outwit each other.

This can give you a great idea of the thought processes behind each game.

So on with the show...

Until next time, always remember that the very best wargaming tactics are always helped by a large dose of luck.

Tactics and zombies

2010-07-14T22:53:00.004+02:00

"Huh? What do zombies have to do with tactics?" I hear you scream.

The correct answer is, "Quite a lot." So read on and be enlightened.

Most of us enjoy a good zombie flick. Hordes of the undead sweeping forwards in a never ending tide. Small groups of survivors trying to hold out in a variety of locations, each looking for that safe, zombie-free zone.

If a bacterial or viral agent was accidentally released tomorrow - just like in the movie 28 Days Later - resulting in a plague of zombies, how would you survive?

Take a look around your house or apartment. What are the entrance points for a zombie attack? How much food supplies do you have? What makeshift weapons could you cobble together? How many are in your household and is this number adequate to defend the property? What changes would you make and how would you achieve them?

Remember, your mission is to survive, time is limited, terrain equals your home, troops means your family, and the enemy is a horde of brain eating zombies waiting to get in.

If you need to move out, where do you go? Who do you take with you? How will you gain supplies?

These exercises are similar to what a guerrilla commander would consider when conducting operations. In fact, if you prefer, you can replace the zombies with an invading enemy - like in the movie Red Dawn. But be advised, thinking opponents, rather than the mindless undead, make it much harder.

How would you organize your group? What roles would you give family members and friends? How will establish a chain of command? Who has essential skills that you will need to survive? Do you have a medic? Do you have an offensive specialist? What about recon?

This is an excellent tactical exercise that you can conduct in idle moments. When you get bored with it, assume the outbreak occurs when you are at work or school. That should bring up a host of new tactical considerations that should keep you busy for weeks.

And if you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of zombie survival. I recommend the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. It is a fascinating, funny, yet eerily frightening read that will have you locking all your doors at night and sleeping with a baseball bat under the bed - just in case Mr Jones from next door turns in to the living dead.

More about terrain - OKOCA

2010-07-12T16:31:00.001+02:00

No, it's not a kid's song and you don't have to put your left leg in, take your left leg out and shake it all about.

Instead 'OKOCA' is a handy acronym for analyzing the terrain you are facing to make sure you get a good grasp of your situation.

As we have said before, terrain is vitally important when wargaming and the winner and loser of many wargames can be seen to be the player who took best advantage of the ground and used it to multiply the power of his force.

So let's run through that little acronym and see what it's all about.

O = OBSERVATION. What field of vision does the terrain give you. High ground allows you to get excellent views of the surrounding area, enabling you to see what the enemy is up to. Get your men in positions where they can observe the enemy unseen. They will be your eyes, enabling you to fight very effectively. This is less important in tabletop wargames, or boardgames, where both players normally have full view of the table - although some wargames are now bringing in the concept of troops only being able to see for a set distance which is dependent upon time of day and weather conditions. In this case, get some observers out there. When it comes to computer wargaming which is normally played with a 'Fog of War' effect, then seizing observation sites is a must. You don't know where the enemy is deploying or advancing. Get on some high ground and find out; then prepare a nasty surprise.

K = KEY TERRAIN. This represents ground that will give either side a substantial advantage in the coming battle. Identify key terrain and fight for it. If you cannot hold it, then deny it to the enemy using obstacles or by dominating it with fields of fire. Holding the key terrain could be a vital part of winning the battle, so don't miss out. An example would be the only bridge over a river. Whoever holds it would have a major advantage in the ensuing combat as they would be able to retreat over it and counter-attack across it, giving them more mobility than their opponents.

O = OBSTACLES. Obstacles are things that impede the enemy. A minefield, stakes dug into the ground, and barbed wire are all good examples. They don't have to be offensive either - a simple ditch can do the job. They cost the enemy time to remove and time is a precious commodity on the battlefield. So tie up enemy resources in obstacle removal and that translates into less troops that are attacking you. Obstacles can also be used to funnel an enemy where you want him to go. If he doesn't have the time or the means to destroy the obstacle, then he will have to go around it. And that can be right into your line of fire.

C = COVER AND CONCEALMENT. We have already talked about this in detail. Remember, cover provides protection, concealment hides you from vision. Either is good, but terrain that can accomplish both is especially valuable.

A = AVENUE. The avenue of approach is either the direction you are attacking the enemy, or the route he will use to attack you. Determine the avenue correctly and you can prepare accordingly. Often the avenue is decided upon by areas that provide concealment and the avoidance of obstacles. Analyze the terrain, see where the enemy is going to come from and hit him hard. At the same time, conceal your own avenues of approach with small attacks that make your opponent think the main attack is on the way. Remember, there may be more than one avenue of approach.

Next time you wargame, look at the terrain in front of you and use it as a weapon to attack your opponent with.

Tactical Scenario 2 - A King's Ransom

2010-07-12T16:00:00.002+02:00

As promised, the next scenario can be downloaded here.

This fantasy scenario pits ancient enemies against each other - Dwarves against Orcs.

There are detailed force listings and some strategic choices to make, as well as a background to the conflict.

Enjoy, leave your battle plans as a comment and next week we will come back to the present with a hostage rescue scenario.

A bit of inspirational music

2010-07-12T11:29:00.001+02:00

No, I haven't gone soft.

It is always nice to have some themed music playing when sending your warriors charging at the enemy.

Radio Rivendell is an online radio station playing fantasy music 24/7.

If that doesn't inspire you to dust off your Dwarves and Orcs, I don't know what will.

Cover and concealment

2010-07-11T20:34:00.000+02:00

Cover and concealment sound very similar, but they are not. They are in fact quite different and knowing how each one works is very important if you don't want your troops to end up resembling burgers.

Cover represents something that puts a protective layer between you and the sharp end of the enemy's weapon systems. So a wall is cover when your enemy is shooting crossbow bolts at you. When he is using a 40mm autocannon, then you may as well be hiding behind rice paper. So for an object to be classed as cover it must effectively block attacks.

Concealment represents the ability to hide from the enemy. Lying in long grass can conceal your troops, allowing them to advance unseen. But it won't even stop sling shot, meaning that it provides no cover. On the other hand a wood provides concealment and the trees also provide cover from a large number of weapons.

This brings us to the next point: not all cover provides concealment and not all concealment provides cover. There is some overlap, but it should not be taken for granted.

So in our example above, the wood provides both cover and concealment. It blocks attacks and hides you from the enemy. However, if your men are the remnants of a tank crew sheltering behind their smoking vehicle, you have cover but the big smoke plume tells the enemy exactly where you are.

When does all this become important?

If you happen to be on the defensive, then you will be seeking cover. It adds to the survivability of your troops and allows you to engage large numbers of the enemy without having your men drop like flies.

However, if you are the attacker, you will be looking for concealment so that you can approach defensive positions unseen and bring your weapon systems to bear. The closer you can get, the better.

Cover is normally less prevalent on a battlefield than concealment. Line of sight can be blocked in a myriad of ways - even your own troops can conceal the troops behind them.

Next time you wargame, keep an eye out for both and use them effectively. If you are the defender, seek out cover and deny concealment to the attacker. If you are the attacker, use concealment and deny the defender cover.

How you ask? We'll talk about that tomorrow.

Sun Tzu and estimates

2010-07-10T10:05:00.000+02:00

Having picked up Sun Tzu to take to the beach (yes, I never switch off from tactics) I have been going over his chapter on estimates.

What Sun Tzu is talking about here is using the information you have about your enemy to make some calculations beforehand and to draw up your plans accordingly. In this way you maximise your strengths, while exploiting your opponent's weaknesses.

Now in wargaming we have HUGE amounts of information on our opponent, yet rarely use them

We normally know the exact composition of our opponent's forces. And, if we are refighting an historical scenario, we also know their dispositions.

You are never going to get these advantages in real warfare, yet we often completely overlook these gift horses and just settle down to roll some dice.

Spend 30 minutes before the battle formulating a plan. Look at where the opponent is weak, examine his troops types, analyse the terrain, make calculations based on move distances and weapon ranges. And don't forget to focus on the mission you have been provided with.

Also, you want to spare a bit of time to throw your opponent a curve ball. If he is going to be going through calculations as well, how can you deceive him and confuse him? How can you set up a feint attack, lay an ambush, or send troops off on a flanking march?

By following through these lines of thinking you gain a massive advantage on your opponent, who has spent his 30 minutes playing with his dice, eating a burger and talking about the game on TV last night.

As Sun Tzu says: "With many calculations one can win; with few one cannot."

It really is that simple.

So next time you stare at your monitor or stand over a wargames table, do a little bit of calculation and see the results for yourself.

Campaign Games - Plan your army's improvement path

2010-07-08T23:07:00.001+02:00

While it's fun to fight your army against your buddy's, nothing beats a campaign for getting the wheels inside your brain to start spinning around.

Many systems include campaign rules that allow your troops to gain experience and to grow as the campaign progresses. The more scenarios you play, the more powerful your squad becomes (assuming you can keep your guys alive) and the more powerful your opponents become (assuming you don't kill them all).

There are many things I have learned both playing and watching these types of games. And nowhere is the old saying "A bad plan is better than no plan" than in this type of game.

For example, you have just completed the first scenario of your campaign. You did quite well and some of your guys (or units) have gained an ability reflecting their newly gained experience. You begin looking through the weighty rulebook to decide which ones you are going to give them.

NO! NO! NO!

You should have already decided that before the campaign began!

You should have already drawn up your force's strengths and weaknesses. Laying out a development plan for these guys should either focus on maximizing their strengths, or minimizing their weaknesses.

For example, your force is comprised of melee specialists. If you take additional abilities that further enhance this, then they are going to be unstoppable when they close with the enemy.

However, if their weakness is that they wear no armor, taking abilities that improve their protection will increase their survivability.

So which path do you follow?

Well it depends on several factors.

Firstly, what are your opponents doing? If they all have shooty armies, then getting some extra armor on your boys is going to help out more than additional melee skills - because your boys probably already outclass your shooty opponents anyway.

If other players have melee armies, then increasing your melee skills will give you the edge over them, allowing you to slice and dice your way to victory.

What terrain do you play over? If it is congested, movement abilities will let you get your men into combat quicker. Open terrain will require you to take armor related abilities.

You should also consider how your force acts together as a team. If you lose a specific person or unit, does that compromise the ability of your force to fight? If so, you should be taking abilities that create a back-up 'super unit' so you are not crippled by an opponent's lucky dice roll (it WILL happen).

Choose abilities for your force that interact and enhance each other, building a combination that allow you to become a force to be reckoned with. For example, you might give one unit the ability to wield giant axes, while another (resilient) unit has the ability to attract all enemy missile fire to itself. Working in tandem, this allows the axe wielding maniacs to get in close and do what they do best, without taking casualties from missile fire before they get to show off their carving skills.

Put a little bit of thought into your campaign progression and unit development choices. Try to have a plan worked out before the campaign begins and draw up 'development paths' for your units.

Your game will be the better for it.

An AK-47 - made out of LEGO

2010-07-08T22:30:00.001+02:00

While I know it's not essentially wargaming, this was just too cool to pass up.

This guy has made a working AK-47 using Lego blocks. Yes, you read that right - LEGO.

Complete with cocking handle, this little beauty spits out Lego blocks with a reasonable impetus. Sure beats rolling marbles at those Airfix soldiers.

Now where was this guy when I was growing up?

Watch the video here.

To skirmish or not to skirmish - that is THE question

2010-07-07T12:26:00.001+02:00

We all love the sight of a huge army laid out before us. It is a real power trip to imagine what it must have been like to hold the lives of thousands in your hands. What must it have felt like to hear your battle cry roared by a hundred thousand voices, have men willing to die at your command and see empires tremble at the mere whisper of your name?

I think it is trying to recreate such feelings that sees us lay out hundreds of troops on the battlefield in the recreation of some epic battle.

Indulging in such moments of megalomania is fine, but the only problem with large scale battles is that they consume a proportionate amount of time to play out. All well and good if you can dedicate a whole weekend to wargaming - not so good if you only have a few hours.

Skirmish wargaming is thus understandably popular when your time is limited. They allow you to get your wargaming fix, without having to explain to your significant other where you have been all weekend.

While they do not offer the same scope and scale of larger wargames, they often have considerable detail in their combat system. In addition, because each unit represents a single person, you can often become rather attached to your force.

Also, this level of individual detail greatly lends itself to campaign play, where you can see your warriors grow and develop with each battle, going from lowly grunt to celebrated hero.

There are a lot of different systems out there that cater for this type of play. They vary from the futuristic (such as Games Workshop's Necromunda) to fantasy (like Rackham's Confrontation).

If you haven't already tried it, give skirmish wargaming a shot - before you know it you'll be naming your figures and recounting their deeds to anyone that will listen.

Or maybe that's just me...

Tactical Scenario 1 - Storm the bunker

2010-07-06T13:50:00.003+02:00

Right then, it is no use learning about tactics, if you don't get some practice applying your knowledge to specific situations.

So I have created a short tactical scenario that you can use to hone your skills.

The scenario can be downloaded here.

The situation involves an American combat team trying to clear out a defensive German bunker during World War Two. Sit down for a while with a pen and paper and see what solutions you can come up with.

Feel free to post your solutions here and comment on others.

Remember, there is not always a right and a wrong solution. And even a bad plan is better than no plan at all.

Paper Wargaming - Get Your Wargaming Fix Without Breaking the Bank

2010-07-06T12:34:00.000+02:00

Wargaming is an expensive hobby. Miniature armies can cost a lot of money and, as all wargamers know, one is simply not enough. Board games are expensive too and computer software is not exactly cheap either - let alone the powerful systems you also need to buy in order to actually run the high-spec games.

It is thus nice to see systems such as Filpit Paper Combat that has a range of paper miniatures available for download. Even the rules are free.

All you need to do is print out the templates, apply a little glue and you are ready to start your quest for conquest and victory. This is a great way to get new people involved in the hobby, without having them handle your precious and painstakingly painted miniature collections.

The rules are simple, using flipped coins (hence the system's name)and there are a variety of different troops and abilities that give a nice feel to the game. The armies seem loosely based on World War Two equivalents, but the fighting actually takes place in a land called Flipworld.

This is a great system to try and and play with a few friends, or to use to introduce some new recruits into the world of wargaming and allow them to grasp the basics of troop types.

From 'Choose Your Own Adventure' to 'Choose Your Own Tactics'

2010-07-04T15:53:00.000+02:00

Back in the 1990s, retired army colonel John Antal wrote a series of three books that allowed readers to get a real taste of command decisions and the effects of their tactical choices on troops fighting on a modern battlefield.

The books (Combat Team, Infantry Combat and Armor Attacks) all place the reader in the position of the commander of varying size forces. You are given objectives to achieve and must make the right decisions to do so.

Each book focuses on different sized forces under your command. For example, in 'Infantry Combat' you begin with a lone squad, while in 'Combat Team' you have a company-sized command. Of course, the bigger the command, the more difficult the decisions because there are more variables to take into account.

There is some dice rolling involved, to keep the flavor of the sheer randomness that combat can bring. Sometimes, no matter how good your decisions are, you die because a shell hits the foxhole you happen to be hiding in. But that is the reality of modern warfare.

These three books are an excellent resource for study for any budding tactician (and all of them are still available). You should be playing through the scenarios, not just to show yourself that you can make the right decisions (although that part is fun), but also to see why the wrong decisions are wrong.

Having gone through these books myself, they really made me nostalgic for the old 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books that came out around the same time. Those books challenged your imaginative and problem solving abilities (both useful attributes in the wargaming world). It is really nice to see their format converted to a wargaming scenario and shows the pollination that can occur between the role-playing and wargaming world.

If you need your next wargaming fix in a hurry, but can't wait for your opponent, these books provide a great deal of enjoyment for the solo wargamer and will keep your skills sharp until your regular opponents are free.

Strategy and Tactics - Two Sides of the Same Coin

2010-06-30T17:26:00.001+02:00

Two words that are often used interchangeably yet mean very different things. And it is important for every single wargamer worth his or her salt to know the difference between the two.

Tactics refer to the handling of an operation – they are the means by which you fight a battle. So a flanking manoeuvre or a well-timed charge is something tactical. Generally, when you look at the deployment of your army, compare it with the deployment of your opponent's, and decide how you are going to attack him you are using tactics. Thus tactics are to wargaming what ham and cheese are to a sandwich.

Strategy, on the other hand, refers to the way you conduct operations, rather than a single battle. Thus deciding to carpet bomb your opponent’s cities to reduce his industrial capacity is part of a strategy. Choosing to avoid sieges is another form of strategy. It involves making choices that affect the way a whole campaign is fought, rather than just a single encounter. Thus strategy is the bread and butter to your sandwich.

So now you know.

What this means is that you will find studying tactics more beneficial if you play single battle wargames. Those that enjoy tabletop miniature games or PC games that focus on a unit combat within a battle scenario, such as Combat Mission, Steel Panthers or Close Combat will benefit from learning about tactics.

On the other hand, those that prefer resource-based campaign style play will benefit more from studying the art of strategy. So boardgames that require you to build and maintain armies or PC games such as the Total War or Civilization series all fit into this school of thought. Their economic and resource modeling often leads to abstract combats (usually due to their huge scale), so tactics become decidedly less important, while strategy becomes paramount.

That should help you focus your military studies a little more and reap greater benefits when applying them to your wargaming.

In the Beginning...

2010-06-29T12:57:00.002+02:00

Here we go then.

After spending over 25 years wargaming, and many years writing, I finally decided to join the online revolution and start a blog. Why? Because in 25 years I have seen our beloved hobby change in so many ways, that I felt it was high time to make a change myself. And so, here I am.

A long time ago, in a land far away - to paraphrase Star Wars - I used to line up old Airfix plastic soldiers, knocking them down with marbles which represented 'shots'.

Initially, my interest was solely on World War Two, fueled by the tales of my grandfather who lived through it. But it soon expanded into the Napoleonic, Ancient and Medieval periods, as well as into the realms of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Gradually, I evolved from rolling marbles to rolling dice, discovering and experimenting with rules sets, campaign rules and miniatures. I moved into boardgames, learning the art of strategy to supplement my tactical ability. And, as computers emerged onto the scene in the early 1980s, so my wargaming followed.

In the beginning, wargaming was all about miniatures and detailed rules. It was played by an older generation who could afford the figures and had the time - and space - to fight large battles. Today, it is dominated by a younger generation who, being used to computers doing all the hard work, want simpler rules and more visual appeal.

But the older 'grognards' have not gone quietly into the good night. They are still around, and many of them are now comfortable in front of keyboards. So I too have picked up my standard and, seeing the colors whipped up by the morning breeze, have ordered the piper to play a merry tune and marched to war to join them.