The Battle of Lone Tree -- A Final Argument of Kings Battle Report

Time to go back to the Seven Years War.  It's been a while since our last foray into this period, so it was time to revisit it.  Todd, Andrew, Paul and I gathered in my basement earlier this month to pit Todd's and Paul's forces against one another.  Todd and Paul would ally Todd's Reicharmee with Paul's Austrians while Andrew and I would run Todd's Hannoverians.

Holding the Hillcrest Gap -- a Flames of War Battle Report

Last month a few of us gathered in my basement to play a big Flames of War scenario.  It had been a while since our last really big game, so I wanted to go all out this time.  Michael had recently finished painting up his Tiger platoon, so I wanted to feature it in the game.  A big game is the perfect time for this.  I settled on a breakout mission.  The Germans would begin greatly out numbered, but with better equipment and troop quality to show for it.  They would need to get a withdrawing force, which would fight at a penalty from one side of the table to the other.  Wanting a really pretty game, I pulled out the sculpted terrain boards we made for our 150th Gettysburg game and rearranged them a bit.  Then I laid out the forces.  Darrin and I would command the British, and Michael would run the Germans.

Engagement at Baraque de Fraiture -- A Flames of War Battle Report

Anyone that is active in the wider gaming community is more than likely aware of Battlefront's Flames of War rules set for World War 2 gaming.  One of the greatest criticisms these rules get is that they are too gamey.  I don't think anyone can or would deny that as a set of rules the design philosophy of Flames of War skews more toward the "game" end of the sliding scale between game and simulation.  As a challenge to the rules system, I decided we would try to play a historical scenario using Flames of War. I searched my library for something interesting that included a basic order of battle.  I settled on the engagement at Baraque de Fraiture as outlined in Osprey's Into the Reich compilation.  An American force during the Ardennes offensive is cut off and surrounded by  larger German force. Historically attempts to break through to the Americans failed, and they were forced to surrender.  I wanted something more of a balanced game, so I changed a few parameters.  In real life, a platoon of M10 tank destroyers attempted to get through to the surrounded battalion under cover of darkness.  They encountered  German infantry and were captured. In our scenario I decided to proceed as if two of them made it into the perimeter.  We gathered on a hot July afternoon at Fire for Effect games in Oshkosh, WI to test it out.

The American forces thus consisted of two infantry companies, a platoon of Shermans, a battery of 105s, a recon patrol, and a platoon of two TDs.  They were dug in in a perimeter around the town which was situated on a crossroad in the middle of a forest clearing.