Historical and Modern Wargaming – Where the "Fluff" is Real Life

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St. Vith Outflanked! 15mm Battle of the Bulge Wargame (Tactical Combat System)

In this episode we feature a “winter wargame” recreating part of the 1944 Battle of the Bulge, where elements of the German 5th Panzer Army are trying to outflank stubborn American defenders at the Belgian village of St. Vith.

Combat Command “B” of 7th US Armored Division is trying to hold open the last road to St. Vith, but they’re now under flank attack by an elite German “Begleit” brigade, including a battalion of sturmgeschütz assault guns.

Can the “Lucky Seventh” hold open this last lifeline to the vital American position?  Or is St. Vith about to fall?

The system being used is “Tactical Combat” by Mark Ritchie in 15mm.

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Romans v. Parthians – De Bellis Antiquitatis – 1st Century BCE

This week we’re stepping WAY back through history, using the De Bellis Antiquitatis system to try out some ancient warfare.  Specifically we’re putting some Republic-Era Romans up against the Parthian Empire of the modern-day Iran.

De Bellis Antiquitatis is a light, fast playing system that allows ancients or medieval combat between armies across a vast swath of history.  Players can often easily get two or three games into a productive afternoon.

We hope you like this episode, where the Sitrep Podcast is trying to broaden our range a little and cover a wider stretch of military historical wargaming.

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Battle of Kursk – Cherkasskoye Monster Wargame (P1)

Today we’re starting something of a miniseries of wargames and discussions commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk, an absolute MONSTROUS battle fought on the Eastern Front of World War II.

To start with, we’re featuring a 15mm uber-game of abridged Battlegroup by Ironfist Publishing and PSC, recreating part of “Grossdeutschland” Panzergrenadier Division’s assault on Cherkasskoye, a Russian village on the southern shoulder of the Kursk salient held by 67th Guards Rifle Division.

This game also features the very first time the famous PzKpfw V “Panther” tank was used, although the machine’s battlefield debut was hardly auspicious, as our game will show.

It’s the classic “unstoppable force hitting an immovable object.”  Which will prevail?

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Battle of Kursk – Cherkasskoye Monster Wargame (P2)
We continue our series of wargames and discussions commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk, completing our 15mm uber-game of abridged Battlegroup by Ironfist Publishing and PSC.

We’re recreating part of “Grossdeutschland” Panzergrenadier Division’s assault on Cherkasskoye, a Russian village on the southern shoulder of the Kursk salient held by 67th Guards Rifle Division.

The Germans have finally cracked the Soviet minefields, but Soviet mine-dogs make their infamous debut!

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Battle of Kursk – Drive on Verkopenye (Avalon Hill’s “PanzerBlitz” Game Video)

We continue our series of wargames and discussions commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk, switching to Avalon Hill’s classic “PanzerBlitz” system.

We’re now a few days into “Operation Citadel” – the gigantic German pincer attack aiming to slice off the Soviet-held Kursk Salient. Along the southern German attack axis, Panzergrenadier Division “Grossdeutschland” spearheads the XLVIII Panzer Corps / 4th Panzer Army, grinding through successive belts of Soviet defenses and now forcing a way across the Pena River at the town of Verkopenye.

Badly-mauled Soviet defenders of the 3rd Mechanized Corps (1st Tank Army, Voronezh Front) are maintaining a coherent withdrawal … barely … but now the Soviets have released the 6th Tank Corps as well, who are rushing forward to mount a local counterattack at Verkopenye.

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Battle of Kursk – Clash of the Titans! (Assault on Ponyri – 15mm Wargame)
We continue our series of wargames and discussions commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk. Today we’re switching to the northern shoulder of “Operation Citadel” using is Mark Ritchie’s 15mm Tactical Combat to recreate one of the assaults on the Soviet town of Ponyri, 10 July 1943.

Although the northern “jaw” of this huge German pincer attack was actually weaker than their southern drive, there were some incredibly powerful units engaged, some of which will feature in today’s game. For example, we’ll see the head-on clash of some true World War 2 heavyweights, the Porsche “Ferdinand” tank destroyer for the Germans and the SU-152 for the Soviets.

These were massive tank destroyers and assault guns, both making their battlefield duel in the gigantic Battle of Kursk. The Sturmpanzer IV “Brummbär” also makes an appearance, along with some very dramatic German mine clearing vehicles.

 

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Battle of Kursk – Prokhorovka: The Biggest Tank Battle EVER? (Part 1 Gameplay)

The gargantuan German offensive at Kursk hits its climax at Prokhorovka 80 years ago today!  Join us for a huge 15mm wargame where we humbly attempt to recreate just a sliver of the furious action seen at one of the lesser-known turning points of World War II.

Widely considered the largest single-field armored engagement in history (elements of ten divisions within 4-5 miles of each other), Prokhorovka marked the high-water mark for the German offensive during the Battle of Kursk.

But don’t kid yourself, this wasn’t the end at Kursk overall.  It was barely the half-time show.

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My boys “in country” have received some hasty reinforcements.

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Battle of Kursk – Prokhorovka: The Biggest Tank Battle EVER? (Part 2 Gameplay)
Join us as we FINISH UP (for now) our 80th Anniversary coverage of the Battle of Kursk, with the epic conclusion of our table-shattering uber-game of 15mm miniature Prokhrorovka.

Widely considered the largest single-field armored engagement in history (elements of ten divisions within 4-5 miles of each other), Prokhorovka marked the high-water mark for the German offensive during the Battle of Kursk.

But don’t kid yourself, this wasn’t the end at Kursk overall.  It was barely the half-time show.

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Hi everybody!

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More than 300 models with scenery, warmachines, cavalry, leaders, officers, infantries… A whole collection to enjoy!

All our models are previously printed and tested to be compatible and fit 28mm and 32mm scales. You can use them with the most common historical miniatures brands.
And even more, we have for all of you a discount code

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You also have in the Addons section all the Ravenous Hordes packs available at a special price during the Sons of Mars campaign’s duration!

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Have a nice day!

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Paratroopers vs. Tigers – Biazzo Ridge, Sicily (15mm Wargame)
80 years ago this month, the Allies launched operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. This game recreates part of the engagement on Biazzo Ridge, where badly scattered elements of the 505th Regimental Combat Team (82nd Airborne Division) held off armored spearheads of the “Herman Göring” panzer division driving toward the vulnerable American beachhead just established at Gela.

Had this German counterattack been allowed to reach its objective, its possible the 45th Infantry Division could have been wrecked on the sand, threatening the right wing of Bradley’s II Corps (part of Patton’s Seventh Army).

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Fallschirmjäger vs. Red Devils at Primosole Bridge (Wargame Overview)

As part of our continuing 80th Anniversary commemorative coverage of Operation Husky (Allied invasion of Sicily in July and August 1943), we had a great 15mm wargame in Mark Ritchie’s Tactical Combat system depicting the Red Devils and their battle for Primsole Bridge, 13-15 July 1943.

Then Oriskany Jim’s hard drive melted down like core of Chernobyl and all the recorded footage was lost. In a desperate effort to present at least the highlights of what was an awesome game, I humbly offer this wargame overview and discussion.

There’s some remaining footage of some other games still available, we hope to be back up to our usual level of production later on this week.

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Tank v. Tank at Ben Het, Vietnam 1969 (15mm Wargame) 

When one thinks of tanks trading blows in open battle, Vietnam is not usually the war that comes to mind.  But that’s exactly what happened at the Ben Het firebase and special forces camp on the night of March 3-4, 1969.

Situated in the central highlands near the border junction of South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, artillery at Ben Het could shell key infiltration routes branching off the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  Furthermore, “Montagnard” locals trained by US Special Forces could infiltrate into Laos of Cambodia and root out these infiltration channels at the source.

The People’s Army of Vietnam (NVA) realized they had to eliminate this threat, and soon mounted a tank and mechanized infantry assault against Ben Het.  Unfortunately for them, there were also American tans there from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment.  One of the very few actual “tank battles” of the Vietnam War was on.

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Battle of Kursk FINALE – Operation Rumyantsev (Avalon Hill’s “PanzerBlitz”)
At last, we reach the conclusion of our Battle of Kursk 80th Anniversary series.  Using Avalon Hill’s classic “PanzerBlitz” system, we recreate part of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev, one of two huge Soviet counteroffensives planned into their strategy for the Battle of Kursk.

Remembering that the Battle of Kursk includes these Soviet counteroffensives (integral to STAVKA’s plan since three months before the battle started) is vital to understanding just how massive the Battle of Kursk actually was.  It doesn’t end when the Germans quit at Prokhorovka, the Soviets get their “turn at the gaming table” as well.

This was originally recorded as a live game between myself and Piotr, but the footage has been lost and I recreate the events of the game as best I can in this episode.

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A certain 30th Anniversary is coming up, involving a certain sleazy hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia . . . its rooftop sign now something of an infamous symbol of what happened 3 October, 1993.

I’m preparing a game recreating a small part of Operation Gothic Serpent and “Blackhawk Down” – and so threw this together this evening.

First, sketch out the lettering on the back of some cereal box cardboard.

 

Cut some pine sticks for the framing.

 

Assemble the framing.

 

Cut out the letters and spray the back.

 

Mount the letters to the framing.  It ain’t Hollywood, baby!

 

Finished product, with an (ahem) “unrelated” mini-bird gunship.

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