Crisis Point 2013: Arctic Strike

Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th April 2013 and will see a follow up to last year's successful Crisis Point game when a number of SOTCW members and others played a massive, two day game of Cold War Commander.

Like last year's game, Crisis Point 2013 will take place at Dungworth Green Hall, Dungworth, near Sheffield.  This year the theme is Arctic Strike - the fighting in Northern Norway.  Here's the player briefing from Richard Phillips:

Players Briefing.

A Warsaw Pact assault on Norway based on The Third World War - The Untold Story by General Sir John Hackett.

Note: Originally it was planned to use Arctic Strike by Michael A Palmer as the basis for the scenario but due to the difficulty in players obtaining a copy we have decided to base the scenario on Chapter 12 - The Scandanavian Campaign from The Third World War - The Untold Story by General Sir John Hackett. The scenarios in both books are very similar and by using Hackett players will find it a lot easier to obtain a copy if they would like to do some background reading as copies are readily available from charity shops, second hand book shops etc. I picked up a hardback copy for 99p from a local charity shop. 

August 1985.

In Central Europe the Soviet advance continues. Significant gains have been made along the Dutch/West German border region with Russian armour crushing NATO west of the Maas along the A73. Further gains had had been made around Venlo with NATO supply lines cut. Dogged resistance by US troops around Duisberg continues to delay the advance across the Lippe.

The attention turns to the north as Warsaw Pact forces begin their assault on Fortress Norway in an attempt to secure the Northern Flank. The loss of Jutland on the first day of hostilities, and the consequential loss of Schleswig- Holstein shortly after was due to the combination of an intense chemical attack on Jutland and a coup de main by assault forces concealed in Soviet, East German and some ostensibly neutral merchant ships on passage through the Kattegat. These had made almost unopposed landings in Aarhus, Aalborg and Frederikshavn on Jutland.

Zealand had fallen after hard fighting between the reinforced Danish defence and a seaborne assault mounted from the western Baltic ports. Unexpectedly, Bornholm, its radar and radio resources smashed by air attack, had been left to its own devices until, almost at leisure, a Polish airborne division had fallen upon it.  

Many of the Allied aircraft in the BALTAP (Baltic Approaches) Tactical Air Force escaped to the Federal Republic of Germany or to Norway. A daring naval operation, covered by air, was mounted Commander, South Norway, to rescue some of the Danish and British troops from Zealand. Though four of the nine warships and transports were lost, the remainder returned intact to unload in the Oslo fiord. The aircraft and troops from BALTAP were absorbed as reinforcements to South Norway, or moved to reinforce the north.

Commander, North Norway, had been fighting an intense battle from the outset of the war when, as expected, almost all his early warning radars were destroyed and his airfields, ports and principal defence areas were raided frequently and heavily by aircraft based on the Kola Peninsula. The Soviet MRD which crossed the frontier at Kirkenes on 4 August made a more rapid advance than expected through extensive use of heliborne infantry and engineers supported by swarms of ground-attack aircraft, and by heavy and medium artillery firing at maximum ranges with a frequency and weight of shell that bewildered the light forces of Norwegian infantry. As they advanced, a Soviet airborne division captured Andoya and Evenes. A considerable amphibious force, judged to be carrying Soviet specialised naval assault infantry and a MRD, were observed on passage from Murmansk. A further four Soviet divisions were seen by Allied air reconnaissance to be crossing Finland towards southern Finnmark and eastern Troms counties. Tromso airfield was devastated. Only Bardufoss, so inaccessible among the surrounding mountains to the south of Tromso and well defended by air defence missiles since 1984, survived as an air base.

Somewhere across the seas the carriers of SACLANT's (Supreme Aliied Commander Atlantic's) Strike Fleet were active and mobile and must, surely, be moving sooner or later to relieve north Norway. 

An early decision was made to maintain Bardufoss as a base for reconnaissance to the east and a forward operating location for air defence fighters. The British Harriers, dislodged from Tromso, were kept in the north, flying from stretches of straight road and maintained from villages in the shadow of adjacent mountains. CINC-NORTH's Regional Air Commander directed American F-111's from England to attack Soviet air bases developing at Andoya and Evenes.

Evenes airfield was recaptured on 6 August by a Norwegian brigade and their comrades in the Allied Command Europe (ACE) Mobile Force, though about one-third of the Soviet parachutists escaped to the lines their compatriots had set up to cover Andoya. This was good news for Commander, North Norway, and CINC-NORTH, but each knew that bad news was on the doorstep. The first of the Soviet divisions crossing Finland was rapidly approaching the Norwegian frontier on the Finnish Wedge, with another immediately behind and the Soviet amphibious force had turned shoreward towards Bodo and had smashed a passage through the minefields to a landing near the airfield. Another Soviet MRD was deploying into Troms complemented by an Air Assault Brigade.

However there is a glimmer of hope for Norway, to the east SACLANT's Strike Fleet with USMC has moved through the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap. The Chief of the Norwegian Defence Staff has unconfirmed reports that the Finns are moving to assist NATO forces preparing to meet the Soviet forces advancing towards Lyngen Fiord through the Finnish Wedge and reports from Sweden have indicated that in an emergency meeting of the Council of State it has given the order to fight in association with NATO against a common enemy, and already Swedish armour has advanced up the E10 and crossed the border into Norway and are now moving into the area around Bjerkvik. 

Crisis Point 2013 - Arctic Strike will be fought over two days in Dungworth near Sheffield at the fantastic newly built Village Hall. Using the excellent Cold War Commander rules we plan to fight this scenario out to a conclusion using 4 large tables representing the main areas of conflict. 

Airfield Building

This is a MGB resin model that came as part of an airfield set with revetted bays, stores, and a base with a Jeep and a towed runway controller's van (the latter now serving as a Soviet command element).

 
It's in 1/300th scale and will serve as the control tower of the civilian airfield south of the Lippe.

Big Box of Goodies

I managed to get over to Steve (The Baggage Train)  Oates’s house on Saturday evening to collect the Arnhem Bridge model that Steve has kindly donated to the SOTCW for use in the Crisis Point game and beyond. 

Steve very kindly provided me with a huge box of goodies:

Quite apart from the bridge:

...which is going to be a bit of a challenge, Steve also very kindly provided a whole load of Atlantic Wall style bunkers and command positions:

Oh, and another bridge!

I don’t see why the NATO forces shouldn’t reuse old Westwall fortifications so some of these will be used in the big game.  Others will see the light of day in future SOTCW demo games.

I can’t recommend Steve’s stuff too highly.  Check it out at The Baggage Train.

Crisis Point

Planning for the big Cold War Commander game in Sheffield (21 and 22 April 2012) is going really well.  The game has now acquired a title, "Crisis Point", reflecting the fact that a victory for either side here will almost certainly determine the outcome of the war in Germany.

For details see the Yahoo group here.

Big Game at Sheffield, 21-22 April 2012

There seeming to be little enthusiasm for an SOTCW game at Hammerhead, it seems our next event will be the Big Game I am organising for Sheffield this coming Spring.

The event will be a weekend-long tabletop campaign based upon General Sir John Hackett's The Third World War.  The plan is to put on a game (using Cold War Commander rules) that explores modern(-ish) mechanised warfare in width and depth.  I want commanders to have to worry about their supply lines (without getting bogged down in book-keeping) and to have to think about protecting key points from raids by enemy airborne forces etc.

The venue is Dungworth Green Hall in Dungworth, near Sheffield.  The cost will be £10 per player and the event will run from 10am to 5pm on the Sunday and Saturday.  There are B&Bs within walking distance.

Please make yourself known if you'd like to play.

Game for 2012

The time has come to plan the SOTCW game(s) for Hammerhead, Gauntlet and where ever else we end up playing.

I've agreed with Stephen Oates from The Baggage Train that we'll showcase his massive Arnhem Bridge.   Now I'm not keen on building Arnhem so I thought we'd move the bridge to Andreivia.

If you're up for discussion of the possibilities of a 6mm scale Andreivian game using (I propose) Cold War Commander, follow me now to Andreivian Tales....

Next Year's Game?

For some time I've been discussing with Stephen Oates of The Baggage Train the possibility of SOTCW putting on some sponsored participation games using Stephen's recently completed, massive 1/300th scale Arnhem Bridge.

At Gauntlet I suggested to the team that we put on a series of Cold War Commander games using the bridge as a centre-piece of the terrain.  I thought we could do a series of scenarios linked by a common narrative thread with the result of each game influencing the set-up of the following game.

Now as usual my first thought was to pick a setting for which I could provide all of the toys now as that way, other people could get involved but in the case of a disastrous no-show by someone we would already have everything we need.  this in turn led me to suggest that the game be set in the fictional North African republic of Maghrebia - I'd like to use my late 1980s Spanish Marines as interventionists against the republic's suspiciously Iranian-looking armed forces.

However, I think I may have been too prescriptive in my enthusiasm for my idea.  Ian Shaw suggested reusing the Andreivia setting and in retrospect I think that's got a lot going for it.

So what do you think?  I'd like to hear from the members.  What should we do?

Hook-up with The Baggage Train

Steve Oates at The Baggage Train has recently completed work on his 1/300th scale Arnhem Bridge model and it's now available to buy.  The model is an awesome 80cm long and you can be add Steve's extension modules to represent the bridge at Nijmegen. To celebrate this, we've agreed to put on a game using this and some other models from Steve's range.

Now I don't suggest that we try to build Arnhem town in 1/300th - that would involve thousands of buildings and, I suspect, wouldn't work brilliantly as a game - so I've taken the liberty of transplanting the bridge to the north African republic of Maghrebia.  Maghrebia looks remarkably like Libya in its geography but there is more than a hint of Iran about the make-up of its armed forces.

For at least some of next year's games, then, SOTCW will be presenting the Spanish invasion of north Africa!  I propose to use Cold War Commander rules and to set up a "matrix campaign" where the result of each game takes us down one of a number of possible paths to the next action.

More later!

Crossing the Lippe, August 1985

A group of Lancashire and Yorkshire-based SOTCW members today put on a Cold War Commander game at the Hammerhead show in Newark. The venue's a bit gloomy but hopeflly these pics will give an idea of how it went.

Here's Rob Connolly setting up the Soviet forces.

The white lines are ridge lines; they block line of sight in a more realistic way than the small hills usually seen on wargames tables.
The scenario involved a Soviet Motor Rifle Regiment (less one MR battalion but reinforced by an East German T-55 battalion) advancing from the north (left of table in this shot) and attempting to establish a bridgehead on the southern bank of the Lippe.

We diced randomly for air superiority each turn. A Luftwaffe F-104G showed when the NATO side had air superiority.

One of my new Su-15 Flagons indicated Warsaw Pact air superiority.

Phil Gray particularly asked for this shot - Soviet Air Force menaces Stuart Adams's Chieftain squadron.

Here we see the Warsaw Pact forces approaching the river. They continue to take heavy casualties among the Motor Rifle Battalions, many infantry dying whilst still mounted in their BTR-70s. The T-55s and T-62s are unable to do much to the enemy Chieftains.

T-62s attempt to cross a hastily laid bridge in the teeth of heavy fire from the Carl Gustavs of British infantry lurking in the woods.

In the west, The T-55s move up to cross the railway bridge. They were to get across only to roll double sixes on their next command roll. The resulting command blunder led to them withdrawing back across the bridge never to return!
Not long after this shot was taken the Soviet force reached its break point and failed its next command roll. The British had held the River line!

Thanks to Rob Connolly, Stuart Adams, and Phil Gray for playing. It was good to meet up with some other members (Hi, Rob!) and some potential members.

More Carronade pics

OK, so I'm back from Carronade and listening to Gin Blossoms on the stereo while I let you know how it went.

The battle of the Krefeld Salient resulted in a narrow NATO victory and provided a great opportunity to let the good wargamers of Scotland know about SOTCW. The Falkirk club are to be congratulated on a well-run and enjoyable show.

As usual click on the pics to see larger versions. The first shot (below) shows the battlefield from the west with the British entering the battle area. The Brits (commanded by Richard Crawley) deployed as two battalion sized forces - an infantry battalion less one company and reinforced by a squadron of Challengers advanced between the railway line and the secondary road on the left (foreground of the picture below) while a tank heavy force (the rest of the Challenger regiment plus a company of mechanised infantry) straddled the Autobahn.

Here (below) we see the battlefield from the eastern corner. The Soviets split their force into two commands - the mechanised infantry hid in the woods either side of the Autobahn bridge whilst the T-72 battalion lined up on the large hill on the northeast bank. The CO and his supporting elements took up a position on the right flank.

We managed to get a number of players to join in. This is Callum - he was a wicked dice roller!
The Soviet airsupport table seemed to have a glitch. Whatever interesting units I included Stuart only ever rulled a 3 or a 4 so kept getting the MiG 27. Here we see it contributing to the destruction of the British infantry company that tried to dash across the secondary bridge.

Jim McCoy joined us for an hour or two and was a most welcome addition to the British personnel. Jim himself would have been involved in the war had it happened!

The Brits were luckier on the air support table - here we see three Harriers going in for the kill.

Stuart and Jim enjoy a break.

Stuart desperately tries to find some intact Warpact forces to move!

But it's not enough - as turn ten draws to a close, a cluster of 4s, 5s and 6s inflicts decimates the reinforcing T-80 company and the Soviet rearguard starts to break contact.