PBEM / MBX Wargaming

Excerpt from the Executive Summary: Global Shipping Game report (PDF)

https://discord.gg/t7pekGk in case anyone wants to join a fully public Harpoon 5 Multiplayer discord server. I can help you get to know Simplot2 and how to use it for double-blind games using the Discord channel. We have successfully used this method for both play by post (similar to PBEM style, submit orders, then update Simplot2 then show images then submit next turn orders) and real-time games. Discord offers both voice and video comms too for the realtime games or occasional "team" chats for Red or Blue teams.

Well combining these two threads along with my re-learning, not that I ever truely learned, GDW's Air Superiority/Air Strike. The updated rules to the former Airpower series is The Speed of Heat published and still available from Clash of Arms. AS/AS models individual planes in the 80's and 90's. Each hex is 1/3 of a mile, 12-15 seconds per turn, targets, err I mean ground units (in Air Strike) include fireteams/platoons and individual vehicles, along with a slew of counters representing everything from bridges, dry docks, port facilities, POL, command postsfactory/warehouses, rail yards, power stations, airfield/facilities, shelters, etc. In planning the IP Inbo…

A three person off-shoot of my current gaming group has begun an attempt to tackle Gulf Strike Scenario 2 which depicts a mid 1980's invasion of Iran. One player is the Soviets, one the Iranians, and me, the other, is the Americans. After close to 30 years (1983), I have finally had an opportunity to set this up and play through a couple of turns with live opponents. We have completed five turns before pausing last night about midnight. The Soviets are advancing, from both sides of the Caspian Sea, toward Tehran agains slowly deteriorating Iranian resistance. US Special Forces have made some effective raids and strike coordination operations against soviet supp…

Morning guys, well it is morning in South Africa right now I am an avid follower of the Admiralty Trilogy games, okay to be honest, CaS and Harpoon...but players from this neck of the woods is few and far between. I want to propose a small PBEM game for Harpoon, a very small simple scenario to be played via PBEM. I have not run a game before, neither in person nor PBEM, so this will be a learning curve for me. I was thinking...maybe something small like "The Day Before The Morning After" (SS/SSN vs SSBN) from High Tide or something similar. Would anybody be interested in something like that? Juhan

Cross posted from the Current Events forum (yep, I get to do that) ... The May 2007 issue of Air Force Magazine contains the annual USAF Almanac 2007, which is a collection of PDF documents detailing the US Air Force in facts and figures, its organizational structure (including reserve components), and USAF installations worldwide. Its a great source, especially for database work and PBEM/MBX wargaming. You can find it here.

Thought it might be useful to guage folks' interest in MBX style wargames generally ...

OK, I have long known of the Perry Castaneda Map Room at the University of Texas - Austin for maintaining a plethora of digitized maps. Now, through another wargame forum, I found and present to you the: University of Texas Map Room - Army Map Service The US Army 1:250,000 series. Somewhat dated but plenty of maps for all kinds of wargaming, may of which would support H4.1 littoral operations.

Broke out Battle Scenario 1 today - Last Ships Out of Manila, 14 March 1930. The scenario proposes that "the Japanese invasion of Luzon caught the US Asiatic Fleet off guard. With most of the ships lost and the Japanese Army ashore in north and central Luzon, it wouldn't be long before Manila fell. In the early morning hours of 14 March the remnants of the US Fleet set sail for the sothern Philippines to await the arrival of the US relief force. The convoy was intercepted by a small but powerful group of Japanese warships. The end was certain, it was only unclear whether any of the American ships would escape. Time Frame: Night (2 Hex Spotting Range) Start…

Bill Jennings' "War in 2010" MBX is picking up steam, and looks set to be a very interesting wargame indeed. Anyone else around here (besides me) crazy enough to be involved ?

Here is my promised debrief of Lock 'n Load Games platoon level World War III game series. I played the first scenario yesterday afternoon. The rules take up about 12 pages, simple without being simplistic. Each hex of the map is 125m. Each turn is 5-15min. The game is set in the Summer 1985. Each unit involved in a scenario US company or USSR battalion has a formation chip which is placed in an opaque container - I used washed a cake frosting container I stashed away after wifes birthday earlier this month. Each turn chits are pulled one at a time, each time activating a formation. Once the units of a formation have been moved/fired etc, another formation c…

Anyone interested?

Hi folks, For some time now, HarpGamer has been toying with the idea of running a CPX wargame on our IRC channel using Harpoon Classic Gold as the engine. This is how it would work (at least, roughly): Essentially, we would assemble two teams of players. These teams will then choose their order of battle (ships, subs, planes, etc) from a list of available options, and describe how they want them deployed in the theater. A Harpoon Classic Gold scenario would then be constructed using the options and the deployments chosen by the teams. Then, at a convenient time or time(s), we run the scenario as a CPX wargame in real time on IRC, with the teams giving orde…

This is a follow on poll from the previous, more general poll found here. Please reply to the poll only if you have an intention (however slight) of being involved in the wargame, should it happen. A couple (Red Beach and Kola Strike) are drawn from High Tide, and I've tossed in a couple of new ideas just in case folks might want to pursue something a little off the beaten path. For convenience sake, a bit of a primer on what those H4/HT choices entail ... Red Beach, circa 16 May 1988 This is somewhat of a follow on to the scenario David and Goliath, which is being gamed right now under management of HG member Silent Hunter UK. STANAVFORLANT survivors …

Using the my TDG “Battle along the Tziepov” inspired map, pitted a USMC battalion with mech support, a tank platoon, and a section of AH-1W against an OPFOR company’s worth of BTR-80’s. Their ATGM support was in the form of AT-14 Kornets. OPFOR also had a battery of 2S31 SP 120mm Mortars. Each has a sortie of air support with the US and OPFOR having 25% and 10% respectively additional support. Changed M1A1D’s to M60A1’s. Changed AT-7 Saxhorns to AT-14 Kornets Running the 1min turns in 5min clips 0700-0705 Starting out in ageton, Heavy Guns punches out as a screen. Ends about 1km south of the Thorpe Bridge. Alpha Company moves up maintaining a suppor…

The Marine Corps Gazette Tactical Decision Game Archive url has changed to TDG Archive. A number of them lend themselves very well to TacOps scale. There seemed to be a golden era in the mid to late 1990's. Every could foresee that MCA/MCG's decision to move the TDG's from the print magazine to their website would spell doom to the "program".

Rough Wake Up Rough Wake Up This scenario is another written by Arrigio Velicogna found in an earlier Line of Fire, and again within the Compendium. It can play linked to another of his scenarios – The Bridge at Passau - and possibly a third scenario, depending upon the outcomes of the first two. The West Germans set up with 3/1 Aufk forward, using the wooded hills to screen the width of the map with the HQ and LeoII in the center, and the two Luchs platoons on the wings. The Infantry of 4/1 Aufk set up as the backstop, nestled into the towns of Hugelsdorf and Grunental, with the TPZ1’s toward the rear in hide positions. As mentioned earlier today, t…

Well worth a look, including after action reports and game plots ... Full article here: Dance of the Vampires

Hello Two players are required for a small PBEM game using the CIC warfare plotter. Cheers Jon.

Here a number of possible scenarios. We are certainly open to other suggestions, but keep in mind that this CPX should be fairly small in scale, so that it would be more easily manageable.