Slimbridge CWC Event - 2019 - Date Announced

Started by Big Insect, 26 March 2019, 06:34:20 PM

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Big Insect

Yes folks ...

To run in conjunction with the Cold War Commanders annual 6mm/1:300th scale 'mega-game' up in Grimsby, this year we are holding a companion event down in the UK West Country at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire over the weekend of Saturday 12 ans Sunday 13th October 2019.

The venue is The Tudor Arms public house - great beer and food, and also good accommodation.
Plus it also has a campsite and caravan park and is not far from the Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust.

The Tudor Arms, Shepherd's Patch, Slimbridge GL2 7BP
Phone: 01453 890306

Our intention is to try and set up on the evening of Friday 12th - access to the skittle alley permitting - and then play a series of 1:1 conjoined scenario games over the next 2 days to feed into the big games up at Grimsby. We'll have live Skype feeds and Watsap comms going on between games centres - the pub wi-fi permitting  ;D

Watch this space and the Grimsby thread (on SMP and over here shortly) for more details, but this is a 1985 Central Front based game - so a chance to bring out your French, Americans, Soviets and West Germans.

Pledge your allegiance to one game or another and one side or the other here on this thread.

All welcome - old CWC veterans or newbies or escapees from that Battlefront Cold War game that I refuse to name so as not to give it the air of publicity!

Any questions ... just mail me (need an army ... no problems)

Mark (F)
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

cardophillipo

Hi Chaps,

The games will be set on the Central Front in 1985 and further details of the scenarios will be posted after Salute as I am working hard getting the BKC IV Display Game sorted. I have also posted on the CWC Facebook Group so if you want to contact me that way feel free.

Cheers

Richard P

cardophillipo

FYI it seems as though we have started something here! There are plans in Australia to join the event and put on a game 'down under' that is also linked to our games here in the UK. There is also the possibility of a game in France as well!

CWC goes global  ;D

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

I can hear your manic cackles Mr Phillips   ;)
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Big Insect

Following the success of BKCIV Bootcamp last weekend I thought I'd just remind all locals (& not so locals) looking to attend our 2 day CWC event Sat 12th and Sun 13th October to get those 6mm armies resupplied and ready to rock & roll.

This is a Central Front game - Fulda Gape and all that Jazz.  Plenty of time between now and then to re-read The Third World War: The Untold Story by Sir John Hackett

Strategic location during the Cold War Commander Game 2019

The northern route through the Gap passes south of the Knüllgebirge and then continues around the northern flank of the Vogelsberg Mountains; the narrower southern route passes through the Fliede and Kinzig Valleys, with the Vogelsberg to the north and the Rhön mountains and Spessart mountains to the south. Perhaps even more importantly, on emerging from the western exit of the Gap, one encounters gentle terrain from there to the river Rhine, which would have counted in favour of Soviet attempts to reach and cross the Rhine before NATO could prevent this (the intervening Main River would have been less of an obstacle).

The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than was the North German Plain, but offered an avenue of advance direct to the heart of the U.S. military in West Germany, Frankfurt am Main, which as indicated in its name, is on the Main River, a tributary of the Rhine River. Frankfurt am Main was not only West Germany's financial heart, but also home to a large airfield (known as Rhein-Main Air Base and Frankfurt Airport) that was designated to receive U.S. reinforcements in the event of war.

So get planning folks  :D

Cheers
Mark
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Big Insect

09 August 2019, 12:25:48 PM #5 Last Edit: 09 August 2019, 12:33:42 PM by Big Insect
Call for Players

Would you be interested in joining us at the Slimbridge Cold War Commanders annual battle weekend in October?

We are looking for players who can attend either both the Saturday & Sunday or just one day to play either Soviet or NATO.

6mm armies are the order of the day and the defending NATO force can be composed of:

  • West Germans
  • USA with a Dutch contingent
  • Belgian
  • Canadian
  • French - with a contingent of 'Wild Geese' maybe?
The attacking Warsaw Pact force is composed of:

  • 7 Guard Army
  • elements of 103rd Guards Airborne
This is an Attack/Defense game with forces built to original 1985 ORBATs - no pimping of commanders, no special ammunition, air assets will be limited and bought and coordinated centrally for each side (excluding on-table helicopters).
The Soviet attackers will enjoy a 3:1 points advantage over the defending NATO forces, who can use hasty defenses, but these must be bought within the points restrictions.

So, if you can attend let me know ASAP please. If you need an army, we might be able to supply you with one.

Many thanks

Mark
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Big Insect

Just a reminder that on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th October we have a Cold War Commanders mega-game on in the Skittle Alley at The Tudor Arms.

The date is 1985 and the Warsaw Pact are advancing (slowly) across West Germany.
This is a 6mm game using the Cold War Commander set of rules.

We have a plucky force of Canadians, Belgians and Dutch/US facing the massed might of the Soviet 7th Guard army ... there will be tanks ... f/ousands of 'em sah! ...

Do come along and help the Soviet commanders manoeuvre their own body-weight in lead into the attack against the dug-in might (cough, cough) of NATO. No troops or CWC experience required. Just rock up and play.

Even if you can only join us for a day or half-day, your muscle-power will be much appreciated.
The air will be thick with Hind gunships, TOW missiles and Rodger Williams cursing in Canadian, and the shrill, but pointless cries of "Foul" as Chemical' Gordon (AKA Doctor Evil) unleashes some dastardly plan !!!

Apply here Comrade ... the motherland needs you to bring the capitalist lackeys to heel.

(start time 09.00 in the skittle alley)

*this is one of a series of linked CWC games being played in Slimbridge, Grimsby, Australia and France - all over the same weekend.
Every year we play 2 days of action in an on-going Warsaw Pact attack on NATO - last year it was Arctic Strike (in Norway), this year we are in Central Germany and the Minden Gap (Hackett WW3 territory) and next year, probably/maybe Southern Front, back in the Balkans and Greece.

Make history ... join the Cold War Commanders in action ... you know it makes sense!

Field Marshall (order of the red underpants) - Hero of the Soviet Onion: Big Insect
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Big Insect

13 October 2019, 09:28:32 PM #7 Last Edit: 13 October 2019, 09:34:48 PM by Big Insect
Well ... I am just back home from 2 days of solid CWC play at Slimbridge.

Our game was set in 1985 with a massed Soviet attack on Western Europe underway. The battle took place near the Dutch-German border, with the 7th Guard Army (consisting of the 55th, 56th and 79th Tank Regiments and 40th Motor Rifle Regiment) attacking NATO forces to push through to the city of Venlo.

The NATO defenders, a mixed force of Dutch, Canadians and West Germans, were outnumbered 3:1 but were dug-in in strong defensive positions with minefields and prepared defensive positions.

Day 1 (Saturday):
7th Guard Army made outstanding progress, advancing behind a creeping barrage of smoke giving NATO only a limited opportunity to use their longer range tank guns and ATGWs.
The NATO forces - put up a spirited defense, but Soviet T64As with mine-rollers started to cut paths through the minefields, and as the town of Gelden-Kappellen, astride the main road to Venlo (with its Canadian infantry defenders) was encircled by elements of tank and motor rifle battalions of the 55th Tank Regiment, NATO took the opportunity to withdraw to pre-prepared positions on a line of low wooded hills [called Fleuthkuhlen] between the outskirts of the city of Gelden (on the NATO left flank) and the town of Issum (on their right) as night fell.
There had been no air interventions in Day 1 as the airspace above the battle had been heavily Contested. Soviet Hind gunships roamed the central battle area unopposed, but heavy NATO AA kept them from causing any serious casualties.

Day 2 (Sunday):
Having heavily shelled Geldern-Kappellan overnight to remove any remaining Canadian defenders, Soviet engineers spent the hours of darkness locating and clearing NATO mine-fields and wire. This was to make way for a rapid advance in the early hours of the morning.

The 40th MRR was left to occupy the village of Hamb and the woods to the left of the Industrial area, facing off against the Canadians (in what turned out to be a mutual stalemate, as neither side was prepared to move forwards out of cover). The Soviets had redeployed elements of the 57th Tank Regiment, from the far left flank of their front (where they had previously faced the Dutch) to reinforce the 55th Tank in the centre, as it pressed home its attack down the A58 road towards the northern suburbs of Geldern defended by the West German armour and a mixed formations of redeployed Dutch Armour, dismounted ATGW teams (with TOW) and Dutch Leopard 1AVs.

The German Roland ATGW opened up on the leading elements of the 57th Tank Battalion but came under heavy fire from the T64Bs own AT-8 Songster ATGWs. But without their smoke screens and despite the Glorious Soviet airforce having driven off the NATO air cover - the 57th and 55th were struggling to make progress down the main road.
A lone NATO Phantom pilot made 2 successful strikes on closed packed Soviet armour - braving close Soviet AA support to cause the 55th some serious damage. But Soviet attack helicopter strikes were driven off by Dutch Stinger teams.

However, as the West Germans were occupied to their front, the 3rd Tank Regiment of the 7th Guard - the 79th - had worked its way down the A9 highway and ended up on the right flank of the West Germans. This brought down some serious  NATO defensive artillery fire (MRLs), which was lucky enough to kill two of the Soviet Tank commanders, leaving the remaining tank units in total disarray.
A close order tank battle then took place between the dug-in German Leopards and the 79th T64s but with combined NATO artillery and ATGW attacks, and the 55th and 57th being too far away to support their beleaguered colleagues, the flanking attack ran out of steam and was destroyed.

At this point we called it a day (and a weekend). A really good couple of days play. We tested the CWC House Rules to their extremes and they were found to generally work well (I will try and post a copy up on the forum - once I can work out how?)

We didn't quite manage to get a full 3:1 Soviet superiority on-table (as we had planned) but we were not far off. However, what it did prove is that the Soviets really need to utilize their artillery much better (than we managed it anyway). Using proper Soviet ORBATS we had 9 on-table 122mm SP artillery guns per Regiment (which we've not done previously) and discovered that they need some serious adjustment to make them work, as on-table elements, as they would have done historically. But that is something we can work on as part of the CWCII changes.

Without the Smoke assets on Day 1 I doubt the Soviets would have made the progress they did. As the dug-in Leopards and TOW/Milan teams are just so very deadly. Especially using the new dedicated ATGW unit rules.

Lots of really good learnings and great fun. We had 8 players on Day 1 and 6 players on Day 2.
We also had our parallel "sister" game running up in Grimsby where another group of players fought a section of the same offensive further along the front to the north of us.  

And we are planning yet another CWC big weekend game for March'20. You are all most welcome to join us.

Cheers
Mark






 
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

paulr

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Big Insect

I have no idea how to post photos Paul ... being a techno-luddite!!!
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.' Xenophon, The Anabasis

This communication has been written by a dyslexic person. If you have any trouble with the meaning of any of the sentences or words, please do not be afraid to ask for clarification. Remember that dyslexics are often high-level conceptualisers who provide "out of the box" thinking.

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

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