PBEM Fistful of Tows 3

My friend Jonathan lives in France and is bereft of any opponents and when I was over there last year he suggested he was thinking of setting up a Play by Email (PBEM) game and would I be interested once we had sorted out another person to join in. The idea is this:

• Jonathan comes up with the scenario and sends out a map and forces involved to me and my opponent (which is Gavin, a lapsed member of the club which is good in a way as I don’t have any contact with him!)
• Gavin and I send back orders of march and our orders
• Jonathan fights out the battle on his table sending us updates and requests for new orders when needed which he then acts upon

It has taken a while to get things going but we have started it recently and the first moves have just happened and I’m actually quite excited by it as I like the concept and it is giving Jonathan a nice spin on solo gaming to keep his games room busy!

I’m going to just copy the scenario briefing and map for now as I don’t want to give Gavin any information than he might not know about already. I will be adding more posts as the battle moves along but it will be a few moves ‘behind’ as it were, so again and to not give Gavin any info that he might be able to use to his advantage (that is if he even visits here!), so bear with me but there will be some pics going up in the upcoming weeks once the shooting starts. Bonus points for those that recognise where this scenario is from.

Scenario Briefing: (This has been edited to prevent any precise intel for Gavin!)

Title: First contact at Kostanjevica

Date/Time: 2nd August 1985, 0730.

Forces: US Marines meet Soviet Motor Rifle troops for the first time.

Location: Yugoslavia, somewhere West of Zagreb.

Weather: Clear and dry, visibility is good with a light wind from the SW.
General Background

Relations between the East/West blocs having been fraught from some time and Yugoslavia has become one of the flashpoints.

The post Tito regimes have not proven capable of keeping a lid on the nationalist aspirations of the various groupings in the years following his death in 1980.

Following a failed attempt by the pro Soviet Federal government to suppress the, pro Western, Slovenian provincial government the Committee for the Defence of Yugoslavia has called for assistance from the Warsaw Pact.

Specific Background – Soviet

The Soviet Union has once again responded to the calls for help against Western Imperialism by its fraternal brothers. Using Warsaw Pact forces based in Hungary (2 Motor Rifle Divisions) and an airborne division from the strategic reserve first Belgrade and then Zagreb have been secured and the pro-imperialist, secessionist forces forced to retreat. Soviet forces are now following up into Slovenia in order to bring the area back under the control of the legitimate federal government.

As the Commander of ******** the invasion so far has proven to be nothing more than a drive through the towns and villages of Yugoslavia, with the main issue being the number of vehicle breakdowns in the initial move to make contact with the airborne forces.

Unfortunately it seems that the Western powers are not willing to let the people of Yugoslavia make their own decisions but are determined to impose capitalism upon them as intelligence reports indicate that US forces from the Sixth Fleet have landed on the Adriatic Coast of Yugoslavia and are even now headed towards Zagreb.

Your ******* has been tasked with acting as the advance guard for ******* move West to establish contact with the invading forces and secure the area necessary for the rest of the ****** to deploy to defeat the enemy. Your command is currently approaching the town of Kostanjevica on the roads from the North and East, with the rest of ****** behind you.

Somewhat to your surprise (and annoyance) your HQ unit has arrived in Kostanjevica ahead of ********* with only your advance guard ahead to the West. Contact with the ********* has been sporadic (radio issues in the valleys of Yugoslavia?) but you are assured that they are not far behind you.

Intelligence

Initial reports are that elements of the USMC 26th MAU have landed at Fiume and are headed towards Zagreb on your line of march using the roads to the West and South of Kostanjevica.

The air situation is reported as favourable with Soviet, and fraternal comrades from the WP, fighter and air/ground units established in Belgrade and operating over the divisions march route providing support.

Happy New Year!

Just a quicky to say Happy New Year, I know it is a bit late but I always personally think the new year starts on the 4th as it is my birthday (hitting the half-century today!).

I am going to try and get back in the habit of doing the club night write ups again this year, no real excuse not to and I’ve missed some corkers over the past year. Mine and Des’ CoC Martlet campaign kicks off again on Monday and I can see us rattling through the remainder of it quite quickly over the next few months. Project wise I am planning to update my 6mm Cold War kit and get cracking on my 6mm Napoleonics so that will probably feature as and when bits get done. There are plans for us to take a couple of games up to Joy of 6 in the summer so that will be something to look forward to, will keep you updated as plans firm up. Daren has decided that this years build for him will be a Kursk game so we will probably take that to Colours later in the year (if it doesn’t make it to Jo6) and I’m sure it will be of his usual cracking standard.

Last year was a good one with some fantastic weekends away with the chaps running Martin’s beautiful ‘Sands of Sudan’ game at Vapnartak and the Ally Pally and as always great fun at Colours with Daren’s spiffing ‘hells Highway’ game, not to mention my visit to Jonathan’s in France. To all the gents involved in these shenanigans, many thanks as you all make what is a great hobby into a truly splendid one.

Anyway, I’m off with the Mem to the ‘Peanuts’ exhibition at Somerset House but before I go here’s hoping the dice gods smile on you this year, your brushes never lose their points and you never drink the paint water by mistake!

All the best.