Saturday, July 07, 2007

Saturday Morning Gaming


This morning Mark and I met at my house for a game of “Columbia EastFront” (We played the original version). The session was great as we simulated the “Kursk” scenario where the two sides are powerful both defensively and offensively.

In the summer of 1943, Mark’s German army launched the offensive into the bulge near the town of Kursk. The flat and open terrain was ideal for the many divisions of tanks that were deployed here by both sides. The German armor slammed into my defenders and caused massive amounts of damage. In response, my Russians delayed by reinforcing the crumbling line, but keeping most of my own armor in reserve behind the line. Meanwhile, in the far north, the city of Leningrad was under siege as the defenders begged for help.

As the summer dragged on, my line at Kursk finally gave in under the pressure and I called for a pull back to the Don. The defenders of Leningrad were desperate, hanging on by their fingernails. However a relief force was on its way. Mark took a desperate gamble as he sacrifices his precious HQ so as to take the city, but the defenders manage to hold. The Red Army finally relieves the siege and the German army withdraws from the area. This gives hope to all Russia.

In the center, another huge stroke of luck for the Russians: The Germans rush to fill in the void left from the Russian withdrawal. Sensing that the HQ resources of the Germans is low and noticing a weak spot in the line, Carlos calls on his armor reserves. A blitz opens a hole in the German line allowing Russian armor and cavalry to penetrate deep into the German rear so as to disrupt enemy supply. The plan worked as no less than 12 German corps and at least one HQ are left without supply and forced to pull back.

Finally mud and snow come to the aid of the Russians to give them a little more time to prepare for the next major attack. With the weather turning sour, the rest of the game was more a war of attrition with a few more big battles, but no mentionable exchange of real-estate.

In the end, the line was stable, but with the noticeable exception of Leningrad now back in Russian hands and the Germans having caused massive amounts of damage and pushing the line back closer to Moscow. This was a great game that ended with a Marginal German Victory. Good going Mark!

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2 Comments:

At 8:38 PM, July 07, 2007, Blogger Ben said...

Nice action photo!

 
At 12:24 PM, July 08, 2007, Blogger Ted said...

I am *so* jealous! I have been wanting to play this for a long time now.

Recently I've been playing a few games of "Stay Up Late To Feed The Baby" along with many repeats of the quickie filler (emptier?) "Change the Diaper."

 

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