Below is Part 4 in a series from David Waldorf covering a Manoeuvre: Distant Lands tournament “March Madness” style. Parts 1, 2, and 3 can be found here, here, and here. Enjoy! -Rachel
In our last after action report, I introduced Normandy ’44 and discussed the initial invasion plus airdrops. I sprinkled in a little commentary on game mechanics while reporting on the action. I intend to continue this format for the rest of the series. Last time we had just witnessed the failure of the 21st Panzer Division to bottle up the allies at Sword Beach in an attempt to seal them off and throw them back into the sea. To the west, Omaha was very successful rather than the near run thing it was historically and the US Army successfully linked up with the US paratroopers at Utah beach.
Get your motor runnin’
Song: Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf, 1968
Head out on the highway
Lookin’ for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racin’ with the wind
And the feelin’ that I’m under
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die
Born to be wild
Born to be wild
Get your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Lookin’ for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin’ go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die
Born to be wild
Born to be wild
Written by Mars Bonfire
Smoke drifts from the hull where the round impacted, but the Commander doesn’t see any flames – hopefully they can get the fire out quickly.
Across the battlefield, the Commander sees the Stug moving into a flanking position, it won’t be long until he stops and aims at our weaker side armor! We need to find a better position. The PZ IV turret is rotating, scanning the battlefield and looking for targets. Thankfully he hasn’t appeared to focus in on any of his tanks.
His tanks… are just sitting there!
“Move it everyone! Move! Don’t just sit th….”
The words are drowned out by another impact that rocks the SU-100, almost throwing the Commander out of his hatch. Something knocks his headset off, he flinches well after the shrapnel nearly took his head off. Battered and dazed, he slowly looks around to see smoke coming out of another hole in the hull, this time on the driver’s side.
Where did that come from? The Panther!!!!
“Status!”
“Driver wounded, still on Fire – we have to get out of here!”
The Commander pauses for what feels like minutes though he knows it is only a few seconds. Assessing the situation, it isn’t good. We are on fire, the Panther has us in its sights, the Stug is about to flank us and I don’t know if we can even move…
“Bail out, bail out!”
The crew bails out, dragging the wounded driver out with them. The Commander jumps down, and leads his rattled crew deeper into the gully, looking for better cover and a spot where he can watch the battle.
He notices the T-34/76 finally moving, attempting to flank the Panther! But the Panther notices the T-34/76 and rotates to keep its front armor and gun facing the T-34/76! That is an incredible crew… The T-34/76 is still searching for cover, while the T-34/85 just sits there. What are they doing? The Commander notices the Stug stopping and zeroing in on the T-34/85…”Move!!! Move!!!” but his shouts are useless. If only he had a radio.
Behind him, his loader shouts that another SU-100 is moving forward to shore up this side of the battlefield. They need the help, the Germans are threatening to capture the High ground and gain control of this battlefield…
Below is Part 3 in a series from David Waldorf covering a Manoeuvre: Distant Lands tournament “March Madness” style. Parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here. Enjoy! -Rachel
When I moved to a new home last year I appropriated a small room for my gaming collection. Slowly but surely I put together some bookcases, moved a small desk and eventually acquired a combination table-bookcase so I could set up games long-term. Everything was ready, so all I needed was to pick a game to play. I could have gone for one of many in my collection, but I wanted to try out one game in particular that had caught my eye for some time. That game was Normandy ’44.
“Spoken
Song: Slam the Hammer Down by Slade, 1984 (Condensed and edited for suitability… a lot)
Hey you – You up there – Yeah you
Can you hear me? I said, I said can you hear me?
Don’t you listen to me when I’m talking to you?
If you can’t go for it, you can’t go for it good!
And that means you ain’t gonna get away from what you got comin’!
She’s a cool kinda mama – Sure gonna slam the hammer down
When the pistons are pumping – Sure gonna slam the hammer down
Oh when the body starts to shake it’s time to loosen off the brake
And slam it down
Push the pedal to the metal – Sure gonna slam the hammer down
Gonna burn up the rubber – Sure gonna slam the hammer down
The chequered flag won’t make you stop,
You keep on going ’til you drop and slam it down
Keep a moving and motor racing and the wheels go round and round
Oh when you win you’ll be celebrating, ready to slam the hammer on down
Got a flash little chassis
The crowd screams when you slam the hammer down
First, second, third and fourth
Into top and slam the hammer down
You know it’s getting all too much
When you’re letting out the clutch
And slam it down
Keep a moving accelerating
And you’re waiting to face the crowd
Now you’re opening up a wide gap
Ready to slam the hammer on down
Written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea
“I’ve got a clean shot on the Panther!”
“Fire!”
The Commander braces himself as the SU-100 cannon roars again. He watches as the shot impacts the Panther’s turret and the Panther Commander is blown out of his hatch! “Great shot! Reload!”
Nearly simultaneously, the T-34/76 fires and the PZ IV erupts in a massive explosion! Finally, we’ve dislodged the PZ IV from the hill!
The Commander’s attention is drawn back to the Panther, which despite two hits to the turret and no commander is advancing up the hill! What is it going to take to kill that Panther? We need to flank him!
The replacement T-34/85…. I forgot to give him orders… it’s just sitting there! “T-34/85, I need you to…”
The Commander’s vision blurs, the ringing in his ears threatens to drive him insane. His chest hurts from impacting the cupola, shouts are coming from inside the SU-100 but he can’t quite make them out… “Fire!” … “Give me the fire extinguisher! Hurry!”… “We need to bail out!” “No, it’s not that bad, not yet! I think we can…”
The Commander shakes his head and looks around as his vision clears. They’ve been hit, lower hull, across from the driver. Thankfully no serious injuries but there is a small fire and his crew is panicking though they are trying to put the fire out. We need to do something fast!
Looking at the battlefield he sees that the Stug fired the shot that hit them. The Panther is still on the move, its cannon pointing in his direction… they may stop and fire again! It appears the Stug is starting to move and is going to try and flank them while moving up the hill… they are well coordinated, I can only engage one at a time. I need support!
“Status! Can we move or engage? How bad is the fire?” The Commander knows he only has moments to decide to try and stay in the fight or bail out before the next round impacts…
Below is Part 2 in a series from David Waldorf covering a Manoeuvre: Distant Lands tournament “March Madness” style. Part 1 can be found here. Enjoy! -Rachel
Well, here we are. Clash of Sovereigns is finally emerging from my basement (and Vassal playtest), and (hopefully) on its way to your doorsteps in the next year or so. When all is said and done, it will have taken ten or eleven years from the decision to try to make it (because no one else was doing it! 🙂 ), and seeing it in print. I hope we’ll all be beneficiaries of that long gestation; I know it’s been good for COS.
I will be writing a series of longer and shorter articles, in irregular order, on COS game system aspects, a comparison to its predecessor, Clash of Monarchs (hereafter, “COMâ€), each Power’s armies and leaders, their rich card event decks, and whatever else I can decently present to impart about the game. These won’t be comprehensive; I find it hard to get past third gear nowadays, and Real Life and Work are up to my nose this year. Mixed metaphors, century-jumping analogies, and odd references will abound; narrative may occasionally look organized and tangentially brush literary competence (but don’t hold your breath); and make use of below standard literary devices. But these articles will show and tell a lot about COS.
So let’s start with some Big Picture here. (By the way, did you ever see the size of the nail they hang the Big Picture on? 🙂 )
