Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Below is another great article from The Boardgames Chronicle, this time showing his game of Caesar: Rome vs Gaul playing as the Romans. If you would like to read this article on his blog, you can find that here. Enjoy! -Rachel
Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)s Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: 2020 marked one year of Congress of Vienna being a GMT P-500 listed game and we once again thank all who’ve placed much appreciated orders for it. What a year 2020 was; not only for us all due to the Pandemic, but for our beloved gaming hobby and the development of CoV. May the year 2021 be a better experience!
The below is an After-Action-Report (AAR) of a CoV Campaign VASSAL game whose core players were located in the USA and Europe. It is a compilation of emails I provided the team between gaming sessions. I served as the game’s chronicler as well as an observer and kind of “living rulebook” should a question arise. A CoV Campaign Game comprises ten turns and a one turn session was conducted each Saturday. When a player was on holiday/vacation, either designer Frank Esparrago or developer Dick Sauer would substitute for him.
During each one turn session the players were not rushed and could take as much time as desired to negotiate with one another and deliberate a play. No one minded each turn taking 1-2 hours to complete for everyone was having a joyously fun time (which, of course, is why we game)! It should be noted that experienced Congress of Vienna players, who agree to limit “table talk” or simply progress at a brisk pace, can get through a Campaign Game in 5-6 hours with the shorter scenarios being much quicker to complete.
To best appreciate this AAR, a general background regarding CoV will assuredly help. This can be gained by referencing GMT’s site for the game which is replete with a variety of material. See: GMT Games – Congress of Vienna
With that, enjoy this Congress of Vienna Campaign Game After-Action-Report for its turns 1-5, the period before Austria abandons neutrality and enters the war! Here’s an image of the VASSAL CoV game board which was used. A more comprehensive description of changes since Nov. 2020, which this illustration incorporates, should be included within the team’s next month GMT Update:
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
After significant break due to the pandemic, me and Marcin are coming back to the Belisarius Campaign. With the seventh installment in the series we are getting close to the end of this epic tale. This is a tale of the greatest Byzantine general, beautifully told by the Commands and Colors Medieval game. Today we move from the eastern frontiers to North Africa – time to start the Vandal War!
For those who have not played Scenario 11 of Combat Commander: Europe or need a refresher on the backstory, it is set in France, in July of 1944. A few beleaguered American troops from the 743rd Tank Battalion are supposed to hold a captured German hilltop position until help can arrive. They have the assistance of an immobilized M4 tank, but at dawn the reinforcements have not showed up and the Germans launch a counter attack.
The Americans set up with the “M4 tank” in I4, 4 hexes straight north of the I8 objective on the other side of the woods. Sgt. White and an Elite squad set up in I8 with a foxhole, while a Line squad with a panzerfaust takes the foxhole in J7 below them. The remaining Line squad and panzerfaust are one hex farther north, in the woods of J6.
The Germans place an SS squad with an LMG in O9 behind the hedge. Sgt. Ganz starts in O8 just behind the building with an SS squad and LMG. Lt. Lauerbach, a weapon crew with the HMG, and one SS squad take position in O6, and the remaining SS squad takes O5.
I decided before playing the scenario to narrate it through White’s perspective. The action is short and brutal, as a lot of Time triggers brought about the end of the game on the 10th turn. The narrative is in the typeface you are currently reading,
while explanation in game terminology of foregoing or intermediate events will be shown in type like this, with foregoing events usually explained in past tense and intermediate ones in present tense.
