#71: Sticks and Stones

[daveramsey]

Today we're playing Sticks and Stones from the second HazMo pack, and take a brief look at the pocket charts, the new chapter H rulebook and pick a scenario to play from action pack 17 in maybe a unique way.

Toby gives us some more tips about Pillboxes (generally facing the wrong way) and we chat about the greatest product that should exist but doesn't - the Red Barricades play guide!

If you're looking for the higher resolution of this video and it doesn't seem like it's there, give youtube a few more minutes to process it.

 

[JoeArthur]

People making a living out of wargames - met a bloke at the Lille tourny - he did wargames for NATO.

I do some playtesting for Chas and raised the issue of players placing pillboxes facing the wrong way with him for his Mannerheim pack. His reply:

"FYI on historics. I am paraphrasing from a source. The ML PBs were completely non standard. Some were dug into the ground only showing 2 feet with firing ports. Others were built above ground and very high. Some were hidden well, others were black figures that were easily visible. Some areas had tremendous interlocking fields of fire with multiple positions, others isolated. There were no tunnels and in many instances incomplete trenches.

There is an account where a standard position was sighted to a million dollar bunker. When the Russians would climb on top they would be raked with MG fire from several hundred meters away."

So pillboxes are more complicated than just a place to sit in comfort and fire from.

Strangest one I have come across - in the centre of Calais in a park there sits a German communications bunker. You can see it here:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Many thanks to you both for more content.

 

[asloser]

People making a living out of wargames - met a bloke at the Lille tourny - he did wargames for NATO.

I do some playtesting for Chas and raised the issue of players placing pillboxes facing the wrong way with him for his Mannerheim pack. His reply:

"FYI on historics. I am paraphrasing from a source. The ML PBs were completely non standard. Some were dug into the ground only showing 2 feet with firing ports. Others were built above ground and very high. Some were hidden well, others were black figures that were easily visible. Some areas had tremendous interlocking fields of fire with multiple positions, others isolated. There were no tunnels and in many instances incomplete trenches.

There is an account where a standard position was sighted to a million dollar bunker. When the Russians would climb on top they would be raked with MG fire from several hundred meters away."

So pillboxes are more complicated than just a place to sit in comfort and fire from.

Strangest one I have come across - in the centre of Calais in a park there sits a German communications bunker. You can see it here:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Many thanks to you both for more content.

Here is a webpage describing how the most famous bit of the Mannerheim line, the area aroud Summa and Lähde was set up during the winter war:

The history of the Mannerheim Line, Part 3

winterwar.com

And some schematics of the winter war era concrete bunkers on built by finns:

Different Finnish bunker types, Karelian Isthmus, the Winter War

winterwar.com

 

[asloser]

Regarding the Finnish ASLers and how Hakkaa Päälle became separate from Armies of Oblivion- it was MMPs decision, they wanted one focused module out. Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks, Croats and Bulgarians shared squads SW and some of the hardware while FInns were totally different in all respects. They decided to put AoO out first and that is why it took a long time for Finns to appear.

 

[Tuomo]

Strangest one I have come across - in the centre of Calais in a park there sits a German communications bunker

Man. Talk about bypassing a target.

 

[lightspeed]

Another very entertaining episode!

An RB player’s guide is a bit of a glaring hole...given the number of years RB has been out. I agree that there is (likely?) a wealth of material out there; its accessibility is the issue.

Re pillboxes facing the “wrong” way: I’ve heard (but not played) that there are scenarios that are broken by this tactic.
It seems to me that’s a failure of play testing, and easily solved by an SSR. Not a criticism of playtesters, of course…an error can get through a large number of filters…it’s just arithmetic.

BTW, Martin, I think you meant you weren’t too good at topology, not trigonometry!

Again, great episode! A lovely surprise for a Tuesday!

 

[Tuomo]

So, the Annuals vs FB poll closes on July 18th, yet Dave called it for FB in this episode.

Recount! Stop the Steal!

 

[jimfer]

Just warm? It will be over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit the next 10 days or so here in North Texas. 106 in Fort Worth (41 Celsius for you distant relatives), at least you've got a beach closer than 6-hour drive.

 

[jimfer]

WoW I must have jinxed the Isle. I see it was over a hundred, God Bless everyone. I do hope you guys get a cool wave soon you're not setup for that kind of heat. Just hit 111 today here in Fort Worth but we have air conditioning in almost 100% of homes. I do hope you can find a cool space.

 

[Carln0130]

Another very entertaining episode!

An RB player’s guide is a bit of a glaring hole...given the number of years RB has been out. I agree that there is (likely?) a wealth of material out there; its accessibility is the issue.

Re pillboxes facing the “wrong” way: I’ve heard (but not played) that there are scenarios that are broken by this tactic.
It seems to me that’s a failure of play testing, and easily solved by an SSR. Not a criticism of playtesters, of course…an error can get through a large number of filters…it’s just arithmetic.

BTW, Martin, I think you meant you weren’t too good at topology, not trigonometry!

Again, great episode! A lovely surprise for a Tuesday!

It's possible he sucked at trig too ;-)

 

[Carln0130]

For VOTG, The Central Railway Station. Manageable, but enjoyable. The Tarawa CG is an absolute hoot but do it on VASL or the book-keeping will crush you.

 

[RRschultze]

WoW I must have jinxed the Isle. I see it was over a hundred, God Bless everyone. I do hope you guys get a cool wave soon you're not setup for that kind of heat. Just hit 111 today here in Fort Worth but we have air conditioning in almost 100% of homes. I do hope you can find a cool space.

No aircon for most of us in Blighty. Ridiculous heat for us, hit 37c for 2 days on run. Luckily back down to 19c today which is typical for us