12mm WWII – Day of Battle POD

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Chris

Attack on Nancy, 1944 D-Day to Berlin Video

Well last Saturday I had probably the most memorable DDtB games I have seen. it was attack on Nancy by Patton’s 3rd Army. We were two players shy due to no shows but the 4 players we had came to play. We actually completed 3 days and 2 nights. It was a close run game the the US took Nancy on day two and held it.

I had bought a body harness for my GoPro and was able to shoot a 2 hour video in POV.

I did find that when I leaned in to help with the rules the camera didn’t capture the part I was helping with.

Still I thought it was very good and promising.

One rule change we decided to try in a later game had to do with combat results.

The idea was if a force took any excess Morale Markers due to combat it had to make a Division Morale test. Can’t wait to try that.

Here is a link to the video. Comments are welcome 🙂

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Chris

12mm WWII for D-Day to Berlin

12mm WWII for D-Day to Berlin

When I got back a few weeks ago from Carnage Con 27 in Killington Vt. I decided to stop all of my painting and to finish up and organize the three eras that I game. They are WWII with D-Day to Berlin. The Seven Years War with Twilight of the Soldier Kings and The American Revolution using Liver Free or Die.

I chose D-Day to Berlin first as I had put a lot of effort into painting up the troops needed for for Omaha and Utah beaches scenario that I ran at Carnage (thanks to Ken for stepping in). I had decided prior to the convention to go totally 12mm. I can print the armor and vehicles in 12mm no problem but though I tried very hard to get good looking printed infantry but I wasn’t happy so I bought 12mm miniatures from Victrix. I purchased nearly all of the from The Hobby Bunker in Wakefield MA. A great shop with a very interesting history starting out as Excalibur hobbies in Arlington Mass back in I think the 1970’s.

Well back to my troops. I picked up one pack when I stopped by and after painting them I decided to commit and placed a mail order to them online. Yes I can drive there in an hour but I was to busy. They got the order to me in just a few days and shipping was very reasonable. The other major point is Matt (the owner) doesn’t mark them up like so many places 🙂

So with troops in hand I got to work. I decided early on it would be easier to paint the figures on the sprue rather than clip them off and place them on painting boards. I even went so far as to try basing them and then painting them but this was to fidgety. So off I went. They painted up quickly and as they are so small I was able to do a lot of slapchop painting using Army Painter speed paints (tip – only use the 2.0 versions).

Once painted I based them up. I decided on a new base which was 25mm x 60mm. Previously I had used 30mm x 50mm which are Flames of War base size. I mounted most of the vehicles on a 30mm by 50mm base. Command stands are on 25mm round bases.

Next I organized what I had painted into divisions. By doing this I knew what I needed to print for vehicles and guns and paint for ground troops. I am nearly completed. I have a Panzer Grenadier XX and a second Tank XX to finish up. I should mention I did the US first and they are done.

Once based I applied labels on vehicles to note if the stand is SPG, SPA, Recon etc. Finally every base had a division number followed by XX. This will help players know exactly what units they have in their division and what they are.

The following slide show shows an Infantry XX and a Tank XX laid out. I’m not sure how I am going to deal with the motorized infantry in the Tank XX. For now I am using infantry stands and placing a truck next to the Division Command stand to remind the player the infantry are motorized. I may however replace the infantry stands with open back trucks with infantry in them showing they are motorized.

So I hope you enjoy this article. Next up will be my SYW project completion.

Posted on March 24, 2022June 9, 2025 by Chris

Bagration to Berlin Released

“Russia’s final march to Berlin has begun”

Operation Bagration was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation, a military campaign fought between 23 June and 19 August 1944 in Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern Front of World War II. The Soviet Union destroyed 28 of 34 divisions of Army Group Center, and completely shattered the German front line.

Bagration to Berlin provides the TO&E for the German and Russian divisions that took part in this theater from Spring of 1944 to the fall of Germany in Spring of 1945.

Also included are designer notes and a scenario, The Battle of Targul Frumos, May 1944, where the Panzer Grenadier Division Gross Deutschland commanded by Lieutenant General von Manteuffel, AKA the Panzer Baron, made a gallant stand in Romania.

New rules include ranged fire by heavy anti-tank guns and tank riders. Includes designer notes and much more.

D-Day to Berlin is an operational-level miniatures game where players command divisions and corps.

Bagration to Berlin and all the other games from Chris Parker Games will be available at Adepticon at the Winged Hussar booth.

Print – $18.00 USD
Digital – $10.00 USD

More Information >>>

Posted on March 8, 2022April 20, 2022 by Chris

The Battle of Targul Frumos – Rumania 1944

Myself, Art F. and my friend Mark, aka the GamesPoet got together this week to playtest a battle of my new D-Day to Berlin Sourcebook called Bagration to Berlin. This is the Eastern Front from Spring 1944 to the end of the war in 1945.

Of interesting note is that I took Russ Lockwood’s advice used 12mm scale pieces for all of the MECH units and 15mm scale pieces for the INF and ART units. We all thought it looked great for the scale of the game.

In the Gallery below you will see the Battalion single stand units. Many of them have colored dots. These are reminder of different rules. The key is below.

KEY

Pink: Detachment Strength
Green: Veteran Morale
Yellow: Poor Morale
#1: Engineer
US Halftracks: Russian Recon Battalions
Cards: These are staff cards that allow different special rules for the Battalion resting on top of them.
#7: The number denotes the Battalions parent Division. this is helpful when it is time to count up how many Battalions are on the field for a Division Morale Check.
Swords: These mark Division Boundary Lines
Tiles: I experimented with 4″ square tiles as my hills. We all liked them. I plan on cutting up 51/2″ squares from foam board and mounting the tiles on them. I will then fill in the gap between the two surfaces and after painting should have some nice looking hills.

The Bagration to Berlin rules are done and will be released in late March 2022.

ROMANIA, MAY 1944

As the German Army was being driven back west by the Soviet Army, the Division Grossdeutschland commanded by Lieutenant General Von Manteuffel AKA The Panzer Baron, made a gallant stand in and around the village of Targul Frumos, in northeast Romania. In this engagement the Veteran experience and skill of Grossdeutschland commanders and soldiers
halted the attacks of the Soviets who were seeking to deprive the Germans of the Romanian oil fields.

The Battle of Targul Frumos began on 2 May 1944 with a Soviet artillery bombardment followed by waves of T-34s and infantry across a broad front. The Veteran soldiers of the Grossdeutschland allowed the tanks to drive over their defensive positions and engaged the lagging infantry. The tanks, now without infantry support, were systematically engaged and destroyed by concealed anti-tank guns and assault guns.

During this battle the Soviet IS-2s appeared and the German tanks at a range of 2000 meters. A few escaped the Tigers but were pursued by a company of more Panzer IV’s and knocked out.

Posted on February 13, 2022April 20, 2022 by Chris

Mixing Scales Part II

Mixing Scales in D-Day to Berlin Part II

Part I >>> More information

D-Day to Berlin>>>More Information

I have had a number of gamers write back to me on the subject and I really appreciate the feedback and Ideas.

My good friend John M. let me look at his 1:200 scale WWII collection. Most of them were Pendragon I believe. I brought a few home but compared to my 15’s I was disappointed in the smallness (sp) of them. I had rather hoped for something at about 60% in size. Seems to me the difference shouldn’t be so great.

Russ Lockwood Wrote

I have 6mm and 10/12mm and 15mm and the difference is noticeable…however, if you’ve ever played Axis and Allies board games (not the miniature-specific game), you’ll have played with roughly 6mm tanks and 20mm troops and who knows what scale (1/3000?) ships. As you use squares, not inches, perhaps the size of the figure matters less as long as you can place them inside a square?

I once had the idea for something like that in an ancients game — the bases were all the same size, but the figure size determined its ability, whereas 6mm used a d6, 15mm used a d8, 20mm used a d10, and 25mm used a d12. DM (die modifiers) of +1 for advantageous terrain and another +1 for advantageous training/quality. But I figured I would have to buy the different dice types in the same color (all d6s are white dice, all d8s are blue dice, all d10s are green, and all d12s are red — easy to confuse d8 and d10 without a color prompt), which I never did, and then paint up all the different figures…never did. When you lost a melee, you dropped down a size, so 25mm – 20mm – 15mm – 6mm — remove from table. So every unit needed multiple stands and figures. I’m sure there’s a fellow with better math than me about the odds of a 6mm defeating a 25mm, etc. I figured the heresy factor would preclude even trying it, although the fun factor of a 6mm whacking a 25mm would interest folks. I would recommend trying it.

Miniature Scale image — Wargame Drop zone Comparison

I was sent the above link to an interesting website. It had some good info on this subject.

Wargame Drop Zone >>> More information

In closing I must say i am unsure now if i want to pursue this. I was about to place an order with Pendragon Miniatures for Russians and German armor but when I compared the T34 I borrowed from John M. I was disappointed in the difference in sizes. Well I will wait a little while and ponder some more.

Meanwhile if anybody knows a brand or scale or armor that might be better suited for my quest please let me know.

Chris

Posted on February 6, 2022June 9, 2025 by Chris

Mixing Scales in D-Day to Berlin

Mixing Scales in D-Day to Berlin

I know this is sacrilegious but I am thinking of using 10-12mm Armor with my 15mm infantry!!!

The Heck You Say?

I currently have 15mm but yearn for an even wider front so to speak.

I was wondering if any of you game in 10-12mm scales at this time and if so what brands you use for your armies and whom do you buy them from?

What I am really thinking of doing is going with 10-12mm armor with 15mm infantry.

Any thoughts on how much smaller a 10-12mm say tiger is to a 15mm tiger?

Comments can be directed to me via the contact form and I will be happy to share them with updates to this blog post.

Here is one company I have found Magister Militum

Thanks – Sir Chris

Posted on January 7, 2022June 9, 2025 by Chris

Relief of Bastogne a D-Day to Berlin Scenario

Coming In January

The III Corps’ Counterattack Toward Bastogne
The Verdun meeting on 19 December set in chain the first
of a series of actions which the Allies would take to wrest
the initiative from the enemy. Nonetheless a few momentous,
nerve-shaking days had to elapse before the first gun
of the counterattack could be fired.

This scenario for D-Day to Berlin depicts General Patton’s 3rd Corps attack to Relieve Bastogne. At his disposal was the hardened 4th Armored Division as well as the 26th and 80th Infantry divisions.

Opposite him was the 5th Fallschirmjäger Division, the 382 Volksgrenadier Division and the Fuhrer Grenadier Brigade.

Fighting is bitter in the cold and deep snow. Low clouds and snow keep the US Air Corps from helping.

This scenario gives you special rules for this campaign as well as new rules for D-Day to Berlin.