D-Day to Berlin – Page 2 – Day of Battle POD

Posted on June 6, 2021December 28, 2021 by Chris

My Video Zoom Game Report and D-Day to Berlin Scenario Release

Introducing The “Knights Round Table”

Being a blog on wargaming in general by Chris Parker

Video Zoom Game Report and D-Day to Berlin Scenario Release

On May 21, 22 and 23, 2021 my game club MHWA (the Maine Historical Wargamers Association) held their second Virtual Huzzah game convention. This convention in the past has been held every spring about this time at the Double Tree Hotel in Portland Maine. With Covid-19 however this years was again canceled.

Fingers crossed the club has decided to extend next years convention to four days. Yowza that is going to be fun.

Now as a newbie to Zoom and online gaming I was quite nervous and uneducated. This may seem a little bit strange considering I am a PC tech and fix computers and even build websites. I ignored the first virtual event, just shrugging it off as a novelty. Well when this called “Hold the Line” one came around I jumped in with all four limbs. I created a Zoom account and played a few games with my friends that they hosted, well I was hooked.

Image Clarity Is Poor

One thing that bothered me though was the clarity of the video images I was watching. I guess a lot of people use the camera built into their laptops. I wasn’t happy with those so I started researching webcams and wound up buying a pair of Razer Kiyp Webcams. I will present a separate Blog post next week with my findings.

So I stepped up and committed to run three events. Two were 15mm WWII using my new rules D-Day to Berlin. Those events were both the same game. Breakthrough to Bastogne. The cool thing was the first game ended at the night time turn of day one. The second game I ran had the game pickup in the morning and play game two. Great games with six players each. Russ Lockwood has done a very in depth review of DDtB as he played. I will post that soon as well.

I also ran a 40mm American Revolution Game of the battle of Guilford Courthouse. I mostly use miniatures from Old Glory and Sash and Saber. Great figures at an affordable price AND made in America 🙂 If you deal with them please tell them Chris Parker sent you, Russ has been helping me with my “Helen of Toy project”.

For the rules I aptly used the game of the same name as the convention, “Hold The Line”. This was a hexed board game but I had a cloth with 5″ hexes. This was left over from my Memoir 44 days.

While we played the game I taped it. I have now uploaded it onto YouTube. I must warn you the video is about 90 minutes long. I find it fascinating to watch. We had 5 players and i ran one camera on each side. I doubt if many will watch it I will present the link here.

The Battle of Guilford Courthouse YouTube Link

Watch the Video and get a free gift

Without cheating anybody that emails me back the last unit to be destroyed in the game will get a free digital copy of my original Medieval Wargame Rules Knighthood.

You can reply to ddtb@chrisparkergames.com

Let me wrap this up by saying that I liked this Zoom virtual gaming so much that this weekend my Brother Dave who lives in Florida and my good friend Mark who lives in Manchester NH are going to play a game of American Revolution using my Light Bobs rules. I am thinking I will play out one of the two flank attacks at Guilford Courthouse. I will be sure to record it in full and post it along with a Blog update.

Image Credit Below

By User:Richard Harvey – self, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1164510

Sixth Panzer Armee – D-Day to Berlin Scenario released

I have released my first scenario for D-Day to Berlin. The scenario is titled “Six Panzer Armee” and it covers the northern attack of the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.

This scenario includes

Customized Map
Order of Battle for both Allied and German forces
Special rules for the scenario
New rules for D-Day to Berlin

Have look at the Introduction Pa ge

What I found fascinating about this part of the Battle of the Bulge was the majority of the armored Divisions were in this Army Group, yet none of them took part in the first day assault. The majority of the troops will hastily raised Volksgrenadiers. Furthermore the Germans mustered together 50 Stuka dive bombers. Wow.

The opening day saw 2 Allied Divisions face off against 5 German Divisions. An amazing fight. I based my idea from a game by Victory Point Games called “Paul Koenigs: 6th Panzer Army”. I chose to use the German spelling of the army which was the Sixth Panzer Armee.

Here is a link to a review of the game on the Boadgame Geek Website

Here is a link to the Introduction page.

Here is a link for more information on the scenario and how to order.

Well in closing I hope you all found some interesting bits in this Blog post. Though I am promoting my rules I also try to provide you some useful information and a little humor.

Naturally if you received this in your e-mail box you can safely unsubscribe by clicking on the proper button. I use Mail Chimp for my e-mail and they have a secure method for unsubscribing.

But I hope you won’t 🙂

Take care for now and be safe.

Chris Parker

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Chris

Hold the Line, a Virtual Huzzah Convention

A Virtual Wargame Convention

Folks:

We have the last chance for sign-ups before the “Hold the Line: A Virtual Huzzah!” con starts tomorrow.

link

It runs for 3 days, and there are still some open spots in the games.

I am personally running three events.

Friday night at 7PM and again on Saturday night at 8PM will be a D-Day to Berlin game based on the relief of Bastogne by the 3rd army. I will use Zoom with two webcams to switch from one side to the other.

Scale is 15mm.

On Sunday at 10AM I am running a 40mm AWI game of Guilford Courthouse. ironically the rules I am using is “Hold the Line” by Worthington games. This is played on a hexed table.

Many vender’s are offering a discount during the convention. I am offering 20% off all products on my website –

chrisparkergames.com

Use code MHZJGUEX at checkout.

Posted on December 26, 2020May 12, 2021 by Chris

D-Day to Berlin FAQ

DDtB FAQ

This post page will be dedicated to questions and conversations with gamers. I will post them by date from newest to oldest.

12.25.2020

From Larry
I have watched your videos and indeed that is what convinced me to order the rule set. I like the fact that this is a living rule set and is constantly improving as you play the game. That is so unlike other rule sets which publish and sort of fade away. Thank you

I do admit that I am having a difficult time with some of the rules and when you have time, if you could help me understand if what I’m doing is right or wrong, I would greatly appreciate it.

1) In combat, when units assault and have the Weapon Of Choice (WOC), do all units roll using the WOC (1-3) or just the attacking unit?

All rolled dice, EXCEPT any sort of ART roll as WOC (1-3). ART battalions of all types are never WOC and will roll accordingly (1-2).

2) I noticed that the bonus 1d6 disappeared from flank attacks. Only the zone is included (1d6 and no bonus for flank attack). Is this correct?

I have been struggling with the concept of flank and rear attacks at this level of play. I am also trying to find ways of keeping the dice rolled to a reasonable number. With these points in mind I did remove the flank/rear bonus.

3) When Corps assets are used, do you re-roll for them coming back? If so, what morale or roll should they use?

Corps assets are re-rolled for every game turn until they are “lost”. Originally both sides rolled simultaneously for assets at the start of each new game turn. The recent version has changed that slightly. Now each side rolls for their replacement assets at their start of their half of the game turn. I feel this adds to the tension of never having enough assets when you need them. This forces you to think more.
On a side note, in previous versions DIV was always available during both players turns so each player would have it available all turn long. I have changed that to be like Corps assets in that once you use them they don’t come back online until the start of your next turn. Mind you DIV assets do not have to be rolled for to get back.

4) I did like the original combat where you had a base roll and then added and subtracted the various modifiers and with one roll determined the outcome (after saving rolls, of course). I’m confused on the current set with hits, shattered hits, retire and break-off on where and what units are affected. Perhaps you could provide an example of how this occurs?

I liked that system too but I felt it made for a slower game with very little attrition. That version did have shattered and retire outcomes. The Break-off outcome is the same as a retire but not as far. Also it was a chore to ask players to remember which battalion was their primary battalion. Mind you when a battalion is shattered I don’t mean everybody is rendered hors de combat, just that the battalion is no longer a fighting force at that time.
The new system allows more severe results. I find this places more thought by the players before they attack but at the same times seems easier to remember. As I mentioned under flank attacks I am still struggling with the possibility of too much damage.
I plan on doing a screen shot video this week of the combat system as it sits right now.

DDay to Berlin is an excellent game that is far superior to so many operational game rules. While Mustafa’s Rommel is enjoyable, there is just too much book keeping involved. Other rule sets flood the battlefield with too many markers. What you have developed is clean, enjoyable and very worthwhile to play. I just want to make sure that I am enjoying the full quality that DDtB provides.

12.7.2020

D-Day to Berlin 5.1 Changes

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