"Battle Group Kursk at the Uni!" Topic

Dear All,

We had another bash with the Battle Group Kursk rules at the Uni on Thursday, and this time it all clicked much better and we had a fun game.

Batrep and some thoughts on the rules here:
link

Thanks, I have recently got the rules and am reading through them. Do you think that when a side gets artillery or air missions that their effect too devastating, or does it feel about right? I ask because a few recent AAR's have left me feeling that early use of artillery can hurt the other sides capability for the rest of the game.

Looks great Sparker. Who makes the stands for the Stukas?
cheers

Nice Sparker, really nice!

Norm,

Artillery can be devasting, but only when you roll sixes… most of the time its a suppression weapon. It can be very useful, but its not really a game winner. In Battlegroup the winner is generally the one with the best ombined arms force and who uses it in the best manner, but with the vagaries of luck and morale thrown in to scupper all the best plans!

I've seen artillery do very well, and other times when it doesn't even get a pin at all. You still have to roll to pin and the target unit gets a save depending on cover so nothing is definite, as with most things demanding a die roll in war games!

Some nice models there !

I don't think artillery is too powerful in Battlegroup rules. As in Flames, it's primarily a pinning weapon. Every once in a while, you get spectacular results (like a direct hit on a Puma with a Soviet 203mm gun…), but arty deviates and has to roll to even pin.

What I really like about BG rules compared to Flames is the presence of counterbattery missions and pre-registered target points in the army lists, not to mention on-board and offboard arty. Onboard is capable of direct fire, off-board drops multiple shells per activation.

Thanks for the kind comments gents!

Regarding the impact of Arty and Air, of course I'm not going to add anything to Pier's comments except to say that in this game, receiving the artillery was a nuisance, but not a game changer, but the 2nd air strike really did have a major effect, knocking out 50% of my tanks in one fell swoop! So I guess I'm with Nazrat on this one – but bear in mind this is game 2 for me so far!

The stuka stands are a bit of a knock up job, the bases came with 2 Corgi Typhoons I bought, and I then adapted aluminium modelling rod to make a really sturdy stand.

Cracking job Ralph, the Stuka's look very impressive !

Well thank you to both the Canadian contingent!

I'm sorry I've looked all over the Stuka models but can't find any details anywhere. They are 1/72nd scale diecasts. I know it was a while ago though – any they don't have the usual swastika markings on the tail which may suggest German manufacture as its a legal issue there…

If only I could source similarly lovely IL-2 models!

There's a Altaya / Ixo IL 2 available with a white tail. Dave has one. Attractive looking model, though it will need a robust stand !

Good to see you had a better time with the game this time, Ralph! The board looked nice and the models superb. I haven't played that particular scenario yet but I am planning to in the near future.

The Battlegroup series became my "go-to" big battle rules almost immediately when I played a game-- I still love Fireball Forward for 15mm company level, and Chain of Command for skirmish in 20, though.

Really nice table! Looking forward to gaming these rules. What size are the Litko damage/destroyed markers?

Mainly 'medium' but a couple of 'large' ones too – for use when I've caused the kill!

Thanks. They look surprisingly realistic on the table.