Holland'44: A Solitaire Play-through: Initial Air Drops

It's been years since I've played a physical form of a hex and counter game.  With a little time on my hands I decided to go all old school on you and give one a go.  So on a whim I picked up a copy of GMT Game's Holland'44.  For me, Market-Garden is one most interesting battles of WW2 and one that I have a high level of knowledge.  I can also remember hours of play trying to finish the old SPI title "Highway to the Reich".  That was one of the "Monster" SPI games we all loved, said we played to the end and but I'm pretty sure never really did.  HTTR was at the company/ platoon level and had 4 22x32 inch map sections.

Holland'44 is set at the Battalion level, with a handful of companies and a map thats about 50 inches long and 22 wide.  The game is designed by Mark Simonitch and has an elegant ruleset.  It's also very highly reviewed and said to be good for Solitaire play.  Setting up the game was easy as set up locations or entry turns are printed on the counters and there's a handy sheet to organize the initial forces on.  Still it took me about 45 minutes to set the game up.  Vassal has spoiled me on this front.

Any game of Market Garden is initially 4 separate little drama's, that, if things go well for the Allies, merge into one big battle - or, if things don't go so well, stay separate.  I'm sure all of you know the history - Montgomery devised a plan to drop 3 airborne divisions along a 60 mile corridor to seize a series of bridges.  The British army, lead by 30 Corps, would charge across the bridges and end the war by Christmas.  At least that was the plan.  Faulty intelligence grossly underestimated the strength of the German forces in the area and we have the well known "Bridge to Far" outcome.

I think I've read almost 20 books on the battle - starting with the Cornelius Ryan book "A Bridge to Far" when I was 15 or so.  To this day my thoughts on the battle range from it was a brilliant idea to it's so complex WTF was Montgomery thinking.  In the end hubris and over complexity doomed the operation but was a gallant effort.

So on with the game:

The first photo shows the entire map with the initial forces set up including the airborne units in their drop zones.  The terrain is varied but not really ideal for mechanized operations.  30 Corps is on the far left and Arnhem to the far right.

A shot of the turn record track obscured by the reinforcements that come in over the course of the game.  There are a lot of German forces coming on the map.....

As four the 4 separate "theaters" on this Operation we have:

The British 1st Airborne Division - their goal is to seize the bridge at Arnhem or the railway bridge just to north of Arnhem if they get lucky and the bridge doesn't get blown.  As allied forces move next to a bridge the german player can choose to try and blow it up.  On turn 1, the charges go off on roll of 4-5 (D6).  For turns 2+, the charges detonate on a 3-6.  The game also allows for the Germans to recapture bridges and attempt to re-wire the charges.  I suspect the Allied engineers will be very busy rebuilding bridges this game.  The Arnhem and Nijmegen bridges can not be blown - you saw they movie and the charge didn't go off!

Here is the US 82nd Airborne's drop area.  General Gavin has been criticized for not moving more aggressively on the Nijmegen during the initial landings - theres some truth to that but he also had to contend with the 406th  German infantry division just off map which was perfectly poised to overrun his drop zones.

The last airborne division is the 101st and their associated drop zone.  Im hoping the drops here go well as I want this divisions to move on Eindhoven (to the left) ASAP to help get 30 Corps moving.

The 4th and final area is the front line where 30 Corp will try to break out along a very narrow front.  There are some special rules that govern traffic and mobility that will be explained as I encounter them.  It will be a tough operation.  The light green terrain is called "Polder" (think bog) and is a no-go for mechanized units.  Maybe I can get Michael Caine to roll the dice for my 30 Corps attacks - I'll need all the help I can get.


Initial Drop Results:

1st Airborne:  The drop rolls were pretty good - only two units rolled poorly "Scattered" but each rolled a 6 so also took a step loss.  Step losses for airborne units on the initial drop go into a replacement pool so they get those back eventually.  Johnny Frost and his 2nd Para are well situated to make a run to Arnhem.  Lets hope we get lucky and the railway bridge doesn't go boom.

Landing Grade: B+

82nd Airborne: The drops rolls for the 82 were excellent - just one unit scattered but no step losses.  The only downside is the scatted battalion is one of two the can launch an attack on Nijmegen early.  This shouldn't be too big of an issue but we'll see.

Landing Grade: A-

101st Airborne: Well lady luck finally caught up to me and the drop rolls for the 101st didn't go so well with 3 scatters and 2 step losses. 

Landing Grade B-

All in all it could have been worse. 

Now to re-read the rules one more time and get turn 1 done

Until next time

Proxxon Hex Cutting Template

A good friend and fellow club member, Ed, has a fantastic collection of GHQ's "Geo-Hex" terrain.  It looks superb and I envy the flexibility his collection provides for gaming.  I also really like the aesthetic - perhaps the hexes bring me back to high school years of playing hex and counter games solitaire - there were not a lot of local war gamers where I grew up near Mobile, Alabama.  Well there were a few but they were fixated on the American Civil War and always wanted achieve confederate victories, with wistful sighs of things would have been better if CSA had won.   I elected not to associate with them.

I doubt I'll ever match Ed's level of craftsmanship but at least I can make my own hexes.  An idea was conceived, plans stolen from another source and I set to work.  What's the first thing one should say when starting any project that involves woodworking - "Lets make a jig!"

Here are the parts you need to make the jig.  I'm using 1/2 inch think MDF as the base and this piece is 6 inches wide by nine inches long.  That fits on my proxxon on the right side which has about 5.5 inches of platform space.  The most important thing is the piece needs to be really flat.  The jig requires two braces to hold the EPS in place while cutting - I'm using scrap plywood - again because its flat and stable.  The last piece is the most important - the guide bar.  This one requires some careful measuring and cutting.

Proxxon's have two grooves the run alongside the lower and right edge on the table top.  You need to cut a piece of hardwood (I'm using poplar as it's what I have) so it fits snuggly but moves easily.  The best way to do this is cut your piece a bit over sized and "sneak-up" on the fit by using a sanding block to remove a little bit of material and re-try the fit.  Rinse and repeat.  Take your time.  If the fit is loose (you can wiggle the guide while it is in the slot) then your hexes will not fit together well.

Don't be afraid to start over here (I did)

With my guide rail cut, the next step is to attach it to the underside of the platform.  I'm using standard wood glue to assemble this jig.  In order not to glue the rail to the proxxon itself, I lined the botton with 2 strips of paper.

This makes the guide sit a little proud (or high) from the tabletop and I can then glue it on.  Using a right angle guide to ensure the MDF is square with the cutting wire. I added glue to the guide and placed the platform on top.

Some of you might be tempted to use that snazy guide decal that the fine people at proxxon slap on top the table.  You could, but check to make sure it's square.  Mine isn't - it's off about 1.73 degrees (I measured 'cause I'm a geek).  Not material for most hobby projects, but this one needs to be precise - so check rather than assume your decal is square.

The next step is just add some weight (just a little is needed and walk away fro 30 minutes while the glue sets.

This picture is a little out of sequence as the braces are attached but you get the picture.

The next step is to attach the two braces. 

Glue them together to form a precise right angle (or "T") with at least 5 inches of material on the side that will face the cutting wire.

Measure and mark a line the is 4 inches away and parallel to the cutting side.  about two thirds down the face daw a line that is 60 degrees on the cutting face (60 degrees on the inside which is the angle facing you while using the jig.

Next, draw a 90 degree line from where the 60 degree line intersects the cutting edge over the to four inch line

Then glue the base so that the bottom brace fits along the 60 degree line and the right side brace intesects at the point where the 90 degree line intersects the 4 inch line we drew at the start of this meandering set of instructions.  It's ok if the bottom brace overhangs the platform.

Once the glue has set trim off the overhang.  I used my table saw but a hand saw will be fine.  - just make sure the jig can pass smoothly and the cutting wire doesn't catch on the brace

The jig is done!  There is one more trick step - cutting your foam blocks.  I'm going for hexes that match the GHQ terrain maker system - their dimension is 4 inches across flat side to flat side.  That means all you have to do is cut a bunch of 4" squares right - WRONG!  While the dimension if 4 inches across flat to flat side - its a bit longer point to point.  In fact its 1.1548x longer - so a 4" inch flat diameter equates to a 4.62 inch length point to point.  I cut EPS rectangles that were 4 by 5 inches in size.

Cutting a hex with the jig  hex requires four quick passes.  Place the rectangle in the jig  so the long side overhangs the cutting edge and push the jig across the table.  Oh, make sure you turn on the hot wire cutter too.

After the first pass flip the piece and cut the other side off the point

now reverse the foam so the point is on the other side and repeat the first two passes

After four passes you've got a perfect hex.

They fit together very nicely.  You can batch out a lot of hexes - takes about 10 second to make a hex with the four passes.

I adapted this jig from a set of plans ED gave me.  The orignal plans were based on using both table and band saws to cut the EPS, but the core concepts are unchanged.

I was a little nervous using saws to cut eps as the do create a very fine dust which is extremely unhealthy.  While a proxxon create fumes that are also dangerous it's much easier to vent them away versus fine particles that go everywhere.

Never-the-less ALWAYS where a respirator when messing about with EPS foam and ensure your working in a well ventilated area.

Historicon 2020 is Cancelled

HMGS recently announced via an email to the membership that their flagship event, Historicon, has been cancelled given all of the issues associated with COVID-19.  Historicon is, traditionally, the highlight of my gaming year and an event I really look forward to.  Readers of this blog are normally bombarded with Historicon prep posts at this time of year as I frantically get ready to put on a game. 

To be honest, I'm a bit relieved that the HMGS board made the decision to cancel the con.  I had made a personal decision to skip this years event out of health concerns voiced by my wife - who is a Dr and is pitching in to treat COVID patients.  That said, I was also wavering on my decision as I really enjoy the convention and putting on games.  It's my only chance in life to pretend I'm a ringmaster in a three ring circus.  I want to thank the HMGS board for making the right decision and canceling the event and preventing me from flip flopping.  How ironic would have been for my my wife to treat me for covid that I got at HCON only so she could kill me later for being so stupid?

I've actually been very impressed with the board in terms of how they've handled the situation.  I've often been very critical about the board in the past but I think they're doing a good job in very difficult times.  Let's face it, if a police sketch artist was drawing up a picture of a likely victim of COVID-19 it would pretty much look like the average attendee of a historical miniature gaming convention.

There are lively debates on facebook about the wisdom of canceling the event and, I even went back to TMP to see what's up there - after donning PPE to protect me from the slime.  I think it's a universal rule that wargamers have extreme views along all ideological bents and that was in full display on the web.  What has surprised and disappointed me is the vitriol some people have in questioning the courage/intelligence of individuals who are choosing caution over playing with toy soldiers.  Thats just not necessary - make your own decision but don't denigrate others who live in different circumstance.

All I can say is my wife's experience treating these patients with the virus has been harrowing and the social distancing has saved lives that would have been lost in March and April with hospitals being overrun even more so than they were.  If you've failed in life to the degree you seek solace in conspiracy theories, well that's on you.  Pro-tip - looking to blame others for your problems only ensures you keep wallowing in your on form of self pity.

I was planning to do a large Napoleonic campaign game at this year's Historicon.  With that now cancelled, I'm thinking about changing up and doing a Russo-Japanese War themed campaign - both land and sea.  I've jumped into to the R-J was in 6mm in a very big way and there are rumors floating about that someone at my address may have ordered and received a miniature of every ship from both the Russian and Japanese fleets in 1/2400 scale from War Times Journal.  Of course these are only rumors that can NEVER be confirmed in any way whatsoever to my lovely yet fierce wife.  Capice?

3D Printed Sabot Bases - My first CAD designed project

After watching some of fellow club members Steve's 3D printing videos and seeing a wave of "how-to" use sketch-up from the various You-Tube woodworking channels I follow, I decided to give 3-D design another go.

I present to you my first 3D-Printed creation - a sabot base which has a shelf for a unit label along the back.

Not the most exciting of topics but every journey starts with a single step forward (I know that was really corny). But there is a twist here.  A lot of rules I currently play with (Alter of Freedom, Blucher, and even my version of AoF for the Russo-Japanese War) require tracking multiple levels of fatigue for a unit.  At the club we currently use small red disks, which are either placed behind the unit or on the base itself as shown:

As you can see, the table can get very cluttered and often I get confused while moving a base, as the associated markers can get left behind and mixed up with other ones.

Hmm, seems like there could be a better way - what if we used the label shelf for more that simple unit ID tracking. 

No, that would be impossible, but yet.....

What if I line the label shelf with some "steel paper", put the unit tag on top and used small neodymium magnets to track unit status?  Why that might just work.....

Pictured is a sabot base with the ferrous paper attached and 3 magnets to mark this Japanese Regiment (1st Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Divsion) has three fatigue levels.  I plan on painting the magnets red so they stand out more and envision using other colored magnets mark other status types.

I can see using a system like this will really speed up convention games and keep the tabletop really tidy and easier to play on.

I made three prototypes for my first go.  The interior sabot dimensions are 40x40mm for the two smaller bases and the larger one is 60x30mm.

I'll continue to refine the design - one change that I know will happen is to open the floor of the sabot base so it's just a 5mm lip running across the interior.  That will be enough to hold a base in place while reducing the print times and filament used per base.

I'm strangely excited to try these out on the tabletop as I think it really will improve gameplay.  We'll see....

I do have one warning here - Historically, I have found trying to learn CAD really hard and frustrating.  One of the primary reasons for my past failures was I'd give up after 30 or so minutes, pronounce the whole the impossible and start looking for third parties to blame - just like our idiot President Trump.  This latest attempt was more successful as I dedicated 2+ hours to learning the software and tried to imitate one of the aforementioned woodworking tutorials - I had one window open on my mac playing the how-to video and a second one open with sketch-up and me trying to mimic what I saw.  "Monkey see the video for 30 or so seconds, Monkey do in sketch-up".  While tedious, it worked.  Now I'm nowhere near proficient in the software but I can least navigate it and have a solid base of knowledge to build on.

I fell obliged to restate a point from above.  The whole sequence of "Monkey see the video for 30 or so seconds, Monkey do in sketch-up" isn't really true.  It was more like "Monkey see the video for 30 or so seconds, Monkey try in sketch-up, Monkey re-watch segment, Monkey try again and then  Monkey curses, Monkey re-re-watches segment.........", well you get the point.

Still after awhile the core concepts of how to use a mouse and the myriad of tools/options one has in the software started to become clearer to me.  Mouse clicking is different for CAD the normal PC use so you do need to learn some new basic techniques - single, double and triple clicking have different uses.

The moral of this story - CAD is actually a lot of fun but don't give it a try unless you can devote 2+ hours for your first iteration.  I think it's worth the effort and if a moron like me can do it then anyone else can also.

My woodworking Sketch-Up tutorial of choice is from Steve Ramsey's woodworking channel "Woodworking for Mere Mortals".  Here's a link to the specific video.  I like Mr Ramsey's communication style but there are literally thousands of how to use sketch up videos on you-tube - find someone who you don't mind listening too and give it a go.

Virtual Gaming Attempt 2: Some Conclusions are Emerging

 Last Monday, I put on my second attempt with virtual gaming for the club.  Overall it went better than the first attempt but that was more due to the smaller scale in terms of units and the rules.

I re-ran the same battle as last time (Tashinchiao from the Russo-Japanese War) but used Greg's Alter of Freedom rules, which move the scale up from Battalions to Regiments.  That cut the number of unit bases in half and reduced the table top from 6x4 to 4x4 in  size. 

I made some changes to Alter of Freedom to include indirect artillery fire and machine guns but tried to keep the tinkering to a minimum.  I may have failed but I did try...

The Japanese were able to stage an effective attack and the outcome of the game was still in doubt after we called a stop.  I had four players (2 for each side) and we managed to get in 5 turns of a planned 12 during a 3 hour game session.  Had we all been playing in person, I am convinced we would have gotten all the turns in.  As for the outcome I think it was a toss up.  One Japanese division was chewed up at the cost of 2.5 for the Russian formations.  The game could have gone either way.

To me this is the biggest issue with staging a miniature game with lots of bases - it's just inefficient as one person me has to move all the pieces, roll the dice.  It's also frustrating for players as they try to communicate where to position units for maximum effect and I often misunderstood their instructions and needed to constantly tinker with placement.  There were some comical moments with exasperate players constantly telling me to move unit "over-there" or "where I'm pointing" only for me to remind them I cant see them.

 Because I was so busy running the game, I couldn't take any pictures during play so have posted some end of gaming session pictures.

The Japanese (Greg and Josh) elected to attack the center- left flank of the Russians where they saw a gap in the defensive setup.

The attack pushed the Russians off the hill but reinforcements moved in to stem the Japanese tide.  Both sides launched attacks and counterattacks - its was a swirling battle and was really fun to watch.

The Japanese left flank saw no action during the game but that may have changed had we gotten more than five turns in

Indirect artillery was an important factor in the game but it wasn't over-powering.  I still need to tweak the rules to make it more streamlined its use in the game.

While Zoom is a good platform, we still experienced some issues with players have a hard time keeping the map camera they wanted pined (visible on the main screen).  This could have been my fault as the host, Im just not sure.  Given my general level of technical ineptitude, it probably was but there will always be issues with people using different types of bandwidth and devices.

So what have learned after putting on 2 "virtual games" and playing in two others.

1) Game Type Matters
Games with lots of bases and free form movement are very difficult to stage.  It's exhausting for the GM and frustrating for the players as they just don't have the same control over unit placement.  Games that have movement grids (squares or hexes) will be a lot easier to put on as unit placement options are limited.  I'm hoping we can try "Rommel" or something like "Too the Strongest" in a future game to see if the gridded movement speeds things up.

Naval games where a player commands one or two ships also should work well - again you need rules that have gridded movement like "Fire as She Bears" (octagons) or "Hammering Iron" - ACW ironclads (hexes).

The next game I try to put on will likely be a Napoleonic naval game using Fire as She Bears.

2) Games with lots of Bases / and lots of different unit types/capabilities are hard to stage.
Camera resolution and your players bandwidth can limit the visibility of units and often results in players mistaking unit x of superior infantry for unit y of conscripts.  I tried to manage this by color coding unit labels and keeping all the units of a formation the same quality but there still were points of confusion.

3) Multiple Cameras are a must and you need at least one "mobile" camera to zoom in on key spots.  I had two cameras up and running - a mid-level logitech webcam and my I-phone on a tripod.  The I-phone provided far superior image quality and about halfway through the game I started placing it on the table to zoom in and that worked well.  One I-phone tip I learned is the camera on the back of the phone is superior to the one on the front.

4) Is it worth the trouble - Hell Yes.  Despite all of the technical and gameplay issues being able to spend time with my gaming club is more than worth the effort to stage a game.  Trying to keep some semblance of out Monday night traditions is important and something I'll continue to be working towards.

Test Marsh and/or Swamp Terrain

 On glaring gap in my terrain inventory is marshes / swamps.  I've always found the concept of building decent "marshy" terrain a bit daunting.  But with a little time on my hands in between conference calls (and sometimes during...) I decided to give it a try and made two test pieces.  The first one had a small tree and the other did not.

Here's a close up of the first one.  I think it came out "OK". I've set several goals for this project:

- These need to be usable for scales ranging from 6mm to 28mm
- I can only use materials on hand (that's not as limiting as it sounds
- it's easy to store so vertical feature (like trees) need to be removable and I'll need to make different sized trees for the different scales

I grew up in the bayous of southern Alabama, so have some pretty direct experience with swampy terrain.  Thats a plus and a minus as I'll also have a certain level of bias.

 My second test piece has no vertical aspect.  It kind of looks like a pond with bad landscape management.

Please ignore the 6mm Russian troops - I'm running another Russo-Japanese war game over Zoom tonight.  The are useful as a scale reference.  The bases of 40mm squares.

I know, I know, the paper tracks are crap - I need to get something better.  My apologies for those of you who are offended by these lame tracks

Here's another picture of the first test on the table.  I would appreciate any comment, especially suggestions on what might be improved.

The bases are 1/8 inch (3mm) thick black PVC sheet.  PVC has become my terrain material of choice.  It's cheap, durable, easy to cut and DOES NOT WARP.

Terrain Making - Entrenchment & Barbed Wire Markers

This weekend I made some hasty entrenchment and barbed wire markers.  The goal was to make something that was a bit scale agnostic and could work for 6 to 15mm gaming.  Their first use will be a re-running of the Battle of Tashihchiao from the Russo-Japanese War tomorrow night.  That game will be another "Zoom-Tabletop Game" but more on that in another post.

The design idea for the entrenchments comes from the 6mm-terrain tips website, which is run by a fellow club member, Greg.  The Bard wire concept came from another club member, Ed, who used it to scenic some 6mm WW1 bases he painted up.  I rarely have unique ideas of my own and am happy to steal from others.

The tutorial on the 6mm website recommends using paintable window caulking as the material to paint.  I had some laying around and cut bases from strathmore board (picture frame backing) to 10 x 60mm in dimension.  Why strathmore board ?- I had it lying around and it's easy to cut.  Why 60mm widths? - because thats the width of my 6mm civil war bases and these stands need to work across both multiple scales (6 to 15mm) and periods (Naps to WW2).  OK maybe no barbed wire until the R-J War.

When working with caulk, it's important to put down a sheet of wax paper or you'll have a really sticky mess.  Also have some water close by to wet your fingers while shaping the material.

I did a quick paint up of the entrenchments and then realized that these just wouldn't work.   There is no ground texture to the caulk so they appear way to smooth.  I don't want to add ground foam as these need to work in different climates / seasons.

Sometimes projects don't work the first few times you try - especially with terrain projects.  Don't get mad - it's a learning opportunity and figure out a different way. 

It turned to an old friend in this terrain making time of need....

 Mr pre-mixed, flexible and tinted tile grout (Mr T-G, for short).  Good old Mr. T-G has bailed me out of innumerable terrain making quandaries and, I'm happy to say, he didn't let me down this time.

To paraphrase Homer Simpson, "Oh Tile Grout, is there nothing you cant do?"  Bonus points if you can mention the item Homer is speaking of in the original line below in the comments.  No googling 'cause that's cheating

I cut out some 20x40mm bases for the barbed wire and covered them with a very thin layer of the tile grout.  There a huge difference between the texture of the caulked bases vs the ones with tile-grout.

I made some new entrenchment bases.  When working with tile grout the drying time seems to lengthen exponentially based on layer thickness - try to keep it as thin as possible.  I used some 2 inch long wooden sticks as a substrate and then covered them with the grout

It took me about 30 minutes to redo the bases and apply the grout.  I then left them to dry over night and

painted and washed them with a black ink wash.  I'm very happy with how they came out.

With the entrenchments done, it wash time to make some barbed wire.  I cut a 9 inch section of 18 gauge copper wire, and stripped the insulation covering.  Once the wire was exposed I unwound individual strands to make "barbed wire"

After extensive research into the history and provenance of barbed wire, I determine the exact scale diameter to make the loops.  As all of you know by now, historical precision is the hallmark of all my work and gameplay.  Using my workshop calipers, I found the exact diameter brush I need and then wound the wire around it to create loops.  Yes that's exactly what I did.  Well, either that or I just grabbed a random brush to make the loops.  I'll let you decide.

 With the wire loops made - I turned to a product I used during the dark days of my sojorn into  model railroading - it's called "Blacken-It" and it does what it says to metals.  I cut the looped wire into 35mm lengths (+/-) and dropped them in the solution and a few minutes later I've got black barbed wire.

Please be careful with this stuff as it is highly toxic if ingested.  Also, as a precaution against our idiot President making future pronouncements, Blacken-It has no effect on COVID-19 either when appleid externally or ingested.  Like other household disinfectant, such as bleach or Lysol, one should not ingest these items.  Of course, if you need to be convinced not to listen to the Orange Moron, then well I'm not sure you can read so these warnings may go over your head. 

My apologies for the slight rant, but as the spouse of a medical professional who is treating patients during this time, I have developed nothing but contempt and disdain for the current idiot in the Whitehouse and his duped supporters.

Let's get back to miniatures, shall we?

Once blackened, the wire is attached to the base with a few drops of super glue.

 and - boom - I've got 28 bases of barbed wire

I'm very happy with how this project turned out.

Hopefully, you'll see these markers used on all sorts of games in the near future.

Stay safe and healthy

Battle of Tashihchiao: July, 1904 - A Remote Gaming Experiment - The Outcome

I hosted my first ever tabletop "remote" (or virtual) gaming event last night.  All in all, I thought it went very well.  Still there are aspects that can be improved.  The game itself was a battle from the Russo Japanese War and it ended in a Russian victory after a few rounds are very accurate artillery fire and then a spoiling attack which evaporated the Japanese left flank.  The game was closer than it looks.  Running a game as the host with 4 remote players was an all consuming task so I didn't take any pictures in game.  The three pictures show the Japanese left,

center, and

right flanks at the end of the game.

Historically,, aside from the counter attack the game played out to the same outcome - the Japanese attacks on July 24th were rebuffed with heavy losses.  The Russians were later dislodged via a night attack on the early morning hours of the 25th.

The casualty for both sides (Russians on the left and Japanese on the right).  Most of the Japanese casualties came in the last 2 turns.

I'm going to separate my comments into 3 sections 1) technology, 2) gameplay and 3) things to improve

Technology:
We used the video conferencing service ZOOM as the platform and, overall it worked very well.  There are other platforms available that may be better but I've learned how to use ZOOM over the past few weeks so went with what I was comfortable with.   Video of the game table was provided by two cameras set up at each far end of the table.  One camera was linked to my laptop which I used to dial into the Zoom service on my account which allowed me to control the meeting.  The second camera was just my i-Phone which I mounted on a tripod and dialed in as a general user for the call (not using my zoom account).  The cameras didn't have the best resolution but worked "good enough".  Several times I had to take one of the cameras in hand and zoom into a spot so a player could give me some specific movement instructions.   The zoom service worked great for player communication and chit chat.  I set up different message streams in Facebook messenger for each side to communicate amongst themselves or to send me order changes.  That worked "OK" (see the areas for improvement below).  I tried color coding the unit labels to make them easier to pick out.  That didn't work as the labels were too small to see

Gameplay: The rules we used were Great War Spearhead II, which have a fairly rigid order structure and order of shooting (closest first) and those aspects made them suitable for remote gaming as there isn't a lot of nuanced movement or figure placing and formations need to act as a cohesive group.  GWS2 is a ruleset that favors defense (the author indicates attackers should have 3:1 local force superiority).  It's been the club experience that defenders almost always win and that's how last night played out.  I hindsight, the attacking Japanese probably should have used some form of pre attack bombardment rather than just jumping off in the first turn.  I also used the suggested stats for the Russo-Japanese war  from GWS2 but in hindsight may have made the Russians a bit too strong/flexible.    There will need to be some tweaking but hopefully not so much nerfing as it makes the Russians no fun to play.  I'm not ready to give up on GWS2 but need to really think about some revisions before running it again.  If any reader has some thoughts about a grand tactical set of WW1 rules, I'm all ears.

Things to Improve
1) Better Cameras - the visual aspect of gaming is probably the most important one people enjoy and seeing it over the internet degrades that experience.  Internet video cameras are fairly cheap so investing in a couple better ones is well worth the effort.

2) Syncing pregaming prep materials with the camera angles used to broadcast.  In my pregame prep materials, I took pictures for each side from different angles than the ones broadcasting cameras displayed.  That proved very confusing to some players.  In a "real" game it'san easy to fix as one can walk around the table to reorient oneself but in a remote game thats not possible.  Making sure there are some pictures that match the broadcast camera angles in the prep materials will greatly improve player comprehension,

3) Overhead camera - finding a way to have a came directly overhead would be very useful and might eliminate the need for multiple camera angles.  To be honest, I think a single camera isn't the best as I do like trying to simulate the players view from the side of the table they are on.  Player perspective is an important aspect in tabletop gaming

4) Unit Labeling - my labels would have worked great for an in person game but were just too small to be useful on a video stream.  The unit bases were 40 x 40mm with the labels being roughly 5x40mm along the rear.  Next game I'll make the labels 20x40mm and the colors more vibrant.

5) Player GM "Secret" Communication:  Our club does most of its internal communications on Facebook and the its messenger app for projects and gaming planning  It works fine for what we need and has the benefit that the interface is easy to use and its free (well, free except for the cost of our privacy....).  Using different platforms (Zoom and messenger) during a remote gaming session proved to be hard on the poor GM and I often ignored the messenger channel as I was running around moving units and rolling dice.  I'm sure there is a better way to do this and need to think about it.

While there was a lot that can be improved on, I was still very pleased with how the gaming session went and am looking forward to staging another game in a few weeks.  I am also very grateful to all the players and video participants who agreed to be my test subjects.

It felt great to get a little of our Monday night club meetings back.