A Curious Idea, Marketing & Weekend Plans

A Curious Idea
I am sure everyone is familiar with the concept of Shareware. I was wondering if this would work as a model for war games scenarios. For instance, I am working on a couple of projects in the background. One is some scenarios for Terrible Sharp Sword for the Battle of Atlanta in 1864. Rather than try to put it together in a large book of 30 or so scenarios and release it, what about putting together a couple of scenarios and posting it up on the blog for anyone to grab. If they like the scenarios, they can send something via paypal. What do ya'll think? Would that be a workable model?

Marketing
I will be the first to say, I don't have a clue how to do this. Any tips for an aspiring scenario author anyone? I have put posts on the typical places: TFL Yahoo Group & Forum, a post on the Market Place and WWII Scenario group on TMP, a post on LAF, A post on the Guild, a post on Society of Gentleman Gamers, two bloggers have reviewed the CSIR book, Wargame news and terrain posted it for me and I have some friends posting on boards I am not part of.

I am assuming at this point it is subject matter that is too marginal for the average war gamer to be interested in. Anyway, any word of mouth/internet that you dear readers could help spread would be very welcome. Any suggestions on something else I can try?

Weekend Plans
Mark is organizing a game at Gigabytes in Marietta from my book for Saturday at 12. Should be fun as it is one of the scenarios featuring Soviet Armor in the form of the formidable T-37. I really wonder how successful the CSIR would have been had they encountered any T-34s in the opening months of the campaign. Instead, they encountered tanks of such obsolescence that they did not even want them.

I have not gotten a game in with other people in a long time. I am really looking forward to this. I am even missing out on opening day of deer season for this. Ah, the sacrifices one must make. :)

I hope everyone has big plans for the weekend. Enjoy.

In the Name of Roma! is Released!

“IN THE NAME OF ROMA”

Company and Platoon level scenarios for the Eastern Front, 1941

In July of 1941, the 80° Roma Regiment of the Pasubio Division boarded a train bound for Romania. Along with the rest of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano), they would advance through the Ukraine alongside their German allies. In the coming months, the 80° would be engaged in brutal fighting across 1400 miles of the Eastern Front – covering most of that on foot.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA is a wargame supplement that contains 30 company and platoon level scenarios covering the actions of the 80a Roma Regiment from August to December of 1941. You’ll follow the 80th from the open steppe to the Donetz industrial basin, including the amphibious attacks across the Dnieper, and the fateful decision of Column Chiarimonti to attempt to seize Nikitovka.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA includes:

• 30 scenarios divided in six distinct campaigns
• Historical background information and period area maps
• Italian and Soviet briefing for each scenario
• Formation information and stats for Early War Italians and Soviets
• Forward by Richard Clarke

Though primarily written for the Too Fat Lardies rules systems (I Ain’t Been Shot Mum; Troops, Weapons, and Tactics; and the newly released Chain of Command), the scenarios in IN THE NAME OF ROMA work equally well with Arc of Fire, Bolt Action, Flames of War or your favorite rules system.

IN THE NAME OF ROMA is available from my Payhip store.

Follow this link to get a free sample scenario from the book. Note that In the Name of Roma is now available from Amazon as well.

It is also available on Wargame Vault.

Troops Weapons and Tactics

I played through a quick game of Troops, Weapons and Tactics last night with the aim to get some pictures for the CSIR book last night. I managed to take a number of bad pictures and a couple of potential keepers. The scenario is Campaign 4, Scenario 2 from the book. A esploratori platoon is occupying the outskirts of a small village and must hold it against a Soviet counter attack. Playing this solo, I had the esploratori attempt to move and occuply better positions as soon as possible. One squad ran through the woods to try to get to a barn while others shot up the road to a fenced in farm.

The Soviets entered in force. They had some difficulty moving at first but then got going quickly enough.

The Soviets attempted to charge the newly taken Italian position in a fenced farmhouse with bad results.

But things did not go the Italians way in the advance through the woods. The Soviets got their MMG going with some excellent movement rolls. They set up and let the Italian squad moving through the woods have it. The Italian squad was badly mauled with its survivors running away.

With the esploratori down to two squads and both were in good cover. One mauled Soviet squad and two others at full strength, the game ended up with the Soviets attempting to flank the Italians. This they were not able to achieve before reinforcements arrived. The game went to the Italians as they held on.

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So now to the important part, do you think these pictures are useful? I already cropped them down. Any other suggestions? I have GIMP and can try to fiddle with them some more. I had one overhead lamp over the table and another LED light pointed at the table as well. They seem to have come out darker than I thought they would have.

Mucking around with a camera in desparate need of help

Well, I am working on finishing out the book. Since pictures are important, I have stolen my wife's camera and tripod and set myself to work. Rather than setting up any particular scenario, I threw something together to take a few "test" pictures to play around with the camera and its settings. Well here is what I came up with.

I set up the table to have a small river with a ford and a village beyond it. The Italians were storming their way across the ford with a rifle section while two LMG teams were providing cover fire. There are a few casualties among the charging Italians. In the village are two squads of Soviets and a MMG team behind a fence. The MMG team has suffered a few casualties but I am not sure you can even see the casualty markers behind the fence. Now, on to the pictures.

I tried to crop the picture down to just the main action. The shot is over the shoulders of the attacking Italians as they head towards the MMG location.

Here is a shot of one of the Russian Squads as it rushes towards the sound of the guns.

Here is a different angle of the Soviet MMG Team. You can just make out one of the casualty figures there. Plus some brave Socialist cows standing before the enemy. Is including livestock a good idea in these pictures?

This is similar to one of the above images but cropped differently.

Just a generic picture of the town before miniatures were inserted. Is a generic terrain shot like this useful?

I need help with this as I don't have a good eye for what makes a great picture. I have a Cannon Rebel digital camera. I set the fStop to 9.0 and the ISO to 1600 for these pictures. I read about these things on Trouble at the Mill's blog but really don't understand them other than it lets in more light and light is good. Would pictures like this be interesting to anyone purchasing a scenario supplement (provided they were related to the scenarios of course)?

Updates on Supplement and Terrain

Well I have been busy attempting to finish off the terrain for the scenario book. The Mark IV house is going well. The inside floor and walls are done. I am considering ignoring the rest of the inside. The outside is coming along. I have the ground outside painted, the walls mostly done and the roof is close to done.

I still can't take very good photos with my phone. I will try to get my wife's camera and a tripod later.

But I also have a warehouse from GameCraft miniatures. It is a nice model. I asked and they recommended priming it with an automotive primer to keep the MDF from warping. Not having any on hand, I grabbed a can of spray model airplane dope. The primer was "aluminum" color. I am not really sure what to do with painting it. I have painted the roof a gray color and a dirty white for the walls. This one I am no where near finished with. I actually need some help figuring this out.

Anyway, Things are moving right along.

I have 8 maps left to redo for the book. Once that is done, its time for a photo shoot. We will see how it goes.

Scenario Maps - Suggestions Welcome

What are folks looking for in scenario maps? I am at the point of redoing all of the scenario maps in my CSIR supplement to spruce things up. So, given this, i thought I would ask the group their opinion.

Now here is one of my MS Paint attempts that I originally had in the book. It is actually one of the better efforts.

That map has gone to the rubbish heap to be replaced by...

The maps are further described in the text.

"The terrain is dominated by a large hill that covers much of the table. The slope of the hill is gentle enough to be accessible by foot or vehicle without significant movement penalty. The top right corner and bottom left corner are the only lower areas. The road cuts across the table from top right to bottom left. The road has been soaked by recent storms and each unit must make a bog check on moving. Do this by rolling 1d6 for each squad sized force. On a roll of a 6, one of the motorcycles has become bogged. The fields are wheat and sunflower fields with small paths separating the fields. The wheat fields have been harvested while the sunflower fields have not. There are scattered haystacks throughout the wheat fields. These may be driven down by motorcycles but not by trucks. Troops in the fields are treated as harder to spot than those on the road."

The new map breaks up the table into 1' x 1' squares giving a 6' by 4' table.

Is there something that I should add to these? Is there more to the description that someone would need to set this table up? ***Update 7/10/2013 ****

Here is another update following the feedback I have received so far.

Initial Draft Complete - In the Name of Roma!

I have just put the the finishing touches on the last scenario. It is complete. So, what is in it?

Well there are six campaigns.
Campaign 1 - The battle for Two Rivers August 10-12. This has five scenarios for company level rules (IABSM in particular but could be done with FOW or Crossfire).
Campaign 2 - With the Vikings at Kiluskino and Verhnieprovsk August 18 - 21st. These are five scenarios for platoon level rules (Chain of Command or Troops, Weapons and Tactics but would work with Bolt Action or Arc of Fire).
Campaign 3 - Petrikovka Campaign September 1941. There are six scenarios that are a combination of platoon and company level scenarios.
Campaign 4 - The Donets Campaign October 13th - 31st. Another six scenarios at either the platoon or company size.
Campaign 5 - Gorlovko November 1 - 5th. A mere 4 scenarios covering the seizure of this industrial town. Mostly Company level scenarios in urban/suburban terrain.
Campaign 6 - Nikitovka November 6 - 12. Four more scenarios covering this tragic campaign that found the 80th Roma trapped behind enemy lines and the heroic effort to break it out.

That is a total of 30 scenarios featuring the Italian units of the Corpo Spedzione Italiano in Russia (CSIR) as they advance over 1400 kilometers across the Ukraine in the Fall of 1941.

The scenarios are still being play tested and this time they will include photographs of games in play. Also the scenario maps are being beautified as my initial efforts with MS Paint look like my four year old drew them. So far, this is going better than I thought.

At this point, the book is 150 pages. Once some graphic work is done, that will grow it a little bit.

Painting Progress and Question of the Day.

This week it has been terrain. I have managed to paint up some more plank fencing to go along with my one test section. Of the 10 that I have, I am now up to a whopping 5 pieces painted. This was a neat buy that I found on e-bay a while back. Since then, I have found a few other similar auctions. I found a few other similar auctions out there that have corners and gates that I plan on bidding on. I am slightly worried that they won't match what I am painting but not that worried.

Next up is one of the JR Miniatures ruins that I bought over a year ago. A very nice ruin that I have forgotten which of the Stalingrad line it is from. It has a spot for a propaganda poster on it that I have painted up. A week effort with just a hammer and sickle and CCCP. Not even sure if the Soviet Union was using that designation yet in 1941. Anyway, that is easily corrected if someone points out that it is incorrect.

The first couple of pictures are using the flash. Next I fooled with the brightness setting on my phone. Not quite sure that this was an improvement.

Still have a bunch of trees waiting in the wings, another JR ruin (the French Corner Cafe one) and of course more fences.

Since I have a pile of stuff still to paint, I decided to order some more stuff. I found Gamecraft miniatures which seems to be the US version of 4Ground. I bought one of their factory complexes. It looks rather nice in the website. It should take up considerable real estate on the games table too. It measures in at 12.67" long by 8.76" wide and 4.64" tall. At $13, it is a good value. The downside is that it is one more item to be painted.

The next purchase, my Father's Day present to myself, is the Mark IV miniatures Urban Brick House with Tin Roof. They don't take Paypal but e-mailing Jeff, he agreed to take it as a payment outside of their shopping cart system. So I now am eagerly awaiting the two items.

Here is the question of the day for our viewers. For towns in the Ukraine circa 1941, what were the streets made out of? Cobblestone or something else? It almost looks like if from some of the other pictures that I saw but I am just not sure.

Gorlovko: October 25th - 29th, 1941

I am currently writing the scenarios for the actions in Gorlovko (Горловка or Gorlovka or a couple of other spelling variants) by the 80th Roma Regiment. The city has a very interesting history that does not really belong in a war games scenario but i found it to be interesting.

It seems that the town was built in the late 1800s under the impetus of a Belgian investment. The town began as a collection of a few shacks surrounding a few mines. The town began to grow and grew to fame as the site of an armed uprising in 1905. There were a few actions in and around the town during the Russian Revolution.

German postcard of the town in 1920. By 1929, the town had grown to some 23,000 people. But the real growth came in the 1930s. By the late 1930s it lept to nearly 200,000 people. The infrastructure was just not there to support those numbers.

The capital of the region was Stalino. The city of Stalino had its own issues with crumbling infrastructure. It was viewed that Gorlovko could be upgraded easier than fixing Stalino. The plans were to add a new modern city center called Novo Gorlovko that included a party headquarters, modern appartments, hotels and businesses to the town. Also schools, hospitals, telegraph and telephone lines, sewage, paved roads and a tram line were all to be built.

One of the mine complexes circa 1933.

This move of the capital was short lived. It seems a high party official went for a visit and his vehicle became hopelessly bogged in the mud roads near the mines. He promptly returned to Stalino in a huff. While some funding was cut, many of the building projects did take place. The town rapidly grew through the 1930s.

The tram line was run from the city center out some 8 kilometers to one of the main mine complexes.

By the time the Italians arrived in 1941, there were a few modern structures present in the town. Most of these were industry related. The town had taken a war production footing in relation to coal production. The mines were running at full capacity. The mines were still surrounded by low ramshackle structures.

And some of the buildings that the Italians were fighting among.

Anyway, it was interesting to find out a little about this city in the Ukraine. I also got enough pictures to figure out what my map will look like for the scenarios.

Sources:
http://moyagorlovka.blogspot.com/

http://forum.gp.dn.ua/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=941&sid=9324176d89c7749fba15579546851d0e&start=75

http://gorlovka.prostogorod.ua/%D0%9E-%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5/%D0%98%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F/%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BA%D0%B0-%D0%B2-xx-%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B5-345/

http://infodon.org.ua/stalino/198

http://beket.com.ua/doneckaja/gorlovka/

Writing Progress

The CSIR supplement is coming along at a better speed. I am well into the scenarios now. At this point in time, the supplement will feature 22 scenarios for IABSM and an additional 12 scenarios for either Troops, Weapons & Tactics or Chain of Command.

The first 16 of the scenarios are complete and in the hands of volunteer reviewers of which I am grateful. I plan on posting a sample scenario when all is said and done. Once the draft of each scenario is complete, I need to redo the scenario maps as these are crayoned out in MSPaint at the moment. I have Campaign Cartographer but some of the elements that I have are not compatible with Windows8. That has held up progress for quite a while. But fortunately that obstacle was just overcome. If you are not familiar with ProFantasy Software, it is an excellent map making software. It is far more involved than I am able to utilize. I like it in that I can produce a map that does not look like my 4 year old drew it.

A Weekend's Work

A long holiday weekend netted me one disaster and the start of two stands of pine trees. First with the disaster. In attempting to clip off the holster from my Padre figure, I managed to shatter the stole around his neck. I got disgusted with the negative progress so I turned my attention to some terrain.

I started to make two 6" by 4" stands of pine woods. The base is computer motherboard material whose name I have long since forgotten. The base was covered with a mix of sand, water and PVA glue with some Woodland Scenics tree sprues glued to them. As of this morning, the glue was not yet dry. Hopefully tonight, I will be able to paint the base and get some progress going on this.

Tenente Don Traversa Natale - Padre figure for my CSIR troops

Last night I finished off the minor changes on my Padre figure. Ultimately, this is not the figure I wanted to go with as he lacks some of the drama I wanted for the figure. He looks way too subdued. There is a figure in the Peter Pig WWI Russian pack that I really want to convert that has his arms out stretched as if he was giving a benediction. A simple head swap and some modeling clay for his stole thing and it would be good to go.

Until that day comes, I will go with this one. In my last post, (Making of a Padre) I started the conversion and the one before that (Looking for a Padre) I showed what I was looking to accomplish.

Well here is my final effort. Painting tiny crosses on the stole proved to be beyond my ability as well as a cross around the good padre's neck. Instead there are some suggestive blobs of paint in the appropriate location. My eyes just were not up for the challenge last night.

So the figure went from this officious officer:

To this kind padre who is serving his flock:

I must say, I do not like doing figure conversions. The worst part was the fiddly little stole around his neck. There is a thin dot of super glue holding it in place at the moment. Looking at him now, I am not sure I should have left his holster in place. Would that have been acceptable in the field to allow pistols to military chaplains? Any thoughts?

Making of a Padre Part 1

I grabbed my figure that I was going to morph into my Italian Padre figure for my CSIR army. He originally was to be a senior officer figure.

He has a couple of problems. The first is the binoculars. That was the first thing that had to go. Next was he needed that light purple scarf thing around his neck and some kind of cross around his neck. Out came the scalpel and the modeling clay.

The modeling clay that I was using was hard to make a consistent width strip of "cloth" out of for a 15mm figure. This is the 5th attempt that I decided to go with. The silver patch is where the binoculars were removed off of the figure. Now I need to paint the cloth and the missing patch of uniform. Then add the black cross patch to the left shirt pocket. After that, I will paint on a cross that is dangling around his neck. Why paint? Because 8 attempts at making one out of clay to use all ended in disaster. Apparently, I have no skill as a sculptor.

Now, why does one need a padre figure for an Italian WWII army? Well, in my pursuit of mapping out the actions of the 80th Roma regiment as it traveled over 1400 kilometers across the Ukraine from August to December 1941, there was one presence that continually made it self evident through all of their actions. That of Tenente Don Traversa Natale. From the very first actions at Jasnaja Poljana through the urban fighting around Gorlovko(Golowka ) to being surrounded at Nitikovka, the good padre was present with the troops. He was holding mass outside of Gorlovko when mortar shells began raining down on his position. One landed close enough that it destroyed a painting of the Madonna that he had brought with him from Italy. He remained upright and completed mass even while the troops scrambled for cover. He was at the front giving last rites to dying men and helping to treat the wounded. When there was no shooting, he helped the locals repair their abandoned chapels and offered mass to them. He was such a presence around the men of the 80th Roma that it seems he needed to be represented somehow. Especially in a larger game like IABSM.

I'm looking for a Padre....

I have briefly mentioned that I am looking to create a Padre figure for my Italian army. It took some searching but finally I came up with what these guys looked like in uniform rather than their priestly vestments. Here are the pictures that I have found through Google's help around the internet.

First up we have a chap who appears to be actually working amongst the people and troops. This is ultimately the look I am going for.

This sharply dressed fellow shows the main differentiation between the officers and the Padre. The large cross on the chest of the uniform blouse is the main item. It seems that some wore a cross around their neck as well and the "scarf" looking thing.

This sharp dressed fellow provides another look.

Now, if this toy is correct, we are looking at a blue (help me here, being color blind is not fun) "scarf" looking deal to go with it.

I have a Battlefront Officer figure with hands behind his back. This is OK. I wanted something more dynamic. On the TooFatLardies Yahoo group, I was informed about a figure in the Peter Pig WWI range in pack 66. This is a neat figure as it has its arms spread. I would need a head swap for the right hat. Also the pouch on its chest would need to go. Possibly carve it to a cross? Then add the scarf looking thing as well. I will probably make 2 of these. The first with the figure that I have and the second with the Russian Peter Pig figure.

I am also willing to take other suggestions.

Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia in 15mm

Following with the theme of the last post, I have decided to take some pictures of the Italians that I have. First is a picture of one of the trays from the shelf with the majority of the infantry company. These are in several stages of being done.

Regimental Support

The force that I am ultimately modeling is that of the 80th Roma Regiment of the Pasubio Division. The Regiment is formed by three battalions. In addition they had a support of a battery of 6 mortars and a battery of 8 field guns.

Mortar Battery

Eventually, I will get one of the Battlefront Forward Observer packs for the mortar battery. In reality, it is doubtful that actual 81mm mortars would see service on my tabletop as for skirmish level games, they would be far off table. Yet I still have a couple of Peter Pig packs of 81mm mortars.

Field Gun Battery

The Field Gun battery of the 80th Roma Regiment was composed of eight 65mm/17 mountain howitzers. I have a pair of 65mm guns that are from Battlefront. One is painted and the other is still on painting sticks.

Infantry Battalion

The Italian Infantry Battalion is formed by four companies. Three are line infantry companies. The fourth is the heavy company. The heavy company is formed by a platoon of light 18-45mm mortars and a platoon of eight machine guns. In addition, the battalion each had a platoon of Esploratori or scouts.

Esploratori Platoon

The scout platoon was formed only by rifle sections. I have found no reference to these troops having any support weapons or light machine guns. These men were tasked with identifying the enemy for the infantry to push forward and take them out.

Machinegun Platoon

The MG platoon is partially painted.

Light Mortar Platoon

The Light Mortar Platoon has only 8 45mm mortars as part of its formation. Of these only one is painted.

Infantry Company

The company HQ for an Italian Infantry company is composed of two officers and 28 men. There is a considerable lack of details on what these 28 men where. Were they supernumeraries like clerks, cooks or armorers? Were they a source of replacement troops in the instance of losses suffered on campaign? Were they an additional squad of men to fight? What is fairly certain is that they were not sporting the 20mm Soluthrun AT Rifle in 1941 in Russia. Until I learn better, I view them as cooks & clerks and replacement troops. With a full squad consisting of about 21 men, we can assume that there is a combat squad worth in the midst of this host of 28. The remainder are the supernumeraries.

Infantry Platoon 1

The Infantry platoon was one of the oddest formations of any nation in the war. The platoon headquarters consisted of the officer. The body of the platoon was split into two very large squads. These consisted of a pair of Light machine gun teams and a large rifle team.

The light machine gun teams each consisted of a light machine gunner, its loader and a two man security team. The rifle team is a large group of 11 men. The squad has two NCOs commanding it.

Infantry Platoon 2

I have changed my basing for the second platoon. This one is complete as well.

Infantry Platoon 3

This platoon is incomplete at this point. I still need to paint a full rifle team and two LMG teams. One of the pairs of LMG teams is painted but needs to be varnished and based.

Casualties

As may be apparent from previous posts, I like to have casualty figures in my games. Here are my few Italian casualties. These still need a little work on their basing.

Divisional Support

The divisional support comes from an artillery regiment of 100mm and 75mm guns. In addition there is an Engineer Company, two anti-tank companies and am 81mm mortar battalion.

Anti Tank Gun Platoon

The Italian 45mm anti-tank gun was all the Italians had to counter any Soviet armor that they came across. By 1941, the weapon was obsolete against anything but the oldest of the Soviet equipment. Yet the Italians used them across the front. Mostly, they used artillery to counter any armor that they found.

Divisional Engineers

The Italian engineers has two separate roles and corresponded to two separate engineering companies within the division. The first was the construction crew that handled all bridging operations of the division. They created pontoon bridges and the like to cross the rivers of the Ukraine. The second are the destroyer companies or combat engineers. These are the fellows sporting flame throwers and explosives to clear out tough obstacles. None of my engineers are painted.

Divisional Artillery

This is in the same situation as my Battalion mortars. I am awaiting a forward observer unit. During the retreat of the winter of 1942/43, there were numerous examples of Italian gunners being used in the front lines to cover the retreat. However, in 1941, only the forward observers would be close to contact with the enemy.

Army Support

In the early days of the campaign, some units were taken from either other Divisions or from the CSIR itself and attached to the Pasubio division on an informal basis. This included units of motorcycle mounted Bersaglieri and some armor from the cavalry division.

San Giorgio Battalion Tank Platoon.

The only armor to accompany the CSIR into the Soviet Union was a battalion of L3/33 tankettes. These were all the dual machine-gun armed vehicles and none sported the 20mm AT Rifle or flame throwers that were to be found in the Italian armored divisions in the desert. The platoon was a unit of five vehicles. Only the command track would have a radio. I still need to pick one of the vehicles to make into the command vehicle and add an antenna.

Bersaglieri Motorcyclists Platoon

I have both a mounted and dismounted platoon. A company of motorcyclists was attached to the 80th Roma Regiment throughout 1941. These tough men rode where ever they were needed and provided much of the reconnaissance that the regiment needed.

Italian Cavalry

I have not come across any evidence that the Cavalry directly operated with the infantry but, I really like the Italian cavalry. So I have a platoon of cavalry. None of which have seen a bit of paint.

What's Missing

That is difficult to say. I would like a more dynamic looking senior officer type to represent Colonello Chiarimonti who was all over the battlefield when his regiment was engaged. I would also like to find a suitable "Padre" figure for the regimental chaplain who did not hide in the background when the bullets were flying.

For some reason, I do not enjoy painting these figures. I love them when they are complete, but painting them has just been a chore that is taking forever to finish.