Captain Nemo Gaming World War II

  In 1940 the Germans had advanced their airbases to the coast of France.     The Battle of Britain was about to begin.   One lone Hurricane fighter was on a test flight over Kent but a German fighter swarm on a fighter sweep had spotted the lone fighter and was getting ready to pounce.  However, the Germans had been spotted by an RAF formation that was seeking to use their up-sun advantage. The initial situation. Two German aircraft miss when firing and the British fighter dodges the third, thereby surviving the initial attack and is now alerted to the danger while the support closes in on the Germans.   The Germans continue to fire and continue to miss. All the aircraft are now in combat and a whirling engagement develops.  The Germans have positional advantage over their prey but generally miss when firing or the pilot, either clever or lucky, dodges their shots.  Meanwhile 74 Squadron arrive and prove better shots, scoring ...

    5 Battle of Rawa  (Rules: Arras to Ardennes)   Battle Turn Zero and Start   The wall of blinds going down masked the German grouping of the battlegroup on their right centre.  The Poles were in trenches forward of the treeline with a clear field of fire and with the tanks in the front line.                     Battle Turn One The first battalion advanced on the right of the road and promptly put pressure on the Polish infantry.  3 rd  Tank advanced directly to their front and promptly ran into the Polish tanks.  The defences proved deeply illusionary and in the combat that followed the Polish tanks unit was put to flight.  At the same time the advance of the second battalion overcame the Polish infantry defenders and a hole was torn in the defences.   In the picture on the left one Polish company has retreated from their trenches into the woods, in the ce...

  It might have been a Phoney War in France in 1939 but for air and naval forces there was much fighting to be done.     The following two actions are based on historic events.   One lone Hurricane fighter found itself over Germany; seeking to return to base it formatted on some other fighters and then discovered it was a formation of Bf109d German fighters.   The initial situation.     The formation leaders turn away from the threat while their wingman turn towards it.   There is a quick exchange of fire.     The undamaged Hurricane dives away while the 109s scatter to regroup in pursuit.                  The Hurricane is the faster aeroplane and outdistances the 109s. The Bf109d will now be withdrawn from frontline service and be replaced with the Bf109e, which will have a more powerful engine.                   ...

4 Second Battle of Piotrkow (Rules: Arras to Ardennes)   Battle Turn Zero and Start In order to avoid fighting on the same battlefield the random terrain system was used on the basis that the Germans would side-step a successful defence.   The wall of blinds going down masked the German grouping of the battlegroup on their left flank.  Once again, the Poles were clustered on their left flank with their right filled with dummy blinds.  The 2 nd  battalion was an experienced veteran legion battalion while the third was a reserve militia battalion.           Battle Turn One The first move was the Germans swinging from the extreme left flank, reconnaissance units scything through the blinds of the Polish forces.  The Poles had been over reliant on the terrain when deploying when having trenches to deploy their front-line troops they could have readily been deployed in open ground.   One German infantry batt...

1 Battle of Wielun (Rules: Rommel)  Battle Turn Zero and Start The ROMMEL rules use a grid of squares and these are indicated in the pictures by the white tile separators.     There is an inherent conflict between something easily seen with high utility and something that is aesthetically disruptive. The Germans fielded late war ‘Normandy’ gear; 1939 equipment finishing production!    Players alternate in taking turns and each player gets eight turns during a day of combat.   The Germans deployed with their two tank regiments at the front, backed by the motorised infantry and supporting artillery in the final line.  The Poles deployed with two infantry regiments providing cordon defence with their tank companies spaced out as infantry support.  Each objective marker had a defending company and the remaining infantry were placed in reserve behind the centre with the cavalry battalion, acting as a mobile reserve.  The artillery w...

1 Battle of Mokra (Rules: Memoir 44) There have been various versions of the battle published online and the one selected for this was the BREAKTHROUGH version that provided some depth to the battlefield.     Although victory was defined as ten banners this was only through elimination of units with no objectives given.     The attached pictures were taken every two turns during the game.         Set up is pre-set so that the battle starts with a German tank column having already penetrated the defences.    The elements specific to the Polish campaign is that the Polish tankettes are represented by the reduction of the standard tank unit from three figures to two, four of the nine infantry units are rated as cavalry and BLITZ rules are in effect, which means the German aircraft are more effective and the Poles are not allowed any. The Germans started by trying to push through the middle with their tanks.  They were shot to piec...