Most certainly, anyone's game at the moment. It's a Great looking table and models, guys. I think you did a great job scratch building those drones, Oriskany. I think for many gaming groups, the Ukraine war may not be that popular as too often infantry and minor vehicle based, but as you know, our group is just as happy either way. For historians and wargamers, it's going to take a very long time to produce an accurate history for it. I've never seen so much over reporting, propaganda, and a flood of pure fake news in my entire life. As you know, we are still trying to filter out allied propaganda from WW2. You also touched on one of my favourite topics. The amount of pure kinetic energy that any kind of modern rounds has is greatly under appreciated today. The more advanced the tank is, the easier it is to achieve a soft kill. Part 2 is going to be very exciting as both sides are fully capable of destroying each other. Personally, I enjoy games where both sides are nearly identical. I don't think the game can be more balanced, which is very rare in real life. It forces you to bring your best game as a bad tactical mistake can cost you the game. So, as usual, I can't wait for part 2. Truly, great job, guys.
Thanks very much as always for the kind words, James! Sadly, in the realm of Modern Wargaming, we don't ususally have the luxury of two evenly-matched sides, at least if you want to do it accuractely. These early Ukraine battles come close, but of course were rarely that equal when reviewed in detail. Much more symmetrical than MOST moder-era warfare, of course.
Thanks very much! I like lots of terrain on Seven Days to the River Rhine tables, since there are usually no range restrictions on most units. So you have to block up the LOS.
Great scenario and game report! This is easily one of your best tables yet. (And you've had some really amazing ones!). A wide range of buildings, damaged structures, roads, fences, farm fields and animals, trees and hedges - it's really immersive and helps bring the battlefield to life. The action starts immediately and doesn't let up. Feels like you've captured the essence of modern armored warfare. The custom drone minis are a nice touch, as well. Can the Ukrainians hold? Can't wait to find out in part 2!
Thanks very much for the very kind words, Mark! Becase so many units in Seven Days to the River Rhine have unlimited ranges with no penalties, I try to "clutter" up the table to create LOS problems. Other wise the game turns into a "line up and shooting match." Seven Days to the River Rhine is a great system that gets a lot right when it comes to modern combined arms, like the reliance of tanks on nearby supporting friendly infantry. So by no means can I take most of the credit!
This table is exceptional! Would you please give me a break down of the scenery? I'm in the process of painting my Team Yankee 15mm miniatures and I'm getting close to setting up the table.
Thanks very much @Chefzilla. Actually just about all the terrain on my table is scratch-built. All the buildings are scratch-built from cardboard and paper. My roads are posterboard. My bridges are pine. My pine trees are Christmas decoration trees, chopped up to look more realistic then re-sprayed to get rid of the Christmas look. The road signs are mostly scratch built with pine dowels and printouts made in Photoshop. Same with the buildings. The hedges are strips of welcome mat painted green. Any other specific questions?
@JamesJohnson-wq6bs that's pretty amazing. All scratch built? They look fantastic. I'm really looking forward to part 2. Oh and I picked up a copy of Seven Days.
Once again, UA-cam is eating all my replies. From Oriskany Jim: Glad you picked up a copy of Seven Days! It’s a great little system, and there’s a great FB group for it with lots of support and extra materials: “Seven Days to the River Rhine Official”.
Very nice set up! In my local club we play it in 20mm using the Force on Force rules, Drones play a big part in our games. But it looks like a great table and game!
Nice! So in your Force-on-Force games, are your drones the smaller surveillance, infantry-launched, or kamikaze drones? Or do you use the big ones like this as airstrikes?
@@JamesJohnson-wq6bs I've done all of them. Observation Drones can either assist with artillery call ins or give an extra dice of firepower to nearby squads. Grenade Dropping can drop a single grenade before it must come back to pilot. Useful for using up reactions. Kamikaze drones I've treated as flying IED"s Airstrikes I've done the same as normal helicopter rules. I've given them all 1d6 armour and soft skin. If shot at they are either destroyed, or forced to spend a turn "avoiding fire". If a kamikaze drone is immobilised or damaged it scatters 1D6 inches in a random direction. In one of our games a vastly outnumbered Ukrainian force was able to almost stop a Russian force in it's tracks by the drones using up reactions/causing pins. So not crazy deadly (except against top armour of tanks) but a serious issue to overcome.
@@marcusboughen5048 Sounds pretty epic! So far we've only done scenarios earlier in the conflict, where drones are a big factor, but not quite dominant yet. When we get into the more recent, smaller drones and how they're used is when it will start to get really crazy.
My first few games were solitaire while I learned the system. Outside of the Tactical Advantage Cards (which we don't use), I don't see why you couldn't run soliatire games of Seven Days to the River Rhine.
Most certainly, anyone's game at the moment. It's a Great looking table and models, guys. I think you did a great job scratch building those drones, Oriskany.
I think for many gaming groups, the Ukraine war may not be that popular as too often infantry and minor vehicle based, but as you know, our group is just as happy either way. For historians and wargamers, it's going to take a very long time to produce an accurate history for it. I've never seen so much over reporting, propaganda, and a flood of pure fake news in my entire life. As you know, we are still trying to filter out allied propaganda from WW2.
You also touched on one of my favourite topics. The amount of pure kinetic energy that any kind of modern rounds has is greatly under
appreciated today. The more advanced the tank is, the easier it is to achieve a soft kill.
Part 2 is going to be very exciting as both sides are fully capable of destroying each other. Personally, I enjoy games where both sides are nearly identical. I don't think the game can be more balanced, which is very rare in real life. It forces you to bring your best game as a bad tactical mistake can cost you the game. So, as usual, I can't wait for part 2. Truly, great job, guys.
Thanks very much as always for the kind words, James! Sadly, in the realm of Modern Wargaming, we don't ususally have the luxury of two evenly-matched sides, at least if you want to do it accuractely. These early Ukraine battles come close, but of course were rarely that equal when reviewed in detail. Much more symmetrical than MOST moder-era warfare, of course.
Great job on the Bryactar the table and minis looks great 👍
Thanks very much! The proved pretty effective in combat as well!
Epic battle! I love the little drone miniatures!
Thanks very much. They're a little "rough and ready" but they look the business for scratch-builds.
Great table and homemade drones. As always !!
Super appreciate it! Yeah, they were pretty easy, once I got the dimensions. Magnetized flight stands as well.
As always, your tables are fantastic. All the details make for a very interesting backdrop to all the action.
Thanks very much! Yes, I feel a brief but detailed historical review of the context is critical to a good historical wargame scenario.
Amazing job on those drones. Very nice looking table.
Thanks very much! I like lots of terrain on Seven Days to the River Rhine tables, since there are usually no range restrictions on most units. So you have to block up the LOS.
Great battle report. On to part 2.
Thanks very much, glad you liked it!
Great scenario and game report! This is easily one of your best tables yet. (And you've had some really amazing ones!). A wide range of buildings, damaged structures, roads, fences, farm fields and animals, trees and hedges - it's really immersive and helps bring the battlefield to life. The action starts immediately and doesn't let up. Feels like you've captured the essence of modern armored warfare. The custom drone minis are a nice touch, as well. Can the Ukrainians hold? Can't wait to find out in part 2!
Thanks very much for the very kind words, Mark! Becase so many units in Seven Days to the River Rhine have unlimited ranges with no penalties, I try to "clutter" up the table to create LOS problems. Other wise the game turns into a "line up and shooting match." Seven Days to the River Rhine is a great system that gets a lot right when it comes to modern combined arms, like the reliance of tanks on nearby supporting friendly infantry. So by no means can I take most of the credit!
Really good scenario. Looking forward to next week!
Thanks very much for the supportive comment! Yes, next week's video is already in progress for the conclusion!
This table is exceptional! Would you please give me a break down of the scenery? I'm in the process of painting my Team Yankee 15mm miniatures and I'm getting close to setting up the table.
Thanks very much @Chefzilla. Actually just about all the terrain on my table is scratch-built. All the buildings are scratch-built from cardboard and paper. My roads are posterboard. My bridges are pine. My pine trees are Christmas decoration trees, chopped up to look more realistic then re-sprayed to get rid of the Christmas look. The road signs are mostly scratch built with pine dowels and printouts made in Photoshop. Same with the buildings. The hedges are strips of welcome mat painted green. Any other specific questions?
@JamesJohnson-wq6bs that's pretty amazing. All scratch built? They look fantastic. I'm really looking forward to part 2. Oh and I picked up a copy of Seven Days.
Once again, UA-cam is eating all my replies. From Oriskany Jim: Glad you picked up a copy of Seven Days! It’s a great little system, and there’s a great FB group for it with lots of support and extra materials: “Seven Days to the River Rhine Official”.
Very nice set up! In my local club we play it in 20mm using the Force on Force rules, Drones play a big part in our games. But it looks like a great table and game!
Nice! So in your Force-on-Force games, are your drones the smaller surveillance, infantry-launched, or kamikaze drones? Or do you use the big ones like this as airstrikes?
@@JamesJohnson-wq6bs I've done all of them.
Observation Drones can either assist with artillery call ins or give an extra dice of firepower to nearby squads.
Grenade Dropping can drop a single grenade before it must come back to pilot. Useful for using up reactions.
Kamikaze drones I've treated as flying IED"s
Airstrikes I've done the same as normal helicopter rules.
I've given them all 1d6 armour and soft skin. If shot at they are either destroyed, or forced to spend a turn "avoiding fire". If a kamikaze drone is immobilised or damaged it scatters 1D6 inches in a random direction.
In one of our games a vastly outnumbered Ukrainian force was able to almost stop a Russian force in it's tracks by the drones using up reactions/causing pins.
So not crazy deadly (except against top armour of tanks) but a serious issue to overcome.
@@marcusboughen5048 Sounds pretty epic! So far we've only done scenarios earlier in the conflict, where drones are a big factor, but not quite dominant yet. When we get into the more recent, smaller drones and how they're used is when it will start to get really crazy.
How to play it by myself?
My first few games were solitaire while I learned the system. Outside of the Tactical Advantage Cards (which we don't use), I don't see why you couldn't run soliatire games of Seven Days to the River Rhine.