Eisenhower by Sam Mustafa

[Lascaris]

For those asking about Market-Garden you can just use 4" squares instead of 6". If you're doing 6mm it works fine with that size. That's what I do for Rommel where I base my figures on 40mm x 35mm bases and 3 bases per square fit well. I put 2 tanks or 1 vehicle and 4 infantry for armored/motorized units and just the 4 infantry for leg infantry.

I was going to look at Market-Garden as a project, I have a 12' x 6' table, after I finish my Bastogne project for Rommel.

[robh]

For those asking about Market-Garden you can just use 4" squares instead of 6". If you're doing 6mm it works fine with that size.

That is how I do Rommel also but base everything of 30mm square bases. That way I can use the same figure collection for Crossfire, Spearhead, Panzer Korps, and Lightning War/Bewegungskrieg depending on the scale of scenario we are playing. I will be adding Eisenhower to the list in due course.

For Rommel with 3mm or 6mm figures the smaller square works perfectly well and gives a bigger battle area on the table. It also means the terrain pieces are a more manageable size for storage.

[Lascaris]

hmm, the image is not showing up likely due to my incompetence . A direct link is https://carnivalempire.wordpress.com/2024/10/17/rommel-using-4-squares/

For the curious, this is what Rommel using 4" squares looks like.
If anyone is interested in how I'm converting the GDW Bastogne campaign from the `80's to Rommel here's a couple links on my progress.
https://wordpress.com/post/carnivalempire.wordpress.com/897

https://wordpress.com/post/carnivalempire.wordpress.com/915

Currently I've finished printing all the vehicles and the urban areas. I'll start printing rivers today. I was going to print the forests, and they turned out well, but doing 167 forest squares would take almost a month so I'm just going with 3" square bases from Litko that I'll put some craft moss on to make those. I should be receiving the infantry and artillery from Baccus in the near future along with the Cigarbox mats and hopefully will have this ready for the table by the end of November.

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

Without wishing to derail the discussion, some may be interested to hear - always assuming they’re not already aware of it - that Frank Chadwick is working on a WWII set at a similar scale to Eisenhower, or at least that’s what I infer from the limited info I have, i.e. one stand = a battalion. It will be interesting to see what it’s called, though I think we can rule out theatre commanders’ names.

[fred]

hmm, the image is not showing up likely due to my incompetence . A direct link is https://carnivalempire.wordpress.com/2024/10/17/rommel-using-4-squares/

For the curious, this is what Rommel using 4" squares looks like.
If anyone is interested in how I'm converting the GDW Bastogne campaign from the `80's to Rommel here's a couple links on my progress.
https://wordpress.com/post/carnivalempire.wordpress.com/897

https://wordpress.com/post/carnivalempire.wordpress.com/915

Currently I've finished printing all the vehicles and the urban areas. I'll start printing rivers today. I was going to print the forests, and they turned out well, but doing 167 forest squares would take almost a month so I'm just going with 3" square bases from Litko that I'll put some craft moss on to make those. I should be receiving the infantry and artillery from Baccus in the near future along with the Cigarbox mats and hopefully will have this ready for the table by the end of November.

That looks pretty epic. I do take it you do mean the Rommel rules, not the newer Eisenhower ones?

 I think for the forests I would just go with the moss, and not worry about that many bases. Where the forest covers multiple adjoining squares it will look more natural to have the trees across the box boundaries.

Without wishing to derail the discussion, some may be interested to hear - always assuming they’re not already aware of it - that Frank Chadwick is working on a WWII set at a similar scale to Eisenhower, or at least that’s what I infer from the limited info I have, i.e. one stand = a battalion. It will be interesting to see what it’s called, though I think we can rule out theatre commanders’ names.

The more the merrier! One of the great things about WWII game is that figures work for pretty much all games - as RobH says!

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

It seems to me that there’s a major gap in the level of command represented by our wargames, or rather in the way  of representing all facets of command beyond the purely tactical and strategic, specifically staff work (the boring but essential aspect of military operations at least at divisional level and above, though it is also relevant at lower levels). Many senior commanders relied heavily on their chiefs of staff, or if not, should have done, as history all too often attests. I therefore propose a new series of wargames devoted to this badly overlooked sector. To accompany Eisenhower, then, and for that matter to complement it, we need Bedell-Smith. Similarly, any game purporting to simulate Montgomery’s campaigns at the macro level should incorporate De Guingand. (If I could remember the name of Rommel’s CoS I’d mention him too though it seems to me he was among those whose contributions were generally ignored).

P.S. My own lack of a trustworthy chief of staff frequently costs me dear and I can now illustrate this with the embarrassing admission that my composition of this post caused me to miss my bus home, leaving me with a difficult choice to make.

[carlos marighela]

I for one would embrace a game that came with 30 pages worth of staff tables and a series of complex flow charts showing how the tables can be put into effect. I say go for it!

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll be the one to produce such an item, though I’ll try to get my thoughts in order and possibly come up with some suggestions. Another thought that occurred to me when Eisenhower came to my attention was that, rather than operational and strategic matters per se, most of his attention was on dealing with political issues and especially the peculiar - and enormous - challenges of coalition warfare. This would be fertile ground for introducing a roleplaying element. You are Eisenhower - how do you balance the overriding requirement to end the war promptly, preferably before the Russians occupy the whole of Western Europe, with the need to placate your proud but increasingly insignificant European allies? Perhaps this is too much for a game focused on miniatures and best approached in a board game, but this is among the questions Mr Mustafa has raised by choosing to name his game after the Supreme Commander.

[carlos marighela]

I'm rather hoping that Mr Mustafa attention will move back towards more 'tactical' games. I'm hoping to  see games like ENSA/USO Concert Party or Mobile Bath Unit.

[jon_1066]

I'm rather hoping that Mr Mustafa attention will move back towards more 'tactical' games. I'm hoping to  see games like ENSA/USO Concert Party or Mobile Bath Unit.

Well Mr la di da Gunner Carlos!  You be wanting a game does you?  Lovely boy, lovely boy.

Whoever yells “Shut up!” the loudest goes first.

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

I think we can guess what a game based on the US Army Motor Pool is likely to be called, CBS permitting.

[jon_1066]

I think we can guess what a game based on the US Army Motor Pool is likely to be called, CBS permitting.

Ooh, ooh.  Ooh, ooh.  I know this one.

Is it Doberman?

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

Close but no cigar.

[carlos marighela]

I think we can guess what a game based on the US Army Motor Pool is likely to be called, CBS permitting.

Legion 4? After that twat on TMP who ended up in the motor pool? I think The Phil Silvers' Show has already been taken.

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

Sorry, Carlos, I was out of the loop on that one.