Action in the Obergurgle Gap!

[Harry Faversham]

I like the rather eclectic, come as you are, selection of kit. Clearly the war has been running for a while and the reserves have been sent to the front.

"I'm playing with all the right toys, but not necessarily in the right order!"


 

[Pan Marek]

Great looking game!  May I ask what scale and what rules?

[carlos marighela]

"I'm playing with all the right toys, but not necessarily in the right order!"


 

I say! Have a Hart!

Oddly enough I have that very same  Corgi model.

[Harry Faversham]

Great looking game!  May I ask what scale and what rules?

Scale's 20mm, the rules are OHW, slightly modded to add motorised infantry and Close Combat... it gives a fast and brutal combat outcome!
 

[Harry Faversham]

I say! Have a Hart!

Oddly enough I have that very same  Corgi model.


I have all rhe Raff's 'silver wings' collection from Cornby. They're useful for NWF games too.

[Pan Marek]

Harry-  Thanks, I thought they looked 20mm.   I'm only passingly familiar with OHW.  Do the rules have a set for moderns?  I thought they only went up to WWII.
I would think if that's the case, you needed to come up with a lot of stats for the newer equipment.

If so, can you post them?

Thanks, Mark

[Harry Faversham]

Mark, the magic of OHW is in not overthinking 'em.
If you can'get past a King Tiger brewing, from the same amount of hits as a Sherman, they're not the rools for you!
Units are Infantry. Motorised Infantry, Artillery and tanks. All I added was an 'assault table', so Infantry and tanks can get up close and personal. First game I tried six red and six black in a bag, and activated each side's units, as the dice were drawn. Didn't really add to the fun, was a bit clunky, so binned it. Secondly a command base for each side. The CO can rally off a D6 worth of hits, but must remain with said unit until it's eliminated. Every time the unit takes a hit, big six kills the CO!
Most of the tweaks are on the OHW Facebollix page. But the golden rule is still the application of the KISS Principle!


 

[Harry Faversham]

"Well done chaps,"

Lt. Col. Faversham tells his O group.

"At dawn tomorrow we'll be going down that road to take the bridge at Obergurgle. Good news is, armour will move up in the night. Right, carry on!"

Dawn found a light mist in the Obergurgle Valley, and another O group around The CO's vehicle.

"Everything's ready Sir," Major Ponsonby reported to his Colonel. "The German armour is in position. Oberst Von Richter is straining at the bit."

Lt. Colonel Harry Faversham's eyebrows nearly touched his hairline, as his face went a funny colour... "What! What!! What!!" He roared incredulously. "German armour lead by an Oberst Von Richter???!!!

"By all accounts he's very good." A chastened Ponsonby replied.

"I'll just bet he is," replied the Colonel. "I'm suspicioned his father and mine met in the last Cup Final. Send the blighter straight in!"
Surprised as Flash Harry was, it was nothing like the one the Reds got. As Von Richter's two Leopards thundered over the hidden bridge onto their side of the Obergurgle river! Pushed back in disorder, the Russians had left a scratch rearguard in the village, but had, had no time to scout the riverbank, effectively. If they had have, they would have found the NATO Bailey Bridge secreted beneath the placid waters of the river Obergurgle!


        

[Rick]

Oh excellent stuff - very nice indeed.
But Bailey bridges went out of military use in the late 40's, early 50's - its successor would be the MGB, Medium Girder Bridge or an AVLB/VLB.
I have to admit I've been looking at moderns in 20mm again - with the printed vehicles starting to look quite decent in this scale, it is getting more achievable.

[Harry Faversham]

Oh excellent stuff - very nice indeed.
But Bailey bridges went out of military use in the late 40's, early 50's - its successor would be the MGB, Medium Girder Bridge or an AVLB/VLB.

Thanks for that Rick, never knew that. Did you know you can still see one of the first built Bailey bridges over the canal in Rotherham?


 

[Pan Marek]

Thanks, Harry!   I'll look into the FB page.

[CapnJim]

Oh excellent stuff - very nice indeed.
But Bailey bridges went out of military use in the late 40's, early 50's - its successor would be the MGB, Medium Girder Bridge or an AVLB/VLB.
I have to admit I've been looking at moderns in 20mm again - with the printed vehicles starting to look quite decent in this scale, it is getting more achievable.

Actually, no.  I don't mean to cast any aspersions here, but Bailey Bridges were still in use (at least by the US Army) into the '80s.  I was an enlisted combat engineer from '80 to '84 and we trained on laying Bailey Bridges.  In fact, my Ohio Army National Guard unit actually placed a real one at a temporary bridge site on a county road in Ohio in 1981 (a flood had washed out one of their bridges, and we put one in until they could replace it).  So a Bailey Bridge in 1982 is entirely feasible...   

We did also train on the MGBs...

[CapnJim]

Plus, for gaming purposes, I have the old Airfix Bailey Bridge...it has seen action on my gaming tables...

[Rick]

Ah well - I did mention 'military use' did I not? Bailey bridges were replaced by the MGB in most militaries (esp NATO, which was the point in question) around that time but have continued to be used as replacements for civilian bridges until very recently: I stand by my original statement. Iirc there were quite a few ex military Bailey bridges stored for emergency civilian use after the war - my guess it that there were hundreds put up over USA, Canada, UK and Europe, not counting the many more that were built as exports to the rest of the world. The humble Bailey bridge has had a huge worldwide impact.

[carlos marighela]

Clearly nobody told the Australian Army about Bailey Bridges' expiry date. They were laying them in Vietnam, alongside the Yanks. In fact, I'm fairly certain that they stayed in inventory into the 1990s at least.

As for MGBs... Well in the absence of a dedicated model, I'm sure you'll agree that a Baliey Bridge is a reasonable proxy in for an MGB. It's a military bridge and it's painted green after all. In a game that mixes 1990s era Leopards with 1950s era Soviet tanks and APCs, I'm sure some latitude is merited in bridge selection.

For interest's sake here's an MGB being constructed on Ex Lionheart in 1984 by a TA unit (from around 6.29)