September Digest #1

World of Warships

Reading through the devblogs for Updates 14.8 (September) and 14.9 (October) promises more of WG's 10th Anniversary celebrations. Which means more goodies but with the usual conditionals. Because nothing is ever truly free with WG.

Update 14.8 (September)

Kicks off in two weeks time (or thereabouts). New login calendar is nothing much apart from the addition of Festive tokens (at least 2,000) for use with the Battle Performance event. 

Of personal interest will be the reward, the new Japanese cruiser Kushiro, obtainable for 10,000 Festive tokens. Not a difficult ask if I read the devblog properly. As well, keen to grab the Bonus Package for Tier X ships. Unfortunately limited to just one per player. Worth 1,500 Festive tokens. Everything else doesn't interest me apart from maybe grabbing some Supercrates.

New ships being released are only of passing interest. Unless they're free to obtain through play, then I'll either skip or wait until Christmas. 

The Honorable Service reward system offers more freebies although I'm only focused on the sixth year one even though the devblog states if you've qualified for the previous anniversary years (from one to five inclusive) then you're also eligible for those anniversary rewards as well. We shall see although am highly skeptical meanwhile the only reward I expect will be the sixth anniversary year.

Blast From The Past event should be a hoot if I'm game enough while Asymmetric Battles will be fun as per usual. 

Update 14.9 (October)

Liberty Harbour build is the main event planned for this month. You earn resources to build the port. Completion earns you the Tier VIII US premium cruiser Bridgeport. 

Also released will be a couple of new crates - the Liberty Harbour and the Navy 250 premium one. The first contains a couple of collection elements per drop of which you require sixty to complete the collection. Two thirds can be earned through the Liberty Harbour build. 

A few other goodies are tied in with the port construction which shouldn't look too hard if what's read is how I interpret it. 

New ships once again being released during this Update and will be sailing to a port near you (if lucky) - Lanzhou, Nurnberg '44, Roussillon, Bremen, Aki, Hawaii, Surcouf, C. Aguirre, Blyzkawica '52, Deustchland, Sibir, Optio, Kushio. 

=======================================

Eventful Friday. Things back to normal (fingers crossed) today (Saturday). Got three new free ships in today's grind. Managed to complete the next mission of the Dockyard Event. Five more phases left to go then it's Laffey time. 

First new ship was a pleasant surprise upon log in. Received the Tier VIII German premium aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, an anniversary gift reward for six years devotion. 

Earned the Tier X Japanese premium cruiser Kushiro after exchanging Festive tokens (having over six hundred ships was a breeze accumulating the necessary 10,000 festive tokens). Ran it a couple of times; it plays pretty tanky for a heavy cruiser. Lots of torps was the surprise for me with quick reload. First time though I ran straight into a trio waiting for me - a Napoli, AL Bismark, and a Pommern upon rounding an island. 

The rest of the Festive tokens were plied into thirty-nine Supercrates which have been generous in terms of resource rewards (loads of economic bonuses, signal flags, coal, elite commander XP and free XP). Also acquired the one Tier X Bonus Package and one This is Fine Explosive effect. 

Still have enough Festive tokens leftover for my Tier VIII, VII, VI and V ships awaiting conversion. Which means still more Supercrates but there's a 130 limit so any excess (already acquired 29) will be spent on Blue and Green economic bonuses. 

The final new ship received today was the Tier VII Italian premium cruiser Optio, the halfway mark reward for the new Event Pass.

Still unable to fully access the entire range of Honorable Service rewards. Am after the other rewards that are associated with the sixth year rewards - 2 week Warships Premium account, 8 Unique EBs (all types), 7 Supercrates, 10x White Permanent camo, a 50% Discount coupon.

Have not tried the Blast from the Past event. Still playing for Festive tokens in Co-Op. Maybe preferring to wait for the return of Asymmetric Battle mode. 

=======================================

Decided to forego going for the Dutch Unique commander until I've gotten all the Supercrates I am allowed. Thirty-one left to go. Any leftover tokens can then go towards completing the collection rewarding Conrad. No rush anyway. Expect he will be made available over the next few Update events. 

=======================================

Today I tried to grab some more coal in order to buy one more coal ship - Tier IX Russian premium destroyer Neustrashimy. Thought the quickest way would be through supercrates. But not today although I finally got a ship reward through supercrates. Lucky for me it's the one ship I've been gunning for the past few months - Pan-Asian Tier VIII premium cruiser Irian. Plonked one of the Rong brothers (seasoned commander) and will grind him to 21-point.

It was then I realised the new US destroyer line was now out of Early Access. So spent Free XP and credits to acquire the Tier IX Christopher and Tier X Burrows. 

Getting there slowly but surely toward my seven hundred ship tally. At six hundred and fifty eight as of today.

Got the one hundred and fifty supercrates allocated. Now any festive tokens will be directed toward getting the Dutch Unique commander, Conrad Helfrich. Won't complete the collection of course but I hope to get close enough.

=======================================

Naval Wargaming 2025

I am going through a tabeltop naval wargaming revival at the moment. For me, I am concentrating on two main rulesets - Stations Manned and Ready II edition 1.1 (2016) and General Quarters III (2011). SMAR II is no longer available; only recently learned they've shut down their operation in July of this year. As for GQ III, they're very much my favourite because everything about it is well set out, researched, and organised.

Currently set up an historical game using SMAR II but paused it because I'm trying to figure out if I can play the opening moves from contact markers for both sides. Or do I deploy one side instead and leave the other hidden. It's a night action so contact markers would make sense for both parties. 

The US force is divided up into two divisions (Red and Blue) and are blockading the Japanese outpost island. The Japanese resupply forces (all destroyers) are hoping to get in close enough to offload the precious supplies and then tackle the Americans with their torpedoes.

This is another night action hence why I went with contact markers instead of actual deployment. My understanding is that actions are limited from contact markers (as shown in the photo above) so I've deployed the Americans prior to their spotting. Which they successfully do revealing one of the two DDs in the Green division. 

=======================================

PC Gaming - Stardew Valley

Forgot all about the Perfection Achievement. Currently completing the last of the Monster Eradication achievements - knocking off fifty Pepper Rexes - which should then unlock access to the top of the mountain. 

Problem with eradicating the dinosaurs is the infrequency with which the Prehistoric floor appears, about a 2.2% chance at or below Floor 7 in the Skull Cavern. Not good odds. Given I started playing last night and it's now dawn of a new day, I found the Prehistoric floor only once throughout the night session. The Rexes did appear a couple of times on the other floors outside of the Prehistoric floor. So, yeah, another long grind.  

=======================================

Today (Monday) completed the Perfection Achievement. Getting the last Monster Eradication achievement didn't take as long as I thought once I read the requirements properly. Got lucky though when I hit a Prehistoric floor and kept repeating knocking out the Pepper Rexes on that floor until I had to leave (2am shutdown). 

Doing that whittled down my requirement by well over a half so that I only had eleven to go (needed fifty). Unable to access a floor the following two days but the third I got lucky and was able to locate a floor at level forty-six in the Skull Cave. I was able to finish the achievement in one go. Fortunate too as I was low on stone steps. Jumping down holes is not recommended because you may skip the prehistoric floor which manifests after level seven. Hence why having a ready supply of stone steps is essential because you can simply activate the stone step until you hit the prehistoric floor. 

The following day, the path to the summit was unblocked and my character walked to the top where its partner for this particular game was waiting. Went through all the cast of characters like the end of a movie then the character walked back to the farm. And finished off the day's chores before logging out. 

Taken me some time to finish the game but not too fussed. It's done now. Have not gone the DJT path and trod the Corporation way. Easy to do but not my thing at the moment. 

A couple of achievements left to go to complete this right path (what does Joja Corporation want to discuss at the Pirate's Cove?).

=================================

August Digest #6

General News

If not aware yet, Google are removing third-party mods so you cannot upload images via the Insert Image tab because doing so involves a third-party and that's now a no-no. Why? No idea but whatever excuse Google gives is perfectly fine by them. I suspect it might be strengthening its claim on any images you upload to any of Google sites (YT and Blogger for instance). 

============================

World of Warships

A couple of sessions today. Did an early morning one - my usual commander upskill grind - for a bit before I had to step out. Got back into it 

============================

Sunday. Last day of the month of August. Finished the latest Dockyard event mission. A few days ago, finished the fourth Operations mission and got the San Diego compensation reward - 11,000 doubloons. 

Also finished the Welcome part (complete 24 days playing and earn 1,600 doubloons bonus). Exchanged it for doubloons and now have a healthy amount ready for the Christmas snowflake event in three months time. 

============================

August Digest #5

World of Warships

La Pampas is back in a weird but very costly new event. Basically you exchange a percentage of your accumulated resources - Elite Commander XP, credits, doubloons, steel, and so on - in a cumulative progression in order to eventually reach the Pan-American broken DD. There is a restriction on the amount of resources you can contribute. However, the event is not all it seems. And it's extremely costly; unless you have a mountain or two of resources at your disposal, forget it. Typical WG sales approach: offer with one hand while taking away with the other.

==================================

Today was short grind. Also happens to be the weekend, a trend I hope to continue over the next few months. 

The Tier VIII German premium Anhalt is a nice battleship yet requires a different approach to play. Slow in speed and turret rotation. The guns hit well enough when a target is presenting broadside but then that can be said about every other ship in the same situation. The single torp firing arcs gives all-round coverage. Which comes in handy whether yolo-ing and kiting. Reminds me of the Tier IX Pommern. 

Fujin is part of that famous trio (Fujin R and Kamikaze) of Tier V premium Japanese destroyers. When it's on, it's on. Yet was reminded how fragile it is (health pool wise) when a rival DD torp nearly wiped me out (too late and lazy to avoid it) with just one torp hit. Low detection and fast torp reload means it's a real threat if opponent is unaware. But you need to keep your distance waiting for the golden opportunity to move in fast, strike, and then flee. 

The Tier V US premium Marblehead Lima is sister to Marblehead and basically a clone of the tech tree version, Omaha. Bullying your way into a close quarter fight is a risky endeavour at the best of times for any light cruiser. Staying back using your good HE to start fires and torpedo salvos is the better tactical approach, one I've quickly adopted for this ship whenever grinding with it.

==================================

Another short grind. Targeted goal was the usual three daily coal crates. Along the way, completed the Voyage and GQ Johnny token missions and the Event Pass bonus reward. Played the three 15-pt commanders on the Fujin, Marblehead Lima and Anhalt. A quiet session much appreciated.

==================================

Same outcome as yesterday (above). Fujin reminds me of the yolo-Emilio in that it's fast torpedo reload is very handy. Playing the other two ships from a distance seems the best way to play both. 

==================================

The Iserlohn Action

Historical action that took place on 15 April 1941 between an Italo-German convoy and four British destroyers. 

Anyway, played this historical scenario. The British force, consisting of two Tribal destroyers, Mohawk and Nubian, and two 'J' class destroyers, Janus and Jervis deployed approaching from the southern table edge. 

Their approach from the landward side would initially fool the Italian escorts, the destroyers Luca Tarigo, Baleno and Lampo who had positioned themselves to the open water side. 

The convoy consisted of four troopships - Adana, Aegina, Arta, Iserlohn - and one ammunition ship - Saubadia. The entire force was deployed in the north-east corner of the 6' x 4' table. 

Objective for the convoy and escorts was to exit the table in the south-west corner. The British aimed to spoil that objective by either sinking all the enemy or forcing them to retire to their embarkation port. 

TURN 1 began with the immediate sinking of Iserlohn after being illuminated by starshell from one of the British destroyers. All four destroyers opened fire blasting the hapless troopship into the briny. 

TURN 2 saw the Italians react with Tarigo and Lampo swinging about to try to intercept the British threat. Baleno remained with the convoy. However, the British scored a double immediately lighting up Aegina and Saubadia. And suffered the same fate as Iserlohn. Aegina managed to last long enough for the lifeboats to deploy before she too joined her fellow ships sinking into the deep briny.

TURN 3 saw the Italian destroyers finally contact their British opponents. Successful illumination was followed by gunfire and torpedoes. But the targeted British proved harder to hit. With all this happening, the British were momentarily distracted from their aims. However, they were able to reform and move towards the remaining two convoy ships. 

TURN 4 was a turn of maneouvre and counter-moves with no attacks on the convoy as both destroyer groups moved into suitable attack positions. 

TURN 5 was the last turn as Arta was spotted and once again British gunfire proved deadly. Soon Arta joined the other three ships. At this point, the game ended because the Italians had lost half their total ships, a condition for ending the game. 

==================================

Vietnam War slow-grow campaign

Scenario 2: Action at Ca Bong

Table layout. View from northwest (upriver). Ca Bong, objective for the Americans, is in the bottom right quarter. 

Another view, this time from the western side of the Song river. Inhabited areas are denoted by black cloth. Fields are carpet squares. Hills are either shaped green scourer pads or grey foam. 

Deployment of the lead vessel, a monitor from the Riverine force Team One (Lieutenant Petersen's command) triggers game start.  Batrep to follow later on the week. Once done, will setup for the next scenario: Escape And Evasion whereby an SAS team attempts to extricate themselves from a tricky situation. Cheers.

==================================

August Digest #4

Vietnam War slow-grow campaign

Scenario 3: Escape and Evasion

The SAS team having completed their mission must now extricate themselves from a tricky situation. VC presence has increased within their locality ever since that night ambush. Vigorous patrolling day and night in their initial holdup location convinced the commander that it was time to relocate. 

However they soon learned that all their alternate locations have been compromised or heavily scrutinized so instead the team opts to make their way to an extraction point a few miles south of Ap Song. 

The Captain decides to avoid any contact with the locals fearing they might be pro-VC and thus rat them out. And with the chance of happening across an enemy patrol or two sooner rather than later, the situation appears dicey to say the least. 

The terrain is for the most part heavy jungle and therefore slow going. Visibility will be restricted by the terrain type and density. 

Ap Song is the main village in the area opposite a string of low hills due east that mirror the flow of the Song stream, roughly north-south. Scattered ponds and underground springs feed the stream that divides the region in two. 

Isolated and scattered homesteads are the norm out east of Ap Song with few trails that are designed for foot or beast traffic only. The locals here are also wary of strangers. 

Main aim for the SAS team with this particular mission therefore is to make it unscathed and unnoticed from one table edge to the other. Where possible, they must also avoid contact with the enemy hunting for them. 

They succeed if they make it undetected to the opposite table edge. If they spot the VC or locals first without being spotted themselves then the team must either wait for them to move on or else skirt around. Failing that they may engage the enemy VC bearing in mind they have limited ammunition. If locals, the Captain must decide whether they are hostile or friendly and act accordingly. 

Crossing the Song stream is necessary. The stream is waist deep for the most part and slow flowing that sometimes expand into shallow ponds. Movement penalty for crossing the stream is -1 pip per dice. 

Objective of the VC is to either kill or capture the SAS team. If they capture a SAS team member, it is a major success. If they kill any of the SAS team, then it's a minor success. 

For every turn, a VC blind is placed on the table randomly. The Blind can be stationary or moving (depending on the circumstance of their deployment, ie dice for it). 

Direction of movement is determined by the Deviation Dice. If the die roll is on target then roll again until a direction is determined. If moving, the VC blind will follow the direction until they exit the table. If stationary, they will perform spotting actions unless they decide to move. 

The SAS team deploy from the start.

Local civilians will also appear when the Civilian card is dealt. 

===============================

World of Warships

Played two sessions today. First one was playing the bare minimum five games using my commander skill upgrade grind ships. Did this to obtain the 500 Voyage tokens and 2 GQ Johnny tokens. 

Second session was an evening one where I ran several ships that had "new" or transferred in captains. A total of six ships were played to raise their Commander XP level to 6%, a goal I had set which often saw me play said ship several times. 

Among the ships from this second session is my new favourite battleship, the German Tier X Mecklenburg. Sixteen 305mm guns is nothing to sneeze at. She performs beautifully smacking cruisers into oblivion with one salvo and is capable of whittling down the HP of powerful enemy battleships without breaking a sweat. I also keep forgetting she has 6km torps, handy for those real up close encounters. 

Played my second steel ship Svea for the first time. Liked her but still learning about her. Went for a secondary build and it seemed to work although I was in games mostly against lower tiered ships. Her 13km torps are great but I have not yet mastered their tactical use. Handy nonetheless.

Prinz van Oranje was a last Christmas reward that I forgot about. Came out at the same time as the Chikuma II. Part of the golden ships event. Her single air strike takes getting used to; small targeting area but lots of bombs. Slow reload means having to rely on her twelve guns between strikes. Played her from behind island cover as a result. 

Loyang is a Pan-Asian premium destroyer obtainable for doubloons. Her two centrally located five-torp salvos seem to be her trick although I believe she also has good guns which would make her a handy double torp-gunboat threat. 

At Tier X Louisiana is the top end of the American hybrid battleship line. She performed reasonable but I need to play her more to familiarise myself with her abilities. Always in two minds how to play a hybrid anyway.  

And what can I say about Pommern which, until the Mecklenburg happened along, was my go-to all-round brawler battleship. Her long range secondaries remain potent as ever and will melt down a destroyer with ease. A high end performer at Tier IX. Will be interesting to see how she goes when they bring back Asymmetric in the next Update. 

Speaking of the next Update (14.8), WeeGee are continuing their Tenth Anniversary celebrations with yet more goodies. How spoiled are we? he says to no one as he pisses into the wind.  

The main points from the Devblog are briefly summarised as follows:

• Changes to the daily Login Calendar with rewards changed to include Festive tokens, the new currency to earn greater rewards
• Battle Performance Bonus. Similar to last year's anniversary celebration. Unfortunately I forget how that went. Two missions need completing. The first mission requires of earning a certain amount BASE XP. The amounts increases depending on the Tier level ship used. Only Tier V upwards. Second mission earns extra bonuses based on how many ships you have in your port.
• Festive Rewards. Earn Festive tokens depending the ship Tier (superships/Tier XI earn steel instead). These Festive Tokens can then buy various rewards including enemy destruction effect, collection containers, supercontainers (limited quantity), economic bonuses, and signals. However, the one that interests me and which costs 10,000 Festive Tokens is the new Tier X Japanese cruiser Kushiro. 
• Honourable Service. For every year you've been playing WOWS (a minimum of 25 game played per year requirement to qualify), you will receive a collection of rewards in gratitude for your loyalty (or addiction) to the game. The rewards increment in quantity and quality depending on the numbers of years with your involvement. I read that it's cumulative as well which might mean something else to how I interpret the meaning of "cumulative" in context of the wording. Will only know the truth once it happens. 
• Blast from the Past. PvP. 12v12. Surface ships only (no subs, no carriers). Specific tiers. Temporary game mode that celebrates specific years starting with 2015. Years include 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, and current. Runs for a week up until 2022 and current (two weeks each). Only those ships from those specified years qualify. And with the same attributes of those specified years. With the current year, all ships with gimmicks are banned.
• Asymmetric Battles makes a welcomed return. Fun mode and keen to give it a go this time round as I missed the last time round for whatever forgotten reason. 

By far the most interest is for the Blast from the Past game mode. Many of the current nerfs and buffs on specific ships from that period will be removed. For example, the Mogami of 2015 will be way different to the current (2025) Mogami. So it should bring back many who quit as those early years were, so I hear, the glory days of the game. Once the carrier rework was introduced, along with submarines, it's been on the decline so many nowadays complain. 

Sadly I missed first two years (I joined in 2019), and can barely remember those times since. But I will actually participate from start to finish to see how different times truly were and how much those ships have changed. And in some cases, travel down memory lane. 

===============================

Played three of my commanders today raising them to the next skill level. Used the red economic bonuses on a couple because they were available (no point hoarding them for something in the future that may or may not eventuate). Once done, I exchanged the Voyage tokens already accumulated for doubloons. 

If I can I would like to buy a doubloon ship. Haven't decided yet which one. Not a big selection left however.

===============================

1/3000 Naval Wargaming

Of late I have a hankering to run a solo tabletop WW2 naval wargame. 

I have several rulesets to choose from but two stand out because I've actually used them. The other two, Nimitz by Sam Mustafa and Admiral of the Fleet by Seekrieg are recent additions to the library; the latter is a dreadnought set which I've assembled 1/24000 paper ships (glued to balsa); Nimitz has not been trialed yet. 

Stations Manned and Ready II edition 1.1 is by A and A Games Engineering (Englishmen Andrew Finch and Alan Butler). I playtested the rules with part of my Mediterranean fleets (British and Italian). Involved best describes it yet I don't mind it but there is a high learning curve involved. 

But my easy favourite has to be General Quarters III by L. L. Gill. Lots of detail and plenty of ship lists - military and civilian. Played it several times. I like it especially for its naval air ops (carriers). 

Lots of reading in bed therefore as I succumb to the flu.

Some pics of some ships from the collection. Some still need paint touchups before I can run the game especially if wanting to run a large game. More likely I will pick a scenario from the supplements available with SMAR II.

Above photo: The battleships Washington and Indiana escorted by the cruisers Chester and Minneapolis and destroyers Anderson, Roe and Russell.

Above: Japanese ships: Asashio (DD), Yamagumo (DD), Yamashiro (BB), Kongo (BC).

Above: Battleship Vittorio Veneto, cruiser Fiume, light cruiser A. da Barbiano. 

=

Above: British carrier Illustrious with the cruisers Achilles and Neptune.

Above: German surface ships, three destroyers (Z7, Z8, Z16), one battleship (Ulrich von Hutten), and a carrier (Graf Zeppelin). The last two listed are historical but never completed. 

And a quantity of both coastal and ocean merchant vessels completes my small collection. 

==============================

Last night was looking for some scenarios for SMAR game from Games Vault library and discovered the latest letter from the game designers. Apparently SMAR is no more. Closed down in July of this year. You can contact them until the end of this year. Sad to hear this piece of news.

What's disappointing most is that the ships lists for the nations is no longer available. Downloaded the British and Italian ship lists for my Mediterranean fleets. But missed out on the other main players and rest of the world. May contact them to find out if it's still available directly. 

==============================

August Digest #4

Vietnam War slow-grow campaign

Riverine Operations Part 1

Backstory

While the ANZACs at Dong Lam are conducting their sweep Operation Black Bottle is beginning - a riverine sweep up the Song Hoa river as far as the Hong Lee bridge. For this phase three companies from the 54th U.S. Infantry (A, B, D), 9th Division, would make their way upriver to secure the bridge and road from Ap Trang as well as the eastern bank opposite to where the Suoi Trang creek emerged into the Song Hoa (see map below). 

The grey areas denote cleared cultivation or clusters of huts; everything else unless stated is natural vegetation and mostly uninhabited. I've also given them names for ease of identification. And bear no relations to actual or historical locations. 

The old colonial plantation is a functioning rubber tree estate that covers a greater extent than the grey footprint shows. This footprint is a collection of buildings and structures. The plantation borders the Hong Le bridge road to the east, as far north as the two locations Ca Khoc and Co Lac to the north and to the map edges west and south. To the locals it's simply known as the plantation or Don Dien. The plantation owners are absentee French who've returned to France back in the fifties and left caretakers in charge. The estate is now run by a descendant who has assimilated into Vietnamese society with a Vietnamese wife and offspring. 

Hugging the waterways on both sides are various local fishing communities who sell their catch either at Ca Bong or in Vuon Hoa itself. 

The hamlet of Ap Mo straddles the main highway. Ap Mo itself consists of just three old colonial-style buildings of which one is a mercantile store owned by a French-Vietnamese relative of the plantation overseer. There is also a small hotel often busy with locals and travellers. The last structure is an old warehouse. 

Subsidiary roads and tracks commonly used is shown. These connect the various communities. There is also a ferry boat (of sorts) operating on the Suoi Trang stream used mainly by those in and around Noi Buon. 

Beyond the fishing areas, on the northern banks heading toward Thuoc Toi, is mostly overgrown secondary growth interspersed with thick stands of ever plentiful bamboo. West of Thuoc Toi are small holdings, usually family owned rice fields with a few orchard trees. The eastern third of the above map from the river north and inclusive of Ap Mo is largely undulating and hilly jungle.

Battle Plan overview

This overview takes into account that multiple actions will take place en route to the battle group's main objective. For now however these inevitable engagements will be treated separately to this main mission. For the sake of this narrative let's accept that the river journey was uneventful and without incident up until their deployment.

This mission will be broken into three separate sub-mission (one per company). 

U.S. Forces listing

Note: I don't have the full amount of figures to cover all three companies at one go so I'm going to run this scenario in several stages as I expect there will be several engagements happening all at once upon deployment. 

Here's the full listing of those that will take part in this next mission. Names have been ficitionalised to protect the past. I've also listed four rifle platoons because that fourth one is either optional or support weapons. 

• A Company
  
• OC - Major Donald
• 21C - Captain Eissen
• 1st Platoon - Lt Castillas
• 2nd Platoon - Lt Byrd
• 3rd Platoon - Lt Seldwayer
• 4th Platoon - Lt Rowley
• B Company
• OC - Major Schuler
• 2IC - Captain Morales
• 1st Platoon - Lt Camsolea
• 2nd Platoon - Lt Burnside
• 3rd Platoon - Lt Carson
• 4th Platoon - Lt Myers
• D Company
• OC - Major Zollerfeldt
• 2IC - Captain Clarke
• 1st Platoon - Lt Dawes
• 2nd Platoon - Lt Schaeffer
• 3rd Platoon - Lt Smith
• 4th Platoon - Lt Cyzinksi
• Team 1 River force
• Commander - Lt Petersen (naval)
• Monitor
• Tango
• Tango
• Tango
• Monitor
• Team 2 River force
• Commander - Lt Delweere (naval)
• Monitor
• Tango
• Tango
• Command
• Monitor

Battle Plan Company-level

A Company's main mission is twofold: (1) to land then sweep through and secure Ca Bong and (2) conduct patrols south to the river crossing to Noi Buon. HQ in Ca Bong. Team 2 (Delweere) will initially support the landing of A Company before moving  on to the bridge to provide fire support for B Company. 

D Company's mission is mainly to secure control of Hong Lee bridge. Once A Company has secured control of Ca Bong, B Company will land and push through to the bridge. Aim is to secure control of the bridge and the road south of it. Establish headquarters at the Plantation. Patrol as far north as Ca Khoc. D Company will air support available to them as well as artillery on-call. Fire zones have been prepared and authorisation given. 

B Company's mission will be to land at Diem Xanh and make for Thuoc Toi establishing a headquarters there. In support initially will be Team 1 under Lt Petersen. Once B Company are moving on to Thuoc Toi Petersen's team will restation themselves with A Company as fire support and as a reserve to Team 2. B Company have on-call both artillery and air support that have been duly authorised. 

Key Objectives pertaining to the main Battle Plan

• establish and secure control of Ca Bong
• secure control of Hong Lee bridge
• establish and secure control of Thuoc Toi

Key objectives are worth 2 points each. Secondary objectives are worth 1 point apiece. Scoring less that six points is a loss. Any score between six and eight points is a minor win. Scoring nine or more points is a major win for the Free World. 

Secondary Objectives (1 pt each)

• VC losing over thirty percent of their total force committed to this mission by way of combat
• Finding five or more caches of any kind
• Discovering and destroying any tunnel system
• Discovering any enemy encampment
• Finding valuable military documentation
• Capturing any enemy VC alive
• Destroying any enemy armour (APCs and tanks) and soft-skin transports

=========================================

Mission Three: The SAS operations around Lang Bac

This mission revolves around a ANZAC Special Forces squad with the backstory inspired from several actual Special Forces events and stories I've heard in my travels combined into one imaginative extract. For now, this is all I have created. More to follow for sure. 

Backstory

This is a work of fiction...

"...It's been several days now since their night insertion and long walk-in. The smell of the jungle was becoming acceptable to Trooper B, lead scout for the ANZAC SAS team. Captain R had briefed them on the ambush and they had quietly but quickly moved into position. Trooper B and Trooper K were at the one end of the linear ambush. Paired together, barely inches apart, they lay on the ground ignoring the warm dampness of the humid night and the growing night sounds. Trooper B checked the clacker once more knowing that it was ready. He checked the safety was off. It was. He imagined the wires carefully leading to the triplet of claymores positioned just yards from the track. 

The rest of the team were off to the right in similar readiness. He carefully rubbed the sweat with his camo scarf. He ignored the growing stiffness in his body. The sound of the jungle was a familiar song to him now. The luminescent glow of the fungus speckled the darkness which seemed to him utterly amazing. 

Suddenly he felt a soft but distinct tap-tap-tap on his left side. He quickly shook the pleasant thoughts of a moment ago and immediately concentrated on the firing arc he had chosen before it fell dark. Then he heard it. The slight scuffle of footsteps distant, off to his left. Faint at first but drawing closer. Something was on the track. He could not see at all: it was too dark. He tried to discern the step patterns instead but couldn't make them out amidst the night symphony of insect sounds. 

The steps became clearer however. He turned his head slightly in the direction he guessed them to be. Whoever was making those steps was pretty good at moving around in this inky darkness. Then it stopped. He waited. He was immediately tempted to trigger the claymores. 

Another tap-tap. 

A signal by Trooper K to wait. So he did. The steps began again moving slowly off to their right. Moving down the track. He listened. No other steps were heard. 

Suddenly a trip wire flare went off.

Automatically he squeezed his clacker. The explosions were as sudden as they were loud. The illumination was blinding. Trooper K was already firing. Trooper B joined him. 

Both quickly expended magazine and had fresh ones already loaded. Rounds chambered. They waited amid the sudden deafness. Then there was a hand on his shoulder. He understood immediately and quickly rose to a knee, turned around and reached out for the vine line that lay not far away, stood up and slowly but surely followed it into the darkness. 

At the predetermined RV spot they waited for the rest of the team. A quick count. Then the team moved off. Back into the jungle. Back into the darkness..."

=========================================

Hobby

Did some more Blinds and support fire blast squares today. Tried another approach to gluing the two halves of the Blind by first taping the back with sellotape before applying the wood glue to the front and using a spatula to work the glue into the gaps between the two halves. Once dried will prime then paint in their respective faction colours - red for VC/NVA, yellow for ARVN, green for Free World. 

For the 6" blast squares I did something similar using the end off-cuts as braces on the corners before gluing. Once dried, I trimmed the braces then applied a black primer coat. Base coat will either be grey or some other neutral colour.  

=========================================

World of Warships

Took a break from the normal skipper grind and played instead those ships with new or switched commanders. Fair few and it was fun to play ships I haven't played either in a while or only once. Highlights would have to be delight in playing Gambia and Nanning. 

While my teammates raced after the enemy I was left to defend our base in the Gambia against three enemy ships, Dallas, Duncan and Sinop. I had less than 1/4 HP left. Lucky for me these were bot-driven. Still, I could have done with some assistance especially from the a*hole who kept pressing "Defend the base" whilst chasing after the enemy carrier at the other end of the map. In a moment of relief, I typed "nz". At the time I was also remembering what Rommel claimed to have said about the ANZACs during WW2, how he would attack with Australians and defend with New Zealanders. I guess I was living the dream. Lol. 

Pleasantly surprised by the Nanning and its two five-torpedo tubes armament and range. This Legacy event reward has smoke while its guns deals useful damage especially after torping the target. Like putting someone out of their misery. 

Also forgot I had plonked my Santa commanders from past Christmas events on most of the Tier One ships. Forgot also how slow they are. But it did help me to focus dealing damage when confronting an opponent. Aiming below the gunwale might be standard at higher tiers (because of the citadel location) but at Tier One aiming for the superstructure is the best way to deal damage and earns kills quicker. No matter which cruiser, the results are the same. 

=========================================

August Digest #3

World of Warships

Yeah...tonight I bought the remaining four superships - Ushakov, Novobisirsk, Piemonte and Darlana listed in the current tech tree line. Of course, there are other "superships"/OP ships out there but they're behind the Steel or Research Bureau pay wall which for now are outside of my skinflint reach. 

Thought to bring in my own commanders for these acquisitions but the cost in Elite Commander XP was too much and so it was a no. The option of acquiring a new commander with the ship would have cost several million credits which seemed excessive. I can accept the ship cost but not the commander when the skill level is the same across the board whether he's Tier I or he's a Supership skipper. I might feel generous at times but not to that extent; and I was only ever after the ships to begin with. It was unnecessary expense anyway given I hardly ever play superships except on that very very rare occasions: and you can play any ship without a commander. Finally, I am, and remain, a collector at heart. 

After that expenditure I still have more than enough credits to start earning Research Bureau points through a tech tree line reset. Standard procedure, from others who've done this previously, is to go for the cheapest reset which happens to be the Harugumo line. 

But for now though I'm holding off. Whenever I dither or hesitate, it's usually for a reason. Not sure why although I suspect after being skint for much of my early WOWS experience, I now want a comfortable buffer (credits, Free XP, Elite Cmdr XP and so on) so that any expenditure is not going to leave me a pauper to the game. The irony is not lost on me either having on numerous occasions whaled my way when I coveted something so much I had to have it. Lol. 

Anyway, spur-of-the-moment decisions (such as tonight's four ship acquisition) only ever happen after much mulling over. Which can last for day, weeks, even months. 

===============================

Late afternoon session turned out a bit different from the usual grind. 

Wanted the buy a steel ship but was torn between Shikishima (forever a long time goal) and Svea (a recent addition to the steel ships collection). It was a toss up but eventual settled on the latter. But the way I acquired it was the "fun" aspect for me. 

Exchanged what voyage tokens I had recently accumulated (4000 so far) for steel in order to increase my current accumulation (around 23k). I also wanted to take advantage of a specific 25% discount coupon. But I was short just under 500 steel. So I bought phases in the current Event Pass in order to obtain 600 steel. And so I was able to obtain the Svea after all. 

Last night I happened across a new (to me) YouTube WOWS streamer who went into great detail on how to be more efficient using the Research Bureau. While he waffled on at times (voice making me sleepy), he did cover the essentials and explained the advanced techniques used. As such, I've since had to revise the amount of Free XP I will need. The video inspired me to do a triple double reset. Hence the need to have enough Free XP to cover this new requirement (I was planning to do just a double double reset).

===============================

New chapter in the Operations - Tokyo Express - commenced today. As such different ships and different style of mission play. Managed again to prove fortunate with teammates who both understood and played to the mission. And thus managed - again - to complete all the chapters in the one day. Started out on the Anchorage but wasn't having much success so switched to the San Diego (yes, the same ship that's offered as reward for completing this series of new Op missions). And then finished the last few chapters on the Massachussetts and North Carolina CLR.

To top out what appeared to be a "glorious day" for me I also completed the six tasks in the second mission of the Dockyard Event and collected the rewards. In doing so I passed the point-of-no-return by completing the sixth phase meaning the 6-phase discount bundle is no longer available. From here on out to the final end it's grind, grind, grind. Fortunately the mission tasks don't seem all that difficult, just time consuming. Especially ginding out the BASE XP ones.

===============================

I've learned to play and am mastering interior lines, a well-known military concept. Especially in slower or weaker ships. Instead of being static and hiding behind an island (still useful when engaging multiple enemies aka farming) I will move along with the flow but hang back far enough to not get focused. The advantage of playing interior lines is the shorter distance to travel from Point A and Point B while still targeting the enemy with those travelling from Point C and Point D. 

Think of it as two circles, one within the other. I'm riding the circumference of the inner circle whereas my teammates will be riding the outer circle circumference. They travel further than me but we're both engaging the enemy beyond. And in a slow battleship with 18" guns, your reach compensates for your slower speed. 

Napoleon used it throughout his career. It has been around since the ancient times. I've simply adapted it to a developing WOWS play style by someone who's mediocre to average as a player. 

===============================

Advantage of having a spreadsheet is being able to see emerging patterns and thus plan ahead. 

Noticed some ships have either not been played or played just once. Those unplayed unclude recent additions to the port fleet like Svea (steel ship) and Nanning (earned from a previous Update event). Others however have been around for a while such as some of the superships: I've used placeholders for the time been thus going cheap (retraining for free requiring obtaining a certain amount of commander XP - usually 12,500). Of course, I haven't found time to play these expensive additions. And the cost in credits and economic bonuses is usually very high unless you have an abundant amount.  

Coupled with that, some ships have also not advanced their captain skill level beyond 6% commander XP. Tomorrow and thereafter, when there's a lull or I don't feel like doing my captain upskill grind, I will switch over to playing those captains. 

Once the current crop of ship captains are upskilled to 21 point (probably around 2026 at the rate I'm travelling), I will begin with the next crew. Mainly those that are 15- and 16-pt level. 

Today I also re-assigned ship captains from the Reserve. I know some advocate having few captains and I tried following that system for a while but in the end I decided to go my own way. Began shuffling around ship captains around too to best combine both ship and captain accordingly, especially the Seasoned ones.

===============================

Star Wars

After yesterday's surprise encounter with X-Wing (thanks Simon), I did a quick search and discovered the game is considered dead officially. I had already known that the original designers, FFG, had ceased production but I didn't know that others had bought a license to continue producing. There have been updates and new stuff but as far as new developments or upgrades, that's no longer happening. Not that it's such a bad thing although it is sad. 

If something works and you enjoy it as-is, why try to improve on it? And that's how I see my small dedicated collection. All version 1 stuff with core sets and expansion waves. 

Playing it again got me excited again. Or maybe it was the playing against a live opponent once again that excited me rather than the game. I suspect this is more the case than I care to openly admit.  

===============================

Vietnam War slow-grow campaign

Finish the condensed rule writeup. Proof read and then printed out. Still to redo version 2 of the cards but for now happy with my first draft cards.

To recap, at the end of Turn 8, the following outcomes had been decided:

• All the ANZAC APCs have been unlucky and immobilised with one (Kneiper) actually knocked out by an RPG. Patterson's and Delaney's turret guns are still operable and helping to keep the enemy VC pinned down to the north of the village.
• ANZAC KIA so far: 2 troopies (1 each from 1 and 2 sections) and 1 tankie (unfortunate driver of Cpl Kneiper's APC)
• Information sought from the villagers proves fruitless upon first encounter by the platoon commander, Lt Mike Sommers.
• As such no objectives achieved thus far.

For the VC, the situation isn't exactly as planned either...

• The traps laid enjoyed mixed success. The AT mine struck its intended target, the lead APC. But claymores were less effective with half detonating but causing no casualties. 
• VC KIA: 3 to the north, 2 to the south due to fire and combat with the ANZACs
• Partial success in neutralising the mounted threat (APCs) but lost the south sector. But they still have the mortars and command squad (still hidden). Remaining infantry squad barely hanging on. 

Engagement at Dong Lam - Part Two

This proved short and sweet. And, in the end, a great letdown.

The only turn (Turn 9) saw the ANZAC platoon activate early this time round. The armoured carrier personnel under Delaney's Big Man card eventually took part, but when they did they did so decisively. For it was the APC gunner with the .50 cal that blasted the remnants of the VC squad pinning down the ANZACs there into oblivion. It was a total wipeout.

Too late to help the squad, the VC commander decision was made up when the Di Di Mau card turned up. 

While the VC infantry squad in the north was being blasted into oblivion, the VC mortar team on the south side tried to get involved. They spotted the retiring ANZAC infantry squad still in the open. However, like their previous efforts, their aim was way off. And that's when they too decided to skoot away on the Di Di Mau card reveal.

This left the ANZAC force now in command of an empty combat zone. 

During the firefight Lt Sommers and his headquarters team sheltering in the hooch suddenly discovered a weapons cache. The occupant pleaded innocence but the platoon commander was unconvinced. 

After the battle he resumed his sweep of led now by 3 Section. He detailed 2 Section to watch the south as well as backup to 3 Section. Meanwhile 1 Section were despatched to collect the dead of both sides and search for anything else of useful value. 

The other villagers proved reluctant or ignorant upon questioning. And nothing was found - no cache, no tunnel. 

1 Section recovery mission proved eventful and productive. They found what bodies were there and searched them. They also found a food cache not far from 2 Section's melee. Surprisingly they also came across a local villager imprisoned by the VC in the same location. He turned out to be the headman of the village. He was grateful upon release and showed them where the fleeing VC had left a stash of military-looking papers. 

Unfortunately as they were making their way back to the platoon one of their own set off a booby trap while carting a dead body and died instantly.

The dismounted APC crews salvaged what they could after realising they needed a recovery team. One of the .50 cal was kept on the APC as overwatch toward the north. 

Meanwhile Lt Delaney and the remainder of the tankies found themselves foot patrolling the northern village road as far as the crossroads located northwest of the village. There they discovered the second AT mine, marked it for the peons (assault pioneers) to neutralise, and then returned to the village by the southern bypass road where they happened upon 1 section and helped them out with the dead bodies. 

The mopping up operation took the rest of that day by which time the rest of the company showed up and both officers made their respective reports. Sommers was praised while Delaney was questioned about losing all his troop. 

===============================

Post-battle analysis and commentary

1. Ideally I should have played the game right through from start to end. No break in the middle. 
2. Some tactical errors were made on my part as the ANZAC player in that:
1. I should never have split the command the way I did with Two section (and APC) on their own; at least one other APC should have gone along as backup/support.
2. perhaps left the questioning and hoochie searching until after the area was secured, NOT while a firefight was happening where Lt Sommer's command presence was needed. 
3. One and Three sections should have conducted the village sweep together. One section's APC and Delaney's APC would have provided support. 
3. The CDS rules in its basic form is still not working for me. The condensed version I created still needs further editing and reorganising. 

When is a Blind not a Blind? And the obvious answer is obvious. The issue I now realise is that Blinds as a concept has been designed by someone who is catering to live players. And probably not the approach a solo gamer might take. Although you can never really know with wargamers. 

Interpreting that concept as a way to describe "fog of war" can be misleading because one then associates Blinds with "fog of war". And I struggled to understand that intent for a while. Until now.  

The concept of Blinds itself is nothing new; it's just another approach clothed in different wording. But it's no different to a solo player using pre-set conditions to govern actions in a game. In fact you might say solo wargamers have been using "Blinds" ever since solo gaming has been around. 

With that confusion cleared up in my head, Blinds now no longer bother me for I will treat them now from a solo gamer's perspective. 

===============================

Last night whilst doing research for the next mission, I happened across an interesting source reference. It covered the "brown water" navy well enough for me to gain ideas for the next mission. It's a book by John Darrell SHERWOOD, War In The Shallows: U.S. Naval, Coastal and Riverine Warfare In Vietnam 1965-1968. The title is in public domain (meaning you can download the PDF copy online for free if so inclined). 

It covers that important period from 1965 up to the 1968 Tet Offensive. I found it interesting if slanted heavily regarding how well American fighting forces are or were in those times. The author seemed critical of the Vietnamese naval personnel especially after the murder of one of their most brightest leaders during the coup of 1963. He believes the quality of the naval leaders and the VNN thereafter suffered after the coup with replacements being young and of lower quality despite the training provided by the Americans.

The book concentrates on the riverine operations (notably around the Mekong Delta). The vital role performed by the oft-outnumbered Navy SEALs showed how elite they were and the impact they had wherever they operated. I want to replicate in one of the future missions. 

The index while short is useful. The titles listed favoured more the "blue (open water)" and "green water (coastal)" operations with riverine (or "brown water") operations generally consigned as a footnote to the overall conduct of U.S. naval operations in Vietnam. 

Yet the river rats saw much action and suffered sizeable losses; their contribution proved valuable and appreciated at the higher levels as well as with the locals they were trying to win over. Why else would the U.S. invest so much manpower and resources during this period. The same couldn't be said for the Vietnamese equivalent who lacked both resources and equipment as well as a general malaise with their command structure. 

Seeing the pictures in the book got me interested even more in the period. And it has even inspired me to try to construct (scratchbuild) some APBs needed for my riverine force. Hunting for blueprints and deciding on what to build them out of are my current concern. 

I do have a few hardcopy reference materials of my own pertaining to the period which should also contribute to generating further ideas for other future missions. But for now, I'm working on the next three missions of which the next one will be riverine. Cheers.

===============================

August digest #2

World of Warships

As arduous and tedious the grind may be, I will hold off on a final decision to fork out the 17,500 doubloons for both discounted phases bundles for the Dockyard Event. 

There are seven weekly missions in total with this Dockyard event. Already completed two phases of the first week's mission set. Should finish another two tomorrow leaving me just two to grind  through to next Wednesday.

The first of the new Operation missions began today. Arctic Convoy consists of twelve stages with a 10-point commander as final reward. Advancing through the stages costs stars earned (usually six per stage). Victory or Defeat is really irrelevant as it's the stars that matter most: get enough to complete the stage and advance on to the next one. Once you've completed all twelve stages, if you want to continue playing, there is a bonus round where the prize are couple of signal crates. 

The next phase - Tokyo Express - begins next week. Managed to finish the Arctic Convoy stage pretty quickly (almost too easily I think but maybe it's because I was playing with those who understood the mission brief). And now I can return to my regular commander upskill grind. 

A new collection is also unlocked that is running in conjunction with these new Operation missions. The new collection consists of sixteen tiles divided up into four pages. These tiles are earned as rewards through playing the Operations missions. Completing a page of four tiles rewards with one free Premium day. Completing the collection rewards you with three Premium days. Wow!

Also got my 500 Voyager and 2 GQ Johnny tokens for today's participation as mentioned in the News notification and WOWS Development blog. Going to hold on to the Voyager tokens earned for now because I'm unsure whether to go for all-doubloons or all-steel or a combination of both. Liking the latter idea at the moment but it depends on what tickles my fancy down the track. 

Another new Event Pass began today. Only one ship reward (have it already so expecting a massive credit compensation) is being offered at the mid-point of the event. Sadly there is no ship as the final reward, a trend I hope doesn't become the norm but this is WG after all. Will likely unlock the second level in a few days because I'm happy to spend and collect the extra steel and Elite Commander XP on offer for now. Every little bit helps this particular small-time gambler. 

======================================

After the hectic action of the start of Update 14.7 yesterday, it's back to the usual grinding routine although I did include added battleships in order to complete the last task in the Dockyard Event first week's missions. 

Did decide to buy the 2 phases bundle pack for 5,000 dubs. It was kind of forced on me because the event rules stipulate that you cannot acquire the final reward (Laffey) without paying for two phases with doubloons. In fact, it's any two phases. Figured therefore to do it by buying the discounted bundle instead of spending 6,000 normally (one phase costs 3,000 dubs). A saving of 1,000 dubs is worth it for this skintflint.

Not now going with the six phase bundle; why throw 12,500 dubs away needlessly when you can hoard for other spending opportunities? Happy to grind the remaining six weeks. Having done multiple all-nighters and sometimes even all-nighters and most of the next day over the past six years, I am now accustomed to such long grinding sessions.   

======================================

Today (Sunday), for a lark and as a bonus from today's short grind, I took the San Diego out for a quick run to blow off any cobwebs. No desire other than to re-familiarise myself with this ship ever since I got her in December 2022 as part of the Santa crates. She has a bit of mileage on her since that time, 88,000 plus ship XP. She also happens to be one of the reward for one of the events (compensation is several thousand dubs if you already have her) active throughout this current Update.

In the games I forgot how squishy she is. First game ran into the Duncan. It had fired its torp; too late to evade, I took it. And died. Kaboom.

After that episode I decided to play her cautiously, ie hiding behind island and spamming when I could. She's got hydro, firing boost, AA, torps, and air strike. But at only around 27,000 HP she is very vulnerable. HE is really SAP. Got lots of guns - ten - so her firepower is nothing to sneeze at. But the 11,000 dubs as compensation will come in handy down the track. 

Ended up splurging (reluctantly) buying ten War is Ended premium crates and then traded in Victory tokens (from the premium crates) for another seven normal War is Ended crates. 

Boosted my Free XP stash so that now I can reset a line via the Research Bureau (will be my first time ever). And the Elite Cmdr XP got some healthy infusion. Loads of Blues and Greens economic bonuses. And permanent camo. I guess the prize though was obtaining the Tier VII Royal Sovereign. Saw a couple earlier in the Arctic Convoy Operations.  

Ship-wise, looking at the Svea as potentially my next steel ship. Just need another 6000 Voyage tokens. Also contemplating spending credits to obtain the two Russian superships Ushakov and Novosibirsk as well as the Italian supercruiser Piemonte. Maybe even the European Dalarma. But I await the outcome of my first Research Bureau line reset. 

======================================

Vietnam War slow-grow campaign

Still working on rewriting out an abridged version of the core ruleset. Hope to have something more condensed by the end of this weekend. I'll need a couple of extra days to do the proofing, editing and then final print out. A further incentive (for me) will be updating the current card set (version 2). Size and material are the main reasons why. 

Once satisfied, only then will I return to finish off the first scenario. 

All the while, and at the same time, I am continually generating news ideas and scenarios for this campaign. Already planning to involve my small riverine fleet in the next mission. It will likely involve dropping off an advance party ahead of a main follow up force and seeing what happens.  

The troops aboard the Tango boats will either be US or ARVN Marines. Leaning towards playing US because of their strong firepower and greater support available. But I won't rule out playing the ARVN as I don't want to ignore them or treat them as subordinate to the other Free World nations. 

======================================

Star Wars: X Wing

A gaming buddy texted me for a game this weekend. His choice and call. My place and toys. Have not touched or played this game in a very very long time. Had to rely much on the Force for motivation although the hot chocolate maybe helped with the memory jogging. Anyway, this is how it went. 

We chose to play it simple. First game was three on three: TIE (me) vs X-wing (opponent).

My two best (higher skilled) pilots took on the lone X-wing ace while my remaining pilot tackled the two Rebellion rookies. Things didn't go as well as intended as the X-wings proved more sturdy under fire. Plus the dice rolls favoured my opponent. Although I have to admit my opponent's superior playing tactics helped him win the first game. My lone TIE fighter tried his best but was unable to defeat the remaining two X-Wings. 

Game 2 saw us swap ships and replay same mission, such as it was. My X-Wings this time chose to fly in formation. Got a lucky start when one of the TIE fighters chose to use the obstacle field as a way to sneak around. Unfortunately he snuck right into my firing LOS and died.

The remaining two TIE fighters chose to barrel roll their way around the formation flying. It was a moderately successful tactic but the rookies weren't buying it as they stayed tight throughout. However their flight leader somehow chose to ignore his own instruction and soon became isolated which suited the remaining TIE ace who took multiple opportunities to whittle down the X wing defences until it exploded. 

But in that moment of success for the Imperium, the rookies struck for the Rebellion and exacted fatal retribution on the TIE fighter. 

Honours even therefore. Fun afternoon. Thanks to my opponent for showing up and providing a break from solo wargaming.

Next meetup (whenever that might be) will be a game of Eldritch Horror. Can we co-op our way to success and defeat the Old Gods? Or will Time run out and we perish in a nightmare hell of our own devising?

======================================