Battle of Santa Cruz recreated

Good video!

Soviet propaganda film with assorted AFV's.

Lend-Lease

Here is what the industrial power of WWII, aka the United States, sent to various countries during the war.

Artillery and other unwanted effects

Artillery was a potent force in WWII, supposedly the #1 source of casualties.  I have never been able to track down the source of that statistic, but it is repeated so often it has become commonly accepted knowledge.  In wargames, however, no one really wants fire from the sky in anything like historical terms.  Looking at historical OoB's, AT guns, mortars, and artillery assets were very common.  Why is it then that players so resent mortars and off-board artillery in their games.  Maybe because it is out of the player's control as they maneuver their infantry and armor around the board.  For the U.S. forces it makes up for untrained infantry and deficient armor.  One U.S. army officer in Europe said once that he moved about five to ten miles each bound.  Then he would call down the artillery on the enemy position, and advance another five to ten miles.  So you can see playing without the artillery for any of the western Allies hamstrings them unfairly.

The new playtest rules have significant changes to the artillery, which make it quite a force to be reckoned with.

Japanese aircraft site

This site has a wonderful assortment of pictures and drawings of Japanese aircraft and aircraft carriers, such as Kaga, at right.

San Diego road trip

Travelled south to San Diego to host a Mein Panzer engagement yesterday.  My standard training scenario, "Is That You, Sacha?", has small amounts of artillery (mortars), infantry, and light AFV's, which makes it perfect for novices spooling up on the rules.  It pits an American Armored Cav battlegroup against a German Panzer Recon group.  After playing it, most gamers are ready for more involved units and tactics.  Each time I have run it, there has been a dramatically different outcome.  This time the "Amis" won, using a long range gunnery duel with the AFV's to decide the issue.  The infantry in the centrally located town failed to make contact with each other, and did not factor in the fight.  I believe both sides had a good time, which bodes well for more games in the future.

The Lone Sentry

Here is a great site dedicated to providing contemporary information about WWII subjects. Within it are copies of field manuals, photographs, documents, and research on World War II. A wealth of good information, especially for those investigating infantry and artillery tactics of the war.