Re: Saturday 10th April 2010 game: Ostfront 1944

[Martin]

I think you are already on the list for the game Richard. Assuming I have the right Richard, of course. That's Richard M, right?

I'll see what I can do re the German bit.

The venue is at the Little Gaddesden village hall, a few miles N of Hemel. I can email you a map if necessary.

Martin

[Richard]

I think you are already on the list for the game Richard. Assuming I have the right Richard, of course. That's Richard M, right?

Martin

Martin,

No - Richard Prosser! I was an umpire at LG for the 19C game (last one, I think).


Cheers,

Richard
PS Russian will do :-)

[Martin]

Hi Richard

Yes I remember you, and you will of course be very welcome to join us.

Thanks for the flexibility, and I'll see what we can do about meeting your first preference.

Regards

Martin

[Martin]

Together with Richard (number 2) we now have 15 confirmed attendees, which will make this our largest ever k/spiel.

The situation lends itself to plenty of players though, so if you are interested, do get in touch, and we'll fit you in.

We've put together some guidlines on how we will be running the game, and I'll see if I can post that here in the next few days.

Martin

[Martin]

We are now up to 16 or 17, including no less than 4 Richards! Terrific. Sadly not a single Ivan or Fritz yet though.

Hopefully everyone who has condfirmed they are coming will have received the 'Guidance for players' document from me by email. Please let me know if not.

The top brass on both sides are now doing some limited pre-planning. During the next few days we will allocate the remaining roles, either as player or as part of the umpire team. It looks as if we will be able to satify those who have expressed a preference. Once you have a role, you will receive the appropriate detailed briefing for one or both sides.

The structure of the game does lend itself to plenty of players, so if you are thinking of coming but haven't yet confirmed, we can probably fit you in.

Martin

[Martin]

Just to let you know that the high commands on both sides are now finalising their initial plans & dispositions.

Once this process is complete, the next stage will be to allocate players to frontline commands on either the German or Russian side, and provide them with detailed briefings. Most of the umpire team have already been appointed, so if you have not yet been allocated a role, it is likely that you will end up as a player. There is definitely a specific role for everyone!

Once all the commands have been allocated, the senior German & Russian commanders will contact the members of their team directly, and brief them on their general intentions etc. We would expect this to happen by the end of this week. The members of each team can then get to know one another, and discuss the game freely before the day.

Cost for the day looks to be £4, and we will probably aim for a 10.30 am start, and to finish shortly after 5 pm. So it's a fair bit longer than our normal game. You will need to bring your own lunch, and also some cake or biscuits to contribute to afternoon tea. Milk, sugar, tea & coffee will be provided out of the £4.

You have all previously confirmed, and we are assuming that you are all coming to this game. It will depend on having lots of players & umpires. If you are in doubt as to whether you can make it, do please let us know.

Regards

Martin

[Martin]

All players who have confirmed attendance have now been given a role on either the German, Russian or umpire teams. This will allow almost a fortnight for members of each team to communicate freely with team-members before the game, if they wish.

Cost for the day remains at £4, which will include milk, sugar, tea & coffee. Given the quality of the venue, this is an incredibly low price, but the forces of repression in Little Gaddesden are now wise to us, and I fear that we will be charged more if we run long games like this in the future.

The major challenge will be to keep the game moving and to complete the scenario. Given this, we have decided to bring the start forward by 30 minutes to 10 am. We have to be out of the hall by about 5.15 pm for a children's birthday party.

We have 16-17 players, but could still fit a few more in, so register your interest here if you would like to join us.

Martin

[Ian]

For those of you who didn't see the emails after the game, and couldn't be there on the day, you missed a cracking game.

[Martin]

Glad you enjoyed it Ian, and thanks again for your not inconsiderable contribution.

For those not there, the game was based loosely on the Russian encirclement of a part of the German 8th Army in the Korsun area in early 1944. We also covered the attempts to relieve the pocket.

Am pleased to say that we got through 3 weeks playing daily turns in about 5 1/2 hours of game time.

I think Richard Clarke of TFL is planning to do a write-up of the game, so I'll not spoil that, except to say we had a clear result. I should also point out that Richard was German C in C, so members of the Russian team may wish to contact him in order to get their version of history in there.

Martin