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BG:NORTHAG - What year should it be set in?

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NTM
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Thu Feb 15, 2018 11:28 am
Any year the Battlefront East and West Germans I bought will work for.
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eddieazrael
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:58 am
I'm thinking that perhaps this is looking at it from the wrong angle - should the question really be - "what are the start and end dates that these rules should be able to accommodate?" To explain, current Battlegroup rules are neatly bounded by WW2 - "A" armour rating sits on the Jadgtiger, with no expectation to go beyond that. If you set boundaries for start and end dates that are too tight, the risk is that a vehicle in service a couple of years before or after your initial dates then doesn't 'fit' if you try to expand the timeline. If there is no intention of ever doing that, I guess that's fine, but it seems a bit foolish to me at least to exclude gaming a later date because of an over focus on an earlier one.
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Ollie124
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Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:21 am
KP Actual .... TRADOC didn't adopt the Bundeswehr tri-color until '87-88. But for M1s and Bradleys, just leave them in the factory forest green.
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Smee106
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Sat Feb 17, 2018 1:31 am
1983 that the year I joined up
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Hincmar
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Sun Feb 18, 2018 8:54 am
Morning lads.

Finally made it to here after the recent, lamentable demise of The Guild.

My vote would be for the specific 1983-84 period for the reasons mentioned.   A key element of the core rules is the balance of lists based on specific setting, and I agree that the latter period is nicely-poised both in terms of the geopolitical background and forces / equipment (pre-uber tanks) available.   Personally, I have some nostalgia for this time - just after the Falklands, middle of the Thatcher years, and I was emerging from childhood into early teens and really understanding the world we were living in for the first time.

Right, off to work out how to post pictures. We are playing a game this afternoon using the current "WIP" rule set!

Cheers
KP Actual
KP Actual
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Mon Feb 19, 2018 5:57 pm
Ollie124 wrote:KP Actual .... TRADOC didn't adopt the Bundeswehr tri-color until '87-88. But for M1s and Bradleys, just leave them in the factory forest green.

Ollie, I found a few pics of US Army units in Europe in three color nato and the pictures were dated 1985. It did say they were rare though.
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Gun-Pit Paul
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Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:14 am
When I was in the army (80-87), we always assumed that it would kick-off in 1985.
recce103c
recce103c
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Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:42 pm
I think the timeframe 85-88 is ideal as a transitionary period techniquesand equipment wise. Leads to interesting mix and so a longer shelf life for the rule set.
KatieL
KatieL
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Thu Mar 01, 2018 12:57 pm
Could the equipment not be tagged to show introduction eras?

So the M1 might be "1980-82, restricted. 83+ available"

Given that this is alt-history, it might be worth annotating things by which universes they're available. So the M1 is available in the "Hackettverse" (albeit referred to as the XM-1), but Challenger isn't (because when Hackett wrote his book, it was a just being done as an upgrade of Chieftain for Iran -- the Hackettverse isn't OUR 1985, it's a 1985 following a change in 1979 with increased military spending/preparations.)

Hence Challenger 1 might be
"1983-86 restricted, 87+ available, Not Hackettverse"

(I am, by the way, excited to see this being done! I think it'll be a better rules-set than the Other Ones I was planning to use...)
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loki77
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Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:43 am
83 for me as its when i joined up.
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Bonde
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Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:32 pm
I'm a fan of 1985-86, as it allows for greater variation in units, especially armoured fighting vehicles. However, if multiple books are an option, having a book set in 1983 and a book set in 1987 would allow for different playstyles for the different forces.
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Flinty
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Wed Apr 04, 2018 5:10 pm
Its obvious from the posts so far that apart form some point in the 1980's, its not going to be possible to keep everyone happy - I'd prefer 82-84 for example.

KatieL wrote:Could the equipment not be tagged to show introduction eras?

I think Katie has the best idea - obviously more work in compilation, but if its limited to one decade (or whatever timespan seems workable/logical) at least most people should be - hesitate to say it, but possibly happy....
PanzerSmurf
PanzerSmurf
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Fri Apr 13, 2018 8:33 pm
Truth be told, I'm looking to use the ruleset for anything from the 70s on up....
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Lion in the Stars
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Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:01 am
Could we do like in BGOverlord, where you have one set of lists for hitting the beach, and another set of lists for later?

In this case, I'd want one set of lists for Able Archer/death of Andropov (83-84) and another for Red Storm Rising (1988)
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Hated
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Thu Apr 19, 2018 2:55 pm
could we not in theory just add dates to certain vehicles? so for example players could pick a year they want to play and then select units only within that listed timeline. id prefer that to any hard caps by splitting it into multiple books ect
PanzerSmurf
PanzerSmurf
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Thu Apr 19, 2018 3:18 pm
I'm with Hated on this one... My interests in the Cold War pretty much spans from the 50s to the 90s.... So I want to do a theoretical reaction to the troubles in Poland in 1956 - if for no other reason than to break out my IS-3s. I've also ran a game where the French Foreign Legion did an intervention in Mali in 1975 (Link to the Batrep) where I added in Rules of Engagment to frustrate the French player. So any ruleset is pretty much going to get adapted to fit scenarios other than just the ones in the book.
Bonklebrain
Bonklebrain
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Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:47 pm
I'm all for 85-86 as this is the period my model collection (20mm) represents. Also it's a time when some newer kit is coming on line in limited numbers alongside some older equipment.
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naash
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Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:12 pm
Lion in the Stars wrote:Could we do like in BGOverlord, where you have one set of lists for hitting the beach, and another set of lists for later?

In this case, I'd want one set of lists for Able Archer/death of Andropov (83-84) and another for Red Storm Rising (1988)

+1 !
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Andy Rix
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Sat Aug 11, 2018 8:19 am
Looks like this may be a bit late for the debate:

I would consider the Cold war in 3 possible 4 periods based on the situation, technology and organisational structures although all would be in the 10  year block time frame. Rate of change could be considered lower than in WW2, particularly when Organisational change and  Equipment introductions ran over 5-10 year time frames.  The time period impact could be reduced if the Equipment and Organisational components used could reflect what was in widespread use for a particular period, rather than what was bleeding in and out at the Boundaries of the periods, or it could take a core window as representative of the period.
Gamers could then play mix and match.  Each of the periods has a different flavour. In terms of the doctrine, Organiisation and Equipment although some research would be needed to crisp up the period definition and dates.
the Armoured Acorn ORBATs used to be great for looking at components of this but have sadly disappeared.

  • Period 1 would be immediate post War, through to the late 50s (Predominantly Pre Nuclear  Battlefield on the Soviet Side)
  • Period 2 would be 60s-Early 70's  (Predominantly Nuclear Battefield)
  • Period 3 Would be early 70's to Early 80's (Transition)
  • Period 4 Woud run throgh to early 90s  (Post Nuclear Battlefield)

Period 4 is complicated by the impact of detente and the wind down of the Cold War. You would need to consider the route to War, No Detente would need an extrapolation of organisation and equipment that didn't follow the detent driven changes, a hair trigger out of detente would.  Given the tactical rather than operational focus of the game the impacts here might be minimal.

Mapping the NATO doctrine to the periods would also be interesting, although I am less able to consider that off the top of my head


  • Period 3 and 4 are currently more popular
  • Period 4 has complications
  • Period 2 has rising interest
  • Period 1 is largely WW2 +


Last edited by Andy Rix on Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:58 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Improve clarity and the english)
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naash
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Sat Aug 11, 2018 2:11 pm
My favourite one would be definitely post 85.
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wargameroz
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Sun Aug 12, 2018 1:25 am
Having gamed with Richard using his mods my preference is 82-84, can still use the Brits with the FN and also Chieftains and FV432s plus it’s still close enough to have Winter of 79 type games bubbling along in the UK while the squaddies are are looking over their shoulder as to what is happening at home

Plus it seems that’s what Matt at Elhiem has aimed for with his excellent figures which are populating my forces
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nickdives
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Sun Aug 12, 2018 7:26 pm
Last edited by Andy Rix on Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:58 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Improve clarity and the english)

Good stuff, but looks like you still need a Sgt Major to check your work!!
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