Grumble Jones June Scenario GJ136 The Beresti Drift

Unbelievably, May is fading fast and June looms ahead with the promise of hot...hot Oklahoma temperatures. May is a hard time in Oklahoma and this May has been an exceptionally hard one for tornadoes across the plains. Communities north, south, east and west of Tulsa have been ravaged by EF3 and EF4 tornadoes. Life on the plains in springtime is a cruel kind of storm roulette as each community hopes the telltale funnel clouds come down on someone else. I'll be honest, my wife and I are a bit shellshocked this year. The storm coverage in Oklahoma is absolutely second to none in the nation...but it's also a full-time coverage whenever the dry line forms over OKC and makes its assault eastward towards Tulsa. 

ASL wise, May was tremendous with Dan and I getting in 14 games this month. 13 was our previous monthly record. We are on a plan to hit 1000 games played by 2027. I don't think it's possible...but Dan is a believer...so just maybe!!

June, doesn't just mean a new scenario...in two weeks we are all headed to Texas for the 2024 Team Tournament. My last appearance was in 2015 when Alan King, Jim Ferrell and I played Flying Turrets. All I remember before becoming very ill was that it took us six hours complete Turn 1. Around 8:00 PM, I began to feel dizzy and not very well. I had to excuse myself and went back to my room. I layed there, unable to move until about 2 AM. Food poisoning from our lunch earlier that day was the culprit. But that was also the end of my tournament. Once I felt well enough, I made the long drive back to Tulsa. Seems to be a familiar occurrence in my gaming history.

I'm going to watch what I eat this year.

I will also admit to a major distraction this year as I have gone full bore into my 1066 Battle of Hastings Project. After watching Little Wars TV outstanding series of game: Fulford Gate, Stamford Bridge and Hastings...I decided I wanted to do that too and in 28MM. Pictured below are William the Conqueror and some familiar characters from Robin Hood. Next up are 80 Norman Infantry followed by 130 Saxons and 130 Vikings. I'll be busy for a wee bit.

The Ravenfeast rules are available as a free download here:

http://www.ravenfeast.com/free-downloads.html

Little John, Maid Marian and Friar Tuck.

Will Scarlet and Robin Hood.

William the Conqueror

Miniature gaming is where my wargaming odyssey began and sometimes it's wonderful to reconnect with that world.

This month's Grumble Jones scenario comes from a favorite book:

And it's not an Osprey tome!!! This amazing book is huge and filled with a massive quantity of pictures and enough small unit action detail for an endless buffet of ASL scenarios. This is my second scenario taken from these pages. Of course there will be more...

This month's scenario depicts a small kampfgruppe from the 23rd Panzer Division attempting to breakout encircled elements of the Grossdeutschland Division in heavy snow in Romania. 

It would be a successful German action with relatively low losses. The opposing Soviet force would consist of recently conscripted Ukrainians, who only weeks before had been German HIWI's. So as you might imagine, their hearts weren't in the fight. 

GJ136 brings us to the halfway mark of 2024. An Arnhem scenario is still in works (already two months late) for Mark Drake. I'm planning to release it next as the July Scenario GJ137. I've struggled with getting it right. I didn't want it to be half-a@@'d.  So, we will see how well I do at getting it finished between painting Normans!!!

A big thank you to all of you out there, who spend your valuable time at Grumble Jones. It's much appreciated. Remember, these monthly scenarios are for you.

As always, these monthly "Basement Quality" Scenarios are offered for fun only and as a thank you to the readers of this blog.

Remember to open pictures in a new window in order to maximize the size. 

All Grumble Jones scenarios are available from the ASL Archive website. 

               (Just search on Grumble Jones)