It turned out the the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive had saved my dedicated post for the Bloody Big Balkan Battles scenario book, me and Chris Pringle had published back in 2019.This permits me to make a dedicated page for it again. I am also putting links to the video presentation and one old AAR, as well as photos of my set up for some of the scenarios.
"After almost two years of hard work by me and Chris Pringle, helped by many others in Denmark and Turkey, our scenario and resource book for the First and Second Balkan War is finally out by Brigade Games Publishing in pdf form and coming up in hard-copy ! You can now use Bloody Big Battles! to model the great battles of the 1st and 2nd Balkan Wars!
/Εκδόθηκε το βιβλίο σεναρίων μου για τους Βαλκανικούς Πολέμους, για το σύστημα Bloody Big Battles!. Εννέα μάχες του Πρώτο Βαλκανικού Πολέμου, και πέντε του Δεύτερου καλύπτονται, από όλα τα κεντρικά μέτωπα. Περιλαμβάνει ιστορική επισκόπηση, επεξηγηματική βιβλιογραφία, επισκόπηση διαθεσίμων μινιατουρων, και βιογραφίες αξιωματικών. Σε μορφή pdf και έντυπη. Από Brigade Games Publishing
/Yeni Kitap savaslari oyun. Balkanar Harbi.
For almost 600 years, from the fabled shores of the Bosphorus, the Ottoman Sultans ruled over a vast land in Europe, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Danube. Sometimes enlightened, sometimes cruel, the rule of the Chalifs of Islam had steadily receded before the fury of national ideals and the rising might of European imperialism promoted by bayonet and capital. And yet it still survived, still stubbornly clinging to Balkan territories rich in history, industry and population. The “Great Patient” seemed to spite Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro; the states created by bloody struggle by those who once were termed the gavur rayahs of the Sultan. They saw with worry the growing appetite of aggressive great powers, all making claims to what they saw as their just inheritance. And then by coup and counter-coup, the fall of a Red Sultan, and the rise of a Committee, the rapaciousness of a young Great Power, and the entente of two old foes, the Balkan states saw danger and opportunity and struck. In the span of just a month of the greatest battles seen in Europe since 1871, the dream of Osman was shattered.
What do you get?
This scenario supplement for Bloody Big Battles! permits you to re-fight those great battles that saw the end of the Ottoman Empire in Europe and the formation of the basic modern borders in the Balkans. Nine scenarios cover some of the most important battles of the First Balkan War, covering the campaigns of Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria against the Ottoman Empire which would drive the Empire to the very gates of Istanbul/Constantinopole/Tsarigrad. Five scenarios then cover the Second Balkan War, the conflict between the successful allies which pitted Serbia, Montenegro and Greece against Bulgaria over the legacy of the Ottoman Empire.
Each scenario provides a distinct operational and tactical puzzle for war-gamers to resolve. From straightforward assaults against fortified positions like the First Battle of Chataldja, to complex double envelopments like the Battle of Lule Burgas, from the extensive broad fronts of the Battle of Bregalnitza, to the knife fight in close quarters of the Battle of Bizani. There are small scenarios easily played in one or two hours, like the Battle of Dioran (the actual First battle of Dioran), and more substantive scenarios like the Battle of Kumanovo, still playable in an evening. There are battles fought on rolling hills and plains, like the Battle of Kirkkilise, and battles fought in some of the worst ground people have ever thought of fighting each other in an organized manner, like the Battle of Kalimanchi.
