Games and Reports

Chance to get the X Wing models out after a long break. I decided that I was not going to upgrade to Version 2 when it came out. One upside was that I was able to pick up some of the larger ships at bargain prices. The downside was that the force-builder I used to use no longer allowed you to access saved ship databases and list ☹️.

Then the other month I discovered a version 1 force builder (Fab’s Builder X-Wing 1^st Ed) that still operated 😁 and even better it also randomly generated forces if you wished 😁.

After a bit of playing about two forces were generated and the ships cards and upgrades sorted for a seven-player game.

This was basically a “shoot them up” scenario however a side objective was to destroy or capture the VIP’s with each force. This was Darth Vader in the Tie Reaper and Chewbacca on the CR90.

We had now run out of time and the game was called so who had won?

The CR90 was crippled and reduced to limping along, Chewbacca had been wounded (or at least his upgrade card had been used and discarded to avoid damage on the CR90. On the Imperial side “uncle” Darth was happily still on the Tie Reaper terrifying its crew as they started to target the front section of the CR90.

The game was called in favour of the Empire.

A cracking and enjoyable game with plenty of fun and laughs throughout. It is such a shame that the game was killed when they upgraded to Version 2.

Chance to get the X Wing models out after a long break. I decided that I was not going to upgrade to Version 2 when it came out. One upside was that I was able to pick up some of the larger ships at bargain prices. The downside was that the force-builder I used to use no longer allowed you to access saved ship databases and list ☹️.

Then the other month I discovered a version 1 force builder (Fab’s Builder X-Wing 1^st Ed) that still operated 😁 and even better it also randomly generated forces if you wished 😁.

After a bit of playing about two forces were generated and the ships cards and upgrades sorted for a seven-player game.

This was basically a “shoot them up” scenario however a side objective was to destroy or capture the VIP’s with each force. This was Darth Vader in the Tie Reaper and Chewbacca on the CR90.

We had now run out of time and the game was called so who had won?

The CR90 was crippled and reduced to limping along, Chewbacca had been wounded (or at least his upgrade card had been used and discarded to avoid damage on the CR90. On the Imperial side “uncle” Darth was happily still on the Tie Reaper terrifying its crew as they started to target the front section of the CR90.

The game was called in favour of the Empire.

A cracking and enjoyable game with plenty of fun and laughs throughout. It is such a shame that the game was killed when they upgraded to Version 2.

Another game of 02 Hundred Hours however this time we tried something slightly different.

Grey for Now Games published a free download of North Africa scenarios and linked campaign (available from the website) and it also provides a multi-player variant we used for the raiders.

The SAS raiders were controlled by “Broken Dice”, “Uncle Albert” and Nigel, while I controlled the DAK forces. The raider players each took a character model and dividing the normal troops between them.

The scenario was a Supply Dump raid where the raiders had to destroy the supply truck (only 1) and as many of the supplies they could manage (there were 4 on the table). We also used the “weather events” included in the North African set. The starting weather was a “dust storm” so visibility was reduced t0 10″ at the start of the game.

The first turn sees the raiders infiltrating through the palms while the DAK forces blithely continue of their patrols.

Turn 2 sees Nigel’s character leaped into action and take out the guard who is patrolling near the entry point and then calmly hides the body under the “Nissen” hut! While the German NCO decides that there is nothing to be seen and turns his back on the advancing raiders!!

Things start “hotting up” as several of the raiders now have “alert” tokens on them due to making noise as they move up to the targets. However the German patrols remain oblivious as they are more than 10″ away or fail their “recon” rolls to spot the enemy.

A complete success for the SAS destroying the primary target and a couple of secondary targets and not suffering ant casualties at all 😒. The German sentries need to get some target practice, and I need to improve my dice rolling.

Overall is was a cracking game and the multi-player aspect worked well.

So at the end of the scenario the scores on the doors were:

“Broken Dice” = 7 pts

“Uncle Albert” = 3 pts

Nigel = 0 pts (should have read the objectives)

But a long way to go in the campaign and I will have me revenge😈

With the recent focus on the 80th anniversary of D Day and the Normandy campaign it seemed appropriate to also do game to mark the 80^th anniversary of Operation Bagration that launched on the 22nd June 1944.

The scenario we played was taken from the 3^rd Rapid Fire supplement by Richard Marsh – Scenarios for the Russian Front 1941-1945. The game was played using Rapid Fire Reloaded rules.

The Russian objective was to get at least 2 tanks and 8 Infantry figures off the Minsk end of the board by turn 12. The Germans objective was to stop them.

The Germans decided to deploy their limited forces in three distinct defensive lines to try and slow the Soviet advance and hope they could delay the attacking forces long enough before they were overwhelmed.

The advancing Soviet armour was faced with a line of anti-tank defences and marked minefields they also suspected that there were some “unmarked” minefields deployed behind the barbed wire.

As the armour advanced they took the opportunity to for and start destroying the anti-tank defences and preparing the way for the advance.

One problem the Soviets had was lack of transport for their infantry who were forced to race up behind the tanks as fast as they could.

The Soviets quickly clear the road with the mine-roller but an SU152 falls victim to anti-tank fire, first blood to the Germans.

As the Soviet armour prepares to attack the frontline of German infantry become nervous as the direct fire HE fire starts to come in their direction.

The next wave of the Soviet aircover appears but this time before it can attack is promptly shot down by the German AA fire 😒.

A traffic jam is now developing after the mine-roller tank has been destroyed and vehicles will have to edge around it on the road.

Further casualties are being inflicted on the Soviet forces by indirect fire while they edge forward the heavy JSII tanks start to move to the flank. However the heavy fire on the first line of German infantry has forced a morale test and they break clearing the way for the advance.

So in the end the Soviet players concentrated on destroying the German opposition rather than the victory conditions and basically blew it.

However there would be plenty of work for the Soviet recovery vehicle 😊.

A cracking and well balanced scenario using asymmetrical forces that did leave the German players feeling slightly outnumbered 😊.

With the anniversary of D-Day fast approaching it seemed appropriate that we commemorate the occasion with a game. My mate Paul decided he was going to run a scenario from the Normandy scenario book published to support the Rapid Fire rules. However we would be playing the game with the newer Rapid Fire Reloaded ruleset.

The scenario was the attack by the Kamfgruppe Luck (21^st Panzer Division) and the 6th Airlanding Brigade holding a series of villages blocking the way to the Orne Canal. I just need to say that I cannot claim any credit as Paul provided the terrain and figures. Being of a certain age “old gits” the majority of our WW2 collections are 20mm.

Initial deployment for the British were the 1^st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles in Longueval (bottom left), the 12^th Battalion The Devonshire Regiment in La Bas de Ranville (top left), 2^nd Battalion Ox and Bucks Light Infantry in Herouville and later in Escoville (top right) and the Brigade Hq holding Ranville itself (top centre).

The 21^st Panzer entered the field and advanced the Recce units up the road towards Escoville while the infantry and self propelled approached Longueval. Where some excellent artillery fire (I threw a 6) hit destroyed the approaching transport and killed several of the passengers.

The Recce unit did not come off any better as artillery supporting the Ox and Bucks destroyed one of there half tracks.

At Longueval a serious firefight was developing with artillery destroying more vehicles and both sides infantry taking casualties. The RUR were feeling particularly picked on as the amount of high explosive fire hitting the front buildings reducing them to rubble.

More and more German forces were being deployed against Longueval trying to dig out the RUR. After taking heavy casualties the defenders were forced to take a morale test which they passed and the fighting continued. However while the forces were concentrated in Longueval they were not focusing on their overall objective of capturing three of the villages and getting forces off the board.

Pushing past the destroyed building a Pzkw IV pocked its nose into the village but was destroyed by a PIAT (I threw another 6). The german infantry had also taken enough casualties by this time that they needed to take a morale test which they failed and quit the field leaving their armour a bit stranded.

On the German right flank and the centre the German advance was still progressing but a halftrack approached a hedge and got a 17pdr shot through the engine destroying the vehicle and wiping out most of its passengers.

After taking losses on the road on the German right flank the Recce decided to approach through the woods and fields to attack Ranville and La Bas de Ranville. The Airlanding Brigade HQ took heavy fire from the germans in the woods attacking Ranville but just managed to survive. The armoured car approaching Le Bas de Ranville received a hit from the 17pdr but got away with just a heavy damage.

The Germans started to move up the board at this stage but were concerned with the 17pdr covering the road.

While they left the artillery to hit the remnants of the RUR who passed another morale test and held ?. They were also busy trying to get more infantry support to the village to allow their armour to start to enter.

The Airlanding Brigade HQ decided that a quick “strategic withdraw” was in order to avoid getting any more HE fire in the face and evacuated the building they were holding falling back to the second building in Ranville.

By this time the British reserves had arrived a solitary M10 (hurrah) and took up position supporting the Devonshires.

Shortly after this the game was called with the British still holding five villages and the Germans not having time to capture them (or the infantry). So victory to the Brits and back to camp for tea and medals.

Another good game and an enjoyable set of rules and did I mention I kept rolling 6’s ?.

As a group we play several different sets of WW2 rules depending on the size of the game:

• Platoon level – Chain of Command
• Company level – Battlegroup
• Battalion level and above – Rapid Fire Reloaded

Despite the age of the rules the latest incarnation still delivers a good game.

When I started my Punic Wars project if you told me that:

• It would be the Republican Romans that would first take to the battlefield.
• It would be for a “rank and file” game rather than a skirmish game.

I would have said you were joking but the other week the Polybian Roman to fight the Pyric army.

I went with the legions deployed in the centre and smaller cavalry and light troops deployed on the flanks. The main issue with the Romans is the lack of cavalry so I had to lead with the infantry and be more cautious with the cavalry.

The Pyric forces were deployed in a similar manner with the pike phalanx in the centre supported by cavalry on either wing.

As both centres advanced the early exchange of missile fire favoured the Romans with the veteran velites destroying several skirmishing units much to the disgust of the Pyric commanders ?.

On the Roman right flank the Pyric light cavalry made a dash forward pinning the light trrops in my flank command back.

In the centre the early clashes the Roman pilum proved ineffective, and the pike drew first blood and disordered the Roman heavy infantry.

The Pyric light cavalry burst from the woods and caught a velites who failed to evade and were ridden down.

Back in the centre the legio heavy infantry had failed in their attempt to rally and had taken another hit from the phalanx they were fighting, something was wrong with my veterans today.

In similar fashion my heavy infantry on the extreme left had been engaged by pike, again missed with the pila and had taken a casualty from the combat! My veterans were just not making their saving rolls ☹️.

In an attempt to expose the flank of my infantry the Pyric light horse charged a unit of veteran velites but were given short shift in the combat and were destroyed.

In the centre the battlelines were becoming messy as units on both sides pushed forward and some hung back.

My right flank was causing concern as cavalry was now threatening the flank of my heavy infantry if I was not careful.

The Pyric light cavalry managed to get to the rear of one of my heavy infantry but luckily for me were driven off by a Spanish scutarii unit so avoided any embarrassment.

And to really upset the Pyric commanders the Numidian cavalry rode forward and slung a few javelins at his elephants who routed and then rampaged through one of his pike blocks?.

At the same time one of the legio units managed to finally get rid of a pike block. The game was now getting very close with loses on each side mounting and the game could go either way.

At least one of my heavy infantry units was behaving correctly and having successfully rallied twice the Triarii were in the front rank but they still had two disorders on them and could no longer rally unless they fell back.

However on my right flank my veterans were not behaving themselves and failed to rally a couple of times and soon took to their heals two legio units down.

And to make matters worse the lance armed companions managed to get at my cavalry and rode them down so only “three victory medals” left on both sides.

However it was my other cavalry unit on the left wing that won me the game (apologies for the picture a Gerry shot to imply movement) as I managed to get a couple of moves from them and advanced and take the enemy camp and their last 3 “victory medals” before they could do the same to me.

Another close and enjoyable game (well at least for me) so now onwards and get the rest of the Carthaginians painted and also some more Romans so I can also field the Camillian Roman army that actually fought the Pyric’s.

For anyone who doesn’t want the issue of measuring and dice I would heartily recommend “To the Strongest”. While the card and movement mechanisms take a bit of getting use to they have produced some cracking games.

We had another chance to try out the 02 Hundred Hours rules last week. This time it was just me (playing the SAS) and “Broken Dice” who was running the DAK forces this time.

A change up in the scenario and this time we were playing the “Intelligence Gathering” scenario. Five locations were marked on the board with each marker a variable value. The SAS had to gather “3 points” of intelligence and the DAK had to “take out” at least half of the attackers.

With the patrol route planned and the objective markers (counters with flags) let battle commence.

It did not start well for me with the sergeant moving on the board with all the stealth of a “tap dancing” elephant and alerting the nearest German patrol. The only advantage was no one had direct line of sight.

3 other members of the patrol managed to move on without attracting attention and the sniper taking up position to provide covering fire as the other team members moved towards the objectives.

The last two members of the team weren’t as stealthy and came on thrashing through the undergrowth attracting the attention of the nearest enemy patrol.

Now one of the things you must get used to in the game if you are the defenders is your troops wandering off in random directions. The DAK sergeant decided to have a look at one of the huts instead of moving towards where the SAS patrol had entered the table.

However, he soon advanced towards the “noise” and straight into an ambush having spotted the SAS officer. The resulting gun fire did raise the “alarm level” enough so the “alarm was raised” and the DAK reinforcements could enter the fray.

As the SAS officer advanced to check on the first objective a “pair” of DAK sentries emerged around the corner (I didn’t get the right “action token” to get my officer to move first) and instead of trying to shoot him the sentries applied a rifle butt to the head and took him out of the game.

With the officer down the patrol was now targeted by one of my troopers who “opened up” with his SMG and missed. Unfortunately, the sniper didn’t have a shot as they were hiding behind the truck.

The other part of the patrol had also become entangled with an enemy patrol. The sentries worried about the SMG closed to close combat and managed to take out one of the troopers ☹️.

The gunfight was ongoing between the trooper and the sentries. The SAS sergeant having recovered from his earlier mishap now started to move to get behind the patrol and get to the objective marker.

Once he had got into position, he “opened up” with his SMG gaining three bonus dice as he was covert before firing, not in line of sight and had a clear view of the targets at the start of the action. This did not help as with six dice he failed to get any hits?.

Next the sniper tried to help out his beleaguered colleagues fighting the sentries but he also missed.

At this point the DAK dog handler appeared around the corner and released his “woofer” to launch an attack on the surviving SAS trooper. The trooper failed his save from being hit and was “taken out” by the dog!

So with 3 SAS attackers down the game was over and a victory went to “Broken Dice” and the DAK.

This second game played completely differently from our first game. As the SAS player I should have concentrated on staying covert and going for the objectives and not getting involved in firefights. You also need to get your head around a couple of the game mechanics. These are designed to represent moving and fighting in the dark so while it may seem strange you are not always moving where you want to go or having to take a move action to enable you to try and detect enemy, they do make sense.

Even though I lost it was an enjoyable game and did give a narrative feel with plenty of memorable moments.

The release of 02 Hundred Hours peaked my interest when it was originally released as I didn’t want another project I didn’t bite at the time. However when the announcement of the North Africa supplement the decision was easy as I have already got a fair sized skirmish force for the deserts of North Africa.

For this game the scenery and layout (and an excellent lunch) were provided by “Broken Dice” David who also commanded the SAS forces. The DAK defenders were commanded by my other mate Nigel and I umpired the game.

This was the “Sabotage” scenario with the SAS needing to creep into the camp and place a demolition charge on a target in the centre of the board and then escape.

Now the DAK patrols kept moving on the patrol route and while they were detected by the raider, the sentries proved particularly inept at seeing anyone (or ducking but more of that later).

DAK officer moves towards the patrol and puts himself between the raiders and the target (which could be a mistake).

Now with the patrol passing the raiders it is nearly time for the alarm to be raised and an SMG fires from the cover and hits both the patrolling sentries. They then both fail to duck back into cover and are both taken out. Soon afterward the German Officer meets a similar fate as he tries to locate where the fire is coming from (he also failed to duck).

With the alarm raised reinforcements start to arrive for the DAK and the dog handler moves rapidly towards the sound of the gun fire.

With the patrols taken out the SAS officer moves rapidly towards the target with the demolition charge in hand.

Having reached the target, the charge is placed and it will become armed when the next “time” chit is drawn. This will also trigger the end of the turn but not to worry the charge will not detonate until the next “time chit” is drawn so the officer will have plenty of time to get out of the way.

The SAS troopers also take out the dog handler (who also failed to duck) but an event card comes into play and the “woofer” goes berserk, rolls the dice and heads for the nearest of the enemy. While it does not take out the trooper, it gives him a scare and then heads off into the night.

The sniper from his vantage position spots a sentry approaching the officer and takes careful aim.

And guess what another sentry that fails to duck and gets taken out (so far Nigel had not managed to make one successful evade roll).

The end of turn came and Nigel drew the first chit of the next turn. Guess what a “time” chit was drawn and the demolition charge explodes with the officer still standing there admiring his handy work and takes a strength 2 hit. This time it is “Broken Dice’s” turn to fail and the first of the SAS becomes a casualty although it could be claimed it was self-inflicted.

At this stage the game was called as the DAK didn’t have enough troops left to stop the surviving SAS troopers from exiting the board!

I need to play a couple more games to get a good opinion of the rules but they did provide a good narrative driven game and some chuckles along the way. Are the defenders “tethered goats” or was it just some poor dice throwing on the Germans side and “Broken Dice” found a set of dice that worked for him, the secret is they don’t have and numbers on them.

Only time and another game will tell.