Ghost Recon - the battle

I used the alternate card activation system.  All Ghost team members started hidden and prone, along with an extra blip.  This didn't really matter, since this was a solitiare game.  I gave up on the blips early.

Ghost commander set up on the hilltop, within range of most of his team.  Geardo took the right flank, with the Meat in the center.  The sniper snuck off to the single hill on their left, hoping to pretend to be the fake blip.

The Purple Lord's plan was simple.  Use Red squad in the center to fire and fix, Blue squad on their left.  The Purple squad along with the Sergeant would flank the right side and assault the hill (not knowing about the sniper).  The mortar drone also advanced on the right.

First turn:  Red squad took the first hill.  A lucky shot at extreme range from the Meat killed one.  The squad blew their roll (even in command range), and ran back down the hill right to their boss.  I'm sure he had a few choice words for them!  (hit condition brown on first turn!)

Red squad runs back off the hill right into the Purple Lord's face!

On the left, the Blue squad advanced more cautiously.  For 3 turns they played cat and mouse with Geardo.  He only managed to get one before they moved in range.

On the right, both the Purple squad and the mortar drone moved out.  Mister Mortar dropped rounds on the fake blip, causing it to go away.  The Purple squad took a casualty from the sniper and ran away.  Code Brown again!  At this point I was thinking they hit Code Brown too easily.  But as it turns out, that was the last of the game.

Purple squad doesn't wear helmets, instead they dye their hair to match their lord.  And yes, the mortar drone is unpainted.  Still not sure what side he will end up working for...

At the end of the first turn, the team rolled a 6.  That's a great start on 21...

Turn Two, etc:

After the initial setbacks, the purple lord started a steady advance.  Red squad took the first hill again and kept it this time.  Desultory fire was exchanged at long range.  Geardo, Meat, and Blue squad played cat and mouse as the squad slowly advanced.  But the action was on the other side of the table...

The Sniper had his hands full.  Purple squad was advancing again, Mister Mortar was right behind, and the sub-commander Sergeant was with them.

A target-rich environment

He waited until the mortar moved into position, then he fired.  He hit!  But then for his damage roll?  a double 1. Best shot in the world, zero penetration.  Mister Mortar returned fire on his turn, and didn't miss. And a 6+5 on his roll meant bye-bye sniper.

Sure wish we brought the medic now

This left a gaping hole on the right side that the Purple Lord was quick to exploit.  But the dice were rolling for extraction.  Turn 5 started with:

• 20 out of 21 points for extraction.  If the remaining team members could hold off 1 more turn they would win!
• Purple squad at the base of the final hill
• Mister Mortar set up for support
• Red Squad fixed and not doing much
• Blue Squad finally within range for some heavy fire.

The final round:

Purple squad drew an Ace and decided to soften up their target before the final assault. The flamer scored a direct hit on Ghost Commander, and he was waxed before the rest of the squad's fire poured in.  Geardo and the Meat made their mental rolls, so the game wasn't over yet.  

Mister Mortar dropped another pin-point round, right on top of Meat's head.  And that was that.  Geardo has snuck off into the hills, maybe they'll make a movie about him some time.

I gained a spectator near the end

And of course, the spectator had to add her own touch.  For some reason, this guy keeps crashing my games:

Final Thoughts:

Gruntz + Spec Ops is great.  But the scenario needs tweaking.  The Purple Lord was overpowered.  Maybe next time don't give either team the mortar.  Or let PL have the mortar, but beef up the recon team.

And I wasn't paying attention to the Ghost Leader's wounds.  He should have survived the flamer attack.  But probably not the rest of the squad.

Oh, and I need better scenery...

Ghost Recon Team Last Stand - a Gruntz Spec Ops module

After watching some Gruntz action at Strategicon, I was all motivated again to play it.  Still not having any sci-fi armor, I decided to use the great Spec Ops supplement from Clear Horizons.  Spec Ops

The Scenario:  (Found the original version of this on thedogsbrush and did a first modification for Gruntz.)  Instead of Kyushan freedom fighter, the indigenous troops would belong to the local warlord baron.  Not very well trained, their best fighters are split into a separate assault squad.

Fearing they would be too weak, (the scenario called for the recon team to be overmatched), I added a drone walker with a light mortar.

Facing them was part of an elite deep-recon team.  They were at their extraction point when discovered.  If they can hold the extraction point, they win.  (Scenario:  at the end of each turn that the hilltop is clear of enemies, roll a D6.  Once the total reaches 21, the extraction will occur)

I had two other team members statted up that I did not use.  In retrospect, having the medic along would have been a help!

The terrain:
For unknown reasons, all my Sci-Fi is based in desert terrain.  And all my "hills" are horribly oversized for 15mm.  So each gigantic hill became a gentle slope, requiring 2" of movement to ascend / descend.  All other rock obstacles cost 1" of movement to cross.  They gave +1 to guard if occupying, +2 if behind.  And of course, I didn't take a picture of the board, so here is the map from the scenario:

Part 2: The Battle

Galleys and Galleons

My, it's been awhile since posts...

We just returned from our yearly big Con attendance. The one at which I choose to run events. This time I included a Galleys and Galleons battle.  

Galleys and Galleons

It was a convention game, so kept deliberately simple.  A British frigate was to escort 2 armed Indiamen from one corner of the board to the other.  The Pirate band consisted of an almost-frigate, and 2 brigs, all with enhanced boarding capabilities.

Unfortunately, within minutes the game was so intense that all else was forgotten.  Only 2 pictures were taken during the dramatic fight.

This picture is after the British frigate has gallantly attempted to sacrifice itself by sailing right across the pirate's bow.  It was an awesome attack, wounding the Pirate captain and nullifying the "dread pirate' rule.  The return volley as the pirate crossed the frigate's stern was not nearly as effective.  

Sadly, the game ended as a draw.  The first Indiaman was seemingly carrying powder, as it exploded on the first critical hit!  

The second?  The pirate brig, fast approaching the remaining merchant, intent on boarding their prize, undertook intense fire.  Undeterred by this damage, they pressed on.  Right up until the point they wanted to grapple with their enemy, and instead, blew their collision roll.  Blew it right to kingdom come!  

Instead of gently nuzzling up to the Indiaman, with all their boarders armed and foaming at the mouth, the brig slammed into the merchant.   At ludicrous speed.  The brig blew up.  The Indiaman blew up with it.  Both prizes gone, no winner in sight.  

But there was a winner...  The X-Wing guys next to us stopped their game to watch the end of ours.  And they both went looking for the rules after....

Mein Zombie! In Period!

Put together a game of Mein Zombie this weekend for the family, including Helen.  Now that she's 7 she doesn't want to "only play the kid games".  To mix things up, I moved the game back to WW2.

(For those not familiar with Mein Zombie rules, it has nothing to do with WW2.  It's from the writers of Mein Panzer, and shares a lot of the same rule concepts.)

The Scenario:

Coded radio intercepts told of a "very special" V1 buzz-bomb raid that was to hit London.  Major Mallory and his team was sent to investigate.  Parachuting into enemy territory, they approached the launch site from the north, only to find something terribly wrong:

The team entered from Miles' edge of the board.  The radio truck, both bunkers, cargo truck and command track all contained search piles.  The team's objective was to find evidence of what caused the excitement and get info back to England.  There was a workable radio in the truck, but the codebook was in the command track.  And the secret zombie formula was in one bunker.

Miles played Cpl Miller, and I gave him a silenced 9mm.  Same rules as regular pistol, but no noise markers.  It seemed overpowered, as he never rolled a failure or ran out of ammo.

Sergeant Brown valiantly runs away from a zombie.  It took the team a long time to figure out that if they ran around the wire, the zombie would try to run through the wire, with hilarious effects.  Sgt Brown is also wielding a found rifle, as he had managed to destroy his SMG.

In the most dramatic action of the day, Major Mallory (Sara) climbed into the cargo truck to search.  He was quickly joined by zombies.  And more zombies.  And more.  Each turn he would clear out the truck, but more were waiting at the tailgate.  Finally, after many rounds of this, we allowed him to rip open the canvas on the front of the bed and jump out the front.

The last hero escapes through the woods (honest, he's in there) clutching the zombification formula and the codebook for good measure.  Cpl Miller begged to be left behind, planning a last stand in the radio truck while transmitting the formula.  However, he finally let slip the truth that with just 2 more kills, he would have double the body count of his Dad!

Overall a fun game.  Rules are a bit fiddlier than most others we play.  But the "add that number, subtract this number, then roll" is a great mechanic for Helen.  (all addition and subtraction with a D20)  She had to do the math before she rolled.

Just wish Mein Zombie wasn't a red-headed stepchild set of rules...

Memorial Day Pictures

Just a few pictures from our cold, cold trip in the mountains.  It's not supposed to do this in May!

The Other Tea Party, Part One

Sure, everybody heard about that big one in Boston, but did you ever hear of the small tea party in the little port town of Jenga, New York Colony?

A Scenario for Songs of Drums and Tomahawks

Scenario brief:  The Colonies are buzzing with the news of the Boston Tea Party.  In the small port town of Jenga, local rebel Adam Samuals is raising a band to go throw some tea into the ocean.  But it's guarded by a squad of redcoats led by Sergeant Ramsbottom.

Rebels (300 pts):
Adam Samuals.  (68 pts)  Q3 C2. Leader, musket, tomahawk
8x rebels (29 pts)  Q4 C2.  musket, tomahawk, poor shot, Mob (rule from More Drums and Shakos).
(I added the mob rule and split the group into two)

Redcoats:  Direct from book.  9 line infantry + NCO = 309 points.

Terrain:  Woods and cornfield are broken terrain.  Crates , woods and cornfield are light cover.  Houses are heavy cover.  This raid happens at night.  (Modified SWW rules):  All shooting at -1, no visibility past 2x Long.

Overview of the board showing docks and tea crates with opponents

Sneaking:  rebels may attempt to sneak past guards. When within visibility (2 long max), roll opposed C plus cover.  Rebel failure means spotted!  Guard gets +1 bonus if within short range.  If not detected before first attack, attacker (rebel) gets ambush bonus.

Waking up the Guard:  Most of the guard force is asleep in a house.  They can be activated as follows:

• Any really loud noise (a shot fired or a combat result is tripled - guard activates
• Any wounded result of combat (C doubled), on a 4-6 the wounded guy screams loud enough to activate the guard
• Any combat that doesn't result in a wound (C less than doubled), on a 5-6 the guard hears the struggle
• Finally, at the start of each redcoat turn, roll a D6.  On a 6, it's guard change time and they activate.

Winning:  Goal is to get tea in harbor / prevent this.

Each tea crate lost in water is 10 points.

Scenario runs until all tea is in harbor or one side routs.

Tea chests are protected against water.  If a rebel spends 1 action melee attacking a crate (C0) it is guaranteed to sink.  If just pushed in, there is a 1 in 3 chance it is recovered and does not count as destroyed.  

Domestic violence:

This is still a disagreement, not a war.  Neither side wants an escalation to full bloody combat.  Therefore, the first side to wound the other with ranged fire (not just shoot, but connect) suffers a -1 to all morale rolls for the rest of the game.  

Initial deployment:  Defender (redcoats) start with 4 men + Sergeant in one of the 2 buildings (hidden).  4 guards placed anywhere on the board, outside of 1 medium of attacker’s edge.

Attacker enters anywhere on left edge

How it went:
Defender (Sara):  The defender went for a surprise deployment.  I figured she wouldn't recognize the danger of the cornfield, but she did.  One guard deployed in the cornfield, one by the house, one in the woods to the North, and one on the docks.  Unknown to me, she picked the South house for the guard.

Hiding in the Corn

This guy should be named "Private Sleepy"

The ocean sure is pretty at night

Poor Private Jones, all by himself in the cold, dark forest

Attacker (Me):  The colonists did a great job camouflaging themselves as Indians.  Mob 1, the "shirts" deployed in the open to the North.  Mob 2, the "skins" deployed in the treeline to the South along with Adam Samuals, hoping to sneak past the sentry in the corn.

How come the boss didn't come with us?

Being townsfolk, they didn't realize the futility of sneaking through a crunchy cornfield.

Next:  The combat!  Tea Party part 2

The other Tea Party, part 2

First move (attackers): Skins 1 gets 1 activation, sneaks through woods undetected.  Skins 2 gets 2 activation's, sneaks into cornfield, detected!  Skins 3 rushes the guard.  Closes to H2H, but no combat.  The guard down at the dock hears something, too!  Guard at the house is oblivious.  Skins 4 gets 2 activation's, closes with first guard also.  Leader moves up through woods to give bonus.
The shirts, being in the open, are more cautious (rolling 1 die each).  First 2 don’t activate.  3rd sneaks 1 short to maintain mob distance.  Last figure rolls all 3.  Double failure, and he is detected!  Only the guard by the house is still clueless.  Sleeping on guard duty?

Redcoat first move:  Roll D6.  No guard change yet.  Guard in the woods fails.  Guard on the dock fails.  Guard in the fight for his life risks all 3.  1 activation.  He’s knocked down!

Rebels:  skins #3 gets 2 activation's, attempts to finish off the down redcoat.  Even with all the advantages, he doesn't!  He uses his second activation to move closer to the group, hoping his buddy will finish off the redcoat.  Skins #4 finally finishes off the redcoat.  Unfortunately, he lets out a bloodcurdling scream as he dies!  The guard force is now active.  Giving up on the mob bonus, the whole group plus leader now start moving through the cornfield.
The shirts hear the scream and decide to start moving.  At a Q3 for activation, they’ll try 2 dice each.  And they force a turnover without getting far.

Redcoats:  The relief guards start boiling out of the house, with their Sergeant.  Sleepy guard wakes up and heads towards the scream.  Guard on the docks, now with his Sergeant in sight, ruins it for the rest of the team.

Rebels:  The skins try to keep moving through the cornfield.  Oh wait, no they don’t!

Redcoats:  Sleepy guard charges in and knocks his opponent down.  Another moves up to assist.  Two more move into the cornfield.  The rest make it out of the house.  The sole poor guard on the other side of the board freezes, seeing multiple shadowy figures advancing on him through the woods.  Finally the Sergeant wants to move forward, but realizes his is the position of command, and holds his ground.  (Otherwise the 3 at the house would lose leadership bonus).  Looks like a donnybrook in the cornfield is coming!

Rebels:  Knocked-down guy pops up and fights back.  He gets knocked back, but avoids the free hack.  Everybody else charges (slowly) through the cornfield.  On the far side, perhaps making up for their earlier timidity, the whole shirts mob gets great activation's and suddenly surround the poor lone sentry.

Redcoats:  The 2 that were battling the knocked-down guy follow up.  #1 is only able to close to combat, but #2 wounds him!  First rebel out of the fight.  #3 in the cornfield tangles up with a rebel, as does #4.  Some of the soldiers near the house start heading for the docks, while one stays by the door. The Sergeant moves into the cornfield and confronts Samuals!  The luckless sentry on the other edge of the board has an inconclusive fight.  Pretty good for 3 on 1.

Rebels:  The only un-engaged rebel in the cornfield moves to protect Samuals, and gets a power blow on the Sergeant!  He’s knocked down.  Risking it all, Samuals levels a power blow at the downed Sergeant.  It must be hard to swing a halberd in the corn.  The Sergeant is out, triggering a morale check.  Two run all the way off the board, Most everybody else runs once or twice.  1 in combat runs away, but dodges the free hack.  The last in the cornfield doesn't dodge the free hack and is knocked down.  And lonely private Jones over on the other side of the board decides he likes colonial life better than being a dead soldier, and deserts to the rebel side!  There is still just 50% on the board, so no second check.

Redcoats:  Moving cautiously, the remaining guards attempt to regroup near the house.  Knocked-down guy pops back up, angry as hell, and knocks his opponent down.

Rebels:  And the rebels blow their chance

Redcoats:  Giving up on the cornfield, they continue to rally nearer to the dock.

Rebels:  Back to their timid selves (it’s hard to keep Q4/3 close together when some are in terrain), the shirts mob tries to clear the woods.  Hoping to scare away the rest of the redcoats, Adam Samuals has his men move through the cornfield to attack the nearest soldier.
Redcoats:  At Q4 now, they move slowly to assist.  The one in H2H gets knocked back.

Rebels:  With a whoop the rebels charge out of the cornfield.  The first hit knocks a redcoat down, the second finishes him off.  Time for another morale check!  One runs off the board, two run once, and the last stands fast.  But with the outcome looking more and more certain, the redcoat player concedes.

trainspotting

Nope, no Easter pics yet.  But here is one of a train...

commander pics

Don't worry, easter pics coming soon.

What I want to be

two choices