Went Down to the Crossroads (Hammer of Democracy)

Although it might seem hard to believe given the number of WWII figure games I've posted over the years, but at times over the past year, I have felt like I'm on the verge of letting my entire 54mm WWII collection go. In fact, I had put it all in box and put it in the back of my closet.

However, during the recent Winter Offensive Sale on Wargame Vault, I decided to pick up a copy of Nordic Weasel's Hammer of Democracy. This is the WWII variant of the Hammer games that include Squad Hammer and Trench Hammer. In part, I just wanted to support Nordic Weasel, but also, given my enjoyment of Trench Hammer, I wondered if Hammer of Democracy (HoD from now on) could bring some life to my WWII collection.

HoD  like the other rules in the series are geared primarily toward fielding a platoon to a company, where each base or two, or a group of 5-6 figures is a squad. Vehicles represent one vehicle. All units have hit points and there is no figure or base removal until the entire squad is removed. Hit points represent morale as well as casualties. 

Combat is the same as far as the basic game goes - shooting combat occurs at three ranges: Long distance, Firefight, and Close Assault. The Close Assault reflects the method use in the Trench Hammer Expansion. Damage in ranged attacks is fixed, by default, and then modified by the roll of a d6(one up or one down or left alone) and by cover. Units are removed when they reach 0 remaining hit points and on average, infantry can take 7 hit points of damage. 

Units can recover lost hit points through various orders. 

Unlike Trench Hammer, HoD doesn't assume leaders on the table, nor does it put an emphasis on a leader being able to give orders to a nearby unit - this reflects, I believe, the difference between the nature of command-and-control in WWI and WWWI, where squads operated more on their own initiative. Leaders are one of several possible character types that are included in HoD, so they can be added, but they function in a different way - which I have not yet tested.

Speaking of, reading a set of rules is helpful to get a sense of the layout and mechanisms, but it's in playing that I learn the most, so I set out a scenario featuring two platoons, each with MG support, fighting over a small village/intersection, as suggested in the book, for a first game. Control of the objective would be determined by controlling the majority of buildings.

US 1st squad (followed by their MG) enters from the north east.

Two German squads enter from the south.

Germans get one of their squads into a building first.

US 1st squad enters a building opposite Germans and open fire. Return fire is devastating and then the Germans poured on more during their activation. 

US 2nd squad has captured the half-timbered building and 3rd squad moved up to replace 1st squad. However, the Germans decide to advance to capture the vacated building, too. 

3rd squad reaches the building first and throws the Germans back in close assault.

An out of sequence picture of the largely ineffectual MG team.

The Germans countercharge the 3rd squad and are thrown back again and then eliminated by fire from 2nd squad.

 

A shot of the largely ineffectual German MG team.

Firefights between the various squads (and the US MG which finally starts hitting) eliminates both of the remaining German squads.

With only the German MG team remaining, the US captured the objective at the cost of one squad.

The game played smoothly with minimal reference to the rules PDF. This owed much, I imagine, to my familiarity with Trench Hammer. The rules themselves are mostly clear, and when they weren't, a more careful reading tended to answer my question. 

The game had the feeling of Crossfire without having to cover the table in massive amounts of terrain or constantly evaluating defensive fire. This brings up one of my favorite parts of the Hammer system and that is the fact that a unit that is fired on or close assaulted will return fire automatically except at Long Range. The result is that I don't miss reaction fire and I don't find myself having to maintain an awareness of whether a moving unit could be fired on by the enemy or at what point in the move that would be best to do.

Speaking of Crossfire, I should note that HoD has a clock mechanism, like I've seen used in Crossfire. It has potential, but perhaps my playing area was too large (4' square) for the unadjusted measurements and the sides took two full turns of movement before any firing. When there is no firing, the clock advances 2d6 minutes for each of those turns and this case went from 36 minutes (randomly determined at the start of the game) down to 15 remaining when contact was made. Time actually ran out before either side had even lost a squad let alone captured the objective.

I should also note that I didn't use any the Support rules or anything outside of the basic rules, just to get a feel for things - which, again, was suggested by the rules.

My outlook on my WWII collection has changed as a result of this game. Another game of just infantry and then one involving armor are most certainly merited.

Oh, and for the curious:

The German figures are Airfix and Airfix copies, and reissued Matchbox.  The tripod MG team is Classic Toy Soliders.

The US figures are primarily W. Britain "Big Red 1" figures (including the MG) with Toy Soldiers of San Diego filling out the ranks.

British Paras vs Waffen SS: Small Skirmish

On Friday, I watched a short documentary on Arnhem Bridge, and that got me itching to get my British Paratroopers (King & Country and Conte metal figures) on the table.

I decided since I was getting those out, I might as well pit them against my Conte and Britain's Waffen SS.

Unfortunately, I only have five of each. So I was looking at some kind of small skirmish.

Rather than spend a lot of time looking for something suitable or making something that might not be fun,  I went with a simple scenario I first encountered in MG-42 (Two Hour Wargames) many years ago and have enjoyed playing many times and with different rules: a German half-squad with MG-42 has taken up a position in a farmhouse with a clear shot at anyone using the road that passes in front of it, the paratroopers have been assigned to take out the MG.

For the rules, I broke out "Kokoda Trail" by Kevin White, available for free download from the Lone Warrior website. I used to play these rules fairly often (also many years ago), but it had been awhile. They are pretty simple, and you need to fill in some blanks on your own, but I really enjoy the card initiative and card based attacks.

The country.

Guard out front.

MG team in the house. Pretend they are on the 2nd floor.

Brits got the first shots at the guard, but then multiple German cards had them all come running out to join in the fray (I diced for their location / actions

Caught in the open.

Flank attack from the woods.

Charge! (and grenade but ineffective and then it went further south)

Avenging a fallen comrade!

Not quite.

And another fail.

Things got a little silly at the end when the MG team moved out the back so they could get  a shot at the last attacker. In hand to hand the our hero would take out two Germans.

But alas, it was not to be. 

I played nine turns. Some of them went very fast, with the stop card coming up after just a few activations. It was enjoyable with just a few bumps. Although grenades are mentioned in the rules, there aren't really rules for them. And it's not clear whether hand to hand combat is instant death for the loser or not - I decided it was, which motivated my attempt to close on the Germans, but it just wasn't in the cards (please pardon my 'dad joke', but I am a dad after all).

The HIll : Redux (FiveCore: Company Command)

Saturday night saw my second game using Nordic Weasel's FiveCore: Company Command.

For the scenario, I used The Hill, from 2x2 Small Crossfire Scenarios - but just using the infantry, mortars, and HMG (no engineers, mine fields, etc). US would be the attacker and Germans the defender. This time, I opted to use a 3' x 3' playing area primarily because I was being overrun by a curious cat when I tried to set up on the floor.

Things look a little cramped, but with so few units involved, it didn't feel any great hindrance.


The setup:

That's a pumpkin in the upper left. I really want to put a 'Santa hat' on it, but I can't find mine.

The Germans deployed two squads to hold the hill, with the mortar deployed behind it - as it was out of sight, and couldn't be shot by any attacking unit, I didn't feel that it needed a hiding status - while the HMG deployed on the German right, and a squad on the far left. Heavy weapons units don't do well when assaulted, generally (although last game they did OK), so I thought I'd try holding the hill with two squads instead.

Since the attacker has the initiative, the US, as last time, opted to declare deployment for their first turn and advanced accordingly on the left and right, to the far edge of the woods on the left and right, while I held the mortar and a single squad in the center.

The Germans on their part of the turn popped up - but only 3 of the 5 could because they had to be in combat stance. The MG was forced back to hiding, while the squad on the left got some shots off and forced one of the American squads to panic.

Contact!

On turn 2, the US forced the assault forward and overran the German HMG (hiding and a heavy weapons crew is not a good combination for fighting off a close assault). While on the American right, the German squad was forced to retreat the woods to their rear.

On turn 3, one of the German squads on the hill was forced to retreat in a panic thanks to accurate shooting from the American left.

By turn 4, the US assault was fully underway - the left flank had wrapped on and around the hill (threatening the German mortar, who would give a good accounting of themselves in the assault that followed). The center squad also began moving up, as protecting the American mortar was no longer a priority.

Intense fighting near the hill and in the woods.

 At the end of turn 5, the US had control of the hill, the German mortar had been silenced, and although a few of the American squads had morale issues, so too did the two remaining German squads.

On turn 6, I could only activate one of the remaining German squads so, I decided there was no point in playing out the last turn. American victory.

From the German point of view, you can see the American assault covering the table from left to right, in the middle and backgrounds.

Some thoughts:

• I went with 9" movement to preserve the ratio of  moves to table size (the scenario calls for a 2' x 2' table, and with the 6" RAW move, that's 4 moves x 4 moves.). I think a case could be made for 6" moves for a 3' x 3' playing area, since the rules explicitly state that as a table size the rules were designed for - albeit with 1.5" square bases. As it was, the 9" move seemed to work well enough,  given the 6 turn limit I set.

• The aggressive assault by the US made a lot more sense than my previous effort. The objective is to take the hill after all, not engage in an extended fire fight.

• The defender suffers a bit in combat stance: activating half of their units amounts to  never more than 3, and more often, it was just 2 units. This is a consequence of the very small game, not really a problem of the rules themselves.

• The QRS for Company Command could use some more information on it. A two-page QRS would be ideal (1 sheet, front and back) - at least for me. So I'm making my own with what I need right now. I imagine later, I may be able to get away with one side.

• I messed up a few things - facing and which friendly units could "spot" for the light mortar (a friendly unit within one move is the correct answer). I added both of those to my QRS.

FiveCore: Company Command : Overview and Thoughts

On Monday night, I had the opportunity to finally try out Nordic Weasel's FiveCore: Company Command (CC here on out). These rules are designed for a company + support on the table per side, where one base = one squad/section. If you just want my final opinion, jump to the bottom, but if you want to know a bit about the rules, read on.

For the set up, I used the hill scenario from these small Crossfire scenarios, leaving out anything that wasn't an infantry unit or heavy weapon. The scenarios are intended for a 2'x2' table, which suits CC's own stated design goals of 2'x2' to 3'x3'. However, since my base size is 3" square, and the suggested base size for CC is 1.5", I opted to double the size of the playing area, and all ranges (everything is in range for shooting, so this is mostly for movement and some reactions).

Here is the initial setup.

Two armies lay opposite and ready.

Don't worry about the US squads being out in the open - they are the attacker and have the initiative to start and are within one move of cover. This is important because if you are targeting a unit in the open, you have an increased chance to destroy them.

In CC, if a unit is within contact of the edge of a terrain piece or obstacle, they have to declare if they are in contact or if they are hiding. In contact means they can see and be seen. The mortar and adjacent squad are in contact - because mortar can't move and fire in the same turn, I wanted them to be able to fire as soon as possible.

The defender (Germans) start hidden in this scenario. I took this to mean "hiding" in CC terms (I used small green dice to indicate this) - they can't be seen, but they can't shoot either. Unhiding can draw reaction fire, but that seems right. Once they unhide, they will be in contact- so, again, even in cover, they will be visible to the enemy.

Conveniently, I don't have a single hill big enough for this scenario, but by using two pushed together, I have a natural crest line that troops can use as cover. FYI, hills are not discussed specifically in the rules with respect to crest lines and all that, I've pulled that concept from somewhere else.

I opted to position a squad near each heavy weapon - CC restricts heavy weapons from being targeted if a squad is nearby (4" as written, 8" in my case). This might be gamey but I like it and to me it makes sense that each side would want to protect their weapon. Plus it forces me to keep squads in reserve.

German MG and mortar benefit from the presence of a rifle squad.

CC offers three modes of play - each mode restricts what you can do as a commander in different ways. I opted to start with the basic mode which requires a side to declare whether they are in Combat or Deployment stance. The stances determine how many units can move or fire, and what, if any rules, govern the movement of the troops.

Most of the game was spent in combat stance for both sides, which meant only 1/2 a side's units could move and fire. The rest had to sit, but they could still reaction fire (well, mortars can't).

Shooting is done with a mixture of "shock" dice (morale effects) and "kill" dice (what it sounds like) and different weapons and situations can alter which/how many are rolled. Only 1s and 6s are of any concern and results range from falling back 3" (6" in my case) to complete removal of a unit. Light mortars, interestingly enough, only fire shock dice unless the target is in the open - this makes them useful for forcing the enemy to keep their heads down while your troops advance. Similarly, reaction fire is with shock dice only, unless the target is within 4" - so its main purpose is to get the enemy to rethink any advance.

The final assault!

I opted to play for 6 turns and the GIs failed to take the hill - despite some valiant efforts to do so, and effective use of the mortar for keeping the enemy from using their MG.

It's always hard to be fully immersed the first time I play a set of rules since I'm usually checking them quite often, but I did enjoy the decision making regarding which troops to activate and which to let sit. Sometimes this lead to troops being pinned down, unable to rally (because a failed rally roll uses up the activation, you have to think carefully about what's important to your overall goal) which added some tension.

Even with my constant rules checking, the entire game and setup took less than an hour (admittedly my playing area is pretty simple. More complex tables would obviously add more time). These forces are small by CC standards (or Crossfire's for that matter, which is the intent),  but even with full companies per side, the rules are designed to play in 60 to 90 minutes.

There were just a few spots in the rules where things did not seem particularly clear to me. As this was my first game with them, it's quite possible it's a me thing and repeated plays will work those issues out. The 10 games, 10 times challenge I did a few years ago on my old blog taught me the value of not judging a rule set too quickly. That said, I already like these rules quite a bit.

They can easily handle all of the force options as presented - minefields, smoke, artillery, engineering squads, etc. So, after another game or two, I'll start adding those bits in.

The First Dice of 2018 Have Rolled!

It doesn't look like much, but tonight I had my first run using the Five Men in Normandy rules by Ivan Sorensen.

I used the generic Nuts! (from Two Hour Wargames) infantry test scenario: small band of paratroopers assault a farm house with a sentry outside and an mg-42 team inside.

After one short play test, it's too early to say anything - I was surprised by the bail result, and the frequency I encountered it, but I also think I did something wrong. I need to re-read it and do so more carefully. It also isn't clear to me if activating the LMG counts as activating two figures (because of the loader) or just one.

Two US Paratroopers enter a small, but colorful, woods a short distance from the target farm house.

As for the use of naked figures and alien-looking 'trees', in my defense, I'm visiting my parents, and only grabbed a handful of unpainted plastics (they travel quite well when tossed into my backpack, compared to painted figures).

The trees, by the way, are cat toys.