First Outing of Space Marines and Necrons

Friday night, I put paint to figures for the first time in ... awhile and by Saturday afternoon I finally finished the three Necrons and two Scarabs I had been working on for ages.

I still have three Necrons to paint, but I decided to get a game in as motivation for painting (the way Norm at Battlefields and Warriors does).

The game was Fire Team. 

The first time my Blood Ravens have been deployed in anger!

The Space Marines charge to their left to claim an objective. The Necrons mirrored them to do the same at their end of the board.

Further into the game (I think this is turn 2), several Necrons were dropped this turn but wounds are piling up on the Blood Ravens (indeed they lost one almost immediately after I took this)

End game.

If you look at the above picture, both sides control one objective - 1 Victory Point each. However, the Space Marines won the day due to achieving one of their Target of Opportunity card objectives:

Honestly, it felt like a bit of a cheat for them to win that way (I play solo, so I win regardless).  That said, the cards are the luck of the draw, so well within regulation.

I'm not going to do a full discussion of the game - for a detailed treatment check out a post from Alex on  Up the Blue!: More Space Marine Adventures: "Fire Team" (upthebluefow.blogspot.com) That's the post that convinced me to buy the game.

I will say a few things:

• The Target of Opportunity cards remind of the cards you use in Blitz Bowl to score points outside of a touch down - I find both equally difficult to achieve! I do like the added challenges though.
• As a learning game there was a bit of rulebook checking, but after the first tun, it was all pretty straightforward.
• There are a LOT of counters - not atypical in a board game, but difficult to manage with the miniatures (they don't balance on the stacks easily every time) and if you don't put them under the figure you have to be careful when multiple figures are in adjacent hexes, each with multiple counters.

It definitely has me excited to get painting on the last three Necrons!

Random Unplanned Purchases

A few weeks ago, I saw a sign in the nearby Barnes & Noble that everything was on sale for 25% off. A friend of mine, and a former employee of the store, posted on Instagram that the landlord wasn't renewing the lease so that store was going to be closing. That explained the sale.

25% off of retail pricing doesn't even put it into Amazon pricing let alone eBay pricing, so I made a mental note to keep an eye on the signage as these things tend to progress to deeper discounts over time.

Last week, another friend, knowing bookstores are my Achilles's heel, messaged me that everything was 50% off.

 A few days later,I had a chance to pop by on my lunch break. The sale was in full clearance mode - up to 75% off.

I should add that many of my friends are well aware of my mantra that "You're losing money not buying it" when items are on sale. So it was inevitable that money would start to jump out of my wallet with discounts like that.

Discretion and valor and all that, so I did my best to limit my purchases. I checked the magazines and while some of the history ones were interesting, they weren't in my current research areas (which sounds fancy, but just means WWI Southern Front and British airbone in WWII). The history books were disappointing - lot's of WWII titles, but nothing in my narrow interests. How many books about the Battle of the Bulge are there anyway?

The "big score" was Star Wars X-wing by Fantasy Flight Games, seen here still proudly in shrink wrap:

I've had this on my "I should check this out someday" list. At $10 USD for the set it was a no-brainer. In retrospect, I probably should have bought a couple of sets to have the additional ships and bits and bobs.

The other item that I picked up will no doubt be unsurprising given I am known for my cultured tastes:

I have long been a fan of SpongeBob Squarepants (I think I first started watching it in 2000 or thereabouts - the marching band episode was the first one I ever saw), so resisting this was neigh impossible for a fiver. 

You might be thinking - "he's off his rocker" - but seriously, the first 3 seasons are excellent, with the 4th being tolerable. Beyond that it definitely gets too over the top cartoony - undoubtedly some executive at Nickelodeon decided the show was too smart and needed to appeal more to children (seriously, watch the first season, it's not nearly as goofy as later seasons and a lot of the humor, while not dry,  is more sophisticated than the cartoony buffoonish-ness of later seasons).

In any case, my partner tolerates my singing "Striped Sweater" and "Krusty Krab Pizza" spontaneously during the day, so it's my hope I'll be able to convince her to play this with me (it helps that she likes the regular edition of Fluxx). My son,  though he dislikes anything not on a screen for the most part, seemed at least mildly intrigued by a game with a SpongeBob imagery (it's one of the cartoons we watch regularly together - at my behest. He'd watch YouTube videos featuring other people playing video games if he had his choice).

Full retail price for the two games would have been $60 USD, so not a bad haul for $15. 

I tend to prefer independent booksellers or eBay even, but I'm sorry to see the store close. A book store is preferable to 90% of the other stores likely to take that spot. I will pray for a Hobby Town or perhaps a craft store. Hoping for a dedicated game store is just a bit too unrealistic - though there are none in the city proper that I am aware of.

Ghost Panzer Training Mission

This week, I had a chance to put Ghost Panzer on the table twice. I should note that I am a fan of Worthington's Hold the Line and was fairly certain even before receiving my copy of Ghost Panzer that I could trust the rules to be comprehensible and to give a good game. I was not wrong.

The first scenario is an all-infantry scenario, pitting a few German squads with HMG against a greater number of Soviet squads with an HMG battling for control of two building hexes. I played the scenario both times I played as I had made a few errors the first time.

The rules are far simpler than Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1 and play a great deal faster. There is no Infantry Fire Table to consult and the rule book actually makes sense as a reference document (unlike the one which accompanies ASLSK). At least as far as infantry rules, for comparison, I'd say it's only moderately more complicated than The Portable Wargame.

The game includes a suggestion for solitaire play - which I gave a try. The gist is to use Conceal markers for everything for the opposing side, including any Decoy markers and then draw from a cup when one would be revealed. It works - if imperfectly. I may try some other ideas later, but for now I'll stick with it.

Here you can see the Germans are still mostly conceal markers Foolishly, the Soviets put their HMG on their left flank rather than opposite the objective buildings.

The German unit at the top of the map dominated the roadway, stopping multiple Soviet attempts to flank. You can see in this picture that the Soviets have made it into the destination building - the result of a decoy being present in the space. 

Morale is the driver in this game - with units having to check before attempting any action. I've played several miniatures games that do this as well, and while I find it can sometimes be annoying in a minis game to not be able to activate a unit, with a boardgame, I find builds tension and adds to the narrative. This might be a result of my fielding far fewer units generally when I play minis games.

I really liked that suppressed units could at least sometimes then, still perform an action, with no additional modifiers, if they passed their morale check. It prevents units from being dinged twice for being suppressed. Passing the morale check is good enough.

Despite this focus on morale, at the end of the turn, units that are Suppressed automatically return to normal, and units that are Fully Suppressed become Suppressed. That is, no die roll required. That might seem a little odd, given how important passing morale checks is, but in play though, it works - you just assume that the squad leader is doing their job.

End of game. Only four turns are allowed, so too much caution is costly. Then again, in trying to rush the German positions, multiple Soviet units were eliminated by Op Fire. In the end, the Germans had lost one unit in close combat (the Soviet unit was eliminated too), but the soviets had lost something like 4 and the Germans retained control of the objective.

As much as I enjoy ASLSK #1 (Residual Fire and heavy weapons breakdowns are pretty cool features), I think this game is more my speed, most of the time. Infantry combat only takes up a few pages of the rulebook - the remainder covers guns and vehicles. I'll give it a read through a few times before I try the armor training scenario. I am quite looking forward to it as I hope to be able to play the types of scenarios I could never field with 54s, even using 1/43-1/50 vehicles.

Games (how's that for a generic title?)

Gaming for the new year has kicked off with a revisit of a game from Minden Games, Battle Over Britain.

As you can probably surmise, it's a representation of WWII aerial combat. Less obvious perhaps is that it's 1 on 1, is abstract, and plays quite quickly. There is a solitaire module which I own (it adds little to the existing solitaire rules but does give you more planes to choose from) and other air battles as well.

d12 are hit points, white d6 are ammo remaining.

It's an interesting little game that feels right even if it looks completely wrong. The rules are straightforward but there are enough special rules and optional rules to add flavor and variety.

The average game is probably less than 10 minutes, so it's a prefect space filler or you can play a longer campaign of connected battles, if desired, including one where you play a particular pilot through multiple (hopefully) encounters.

In the picture, I'm using my laptop as the playing space - I have been playing Verdun a lot on Steam and decided I need to shut the laptop down and enjoy some screen-free time (my son isn't the only one who needs to step away from the computer sometimes!).

Also of note, my copy of The Princess Bride Adventure Book Game arrived:

I purchased this on a whim on Black Friday - the price was something like $9.99 USD. Even if it's a terrible game, it comes with figures (I'll give the game a proper post once we play it).

Finally, some figures have entered the preparation stages:

Two things are probably worth noting about the picture.

On the human figures, the black that follows the mold lines is soot from a candle. It ends up on the needle that I heat up and run along the lines. I've mentioned using the hot needle before - it works well enough to smooth them out without marring the figure too badly, but I care less and less about mold lines (with the exception of the one on the helmet). Life is too short.

The gold figure is a Classic Toy Solders Carthaginian. I had no idea they had Carthaginians of their own until recently. Everyone always focuses on HaT (like the figure to his left). The shield is a little skimpy - accurate or not I don't know- but it'll do for my purposes

Three Solo Boardgames

Although I hadn't been playing figure games (until last weekend), I had and have been doing some more board wargaming. All of the below are designed for solo play, which is a welcome change from managing both sides.

 First, I broke out the venerable Long Range Desert Group. It's a game I have played maybe a dozen times. Every time I find the victory conditions annoying - this time, I did not get enough kills to win, despite capturing the objectives.

Enemy Coast Ahead: The Doolittle Raid has been played before as well. I'm still playing the six starter scenarios that only make use of the attack maps. I have yet to branch into any of the approach or planning stuff. These mini games are fun though and a narrative develops naturally - pictured below we see a Zero has latched onto Doolittle. Thankfully, the pilot was a terrible shot, and Doolittle managed to shake the Japanese fighter over Yokosuka, before turning for China.

The latest and currently on the table is Pavlov's House. The board has three sections  for different levels of the action. It feels both personal - the Soviet counters have names and in most cases, photos, of the defenders  - and operational as you decide whether to send supplies to the defenders or setup anti-aircraft guns to prevent further destruction of your communications or supply barges, for example.

This is my first full-length game after playing a few trial turns the other day.

My defenders are in good spirits, despite one comrade becoming the victim of a German sniper,  but the German attacks have begun to intensify. Unfortunately, my machine gunners are apparently blind. On the plus side, my anti-tank crews are some of the best the Red Army has ever trained, at least when it comes to knocking out Pz II's and III's.

Thank goodness I bought the card table!

The game is not at all complicated and turns play quickly. The rulebook is mercifully well written and is clearly designed for use during play. There are three handy reference cards as well (not pictured) that are useful once you know mechanics of various actions. I'm not quite there yet for everything but the included page number references on the cards means I don't have to flip through the book to find the info I need.

Of course, as miniature gamer I can't help but look at these games as useful fodder for  toy soldier scenarios or campaign generators as well, but that's a thought for another post.

Mid-Week Update

This is something of a catch-all update post.

Although I have not played a figure game in a few weeks, I did play Scenario 5 from Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1 earlier this month, so it hasn't been a total gaming drought. However, with the first quarter of 2021 on the books, and the first third nearly so, I decided to take a look at how I'm doing with my declared goals for the year.

That tall stack of Germans is a mix of squads, squad weapons, and DM markers.

 

Painting-wise, the late 19th C. Russians are done and they have already been on the gaming table. The WWI Austrians are well underway - which, I've realized, is usually where my desire to paint begins to wain. I think it's painting the little bits and bobs that I find tiresome.

I am happy to paint the trousers, tunic, boots, flesh , helmet, gun and even packs (although not the straps so much), but the other kit - grenades, scabbards, canteens...yawn. It's probably not surprising my favorite figures to paint are the Marx and Airfix WWII Russians, as they have almost no kit to speak of.

Not painting the bits and bobs isn't an option however, unless it's a "paint conversion". My OCD, perhaps not as intense as in others, is still noticeable. Not painting at all is an option but that ship has mostly sailed.

On the gaming front, counting everything together including some homebrew playtesting, I've played some 27 games or so.

Battle for Moscow. I really need to clip these counters.

I have managed at least one hex-and-counter game per month (Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit  (ASLSK) #1 and Battle for Moscow). I really appreciate the all-in-one nature of the board games. I don't need to paint anything or build terrain or even provide dice in some cases. Scenarios are always ready to go. Everything is in the box or ziplock package. The rules can require some serious study (ASLSK I'm looking at  you) but that's not true of every game and certainly isn't unique to board games.  The more I can make setting up and playing miniatures like setting up a board game the better, I think (I have ideas about this) .

Speaking of figure games, I haven't put one on the table in April yet, but that will be rectified shortly. I have played quite a few this year with a variety of rules including my own homebrew (WW2 and Late 19th C.), One Hour Wargames, One Hour Skirmish Wargames, Disposable Heroes / Coffin for Seven Brothers, Panzer Kids, and Crossfire.

A play test gladiator match using a D&D tile box as the arena.

I even managed to play an aerial game which was just a pie-in-the-sky idea (no pun intended) back in January. Since then, I've doubled the size of my plane collection (from two to four!), but have yet to get them back out. Too many options, not enough time.

There's still plenty of time though until the halfway point of 2021 and my plans remain basically the same:

• Play 1 figure game per month.
• Play 1 hex-and-counter board game per month 
• May's entry will be a replay of Burning Mountains, which will require 7+ hours of gaming time.
  
• Finish painting the first WWI Austrians.

Outside of gaming, I received my first Pfizer vaccine jab, and I'm going next week for the second. I don't game in person with others, so it really doesn't relate to gaming but still, kind of important.

Battle for Moscow

Saturday, while my son was engaged in video game pizza making (I kid you not), I managed to get in two plays of Battle for Moscow.  If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a game ostensibly based on the 1941 German drive to capture Moscow. More than a history lesson, it's intended introduce people to hex and counter wargaming (perhaps I should have started here myself!). 

I first came across it in the wilds of the internet years ago when I was just getting into wargaming, albeit with miniatures. You can view the components or even download the entire game, legally from Grognard.com.

I'm not a fan of printing my own counters - they never feel right to me - so, I've been on the look out for a copy of the game ever since. When I happened to find a copy for $5 at the 2020 Atlanta Military Figure Society Show (one of the last things I did pre-COVID-19 lockdowns but of course, I didn't get around to playing it until January 2021.), I scooped it up.

It's a simple game, no doubt about it. 

Still, it introduces the basics like turn sequences, moving and terrain effects, zones of control, combat and a result table with the requisite odds calculations, step reduction, lines of communication, etc. It has no particular solo mechanisms but as it's an attack-defend scenario, it works well for solitaire play.

Initial setup locations are printed on the map. All of the Russian units, save one, are the same, so their setup doesn't matter. The Germans have more options and it does matter.

A later turn illustrating the step-wise reduction of unit strength.

I rather like it as a way to get in a quick game when I have time, but not time enough for anything involved. It has a minimal number of pieces, it's quick to setup, and the rules are quite short. Even O.G.R.E. Pocket Edition feels more complex!

Simple Equation Redux (ASLSK)

Rather than move on to play scenario 4 in the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit (ASLSK) #1, I opted to try scenario 3, "Simple Equation" a second time. My goal was to apply lessons learned in scenario 2 (War of the Rats) and the first attempt at scenario 3.

This is the board at the end of the game:

End of game - turn 6.5

Two massive melees cleared the Germans out of the middle collection of buildings. Although I just barely got the US onto the top half of the map, I declared this a US victory. 

Although they had several squads reduced by either quality or casualties, the Americans were still a company+ strong at least in terms of unit count. On the other side, the Germans finished with a platoon of two regular and one conscript squad with an 8-0 leader on the left and a lone squad on the right.

I definitely learned my lessons from last time for the Americans - I concentrated my force in the middle and avoided the killing grounds on the left and right, used smoke a LOT, and advanced even if I couldn't always pin or break German units with LOS to the spaces the Americans were moving through.

In retrospect, I could have done one or two things different for the German deployment, although I don't think they'd change the outcome. More importantly, rather than fighting the Americans for every inch of ground, I should have fallen back to contain them and deny them the victory. 

Still, the Americans have better quality units, more of them, better leaders, and better squad weapons. Ultimately, this scenario is the Americans' to lose (like they did last time).

Simple Equation. Not.

In addition to a figure game, I got in a board game last weekend - Scenario 3 from Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1 (ASLSK). "Simple Equation" is set in October, 1944, with the US assault on Aachen.

Please allow my usual disclaimer that I know most people who read this blog probably aren't a fan of this game system. Certainly as eye candy goes, there's not a figure 54mm or otherwise, in sight. On the other hand, I do like to document the games I've played  as much as possible. I digress.

Because the Germans only have to hold off the Americans, it makes another good solitaire scenario - in my game, the Germans shifted here and there, but by and large, they held their positions. Game play bore out the wisdom of my decisions for the Germans.

Then again, quite possibly, my poor dice rolling for the Americans was in part responsible.

When I decided on the American attack plans, I thought, "I will focus on the right of the German line." I sent my flamethrower that way. I felt smug. I felt clever.

That was hubris.

There is a lot of open ground to cross on the flanks to reach the buildings, as the pictures show (and this analysis of a play through calls that area a "killing zone"). 

The wiser choice would have been to go up the middle, moving building to building as much as possible (especially given that the US can use smoke grenades with near certainty in this scenario - a 5 or less on a d6). Instead, my force (a company + ) tried desperately and in vain, to suppress, pin, break,  or otherwise make it possible to advance, until turn 3 or 4 when I finally got the message and started concentrating in the middle. 

About the dice rolling: German LMGs and HMG were effective at slowing any semblance of advance. Somehow even their LMGs maintained their Rate Of Fire for multiple attacks. Meanwhile, the US MMG was lucky to avoid breaking down.

In the end, I think the biggest flaw in my plan was being too cautious. 

Just as in War of the Rats, I waited too long for the ideal conditions. With 7 turns (for the Americans), I had to move even if it meant leaving some forces behind in a broken state. As you can see below,I sacrificed some units in order to capture buildings, but by then it was far too late.

 

The Germans won this one, which looked like a "gimme" on paper for the Americans. The US just barely managed to make a dent in the German defenses. 

ASLSK scenarios most definitely reward repeat play and I may put this scenario on the table again this month. Unlike War of the Rats, and Retaking Vierville, this was the first time I had tried this one.

Retaking Vierville (again!)

I realize few come here to see pictures of cardboard counters on a paper map, let alone a game as brain-taxing as Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit (ASLSK), but, in addition to the figure game I posted about last time, I played the first scenario from the #1starter kit - Retaking Vierville.

As my goal is one board game per month, at least, I wanted to start with something where the rules were somewhat familiar and which will allow me to play several more games once relearned. ASLSK fits that bill nicely.

It helped too that I once again stumbled on the Texas ASL download site, which includes a full tutorial on ASLSK. It was nice to confirm that my understanding of the rules is "correct", although a few questions came up during the game that had me turning to web searchers for interpretations.

In any case, the game was an engrossing close run thing that game down to the end of the 5th turn (the allotted turn count for the scenario):

The American platoon moves through the town. It's quiet. Too quiet.

The initial German advance is pushed back, the Americans capture the objectives early, with American reinforcements arriving via the road to the North (right of the map)

The Germans give as good as they get, with vicious building to building close combat and concentrated range fire (those Desperation Morale markers aren't for giggles after all).

It's not enough and the superior American squads manage to rally (mostly) and retake lost buildings.

The cost to the Americans was high, but the Germans were unable to again wrest control of any of the key objectives. An Allied victory.

The more I play these rules, the more they begin to -  well not fade into the background, but the less obtrusive they become. The story is rising in prominence.

It also was nice playing this game leisurely rather than racing through to finish in a 2 hour window before bed. I set it up on Friday night, sorted all of the counters I'd need for the forces, set up the Americans on the map but then didn't start playing until Saturday. Even then, I played in starts and stops - a turn here, a turn there, stepping away to think about the situation while sipping coffee, before diving back in.

I have played this scenario several times now - and am again confident with the basic infantry rules. The next board game I'll play War of the Rats (Scenario 2) in order to bring in squad weapons and satchel charges.

First Game of 2020

Per the title, I got my first game of 2020 in last night. Admittedly, it was a board game, Long Range Desert Group from Decision Games, but the ease of set up and the ability to play board games sitting down with my cat on me makes them an obvious choice right now.

LRDG is a solitaire, low counter count, low complexity, point-to-point counter based game. Realizing it may be awhile until I get around to fielding any toy soldiers for WWII desert battles, this is a quick fix.

It comes in a zippy bag.

This was the second time I played this game - the first was in late December. I purposely played the same scenario, 1941's Crusader! mission, because I botched it badly the first time through by spreading my force too far from the objectives with only 8 turns to achieve them.

This was due in large part for failing to remember that I could stack unlimited units on a base point.

This time, I put everyone in one base, Kufra - in the picture below I broke it into two stacks just to keep it from falling over. Again.

I really need to invest in a small sheet of plexiglass to flatten my maps.

I decided to take a small but fast force out to Jalo to see what was there, before following with others, and only if necessary. On the way we were bogged down in the Calashano Sand Sea, which of I anticipated of course.

In game terms that means we have to stop movement there. I drew the Orders from Cairo! card but as we had no wireless, it had no effect.

On arrival in Jalo, I took a survey of our force's morale give our slight delay, but as we had suffered no loses nor dealt the enemy any blows, nothing was to be noted . There we also acquired the first objective. I sent it back with one of my recon units to our base.

Along the way we received  some intel (a card that let's the player reveal two objective markers, take an additional turn, or make an air or water move) that revealed that Sirte and El Aghelia were both mined, and not locations for our second objective. That eliminated moving in that direction and instead I sent my force on to Mechili.

In Mechili, we ran into a mine field but managed to avoid any damage. From there, we moved on to Beda Littorio. In addition to more intel, we nabbed the second objective there.

Through an act of unheralded daring, I stole a plane from an airfield there and escaped by air to our base in Kufra (I used the air move option on the intel card). The armored car and remaining recon trucks would have to make their way back without me because "I'm much to important to be captured."*

****

It sounds like a victory. Right? Wrong. I had to score 6+ KIAs against the Germans as well as get the two objectives and I didn't encounter any! I suppose I could have gone looking for some rather than taking the objective back to base, but then I would have risked running out of turns to get back or losing my force for that matter.

In any case, LRDG is an inexpensive, fun, quick game, with enough player decisions to be interesting and enough randomness to provide friction and variety. On BGG, some players noted that after enough plays, you'll know what cards remain in the deck and so some of the surprise is lost, but I don't find that troublesome - most of the cards have multiple possible outcomes and so even if you know what's left, it doesn't guarantee a particular result.

Looking forward to playing again!


*Flintstone's reference

Retaking Vierville (again) and a Turn Sequence Idea for G Company

Last weekend, I returned to Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1, the first scenario, yet again.

Scene from Sunday night's game.

Two or three turns in on Saturday night, I realized I messed up the reinforcements for the US and so stopped after 2 or so turns (plus it was super late). Sunday night, the game was going well, I finally gave infantry smoke grenades a try, and I felt like I really had a grasp of the turn sequence, but I ran out of time to finish (it was looking pretty solid from the US perspective and not so great from the German). I still had to look things up, although far less often, and I suspect games will play faster soon enough.

Speaking of looking things up, it's been said many times before by may others, but I feel the need to add my voice to the chorus: for reference at the table, the rule book is pretty unhelpful - it's not written or laid out for quick reference (it took me almost 30 minutes to find the rule that explains how infantry units can deploy smoke).

Rule book aside, I enjoy the game quite a bit and look forward to having some time soon to play the scenario to completion (for only the second time).

**** EDIT: I have tried several play tests of my ideas for a change for G Company using The River scenario and Google Draw, (so I can do it in between tasks) and the verdict is, at least as I initially conceived it as Prep Fire Phase / Movement / Fire Phase, this method doesn't work particularly better than the original method nor is it noticeably more fun. It may even be less so. I leave my musings below for posterity's sake. I think perhaps Side A unit by unit activation (or all units in gird space) might work a la Portable Wargame et al.  More testing to follow. *****


Playing ASLSK did cause me to think more about my own turn sequence in G Company which probably comes as no surprise to anybody.

And yes, the possibility exists that I'm overthinking / over-complicating G Company but here we are.
 
So, I'm currently testing a "prep fire" phase - although not in the same way as ASLSK, just as an option to give Side A a choice to fire then move or move then fire with any given unit. In this way, the side that wins the draw has a chance to disorder the enemy to prevent reaction fire, and then take advantage of that fact in the same turn - something not possible as it is now. As the rules stand without the change, the enemy will always have a chance to rally before they get a chance to move. - which either keeps units in place longer, or exposes them to danger (and favors a defending force that doesn't have to move much).

However, I do think the current sequence adds a degree of friction that is lost with this new idea (the enemy has a chance to rally before you get to move again and so the rally rolls at the start of the next turn take on added meaning) and that I'm not so sure is worth losing. Particularly as the current game plays well

More thinking and more testing to be sure.

ASLSK#1: First Full Game!

Toy soldiers will resume shortly, I swear.

I know it's not that big of a deal but I played my first complete game of ASLSK#1 on Monday night. It was the full 5 turns allotted to S1, "Retaking Vierville" which pits elements of the US 101st Airborne against German Grenadier and Fallschrimjager units.

With the exception of close combat and the routing phase, everything went surprisingly smoothly and with minimal reference to the rule book (the scenario does not use squad weapons and I still haven't worked in smoke grenades yet. Next time). I'm not entirely sure I handled everything correctly mind you, so I'll probably watch some Youtube examples of play to make sure.

Close combat is Morschauser-esque in its brutality - both sides can be eliminated in the same close combat phase - which is why there are no Germans in the buildings in the center right.

It was a pretty convincing US victory - although that may fly in the face of the victory conditions - the closet the Germans came to occupying any of the target buildings at the end of the game is that red melee marker. Per the scenario: "The Americans win at game end if there are no Good Order German units in buildings N5, N6, M4 and L3." So, technically there's a good order German in L3, but in none of the other targets.

Tonight I worked on prepping some Airfix Germans (not even Chinese knock-offs) - scraping off mold lines (a thankless task that I'm not convinced improves things with my hamfisted handling of the blade. In fact, some days I wish I just played with unpainted plastic like I did when I first started war gaming). I'm thinking of playing a mini-campaign with the 2x2 Crossfire scenarios and using my Company Fire rules, both full and lite versions, to sort out any remaining bugs.

More on that campaign idea in another post.

ASLSK #1: Getting Deeper into the Water

Last weekend, one night after my son had gone to bed and I was otherwise too worn out by Dragon Con to do much, I worked through three complete turns of the first scenario from the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #1 in my effort to learn the rules.

Still missed a bunch of things, but I identified much of what I missed at least (residual fire is an interesting concept that my brain was having trouble remembering).

The US paratroopers were giving the Germans quite a wallop when I stopped playing. The picture below is just a small sample (the situation was similar on the rest of the board):

One of the problems the Germans had was my choice of table entry points - next time, I'll try coming in with a different approach.

I also didn't use any smoke grenades - and probably won't even try until I get more rules under my belt - but I think they'd have helped a bit.

Hoping to get another attempt at this scenario in tonight - even if just a few turns again.

ASLSK #1 : Dipping My Toe in the Water

Although I've gone through the rule book more than once now, I still hadn't had taken the time to put the ASL Starter Kit (ASLSK from now on) #1 on the table. Last night, I set up the first scenario just to play through part of a turn to start really learning.

Here's what it looked like after the Germans moved onto the board and took what amounts to reaction fire from the US paratroops:

While it doesn't look as enticing as toy soldiers on the table, once I'm stuck in my brain doesn't really care.

I made more than a few errors I'm sure, and I had to read and re-read rules bits, but I haven't been this excited to play a game since I got my Moldvay basic D&D book (aka the 'magenta' cover, the one with the three-holes punched) in '82.

Tonight, I'm going to see Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut (I've never seen the original cut but no matter) in the theater, but if there's time afterwards, I hope to work through a full turn for both sides for ASLSK.

A New Arrival

My copy of Advanced Squad Leader: Starter Kit #1 arrived a little earlier today- the cat hair in the picture was not included (it's just part of my daily existence, like water, food, and air).

While researching and working on my own rules, I often found myself looking into how ASL and similar games would handle this or that, and I figured, why not just go in all the way and really find out?

The Starter Kit has good reviews and support, so hopefully it's not too much of a hill to climb.

I am excited about this to the point that I am looking at cancelling plans in order to spend some time with the rule book!

OGRE!

I'm traveling this week for a work conference, but wisely (it happens sometimes, don't roll your eyes at me!) I packed a game with me that I have had for some time but never played:

pictured: a square black chit with a white silhouette labeled MARK III OGRE on an off-white map with a hex-grid and a portion of the OGRE logo.

I'm not going to really review the game - after all, this is the Ziplock pocket edition of Ogre that came out a few years ago from Steve Jackson games as part of a Kickstarter, and later for retail sale (I acquired my copy at a DragonCon several years back). But I do want to mention that the components are rather nice - and while the map may not match the Burning Mountains map for paper quality, the counters are thick and easy to handle. Helpfully, the rules are straightforward, mostly, and are presented in a slim staple-bound volume.

Here's the setup I came up with for the first scenario - Basic (Mark III) Scenario. The  defender set up a defensive line with a mix of Ground Effects Vehicles (GEVs) and heavy tanks. The idea being that the GEVs, with their two moves per turn, could race up, fire and fall back, while the heavy's could pummel the Ogre with their attack strength of 4.

The Ogre set about destroying the opposition from the get go - launching a missile to instantly blow up a GEV as a sort of warning about what was to come if the defenders insisted on standing in its way. Even when it appeared to be at an extreme disadvantage, it proved surprisingly difficult to damage. In retrospect, the defenders should have concentrated on taking out the treads, not the weapons systems.

The defenders think they have this all figured out.

Time and again a wall of defenders set up perfectly, only to be destroyed, disabled, or overrun.


The Ogre took several turns to systematically eliminate all enemy armor and then proceeded to steam away from the remaining infantry, past the lonely howitzer, towards the command post.

A showdown between the howitzer and the Ogre. The howitzer's immobility would be its downfall.

The howitzer managed a little damage before being rammed out of existence. The CP fell shortly after.

The Ogre stands upon the broken ruins of the command post.

I called the game at this point. The Ogre still had a secondary battery remaining and all but one anti-personnel weapon. So, while they might not have been able to overrun all of the infantry, the odds seem high that it would have,

Victory to the Ogre.

Verdict:  A fast, fun game that I am looking to playing again.

More boardgaming (no I have not forsaken my miniatures)

Last week, time to game was in short supply and by Friday night, I couldn't take it anymore. However, I didn't have any suitable scenario in mind for miniatures nor did I want to paint, so I broke out one of the only other hex-and-counter games I own, Worthington Games' Hold the Line.

There was a time when I thought for sure I'd paint up forces for the American War of Independence in 54mm. For awhile, almost every other title I listened to on Audible related to that war (plus I lived in Philadelphia for 13 years and it's hard to avoid the history there even if you want to. I used to ride my motorcycle through Valley Forge Park and for about two years, I lived just outside Germantown).  I purchased figures, primed and even painted some. Then I got Hold the Line and it scratched the itch, so that project stalled (stopped even). However, it's been at least two or three four years since I last played it (how did that happen?!?).

It's a fairly straight forward system, and feels very much like a miniatures rule set to my mind. Stacking is minimal - artillery and leaders can share a hex with another unit, but that's it - and there are no additional markers for statuses either. It's solitaire friendly, in that you have a random number of command points to spend each turn and so you can't just move everyone whenever you want. And of course, combat is dependent on a die roll. There are a number of optional rules as well, to up the complexity if desired - and I think they are quite useful additions, like making leaders have more of a role, improving artillery range when fired from a hilltop, that kind of thing.

I opted to start with the first scenario, which I've played at least once in the past, Long Island Heights, Sept. 16, 1776. The rebels have a specific setup, but the British do not, save for being limited to certain hexes. I probably set up the British poorly. To win the Americans must evacuate 7 units after turn 11 but before turn 22 or eliminate 6 British units or deny the British their victory conditions. For the British, they could win only by eliminating 7 American units by turn 22.

Maybe 6mm minis would work on this hex board?

You can see my British plan taking shape - to try and bash through the lower left and to swing the fast dragoons and light troops around behind the enemy on the right.

I decided that the American plan was simply to get the militia out of harm's way as fast as possible - they can only take two hits after all. And then, assuming the defense held, start evacuating as soon as possible.

I love the counters - they are thick and they make satisfying clink when you drop them in the box.

British light infantry and dragoons run down retreating militia.

These three units of Continental regulars threw a spanner into the British plans and refused to go down. They out fought the British handily - giving their fellows ample time to retreat to safety.

It came down to the wire but the Americans evacuated 7 units and won the game as a result - which is the historical result if not for the same reasons.

It will probably be obvious from the above picture that 1) I did not make good use of the commanders on either side and 2) the British get bogged down in fighting on their left and consequently a lot of their troops never saw action. The first was all my doing as I was re-familiarizing myself with the rules. The second was largely the result of poor dice rolling -both for command points and in combat. Especially in combat.


I am certain I could have done a better job for the British and I think a replay is in order - the whole game only takes about an hour - before I move on to the Harlem Heights scenario. The Americans will follow the same plan, but I'll have to rethink the British approach.

Once more into the Burning Mountains

Last Friday, I decided I would try and play the full 14-turn game of Burning Mountains. As mentioned in an earlier post, this hex-and-counter game covers the 1916 Austrian offensive into Italy, also known as the strafexpedition or sometimes, the Battle of the Asiago. Each counter represents a regiment or a brigade.

Once I finally managed to find where I misplaced the map, I got started - 8:30 PM. This was a good deal later than I had hoped to start but it took me almost two hours of turning my room upside down to find the map. It took less than half an hour to set up the counters in their start positions.

I finished around 3:30 AM and the result was a draw (the results are point based and primarily reflect what the Austrians can capture. Italy's goal is to deny points to the Austrians as much as possible).

I'm not sure how I feel about the draw. On the one hand, historically, each side claimed victory - which sounds kind of like a draw to me. Despite the fact that the Austrians held more of the map than at the start, it felt like I spent 7 hours to end up essentially back where I started. Although, as I think about it, I guess that's a good summation of a lot of the fighting on the Italian Front : a whole bunch of effort, but nothing really changed as a result except a bunch of people died.

Regardless of my feelings on the draw, the overall game did seem "historical" and it felt "right".

The Austrian advance slowed as the campaign wore on (I believe historically the reason was that the supply lines were stretched, but that was not an issue here as they maintained connection to their baseline via roads. Assuming I understood the supply rules. Here the issue was units being needed to hold the towns and geographical features captured.). Meanwhile the Italians lacked the ability to stop the Austrians because they were largely unprepared for the attack (represented by some first turn advantages for the Austrians, and the Austrians going first each turn), lacked sufficient artillery (this was a killer), and forces arrived piecemeal.

As a solo game, it works well enough. At least there is no simultaneous or hidden movement/starting dispositions. However, other than combat there is no randomization, never mind enemy AI. Helpfully, it took me so long to play each turn, I often forgot what counters were in a given stack, making attacks against an enemy stack something of a gamble.

Speaking of stacks, in some cases they toppled over in the most annoying fashion - but I suppose that is to be expected from an eight counter high stack.

I still have some rules questions - but I honestly am not motivated enough to seek out the answers to them yet. Much of my time was spent head down in the rules and not eyes up on the table, so the immersion factor was low. If there was an emergent narrative, I missed it while doing combat calculations. I suspect my general lack of familiarity with hex-and-counter gaming general contributed to this. So, perhaps I should give the game another chance.

If I could find a way to store this game part-way through, so I could return to it over a few nights, I would like to play it again to try a more aggressive Austrian assault and to see if the rules come more easily.

However, barring a way to store the game away from cats (one in particular), it was an interesting and engrossing experience but not one I can repeat any time soon.