Nutcracker Commando Raid

 Decided to put a non-canonical game on the table while I work out campaign rules for a first North Pole ‘42 campaign. In this case the scenario idea was taken from Sci-fi Skirmish Scenarios: Small-unit Missions For Use With Your Favourite Wargaming Rules by John Lambshead. Not coincidentally I used his One Hour Skirmish Wargames (OHSW) to play it.

The good guys are a crack commando unit - and so were given a Leader(3) (two actually - Clara and the Rat King), a Motivation of 4, and all had the Lucky trait (meaning they had a 75% chance of recovery if the were knocked down). Their goal was to silence the German 88 harassing a vital supply line for the main army.

The opposing force is supposed to be lower quality troops, so I gave the Germans a single Leader(2) and a Motivation of 2.  They don't want to be there - it's cold, it's the middle of nowhere, and their supplies are limited to what was on the ship they arrived on.

*****

Rat King took his Rattenkriegers to the right while Clara led a squad on loan from Frosty’s Fighters on the left (they are armed with bolt action rifles, I just haven't made them yet).

The forces arrayed at the start, with defenders as per the suggested scenario deployment.

It was a bit of a slog at first as our heroes struggled to make any dent in the the dug-in German front-line defenses.

Rattenkriegers

On the left, Clara and the snowfolk had difficulty getting much started, faced as they were by the German tripod MG and they were pinned down in the hill top woods

Eventually, on the right, the defenses were breached, giving the Rat King the opportunity he was waiting for. His rats gave a fine accounting of themselves.

A plucky rat spies the German rifleman in the second-floor window.

As the rats surged forward, the tide began to turn on their left. A snowfolk soldier sent a German defender into the snow, and Clara seized the opportunity to charge, brandishing her candy cane staff. She dispatched the German before he could stand. 

Clara set her sites on the machine gun and the German leader with them.

The German line begins to crumble.

The rat swarm continued their relentless push towards the German back-line positions, with Rat King, sword waving above his head, encouraging his soldiers to finish the job.

Rat-Attack!

Moments later, Clara engaged the German leader in close combat - he was no match for the peppermint princess. The rats begin firing on the 88's crew - armed only with pistols, returning fire wasn't an option. 

Before the gun crew could turn the 88 on the attackers, the German 2nd-in-command ordered his men to abandon the field.

Victory for the North Pole forces.

*****

The Germans actually broke when they failed a morale check after their leader had been knocked out of the fight and 2nd-in-command was down. This rarely happens when I play OHSW so it's definitely noteworthy.

The other observation I had was that the usual 5-turn limit of the scenarios included in OHSW would not fly here. With so much cover for both sides, the decks were chewed up fast and furious - meaning Jokers came up rather quickly. I didn't track turns but I think it was near 12 turns before the Germans broke.

The scenario however is not turn-based (unlike many of the scenarios in Sci-fi Skirmish Scenarios) but rather based on whether you concede the battle or not. I didn't have to as the Germans caved first.

I was so inspired by the game, I got out the remainder of my Christmas forces from the holiday bin and put them in a toy soldiers bin so they can be used in future encounters. In addition to the snowfolk needing rifles, some of the robot wooden soldiers need repair, as does King Moonracer. Storage was not kind to them.

NP '42: Deciding on Tabeltop Rules

Over the weekend, I set up trying to settle on a set of rules for the North Pole games. There were quite a lot in contention, but the top contenders for this experiment were: One Brain-Cell Toy Soldiers (1BC) with card-based unit activation, G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. with half-sized units, and One Hour Skirmish Wargames(OHSW).

For the scenario, a German platoon of three 5-man sections, one HMG, one light mortar and a platoon leader is advancing to capture some buildings on the outskirts of Christmas Village. An under-strength platoon of British paras, consisting of two 5-man sections, an HMG, and a platoon leader, move into the area to hold off the German advance. The Germans win if they capture both buildings, otherwise it's a win for the British.

You can tell this is non-canonical as I didn't break out my dozens of Christmas trees for the woods.

The fact that the pictures below tell a cohesive story is completely by accident. They are from multiple games.

British occupy the ruined building on their left.

 

"Knock! Knock!"

British assault the house.

The German right advances under cover of light mortar fire. The mortar was more devastating in some games than others. This must be from the GASLIGHT game where the max range was 24". In OHSW it's infinite (and can't move), and in 1BC, off hand, I believe it's at least 36".

The HMG covers the building in case the British capture it, while the English and Germans exchange fire from the relative safety of the trees. Either 1BC or GASLIGHT, because tripod HMGs can't move in OHSW.

The Germans hold the farm house, and the defenders of the other building are defeated in close assault.

Things take a turn for the worse on the British right.

Game over. This is most likely from the OHSW game, as contact with a downed figure is immediate figure removal.

I'm not sure I'm any further along in deciding.

I *can* say that, while it's no secret I love OHSW,, 18 units (the Germans, each figure or weapon team is a unit) on one side really felt like it was straining the system. 

The action felt less chaotic whirlwind and more disjointed than usual. At best you can take action with 13 units, and more often than not less than that. If you want to move and shoot with each figure even drawing a King, you're looking at 6 figures taking action.  To make it work, I'd have to drop one of the 5-man sections or support weapons or some similar combination (never mind that I have tanks, half-tracks, PAK-38s etc. for the Germans to use at the North Pole).

Both GASLIGHT and OHSW handle characters and vehicles easily - so a coin flip there.

GASLIGHT requires some adjustments for the under-sized units: morale and Shoot values primarily. Morale is somewhat silly in GASLIGHT, which I love, but maybe not for WWII troops (definitely would use for woodland creatures, elves, etc.).

1BC wins for simplicity and adding card activation made it more like GASLIGHT. There's no vehicle rules so they require improvising - nothing I haven't done before, and I could probably bolt on either of the others in some way, but still, it's extra work.

I really like the Force Motivation and Force-level Morale check in OHSW as opposed to individual unit morale checks in GASLIGHT or 1BC. Although, this was the first time I ever came close to a side failing their morale check - the paras lost their PL (a Leader(3) in OHSW terms) and only had their section leaders (Leader(1)  in OHSW terms). They came within 1 point of failing their morale check.

So, each set has things that work, and things that work sort-of. And I like them all. 

Maybe I'll just choose whichever one I'm feeling on the day? Or maybe, more play tests are in order? Oh darn.

Narrative History of Events Leading to the German Decision to Invade the North Pole

The events that led to the German invasion of the North Pole were more serendipitous than part of any grand scheme. In fact, in retrospect, it is almost as if the whole situation had been contrived solely to insure there would be a conflict at the Pole.

On Christmas Eve, 1941, a disgruntled member of the “Prep and Landing” team, lax in his duties, was captured (asleep no less) by the Gestapo in Hamburg, Germany.

Bitter at being passed over for promotion, he (let’s call him “Judas” for the sake of this history) readily offered up what details he had about the location of Santa’s Castle - a misnomer, as it includes not only the castle proper but surrounding industrial complex aka The Workshop, training fields for the reindeer, housing for elves, a vibrant arts district (elves need downtime like everyone else), etc.

The “North Pole”, as it is called, although it is not the geographic place of the same name, is a medium-sized island in the Arctic Circle, shrouded from view from the air by powerful magic, but, oddly, at the time, still accessible by sea (where it looked like a large chunk of ice). For the Nazis, this was music to their ears - surely, the jolly fat man would offer no resistance to the might of Germany..

Before Judas could disabuse them of that notion, and reveal the island’s defenses, he was “silenced” by European agents of C.L.A.S.S. (Cute Little Animals in Santa’s Service)  who infiltrated the Hamburg Gestapo headquarters early Christmas Day, 1941. Notice the absence of the term “rescued” in the preceding sentence. 

Artist rendition.

If you betray Santa, word travels fast. Plus, war is hell.

Although the Gestapo had yet to determine exactly what to do with the informant, the result would have been the same, so, they shrugged their collective shoulders, disposed of the body, reported the information, and went back to carrying out their evil deeds.

In their eagerness, the German command worked with the limited intelligence they had (a comment on the information Judas provided and their own character) to prepare a plan to land a kampfgruppe on the “North Pole”, assault Santa’s Castle and capture Santa. 

Surely, they reasoned, it would bring Europe and much of the world to its knees.