Mighty Mini Men Wreak HAVOC
Apr. 1st, 2014 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
So this past weekend was HAVOC, the historical miniatures wargame convention in Shrewsbury. I say historical and that's mostly true but there were some zombie/fantasy/pulp fiction games and one gorgeous baseball simulation with a meticulously recreated Fenway. I was in three games this weekend.
On Friday night I signed up for a Force on Force game that pitted Russian troops against Chechen rebels. The Chechens were holding a film crew hostage and the Russians had to get them back. I'm always a big fan of Force on Force because no matter which side you play you feel like the game is always going terribly for you -- even if you win. In this particular case, I was on the Chechen side staring down the table at a Russian force with several APCs and a T-72 tank. We had crap RPGs and a small selection of anti-tank teams that would have to roll exceptionally well to crack the tank but which would have a better shot against the APCs.
More importantly, our Chechens were veterans and rolled d8's for most things. Normally, the insurgent troops in Force on Force roll d6s vs. a regular troop's d8s which means it can be very difficult for the insurgents to hurt the regulars. Here, we were on a more even footing, although we had a much worse wound recovery table (basically, we had to roll a 6 on d6 to stay in the fight but the Russians were still capable on a 4 or better). Once that was explained, I felt like we had a better chance despite the armor coming for us.
In the end, a vicious up-front defense, a highly effective IED, and a lone machine gunner who would just not die no matter what the Russians did, managed to bog down the Russians so long they only just reached the objective by the time the game was called. In the post-mortem, we agreed that the Russians should just barrel forward to the objective, grab the hostages and then push back. The odds of surviving RPG attacks were really pretty good, even in the APCs and by shoving down quickly, it would've exposed most of our positions and given them an idea of how to work their way back.
On Saturday morning, I got a chance to try out Fireball Forward, a Company-level WWII game that one of the guys down at the hobby store has been flogging. I've picked up the rules and it seemed interesting so here was a chance to give it a whirl. The scenario was set in Stalingrad. The Germans had to capture buildings in a push to the Volga river while the Russians had to stop them. The Russians were spread very thin at first but reinforcements would arrive on barges during the game so we had to hurry.
The game is a little "game-y" but it has some neat features. In particular, when your stand of guys shoots, they pick up some d6s and a d20. The d20 is a "range die". Your squad's rifles have a range of (say) 10". So you can always hit anything within 10". Beyond that point, your d20 roll needs to be high enough that it plus your base 10" reaches the target. So if you want to shoot at a guy 15" away, you need to roll a 5 or better on the d20. On top of that, if the number you roll on the d20 is equal to or better than the range to the target in inches, then your dice are at +1 to hit. So if you rolled a 16 on your d20 for that target 15" away, then you'd add +1 to all your dice. It's a neat little mechanic that puts a little uncertainty into long distance shooting but makes close-up attacks a lot better. The only downside is that actually eliminating units is not as easy as you'd like. Units will break and rout and a leader can get them back into the fight.
In any event, I was on the German side. We got stuck in right away with a tough fight on our left flank. The commissar's SMG team dug in across the street and just couldn't be shifted. On the right we fared a bit better as we probed across the street and then rushed in to drive out a squad or two. In the center, our Stug marched down the street and stopped at some barricades only to get shocked by an anti-tank rifle team hidden in the rubble. They recovered and sent shells everywhere (even at one of the incoming barges) but never really had much of an effect.
Another asset the Germans had was a stack of "activation chips". You spend a chip and you can immediately go with one of your platoons. We mostly spent these well to rush forward and grab positions. By the end of the fourth turn we had outright control of four buildings and contested a fifth. Under the rules, we were winning. However, our hold was pretty tenuous and the Russians had landed all their troops and were ready to come roaring back. On the fifth turn they shoved us out of one building and contested another. We had to call the game then and there, but while it looked bad for the Germans, it was still a very close game and a sixth turn might have seen it shift our way. A fun little game and I'd be interested to try another scenario or two.
Saturday afternoon, I sat down for a demo game of Crossfire. Crossfire is another WWII ruleset set at a Company-level. The defining feature of the ruleset is that there are no fixed length turns or measurement. Basically, if you have the initiative you can take actions with any of your units until you fail at an action and then the initiative passes to your opponent. So I can shoot with a unit and if they suppress or kill an enemy they can go again (or another one of your guys can go). But if they miss or only pin, then they've failed and your opponent can go. I've had the rules for a while and was keen to give them a go.
My opponent had never seen the rules before and it was his first time at a wargaming convention or even wargaming. I, uh, I kinda crushed him. I will say that he did manage to obliterate about half of my forces with off-board artillery and we were both kinda screwing around with the rules rather than pursuing objectives. In the end, we had a long post-mortem where we discussed what we both could've done better. He seemed to be having a good time so I hope I haven't driven him away from the hobby.
Crossfire is interesting but actually getting any kind of damage on a target seems to require just a ridiculous amount of co-ordinated firepower. I should really play a few more (and larger) scenarios, but I think Fireball Forward is edging it out (although I love the variable turn length features).
I managed to get away without emptying my wallet even. I just picked up some 15mm Germans to build out a platoon for Chain of Command. The figures were by Peter Pig and they were going for way cheap so it was a really good deal. That means I've got some more little dudes to paint up. Which is another post I owe you guys.
later
Tom
So this past weekend was HAVOC, the historical miniatures wargame convention in Shrewsbury. I say historical and that's mostly true but there were some zombie/fantasy/pulp fiction games and one gorgeous baseball simulation with a meticulously recreated Fenway. I was in three games this weekend.
On Friday night I signed up for a Force on Force game that pitted Russian troops against Chechen rebels. The Chechens were holding a film crew hostage and the Russians had to get them back. I'm always a big fan of Force on Force because no matter which side you play you feel like the game is always going terribly for you -- even if you win. In this particular case, I was on the Chechen side staring down the table at a Russian force with several APCs and a T-72 tank. We had crap RPGs and a small selection of anti-tank teams that would have to roll exceptionally well to crack the tank but which would have a better shot against the APCs.
More importantly, our Chechens were veterans and rolled d8's for most things. Normally, the insurgent troops in Force on Force roll d6s vs. a regular troop's d8s which means it can be very difficult for the insurgents to hurt the regulars. Here, we were on a more even footing, although we had a much worse wound recovery table (basically, we had to roll a 6 on d6 to stay in the fight but the Russians were still capable on a 4 or better). Once that was explained, I felt like we had a better chance despite the armor coming for us.
In the end, a vicious up-front defense, a highly effective IED, and a lone machine gunner who would just not die no matter what the Russians did, managed to bog down the Russians so long they only just reached the objective by the time the game was called. In the post-mortem, we agreed that the Russians should just barrel forward to the objective, grab the hostages and then push back. The odds of surviving RPG attacks were really pretty good, even in the APCs and by shoving down quickly, it would've exposed most of our positions and given them an idea of how to work their way back.
On Saturday morning, I got a chance to try out Fireball Forward, a Company-level WWII game that one of the guys down at the hobby store has been flogging. I've picked up the rules and it seemed interesting so here was a chance to give it a whirl. The scenario was set in Stalingrad. The Germans had to capture buildings in a push to the Volga river while the Russians had to stop them. The Russians were spread very thin at first but reinforcements would arrive on barges during the game so we had to hurry.
The game is a little "game-y" but it has some neat features. In particular, when your stand of guys shoots, they pick up some d6s and a d20. The d20 is a "range die". Your squad's rifles have a range of (say) 10". So you can always hit anything within 10". Beyond that point, your d20 roll needs to be high enough that it plus your base 10" reaches the target. So if you want to shoot at a guy 15" away, you need to roll a 5 or better on the d20. On top of that, if the number you roll on the d20 is equal to or better than the range to the target in inches, then your dice are at +1 to hit. So if you rolled a 16 on your d20 for that target 15" away, then you'd add +1 to all your dice. It's a neat little mechanic that puts a little uncertainty into long distance shooting but makes close-up attacks a lot better. The only downside is that actually eliminating units is not as easy as you'd like. Units will break and rout and a leader can get them back into the fight.
In any event, I was on the German side. We got stuck in right away with a tough fight on our left flank. The commissar's SMG team dug in across the street and just couldn't be shifted. On the right we fared a bit better as we probed across the street and then rushed in to drive out a squad or two. In the center, our Stug marched down the street and stopped at some barricades only to get shocked by an anti-tank rifle team hidden in the rubble. They recovered and sent shells everywhere (even at one of the incoming barges) but never really had much of an effect.
Another asset the Germans had was a stack of "activation chips". You spend a chip and you can immediately go with one of your platoons. We mostly spent these well to rush forward and grab positions. By the end of the fourth turn we had outright control of four buildings and contested a fifth. Under the rules, we were winning. However, our hold was pretty tenuous and the Russians had landed all their troops and were ready to come roaring back. On the fifth turn they shoved us out of one building and contested another. We had to call the game then and there, but while it looked bad for the Germans, it was still a very close game and a sixth turn might have seen it shift our way. A fun little game and I'd be interested to try another scenario or two.
Saturday afternoon, I sat down for a demo game of Crossfire. Crossfire is another WWII ruleset set at a Company-level. The defining feature of the ruleset is that there are no fixed length turns or measurement. Basically, if you have the initiative you can take actions with any of your units until you fail at an action and then the initiative passes to your opponent. So I can shoot with a unit and if they suppress or kill an enemy they can go again (or another one of your guys can go). But if they miss or only pin, then they've failed and your opponent can go. I've had the rules for a while and was keen to give them a go.
My opponent had never seen the rules before and it was his first time at a wargaming convention or even wargaming. I, uh, I kinda crushed him. I will say that he did manage to obliterate about half of my forces with off-board artillery and we were both kinda screwing around with the rules rather than pursuing objectives. In the end, we had a long post-mortem where we discussed what we both could've done better. He seemed to be having a good time so I hope I haven't driven him away from the hobby.
Crossfire is interesting but actually getting any kind of damage on a target seems to require just a ridiculous amount of co-ordinated firepower. I should really play a few more (and larger) scenarios, but I think Fireball Forward is edging it out (although I love the variable turn length features).
I managed to get away without emptying my wallet even. I just picked up some 15mm Germans to build out a platoon for Chain of Command. The figures were by Peter Pig and they were going for way cheap so it was a really good deal. That means I've got some more little dudes to paint up. Which is another post I owe you guys.
later
Tom
