Party On The Prairie(con)

Battle is set - Colonials enter at the top and right, Rebels at the bottom and left

Prairiecon 2013 took place in the lovely city of Brandon, Manitoba last weekend.  Once again the Conscripts made a solid show of force, running and participating in games in other events over the weekend.  Dallas ran a Star Wars: Fleet Battles game Saturday morning, and I ran a game of Tomorrow's War Saturday night.  Here is a report on the Tomorrow's War game.

VIPs do some TV interviews while awaiting rescue

The scenario was set on some un-named dusty colonial world of the distant future.  Once again, the minions of everyone's favourite future company - Binary Petroleum - had been trapped in a dangerous place, shot down in an area of abandoned industrial facilities.  Colonial troops are dispatched to recover the survey team, and a group of Sludge Truther Rebels has the same idea.  Cue the firefight!

Sludge Truther Rebels under the guidance of the mysterious "Known One"

The table was 4' x 4', filled with Dallas' awesome Stalingrad ruins, with a few added modern touches, including some new sponsor logos (more about that later).  The Colonial troops were composed of the amazing Frank Hammond science fiction troopers.  The Colonials had four five-man fire teams, two with LMGs, two with rocket launchers, and a small command element featuring a medical bot and a sniper rifle.

Things heat up in the center of the table

One of Mike's fire teams sets up in cover

The Sludge Truther Rebels were represented by the excellent Pig Iron Kolony Rebels, and a couple of Pig Iron Kolony Ferals. They were organized into five-"man" "slurms", and a small command element (boasting the guidance of "The Known One"). As we frequently do in the Ambush Alley games, the two sides started very close, and in Tomorrow's War weapon ranges are not relevant, so the battle would come fast.

"Hey - they don't look like Colonial troops..."

On of my fire teams decimated by terrible reaction rolls

The victory conditions were based on the recovery (or, in the case of the Sludge Truthers, I should say "recovery") of the VIPs.  There were four of them, and they started the game right in the middle of the table.  Each fire team could only recover one VIP at a time.  If you evacuated or held a VIP at the end of the game, you got a victory point.  And, of course, accidents happen, so these, er, "incidents" would shape the number of victory points available.

Hmmm...what happened to this captive?

Mike F and I played the Colonial troops.  Dallas and Cam played the Rebels.  Early on, the Rebels made excellent progress - I blew a reaction role and lost most of one fire team in the first turn!  Meanwhile the shifty opposing slurms grabbed a couple of VIPs.

Colonial fire team

A rebel "Slurm"

But we started to turn the tide! Mike won a number of initiative rolls, and our fire started to really hurt the Rebels.  Mike got one of his fire teams into a position that could cover the Rebel exit points very well, and the rebels bogged town.  Two more of our fire teams closed in on the remaining VIPS.  Toss in an - er - "incident" depriving the Rebels of a VIP, and it was looking very, very good for the Colonial side...

This is Mike's second fire team moving in for a rescue

The Colonial troops rescue a VIP...but there was...an incident soon after...photos went missing...

And then...and then...in the space of three die rolls, it was over.  One of our VIPs was, um, "lost to a kinetic incident" in a fashion that may, or may not, have involved some of our own weapons.  Dallas then got the drop on my last fire team, meaning the Rebels broke free of their pinned position and buggered off the table with a VIP.  Since the other three VIPs had encountered "issues", that meant a win for the Sludge Truthers!

Rebel command element under fire.  The captive (at the top of the photo, with his back turned) would get hit in the crossfire

In all we played about six turns, but with the Ambush Alley system, there is a lot of interaction and the exchange of fire was very involved.  In one turn Cam's cover "Slurm" fired so much he actually ran out of dice.  Gun barrels were melting on both sides.

Colonial troops advancing near the friendly Binary Petroleum billboard

A big thank you to Dallas for lending out his excellent Stalingrad terrain for the game, and to Dallas, Mike F and Cam for joining in during the game.  It was a lot of fun, and we drew a healthy crowd of onlookers for the battle.

A fine sponsor of the future

Can't build colonies without financing...

I also want to thank Conscript Kevin H. for the ace work he did putting together the corporate logos for our game.  It is good to know that Binary Petroleum and Stellarbank will have a nice brand to add to our science fiction game settings!  Stay tuned for a report from Dallas on the Battle of Endor... 

Tomorrow's War AAR - He Should Have Seen This Coming

Table set up for Tomorrow's War

After visiting Regina just a couple of weeks ago I was very excited to host a return visit by Founding Conscript Curt C, the proprietor/editor of the Analogue Hobbies blog.  Curt is in town for business, but that doesn't mean we can shoe-horn some gaming in! 

Steel Legion Fire Team with officer, medi-bot and Schwarm Bot

Steel Legion Fire Teams

 Curt's group in Regina doesn't play too much sci-fi, so for the first game I set up a small game of Tomorrow's War. The scenario is small one, set in the 40k universe, during the time of the Horus Heresy, on a planet where a pair of Imperial Guard formations have squared off. I have been working to try and come up with a fun "starter" scenario that we can use to play at cons, demonstration games etc. that is a little more engaging than the downed pilot scenario in the Tomorrow's War rule book.

The prize - planetary Astropath, the interstellar iPhone of the 41st millennium

Kasrkin Fire Team and officer

Two more Kasrkin Fire Teams

In this scenario, called "He Should Have Seen This Coming", a convoy which had included an Astropath, a psychic used for interstellar communications in the 40k setting (and therefore very valuable), had been hit by an air strike.  The Astropath was still alive in the wreck of an APC, and one Imperial faction was sending heavy troops to extract him.  They would have eight turns to accomplish this.  The survivors of the armoured column, Steel Legion infantry, would try to block them, and worry about the Astropath later.

Kasrkin must cross the Wadi (top) and get to the wrecked APC at the intersection

Astropath ponders the odds

The table is 4' x 4', with a wrecked APC in the middle, the trusty adobe buildings from Miniature Building Authority and other bits scattered around.  The Steel Legion defenders had three five-man fire teams, each with a rocket launcher and a grenade launcher.  There was also a medical bot and a junior officer attached to one team.  I was short a rocket launcher, so I used the "Schwarmbot" of Gün Schwarm notoriety to fill in with one fire team.  The teams started in ambush, and were d8 quality.

Kasrkin prepare to move out

Steel Legion in ambush

The attacking force were Imperial Guard Kasrkin troops - three four-man fire teams, each with a plasma gun and a melta gun.  There was also a Lieutenant leading the group. The armour of the Kaskrin was rated as 2D, and I also allowed the melta-gun to eliminate 1D of cover from the enemy, so long as it did not move and fire.  The Kasrkin fire teams started a short distance on to the table, needing to cross the wadi and more to the APC.

Steel Legion troopers

Curt played the Kasrkin and I played the Steel Legion.  The Kasrkin side would start with initiative on the first turn, and we would roll for it afterwards.

Screw the ambush - open fire!

Curt maneuvered carefully, but still aggressively, using overwatch and relying on the strong armour of the Kasrkin to cross the wadi and establish themselves in the buildings overlooking the wrecked APC. I found waiting in ambush to be challenging, so I opened fire with two of my fire teams and maneuvered with my third to try and put better cover over the APC.

Couple of wounds on a Steel Legion Fire Team - great markers from Curt

At the top left a Kasrkin Fire Team has moved in to cover the target

Both sides traded fire for several turns.  My high point came with a successful reaction test which allowed me to knock out an entire Kasrkin fire team!  But Curt used the carnage to advance to the APC and collect the "cargo".  It would all come down to reaction rolls and cover fire to see if the Kasrkin could escape. Curt had one fire team on Overwatch across the Wadi and would rely on them to put out enough noise for his second team to fall back.

Effective covering fire by the Kasrkin...

The Steel Legion troops dealt some hurt too

As you can see from the pictures, the cover and reaction fire of the Kasrkin was pretty effective - I lost a whole fire team! We managed to inflict some hits and a serious wound on the team carrying the "cargo", but did not stop them in the end.  Curt had a victory just as the eight turn wrapped up. 

Kasrkin Fire Team makes contact with the target

It was a stiff price for the Kasrkin - four KIA, one seriously wounded (and the medevac did not come, despite two attempts to call for it) out of thirteen troops deployed.  But they dished out a lot of abuse too - five KIA and two seriously wounded out of sixteen Steel Legion troopers.

One casualty on the move back to the Wadi - but not enough to stop the Kasrkin

Tomorrow's War provides for very fun game with a small number of models.  It also allows for 40k gaming without 40k rules, which is really a treat. I like how the game feels more like a puzzle - how to maneuver with covering fire? If you are in ambush, do you wait, or give up and try to maneuver yourself into a better position? The effect of the casualties rules is also really neat - the men try to care for them, and are all affected when someone is seriously wounded etc. These scenarios are fun to build, and I hope to stage a little more developed version of this one for the regular group sometime soon.

Stay tuned for a couple more AARs from Curt's stay in Winnipeg.

Battle Report - Tomorrow's War - So THAT's How It Works...

View of the table at the conclusion of last night's game of Tomorrow's War

Last night we gave "Tomorrow's War" another go.  Our first attempt at the game was less than satisfying, as were the first attempts of others, it seems. But Ambush Alley can't have all those fans out there for no reason, and Conscript Mike A insisted (politely) that we would probably figure it out if we read "Force on Force" instead. So we did - and he was right! We tried Tomorrow's War again last night, and it was a lot a fun!

The objective - a disabled T-640 tank - sits in the middle of a 4' x 4' table

A T-340 burning away in the village, victim of the LuftSchwarm

LZ marker for the Gün Schwarm VTOL

The scenario was set on a 4'x4' table, with arid terrain and a village consistent with the vaguely post-pre-post-apocalyptic setting we enjoy for our home-grown sci-fi factions.  The setting was a big FuturKom counter-offensive on the world of Dnieper VII.  The Gün Schwarm faction was in retreat, but its air assets had managed to really stick it to a FuturKom armoured column.  Seeing the column in distress, TruKom rebels pounced and launched an attack.  Seeing that attack, Gün Schwarm command decided send in some troops.

FuturKom officer, lackey (right) and medical bot

FuturKom Motor Fuzileers before the fight - beautiful figures from Pig Iron Productions

Close up of a FuturKom fireteam - Dallas did an amazing job with these figures

The goal for the Gün side was to get to the disabled T-640 heavy tank (set in the middle of the table), gather some intelligence from it (what guns sights does it use? does it have a docking station compatible with the iPhone 400s?), and then blow it up.  The FuturKom survivors had to protect the tank, so it could be repaired later and sent back to the front.  The game length would be six turns.

Gün Schwarm side before the battle

Close up of the "TruKom" rebels - Kolony Rebel figures from Pig Iron Productions

Gün regulars, with heavy infantry to the left, just out of the shot

Futurkom had four six-man fireteams, a commander and a medical bot.  They also had a surviving BTR-800 APC.  Quality was D8 all around, with D10 morale.  On the Gün side, the TruKom rebels had two five-man fire teams, with D6 quality but D12 morale (in other words, fanatically ineffective).  The Gün regulars consisted of two four-man heavy infantry fire teams, a commander with medical bot/skull and extra special weapon trooper, and a five-man team of regular grenadiers.  They had a VTOL with light armament (4D8 AP) for transport. Quality for the Gün regulars was D8, with D10 morale.  The heavy infantry had stronger armour (2D) and laser weapons that made their optimum range 12" instead of 8".  Everyone's tech level was 2, and confidence was normal for all.

FuturKom occupies some cover - the CO keeps things running from the courtyard



FuturKom troops cover the street while the Gün VTOL buzzes the battle area



TruKom rebels get ready to move out

Dallas took command of his Kommulist Forces, while Brian and I took command of the Gün Schwarm side.  Brian was given control of the TruKom rebels - I think he thought that was cool until he learned they were only D6 quality, but full credit to him for fighting onward. Then I told him they were poorly supplied too...

TruKom fireteam showing the effects of heavy fire from FuturKom troops

These Gün heavy infantry would end up isolated as the VTOL was driven off, and suffer a "negative outcome" i.e. getting blasted to pieces

Another FuturKom fireteam, blazing away at the enemy

The Kommers got to start two fireteams on the board - others would walk on in the second turn.  Brian then set up the two TruKom units anywhere at least 8" away from the Kommers.  The Gün regulars would start trying to arrive via VTOL on the first turn - the VTOL had three marked LZs to choose from. The Güns would start with initiative.

TruKom rebels taking cover near some handy Kommulist-themed containers - Brian would roll Vegas on the first aid checks to keep these guys alive

FuturKom fireteam moves out into the street after the building gets a bit too hot...

It was a sharp, heavy firefight from the outset.  Brian's two rebel fireteams got into it right away, trying to advance on Dallas' troops.  It wasn't long until models on both sides were being tipped over.  My VTOL made an attempt on an LZ, and managed to unload just one fireteam before it was driven off.  Isolated and alone, this fireteam would ultimately be doomed.

 Gün heavy infantry fireteam confronted by the BTR-800 - it would end in tears for the Güns

On the second turn, one of Brian's fireteams was totally wiped out - they would lay there for a few turns until we got some medical help to them.  But the VTOL landed and managed to get the balance of the heavy infantry out into a good position, and they started to hit some Kom fireteams pretty hard. The VTOL, however, was hit by fire and forced to land, effectively knocking it out.

Gün VTOL forced to make a hard landing thanks to heavy fire by the FuturKom troopers

Gün regulars move out to try and support the TruKom rebels

Dallas rolled quite a few "1"s during his reaction tests, and so the Fog of War cards came out a lot.  A couple of these were benign - "the weather clears", but most of these were a big hassle for Dallas.  He lost one guy to a booby trap.  Another card turned one of his buildings into "Swiss cheese", which made it easy for me to mow down the troops inside. But it went both ways - I lost one of my squads to a misplaced mortar strike - and rolled Vegas to basically wipe them out - and Dallas got to have one of his fireteams go "in the zone", improving to D10 quality and D12 morale for a turn.

Worst. Reaction Rolls. Ever. Where is that Fog Of War deck?

There was one chain of action where we all rolled "1"s for the three teams involved!  This series of events cost me a heavy infantry fireteam due to mortars, and cost Dallas his cover.  Sigh.

Gün heavy infantry gets zapped by their own mortars...my best rolling the whole game, unfortunately

This building suddenly became way less effective cover for the Kommers, and I was able to wipe out the fireteam - but the medical bot brought them back next turn....darn it!

We did shoot up a few of Dallas' teams, but we never managed to get moving, as I continuously blew Overwatch checks.  The heavy infantry didn't manage to "get it together". By turn the end of turn six we were nowhere close to our objectives, while Dallas had covered his.  We didn't get near the T-640, while Dallas had put several of our fireteams below half-strength and shot down the VTOL.  Our standout achievement was to severely damage the BTR-800. Decisive win for FuturKom.

FuturKom fireteam covering the T-640 - the BTR-800 (in the background, at the right) has moved on to engage other targets

Gün heavy troops pour fire out into the streets...

Gün AT launcher engages the BTR-800 in the distance - they would manage to immobilize it...

I still screwed up several things - for example, I think I missed some modifiers that should have made it easier for Dallas to get the initiative back, meaning Dallas never managed to win the initiative.   I goofed on the interpretation of who can react to what in the end phase.  I'm pretty sure I screwed up a bit with the VTOL. We didn't try to check if seriously-wounded guys got hit again. We kept forgetting to try suppressive fire (which is something that might have really helped our side out). And I often forgot about Brian's guys being poorly supplied.  But whatever, I still loved it.  The scenario was fun, the terrain was fun, and the models were great. 

TruKom rebels engage the BTR-800, knocking out the main gun

FuturKom Officer - "Well, we're all seriously wounded, but job well done!"

Here are some thoughts on the rules now that we have a second (and much better) game under our belt.

Thoughts On The Good Stuff
Most games go much better once you understand WTF you are doing, and this was no exception.  The action/reaction sequence is very cool.  With a little planning and coordination (and not losing your overwatch reaction checks) you can move around the table and cover your own units.  This is far and away the coolest aspect of these rules, and makes for a very, very enjoyable gaming experience.  Looking back I can already see the mistakes I made by not getting my different fireteams organized to work together a little more.  The one heavy infantry fireteam which ended up isolated (and then hit by random mortars...oh well) would have made a huge difference for the rest of our troops, but just ended up getting zapped by a hot LZ.

I also enjoy the constant firefights.  You throw buckets of dice (which I love, although that's not for everyone) and everybody gets to shoot a LOT, in just one turn, which I think is fun. The game was only six turns, but we were blazing away at each other for practically the whole game.

The medic/medical bot aspect is neat - with the medical assets around, units can hang around longer, and keep fighting.

I also enjoyed the Fog-Of-War cards.  It helped that these mostly plagued Dallas :) but they are pretty neat, and didn't affect the game in an excessive way.

Thoughts On The "Meh" Stuff
I have mixed feelings on the casualties.  I have seen several other reviews where the players have remarked  one way or the other on this too.  For all of the shooting, there were perhaps five models KIA on Dallas' side, and maybe six on our side, for about 11 out of almost 52 infantry models.  Now - is that "right"? I'm not sure. 

To be clear, this is still 250% better than a 40k game, where the casualties are something like 90% (100% when I play against Dave V's Eldar), and yet somehow neither side breaks, and there are three or four models still on the table at the end of the game, which always feels stupid to me. Besides, what do I really know about the "right" level of casualties? 

Removing models by the bunch is just something I'm used to in gaming, so the approach taken by Tomorrow's War is really different from my perspective.  By keeping the seriously wounded troops with the unit, you do think of the game a little differently, and I credit the Ambush Alley guys for going with a system that makes the players think/act much more like "real" regular soldiers would with regard to injured comrades. They would be cared for, protected and evacuated, and not just flicked away to make room for a sweeping advance move. 

I guess it just seemed like the repeated accumulation of serious wounds in a unit should have had...some kind of worse outcome.  Just not sure what it is.  Maybe a fireteam with two serious wounds needs to do a TQ check to do anything, even return fire....who knows...but something.  All in all, I think this is something I will get used to once I play the game more.  Not a big negative, just very different.

Thoughts On The Not-So-Good Stuff
No question we had a way, way better experience with last night's game than our first game.  But I feel there are still some serious challenges with these rules.

First of all, it's a lot of "red tape" for a skirmish game - who is wounded, who is seriously wounded, who has moved once, who hasn't, who has fired, how many times have they fired etc.  You are keeping track of a lot of stuff for a small game.  You will need a number markers/chits for the tabletop. This is not the end of the world, but it will serve as significant check on the size of the game you can have. And not everyone likes a tabletop cluttered in chits.

A big bugaboo, in my view, is the separation of getting hit by fire and determining the results of those hits.  Considering that you are taking morale checks all the time in the middle of the turn, waiting until the next turn to see how bad the hit was just does not make any sense to me. The first aid checks should happen right after the round of fire is complete, and before the next activation.

Last, and most significant, remains the confusing structure and organization of the rulebook itself.  I simply did not understand "Tomorrow's War" until we read "Force On Force".  Tomorrow's War reads like you already know the rules - like you are all already "in" on the game. The fact that we would read a second set of rules just to understand the first set is a strong testament to the positives in this game. "Tomorrow's War" already appears to enjoy a very strong following (and we now see why). A properly organized version of the "Tomorrow's War" rules would surely draw exponentially more  new interest from gamers!

A final bit - this game need a proper and well-thought-out QRS sheet.  This is a good start, but doesn't quite cut it.

Conclusion
With the riddle of the rules unlocked, Tomorrow's War is a lot of fun.  It is a very engaging, firefight-packed game. I look forward to trying it again with the group sometime!

Thanks to Dallas and Brian for coming out to game last night, and to Dallas for bringing along his awesome FuturKom guys and vehicles!

A Word from Dallas

Great report, Greg, and thanks for hosting the game. I don't really have a lot to add, except to echo your comment that this go-through was MUCH better than the first one. TW makes a lot out of its ability to simulate "asymmetric" encounters but as I found in the first game, and Brian saw last night, d8 guys vs. d6 guys is generally not a lot of fun for the d6'ers. This is exacerbated to some degree by the difficulty of putting a man down in TW. Crap hordes vs. a few good troops works better (psychologically) in a game like 40K, where stuff dies. The horde player can feel good about getting a few kills on the other guy, and the good troops will kill horde monsters by the truckload.

But TW is more realistic... not everybody who gets hit will die, be seriously wounded, or even get a boo-boo, for Pete's sake. So it's a bit more cerebral and less visceral an exercise to "see how you're doing" when most of the guys you knocked down stand straight back up again.

I am also growing to be somewhat of a convert to the "reaction" system (as opposed to IGO-UGO). Limiting the number and quality of "reactions" is key, though, especially when the battle is asymmetrical. I enjoyed the way we played last night - that Initiative units were not allowed reactions once the non-Initiative units starting doing stuff at the end of the turn. "You had your chance to act - could have gone on Overwatch if you wanted - now it's our turn." TW allows a bit more "reaction" from the Initiative units so we'll have to consider that.

All in all a great evening's gaming!