Game This Week - FUBAR!

This week we will be trying "FUBAR" out for the first time, playing a sci-fi skirmish in 6mm (!). The poll results on the page seem to show a bit of an "are you nuts?" factor, but I'm really looking forward to trying out the new system and pushing some newly-painted figures around. Here is some background for the scenario we'll try tomorrow night....

A spartan vista on the surface of Colony 24601

The setting is a supposedly quiet, mostly barren and isolated colony, so isolated the authorities haven't even bothered to name it - Colony 24601. The land is mostly desert, with little potable water and few areas hospitable to any kind of agriculture. The world is given over primarily to the resource-extraction efforts of Binary Petroleum. The main administration of the colony and the BP operations are not even located on the surface, but rather on a space station orbiting the colony.

A Binary Petroleum technical facility on 24601 - adding value for your family, and a lot more value for shareholders

On the surface of 24601 itself there is only one significant settlement with a spaceport, staging areas for BP work crews, and a population of any size. The remaining settlements are very small and dispersed, most of them home to BP technical facilities of some sort, with a few making a go at agriculture where 24601's challenging climate allows for it. There are also an number of fringe settlements, people trying to live "off the grid".

Strange lights in the sky of 24601 - probably nothing....

Trouble is brewing. Colonists and work crews have reported strange lights out in the wastelands during the hours of darkness. BP technical crews have reported a number of equipment problems and issues with communications equipment. Refugees have appeared at the BP settlements, claiming their communes had been attacked and overrun by parties unknown.

Captain Hawkins contemplates his first command....

Task Force Bravo has been deployed to 24601 to investigate and address any concerns (i.e. mollify Binary Petroleum and the Colonial Administrators). The reservists are sure this is a milk run. Captain Hawkins is not so sure, but orders are orders.

The Task Force is still unloading their equipment from the spaceport when a distress signal is received from a BP technical settlement a few hours away. A garbled communication from the settlement spoke of an approaching force of armed soldiers. Further intelligence is not available - the communications system on the Colony is malfunctioning once again, and no satellite imagery is available due to reported atmospheric disturbances. Communications and readings from the settlement in question have gone silent.

A garbled distress call - is it an alien attack? A shortage of Doritos? The Task Force must find out...

Hawkins assembles the troops. One of the Mammoth tanks and two of the Cruiser tanks are not able to move out yet because some parts haven't arrived, but he decides he can't wait. The column rumbles off along the main highway toward the source of the distress call...

"Food for Powder"

Two weeks ago the Conscripts enjoyed a visit from from Conscript "founding managing director" Curt C, who makes his home in our neighbouring province to the west these days, but still makes time to peel down the highway and throw an occaisional game and visit. This trip marked the debut for the "grand manner" style of Napoleonics gaming with 25/28mm figures for us here in Winnipeg, and man was it cool!

Curt staged a game for the group on the Thursday night - a replay of his tried and tested "When Things Go Boom" scenario, an entertaining "what-if" engagement post Battle of Waterloo. He has already filed a report on his blog, and you can see some photos there.

As one of the players who tried in vain to crush the British rear-guard, I cannot report not much more than heavy casualties for the french side...Dallas and Dave V handled the defence of the village very well. Meanwhile, together with Brian and Mike F, those of us on the French side endured frustration and rocket attacks. The darn rocket battery chased off our Dragoon Regiment! Stupid brits...

Unfortunately my picture-taking that night was a fail, but check out "Analogue Hobbies" (Curt's blog) for some great pics. The game was outstanding, and it looked awesome. A big thank you to Curt for rolling out the game, and to Dallas for hosting!

Curt stayed over the weekend, as his wife was attending the religious ceremony otherwise known as the U2 concert that Sunday (I was able to go too, and I have to say I will now shut up about Bono after watching an incredible rock show). We were able to fill the time before the concert with some great gaming, including a first deployment for my Austrians! Here are some pictures.

The scenario was the Battle of Venzone, set in Italy in the 1809 campaign, with a brigade on each side. It is exactly the sort of battle no exalted history or rules-book-scenario writer spends much time on, and is exactly the kind of battle that is a great game with Curt's modification of Black Powder, which he calls "Food For Powder".

In the scenario, the Austrians are the aggressors, led by a fire-eating officer (pretty rare), who is leading an attack against an advancing French column.



The scenario was the one Curt and I had committed to playing in 25/28mm quite some time ago, and was the inspiration for me to get moving on painting my Austrians for this scale. Needless to say, it was quite exciting to finally deploy the lads for action!



In the spirit of this rare agressive Austrian officer, I attacked the French as soon as we could, launching my Hussars, supported by Dragoons, at the French Dragoons as they moved on to the table. The battle went well for the Austrians - the Dragoons were driven off, and in the follow-up for the assault, the Hussars caught a French battalion in column, wrecking their day as well. The charge finally whimped out in the face of a French artillery battery.









Curt countered by using the "Follow Me!" ability of his brigadier to get the artillery back into action, and my Hussars soon decided they had enjoyed enough action for the day. But their work was done - the French column was damaged and stopped - time for the ground pounders to get to work!

I sent the infantry straight up the middle, with the Grenzers in the lead. We had the advantage of one French battalion being driven into a square by the presence on my cavalry. A firefight lasted for a few turns (as I failed on my command rolls to get the brigade fully in motion) but we managed to out-shoot the lads in the square, and ultimately drive them off.



The Grenzers paid the price for "screening" the assault, but the following Austrian regulars were able to make up for the sacrifice, driving enough French units away while still "holding their bottle" in the face of some heavy-duty musketry.





It was an absolute thrill to get the Austrians on to the table to for the first time. Curt will surely find another scenario soon, and accompanying roster that I can use as a new target to build toward. Thanks again for the game dude!

Game this week - Epic 40k, using Future War Commander

This week we're going to take "Future War Commander", the science fiction edition of Specialist Military Publishing's rules, out for a spin, using Epic 40k miniatures and a scenario set during the early days of the Horus Heresy, pitting Horus' followers against determined loyalists.

In the fluff of the Horus Heresy, there is a lot of focus on Horus' main battle fleet, which moved to Earth quickly after the rebellion started. But the fighting spread rapidly right across the Imperium, often within systems and even planets.

For the game this week we'll set the engagement on a world where an Imperial military expedition had been amassing, containing substantial forces from the Dark Angels and Emperor's Children chapters, as well as many Imperial Guard regiments. All the units have come to a garrison world in preparation to embark on the expeditionry fleet, when news of the rebellion reaches them. The Emeperor's Children, loyal to Horus, immediately set about trying to take control of the situation, with the ultimate goal of seizing control of the system and the expeditionary force so they can join the assault on Earth. The Dark Angels move desperately to counter them. Component elements of the expedition turn on each other as some of the Imperial Guard units join with the Emperor's Children, while others remain loyal to the Emperor. Fighting breaks out across the planet.

A particularly large column of rebel forces is moving on toward an important Imperial communications base. The small garrison remains loyal to the Emperor, but cannot hold for long. Critical Imperial artefacts, supplies and personnel are loaded on to transport vehicles for evactuation. Will Horus' minions sieze these critical objectives, or will the Dark Angels be able to intervene in time?

See you this Thursday!

Game this week - Napoleonics with Lasalle

This week we will return to the Napoloenic era and take Lasalle, the new rules by Sam Mustafa, for a test drive.

Sam Mustafa is the brains behind rules like Grande Armee (Napoleonic) and Might and Reason (Seven Years War). I have always found his rules to be innovative, thoughtful and fun, lending themselves to some great games (well, except for games where I play the Austrians and face the Prussians in the Seven Years War). I still have great memories of the Grande Armee game Curt ran for us a couple of years back, where the Austrians won at Marengo, thanks to Brian's grenadier brigade single-handedly overrunning the French line and wrecking their flank.

Lasalle is intended to be "tactical". I am not intelligent enough to split the hairs, but I think this means "above skirmish, and below division", or something like that. Fellow conscript Curt C is way more eloquent and knowledgeable on this point, but I think that one thing Shako struggles with is the brigade level of command. It tries to represent brigade OBs in the games and approximate every battalion in the field, but cuts out the brigade level of command, distorting the command and control. In Lasalle, you will not try to represent the huge encounters like the Battle of Waterloo (or you could, I guess, but that doesn't seem to be the intent) and will instead enjoy smaller actions that occurred in all theatres in all times. Or, you can play a small part of one of the larger, more well-known actions.

I think Lasalle is also part of Sam Mustafa's attempt to develop some kind of unified field theory for horse and musket gaming. In his introduction, he touches on how people have always tried to adapt his rules from one period to another period or setting (i.e. Grande Armee for ACW). He postulates that gamers have this innate desire to have one set of rules for everything. Speaking as someone who has pushed around a squadron of X-wing fighters hunting a Star Destroyer using an adaptation of Lord of the Rings rules, I suppose that might be a little true. Still, I believe Sam is over-thinking it. A glance at any gamer's bookshelf will tell you we will always buy another set of rules. The reason we try to apply one set of rules to other periods is because we really love rules that don't suck, and Sam is pretty good at generating those.

You can check more into the rules yourself here, and also learn a little more about Sam Mustafa's "Honour" system (of which Lasalle is a first part).

For the game, I will put together a little bash em' up scenario featuring Austrians and French. Allegedly you can use any basing system with Lasalle, so we'll break out the 15mm lads. The rules call for artillery batteries to be represented by multiple gun models, so we'll struggle to have much artillery out there. Even worse, the rules call for limbers (triple blech - painting limbers sucks) to represent the guns on the move. Finally, even though you allegedly don't have to rebase, the rules are cemented on the principle that one gun model has the same approximate base width as one of the infantry bases. My artillery is based for Shako, and this does not work out (unless I use a Bill Clinton definition of "approximate"), but I think we'll survive for one game :)

Finally, to keep up with the Napoleonic theme, I have adjusted the poll on our blog, returning again to one of my favourite themes. We'll get you yet Mike...be sure to vote early, and often, from multiple IP addresses, in order to create as much pressure as possible on Mike F. It's what friends do.

Game this week - Robotech

This week we will playing Robotech. The game will be a trial-run for the scenario we are hosting at Prairiecon in Brandon this Saturday. And at the risk of making Brian H's head explode, I'll be adapting the Lord of the Rings rules engine for the game!

We often joke about how we use Lord of the Rings to play everything. And I don't even know if we're kidding that much when we say that - we use it for Zombies, Sudan, Star Wars space combat, as well as actual Lord of the Rings games. It's a very, very versatile and simple rules set, an example of how GW rules that are not 40k are actually very good.

In the past we have played Robotech using an adaptation of "Mobile Soldier in Action", a set of free rules on the web intended for battles set in "Mobile Suit Gundam".

I like the MSIA rules a lot, but they get a bit slow with more than a few models per side. One dynamic of any Robotech/Macross encounter is that the aliens are sure to outnumber the human side - by a lot! MSIA struggles to flow in that kind of set up. Another key dynamic of Robotech/Macross is that the alien mecha, while really big and scary-looking, is actually made by some universal-lowest-price-reduced-quality-contractor, meaning they bring a quality-of-quantity type approach to a battle, and individual battle pods get mowed down like chaff by the heroes. Looks great on screen, but using the MSIA approach of worrying about whether some expendable battle pod has lost a leg or has damaged sensors etc. is not useful. The UN Spacy guys should be able to gun em' down, or hose them off with missiles, while the aliens rely on inexhaustible numbers and a few characters to try and carry the day.

I am hoping that LOTR engine can handle this a little better. There will be challenges for sure - LOTR is great for settings where close assault/hand-to-hand combat occurs. Can't say that is a regular feature of Macross, unless you count Roy Fokker's battloid putting its gun right against the sensor of a battle pod before emptying the clip as a "close assault". What kind of close attack is a giant, ostrich-legged pod going to make anyway, other than to stomp on civilians? The SDF-1 does "punch" the odd alien ship, but that is still a shooting attack of sorts too. Macross is just not a hand-to-hand combat genre.

If you are interested in scenario details, here is the blurb from Prairiecon:

Scenario: Bye Bye Mars

The SDF-1 has landed at an abandoned research base on Mars to recover supplies, only to be ambushed by Zentreadi battle pods. Can the RDF defenders hold the line while the SDF-1 prepares to escape, or will the Zentreadi overrun the thin line of Destroids and Veritechs to capture the SDF-1 while it is trapped on the surface?

See you this week! And go Blackhawks!

After Action Report - Dallas Saves the De

Last night the Conscripts assembled at Dallas' place, expecting a game of Napoleonics. However, it was not to be, because of some bad luck for me at the office - a meeting going until nearly 9pm (lame excuse, I know). Thankfully, Dallas deployed Formula De, the F-1 racing board game, and a good time ensued.

Dallas (M. Schumacher, Ferrari), Cam (J. Trulli, Panasonic Toyota), Bill (D. Coulthard, West McLaren Mercedes), Brian (G. Fisichella, Sauber Petronas), Dave V (M. Webber, Jaguar) and Mike F (Michele Burcholini, Red Bull 3rd World Racing Team) took to the race track - Interlagos, in Brazil. Cam and Mike built huge leads, and were so confident, they took the liberty of a pit stop to restore their cars ("so, you need the tires, right?"). Dallas, sensing an opportunity, ditched "operation bronze medal" and sped past them, gambling that his car could hold up.

As Dallas raced by, Cam fired up and chased. Mike F had leave at that point, so I took over his car, pledging to drive as recklessly as needed in order to win. I lived up to the first part of that, shredding most of the new tires in the first turn out of pit row. But Dallas and Cam pulled ahead, neck and neck through the final lap. It was a great race, and we were all concerned to see Cam rolling hot. And I was shamelessly rooting for Dallas' car to fall apart...but turn after turn, Dallas held it together.

It went to the final dice roll, but Dallas beat Cam for first place. I was so sure Dallas' car would get wrecked, but it was not to be. Dallas repaid my taunting with a cheap little Schumacher victory dance, which he performed with eerie effectiveness (and rightfully so).

Bill and I contested for third place, but his car was pushed just a bit too far on the second last turn, and he ended up in the cheap seats. Dave finished fourth, and Brian's car was retired by his pit crew.

A great race! Sorry about the third place finish Mike...that will teach you to maintain your car.

My apologies again to all for the timing not working out. I definitely hope we can get the Shako game rescheduled.

[Final comment from Dallas: Cam... you learned many things at Interlagos. Mainly, you learned that the board can be wrong, and no amount of counting squares can replace pure driving skill and winning spirit. And that Toyota will never win a Grand Prix.]

Thursday Game - III Corps vs. III Korps - This Time, It's Napoleonic

This Thursday we will return once again to Napoleonics! The scenario will be set in Bavaria, 1809. Archduke Charles has sent 140,000 troops into the Confederation of the Rhine, proving the war of the fifth coalition (Fifth? Must have been fun negotiations - "no, really, THIS time we'll get him!").



The Austrians have had a rough go of the weather, but are pushing the Bavarian troops back. Marshal Berthier, a gifted chief of staff for Napoleon, has performed poorly as an army commander for the French, and Napoleon is racing to the scene to take command himself. In the interim, Davout's III Corps has become isolated near Regensburg. The Austrians sense an opportunity to pounce and take out one of Napoleon's most experienced formations, potentially winning the war!



Austrian columns march to pin the French against the Danube. Prince Hohenzollern's III Korps encounters the lead elements of Davout's III Corps near the village of Teugen. Davout is on the move, trying to break through to the retreating Bavarians. The Prince looks to hold them back while he sends messengers to the Archduke, pleading for reinforcements. Will the Austrians hold? Will the ultra-cautious Charles even bother with reinforcements? And if he does, will they arrive in time?

Thursday Game - Jailbreak!

Long-time Fawcett followers might recall a fun game we had in January of this year. Taking place in the Star Wars universe, the game featured Han Solo and his "terror gang" attempting to escape from Imperials and local authorities after a daring heist. Read the details here: http://wpggamegeeks.blogspot.com/2009/01/spice-mines-of-kessel-here-we-come.html

Thursday's game will explore the ramifications of "the duty of fair representation" in labour relations, as Han had contacted his staff representative in the Brotherhood of Smugglers and Bounty Hunters Local #4587 (Corellia). The BSBH duly determined that one of their members was in trouble and has sent a union delegation to file a grievance and negotiate for his release from the Spice Mines.

Solo being Solo, of course, he convinced the union reps to assist him in making his case for freedom more forcefully, and is about to make good (or not) his escape from the Spice Mines!

See you on Thursday at my place, usual time. Also it's my birthday this weekend so there will be cake!!

"Buzz" Beurling over the Med

Sorry for the late post. I finally got around to writing up the Check Your 6! game held in honour of the visit of Conscript Sean, who now lives in Ottawa. We played the "Operation Pedestal" scenario again, minus the Stukas and a pair of Spits.

Note: click on the photos for larger images.

Here's Sean, who ran a pair of Spitfires, led by the Canadian ace, George "Buzz" Beurling. Kev ran the other pair of Maltese based fighters.



Brian ran a flight of JU-88s, in a bombing run on three merchant ships. I ran a pair of Bf-109s.



The three ships all had light AA, which shot indiscriminately at the closest plane. Very historical.



Things went wrong from the beginning, due to the Luftwaffe's setup. In hindsight, the bombers and escorting fighters should have swapped places.



As it was, the Spitfires were able to get good positions on the bombers, shooting down two bombers in rapid succession. The Bf-109s tried a head-on pass, losing one fighter for their trouble. The lead bomber is getting shot at by the ships, hence the splashes.



The trailing Spitfire, damaged by the lead Bf-109, failed to shoot down the bomber. The JU-88 managed to drop its stick of bombs (more splashes) but missed:



In the end, Buzz Buerling merely damaged a plane. However, his wing man was credited with downing two bombers.

The final tally was two splashed JU-88s and a Bf-109, in return for a couple of damaged Spitfires. This is in direct opposition to the result the last time this scenario was run, which was a clear Luftwaffe victory. Maybe the scenario is balanced after all...

This Thursday - Introducing a "complex" man

The world's most complex man: "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Lucky Lager"

Our game this week will be staged by Curt C, the original Fawcett Avenue Conscript! Here is the setting from Mr. C:

Near the border of France and Spain, July 1666…The Duc d’Urbanville, a French nobleman, is acting as an emissary for the people of his region to the king of France. He is what some people politely term “a complex man”; he is a Basque, a Huguenot, a gambler, a rake, a duelist and somehow not surprisingly, a defrocked ex-priest. Nevertheless, due to his high birth, wealth and social station he is also an extremely powerful man, and though hated by many he is courted by the elite of European society.

Though d’Urbanville carries a Royal Seal giving him security and great latitude while he makes his way to Paris, he has decided for the sake of security to travel quietly with his son, his household staff and a modest retinue of Scots mercenaries. In order to better facilitate the negotiations with the French king and his papist Cardinal d’Urbanville has brought along several Catholic relics and other gifts to present to the King’s household. D’Urbanville and his party have stopped for the night at a small village with an ancient keep, as it is the final way-stop for quite some distance.

Nonetheless, the doings of such a man as d’Urbanville has not gone unnoticed… Near to the Keep swords are being sharpened and flintlocks primed, with many men vowing that this night the Duc and his household will pay for its many sins.

Sounds pretty cool! See you all on Thursday.

Now is the time on Sprockets where we attack

Last week the Conscripts assembled at Dallas' place for some 6mm WW3 action. The setting was an imaginary Soviet offensive into northern West Germany in 1988. The scenario imagined an ambitious West German commander (pictured above), tired of retreating, unleashing a counter-attack in the hopes of trapping the Warsaw Pact spearheads driving on Bremen. Dallas and Cam rolled with the West Germans while Bill and new conscript Chris took command of the commies.

German commanders discuss the strategy for the counter attack.

The scenario featured a West German Panzer Grenadier Brigade - two battalions of grenadies in Marder 1A3s, and a battalion of Leopard IIs - trying to knock out some second echelon Soviet motor rifle units - two battalions in BTR-70s, one battalion of T-72M1s, and an attached company of heavy 125mm anti tank guns.

The Russians also had the option of recalling unis from the spearhead, which had already moved off the western edge of the table, but doing so would bring the wrath of the Soviet Marshals, so the Russian commanders were undestandably reluctant to stop the music.

The main objective was posession of a two extra-large "town" sectors. Normally in Spearhead, the town sectors can hold not much more than a company. This was a relatively built up area, so the sectors could hold an entire battalion and more. Whoever held posession of the town sectors at the end of 12 turns would be the winner.



Who could possibly defeat people that spawned Kraftwerk?

Bill and Chris opted for an ultra-defensive approach. One MR battalion was placed in each sector. The anti-tank guns were dug into a rail-yard on the outskirts of the town, and the T-72s took position in a farm field just past the 'burbs.

Dallas and Cam made a very straight-forward advance on the city. Chris made some ace rolls with the anti-tank guns. The decidely unglamorous weapons knocked out several platoons of Leopard II tanks, while Bill engaged the NATO armour with his T-72s very cautiously, losing some platoons to fire from the Leopards, but not enough to cause any morale problems, and knocking out some NATO tanks in exchange.

Dallas advanced two Panzer Grenadier battalions toward the city, and after losing some units to missiles and an enterprising platoon of T-72s which had moved ahead to engage from the flank (Marder 1A3 vs. 125mm AT gun...not pretty), flung his grenadiers in for some fun town-sector fighting against Chris' MR battalion.

The assault was....how does one say it? Ah yes - a perfect success. Poor Chris had some bad luck with the dice, and Dallas rolled Vegas levels, ensuring the brutal destruction of the motor rifles. In the next turn, Dallas piled his second battalion into the sector, while Bill counter-attacked with the second motor rifle battalion. This attacked caused some casaulties on the West Germans, but it was not enough. The Soviet battalion commander and regimental commander were both killed, and the second battalion routed.

Panzer Grenadiers celebrate at a de-briefing.

In the end, a perfect victory for the West Germans! Let the raves begin! After the game we speculated that perhaps that lead battalion of grenadiers was composed of the West German national kick-boxing/UFC/karate/hobby shooting/fun-with-missiles team. Thanks to everyone for coming out and to Dallas for hosting. I pestered Dallas to take some pictures (as usual) so hopefully he will post them to the blog when he has a moment.

"Check Your 6!" - Operation Pedestal : Can Malta be Saved?

Operation Pedestal was a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942, during the Second World War.

Malta was the base from which surface ships, submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies in North Africa. In 1941 and 1942, Malta was effectively under siege, blockaded by Axis air and naval forces. To sustain Malta, Britain had to get convoys through at all costs.

Operation Pedestal started on 9 August 1942, when a convoy of 14 merchant ships sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar, protected by two large forces of British naval vessels.

The game at Dallas' last Thursday night, June 11, recreated a portion of the action that occurred on the afternoon of August 13, 1942. All the model aircraft used were 1/144 scale.

Three JU88s were controlled by Kevin, a +2 aircrew leading two +1's:



Kevin's bomber flight was escorted by a flight of Bf109Fs flown by Greg. Each element had a +1 wingman, and was led, respectively, by a +3 ace and a +2 veteran.



In defense, a flight of 4 Spitfire Vs from Malta flew cover, a pair of planes each run by Brian and Dallas. Their pilots' skills were the same as the German fighter pilots, although the British ace had only 8 machine guns as armament, no cannon.



The object of the attack were five merchant ships (all scratchbuilt by Brian), controlled by the British players. The German bomber flight has penetrated the cordon of British naval escorts and is on its final attack run...



The trailing ship, the tanker SS Ohio, was reduced to half speed, having already been hit at 1050 hours that morning. The lead ship and the SS Ohio had light AA gun batteries. The SS Ohio was counted as having two batteries, representing resolute American volunteers from the recently sunk Santa Eliza manning the guns.

The flight of JU88 bombers started in the middle of the northern table edge. To the west Greg placed the escorting fighters. The RAF flight came in from the southwest and southeast table quarters. Below, the convoy steamed eastward. All action took place at Surface CAB low. No diving out of the fight!

The German bombers flew southeast toward the lead of the surviving merchant ships. Their fighter escort was a little behind and to the west. The RAF Spitfires all headed northwards in the general direction of the bombers.



The bombers descended slowly right to the deck, angling for the lead vessel. Anti-aircraft fire rose up from the lead and trail ships. The Spitfires tried a shot but failed to do anything. The Bf-109's scored a lucky hit on Brian's wingman.



The action soon hotted up. Mistaking one of their own protectors for the enemy, the gunners on the SS Ohio accidentally shot down Brian's wingman! The other German aircraft let loose several long bursts, scoring lucky hits on Brian's other Spitfire, setting it on fire. The long experience of the Luftwaffe bomber crews was evidenced by two bomb hits, cutting the speed of two stricken vessels in half.



The third bomber then took over the lead of the flight, banking west in a run against the SS Ohio. Greg's fighters tailed Brian's remaining plane as its pilot desperately tried to bring his Spitfire to bear on the bombers. One of Greg's fighters ran out of ammo. Brian's pilot failed his piloting check and crashed into the sea. Meanwhile, Dallas' ace let loose a long burst into a bomber, but his bullets failed to score any significant damage.



Sensing that he had a better chance of damaging the Luftwaffe fighters, the British ace Immelmanned around and shot up a surprised Bf-109, setting it on fire. The German fighter fired off a burst in return, failing to damage the RAF plane. The other two German fighters attacked a Spitfire whose sights were set on the last bomber; the Spitfire suffered frame damage from the German cannon shells. A burst of cannon and machinegun fire from the British fighter failed to hinder the Luftwaffe bombardier's aim. That worthy landed his stick of bombs right on the Ohio, leaving it dead in the water...

(click on the photo for a larger image)



The game was then called. The only way the German side could have been more successful was if they had managed to sink one of the ships, either by concentrating their attacks on a single vessel or by sending the fighters down on the deck to try and strafe. (Historically, fighters from Malta were fired upon by the convoy in confusion because communications between the convoy and the RAF were out. In the end, only 5 of the 14 ships made it into Malta's Grand Harbour. Last to dock was the wounded SS Ohio, which had to be towed in, but whose cargo of precious fuel kept Malta in the war.)

Thanks to Dallas, Brian, Greg, and Kevin for playing. It was a really fun game to run. In after-game discussion, we raised the possibility of adding another pair of defending Spitfires, and a pair of Stukas. In due course I shall write up the scenario in proper CY6! format, encompassing these various options.

"Eldar on Eldar. Pull out the Rubber Shurikens!"

Eldar Field Training Exercise

On Wednesday, May 13, Thurston and I brought out our respective Eldar armies for some hot, Eldar on Eldar action at Thurston and Alex's place.

Considering the fluff and background of our respective forces, we agreed that this was a training exercise, where the units were using the Eldar equivalent of rubber shuriken and rattan swords. Broken bones, maybe, but no needless deaths for the dying race...

***

I brought out a very lean Swordwind force. Light on the squad and vehicle upgrades, heavy on Aspect Warrior bodies and boats:

Swordwind

HQ
Sword-of-the-Lord - Farseer, Doom, Eldar Jetbike, Runes of Warding, Singing Spear
Warrior of Surprise - Autarch, Eldar Jetbike, Fusion Gun, Laser Lance

TROOPS
Companions - Dire Avengers x 10
- Far-Darter - Exarch upgrade, Bladestorm, 2nd Avenger Shuriken Catapult
- Ancient Whispers - Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannon, Shuriken Cannon Upgrade

Blood Redeemers - Dire Avengers x 10
- Pious - Exarch upgrade, Bladestorm, Diresword and Shuriken Pistol
- Peacemaker - Wave Serpent, TL Bright Lances

ELITES
Blade Dancers - Howling Banshees x 10
- Angelic Rhapsody - Exarch upgrade, Executioner
- Fencing Master - Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannon

Fate’s Tears - Fire Dragons x 5
- The Kid - Wave Serpent, TL Shuriken Cannon

FAST ATTACK
Dreamweavers - Warp Spiders x 5

HEAVY SUPPORT
War Prayer – Fire Prism

Total: 1499 points

***

Thurston used his Saim-Hann jetbike army; IIRC:

Saim-Hann

Farseer w/ Spirit Stones, Guide and Doom, riding with
10 Dire Avengers
- including Exarch w/ Bladestorm, Power Weapon and Shimmershield
- Wave Serpent w/ TL Bright Lances and Stones

6 Fire Dragons (riding in the Falcon)
- Exarch w/ Dragon's Breath Flamer and Tank Hunter

7 Guardian Jetbikes, w/ 2 Shuriken Cannons
- plus Warlock w/ Enhance and Singing Spear (8 bikes total)

7 Guardian Jetbikes, w/ 2 Shuriken Cannons
- plus Warlock w/ Enhance and Singing Spear (8 bikes total)

Vyper Jetbike w/ Missile Launcher and Spirit Stones

5 Dark Reapers - Exarch w/ Fast Shot and Missile Launcher

Falcon Grav Tank w/ Holofield, Spirit Stones, and Scatter Laser

As we conversed before the game, I thought to myself, "Fighting Thurston's army is going to be like trying to fight smoke."

***

We played a scenario straight out of the main rulebook, Seize Ground, with Pitched Battle (long table edge) deployment. Thurston rolled up 3 objectives, so we took turns placing my three objective counters. I set up a Ghostwarrior on the middle west of the table, Thurston put a Ranger in a foxhole in a clearing to the east, and I responded with the final counter, an ex-slave Sister of Battle, just over 12" north of the first counter. The player controlling the most objectives would win...

Fun With Objectives
I was trying to be creative with the placement of objectives. With the first two counters so widely separated, the game could really divide my forces. By placing the last counter so close to the first, I would hopefully force Thurston to concentrate the bulk of his forces on the western half of the table, to prevent an easy victory on my part. Due to the sizes of the grav tanks and the on-table footprint of a squad of Dire Avengers or Guardian Jetbikes, a single scoring unit could easily control both western objectives. Thus, the Swordwind might be able to ensure their control of the eastern objective.

Rolling for first turn, Thurston won and decided that the Saim-Hann would go first. He set up the Falcon and Dark Reapers in the far northwest corner, overlooking the two western objectives, which sat in a natural fire lane. The two units set up were long-ranged units (48" range guns), but there was a lot of terrain blocking their LOS to the eastern objective.

I declined to set up anything, holding the Swordwind in reserve, with the Warp Spiders set to deep strike, the Farseer and the Autarch off-table together as an ersatz unit, and everyone else mounted in their respective Wave Serpent transports.

For the second turn, Thurston held pat with Saim-Hann's two heavy support units, and brought on their Farseer/Dire Avenger combo in the middle of the northern board edge, flanked to the east by a Guardian Jetbike squad, and to the west by the Vyper.

The Swordwind's Farseer/Autarch bike combo, Fire Dragons, Howling Banshees and Fire Prism showed up. The two Avenger squads stayed in reserve, which was OK. This prevented the Swordwind's only two scoring units from receiving fire. The Fire Prism came on to the west to challenge the Reapers, and everything else moved on to the far east, hiding as best they could behind rocky terrain.



The Fire Prism managed to stick a pie plate blast marker over the Reapers, dropping a couple of them and breaking them, forcing them to fall back.

As the game progressed, it continued its chess-like exercise in movement and counter-movement. There were almost no casualties for a couple of turns as both sides jockeyed for position. Thurston's Saim-Hann bikes hovered at range, firing pot shots with their shuriken cannons and fading back 6" to be just out of reach of most of the Swordwind's guns - trying to taunt the Swordwind into Saim-Hann's combined killing zones. The Saim-Hann Farseer in his Serpent moved to the west and hovered in that general vicinity, to guide the Falcon and help control the action. The Vyper, after being shaken, moved flat out west to hind behind rocks.

Conversely, the Swordwind stayed at range to prevent the bikes from turbo-boosting in behind the Wave Serpents, where the bikes could surround the Serpents and block their escape hatches, setting up possible squad kills if the boats went down to other units' fire. As reinforcements arrived, one Avenger Serpent moved to the Eastern objective, and the other moved on near the Fire Prism. The second Avenger Serpent was stunned by a couple of missiles from the Dark Reaper Exarch, but its pilot recovered in time for the action noted below.

Around the fourth turn, things started to really happen. In the middle of the table, Saim-Hann's Fire Dragons disembarked from their Falcon and brought down the Swordwind Dragons' Wave Serpent. The Swordwind Dragons fortunately took no casualties and passed their Pin test as they climbed out of the "wreck." That Serpent's pilot then took time out for some tea.



In response, the Banshees in their ride moved slightly north in between a couple of pieces of rocky terrain, to forestall Saim-Hann movement towards the centre, leaving just enough room behind to disembark.

The Fire Prism had been Shaken last turn, so it skimmed flat out north to contest both western objectives.

The Spiders finally deigned to show up. In a risky move, they teleported behind the Saim-Hann Farseer's Wave Serpent. However, all their S6 shots only managed to stun the thing.

The Swordwind bike Farseer separated off and disabled the Falcon's pulse laser with her thrown Singing Spear. The Swordwind's Dragons dropped 5 from the Saim-Hann Dragon squad. Their Exarch was left on his feet, with his heavy flamer. He had to go, so the Autarch charged him and beat him bloody with his blunted lance. For his consolidation move, the Autarch advanced forward towards a Guardian Bike squad, to draw their fire and to shield the Dragons.

For their second (Assault Phase) moves the Swordwind tried to hide their Farseer behind some rocks, and teleported the Spiders next to the surviving Saim-Hann Dark Reapers (to force a response against them by the enemy Avengers, instead of those Avengers converging on the western objectives).

As the Saim-Hann Dragon Exarch limped off the field to the sidelines for a drink of the Eldar equivalent of Gatorade, their Farseer Doomed the Warp Spiders. The Avengers disembarked and Bladestormed the Spiders, leaving a couple standing. A subsequent Avenger charge left those two Spiders covered with bruises, as they were pummeled down by the Avenger Exarch's blunted glaive.

Meanwhile, the Falcon slid south and overwhelmed the Swordwind Farseer's mystic defenses with an attenuated Scatter Laser burst. She broke a fingernail as she landed ass-first in the dust.



An entire Guardian Bike squad let loose on the Autarch, who gamely leaned into the hail of blunt shuriken until his armour's sensors also registered him as "killed."

"Whaddaya know, it's beer-o'clock already!"

The other bike squad's cannons immobilized the Banshee skimmer and disabled its turret. The bikes then faded back north, seemingly out of range of any response.

Bottom of the fifth turn, and the game might end due to the random game length rule. I decided that the Swordwind would "go all in", to try and seize control of two objectives, and knock out the Saim-Hann ability to control objectives in response.

The Fire Prism spun in place to make room for the Avenger squad. The Avenger's Serpent backed up by the southwest objective, disembarking the Avengers in a skirmish line around the back of the boat, within shuriken range of the western Guardian Bike squad. The Dragons also advanced on those bikers, hoping to be in range with their fusion rifles. To the east, the other Avenger Serpent moved 6" north out from behind cover, allowing its turret and chin shuriken cannons to bear on the northern bike squad. The Banshees disembarked and moved north from their immobilized skimmer.

The Prism landed a big blast marker on some bikers and a couple of Avengers, dropping the latter.

The Fire Dragons were just in range of the bikers' Warlock, nailing a couple of the Wild Riders. The dismounted Swordwind Avengers unleashed a Bladestorm on the remaining bikers, reducing their number to two and downing the Warlock. The last of them broke and, unable to rally now due to losses, fled north to avoid more bruising.

The Banshees launched themselves into a run. If they rolled a "1" they would never reach the Guardian bikers.

As Brian would say, "Never tell me the odds!"

The Banshee Exarch must have been a fitness guru, since they rolled a "6" for their run move, to put them just within charge reach of the remaining Guardian Bike squad.

I rolled for the Banshee's run first, so I could decide later what to do with the remaining Avenger Serpent. If it now fired and killed one or two bikes, canny casualty removal by Thurston might leave the Banshees high and dry, subject to a hail of shuriken themselves. I held off, leaving the Avengers content to control the eastern objective.

In the ensuing Assault Phase, the Banshees' 30 attacks overwhelmed the Guardian bike squad with much beating about their heads and shoulders, wiping them out.

The photo below show the results of the close quarters battles. All the 60mm bases and biker models on the right hand table edge are Guardian Bike casualties. (Note: Click on the photo for a larger version.)



As the fifth turn ended, the Swordwind controlled two objectives and contested the third. Destroying two of the Saim-Hann scoring units really reduced their chance of winning the field exercise. However, the Saim-Hann forces still had two mobile skimmer tanks and a Vyper, allowing possible tank shocks and gunfire to maybe drive off the dismounted Swordwind Avengers, and contest a couple of objectives. The Saim-Hann Avengers were out of ammo, but with a good series of run and difficult terrain rolls they might be able to reach some of the Swordwind Avengers in assault. With identical initiatives and both sides' Exarchs skilled in swordplay, both squads might break each other.

Thurston rolled for game end and rolled a three. The game would continue! However, it was already midnight on a work night...

Meanwhile, back on the Craftworld:
The Saim-Hann Farseer looked at the position of the various units, and looked at a gem that passed for a chronometer. He got on the comm-link and offered the Swordwind a draw. The Banshee Exarch, the ranking "survivor" due to her centuries of service, didn't need her dear Farseer's runes to see that this scrum might continue into a purplish-bruised stalemate. She readily accepted the offer of a draw. As both sides powered down their weapon systems, she looked forward to an evening of gamboling in the Temple bath house with her warrior women.

AstroTO Game 6 - Xenotech Raid

My sixth and final game of the tournament was on one of those great 8' x 4' dioramas that were once featured in the pages of the late Canadian White Dwarf.

Opponent: Dave's Chaos:
Khârn the Betrayer
A big Demon
Several Chaos Marines in a Land Raider
A large squad of deep-striking Chaos Terminators w' an autocannon and a lot of plasma
A squad of other Chaos marines
A pack of little demons
A pair of Obliterators

The whole point of the game was to see who could control either of two Tau research centres, which were located near each other on the top of a very large hill. IIRC, forces had to be within 3" to score or contest.

The table was mostly jungle terrain, with a range and LOS within the jungle of only 6 inches. The ONLY clear terrain was the moat-like river running around the entire hill. It was shallow enough to not count as difficult terrain.

I did not think that there was any way I could shift such hard Chaos troops off those objectives once they parked themselves on them. Eldar firepower was mostly nullified by the heavy jungle overgrowth. So, I decided to play for the draw.

Eldar was to go first, so I declined to set up. The Chaos forces set up everything except their deep strikers and the big demon (more later). One squad ran toward the western building, and a pack of demons ran towards the eastern building. Khârn and his boys in the Land Raider drove up the hill.

The first Eldar forces to show up were the Farseer, the Fire Dragons and the Howling Banshees. I sent them flat out eastward following the river, risking difficult terrain tests to get the Farseer to help cover the Serpents' flanks and rear.

The Chaos Land Raider parked in between the two facilities, and Khârn and his marines hung out. Each building got a squad of troops or demons to guard it. One of Khârn's men turned into a Demon, who came into being by the pack of Demons at the eastern Tau building.

The remainder of the Eldar forces showed up. I sent them westward down the river, to split up the attention of the Chaos forces.

The Terminators and the Obliterators dropped in. The former killed four of the five Warp Spiders, but the exarch's morale held. The Oblits killed the Banshees' Serpent:



The mounted Eldar forces moved around the large hill, trusting to their speed to keep them alive. The Banshees picked themselves up as best they could and splashed towards a path up the hill.

The Spider Exarch hung around and shot up the Terminators, wounding a few and killing at least one. The Termies took the bait and stayed in the river to gun down the Exarch. This was one less turn of them running towards an objective.

The game proceeded in such desultory fashion for awhile, with no real action as the Eldar skimmed around the periphery of the hill.

At the start of the fifth turn, I risked everything on one bold stroke.

The Farseer cast Doom on the big Demon. Then, passing difficult and dangerous terrain tests everywhere, the three surviving Wave Serpents and both jetbike HQ's crashed into the jungle, moving to within 3" of both Tau facilities.

The Dragons and Farseer were by the eastern building, closely followed by the Banshees in the event another turn was required:



Both Avenger squads and the Autarch ended up by the western building.

I could see my opponent's quandary. With everyone buttoned up, and the limited range of both fire and movement, he was at first unsure what to do. In the end, the Demon retreated away from its potential demise at the hands of a Fire Dragon firing squad, and the other demon pack snuggled in around that eastern building. The Land Raider tried to ram an Avenger Serpent, but failed.

Shooting damaged one Avenger boat, but Khârn and his evil marines then failed their assault contact move through the jungle, and stood staring at the Dire Avengers.

The Terminators managed to get some troops into contact with the other Serpent, but failed to do anything of note:



For random game length, my opponent rolled the die, getting a "2."

The game was over, with both Tau buildings heavily contested.

Result: Eldar/Chaos Draw


RE: Astronomi-con Toronto:

Six fun games over two days, playing interesting scenarios on pretty terrain. Plus, I was able to closely examine some really well-painted and -modeled armies.

I recommend Astro (either in Toronto, Vancouver or Winnipeg) unreservedly.

In the end, I came in 7th place out of 50, and won the prize for the Best Army List - a very cool, lit-up Imperial "computer" as a plaque.

Full results are posted here:
http://www.mts.net/~xian/astronomi-con/websiteV2/2009/yyz/results.htm