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Jan09

Storming the Kastelli

by Rindis on January 9, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

Mark and I had some extra time off around the holidays, and we decided to have a couple of extra sessions to try out Operation Mercury, and start remembering the Grand Tactical System rules (which we’ve played years ago with No Question of Surrender).

To this end, we played the training scenario, “Storming the Kastelli”, which features a couple of Greek battalions holding Kastelli against four companies of the 5th Gibirgs Division (plus an AT battery). This is a simplified chit draw, as everything is considered ‘independent’ formations, so there’s no formation chits or dispatch points, and no random events, so there’s just the two division activation chits and direct command chits. Since I was currently attacking in two other games, I volunteered for the defending British/Greek force.

The first turn (of five) starts with the German Direct Command chit, and Mark spent three command points to send all three companies forward, with the first in column and heading around the line of Greek defenders, while the other two headed more directly for the defenders. The second chit was the German division activation (which also meant the arrival of the AT battery, and two airstrikes). One airstrike did nothing but the other caused a step loss on the Kastelli police unit, which is one of the better Greek units in the scenario (there are better ones, but there’s far worse too). The division got 7 CPs, and the lead unit charged towards Kastelli, and took a cohesion hit to get out of column, the next two moved up, and the AT battery mounted up and got into column. Then was the British direct command chit, and I moved two companies up into contact, and onto the road.

The British 2nd NZ Division (nominally in command of the Greeks) was the first chit for the second turn, which got three command points to go with the two left from the start of the game. I moved the western defenders up to Kastelli (putting one into Kastelli itself, along with the police unit). Then the German division activation came out again, but only got a minimal 3 CPs. He used a couple to automatically pass TQCs as units went on forced marches.

The next chit was the German direct command, and he spent CPs to move closer to Kastelli, and unmount the AT battery in 10.08 (which was a mistake we later figured out, as being on top of a slope seems to offer no LOS advantage).

That left my direct command for the start of the 13:00 (third) turn. I spent 3 of my 4 CPs to rally a cohesion hit, and move two more units into blocking positions of Kastelli. Then came the German direct command, and he assaulted the outlying company in 08.06 with a two-company stack. It went well for the Germans; I got two S?, which he paid command points to automatically pass TQC and avoid any consequences, while the 2 B/1 Inf took two suppression hits (one of which becomes a cohesion hit). They charged for the second round, and I spent my last command point to pass the TQC and not dissolve under pressure, and the Germans got a possible suppression (I passed), and then two cohesion hits (two 0s from the same unit!) to flip to the reduced side. After that, the 3rd company assaulted, with no result in the first round, but a second round charge eliminated the Greeks.

Next came my divisional activation, which got me 6 much-needed CP. I moved up a couple units (including the one who’d gotten bypassed).

That left the German division activation for the start of 15:00. They got 5 CP, and he assaulted the 3 B/1 Inf in 07.06 with the same pair that led off the last set. My fire in the first round got an S and C, which he took as a pair of cohesion hits on his best unit. They did a S?, which I spent CP to avoid, and the second unit did a cohesion hit to me. He charged for the second round, I spent CP to avoid coming apart, and I suppressed the good unit (otherwise, he’d lose a step), and then did a cohesion hit to the second (which was now at two, as it still had one from coming out of column in a hurry early on). After that, the Germans were unable to do any damage to the Greeks. Then the ‘clean-up crew’ from before assaulted, but failed the bravery check.

After that was the German direct command, and Mark rallied the suppression, and moved up the AT battery. My direct command was used to bring up the bypassed unit, and to pull my southern flank back into Kastelli itself.

This left my divisional activation for the start of the last (17:00) turn, and I received 6 CP. I spent two CP on fire attacks on the hurt 2nd company (2.Geb.Pi 95), and suppressed it again. Then the German division activation came up for 5 CPs, and the AT unit fired on the previous assault target to do another cohesion hit to them (converted from a suppression). Mark rallied his 2nd company, but then failed a bravery check to assault again. The final chit draw of the game was my direct command which ended the game with the Germans two hexes short of their goal of the Kastelli port.

Afterword

We’re still sorting out how to conduct an offensive in this system, so the result is not a big surprise. Some lessons learned: Catching low-quality troops in an assault will at the least force the use of a lot of command to keep them from just dissolving under pressure. Also, being suppressed can be deadly under those circumstances. Overall, only one unit was lost on either side, but two German and one Greek unit had taken two cohesion hits, and of course a step had been lost in the initial Luftwaffe attacks.

This scenario doesn’t prepare you for the effects of formation chits. Leaving that out does a lot to simplify things greatly, but formations can really change the tempo of operations, as they can do offensive operations that must otherwise be paid for (really, almost all offensive operations must be paid for in one manner or another here), and we’re still sorting that out in the middle of the first regular scenario.

Getting the AT into action earlier/more consistently would certainly help as the white dual-purpose row they use on the CRT is the best one, but LOS and transport defeated it getting much of a chance. A second go at this would probably see it getting used.

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Dec28

1 Nightmarish Crossroads

by Rindis on December 28, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

The first actual scenario of Operation Dauntless stands apart a bit. It’s the only one to take place on June 16, it is slightly ahistorical, as it supposes the 12th SS Division fought in place instead of withdrawing to a better line, and the map has a special boundary printed on it for this scenario, as its considered a good small scenario that will see a lot of play. (I note that this is congruent with ASL scenario AP33 “Second Cristot” in Action Pack #4; I wonder if it would be possible to do a a scenario on the first attempt to take Cristot on the 11th—but perhaps much of the action would be off the map.)

Overall, this is a nice scenario, with all the different parts of the rules working at the same time, including one part that none of the tutorial scenarios use: purchasing reinforcements. The British start with a full battalion, and a Sherman squadron, and a few extra MG sections, a 6-pdr battery, and some Centaur troops. They also get a lot of artillery. As of turn 3 (out of six), they can start purchasing reinforcements, with another battalion, and another Sherman squadon on offer (and the points are such that you can only get one or the other), as well as some Achilles and AVREs. The Germans get a slightly reduced battalion, plus an extra recon company, an independent 75mm AT battery, some off-board artillery, and three strongpoints. On turn 3 they also get to start buying reinforcements, with a couple infantry companies available, and individual Pz IV and Panther platoons.

The British are generally trying to take the six village hexes of Cristot, but also get double the normal VPs for German losses. The Germans can also get VPs for some of the western villiage hexes; mostly to make sure the British don’t leave their line open there. Mark followed the general strategic notes and put a strongpoint in 1205, with a 75mm, while the other (independent) one went in a strongpoint in 1102, and an empty strongpoint was back in 1504.

The first turn has special rules to simulate the effects of a very heavy British bombardment with a lot of smoke. There is a ‘light fog’ for the first (noon) turn, the Germans can’t move much, and can only conduct ranged fire and AT attacks. The British get an extra column shift in any of their attacks, but can’t use the road movement rate. With all of this, I set up for as many assaults as I could manage. My first move was to assault the 1101 woods (after a failed AT attack on my Centaurs), with -0 Tactical Advantage (D) which failed to make an impression on the Shermans and resulted in a 0/2. (The 75mm managed to reduce the Shermans in reaction to the advance.)

The second move was to assault 1202 itself (with another missed AT shot on the way in, and a DA Tactical Advantage for a barely missed shot against the Shermans) which got a 0/6 (rolled 12 on a 4:1) for the infantry to barely survive a retreat all the way back to Cristot (1 loss negated by the strongpoint, 1 loss to kill the AT, just barely down to the retreat limit). Then, I went to disassemble the German left flank.

The next group hit 0905, and being in close terrain myself, finally had a good Tactical Advantage number (+3; AAAA), and managed to eliminate a SP halftrack step, and drove him off with a 0/3. Finally, I took on 0906, and my best Tactical Advantage draw was an A, for one shot to reduce an armored car unit. However, the assault itself went bad with a ‘2’ for a 0/2 result, knocking out the infantry company accompanying the Shermans. Down to just vehicles on both sides, Mark withdrew out of the hex.


By special rule, 1602 is not a British supply source, and 1207 and 1604 are the German sources.
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Dec20

Two Breakthroughs

by Rindis on December 20, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

After going through the last tutorial scenario for Operation Dauntless, Mark and I spent a little time with the classic pocket game GEV, and it’s initial “Breakthrough” scenario. I haven’t played it in decades, and while Mark is well aware of Ogre/GEV, he’s never played the series.

I took raiding Combine GEVs (12 for the basic scenario) for our first playthrough, while Mark took 2xheavy tanks, 2xmissile tanks, 2xlight tanks, and 2xlight GEVs for his six armor units (yes, we used the full range of ‘standard’ units, including Shockwave units, but not the more advanced bits like the GEV-PC and marine infantry). I came in with two groups, one of six GEVs unequally split between three hexes cruising up the river, and then three sets of two GEVs each headed through the gap in the forest nearby. Mark redeployed a little, but mostly hung near his initial posts as I got closer.

For my second turn, five of the GEVs continued up the river and then into the lake, while one went ashore to help the other set who advanced up to the stream before crossing it on the second move. Mark hurried a second heavy tank east, and sent a light tank and infantry that way, but other parts stayed put (including a missile and light tank in the west). I concentrated 6 GEVs against the heavies and killed one and disabled the other before scattering away from the infantry, while the group on the lake came ashore during the second move.


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Dec04

T3 The Lone Gray Wolf Y160 S3

by Rindis on December 4, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: SFB

[Scenarios 1 & 2]

Mark and I returned to the “Lone Gray Wolf” mini campaign a bit ago, as my C6 dreadnought continued making its way back to friendly lines. This time was a proper challenge, as the pursuit group came up ‘4’, which is the second-best Kzinti group. In the original, this is a CVL+ carrier group (basically modified BC, CL, FF with nine fighters); in this Y160 variant, there’s no fighters (of course), and the ships are their regular unrefitted equivalents of a CS, CL, and FF. By straight BPV, this is 195 vs 262 (and by F&E ratings 10-12 vs 17-18), though there are some serious advantages to having one large ship instead of three smaller ones (it being easier to punch through a shield to destroy weapons on a smaller ship being the main one).

As ever with this campaign, setup is the C6 in the middle of the board, with the Kzinti 14 hexes behind it; in this case Mark started his ships one hex apart, with the CS in the middle. I started at speed 20 and no EW, while the Kzintis all went speed 18 with 1 ECCM running. The first few impulses got us going, and I slipped and then turned on Impulse 5. The Kzinti generally slipped over to keep in line with me, and I turned in late in the turn, and used the good arcs on the ph-1s to hit the FF’s shield #1 for 8 points at range 12 (5 registered).

With the range staying closer than I might have liked, and Kzintis turning to intercept on impulse 32, I decided on a somewhat risky maneuver: going down to speed 12, and launching an ECM drone (actually done on Impulse 32). The Kzinti went to speed 21 (except the FF, which stayed at 18), and used varying amounts of ECCM, while I generated 6 ECM (with another three from drone when it came on-line during impulse 4).

I turned in at the start of the turn, and Mark tried to clear the ECM drone with a pair ph-3s on impulse 7, but failed to get any hits at range. He launched drones on 8, the FF slipped out, and the CS turned in for nose-to-nose confrontation. I tried tractoring the CS on 10, but gave it up after three points of power. The CS then launched from its remaining two drone racks, and I launched two drones, and then we unloaded into each other (with the CL adding in). Phasers knocked down all the just-launched drones and the ECM drone, and the CS and CL boosted ECCM enough to get the shift down to a +2. Two of four of his disruptors missed, and mixed phaser performance added up to 23 damage, or just over half my shield #1. One of my disruptors missed, but three overloads, 4xph-1 and 2xph-2 did a total of 50 damage, crashing through the #1 for 24 internals. This ripped through the forward hull, and took out the batteries, along with the usual scattering of weapons and power.


Turn 2, Impulse 10, showing movement for the first 16 impulses.
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Nov26

Operation Dauntless T9-T11

by Rindis on November 26, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

It took a while, but Mark and I finished going the Operation Dauntless tutorial scenarios a little bit ago. All of the last three were certainly interesting exercises, and the last one in particular has had some knock-on effects (which I’ll mention later).

T9 is focused on the transport pool, which is a part of the rules I felt I already had a good grasp on, and we did one play through in one session. The British have three groups loaded MG sections (which must stay that way), while the Germans get a few Sd Kfz 250/9 units. Both sides get VPs for causing casualties and for transport losses, and the Brits get VPs for successfully exiting units.

Mark set up a little too clustered, and one group immediately exited without him being able to take more than a couple shots, which missed, while the other two moved up to near 1204 (Bellemare). However, he sent a pair of units to assault one of my groups, and caused a transport loss in the AT stage, and I then withdrew out. His other two units assaulted the same group but didn’t get any hits before I withdrew out. The combat phase didn’t get him any luck either.

The British get a couple of recon platoons and a armored car troop on turn 2, which advanced all the way from the southern area to 0802 (Le Haut d’Audreiu). The group Mark had picked on was in a relatively poor position, but managed to get out with no losses and then get off the map. The last group had no problems exiting since the Germans couldn’t see them from where they’d ended up.

Mark tried assaulting my remaining group (where were much more capable than the MG sections), and I knocked out three out of four steps, one on the way in (20 AT roll…) and two during the assault, after which I withdrew out having lost a AC step. The second pair came in, and Mark finished off the AC unit in an assault, and I withdrew out again. I circled around to exit off of 1001 on my turn, taking a tranport loss on the way.

Overall VPs were 17:4. It’s a little hard to say how to do really well as the Germans here. There’s too many hexes to cover for exiting to really stop the British, and assaulting MG sections is essential (they can’t cause losses to the Germans), but the British can generally make sure the Tactical Advantage draws aren’t too good. Admittedly, actually failing a transport loss check would have hurt.

T10 is more of a proper dress rehearsal for dealing with towed units. The Germans begin in control of the goal, 0807 with two Pz IV, and one AC unit. They get a bunch more on turn 2, but that’s the initial defenders. The British start with three recon platoons, two 6-pounder batteries and an AC section, and get a full battalion on turn 3. The general idea is that the British should capture 0807 at the start, and then fend off German counterattacks for the rest of the six-turn scenario.

I started by bringing the three recon platoons in and assaulting the lone AC in 0806. I managed one AT shot in the assault to reduce the unit, and then set up 6-pdrs in 0705 and 1006, with my AC unit swinging wide around the NW corner of the board to end in 0606. In the combat phase, I managed to knock out a Pz IV unit (with help from a high roll and fire from the AC while the Panzers were faced towards 1006. However, Mark had good return fire to kill the AT in 1006. 0705 thankfully survived, but the lighter terrain it was in was a worry.

For my second turn, the scout platoons circled around to 0907, taking Friction Fire from the AC. This was ineffective, but set off an ARC with my AC missing, Mark’s AC reacting into 0807, my 6-pdrs missing, and Mark missing a return fire at them with the Pz IVs. I passed at that point and assaulted 0807, getting Tactical Advantage thanks to having the only infantry there for a DDA killed the Pz IV unit with good chit draws (and thereby skipping the “A” as the ACs had no AT capability). On the other hand, he didn’t have to take any results from the assault itself (and I took none; 0/3). The AC unit was finally taken out in my Combat Phase as the AT unit finally connected. (In an interesting wrinkle of the victory rules, that gave me control of victory hex 0807 as I had an uncontested ZOC on it).

On German turn 2, they get four Panzer IV platoons, already lined up in north edge of Fontenay, and six infantry platoons, an MG section, a mortar battery, and a AC platoon, all of which start at the southern edge of the board. With all the infantry having organic halftrack transports, Mark was able to drive them up to just east of my positions, out of site, and then do a one-hex move into close terrain, while the AC moved to 1309. Two Pz IVs stayed in 0710, while one unit moved west around to 0407, and the last moved east up to 1205.

The rest of my forces became available on my turn, and Operation Dauntless doesn’t disappoint on showing why tanks need infantry support. A two-company assault on 1205 got me an AA chit, and both shots got good modifiers (+7 and +14) to destroy the Pz IV unit in 1205. The other pair assaulted 1206 and forced a three-hex retreat to 1008. On the other hand, I tried moving my new 6-pdr unit down to 1606 to chase the Germans away from that part of the board, and Mark’s ACs shot up the transports, and I failed the survival check.

I tried suppressing 1107 for an assault, but failed, while the one platoon in 0907 moved out of the hex, and the last started digging in. In the combat phase, I went after 1107 with with the contents of 1106 and 1206 and plenty of support, while Mark with his available units, with only his AC managing a suppression, but it was still a 7:1 combat, which forced a three hex retreat to 1110.


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Nov18

217 Gloster Hill

by Rindis on November 18, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: ASL

I finally got the ASL Korean War module a couple months ago, and Patch has had an interest since it was announced (he preordered it), so it was inevitable that we’d try that for our next game. Patch looked through the scenarios, and picked “Gloster Hill”, and I took the defending Brits.

It’s during the initial Chinese offensive, and the Gloucestershire Regiment is getting overrun and surrounded. The Chinese attack the board 82 hill with 16 squads, two crews, a good number of leaders, a few MGs, a captured British MTR, a couple DCs, and some Dummies as they come on board. They also get another squad and three HS with one leader, one LMG and more Dummies entering on either turn 1 or 2. The main force come in on three sides of the playing area, while the second one comes on on the fourth side where the British will want to escape. The British have six squads and four HS, and two squad-equivalents are Walking Wounded (the second time I’ve seen that concept borrowed from Pegasus Bridge for unrelated scenarios), an MMG, a MTR, minimal Dummies, three hexes of Wire, and a good number of foxholes. The Chinese have six turns to have more squad-equivalents at level 5(!) than the British, and the British can auto-win by exiting 6 EVP on turn 4 or later.

Between using part of the large, rough hill provided in the Korea set, and the steep hills rules, this would provide a climbing challenge for Patch, akin to what I’ve had with board 25 twice now. On the other hand, the short distance to go helps a bunch. Both of us had to mediate over LOS for a while at the start, since there’s a lot more up and down than normal to wrap our heads around. Double-crest lines abound here. The Communist Chinese also have fairly extensive special rules, starting with using step-reduction like the Japanese, and having to use Infantry platoon movement and restrictions on firing. However, there’s so many exceptions that this didn’t hinder them nearly as much as I had figured on. Lastly, they use two-tone counters with the ‘main’ color being… British tan, which adds plenty of extra aggravation to this scenario. (Especially since even their concealment counters are two-tone, which brings up the question of why they’re two-tone at all?)

The British get a ‘drum major’ (effectively a 0-0-9 hero who becomes a 8-0 if he ever moves, but causes Fanaticism within four hexes) by SSR in E4, and naturally I set up around that to an extent, with three surrounding hexes occupied, one by a squad and 9-2. A squad and a half backstopped the center board edge, and my MTR went in B1, where it had a good LOS down the eastern board edge. A couple of Dummies went out on the NW ridgeline (not my smartest move), with the MMG and 8-1 in I5, with a couple hexes of wire to slow down advances on the position. The north edge got a squad, two HS and the 8-0. Patch set up in four rough groups, the largest on the east side, and the smallest on the west, and two lose groups coming from the north. Technically, they can enter on any turn (“Turn 1 or later”) but Patch entered them all at once, while the southern force (which must enter on turn 1 or 2) waited for turn 2.

I was expecting some movement trouble from having glanced at the North Korean rules, but there’s a number of exceptions, including for entering the board. Not that Patch necessarily poured on any speed, being generally happy to AM and keep concealment in Steep Hills. Things were smooth until we had to think again about how many blind hexes some of these crest line were producing, and Patch starting having to wonder about how he was going to lug some of the heavier equipment up Steep Hills with crags. I had a couple shots, but nothing effective, though my MTR did surprise Patch.


Situation, Chinese Turn 1, showing full setup. Note the transparent Chinese sniper in G4 is a lot harder to see than the older dithered style British sniper in D6. N1 was an unnoticed crags hex and therefore illegal; it was shifted to M2 when we noticed.
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Nov02

Two Rounds of Beneventum

by Rindis on November 2, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: CC:Ancients

Last Wednesday, Patch and I had our latest between-games session of Commands & Colors: Ancients (I still need to write up our latest ASL adventure). This a third Pyrrhus vs Rome scenario, this time a few years later, and one that Pyrrhus actually lost. The setup for the Battle of Beneventum is unusual, with the Romans on their base line behind ramparts and in a couple of camps. They also have two Heavy War Machines, which is a first for both of us. Their fire is largely blocked by the rest of the army, which is mostly Mediums with some Heavies in the rear and lights in front. Pyrrhus, main force is also on/near his baseline, but there’s some MC forward on one wing, and a couple units of Warriors out in front.

I had Pyrrhus of Epirus for the first game, and the first couple turns were spent trying to get things in motion. Patch eventually Ordered Three Center to use the HWM and a light for ranged combat, but got no results. I Ordered Mounted to bring my MC into contact, and start moving up the one unit of elephants, while keeping them screened from the HWM. Good die rolls killed Patch’s MC outright, and did then killed a Light for no losses. Patch Ordered Three Right, but got no hits as I evaded away. I then Mounted Charge, and killed a Medium with the Elephants, who then did one block to a Medium in a camp, taking a hit and a banner in return, with the rampage knocking a block off a Roman Aux. I then finished off the Aux, and killed a MC when it was forced to retreat while surrounded at the edge of the board.

Patch Ordered Three Center again, but didn’t do more than a couple of banners. I Ordered Three Left, concentrating on the Roman flank, and knocked out the Medium in camp with a really good roll, while his leader evaded off-board. I then did a hit to a HWM and a Medium, and took nothing in return. Patch did a Coordinated Attack, and the HWM did no more than an ignored banner against the adjacent MC in camp, and took a block in return. 7-0

For the second round, Patch started by moving up the heavier units in the center like I did, but I started with Order Two Center for early ranged combat, and did a block to a Light. Line Command got a lot of mass moving, and got a hit on one of my Lights. I deployed a bit with Move-Fire-Move, and forced a Light back with two banners. Line Command got his Warriors into contact, picked off another Light block, and eliminated an Aux (two hits & two banners into my line; momentum to do the final block).

I Double Timed to get units around his forward Warrior, and it retreated for no losses, while the other Warrior took three hits and retreated. Momentum took me to the first Warrior, who took three blocks and retreated. Patch Counter Attacked, getting his Heavies up to my exposed Heavy, and wiped it out in two attacks, taking one block in return, with Dentatus evading back to a Medium. He also got a block on an evading Light. I Ordered Four Right to re-engage, and did two blocks to a Medium on poor rolls (overdue, frankly), and a block to a Light, while taking three blocks in return.

Patch announced that He Was Spartacus, to order three mediums and a Heavy, and finished off a Medium to send Dentatus evading back to a HWM, and forced two losses on a Medium with a hit and two banners. I Ordered Mediums, and sent a depleted Medium reeling with two banners, while doing two blocks to a Heavy in return for losing a MC. Patch Ordered Three Center, wiping out a Medium, and sending another leader evading back to a Light. I said, No I’m Spartacus, to order two Mediums. I dove into the junction of his line to finish off both Warriors, and did a block to an evading Light.

Patch Out Flanked for ineffective ranged attacks on his right, and did two blocks to my MC on the other side. I Ordered Three Right to do a block to a Heavy with a HWM, and Patch used First Strike to do two blocks and a banner to my Medium before it could try to take out a MC. Leadership Any Section got Patch’s center in motion to finish off a Medium and MC. 2-7

Afterword

So both games were pretty convincing losses for the Romans, though my dice were somewhat past ‘hot’ in the first game. It was nice to finally use HWMs, but I think they did all of one block between the two games. And frankly, the Romans have a pretty tough row to hoe here. There’s just enough good units at the front of the Epirote army that they can get in some early good strikes and get some momentum. The Romans should have the advantage of some fortifications, but by the time they’re back to that, too many units will have been wiped out (as they don’t fit).

It didn’t help that Epirus got good cards both time. I’ve noticed that Mounted Charge is generally decisive, and my use of it in the first game got me three banners. Patch got a Line Command that I would have been very happy to have, a good roll on I Am Spartacus, and that Counterattack on my Double Time blew apart my offensive.

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Oct01

Two Rounds of Asculum

by Rindis on October 1, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: CC:Ancients

So after our deep-space excursion, Patch and I were back for the second Pyrrhic battle, Asculum, from Expansion #1 of Commands & Colors: Ancients at the beginning of September It’s about the same mix as last time, but this time, both sides are pretty much back against their base lines, and the Romans only get four cards to Pyrrhus’ six (but they do go first). A unique twist is that while both sides get to leaders, they do not have a fixed set up; instead, you draw your initial hand, and then place them with whatever units you want.

I had Pyrrhus the first time, and put my commanders at the right end of my Heavies, and with my left MC, while Patch put his at either end of his center. Patch started with a Line Command to move up, and I Ordered Two Left to move into skirmish range. Patch moved the flanks up with Out Flanked, and I used Move-Fire-Move, with hot dice to do three blocks to a Light, and forced another one to retreat. Patch mostly stayed in place while Ordering Lights, and caused a LB to retreat after losing a block. I used Move-Fire-Move again to move them back, and did two blocks to a Medium while forcing the wounded Light to retreat. Patch drove a LC with Order Three Left, and then Darken the Sky did a block and a banner to a Light and forced his wounded Medium to retreat. Order Two Left allowed him to engage my LB, who evaded back to the baseline.

I moved up with a Line Command, and Patch used Leadership Any Section to bring his left flank forward. Inspired Left Leadership brought my left up, and my Warriors (first time we’ve seen those in ages) charged in with a MC, knocking out an Aux while taking two blocks on the Warriors. Order Four Center brought most of his Mediums into contact, but only did three blocks across two Heavies while taking seven blocks across three Mediums. Inspired Center Leadership reorganized things a bit, and I finished off all three Mediums for no losses. A Coordinated Attack let him finish off a weak Heavy, and force a LB to evade, while assembling a better line in the center, but momentum advance with his Heavy did a block to me in return for taking two and retreating back to his line.

Order Mediums put our centers into contact, while on my right a pair of MC traded a block each. The center went horrible, doing two blocks to an Aux, who wiped out a MC and did another block to my Warriors. Order Two Center let him wipe out a Medium and finish off the Warriors at no cost. Order Heavies brought up my Elephants, who finished off a MC, while I did three blocks and a banner to an unsupported Heavy. Patch Ordered Three Center to finish off my Heavy and do two blocks and a banner to a Medium. He then used Momentum to chase it down and finish it off. 5-6

For the second go, I had the Romans, with only four cards. But led with one of three Line Commands after putting one leader on the right Heavy and the other near the left end of the main line. Patch put a leader with the Warriors, and the other at the right end of the Heavies, which moved up with an Order Two Center. Out Flanked (my fourth beginning card) got me to skirmish range while the MC moved up. Patch Ordered Three Left for our MC to trade blocks (and his took a banner to retreat to the baseline), and I Ordered Two Right to do a block to a LC while it evaded to the baseline. Patch Ordered Four Left to cut off my MC who died on a banner, while a Light evaded back to my line. A second Line Command got me closer, and ranged fire did a block to his Warriors. Patch Ordered Two Left to reorganize a little, and Inspired Right Leadership moved me up a little and let me do a block to a MC with ranged combat.

Patch Double Timed his heavies into my line, knocking out a Medium (five hits on his third try… a bit late) and doing two blocks to another, but lost a Medium block and three Heavy blocks, and had to retreat three units. My third Line Command let me wrap around his intact Heavy, and I knocked it out with two attacks, taking no damage myself. Patch Rallied, rebuilding two Heavies to full strength, who then came in and knocked out a weak Medium, reduced another to a block, and took no damage himself. I Ordered Three Center, and came up to the end of his line, and moved a leader who had just lost his unit to a new Heavy, and wiped out Patch’s second Heavy.

Patch Out Flanked, but his MC muffed a roll against a 1-block Medium who did two blocks and forced them to retreat back to the baseline. His Warriors did two blocks to an Aux, who did two blocks back, wiping them out, and then Patch lost the leader with them. Leadership Any Section moved my right up, and I forced his LB to evade, and finished off his 1-block MC. Patch Ordered Heavies, finishing off my weak Medium, and doing a block to an evading Light. I Ordered Three Center to move a solid core up and take out a Medium. 6-4

Afterword

The first game started with some punishing hot dice from me, especially on archery, and I dominated the initial exchange of blows. But one bad turn cost me three good units and put Patch into reach of a win, which he got two turns later. However, both sides were completely smashed with no semblance of a line left.

In the second, an amazing initial draw continued with more good cards which kept me in motion, and concentrated on the center. I despaired a bit when Patch pulled out that Rally, as I didn’t want to fight fresh Heavies all over again, but I got lucky with one of them, and advanced past the other.

Both Heraclea and Asculum live up to the promise of ‘Pyrrhic Battles’, as generally speaking even the victor will be fairly smashed up. My win here as the Romans is probably the best shape I was in at the end of any of the four matches. The Romans won both times for Asculum, but they were accompanied by a heavy dose of good luck.

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Sep23

SG33 Treasure Ship

by Rindis on September 23, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: SFB

Looking things over, I had noticed there were a few ‘general’ SFB scenarios that are geared to around the current play date of our group (instead of ~Y175) shortly before Patch suggested a Star Fleet Battles game. I put together a package of possibilities, and we went with “Treasure Ship”, where a freighter on robot controls emerges from the WYN cluster, and two of their neighbors fight over who gets to take the prize home. (One of them paid for the valuable resources on board, but the WYN are not above promoting fights by sending the freighter out in range of two ships.)

Of the options, we kept the scenario as small as possible, with Patch taking a Lyran FF and me taking a Kzinti FF, with a small freighter (F-S) up for grabs. (Patch called it ‘two kids fighting over a candy bar.’) Effectively, it’s a frigate-duel, but the freighter is worth two points per intact cargo box to whoever ends up with control of it. The two ships set up on opposite sides of the board, with the freighter in between, running in a straight line at speed 4.

I decided to make a fast grab for the F-S, and try to steer the fight away from it, and possibly disengage (which it can only do by distance), and went speed 28, while Patch went a more sedate 18. Most of the turn was spent running up, and on Impulse 23 I came adjacent and tractored the freighter, then launched a drone, fired the disruptor at Patch, and fired a phaser-1 at the F-S for five points of damage. Which would be perfect for knocking down the shield, except the robot controls put up one point of general reinforcement, and the battery as a second reinforcement, leaving two boxes of shields up. Patch fired both disruptors back on the next impulse, and hit with both for six points on my #6 before turning off. I turned the opposite direction, and Patch turned back a few impulses later. I then fired a Ph-3 into the freighter for three points to knock down the shield, and do one cargo (doh!) internal, and then transported a boarding party and crew unit (prize crew) aboard the next impulse.

Patch stayed at 18, while I boosted to 30 (halved, since I kept the F-S in tractor). This meant skipping the disruptor, and skimping on battery and phaser charging. I ran for half the turn, while trying to figure out how I wanted to get more boarding parties on to the freighter. On impulse 15 I dropped the tractor, and launched a second drone, and then turned the F-S and sideslipped the FF so that it could drop a shield and beam three more BPs onto the freighter through its down shield, with nothing pointing Patch’s way. (Some of this was delayed because I allocated a box of General Reinforcement on the F-S, which blocked the transport, and/or a shuttle, and landing a shuttle aboard was the original plan. Half a turn gave me some time to look things up and realize I could drop the reinforcement for a bit without having to announce it.) Once that was done, I realized I  only had one boarding party left on the FF. Hopefully, I wouldn’t give Patch any chances to board me….

On impulse 18, I launched another drone, this time going speed 12. Patch continued towards the freighter/me, with range to the drones dropping fast, and on 22 he fired both disruptors and a phaser-2 at range three to the F-S to do 8 points (one disruptor missed), for two internals (the general reinforcement had recently come back up), one of which was a cargo box. Patch turned off to avoid drone #2, and I turned the opposite way (now that the shield was back up). On 32, he turned back towards me, and fired on drone #3, which had closed to one hex… rolling a 6 with a phaser-3 to let it live.

Patch stayed at 18 again, while I dropped to speed 19, which allowed me to charge the disruptor, get the phasers fully charged, and start shield repairs, but only trickle a little power into the batteries. The F-S picked up to speed 5, while it finished charging its battery. Both frigates ran with one point of ECM. Patch finished off drone #3 on impulse 1, and I spent the first few impulses finishing a turn back towards Patch, hoping to keep him distracted from the F-S, and get the ESG to deploy so I wouldn’t be facing it and all the phasers in what I hoped would be a main battle pass later. On 8, he turned in, somewhat to my surprise, given how cautious he’d been earlier.

Sadly, I once again forgot to save a log, so I don’t have a direct record of what happened for the rest of turn 3. However, as ranges came down, and I carefully sideslipped for a slightly off-center run, the ESG was announced on impulse 9, and I had a very tense time of trying to get close while being able to maneuver around it… at whatever range Patch set it at. On 13 it came up at range 2, while I was at 3. I fired my disruptor and turned off, while Patch fired the following impulse. On 17, I dropped a (fake) transporter bomb out the shuttle hatch to discourage him from pursuing me while I got a little distance and turned myself back around. Patch sideslipped the opposite way to keep away from it while the two drones shortcutted near it. Patch turned wide around it (thanks to the ESG), and headed for the F-S, ending the turn with the ESG one hex from it.

The F-S, seeing it coming, dropped to speed 3, and put up three reinforcement on shield #4. After that, and blowing the battery, it lost two hull, the phaser (never charged), two cargo, and three out of four warp (ironically, after losing all but two power, it still doesn’t count as crippled, as that requires only having 10% warp power left, not 25%), on impulse 2, when the ESG hit. Oh, and combined with our earlier shots, it had no rear shields left.

Meanwhile, I’d kept at speed 19, overloading the disruptor and putting a point each into ECM and ECCM (the batteries were still getting a trickle of power, and were finally over 2 energy again). Patch stayed at 18 and also had a point each in ECM and ECCM. He turned away on impulse 6, while I was still turning around (Patch mentioned that he had nearly turned in, which would have been a better decision at this point, though I’m not sure how it would have gone). Patch wondered about the mine, as I went by it while turning after him. I pointed out that I could just set it to explode on size classes that weren’t present (say SC 2 dreadnoughts), so that an ESG collision would be the only thing to set it off (“Evil!”), or it could just be a fake (“Also evil!”).

On impulse 12, I got to range 8 and fired the disruptor, hitting to do five damage to his #4. On impulse 21 I fired the forward phaser to do another 4 points (rolled a 1!), getting through the shield, and doing a single forward hull. Patch started fighting to get me off his #4, which left me with the problem of possibly getting too close to him this turn, as I started cutting inside. Drone #1 quietly ran out of endurance on impulse 23… the first time I’ve seen that happen in quite a while.


Turn 4, Impulse 12, showing movement for the full turn.
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Sep19

Operation Dauntless T6-T8

by Rindis on September 19, 2020 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

The second ‘getting started’ card for Operation Dauntless has three scenarios meant to get you up and going on the new armor rules (the card is recommended even for those who have played Red Winter). Mark and I tackled them all in our efforts to get a good handle on the game, and played the variants of T6 and T8, with me in my usual role as the British each time.

T6 is meant to showcase Anti-Tank fire and the Armor Reaction Cycle. Five squadrons of Shermans face off with three companies of Pz IVs, trying to get control of a hex in the middle of an open field. Most of the map is closed off thanks to special rules forbidding entry of non-field hexes, nor crossing slopes.

The matchup is interesting, as the Pz IVs have +6 penetration (vs the Shermans), and a range of 6, while the Shermans have +4 vs the Pz IV and a range of 4. Since there’s a -1 per hex of range, it means both sides are rolling at +0 at their maximum range, though the Shermans are always +2 below the Pz IVs. The only British advantage here is the 5:3 odds, especially as the victory hex begins in German hands.

Well, that and going first. I started out with three squadrons running through open terrain to 1209 (hidden behind light hedgerows), taking fire in three hexes, and the first shot hit and reduced one unit. The last two moved forward one hex to just outside the Pz IV’s range. Mark responded by moving up to just out of the second group’s range, with two companies entering LOS of the first group, who reaction fired, but missed. That led to several rounds of Return Fire until a Pz IV connected and reduced another Sherman squadron. The Combat Phase saw one of the reduced squadrons eliminated, but Return Fire reduced a Pz IV company.

I moved the second group up to the victory hex, taking fire from 1511 and 1611, which reduced one squadron, but 1511 was eliminated by Return Fire from my first group. I skipped the Combat Phase entirely, so as not to let Mark get extra shots off. Mark sent the Pz IV in 1611 to join the one in 1411 (staying out of range as he could), while the other fired on 1509 and knocked out the reduced squadron there. In the Combat Phase, they both fired on 1509, and reduced the remaining squadron, which reduced a Pz IV on Return Fire.

I moved the first group from 1209 to 1509, but lost two steps on the way in, leaving me two reduced squadrons in the victory hex. This left Mark four shots (assuming I didn’t start an ARC) to eliminate two steps (since full elimination of one side is also a win…), and indeed got one in the Action Phase, and the other in the Combat Phase.

We tried the “Fire on Their Flanks!” variant, but either we missed something basic, or it just doesn’t work. The main idea is that the Germans get three Panther platoons instead of Pz IVs, but they must drive into a crossfire, as the victory hex moves to 0807, and starts under British control.

The Shermans also start near the new victory location, and the advice is to move them to 1007 and 0609 to force rear shots from one group as the Panthers move/fire on the other. Mark obligingly didn’t drive into the trap, instead stopping in 1009 on the first turn, eliminating a Sherman squadron in 0609 during the Combat Phase. With no cover near 0609 (all of Fontenay is a level down, so LOS is clear to all those fields) the remaining Sherman unit there didn’t dare do anything that’d provoke a Reaction, and the group in 1007 couldn’t do anything either, and reacting to anything they did wouldn’t turn the Panthers away from 0609 either.

So I basically passed my second turn, and Mark killed the second Sherman on his second turn. I could either occupy the victory hex, receiving two short-range shots on the way in, and then watch the Panthers either shoot up what’s left (at a rough average of two kills per three shots, and 8 shots for 6 steps not bad odds), or more likely, charge in for an Assault that the Shermans would have to be pretty lucky to survive (needing lots of 9s and 10s for the flank shots). Or, stay in the corner, and at least try to get a flank shot as the Panthers go for the victory hex on the last turn.

That last is what I did, and I did reduce a Panther with a flank shot on the way in. But it’s the only positive result I got in the scenario.

Neither Mark nor I see just how this should force any real number of flank shots, and without that, the scenario just can’t work.
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