Mutants and Death Ray Guns!

Go see Pacific Rim.

Dennis and I took out MDRG Saturday and played a couple of one-off games. We put together 300-point lists- he used Plant Men and I used pretty average humans with guns and two pet giant radioactive bugs.

I suppose the uppity tree men were going to try to reclaim a bit o' the ol' North Wood back from the human settlers. Here is my tiny force:

In Ganesha parlance, they are
Ganger Q4C2 Assault Rifle,Grenade:Fragmentation
Ganger Q4C2 Assault Rifle
Ganger Q4C2 Assault Rifle
Ganger Q4C2 Assault Rifle
Giant Bug Q4C3 Long Move,Stealth
Giant Bug Q4C3 Long Move,Stealth
Leader Q3C2 Assault Rifle,Grenade:Sonic,Gunsmith,Leader
Nothing "cheesy" or overpowering... just guys with guns for the most part and two close combat things.

I deployed thusly:

For the record, I think I was waaaaay over-generous with the cover on the table, especially since Dennis gave his whole troupe "Stealth." Oh well.

The guys on the right move up to the closest house.

Dennis' first five activation rolls.

Two guys and a bug on my left get away from the woods a bit.

The bugs close on the swiftest tree in the county and go all "Acorn Weevil" on his ass.

My leader gets thumped. Curses!

The last of the Mohicans. The unpainted tree is their leader "Twiggy."

The bugs turn another foe into tinder.

But eventually, another of my crew dies and morale tests run me off the board.

My son had been watching off and on and wanted to play, so we decided on a three-player game. Or more precisely, Dad gets his ass kicked by two opponents this time. I drew the short straw and would be defending against Plants and Radioactive Bugs.

I needed to keep the buildings safe. Plant critters on the right, bugs on the left.

The bugs make tracks.

I sent the ladybugs from hell forward to disrupt the attack.

Mickey gets disrupted.

While Minnie kicks some bug ass. Hahahaha!

But eventually, Minnie croaks and  the bugs reach the buildings.

The walking sticks have finished their task. One unlucky survivor is about to become a statistic.

So, two entertaining games even though I came up on the crap end both times. I like the three-player mechanic, although the 2 v 1 setup sucks bad. May need to change that to a 1 v 1 v 1 in a future game to see how it works.

Y'all be well!

Mid Week Off Topic ** updated **

Sunday: Very good HTC Amaze cell phone dies.

 I move the SIM card over to a very old hunk of junk phone just to have something in the meantime.

Monday: Order Nokia Lumia 620 from Amazon. FWIW, the Windows Phone interface is far and away the best cell phone interface, compared to Apple and Android.

Wednesday: Received new phone. My SIM card won't fit. I need to run up to TMobile and get a new smaller card. After setting up the new phone, it too takes a crap and dies. Won't power up. Grrr. Get a chat going with Amazon customer service. They don't have a replacement in stock. Grrr. It'll be Friday before they have them in stock. I convince Genevieve to issue a refund so I can just but another color phone right away and have it by tomorrow. Stuck with this crap cell phone another day.

The drama... the drama... At least I get a yellow one. I just hope it works.

********************************
UPDATE Friday, 12 July

The new yellow phone is awesome. I love it.

Modern Spearhead AAR

Ziggy and I played a game of MSH Saturday evening. I'd put the scenario together earlier in the day and made maps for us to mark up.

The premise: two Soviet battalions became cut off from their force and got pinned down by NATO airstrikes and attack helicopters. German and Dutch troops are closing in on the Soviets to finish them off. The Soviets are going to make a mad dash to get away before they are wiped out. A Motor Rifle regiment is inbound to help extract the unfortunate units.

Map of the area. The red circle is where the initial Soviet force starts. Blue edges are the edges where NATO forces arrive, the red edge is where Soviet reinforcements appear.

NATO OOB:
FRG Panzer Battalion - 10 Leopard 1A4, 1 Gepard, 1 Luchs Recon Platoon
FRG Panzergrenadier Battalion - 10 Marder 1A2, 1 Gepard, 1 Luchs Recon Platoon, 120mm Mortar
Dutch Mechanized Battalion - 10 YPR765, M113 + Mortar, M113 C&R
2 FRG M109 batteries with 6 fire missions (1 per fighting battalion)
2 FRG Bo105
1 FRG AGC in a scout helo

Soviet OOB
Starting force (in the red circle)
MR Battalion - 5 BMP-2, 120mm Mortar in truck
Tank Battalion - 6 T-72B, 1 ZSU23/4
Reserve force
MR Regiment with BTR-60PB and T-62E
4 2S1 Batteries
Regimental HQ
BRDM w/ SA-9 and ZSU23/4
2 BRDM w/ Spandrel
2 Recon Platoons (BRDM and BMPR)
1 AGC in Mi-8

Mid-1980s Europe. Soviet player must exit as many stands of the starting force off the east (red) table edge as possible. NATO player must destroy the starting force.

Special Rules:
1) The Soviet starting force is low on supplies and and has been harassed continually for hours by airstrikes and attack helicopters. After drawing up initial orders and deployment, roll for each Soviet stand. On a roll of 1-5 the stand is Suppressed. On a 6 it is in good order.
2) The Soviet covering force will show up eventually! Mark starting locations as usual for Reserve battalions. Starting on turn 3, roll a die for each of these battalions. On a 5 or 6 it arrives - you may draw a command arrow and move it in from the table edge.

Our starting dispositions:

My poor Soviets would be fast-tracking towards the left table edge.

Three stands in good order to start the game.

Ziggy opened by sending his huge battalions straight towards the wood where my bedraggled forces were hunkered down.

My "rally" rolls were not impressive. Three stands rallied at the end of the first turn. The T-72 battalion commander was not one of them.

The noose tightens. The Leopards were going to push the Soviets into the waiting mechanized troops.

I had won the initiative for turn 2 and Zig moved first. The few BMP stands I had that could move, did. T-72s pivoted to face the now visible German Marders.

Turn 3. I received the first of my reinforcement battalions - it was 3rd battalion and its only attachment was the AGC. At least I had some offensive punch incoming, but shit all for AA cover. The German's AGC also arrived on turn three.

After my move of turn three, Z had yet to move his guys. The tank BC woke up and the tanks that could move out began their escape. The BMPs also moved out as best they could.

My reinforcements. Yay, I have troops facing the proper direction now!

Camera change...

Germans line up some shots. The Dutch would take a few shots as well.

The first of the NATO airstrikes. He whiffed badly. Hahahahaha.

The Soviet response. He also whiffed. ** shakes fist at the sky **

Turn 4. My tanks and BMP continue their flight. The reserve battalion advances to a good position.

There is still a damned T-72 platoon in the woods that won't rally, slowing down the entire battalion. I left the ZSU23/4 still to provide some AA cover. The Dutch had killed off stragglers in the woods, freeing the rest of the BMP battalion from the same miserable fate the tanks were suffering.

The Frogfoot takes his second pass, cannons this time and takes out a Marder stand.

A German Phantom takes a run at the BMPs, kicking up much dust but causing no damage.

Sorry for all the gratuitous airplane pics - the two of us love using planes.

Where's Waldo? The T-72s finally got to their break point and wiped out. NATO was close to sealing the deal. I only had three stands left from the original force - 2 BMP2s and a Mortar Truck.

Turn 5

My BMP battalion was so close to the edge and escape. Z sent a Bo105 over to try for a kill. My reserves came up dry yet again.

Bring it on, Flyboy! The AGC missed his call-in. Heheh. The HOT missiles from the attack helo also missed badly.

Finally a result. A rocket-armed Su-7 takes out two Leopards. Ziggy was upset, but whatever. They were my second and third kills of the game.

Turn 6

I got the two BMPs off the board. The mortar truck was 1/4 inch sort of the edge. We'd play another turn.

Ziggy throws everything he's got at the mortar truck. Two Dutch mortars fire at it, the Bo105 fires and a Phantom swoops down on it. The result: SUPPRESSED. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I told him before the game that the dice he selected were cursed.

In other news, his Leopards and Marders make a nice showing at tear up the reserve battalion in the center. They are disposable, doesn't matter.

Turn 7
The goddamn mortar truck didn't rally so the Germans get one more try. Still no Russian reserves.

Hey WarPac players, look familiar? TI equipped tanks behind their wall of cowardice.

 Didn't get a picture, but a Dutch mortar got a second Suppressed result on my truck and ended the game. Ziggy got some further anger kills against my BTR battalion and ran them off.

Wrap Up

That was a fun game to say the least. It was a lot more entertaining than the standard "line-em-up and see who's left at the end." We agreed to give the NATO force a minor victory for wiping out a vast majority of his quarry. I did manage to get two stands off the map, so at least I didn't fail miserably. 

Ziggy's dice, as usual, were atrocious. Mine were good, but I had so few firing opportunities it didn't matter much. I think I killed five stands? The Su-7 air strike was a high point for sure.

My reserves rolls were a damn war crime - one success out of eleven attempts. I left a lot of hardware off the table.

Oh, the mix of aircraft, after a successful call-in, we'd roll to see what sort of aircraft arrived. Adds a little fun for no extra effort.

My orders map. nothing fancy - just get the hell out of Dodge!

Be well and Good Gaming!

By This Axe AAR

So after my review of the written rules, I thought it necessary to play a game. I put two army lists together and my son and I played a game Wednesday evening.

Our initial setups

Our army lists are below:

	#	FC	Equipment	Cost Each	Unit Cost
Good Guy Spearmen	16	3	L Armor, Shield, Spear	10	160
Human Archers	6	3	Compound Bow, Shortsword	11	66
Good Guy Swordsmen	10	4	M Armor, Shield, Sword	16	160
Hero	1	4	M Armor, Sword, Shield	36	36
					422
	#	FC	Equipment	Cost Each	Unit Cost
Skeleton Swords/Axes	10	3	M Armor, Shield, Sword	12	120
Skeleton Archers	6	3	Shortbow, Shortsword	9	54
Dark Elves	8	4	M Armor, Javelin, 2 H Sword	14	112
Giant Lizard Troll	4	3	Thick Hide, Shield, 2 H Sword	17	68
Giant Rats	12	2	Shortsword	3	36
Hero	1	4	M Armor, Spear	34	34
					424

Junior has one more maneuver unit than me, but I've got years of experience and low cunning in my favor. He put the troll thing with the Dark Elves.

Right off the bat we had a bit of an issue determining exactly how many "command cards" we should draw, and we decided on 2 per turn as long as our leader was still kickin' and that you could keep one unused card between turns.

My melee units move forward posthaste with the help of a "diamonds" card which gives two units extra movement for the turn.

Junior's rats on a flanking maneuver (idea by me). His archers  bottlenecked  his melee skeletons who spent a great deal of time trying to maneuver around the archers.

Action shot of the good guys advancing.

When our main forces (and leaders) were close, Junior thought it a good idea for his leader to challenge mine to a duel. I accepted. 

Have at thee, foul sorcerer!

Drat!

The battle was met and our troops in the center collided.

I hit the elves in the flank with my spearmen but their morale held.

The rats continue their scurry.

Time jump forward a little bit. His leader failed a save in the melee and croaked but again the elf morale held. My swordsmen could NOT fail a saving throw. His elves failed lots of saves, as did my spearmen. I suggested to Junior that his archers, which weren't doing anything, charge my spearmen in the flank and forcing a morale test.

Flank charges. They hurt.

What didn't take any encouragement was a second flank charge by the archers into my swordsmen which were still kicking ass in the center.

Run away! Run away!

My archers did finish off the rats, with only one loss. Small victories.

So, my impression? It is a good game, just rough around the edges. The number of cards to be drawn is debatable. The fact that units cannot rally without leaders or cards is brutal. One "score" for troops is a somewhat questionable mechanic - the rats for instance should be poor fighters but should also have a high morale since they won't take notice of dead comrades. Other troops, say orcs, may be good at close combat but weak at shooting. Song of Blades and Heroes manages this well with loads of special rules but there is currently no analogue in BTA. The one other thing that jumped out was "save modifiers" for close combat weapons. The giant troll should have been able to put a -1 or -2 on his enemies' saving throws, but this wasn't part of the RAW.

With a bit of polish, BTA will be a very good game and I can easily make most of these adjustments myself. Good gaming, y'all!

Game Review: By This Axe

So I picked up the self-published fantasy / historical rules By This Axe the other day and have read it through a few times. I hope to give it a try tomorrow. I've been looking for a fantasy mass-combat game that didn't cost an arm and a leg and wasn't HOTT. Nothing against HOTT, but I just wasn't taken with it. When I stumbled upon BTA, it fit the bill nicely. I'm going to take off the gloves and say what needs to be said in hopes that it gets back to the author so BTA can be improved and grow.

The most glaring question is "what is a charge?" I've played a lot of WHFB and "charging" is the most important concept in that game. The BTA rules mention charging frequently but do not define it anywhere. I'm left wondering what happened during the proof-read - was the "charge" mechanic dropped during a re-write or has the author simply gone on the assumption that the reader knows what he's talking about. Particularly confusing is the phrasing on page 6, under the effect of the "Diamonds" cards - "All units under charge order must..." I didn't notice any other references to orders, so I'm left wondering if this too was just missed in a proof-read.

The next biggest thing that jumped out was the point value system. There are quite a few Special Abilities listed on page 8, but no points values associated with them. On the next page there is a system for assigning points values to troops, so the ground-work is there - it is just half-finished. I did come up with points values myself, although some may be a bit off.

The magic system is anemic, to say the least. I'll home-brew some better rules for that. As written, there is an offensive "blast" and a defensive "shield" and that's that.

Morale / rallying bothers me as written. More on that after I play-test though. I am curious about what happens to a routing unit that is contacted by enemy troops.

As I said at the beginning, I like the basic structure, the details need to be picked over with a fine-toothed comb. I suspect that the playtesters all know the author and didn't have simply the written rules to go by.

My quickly compiled list of Special Abilities Points Values

Tough                              2

Regeneration                    4

Thick Hide                       8

Breath/Gaze                     20

Fanatic                             4

Darkvision                        1

Flying                               4

Camouflage                      3

Multiple Attacks               2 X FC

Marksman                        3

Undead                            4

Slow                               -3

Quick                               3

Resistance                        20

My 2 Cents... 

Mid-Week Update

I've made good progress on the bugs - we may be able to get in a game of Swatters on Thursday. The bugs won't be complete by then, but they won't be ugly white-primed "things" either.

Oh, they're colorful!

I bought "By This Axe" for the princely sum of $2.50 on Sunday after seeing it mentioned on Super Galactic Dreadnought. That may compete with Swatters for table time, so we'll see how things go. I have plenty of usable minis and put some army lists together - I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I've got a game of Modern Spearhead lined up for Saturday - sort of a sequel to the last game of MSH Ziggy and I played. My Polish need to make a good showing after what happened last time.