The Monthly Visit... From Star Fleet

Mike and I got together for the monthly Star Fleet Battles shoot-em-up at Morningstar yesterday. I'd put together a scenario a few weeks ago featuring Orions and Klingons. We made the switch to full-size ships - standard SFB - as opposed to the Cadet's Game that we'd been playing. We've decided to simply play with smaller ships, which still keeps things manageable time-wise since small ships tend to get ruined pretty quickly. With Mike and myself as the only players things proved to run very smoothly.

The setup was this... an Orion Raider went in alone against a couple of freighters, one of which was a Q-ship. The pirate ship was caught unprepared and took two drone hits and some phaser fire. The freighters got away quickly as the embarrassed pirate captain turned towards a nearby asteroid field and headed for home. The freighter and Q-ship notified the DSF of the attack who dispatched a pair of frigates to intercept the Orion. The pirates of course sent a small Light Raider out to escort the CR home.

I ended up flying the Orions. Mike had a choice between Feds and Klingons and chose the lumpy heads.

So there we are, an impulse or two after the start of the game. I had to get the CR off the far table edge (all the way to my left). Mike had to stop it from getting away. The LR was of no consequence really - it was just there to help out the CR.

Drones get going. I use mine defensively which is pretty much par for the course for me. Mike has kicked shuttles out the hatch of both of his ships. The asteroid markers actually have a two-hex bubble surrounding them that is also a hive of evil space rocks.  It's worth noting that my LR ate an asteroid getting to where it is seen in this picture - 5 damage on the #1, Captain. Looking back at this picture, I see the first in a series of mistakes by the Orion player.

The CR was tractoring its shuttle. The pre-game damage took out both rear phasers so it needed some help defensively.

The Klingon Klowns and their drones. Two shuttles were left behind.

For some reason, I decided it would be prudent to steer into the Klingons, overrun them, and blow past them. I wasn't counting on the fucking scatterpack that you can see Mike hatching back there. Is it bad form for pirates to complain about treachery? Talk about zigging when you should have zagged... I really should have cut left and used the asteroids as cover since Mike's ships would have had a long haul around them.

Mike wanted to be sure he got a shot of this scatterpack going ape. He uses 1/700 airplanes as shuttles. Today it was A-6 Intruders :)

We tear into each other. His lead frigate was severely damaged. My CR got eaten up through the ol' #6. I held fire with the CR's four Ph-1s since I needed to have something left for the scatterpack's drones.

The sumnabitch Klingons reveal a second scatterpack. Oh, how original. This'll be just lovely. I ended up grabbing two of the lead swarm's drone with tractors on the LR and blasted the other two with Ph-1s from the CR. The CR had lost two unfired Ph-1s and its one working tractor in the volley from the Klingon Frigates. The second batch of four drones was going to be a bitch.

I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks, but the four drones were (surprisingly) targeted on the LR. They gutted the shit out of the ship, scoring 39 internals. Both tractors were destoyed, releasing the drones which plowed into the CR scoring a couple of internals on it (they hit a strong shield).

Mike flew his Klingons way over to my side of the map, instead of either pursuing or trying to cut off the ruined pirate ships. Turns out there was some miscommunication regarding the scenario objectives and he wasn't clear about where I was trying to run to.

On turn 3, I put all available power into movement. Engines doubled, shields to minimum... get the hell out of Dodge! Mike's ships made a strong attempt at cutting off my flight and scored a couple of hits but in the end I managed to get my two ruined ships off the map.

OK, so technically it was a victory for the Orions but the Snakefish Cartel is going to have to scrap both of those vessels, so it's a Pyhrric victory if there ever was one. If Mike had started the cut-off sooner, I doubt I could have gotten away with the CR. He still had a virgin E4 and even the one I'd hit still had enough power and weapons to be worrisome. I was was without weapons on both ships and engines were critical. I was able to eke out good speed in the final turn, but that was all I had.

It was an entertaining game for sure. It was nice to play with a very experienced opponent - there were very few rules and mechanics questions and we just played the game. It was strange to get through a 4-ship SFB game in under 3 hours. Thanks for the game Mike, and next time you can keep the scatterpacks at home.

Ah, Maurice!

Zig and I finally got around to putting Maurice on the tabletop Saturday afternoon. The whole project has been months in the making. I've been interested in it since Kaptain Kobold started featuring it on his blog. Of course, just being interested isn't usually enough for me to move on a project. It wasn't until I re-watched The Adventures of Baron Munchausen for the umpteenth time some time over the summer that I decided that the armies of Reason and the East needed to be put together and made to fight in miniature.

Being a first time for each of us, and being quite a bit different from the usual fare, the first few turns were pretty tentative but we caught on quickly enough.

We set up 24BW apart. I used the Eastern Empire troops. The two armies are nearly identical - My guys have six infantry, two cavalry and two artillery. Zig's Europeans are composed of five infantry, three cavalry and two artillery.

My forward infantry regiments meander forward. I left the pink guys behind as a reserve for some reason. As it turned out, they did play a crucial role later on.

A few turns on. I'd managed to sucker Zig's main cavalry force out to my right with my own horsemen, then reversed course back to the inside. His cavalry got stuck in a terrible spot and would play no further part in the game. Heheh. One of my regiments has been his by some long-ranged cannon fire.

I used a card whose name I can't remember to push my cavalry forward through the woods without taking a disruption marker, threatening Zig's right side. I forgot that units in different terrain cannot be activated together as a force. Curses! The two cavalry regiments were going to have to act independently now.

With little to lose, I had my forward horsemen head towards the enemy cannons as quickly as possible. The cannons fired as the riders approached, but it was for naught as the artillery battery was destroyed.

Meanwhile, Zig's infantry had been maneuvering forward and was now close enough to pepper my troops with musket fire. The cavalry unit took the brunt of the fire and was broken in no time.

Moments later, my Brave Sons of the East charged forward into combat with the invaders. I didn't take any pictures of the affair, but I had a unit get wiped out. My other unit did will for itself but was forced to retreat from the combat which caused further trouble because it had to move through a friendly unit, adding a disruption to each unit. (see the gold and red marked units)

Zig's forces charge back at mine after a very good volley. My combat rolls were shit as you can see (two ones) and I had another two units get wiped out. I'd lost four now - one more and it was curtains for me!

Zig tries to figure out how many musket balls his troops can fire into my last infantry unit in the combat zone.

Like a tide crashing against stone, my soldiers hold! Zig was furious.

My "reserve" regiments move forward to threaten Ziggy's flanks. He had to act quickly or suffer a tragic turn of events.

A few dice rolls later, combined with an inattentive photographer, and we have a result! Each of us lost a regiment but I'd lost my fifth and that was the end of the game.

Another turn and my cannons could have blasted his nearest regiment into oblivion. Oh well... next time.

What a good game! For a "first play" the game ran very well and there were notably few rules mistakes or troubles. Now that we both have a better grip on things, the next go 'round should be even better. Obviously we could do for some larger armies. Those will be forthcoming. I'm currently out of 1.25" bases and need to order some. I do have models though - two more regiments of Ottomans and I can pretty well double the size of the European army with the unpainteds I have for them. What we've got now is perfectly fine for learning Maurice though. I need to work on flags for the European infantry. They look just a bit too plain out there right now.

Something a Bit Different

Today Morningstar Games in Savannah hosted a charity game day event. Any board / card games were welcome. Mike Baker has been trying to get me to play Advanced Squad Leader for ages so today was a perfect opportunity.

About 30 years ago I had a copy of Squad Leader and my buddies and I screwed around with it a bit but didn't expend a serious effort on it - we were much more into Dungeons and Dragons at the time. So, I was slightly familiar with the mechanics, but this was really going to be a learning game for me.

The scenario name was Guryev's Headquarters from the Streets of Fire module. The basic setup was that the Soviets and Germans were both trying to capture the same building, presumably Guryev's headquarters. Whichever side had more unbroken squads in the building by the end of turn seven would be the victor.

Mike and the wargaming neophyte, whose name I didn't remember because I'm terrible at that sort of thing, took command of the Germans and I was handed control of the Soviets. Suits me fine - I generally like using the red hordes. Here's a shot of our setups and the map.

I set my forces up in stacks with modicum of subterfuge since I was graced with five "hidden" markers. I put the assault troops closest to the target building and set up the machineguns to hamper the German advance. I didn't count the counters, but it seemed that I was outnumbered. I did have six SMG squads and a leader (who I forgot to use) as reserves.

Another view of the setup with a better view of the Germans.

My initial advance towards Guryev's HQ is met by a belt of 7.92. Defensive fire is nasty. A "recon by fire" procedure locates German gun positions. I then have my first "ah-ha" moment of the game and realize the hex with the black die in it is in defilade from the machineguns here:

Filthy Germans...

Since I'd located a safe route to the target building, given my opponent's deployment, the remainder of the game for me was an exercise in patience and distraction. I had to wait for my reinforcements to arrive, move them forward and just wait for time to expire - I was quite confident in my SMG squads firepower and their ability to defend Guryev's Love Shack.

A turn or two on. I've got plenty of troops into the HQ, including the poor guys who got shot up earlier. The squad with the light machinegun (yellow circle) would prove to be the toughest nuts of the Soviet side. Although they weren't deadly, they were practically invincible and were a major thorn in the Germans' side for the whole battle.

 

The fight for the HQ begins in earnest! I was able to run these Fascists off, even though I took a few losses in the process.

Mike and company had moved their machineguns into a better position and were hammering the shit out of my "staging area" hex in the building. My troops really weren't affected by the fire but not wanting to give them any additional chances, I moved the two squads forward, out of LOS of the really nasty guns. My troops readied themselves for the inevitable rush since turn seven was about to begin.

The German assault was not terrifically effective, although our squads in hex L1 there did manage to wipe each other out in close combat. His leader brought three squads with him into my old "staging area" hex and camped. At the start of my turn seven my platoon of SMG troops opened up on their neighbors and mauled them - wiping out two squads completely and breaking the other and their leader. That was all it took - it was turn seven and the Soviets had taken the headquarters building!

Halfway through the game I was ready to throw in the towel. My guys were getting murdered by long-range firepower and things were just sad for the Ruskies. I had killed off three of my own squads by rolling "12" on rally attempts. My only ray of hope was being able to feed wave after wave of my own men into the objective building, so I kept at it. The rest of my force, as bedraggled as it was, was just enough to keep a bit more than half of the German force completely tied up to the point where they couldn't properly support the assault.

The scenario was a blast, a real battle in a phone-booth with the small battlefield and large number of troops. It was truly a nail-biter that came down to the final few moves. Good game Mike and other guy, thank you very much for the great afternoon entertainment!

A Few More...

Painting production is up at Casa de Ski. I knocked out some Dystopian Wars Prussian tanks over the last couple of days that I'd picked up on the cheap a few months back.

Ritters and Reckes!

Ritter assault tanks - they exist only to conduct boarding actions. 

Recke heavy assault tanks - the much more sturdy babysitters, bristling with guns, shields and angry Germans, ready to board enemy tanks and planes!

Back to the Front!

I worked through a good-sized mass of plastic warriors yesterday. These are 1/72 minis that were begun a couple months ago and sat, annoying my wife, until they were good and ready to be finished.

For the record, we've got two Soviet rifle squads, a DShK section, a custom-built AT rifle and nine submachinegunners. I still need a few more SMG guys to finish up a full tank-rider platoon for Chain of Command.

Also, you'll see some Germans. I finished up the third 251 from the PSC box I got back around July 4th. I did up a flamethrower section and a couple extra SMG guys since they're in demand in the Kursk scenario book I picked up.

 The whole shootin' match.

 The home-made tripod legs worked out very nicely.

 Anti-Tank rifles are BIG!

 The good ol' flammenwerfer.

No stowage or other shmanciness on the halftrack - I went for simplicity. Plus, I broke one of the machineguns and was in no mood for more fiddling around.

I didn't get any gaming in this weekend - we had a lot going on family-wise. Maybe next weekend...

More Lead and Resin

Off the pile! With a bit of a gaming lull, I have been getting painting knocked out. First up are the three Romulans that I showed a WIP of last week.

A War Eagle, Sparrow Hawk and Fire Hawk. I'm pretty happy with the way these ended up. They'll be rather striking on the game table.

Next is a piece of terrain I quickly slapped together. The ruined temple bits are aquarium decorations that were nicely sized for 15mm. I turned three pieces into a nice little ruin.

And last was a second hover tank for my 15mm Sci-Fi Red Guards. The one they had was lonely. Here's the new one in with the ruin.

I want to play test my ground combat rules again. I've made some changes that need testing. Maybe I'll get in a round or two this weekend.

Cops 'N Robbers

Finished up a Federation Police Cutter (repaint) and that Orion pirate ship yesterday. Nothing too crazy, but at least the Police Cutter looks more like a cop now. Previously it'd just been a "random civilian ship."