While I was painting my Germans, Ed painted "Inspector Magnum":
(And soon I will put the finishing touches on my Germans and post pictures of them!!!)
Showing posts with label Force on Force. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Force on Force. Show all posts
Thursday, September 10, 2015
A visit from Ed
Ed came up from Kingston a week or so back to help motivate me to get my Germans finished and also to drop off the container ship for our upcoming Force on Force game.
It is quite an impressive model!
With a cat for scale purposes
With a Tiger for scale purposes
Covered in containers (which I should be painting!)
The name of the ship may bring back some traumatic gaming memories!
Lifeboats
A selection of anti-piracy equipment.
While I was painting my Germans, Ed painted "Inspector Magnum":
As well as touching up my other cops:
And painting the two freebies I got with my last Warlord order:
Mad Jack Churchill, who should go in every scenario possible.
And the downed British airman who looks completely awesome.
(And soon I will put the finishing touches on my Germans and post pictures of them!!!)
While I was painting my Germans, Ed painted "Inspector Magnum":
(And soon I will put the finishing touches on my Germans and post pictures of them!!!)
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Elements of Destruction -- The Scenario
I had a request to post the scenario I ran at Cangames this year so here goes!
Before getting to the scenario proper, some notes about how it came about. Each year for at least the past 5 I have run a Force on Force game at Cangames which I have always enjoyed running and the players seem to enjoy as well (since it has largely had the same group of players each year!). The first few years I spent a lot of time planning and getting figs and arranging terrain but for the last couple of years I have spent more of my preparation time on my Roman game than on Force on Force.
Last year Ed and I had a really good idea for a game based on Libyan rebels trying to capture Muammar Gaddafi but we just didn't have time to pull it all together and I ended up running "The Bridge at al Muff" again -- which went well (Stan has a blog post about it here ) but I was reluctant to run a game this year (again because a lot of my effort was going into the Roman game). I eventually decided I would run a game but would try and minimize the amount of effort that would go into it.
The scenario idea started with the Honest John launcher mini that I have that has never (up until now) actually seen action on the table so I thought how can I use this (and why not the Nike HAWK launcher that I got at the same time). So, terrorists get a nuclear weapon, US forces fight to get it away from them and the HAWK gives a (barely) plausible reason why the US doesn't have massive air cover for something like this. Then I had a strange thought -- what if we have new players in the game, would this be good for them (strange because as I said it is generally the same group of players every year but also because in my experience with a game master to manage the fiddly situations most people pick up FOF fairly quickly).
So, I decided that the basic flow of the game would be (1) Delta force would land and their would be a brief fight to gain control of the Honest John and other weapons caches -- The US player would be given a sense that time is really of the essence here but it would be a one sided,, brief fight to allow the game mechanics to be demonstrated. (2) There would be an interlude where the US helicopters arrive to extract Delta, the HAWK battery is revealed, helicopters are shot down and lots of insurgents are revealed -- This is just done as narrative, with no game mechanics (3) The Delta troops with the help of arriving Rangers try to hold off the insurgents while trying to destroy the HAWK battery and rescue the helicopter crew.
That seems to be more than enough introspective rambling so here is the scenario!
SCENARIO: ELEMENTS OF DESTRUCTION
A faction of al Shabab in Somalia has a acquired a Cold War era Honest John launcher and possible chemical and nuclear warheads and are planning to fire it at a city in Kenya. Delta force troops will insert using a HALO jump and will be supported by Rangers entering Somalia by land from Kenya.
Table setup
The table as shown is a city with a ruin of a colonial building on a hill. The Honest John and 2 weapons caches are in the centre of the city and 5 hot points are placed around them (but are inactive at the beginning of the game).
Delta Foce are place on the road near the objectives and 4 insurgent groups are place to guard them.
(Note: In hindsight, I would have pushed the buildings closer together to create denser terrain -- I say this to myself after every game and every time I set up a new game I leave everything spread out!)
US Forces
Delta:
Troop Quality/ Morale: D12/D10 (Drops to D10/D10 in the second phase of the game)
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level:Abundant
Body Armour: Standard (+1D)
Delta is a arranged in 4 troops of 4 each armed with an M4
Rangers:
Troop Quality/Morale: D8/D8
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level: Abundant
Body Armour: Standard (+1D)
The Ramgers have 6 HMMWVs, 3 armed with M2 HMGs and 3 with Mk19 AGLs.
Each HMMV has 4 soldiers with 3 M4s and 1 SAW.
al Shabab
Troop Quality/Morale: D6/D8
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level: Normal
Body Armour: None
The initial insurgent groups consist of 1 leader, 2 with AK47 and 1 with RPG
Special Rules
Initially the the hotspots are inactive and the Rangers are off the table. Once the Launcher and 2 weapons caches are secure the extraction helicopters will arrive. At this point any remaining insurgents from the initial groups are removed from the table and the Delta troops can rearrange themseleves around the 3 objectives as they choose.
After this is done the HAWK battery is revealed (this consists of 3 peices of equipment, each with a crew of 4) in the the ruins on the hill. The crashed helicopter is placed on the slope of the hill as are 2 bunkers with HMGs. The hotspots are now active and a force consisting of 1 leader, 4 AK47 amd 1 RPG is placed on each of them with an additional force of the same size being placed in the ruins. The troop quality of Delta force is reduced for D12 to D10.
At the end of each turn the Ranger player makes a TQ check and if successful 3 HMMMVs will enter at the beginning of the following turn
The insurgency level is 4 and the following table can be used
Die Roll Insurgent Unit
2 1d6 small arms, 1x light support weapon
3 1x medium support weapon
4 1d6 small arms, roll again
5 1x medium support weapon
6 1d6+2 small arms
7 1x leader, 1d6 small arms, 1x light support weapon
8 1d6+2 small arms
9 1d6 small arms, roll again
10 1x light support weapon
11 1x leader, 1d6 small arms, 1x medium support weapon
12 2d6 small arms
Roll 1D6 for units without a leader and on a 1 replace 1 figure with a leader
Victory
The US player wins if they eliminate the HAWK battery and keep the initial objectives secure. They can be more victorious if they rescue the helicopter crew and less if the suffer too many casualties. They really lose quite badly if al Shabab keeps control of the nuclear weapon.
Hopefully that is clear enough, I usually just jot down some rough notes as reminders for myself. Let me know if there are any questions or places where it can be clearer.
Before getting to the scenario proper, some notes about how it came about. Each year for at least the past 5 I have run a Force on Force game at Cangames which I have always enjoyed running and the players seem to enjoy as well (since it has largely had the same group of players each year!). The first few years I spent a lot of time planning and getting figs and arranging terrain but for the last couple of years I have spent more of my preparation time on my Roman game than on Force on Force.
Last year Ed and I had a really good idea for a game based on Libyan rebels trying to capture Muammar Gaddafi but we just didn't have time to pull it all together and I ended up running "The Bridge at al Muff" again -- which went well (Stan has a blog post about it here ) but I was reluctant to run a game this year (again because a lot of my effort was going into the Roman game). I eventually decided I would run a game but would try and minimize the amount of effort that would go into it.
The scenario idea started with the Honest John launcher mini that I have that has never (up until now) actually seen action on the table so I thought how can I use this (and why not the Nike HAWK launcher that I got at the same time). So, terrorists get a nuclear weapon, US forces fight to get it away from them and the HAWK gives a (barely) plausible reason why the US doesn't have massive air cover for something like this. Then I had a strange thought -- what if we have new players in the game, would this be good for them (strange because as I said it is generally the same group of players every year but also because in my experience with a game master to manage the fiddly situations most people pick up FOF fairly quickly).
So, I decided that the basic flow of the game would be (1) Delta force would land and their would be a brief fight to gain control of the Honest John and other weapons caches -- The US player would be given a sense that time is really of the essence here but it would be a one sided,, brief fight to allow the game mechanics to be demonstrated. (2) There would be an interlude where the US helicopters arrive to extract Delta, the HAWK battery is revealed, helicopters are shot down and lots of insurgents are revealed -- This is just done as narrative, with no game mechanics (3) The Delta troops with the help of arriving Rangers try to hold off the insurgents while trying to destroy the HAWK battery and rescue the helicopter crew.
That seems to be more than enough introspective rambling so here is the scenario!
SCENARIO: ELEMENTS OF DESTRUCTION
A faction of al Shabab in Somalia has a acquired a Cold War era Honest John launcher and possible chemical and nuclear warheads and are planning to fire it at a city in Kenya. Delta force troops will insert using a HALO jump and will be supported by Rangers entering Somalia by land from Kenya.
Table setup
The table as shown is a city with a ruin of a colonial building on a hill. The Honest John and 2 weapons caches are in the centre of the city and 5 hot points are placed around them (but are inactive at the beginning of the game).
Delta Foce are place on the road near the objectives and 4 insurgent groups are place to guard them.
(Note: In hindsight, I would have pushed the buildings closer together to create denser terrain -- I say this to myself after every game and every time I set up a new game I leave everything spread out!)
US Forces
Delta:
Troop Quality/ Morale: D12/D10 (Drops to D10/D10 in the second phase of the game)
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level:Abundant
Body Armour: Standard (+1D)
Delta is a arranged in 4 troops of 4 each armed with an M4
Rangers:
Troop Quality/Morale: D8/D8
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level: Abundant
Body Armour: Standard (+1D)
The Ramgers have 6 HMMWVs, 3 armed with M2 HMGs and 3 with Mk19 AGLs.
Each HMMV has 4 soldiers with 3 M4s and 1 SAW.
al Shabab
Troop Quality/Morale: D6/D8
Confidence Level: Confident
Supply Level: Normal
Body Armour: None
The initial insurgent groups consist of 1 leader, 2 with AK47 and 1 with RPG
Special Rules
Initially the the hotspots are inactive and the Rangers are off the table. Once the Launcher and 2 weapons caches are secure the extraction helicopters will arrive. At this point any remaining insurgents from the initial groups are removed from the table and the Delta troops can rearrange themseleves around the 3 objectives as they choose.
After this is done the HAWK battery is revealed (this consists of 3 peices of equipment, each with a crew of 4) in the the ruins on the hill. The crashed helicopter is placed on the slope of the hill as are 2 bunkers with HMGs. The hotspots are now active and a force consisting of 1 leader, 4 AK47 amd 1 RPG is placed on each of them with an additional force of the same size being placed in the ruins. The troop quality of Delta force is reduced for D12 to D10.
At the end of each turn the Ranger player makes a TQ check and if successful 3 HMMMVs will enter at the beginning of the following turn
The insurgency level is 4 and the following table can be used
Die Roll Insurgent Unit
2 1d6 small arms, 1x light support weapon
3 1x medium support weapon
4 1d6 small arms, roll again
5 1x medium support weapon
6 1d6+2 small arms
7 1x leader, 1d6 small arms, 1x light support weapon
8 1d6+2 small arms
9 1d6 small arms, roll again
10 1x light support weapon
11 1x leader, 1d6 small arms, 1x medium support weapon
12 2d6 small arms
Roll 1D6 for units without a leader and on a 1 replace 1 figure with a leader
Victory
The US player wins if they eliminate the HAWK battery and keep the initial objectives secure. They can be more victorious if they rescue the helicopter crew and less if the suffer too many casualties. They really lose quite badly if al Shabab keeps control of the nuclear weapon.
Hopefully that is clear enough, I usually just jot down some rough notes as reminders for myself. Let me know if there are any questions or places where it can be clearer.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Elements of Destruction -- Cangames 2015
On Sunday at Cangames this year I ran a Force on Force game (as has become customary).
This years game was an American special forces raid on a terrorist camp containing weapons of mass destruction. I am going to split my discussion of this game into 2 parts: This first part will be some pictures and an after action report and the next post will be about the sceanrio itself (since someone had asked). There already some AARs on Mike's blog and on Stan's blog
At this point, I was to distracted by running the game to take any more pictures (so I recommend you check out the blogs I mentioned at the beginning) but after a hard fight the US forces managed to take out the SAM battery and the Elements of Destruction were back in the hands of their rightful owners.
Monday, May 18, 2015
Cangames Recap and the Big Brush
Cangames was this past weekend and I am posting my summary of how it went for me this year (as well as some pictures of Eds "Big Brush" 15mm tank technique). I will post more detailed AARs of all my games (as well as the most recent club game) in the next week or so.
This was the first year in quite a while that I managed to make it for the Friday. I played in Mike's Rus game and it was quite a lot of fun. The modified Lord of The Rings system makes for a good skirmish game without being to complicated. There wasn't too much else going on on Friday afternoon.
On Saturday I ran my Hail Caesar "Stop the Romans" game and it went very well. The game came down to wire with the Romans finally emerging victorious. In the afternoon I played in Ed's Louisburg game and it also was a lot of fun and came down to the wire (and was very good looking).
Sunday I ran Force on Force "Elements of Destruction". That was its usual blend of chaos and mayhem.
Overall I had a good time and it was nice to play some games, I think for the last 2 I have only run games and not played in them. The selection of games was good (but seemed to be really concentrated on Saturday) and they all looked good. There didn't seem to be much Fantasy and Sci-Fi this year.
The dealers area was not really all that exciting for me. I was looking to satisfy my completist bent for Descent but no one had anything for that and my painting queue is full up so I wasn't really looking to get any minis. The guys selling the laser cut stuff looked interesting (though I have forgotten their name!)
-----------------------------------
On Friday evening after the con, Ed demonstrated his "Big Brush" tank painting technique. This is basically taking a really big brush and painting and highlighting a base colour and then inking or washing. The results are very good for the effort involved.
It only took a few minutes to get these 14 tanks to this level. The German tanks were painted the yellow-tan and then inked with yellow and the Sherman Crabs were painted brown and then inked green.
I used this technique for my Fate of a Nation tanks and was pleased with the results but it is hard (for me at least) to get the colour correct.
With some detail work these will be ready for the table in no time.
---------
Update: Here are the brushes that were used for this:
This was the first year in quite a while that I managed to make it for the Friday. I played in Mike's Rus game and it was quite a lot of fun. The modified Lord of The Rings system makes for a good skirmish game without being to complicated. There wasn't too much else going on on Friday afternoon.
On Saturday I ran my Hail Caesar "Stop the Romans" game and it went very well. The game came down to wire with the Romans finally emerging victorious. In the afternoon I played in Ed's Louisburg game and it also was a lot of fun and came down to the wire (and was very good looking).
Sunday I ran Force on Force "Elements of Destruction". That was its usual blend of chaos and mayhem.
Overall I had a good time and it was nice to play some games, I think for the last 2 I have only run games and not played in them. The selection of games was good (but seemed to be really concentrated on Saturday) and they all looked good. There didn't seem to be much Fantasy and Sci-Fi this year.
The dealers area was not really all that exciting for me. I was looking to satisfy my completist bent for Descent but no one had anything for that and my painting queue is full up so I wasn't really looking to get any minis. The guys selling the laser cut stuff looked interesting (though I have forgotten their name!)
-----------------------------------
On Friday evening after the con, Ed demonstrated his "Big Brush" tank painting technique. This is basically taking a really big brush and painting and highlighting a base colour and then inking or washing. The results are very good for the effort involved.
I used this technique for my Fate of a Nation tanks and was pleased with the results but it is hard (for me at least) to get the colour correct.
---------
Update: Here are the brushes that were used for this:
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