Achtung Kommando!

A few years ago I started putting together a small commando force for skirmish games, using a combination of the 28mm Foundry British Commando figures and the Westwind Commando range, of which I already had a small selection. This ended up on the shelf, as I decided that I really didn't like Bolt Action very much, as well as being diverted off on to other things...as usual. However, I had based up a commando platoon of two sections plus an HQ section and a couple of specialist teams, which is a pretty useful force for skirmish scenarios. 

Yesterday, I spotted a set of ten of the Foundry Commando figures on eBay, so grabbed them to add to my existing platoon. These will give me a third section, for which I already have a command figure and a Bren gun team, to bring the platoon up to full strength. I am now thinking of putting this project back on the 'to do' list for later in the year. This time, instead of Bolt Action, I'll be using the Fistful of Lead Core Rules and also the Nordic Weasel 'Where Sten Guns Dare' rules, as they are both much more fun and perfect for some commando raiding in Norway c1943.

Break, Break!

I've been thinking about the way I run games of Bag the Hun, after some feedback from a fellow gamer, with regard to the way formations move, manoeuvre and fire. I have encouraged players to think of the way they play the game in terms of being 'in formation' rather than as individual pilots, emphasizing the role of wingmen and teamwork. However, this has led to players keeping their formations too rigid and, in particular, sticking to finger four or schwarm formations in combat, even when performing hard and tricky manoeuvres. 

This hasn't bothered me much before, although I have always encouraged players to split formations into pairs once combat begins, but now it has started to bug me a bit. It's just not realistic once you consider what dogfighting was actually like, at least after the Battle of Britain when the vic was abandoned and the finger four became the default, flexible tactical formation as far as the RAF is concerned. So, I reckon I need a mechanism by which I can force players to think more in terms of pairs rather than larger tactical formations, once the two sides are actually manoeuvring in combat.

The answer I've come up with is the 'Break, Break!' card, which will be slipped into the deck by the umpire once the shooting actually starts or at a convenient point just before the combat kicks off. There will be two of these, one for the Axis and one for the Allied sides, so that there is some flexibility built into the timing. Once he card is dealt, from that point onwards in the game, the fighter aircraft of the relevant side must reformate as pairs, activating on the Section Move and Fire cards, on the Character cards, Ace cards and Bonus cards, according the restrictions set out in the rules.

I'm going to give it a try out and playtest at some point, once things are back to normal and the club is up and running. I think it is a good way to make players think in a more tactical way and also reflects the reality of combat to a greater degree. It may annoy some players, who like to keep tight formations, but I think it will be a better way to model actual dogfighting and improve the dynamics of the game. It won't apply to bomber formations or other larger aircraft in recognised formations, so it will be a fighter only tweak.

Shootout at Silver Canyon

The big finale Fistful of Lead game this afternoon was a variation of one of the scenarios in the rulebook, tweaked to fit the on-going storyline of the last couple of games. With their leader shipped off to jail, the banditos have escaped into the hills to seek refuge at an abandoned silver mine. The lawmen have tracked them to the old mine in Silver Canyon and are closing in for the final show down. We used the same gangs as the previous game, so that we could jump right into the action but I took on the umpiring, as my fourteen year old son wanted to join in as the bandito player.

The game was great fun but ended in the now predictable walkover win for the lawmen, despite a wobbly start and a few tricky moments. I had placed a shed on one of the hills containing a box of dynamite, which could be broken into by either side and used as an improvised grenade, but it ended up firmly locked and there were no exciting explosions. Instead, the banditos were shot down one after the other, for the loss of one of the deputies, which exactly mirrored the outcome of the previous game (so it's not just me!).

It was a really enjoyable game but we're going to take a break now to try out something different. I like the Fistful of Lead system a lot and have been wondering about using it for some Back of Beyond gaming, for which I have plenty of figures, or even for gangsters in the 1920's but using my Old West terrain. I have some unpainted Copplestone gangster and FBI figures for this which I could easily use as the basis of two gangs, together with the opportunity to convert a few diecast toy cars. It's all quite tempting but I really should stick to what I'm supposed to be doing!

Deadly Pairs

As I'm now unemployed for the first time in twenty nine years, I have plenty of spare time to play games, while I wait to see if my agency can have me furloughed. I've been playing most of these games with my daughter, who is enjoying the chance to thrash her dad, not just once but every single time!

She now wants to play more air wargames, so I'm going to introduce Bag the Hun to her, setting up the Deadly Pairs beginners scenario from the Xmas 2011 Special. I'll use my newly painted Spitfire Vb's and Fw-190A2's for the game, which will be a good way to try something a bit more complex.

Tally Ho!

4.10 to Yucca

It was another trip to the Old West this afternoon, for a follow on skirmish game of Fistful of Lead with my daughter. This was a prisoner escort scenario, with my bandito head honcho, Loco, captured by the sheriff's posse last time and now being taken in handcuffs to the railroad depot for shipment to the prison in Yucca. The banditos were out to rescue him before the sheriff and his deputies could get him onto the train. I had an extra figure, a hired gunslinger, to even up the two sides but otherwise we played with the same figures as last time. 

I won't go into the action packed, embarrassing details but the gunslinger lasted about two turns before being blown away by a shotgun, the rest of the banditos being picked off one by one until there were none left standing. I did manage to kill one deputy and the rest were badly wounded, but it was not enough to stop the prison train leaving on time. It was a really good game and my daughter really enjoyed it, so there will be another game tomorrow, perhaps involving a last ditch rescue attempt by the bandito. I quite like the idea of using my gold mine terrain in some way too?

A Bad Day in the Badlands

I played a Fistful of Lead:Reloaded game with my daughter this morning, in a futile attempt to up the stakes and actually beat her in a skirmish game, having failed both times when we played Target Locked On!. I rolled up two posses of four figures, using traits for both sides to make them up to a full fifteen points, set up the table and we were off. I hadn't played a game for ages but it was like putting on a pair of comfy old shoes, as it's such an intuitive system.

In this gunfight, she took a posse of four lantern jawed lawmen while I took my usual ragged bunch of four Mexican banditos, who were holed up in a hideout somewhere in the baddest bit of the Badlands. Loco, Chico, Tico and Rico were wanted men and the sheriff and his deputies had tracked them down to their flea bitten hideout to take them in, dead or alive.

The game went well for the banditos at first but started to unravel in Turn 2, when the lookout Chico was pinned down on the roof of the hideout, failed his rally roll and fled the scene, taking the only rifle with him. As the law moved closer to the walls of the hideout both sides began to blaze away, with another bandito and one of the deputies both mown down in a hail of bullets. Things were looking a bit messy for the Mexicans!

In Turn 4 a second bandito fell to a deputy's shot gun blast but not before the sheriff himself was blown away by Loco, the bandit's slightly unhinged head honcho. A close quarters fight then broke out, in which the shotgun armed deputy was seriously wounded but survived due to his trait, which gave him a four wound threshold instead of the usual three. In the final showdown, everyone ran out of ammo, so the wounded and now pinned Loco had no choice but to surrender to the last two deputies. 

This was a really good game and I'd forgotten how much fun the Fistful of Lead rules are to play, so we'll be having another game tomorrow. This will move the action back into town and I may even link it in with the first game to give it a narrative twist, perhaps using the '4.10 to Yucca' scenario as a theme? It reminded me that I really should paint some more figures to make another posse or just to have some townsfolk to terrify. 

What a great game...even if I did lose (again)

Operation Blackcock Kangaroos

I've been looking for a 1/72nd scale Ram Kangaroo model to use in my What A Tanker! Operation Blackcock project and think I've found one. This 3D printed model is from Paint and Glue Models, who make 1/56th scale wargaming stuff but also re-scale to other sizes:

https://www.paintandglue.co.uk/ram-kangaroo

I've sent off an email asking about prices and, if it's not too expensive I'll order three or four. The idea is to kit them out with AB infantry and have them as a feature in one or more scenarios, with the tanks having to get them across the table before the get knocked out.

US Screw and Paddle Squadron Blocking In

I have completed most of the blocking in on the screw and paddle warships for the North Atlantic Squadron, up to the white bits which I'll do tomorrow. The idea is to block in all of the masts, paddle boxes, boats and other parts, so that I can go over some of them with light shades of brown or buff as required, apart from the bits that will stay white, prior to the all over ink wash that I usually do. I'm hoping this will make the masts and spars pop a bit more than they would if I just painted over the black basecoat. If it works, I can go on to do something similar on the Napoleonic ships, assuming it looks good and is worth the effort?

Wings at War Winter War Aircraft Ratings

I've made a start on the Wings at War rules mash up for the Winter War, with a comparative analysis of the different aircraft in terms of Energy and Maximum Height. This was based on an evaluation of aircraft performance in terms of speed and ceiling, together with some consideration of other factors like wing loading and power to weight ratios. I used the aircraft ratings from Scramble for Britain as a bench mark, with some wiggle room to cater for the different parameters of the Winter War, specifically the lower altitudes at which the fighting took place. Here's the end result, although there are a few things I'm not quite sure about, so I'd appreciate some input. 

The Energy ratings for the SB-2, Blenheim and DB-3 bombers might be a surprise but these were all very fast and very light in comparison with contemporary fighters, so I've rated them accordingly. The I-152 has a loaded rating as it was mainly used for ground attack, but I'm not sure that a light bomb or rocket would really impact on it's performance that much, especially at low level? I've also given the R-5 and Po-2 a loaded rating but I doubt they were used much for ground attack, so I may have to re-think that one as well. I may well come back and jiggle the numbers around a bit, but I'm now moving on to pilot ratings, section numbers and the set up conditions.