FAD 5 Out !

The latest version of these free Sci-Fi rules 'Fast And Dirty' is out, with all sorts of extra bits added.  Well worth checking out, the author Ivan Sorensen has done a great job.  Link
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FAD Game - Almost Unstoppable Heavy Power Armour

I've just got home from my local club (HDWS) having had another game of FAD with my friend James. As we are still getting used to the rules we had a loose scenario of the local militia on a out-flung planet calling in the cavalry after being attacked by some off-worlders. The sides were as follows:

James (unwashed off-worlders)
1 x Walker,
2 x large Heavy Armoured squads,
1 x small squad in Power Armour
1 x HQ in Heavy Armour.

Myself (good guy cavalry coming to the rescue)
1 x Militia unit of 20 conscripts,
1 x Heavy Power unit with double barrelled weaponry,
1 x Improved Armour squad of 10 men,
1 x HQ of 4 men in Heavy armour.
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Both sides were pointed out at approx 500pts each.
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This was the first occasion we have used a Heavy Power Armour unit with twin weaponry in a game. Suffice to say, the unit was virtually unstoppable, and as well as being very difficult to kill laid down totally overwhelming firepower !
Here it is taking on James Walker...
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We need to think about how to use units such as these in a playable way in the future, by possibly either downgrading both their armour and firepower.
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15mm Sci-Fi Game - 'Battle For The Ruin' - AAR

My friend James and I battled it out at the Huntingdon club again on Thursday night using the basic FAD rules. We both took 500 points to start with, which gave a Platoon of Infantry and one Walker. To this we then each added another Walker and Heavy Grav Tank. We used this game to explore the vehicle rules and the effect of vehicles on Infantry. I had three small 8 man squads, James opted for two 12 man squads each with a squad weapon attached (gulp).
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We had the game objective as a small ruined building in the middle of the board, and both sides deployed 6" in. FAD ranges are huge, so to make the game somewhat different we decided that it was in the morning and a heavy fog was in the process of lifting. To start with visibility was down to 12" and every turn this would increase by 6".
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Initial Set-up
James went for an equal spread of vehicles along his start line, with more of his infantry deployed on his left, including a small Power Armour squad. I concentrated my armour opposite the objective.
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Turn 1
Both sides were out of visibility and everyone move forward unmolested. I occupied the church with an RPG Tank Hunter element, and moved all vehicles forward, along with remaining troops who went to cover. James moved all his troops forward, one of the big squads occupying a hill top.
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Turn 2
I got lucky with the initiative roll and moved my Gatling Walker forward at a cautious 6" walk.
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CONTACT !! Five heavy gatling guns made a mess of one of his squads, which although in cover was reduced from 12 to 3 men ! I moved my second Walker up to provide flank protection, but he got knocked out immediately by James's Walker. Seeing the carnage my Heavy Grav tank waded in and immobilised his second Walker with a well placed shot from his Railgun.
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Turn 3
With the fog lifting my RPG team opened fire on James's walker on the hill, near the objective, and with a lucky shot Immobilised that one as well. I dashed my Power Armour infantry squad forward and occupied the objective. My Gatling Walker feeling confident after last turns slaughter off-loaded on James Power armour squad. Their extra armour made a huge difference though, and only one man was killed. His Heavy Grav tank then powered in from the flank and immobilised my Gatling Walker :( which was also fired on from his immobilised Walker in the hill, to no effect. The driver of the Walker turn his chin Gatling onto my squad in the objective, but with them in heavy cover from the ruin, they only took one casualty.
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As this point we stopped the proceedings as we had run out of time.

This was a very good natured game with the actual result unimportant to both of us. It was great fun using the Walkers, and James enjoyed using his new one, and his recently finished Rebel Minis troops, which look great in the paint scheme he had done.

The rules as whole worked well again, although IMHO the armour element could do with a couple of slight 'tweaks'. We may introduce our own house rules to cater for them. I look forward to our next game :)
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FAD 4 Game AAR

At the Huntingdon & District Wargames Society last night I had a much looked forward 15mm Sci-Fi game using the Fast And Dirty (FAD) rules with two of my friends James and Francis. As we are still getting to grips with the rules, (my 3rd game, James's 2nd and Francis's first) we used just the basic set. The battle took place on a 8'x4' table across the width. The objective for night was to secure the damaged gunship in the middle of the board. We had pre-planned forces of 500 points apiece. I was 99.9% certain that James would be using one of a pair of Critical Mass Walkers that he has recently bought, so I (cunning so I thought) decided to counter this by buying a light scout AT grav vehicle and having a specific AT squad armed with RPGs. The walker being armed with two autocannons and chin mounted double Gatling gun would slaughter my (clean living god fearing) infantry if it wasn't taken out quickly. With the remaining points I bought a light APC and 3 squads of Heavy armoured infantry armed with a mixture of high-tech assault rifles and SAWs.
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The battle with the initiative going to James and he aggressively used his walker to tear my APC apart. Francis and I countered by moving our AT Grav forward, and with a good dice roll took it out of play ! (At this point the weakness in my strategy of buying an entire team with RPGs came to light, as now they had nothing to do !) Both sides maneuvered for position, exchanging some fire as various units came into sight.
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Whilst James feinted with a couple of squads he managed to rush another to the dropship, at the same time deploying a pair of HMGs on a hill and tearing up a squad of mine that was trying to make for the objective. Losing 5 out of 8 men in one turn, left them Pinned (unable to move, and unable to fire).
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Francis and I riposted by damaging several of his squads with small arms fire, and launching missiles at the HMGs teams took one out and routed the other.
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At this point in the evening we ran out of time, and had to stop, with James although not in the gunship, certainly right next to it.
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Overall an excellent little game, enjoyed by all. We're now planning out next one in a fortnight, where we'll use double the number of points probably.
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First Game Of FAD 4

Had my first game of FAD last night at the Huntingdon club. Although my opponent (Steve) and I had read the rules through it was our first opportunity to try them in anger. We just used the basic rules, each side have a reduced platoon of comprised of a HQ of 4 men and two squads of 8 with a light scout Grav vehicle providing fire support part way through. The objective for the night was to get the HQ squad to secure an abandoned light Grave tank, and exit the board with it.
I won't go into a blow by blow account of the battle, but suffice to say Steve secured the objective although lost most of his men in doing so.
Considering it was our first time with the rules, the game went remarkably smoothly. There are a lot of nice touches, and the squad combat certainly had the right feel about it, so yes I would happily use FAD again.
Here's a few photos from the game:
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On a separate note, if you've every wondered what it would be like to be on the receiving end of artillery fire, check this video link out.
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FAD 4 Released Today

The free rules written by Ivan Sorensen called 'Fast And Dirty' (FAD) have been refreshed. Version 4 is now available to download. F.A.D. is a skirmish rules set for science fiction and 20th century. I would recommend anyone interested in sci-fi gaming to check them out.