First Game of Five Parsecs From Home

 

Finally got Five Parsecs onto the table.

Set Up

Randomly generated encounter as my teams first mission as per the book. I'm keeping an on-line record of the campaign over on my wiki at http://taunoyen.com/wiki/doku.php?id=five_parsecs_from_home.

My team of 6 (using Albedo figures, will buy some more generic spaces at Salute) were up against the 3 Warbots and the Hakshan Investigator I bought and described at http://newconverj.blogspot.com/2021/10/figures-for-five-parsecs-from-home.html.

All the team had to do was exit the far side, optionally picking up the loot box as they went.

Crew on the left, Warbots top right, Hakshan bottom right

How it Played

A good shot from Erma took the Shell Gun bot out as soon as it emerged from the wood. Toki got into a shooting match with the warbot leader and kept it stunned enough to eventually get close enough to kill it. Erma and Sciuris then took the 3rd Warbot out - some good 1s and 2s meaning that the Bots hardly got a shot in. 

First warbot down!

Frenchie picked up the loot box, a nice 5Cr. 

The Hakshan Investigator had been watching all this, but never really had a bead on anyone. She tried to pick the team off as they moved towards the wood but again the activation pattern meant there was never a clear shot. She moved round almost to the board edge and ultimately had to step out of cover to catch Erma just as she moved along the edge of the wood. Right on target and with a kill roll, but Erma's luck meant she just managed to dive for cover. The near-miss incensed the team and Paddy and Bloody just advanced forward letting loose with their shotguns, and the poor Hakshan had 5 stuns before they finally took her out. 

The Investigator takes a bead....

The crew manage to exit the far edge without further incident and the first battle is a nice success for no loss.

Rules Impressions

That all went pretty well. The combat rules are basic, D6  per shot with 3 DMs (range, cover, aim), so it moves along quickly. Results seemed more "realistic" than Stargrave (which has an opposed roll system which just doesn't seem/work right to me). The ability for some characters to activate before the enemy is a nice touch and some tactical thinking needed about dice assignment. The toughness stat and armour save seemed OK. Surprised that a stunned character could still fire with no penalty (except no aim), be tempted to house rule a -1 per stun. Having a +2 combat skill (like Erma) made a huge difference (3+ to hit not 5+).

An over-stunned Investigator as Paddy and Bloody take revenge

Broader Impressions

As a run-through all fine. It must be said that the campaign wrapper has a whole lot of dice rolling (about 15 for the post-battle!) and is calling out for an app! Combat-wise its deliberately light weight, which is fine, but I'll run the same scenario again with ACP164 to find out whether that actually takes much more time and whether it gives a better feel for the encounter.

Whilst I like the overall campaign idea of Five Parsecs I think that the fact that it is background-less, or at least the fact that I'm not invested in any background, does mean that the battles do just seem like they'll be a set of standalone encounters - even though the crew evolves between them.

I'm suspecting that the ideal system for me may be something like:

• Traveller's Third Imperium/Spinward Marches for background
• Five Parsecs for the campaign rules
• ACP164 for the combat

Would probably be a good thing to set up on Roll20/Virtual Tabletop for when I'm away from home too.

Once I've done the ACP game I'll probably do the next step on the campaign in "pure" Five Parsecs and then if I'm still of the same mind try my hybrid model out.

Raid on Pebble Park

For the second night running it was night-ops in Chanzori as Lupus Company tried to keep the ILR Assault force occupied whilst its fellow companies engaged in bigger battles on its flanks. For tonight the target chosen was a LARC (assault flyer) pad based in the old Pebble Park.

Lt Chapais took two sections along and no heavy weapons. The opposition were two sections of ILR Assault troops - better armed and armoured than his own. Chapais sent 2 Section rifle group right to provide a diversionary attack against the main entrance, with the gun group on a roof top ready to provide covering fire to whoever needed it. 1 Section would go left flanking and in through a back entrance, hopefully less well guarded.

ILR security patrol, heading for the corner where the EDF will emerge

Unfortunately two ILR guards randomly headed towards that same entrance and the EDF emerged straight into their line of sight. A brief firefight saw 2 dead rabbits, but the alarm had been raised and the main ILR force came streaming out. 2 Section managed to catch a few as they headed for the main gate, but then got bogged down in a sporadic firefight.

ILR stream out, three of their number downed by 2 Section

Chapais drove 1 Section forward, taking the Rifle Gp round to the left of the pad, whilst the Gun Gp went right. Unfortunately the access ramp was on the far side. 1 Section came under fire from emerging Assault Troopers, but Chapais and two troopers held them off whilst two other trooper bravely legged it for the ramp, and made it up to the LARC.

1 Section holds off the ILR whilst 2 critters make it up to the LARC

A nice shot of the 1 Section firefight - note two out-of-ammo markers!

Setting the charges!

A random throw then showed that the EDF needed 2 activations in undisturbed contact with the LARC in order to set the charges and then blow it. The demolition team got one activation, but needed one more. But the ILR Assault Troopers had managed to kill the two critters with Chapais, and Chapais, now wounded tried to hold them back but his gun jammed and he was soon down too. Two ILR rabbits dashed forward, up the ramp, and charged into the EDF critters setting the explosives. The first round went one all, but the second round saw both EDF critters pushed away from their explosives. One of them, nursing a wound, thought better of the fight and left off the platform and ran for cover. The second bravely fought on but succumbed in the third round.

Two ILR charge into the back of the EDF demolition team

Any chance of blowing the LARC was now gone. OC 2 Section took charge, and ordered a withdrawal. His team had been fighting off ILR coming round both sides of a container, having a lucky break when a grenade failed to explode, but had inflicted enough damage on the ILR that the ILR section was temporarily stunned. 2 Section, and the Gun Gp of 1 Section slipped back into the dark and off the board.

Demo team pushed back, and effectively game over

A great game, and a real nail-biter as to whether the EDF would blow the LARC. The EDF suffered from 2 Section Gun Gp having blocked LoS to the action the whole time and never firing a round, and even 1 Section Gun Gp was poorly utilised. Had the ramp been in any other configuration (randomly chosen) it could have been a very different game. EDF suffered 4 losses, ILR 5, but an ILR victory as the EDF failed to blow the LARC.

My Skirmish Rules Initial Playtest

Following on from last year's skirmish mega-test I finally got my own rules on the table - and promptly found they weren't as finished as I thought they were! Anyway its served to test out some of the basic mechanics as the plucky Brits try and clear a couple of block of insurgents. Key points so far:

• Figure activation is in an order decided before each turn - far more realistic than random. Initiative determines who moves first, then alternate, but there are some actions that will change card order.
• Each figure has typically 3AP to use, shooting can be concurrent with that (you can run and fire!)
• Spotting is similar to my larger scale Contact Wait Out rules, TN and TMs
• Direct fire ditto
• Have got separate rules for suppression and auto fire, but may combine
• Once hit location of damage is rolled first, as then protection (structures and personal) can be taken into account
• Stress markers cover a whole gamut of things like exhaustion, suppression, light wounds
• 3 light wounds and you're out, or one serious wound
• Scenario rules define reactions to friendly casualties for more realistic play

Some bit working well, others less so. Will finish this play through tonight (4 insurgents down for one Brit so far, body armour plus UGL the big plusses) and then try and get the rules finished before I play again.

Section Commander moves forward to the next block

Fire Team B provides cover from one roof top, dead/wounded insurgents L and R

Albedo ACP164 Beta Rules Test

Moving out...

I finally got the chance to play with the Beta of the full ACP164 ruleset. Time (and space) only allowed a small scenario (6mm FKaP Adwalton Moor is still on the main table), so I had 4 EDF patrolling through a starport district (wonderful SF ISO containers from Wargame Model Mods - more on them once painted up) about to be ambushed by two ILR critters.

The intent was to test the new bits of rules, and in particular:

• Spotting
• Fire when moving
• Sprint/dashing
• Numeric cover/save ratings (so can be combinatorial)
• UGLs

In the end I played the scenario through twice, once with the EDF clustered as two pairs, and once with each EDF pair starting from opposite ends of the base line.

In the first run through EDF kept failing to spot the ILR man on the container roof, and in the end the critter had to open up on a reaction roll before the EDF disappeared into her blindspot. EDF rapidly returned fire and took her out. Her colleague then took a morale check and decided it was "death and glory" time and charged out into the open firing at the nearest EDF, caused a wound but was brought down in a hail of bullets.

Second time round the she-rabbit was spotted immediately. Both EDF teams dashed forward (no real suppression option) and the boss caught a wound but shrugged it off and hunkered down in cover. The right hand team got close enough to use their UGL and after a first overshoot scored one hit. Then a second miss (this one almost taking out the 2nd rabbit), and the fourth on target and one dead rabbit. Her colleague took a morale test again, and this time thought better of it and retreated back off the table.

All in all the new rules worked well. I'd like to see a few more factors on spotting, and something around character pose/stance, but could probably fix that and a few other things with some house rules. The card system works so quickly and smoothly I think you'd then have the best skirmish set on the market - and I haven't even started with the zero-gee and blowing holes in walls rules yet!

The set up, 4 EDF walking into a 2 critter ILR ambush

The boss checks her iPad

EDF almost underneath the ILR and still haven't spotted them! 

Rain of fire to the top of the ISO and one rabbit down!

Bullish Morale draw and the remaining rabbit charges out, guns blazing!

ENDEX just as the rabbit falls

Albedo ACP164 Introductory Scenario - Part 2

Finished off the Albedo ACP164 introductory scenario. Stayed with the v1.1 beta ruleset even though I got the v3.7 draft full set mid-game. Read the initial set-up blog post for background.

The EDF guys were perhaps a bit over ambitious, but there orders were to patrol forward, not to wait to be attacked! Due to poor sight-lines both sides saw little til they were almost on top of one another. An EDF critter spotted the ILR gun crew dashing across from one building to another, rolled a successful interrupt, but got an out of ammo card. The ILR crew could now lay down enfilade fire with their LMG on the flank/rear of the most forward  EDF critter who soon went down. The first EDF critter has reloaded in time to see the ILR boss poke his snout out, but got another OOA! The ILR #2 on the LMG dashed forward, and managed to get to the EDF critter who was busy reloading, and a brief melee saw the second EDF critter down.

Two EDF critters down!

The EDF commander had amassed a handful of morale chits, and on their activation rolled for the lot but for no negative effect - in fact she was ordered to engage the nearest enemy - just as well as an ILR rabbit was now bearing down on her. Another OOA! ILR took their shot and the boss went down. Paddy, the remaining EDF critter, then remembered an urgent engagement with a bone and the game was over, for no ILR loss.

The EDF OC stunned and at severe risk!

The game played out pretty well, just a few observations:

• Out of ammunition does seem to frequent - had my suspicions the first time round
• The morale results seem unduly neutral or even positive, the EDF leader had lost half her team but still go no real penalty

The deadly ILR LMG

Time for some other gaming now, and then back to ACP164 to try the beta rules out in a while.

The EDF OC ought to have other things on her mind than checking SnoutBook!

Albedo ACP164 Introductory Scenario

With my EDF and ILR squads painted and the TerraBlock terrain done its time to try and get the Introductory Scenario played through before the dining table has to be cleared for Christmas.  ILR fighting patrol (6 pax)  coming in from top left, EDF defenders (4 pax) from bottom right. The three coloured decks are Activation (blue), ILR (yellow), EDF (red).

EDF critter moves past a back door, no rabbits in sight yet.

Half way through the first turn and both sides are on the board creeping round the sides of their nearest building. Being me I've converted the rules to 1" square grid play, and using the nice 2ft x 2ft battle map I got at Games Expo.

ILR ready to round the corner, fireteam OC and the LMG critter.

ILR round the other side of the building - dice are activation numbers.

Skirmish Rules Testing: Summary

Having got the end of of my mammoth skirmish rules test I thought it would be useful to do a summary and index piece so that people can get a quick heads up on my view of them all (and this is of course all just my view based on what I want from a game, your mileage my vary).  I've also pulled together what a Frankenstein set might be like - pulling together the best bits from each - and finally on my thoughts on my own set. I've also added Skirmish Sangin and 7TV into the mix, which whilst not in this mega-test I have also played in the recent past.

Reviews Summary

Danger Close 9/10

• Pros: Really good set, all on one sheet A4. Covers most the bases.
• Cons: Activation not ideal

Snapshot 1/10

• Cons: Too lethal, no cover or spot

Azhanti High Lightning 5/10 -> 7/10

• Pros: Surprisingly good for age. Good morale.
• Cons: Dreadful activation. No spotting.

Chain Reaction/Nuts/FNG 6/10

• Pros: Good NPC AI once spotted. Nice campiagn/pre-game/scenarios.
• Cons: Unclear. Odd inverse activation.

Black Ops 6/10

• Pros: Nice guard AI.
• Cons: Noise disappointing. Surprisingly pedestrian for a "big name" release (or because of?)

FiveCore 5.5/10

• Pros: Nice patrol mode and campaign rules. Use of Kill and Suppress dice nice.
• Cons: Rules all over the place. Keep changing dice. Hard to kill. V few DMs.

Albedo ACP164  8/10

• Pros: Well balanced, card system very neat, usable and quick. Nice morale and movt.
• Cons: No spotting (in advanced). No suppression/aimed shots yet. Too many out-of-ammo.

Paragon 4/10

• Pros: Body part effect.
• Cons: Very basic DMs, simultaneous movement. Minimal morale. Hard to hit. No suppression/spot.

FUBAR 6/10

• Pros: Short
• Cons: Ranges too short. No UGL difference. Hard to activate or kill. Few DMs. Poor suppression.

Gruntz 5/10

• Pros: Unit cards nice
• Cons: Very short ranges, very few DMs, lots of stats. Change both ends of die roll. Rapid kills.

Victory Decision: Raid 6/10

• Pros: Nice actions options.
• Cons: Ranges only just OK. Very bloody. Odd wound recovery and not cumulative. No suppression. No morale. Opposed per figure activation.

Fireteam: Modern 7/10

• Pros: Nice activation and action model. Has spotting and reasonable stress. Some suppression.
• Cons: Few DMs. Very bloody. Poor indirect fire.

Skirmish Sangin 7/10

• Pros: Poses and pose chits. Unconscious & mission change mechanic. OK basic mechanics.
• Cons: Very complex per action activation. No suppression. Poorly laid out.

7TV 3/10

• Cons: Star/cast model/countdown doesn't work so well in simulations. IGOUGO. Defend then attack roles. Blurred ranged/melee system. No spot/suppress/IDF. Not really designed for this.

So if forced to choose I'd probably be happy to play both Danger Close and ACP164 as is, with a marginal preference for Danger Close detail wise, but I'd miss the ACP card  approach!

Frankenstein Rules

So given what I think needs to be in a set of skirmish rules which would I choose for each bit?

• Activation: Fireteam:Modern with user choice but random Red/Blue and opportunity to trump
• Actions: Fireteam:Modern or Victory Decision: Raid
• Movement: ACP164 randomness. Skirmish Sangin poses.
• Spotting: Danger Close, good above/below
• Aimed Fire: Danger Close or ACP164
• Suppressive Fire: None really did it right!
• Indirect Fire: Danger Close or ACP164
• Morale: AHL or ACP164
• Wounding: ACP164 or Paragon
• NPC AI: Bits of FiveCore/Chain Reaction/Black Ops
• Scenario/Campaign Builder:  FiveCore/Chain Reaction

Thoughts for My Rules

And what I'm probably looking for in my rules:

• Core Mechanic:  Probably D20, so effectively 5% changes. But do like the card model (suppose could generate afterwards). Also toying with FATE dice.
• Activation: Need to be able to choose who to activate, so can do proper fire & manoeuvre, but with some friction, Fireteam:Modern really is pretty close.
• Actions: A good range, at least 6, maybe even 12 so you feel like you have choices to make, perhaps with different ones for interior and exterior (maybe even 1s and 5s "bounds" as the two engagement types have different feels to them).
• Movement: Some element of randomness, even if just +/- 1 or 2 units. Also differentiate between "patrol" (actually a quite slow walk), "jog" (fast, but not out of breath) and "run" (very fast and out of breath)
• Spotting: Full DM set, including cover and up/down storey, and movement and size
• Aimed Fire: Long ranges, but rapid fall off of DMs. Can spend actions to aim better. Out of ammo (not quite as frequent as ACP164) and also gun jam. Might do to hit target area, then body part locations THEN base save role on both cover for that location and any armour. Extra detail would be worth it I think.
• Suppressive Fire: Add up weight of fire, spread across target frontage, reduced change to kill but higher chance of suppression. Little you can do if suppressed except keep head down or fall back, or very unaimed fire. WRG mech rules had it pretty good.
• Indirect Fire: Roll for on target/offset/direction - must always go "bang" somewhere! Less side ways deviation if line-of-sight (eg UGL)
• Morale: Some form of stress for person, and then unit morale based on casualties. Mission change for "western" forces. Maybe even some sort of "TV" rating as I think was planned for Fighting Season. Would like to include the Flight/Fuss/Fight model from Brains and Bullets book.
• Wounding: Body location and minor/serious/dead.
• NPC AI: Guard, fighting patrol, ambush and encounter modes? Keep to cover.
• Scenario/Campaign Builder: Steal ideas from FiveCore/Chain Reaction, but not a key focus!

Oh well, time to start play-testing!

Skirmish Rules Testing: Part 12 - Fireteam:Modern

Cpl Hore taking fire as he approaches his favourite corner

Presentation

74 page PDF from Wargames Vault. $9.99. Well designed and laid out with good QRS pages, Good balance between imagery, diagrams, rules, explanation and "fluff". 3rd Edition used.

The insurgents inflicting more suppression on Hore in the distance

Set-Up

Standard with standard 10 encounter positions for the 5 teams, randomly rolled as they come into sight.

LCpl Wall goes right-flank, but the target is down already

How It Played

Or Hore's Revenge! Hore made it to the T junction corner. The insurgent commander, Nufail, and RPG man Mahamadou were on the house to the left but only pepered the wall and caused Hore to flinch. Hore spotted them, and he and Jones took them both out in the first volley. More insurgents popped up from the building across the street and again were quickly taken out. Wall brought his fireteam up. Another insurgent pair put a couple of suppression points on Hore, but he quickly shook them off. Wade and Kronfield headed off down the main street but were engaged by another insurgent team, Kronfield getting a serious wound. Hore moved up and with Wade put enough fire into the shooters to kill them. A final insurgent team opened up from the scrub land, Wall started making a right flank attack, but Hore and co despatched them before they got close. The remaining insurgent team legged it.

ENDEX overview - and Hore's trail of carnage!

Rules Impression

The activation system worked really well, just red or black cards to randomise whose team activates next - but you choose which team, and have a "hand" of spare cards so you can trump (as well as normal overwatch). Then random roll to see how many activation points, and a reasonable selection of actions (only one firing per turn though). Nice rules on radio and comms use for cohesion. Fixed movement per AP. 

Firing was very bloody, especially for the Brits as a) they got more AP (on 4+ not 5/6+), b) hit on 4+ (not 5+ or 6+), and with body armour took less damage. Only the key DMs. Spotting OK (but few DMs), but no deviation/miss rules for indirect fire. Suppression didnt really work as suppression (as with 4 activations you could remove 2 shock and still do aimed fire - so effectively no penalty if stationary). Everything was pretty simple though and no odd maths.

Overall

One of the better sets, but just a few too DMs and some significant gaps (IDF) and poor suppression/stress for me. Ace activation though. Overall 7/10 - 7.5/10 at a push.

Next Steps

So that's it, 12 sets of modern/SF skirmish rules played and evaluated. taken me a lot longer than I thought - my other armies think I've left home! Next steps in this little strand though are to a) write a summary piece and thoughts on my own rules (hopefully next week) and b) start play-testing my rules, and then finally c) share an AAR of the same scenario some time in Jan/Feb. Will also squeeze in a few more Albedo games - especially using the corridor terrain. Oh and I also signed up to the new Ultracombat modern skirmish rules from the Radio DishDash/Skirmish Sangin team, so will hopefully have those to test soon too!

Skirmish Rules Testing: Part 11 - Victory Decision: Raid!

Presentation

"Glossy" PDF, lots of pages but about half are builders and army lists. $16.99 at https://www.wargamevault.com/product/200433/Victory-Decision-Raid. No QRS but a lot more concise than Gruntz and there are really only 8 pages that cover everything you need for an infantry battle - so printed them out as an A5 booklet.

Set-Up

Standard, rules are in inches, so used 1 hex = 2 inches. Just a short game planned as I'm getting the hang of what I'm looking for. My own encounter rules as on other scenarios. The rules are for WW2 not modern, so chose suitable late-war German gear.

How It Played

Cpl Hore had finally learnt his lesson so put Jones on point. As they reached the corner they failed to spot two insurgents on the roof across the street. Jones bought it instantly. Another pair of gunmen opened up from the roof above Hore firing at Wade and Kronfield across the street, stunning Wade. Then the air was rent with bullets as both fire teams opened up on the roof tops and all 4 insurgents went down. Pushing on down the street Wall and Wilson were half-way down when they were ambushed by Olasyar and his PKM. Wilson took a wound but Wall single handly killed both gunmen. As the remaining gunmen opened up from the main compound Wall pushed McDowell and Gallagher right flank into the bushes to get an angle on the gate. Wade (now recovered) and Kronfield legged it across the gap to the compound wall but this time Kronfield got hit and was out. Hore also dashed across to join Wade. Meanwhile at the gate Mahamadou opened up with his RPG7 on McDowell and Gallagher in the shrubs but stunningly failed to hurt either of them. Just then Hore lobbed a grenade over the wall which took out both the insurgent leader and  Mahamadou. Two guys left to go, and with McDowell and Gallagher firing from the shrubbery and Wall from down the street they were soon gone. Mission accomplished, all insurgents killed, TV crew OK, but one Brit killed and one wounded.

ENDEX

Rules Impressions

Ranges were better than Gruntz, but still on the short side. Few DMs but very bloody. This is mainly because each man get 3 actions - so can shoot 3 times! Initially I played it wrong, giving just one fire, but treating 2D6 as two separate D6, each going after the 4+/6+ to hit - but the effect was probably the same. So rolling 2D6 three times, with just 4+/6+ to hit it wasn't strange to get each buddy pair scoring 6 hits on their activation - then a 4+ saving in hard cover still gives 3 hits, and then a 5+ to kill averages one kill per activation!

There is an odd opposed activation role which could be a pain, so I activated in pairs not individually. There is spotting (but oddly on the Leadership factor), but no suppression, and no DM for height. No morale. You can through recover from wound, 1 turn to go from wounded to stunned, another to fit, and again rolling against Leadership (!?). The actions options were very good, with movement (no running), firing, spotting, recover but also things like "going to ground".

Overall

Better than Gruntz I think, and the action choice one of the best, but very bloody and a probably time consuming activation model. Overall 6/10.

Skirmish Rules Testing: Part 10 - Gruntz

Presentation

High production values "glossy" PDF from Wargames Vault $14 - https://www.wargamevault.com/product/92879/Gruntz-15mm-SCIFI

A bit wordy with stuff buried in and spread over multiple pages, but there is a QRS (although doesn't bother to tell you movement distances for troops on foot!)

Set-Up

Standard, rules are in inches, so used 1 hex = 2 inches. Just a short game planned as I'm getting the hang of what I'm looking for. My own encounter rules as on other scenarios.

Hore goes down at that fateful corner yet again!

How It Played

Cpl Hore got to the corner of the street and spotted two insurgents on the roof ahead. He and Jones put down some SA80 fire but the insurgents were too well protected. When the insurgents returned fire Hore was instantly Waxed. Wade and Kronfield moved up and into the house at the top of the street to get a better angle. Wall and co started legging it right to get to the compound and house on the corner but insurgent commander Nufail let rip with his AK47 followed by the "boom" of Mahamadou's RPG7. Both Wilson and McDowell were waxed and Wall and Gallagher got a "condition brown" and pulled back. Wade and Kronfield returned fire from the roof top on the initial insurgents and Waxed them both - mainly through the Minimi's full-auto mode.

With 3 Brits down by the end of effectively Turn 2 I called ENDEX!

Wall and Gallagher are forced back as Wilson and McDowell go down.

Rules Impressions

When Hore and Jones missed first time I thought it was going to be a slow game, but it just proved to be that -3 DM against hard cover. The insurgents had no difficulty hitting the Brits in the open and the body armour had what seemed like a minimal effect - no one was saved by it.

Like several of the "gamier" rules weapon ranges were very short (8" effective, 16" max) for a skirmish game, and there were very few DMs (hard/soft cover, firer static). However the mechanics were a bit complicated as you were changing both the firers fire stat and the defender guard stat, and then rolling for the difference! Body Armour only changed the damage roll from 5+ to 8+.  Area damage was primary target at full, and then others at -3 rather than a true blast radius. No direction suppression option and no spotting rules.

The card based activation was good though, you drew a card per unit, assigned them (hidden) as you wanted, and then both sides declared.

Overall

Too "gamey" for me,  which was a pity as I'd like the look of it. Overall 5/10.

Skirmish Rules Testing: Part 9 - FUBAR

What?! We got to the corner without being hit? No way!

Presentation

Single sheet set of rules on PDF (https://fubarwargames.wordpress.com/downloads/). Also version for Traveller, a ship-boarding version (very GW) and a morale 2pp supplement. 

Set-Up

Standard, rules are in inches and cm, so used 1 hex = 2 inches. Just a short game planned as I'm getting the hang of what I'm looking for. My own encounter rules as on other scenarios.

Hore, Jones and  McDowell go right flanking...

How It Played

Cpl Hore was suitably stunned when he got the street corner without being shot at. In fact all of the first 4 encounter points rolled empty. With Hore's team covering from either side of the T junction LCpl Wall and Pte Wilson ducked and weaved across the road to get to the far gateway. Mid run they were engaged by insurgents on the next two rooftops. Caught in the interlocking fire Wall got suppressed, but next go he and Wilson made it into the gateway and cover form at least one shooter. But they were still in sight of the better team and Wall got hit twice and was out. For what seemed like an age Hore and Co brought down fire on both rooftops, but the insurgents had decent cover. They'd get suppressed but would soon be up shooting again. With units on 3 corners of the T junction co-ordination was also an issue. Finally Hore got Gallagher (with Minimi) and Wilson up onto the rooftop so bring better fire onto insurgents whilst he led Jones and McDowell on a right flanking move in order to get the UGL in range. Finally the Brits' luck turned and an insurgent on each rooftop was killed, and the other suppressed. It was Turn 15!

ENDEX situation

Rules Impressions

In turn terms probably one of the longest games. Units kept failed to activate (needing 4+ or 5+), so much so I upgraded the Brits to Veterans (3+). Lots of misses on firing, and when they did hit it was taken as a suppression and so recovered next term - there wasn't the weight of hits to turn into damage (2nd on a figure or 3rd on the team). Body armour did its job though, mostly. The insurgents also had cracking die rolling for most of the game, the Brits less so. Ranges were very short (hence the move of the UGL), and the UGL had no indirect fire/explosive mechanic, it was just another 3D6 damage maker.  No spot rules or proper suppression rules (just a by product of hitting), or smoke. Very few DMs.

Overall

I know a lot of people like FUBAR but it was just too simple/simplistic for me. If you want a one pager that feels more realistic Danger Close is way better. Overall 6/10.

Time to gear up for Gruntz!

Skirmish Rules Testing: Part 8 - Paragon

Presentation

Real old skool - it was our go-to set WW2 skirmish rules in the 70s. 16pp A5 with card cover and very rusty staples!

Set-Up

Standard, rules are in cm, so used 1 hex = 5cm as made the maths easier. Just a short game as I knew they weren't really a contender.

Wounds mount up but he won't die!

How It Played

Cpl Hore got to his favourite corner and insurgents opened up from the roof of one of the buildings, and in what would prove to be quite a lucky shot gave him a serious leg wound. He scurried back into cover whilst his fire team, supported by LCpl Wall and his Minimi man. It takes three turns and first magasines running out and four UGL rounds to just take out one of the two gun men (and then only 2 x serious, not dead), with the other escaping unscathed. Wall has sent his grenadier and #2 round the RHS of the building in front to try and get to a higher vantage point, but they get shot at by the PKM team which completely misses them!

Gunman on the roof rains fire, but no hits, on the flanking team!

Rules Impressions

First off, this is meant to be a "write your orders for each man and then move simultaneously" (well it was the 70s). I ditched that for side turns by random initiative. There are very few DMs in use, and as you can see getting hits is hard, kill harder (need 11+ on 2D6 AFTER you have you hit - usually 6 on 1D6). Morale is primarily per man - a roll for almost every action, on movement you go slower (or perhaps faster), on firing you get a -1 or -2 DM, or possibly a +1. Very few DMs on the morale role itself. 

On the plus side, the hit location mechanic was simple and not only gives nice extra flavour but can be important (eg Hore being hit on unprotected legs, not on his body armour). Also it does have ammo tracking, but on a magasine=3 bursts/rounds of shooting, rather than per bullet. Both of which I want in my rules.

Overall

In some ways not as bad as I expected, once you rip out the written rules! Overall only 4/10 as written though.

Skirmish Rules Testing: Part 7 - Albedo ACP164

Presentation

ACP164 is Buck Surdu's SF version of his WW2 Combat Patrol card-driven rules for the new Albedo wargame on Kickstarter. A quick-start version of the rules are currently available to backers as a PDF with a PDF card set. Didn't take long to print the cards out and stick onto card stock. The rules are pretty well laid out, and as it is the cards have most of what you need to know. I made rough equivalences between the ACP164 weapons and SA80/AK47 etc.

Set-Up

My standard set-up was used, with 10 encounter points to be randomly diced for pairs of insurgents as they cam into sight. As with almost all my games I converted the rules to Hex, one (4cm) hex = 1inch in the rules. Figures were my standard 15mm, not ACP164 28mm (not yet painted!)

How It Played

Cpl Hore and the team (EDF) got a fair way onto the main drag before coming under fire from insurgents (ILR) on the roofs of the two central buildings. Wade and Jones were caught in the drainage ditch, Hore and Kronfield raced to a building roof to give covering fire, whilst Wall's team provided the fire base. A few lobbed AGL rounds missed their mark, there was a lot of running out of ammo on both sides as rounds flew, and even as the ILR took casualties their morale held up. But in the end the body armour meant that most ILR hits were ineffective, but the EDF hits were deadly. 

A UGL round bursts harmlessly in the street, but one ILR already down

With the first obstacle cleared Hore pushed on, but he and Kronfield were on point then another ILR pair opened up from behind one of the houses on the south side. Luckily the RPG failed its reaction role, as did Nufail the ILR commander. Hore and Kronfield returned fire, taking out Nufail. Wall and co did a rapid right flank, came up behind Mahamadou and his RPG acting as a club was no help against their SA80s and cold steel.

Mahamadou taken in the flank

No sooner had the EDF regrouped when an ILR pair on the compound roof opened up, wounding Wade. Wall managed to take Olasyar and his PKM out, but Hore was beginning to feel the pressure and his team got an adverse morale check, with Wade and Jones becoming stunned whilst Hore and Kronfield decided that the only way to save their exposed comrades was to charge the enemy team by the compound gates!

Hore and Kronfield charge the compound!

Luckily Wall saw the problem and in a fast move managed to get his guys to the gate just before Hore, but incoming fire from Jandol wounded Wilson. 

Wall & co pile in!

McDowell and Gallagher went into the melee, but the ILR ML199 had a massive edge against the EDF L1-56 in melee, and both were forced back. Wall took a morale test and whilst McDowell and Gallagher stayed firm back at the ditch Wilson had had enough and fell back to the sheep pen. Meanwhile Wade and Jones had managed to pin Ali on the compound roof, but by the gate Jandol and Karwan now had Hore, Kronfield and Wall all right in front of them. Luckily BOTH of them rolled out of ammo. 

Returning fire the EDF took out Jandol. Karwal took a reaction test and got a CHARGE, and so Butch Cassidy style charged out of the gates into the withering fire of the three EDF soldiers and it was game over. The ILR had lost 9 , EDF had only 2 wounded. The game lasted about 8 turns.

Karwal's final charge!

Rules Impressions

As previously mentioned I had Buck's WW2 rules on my to-play list, so it was nice to be able to try them out in their Albedo/SF version - and I must say I really liked them. The use of the multi-purpose cards worked really well and meant that there was hardly any table look-up.

Sample prototype ACP164 cards. Almost everything is on them, some elements are dual purpose, and you may need 2 cards to resolve some issues - e.g. one to hit and one for damage, creating more randomness. They work well.

The double random activation worked well, with fire-teams not individuals activating. The random movement was also good.  I did seem to get a lot of out-of-ammo cards at the start, but that eased. ILR morale also almost always held up - so they had to be killed one by one (which probably reflects the "Japanese" morale they've been given to start with). Cover also looked like it was going to be problematic, with lots of cover saves, but again they eased off. EDF body armour kept their casualties low, but they certainly suffered worse morale wise.

There are probably fewer DMs then I'd ideally like (to/from different heights, aiming) , and in the current version no spotting rules or suppression (but pin has a similar, even bigger, effect). 

Overall

Overall I'd have to give them 8/10 - but I might need to edge the Danger Close rules up to 8.5 as with the sets as they are I'd marginally prefer the added detail in DC - but ACP164 gives a faster game and would certainly be better for "playability" - and once the final rules are out they may also be at 8.5 or even 9. They've certainly also given me some new ideas for my own set.

All in all a great game, with probably the best balance of hits and morale effects so far.