Village Quar-rel - Clash of Rhyfles AAR

It's been a while, hasn't it? 

For a number of reasons, my hobbying dropped off the map earlier this year. No purchasing, no painting, no playing. 

I did finally get around to demoing a couple games of Clash of Rhyfles, which not only has done a bit to get my hobby malaise cleared up, but ticks a couple boxes in my 6x6 challenge.

To keep things simple, the Coftyrans and Crusaders had four basic rhyflers and a milwer (the in-universe equivalent of a corporal). This meant that all models were equipped with basic rifles, and players could use the Leader rule with the milwer. The objective was just fighting to the last quar.

The rules have largely stayed the same between the previous iteration in the Rhyfler’s Pocketbook and the current version. 

The streets of the village were quickly filled with bodies from both sides.

The first game saw the Coftyrans start with an early lead, but eventually the Crusders came back to win with a single model left. The higher Snapshot value of the Crusader's Bogen rifle helps when returning fire or making Snapshots, where the longer Harlech rifles of the Coftyrans have better range.

In our second we, the two side deployed different. Playing as the Crusaders, I realized I was boxed in with the placement of the buildings and bushes! 

It didn't help that I kept rolling terribly when attempting to treat my wounded Quar, which left two of them dead outright.

The Coftyrans cleaned up the remaining Crusaders, leaving them in control of the village. 

The demos created some local buzz, and I've assembled my Crusader and Coftyran specialists and tractors. And there's been some movement on the next starter set from Wargames Atlantic, which will feature Creevin, who have the best uniforms. 

Painting Update - WWII, Trench Crusade

Here's another update with what I've been painting.

I've been coaxed into joining a Trench Crusade campaign by a friend and some other local gamers. I wasn't really interested in the rules, but they seem to put on a fun enough game and I haven't played anything campaign-based in a while (maybe I can get them interested in some Blood Bowl?). I put together a Trench Pilgrim warband using the St. Methodius subfaction, as I liked the big mech-like Shrine Anchorites. 

The above features the warband's two Elite choices, a War Prophet and a Castigator. The two other unique models are a Shrine Anchorite and a Stigmatic Nun.

The rest of the warband consists of a few Trench Pilgrims and a couple Ecclesiastical Prisoners. 

I've also been working on the Germans for the Chain of Command campaign. Above is a standard infantry squad. It's smaller than the American squad by a couple of riflemen, but has an integral light-machine gun. 

Bits and Gits - Space Gits AAR

Recently I was delighted to hear that a local club was going to be running a Space Gits event, where you could show up, build a few gits, and play. As it's part of my 6x6 challenge and I had some gits painted, I showed up to get a few games in. 

Both games were simple affairs using the quickstart rules - three orcs each, either with blasters and headbutts or pistols and hand weapons. 

The goal was to collect as many bottle caps as possible either in 30 minutes or when everyone was knocked out. 

The biggest draw of the game is its dexterity-based gameplay. Players move and shoot in the direction that the dice roll, representing drunken orcs stumbling around and firing wildly. Even damage is represented by dice towers that have to move with the orc they're attached to, and if the tower falls over, the orc drops to the ground, drunk and inchoate!

It's definitely not a serious game, and you have to be in the right mindset for it. There's going to be a lot of eyeballing whether a die is aligned with an orc you're shooting at, or if you've got to fudged a little movement. 

Hilariously, we had to move over to a side table in the second game, which meant a reordering of the table and a tarp that made moving way harder! Apparently our orcs chugged a few more beers during a smoke break...

I'm hoping to play more games soon! Since games should only last 30 minutes on average (and will likely end sooner), you could easily run a campaign in a single day. 

Big Day - Fire in the Sky AAR

This past weekend was Cold Barrage. While I wasn't able to make it to Saturday, I had decided to volunteer as a gamemaster on Friday, running Fire in the Sky.

Amazingly, three people decided to sign up! We had enough time to run through three scenarios from the rulebook with some slight modifications. 

First, I ran the players through a quick history of Operation Argument (or Big Week), then a quick walk through the rules. After answering some questions, we hopped into the first scenario: Rolling Thunder.

The Allied player started with three squadrons of P-47s, defending three squadrons of B-17 bombers. The Germans have two ME-109 squadrons (one of which has one-shot rockets attached) and one FW-190 squadron. 

The Germans appear randomly (both in time and deployment space) behind the B-17s, with one squadron starting on the table. 

The initial German attack was successfully, with the rocket-equipped Me 109s knocking out two B-17 sections before being wiped out in return.

Unfortunately, Lady Luck seemed to be against the Germans in this scenario. While they managed to shoot down a couple of B-17 sections, the Germans were eventually either shot down or had to retreat. The Americans claimed a solid victory. 

The second scenario, Zerstorer Ace, gave the Americans three P-51 squadrons, while the Germans would be attacking with two Me 109 squadrons and one Me 410 squadron. The Me 410 squadron leader was also an Ace, which meant his could reroll failed Firepower rolls and Saves and could modify his Special Ability die roll by plus or minus 1.

This was another uphill battle for the Germans, as their activation cards saw them go in piecemeal against the Americans and were picked off. The slower Me 410s were the last to go in, but their anti-bomber guns and rockets weren't enough to shoot down the amount of B-17s needed to even the score. 

Which meant another American victory!

I decided to change things up for the final game and skipped to the Dora Dora scenario. The Americans had two squadrons each of P-47s and P-38s (my favorite twin boom plane!). The Germans originally had three squadrons of Me 109s, but I swapped squadron out for two squadrons of FW 190s. 

For this scenario, the Germans could deploy their squadrons as they pleased. 

During this scenario, the Germans had better luck with activation cards. They also spent a good amount of time circling around the American formation in a large group, rather than approaching by separate squadrons. 

It was during this third game that the Germans solidified a potentially devastating tactic: get in close, wait for the Americans to approach, then use a Reaction to slip towards the B-17s and then attack. This led to one squadron of B-17s being wiped out!

However, the American players still had Lady Luck rooting for them, and while this was the closest game of the three, the Americans still scored more victory points by the time the last German squadron was cleared from the skies.  

Overall, the players said they had fun and one (a board game designer working on his own strategic-level game focused on the 8th Air Force!) commented on how the game had enough period-specific distinction to feel correct. I was also complimented on my work with the miniatures, which was very kind.  

I feel like I have a handle on teaching the rules. I have two immediate improvements that I know I have to make: 

1. I need to make the German players more aware that they can use their Reaction to beeline towards the B-17s (they just can't attack them during the Reaction)
2. Squadron Leaders are NOT needed to perform combat actions such as Side Bounces, Rear Bounces, or Focused Attacks. This stemmed from me extending the condition that Squadron Leaders are needed to fight head-on for zero action points, or are needed in order to attempt Reactions, to other complicated aerial maneuvers. 

I also need to redo the unit labels, as I messed up some of the plane designations. A friend also suggested adding Axis and Allied symbols to the labels for better recognition on the table. I did this in marker before the game, but proper symbols would be an improvement. 

That said, I believe I have a good enough handle on the rules that I plan on running more games this year, and can hopefully make this a successful 6x6 goal. 

 

Painting Update - WWII

 I'm back with another painting update! 

I've continued apace with the 15mm WWII project for Chain of Command. Two more infantry platoons have been finished, in addition to the platoon commanders, a Sniper Team, additional BARs (which are an option for the American player to add to their infantry squads), and two bazooka teams. 

I also completed a medium machine gun team and a heavy machine gun team. 

These are a trio of engineering teams that represent options for the American players to help clear German defenses.

The Americans can also bring a light mortar team and a medium mortar. Technically only the heavy mortar's forward observer is on the table, but I put together a heavy mortar base as a reminder for players that it's available.

Four M4 Shermans are the last of the American models to work on. No fancy versions here, as the only enemy armor in the campaign are a pair of Marders on one table. Their main concern will be anti-tank guns, panzerschrecks, and panzerfausts.