A Bad Day for Dates - Gangs of Rome AAR

Recently, I travelled back up to Pennsylvania for a game day with my old group. Gary, Carl and I met up at 7th Dimension Games for a multiplayer game of Gangs of Rome. 

Carl's a huge fan of the period and the rules, so he's been busily working away at creating terrain to play on, as well as amassing and painting mobs and fighters for multiple people to use.

We were playing the "Careless Is As Careless Dies" scenario. My Dominus, Senator Lucius Salvius Rufus, was out in the city on his way to the market, accompanied by the (in)famous Tisiphone and her gang of Palatine wolves. 

Lucius wasn't without his enemies, however, and it was on this day that they decided to strike against him. Gary and Carl would have two smaller gangs that needed to remove Lucius from Rome for some time.

However, the opposing fighters weren't exactly allied. While both wanted Lucius gone, whoever struck the final blow would be declared the ultimate victor.

Carl's fighters were less able than Gary's, but that allowed him to take some equipment, while Gary had none.

The game began with Tisiphone summoning a Gladiator Ally, who was used to escort Lucius across the city. While slower than any other fighter in the gang, it freed up Tisiphone and the other gang members to fight off the approaching enemies.

Three of my fighters skirmished with Gary's gang at range, while Tisiphone led Lucius away from the fighting.

Carl's fighters sprinted from their starting positions to head off the fleeing group.

Bloodied by spears, arrows, and a panicking mob of civilians, Gary's fighters continued to rush to try and reach the Senator.

For a brief moment, it seemed like victory was mine, to be savored like an urn of Falernum wine. My fighters were holding off both Gary's and Carl's gangs, and I just needed one more activation to walk Lucius and his gladiator escort off the table.

And then everything fell apart. Tisiphone was retired from the table, cut down by one of Carl's fighters. Seeing his employer - and source of income - was no longer around, the gladiator quickly made himself scarce, leaving Lucius alone and unguarded.

One by one, my fighters were picked off, previously suffered wounds coming back to haunt them and Orcus cursed their defense rolls. Eventually, I was left with only two fighters.

What little strength I could muster wasn't enough, however, and Lucius fell from multiple bludgeon and stab wounds. While Gary's gang had been critical in diverting half my numbers - and the MVP of the match was the zombie who wouldn't die, as Gary kept rolling the 5+ save to keep him at 1 Flesh - Carl's fighters were the ones to strike the final blow, and so he was the winner of the scenario.

Carl's work on the terrain really brought this game to life, and it was a lot of fun. Gangs of Rome continues to be a fantastic ruleset that's not too rules heavy, but has a lot of interesting aspects. We still like the variety and flavor of the randomly generated fighters, and it sort of creates a feeling of ownership comparing your gang fighters to those of other players.

I'm looking forward to seeing more from Warbanner, like named Gangs, new equipment, and campaign rules.

Block Warfare - Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan AAR

With the unfortunate closing of Half Day Studio's store, my chance to play miniature wargames has been drastically reduced. The store provided an excellent location for hobbyists to gather and play both spontaneously and planend games. 

Luckily, the local library has a room that the public can rent for free, which lets some of us still get together and game during the week. 

Sam and I have been focusing more on hex-and-counter and board wargames, which are easier to transport than miniature wargames - everything fits in a conveniently sized box, rather than having to transport foam trays of miniatures, boxes of terrain, rulebooks, tokens, etc. 

This past week's game was GMT's Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan, in which two players take the roles of leaders of the Western and Eastern armies, lead by Ishida Mitsunari and Tokugawa Ieyasu respectively. 

While our forces are hidden from each other (players can see the relative strength of an army in how many blocks are at a location, but not the specific makeup), the game begins with certain armies in specific locations. This, however, is complicated by random draws from the player's reinforcement bags.

The goals are rather simple - if either of the armies' leaders is killed in combat, or if the regent in Kyoto is captured, then the game ends. Otherwise, players count up victory points for how many castles and resource points (large cities and capitals) they control at the end of seven weeks.

As Sam and I played, we began to notice and understand some of the game mechanics.

For example, our hands of cards consistently grew larger with each turn. Since units enter combat by playing cards of matching symbols, this meant battles started as small skirmishes, but then grew to larger and deadlier outright fights. However, it can be difficult to plan attacks, since half your hand is discarded at the end of each week, and you draw five more cards from the deck. So that carefully crafted hand of cards can shift from week to week.

Inversely, as our hands grew, our armies shrank. Apart from the blocks that start on the table, and the four randomly drawn blocks that begin in the reinforcement area, players only draw nine more blocks over the course of the game. As we fought, Sam and I realized that our reserves were rapidly dwindling.

As for the game itself, it seemed for a time that Sam had the upper hand (as the Ishida player). While I, the Tokugawa player, won the initiative for most of the game, a single week with Sam holding the initiative almost led to his victory. An ill-planned attack by the Maeda on a Western army saw the Tokugawa-aligned clan almost wiped out and their leader vulnerable to an overrun. The Date, who had been holding Shirakawa for most of the game, was attacked and shattered as I had no cards to ge.

(The above photo is modern Sekigahara, which I visited in 2017 during Geek Nation Tours' trip.)

However, I was able to claim victory just before Sam's remaining numbers could overwhelm my forces. During an attack, Sam revealed that Ishida was leading an army out of Kyoto to Kuwana, which had been the sight of constant battles between the two sides. Though Sam forced my army out of Kuwana, a follow up attack against Fukushima at Kiyosu ended poorly, leaving Ishida vulnerable. Tokugawa, who had been taking resource points along the Nakasendō Road, quickly marched his army to end up behind Ishida at Kyoto. Fukushima launched a counter attack, generating enough impact to beat Sam's force and cause two casualties, eliminating Ishida and ending the game.

Hopefully this gets out on the table often, as there's plenty of variation for a game with no dice. We noticed that there were still unit blocks left unused in our bags, so our forces in the next game could look much different than what we were working with.

I should also mention how fantastic this game looks. The map is beautiful, the art on the cards is eye-catching, and the blocks are easy to read from a quick glance.

We had a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to playing again.

Darkness on the Fens - Red Book of the Elf King AAR

Recently, Sam and I met to play another game of Red Book of the Elf King. 

While my miniatures are fully painted (and will be shown in an eventual Painting Update), Sam's Circle is still in the process of being painted by a local painter. So we decided to play another small game of Red Book, with a Thane and three units of Companions on each side. This time, however, we'd play for a regular length game, with seven randomly drawn Glamour card for our Thanes to use. 

The table had the same approximation of terrain as last time, setting the game in a rocky, ruined section of the Isles of Eas. The scenario used was The Red March, which has a fairly simple victory condition - kill the opposing Thane before the end of the game (seven turns). If neither Thane is killed, then whoever caused the most wounds is the winner.

Sam decided to use Orelea of Ry Fert as his Thane, while I chose Alloysian of Vasterlant. Both Thanes are middling in their abilities, neither favoring close combat or magical attacks.

Both sides began off the table at the start of the first turn. As our units entered the table, our battleplans quickly began obvious - Sam had chosen to spread his forces across the tables, while I had focused my Circle on the left side.

Alloysian used his magic to cast Endless Fen, creating a 12" bog of difficult terrain that Orelea and one of her Companion units would have to traverse. In return, the Queen of the Long Isles cast Shroud of Night, creating a 6" sphere of darkness that blocked line of sight, directly in the path of my advancing circle. I would need to go around it to prevent Sam's force from getting a bunch of free charges.

Both sides spent the second turn skirmishing at range with Rhud magic and maneuvering through the rocky terrain, to little result.

Alloysian, however, hit Orelea with the Spear of Fate spell, causing a single wound (had all three gone through, it would've ended the game!). Sam's Glamour for the turn was Spirit Cry, which increased the Circle's Courage values by one for the rest of the game. This was an amazing Glamour that, if I ever had the chance to assemble my own spells for a game, I would definitely never go without.

With both sides rolling a total of ten actions in the bag, we knew turn three was going to be bloody.

Elves charged back and forth in the ruins to the sound of battle cries and Rhud magic. When the dust cleared, both sides had been wounded, with Sam holding the center of the table and my units surrounding him.

During this turn, Orelea cast Entropic Gaze, causing wounds to all of my units in her line of sight. Hoping to even the odds, Alloysian used Troll Cleave to try and fell a unit of Companions. But not only did he fail to reduce the unit, the Thane actually came away from the combat with a wound of his own. One more, and Oreleas' Circle could claim victory.

The fourth turn was rather short. I thought putting Alloysian out in danger might entice Sam to engage his Thane in combat...

The plan worked, although too well. Even with Alloysian's Pale Realstones, which could force redraws of the action counters, Orelea was able to active twice in a row thanks to some present penalty counters on her Companions. Alloysian's Fen Blade failed to strike the opposing Thane down, but Orelea had no such difficulties - her sword, Virtue, found its mark, and down went Alloysian.

With our second game, Sam and I are starting to get a handle on the rules. While simple, there are some tactical elements, especially with how quickly units can move or charge (10" on a 4'x4' table), which keep the battle fluid. And the Glamours add a lot to the game.

With two of the six Thanes played, I'm hoping to get the others to the table, and to start playing with full sized Circles.

A Good Krumpin' - Heroes of Black Reach AAR

Continuing on from last week, I pulled out my copy of Dropzone #1, a demo version of Heroes of Black Reach (an upcoming game from Devil Pig Games). If it sounds or looks familiar, that's because it's a reskinned and modified Heroes of Normandie, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. 

I decided to pick up Dropzone because I've heard HoN praised time and time again, and because I'm on a continuing quest to play 40k without having to actually play 40k. 

Dropzone #1 includes a cut down rulebook, a paper map, and two cardboard counter punchboards. The units included in the demo are unique, meaning it's worth picking up apart from the core set and the army expansion sets. 

The demo game's scenario is fairly simple: to win, one side must occupy more of the four squares at the center of the map than the other side at the end of six game turns. 

The forces were:

Space Marines

Tactical Squad Solinus

--Grenades

--Heavy Weapon (Heavy Bolter)

Malcian

Orks

Mob Boss

--Boss

Choppas

--Grenades

Shootas

--Heavy Weapon (Big Shoota)

--Ammo

The scenarios deploys both sides in opposite corners of the map. The Orks have the numbers, but the Space Marines are better overall in quality.

Both sides advanced in the first turn, taking long range shots while on the move, which failed to cause any hits.

The Ultramarines continued their advance into turn 2, forcing the Orks back and removing a Shoota unit from the table. The Orks caused some damage in return, wounding both Sgt. Solinus and Malcian.

At the end of turn 3, the Space Marines had continues to hold the line, preventing the Orks from moving towards the objective. Another unit of Shootas was removed from the table, as Malcian advanced towards the entrenched Big Shoota, but the Space Marines' Meltagun unit was damaged.

Unfortunately, a burst from the Big Shoota was enough to remove Malcian from the table, and he was quickly followed by the Meltagun. While the Orks continued to take hits, Sam's force was now in danger of being flanked.

Of course, that wasn't going to deter the Ultramarines. The Orks lost enough units in Turn 5 to break both the Shootas and Sluggas, depriving the Orks of two of the four orders they had started with. The Orks, however, failed to cause any damage to the Space Marines. If the Emperor's Finest could contest the objective through the final turn, they'd win on victory points.

Unfortunately, Mork's eye had turned to the battlefield, and the Ork Boss managed to assault and remove Sgt. Solinus, occupying the square in the process. This was enough to secure an Ork victory, despite the massive losses!

Sam and I had fun, and it was nice to get our heads around the rules. I'm going buy the core set when it comes out, as it really does seem to give a good approximation of 40k without needing to play the miniatures game.

Dropzone #1 does come with some extras - the Space Marines can include a Rhino APC in their force, and the Orks can recruit a Killa Kan and a Trukk transport. Both sides can also take another heavy weapon options (Missile launchers).

I also managed to track down a copy of February 2018's White Dwarf, which included a unique punchboard with a unique Space Marine and Ork character.

What I'm especially hopeful for is the release of more factions - Devil Pig Games has already hinted that Eldar and Chaos Marines are expected as expansions.

Charlie Don't Hex - '65 AAR

My experience in the wargaming hobby has, for the most part, only dealt with miniatures. While these games are played on the tabletop with rules for movement dictated by tape measures or other distance measuring devices, some use squares or hexes.

However, there's a whole genre of wargames that, up until know, I've mostly ignored - hex and counter. I've dabbled a bit here and there - I own a copy of OGRE and the 150th anniversary edition of Battle Cry, and have played both. But these kinds of games are mostly unknown to me, and I'm hoping to rectify that in the future.

So when Sam offered up a chance to play '65 from Flying Pig Games, I eagerly accepted.

I'd seen other games from '65 before in the local community, most notably Armageddon War, which plays out a full scaled ground war in the Middle East in the near future.

'65 focuses on squad level combat in Vietnam, with counters representing teams of infantry or single gun teams or vehicles. It's also completely diceless - shooting and assaulting is determined by drawing cards from the deck and hoping to match color designators to the "success" color noted on the original action card.

For our first game, Sam and I play Scenario 1 in the rulebook. An understrength American infantry platoon had to evict a VC force from a nearby village. To win, the Americans had to score six points; +1 point for every building hex controlled at the end of the game, and +1 point for every VC unit destroyed. The VC had to prevent this by scoring -1 for every American unit destroyed. And both sides had a secret objective they had to accomplish.

Turns in '65 are done in impulses, depending on who has the initiative (by playing a card with a higher value at the beginning of the turns). Players play a card to use one of two actions on a card, which allow a unit or a stack of units to move, shoot, rally, fire artillery, etc. Some cards allow reactions, like retreating from an assault, or decreasing the amount of firepower or wounds a unit takes.

By the end of the game (7 turns), the VC had been reduced to a single wounded RPD unit, surrounded by Americans. Tallying up the points, however, revealed that the American had failed to meet their objective, only scoring 2 out of the required six.

It was a fun game, and I'm hoping to play some more in the future. There are plenty more scenarios, and I'd like to revisit this a couple more times - once as the Americans, and another as the VC, when Sam and I have a better handle on the rules.