Convoy Ambush - Beyond the Gates of Antares AAR

This past weekend Sam, Brandon, Dick and I got together for a game of Beyond the Gates of Antares, which hasn't seen the table for years. 

Brandon asked if we could try out a convoy scenario. So we ended up with Brandon and Dick commanding the convoy with Sam and I acting as the ambushing party. 

The scenario background saw an Algoryn Prosperate armored column moving through a war-torn area, supported by forces of the Isorian Senatex. 

Unbeknownst to the convoy, the Panhuman Concord's forces had set the area up as an ambush spot, readying it with transmat homers and drop troops. The Concord had also hired on mercenaries from the Freeborn House of VanShael. While lightly armed and armored, the Concord and Freeborn forces had the advantage of choosing where and when they would deploy (mostly).

Sam provided the terrain, which was a mix of jungle growth and industrial buildings. 

The scenario goal was simple. Either the convoy managed to get off the left side of the table, or the ambushers destroyed the Liberator heavy skimmer.

Sam decided to drop in early against the Algoryn skimmers at the head of the convoy. His drop troops were fast and could carry more anti-tank weaponry than most squads. 

Initially the attack went well, with the drop troops taking out the lead Intruder skimmers in a single attack. However, the heavier skimmers that followed up wiped out Sam's command squad and hammered another drop troop squad. 

In addition, the Isorians moved up through the jungle, so I brought on a Domari squad to cover the flank. Unfortunately the plasma-armed Phase Squad and the Tograh transport drone shredded the Freeborn. 

 

Around a third of the way up the convoy's route there was a choke point that Sam and I hoped to use to our advantage. While the Isorians were chewing up our troops in the jungle, for a moment it seemed like we may have had a chance against the Liberator and the lighter Avenger skimmer. 

A well-placed x-launcher (sci-fi mortar) round from Sam's concord landed on the Avenger and did some damage. In support, my own x-launcher landed a Scrambler round between the two skimmers, dropping their Resist value and messing with the Algoryn buddy drones. However, we failed to capitalize on the moment, even with Sam's C3T7 transport and my Freeborn Striker skimmer.

With some well-placed shots, the C3T7 transport and the Striker skimmer were destroyed. 

Then my ambushing mag cannon failed to hit the Liberator and was promptly destroyed in return. 

At that point, Sam and I realized that we didn't have anything left that could scratch the Liberator, and while the Avenger was damaged, the Isorians were relatively untouched, with a few Andhak drones prowling the jungle, searching for more ambushers. 

At that point, Sam and I called the retreat, with the remaining ambushers running for the cover of the deeper jungle regions. The convoy collected itself and pressed forward. 

I always feel like I want to play more Antares, but actually playing the game itself is a hassle. The rules are a sprawling mess, with multiple rule books, updates for the rulebooks, rules documents, and game aids. I'd also like more games at lower points levels and using the basic, matched play scenarios to get my head around the rules. There's a lot that was adapted into Warlords of Erehwon, but enough different to cause headaches if you're not careful. 

I'm really hoping that this game gets a second edition and more support from Warlord. 

Painting Update - Squadhammer, WWII, Gates of Antares

While I've gotten back to in-person gaming recently, my enthusiasm for painting has waned a bit, and I haven't gotten that much done since the last update. 

My Astral Claws force for Squadhammer continues to grow. These Assault Marines can quickly traverse the battlefield using their jetpacks, and they're deadly in close quarter assaults. 

A while back I was gifted a Warlord Sdkfz 251 half track and an infantry sprue. While putting together the halftrack was simple, I decided to turn the infantry sprue into an assault rifle squad. I can either use this squad on its own in Bolt Action, or filter the models individually into the more historically accurate squads I've already built for additional firepower. 

I also tried to get back into my Gates of Antares project. While previously painted miniatures got tossed in alcohol to strip, I tried a new scheme on this Freeborn attack skimmer. 

I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but hopefully the scheme will coalesce as I chip away at other units. 

Assault on Kalukin, Part 2 - 'O' Group AAR

A week after the first game, Ted brought Will, Steve and I back to finish out the Assault on Kalukin scenario with the 'O' Group rules. Joining us was Chip, who wanted to check out the rules in action. 

From last time, the Soviets had 16 turns to either capture two of the four sectors of the large village in the German's half of the table, or remove 12 sections from the German's overall force. We ended at turn 7 with the German down 5 sections and the Soviets down 2 (the loss from the Recon Platoon didn't count). 

Forgetting that close combat assaults were a part of the rules, I ordered several platoons from A Company to fire at the lone panzerschreck team. While they were suppressed, Ted managed to save the section and kept A company stuck in the woods. 

Meanwhile, B Company was hit with an artillery barrage and forced back. They could have stayed in place and taken the extra point of shock, but by falling back they would deprive the Germans of the accuracy bonus when firing artillery and mortars at the same location over multiple turns. 

On the left flank, I ordered a platoon to charge the panzerschreck section and routed them. However, I then had to deal with the StuG platoon that was throwing rounds at A Company. With no ranged infantry A/T available, my only option was the platoon of SU-122s. which had several disadvantages when trying to fight other tanks. 

Ted also revealed a unit of German infantry in one of the BUA sectors of Kalukin. The infantry and machine gun fire, along with the Germans' supporting mortars, kept slamming into the poor infantry of C Company who were stuck out in the open fields.

However, revealing the infantry also meant that the Soviets had targets, so Steve and I subjected the Germans to mortar and light gun fire and removed a stand. 

While the lone StuG platoon held up A Company, the SU-122s were eventually able to damage and then destroy the StuG platoon. 

We also withdrew the infantry platoons in C Company. The field guns were in place and blasting away at the infantry in the town (you can see another section gone), and were supported by the mortars and artillery. 

It didn't help the Germans that their FUBARs ended up giving them a Hesitant Company every other turn, and that by using their HQ Orders to try and counter the Soviets they ended up having less Company Orders to use in the next turn. 

The Germans weren't going to go down without a fight. They rushed a Pak 40 up onto the high ground that their spotter had been using for the whole game and quickly ranged in on B Company, which Steve had pushed forward to chase after the retreating Germans. It was able to suppress the infantry and damage one of the SU-122s that was supporting B Company. 

However, it was just a little after the loss of the SU-122 that the Germans ended up with their third FUBAR, after losing 12 sections. Since this was one of the two victory conditions, they ended up winning the scenario. 

There was some good after-game talk, with the two sides discussing their plans and how well they went. I'd definitely like to try the scenario again on the German side. The Soviets had some severe restrictions (Rigid Reserves, less dice when firing and moving) that the Germans could potentially exploit if aggressive enough. Or, as Will suggested, the Germans may have faired better if they had hit the Soviets sooner, then retreated back to secondary positions. 

Assault on Kalukin, Part 1 - 'O' Group AAR

For one of his weekly wargaming nights, Ted set up a game of O Group, recently released by Reisswitz Press and TooFatLardies. It's a battalion-scale WWII set of rules and something that's recently caught my attention. 28mm, platoon-sized or smaller games are relatively easy to come by, but my real passion with wargaming comes from the smaller scales and larger engagements. 

It's been a shame that I never found a set of rules to use my 15mm Flames of War collection with. Looking at the articles and interviews from TFL and Dave Brown, I hoped that 'O' Group might be the rules I've been looking for. 

While this was my first experience with the rules, Ted, Will, and Steve had already played this scenario and had practical experience (which was great, since they had already worked out some of the potentially confusing rules, like Combat Patrols).

Ted used a modified version of the introductory scenario included in the rulebook. While he kept the Germans largely the same, he used his Russians in place of the attacking British. 

The Russians had 16 turns to either capture two of the four BUA sectors that made up the village of Kalukin (marked Cristot in the original scenario), or inflict three FUBAR markers on the Germans. FUBAR markers are gained when a battalion loses four sections from anywhere in the battle. 

The attacking Russian battalion consisted of three infantry companies, a reconnaissance platoon, a machine gun company, a cannon platoon of two 76mm infantry guns, and two platoons of SU-122s. They also had three artillery missions.

From what I can recall, the defending Germans mostly followed the scenario and had three infantry companies, a machine gun platoon, two panzerschreck anti-tank sections, a Pak 40, a Pak 38, and a StuG III/IV. They had two artillery missions.

 

Thanks to the Russian's Rigid Reserves doctrine, Steve and I (who commanded the Russian Battalion) had to assign our supports at the start of the game. The Germans, with their Flexible Reserves doctrine, could assign their reserves as they came onto the battlefield. 

Our plan was to hold C Company in reserve, with the infantry guns attached. We would mark the farm just outside of the German's forward defensive line as our first objective, which would let us deploy the reserve company from the farm if we occupied it. 

A Company, with the infantry reconnaissance platoon and one of the SU-122 platoons attached, would be used to capture the farm, then move onto the woods on the Russian's left flank. From there, A and C Companies would move in to assault Kalukin, while B Company held the Russian right flank.

We hoped that by massing two of our companies, we could hammer any Germans between the farm and Kalukin, and so either cause enough Fubar markers to win or throw enough firepower at any defenders in the village.

At the start of the game, the battle begins with an artillery barrage, which can potentially delay the defender's reserves or remove assets like a platoon or an HQ order. However, the Russian's artillery was ineffective and didn't do much. 

The German Crosses and the Allied Stars are Combat Patrols, which are an interesting and important part of the games. It's sort of like the Patrol Phase of Chain of Command, but instead of being it's own separate game-within-a-game, Combat Patrols are constantly ranging out, scouting ahead of the battalion and recycling as they're either used to deploy lighter elements of the battalion like infantry or light guns, or fired upon and removed. 

The game started with the Russian's A Company moving up around the farm. The infantry encountered a Pak 38 hidden in the woods, and opening shots were fired. 

As it turns out, the Russians' poor training meant that a platoon's normal dice pool of 6 was decreased to 3 when they move and fire. However, the four-stand unit in the picture is a platoon with an attached machine gun, which allows as many rerolls as there are rifle stands in the unit. 

A Company secured the farm, which allowed C Company's commander to post up and start ordering his units forward. Two platoons and an infantry gun deployed and angled toward Kalukin.

A Company then moved on to it's second objective, the woods on the far left of the battlefield. After knocking out the Pak 38, they focused on an German infantry platoon that deployed from a Combat Patrol. They were assisted by an attached platoon of SU-122s, the assault guns' howitzers blasting into the trees. 

However, A Company's deployment was mostly in the open, which made it easy for the German FO on the high ground beyond the village to consistently call in mortar barrages. The mortar fire was enough to knock off a section from two of A Company's platoons. 

The Soviet left flank was pretty well developed by this point. You can see the FO scrambling up to the woods on the far right to get a better view of the battlefield. Meanwhile, A Company continued its assault on the woods and Ted's isolated German platoon, which had been reinforced by a Panzerschreck section and an out-of-frame StuG. 

By the time we called the session for the night, it wasn't looking great for the defenders. Both remaining German elements were heavily suppressed and surrounded. 

The Russian FO was secure in the woods and most of C Company (including the second infantry gun) were deployed, though they had to deal with the German mortars. 

Meanwhile, Steve had decided to take B Company on the offense, deploying an infantry platoon with an attached machine gun and the second SU-122 platoon. In response, Will deployed a German platoon and the second panzerschreck section. While the Germans had the advantage of cover, the Soviets could also call in their mortars from the FO stationed in the middle of the table. And this ended up with the panzerschreck section quickly removed. 

As we had run out of time, we put the game on pause and decided to pick it up again next week. While the Russian assault seems strong enough, the Germans still have a decent amount of reserves that had yet to make themselves known.

I'm looking forward to this continuation. I'd like a chance to get my head around the rules some more, but it's looking more and more likely that my 15mm collection will go up for sale to fund a new collection in a smaller scale!

I should also note that 'O' Group seems to capture the Lardies' "empty battlefield" effect that I've heard them talk about. This is not Flames of War, where tanks and infantry are crowded onto the table. I enjoy that, as it does make it feel like we're playing over a large area instead of smashing as much as we can into the smallest space possible. 

Cry Orcs a River - Warlords of Erehwon AAR

Sam, Brandon, and I joined John for a hosted lunch (fantastic burgers, thanks John!) and other great food (like Christine's Creme de Menthe dessert).

Our hunger satisficed, we were then joined by Dick, a newcomer to the club and wargaming who wanted to check out the hobby.

We fought the Second Battle of the Erewhemos, with the forces of Chaos once again descending upon the lands of Order. Brandon and I combined his Barbarians and my Orcs to face off against Sam's Olympians and John's Elves (with Dick commanding John's allied Dryads). 

It was the same scenario as last time - six turns to do as much damage as possible. This time we had had increased the amount of points from 1,200 to 1,500! This let each army field more and powerful units (as Brandon and I would soon lament!). 

Much like last time, the main battle centered on the left side of the battlefield, around the mountain. You can see three of the four Monsters gathered together - Brandon's Mammoth and riders, my Orc Champion on a Wyvern, and Sam's Dragon. 

I decided to send my cavalry through the woods to head off John's elves. Charybdis still lurked in the river waters, so most of the crossings were done over the fordable sections. 

Both sides were moving towards each other on the more open side of the table, with Wizards trading spells. 

You can see John's Monster, a Giant Eagle. I forgot that you don't need Line of Sight to charge in Erehwon, so didn't send my Boar Riders after it. John didn't forget, however, and sent it after my artillery, which was behind the skirmish screen of goblin archers. While the Giant Eagle easily beat one of the artillery units, the goblin archers turned it into a pincushion with their bows. 

While Sam was positioning his Dragon around the mountain, I had brought my Wyvern and its rider over to confront the Olympian Monstrosity. With the Wyvern and Mammoth, Brandon and I hoped the combined might would be able to handle the 500-point behemoth. 

That hope was quickly shattered when the Dragon blew flames at the Wyvern. With one shot, the flames did enough pins on the Monstrosity damage table that my Wyvern was instantly removed from the table, leaving just the Orc Champion. Since I had forgotten to bring a model, John was kind enough to provide a goblin riding a squig to stand in. 

With the Wyvern gone, the left flank was open for the Dragon to pick and choose its opponents. And once again, the Barbarian Chariot was quickly pinned off the table by Sam's shooting elements. 

After a disastrous charge of my Goblin Wolf Riders into Dick's Dryads, I rerouted the Boar Riders over to the other side of the table, going after the open ground and the Olympians. The Elves followed the river. 

Unfortunately, Brandon's Mammoth took enough hits from Sam's units to break and rout off the table. With our Monstrosities gone, Sam's Dragon seemed to be relatively untouchable by this point. 

While we had only reached turn 4, we had run out of time and decided to call the game there. The Forces of Order had a definite lead in captured Order Dice. 

Much like the previous game on this layout, the forest blocked much of the fighting and the river restricted where units could cross. However, Sam's Dragon had the movement, ranged attacks, and toughness to handle most units on our side and made the difference. Maybe if Brandon and I had the chance to mass our archers against the dragon we could put more pins on it and reduce its effectiveness, but we ended the game before that could play out. 

So we'll learn from our mistakes and see what will come of it.