A Snowy Scramble

Scenario

Both the cultic Czernovoyksa and the idealistic Rangers have come to an abandoned intersection in search of loot – bullets, tinned goods, fuel, batteries, anything that will soften the hardship of life after the Fall. Without satellite support, they do not know that the woods are crawling with rad-spiders, or that some aggressive locals have expanded their network of fortified farms toward the roadways.

The table before the models showed up.

Forces

Rangers: Kane, Pointman, Thumper – Quality 4 Lone Wolves; 3x3 Rangers – Quality 4 Squads

Czernovoyka: Strelok, Blazheny, Posvyashchat – Quality 4 Lone Wolves; 3x3 Upyr – Quality 4 Squads

Kane technically had the Inspiration Leader trait, but I forgot to use it. Thumper had Lethal, but missed every shot. Strelok and Pointman both had Shadow, making them effectively invulnerable to long range fire.

The Game

Both sides entered the board from near the road. Pointman and the Rangers with assault rifles quickly seized a hill to use as a base of fire. The Voyska spread out to search the nearest woods and building, while Blazheny led a fireteam to the crumpled cars at the intersection. They struck gold immediately, but came under punishing fire from the hill. All three Upyr perished before Blazheny could duck back out of sight with the case and then unceremoniously flee for his life (1 VP).

The Upyr in the woods disturbed the rad spiders almost immediately, and it took several turns of desperate AK74 and RPG fire to silence the chittering monstrosities. At that point Posvyashchat (the first to fall) and one other were dead. The survivors made their way to a wrecked car and did find a Loot marker, before Kane and his colleagues took them out.

Slowed by the ubiquitous wire fences, the lead Ranger team took a while to reach the woods, but once there managed to silence the Upyr opposite before waking the spiders. While in desperate hand-to-hand, the Upyr in the abandoned building savaged them with RPGs and rifle-fire, adding to their woes. Eventually one man was dead and two more injured. When they finally escaped, they at least had the satisfaction of knowing that their struggle had not been in vain (2VP).

The men – if they were still men – in that abandoned house had struggled to get in past the boards and corrugated iron in the windows, but once upstairs quickly found a Loot marker. Their RPG gunner was hit by a lucky round, and their retreat with the goods was slow (1VP). Strelok, also wounded in the final seconds of the battle, stumbled across more goods by sheer chance in the dark downstairs (4VP). It really was luck – I forgot I'd even placed the marker there, and wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't lifted the first floor to allow for his injured slowness.

First across the motorway, the rangers who reached the farm found a Loot marker easily enough, but were chased away by locals when their gunfire (vs the Upyr) awakened them. Hopping back over the fence, their skill (Q4 to Q1) was enough to save them from serious harm and spell the doom of the four foolish farmers who had fired on them. It was one of these men who shot the RPG gunner before heading away down the road (4VP).

A discreditable mention goes to Thumper, the Ranger sniper who was very calm and professional in his sneaky approach to the Voyska stronghold, up until it counted. He missed a shot – with scoped rifle! – at close range and was unceremoniously finished off by Blazheny's SMG.

The Rangers advance and spread out.

The Czernovoyska stick a little closer together.

Rad-spiders surround their prey!

Ranger firepower forces them to hunker down in the road.

Final Tally

Czernovoyska: 6 Victory points from 3 Loot markers, -8 from casualties (7 dead, 2 wounded). Total -2VP

Rangers: 6 Victory points from 2 Loot markers, -5 from casualties (3 dead, 4 wounded). Total +1VP

NARROW RANGER VICTORY

Man of the Match: Strelok, the Czerno' sniper, who pinned down the Ranger base of fire very effectively and caused most of the Ranger's casualties and Fear markers. His Shadow ability means that any successful hit from within cover at Long range adds 2 Fear instead of 1, so he is ideally suited to trapping the enemy in place.

Ranger fire support group takes its position.

Captain Kane and his team advance. Loot found in background.

Metkiy'Strelok takes aim at distant foes...

...while a much closer one sneaks up on him.

Thoughts

Once again, THREAT ran smoothly, even with a three-sided game (Czernovoyska, Rangers, Nuisances). The number of times where spraying ammo wildly led to an awkward need to reload seemed about right, as did the times when men froze up in Fear. The Rangers, bless them, actually had three turns where their entire force was Frozen due to poor rolls at the start of the turn. That said, I forgot to use "blips" and Kane's special rule, so maybe it ran quickly because I wasn't paying attention! It was still fun enough to play merry havoc with my picture-taking, so there's that. Adding Wits checks to navigate obstacles added a pleasant uncertainty to difficult terrain.

Hopefully I will get the mental space to touch up the rules soon, but I accidentally wrote the bones of a new set of space opera skirmish rules during my lunch break on Thursday, so I may end up getting distracted again...

Helo Chase - Weird Modern Dust Up

In a first proper playtest of my new T.H.R.E.A.T.* rules for post-apocalypse and weird modern gaming, the disciples of the dark gods known as the Cziernovoyska came up against the professional scavengers the world calls the Yellowcakers. The Cziernovoyska are better trained and more numerous – but the Yellowcakers came with Jack and Jean, their machine-gun toting MRAPs. In the fight to secure the mysterious contents of a crashed helicopter, who will win out? Sorry about the pictures, I got a bit too caught up in the game to keep taking them methodically.

* If anyone has a good backronym, please post it in the comments! 

Cziernovoyska/Dark Force

3x 3 Upyr (Squads) with assault rifles or special weapons

Metkiy'Strelok, Lone Wolf sniper

Blazheny, Lone Wolf commander

Posvyashchat, Lone Wolf second in command

Yellowcakers

Captain Reathe, Sergeant Smojke, Ukufa, Qishi & Burne – Lone Wolf characters

Jack and Jean – vehicles

The Dark Force left, with Strelok the sniper in the road.

The right - Blazheny & his team, and the SMAW on the wing.

Main Yellowcaker advance, hooded Qishi in foreground.

Jack the MRAP "sneaking" up the flank...

The game started with cautious advances by both sides. The cream-coloured Jean went on Overwatch, aiming down the road with the GPMG installed up top. The first shot was taken by the Dark Force fireteam with a shoulder-mounted AT, firing at Jack, who was trundling through the woods. The missile sailed past, but unnerved the gunner enough for all his shots to go wide.

The SMAW misses, but barely.

As the sound of gunfire tore through the woods, both sides began advancing in earnest. Qishi, the Yellowcakers' resident mystic, began marshalling his powers for the fight ahead. The SMAW fired again, barely missing Jack and sending the driver into conniptions. Jean opened fire on the sniper who had aimed at Ukufa with her GPMG, and severely injured him, riddling him and the rusty wreck he was using as cover with holes. Jack opened up with his .50 cal, injuring one Upyr and blasting the head clean off another.

Posvyashchat leads his men forward as Strelok bleeds.

A new turn started with Strelok the sniper Frozen in pain. As the firing sounded out once more through the forest, Posvyashchat's team missed Jean with their RPG and took two casualties for their pains. The SMAW gunner finally got his round on target, blowing off Jack's front right wheel and shredding the rear tyre. It was not enough to save them from the Browning's revenge.

Blazheny's bodyguards moved up through the woods to cover his advance on the helicopter. Seeing them, Captain Reathe moved back – so they opened fire on Ukufa instead, emptying their clips at him with fierce abandon. The brave South African slumped dead in the treeline, the Yellowcakers' first casualty of the battle. From his position at the crossroads, Sergeant Smojke opened up at the RPG team with his sub-machine-gun, injuring the gunner with a full clip. This was apparently not a battle for fire control. When Posvyashchat fired back and hit him in the chest, the Dutchman just bared his bloody teeth in a barbaric snarl.

The table, mid game. Lots of wound and ammo markers.

As his men reloaded, Blazheny approached the helicopter's wreckage. Qishi finally got his Oriental sorcery under control, and flooded the minds of Posvyashchat and his injured gunner with primal terror. They would no longer be a threat to his comrades. Even as he did so, Burne – trusting more to steel than sorcery – crept around the rusted out truck to open up on them with his trusty Sterling. Still holding the crossroads, Smojke laughed manically as Strelok sent a bullet crashing through his ribs. By pure chance his return fire caught the Russian killer just above his eye socket, killing him too. Jean's gunner cursed the fact that his guntruck was boxed in by walls and wrecks.

At the end of the fourth turn, Blazheny was in a difficult position. Six of his men were dead and two had fled, leaving just him and his four bodyguards to claim the helicopter's riches for Cthulhu. The Yellowcakers had lost Ukufa and Jack's mobility, but the survivors were closing in (except Smojke, who was too injured to move). Luckily for him, the fifth turn started with Smojke and Jack Frozen and unable to act, cutting down the odds considerably. For his first activation, he used There's No Time!, rushing his investigation to (hopefully) get away faster. The dark gods were smiling on him as his gambit paid off – he found the suitcase that so many of his men had died to protect.

Hearing his savage shout of triumph, the surviving Yellowcakers surged forward, desperate for Ukufa's sacrifice to not be in vain. He emptied his clip at Burne, winging the young Irishman, only for the favour to be returned in brutal style. The suitcase dropped from his limp fingers as a hail of bullets severed his spinal cord. Reathe fired his hand cannon from the woods, felling one of his bodyguards. In the luckiest event in a day of lucky happenings, the return fire from the Cziernovoyska's machine gun got wedged in his armour, his cigarette case, his beret, even his Bible – but nowhere in his flesh.

At the start of the next turn, Qishi proved his worth in grand style. The bodyguards were retreating with the suitcase when he unleashed a psychic assault of terrible power, stopping both their hearts dead in their chests. They fell down, and the suitcase was Reathe's...

Butcher's Bill

Cziernovoyska: Everyone except Posvyashchat and his RPG gunner. Looks like he'll be the new Blazheny if he survives his superiors' displeasure...

Yellocakers: Ukufa dead, Sergeant Smojke severely injured (one point away from death), Jack badly damaged.

Man of the Match

Despite his lame showing in the first few turns, Qishi and his psychic powers were a real game winner. Honorable runner-ups are Blazheny and Smojke for their fearless attempts to further their missions.

Overview

The game ran smoothly and quickly, which is the main thing I wanted. I may have to tweak the initiative system however – granted, I rolled high all through the game, but the accumulation of Fear markers slowed very few people down at all, except in the literal sense of their movement. Since the game is based on survival horror video games as much as post-apocalyptic or weird horror movies, I wanted to give Fear a central role in the mechanics, along with rules for ammo shortages &c. It's a pulpy game, but lethal – no human tanks here, just good old-fashioned gritting of teeth and bullet fragments.

As a first outing for the post-apocalyptic scenery and miniatures I've been working on recently, it was good fun. I look forward to honing the rules over the next few months, as well as finishing other gangs of scavengers, veterans, police and mad cultists. Since I'm starting a new job soon, who knows – I may even add in a Reaper Bones Cthulhu at some point...

Quite proud of these, despite the poor calligraphy.

Some Corner of the Six Day War

I bought really quite a lot of sprues in Warlord's half price sale last year in a grandiose plan to add to my Chain of Command collection. That went nowhere. This year, having written Some Corner of a Foreign Field, I tried to think of ways to adapt those models to a post-war environment. Only having to paint up a squad instead of a platoon to get a game going is a great incentive to paint in my book. If you want a battle report, go here or here! 

Thanks to an accidental peruse of the WI issue going over Battlefront's Six Day War releases, I noticed that a lot of the kit used in that conflict was ex-WWII – crucially, surplus British and American equipment, which was exactly what I needed to use up. A little bit of digging around and some conversions later, I had three squads ready to go – Israeli leg infantry (a bit too dark), Israeli Paratroopers, and a squad of Jordanian leg infantry.  

That led me to investigate Suez too, and soon I will be morphing my Jordanians as Egyptians to fight against British, French and Israeli paratroopers of the time.

In all, I used Warlord Games' British and American bodies, heads & weapons, TAG FN FALs, Wargames Factory Uzis & WWII German arms/weapons (Israeli paratroopers had three Mauser 98ks per squad).

I'm actually very happy with how my lezard camouflage came out, especially since I rarely attempt such awkward uniforms. Luckily, French post-war camouflage tended almost exclusively toward horizontal stripes, so I didn't need to get clever with my brush strokes. I may go back over the models to highlight their skin at some point, but it seems that Middle Eastern flesh looks much better under a wash than European skin does.

The main mistake I made was not putting a bipod on those FALs chosen to be the heavy-barrelled version, but I noticed too late and I don't really mind. They are still easy to tell apart as they are the only kneeling models with that particular weapon. I also gave the Jordanians Lee-Enfields instead of M1 Garands because I was clipping sprues on autopilot – but really, that just makes it easier to morph them as Suez-era Egyptians.

I hope you enjoy these cheap examples of 28mm models for an under-covered conflict.

Jordanian Infantry Squad

Jordanian Infantry Squad

Israeli Paratroopers

Israeli Paratroopers in more natural light.

Israeli Infantry

Israeli Infantry "Samal"

Israeli Paratrooper "Samal"

Jordanian Infantry corporal

Painting Scheme

GW Khemri Brown – Israeli uniforms

Foundry 12C Drab – Jordanian uniforms

Vallejo Brown Olive – Jordanian & Israeli helmets, paratrooper fatigues, grenades

Foundry 46C Cadaverous Green – Paratrooper uniform base

Foundry 98B Denison Green – Paratrooper stripes

Foundry 126C African Flesh – Paratrooper stripes

Foundry 100C British Uniform – Skin

Foundry 9B Boneyard – Paratrooper helmets & boots, Israeli webbing

Foundry 121A Dark African Flesh – Boots & gunmetal, Israeli helmet straps, hair

Foundry 90C British Equipment Canvas – Jordanian webbing & gaiters

Foundry 45A Deep Brown Leather – woodwork, cigars

Fall of Keren Jaghur

Last night's board was too pretty to put away immediately, so I decided to do a second playtest, this time pitting the Royal Marines against hardcore locals in the initial strike on Keren Jaghur back in 2002.

Background

March 13^th, 2002. 41 Commando has been tasked with an assault on Keren Jaghur to seize the local Emir's compound and break the local Ansari al-Mawt's control over the community. The Emir, of course, will resist, as will his Ansari. Luckily, thanks to a daring heliborne insertion, the Royal Marines have started very near the town – maybe near enough to seize a battle-winning advantage in the battle for what will, six years later, be the Royal Sherwood's platoon house.

41 Commando's objective, bottom right corner.

View of Keren Jaghur from the north.

A Royal Marine platoon includes three sections of two fireteams with quite high firepower (8 and 12 dice respectively), supported by a sniper team, mortar and two Senior Leaders. They are Elite +9.

The Emir's local veterans have four squads of eight men (10 dice), 2 Junior Leaders, a Superior Junior Leader and the Emir himself, a Senior Leader. They are Green -7.

Despite the Royal Marines' 9pts of support, the Emir's men will have 20 points to oppose them with. The RM choose an unmanned UAV (3), a Medic (1), Air Support (4) and an Adjutant (1). They plan to identify the enemy as soon as possible, and then deploy to destroy before seizing the objective. Their Force Morale of 10 means they have a good chance of pushing through casualties to a successful conclusion.

The Emir's men choose a squad of Tier One Shadow Brigade veterans (6), a 60mm mortar team (3), two snipers (4), two squads of Green insurgents (6), and 6” of barbed wire (1). With over fifty men, they hope to force the RM to deploy unfavourably, and shock them enough to keep them away from the objective. Their Force Morale of 8 means that they are quite brittle, and cannot afford to use the usual suicidal Ansari tactics.

Patrol Phase

Making full use of their five free moves, 41 Commando penetrated halfway into Keren Jaghur from their start line in the western fields before the Ansari had any idea they were there. By awkward coincidence, they were actually alerted by a caravan of cattle herders coming over the central bridge.

The RM jump-offs were located in the two western compounds, and in the green zone to the north. Hopefully the threat of an outflanking manoeuvre and the loss of a jumpoff point would force a splintering of the insurgent mass.

The Ansari al-Mawt (AaM) jump off points in the greenzone, the mosque, the objective and in the fields to the east. This layered defence was designed to give multiple chances to beat the RM off the objective.

Turn One: Royal Marine Phase 64332

Resisting the urge to deploy his manoeuvre sections en masse, Lieutenant Cairn-Wilkes first set up his support section under Corporal Applewell, who put both teams on Overwatch. Corporal Fasil led his section down the southern side of town, leaving one fireteam on Overwatch facing the mosque.

Applewell's support section.

Corporal Fasil's section, Fasil front in the street.

Ansari Phase 66421

A mortar team deployed behind the compound, and further into town appeared Umar Haqqim (SJL) and a squad of fighters. Those behind the mosque were safe, but those on the roof were caught in an Overwatch crossfire which left a man bleeding against the golden dome.

Ansari Phase 64331

The mortar roared into life, spraying chips of masonry into Corporal Fasil's fire group. The Shadow Brigade appeared within the compound under Jallaluddin's command, and Haqqim rallied his men into pouring covering fire at Fasil's fire group.

The Shadow Brigade defend the compound gates.

RM Phase 64211

Sergeant Taggart deployed in the northern greenzone, and began calling in Air Support for the advance. Fasil's team rushed behind the next house as Corporal Anderson's blocking section deployed in the central buildings and fields. Finally, the mortar opened up on the roof of the mosque to no avail.

Ansari Phase 66652

Hussein's fighters opened fire, but they had misjudged the range, and the RM's skills and drills kept them safe.

Turn Two – Ansari Phase 55322

Haqqim rallied his men. The Shadow Brigade had found the range now, and raked Anderson's men with a frightening hail of fire. Haqqim's men, full of new heart, poured fire into Fasil's fire group again.

RM Phase 66653

Anderson rallies his men

Turn Three – RM Phase 43211

Sergeant Taggart continues his directions to Bastion. The UAV finally flies in overhead and immediately spots armed men in the greenzone. Bastion replies: an AH-64A Apache is inbound. The support section pours fire into the target compound. The mortar kills a man, and Lance-Corporal Masters, the sniper, actually scores a hit on Jallaluddin Hussein himself, spinning him to the floor with a 7.62 round. Anderson's men advance with fire through the field, trying to put a building between them and the Shadow Brigade. Fasil's men keep going down the south road, still using buildings for cover.

The UAV-eye's view of the battlefield.

The spotted insurgents.

Fasil's men reach the T-junction.

Ansari Phase 44331

Seeing Fasil's advance, Haqqim orders the men in the street into the fields, and returns his concentration to Anderson's fireteam. Fasil's men skid to a halt as a mortar shell bursts in front of them.

RM Phase 65432

Fasil leads his men into the house and opens up on the insurgents opposite. Anderson's section are much more effective, knocking out Haqqim and one of his compatriots (This was the second time a -2 was rolled for a Junior Leader injury, putting the Ansari at FM4 after only a few phases). Sergeant Taggart began easing his way forward.

Ansari Phase 4322

Dragging their wounded leader, Haqqim's men on the mosque roof disappear inside. The Shadow Brigade fired ineffectually at Fasil's flanking team, and the Emir finally appeared, directing even more fire at them.

RM Phase 64431

Fasil's men fired at the fields, injuring the Neta leading the enemy and killing the man who went to help him. The mortar he called in did not do any appreciable damage. Taggart moved to a roadside hut.

Ansari Phase 6544

The Emir screamed, cursed and pleaded, but all his efforts were in vain. His men shot worse than they day they first picked up a rifle.

RM Phase 62222

With the mosque suspiciously quiet, Anderson's men turned their attention the objective and fired at the Shadow Brigade, appropriately supported by the support section. Masters claimed another victim. Cairn-Wilkes then deployed to rally Fasil's fire group and direct their attention to the men shooting at their corporal. In what men of their grandfather's generation would have called a serenade of fire, they killed two and routed the rest from the battlespace.

Ansari Phase 4211

Two snipers opened up from the greenzone, pinning Anderson's fireteam. Seeing this, the compound defenders opened up on them as well, nearly breaking them. The men in the greenzone began working their way forward, toward Taggart's position...

RM Phase 66421

The support section kept up its fire against the compound. Fasil's men ran to seize the enemy jump-off point in the field. The lieutenant led the firegroup deeper into Keren Jaghur.

Fasil's men lay charges on the drainage ditch that led Ansari to the field.

RM Phase 66633

Fasil and Anderson rallied their men. Fasil's daring rush paid dividends and really shook the enemy morale.

Turn Four – RM Phase 66221

Anderson rallied his men, and the whole section moves 9” to seize the mosque.

RM Phase 42211

The promised Apache finally arrives and gives the compound a desultory spray of minigun fire. Anderson's fire group seizes the roof of the mosque, while he rallies the manoeuvre group inside. The final section finally appears, Corporal Vincennes leading them in Cairn-Wilkes' rush through town.

The Apache fires into the compound.

The rush down "Main Street".

Ansari Phase 534

Back on his feet, Jalalluddin seizes the reluctant Emir and disappears with his surviving veterans, to the puzzlement of the circling air assets.

Anderson's men control the mosque - the compound is empty.

RM Phase 53211

Anderson and Fasil both send their men hurtling pell-mell for the compound gate. Vincennes' section leap-frogs the Lieutenant.

Ansari Phase 614

The mortarmen fire at Anderson's team trailing in the open and fail miserably.

RM Phase 65321

Fasil leads his men to capture the jump-off objective. Anderson's men move into the cover of the compound walls, and Vincennes' section rounds the corner of the mosque.

Ansari Phase 525 – CoC Die unlocked!

In the very moment of defeat, a large team of callow youths leap from the fields to ambush Vincennes' men. Before they flee again, they shock them and critically injure Marine “Coffee” Coughlin. Another group reveals itself in the greenzone and opens fire of Anderson's sudden exposed fireteam. Luckily his pointman sees them coming, and they suffer no serious casualties.

Anderson's assailants.

RM Phase 65331

Anderson rallies his men and directs their return fire, killing four and pinning the rest. Vincennes rallies his section, and Coughlin's comrades drag him back around the corner of the mosque.

Vincennes in the street, firegroup Anderson on the roof.

Ansari Phase 116

The snipers open up on Anderson's beleaguered fireteam, but succeed only in chipping the wall above them.

RM Phase 66541

The Apache turns its predatory gaze on the men beneath it. In seconds the few survivors flee, giving Anderson's men the breathing space to duck inside the compound.

Anderson's men cram in with Fasil's.

Ansari Phase 22

In view of their shattered morale, the seeming invulnerability of the Royal Marines, and their terrible 3C, the Emir's men ruefully quit the field, singing songs of older days, when courage alone could still bring victory.

Butcher's Bill

British: Marine Martin “Coffee” Coughlin, critically wounded.

Ansari al-Mawt: 15 confirmed KIA, believed 40.

Overview

First off, Man of the Match definitely goes to Corporal Fasil. What a wunderkind! Right from the beginning, his forwards elan opened up the Ansari defence line, forcing them to divide their attention. Following that up with seizing TWO jump-off points with no casualties makes him a definite MiD in my book – maybe even a military medal?

Otherwise, this played very historically (I usually lose too many men). The British managed to keep their enemy on the back foot the whole game, largely through effective choice of assets. The problem with the Ansari list was that there were too many Teams clamouring for 1s, and not enough leaders to adequately redress the shortage, particularly once Lance-Corporal Masters and the others started knocking them out willy-nilly. I was amazed at how few casualties the Marines took, but then I have never really played with Elites before – they hug their terrain like no-one's business. Despite that, there was a palpable tension while they were moving forward. The chance of a critical casualty was always there, and only my masses of 3s and 4s allowed my sterling NCO cadre to keep their men going under the rain of unnerving fire thrown out by the enemy. In the end, the Royal Marines did not lose a single Force Morale point, though they never got a CoC die either.

Really, the Shadow Brigade should have used their 9” deployment radius to set up a crossfire from the greenzone, setting up an L-shaped fireforce dominating the town and making any advance a lethal proposition. Any unit could have set up inside the Heavy Cover of the compound – I should have sent the few elite troops at my command out on a wing. The other huge error I made was not using the local Taliban's On Our Ground special rule to go Tactical whenever they don't move.

So, while Keren Jaghur has fallen, the Emir is safe. His righthand man Haqqim is wounded, but alive – as is the merciless Jallaluddin Hussein. There will be no peace in the district until the leaders of the Alephstani resistance are dealt with, either in a shura or in a firefight.