WARFIGHTER: CARD BASED MODERN COMBAT.

For Thursday's game, Rick introduced me to Warfighter, his latest,purchase.  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/149951/warfighter-tactical-special-forces-card-game?fb_action_ids=10203740188665476&fb_action_types=og.likes

This is a card based game, with plastic miniatures as counters, depicting special forces actions in the modern era. The first campaign is set in the Jungles of South America. The missions are agains the drug cartels.

We managed to play the first two missions in the campaign. The first scenario was a 'border patrol'

My soldier for the first scenario.  Note the figures at the top of the picture. They are in the starting location.

We each had one soldier. each had two actions per turn and a starting hand of 5 action cards. The actions can be used to shoot, move, play action cards, including locations, and re draw your hand. 

Midgame. The troops have entered an incline, which has attracted the attention of the enemy.

The Drug Runner targets my man. But is not in range while I can hit him.

With a little sniper support, the enemy is taken out and we move to our objective.

The size of the force and type of location determine the value of cards drawn for the enemy response. Depending on restrictions, you have to decide whether to stand and fight, knowing any you leave behind will follow you, or move on to complete the mission. Some enemy units can stop you moving, others will screen better units from your attacks.  

Starting cards for the second game. Rick has managed to upgrade and added a squad member.

My equipment. I spent some points on a skill: focus. This would become important later.

Laying a trail location was the least worst option. But the enemy could not be avoided. 

The enemy is depleted, but wounds are received.

After taking out the enemy on the trail, we faced an opposed river crossing.

A firefight holds up our advance. We will have to take out our target, a Cartel Boss using ranged attacks.

The boss can be screened by the other units in the location. That means that they will need to be taken out before him. We only have 2 turns left!

Mission accomplished. The Cartel boss was taken out. My focus skill meant he could not be screened.

 I have played co-operative games before. This one is quite different. The fact that you are have a limited amount turns to complete your mission and only two actions per turn means that you have to make choices and compromises to get the job done. Co-operation is very important. This was brought home to us in the second game. With two turns to go, we had no chance of completing the mission, on the face of it, but with a little thought and clever combinations of action cards, skills and experience points, we managed to get the job done. It has a narrative feel and plays a lot like some miniatures games that I have played.

We will be continuing the campaign in future.

EAGLES!

No game this Thursday as I was at a funeral.

Last week, thanks to upheaval caused by BT trying to sort out a phone fault (now fixed!), I went with a game with an easy set up. This is a blast from the past: Eagles, the Napoleonic card game by Columbia Games (similar to the Dixie series). 

For the first game, we tried the Quatre Bras scenario. Rick's French won this game quickly. We then changed sides. Rick's British won so quickly that I had no time for a photo!

The second scenario was Ligny. These are the initial deployments.

The early game was defined by artillery duels.

The Prussians attack.

The French fight back.

A final attack overwhelms the French flank. Victory came soon after this photo was taken.

 The first couple of games went so quickly that we thought we were playing the game wrong: it didn't have the back and forth and didn't last as long as we remembered. The third game played like the games that we remembered from back in the day. It lasted for an hour.

A good game that is a useful standby for a short notice game.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST: THE LAST CRUSADE.

Another blast from the past. A few Thursdays ago I dusted down The Last Crusade card game. http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2918/the-last-crusade

We hadn't played this game for a good few years. 

Rick took the Germans (who roll two dice for supply points) and I took the US forces (who roll three dice for supply points). Here is the starting terrain.

In the initial set up, all units are hidden. These are only revealed by recon rolls or when they are adjacent or in combat with an enemy unit.

Early stages of the game with the US advancing.

The failure of a US attack meant that they needed to build up forces again. This allowed the Germans an opportunity to consolidate.

We didn't have time to finish the game, but it was obvious that the Germans would take some shifting. The US were preparing an attack on the right when we called it quits.

This was a game we played a lot back in the day. We didn't finish the game, mostly due getting the hang of the rules again. The game was flowing a bit faster at the end as it all came back to us. Maybe I'll get the chance to use the Eastern Front expansion, that has been gathering dust, in future?