THE GREAT WAR: SOMME, MASH VALLEY AND LA BOISSELLE. I JULY 1916.

For this week's Thursday game, we had a go at The Great War. We played the Mash Valley scenario, from the first day of the Somme. I took the attacking British and Rick the German defenders.

General view of initial dispositions.

As well as the usual one medal for each enemy unit destroyed, the British got a medal for each unit exiting the German edge. They also got a temporary medal for having a unit in the German trenches. Whoever held the crater got a temporary medal.

The British have captured the crater and have men in the German trenches. This counts as two temporary medals.

The British have advanced to the second line of trenches.

After a slow start, the British began to make inroads into the German trenches. They took the crater and broke into the first line of trenches. The defenders took a steady toll of the advancing infantry. My advance was also disrupted by Rick playing well timed combat cards and Ambush cards to thwart my best laid plans!

The German defences hold out. They reach 7 medals.

Eventually, the British attack ran out of steam. Rick reached 7 medals to my 4.

A really enjoyable game. We will play this scenario again, with Rick having the opportunity to succeed where I failed.

QUARTERMASTER GENERAL: 1914. THE FIRST GAME

For our latest Thursday game, Rick and I gave Quartermaster General: 1914 a try. With two players, I took the Central Powers (Germany, Austria/Hungary, Ottoman Empire) and Rick the Entente powers (Britain/US, France/Italy and Russia).

Initial set up.

Despite there only being two players, each 'country' has it's it's own turn, in strict order, using it's own themed deck and drawing from a limited pool of units. The object is to accumulate points in the scoring rounds (17 rounds, score on rounds 3, 7, 11, 15 and 17), when countries gain points for objective areas that they occupy.

The game in full swing.

During a turn each country has the chance to play a card from their hand, prepare (play face down) a card and use a card already prepared. Units are built by playing the appropriate card from the hand or recruited using event cards.
There is no movement in the game. Territory is gained by attacking a region, playing an attack card. The defender gets a chance to use any prepared defence cards. The attacker then gets to play any sustained attack cards they have prepared. An undefended attack or a sustained attack that exceeds the defender's cards removes the defenders unit. A unit can then be built on the empty territory.

The finite number of units and the means of expanding your territory mean that each country needs to have a plan that they stick to. It is possible to co-ordinate the actions of the powers, to an extent, but a lot will depend on the initial card hands drawn.

As we played the game, it became apparent that the card decks were important in more than one way. One other function of cards that are prepared, and some event cards, is to cause attrition. This means that the target country has to discard cards. As decks are not replenished, this means that the affected country loses potentially valuable cards and also it's ability to continue the war is reduced. If a country runs out of cards, they continue in the game, but lose victory points when called to discard cards.

In the game, the Austro-Hungarians started well, expanding to the south. The Germans and the British fought inconclusively in France and Belgium.Later in the game, the Russians started to affect the game, drawing troops away from Europe. The Austro-Hungarians/Ottomans ran out of cards, which allowed the French/Italians to hold off an attack on Italy.

Unfortunately, we did not have time to complete the game, and called it as an 18 point each draw after 11 turns out of the 17 completed after three hours. It will definitely be a Saturday game, when we have more time. Perhaps once we are familiar with the game, we can squeeze it into an evening.

It is an enjoyable game with subtle mechanics that give it an historic feel.

MEMOIR 44: EASTERN FRONT.

During my never ending attempts to de-clutter my flat, I came across my Memoir '44 collection.I keep a notebook with the results of past games. It showed that the last time I had played was 8 December 2011!

To put that right, our Thursday game a couple of weeks ago was the Suomussalmi scenario from the Russo - Finnish war (scenario 38). This saw a Soviet held village being attacked by Finnish ski-troops, with a Soviet relief force trying to break through the Finnish defences. We managed to play the game twice during the evening. I took the Soviets first.      

The set up. The Soviets hold the village. The Soviet relief column is at the bottom left.

Early in the game, the Finns attack.

The Finnish attack, well under way. 

The Soviet forces whittle down the attacking ski troops whilst keeping pressure on the roadblock.

The first game ended 6 medals to 2 in the Soviet's favour.

For the second game, I took the Finns. 

The Soviets got good cards and my dice rolling was poor. I managed to whittle away at the Soviet units, without getting decisive die rolls needed.

In the end the Soviets ran out winners by the same score as in the first game: 6-2. 

It was good to get back into the game. This scenario was a bit of a challenge. After game discussion came to the conclusion that the only way for the Finns to win would be for them to concentrate on getting medals, rather than taking the village. The results recorded on the website seem to fall 50/50, which does not bear out our experience.

However, I think it has inspired us to continue playing. There are a lot of scenarios and expansions to get through!

SAGA: BATTLE AT THE BRIDGES.

A few Thursdays ago, we had another go at SAGA. This time it was the Battle At The Ford scenario. 

Once again, Rick took the Anglo Saxons and I used my Scots.

Starting positions. The Scots on the left, the Anglo-Saxons on the right. 

View from behind the stone circle of the starting positions of the levy archers.

Warlord and the bulk of the Scots set up to take the right hand bridge.

The Anglo Saxons attack over the bridge to drive the levy archers from the stone circle.

After causing casualties, the Warriors engage the Scots levy. This forces the Scots Warlord to move to intercept.

The Anglo Saxon Levy cross the bridge to support the warriors attacking the stone circle.

The Scots Warlord and his bodyguard cause heavy casualties among the Anglo Saxon levy and warriors. 

The Anglo Saxon warlord and his bodyguard holds one bridge (after seeing off the Scots warlord). A unit of Thegns attacks a unit of Scots warriors. The Levy engage the remaining Anglo Saxon Warriors.

The end of the game. The Anglo Saxons claim victory as they hold both bridges and score more VPs for having figures on the opponent's bank.

It was a close result on points, but a comprehensive Anglo Saxon victory. I concentrated too much on one bridge and ended up with neither of them.

A couple of weeks later, we played the Sacred Ground scenario. After having problems with the stone circle terrain, which meant having to remove it, I knew I had to find a solution for he next game. More details in the next post. 

PELELIU: A RE-RUN.

We re-played the Peleliu scenario from Combat Commander Pacific the Thursday after our games day (see previous post). I played the Japanese defenders and Rick took the US Marines.

Initial set up. I set up to take advantage of the enfilade special rule.

The US Marines surge forward under the cover of smoke from mortars and WP grenades.

Despite taking casualties, the marines manage to get round the back of the Japanese positions. While the forward bunkers are assaulted. The Japanese respond with  mortar fire on the supporting 50 Cal.

In the end, the US manage to take all the objectives and win the game.

This game moved quicker as the rules were still in our head and we were familiar with the scenario. Despite early success in causing casualties on the Marines, a lack of fire cards and Rick keeping my forward bunkers busy, my defences were overwhelmed. It shows we can finish a scenario in a night. It may need us to play a block of games to keep us familiar with the game. Maybe next year!

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.

THURSDAY ON WEDNESDAY: DBA 2.2.

A bit of a change this week. My normal Wednesday gaming group was cancelled because David had visitors. Rick was unavailable for our normal Thursday game, so we moved to Wednesday.

To make up for the lack of preparation time, Rick went for DBA 2.2, which we had not played for a while, although we have had a few games of Hodes of The Things, in the recent past.

It also gave us a chance to dust off our 15mm armies, which we also use for Commands & Colors.

 

The first battle was my Norse Irish against Rick's Later Saxons.  

The armies arrayed. Seen from behind my Norse Irish, Rick has gone for a concentrated smaller front.

The Saxons move quickly forward. Norse Irish light forces.

Saxon light horse destroy a unit of Norse Irish psiloi.

 

The light horse face a unit of auxila.

The armies close.

First clash. Rick lines up the units for combat. The Saxon hordes are still behind the battle line. The Norse Irish nobles are held in reserve.

The battle lines clash. The lighter auxila are pushed back, but destroy a saxon unit.

The heavier Saxon forces start to take toll on the auxila.



The marauding light horse dispatch a unit of auxila, my fourth loss, to give the Saxons the victory.



The second battle was my Hindu Indian taking on Rick's Sung Chinese.

The armies arrayed.

 



My psiloi, cavalry and bows rush for the hill 



A unit of my psiloi is destroyed after a foolhardy attack on bows.

My bows act as a screen for and attempt to shoot in an attack by my Elephants.

One of my bows is lost in a duel with the Chinese artillery and crossbows.

The combat on the hill intensifies.

 

In the cavalry battle, a unit of Indian cavalry is destroyed.

A general view of the battlefield.

 

The elephants are almost in action on the left flank..



In the battle on the hill, a unit of Indian bows is destroyed by Chinese spears. Victory to Rick's Chinese

 

 

 

 

 

Both games were close and tense. We managed to get both games played in little over two hours. It was a fine change of pace and very quick to set up and put away.

 

Some food for thought, methinks!