Random: That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die- Dead Games

Is the “Golden Age of Wargaming” coming to an end? In the last several weeks, several gaming companies have been shutting their doors.  The biggest may have been Spartan Games, but there have been many others.  Perhaps the barriers to entry were lowered by Kickstarter campaigns (All Quiet on the Martian Front- though thankfully revived by Ironclad Games) but the reality of business is that the vast majority of businesses do not survive more than 5 years.  We often only think of the big success stories when we think of business.  However, for every success story there are 50 to 80 companies that did not make it.  Therefore, we should not be surprised when a company of any type, even long established ones; end up dying.  It is the nature of business. 

It is even more common that a game itself will die off.  The company may live on but its offspring are left to wallow and fade away.  On this very blog you can see examples of this phenomenon such as Aeronautica Imperialis.   The game is no longer supported by its parent company and no new materials or miniatures will be made.  It is at this point where you have a “dead” game; i.e. one that is no longer supported.

In addition to dead games there is also a type of game I like to call a Stand-alone game.  These games were never intended to have long term support.  Instead, the company simply published them and moved on.  These are typically “rules only” affairs and are frequently range agnostic.  The Osprey Wargames Series is the classic example.

Osprey is a publisher so naturally publish books.  They leave the rest of the business of a wargames company to others.  Such an arrangement allow all involved to focus on what they are good at doing and not try to take on challenges outside of their scope or operations.  Think of Frostgrave.  Osprey publishes the rules, while North Star makes the official lines.  This allows both companies to do what they do best!

Wargamers are an odd breed.  They like to have “support” from a game company.  To most wargamers this means a few different things:

1. New products to buy! – They want new shiny!  New models, cards, rules, FAQs, custom dice etc.  All things that expand or build on the game. 
2. Supported Play!- Many gamers want some sort of organized play or a community at the least. Frequently this takes the form of tournaments.  However, it can also take the form of online campaigns, forums, other players.
3. Company Sponsored Content!- They want the company to keep putting out “new” stuff for them to read or interact with.  This takes the form of battle reports, fiction, artwork, etc.    

If these wants are not met, the game is considered unsupported.  Wargamers do not seem to like “unsupported” game lines.

For me, I see “Dead Games” as an exciting opportunity.  Granted, I know my perspective on games is a bit different than a large and vocal segment of the community.  That is cool.  I am glad they are having fun doing what they do.  Many gamers are only interested in what is allowed.  In a “living” game that is fully supported with the points I outlined above what is “allowed” is the heart of the matter.  Gamers what to play within the confines of what the game manufacturer says they can do with the product. 

For example, if you want to play in a tournament (or with people who go to tournaments) then they are mostly interested in things that they can play at said tournament.  They are only interested in what the rules allow and what the game allows to be played.  This makes sense since everyone at a tournament needs the same base understanding of the rules in order to play a tournament.  Otherwise, it would be like playing a game with a 4 year old that constantly changes the rules as you go. 

However, once a game is “dead” you no longer need to be interested in what is allowed.  There are no tournaments.  There is no organized play.  There are no pre-set models or new releases.  What is allowed in the game is irrelevant since the game is “dead”.  Now is when a game gets interesting to me.  It is no longer about what is allowed, but instead what is possible.  Once a game is “dead” the game is no longer in the realm of purely the manufacturer but in the hands of the community or player.  They are the only ones who can keep it going, keep it relevant, and keep it from stagnating.

Once you own a ruleset, it never dies.  It can always be played.  In a sense, a game is like an undead thing.  It can go on living a strange new life even after it is “dead”.  The community and players no longer need the game designers to spoon feed them what is allowable.  Now it is up to the players to define what is possible.  Once a game dies, it is an exciting time to be involved. 

Of course, I hope all of our “Golden Age of Wargaming” favorites keep being supported.  However, for most of us the chances are very high that our darlings will die.  That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.  The game is dead!  Long live the rules!    

All Quiet on the Martian Front: Battle Report- Counter-attack at Yellow Medicine River

After the defeat at Camp Release, the Martians attempted to chase down the fleeing humans.  However, they encountered unexpectedly stiff resistance.  The delay allowed the Minnesota volunteers to regroup at Fort Ridgeley.  High Command at Fort Snelling rushed reinforcements to the area to bolster the defenses. 

After the success of the rearguard, the Minnesota Volunteers sent an armored column back up the river to blunt the continued Martian advance and to probe the enemy for potential weakness.  A screening force of Rough Riders went ahead of the main force looking for trouble.  Behind this screen came steaming the armored column. 

Little did the humans know, but a Martian advanced guard had been put in place to act as a trip wire for the rest of the cell.  These machines were dug into the woodlands, fields, and bluffs of the region.  There they waited for the expected human counter-attack.

Forces

Martian Advanced Guard  

Scout + Target- 150

Grenadier- 100

Slaver Tripod- 100

2x Lobotons- 40

3x Drones- 60

3x Assault Tripods

Minnesota Volunteers

2 Rough Rider Squads- 90 points

Reserves-

1 MkII Command Tank-

3 MK II Tanks- 240

3 MK II Tanks- 240

3 MKIII Tanks- 280

1 Field Gun Battery- 80

Mission

The Martians are in hiding using Blip markers scattered around the board.  1 Blip marker per unit, so it is clear Tripods are about, but unclear where they are.  Blips are revealed when you come within 6 inches of them, they move, or they shoot. 

The Minnesota Volunteers will have initiative to start the battle.  The bulk of the Minnesota forces are in reserve.  They will begin to arrive in Turn 2 on a d6 roll of 5+ with each subsequent turn reducing it 1 until they auto arrive at 1+. 

The treeline is soft cover for all units for Def +1.  

The Martians are trying to destroy the human attackers while the Humans are trying to drive the Martians away and press on up river. 

Set-up

The board is fields to the south, with the dense Great Woods on the North side.  The River is assumed to be just off board to the south.  A few scattered bluffs block off the fields and woods. 

On the Easy side, two squads of Rough Rider scouts are deployed 6 inches in from a short board edge. The Minnesota Volunteers will arrive on this edge.  Martian blips are along the tree line and behind a few bluffs. 

Turn 1:

Initiative:  Minnesota Volunteers

The Rough Riders race forward but are still too far away to reveal any blips.  Those canny Martians are in deep cover. 

However, a scout Tripod chooses to rise up from behind a bluff in front of the first Rough Rider squad.  Instead of using its fearsome Heat Ray, it illuminates the 2^nd Rough Rider squad near the woods.  From the distant tree line the familiar double “Whoomp” of a grenadier tripod can be heard.  Dreaded B;ack Dust fall within the squad and kill 2 units, and cause the third to flee.  The Scout, its mission accomplished falls back from the advancing humans. 

Turn 2:

Initiative: Martians win!

The scout paints the second Rough Rider Squad.  This time, Black Dust rains on them from the Grenadier and causes one unit to wither and die.  However, his squad mates stay in the fight!

The fleeing cyclists from 2^nd Squad rally and turn their bikes around.   The first squad takes cover behind a bluff, while the remains of the second head for the closest blip in the treeline.  Meanwhile, the rest of their column begins to rumble into the area.  The command tank leads the MkIIIs and a squad of Mark IIs pulling the field guns. 

In their second move, the 2^nd squad of Rough Riders revealed two blip markers to be Lobotons! 

Turn 3:

Initiative: Minnesota Volunteers

The Rough Riders scoot along the tree line and reveal a unit of Drones!  The field Battery unhook and set-up to fire.  Meanwhile, the last of the armored column rumbles onto the board. 

 The MKIII’s target the scout and open fire with a deafening barrage.  The scout loses a point of armor. The MkII’s reduce the Loboton slicers to 1 stand.  In response, the rest of the alien monsters stumble out of their hiding places to attack the humans!

Heat Rays reach out to the advancing Tanks!  In the barrage, a MkII is detonated by shock canisters and two of the leading MKII’s are brewed up!  The human remnants stay in the fight.  Martian Drones swarm the Rough Riders of 2^nd squad.  The brave riders are all killed! 

Turn 4:

Initiative: Minnesota Volunteers

The human advance is slowed by burning tanks, but they manage to form a firing line to concentrate their fire on the Martian slaver.  The barrage starts with the Command tanks machine gun cutting down the approaching Slicers.  With that, the signal flag goes up and the rest of the tanks open fire on the Slaver in a coordinated salvo!  The Field Batteries also target the Slaver, but the barrage manages to take out a nearby Drone.  Despite all the firepower, the Slaver still stands tall. 

The Martian counter-attack is fierce!  The last of Squad 1’s MKII’s is brewed up by the Blasters.  Meanwhile, various single shots from Heavy Heat Rays eliminate the last two MkIII tanks.  Things do not look good for the Volunteers.  

   

The Martian infantry presses forward and closes in on the tanks.  Their masters continue to lurk cautiously in the tree line. 

Turn 5:

Initiative: Minnesota Volunteers

The remaining Volunteers slowly start falling back, their cannons blazing.  However, their fire is relatively ineffective.  The machine gun from the Rough Riders only manages to take out 1 Blaster.  The field batteries quickly limber up as the Minnesotans prepare to withdraw off the board. 

The Martians sense victory and their war horns begin to blow to signal for a pursuit.  Their Heat Rays lash out with precision fire.  The Human Command tank explodes from a direct hit!   Black Dust from the grenadier and Loboton fire takes out two more MKIIs.  As the Martian forces close in the last few Minnesotans decide that retreat is not enough and instead break into a rout! 

Conclusion

With the defeat of the Minnesotans counter-attack the Minnesota River Valley returned to a hostile stalemate.  The Martian advance had been blunted, but the Humans had failed to gain back any territory lost to the advancing Tripods.  Instead, a stalemate developed near the Wood Lake area of the river.  Minnesotan and federal engineers began to hastily assemble defensive emplacements there of barbed wire, trenches, and gun emplacements. 

Meanwhile, replacement equipment from the Twin Cities industrial area began to pour into the Minnesota River Valley.  Fort Snelling even received authorization to deploy Federal troops to support the defenses.  A showdown was coming between man and Martian in the Minnesota River Valley.

Final Thoughts

Huh, Lobotons are kind of cool.  They are dirt cheap and forced me to draw back as my daughter pressed forward.  They were hardly worth shooting, but I couldn’t let them just keep coming.  On the other hand, I couldn’t seem to get solid shots on the Slaver either.  In this game I managed 5 damaging hits, to 13.  That will never allow you to win. 

Kudos to my kid for concentrating her firepower.  I got too aggressive with my tanks and pushed them too far forward.  I should have kept them at range and forced the Martians to come to me.  I might have been able to divide them and pick them off piece meal.  However, she stayed disciplined and let her firepower take its toll. 

The Minnesota River Valley Campaign continues!

Rampant Stars- Battle Report- Battle at the Farm II: Farm Harder!

Welcome to my second Battle Report for Rampant Stars.  If you have seen my review of Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, Dux Bellorum, or The Men Who Would Be Kings; you will be familiar with the name Daniel Mersey.  He has designed a number of fun games for the Osprey Wargaming Series.  Rampant Stars is an intentional homage to his rules systems but set in a Sci-fi setting.  You will see many similarities between this system and Dan’s works.

The leaders of the Spaz Marines believe they are the only true inheritors of the galaxy and are constantly trying to kill, maim, and burn any other sentient species they come across.  Therefore, the Spaz Marines were not too happy to find alien Tripods on one of “their” agri-worlds causing problems. 

The Tripod’s proved to be a bigger problem than the Spaz Marines first thought.  The Spaz Marines failed to destroy the entrance to the Tripods warrens.  Now, they were spilling out and destroying farming facilities and supplies across the planet.  Did those silly Tripods actually believe that this was their planet?  They would need to be taught a lesson in who were the rightful rulers of the galaxy.  But first, they had to be stopped from destroying what made the planet worth having in the first place!  

Forces

Pink Spaz Marines

·         Command- Elite Mounted- 10 Points

o   Commander

o   Jump Gear

o   Combat Gear

·         Tac-Squad Alpha- Elite Infantry- 8 Points

o   Armored

o   Rapid Fire

·         Tac-Squad Beta- 6 Points

o   Armored

24 Points Total

Martian Tripods

·         Command- Regular Mounted- 8 points

o   Commander

o   Rapid Movement

o   Long Range

·         Regular Mounted- 6 points

o   Rapid Movement

·         Regular Mounted- 6 Points

o   Rapid Movement

·         Drones- Regular Infantry- 4 points

o   Cerebral Synapse Link

24 Points total

Mission

Missions are generated by rolling 3d6 three times and consulting a mission, complication, and Location chart.  In this case we rolled for mission and complications but decided for ease to keep the farmland board.  Of course, you don’t have to roll any at all, but for a test game we might as well go for it!  

Property Destruction

The defender sets-up the board per the terrain guidelines.  It must have 5 pieces of terrain to be destroyed in the scenario as well.  These can be piles of crates, animal pens, huts, etc.  The attacker chooses a table edge.  The defender deploys within 6 inches of the terrain pieces.  The attacker then deploys touching any board edge they wish.  The attacker is trying to destroy the terrain by reducing each terrain piece by 4 Effectiveness Ratings.  Each terrain piece has an armor rating of 2.

Dawn

The battle starts at the break of dawn.  Initial Line-of-sight is 0’ inches.  At the end of each turn, the Line-of-Sight distance increases by 6 inches.  Therefore, at the end of Turn 1 the Line-of-sight is 6 inches, at the end of turn 2 it is 12 inches, at the end of turn 3 it is 18 inches, etc, etc.  This continues until the full length of the board is available.   

Location

Outdoor, Farmland

The battle is taking place outdoors near a farm. Terrain is orchards, fields, barns, and herd animals.  There should be 1d6 large/herds of farm Animals on the board.  They block Line-of-sight and are treated as a Mounted Untrained Mob .  They always move away from the closest unit and are moved after all other units have been activated.  The Attacker moves a herd first, and then the defender and keep trading off until all herds have been moved.    

We stuck with the 1 herd as I was out of toy frogs!  That is something I will need to remedy.

Well then…. This should be something. 

Set-up

This board is 6x4 in size.  There are five objectives scattered across the fields and orchards.  From East to West it is 3 moisture gatherers, a silo behind a hill, a barn by an orchard, a set of barrels by a hedge, and a gathering tower in an orchard.  The herd of frogs is between the barn and the orchard.      

The Tripods have the Scouts to the East to attack the moisture gatherers, Commander in the center heading for the barn, and the drone moving up behind the orchard. 

The Pink Spaz Marines have Tac-squad Alpha near the silo and ready to move up to shield it and make a play at the moisture gatherers.  The Command squad is near the barrels, and the last Tac-squad is flanking the Command team.

Remember, our Dawn complication!  We will try as well!

Turn 1

In the pre-dawn darkness everyone moves forward.  The Drones who manage to get confused and fail to follow orders.  It is too dark to shoot. 

Turn 2

The drones rally, but Scout Tripod Pink gets shaken and fails to follow orders as the rays of the sun crest over the horizon.  The Pink Spaz Marine Tac-squads try to screen a couple of objectives with their bodies.  The Command squad rushes towards the enemy command Tripod and hides behind the main barn. 

Turn 3

The command Tripod fires on the main barn and destroys it!  One objective down, two to go!  The drones rally and move towards the Gathering Tower.  Scout Pink rallies, while Scout Blue double times forward. 

The Pink Spaz Marines spring into action.  The command squad charges the Tripod command and reduces it 5 effectiveness points, but loses 2 in return.   The Command Tripod is forced to retreat and shaken!  Tac-squad Alpha moves and shoots and damages Scout Blue near the Moisture Gatherers and damages it.    

Turn 4

The Drones skirt the edge of the field to avoid Tac-squad Beta and make for the Gatherer Tower.  Scout Blue and Pink both press forward.  The Command Tripod rallies. 

The Spaz Marines press their attack.  They damage the Command Tripod further causing her to fallback shaken.  Tac-Squad Beta moves up and fires on Scout Blue and damages it.  Tac-Squad Alpha moves to intercept the Drones. 

Turn 5

Scout Pink turns and fires on the Command squad and burns down two effectiveness points.  Scout Blue fires on Tac-squad Alpha and takes out 1 at range.  The Drones fail their orders and are shaken. 

Tac-squad Alpha returns fire and blasts Scout Blue down about 4 points.  The Command Squad charges in and reduces the Command Tripod to 3 effectiveness but the Tripod has the last laugh as the defense takes out the Spaz Marine Commander.  Her comrades barely notice as they easily pass their morale test.

The Drones also force the frogs to stampede into Tac-squad Beta.  The Spaz Marines massacre most of the herd, and lose two of their brothers. 

Turn 6

The drones fail to rally.  Scout Blue realizes too late that he needs to fire on the objectives and reduces it 2 effectiveness points.  Pink moves across to support the attack on the Moisture Gatherer.  The Command tripod is shaken.

Tac-squad Alpha rapid fires at Scout Blue and turns him into small pieces.  Tac-squad Beta moves up. 

The frogs that fled are again stampeded back into Tac-squad Beta, but this time the Spaz Marines hack them into pieces and prepare for a feast of frog-legs back at camp. 

Turn 7

The Drones and Command Tripod rally.  Scout Pink takes long range shots at the Moisture Gatherer and reduces it to 2 Effectiveness. 

Tac-squad Alpha fails to fire due to battlefield friction and are shaken.  Tac-squad beta fires on the Drones at range and damages 1. 

Turn 8

This is it! 

The Command tripod takes a very long-range shot at the Gathering Tower and reduces it 1.  The Drones also fire at range, and reduce it 2 more.  Scout Pink fails to fire at the Moisture Gatherer.  With that, the Tripods fail their objectives. 

Tac-squad Beta takes some celebratory shots on the Drones and reduces them to 7 Effectiveness rating.  Tac-squad Alpha rallies in time to see the Tripods shamble off in defeat! 

Kill!  Maim!  Burn!

Conclusion

The alien tripods fled the battlefield after the sun fully rose.  Perhaps they could not stand full sunlight since they lived underground?  The Spaz Marines did not care.  Aliens were only created for one reason, to be killed!  Today, that purpose was served!  In celebration to the great victory, the Spaz Marines held a feast featuring local cuisine.

The alien attacks on the agri-world’s farms had been thwarted across the planet. The Spaz Marines prepared to go back on the attack!  Kill! Maim! Burn!

Final Thoughts   

Wow, this game is quick and fun.  With photos and recording this game took less than an hour to play.  One of the longest parts was determining the missions/complications/location and setting up the board to match it.  The movement mechanics allow you to move across the board easily and cover a lot of ground.  The combat resolution is very quick and the orders allows for a certain level of uncertainty in the game play.  Creating this battle report probably took longer than the game itself.              

Rampant Stars- Battle Report- Battle at the Farm

Welcome to my first Battle Report for Rampant Stars.  If you have seen my review of Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, Dux Bellorum, or The Men Who Would Be Kings; you will be familiar with the design work of Daniel Mersey.  He has designed a number of fun games for the Osprey Wargaming Series.  Rampant Stars is an intentional homage to his rules systems but set in a Sci-fi setting.  It is intended to be model neutral system.  You will see many similarities between this system and Dan’s works.  This was my first testing of the rules after feverishly writing them down over the New Year’s holiday.  

The leaders of the Spaz Marines believe they are the only true inheritors of the galaxy and are constantly trying to kill, maim, and burn any other sentient species they come across.  Therefore, the Spaz Marines were not too happy to find alien Tripods on one of “their” agri-worlds causing problems. 

The tripods were simply trying to herd the grazing animals off their property.  They have wandered too close to the entrance to one of their underground burrows.  The Spaz Marines intend on smashing their way into the burrow entrance and killing everything not on two-legs.  The Tripods intend to stop them.     

Forces

Pink Spaz Marines

·         Command- Elite Mounted- 10 Points

o   Commander

o   Jump Gear

o   Combat Gear

·         Tac-Squad Alpha- Elite Infantry- 8 Points

o   Armored

o   Rapid Fire

·         Tac-Squad Beta- 6 Points

o   Armored

24 Points Total

Martian Tripods

·         Command- Regular Mounted- 8 points

o   Commander

o   Rapid Movement

o   Long Range

·         Regular Mounted- 6 points

o   Rapid Movement

·         Regular Mounted- 6 Points

o   Rapid Movement

·         Drones- Regular Infantry- 4 points

o   Cerebral Synapse Link

24 Points total

 Mission

Missions are generated by rolling 3d6 three times and consulting a mission, complication, and Location chart.  In this case we rolled 8 for mission, 11 for complication, and 11 for location.  Of course, you don’t have to roll any at all, but for a test game we might as well go for it!  

Forced Entry

The defender sets-up the board per the terrain guidelines.  The attacker than chooses a board edge and places a 6 by 6 inch box along the edge.   The attacker deploys on the opposite board edge up to 6 inches in.  The defender deploys anywhere on the board up to 12 inches away from the attackers.  The attacker has 8 turns or 1 hour to get one non-Shaken unit to complete a Hold order in the box on the defender’s board edge.  If they complete this objective they win, if not the defender wins. 

Rain

Tut tut feels like rain! Sheets of monsoon like rain fall across the battlefield reducing visibility to short range. 

Location

Outdoor, Farmland

The battle is taking place outdoors near a farm. Terrain is orchards, fields, barns, and herd animals.  There should be 1d6 large/herds of farm Animals on the board.  They block Line-of-sight and are treated as a Mounted Untrained Mob .  They always move away from the closest unit and are moved after all other units have been activated.  The Attacker moves a herd first, and then the defender and keep trading off until all herds have been moved.    

We rolled 1 herd… phew.

Well then…. This should be something. 

Set-up

This board is 6x4 in size.  The Tripods are the Defenders and are on the South side of the board.  The burrow entrance is marked off per the Forced Entry rules by a crater.   The largest Tripod is on the western wood, looking at the pond and herd of frogs.  The drones are in the burrow entrances, with the two smaller tripods moving up behind the pond.

The Pink Spaz Marines have their two tac-squads entering near the fields and the mounted unit on the east side.  They will be approaching the pond/barn side of the board.

Due to the monsoon like rains, all ranges are reduced to short.

Turn 1

Due to the monsoon rains, all units choose to move forward.  They all activate successfully on their orders.  The herd moves away from a scout Tripod and towards Tac-squad Beta.

Turn 2

The Pink Spaz Marines all advance double time through the fields, while the assault unit jumps behind the barn for cover.  No shooting occurs through the rains.

The Command tripod skirts the woods with a move/shoot order and fires upon Tac-squad Beta.  Thanks to being Long-range they manage to burn down three Spaz Marines.  Scout Tripod B attempts to move and shoot at the Assault units, but is too far away due to the rain! 

Tripod A tries to move forward, but a failure of command causes it to be shaken instead!  The drones Hold. 

The Frogs flee the advancing Spaz Marine tac-squads.

Turn 3

The Pink Spaz Marines don’t even try to fire back.  Instead, they all double time towards the objective.  The Assault unit tries to Bypass Scout Tripod A, and Tac-Squad Alpha breaks cover from the fields.  However, Tac-Squad Beta is shaken from a failed command check. 

The tripods discipline begins to breakdown.  The command Tripod breaks cover and fires at Tac-squad Alpha and kills 3 Spaz Marines.  The Drones also swarm out of the burrow entrance towards the approaching Tac-squad.  Scout B fails to rally and stands there shaken, while Scout A is shaken by a failed command check too. 

The frogs hop away from the drones and towards Tac-Squad Beta. 

     

Turn 4

Tac-squad Beta is shaken yet again and stays hunkered down in the fields.  Meanwhile, Tac-squad Alpha barrels towards the drones, determined to get to the burrow entrance despite the losses.  The assault unit does the same.  If they are not stopped, they will make it to the objective! 

The Command Tripod blasts Tac-Squad Alpha at takes it down 2 Effectiveness Rating.  It then fails a Morale Check and falls back 6 inches.  The Drones turn on the Assault unit and reduce it 3 Effectiveness rating, which bring sit below half and shakes the unit!  They will need to rally next turn.

Scout Tripod A rallies on the edge, but Scout Tripod B at the pond is still shaken!  The frogs flee from the command tripod and close to Tac-Squad Beta.    

Turn 5

The Pink Spaz Marines are all forced to rally. 

The Tripods are able to capitalize on the Spaz Marines rallies.  The Command Tripod blasts down two more in Tac-Squad Alpha, and causes them to be shaken, but they pass morale checks.  The Drones cut down the last of the assault unit.  Meanwhile, Scout Tripod A double times it around the pond.  Scout B is still shaken and unsure what to do!

Turn 6

Tac=Squad Alpha is forced to Rally.  Tac-Squad Beta moves up and opens fire on the Command Tripod with a Move and Shoot order.  They manage to damage for 2 Effectiveness. 

The Command Tripod kills one more from Tac-Squad Alpha, leaving them with 2 Effectives left.  However, instead of finishing the job, the Drones become shaken and confused as they try to switch targets.  Both Scout Tripods face the same fate! 

The herd moves away from Tac-squad beta

Turn 7

Tac-squad Alpha rapid-fires on the drones, and reduces them 3 Effectiveness.  Tac-squad Beta pings another point of Effectiveness off the Command tripod. 

In return, the Command tripod finishes off Tac-squad Alpha once and for all.  The Drones and Scout Tripod B also rally. 

The frog herd moves towards the pond.

Conclusion

The Grandmaster of the Pink Spaz Marines took the report with chagrin.  His troops had a certain reputation for fearlessness, ruthlessness, and efficiency.  From what he could hear, they hadn’t lived up to it.  I mean, they were defeated by a bunch of Tripods.  I mean who fights with a tripod anyway?  That has got to be one of the most inefficient ways of moving imaginable! 

For the tripods perspective, they were more than happy to take the chance to clear their land of amphibian food stock.  Without the silly Spaz Marines it took no time at all to herd them away.  It was back to peace and quiet.   

Final Thoughts

There was no way the Pink Spaz Marines could win.  They only had 1 squad left that was out of position and could not reach the burrow in the turn.  Per the rules, we could end the game there.  Win for the Tripods! 

Looking back at the game, we forgot that Move and Shoot meant that you got Half Effectiveness for shooting, and we also did Double Time wrong.  We moved them twice as far instead of the d3/d6 respective of unit type.  Whoops!  Even with a bare bones system you can do things wrong on the first play through.

This game was super, duper quick and easy to play.  It was also pretty exciting as things went fast.  The I-Go-U-Go nature of the game did not bog it down at all since there were so few units that could essentially only do one order a turn play flowed between players rapidly with barely enough time to contemplate your counter move before it was your turn again. 

The Mission/Complication/Location generator will also keep this from getting stale.  Different sci-fi traits will play a different importance for different conditions and missions.  Sometimes they will be a steal and other times they will be a waste.  It is easy to go overboard on unit costs and end up being out-numbered and outgunned.    

The Regular and Elites seemed to match up okay, but I am unsure how well irregulars and Militia will do.  This game had a lot of shaken units from failed command checks with low command scores.

Overall, I was happy with how the game played but want to do some more testing.  However, don't take my word for it.   Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think.           

All Quiet on the Martian Front- Battle Report- Retreat from the Yellow Medicine Upper Agency

After the Minnesota Volunteers crushing defeat at the Battle of Camp Release, a general withdrawal to Fort Ridgely was ordered.  However, the orderly withdrawal down the Minnesota River Valley soon turned into a disordered route as Martian Scouts and Harvesters raced up the valley in search of prey.  Reports of Martian sightings as far East as New Ulm sowed panic into the human defenders.  

The action at Yellow Medicine (Also known as the Sioux Upper Agency) was typical of the chaos during the Militia’s general retreat.  

Martians:
3 Scouts
1 Harvester (played by a slaver)

Minnesota Militia:
5 Infantry squads
2 Rough Riders
2 Machine gun squads
1 squad of MKIIs
1 battery of field guns

Set-up

Minnesota Units are placed randomly using a scatter die and 2d10 for distance from the center of the board.  They are all facing Eastward towards the board edge and escape downriver.  The Martians are placed in a line on the Westward side of the valley about 6 inches in from the board edge.

Special Rules

Human units are disordered.  The Human player must first pass a Rally check to be able to control any units.  Otherwise, they will head towards the Eastward board edge at full speed.  

Human units score points for each unit that makes it off the board.  Martians score points for destroying Human units, and double points for any unit consumed by a Harvester.  The side with the most points at the end of the game wins.  

Martians begin with the Initiative automatically.

Turn 1
Initiative: Martians

Martians:
The Martians move forward at full speed and catch up to a lagging Rough Rider squad.  Their Heat Rays make short work of the unit.  All the retreating humans are alerted to the pursuing aliens.

The Scouts tower over the units in the rear, their shadows falling over their prey.

Humans:
3 Infantry Units and both Machine Gun units pull themselves together enough to stop running.

The last Infantry Unit desperately assaults the closest  Scout to try and hold them off so others can escape.   Others try to take cover and prepare to sell their lives dearly.

A Ragged cheer goes up as the brave infantry squad manages to destroy a Scout using grenades!  There is hope yet!  Other shooting or attacks are ineffective.

Turn 2
Initiative: Humans

Humans:
Most of the units in the retreat manage to get a grip to mount a fighting withdrawal.  1 Infantry Unit still remains routing. The brave 5 Platoon storms over the wreckage of the downed Scout and try to assault the next Scout.

A barrage from the Field Guns fails to damage the harvester.  This time, the attack of 5th Platoon only manages to damage the armor of the Scout.  They fall back to the wreckage of their last victim for cover.

Martians:
The Scouts continue to advance, while the harvester moves to deal with the 5th Platoon.

A scout burns two Rough Riders to cinder, but he last one stays in ready to fight!  The other one kills a squad of doughboys with a Heat Ray, but fails to scatter the rest.  The Harvester burns out two squads from 5th Platoon and the rest scatter in terror.   Another unit destroyed!

Turn 3
Initiative: Martians

Bad times for the Humans as the Scouts are rushing the Machine Gun nests that the Humans had managed to dig in and set-up a crossfire with!  The Northern scout manages to vaporize and rout the Machine-gunners on his side of the battlefield.  However, his brother Scout and Harvester fail to break the opposite bank.
 
Humans:
The Mark II tanks fire on the undamaged scout, and a lucky hit causes it to explode in a pillar of green fire!

The field guns drop a barrage on the remaining scout and damage its legs.  The last machine gun squad fires on the Harvester, but the bullets just ping harmlessly off its armor.  The last rough rider squad attacks the Scout, but fails to do anything of note.

The MkII’s and an infantry squad withdraw off the board successfully.

Turn 4
Initiative: Humans

Most of the Minnesota Volunteers manage to flee covered by a single infantry and machine gun unit.  Screening fire on the last Scout damages its armor further.

Martians:
The last scout tries to move, but the roll-off is a tie so it stays wobbling in place.  Firing fails to hit the machine gunners in the woods.

Turn 5
Initiative: Martians

The Scout again tries to move and lurches forward into Heat Ray range.  The Harvester does the same.  They both sweep their Heat Rays over the area the Machine Gunners have taken cover.  One unit is killed, but the other fire and withdraw off the board in good order.

The last scout is further damaged by the covering fire, and its Heat Ray is damaged.

Conclusion
The Martians lost two Scout Tripods of 300 points, and the last scout was seriously damaged!  However, the victory conditions were not set around losses to the Martians, but losses for the humans.

The Martians managed to destroy:
1 Infantry Squad
1 Machine Gun Squad
1 Rough Rider squad
For 115 points

They also damaged 1 Rough Rider squad, Machine gun squad, and Infantry squad, but they were not destroyed so do not count.

The humans evacuated:
1 squadron of MKII tanks
1 Battery of Field guns
3 Infantry squads
For 410 points

Looks like a victory for the Minnesota Militia!

After the Martian rebuff at Yellow Medicine, the Minnesota Militia was given enough breathing room to regroup.  Martian raids down the valley were halted and straggling units were able to regroup at Fort Ridgeley.  Despite the set-back, the Martian threat to the Minnesota River Valley was far from defeated.  On the contrary, it was still on the offensive.