Featured Minis #7
GHQ microarmor for the Western Desert


British A13 cruiser tanks

Some Italians - M11 tanks and infantry.

The sand flocking is stuff I scraped of my front yard here in AZ.  Buy Local!!!

War of the Roses with Triumph! on terrain maker hexes.

  These are 5mm H&R figures for War of the Roses.  The terrain is GHQ terrain maker.  I've got to say the hexes are vintage, they've held up for nearly 3 decades.

Triumph! rules are very very similar to DBA with a few differences.  They are a good set for fast play small table ancients for people who cannot understand DBA because of the dense prose.

Featured Miniature #6b

Yeah so I went on about the Dendra armor but didn't put a picture of the mini up.  I found the dude skulking in the back of the box.  Maybe he was tired of lugging around a few dozen pounds of bronze.  Here he is.

Featured Miniature #6

Mycenaean Greek 15mm from Old Glory.  I painted many of these in authentic style, then I saw the "Troy" movie and took a liking to the Hollywood-hip black/grey/bronze outfits. 

There are a few figures in this collection that are wearing the "Dendra Panoply", which is a big bronze trashcan of armor and is very cool.  It seems that the armor was so heavy the wearers would ride a chariot to their spot in the battle, then get out and fight, making them the first armored mobile infantry in the world!
See more on the Dendra Panoply

Into the woods

Just discovered my box of Terrain Maker hexes. Best estimate is that they are almost 30 years old.  Here's a teaser.

Featured Miniature #5

Pzkfw IV tank.  This is a Forces of Valor 1/72 model from Unimax.  I think I bought it in Walmart or Toys R Us.  This is how it came out of the box.  No painting or touch ups by me.  Coolest part is it has rubber tracks and rolling wheels!  This line may not be in production anymore, certainly not available in big box stores, but I have seen some online.  This will make an appearance in a soon-to-be published 2nd battle report of Crossfire.

Game Report: Rome vs Carthage in 2mm scale with TRIUMPH! rules

Triumph! is a new rule set from the Washington Grand Company for fast-play ancient wargaming.  For those of you familiar with DBA, it is very similar.  I have read comparisons between it and DBA 2.2+, which was a fan-made extension of original DBA.  They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...so, it has that going for it.

There are many different troop types so you don't  have that problem where your New Kingdom swordsmen are exactly the same as Roman Legionaries are the same as Viking Axemen.  Which is good.  Cavalry has gotten a boost with new troop types including "Bad Horse", which this author thinks describe Roman Equites quite nicely.

TRIUMPH! has a points system, so gone are the limitations of 12 stands per army.  This alone may make some DBA-haters come in from the cold. It also has a big battle system available for free online.  There are also some special rules and a card system where a card can be played to set off a one time special rule.  You can probably ignore the cards if you want.  Dismountables and special support situations for certain army lists are allowed.  Overall there is more flavor and chrome than you get with vanilla DBA, and I think it is worth a look.

Today's game was Polybian (Republican) Roman vs Carthaginian.

This is presented using 2mm figures from Irregular Miniatures UK.  They are based in DBA standard 40mm frontage.  If you are limited in space and budget - and have good eyes - this is a scale that can give you a real battlefield feel.

Republican Romans.  Triari at the rear.

Carthaginians.  Elephants at center.

Carthage Deployment.  An MU is 1/2 a base width.  All board measurement is done is MUs.

Closeup of 2mm scale Elephants with escort. Okay so you laugh.  "There so tiny"!  "Ed, you're an idiot!"  "You Fool! Stop before you ruin miniature wargaming for all time!"
Yeah, shut up.  I like them.

Romans deploy with skirmishers front.

The battle is joined.  Carthage decides to push the elephants, escorted by skirmishers in the center, with a double rank of warriors (Mercenary Gauls) with the Light infantry (Punic militia) on the far right.  The Romans managed to march past the rough ground so they would not have to fight in it where they would be -2 to their die roll.

Carthage cavalry takes the far left flank.

Three stands of Carthaginian Heavy Infantry make up the reserve.















 In the end, the Romans were able to fight the elephants to a standstill.  Roman Elite Heavy Infantry (Triari) eventually crushed the right flank of the Carthaginians.  By the time the Carthage Heavy Infantry reserve got in to the fight, they put up a good showing, but it was too late.  Having lost 5 stands to the Roman's 2, it was over.

Featured Mini 4

28mm Old Glory Man at Arms on partially armored horse.  From the WOTR series.

A Crossfire Wargame Playtest - Part 2

Quarantine Crossfire - Part 2

Still not safe to go out ...so here is part 2.  The Americans now realize that the terrain has been placed in their favor, and it is always good to have more than a 2 to 1 advantage in numbers.  Although the 2nd platoon has taken some lumps, the 1st platoon is steadily advancing.

It is US initiative (the 4th) They try to rally 2nd platoon and promptly fail.  Boo, 2nd Platoon!

German +2 PC gets brave.  He wants to be able to form a Crossfire with the HMG and the squad.  First he has to survive reactive fire from the Americans.  He moves behind the house and then climbs in the window.  Reactive fire is a miss.

The Crossfire goes off, but the HMG misses completely.  Initiative is lost!

American 5th initiative.

 In this initiative, the Americans go on a hot streak.  First, they rally two pins.

 Then the US HMG suppresses the German HMG!

 The right hand squads move to the hedge.  They are fired at and both pinned.  It takes a suppression to lose initiative so it is still the US turn.

HMG and squad open up on the Germans in the house. Suppression!

The +1PC moves up and rallies both squads by the hedge

The situation.  Germans are taking it on the chin.  The US side is figuring out how to close to close combat and finish this without losing initiative.

Going with the odds, the HMG fires on the German HMG again.  Another suppression (2hits) on an already suppressed stand causes double-secret suppression.  Otherwise known as eliminated.

The squad in the same house as the HMG fires at the Farfegnugen guys (remember them?) and double secretly suppresses them!  The Germans are in deep trouble.

 1st platoon squads by the hedge who rallied earlier now form a group fire on the squad in the right hand house. A suppressed result by one squad means US keeps initiative.

Now it is time for 2nd platoon.  The FO moved to cover earlier so cannot call in mortar fire, but the US doesn't think it will be needed.  A squad rallies off it's suppression (veteran squad with +1PC needs only a 3+ to do that) And they try to pick their route for an assault on the house.

 They pivot (1 action)then move forward to the next field (2nd action)  If the Germans had LOS to them they could be fired at each time they move. However the hedges and the smoke from the burning halftrack mask them.

They move across the road and line up for a straight shot.  The German squad is suppressed so it cannot fire at the attackers.

 Moving to contact.  Close combat is an opposed d6 with mods. The Americans get +1 for the PC, +1 for being veteran, +1 for the second squad , and +2 because the enemy is suppressed.  The Germans get +1 for veteran.  So +5 to +1.

The roll is 4(+5) to 3(+1).  CC is bloody in this game.  All stands of the losing side are eliminated.

The Americans take the house, but are promptly shot and pinned by the German squad in the field behind.  The squad could not fire at the Americans as they closed because there was no LOS through the building. Still, the pin results do not end the US initiative. I assume the last remaining Germans will take off running after this.

All in all, it was pretty fun.  Took about 30 minutes of actual play time but it was a very small scenario with an almost pre-determined outcome.  I'd say the tactics needed seemed realistic.  The American side got really hot on the dice in the 5th initiative and sealed the deal.  If the US had rolled badly, I could see the game going on for a while.  The Americans would have to use the mortar for smoke support or suppressive fire followed by a risky assault.

The rules are very simple, but there are some nuances, such as Crossfires and Group fires which are vitally important.  Reading the terrain and deciding which stands act before others takes some practice, so there is a steep learning curve.

One thing I like is that both players must be fully engaged whether they are phasing or not. You can't walk off to the fridge while the other guy moves his forces.  You got to watch the board for your chance to gun him down in the street like the dog he is!

Lastly, I am not sure this game can ever be a multiplayer game.  The best bet would to be divide the board into sectors and have the players face off in basically separate games.  Still, that seems to be the net outcome in most multiplayer games at our club.

Hope you enjoyed!

A Crossfire Wargame Playtest - part 1

 Quarantine Crossfire - Part 1

To relieve the Co-vid blues I decided to test run a small game of Crossfire.  Solo of course.  Here's my table with all homemade modular terrain.  I have only a slight idea how to properly set up Crossfire terrain.  You need a lot, and you don't want any long lines of sight, but you do need fire lanes.  We'll see how it goes.

The scenario: US infantry trying to push a German rear guard out of a small village.  The US forces are 2 platoons with +1 PCs (platoon Commander) plus 1 HMG and a FO (forward observer) handling an 81mm mortar which is off table.

Here they are again.  These are 1/72 plastics from Italeri I think?  So are the Germans. All dating back many years. 

 The Germans have 1 platoon with a +2 PC and an HMG...












... and they have deployed along the north side of the road in the buildings and the field.  The HMG is set up in the walled garden.  Crossfire is very abstract about LOS.  If you are in the terrain piece you can see out and be seen.  But it is -1 die to anyone who fires at you.

 The US forces set up.  They will try to infiltrate along the east side of the road to get into firing position and set up the HMG.  2nd platoon with the FO is behind a small hill and will try to swing east and take the Germs in flank.

 

 1st platoon creeps up...The Germans don't see them

 2nd platoon tries a dash from behind the hill, but they are in full view of the center German squad which opens up and stops them cold.  Yellow is pinned and red is suppressed.  The US declared a group move which means even though some stands get suppressed or even killed, the rest of the stands may move.  The Germans scored a suppression so the US loses initiative.

German initiative 1.  Same squad opens up on the stopped platoon.  Rolling 3 dice (since the target is not in cover) he scores 3 hits.  That is a kill.  1 hit is a pin, 2 hits a suppression.  Killing one squad he gets to fire again at the next.  As long as you can keep getting a suppressed result or better, you can keep shooting.  If you don't, you loose initiative and it passes to the other side.

Firing again, he rolled only one hit.  Enough for a pin (which has no effect as the squad already is pinned).  However a suppressed result on an already suppressed stand is a kill!

Failing to at least suppress, it is now US initiative 2.

 Sneaking sneakily the Americans approach the house from behind.  The HMG behind the wall prepares to do Reactive Fire (fire from the non-phasing player vs targets that are moving) and opens up on them with 3 dice.  HMGs roll 4 dice against targets in the open and like everything else, lose 1 die if the target is in protective cover.
Unfortunately, he has missed with all 3 dice.  If you do not score at least a pin in reactive fire, you lose the ability to fire for the rest of the phase (called No Fire).  This is fantastic news for the Americans

 

 These Germans are set up in a building.  These Germans are angry because the Americans are being sneaky and taking advantage of terrain placement to not be seen.  "Who told us this was a good spot!!"

Since the HMG can not fire, and the other squad can't see them, the Americans rush forward.

 Using a Group fire, the US is able to suppress the HMG.  They retain initiative and try again to possibly kill it which would most likely be doom for the Germans. This time they miss completely and initiative passes.  German fire is ineffective and the HMG does not get a chance to rally.

 The heroes in 1st platoon (top right) are getting it done, but the slackers in 2nd are just laying around.  the brown markers are for "Ground Hugging" which is something you can do to keep from getting your ass shot off if for some reason you are caught in the open.  For this initiative they decided to attempt to rally.  Roll a d6 for each stand.  However if you fail, initiative passes.

 Some good rolling later and they feel much better about themselves.  Good enough for the FO to call in some righteous smoke!  It's easy, pick you spot and roll a 3 or better.  Indirect fire weapons come with a limited amount of ammo, usually 12 missions.  The pesky German squad cannot see a thing!

 They try to cut the flank but they run across the fire lane of the Farfegnugen guys who felt pretty perky having a target finally.  Initiative passes.

 The German HMG rallies.  The German +2 PC thinks about climbing over the wall, but an entire US platoon can draw a bead on him if he does.  You don't get a first name like "+2" for being stupid!

Loaded up again, the HMG tries to take on the approaching Americans.  The Germans are too spread out to do a group fire so they have to go one after the other.  But the HMG fails to even pin, so initiative is lost!


End part 1