First Ruthless game

Instead of visiting Belgium like many of my countrymen during our sudden national lockdown, my son and I played our first Ruthless game (Ruthless, the fastest rules in the west).

Starting small with 3 figures per side seemed smart so my son played the bandits, who were hiding in a log cabin in the hills after robbing the local bank, while I played the Law who had tracked them down and were now converging on the cabin.

The bandits were led by Mr. Blonde (revolver) with two accomplices: Mr. Gray (repeating rifle) and Mr. Brown (revolver).

Sheriff McCloud (revolver) with two deputies: Crockett (revolver) and Tubbs (repeating rifle) made up the posse bent on bringing back the loot and the bandits dead or alive.

Every character got a toughness of 5 and no traits, to keep things easy.

The posse deployed behind some cover near the table edge and started to move cautiously towards the cabin.

Tubbs takes cover behind a rock.

Pretty soon the bandits started firing at the posse, hitting Crockett in the chest. Meanwhile the sheriff tried to get to a dead spot between the firing angles of the bandits.

Tubbs dashed from his position behind the rock to take cover behind a stack of crates, getting closer to the cabin. Despite his chest wound Crockett kept firing at Mr. Gray, taking another bullet in the arm from Mr. Gray's repeating rifle.

The sheriff reached the cabin and moved to exchange shots with Mr. Brown, both missing their target. Tubbs charged through the cabin door and opened up on Mr. Blonde. Mr. Gray spun round and fired at Tubbs. This allowed Crockett to reach the cabin and fire through the window at Mr. Gray.

The game now continued as a shootout where everybody fired at each other.

Both sides had people wounded in arms, legs and chests, knocked unconscious and recovering from that. The amount of missed shots was unbelievable, but finally Mr. Blonde was mortally wounded.

The next one to succumb was Tubbs. But my son rolled a 1 on his skedaddle roll so the game was technically a win for the Law. However both the sherrif and Crockett were wounded in arms, legs and chest, while Mr. Brown had not a single scratch, so we decided he grabbed the loot before he skedaddled while the sheriff and Crockett had to hope they were found before dying of their wounds.

Mr. Brown skedaddles with the loot.

It was a fun game which would probably have ended sooner if we hadn't forgot to take Lily livered dice roll tests every time a model was wounded.

I really liked the playing card driven initiative system, the fact that you have to reload your guns and the simple d10 shooting system. The rules could be used for any cops & robbers or gang wars scenario as long as they are lightly armed (no assault rifles and such). You would only need to adapt the character cards to allow for the larger automatic pistol magazines and pump action shotguns. And of course you only need a few miniatures per side!

Unfortunately my buildings don't have lift off roofs and a lot of the action of the game took place inside the cabin. I'm thinking using a floor plan of the building once the fighting moves inside next time.

Project Star Wars Part 5: Painted Jawa's

I've moved my assembled Star Wars miniatures to the front of the painting queue and started with the Jawa's.

The entire group:

Utinni!

Next in line are the Rebel Alliance miniatures.

All American campaign: Probe along the road

Taking a break from our Winter Storm campaign we decided to play the All American campaign, covering the fight around the La Fiere causeway. This was the first time we used the Toofatlardies At The Sharp End (ATSE) campaign rules.

We named our leaders and worked out their backgrounds from the background generator in ATSE and off we went with the first scenario: Probe along the road.

The Probe requires one team to reach the opposite table edge in order to secure a victory. I knew from an earlier game  this wasn't going to be easy.

My plan for the attacking Germans was to tie down the 2 Paratrooper squads and then wait for double sixes and/or an interrupt using a full Chain of Command dice. In addition to one mandatory tank, I selected an extra German infantry squad and an extra senior leader to increase my changes of reaching the opposite table edge.

The patrol phase outcome supported my plans to get around the paratroopers left flank:

Obergefreiter Schimanski deployed with his squad on the side of the road, adopting a tactical stance.

The paratroopers revealed their positions at the other end of the road.

Sergeant Butch Cassidy covered the road and the adjoining field with his squad, supported by the platoon sergeant Henry McCarty.

Next obergefreiter Derrick deployed with his squad behind the hedge in the middle of the table, together with oberfeldwebel Wepper who put the squad on overwatch.

No sign of the second paratrooper squad yet....

Obergefreiter Köster deploys with his squad behind the hedge near the next German jump-off point towards the flank and the Panzer appears.

The paratroopers drop mortar rounds on Schimanski's squad while the panzer fires high explosive at Butch Cassidy's squad. The paratrooper LMG team tries to drive the panzer away with their fire. But the Panzer is moving slowly forward. Schimanski leads his squad behind the panzer to a position out of line of sight behind the hedge in an attempt to minimise casualties.

Still no sign of the second paratrooper platoon. Also: no double sixes for the Germans yet (already a few for the paratroopers!). I hesitate to let Köster jump the hedge with his squad. I fear the paratrooper squad will deploy immediately and cut them down before they can reach the table edge.

The game is now in a kind of stalemate: The paratroopers are waiting for the Germans to make a run for the table edge. The Germans are waiting for a double six or full Chain of Command dice to have a decent chance of reaching the table edge...

Both sides inflict some casualties, But while the paratroopers enjoy several double sixes, the essential double phase keeps eluding the Germans.

Platoon Sgt McCarty is hit by HE shrapnel. "Its just a flesh wound" he cries.

Obergefreiter Schimanski is hit by shrapnel from the US mortar.

Then my opponent decides to force the stalemate and deploys his second paratrooper squad led by sergeant John W Hardin, a giant of a man.

The German squads open fire, but the elite status of the paratroopers means they can only be hit on 6. The panzer hits on a 4, 5 or 6, but paratrooper casualties are still light.

And when the US Lieutenant, Jesse James, arrives, he easily removes shock from the squad.

I decide to no longer wait for the elusive double six, but use a full Chain of Command dice to move a jump off point 18" to a point behind the hedge as near as possible to the opposite table edge and deploy Obergefreiter Lustig with his squad 6" from it on the other side of the hedge, hoping they will be able to run to the table edge and secure a German victory.

The paratroopers use their full Chain of Command dice to ambush the panzer with their bazooka team. The missile bounces harmlesly off the panzer however.

Lieutenant James orders his men to move and fire, causing casualties among Lustig's squad which has almost reached the table edge.

Enjoying even more double sixes (!), the paratroopers move within close range while pouring fire into the German squad. The German LMG team is wiped out, Lustig is wounded twice and the sole survivor of the squad routs...

So close, yet so far away, they won't live to fight another day.

Meanwhile two more bazooka hits have forced the panzer crew to bail out.

German morale has dropped to 2, they have lost over half the platoon while the paratroopers only have 6 casualties and a force morale of 11... 
(In the post-game ATSE bookkeeping all American casualties could return to their unit.)

I decide to stop the attack and admit defeat. 

It was an interesting game where the paratroopers used their marching fire characteristic and reduced likelihood of being hit expertly and exploited the favourable dice results (an unbelievable amount of double sixes) to prevent the Germans reaching their objective.
My plan for the Germans almost worked, but it depended on the Germans receiving a double movement phase which never came. Nevertheless, the Germans literally came within an inch of victory. They now have to attack again on this table. This time the Americans will be prepared for the German flanking tactic, so I will have to come up with another plan. Fortunately the campaign rules state that the Germans receive a fresh platoon for each game.

 

Pokhlebin house by house

The last scenario of the first chapter of Winter storm. In our last game, a platoon of Soviets made it to Pokhlebin before the Germans cut the road. Pokhlebin is now encircled and the Germans must take it before the attack towards Stalingrad can start and Operation Winter Storm really begins.

I got to play the Germans this time and tried to get as close to the buildings as possible in the patrol phase to minimise the amount of time the Germans would need to cover the open ground.

Not as close as I would like

A German squad deployed to the west of the road but found that approach blocked by an entrenched squad of Soviets.

A second Soviet squad deployed in the forward building west of the road and the Soviet sniper found a spot in the outhouse. A third Soviet squad deployed and moved to take up positions in the forward building east of the road.

My German squad was quickly taking casualties form all those Soviet troops.

I rolled lots of 5's, 4's and single 6's, but eventually some mechanised support arrived!

Too late to save the German squad, which was broken and fortunately retreated out of Soviet line of sight.

The Soviets now concentrated their fire on the German vehicle. With devastating effect!

Multiple 6's when firing on a soft skin vehicle is bad news

It only got off one shot before being destroyed.....

I decided to commit all remaining Germans to an attack on the area to the east of the road and managed to deploy a German squad which started laying down fire. After a long awaited double 6, I deployed my support engineer squad in the open,

and engulfed the Soviet occupied house in flames.

Forcing the surviving Soviets to leave the building. The engineers then quickly moved forward to engage a Soviet squad which had deployed in another building.

The Soviet squad took out 2 engineers and caused some shock, but the flamethrower guy survived and tried to set the building with the Soviets on fire. However, not enough 6's rolled meant his third and final attempt (using a full chain of command dice to interrupt) had to be succesfull. Unfortunately for the Soviets it was and the squad had to exit the building, carrying a wounded junior leader.

Meanwhile the last German squad deployed, ready to take advantage of the hole burned in the Soviet lines.

Their task completed, the surviving engineers got out of the way so the other Germans could fire on the Soviets exposed in the open in front of the burning building. The Soviet junior leader was wounded a second time and the squad was hit hard.

A lone surviving LMG gunner dragged the twice wounded junior leader to safety.

The German senior leader now ordered the German squad to fire on the Soviets that escaped the first burning building and were trying to cross the road.

In the open, taking fire from two German belt fed LMG's, only the two leaders survived, the junior leader wounded. Soviet force morale was now down to 1. The Germans were still going strong with a force morale of 7, so we called it a day.

The loss of the vehicle and German squad early in the game got me worried, but fortunately the plan with the engineers, supported by a base of fire provided by a German squad worked.