MY GAMING WEEK.

Apologies for the gap in posting. I have been busy. I have built up a backlog of photos and games to blog about. I'll go with the most recent, as I am more likely to remember how the games went! Some of the posts may end up as just acollection of pictures.

 

This past week I managed two nights of Gaming.

 

On Wednesday, I took on Del in our latest game of In Her Majesties Name. We played the 'Bad Jack' scenario, involving an escaped mutated lab experiment, with both factions trying to track it down.  

The opening positions.

Using a bit of narrative gaming, we determined that the monster was being developed by Del's faction and they were determined to destroy it, and any  evidence pointing to them. Scotland Yard were there to protect the populace, destroy the monster: and it's owners!

The Monster.

Del managed to find a suitable figure from his collection.Here it is, on the roof of David's Wulsung building which stood in as the lab.

The monster escapes.

David controlled the monster, it would always attack the nearest figure in sight, until then it moved randomly.

The monster attacks Del's mutants. The Yard moves round the back of the building.

Both sides converged. Del's mutants got in first and attacked the monster

The Yard move in, taking fire from Del's supporting characters.

The Yard firing line moves into close range. The hits, though not killing it, have made the monster go Berserk!

In the last two moves, some characters are knocked down and one wounded, but subsequently saved by the medical skills of the Good Doctor!

The game started off with Del's force attacking the monster, but not making any impression. My Scotland Yard were more cautious. They formed a firing line and used volley fire. This caused some hits on the combatants, but good pluck rolls meant no kills. The rest of the Yard moved round the back of the lab, and engaged the rest of Del's force. The game ended in a draw, with the only loss being one of Del's mutants.

The game was really enjoyable. It ended up in a great mass melee, with no one gaining the upper hand and suffering no casualties. The monster broke free. It will no doubt make an appearance in future scenarios.

I had not expected to be gaming on Thursday, but Rick's business meeting had been cancelled, so he arranged a couple of boardgames at short notice. We had another go at Trenchzone http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/68387/trenchzone. Rick had acquired the Tactical Advantage expansion.

We used hidden deployment, masked by the game box.

I set up looking to send an assault down my right flank. I managed to build up my forces and take out Rick's fortifications.



Early stages of the game. Note the Tactical Advantage cards.

My tactical advantage card gave me a melee advantage in one section. The other two cards were decoys. I sent my attack over the top, knowing I had a 'charge' card which would allow me to move two zones at once.  

Later in the game. The attack from my right trenchzone is hit by a gas attack. Rick also played a 'Rain'card, stopping movement by the attack. To make matters worse, he also played an 'engineering' card to add wire to the zone that I had already cleared.

Rick had other ideas! He stopped my attack by playing a 'rain' card, This stopped forward movement as long as the card was in play (stayed for three turns!), He then attacked with gas. This also lasted three turns. This, and artillery bombardment, destroyed my attack, earning 2 VP.

He then launched an attack of his own. His tactical advantage card added extra forces to each attack. As he had destroyed my artillery and most of my pillboxes, he was able to attack my middle trenchzone. He managed to break in, and win the game.

This was more enjoyable than our last attempt, as we had a better understanding of the game. It has a lot or replayability. More importantly, it brings home the futility of this type of warfare.

This game took so long that we were not able to have a go at Manouvre. We did have a go at http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42898/pocket-battles-celts-vs-romans. , but it was just a quick familiarisation.

A busy two nights gaming.

A FEW FRIENDLY GAMES.

Neil was back from UAE for a couple of weeks. We were able to squeeze in a few games over a few  days.

 On the Saturday, as we only had a short time, I introduced Neil to the basics of Heroes of Normandie. We played the first scenario, which involved recovering documents from a dead spy. This ended as an entertaining draw, as neither side was able to get the documents off the table.

 On the Monday morning, we played the first scenario in the Commands & Colors Samurai Battles, which is a straight up battle. I won  a close fought battle. http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/122913/samurai-battles

In the Afternoon, after a bit of a false start due to a misreading of a crucial rule, we played Conflict of Heroes. The scenario was a recreation of the engagement between Polish Cavalry and German infantry which was halted, historically, by the apperance of German armoured cars. This engagement is the source of the myth of Polish cavalry charging tanks. The back and forth nature of activation in the game system kept it interesting. The Polish Cavalry wiped out the German forces: victory to Neil.  http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/45132/conflict-heroes-price-honour-poland-1939

 On Wednesday, we had a larger game of Heroes of Normandie. This was a cut down version of one of the scenarios in the book. It was a race to have an infantry unit take the objective by being in one of the adjacent squares by the supply phase of turn 6.

Once again, a close run thing, but a draw. The US forces tried an all out attack, but lost their M5 at the last gasp.

An intense but enjoyable few days of gaming. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can do it again.

COMBAT COMMANDER: PONT DU HOC.

A few Thursdays ago, Rick put on a game of Combat Commander. The scenario was the Ranger raid on Point Du Hoc.

The initial German positions. Rick was the Germans.

Early in the game. The Rangers used a random set up and then had to find their way up the cliffs!

The Rangers initially started to take some of the bunkers. They could not make progress due to fierce German resistance and counter attacks, not to mention not always having the right cards!

The final reckoning. The Rangers managed to take two of the five bunkers. So it was a German victory.

 

The game was a fitting tribute to the bravery of all who took part. It demonstrated just how difficult it was to achieve their objectives and puts their success into perspective.

HEROES OF NORMANDY.

This past Thursday our chosen game was a first try of Heroes of Normandie.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/53093/heroes-normandie

Rick had put together a series of scenarios, of which we managed to play two, to introduce us to the rules and gameplay.

 

The first scenario saw my Germans set up as an ambushing force that was itself surprised by a returning US patrol. The above is mid game when the US forces at the top have forced the Germans back from their original line.

Each side has a number of orders, based on unit and character selection, these determine the number of units that can fie or move. Both sides had 3 plus a bluff. Each side has a number of cards that can be played to effect the course of the game. Rick played a card that gave him an extra order.

Units not ordered are allowed to move during the supply phase. That is all they can do. This photo is from the end of the first game. Only three German units surviving (one concealed). US victory. 

The second game brought in vehicles and other upgrades, such as grenades, panzerfausts and panzerschreks. A US column is ambushed by the Germans.

 

After initial German success: destroying the vehicles thus showing the effectiveness of the fausts and schreks, the surviving US infantry counter-attacked , driving the Germans back.

The game plays well. The fact that you may have 10 units but only orders for 3 or 4 of them does focus the mind on having a plan and moving the important units. It also encourages use of supports. The cards add that bit of fog of war that can disrupt the opponent's well laid plans.

The game tends to the cartoony side, a bit like Nuts, and will not be everyone's cup of tea.

We already have two other scenarios planned.