Striker II Crunchiness

Played a five turn game of Striker II last Sunday night with three other players, all of whom hadn't played SII before. The scenario was four squads of 1st Imperium infantry in two honking big APCs vs two squads of Terran Confederation

S_II doesn't lend itself as well to quick pickup as say, Stargrunt II. Also, it doesn't lend itself to quick lookups in the book. Despite the use of case point structure (something Frank C. doesn't particularly like) the rules have some gaps in them. Example - unit spacing. At no point do the rules say "Stands in a squad can be no further than x cm apart". The reader must intuit that, because order chits effect those squads within 15cm, stands in a squad may be no further that 15cm from the commander.

Further example - the section on tac missiles just stops at the end of page. Nothing on counter measures or decoys. One might suspect that the rest of the relevant section was lost in the formatting phase. (Michelle Sturgeon strikes again...)

That said, the basic rules can be transcribed onto a cheat sheet with minimal effort.

In the game we played, both sides were using Experienced troops, the Vilani with slightly higher moral (13) and slightly lower initiative (2).

Modifiers for cover yeild the equivalent of a range-band increase, so a firefight at medium range (avg of 16-18 cm) requires a 5 to hit, modified to a 2. Roll 3 dice (Rate of Fire) for 2s to hit. That's a 10% hit rate for most of the game.

In a nutshell, 2 squads of Terran Confed were dug in on a hill at the end of a valley, protecting a power plant. The Vilani Imperials entered with four squads and two ACV APCs. Rather than debark their infantry for a long, slow slog, the Imps instead ran down the flanks at speeds of between 110 and 220 kph, dodged the anti-vehicle missle fire which could have ended the game on turn one/two, deployed in the Terran rear zone on turn 3, and then pounded the Terrans on turn 4/5. The vilani were left sitting on their objective, leaving the Terrans without the strength to dislodge them.

I'll be posting some pictures and a more detailed AAR over the long weekend.

Amusing quotes
Vilani Section Leader has had his request for artillery support denied (there was a pre-game bombardment).
Section Leader: "Haven't you guys ever heard of 'Time on Target'?"
Artillery Battery Major: "Yes, and that 'time' was 0:600 hours. We apologise if you found the timetable inconvenient."

Vilani APC Section has zipped down the board flank, dodged 3 or so Anti-Vehicle missiles, and is disembarking troops in the Terran rear zone.
Vilani Section Leader: "I think I deserve a medal..."
Referee: "You might get one, if you aren't first found guilty for Gross Innovation ..."