Release the Smelly Horsies of War...

Inspired as I was by Dylan's quintessential post concerning the K'Kree over at War is Hell, I dragged out my old 15mm Martian Metals miniatures, as well as my GURPS Traveller Aliens module 2.

While reading the booklet (which deals with the Aslan as well as the K'Kree) I was struck by the use of saucer shapes in the fighting vehicles of the Two Thousand Worlds.

I had been pondering over what to use as a crewed AFV (as opposed to the drone vehicles the Centaurs employ) when I realised...I HAD a K'Kree saucer, I just didn't know it.

This is the design which Solomani humans refer to as the "Flying Dart Board" and is an older, though still serviceable design.  I would suggest it can be used up to around circa 1105 I.R.  GURPS Aliens 2 suggests that the K'Kree retain tracks on their grav vehicles for conservative esthetics, which is nice but hardly compulsory.

Pictured above with a human ATV (15mm Old Crow tracked Glaive). I will need to mount an energy weapon like a plasma or fusion gun, and some point-defense remote turrets.

 An added bonus is the saucer top is removable, giving access to what will be the turret interior.

That's a tight squeeze for K'Kree.The interior walls will need projections of open prairie to keep the crew from going mad with claustrophobia.  Such an odd species, but fun to game.

Many readers will by now have twigged the model - the UFO from the Roy Thinnes series "The Invaders" by Monogram.  This simple kit is costing dear on eBay, easily in excess of  USD $50 or UK £35.  While I'd like a second saucer for additional fire support, I'll wait and see if I can find it for somewhat less....Ω

RAGNAROK - Crunchy SciFi Gaming Goodness

The latest issue of Ragnarok - the magazine of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers Society - arrived earlier this week, and it is full of the crunchy goodness I have come to expect.

There is a multi-player fantasy battle scenario,
A Dirtside II scenario,
A Star Trek starship miniatures scenario,
Something on Cordwainer Smith that is beyond my understanding, and therefore Brilliant,
Traveller ships for Full Thrust,

and much, much more.

And it's all yours for the price of a pdf.

Hie thee hence and see for yourself.

Merry Christmas! ...Ω

StarGrunt Traveller - The Zhodani Attack

Here's an older set of photos from a Friday Pals game using StarGrunt II in the Traveller universe. This was a simple scenario played on the Cargo Deck of Doom. Zhodani Marines are attempting to take over an Imperial freighter, while the Imperial Navy and small Marine detachment resist.

Zhodani troops in Classic Grey

Denizen Ventaurans were used for the Zhodani, supported by RAFM Traveller New Era warbots. The Imperial crew were GZG Security and UNSC Marines. The terrain was a combo of Century XXXI cardstock barricades, used as a raised walkway, with two of the Dwarven Forge Sci-Fi Expansion Set, plus scattered bitz from Grendel, Mystic Moldwyrks, and GZG.

 The single biggest innovation for this scrum was adding the warbots. SGII doesn't really address the issue of robots, so we gave them d12 armour and 2 hit points - thus it took two "kills" to take out a bot.  Until the second "kill"  result, the bot would operate with damaged/reduced systems.  This made them pretty dangerous.

Warbot with one kill and one wound

One of the few things the PBN had going for them was the Mighty Slug Pistol - able to fire AP and HE rounds, with a 1.5" burst radius, the navy was able to suppress the Zho Marines - but not the warbots.

Green Naval crewmen go to ground...

 While the Zhodani used weren't representative of the dreaded Consular Guard, we did want to represent some psionics, so we gave the Zhoes a bonus on their reactivation and rally rolls, to reflect the officers' telepathic ability.  This allowed them to keep up their attack when they otherwise would have failed - this is balanced by rating them "regulars" instead of "veterans", to reflect the conscript nature of Consular forces.

Lone Zho marine rallies telepathically...

 The result was the dirty-stinking-Zhos pushing the Imperials out of the cargo hold, allowing them to consolidate and bring up reinforcements - the fate of the ship still hangs in the balance.
...Ω

Interstellar Wars: The Defense of Alpha Centauri B

In preparing an article for an upcoming Ragnarok, I decided to compare Future War Commander with Jon Tuffley’s Dirtside II. Before doing so, it was necessary to re-acquaint myself with the DSII rules, as while we play StarGrunt II fairly regularly, we hadn’t played DSII since the late 90’s.  Bearing in mind that DSII will be twenty years old in 2013, the Friday Night Pals went with a simple scenario, based on a situation well known to anyone who has played GDW’s IMPERIUM – a planetary invasion.

Since we were playing using 15mm miniatures, we increased some of the distances, like command grouping (extending from 3” to 5”) while leaving other ranges unchanged (movement, firing ranges). The Usual Suspects were playing: Rob C., DJ and Kenzie, with yours truly refereeing the game.

Scenario: The Third Interstellar War is not going well for the Terran Confederation. The Imperium has sent the defeated remnants of the ConFed fleet back to the Sol System where they are scrambling to defend Earth. The confident and haughty Vilani have decided to pause in the Alpha Centauri system to reduce that system to obedience. The Terran 8^th Interstellar Division is supporting the Alpha Centauri B Planetary Defense Force, with orders to fight to the last Infantry Anti-Vehicle Rocket.

Using counters from GDW’s Imperium game, I randomly drew what would be a standard-sized garrison of a Terran world in your garden-variety Imperium game – a “2” strength army plus PDF battery.  Each strength point would equal 1000 Dirtside points. To make things manageable, I reduced the points to 2000 attacking 1000.   The Vilani would be attacking at 2-1 odds.

The PDF anti-space missile battery was set up on a mid-sized hill, with an administrative building/barracks adjoining. Four squads of Terran infantry were dug in amongst the silos, supported by light APCs, while a half-troop of light tanks, anchored to the admin building, held the right flank.  On the Terran left, a GMS/L team held the high ground. A separate mortar battery held the high ground to the rear.

Terran Positions - Minis by GZG and Force XXI

The Imperials had a platoon of line infantry – eight squads of infantry on four heavy GEV APCs, plus a Fire Support/Point Defense GEV AIFV, all commanded from a GEV TOC.

Turn 1 – the Imperials advanced and their infantry de-bussed and set up their light RAM mortar.  Terran missiles flew fast and furious as Terran mortar shells began to rain down.  The Imperial Point Defense vehicle was able to stop most of the incoming fire (good shooting, Kenzie) and bad rolls on DJ’s part stopped the rest.

Imperials Advance - minis by GZG and Stan Johansen

Turn 2 – Encouraged by the poor Terran showing, the Imperials advanced.  A squad of Imp infantry that wandered out from under the protective point-defense umbrella were hit with mortar fire and wiped out. Random fire also took out their Imperial APC, as the dreaded “boom” chit made it’s first (but as you will shortly read, not it’s last) appearance.

First Blood to Terra!

Turn 3 - The Terran tanks gained two kills on the nearest Imperial APCs (two more “boom” hits). The PD AIFV now switched to it’s Fire Support role in an attempt to knock out a tank, but failed to hit. 

Fire Support AFV vs. two Light Tanks - "that trick never works..."

Turn 4 – the Imperials were now doubtful of their success, and I was inclined to agree, but I also asked them to game out an infantry assault on the defended positions around the missile silos, which they gamely did. Four squads of Imperial infantry stormed up the slope (losing a squad in the process) and chased the Terrans out of the position.  Even if they had carried the position, the Terrans were in control of the rest of the objectives, and we all agreed it was a Terran win.

Infantry Assault

Post Game Thoughts:

After years of playing StarGrunt II, going back to Dirtside II is very similar to the proverbial walk known memory lane.  One can see how the DSII system will be refined in SGII, and despite it’s age, DSII still makes for a fast, fun game.

First APC goes "BOOM"

We had misinterpreted the F~ chits, and instead of applying them to the firing unit (you press the fire pedal and nothing happens) we were adding them to the target’s woes.  Live and learn.

The Point Defense/Fire Support vehicle is a mixed blessing - it works great knocking down mortar rounds and missiles - especially from the lower tech earthlings.  When it switches to direct fire mode, that safety umbrella is lost, and it's not too good as a tank killer.  One must time this carefully. I love it.

A rematch is planned, either with the original group or with the Ratrap Hill Mob in Maplewood. Ω

Power Projection: Fleet Action at Dushaam

The Friday Night Pals met to play a session of the Traveller/Full Thrust hybrid, Power Projection: Fleet. Set in the Sol Sector, during the 3^rd Interstellar War between the Terran Confederation and the 1^st Imperium, the scenario saw an Imperial fleet sent to bombard a ConFed facility on the contested planet Dushaam.  Two ConFed cruiser squadrons were tasked with preventing this and also to drive the Vilani fleet from the system. Rob C. and DJ were tasked to play the earthlings, while Kenzie and myself played the Imps.

The scenario was generated using the PP:F Scenario Generator. 
Fleet elements were pointed at about 200 points per side – the Terrans having a slight advantage, which seemed fair, considering that the Imperials had been savaging them in previous games.

To design ships in PP, I use the MegaTraveller design sequences. Once the ship is run through the sequence, it is then converted to Power Projection.  All of the ships, except the Terran Light Cruisers, were based on units from the GDW board game “Imperium”, converted to MegTrav, then converted to Power Projection.

The Terran light cruisers were based on a GURPs Interstellar Wars design (thus were missile-heavy and defenses light), and were then adjusted to fit into the MegTrav design sequence.

The two Terran squadrons each consisted of a single 9,000 dton cruiser, with two 5,000 dton light cruisers in support.

The Imperials had two dedicated squadrons; a squadron of three 9,900 dton cruisers, and a squadron of two 12,200 dton dreadnoughts.

The Imperium enjoyed a Tech Level advantage of TL11 to the Terran TL10.  At these tech levels, there are no nuclear dampers nor meson guns. The primary weapons are the 100-ton nuclear missile bay for thumpage and the 100-ton particle accelerator bay for “detailed work”. Spinal mounts, of which none were represented, are all particle accelerators.

The Game:

Turn 1 saw the Imperials enter at speed 4.  They were slowed down by their dreadnoughts, which have Maneuvre 2 drives (hurrah for TL 11).  The Terrans accelerated from speed 8 to speed 12(!).  Nukes were launched.

Turn 2: Began with a mis-communication amongst the Imperials, who pivoted in two opposing directions. Chalk it up to myself and Kenzie not having played much on the same side before. 

Turn 3: The Imperial cruisers attempted a breakthrough, accelerating to speeds 11 and 12. The lead cruiser was going to make a feigned run for the planet, while the trailing cruisers pivoted 180° to lend support to the distressed dreadnoughts.

The lead Imperial cruiser took a moderate thumping from missiles, and lost her fuel tanks (four sixes on the systems check).  She would be carried from the fighting by momentum.

DJ's ConFed squadron passed through the Imperial battleline, got on the other side of the DNs, and pivoted 180° to catch them a close range.

Turn 4: The Imperial cruiser with the shattered fuel tanks fired high-intensity missile vollies as it hurtled away.  DJ's cruisers were trading close-range shots with the Imperial DNs.  Two Terran CLs blew up, and then the unthinkable - an Imperial DN heeled over and exploded.

Rob's Terran squadron had been supporting DJ's, and had been bumped and bruised, but was still fightable.  DJ's remaining cruiser was down to the last hit row. The surviing Imperial DN was down to the last hit BOX.

We called a marginal Terran victory, though we should have diced for initiative, for although the Imperial cruisers could have defeated Rob's remaining squadron, the DN firing would have finished off DJ's cruiser.  At the end of the day, the Imperials would probably not have had sufficient missile power to complete the bombardment.
 

New House Adjustments to the rules

Initiative defaults to an IGOUGO system.

When a side wins initiative, a single ship resolves fire and damage. Then the other side resolves a single ship’s fire and damage. This includes System Checks. Rinse and repeat. This prevents an entire squadron from getting wiped out by massed fire, at the expense of slowing down play a bit.  A chit is put down to show ships have fired for the turn.

Point Defense Fire against missiles affects an entire “attack”, not a single missile.  An attack is defined as a volley against a ship by another ship - hence, a single stick of 8 nuclear missiles have their attacks degraded by a single laser battery operating in point defense.  Note that if a single ship is firing two types of missiles, that is two “sticks” and the defender will need two PD laser batteries to affect both.  This is also in line with High Guard's mechanics, and allows some tactical flexibility in missile load-outs on the part of the aggressor.

This last also speeds up play a bit, as all the modifiers affect all the missiles in a stick, making throwing a handful of  eight-or-so dice at a time possible.

Post Game Thoughts:

Communications is Key.

The botched pivot on turn 2 was a key factor in the disappointing Imperial showing. The idea was to concentrate on DJ's squadron, cripple it, and then continue advancing the cruiser elements on the planet.  My cruisers became detached from Kenzie’s DNs, and I was unable to lend him much-needed fire support –the result was the loss of two Dreadnoughts. My captain can look forward to leading a vanguard Forlorn Hope in the next big fleet action, you can rely on it.

The Terrans cannot Stand Off.

Terran Confederation ships tend to be lighter and faster than their Imperial counterparts, and must use their speed to offset Imperial firepower. This isn't easy in a vector-movement system.

In the previous playtest, the Terrans hung back and were being wiped out by the end of turn 2.  In addition to correcting some pointing errors on my part, I sent DJ over to the ConFed side for the replay, knowing he would off-set some of Rob's inherent caution. Pairing Rob (who sticks to the plan) with an aggressive player (who attacks to defend) made for a good showing on the Terran ConFed's part. 

Well done, lads. Ω

Viliani Imperial Reconaissance Troop

Recce/recon units simply fascinate me.  I'm not sure if it's the mission (get out there and be shot at) or the fragile nature of the units.  I do know that, given a choice, I'll happily take the reconnaissance group in a wargame.

Which brings me to my Imperial Recce troop - poor buggers. In my Traveller universe, the First Imperium is stingy as far as vehicles go.  Infantry is the poor relation - 12,000 worlds yields a lot of blaster-fodder, but tanks cost money; to build and to transport.

Still needs a gunner...

So, for efficiency's sake, most Imperial vehicles do the work of two - either transporting two squads/sections or performing double functions.

The recon troops also act as artillery spotters.  Since they're attached to the artillery, they can also carry the company mortars, which means they are responsible for placing them, with crew, as well as recovering them. And they get to look for the enemy.

Difficult to do well?  Of course, but that's life in the Gisadia Ziru Sirka.

Some readers might remember these from a previous post - except that now I've added dedicated drivers and carried troops. Miniatures are GZG Japanese Corporates, the drivers are a conversion (since there's no telling when Jon T. will get back to this particular line) with the head and shoulders of the Japanese troops atop GZG generic vehicle drivers.  The hover-vans are old Force XXI 15mm  - the Vilani like big vehicles.  Force XXI hasn't come back into production, sadly.

I love the Force XXI aesthetic, and greatly miss not being able to add to my Force XXI collection. I do wish these would come back into production...Ω

Ravenstar Grav Tank - The Aslan are Coming...

Late last month, Chris at Ravenstar Studios posted a picture of his new 15mm LandCore Mercury Fast Attack Grav Tank on The Miniatures Page.  Some of the posters who replied didn't much like it, citing not enough guns and disliking it's smooth, teardrop, fluted design.

I think it's marvelous!

Shown with RAFM Aslan and GZG New Anglian Confederation for size comparison.

For years, I've been looking for something to use as an Aslan AFV, and this fits the bill, nicely. It's a pity that when it comes to "alien" designs there is such a dearth of available miniatures out there. Chris seems intent on correcting this.

Casting is nice and clean, with no bubbles in the resin. The model comes in four parts - hull, turret, main gun and a small aft propulsion panel. All are in resin, so the main gun is a bit fragile and prone to breaking.  Concerned buyers might like to recommend to Chris that this last piece might be better cast in white metal.

Shown on a 1" grid

Size - the brute is enormous. The turret hatch, with modification, would easily accept a 25mm mini. It will serve as a main battle tank in 15mm and as a light fire support sled in 25mm.  While I was really looking for something in a support sled size, I will happily amend my upcoming scenario to accommodate a larger MBT.

It's just that awesome.

Show with GZG V15-20A for size comparison.

There is only a single main gun - which suits me fine. In Traveller, energy weapons are often of the "Rapid Pulse" variety, and if memory serves correctly, in a Striker II game, this tank's main gun would be able to engage between two to five targets in a turn.  For close in support, there are four small hemispheres that will work as point defense and sensors.

It took Ravenstar about two weeks to send the mini, which is fine in my book. There was an extra mini added to the order - looks like an enclosed air/raft.  Of that, more later.

To order from Ravenstar - visit his blog.

Rumour has it that Chris is preparing to release an APC model - I am hopeful that it will compliment this nicely...Ω