Post by hannibal on Mar 15, 2008 11:16:56 GMT -5
(forgive me if this is in the wrong place, but there's no battle report forum)
We played an intro game last night, with like 6 people watching. By the end, the supply of rulebooks at the store was somewhat depleted and the supply of miniatures had taken a hit.
Royal and I played Americans vs Soviets with the objective being a chest of Nazi gold in the center of the table, in an overturned truck. We basically used the rules for the Foraging scenario. Carrying the chest would be like carrying a supply marker. We chose not to do secondary objectives just to keep it simple.
The field was very built up with a river bisecting the table, 10-15 single story buildings spread out, and a large crop field in the upper left corner (this would be crucial).
Soviet Infantry Detachment
Elite Politruk
Vet Psi Officer (Hero: Natural Leader)
Regular Soviet Guards
Regular Psi Cannon squad
Regular Anti-Tank squad
Green Conscript squad
Green Conscript squad
Green Conscript squad
Special orders: Keep Moving, Surrender
American Veteran Detachment
(from memory, so royal will probably have to correct me)
Elite Field Mechanic (Hero Technician)
Veteran Airborne Officer
Regular Buffalo Trooper (M1919)
Regular Buffalo Trooper (M1919)
Regular GI Infantry
Regular GI Infantry
Green Tesla Robots
The first turns of the game were really spent just manuevering into position, with lots of sprinting. His Buffalo Trooper suppressed one or two of my conscript squads early on. My conscripts ended up being suppressed more often than not. Meanwhile, our various troops got into position, with my Psi cannon squad and anti-tank squad making for the roof of buildings overlooking the objectives. His sniper took a buuilding on the left, covering the advance through the field.
About this point, luck went my way. My psi cannon team, anti-tank team, and soviet guards shot up an advancing GI squad. Then they started concentrating on the second GI team stuck trying toc ross the river. So his Drive was -2 across the board.
Unfortunately, I got the high ground overlooking the open field through which he was advancing. I needed lots of 5+s to hit, but seemed to get pretty lucky. My Psi cannon and AT squad killed a buffalo and wounded his officer. He started returning fire, with his sniper especially, against my Psi cannon team and I couldn't make an armor save (or a supression save) to, well, save my life. Seriously, I think I failed a 2+ suppression check. (obviously the balance was my to-hit rolls)
With activations and numbers on my side, I started turning to suppression rather than killing, suppressing both his remaining Buffalo and his officer. I moved up my conscript squads who, despite having to hit the dirt a lot, hadn't taken a casualty (a very un-soviet thing). They broke from cover intending to charge his Tesla robots. If he won initiative, he could suppress all 3 squads.
He did win initiative but opted to kill the remaining Psi cannon guy. So I charged in my Conscripts. Didn't do a whole lot of damage, but I tied them down and in future turns the other two squads could join the combat at drag him down by weight of numbers.
At that point we called it. My NKVD officer had the gold and was starting to head back to cover. His sniper would get 1, maybe 2 shots against him, but even if the NKVD guy went down, I had 2 soviet guards right there to pick up the gold.
Overall thoughts:
--Green Troops are very hard to use. With only the 1 AP, they spent the majority of the game manuevering to get into position.
--Politruk: He really didn't do anything. He sat in the back, waiting for one of my conscripts to run, but they were never really wounded so he just sat there. His Field Mechanic boosted actions to his Buffalos but other than that didn't do much. It was weird to see "elite" troops just hanging back, waiting to fulfill their specialized role.
--Suppressing Fire: It's a definate finesse tool. Used at the right time (like pinning down guys in the open and making them run back to cover), awesome. Used as a generaly purpose thing: more an annoyance.
--Heavy Weapons: I had a low opinion of mortars and such before this game, but I must say I see why they have to be so inaccurate. We spent a good 2-3 turns just manuevering. If you're under fire during that time, it could be brutal.
--Special Orders: I got to use the Keep Moving, which let me activate my AT team twice. I think I got a Buffalo with that. These trump cards are really, really, really useful. I found myself taking the 'obvious' ones like Keep Moving and Surrender, but after we set up I was going "Huh, stragglers would've been good. Or Scouts so I could set up my AT team and start shooting on turn 1." The Eccentric Millionaire Hero just got a lot more valuable in my eyes.
Overall, I liked how the game flows. Keeping track of the reduced Drive, especially temporary drive for things like terrifying weapons, is gonna take some getting used to.
We played an intro game last night, with like 6 people watching. By the end, the supply of rulebooks at the store was somewhat depleted and the supply of miniatures had taken a hit.
Royal and I played Americans vs Soviets with the objective being a chest of Nazi gold in the center of the table, in an overturned truck. We basically used the rules for the Foraging scenario. Carrying the chest would be like carrying a supply marker. We chose not to do secondary objectives just to keep it simple.
The field was very built up with a river bisecting the table, 10-15 single story buildings spread out, and a large crop field in the upper left corner (this would be crucial).
Soviet Infantry Detachment
Elite Politruk
Vet Psi Officer (Hero: Natural Leader)
Regular Soviet Guards
Regular Psi Cannon squad
Regular Anti-Tank squad
Green Conscript squad
Green Conscript squad
Green Conscript squad
Special orders: Keep Moving, Surrender
American Veteran Detachment
(from memory, so royal will probably have to correct me)
Elite Field Mechanic (Hero Technician)
Veteran Airborne Officer
Regular Buffalo Trooper (M1919)
Regular Buffalo Trooper (M1919)
Regular GI Infantry
Regular GI Infantry
Green Tesla Robots
The first turns of the game were really spent just manuevering into position, with lots of sprinting. His Buffalo Trooper suppressed one or two of my conscript squads early on. My conscripts ended up being suppressed more often than not. Meanwhile, our various troops got into position, with my Psi cannon squad and anti-tank squad making for the roof of buildings overlooking the objectives. His sniper took a buuilding on the left, covering the advance through the field.
About this point, luck went my way. My psi cannon team, anti-tank team, and soviet guards shot up an advancing GI squad. Then they started concentrating on the second GI team stuck trying toc ross the river. So his Drive was -2 across the board.
Unfortunately, I got the high ground overlooking the open field through which he was advancing. I needed lots of 5+s to hit, but seemed to get pretty lucky. My Psi cannon and AT squad killed a buffalo and wounded his officer. He started returning fire, with his sniper especially, against my Psi cannon team and I couldn't make an armor save (or a supression save) to, well, save my life. Seriously, I think I failed a 2+ suppression check. (obviously the balance was my to-hit rolls)
With activations and numbers on my side, I started turning to suppression rather than killing, suppressing both his remaining Buffalo and his officer. I moved up my conscript squads who, despite having to hit the dirt a lot, hadn't taken a casualty (a very un-soviet thing). They broke from cover intending to charge his Tesla robots. If he won initiative, he could suppress all 3 squads.
He did win initiative but opted to kill the remaining Psi cannon guy. So I charged in my Conscripts. Didn't do a whole lot of damage, but I tied them down and in future turns the other two squads could join the combat at drag him down by weight of numbers.
At that point we called it. My NKVD officer had the gold and was starting to head back to cover. His sniper would get 1, maybe 2 shots against him, but even if the NKVD guy went down, I had 2 soviet guards right there to pick up the gold.
Overall thoughts:
--Green Troops are very hard to use. With only the 1 AP, they spent the majority of the game manuevering to get into position.
--Politruk: He really didn't do anything. He sat in the back, waiting for one of my conscripts to run, but they were never really wounded so he just sat there. His Field Mechanic boosted actions to his Buffalos but other than that didn't do much. It was weird to see "elite" troops just hanging back, waiting to fulfill their specialized role.
--Suppressing Fire: It's a definate finesse tool. Used at the right time (like pinning down guys in the open and making them run back to cover), awesome. Used as a generaly purpose thing: more an annoyance.
--Heavy Weapons: I had a low opinion of mortars and such before this game, but I must say I see why they have to be so inaccurate. We spent a good 2-3 turns just manuevering. If you're under fire during that time, it could be brutal.
--Special Orders: I got to use the Keep Moving, which let me activate my AT team twice. I think I got a Buffalo with that. These trump cards are really, really, really useful. I found myself taking the 'obvious' ones like Keep Moving and Surrender, but after we set up I was going "Huh, stragglers would've been good. Or Scouts so I could set up my AT team and start shooting on turn 1." The Eccentric Millionaire Hero just got a lot more valuable in my eyes.
Overall, I liked how the game flows. Keeping track of the reduced Drive, especially temporary drive for things like terrifying weapons, is gonna take some getting used to.
