Stuf Wot E Dun

[Zingara]

The enforced confinement to barracks has meant that I have been able to "sit by the fireside, smoke a pipe and reminisce with an old comrade in arms".  I've been chatting to Has.Been recently and he recommended a Fistful of Lead derivative called Galactic Heroes for Sci Fi skirmish games.  So at the beginning of the month I purchased a pdf copy from RPGDriveThru for less than £6. I've only just got round to giving them a whirl. They have a cinematic feel to them and things can certainly go wrong or right. They would work for multiplayer games. I've included some pictures. All the terrain is from Has.Been Productions Inc I'm guessing at circa mid 80's.
The yellow troops are Mongoose Publishing Skinnies, the greens GW chaos.

[has.been]

Well done. I told you to dip into the wonderful world of LAF.
Hope you have much enjoyment. I had completely forgotten
about that scenery, but that was about forty years ago!
Like your Yellow meanies, nice horde you have there.
Show more of your stuff, I know you have it.

[Zingara]

Firstly another homage - 3 figures from has.been's paint brush - mid to late 80's ??

[has.been]

If anyone is interested, the mushrooms were from air-gun pellets.

[Zingara]

Well Galactic Heroes has been the catalyst to getting some troops on the table that have been hardly ever used. Ground Zero Games Nuns with Guns and War God's of Hyboria Wendigoo got an outing today.

[Zingara]

Years ago the dog decided to chew some resin Isle of Lewis chess pieces. Many of the survivors turned into statues and standing stones visible in the above pictures.

[Westbury]

Nice to see you on here Gregor. Ian.

[has.been]

Like the Nuns with Guns. Striking colour scheme.

[Zingara]

AGAINST ALL THE ODDS
Continuing on the theme of using the Galactic Heroes rules as an excuse to get out figures that have sat on the shelf for more years than a quarter of the world's population have been alive. This time some WW I Germans that I painted with some other projects in mind.
It is my experience that numbers count in most wargames, as Stain said "Quantity has a quality all of its own", so pitching a force containing the maximum number of figures available by traits and so on (19 figures) and having them come back on unless put out of action permanently I was expecting only one result. Rather than both sides starting at the table edge, I selected a special forces force to raid the enemies area headquarters to secure plans for local dispositions, and if possible secure the area commander (non combatant). The HQ was surrounded by two groups (6 figures), who would need to spot the enemy before being able to use their actions. The first of these would be to sound the alarm. That would mean the remaining groups would enter the combat zone the following turn.
Tuark Forces - 18 lower quality soldiers with "regenerate" )meaning unless a wound result of 9 or 10 is achieved re-enter the table the next go). One regular leader with two force enhancement traits (adding an extra 6 troops to the normal 12) and slippery (can escape close combat). The manipulative survivalist.
Special Ops Forces - 1 sniper with camouflage and enhanced range, 6 regular troops with loyal (won't quit on morale rolls of 1). They would be more effective with good shots or similar, but this keeps them standard without me having to remember who's got what trait.
The first 3 turns passed with the spec ops guys closing to the position seen in the first photographs. I was not expecting them to get so close, and it is surprising how the tension mounts. Then it is decision time with the troops ideally placed - do they try to take out the defenders or press on into the compound? I figured they needed to carry on into the HQ if they were to have any chance of securing the target, and the others went on overwatch, ready to let loose as soon as they alarm was given.

[Zingara]

Must be in Australia or something - seems to orient things with a mind of its own.

Two figures entered the enemy HQ - would the alarm go up ?? 3 spotting rolls came and went, and the fourth and last was taken. The silence was shattered (an 8 was rolled) and the alarm went up.  The sniper and a trooper let fly - only for one to jam. That was unfortunate.
Sure enough on the following turn reinforcements poured into the area, and one of the guards moved into melee the spec ops guy lining up the general and ready to secure the plans (a turn doing nothing else). Two spec ops guys shot at the guard as he moved in - and both jammed !! (a roll of a 1 on a d10). This could prove decisive since the guy about to snaffle the plans now had to defend himself, losing time with others rapidly closing in.

[Zingara]

The Tuark reinforcements poured up the roads intending to cut off any retreat and engage the supporting spec ops guys, whilst 3 groups and the "commissar" assaulting the two guys in the HQ. An absolutely epic struggle ensued, with the spec ops guys hanging grimly in there, but never able to shake themselves free of the numerous enemy. The sniper continues to ping away with very moderate effect.

[Zingara]

In fact things were starting to look hopeful for the Ops guys, seven of the Tuarks were down, and one group of 3 being suppressed. But then things took a turn for the worst. One of the guys in the HQ having overcome his opponents and moving towards his colleague was shot dead (9 or 10 on the wound dice). Just a wound would be better since a card would still be drawn for him, and there is a chance he could get a card enabling him to recover. A sore blow out of nowhere. Then the following turn another blow, the Ops guy holding the left flank went down. The suppressed group drew a queen of spades to clear their shaken markers and the one hit again took the trooper straight out - no shaken, no wound, just dead. As well as not being able to afford the numbers, it skews the force ability since the Ops guys are now down to 5 action cards whereas despite casualties, the Tuarks continue to draw 7.

[Zingara]

Things are now desperate, another Ops guy enters the hq and gathers up the general and plans, covered by the guy who first entered the compound. He would eventually pay with his life, shaken, shot wounded and finally bayoneted to death. The only Ops guy to make use of the 3 wounds to take him down. But the Tuarks are close enough to keep throwing men into the fray, and one of them seems to be possessed in hand to hand repeatedly rolling well.

It is one of those things, objectively there comes a point when it is best to cut you losses and run, but with the prize so tantalisingly close and hoping for a piece of good fortune, 3 spec ops guys would fall over the same few metres of ground, leaving the sniper on the hill to take a final shot (missed) before slinking away.

So victory for the Tuarks, which you would expect before the game, but it was surprisingly tense with a heroic struggle around the HQ. So there was no Against All The Odds result, but I was thoroughly engrossed and had a very enjoyable couple of hours.

[has.been]

Apart from straining my neck to look at the pictures, i enjoyed the battle report.
You had fun with stuff just off the shelf. Result!
Hope you keep at it.

[Zingara]

I'm going to have to work out how it is loading stuff up - they are not upside down on my computer.
I enjoyed the game - a story line idea certainly adds to the involvement and narrative. A set of rules worth getting - I've had my money's worth out of them and still more things to try :-). I've spent 5 times as much on rules I've never used !!