¡En el filo! SCW Campaign - updated 16/05

[Arlequín]

Yes, I agree with my esteemed colleague, this has been cracking stuff so far and I'm looking forwards to more. 

At the risk of sounding a little bit pervy, I shall be getting my copy of CofC out over this long weekend, and having a play about with myself
Once I'm happy I have the general idea of how they work in my head, I shall head up the road, and inflict them on my gaming pals at New Buckenham Historical Gamers.

No question of risk, it does seem to be the case that once you've played with it yourself, invariably you want to let others have a go with it too. 

Seriously though I do wonder what those government e-mail snoopers make of the correspondence Rolf and I have had with others on the topic. I imagine someone sat there wondering what unnatural sexual acts 'Regulares' and 'Quintos' refer to.

   

[Happy Wanderer]

Seriously though I do wonder what those government e-mail snoopers make of the correspondence Rolf and I have had with others on the topic

..there's got to be one Lardies gamer in the 'snooper room' manning the computers...so surely he's set them straight!! 

R

[scrivs]

Cheers chaps, I know you have all waited patiently

Yesterday evening James and I played out the fourth game in our ongoing Spanish Civil War campaign.

This time the Anarchist Militia were fighting a delaying action against the onslaught of the Moroccans and decided to try to hold their line at the taberna.





A full report and many more images on the Scrivsland blog

[H.M.Stanley]

Durutti would never have voluntarily left the field of battle. He was carried away bleeding and unconscious.

The 10 surviving Anarchists melted away into the woods, no doubt to be hunted down by the Moros dogs.

And if I hadn't seen it for myself, Scrivs' 4 x Morale checks resulted in sweet fancy adams; he lost 3 points out of a possible 12. Needless to say ...

I'll put up a proper narrative report soon.

[Durutti]

Excellent stuff
So enjoy reading these reports 

[pocoloco]

What a battle! 

Great AAR, thanks gentlemen.

[H.M.Stanley]

I'm actually quite pleased about that result.

Yes, the Republicans lost and, let's be fair, they were decimated at the end, but they broke the Regulares as a combat effective unit killing the Moro Leaders in the process.

And there is of course still one game to go in the Campaign ...

@Rolf - its very difficult for Green troops to risk getting into a fire fight with Regular  troops, even if in hard cover. Remember the Militia only had one LMG available to them. Also, Nationalist Regular troops, and their 6 Dice, inevitably meant multiple phases for them [Double 6 for the uninitiated]

And one final point, if you read the AARs, how many times did the Moros "run away" from a combat. It was like gaming against the Feigned Flight Normans at Hastings [again, 6 D, those CoC Dice come thick and fast]  

Let's see how Paul does when he doesn't have his "move twice and go Tactical" crutch. Although i note that he's had a hand in knobbling La Legion just in time for my turn. Moros, the best troops in the game? 

[scrivs]

Quit whining or I'll insist you play with the Falange!

[H.M.Stanley]

Scrivs wouldn't recognise a fair fight if it kicked him in the nuts when he wasn't looking, which, incidently  ...

[scrivs]

Yesterday evening James and I played out our final game in the ¡En el filo! SCW Campaign that we have been playing over the past few months. Would the Republicans stand?



More commentary, images and a wrap-up on the Scrivsland blog

[H.M.Stanley]

What can I say? A truly awful last stand showing by the Republicans.

I rushed there from work and my mind was elsewhere

The patrol phase, normally, such a strength for me, was inept in execution and  Paul's Jump off point on his left flank was key to him bull-rushing my position. My JOPs were all over the shop, too far forward and isolated from each other bearing in mind I only had to defend the ford.

The addition of two six man units of Communists that didn't have a junior leader and couldn't be incorporated into other squads(?) was inspired (sic)

In truth, the game didn't start badly for the Republicans at all. After Scrivs rushed his Regulares around my right flank threatening the JOP I deployed a section and the T26. I had double 6 too. They let rip into the Moros killing 3 of them and piled on the Shock.  It was whem I picked up the dice getting ready for a repeat performance that Paul remembered his barrage.  Naturally,  neither unit materialised and the dead were replaced ....

From that point it only got worse ...

I really enjoyed the campaign and Paul was a worthy winner. He is a very wily opponent but also has the luck of the devil!!

I have to admit that I had concerns about the balancing between some of the forces and think that 6 command dice should be the exception rather than the rule, even for regular troops. The Moros are way too good as they stand so I will be interested to see what the new lists have done.

Even so,  these rules and Jim/Rolf's supplements are fantastic fun

[Arlequín]

Lots of self-criticism there, your commissar will be satisfied with your explanation I'm sure. Just a temporary set back for the Republic almost certainly.  

There have been some changes to the lists as indeed some forces were somewhat over-powered in the original set. There were some quite wide real variations in quality and ability and it is too easy to add a dice here and there, which while seeming to be the ideal solution at the time, have often exaggerates things too much.

Comments and feedback from yourselves and other users have been taken on board, considered and implemented, or not as the case may be. Rolf and I have both served a couple of months in a TFL penal unit revising them as a result and I believe they are now with Commandante Ricardo for final approval*.

   

*Rich's belief in 'playing the period' can go too far sometimes. 

[Happy Wanderer]

"I have to admit that I had concerns about the balancing between some of the forces and think that 6 command dice should be the exception rather than the rule, even for regular troops. The Moros are way too good as they stand so I will be interested to see what the new lists have done."

This campaign has been simply fantastic to follow. However it did bring together some of the extremes of this period....the very best Nationalist troops vs the worst Republicans....we play the period and troops are represented accordingly....your games have reflected that spirit...bravo!

All games 'systems' try to balance out these effects and I recall that on a few occasions 'Scriv's luck' (is this a new term?) was pretty damn good. It saved his bacon more than once.

Actually in the review of the lists and your game results Jim and I think the balance was pretty good but ever so slightly maybe slanted toward quality and command dice.

It must be said that command dice are king in CoC and the upping of units to use 6 dice is quite limited in the lists. Of the 20 or so lists that can be used to present the historical forces only the Foreign Legion, Moroccans and some Asaltos can be command dice 6...that's all!

Wait until the Steel Company comes up against some Falangists miltia...things will be just as much fun and quite a different proposition for both sides....one of the great attractions of the SCW.....so much choice.

I also think that the dice are slightly 'under costed' in the current lists and the version 2 lists tweaks the lists that have 6 dice and those lumbered with only 4....this will help balance.

However a quite subtle but important update is the greater use of Superior Junior Leaders (take note!)....they activate on 3 or 4 and go some way to softening the effect of just having 4 command dice. Coupled with the use of El Hombre and flags they are a powerful force multiplier for the poorly led militias...add in the extra points and the militias should have a bit more sting.

...very much looking forward to the next campaign you guys run and remember off course there is so much more happening in1936 instead of just the Army of Africa vs rabble militia......however motivated.

...so mix it up and get those Falangists in the mix and I think things will be much closer in how the armies perform. That said, I think the version 2 lists will still give the militias a good shot at taking on the army of Africa...and don't forget in 1937 you can use those same AoA troops as Nationalist forces at a reduced fighting ability...toned down Regulares and Legion vs now much tougher Republicans.....that's just 6 months after the war starts and things really hot up.

....looking forward to your next campaign.  

Cheers

Happy Wanderer

[H.M.Stanley]

Thanks fellas - all noted and understood.

However,  I can't believe that you toned down my Legion just when I was looking forward to kicking Scrivs' arse and giving him a taste of his own medicine 

[scrivs]

Thanks Jim & Rolf for all the work you put in on the supplements they give some great games and were a great foundation for our campaign. It's nice to see them evolving and we will be using V2.0 in our upcoming games.

We plan to start another campaign in September when I return from my round the world adventure.

However,  I can't believe that you toned down my Legion just when I was looking forward to kicking Scrivs' arse and giving him a taste of his own medicine 

Oh shame, not content with whining on the forum, I met James for brunch today and he even had his partner duff me up in the guise of demonstrating restraint tactics