You’ve Got To Build Bypasses

Tony F runs us through a Stargrave scenario set on Planet Earth (before the demolition…).

At Maidstone we have a largish group of Stargrave players with games run regularly. We all keep track of the progress of our captains and crews (although there have been casualties along the way) in a series of unrelated scenarios that we take turns to organise. Almost all are run by an umpire who sits out the game and ensures that things run smoothly. I’m a massive fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – I mean, who isn’t? – and I’ve been trying to shoehorn a Stargrave scenario into the H2G2 universe. Last autumn, I finally managed it (and it’s taken almost six months to write it all up !)…

I set things right at the start of the original book, with Arthur Dent’s house about to be demolished. I didn’t directly tell the four players that the scenario was a Hitchhiker’s one although they all twigged it from their sparse briefing notes. Two of them were tasked with ensuring that the house was efficiently pulled down, while the other two were to try and stop the destruction. But they didn’t know that there were two different sets of briefings, nor did they know that they had a potential ally, which led to some interesting results later on.

Arthur’s House, surrounded by bulldozers ready to roll.

I went rather over the top with the scenery, making Arthur’s house from a Charlie Foxtrot MDF kit and giving it a detailed garden. A borrowed Forge World fantasy inn stood in as the Red Lion pub while Sarissa Precision provided Cottington Cricket Club’s pavilion. Details such as the telephone box and bus stop were from Blotz while Debris of War were the source of bits such as the rubbish bins and bags, portaloos, traffic cones, sofa etc. I scratchbuilt details such as the hedges and fences, telegraph poles, road signs and the pond, while the post box and benches were 3D prints of models I created myself. The narrow Sussex country lanes were Early War Miniatures latex offerings. I raided my 28mm Lord of the Rings scenery for beer barrels for the pub and a high hedge round the cricket pitch, which was last seen as the defensive hedge around Bree ! I really went to town with the details (far more than was strictly necessary) but I had a lot of fun putting it all together.

The six JCBs were cheap plastic toys from eBay – I hadn’t wanted to spend a fortune on expensive die cast ones for a one-off game. I weathered them a bit, varnished them to take away the cheap plastic shine and I think they looked fine on the table. The idea was that the two demolition-tasked players could jump in them to knock the house down, but I made them difficult for the players to control on account of their weird rear wheel steering which a character used to grav sleds wouldn’t be used to.

Closup of one of the cheap plastic JCB toys, given a bit of a paint job and pressed into service.

I had fun coming up with a long list of creatures for the random encounter table. The list had 20 different possible encounters which were triggered if a player rolled four or less on their initiative roll each turn. I arranged them in increasing order of deadliness, and rolled 1d10 plus the turn number for them which meant that the players would start off with some fairly tame and easy to tackle encounters, ramping up to more difficult ones later in the game. Since Arthur lives in a fairly rural area, Warlord Games’ farmyard animals set populated the bottom half of the table, ranging from a few chickens pecking at the players’ feet up to some cows and a 3D printed bull sourced from Etsy.

The rest of the encounter table was more interesting to put together. A bunch of drunken thugs would pour forth from the Red Lion, upset at the noise and gunfire disturbing their lunchtime drinking session – these came from Killer B. Several British bobbies with truncheons from Crooked Dice would also be investigating the noise, escalating to the Sweeney (also Killer B) in a die cast police car. A simple scratchbuilt bowl of petunias (wooden bead with a flower tuft on top) and a Sperm Whale (eBay) were primed to drop out of the sky on an unlucky captain’s head. Shotgun-armed Farmer Maggert (Killer B) and his three Rottweiler dogs Grip, Wolf and Fang (Brigade Models) would get very protective over his cabbages. There were several bases of tiny red Vl’Hurg and green G’Gugvunt spaceships (Brigade again), confused about their scale but with enough firepower to give someone a nasty flesh wound. Arthur and Ford (Denizen) could well chase a Chesterfield sofa (Debris of War) across the fields, and at the top of the list was Thor, an oversized 3D print from Etsy. And I must not forget Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, a Crooked Dice figure, and his 1960s toy spaceship which I picked up for a pound at a boot fair. If he managed to land a carefully crafted insult then it could cost a Captain a few Will points.

Sadly, after all that effort, the players (with the honourable exception of Captain Gloria/Charlotte) steadfastly refused to roll many low initiative scores, especially in the second half of the game, so many of my favourite characters didn’t appear. But fear not, I have ideas for more H2G2 universe scenarios, so they’ll be back.

I think the game ran pretty well, initially most of the players spent time hoovering up the loot tokens. But then Captain Gloria jumped in one of the JCBs and they all twigged what was going on. In hindsight perhaps I should have hinted a bit more about what they were supposed to do to achieve the main objective, but I think fun was had by all which after all is what we do this for. I particularly enjoyed Charlotte’s skirmishes with the local farm animals, she seemed particularly unlucky with them, not helped by a few freakishly good die rolls against her by the umpire.

Anyway, I’ll hand you over to the four Captains for their after-action reports.

Captain Gloria (The Rhythm)
The view from Captain Gloria’s end of the table, with one of Farmer Maggert’s barns in the foreground.

COMMENCE ENTRY

The Rhythm has kept a low profile since the last altercation at the Stairway to Heaven nine months ago, but funds were running low and I was longing to be back in familiar territory. When a job came through asking us to save fellow earthling Arthur Dent’s house from demolition, I practically broke the keyboard to accept it. It should have been a case of heading to Earth, getting in, having a word with the tío in charge (el señor Prosser) and getting out.

Díos mío. What should have been a straightforward job became anything but that. Upon landing, demolition seemed at its starting point, with JCBs surrounding the dwelling. We had to move fast and, as we did, it became clear that three other gangs had also received intel about the Dent house. I was not sure of their respective motivation, so I gave the order to make our way to the house, where I was sure either the inhabitant or the demolition tío would be, before the situation could escalate. This was encumbered by my smashed jaw and Estefan’s injured leg, which restricted his movement, and the native animals that kept attacking us. Before any of the crew had reached the house, Black had already been killed by a cow (milk-bearer), which was promptly executed.

More trouble with the local fauna – this time it’s the charge of the sheep brigade.

While Estefan and many of my crew were engaged with more dwellers of the farm where we had landed – several sheep, a farmer, and his dogs – I pressed on towards the house with Bluey and Red behind me. Across the road, it seemed that two gangs – Roj Blake’s men and The Dirty Rats – were muy ocupado fighting each other, so we only needed to exchange a few rounds of fire from the crew of the Monsoon and Roj Blake’s men. Once it became clear that Wilson of the Monsoon had the same goal of saving the house, we turned our attention to taking out el señor Prosser, Blake’s men and the crew of The Dirty Rat. In a moment of gross misjudgement, I started one of the JCBs, hoping to drive it past the house and into Blake or one of his cronies. Having been some time since I drove an Earthmade machine, I ran over Red and ploughed into the back of the very house we were trying to save. Miraculously, the house remained intact and lost only some plaster and a window, and Red managed to dive out of the way in time. In this time, Wilson’s men had managed to dispatch el señor Prosser and The Dirty Rat appeared to have suffered many casualties.

Damn’ sheep !

I ordered those men who were not still engaged with the farmer and his vicious menagerie to try and finish off Blake’s crew, who were by now on the retreat. We left the scene with some loot, having lost only Black and White (que descansen en paz), and having brought Bluey back to make a full recovery, and we returned to the ship with 200cr having been transferred to the ship’s account. I can only assume our client shared the same job with the Monsoon and split our pay. Qué cara tiene.

Captain Gloria leaps into one of the JCB’s and gets demolishing !

The status of Arthur Dent remains unknown to us. Communications picked up by The Rhythm suggest he may have been in the pub. I only hope he is pleased that his house remains standing and that he doesn’t send us the bill for the repairs. We press on to the nearest inhabited outpost to recruit two new crewmen; but for tonight, we’re gonna party until we see the break of day. With this in mind, Rhythm: play ‘Conga’.

ENTRY ENDS.

Captain Kersh Wilson (The Monsoon)

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,’ said Captain Kersh Wilson to his first mate, a giant shaggy biomorph called Shoggoth.

Shoggoth grunted in response.

‘Get the crew ready,’ instructed Kersh. ‘Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the galaxy there are reports that several planets are to be destroyed to make way for an intergalactic bypass. And no one has told the inhabitants or cares about what happens to them.

We have to stop this.’

Shoggoth looked at Kersh deeply. There were many things that confused him about this human, but his kind demeanour and generosity is what had drawn him to serve this gentle and philosophical mystic.

Kersh and his crew landed on the blue and white, industrial, planet with the intent of stopping its destruction. They had discovered that it was being led by a sinister individual calling itself Planning Officer Prosser – such tyrants always give themselves grandiose titles. His elimination was essential to stopping this wanton act of violence.

Kersh and his crew approached a small house across a field of wheat. They could see large yellow machines getting ready to demolish the building. The crew’s pathfinder, Aidan Kenver, could see a large packing crate so he made a dash for it, wondering if it might have data about what was happening – the crew had secured a data loot token.

Kersh and the rest of the crew diverted around the back of the building because they’d seen more equipment stashed there and began to wonder the same as Aidan. Mallia Bygrove, an ex-army sniper, took up position at the corner of a hedge to cover Kersh and the crew in case anyone tried to come around behind (as they came into orbit they picked up the warpdrive signals of three other vessels, presumably trying to selfishly loot the planet before its destruction).

They saw movement! They recognised an individual who they knew to be a member of Captain Gloria’s crew.

‘Stay over there and come no nearer and we shall let you go in peace,’ called Kersh.

They heard no answer.

But an answer soon came because this same individual entered the wheat field and opened fire at Kersh and his men! Fire was soon returned.

Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged attempts to serve Captain Wilson with his pre-determined insult (they shot him – doubtless he’ll be back).

Things got busier, because Mallia saw a couple of suspicious looking types beside an older, wooden, building with a sign outside that said ‘The Red Lion’, so to keep them at bay he gave them a warning shot.

More shooting could now be heard. Not only shooting, but the lowing and mooing of large bovine creatures. A robot came into view, a droid that Kersh had seen before amongst the crew of Captain Roj. This robot raised its gun and the sensors on Kersh’s Threat Detector sensed it locking on. But the robot’s aim soon passed and found a different target elsewhere. Nonetheless, the robot’s intentions had been made all too clear and there was no knowing whether it may or may not come back and take a shot. So Kersh called out to Yammet, a rapid-fire gunner, to take his weapon and destroy captain Roj’s robot. Yammet swung around and let out a terrible burst of fire and the robot crumpled into a mess of wires and burnt steel.

‘Captain,’ said crewman Rannock Crowder, ‘aren’t we getting distracted? Aren’t we here to stop Planning Officer Prosser?’

Rannock was right, and Kersh knew it. He drew out his lightsabre void blade and made for the target of their intentions, leaving troopers Zanford Schneider and Brynan Jones to keep up the fight with Captain Gloria’s crew.

The Monsoon’s crew approach from the rear of the house.

Meanwhile, the fracas between Mallia and this other mystery crew had escalated. More deadly fire was being exchanged. Kersh’s droid, 2B-55, had joined in as well. The enemy crew were getting fewer in number, so that was a promising start. However, someone had hot-wired a pair of the large yellow machines surrounding the house, so Kersh, Shoggoth, and 2B-55 had to be careful.

There was Prosser! With his back to Kersh, the wicked Planning Officer was surveying his work, cackling cruelly at all the mayhem and destruction. Kersh was tempted to just strike him down, but his training had instilled in him an honourable code, and so he declared himself to Prosser. This code of honour was not shared by the Planning Officer who promptly swung around and struck Kersh with his briefcase before running off. Just a temporary setback as Kersh recovered and, braving the fire from the guns of the other hostile crew, Kersh pursued the Planning Officer before cornering him and striking him down with his lightsabre. Sorry, his void blade.

There was still a lot of upheaval to deal with. Kersh could see he’d been wrong about Captain Gloria and her crew who, like him, were out to protect this primitive planet. It was obvious that Captain Roj and this fourth crew he’d never encountered before had other plans. Mallia Bygrove made his way up, ducking behind some bins and boxes, before taking aim with his sniper rifle to shoot the drivers of the yellow death machines. He could see crew members of Captain Roj behind a hedge who took shots at Bygrove, but they missed their mark.

Realising they were bettered, Captain Roj and his crew soon slunk off like the dirty wamp-rats they were. Whoever this other crew had been was now irrelevant because they’d all been overcome and were nowhere to be seen.

Kersh made for 2B-55, who had received considerable damage, to make sure his droid was still fit to move. The droid was in bad shape, but still operable. Time to head back to their ship, though Kersh.

‘Back to the ship. Back to The Monsoon,’ he called and he and his crew made off, satisfied they’d stopped Planning Officer Prosser.

Captain Black Rat (The Dirty Rat)

It became apparent right from the off that it just wasn’t going to be my day. As I pulled my crew proudly from their storage foam, I soon realised one was absent. Where was Ratchet the Robot? Ratchet is bigger than the average figure. It has protection is akin to power armour. But he wasn’t there. I borrowed a robot from Tony, but then I found I had this old sculpt, at least fairly heavily armed, in the box. Then I realised I didn’t have my “powers cards” either. They are copied from the rule book and stuck to card. They are a handy aide memoire. I missed them.

The missing robot and cards. Alas, poor Marcus.

My crew deployed from behind a pub. We might as well have gone in and had a few drinks. The approach might have been better if we did. I split my team, then got confused about who needed to be with what to benefit from the synergy of my powers. Then, “Oh look, I can see a robot approaching.” One of the J10 (Jeremy’s Blake’s 7 analogues, not a stellar equivalent of J2O from the aforementioned pub.) Time to use the “Control Robot” power. This failed (naturally), drawing withering fire from Jeremy. His approach had been more direct too, so he ended up grabbing more loot on this side of the table. Sadly, it took us some time to get over this spat and realise we were on the same side (as much as anyone can be in Stargrave!).

The crew of the Dirty Rat deploy in the car park of the Red Lion.

My mission stated that I really needed to find Prosser and get the keys. As Steve and Charlotte had their own little spat over who’s side was who’s, Steve also sent some forces toward the cottage.
Prosser randomly moved towards Steve and got into trouble. “We are on your side you bureaucratic twit!”. Both groups from the Dirty Rat were taking fire and I could not roll a defence die for a Syrtis Major toffee and peanut asteroid bar. While the Orange kid did make off with some loot, Captain Black Rat went out of action, swiftly followed by Harriet Barber (who strangely enough, might have felt at home in a B7 analogue crew…) and others too numerous to mention. No-one had a great day. Did I say no-one?

My hacker 01-V2 jumped onto a digger, hacked it and started driving for the cottage. Meanwhile one of the crew managed to grab the cottage keys from the flailing Prosser’s dying fingers and made for the door. The diggers were far from easy to control, as Charlotte had found earlier. The little droid tried to drive the digger into the cottage. Surely it must go down! No. Another try? No..and he got shot. Ratchet 2 jumped onto another digger, and was similarly challenged in the driving department. Nevertheless, we got inside to discover… that despite all that effort, the keys were keys to the hotwired diggers not the cottage. That summed it up for the game really’ as Ratchet 2 also went down, like the rest of the crew under a hail of critical hits that not even someone who can calculate their defence rolls properly could have survived. Fortunately, a number of end game rolls later I could lick just one wound and everyone lived…for another day.

Fortunately these two made it off and made it to the site.

JCBs in the garden of the house – Arthur’s car has taken a bashing.
Captain Roj Blake (unnamed starship)

The power armour check was passed, everything was loaded and the crew were ready to roll. The first surprise of the mission was that we landed in a green and pleasant land. There were green fields, trees and in the
distance a not particularly nice looking house. The mission brief was to find a Mr Prosser.

But my immediate problem was there were other crews present and mine was out in the open, so orders were given to get a move on and head towards the house. Making it to the other side of a large hedge, half the crew
were presented with a strange view. Charlotte’s crew was locked in battle with various creatures. This battle was to play out for a while, involving chickens, pigs, cows and dogs. So the crew took up position resting against a fence and taking in the show.

Blake’s crew approach the high hedge.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew continued towards the house, only to be rudely attacked by Marcus’ crew trying to take control of robot Zen. Despite this attempt at control failing, the outrage was met in a suitable way with several hot projectiles. I’m pleased to report several hit and opened the score (appropriate given the target was next to the cricket pavilion).

Some of the Captain Blake’s crew cross the road from the cricket pitch.

However it soon became clear that the positions of the other crews meant getting to Mr Prosser was going to be impossible. Stephen’s crew were already approaching Mr Prosser while also exchanging fire with Marcus’ crew. And Charlotte’s crew had decided that despite losing to the local wildlife they would also fire on my crew by the fence. Marcus had also continued to poke round the pavilion providing a steady supply of target practice.

At this point there was a sudden change in the game. One of Marcus’ crew managed to get in one of the yellow diggers surrounding the house and was trying to get it to demolish the house. Charlotte’s crew had also prevailed against the livestock and managed to wound one of my crew. So I switched track and several crew made a dash with their loot while the remaining crew made for the diggers. And boy were those diggers hard to control. I never got close to the house and in the time I spent trying both Stephen’s and Charlottes crews were advancing on the house and I was taking fire. But you cannot say my crew wasn’t adaptable. It was time to grab the loot and make a run for it. Unfortunately one of my crew Jenna Stannis was shot in the back by Charlotte as they were retreating, and that’s where we left the other crews to it. It was a good day for loot but a bad day for the crew as, despite having an advanced medical suite on the ship, Jenna didn’t make it.

On the outskirts of Cottington – they don’t look like locals.

Work in Progress Wednesday

We start this week with Stephen and his now complete early medieval castle. We can see some Norman lord has already moved in.

We stay with Stephen and something that Norman Lord would probably have appreciated. Two porta loos and a tent. I can see the porta loos turning up as an objective in a game!

Moving on and Mark J has started work on a WW2 German Flak38

I’ve also been busy finishing off the 3mm sci-fi buildings I got from Brigade Models. I’ve created two small settlements with the desert buildings.

And little groupings of the colony buildings, with a rare splash of colour from me.

And last but by no means least this week Tony F has painted up a Gothic Crypt from Debris of War.

We will see you again next week.

Work in Progress Wednesday

It’s already March, where is the time going. I’ll start this weeks Work in Progress. I’ve managed to paint the first layer of my Robot Legions army made up of various robot miniatures.

To go with those I’ve also started on some sci-fi scenery. This are made from off cuts of MDF stuck together to make futuristic standing stones.

Moving on and Andy has been painting up his Sneakfeet and Einherjar miniatures.

And he has painted up the fencing we saw last week.

Chris St has continued on his spectacular French from the War of the Spanish Succession.

And lastly for this week Mark J has continued with his British infantry, he’s probably feeling relieved to have moved onto another colour uniform.

And with that we will see you next Wednesday.

Work in Progress Wednesday

Welcome to another Work in Progress Wednesday, we start this week with Chris St and some wonderful looking French from the War of the Spanish Succession.

Next up and Stephen has been scratch building again, this time an early Norman castle. The central building was a previous scratchbuild to set the scene while he works on the outer wall.

Moving on and we have a cast of Characters painted up mainly by Marcus with a few done by Tony F, that made an appearance for our current show game The Labyrinths of Mars.

Andy has made a return with some fencing. These are Rendra fences he has mounted on wooden garden plant name labels.

The bases have been painted ready for flocking.

Meanwhile, I’ve been making some mineral deposit scatter terrain. These were made by pouring hot glue into silicone moulds. I will paint these black to match other rocks I’ve made.

And lastly for this week Phil has given me this pile of 10mm Easterling infantry. I’m sure he expects me to do something with them, when I work that out you may see some progress.

And with that we will see you next week.

Work in Progress Wednesday

We start this week with some work in progress from Marcus who is putting together our 2026 show game The Labyrinths of Mars. The first outing for the game will be the Cavalier show in Tonbridge on the Sunday 22th February 2026. 10am to 4pm.

Marcus has repurposed his previous scenery adding a red colour scheme.

And monsters, objectives and treasures to match.

Next up Stephen has converted a toy digger to another Quar tank. looking forward to the first game of A Clash of Rhyfles at the society later in March.

Sticking with the toy theme, I have been painting up some toy construction vehicles and adding tarp over the top to disguise them as being obvious toys.

And lastly this week Mark J has moved on to painting up some WW2 brits to accompany his Churchills.

So do come and see us at Cavalier in Tonbridge, otherwise we will see you next week.

 

Society Meeting 14/02/2026

Andy rounds up the Valentine’s Day meeting

A quieter meeting this time, just three games in progress.

Paul and Colin staged a 2mm recreation of the Battle of Waterloo.

French advance covered by skirmishers

Mark J and Tony F were trying out ‘O’ Group with an early WW2 encounter between the French and Germans in 10mm.

German and French Infantry line the hedges
French Infantry
French Armour
German Armour
German Infantry
Germans push back the French right flank

And finally Stephen ran a Stargrave game, with a Valentine’s Day theme. Look out for the Captains’ unbiased reports in a blog post soon.

Some nere-do-wells in the streets of Verona on the planet Romance
The mean streets of the west side of Verona
Carnage outside the pub.
Mariah – the Angel, guarded by Captain Greyfax’s crew
Captain Reynold’s crew passing quietly down a back alley.
All is quiet again in Verona
MWS meet on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month (except the 4th Saturday in December) from 10:00 to 17:00 at Linton Village Hall, south of Maidstone on the A299.

Information about the Society, including directions, can be found here.

The diary of planned games can be found here, this is updated throughout the year so please have a look from time to time.

Work in Progress Wednesday

It’s another Wednesday and we start with Mark J and more progress on his tanks. The mud splatters on these Churchills look great.

Of course they need an opponent so Mark has also painted up an 88 Flak gun and crew.

Moving into the future and Tony F has finished the Stargrave crew figures we saw progress on last week. These are bounty hunters from DieHard miniatures.

Sticking with the Sci-fi theme and I’ve been painting up some new 3mm buildings from Brigade Models, I’m going to try something different to the usual sand colour for these settlements.

And lastly for this week, we all like a useful find. Andy discovered these letters and numbers on cork discs. He has mounted them on round MDF bases and they will make great objective or other markers.

And with that we will see you next week.

Operation McLain

OPERATION MCLAIN – June 1968

This was our third, and final, game in a trilogy of scenarios based on actions conducted by the 173rd Airborne in Vietnam.
This game was based around Operation McLain, where the US and ARVN sought to regain control over rural communities they lost during the Tet Offensive. The company was supported by their mortar teams and a firebase of 105mm howitzers dedicated to their operations, plus the possibility of air support from the US Navy. The mission was to locate and engage suspected NVA and VC units in the area.
The NVA comprised a reinforced company atop Hill 435 – three rifle platoons, plus company mortars, and a command bunker with the Company HQ consisting of the CinC, a mortar spotter with radio, plus a HMG. The US forces had advanced too closely on the hill and I could tell that if they requested artillery it would be refused due to proximity of friendly troops. This would cause them a lot of problems. But Cpt Smith wisely called artillery in on the reverse slope so he could walk the artillery in to position.
The VC were in position around the northern village and were an understrength local force company of three platoons. Lt Francis had the job of sweeping through the villages, something he’d also done in the previous game.
The area was not a Free Fire Zone, so authorisation was required for any support from artillery or air. The southern village was neutral, trying to keep its head clean. Whilst the northern village was firmly in the grip of the local VC who were using it to store war materials.

Airborne assault underway

Company Commander’s report of military Operation McLain in the vicinity of Da Lat June 1968.

Our company of 173rd Airborne was ordered to conduct a recce and aggressive sweep to the north of our designated LZ , clearing the two villages in the SE and the NE, taking Hill 435 and to locate and destroy any enemy we engaged. A US press team joined our company and for security reasons I decided they should be attached to the Company HQ.
The company HQ, the weapons platoon and press team made the first Heli drop in middle of the LZ and prepared to give fire to any enemy that may attack platoons 1, 2 and 3 as they came in to land in quick succession.
All platoons came in and landed without any interruption from the enemy. Platoon 1 (Lt. Francis) to the right of Weapons platoon and HQ’s position. Platoon 2 (Lt. King) to the left and Platoon 3 (Lt. Claridge) to the left, just behind and between HQ & weapons platoon and Platoon 2. Lts King & Claridge were ordered to advance their platoons with caution – hunkering down in cover at intervals – towards Hill 435.
Lt Francis’ platoon advanced cautiously towards the village to the SE. HQ and Weapons platoon advanced also.

Weapons platoon gives supporting fire

Hill 435 was likely to be heavily defended, probably by regular NVA. Enemy positions were soon located on the Hill and consequently our weapons platoon commenced to lay down heavy fire with
M60 machine guns and 75mm recoilless rifles with devastating effect. Our company mortars were called in to fall on the north sector of the hill. This was potentially dangerously close to Pltn’s 2 & 3, but with careful direction from our Forward Observer and myself the mortar rounds landed accurately on target. Lts King & Claridge were ordered to temporally halt and hunker down whilst our mortars hit the top of Hill 435.
Meanwhile, enemy mortar rounds started to fall in the vicinity of our HQ and Pltn’s 2 & 3. This seemed to be an enemy observed bombardment as the barrage was steadily moved to the north for several minutes which put more of our platoons in danger.
It was under this bombardment that Lts Claridge and King took casualties including one fatality. Lt King himself had to be medevaced out by Heli along with three other casualties. It could have been worse, but Lts King and Claridge had kept their men hunkered down which undoubtedly protected them from further casualties.

Weapons platoon about to take mortar fire

Casualties were also taken by the weapons platoon’s machine gun squad and unfortunately one of the Press team had to be medevaced out by Heli also. Our mortar bombardment of Hill 435 caused regular NVA to move down the hill into the fire from weapons platoon which caused heavy enemy casualties. The enemy mortar bombardment stopped abruptly and we at HQ realised that the enemy mortars and FO were probably on top of Hill 435 and were destroyed by our mortar barrage. I ordered our barrage to cease to allow Pltns 2 & 3 to advance up the hill. A squad from Pltn 2 skirted around the hill to the west to discover an enemy unit of VC irregulars.
Lt Claridge discovered an enemy bunker on the upper slopes of Hill 435. After 2 light assault weapons were fired at the bunker without success it was an M79 blooper round that went straight into the bunker through the slit and despatched it with a devastating explosion.

Weapons platoon about to take mortar fire

Navy Air support was requested to engage suspected enemy positions to the north of the hill but was not available at that time.
By this time, the weapons platoon was also engaging enemy units, which looked like VC irregulars, to their front and right front, again pouring withering fire into them from the M60s and the recoilless rifles. Lt King’s platoon, under command of an NCO as Lt King was seriously wounded and evacuated, engaged irregular VC on the slopes of the hill and around the north of the hill.
Lt Francis’ platoon searched and cleared the village successfully in the SE sector and advanced through the dense jungle terrain towards the second village. Despite comms problems, they engaged and routed more irregular VC to the North of the dense terrain area and eventually entered the village. Several enemy bodies were recovered along with a concealed arms cache.
All across our company’s front, the enemy completely dispersed, abandoning several bodies and equipment. The enemy bunker turned out be the NVA’s Company HQ and also contained a heavy machine gun crew which would have been lethal for Pltns 2 & 3 had they managed to open fire before the bunker was destroyed.
The company took relatively very light casualties and all the objectives were taken. Apart from the wounded Press journalist no further civilian casualties were observed or reported.
All in all, I’d say a very successful mission. Very well done gentlemen.
173rd Airborne and the USA are very proud of you all.

AAR – 1st Platoon (Lt A Francis)

As per company orders, 1st Platoon dropped in the SE corner of the LZ behind CoHQ. 1st Squad immediately moved to search the nearby village of Bien Na while 2nd and 3rd took up position along the road, covering the nearby jungle boundary.

1st platoon enters the village of Bien Na

Following the all clear from the village, considerable mortar and small arms fire began to be heard from the western side of the LZ where CoHQ and the other two platoons were engaging the enemy on the hill. 2nd and 3rd squads crossed the road and entered the jungle to flush out any enemy towards the village situated NE of the LZ.
At this point, a communications glitch hit the platoon. Radio comms within the squad went down and we also dropped off the company net for a period. I personally was with 2nd squad and managed to establish voice contact with 3rd, but contact was lost completely with 1st who, lacking further orders, held position in the SE village. I continued to lead 2nd and 3rd squads towards the northern treeline although progress was hampered by dense undergrowth and lack of working radios (game note – the umpire accidentally dropped 1st platoon’s activation card on the floor and it was missing from the deck for several turns – hence little activity from the platoon until it was discovered !).
Eventually the radio net was restored; I ordered 1st squad to catch up with the rest of the platoon at the double (since we’d already swept the jungle ahead of them they were able to move swiftly). The jungle was less dense on its northern edge and I took 2nd and 3rd to the treeline, and we spotted a VC platoon in the paddy fields between the trees and the other village. We immediately engaged them with all available firepower, reinforced shortly after by the arrival of 1st squad. Multiple enemy casualties were observed before the survivors fell back; a subsequent follow-up sweep confirmed at least 10 enemy KIA, all VC. The platoon suffered no casualties in return, as enemy return fire was sporadic at most.

VC troops engage 1st platoon in the jungle

Following the cessation of enemy fire, all three squads advanced to the NE village. 3rd squad on our left flank briefly engaged another VC unit along with the weapons platoon who were positioned to our west as we emerged from the jungle. The enemy rapidly withdrew under heavy fire, casualties unknown.
As all enemy activity had ceased at this point, the platoon conducted a post-action sweep of the second village, uncovering a VC weapons cache.

The last few VC about to break

AAR – 2nd Platoon (submitted by Platoon Sergeant R. Turpin 2ic 2nd Platoon, vice 2LT A. King WIA)

2nd Platoon was deployed by helicopter several hundred yards to the south of Hill 435, arriving between 1st and 3rd Platoons. Sgt Turpin with 2nd and 3rd Squads were in the lead, with 1st Squad, armed with an M72 LAW in reserve with the 2LT.
Initial orders from Co HQ were to advance cautiously on hill 435 in conjunction with 3rd Platoon.
On arrival LT King noted the lack of cover in the immediate area of the LZ and ordered the platoon to move toward the cover of some elephant grass between the LZ and hill 435.
During the advance 3rd Squad spotted hostile forces on the hill, estimated at platoon strength, and I passed this intelligence back to the LT. 1st Squad acted on this information laying down fire on the enemy position while the LT contacted the company mortar platoon to request support.

NVA 1st Platoon on the hill

2nd Squad hunkered down and fired on the hill, while 3rd Squad attempted to get into the elephant grass, but were slowed down by the dense grass, making little progress, however they did manage to lay down some fire on the hill. The LT and 1st Squad closed up at the double, the LT’s request for mortar support was denied as the platoon was considered to be too close to the point of aim.
The LT was now close enough to direct 3rd Squad to open fire, while he checked paddy fields to the east of Hill 435 for possible enemy activity, finding none. At this point the LT and 1st Squad came under enemy mortar fire, with PFC Houston KIA.
Shortly afterwards LT King was grievously wounded by the sustained mortar fire and needed to be CASEVAC’d.

Lt King injured by NVA mortars

As platoon 2ic I took command, and ordered a team from 1st Squad to evacuate the LT and PFC Houston’s body to the dust-off RV point. I ordered the remainder of 1st Squad to move to the west to try to escape the mortar’s beaten zone. 2nd and 3rd Squads managed to advance into the elephant grass and take cover.
2nd and 3rd Squads both engaged the enemy on the hill with effective fire, at least two casualties were seen to fall. The team from 1st Squad saw the LT and PFC Houston loaded onto the dust-off chopper and then re-joined the rest of 1st Squad.

US forces start to take casualties

With the LT out of action 2nd Platoon would be vulnerable to accumulated shock hampering movement and reducing the effect of their weapons.
Someone in the chain of command must have persuaded the Mortar Platoon to risk danger close fire as our mortars began to fall on the rear of the hill.
Elements of 3rd platoon to our east advanced upon the hill to discover a well concealed bunker with an HMG. I ordered 1st Squad to deploy their LAW in an attempt to destroy the bunker but the shot missed. 2nd and 3rd Squads were more effective, continuing to fire at the enemy on the hill outside the bunker inflicting more casualties which caused the enemy to withdraw rapidly.
3rd Platoon tried to take out the bunker with their LAW but also failed. One of their Squads had better luck as they appeared to get a grenade into the bunker, destroying it.
With the bunker destroyed by 3rd Platoon, 2nd Platoon’s 2nd and 3rd Squads advanced to search the vacated enemy positions flanking the bunker, finding 8 NVA KIA who had been abandoned by their comrades. We left evaluation of the bunker’s ruins to 3rd Platoon.
There was then a lull in the action (2nd Platoon’s card wasn’t drawn before the end of the turn) as the VC mortar’s fell silent.

NVA 2nd platoon comes off the hill to avoid US mortars

2nd and 3rd Squads advanced to the western side and crest of hill 435, but 1st Squad’s follow up was severely hampered by the elephant grass. 2nd and 3rd Squads could see some activity in the jungle to the north of Hill 435 and attempted to identify if there were any enemy forces present, but the results were inconclusive. 1st Squad made slow progress through the elephant grass.
After another lull in the action, 3rd Squad confirmed no enemy presence immediately to the north of the hill, so 1st and 2nd Squads continued their cautious advance. 2nd and 3rd Squads continued their advance across the hill, with 1st Squad still battling their way through elephant grass.
As they advanced 2nd Squad spotted a reduced strength VC platoon in the jungle to the north east of hill 435, 3rd Squad didn’t spot them and 1st Squad FINALLY got out of the elephant grass, only to encounter the jungle on hill 435!

US troops sweep across the hill mopping up stragglers

Following another lull in the action 2nd and 3rd Squads laid down withering fire on the VC platoon they had spotted earlier, causing 4 casualties and forcing the VC to withdraw. 1st Squad cleared the jungle and advanced in the clear area to the west of hill 435.

VC take cover in the rice paddies

At this point Co HQ confirmed all enemy forces had withdrawn, leaving the Company in control of hill 435 and the surrounding villages.
Post battle analysis confirmed an overwhelming military and political victory for free world forces.
Update: 2LT King was evacuated to Tuy Hoa field hospital where he was stabilised, awarded a Purple Heart, and subsequently flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland for further treatment. The NCOs and other ranks of 2nd Platoon wish the LT a speedy recovery.

It ain’t easy being a dust off pilot – you might lose your tail rotor

AAR – 3rd Platoon (Lt J Claridge)

As part of Operation McLain the company was sent to Da Lat for a reconnaissance-in-force, once again 3rd Platoon were going to arrive last to the LZ. This time the boss said everyone was to be at the LZ before we started moving out so we could bring our full weight against the enemy, this was a welcome plan given last time we went in hot, taking fire on the way down.
Embarking on the UH-1 transports we were en route when the CO confirmed his teams were in place and the other platoons were already deployed on the ground. Then everything changed, radio chatter confirmed 1st Platoon was checking out a local village, 2nd Platoon was advancing into the elephant grass at the foot of Hill 435, while M60’s of the platoon HQ were already engaging targets on the hill. So much for the plan, then the birds took a sharp swing towards the LZ to avoid the ranging shots coming in from enemy mortars, it was going to be another hot landing.
As 3rd platoon arrived at the LZ we were still under orders to hold until the full force was gathered. But mortar shells were already falling to our rear and there was intense fire being poured onto the hill. After a few failed attempts to get clear orders from the CO we decided to head towards the hill and get as much distance from the mortars as possible.
It wasn’t enough, 2nd and 3rd squads got caught in the barrage and were lucky to avoid any casualties. 2nd Platoon was making cautious progress towards the hill while 1st platoon was nowhere to be seen. The CO was in a fierce firefight with the enemy on the hill, but it seemed like they had the upper hand. We finally got conformation to ditch the hold orders and advance on the hill.
Despite getting out of the barrage 2nd squad came under fire from the hill causing a casualty that needed immediate evac. Still trying to avoid the mortar fire and seeing 2nd platoon hunkering down again rather than make progress towards the hill we decided it was time to move. 1st squad ran through 2nd platoons’ positions in the elephant grass and advanced to the base of the hill.
3rd squad rushed past the platoon HQ to the road junction near the hill, taking a shocking amount of fire but managing to avoid any casualties. There was still no sign of 1st platoon.
At last, we saw the first enemy units retreating off the hill and so 3rd squad rushed up the hill to flush more of the enemy out only to run straight into an enemy bunker. 3rd squad quickly hunkered down and radioed in the bunker’s location. Immediately two rockets flew over but to no effect, later 1st squad reported one was theirs, I guess the other must have come from 2nd platoon. With the failure of the rockets 3rd squad engaged at point blank range and the bunker erupted in flames.

3rd platoon takes out the bunker

With the bunker out and the mortar threat neutralised by our own supporting mortar fire we advanced off the hill to support the platoon HQ. VC could be seen retreating from the jungle opposite the hill, I guess that’s where 1st platoon got to, and from the fields next to the far village. Taking up position, we continued pouring fire onto the remnants of the NVA from the hill and the VC units. 2nd squad regrouped after their casualty was evac’d and joined in to support platoon HQ. The fight had clearly been taken out of the enemy, and we were ordered to halt as they dispersed. Looking forward for some R&R and buying 3rd squad some well-earned beers.

A Corsairs eye view

Final Word

I’ve really enjoyed playing these games and learning the rules as we go. But the thanks for that must go to Pete, Andy, Jeremey, and Tony, who all entered the spirit to create a great story and narrative to the games. I think Charlie Don’t Surf (CDS) offers a splendid take on the Vietnam War – we are used to seeing those 28mm games where a platoon approaches a village and takes some fire, but games at the level of CDS give more context to those encounters and more accurately reflect the experience of the Vietnam War where it was all about company and battalion actions rather than the platoon (a certain film from the 80s left us with that impression). A great set of rules that provide a very good game.

They will always remember the day the soldiers came…

Work in Progress Wednesday

Welcome to another Wednesday progress report. We start this week with yet more tanks from Mark J. That airbrush is getting a serious workout with a pair of Churchills.

Moving on and Stephen has painted a new robot, I believe this one was from Alternative Armies, you could use this for a lot of different scales but I have a feeling it’s heading for the next Stargrave game.

Next up and I’ve been experimenting with different coloured hot glue to make some alien looking pools.

Sticking with alien things and Marcus W has been painting up some more scenic things for his Mars game.

And some more miniatures for the game as well.

And lastly for this week, we may as well stick to the sci-fi theme with some replacement crew members from Tony F along with some more giant cactus.

And that’s us for this wee, we will see you at the next one.

Assassins & Templars – rules review

Stephen takes us through a recent free set of medieval rules that appeared in the Wargames Illustrated magazine.

‘Assassins & Templars’ (A&T) was a free set of rules that came with issue 455 of Wargames Illustrated. If you missed it then you can purchase a copy from WI, along with all the paraphernalia required. Or you can download it all free from the WI website (not the rules though – if you missed the free copy you now have to buy it).

Having downloaded the card decks from WI and printed and cut them out, I thought I would have a test game because it was absolutely chucking it down with rain outside.

It has a lot in common with its predecessor: Here’s The Ruckus. Ruckus is focussed on the War of the Roses. Both use the exact same mechanics and if you know one then you know the other. Warbands comprise 12 models. They are led by three ‘Hero’ figures – a single commander (a knight) and two sub commanders (squires, or lesser knights). The remaining 9 models are made up of spearmen, crossbowmen, archers, etc. In A&T they have introduced horse archers. The Hero models each control 1 or more of the retinue troops so on a simple level a warband will comprise three 4-man ‘Spears’.

Hero figures also have specific traits or special skills. The list of traits in A&T is much smaller than Ruckus but I see no reason at all why the expanded trait list can’t be imported into A&T.

Turns are completed by turning cards in the Hero deck. This will tell you which Hero (and Spear) to activate, or it could be a Cunning Plan card. The Cunning Plan deck contains cards that allow extra bonuses – things like a re-roll, etc. But there’s also a Divers Alarums card – these are better thought of as special events.

Both Ruckus and A&T are aimed at ‘narrative games’ where the game is more about the story and the cinematic elements of the game than a simple win or lose. To that end there are rules in there for things such as climbing, falling, swimming, balancing, etc. An important part of this, and an important part throughout the rules, is the concept of the ‘Mishap’.

If you roll a 1 when shooting, for example, you have a Mishap (e.g. bow string snaps) or if you have a Mishap whilst climbing you may fall. This whole section on Mishaps felt ‘tacked-on’ to me. I love the concept, and it’s what gives narrative games their…well, narrative. But there was quite a bit of this in A&T – sub-rules just tacked on (‘If X or Y happens then check table C for the effect). Arguably no big deal, but at the same time it didn’t feel like some things were baked in to the rules. You get the feeling that during the play test something happened and someone suggested, ‘well, if that happens just get them to roll on a Mishap table’. And they just shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘yeah, alright’. And there’s a different Mishap table for each different action.

It’s a free set of rules, so no big deal. Good concept, average execution.

Right then, Heroes have a command radius. If a member of their ‘Spear’ is outside they are considered ‘Feckless’ and, you guessed it, they have to roll on a table to see what they do.

Things are kept nice and simple though. You need a 6+ to hit at long range, and a 5+ at short range (different ranges for different weapons). Melee is a bit more involved, as you would expect with a low-model count. What will happen is that when two (or more) models move into contact they will fight up to three consecutive melee phases. In the first phase, all combatants fight at their full potential. If both are still standing you conduct a second phase of melee immediately, where chances to hit are reduced. If they are both still standing after that then a third, and final, phase of melee is fought immediately – still with a reduced chance to hit and now unable to bring to bear any special skills. All this is to reflect fatigue during combat. This means that there’s a chance to pull something back in melee, but also means that combat is likely to produce a resolution that round rather than drag over multiple rounds. If both are still standing at the end of the third melee phase then both participants back off so they are 1” apart.

Heroes have three wounds with other models having just the one. All models also get a Save roll, in both missile and melee. In missile fire an extra roll (again!) is made for any intervening obstacles for the shot (why that couldn’t be added into the shooting mechanism I have no idea – probably because the game uses D6s and just one modifier can have a big effect. Which begs the question, why not design the game with D10s?)

So how did it play in the end?

Actually, it gave a very enjoyable game.

I used the scenario that came in the rules – there’s a central watering hole and the winner is the first who has sole control of the watering hole or kills the opposing leader. To have control you have to be the only one with models within 1” of the watering hole. Realistically, that’s only going to happen if you completely wipe out the opposition so in actuality killing the opposing leader is going to be the way to win the scenario.

It’s a short game (about an hour), so would be great for a one-day campaign. In the scenario I played there was no need for climbing and jumping etc, so that aspect was missing. I did forget about the shooting Mishaps though. On a couple of occasions 1s were rolled but I forgot to apply the Mishap rules. Just put that down to first-time play where rules do get missed. To be honest, it doesn’t take long to master the game so next time around I am sure I will remember to use the Mishaps. That’s no reflection of the rules.

In the game the assassins moved up. The templars (I didn’t use templar models and just used my Normans as early crusaders, there was nothing really that exclusive to why they couldn’t just be Frankish crusaders), moved up with one of the Spears taking up position by a wall and letting rip with a crossbow. The Assassins and the Templars reached the waterhole at about the same time. Two of the Assassins ganged up on the Templar leader, who took two wounds but was still standing at the end of the melee so all participants were separated. But the Assassins went in again with wounds being taken by both sides – the Templar leader was killed but he also killed his assailants. The Templars had lost their leader, though, so the game went to the Assassins.

Yeah, it’s a good game.

Will we be playing it at the club? I don’t know. Keep in mind that we have a whole Saturday, and I’m not sure the game has legs for a whole day. If you meet in the evening for a couple of hours, then it’d make a great game because you can fit in two or three linked games, which is precisely what A&T is all about.

It’s great as a freebie but, having played it, I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it, although at £5.99 it probably is worth taking a punt on. I think Osprey’s ‘Outremer’ does the job better though, so if I was looking at a medieval game with a dozen figures a side I would probably play that instead.