War on Two Fronts - Battle Report

I used two  3ftx3ft boards at a recent club game with one as a planet-side board representing Kepler-62e and the the other is a moon board for Dactyl, Keplers orbiting moon. 

The East Hyadum Trade company expeditionary force (EHTC) is on an outpost base on Kepler-62e. Kepler-62e is a mineral resource rich planet although currently a desert planet after an enlargement phase of its nearest star heated the atmosphere. The EHTC also operate a transit and communication launch base on the orbiting moon "Dactyl".  The EHTC are under duress due to a localised landing of a Neo-Sov force who arrived from a deep space transit sleep to be dropped onto Kepler. Their aim was to overwhelm the small defences around the EHTC launch pad and forward command base "Bose".   The Neo-Sov forces have arrived from their home planet Mars (long since made habitable with atmosphere adjustment). 

Miniatures used were a mix of GZG NAC troopers (painted red to represent the EHTC British expeditionary forces). The NeoSov forces are Khurasan. 

Kepler-62e has a big oil resource, being a desert planet that had in the past been a lush forested environment.  The NeoSov government are unhappy with the EHTC getting an early planetary grab on this newly discovered resource and want to stamp their authority on a resource they could use to feed their massive factory zones on Mars. 

Scenario: 

The 1st Magellanic Pioneers representing the EHTC expeditionary force are led by Major Zac Flower-Smithe and are in retreat with a goal of evacuation to the small Dactyl moon.  Their position is in defilade but the incoming Neo-Sov forces have forced a retreat order.  An Ajax class dropship is on hand to take the retreating forces into orbit and for drop off on the dark side of the Dactyl moon. The Ajax dropship can carry 2 vehicles and 20 troops.  It will take 1 full activation to load a vehicle that is within 2" of the dropship.

Planetary communications have been blocked for the EHTC so they must reach orbit and land on Dactyl (the grey moon terrain base) to get a message out for resources and to report the incursion.   The Neosov objective is simply to focus on destruction of the local  EHTC forces because they are not aware of the second base on Dactyl and are confident they can wipe out the defending forces with only minimal losses.

Unknown to the EHTC their small orbiting base on the moon Dactyl is also just starting to face an assault by local alien fauna, awaking from its 3 Monthly breading cycle.  Things are about to get nasty for the scientific team still based on Dactyl.  The ground force may just get there in time to stop the alien assault, defend the Dactyl moonbase and get the message back to central services that the Neosov's are on the scene. 

The Gruntz alternative card based activation was used in the game which added a lot of tension because the order in which the defending forces could activate and retreat from battle was determined on the luck of the card draw.   You can see the cards dotted about in some of the photos. 

It was a very close game and we ran out of time to finish the second battle against the alien fauna on the moon.  The Drop ship sustained heavy damage from satchel charges tossed into engine intakes but it manage to limp into orbit with a small force of EHTC forces before losing an engine completely.  Some photos during the game follow with notes. 

An overview of the layouts. 

Late game the EHTC APC's (models from GZG) are nearing the launch pad for loading.  

One of the shields on the spider droids has been overloaded. 

Deploying from the GZG APC a squad of Neo-Sov troops (models by Khurasan). 

You can see the activation cards laid on the table for the card based turn sequence which adds a random chaotic battle feel to the game (also ideal for solo play). 

The drop ship makes it off after sustaining a few satchel charges to the air intake, it still managed to limp into orbit and land near the moonbase. 

The Neo-SoV drop in a drop pod carrying a sniper specialist walker (Art crime minis Valkyrie). Drop pod from ClearHorizon miniatures. 

Landing directly on the launch pad the transport roach VTOL (GZG) deploys some Neo-Sov forces directly into the action. 

Near the end game some for the Neosov forces make it to the launch pad and start to throw satchel charges into the intakes of the drop ship. 

The commander of the EHTC forces under heavy sniper fire finally becomes a casualty only a few yards from the drop ship. 

The red EHTC forces are approaching their escape zone.  The Neosov forces are only held back by a line of shielded Spider Droids (GZG Models). 

Drop Pod from Clear Horizon drops in a couple of Valkyrie walkers to harass the flank of the EHTC forces.  

Mortar deployed from APC. 

SELWG 2012 Purchases

This Sunday I took the Gruntz 15mm game to one of the best sci-fi, historical and fantasy Wargames conventions in the South East. Running since 1971 (when I was born), it is a relaxed show, with easy access in South London and worth making the effort to attend with some great traders and games. I have been attending since the early 90's and still get that same Wargames show buzz on every visit.

The Gruntz 15mm games played well and we managed three sessions which took between 45mins and 1hr 20. This depended on the players and how rapidly the players were pushing for the objective and the general chat during game. Jon from GZG gave us some excellent 15mm prize packs for the winning player of every game and some troop packs for players that took part.

Just after setting up the small 3x3 demo table

The scenario was very simple to provide an easy intro to the game. I had some forces from the Gruntz "Heliopause" setting called "The East Hyadym Trade Company". The EHTC were represented with NAC models from GZG and were painted in a colonial red and white scheme. The EHTC were defending a frontier planet outpost and launch pad.   The alien enemies were Protolene models from Critical Mass Games and they had the slight edge on the defenders with a large Marok walker with dual plasma heavy arm weapons.  The defending EHTC had two APC support vehicles which were GZG hi-mobility models. One was fitted with an anti-infantry automatic weapon and the second had a single plasma cannon.  At the start of the game one of the APC's had a squad of EHTC troops already embarked and the second had the Specialist heavy weapons team loaded and ready to be driven to an ideal vantage point to provide covering fire.

During the third game the defending EHTC player Jonathan, made a great move with the heavy weapons team by driving up the ramp on the launch pad and letting them disembark into a good defending location on the edge of the platform.

The games played well and I was really pleased to meet many of the game followers who popped by to say hello. Thanks also to Ben for helping me out on the day.
Here are a few snaps with notes.

Edit: Thanks for the comments on the miniature names. I got my manga mixed up and need to watch Bubblegum crisis, so I can recognise the models.

Spider Droids from GZG with shield up face some Protolene walkers. All three spider droids focused laser fire on a single walker which was smoked. The remaining two turned tail and ran to follow the main force on their following activation.

The starting location on the third game.

Crowds begin to gather on the balcony at the sports centre venue.

Interesting rock top skirmish in this first game.

Planning some full auto fire from a specialist heavy weapons team at the protolene walkers

Protolene closing in on the launch pad

The last few moments for the East Hyadum Trade forces. Both vehicles are smoked.

Some game chat and pre-measuring.

2nd game and they fight to the last. Protolene win

GZG Bubblegum Crisis robots. Amazing stance and details.

4A Miniatures Drop Troopers 28mm

GZG trike truck

 

GZG new fix mount weapon

New GZG skimmer bikes and Brigade Models Power Armour. The Brigade power armour has the look of a MAK style egg suit. 

4A miniatures hale and pace 28mm models.

GZG 25mm Squad

GZG boomers from Appleseed

GZG GENOM Battlesuit. 25mm

GZG AD police in 25mm

Magnetic bases uk. Handy steel bases.

Gruntz at SELWG Convention.

Gruntz is at the SELWG (South East London Wargames Group) convention on Sunday 14th October. The venue is the Crystal Palace Sports ground. More details of traders etc on their web site: http://www.selwg.org/selwg-2012/  There is the usual great range of traders, bring and buy and show games on the day.

SELWG is a classic show, with a great history and always plenty of good terrain layouts and traders to visit. It was one of the shows in the 90's that gave me a major bug for attending gaming conventions. I somehow always manage to find a bargain on the bring and buy and the mix of traders makes it worth attending.

I will be up on the Balcony area which is along from where you walk in.  Jon at Ground Zero Games (GZG) will be trading at the show and will be providing some mini-give-aways and winners gifts for people that join in and have a game of Gruntz.

I will only have the one small gaming table and will run games as and when people approach me and will also find time to chat about Gruntz and discuss painting etc whilst there.  It is unlikely that my printed copies of the latest 1.1 rules will be printed in time for the event, however you will be able to try the new rules because I will have some printed guides and some pre-built armies ready to roll.

I will also be attending the Warfare Reading show later in November and hope to take some printed copies of the rules on the Saturday which will be sold via a trader(s).

This is probably the terrain layout I will take with me, so it will be a small table but great for getting straight into a game.

Even if you are not a Gruntz player, please come over and say hello!

15mm SCI-FI in The Ancible Magazine

This Months release of the PDF SCI-FI and Fantasy magazine The Ancible features an article about me and my motivations for gaming, an independent review of the Gruntz game and a Battle Report (AAR) of a game of Gruntz between myself and my son Oscar. I must admit the game was a small one because I was short on time with the build up to Salute, it does however cover most of the mechanics and flow of the game.

It is issue 8 of Ancible which is a free download from this list here http://www.the-ancible.com/Downloads/The_Ancible_Issue08.pdf There are several other great articles on small scale 6mm and 15mm Science Fiction gaming, including Future War Commander and Critical Mass games. It is a great read with a lot of high quality terrain photos and model images. There are also two photos of me in the articles, so you can see exactly how ugly I am!

Here are a couple of reductions of the pages in the magazine showing the battle report and intro.

Just a reminder again - To download The Ancible magazine  (issue 8 for detail on small scale gaming) click here:  http://www.the-ancible.com/Downloads/The_Ancible_Issue08.pdf