Tigers by the Tail - Tomorrow's War AAR

We played the scenario 'Tigers by the Tail' the other day. This scenario pits two ultra-high tech grav tanks versus five near-future tracked tanks in an ambush scenario. It is one of the scenarios from the TW rulebook and is there expressly for the purpose of practising the vehicles rules. We got some bits wrong, had a few questions about interpretation of the rules but generally had a great time: enough of a great time that I only remembered to take one photograph throughout the game!

Captain Kolawski grinned as the enemy tanks came into view. The trap was working well. He’d knock out the lead tank, while Sergeant O’Donnelly would take out the back tank. Between them they could wipe up the rest of the commies. He couldn’t believe they would have sent such pitiful vehicles into combat, they would have been out of date in his grandfather’s time. You could see the plumes of smoke from their diesel engines miles away, and as for the noise. “Rear vehicle destroyed.” Whooped O’Donnelly, over the radio.”They didn’t even see us.”

The two US grav tanks lurk menacingly on the far side of the battlefield. One DPRG tank at the rear of the column has been destroyed. One is about to exit the battlefield. Another has turned to face its attacker, while two others seek the cover of the woods

Just then the lead vehicle came into sight. His tank barely moved, as the main cannon fired. A satisfying burst of flame showed the hit on the viewscreen. The tank juddered to a halt, then in a burst of blue smoke the engine started again. Suddenly the radio burst into life. “This is General MacArthur-Park speaking. Could you give me an update as to your position, Captain?” “We have met and are engaging the enemy, Sir,” replied Kolawski.
(The only fog of war card that affected the game was one Steve drew. It involved high command interfering directly with events on the battlefield so he lost initiative immediately and could not regain it for the rest of the game. In the scenario the US force is meant to have initiative for the first two turns to represent their ambush.)

Just then the second tank appeared. Before Kolawski could react it had fired a shot at them. The shot pinged off the front armour. Again their own cannon fired, causing the track of the new enemy to uncurl from the left hand side. The lead tank lurched forward again heading towards deeper vegetation. Even with their advanced sensors it would escape in there. “Well done Captain, carry on and score one for the good guys.” Barked the General. Sergeant O’Donnelly’s voice came through the speaker. “Second tank has been immobilised, Captain. Going after the third…” The speaker blurted out static, then came a robotic voice. “The other caller has disconnected.”
(Yay, I managed to destroy one of the US tanks through its front armour! The US tanks had the advantage in being able to ensure that they present front armour at all times due to their superior mobility. This made quite a difference to my ability to hurt them)

Captain Kolawski frantically viewed the telemetry screen in front of him. The Sergeant’s tank was down and crippled, but all the crews life signs were in the green. Another shot lanced out from the crippled second tank and the tank rocked. “Guns damaged, Captain,” yelled Corporal Kennedy. “Get that tank put out of action now,” he ordered back. “Then after that other tank.” Their gun fired again, this time the crippled tank fell silent. The tank moved rapidly and soon they were behind the remaining tank. Just time for one shoot before it disappeared into the thick jungle. As the enemy tank fell into the sights the tank suddenly lurched and the shot went wide. “Damnations.” Cried Kolawski and slammed the panel in front of him. Still they had stopped three, but at the cost of one of their own.
(With the scenario over, we took stock of the damage. Steve had brewed up two of my DPRG tanks and immobilised one, counting three kills. I had exited two tanks and killed one of Steve's US tanks. The other US tank had a damaged gun, but that did not score any points. The final score was 6 VPs to Steve and 5 VPs to me. Steve won in what was a very close game.)

This was a great scenario to play as training for vehicle actions. I think we need to try it again, because I can see a range of opportunities for the US tanks to make this into a serious kicking for the DPRG. I'm less sure about the tactical options for the DPRG. Running seems to be the optimum strategy, or maybe forming the wagons into a circle in the woods and letting the US come to them. Winning reaction tests that allow you to move out of sight is obviously a good strategy too. Basically, the US forces control the action for the first two turns unless you are Steve and draw the wrong fog of war card. In those two turns, I think the US should be able to cripple or destroy most of the DPRG force, if they are canny and have a bit of luck. Hmm ...

Albion sends PIMMS to Pyntagahl - Tomorrow's War AAR

The Bwendi Bugle

03 April 2313 Standard Reckoning

Albion PIMMS in Pyntagahl Atrocity

Yesterday the survey station at Cumknocking-on-the-Piddle was destroyed by the Pyntagahl Irregular Mobile Militia Service. PIMMS is an Albion-sponsored terrorist organisation, whose goal is to force the Bwendi nation to kowtow to Albion imperialist ambitions. The PIMMS insurgents attacked the town and then waited to ambush the elements of the 23rd Fast Reaction Team that were sent to deal with the problem.

Cumknocking-on-the-Piddle yesterday. PIMMS militia lurk behind the buildings on the left while elements of 23rd FaRT perform a pincer movement to turn the tables on the PIMMS.

A reduced platoon from 23rd FaRT advanced on the village, performing a pincer movement that left the PIMMS nowhere to run. Taking them under fire, they killed some and wounded many more in a fierce firefight that fortunately resulted in only a small number of Bwendi wounded and no dead.

PIMMS reinforcements

As the battle progressed more PIMMS militia joined the fight, but the combination of poor visibility due to a freak dust storm and the better training of the 23rd FaRT soldiers soon cut them down to size. Once the initial attack had been blunted, the Bwendi force was able to advance through the village, securing many prisoners and draining PIMMS of the will to fight. By the end of the engagement, the PIMMS were routed and the village was secure once more. Twenty prisoners were taken. See them interviewed tonight on Tonight with Trebor McDonut, only on Buglevision Channel 3 along with a dynamic computer-generated re-creation of the battle.

How our heroes defeated the PIMMS

It comes as no surprise to learn that General Sir Laurence-Llewellyn Boleyn, noted Albion hunter and warmonger, has been in the same area for the past week apparently hunting Spine Mountain Frecklepusses. Colonel Throckmorton P. Gladiolus has asked General Boleyn to high tea this afternoon to discuss the diplomatic ramifications of this latest attack. We cannot but hope that the General will lose his head when he returns to Albion following this military failure.

Commentary
This was our first try with irregular troops. Steve wanted to use his Rebel Minis Sahadeen, so we set to with little knowledge of the rules but a will to muddle through. I think we mostly got it right, but there seemed to be holes in the rules that careful re-reading may plug.

We used the campaign rules to set up the scenario. My mission was to hold an objective on the enemy side of the table at game end with no enemy near it. I cleared out one objective by mid-game but forgot my mission and got caught up in capturing Steve's troops, so I did not complete my mission on a technicality. Note to self: remain aware of the mission at all times. I wonder how many times I have said that to myself and still failed to do so?

Steve's goal was to stop me achieving my mission. He succeeded in this because I moved my troops away from the objective marker. Looking at the board at the end of the game, it was clear that his troops had lost the fight and that I controlled the whole of the area around the objective marker, but the rules are clear about how you measure victory. O me miserum!

For once, my casualties were minimal, which was nice. I did kill two of Steve's leaders, which lost him victory points. Again, I did not check what Steve needed to do to gain victory points, else I would have played the game differently. That's another lesson learnt/reinforced. Check what the other side scores points for.

So, as a result of my failure to pay attention, I finished the game on -3 points (3 wounded soldiers) while Steve finished on +13 (my failure to fulfil the victory conditions precisely - 2 dead leaders). A decisive victory to Steve. Hmm ...

Our next step is to play a tank action scenario from the rulebook to learn the vehicle rules fully. After that we shall move through the rest of the scenarios in the book, or we shall start a mini-campaign using the rules that we have been using to set up these scenarios.

Scouts Out - Tomorrow's War AAR

The Bwendi Bugle

27th March 2313 Standard Reckoning

Scout Camp Terror

A fun week away at Camp Crystal Lake turned to terror for young scouts this week. An Albion Defence Force special forces platoon descended on the camp, where young Bwendi were learning how to tie knots and earning their woodcraft badges. The ADF shot up the camp, killed two of the young scouts and kidnapped 14 others along with 3 the scout leaders. They left the rest of the scout leaders wounded on the ground at the camp together with several of the scouts. In response to this outrage, Colonel Throckmorton P. Gladiolus has ordered the Bwendi Army to block access across the land bridge to Beltene Starport to deny the Albion monsters any external support. The blockade will be removed when the Albion government returns the kidnapped youths and formally makes restitution to the families of the slain.

Camp Crystal Lake
Bwendi scouts may be seen in woods at bottom left and at top centre. A troop is also pinned in the ruined building in the centre of the hill. Bwendi scout leaders are present in the woods at top centre and in the tree at bottom right (sniper team in the tree) Albion terrorists lie wounded in front of the building (circular green bases) as the scouts use every trick they have to defend themselves

Our thoughts are with the families of the slain. The names of Carmen Fandango and Kanye C. Mekebab join others on the Wall of Heroes. Their heroism in the face of this vicious onslaught is an object lesson to us all. Colonel Throckmorton P. Gladiolus announced yesterday, "Their names shall live on in our hearts and their deeds shall stir our souls. As the leaping savannah frog they leapt. They sought the stars and only the acts of vicious Albion curmudgeons prevented them from achieving their dreams. We shall realise their dreams for them. Woe to the nation of Albion if it seeks to stand in our way."

Commentary
So, I decided to field a militia platoon (d6 quality, d10 morale) for a change. They had no armour but I made the fire teams larger (6 figures each) to compensate. This was clearly not enough. Steve fielded Albion regulars (d8/d10) and chose to group them as full squads instead of as fireteams, giving him massively more firepower at the expense of flexibility. We both got 7 points to spend on additional troops. I bought a sniper team and a regular Bwendi section (both d8/d10). Steve bought a special forces section (d10/d12).

We both rolled the same mission: Break Contact. This meant that we both started at the centre line of the table and had to get half of our forces off our own table edge. We both drew Fog of War cards at the start. I got one that affected Steve's off-board artillery (he had none). He got 'This won't play well on the holovids' and lost several victory points at the outset because of some perceived atrocity committed by his troops. That's why I chose to represent my force as peaceful scouts on a camp.

Tactically I made a huge mistake in engaging Steve's force. I won the initiative and my central militia section was able to retreat after shooting at some of Steve's troops but before they could shoot back. This put me in a great position for getting most of my troops off the table very quickly. All my troops that were in buildings or woods started hidden so he had to spot me before shooting at me. I should have taken advantage of that to get out of there and claim a draw. Instead I lost track of my main objective and shot at Steve with other units, thus causing him to shoot back. His dice were smoking hot and I lost two entire fire teams to two rounds of fire. More fool me for starting by shooting at him. My sniper proved his worth though. Using a laser rifle (suppressed weapon) he was able to pick off Steve's medic and a few other troops, which could have given me the win had I been sensible.

So, what have I learnt from this game?

1. Well, I thought it would be fun to field militia. It was, but in a frustrating way, because they were too easy to take down. For militia to be useful, I really need to focus on the mission and just achieve my objective. I need to avoid contact with regular troops while using militia and accept that a draw is really a victory under those circumstances.
2. Using the campaign rules, both sides should start from the same baseline quality and morale, unless we use the points system. I shall try costing up both sides to see what the points system suggests as a balanced start.
3. The 'hidden' rules are not that difficult and added a new edge to the game, which was fun. Likewise, the sniper team was interesting to deploy. It lasted longer than I expected.
4. I need to throw Steve's dice into the Humber! His dice-rolling was unfeasibly high last night. I mean regularly getting a 90% hit rate with a 50% or 60% chance of success and most of those hits being at the high end of the range too. I lost three fire teams in their entirety to his dice in single rounds of fire. Bah! Those die are going in the river next time Steve leaves them unattended!! ;-)

Perfidious Albion Once More (Tomorrow's War AAR)

The Bwendi Bugle

19th March 2313 Standard Reckoning

Perfidious Albion Attacks Aid Station

Once more Albion has struck at the institutions that are the envy of civilised planets everywhere. This time their assault was on the Rocktoad Aid Station in Pyntagahl province. A company of Albion regulars reinforced by a Special Forces Team attacked the aid station in the early hours of Tiwsdaeg evening. Bwendi Republican Army forces were on manoeuvres in the area but were hampered by their Biochem protection gear. They were training to operate in the event of a probable Albion gas attack. It is known that Albion has large stockpiles of chemical agents ready for deployment against the peaceful Bwendi people.

A Bwendi newscopter supplied this view of the BRA platoon advancing with a Callixus IFV in support

As our heroic soldiers advanced in their bulky biochem gear, they suddenly came face to face with an entire company of Albion soldiers.

Albion soldiers (left) occupy firing positions to ambush the Bwendi (right). In the far distance (centre back), an Albion special forces squad can be seen cowering before the Bwendi might

The firefight was short and desperate. Bwendi fire caused an unknown number of casualties, but the Albion curs left 2 dead and 5 wounded behind to be captured. Two of their special forces soldiers were unwounded but surrendered as fast as they could. Of the 21 Bwendi soldiers involved in this fight, 6 were killed and 6 were wounded. The roll of honour for the dead now adds these brave soldiers to the Wall of Heroes in Landfall City:

1. Corporal Airport Carruthers-Smythe
2. Lance Corporal John Jones
3. Private Riley Carpark
4. Private Fabienne D'Iscard
5. Private Seamus Besworth
6. Private Cedric Carpongo

Their sacrifice was not in vain, for the Albion forces might have escaped with more valuable medical equipment and supplies than they did. As it was, they were able to steal one of the aid station's Machine That Goes Ping Mk.1 before they were driven off at great cost by our heroic Bwendi soldiers.

Commentary
This was another game that we set up using the TW campaign system but on a 2'x3' table this time, because we felt that 4'x3' was too large last time. I chose to try using multi-based figures for this game. It worked very well and meant that I could keep my troops together easily. The large bases also provided a useful platform for wounded markers, making it easier to move my fireteams. I chose not to use individually-based figures to make change in this game, but I might do that in the future.

I rolled high for momentum points and scored 8, which gave me the opportunity to buy an IFV to support my troops and an additional fire team. This is the first time we have used vehicles and it was not problematic at all. Steve's only comment on the vehicle was "Next time I should try attacking it." The IFV actually saved the day for me, because I chose to draw a Fog of War card at the start of the game and got gas. No, not that sort. The card is called 'Gas Gas Gas'. My troops deployed in biochem gear, which reduced their troop quality by 1, from d8 to d6. You should have heard me whinging about this during the game! Rolling d6 versus d8 in TW makes quite a difference. The IFV was unaffected by the gas so it rolled normally, which saved my bacon, because it was able to wipe out two fire teams of Albion troops. Steve really needed to get his RPGs into the game against it, but he chose to withdraw his troops as fast as he could once the special forces got close enough to the objective for him to score the victory points for his mission.

Steve's mission was Snatch and Grab, which involved getting a unit to within 3" of an objective marker on my side of the table and then getting some troops off the table. It does not state that the troops leaving the table have to be the same ones as the troops that get to the objective. Presumably that means that the spotters radio the results to their compatriots. Once he had achieved this objective, Steve skedaddled pretty sharpish. This was in turn 3.

My mission was to occupy an objective on Steve's side of the table and ensure that there were no enemy troops within 5" of it at the end of the game. Steve basically handed success in this mission to me by skedaddling so early on. I had at least 2 turns to complete my objective, so I scored a victory on that account too. Had Steve held his positions to the end of the game, he might have scored a full victory.

When Steve's troops left the table, they also left 9 unchecked casualties on the table, so my lot were able to secure them. I scored 7 prisoners of war and found 2 dead bodies.

My own casualties were all victims of my rubbish dice rolling. I managed to roll 3 ones on one first aid check and wound up with an entire fire team that was dead. This seems to be par for the course for me. Still, my troops held the battlefield and saw off the cowardly Albion curs.

The Final Tally
Me: -3 victory points
Steve: -10 victory points
We both achieved our objectives so we both won, but our casualties ensured that in fact we both lost too. I lost a little bit less than Steve though!

Some additional thoughts and a whinge
Tomorrow's War works for us, despite the fact that we keep getting things wrong with the rules! It works really well for 'realistic' science-fiction warfare. We have enjoyed every game so far and the rules have given me plenty of opportunity to complain about my dice-rolling, which is all to the good. Most of the rules are straight-forward and easily applied when you remember them and the game flows well. The biggest problem is in keeping the reaction rules straight. That section of the rulebook is not well written and I have trawled the forum for answers. I think I have it now but have asked for clarification on the forum. This brings me to my whinge.

We changed the table size for this game because we felt it was too large last time. I did ask on the Ambush Alley forum about table size for the campaign games after the last game but received no response. I have asked other questions on there and have been roundly ignored by the authors. I find this very frustrating, because I want to get to grips with the rules properly and I see that some people get their questions answered while others do not. Perhaps my questions are stupid or obvious. If so, a simple page reference would suffice as answer. Either way, I hold out little hope of an answer to my latest questions.

EDIT: My latest questions have just had an answer, so that is positive and better than my previous attempts did. Perhaps they were just having an off day before?

Curzon's Camp - A Tomorrow's War AAR

The Bwendi Bugle

2nd March 2313 Standard Reckoning

ADF defeated at Curzon's Camp

Another incursion into Pyntagahl province by ADF regular army troops was defeated by a Bwendi Republican Army patrol supported by a small detachment of The Colonel's Own Guard last Wodensdaeg.

BRA troops supported by a COG fireteam advance on the ADF regulars. The landfall monument that is a feature of every Bwendi settlement stands proud on the hill.

In a swift and decisive firefight, the BRA and COG troops advanced rapidly through the logging camp to surround the ADF troops, who were swiftly neutralised and captured. About half of the ADF troops were captured. They claimed to be on a map-reading exercise, but had got lost. When challenged by the BRA patrol, the ADF officers lost control of their troops, who panicked and started shooting, instead of surrendering as ordered. The BRA patrol lost Private Abiola Smith, who was cut down in yet another ADF atrocity. Her family has been informed and the funeral service will be on Freyasdaeg 8th March.

The COG fireteam (left) moves swiftly into the woods, while the BRA patrol provides covering fire. Wounded ADF troopers can be seen left centre of the photograph 

Our reporters were able to obtain the photographs shown here, which demonstrate the skill and training of our heroic BRA and COG troopers. It is reported that the Gladcorp logging crew that lives at Curzon's Camp will be returning there next week to resume logging operations. Colonel Throckmorton P. Gladiolus has stated that he will not permit the ADF to continue these incursions and has written a strong email to the King of Albion, ordering him to desist all military action on Bwendi soil. No response has yet been received.

Figures:

BRA - GZG New Israelis

COGs - CMG Vadorian Assassins

ADF - GZG New Anglian Combine

Wooden Buildings - 4Ground

Solar Arrays and Satellite Dish - GZG

My Forces:

Bwendi Republican Army Section (d8 quality, d10 morale)

1 command fireteam (1 section leader with assault rifle, 1 rifleman and 1 gunner with RPG)

2 fireteams (each with: 1 fireteam leader with assault rifle, 1 rifleman, 1 gunner with SAW)

The Colonel's Own Guard Fireteam (d10 quality, d12 morale)

4 figures armed with assault rifles

All figures are wearing TL2 hard carapace armour

Steve's Forces (d8 quality, d10 morale):

ADF regulars organised into four man fireteams with two fireteams per section.

1 heavy weapons team.

Thoughts and Comments

This was a test game for the Tomorrow's War campaign rules. We each diced for our objectives. Mine was to advance to an objective marker on Steve's side of the table and then return off my board edge with the information obtained by getting there. Steve's objective was to enter my half of the board and stop any of my troops from exiting. Although randomly determined, these dovetailed nicely. We began with two sections each and diced for asset points. I scored enough for a special ops fireteam (the COGs) and an additional fireteam. Steve added a heavy weapons team and possibly something else, but I cannot remember what. We also diced to see if we got any additional figures. I received a medic and Steve received nothing, although he already had an integral medic in his platoon organisation anyway.

Steve's troops mainly clustered in the woods in the centre of the table, but two fireteams moved to a ruined shack on his left flank where an objective marker lay. I advanced one section up the left flank with the COGs team and my additional fireteam. My plan was to engage the bulk of his forces and keep them busy while my other section advanced up the right flank to the wooden shack. This basically worked. As my troops emerged from the woods they were able to win the reaction tests and shoot the ADF first. My dice were on fire and ADF troops dropped like ninepins. On the right flank my lead fireteam took some fire and suffered the only fatality of the game for my side. Their brave action in absorbing that fire permitted the rest of the section to advance and lay down heavy fire on the ADF section, destroying them as a fighting unit. The way was clear to move to the objective and one fireteam advanced into the stream, using it as cover to approach the building safely. At this point the game ended. Technically it was a draw. Steve had not advanced into my side of the table and I had not exited any troops after getting to the objective. However, Steve reckons it was a victory for me because I annihilated his troops with my lucky dice-rolling. I'm happy to take any victory I can! 

So, how do the rules fare with this game? Well, I am pleased to report that the mechanisms of infantry combat are becoming significantly easier for us. We barely had to consult the rules at all and we think we got most things right. My comments about how easy the rules are to read still stand, but the mechanisms are much more intuitive and easy to remember after a few games and the gameplay itself is quite a pleasure now that we have the hang of it. Expect more whinging when we move on to the vehicle rules though! :)

We did use the Fog of War cards, but none of the cards drawn significantly affected game play. Still, there is pleasure to be had from drawing them, knowing that some random chaos could be injected into the game. When we introduce the full range of troops, they are more likely to affect the games. I look forward to that.

The campaign rules seemed to work quite well too, despite my previous comments about how sketchy they are. We worked through them and were able to put the game together easily enough. Where they fall down is in the guidelines for set-up and initial forces. They do not mention how large a table the scenarios were playtested on. We played on a 4' x 3' table and think that was too large. Campaign scenarios are meant to be 5-8 turns long with a random roll to end the game from turn 5 onwards. Even with 8 turns to play, my forces would have struggled to exit the table. The rules make mention of 2' x 2' and 2' x 3' tables so perhaps that is the intended table size, but it is not made clear in the campaign section. Our next campaign scenario will use a 2' x 3' table and we shall see how that goes. The other problem is the initial forces you get. The rules recommend two sections and are purposefully vague, so that you can use whatever you have. That is a good thing, but it does mean that you need some experience of the rules to be able to balance the games properly. I have already designed a platoon structure for my troops, so I just used that, but Steve had to figure his out on the fly at the start of the game, because he has not done so. This involved a certain amount of dithering and thinking. That said, the campaign rules look like a great way for generating quick pick-up scenarios too, so all credit to AAG for that.

I am now looking forward to the next skirmish in wartorn Pyntagahl province. I really should get that Rebel Minis dropship painted for my troops so that they can arrive in style ...

Another ADF Defector Joins The Bwendi

Bwendi Bugle

12th February 2313 Standard Reckoning

ADF Defector Welcomed Into Bwendi

News has reached us that another ADF defector has seen the light. Captain Melissa Ffortescue-Brown (32) of the ADF Air Force ditched the Froghopper spyplane that she was flying over Pyntagahl province in western Nova Ztumsia at 0400 on Tuesday, citing engine trouble, and landed near an abandoned mining camp. A Bwendi border patrol was fortunately on hand to offer assistance and we have been lucky enough to obtain some classified footage of the rescue.

A Bwendi border patrol takes up positions near Captain Ffortescue-Brown's crash site

Unfortunately, the ADF had despatched a section of the dreaded Burpa Regiment to drag her back to Albion. The Burpas are known for their ferocity and willingness to engage in close combat using their Plasma Cookery Cutters to sever the left big toe of every defeated enemy. The Burpas advanced on the Border Patrol's position, unaware of the cunningly laid ambush. As they dashed into sight a Bwendi fireteam opened up, seriously wounding two Burpas.

Captain Ffortescue-Brown looks on with horror as elite special forces from the dreaded Burpa Regiment advance on her position

The remaining Burpas quickly took cover and opened fire. Corporal Adelbert Nganges and his fireteam, who had opened fire first took the brunt of the enemy attack and two of their number were quickly rendered hors de combat by the Burpas. The fireteam all continued to lay down as much fire as they could, while Medical Officer Solange Makepiece quickly moved from her position with the command squad to tend to the wounded, before herself laying down as much fire as she could. However, it was not long before she too was hit by Burpa fire and the entire fireteam lay wounded at the edge of the woods. It was at this time that Private Fazila Katende was killed. Her family has been informed and she will be interred with full military honours. It is fortunate, given the ferocity of the Burpas, that she was the only fatality in this engagement.

The Burpas fall into a cunningly laid Bwendi ambush

As the Burpas advanced, the other fireteams of the Border Patrol joined the action and Corporal Wivine Ndungia's fireteam was also all wounded. Fortunately, the strength of morale of the Bwendi Border Patrol was sufficient to the task. The Burpas answered fire with fire and only realised too late that the Border Patrol's goal was to delay them until elements of the 102nd Armoured Infantry, who were luckily engaged in manoeuvres close by, could reinforce them. As a result of their heroic sacrifice, the BBP troopers enabled plucky Captain Ffortescue-Brown to reach freedom and about half of the Burpas were captured.

Captain Ffortescue-Brown has agreed to appear on a 'This Evening with Tarquin McDoenall' tonight at 1900 hours, when she will relate the full horrors of her life in Albion and her service with the ADF.

Closing remarks

We have been promising ourselves more time spent learning and playing Tomorrow's War, so last night we set up the Lost & Found scenario from the rulebook. It involves a pilot figure as an objective. The scenario, as written, sees an elite US Marine force (the Burpas in our game) with better equipment but fewer numbers trying to get to the pilot and escort her from the table within eight turns. The DPRG force (Bwendi in our game) is lower tech and lower quality, but has more figures and gets to set up in ambush, so it must time its ambushes correctly to take out the USMC. Time is limited, so the USMC player must advance quickly and cannot afford to spend ages getting into a firefight. Fortunately for me, Steve preferred to shoot rather than move, which meant that I was able to delay him long enough that he could not get the pilot off the table, although he did eventually actually make contact with her. I was lucky in this scenario, because Steve's dice rolling was phenomenally good all round, and it was only his lack of focus on the objective that gave me the win. He killed one of my troops and wounded about half of the rest. I wounded two of his troops.

The good
For this game we agreed to use the Fog of War cards, which was fun, although it had little impact on the game. Steve drew two cards that had no effect, while I drew one card that required a die roll. I got lucky and one of my fireteams gained +1 on its reaction rolls, which was useful. I liked the Fog of War cards even without the significant effects. They add an additional element of uncertainty to the game that we both enjoy.

The game system itself is pretty good. You get to roll lots of dice, so luck should even out overall. The disparity between different quality troops encourages you to focus on the objective of the scenario rather than on trying to kill all the enemy, and I like the way that technology is integrated into the game as modifiers to attack/defence among other things.

There is a basic campaign included in the rules. This looks like it could be good fun.

The not so good
We had both read the rules through, but there is a huge gulf between reading them and knowing them well enough for a game, especially with a tome as weighty as this one. As it happened, our previous two games clearly helped us, because we were able to muddle through well enough with the aid of much pondering and a QRS that I found online. That is the problem though. We had to muddle through. We both agreed that there is a good game in the Tomorrow's War rulebook, but that learning it was made harder by the layout and style of writing. Given that it is not a cheap rulebook, I had expected better presentation of the rules, perhaps keeping them more focused. The writing style is quite chatty and I find that obscures the meaning and makes the rules longer than they need to be.

The authors have also wasted space in the rulebook on a background that I shall never use. The book could have been about one third shorter without that background material, and that background material might have been better placed in a supplement. Replacing it with generic examples of troops and vehicles would have suited me better.

Another shortcoming is in the rules for irregular units. Unless I have missed it in my reading, there is no explanation or real examples anywhere of irregular units other than one scenario that uses them.

Finally, although I mentioned that the campaign included was a good idea, there are very few guidelines on how it should be set up. This is not really a problem for me, because I have already designed my battalion structure for the Bwendi army, but it would have been nice to have guidelines on table size included with the campaign. I asked about this on the forum but received no response. Table size is important, because it is one of the basic elements in designing a scenario. The campaign limits each game to between 5 and 8 turns, so table size will be critical in determining how quickly units can reach the objective, cross the table or withdraw off it, according to the scenario needs. It would also have been nice to have a couple of example orders of battle for the campaign. In some respects, this campaign reads like the author knew what they were talking about and forgot that their readers did not have all that knowledge.

So, more time spent tightening up the text and explaining the basic frames of reference would have been great. Less background material and more generic examples, please.

One other complaint that I have is that questions asked on the forum are often answered with reference to Force on Force, which Tomorrow's War is apparently based on. It appears that gaps in Tomorrow's War are there because the authors forgot to explain things that they explained in the other rules set. That actually annoys me, because I do not want to have to buy another rules set just to fully understand the one I did buy. At the price that they charge for Tomorrow's War I expect a full and complete rulebook that is well laid out, well written and readily comprehensible.

And finally
All that said, and at the risk of repeating myself, there is a good game in Tomorrow's War. It is just a shame that the learning curve is steep for the reasons cited. I find the writing style too chatty for easy learning, but I have enjoyed the small number of games that we have played so far despite that. With continued play, I expect we shall get to grips with the game and make good progress on the further conflicts between Bwendi and the Albion Defence Force. So, on with the arms race. It is time to show those Albionites what Englishness is really all about.