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 ...