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Post by seydlitz on Jul 20, 2016 4:10:13 GMT
Session 1: The battle of Oakwood, IL After the second battle of St. Louis, the forces of humanity were forced to fall back on the Illinois-Indiana Defense line. One of the central points of the defense was the fortification of the city of Danville, IL. Located just four miles west of the Indiana state line, Danville was an industrial center that featured not only a strong industrial base, but a large number of active coal mines. The area was also a major railroad hub with a very heavy concentration of rail lines converging on the city from all directions. It made an excellent place to anchor the defensive line since troops could be brought in quickly by rail and the local area was able to handle the heavy demands for coal as well as possessing the capability to conduct depot level repairs. After the retreat across Illinois, the army was anxious to conduct a counteroffensive and beat the Martians back. After careful study of the terrain, the Commanders selected the area around Oakwood, IL as the site for the offensive. Oakwood was a small town about eight miles due west of Danville and about 25 miles east of the cities of Champaign and Urbana. The area offered very good tank terrain, consisting of flat open fields with scattered woods that would provide cover for advancing infantry if needed. The army formed up and started to advance according to plan. Just as they reached the homesteads around Oakwood, the Martian forces arrived to contest the advance.   Despite the fact that the humans succeeded in destroying the Martian Dominator very early in the enagement, not much else went in the army's favor. Very quickly the Martians fractured the left flank and drove into the center. On the right flank, the steam tanks were punished heavily and only sheer numbers allowed the force to hold it's ground. However, the vaunted Tesla tank was destroyed by the Martian heat rays just before it could fire.    |
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Post by seydlitz on Jul 20, 2016 4:40:26 GMT
The Martians continued to push forward, destroying army forces as they advanced. A valiant stand was made on the right flank where the steam tanks took out several closely packed tripods, forcing the Martians to fall back.    However, the Martians used the woods to their advantage and pushed ahead on the left and in the center. They routed the American Armor on the left and penetrated to the mobile artillery in the center. This developed into a swirling dogfight at the Jones farmstead and in the woods to the north of the farm.     The infantry was able to dispatch a unit of Martian scorpion drones in the woods prompting the Martians to commit a veteran assault and several shock drones into the woods. The infantry fell back deeper into the woods as three units of armored infantry worked to establish an improvised position deep in the woods where they could fight on their own terms.  Sadly, at just this time there was a simultaneous collapse of the left, center, and right. The surviving tankers fled for their lives with their machines belching thick coal smoke as they headed eastwards back towards Danville as fast as they could travel. Luckily, the strong late resistance in the woods combined with the destruction of several tripods and drones on the right and in the center late in the engagement gave cause to the Martians to hold their ground, and the defeated human forces were able to retreat to the defenses at Danville.   Tomorrow I will post the battle report for Session 2, the Defense of Danville. Here is a picture of the defenses just prior to the commencement of that battle. It was fought on a battlefield 160" deep and 60" wide. This created a situation that you don't normally see in large miniatures battles....that of enough depth of field that both sides had room to maneuver and the attackers had to advance across a battlefield with artillery coverage for several turns before getting into close range.  And finally, a plug for Slave 2 Gaming, who provided dice and prizes for all four sessions....  |
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Post by madmorgan on Jul 20, 2016 16:04:01 GMT
I was the left flank commander (Vietnam hat & grey t-shirt) and I must say it was a most difficult situation. The woods were light, allowing fire through, but with little cover value and the single road running into my position with the two houses on either side keep the covering fire to a minimum. You were not allowed to put troops into the houses anywhere on the field (the militia wanted their homes intact!). The final picture of the series shows my command tank Mk IV (with 5"gun, which I favor btw) trying to hold the road and my last unit of infantry and H M Gs trying to stem the advance of the Martians through the woods. At the start of the battle, my opponent sent all of his drones straight down the road forcing a show down with my artillery battery of Mk II M As. His Scouts were targeting well through the Light Woods and his Grenadiers and Shock Drones were hitting - the Grenadiers Black Dust was highly effective as well. Just plain overwhelmed by both the volume of fire and the rush of the drones. My commander to might right didn't fare much better and except for Rough Riders, which the Martian players feared the most after artillery it seemed, not much could touch the advance. It should be noted that there was an interesting variant on the rolled Tripod Damage Table - rolls of 6 (movement) and 7 (firing) damage was Not controlled by the roll off. Instead, if the human won, a d6 Warhammer style arrow die was used to determine where the tripod would move/shoot, with only a 1 in 6 chance that the human player could determine the direction of the move/shot. This had a major impact on the tactics as even though it was nice to roll that 6 or 7 and win the roll off, there was very little chance that you could move the tripod back or fire on another tripod/drone squad. Of coarse if the Martian player won the roll off he was back in control. I kinda liked the idea, though I'm not sure using a different company's die is a good thing - will have to work out something for a d10 substitute. In some cases the humans winning was a 'loss' as the crazy tripod would advance or fire on human assets with the random direction! The battle was still a lot of fun with several new players and lots of interest for both the game and the nice 'prize' of the S2G samplers.
As to the random move/fire for a d10 with a roll off win, my thought is that you just roll a d10 - if you get a 10 (or maybe a 9+ being closer to the d6s 17% chance) you can choose the move/fire. Any other roll, just use the point of the die to indicate direction - most d10 have the point of the die at the top of a given number. Easy to do and keeps the game die all d10s. What you think seydiltz?
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Post by slave2gaming on Jul 20, 2016 22:01:13 GMT
Great report! I love the pictures & all the beautifully painted figures.
Well done, an amazing effort. Looking forward to seeing more stories & pics.
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Post by seydlitz on Jul 20, 2016 23:08:11 GMT
At Little Wars in Chicago John introduced us to this rule (the movement direction variant) and he simply used the direction that the D10 point was facing to determine the direction of movement. We happened to have a scatter die at home and Ronda wanted to use the scatter rule so I told her to use the scatter die. That said, I think using the point on the d10 is the way to go and keeps the whole game on standard dice. We haven't thought about the use of the 10 to allow choice....maybe on a 10 (0 on the die) the tripod just sits and stalls. Using this instead of the rule as written where high roller gets to move is probably much more realistic in terms of handling a tripod with a damaged control system.
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Post by seydlitz on Jul 21, 2016 3:37:15 GMT
Session 2: The battle of Danville, IL. After the crushing defeat at Oakwood, the army fell back into a line of defensive trenches prepared just outside the western limits of Danville. Precious resources were poured into the line for what certainly would be a must-win battle. The trench line included enfilades and was heavily manned by machine gunners, armored infantry, and anti-tripod guns backed up with Steam Tanks. Artillery was deployed in several layers starting with three batteries of mobile artillery just behind the rearmost trench line. Two batteries of field guns were sited in the next layer back, with a single battery of heavy artillery in the rear, well out of range of the Martians. Two complete battalions of steam tanks waited in a central reserve behind the field gun batteries, ready to counter-thrust any penetration of the forward defenses by the enemy. The centerpiece of the defense line included a large water tower upon which artillery forward observers were situated to provide spotting for the artillery batteries.   In the center, located in the enfilade, the army had gathered it's entire force of Rough Riders. The mission of this force was to rush forth as the Martian's approached in the hopes of disabling several tripods and in general disrupting the flow of the Martian attack short of the forward trench lines.  Around mid-afternoon, the Martian forces arrived from the west. Being battle experienced veterans and realizing the humans were in trenches with heavy artillery support, they spread their forces just enough to reduce the risk of stricken tripods taking out other tripods. The forces included several scouts with targeters, six grenadiers, one dominator, and several units of shock drones to provide focused artillery support during the assault.     The Martians knew that they were in for a tough fight, not only due to the numbers in which the enemy was present, but also because it would be difficult to dig the enemy out of their fortifications. In support of the scout and assault tripods, several units of scorpion drones controlled by reaper tripods added additional punch to the regular drones controlled by slavers.    The Martians were smart enough to use a large stand of woods on their left flank to screen many of their forces on the approach as much as possible. However, in the center and on their right, there was no such cover, and the Martians bravely approached the American guns. It didn't take long before the massed human artillery drew blood, taking out one of the leading scout tripods.  In the center, the Rough Riders approached the advancing Martians under the cover of the artillery barrage.  The Martians reacted by using their targeters to illuminate the Rough Riders and calling in artillery from their grenadiers. The result was a fearful slaughter of the cyclists who found themselves cut down wholesale as they closed. Undaunted, the survivors stayed the course and tried to strike home with their tow cables before they went down. However, the carnage was so great that the effect on the Martian advance was only minimal, and the Martians were able to reach the trench line with their forces.    With the Rough Riders dispatched, the Martians focused their targeters on the anti-tripod guns and tanks defending the trenches as they judged these to be the most dangerous threats.      A swirling, confused fight developed and eventually the Martians overran the American trench line on the Martian right flank.      The Americans did not back away from the fight. Even as the anti-tripod guns, tanks, and machine gunners were wiped out, they continued to pour fire into the Martians and move armor up to seal the penetration. Then, just when it looked like the Martians would be able to carry away the last of the initial trench defenses, there came a thunderous clap and blindingly light arc of lightning from behind the second line of trenches. The Americans had managed to advance their lone Tesla tank into range of the enemy. The commander took a shot with two dice of charge at the mass of Martian tripods and drones on the last turn before the Martians would mix with the human forces making the shot too risky. The bolt detonated the Martian Dominator tripod, then danced among several drone units, decimating them, and also taking out a few more tripods. A resounding cheer rose from the American side. The Martians, realizing that they had now lost too many drones and tripods to successfully carry forward the attack, instead chose to concede the field and retreat.     We had a really exciting game that saw not only the players fully engaged, but also saw a good number of spectators walking by observing the battle, and taking pictures. The huge depth of the battlefield gave the battle a different tactical feel than what you normally see. Unlike most games, it was possible to maneuver outside of the range of most weapons. That gave things a different, more realistic feel. At the end of the day, the scenario seemed to be about as close a depiction of a WWI western front trench fight as I have seen. Since this was a campaign, this battle had an impact on the next session..... For every Isandlwana there is often a Roarke's Drift. In this case, this was the small one red-light town of Rossville, located a few miles north of Danville. In this town, a unit of Illinois National Guard backed up with a Marine company, a few guns, and no tank support, attempted to defend the town from a martian onslaught. Since all the premier high value units such as artillery and steam tanks had been concentrated at Danville for the main battle, the defenders had only one Tesla (privately purchased by some of the wealthy benefactors in the region), two clampers, and four anti-tripod guns with which to hold off the enemy when they came. More on that battle tomorrow....  |
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Post by Quendil on Jul 21, 2016 10:21:37 GMT
Looks like a great game, wish I could have been there
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Post by slave2gaming on Jul 21, 2016 10:47:16 GMT
Wow! That second last picture of all the tripods moving across the board... So cool!
Once again, great report.
Mind if I chuck some pics up on FB? Share the pics
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Post by seydlitz on Jul 21, 2016 12:15:15 GMT
Wow! That second last picture of all the tripods moving across the board... So cool! Once again, great report. Mind if I chuck some pics up on FB? Share the pics Sure, feel free to share. |
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Post by madmorgan on Jul 21, 2016 12:38:19 GMT
Florence was awarded the Annie Oakley Medal with Oakleaf cluster for her actions at the Danville battle. She not only popped the Dominator, but the arc of the gun caught a total of ten units, including causing a secondary explosion on another tripod. It was an awesome display. What wasn't mentioned above was that the USA right flank (left of the Martian) went on the offensive after that shot. The overall commander (standing up with camera in the last pic) did a fine job of focusing forces where needed and keeping morale up during the dark times of the USA right flanks problems. It should also be noted that Ronda was overall commander of the Martians, as all four players were new! The were new players among the USA team as well - giving a great feel to the game as the surprises and learning experiences were well shared among all. Ronda is to be applauded for her stamina as the convention center turned the air con off after 10pm; the game ran well towards midnight. As you'll see for day three, some fans were invested in and Rossville will be cooler for the players and Very Hot for the defenders. 3 cheers for the USA defenders and for the 'narrow edge' battle that gives Martians maneuver room and Human artillery a real chance to shine. That is why so many of my OOBs use narrow edge games, although on a 4x6' table its not as dramatic as on this huge battlefield above. Cheers!
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Post by novista on Jul 22, 2016 18:16:46 GMT
I love those mats, what a way to do woods, with a combi of 3D trees they'd be great. Ooh gives me an idea for getting the airbrush out, like I need one...
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Post by novista on Jul 23, 2016 8:34:02 GMT
I like the stat cards, are they available for download. The kinda thing a big game needs, great for noobs too.
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Post by madmorgan on Jul 23, 2016 14:11:13 GMT
Check General tab or USA & BEF tabs for the original work up sedilitz did for the cards. Ronda & he printed and cut all those for the battle as well as a very nice colored terrain chart with only the dark blue being hard to read. Made a much easier multiplayer game. I believe he's in discussion with IG about a production of those.
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Post by seydlitz on Jul 24, 2016 3:49:44 GMT
Session 3: The Battle of Rossville, IL Just north of Danville, a unit of Illinois National Guard leavened by a Marine detachment attempted to defend the town.    The Martians attacked from teh north and the south, forcing the defenders to right for all sides of the town.   On the south side of the defenses, the Martians drew first blood, panicking a machine gun unit which abandoned their trench attempting to get away from the enemy.     On the south side, the humans made the Martians pay dearly as they advanced on the trench lines. The humans concentrated on the slavers, which effectively took most of the southern drones out before they hit the trenchlines. On the northern front, the Martian player stayed at range, using a combination of targeters, grenadiers, and shock drones to take out first the anti-tripod guns and then the forces in the trenches themselves.             Eventually, the Martians wore down the defenses on all sides and poured over the trenches from both the north and the south. Fighting was hand to hand, but with nowhere to run, the human forces were overrun. Colonel Morgan of the Illinois National Guard was later found at the site of his last stand in one of the western trenches, saber and empty pistol in his hands.                 |
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Post by mikedski on Jul 24, 2016 4:00:08 GMT
Dominator! How did you get it to look similar to the AQMF original?
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