What's on your table right now?

[mirth]

^awesome!

[GJK]

Playing 'Silence that Gun' with my regular opponent. I play the Americans.


Turn 1. The idea is that the right flank will draw out fire with deployed squad into half-squads. The left flank will move up through the woods and then move towards the center. There's a hero unit on the left side to aid the rest.

Turn 2. The left flank is doing their job, but the right flank is unable to lay down supressive fire. And the open hexes prove to be too great a distance. Smoke attempts fail. And I had not thought properly about setting up a firebase. The MMG's I have are on the other side of the village, but should have been used on the right flank instead.
The plan quickly turns to shit here.

Turn 3/4. The left flank is still pushing nicely, but the right flank has completely disintegrated. I decided to pull back some units and approach the center building containing the big enemy stack (that's where the target gun is) via the houses in the center. I obliterate a unit that runs across the street to defend and the CC end with my units victorious. Also, the gun crew is now broken, so it won't fire for a while.
My units are spreak thinly now and I have lost 1 MMC and 2 HS in the process.
It's not looking very good from this point.

This is a *very* tough scenario for the Ami's...ROAR has it with a GER/AMI ratio of 230/135 (http://www.jrvdev.com/ROAR/VER1/ShowScenario.asp?ScenarioID=14).  It's been a number of years since I played it but I remember taking a butt whooping as the Americans.  ISTR us thinking that a 60mm mortar might of balanced it out just about right....the German MMG probably winds up on the 1st level of that building in every game and it's damn tough to knock it out (let alone the gun). You can try and get your 'zook up there and I'd use the wall so that you didn't take a backblast penalty in a building but you're really hoping for a crit on the TH with it.  A mortar could sit back and pepper that building with the hopes of getting a crit but at a safe distance and with a high ROF.  The Fortified building just really puts the balance over the top; good luck getting in there as the Americans.  I think you really need to "schwerpunkt" your assault group right up that town too because if you get caught stuck in a firefight off on the flanks with parts of the attacking force, then you'll never get to the gun in time.  I think the 3 mapper is misleading given that you only have 6 turns to get it done.  Fun stuff though and great experience if you're really wanting to hone your attacking skills!

[BanzaiCat]

Since it's that time of year I'm earning beaucoup points for my Vitality account and getting Amazon cards left and right - feeding my board game habit that has no business getting fed.

I ordered Conquest of Planet Earth: The Space Alien Game and the new Frontier Town expansion for Shadows of Brimstone.

I really like the 50s B-movie sci-fi vibe of Conquest, and also that it has solo play and the kids might be interested in giving it a few rounds:

Frontier Town is an expansion that greatly adds to the Town portion of a Shadows of Brimstone game. I was pretty surprised at the sheer number of expansions that game has now (when I originally got the base game, there was only one add-on at the time, now there must be a dozen at least). But this one is releasing tomorrow and I like how it extends the base game's RPG and character development elements.

Also ordered several things needed, like water filters and other boring stuff that kept me from going too nuts...this time.

[Nefaro]

I expect a report on the Frontier Town expansion.  Pardner.   :))

I've not played CoPE yet, despite having it (plus expansion) for a few years.  The theme looks like some seriously campy fun.  Was VERY glad they used actual artwork for it, although it was probably a necessity when it comes to campy old school aliens.   Despite my dislike of their live action pics & props, I still have many of their solitaire/co-op games because the themes are damn groovy.   

Somewhat related, I think the same company recently finished more print runs of the Fortune & Glory expansions.  Have been eyeing one of those for awhile, too, because some of the reviews said the core game could really use some extra cards in one of the decks. 

[BanzaiCat]

I've been wanting to do something on Shadows of Brimstone for some time...something along the lines of the Castle Ravenloft AAR I've been doing. It would be very, very tough, though, for me to justify that - I'm tired of starting AARs and then not finishing them. I figured Frontier Town, if I go down that path and end up starting something, would add a lot to the story element of such an article. In any case I definitely will report on it/do an unboxing, at least in the forums.

I almost instead pulled the trigger on Rise of the Crimson Hand for Fortune and Glory. But, I haven't gotten FanG to the table either, and it seemed like it would be a vastly larger undertaking. I want to get it eventually, just not sure when, because I've heard great things about it - how it's more challenging than the included two enemy groups in the base game (Nazis and Mob) and of course adds new content to the base game otherwise.

CoPE looks and feels a lot like Monsters Menace America, which I had but never played. I sold it at the gamer's flea market this past summer; I liked the game's idea but it didn't ever motivate me to get it out and try it. This one I can get behind.

[PanzersEast]

Since it's that time of year I'm earning beaucoup points for my Vitality account and getting Amazon cards left and right - feeding my board game habit that has no business getting fed.

I ordered Conquest of Planet Earth: The Space Alien Game and the new Frontier Town expansion for Shadows of Brimstone.

I really like the 50s B-movie sci-fi vibe of Conquest, and also that it has solo play and the kids might be interested in giving it a few rounds:

Frontier Town is an expansion that greatly adds to the Town portion of a Shadows of Brimstone game. I was pretty surprised at the sheer number of expansions that game has now (when I originally got the base game, there was only one add-on at the time, now there must be a dozen at least). But this one is releasing tomorrow and I like how it extends the base game's RPG and character development elements.

Also ordered several things needed, like water filters and other boring stuff that kept me from going too nuts...this time.

I have Conquest Planet Earth and the Expansion.... great game and a lot of fun.  I do recommend picking up the expansion.

Frontier Town has been on my to buy list for a long time.....

My favorite enemy in FanG is the Nazis.... but Crimson hand can be a real pain as well.  Great games!


PE

[bob48]

'Bradley's D-Day' by Against the Odds.

Looks quite interesting - very nice map by Mark Mahaffey  O0

[GJK]

'Bradley's D-Day' by Against the Odds.

Looks quite interesting - very nice map by Mark Mahaffey  O0

Which is rare because when it comes to Mahaffey maps, they usually look like something that I might want to hang in my bathroom to match the towels and wallpaper. 

[bayonetbrant]

I like Mark's maps! :D  O0

[GJK]

He's a very talented artist, don't get me wrong- I'm just not keen on his over-use of pastel colors from the purple water to the saturated "earthy" tones. Not for a wargame map.  Just my personal preference.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I received my copy of Duel in the Dark along with the Baby Blitz and Early Nights expansions.   It looks like it plays somewhat similarly to GMT's Bomber Command but in a much lighter way.  The components are very high quality and have some very nice features.  The reverse side of the map has a nice little schematic explaining various technical aspects of a typical RAF bombing raid as well as a brief historical overview of the conflict.  I haven't done much besides punch the pieces, assemble the fuel gauges and stands, skim the rules, and run through a few turns solo to see how it works.  It's a bit light but it looks like it could be a lot of fun, especially with the additions that the Baby Blitz expansion adds.  This expansion adds an extra map panel that includes Great Britain and allows the Germans to launch raids against the UK via V1 rockets and He177 Griffon bombers.  This gives the game a bit more parity as it allows the German player to launch his own raids against the UK rather than simply defending and it also allows the UK player to take on a bit more of an active role by using Mosquito night fighters to try and intercept raids.  In the base game, the UK player uses a deck of cards to plan a single bomber raid against a German city.  The Brit player must pre-plot the route and once the game starts, his role is somewhat passive as he can't normally make any alterations to his attack plan.   The expansion allows the Brits to plan an additional "spoof" raid and gives him extra Mossie squadrons to deal with German raids.

Really looking forward to getting this on the table next week and giving it a whirl against a human opponent.  Looks like a good, light gateway game to get the Euro players to dabble in the wargame end of the pool.


Back of the base game map.




Back of the Baby Blitz map.

[BanzaiCat]

I almost bought Duel in the Dark, damn your hide SDR. Though damn your hide anyway because now I have a copy of Enemy Coast Ahead coming my way. DitD looked really good in the videos I saw - I especially liked the 'night' feel of the board and the moving weather.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I haven't had a chance to try it yet (hopefully at the FLGS tonight) but if you do get it, it looks like the Baby Blitz expansion is almost a necessity.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Bastards wouldn't play it.  They made me play Five Tribes instead .  I have come to realize that I simply do not like highly abstract Euro games and Five Tribes definitely fits into that category.  Ranks up there with Tigris and Euphrates and Catan for games that make SDR prickly.

[Cyrano]

SDR, it's definitely an age thing in my judgment.  As I get older I can't bear things where the buttons are insufficiently square.  Memoir '44 is as far as I'll go willingly and in that I prefer D-Day Landings.