As light refreshment after Fitz's recent return from holidays in Israel, a modern 20mm middle-eastern clash with 7D was in the offing.
This game was very loosely based on the 'Clash of Giants Scenario' (6th June 1982) in the old TTG supplement for WRG/Challenger - 'Battlezones' by the late Bruce Rea Taylor. The book is also famed for Bruce's valiant success in translating WWIII scenarios from sources as diverse as Sir John Hackett's Third World War books, through to James Rouch's1980s vintage The Zone series.
In 7D terms, it was a 500 point meeting engagement - and we did not feel that hard done by in terms of forces. I had been worried that the game would be too short, but platoon /company actions are clearly the order of the day here. It becomes relatively easy to manipulate the vagaries of the rules, such that you know when to:
Rally
Keep command pips
Respond/react first
Try and take a flank.
It's all good, and works well.
Still a few things in the rules that we are getting used to, but we find more depth each time we play.
Merkavas were treated as somewhere between Challenger and Chieftain for the most part, which may be a bit much for 1982 Mark Is.
(Pics from Fitz's holiday also follow at the end...)
Phaseline Shalom
View looking north toward Haribaya and encroaching Syrian forces.
(A mix of 20mm Revell, Butler Printed, misc plastic kits and those purchased ready built T72s that come in plastic boxes....)
Downtown Haribaya
Aging T62s feint on the flank. Fodder for Merkavas.
There were some very poor shots - which is good, because when a Merkava does find its mark, you normally know...
Syrian armour on the road now...Aluminium is a poor match for APFSDS.
Syrian armour, kicking up dust.
Merkavas seize the high ground early, though a little too enthusiastically, as they are under early threat from numbers attempting to flank.
'Where the hell did he come from?'
Trading '1's for penetration..SPANG..SPANG!
What's this? Soviet advisors?
The problem with a flanking shot, becomes immediately obvious. (You can just see Fitz pulling that nasty T72 back into the town on the right).
...hard fighting on the flank does pay dividends.
Temporary Base of Ops.
Flank secured.
BMP suicide run against a Merkava ...Sagger HEAT value vs Merkava 's' armour means rolling with disadvantage, which is never good.
An infantry clash on the Israeli right.
Carnage in the centre.
Syrian break point reached...
Some of Fitz's pics
View from the Golan Heights
The Jordan Valley
Ammunition Hill
...and this week's Radio Gobin... Don't ask, I just found it by accident?!?!? Honest.
So Fitz is just back from his holidays.
Bearing that in mind, Sunday's game is themed based on where he went...
Can you guess where... ? (I quite literally had to dust these vehicles off. They have not been out of the box since they went into it ...in 1993...they even stayed in the box when they moved house).
'No wait...it's not political at all...it's got nothing to do with his normal AWI bulls**t...!'
A quick battle using 'Age of Hannibal' which has been designed by Greg from Little Wars TV. It is in turn based on some of the Chipco rules from a few years ago (of which 'Day of Knights' also looks very promising and 'Fantasy Rules 2' is also available).
Simple but not simplistic, with a lot of drama, the set has great scope, particularly so if you are not an ancients expert and really just want a game rather than a complete historical re-enactment in this period.
Takeaways are:
The Morale Clock is adjusted each 1/2 turn on the basis of which side came off worst in the round. As this goes down, it impacts army morale. A neat way to make this happen.
Unit combats are d10 vs d10 with mods and some flanking actions - which keeps things rapid. Morale chits or complete removal of individual units ensue, but morale can be rallied back.
As the army clock grinds down you (1) move less 'independent' units and (2) take more morale hits and (3) armies begin to melt away...
The effect is to disperse grandiose linear formations and put holes in all the wrong places, which reminds me of watching battle scenes in Rome or Spartacus. Not being an ancients aficionado, this was exactly what I wanted to see.
Swift, powerful and great gaming - always a plus.
A turn sequence based on rally/shoot/ move & charge / fight - works very well.
A scenario book is available.
I used some of my poorly (rapidly) painted 20mm plastics kit. I now have the excuse to base them all in universal fashion and use them for all sorts of historical and quasi-historical stuff using these rules (and the other Chipco sets quoted above) as a basis. The battle was simply based on what I had available that was painted.
Nice linear formations (not for long)
Velites await the advance
Some well defended high ground, which would decide the battle.
Roman Medium cavalry charges the impetuous celts before they get their charge bonus - this fight lasts all game on the Roman left.
A changeable focus on the Roman left, as units go down fighting.
Advancing Carthaginian line.
Some African veterans form the centre, but would not fare well today.
Carthagininas hit the high ground on the Roman right, but this would decide most of teh battle through extreme losses.
There are options to attach generals, which would have helped, but we are still learning.
Charges repulsed, most of the Carthaginian army was melting away...
A very nice set of rules. We didn't have enough units to do it full justice today, but very easy to pick-up with some grander elements to master behind the simple mechanics. I love it...
Today's musical interlude. This was almost a youtube presentation based upon rebel physics and hacking reality, but then i thought ...nahhhh... Do not watch if you are of a nervous disposition . You have been warned!!!
