Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Clone Wars Star Grunt II

Star Wars : Clone Wars
Rules: Modified Star Grunt II
Figures : WOC
4 players.

The game involved the clones attacking the Seperatist Droid army who was harboring a Viceroy.

The Clones had to advance with 2 squads, 1 command squad, 1 commando squad, 6 speeder bikes and 2 Jedi. The droid army had battle droids, super battle droids, spider droids and 2 assassin droids as snipers. There was one Sith preset on the field to counter the Jedi threat. The Viceroy was hidden in a bunker complex with a personal guard.

The Clones launched rockets against the 2 vehicles, destroying the walker tank and advanced while firing. The droid missile vehicle fired and the Clones took light casualties. Battle droids and snipers began returning fire.




The Clones advanced and the first Jedi was impatient and jumped into the first battle droid squad. Several droids fell back in disarray. The clones tried to take the momentum and pushed forward. The Jedi pushed too far ahead and was soon isolated.

Suddenly the lone Sith took an aggressive stance and attacked the Jedi, pushing him back. Amid lasers and rockets the Sith pushed forward.

The Sith then rushed forward to engage the first Clone squad. Deflecting shots she jumps into the formation killing and wounding all.

She then retreated behind the wall to defend herself from the lasers and explosion. The the droids fire several squads at the wounded Jedi...he fell trying to hold off the droid onslaught.


The remaing Clone forces pushed ahead. The commandos fought to secure the shuttle pad while speeder bikes flew ahead and thinned out or suppressed the frontline droid squads.

Eventually the defenders proved too much for the attackers.

The rules are very good and depend on die shifts as combat modifiers. I am currently working on modiying them for WWII.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Macedonians and Persians and Welcome Burt


Rules : Fire and Fury (Ancients Variant)
Hosted by Jim Carpenter
Played January 30, 2009
Figures: Essex and Old Glory 15mm
Based : As per DBA

The game consisted of a sizable Macedonian force facing off against a large Persian army contingent.
Greek Phalanx, Persians , Macedonian and Thessalian cavalry faced off against one another.

The Persians placed their heavy infantry (Greeks) in the center rear. The light and medium troops were placed forward center and to the right flank. A token Persian light cavalry unit was placed forward right and scythed chariots were placed in a hidden position on the far right. The Persian left consisted of medium and heavy cavalry.














The Macedonians placed most of their cavalry on their left flank. The phalanxes were center an to the right. Light and medium troops filled out the center. We realized quickly that the phalanxes moved at a very slow pace, 6 inches at the most. Medium and light infantry moved at 9 and 12 inched respectively. The phalanxes were quickly outpaced on both sides.Heavy cavalry on the Persian left clash against Macedonian and Greek formations. Heavy cavalry proved quite valuable in this set of rules for both commanders.

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About one hour into the game the heavy fighting began. We learned a long time ago to set up opposing forces close enough to get into the fighting quickly, we only have a 4 hour window. The Macedonians are as good as an armored column in modern combat. Light and medium troops struggled through the game.














A broad shot of the battlefield shows the scope and size of the battle. Many of the group were familiar with Fire and Fury which helped the game move along.











There were many units on the field but maneuvering was not a problem. This is the sign of a great game.
The Persian left struggled but their right flank made progress. About 2/3 through the game some Macedonian units took severe casualties. Like most games t helps when you roll well.









Macedonians and Thessalian cavalry progressed quickly across the field. The white markers denote disordered troops. Disordered troops can slow movement and have negative combat modifiers.

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Persian troops advance as they steadily gain ground but were ground down as they faced fresh Macedonian reserves

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Light Persian cavalry face off against heavy Macedonian infantry....the result wasn't pretty.

In the end the Persians did fare better than the Macedonians. A very close game. Our newest member, Burt, played his first ancients game. He seemed to really enjoy the game and hopefully he will be a regular player.