Rules:Tomorrows War
GM: Jerry Acord
Well its about time I got a game in. After fighting a cold off and on for 4 weeks and missing several game opportunities I finally got to play. I hosted a game at my place so my good friend Jerry could playtest a game for an upcoming ECC convention in New York. He scaled the game down to a 6' x 4' board, initially it was designed for 5' x 8". Since he has to haul everything for a 3 to 4 hour drive north he downsized.
The game set up is simple. The Red Blok forces start off hidden in buildings and must try to escape off of the board edge. Points are awarded for each unit leaving the table. The power armor troops are the most valuable and must be exited for the Red Blok player to win. Some infantry and anti tank teams can be sacrificed but additional troops must also leave to boost up the point total.
The UNA forces start off of the board. Their infantry attack is supported by 2 walking bad ass tanks known as Firetoads. These are killers and a formidable presence on the field. The UNA also have jump troops able to ignore terrain features and can fast move (fly) up to 16 inches.
Since the Red Blok start off hidden they can attempt to ambush the advancing UNA or retreat. The UNA are given the initiative and enter on the forst turn. After the first turn each side will roll initiative as per the rules. In our game the UNA kept the initiative the entire game and the RED BLOK used noninitiative moves to run away and firing only when necessary. The Red Blok players must remember the victory conditions...GET OFF OF THE BOARD!
The UNA takes the initiative and advances into the buildings and structures. The Red Blok remains hidden and decides to have the Power Armor units run while the infantry covers their movement. In the first turn the UNA advanced with little opposition. I have a unit of infantry open fire which starts at a roadblock and is not hidden. I sacrifice them to slow down the UNA juggernaut.
As the UNA advance their firepower does severe damage. My ATR team had a great shot at a Fire Toad walking tank but missed. My poor roll caused their untimely death. In the follow up attack te UNA also knocked out most of the power armor infantry of one fire team. A bad start for Red Blok. On the first aid roll the Power armor regained most of the unit. The UNA kept the initiative through the game and the Red Blok reacted by moving back and using regualr infantry in defensible positions to give cover fire.
The Red Block was able to fall back during reaction movement in every turn. We tried not to engage in a round of fire to avoid UNA fire power superiority. Once a heavy casualty is scored on a figure in the unit movement is restricted and morale can suffer. Off board artillery strikes from medium mortars by the Red Blok did take out a fire toad. The Red Blok did not use smoke as it did little good and used an activation. I stuck to running away every chance I got.
In the end we managed to get some power armor and regular infantry off of the board so the Red Blok score 16 points. The UNA took out some power armor and infantry team scoring 5 point. It was a Red Blok victory. The game seemed to be balanced when we added the hidden starting positions for the Red Blok. This game lasted about 3 hours and we got in about 6 turns. In another playtest we had the UNA come on the board and they killed off most of the Red Blok in 2 turns, not a fun game for a convention. Thank goodness for playtesting. Now its off to New York to the ECC convention. Good luck Jerry.
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| 2 UNA fire teams |
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| UNA fire team close up...they were touched up but come pre-painted |
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| Walking Tanks a.k.a. Fire Toads...we only used 2 of the 3 |
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| UNA right flank |
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| The UNA left flank |
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| Center of the board |
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| Red Blok Power Armor |
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| ATR team in the back |
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| Power armor with infantry support...they start hidden |
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| UNA forces advance from the left side |
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| Red Blok forces wait from the barricades...my spped bump |
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| Power Armor and ATR team Casualties |
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| A Fire Toad approaches |
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| A Power Armor team makes it to the trees. |
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| Jump troops move up on the left flank |
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| The red Blok takes the brunt of the firefight |
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| Red Block units take cover |
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| The Fire Toad is taken out by artillery strike |
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| The jump troops moved quick and did stop some power armor from getting away. |
