Now for something completely different

 First, thank you to the folks who have purchased Boom and Zoom.  It is still hanging on to the best sellers at Wargame Vault.   I have gotten no feedback which has me wondering.  Is that good in that people understand them?  Is that bad in that people aren't trying them?

I suspect people just haven't digested them yet as it has only been 2 weeks and they are different.  It took about a month before I got feedback on Platoon Forward and Squadron Forward and all of it has been positive to this day.  Cold War Tanker is my most popular seller on Wargame Vault though it is 6 years old.  All I got were questions on stats.

Anyway...During breaks of testing Boom and Zoom, I again starting thinking about my company land combat. Me thinking is bad because that means I am going to change something.  I have been playing PBI and having fun but after a year I still didn't think troops became pinned enough [sorry Martin] and it still seemed too easy to get troops to do what I wanted even with my piquet cards.  I remembered the old GMT game Fields of Fire  which is so command and detail heavy that it is actually too much even for me.  What if I streamlined FoF and made the perfect solitaire company level game?!  Should be easy!  Well friends, after some small skirmishes to test out my streamlining I present the first test game of....

Fire Fields !

It is 75% Fields of Fire and has several interesting mechanics which make it different from every other tactical game I have played.  The Author of FoF stated he designed his game as the anti- ASL for those of you who recognize that.  He wanted a realistic infantry combat game.  [ He was a reserve marine officer but we don't hold that against him Jack!] 

• Troops will shoot back.  You don't have to order troops to shoot.  You have to order them to stop or to shift fire.
• Troops do not move fast in combat.  No one is in a hurry to be killed
• It is easy to pin troops down but unless pinning fire remains most troops will unpin by themselves
• It is actually hard to kill troops
• Squad integrity breaks down in combat.  It takes leadership to maintain.
• Fire is rarely cumulative. The heaviest weapon is what counts unless you have a crossfire.     

So this is my first company game of FF including an AI opponent that I have been working on. 

 The Panwar valley 1982

In FF the board consists of areas like PBI.  Rather than squares I am using hexon tiles.  For now you can move diagonally but that might change.  There is a irrigation ditch on the left that counts as its own terrain because it is important. 

The operation will have a Russian airborne company land and take control of the village while waiting for the Afghan army to come up the road from the left. The Russians choose two landing zones; the field next to the canal LZ 1 and the broken terrain south of the road outside of town on the right will be LZ 2. We can land 2 Mi-8s for a total 20ish troops per stick per LZ. 

      Here is our test company.  Russian paratrooper squads are small; 7 men.  To represent them I will have the first squad have 3 bases and the second 2 squads 2 bases.  We have an actual LMG attached [ each squad has a SAW] plus two automatic grenade launchers.  All leaders are average except our 2nd PLT leader is a star.  There is one squad veteran and one squad green.  I have a company XO.  I would normally have a 1st Sgt but in the Russian army the the NCOs aren't trained to a high standard so he won't be represented today.

What is your plan Captain?

Our plan is:

2nd Plt will land at LZ 1 in two sticks with an attached grenade launcher.  They will proceed north into the town.

1st Plt will land at LZ 2 in two sticks accompanied by Company CO,FAC, LMG and grenade launcher.  They will neutralize hill south of LZ while simultaneously blocking road into town north of LZ and entering into the town. 

3rd Plt will remain at base with XO as reserve. 

What could go wrong?

 View of town from the south

FF uses the blinds from PF.  Blinds in place. There will also be 3 As and 1 C as reinforcements between turn 3-5. 

Aviation assets strike areas around the LZs.  We are Russians so everything is a free fire zone! 

LZ 2 minutes after landing.  1 squad deployed north on LZ taking and returning fire from a sangar near the road.  1 squad south and all quiet there.  The hill is unoccupied.

To give you an idea how the game works, our Capt rolls up 2 orders.  With 1 order he looks for good cover and finds it.  With the second order he orders 1st squad into it.  2nd squad does nothing facing south.  The pipe cleaners show primary direction of fire.  1st squads PDF is towards the sangar and visa versa.  They are also taking fire from the town but the source is unspotted.  Hence they are caught in a crossfire. 

 

2nd Plt lands in the field.

  Even though the LT is a star he only gets 2 orders as well.  With a cold LZ he orders 1st squad to find cover and watch north.  With his second order he orders 2nd squad into the ditch and to infiltrate around the village. 

He hears several shots from the town as 2nd squad runs into a sniper by the market. One of the rules I really like is now you get to roll to see if any of the units show their own initiative.  We get 1 order.  2nd squad attempts to spot the sniper but fail.  

Aviation assets see bad guys out in the open shooting and come in to strafe.

 

Shooting is simultaneous towards the end of the turn.  The helicopter eliminates the enemy in the Sanger.  However, 1st squad continues to fire at the sangar.  Also, since no bombs fell in the village this turn the enemy there are no longer pinned.  

H hour + 5ish

The CO gets 3 orders.  Since the platoon leaders have radios he discusses the situation with his platoon leaders [ activates them] and with his last order spots enemy troops in the town. Our star LT gets 3 orders.  He uses the first to have 1st squad sneak into town to see what exactly is going on. [ You also see the third squad landed with the auto grenade launcher]

Their sneaking doesn't go so well and they are considered exposed.  The Lt could spend points to join them and order them into buildings or try to spot the sniper that he doesn't know is there but then that will leave 3rd squad behind.  The Lt decides he will play this out.  He saves his last 2 points.  Unfortunately my AI works.  For a sniper, there is a 66% chance that if a juicier target shows up the sniper will shift fire.  Now would you rather shoot at some soldiers in a ditch or walking down a street?  

Back at LZ 2 the Lt orders 2nd squad to enflade the town by sneaking into the rough ground around the road.  Their sneaking fails as well.  Something we need to practice with our junior NCOs.  This does set up a cross fire though.   Now we see how the shooting went...

The sniper takes out 2 men from their stroll in the village.  They panic the rest of the squad!  No one has seen this sniper yet.

From another section of town gunfire erupts with RPGs towards the squad in the ditch.  1 man down and the rest of the squad pinned!  2nd Platoon is not doing well.

 
 

1st Platoon throws some RPGs into the town and the enemy pulls back into the hills. 3rd squad moves into the abandoned Sangar.

 To speed up the narrative a bit the next two turns see:

1st squad drop off their casualty at the LZ, get rallied by Lt Star and be ordered to proceed left across the ditch towards the town.  

2nd Squad self rallies and is fighting still in the ditch

3rd squad is led by Lt star into the town then into cover.  They spot the sniper and lay down fire.  He retreats towards the mosque.  

 

1st Plt has continued to fight rebels in the town that infiltrated there.  They have been constantly pinned down.  The CO has been trying to spot the rebels in the hills to call the helos in.

H hour + 25 minutes 

   .

Lt Star shifts fire from the sniper who has left to the building on the left.  Next he crawls up the ditch to bring 2nd squad back with their casualty.  Meanwhile, 1st squad moves into position to enfilade the rebels

The CO has finally spotted the rebels in the hills and has vectored gunships in.  The rebels in town facing 1st platoon have been defeated.  The Lt orders cease fire and the orders 2nd squad to sneak into town which they do, drawing sniper fire. 

Just as things were improving for 1st platoon the rebel reinforcements arrive,  The 3As and 1 C yield 2 squads, 1 leader and a technical.  Random placement means they arrive from the west.  [ I added on to the board.] 

The troops automatically start to fire at the new threat from the LZ.  The russians in the sangar are now surrounded and continue to fire primarily into the hills.  All of 1st platoon becomes pinned down. 

The CO is pinned down by this sudden attack.  All he can do while hiding from the accurate fire is unpin himself. The company is rudderless for this next 5 minute stretch. 

 

Fortunately the gunships he ordered in sweep the hillside of rebel forces.  3rd squad loses 3 men at the sangar including their RPG gunner.  The 4 remaining are pinned down 80 yards from the nearest russian forces.  

 Unpinned but taking fire the CO gets 4 orders.  What to do?  [ this is where the game shines for me!] Talk to both platoons? Play hero and rally the men at the LZ?  Call in the Gunships?  What would YOU do?  First he calls the gunships to strafe the road east of town; success! 1 order.  Second he contacts first platoon [activates] on how to save the LZ. Last he switches frequency and calls back to base to order his XO and 3rd platoon to land at LZ 1 [ two orders].  Lt Star is on his own.  He is a star; he will be okay. 

As if we didn't have enough going on the Afghan army shows up at the weest end of town. 

 

 They quickly take casualties and become pinned.   They do pin the rebels however. 

2nd squad, 1st Plt takes a casualty from the sniper and they also panic!  

They decide to bring him to the casualty collection point at LZ 1. 

Lt Star, even though having no contact with the company, has 3 orders to work with. [ that is why he is a star!] He orders the squad to advance further into the town but goes with them. Orders them into buildings. Then looks to spot the sniper. [ fails] 

H + 30 

3rd Platoon (-) lands.  Casualties are evacuated.

The AI orders 3 rebels to charge the Afghans.  they are cut down.  [ Probably have to work on this.]  the rebels are surrounded by pinned afghans and russian paratroopers. 

Back at LZ 1 4 rebels in the woods have been killed which caused the rest to withdraw.  Unfortunately, 3rd squad in the sangar has also been wiped out. 

 The second stick lands at LZ 1 lands.  The XO jumps out to see the remnants of 2nd sq/1Plt bringing in their wounded.  " You men, snap out of it! You are now attached to 3rd squad/3rd Plt!"

  The helicopter does its work and breaks the rebel advance!  

3rd Platoon moving into town!  

 

With a sniper in the mosque and half a squad still in the western part of the city I called the game. It was a lot of fun!  The narrative is strong as you see each unit struggle to accomplish their tasks.  Did I win?  We did clear the road.  We killed some rebels.  We lost 5 stands of paratroopers.  The afghan army was worthless.  Sounds pretty realistic to me. 

Hope you enjoyed this preliminary look at Fire Fields!

 

Enjoy Joe 

Williamsburg Muster 2026 What I learned

 The Muster is one week gone.  I had a great time.  So now I have had time to reflect on my experience and thought I would share.  

First, the Muster is an annual show put on by the Old Dominion Military Society.  They are based in the Hampton Roads VA area.  It is a regional show that attracts hundreds of folks.  It is a labor of love and always well organized.  It is all about playing games.  "Let's bring a bunch of people together to play some games" really should be the theme.  There are plenty of historical games from all periods and Warhammer is present.  I saw a table that was "ghost busters" themed and a Grand Prix racing game as well.  I suspect something for everyone.  I should mention that there are several vendors there as well and I have never left a show empty handed. 

 

 The main historical room at 2026 Muster

I had agreed to run two games of my new rules, Boom and Zoom.  

Now the first lesson I learned from last year is if you want to attract passerbys you must have eye candy at your table.  

You can have great rules but as people are wandering around looking at all these great tables like the alamo or ghost busters and deciding what they are going to spend the next two hours playing you have to have something cool at the table. [ People don't sign up ahead of time to play a game at the Muster.  First come first serve.] 

So, even though heavy bombers are a bit complicated in Boom and Zoom and are in the advanced rules, I had to have a fleet of 1/285 B-17s on the table.  I only had 8 to start with so I ordered some from Table Top Flights to round out the numbers. If you saw my Christmas post these didn't come in so I was worried.  Mike from TTF was sick over the holidays but they did eventually arrive and when they did I was surprised at how good they looked!  I was not a fan of 3-D printing but now that has changed.  Take a look...

  I believe this is Raiden but it might be Scotia.  Don't get me wrong; it is a nice model.

Here is one from Table Top Flights.  The detail is better and the price is the same.  It is lighter and probably not as sturdy. 

Lesson 2.   3-D printing has come a long way and at least resin printing can easily compete with metal now.  

I spray painted up the new bombers and opened my decals from Flight Deck decals and to my horror they had sent me post war american stars and bars!  I had 2 weeks before the show.  I quickly contacted them about the error and Dan was Johnny on the Spot and got me the correct decals fast!  

Lesson 3  Plan ahead for the show.  Something will go wrong! 

The night before the show I printed my QRS, plane cards and uploaded the rules to wargame vault.  The next morning I loaded my 

aerial forces and went to the show.  

I got there early enough to look at some of the games and all of the vendors.  I was looking at a small stone bridge because all of my bridges are large when I saw something that I had always wanted but never purchased because it was too expensive:  Miniatures Building Authority Russian Church in 15mm.  I bought their Russian village during there "going out of 15mm 50% off sale" but didn't pick up the church. I have regretted it ever since.  [ In my defense I also picked up the Vietnam village and Rathouse and didn't have any more money. I have never taken my kids to shows so didn't have one available to sell.]  

Needless to say... 

 Lesson 4   Despite whatever I say, I will always, always, always buy stuff at shows! 

 Fits in great with the village doesn't it?

So after double locking my prize in the car I set up for my games.  The eye candy worked and I had traffic from 1pm till 10pm. Lots of people stopped by and asked about the game.  I ran two sessions...

  

with some great folks.  I met Mike, from Table Top flights as he hand delivered some more aircraft that I ordered from him.  [ I must say, the Gladiators look fantastic! Expect to see them over Greece in a future post.] Another thing that I encountered was the variability in how much detail the players wanted in their game.  A couple of people wanted even more detailed outcomes in the maneuver tests between aircraft whereas other folks, seeing this novel mechanism for the first time, were fine just the way it is.  We had some great discussions on the mechanics and what the game is trying to simulate.  I attempted to modify the game to meet the needs of the players at the table. Fortunately, Boom and Zoom has a layered approach to these issues with a basic game that plays great and then advanced rules that can be added a la carte.  

Lesson 5  The purpose of any recreational game is enjoyment. As a game master [ or rules writer] if the players are not enjoying themselves you are failing.  

I think I succeeded this year at the Muster. I met some great people.  ODMS has asked me to demo the game for them at a thursday night play session so I will get to know some more folks.   I had a great time and everyone seemed to enjoy the rules and have fun.  I think that is what the Muster is all about!

Cheers

Joe 

 

Boom and Zoom released. A one turn play through

 Released Boom and Zoom yesterday at the Williamsburg Muster.  I was flattered by how well it was received.  Since it is a best seller on Wargamers Vault ( wow!) I better hurry up and get a sample turn up on this site to show people the game.  If you are a normal visitor to this site and you could not care less about Boom and Zoom I apologize.  If you came here for a report about the Muster, I will report that later.

This will be a 2v2 P-47D vrs ME 109G6.  It will be at low altitude (4k ft) as the thunderbolts have been straffing.  B&Z has a lot of detail but most of it is under the hood. This keeps the game fast and playable.  First off, if you are an air aficionado, there is a difference between the P-47 C and D; yes and between the ME 109G 4 and 6.  You might not care, and it won't bog the game down, but it is noticeable in certain situations.  

So lets look at our planes:  [ there are stats for 62 fighters.  I only included 11 cards but if people want more I can make them.]

  The third line shows a "c" and "f" which shows some cockpit armor and self sealing gas tanks.  The P-47 has better firepower. {FP} and is more rugged. {DV}.  So the ME 109 will want to keep out of its way.  At altitudes below 15k ft they both have the same performance and the ME 109 is more maneuverable. Above 15Kft things change. [ It is called a turbo charger primarily but you don't need to know that!]  The P-47s performance actually improves as does their maneuverability.  If we go above 25k ft the ME 109G is actually at a disadvantage.  Good thing we are not fighting bombers today!  We also note that while the P-47C climbed poorly {Climb-} this version of the P-47 does not. However, both versions of the thunderbolt have the Dive+ so they easily out dive the ME 109.  Unfortunately, we are starting out at 4k ft!  The ME 109G does have a early fuel injection {boost} that can boost its speed for a turn if it runs into trouble.

 

So the ME 109 will try maneuver attacks [dogfighting style] when possible to keep out of the P-47s guns and maximize its maneuverability advantage while the P-47 will try slashing attacks and rely on its guns and ruggedness to survive.  If in trouble it can dive only once at it is already low and then try to get above 15k ft where the battle will favor it. 

 

The basic game does not consider pilot skill which would be another consideration.

 

The basic maneuver unit in B&Z is the element.  The leader rolls 6 dice.  This represents his opportunity [ or lack thereof] for the next minute.  To determine initiative, each element rolls 2D 6.  Here the Germans go first. 

Here is the German roll.  First we need to get to the P-47s.  Let's convert the green 6 to a 1 so we can move into their square.  Once there it appears we are in a good position to barrel roll into their leader.  Let's make that happen by converting the blue 6 into a 2 to attack.  We will add the 5 which means our wingman is playing a big part here and we will add +2.  Finally we will add the "3" because we have good situational awareness for another +1.  If we win we will use our 4 to line him up in our sights and shoot!

It looks like this:

 "1" to move. "2" to initiate a maneuver attack.  "5" to add +2. "3" to add +1.  "4" to shoot hopefully.

A maneuver attack is a high risk/high reward play.  You have a opposed die roll but if you win the modifiers for firing are good and you get to stay in the advantageous position!

The German will roll a D8 as he has average mobility.  He gets +3 to the roll as we just described.  The thunderbolt will roll a D6 as he is a dog down low.  He does get a +2 because he has a trusty wingman helping him out.  So functionally the German gets a +1. 

The die is literally cast....

The German wins by 1!!!!!

 

                                                        He gets the coveted "advantage" chip.

Since the German won by "1" he sets up on the thunderbolts win.  He now has "advantage" over the thunderbolts.

He will use his "4" performance die to shoot.

His firepower is 8 plus two for being on the 3 o'clock position give him ten firepower dice.  He rolls looking for "5's and 6's"...

He only gets 1.  But wait!  The thunderbolt is a dog so he can re-roll half of any "1s" rounded down.  He re-rolls one "1" and gets a hit.  Thus he gets two hits.

The thunderbolt is a hardy aircraft and gets to roll 12 defensive dice.  He rolls... 

and gets 2 saves! [ We need better dice for this example!] 

2 hits verses 2 saves results in "Damage" as opposed to "Major Damage".  You get to roll on the damage chart but with a +3 modifier, thus you can't get a catastrophic hit.

The German rolls and hits the engine.  Good place to hit.  We roll a D 10 to check for damage...

a "4" +3 results in "Major Damage -1 P -1 Sp"  So the engine is badly damaged, the American loses a performance die and a speed; not good. 

Not good.

And to top it off.  He is disadvantaged to a ME 109G off his wing.  
 

    In real life right now the P-47's wingman is trying to push the ME- 109 away.  At the same time the ME-109s wingman is trying to prevent that.  Other games either ignore that or make it very complicated.  In B&Z, before the P-47 rolls his 5 performance dice he gets to roll 4 dice for his wingman and consult this chart...

Yea for Jack!  He just knock the Hun off my back.  [ If you look at the chart a "6 and 2" count as successful maneuver against the {enemy} element]. Simple and wingmen matter. So the P-47s are now neutral to the ME 109s.  They could contemplate moving away, climbing or staying this turn.  The thunderbolt leader rolls his now 5 performance dice... 

Though he is marginally slower now than the ME 109s Jack has put him in a good position to perform a slashing attack.  He can play both "1s" to get abeam of the ME 109.  Next he can shoot using his "4".  Finally he could add both "3s" to his firepower pool.  But he does something slightly different...

He plays the "1" to initiate a high speed attack just off the nose.  He plays a second "1" to move to the 3 o'clock position.  He adds only one "3" to his firepower dice pool and plays a "4" to shoot.  [ A high speed attack automatically succeeds, there is no opposed rolling.]  because his firepower is high and he is damaged he is going to save his last "3" to be used defensively next turn should the German get the initiative.  He can then add it to his opposed roll.  

The thunderbolts come roaring in guns blazing!  [ they won't get to stay there though.]

The thunderbolts FP is 11, there is no bonus for the 3 o'clock position on a high speed attack and he gets a +1 for the "3" performance die so he throws 12 firepower dice. 

 

He gets three hits.  Because the ME 109 is average mobility he does not re roll "1s".  The ME 109G gets 10 defensive dice...

2 saves.  Thus the American got 1 hit resulting in  Major Damage.  He goes to the fighter damage chart and hits the fuselage.  He rolls a D 10...

A "9" results in "Tail Damage"  The ME 109 will now be at a disadvantage in the vertical.  

Because it was a slashing attack and not a maneuver attack the thunderbolts are returned to neutral.  You would now roll to see if the battle changed altitude and if the wingmen were able to hang on to their leaders. Both situations could affect the situation significantly for next turn. 

Hope you enjoyed this play through of Boom and Zoom. The mechanisms are different but folks catch on fast.  It plays faster than reads trust me.  Any questions just ask!

Thank you!

Joe Legan