Peetza da Hutt, aka Ric LaBan, is doing something worthwhile like celebrating an anniversary or driving to California, so Kent and I are left to our own devices. And so, we regressed to High School age and knocked out a couple Afrika Korps battles.
It's been about 20 year since we played an Avalon Hill wargame and it took some resetting of the mental pongids. But after we straightened out all the details of setup, logistics, movement, and combat, we were ready to go.
Because we were playing a modified version of the full-blown game, the victory conditions were very different from the standard game. But everything else seemed familiar--stay in the escarpments and fortifications, block supply with zones of control, use soak-offs to maintain favorable local odds.
Game #1. Herr General Holtz (as always) was armed with a plethora of strong armor but in the historical starting position. He faced Lt. Gen. Smythe-Horak with lots of weak infantry, enough armor to be a problem, and a pitiful garrison in Tobruk.
Holtz decided to go first for Tobruk and made a direct assault at 3:1 with all his heavy armor. He did indeed capture the fortress, but in the process the Commonwealth forces were able to dig in deeply in front of Bardia and Alam Halfa. Rommel's men could never chop through the heavy defenses in the escarpments west of Knightsbridge. A desperate last minute assault at 2:1 odds left the Allies with a marginal victory.
Game #2. Using more flexible rules on intial setup, this time Holtz attacked Alam Halfa first and just invested Tobruk. The Brits were forced back from the pass but spread out to the south and west. In the end, an Allied counter-attack on the forces around Tobruk was successful and broke through to the beleaguered garrison for a tie game.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
SWR for the Masses
With the nephews in town, we had two 5-person games. Whew!
Game #1. The e-vile Empire (Kent and Ric) got off to a strong start, nabbing the Wild Space and holding it throughout the game. Despite the Hutts giving opportunities for counter-attacks into that sector, the Rebels (Peter and David) were never able to remove the threat. Eventually four star bases completely occupied the Wild Space.
The Hutts (Karl) were never much of a danger to the Empire, but they slowly crawled up to five resource planets. When the Empire started to make significant gains on the Rebels, they took their eye off the ball for just a single turn. The Hutts cashed in a faction card straight and took their 10 legions plus a powerful fleet in a desperate gamble. In the end they swept up five resource planets, ending with a run to Bespin and a surprise win. Hoo-hah!
Game #2. The Grey Empire whomped on the Yellow Rebels relentlessly and they Yellow Hoards never recovered. Gradually the White Empire overtook the Ison Corridor, then the Core Worlds, and finally the Wild Space.
Eventually Sith Wood's grey troops were reduced to a single system. His sacrifices also left Yellow Rebel Leader Horak (Karl) with only a single system. The Hutts made valiant but ultimately useless assaults, reaching nine resource planets. Darth Ric ignored the Hutts and took his white storm troopers on a brazen attack that put Orange Rebel Leader Horak (Peter) out of the game -- after some exciting dice rolls in the Mid Rim. Sith Wood was then able to finish off last yellow rebel. Game Empire.
Game #1. The e-vile Empire (Kent and Ric) got off to a strong start, nabbing the Wild Space and holding it throughout the game. Despite the Hutts giving opportunities for counter-attacks into that sector, the Rebels (Peter and David) were never able to remove the threat. Eventually four star bases completely occupied the Wild Space.
The Hutts (Karl) were never much of a danger to the Empire, but they slowly crawled up to five resource planets. When the Empire started to make significant gains on the Rebels, they took their eye off the ball for just a single turn. The Hutts cashed in a faction card straight and took their 10 legions plus a powerful fleet in a desperate gamble. In the end they swept up five resource planets, ending with a run to Bespin and a surprise win. Hoo-hah!
Game #2. The Grey Empire whomped on the Yellow Rebels relentlessly and they Yellow Hoards never recovered. Gradually the White Empire overtook the Ison Corridor, then the Core Worlds, and finally the Wild Space.
Eventually Sith Wood's grey troops were reduced to a single system. His sacrifices also left Yellow Rebel Leader Horak (Karl) with only a single system. The Hutts made valiant but ultimately useless assaults, reaching nine resource planets. Darth Ric ignored the Hutts and took his white storm troopers on a brazen attack that put Orange Rebel Leader Horak (Peter) out of the game -- after some exciting dice rolls in the Mid Rim. Sith Wood was then able to finish off last yellow rebel. Game Empire.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Expect the Unexpected
In a casual 3-player game with nephews David and Peter, it was definitely a case of expect the unexpected. The game spanned two evenings before its eventual conclusion in turn 7, an unusually long game.
At the start, superior dice rolling and strategic targeting put the E-vile Emperor in the lead. The Rebels, led by Deputy Rebel Leader David, looked to be out of the game within a few turns as they were herded into a few concentrations within the Mid Rim and a couple of isolated, weak pockets.
Peter the Hutt managed to hold onto his forces, keeping about even with his starting troop levels. That said, he was still down in the basement with only three resource planets. When the Empire blew up Bespin, things looked desperate.
Somehow, the Rebels managed to knock out a couple star bases and move the force meter over far to the Light side. But things looked grim for the Rebels and an Imperial victory seemed likely.
But on the second evening, things took a disturbingly different turn -- the Rebels used a faction card to destroy two Imperial cards. They managed to take away the "blow up the Wild Space" card and the "add 1-6 troops to an invaded planet" cards. Then the Hutts managed to dynamite the garrison at Balmorra. These events set the Empire back significantly, just when they were advancing on Elom to destroy the Hutt resource planet and the Wild Space sector bonus that they were gaining.
With the Peter the Hutt intent upon kicking the Empire to the curb, the almost-destroyed Rebels put on their big girl panties and began to attack out of the worthless and ignored Ison Corridor. When they destroyed a fifth star base and still hadn't located the Emperor, the gig was up.
But the game wasn't over yet -- the fat Hutt hadn't sung. The Imperial garrison held off the Rebel invasion at Sullust. The Hutts responded with a run of resource planets, getting up to nine but not the winning tenth system.
The Rebels, not terribly strong, but strong enough, took another run at Sullust and this time managed to take the system and win the game. Both Peter and Karl "tasted bitter."
At the start, superior dice rolling and strategic targeting put the E-vile Emperor in the lead. The Rebels, led by Deputy Rebel Leader David, looked to be out of the game within a few turns as they were herded into a few concentrations within the Mid Rim and a couple of isolated, weak pockets.
Peter the Hutt managed to hold onto his forces, keeping about even with his starting troop levels. That said, he was still down in the basement with only three resource planets. When the Empire blew up Bespin, things looked desperate.
Somehow, the Rebels managed to knock out a couple star bases and move the force meter over far to the Light side. But things looked grim for the Rebels and an Imperial victory seemed likely.
But on the second evening, things took a disturbingly different turn -- the Rebels used a faction card to destroy two Imperial cards. They managed to take away the "blow up the Wild Space" card and the "add 1-6 troops to an invaded planet" cards. Then the Hutts managed to dynamite the garrison at Balmorra. These events set the Empire back significantly, just when they were advancing on Elom to destroy the Hutt resource planet and the Wild Space sector bonus that they were gaining.
With the Peter the Hutt intent upon kicking the Empire to the curb, the almost-destroyed Rebels put on their big girl panties and began to attack out of the worthless and ignored Ison Corridor. When they destroyed a fifth star base and still hadn't located the Emperor, the gig was up.
But the game wasn't over yet -- the fat Hutt hadn't sung. The Imperial garrison held off the Rebel invasion at Sullust. The Hutts responded with a run of resource planets, getting up to nine but not the winning tenth system.
The Rebels, not terribly strong, but strong enough, took another run at Sullust and this time managed to take the system and win the game. Both Peter and Karl "tasted bitter."
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The Dice Are Trying to Kill Me
Special guest Sith tonight was Peter, standing in for David by playing both white and grey imperial forces. Kent and Ric took up the mantle of the Rebel cause while Karl commanded the Hutts.
Let's face it, 5-person SWR is a different animal -- 62 legions of storm troopers, 56 rebel units, and 25 Hutts. All that makes for a very crowded starting position. The Hutts left a few sacrificial single units out as bait, to draw opposing forces away from the three heavily fortified resource planets.
Kent immediately went after them and came up against his match at Alderaan. Before the Battle for Alderaan was over several assaults later, something like 9 legions of rebels and storm troopers were taken out, all for a single Hutt.
The White Empire began its assaults with attacks in the Mid Rim. Hutt counter-attacks could not hold their lightly garrisoned positions. With a couple command swaps, the White forces managed to capture the entire sector.
Meanwhile, the Death Star was hard at work -- destroying Hoth. Along with the planet's destruction, 10 Yellow Rebel legions and their entire fleet were lost.
It was downhill from there. Even a faction card straight worth seven Hutt legions wasn't enough to stop the onslaught. The Rebels capitulated and without their harrassment of the storm troopers, the Hutts had no chance.
Game Empire.
Let's face it, 5-person SWR is a different animal -- 62 legions of storm troopers, 56 rebel units, and 25 Hutts. All that makes for a very crowded starting position. The Hutts left a few sacrificial single units out as bait, to draw opposing forces away from the three heavily fortified resource planets.
Kent immediately went after them and came up against his match at Alderaan. Before the Battle for Alderaan was over several assaults later, something like 9 legions of rebels and storm troopers were taken out, all for a single Hutt.
The White Empire began its assaults with attacks in the Mid Rim. Hutt counter-attacks could not hold their lightly garrisoned positions. With a couple command swaps, the White forces managed to capture the entire sector.
Meanwhile, the Death Star was hard at work -- destroying Hoth. Along with the planet's destruction, 10 Yellow Rebel legions and their entire fleet were lost.
It was downhill from there. Even a faction card straight worth seven Hutt legions wasn't enough to stop the onslaught. The Rebels capitulated and without their harrassment of the storm troopers, the Hutts had no chance.
Game Empire.
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