Firefight project

 My first dip into Mantic's Sci-Fi universe sees me trying to work out colour schemes for Firefight/Deadzone Nightstalkers - surely it shouldn't be this hard.

I think I'll go with these schemes, give or take, for the Scarecrows and Spectres but there's plenty of room for technical improvements.

I started a Reaper but got completely disillusioned so he(it) is marinating in Dettol so I can start again - #TorturedArtist

V for Victory: Shifting Lines

The seventh scenario in the book is Shifting Lines. This involves each player placing down three jump off points in their half of the table and then three objectives in the opposition half of the table. Once these are all out each player takes it in turns to place infantry teams around a jump off point. Any teams left over and all vehicles are then placed on the board edge. Essentially you score more points for an objective at the end of the game the closer it is to the opposition base edge, you can also move objectives you control a short distance each turn so you could push them closer to the opposition edge.

The 8th Army went for a narrow front with their three jump off points close together and two of their objectives just over the half way mark in front of them. Their third objective is sat under my A/T gun. I went for a broader front with two objectives right on the opposite baseline from the 8th Army deployment points and the third on the same side but just over the half way line.

The early moves saw the Sikhs pushing up towards their two closest objectives whilst their recon jeep had to switch sides to contest the my two objectives. The DAK where more happy to sit back and pour fire into the opposition. The primary target for this fire was the Sikh mortar which had managed to knock out the sdkfz 250 with it's opening salvo. This was the only time it shot in the game though as it took heavy and accurate fire and with it's morale crushed it was forced to retire.

This somewhat set the tone as the DAK firing was consistently accurate and whilst not often firing to kill they forced several units to take morale tests and stalled the Sikh advance.

The decisive moment came when the Sikh's launched an entire section at the central building held by the DAK, this was met with a devastating fusillade of fire which cut down five out of the eight attackers before they reached the building. Two more died in the combat with a lone NCO staggering away from the combat.

On the other flank I'd managed to wear down the morale of the Sikh recon team and forced a moral test (which they failed) by driving my Kubelwagon through them. These casualties along with those suffered on the other flank tipped the Sikh's over their break point (50%) so the DAK secured the win.

Next week we take a break from VfV to try out some 0200 Hours which we've only had one game of so far and that was a long time ago.

V for Victory: Crossroads

The next scenario in the book we had to play was Crossroads. This sees the table split into 4 sections with VP's awarded for controlling a section at the end of the game (4 turns) and bonus VP's for destroying enemy units and holding the crossroads itself.

One interesting feature of the scenario is that all vehicles (and any passengers) start off table and need to be rolled for to come on. You need a 5+ on a D8 to bring a vehicle on and you roll before each of your seven activation cards so it's very likely you will get them all on in the first turn.

My DAK had planned to rush forwards with my MMG in a 250 and an infantry section in a truck to seize one of the buildings and then push towards the other with infantry on foot. With some decent rolling on the vehicle front I was able to occupy the building whilst the Sikh's slogged up on foot.

This then gave my troops in the building the chance to poor heavy fire into the infantry advancing against them wiping out one team, though that did open them up to the attention of the British armour. Fortunately they where unable to cause any damage to my troops in their heavy cover .

On the other flank the Sikh's had likewise occupied a building and held up my advance though I did manage to score a hit on the truck carrying their MMG which destroyed the truck and forced the MMG to bail out.

With the right building reasonably secure I was able to concentrate fire into the other building and keep the Sikh's from advancing over the road though that did allow a brave charge against my MMG by an infantry team. Despite forcing my MMG to beat a retreat no actual casualties where inflicted in the melee. 

This did leave the charging team exposed to concentrated fire however and they and the Humber A/C where both wiped out on the final turn.

So it ended with the DAK holding three quarters of the table, the crossroads and having killed several 8th Army units, so a handy win in the end.

V for Victory: Double Header

This week as well as our normal Friday night game I also welcomed Stu over from Cirencester for a Saturday game of VfV.

Our Friday night game saw the Commonwealth forces trying to capture three buildings from my defending DAK. The 8th Army had 8 points of reinforcements to add to their core force and I had 4 points. Most of the allied points went into buying a Honey whilst I went with extra infantry and an A/T gun.

With the DAK deploying first the allies made a mistake in trying to push the entire front line rather than concentrating on one end or the other. They could have massed on one side of the line of hills to avoid the A/T gun and deployed MMG.

In the end I was able to neutralise two of the Sikh infantry teams meaning that they didn't have enough manpower to assault any of the buildings and despite taking a pounding from the tank and mortar was never really in any danger of losing a building. 

The second game once again saw the DAK on the defensive with the 8th Army this time attempting to get vehicles off the opposite table edge to score VP's.

It was a somewhat cautious advance to start off with by the allies but given the movement range of vehicles it was actually rather easy for them to zoom an Indian Pattern Carrier off and secure an unassailable points lead.

V for Victory: British Bulldog

Actually the third scenario is called A Question of Balance, but it really should have been called Bulldog or Run Across. The aim is to get as many of you infantry across to the opposite table edge as possible (2 VP's per man) whilst stopping the enemy from doing the same, you also get VP's for units killed.

We went for 6 Stars of reinforcements for our base 2 sections with the Sikh's adding a MMG, Humber, and 2 Stars of infantry reinforcements to their roster. The DAK added a light AT gun, SDKFZ 222, recon Kubelwagon and 1 Star of infantry reinforcements. Both sides took a free truck with capacity 10 in order to boost their mobility.

As both sides had recon units we both pushed them forwards on the DAK's left flank but keeping out of LOS using the buildings on that side of the field.

Both sides then pushed forwards towards the buildings and the Sikh Humber committing itself to the fight early on. The 222 tried and failed to take out the Humber missing with both it shots, however the AT gun hit and scored a kill on it's first try so the Germans raced into an early VP lead.

The euphoria however was short lived as four brave Sikh's dashed out of cover armed only with rifles and grenades to tackle the 222. Somehow surviving a hail of bullets from a DAK LMG team they dispatched the 222 at close quarters and then took cover behind a nearby sand-bank.

Part of the Sikh command section had also mounted their truck and raced across the table outside the arc of the AT gun.

This proved to be the high point for the Sikh's as the Germans started to pile the pressure on in the village with stress mounting. The DAK recon team had also decamped from their building, into the Kubelwagon and raced across the table to the opposite edge.

The light ATG also scored a second hit and kill, taking out the truck and causing it's occupants to fling themselves out onto the desert floor. The Sikh's did gain some pay back as their MMG poured accurate fire into the gun's crew and cut them all down.

In the last turn it all went wrong for the Sikh's as in the village a lone DAK team stormed the opposite building killing 5 of the defenders and forcing them to flee. The remaining DAK where in turn attacked by a Sikh team from the wadi but one lone German managed to survive and fall back. The fleeing Sikh's where in turn cut down by fire from the recon team and the survivors fled into the desert. Further misery was heaped on the Commonwealth forces as the command section that had reached the table edge was itself cut down by accurate LMG fire.

So the DAK ran out clear winners, it had been fairly close throughout most of the game but a strong last turn allowed the Germans to run away with it in the end.