Street Gangs Defend Their Turf at Drums 2024

    The Eastmoor Kings look back from the bridge onto the streets they've just fought their way through

I ran my Mean Streets gang warfare game twice at this weekend's Drums at the Rapids convention at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, OH. I couldn't have had two more different games. In the first, I joked with the players that it seemed I was running a game of Gaslands. Nearly all the gangs decided to carjack vehicles and use them to try to run down rival gang members. It has happened from time to time in the past, but never on the scale as in this game! I'm definitely going to have come up with more detailed rules for vehicles than the off-the-cuff die rolls I've been using to gauge player's success. In the second game, I left most of the vehicles off the table and it was a more standard street rumble.

    "Come on, guys! Let's steal a car and drive to the bridge..." Tyrese comes up with a plan

 

    Players gathered around the table on Friday -- both of the games were full & everyone had fun

The scenario is a nod to the 45th anniversary of the release of the movie, The Warriors, which is my inspiration for the game. My Eastmoor Kings stand in for the role of the Warriors, and have been lured to a bogus parley with other gangs. When no one else shows up, they have to hoof it home, and know they're in for a fight crossing the turf of rival gangs. The game is set for six players -- two controlling the Kings and four controlling a gang each that has their own agendas but are not happy with the arrival of a new gang on their turf!

    The Kings enter the tabletop and immediately see their first obstacle: the Indianola Mohawks

    And on the other side of the street, the creepy clown gang awaits - the Franklinton Flippos

 Each player controlled five gang members -- a Gang Boss (the toughest dude), Warchief, and three punks. I standardized the traits that each gang member possessed. In the first running of the scenario at Cincycon 2024, I gave the Kings one more gang member and more traits. I was worried that the other four would call a truce and pounce on them. In three runnings, that has yet to happen -- even when the four other players ostensibly agree to a truce. Someone is always unable to resist punching a rival gang member!

    On the far side of the board near the bridge, the Santanas and the Linden Daos begin to rumble

 

    On Friday, Mohawks boss Sid has a solution for the invasion -- steal a truck and run them down!

 Kings boss Tyrese at the wheel has an answer to Sid's tactics -- ram his truck and pin it against a wall!

I think in future runnings of the game I need to dwell more on explaining the traits that each gang member has. Each leader has a powerful one, whether Blackbelt (can do one attack per action), Intimidate (can spend an action to make rival gang members -1 or their own +1), or Scary Mutha (punks and Warchiefs have to test morale to enter melee). The only ability that came into play during both games was Blackbelt. So, I either have to take the time to explain the traits more, or standardize it further for convention games and just give all the leaders that trait. The game felt more balanced this time with all players have more similar forces.

    The Daos send their warchief Juanita and a punk to steal some smokes from Mohawk turf

    Saturday's players try to choose between the many objectives I presented them with in this scenario

Both games moved very quickly with six players and were completed it under three hours. To me, that is the gold standard for a convention game. The days of me wanting to play (or GM) an eight hour game are long since passed. I don't mind a four hour game, but ideally if it can normally be completed it three, you have a little insurance against slower players that could cause you not to finish. I think it takes an active GM, though, to ensure this for Mean Streets. The sequence of play sees gangs dicing for initiative, and then moving all of their figures when it is their turn. Waiting for five other players to finish before it is your turn could make it slow, but I keep an eye on who's next up in the order. If they're not going to affect the currently moving faction then I have them get started. This tends to move things along a lot quicker.

    The fighting begins as the trespassing Kings, tagging as they go, begin to be met by defending gangs

    The Mohawks & Flippos begin to swarm the stragglers at the end of the Kings column

The goal of the Kings was relatively simple. They were to cross the 5' length of the board and get onto the bridge at the far end of the table. The surviving gang members are to board the bus and once on board, are safely on their way home to their turf. They are encouraged to "tag" buildings and let folks know they were there. They are also admonished not to back down from a fight and run like a bunch of sissies. The other four gangs are encouraged to punish the Kings for trespassing on their turf. However, each also had a secret mission, such as to steal some beer or snacks for tonight's party. In addition, each gang owed "payback" on another rival gang. Everyone gets points for knocking out members of rival gangs, but each of the other four got bonus points for taking out a specified rival.  All gangs get points for tagging buildings in their rival's turf (who then lose points for having their turf tagged by an opponent). 

    "Keep moving!" Warchief Archie shouts as the Kings cross the street into the central intersection

    Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide! The Kings begin to fight their way through the city streets

All of the various victory conditions add up to a game that is more chaotic and free wheeling than a simple 2 vs. 4 that it might be otherwise. In our first carjacking-heavy game, the clown-masked Franklinton Flippos came out on top. Had we played for an extra 45 minutes, it was very likely the Kings would have done much better than their last place finish. Five of them were in a stolen car and headed towards the bridge. The cops were on the table and would be in pursuit. In addition, the Santanas and Daos were waiting for the arrival of the Kings, smacking their fists in anticipation of a beat-down on the newcomers. All of the other gangs (and the police) did a great job of slowing the Kings down so that -- at game's end -- none were on the bridge waiting for the bus.

    On Friday night, the Kings attempt to drive across the table is cut off by the arrival of the police

 

    Meanwhile, the Daos-Mohawks rumble in the alley behind the hotel gets more and more bloody

Speaking of the police, what I do at a convention is to have any player who's been reduced to a single figure or less take control of a police car next turn. It arrives with two cops (who count as Warchiefs), and the player can choose which street table edge it arrives on. That allows them to exact a little revenge on the gang that beat them down or frustrate the intentions of any front runners. Friday's nights cops, controlled by the Daos player, arrived just in time to cut off the two vehicles loaded with Kings that were attempting to enter the intersection in the center of the table. The Kings tried ramming the police car, but the driver locked the wheels down with his brakes and they were unable to move it. His partner got out and shot the driver of one of the Kings vehicles, knocking him out of action (it would go on the police report as "self-defense"...after all, it WAS attempted vehicular homicide, wasn't it?). 

    It wouldn't take long before rivalries resurface and the neighbor Mohawks & Flippos trade punches

    Once the Kings had cleared out, the rumble between the Flippos and Mohawks raged on

In the second game, no cars were jacked and the Kings looked like they would be allowed to pass through the gauntlet of the Flippos and Indianola Mohawks unmolested. However, as soon as the bulk of the Kings passed by, those two gangs pounced on the rear of the column. A furious melee ensued with four gangs pounding on each other in the streets. When there was a pause in the fighting, and the two Kings factions won initiative to move first and second, they decided to sprint across the center of the board, unfortunately leaving one or two of their gang members behind who were locked in melee. At the other end of the board where they were headed, the Santanas and the Daos had been clobbering each other from the start of the game. Each sent an end run of their warchief and a punk to accomplish their side missions, but that meant when the Kings did arrive, they were in no shape to contest their passage.

        With cars trying to run people down, Cruz of the Santanas picks a safe spot to guard his turf

    Meanwhile, Kira of the Mohawks sprints around the table tagging buildings in rival turf

I could have given one of the two a police car to even things up. However, they hadn't lost that many gang members. The Daos were down to three, and the Santanas had four. So, technically they hadn't been beat down enough to qualify. At the start of Saturday's game, I thought for sure the Mohawks would be first to be given a police car. Abbi, who was controlling them, ended up fighting all five of the other gangs at one point in the game. By turn two, she was fighting against both Kings players, the Flippos, and the Daos. However, at the end of the game, I was shocked to see she hadn't lost a single gang member!

    It's a long way from the far end of the board to the bridge...will the Kings make it there?

    "Hurry! The bus is coming!" On Saturday, Kings make it to the bridge for the first time in 3 games!

The winner in Saturday's game was the Eastmoor Kings. I take each of the Kings players victory points, add them together, then divide by two. With getting roughly three quarters of the combined gang onto the bridge, that gave them enough to score 13 points. However, both the Flippos and Mohawks scored 12 each. So, it was a narrow victory. Their tactic of pouncing on the King's column while knocking out a good handful of rival gang members brought them very close to victory. It was a chaotic, fun game, with all six players involved in the fighting. The winning Kings had to make some tough choices, but correctly kept the bulk of their gang moving so that they could reach the bridge. It was actually the first time in three games that any Kings members actually made it to the bridge!

    Early in Friday's game, Delroy leads the Kings onto the board "Just remember - act like Kings!"

    Warchief Iggy and Gang Boss Sid of the Mohawks would be in for a busy weekend...!

My game filled up both Friday and Saturday, and my players all seemed to have a good time. In fact, two of my Saturday players were repeats. They had such a good time Friday evening that they wanted to try it again controlling different gangs. Everyone had their successes, and no one took it on the chin so much that they might have become discouraged with the game. I'm definitely calling the scenario a success, and look forward to running it again this June in Columbus at Origins Game Fair. I will run it six times over the course of the con, twice on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the mornings and evenings. 

    Players had a great time in both games - so much so that two showed up again the next day to play

Interestingly, the inspiration for the scenario -- the Warriors trying to make it back to their home turf after a gang parley gone wrong -- was also being run in Portland, Maine, this very same weekend. Another big fan of The Warriors (Cat O'Mighty on Facebook) has built a New York City setting for a very similar scenario. She has painted up many of the gangs from the movie, including the Warriors, Orphans, Riffs, etc. I am looking forward to her after-action report on her games from the Huzzah convention and will come back and post the link here when she publishes it. 

Here is her AAR on Lead Adventure Forum - check it out!

    Meanwhile, in Maine, another group was playing Mean Streets in an amazing NYC layout

Between our two games, The Warriors was definitely honored this weekend. I look forward to adding a couple more wrinkles to my games at Origins. So, if you want to "come out and play," you know where to find a good rumble!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 64
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 67

Coal Miners & 'Detectives' shoot it out at the Battle of Matewan, 1920

    Miners and passengers waiting for the 5pm train out of Matewan, WV, wait for action to unfold

Summer was waning, and I decided to plan one last gaming weekend out of town. Four of us headed north from Ohio to Michigan to meet up with Jim W and his gaming crew at his Blissfield, MI, Clubhouse. Last summer, I went up to see and game in Jim's building he had purchased to house all his gaming stuff (and host his weekly or so get-togethers with his crew in Southeast Michigan). I imagine there are quite a few miniature gamers out there who have a pipe dream of having their own building for their private gaming clubhouse. Jim has done it, and it is a cozy place for a game.

    Locals eye the armed miners warily, wondering if gunfire is about to break out in their WV town

We drove up Friday after work and met Jim, Ted, and their wives for some tasty Mexican food. Saturday morning, we reconvened at Jim's Clubhouse -- or "Toy Box" -- as he sometimes calls it. On tap was his second playtest of the Battle of Matewan, 1920. This "massacre" -- as it sometimes is called -- was a gunfight between coal miners in the area trying to unionize and the detective agency thugs hired to put them down. Jim had visited Matewan this year, walked the streets, toured the museum, and even chatted with the director about his game to their enthusiastic response. He's been painting up figures for the scenario, as well as constructing period buildings, for a good part of 2023.

    Jim's Matewan tabletop is very eye-catching, and has been modeled to look like the town he visited

Jim was using Fistful of Lead Core Rules, which are the same set I use for my post-apocalyptic games. Most of the Ohio crew (Jenny, Mike S, Jason S) were playing the miners. I joined Jim's friends Ted and Gene to play the Baldwin-Felts thugs. I like to tease Ted about his bad luck (mainly because it is nice to know someone is as inept at rolling dice as me). So, perhaps putting both of us on the same team wasn't my brightest idea of the day! Jim explained the scenario to us, we divvied up our troops, and dealt out the cards for our first turn.

Baldwin-Felts Detective thugs round the corner on Railroad Street to see armed miners gathering

Much to my chagrin, we deployed in a double-deep line, out in the open, at the end of the street. Many of the miners were in cover on the streets or well-positioned in windows or on rooftops with a bead on us. Well, the rifle-armed ones would have us in their sites! Those miners armed with shotguns and pistols would need to close the range -- just as our guys would. In that vein, I decided to bolt right across the railroad tracks for cover. One by one, I sent my guys over the railroad tracks and ducking behind one of Jim's many fine die cast, period automobiles. The last to move was my rifleman, who would be in range of any nearby miners. He took a potshot at one of Jenny's miners who was running along the station platform and gunned him down! Jenny was okay with that, though, as she had been steadily picking off poor Ted's men and would continue to do so against him and Gene all game!

    The first of my agents darts across the tracks to the cover of an automobile

Jason's miner who had been taking cover on the other side of the car fired once at my guy, missed, and then retreated to cover at the corner of the building. On the second turn, I had much higher cards. I moved my shotgun armed detective to point-blank range of Jason's miner and blasted him, knocking him out of action. Two shots, two enemy out of action! No one could accuse me of having "Ted dice" today!! I continued to move all four of my figures around the back of the train station, chasing off the couple of miners who had been lurking back there. If I remember correctly, we gunned down another miner before my shooting luck began to cool. The miners didn't run away, but backed steadily into cover and awaited the incoming reinforcements.

 

    Jason's pistol-armed miner backs up to the corner of the train station as more thugs head his way

One feature of the game that was slowly making itself felt was Jim's rule for Miner Reinforcements. When Jenny, Mike, or Jason lost a figure out of action, they were immediately given another miner to bring in anywhere on the board edge on the next turn. When we lost a figure, no such luck! We had already taken a number of casualties on Railroad Street to the hot dice of Jenny, Mike, and Jason. Gene and Ted were shortly down to two figures, and then a single figure each. Fortunately, I had taken no losses, yet. Meanwhile, the miners were staying at their starting numbers. Their numbers were beginning to tell.

    It is to no avail as...BOOM! A shotgun blast rings out and my boys have killed their second miner

However, Ted had a great shot on our target for the mission -- Sid Hatfield, Matewan's police chief. He fell wounded just outside the entrance of the train station. I decided it was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. My shotgun-armed detective dashed through the train station and pounced on Hatfield, defeating the wounded police chief in melee and taking him in custody. We pulled him into the train station. I told Ted and Gene we should concentrate all our resources here to hold on for the 4-5 more turns we need to before the 5pm train arrived and we could hop on board with our prisoner and skedaddle out of town.

    We begin to swarm around the back of the station -- avoiding the killing fields on Railroad Street

It was a forlorn hope, though. Man by man, our detectives were shot down by the miners' superior numbers. It felt a little like that situation from Black Hawk Down when the rangers realize they've riled up the whole city and are facing off against overwhelming numbers. My shotgun armed detective was killed, so I moved up Lee Felts, one of our leaders, to take over control of the police chief. Steadily, our detectives fell, one by one, though. My leader, Lee Felts, went down, too, and we lost control of the police chief. Before long, my rifleman who was trying to hold off the swarms of miners outside, was the sole survivor. 

    My detectives move around the back of the train station, searching for the police chief to arrest

My rifleman was doing well, though. However, the movie changed from Black Hawk Down to Dawn of the Dead. As each miner he killed fell, another one popped up in its place. Though my rifleman had been hugging the cover of a car nearly the entire game, the miners able to show up wherever they wanted. He was outflanked repeatedly. Finally, hearing the sound of gunfire inside the train station cease, and seeing miners closing in on all sides, the rifleman through down his rifle and held up his hands.

    Our high water mark of the game! My detective defeats Chief Hatfield in melee & cuffs him!

My crew of four detectives had put up a heck of a fight. We had defied the odds more than once -- especially in driving back the miners in melee inside the train station. Jason's rolls with his 12-sided die were more apt for a 4-sided one. I don't believe he ever rolled above a "4", and quite a few came up with "1's!" Throughout the game, my forces knocked half a dozen or more of the enemy out of action. That was way more than I'd lost. So, I felt Lee Felts' boys held up our end of the battle. Ted and Gene? Sigh. Well, they had "Ted luck"...ha, ha! Still, we had a blast playing the game. It moved fast, looked great on the tabletop, and had very interesting twists and turns in the action.

    The tide is turning, though, as more miner reinforcements arrive and one of my thugs goes down

Thanks to "Captain Jim" for hosting a game for us. It was great to see the Southeast Michigan crew, and I look forward to seeing them at Advance the Colors 2023 in Springfield, Oct. 13-14. Jim will be running the Battle of Matewan (tweaked after our playtest) there. So, if you want to get into this historical wargame set not too many hours (or years) away, I encourage you to attend and play. His games are always a blast!

    It's 'Alamo time' inside the station as Lee Felts tries to hold onto the cuffed & wounded police chief

    On the other side of the street, bodies of detectives (tan crosses) litter the sidewalks

    My rifleman did a solid job holding down the flank before surrendering to overwhelming numbers

Serving up 'Bloody Congo' for Four

      Heroes of the encounter, the Katangan gendarmes, move out through town to engage the enemy

The Katangan Secession crisis was waged again at Origins Game Fair 2023 in Columbus, this weekend. Although I had it set up for six players, I ended up with four in my Friday morning session. This scenario pitting the newly-independent Congolese forces, augmented by a UN contingent, against Katangan Gendarmes and hired European Mercenaries. As with my six-player version I ran at CincyCon 2023, the mercenaries are bringing vitally-needed ammunition in their armored personnel carriers (APCs) to the Katangan forces.

    The Congolese players, Sam & Kyle, move up their forces while Jenny brings on her APCs

With only four players, I decided to leave out out the Congolese paratroopers and the Katangan militia. In my previous runnings of the scenario, those two factions tended to slug it out with each other and not interact as much with the other four forces. I felt the game worked out just as nicely without those two and was a good solution to having fewer players than I'd hoped. Origins is an all-genre convention, but historical miniatures are definitely under-represented there. So, I wasn't exactly surprised that a "hard historical" game ended up not filling up. In general, of the games our First Command Wargames crew ran at Origins, the less historical games filled up better than the more hardcore historical miniatures ones.

    Three squads of Ghanaian UN troopers hurry towards the road to cut off the vehicles' passage

Three of my players were brand-new to my Wars of Insurgency rules, but picked them up quickly and seemed to enjoy them. One of them purchased the rules after the game, which is always a bonus! Another reason I really enjoy this scenario is, being a two-sided scenario (but with each faction having its own goals), it plays quickly. That, and the board is super quick and easy to set up, but still looks nice, I think. I think the billboards with the propaganda posters makes it "pop," and shantytown shacks give it a third world feel.

    Carrying sorely-needed ammunition, European mercenaries roll ontable in their armored vehicles

Action on the table proceeded similarly to my previous times running the scenario. Perhaps the European mercenaries in their three APCs were a little less aggressive than they have been before. Jenny played them and focused on using the terrain to prevent the Congolese getting off RPG shots at her vehicles more than using the heavy machine guns (HMGs) mounted on the APCs to hammer the enemy. As before, the UN troopers and Katangan gendarmes began skirmishing at long range and quickly intensified into a full-blown firefight. In this game, Sam (who played the UN), aggressively charged into extremely close range in an attempt to clear the Katangans from the town they had occupied. Both wore each other down, with the Katangans likely getting the better of the exchange.

    Katangan gendarmes begin to occupy the buildings of town as a fire base to engage the UN

The ANC (Congolese National Army) concentrated most of their firepower on the mercenaries and their vehicles. They did respond to spoiling attacks by the gendarmes, but did their best to set up shots with their RPGs on the mercenaries, and succeeded in taking out the lead APC. However, Jenny restricted their line of sight with the patches of brush effectively, and neither of the other two took damage. When the APCs arrived at the bottleneck close to where the UN and ANC were occupying the brush, the gendarmes stepped up their attacks and drew the Congolese return fire. This action protected the APCs and enabled the two vehicles to dart past the "kill zone" with minimal shots. Once past that, the vehicles would be able to use the patches of jungle and the buildings as cover to reach the table edge. 

    The UN advance into the teeth of the gendarmes' fire, hugging cover and moving up

It was at that point that we decided to go ahead and count up points. For the first time, the ANC were able to fulfill their primary mission of grabbing ahold of one of the disabled APCs and restocking their own depleted ammunition. Although their mission includes being part of the attempt to put down the secession, the central government has kept this local garrison under-supplied and they were also short on ammo. However, even that was not enough to make up for the casualties that the gendarmes had racked up. In previous games, the APCs accounted for most of the Congolese losses. However, in this game, the gendarmes held their own and killed many of the UN and ANC troops.

    Cleverly using the bush to restrict Congolese line of sight, the APCs advance across the table

All four players had a good time, they said. They picked up the rules and how to calculate their own shots, adjudicate hits, and roll for saves without me having to actively manage the process. I think the rules make for a good convention miniatures game: easy-to-explain, quick-to-learn, and the players feel like their decisions are having an impact on how the game proceeds. This may be the final time I run this scenario this year, though. For Historicon next month, I am switching off and running my French & Indian War rule, Song of Drums and Tomahawks. So, stay tuned next month for reports from those games! And if you feel like channeling Magua and killing "Gray Hair," sign up to play!

    BOOM! An RPG strikes a damaged disabling it completely, killing the last of the mercenary crew

Close assault by the UN attempts to drive the gendarmes from the town and cut off the vehicles' escape

    The heroic Katangan gendarmes seem to be everywhere, though, and distract the Congolese focus