Swatters: UN Marine Force Guns Down Bugs in 2nd Try of Rules

Joel and Allen in the center were the Alien Bugs for the evening,  and faced the same frustration that last Bug Commanders did

Keith wanted to give the Ganesha Games "Swatters" rules another try, so cooked up a scenario with the UN Marines on the attack in an African desert. Under Keith's storyline, the alien bugs have invaded the Earth for unknown reasons, and are actively seeking out and establishing a present in the desert regions of our planet. Since the U.S. and Soviets are engaged in their 1950s-era Cold Wars posturing, the UN has taken the lead in aggressively confronting and turning back the alien incursion.

My force had one tank, 3 squads of UN Marines, and one elite squad -- all accompanied by one support personnell armed with a rocket launcher

My fellow commander, Mike W, took my cue and began a tentative advance. The last thing we wanted was a squad that advanced too far and become strung out. A small town hid the Bug advance from us, as we cautiously jockey our units for the best firing positions. We avoided getting too close to the center, where the Bugs would be able to "spawn" from any rocky outcropping. As soon as the Bugs came within range, we began firing.

Beyond the town, the Bug force advanced in earnest. They had learned from the last battle, and carefully hugged terrain to limit the effect of our gunfire.

One different thing, force composition wise, we were trying for the Bugs was more screening troops. Both Allen and Joel's contingents had units of Swarms or Worker Drones. The goal was for them to put them out front and soak up the the human fire rather than their more expensive troops. As it was, neither Bug Commander truly adopted this tactic. Instead, both did a good job of hugging terrain to decrease our firepower.

 

View from the Marine side as the Bugs come within sight and we begin to blaze away at them.

The rules employ a mechanic called a "Dice Pool," which the UN side used to supplement their fire regularly. In fact, we would see our dice pool dwindle to single digits by the game's end. I was forced to be a bit more conservative this game and sometimes fired without any bonus dice provided by the pool. The Bugs tried a new tactic with their dice pool. They also used them to supplement their die rolling rather than use it all for spawning new units. In fact, it wasn't until I had destroyed most of Allen's units on the table that they chose to attempt to spawn.

Three new units of Bug Swarms are spawned by the Bug side to replace Allen's losses.

Keith had unbalanced the forces using the rules' point system to favor the Bugs. Nevertheless, the UN continued to gun down the approaching alien units. They actually scored fewer successes than last time. Allen had a Bomb Bug which acted like a massive mortar, firing the length of the table over the heads of his troops. However, he mis-deployed it, and it was unable to spot enemy of our troops for a number of turns. When it did hit, it would typically take out one or two figures in our 5-man squads.

A Stomper Bug spawned, Allen's new force is ready and begins to scuttle towards my marine infantry and tank.

There was a moment when it looked like the Bugs might crash into our forces and create some mayhem. They had closed to within movement range and a number of very effective melee units were poised for the attack. I "crapped out" on my first activation roll, which meant no firing from me this turn. However, the Aliens responded in kind, with Joel crapping out as well, and Allen having a less than effective turn, as well.

 

Allen's King Bug lumbers into one of my marine squads who cause one hit upon it and escape unscathed.

Still, the Bugs moved into contact with my side of the battlefield. However, by this time, they had totally depleted their own dice pool. I was able to bump up my rolls (which allow you to roll more than one attack or defense dice and choose the best number), while Allen could do nothing except roll a single die and hope for the best. A number of times, in key situations, he rolled a "1" or "2" on a six-sided die, causing his troops to be repulsed or his attack to be less effective.

 

King Bug down! The last final attack of the Bugs came up short against my mostly undamaged troops

As it was, the result was the same as the first playtest: Human victory! Although they still had troops left on the table, it was apparent that they would be unable to break through our cordon of fire. Once again, the UN had done a good job of gunning down the advancing Bugs and preventing them from getting into effective melee contact. Keith vowed to keep tweaking the points to see if he can obtain a more balanced matchup. Joel pointed out that "crap outs" -- activation failures -- are more deadly against a side that relies on closing to melee than one that shoots. I feel the dice pool mechanic heavily weights the game in the Humans' favor. I think if we were not able to routinely use two dice every time we fire to ensure a higher number rolled then maybe we would not gun them down as effectively.

Either way, Swatters provides a fun game (at least for me, having played the winning UN side both times...ha, ha!) and we'll continue to play around with it to come up with a more balanced matchup.

Inglorious action for British in Sails of Glory

 

My sloop leads the British line into action -- or would have, if my co-commanders had their way (I was much to clever and deferred that role to the larger frigates!)

We had a guest GM for this evening's gaming, Ferkin, who wanted to introduce us to Sails of Glory. This is age of sail version of the popular Wings of War card game, with plastic ships and large wooden ship templates, but much of the basic mechanics being very similar. It was a small ship battle for 7 players. The French had 3 frigates, while our British side had two frigates and two sloops. I trust that Ferkin balanced the engagement, but I know my sloop was vastly inferior in its ability to take damage compared to the larger frigates. For example, it took only 1 hit counter to eliminate one of my ship's hull/gunnery boxes, yet the Frenchie that I was tangling with took 4 hits per box.

 

Age of Sail action on a Sunday evening using Sails of Glory

No surprise that Allen and I, controlling the sloops, hung on the edges of the battle plinking away at the enemy. Well, I hung on the edge and Allen -- after taking a couple splintering attacks from French frigates -- just hung out on the edges and did little else. The result was the French did a good job of ganging up on the two British frigates, particularly the one belonging to Mike S. He stayed in the center and mixed it up with Steve and Keith's ships, while our other British frigate, captained by Joel, helped me against Mike W's Frenchie frigate.

 

My British sloop gets a bow rake ("What? Rakes are an advanced rule...?") on Mike W's French frigate

In the end, we lost both our frigates, but both sloops would have gotten away. We did force Mike W's frigate to strike its colors due to crew loss. However, there would be no way for us to take its ship as a prize, as we had to flee the scene to save our smaller ships.

 

The brave British frigates try to pierce the French line, while my sloop at bottom turns away to stay on the edges of the fray and avoid slugging it out with the larger enemy

We played just the basic game, and it was a good time. Ferkin says he'll add in some of the advanced rules next time. It was a nice change of pace, and the "Wings of War" systems translates well to age of sail combat, I felt.

Ferkin (in purple cap) shows us how it's done in Sails of Glory

Another view of the brave, but ill-fated attack by the two British frigates on the French line

Swatters -- Bugs Attack the Earth in 1950s!

 

Keith checks the rules for the new Ganesha Games set "Swatters" -- a Starship Troopers vs. Bugs style game

We tried out a new Ganesha Game called "Swatters" -- meant for Starship Troopers vs. Arachnid Aliens. Keith had an interesting twist on it, placing it in the 1950s with a Bug invasion of the Earth (explaining all those flying saucers and the Roswell incident). He used his ample supply of plastic insect figures along with 15mm WW II miniatures for the humans, tossed them on flocked CD movement trays, and boom! A new chapter of our history (well, alternative chapter...) was gamed out on the tabletop.

 

My UN Marine force of 4 squads supported by heavy weapons

Since it was our first time playing the game, we did a few things wrong (of course). It happens with every rules set that you miss subtle rules. And of course, we had no real idea what the proper force matchup should be. As it was, the game was heavily weighted in favor of the humans -- despite the equal points. In my opinion, a successful bug assault on heavily armed humans requires more experience than our first-time players could pull off.

 

Allen's armored force of two tanks and power-armored infantry (experimental 1950s version, of course!)

We had 3 human forces -- my UN Marine force of good quality infantry, each squad supported by a heavy weapon such as a grenade launcher, rocket launcher, etc. The armored force, which consisted of two tanks and a power-armored squad. Finally, there was the militia force, controlled by Joel, which was the only force which sustained any significant losses. Allen controlled the armor and I controlled the UN Marines. We both whacked the bugs handily -- me shooting them down at range and Allen repelling all of their desperate assaults on his tanks. As it turns out, that was one of the things we did wrong. Tanks should NOT cause melee damage against a bug assault.

 

The bug force arrayed against me -- warriors, giant bugs, and flyer bugs

Nevertheless, we liked certain things about the rules and will doubtless play them again. For a more detailed look at the scenario, read Keith's report on his blog: Swatters Game Report - Orcafinn's Basement

 

The bug forces advance!

For me, I'll just let the pictures tell the story!

My Marine force begins to gun them down at long range

The armored force boldly advances, while my troops move up to support

The Warrior bugs swarm a tank!

Only to be blasted away by the resolute UN armored force

The battle between bugs and humans rages across the board

The bug commanders, Mike S, Tom, and Steve seek a way to break the stout human defenses

They gang up on the Militia force on the left and score their only successes of the battle

Will that lead to success against the human center and right? The bugs throw everything at the tanks, but fail

The UN infantry holds steady and continues to gun down the bugs, until their force gives up, and scuttles back to its holes

But Keith says they'll be back again, and with the what we learned in this playtest, perhaps the next bug assault will prove more menacing and deadly...

Beaver Wars in Ohio playtest, Turn 10

 

The Beaver Wars playtesters gathered for one final time at the party room of a local pizzeria

Our final turn of the Beaver Wars campaign began with two tribes, the Shawnee and Neutrals, within one point of each other. There was an outside chance the Mohawk, at 3 points back, could make up enough points and win. It would take the perfect combination of battle results, though. However, I was surprised by the card play, as none of the top three tribes chose a high War card, which could enable them to control which opponent they were matched against. Cleverly, the Neutrals played the highest ranking Hunt card which automatically meant they would likely pass up the tribe in front of them in the standings for Beaver Pelts obtained.

 

Shawnee hunters meet an attacking Miami warparty at the ford of a river

This was the first turn where any of the tribes played Reward cards that affected the turn order. The Shawnee played a “Prophecy of Dreams” card which allowed them to switch out their card. The Seneca played a “Deceit in Council” card which allowed them to switch positions with a tribe immediately in front of or behind them in the attack order. When it was all said and done, the cards played and choices by the highest ranking War cards resulted in the following battles:

• The Honniasont (in last place) attacked the Neutrals (who were in 2nd).
• The 6th place Miami attacked the 1st-place Shawnee.
• The 8th place Susquehannock attacked the 3rd place Mohawk.
• The 4th-place Seneca attacked the 5th place Kickapoo. The Kickapoo player was feeling ill the morning of our meeting, so my 7th place Erie tribe stood in for them.

 

The Mohawk player (in red) advances his braves to attack the Susquehannock invaders

What had happened was that the lower-ranking tribes had all individually attacked the front-runners, meaning that none of the top four were going head-to-head. As GM, I was kind of hoping they’d be matched up against each other — especially since I knew that the Neutrals would make up a point and enter the battle phase of the turn tied with the Shawnee. It also meant the leaders were facing slightly weaker opponents, as tribes with more Scenario Victory Points (SVPs) can buy more upgrades to their figures — allowing them, in essence, to field more points worth of troops.

 

Facing a counterattack by Neutral tribe warriors, Honniasont youths scurry to answer the summons of their warchief

What’s more, the battles were a clean sweep by the higher ranking tribes. All four of our top finishers ended up winning a Major Victory in their final battle. Speaking from the Erie’s point of view, it was not because my opponent had an edge in upgrades, though. In fact, I felt my Erie were in total control of the battle and well on their way to defeating the Seneca. My opponent became desperate and charged two braves to attack my entire war band, one of them contacting my chief. In an astounding series of die rolls (not the first time it had happened in the campaign to me), I managed to lose four straight melees even though I held a significant edge in each. My chief was killed, crippling my force and giving the Seneca the momentum and ultimate victory.

 

Seneca horse thieves attempt to rustle some stock belonging to the Erie tribe

The Honniasont gave the 2nd-place Neutrals a run for their money, too. One more lost brave would have forced the Neutrals check morale — quite likely scattering their force, fatally. However, they killed a Honniasont youth to force their opponent to check morale first. This resulted in too many Honniasont fleeing, and the Neutrals prevailed.

 

The Seneca player attempts a desperation attack on the Erie defenders who are gunning them down from a cornfield

I counted up the points and it ended up being an exact tie! The Shawnee and Neutrals ended up with the exact same total in Prestige Points (which essentially tracks the number of Major or Minor Victories, and Minor Defeats). The Shawnee had the edge in Beaver Pelts, while the Neutrals had the lead in SVPs. Out of a maximum 30 possible points, both tribes score 25.5! AS GM, I offered each the chance to battle it out in a final rubber match, but they declined. They declared they would share control of the Ohio Valley and its rich hunting lands.

 

More Seneca race to attack the Erie defenders as they shoot out at them from the edge of the cropfield

The players said they enjoyed the campaign quite a bit, and were completely happy with the format and logistics. I have decided to tweak the way Beaver Pelts were awarded in the final rules, so that the campaign will play out similarly whether there were a large number of players or just a handful. Most of the suggestions my players made over the course of the campaign were on how to make scenarios more balanced. This led to me continually tweak individual scenario setups and victory points. By the end, we had played 10 turns with 8-9 players, meaning The Beaver Wars in Ohio generated 40 battles. We met about once a month, and it took us about a year to playtest those 10 turns. You can see the final standings and individual statistics at the end of this post.

 

The players gather around the final battle of the campaign, as the Neutrals player, left, desperately tries to retake his village from a Honniasont raid

With this playtest, the rules are essentially complete. I will now begin assembling them and rewriting them into a rulebook. It is my hope that they will be available by the beginning of the 2017 — if not before. I hope everyone enjoyed reading about the fun we had during our playtest. I will post here when the rules are available. Thank you for reading!

 

The Honniasont answer the call of their chieftain and battle the Neutrals mightily, finally falling to the superior foe

READ THE REPORT FROM THE NEUTRALS PLAYER ON HIS BATTLE

FINAL STANDINGS

Tribe	Place	Victory Points
Shawnee	Tied 1st	25.5 points
Neutrals	Tied 1st	25.5 points
Mohawk	3rd	20.5 points
Seneca	4th	16.5 points
Kickapoo	5th	14 points
Miami	6th	12 points
Erie	7th	11 points
Susquehannock	8th	7 points
Honniasont	9th	3 points

PRESTIGE POINTS (Battlefield Victories)

Tribe	Prestige Points (PPs)
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	25 (8 MajV, 1 MinD)
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	25 (6 MajV, 3 MinV, 1 MinD)
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	18 (5 MajV, 1 MinV, 1 MinD)
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	18 (4 MajV, 3 MinV)
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	11 (2 MajV, 2 MinV, 1 MinD)
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	10 (3 MajV, 1 MinD)
Erie (Mike Demana)	8 (2 MajV, 2 MinD)
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	5 (1 MajV, 2 MinD)
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	3 (1 MinV, 1 MinD)

BEAVER PELTS

Tribe	Beaver Pelts
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	60
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	53
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	52
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	48
Erie (Mike Demana)	44
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	41
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	38
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	33
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	23

SCENARIO VICTORY POINTS

Tribe	Scenario Victory Points (SVPs)
Neutrals (Keith Finn)	144
Shawnee (Joe Merz)	136
Mohawk (Dave Welch)	117
Seneca (Mike Stelzer)	111
Miami (Jenny Torbett)	88
Kickapoo (Andy Swingle)	72
Erie (Mike Demana)	69
Susquehannock (Steve Phallen)	65
Honniasont (Bruce Adamczak)	43

Photos from Raid on the Ohio Frontier at Advance the Colors 2016

 

French &  Indian War fun for the whole family!

I ran two sessions of my French & Indian War skirmish game, Song of Drums and Tomahawks, at Advance the Colors 2016 two weekends ago. Both games were completely full with six players. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Since most people have read earlier blog posts about this game and setup, this entry will be mostly photos.

The event has 3 one-on-one scenarios taking place simultaneously, as the Indians launch a raid into Ohio to drive back the frontier. For some reason, I did not take many pictures of "They Died in the Smoke," but there are plenty of others of the other two.

Settlement Raid
A small settlement deep on the Ohio frontier is raided by Indians on the warparth

 

Frontiersmen take cover and fire as Indians close in for the attack

 

Tribesmen use the cover of the settlers own fields and fences to move closer to the defenders

 

Not knowing where the raiders will appear, the frontiersmen must watch all sides of their settlement

 

A group of Indians use the cover of a log cabin's walls to enter the settlement

The settlement leader keeps a wary out for signs of the raiders at the start of the skirmish

Wagon Train Through Peril
An extended family loads up their wagons with women and children and tries to make it through to local blockhouse

 

"Here they come!" As feared, Indian raiders lay in wait along the family's path to the blockhouse

 

As muskets are discharged, combat becomes brutal and bloody with tomahawk and knife

 

After more than two years of running my game, I get more and more repeat players all the time!

 

And for only $15, you too can enjoy fast and bloody skirmishes (available through our website)