Showing posts with label Modern Wargaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Modern Wargaming. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

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

Friday, June 30, 2023

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






Monday, June 26, 2023

Rumbling on the Mean Streets of Columbus at Origins 2023

    The presence of the police doesn't deter the Mohawks from some mayhem on the streets of Columbus
The streets of Columbus were packed with punks, warchiefs, and gang bosses during our two games of Mean Streets at Origins 2023. Jenny ran two sessions and both were completely full of players, some of whom had stayed up the night before to watch "The Warriors" to get inspired for the game! Plenty of street warriors "came out to plaaay," and there were lots of laughs and fun around the table.

    The Hilltop Highlanders prowl the streets of Columbus, looking to rumble with rival gangs
We used a similar setup to previous convention games, with a downtown jumble of streets, buildings, market, park, etc., depicted in 28mm. Six gangs entered at various points, each with several missions they wanted to complete. A primary mission involved some sort of illegal mayhem, such as stealing a car from the service station, shaking down a restaurant owner, shoplifting, etc. In addition, each gang owed another "payback" for a previous beat-down they'd inflicted on their gang. Players were awarded double points for knocking gang members out of action of that specified gang. Finally, gangs received victory points for "tagging" buildings with their gang logo.

    Bobbie, of the Eastmoor Kings, is jumped by a posse of clowns from the Franklinton Flippos
I like to give players a lot of choices in my games, and especially in Mean Streets. I think player choice is a big part of an enjoyable scenario at a convention. Personally, I am not a fan of games where the troops are all deployed and all I can do is march forward and roll dice. With Mean Streets, I give players both a Gang Boss and a Warchief, who both can exercise command and control. This gives a player a chance to split his gang members up to accomplish more than one mission. Alternatively, he or she can keep their gang members together for better protection in case they get "jumped" by rival gangs.

    Hearing Bobbie's cries, Gang Boss Tyrese and others of the Eastmoor Kings come to his rescue
Although I have had scenarios where players went about their various missions without fighting rival gangs as much, most games end up with several sprawling brawls breaking out near the gas station or some other centrally located spot. This is partly be design, with all gangs having it in their interest to beat up on a specified rival gang. I also nudge the players that way by making sure their starting locations and destinations for their primary mission intersect with the paths other gangs will take, too. So, one gang may need to cross to an opposite corner of the table, for example. Getting there will mean they encounter more than one rival gang, so the chances of punches being thrown increases as more gangs intersect. I definitely plan it out so most gangs will end up "meeting in the middle."

   Several gangs converge on the streets of Columbus - a rumble is sure to break out soon!
I feel this gives a nice mix of mission completion and combat. I always remember an old gamer friend growling to me during a convention game where little was happening, "I just want to kill something!" I think that conflict is a big part of our miniature wargames, so a game about gang warfare needs to have fighting to be accurate. So, I set the players up to rumble and they usually oblige.

    Friday evening's crew of players had a great time and were soon locked in sprawling brawls
Both sets of players were a lot of fun and seemed to enjoy themselves. All but one or two players were brand new to the system. Everyone picked up the rules quickly and were able to adjudicate their combats without too much assistance from either Jenny or myself. Jenny did a great job running the game, while I hung around, elaborated a few points and mostly provided color commentary. I like to joke about what is happening on the tabletop in the context of the world of street gangs -- or at least the romanticized vision of the streets in the movie, "The Warriors."

    Kira of the Mohawks snatches open the patrol car door and lands a punch on the officer driving it
Another thing I like to do in my convention games is to keep players involved whose forces have been whittled down to almost nothing. So, when a gang is down to just one member left, they are given a police car and two cops. They can bring it in on any street board edge and send the police after any gang members they choose. This usually involves a little "payback" against the gang that took out their own members. Saturday's game was particularly raucous. Two players were brought down to one and both police car converged on one corner where the Indianola Mohawks were getting ready to steal from Sams Mini Mart. The Mohawks were full strength and had been busting heads, so had no qualms about wading in and fighting the cops. 

    Five of 6 gangs on the table converge on the gas station, throwing punches and laying a beatdown

Mayhem ensued, which involved an officer ramming two punks who were attacking policemen with his patrol car. A punk snatched open the door and punched the cop, who promptly threw the car in reverse, whacking the punk with the door. A couple Mohawks went down, but the gang didn't give up, and kept throwing punches until the game was finally called. It was a great, cinematic finish to the game and I think Jenny's players all went away happy and having enjoyed themselves. 
    Julio, boss of the Santanas, is surrounded and pounded by a trio from the Eastmoor Kings

    Several of Saturday night's players had stayed up the night before to watch 'The Warriors'

 
    Clown down! Emmett of the Franklinton Flippos is knocked down by Highlanders Snake and Juan

    Linden Daos and Hilltop Highlanders scrapping by the pumps of the gas station

 
    The Santanas and the Flippos battle it out in front of an apartment building in Columbus

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Katanga Secession Crisis Fights to Stay Alive at Drums 2023

    White mercs employed by Katanga hurry along the road, hoping to deliver their ammo on time
I wanted to run a tweaked version of my Congo civil war game set during the Katanga secession crisis at Drums at the Rapids this past weekend. I was running it both Friday night and Saturday morning at the Fort Meigs visitors center, where Drums is held every year. Luckily, I had a my full complement of six players both games. I felt even more fortunate that my players were all veteran gamers, and picked up the rules very quickly. By the second or third turn, I had little to do but usher the game along, letting players know whose turn it was to move.

    Full table on Friday and the players fought down to the wire, with a narrow Katangan victory

After running "Congo, Bloody Congo" once at Cincycon 2023, I made two main changes. First, I toned down the power of the white mercenary force, giving them fewer figures in the back of the open armored personnel carriers. I also adjusted the terrain of the village where the Katangan militia start the game. I pushed most of the buildings off-table, with only a few left on the table edge mainly for eye candy. I felt the previous setup made that encounter between the militia and the Congolese paratroopers too static. I wanted them to be mixing it up among the jungle and farm fields of the villagers.

    The tabletop before troops deploy, showing where each force will arrive (Katangans in blue)
The main idea remained the same, though. Three APCs crewed by white mercenaries that the Katangans have hired are trying to cross diagonally from one corner of the table to the other. They are carrying crates of ammunition desperately needed by the Katangan forces to keep their revolt alive. Their main allies, a force of Katangan gendarmes, begin at the destination corner. The gendarmes' goal is to push forward and keep the attacking Congolese and UN forces at bay. The further forward they extend their lines, the less dangerous of a gauntlet of fire that the APCs have to run. On the gendarmes' right, a force of Katangan militia advance out of their village to meet the Congolese and UN pincer attack. Their goal is to keep their families safe by preventing any enemy from shooting inside the village. They lose points for each figure killed, so they are likely to be less enthusiastic for victory. However, those points lost are doubled if the loss occurs inside the village. This represents family members being killed by stray rounds. So, the militia are encouraged not to hunker down in the village, and instead advance reluctantly into battle.

    Congolese paratroopers arrive on one corner of the table, intent on crushing the Katangan secession
 

As for the attackers, the Congolese paratroopers deploy opposite the arriving mercenaries and next to the Katangan village. The United Nations force moves on-table diagonally opposite from the paratroopers, with the local Congolese army unit (ANC) on the U.N's left. The ANC is closest to the road edge where the mercenaries arrive and would dearly love to get their hands on one of the APCs and some of that ammunition! The central government and army command has been starving their garrison of supplies. 

    Katangan militia rush through the gates of their village, vowing to protect their family from invaders
As you can probably tell, each faction has their own separate victory conditions, but they activate as two sides. This moves the game along much quicker, but still gives a twist to the game as no player really knows exactly what their allies (or enemies) are trying to accomplish. Both Friday and Saturday's games moved along quickly and finished within their three hour game limit. The Friday night game came down to the wire and was very close on total points. Saturday's was more of a clear victory for the Katangans, as the mercenary player did a great job on tactics, decisions, and (of course) die rolls!

    UN troops, galvanized by the death of the Secretary-General (at the hands of Katanga?), move out
 

I am thinking I may stay with these type of scenario setups for convention games. Much as a I like a multi-faction free-for-all, this increases wait time for players as we cycle through the initiative order. That said, it is usually possible for two of the six players in a game to be moving simultaneous if, for example, the next player in order is far away from the active player and unlikely to affect their units. The command and control system of my Wars of Insurgency rules, keeps the action flowing and it is rare that it bogs down with the other five players waiting too long for one to finish their turn.

    Katangan gendarmes march forward, hoping to clear the way for the arrival of the APCs with ammo
In both games, a steady firefight erupted between the Congolese paratroopers and the Katangan Militia. In the first game, the paratroopers got the better of the militia. However, the villagers held the paratroopers up long enough that the APCs were well on their way to their destination before the paratroopers were free to attack them. The militia spoiling attack was costly, but it did its job. On Saturday, the militia were able to hold out until the end of the game. The paratroopers did fire long range RPG shots at the passing APCs, but were unable to knock any of them out. Once again, the militia had done their job and ensured that the mercenaries were able to cross through their sector of the board.

    Congolese soldiers, UN troopers, Mercs, and Katangans battle across the war-torn Congo
The mercenaries themselves did a great job of wearing down the Congolese army faction in both games. Getting caught out in the open by Professionals armed with heavy machine guns is a deadly prospect. The ANC (Armée Nationale Congolaise) players in both games suffered severe losses at the relentless machine gunning of the APCs. On Friday night, the Congolese player did a good job of sniping away at the gunners themselves, and even blew up one of the APCs. However, the Congolese were unable to stop the progress of the other two Friday, and they reached the opposite table corner with their precious ammunition. On Saturday, two APCs suffered only minor damage, and all three made it off-table.

    Katangan militia cheer as the mercs' APCS roar past them on the road, spitting gravel and mud
 

I may tweak the terrain a bit when I run this scenario at Origins Game Fair next month. I may give a sheltered corridor of bush to allow the ANC to rush closer to the center line and set up ambushes in the jungle near the road. This will certainly make the mercenaries job more challenging. I may also tweak the victory points to encourage the paratroopers to more actively target the mercenaries. As of now, retaking Katanga (i.e., defeating the enemy and taking their village) is more of the goal. We shall see!

    The Belgian-trained paratroopers close in on the Katangan village, taking heavy fire from the militia
Finally, at the destination corner, the Katangan gendarmes did a solid job advancing quickly and spoiling the attack of the United Nations troopers. Both sides inflicted losses on each other throughout the game, with the UN actually eliminating the gendarmes on Saturday. However, the gendarmes constant fire forced the UN to make the APCs second priority. This ensured they would arrive at the table edge in good shape, and score enough points to cement down victory both games. 

    White mercs run the gauntlet across the table, suffering occasional casualties or minor APC damage
Even though the Katangans won both games at Drums, I like this scenario. It forces the players to attack their opponents and mix it up right away. If all six players hunkered down and sniped at each other at extended range, I think it would make for a boring game. Instead, the victory conditions had forces quickly moving to seize cover, taking shots at their enemies, and pushing forward to achieve their objectives. Will I make other tweaks to increase the chances of victory for the Congolese? We shall see. I have some things in mind, but want to ponder them some more.

    Using the thick bush for cover, UN troops from Ghana pour fire into the Katangan gendarmes
If you're interested in playing "Congo, Bloody Congo," I will be running it at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. It is scheduled for Thursday at 7pm and Friday morning at 9am, June 22-23. Our company, First Command Wargames, will actually be running all of our rules sets at the show. So, in addition to my Wars of Insurgency games, there will be Mean Streets gang warfare, American Frontier action with Song of Drums and Tomahawks, Seven Years War battles with For King or Empress, and Victorian Science-Fiction/Colonials with For Queen or Planet. Come and join us as we dip our toes back in the water of running games at Columbus, Ohio's, biggest multi-genre gaming convention!

    In both games, the Katangan gendarmes actively pushed their lines forward to link up with the APCs



    The militia suffered a worse fate on Friday night than Saturday morning, eliminated to a man

    The Saturday morning players had a great time, as well - quickly picking up the rules and having fun

APCs cross the midpoint of the table, clearning the militia's line and heading towards the gendarmes