Recon on Garrett

My first proper game in this setting was played out last night against Stephen. Apex security solutions had info that a company communications centre in a remote mining outpost was being used by rebel militia. a small taskforce was sent to investigate and find out.
the Apex solutions force consisted of three D8 troop quality fireteams, played by myself, Stephen took a militia force of four D6 fireteams, plus a command squad and light mortar.

 This was the table played over, the communications centre was the red building in the middle, Apex solutions had eight turns to get there, search it and get out. A task they succeeded at, but was the intel accurate and did they leave any casualties behind?

Tomorrow's War, finally

I make no apologies for not posting recently, after all this blog is purely for my own use, if you are looking that's up to you!
Having tried this rule set out a few more times I can finally say I've got it, the reaction system finally makes sense, and I can play a solo game without getting confused, lost or bored.
Just to check this out I ran a game for Stephen yesterday, and he got them too, a good game was had, which I got no pictures of, but was a blast.

Another game

    So after  my first game with Quadrant 13 i was keen to try again, this time with bigger forces. On the 8th February I again had a free morning so ran through the same scenario again, but this time I added a second platoon to the colonial defense force. I used the same enemy generator from Platoon Forward for the mercenaries, so this should increase their force size in line with the defenders.
    I'm not going to give an in depth AAR, it was three weeks ago after all, but suffice to say Quadrant 13 is definitely a company sized game. The card activation is still great, the combat is believable, but you really need at least two platoons to play. In my previous game once a card was drawn for a platoon they were able to shut down an enemy platoon (given average dice) for the turn. having a second platoon meant you had to worry what those other guys were going to do.
    I didn't play the game through to a conclusion, but totally thumbs up for a hard sci-fi company sized game. But whats the problem? well I want to play platoon and smaller too. In an ideal world Too Fat Lardies would have published Coc in Space and i could use that, but they haven't, yet. I did consider converting it, but  knew i just don't have the time, so what to do?
   Try Gruntz, sounds too gamey, I downloaded Fast and dirty, it looked good but couldn't quite get it, write my own system, yeah riight! So here I am back again with tomorrow's war/Force on force, i know there is a good game here somewhere, and I'm gonna make it work. so that's where I am now, re reading tomorrow's war and planning out one more game of it, as soon as I'm done I'll be back.
  

First Game

Last Sunday (the 31st of January) I had a free morning so had the opportunity to give my 15mm minis their first game.

I used Q13 as my rules and as I was playing solo used Joe Legan's excellent Platoon Forward to generate my enemy and scenario. I have designed simple army lists for both the colonist's militia and a crack mercenary force.

The militia are using GZG colonial defense force, which I have rated as tech 2, regular troops. each squad has one SAW, and a single use anti tank gun. Each platoon consists of 2 - 3 squads plus a small command squad and a two man mortar. I also gave them a heavy, and slow tank with large caliber howitzer.

The mercenary force are GZG (new) New Swabian League, slightly power armoured troops. I rated them as   tech 2 veteran heavy squads. Each squad had two SAWs plus all troops assault rifles look like they have underslung grenade launchers. They have slightly smaller squads of 9 but no command squad, just a big man, to represent their more elite status. I have also given them a number of drones, GZG hover drones, and spider drones, which have two weapon options, either an auto gun of anti tank gun.

Using Platoon Forward for solo play is great, to decide on your force, and the scenario generates a number of blinds, which when revealed are rolled for which, if any troops are available. I obviously had to modify the troop tables to reflect the OOB I had chosen for my force.

I chose to play scenario O, defense against a raid, in this scenario the enemy troops come in on two blinds, which when one is revealed they are diced for, one is the enemy force, the other a dummy. The real blind is then replaced by a number of real blinds, like this;

The Colonial Militia are in cover in the shack village. Once the blinds started to get revealed the strength of Q13's card activation system began to show. two turns of early activation by the mercenary squad and auto gun armed spider drones put far too much shock on the two militia squads to mount a serious challenge. As the mercenary objective, according to the scenario card was, recon the area and assertain enemy force I judged this a success and called the game.

Surviving militia troops cower in the village 

So what did I think; well Q13 is brutal if you get a run of cards against you, but knowing Too Fat Lardies games I already expected this. Just one platoon per side is too little, once the first was shocked in to inaction I had nothing to respond with. this is a large battle game, so really you need a few more units, and cards in your deck. But the system plays great, the blinds work well, and the suppression provided by the shock  feels real. Tomorrow i get another chance to try it again, so maybe I'll adjust the forces a little and play the same scenario again.

Garrett

Garrett is a marginal world colonized by the US in 2227. the area around the equator is extremely hot desert virtually uninhabitable, but rich in minerals. What human settlements there are are nearer the poles, which while still hot are more bare-able. Fauna is so far unknown, flora is succulent and palm like, sparse and tough. The geology suggest a different past, for as well as minerals there are size-able deposits of coal. Some miners from scattered outposts have also reported ruins in the sifting sands, but these are dismissed as fanciful dreams or mirages.

The workforce on Garrett, seeing their resources and work being shipped off world to profit politicians and business leaders elsewhere became increasingly militant. Agitators from the NSF stoked their anger and discontent until they declared a workers state in 2300. Whilst not officially aligned with either the NSF or PRC both are suspected of supporting the colonists, their people's defence militia are definately provided with uniforms that suggest off world manufacture.

Wishing to remain the appearance of neutrality the US have handed over the military operations to private security firms, refering to the rebellion as an industrial dispute.
  

The Background

As I said in my introduction I have lifted my basic background from Tomorrows war;

The Year is 2302, since the discovery of gate projection technology in 2065 man has been exploring the stars. With the discovery in 2099 of the garden world Grissom ownership of colony worlds is called into question. The US claims Grissom, Brazil and the PRC claim off world colonies should belong to all, leading to the Grissom War. the discovery in 2101 of Zhaung by the PRC change their position somewhat....

The world is split along first and third world lines, The Organization of Progressive States (OPS) is formed by the US, the EU, Australia, Canada, japan, Mexico, Russia, Central African Union and others. This is challenged and opposed by the New Economic Union (NEU) of Pakistan, India, Serbian republic and the South American nations lead by Brazil. The Peoples Republic of China try to stay aloof. The Union of Islamic Theocracies (UIT) stand opposed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and OPS members from south east Asia.

Russia has returned to it's Imperialist past, with a civilian government head "Czar" leading a rampant exploitation of colonies to enrich the population back on Earth. this two tier class system led to it's own problems and history repeating itself, with the revolt on Moscova of the Neo-Soviet Federation (NSDF).
The NSF now consists of four worlds, Moscova, a borderline garden world and the marginal colonies of New Stalingrad, Kirov and Maxim Gorky.

Introduction

Aware of my total failings with my previous blog, this is an attempt to do better. It couldn't get any worse.

this is really just a place for me to put my ideas, stories, background and stuff from my new (sometimes) solo sci-fi game. With all my wargaming I find having a strong story really adds to the enjoyment. So whilst i don't plan to run a tight campaign, I do intend to develop my world and story as I go. I will also record rules and scenario ideas...

I have shamelessly stolen the basic background from Ambush Alleys Tomorrows War game. I'm sure there is a good game hidden in the book somewhere, but it's bloody hard to find, so I'll probably start playing with TFL Quadrant 13. Now if you know Q13 you will know it is setting neutral, so you have to provide all your own background, army lists, troop types etc. So...