Christmas War - Invasion of Laurentia Game 1

Date/Time: Christmas Eve, the year 2212.  1935hrs.   
Location: Laurentian Border Defenses - Buyan Swamp Crossing

The Buyan Swamp Crossing was an insignificant outpost along the Laurentian-Cimmerian border.  It was one of the oldest gravel trade roads established between the colony-states, and had long been surpassed by multi-lane highway checkpoints.  So it was little surprise that half of the garrison was granted Christmas leave this year, leaving only eight troopers (and two CAT 'bots) defending the border.  It had been that way as long as the anyone could remember - certainly it happened every year that the Laurentian communications-technician had been assigned to this backwater.

This year was different.

Half the garrison (the other four-man team) were sleeping inside the bunker; the other half were in the clearing across the road, discussing all the other places they would rather be.  Only the CATs were watching the road when the first rocket hit.  The comm-tech looked over to see one of their CATs was damaged, and the other firing its own rockets toward a dark, lumbering shape.  His team grabbed their carbines and ran to their defensive barricades, and the comm-tech grabbed his datapad and switched on the scanner feed.  Before he could see exactly what was happening, he found himself ducking small arms fire from the hill across the barricades.  

The data feed went live, and the comm-tech patched in his team.  They could finally see what was shooting at them.  That initial rocket had been fired from a Cimmerian Battle Walker, which was now trading heavy slugs with their own CATs.  The small arms fire was from a four-man Cimmerian fire team sheltered on the rocky hill.  Another two teams of Laurentians were double-timing up the road, covered by the heavy weapons of the first team.  The comm-tech holstered his pad and grabbed his carbine, focusing his fire on the Cimmerian heavy weapons team.  The CAT on their side of the road exploded, and a team of Cimmerians ran straight between his fireteam and their bunker.  A smart rocket from the Cimmerian heavy weapons team hit their position, killing one of his teammates.  They returned fire, but couldn't hit anything.  

Another Cimmerian team attempted to pass between the barricades, but was interrupted by small arms fire.  It was the Laurentian bunker team, now fully engaged in the fight.  The bunker-side CAT managed to blow an arm off the Cimmerian walker.  The bunker-side Laurentian team cut down two Cimmerians attempting to run up the road, but were surprised a fourth enemy team.  They had apparently come around the far side of the swamp.  This was a true assault team - spewing plasma from two flamethrowers while charging the bunker team.  The comm-tech could only try to focus on his own target while his comrades’ bio-signs switched to black, one by one.

The comm-tech attempted to send an alarm signal to the High Command Net.  But there was too much interference from the weapons fire, or possibly a minor EMP from the exploding CAT.  There were no signs of life from his teammates.  He ran as fast as he could, rapidly sending his alarm code as he tried to get out of range.  The second CAT ‘bot must have run out of rockets - he saw it jump the barricades and charge the Cimmerian walker.  Not a bad robot, thought the comm-tech.  He’d have to put it in for a battle honor, assuming there would be enough parts left to find the serial number.

Just as he thought he heard a confirmation chime from his distress signal, the comm-tech felt a sharp impact on his back plate.  He dropped - feeling intense, burning pain from the wound.  Then everything went dark...

Rules: FUBAR (links to unit stat cards: Cimmerians, Laurentians)
Playing time: 1 hour solo game
Battle outcome: Cimmerian victory - complete wipeout of Laurentian forces.  The Laurentians did survive six rounds. Per campaign special rules - long enough to earn a Special Forces reserve unit for the second scenario.

Cheers,
Chris

The Christmas War - Laurentian Defense Forces

I envision the Laurentians to be a fairly high-tech army.  Technology and automation play a pretty significant role in their background, and I wanted to reflect this on the battlefield.  One army stood apart from the others on my display shelf - Rebel Minis Droptroopers with CAT 'bots as support weapons.

I never did get around to finding vehicles for this force.  But I have plenty of infantry and CATs to portray the defenders.

Laurentian Border Outpost

The only thing missing was some elite troopers to use in the second scenario.  I thought about just painting more Drop Troopers in a different color (Spartan red or blue?), but this army needs a bit more diversity.  And I like power armor.  So I tried my "300 Second Spartan" scheme on a pack of the new-sculpt Ground Zero Games NAC Powered Armor with Hand Weapons.

Exactly what I wanted!  These sculpts works surprisingly well with the Halo-inspired Rebel Drop Troopers. And the Y-rack mini launchers are similar to the rockets found on the Rebel CATs.  The new NAC power armor are actually fairly small compared to most infantry out there - especially small compared to similar power armor from Khurasan or Kremlin.  But the Rebel Droptroopers are also a bit on the small size, so they work extremely well together.

I just need to finish a few terrain pieces for Scenarios 1 and 2 and this force is ready for The Christmas War.  And since I'm going to use FUBAR to play the first couple scenarios, here are my unit stats for the Laurentian Defense Forces:

Cheers,

Chris

Getting the Harook onto the battlefield

We saw the concept art... we saw the greens... and then we saw the final product.  Mad Robot Miniatures' Harook are now in my greedy little hands - painted, based, and ready to fight.  To me, this is the most important aspect of the miniatures hobby.  It's fun to discuss, choose, and buy - that's always a big part of it.  And I do enjoy painting, though I'll admit my lack of patience doesn't always improve my figures.  But thinking, planning, discussing, and shopping just don't provide that feeling of satisfaction to me - so it's time to throw some dice.

My review pack has gave me ten Harook soldiers, each armed with an energy rifle.  One Harook is making a hand signal and another is carrying some type of tablet PC.  This yields two fireteams of five, each with a team leader.  These ten figures alone would have been just fine for a small skirmish like Gut Check or ItEN, but they needed just a little more to play a small FUBAR or Forge of War battle.  Mad Robot wasn't able to wave a magic wand and have vehicles ready for this initial release, but why should that stop me from using them in a full-sized battle?  I looked through my pile of unbuilt resin and metal, hoping to find something to support these infantry teams.  There was one vehicle in my collection with an eye-catching detail.  So I built and threw some quick paint onto it.  Nothing fancy - just a black undercoat, gray drybrush, yellow details, leather-colored weapons, and a black wash over the whole thing.

The Critical Mass Games Arc Fleet Walker isn't a perfect match, but it's not bad.  While the weapons are a bit conventional (especially compared to the concept art for Harook heavy guns), its feet are perfect.  Three sharp toes forward, one to the back.  And it's just temporary - I can obviously remake this force once Mad Robot gets Harook vehicles onto the market.  But this walker gets me by for now.

All in all, it's not a bad little battleforce.  One more pack of Harook would yield four fireteams - plenty of troops for a game of FUBAR on a 2' x 2' terrain-heavy battlefield.  Just a little more effort into stats and they are ready to play.  We'll assume the Harook are pretty well-trained, and that their natural eyesight and the advanced design of their weapons makes them pretty formidable troops.

I included stats for the two infantry heavy weapons that should be in the next release.  But like I've said before - there's no reason to wait for a so-called "full range."  If there's a line of infantry that catches your eye - buy it and use it!  You can always find drones, vehicles, or some other interesting item to support them.  It's more fun to just play a game than it is to agonize over your TOE or army list.  Be creative and enjoy the freedom offered by 15mm sci-fi!

Cheers,
Chris

Red Planet FUBAR Battle Report

By popular request: a report from the first battle fought on my new Red Planet board. Enjoy!

Background: Conquest System - the moon of Miniatus. A Conquest Development Corporation firebase suddenly lost all communications with a nearby uranium mine. Major Curker took a personal interest in this operation (for reasons unknown), and ordered the 369 Expeditionary Squad to accompany him on an investigation. They found the remains of a slaughter, and instantly their dropship's scanners indicated unidentified bio readings. As the dropship lifted off to investigate, one of the 369 fire-teams found evidence within a colony building. It was a claw from a Bio-T (bio-terror) Warrior - what CDC troopers informally called "Space Demons." Major Curker ordered the men to split up and take fire positions - the Bio-T's had to still be nearby. Just as he signalled the dropship to return, he heard the corporal from Fireteam B shout "Bio-T's Inbound!"

Game: A quick FUBAR solo battle. The CDC forces (Rebel Minis Titan Marines with a Laserburn commander) were broken into three units: Fireteams A and B, and Major Curker's personal command team. They began the game deployed into my colony buildings (BWS Starotwn Slums). The Bio-T's (Khurasan Space Demons) have a Queen, a unit of eight Warriors, and a unit of eight Acid Spitters. If a unit of Warriors or Spitters were killed off, I would roll a D6. A replacement swarm would arrive on a roll of 4-6. The Space Demons arrived from a random table edge and had Initiative for the first round.

Victory Conditions: A straight bloodbath - no objectives. I set a limit of ten turns, and then the CDC Dropship would arrive to evacuate any CDC survivors.

Turn One: The Bio-T's quickly ran into the colony. The Spitters made it in first and assaulted Fireteam A. Two troopers died instantly, and they were hit so quickly they didn't kill any Spitters in return. The Queen and warriors came about next. Major Kurker opened fire on the Queen... she met his gaze and prepared her own assault. Fireteam B fired upon the spitters, killing three.

Turn Two: The spitters quickly finished off Fireteam A, but lost two of their number in the process. Fireteam B shot far more accurately and killed the remaining Spitters. The Warriors now assaulted Fireteam B while the Queen advanced on the Major and his command team.

Turn Three: In a brutal melee, Fireteam B lost three members and three Warriors were killed. The Queen killed one of the Major's men in close combat.

Turn Four: The survivor from Fireteam B (who was apparently the child of Ripley and John McClane and raised on a diet of titanium nuggets) made five successful armor saves as he killed another Warrior. The melee continued with the Major wounding the Bio-T Queen.

Yes... this happened!

Turn Five: The Queen was killed. The final member of Fireteam B fell in combat, taking another Warrior with him.

Turn Six: The final two Warriors, now without their Queen and under fire from the victorious Major, retreated from the buildings.

Turn Seven: Major Curker and the two surviving members of his squad wiped out the retreating Bio-T Warriors. They had survived the onslaught, but nine of their troopers had died in the process.

Aftermath: The Major's personal dropship evacuated him from his carnage. It had identified a large canyon filled with the bugs, including at least one more Queen. Major Curker alerted his firebase to mobilize all troops for assault... this wasn't over yet!

Analysis: The inspiration for this game took nothing more than setting up a few buildings and terrain pieces on my newly-finished table and grabbing some minis off the shelf. Yet it made for a quick and enjoyable game! FUBAR's simple framework can provide an "instant game" with minimal preparation time and bookkeeping - to me, that captures the essence of 15mm Science Fiction gaming.

Cheers,

Chris