Xenos Rampant A Bridge Too Quar?

 

This could have gone horribly wrong, but it actually worked!

This is Bland Ford.  A small town with a small army base on the oh-so-quiet border.  No-one is going to try bringing a modern force down a single forest road, are they?

This is roughly based on Scenario Echo Orbital Drop p 104.  But I made some, well, a lot of changes:

Each side had 2 commands of 24points.  As any likely attack was going to come via the main road the heavy weapons are thus sighted.  Here also is the one vehicle and the commander.

I had intended to take the Crymuster rear, but ended up running the gallant and plucky Western Arnyaran, leaving Matt and Easton to run the defenders as an anarchic collective.

Defenders		Front (rear) force (Top Picture)		2Mg.s Tractor, CO,  Militia = 24
8 P  MG 2 as 5	2	Move 6+  6”		Defence 5+
Courage 4+ Armour 2		Shoot Free (7+)   4+ 24” 6=2		Firefight.  Spotters  Heavy Weapon.  Engulf.  No cover
6P Chyweethl Light Tractor  1 as 5	1	Move Free (6)+ 8”  All Terrain.		Attack 6+ Attack v 6+ Defence 5+ Blades armour -1.
Courage 3 Armour 5		Shoot 6+  4+ 18” No bonus for cover.		Light Vehicle. Area effect.
1p  C.O Team 2 as 5		Move Free (5+) 8”		Attack 6+ Attack V 5+ Defence V 5+
Courage 4  Armour 2		Shoot 6+  6+ 18”		Firefight.  Go To Ground
1p  Town Militia 10	1	Move Free (5+) 4”		Attack 8+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+
Courage 5  Armour 1		Shoot 7+  6+ 6”
		Town force (Bottom picture)		Inf company + cav = 24
5p  Ryfler LI Squad 10	4	Move Free (5+) 4”		Attack 6+ Attack V 5+ Defence V 4+
Courage 4  Armour 2		Shoot 6+  5+ 9” 6’s=2		Firefight.  Go To Ground  Heavy Weapon.
4P   Cavalry (HI) 5	1	Move 5+ 5”		Attack 6+ Attack v 5+ Defence 5+
Courage 4  Armour 3		Shoot Free (6+)  6+ 6”		Firefight.  Go to Ground.  CQ.   Assault. Mobile.

Western Arnyaran

First wave: 

Special Insertion p 90Cycles 15p Scouts Recce 9 = 24

9p Cycle Scout  3 as 5	1	Move Free (5) 12”		Attack 7+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+
Courage 5  Armour 1		Shoot 7+  5+ 12”		Firefight.  Mobile.  S.I   Fire Support as action.  Hard target armour 2 vs shoot 6” only
Fire Support		Shoot Free  (7+)  3+ 24”
6p Cycle Anti-SW  2 as 5	1	Move Free (5+) 12”		Attack 7+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+
Courage 5  Armour 1		Shoot 7+  5+ 12” Target Support + 12”		Firefight.  Mobile.  S.I  Hard target armour 2 vs shoot 6” only
3p   Reg. Recce   5	3	Move Free (5+) 8”		Attack 7+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+
Courage 5  Armour 1		Shoot 7+  5+ 12”		Firefight.   Hard target armour 2 vs shoot 6” only Skirmish 7+ move shoot 6+
Second Wave				11+7+6 = 24
5P  Contraption (SS) 1 as 5	2	Move Free (6+) 12”		Attack 6+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+
Courage 4  Armour 4		Shoot 6+  5+ 18”		Improvised armour.  Technical
1p		-1 enemy armour shooting.		Lead vehicle has armour piercing ammo.
7p  Iron House A (TV)  5		Move Free (6+) 10”		Attack 6+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+
Courage 4  Armour 5		Shoot 6+  4+ 48” Spotter (allows Indirect) 3+ 48”		Blades, attack/defend target armour -1 Trans 10p.   Artillery. Indirect.
6p  Iron House B (TV)  5		Move Free (6+) 10”		Attack 6+ Attack V 6+ Defence V 6+
Courage 4  Armour 5		Shoot 6+  5+ 12” Area effect, target no cover bonus		Blades, attack/defend target armour -1 Trans 10p.

Quick aside - this game sees the first use of my Butlers Printed Models order.  A couple of armoured cars.  Easy conversion, the turret comes with a ring underneath, removing this and adding it as an open turret works.

Border barrier, post, guard tower and barrack tents with a command hut.

The sneaky Western Arnyarans start- 6 pre-planned artillery strikes!  I got 4, one knocked a life out of the commander.  Then they snuck in.  You don'r roll for activation, they make a move plus 1D6 extra inches.  I ended up with one unit at the base of the bluff, the cycle unit just below in the middle of the field.

The support-hunters came at the base of the rear hill (bottom right)  but got spotted and wiped out with one nasty burst!

The last two infiltrated and flanked! (Bottom picture)  One took over a house and promptly won a protracted firefight with the cavalry, and pushed back a unit sent to outshoot them.

Expecting the attack to come from the front - well, rear, the CO heads up to the emplacement.  The militia start to patrol.  The tankette moves and promptly gets shelled, spotted from the cycle scouts.

The second scout unit gets shot up by 2 sections, one survives and hoofs it towards coffee.

The other one, in better cover, weathers the storm.

The militia advance, get into a firefight with the scouts - and lose narry a one!  The tankette starts to pay attention to the flank, the cycles retreat.  A section ascends the hill.

One section had suffered from the preliminary shelling.  Note that the scouts have pulled the troops away from the guard post.  They're a shower, an absolute shower!

Here they come!  BTW  I had intended (& packed) to get to Entoyment early and do some more painting,  but it was bucketing it down.  Trying to remember where I got the bridge, it's a cracker - 2 ends, span, 2 supports.  The contraptions rake, the big one fails every shoot attempt in the game.  Every Damn One.

Still going Bang!

Quick turnover means they grind forward!  Rear contraption takes MG fire.

The lead, engages the tankette with its AP ammo but finds itself under heavy MG fire from the emplacement and beats a hasty retreat!

The rear one finds itself bracketed by infantry mg's.

The militia move to the thick of it.  There's always a higher value target to shoot at!

Taking casualties, but the cavalry are faring worse.

Then their luck runs out----.

The last vehicle rumbles on, but the momentum has been broken.

That's not a good role.

The militia have taken casualties!  Still they assault the vehicle!  With that, the assault is over.  Only the Crymuster support section has taken no damage. The 

That was a cracking game!  Lasted longer and with a better result.  The Western Arnyaran lost a few scouts, a few bikes but not one vehicle, although the remaining are pretty beat up!

Now satisfied that the Rampant Rules give a good feel and a fast game.

Meeting engagement using same stats & forces as last week.  An excellent game betwix young Easton and I in the waiting-for-Matt time.  We pounded each other into a bloody draw.  Did have some new stuff happen though, so lets crack on! 

Woods were classed as open, so light cover and a movement hassle.  Buildings are from my Poole In Flames game.

Crusaders!

Crymuster.

Cautious advance and taking casualties!

Tankette takes hits, retreats to let the support weapons get to work.

"We'll just stroll up 'ere a bit then"

 

First time using going to ground.

Bang!  Casualties at long range.

Taking heavy fire from the other tankette - despite lots of minuses, forced back.

Both probing forward.

Crymuster the left Chyweethl gets pushed back - to shoot the infantry in front or the flanked Chyweethl?

Crymusters turn to go to ground.

"get closer!"

"Where did it go?"

Our first vehicle vs infantry- infantry won!

How to surprise the enemy commander - but thump that tankette!

Sent back - lost the fight.  Now the cavalry's moving!

Infantry moving up, slowly.

The tankette tears into infantry.

Damaged, the infantry MG tears into its side---

Cavalry charges the long rifles!

Cavalry take a perfic storm of lead and go down in glory.

The last tankette recovers and the Crusader heavy weapons get in range of the infantry.

"Ang on, didn't we see-"  In they go!  But it didn't go well and they died, but the ream was pushed back.

I missed a few 'cos we rushed the end.  But that was a hell of a good game!

Another aside-  My cheap Amazon Cake Toppers trees, all featured here are from Amazon, proved a great hit both on suite and on table.  Here I've mounted them on 2p's but not yet added hard as nails & dry brushed the trunks grey.