Five Parsecs from Home: Turn 14 - Deon B

The war was spreading. Collective forces were spreading across the sector before the UCS could respond in force. The Pelican along with myriad other vessels found themselves fleeing across various systems in the wild hope that the war would not reach as far out onto the fringes. 

Deon B was very much on the fringes. According to what records exist there were no UCS chartered settlements. Leyte Logistics had, however, put a job on the local net calling for help to investigate an unchartered farmstead. Contact had been lost for a time. There seemed to be little of value on farmsteads like this but a job was a job. It would help keep the ship in the sky and food in their bellies. 

Baratski, Brenko, Phillips and Forgrave would escort a rep from Leyte to the farm and try to make contact. The crew was needed as muscle just in case. 

Baratski and Forgrave approached with the rep. Brenko and Phillips were delayed and might arrive later. Hopefully that wouldn't spell disaster.

In game terms the condition of the game were "small crew" meaning I could only use 4 characters, and "delayed arrival" meaning two of them had to arrive later. Each round I would roll 1D6 and if the number was below/equal the round number then they could come on. Luckily you will see that at the beginning of round 2 I rolled a 2, so they weren't delayed that much.

Two groups of unknown enemies were skulking around on the outskirts, likely waiting for relief efforts to arrive so they could ambush them.

The rest of the crew arrived and they tried to make their way straight up to the farm buildings. The quicker this job got done, the better for any missing survivors (and for the crew's wallets as there is a bonus for quick completion!)

A barrage of bullets took the crew by surprise as one of the skulking enemy opened up with some kind of rapidfire weapon! Luckily nobody was hurt. Forgrave jumped out of cover and headed over to the farm building, hoping to secure it.

Three other figures rounded the other side opening fire on Forgrave who went head over heels in a bloody mess! Getting caught in the open never pays!

Baratski pumped some rounds over in their direction, cutting one of them down. At the sight of his friend lying there one of the figures legged it as quickly and as far away as possible. It was no fun when the settlers fought back!

Brenko stimmed herself up and charged with superhuman speed over to another enemy, blade swinging! Sliced and diced her opponent fell to the ground. The last remaining enemy on this side of the farm building backed around the corner and hoped there were no more stims around. 

Brenko used the team's Booster Pills which allow for double movement or the removal of stun markers. 

Accurate fire from the auto weapon and the figure behind the farm building caused Brenko and Phillips to scurry for cover, pinned down. Baratski and the rep used this chance to run out of line of sight of what must have been a machine gun of some kind. 

While Baratski and the rep arrived at the building, intense firing broke out between the remaining enemies, and Brenko and Phillips. Both of them had to seek cover, but the enemies were taken down finally. 

The final opponent bravely engaged in shooting with Baratski, however with a sorry looking pistol he didn't stand much of a chance against Baratski's Hysys 2212 shotgun. 

With no-one left to fight it was time to find out why this farm had dropped out of contact and make sure Forgrave was okay. Luckily for him he had just been winged by a shot and just needed to spend a little time in medbay. The farmers though? Nowhere to be found. This was unsettling. The rep looked upset.

"I know these people" she explained. "I helped them relocate here a year ago, we thought it was safer, further into the jungle. I guess we were wrong."

"Who is we? Who are these people?" asked Brenko. 

"Escapees. Slaves, servants, criminals, abuse victims, deserters. They were trying to avoid problems when problems found them. It looks like even more problems have found them. We have to find them."

Chain of Command - US infantry vs Panzergrenadieren

Last night at the club (I LOVE that I can say that now) we played a pick-up game of Chain of Command. A US platoon vs a Panzergrenadier platoon. I was on the Panzergrenadier side. It was a meeting engagement where there weren't really any objectives other than to break the enemy. 

I am unfamiliar with these rules. I have seen about them and have heard good things, but because it looked like they were marketed at 28mm I didn't really bother. I neither want to collect that scale nor play in it and was unsure that if I ever found a club whether they would go for 20mm. As it stands they play a bit of every scale in loads of different rules. I might have to invest in some more rulesets...something I never thought I would do. 

I don't know what to think of these rules. I need to read them first. I think the scale is just below what I want. Two games and no vehicles so far, but even when we were chosing our support the options were only an Sdkfz 250 with MG team level of vehicle. No tanks. The US player brought no vehicles whatsoever. I would rather have a few tanks and an AT gun. Hence why I like Battlegroup so much. 

There is this initial movement phase where you move these tokens around the table, they must remain within 12' of eachother and as soon as they go within 12' of an enemy token they get locked in place. Then once all are locked down, you triangulate where the jump off points will be. Then and only then do you start bringing units on the table, but that all depends on the command dice rolls. You roll 5 and each number means something else. It is a fascinating mechanic and one I struggle to comprehend how the guys at Two Fat Lardies even came up with it. 

I think I like the rules. It makes for an interesting battle. But we do spend a lot of time checking with the rules. The QRS was like 4 pages long! FRONT AND BACK! I will probably end up buying the rules and having a peruse. 

The way the jump off points ended up we had one behind this bocage and intended to deploy and run up to the barn. Unfortunately the US had a jump off point behind the barn and got there first. We made a decision to not deploy anything there until the US squad was in the barn, then we would land a flamethrower team in the field and blast the barn. They would have no cover and we had 12 attack dice. We knew he would be exposed but thought it would be interesting. As it happened the rolls were dreadful and we had 4/12 dice hit. The US then succeeded the 4 saving rolls. No casualties, no shock. 

Luckily we also deployed a squad who had 21 attack dice. They messed the US team up, and the flamethrower team had another two attempts. We managed to wipe out the fire team in the building and kill the junior officer. In the whole game that was the only unit that got wiped out. There were no other US casualties. They had a lot of shock on this flank though. Our squad stayed behind the bocage just pouring fire into the barn and the rest of the team who were behind that low wall next to it. 

On the other flank, we deployed a full squad in the hope that they could rush up and take the US jump off point to help break their morale. We advanced under a lot of cover, dodging mortar shots. The game ended with the squad here, pretty much unable to move. They were firing into the building behind the high walls just at the top left of the photo. The US player deployed their final squad right in the middle to cover that area. We debated jumping out into the open and taking out the jump off point but decided against it. We had a squad in the middle also who we tried to run up the road to hit the rear of that large US squad in this picture, but the rolls were dreadful. 

We lost a couple of men from this squad. Our senior leader on the long rectangle base was rounded but came back into action. 

The game ended when we ran out of time. Our morale had dropped from 8 to 5. The US had dropped from 9 to 6. They were better off there. But in terms of position on the table, we had two full squads who were about to start flanking around the barn to get behind the remaining US forces. We called it a marginal German victory. The US team said that if it were a campaign game they would have started withdrawing a little while ago. 

Five Parsecs from Home - Turn 13: INVASION!

At the beginning of turn 13 I did an invasion check. In the narrative, obviously there are Collective forces on the planet meaning it has been invaded. The check is to see if you have to fight a battle to escape the planet or if you can just escape. If I really wanted I could ignore the rule that you have to try and escape an invaded planet, in order to try and complete more war adjacent missions, or join a side or something, but I felt it makes more sense to escape. Maybe the war will follow. I look forward to tracking if this place becomes unavailable though. 

I intend to play a couple of games where Collective is fighting with the planetary militia before any UCS forces arrive. I have one of the forces written up and am deciding if I want to base up and paint new miniatures entirely for it. This battle will use the Horizon Wars rule set.

Chaos! While the sector militia were desperately battling to delay the Collective advance on this sector's key landing ports, chaos ruled on the roads and transit hubs. Collective forces were rumoured to be close to cutting the grav train line and this was likely the last train out of this area. Desperate civilians, nervous scoundrels, plucky scavengers were all attempting to leave on this train. The road was riskier and blocked in many areas due to traffic, abandonned vehicles, and careless driving. 

A Collective recon squad advanced up the road in two fire teams. Each team had a plasma rifle as a squad support weapon. The Lieutenant was armed with a fury rifle - nasty business. 

The Pelican crew were looking to catch the last train out of town. They planned to fan out and fend off any attack until the last minute, then jump on board and escape. 

A few armed civilians had set up a road block but were swept away as the recon squad advanced. The left hand fire team split further and two soldiers attempted to spread out on the left flank.

Holmes ran forward to secure a shot and fired, immediately killing the squad support plasma rifleman. Lars also advanced with the intention of laying down fire down the road and turning it into a killing zone if needed. 

Baratski went right to defend against anyone coming for the train. The rest of the team hung around waiting to react to an advance and cover any flanks.

Holmes got caught out in the open and had to scurry for cover! Lars responded by advancing into some cover and shooting down another Collective recon troop. Meanwhile the right hand fire team went off road and tried to flank around the buildings. At the same time the Collective left flank advanced, while Baratski hid behind the train.

Estelle Phillips and Lars opened fire on some exposed Collective soldiers, killing one. 

The others returned fire, causing Phillips to duck around the building. They also found a good, covered place to fire from.

She was meant to become a casualty but has a luck point. It turns out I have been playing luck points wrong the entire time. I thought they got used up and were single use. I did not realise they come back each new campaign turn.

More ineffective, tentative fire was aimed at Lars and Holmes. Both well covered had nothing to worry about.

Lars managed to pop out of cover long enough to take out another Collective soldier.

Baratski advanced over the train car to take up a defensive position behind the warehouse. Forgrave ran over to provide support. Lars and Holmes were holding down the centre while Phillips and Brenko held the left flank.

Baratski took fire from the Collective soldiers, ducking behind the warehouse. Forgrave remained ready to pounce.

Disaster! Bolts of plasma emerged around the side of a building hitting Lars Nicolau square in the chest! He crumpled, unmoving. 

Collective reinforcements arrived! The train was almost ready to leave. Would there be enough time to get to the train? Would it leave safely? The soldiers facing Brenko and Phillips moved up to the opposite side of the building. All four of them now sharing the same cover basically.

There was no in game mechanic for the reinforcements. I just wanted some more badguys on the table to resemble an actual battle.

Phillips and Brenko exchanged fire with the two soldiers, killing one of them.

Baratski and the two flanking soldiers exchanged more fire, Baratski diving for cover along with one of the soldiers.

More fire was exchanged between Holmes and the squad support plasma rifleman. Neither hit, both frustrated.

Phillips got pinned down again. She had been taking a lot of fire in this engagement.

Baratski finally got the better of the Collective soldiers, taking one out in a shower of shotgun pellets as Forgrave ran around the shipping containers to get a bead on another soldier.

He then took aim at a range close enough to use his laser sight and almost guarantee a hit. This flank was secure for the moment until more reinforcements would arrive. Holmes pinned down the plasma-man at the same time.

As the Collective reinforcements spread out to outflank the crew, the driver called them over to jump on board. They were ready to go! Not a moment too late as out in the distance looming shapes were emerging. The cavalry were here. Holmes covering the rest, they each fell back onto the train which departed.

As it left it took fire from the advancing Collective force. Another transport link to the landing port cut off. It looked like the planet was going to fall soon, before the UCS could respond with their sector assets. 

The grav train ride was ropey. Brenko swore she had spotted Collective cavalry units trying to keep pace with them at one point. The sector militia stopped them a couple of time to warn about nearby fighting. It was packed with refugees and other ship crews trying to leave. They had Lars laid out on a bench not conscious, not moving, a large cauterised hole in his chest. It was not looking hopeful and the medbay on The Pelican was pretty basic. 

After pulling into the landing port and stretchering Lars onboard Baratski began takeoff proceedures. A hulking, mechanical figure appeared at the ramp as Phillips and Forgrave were hauling supplies onboard. "EARL" was all it said. Another few people followed, asking for passage off world. The journey would be uncomfortable, but it was going to beat living on a warzone. Before launch a voice came over the intercom, it was Holmes. "Lars is gone" he announced. 

As The Pelican launched and broke out of the atmosphere, the crew gathered for a drink. 

A drink to Lars Nicolau.

He belonged to the stars now.

Five Parsecs from Home - Turn 12: Secure the energy production plant.

I don't often fudge or reroll my dice. Sometimes for an easier life I will do it, or to end a game quicker. This campaign turn though - you couldn't have written it better. When rolling up this encounter I rolled a battle against "Unity Grunts". Before all of this happened, I had created the narrative of a possible Collective invasion made up for flavour. I wanted to create an incident and see what happened. The decision to use "Unity Grunts" as Collective infantry was made as they are good, generic soldier stats, and if an invasion battle came up, I would use those grunts, rather than anything else, even though they technically aren't an invasion threat enemy. It is just hilarious to me that the very next battle ends up being against Unity Grunts. Thus, the narrative for this encounter will be to secure some energy source/energy plant from a team of Collective infantry. They are also pretty heftily armed, military rifles, a couple of plasma rifles and a fury rifle?

I also made the realisation that I only ever had 3 single use Frakk grenades. I have unquestionably used more than 3 grenades, probably thinking I had like 5 or six of them. Then it was two years since I played and I forgot that they were limited. I am now playing that I have two left. I love Frakk grenades. It will be a shame to lose them, although I have a grenade launcher it just doesn't feel the same as flinging a grenade over a stack of crates.

As night approached the crew set off, splitting into their two teams. Brenko, Phillips and Forgrave were going to use the train as cover and wait, hidden, ready to pounce on any Collective grunts who might stray into their path. Stealth was the key. Holmes, Nicolau and Baratski were going to run to the power plant and lock it down quickly. Most power stations were designed with a lock down proceedure that could only be overriden from the inside, or remotely with correct access. The local gov were hoping to slow down Collective invasion plans by robbing them of access to power.

In game terms one of my crew had to finish two consecutive turns in the centre of the map, with no enemy within 6. Narrative - locking down the power plant. I made the picture dark to show it is night. I did not do that with the other pictures, so you can see what is happening. Visibility is 9cm, although if you fire you can be fired upon from any range.

The recon squad of Collective soldiers split into two gun teams. Four men would advance in column up the road while a support weapon team, along with the LT would cover the flank and hop from cover to cover. They needed this power plant in tact if possible. 

The crew advanced, steadily, remaining hidden behind the train.

The Collective troops cautiously advanced. The road column was about to disperse to create a field of fire. 

The Pelican crew spread out a little. Holmes and Baratski were preparing to run across the road to commence the lockdown sequence. The Collective soldiers also spread out in order to cover the men who would try storming the power plant.

Brenko and Forgrave popped out from behind the train and opened fire on some Collective troops, knocking two of them out. The Collective troops held their nerve. They were professionals.

One Collective soldier flanked around the trees while others took aim and fired. Brenko escaped the fire but Phillips and Forgrave both took shots. Forgrave went down under a furious amount of plasma fire and heavy weaponry. Unpictured, Holmes and Baratski hopped across the road, still unseen, and began locking the plant down.

In game terms he took two stuns markers from a Plasma Rifle, then a third from the Fury Rifle. He is out of the game now.

Brenko jumped off the train and charged at a Collective soldier, slicing him down. Still the Collective held their nerve. 

Still unseen, Baraski and Holmes completed the lockdown proceedure, shutting out access to the plant. Any Collective forces wishing to use this place, or disrupt power supply would have to bring in heavy artillery.

A Collective strike group arrived on the scene in tactical column. It was time for The Pelican crew to get the heck out of there. They could not fight this with a couple of grenades and shotguns.  

Emboldened by the reinforcements the remaining Collective soldiers began advancing again. There were no more targets. The column would now bypass this place and advance up the road into the more settled areas.

Back at port, they checked Forgrave out. Save for some cracked ribs and bruising, the flak vest had taken the brunt of the attack. He would be just fine. Credits transfered, loot stowed away, the decision was made to leave asap. The skies were already full of other craft filled with families, workers and other refugees bugging out as soon as they could. No-one wanted to remain planetside when there was an active war going on. 

I found a local wargame club! 5 minute drive!

 A post appeared on the Battlegroup FB page asking about interest in a Battlegroup event in my city. I showed interest and conversation led me to a wargames club that is just down the road from me. It saves me travelling to another city for wargaming. It was very welcoming and I have met some people who I reckon I will get along with just well.

We played Chain of Command, I have never played it before. It was interesting. There were low casualties but the game still played out quite well. We took quite a while and I don't feel like a huge amount got done, but maybe that is how it is when playing with others. I will be going as often as possible now and hope to get some Battlegroup on the table soon. Maybe with prettier 20mm miniatures rather than my own 6mm. 

Here are a few pictures.They are pretty blurry though. I felt a bit awkward leaning in to take photos to be honest. 

We had two MG squads in the red doored building and a lot of the fighting took place around there. We were getting flanked but had another squad covering the rear. If those brits leave cover we will fire. 

The guys in the house got pretty knocked about by grenades and we called the game saying they likely retreated through the barn and out to the rear, covered by another building full of MGs.