Hammer's Slammed

More from wargaming w/e at Mark's.  After some chinwagging and a couple of beers, and a very helpful suggestion from John Treadaway (adv rules, use extra LPs to double fire!) we decided to rerun the Slammers scenario.  For this game I wanted to field my 'mosquito fleet' of light tanks and drone-equipped infantry.

The scenario is the same a before, my forces (the Free Foreign Legion, in green armour) hold the town, while Commonwealth Marines (guard force O'Higgins) hold the flank.  The FFL (Div Legere), have medium tanks and two tank destroyers, the Cmmwlth Marines are equipped with two heavy ATGM APCs, two ATGM drones, one 6cm Powergun drone and three 3cm tri-barrel drones, the infantry have two heavy aTGM launchers and three light ATGM launchers.  All non-specialist infantry have buzzbombs

A sleepy town

With dug-in infantry - Commonwealth Marines occupy the area around the farm

Infantry debussed in place, drones circulate in guard positions

Heavy ATGMs cover the main road

FFL tanks cover the approach to the town

FFL tank destroyers cover the roads, while FFL command provide airdef

Uh OH, the Slammers are on their way

Slammer Tanks enter the town and are met with a volley of missiles

Combat cars enter in parallel to the tanks, they too are met by a swarm of missiles

View from the heavy ATGMs

View towards the Combat Cars

The Combat Cars intercept all incoming missiles

Three missiles get through the tank's tribarrel screen

Medium tanks take out two Combat Cars

Then a third

The missile volley takes out one blower

"NO NO! That never happened" said the Slammer's PR guy

Satellite imagery confirms the loss of three Combat Cars

Slammers respond by shooting the heck out of everything, including buildings

Drones and heavy ATGM APCs

The Tanks destroyers sneak up on the blowers

Immobilizing one (skirt holed) and destroying another

[I have no idea why this is rotated?]
Medium tanks attempt to flank the blowers, the lone combat car dives among them hoping wreak havoc with its tribarrels

[this is rotated too?]
It takes all four Med tanks to take out the Combat car.  Seriously, three weapons per tank and it was the twelfth shot that takes out the Car!

The Med tanks are gutted by the blowers

The Commonwealth Marines use their two surviving tribarrel drones to gain rear aspects on a blower.  the Blower reacts by destroying the first drone, but just misses the second.

The second drone hoses the blower in the rear, puncturing its skirt, walking fire up the tilting rear deck until it hits a weak spot and BOOM! the blower is gone.

With only one immobilized blower the slammers surrender

The town belongs to the allies

Barely...   ...if that combat car had survived this town would be in Slammers hands

The only serious firepower left to the allies is two medium tank destroyers and one tribarrel  drone

The allies will have to rush some reinforcements into the town if they want to keep it out of the Slammers hands

This was a really fun game (thanks Mark!), despite the early losses the Slammers really had an edge, and the defense was desperate.  Volley after volley of missiles were intercepted, medium tank rounds were bouncing off the Slammers superior armour and the slammers were whittling down the defensive forces quite quickly. The game turned on the action with the combat car.  If that last (of 12) shot had not gone through the slammers would have won.  We we tried it out by rolling for hits as if the car survived, the result: 4 dead med tanks, leaving both blowers to face the two med tanks destroyers and drones.

As it was, the Slammers decimated the armour of the allies.  If this were just the vanguard of the Slammers forces the allies would be unable to hold the town without significant reinforcements.

Now I've played a few Crucible games I'm convinced this is a fun rule set and I plan expand my forces and keep on using them.  Next its time to try some more of the advanced rules.  As a quick plug, I'm planning to run a Slammers game at next year's East Coast Ground Zero Games Convention (http://www.warpfish.com/gzgecc/gzgecc17/index.shtml)