Airfix Battles: Scenario 2 (part five)

The situation at the start of round four

ROUND FOUR
I ditched my interrupt card and drew ... another interrupt: rapid retreat. Not very helpful.
We rolled for the initiative, with Wald winning 3-1 and choosing to move first.
*He ordered his captain and veterans to fire at my snipers, and rolled three 6s. That meant the unit lost half its men and had to take two morale tests. It passed one test but failed the other, meaning that it, like my infantry squad, is now pinned.
*I played my one command card to try to rally my infantry squad. The roll failed, so I played the valour counter to roll again, but again failed.
*Wald advanced his machinegun section to shelter behind the fence on the edge of Colonel Parker's square.

The Americans still have a numerical advantage but both units are pinned in the open

ROUND FIVE
My new command card has the dropping-lead special order, which can only be used for vehicles.
*Wald won the initiative and opened fire with his machineguns on my infantry squad, scoring four hits. The squad had to take two morale tests and failed them both. Since it was already pinned, the unit routed (and is therefore removed from the table).
*I used my command card to successfully try to rally my snipers. Having done so, I used the card to get them to fire at the German machinegun crews. They scored two hits, and the Germans were not allowed saving throws as the hits were both natural 6s. That meant two morale tests - the Germans passed one but failed the other. Wald played the valour counter to re-roll the failed test, but failed again, and so the remaining two machinegunners are pinned.
*Wald successfully rallied his machinegun crew and opened fire on my snipers. Even though there are just two machinegunners left, the rules state that two is enough to fire both machineguns, so Wald rolled eight dice, easily wiping out the three remaining snipers and so winning the scenario.

Nothing can stop the Germans capturing Colonel Parker

AFTERTHOUGHTS
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I seemed to have everything sown up - then the German machineguns sprung into action with deadly effect.
Of course the luck of the dice can always play its part in game such as Airfix Battles, but I did not think I was especially hard done by in that regard.
One mistake I certainly made, I believe, was to place my two pieces of cover too far from the centre square. It meant my men were in open ground as soon as they approached the centre.
Wald, on the other hand, placed his cover further forward, and his men were able to make good use of it.
However, my opponent said that during the game he wondered if he should have put his pieces of cover a square further forward, the idea being that, with his aggressive style of play, he could have rushed his men to the centre of the battlefield knowing they would then be behind cover.
I am not sure about this, as cover in my half of the battlefield would have been likely to be at least as useful to my men.
Considerations of cover aside, the turning point was surely when I lost my captain and so was reduced to having a single command card.
In any event, it was a victory for my opponent, which leaves us with one win apiece in Airfix Battles.

Airfix Battles: Scenario 2 (part four)

The situation at the start of round three

ROUND THREE
We dealt the new command cards. I received a hit-the-deck interrupt, which in this scenario can only be used when a unit with A-OK morale suffers a hit while in the open, and three special orders: dig in, on the double and mechanised assault.
We rolled for initiative, and this time Wald won.
*Wald's captain and veterans fired at my men with Colonel Parker, scoring three hits. My men are behind cover and so got saving throws - but I rolled three 1s. They needed to take two morale checks, and ended up being pinned, just like my infantry squad.
*I used my on-the-double order to try to rally the captain and the one surviving veteran, but could only roll a 3 - one shy of the score needed.
*Wald ordered his machinegun section to fire at my captain and veteran. We suddenly realised we were not sure how machineguns fired (the rules do not have a play-through of a battle to show how things work). In the end we agreed each machinegun - the section has two - rolls four dice. They would normally need a 5 to score a hit, but being crackshots they only need a 4. They actually scored four hits, but since my combined unit has only two men, this counted as two hits. My men are behind cover, but neither saving throw worked, so the captain and the last veteran were killed. Fortunately for me, this scenario does not end with the death of a captain, so the game goes on.
*I played my dig-in order to try to rally the pinned squad, but again came up one pip short.
*Both Wald's surviving units have already received orders this round, so it is my turn again. I used the mechanised-assault order to advance my snipers and fire at Hauptmann Wald and his veterans. I scored two hits, one of which was a 'natural' 6, which means Wald does not get a saving throw for that hit even though his men are behind cover. The other hit was saved, however, so only one veteran fell.
This brought the round to a close except, because the Americans have lost their captain, I am only allowed one command card in my hand, which means I have to dispose of one of my two interrupts. I do not need to think about which one as I will anyway dispose of the other one at the start of the next round in the hope of drawing an order card rather than an interrupt one.

Colonel Parker cuts a lonely figure again

Airfix Battles: Scenario 2 (part three)

The situation at the start of round two

ROUND TWO
We drew our command cards to get our hands back up to five. One of my new ones is a fire interrupt; the other three have special orders: rapid advance, on the double and mechanised assault. Their functions can pretty much be deduced from their names.
Next we rolled for initiative. I won 3-1 after a 1-1 tie.
*I decided to move first, and played the on-the-double command to send my infantry squad forward two squares and then fire at the Germans in Colonel Parker's square. Before they could fire, however, Wald played his stay-frosty card, allowing his captain and veterans to fire at my squad. They scored two hits, which meant my squad had to take a morale check. It failed, so I played the valour counter (this is given to the player who loses the initial dice-off to decide who gets to choose whether to deploy first or second) to re-roll the morale throw. Unfortunately I failed again, so my squad is pinned, which means it cannot fire this turn (and Wald now has the valour counter, which he can use to re-roll a die or a set of dice).
*Wald used a command card to try to rally his pinned pioneers. He failed, played the valour counter for a re-roll, and failed again.
*I used the mechanised-assault order to move my snipers forward one square and then fire at the pinned pioneers. The snipers got the two hits required to finish off the German unit.
*Wald used the sweeping-advance order to first of all get his captain and veterans to fire at my squad. They scored two hits. I played my it-ain't-so-bad interrupt to cancel the two kills, but the squad still had to take a morale test, which thankfully it passed with flying colours (I rolled a 6). Wald used the second part of his sweeping-advance order to send the machinegun section nearer the centre of the battlefield, thus ensuring it had edge cover between it and my units.
*I used my rapid-advance card to send my captain and veterans into the centre square, hopefully to rescue Colonel Parker, and then fire at Hauptmann Wald and his veterans. I scored two hits. They were entitled to saving throws for being behind cover, and both succeeded.
That ended the round as all units on both sides have received orders.

End of round two ... my Americans have captured the objective and now need to hold it against the badly depleted Germans for two rounds

Airfix Battles: Scenario 2 (part two)

The starting position looking from behind German lines

ROUND ONE
I discarded my dropping-lead command card to give me +1 on the initiative roll. Hauptmann Wald stood pat. I lost the roll 4-5, but the +1 meant a tie, and so we rolled again. The second time is without modifiers, but I won 4-3.
*I chose to play the first command card. I would have loved to call in an artillery strike but, thanks to the edge cover, my captain did not have line-of-sight to any of the German units. Instead I used my lightning-strike card to give a basic order, advancing the captain and veterans one square so they could shelter behind the edge cover directly in front of them.
*Wald also played a lightning-strike card, but with rather more aggression than I managed. He used the two extra movement squares to send his pioneers directly forward, crossing rough terrain and finishing in the centre of the battlefield where Colonel Parker is (they could reach the centre as there is no penalty for crossing edge cover).
Before he could shoot at my snipers, which he can do as part of the lightning-stroke command, I used my fire-interrupt card. This allowed my snipers to shoot at his pioneers, getting +1 for being crackshots  - and they certainly were as all them scored a hit. Not surprisingly, the pioneers failed their morale test, but did not have to retreat, being only pinned.
This gave us a problem that does not seem to be covered in the rules, or at least is open to more than interpretation. One rules states: "You cannot give orders to a unit that is pinned until it succeeds at a rallying test. In addition it cannot fire or move or assault using interrupts. However, it can use other interrupts"
That may seem clear enough, but consider this: the pioneers already had orders to advance and fire. Their move was interrupted by my playing an interrupt card, and under Interrupts is stated: "If you want to use an interrupt card, ask your opponent to pause their turn, then resolve the card. Put the used card in the discard pile. Your opponent then continues their turn from where they paused [my underlining]."
We had quite a discussion on this, in the end deciding that the spirit of the rule is that once a unit is pinned, it has to rally before it can take any offensive action.
*It was my turn to issue an order, but all I had in my hand of command cards was an interrupt, which can only be used during the opponent's turn, and my artillery-strike command. In theory I could have used that to bring artillery fire down on the surviving pioneers, but that would be a somewhat questionable decision considering they are occupying the same square as Colonel Parker, so I decided to pass.
*Wald and the veterans advanced to shelter directly behind the cover in front of them.
*I called in an artillery strike on Wald and his veterans. It scored one hit, which was not negated by the saving throw for being behind cover.
*Wald gave a stay-frosty card to his captain and veterans. The card will allow them to fire during my turn at a unit of mine that moves.
That brought round one to a close.

The battlefield at the end of round one

In terms of casualties, I am clearly winning - but Wald's aggressive play has given him the objective, ie the centre square containing Colonel Parker, and he will have won if he can hold it for two rounds. So it is far from obvious, at least to me, who has the advantage.

Airfix Battles: Scenario 2

WE have decided to have another go at the boxed game Airfix Battles, this time playing the second scenario: Rescue The Colonel!/Hunt Down The Colonel!
It is June 7 1944 - the day after the first scenario in which the Germans suffered a comprehensive and very quick defeat (http://timspanton.blogspot.com/2020/04/airfix-battles.html).
This time I have pushed my two wargames tables together so I can make a 7x5 grid of 10in squares, in the centre of which is the badly wounded American Colonel Parker.
I am a captain and attached to me are four veterans armed with sub-machineguns and grenades. Also under my command is a squad of infantry armed with rifles, light-machineguns and two bazookas, and a unit of six crackshot snipers.
My job is to get to Colonel Parker in the centre of the battlefield and hold that square for two consecutive rounds, after which I will be relieved (apparently!).
At the other side of the battlefield is Hauptmann Richard Wald, which is something of a surprise as I could have sworn he died in the bloody ambush that ended scenario one.
Anyway, Hauptmann Wald, as I have agreed to call whoever it is, has attached to him four veterans armed with assault rifles and grenades, eight pioneers armed with sub-machineguns, and a section of four men armed with a pair of MG34 machineguns.
His mission is to find Colonel Parker and see if he has orders or other useful intelligence, which will require the Germans to hold the central square for two consecutive rounds.
The colonel, who is too injured to move, is surrounded by rough terrain.

Overview of the battlefield with a lonely-looking Colonel Parker in the centre. The Americans will enter from the left, the Germans from the right. The playing area consists of 35 10in squares, with some out-of-bounds ground nearest the mantelpiece 

In addition to the set terrain, each player gets two pieces of edge cover - so-called because they go on the edge of two squares - that we place before we start deploying our troops.

Close-up of the centre of the battlefield with the edge cover added

I chose to put mine where they would give cover to riflemen while still letting the riflemen fire well beyond Colonel Parker. Hauptmann Wald put his nearer the colonel and asymmetrically.
Next we deployed our units. I put the snipers in the centre, with the captain and veterans to their left and the infantry squad to their right.
Wald hugged the left of the battlefield (from his viewpoint), with the machinegun section on the extreme left, followed by himself with the veterans and then the pioneers.

The view from the German end of the battlefield

My view of the German deployment

My five command cards are:
1) Dropping lead, which is irrelevant as it only affects vehicles (but it can still be used for giving basic orders).
2) Artillery strike - this seems rather powerful.
3) Lightning strike - allows a unit to move two extra squares and then fire.
4) Fire interrupt - lets a unit fire during the enemy's turn.
5) It ain't so bad interrupt - allows a unit to regain two shot men.
As usual I will write up the battle turn by turn.

Airfix Battles (part two)

My opponent chose to command the Germans, sinking his persona into that of Hauptmann Richard Wald, apparently a bilingual resident of Alsace conscripted into the German army following the Fall of France in 1940.

We each received five command cards - used for activating units - and I won the dice-off for deployment, choosing to be first to deploy a unit, not that it mattered much as we both deployed conservatively with the combined unit of captain and veterans sandwiched between our respective squads.

Both sides deployed

To avoid confusion, ID counters are added so it can easily be seen which unit on the table corresponds to which unit card.

Looking at the Americans with their unit cards and the smaller command cards

The Germans with their unit and command cards

Note that although each player has four unit cards, there are only three units on each side as the captain and veterans have to combine to form a single unit.
Since I won the first-to-deploy dice-off, Wald gets the valour counter. This can be used to re-roll any one of his dice rolls he does not like. Once Wald has used it, the valour counter will pass to me so I can re-roll any one of my dice rolls, and so on.
As usual, I will be writing the game up turn-by-turn.
TURN ONE
Wald won the dice-off for initiative and moved both squads forward one square - terrain restrictions prevented them moving further forward.
My five command cards consist of an interrupt (they can only be used when the opponent is moving) and four orders: mechanised assault, infantry assault and two rapid advances. I used one of the rapid advances to send my left-hand squad into the wood.
Wald advanced his captain and veterans along the dirt road so they regained being in line with his two squads.
I used my mechanised assault card to give a basic order. This can be done with any command card, and in scenario one the two possible basic orders are move or fire. I chose to advance my right-hand squad so it is behind the white house.
All three of Wald's units have received orders this turn, so he has to pass.
I used my infantry assault card to give a basic order, moving the captain and veterans off the dirt road and directly behind my right-hand squad. This ended the turn as my play value is three - meaning I can use a maximum of three command cards in a turn. As it happens, the turn would have ended anyway at this point as all my units had received an order.

Situation at the end of turn one

TURN TWO
Both players start by drawing enough command cards to bring them back to their hand value - the number of command cards you have at the start of a round. I drew an interrupt and two orders: lightning strike and infantry assault.
We diced for initiative, and this time I won. I used the rapid advance card to occupy the white house with my right-hand squad, which was then able to fire their rifles and light-machineguns at the German captain and his veterans. My squad is at full strength, so I got to roll 10 dice - one for each man - plus one extra die, which represents the greater firepower of American squads. I needed to roll a 5 or 6 to score a hit. Much to my surprise, and Wald's consternation, I rolled six 6s, meaning the captain and the veterans were all killed. Since the captain is worth three stars, and the veterans one star, and victory goes to the player who gets three stars, I had well and truly won.

Game over

AFTERTHOUGHTS
Wald looked suitably sheepish at what transpired.
I tried to console him by admitting I had been extremely fortunate with my dice rolling but, as he pointed out, advancing in the open against troops armed with automatic weapons is not exactly the brightest use of resources.
Since this was both players' first go with Airfix Battles, it would be challenging to give a review on such a short experience. But, perhaps strangely, we both thought the game felt very promising - in some ways the quick and brutal resolution gave a sense of realism, rather than leaving us deflated.
One thing is for sure, however - 5in squares are not big enough for Army Men. If we, and we probably will, play another scenario, I will set-up both my wargames tables, enabling me to use a seven-by-five grid with 10in squares. Since a 10in-square has 100 square inches, compared with 25 square inches for a 5in-square, this will give four times as much space for each square.

Airfix Battles

SOME four years ago I took out a magazine subscription - to Miniature Wargames, I believe - mainly because the enticement to subscribe was a free boxed set of Airfix Battles: The Introductory Wargame.

Nice box ... interesting contents

The game is card-driven, and comes with terrain maps and counters for troops and vehicles.
Although it is described as an introductory wargame, the rules are more complex than many eurogames, while being a lot simpler than the old classics from SPI and Avalon Hill.

Inside the box ... after the contents have been sorted

I never played Airfix Battles as I could not get enthusiastic about playing a tactical wargame with counters (having said that, one of the SPI/Avalon Hill games I own is Sniper!, which is not a strategic game by any stretch of the imagination).
My extensive collection of Airfix 1/72nd soldiers is long gone, either given away or disposed of in a clear-out, and I never got round to buying replacements to be used in fighting Airfix Battles.
But it has occurred to me I could just as easily use larger figures, specifically Army Men I bought three years ago in Jersey (https://timspanton.blogspot.com/2017/04/50mm-and-all-that.html) and used for a D-Day scenario (https://timspanton.blogspot.com/2017/04/d-day-scenario-for-plastic-army-men.html).
The plan is to try out the first Airfix Battles scenario against my regular wargames opponent - we both have plenty of spare time in current circumstances.
By coincidence, scenario one is located in Normandy and dated June 6 1944, ie D-Day.

Scenario one terrain map

To the map for scenario one you add four square cover counters representing "woods or buildings that block line of sight," and four rectangular rough-terrain counters representing "mud, craters and other obstacles to movement."

Map with cover and rough-terrain counters

It may just be possible to see that the map consists of 35 squares marked out in five rows of seven. This is easy to turn into a grid on one of my wargames tables.

Gridded for Airfix Battles

Having the right range of suitable terrain was a little more problematic, but I managed what I reckon is a decent-enough job.

The completed battlefield

The dirt track is made from tissue paper, three houses and a wood replace the square cover counters, and the four rough-terrain rectangles are replaced by various other items of terrain.
In this scenario each player receives four unit cards representing a captain, a four-man team of veterans, and two 10-man squads each armed with rifles/light machineguns and two anti-tank guns (bazookas for the Americans; panzerfausts for the Germans).

The cards detail each unit's combat capabilities

In the game, infantry are represented by round counters, but I have replaced these with Army Men.

The Americans ... the captain with his veterans are in the foreground, with the two 10-man squads behind

The Germans ... apparently still wearing the uniforms of Rommel's Afrikakorps

Note it does not matter, apart from aesthetically, what weapons the figures have. As the rules sate: "Don't worry if your figures don't have exactly the right weapons, as it's only the number of figures that count. All other information (weapon stats and unit abilities) comes from the unit cards."