The Battle of Centerville Pt. 2: The Cavalry's Stand

US Background  

While the battle was developing north of town, elements of C Troop, 1/26 CAV were moving east of town to establish a mechanized screen in the open plain to cover this wide open avenue of approach.  The 26th was a newly formed unit having only been organized back in March of 2181 from elements of the 57th Infantry, Liberty National Guard, and from the regular Army's 1/89 CAV.  The 1/26 CAV has always been a fascinating unit to many historians because of it's odd heritage.  The original 26th Cavalry regiment was formed in the aftermath of WWI and it served through out the whole interwar period as a vital part of the US garrison in the Philippines.  In the opening months of the Pacific War the 26th gained the unique distinction as being the last US cavalry formation to launch an actual mounted cavalry charge with its Filippino troopers led by regular army officers.  The new 1/26 CAV wound up being a similar formation:  a mixed unit of American and Filippino-American colonists lead by regular army officers.

Back in March LIBCON decided to deactivate the ANG's 57th Infantry Regiment in order to reinforce the battered 45th Infantry which had suffered heavily in the northern county's counter-insurgency campaign.  However there were still several hundred ANG guardsmen left after the reorganization so, with approval from Congress, LIBCON reflagged these troopers, along with an attached cadre from the 1/89 CAV, as the 1st Squadron, 26th Cavalry Regiment.  The newly formed squadron was brigaded with 1/45 INF and 2/45 INF to form the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the ANG's 12th Infantry Division (Liberty).  Unlike the other battalions of the brigade, the 26th had a very large contingent of Filippino-Americans because most of its guardsmen came from Cavite County, a principally Filippino county in southern Liberty.  The unit had just finished its organization in August when it was assigned to Task Force Bataan to help defeat the insurgency on Crossland.  By late November the campaign was winding down and the squadron received orders to redeploy to Liberty to rest and reorganize.  When the LRL hit the beaches of northern Crossland only B, C, and elements of HQ Troop were still on Crossland and only C Troop had any personnel in Centerville.  

At the time of the invasion C Troop was actually finishing up the process of loading their vehicles and mecha into their dropships to redeploy back to Liberty!  The troopers quickly unloaded their gear and troopers from throughout the squadron were dragooned into service to bring C Troop back to wartime manning.  The troop had barely two days to reorganize and train before they met the LRL in battle, east of Centerville.

C Troop OOB:  Seasoned (Expertise 4+ though!)  (mecha pilots are veteran)

Two Recce Sections with:  1 Sergeant, 1 HUMVEE IV Apache w/Lt. Plasma gun, 1 M3 Valkyrie mecha, 1 rifle squad with 1 SAW and 3 M41a AR/UGL (one trooper per platoon with a sniper rifle), 1 gun drone (counts as a sensor drone but has a HMG), 1 sensor drone (Armor 4+, Move 6", may move as an independent unit but doesn't count as a unit for victory conditions, has regular sensors and may spot for artillery and non-los units).

Attached 1 M1 Ares MBS.

That totals:  2 sergeants (veterans) with M41A AR/UGL, 2 HUMVEEs, 2 Valkyrie mecha, 1 Ares mecha, 8 riflemen with 2 SAWs, and two gun drones armed with MGs.  That's a lot of firepower in such a small unit but its anti-tank firepower is a bit lean.  I wonder if the plasma cannons will be effective against LRL armor?

I'm only allocating one artillery mission to this game because I'm going to really need it in the upcoming infantry clash!  Hopefully this mix of mechanized elements will be enough to hold back the LRL tide!

LRL Background

While many people view the American-Liberty War as being clash between Americans and the "French" this wasn't wasn't always the case.  In fact the Republic of Liberty's population was made up of several different nationalities and ethnic groups.  One group which gets missed a lot in post war treatments are the Liberty-Americans.  The colonization of Liberty was a joint effort between the US, the Philippines, and France and many Americans settled in the temperate northern continent.  These Americans were just as independence minded as their French neighbors and they joined the rebellion against the French Union in the '60s.  By the 80's these "yankees" were vital parts of the LRL and the republic's government despite the general feeling of anti-Americanism that existed in the former colony at the time.

In fact, many LRL units that were formed from the southern provinces of the Republic were primarily made up of American colonists.  The LRL's 23eme Regiment was one such unit with 60% of its ranks being of American decent.  Whenever these units came into contact with American units the fight became particularly grim as the troops on both sides viewed the others as traitors.  For American troops, these "damnedyankees" or "tories" were the most vile of foes because they spoke english, were American in custom and culture, but they took up arms against their "own" people to defend a fascist/racist/communist regime   To the Liberty-Americans the "loyalists"  represented the worst elements of the country they left behind:  arrogant centralists who sought to take the lands, resources, and freedoms of everyone they could for the "common good".

The 23eme RI was a highly regarded regiment in the LRL because of its excellent esprit de corps, it's high level of professionalism, and its unwavering devotion to the Republic.  These troops were the elite shock troops of the 2d Brigade and their weapons and attachments showed that trust.

OOB 23eme RI (seasoned)

1 rifle platoon with four six man squads.  Two squads have SAWs and two squads have RPGs.  

4 attached Rockjumper technicals with HMGs.

2 AMX-60 hover APCs

2 M2A6 Bradley IFV.

2 M1A6 Block III Abrams MBTs.

2 Cells of insurgents (six total insurgents- Veteran) .  One cell may have a RPG.

2 Artillery bombardments.

Deployment:

US:  can deploy up to midboard in cover terrain.  The gunbots, recce drones, and infantry  can start the game deployed in Hidden positions.  

LRL:  On turn 1 the technicals and any two other vehicles can enter the board.  The remaining vehicles can enter on any other turn at the LRL player's discretion.  The infantry begin the game riding in either any of the troop carrying vehicles except the technicals.  The other vehicles deployed on turn 1 can be troop carrying APCs.  LRL insurgents may be deployed according to the guerrilla special rule.  

Terrain:

4' by 4' board with a east/west road moving through the center of the board.  There are no major water obstacles but a small pond placed anywhere on the board is fine (no larger than 2" circle).  2-4 woods are okay but they should be spaced at least 6" apart.  2-3 buildings should be placed to represent small farm steads.  No more than two small hills should be deployed.  Think open country side suitable for farming.  

Objectives:

LRL:  Sieze all buildings, exit 50% of all vehicles (5 vehicles total) with at least one mounted squad, inflict at least 50% casualties on the Americans.  

US:  Keep full force on the board for at least 6 turns then exit as many units possible (at least 50% or 3 vehicles/squads), disable/destroy at least 50% of all enemy vehicles (5 total),  keep the enemy from exiting 5 or more units/vehicles.  

Game Length:

8 turns.

(Murphy's) Special Event Cards:
One card is drawn if either side rolls a 1 during initiative with the player who rolled the 1 getting to keep the card.  Players may play the card when allowed to by the card.  If both sides roll a 1 (snake eyes!) then each player draws a card.  Cards which are played can go back into the deck to be used again.  

2 Cards:  "You're coming in broken and stupid!"  During an enemy activation, after they roll the activation die, play this card and this unit cannot take any actions at all and the initiative goes to you!

2 Cards:  "Are these critters poisonous? "  Play during any enemy infantry activation.  Each player then rolls a die with the high player getting to pick one trooper in the unit to be attacked with 1 FP with no armor save!

2 Cards:  "Negative on fire support, trooper!"  Play after the enemy rolls to activate a fire support mission.  The mission is canceled and the enemy loses that fire mission completely!

2 Cards:  "What a piece of crap!!!"  Play after the enemy successfully activates a vehicle of any type.  It suffers the following malfunction:
1-2  Engine overheats, vehicle can't move this turn!
3      Fire control goes down, no shooting this turn.
4      JAM!!  One projectile weapon on the vehicle goes down until the unit activates again                    
         and passes an expertise test (treat as a fire action with no actual shot- roll one die).
5      Coms are down!  This unit cannot spot for non-LOS weapons including artillery for the 
        rest of the game.
6     "It's dead, Jim..."  The vehicle suffers a serious breakdown.  Treat as a vehicle destroyed       
       but with no hits to the crew. 

Battle of Centerville Part 1 AAR

The Battle of Centerville Part 1:  The Gunny's Alamo

Okay, after much waffling and wasting of time, plus a hurricane, here's a battle report on my game last month.  It's just the 1st battle in a simple three battle (maybe four!) campaign using FUBAR to decide the fate of the American controlled colony on Crossland Island.  A victory for the LRL will open the door for a massive invasion of the main American colony on planet Liberty.  This battle also marks my first use of Rebel Minis Raptor minis.  These evil beasts are Neo-Soviet bio-warfare cyber-monsters!  These vicious beasts are used as cannon fodder shock troops and are widely exported to nations that don't mind using horrid beasts to do their dirty business.

Force wise this was the largest single battle that I've ever ran at my house:

US OOB:  USCM veteran, US Army seasoned

Two Army rifle squads each with 6 rifles with UGL, 2 SAW.
One Bradley AFV
One Seraph Medium Mech
One USCM rifle section with two squads of four.  Each with a SAW plus Gunnery Sgt Anderson. (this unit is the reserve unit mentioned earlier... I hope I didn't mess up by committing it too soon!)
One M577 APC
One sniper

LRL OOB:  All troops seasoned with one veteran squad.

Four six man Seasoned rifle squads. Two with SAWS, two with RPGs.
One six man Veteran rifle squad with one SAW.
One squad of ten Raptor Cybots.
Two Rockjumper Technicals with HMGs.
One Abrams MBT.
One Neo-Soviet warbot.
Two four man insurgent cells with RPGs.

Both sides had access to three artillery strikes.  As it turned out only the American's fires would really be decisive... which was good because that is half of the US force's available artillery support.  This means that I'll only have three more salvos to split across two more scenarios.  I get the feeling that I'll regret being so aggressive with my reserves and fire support!  

There were only two of us playing:  me and my son Jeremy.  Me and Jer usually "play" one side together and I run, with some help from Jeremy, the "bad guys".  

We decided that the LRL's objectives in the game would be the ruins near the bridge, the bridge itself, and the Alamo.  The side which controlled two of the three would win the game!

After both sides set-up the LRL got to place the two insurgent cells as per the guerrilla special rule.  That worked out great because neither the Army nor Marines had motion trackers!  So the insurgents took up hiding positions just across the river from the main US strongpoint.  This was really irritating too because they were hidden and couldn't be shot at until they move or opened fire!  This would bite us later in the game. 

The rest of the LRL hoard was across the river in this massive hoard formation with the vehicles in the center, the infantry interspaced between the vehicles, and the Raptors forming a skirmish line to the front.  What an artillery target!!! We couldn't wait for our first activation to start laying down the hurt.

On the other side of the river our troops were deployed into strong defensive positions.  Jeremy's Army troops deployed in the Alamo with fire teams in the two main buildings and the rest in the courtyard along the wall.  Up in the tower Jeremy's sniper found a nice hidey hole to hang out in.  The two buildings next the the Alamo, along the river, were occupied by Anderson's marines with one squad in each building.  The vehicles took up positions out of sight but with a good LOS to the bridge.  We had great fields of fire with lots of overlap.  This would be a really tough nut for the LRL to crack. 

The battle opened up very well for us.  

The LRL troops rushed toward the bridge with the Raptors in the lead.  We let them have it when they reached the fighting position in front of the bridge.  Over the next two turns we dropped our artillery on their AFVs and started racking up hits quickly.  One team of four Raptors evaporated in seconds.  Other shells smashed into AFVs and the warbot shutting them down.  It seemed like one vehicle after another was mobility killed or stunned.  That shut down their mobile firepower and ensured that our positions in the Alamo would be safe from heavy LRL guns.  This massing of vehicles was a costly LRL mistake.

This was one really nasty artillery strike that wiped out one LRL squad and trashed the neo-soviet warbot.  The glass beads mark units that have already activated.

Time to rethink things for the LRL!  I decided to split up the Raptors into two teams so that they could cross the river and assault the Marine fighting positions.  Hopefully that would shut down the deadly accurate marine rifle fire and allow the infantry to deploy into good cover and force their way across the river.  

One thing that worried Jeremy to death was the Abrams.  He was certain that it would destroy his Seraph so he begged me to drop our last arty barrage on it in the hopes that it would be destroyed.  I didn't think that it would work but I gave it a shot anyway.

And it worked!  Some great die rolling by Jeremy!  We had be able to stun the beast with the other strikes but inflicted no real damage on it.  Then that last round came in and BOOM!  Up it went on a 6 on the damage table.  Now things were really looking up for our outnumbered yanks.

In the meantime the Raptors made steady progress.  These bad boys made every activation roll and swiftly raced for their targets.  My marines laid down some fires on them but no joy.  The few hits I made were shrugged off by their armor.  It was about to get very ugly...

And then they made their move!!!!  These swift beasts bounded over the river (a special rule allowed them to ignore the river because they could jump across it) and rushed the marine strongpoints.

And in an instant the leathernecks were in hand-to-hand combat with the monsters.  Jeremy really got up-set (hey, he's 9).  "They're gonna die daddy!!!" he moaned!

By the beginning of turn four things were pretty ugly for the Americans.  The two marine positions were in melee with the Raptors which shut-down a lot of US firepower.  The GIs tried to keep up the fire but they just didn't have the LOS that the marines had.  This slacking of fire allowed the LRL's regular troops to move into cover.  Also the new Ultra rules helped a lot too.  Normally Seasoned troops had a 50/50 chance of activating and getting to do something.  If they failed then they were locked into place, and many times, that could last for several turns.  I didn't pass every roll but I was able to move all of my LRL units forward.  This created a lot of tension in the game because we could just see all of the LRL grunts moving up to join the battle.  

Melee actions broke out at the beginning of the turn and luck just wasn't with the Raptors!  My marines had a hot run on the dice and were actually winning most of the combats. The Raptors took down several marines but they lost even more!

These melees lasted for two turns because neither side was willing to back down.  The marines dug in their heels, broke out their K-bars, and mobbed the Raptors.  

Even Gunny Anderson got into the fray by going toe-to-toe with a Raptor.  I just knew that the vaunted gunny was going down but apparently he didn't get the memo!  Anderson killed his foe during turn 4 then joined the other fight in turn 5 and took down that Raptor too!!!  Chalk up two for the gunny!!! 

All of the Raptors were dead by the end of turn 6 but they did their job.  Both marine squads were at 50% and the LRL line squads were able to move into cover.  Once the melees were over waves of small arms fire swept over the marine positions.  The Gunny's was hit the hardest!  Gunny watched as his two remaining marines were shot down by accurate rifle and mg fire.  It was just proving to be too much for the Americans!  We had little choice but to move up our AFVs to support the handful of marines that were left.  The sniper joined in too by picking off both a RPG gunner and a SAW gunner!  That was some sharp shooting. Maybe that would be enough to stave off a LRL rush across the river.

Actually, as it turned out, moving up the AFVs was a very bad idea.  By moving forward we placed our AFVs into enemy RPG range and we instantly paid for it.  The squad on the LRL's right flank got into range and nailed Jeremy's Bradley with a lucky RPG strike.  In quick succession after that the insurgent squads let loose with their RPGs and hit my M577 and the Seraph mech!  My APC was a mobility kill... the Seraph was a total loss.  Now things were really bad.  We lost nearly all of our armor support and the LRL was in solid firing positions and laying down sheets of small arms fire.  I thought that was the game really.   The LRL had already secured the ruined buildings thereby taking that objective.  To win all they needed to do was to move across the bridge and kill my three remaining marines!  By doing that there would no US figures within 12" of the bridge and that would allow them to claim that objective... and in our game claiming two of the there objectives amounted to a win!

And they went for it!  While the other squads laid down fires one LRL veteran team rushed the bridge to secure it.  In response the GIs in the Alamo dumped all the fire that they could into the LRL vets.  My marines concentrated their fires on the two ruins across from the bridge in an attempt to take out the insurgents and the rifle squads.  Even the gunny, who was the last marine in the southern building, joined in on the act by shooting his UGL at a squad of LRL troopers on the opposite bank of the river.

Once again luck was on the side of the Americans!  My fires destroyed both insurgent teams (my remaining marines were shooting grenades and SAWs) while Jeremy's GIs swept the bridge and the teams in light cover along the river.  At least 12 LRL troops went down in one turn either as suppression or causalities .. and the US sniper was on fire too!  He dropped another RPG gunner with a round to the head (a six expertise roll!).  And like that the fire slacked off.  Two LRL squads failed their activation rolls and fell back because they were at 50% strength.  The enemy was broken and had little choice but to fall back.  

We paid dearly for our win.  Only three of my nine marines were unhurt and my APC was a mobility kill.  Jeremy lost both his Bradley and his Seraph and three riflemen, but he still held the Alamo and that was what counted.  But better still my marines were in control of the two outlying buildings and were within 12" of the bridge so we were still able to contest control of the bridge.  The only objective the LRL held were the ruins on the other side of the bridge.  That translated into a minor victory for the US.

It was a really close game!  I honestly thought that we lost the game when our AFVs were wiped out as I didn't see how our infantry could hold.  But hold they did!  And we inflicted some punishing losses on the LRL.  We killed all of their vehicles and insurgents, and we inflicted 6 causalities on the LRL rifle platoon and another three on the veteran LRL squad.  Quite a body count!

Special mention has to be made for Gunnery Sergeant Anderson.  If you've been following my games then you know that he's "my" character sort of like Billy Pink is for Ed at THW. Usually the Gunny gets in a lick or two but in this game the gunny really shone!  I just knew that he was a goner several time but the old sergeant proved me wrong.  He really was a pain in the back to the LRL and an inspiration to his fellow marines.  If it wasn't for him odds are that the LRL would have pulled off a win.  But the Gunny refused to be budged out of his building!  He's hard as nails!

This was my first outing using Craig's suggestions for Ultra FUBAR and it was really a game changer.  This was a very different game from my last FUBAR game:

http://www.rounddownrange.blogspot.com/2012/02/fubar-aar-us-vs-russia.html

Ultra FUBAR takes the basic activation system and changes it by splitting up what a unit can do into two actions.  If you pass your activation roll then you get two actions with the unit and then you can pick another unit to activate when you're done.  If you fail that roll then your unit only gets one activation and they initiative switches to the other player.  That happened a lot for the LRL!  Most of their units were seasoned and they failed their activation rolls as often as they passed them.  Normally in FUBAR this would mean that the LRL would have not been able to really put the numbers together to launch any real sort of attack.  It would have just bogged down into units scattered across the board and unable to launch any sort of coordinated action.  Ultra FUBAR kept that from happening.  Even with one action a unit which fails it activation roll can still do something meaningful!  This caused the tempo of the game to pick-up and made things very interesting.  However play still switched back and forth like in regular FUBAR and neither side got everything it wanted.  That felt right to me.

Anyway, it was a very enjoyable game!  I see Ultra FUBAR as my "go to" game now as it's so easy to set-up and play.  No muss, no fuss.  Just a plain fun game to toss on the table and play out in an easy afternoon (2 or so hours).  I'll keep playing Ambush Alley and THW games because I enjoy them so much but I see FUBAR as my basic game for a quick and fun game.  

If you haven't tried it out yet then you should.  It's a free game that's very simple but has a lot of meat on its bones when it comes to game play.  Give it a go... you won't be sorry.

Anyway, next up is a clash of armor and mecha!  Time to meet the boys of the 26th Cavalry.

Semper fi, carry on...

The Battle of Centerville

Hi all,

I meant to do this post a while ago but Hurricane Sandy decided that she knew better... anyway here is the background and campaign rules for my Centerville Campaign.  I've already played scenario #1 and I'll be playing #2 later today.  

Background:  The Centerville Campaign

The Centerville Campaign is viewed by many historians as the opening gambit of the Liberty-American War of 2081.  While there were several other "police actions", "counter-insurgencies", and "provocations" going on at the same time it was on the equatorial island of Crossland that American and Republic of Liberty of forces engaged in the first formal battles of the Liberty-American War.

The Republic of Liberty has long claimed at least partial sovereignty over the Crossland Island colony by the virtue of being the successor to the French Union on the planet of Liberty.  The United States has long hotly contested this argument by asserting that the French Union sold its interests on Crossland to the US in the days proceeding the peace agreement between the Republic of Liberty and the French Union.  It is true that the FU did agree to transfer sovereignty over Crossland in exchange for an undisclosed, but substantial, monetary payment.  However no international/interstellar body has ever acknowledged the agreement and indeed, even to this day, lawyers are still arguing the point in international court!

The "agreement" between the US and the FU sparked heated protests from the Republic of Liberty and even led to a low level insurgency in the formerly jointly administered territories.  The US, which already had troops in these areas, launched a vigorous counterinsurgency campaign which saw many of the pro-republican partisans killed, jailed, or deported.  This lead to allegations from the Republic that the US was engaged in "ethnic cleansing" of Libertarian French "Habitants" in order to establish American settlements in the disputed lands.   This counterinsurgency effort was still on-going when the LRL's 2eme Brigade stormed onto the shores of Crossland Island.  This invasion was launched in concert with LRL supported uprisings in the northern counties of the Commonwealth.  In addition, the LRL's infant space fleet launched attacks against US Navy high-guard patrols above the planet.  These combined efforts rocked the American forces on their heels and left Liberty Command (LIBCOM, the joint services command on Liberty) in disorder and confusion.  

Indeed, the situation was very ripe for a massive invasion of the disputed territories.

Crossland:  The Opening Battles

In December 2181 US forces on Crossland Island were still heavily engaged in Operation Sudden Fury: an effort to finally break the insurgent siege of Centerville.  Earlier back in June Task Force Bataan, led by Brigadier David Wainwright, launched a massive assault from orbit and landed to the west and behind the Crossland insurgents who were laying siege to the city of Centerville and its vital spaceport.  The assault, supported by Navy frigates in orbit, broke the siege lines and sent the surviving rebels reeling back into the swamps in the Crossland River Basin which lay to the east of the city.  Task Force Bataan immediately gave chase and soon found itself scattered all across the eastern side of the island- split into platoon and strike group sized elements and garrisoning dozens of small Forward Operating Bases (FOBs).  The situation on Crossland quickly against US forces when the 2eme Brigade arrived.

During the early morning hours of December 7, 2081 three LRL battalions (21eme RI, 22 eme RI, and 23 eme RI)  landed, unopposed, on the northern shore of Crossland Island and swiftly began moving inland.  Only elements of C Company, 2/31st Infantry were in position to meet the invasion.  While C Company's counterattack delayed the LRL's advance for a short time, it was soon clear that there simply weren't enough forces available to seriously contest the LRL's advance.  General Wainwright had very little choice but to order his scattered Regular Army and Army National Guard troops to fall back on the island's captial: Centerville.  In addition, Wainwright ordered TF Bataan elements engaged in counterinsurgency operations around the Crossland Basin to move concentrate on Centerville for a stand against the LRL.  Finally the general called on LIBCON's reserve, the 11th MAU, to board their dropships and to reinforce Centerville from orbit.  

By December 9th, 2081 the LRL regiments were only a few miles outside of Centerville and only facing scattered resistance from Liberty ANG and Defense Force elements lead by US Special Forces A-team detachments.  Centerville was soon faced with three fast moving LRL battalions advancing on the city from the north, west, and the east.  Wainwright moved the scant forces under his command to cover the approaches to the city.  His only hope of saving the city was to delay the LRL forces long enough for the 11th MAU to come to the rescue.  To the north he deployed the remnants of C Company, 2/31 Infantry to cover the river crossing at Dover and to protect the National Guard Armory there.  To the west Wainwright moved C Troop, 1/26 Cav to screen the approaches along Highway 7.  Finally to the east the general moved up elements of 2/4th Marines and their CAAT platoon to screen the eastern approaches: Highway 7.  In reserve Wainwright only had a few sections of 2/4th Marines, one of which was moved to reinforce the 31st Infantry at Dover.  

The situation for the American forces in Centerville was as clear as it was desperate: All three defense lines MUST HOLD in order for the 11th MAU to land and counterattack.  Failure at any point would see LRL troops moving into the city center could lead to the fall of the vital aerospace port.

The Campaign

I'm looking at four linked scenarios.  The first three have LRL units attacking three different US defense forces:  a USA infantry platoon reinforced by Marines, a US Armored Cavalry platoon equipped with Valkyrie mecha, and a USCMC platoon with some HUMVEEs supporting them.  LRL forces will be roughly reinforced platoon sized forces standing in for the LRL "regiment" that is attacking the city of Crossland.  The final battle will be either an open-field action between a mechanized USCMC company (11th MAU) and a LRL company (standing in for the remaining LRL 2eme Brigade forces) or a urban clash between the surviving US forces and the LRL invaders.  

My first battle report will cover the battle at Dover (the Alamo).  My second will cover the clash between a mechanized LRL force and the US armored cavalry west of town.  The third will be a small town action with my USCMCs trying to defend the eastern approaches of Centerville.  The final action will depend on who wins the first three.  If the US suffers even one defeat then the LRL gets to invade Centerville and that action will resolve the campaign.  If the US gets at least a draw in all three actions then the LRL gets to face the 11th MEU in the open country east of town.  This will be a mechanized clash with tanks, apcs, and other vehicles.  

Prior to the scenario beginning, the US players can decide to commit their USCMC reserves (one USCMC section with an M577 APC) to the battle.  Once the reserve is committed the US play has no other reserves!  The LRL player has only the forces committed to the battle and no reserves.  However he does have access to indirect artillery support (three barrages in each battle) to represent their battalion mortar assets and the brigade's artillery assets.  The US player has a total of 6 artillery barrages that he can use however he wants in the campaign.  But once all six are used then he no longer has artillery support unless he wins/draws all three battles in which case he gets three new barrages to represent fire support from US Navy frigates in orbit.

More later!

More Ultra-FUBAR updates from Craig

Hi all,

Craig just tossed this out for FUBAR:


Choice   Actions         Effect
Move   One   An infantry unit can move 6”, a vehicle possibly further. 
Shoot   One  The Unit can fire at an enemy, see Ranged Combat.
Fight   One        The Unit can carry on with close combat against an enemy that is already in close combat with it.
Assault   Two The Unit can move up to an enemy and engage in Close Combat.
Run           Two The Unit can make a double move.
Aimed Fire  Two        The Unit can fire at an enemy with a ranged combat bonus of +1.
Disengage   Two       The Unit can withdraw from close combat one move (i.e. 6” for infantry).
Overwatch   Two The Unit reserves its action until later in the turn, when it can then fire at an enemy.
Counter-attack Two  The Unit reserves its action until later in the turn when it is assaulted by an enemy. Counter-attacking denies the assault its assault bonus.

Sorry about the formatting issues up there.  Anyway, this is a nice step in the direction of getting the activation system.  I'll play around with them some and get them into my Liberty FUBAR 15mm set.  I'm assuming that vehicles follow these rules as well with a shoot activation allowing an AFV to fire off all of its weapons unless the unit has a special rule for that.  

Looks like some cool stuff that I'll have to try out with my next game.

My version of FUBAR Ultra

In my last game I tried out FUBAR with some of the Ultra changes that were suggested here:

http://www.forgeofwar.uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=229

I also tried out some of the suggested movement rates for 15mm too.  After playing with all these rules from hither and yon I decided to up-date my copy of FUBAR so that I could have all of my rules in one place.  So I took that one page format and tried to change it in MS Word... didn't really work right!  What an annoying mess.  It goes to show you what a tight editing job Craig and company did to squeeze all of text and tables into just one standard page of paper!

So be warned, this isn't a one page FUBAR any more.  It's more like 8!  

So what's in it?  First I changed around the activation rules to incorporate the Ultra suggestions.  Then I switched out the movement rates to the suggested 15mm rates which took a little figuring.  I'm not sure what I think about the smaller movement rates though.  4" in one turn seems a bit too little for infantry as does 8" for vehicles.  I might have to look that over again to make sure I have the correct rates.  Finally I added a few clarifications for suppression and assault rifles with under/over grenade launchers.

Anyway, here it is:

Tgunner FUBAR Draft 1.0

The Gunny's Last Stand? FUBAR Ultra Pt 1

Hi All,

Well we just wrapped up our game a few minutes ago and man, what a game!  It was a rip-snorting, good ole fashion, shoot-em up! I've played FUBAR several times now and I've have had a lot of fun with it.  But I've always come away from it feeling disappointed, or even cheated, when it came to the activation system.  Then back  in August Craig posted this as a set of activation rules to consider for the next version of FUBAR:

"I am thinking that we would be better moving to a system similar to, but a little simpler than, Dead Men Walking, i.e.:

Roll Activation die:

- If you roll equal to or more than the required activation number your unit can take two actions this turn.

- If you roll less than the required activation number your unit gets only one action this turn.

The list of possible actions could include:

- Move

- Shoot

- Assault (move to enemy and attack them - takes two actions)

- Run (double move - takes two actions)

- Aimed Fire (+1 to shooting rolls - takes two actions)

- Disengage from close combat (single move away from combat - takes two actions)

- Overwatch, reserving your fire until later in the turn (takes two actions)

- Counter-attack, reserving your action until you are assaulted later in the turn, denying the assaulter his assault bonuses (takes two actions)

So as you can see this opens up a huge number of tactical options, but doesn't disproportionately punish the player who made the poor roll."

So I tried it out tonight and I have to say, it's a real, honest game changer!  Tonight's game was so much more satisfying than any of my other games of FUBAR.  

So back to the game.  I started with only a few squads per side then my son, Jeremy, announced that he wanted to play so I really expanded the game!  This was easily the largest game, figure wise, that I've ever played in 15mm.  

Here's the line-up:

USCMC Section- Gunny Anderson, two rifle squads of four men, and one M577 APC.

US Army platoon- two seven man squads split into two fire teams with 3/4 men (the 4 man team had the squad leader).  The US Squads had no MGs, just M41 Pulse rifles with grenade launchers! The platoon also had one Seraph scout mech, a sniper, and a Bradley III MICV attached.

Supporting the US force was a RAM mortar platoon with three salvos.  Either the gunny or the Army LT could call it on a 4+.  It has a 2" blast zone and hits with 4 FP on a 4+.

The LRL was much larger and much more scary!

The center piece of the force was a full LRL rifle platoon with three six man squads: one with a MMG, the other two with RPGs.  The CP team had four men and the LT could call arty like the Americans.

The LRL hoard in all its glory!

Supporting the LRL platoon were two four person Centerville insurgent cells with four people- 3 ARs and a fourth trooper carrying an AR and a RPG (with just one shot).  Also the LRL brought two light armored technicals armed with a HMG, on M1A4 Step III MBT (heavy armor, heavy gun, HMG), a Neo-Soviet Cylon Class gunbot (light vehicle with light armor and two HMGs), and finally 10 Neo-Soviet Raptor I Class Cyber-Driods (treated as Aliens style bugs).  

The LRL's objective was simple:  clear the last remains of the USA/USCM's defenses in front of the city of Centerville on Crossland Island and secure the National Guard armory in the town.  To win the LRL had to take the bridge across the Crossland River and secure the armory.  To win the US player has to stop them!

It was an ugly situation.  When I set-up the armory I got this feeling... it was the Alamo!

The Alamo with the bridge to its front

Indeed, it was an ugly fight and it cost the US and the LRL dearly!  Both sides took awful losses in the fight.  The butcher's final bill still isn't known yet.  I still have to roll on the survival table to see.  But regardless the Americans held but only barely.  While the Neo-Soviets haven't reached the battlefield, yet, their reach was felt.  The Raptor attack bots were swift and terrible foes.  Even the Gunny had to go toe-to-toe with these horrible beasts!

The Gunny's Last Stand????

Good thing the old Gyrene brought his K-Bar!!  I took a lot more pictures of the game and I'll write-up a more formal, blow-by-blow of this epic struggle this weekend when I have time.

Needless to say, I'm very impressed with this new FUBAR Ultra.  It still keeps the feel of the older versions but it's more dynamic.  Even if you fail an activation roll you still get to do something with the unit that you tried to activate and that did lead to many tense moments in the game.  Ultra FUBAR is a much more dynamic, and more importantly, fun game.  I think I've found my easy standby game for modern and sci-fi gaming.  When I want a harder, crunchier game I'm reaching for Force-on-Force. But when I want a simple, beer and pretzels game to toss dice and blow stuff up Ultra FUBAR is my game.  

Try it out, really, it's a serious game changer!

Anyway, more later.

Semper fi, carry on.

USCMs and the LRL in FUBAR

I'm getting ready for my FUBAR game set for tomorrow night so I decided to go ahead and stat out my forces for the game.  I want a fairly quick game so I'm fielding only a section of USCMs and a couple of squads of LRLs with some technicals in support.  In addition to the usual FUBAR rules I'm using stuff from the Afganistan module and the Khurasan 15mm module.  Because I'm using 15mm I'm using the following mods to the movement rules:


 Walk–4”
 Duck & Weave or Assault – 6”
 Run–8”
 GotoGround–2”

So here is my OOB:

Alpha Section, 1st Platoon

Gnry Sgt Anderson:  Elite with M41 Pulse Rifle and Medium Armor

A: 2+ E: 4+ Save 5+

The Gunny has been there, done that.  Bugs?? So what.  Rebels.. yawn.  It's just another day in the Corps.

1st Squad:  Cpl Miranda, PFC Jordan (M56), Pvt Cooper, Pvt Juariz

Miranda is a Veteran, all the other marines are Seasoned.  Good old Jordan has grown a lot of the last year!  He's a fireteam leader now.  Miranda might be bumped up to Sergeant if he pulls off this mission and take over Alpha section.

2d Squad:  LCpl Higgins, PFC Crossley (M56), Pvt Mohammed, Pvt Franks

The whole squad is Seasoned.  Notice that Crossley is now a PFC! He won the Purple Heart a few months ago and recovered enough to return to duty with Alpha.  He's a fireteam boss too. 

All Marines are wearing medium armor.  The individual marines are armed with either M41A Pulse Rifles or M56 Smart Guns with the following stats:

AR:  24" 1 FP; 12" 2FP SUSAT sights with give +1 FP if the unit doesn't move (only AR)

GL:  16" (min 8") 3FP
M56 Smart Gun:  Same as light machine gun but with a SUSAT sight.

Supporting Anderson's section is a M577 APC:

Move: 12"  Armor: Medium  Weapons: Plasma cannon (Light cannon) Heavy MG.  2 Crewmen (Seasoned Driver and Commander/Gunner).

OPFOR

Going up against the boys of Alpha section are more LRL soldats.  These guys cracked Army heads last year near Centreville and now they're looking to seal the deal by taking out the Gunny's marines.  

3ème Peloton, 1ère Compagnie, 21e RI. 2d brigade d'infanterie

CP:  Sous-lieutenant Antoine DuValle, 1 Sgt, 2 PVTs

All seasoned.  DuValle is armed with a SMG, the Sgt and the PVTs are armed with ARs.  

1st Squad:  Cpl Jean Ouellette, 1 RPG, 4 Rifles
Cpl and RPG seasoned, others green.

2d Squad:  Cpl Pierre Devereux, 1 LMG, 4 Rifles
As 1st Squad.

3d Squad:  Cpl David Bellard, 1 RPG, 4 Rifles
Only the NCO is seasoned, the RPG and rifles are green.

All LRL troopers are Green, NCOs and special weapons troopers are seasoned.  All are armed with ARs and wearing light body armor.  LMGs and RPGs use the usual game rules.

Green Rating for LRL:  LRL troops are generally inexperienced but very eager troops.  They activate on 4+ and have an expertise of 6+.  The suppress as normal green troops.  Squad leader experience levels count toward their own shooting and activating the unit.  Otherwise the whole unit counts as green.

2 Technicals in support:
Rockjumper Pickup. Seasoned, Light Vehicle Armor. Armed with a Heavy Machine Gun.  There may be some Centerville Insurgent Cells in the action too...