Get To the Boat! (TSATF Small Unit Street Fight)

This was the second battle I put on at Recon 2017 in Orlando.  Thanks to Sgt. Guinness for providing all his buildings and Walls for this scenario.  I really appreciated that. 

This was my first TSATF small unit battle that was inspired from many movies out there in various themes.  I wanted to do something a little different and it is of course a battle you can play with many different skirmish rules.  

You will see by the scenario sheet several interesting "things" I threw in.  One was the small unit which is talked about on numerous threads using TSATF.  The allied units were ten (10) man/woman units and the Dervish hordes being 12 man.  The Allies had two (2) Elite British units,  a Grenadier Guard and Royal Marine squad along with two (2) Egyptian units and the government house civilians.  The Dervish surge would come from anywhere in the city and would become more intense in later turns.  Initially the Dervish were able to deploy four units.  Two per Dervish player.  Then the next turn 1 each and then on turn 3 two each again.  And as a GM you can adjust the “surge” as you see fit based on the number of players.  

You can read the scenario brief but you can see it is set in the Sudan along the Nile.  The heavy Gunboat Cairo was sent upriver to evacuate the government staff due to fears of a second uprising.  Well it happened.  At the Gov. house the civilian "squad" and the Grenadier Guards have to plan their escape to the dock.  At the docks the Cairo has disembarked two Egyptian squads and the Royal Marines.  

For the Dervish unit insertion I used the very nice method taken from the nicely done Ambush Alley by way of "hot spots."  These spots were placed in the city area which serve as Dervish insertion points.  As long as they were active the Dervish could deploy and move from these spots.   If the allies had them in sight they could not deploy there.  Or if they were destroyed permanently by having a figure stand on it for a turn.  It proved to be very interesting and enjoyable to all.  Again something different.

It was a very tense battle designed to go 10 turns but to be played a couple of times in a session which we did.  The first was an allied success where the Civilians made it to the safety of the boat.  This blog will focus on this one.  

The second one however was definitely a Dervish success because they actually cutoff the city from the boat making it impossible to advance to the docks.  We had a fight where the Egyptians could not even get into the gates due the Dervish tactic of feeding in troops close to the gates preventing the rescuers from even getting into the city.  Bloody fight at the gate and Grenadier Guards decided to get back into the Government house and go under siege.  It was a lot of fun.

I hope you enjoy the scenario, please feel free to comment on the rules or anything you see here.

Oh, the rules...If you take a look at the scenario sheet you will see the special rules.  One was making the British pretty tough so they can stand up in a city fight.  Egyptians fought as normal.  Dervish units only carried melee weapons.  Eliminated the stragglers, leaderless move and morale checks on the Brits unless they had to rally from a melee.  Guards and RM received more bonuses defending and charging.  All units moved 3d6 unless you were in close order.  You should the scenario sheet clearly.  They seemed to work great and kept the battle moving nicely.  Since the Dervish had no firing, right after all movement was done they immediately took their shots.  It made it simple.  Only wounded civilians were NOT to be left behind.  The small map here is made with an app called Paper 53.  It was just one of my map plans.  You you might notice two gates.  That is the way it should be played.  It provides more variances to the battle.  We changed this in the second battle to look like this.  It is very rough.  

This was a desperate situation.

Last Stand Dan

Recon 2017 - Bombardment in the Sudan (Gunboat Action)

This is the first of two battles I put on at Recon 2017 in Orlando last week.  The setup was easy thanks to some excellent terrain features by Bill's Gamer Garage.  The boats are from the Last Stand Dan Boatyard.  Three B Class Sidewheelers armed with a Heavy and Medium gun fore and aft.  And the infamous and unlucky stern wheeler Giza commanded by now legendary Captain Lucas.  All had a handful of Royal Marines.  

So the scenario is actually laid out below on the scenario sheet that was handed to all.  The one page sheet was meant to have most of what you need to play the battle except for the individual Boat Data sheets.  

The Dervish had two shoreline batteries which turned out to be very deadly.  They also had two Dhows loaded with warriors and two gunboats of their own.  All of the Dervish Commanders, Emirs' Andy, Bill and Robert played very well holding their own and stopping the British advance although losing the final tally.  The British attack started out well but didn't really develop as well as they had planned.

If didn't help when early on the Giza took a serious hit which almost sank her and then another hit by Dervish gunboats and shore guns that took out her main gun and finally put her down.  Captain Jones and Hogan received honorable mention taking out dervish guns and protecting and saving the Giza crew.  British Captain Bill on the left flank took on and sank two dhows and a gunboat after repelling two Dhows from boarding and fighting off Emir Andy's Gunboat boarding attempt.  It was a short bloody affair where the Royal Marines killed and wounded all of the boarders then cutting the lines as the gunboat sank.  

With that last action the British scored the last victory points although the mission was not totally a success.  

The Dervish sank the Giza for 16 points where the British scored six points for the three guns, 8 points for the two Dhows and 8 points for the one gunboat.  Final score was 18 to 16.  One of those unexpected mixed up victory results.  Yes the British scored the points but no the Channel is not clear of a Dervish gunboat and a full battery to the South.  

Hopefully you will be able to read the scenario and the Victory points off the sheet.  I think everyone had a good time.

If there are any questions please let me know!  dagurule@me.com

The pictures have some of the story in them.  

Last Stand Dan

Recon 2017 or Bust!

Well the day has finally come, Recon 2017 in Orlando, Florida!  Tomorrow morning Bill of Bill's Gamer Garage and I are hitting the road starting here in Denver.  This time we will take a more southern route through Houston, then along the Gulf to the convention site.  Half the fun is in the Journey.  We are already planning a visit to the Civil War Naval Museum in Atlanta on the way back.  Can't wait!

Bill and I are bringing the usual stuff; Loads of excellent terrain, Dhows, Gunboats, Congo Boats, 15mm Dhows and Gunboats.

I will also be putting on two scenarios.  The first is a Sudan Bombardment. A kind of introductory river battle using my Gunboat and Dhows! rules.  Gunboats will be subject to entrenched batteries and maybe a couple of Dervish boats might make an appearance.  There will be plenty of boat action in this one.  

The second scenario called Get to the Boat! will be using modified rules from The Sword and the Flame.  We will be using small units in this one where the Government staff are making a run to the docks.  The heavy Gunboat Cairo has disembarked units to clear an escape path.  It will be an interesting city fight where the Dervish can appear from hidden locations around the board.  As the battle rages on the Dervish attacks will of course become more intense.  Should be a lot of Bloody fun.

Hope to see you there...Last Stand Dan