The Lost Battle And A New SNAFU

The following pictures are from a game I played over a year ago. It's been so long that I can't remember much about it, other than that it was a playtest of an earlier version of the SNAFU vehicle rules. Still, I thought you lot might appreciate the eye candy.

In other news, I had a great weekend at Trumpeter Salute in Vancouver. I picked up some of JR Miniatures' rubber roads, and got to play MERCS and Malifaux. I really liked MERCS, and wouldn't mind picking up the minis for it at some point, though they are rather pricey.

Malifaux was quite interesting. It is a diceless game, being entirely driven by a standard deck of playing cards (with both jokers left in). This got me thinking about the card based initiative system in SNAFU. The current card system in SNAFU is based on custom card decks for each game, not unlike the card systems of TooFatLardies rules. The problem was that I always found it a bit awkward with how activation cards worked, and specifically the number of them in the deck vs the number of units on table always seemed very flawed and didn't make much sense. After some thinking, I came up with a card system that uses a regular deck of playing cards. I have played two test games with this system and have found it works very well. I also removed all measuring from the game. Movement is from terrain piece to terrain piece, and shooting is at anything in line of sight like Arty Conliffe's excellent Crossfire rules. I used this new movement system in both playtests as well. Together, these new mechanics make SNAFU more dynamic and just plain better. I will be writing up a new edition of the rules in the near future, though it might take a month or two before it appears online, as I have been quite busy with my other hobby (music) lately.

Anyway, here are the pictures from the lost battle.

15mm Post-Apoc Gangers

Some pics of my 15mm post-apoc stuff. Most of the minis are made by Khurasan, with a few from 15mm.co.uk. The pictures were originally done for a school-related project (a class on Apocalyptic Films). I got an A too!

SNAFU Update

Just a quick note to say that vehicles rules are up, as well as a revised version of the base SNAFU rules: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/teatimegames/

SNAFU - My Sci-Fi Rules

Well, I've decided to post my modern/sci-fi skirmish rules the web. I think the infantry rules are finally at the point I want them to be at. Games seem to flow well, and the mechanics work. I have posted the rules to this newly created yahoo group, for both my own and my buddy's rule writing ventures: http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/teatimegames/

If you have an aversion to yahoo groups, you can download the rules here: http://www.mediafire.com/?j2uz202iv2rs7k8

The nice thing with the yahoo group is it easily facilitates discussion of the rules, but it's your call.

These rules are still very much in development, so feedback is welcomed.

Vehicle rules (and other things) coming soon.

Another week, another battle...

I had another game last week to try out some minor tweaks to the rules. Went alright, though ended up being more lopsided than I had expected. Still some more tweaks to make to the rules (mainly rallying and the melee mechanics). Then I can finally start on the vehicle rules! I took lots of pics of the game, and I will do a bit of a running commentary to help you follow the action.

The basic scenario was that a platoon of Colonial Marines (5 fireteams and a HMG team) are holding a valuable cluster of crystals in the ruins of a town. Assaulting them through the mountain passes was 6 fireteams of armoured Red troopers plus 2 teams of Red power armour. I gave a maximum of 20 turns for the Reds to seize the crystals, but the game ended around turn 14.

I set-up the Marines first, then I randomly determined which side the Red teams would approach from. This resulted in 4 teams of regulars and a team of power armour deployed on the western board edge, while 2 teams of regulars and a team of power armour came from the east.


The meager red forces coming from the east.

The more substantial western assault force.

2 teams of marines plus the HMG hold the west edge of town.

Another 2 teams hold the eastern edge of town.

While the 5th team is in the center of town near the crystal as a reserve.

"Hold the line!"

The HMG would prove quite deadly.

The Reds begin the advance from the west.

The reserve team moves to reinforce the western edge of town.

A single Red team from the west moved north through the woods to hit the Marines in the flank.

The assault in the west begins to get bogged down under heavy fire from the Marines.

Both Power Armour teams preformed pretty poorly, getting bogged down by both casualties and Stress Points.

The Red team begins its flank attack.

After a few turns exchanging fire, the Reds assaulted! They killed 2 Marines and forced the surviving 2 to rout.

Meanwhile on the eastern side of town a protracted firefight developed between these two units. Neither was able to inflict significant casualties, nor have the strength to try an assault.

The HMG team pulled back away from the assaulting Red team to the north.

After rallying off their Stress Points this team of power armour rejoined the attack on the west, only to get cut down by a combination of HMG and small arms fire, eventually routing.

Despite their gains, these Reds found the Marines' firepower too much to bear and were also routed.

The surviving marines on the western edge hold out together.

The western edge of town at games end. The few remaining Red units' morale broke and the assault was over. The marines held the town!