A Wargamer's Journal

I finally bit the bullet and decided to have a game of my Future Wars style figures, which I have rather neglected for the last five years or so because I have never managed to find a set of rules I liked. So, dusting off my homemade version of "Crossfire for Future Wars", which I had always enjoyed, but which take a lot of adjusting to as a style of rules, So I played a small game from my Avrupan Campaign (Avrupan is an arid/desert world with a variety of small states on a single, large continent), one company of infantry with APC and off-board artillery and on-board gunship support, attacking a defended position with wire obstacles, minefields. I played the game solo, which was easy in this case, I took the attacking role, with the defence just having to hold their positions and shoot at anything that they could see.

Background - the Action at Hamlet PR 771 involves a company of the I.S.A. (Irkan Supremacist Alliance) 10 Motorised Infantry Battalion leading the advance of the Assault Force VIII, one of several armies taking part in the invasion of the Polonyan Republic. Their opponents are the P.R. (Polonyan Republic) 45th Border Company. The I.S.A. objectives are to clear the road obstacles, secure the hamlet and force the defenders to retreat; the P.R. objectives are to hold their positions and delay the enemy advance.

A view down the table (3' wide by 4' long) from the I.S.A. end. Hamlet 771 is to the left centre, the hills are sand dunes, the gully is banked by various clumps of foliage, with a large copse to the far left and a smaller one to the far right of the table.

An aerial view of the table. The hills and gully were bought many years ago, I do not remember the manufacturer now, nor who made the tarmac road. The foliage is all made from plastic fish tank plants to provide an exotic style of flora to Avrupan. The buildings are made from plastic food pots.

An aerial view of the table with the defences placed: barbed wire obstacles, sandbag positions (squad size, i.e. three figures under my rules), a Sentinel Defence Unit (S.D.U. - reacts to hostile movement) on the top of the table, next to the hamlet's resources building, dragon's teeth obstacles on the road, and minefields (6" by 2" yellow felt shapes). The latter are removed before play begins so the attacker does not know where they are. All the minefields are passive types, so are only detonated by troops or vehicles passing across them.

Hamlet 771, with its S.D.U. The purple plants I use to represent a food crop, hence the neat aligning of the bases. The strange structure by the buildings I use as a power unit; it was made form an old pond pump filter.

Another view of Hamlet 771. The sandbag positions are homemade from resin sandbags; the barbed wire obstacles are also homemade, the wire is made by Pegasus, but it needs a bit of weathering still!

The I.S.A enter the table. Old Crow (no longer in production as far as I can tell, but correct me if I am wrong) resin APC, with Denizen Miniatures metal figures (true 25mm).

For my rules, a section has nine men in three squads, two squads with Assault Rifles/Carbines and one squad with a Light Support Weapon, i.e. GPMG, and two riflemen.

I really like the Denizen figures - think of the troops in the movie ALIENS for the style of uniform and equipment, and anatomically correct for their scale, slim not chunky! However, they are old figures and the range does not have any heavy support weapons, which is something I have not managed to address yet, as more recent ranges are not very compatible with the Denizen figures. Suggestions are welcome.

This APC has an AT missile pod as its armament.

All the infantry part of the I.S.A. company is now on the table, with a smoke screen covering the central gap in the foliage along the gully to conceal the troops and vehicles from the defenders' S.D.U.

An HQ APC, with the HQ squads de-bussing - a flamethrower squad to the left, LAW to the right; the HQ Section also has a LSW squad. These can be attached to ordinary squads under the rules.

A view from behind the defenders' S.D.U. Hedges and sand dunes (they are not high hills as in most wargames) conceal infantry from sight, while vehicles count as hull down. Copses and clumps of foliage hide everything from view.

A view from the sandbag position on a dune behind Hamlet 771. Not much to see at all.

The gunship passes over the table. I got this resin model from Antenocitis Workshop at the Salute show many years ago, but I do not think they still make it.

The company's recon car (another Old Crow model) moves up on the right flank concealed by a dense smoke screen provided by the off-board artillery support.

The recon car's AT missile pod takes out the S.D.U. The blast effect model is made from coloured pipe cleaners. I got the idea from a WW2 enthusiast at my local club. They are cheap and easy to make and quite effective.

The I.S.A. infantry move forward across the gully and into cover.

The company is now in position to launch their attack. By this point it was clear that someone was going to have to emerge from cover and do something, otherwise the game was going to be an easy win for the defenders!

The HQ flamethrower squad led the way, but ended up Suppressed as they rushed along the road. The red counter indicates their status; I intend to replace counters with more aesthetically pleasing markers in the future. The strange object on the road ahead is the base of the gunship's stand.

A rifle squad tries to get forward and runs into a minefield and is Suppressed as well.

An APC moves up in support and enters another minefield. It survives the die roll, but does not move again in order to avoid any damage. The LSW squad on the left has been pinned by enemy fire, hence the blue counter. Suppressed units cannot do anything until they rally; Pinned troops cannot move, but can still fire.

A view from behind the attackers' line. Still not enough men getting forward and the flamethrower squad in the centre has now been destroyed by enemy fire.

Smoke screens got used a lot by the I.S.A. side. Here they have pushed infantry forward under cover of the screen and a sand dune, the forward defenders' positions having been overrun.

The attackers get to the edge of Hamlet 771.

Attacking infantry moving along the road.

The view from behind the defenders' lines.

The attackers' right flank section finally emerges from cover and pushes forward.

The I.S.A.'s company engineer/supply section: an Old Crow Light Truck and load with Denizen figures.

The engineer squad blew up the dragon's teeth and cleared the road across the gully.

At this point it was clear the defence could not do much more, as they were down to only two sandbag positions, each with an LSW squad, so I declared the I.S.A. attackers as winners.