Last week was an Avrupan campaign week and I finally gave the Fast and Dirty rules a go with a small game with just infantry figures, attacker against a dug-in defender, table being 3 feet by 4 feet. After three turns I gave up with the new rules and went back to my own set. There were some features of F.A.D. I liked and which I will incorporate into my rules, I found the Firing too slow and the Quality checking to do things slowed everything up as well.

So I restarted the game using my rules, which are based on WW2 Crossfire, and played it out successfully. However, it was one of those Crossfire games where the attacker barely lost the initiative and ran rings round the defence, who barely got a look in! A convincing win for the attackers, although they did use a lot of off-board artillery support as well.

I played it solo - Future Wars/Sci-fi is not something my regular opponents are interested in at all - and allocated the defence to bunkers/trenches randomly, decided the attackers would advance in three main groups, and gave them the option of bringing in armour if the going got difficult. The idea was that the attack is trying to break through border defences and thus open the way for a further advance by mobile forces.

The defence had 18 figures in two sections of three squads of 3 figures each.

The attack had three sections of three squads of 3 figures each, plus an attached HQ section with three squads of support weapons (LMG, AT, Flame) and an engineer section of 3 figures.

The hamlet - all homemade from plastic items - air fresheners, dessert pot, bottle lid and bottle corks. The foliage is made from plastic fish tank plants. The road is by S&A Scenics.

Overview of the battlefield before the defences are put on, with a major road, gully, dunes,

rock formations and other foliage areas/items.

The battlefield with the defences added - wire obstacles, trenches, bunkers, dragon's teeth, and minefields - the latter are the brighter yellow rectangles.

The rock formation - made from that polystyrene packing stuff.

Homemade bunker from a small plastic box, plus some commercially made sandbags.

Trenches made from the same sandbags, plus a bunker from a bottle top.

Another homemade bunker.

A defensive point bought years ago - it has an AT gun and AA missile pod.

The attack had a pre-planned bombardment - they hit the bunkers. The explosion markers are homemade from pipe cleaners, an idea I got from a WW2 enthusiast at my local club.

The off board artillery support for the attack - two Old Crow missile launchers.

The dice are used to record fire missions - they have a maximum of nine each.

The attackers move forward. All figures are Denizen 25mm.

The black counter is used to show a hidden unit, which means it has gone 

to ground and cannot be seen or fired upon.

Smoke screen to conceal the infantry squad as it moves up to cut the wire obstacle.

More incoming artillery fire, plus smoke, as the attackers move to assault the bunker.

Bunker captured easily - the defenders had already been destroyed by the artillery fire!

Moving around the defenders' left flank. The blue counter shows the unit in the trench is pinned down.

More artillery support called down - the red counter shows the unit in the bunker is suppressed.

HQ squad with AT weapon - suppressed by fire from the defence.

A trench is assaulted - two squads can combine in close combat.

Another close combat - I put the defenders on the table to make things easier when

working out the results of the fighting.

Game's end, with the defenders in the central bunker surrendering - the white counter - all the rest having been destroyed. The arrows show the lines of advance by the attackers.

I also managed to do some painting of models for Avrupan. This is a 1/72nd scale modern artillery piece made by A to Z Build and Play in plastic which I got at my local garden centre. I cut down the long barrel and am going to use it as an assault gun instead.

Two armoured personnel carriers which I bought years ago at a show from Antenocitis, now sadly closed down I heard, which I finally got round to painting.

The APC is much bigger in scale than the assault gun, more designed for 28mm figures than 25 mm.

Last of all, an Old Crow lorry, painted up for the logistics sections of my Avrupan forces.