Saturday 2 August 2014

Action at Anvil Gate

Of late Michael of Angel barracks has been coming over on a Monday evening for a game of KR-16, a chance for both of us to get a game in despite the demands of work and family. A nightmare journey, due to the ever present it seems roadworks in Bristol, saw Michael arrive late, but a black coffee courtesy of SWMBO saw him restored to health. After the usual chat about all things gaming, we were ready getdown to business.

The scenario saw my BPI troops pitted against Michael's RDF, with the aim to locate an informant hidden in Anvil Gate, who wanted to reveal secrets of the BPI drilling operations nearby to the RDF. The aim was for me to capture him for a major win, or kill him for a minor one. For the RDF it was to extract him back across their table edge.

The game kicked off with both sides making a stuttering start towards the Anvil Gate compund. By Turn Two I'd managed to get a squad inside ready to start the search, with the rest of my forces strung out, trying to catch up under the cover of a smoke screen. My initial search failed to locate the informant in two buildings, so by then another squad had arrived and the two squads fanned out to increase the search area.

At this point Michael's RDF troops started to arrive in the compound, and the scene was set for a shoot out in and amongst the habitation pods of Anvil Gate. Lady Luck was with Michael at this point as his first turn of searching saw him locate the informant, which was rather awkward, as most of my forces had still not made it to the compound, but neither had Michael's.

The action now changed rather dramatically, with my troops trying to take out the informants squad, who were naturally trying to withdraw from the compound under covering fire from their comrades. The RDF troops started taking casualties straight away, but were still able to exit the compund. Outside, by Ramjack AFVs started taking hits from the RDF Pathfinder Rangers and Archer IFVs, limiting my ability to move and shoot. My Walker unit gave as good as it got, inflicting hits on the Pathfinder Archer, damaging its targeting system.

The RDF troops started to withdraw from Anvil Gate as best they could, but were taking heavy casualties, despite the use of smoke to cover their retreat. Both sides AFVs and IFVs were severely damaged, but my Ramjacks lived up to their name, ramming all but one of the RDF IFVs, causing them enough damage to render them inoperable. So far my BPI troops had not sustained a single casualty.

As the action left Anvil Gate, it was touch and go as to whether the RDf would be able to extract the informant safely off their table edge. With all their vehicles destroyed, they were forced to rely upon shank's pony as their only means of escape. In the end, the crucial initiative roll favoured the RDf, who were able to leave the table safely, but at a heavy cost to their forces. Both sides had lost all of their vehicles, but the RDf had lost around half of their troops compared to no losses for the BPI. A Phyrric victory if there ever was one!

Well it was certainly an entertaining game, full of action and cinematic moments and went right down to the wire. What more could you ask for? Sadly we did not have time to take photos, as the light was not good and frankly we were too caught up in the game. Our aim in the future is to try and have some form of mini-campaign, so that you really have to husband your forces, rather than blow the all in one game. We're not sure how we're going to do it, but it could be lots of fun if we get it right.

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