Fistful of Lead playtest

 After reading on various wargaming forums/forae singing the praises of Wiley Games' Fistful of Lead, I decided to try it out as an option for small scale skirmish.  I was particularly attracted by the idea that FfoL has been used for diverse settings, from the original Wild West setting through 1920s/30s gangsters, future/sci-fi settings and medieval and fantasy.  The core ruleset is a refreshingly thin 52 pages, with no wasted space.  Wiley Games has a Youtube channel with a collection of short videos that explain each of the core concepts.

I was going to order just the core rules, but balked at the shipping cost.  So I added extra scenario books to rationalise shipping fees!  In addition to the core rules, I also got the Mexican Revolution scenario pack and the Tales of Horror supplement, plus a pack of cards.

A quick note about the cards:  FfoL is designed around a normal 52-card deck.  Some of the cards have special effects, such as the Queen of Hearts which will cure wounds on a figure.  The custom deck is nice to have as the 'special' cards have their effects printed on them.  This is very helpful, as it's going to be easy to forget or miss special rules, especially as a newbie.

For our introductory game, Arthur and I kept things simple.  Each of us took three western figures, each armed with a sixgun.  No one had any special traits.

Here is our basic little western town.  You can see that Wiley Games sent the 'Tales of Horror' game deck instead of the 'Core' deck, but the only difference is the artwork, both decks have the same information.

My three cowboys, intent on causing a ruckus in the town!

Arthur's lawmen, who are going to put a lid on the rowdy cowboys.

Gameplay is fast.  Each player gets dealt one card for each figure in the game.  These are played in order from Kings down to 2s.  Aces are wild, and can be played as any card.  We didn't get this quite right, as there were a few times that we missed the chance to use an ace as a Queen of Hearts to remove wounds, or to take another advantage.  Next time!

We started off on opposite sides of the table, so it took a couple of turns to get close enough for action.  This was helpful as it allowed us to get familiar with the activation process.  Soon enough, however, we had a lawman and a cowboy facing off on either side of the cabin.

A quick check shows that they are within close range.

The cowboy hits, inflicting a shock on the lawman!

Bowler hat lawman takes aim and shoots, but rolls a 1.  This means he is out of ammo and must reload!

Lawman decides to forgo shooting and charges into close combat.  The cowboy fights back, inflicting another shock on the lawman.

Both the lawman and the cowboy get a friend to support them.  The cowboys team up to take out the second lawman, while the first lawman retreats to the cabin porch.

My third cowboy, having wounded bowler hat, then sneaks up behind lawman one.

The wounded bowler hat takes a long shot at cowboy three, but gets another out of ammo!

Lawman one retreats inside the cabin, dragging his shock with him

Cowboys pile on to Lawman one.  He takes down the first cowboy through the door (inflicting a wound and knocking him down) but the next cowboy takes the lawman out of the fight.

Bowler hat decides to exercise the better part of valour, and limps away from the fight.

We enjoyed the game.  It's fast and cinematic in style.  Next time, we will remember about the wild aces, so that figures will have a better chance to recover from wounds or shock or to reload.  That will probably have a big effect on how the game goes.  We'll also add more traits - Arthur is busy assembling a couple of horror teams to try out the special rules for undead and other beasties!  

Chain of Command - Sicily

 Wargames Soldiers and Strategy magazine's recent issue (WSS131) has an article and scenario by Too Fat Lardies' Nick Skinner for a British platoon in Normandy.  While I don't have any figures or terrain suitable to Normandy in 1944, I realised that I could easily set up this scenario using my figures and terrain for Sicily in 1943!  Sam from Trumpeters has been interested in playing more Chain of Command, so Arthur and I set up the table, and invited Sam over to try out the scenario.

I read up on using real world fire and maneuver tactics using Chain of Command, including an article by Len Tracy in the 2023 Lard Mag.  With this research in mind, I decided to take the Canadian platoon.  Sam as a result took the German defenders.

Here is the battlefield.  The Canadians have been tasked with clearing the Germans from the orchard and farmhouse in the foreground.

Canadian platoon.  Two senior leaders (lieutenant and sergeant), three sections of infantry, engineering mine clearing squadron, mortar FOO and Cobault the Sherman tank. 

German reduced strength platoon with senior leader, two squads, tripod-mounted MMG, sniper and Panzer IV (although Sam chose to take the Stug III instead).  Germans also get a single minefield.  

Patrol phase (click on the photo to magnify):  the patrol phase ended up in the centre of the table.  With lots of cover on the table, we were able to place our jump-off points closer to the middle of the table than in many other CoC games that I've been in.  Canadian JoPs are visible by the bend in the road, tucked into the sharp wall corner and tucked against the table edge.  German JoPs are at the rear of the orchard, inside the farmyard wall and in the farmhouse itself.  There is a fourth German JoP at the far table edge.

Close up of a couple of the German JoPs in the farmyard and farmhouse representing the primary targets for the Canadian attackers.

Canadians start off by deploying two sections from their JoP (the CMP truck).

First time this has happened for me!  Four sixes for a random event.  We ended up with 'Jabos' - overhead aircraft had everyone hitting the dirt for two phases.

 

Cobault enters the table.

First Canuck section is pinned, while the sappers try to clear the minefield.

Canadian sections move out of the line of fire of the sniper, but not before the corporal and sergeant are both wounded.

Sappers finally clear the minefield, as Cobault and the unpinned section move up to push the Germans out of the orchard.

Only to have the Germans spin around and take up a position on the other side of the barn!

Canadians capture one of the German JoPs, as well as the German medic who had been left behind when the infantry withdrew!

Third Canadian section moves up to support the advance.  Beside the barn, you can see the PIAT team trying to line up a shot on the Stug.

What's this?  The German leutnant takes a depleted German squad on a wild chase for the Canadian JoPs!

Faceoff between the Stug and the Sherman!  The smoke behind the Stug marks the covering fire that the Canadians had just set on the German MMG.  

Amazing armour save by Cobault!  

While the tank vs Stug battle goes on, Canadian third section lines up to attack the farmyard.

Brave German officer occupies two Canadian JoPs but can't for the turn end to get rolls on the BTH table.

PIAT team takes out the Stug.

Canadian third section assaulted and wiped out the second German section (no photo, sorry!) then moved to capture the JoP in the farmyard.  That was enough to take the German force morale to zero and a victory for the Canucks.

This was a tough, close fought game. The dice gave some crazy results.  Sam got a crazy number of double phases, but then was cursed by bad results when rolling to hit or damage.  There were lots of shots by the two armoured vehicles that either missed, or caused either minimal or no damage.  Sam's sniper missed an unlikely number of shots.  

I was disappointed not to have my usual 2" mortar.  On the other side, Sam's Germans had no anti-armour capability other than the Stug.  I only had limited success with my attempts to use the fire and maneuver tactics, so I am eager to try again to see if I can figure them out.

Thanks Sam for a great game!

More Dangerous Dames and some other stuff

 I finished up a few miniatures from my backlog.  Partly inspired by the upcoming Mad Dogs with Guns Gangster campaign, I finished up some of the backlogged Pulp Figures' Dangerous Dames, along with a couple vehicles and some scatter terrain.  Plus a couple figures from the lead mountain!

First up, some Pulp Figures.  Central three are from the 2020 Dangerous Dames kickstarter (gradually clearing out the backlog!).  I call the lady on the left "the ornithologist", she might end up being a interfering busybody/helpful citizen who can inform the police (or the press) about illicit goings on in Chicago as our gangster run rampant!

These three are French resistance fighters from the Wargames Atlantic 3D STL print files (printed by Only Games).  However they are sufficiently generic that they could also end up in gangland rumbles!

A couple of figures that finally got cleaned up.  The winter soldier is HLBS British intervention in the Russian Civil War (now Tiger Miniatures) - unfortunately the rest of his unit has since disappeared from my collection!  The ranger on the right is one of Faramir's rangers of Ithilien, suitable for any sort of fantasy gaming.

And finally a couple of vehicles and bits of scatter terrain.  The Company B Model T has been sitting around for many years!  It is one of three that I bought 15 years ago.  One of the three was converted into an Armoured Autocar, and the other was chopped up to make a minefield look authentic.  The driver was converted from a Warlord Games US GI jeep driver, with a headswap with a Wargames Atlantic resistance fighter.  The tractor is an MDF creation from Sarissa.

And finally some bits of scatter terrain from JTFM.  Can never have too much scatter terrain!

Top view to show off the bed of the Model T.

Empire to Revolution - Hunting Expedition

 Arthur found the scenario 'A Hunting Expedition' in the Empire to Revolution supplement for Through the Mud and the Blood.  It's actually an excellent intro scenario for M&B.  Each side gets only a single level II leader and a squad of soldiers, so players can quickly learn the basics for movement, spotting, firing and special tasks, as well as the use of blinds.

In this scenario, an ambitious young Austro-Hungarian officer has taken a squad of soldiers (represented by German soldiers as I don't have any A-H in my collection) to seek a prisoner to interrogate, while on the Russian side, a group of Cossacks are on the search for some tasty provisions, which they hope to find in the barn.  In the photo below you can see the table setup by Arthur - I think he did an excellent job, it looks great.  Russians enter on a blind at the top (as seen above) and Germans from the left.

Germans entered on a blind, but were immediately spotted by the Russians.  

Russians were spotted in the second turn!

Russians immediately started to run for the barn.  Thanks to a few turns in which the 'time for a snifter' card came up before the Germans could activate, the Russians had a bit of a head start on the run.  M&B isn't a game to play if you want your troops to activate reliably, but I like the unpredictability - even when it doesn't go my way!

Russians reach the barn while the Germans are still mucking about in the orchard.

Germans reach the edge of the orchard as the Russians emerge from the barn, and immediately start a fire fight.

Russians keep pulling back toward the table edge, but their progress is impeded by the accumulation of shock.

The Germans manage to wound the Cossack officer, who is left behind as the remaining Cossacks flee the field.  

This is a nice, quick scenario.  Our playthrough really demonstrated the effect of the 'snifter' card, as there were many turns where one side or both failed to activate.  This is either a great example of M&B's approach to 'fog of war' or maddingly frustrating depending on your take on the rules.  As I mentioned before, I like the randomness but recognise how annoying it can be for someone who prefers more predictability in a game!