Partisan Raid - Black Ops Playtest

Inspired by reading SAS: Rogue Heroes, I decided that it would be fun to try a game based on partisan warfare (and, oddly enough, without any SAS in the game, although SOE might make an appearance).  And since I already have terrain and figures suited to Italy, it was only natural to set the game in Italy.  And so I invited Doug, Lisa and Peter over to playtest a scenario.

There are a few options for small-scale skirmish battles, but I chose Black Ops as that is the most appropriate one that I already own, although I haven't played in years.  This game was definitely a playtest, especially thanks to a series of crises coming along to distract me when I could have been preparing the game!  So thanks again to D, L & P for their patience as I winged things through the game prep.  

The scenario was designed to be light-hearted, inspired by the competition between the mind-boggling number of competing Italian partisan groups.  Lisa in particular dove into researching different groups, and helped identify three groups:  the Brigate Garibaldi, selected by Doug, either because of their communist/socialist leanings or simply because he liked their red scarves; the Giustizia e Libertà (Justice and Freedom) brigade, chosen by Lisa; and the Roman Catholic/monarchist fiamme verdi, green flame, championed by Peter.  I played the Germans as game master - the initial reactions for the guards were directed by the reaction rules, and the main focus was to be the competition between the different partisan groups.

Arthur was very helpful and built a table for the game, based on 'The Compound' map from p. 39 of Black Ops.  Note the Top Secret cow mixed in with the herd in the foreground!  Regrettably, we did not find a way to incorporate the TS cow into the game, although the overall herd played a role in the game.

The official mission is for the partisans to rescue the scientist from the evil clutches of Colonel Klink and Stahl-Mask.  They are initially located inside the big villa.

A few guards were initially located on patrol inside the compound, with the remainder inside the barracks with Sergeant Schultz.

Doug's Brigate Garibaldi decided to brazenly walk up to the front gate, in the guise of Italian farmers celebrating some festival or other, along with their ox cart and mule cart!

Smoke markers were used as noise markers.  Each of these increased the chance that the guards would notice and raise the alarm.

Lisa's Giustizia e Libertà partisans went for a more subtle approach, but still managed to generate many noise markers!  Fortunately for them, the German guard remained oblivious to their approach.

Doug's Garibaldis attract the attention of the guard at the rear of the compound, who starts moving toward the front gate.

Lisa's G e L machine gunner silently dispatches the nearest guard in CQC, or Close Quarters Combat!

Meanwhile Doug's BG continue their increasingly noisy approach to the front gate.  The remaining gate guard is oblivious to the elimination of his colleague!

Nancy Wake leads the fiamma verdi in a much quieter approach.

Doug experiences a setback as his attempt to assault the gate guard fails, and the attacker is struck down by the guard!

Noise markers a plenty as the guard shouts to raise the alarm, while behind him the G e L machine gunner cuts down one of the other guards.

Still moving silently, the Green Flames continue their approach to the villa.

But the alarm has been raised, and Stahl-Mask engages the fiamma verdi outside the villa.

The BG burst into the compound, and leave the mule cart to block the gate!

G e L partisans engage the guards emerging from the barracks.  Sgt Schultz proves to be a much more resilient warrior than expected, as he outlasts and subdues many of the partisans through many rounds of CQC.

Partisans have the run of the compound.

Meanwhile, the German emergency response team rushes to the scene.

Lisa's surviving G e L partisans have hotwired the German staff car, picked up the fiammi verdi radio operator, and pulled their remaining partisans from their fight with the German guards.  Schultz is still standing!

Doug's and Peter's partisans are both on the ground floor of the villa, arguing over who will be first to climb up to the second floor, against Col. Klink and Stahl-Mask!  Unfortunately, their decision to shoot up the stairs results in the death of the scientist, and defeats the purpose of the raid :(

The German response team is busy clearing the compound of the partisans. 

Lisa's team pulls a bootlegger reverse with their stolen staff car and escape through the rear gate.  Other remaining partisans slip away into the woods, and the Germans strive to determine what happened!

I failed to keep track of the body count, but Lisa provided a summary for her Giustiza e Libertà band. She named all her team members, from the submachine-gun toting leader Maria through the whole team, and also the one who hotwired the getaway car.  Rocco the rifleman was the only survivor other than Maria.  Poor Vincenzo, Maria's lover, was beaten in CQC by the Germans, so likely was taken prisoner.  On the other hand, she rescued the fiammi verdi radio operator, plus one of their riflemen.  Overall, it was quite a bloodbath for the partisans, and the Germans were well known for summary executions of any captured partisans, as well as brutal reprisals against the nearby civilian population.

This game was an experiment.  Overall, there were some good elements, and also some room for improvement.  To make the next attempt better, I have a few ideas:

- Put more effort into identifying the factions and assigning each a unique objective, ideally conflicting with the objectives of other factions.  Lisa really enjoyed researching the various partisan groups, so I will definitely tap into her research :).  Distinct objectives will also allow more room for specialist figures to have meaningful roles, such as radio operators, drivers, explosives experts, snipers and more.

- Black Ops calls for different types of troops activating on different cards, with leaders, specialists and ordinary mooks each activating on a different card.  While it didn't really hurt the flow of the game, I don't think it helped much, either.  I think it would be simpler to have a card or poker chip for each faction, which would probably speed up game play.

- Numbers of troops seemed ok, with about 10 figures for each faction.

- Using the Civilian Response Table for the cattle reaction was fun and seemed to work well.  Some more thought is needed for the starting position for the cows.  However, with some planning, there is a great opportunity to provide a role for the Top Secret cow!

Black Ops: just another day in Kandahar AAR

I finally managed to have a game set in modern Afghanistan using the figures and terrain I've been slowly building up over the past many months (close to a year, I think!). The scenario was an attempted assassination of the local governor by the insurgents, using Black Ops, a Guy Bowers game produced by Osprey Games.

It was my first attempt with these rules, so I was ready to make mistakes but also ready to learn from them so the next game will be better!  Black Ops plays best with relatively small forces.  The troops on the board were divided into three factions:  
1.  Afghan National Police (ANP), who formed the guard for the governor's residence.  They had an officer, 4 policemen with assault rifles, one with a light machine gun and one with an RPG.  In Black Ops terminology, the ANP are Reluctant Conscripts.
2.  The insurgents had a larger force to deploy.  I gave them a leader, 4 soldiers with assault rifles, one with an RPG, one with an LMG and one with a sniper rifle.  They also had a car bomb (VBIED) and a suicide bomber (SBIED).  The insurgents were rated as 'fanatics'.
3.  The Afghan Border Police were located in their barracks.  I goofed and put the barracks too far away, so even once the alarm was raised, they had no chance to intervene in time to make a difference to the raid.  ABP were rated as Conscript.  The only difference between the ANP and the ABP was a one-point difference in their morale ratings (known as 'DED' or dedication in BO).  Unfortunately, as things turned out, I didn't get a chance to find out if the difference was significant.

Here is the initial setup for the town.  The governor's house is behind the hand, facing the tree-lined 'Grand Boulevard'.  The ABP barracks are in the lower centre, in the sandbagged Hesco redoubt, and to the left of the barracks is a busy market street.

The governor's guards took their positions on the compound roof, while typical activity takes place on the street.

Shoppers on Market Street

The insurgents begin their approach.  BO allows for guards and civilians to move randomly, but with a proviso that any unrealistic moves, such as walking off a cliff, or into a wall, should be changed.  It calls on players to use a bit of sense.

A sniper sneaks up towards Market Street.  I missed taking photos of his dash along Market Street.  Each civilian he passed generated a reaction test and a loyalty test.  More than half the civilians reacted poorly to the insurgent and he earned himself half a dozen noise markers as they tried to alert the authorities.

Insurgent soldiers approach the compound using the walls around the field as cover.

An insurgent gunman dashes to the base of the wall, earning a noise marker (the yellow cube).  Unfortunately, the guard above him fails his roll and doesn't see the approaching danger!

The insurgent runs up to the gate and sets off his IED, killing himself but destroying the gate. A passing motorcyclist is also killed by the explosion.  The detonation earns three noise markers and a cloud of smoke.

The insurgent soldiers' card comes up next and they unleash a volley on the rooftop guards.  This results in a dozen more noise markers and also takes out the unlucky guards.

The shepherd/goatherd and his flock flee the scene!

The remaining guards raise the alarm (more noise markers), and the guard captain awakes. The stealth phase is officially over!

ABP troopers leave their barracks, but ended up being too far away from the mansion to intervene in time.

As the ABP reinforcements run up the Grand Boulevard, the insurgents drive their VBIED through the gate.  It is met with a hail of gunfire which kills the driver, but in the name of drama, I let him test against his dedication.  He rolled a 6, so I allowed him to detonate his bomb, which brought down the building.  The governor however had previously run to his safe room in the house.  I rated the protection of this room to be the equivalent of a tank.  The governor made a saving roll and passed, surviving the day.  Meanwhile, the remaining insurgents escaped into the fields.

I found that Black Ops gave a good, fast game.  I'd say it's important not to overload the table with figures, as there are times that each one needs to test a reaction, so too many would slow things down too much.  My table layout left room for improvement:  I needed more terrain to the rear and sides of the governor's house to allow more options for the attacker, and the barracks needed to be closer to allow a shorter reaction time for the reinforcements.  I also needed to give the defenders more opportunities to test to observe the attackers.  A guard needs to roll and 8+ to raise the alarm, so attackers approaching in broad daylight should generate more chances for a guard to spot them, so I should have given noise markers each time an insurgent moved within line of sight of a guard.  Lessons for next time!  I hope to retry this scenario at the next club night, which won't be until October.

And to finish off, here is a close up of the last Afghan civilian, which I finished a couple of days before the game.  She's from Eureka Miniatures, from an Indian civilians set.