I made several rules errors in my first game (what else is now?) so I decided to play the Intro mission again. This time I turned the map around so I got better cover for the SAS troopers. There are still empty stretches where there's no cover... but it's much less than the map orientation I used for my first game.
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Same objective: Get 3 SAS off the opposite end of the map.
This time, I divided the upper 2/3 of the map into 6 quadrants and then randomly deployed German models in the quadrants. Because I used a d6, some quadrants were empty.
At the start of the game, the SAS actually start off the map. So the German player (if there is one) doesn't know where the Brits are going to come on the map and you (as the British) really want the Germans to draw some chits out of the bag first so you have a rough idea of where you should move and you can be sure the Germans won’t move towards you after that. Of course, being random, you don’t have much control over that aspect and can only hope.
For this initial mission, there doesn’t seem to be any time limit (couldn’t find any in the rules) so I took things slowly, moving from cover to cover so as to minimise discovery and maximise protection if discovered.
By Turn 3, the SAS were still stuck near their entry edge (red arrow in the lower left corner of the photo above). However, they managed to eliminate 4 sentries (in 2 pairs). Thankfully I didn't roll any alerts when firing weapons, so I assume that (in game) the air raid alerts and sirens and flak guns masked the sound of gunfire. Even though this isn’t a game about killing the enemies, I discovered from my first game you do need to carefully get rid of some enemies to clear the path towards the objective.
I used guns to kill the Germans which was pretty risky due to the sound they generate and you roll more white dice giving you a higher chance of being Detected. What I need to do is sneak BEHIND a German guy (where he doesn’t have LOS) and use my commando knife which gives a better chance of remaining undetected… but it also deals less damage so it COULD be tanked by the German unless he’s already moved in which case he’s a sitting duck.
Anyway, this game has lots of variables that I want to explore in my next game.
However, being random (note this comes up a lot) you’re going to run out of luck sooner or later, and sure enough, one SAS trooper was Detected. There were a number of Germans within 15” of him, so that SAS trooper sacrificed himself, peeling away from the rest of his comrades and drew the German fire on himself. He actually managed to tank getting hit THREE times. Only going down because ... well, his luck finally ran out.
Finally, the SAS managed to succeed in their mission on round 12. The SAS Officer had exited in round 11, so I decided to stop the game here because thanks to the activation bag draw, you have a higher chance of drawing the "round end" tokens out of the bag as there are fewer model activation chits to draw. (Once a model exists or is killed, you remove a chit from the bag). And the 3rd British model would have exited the map when his chit was drawn PLUS there were no German capable of reaching him in one round of movement and be able to do anything to prevent him from exiting.
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Game play moved much more smoothly this time round although the Quick Reference Sheet STILL lacked some vital info. You do need to internalise and understand what actions you can take in any given circumstance as you can't do anything you like. You're constrained by several factors.
Are you hidden and undetected? Then you can do pretty much anything you want. Not having either or any of those 2 conditions really constricts your action choices and usually leads to your trooper being gunned down once detected. Avoid detection if possible. Always attempt to get back into the Undetected status if you can! Being a realistic historical game (sort of) all models have only 1 hit. When you are hit and you manage to shrug it off (lucky you) you’re considered lightly wounded and there are associated penalties with that condition. You can stop to bandage yourself up to lose that condition… but then the Germans are closing down on you, and you’ll be trapped if you stay. So many choices and decisions to make!
Also this intro mission has the Alarm level already on maximum so you don’t experience the tension of starting the mission from Calm and then seeing the Alarm level going up with each shot fired or trooper detected. When the Alarm level is Calm, there Germans aren’t as aggressive in their patrolling and have fewer choices in the actions they can take.
There are also event cards that you draw each turn that can give you a positive or negative outcome. I suppose this is to introduce a spanner in the works due to fog of war etc. The first intro mission doesn't use these cards.
That’s why I’m looking forward to mission 2 where I get to play with the full rules.
Note: players that dislike really random things happening that you have zero control over are not going to like this game. I mean, in most games you get to move and take actions with your models, then your opponent does the same then it’s your turn again with the only randomness being the outcome of the combat rolls. This game makes everything random including movement then throws in unpredictable events into the mix!
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Up next: there WILL be a Top 10 Solo Game Countdown for 2025 as I finally played enough games to make it meaningful.
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