I was aiming for running this session last weekend, but with Strep and Flu B in the family two weeks in a row, I just didn’t have the energy to do it. The day came though, and I set a game up for the third Field Exercise of Forgotten Ruin. It took me an entire week though to write it down and post it.
This one has the entire Squad (both Fire Teams AND the Squad Leader), but no Platoon officers, so pretty much the regular team that I’ll be taking with me during the campaign.
The enemy force is just two Orc Mobs (Warriors + Archers) of Five orcs each, which sounds easier than last battle, especially considering how I’ll have double the firepower with me this time.
However, the objective is not to eliminate the enemy, but have a troop of mine go to the center of the battlefield and spend an action there. This sounds way more dangerous than sitting in the safety of long range. I can, of course game the game and sit back and let the orcs come to me, but where would the fun be in that!?
Distance conversions Since the game is focused for a 3×3 table, and I’m going with 15mm miniatures on a 2×2 table (with the new 15mm base size, yay!), I’ll do a subtle conversion to gain a bit more room to play, but without being too fiddly to use. I’ll double the values, but measure in centimeters instead of inches, so a Speed of 5″, would convert to 10 cm.
Champions: 1,2 No Champions
The two Fire teams met, and Sergeant First Class Nielsen arrived and took command from Master Sergeant Frank Lee. “Squad is yours Nielsen, I have to get back to Platoon HQ. Tangos are 2 klicks NNE, they seem to be guarding a tower. You are to investigate and eliminate any opposition.” Lee gave the orders and left, M16 strapped on his shoulder. A short while later the 9 soldiers arrived at the point of interest. Two mobs of orcs were visible in the distance, archers sitting behind cover in some ruins. A tower in the middle of the battlefield. Nielsen gathered the squad. “Fire Team 1 take the West Side, Fire Team 2 take the East side, you’ll provide cover against the enemy. I’ll rush in to investigate and dash back to you.”
Pvt. Mays shoots his M70 at the orc archers in cover: 6+1: Great hit: 1+1/1+1: No Damage Pvt. Gibson shoots his M60 at the orc archers in cover: 3,3,4,4: Miss Sgt. Mayer shoots his M16 at the orc archers in cover: 2: Miss
Enemy Phase
The Orc archers suffer from War rage, and they move out of cover The Orc warriors move in a flanking motion from the other side
Slow Phase
SFC Nielsen dashes to the objective tower Pvt Huff shoots his M16 at the Orc archers out of cover: 4: Hit: 2: No Damage Fire team 1 moves to the rock formation
Round 1
Fire Team 2 opens a volley of fire at the orc archers in the ruined gatehouse, however the orcs are in cover, and most of the shots miss, except one aimed shot by Pvt. Mays’ sharpshooter rifle, which grazes an orc, without wounding it. Furious that they’re being shot at, the orc archers jump down from the gatehouse and out of cover, screaming war cries at the soldiers. The other group of orcs, stay in cover and proceed in a flanking movement from the west. With the enemy busy, SFC Nielsen runs in a straight line towards the tower. Pvt. Huff takes an extra shot at the orc archers, but misses, while Fire Team 1 moves in ready position waiting for the enemy to come to them, and keeping overwatch of the open ground at the west side of the tower.
Pvt. Gibson shoots his M60 at the orc archers out of cover:6,2,2,1: Great Hit: 4,1: One orc archer is down Pvt. Mays shoots his M70 at the orc archers out of cover: 4+1: Hit: 1+1: No Damage Cpl. Mayer shoots his M16 at the orc archers out of cover: 5: Hit: 6: Orc archer down Pvt. Huff shoots hiss M16 at the orc archers out of cover: 5: Hit: 1: No Damage SFC Nielsen moves into the tower: Interact: 5+1/4: Success Sgt. Welch Delays Pfc. Shaffer Delays Orc Archers Morale: 2,4: Orc Archers Stay
Enemy Phase
Orc Archers shoot at SFC Nielsen (in cover): 1,5,3: Miss Orc Warriors War rage forwards SFC Nielsen
Slow Phase
PFC Shaffer shoots his M60 at the Orc Warriors: 1,2,3,4: Hit: 6: Orc Warrior is down Sgt Welch shoots his M16 at the Orc Warriors: 5: Hit: 5: Orc Warrior is down Pvt Murphy shoots his M16 at the Orc Warriors: 5: Hit: 4: Orc Warrior is down Pvt. Franks shoots his M16 at the Orc Warriors: 3: Miss Orc Warriors Morale: 2,4,6: Orcs Warriors Stay
Round 2
Fire team 2 keeps shooting at the enemy, who are now carelessly out of cover. Two orc archers are down. SFC Nielsen enters the ruined tower. As he scouts around he sees weird markings of a ritualistic nature. He notes some of them down in his notepad, before noticing the orc archers through the rubble at the dilapidated north wall, aiming at shooting at him. The arrows all strike at the masonry, Nielsen is safe for a few moments, but he knows he has to get out of there. The Orc group from the west, enraged at their enemy in the tower, rush towards him, hoping to get there soon, but they’re now out of cover. Fire team 1 blasts at them with all their guns, killing three of them.
SFC Nielsen moves out of the tower back towards the squad Cpl Mayer shoots his M16 at the Orc Archers: 6: Great Hit: Damage: 5,5: Orc Archer is down Sgt Welch shoots his M16 at the Orc Warriors: 3: Miss Pvt Gibson shoots his M60 at the Orc Archers: 5,5,3,2: 2 Hits: 6,2: Orc Archer is down Pfc Shaffer shoots his M60 at the Orc Warriors: 2,3,3,4: Hit: 5: Orc Warrior is down Morale: Orc Archers: 3,3: Orc Archers Stay Morale Orc Warriors: 2: Orc Warrior Stays
Enemy Phase
Orc archer moves forward and shoots SFC Nielsen: 5: Hit: Damage: 1 SFC Nielsen is stunned Orc Warrior is with war rage and dashes towards Nielsen
Slow Phase
Pvt Mays shoots his M70 at the Orc Archer: 4+1: Hit: 6+1: Orc Archer is down Pvt. Murphy shoots his M16 at the Orc Warrior: 5: Hit: 6: Orc Warrior is down
Battle is over.
Round 3
SFC Nielsen is not going to stay and find out if he can defeat the orcs in close combat. He dashes out of the tower back towards the safety of his own men. In the meantime, the Fire teams don’t stop shooting. 2 more orc archers are down, and another orc warrior. Despite their severe losses, the humanoids stick to fight to the end. The last remaining orc archer has a clear shot at the squad leader and takes it, the arrow hitting the Sergeant. From the west another orc closes at him, screaming with rage and brandishing his weapons. They don’t get a chance to hurt the sergeant again though. A careful shot from Private Mays, takes out the archer, and one from Private Murphy takes out the warrior. The day is victorious, without any casualties, but they need to head back and report to HQ what they found.
Summary
As expected, the player side was victorious. I felt like the odds were in our favor right from the start. We were facing against fewer enemies, and we had more men than in the previous exercise. Perhaps if the table was more busy with terrain it could have been a bit different. During the regular campaign, terrain placement is more random from what I’ve read, and not left up to the player as in the exercises. It is my understanding that this (and of course the Aggression rule) will have severe impact to the flow of battle, but I’ll have to play it out and see for myself. The battle ended quickly and I didn’t even have to (or rather forgot because it was going so well) use the Leadership tactics. For the beginning of the campaign in next session, I’ll write down and finalize my own theme of the world, and perhaps spend a Story point to bring in Athen Smarte from my solo RPG sessions.
How does one balance the precious little hobby time between everything? With the few personal hours left after work and family, I often find myself sidetracked from what I want to do. A few months prior, I was at a stalemate in painting – I had almost finished what I wanted to paint in my two major themes – Fantasy and Futuristic. If one applied a logarithmic scale, I was at the top. Historicals and Modern I had decided not to touch yet – it feels daunting to start another theme project. But then I got my 3d printer, and a whole new world of possibilities begun. It’s an entire new hobby, and it slowly eats away from my tabletop gaming hobby time. Don’t get me wrong – I love it! But even after getting to a comfortable learning point, a simple thing which was supposed to be “paint a squad of US special forces for Forgotten Ruin” quickly lead me to tuning printer settings, trying new painting techniques, printing a photobox and taking new pictures and forgetting what I had initially set out to do. I have even considered 3d sculpting, downloaded blender, and more… Which is all cool and such, but there’s one pitfall. Hobby time is nice and relaxing, but one must be careful of burnout. I think the best thing to do is mix and match hobby stuff, so I’ll try to be more conscious on what I set out to do. Having the printer pump out minis and terrain while I’m playing is no problem, but being hands on over it, and painting stuff as they come out makes me miss what this whole thing is about. Getting little mens on the table and have them battle it out!
So, I’m setting up for the second game and respective After Action Report (that’s what I’ll call them as stated in Forgotten Ruin). The second excercise is with the second Fire Team, supported by the Platoon Sergeant against two squads of Orcs. But this time the Orcs have archers! Let’s hope the superior firepower will help us escape unscathed.
Platoon Sergeant – Msg. Frank Lee (M16, Pistol) Fire Team 2
Cpl. Tommy Mayer (M16 AR)
Pfc. Darin Gibson (M79 SAW)
Pvt. Barry Mays (M70 Sharpshooter Rifle)
Pvt. Dave Huff (M16 AR)
I can’t see any mention of the armament of Platoon Sergeant, so I’ll go ahead and give them the same as Squad Leader (AR, Pistol) I’ve rolled one Champion for the Orc Warriors mob.
Reading through the Orcs, I see that they suffer from War Rage, something which I did not take into account last time when I ran Excercise 1. War Rage means that a random mob will move towards the player, without any consideration for cover, but gaining a +1 to Hand to Hand Combat Skill.
Distance conversions Since the game is focused for a 3×3 table, and I’m going with 15mm miniatures on a 2×2 table (with the new 15mm base size, yay!), I’ll do a subtle conversion to gain a bit more room to play, but without being too fiddly to use. I’ll double the values, but measure in centimeters instead of inches, so a Speed of 5″, would convert to 10 cm.
Battle Round 0
Master Sergeant Lee is accompanying the fire team lead by Corporal Tommy Mayer back to base after a patrol, when they hear the distant sound of gunshots. The team crouches and Mayer looks at Lee. “That’s the sound of our M16s boy. We have engaged the enemy, let’s hope Sergeant Welch can lead his men through in one piece.” “Corporal!” Private Mays calls. He’s scoping through his M70 optics. “What is it Barry?” Mayer asks. “We got movement dead ahead. Two mobs coming this way.” Mays reports. “Alright team up. Eliminate all tangos. We need to rendezvous with Fire Team 1.” The Master Sergeant orders and they close in on the orcs.
Battle Round 1 Initiative: Msg. Frank Lee (AR, Pistol) – 3 Cpl. Tommy Mayer (AR) – 2 Pfc. Darin Gibson (SAW) – 2 Pvt. Barry Mays (M70 Sharpshooter Rifle) – 1 Pvt. Dave Huff (AR) – 5
Quick Phase Msg. Lee shoots AR to Orc Warriors Mob (Champion) in the open: 5: Hit: Save: 3: No Save: Damage: 2: No Damage. Pvt. Mays shoots M70 Sharpshooter Rifle to Orc Warriors Mob (Champion) in the open: 3+1: Hit: No Save: Damage: 2+1: Orc Champion is down. Cpl. Mayer shoots AR to Orc Warriors Mob in the open: 4: Hit: Damage: 4: Orc Warrior is down. Pfc. Gibson shoots M60 Squad Automatic Weapon to Orc Archers Mob in cover: 1,2,4,5: Miss.
Enemy Phase The Orc Archers mob is consumed by War Rage and dash towards the Special Forces. The Orc Warriors mob also moves towards the Special Forces. Morale: 2,4: Orcs Stay.
Slow Phase Pvt. Huff moves behind cover and shoots AR to Orc Archers Mob in cover: 3: Miss.
Battle Round 1
The special forces open fire to the orcs. Lee, Mayer and Mays all shoot at the orc warriors. Mays has the bigger meaner of them in his crosshair, ‘probably their leader’ he thinks as he fires, the bullet going through his enemy’s skull. Mayer also kills one of them. Gibson’s burst of fire is heard as he shoots at the orc archers behind the wall aiming to suppress them, however it has the opposite result. The orcs are enraged by this blast of bullets and leap over the low wall, and dash towards the rangers, as the other mob advances through the woods. Private Huff tries to flank and shoot, but he misses.
Battle Round 2 Initiative: Msg. Frank Lee (AR, Pistol) – 2 Cpl. Tommy Mayer (AR) – 6 Pfc. Darin Gibson (SAW) – 1 Pvt. Barry Mays (Sharpshooter Rifle) – 6 Pvt. Dave Huff (AR) – 6
Quick Phase Pfc. Gibson shoots M60 Squad Automatic Weapon to Orc Archers Mob in the open: 1,2,4,4: 2 Hits: Damage: 5,4: 2 Orc Archers down. Msg. Lee: Leadership Tactic: Mortars! on the Orc Archers Mob: 2: 2″ West: 2 Orc Archers Hit: Damage: 2+1,3+1: 2 Orc Archers down.
Enemy Phase The Orc Warriors mob is consumed by War Rage and dash towards the Special Forces. The Orc Archers mob moves closer and shoots at Msg. Lee (he’s the only one in range): 4,6: Hit: 6: Msg. Lee is down. Morale: 1,2,5,5-2: One Orc Archer Flees.
Slow Phase Cpl. Mayer shoots AR to Orc Archers Mob in the open: 6: 2 Hits: Damage: 1,6: Orc Archer is down. Pvt. Mays shoots M70 Sharpshooter Rifle to Orc Warriors Mob in the open: 5: Hit: Damage: 5+1: Orc Warrior is down. Pvt. Huff moves out of cover and shoots AR to Orc Warriors Mob in the open: 3: Miss.
Batte Round 2
“Gotcha!” Gibson keeps firing at the orc archers who are now out of cover, mowing 2 of them. In the meantime Lee is on the radio for Mortar support, and they listen at the distinctive whistling sound and “BOOM”, two more orc archers are blown to pieces. The last two keep charging and shoot their arrows, one flies above the Master Sergeant’s head, while the other lodges itself in his leg. “Man down!” Private Mays shouts, as Mayer kills the orc who shot Lee. The other archer screams something illegible and flees. Private Mays shoots down an orc warriors who closes in further, just before they reach the woods. Private Huff worried that he’s exposed, moves to the side to see his enemies and shoots at them, but his shots go stray.
Battle Round 3 Initiative: Msg. Frank Lee (AR, Pistol) Cpl. Tommy Mayer (AR) – 6 Pfc. Darin Gibson (SAW) – 5 Pvt. Barry Mays (Sharpshooter Rifle) – 2 Pvt. Dave Huff (AR) – 2
Quick Phase Pvt. Mays shoots M70 Sharpshooter Rifle to Orc Warriors Mob in the open: 3: Miss. Pvt. Huff shoots AR to Orc Warriors Mob in the open: 4: Hit: Damage: 6: Orc Warrior is down. Enemy Phase The Orc Warriors mob is consumed by War Rage and dash towards the Special Forces. Morale: 3,5: Orcs Stay.
Slow Phase Cpl. Mayer shoots AR to Orc Warriors Mob in the open: 6: 2 Hits: Damage: 3,4: Orc Warrior is down. PFC Gibson moves to the side, but can’t get clear LOS to shoot his M60
Battle Round 3
Another shot is fired from Mays’ rifle, but this one misses it’s target. Huff however fires again his M16 and kills another one of the incoming orcs, who are now within breathing distance. The Corporal thinks quickly and moves to the side to ensure he can provide cover fire, he finds an opening and shoots down another orc, only two enemies remain. Private First Class Gibson goes the other way to cover Huff, but the M60 is too heavy to carry around and he doesn’t have a clear line of fire.
Battle Round 4 Initiative: Msg. Frank Lee (AR, Pistol) Cpl. Tommy Mayer (AR) – 3 Pfc. Darin Gibson (SAW) – 4 Pvt. Barry Mays (Sharpshooter Rifle) – 6 Pvt. Dave Huff (AR) – 6
Quick Phase Cpl. Mayer shoots AR to Orc Warriors Mob in the open: 5: Hit: Damage: 3: Orc Warrior is down.
Enemy Phase The Orc Warriors mob is consumed by War Rage and charges at Huff: 5+1/3-1: Orc Hits: Damage: 6: Pvt. Huff is down. Morale: 2: Orc Stays.
Slow Phase Pfc. Gibson shoots M60 Squad Automatic Weapon to Orc Warrior in Cover: 3,3,4,5: Miss Pvt. Mays shoots M70 Sharpshooter Rifle to Orc Warrior in Cover: 4+1: Miss
Battle Round 4
The Corporal shoots down one more orc next to Private Huff, but it’s not enough. The last orc standing, charges and jabs at Huff with his spear. Huff falls down. Gibson shoots a long burst of fire at his enemy, but only hits the trees. Private Mays also shoots with his M70 rifle, but the erratic movement of the orc doesn’t allow for a clean shot, and he misses too.
Battle Round 5 Initiative: Msg. Frank Lee (AR, Pistol) Cpl. Tommy Mayer (AR) – 3 Pfc. Darin Gibson (SAW) – 5 Pvt. Barry Mays (Sharpshooter Rifle) – 5 Pvt. Dave Huff (AR) – 6
Quick Phase Cpl. Mayer delays.
Enemy Phase The Orc Warriors mob is consumed by War Rage and charges at Pfc. Gibson. Cpl. Mayer Snap Fires: 5: Hit: Damage: 6: Orc Warrior is down.
Battle Round 5
The Corporal waits, his hand on the trigger, for the orc to charge out of the woods and onto his closest squad mate. And his estimation is correct, within moments of the fall of Private Huff, the orc dashes out of cover towards Gibson, only to be intercepted by Mayer’s bullets. The orc drops down dead. The team quickly tends to their wounded, and Mayers is quickly relieved to find out the injuries were superficial. They need to get back and rendezvous with Team 1.
End of Battle.
Summary
This was a very exciting battle! The Forgotten Ruin ruleset is tailored to the task, and sofar it delivers. Some things which are different from the other 5X games: enemies are not Stunned nor Wounded. It’s alive or down, there’s no other status. This makes for a really quick combat resolution especially when there’s so many figures on the board. At the same time Stuns exist for the player team, giving some extra detail where needed. The soldiers have a lot of firepower, and this is evident, but they’re vulnerable, and a stray arrow, can easily take them out. Even more dangerous are the enemies should they close in. Also this firepower is quickly diminished with each casualty, so the tables can turn pretty easily. I’m looking forward to try Exercise 3, which will be a challenge both in terms of game, but also for the ruleset, as the number of figures on board increases, and there’s an objective which will set my troops in peril. Lastly I will be changing this series name. I haven’t settled on the exact details, but I’ll most likely bind the theme and story to my “A Monsters Bounty” world, more close to Spellcross than the Forgotten Ruin novels, but I think I can make it work well. I’ll do some more careful reading of the Campaign chapter before signing off on this. But these Sessions 0 with the Exercises are to be considered malleable, which is why I’ve avoided giving any more specific details in the story.
Having set me back a lot, I call my rebasing project done. I’ll most likely discuss the details in another post, because here I want to talk about Forgotten Ruin available for pre-order at this point in time, which nets you with a pdf at the time of purchase, and the hardcopy when it’s printed and shipped. Forgotten Ruin is a skirmish miniatures agnostic game by Ivan Sorensen, based on the first novel in the book series of the same name by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole. I won’t delve a lot into the theme as I haven’t read the books (though I’m intrigued and might do so in the future), but the core concept is “special forces vs fantasy foes”. As usual, the game allows for some leeway in the actual story against the preset world, so instead of US Rangers, one could have other special forces, from earlier to later time period. The enemies are foes from a regular fantasy bestiary. The concept is something similar to what I’ve been fiddling with. My take was similar to the feeling that Spellcross had given me back in the end of the 90s, and which had inspired my A monster’s bounty solo RPG actual play adventure series. Modern firepower vs fantasy! I’m even thinking of adding Athen Smarte as a known personality just for the fun of it and for connecting my games. On the amount of figures on the table, it’s even more than Five Leagues from the Borderlands, ranging in almost half a score for the player side, and the same up to double or triple for the enemies. The rules are from the same 5X concept used in Five Parsecs from Home and Five Leagues from the Borderlands, however they’re tailored to the concept. I won’t go into any details, as I think it will be best left for when I actually play it out. The overall feeling I get from reading through it, is that I like the new concepts in the book.
For this session 0, I’ll go through my setup and also play the demo scenarios (referred to as Excercises in the rulebook). So, rulebook check, terrain (fantasy) check, foes miniatures check (mostly), player squad… As I read through, I realized I don’t have the figures I want for the game. I have several unpainted WW2 miniatures for my WW2 project, especially British Paratroopers from Forged in Battle but I didn’t want to use them, as their WW2 nature means that some figures need to be in doubles to operate (e.g. LMG, PIAT etc), and basically because when I decide to paint them for my WW2 project, I need them to look the same as the rests of my British Paratroopers platoon, and I’m not too fond of painting an entire platoon of miniatures right now. Then I considered my painted sci-fi miniatures, but I decided against also, as I don’t want this concept so much, and also I’m missing any non-standard weaponry for my troops (there’s only a few specialists here and there, and in different uniforms, which I can’t mix and match). Started searching online for some suitable 15mm miniature STLs then, and I stumbled upon a March to Hell Vietnam US Special Forces team. They are perhaps on the far end of what I deem acceptable in terms of chonkiness, but they’d fit perfectly on what I’m looking for. The christmas sale was a contributing factor, and I got them. Checking with the Forgotten Ruins squad armaments setup, I’ve got almost anything needed. Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Squad Automatic Weapons, Grenade Launchers, Anti-Tank Weapons. Perhaps the only thing missing is shotguns and submachineguns, but I can live with proxying these few. But of course I also need to print and paint them. I printed the sampler which went really well, and then started with the Special Forces squad, and I started having failure after failure. Since the models are meant for resin printers, I started having a bad time with supports. A couple models printed with the Lychee-style supports meant for resin printers, survived, and I kept them. Then I printed the rest one by one, trying to hone down into the support settings. What I found out worked best (albeit I had to do reprints often) was using Normal, Snug supports. I don’t base the miniature in the slicer, instead I glue it on the base afterwards. I use an UHU Hard Plastics (aka Allplast in some areas of the world) glue which works really well on PLA. My next problem was the uniform colours, as I went down the rabbit hole of olive drab, brown purple, etc etc. I did some custom mixes, but I think they turned up too dark for 15mm on my sampler figure so I might have to lighten them up a bit.
With the squad painted, here’s the roster following the rulebook.
Platoon Leader – 2Lt. Peter Kobb Platoon Sergeant – Msg. Frank Lee Squad Leader – Sfc. Kirk Nielsen
Fire Team 1
Sgt. Karl Welch
Pfc. Terry Shaffer
Pvt. Martin Murphy
Pvt. Jeffrey Franks
Fire Team 2
Cpl. Tommy Mayer
Pfc. Darin Gibson
Pvt. Barry Mays
Pvt. Dave Huff
Names were generated using a 1960s US male names generator. Using some help from the generators online, I decided to name them the 704 – Special Forces unit
With that out of the way, I decided to run the demo scenarios from the rulebook, listed as Field Exercises. Exercise 1 is a simple fight between Fire Team 1 against two orc warrior mobs. I’ve rolled one Champion for each mob. As I haven’t finished painting my miniatures at the time of the game, the photographs have the Special Forces painted only in B&W (slapchop). Works well enough for the purpose of the Exercise.
Sgt. Welch put out his cigarette. “Platoon reports that there are some man-like beasts in the area, they’ve attacked our positions and are to be considered hostile. Their armament is ancient, so we should use our firepower to prevent them coming up close.” The fire team nodded. “Let’s do our patrol and head back to base camp. Murphy, take point.” Welch gave his orders. It wasn’t long before Pvt. Murphy signaled enemies in sight.
“Sarge, they seem to have scented us, and are coming this way. Two groups, about 8 enemies in total.” The private reported. “Alright boys, it’s time to show those barbarians who’s boss here. I’m informing platoon that we’re about to engage.”
Distance conversions Since the game is focused for a 3×3 table, and I’m going with 15mm miniatures on a 2×2 table (with the new 15mm base size, yay!), I’ll do a subtle conversion to gain a bit more room to play, but without being too fiddly to use. I’ll double the values, but measure in centimeters instead of inches, so a Speed of 5″, would convert to 10 cm.
Battle Setup
Battle Round 1 Initiative: Sgt. Karl Welch (AR) – 1 Pfc. Terry Shaffer (SAW) – 6 Pvt. Martin Murphy (ARGL) – 2 Pvt. Jeffrey Franks (LAW) – 2
Quick Phase Karl moves 10 cm forward, Shoots AR at Mob #2: 1: Miss Jeffrey, Shoot AR at Mob #1: 2: Miss Martin, Shoot AR at Mob #1: 4: Hit: 6: Orc down
Enemy Phase Both Orc mobs dash closer behind cover
Slow Phase Terry, Shoots SAW at Mob #1: 5,5,5,1: 2 Hits at closest orc, the other is deflected by cover and the last is a miss: 6, 1: Orc down I missed to do a Morale Check per phase... Morale check: 1: Failure: 4: Success: One orc from Mob#1 flees
The orcs hear the sound of gunfire for the first time in their lives. The sergeant fires at the furthest enemies, as he had an open line of fire, but, his shots don’t find the target. Pvt. Franks and Murphy shoot at the humanoids in front of them, bringing one down. This doesn’t seem to deter the rest of crazed enemies who quickly realize their enemy has ranged weapons and take cover behind some large boulders. However this doesn’t stop Pfc. Shaffer from unleashing a hail of bullets from his M60 at the mob, killing another orc. A coward from their ranks breaks and flees. Only the biggest meanest orc from their group remains at the north flank.
Battle Round 1
Battle Round 2 Initiative: Sgt. Karl Welch (AR) – 3 Pfc. Terry Shaffer (SAW) – 1 Pvt. Martin Murphy (ARGL) – 2 Pvt. Jeffrey Franks (LAW) – 2
Quick Phase Fire Team 1 delays.
Enemy Phase Orc Champion 1 rushes to behind cover, Karl snap fires AR: 5: Hit: 1: No damage Jeffrey snap fires AR: 3: Miss Martin snap fires AR: 4: Hit: 2: No damage Orc Mob #2 moves to cover behind the other boulder
Slow Phase Terry shoots SAW at Mob#2: 6,4,4,1: 1 Hit at closest orc: 5: Orc down Morale check: 4: Success
The sarge orders the fire team to hold until they have a clear line of sight. As the big orc jumps from behind the cover of one boulder to the other, all three special forces shoot their assault rifles at him. Two bullets graze him, and he reaches cover behind the other boulder. At the southern flank, the other group approaches Terry, who opens fire with his machinegun, killing another orc.
Battle Round 2
Battle Round 3 Initiative: Sgt. Karl Welch (AR) – 3 Pfc. Terry Shaffer (SAW) – 6 Pvt. Martin Murphy (ARGL) – 1 Pvt. Jeffrey Franks (LAW) – 3
Quick Phase Karl moves to the open and shoots AR to Mob #1 Champion: 5: Hit: Save: 6: Champion Saves Martin moves and shoots Grenade Launcher to Mob #2: 4: Miss: 3: grenade explodes 3″ in front of the boulder
Enemy Phase Orc champion closes in on Karl Mob #2 moves behind cover
Slow Phase Jeffrey shoots AR at Orc Champion #1: 1: Miss: Reroll (Aimed): 5: Hit: Save: 3: No save: Damage: 3: Orc champion #1 is down Terry moves around and opens fire with his M60 at Mob #2: 6,2,2,1: 1 Hit: 2: No damage
The sergeant quickly moves to avoid being caught in melee by his enemy, finds an open line of fire, and fires off a burst to the big mean orc in front of him. The bullets strike true, however the orc seems unharmed as if an unknown force saved him, he closes in on the sergeant, with only a few paces in distance while Pvt. Franks aims and fires at him, the bullet piercing through it’s thick skull, bringing him down. At the other side, Murphy fires off his M79 grenade launcher, but miscalculates, and the grenade explodes in front of the boulder under which the orcs have jumped and taken cover. Under the explosion, they rush forward to another cover, receiving a hail of bullets from Shaffer’s machinegun. They escape unharmed.
Battle Round 3
Battle Round 4 Initiative: Sgt. Karl Welch (AR) – 4 Pfc. Terry Shaffer (SAW) – 1 Pvt. Martin Murphy (ARGL) – 4 Pvt. Jeffrey Franks (LAW) – 5
Quick Phase Terry shoots at Mob 2: 6,4,4,3: 3 Hits: Save: 3: No Save: Damage: 4,6,4: All 3 orcs down.
However, Terry keeps shooting, and mows down all three orcs. Sergeant Welch contacts platoon, only to receive reports that Fire Team 2 is also engaged in battle.
Battle Round 4
I’m trying out a new approach to photographs depicting the actual play, with arrows and such, I don’t know if I’ll stick with it or not. For more dense battles perhaps an approach of a photo per Phase would be less cluttered, and more clear. I’ll consider it for the next Exercise.
Summary
That was a fun first foray. I don’t expect any significant challenge for the first Exercises, it’s just getting to know the rules and lay of the game. In the meantime I got some more STLs from March to Hell Vietnam to print more figures for the player side, and hopefully I’ll slowly have them painted soon enough to have a proper table. I’m really intrigued by the concept, and will most likely modify it to fit my own theme, but I haven’t decided yet. The nice things with the Exercises is that I can use this extra time to finalize the world and squad to my liking before setting it down in writing. Looking forward to expanding further on the game and trying out the unique rules, enemies and challenges it contains.
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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