Boris says...

Wargaming is a wider church than most think. I imagine many people will think of two enemies facing each other across a table, bellicose and aggressive, determined to win at all costs. Of course, this scenario does play out in real life, but just as common is a friendly exploration of the tactics, doctrine and history of that particular engagement. I think it would surprise non-grognards that co-operative narrative games also exist and that game masters can run the game, usually managing a scenario. This is the wargaming that this gamer prefers. 

Dex acted as our game master for a Five Parsecs Tactics game of asymmetrical warfare. Sandy, Owen and I took control of three military squads assaulting a settlement in search of an insidious rebel leader. As usual, Dex created a fantastic table using a range of 3D printed and metal terrain as well as some fish tank decorations. He also provided a range of very well-painted miniatures (including vehicles) and cards with stats for the squads. 

Sandy and I moved onto the table with our APC squads, moving into the settlement and engaging light resistance from the rebels. Owen brought the platoon commander in with the drop ship at the other end of the table, but a collection of poor activation rolls meant that his squad was stuck in the wargame doldrums. 

After encountering increasing rebel activity, including panicking over a rebel with an RPG, the APC squads progressed towards the location of the rebel leader. More panic ensued as a rebel climbed aboard a technical truck and manning its heavy weapon. Owen’s squad opened up on technical, successfully melting the vehicle’s rear bumper. Luckily, the other squads were more effective and eliminated the threat. 

This allowed the platoon to surround the target building. There was still opposition from the rebels though, including from inside the building. After spending most of the mission directing his squad from inside the APC, Sarge stepped out and coolly threw a grenade into one of the building’s windows. At this the rebel leader exited and started running toward his men. Keeping his cool, Sarge rounded the corner and, with one shot, took out the rebel, ending the scenario.  A great game, enjoyed by all, thanks Dex!

The rules were simple enough that everyone picked them up quickly but were robust enough to deal with all situations. Pretty much what you’d expect from a game written by Ivan Sorensen. Like much of his output, Five Parsecs Tactics allows solo and competitive play as well as co-operative. Recommended!

More from Boris...

Our other game was a strange Frankenstein of a project. Ivan’s Squad Hammer is a simple yet elegant game for narrative and competitive squad-based games. Nordic Weasel Games Discord member Neuzd has taken this and somehow turned it into rules for playing a multiplayer arena style game, the likes of which are usually played online.  Until this day the game had only been played solo by Neuzd himself in playtests. 

Owen created a densely-packed small table for our arena. This, of course, is very important for a PvP arena game. This is every character for themselves. There are 10 rounds and the objective is to kill (frag) as many of your opponents as possible within the time limit. Characters have seven hit points; most attacks do one point of damage, though rolling two sixes provides an insta-frag. Deployment rules and placement of weapons and med kits went through a number of iterations during play(testing). We eventually used grid co-ordinates for all three. 

Once everyone had played a couple of games (it’s pretty quick going once you get used to it), we had a six player frenetic epic with frags aplenty. We were using the weapons freely (they add buffs or debuffs to hit rolls and/or damage rolls), which get dropped when you’re fragged. Lots. Of. Fun. Thanks Neuzd for creating a great arena game out of a great squad game!

Owen says...

Good weather and clear skies meant a smooth and quick landing by the Captain and two stacks, securing the landing zone from the OpFor. Two APCs rumbled towards the compound, the target, a high value leader of the enemy who was attending a rare face to face meeting.

One APC launched a hail of gunfire, removing the sentry from his post, allowing the sniper to take over the vantage point. The other APC headed to the buildings to provide covering fire against any other targets.

The Captain ordered a fast approach with two prongs into the square, to eliminate the emerging forces in a crossfire. The sniper took fire but showed lethality in return. The Op For was unable to stand up against the relentless suppressive, deadly fire and retreated. It was only temporary safety.

The Captain's unit was unsure how to proceed, taking out only one sentry. Having expected more resistance they scooted up one stack at a time, providing covering fire.

Then the enemy responded. As the noose grew tighter around the objective, troops poured out, including an RPG. Units lay down fire from different angles and popped smoke to prevent deadly counter fire. The second squad of infantry lead by the Lieutenant moved up and got in behind. But the enemy responded with a brave soul mounting the technical and its heavy weaponry. The Captain ordered fire on the target but was caught off guard, damaging but not destroying it. 

BANG. Target down. The sniper, back in play, calmly chalked one more kill on the side of his gun. No more technical to worry about.

As the enemy panicked, the Lieutenant dismounted the APC finally, directing his troops to keep on the pressure. He calmly rounded the back of the building and as soon as the target fled... mission succesful. A cold shot to the back. Clinical and perfectly timed. One shot from the Lieutenant was all that was required to end it all as he calmly walked back to his ride.