"Siege of Augusta Fireball Forward" Topic

Hi all,

I ran a play test of one of Mark Fastoso's upcoming Stalingrad scenario book for Fireball Forward at Siege of Augusta this last weekend. It went quite well and I figured I'd show it off. Enjoy!

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The board from the German's side. They start with one platoon in the nearer three buildings, with an HQ unit and a tank platoon entering on the first turn. Their victory conditions are to have sole control of four out of the five buildings on the far side of the board. Of course they are solidly defended by heroes of the Motherland (all hidden right now, naturally).

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The flank entry point for the other three German platoons.

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The German Stugs and the SiG 33 arrive first, then First Platoon's squads get moving to flush out some hidden Soviet troops. They succeed almost too well!

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The Soviet Sniper knocks a few squads and the Company HQ back, but times his shot poorly and is revealed. In Fireball a Sniper who fires has to make a Morale roll every time he fires. If he fails it the German player gets to guess where he might be on the board. The young fellow running the Fascists chooses wisely…

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The German Tank Platoon rolls through the rubble. No shots this turn as they move fast to get in close.

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The Soviet AT Gun, dug in in the street in a camouflaged firing pit, opens up on the Stug in the street. Unfortunately the tank's armor proves more than up to the task of bouncing the 45mm shots.

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Ping! Ping! "Vas ist?"

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Third turn and the German Pioneers follow Platoon Two's advance. The flamethrower moves in on the broken AT Gun and fires. Eight dice and NO 5s or 6s are rolled. Several elements break and fall back upon seeing the terror weapon employed. The Germans have a solid foothold… so far.

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The Pioneers continue to press the beleaguered Soviets. The building is now contested, and a number of the defenders are now broken. Not to mention getting surrounded.

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More Soviets fall back. The few squads left are getting herded into an increasingly small number of building zones. The Germans are getting VERY confident of a victory.

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The Soviet AT Rifle breaks the lightly armored SiG 33 as another squad looks on. The brave Russian team is vaporized shortly thereafter by the other Stug.

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Soviet Counterattack! A Pioneer squad was all that was holding the building at the back of the board, and the Soviets manage to rally a squad and push through a huge fusillade of Op-fire to re-take the structure.

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The games ends on Turn 5 with the Soviets still in control of two buildings. Their two remaining unbroken squads suffered through a a LOT of German fire, making every single Morale roll and the Germans failed almost every roll to initiate an assault on either squad holding the buildings. When they did finally succeed the Soviets smacked them hard in the close combat. Everybody in the game (and me as well) is shocked that the Soviets manage to hold out for a victory against the German assault. A fun game all around, and it came down to the last few rolls of the game (as usual).

Jerry

And the inevitable questions.

How do they compare to FoW?
Notice anything wonky?
And how long would a game take with say the 1500 points that FoW uses?

Looks like a fun game, with all the tension inherent in a cityfight.

You probably know you should have the sIG33B, not sIG33, different model (closed top, not open top) and all that.

Ancients-- They are true Company level so a bit unlike FoW at it's core. I do know that many guys play the rules with their FoW armies and have no issues with the slightly different basing.

I have been a play tester since day one so with all my bias I don't see anything wonky at all. 8)= They were originally started as a way to make Squad Leader into a miniatures game and some players have noticed the similarity without being told. I never played that game so I can't really say. Tactics are hugely important, op-fire is handled perfectly so that it keeps all players involved almost all the time, all artillery is off-board, and the card activation system works a treat. Finally, I haven't ever played a game of Fireball that took much longer than three hours, including the historical St. Lo scenarios with at least a company of infantry on both sides and nine(!) Panthers on the German side to boot.

Tuscaloosa-- Yeah, the author told me the SiG 33 was the wrong type, but I didn't have any time to get the proper one. It will be rectified in future. I'm one of those guys who has a collection of German vehicles painted specifically for the Theater and time of the war and I try to make sure the models are proper as well. Mistakes have and will be made on occasion, though!

Looks like Old Glory 15s is the only place to get a SiG 33B, unless you gents know of another manufacturer in 15mm.

Great AAR Jerry! Love the buildings and the effect you created with the debris, really captures the look of Stalingrad…need to play Fireball again its been too long

What did you use for the brick rubble?

Kitty litter. I went to Wal-Mart and found a cheap ($1.97) bag of unscented litter, making sure it was the non-clumping type. I then spread a plastic bag into a suitably sized box and sprayed a layer of the stuff with red oxide primer. I continued to shake and spray (ironic, seeing as it's kitty litter…) until almost all the litter was brick red. Then I did the same with some grey spray paint. Mix them together and add some broken up thin basswood which I stained in some sepia ink and voila! Not-so-instant (but cheap!) rubble, good for both 15 and 20mm.

This a great scenario and I am proud to say I got to play it at Jerry's house to work out the kinks before the con. As always a great looking table and the Fireball Forward system is always fun and challenging. Yes I am bias having been a play tester of the rules.