"Operation Burnt Bacon: WW2 AAR" Topic

My first game of "Some Corner of a Foreign Field"

The Rules are a work in progress I understand but I really enjoyed them

This is the first part of the AAR:
warpanda.blogspot.ca

Some photos:

Compliments all is beautiful! I like, above all , your superb buildings.

Now that's terrain!

Makes one wonder if a game table such as this, could be elevated up to the players eye level – and then have everyone navigate the board from a near-1st-person perspective.

Yowser!

What a clever AAR. I love the comic book style. Your production value is quite high. Where did you find the hit location die? The terrain is stunning. Well done.

Wonderful terrain. Great job. Really brings out the "Band of Brothers" feel.

Thanks guys much appreciated…again I do love feedback negative or positive(especially positive) I'd be particularly on the the comic book style…I know previous versions were not so well received…but I personally prefer this one.

@Jurgen I honestly can't remember where or even when I bought that dice (its quite a while ago though)

@Weasel That 'Band of Brothers' sort of 'eavesdropping' on the action feel was exactly what I was looking to do…and it's kind of difficult when your playing a game which I'm not very familiar with …

Panda-John, you're a @#$% and I hate you. It's pure jealousy, mind you, but hey, that's good enough for me. You win, I won't post anymore battle reports, there's no way I can compare to this.

Your toys is gorgeous, as always. Your stuff looks so good, you actually had me surfing the internet for 20 and 28mm stuff. The suck part is that I could paint the guys to an *okay* standard, which I could live with, but I wouldn't even know where to begin with the terrain. I actually pictured myself asking you for a tutorial on how to do it, but then, after taking a close look at the terrain on your blog, it occurred to me that, even with a step-by-step tutorial by you, I still wouldn't be able to do it…

Regarding "I know previous versions were not so well received…" I think you're putting too much into it. If I recall correctly, 99% of TMP loved the comic book batrep and one guy was complaining about the border colors, so some such nonsense.

Alright, enough kissing your butt, it's great stuff, the comic book deal is fantastic too. But once again you 'pulled a Panda;' whoa, John, slow down, you got all the way up to the scouts getting up to the wall. So, we should have a full batrep by, say, July of 2016? Let's get a move on it Panda, I want to see what happens!

Couple other notes:
-I can't believe you gave the Lieutenant my nickname…
-You call me a cheater: so, your first game out with the new rules, your second ever shot, and your first ever hit rolls a '1,' eh? Hmmmm… Stranger things have happened, eh? Your nose is growing, Sir ;)

Good stuff, let's get it finished up. You're about 11 games behind me with the rules; I figure if you don't sleep for a week you should be caught up, now hop to it! Dammit, and I need one of those 'hit location' dice, too!

V/R,
Jack

Panda-John, you're a @#$% and I hate you

You're beginning to sound like my wife ;)

"I know previous versions were not so well received…" I think you're putting too much into it. If I recall correctly

Well it was the reaction from the Toofatlardies yahoo group I think flushed it down the sewer and hey…they are known for their appreciation of the finer things…those philistines! No I actually agreed with them though;

-I can't believe you gave the Lieutenant my nickname…

How did you know I call you that in private?

-You call me a cheater: so, your first game out with the new rules, your second ever shot, and your first ever hit rolls a '1,' eh? Hmmmm… Stranger things have happened, eh?

For your information once the guy got hit I was hoping for something more dramatic than that…but I am a slave to the dice Gods (unlike someone I know…) I want to see a photo of your d20's…I don't believe you even have aa set ;)

i've a few questions about the rules and these are no criticisms of the rules themselves (more the fault of rushing into the game without a thorough reading of the rules incase other duties called me back to reality)

When do you roll for spotting? If the passive defender has no action points in reserve does he still get an opportunity to spot if the active player walks by in cover?

I imagined the germans on overwatch needed to successfully roll a spotting test before they shot?

The MG42 in the house had reserved an action point (half of its 3 total rounded down) also rolled to spot the bren team, but they failed…

Other area I wasn't sure about is the exact sequence of individual activations.
Example: Lets say for argument sake that the Brits drill/skill level is 5 so 5 models can be activated with each one having 4 actions: But I wanted the full squad to move to check the house but this isn't possible so I leave three guys behind?

Anyway I first activate Pvt Stephens and I want him to jump over the low wall with one action, then leg it towards the far side of the field, then I plan on him jumping over gate and then going prone behind the wall.

But Jerry has a sniper overwatching the field. Does Stephens complete all his seperate actions before Richards can activate? I allowed each individual to spend an action point then placed a points remainder dice beside him and moved onto his chum and did the same…then reactivated anyone who had action points.

Also wasn't sure about how many times overwatch could be used by the same model in the same turn

I really think these have such potential and could be really useful rules for this type of action

BTW you'll love the next installment: 15 glorious photos of Richards spotting a rare singing bird roosting in a nearby tree. Palmer decides to clean his boots after the pig pen. And Lieutenant BB at last accepts that he's a born Marine.
Should be ready for the Fall!

Very impressive terrain. I have never heard from the rules "Some Corner of a Foreign Field" before.

Where you have the dices from? Have I seen right that some of the dices has a Fallschirmjaeger Symbol?

Thanks…
The rules "Some Corner of a Foreign Field" are a work in progress that I'm trying out for a fellow TMP member…I believe they will be available to buy some time in the future…judging on the play test they will be a rule set I'll be playing for this small level of combat

Taking into consideration that I was doing some basic things wrong (after actually reading the rules properly I noticed a few errors I was making) I think for this level of game: Squad… they are the best I've played…lots of detail without slowing things down…loved the extra action choices available. Leaping forward to take cover, extra aiming for a better shot…feels like you're in more control…anyway it was my first time to play test it

I believe the dice you mentioned are the Bolt Action ones? Are they the ones in the bag? If so they are Bolt Action and they don't have any symbol just 'orders' (but I do have fallischirmjaeger dice from Flames of War…I lIKE dice :)

My Dear Panda,

I humbly apologize for my absence, real life has been kicking my butt the past couple days.

"You're beginning to sound like my wife"
So, we see who the brains of the operation is ;)

"How did you know I call you that in private?"
Maybe that means something different where you're from, but looks to me like "giant testicles." So, with you being Canadian and also knowing I was a Marine, I took a guess.

Slave of the dice Gods, eh? Sure sounds like you're the one with magic dice, Sir. On to the rules.

1. When do you roll for spotting? If the passive defender has no action points in reserve does he still get an opportunity to spot if the active player walks by in cover?
I imagined the germans on overwatch needed to successfully roll a spotting test before they shot?

The MG42 in the house had reserved an action point (half of its 3 total rounded down) also rolled to spot the bren team, but they failed…

-Mostly I've been playing that only an active player can spot, using an action (or more than one if you roll like I do). Having said that, I have allowed what I will refer to as 'assumed' spotting. For example, in the batrep with the VC tax collector, three VC were in a treeline, unspotted, and had been watching the US troops mill about the village for quite a bit, so I counted the US troops as spotted. The VC triggered the ambush, and all three fired: a 50mm mortar, a LMG, and a rifle. Because they all fired from pretty much the same location I counted them all as spotted.

That is not strictly in line with the rules; I understand that in real life some firing can come from dense vegetation without the target spotting the shooter, but, in my opinion, you can only put out so much fire before your position is given up. Similarly, regarding someone on overwatch, if someone unspotted walks in front of him (in relatively plain view), I have counted the target as spotted without making a spotting roll. I understand a guy sitting on overwatch could miss spotting a potential target, but I also understand overwatch to mean something along the lines of "I haven't spotted the enemy yet, but I saw movement or heard something and now I'm halting my movement and taking up a stable firing platform to watch an area I expect may contain the enemy."

Strictly speaking, I suppose your overwatch guy should have to reserve an action and take a chance trying to spot before firing. I have played it that way too when the target is obscured (busting brush through the jungle). So I play it kind of 'situationally dependent.'

2. Other area I wasn't sure about is the exact sequence of individual activations.
Example: Lets say for argument sake that the Brits drill/skill level is 5 so 5 models can be activated with each one having 4 actions: But I wanted the full squad to move to check the house but this isn't possible so I leave three guys behind?

-Yes, you can only activate the amount of troops equal to the S&D level, so the rest of the squad waits. Once the shooting starts, I've really been making it more difficult to activate more than one guy at a time, owing to friction caused by rounds flying by. Usually what I do once the shooting has started (and both sides are on relatively equal terms, meaning they're both spotted) is I pick one good guy and one bad guy, roll a D6 each, high dice activates, then the low guy activates, then I do it again.

3. Anyway I first activate Pvt Stephens and I want him to jump over the low wall with one action, then leg it towards the far side of the field, then I plan on him jumping over gate and then going prone behind the wall. But Jerry has a sniper overwatching the field. Does Stephens complete all his seperate actions before Richards can activate? I allowed each individual to spend an action point then placed a points remainder dice beside him and moved onto his chum and did the same…then reactivated anyone who had action points.

-First, I believe a man on overwatch can 'interrupt' at any point during the activated guy's turn. Second, I believe once you have activated a man you have to 'finish him out' before activating another man, friendly or enemy. This, of course, is excepted only for enemy overwatch.

4. Also wasn't sure about how many times overwatch could be used by the same model in the same turn

-My understanding (Matt and I discussed this specifically) is that a man can conduct any number of activations on overwatch, but it gets harder each time. The first overwatch doesn't require a test, but the next requires a test of S&D x 4 – 4, with an additional -4 for each additional action (so the third would be S&D x 4 – 8). So far I've only ever had one guy get a second overwatch action.

"I really think these have such potential and could be really useful rules for this type of action"
I agree, I've been having a great time, finally got a set of 1 to 1 rules at squad level that works.

"BTW you'll love the next installment: 15 glorious photos of Richards spotting a rare singing bird roosting in a nearby tree. Palmer decides to clean his boots after the pig pen.
Should be ready for the Fall!"
Perfect! I figured by November you'd having them cleaning their weapons, December loading them, and January actually firing. Slow down buddy, you're killing it!

"And Lieutenant BB at last accepts that he's a born Marine."
I hope he can live up to it.

Take care man.

V/R,
Jack

Thanks for the explanations Jack…no thanks for calling me Canadian (I love Canadians…my wife is one and so is my youngest boy but I am Irish ;)

I'm terrible for trying to play a new game without reading the rules first.

I spend a lot of my day reading and writing and so when I get an opportunity to play with my toys I don't want to be reading instead. So there I am with the tablet scanning for what to do next. I read the whole thing the next day with Matts additional email ( along with your explanation here) and things made alot more sense.

You know me though I never satisfied but as you mentioned that was some of the best fun I've had at a gaming table…

I know what you mean about life kicking your butt around…
I 'm sso busy for the last few months and now we're looking to buy a new house…thats why I didnt bother changing my terrain for this game …I'll be needing to pack everything away very soon. It's funny each house I look at my main focus is where I'm going to put my table and toys…

I posted the complete game earlier…my word it was a lot of work…I made the most of having a few sick days (the whole family got a nice bug there…you don't want the details ;)

I see you have a new AAR which I'm going to take a look at now…just need to get some virtual rotten eggs and tomatoes first…see you in your place ;)

You're killing me! You have a hard time reading rules before playing the game? For those not aware, these rules are one page, front and back! ;)

The rules are working out great, though I got the clarification from Matt and realized I'd been playing the morale test wrong, and I'm not sure why, it's right there in the rules… I've been playing that: the guy runs away (check), the guy passes and can use all his normal actions (check), or the guy drops prone and curls up in the fetal position (not check). However, it says he drops prone and can use his actions for anything except to move… Not sure what happened there…

Yes, well, good luck with the house hunting, may it have a cavernous space for your toys. For your information, Sir, I am quite fortunate in that I do have my own 'toy room' upstairs, it's not the kitchen table, as you allege. And you're exactly right, writing up these batreps is a lot of work (yours much more so than mine, what with your Marvel Action Comics layout and all), but I like doing it and really appreciate hearing what people think.

Now let me go check out your new batrep. It seems you may have actually have had a fight. I dunno, I'll believe it when I see it; I'm half expecting your Brits and Jerries are playing a frolicking game of dodgeball to sort out their differences in a more congenial manner.

V/R,
Jack