"A Walk in the Woods - On Patrol in the Stans" Topic

Howdy,

Another Modern MUF game on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at the Hobbytown in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Today's game: A Walk in the Woods – On Patrol in the Stans.

The game was played with 15mm figures using my adaptation of Men Under Fire for modern combat. I've also changed the turn sequencing, using cards to determine the sequence of actions, and command chits, spent to act. Seems to work well, so far.

The Blue Forces consist of a US infantry platoon of three squad, they are on patrol and returning to their combat outpost. Hidden markers were used to denote the location of Afghan & Taliban figures/forces.

Photo 1 – Organization of Blue Force – 3 squads, each with LMG, Platoon Leader, Platoon Sgt, and Scout.

Photo 2 – Afghan & Taliban Figures

Next, the battlefield. The apparent roads are really trails, with wooded areas representing rough, mountainous ground. The tabletops represents an area in the valley area of operations where three villages are in close proximity.

Photo 3 – View looking north, green markers represent hidden Afghan or Taliban figures. The US player didn't know it yet, but there only three Taliban figures, each watching an IED location.

Photo 4 – View looking east, the US Forces would be moving west to east on the board.

What happened in the game: The US player set up his three squads on the western end of the board. They could choose where along the board edge to set up.

Photo 5 – US forces at start.

Photo 6 – First action card drawn to start the game.

Basic actions are move, shoot, charge, & rally. On a free action card, may choose to execute any action. To act a unit (squad) must spend a command chit. Veteran units get two, Green units get none, others get one. Leaders get two, they may activate subordinate unit(s) within 6-inches. The two sides alternate acting on card until both side pass.

Photo 7 – Scouts out – recon moves forward

Photo 8 – 2nd Squad moves to flank the northern side of the village

Photo 9 – Meet & greet at the village gate

Lt. Jones greets the village elder, and begins to take tea. Meanwhile, the platoon scout heads out to recon the next leg of the route home.

Photo 10 – Moving east from village, Sgt. Rodriguez finds an IED!

Photo 11 – Securing LZ for Medevac

After encountering the IED, Sgt. Rodriguez's body was Medevac'd, and the platoon continues east returning safely to their combat outpost. A successful patrol, but not without loss. Stay tuned for continuing adventures "In the Stans."

Photo 12 – Areas of operations along the Lush River Valley, and deadly maze of interconnecting side valleys.

More to come …

Ponder on,

JAS

Nice photos and description

Mike

Nice game, I like the names on your map, where's the bridge of doom?

Are your fields home made, if so how?, r where can I buy them please?

Howdy,

Fields are glue and flock on press-board. Brown background, green rows – very simple.

Yet, I must confess I bought them at Siege of Augusta, a couple of years ago.

Ponder on,

JAS

Are you finding IUDs in Condom Province?

Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

Howdy,

No IUDs so far, but we've found some deep chits.

In playing so far, when first encountereing the command chit system, players have had a tendenacy to rush into action, quickly using up their actions. The drawback is this leaves you vulnerable from the opposition, if they've conserved their chit resources.

For example in the last game, the Blue force QRF rushed forward using their chits. This allowed the Red force to effectively ambush the QRF squad, inflicting significant loss. I like the way this is working so far.

I stole the system from The Devil to Pay an regimental ACW rule set. Kudos to the folks who came up with this, I like it a lot.

Ponder on,

JAS