"Ultra FUBAR: The Cavalry's Stand!" Topic

What a game! This was easily the best solo game I've ever played. In this action I've pitted the "elite" yanquis of the 23eme RI against the professionals of the Philippine Scouts: the 26th Cavalry! The 23eme is advancing on Centerville and the cavalry has to fight a delaying action to slow them down and bleed them dry. It's mecha vs. tanks in the rolling farmlands just outside of the city.

The Scouts MUST HOLD or else Centerville is lost!

Enjoy the fight:

link

Good looking army.

Is Ultra FUBAR different than regular FUBAR?

Yes. Craig put out some suggestions for FUBAR under the flag of "Ultra". The biggest change is the activation system. When you roll to activate you can get to perform one or two actions. You get two actions if you pass the activation roll. You only get one, and the initiative switches as normal, if you fail your activation roll. It creates a much more dynamic game but it keeps the basic flow of FUBAR intact. I'm sure that there's more coming down the pike in the coming months.

Nice battle! It was great to read even being a solo game!

I have never liked the Fubar vehicle damage chart. I guess it's ok with a vehicle or two per side. But it is not a good fit when running a lot of vehicles on the table. The reason why it has not been addressed is that practically nobody except for a few folks (my group being some of them) ever use many vehicles in a game. So, it was nice to see you doing so.

Worrying about weapon damage or mobility hits with a vehicle or two per side is fine, I guess. But when you are running a Company per side it makes little sense. First a Company Commander would not be concerned if tank 4 lost an mg. All he cares about is the tank following orders, suppressed or knocked out. That is exactly how my damage chart I incorporated from my own rules works. In reality tankers do not stay with vehicles that don't move. It's a death wish. In miniature games each one with a mobility hit becomes an unrealistic pillbox. I have suggested it to Craig. We'll see what happens.

I also dump the suppression of troopers in my games. I don't believe it works with large games. A large squad of average troops with a few suppressed men is ineffective. I don't believe that's realistic. Horde armies become unplayable using suppression. I think of Somalia (Black Hawk Down), the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other horde units. Now I admit I am unsure what effect the new 1 action per unit will have on these armies.

My other gripe is the artillery/mortar and rocket launched he rules or lack thereof. I think a template is needed.

I also have suggested some air rules for VTOL style craft since they are missing as well.

Thanks,

John

Tgunner, i have to ask. Where your located why are you putting on solo games and not playing with others?:-)

Grimm

<snickers>

I'm just outside of DC. There are some game clubs around but they are a bit of a drive. We have one car (MD is expensive) and small children about so it's really tough for me to break away. And having a 9 month preggo wife doesn't help much either. And it doesn't help that I don't know any gamers who are local to me either

I do get to play with othere (jeese that is such a teacherish thing to say!), but it's not too often these days. Now if you happen to be in the DC/PG County area I would imagine my wife would cut me loose. However I do have at least one regular opponent: my boy Jeremy! At least when I can pull him away from Roblocs (?).

Thanks wargamer! It was your blog that really motivated me to start posting pictures of my toys.

Thanks John!

I now know what you mean about FUBAR and vehicles. FUBAR just wasn't intended for this style of a game. If you look closely at my pictures then you'll notice all those little scraps of paper that I used to track vehicle damage. It was a pain! I really took FUBAR beyond its comfort zone and overall I liked its game play. It was just the vehicle rules that were lacking. And honestly, FUBAR wasn't intended to handle much
more than a vehicle or two. It is an infantry skirmish game after all! But I'm an old treadhead and I couldn't resist the urge to get mechanized!

Any chance you could post your vehicle rules? I'm curious to see what you do with vehicle damage.

I think my next go with this particular scenario will be with FAD since its vehicle system is tighter. I also might break out Gruntz too and take it out for a spin.

Any way, thanks for the comments.

Excellent report! I really appreciate the battle reports since it gives me ideas for play balance since FUBAR does not have a points sytem.

As far as horde armies go this is where I have struggled the most achieving balance. In a stand up fight what should the ratio be of green to higher quality units, 3-1,4-1 or 5-1. The supression rules are fine as long as the horde has more units / uncommmited troops that can still maneuver.

Then it gets a little more tricky when you add in cover / fortifcations, vehicles and indrect fire.

I know the old adage about 3-1 minimum for attacking but some times it does not apply when your quality is much higher than the OPFOR.

Tgunner please run a game using a horde of conscripts / insurgents versus higher quality troops then submit a battle report. Perhaps two squads of regulars with the sniper versus a horde.

I am torn between Hammer's Slammers and Fubar. I like individual based infantry but I also like to be able to play with company level or battalion level attached assets. No system handles it all and my players detest book keeping.

Tgunner please run a game using a horde of conscripts / insurgents versus higher quality troops then submit a battle report. Perhaps two squads of regulars with the sniper versus a horde.

I'll try it out. It won't be pretty for the hoard though.