"Robot War" - Delaying action

 "I think I'll have all the robots this time."

"OK, so I'll have all the Mega Force?"

"No, I have all of them too."

"But I need something..."

"You can have the baddie Mega Force, then."

Thus, our next game began.  Given that I had such a small force, we agreed that Number 2 son's objective would be to get half of his robots off my end of the table.  My delaying force would try to hold them and eliminate more than half.  Perhaps we should leave a few things off the table, the game might get a bit bogged down? No, I was told that they all needed to be used.

His V-Roc forces were bunched together on one corner of the board.

The robots were lined up along the entire end of the table.

My somewhat more modest Triax force was scattered across the other end.

VTOLs were ready to launch from an elevated observatino position.

We added a couple of larger Mega Force vehicles to bolster my forces.  These Tar Traks have 4 damage points (the same as the robots) and fire 3D8 when attacking.  They could transport 2 vehicles each if required, but I kept mine empty.

An overhead view of the board.  The robots would need at least 6 turns to cover the distance at maximum speed.  If they delayed by firing instead of double-moving each turn, it would be longer, but I couldn't see my small units lasting that long.

The mecha moved forwards between the rocky outcrops.

It wasn't worth firing yet... too far away for anything to hit.

Number 2 son's fighter-bombers tried to soften up my forces.  They destroyed the first Tar Traks.

A second strike on the other Tar Traks damaged it.

My suqdrons remained ready off-board, waiting for an opportune moment to strike...

A combination of my AA tanks and the VTOLs managed to knock out all attacking fighter-bombers.

... and with that, he decided that he just wanted to play with the Mega Force on his own, so we ended the game.  I had suggested that perhaps it was an overly ambitious idea to use so much, but some 5-year olds aren't wiling to take advice when offered!  It was a chance to find what was in some of my other scenery boxes anyway, so I didn't mind too much.

"Robot War" - Combined Arms City Fight

Saturday was the first day of the school summer holidays and another game of "Robot War" was demanded!  I got the Mega Force down from the loft and unrolled the Lidl wargames mat once more.  As well as the unpainted mecha, I pulled in my painted units.  This allowed us to have two combined arms forces facing each other.  My GW "Space Marine" box provided us with 3 complete sets of buildings from the game to form an excellent city through which to fight.  My super-cheap fir trees also put in an appearance to fill in a few gaps.

Number 2 son had the first turn.  He commenced a long-range bombardment from his mecha and inflicted serious damage on my missile mech.

Missile mech under attack.

His attacks on my other mech were less successful.

Light damage on another mech.

His VTOLs and helicopter gunships dished out some punishment to my anti-aircraft mecha, but not enough to take them out of the fight.

Anti-aircraft mecha also under attack.

The volume of return fire hosing from the AA mecha shredded the entire enemy air force.

Enemy air assets neutralised.

Missiles from my heavily damaged mech had limited effect on the enemy tank formations, only 2 hits achieved.

Lead MBTs destroyed.

At this point, I rummaged in my games bag to find the box of Litko "flaming wreckage" markers to add a bit more interest!

Flaming wreckage...

They add a great effect to the battle.

MBTs roll past their stricken comrades.

Return fire against the enemy mecha was almost entirely ineffective, only a single extreme range hit.

Only light damage sustained.

Turn 2.  Number 2 son's missile launchers open fire.  "But they can't see my mecha," I pointed out.  "But they're heat seekers," was the reply, and so they were...

Aaaaargh! Too many missiles!

Boom! Down goes my mech amidst a storm of missile explosions.

Boom!  Mech down!

More fire from his Mecha and tanks peppered one of my anti-aircraft mech with shrapnel.

Incoming!

The other 2 anti-aircraft mecha fared worse, succumbing to a determined bombardment from the enemy tank force.

Goodbye anti-aircraft units...

Number 2 son's tanks were surging forwards past the burning wreckage of their ill-fated companions.

Victorious MBTs surge forwards...

During my second turn, I was able to concentrate tank and Mech fire on one of his, to eventually destroy it.

First enemy mech down.

On the other flank, my missile launchers threw everything they had at the lead enemy mech, peppering it with explosions and eventually destroying it.

Second enemy mech quickly follows.

Turn 3 started with Number 2 son's 3 mecha attempting to continue their long-range duel with my 2 remaining mecha.  The first opted to fire twice, only needing 7s on 8D8.  No luck.

Can't aim straight.

The next fared just as badly.  At extreme range, it was needing 8s to hit... so, so close, but all the shots just grazed past.

 

5 near misses - so unlucky!

 With my units somehow surviving without further damage, my tank forces were ready to make their move.  First, my flanking force on one side was able to move forwards and engage the main enemy tank formation.

Targets front! Engage at will!

Needing only 6+, I had an exceedingly lucky set of rolls for my 7 MBTs' autocannon.

6 hits!

And in one fell swoop, over half the enemy tank force was destroyed.

One entire wing of the enemy formation is gone.

 On the other flank, I had 2 additional units of MBTs moving between the buildings.  From their vantage point, they could draw a bead on the enemy AA tanks that had deployed ready to defend against my as-yet unlaunched air forces.  3 hits out of 4 shots wiped out all but the enemy command tank.

Piling on the hurt...

...and with that, it was tea-time, and we had to pack everything away.

It was a shame we had to end there, the battle could have gone either way.  Number 2 son had various forces still in play:

A) Anti-aircraft mech
B) Multi-role mech
C) Anti-aircraft mech
D) Missile launchers (now unarmed)

E) MBTs (5 remaining)

F) AA tank (1 remaining)

 I had only 1 mech but a lot more conventional forces:

1) 7 MBTs
2) 3 AA tanks
3) AA Mech
4) 3 VTOLs & 1 helicopter gunship
5) 2 missile launchers (now unarmed)
6) 4 missile launchers (now unarmed)
7) 3 MBTs
8) 3 MBTs

 I've been told that we're having another game soon, so a rematch is definitely coming up!

"Robot War" - Tank Swarm City Fight

 Our next game of Robot War incorporates my old Mega Force toys.  Launched by Kenner in 1989, they lasted only a year.  The range included lots of large land battleship vehicles, huge aircraft and loads of smaller die-cast vehicles in about 1/285 or 1/300 scale.  The 2 sides were V-Rocs and Triax, neither of which was specifically labelled as being goodies or baddies.  They caught my eye at the time as being suitable as proxy models in games of Epic Space Marine.  I got a few sets when they came out, a load more sets when they were remaindered in various toy shops, and a few more of the larger vehicles in recent years from eBay.  We only used the small V-Rocs vehicles and a couple of tactical aircraft refuellers.  This was also the first outing for my Lidl wargames mat (or "outdoor carpet" as they refer to it), even though I've had it for a couple of years.  They have these every year for about £8 and it's the ideal size for our dining table.  I dug out my rocky plateaus to use too, it's also the first time I've had a chance to use them in a game.

Stand by for action!

Number 2 son's forces included 6 tanks (move half a range ruler, fire 1 or 2D8 for their main guns), 2 Anti-aircraft tanks (move half range ruler, fire 2 or 3D6 for AA guns), 4 missile launchers (move half a range ruler, fire 1D10 for their missile). Air assets included 2 helicopters and 3 VTOLs (all travel 1 range ruler, fire 2D6 guns), 3 fighter-bombers (stationed off-table, appear at any point on the table to fire 2D10 missiles each).  There is also a Trident tactical aircraft refueller, we decided that this moves half a range ruler, fires 1D8 and can spend a turn repairing a destroyed VTOL or helicopter.  All vehicles can take only a single hit apart from the Trident, which can take 4 hits.

MBTs ready to move off.

The tank turrets look to be vaguely Merkava inspired.  Command tanks have 2 guns.

Robots view the battlefield.

My robots used the same rules as the previous game against the dinosaurs.

Prepare to move out...

Number 1 son also had 6 MBTs and 2 AA tanks, 4 missile launchers, a couple of helicopters, 2 VTOLs and another Trident refueler.

Air strike!

Number 2 son started the game.  His first action was to send his fighter-bombers streaking across the battlefield to attack my robots.  Poor aim meant that only 2 of the 6 missiles struck home.  Return fire from the mecha would wipe out the entire flight.

Air units advance.

The VTOLs and helicopters used their longer movement to skim over the top of the rocky cliffs.

Lone VTOL spotter sighted.

A single VTOL was transported forwards by the Trident, then leap-frogged forward using its own movement to rapidly close the range.  A very lucky pair of shots damaged one of the enemy robots!

VTOL.

This was cunning use of the transported vehicle by Number 1 son.

Firing on enemy VTOLs and helicopters.

 One of the robots fired on Number 2 son's aircraft.

Tree cover doesn't save these 2.

Lucky die rolls eliminated 2 of the aircraft despite their attempts at concealment by hovering in the trees.

Armoured advance down the centre.

The main armoured force was making slow but steady progress down the centre of the table.

Flank column.

A smaller armoured column pressed down the edge of the table, remaining concealed by the trees and rock formations.

One robot down.

The robots advance into the city.  The missile robot was destroyed by a very lucky extreme range shot.

Useless shooting.

One of the robots decided to deal with the aircraft concealed in the woods.  It completely missed all targets at very short range.

Prepare to repair crashed aircraft!

In the centre, the armoured force closes on the crashed VTOL and helicopter, ready to try and repair them.

Trident strikes a robot.

The other Trident makes a long-range snipe against a robot.

Yet more poor shooting.  This pilot needs spectacles!

Displaying yet more incompetence, the robot pilot manages only a single hit on the sitting duck in front of him.  The Trident is able to get both the helicopter and VTOL operating again on successive turns.

Carnage on the flank.

There is more success on the flank, where one of the robots catches the armoured column and wipes out an entire tank unit.

Useless robot pilot pays for his bad gunnery skills.

A volley of missiles puts an end to the embarrassment of the incompetent robot pilot in the centre.

Another robot goes down.

Just off-centre, another robot manages to miss with all 4 short-range shots against the main tank force.  He pays for his mistake as his mecha is blown to pieces by massed tank fire.

Massed tank firepower is telling now!

On the flank, the robot's luck runs out.  At this short range, the anti-aircraft tanks prove devastatingly effective against ground targets too.

Air strike deals the final death blow.

Only a single robot remains, and this is the moment that Number 1 son chooses to unleash his fighter-bombers on their attack run.  Enough of their missiles strike home to eliminate the final enemy unit.

It was a fun game, introducing additional die types (D6) added more variety to the game.  Using a target number of 5 for all attacks at short range means that bigger guns/missiles (D8 or D10) are more likely to hit, but I gave the AA tanks and helicopters/VTOLs 2D6 each to boost their chances.  Adding +1 to the difficulty for each range ruler length effectively limits those guns to 2 range rulers (about 2 feet), because they aren't going to be managing to roll a 7 on a D6 after that!

It was nice to get out and use some of my scenery, I was pleased how well the flocking on the rocky plateaus matched the Lidl games matt, this was purely by luck.

The half-term holiday is over now, so I might have a chance to work on clarifying the rules a bit before we get to the summer holidays - assuming the kids are still interested by then!