Another use for Mad Mecha Guy watchtowers

 Another possible use of Mad Mecha Guy watch towers would be to use one as the basis for a water tower.

I've cobbled this example together using an old paint pot and a drinking straw.  If I was going to build a permanent one I'd try and find a slightly smaller pot to go on the top.

Useful for scenarios...

Destroy the water tower!  Deprive your enemies of water by destroying the tower - fight your way to it and attach explosive charges to the tower legs - or perhaps you can destroy it from a distance using missiles?

Poison the water tower!  Fight your way to the tower and climb it to pour poison/mutagens into the supply.

Steal the water!  Your troops are running low on water and a raid on this water tower might save their lives.  Spend a number of turns in contact with the base of the tower while you fill water containers, earn more water counters (victory points) for every turn, but make sure you escape before enemy reinforcements arrive.  Make some water markers before the game - paint some spare jerry cans or something similar.  If you have appropriate models, the mission could be to use escort vehicles to protect a water tanker.

Flood - another scenario idea

Another idea inspired by Stephen Baxter's Flood.  This one seemed to need a post all of its own!


It's the final curtain - the waters are about to close over one particular piece of land, a mountain-top that has provided refuge for some time.  A group of VIPs must be escorted to the waiting aircraft in order to escape the rising waters.  Perhaps it's a shuttle to take them to an orbiting spacecraft or maybe it's just a helicopter to take them to an even higher mountain plateau which is still habitable - fit it to whatever game universe or range of models you have available.  The arrival of the aircraft has not gone unnoticed, boats are approaching from all directions with refugees eager to escape - or if they cannot, to stop anyone else from escaping!

This map gives an example of the game board layout, the contours of the mountain peaks rising above the water.  Red marker 1 is a small boat in which the VIPs have just arrived, 2 is the aircraft, 3 are weapon emplacements.

The forces involved will comprise:

Defender:
20 (veteran) - 30 (regular) troops in units of 4-6, armed with small arms plus 1-2 support weapons (SAW, RPG/LAW) per unit.  If using power armour, reduce the number of troops by 50%.  1 unit will start by a boat at the waters edge, the rest can be deployed as the defender wishes.

10 VIPs (unarmed).  These will start in contact with the boat at the waters edge.

8 weapon emplacements - each will contain a single heavy weapon, should be a mixture of heavy machine guns, missiles and anti-tank guns.  The weapons are fixed in place and cannot be moved during the game, though they will have a 90 degree fire arc to their front.  These should be arranged 2 or 3 on each contour starting with the 2nd contour above the water (there will therefore be 2 turns in which all can fire, after which they will gradually stop working).

Dropship/helicopter/shuttle on landing pad (might have a couple of door gunners to provide a last-ditch defence).


Attacker:
Starts with 20 troops in units of 4-6.  Troops should be green or regular quality (probably 1 level lower than the defenders).  Weapons can be allocated to either individuals or to groups depending upon how quickly and easily you want to play.
Roll 1D6 to determine weapons for each individual or unit:
1 - knife/club
2-3 - pistol
4 - shotgun
5-6 - rifle
These starting units can be placed on the shoreline as the attacker wishes, with a minimum of 6" between units, and at least 18" from the VIP party.  At the start of every turn (including turn 1) there will be 4D6 extra troops appearing, divided evenly amongst D4 boats approaching the island.  Roll a D12 clockface or scatter die centred on the middle of the table to determine the direction from which the boat is coming.  It will appear 6" offshore in the direction indicated and moves 5" per turn.  Depending upon how lucky they are, the passengers might be able to disembark on the second turn - or the tide might be rising so fast that they take 3 or 4 turns or make landfall!
(If you are short of figures, you could just represent each new boat with a piece of card and note the number of figures on it.  Once the boat reached the shore, the appropriate figures can be placed on the table).
Roll a D6 for each boat:
1-2 = an unarmed raft,
3-5 = a boat (provides limited cover for those inside),
6 = armed boat (provides limited cover for those inside, armed with a heavy machine gun).

Victory conditions:

Everything hinges on the escape of the VIPs.  If the VIPs are all killed of the aircraft is captured, victory goes to the attackers.  If at least 1 VIP makes it to the aircraft and the aircraft takes off, the game counts as a draw.  If 2 or more VIPs make it to the aircraft and escape, it is a victory for the defender.
If playing this game as part of a campaign, the survival or loss of certain VIPs may affect future games - they might have vital plans, maps or important scientific or military knowledge that will influence deployment or availability of troops/technology.

Special Rules:



Boats: Boats and rafts count as light vehicles.  If one is destroyed, roll the attacking weapons damage against all passengers to see if any survive.  Survivors are placed in the water on the spot at which the boat was destroyed and can swim the rest of the way to the shore.  If they are too far from shore to reach it before the game ends, it may be simpler just to remove them.


VIPs: The VIPs need to be escorted to the waiting aircraft before the tide reaches it.  They will travel at the normal movement rate of the troops who are protecting them and must remain within 4" of them.  If the accompanying troops are all killed, the VIPs will hunker down in place until another friendly unit gets within 4", at which point they can move once again, using this new unit as their protectors.  Once they are within 8" of the aircraft the VIPs will move directly towards it regardless of incoming enemy fire or casualties amongst themselves or their protectors.

Aircraft: The aircraft has a door gunner on each side (180 degree fire arc to the side) who can fire a SAW at enemy troops.  If attacking troops manage to reach the aircraft and overcome the door gunners (who count as in cover against incoming fire and will fight as normal infantry in close combat), the aircraft is lost and the attackers have won the game.  The aircraft can take off as soon as at least 1 VIP is on board.  When the waters close over the landing pad, the aircraft must either take off (if at least 1 VIP is on board) or is submerged and destroyed (if no VIPs on board).

Swimming: Figures may end up in the water during the game, either through the destruction of their raft or by voluntarily swimming between rafts.  Anyone falling in the water will lose any weapons larger than assault rifles/SMGs, so all SAWs, LSWs, LAWs, RPGs etc. will be lost.  Figures can swim at a rate equal to 1/3 of their normal move (probably about 1½ - 2") and should suffer some sort of penalty for shooting (-1 to hit modifier or -1D firepower).  Anyone shooting at swimming figures receives no penalty but swimming figures should be able to claim complete cover if desired from any floating debris or rafts they can reach (it is assumed that they duck down with only part of their head above the water).  Climbing out of the water onto a boat or raft takes ½ a move.  Anyone who has swum to the shore does not need to climb out - once at the shoreline they immediately continue moving at their normal rate with no ½ move penalty.

Rising tide:This should add some fun and a real sense of urgency to the game!
Using a blue sheet as the base of your gaming surface, create the playing area by stacking several polystyrene hill contour sections to form the mountain-top or island.  The aircraft should be on a landing pad at the highest point of the land.
At the end of every turn, carefully remove the lowest hill section as the waters rise to cover it.
Anything that was on the contour which has been removed is placed back on the table in the same location relative to the remaining scenery.  Figures who end up in the water can swim as per the special rule mentioned below.  Heavy equipment, support weapons, vehicles etc. are lost.  Grav/GEV/amphibious vehicles remain in play assuming that they were manned at the time - any which are unmanned are assumed to have sunk before anyone managed to activate the engines.  If you are using powered armour, figures could remain in play underwater, moving at ½ normal move rate and firing their weapons at a -1 to hit modifier or -1D firepower.
As an alternative to polystyrene hill sections you could represent the contours using sheets of corrugated cardboard, cork, or even just sheets of coloured card.
As the game progresses, the defenders will gradually lose their heavy weapon emplacements as they are submerged, but the length of coastline they are guarding will be reducing all the time.  Some of their opponents will also be ending up in the water or getting cut off on separate pieces of land, reducing the immediate threat.  As the attackers start to clump together in a smaller area, they might become more susceptible to area effect weapons.

As you will no doubt have realised, the number of hill contours will determine the length of the game.  If you haven't got many contours, you could remove the lowest layer every 2 or 3 turns, if this is the case make sure that you start the attacking boats further away or move them a shorter distance each turn.

Flood by Stephen Baxter = game ideas!

I've just finished Flood by Stephen Baxter and what an excellent read it was!  The premise is thus: in 2016 sea levels start rising.  It isn't due to global warming melting the icecaps but to something else entirely (though I won't spoil it for those who haven't read the book.  As the increase in sea level accelerates, it doesn't look like a happy ending is in sight... will the human race end, not with a bang or a whimper but just a faint gurgle?

It's given me several ideas for games, which I present below for your entertainment.  You'll need to adjust the scenarios and special rules to take account of whatever game system you're using.  Forces will need to be balanced depending upon whether the attackers are high or low tech, scenario objectives etc.

Raft fight

Easy scenery for this game.  A blue cloth to represent the sea, rafts and connecting pontoons made from balsa scraps, wooden skewers, coffee stirrers, lollypop sticks and whatever else you can find - see map below for an example layout.  The walkways/pontoons should be of varying length and not necessarily attached to the rafts (see the notes on drifting below).  On some of the rafts will be shacks (grey rectangles on the map), either purchased ones (GZG shanty town springs to mind) or home-made from wood/plasticard/cardboard scraps.  I'd also add a few crates, barrels, storage containers and other scatter scenery to provide plenty of cover across all the rafts.  The raft might have a power supply, either a generator (some sort of engine from a 1/35 tank or 25mm armoured vehicle?  Ramshackle games have a great selection) or solar cells (several companies produce 15mm solar panel sets or you could whip up a set from a bit of plasticard for the frame and some clear plastic from a blister pack or box of chocolates, painted blue-black on the reverse to give that glossy PV-cell look).  Perhaps a wind turbine, and some rafts might even have sails.

Figures would probably be a mixture of low-tech troops such as Peter Pig militia, GZG armed civilians, Rebel Minis zombie hunters, gang members and the like.  There might be a number of unarmed civilians too (GZG colonists have a good mix, Rebel Minis, also Peter Pig civilians from AK47 and Vietnam ranges).  Attackers could be either similarly low-tech, arriving on powered rafts / landing craft (plenty of 15mm landing craft on e-bay, Peter Pig and The Scene produce some nice boats too) or a higher tech bunch of survivors after a specific person or item (either boat-borne or in GEV / Grav vehicles).

I can think of  a number of scenarios you could run on the rafts...

1) Seize item

Raiders attack the raft to try and seize or destroy a particular valuable item, perhaps a crate of valuable supplies, a vital spare part from the generator/solar cells, a box of food supplements...

Special Rule: If the valuable item is to be seized, it can be carried by a raider at ½ normal movement rate and they are unable to fire a weapon whilst carrying it.  No-one is allowed to destroy the item or sink it! (It is assumed that it floats)

Victory criteria: Attacker must carry the item back to their boat and escape with at least ¼ of their starting force.


2) Seize people

Raiders attack to seize prisoners, whether for use as hostages/bargaining tools, slave labour, to expand their gene pool or just as a food source (these are hard times indeed...)
If the attackers are high-tech, maybe they're after a specific individual who has important scientific knowledge.

Special Rule: Use unarmed civilians for the victims, scatter them across the rafts. Civilians may either cower unmoving or move randomly around the rafts (use a scatter die and move ½ normal movement but following the edge of rafts/walkways rather than walking straight into the water!).  Attackers need to move into base to base contact to seize a civilian and can move at ½ rate back to their boat with the prisoner.  Each attacker can only seize 1 civilian at a time.  When firing at a civilian and captor, roll 1D6: evens = captor hit, odds = civilian hit.  Defender cannot deliberately kill/drown civilians to prevent the raider winning!

Victory criteria: Attacker must herd the people back to their boat and escape with at least ¼ of their starting force and over 50% of the unarmed civilians captured.  If more than half the civilians are killed the defender loses.

3) Seize part of rafts

Raiders attack to try and gain control of part of the raft network.  The objective raft has some important use (power generation, food stocks, maybe just to provide additional living space or raw materials).  The raiders need to reach the objective raft and cut the connecting walkways, allowing their captured section to drift free.

Special rules: see drifting and destroying rafts/walkways below...

Victory criteria: Attacker must capture the target raft, separate it from the main raft and escape with at least ¼ of their starting force.

4) Kill them all!

Raiders attack with the intention of wiping out all the raft-dwellers!  Perhaps it's to take control of their rafts, maybe it's to appease some war-hungry god or maybe they're just really hungry...

Victory criteria: Whoever has the last surviving figure wins!



Special raft rules:

Drift (optional): The various rafts may drift around as the game progresses.  At the start of every turn, roll a scatter die or D12 clockface for each raft and move it ½ inch in the direction indicated.  Instead of moving/firing, a unit of troops can push against a walkway/pontoon that crosses their raft or pull on ropes connecting to another raft/boat.  The smaller of the 2 rafts will move towards/away from the larger at a rate of 1" per figure pushing/pulling per turn.

Sails: Smaller rafts or boats might be equipped with sails.  Determine wind direction at the start of the game using scatter die/D12 clockface.  Each turn (roll again every turn for each separate vessel) sailing vessels roll 1D4 per turn (light breeze), 1D6 (moderate wind), 1D8 (strong wind), 1D10 (gale, capsize on a roll of 1) in the direction of the wind or can tack against the wind ¼ of the die score rolled.  If the main raft network is equipped with sails, it is assumed that the entire thing is moving.  For ease of play it remains in the centre of the board but any smaller rafts separated from it without sails will move in the opposite direction to the wind at the appropriate number of inches.  Swimmers etc. may also get left behind - a strong incentive not to fall in the water!

Heavy weapons: very powerful weapons may damage the rafts or the connecting walkways/pontoons.  Infantry support weapons such as medium or heavy machine guns would probably be powerful enough to cut through the connecting walkways.  Blast weapons such as RPGs, LAWs and grenades may even cause the rafts themselves to break up.  Players need to agree how tough/damage resistant walkways and rafts are before the game starts.  If a raft is destroyed, it could be replaced by a scatter of wood fragments and crates/barrels that will bob around in the water to provide limited cover.

Swimming: Figures may end up in the water during the game, either through the destruction of their raft or by voluntarily swimming between rafts.  Anyone falling in the water will lose any weapons larger than assault rifles/SMGs, so all SAWs, LSWs, LAWs, RPGs etc. will be lost.  Figures can swim at a rate equal to 1/3 of their normal move (probably about 1½ - 2") and should suffer some sort of penalty for shooting (-1 to hit modifier or -1D firepower).  Anyone shooting at swimming figures receives no penalty but swimming figures should be able to claim complete cover if desired from any floating debris or rafts they can reach (it is assumed that they duck down with only part of their head above the water).  Climbing out of the water takes ½ a move.

Sea monsters: Sharks, giant octopi and other ferocious sea beasts might be attracted by all the noise and the blood in the water!  Roll a D6 every turn, on a roll of 6 there is a creature in the area which will make 2 close assault attacks on someone in the water (determine the victim at random) or if there is no-one in the water, 1 attack on someone standing on a walkway/pontoon or at the edge of a raft.  Once there is a dead body in the water, the chance of a creature being in the area increases to a roll of 5 (1 creature) or 6 (2 creatures).

Civilians: Civilians may be present to get in the way of the fighting - move them randomly around the rafts as per the "seize person" scenario above.  Additional victory points could be allocated for civilians saved/killed during the game.

Game ideas from Malaysia conflicts

Over the Christmas holidays I've been reading "The Malayan Emergency & Indonesian Confrontation" by Robert Jackson.  Both were wars where Commonwealth troops were involved in supporting local forces against communist guerrillas to help ensure their transition to independent democratic states.  Both have also been used as textbook examples of how to successfully complete a counter insurgency campaign in a jungle environment.  The situation in Malaya was very different to that in Vietnam.  In Malaya there was no neighbouring state harbouring the guerrillas, and the approximate number of guerrillas was fairly well known throughout the campaign, so despite some similarities the 2 wars came to very different conclusions.

John Chynoweth's book "Hunting Terrorists in the Jungle" describes his time as a National Serviceman in 1953-54, (the Emergency ran from 1948-1960) when as a Lieutenant he was assigned to the Malay Regiment.  This is a very interesting read, full of little anecdotes such as the time he was trying to use a smoke grenade to mark a helicopter LZ and the phosphorus set the grass alight and burned out a large part of the valley!

Freddie Spencer Chapman's book "The Jungle is Neutral is also an interesting read, telling of his time in the jungles of  Malaya during the Second World War, fighting against the Japanese.  One of his allies at this time was Chin Peng of the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army, who received an OBE for his contribution to allied war efforts against the Japanese.  Chin Peng later became a leader of the Communist Party of Malaya and thus the main enemy of the allies during the Malayan Emergency, resulting in his being stripped of the OBE.

The Indonesian Confrontation took place 1962-1966.  Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak were preparing to combine to form Malaysia.  Sabah and Sarawak (along with Brunei) form the Northern part of Borneo.  President Soekarno of Indonesia was opposed to this because he had hopes of making them part of Greater Indonesia.  The war involved both guerrillas and regular Indonesian army troops in cross border raids and naval landings.  Commonwealth troops included British, New Zealand and Australian forces supporting local units.

The Indonesian Confrontation provides a lot of inspiration for wargaming.  The cross-border raids which were such a feature of this war provide ideal small-scale actions.  In many cases the local police station was the objective for the attack (for instance the attack on Long Jawai, 50 miles inside the border of Sarawak) and at the start of the conflict battles were also fought for control of airfields and oilfields.  In January - February 1965 B and D squadrons of 22 SAS undertook operations on the enemy side of the border - they ambushed troop and supply boats on the rivers.  "One patrol tapped an Indonesian telephone line several miles across the border, spending five days tape-recording enemy messages and narrowly escaping capture by a patrol of Indonesian paratroops; another, in the course of a dawn skirmish, snatched important documents from a hut that was being used as an advanced HQ by the enemy." (Jackson, op.cit p.133).

A range of naval vessels were included in the confrontation at various different times, the commando carriers HMS Albion and Bulwark, light cruiser HMS Tiger and the carriers HMS Centaur, Victorious, Eagle and Ark Royal.  Air support was readily available including Hunters and Javelins, plus Sea Vixens and Buccaneers from the carriers and Australian F-86 Sabres.  Even Victors from Britain's V-bomber fleet were available!  Canberras proved extremely valuable throughout both conflicts, particularly in the photographic reconnaissance role over these inaccurately mapped jungle countries.  The Indonesians were equipped with MiG -17s, also Il-28 and Tu-16 bombers plus C130s for transport duties and the dropping of propaganda leaflets.