Seven Days to the River Rhine... à la française

A small number of members from the TWATS (Tantobie Warfare And Tactical Society) managed to get a Saturday game organised last week and it was my turn in the chair. As it had been a good two and a half years since their last airing, it would be Seven Days to the River Rhine, but in Africa because... why not? Well, it actually gave us a chance to get Shaun's excellent collection of toys out again, with a ton of technicals, some rather spiffing AMX-30B2's and who doesn't like a shiny AMX-10RC? 

Sneaky beggars, hiding behind the tree line

The scenario was a basic one - a bunch of ne'er do wells (led by Andy) were extorting money from the general populous at a nearby crossroads, and the French (captained by Shaun) were going to sort them out. However, our impromptu tax collectors had decided to put some friends on a nearby ridge line and remonstrate vigorously against the armed forces of France. Thusly, an ambush was set up and all that had to be done was get the game started.

La bête noire des français - l'T-12.

Now, I had previously commented that these rules were decent but, given the passage of time, would that remain the case after this play through? Spoilers - not quite. Still, there was soon a column of 10RC's and VAB's motoring towards the technical stoppage. Shaun couldn't see the massed infantry, T55's and a singular T-12 (described as a T55 without the good bits - you might call those good bits the actual tank and the rifling!). It was the latter that opened up first and smartly dispatched a 10RC with a flank shot. The sole Technical with a 106mm recoilless rifle also had a go and scratched the paintwork of another 10RC. At this point, Shaun dismounted his infantry from the VAB's and set up a base of fire. He also called in for reinforcements.

A technical of Technicals?

At the front of the column, there was quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, as the three surviving 10RC's started their revenge against the Technicals. This, gentle reader, lasted all of one dice throw, as out of three shots, Shaun fluffed two. Still, one dead Toyota (other vehicle manufacturers are available). Andy replied with some mortar fire from behind the ridge line (a miss), and another shot from that T-12, this time killing a VAB, though to be fair, a sharp stick could probably have done the same job. 

Rouler, rouler, rouler... apologies to Limp Bizkit fans...

Andy decided that he needed to bring his tanks to the ridge to engage the newly arriving French reinforcements - three AMX-10P's supported by a trio of AMX-30B2's. It was at this point he was gently reminded of the T55 main gun depression limits so he couldn't get the mechanised infantry heading his way. The tanks, however, would be fair game.

L'AMX-10RC, c'est mort.

The Technicals were still causing bother, as they tried to use their heavy MG's against the 10RC's. Of the three that fired, two caused paint scratches, the other missed. In response, Shaun demonstrated a superb level of consistency by firing three times and hitting only once again. Le sigh. Meanwhile, Andy had motored up a couple of Technicals to engage the left flank of the advancing French infantry, neatly adding two morale points to the gentlemen of the Legion. They shrugged this off with Gallic flair and continued their advance. 

Right, lads! Let's have 'em! (In French, obviously).

This was getting a tad exciting (maybe you had to be there...) so we decided to break for victuals. As this was at our new venue, Stanley Masonic Hall, this entailed decamping to the nearby Cooplands (Gregg's pastry is just too greasy) and a suitable lining for the stomach was purchased. All the better to soak up the Moretti that was hitting the spot possibly too well...

Un kilometre a pied ca use, ca use; un kilometre a pied ca use les souliers.

Back to the game and we had yet more shooting. The impressively capable bete noire of the French, the T-12, took out another VAB, the mortar finally scored a hit on the infantry, adding another morale point to their tally, and the three T55's on the left engaged the French armour. Once again, the dice rolling was terrible, with both players scoring one out of three and that was in no way good enough, not even for Mr Meatloaf! The effect, however, was akin to eggshells hitting eggshells. With nothing decisive and yet more French forces on the way, Andy was done and planned to withdraw from the field (well, covered pool table top), using the six T55's he had as a covering force. 

In this game, pretty is as pretty does... which is not much.

This was a Technical (see what I did there) militia win, what with the destruction of four French vehicles and scoring worthwhile hits on the de-bussed infantry. The French would, if the game had a) continued longer and b) we were happy just to have a dice rolling contest - no, we were not, have reached the crossroads and seen off the militia but at quite a heavy price, and only because of the flood of armour and mechanised infantry. 

As for revisiting the rules, the activation/reaction process - sounds good. It plays alright (damning with faint praise maybe), but on this particular play through, it slowed things down a lot. May be it was the way we were playing, in which case as umpire, that's on me, but it didn't seem to suit the flow of the game.

Andy had good right to feel down about his tank's lack of depression.

I did need to add a few things here and there since we were, admittedly, playing outside of the expected theme of the rules. It was quickly noticed that infantry very much play second fiddle in the rules, and HMG's on vehicles are practically non-existent - the VAB's had MG's but not according to the rules. Same with the 106mm, so I played with the stats of the Kanonenjagdpanzer. Yes, they're not the same, but that's the benefit of having an umpire-led game. It also helps when, if there is some disagreement with the players, you remind them of the selection of single malts behind the bar that might aid the memory of said umpire. 

The Charge of the Technicals. Great elan, utterly pointless.

Noted, too, was the morale system, in that it doesn't really fit any real world doctrine, so the idea of taking a few hits, pulling back, re-organising and then having another go isn't in the rules at all. You get your morale limit and that's it. 

Having said all of that, it was still a good game and kind of played out how I thought it would. It may well be that in a couple of years, these will come out to play again - the rules that is, Shaun's toys are most certainly to see daylight much sooner. As for the venue, it's good to play in a bar because there is beer and the odd single malt (after the game unfortunately, both Shaun and Andy ignored the hints about helping an ageing umpire remember things!), and there was much conversation had as well - remember, just because it's a wargame doesn't mean to say it can't be a social event too. Finally, apologies for the French used in the post - a near thirty year old GCSE gave way to Google Translate. 

Epilogue (or post credits sequence to the younger readers more familiar with Marvel movies).

Andy has pondered for weeks, trying to figure out the logistics of putting a game with his Shinyloo collection at the current venue, and questions were asked about a larger playing surface. After all, a covered pool table isn't that big. Gimlet eyes were cast over the other tables in the bar, then a short perambulation to the main hall by Andy and I revealed a scene to which Andy's eyes lit up! Nine decently sized tables that could be combined to offer a much larger canvas. The plans for a Shinyloo game were back on!