Agony in Stony Places
I played this game last year in August but thought I would add it here.
This was a solo play of "Agony in Stony Places" from
Ambush Alley Games "Wasteland" Scenario pack for its Special Operation Group members.
It is the Year 65 since the Devastation. No man yet lives who survived the events that shaped the world into what it is today, although some things that can no longer claim the title man may linger still. Those who care about such things are divided on the nature of the Devastation. Some say that the Great Powers of Before lost patience with one another‟s existence and decided that it was better that they all die together than endure a stalemate one more day. Others say that a inimical forces from beyond our world set their hearts against us and rained death upon us from the stars. There is no shortage of earnest ministers or wild-eyed prophets who put the Devastation in God‟s hands, claiming He had become irked by the arrogance of His own creation.
For most, the only fact concerning the Devastation that matters is the fact that it occurred and transformed our world from the garden it was Before to the Wasteland it has become. Gone is man‟s predominance over the earth. Where once he was the steward of the globe, today he is only master of whatever small patch of land he can hold before the hardships of nature or the envy of his fellow brings him down. Little Republics, Kingdoms, Caliphates, and Theocracies rise and fall with a rhythm determined by the enmity of nature, internal conflict, and wars with their neighbors.
Nomadic raiders wander the vast, depopulated tracts of land, preying upon traders and misguided adventurers who seek out the treasures of their ancestors' dead cities.
What little remains of man‟s former technical glory has been turned to the sole-purpose of accelerating his extinction. Some vehicles still run, but most bristle with guns and a rusting motley of armor. Some factories continue to run in a pale reflection of their former powers of production – and most of them pour out guns and bullets for any warlord that can provide them with resources and profit. But all of man‟s technological glory is not lost – some of it lives on to hound him into his grave. Not all machines lose their will to destroy when the war that spawned them ends.
This is the world After. This is the Wasteland the Devastation has made of the world, a wasteland worsened daily by the contentious, warlike nature of man. Still, there are glints of man‟s better lights to be seen here and there. Stable communities do exist, some dating back to Before.
Harlin's Corner is one of those places.
The Central Republic is a self-proclaimed “nation” that has expanded to control a significant amount of territory a few days march north of Harlin‟s Corner. The Republic is militaristic in nature and refugees who have escaped to the Corner tell tales of extremely restrictive laws and arbitrary brutality against civilians by the Republic‟s soldiers.
The first major conflict between the Barony of Harlin's Corner and the Central Republic came in the spring of 65 S.D.
Acting on intelligence received from hired raider “scouts,” The CR mounted an assault against the Barony‟s westernmost Stead, that of Sir Al Prufrock.
The CR committed a reinforced platoon of their top line troops in the attack, which was aimed at cutting a key trade route linking the Barony to the so-called Western City States. All Prufrock had to meet the threat with was his personal retinue. Still, the one of the knight‟s patrols had spotted the CR force without being spotted themselves.
So, with couriers speeding towards the Corner to the east and the Order of the Phoenix chapter house to the west, Sir Prufrock prepared to meet the enemy at a spot of his choosing.
Looking South into Sir Al's lands.
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| Here's what Lt. Richards saw. |
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| Here's what Sir Al Prufrock had waiting for him. |
Forces
Barony of Harlin
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| Sir Al Prufrock and his personal retinue (ESCI's American Infantry) |
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| Prufrock's Men-at-Arms (ESCI's American Infantry) |
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| Prufrock's Men-at-Arms MG team (IMEX's Korean War U.S. Infantry) |
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| Prufrock's Levies (Mostly Caesar's |
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| Troops of the Phoenix Order (Caesar's |
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| Baron Harlin's Cornered Dogs (ESCI's |
Central Republic
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| Republican Infantry (ESCI's WW2 Soviet Infantry) |
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| Republican APC (Hasegawa M3A1 Halftracks) |
Set up:
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| Levies support the machine gun team on the small hill. Sir Prufrock entrenches in a copse of woods near the road. |
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| Sir Prufrock places some men-at-arms in the middle of his line, hopefully stiffening the levies on the big hill. |
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Turn 1:
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| Republic APCs arrive, and are quickly engaged with long range MG fire, buttoning up one and lightly wounding the gunner of the second. |
The Harlinite plan was to voluntarily fall back, when the third squad arrived, but due to heightened Republican Troop Quality consistently lost the reaction tests and got waxed. As the 1st fire team of 3rd squad entered a Harlinite Fog Of War card increased the Troop Quality of the Republic troops from D8 to D10 for the rest of the turn (I modify the ' Better than they look ' card, I feel it is far too powerful as it is written, so I have it increase either Troop Quality or Morale and just for the rest of the current turn only instead of BOTH for the rest of the game), which resulted in many of the casualties, an earlier Republican card had increased the Morale of the Harlinites.
Turn 2:
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| An APC advances to the crossing point exchanging fire with MG team and levies on the small hill, |
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| Central Republic Left, supporting the advance of the APC. |
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| Republic troops cross the gully unopposed, Sir Prufrock moves to cover his Left flank. |
Turn 3: No fighting occurs this turn.
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| One of the APCs crosses the gully as does part of 2nd squad. The second APC moves so it can cross next turn. |
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| 3rd squad swarms onto big hill, not even bothering to deal with the wounded harlots. Sir Prufrock falls back a bit. |
Turn 4:
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| An APC moves forward and fires upon Sir Prufrock's command group, which returns fire re-wounding the gunner, the Second APC crosses the gully. The first and third fire teams of 3rd squad advance into LOS of Sir Prufrock and engage in Firefights dropping the brave Knight to the ground. |
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| Then Lt. Richards advances to the Knight and dispatches him and all his sycophantic lackeys. |
The dice gods(tm) just shat on Sir Prufrock, as he could not win a reaction test or cause any casualties.
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| Reinforcements arrive for the Late Sir Prufrock. |
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| Which just increases the pile of bodies in the middle of the field. |
Turn 5:
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| The Second APC moves forward and fires upon the Order of the Phoenix in their distinctive Red Chem Suits, but a quick reaction with a HPAT Grenade and small arms fire kills the gunner and forces the driver to bail out (that's him in the fox hole). he other APCs gunner attempts to open fire but the Order are quicker and inflict 3 hits on him |
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| The Republican Left occupies small hill. |
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| The remnants of 1st squad move onto the big hill, which has duking it out with the Order. |
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| The Order try to fall back into house, but are not entirely successful. |
Until that boneheaded move they had no casualties.
Turn 6:
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| Sensing victory Lt. Richards orders his men to cover him i.e. the three fire teams on the hill go on overwatch (hopefully forgetting the crucifixions he ordered yesterday) and rushes forward. |
The Order again tried to react with movement, into the building, when Richards made his move, but the 3 overwatchers interrupted their plan by all succeeding, so they had to endure three 5 dice shots eventually they were all down, before Richards actually got to shoot.
Turn 7: In an almost carbon copy of last turn Richards puts his hilltop troops on overwatch and opens fire on the Order, which tries to shoot it out with him. Overwatch again deals with them, this time wounding all of them, someone will have to come check them.
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| The overwatch watches over the lieutenant and puts paid to the Order of the Phoenix, though they do a bit of damage |
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| The driver re-enters his APC. Lt. Richards promptly orders it to cross back over and report to HQ. |
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| Some of the the Baron's "Cornered Dogs" arrive And take up positions in and around the manor house. |
Turn 8:
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| Richards fires upon the manor house, drawing fire from the occupants which draws a lot of overwatch fire. |
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| Things look a tiny bit brighter when the Republic draw this Fog Of War card. |
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| The APC crosses back over the gully. |
Turn 9: Goes the same way as turns 6, 7 and 8, overwatchers waiting for the Baron's dogs to come out from behind the house, but the dogs decline to move. The APC leaves to report garnering Extra Victory points for the Republic,
Turn 10: Richards loses patience with the Baron's dogs and occupies the house, drawing fire from said dogs, then the troops that were previously providing Overwatch move to get LOS to the Dogs in the road.
Game over, except for the tallying of Victory Points.
Barony of Harlin:
- 19 points for KIAs and serious wounds inflicted,
- 3 points for 1 Republican unit North of the Gully.
- 22 Points Total
Central Republic
- 58* Points for KIAs and serious wounds inflicted
- 8 points for 4 units South of the gully.
- 5 points for exiting a APC off the North edge before end of turn 9.
- 6 points 3 for for each undestroyed APC.
- 77 total points
* A post game First aid check resulted in 11 of the 18 unchecked wounded being alive and therefore POWs in which case the Points work out as follows:
36 points for Serious wounds or KIAs
44 Points for POWs
8 points for 4 units South of the gully.
5 points for exiting a APC off the North edge before end of turn 9.
6 points 3 for for each undestroyed APC.
99 total points
Either way a crushing defeat for the Barony and sure to encourage more such probes by the Central Republic.
Turn 4: More Americans are drawn to the sound of the guns. The PAK 36 immobilises one of the M8s near the intersection, but loses its last crewman in return. The other M8s finally begin moving, one forward behind the stone wall near the intersection and the other (wheel damaged) to the right. Germans receive more reinforcements, a Sturmgeschütz III Ausf G, it takes a hull down position behind a stone wall. 
Turn 6: The StuG exchanges fire with two shermans, the third moves right, the American infantry clear the Right woods and begin filtering into the village.
