SPQR - Rule review and first thoughts

A little behind on postings, last weekend saw the first run through of the newly released offering from Warlord SPQR, it's Ancients warband sized game. 

Having just sold my copy of Warhammer Ancient Battles it did very much remind me of these rules, with a traditional approach of IGUG rather than Warlords Bolt Action random dice picks.

The rule book is in the style of many of the Warlord offerings with plenty of eye candy and a bunch of scenarios for each faction.

The rules seem simple enough but you will need a bucket of d6 for example in the Warband attack on the Roman legion the German's rolled over 50 dice.... Good job the defenders had over 40 defence dice to counter the assault.

You don't get many Romans for the points on offer we played with 870 points aside which give the  Romans two heroes, a unit of Legionaries, an archer unit and six Numidian light horse. The Germans also had two heroes, three units of warriors, one of slingers and another of archers. 

We played the scenario "Fall of Heroes" which saw the Romans surrounded with the Germans hordes looking to kill the Roman leader.

I chanced my arm and threw my legion at the one side of barbarian hordes hoping to break them before they could bring all their forces to bear.

I tend not to be a fan of rule sets that churns through so many figures in a single round. I prefer rules that give my painted heroes more table time. If it takes over 15 hours to paint a unit of warriors I would rather see them on the table back in the carry case in less than 10 minutes.

Could it be that rules of this nature are a simply a vehicle to drive figure sales?

Having thrown that grenade time to move on....

The Roman legion having swept aside the first warband, the archers were caught by the charging warband and were wiped out to a man.

A few rounds later the Roman hero is down to his last few men, but so to are the German attackers in the final round the leader of the Roman lost his final wound and the game was over.

A fun rule set easy to pick up with optional rules for Greeks, Persians, Macedonians, Caeserian and Imperial Romans and their numerous enemies, if you are a fan of GW offerings and this is your first step into historical gaming I can see people liking these rules, but I like to see my toys on the table that little bit longer.

V the Mini Series - Clean and Sweep #1

Having had a couple infantry based games with the Visitors, I thought it time for the them to crank it up and go on the offensive.

The militia player had to prepare for all round defence of the village from the Visitors and their cleansing and food hunt.

Visitor Briefing.

Location: Zikinga
Situation: Your platoon has been tasked with clearing out a village. Expect a prepared defence.
Initial Deployment: Enter on any road, you may enter on foot or mounted.
Victory Conditions: Clear the village of militia.

Zikanga Militia Briefing.

Location: Zikinga.
Situation: A Visitor assault on your village is expected, you are prepared to repel this assault on your home.
Initial Deployment: Set up anywhere on the board.
Victory Conditions: Keep control of the village at the end of the game.

So there you have it a game of 750 points using Flying Lead. 

The game starts well for the human militia as the first Visitor APC is stopped in it's tracks by a well placed RPG round. The Visitor squad and Diana dive out of the pack of the APC as more RPG rounds land around the the stalled vehicle.

With their passage blocked the second APC flanks the village and enters into the village from the east. A messy fire fight was taking place as militia men popped up from various windows and door ways.

The Lizards are some evil so and so's they drive into the militia defending the outskirts of the village and catch one of the militia in the backyard of the outer shacks and crush him beneath the tracks of the APC.

The milita head for the high ground and catch the Visitors on the flank, once again Diana is caught in a hail of bullets and is knocked to the ground.

The Visitors push on, into the centre of the village the leader of the militia joins the fights but is forced to dive for cover as his Militia men are cut down by laser fire.

Hearing of Diana's wounding the Visitor APC changes his focus and heads towards their fallen leader.

The Visitors pulled all of their resources to the defence of the fallen leader, whilst the Visitor Shock Troopers held the cross roads they were unable to clear the village in the alloted time. 

A cracking evenings gaming...

A near run thing for both sides...

Seven Days to the Rhine - South Korean Formations..

On to the South Korean's.
So it turns out I had not painted anywhere near enough of these, time to check the spares box or a quick order to GHQ to flesh out the ranks in the coming weeks for some SP Guns, AA vehicles and recon elements.

Once again based and formated for Seven Days to the Rhine.

South Korean Mechanized Regiment

Regimental Headquarters

1 Infantry Regiment
Artillery Battery
Reconnaissance Company
Tank Company

Infantry Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	33 Points	1 Infantry Stand	Jeep
A Company Infantry	73 Points	2 Infantry Stands	M113
B Company Infantry	73 Points	2 Infantry Stands	M113
C Company Infantry	73 Points	2 Infantry Stands	M113
D Company Machine Gun Company	73 Points	2 MG Stands	M113
E Company Support Company	104 Points	2 81mm Mortar & 2 Dragon Stands	M113

Regimental Heavy Weapons Company

Regimental Heavy Weapons Company

104 Points

2 120 mm Mortar & 2 Dragon Stands

M113

Regimental Air Defence Company

Regimental Air Defence Company

46 Points

2 M163 Vulcan

Artillery Battalion

A Company

?? Points

4 110A2 SP 8” Howitzers

Tank Company                                                         

Tank Company

128 Points

4 M60 A1’s

Reconnaissance Company

Recon Company

72 Points

4 Fox Armoured Cars

Armour Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	32 Points	1 M60 A1
A Company	128 Points	4 M60 A1’s
B Company	128 Points	4 M60 A1’s
C Company	128 Points	4 M60 A1’s
D Company Infantry	73 Points	2 Infantry Stands and 1 M113
E Company Infantry	73 Points	2 Infantry Stands and 1 M113
F Company AT Company	80 Points	2 HMMWV + TOW

So with a scratch force of South Koreans and their numerically superior neighbours complete, on to the buildings to give them something to fight over.

I have a batch of Time Cast south asian buildings to base up and some other earlier efforts in need of improvement. But should be able to bring these to the table by August.

The Pearl of the Antilles. - The Haiti Campaign - Day Ten - 10th August 1791

Day 10 and with a fresh player taking control of Henri Christophe in the south of the island things are starting to hot up.

The forces of General Jean-Jacques Dessalines (Gold) continue their expansion through out the region with another village - St Louis du Sud falling under his control.

The British hold firm at Pestel as the South West of the island starts to become somewhat crowded.

The Republicans continue to hold rallies and petition the people to show free will, but take no aggressive actions whilst on the other side of the mountain Rigaud's forces can be seen marching West along the coast from Jacmal.

Our new player Henri Christophe has sent out a flurry of orders, his men set about their new orders with great vigour with troops scurrying here and there.

In the North of the island Gen Louverture continues his advance into the territory of Georges Biassou, his skirmish troops push him hard. Louverture pushes his skirmishers forward keeping the pressure on Biassou. Biassou throws a shielding force to halt the advance of Louverture whilst he breaks up his formation in an attempt to slip the noose.

Meanwhile a body of men are seen advancing towards Louvertures forces.

The Spanish tend to their wounded with 4 men returning to the ranks. The Princesses forces retreat deeper into their territory falling back to Phaeton. However word reaches the Spanish commander of an incursion on the Spanish border by a group of slaves.

And finally after the attack at the fort a few days ago things have been quiet for the French, but reports are coming in from the pickets of Slave forces massing on the tree line around the fort. An attack is coming Dutty and his men are on the move.

Standby for round 2.

One major battle and 2 small skirmishes it's looking to be a busy month ahead.....

Seven Days to the Rhine - North Korean Formations..

Not a bad turn around in 24 Hours I am going to call these done.

The Infantry look far more functional on the larger bases and the added flock gives them some depth that was missing before on the smaller 2cm square bases.

I am not sure to upgrade the vehicles to the FOW bases but lets see how much game time they get in their new formations first.

Having dug out some formation stats for a North Korean Infantry and Armour Brigades for around the mid 1980's and adding a couple of tweaks to fit what I have this should give me largely enough to represent the major formations in the Red Phoenix novel.

Given the point requirements for Seven Days to the Rhine Rules, I thought I would save myself some time by pointing them up and documenting the various units here on the blog.

There are a couple of stats and points missing for the less mechanised units but it's a start.

As usual I am now looking at a couple of extra purchases to flesh out some of the units but am pretty pleased with this weekends efforts.

North Korean Infantry Brigade.

3 Infantry Battalions
Armour Battalion
Artillery Battery
Anti-Tank Battalion
Anti-Aircraft Battalion
Engineer Company
Reconnaissance Company

1^st Infantry Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	33 Points	I Infantry Stand	Jeep
A Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	Lorry
B Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	Lorry
C Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	Lorry
D Company Mortar Company	58 Points	2 Mortar Stands	Lorry
E Company Machine Gun Company	66 Points	2 MG Stands	Lorry
F Company ATGW Company	40 Points	2 Sagger Stands	Lorry

2^nd Infantry Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	33 Points	I Infantry Stand	Jeep
A Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	BTR 60
B Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	BTR 60
C Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	BTR 60
D Company Mortar Company	58 Points	2 Mortar Stands	BTR 60
E Company Machine Gun Company	66 Points	2 MG Stands	BTR 60
F Company ATGW Company	40 Points	2 Sagger Stands	BTR 60

Armour Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	30 Points	1 T55M MBT
A Company	90 Points	3 T55M MBT’s
B Company	90 Points	3 T55M MBT’s
C Company	90 Points	3 T55M MBT’s

Artillery Battery

A Battery

?? Points

2 122mm Howitzers + Tows

Anti-Tank Battalion

A Company	?? Points	2 82mm RCL
B Company	?? Points	2 82mm RCL

Anti-Aircraft Battalion

A Company	42 Points	2 ZSU57 AA Vehicles
B Company	42 Points	2 ZSU57 AA Vehicles

Engineer Company

Engineer Infantry

66 Points

2 Infantry Stands

BTR 60

Reconnaissance Company

Recon Company

45 Points

3 Stands Motorcycle Comb.

North Korean Armour Brigade.

3 Armour Battalions
1 Light Armour Battalion
Mechanised Infantry Battalion.
Artillery Battalion
Anti-Tank Battalion
Anti-Aircraft Battalion
Engineer Company
Reconnaissance Company

Armour Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	28 Points	1 T62 MBT
A Company	84 Points	3 T62A MBT’s
B Company	84 Points	3 T62A MBT’s
C Company	84 Points	3 T62A MBT’s

Light Armour Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	14 Points	1 PT76
A Company	56 Points	4 PT76’s
B Company	56 Points	4 PT76’s
C Company	56 Points	4 PT76’s

                          

Mechanized Infantry Battalion

Battalion Headquarters	33 Points	I Infantry Stand	Jeep
A Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	BTR 60
B Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	BTR 60
C Company Infantry	66 Points	2 Infantry Stands	BTR 60
D Company Mortar Company	58 Points	2 Mortar Stands	BTR 60
E Company Machine Gun Company	66 Points	2 MG Stands	BTR 60
F Company ATGW Company	40 Points	2 Sagger Stands	BTR 60

Artillery Battalion

A Company	?? Points	2 122 SP
B Company	?? Points	2 122 SP
C Company	?? Points	2 122 SP

Anti-Tank Battalion

A Company	117 Points	3 BRDM2 Spandrel
B Company	117 Points	3 BRDM2 Spandrel
C Company	117 Points	3 BRDM2 Spandrel

Anti-Aircraft Battalion

A Company	42 Points	2 ZSU57 AA Vehicles
B Company	42 Points	2 ZSU57 AA Vehicles
C Company	42 Points	2 ZSU 23-4 Shilka

Engineer Company       

Engineer Company

?? Points

2 BTS-2T Arm Rec Vehicles

Reconnaissance Company

Recon Company

60 Points

4 BRDMs Scout Cars

Next up the smaller South Korean force and teh start of the Korean buildings.