Tuesday, January 28, 2020

ValleyCon 2020 Thoughts

As usual, the gaming year began with ValleyCon earlier this month. I played Team Yankee, which was 100pts on 8x4 tables using the 2nd Edition rules.

I was originally planning on runnings Syrians using the lists in 'Oil War', and started repainting my T-72s for this purpose. The thinking here was that Soviet T-72s aren't a particularly strong choice relative to later books. In the end, the Syrian force was too large a challenge in the time I had available, so I painted up my remaining T-64s and went with Soviets instead.

My final list was:
T-64 Tank Battalion - Red Thunder
Battalion HQ - 1 x T-64, 6pts
T-64 Company - 3 x T-64, 13pts
T-64 Company - 3 x T-64, 13pts
T-64 Company - 3 x T-64, 13pts
BMP-1 Motor Rifle Company - Medium size plus SA-14 Gremlin, 15pts
BMP-2 Recon Platoon - 3 x BMP-2 Scout, 5pts
SA-13 Gopher Platoon - 2 x Gopher, 2pts
Shilka AA Platoon - 4 x Shilka, 4pts
2S1 Carnation SP Howitzer Battery - 6 x 2S1 Carnation, 10pts
Hail Rocket Launcher Battery - 6 x BM-21 Hail, 8pts
BMP-1 Observation Post, 1pt
Hind Helicopter Company - 4 x Hind, 10pts
Total Cost: 100 pts
The thinking behind this list was:
  • I only have ten T-64s in my collection, and running them in three groups of three saves 5pts relative to having two larger units. 
  • The Shilkas are a must have, and I went with Gophers over Gaskins due to the extra range being of use on the wider table.
  • 2nd Edition gives a big bump to the effectiveness of artillery, so I decided to maximise this by taking both Carnations and Hails, plus the observer.
  • I have found minimum sized infantry units to be too small in the past, so have gone up a size. The Gremlin was a cheap addition to further boost my AA cover.
  • The BMP-2 scouts are extra AT-21, plus Spearhead for the few missions that can use it.
  • The big unit of Hinds was to provide an alternative to having to punch through the front of high armour targets.
In the end I placed second, with three 7-2 wins, a 2-7 loss, and a 2-3 time-out (after about 10 turns, so you can't accuse either of us of trying to play for a draw). There were a number of thoughts coming out of the event.

The standard of painting was very high across the board, making it one of the best looking competitions I can remember playing in.

This was the first Soviet build that I felt has worked for me. Largely this is because T-64s are good. Very good. That extra point of front armour, plus the 14" tactical move, makes them far superior to the Soviet T-72, and the three platoons of three definitely felt better than two larger platoons. The biggest problem I had was when I ran into McBeth's Stillbrew Chieftains - the 7-2 loss. Front 18 at range is tough for AT22 to crack. Ten tanks vs eight, but harder to hit and firing twice as many dice in return. That's a matchup that I'm going to need to rethink, even more so as we start to see Front 20 Challengers make an appearance.
I think the behaviour of NATO tanks (with the exception of the Chieftain) is something that TY gets wrong. It doesn't seem right for M1s and Leopards to be encouraged to knife-fight, but that's exactly what ROF 2/2 does.

I had too much artillery. Over the weekend they killed:
  • a platoon of Fliegerfaust (both batteries repeating on them for a couple of turns), 
  • a couple of Sheridans (Carnations with lucky armour saves), 
  • a platoon of T-64s (shotgunned in the back by the Carnations arriving from Reserve)
  • a landed Blackhawk (Hails), and 
  • a few infantry teams caught in the open (Hails). 
It wasn't a significant benefit for the 19pt investment. Carnations were more useful, and I would look to keep them at full strength and drop the Hails. The new artillery rules make them scary, but it was the wrong mix for my list.

Getting the right quantity and mix of air defence is tricky. I had 7pts of it, and it simply wasn't enough in the two games where I ran into aircraft. This particularly relates to my final game against Pooch. He had brought 34pts of air: four A10s and four Cobras, and my air defence just didn't faze him. This was underscored late in the game when, hunting a company break, he rolled his A10s directly at my Gophers and GAUed them out of existence without even being scratched. I had benefitted in the same way in earlier games, ending up not too worried about Humvee Stingers, and I was even okay against Pooch's VADS, which I managed to get running from left to right throughout the game, minimising their shots and keeping rolling saves for my Hinds. It all came apart when they finally got 28 shots off in a turn, but it highlighted two problems: the short range of gun AA (which was a major factor on our 8x4 tables), and the number of dice you need to be rolling to make FP5+ AA effective. Playing the same format again, I would probably look to move another six points into AA: two more Gophers and a pair of Geckos, funded by dropping the Hails. It's 13pts that is wasted if my opponent doesn't bring air, but it's better than feeling helpless in the few games where they do.
So, here would be my revised list based on the experience of the weekend:
T-64 Tank Battalion - Red Thunder
Battalion HQ - 1 x T-64, 6pts
T-64 Company - 3 x T-64, 13pts
T-64 Company - 3 x T-64, 13pts
T-64 Company - 3 x T-64, 13pts
BMP-1 Motor Rifle Company - Medium size plus SA-14 Gremlin, 15pts
BMP-2 Recon Platoon - 4 x BMP-2 Scout, 6pts
SA-13 Gopher Platoon - 4 x Gopher, 4pts
Shilka AA Platoon - 4 x Shilka, 4pts
2S1 Carnation SP Howitzer Battery - 6 x 2S1 Carnation, 10pts
BMP-1 Observation Post, 1pt
SA-8 Gecko Platoon - 2 x Gecko, 4pts
Hind Helicopter Company - 4 x Hind, 10pts
Total Cost: 100 pts
It’s largely similar, reflecting how well I think it performed overall. I haven't really resolved the high Front Armour problem yet, with the temptation being to chuck in a platoon of Storms, but that's not a huge gain: two or three dice at 4s or 5s to hit, with Firepower 3+, so you would still be lucky to kill one tank a turn, and they're easily hit in return. And I would also like a few more T-64s, maybe upping the platoons to four tanks each, but that's 18pts that I simply don't think I can spare - everything else has an important role to play.

Next week is the end of January, so I will post an update about how I am progressing with my goals for the year.

Sunday, January 05, 2020

Atlantic Fleet

Over the summer I've been back playing Atlantic Fleet on iOS, a turn-based single player Battle of the Atlantic game. I've also tried it on Steam, but I've found the mobile format to be just as good while being a lot more convenient.

The game runs from the start of the war through until the invasion of France. You have a strategic map covering the theatre, split into 44 zones. Each turn lasts half a week, with ships able to move one zone per turn. If Allied and Axis ships occupy the same zone there's a chance of making contact, and you will play out the resulting engagement at a tactical level. Any Axis ships in zones not occupied by Allied warships have a chance of intercepting an unescorted convoy, which results in automatic merchantman losses. You can purchase new warships using a currency called "Renown", which you earn by sinking enemy warships, with a large number of ships to choose from.
In the tactical map, you have a turn-based game where you move and shoot each of your ships, before the AI plays the other side. The graphics are pretty good, with the 3D panning and nicely detailed ship models.
As the British, you need to keep merchant shipping losses to below 300,000 tons per month until Pearl Harbour, and 700,000 per month after that. The timing of the invasion depends on shipping losses: on my first play though it occurred in mid 1945.

I am now on my second play-through of the Royal Navy campaign. I did try playing the Kriegsmarine side, but the very first convoy I intercepted was escorted by HMS Echo, my grandfather's destroyer. This struck too close to home, and I immediately switched back to the Royal Navy game.

There are a few issues I have with the game:
  • Torpedoes are too accurate, making them the best anti-submarine weapon on the game. This is a combination of the targeting mechanism (either off the 2D map showing the location of the sonar echo, or using the ability to view from the perspective of the enemy ship in the 3D world), and how true they run.
  • The turn order goes Allied ships move and fire, Axis torpedoes run, Axis ships move and fire, Allied torpedoes run. Combined with the predictability of torpedo paths (running about 2000 yards per turn), this creates some opportunities to dodge torpedoes that wouldn't be possible in an RTS or with simultaneous turns.
  • Airpower is very powerful, with very little chance to defend against it. There are no land-based interceptors, making the UK home waters a very dangerous place for the Royal Navy. Even if you have a carrier in the encounter, you don't get any kind of early warning, the fighters start on the deck and it takes a couple of turns to get them airborne. The AI always uses any aircraft it has available as soon as possible, so you get bombed before you have the chance to get any fighters airborne.
  • The game gets repetitive towards the end. Early on, you run into a variety of German surface raiders, with the biggest challenges being Bismark and Tirpitz. Once they've been sunk, it becomes a game of destroyers and corvettes vs U-Boats.
Despite these, it's a game I've enjoyed picking up and playing again over the summer. It is an interesting subject, has nice mechanics, and beautiful graphics.