Combat Patrol Games at Barrage

Buck

Geoff and Don staffed the registration table all weekend.

This past weekend, the Harford Area Weekly Kriegspielers hosted our annual, two-day, gaming convention, Barrage.  The event was a big success.  There were a number of Combat Patrol: WWII games on offer.

Poland 1939

I ran a game set in Poland in 1939.  The Poles were conducting reconnaissance and ran into a German force moving to capture a farmhouse to establish a battle position.

Polish infantry and a machinegun-equipped tankette establish a blocking position.

This tankette slowed the German advance.

German infantry advance toward the farm house and are taken under fire from Polish infantry.

Star Wars

Greg ran a Rebels era Star Wars game using Combat Patrol.  The Rebels had attacked the cargo hold of an Imperial ship to steal supplies, but it was a trap.  Stormtroopers and Darth Vader attacked from both ends of the hold, turning the scenario into an escape and evasion mission for the Rebels.

Getting ready to start.

It looks like something important just happened…

Stormtroopers make use of improvised cover from some control panels.

Moros in the Philippines

Moros advanced to a small farm house to seize cattle for food.  An American patrol was sent to stop them.  The Moros had very few firearms but made use of the ones they had.  One American squad was caught in the open and was badly mauled until reinforcements could arrive to bail them out.  In the end, the Moros escaped with the cattle.

In the top left, you can see the remnants of the squad that was caught in the ope. Two Moro rifles were enough to stop them. In the center of the picture you can see part of a second American squad that moved up to rescue the first. In the foreground you see a third squad that was cautiously advancing toward the farm.

Moros making good use of cover to advance on the Americans.

Combat Patrol™ works very well for the Philippines.  Typically I use the Japanese decks for the Moros, but I forgot to bring them this time, so they had “normal” morale.    If the Moros make good use of cover and concealment they can mitigate the American firepower advantage.  When the Moros hit the Americans in hand-to-hand combat, the Americans feel suitable overwhelmed.  The Moros are difficult to defeat in hand-to-hand combat, but not impossible.

Tekumel

Bill Acheson ran a Tekumel game using the under-development Combat Patrol™: Dark Ages and Fantasy (working title) rules.  Tekumel is the world in the fantasy role playing game Empires of the Petal Throne by M.A.R. Barker.  The races, flora, and fauna are not based on Earth mythology, so the feel of the game is quite different.

Bill running his Tekumel game with Combat Patrol™.

His scenario involved humans attacking into a tunnel system occupied by bug-like creatures.

A view from the point of view of the crashed spaceship with ancient technology worth fighting to own.

Chaos ensures as the bugs are able to use the narrow passages to good advantage.

By all accounts the new Combat Patrol™ rules that focus on melee more than shooting worked very well.  There were some quibbles about the magic that Bill is bolting on and some scenario tweaks before he runs it at another convention, but in general, I think the players felt the rules worked for a melee-heavy period.

Finland 1939

Zeb Cook ran a Finland 1939 game with the free Winter War supplement to Combat Patrol™: WWII.  The Russians were advancing against hidden Finnish opposition.

Russians attacking Finns.

from Buck’s Blog http://bucksurdu.com/blog/?p=7323
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Author: hawksgameclub

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