Trawling through some photos of games played last year I realised I hadn't posted about a great game of Force on Force that Andy and I played last December - indeed I then realised I hadn't posted here we'd been playing Force on Force at all!!
August, with Phil on his annual sojourn to pastures foreign, sees Andy and I try a few different games and it was Andy who expressed a desire to try out Force on Force having picked up a copy of the Osprey hardback. I also had a copy - and some 20mm modern US and Soviet troops which I'd painted up for my much stalled Whirarwistan '88 project, which led to a trial game (pictured above).
We both enjoyed it, and despite the rulebook looking extremely daunting, found the rules easy to follow, not mired in ridiculous detail and really quite intuitive. Andy bought some Caesar Miniatures 20mm Insurgents, painted them up and we subsequently played a couple more games set in the fictional neighbouring state of Uruk, riven by civil war and insurgency, which has seen the US drawn in to prop up the friendly incumbent regime.
Anyway, fast forward to December and Phil off on some pre-Xmas jolly somewhere we played a game loosely based on the Candy Store scenario from the Force on Force Fallujah supplement...
In the scenario the US forces have occupied a large building (the Candy Shop) in down town Falafel, the second city of Uruk, currently largely in تمرد الغراب (Tamarud Alghurab) Insurgent hands. One of the Americans has been badly wounded and needs urgent CASEVAC. With six turns to get in, load the casualty and get out, this was going to be a challenge.
The Alghurab Insurgents occupy many of the buildings surrounding the Candy Shop and await their opportunity to attack the foreign invaders.
The US force occupying the Candy Shop has its Fire Teams on Overwatch, waiting for the opportunity to teach the Insurgents a lesson and ensure a clear route for the CASEVAC.
The Insurgent commander الغراب العظيم (Alghurab Aleazim) makes the first move, a group of his fighters moving to outflank the Candy Shop and cut off any route to it.
A second group are caught by American fire...
Whilst a third pop up opposite the American position and start trading fire - and coming off far worse.
The M249 SAW covers one flank...
Though this does not stop the Insurgents effectively surrounding the Candy Shop in turn two and firing an ineffective RPG round into it - before being gunned down.
With insurgents now approaching on all sides, this was beginning to look a lot like the Alamo!
One group of insurgents make a dash across some open ground to a building nearer the enemy...
But are spotted and gunned down.
Here comes the cavalry! Well the AAVTP7's of the Marine Corps. Arriving on Turn Three they literally have to get in, load and get out in the three remaining turns. Nothing can go wrong if they are to succeed...
The two AAVTP7's successfully reach the Candy Shop, Alghurab Aleazim regretting firing his RPG randomly at the building the previous turn now two juicy armoured targets had arrived.
With one AAV providing cover down the main street, the second moves in behind the Candy Shop to recover the badly wounded soldier and a second who has been hit in this battle.
The two casualties are loaded, now to get out of Dodge!
The CASEVAC AAV reverses back to the main street...
Immediately coming under fire from an Insurgent RPG! It is slightly damaged, but not quite enough to slow it down. The second AAV subsequently hoses the Insurgents down with its M2HB HMG...
With the Insurgents desperately trying to get an RPG into a position to stop it, the CASEVAC AAV manages to make it to safety in the final turn, the wounded soldiers taken to Battalion Aid...
Just one more RPG hit and Alghurab Aleazim and his Insurgents would have been able to claim a great victory against the foreign invader, as it was he just had a lot of dead followers littering the streets of Falafel...
Despite it ending up as an overwhelming American victory, at no point was it easy. Force on Force's handling of asymmetric warfare is really simple with the Insurgents being able to move swiftly around the table unseen, popping up and spraying the First World forces with fire. Whilst that is generally ineffective, a lucky hit can cause a decisive serious wound or kill, and with the scenarios offering very limited time to complete objectives, the First World player cannot sit back and just rely on their superior firepower to win them a game.
Unfortunately Force on Force is currently out of print, but if the subject matter interests you, grab a secondhand copy if you see one at a reasonable price.
Looked a brilliant game.
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