I set myself a little project over the Xmas break, to paint
up a few 20mm modern forces for a skirmish game I hope to play this year. I
already had the western troops (lovely Wartime miniatures Australians) and
ordered a few Elheim Taliban and insurgents for them to face. OK, so it took a bit
longer that just the Xmas break to get them painted, but they are all done now
and ready for a game.
The game I have planned will be a conversion of the standard
BG rules into a one-to-one modern skirmish, but to get away from it being a
straight fight (with one side having the obvious advantage of all the good
gear) and make it a more a-symetrical game, where winning the fire-fight is the
easier bit for western forces, but doing it such a way that they don’t offend
public opinion and start to lose the war for ‘hearts and minds’ is the tough
bit.
I have some idea for this, mostly using the Battlegroup
counters system and by setting the NATO forces two break points, one for their men
on the ground fighting (which might be quiet brittle, given that they cannot
afford to take many loss, one guy killed is disaster, so wounded guys have to
med-evaced or the cost in chits is massive) and a second level for public
opinion, so just dropping 500lb laser-guide bombs is a option, but not one that
helps much if there are civilians around and it misses. The point being to set the western forces a
tough challenge, even though they have all the big guns at their disposal.
All those big guns will be off-table (as per support Request
as per BG), from Apache 40mm cannon strafes, to mortars or artillery, to fast
air and those really big bombs. The Insurgents, well they get guys with AK-47s
and RPGs, but a far higher breakpoint (they don’t care some much about losses)
and they don’t have to worry about public opinion at all, so can blaze away in
circumstances, including using civilians as shields.
Hopefully, it’ll create a game in which the asymmetry of the
forces of the ground is balanced by the widely different victory conditions of
the battle, being far easier to achieve for the insurgents than NATO. So NATO have to be very careful. Hopefully I
get the rules to more accurately reflect actual losses (ie not many) without it
being a dull game in which nobody gets hit.
Anyhow, I have the first models complete. I think I’ll add a
med-evac Blackhawk helo for the western forces, because not getting aid to wounded guys will
basically cost the NATO forces the game, and a Technical and some civilians (to
get in the way) for the insurgents.
Here are the squads so far.
Bravo squad, with SAW, an assault shotgun, sniper rifle, a UGL and a combat medical technician
hey that's great wick.. I hope you make a good draft book on modern warfare, I hope it will be totally different from BG's games (albeit still retaint MORALE COUNTER of the battlegroups), and more emphasize on action oriented platoon level games (up to company level games) so, even in opponent turns, you can always react. Some suggestion on BG's modern = remove order counter (that roll in the beginning), add order pool system depends on how many units you have, regular armies (such as US and west allies) can be applied multi orders (Up to three, including reacting orders), irregular armies can only use ONE at max (either act or react), how the system works, I go, u go system per one activation player, once a single unit is act , opponent can react (both simultaneous in one act), once done, opponent can activate any unit they like and do the same with limitation order depends on their training level. Apply some Fog of war cards for each different nation/faction, damn there is so much idea that I have accumulated from my wargame experience, and I'm not even a good writer :(
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