Met up on a Sunday afternoon in 2015 at Tabletop Nation (Wayland Games) for, what was for me, the first game using "Went the Day Well?" rules for AVBCW. First of all the table looked great. (It's nice to be able to stroll in after someone else has done all the work!) Oh how we mocked the purchase of all those yards of hedge, but on table looked very effective. The large collection of PMC buildings really tied it all together too. Nice job!
BUF defenders holed up near one of the crossroads.
The scenario seemed nice and straightforward for my part of the game; deploy amongst a group of farm buildings and cling on for dear life against waves of expected enemy. The expected enemy appeared - Commies and Albertines (some different type of traitor apparently) but not much clinging on occurred. Due to the nature of the initiative system in the rules my doughty defenders sat in their prepared positions, and for the most part allowed the enemy to come right up to them and spray them with bullets and 20mm tank shells. They didn't like this much and a portion of them scarpered.
Other defenders lurk in the barns.
Some of them did eventually get to fire, at very close range as the enemy neared the buildings they were in and at VERY close range when the enemy entered the buildings. Startlingly few bullets hit home however and not many that did had any effect. Eventually, with deadly force not an option and with three tank prowling round the position the only sane option was to surrender to the bad guys. I do always enjoy planning a defensive battle and then seeing how far awry events take it when the enemy turn up but this was extreme even for me. I think my BUF colleague had a bit more luck but this may have been because he had even less initiative so kept out of trouble!
A wave of communist militia advance on the position.
My main concerns with the rules were the lack of any overwatch ability for defenders so that they could bring their fire to bear at the appropriate moment when being attacked. Without it the initiative dice roll became all important, and subsequent events overshadowed. Maybe we were missing something in the rules as it was our first try. The pace of the game was also painfully slow, with 4 players and dozens of units on the table. Perhaps for an unfamiliar set of rules we had too many units on the table. (Always a risk when we have lots of new toys to try out.)
Communist tanks trundle towards the unmanned AT gun.
I think I will stick with "Through the Mud and the Blood" or give "A World Aflame" from Osprey a crack, so that we have a fair comparison.
BUF artillery cover the transport compound.
A BUF detachment laboriously drag an AT gun towards the action.
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