Or, how I quite possibly killed my kid's enthusiasm for Force on Force in the very first turn of their very first game!
Here's how it went down - one of the boys was keen to have a go at
Force on Force. Force on Force are rules for modern warfare: the earliest edition focused on asymmetrical warfare. So I dug out the old cork buildings and my 15mm insurgents and US marines.Being their first game, I went for the basic scenario: Contracting Trouble. A pair of contractors have been ambushed in a bad part of town. Two fireteams of marines have been sent in to pull them out. I played the insurgents, the boys took a fireteam of marines each.
Contractors top left. You can also see three out of five groups of insurgents. Lone RPG men on the rooftops at the top left and right. Six insurgents in the foreground.
Four insurgent leaders in the foreground. There are another two insurgents skulking down the alley between the SUV and the marines.
Marines on their way in - just down the street and back again. Simple, right?
First encounter and everything goes like clockwork - the marines smoke the guys in the alley.
Once the marines have moved, one of the RPG guys pops up to have a shot. He manages to get his shot off first, causing one casualty.
Not only that, the marines roll a one for their reaction test, meaning they must draw a 'Fog of War' card. I use the original cards from Ambush Alley - most are bad for the regular player. The only question is, how bad? When I introduced one of my gaming mates to the game, he always used to manage to draw the worst possible card. Not that it put him off the game,
as you can see. Anyway, his favourite card turned up for the boys.
The insurgents are now every bit as good as the marines, and there are more of them!
Things just went downhill from there. A big group of reinforcements right on top of the marine positions.
Another failed reaction test halts the marines in their drive towards the contractors.
The group of six insurgents from the start of the game smell blood in the water. They burst into the street, guns blazing.
Again, the insurgents win the reaction test and the entire marine fireteam goes down as casualties.
The noose tightens.
It's just the start of turn three and the other fireteam is faced with a dilemma: try to extricate themselves as quickly as they can, or rush to the aid of their injured brothers? Well, leave no man behind!
Or, leave every man behind. Marines beaten to the trigger again and down they all go.
Total casualties:
Marines: 9
Insurgents: Just 4.
Boys' desire to ever play Force on Force again: Yes, quite possibly!
