Syldavia versus Borduria

Mat and I set up another Syldavia versus Borduria game. I wanted to allow for more infantry fighting so provision of a large forest did the job. Tanks could not enter the area and troops could not be fired on unless they were within six inches of the edge of the forest, They also had to be so located to fire outwards. All movement and ranges were halved in the forest except for the flamer template.

Below: The view from the Bordurian end. Mat's Syldavian fighter is speeding towards the Bordurians but was soon to be intercepted by the Bordurian fighter. The planes are balanced or stuck to plastic bottles used for peaches and other fruit.

A dog fight ensued between the two planes with the Syldavian coming out of it less damaged than the Bordurian however neither pilot had time to attack enemy ground positions. The Bordurian plane arrived in the mail just in time after being bought from fellow collector, Bob.

The model of the German plane lacked an engine cover and this was remedied with one from a bunch of spares but it had to be cut to size and filled in with putty. The yellow enamel paint for the Bordurian symbols was still wet from the previous night. On reflection I might not have got the colour sequence correct anyway.

A game of tag!

 The Bordurian artillery did not have the cover of a church this time. However, it did some damage before the enemy tankettes machine gunned the crew.

The Syldavian anti-tank unit was machinegunned by my flanking tankettes before they could do any damage.

                                              Syldavians march to war (Marx WW2 French).

                         My flanking armour plonked a shell into the Syldavian heavy artillery.
 

                                                                         The 'culprit'

                                                 A Syldavian armoured car is under threat.

             The Bordurian general, Aldox Fruitfitter. with his aide holding his much loved dog, 'Darkie'.

   After causing much damage the Syldavian tankettes meet their match from the heavy Bordurian Goliath tank and a flamethrower. To the right is a unit of Redian Black Shorts foreign volunteers.

                         Bordurians advance through the forest to engage large numbers of Syldavian troops.

                                   The remnants of the fanatical Bordurian shock troops continue to attack and terrify with their flame thrower. There was some danger of a forest fire but the recent rain averted this.

                                   The access gap in the table was counted as crossable forest and open ground.

                                 Chloe. the cat god. takes a passing interest in the activities of mere mortals.

                                                " Hmm, maybe I'll influence the dice rolls."

                                        A lone Bordurian, with anti tank rifle, finally draws a successful bead and blows up an enemy tankette.

                                                                 Clash in the forest

                      The Syldavians had a number of breakdown in tanks quite early in the battle.

Conclusions: SMGs finally played a significant roll in a game as the Bordurians employed them effectively in the forest. As they were counted (along with pistols and flame throwers) as assault weapons there was no reduction in effectiveness as there was with moving and shooting rifles. In the FLW interwar rules casualties are halved from troops that move and shoot. My interpretation was that this would exclude certain weapons. The SMGs had three dice as opposed to the rifle's. The flame thrower template ignored cover so there were no saves from it. (All troops got saves of 5-6 on a d6 from the other infantry weapons whilst in the forest). 

There was no close combat, probably because the rules give defenders a free shot against those attacking them although the latter do get extra dice rolls in combat. The range of shooting became, in the forest, so close that, unusually, the pistol armed soldiers (officers and some of the shock storm troops troops) got shots in. We used the stipulation from the earlier FLWs book that there were three dice but 6s had to be rolled, so potentially lethal but only if lucky.

Mat and I did depart from the FLW rules by incorporating some Warhammer 40K rules for tank damage with strength of firer's weapons and target armour given values and a dice roll determining if glancing or penetrating hit. If the armour value was equalled by the weapon it was a glancing hit or a template hit not direct, it was a glancing hit. Penetrating hits surpassed the armour value and a table was consulted. Results included immobilised, gun destroyed and vehicle destroyed etc. Vehicles  had a certain number of hull points and each glancing or penetrating it removed one of them. The average number of hull points was three. Rear. and sometimes side armour was weaker than front. However, we still actually shot projectiles at the targets to obtain hits. We have been using Nerf guns for firing from tank guns and artillery. (Of course matchsticks fired form cannons can also be used or dice rolls).

The FLWs rules use a clear template placed over the tank which will be marked by ink on projectiles to determine glancing or direct hits. Admittedly, we have not tried this method.

One thing which did not come up, because the aircraft were too involved in a dog fight, was could aircraft bomb or machinegun infantry in the forest. Our provision was if they were within six inches of the edge, yes. Otherwise the pilots would need to roll the dice to determine if they could see or know theri whereabouts. Presumably, of troops had radios they could call in air strikes but it would be dicey if thy were close to the enemy.