Covert Operations

Over the last couple of weeks, Matt and I have been stealthily evading the rest of our gaming group and enacting our secret plan to try out his relatively new acquisition, 02 Hundred Hours from Grey For Now Games.

The game focuses on covert operations during WW2, with SAS teams launching raids on unsuspecting German targets.

The starter set comes with rules, cards, dice tokens and a good chunk of miniatures (from Wargames Atlantic), giving you everything you need to play, except for the MASSIVE amounts of terrain you need to not only make the games feel immersive, but also prevent the SAS getting spotted and gunned down in short order (something we discovered in the first game).

The rulebook contains a series of scenarios which seem to introduce rules slowly, which is handy because the game is a bit fiddly and it's easy to make mistakes when you are learning.

Activation is decided by drawing tokens out of a bag, special dice are used for skill checks and different types of cards can be used to mix things up.

Over the course of three evening, we've played through the first three scenarios and learned a fair amount along the way.

Mission 1 - Hunted

To keep things simple, I'm this scenario the SAS (Matt) needed to move across a board patrolled by the Germans (Me) without getting half of their squad killed.

The scenarios are all asymmetric as the small units of skilled British elites are pitted against larger numbers of somewhat less elite sentries.

We found out very early on that there was not really enough cover for the British to take advantage of, and so their chances of getting across the board undetected were almost zero.

Games are played at night and so visibility has its own mechanic, which helps. However, the nature of the missions means that ultimately the SAS have to move closer to the Germans and therefore are at a significant risk of being discovered.

In our first game, Matt made pretty good headway initially, especially as the random movement brought about by the roving patrols rules meant that the Germans spent the early turns marching around in circles and clearly shouting at each other to reveal their locations.

However, once the British were spotted, the lack of cover meant that weight of fire won the day as the Germans managed to take out three of the five SAS men.

We did actually play this again taking on different roles, but the outcome was pretty similar.

Mission 2 - Butcher and Bolt

This scenario saw the British attacking a German outpost intent on killing the occupants before reserves could arrive.

Much more terrain was put into plan to give the SAS a fighting chance of actually using stealth.

This game introduced the patrol route rules, which saw the German sentries following a set path with very little chance of them spotting attackers unless they made too much noise or got too close and set off the alarm.

This is an odd phase of the game as there's not a lot the German player can do to influence events, but equally the British player needs to cautiously advance towards their goal before striking.

Fortunately, this phase did not last too long as Matt, being Matt, decided that when a Feldgendarme got curious and came to investigate the area the British were in, he resorted to type and went for a full-blooded attack...

...which failed and raised the alarm.

However, he had got himself into a good position to attack and grenades and gunfire poured into the compound.

However, despite the force of the attack, German reserves arrive faster than expected (partly because some were already in buildings - due to those cards I mentioned) and with pretty much everybody visible (hence the tokens), the game devolved into a more conventional skirmish.

This was a close game in which victory was ultimately claimed by the Germans after a crack shot by a late arriving sentry, taking down the British Sergeant just before he could kill again.

Mission 3 - Sabotage

As hinted at by the name, this scenario saw the British trying to destroy a high value strategic target. In our case, this was a radar station.

It also introduced the rules for demolitions as the British goal was to reach the dish, plant a bomb and get clear before it detonated.

Once again, the Germans were patrolling and Matt made much more use of stealth, although the alarm did get raised again by his first actual attack (which failed again).

We made a bit of a mistake with bringing in the reserves, which meant I was on the back foot quickly.

Ultimately, despite card-based shenanigans, the SAS were able to destroy the radar station, but only secured a minor victory as they failed in their secondary objective to leave the table with more than half their squad intact.

All in all I think we've both enjoyed this game and we are starting to appreciate the tactical nuances as we get to grips with the rules. For example, due to marginally different stats, Feldgendarmes make better reserves than Sentries, who make better...well...erm...sentries.

We are still making mistakes, but that's not really due to complexity of the rules, but more to do with the fact that lots of the mechanics are fairly similar, but not the same.

If Matt hadn't already got everything we need to play, I'd probably be considering picking this up. If you are remotely interested in WW2 gaming but are daunted by building a full army, you should probably have a closer look.

The Pilgrimage

Not a painting or gaming post, just a few pictures from my recent visit to Warhammer World, somewhere I've not actually been to in over ten years.

The last time I went there was just the gaming hall, Bugman's Bar and the shop. It was interesting to see that the gaming hall was about half the size, Bugman's actually had plenty of space and you couldn't get anywhere without going through the shop twice

There's some subtext to unravel about the development of Games Workshop in those changes, but I'll leave that for your consideration.

On top of this was the exhibition, which, if you were unsure, is well worth a visit. The opening section covers the development of their games and settings and features a number of classic miniatures.

It's a bit weird seeing models that are still in my painting queue in what is essentially a museum. There's subtext in that too.

It was a shame there wasn't more of their older ranges on display, I feel they could have done some interesting demonstration of the development of things like Terminator armour or a close up look at how sculpting has changed.

But maybe the museum aspect isn't what they were going for.

Having said that, this section included classic dioramas that I remember seeing in several publications, such a this piece by John Blanche, which I thing was in the 3rd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle rulebook.

Or this one inspired by Warhammer Quest. There was actually much more to it but it was quite hard to photograph in a way that captured the way it was put together on different levels.

What was very noticeable with these older dioramas, particularly with what came later, was how small they were, despite looming so large in my memories.

For example, this classic piece by Mike McVey based on art from the Realms of Chaos: The Lost And The Damned, which is (I think) the only representation of the Emperor in miniature to appear in the pages of of White Dwarf.

It's about the size of a shoebox.

In contrast there's the newest diorama in the exhibition is this massive scene done to coincide with the launch of Warhammer: The Old World, which is essentially the Battle of the Pelennor Fields but in a desert, with Tomb Kings and Bretonnians taking the parts of the forces of Mordor, Gondor and Rohan.

The diorama was packed with detail, such as these Tomb Scorpions and Necropolis Knights (or are they the other ones?) emerging in a market square within the city.

On the subject of Tolkien inspired wargaming, it was reassuring that the fantasy area of the exhibition had a healthy amount of Lord of the Rings miniatures and dioramas on display.

As I was accompanied by Mrs Cheaphammer and the Cheapling, these scenes were a great access point for them to see things they could relate to and make sense of more easily, especially when surrounded by Age of Sigmar displays which I have only the most tenuous and out of date grasp of.

In a real turn up for the books, this particular scene from the Shire evoked some interest from Mrs Cheaphammer in making some similar terrain.

She's never that keen on the violence inherent in this hobby, although she was impressed with the dynamism of the newer Age of Sigmar sculpts.

We didn't spend too long on the Age of Sigmar displays, although they are impressive. I was able to handily explain the four Chaos gods in terms that the family understood with visual references: disease and despair; change and magic; pleasure and sauciness; ANGRY!

The Cheapling showed some affinity towards Nurgle, although this was more than likely related to the massive Nurgling plushie in reception.

I'd suggest that the exhibition at Warhammer World is a really good place to explain certain aspects of the hobby without having to go into boring detail.

For example, in the 40k section, Mrs Cheaphammer spotting that "those red ones are like yours" allowed me to quickly explain that Space Marines come in a variety of colours which allow players to paint them how they choose.

I'm fact, in one corner there is what amounts to a Dulux colour chart made up of different chapters.

I'm terms of setting, scenes like this provide a neat shorthand to convey to overwhelming totalitarian nature of the Imperium and will potentially offer context in future exchanges.

I was at one point asked what 'lore' was and I explained that it's what people who take this all too seriously call backstory, what used to be referred to as 'fluff'.

The Horus Heresy sections being placed next to the 40k displays helped explain why I needed two apparently similar armies and what the difference was, and also allowed me show how much of a reasonable person I am by having 'red ones' in both settings and being able to use some of them in both.

Perhaps the best outcome of the tournament was the fact that, at least for the GW aspects of my hobby, I was able to clarify which game was which along with why and how they were different.

Finally there was the offensively large Battle of Angelus display. At which point I opted to point out that, no, I don't have 'a lot' of models...in context.

After leaving the exhibition we obviously stopped by the shop, it's my birthday next week and so purchases were made; more on that when I actually get my hands on them.

Also, the Cheapling and I spent a while painting together and potentially piqued her interest in the hobby (albeit in Age of Sigmar) in a way I've never been able to. The staff throughout the venue are excellent, especially the guy who was overseeing the painting area (although the brushes were atrocious), and they really made everything welcoming and accessible to people who weren't already immersed on the hobby.

If you have more than a passing interest in GW stuff, I'd highly recommend going to Warhammer World, especially if you haven't been recently. I was really pleasantly surprised and even without gaming, there was enough there to fill an afternoon.

Also, the food's pretty good too.

Judge Dredd #3: Sweet Justice

The final tutorial scenario from Judge Dredd: I Am The Law pits the entire contents of the starter box against each other in a battle royale.

We swapped out the Rookie Judge model for the Judge Dredd I painted as she didn't exactly look like 'Veteran Judge Cassidy', I've also made a slight change to the scenario as Ramirez got blown away in the last one, and so Kinsey is back for this one.

The battle is just a straight fight. The Judges are trying to take down four gangers and the High Rollers are aiming to drop a single Judge...easy, right?

This was a real back and forth fight. Initially, the Gunfighter rule of the Judges (which we'd finally got the hang of) meant that it was really dangerous to fire at them, as it should be, and it seemed like the perps stood no chance.

However, the stump gun shot and chain attack suddenly put Kinsey on the back foot, but I just couldn't finish him off. When he got back into cover and healed, it felt like the gang has lost their opportunity, especially when Matt started blowing things up.

Ultimately, the return of the ganger with the combat rifle (probably still the Diceman), who'd been severely injured early on and had spent several turns healing, turned the tide and put enough damage onto Kinsey to end the game.

All in all I feel this is a really good game. The miniatures are good and the mechanics really allow for forces mismatched in numbers to feel balanced. The Big Meg and Armoury cards are really powerful, but a limited resource that need to be used wisely. The game also offers the closest representation of a movie-style shootout (the Gunfighter rule is key to this) that I've come across in any skirmish game.

If there's a down side, the rules are a bit scattered through the rulebook and sometimes it's hard to find the bit you need. I also think that it's a game that relies on interest in Judge Dredd to drive sales as this box really does contain everything you need for a good game.

Will I pick up more of the range? Possibly...if the price is right. I'm not a massive Judge Dredd fan, but I might grab a few of the more well known characters: Judge Death, Mean Machine Angel, the Fatties, etc. I suspect I'm more likely to raid my remaining Wargames Factor Survivors to add to the Block Gang, rather than buy expensive resin models, and I'm inclined to use generic city and post-apocalyptic terrain (like the movie did) rather than start building Mega City One.

However, I like this game, and that might have an impact when I'm next passing a Warlord Games stand at a show.

Carnevale: Escape From San Canciano

I'm on a bit of a roll with posting content at the moment, mainly because I had several games over the Christmas period that needed writing up.

However, this is my first actual progress post of the year and is testament to me taking a couple of my resolutions seriously in that I'm decreasing the mountain and getting something 'finished' quickly.

In this case it's the contents of Carnevale: Escape from San Canciano intro box from TTCombat that I received for Christmas.

One of the reasons I wanted this set, even though I already had the main starter set, was that it conveniently added to both the Guild and Rashaar forces I already have. I think it's meant to be another 50 ducats for each gang, taking my total to around 150 ducats. However, there have been points adjustments to the stats available online so, along with the extra Pilferer I painted last week, I've now got a disparity of about 20 ducats between the gangs (more if the Guild get a Gondola).

Both gangs get a hero and three henchmen to add to their forces meaning, as there are no leaders, I can make use of everything in appropriately sized games.

The new Rashaar additions include (from left to right): a Cult Officiant, a Lesser Rhyll (I think he's welsh), a Cult Enforcer and a Hybrid. The Cult members bring some additional land based (and slightly faster) combat prowess, whilst the Lesser Rhyll and Hybrid further cement the Rashaar control of the canals of Venice.

Perhaps the biggest bonus to the gang is the fact that the Cult Officiant and Hybrid can be trusted far more than the frankly awful Slaves to get on with objectives and agendas whilst the monsters are occupied with fighting, leaving the Slaves to focus on their true purpose: getting eaten.

In terms of painting I've largely stuck closely to the official paint scheme, although I'm using a more definite green (as opposed to blue-green) for the robes, to match what I'd already done with the Slaves. I've kept the Hybrid in drab colours as the seem to be the dregs of Venetian society in the game.

For the Lesser Rhyll I didn't know how I was going to approach him and so had a play with washes of Biel-Tan Green and dry brushing Elysian Green to achieve something that is, given the long limbs and distended belly, not totally unlike the lovechild of the Great Cthulhu and Kermit the Frog.

Whereas the Rashaar gained all new gang members, the Guild get a couple of duplicates amongst there number (from left to right): a second Gondolier, a third (THIRD!) Fisherman (woman), a Pilferer (this is my second, but that's not TTCombat's fault) and an Arbalest. Perhaps the most notable addition to the force is the Arbalest, which adds the first genuine ranged threat to the game and, along with the Capodecina, will allow the Guild to rule the rooftops.

I'll be honest, I'm not overly keen on some of these sculpts, although I appreciate that the sculpting is limited by the desire to keep these as one piece models for ease of introduction and so they are a bit flat. However, apart from the fisherman, they lack the character of the starter set Guild models, the Gondolier and Arbalest are stood weirdly (that's not how you hold a loaded crossbow) and the Pilferer has a strangely large and doll-like head.

In terms of painting, I've kept to the same sort of palette I used for the rest of the gang, ensuring an element of red on each of them to tie things together. I did have to put a bit of thought in to the colours to ensure that I didn't end up with the same trouser/shirt combos leading to them looking too uniform.

Although they're not my favourite group of models for the game, I'm pleased with how they've come out as a whole and I'm not read to play the two scenarios that com in the Intro box.

Whilst I'm talking about the intro box, it seems appropriate to do a little bit of a review. It's about half the price of the main set and can be picked up for under £30 from some sources - which is not bad given that you get pretty much everything you need to play. It's definitely a price point that allows people to impulse buy, and if you factor in that expanded rules and stat cards are available on the Carnevale game website, it's arguably all you'll need to buy for some time if you proxy models from an existing collection.

The game comes with a mini rulebook that seems to include everything apart from the rules for magic, the gang specific campaigns and the detaled background. However, there is more than enough to be going on with, as the rules do include the generic 5 scenario campaign, 'The Winds of Fate', for after you've played the initial two tutorial scenarios: 'Breakthrough' and 'Fight to Survive', which are detailed on a separate card.

Also included are stats sheets with a little bit of background on the gangs, dice, tokens, a quick reference sheet and even a cardboard ruler. If it weren't for the fact that the resin miniatures need cleaning before use, this would be a genuine 'straight out of the box experience'.  

This is especially true as, unlike almost every other game out there but just like the starter set, this comes with terrain too. A double-sided 2'x2' mat is provided (this size is fine for a small 8 figure skirmish) along with three cardboard buildings and a smattering of 2D terrain (a bridge, a gondola, a fountain, piles of barrel and boxes and floating debris). Obviously these aren't as good as 3D terrain (although I suspect I'll get good use out of the floating debris), but this is an intro box and it's a good way to ensure new player get to experience the different elements of the game in which terrain is important.

If I have a gripe about this intro box, it's with the buildings. Although they are actually better looking and more sturdy that those found in the main starter set, the do not go together without glue and a good amount of swearing. This means that they are not collapsible, which for me is one of the joys of the starter set as it means it doesn't take up much storage space.

However, it add three more buildings to my larger board set ups and given that I now need to find more space, will probably prompt me down the line of getting some of the MDF buildings.

All in all, this is a great intro to the game and if you've already got the main starter set it's probably the most cost efficient way to expand your gangs and terrain set up. I don't think it is as good in terms of value as the main starter set, although the price point probably means that more people are likely to encounter Carnevale for the first time through Escape From San Canciano.

On a personal level, I'm really enjoying the painting and the game, and I suspect I'm about to get neck deep into the canals of Venice. Additionally, these eight miniatures mark the start of this year's tally. There's no Hobby Bingo card at the moment (more on that in a future post), so you'll just have to make do with the raw numbers:

Acquired: 0

Painted: 8