"Forward Together": AARs & 'Replay Value' considered

You could choose to go this route...

Or you can affirm the eternal truth that "Manly Men Play Wargames"!

Hmmm.... I'll affirm the latter, I think...

And along those lines of affirming Games Theory as a Manly career choice, I deviate from my paying job to keep my mind sharp by playing this quite interesting and challenging game from Art of Wargames: "Forward Together - Rhodesian Bush War".  

I've played about 20 times at this point, about half the scenarios: the ones with the least special rules because I'm trying to get a feel for the basics! And it's been a great time since I enjoy military tactical puzzles. Also, the challenges are difficult and engrossing at times without much rules overhead.  I can bang out a scenario in about 20-40 minutes depending on how much time I spend thinking and taking pics. And I'm enjoying it!

This got me to thinking... What does "replay value" really mean?  I say it's:

1. Scenario seems balanced: One must keep playing it to see if it truly is or if it's been luck of the dice that has me losing / winning.

2. Scenario seems to favor one side: One must keep playing it to see if that is so, if it was luck, or bad tactics. If it is unbalanced, what changes would make it even-up?

3. I like the game / rules / scenarios. But it *might* be even better if I changed / modified a couple of the rules...

And there you have it - replay value means you keep coming back to see if you have cracked that nut open, or if you need a different nut cracker, or to try a different nut. "Forward Together" has that in spades, for $20 alone or $40 with two other games in an omnibus edition. Reminds me a lot of Classic Squad Leader but at 6 pages of pretty straightforward rules.

Consider Mission #5:

Relatively simple victory conditions: clear the guerillas out of the village and occupy it. with breathing room all around. A modest amount of Maneuver Units [MU] on both sides, 3 and 4 respectively.

G8 is actually a Guerilla Team - I changed it but didn't retake the pic.

The forces are almost equal in numbers, with 12 Hits to 15 Hits, but the Gs are weaker units. The support weapons slightly favor the Rhoadies as they have Grenades - I'm still figuring out the benefits of Grenades  as a Squad Weapon. Altho one doesn't want to attack with even numbers, the Rhoadies may pick the time and place of what is essentially a surprise attack.

The Mission has a tight time line of 7 Game Turns. The Rhoadies have to defeat the Gs, cross the river and occupy the village - the movement alone takes *at least* 3 Turns. To defeat them, there have to be no G Units within two hexes of the village. Measuring hexes to engagement Range [3 Hexes], the attack has to begin as soon as possible but NLT Turn 3, for realistic odds to attrit the Gs enough that they have to Rally to Activate. This degrades their performance enough to - hopefully - finish them off piece by piece. 

Plan 1: INFIL from East - Central board edge at hexes K4 and K8. Set up a base of Fire at J4 and H7 to destroy the security Team in G5 while initiating Fire on village Units.  I played this out three times, and lost all three games, badly.  There isn't enough time to destroy the security Team G8 and then advance on the Village. Engaging the Units in the Vill is just poking a bear with a stick. Most will get Aggressive and start fighting back, and they have cover.  

Verdict: Not recommended.

Plan 2: INFIL from North - West across the hill, using the heights for LoS advantage to engage targets in the Village. This resulted in a firefight at C5-D5-F4 v. the village. It took until Turn 4 to really engage them as the hill slowed movement. Four Game Turns isn't enough to destroy the Gs with Firepower. Assaulting the Village is slow due to the river and buildings being 2 MP / AP each. The costs reduce attacking Firepower. Tried twice and ran out of Turns both times. Once I was out-shot by some hot die rolling by the Gs!

Plan 3: INFIL from North - West with a flanking force going 'round the hill to the West, then attacking the West side of the Village after the Gs are engaged, perhaps moving out of position to engage the Northern Squads. 

How did this go?  Well, see for yourself below!

Turn 1. Rhoadies move onto the boardm bypassing security Team G8.

Turn 2. R Teams F&G move up to *just* out of LoS, H continues flanking move.

 

Turn 3. R Teams F & G are able to bring effective firepower down from the hill. Team H continues flanking move, will engage next Turn.

Turn 4. Rs win Initiative and continue firing at G5 since it has the Leader. They destroy the Squad but the Leader survives and jumps over to G7. G8 Disengages.

Turn 5 Rs. Firepower destroys Team 6, as F Squad rolls hot.

Turn 5 Gs. G7 rolls Aggressive Posture, advances a hex and misses with all Fire. G8 rolls a Defensive Posture but can't see anyone so does nothing.

Turn 6 Gs win IN. They manage to Rally and Activate G7. H Squad takes another Hit and has only one left!

Turn 6 Rs. F & G Squads Manage destroy G7 with Fire. 

G8 rolls Aggressive and enters the River.

Turn 7 Rs win IN. F Squad begins crossing River. H fails to Rally and catches its breath. G8 security Team rolls aggressive again and enters the Village!

Rhoadies lose, having failed to clear the Village, and not having a Good Order Unit in it.

I play Turn 8, just to see what happened...

Turn 8, Rs win IN. H Squad Rallies, enters G8 hex and melees, win's by ONE POINT and G8 is destroyed. F Squad enters Village in Good Order.

Verdict, plan is still too slow - I played until Turn 8 to barely win.

Elapsed time, 40 minutes with recording game in pics, so 30-35 minutes play time.

Overall, I still liked this plan, and felt it had potential if I did it correctly and had even luck all around.  I decided to try it again.

Turn 2, Rs have IN [by scenario rule] and stay out of LoS, creeping into positions.

Turn 3. Rhoadies spring the attack, with seven total Actions of Fire, the best I can do. They roll 3 Hits, about average, no complaints but a second Hit on G6 would have been nice!  Then they would have to Rally to Act.

Turn 3 Gs. G6 rolls a '6' and Disengages, moving 2 Hexes away from F-H. G5 rolls Defensive but +1 for Leader so Aggressive Posture, moves into Hut vacated by G6 and Fires twice. G7 rolls Defensive Posture and Fires at H Squad. G8 rolls Aggressive and closes in on H Squad. No worries - just a few guerillas...

I was pretty fortunate that G6 with the RPG and best Firepower Disengaged! Damage assessment at Turn 3 is below, 3-1 in favor of Rs.

Turn 4. Team G8 rolls Aggressive Posture and melees H Squad, outrolling them 8-1 and wiping them out! Small consolation that G5 rolled to Disengage and G6 to remain Defensive.

Guerilla casualties: 5, 7 and 8 are all Reduced and must Rally to Act.

But... it doesn't matter since F & G Squads are unable to clear the village.

"Game over, Man! Game over!!"

What a mess...

That was a bit unlucky and a bit badly thought out. I should have Fired at G8. I decided to see what would have happened had I made a better decision with the Rs, and re-played Turn 4.

Above, G5 Rallies, rolls Disengage but changed to Aggressive Posture with Leader. Advances a hex and Fires at H. Below, G7 Rallies and rolls Defensive Posture, also Fires at H Squad.

G8 Rallies, advances and Melees weakened H Squad, out rolls them again, wiping them out.

G6 fails to Rally.

Turn 5. Rs win IN, F Fires and wipes out G8. G squad Melees G7 and wins by a measly point, wipes them out. Still, doesn't look good...

Turn 5 Gs. G5 Rallies, rolls Aggressive Posture, Melees G Squad, defeats them 8-5. Ugh! G6 fails to Rally.

Turn 6, Gs win IN. G5 Rallies and Fires. G6 again fails to Rally.

Turn 6 Rs. F Squad destroys G5 with Fire...

Turn 7, Gs win IN. 

 

G6 Rolls Aggressive Posture, Misses with Fire.

Turn 7 Rs. F Squad Fires and wipes out G6 - Hoorah! Oh but wait, they can't move into the village and they lose again...

So... the attack from NW with flanking force looks good on paper, but I can't seem to make it work.

Verdict: Not recommended.

Took 46 minutes of play time with taking pics.  So likely 35 min.  Altho I wiped out the Guerillas, I forgot I also had to occupy a building to win.  Also, it takes a long time to cross the river and enter the town, 2-3 turns due to the max 3 APs spent moving.

Time for a new plan!

Plan 4: INFIL from East Central again but mass through K4, then come down the road in force. This allowed for a concentration of firepower with the Action Point mechanic and friendlies don't block LoF / LoS [one may agree or disagree].

In the first play-thru, I easily wiped out security team G8 and advanced down the road. Guerilla 5 and 6 rolled Aggressive and clustered together to fight me.

G7 decided "discretion is the better part of valor" and Disengaged. And pretty much kept moving in that direction.

By Turn 7, I was still fighting G6 plus leader and RPG, and hadn't made it out of the roadway. Both sides were bloody, and this was not recommended COA!

The results. I took a lot of Hits coming down the road, 7 out of 12. Altho I inflicted 10 Hits on 15, that is not enough to destroy the enemy and occupy the village.

This was a quick disaster, 15-20 minute to a bad loss. Altho the Rhoadies concentrated enough Fire to quickly destroy the security Team G8, the terrain slowed and restricted them. This gave the Gs a concentration of Firepower as well. This failed a second time, without making much of a dent in the town.

Verdict: Not recommended.

Plan 5. Enter South - East and engage on Turn 2 with a base of fire in H7 / H8, and an assault force crossing the bridge at G9.

Turn 1 Rs enter and assume attack positions. Gs get no reaction rolls... all is quiet!

Turn 2 Rs move up and open Fire, order H, G, then F Squad [who manage a Hit]. Above average rolling results in several Hits.

Turn 2 Gs. Security Team G8 and Squad G5 roll Defensive Posture and achieve little. G6 and 7 roll Aggressive and return Fire.

Turn 3, Rs win IN and blow away G6 and 7! F is on the edge of town.

Turn 3 Gs roll to be on the Defensive, but Fire back.

Turn 4 Gs win IN. Team 8 fails to Rally [they had a Hit so were Reduced]. G5 rolls Defensive Posture again and Fires, holding position.

All Rhoadie Squads close in, using Action Points to Move and Fire, while F throws Grenades and gets a Hit then dodges to West in case G5 Disengages.

Turn 5 Rs win IN. They advance into the village, Firing.

Turn 5 G8 fails to Rally. G5 Rallies and Fires.

Turn 6, Gs win IN. G5 rolls Aggressive Posture and melees H Squad but loses badly with a difference of 3-8 on the rolls!

Turn 7, Gs win IN but G8 fails to Rally and is wiped out by Fire from H Squad.

This worked really well overall, and I was able to use Range and the Bridge to bring plenty of Firepower to bear while also closing in easily - but not getting too close!

I got a bit lucky with my initial round of Fire on Turn 2, so decided to play again. This time I shot the Gs out of the village and chased down the G6t which had Disengaged twice [two 6s in a row]. Just in case he changed his mind and returned, he wouldn't be able to be within 2 hexes of the village without winning a melee.

This was my most decisive win. Altho both INFILS from SE won, I wiped out the Gs with only 2 Hits the last time around.

"Forward Together" is a deceptive little game.  The mechanics are nuanced but pretty simple to any board gamer with a few systems under their belt.  But they give the Gs a fair amount of latitude to engage you, so you need to plan carefully as you rarely outnumber them. A mistake or two, or a few lucky shots by them, and you could easily have half your force needing to Rally before Activating, and you can't afford that!

These mechanics would make a great 'Bot for a number of situations where quality v. quantity is part of the equation. Altho the three games in the series are all asymetric conflict [Rhodesia, French Vietnam, Contras] it would work just fine for any modern era conflict that has a mix of Firepower and close combat.  Really,  there's always a place where one side has some weak forces, perhaps green, perhaps worn-out veterans.

To summarize, I think this game has great replay value and several mechanics worth stealing and importing into other games.  The footprint is small enough to fit on my dresser so it has been set up continuously for several days. I have been squeaking in a game here and there, trying various plans or tweaking scenarios. My favorite tweak so far is to insert a couple of "?" Markers in likely places for the Guerillas to have forces.

Post your comments on Mission #5 or the game in general!

"Forward Together" by Art of Wargames: Review, AAR

Going solo has never been more enjoyable!

BLUF: Highly recommended - buy it!  

* Whether alone as $20 as a perfect-bound game book, or $40 with two additional games in the omnibus edition, you will get many hours of gaming with the original 12 scenarios [+20 with the two additional games].

* The rules are straightforward and enable nuanced tactical choices.

* The mechanics work and are familiar ones. Periodically the Bot opponent will roll an aggressive and successful attack - this keeps each mission [or replay] a tense challenge that often comes down to the last couple of die rolls.

* Game is well supported at Boardgame Geek.  

 

Format. Module 1 of the "Men of War" Solitaire Tactical Book Wargame System takes the player to Rhodesia with “Forward Together: Rhodesian Bush War”, and it’s a bush war worth reading about. For most Americans, it is likely new ground and an opportunity to learn interesting history. As a solitaire game, you can play against the Bot Mechanics that guide the guerillas, or include a friend in one of the larger scenarios – this will help you fail to coordinate and lose to the Bot with elan! 😊 It should be noted that you will - at least - have to cut the counters apart and cut the maps and play sheets from the book.  I chose to laminate mine.

Historical "Feel". Good tactical feel at the level of a platoon leader [PL]. No excessive detail or demanding mechanics; think Squad Leader nuance with simpler rules. As a PL, you manage about 2-5 Rhodesian squads, plus a few support weapons, grenades, maybe a claymore mine. Emphasis is on infantry tactical problems and how to solve them.

Nuanced...  The Action Point system gives you lots of tactical options, and forces you to stage an attack carefully; you want as many units on hand to initiate the series of attacks before the bot can start reacting. Usually you’ll stage your platoon just out of Guerilla LoS / Range, then spend Action Points moving into Range and conducting a series of attacks.  As they are sequential, you can advance units that have AP left if the defenders are eliminated, just like a supported attack in real life. A grenade attack doesn't count as a Fire attack - it's a different capability, not just an enhancement to Firepower. So when to Fire and when to use Grenades – or set off claymore mines - are player decisions that depends on circumstances. Grenade attacks are expended and limited to 2-3 per scenario, so you have to consider it carefully.

I feel like DerTroof's comments on the mechanics at BoardGameGeek is *largely* correct. The rules could be explained a bit more simply with less words and some more clarifications. Still, I haven't run into anything that breaks them or inhibits enjoyable play, and usually one interpretation over another doesn't matter as long as one applies it consistently.  Mostly, I've been clarifying the rules to make sure I'm not messing them up! Designer / Publisher Joe Fernandez has been responsive with answers and supports his games.

Regarding bot Units, I think DerTroof misses a key rule in the "Posture" section: "Bot behavior should follow general scenario settings. When in doubt, use a common-sense approach and play the bot to the best of your abilities, following enemy posture procedures."  

SO, if you find that your bot units are sitting ducks, or that you are winning too easily, you aren't playing them “to the best of your ability.” The Bot system uses dice rolls but executing the Posture should be pretty clear – you can roll-off between two equal courses of action.

For example, if you roll "Offensive" for a unit's Posture, it *could* advance out of cover against a Rhodesian unit nearby.  But if it is defending a village and getting a Cover bonus from enemy Fire, that would be stupid. So, in Mission #5 "Village Vacation", I judged that they would stay in Cover and Fire. If I moved a unit adjacent, I might advance the bot unit a hex into melee if it rolled an Offensive Posture.

Later - same scenario - I dared to approach the far side of the village after whittling down the defense. There was a unit that had "Disengaged" and moved out of the village, but I had to finish driving it off. I failed to kill it with Fire. On its turn the unit rolled "Offensive" for its posture, advanced into my hex, melee'd my unit, and won, wiping out my best unit, only leader and capturing my LMG. Needless to say, I lost!

Missions. All the scenarios sound interesting and there’s a variety of bush-war problems, not just typical "attack and take the hill" stuff. They include: clearing a road / bridge / village or infiltration route; attacking a guerilla staging area [across the border!]; killing a high-value target [with SAS!]; protecting a farm compound; rescuing hostages; rescuing an encircled patrol; and a larger multi-column attack on a major guerilla center near the border [including a paradrop].

Replay value. The dice mechanics mean that - generally - you know what is likely to happen, but of course sometimes it doesn't.  They permit you to completely miss with no effect, so theoretically you could have a lot of misses with a base 30-40% chance of a Hit with most units, dropping to 10-20% when reduced. Also, the bots have three possible actions in response to sighting Rhodesians: Defensive, Offensive, and Disengage. "Offensive" requires some sensible interpretation in the Mission's context, and can produce challenges - but obvious - results for the player! 

This is a really enjoyable game that has already proven to me that it has tons of replay value. I'm a very experienced gamer with 45 years of tabletop experience, started with Panzer Leader and Squad Leader in the 1980s. This game is like playing a small, interesting SL scenario with only a fraction of the rules overhead [and page flipping]. There are usually 2-3 obvious options for the player [as Rhodesians] to tackle the mission, and you’ll want to try them all. I've played four of the scenarios 3 times each, and every play was interesting and produced a great narrative, also. 

It is also very easy to make the mission more difficult once you feel like you’ve got it figured out – adding guerilla units or changing their start position are the most obvious ones. The game also has a “?” Marker that represents a likely but not known enemy force that varies from nothing to a full squad and a leader. Adding a “?” or two on the board is a fun challenge. 

Good Support for all the "Men of War" games is available at the publisher's BoardGameGeek.com page [click]. This includes additional files for printing. Great "unboxing" video here [click]. Great play-thru video, only 20 minutes [click]. I have found Joe to be quite responsive answering questions. 

This is a no-brainer to purchase if you want what it does - tactical infantry combat, solo against a bot, with play time around 30 minutes, low rules overhead.

How to get it

The game is available from Amazon in two formats:

1) alone in perfect binding for $20 [CLICK] or,

2) in an omnibus with "Indochina 1946-54" and "Nicaragua 1979-1990" the other two games in the series for $40 [CLICK]. 

The omnibus saves you $20 over buying any two of the games. "Indochina: the French Foreign Legion" doesn't seem to be available presently, so the omnibus may be the only way to get that game.  None of these three are available at WargameVault.com [click] another place where Art of Wargames is a seller. 

I'd recommend spending the $20 more to get the omnibus edition instead of just the one game for $20. You can use the additional maps and counters for your own missions, as well borrow scenario ideas from the other games: 12 maps and 30 scenarios is a lot of gaming for $40!

 

FINAL RATING

Historical Milieu - 10/10 for interesting trip to Rhodesia, a lesser-known conflict.

Presentation - 8/10 for book format, maps, counters, organization, graphics. 

- counters are a bit crowded with data, perfect binding requires a bunch of page flipping, spiral binding would make it easier to handle.

Mechanics - 7/10. Could use some trimming and clarifying in the wordage. However, the occasional error doesn’t detract from play enjoyment.

Historical "Feel" -  9/10. The units and mechanics make you feel like you're a platoon leader making the necessary decisions: who has which weapons, avenue of approach, order of attack, adjusting to the enemy, etc.  The sergeants [game mechanics] "make it so". The Action Point system allows you to "manage" resources but the dice prevent predictable results.

Resource Demands – 10/10. This game needs no more than a 3’x2’ space, a typical kitchen table. Typical scenario is about 15-30 minutes. There are larger scenarios.

Value - 10/10 for amount of play v. price. There's 20+ hours of tactical interest in this one game easily, playing each scenario 2-4 times. 

Aggregate: 9 / 10

 *     *     *     *     BREAK     *     *     *     *

But what's it like to play the game?  

There's a few options on how to lay it out, use marker counters, use a Mission Sheet, etc.  I chose to use the Sheet and not many marker counters since the game is so manageable.  I usually tilt the counters after I activate a unit in a hex game, this is more than enough for me to remember [usually...!].

I picked Mission #4 "To the Bridge" as it is a typical size and had already played it a couple times.  Basically, the Rhodesian force is rushing to clear what is likely a "toll booth" being run by the Guerillas at a bridge. They occupy both sides and must be driven away.  You have the choice of avenue of attack, just has to be from the North board edge. Below is what you look at in the book:

I put the Rhodesian Light Infantry on the Mission Sheet, you can see how I organized and equipped my squads. A = Fire Support, B [my unlucky unit...get wasted every mission it seems] = Maneuver Support, C = Main Assault Element, so they got two Grenades and the Leader.

Guerillas get two Teams, 6-7 [6-7!!] one has Grenades, one has Leader. They also have a "?" Marker which could be anything from nothing to a Squad + Leader. Teams are smaller than the squads, and have 3 Hits [the +] not 4, so I shade one out on each ID line. 

note: the "RC" means "Rally Check", to remind you that with 2 Hits remaining all Units must roll the bottom right white number or lower on the counter to Activate at all - otherwise they are "pinned" and don't act. For the G-Teams it's a 3 or less.

The first 3 Turns the Rhoadies are too far away to cause a Posture roll, i.e. reaction, from the Gs, so their avenue of approach was down row K, marked -->

As it is night, LoS / LoF is two hexes, not three, so I've staged the RLI best I can and am now ready to scout the "?" on Turn 4...

RLI got Initiative, so they have first Player Turn. I move C Squad forward a hex [1 Activation Point] and roll a '4' to scout it [1 AP], and one Guerilla Team was lurking in the woods! We are now comparable in strength and I'm attacking, so not good odds - we need a few Manly Men now!

A Squad finishes its 4AP by Firing twice and missing [2 AP]. RLI advance [keeping some standoff distance from the other G-Teams] with A Squad then Fire twice and also missing, not to be shown up by C Squad, I guess [3 AP]. 4 shots, 4 misses needing 4s & 5s! Finally, B Squad moves up [1AP] and throws Grenades [1AP] needing a '5'...

...and thankfully they get it!  G8 statistically should be wiped out with 3 Hits, but I have reduced it to 2 Hits which means it has to Rally successfully before Activating.

So, I mark a Hit on G8. It now has to RC successfully before Activating.

Guerilla Player Turn [Bot...]. G8 rolls a '5' and is pinned down. 6-7 do a 6-7 type thing and both roll an Offensive Posture. note that you roll posture and activate the unit, then repeat for the next unit, etc, you don't roll them all up front.

G7 rolled first and Activates, moving one hex forward and firing twice, getting 2 Hits needing 4s!  

G6 then also rolls "Offensive" advances a hex and Fires, getting another Hit! 

Typical, B Squad always gets hosed... 

Turn 4 ends, and I'm concerned about mission success already!   

Turn 5 RLI win Initiative, needing a 1-4; on a 5-6 the Gs act first. note that this means you could go second in one Game Turn, then win IN and go first the next GT, so effectively you can get two Player Turns in a row.

RLI need to make some progress, but the start with B Squad isn't good - fails to Activate needing a 3- [who can blame them??]. But C Squad gets 2 shots +1 shot bonus with the Leader [3AP], for 3 Hits wiping out G7! I removed the Guerilla Leader by accident [Leaders roll a d6 for every Hit their unit takes, on a '6' they get reduced, but I forgot that and killed him, he could have gone to G8...oops].

C Squad then advances into the hex with B Squad [1AP]. This way they can shoot G6 next Turn, hopefully.

A Squad advances one hex [1AP] then Fires twice [2AP] for one Hit, needing 4-.

B and C Squads Fire and miss. G6 and G8 need to roll 3- to Activate and both fail to do so, so are pinned down by RLI shooting, apparently - that's encouraging!

On to Turn 6. Ugh, Guerillas win IN!  So...they're getting a second PT in a row...

...and they again fail to activate with a '4' and '6'!

So, what are you thinking as you play this game... well, B is unlikely to do much with needing to Rally each Turn to Activate and then only having a '2' Firepower value. C Squad has two frag Grenades and 4 total Activation Points thanks to the Leader, so will have to bear the main burden. As they moved into J8 last Turn, they are in Range of G6 on the bridge. The strongest attack is a '5' with Grenades, as they have Firepower of '4'. A Squad is standing by ready to Fire at G6 or G8.

I advance A [1AP] and Fire twice at G6 [2AP] getting a Hit.

B Squad then Activates [!] and misses well enough that even if they weren't reduced they'd miss anyway... wah wah wah waaaaaah....

C Squad Fires three times [3AP] getting one Hit....

...then frags G8 [1AP] for a miss, to show those Guerillas who's the boss!

Turn 7, and I'm running out of time... I do win IN!

B Squad fails to Activate [reloading their weapons, perhaps?]...

 

...But A Squad Frags G6, and then all final Activation Points Fire at G8, wiping them out!

Whew! It was a hot night in Rhodesia.  There I was...

Damage to the Rhodesian Light Infantry:  A squad took a Hit somewhere along the line. B is my "hard-luck" squad... it somehow always ends up over 50%! They used their grenades. C squad finished with it's 1 grenade and a looted Grenade from G6, as well as their Leader, alive and well! Leader's can also go "half-strength".

I *really* like how the Mission Tracker shows you how you fared on your mission... Resources expended and casualties are all part of assessing military operations. That and achieving the objective, which they did!

The Guerillas were wiped out!  Team 6's grenades were looted by the Rhodesians, and Team 7 lost their Leader.  "Firing was heard, and we regret to report that we lost contact with Teams 6-7-8 at the bridge, Gen. Mahaffa..."

So, that's a pretty quick, straightforward scenario.  I did my INFIL on the East side of the river because I wanted to reveal the "?" first, and hopefully wipe it out with overwhelming firepower [which turned out to be underwhelming...but it was night, right??].

The G-Teams responded with some accurate Fire which trashed my B Squad.

Then, I got Hits on the remaining G-Teams and they had Activation troubles [i.e. pinned down], and I was able to sequentially wipe them out with one Turn remaining.  Had they been Squads, I may not have won [but it is worth playing again to see what that would be like!].

There's a lot more to it, with claymores, radios, supporting Fire [arty, planes], different Rhoadie units including Selous Scouts, Greys Cavalry, and SAS.  But you can see the decisions that need to be made and their sequence of events. Overall, I feel I played this well, just one error with the Guerilla Leader that wouldn't have mattered as they still would have failed to Rally on a '6' and the attack went smoothly.  And it should have - I got crushed the first time I played it, was overconfident and the "?" turned out to be a G-squad with a Leader!  So "lesson learned" and I went to the unknown factor first.

I also played this with a couple more "?" about halfway up the board, that was a very interesting scenario. I got engaged with a Team and a Squad [pickets?] and then the bridge force started to advance on me, and I wasn't able to get to the bridge at all. Lots more variations to try out...

I will post more on these games in the future, so stay tuned!