09 June 2013

Andreivian Forces Made Easy


Setting up Andreivian forces for AoF can be dead easy.

Suppose your 20mm collection totals a dozen WW2 Soviet infantry, a T34/85 and a Landrover.  Sounds to me like you have the makings of a nice little Andreivian militia force.

An Andreivian force yesterday
There's precedent from the Tuzkhur Valley game for the Andreivian paramilitary force, the Gendarmerie, being in WW2 Soviet uniforms.  We also know that some Gendarmerie units ended up defecting on masse to particular factions.  The T-34 is an obvious AFV for a second-line force like the Gendarmerie and the Landrover can be justified by the Andreivians' history of flexibility in military procurement.

Do we have a couple of figures that look like leaders?  A guy with a pistol or SMG would be good, especially if he's waving or pointing.  Assuming we do then we're pretty much there.  We end up with some thing like this:

Gendarmerie squad (Tac 7)
Squad Leader SMG 6(L)
Gunner Clip-fed LMG 7
Loader Bolt-action rifle 7
6x Gendarmes Bolt-action rifles 7

Speed-painted Soviets masquerading as Andreivian Gendarmerie
Recce team (Tac 6)
Team leader SMG 6(L)
3x Scouts Bolt-action rifles 7
    Landrover

The Recce Team - Landrover straight from the toy box


T-34/85 (Tac 7)
 with four crew (Morale 6)

A barely-painted T-34/85
Seven seems a reasonable Tac score for these guys as they aren't front line soldiers.  The recon guys are slightly better (recon types always think of themselves as elite).  Again 6 or 7 seems about right for morale too.  I've given the leaders better morale because I see these troops as reliant on a few experienced men to keep them performing at their best.

All of these need to be tidied up a bit but I think they illustrate how easy it can be to put a useable force together.  If I were to spend some more and time and effort on these guys I might see if I could find an HMG or perhaps an RCL to give the recce team some more firepower. 

Optional rules for Tcherbevan

I've put together the following list of the optional rules in Arc of Fire that I'd suggest using (or not using) for the game at Crisis Point 2014.  Comments welcome.



Page
Rule
Use?
Notes
4
Excellent leaders
y
But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
5
Heroes and unit integrity
n
Not inclined to use Heroes
12
Direction of fire
y
No reason not to
12
Special camouflage
y
But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
14
Moving dismount
y
If anyone’s daft enough to use it
14
Jumping horses
y
If anyone’s daft enough to use it
18
Gunnery skill
y
But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
18
Tightly packed infantry targets
y
Easy enough to implement
20
Extremes
y
Easy enough to implement
24
Multiple vehicles in close attacks
y
Easy enough to implement
24
Special close combat weapons
y
But restricted to units approved by umpires and listed in unit stats
25
Snipers vs fortifications
n
Too powerful
25
Jamming
n
Slows down the game too much
25
Horrific KIA
n
Slows down the game too much
25
High ROF belt-fed LMGs
n
Inclined to leave it out and say no-one has enough ammo
25
Detailed infantry wound and KIA
n
Slows down the game too much
26
Canister Ammo
n
Simpler to leave it out
31
Light and medium mortar rate of fire
n
Inclined to leave it out and say no-one has enough ammo
32
Blind fire
y
Easy enough to implement
32
HE overhead fire
n
Simpler to leave it out
34
Ripple effect
n
Want to avoid the risk of players losing their force due to an unlucky series of die rolls
34
Destroyed unit retreat
n
Simpler to leave it out
35
Reorganisation of leaderless units
y
Allows people to keep playing a force that’s been unfortunate with Leader casualties
35
Hero and Panic
n
Simpler to leave it out
35
Heroes as Leaders
n
Not using Heroes
36
Entry and exit from buildings
y
Would have needed a house rule for this anyway
36
Fire from buildings
y
Would have needed a house rule for this anyway
36
Camouflaged field defences
n
Simpler to leave it out
47
Random Events
y
Best rule in the book!