The blip system has been a source of endless amusement. The rules for Redoubt allow for a number of blips to be placed in each scenario, representing one or more figures. The number written on the blip counter may correspond with a group number, kept secret by the controlling player. If two blip counters come within 12" and line of sight of each other, both blip counters are identified. Blip counters may also be identified by long-range scanning if a unit is so equipped, or by reconnaissance by fire if the unit isn't afraid of revealing itself. It turns into a back-and-forth of deception, placement of dug-in or EW counters beside blips that represent nothing to give the impression of a strongpoint, and "Congratulations, blip #3 was a jackalope".
For today's scenario, local HUMINT sources indicated that a Wreaker warlord on the UCS' Deck of 52 may be present in the vicinity of Goshen, Sykes County. A pink team (two gunships, one scout with dismounts) from C/2/17 Cav, operating out of Duncan Canyon, was dispatched to the area to aid local forces in killing or capturing the warlord.
For game purposes, each time a Wreaker figure is killed in action or captured, a D10 was rolled. On a roll of 10, the figure in question is the warlord and the UCS wins the game. Figures that are killed by weapons that cause instant death with no save (i.e., autocannons, missiles, recoilless rifles, etc.) are not rolled for - the warlord can't practically be identified if he's been splattered over half the county!
Forces began the game in diagonal corners. We've played several games using my new set of modular board tiles, but this is the first time photos of this setup have been posted online.
A field observation team comprising a forward observer and designated marksman had been inserted into Goshen the previous day, and confirmed that the town was secure. They now took up positions on a hill southeast of the town. As the pink team approached Goshen, the two Arapaho gunships held back. They were available to provide fire support, but were hamstrung by the requirement to identify the warlord's body, and essentially unable to use their LAGM laser-guided missiles. Instead, the Pueblo scout inserted its two aero riflemen inside the town of Goshen, near a pair of local militiamen. Only two militiamen showed up...either their comrades were occupied elsewhere, or their numbers had been exaggerated to receive more UCS materiel...but that was a matter for another day.
UCS (8 blips)
Aero Rifle Team
- Aero Rifleman (TQ 1, Bullpup Assault Rifle, Pistol)
- Aero Rifleman (TQ 1, Bullpup Assault Rifle, Pistol)
Field Observation Team
- Forward Artillery/Air Observer (TQ 1, Bullpup Assault Rifle, Pistol, Laser Designator)
- Designated Marksman (TQ 1, DMR)
Sykes County Militia
- Organized Militiaman (TQ 1, Assault Rifle, Pistol)
- Organized Militiamen (TQ 1, Assault Rifle, Pistol)
Wreakers (8 blips)
Shoshone Department of State Special Actions Unit Advisory Team
- SDS Team Leader (TQ 3, Subcompact Weapon, Pistol)
- SDS Operator (TQ 2, Assault Rifle, Pistol)
Wreakers
- Wreaker Team Leader (TQ 2, Assault Rifle)
- Wreaker Rifleman (TQ 1, Assault Rifle)
- Wreaker AT Rifleman (TQ 1, Anti-materiel Rifle, Pistol)
- Wreaker Recruit (TQ -1, Assault Rifle)
The game started with eight blips on each side, the UCS in the southwest corner and the Wreakers in the northeast. We maneuvered our blips around, trying to get an advantage or force an error by our opponent.
The aero rifle team was the first to inadvertently reveal itself...
...followed by the lone Wreaker recruit standing atop a hill.
The pair of SDS men, who had been advising the Wreakers, were spotted far to the east.
After electing to reveal itself via some productive reconnaissance by fire that confirmed the presence of wreakers in the extreme northeast of the board, the forward observation team had a rather productive next activation. The air/artillery observer managed to hit the Wreaker recruit, near the edge of the effective range of his M221 bullpup assault rifle. While the M221 is outstanding in close, its performance beyond 150m leaves much to be desired.
The team's designated marksman fired on the Wreaker holding the .50 anti-materiel rifle, missing but inflicting two points of suppression. That .50 is the most dangerous weapon on the board - what it lacks in rate of fire it more than makes up for in lethality. It is an instant kill on personnel. About this time, the A/A observer radios the pink team's Pueblo for a strafing run.
Meanwhile, the aero rifle team has maneuvered to the north and found cover, shadowed by the pair of militiamen. A pair of Wreakers in full gear are pushing up behind the rocky hill to flank the cavalrymen.
The aero riflemen fire on the SDS men as they check the Wreaker casualty up on the hill, inflicting a casualty and two points of suppression...
...and one of the riflemen is killed by the Wreaker with the anti-materiel rifle.
The OVX-3B Pueblo screams in at low altitude and strafes the offending Wreaker with its minigun, while the left-seat observer fires his light machine gun out the open cockpit door. The Wreaker is hit and goes down.
While under fire, the SDS SAU operators reach and assess the Wreaker recruit, finding him to be seriously wounded but alive. The SDS SAU men receive some suppression from the aero rifleman.
The Pueblo strafes the pair of Wreakers on the north side of the board, but return fire hits its observer and the pilot elects to withdraw. The surviving aero rifleman will need a ride home, after all. At this point, one of the Wreakers gets to the anti-materiel gunner's position to assess him. Unfortunately for the UCS, he is only lightly wounded and is still in the fight.
In the defining moment of the game, the surviving aero rifleman links up with the Sykes County militiamen and leads an assault on the Wreaker position on the hill. Both Wreakers become casualties, and miraculously the assault team receives only suppression effects. CQB in Redoubt is designed to be lethal, with a simultaneously-resolved exchange of fire. Fortunately, the heavy, unwieldy anti-materiel rifle isn't much use in CQB, forcing its wielder to use his pistol instead.
After this assault, the Wreaker who had remained behind the rocky hill strikes the assault team from behind. Fire is exchanged, but neither side receives anything more than suppression. The assault team exhausts all of its rifle ammunition in this engagement, and is down to pistols only.
At this point, all Wreaker figures are either casualties or have accrued a significant quantity of suppression points. Either way, they won't be moving for a while...we decided to call the game at this point, and rolled a D10 for each Wreaker to see which one was the warlord.
Disappointingly but not so improbably, none of them was! We figured he must have heard the fanjets and gone to ground, leaving the small squad he had in Goshen to be shot to pieces by the UCS.
I credit the UCS' superior performance in this game to their more effective massing of forces, and use of pairs. As in real-world small unit tactics, Redoubt rewards the use of buddy teams. Many times in this ruleset, "casualties" are psychological in nature and can quickly be brought back into the fight by a battle buddy. Isolated figures will quickly be suppressed and captured. Use of single figures usually only makes sense when engaging armored vehicles, where a miss usually means that a figure will be killed outright by an autocannon or linear accelerator. The fanjet strafing run was helpful, but not necessarily decisive. None of the casualties it inflicted were too serious, but it did keep the Wreakers occupied and save some UCS rifle ammunition.
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