Trying to play the Featherstone way

Last month I had a lot of success playing Stargrunt II and I think they will be a staple of my squad and platoon size games, but I am also looking for something a little more personalised.  A set of rules that will make me feel an attachment for the individual characters in the game.  To that end, I thought I would give Donald Featherstone`s Skirmish Wargaming a try.  

Donald Featherstone`s Skirmish Wargaming was first published in 1975, I do not have one of those venerable tomes, as I was only one when it was published.  Instead, I have a modern reprint from John Curry`s History of Wargaming Project.  The book contains a straightforward set of rules that are then modified to give a period feel.  At its core the rules are a percentile system with some cross referencing on various tables.  The only change that I had to make to the rules was to replace the written orders with alternate activation for movement.  The change was necessitated because I primary play solo and the thought of writing orders for two different sides didn`t fill me with joy.

Scenario

The 2008 reprint includes both a fantasy and SCI-FI scenario, something that was not in the original book.  As the Cantwara sector is firmly rooted in the SCI-FI genre I thought that I would try the Mining Station Sigma 9 scenario.  In this scenario, the starship Hibernia has been shot down and the surviving crew and passengers must search the mining station for a radio to call for help before they are overrun by the resident aliens.

Table layout

The scenario as written in the book required a more moon like table layout, but I don`t really have any of that sort of terrain, so I have made some adjustments to utilise the pieces that I have.

Deployment

To determine the landing sites of the passengers and crew of the Hibernia I decided to turn to Donald Featherstone`s mechanism for parachute drops from his book Airborne Operations.  I took twelve small, numbered pieces of paper put them in a box and scattered them over the board.

Game narrative

After the impact of the landing the crew of the Hibernia soon released themselves from their pods and headed towards the mining outpost.

As the crew searched the buildings ominous sounds were carried on the wind and it wasn`t long before large shapes burst out of the undergrowth.  Captain Haggerstrand saw the creatures first.  Shouting a word of warning he opened fired with his laser pistol.  The superheated ray burning holes in the creatures as they approached.

The captain`s warning came too late for senior administrator George Long.  He ran as fast as he could, his breath coming in deep pants, but the creatures were just too fast.

The crew scrambled around the outpost looking for anything to defend themselves with and the radio that could lead to their salvation as the number of aliens increased.  Isolated acts of bravery helped to buy time for the rest of the crew to send out the distress call.

The droid CM2-CGN blocked the path of a group of aliens his old joints creaking as he moved forward.  He tried to fend off two of the creatures with his ungainly limbs, but his chassis was not designed for hand-to-hand combat.  The aliens tore him apart.

Miss Smith the accountant realised that she couldn`t outrun the group of creatures that was chasing her, so she turned to face the creatures.  Like a Valkyrie she fought the creatures and managed to hold them off for a short while before they ripped her apart.

Chief Engineer Smith smashed the skull of an alien with her wrench and forced her way into the shack.  Inside she found the radio set and quickly sent out a distress signal.  Would the passengers and crew be able to hold out until the rescuers arrived?

The alien numbers just kept on increasing as the stranded survivors looked to the sky for salvation. A distant sound of engines coming to their ears.

Engineer 1^st class Fletcher, and CM2-CDN scrambled into a security van.  Inside they found two laser rifles still intact.  The pair opened fire on the aliens with their lethal weapons.  The lasers cut their way through the inhuman creatures.

The aliens rampaged through the outpost looking for the few survivors that were left.  Knowing that he was all that stood between the aliens and two passengers.  Lieutenant Baker stood his ground firing his laser pistol repeatedly until it finally drained its charge, and the aliens overwhelmed him. 

The laser fire coming from the security van soon attracted the attention of the aliens.  CM2-CDN and Fletcher kept up their fire as the number of alien corpses around them increased but their efforts soon drained the power packs of their rifles, and they were reduced to using them as clubs.

The roar of the gun cutter`s engines and the staccato sound of its autocannons soon scattered the aliens.  The survivors breathed a sigh of relief and turned their attention to the wounded.

Crew:

Captain Haggerstrand – Grievously injured

Lieutenant Baker – Killed

Chief Engineer Smith – Unhurt

Engineer 1^st class Fletcher – Seriously injured

Droid CM1-CPA – Destroyed

Droid CM2-CDN - Seriously damage

Droid CM2-CGN – Destroyed

Passengers:

Miss Smith, accountant – Killed

Thorne, mining engineer – Unhurt

Valentine, miner – Grievously injured

Mr. George Long, senior administrator – Killed

Mrs. Long, wife and secretary of George Long – Unhurt

Final thoughts

I really enjoyed the game; the rules themselves are quite straightforward but there were some gaps in the rules that need to be filled in.  I found that it was very hard to kill people in the rules.  I think the highest chance of a kill was 8%, which seemed a little low when someone was surrounded by six enemies and seriously injured.  I may try some other percentile rule systems, perhaps Laserburn or Inquisitor before I fiddle too much with Donald Featherstone`s rules.  I will definitely play them again as they are a solid set of rules that only need a few tweaks.

 

Testing a set of rules

The search for the right set of rules seems to be the quest that obsesses most war gamers, I am no exception.  There is a plethora of excellent games out there some of which are burning brightly with popularity and others that have fallen to the wayside.  In my search for the `right` rules, those that scratch the itch that I have, I thought I would turn to an older set that have sat on my shelf for about twenty years without being played.  So, I would like to present the excellent Stargrunt II rules.

Stargrunt II is a set of rules that is published by Ground Zero games and are available as a free download.  The layout and organisation of the rules does show its age, but if you can work your way through these issues the game inside is excellent.  The mechanisms may seem a bit denser than more modern skirmish games, but I managed to internalise them in one game.  The standout element for me is fire combat, perhaps not as destructive as people like nowadays, but it gives the right feel of combat in the not-so-distant future.

Scenario

Stargrunt II is not designed for tournament play but is a scenario driven system.  For my first game I took inspiration from Mike Brown's scenario cards, that can be found on https://www.stargrunt.ca/, these cards allow you to setup a game relatively quickly.

Mission briefing - Turner`s Mining Syndicate

A group of independent miners have set up a camp on a company plot.  One squad of security troopers are to move the miners on from the claim.  Maximum destruction of the miners` property is advised.

Objective- Destroy the miners’ buildings and return with minimum losses.

Forces – One squad of security troopers split into two fireteams.

Mission briefing – The Guild of Free Miners

The Guild has identified and laid a counterclaim to a piece of disputed land that is currently held by the TMS.  Knowing that the Syndicate won`t allow the Guild to just walk in and seize the land the Guild has hired some mercenaries to patrol and protect the area.

Objective-Patrol down to the enemy baseline before returning to the mining enclave.

Forces – Two squads of guild mercenaries split into four fireteams.

I summarised the information for the game onto mission cards and unit cards these and the quickplay reference sheet were all the documents that I needed to play the game. 

Initial plans

My first playthrough of the rules was a solo affair, so to make it more interesting I randomly determined the initial battle plans for the two forces.  Both the security forces and the mercenaries looked to swing out to the flanks to reach their objectives.

Game play

The combat heated up very quickly with casualties appearing on the mercenary side as their lower quality and worse equipment made them vulnerable to the firepower of the TMS security troopers.  The firefight on the northern flank became quite protracted as two fireteams of mercenaries took on one squad of security troopers.

On the southern flank the mercenaries had more luck when they were able to kill the plasma gunner.  They then decided that engaging the security troopers in CQB was  in order.  This move was the undoing of the mercenary team as the security troopers were more than a match for them in close combat.

The melee was really the moment that turned the engagement against the mercenaries as their numerical advantage was depleted and the superior weapons and training of the security troopers started to show.  Although, the mercenaries fought on for several more turns the game was a foregone conclusion.

The final positions

Thoughts on the game

I played some suboptimal turns because I wanted to try the rules out.  One group of mercenaries engaging the security troopers in close combat really wasn`t a good play, but it allowed me to see close combat in action.  I was a little to cagey with how I used the security troopers, one squad was stuck in a protracted firefight for most of the game.  I could have tried to either push into the mercenaries more or moved the other squad in support.  All that being said the game went well, and it felt right.  I am looking forward to giving it another go in the New Year.

The December update for the Cantwara sector.

 

The December update

Time flies and with the festive season is upon us I almost missed the chance to update the world on what has been going on in the Cantwara sector.   Painting has been the order of the day since the last update.  I have managed to nearly complete my alien contingent, a few more purchases may have been made, which has put the end off a little, but I hope there will be no more crusties for a long time.  I have also been adding some security troopers to act as protection for the Turner`s Mining Syndicate.

Armed forces in the Cantwara sector

Crusties-  Ground Zero Games

The four squads of infantry and support weapons are complete.  I am imagining these aliens in a similar way to the great migration in Europe which forced the different peoples westward rather than an invading alien menace.

The Crusties are supported by a small contingent of Phalon marines.  I really like these older scuplts by GZG.  They are a little smaller than their more recent offerings but they have a real charm to them.

The platoon command is made up of the Xar, large imposing centaur aliens. 

Hammer`s Slammers-  Ground Zero Games

Turner`s Mining Syndicate security troopers.  

I decided that the TMS needed some military or paramilitary forces to protect their assets.  Again, the minatures that I chose have sat in my lead pile for many years and I am glad that they finally have some colour on them.  I cannot wait to see what service they give the syndiacte.

 Returning to the Cantwara sector an update

Well, it has been a month since I have last posted about my wargaming efforts.  I have been steadily painting away and purchasing a few more pieces.  Things are coming along nicely.  My purchases are a bit scatter shot as I don`t really have an end goal for my 15mm SCI-FI project.  One of the main things that spurs me on to make purchases is the fear of losing out on something.  It is a little bit of a weird mindset when I consider it, but I don`t think that I am the only wargamer who thinks in this way.

Vehicle from Ground Zero Games

The second of my GZGs truck is finished.  I was inspired by the livery of a local train, the Red Wing, where I live.  

Mine -  Ground Zero Games (I think)

The yellow mine is the last of these mine entrances that I had to paint.  I hope that the different colours will help them stand out well on the table.

Colonial settlement building -  Ground Zero Games

The final  colonial settlement building came together really well.  I have named the bar after a nightclub that I used to frequent as a younger man.  These little nods to the past really help me get invested into this fictional future.

Populating the Cantwara sector

To bring the Cantwara sector alive and to inspire some scenarios I though I had better start adding some non-combat figure to my collection.  

Civilians-  Ground Zero Games

The civilians come from GZG ranges and they will represent people working for Turner`s Mining Syndicate or the TMS.  The paint scheme is inspired by my secondary school sports uniform.

Robots-  Ground Zero Games & Alternative armies

The robots come from GZG & Alternative armies.  I decided to keep the paint scheme fairly simple at first, but I found that leaving them all metal didn`t work for me.  Hence the splash of colour.  

Armed forces in the Cantwara sector

I have two platoons of human forces that I have already painted.  One force of regulars and one force of irregulars that I thought needed an opposing force.  This led me to finally big into my lead mountain and pull out some aliens to paint.

Crusties-  Ground Zero Games

These aliens are, for me, one of GZG`s best ranges.  They paint up really well and stand out from the human forces as they are slightly larger.  I am looking to paint a platoon of them, so around 32.  Each section will have a different colour bandolier to make them easier to recognise on the battlefield.

 

Now for something a little different

I don`t want the Cantwara sector to focus only only 15mm SCI-FI, as I still love my Old School miniatures.  So, when the urge takes me I will paint other figures that I have.  Here is one example.

Chaos Legionnaire-  Games Workshop

This classic figure has sat, unpainted, in my lead pile since I bought it in the late 80s.  I am glad that he is finally ready to grace the tabletop.