Good Games for Busy Gamers 2

Next up is one of my all time favorites for easy session gaming.  The simple Axis & Allies minis game.  Along with War at Sea (another game I really love), they make for some very fun sessions without much work.
Of course, they come pre-painted and look fairly good, so that is a huge plus for busy guys, right from the start.  But the one thing I really like about the game is that it allows me to play a lot of variety that I would not be able to afford to do otherwise.  I don't know about you, but I get tired of playing 1944 all the time.  In this game you can throw up some pretty obscure times and places with little effort and low cost.  Sure, I'd love to have units of every year and theater in some line of minis like Flames of War, but it isn't going to happen on my budget.  Bang for the buck, you get a lot of fun out of this game.
But to get the most out of AA I recommend doing two things.
1.  I really recommend getting a hex mat and playing in 3D terrain.  The one big negative to the vanilla game is the 2D maps.  Just doesn't do it for me!  Now in a pinch, if traveling light, they can be ok, but normally I need some good looking table in front of me.
2.  Use hidden units and dummies.  For simple no-record keeping FOW, we simply put the unit cards down on the table and cover them with another card until they are spotted.  Along with a few dummies, this makes the game a real blast and takes advantage of the great recon units and their abilities in this games system.  This simple technique makes a good game great.
Here are some pics from a couple of recent North Africa games we did.  My friend Jil (Herrodadog) threw down some 1:600 scale terrain he uses for other games on a 4" hex mat and off we went.  This is our typical type of set up for this game.

George was playing the Germans and had to get across the map and escape.  He gets points for anything he kills as well as anything that gets away.  Jil was the Brits and had a couple of slow but very menacing Matildas which do a great job of controlling whatever area of the battlefield they happen to be on.

We were playing late N. Africa and for simplicity we allow any units you like as long as they fall into that year's availability.  So sometimes we get some strange appearances like that Brumbarr which actually wouldn't be here.  I also believe it came out too late in the year for even a theoretical appearance, but what the heck.  George likes his Brummies!

George's recon keeps dancing around and spotting Jil's positions so he can decide upon his strategy.  Recon units are had to catch, but if you do they are in trouble!

Here is Jil's Humber recon getting caught!

Oops, looks like a Mattie just caught that SDKFZ as well!

The Brummie lurking on the outskirts with a burning PZ I in the background.

A fast moving PZ II has encircled the British position but can only watch from a distance as the Matildas own the roads.

George took a big risk using the PZ III to decoy while his other units get away.

A kubelwagen that got caught by the RAF.

Speaking of the RAF, here is that pesky pilot again, but this time he is going after some of my infantry in another game we played right afterwards.  George played the same British force that Jil played previously, and I brought a new German late N. Africa force.  Final days of the African campaign.

For fun I invested most of my points in a early Tiger that actually was present historically.  Looks like the Matildas won't be total Queens for this match.  I would have liked to see the look on the Matilda's crews face when they came over that rise!

That darned RAF maniac is at it again.

I love the look of the Matildas and they are fun early war tanks because everything else sucked so bad.

Good Games for Busy Gamers

I'm not dead, but pretty darned close to it!  I haven't posted since early September because I had a change in jobs and have been on a schedule from hell.  But rest assured I still get my gaming in.  Being on the ropes like this, I have been playing a lot of games that fall into the easy on the brain category.  Here is some of the stuff that I have found to be easy to play, but still a lot of fun.

First up is a game that my friend Chris has turned us on to.  It is called Crossfire, and is basically an infantry tactical game with no measuring and simple straightforward mechanics.  There are rules for vehicles and artillery etc.., but the game is all about infantry and their lot in life.  You can use any scale or basing of minis and jump right in, and it plays quite fast.  You can relax, play multiple games in an afternoon, and get some pretty interesting situations to ponder over.  I like it!

Your units operate in platoons made up of several squads plus leaders and attachments.  Here are a couple of platoons of my Russkies wading through a field under fire.

You move from terrain feature to terrain feature and enemy actions are triggered by line of sight.  This means no tape measure squabbling and quick movements about the table.

Initiative passes back and forth as units engage in combat and successfully or unsuccessfully hit each other, or become pinned, suppressed etc..  Both players will have dice in their hands most of the time and be in the thick of the action with not much waiting around for the other guy.  Pretty cool game!

Darth Maul Returns - Episode 5

Here's the latest episode of my Son's Darth Maul campaign for those of you who have been following Maul's adventures.  I'm way behind on posting due to work but will keep this thing going until Maul either bites the dust or takes over the galaxy.  So far he's had a hell of a ride since coming out of retirement.

The Geonosian made a quality increase this game from Crack (9) to Elite (10).  For comparison, Bossk and Dengar are Notorious (11) and Darth Maul is a Hero (12).  The highest possible quality is Legendary (13) and that is reserved for only the truly exceptional like Yoda, Vader, and the Emporer.  That one lucky shot has made him an instant rising star in Dengar's crew. 

Darth Maul Returns - Episode 4

For the latest installment in the Darth Maul series, we opted to switch to Nick's action figures for testing the latest revision of our home brew rules.  The figures are great for these small scale skirmishes because you can get a lot of expression out of them.  All gamers should have kids so they can get away with playing with action figures!

Lazy Saturday FoW

Got some time off from work and got to play a bunch this weekend.  Most of the group was busy so us stragglers decided to play some FoW and just chill out.  Then I had a bright idea; "Hey George, let's do late 45 and Patton gets to rearm the Krauts.  I'll be the Yanks, let Dave be the Germans, and you be the Russkies".  Well, let's just say that I got what I deserved!

Some of Dave's Germans advancing on our right.

Here are some of my Shermies motoring into an ambush.

My Sherman 105 support tanks in the center.

And here's the result of my getting ambushed on the left.

While I'm getting my ass kicked, Dave's rearmed Germans are taking names on the right.

He's pushing the Russians pretty hard.

Fortunately, Russian air support was not so good!

After demolishing my easy eights, the T-34/85s went to work on my 105s. 

My infantry heads for cover and starts praying.

Dave begins to close on the objective.

This was not one of my better days.  To prove it, here is where I sent my halftracks up the middle to engage infantry in support of Dave, but forgot there was no integral crew for the 50 cals.  So I just wound up driving around and not shooting at anything!

Just as Dave got close to the objective, he discovers a couple million more T-34s hovering about.  (we ran out of tanks and had to proxy some old Valentines)

And then the final ugliness.  Dave was overwhelmed by all the Russians who had nothing better to do.