Category: Games

A first flight for the Assault Barges was always going to be on the cards.  From the point of starting to construct them, the project was destined to trigger an increased desire to play Steam Wars and get a few of my Naval Marines on the table.

The scene was set for the Navy to come up against one of Coronasan’s armies over the green hills and lush grass of an alternate Steampunk Earth.

The Mission was to get to the objective within 6 turns and what better way than to fly there, laden down with tough US Navy Crewmen and Marines.

Supported by a scout car and a pair of Gyrocopters it would be hard to slow their advance, or so I thought…

The objective was the fields behind the farmhouses at the other end of the table.

The people trying to stop me however, were actually not people at all. Coronasan took this opportunity to bring out his Mechanica Army for the first time and show off their true might.  The force was made up of all manner of robotic and mechanical marvels.  All led by a man in a flying iron suit and a mad scientist with accompanying hunched lackey.

All they had to do was hold the farm houses and stop my foot soldiers from getting boots on the ground behind the buildings.  As my forces advanced slowly into the fields in front of the houses, the Mechanica troops fanned out, ready to start taking shots at the Skyships.

It wasn’t long before their fire had caused enough damage to force me into disembarking my marines from the first Assault Barge.  She had taken almost all she could and I did not want her going down with all hands still onboard.

The second Barge was not far behind and as she unloaded her human cargo, they started the job of engaging with the strange robotic troopers.  The first casualties fell quickly and the confidence of the Naval Marines rose with such easy kills.

In a fit of overconfidence the flagship, laden with specialist assault troopers, also disembarked the majority of its forces and took out a further unit of robotic troopers.

It was at this point that the first of the assault barges, having safely delivered its charges, was finally destroyed by the Mechanica Fighter jets.

Being almost within spitting distance of the objective, confidence within the Naval force was riding high.  Then came the return fire of the robotic ground forces.  Not strong enough to destroy the well protected and dug in marines, it did however, start to have an effect.  The first line troopers in the centre became pinned and their momentum was slowed as they took cover.

In hopes of encouraging them forward the Command squad forged ahead in their skyship, planning to either draw their troopers along behind them, or take the objective themselves.

In the closing moments of the mission, as the clock was running out, a single Gyrocopter forged ahead. Unable to take the objective itself, its aim was to clear the way for the ground forces to move in.  After spending all game without a viable target, and surviving a hail of fire as it flew over the enemy forces. It unloaded its payload of bombs at the robots defending the objective…  And missed…

Needless to say, the Assault troopers were still stalled, just too far from the objective to make a difference.  Marine troopers began to fall on both flanks as the robotic forces pushed back and, in a last ditch effort, the command team rappelled down to claim the objective themselves.  The only chance the Navy had of completing their mission was to assault the robots hiding behind the last house.

And that was the moment I failed to capture on film.  Why you might ask?  To the great surprise of an exhausted audience, the robotic troopers managed not only to received their charge but managed to wipe their attackers from the face of that fair land.  Blood stained, but relatively unscathed, they had held the objective against a plucky effort to eject them.

All in all, this proved to be a great game, and a very cinematic climax to an eventful mission.  I will look forward to the next time my Barges have the opportunity to fly to war…

As if by magic, the big weekend number 2 was upon us.  Steam Wars was the planned game, and it was a game that we expected to take some time.  All the women folk were away and the curry was bubbling away on the stove.

Nothing but a cat or two would be able to distract us!

Coronasan had not been idle while I was prepping my forces.  He had been building and painting a mix of MDF buildings and sorting out a 2 foot sea section to add to his fancy new harbour boards.  In a week he had also managed to build a selection of harbour jetties and walkways that would enable my Navy to arrive in style.

My photos do not do things justice sadly but, as my first wave made landfall and the Navy fliers picked out their first targets, we were off.  The objective was for the Navy to push inland and find the ‘Secret Plans’ that the British Science Division had stashed in one of the taller buildings on the second half of the table.

I suspect that this would have made a lovely demo game for our local game show ‘Campaign’.  We might have to consider this again if we get the time and have the energy to plan it.

The Navy pushed inland and quickly found the British rushing to the towns defence.

A few easy targets were taken out by my Navy Air Corps before they tried to move further inland.

The second wave was already arriving on the next Landing Craft and it would begin to get crowded on the harbour if the navy didn’t push on into the town soon.

Both tanks and artillery were present in the second wave, along with a second HMG team in their little steam launch.

As the British formed up in the town square, their jump troopers forged ahead and prepared for an attack from the rooftops.

After making short work of one of the Biplanes, the jump troopers found their retreat to be more difficult as they became pinned down by Navy rifle fire.

All this activity and rushing about was unnoticed by the Heavy divers who continued to plod on up the stairs of the harbour. Slow and steady wins the race!

The Navy tried to push through on their right flank but found the way congested and a British steam tank did nothing to help this along.

With more reinforcements arriving it was getting quite busy on the old quayside.

More effort was made on the Navy’s left flank and at first it seemed a way through might be found.

When the roads are blocked it is sometimes best to head over the rooftops.

Especially when a giant armoured bear and a steam giant come round the corner to stand in your way.

The British deployed their own Royal Air Force as they tried to hold the centre of the town.

In the end the US Rocketmen were able to reach the target building and secure the plans.  While the remainder of the US Navy force continued to be tied up fighting in the streets.

A great game that I would happily play again although my tactics would definitely be different. The artillery units, in a raid like this, proved themselves to be more of a hinderance than a help.  Failing to supply any of the covering fire they had been tasked with.