Gruntz AAR

Last Sunday we played a big game of Gruntz, two players to a side, 500 points each.  Nick, of Little Nicky's Gameroom was on one side with a new player, Kurt.  I was partnered up with the Traveller for his second game.  I brought an extra army in the hopes of sucking someone new in so Kurt was able to try out the rules.

The invaders, an alliance of Principate Rangers Nick's other dudes.

Lt Al-Tharki's APC rolled across the savanna towards a small, abandoned militia garrison.  Ten klicks out they were met by a company of mercenary Khanate dog soldiers.  Al-Tharki hated the aliens but had to admit that they could fight.  The two companies rolled forward, side by side with scouts out front.

Recon photo showing the mining camp.  Al-Tharki's APCs are just visible bottom shot.

A flashing icon in his visor indicated that the Lt had received an image from the Bn surveillance drone.

The Caliphate troops are on the left.  The Khanate Raiders are on the right.

Another image came in and Al-Tharki could see his troops approaching the complex.  The drone turned its cameras to the north in time to pick out two large forces approaching, just as it was blotted from the sky by a laser blast.

Principate Rangers on the right.  Nick's other dudes on the left.

the 47th Company and the Dogs shook out into a skirmish line.  The Dog armored car raced forwards to scout the complex while Al-Tharki's scouts and snipers moved into the compound as well.

Scouts Forward!

The Rangers debarked early.  The Others raced forward inside their APCs.  Are those tanks?  

Other APCs drop their troops at the buildings.  The tanks begin to maneuver against the Raiders on the left.

The scout car reported back locations to the Raider commander.  The Others take up firing positions in the buildings.

A gun duel developed between the Principate and Caliphate APCs with both sides shrugging off the fire.  The Rangers advanced behind the cover of their buses.

Al-Tharki's scout car took cover behind shipping containers and began to engage targets with its missiles while the rest of the company, APCs and Light Mechs settled in to shoot up the advancing Rangers.

On the left the Other tanks were beginning to take their toll.  Brewing up one of the Raider APCs and forcing the infantry out.  The Raider tank returned fire but the long range hurt both sides.

The battle settled into a stalemate with both sides trying to gain fire dominance. 

Al-Tharki's fire began to take out the Ranger APCs, forcing their infantry to advance on their own.  The smoke of burning vehicles minimized their casualties.

On the left the Raider APCs were all destroyed, forcing the Khan to call in his air support to try to redress the balance.  The Ranger infantry was wiped out in the center and right, leaving one squad cowering in cover.

Seeing his chance, Al-Tharki called in his air support, which landed a squad behind the Ranger heavy weapons base of fire.

Al-Tharki surveyed the battlefield.  He still had two squads un-engaged but had lost one, along with an APC and his scout car.  All of his vehicles and mechs were showing the scars of battle.  He had accomplished his mission.  He knew what was out here and had blunted their thrust.  It was time to withdraw so that a heavy line unit could move in and take the compound.

The Khanate commander wanted to finish the fight but knew he didn't have enough left to do it on his own.  Al-Tharki covered the Dog infantry as they loped off into the savanna.  The Rangers had been nearly wiped out and the Others were in no condition to pursue.

We doubled the ranges of all weapons, which worked really well.  Other than that we played the game by the book, which  we spent a lot of time flipping through.  Please Robin, make a more comprehensive QRF and an index in the next version.

The medium tanks dominated everything they could see, but not overly so.  The rules worked really well, once we got the mechanics down.

The Traveller had a great time.  After the game he was trying to figure out what units he needs to add to his army to give it some more depth and tactical options.  I hope Kurt had fun.