February’s GAO (game accounting office) Report

February’s GAO (game accounting office) Report 

My Awesome buys:

1. Grind House - we’ll be playing this Saturday. Looks like a fun theme. Grabbed the Cthulhu expansion cuz hey, it’s Cthulhu. ‘Nuff said.

2. Amerika Bomber - waited for this release. It’s close to B-17, but a tad simpler. Still a fun alternative history setting. A mission plays real quick. A campaign will take much more time and will probably get monotonous, depending on how the narrative plays out. Setup is quick which is a plus for me. I’m happy to own it.

3. Holiday Fluxx - darn it, what’s wrong with me? If my stack of Fluxx variations ever topples over, you’ll see it on a Richter Scale somewhere. But hey, it’s Christmas themed!

4. Arkham Horror LCG Point of no Return. The Dream Eaters story line remains one of our favorites in the system.

5. LotR LCG Challenge of the Wainriders Adventure Deck. Certainly an impulse buy. I was lured in by having Saruman as a Hero. I openly admit my weakness for JRR Tolkien’s series. And Fantasy Flight continues to scratch that itch for me with this LCG. Our plays of the Saga releases have been great thematic fun.

6. Letterpress - our families enjoy word oriented games at our Game Night gatherings. This one will be easy to teach and score for a larger group.

7. Strategy and Tactics Quarterly 9: The Revolutionary War. We enjoy Borg’s C&C Tricorne. I figured this will be a fun read before playing out a scenario.

Still Awaiting on:

1. Combat Commander WW1, BEF expansion - guess I believed they’d meet their Valentine’s Day delivery target. Pass the Snake Oil, I need a swig before my Brooklynn Bridge Deal goes through. It’s a fun system and I’m really looking forward to this preorder showing up at my door.

This month’s impulse buy and regret....

1. T.I.M.E. Stories - I wanted this to be a fun game and something different to occasionally play. But this doesn’t look like it is enough of an improvement over the past iteration to warrant table time. Worse yet I grabbed the expansion thinking it would put it over the top. Two botches on my part.

Amerika Bomber First Flight

April 1947. Hauptmann Steiner lifts off in his Me364 from, curtesy of Spain, the new Kampfgruppen 300 airbase in the Azores. His orders are to drop his bomb load on NYC and then continue inland and drop an Abwehr agent.

At the extreme range for Luftwaffe fighter cover the flight is attacked by 2 F8Fs flying off USS Yorktown. A Me262 chases one off, while the other F8F makes a steep diving pass doing no damage.

As Steiner spots the lights of NYC, the Belly Turret gunner shouts “2 P80s climbing from below”. The Ventral Turret explodes one before it can close, while the other makes a climbing run doing no damage.

As the run-in begins, the Amerika Bomber catches a hail of heavy flak. The American’s 120mm Stratosphere guns hammer the bomber. Seriously wounding the Tail Gunner and destroying the gun position. The Bomb bay doors take minor damage and the Airframe absorbs 2 hits.

Our Navigator and Bombardier are rattled enough that while the bombs are On Target, they barely scratch the Port Facilities.

The AAA gunners were surprised when the Bomber continued in-land rather than heading out to sea. However, the Stratosphere guns again pepper the bomber. The Navigator suffers a minor leg wound and the airframe is rattled again.

As the Abwehr Agent is about to jump, 2 P80s make attack runs. The Nose gunner explodes one, while the belly gunner prevents the other from making an effective pass. The Agent jumps and Hauptmann Steiner heads for the Azores.

Just as the Bomber crosses into the Atlantic, 2 F8Fs again barrel in. The Belly gunner again holds one at bay. The other is screaming in from 11 o’clock. The nose gunner runs out of ammo as the F8F closes in, tracers flashing past the cockpit. At that moment, the top Turret gunner stitches the F8F and it explodes.

The rest of the flight is uneventful. The Navigator will miss the next mission and the Tail Gunner will be in hospital for a month. However, our beloved Me364 “Brunhilde” will be patched and ready to go for our next mission.

Final thoughts about the game 

Horrible rules. Rules don’t say how to use the damage charts from AAA. You kind of have to deduce how the three tables interact. No biggie for veteran gamers, just frustrating. Newbies would have many question. You have to go to BGG for Special Ops mission selection. It is mentioned in the rules, but not how to pick from the three.

The game plays fast and scratches an itch. So a no-regret purchase.

Abomination!

How we got here

“Keep Moving! We didn’t lose the beast”, yelled Louise 

“I hope we get a closer look at the helicopter later”, exclaimed Terry

“Maggie check the tents and James get us into those offices”, directed Dan

The team finds more notebooks in the tents and then makes it into the medical 

offices just ahead of the swarm. They desperately need to find some fuel and

bottles

We have to buy some time to find equipment and an exit

Laurie find some fuel that will work

They can’t be held back any longer!

We’ve got some big beakers and that will work

Steady let the runners come

Now! Take them out!

With every zombie destroyed between the team and the abomination hoard

Maggie makes her move to stop them

I’ve got the exit hacked open

The team exits the medical offices and hopes to get a chance to review all of the 

info they’ve scooped up.

This was a crazy mission from the start. An abomination hit early and we have

to move and search until we could take it out. The timing was critical as with

the abomination in play the exit was at the helicopter but if no abomination was 

in play the exit was where we left. Had it appeared again before we could exit

I’m not sure any of the characters would have survived. Zombicide again did 

not disappoint with a close run game with many twists a turns. 

Warfighter: Codename Ragnarök Anfang

A Squad of Wunderwaffe Z Truppen have been dispatched from the Valhalla Laboratories. Their mission is to clear a path for Normale Wehrmacht forces. The Z Truppen are to intercept and eliminate the Convoy escorts, allowing the Normale to launch an unhindered attack against the main convoy. Rumor has it some pearl handled general is riding in that convoy. The squad believes our higher ups have got this one backwards. We should have been given the convoy target. But ours is not to question why, but to do or die. Ha! As if death is even possible for us.

Sgt Mayer, Corporal Fischer, and Privates Hoffmann and Lange arrive at their jump off point.

Das Untote Korps squad must first pass through the Hedge Row.

The squad is immediately hung up in the brush and must burn time to clear it. It is both a difficult terrain and very well defended by strong G.I. forces.

Pvt Hoffmann has been armed with our newest assault rifle, a StG44. He burns through a clip taking out a section of seasoned veterans. 

Sgt Mayer makes a lucky spot of a sniper in the shrubs and takes him out. Cpl Fischer sprints through an opening, “Trail Blazing” a path for his team to easily follow. He also lobs a potato masher into a group of surprised Americans. Pvt Lange follows and picks of another trooper.  More time is spent clearing out the remaining enemies. Our presence as caused some terror among the enemy.

We regroup and reload before heading into the wheat field. Only to have Ambushers spring up all around. Hoffmann burns through a clip.

Mayer and Fischer toss grenades allowing the team to move into the field. Dug-in GIs open up on Mayer but fail to score. Another grenade from Fischer is a “Hole in One” and ends the threat.

The squad finally links up with their Wehrmacht comrades while also managing to break contact with most of the enemy.

Sgt Mayer “Steadies his Aim” and takes out the last pursuer. Then he shouts “Go Go Go” and the squad regathers around him. Pvt Lange and his StG44 have been key in clearing out enemies. But he likes it’s firepower too much and is burning through clips left and right. 

Time now for the final push. Hit the Convoy Escort and hit them hard. The Normale head off to set their trap for the enemy Convoy proper. 

Enemy soldiers spring up everywhere. These Americans are a tenacious enemy. Cpl Fischer shouts “Cover Me” and takes off. Lange and Hoffmann lay down accurate fire. Sgt Mayer smiles at the “Brotherhood” of his Untote, the Fallen but Risen veterans of the war. Ammo is passed to Hoffmann, his weapon a constant chatter of destruction.

It takes time, but the area is swept clear of enemy troops. The Z Menschen have prevailed again!

Aftermath 

The second engagement with Das Untote was another fun experience. Loading both Player Soldiers with 5 grenades each, combined with the Squad being Fearless, made  these Soldiers hard to beat.  This was also my first use of the StG44. It’s great. But make sure someone is packing reloads for it. It bleeds ammo!

This was our first game with US Hostiles. I think they’d stop most normal squads from winning. Most have good attack ranges and take several hits. Ambushers, Rifle Teams, and Harassing squads abound.

This expansion pack remains great fun. I may try taking on Elite Hostiles next time. From my perspective, the developers have done a great job. My games always come down to the last turn or two. The game is easy to get into, but I can see where I can add “complexity” by mixing in elite Hostiles and trying to use fewer soldiers but more skills. The action deck, with good draws, really feed the narrative. I hate the event deck, cuz it is never my friend! Maybe I need to proxy in some Corsair Leader cards !