On The Road Again - a Force on Force AAR

This week's game at the club was a return to Murdistan and the Royal Marines pushing further into Murdistan. The scenario was the Marines had to try and escort two Challenger IIs through an area of known enemy activity. Mustered in front of them were a mixed bag of Murdistani Jihadists and a rag-tag bag of regulars. Plenty of RPGs awaited the tanks as usual, while at the rear lurked an 82mm mortar. George took the British forces while Nick and I split the Murdistanis, Nick taking the regulars and I the Jihadists.

The Jihadists lie in ambush. They are positioned to create a stubborn 'road bump' and soften the enemy up before hitting the regulars.

The regulars are entrenched in the rear.

The game began with the British advancing cautiously, suspecting an enemy surprise, which was duly delivered. Fortunately, the resulting fire was sporadic and the transports were only lightly damaged. However, the effect was to make the infantry start to de-bus to dig out the resistance, thus slowing the advance down. And that was pretty much as far as they got! In an incredible twist of fate, the Murdistanis managed to seize the initiative over the next two turns and they just poured the fire on making the British react with fire and thus losing their ability to move forward with any purpose. Critically, it meant that the British couldn't make use of their superior firepower on overwatch. And, to add insult to injury, the mortar displayed some scarily accurate fire and began to pick off some of the transports still carrying troops. The end result was 2 British dead and several seriously wounded. The Challenger IIs did start to make their presence felt, knocking out the two obsolete T-55 tanks that the Murdistanis brought up, but it was not enough.

A direct mortar hit sets a Viking APC ablaze., while the Challengers rumble up the road.

Another mortar strike brews up another APC. The crew and passengers suffer 50% casualties.

Looking up the road from the British positions at the end. The Murdistani positions are mostly intact.

The same cannot be said of the British!

At this point George decided that the losses were way too heavy and withdrew. I have to say, I haven't seen dice rolling quite as bad as George displayed during this game! Losing two turns of initiative is almost unheard of and there were several times that Jihadist cells were actually untouched by the incoming fire. It just goes to show that the superior training and organisation of the Western forces doesn't always triumph. George was really unlucky throughout the game, but things just went pear-shaped and started to snowball. As is usually the way in wargames!

Umm Qasr Redux

Tuesday saw George and I refight the Umm Qasr scenario from Road to Baghdad, this time switching sides. I was quite looking forward to trying my hand at the insurgents in this scenario, as I think the tactics they need to use are a bit different than in most asymmetric engagements. Normally, the irregular player gets lots of reinforcements during the game and you can be somewhat callous with your forces, but in this scenario the victory conditions hinge on there being Iraqi (or Murdistani in our case) elements left on the table. The rule that the British can't fire heavy weapons towards the port also means that maneouver is more important than usual, too.

George lined the British up quite similarly to the first game and my Murdistani cells were also deployed very closely to his last time. Actually, the deployment zone is a little restricted in this scenario, and you have a fair few cells to pack in, so the deployment is a little predictable. However, I was well aware of the devastating fire that the British can put down and the Challenger turning up at Turn 4 means a standup fight is not an option. So I decided to only use 2 or 3 cells to ambush the British and move at least one backwards at the start to create a bit more depth to my position and make it harder for the Brits to penetrate through the restricted fire lanes. And so we began!

The British have a difficult time getting started, despite heavy Murdistani casualties

The first couple of turns saw the British probe their centre and  left flank to gauge the strength of the defenders in and around the Administration building. I decided to be bold and hold my first ambush until they were at optimum range and, thankfully, they weren't spotted first. The crackle of AK-47 fire left 2 Brits seriously wounded and George immediately pulled them back. The overwatch fire decimated the Murdistani cell in return, though. The second Brit fireteam to go received similar punishment as they crossed the berm and they were withdraw, too. The large cell of 10 irregulars was soon down to half strength, though. Even a few D8s can seriously beat up a D6 quality unit in FoF. As I said, this shouldn't be a standup fight. Yes, the Murdistani side gets VPs for killing or wounding the enemy, but you will suffer in this scenario if you leave your troops exposed to the British quality and this showed here as the Murdistani casualties quickly mounted. At last, though, the British right flank gained a foothold in the buildings and started to push towards the Murdistani table edge, where I had moved one cell in the very first turn. This cell was actually quite potent with 2 RPGs and I chose them specifically to pose a threat to the tank which I hoped would have to move into the restricted terrain of the buildings. 

The British clear a way through on the right flank.

The Murdistani irregulars fall back to catch the infidels as they try to envelop.

And the tank arrives...

...and makes it's presence felt!

So now there were only two cells left to face the tank, but I had managed to get them back so that the tank couldn't risk firing it's main gun and damage the port infrastructure. In fact, in the earlier firefight, the British GPMG had already inflicted damage and gifted me with 3 VPs so doing it again would create a bit of a mountain to climb. So the Challenger began moving down the road and my cell duly popped up to try their hand with the RPGs. George proved a wily tank commander, though, and only ever presented his front armour which meant I only had a slim chance of damaging it. Essentially I was rolling 4D6 to beat his armour of 5D12!! The first shot gave George a bit of a sweat, though, as he only rolled 2 successes and I began shaking my D6 with glee. I only managed 2 successes, however, and the armour held. It's these moments that make FoF, and most wargames for that matter, a total blast! 

The final moves of the game saw more British troops advance and I decided to concentrate my fire on them instead. I reckoned I couldn't harm the tank, but I had a reasonable chance of wounding or killing the soldiers. A couple of rounds of fire saw more expensive British casualties being dragged to safety, at the cost of the entire Murdistani cell. All that remained was the remnants of a single cell cowering behind the berm with the railway track on it.

The British seize the last building before the port is open to them. In the background is the huge pile of Murdistani KIA.

Prepare to sell your lives dearly!!

But time ran out! George managed one more round of fire and took out two of the five survivors, but it was not enough. There was still an active cell on board at the end which gave me 3 VPs and robbed George of 3 VPs. Coupled with the infrastructure damage and about eight seriously wounded British, the Murdistani side won with 14 VPs to 8 VPs. Crucially, if the British had managed to finish off those three irregulars it would have been a draw, which shows how finely balanced this scenario is. Brilliant stuff!! :)

I'm not sure what the next scenario will be as George is still working on the vehicles for some, but I've no doubt we'll get another done soon and I'll post that AAR here, too! 

USMC for Road to Baghdad

Here's my first squad of US Marines for the FoF Raod to Baghdad book. George has actually got enough British troops that we don't really need these, but they've been sitting around for ages and I just wanted them painted and out the way. Also, they're close enough to US Rangers for Mogadishu that they'll do. I'm not particularly fussy about having the exact figures. Close enough is fine by me. I have some more unpainted fire teams that I need to do, but once done they're done I'll have enough to start putting on some of the scenarios from Day of the Ranger. All figures are 20mm from Elheim.

Force on Force - Umm Qasr

Tuesday night saw George and I play the next scenario from the Road to Baghdad book in our Murdistan campaign. In this scenario, the British forces are to isolate and neutralise enemy resistance in and around a vital port facility. Their task is also to ensure that the port infrastructure is not damaged in the action, so no heavy support weapons could be fired in the direction of the opposite table edge.  The British are tasking a full platoon to this attack - 6 fireteams and a GPMG support team. An element from a nearby armoured group is on it's way to support the troops but will not arrive for a few minutes.  In defence of the port are numerous cells of Murdistani irregulars, some quite numerous. They also have a bit of a surprise in the form of a Dushka, a DShK 12.7mm HMG. They realise that Coalition forces in the area are strong, but giving them a bloody nose here will cause negative reaction in the Western press and hopefully whip up more support for the insurgency.

The administration buildings. The big building in the foreground is the British main objective and the Murdistanis have strict orders to hold it all costs. The table edge to the left of the shot is the port and must not have heavy weapons fired in it's direction.

I played the British and my plan was to move a fireteam down each flank while covering with overwatch. The flank teams would then be able to enfilade the insurgents and allow the centre units to move up and storm the buildings. All the enemy cells were hidden at the start, but the flank movements seemed to spook them and they opened fire, perhaps a little too early. The cell in the centre of the board were neutralised in short order, but the British left flank fireteam were also all hit.

The Murdistani irregulars come out of the woodwork. One British soldier is down!  On the far flank the GPMG and a  fireteam make it to cover unscathed.

The cell at the back of the building activate and the rest of the fireteam are hit.

This left me in a bit of a pickle! My left flank attack had fizzled and I had to get troops over to them to check them. In FoF, casualties are checked at the start of the turn to see if they are KIA, seriously wounded, lightly wounded or OK, but only if there are friendly troops are close enough. As is usually the case in asymmetric engagements, KIA regulars are a rich source of VP for the irregular side. The DShK also revealed itself to try and take the GPMG out, but concentrated British fire soon took it out.

The Dushka is revealed and lays down fire on the British troops  in position behind a berm.

The British right flank was moving swiftly into position now and the GPMG was set up to provide overwatch fire. In the recent exchanges, a couple of irregular cells had their leaders eliminated which can cripple the teams. In order to do anything they must pass a TQ test which is a 4+ on a D6. This was quite an important development as it prevented the gunmen from reacting to the Brits on their left. There was also at least two rounds of fire where the British body armour and training came up trumps and the militia were unable to make their fire count (10 D6 fired at a team of four men - 5 hits scored and all 5 negated by a string of 7s on the British D8 TQ dice!). Eventually the British fire proved too accurate and the central irregulars were all down and the platoon leader led a rush in to take the position and two prisoners.

The British seize two prisoners!

At this point, things were in the balance. The British would surely win if they could clear out the last resistance in the main administration building, but if any of the left fireteam were KIA, then any more casualties would be very costly. However, another round of fire hit some of the Murdistanis in the main building and, fatefully, they failed their morale check and became shaken. This is bad news for irregulars as it means their morale drops a level (i.e. from a D10 to a D8) and they can't take any action until the end of the next turn. The British troops took the opportunity accorded by the lull in enemy fire to reach their stricken comrades and the dice gods favoured the British - all four men were wounded; two seriously and two lightly. This meant only two VP for the insurgents rather than a potential twelve! And at this point a growl of an engine signaled the arrival of a Challenger II!

The cavalry arrives!

And so the final, climactic turn of the battle arrived! As the tank rumbled across the berm, the insurgents had three RPGs left to deal with it. All three declared their reaction to fire at the oncoming armour, but would the British overwatch be able to deal with them first? A burning tank would be a propaganda nightmare! So, we went through the overwatch and one RPG gunner was hit. And then another! But the third survived! As he lined up his shot we diced for his reaction test, which he lost. The tank turned to face the building, loaded a HE round and fired. The administration building erupted into flame and promptly collapsed on the insurgents. Only one managed to crawl from the rubble, but the British were waiting for him and the game was over!

BOOM!

Another cracking game of FoF! This one was a tougher one for the insurgents, but George and I discussed it afterwards and he thought that he should have waited a bit longer to get the British in their optimum range before springing the ambush. As it was, they revealed a tad too early and the British troops along the berm just whittled them away. I think that the insurgents need to be a bit more mobile in this one, too. There are two big cells that can punish the smaller regular fireteams, but they have to catch them without being subjected to too much overwatch fire. In the end, the coalition forces won hands down, but there was a couple of points mid-game where it could have gone either way and it was certainly dramatic and tense from the outset!

Force on Force - Road to Murdistan

A couple of weeks ago I played the first scenario of the Force on Force scenario book Road to Baghdad with George. He doesn't have any US troops so we substituted a British section with a Viking APC. George's imagi-nation is a country called Murdistan, with such cities as Malki and Stushi (the Scots amongst you will get the joke!) so we decided we should go ahead and play the RtB campaign in his fictional setting.

The first mission was to secure the pumping station for an oil field. I wonder what could motivate them to do that? Anyway, the insurgent Murdistan forces desire to rob the Western decadent infidels of their black gold and set about destroying the pumps. If they do so then they are assured victory. The coalition forces are to prevent that happening, but not at too high a cost!

The compound!

The pump houses are the small buildings to the back.

The British section arrives and begins to breach the fence. 

The Murdistan army will not stand idly by, though!

The British (played by me) were quite confident in their ability to control any opposition, especially with the GPMG mounted on the Viking, but the Murdistan unit in the main building popped up and delivered some substantial fire! The overwatch fire proved too little and somehow nearly half the unit was hit. Thankfully there was only one KIA and one or two wounded, but it slowed the British down rather worryingly. The Viking then got to work and the opposition was overcome.

Hubris! In the background the reinforcements arrive!

As the British regained composure and set about the fence again, a small force of Murdistanis entered the compound from the rear gate and began to haul bundles of TNT out of their car. Uh-oh! The British needed to get moving - and fast!

The climax approaches!

The British finally gained the compound and stormed the main building. From there they put down a withering fire on the insurgents, killing most of them. Miraculously, the lone RPG gunner survived and drew a bead on the Viking. The overwatch fire again fizzled out and a streak of smoke flew across the compound and thudded into the APC which immediately brewed up! The cackling insurgents began firing their AKs wildly into the air as the countdown to the bomb approached zero. It was now or never! Another barrage of fire from the coalition section pinned them, allowing two brave troops to dash across the open ground and storm the pump house. The militia was eliminated, but time was up. The red or the blue wire? It came down to the last dice roll of the game and...the bomb was diffused!! The pumps were secure, but with two killed (one in the Viking) and about three or four seriously wounded, the cost was too high and the game was a Murdistani victory! Buggah!

Being quite a short game we reset and played through a second time. This time George was the British and he set about the task with a bit more verve. He smashed the APC through the chainlink fence and the British troops poured through. The insurgents in the main building were quickly subdued and eliminated and all looked good! However, a screech of tyres (in an A-Team-tyres-screeching-on-dirt way) the Murdistan bombers tore through the gate and they piled into the furthest pump house. The British took positions to oust them, but the AK-47 fire made them take cover gaining precious seconds for their enemies. The bomb was planted and the British were against the clock. Again, ferocious fire put down most of the irregulars, but history repeated itself and a streak of smoke arced across the compound and the Viking APC was once more a burning wreck! The crew all survived, though, and George breathed a sigh of relief! And there we were again...the British forces deciding red or blue with seconds on the clock. This time they chose incorrectly, though, and the pump house was blown sky high. The Murdistani forces were again victorious despite being taken out to a man. A glorious sacrifice!

The Viking APC rams into the compound while the bombers make their own dash (the car is hidden behind the pump house.

A burning Viking APC and a burning pump house! And a stern Murdistani warlord points out what happens to infidel invaders!!

Great fun! And a great demonstration of Force on Force. Not a lot of space needed and not a lot of figures, but a highly dramatic and cinematic game was had. It also showcases the quality of the scenario design you get with the campaign books. On paper you'd think the British should walk the scenario, but the insurgents have always got a chance of pulling it off. The coalition forces must always be mindful of casualties and damaging infrastructure, whereas the insurgent commander can mercilessly send his troops to their doom to obtain his objective - because they generally don't give VPs and there are almost always plenty more! :)

Force on Force - actions and reactions

As we will see, not every action has an equal and opposite reaction in Force on Force!

In my last blog entry I talked about Force on Force and provided a review in the context of an AAR. However, I glossed over one of the most important features of the ruleset...reactions! So I thought I would write a follow-up that looks at this critical aspect in more detail, as it is what really makes the game great!

I think that the AAR/review format worked quite well, so I'll use pictures of figures to illustrate the action/reaction, although it will be a fabricated situation and not an actual 'in play' AAR. I don't actually have any modern stuff painted up yet (that last game was using all George's stuff), so I will use my 28mm WWII Tommies and Fallschirmjager. But first, let's recap the reaction test.

Whenever an initiative unit (IU) announces that it will take an action, any non-initiative unit (NIU) that has LOS to it may announce a reaction. Note that this is optional, as performing a reaction uses up any subsequent action the NIU may make. In most cases, though, you're going to want to react. If the NIU declares a reaction it may be one of two options - move or fire. However, a reaction test must be made to see who gets to perform first. Both sides roll a TQ dice and the side that passes (4 or more on the TQ die) gets to perform it's intended (re)action first. In the case that both die rolls succeed, the highest roll wins. In the case of draws, or both die failing, then the IU goes first. Let's look at an example:

The Germans are the IU and announce they will fire at the British. The British announce they want to move in reaction.

The British win the reaction test and move first.

The above illustrates a successful reaction test. If the Tommies failed the reaction test they would have to endure the fire before moving, so you better hope you win that dice roll!

So, that's pretty simple, eh? Well, remember that the reaction can be to fire at the IU instead. Any NIU in LOS can engage the IU in a round of fire as a reaction. The IU may decide to return fire. Every time a unit fires it loses 1 FP die for further actions or reactions that turn so sometimes you may want to take the hit and save the FP. Perhaps an example might help again:

Same as above, but now we have a second British team with a Bren  (which we'll count as a SAW).

The Bren team hoses the Germans before they can shoot the other team, but a British trooper is still hit.

The British may now complete their move, but they have lost  a man.

EDIT - after browsing the rules, I realised I got the order of the above reactions the wrong way round. Team A that fails it's reaction should receive fire and move before Team B shoots. When there are multiple reactions you roll for all reaction tests first and then resolve all the NIUs that failed their test first. I've left the text in place for now, but I will reshoot the above sequence and replace as soon as I can.

Hmmm...! Still pretty simple if you ask me! To wind up, we'll look at the two features of modern rulesets that are notoriously hard to deal with - overwatch and opportunity fire. Opportunity fire is pretty simple; any IU that hasn't acted yet may sacrifice it's action to react to an enemy movement. So if the NIU successfully reacts with movement, then a second fire team may take an opportunity shot at them. Overwatch is slightly different. You place an IU on overwatch at the beginning of the turn and for the duration they may interrupt a reaction with fire. So an IU announces its action, a NIU announces it's reaction and then the overwatch unit announces it's interruption. The overwatch round of fire is treated normally and then the NIU may roll it's reaction test, if it can (i.e. it's not pinned or suppressed). One more example, methinks:

See? It's all pretty straightforward when you work it all out methodically. Of course, there are a lot of variations on the above situations with morale and suppression fire taking a big part. There are also situations where units can fall off overwathch. The examples I've given are the basics and there are even more differences when you deal with asymmetric warfare, as irregulars are limited in their reactions. The rules are very rich in content and deal with all sorts of stuff, so you'll just have to buy them to find it all out!

Again, I can't recommend Force on Force highly enough! The action/reaction mechanism coupled with the fantastic dice mechanism, results in a very fluid game that can be completed quickly and gives a believable result.

Fourth on Force

Tonight George and I played our fourth game of Force on Force and it was easily the best yet. Mostly because we now have a much firmer grasp on the rules. There was still a couple of occasions of flipping through the rules, but they were few and didn't disrupt the flow of the game too much. Instead, we got down to the serious business of rescuing a downed pilot from underneath the noses of the Taliban! Now, rather than just write an AAR, I thought I'd make this into a kind of review of the rules, too.

The Rule Book


Force on Force is published by Osprey in collaboration with Ambush Alley Games who designed the rules. I believe there were actually two volumes formerly produced by AAG and this version is actually the combination of them both. Unsurprisingly, the quality of the book is excellent with lovely plates of modern soldiers in full colour as well as photos of actual men in combat situations, which really beds you into the atmosphere and theme of the game. There is are also a few photos of miniatures to remind you that this is a wargames rule set! There are the usual chapters on movement and shooting, but there are also chapters on armoured combat, air support and artillery. Possibly of most interest, though, is the section on asymmetric warfare. So this is regular troops against irregular forces, such as the Taliban or Iraqi forces in the later stages of the second Gulf War. There is also a campaign section to take these rules a step further.

There is one criticism that I will lay at the feet of the publishers, which is it's poor layout. Some important rules are laid out in later sections after they have been mentioned, such as the action/reaction sequence. When you're reading through the rules it all makes perfect sense, but it can be quite frustrating trying to find something during play. Once you have the rules in your head, though, this is less of an issue and there is ample support in the form of the AAG forums. On the whole, this is really nice book and an attractive addition to any wargamer's bookshelf.

The Game


Now it's time to examine the rules in the context of our game. The situation is a downed pilot is hiding in the grounds of a house in Taliban territory and a British section has been dispatched to retrieve him. There is definitely enemy activity in the area so the Brits must be careful. Here's the setup - the Taliban forces are all hiding and so are not deployed on the table:

The battlefield. Perhaps taken by a UAV!

The scene from behind Fireteam Charlie looking towards the objective.

The player to move first in each turn is normally decided by a dice roll. Each player rolls a dice for every two of his units, plus a couple of modifiers, and the one with most successes (more about that later) wins the initiative. They then move each unit in turn with the opponent having the option to react to those actions. However, as the British are moving into the teeth of an ambush, the Taliban had the initiative by default on the first turn. They opted to stay hidden, though, leaving the British to start moving in. The second turn saw the Taliban again take the initiative and they decided to spring the first ambush on the British left...!

The Dice Mechanism


Each side is rated for it's initiative, quality and morale. The ratings are expressed in terms of a type of dice. Poor quality militia will have a Troop Quality (TQ) and Initiative of D6, while regulars are usually D8. In FoF there is a 'nearly universal' rule that whenever you roll a die, a result of 4 or more is a success. Let's examine that, as it's key to the game mechanics. You are always looking for a 4 or more, so the higher the quality of your men, the more likely you are to roll a success. So, in that second turn, how did the Taliban gain the initiative? They had four units, generating them 2 dice. They also had the initiative last turn which added another die. They also added another die for outnumbering the enemy. So they had 4. The British had 3 units, so they only got one die. So the Taliban rolled their 4D6 against the British 1D8. They rolled more successes than the British so retained the initiative.

The Trap is Sprung - How to React!

The Taliban appear out of nowhere in the treeline!

So, using the initiative, the Taliban deployed their first unit from hiding. They had to roll a single TQ die to see if they were successful and they were, so they fired first. Normally in FoF, whenever the side with initiative activates a unit, the other side can declare reactions by any unit with LOS to the acting unit. However, each unit then rolls an opposed TQ check, called a Reaction Test. Each side rolls 1 TQ die and the side that rolls a success wins. If both succeed, the highest roll wins. If both fail, the side with initiative wins. Aha! So here we have the integral dice mechanism again. If you're rolling a D8 against a D6 opponent, then you can win hands down with a roll of 7 or 8! Alas, due to scenario rules regarding ambushes, the Taliban got to fire first regardless.

Shoot Straight!

Each figure in the firing unit generates a Firepower (FP) die which are of the TQ type (i.e. TQ of D6 means your FP are also D6). Support weapons like SAWs and RPGs add extra FP. The defending unit then counts up the number of figures in the target unit and compares to the number of FP dice. He then takes the number of TQ dice equal to the lower of the two numbers. So, for example, in our ambush, the Taliban have six figures firing. One carries an RPG, so they have 7 D6. The British fireteam is only four strong, so they get 4D8. They have body armour and are in cover, so they get two extra dice for 6 total. They are rolled simultaneously :

Any failed rolls (3 or less) don't count. Then, the defender tries to negate any FP dice with defence dice of equal or higher value. So here's a picture of a British attack roll that happened later in the game with all the failures removed and the remaining D6 defence dice canceling out those D8s that they can:

Here comes the pain!

Here we see it again! The British rolled two 7s and an 8. The Taliban player is simply powerless to cancel those dice and the British are assured of 3 hits. Pretty easy and very intuitive! In this way, the better training and equipment of the regular forces really pays dividends! In our ambush situation, despite firing 7 dice, they managed to inflict no casualties.

The Story Unfolds!


We've had a brief look at the nuts and bolts of the game, so let's see how the battle unfolded. The British, having survived the first shots, now managed to seize the initiative (which they would hold for the rest of the game bar one turn). The flank fireteams fell into overwatch while the central fireteam crossed the stream heading for the objective.

The Taliban revealed a second unit on the British right, but using fire and maneouver the British forces pinned them and advanced the right flank to screen the central troops grabbing the pilot.

By now, more Taliban were coming out of the woodwork and a group made a beeline for the pilot's hidey hole to try and prevent his escape. However, the vigilant British on the right were alert to the danger and poured fire on them in reaction to their appearance. 

More enemy troops poured in through the woods and the British right soon found themselves under a lot of pressure. One soldier was hit, but luckily he was only lightly wounded and could carry on fighting. Their work was of great value, though, as the section leader signalled to the pilot to follow and they set off for the safety of their own lines.

Meanwhile, on the left a sharp exchange of fire saw the Taliban threat neutralised and the British surged in to capture the remnants.

As the Taliban casualties mounted through accurate fire from the British they were powerless to act as the pilot was safely escorted across the stream and into the safety of the woods beyond.

This was a very enjoyable game. The high quality of the British really turned the battle and on at least two occasions the Taliban rolled some very good dice, only to be thwarted by numerous 7s and 8s from the British. Force on Force is simply a very, very good game. The games are all scenario based and provide a strong narrative and very believable results. I really have only skimmed over the core of the rules, in particular the action/reaction sequence that has some very subtle nuances that are most satisfactory. If your interest has been piqued then I guess you'll have to buy the rules! I highly recommend anyone interested in skirmish games or modern warfare do so!