On Saturday, January 7, eight of us played on two tables. Andy, Mark, Wayne, and I played German platoons with support, while Robby played "Red Devils" British Paratroops, DJ played Canadian infantry, Tyler played US infantry, and Martin played Sikh infantry of the British Commonwealth. (It was still the Empire then, I suppose.) Mark and I faced Tyler and Martin. Andy and Wayne squared off against Robby and DJ.
It was quite a successful run. The Allies won on our table and the other table saw a draw. We kept it simple - no tanks, artillery, aircraft, or unusual troops. Robby is a veteran at the game so the Red Devils were an OK choice. DJ wanted to add in all his Canadian M-5 halftracks including his M-16 MGMC (Multiple Gun Motor Carriage) with 4 .50 calibre MGs, but he said he's wait for the addition of the vehicles. Andy and I supplied the Germans; He chose to have a third infantry squad while I decided on a sniper team and 8cm mortar team instead. Martin's Sikhs were colourful, each squad having turban in different shades
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| The "east side' table - Martin, Tyler, Mark, and John... as Tyler's son watches. |
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| Martin's Sikhs advance. |
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| Tyler's GI's advance past the big ruin. The Allies got in first and ruined the Axis players' day. I did actually have a mortar hit something and mess up Martin's command section while they hid in the ruins. |
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| My German command section advances of a wheat field that started life as a door mat. |
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| Martin, Tyler, John, and Mark - "A reading from the Book of Armaments" |
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| Sikhs defend the wall at the rubber road. Although rated like all other Commonwealth troops, the Sikhs added a lot of colour and diversity. |
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| One of Mark's LMG crews looks for a target. |
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| These Sikhs retreated (two red chips) and the GI's provided cover. |
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| The "East side" table - Andy, Wayne, Robby, and DJ |
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| The Red Devils advance along the creekline and into the woods. |
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| Wayne's Germans using the ruins to good effect. |
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| Andy's HMG took up a grand position. |
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| DJ's Canadians advance into the small woods and pass the wheat field. |
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| Holding the churchyard. |
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| Wayne, Andy, DJ, and Robby - two of the four are military veterans. |
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| Stubborn defenders |
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| Robby's sniper team - Commandos serving as Paras |
Everyone who took part enjoyed themselves. This coming week, we're adding 50 point to each list (maximum of 650 point each) and a soft-skin vehicle can be purchased from those points, up to and including a halftrack. No tanks yet. Lists will be readjusted to swap men or equipment for AT weapons.
Just about every one of the players is satisfied with the Iron Ivan rules - playable, adaptable, understandable, using common sense where necessary. We add things like "roof penetration" for two story ruins, and allocation of just where the mortar bomb hits when multiple units are in a ruin. Probably in two weeks we'll add a tank. [Note: in this rule set, tanks on their own are REALLY vulnerable to infantry close assault. They are NOT the unstoppable monsters we imagine them to be. With out infantry support, they are just about dead ducks every time.]
If you happen to be in London, ON on a Saturday, the Hamilton Road Gaming Group gathers at about 10:00am and plays to almost 4:30pm at the Crouch Branch of the London Public Library on the north side of Hamilton Road, west of Adilaide Street (next to the Beer Store, if you need a landmark.) Many different games might be played on any given Saturday and the gathered group may varry from week to week. But if you're a gamer, you'd be welcome there.
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