THE ODD ANGRY SHOT ! is an abridged version of a tabletop system I designed specifically to fight Late C20th guerrilla / ambush encounters. Being shaped by accounts of Rhodesian and South African actions against "terrs" in Southern & South West Africa. The rules work for other arenas of course ; Vietnam, Malaya and Borneo all spring instantly to mind, as does the French / Indian wars. With a C20th setting I`ve deliberately dovetailed it into Mathew Sparkes` R.A.S.H modern skirmish rules. The troops you require are organised into the following "units" : "Operators" : i.e. Special Forces such as the Seleous Scouts, Rhodesian SAS etc 1 figure (1 LMG per 2 figures) "Troopies" : Elite troops i.e. 32 Battalion, Pathfinders, Fireforce in 'sticks' of 4 figures (includes 1 LMG) "Sluggies" : Regular infantry - a squad of three bases : NCO - 1 figure, Rifle group - 3-5 figures & LMG group of 2-3 figs. "Terrs": Cells of 3-4 figures usually, unless well motivated where 1 or more figures of "terrs" may be considered individual 'units' as per "Operators". Cell leaders and Cuban / Eastren Bloc advisors may also be individual 'units' for game purposes. All vehicles and aicraft count as an individual "unit". EDNA Yes groans all round, EDNA again for the game mechanics. For those new to The Gauntlet, EDNA is a concept which attempts to distill factors known to have an effect upon men in combat ; such as morale, training, leadership and fatigue into a single numerical number between 2 & 11. Tis is what SLA Marshall might call the "Reservoir of Combat Energy". A higer score represents a well motivated unit, ergo a lower score is a poorer class one, perhaps even an Elite unit which has succumbed to the strains of long operations. Whenever a unit wishes to perform an action, it must roll 2xD6 against it`s EDNA score, which brings varying degrees of both success and failure. Every tabletop unit (be it an individual or group of figures) has it`s own EDNA, which in this instance we will rename as the more colourful BUSH (Bloody Useless Soldiers Hide) Factor. Suggested BUSH Factors for this game are : Operators - 1AvD+6 Troopies : 1AvD+5 Sluggies: 1AvD+2 Terrs: 1D6+2 YOU`VE GOT TO FIND `EM TO KILL `EM TRACKING The tracking rules deliberately only scratch the surface of this important military art. I wanted to present a quick and simple system which would get you playing rather than thinking "Mmmm, interesting, must play it when I have more time". Can be played solo or with friends. THE CHASE The chase has two phases - the 'operational phase' which is conducted before figures are placed on a table and the 'tactical phase', which transfers the hunters and their quarry to the tabletop. For the sake of argument let`s call the 'operational turns' 15 minutes, but change this to suit your own scenario. Let`s say in this instance that a group of terrs is known to be infiltrating into Rhodesia, following a reported sighting their trail has been picked up by government forces. The terrs have a 1AvD x hours headstart on the government troops. For every hour headstart the terrs have been given place 4 playing cards (Four 15 minute Operational Turns to the hour) face down in in a separate deck which becomes your "Running Clock" or "Running Deck". The Running Clock This shows how far ahead the terrs are of their pursuers. You may want to increase the pressure by restricting the number of cards in the main deck. This adds a time dimension to the outcome - i.e. the number of cards can represent the journey time to the terrs intended target, the border, main base camp etc. The pursuers must track them down before the original deck is exhausted to prevent the guerrillas from either accomplishing their mission or escaping. Every Operational Turn the terrs move at a standard pace which adds 2 cards to the Running Deck. This is modified by rolling against their BUSH Factor, see the BUSH Table. We`ll call these Clock Cards. The pursuers take cards AWAY from the Running Deck, so they must decide how fast (i.e. more cards) they are going to move each turn. Remember, the pursuers task is not easy. Simply catching up with the terrs is not the objective. They must try and work out where the terrs are headed in order to either direct blocking forces into position (such as Fireforce) OR cut ahead of them and lay their own ambush. If the terrs suspected that they were being followed or worse still, catch sight of the pursuers, they would more than likely "bomb" - split up and disperse to all corners of the compass to rendevous at a safe location later. The Trackers choices are : Cautiously, Deliberately or Fast Follow Up. Each of which removes a greater number of cards from the Clock Deck but increases the risk of losing the trail or running into an ambush. Again this may be modified by the outcome of the BUSH Roll. Operational Phase Movement 1. Terrs add 2 cards to Running Deck 2. Terrs roll against BUSH Factor - see table for result. 3. Pursuers choose Cautious / Deliberate / Fast Follow Up movement. Remove relevant no. of cards. 4. Pursuers roll against BUSH Factor - see table for result. Cautious 1 Clock Card per turn ; -1 to BUSH Roll Slow and methodical with plenty of stops to check 'spoor' (the ground sign left by the guerrillas), alert for signs of ambush. Deliberate 2 Clock Cards per turn ; +1 to BUSH Roll Wary of ambush but moving at pace. Fast Follow Up Variable No. of Clock Cards per turn ; Gamble BUSH Roll A trail corridor is established and other teams begin cutting across the trail some distance ahead to pick up the trail. The original team then leap-frogs past them to try and intercept the trail again further up. cut the trail again. Fast but danger of running into an ambush. Fast Follow Up - Method : The pursuing player chooses to gamble how far ahead in Clock Cards he is going to intercept the trail. The number of Clock Cards gambled -1, are added to the result of the BUSH Roll. So an Elite team with a BUSH Factor of '9' is chosen to cut ahead of the tracking team. The government player decides to gamble 4 Clock Cards. He makes his BUSH Roll ; the dice scores are '2' + '3' = 5. Adding 4 Clock Cards - 1, as above gives him '5' + '3' = 8. The team has successfully picked up the trail . The pursuing player may gamble with as many teams as he wishes, excluding the original team. A Brick of four operators may not be split. A solitary Operator acting as tracker with a force MUST be attached to a team (to cover him). This team always starts as the principal tracking team and may NOT begin the Fast Follow Up but may be used to leap frog ahead in subsequent turns if the Fast Follow Up is successful.. Fast Follow Up - BUSH Roll Die Results Double 6, 5, 4 Ambush : Roll Again 6 : Booby Trap 5 : Stay Behind Party - 1/3rd of terrs strength 3,4: Hasty Ambush 1,2: Deliberate Ambush Odd No.s greater than BUSH Lost Trail ; -1 BUSH till rested May search again next Turn at +1 BUSH Roll, other tracking teams continue as normal from their present location. Odds = OR less than BUSH Picked Up Trail Remainder of unit which has not been used so far this turn may rendevous at this location. Doubles = or less than BUSH Picked Up Clear Trail Any team not already used to Fast Follow Up this turn, may leap frog ahead in an additional Fast Follow Up, in the same manner but additionally losing 1 BUSH for every 2 cards it wishes to move forward from it`s present location. If the first team successfully intercepted the trail 3 cards ahead, and the second team chose another to leap-frog a further 3 cards, it would lose 3 from it`s BUSH Factor. Double 1 Clear Signs All the Way Other teams hurry up immediately and may leap frog ahead without incurring the above penalties. NOTE : BUSH Factor Points lost through Fast Follow-Up represent fatigue and may be recovered if the player chooses to rest his troops. One rest stop of 15 minutes (add 1 Clock Card to the Running Deck) will restore 1 BUSH Factor point. AMBUSH ! Surprise is the key to a successful ambush. The location where the ambush is set should contribute to the surprise. In fact the selection of a site for surprise alone is more effective than mounting an ambush from a site which is in other respects tactically sound but suspicious. Such a site should lead to the canalization of the enemy, have covered routes of approach and withdrawal, and of course good fields of fire. Bearing this in mind, Most ambushes take place at less than 50m and last less than 10 seconds (a long time when on the wrong end of an Armalite or AK47). The most effective means of countering an ambush is to detect it before entering the chosen kill zone. This is not as hard as you might think as ambushes require high standards of discipline from the ambushers. The prepration of the ambush site might leave careless spoilage of ground or flora giving the game away. Whilst the ambushers are required to remain in the same position for hours at a time, with no unnecessary noise or movement. Poor discipline, or simple boredom leads to the ambushers falling victim to sleep, talking, smoking, and moving from position to urinate, or stretch cramped muscles. On occasion sudden quick moves such as swatting or brushing insects away is enough to warn the ambushees. On the other side of the coin, to beat an ambush requires alert troops, good noise discipline, and cautious movement ; "you walk carefully, at a British slow march, putting your foot down carefully, stopping every five to 10 meters" US Ranger, Vietnam. The key to coming through an ambush successfully (i.e. alive) is really just to spot the enemy before he spots you and get in the first shot. This has a tremendous moral effect on the average ambusher and is often enough to tip the scales. In addition, elite and special forces troops will immediately bring to bear a high volume of firepower in well established contact drills for ambushes, which then puts them in a good position to escape or take the initiative whilst the ambusher is trying to work out what`s going wrong or is keeping his head down. "When our point saw something and knew he`d been seen, he`d fall backwards, firing offf single rounds. The slack even if he didn`t see anybody would step forward and spray the same area with automatic fire. By the time he was out of ammunition the point had his weapon reloaded and was firing again." --US Ranger, Vietnam Run of the mill troops generally don`t recover so quickly from the initial shock effect of an ambush. Officers and NCO`s will try to establish what the situation is, then build a base of fire to achieve fire superiority. Men are then sent out to find the flank of the ambushers position and surround them before thy have a chance to get away. "But then the tracer bullets started to come at us ; they had a hypnotic effect....A sharp kick from my section leader telling me to move up brought me back to the horrific reality of what was happening". --Australian LRRP, Vietnam "CONTACT!" First of all let`s get ourselves a scenario for a stand alone ambush encounter. Obviously waterholes assume great importance in Africa and both sides would frequently ambush each other at or near a watering place. Perhaps a government force is trying to sneak up on a suspected guerrilla group which intelligence suggests is using a Kraal (yes, 15mm Zulu War type) as their base this evening. Are the guerrillas waiting for them ? Or how about a band of terrorists heading towards a local 'white' farmstead, oil refinery, etc. but the security forces have been tipped off. Let`s be realistic about tabletop terrain. Your figures can`t hide or make use of the smallest fold in the ground, nor can they melt into the undergrowth, so we`re going to have to pretend that they can; and that the tabletop is covered by thick bush, rich Savannah or whatever. The few patches of scrub or thorn bushes on the table are merely to make it look pretty and help represent those areas which an ambusher would choose. Roll 2xAvD and multiply by 10, this will be the Mean Observation Distance in this type of country. Several possible ambush sites are noted on the table, but only one of these is the real one and is recorded by the ambusher. There is one site for every point of the ambushers current BUSH Factor. The ambusher must indicate where the 'KILLING ZONE' of both the suspect and real ambush sites are by placing physical objects on the table such as small rocks, animals (live or carcasses), ant-hills, discarded tyre etc where the centre of the 'Killing Zone' will be. THE KILLING ZONE The 'Killing Zone' is 50m in diameter and may be placed up to 50m from the main ambush party. This represents a chosen area which is within the observation and arc of fire of all the ambushers, offering any unit moving into it little cover and which has been zeroed in by support weapons. At the mean observation distance the scout or point team will make a BUSH Roll. The roll is modified by the following unit`s speed of movement. Die Modifier : Cautious -1 Deliberate +1 Fast +2 Critiscal Success Spot Hasty Ambush without being seen, as Ambusher failure in 2 below. Critical Success Suspicious - May close at slower pace. Alert for ambush, -2 to spot next Turn. Failure Move Scout / Point into Kill Zone Critical Failure Move Scout / Point beyond Kill Zone and first unit of main body into Kill Zone. Roll Again, if fail, then bunching, move two units into Kill Zone. The ambushing player must decide which units of his force will fire into the Killing Zone prior to the action. They cannot engage targets outside the Killing Zone in the first two turns unless, they roll a Critical Success on their BUSH roll. AMBUSH ! Once in the Killing Zone, the Scout / Point rolls against his BUSH to see if he rumbles the ambush (I did it once, so I know it`s possible) : Success = Fires first - area fire Critical Success = Fires first - Close Range + 1 Ambushers test BUSH to return fire + 1 per casualty Critical Success (6,6) = As above + retreats outside Kill Zone Any other result, as below ; To trigger the ambush, the ambushing players commander must pass a BUSH roll. If he is successful his troops can each test to see if they open fire as planned. In the first turn of firing into the Kill Zone ONLY, and only if they have initiated the encounter, the ambushers may add one dice to each unit with small arms, 2 dice to an LMG, Mortar, RPG etc and 3 dice to a HMG. Every turn the ambushers take a casualty they must test against their BUSH not to begin to melt back into the bush +1 per casualty, +2 per unit withdrawing, - leadership (R.A.S.H) In response to an ambush, 'Operators' and 'Troopies' may automatically return fire and move as normal (within the restrictions laid down in R.A.S.H.). On the other hand, 'Sluggies' will always try to build a base of fire, and win the firefight. They do this through getting an LMG into action (Roll against BUSH), then bringing up other units (roll against BUSH for each) and adding their firepower. Well that`s it! I`ve been a bit long winded in my explanations to explain what I`m trying to achieve. I often find the designer`s notes in rules help me understand it in brief, play it out, go on! You`ll see that the explanatory text is unnecessary after the first game or two - just keep plugging! Roll Government Troops Terrs 1 Platoon of Regulars ; CO, Command Group, 3x Squads 1 xAvD -1 Cells Ageing weapons 2 Platoon of Regulars ; CO, Command Group, 3x Squads, 1 Operator 1 xAvD -1 Cells, AK47`s 3 1 Stick of Troopies, 1 Regular Squad 1 xAvD Cells AK47`s, LMG 4 1 Operator, 1 xAvD Sticks of Troopies 1 xAvD Cells +1 AK47`s, LMG, RPG etc 5 1 Brick of Operators 1 xAvD Sticks of Troopies 2 xAvD Cells, as above with(HMG) 1xD6 Cuban 'Advisors' 6 Brick of 4 Operators Roll again : 6 = 2 Bricks 2 xD6 Well motivated terrs Armed as 4 above BUSH Roll Pursuers Pursued Double 6 Lost Trail: Roll against BUSH Factor to pick up again: -1 per Op Turn sacrificed Stopped, roll 1xd6 : 1,2 : Rest Halt, Miss 1 Op Turn 3,4,5 : Food Stop, Miss 2 Op Turns 6 : Camp for night. Clock Stops. Doubles = or greater than BUSH + 2 Clock Cards: Terrs are covering their tracks well -2 Clock Cards: Careless. Left easily identifiable spoor, or reported by friendly population etc. Odd No.s greater than BUSH + 1 Clock Card Rest Halt -1 Clock Card: W eary, or overconfident, pace relaxed. Odd No.s = or less than BUSH As Normal As Normal Doubles = or less than BUSH - 1 Clock Card + 1 Clock Card Double 1 2 Clock Cards Bingo ! Their heading / objective becomes obvious. Radio ahead for a blocking force to wait for them. Spot signs of pursuit activity Throw 1xD6: 1,2 : Disperse at next habitation 3,4 : 'Bomb', split up, new clock for each 5,6 : Ambush Pursuers Back to The Gauntlet No. 10 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com