Skirmish Rules Testing: Part 10 - Gruntz

Presentation

High production values "glossy" PDF from Wargames Vault $14 - https://www.wargamevault.com/product/92879/Gruntz-15mm-SCIFI

A bit wordy with stuff buried in and spread over multiple pages, but there is a QRS (although doesn't bother to tell you movement distances for troops on foot!)

Set-Up

Standard, rules are in inches, so used 1 hex = 2 inches. Just a short game planned as I'm getting the hang of what I'm looking for. My own encounter rules as on other scenarios.

Hore goes down at that fateful corner yet again!

How It Played

Cpl Hore got to the corner of the street and spotted two insurgents on the roof ahead. He and Jones put down some SA80 fire but the insurgents were too well protected. When the insurgents returned fire Hore was instantly Waxed. Wade and Kronfield moved up and into the house at the top of the street to get a better angle. Wall and co started legging it right to get to the compound and house on the corner but insurgent commander Nufail let rip with his AK47 followed by the "boom" of Mahamadou's RPG7. Both Wilson and McDowell were waxed and Wall and Gallagher got a "condition brown" and pulled back. Wade and Kronfield returned fire from the roof top on the initial insurgents and Waxed them both - mainly through the Minimi's full-auto mode.

With 3 Brits down by the end of effectively Turn 2 I called ENDEX!

Wall and Gallagher are forced back as Wilson and McDowell go down.

Rules Impressions

When Hore and Jones missed first time I thought it was going to be a slow game, but it just proved to be that -3 DM against hard cover. The insurgents had no difficulty hitting the Brits in the open and the body armour had what seemed like a minimal effect - no one was saved by it.

Like several of the "gamier" rules weapon ranges were very short (8" effective, 16" max) for a skirmish game, and there were very few DMs (hard/soft cover, firer static). However the mechanics were a bit complicated as you were changing both the firers fire stat and the defender guard stat, and then rolling for the difference! Body Armour only changed the damage roll from 5+ to 8+.  Area damage was primary target at full, and then others at -3 rather than a true blast radius. No direction suppression option and no spotting rules.

The card based activation was good though, you drew a card per unit, assigned them (hidden) as you wanted, and then both sides declared.

Overall

Too "gamey" for me,  which was a pity as I'd like the look of it. Overall 5/10.