CAV2 With the Kids

Set up a game of CAV2 to play with SWMBO on Saturday night to play Sunday afternoon. She decided to bake cookies instead (like I'm going to argue with homemade chocolate chip cookies) so I asked the boys to play. They were all rather excited.

The simplistic scenario was that a Ritterlich strike group had orders to plant demolition charges on a Terran helipad and a communications building as part of a larger operation. This was accomplished by spending two total actions by an infantry team. The trick was that the helipad and commo building were in a guarded outpost. The outpost was guarded by an armor section, a mechanized infantry section, a flight of Kikyus, and six stationary turrets. The Ritterlich force consisted of an armor section, a mechanized infantry section, and a specialist section. It worked out to just shy of 3000 points per side, though I did not count the turrets against the turrets so they had a bit of an advantage point wise.

Ritterlich strike group

Armor
2x Tiger
1x Jaguar
1x Puma

Mechanized Infantry
2x Hedgehog
6x Rifle Infantry

Specialist
2x Wolverine
2x Conqueror

Terran defenders

Armor
1x Ronin
2x Starhawk VI
1x Regent

Mechanized Infantry
2x Centipede
4x Rifle Infantry w/ AT-23 upgrade

Flight
2x Kikyu

Turrets
6x Odin turrets

Don't ask about the legality of the structures, I didn't pay real close attention to how many points were faction specific models. We're weren't using faction abilities anyway just to keep things simple.

Here's the initial set up:

As you can see, the raiders had a fair amount of open ground to cross. I really wish I had some fencing to use for such a scenario. I'll have to add that to the "one of these days" project list. The Ritterlich faction ability that grants Assault to all it's models would've been helpful, maybe next time.

My assistant die roller cheering from the sidelines (age 5) and assistant model mover (age 7)

I took the Ritterlich force while my two older boys Michael and Zachary spit the Terrans. Zachary ran the turrets and Michael the CAVs and infantry. On the first turn the raiders advanced and took some heavy fire from the turrets. Michael moved a few CAVs to clearer lines of fire, but took some damage to a Starhawk for the trouble.

I was using the Wolverines to hold my right flank and the CAVs to draw attention away from the Hedgehogs as they made their run to the buildings. It almost worked except that Zachary kept an eagle eye on those transports. Second turn saw the further advance of my CAVs and the heavy damaging of one Tiger, the Wolverines taking position across the river to engage turrets, one Hedgehog unloading its infantry into contact with the helipad and placing one action on it while engaging the enemy infantry. No heavy casualties as of yet, but not for lack of trying. One Tiger and one Starhawk VI were very close to biting it.

Third turn saw the destruction of the helipad, the Tiger and Starhawk going down and the Ronin moving forward and starting to lay into a Wolverine. The second transport unloaded infantry into base to base contact with the Regent and combined with covering fire from the Hedgehog inflicted four points of damage. Unfortunately my photographer and assistant model mover got bored by this point and ran off with the camera taking pictures of everything but the game.

The fourth turn was it as the first infantry team engaged the comms building and achieving the scenario goal. I didn't throw the game, though I'd occasionally ask if they really wanted to do something, then explain potential outcomes and why. Granted I wasn't playing cut throat, but I didn't do anything I wouldn't do against another opponent. Sometimes Michael and Zachary would inadvertently work against each other, like in the second turn, Michael parked a Starhawk right in front of a turret, blocking LOS. Played the rules mostly by ear as I still remember most of them, but I do admit to making a mistake in my favor, I misread the turrets' data card and thought they only had one ranged attack rather than two. Though I will say that if the scenario called for the exit of the raiders by the same edge they entered, the game most likely would've gone to the boys. If I run this one again, first, the turrets will get their full attacks, faction doctrines will be in play (though I'll probably have to remind the boys about them), probably swap the Ronin for tanks, and up the number of actions required to "destroy" a building.

Even with all the hullaballoo about CAV:SO, it was nice to get the BSRs out and smash things with the rules I like so much. I think I'm going to have to sit down one of these days and work out the house rules I want to use borrowing from Mil-Net's discussions along those lines. They boys had fun, though Zachary said he preferred the starship game (Starmada).