Re: [GZG] [GZG ECC XI] [AAR] Broadsword: The Raid

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Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:12:25 -0400
From: Mark Kinsey <Kinseym@ptd.net>
Subject: Re: [GZG] [GZG ECC XI] [AAR] Broadsword: The Raid

Tom,

Very well done AAR. Obviously a lot of work. Thank you for doing it. My
website for those pictures is at
http://clambo.com/GZG%20ECC%20XI/index.html

--> Once the formatting is done and pictures added, it'll be nicer yet.
I
also want to link in some references to the classic Traveller history.

I have a few minor quibbles, the TFL did not have any kind of rocket
launcher.

--> I am quite sure someone told me (and I thought it was you) that they
had
1 RL at the road entrance. But if you say not, I'm not going to put up a
fuss. :0)

The mercs are under contract for the Vilisan government which has kept
the planet of Garda-Vilis (it means "new Vilis") under it's heel, only
allowing a limited amount of manufacturing industries on planet. Before
the Vilisan gov't took over the planet was called Tanoose. Tanoose was a
failed colony, and the Vilisan government took over to "save" the
colonists. The rebellion forces are called the Tanoose Freedom League
even though almost no one on the planet is a descendant of the original
colony.

--> TANOOSE FOREVER! (Sorry, just having flashback....). I was going to
dig
out Broadsword (just finished stocking a large bookcase with more than
two
solid shelves of Traveller books...) and add in the description. What I
wrote in the AAR was mostly from memory and missing a lot of the
accuracy
one would want. I will correct that when I rework the AAR, possibly
tomorrow.

I have to agree with you about being generous in the judging the
scenario outcome and agree with your tactical assessment.

--> Thanks. I'm very happy I had friends to play with and a good game to
play. Win and loss only matters in a campaign sense (if there was one)
and
in learning how to do it better next time (as a player). I noted I have
also
missed Steve Barosi (sp?) as I see him in the pics, but that makes my
assessment of who ran what on the TFL side a bit suspect. I think Steve
ducked out early and ceded his forces to the others. Could you confirm
that?
Do you have any idea which units he was running when he was there?

--> Another funny note from the pics: My 'evacuation' of the TFL
leadership
in the gravcar was so stealthy and so effective that *no photographic
evidence exists*. Even the surveillance cameras on the cutters didn't
capture that move, even though it took 3 turns from start to completion.
<*chuckle*>

 Successful
merc players have used the Cutters to attack the roadblock on Turn one
(one shot for each squad).

--> I remember you telling me that, though I still think the bypass of
that
fixed defense is just as good. Either you make them come out of their
positions to move to the center of town (and kill them in the open) or
they
stay put and you fly past them again at full speed on the way out. You
can
shell them on later turns after the cutters have both landed cordon and
assault squads. Still, the 'cutters start as arty' plan is at least more
effective than what the Mercs in our game chose even if I think there is
a
slightly better approach.

Firing on buildings filled with
civilians or random trucks does not help.

--> This ROE violation occured in round one. Usually it takes at least
half
the game to get players into the spirit of blowing up anything in
sight....
(another exception was Tom McCarthy in a scenario I ran a while back...
the
minute he spotted vague signs of the enemy, he started hauling out the
artillery and calling in the troops... he knows me too well....)

What's fun about this for me is that I remember the scenario (and much
of the Traveller background) as being black and white. As an adult I
recognize the many shades of gray involved.

--> I think a lot of Traveller adventures, when revisited, have a lot of
potential for depth. I also find it humorous how many involved the
characters being outright crooks for no reason more than cash. That may
have
reflected some of the RP trends of the day more than anything. I can't
imagine most of my players stealing stuff or bootlegging food or
whatever
just to get credits. 20 year veterans with a pile of medals and a
pension
just wouldn't go there. At the same time, we have Striker, Broadsword,
and a
lot of potential for good SG games (Soft Bunk, the other adventure from
TAS
where your high tech mercs are escaping from a contract that folded when
the
sponsoring government did, etc).

I'll be running a scenario from the back of the Striker II rules called
"Strength on Strength" at TravellerCon/USA.
http://www.travellercon-usa.com/Info/

--> Never seen anything but the original striker. I think I might like
to
see how striker II is different. One of the interesting things for me
from
old Striker was that it was the first place I ran into written orders
and
communications in a game - that is, you had to tell your people what to
do,
and they kept doing it until you could tell them to do something else.
That
meant planning ahead. And writing good orders. Great stuff.

Also under consideration for TravellerCon is either running "Broadsword:
The Raid" again, or a sequel.

--> If you run the raid, I want to play on the Merc side. It would be
interesting to see if my approach plays out as I think it will.

I also have enough forces to run a Traveller:TNE scenario called
"Freedom's Call", again a scenario from the back of the Striker II
rulebook.

--> Do you know when the call for events is going out? I want to get in
on
that action, maybe run a game.

--> One last thing, Mark: For my TOE description: What was in the aircar
(or
who)? Was it armed? Also, do you mind if I collect from you your
'changes'
to vanilla SG and append them to the article? (Maybe I should get a full
TO&E with them and post it as a 'scenario' on stargrunt.ca credited to
you
and then I'll have both scenario and AAR).

TomB