City Patrol AAR

Following the release of Chain Reaction 3.1, I played a small game using the good old Patrol scenario... as usual, the text between brackets is additional commentary about the game and the rules, and may be safely ignored by those interested only in the narrative.

In this case, a city is being contested between the national military and a rebel paramilitary force. The military have established a foothold in a commercial neighborhood but they are concerned that the rebels might want to take it back, so they must keep patrols around the area.

For this game, a recon team has been assigned one of these patrols. They are sergeant Higgins (in the center), pvt. Jones (on the left) and pvt. Krantz. [Higgins is a Rep 5 star, armed with a shotgun. The others are Rep 4 grunts with submachine guns.] I played the game with 15mm miniatures halving all distances.

The team entered the board through the southeast section. Everything was silent, as the shops and offices were closed down due to the conflict. The streets were filled with debris and even some abandoned cars. [It is not possible to see the PEFs because they are behind buildings. The humvee provides cover, the overturned taxi provides cover and blocks line of sight.]

The soldiers advanced towards the closest building, wary of nearby sounds. At first they were relieved that the sound came from an empty soda can, pushed by the wind. However, moments later Krantz spotted an enemy soldier before he could hide behind a distant building. [The first PEF moved closer and resolved as nothing but nerves. The second PEF resolved as a single Rep 5 enemy soldier far away. I assumed that he used his allowed 2" movement before the In Sight test to hide back, as he was outnumbered.]

Worried about a possible ambush, the team rushed to take cover behind the abandoned humvee. Higgins ordered Krantz to keep watch, while he and Jones were to move forward, towards the turned taxi. [The team made a successful fast move to reach the humvee. Notice that the last PEF is behind the cab.]

Higgins and Jones moved around the cab and met another enemy soldier! [The last PEF resolved as another Rep 5 soldier. I rolled the new In Sight test and the soldier won. Since I was not sure if he would concentrate fire on one figure or fire at both, I randomly allocated his shots.]

The enemy soldier sprayed his submachine gun at the surprised soldiers. A bullet glanced Higgins' helmet and he instinctively dropped to the ground, while Jones was missed completely. As Jones hurried to take cover behind the taxi, Higgins fired his shotgun at an awkward angle (being on the ground.) While he missed the enemy soldier, this also made him go to the ground. A moment later, the enemy soldier stood up, faster than Higgins, and shot him again, a bullet grazing his arm [actually, he got an Obviously Dead result but i was saved by star power.]

The other enemy soldiers appeared from behind the building, surprising both Krantz and Jones. He opened fire with his submachine gun, wounding Jones who had just moved to hide from the other enemy. [I ran an In Sight test between the three "groups" of single soldiers, each counting as their own temporary leader. The enemy won and fired at Jones. As Krantz was far from Jones, he did not need to make a Crisis test.]

As the enemy soldier was exposed, Krantz fired at him and managed to take him down. Likewise, Higgins rose to a kneeling position and hit his opponent with his shotgun.

After this firefight, the team retrieved the wounded Jones, captured the two wounded enemy soldiers and completed the patrol mission without further incident. Back at the base, Jones' wounds were treated and he recovered well. This encounter with the enemy was evidence that the rebels were indeed sending scouts to probe the area.