KA-#%%^#$%^$##$%-BOOM! CR 2015 . . . with Grenades!

Col. Vondel of Germany, having lost most of his squad in a recent battle, fled to the town of Basque.  Reduced to using only pistols, they found a cache of grenades and decided to literally go out with a bang.  Meanwhile, Major Lockheed of the United States Army arrived in the town, and his troops had also come upon the explosives.  Vondel thought no one would be stupid enough to trade explosives in such a small town.  Vondel had never before met Americans.

The purpose of this game was simply to have fun blowing people up.  Everyone was armed with grenades and pistols (in case they couldn't ready a grenade in time).  Vondel and Lockheed are Rep 5, while everyone else is Rep 4.  Once again, Radio Operators allow their group to act as Rep 5 for Activation and Reaction tests.

This battle is set up with Vondel's forces in Black on the left and Lockheed's forces in Blue on the right.

In addition, I created a house rule for Grenades versus Buildings.  Here's how it works:

• Every time a grenade goes off (not counting misses), a Blast Circle is placed.
• At the end of every round, I count every Blast Circle touching a building.
• I then roll 2d6 versus the number of Blast Circles for that building.
• Pass 2d6:  Building collapses.  On Doubles, the rubble can still be used for cover.
• Pass 1d6:  Building is Damaged (Orange circle).  +1 to number of circles for rest of game.
• Pass 0d6:  No damage.

The battle started with both sides remaining in cover and tossing grenades close to their opponents' positions.  This did little damage to troops, but the buildings felt the effects.

After the first round of combat, several buildings were crippled and one was reduced to pieces, though allied forces could still hide behind the debris.  And while a few troops got singed, no one suffered serious injury . . .

 Then a soldier, whose name must be German for, 'Butter-fingers,' lost control of a grenade and got a face full of shrapnel as his buddy just barely dove away from it.  Unfortunately for him, he ended up flat on his chest while American troops opened fire.  Now, this guy's name must have been German for, 'Dodge,' because he managed to roll and avoid all incoming fire (None of the American troops could ready their grenades in time).

One American soldier decided to leap over the debris he was hiding behind and launch himself at the enemy.  The German soldiers saw him first and both pulled out their grenades.  Unfortunately again, it seems Mr. Butter-fingers had a brother.  And this time, neither avoided the blast.

One German, though, decided to get brave and charged forward, chucking a grenade at Lockheed and his ally.

"Incoming!" the soldier yelled.
"Oh &#@&!"  Lockheed yelled as they both dove back into the street.

This, however, put them right into Vondel's line of fire, and the two group exchanged fire before Lockheed's group sled into an alley.

Seeing the advantage, Vondel ordered his troops to continue their assault, driving the Americans even farther back.  When grenades failed, they rushed forward, firing wildly at their foes.

This hasty move coast them dearly as Lockheed chucked a grenade right at them.  "Catch!"

And Vondel did just that.  The grenade went off in his hands, and one other soldier was dead before he could face-palm.  The remaining soldier opened fire and caught Lockheed in the chest with a lethal shot (Star Power succeeded once but failed the second time).  The last two Americans turned and bolted from the town, giving the wins to the Germans.


Overall, it was a fun and quick game.  Since troops kept tossing grenades at the corners of alleys instead of directly at opponents, I rolled fewer In Sight tests, which sped up the game.

Next time I'll be running my first High Moon game, which is a new game from THW and covers the supernatural wild west!