Thread: US Marines hit the Taliban

SorenK23 — 2008-06-21T19:44:46+00:00

After finally re-gaining some gaming space in my basement today, I ran a Chain Reaction 2.0 game of US Marines versus the Taliban. I used Battlefield: Evolution Middle East Alliance troops for the Taliban, and the Battlefield: Evo Marines for the "good guys."

Marines had to strike down the length of a 3'X 6' table, with the objective of getting inside a flat-roofed single-story outpost to find hostages supposedly kept there. The terrain consisted of rocky outcrops, ruined walls in front of the outpost, and one makeshift bunker in front of the entrance to the outpost.

A 5-man Marine squad on foot consisted of a Rep-5 sergeant, Sgt. Wilson, and four Rep-4 Marines, all carrying semi-auto rifles and grenades. The rifles counted as Target-2, Impact-2 weapons, with an 18-inch range [reduced to account for the small playing surface].

The Taliban got three converted pickups with LMGs mounted in their beds [LMG= Target 3, Impact-2, range-18 inches]; two members with rocket-propelled grenade launchers [Target-1, Impact-3, range 24-inches], and 12 Rep-3 grunts with various rifles, all counting as Target-1 and Impact-2 weapons with 18-inch range.

Marines' plan was to jump off from an arched rock outcrop at the far end of the table from the outpost, w/Sgt. Wilson and Pvt. Adams flanking right and PFCs Baker, Charles and Davis heading left. I naturally put Charles in charge of his group [bad TV show reference there].

But the Taliban had been tipped off, and had three soldiers positioned near the outcrop who opened fire as soon as the Marines got in range. The unexpected fire kept Charles' group pinned down and unwilling to move out. Wilson, though, took off with Adams to the right and took out the closest enemy with a perfect hip shot. Just as the body hit the sand, a Taliban pickup swept around a large boulder and sprayed Wilson and Adams with a quick burst from its LMG. Adams took a bullet through his visor and was instantly killed.

Undaunted, Wilson aimed his semi-auto at the oncoming pickup and took out the machine gunner then prepped a grenade. On the left, Charles gathered the nerve to head out, but as soon as his group left the relative safety of the outcrop they were in, Edwards took a round to the gut and was out of the fight. The Marines were already down two men and had just gotten started with their attack.

Wilson lobbed his grenade just under the front bumper of the oncoming pickup and the explosion managed to send it airborne and down on its top, putting the truck and driver out of commission. Charles and Davis got in a firefight and managed to take out two more Taliban before the 2nd of the 3 pickups headed straight for them. Davis calmly prepped a grenade and waited for the pickup to get right on top of them before tossing it and diving behind some rocks for cover. The grenade exploded just off the pickup's left-front tire and the driver swerved too sharply in reaction. The truck went up on two wheels and slammed into the rocks, killing the driver instantly and throwing the machine gunner to his death as well.

Things were suddenly looking much better for the Marines but they were still outnumbered, and another pickup was headed for Charles and Davis. They used the wreckage of the just-destroyed truck for additional cover and swung around to meet the remaining truck. This allowed two more Taliban to move up undetected, however, and they got within shooting range of the two Marines.

Back on the right flank, Wilson realized he had to move fast to have any hope of reaching the outpost before the rest of the enemy reacted, and began to dash from outcrop to outcrop. In Chain Reaction 2.0, a fast-moving target is harder to hit, and the relatively low Rep-3 Taliban continuously missed the Marine sergeant. Wilson's Rep of 5 allowed him to hit out-in-the-open targets on a D6 roll of 4-plus, and his Target-2 rifle gave him two shots per action. Wilson used this tactical advantage to take out three Taliban single-handedly during his dash to the outpost.

Meanwhile, the Taliban's remaining pickup swerved back and forth as it approached Charles and Davis, and the gunner was unable to hit anything but rock and sand. The two Marines took advantage of a wide skidding turn by the pickup to draw aim on the machine gunner, and their fire managed to pick him off before he could swivel the LMG around for return fire. They were now ready to begin their own assault on the outpost, though well behind the pace set by Sgt. Wilson.

Or so they thought. The two Taliban who had moved up undetected both opened fire just as the Marines moved out of cover. But the Talis were poor shots and were quickly downed by the Marines.

Wilson approached the bunker from a side angle to try to get a grenade inside it. Fortunately, there were enough large rocks in the way to provide cover as he advanced, and he avoided fire from the bunker and kept his cool rather than ducking back and hunkering down. Wilson could hear activity in the bunker as he swept around the corner and jammed a grenade into a firing slit. A muffled scream and loud explosion told him the bunker was no longer a threat. Two more dead enemy.

Charles spotted one of the RPGs on the roof of the outpost, but he was just out of range to hit it. But his fire prompted the RPG to fire back in reaction, and the grenade slammed into the rocks just behind him. The blast knocked Charles down, and his injuries would put him out of the fight. Three Marines out of action, two left.

Davis continued up the left flank, and soon heard the gunner-less pickup charging behind him. He dove just as the pickup roared on top of him and avoided getting run over and then lobbed a grenade that caused the speeding driver to swerve just enough to lose traction and slide into a large enough boulder to flip it over. A quick check of the driver showed him to be KO'd, and Davis resumed moving up the left.

Wilson had the outpost in range now, and as if he hadn't done enough already, he again became a one-man kill team. The Chain Reaction rules allows a side's leader to choose most of his reactions to things like gunfire and wanting to charge, and being at Rep-5 lets you pass most of your reaction tests anyway (only rolls of 6 on a reaction test are failures for a Rep-5). Wilson showed his hero status by killing three Taliban in two rounds of firing and causing a fourth to run away.

Davis got within shouting distance of Wilson and alerted him that two Taliban (the last of the enemy still fighting) were on the roof of the outpost, and one had an RPG. Still calm, Wilson ran for the outpost's front entrance, spraying shots as he ran. The fire dropped an enemy rifleman, and the RPG did not react in time to respond.

Davis kept the RPG busy with his own firing while Wilson searched the outpost. To his dismay, no one was inside, and there was no sign of any hostages ever having been kept there. He crept back outside and tossed a grenade on the roof, guided by signals from Davis. The grenade exploded and the RPG was dead before he fell from the roof and hit the ground.

Charles and Edwards would both survive their wounds -- Edwards' wound would eventually get him sent home, while Charles would spend a month at a nearby base hospital before returning to action. Wilson would receive two medals for his actions this day.

The game took about 40 minutes to play, and showed how well the Chain Reaction 2.0 rules work. They allow the higher-Rep "stars" of the game to shine while also punishing bad tactics. Not counting the Taliban pickup trucks, 12 of the 15 foot soldiers put out of action were shot when they were out in the open rather than in cover. The reaction tests also kept the Marines' left flank assault delayed as the Marines often chose to stay put rather than run forward as Sgt. Wilson did.
The game also shows that Rep-3 fighters only amount to anything when they come in large numbers.

And as can be seen in the files here, the Chain Reaction 2.0 rules are available for free. They are not as well written as more recent offerings from TwoHourWargames, but still very good. And they serve as the basis for TwoHourWargames more recent games, such as All Things Zombie, Nuts! and 5150.

Thread: Chain Reaction 2.0 now free

badinfo — 2008-03-22T08:32:27+00:00

Noticed this hadn't been posted here yet. Ed from Two Hour Wargames has made Chain Reaction 2.0 available as a free download from
www.twohourwargames.com

This is the full game, and serves as a good sample of the THW line of rules.

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Azzarc — 2007-06-08T21:06:32+00:00

Cover Art

Game: Chain Reaction 2.0 - Fully Loaded

Thread: US Marines hit the Taliban

Thread: Chain Reaction 2.0 now free

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