The Bots are Coming!

Like other wargaming blogs this blog also suddenly experienced a 'tsunami' of 'mysterious visitors' this September. All this sudden hits are presumably not 'real visitors' or human readers, but more likely 'Web Crawlers', 'Search Spiders' or 'AI Chatbots'. What they exactly was, what their mission was, where they actually came from and why, I don't know for sure. Let's assume it was 'AI chatbots' they were probably searching wargaming blogs to pick up more knowledge of the subject and learn more about wargaming? -And to perhaps also to learn to wargame?? 

This made me think if this 'phenomenon' could be transferred to a wargame, or to a scenario for a wargame? -The Bots are Coming! 

Preparing the game

To be able to transfer this to a skirmish wargame I needed to materialize some 'intelligent' bots into some kind of 'battle-machines'. The answer gave it self, and I searched Thingeverse for some free files that could be resized and 3D-printed to 54mm. It's skinny, but due to the period for my scenario it's probably an early model (T600 or pre T600):

Then they were given a very simple and basic paint job, and a couple of coats of 'blackwash':

The Rules

The Terminators cant't time-travle with weapons, so for this game they are unarmed and they'll only fight hand-to-hand. I think the free FUBAR wargame rules can be amended for a battle between a superior force in close combat VS. a larger seasoned force with ranged combat capacities. 

The Scenario

After several unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate Sarah Connor and preventing her to give birth to the future resistance leader John Connor, the AI defense network Skynet simultaneously tries to assassinate Sarah Connor's father before she's even born, and so to prevent the future birth of her and her son.

Before Sarah Connor was born in 1965, her father was a soldier and fought in an unnamed war. Skynet is therefore sending Terminators back in time to search different conflicts and battlefields in the early 60ies where they have recorded plausible 'Connors'.

In Eastern Congo, 1961 Sergeant Connor is leading a reinforced UN squad which has been ordered to hold a key junction near the village of Kalemie to keep Katangese rebels from moving supplies. The peacekeepers expect rebels — but instead, three T-600s step out of the jungle and advance relentlessly toward the crossing. -What are they, where do they come from and why are they here???

Forces:

• Terminators:
• 3 early and unarmed models of T-600 Terminators which activites independently.
• A Terminator automatically incapacitate a single human opponent per action in close combat.
• Terminators are fast, so I'll let them move 12" instead of 6".
• Terminators ignore moral checks and pinning.
• I will let the Terminators fight as 'Elite' and 'Heavy Tank'. They can be harmed by HMGs (.50 cal.) and RPGs. On early Terminators only their front was heavy armored, so these will have to roll for a save (2+) from small arms if hit from behind.
• Hit effects:
• 1-2: -2 to next activation only
• 3-4: Can only move half speed rest of the game
• 5: immobilized for rest of the game
• 6: Terminator destroyed

• UN :

All UN forces will fight as 'Seasoned' in this game. Their M1 rifles are semi automatic so I'll let them have 2FP on ranges less than 12".

• A squad of 8 soldiers armed with 1 SMG, 6 M1 rifles and 1 LMG are manning the UN-Check Point.
• A Bazooka unit with 3 soldiers armed with 1 bazooka (with armor piercing rockets), 1 SMG and  M1 rifle provides back up support.
• A Jeep with a crew of 3 armed with a .50 cal. HMG provides supporting cover for the Check Point. Luckily they trying out the new Multi Purpose ammunition from Norway.

Mission:

• Terminators: To eliminate the UN unit in search for 'Connor'.
• UN: To pacify the Terminators.

The Game

Time:    55 minutes 

Turns:   9

Result:  This point is a 'spoiler alert', isn't it? It's a win for the Sgt. Connor and his men, but I'm not sure it's a victory for humanity having a battlefield with future artificial killer technology scattered around. One of the 'bots' are even still on.

There are not Katangan Rebels who exits the Jungle and approaches the UN-Check Point outside Kalemie...

The Traffic Sentry shouts them to stop as they're approaching the Check Point. He has not seen 'things' like these before:

The Terminators are ignoring him and keep advancing. Following the Rules of Engagement he warns them that he will open fire if they don't stop:

The Terminators keeps advancing, and the Traffic Sentry gives them a final warning and shoots a warning shoot:

The warning shoot did not scare the terminators off or made them come to a halt. The Sentry aims carefully and fires against the closest Terminator. He can see that he hit, but with no effect at all:

The closest Terminator rushes towards the Traffic Sentry and lethally strike him. The 2 other Terminators changes course and advance towards the Cover Sentry and Search Team. Both the Cover Sentry and the Search Team open fires upon the advancing machines, and score several hits on them with no effect. Not even from their high rate fire LMG:

Sgt. Connor orders his men to retreat:

The UN Jeep covering the Check Point opens fire with it's 0.50 cal HMG, and hits the Terminator which killed the Traffic Sentry:

The UN HMG hits the Terminator with so many successfully shots, that the Terminator stumble backwards, looses balance and fall upon the Czech Hedgehog behind him. The Czech Hedgehog impales the Terminator, and the Terminator becomes immobilized for the rest of the game:

Sgt. Connor's squad are retreating, but the LMG Team falls behind. The UN-Jeep rushes forward and opens fire on the pursuing Terminators: 

Even if the Terminators are hit by several shots of the HMG it doesn't stop them, only slowing them down:

Soon the 2 Terminators catch up with the slow LMG team of Sgt. Connor's squad, and immediately takes out 2 of them:

Even if the UN HMG scores several hits on the Terminators, it doesn't stop them from taking out the last member of the LMG team:

While the Terminators starts advancing towards the Jeep and the threat it's HMG represents, they don't notice the Bazooka team sneaking up from behind:

When ready the Bazooka team aims carefully and fires an armor piercing rocket and hit one of the Terminators from behind, where it's weakest point is:

It was a lethal hit:

The last Terminator turned around and took aim to ram the Bazooka team...

...which made a daring move; They knew that they didn't have time to reload so they started to run towards the Terminator at the same time the Terminator approached them and beat the Bazooka gunner to death. The team leader and loader made to run past him. They immediately turned around and shot the Terminator in the back:

Another success by the 2 remaining members of the Bazooka team! The Terminator was finally Terminated:

Sgt. Connor didn't know he was the target for this mechanical 'kill team', and the androids did not know if they've targeted the right 'Connor'. 

Sgt. Connor gathered his men around the last Terminator impaled at the Czech Hedgehog struggling to get free, but...

... no official reports were given what happened next...

Conclusion

Ironically I used the AI bot ChatGPT to partially create this scenario and figure out a rifle-squad chance vs. a T-600 Terminator. 

I have a soft spot for the free FUBAR wargaming rules, and used the expertise in the FUBAR FB-group to check my suggested stats for the Terminators.

I really do recommend the FUBAR wargaming rules, and signing up to their FB-group. If you haven't tried these rules out, yet, I really recommend you to do.

Blog PostScript

My youngest son is autistic and is not interested in tabletop wargaming. He's very interesting in gaming characters though. While preparing for this game he came with some of his lates acquisitions and played following his own rules. -which I off course let him. In his game the robot (Metal Sonic) was the winner and the Terminators seemed chanceless.

Airfix 1/32 scale Railway Enthusiasts set - Making the set Airfix didn't

In some toy soldiers Facebook groups I follow there was a phenomenon of making AI-generated images of 'What-if' box art of 1/32 scale figure sets by Airfix, actually never made. This phenomenon was trending at the time I had attended 3 Railway Garden meetings in only 4 days, so I was heavily influenced by these impressions when making my contribution:

I also 'stretched' this phenomenon and challenge a little further by adding an image with a suggested content to my suggested 'what-if' Airfix box of 1/32 scale Garden Railway Enthusiasts:

These AI generated images by ChatGPT intrigued me to much that I imagined what these figures, if ever made, would look like beside Z-scale (1:220) or T-Gauge trains (1:450). I don't have any T-Gauge trains (yet), but I do have a starter set of Märklin Z-scale. There was only one way to actually find out, and that was to make the figures myself. So some suitable miniatures was scoured on Thingiverse, which I resized and 3D-printed to 1/32 scale /54mm:

I also found some engines and resized them to look right as garden trains for my 1/32 scale figures:

Then everything was given the simplest paint-job ever:

This is how my miniature garden railway enthusiasts in 1/32 scale looks beside a 1:220 scale train by Märklin. I wonder which scale this train will actually be in relation to the figures?

And here are a couple of video shorts running the train with my miniature garden railway enthusiasts:

 

This was a quick and fun little 'project'. What I'm going to use these hastily made miniatures for now I don't really know yet. Any suggestions?

Blog PostScript

As earlier mentioned, this Facebook phenomenon and challenge was initially about soldiers and  military sets. Last week when I posted a blogpost with some photos from a Norwegian model railway exhibition I'd been visiting, showing a Norwegian WW2 themed layout, Mark at the Man of Tin Blog 2 followed up with an epic blogpost on his Sidetracked blog on how this could be transferred to a wargame. Please have a visit on his blog to read about his ideas. One thing he suggests in his post is what kind of miniatures to substitute as 'WW2 Norwegians' in his wargaming ideas. Well, this blogpost was originally about Airfix What-ifs, so at least I can suggest the Box Art for Mark's Norwegians:

Line of Fire, Path of Light - A Naval Standoff by the Lighthouse in Dark Waters

I see fellow bloggers plays naval wargames from time to time. Some really 'small scale' and others as part of scenarios in larger 'Toy Soldier scale'. This made me want to try out some naval wargames myself. Earlier this year I 3D-printed some naval 'Benchies' for a 'Benchy Battle', which I also used for Battle Benchy Board Game. Despite being Benchies I thought I could use them for other naval games too if I found some interesting budget rules to play.

The Rules

This year I've also played a wargame with 'Basic Battle 2.0' rules by Grey Army Gaming. These are very generic rules which can be used for a lot of different (war-) games. - Even for simple naval wargames as suggested by the game designer. So despite not being specific Naval wargame rules, I think 'Basic Battle 2.0' will work even better for a small naval standoff than my Old West shootout. 

Preparing the game

I already had 2 small Fleets to meet each other in combat. But the sea is an open area so I wanted to add some visual interests and obstacles which the ships needed to avoid, and force them to maneuver around. From my 'Benchy Battle' I already had some 'islands' and wrecks of sinking ships. I wanted to add a some of more obstacles to my battlefield and 3D printed an island with a lighthouse and some more rocks to serve as small island and cliffs (which I probably also can use as desert rock terrain in other wargames):

I also 3D-printed some mine-field markers, which would work as obstacles (but not cover) and force the ships to move around them. These were simply just 3D-printed in 2 colours and kept unpainted:

The Scenario

The Lighthouse in Dark Waters are located in a very disputed border area between The Republic of Benchy (Navy B) and The Free State of Benchy (Navy A). Navy B has moved into the waters and laid mines to claim the waters as their own. The minefields are now guarded by Navy B. The Navy A flotilla will try to gain control over Dark Waters and the Lighthouse by making Navy B step down or defeating them.

Forces:

• Navy A:

From left to right; Gunboat (3 wound number), Corvette (4 wound number) and Battleship (6 wound number)

• Navy B:

From left to right; Battleship (6 wound number), Corvette (4 wound number) and

Gunboat (3 wound number)

Mission:

• For both navies; To eliminate the opponent to gain control of the waters of the Lighthouse outside 'Benchy Islands'.

The Game

Time:    1 hour and 30 minutes 

Turns:   21

Result:  Technically a win for Navy A in turn 13, and a definitely win for Navy A in turn 21.

The Republic of Benchy's Navy (Navy B) has positioned their ships around the Lighthouse to protect the minefields they have laid in the waters as to claim the waters as their own:

The Free State of Benchy also make claims to the 'Dark Waters' surrounding the lighthouse, and send a flotilla (Navy A) to force Navy B to retreat and leave the waters:

When the Navy A's Gunboat tries to break through the outer minefield, Navy B's Battleship and Gunboat instantly opens fire. -And scored a hit:

This did not prevent the Navy A's Gunboat to return the fire against it's equivalent foe. As did the Navy A's Corvette and Battleship as they were approaching. The incoming fire was massive and Navy B's Gunboat got hit and changed course to seek cover behind an island:

The Navy A Gunboat decided to pursuit the fleeing Gunboat from Navy B, but received another volley of fire and another hit by Navy B:

The Navy A Gunboat opened fire again against the Gunboat B as it was maneuvering into Line-of-sight, but missed. By this time The Navy A Corvette was sneaking around the island from the other side:

Both Navy A' Gunboat and Corvette decided to ram the Navy B Gunboat from both sides, and succeed:

The Navy A Corvette decided to reverse into cover and out of LoS, as the Navy B's Battleship was approaching the scene:

When the Navy B's Battleship entered the scene it immediately opened fire on the Navy A Gunboat, but missed:

The Gunboat tried to outflank the Battleship by going further into the minefield. -But it didn't move fast enough and received a direct and final hit:

Both Navies had lost their Gunboats now:

Meanwhile the Navy A Battleship had entered the waters east of the lighthouse, and opened fire on the Navy B's Corvette; And scored a hit:

The Navy B Corvette returned the fire but missed:

This was developing into a duel as Navy A's Battleship opened fire again, and scored a critical hit to Navy B's Corvette:

While Navy B's Corvette was returning fire again, the Navy A's Battleship moved towards the Corvette and it's shot missed:

Moving into point-blank-range the Battleship fired at the Corvette again but missed:

The Corvette returned the fire again and did not miss:

The Battleship was still moving and rammed the Corvette bow-to-bow:

It was a success as the Navy B's Corvette sunk:

Now Navy A's Battleship could take up the hunt for Navy B's Battleship (which had recently sunk the Navy A's Gunboat at this point), but the shell fell short:

Navy B's Battleship was now fighting this battle alone, and opened fire against Navy A's Corvette and scored a hit:

It opened fire against the Corvette again before it managed to move away, and scored another hit:

But Navy A's Battleship was closing in from behind and opened fire again. Another miss:

After receiving two hits Navy A's Corvette decided to maneuver away and get some distance to Navy B's Battleship, which opened fire again but missed:

Navy A's Battleship was closing in on it's foe equivalent and opened fire again, but missed:

Since Navy A's Corvette was not to be seen, Navy B Battleship turned around and opened fire on Navy A's Battleship on point-blank-range and scored a hit:

The distance between those two Battleships was very short by this point, so Navy A's Battleship rammed the other bow-to-bow unsuccessfully. By this time the Navy A Corvette had re-entered the battle and was closing in on Navy B's last ship:

Navy B's Battleship saw the risk of being outflanked and turned around and was hastily steering out of Dark Waters:

Both Navy A ships gave the Navy B's Battleship a salvo and scored one hit. The game was technically over at this point as the Navy B was driven away from the waters:

But the Navy B's Battleship was still in pretty good condition, and it knew that both the Navy A ships was starting to take a toll, so it decided to return to have another try to fend the intruders off:

Navy B's Battleship opened fire on the enemy Corvette as soon as it got in sight, but the maneuver was too fast and it missed:

Now both Navy A ships opened fire on the B Battleship, and scored a couple of hits:

As the Navy B's Battleship seemed to be outflanked again, it turned around and rammed Navy A's Battleship...

...but did not manage to cause any damage to it. Being danger close the Navy A's Battleship set full reverse and backed out of this danger situation while firing (but missed):

Then the Navy A's Corvette opened fire and managed to hit with a shell:

Navy B's Battleship tried to move out of the situation again, but was moving very slowly. Perhaps it had taken too much damage already. Navy A's Battleship opened fire one more time and hit with another shell:

Navy B's Battleship was so heavily damaged now, so the Navy A Corvette gave full throttle and rammed the Battleship mid-ship:

It was a successful attack, and made Navy B's Battleship sink. It seems that the flotilla sent by The Free State of Benchy completed it's mission with minimum loss, and re-claimed sovereignty of Dark Waters by the lighthouse again.

Conclusion

Don't be put off just because these rules are named  'basic' and originally targeted at kids. I've played by these rules before, but then with figurines. I think these rules worked great, almost even better, with vessels or objects as well. I had a great time playing them, and really recommend you to try them out as well. The rules for Basic Battles 2.0 can be found on this link.