Pushing even more toy soldiers about on the tabletop

I decided to make a few changes for my next play-test of my card-driven unit activation system ... but they were all to do with the location of the 'battle' and the two participants. I decided that I would set up a meeting engagement between two similar sized opponents (in this case the Nuevo Ricans and the San Theodorans) in the desert that forms part of the border between these two bellicose countries.

For this play-test I reverted to my original card-driven unit activation system. I allocated both sides appropriately coloured playing cards with values 1, 2, 3, and 4 from two packs of playing cards, and added two Jokers to the pack. The pack was thoroughly shuffled and placed face down. The top playing card was then turned over, and the side whose colour was on that card was allowed to activate up to the same number of units as the value of the card.

The rules used were a slightly modified version of MEMOIR '44.

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Scenario A small exploration team from one of the major American oil companies has been working in the desert border region between Nuevo Rico and San Theodoros ... and has found what they think might be oil-bearing rock. As a result both nations have claimed the desert as their own, and are determined to enforce their respective claims with a military presence in the area. Nuevo Rica and San Theodoros have sent small expeditionary forces into the desert to look for sources of water and to set up military posts.

Please click on the image to enlarge it.

Please click on the image to enlarge it.

Nuevo Rican Forces (Black)

• 2 x Infantry Units
• 1 x Armoured Unit
• 1 x Artillery Unit
• 1 x Aircraft Unit (This will appear when the second Joker is turned over)

San Theodoran Forces (Red)

• 4 x Infantry Units
• 1 x Artillery Unit

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The Battle The sequence of playing cards turned over was as follows:

• Red 1, Black 3, Red 4, Red 3, Black 1, Black 3, Black 2, Black 3

The situation after eight unit activation cards had been turned over.
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• Black 1, Red 2, Red 3, Red 2, Red 3, Red 1, Black 2, Red 2

The situation after sixteen unit activation cards had been turned over.
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• Joker: The pack was re-shuffled.
• Black 4, Red 2, Black 1, Red 4, Red 3, Black 1, Red 4, Red 3

The situation after twenty four unit activation cards had been turned over.
Please click on the image to enlarge it.

• Joker: The pack was re-shuffled and the Nuevo Rican Aircraft Unit became available.
• Red 2, Black 3

The arrival of the Nuevo Rican Aircraft Unit was devastating. Its first attack destroyed a San Theodoran Infantry Unit.
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• Red 4, Black 4

The Nuevo Rican Aircraft Unit's second attack wiped out the remaining crew member of the San Theodoran Artillery Unit.
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At this point I decided that neither side was going to win the battle. The Nuevo Rican's had managed to push back the San Theodorans at great cost, thanks mainly to the effectiveness of their Armour and Aircraft Units. The San Theodorans had inflicted a serious defeat on the Nuevo Rican Infantry Units and would have seized the border desert area had it not been for the Nuevo Rican Armoured and Aircraft Units.

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Conclusions I was much happier using this version of the card-driven unit activation system, and I think that I will continue to use it in future. The result of the battle was far more even than I had expected, although the arrival of the Nuevo Rican Aircraft Unit did ensure that the San Theodorans were not going to win.

The battle took about thirty minutes to fight, including taking the photographs. This means that I can fight several small battles during an afternoon or evening and still have plenty of time to record what happened as I go along. This is what I had hoped to achieve ... and I am very pleased with the result.