Review: Four Against Darkness

Overview
Four Against Dark is a new title from Ganesha Games, probably best know for their skirmish rule set A Song of Blade and Heroes. Four Against Darkness has nothing to do with SoBH though they share the simplicity in the rules making it very easy to pick up. So what is Four Against Darkness? It is not a wargame, nor is it a RPG, but rather something in between or completely different. It is a solo dungeon crawler that will take you back to the very old days. If you feel the urge it can also be played cooperatively, but will probably be taking some more time due to discussions on what to do.

So what do you need to play? The rules (of course), pen and paper (graph paper is a good thing) and two D6. In the latest of update of the rules you will get small pocketmod books that has all the tables you need plus a log book for your adventures, perfect for 1 hour train travels etc.

It has your favorite RPG classes, warrior, wizard, rouge, cleric etc (8 to choose from in the basic rules). Weapons and armor fall in light, normal or heavy/two handed and weapons can be crushing or slashing (yep - crushing works like a charm against skeletons). Your most important stat is your level as this will often be used as modifier for various rolls.

You have to pick for characters (hence the title) and then enter a dungeon. Both the starting place and subsequent layouts of the dungeon is handled by dice rolls. Your ultimate goal is to get to the "end" of the dungeon and overcome the final boss. But that won't cut it alone though - you have to get out as well. And every time you revisit a room there is a change that you will get attacked by wandering monsters. Your characters can level up during the game and you can level up to level 5 in total, although some classes have lower max levels.


The rules
The rules them selves are very easy to get and you will be on the ground running to (or from) your first monsters in no time. The hardest parts are to figure out which bonues/penalties you have on your rolls but that will come natural to you in just a few rooms. You will be flipping a bit through the rules between the tables for monsters and treasure as well as the different pages with the dungeon layout. Unfortunately I also found that a few things regarding combat were scattered in different places rather then be explained in one place.

A few examples:
- How to divide the attack roll by the minions level is not described in "How to attack monsters", but under "Encounters". Would be a good place to have it under attack.
- I felt my self flipping through the rules many times, finding small exceptions or rule explanations here and there. For example - leveling, it would be nice to have everything regarding this in one place. Vermins does NOT add to the minions tally, only minions does. But vermin is first described as minions - took some time to figure out. Also that minions xp roll are at -1, would be nice to have written in the leveling up section.

Also I found that the dungeon layouts were drawn on graph paper, but the lines are rather difficult to see at times when reading on electronic devices. If you print it out the lines are easier to see. I also think an index would help in finding rules etc during play as some of the headlines in the contents section isn't descriptive enough. 

But these ARE minor things and nothing that should stop you from getting into the game at all. 

Over all the rules have a nice layout and is a very easy read. The drawings help with the old school feel of everything and if you don't get the flashbacks to old days of roleplaying and dungeon bashing I don't know what will. 

Recap of my first adventure
Just a short description of my first game, a full report will go up as well. In short I picked a wizard, a cleric, a rouge and a warrior and headed in to the dungeon. I should have read the rules just a tad better, especially the part about using a "play area" of 20 by 28 squares, give and take a few. But I just went on to fill about half an A4 page worth of dungeon (thats ruoughly 41 by 58 squares). As you may remember you need to get out of the dungeon as well ánd you have to check for wandering monsters each time you back track a room so going to 40+ rooms make a LOT of rooms to go through on your way out. I managed to survive only because I found an alternate exit near where I was at the end of my game. Even with most of the part leveled up to 3 the way back would have been a hard walk.

I managed to meet the final boss, but the quest I took was what kept me going further. In the end I had to abandon the quest. The game took far longer than it should have, but I have been playing on and off and during television watching and I could probably have done it an hour or a bit more had I stayed at 20 by 28 squares. 

I will definately build on the characters and have them enter another dungeon or two. 


Conclusion
I had a blast playing this game even if I goofed up the space I needed. Once this review and the write up of the first game is done I am diving back into the next (smaller) dungeon. If you have to spend $8 somewhere put them on this. I can't wait for more expansions coming out with more spells and stuff, but the current rules will give me lots of games of fun. I haven't had so much fun playing a solo game for a long time and I love the way the stories weave them selves when you play. So go get them and give a shot, you won't regret it!

So, what are you waiting for? Go get them here : http://www.ganeshagames.net/product_info.php?cPath=1_55&products_id=295


Extra - Competition
Also if you write up a detailed review or post a batrep you can participate in the competion here :
"4AD Competition! Win LIFETIME products.
 To enter, you must purchase a copy of 4AD through Ganeshagames.net and write up one or more playthrough reports of the game, and publish them on social media (Facebook, Twitter, G+, etc) or on your gaming-related blog. The more reports you write, the more chances you get to win. Unleash your purple prose and tell us about the glorious victories or the rotten luck of your heroes. Post photos of your completed dungeons on Instagram! Use the #4AgainstDarkness hashtag and always add a link to the product page.

Make sure that each report includes a link to the product on Ganeshagames.net and send an email to andreasfiligoi@gmail.com to let us know of it. The competition ends on May 24th (2016), Andrea's birthday. On the 25th, Andrea will put all names in a hat and draw a winner who will get a LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION to all 4AD products (or a minimum value of $50 in other products should 4AD be discontinued). That's it: the winner will receive for free every new adventure or supplement we publish for 4AD. "

#4againstdarkness

Project Bleeding Sun, gathering intelligence

This AAR is a playtest for my first scenario in a small campaign that is inspered by the TV show Strike Back (season 2-5). The rules are the latest Chain Reaction from 2 Hour Wargames

The mission for the two operatives is rather simple; enter the hotel, go to the second floor, locate room 201 and search it for intelligence about an elusive terrorist. After this is done, exit the hotel through the front entrance again.

Accomplishing these two objectives will give 2 and 1 mission points (MP) respectively. 

It is expected that there is very little enemy activity so no body armor or heavy weapons is needed for this mission. Civic clothings and pistols only.

As I don't have any terrain that matches I put together what I have assembled of the Battle Systems Scifi Terrain and had a go at it (not that much cover in general). The TAU's made it up for the possible foreign agents and the green pyramid thingys are PEF markers.

I will also be referring to both the scenario and my campaign rules which will remain on my computer until they both are done. Questions are of course more than welcome!

My operatives start at the entrance and rolled for PEF location as well. My scenario states that only 1 PEF is present on the ground floor.

I rolled for the PEF side (red dice) and rolled a 2 for PEF placement on the ground floor. Section 2 it is then. That is the staircase leading up. With no interveening terrain we would roll for In Sight right away. 

TURN 1

FOREIGN AGENTS : 5

OPERATIVES : 6

No one got to move. (PEFs have a reputation of 4 and my two operatives only had a reputation of 5)

TURN 2

FOREIGN AGENTS : 1

OPERATIVES : 5

I scored highest and moves first.

The PEF needs to be resolved so I roll 2 dice (d6) and pass 2 dice vs PEF REP 4, passing both with 3 and 4.

Moving to my own PEF resolution table I roll a 1 for a REP 5 foreign agent with a machine pistol. Obviously the leader of the foreign agents.

After I place him on the table we roll In Sight. Each side rolls the amount of dice that they have in REP so both sides roll 5 dice. 

The Operatives scores 1,2,2,3 and 5 for a total of 4 successes (<4 = success). The unknown agent scored 1,3, 4,5 and 5 for a total of 2 successes.

My operatives wins. As we had just entered the hotel and the agent was at the other end of the hotel up on the stairs and no pistols was out yet I deemed that we would just move forward towards the stairs. At this point I decided that we should be within 12" inches order to see that the opponent was carrying firearms.

I decided to fast move with the team, aiming to get to the second floor fast. 

Two 5's meant that both operatives would move 16" (4" per passed dice)

The grey thingy on the floor indicates where the new In Sight test would be triggered due to both sides being aware that the other teams was armed.

After moving into in sight range, the grey thing now indicates how much the operatives have left on their move.

I rolled a new In Sight test:

The agent scored 2,2,4,4 and 6 for 2 successes

The operatives scored 1,2,3,4 and 6 for 3 successes. The operatives get to fire first.

I rolled a 5 and a 3 (both carrying pistols only). Operative A hit the agent with a total of 10, while the other missed with a total of 8 (due to fast moving)

I rolled a 3 on the ranged damage table. This wasn't equal to the targets REP or higher so I only got a duck back result. As there was no cover whatsoever on near the agent on this floor, I ruled that his obvious move would be to flee upwards to the first floor, in effect moving him out of sight.

As he went completely out of sight I deemed him to become an extra PEF on the first floor (there is only supposed to be on PEF on the first floor) I rolled for the Agent leader and got a 1 thus placing him in section 1 (room 105) next to the stairs.. All good as it fits with the story. The other PEF is rolled for and I get a 6 which equals section 6 and room 104)

TURN 3

My Operatives are still on the ground floor so I roll for activation

FOREIGN AGENTS : 3

OPERATIVES : 6

Ouch... I win, but have no REP 6 or higher, so the PEFS get to move. A 3 on the activation roll means that they move one section counter clockwise. First PEF moves to room 103 (section 4) and the other moves to room 106 (section 3) next to the stairs.

TURN 4

FOREIGN AGENTS : 5

OPERATIVES : 3

Luckily the PEFs won't do anything as they rolled a 5 and they are only REP 4 (the agent leader will become a 5 again when he is resolved)

As the fastmove pretty much ruined my shooting before I decide to just move them up normally to the next floor, no PEFs in sight. I decide that they now want to clear the floor before moving up to the target room and thus they will split up and search one side of the rooms each. Best not to have any surprises coming from below when we move further up the hotel.

TURN 5

Next turn yields a double 2 so I reroll.

TURN 6

FOREIGN AGENTS : 3

OPERATIVES : 5

I win and get to move first. I move operative A to the door to room 105 and let him roll for opening it. 

2d6 vs REP:

2 passed = door opens

1 passed = retry test

0 passed = wait for next turn. 

He rolls 2d6 and gets 4,4 and opens the door and sees the empty room.

Operative B does the same, rolls 2d6 and gets 1,4 also opening the door. CONTACT!!

I roll a 5 and a 1 vs the PEFs REP 4, passing only one dice. Nothing here PHEW, but the next PEF will be resolved with 3d6 as per the normal resolution table in CR. Or not.... I decide that the next PEF will auto resolve to the leader so Operative A may be in for a suprise in a moment.

Now the PEF moves, a 3 on the activation dice means one section move counter clockwise so he moves to room 101 (section 7)

TURN 7

FOREIGN AGENTS : 1

OPERATIVES : 2

I go first again, once more Operative A takes the lead moving into the hallway followed by Operative B. Nothing more happens.

(forgot to move the PEF - DOH!)

TURN 8

FOREIGN AGENTS : 5

OPERATIVES : 2

PEF goes first, once more counter clockwise, which means he will move out into the hallway in sight of Operative A. The pillars blocks LOS to Operative B.

Operatives rolls 1,2,2, 5 and 6 for 3 successes, Agent rolls 1,1,3,5 and 6 for 3 successes. As the Agent is moving he needs to have more successes than my Operatives so Operative A wins and fires at the agent. An abysmal 2 gives me 7 total (REP + dice) for a miss. The agent must take a recieved fire test. 

A roll of 1 + 5 passes the test. He is not outgunned so he returns fire. A machine pistol has a target of 3 so I roll 3 dice and add it to his REP: 3,3 and 4 for two 8 and a 9. 3 hits on my fine operative :(, I roll for damage getting a 2 and two 5's meaning I have one Duck Back and two Out Of the Fight. Time for some star power... I roll my 5d6 (1 for each REP) and gets 2,3,5,5 and 6. 1-3 means reduce damage one level, so my 2 and 3 reduces the OOF to Duck Back and Operative A throws him self forward to get some cover from the pillar. The two 5's I don't need but I retain the dice. The lone 6 means that the damage stays as with 4-5, but the dice is lost. Operative A is now down to 4 star dice for the remainder of the game.

My turn! Operative A moves to the corner of the pillar, triggering a new In Sight test

Operatives 1,2,2,2 and 4

Agents 4,4,4,4 and 6

Operative A wins it hands down and fires back with a 4, getting 9 on the ranged combat table - a HIT! A dice is rolled for damage and I get a 6 which is Obviously Dead!! 

Search downed enemey 2d6 vs rep

2 : find intel - one extra MP

0-1 : nothing here

I roll two dice to search him and find some interesting intel, worth 1 extra point of MP. The intel is not used in the campaign but the extra MP will be ;)

There are no PEFs left on this floor so they quickly clear it and move to the second floor. (which luckily looks the same so I only need to close the doors and place some PEF's)

I roll a 1 and a 4 thus placing them in room 205 and 203

Agent fires at Operative A

Which causes a Duck Back and he dives into the cover of the pillar

Operative A moves to the corner of the pillar and takes out the Agent

TURN 9

I roll for activation

FOREIGN AGENTS : 2

OPERATIVES : 4

I win and move Operative A to the door of room 205 and tries to open it. He passes one dice (5,6) and rerolls for a 2,3 which opens the door to a PEF! I pass 2 dice (2,3) and rolls on my mission table (UNKNOWN AGENTS). A 4 means I get a REP 4 agent with a pistol, nice not to be out-gunned this time.

In Sight check begins.

Operatives 1,2,3,5,6

Agent 1,2,4,4

I have more successes (3 vs 2) so I win, and Operative A fires and scores a 5 for a nice fine 10 on the ranged combat table. A hit.. A damage roll of 4 gives me an out of the fight result. Operative A moves in to finish him off.

Operative B moves up to the door on the other side and attempts to open it. A 1 and 6 means only one dice passed, but reroll. This time a 4 and 5 meaning the door opens to reveal an empty room.

PEF's turn.. a 2 on the activation dice means I should move it 1 section clockwise.. That would be through the wall where Operative A is, so I decide to move him out in to the hallway. If no operatives had been in room 205, I would have moved it there instead.

The PEF sneaks into the hallway

And enters Room 204 just as Operative B returns to the hallway

TURN 10

FOREIGN AGENTS : 6

OPERATIVES : 5

PEFs move first, into room 205 (sneaky bastard, crossing the hallway while my operatives are in the other rooms.)

My turn, Operative A moves to the downed agent taking him out and rolling for intel, passing 2 dice (5,5)... 1 MP more in the bag.

Operative B  moves out into the hallway and moves to room 205.

TURN 11

FOREIGN AGENTS : 4

OPERATIVES : 3

The agent wins and a 4 means moving clockwise so on to room 202 (section 9).

Operative B moves to the door and tries to open it, passing with 2 dice (1,4)

Operative A leaves room 205 and moves out into the hallway to get to the next room. 203

TURN 12

FOREIGN AGENTS : 6

OPERATIVES : 4

PEF moves first, a 6 means moving into the hallway, but there is no LOS to Operative A so nothing happens.

Operative A moves forward to room 203 which triggers the PEF resolution. A roll of 5 and 6 vs PEF REP 4 means that I passed 0 dice. Nothing was there. Had I not had any encounters this would have meant I passed 2d6 instead.

As there are no PEF's left my operatives can search the floor without interuption, thus securing the information that was the primary objective. They will also be able to exit the hotel through the front lobby which was the secondary objective.

The mission was a success!!

Primary objective gives me 2 MP, the secondary gives me another 1 MP and my two successful searches yielded another 2 MP's for a total of 5 MP. 

Open Combat on the table

My search for THE skirmish level set of rules has taken me to a lot of corners of our hobby. The latest find was the new Open Combat from Second Thunder. I am not really sure what drew me to this set of rules besides the fact that I am searching for something that can offeset the stalemate situations that I have experienced so often with Songs of Blade and Heroes. 

And while I love the engine in SoBH a lot of the games ended in a group in the middle with the winner often being the one that could pile the most miniatures into the fray.  This is not entirely the rules fault as many of the situations might have been avoided or dimmed down had the scenarios helped out. Alas... I am still looking for a set of rules that in it self doesn't get bogged down in the meele part and I decided to test out Open Combat. It only about 2 months old at the time of this posting so there aren't that much information to be found around the net yet as to how the game actually plays. Carl, the author posted up a 7 minute video today that explains how it works. Something I didn't have at the time of purchase.

See the video here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53W14yxgqQA&feature=youtu.be

The rules are very nicely presented with excellent pictures, easy readable rules and the system is quite simple to learn. I won't go into details about how the rules work here, but rather describe what happened during our test game this saturday.

I had prepared my warband from home, but my friend borrowed the rule book and statted up his warband just before the game started. Neither of us looked towards balance and even while some of his stats were way above my own, the system evened it out so that it was still playable. Good thing!!

We had two major fights and where as most AAR shots from SoBH games would show the same picture turn after turn, we had a lot of movement here. It was obvious that Tiny and Reiner were a force to be reckoned with in the center as they kept pushing me back. Some of it came from Reiners two handed weapon and his furious attack that pushed all three enemies away from him at times. 

On the right flank my leader Krass pushed Reiners Goreboys back with the help of a construct. And where the underdogs succeeded in defeating Reiner in the center, his Goreboys weren't as lucky. 

It was a very enjoyable game and we would have tried to more games on sunday had the convention not closed down on us. 

The rules for both ranged and meelee are so close that with just a few combat situations you will have them in your head and can concentrate on the gaming. 

The only real downside to the game is that you have to keep track of wounds to both body and mind in order to see if your warband reaches it breakpoint. Some paper tally would probably come in handy here. 

Currently there are no expansions etc, but both fantasy stuff, solo play and other things is on the drawing board. 

This has definately not been the last time I have played these rules, they are well worth the £10. 

The Gimp deployed in front of my left flank Undead Construct

The Gimp qucikly dispatched while things are getting up close and personal in the middle and on the right flank.

My leader Krass Omenthrall engages two Gore Boys with another Undead construct in support. Reiner Bloodgore is advancing on his own in the center.

My last Undead construct begins to engage the troll "Tiny" while my Priest Deckard stays in the back watching Reiners advance.

Combat in progress. Reiner has no problem fighting both Deckard and the Undead Construct. Tiny interferes from time to time and forces back the enemy where Reiner wanted them close.

Three Goreboys attacking Krass and the undead construct. Where Reiner pushes his foes back in the center, Krass does the same here. Even being attacked from the front and back doesn't stop him.

One Goreboy down, two more to go. 

Even with Tinys help Reiner ends up getting caught between Deckard and a construct. The attacks from both sides pushes him back and fore into the deadly blades. As he falls mortally wounded to the ground the rest of his warband losses their fighting heart and flees the battlefield.

20mm WW2 US Airborne (and some modern spetznas)

So... everything has been awfully quiet for a long time.. no surprise there ;)

Before christmas I managed to paint up 14 spetznas for some Chain Reaction/5150 gaming in Afghanistan with my son. It was one of the first times I did the painting before applying sand... which means that there still is no sand on them.. 

But now the time has come. I have begun working on my US Airborne (will probably be painted up as 101st although they will most likely be playing some 82nd scenarios at some point). The paratroopers are ready to get some sand on them and then I will throw in the spetznas as well in that process.

The last picture line up is as follows:
Top left and down:
- 2 man Artillery FO
- 2 man light mortar team
- 3 man AT crew
- 2 man bazooka team
- 3 man HQ team

Top right and down:
 1st squad
2nd squad

I was planning on buying Face of Battle when/if it reemerges, but until then they will be used for NUTS!, Chain of Command and the recently aquired Bolt Action.  I can only muster 2 sections albeit fairly large at 12 man each, so not sure if it will fit in with any if the rules but I think I have enough other teams (.30cal, .50cal,80mm mortar team, 6 pathfinders + 4 spare rifles and 1 thompson extra). They will just have to make do with what they have. 

I have a 57mm AT gun as well for the crew so they should be able to deal some damage at least.
As for vehicles I think I have a Stuart to support them, but I will probably get a Sherman or two... since I have both a pzIVH and a Stug for the germans.

That's it for now, next update when I begin applying actual paint!

Packing for Horisont:V and following BS Kickstarter

Once more an update without any miniature work done.. I have of course been following Battle Systems Kickstarter for some nice 28mm terrain. Today they added the "Hulk" add-on essential giving you a Strongholds worth full of stuff, but for single level play only. Apparantly a lot of people were interested in this. It comes with free single level stretch goals as well so you won't feel cheated ;)

And a post should have images - so here is one for the new Hulk add-on :

I must say I find it to be a very long time to wait until may next year to my hands on this.. I have already begun writing more down for my 5150 campaign and am researching spaceship/station layouts to use for the campaign. And with every stretch goal met more stuff is going to rain on me. Wheiii.. I am so loving this :P

I am digging stuff out for Horisont:V as well, and although my own doesn't take much space, I have promised to bring some 15mm terrain for Chain of Command as well as some 15mm scifi miniatures to help test a game a good friend of mine have been working on. 

In about 14 hours from now me and my son will load the car with all the gear and set out to pick up two more conventioners that are going with us in the car. If all goes well, we should arrive late afternoon and be ready to get some gaming done! There are quite a few games that I want to try and of course a lot of chatting with old friends to be done as well.. 

\m/

November update

Nothing much to report for now in the work in progress department..

I made good use of my ships at Viking-Con this year and in about 14 days I will be bringing them to Horisont:V as well.

Next on my workbench is probably my RRtK army that needs finishing as well as some 15mm scifi.. or 28mm scifi as I need both. I got a huge amount of Khurasan scifi before summer and I really want to begin painting those nice dolls.

But I also want to do more 28mm scifi miniatures, especially since I backed this Battle Systems™ Sci-fi Modular Terrain yesterday. I am really looking forward to this and it will fit right into the 5150 campaign I am working on. Originally I was planning to use the terrain from the Deadzone kickstarter for this, but having real interior terrain for spaceships/stations is way better.

I bought into the Stronghold x1 pledge wich without stretchgoals/add-ons will make it possible to build this:

More than sufficient for what I have in mind and since it is modular I can rearrange it as I like.. Way cool... 

That's it for now...hopefully I will soon be havng some kind of WIP post to do.. (and just so you don't think I am doing nothing, I am actually working a lot on getting a RPG site for a homegrown set of rules up and running.. too many hobbies, too little time!)

And finally, welcome to the new followers... it makes me feel warm and fuzzy to have more people here ;)

Warmaster signing out...

It Is Warm Work - AAR

After rushing to get my ships ready for Viking-con it was time for a test game of the rules I am going to use namely It Is Warm Work. It is a fleet level game that is fairly simple rules wise. Mastering them is another matter ;) Each ship has a "strength tack" that describes its condition in terms of damage, crew, rigging as well as how heavy a broadside it is able to deliver. 

Since my ships are in the absolute low end (minimum guns in the rules are 20) so a strength tack for my ships looks like this (1) (1) (1). What this means is that each ship can take 3 hits in total and fire with one dice each time it fires a broadside. On the yahoo group it was suggested that because we were playing with few ships rather than a whole fleet we could give each ship for strenght tack rows. So onwards me and my youngest spawn went. He seems to be turning into a  francophile and has from the very beginning of the construction been wanting to play the french so here he is plotting the opening moves for his french ships.

So far so good - everything is in order to here.. trodding along merrily (we started out using centimeters as space was limited, but as max movement is 10" the 10 centimers soon became odd.. longest range of guns is 10" as well.. and once more 10 centimers for firing looked very odd.. so a few turns in we reverted to all inch based measurements).

Above you can see the result of the first truly bad move made by yours truly. .turning the Raven (closest british ship) into the wind.. And my devilspawn moving in for a raking fire with his red french ship. Here I took my first hit.

Since we played the "in irons" rule wrong when turning into the wind, I remained in irons for the next turn and the devilspawn just inched forward and delivered another raking fire. Sigh. 

Had we played the rules properly I would only had been in irons for one turn, but alas such is the result of not doing my homework.

Just a top view of Raven getting raked.

And yes...  he managed to move the Loire into a raking position of HMS Sophie in the background as well.. Before this I decide that 4 rows of strength tacks took too long and with only 1 dice for each broadside things were taking far too long compared to what I had in mind. 

So I reduced the rows of strength tacks to two and changed them into (2) (1) (1) meaning they would each fire with 2 dice until they had taken a hit. 

Proof of my poor seamship skills ;)

In the end he had to move the Lynx away from it's raking position, but still well within firing range. More hits to the Raven... And with both my ships strength tacks reduced to firing with 1 dice I was already in poor shape here.

I managed to move HMS Sophie (top british ship) to a better position. And HMS Raven was still drifting due to being in irons.

I was somewhat saved by the bell (bedtime for the teenager :D). The Lynx had moved to a new raking position and the Loire and HMS Sophie squared off in a broadside firefight. 

A clear victory for my son. 

Hit results:

French

Loire 1/6

Lynx 0/6

British

HMS Sophie 4/6

HMS Raven 3/6

When we go to the convention it will be with the following strength tacks for each ship.

(2) (1) (1)

(2) (1) (1)

Giving them 2 dice each, until they have taken two hits. I think this will work very well as a small scale convention game. 

I was very please with the rules. Although they might seem simple, they do have the right feel (for me at least). I look forward to taking revenge on the french!

"Signal Close Action"