Boat Over the River Plaztik

Naryatrian   reserves lurk behind a hedge.

If you had asked me which part of my collection would be the first to see action on the  revised table, the Roscian/Naryatrian mid-20thC forces would probably have been my last guess. However, its been over a month now since I cut the table and 6 weeks since my last game upstairs and I have been itching to do something beyond a quick card table game. Today, finally, with a snow and freezing rain outside, I had both energy and free time to at least get set up. A test of the 40's on the smaller table was the obvious choice but I and they aren't ready so I decided to go for something that hasn't been out yet this year. After a quick review I was surprised to see that there were only 2 real candidates:  Not Quite the 7 Yrs War and Roscia.

There have been all these Memoir posts recently and I have been meaning to have another go at playing the game solo so Roscia it was.  Ok so Memoir doesn't actually cover the 1960's but close enough, there's a lot of obsolete equipment in play in Roscia and Naryatria anyway.

The next question was of course, "What Scenario?". Ding! I had had a request! So, John, this one's for you! Assault River Crossing from CS Grant's Scenarios for Wargames.

In July last year the Roscians were bested in a small border skirmish and fell back  to defensive positions along the Plaztik River. The Naryatrians with characteristic vigor pursued after a brief 18 month party.

The main on table Roscian force, 4 platoons of infantry (inc a 2" mortar, 2 GPMG 1 bazooka), a mortar, a recoiless rifle (artillery) and a Pershing tank platoon. A platoon of mechanized infantry from the Newpore Lancers holds a farm at the far end of the board.

The Naryatrians have 16 platoons of infantry, 2 of Elite Lion Brigade commandos,  a mortar, a mechanize rocket battery (artillery) and 2 batteries of Big Guns (very BIG), 2 mechanicals and 2 heavy tanks. They are still waiting for boats and for barges capable of ferrying a tank. Hopefully these will be delivered in the next day or so and the game can begin.

The field of battle is a Hotz mat which has been lightly mottled with green spray paint and roads made of traction sand. The river is a piece cut out of a blue recycling bag with flocking sprinkled over the edges - I must be getting fancy in middle age. The figures are various 1/72nd plastics, some from current releases but with a few Giant and Airfix figures dating back to the 60's so right in period. Vehicles include a few model kits but are mostly toys from the dollar store.