Ambush Alley-First Game review

Table setup at game start. The 'Contractors' are at the top....

Moving to the roof to secure Hotspot 5.......

The killing ground.....the rooftop insurgents engage Fireteam B as they emerge onto the roof....fourtunately no US were hit in this echange, but the US grenade launcher and SAW helped take out all 4 insurgents...the other insurgents visible are on hotspot 4 and they are destined to make life very diffiult for Fireteam A shortly...

Clearing Hotspot 5...a last ditch attempt to hold the building results in a new posting for another team of insurgents

Fireteam A about to go around the corner, when it all goes horribly wrong.....

Finally after many months I've managed to get all the stars in alignment (terrain,time and figures) and have my first game of Ambush Alley. Now COmrade Owen over at Predators Lair has a great AAR already so my post will be a quick summary of my game and my thoughts on the rules.

I played the first mission in the basic rulebook,where 2 fireteams of USMC led by a Sergeant have to RV then evacuate 2 civvy 'contractors' who's car has been shot up in the middle of a town square. The rules use Hot Spots to determine the random entry of insurgent reinforcements, and these can be neutralised by the Regular troops upon spending a turn in contact with the marker.

The first pic shows the table at game start. As the pictures show, I moved my squads to the right to clear the roof of the building with Hotspot 5 after shooting up the RPG gunner above. Just before I secured the hotspot, a team of Insurgents appeared to try and reclaim it but I was able to wipe them out as they popped up through the staircase. My other fireteam, led by my Sergeant, wasn't so lucky, as a strong group of insurgents that had been building over several turns ambushed my squad as they attempted to move into LOF to engage them. The rules use a reaction test mechanic that favours better trained troops (US rolls a D8 vs the insurgents rolling a D6, higher number wins) but alas in this case the Insurgents got the jump on the Marines, an RPG shot exploding next to the lead scout and killing him instantly. To reflect the Regulars soldiers concern for their comrades the rules require the Regular forces to conduct a first aid check and nothing else (except move into cover) upon taking a casualty. A D6 roll on the casualty table then reveals the fate of the hit soldier, which in this case was a KIA (1 in 6 chance..bummer) To make matters worse, Regulars must carry their casualties with them and this hampers their movement rate and firepower for the rest of the game.

Meanwhile back on the roof, the other fire team moved forward to exhange fire with the large group of ambushing insurgents and a 2-RPG team on the far side of town. To cut a long story short, this exchange of fire left the Squad leader KIA and another wounded whilst the Sergenats fire team were ambushed by another Insurgent squad hiding in a building, losing the SAW gunner to a KIA result as well. With 3 KIA and another lightly wounded the Sergeant decided the two contractors weren't worth the lives of anymore of his men and they withdrew...

Love the system, it feels like a Modern warfare version of Space Hulk, in that Hotspots randomise where the bad guys will emerge from, and the longer you take to move your guys up the more reinforcements are amassing to overrun you...I played it solitaire which was quite easy as the rules contain tables to guide you on insurgent actions and reinforcements are rolled randomly for both composition and location.Next time I'm gonna go left and clear the Mosque......:)