Hammer Of The Daleks

On Monday I got my Dalek HOTT army out for a game, and about halfway through realised that a couple of elements shoved together would make a perfect unit for Squad Hammer. A HOTT army doesn't give you too many such units if you do this, but Squad Hammer doesn't require too many units.

So obviously I had to try it out. And If I was going to use Daleks then opposing them with UNIT was the only logical option (mostly because it's the only compatible army I have).

I set up a scenario based on the 1972 story 'Day of the Daleks'. A vital peace-conference is taking place at Auderly House in order to prevent the outbreak of WWIII. Daleks from the future attack the conference in order to kill the delegates, allow the war to happen, and preserve a timeline in which they are able to conquer a post-war Earth. UNIT are there to try and stop them.

In the TV series the Dalek 'army' consisted of two Daleks. The BBC only had three Dalek props left, and one of them was painted gold to be the chief Dalek in the future. They were assisted by Ogron mercenaries to boost the numbers (apparently the original story was just about the Ogrons, and the Daleks were added as an afterthought to give this first story in a new series a bit more oomph). Later releases used CGI to add more Daleks. In my game I went for maximum Daleks - three squads of them, plus a Special Weapons Dalek (as seen in 1988's 'Remembrance of the Daleks', which to my mind is still one of the finest Doctor Who stories ever), plus two squads of mercenaries (not Ogrons, though).

The UNIT defenders have the benefit of cover - I gave them three squads of soldiers, one mortar squad and the Brigadier with Sergeant Benton and Captain Yates.

There was no time limit, but I placed four counters representing the delegates in Auderly House. It is assumed that they are being evacuated during the action, so I rolled at the end of each pair of turns to see how the evacuation was progressing. If all four counters were evacuated then UNIT had delayed the attack long enough for a win. If the Daleks could get undisputed control of the house then all remaining counters would be exterminated.

Here's a dramatic establishing shot.

Auderly House and the counters. To tell the truth I was making up the victory conditions as I went along. One UNIT squad was defending the house itself, and behind the trees you can just see the mortar team.

And here come the Daleks! Well, their mercenaries. The attack started with mercenaries working their way around the flank through some woods. meanwhile the Special Weapons Dalek fixed UNIT's attention to the front.

The regular Daleks only have short-range blasters, so used their first move to rapidly advance into range without firing.

UNIT opened up on them, inflicting damage on the lead squad. These aren't the invincible post-2005 Daleks; bullets, grenades and determination can hold them off.

The lead squad reluctantly withdrew, whilst the other used the cover of some rises to avoid the worst of UNIT's fire.

The Daleks had held UNIT's attention well enough that the mercenaries could continue their advance through the woods unopposed. You'll notice some odd-men-out. I only have three mercenary elements in my Dalek force, so the fourth base I needed was requisitioned from my 1850s William Walker Filibusters army.

UNIT kept firing, but their aim was appalling (seriously appalling. Couldn't hit barn door appalling.) Mind you, the Dalek's return fire wasn't up to much either.

The Special Weapons Dalek finally scored a decent hit on some UNIT soldiers.

And an advancing Dalek squad did the same on the UNIT soldiers in the ruined chapel.

The mercenaries emerged from the woods, outflanking UNIT's position. The squad in the house moved out to intercept them whilst the one defending the wall also opened fire. Neither squad hit.

Another squad of Daleks closed in on the chapel.

The second squad of mercenaries entered the fight, eliminating the forward UNIT squad. The UNIT troopers from the house were seriously pinned down.

The Daleks assaulted the chapel, driving out the defenders who retreated to the cover of  some woods.

This left The Brigadier defending that part of the battlefield against three Dalek squads. They advanced ...

... but the Brigadier won the ensuing close combat and in a vicious fight destroyed a Dalek squad.

However the mercenaries were closing in on the house. Or one squad was; the other was pinned down by fire from the mortar. The battered UNIT troopers drove off their opponents.

The Brigadier engaged the Daleks in the chapel, bu they proved too tough a proposition, and he was forced to fall back to the house.

UNIT were now directly defending the house with the Brigadier and a battered squad of soldiers, and the mortar in support. But the mercenaries had also taken hits and were regrouping. Two counters had been 'evacuated', so time was running out for the Daleks.

The Special Weapons Dalek destroyed the squad defending the house.

Whilst the mercenaries recovered the Daleks edged forward.

Once again The Brigadier rose to the occasion, his accurate fire destroying the Special Weapons Dalek.

However the Daleks destroyed another UNIT squad. This now left UNIT with the mortar and The Brigadier, and there were still two counters in play.

The Brigadier prepared to make a last stand.

The Daleks assaulted ...

... and The Brigadier was forced to flee. The rest of the Dalek force occupied the house for what I decided was a win.

I used the Squad Hammer Core rules as much as possible. I did allow an activated squad which won a close assault they had initiated to advance to occupy a position. Firing factors were pretty standard, but I stuck in a -1 if the squad currently had 4 or more hits and another -1 for shots over 9", in order to limit how attractive sitting outside of 'firefight' range currently is. I'd probably drop the -1 for damage in future games.

These are the stats for the various squads. I gave each squad a Close Combat factor rather than deal with the 'well-equipped for close combat / protected' and so on assessments. Obviously on-table factors such as damage and cover would be factored in as well.

The limit on Dalek orders is to reflect their arrogance. It's hard to damage them, but they are unlikely to retreat or regroup in the face of any damage they take unless they are in real trouble.

UNIT Soldiers /  Mercenaries
Move - 6"
Damage - 1D6 (Small Arms)
Range - Full
Close Combat - +1

UNIT Mortar Team
Move - 4"
Damage - 1D6-2 (Small Arms / Mortar)
Range - 12" (Small Arms) or Full (Mortar)
Close Combat - +0
The squad can fire the mortar if it doesn't move. The mortar does not need a line of sight but cannot shoot at targets closer than 6". Otherwise the squad is limited to its small arms.

The Brigadier and Sergeant Benton
Move - 6"
Damage - 1D6 (Small Arms)
Range - 12"
Close Combat - +1
On activation The Brigadier can do one of the following to a single unit within 4" (including himself)
(i) Remove 1 damage
(ii) Allow it to move 2"
(iii) If it has not shot or engaged in close-combat this turn, then when it activates in this turn it can roll 2D6 for damage / close combat and pick the best one.

Daleks
Move - 4"
Damage - 1D6+1 (Blaster)
Range - 12"
Close Combat - +2
All small arms fire directed at Daleks takes a -2 on the damage (to a minimum of '1').
If a Dalek squad wishes to perform the Regroup or Defend orders then it must roll equal to or less than its current damage on a D6 in order to do so. Otherwise it must pick a different order.

Special Weapons Dalek
Move - 4"
Damage - 1D6+1 (Blaster)
Range - Full
Close Combat - +1
All small arms fire directed at Daleks takes a -2 on the damage (to a minimum of '1').
If a Dalek squad wishes to perform the Regroup or Defend orders then it must roll equal to or less than its current damage on a D6 in order to do so. Otherwise it must pick a different order.

I used a 2' x 2' board, doubles all distances and converted them to cm (so a standard squad moves 12cm). This gave me the equivalent of a 30" square board, and that seemed to work about right.

If I ran this again (and I probably will) I'd give the Daleks one fewer squad, and improve the 'countdown' timer. But otherwise I was quite pleased with how it all turned out.