02 Hundred Hours Mission:Sabotage

 A dark night in Occupied Europe! Bored German sentries begin another cold night of guard duty around their Anti Aircraft Site but little do they know that death stalks the shadows.

The scene is set for our second game of 02 Hundred Hours Night Raids in World War 2. We had previously played the introduction scenario that only covers the movement,spotting and combat mechanics of the game.

Written by Graham Davey and published by Grey for Now Games this game is all about stealth and strategy as it pits Allied special forces and partisans against the garrison forces of the Reich.

For this, our first full game, we chose to play the Sabotage mission from the core rule book.
The SAS have been tasked with blowing up a mobile AA site currently located in a paddock by a small woods near a windmill that is interfering with air operations on the front line. Having chosen our forces and equipment Nye, playing the Germans, placed his patrol markers and roving sentries along with his officer on the board and placed half his force off table as reserves.

The SAS choose to deploy in the corner by the windmill quickly bringing on the Sergeant and Officer who both began sneaking towards the  paddock while a trooper armed with a Bren sneaked in ready to lay down fire if required. The sentries feel safe and it's not long before two reveal their location to the SAS lurking in the shadows..

When one of the sentries decides to lurk exactly in the spot the SAS need to pass through to reach the target the SAS Officer decides to use his silenced Pistol to clear the way and misses. 

With more sentries appearing the Sergeant makes a sneak forward and attempts to take out a sentry but is spotted and a brawl breaks out.

While all the attention starts to focus on the Sergeant the rest of the troop move out of the woods to the hedgeline to provide covering fire for the charges to be set.

Having dispatched the sentry the Sarge tries to sneak across the paddock to place his demo charge but is spotted by the German officer a crack shot with his pistol he downs the Sarge.

What they didn't realise was that the dog patrolling this section of the perimeter has stopped for a break!

 Gunfire pierces the night and the alarm is raised. The dog soon gets the scent and is off after his target!

German reinforcement roused from their tents rush towards the gunsite. The SAS officer makes a rush to gun and hurriedly prepares his demo charge. With the Sergeant gunned down this is the only charge left!

In his rush to plant the charge and withdraw before the Germans arrive the SAS officer makes a tragic mistake and the charge explodes instantly destroying the gun and the officer. 

At this point we called the game as a Partial British Victory. Indeed something of an own goal for the German but Nye just couldn't resist the comedic value of playing the event card that caused the premature explosion. 

There was lot's more happening but I'm writing this two weeks after we played this game. 

This was our first game using the full rules with Alert level tracking and the use of order and event cards and they really bring flavour to the game. For the SAS the need to spot enemy sentries while staying covert is vital to success. For the Germans a well planned Patrol route and a couple of roving characters can make it very difficult for the attackers to stay out of sight and make headway. 

Graham Davey the games creator has just released solo play rules and event cards so expect to see much more 0200hrs in the future as this one feels like a great one for club nights and solo games at home.