Out of the gate, into contact

On 19 October I played the latest build. Same shape of mission: one section out on patrol, a contact, a casualty, and the chain that gets them to a helicopter. The work since playtest 3 has been two things. Making the ground look a bit more like somewhere soldiers actually patrolled, and making the soldiers on it behave like soldiers. The video is above; this is what it showed us. I have cut out the bits I had already explained in the earlier videos.

What is new since playtest 3

• The compounds on the sand table have numbers.
• The cards stand upright, and cards in the same place stack on top of each other. Cards not in use sit at the side of the table, so you can see what you still have.
• The soldiers are proper figures with animations, not blocks. They are still stand-ins.
• Out of the gate they hard target: zigzagging, because leaving the patrol base is when you are most exposed to a sniper or a machine gun that has been waiting for you.
• The spacing breathes. Fixed gaps looked wrong when I saw it move, so the gaps open up and close up as people's do.
• Everyone watches their own arc. With a wall on their left, most look right; the lead looks forward and the last soldier turns to check behind.
• When the section commander goes firm, the section goes into herringbone and covers outwards, and the commander gets the map and binoculars out before pushing on.
• I can tell the battle group about troops in contact on OPSCHAT.
• Aviation ops (my old job) is in the room now. It acknowledges the 9-liner, and that is when you know the helicopter is being spun up.
• Every move order asks its pace: fast, with no halts and more risk from IEDs, or patrol pace.
• Sending the QRF to the HLS asks whether they are to secure it.
• The CASEVAC helicopter's ETA shows on the board.
• A blue string on the table runs from a unit's card to where it has been told to go.
• At the HLS the QRF goes into all-round defence, the commander inside the circle ready to put smoke down, and the watchkeeper tells everyone on OPSCHAT that the HLS is secure.

What worked

• The section patrolled like a section: uneven spacing, arcs covered, the rear soldier checking behind.
• The commander went firm on his own and the section went into herringbone.
• Contact from the front as the lead crossed a ditch. They reacted at once, went back into the ditch for cover and put down a rapid rate of fire.
• The lead soldier was hit. The contact report and the casualty report came in, aviation ops acknowledged the 9-liner, and the platoon sergeant, the stretcher party and the QRF all went out on the pace I gave them.
• The carrying party got the casualty back to the platoon sergeant, the handover happened, and the platoon sergeant took them on to the HLS, which the QRF had secured.

What did not

1. The hard targeting starts too far back. It should only start when they cross the threshold of the gate.
2. Going from a wall to open ground, the section steps back on itself before it picks its next way of moving.
3. Their routes over the ground are too wiggly.
4. When they went firm, one soldier stopped in a gap in a compound wall. Nobody stands in a gap; they go either side of it. The section should also tuck in closer to the wall behind them.
5. Under fire they lie there and keep firing. I want three to eight rounds, back down into cover, and up again somewhere else.
6. There is no carrying animation yet. And one soldier carrying a casualty that far on his own is a risk I would not take for real.
7. The helicopter's ETA is hidden behind its symbol on the board.
8. A party carrying a casualty to the HLS was asked to secure it. They should be giving first aid, and leave the securing to the QRF.
9. The casualty was put down in the middle of the HLS, where the helicopter lands. They need to be at the side, with someone giving first aid while they wait.
10. The compounds are all in straight lines and all face the same way.
11. The pace might want to be 10 to 15 per cent quicker.

What happens next

Fixing that list, starting with the casualty at the HLS. Then the fire and movement under contact, which is mine to write down properly first so the soldiers follow the real drill.

Still placeholder

The art, the captions and the words on the net. They say what is happening rather than how it would be said.

Come and tell us what we are getting wrong on the Discord.