Photos from the Thunder Run Game at Gateway 2014

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 6:20 am

Modern micro armor game played with all GHQ pieces. Game board measures 60" x 120" in size.

We had a great game with 6 players, 3 per side. In the end, the Iraqis made a hell of an effort and eventually lost but they took out a lot of American armor in the mean time. The Americans ended the game with 2 M1A1 Abrams and 3 M2 Bradleys remaining. I think the Republican Guard would probably consider that a pretty good day against the Americans.

--Thunder Run 2003--
In early April 2003 members of the USMC 1st Marine Division and the US Army 3rd Infantry Division made "Thunder Runs" into the city of Baghdad to test the remaining Iraqi forces and clear a path for US forces to take Baghdad. On the 7th of April the US Forces took objectives Moe, Larry and Curly and several units triumphantly entered the Sadam's Baghdad Parade Grounds (famously known for the "Crossed Swords") unchallenged.

In this alternate reality game, the Iraqi Republican Guard is waiting for the US forces when they enter the Parade Grounds and all hell breaks loose.

Full size images are on my Micro Armor blog at the address below in the signature

Full size images are on my Micro Armor blog at the address below in the signature

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 7:31 am

cama wrote:WOW!
I saw the before pics, the night before pics, but to see it in action is just awesome. Well done Allen!
Well worth clicking through to see the many other pics on the blog, too!

Thanks a lot. I'm very happy with the way everything turned out.... the boards, the game, everything.

cama wrote: What rules did you use for the game, and do you have force lists? I'm curious

I have my own rules that are based loosely on the old TACFORCE rules and I've been updating and modifying them ever since they were released in 1980. We left out a lot of the advanced rules for this game so it moved very quickly and smoothly. This is the biggest game I have run in a very long time so I wanted to make sure it was smooth and fun for the players and not too much for me handle as the referee ... there is nothing worse than looking out at your players and seeing them being bored, distracted or falling asleep. I think I accomplished a fair balance between fun and realism. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

Forces were three "companies" per side (using the term company VERY loosely here)

Iraqis:
T-72 Company A (7 vehicles)
T-72 Company B (7 vehicles)
BMP-1 Company (6 vehicles)

US
M1A1 Abrams Company A (5 vehicles)
M1A1 Abrams Company B (5 vehicles)
M-2 Bradley Company (5 vehicles)

The force lists were made using a point system that I have created so that both forces would be fairly well matched and of course I wanted to accommodate 6 players, three per side. In the end, I think the forces were very well matched ... perhaps one or two more BMPs would have made it exactly even.

chrisswim · Post by **chrisswim** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 8:55 am

Nice looking game(s) Allen,

The Concord book, other around, but so someone can do some more research.
http://www.amazon.com/Cn7514-Thunder-In ... 9623611129

I have a different Thunder Run publication,

Allen, so what are you planning to run at next years Historicon? I am planning to run games in the afternoon..... It is a bit early to think about that.

Really like the Patriot launcher, just so you know.
Chris

bishnak · Post by **bishnak** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 3:11 pm

Wow, that looks fantastic Allen. Great job!

bish

Bezmozgu7 · Post by **Bezmozgu7** » Tue Sep 02, 2014 4:46 pm

Allen, what a great looking game! It sounds like everyone had a great time. How do you store and move your impressive large terrain boards?

Bez

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 2:47 am

Bezmozgu7 wrote:Allen, what a great looking game! It sounds like everyone had a great time. How do you store and move your impressive large terrain boards?
Bez

Bez,

Thanks for the comments. Regarding transporting the boards ... that was a bit of a project in itself. I'll take some photos of what I used and post them later today. It was actually a feat of engineering genius .... OK, that might be overstating it slightly, but it is pretty cool

Waddell · Post by **Waddell** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:46 am

WOW, just WOW!!!

Nothing else seems to sum it up as well...

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:52 am

Waddell wrote:WOW, just WOW!!!

Waddell, I cannot come up with a logical argument against what you have said

Seriously though, thanks. ... thanks to all of you, I really appreciate the comments. I put a lot of effort into making this happen and I'm really happy to be able to share it with the GHQ Micro Armor community.

dragon6 · Post by **dragon6** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 9:51 am

AllenRockwell wrote:I have my own rules that are based loosely on the old TACFORCE rules and I've been updating and modifying them ever since they were released in 1980.

GDW's Tacforce? One of my favorite rule sets. Would you care to share your mods?

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 10:30 am

dragon6 wrote:
AllenRockwell wrote:I have my own rules that are based loosely on the old TACFORCE rules and I've been updating and modifying them ever since they were released in 1980.
GDW's Tacforce? One of my favorite rule sets. Would you care to share your mods?

That's the one,,, GDW/GHQs TACFORCE, published in 1981 and sadly abandoned immediately thereafter.

Everything I have is available for free at www.tac2game.com

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 10:32 am

The question was raised about how I transport and store the thunder run game boards. So I thought I would post a few pictures to show you.

First there is a flat board with four casters on it and four small wooden dowels sticking up out of the base which fit into four holes on the bottom of the first shelf unit. That first shelf unit also has four small wooden dowels coming out of the top of it which fit into the holes on the bottom of the top unit. This arrangement makes it very easy to transport these boards in the back of my truck, or possibly even a small car. Once I get to the venue I just stack the boxes on top of the base, and wheel the whole assembly inside.

- See more at: http://gamecraftminiatures.com/tac2game ... zY2KO.dpuf

Bezmozgu7 · Post by **Bezmozgu7** » Wed Sep 03, 2014 3:31 pm

Allen,
What an ingenious solution -- I applaud your creativity and engineering ability! Transport and storage limitations are what pushed me away from larger hard-wired boards to Terrain Maker. Your work is outstanding.
Bez