Lynn Willis' Olympica
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Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Austin-based Metagaming issued a series of "microgames" of varying quality. Supposedly, Olympica is one of their better microgames. The designer, Lynn Willis, is also known for "Bloodtree Rebellion," which evidently had a strong influence on Nick Karp's "Vietnam 1965-1975."
Lacking any better notion of what to do, here's my initial setup for a solo game:
The red-orange hexes containing "hills" are incline hexes. The yellow hexes with three waves are cliff hexes. The yellow hexes with stipples in the middle area is the "caldera" portion where the web generator must be located.
The flipped counters are the web faction, the white face up counters are the UN faction. The map was downloaded from the web, very nice other than missing three hexes of cliff in one spot.
Before getting started, let's jot down some notes on turn sequence and related rules.
Turn sequence
I. Web player
A. Compulsion Phase
- Section 14.2 p. 16 deals with drop compulsion.
- Sections 19. and 19.2, p. 20 define regular compulsion.
B. Tunnel Phase
Section 13, p. 14.
C. Reinforcement Phase
Section 21, p. 21.
D. Movement Phase
Section 7.0, p. 9 of the rules.
E. Ranged Combat Phase
F. DUST Removal Phase
II. U.N. Player
A. Drop Phase
B. Movement Phase
C. Ranged Combat Phase
D. DUST Removal Phase
E. Second Movement Phase and Close Assaults.
III. Advance Turn Marker
Turn 1
Let's get this started.
I. Web player
A. Compulsion Phase
-
Section 14.2 p. 16 deals with drop compulsion. One drop is within 2 hexes, so the web moves them back 3 hexes, putting all the units in the drop into two incline and one cliff hexes. Rolling for avalanche, 5, no avalanche. Drop is safe, albeit the movement restrictions on incline and hex put these units out of action.
-
Sections 19. and 19.2, p. 20 define regular compulsion. Web chooses to move one of the Laser Tanks 3 spaces into incline hexes.
B. Tunnel Phase
No tunneling this game.
C. Reinforcement Phase
No reinforcements yet.
D. Movement Phase
Section 7.0, p. 9 of the rules for movement, Section 11, p. 12 for Close Assaults.
In this turn, 56web units are going for close assault.
- Roll 5, DE.
- Roll 1, pass to defender, roll 5 attacker eliminated. Which was good for UN as this was a Laser Tank.
- Roll 5, DE.
- Oops, this was a strong point, should not have been moved, now exposed.
- Roll 6, one Laser Tank eliminated.
- Roll 4, heavy infantry eliminated.
So, 4 UN units eliminated at the cost of 1 Web unit. Bummer for UN.
I can see how this plays out I think, it's all about positioning for that close assault, with the web having some advantage due to freely moving through all terrain.
E. Ranged Combat Phase
Section 10, p. 11.
- 2:1 roll 1, AR2, this clears a bunch of Web forces away allowing possible UN advance to Web Generator. Web forces could have used Strongpoint on this attack, but overlooked it (blunder).
- 1:1 Strongpoint on Laser Tank, roll 6, exchange. In this case, the SP is eliminated because it is within the laser tanks range.
- 2:1 roll 4, DR2, light infantry unit moved away from action.
- 4:1 roll 4, DE.
F. DUST Removal Phase
Remove DUST markers placed in previous turn, not this turn.
This thing is bloody.
II. U.N. Player
A. Drop Phase
Since UN player dropped all unit during setup, there is nothing to drop for this phase.
B. Movement Phase
Get in close to the Web Generator. One unit decided to CAT an SP but rolled avalanche (6) on cliff entry. Bummer. Two Close Assaults:
- Roll 5, DE.
- Roll 2, DR2, moved Web force directly away from Generator.
C. Ranged Combat Phase
- 4:1 roll 4, DE.
- 2:1 roll 4, DR2.
D. DUST Removal Phase
Nothing to remove on first turn.
E. Second Movement Phase and Close Assaults.
Light Infantry (LI) get to move and CAT again. This is good to know, makes LI worth having and spending wisely instead of using for cannon fodder.
Here's what the end of Turn 1 looks like:
As usual, I have time to play mostly in the evening or at night, when getting pictures is really hard. It's very difficult to control the shadows.
Turn 2
I. Web player
A. Compulsion Phase
- Section 14.2 p. 16 deals with drop compulsion.
- Sections 19. and 19.2, p. 20 define regular compulsion.
Two choices here:
- Move the LT, or
- move one of the HI which are threatening the Web Generator.
I think the right thing to do here is move the HI out 3 spaces, which will put it another turn away from the WG.
B. Tunnel Phase
Section 13, p. 14.
No tunnels this game.
C. Reinforcement Phase
Section 21, p. 21: 4 Web infantry enter from eastern edge of map.
D. Movement Phase with Close Assault
Section 7.0, p. 9 of the rules.
Close Assault roll 1, initiative flips, roll 2, DR2, move Web unit away 2.
E. Ranged Combat Phase
- SP 3:1 roll EX. Hurts, but that unit was close enough to get to the WG on the next UN move.
- 1:1 roll 2, DR 2, UN will occupy WG next turn. The Web should have close assaulted this unit instead.
- 4:1 on north side, 3 Web against UN LI, roll 5, DE.
F. DUST Removal Phase
No DUST this turn.
II. U.N. Player
The UN player has lost a lot of unit, but has a draw in the bag.
A. Drop Phase
No drops.
B. Movement Phase
First, get that Web Generator. Good thing there wasn't a Web unit already on it, that would require a close assault, which could be lost.
C. Ranged Combat Phase
- 4:1 roll 4, DE.
D. DUST Removal Phase
No DUST.
E. Second Movement Phase and Close Assaults.
LI moves into blocking position, really hard for Web to get around this one.
III. Advance Turn Marker
Web generator is now disabled, no more compulsions.
Turn 3
I. Web player
Web faction better get those UN of the WG site.
A. Compulsion Phase
No compulsion, Web Generator disabled.
B. Tunnel Phase
No tunnels this game.
C. Reinforcement Phase
On eligible reinforcement, enters on western edge.
D. Movement Phase
Much close assaulting this turn:
- Web generator, roll 4, success! The UN will need to close assault to take it back.
- Roll 3, EX, works for Web ok.
- Roll 6, another UN unit eliminated.
All of a sudden, it looks really bad for UN.
E. Ranged Combat Phase
Nothing in range.
F. DUST Removal Phase
No DUST.
II. U.N. Player
All of a sudden, UN only has 3 units on the board. How did that happen?
A. Drop Phase
Nothing to drop.
B. Movement Phase
Move in to attempt to reaquire the WG. No close assaults available though.
C. Ranged Combat Phase
Here, there is a decision to be made: take the chance on each of the 3 units at lower odds, or combine fire into a higher odds attack? Let's go with two 2:1 attacks:
- Laser Tank on WG unit, 2:1 roll 3, DUST.
- 2:1 infantry, roll 4, DR2.
D. DUST Removal Phase
No DUST this turn.
E. Second Movement Phase and Close Assaults.
LI all gone.
III. Advance Turn Marker
Turn 4
This turn just going to play it out fast, no need to record everything, as it's most likely a draw, but we'll see what the dice say. The Web strategy it to CAT all three UN, and follow up with ranged attack. That should eliminate at least two, with a good chance of putting any remaining as DR 2.
- CAT against Laser Tank, roll 1, noooo! LT rolls 4, attacker eliminated, LT still on the board.
- Roll 2, DR 2, which is 2 spaces into incline, that UN unit is done for this game.
- Roll 6, DE.
Ranged combat is against Laser Tank, roll 4, AR2, and Web is done.
Only the Laser Tank remains, and it does a close assault.
And it turns out I've been playing this wrong the whole time. In a close assault, the defender gets to roll first!
That sure explains why this game has been so bloody.
Anyway, the Laser Tank is going to go for it, because the game is a draw anyway, and this might pull out a win, if the Dice Gods smile. So, move Laser Tank on to WG, defender rolls 5, Laser Tank eliminated!
Game over, draw.
AAR and impressions
I'm playing this again with AW in a few days. He's made noises about building a "large" copy of this game, which, given his Iron Mountain Ogre build, might be pretty impressive. We'll see. It will be fun to play an opponent in any case.