Ratling Snipers

A squad of Ratling Snipers join my old style Imperial Guard forces.

I've had these many years - I bought them when they first came out as part of the significant expansion of the Imperial Guard back in Rogue Trader days.  They already had a paintjob, but it was... of it's time, and needed updating.

In all honesty, the sculpting isn't the best (how are the back three even holding those guns level?), even for it's time, but they remain a fun little squad.

"well I can't shoot it if I can't see it, can I?"

 

Who’s a Good (Robo) Boy?

Yet another freebie model courtesy of Miniature Wargames Magazine, a Robo Mastiff from the Wild West Exodus range.  This has been sitting around so long I’d forgotten about it, but it was the perfect quick break from Empire Demigryphs.

Assembly was easy, no instructions needed, but the sprue was in a pretty horrible orange plastic, which took a few coats of paint to hide.  There’s a reason most manufacturers use a simple grey.

Straightforward paint job.  Liberal washes and some sponge chipping to give it a worn look.

I’m sure I can find a good use for him.

Robo dog’s not scared of anything!

“Fetch!”

 

Make it Dirty! (Scatter terrain)

 Looking at the photos I took of my 40k game, I concluded that some of scenery pieces just looked too neat.  Some muck was needed urgently!

Cue weathering being added with a mix of washes, dry brushing, and torn up sponge.

Much better!

The barrels got a liberal wash of Agrax Earthshade, then Rhinox hide applied with a torn up washing up sponge.  The crates are VJ Luftwaffe Camo Green, Athenian Camoshade, then very light drybrush of Elysian Green, before having some chain mail applied with a sponge on corners and wherever they might get bashed.

The  container got a subtle application of Earthshade to recesses - bolts, hinges, joints etc - which was immediately wiped down with a sponge; always going the same direction so that any shade that remained looked like streaks.  The floor and ceiling inside was painted with Black Templar contrast.

Maxim Bang

After spending what turned out to be weeks painting a unit of White Wolves, I fancied something simpler and quicker. A painting sorbet if you will.

My thought alighted on this chap.  One of the original Squats, a Rogue Trader Space Dwarf.  This one went by the name of 'Maxim Bang' in the adverts as I recall.

He was already undercoated, so I could get started immediately, and he was done in an evening.

A fun model to paint, and a pleasing result.

A post for Blacksmith!

Blacksmith, who runs the 'Javier at War' blog (well worth checking out, he's recreating the old X Com games with miniatures, a fine project!), has asked me a couple of times where the minis I'm using for Five Parsecs are from.

I've been terribly remiss in not replying; so, just for him and anyone else interested, they are from Games Workshop's old Dark Future range.  I used to love the game and had quite a few foot warriors for it, which I've supplemented with a few careful ebay buys (they sometimes turn up for stupid money as well though).

Scale-wise they are a bit of an oddity.  Smaller than 'true' 25mm, but slightly bigger than 20mm/1/72.

Here's one compared with an airfix model and Hasslefree's Grant, for comparison.

And here's a few more that were painted up for the last game.

Terrain is mostly printed card (wish my printer was better!) from various sources including:

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/167915/SciFi-Style-Buildings?filters=0_40209_40014_0
http://www.toposolitario.es/workshop/index_scenery.html
http://www.germy.co.uk/paper25mm.html

Five Parsecs Campaign Turn 10 - High Noon!

Upkeep -4 credits

Reece traded, gaining 2 basic supplies.  Mila trained, gaining +1XP.  Nat explored, gaining +2 XP.  Kari sought to track down the raiders that had ambushed the crew, but with no luck.

Despite having a pile of quest clues, I didn't roll up a quest mission this turn.  Instead playing out an opportunity mission.

Word had got to the crew that a Press Gang had been raiding farming settlements in the badlands, taking the able bodied to work in mines and factories.  A tip off had them raiding a small, one street settlement next, and the crew would be waiting for them.

With Noah still in sick bay, deciphering the cult records, and Anul still absent, it was down to a reduced team to deal with the problem.  With both sides having the same numbers, Reece was hoping that being better armed, they could intimidate them into backing off.

I was interested to see if starting the two sides within pistol shot would even the odds given the crew's effectiveness at range.  They also needed to try to avoid using explosive weapons and causing property damage!  The Press Gang had five members, including a leader with 2 hits, and a heavy with a shotgun.

Yep, time for High Noon, Five Parsecs style!

I used a similar system to the previous negotiation, drawing cards to see what would happen as the two parties faced off, and who would draw first.

Turn 1

Not an auspicious start for the crew, who only rolled up two fast actions, going to Jak and Kari.  In a break with the normal turn order, the Press Gang leader drew and fired first, hitting Reece but not causing a wound.

Kari took cover behind a building corner, and Jak behind a green dune buggy.  Kari scored two hits on the gang member in the long duster coat, causing no wounds, but receiving a 'stun' in return!  Jak's shots at the shotgun wielding ganger missed, but in response the target unloaded his shotgun back in Jak's direction, causing a second stun on the crew, followed up (in the enemy part of the turn) by taking a wound off him as the ganger took cover behind another buggy!

One ganger then dashed down an alley to flank the crew while the other took cover with his shotgun armed colleague, firing at Kari to no effect. The long coated ganger took cover behind a building corner, firing ineffectively at Reece.

Mila and Nat both took cover behind the same buggy as Jak, firing on, but missing, 'Shotgun' (although Nat got a 'stun' result).  Reece ran down the alley past Kari, planning to use his jump belt next turn.

 Press Gang, who I will refer to (left to right) as 

Mask, Shotgun, Boss, Long Coat and Long Hair

Kari, Jak (new model), Reece, Nat and Mila 

"go for your guns!" 

Jak takes a wound and stun from Shotgun (top right) 

"You're getting both barrels!" 

Long Hair goes for the flank 

 Boss in the middle, Shotgun and mask at the top, 

Long Coat behind the building 

Reece heads past Kari 

"Let's all hide here..."

Turn 2

A better start as the crew roll up four quick actions - only Reece didn't get one.

Jak swiftly took out shotgun, causing Mask to run for it.

"Bang!"

"Run away!" 

Kari moved up to the buggy that shotgun had been hiding behind and managed to put a wound on the Boss.  Nat and Kari tried to follow up but unsuccessfully.  The Boss then moved up to take Shotgun's former position and fired at Kari; no hit but he did cause another stun.  Brown Coat then fired on Kari from across the street, not hitting, but causing a third stun, forcing Kari to 'bug out'.  She rolled high for movement and ran!

"I'm getting out of here!" 

Meanwhile Long Hair worked his way around behind the takeaway.

Reece used his jump belt to get on top of the building above the Boss, but couldn't cause a wound.

"Look out below!" 

Turn 3

Two quick actions went to Jak and Nat.  Jak charged over to the boss and beat him down in a brawl using the suppression maul.

Nat attempted to ambush Long Hair behind the takeaway kiosk, getting a stun result but nothing else.

Browncoat fired at Jak but it was a no sell against his combat armour.  Jak snapped a shot off quickly and dropped Browncoat! (rolled a six for 'return fire').

Long hair came around the kiosk and fired a Mila, hitting her but not wounding.  In return she charged in to a brawl with him, but lost, taking a hit but, fortunately, no wound.

Meanwhile, Reece took down Mask from his vantage point, and Kari left the table!

Down to only one member, the Long Hair took a morale test, somehow managing not to fail on four dice!  Nonetheless it was clear his only chance would be to get out of dodge as quick as possible in the next turn.

Turn 4

Unfortunately for him, it was not to be, as Nat and Jak got fast actions and Jak finally took him down in a three on one brawl.

Conclusions and Aftermath

A short, brutal, fast moving but really fun game!  Keeping everything at close range meant the action was pretty fast and furious (the rules for return fire and stuns helped) and we had more brawls than usual - even with higher Combat Skill it's a bit of a lottery how it will turn out!

Kari is not going to cope well with having run, only for Jak to mop pretty much everything else up!

The grateful townsfolk contributed three credits and seven alien relics (who knows where they came from!).

Jak's wound turned out not to be serious, with no long term effects or time in sick bay needed.

Reece +3 XP )levelled up combat and gained a veteran rank)
Nat +3 XP
Kari +3 XP
Jak +5 XP (levelled up combat)
Mila +3 XP (gained a veteran rank)

Reece gained another +2 XP from reflecting on his adventures so far, and another one because of the local food!

Five Parsecs Campaign Turn 9 - Office work

At the start of turn 9, 6 credits were spent on upkeep.

Reece, Noah and Kari all spent time training.  Reece and Noah levelled up their combat skill, and Kari her reactions.

Mila, Jak and Nat all went trading.  Only Nat found anything worthwhile, some good quality food and booze.

After a degree of 'persuasion', the prisoner gave up the info that the church had stashed records of its activities on this planet in a non-descript office masquerading as a haulage firm.  Unfortunately he also revealed that if it was believed compromised, a specialist team would be sent in to 'sanitise' the site.  The race was on...

This mission would see the crew (minus Anul, wherever he's gone) take on a black-ops squad of four (including a leader) in a race to secure the cult's records.  The Crew had the numbers, but this time would be facing a more tactical enemy, well armed, with higher combat skill and body armour.

The office is in the centre building.  Crew entering top left, black ops bottom right

 Team one - with the leader

Team 2, the marksman team

The crew rolled up three fast actions for the first turn.  Kari and Nat headed for a nearby building to get a higher vantage point while the rest headed for the target.  The black ops team 1 headed for the haulage yard, while team 2, with the marksman, also headed for high ground.

Turn 2 saw the our 'heroes' roll a staggering five fast actions.  Reece used his jump belt to gain a position on top of the target building overlooking the yard - a decision he would rapidly regret!  All the others moved up into position, Kari climbing onto a rooftop position, as did the black ops team... right overlooking Reece!

Kari takes the High Ground...

As does the sniper!

The Ops Team 1 moved up amongst the crates.  The team leader and trooper both opened up on Reece.  Despite being in cover Reece took two wounds, reducing him to one hit point! (+2 on Combat Skill really hurts when the opposition have it!).

Turn 3
Three quick actions this time, given to Jak, Reece and Kari.  Kari moved up to the parapet but couldn't quite draw a bead on the enemy leader.  Jak took up position behind a truck and fired off a burst at him, but failed to hit.  Reece did better, moving out of site of the trooper and taking a wound off the enemy leader, but was still in a highly precarious position, overlooked by the sniper team.  Fortunately they didn't have their sites calibrated yet and both managed to miss him!

 Reece hits someone!  That's twice in the whole campaign!

But Jak misses 

Black ops trooper repositioning, trying to flank Jak

Reece's position looks tricky...

Reece had been lucky so far, but was under pressure as turn 4 started.  The crew had 3 fast actions, the first of which went to Kari on the rooftop.  Breathing carefully, she rested her auto rifle against the parapet, and lined up the sniper team in her sights...

The targets are in the centre top building, in cover.  A tough shot...

...Or not

In a perfectly aimed burst, Kari took down both members of the sniper team, halving the opposition at a stroke.  Nat knew immediately that she'd be bragging about this for weeks...

Reece and the Black Ops leader, and Jak and the trooper, exchanged shots but with no success on either side (although Jak had cause to be thankful for his new combat armour). Mila and Noah also opened fire but with little effect, but the Black Ops team ended the turn with their first morale failure anyway.  However they were far from being out of the game yet.

Turn 5

Reece, Mila and Noah all struggled to hit their targets.

Jak decided to take a risk, and moved out into the open to get a flanking shot on the remaining trooper - he levelled his rifle and let of a perfect burst, causing two hits, but the trooper's armour held.  Remaining calm, despite the hammer blows of bullets on his armour vest, the operative snapped off a burst back at Jak, dropping him to the ground (despite combat armour and 2 hits points!)!

"Jak's Down!"

Things then went from bad to worse as the ops team leader leaned around the container and snapped off a burst that saw Noah also crumple to the ground!

"they got Noah too!"

Seeing Jak drop, Nat and Kari came down off the rooftop and sprinted towards the firefight, but it was going to take them a couple of turns to get there.

Turn 6

Things were looking grim for the crew of the Envoy - but then, with a grunt of pain, Jak hauled himself to his feet again and opened fire (The compendium rules allow for checking the effect of wounds mid-game, Jak rolled 'Scratched') again his shots were stopped by the trooper's body armour, but this time Jak's Combat Armour did its job and shrugged off the rifles shots that flew back at him.

Reece, in a bold but risky move, used his jump belt again to land on the container right about the ops team leader, but his neither his handgun, nor Mila's rifle could penetrate his military grade body armour.

Turn 7

Using one of the 3 fast actions rolled up, Kari managed to catch up with the action.  Getting around the flank of the enemy leader, she took him out with a quick, but well aimed burst.

Jak and Reece caught the remaining trooper in a crossfire.  Although they didn't manage to land any telling shots on him, it was enough to make him drop back behind the next container - clearing the way for Mila whi, after briefly checking Noah was still breathing, charged into the office to look for information on her sister.

Kari makes another long shot!

Reece and Jak force the remaining trooper back

Turn 8, 9 & 10

A fierce firefight emerged between the remaining trooper, Reece and Jak, as they tried to either finish off or drive off the remaining threat.  Isolated and Alone, the Black Ops trooper decided to live up to his unit's reputation and didn't budge, even when Jak started lobbing grenades, only to finally succumb to a rifle shot in turn 10.

The flanked trooper decides to go out fighting... 

...But there's only one way this is going to end!

Aftermath

Well, that was tougher!  With a D6 based system, +2 on combat skill has quite an impact, cover becomes a lot less useful for one thing.  A combination of Kari's shooting and having multiple hit points kept the crew in the game, but it was looking quite tricksy for a bit there

Loot - colonist rations

Noah - Minor injuries, 1 turn in sick bay, no long term effects

Jak - School of hard knocks, +1 XP

Reece - no long term effects

XP

Reece + 3
Nat + 3 (levelled up reactions) +1 vet rank
Jak +3
Kari +5 (first to inflict a casualty and enemy leader) levelled up combat skill up one vet rank, gained a skill.
Mila +3
Noah + 4 (+1 for becoming a casualty)

Campaign Event - Alien merchant -5 credits, gain Grav Flinger
Character Event - Jak is injured while working on the ship and must spend a turn in the sick bay

Used med supplies to get Jak and Noah out of sick bay