Upkeep was paid, 7 Credits a turn now.
Jobs
Reece - trade - gained another rifle and medical supplies
Anul - trade - found a useless but fascinating (to him) trinket
Nathaniel - trade - found a gift (+1XP)
Jak - attempted gunsmithing on his rifle but with no result
Kari- train - +1XP, levelled up combat skill to 2!
Mila and Noah Grant (New Guy) went exploring. Mila found a trainer and gained +2 XP, Noah found a broken Screen Generator in 'Needs of a little love' 3 credits to fix.
There was no quest.
Instead the crew were tracked down by the raiders they tangled with in mission one - consisting of seven raiders, including one with a shotgun.
Reece, Nathaniel and Anul were loading up their trade gear when Reece's earpiece buzzed, "Reece? Kari. We've just had the nod from Port security of around half a dozen hostiles between you and us. Description matches the raiders we messed up a few weeks back, they could be gunning for you. We're gearing up to come meet you"
"Got it" Reece replied, "we're about to get rolling. see you in five". "Nat, Anul!, Finish loading quick. Then gear up. Sounds like we might have trouble coming our way."
"Kari? We're making good time, no trouble yet.."
"What the f...!?", the truck veered sideways as Nathaniel yanked the control yoke. A sudden impact forced all the air out of Reece's lungs. What the hell was that noise? Hail? No, definitely not hail... "Out! Out!, now!". Reece, Nathaniel and Anul bundled out of the van as bullets peppered the far side. "How many?", Reece yelled over the cacophony.
Nathaniel popped his head above the hood. "I count seven!".
"Kari, where are you?"
"Nearly with you, hold - on"
Reece quickly glanced around. "Right, we need to split them up. You and Anul go left", he patted the jump belt under his jacket "I'll go right and see if I can draw some off".
The opposition
The initial set up
Turn 1
I started with only Reece, Nathaniel and Anul on the table. The rest of the crew would turn up on a random turn and table side. The seven raiders all initially deployed together. This would be the first time using the extra combat rules from the compendium.
All three crew got quick actions. Reece ran across the road to split the raiders. Nathan took a potshot at their leader, but missed. The snap shot in return also missed. Anul headed left to the side streets.
The Raiders rushed forwards. Three split off after Reece, with the remainder (including the Shotgun armed one in a red hat) heading for Nat and Anul. The leader fired at Nat, hitting him but not wounding, although the impact knocked him back.
Reece draws the raiders off
The three on the right are going after Reece
Nat exchanges fire with the enemy leader (the marker denotes a 'stun')
Turn 2
Reece drew the three raiders off by heading into the mass of cargo crates. Anul climbed up a ladder to the roof of the nearest building, followed by Nat. The raiders all moved up bit there was no shooting this turn.
Three go left
And the rest go right
Reece takes cover
"up on the roooooooof!"
Turn 3
The rest of the crew turned up, just s short distance from Reece!
The cavalry arrives!
Quick actions went to Jak, Kari and Nat (who climbed up the building with Anul so he wouldn't be flanked). Jak unlimbered the shell gun and let fly at the three raiders chasing Reece. Although he only dropped one (and stunned another), the sight of their comrade being reduced to a fine mist was too much for the other two, who promptly legged it! (rolled double ones for panic).
Still up on the roof
Run away!
Kari dashed to move in line of site of the leader, but couldn't fire.
The Raiders attempt to sneak around the flank
Reece used his jump belt to leap onto a roof overlooking the road and took a shot at the leader with his pistol, but missed. Mila moved around the containers to try and flank the enemy, while Noah took an unsuccessful pot shot at the leader.
Over on the other side, Anul climbed up onto the bridge between buildings and fired his blast pistol, dropping him in a heap. Red hat panicked and 'bugged out'!
Death from above! Anul takes down a raider
The Raiders took their first morale test, but passed. But there were only two of them left now!
His comrade legs it!
Reece taking pot shots
Turn 4
Three quick actions, this time for Kari, Noah and Reece. Kari fired on the Raider's leader again but missed, as did his return shot. Noah shot and missed. Reece shot and missed! Someone needs to recalibrate the weapon sights later!
Red hat moved back into play. The leader dashed into cover behind the red car ('aggressive' enemies will move towards a brawl if possible if their are enemies in 12").
Nat moved across the rooftop and fired down at the enemy leader, hitting him but not wounding. Anul dashed to join him but couldn't fire this turn. Mila moved up.
The Raider's leader was starting to look distinctly surrounded!
Turn 5
Four quick actions. I decided that Kari would go first, desperate to be the one who takes the big bad down. She moved out into the open to get a risky flank shot on him and gunned him straight down!
Kari guns down the Raider leader
Nat dropped down onto a lower roof to go after red hat. Anul followed him but slipped a fell, luckily only spraining an ankle (failed an easy agility test, took a wound, but it was only a 'scratch' reducing speed, which seemed appropriate!).
Reece and Jak both moved to where they had line of sight on red hat but couldn't take him down.
Red Hat was stunned from the Jak's fire, so couldn't shoot, so instead moved to the cover of a corner.
Mila and Noah moved up and the raider took his first morale fail.
Anul hobbles along!
Turn 6
Kari used a quick action to move to cover behind the red car. From their she had a great view as Anul limped across the roof top, leaned over...
And blew red hat's beret through his skull with his blast pistol.
"Clean up, aisle 4!"
6 Turns and all over. No injuries again! To be fair the opposition did a good job of taking itself out with failed panic tests and falling off a drainpipe!
Aftermath
The Raiders remain an enemy. The crew gained a measly three credits on bounties, and looted some colony rations from the defeated.
XP all round!
Reece - 3 points, level up (0.5 to Combat)
Anul - 3 points Level up (0.5 to Combat), gained a skill
Nat - Level up, Combat skill now one
Mila - 3 points
Noah - 3 points, level up (0.5 to tech)
Jak - 3 points, no change
Kari - +1 veteran rank
Shopping gained us a frag vest
With their reputation growing, the crew also gained a new patron in the form of a Mercenary Company linked to the suit they rescued
Anul picked up a new hobby.
Thoughts
On the whole, the additional rules from the compendium added more in fun than they took away through increased complexity. I was a little selective however; for example using the 'Combat Response' rule only for the opposition. I felt it added some automation to their moves (reducing the chance of me subconsciously favouring the Crew), whereas the crew, as the 'stars' of the story, retain more autonomy.
The additional scenery made a real difference too. Apart from looking good, It ended up playing an active role, with Nat, Anul and Reece all making good use of high ground (with added rocket boots as well!), and creating the hilarious spectacle of a bad guy putting themselves out of action falling off a drainpipe!
Overall the crew were lucky again, with reinforcements turning up at a very opportune moment, and the raiders suffering some bad dice rolls that lost them three models through no action of the crew! I decided to play Kari very aggressively this time, assigning her quick actions and having her act before others, even if it wan't necessarily the best course of action; it seemed to fit with her Glory seeking background and frustration with performing relatively poorly in previous actions (she still fluffed a lot of dice rolls though). This is the advantage of a narrative campaign, when you find you are playing to the story rather than just being 'competitive' (as much as that's possible when playing solo!).
I've also realised that I don't think Reece has achieved a single 'kill' yet!
Nice report, as always! I liked that you took a lot of photos. Those minis are pretty sweet, never really seen those in 1/72. Old minis?
ReplyDeleteThanks! The miniatures are old Dark Future ones from GW. There's a limited range, and a bit of a late 80's ealry 90's vibe to the outfits and hairdos, but lots of options for scenery, vehicles etc.
DeleteI love the added scenery; it really pulled me in. I agree with your ending statement about how narrative stories can guide your choices. I remember early on having this moment where the power player in me said, "Keep Gangway back and take the flanked shot" and instead I rushed him in for the melee attack because that's what he had done the previous turn. In my mind, he was this ruthless knife welder and that's the play he'd make. At he same time, it can be scary when you you face consequences like Five Parsecs where that play can result in a very dead character.
ReplyDeleteCheers, the scenery also lead to some of the games funnier moments too, like the bad guy (or gal in this case) putting themselves out of action via drainpipe! I try and think of each game a bit like an episode of the series; what would that character do? what would make a good twist? Struggling a bit with getting a scenario I like for the next game though.
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