I had another game last week to try out some minor tweaks to the rules. Went alright, though ended up being more lopsided than I had expected. Still some more tweaks to make to the rules (mainly rallying and the melee mechanics). Then I can finally start on the vehicle rules! I took lots of pics of the game, and I will do a bit of a running commentary to help you follow the action.
The basic scenario was that a platoon of Colonial Marines (5 fireteams and a HMG team) are holding a valuable cluster of crystals in the ruins of a town. Assaulting them through the mountain passes was 6 fireteams of armoured Red troopers plus 2 teams of Red power armour. I gave a maximum of 20 turns for the Reds to seize the crystals, but the game ended around turn 14.
I set-up the Marines first, then I randomly determined which side the Red teams would approach from. This resulted in 4 teams of regulars and a team of power armour deployed on the western board edge, while 2 teams of regulars and a team of power armour came from the east.
The meager red forces coming from the east.
The more substantial western assault force.
2 teams of marines plus the HMG hold the west edge of town.
Another 2 teams hold the eastern edge of town.
While the 5th team is in the center of town near the crystal as a reserve.
"Hold the line!"
The HMG would prove quite deadly.
The Reds begin the advance from the west.
The reserve team moves to reinforce the western edge of town.
A single Red team from the west moved north through the woods to hit the Marines in the flank.
The assault in the west begins to get bogged down under heavy fire from the Marines.
Both Power Armour teams preformed pretty poorly, getting bogged down by both casualties and Stress Points.
The Red team begins its flank attack.
After a few turns exchanging fire, the Reds assaulted! They killed 2 Marines and forced the surviving 2 to rout.
Meanwhile on the eastern side of town a protracted firefight developed between these two units. Neither was able to inflict significant casualties, nor have the strength to try an assault.
The HMG team pulled back away from the assaulting Red team to the north.
After rallying off their Stress Points this team of power armour rejoined the attack on the west, only to get cut down by a combination of HMG and small arms fire, eventually routing.
Despite their gains, these Reds found the Marines' firepower too much to bear and were also routed.
The surviving marines on the western edge hold out together.
The western edge of town at games end. The few remaining Red units' morale broke and the assault was over. The marines held the town!
Peter Pig minis. As with said other blog, I did head swaps to give some variety to the troops. I gave them a mix of caps, bush hats and bareheaded. I was somewhat dismayed to find that the PP separate heads are a fair bit bigger than the heads on the AK-47 Republic minis, but once painted up they look alright.
