Welcome to my latest battle report for RAMPANT STARS. This time, I decided to try using the rules as a 1:1 skirmish game instead of a squad based skirmish game. That means, each “unit” will be a single model with 10 Effectiveness rating each. A small tweak, but I wanted to get my old Necromunda Cawdor and Demon Blade Shockforce models on the table for a game.
A Cult in the
nearby dome-city stumbled upon an ancient map to the location of a holy data
point. However, the Cult needs to venture outside into the
Jungles that surround their hab to locate it.
Little do they know that the datapoint is also sacred to the local
Tribals. As the Cult approaches, the
Tribals set-up to stop them
Cultists
Irregular Infantry Commander- Grenade Launcher Cawdor
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+3)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Squad Support weapon (+2)- Double Potential Hits
Blast (+1)- Ignore cover
Irregular Infantry- Sword and gun
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+3)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Combat Weapons (+1)- Short range, double dice for assault
Fierce (+2)
Irregular Infantry- Sword and gun
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+3)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Combat Weapons (+1)- Short range, double dice for assault
Fierce (+2)
Irregular Infantry- Auto-gun guy
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+2)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Rapid Fire (+2)- Double dice at short, 1.5 at long, may
not be used with a move and shoot order
Irregular Infantry- Shot-gun guy
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (-2 +1)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Obsolete Weapon (-2)- Short 0-8, Long 9-16
Blast (+1)- Ignores cover
Irregular Infantry- Las-gun guy aiming
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+2)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Marksman (+2)- Re-roll failed shoot attacks on shoot
orders.
Irregular Infantry- Heavy Bolter
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+4)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Armor-piercing (+2)
Rapid-fire (+2)
Total Points= 30 points
Tribals
Irregular Infantry Commander- Shaman
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+4)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Psionic Powers (+4)
Irregular Infantry- Saw and Shield
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+3)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1(+1)
Traits:
Combat Weapons (+1)- Short range, double dice for assault
Armored (+2)
2x Irregular Infantry- Las-gun guy aiming
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+2)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Marksman (+2)- Re-roll failed shoot attacks on shoot
orders
Irregular Infantry- Las-gun guy white hair
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2 (+3)
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
Hover (+2)- Ignores Difficult Terrain to act as a scout
Rapid Move (+1)- Roll d6 for Rapid Movement
3x Irregular Infantry- Las-gun guy
Irregular Infantry Effectiveness
rating: 10 Points: 2
Move Command Assault Defense Shoot
Armor
6 4+ 4+ 5+ 4+ 1
Traits:
None
Total Points= 30 points
Mission
Missions are generated by rolling 3d6 three times and
consulting a mission, complication, and Location chart. Of course, you don’t have to roll any at all,
but for a test game we might as well go for it!
Secure the Datapoint
The defender
sets up the board per the terrain guidelines. A token is placed in the center
of the board. The attacker chooses a table edge. The defender deploys on the
opposite table edge within 6 inches.
The attacker then deploys within
6 inches of the edge. Each side is trying to hold the data-point token at the
center of the board by having an intact unit covering it at the end of turn 8,
one hour, or until one side is destroyed/routing. The force on the token at the
end wins, if no one is on the token, it is a draw.
The Cultists will
be the attackers.
Dawn
The battle starts at the
break of dawn. Initial Line-of-sight is 0’ inches. At the end of each turn, the
Line-of-Sight distance increases by 6 inches. Therefore, at the end of Turn 1
the Line-of-sight is 6 inches, at the end of turn 2 it is 12 inches, at the end
of turn 3 it is 18 inches, etc, etc. This continues until the full length of
the board is available.
Location
Outdoor, Jungle
The battle takes place on
a Jungle world with huge trees, brightly colored foliage, and dense brush.
Shooting only has a Line-of-sight of 6 inches while in the jungle. In addition,
the entire board is considered to be difficult terrain. Gaps, clearings and
paths are normal, open terrain.
Well then…. this should be something.
Set-up
This board is 4x4 in size using my classic Jungle terrain
segments first made for Codex: Catachan. The brown is considered open trails with
normal LOS and terrain. Anything green
is considered jungle and only has a 6 inch LOS and considered in difficult
terrain.
The totem rock in the center of the board is the
data-point. Overlooking it is the ruins of
a hilltop fortress, but there seems to be only one winding path that even gets
close to the Totem. The Tribals set-up
on the path on their side of the board and are ready to move in towards the
totem as quickly as possible. The
Cultists are on the opposite side, spread out along a game trail.
Turn 1:
The Cultists go first, but only the Shotgun guy, auto-gun
guy, and Leader manage to press ahead.
The rest are scared of the darkness and the Jungle.
The Tribal shaman, a Marksman, and a disposable all make
for the Totem. Meanwhile a Marksman
tries to move along a flanking path. The
rest are confused by the darkness.
Turn 2:
As the sun rises, the Jungle begins to stir. Only the shotgun cultist and the leader keep
their wits about them and press ahead.
The rest failed to rally and stay shaken.
The jungle noises cause the advancing tribal party to
pause and survey their surroundings cautiously, stalling their advance up the
trail. However, their flanking Marksman
manages to get to a good position over-watching the totem and in cover.
Turn 3:
The Cultist leader moves up the flanking trail, but comes
to a dead end. He will have to plunge
through the jungle to get closer to his target.
Meanwhile, his Marksman brother moves up towards the main trail. The rest stay crouched and scanning for
danger.
The Tribals quickly gather their wits. Their lagging troopers scramble forward to
join the main warband. Meanwhile, their
Ghost Who Walks moves to the base of the hill fort. Their Marksman boldly moves forward to block
the path forward for the main Cultist troops.
Turn 4:
The Marksman Bretheren dashes up, covered by his
buddy. The Shotgunner gathers his wits
and prepares to press forward. The
Cultist Commander presses forward into the jungle. The Heavy and the Close Combat gangers stay
stricken in fear at the path they started on.
The Marksman Tribal moves and shoots into the cover the
Shotgun cultist is in. The spray of
las-shots cause the Cultist to lose 1 Effectiveness rating from fear. The shaman and two other tribesman move up
towards the totem. The second Marksman
double times to his fellow marksman and sets-up to secure the path.
Turn 5:
The Cultist Leader double times through the Jungle and
gets to the base of the Hill top fort.
The Auto-gun cultist sprints towards the totem. The Shotgun cultist is shaken and fails to
act. Unsurprisingly, the two “fierce”
cultists stand around quaking in fear.
The Marksman turns and fires at the Marksman tribal
through cover. However, careful aims
pays off and reduces the Tribal 3 Effectiveness.
The Shaman uses “New Ways to Motivate Them” on the shield
bearing tribal. One of the Marksman
fires on the Cult Marksman and reduces them 1 Effectiveness rating. The Tribal soldier moves to base-to-base with
the totem.
Turn 6
In a critical turn, all the Cultists fail their Command
Check, except 1. The Marksman fires on
the unhurt and unshaken tribal Marksman and reduces him 4 Effectiveness
points! That is pretty good considering
he is in cover!
The shield bearing tribal manages to fail his activation
even with the Pscionics on him! The
Shaman fails his action test to move as well.
One Marksman rallies while the other moves into base-to-base with the totem. Another Tribal grunt rallies near the
shaman. The rest fail to activate.
Turn 7
It doesn’t look like the Cultists can do much to stop the
Tribals from securing the data-point in the totem. The Shotgunner rallies, but the rest fail
their Command checks. I should have kept
the commander closer to his buddies.
A Tribal Grunt activates and moves into base-to-base with
the Totem, securing the objective with a third unit. The Shield Bearing Tribal rallies, and the
others fail to activate or rally as needed.
One of the Marksman fires at the Auto-gun Cultist and reduces them 3
Effectiveness rating.
Tribals win! They
have 1 Marksman and two Grunts securing the Objective. A pretty convincing win!
Final Thoughts:
This was a tough Mission, Complication, and Location for
Irregular Infantry forces. They do not
have a reliable Command rating to get them to the Objective in 8 turns
easily. Especially since failing a
command check sidelines the unit for the next turn as well while they
rally. Two of the Cultist Units never
even moved from the starting point as they could not pass a rally test all
game! Perhaps I should have used a 3x3
board to help the units get into the action quicker?
The system worked just as well using individual models as
it does with squads. Its simplicity is
the key to its versatility. The Marksman
were worth the points and managed to get good shots in tough cover and
ranges. The Pscionist not so much, and
Hover/Rapid Movement guy not so much either.
The CC oriented units were absolutely worthless in this game and I will
need to see how they fair in other games.
In addition, I found a few more typos in the rules so I
updated the PDF. Nothing disastrous but
some errors in target numbers for Pscionic powers to activate using 2d6 instead
of a d6.
This game was set-up, played, documented, and stripped
back to bare table again in 1 hour and 15 minutes. One goal for the game was quick gameplay. I think Rampant
Stars delivers on that front.
Feel free to try out the rules for yourself here: http://www.wargamevault.com/product/209268/Rampant-Stars?src=newest_recent
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