Five Parsecs From Home: Bug Hunt: Battle

 Right, Lads. Here's the plan. Scout, you and the fire team (that's you four with the combat rifles), head over to objective 2 to secure that location. Bungo, you get up high in the middle so you can take potshots at any bugs you can see. Kid, you and I will take the other side and activate the tactical point amongst the crates, then get you to objective 1 so you can hack it. By then we should be ready to activate the beacon at objective 3.

Chorus of "OK Sarge!"

(for reference, here's the map again)

Hey Sarge?

Yeah Kid?

What do you suppose that grotty pile of junk there is?

Looks like someone is trying to cobble together a tank?

Do you think they will ever succeed?

Time will tell, I suppose.

Sarge and the Kid head towards the tactical marker amongst the crates and activate it. It blocks bugs until a 6 is rolled on D6. Meanwhile, Bungo gets up on top of the grounded spaceship that is farthest north. And Scout and the fireteam head towards objective 2.

Bungo Longshot perched in position atop a grounded spaceship.

Hey Sarge?

Yeah Kid?

Did you hear something?

These blasted scanners don't have much of a range do they?

First contact! It's the kind they call "shatter-forms". It is said that when you kill one it shatters, and any other life forms nearby, including other shatter-forms, could take a hit. There are four of them in this group. Sarge blasts at them with his hand cannon, killing one. That causes two others to take hits and die, leaving only one alive.

Meanwhile, over on the other side, Scout and the fireteam reached objective 2 and only encountered a single bug, which they quickly dispatched.

Leaving the fireteam to hold that objective, Scout headed over to see if Sarge and the Kid needed any assistance.

Another group of 3 bugs had shown up on their detectors near objective 3, moving towards the crates. Luckily, the tactical marker was still operational and blocked them from getting through, so the bugs had to go around. Sarge and Bungo and Scout fired at the last bug from the first group, inflicting 3 stuns.

Sarge and Bungo dealt with the latest 3 bugs. Meanwhile, way off on the westside another blip had appeared.

Hey Sarge?

Yeah Kid?

Why do you think there is a terminal out in the middle of a used vehicle lot?

Who knows.

The Kid was free to hack the terminal at objective marker 1 (which, contrary to the map was south of the crater).

Hey kid?

Yeah Sarge?

Is it done?

Yeah, piece of cake.

All that remained was for Sarge to move over and activate the beacon at objective marker 3.

Hey Sarge?

Yeah Kid?

That's a beacon? Looks kind of like a moisture vaporator, don't it?

Never you mind; the mission briefing says it's a beacon.

Hey Sarge?

Yeah Kid?

What's with all of these tires?

What do you mean?

I mean, none of these vehicles in this lot use tires.

So that's the end of the battle. I did make things as easy as I could and a lot of things went right, probably more than I had a right to. 😄 One turn I rolled enough low rolls all of my side went in the quick action phase! I'll do another post-battle report later (sometime in the next few days I hope).

Hey lads?

Yeah Sarge?

Let's get some lunch!

Sounds good. But Sarge?

Yeah, Kid?

Let's not go to the lobster joint, eh?

Sure Kid.

Five Parsecs from Home: Bug Hunt: Intro

 

Hey, Sarge?

Yeah, Kid.

Why is our badge a cat sleeping in sunbeams?

We're the Solar Cats, yeah.

Oh. Right.

Solar Cats is the unit name I rolled up on the tables in the Five Parsecs from Home Compendium, from Modiphius, which includes the Bug Hunt rules. Those rules have you create a small crew of soldiers to combat aliens ("bugs"), which come in various types (the soldiers and the aliens). As with the core Five Parsec rules there are campaign rules and various rules for what happens before any battles/skirmishes and what happens afterwards, too. This post will be about the setup and pre-battle stuff.

I created cards for my crew and support and a list of their gear for ease of reference during play. The crew includes Sarge, Scout, and Kid. Support consists of a 4 member fire team of basic combat troops (Able, Baker, Charlie, and Durok), and a sharpshooter (a halfling name Bungo Longshot). Then I set up the battlefield, with the objectives, locations, etc. It's a used vehicle lot, made up of Lego Star Wars vehicles and smaller ships. Here is a reconnaissance photo.

And an official map (no laughing back there, this is a serious military map)

Oh, that objective marker 1, well, we came in from the north and found out it was actually south of the crater rather than north of it.

As for the cats, it seems the "bugs" shied away from them. A couple of the cats just lazed around where they were, but the others wandered around (move 1d4 inches in a random direction each turn). "Bugs" have to stay at least an inch away, if cats move closer than an inch then "bugs" are moved back out of that range. (just a little house rule I threw in to make things more complicated to keep track of, and to have fun with some cat minis)

I am using all of the rules to make this first game as easy for me as I can, including the "I'm too Pretty to Die" option, lowest priority, etc. 😄 We'll see how that works out for me.

Now I just have to make time to actually play the game and then write it up.

The Galactic Rangers vs the Space Phroggs

I played a fast game using the Pulp Alley rules for a pulpy sci-fi encounter between Captain Psmith and his Galactic Rangers against the Space Phroggs. It was pretty easy to create the characters for the 2 sides and then set up the scenario. I used the solo card deck, which offers some advantages as well as disadvantages for whichever side has to pull cards from it each turn.

Galactic Rangers:
Captain Psmith (in the purple uniform)
First Officer Bassett (in the green uniform)
Chief Engineer Potts (in the gold uniform)
Spacemen Emsworth and Threepwood (in the red uniforms)
The robot, Keggs

Space Phroggs:
Commander Rivvit
Sgt. Kroke
5 Phrogg soldiers
Giant toad

I played the basic "Smash and Grab" scenario, in which the two sides are trying to grab the most plot points and get away. I rolled for the plot points on the tables provided (these are just for descriptive purpose and have no real impact on game play; although it might be fun to represent the plot points according to the descriptions). In my case, I used wooden counters to represent the plot points (plain wood for the minor ones and a red counter for the major plot point).

This is a view of the overall table. The "area" pieces (rounded shapes) represent perilous areas; other smaller terrain pieces represent obstacles and/or cover but are not perils.

The Galactic Rangers set up first, entering from the south.

The Phroggs arrived second, entering from the north.

The Galactic Rangers had initiative, so Captain Psmith ran forward to the major plot point in the middle of some swampy ground. Chief Engineer Potts moved off to the left to try to grab the minor plot point there. He tried to use his latest invention, the sonic spanner, but it blew up on him and ended up knocking him out for the rest of the scenario. The explosion must have rattled First Officer Bassett a little, as she moved more cautiously towards the minor plot point on the right.
Meanwhile, the Phroggs also moved forward. One of the Phrogg soldiers succumbed to the perils of the swamp (how embarrassing, right there next to his commander, to tumble face first into the swamp).

Captain Psmith grabs the major plot point (a smuggled shipment for which the Phroggs had some evil plot, no doubt). Commander Rivvit grabbed a minor plot point. Some shots rang out. Captain Psmith was hit, but it was only a flesh wound. The giant toad also succumbed to the swamp (must have some perils that the Phroggs are not used to on their home planet).

Meanwhile, the Sgt. Kroke is having difficulty with the minor plot point next to him. Although First Officer Bassett grabs the one next to her. Meanwhile the rest of the Phroggs threaten Captain Psmith and Spaceman Emsworth with gun-play all around. Some hits are scored, but most of the characters recover.

Captain Psmith and Spaceman Emsworth pull back to the minor plot point in the swampy area to the south. First Officer Bassett and Spaceman Threepwood pull back, too. While most of the Phroggs surge forward and Commander Rivvit pulls back to retrieve the plot point to the north. Another flurry of shooting occurs to little effect.

First Officer Bassett and Spaceman Threepwood pull back out of the conflict, while Captain Psmith grabs the last minor plot point. The Phroggs try to shoot, but it's a case of too little, too late.

In the final tally the Galactic Rangers have collected 2 minor plot points as well as the major one. While the Phroggs have gathered 2 minor plot points.

I had fun with this! I did have to reference the rules a fair bit while playing, but less and less as the game went on. The basic mechanics are pretty simple; the turn sequence isn't complicated either. The main thing that I can see a need for referencing are the various skills and things like gadget and gears, and some things like creating gangs/characters, setting up scenarios, and handling things like experience and between game effects. The solo cards also make for the unexpected to happen in solo games, throwing obstacles at you (or your opponent) as well as the occasional perk.

It's also a very flexible set of rules, with various options, so you can play straight-up pulp, sci-fi, fantasy, swashbuckling, or other genres of that ilk (WW 1 or 2, horror, gangster/detective noir, western, adventure). In other words, nearly any genre covered by pulp novels or movies.

I also want to commend the father/daughter company that produces Pulp Alley for their great products and customer service (I received my order within a few days of placing it).

Dragon Rampant

I recently got a copy of the Dragon Rampant rules  by Daniel Mersey from Osprey. On my initial read-through it looked like a good, fairly simple, yet nuanced set of rules. I worked out a couple of small 20 point armies that I could put together with miniatures I already have.

The dwarves:
1 dwarf lord, classed as elite foot, 6 strength points, 6 figures
1 unit of heavy foot (dwarf hammerers), 12 strength points, 12 figures
2 units of heavy missiles (dwarf crossbowmen), 12 strength points, 12 figures

The goblins:
1 goblin leader, classed as heavy foot, 12 strength points, 12 figures
2 units of light foot (goblin warriors), 12 strength points, 12 figures
1 unit of light foot (archers with short range missiles), 12 strength points, 12 figures
1 unit of light riders (wolfriders with bows), 6 strength points, 6 figures

I played the basic "bloodbath" scenario, which is simply a straight up battle without any objectives other than destroying the enemy army.

I didn't find any rules about placing terrain so I just plopped down a small hill on one flank and some woods on the other, about equidistant from both armies. Then I placed the units in what seemed like a good arrangement, keeping in mind the minimum 3 inch spacing between units.

The table looked like this at the start:

The cards are handwritten with unit stats. They  don't need to accompany the units; I just did that for convenience. The round piece of mdf in the lower right is a 3 inch piece I had previously cut out for a tree stand. I found it useful for making sure I kept the minimum 3 inch spacing between units at all times.

The view from the goblin leader's position:

Because of the activation rules you won't always get to use all units every turn, so that introduces some good uncertainty for a solo gamer. I had times where I would only get 1 or 2 units activated and other times when I got them all activated.

Early in the game:

The dwarves have managed to get their crossbowmen onto the hill on the left and into the woods on the right. The goblin archers have been forced back, and a couple if units on both sides have taken a few casualties (I placed them back at the baselines, so I could quickly count up how many a unit had lost. Useful for when you have to make a courage test.).

Mid-game:

More casualties.

Nearing the end of the game:
The dwarves are really whittling down the goblin army. Once it got to the point of only the wolfriders still in play for the goblins I stopped and called it a win for the dwarves.


Fun, quick, didn't take a lot of figures or table space (the table is about 3 feet by 4 feet). I like these rules and went ahead and ordered Lion Rampant as well. I also got En Garde, another Osprey rules book, but that doesn't look so appealing to me. It seems to lack the simplicity of the Rampant rules, and doesn't seem like there's much swashbuckling in it. I also noticed 1 picture seems to be used 3 times, in this one short book! I also like that the Rampant rules credit the miniatures by manufacturer and who painted them/who they belong to. I guess it shows that you can't always judge a book by its publisher (or by books you might think were related).

A big thumbs up for the Rampant books. A big thumbs down for En Garde. I have some dwarf musketeers that I am slowly working on putting together to paint, so I'll be on the look out for some rules to use with them. Ganesha Games' Flashing Steel might be a possibility. I'm hoping for some rules that are fairly simple, with some swashbuckling fun (like improvised weapons, repartee, etc.), but at more like hero and small unit level rather than a fuller character level rpg kind of game nor more of a battle-level game

Rescue

It seems like ages ago that a number of unfortunate halflings were taken captive by a pack of gnolls. Well, finally a brave hero or 2 has come along to try to rescue the captive halflings.

Today, using the Very Simple Generic Miniatures Rules that I used previously, with a few "house rules" for scenario-specific flavor, I had a dwarf hero armed with a crossbow and ax attempt a rescue. He went in alone and didn't get off to a very good start (lots of poor dice rolls!). First shot missed, and then he got knocked down by the first gnoll he acme in contact with.

Eventually he killed that gnoll. The dwarf made it to the rocky area where most of the halflings were being held by several of the gnolls (the rest of the gnolls and halflings were scattered a bit). After some back and forth fighting the dwarf was overcome and captured by several gnolls ganging up on him.

Well, that wouldn't do! Enter an heroic wood elf archer, friend of the dwarf hero. Again I created a few "house rules"/stats for the wood elf and the scenario. The gnolls were now on alert, in defensive positions among various rocky outcrops, and keeping watch on their captives. The wood elf entered the area, promptly shot one gnoll and freed a couple of halflings.
Moving along, the wood elf shot another gnoll and freed another halfling. Then the wood elf moved towards the main group of hostages. Shooting more gnolls. The previously freed halflings had moved up to the rocky area and were able to knock down some of the gnolls and eventually free up more halflings and the dwarf. In the end the elf, dwarf and halflings dispatched the last of the gnolls. Another triumph for the forces of niceness.

One thing I like about simple rules like the ones mentioned above is it's easy to learn the base rules and then add a few variations as desired for specific scenarios.
In this game the main differences between the dwarf and elf were the dwarf was better at hand to hand combat (hitting/killing on a roll of 3-6), while the elf was better at missile combat (hitting on a roll or 3-6 at close range), and the dwarf got armor protection (canceling hits against him on a roll of 4-6).

Quiet? Yeah, Too Quiet

It was a quiet day in the shire. Cattle browsing under the watchful eye of dog and halfling; a woodsman seeking wood for fires; a goatherd drowsing after second breakfast; a farmer and his donkey tending to a field of potatoes and carrots.

Little did they know, a raiding pack of gnolls were coming over the hills to the north, intent on gathering food and captives.

The gnolls swept down to attack the woodsman, but he fought back valiantly, escaping from the gnolls and blowing his horn to alert the other halflings.

The hunter by the pond fired his bow, striking one gnoll. The woodsman and hunter retreat back towards the walls and hedges of the farms around the halfling village, pursued closely by the raiding gnolls. The gnoll chieftan captures the cowherd in spite of having to fight over the hedge. Meanwhile, the goatherd strikes another gnoll.

The gnolls press their attack and capture the woodsman and the hunter. The halflings hit a couple of gnolls, while the herders start herding the cows and goats to safety.
The gnolls surge forward, but don't quite make it into contact with any of the halflings. The dog rushes in to attack the gnoll chieftan, managing to get in a good nip and hold her off for a little while. The halflings fire off various missiles, knocking 5 gnolls off balance. This leaves only 3 gnolls on their feet and ready for action, but the gnolls hold their ground. The goatherd sees his animals off to safety.

The gnoll chieftan captures the dog, while the halfling barmaid knocks one gnoll back with a flagon to the kneecap, but the gnolls capture one of the town guards, the old potato farmer, and the halfling slinger.

More halflings join the defense. In a flurry of assorted missiles the halflings discomfort 4 gnolls, but the gnolls hold their ground again, and in return capture the halfling lad with his slingshot (or catapult) and Littlejack, Robyn Hood's sidekick.

More halflings, four adventurous fellows, join the fray. The gnolls press the attack. The halflings fight off 2 of the gnolls, but the donkey and 5 halflings are taken captive. The remaining halflings fire off another flurry of missiles, tankards, rocks, arrows, etc., and knock down, knock back, distract, etc., 5 more gnolls. The gnolls decide they have had enough (and have enough captives) and retreat back the way they came. 

In the aftermath of the raid the remaining halflings ponder what to do about their captured friends and family.

Thus endeth the gnoll raid on the halfling settlement of Duckweed.

In a further post I will write a bit about how this raid was conducted.