Gut Check Battle - Garn vs Astagar

Following my last post, I broke out SpaceJacker's Gut Check! ruleset and gave it a few playtests.  I had forgotten what a fun little rule system it is.  It only took a couple rounds to get the hang of the mechanics once again... I spent the rest of the time tweaking unit stats to come up with something that resembled a balanced scenario.  This was played using Khurasan Garn and Critical Mass Astagar Mercenary Fighters.

Scenario Background.  A Garn patrol ship entered orbit around Rishi 7.  Some ancient buildings were on that planet... something the Garn had always wanted to investigate.  When their scanners detected an Astagar landing ship near the ruins, they knew it was time to stake a permanent claim.  Garn Huntmaster Thauro recognized the landing ship - they were the type usually crewed by five Astagar mercenary fighters (probably seeking some sort of treasure in the ruins).  Thauro was a little disappointed at this finding.  He had been hoping for a proper fight today, and this would amount to little more than an early morning workout.  But it was better than nothing, and he certainly couldn't let the Astagar take anything of value from one of the planets in his patrol zone.  Thauro ordered Hunters Bazgla and Acholk to accompany him down to the surface.

The Astagar were already inside the buildings by the time the Garn arrived.  Astagar Captain Fyip had his henchmen Sizet and Ovidu searching the larger building, while Ixe and his heavy weapon trooper Livitt looked inside the smaller.  When they left their buildings, they were a bit surprised to find a Garn Hunting Party stalking toward them.

Playing The Game.  I didn't use any blips for this scenario - just a straight fight to "break in" these units.  The Astagar were positioned in front of both buildings, while the Garn simply entered from the center of the opposite edge of my board.  I played this on my 2' x 2' Red Planet table including my Critical Mass Kaamados buildings.  The Garn were activated and controlled by me, while the Astagar used SpaceJacker's awesome all-in-one enemy activation counters.

Turn One.  I learned during my earlier playtests that the Garn were pretty easily slaughtered if they split up.  So this time I would keep them together, and simply knock out the Astagar one mini at a time.  Huntmaster Thauro began the game by using an EVADE action to move into cover (rock formations along the right side of the table).  The first enemy activation counter was for Livitt - the Astagar armed with the heavy gun.  He used a FOCUS FIRE action to give Bazgla a Shock counter.  Using the reaction rules, Bazgla scored an Epic Pass on his Gut Check and returned fire.  He hit Livitt for two Shock counters - enough to take the heavy weapon Astagar out of action.  Both Garn hunters joined their Huntmaster in the EVADE action, while Ovidu failed to activate and Sizet took an EVADE to slither up the hill on the left side of the table.  Ixe fired at the Garn but his shots were absorbed by their shields.  The turn concluded with Captain Fyip using a RUSH action to get into battle with the wounded Bazgla. Each took a shock counter from that fight.

Turn Two.  The turn began with Ovidu, the Astagar with the power gauntlets, using a RUSH action to attack Garn Huntmaster Thauro.  He took down the Huntmaster with a Messy Kill - forcing Bazgla and Acholk to take Gut Checks.  They failed and retreated 2".  The Astagar Captain used a FOCUS FIRE to stop the fleeing Garn, but his his was absorbed by Bazgla's shield.  Bazgla passed a Gut Check for taking fire... I could either Ambush (charge the captain) or Fire.  He fired, and all three shots missed completely.  Acholk used a FOCUS FIRE action to take down the Astagar assault trooper.  He scored a MESSY KILL.  The Astagar captain was within 4" of the kill and was forced to take a Gut Check, but he passed and did not retreat.  The wounded Bazgla removed his Shock Counter at the end of this turn, but the Astagar Captain did not.

Turn Three.  Captain Fyip used a FOCUS FIRE against Bazgla, scoring another two Shock Counters.  Bazgla failed the ensuing Gut Check, so there was no retaliation.  Acholk used a RUSH action to assault Captain Fyip, forcing him to give ground.  Nobody else managed to activate during this turn... Captain Fyip removed his Shock counter, while Bazgla kept both of his.  Things were not looking well for the Garn!

Turn Four.  Garn Acholk used an ADVANCE action to get into cover. He fired on Captain Fyip, scoring a MESSY KILL.  The nearby Astagar fighter failed his Gut Check, and was Choked for the rest of the turn. Astagar Sizet, still in cover at the opposite hill, failed yet another activation.  Bazgla managed to activate even with two Shock Counters... he took a FOCUS FIRE action against the choked Astagar fighter Ixe.  The dice weren't kind to Ixe... he received four Shock counters, and was taken out of action.  In one turn, the fight had completely turned against the Astagar.

More dead snakes than Springfield Whacking Day...

Turn Five.  Across the table, Sizet finally passed an activation!  He RUSHed into assault with Acholk.  That assault ended with Sizet giving ground.  Acholk then used a FOCUS FIRE to give Sizet a Shock and a Choke counter.  Bazgla didn't pass his activation, but was able to remove both of his Shock counters at the end of that turn.  

Turn Six.  Sizet, the last surviving Astagar, fell to FOCUS FIRE from Bazgla.  The alien buildings were now clear of the invading Astagar treasure seekers, but the Garn had paid a terrible price with the loss of Huntmaster Thauro.

Analysis.  I had to tweak the Astagar stats for a few games, but I achieved a pretty good level of balance.  This game really felt like it was decided purely by the dice rolls - after turn three I thought it was going to be another overwhelming Astagar victory.  But the Garn refused to give up!  Now I want to play a variant of Scenario One from the Gut Check rules... I'll run the Garn hunting party again, next time against several small blips of humans or Crusties.  But this made for a very fun game, even with a total of eight minis on the table.

Cheers,

Chris

Detailed FUBAR Battle Report - Crusties vs Sulians

I’m going for something a bit different with this battle report.  Rather than simply posting the overall results, I’m going to attempt play-by-play commentary of the game as it was played.  This is so readers who are curious about the FUBAR system can see how it works in game, and how you can tweak it into just the kind of gaming experience you want to have.

BACKGROUND
The moon of Caris is a narcotics and weapons smuggling hub for the entire Conquest system.  Crusties have set up shanty towns near every major starport, cooking their hallucinogens and hiding them in government shipping containers.  Corrupt government officials pick up these drugs at set times, taking them into the starports.
The Sulian Alliance will no longer allow this.
A small force was sent out from the Sulian encampment near the starport of Lumeii.  Their mission is to destroy the Crusties narcotics labs, and make an example of all Crusties they find.

SCENARIO
3’ x 3’ desert table, with scattered Startown Slums and GZG shanties.  The Crusties were pre-deployed into the buildings and behind assorted crates and debris.  For this FUBAR game, the attacking Sulians will automatically receive initiative to start the game, but all Crusties count as being on guard during the first round.  This will enable them to take the first shots as the Sulians move into the shanties.
Each shanty is a target building.  The battlesuits and infantry are carrying demo charges, and the Stalker Tank’s weapons can also destroy them.  A charge is clamped on by a model in base to base contact.  It detonates the next turn, destroying the building.  For each building destroyed, roll a D6.  On a roll of 4-6, that building was a drug lab with unstable chemicals... each unit within D6” takes a hit, counted as a successful shooting attack.
The Sulians achieve victory by destroying  every target building.  The Crusties will only survive by either wiping out their opponents, or at least getting them to retreat from the table.

CRUSTY FORCES

• The Crusties have six fire teams of four Crusties each.  Crusties have a basic training level of Seasoned, allowing them to Activate on a D6 roll 4+, and successfully hit their targets (Expertise stat) on 5+.  They do not wear armor, but their resilient exoskeletons give them an armor save of 5+.  Their basic energy rifles can fire 2FP at 8”, or 1FP at 16”.  Most fire teams have a Plasma Gun, which has 3FP at 16”.  There are also two Arc Gun teams on the table, which have 3FP at 32”.
• A Guncrab walker is hidden behind the dunes.  It is Seasoned, a vehicle armor save of 4+, and is armed with an Arc Gun.
• Additionally there is a Command fireteam.  These have a Veteran training level, giving them an Activation of 3+ and an Expertise of 4+.  

SULIAN FORCES (Critical Mass Protolene Walkers with Khurasan Felid infantry)

• The trooper squad is Seasoned (Activation 4+, Expertise 5+), have an armor save of 5+, and are armed with Blasters (2FP at 16”)
• The Battlesuits are Seasoned, have a vehicle armor save of 4+, and  ar armed with two Assault Blasters (each has 2FP at 32”)
• The Stalker Tank is Veteran since it’s the command vehicle (Activation 3+, Expertise 4+).  It has a vehicle armor save of 3+ and is armed with two Stalker Cannons (3FP at 48”).  Sulian units may use the Stalker’s Activation stat as long as it is on the table, but are -1 to Activation the turn it is destroyed.

TURN ONE

The Stalker Tank activated and advanced into the slums.  It targetted the two immediaate threats to the infantry... two Crusty fire teams  hiding in the closest buildings.  Its right cannon fired at the Crusties covered by the triangle-shaped slum building, and the left cannon fired at the closest shanty.  One hit was scored on each.  The Crusties took the hit as a suppression counter, and the building did not contain a drug lab.  Nevertheless, the smouldering wreck was in base contact to the second Crusty fire team, so I gave them a suppression counter as well.  Seems like a viable special rule for this scenario!  The Stalker did move into line of sight of the two Crusty Arc Gun teams, so they burned their On Guard  counters and took their shots.  One scored a hit, and the Stalker Tank failed its armor save.  Rolling on the Vehicle Damage Table gave it a weapon destroyed result... not a good way to start the game.

The Battlesuits activated next.  They advanced quickly around the damaged Stalker tank and engaged the two Arc Gun Teams.  Since the Gun Teams were in cover, the Battlesuits needed to roll 6 to hit.  Three hits were scored on one, one on the second.  All but one passed their armor saves (that’s a LOT of 6s in a row).  I took that one as a casualty instead of as a Suppression marker, so they could be more effective in combat.
The Infantry failed their Activation roll and went on guard.  The assault isn’t looking good att his point.
The Crusties went next.  I rolled to activate the Guncrab first.  It failed and remained on guard.  Two fireteams did activate.  One fired upon the Sulian infantry, missing entirely.  The second fired and caused one casualty.  The Sulians burned their on guard counter and returned fire, killing one of the Crusties in the closest slum building.  The remaining Crusties went on guard.

TURN 2
The Crusties won the initiative roll.  They began their second turn by activating a Gun Team.  It activated and took an Aimed Fire action, gaining +1 to Expertise.  The Arc Gun fired on the closing Battlesuits, but the Plasma gun and rifle in that fireteam were still out of range.  The gun scored one hit, and the Suits failed their save. One Battlesuit became immobilized for the rest of the game.  The second gun team activated and selected the same option.  It scored five hits, four of which weren’t saved.  The four Vehicle Damage results were three 1’s (stunning all three suits), and a 6 (destroying one entirely).  The Guncrab took the next turn, rolling only a 2 for its activation die.  It remained On Guard and play passed to the Sulians.

The Sulian Infantry activated and advanced into the shanties.  A distant Crusties fireteam burned its on guard counter and fired a plasma gun, but missed.  The Sulians managed to wipe out the Crusties in the closest building, and would be able to destroy those buildings in the next turn.
The Stalker Tank activated next.  It fired on the middle of the three remaining shanties, destroying it.  It did contain a drug lab, which exploded and killed another Crusty trooper.  It also hit another nearby building, which did not reveal a second drug lab.  Three of the nine targets had now been accounted for.
The Battlesuits needed a natural 6 to activate.  They rolled a 1, and went On Guard.  

TURN THREE
The Crusties won initiative, but the first unit failed to activate.  Play passed to the Sulians, who activated their Infantry.  Three troops went into base contact with buildings, clamping charges.  The remaining infantry fired upon the nearby Arc Gun team.  They scored six hits - more than enough to kill the Crusties.  The Crusty command team now burned their on guard counter and fired sniper rifles at the Sulians.  They hit two, but one made his saving throw.  The Stalker Tank activated next.  It took an Aimed Shot at the far distant building, scoring two hits on it.  It held another Drug Lab and exploded, killing a Crusty in each of the two surrounding fireteams.  The Battlesuits activated next.  The immobilized suit fired some covering shots while the mobile suit Assaulted a nearby fireteam.  The covering fire didn’t hit anything, but the Assault succesfully killed another Crusty.

Play passed back to the Crusties.  The unit that was just assaulted failed to activate, and retreated since it was at 50% strength.  The Guncrab finally activated and advanted toward the Battlesuits, but its Arc Gun missed.  The surviving Crusty Arc Gun team activated and took an aimed shot, stunning the crew of the stalker Tank.  Another fire team activated and chose a duck & weave action, rushing to engage the Sulian infantry.

TURN FOUR
The Crusties won initiative.  The command team attempted to activate but rolled a 1, going on guard and passing play back to the Sulians.  The Sulian Infantry activated and advanced to the final two target buildings.  The three buildings they had just set charges to detonated, two rolling as Labs.  One was close enough to hit a Sulian trooper, but he passed his armor save.  The Sulian infantry fired at the Crusties hiding in the final two target buildings, but only scored two hits.  One saved.  The other was taken as a casualty - the battle is too far along to suppress any troops!  The Crusty Command Team now burned its on guard counter and fired - hitting three Sulians and killing one.  The Sulian Battlesuits activated next.  They both took aimed shots at the Guncrab.  They caused four hits - three were saved, one rolled for damage.  The Guncrab’s weapon was destroyed.  The stunned Stalker Tank needed a 5 to activate, but only rolled a 2.  Play was passed back to the Crusties.  The fireteam that had just been engaged now returned fire.  They scored two hits - one saved, one was taken as a further casualty.  The remaining Crusty rifle team failed to activate (going on guard), but the Arc Gun team activated and took an aimed shot. They hit the Sulian Battlesuits four times, destroying two weapons on the immobilized suit and one weapon on the second.  Since one suit was now immobilized and disarmed, I decided to let the pilot bail out on a roll of 4-6.  He rolled a 2 and remained stuck in his damaged battlesuit.  

TURN FIVE
The Sulians won initiative.  The infantry activated first - two Felids moved into base contact with the remaining two target buildings, while the remaining three fired upon the Command Team.  Two Crusties were hit, but one passed his armor save.  The final two buildings now had charges clamped to them, effectively achieving the Sulian objective.  The Stalker Tank failed to activate and went on guard.   Play passed to the Crusties, and the Command Team activated for an Aimed Shot.  The shooting was effective - all of the remaining Sulian infantry were wiped out.  The nearby Crusty fireteam fled the rigged buildings and fired their plasma gun at the Stalk Tank.  They scored one hit, but it was saved.  Only one Crusty unit activated succesfully for the rest of the round, but it didn’t have any heavy weapons that could affect the Sulian vehicles.  
The final charges detonated.  All of the target buildings were destroyed, but at a very heavy cost.  One damaged Stalker Tank and an equally damaged Battlesuit are the only things that returned home from the fight, but the Crusties would need months to recover their narcotics operations.  

AFTERMATH
This scenario was far more balanced than I realized!  I thought the advantage would definitely be to the Crusties, as every single one of their troops were in cover for the entire game.  I also thought that the lack of higher Expertise ratings among the Sulians would be a handicap, but it was a pretty thrilling game.  I’ll have to play aa follow up scenario of some kind... the Crusty drug kingpins won’t take kindly to this level of Sulian military intervention!

Chris