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

"Corporal... did you bring the Garn repellant?"

I've been experimenting quite a bit with washes lately... using different ones over bare metal and solid basecoats to create interesting (and fast) paint schemes.  Mostly I've been working with Citadel and b, but I finally added some Secret Weapon washes to my mix.  One of my favorites, both in name and as a color, is their Baby Poop.  It produces a great sickly greenish-brownish tint (as would be expected...), and goes on very heavy.  I tried a few experiments with it, and then realized exactly where I could use it in my collection...

So I ran downstairs and grabbed the pack of Khurasan Minis Garn that had been sitting in my drawer for the last year or so.  Until now, I never knew how I wanted to paint them.  But my new wash techniques seemed like they should be perfect for this type of mini.  Here's the results:

It was a pretty simple paint scheme.  I started with white primer, then two coats of Secret Weapon Baby Poop over the entire mini.  Then I picked out the eyes with drops of Vallejo Blood Red and the weapons/energy packs/backpack shields with Vallejo Gunmetal.  I used two different colors on the belts, straps, and boots - P3 Underbelly Blue with Secret Weapon Blue Wash on the hunt master, and P3 Cryx Bane Highlight with Secret Weapon Light Black Wash on the two hunters.  I finished the minis by putting Secret Weapon Drying Blood wash over the silver back shields, a final coat of Wonder Wash Black over the entire mini,  and finished the bases.

I really like the way they turned out.  The maroon or green schemes seen in the Khurasan website pics and on SpaceJacker's blog are very nice, but just a bit cartoonish for my taste.  The Baby Poop (stop giggling!) Wash gives them a flesh tone right out of a dinosaur movie.

So... what to do with only three Garn?  I've been playing quite a bit of In the Emperor's Name lately, and three Garn could be a tough little retinue.  But I decided to play around with Gut Check instead.  It's a game I really enjoyed playing last year, but haven't looked at it since we started development of ItEN.  This seems like a nice time to try it again.

Here's the rules I came up with for the Garn... they should be able to handle quite a few inferior enemy minis. I'm going to try to sneak in a game or two this weekend.

Cheers,
Chris K.

Gut Check! Complete Battle Report

SCENARIO

This action took place at an old Conquest Development Corporation forward operating base on Copper Moon.  In the decade since it had been abandoned, Gorker scum led by Boss Grimskab had squatted into it, and built up their own shanties around it.  Intelligence reports indicated that Grimskab has been suppyling weapons to numerous smaller Gorker bands, other lowlife alien tribes, and even some radical human gangs.  
CDC dispatched an enhanced Stormtrooper armored platoon to capture or destroy the weapons.  Unwilling to risk sending the heavy tanks into the booby traps and IEDS surrounding the Gorker settlement, Lieutenant Blackwood sent Corporal King’s fireteam into the FOB ahead of the main assault.  King’s mission was to kill Grimskab and his warband, neutralize any traps, and clear the way for the heavy vehicles.  King’s fireteam was dropped a safe distance away and entered the FOB by foot.


THE GAME
The game is a slightly modified version of Mission 1 from the Gut Check rules pack.  I also used this as a chance to try out Spacejacker's new Tablet Friendly quick reference sheet. As with my playtest game, I simply replaced “hex” references with 2” of actual measurement.  I kept getting mixed up on when I was supposed to move enemy models instead of blips last game, so this time I decided to give the blips their own phase after all on-table models had been resolved.  I placed six blips for this game.  

The fireteam consisted of five models from my CDC Stormtroopers (Rebel Minis Titan Marines):

• Stormtrooper Corporal King (2+ Guts, 3 Grit, 3+ Shoot, 4+ Fight, Armor 2, Advanced Assault Rifle)
• Stormtroopers Lee, Wolf, Jones (3+ Guts, 2 Grit, 3+ Shoot, 4+ Fight, Armor 2, Advanced Assault Rifle)
• Stormtrooper Curt (3+ Guts, 2 Grit, 3+ Shoot, 4+ Fight, Armor 2, Missile Launcher)

Turn One - Corporal King and Stormtrooper Wolf successfully activated and Evaded toward the closest blip.  Stormtroopers Lee, Jones, and Curt failed their activations.  The nearest Gorker blip was revealed - it was Boss Grimskab himself, along his four ugliest and smelliest Boyz.

Turn Two - CDC won initiative.  King and Wolf were joined by Jones and Lee, and all engaged Grimskab and his Boyz.  Curt failed another activation, deciding to adjust his bootlaces rather than provide fire support to his team.  The Stormtroopers opened fire on the Gorkers.  Grimskab was Shocked, one Boy taken out of action.  Grimskab retaliated by charging Corporal King, scoring a Messy Kill against him.  

Troopers Jones, Wolf, and Lee failed their Gut Checks and fled off into cover.  However, the charging Boss counted as movement in front of the Trooper Curt, who finally did something.  The barrage from his snap-fire chased Grimskab into cover, separating him from his Boyz.

A second blip was revealed to be nothing more than a false alarm.


Turn Three - CDC Initiative.  Troopers Jones, Wolf, and Lee rushed around the bunker and opened fire on the Gorkers from behind, killing 1 and wounding a second.  Trooper Curt fired another missile at Boss Grimskab, causing what appeared to be serious wounds.  However, Grimskab is a remarkably tough old Gorker, and he recovered both of his shock counters in that recovery phase.

Turn Four - Gorker Initiative.  One of the Boyz charged at the Stormtroopers, wounding Lee.  That Gorker Boy died from the return snap-fire.  A second Gorker charged in, wounding Wolf..  Grimskab shot at Wolf, missing him.  Wolf’s return snap-fire wounded the Boss yet again.  Stormtrooper Curt again fired on the Boss, finally killing him.  A third blip was revealed, and three more Boyz approached from the shanties.

Turn Five - Gorker Initiative, but the first Boy failed his activation.  The Stormtroopers continued firing on the Boyz behind the first bunker.  One was killed, another fled into cover.  The missile trooper Curt finally caught up with his fireteam (using an Evade move).  Several Boyz opened fire, taking Lee completely out of action.  A fourth blip revealed three more Gorkers.


Turn Six - CDC initiative.  His other boot coming untied, Curt failed to activate.  His teammates focused their fire behind the bunker, killing the final Gorker from the very first blip.  Most of the other Gorkers failed their activation rolls.  One managed to evade into a cover position near the CDC fireteam.  The rest that did activate and fire failed to hit their targets.  The fifth blip was revealed to be a false alarm.

Turn Seven - Gorker initiative, but again, the first boy failed to activate.  Stormtrooper Wolf focused his fire on the Gorker Boy in cover, shocking him.  Two Boyz charged into close combat.  Stormtrooper Jones choked in the face of the assault, but Wolf and Curt both snap-fired, killing the charging Gorkers.  Curt then passed his own activation (I know, I was surprised as well!), focused his fire on two Gorkers near the shanties, scoring messy kills on both.  The final blip revealed three more Gorker Boyz.

Turn Eight - Gorker initiative.  The wounded Boy in cover focused his fire on Stormtrooper Wolf, but missed him completely.  Wolf snap-fired in response, taking the Gorker out of action.  Stormtrooper Jones exchanged fire with two Boyz, shocking one.  Stormtrooper Curt’s missile launcher finished the shocked Boy and causing one shocked result on another.



Turn Nine - CDC initiative.  Stormtrooper Curt fired again, killing 1 Gorker and wounding the last one.  That last Boy evaded into cover on his own activation.  The snap-fire from Stormtrooper Jones (responding to that movement) rolled nothing but 6s to hit and wound, ending the game.  

Aftermath
Thirteen Boyz and a Boss Grimskar killed, while the Corporal King was slaughtered and Stormtrooper Lee was left in critical condition.  Stormtrooper Wolf signalled Lieutenant Blackwood back at the platoon HQ, informing him that the FOB was cleared.  Wolf continued to provide emergency treatment to Lee while Jones and Curt began to systematically clear the FOB of anti-tank IEDs and search for the weapon stores.

Playtest Report - Gut Check! 15mm Solo Rules

For some time now, I've been following the development of the Gut Check! 15mm Solo Rules.  Spacejacker from Tiny Solitary Soldiers (one of the best 15mm painting blogs around, by the way) came up with these rules as a way to fight 15mm skirmishes using Heroscape hex tiles as terrain.

I adapted the rules to one of my standard 2' x 2' desert boards (1 hex simply became 2"), came up with stats for an Alliance Ground Forces fire team (Rebel Minis Earthforce) as the player force, and Gorker desert scum (out of production MJ Space Orks) as the enemy.  I printed off my force rosters, grabbed a deck of cards and some counters, loaded the rules on my Android tablet, and sat down for a trial game.



The fire team used 24 build points.  The sergeant received an additional point to Guts, Grit, Shoot, Armor, and was equipped with an assault rifle.  Three members of the fireteam were equipped with light armor and assault rifles, the last with light armor and a SAW.

From Basement Gaming Bunker

This gave me six "blips" to use for my enemy force.  The first turn went pretty quickly.  On the Alliance side, only the Sergeant and SAW gunner passed their Guts test to activate... both took "evade" actions along the ridgeline. Four of the Gorker blips stayed still, and two moved into line of sight.  The first blip was revealed as a three-Gorker fireteam including one heavy weapon.

From Basement Gaming Bunker

The second was a "6" on the blip chart - a leader and D6 (4 in this case) additional Gorkers (including another heavy weapon).  A few more turns of the deck gave the Gorker boss a chance to open fire.  He did, inflicting a Shock counter on the Alliance SAW gunner.  The SAW gunner shot back and scored a Messy Kill on the Gorker boss.  I then removed all counters and rolled for the second turn.

From Basement Gaming Bunker

The Gorkers claimed initiative.  Now that I had both blips and enemy models on the table, I used the card deck to determine all enemy movement.  For "out of LOS" cards, I activated blips.  For "in LOS," I used the Gorkers already on the table.  I can only assume I was playing this correctly... these are still a draft ruleset after all!  This second turn saw a major exchange in fire, but the end results killed one Gorker (one of the heavy weapon gunners at that), and Shocked two more.  Two more blips moved very close to LOS, but never did get revealed.

The first two turns took me about an hour to play, but it does look like it will speed up as I get more familiar with the rules.  Spacejacker has promised a set of enemy activation counters to replace the playing cards - that should speed things up even more.  In any case, this was a good demo game for me.  I'm going to spend an evening digesting them, and hopefully I'll have time to post a detailed review tomorrow.  But if you're looking for a good skirmish set for solo play - check these out!

Chris