I'm testing a new solo / co-operative skirmish game set in Crucible Crush's weird war Vietnam setting of the Black Sun. The protagonists are a half squad of American infantry split into two fireteams of 2 plus a Sergeant. The teams are: Warren and Tex - team 1, Ace and Crawford - team 2. Sarg is the sergeant.
Characters activate once per turn for up to 2 actions each. Activations alternate from one side to the other until all characters have had a chance to perform actions.
The game is played using a very small deck of cards called the Plot cards, which introduce the main antagonists, and a small chart which is rolled on for random encounters. Nine "markers" (small stones in this case) are laid out in a 3 x 3 grid and when a character spends an action searching they roll on this chart.
"Gunplay" is used for combat.
A Short Patrol
Two fireteams from Sarg's squad (plus Sarg) are ordered to advance towards the jungle and find out what's out there. It is to be a short test of what can be found in this strange land (only 6 turns).
Sarg activates and orders Warren and Tex to move up on the right and search the nearby clumps of vegetation.
Warren and Tex advance cautiously.
Team 2, Ace and Crawford, move up on the left to search the vegetation to their front.. Crawford is covering Ace from the rear.
End of turn 1. The Plot deck calls for a VC fireteam to arrive in the upper left hand corner of the table. The Americans cannot see them yet and they cannot see the Americans. They will move towards the center of the table.
Ace and Crawford search the rubble and definitely find something. They disturb a snake which strikes at Ace and hits him. Ace is wounded but does not go down. Crawford quickly fires and kills the snake with an unusually lucky shot.
The VC hear the shot and advance towards the Americans.
Warren and Tex search the vegetation and find . . . a rock. (random event was "nothing")
End of turn 2 reveals an old shriveled body lying just to the right of Sarg.
Sarg spots the VC and orders team 2 to advance and engage them.
Warren countinues to advance. Tex can't believe it was a rock. (he failed his activation)
End of turn 3 sees a 2nd VC fire team arrive in the upper right corner of the field.
The 1st VC fireteam and the American team 2 and Sarg open fire but the excessive amounts of cover prevent any hits.
Warren and Tex catch the 2nd VC team in the open. One of them goes down and the other turns to flee.
End of turn 4 sees an incredible giant red beetle arrive on the field.
The 1st VC team, being the closest, becomes its target. They open fire, hitting it several times but not doing much damage.
Tex watches the firefight with the giant bug, while Warren finds a stash of supplies in the undergrowth.
Sarg decides he wants none of this and orders team 2 to withdraw.
End of turn 5 saw the end of the patrol. With very little time left, Sarg decided to withdraw in order to get the news (and the new supplies) back to base.
26 January 2008, 09:24:00 PM