In my first game of Rogue Stars (reported here:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=106588.0 ), a team of bounty hunters had wiped the floor with some merchants. Below is an account of my second game, using the same crew of bounty hunters, this time up against a militia squad.
The photos were re-staged, as the game was played some time ago, when most of the miniatures and terrain were unpainted. I’ve proxied in some Kolony Militia figures from Pig Iron Productions in place of the original (still unpainted) Kolony Rebels, and Antediluvian Miniatures’ Captive fugitive in place of a Hasslefree fleet officer. I struggled to find something suitable in my collection for the predator, so ended up using an oldhammer Keeper of Secrets (not pictured).
Crews:
Crew of the Butterspinne – Bounty Hunters
Matthias Haas – Veteran Leader, Assault Rifle (Warzone Cartel Agent)
Elsbet Silber – Tech, Plasma Rifle (GW Escher Heavy)
Ildeng Haesa – Reptiloid, SMG, two bionic legs (Zombiesmith To’ok militia)
Thorsten Erl – Sniper, Laser Rifle (GW Orlock Ganger)
EFE300M – Medibot (Pig Iron Productions)
Ash Waste Kill Team 129 – Militia
Cui Yan – Veteran Leader, Assault Rifle (Pig Iron Kolony Rebel)
Xin Ping – Tech, Laser Pistol (Pig Iron Kolony Rebel)
Zhou Cang – Machine Gun (Pig Iron Kolony Rebel)
Pei Yuanshao – Sniper (Pig Iron Kolony Rebel)
Cai Mao – Medic, Assault Rifle (Pig Iron Kolony Rebel)
Huang Gai – Assault Rifle (Pig Iron Kolony Rebel)
The Militia were assigned as attackers from the initiative roll.
Mission: Bodyguard work, protect a civilian from assassination.
Location: Predator’s lair, huge rampaging beast.
Conditions: Something’s in the air: Dust, increased Stress and laser weapons impaired.
Background:
Following the capture of rogue trader Reuben Locke, Haas and the Butterspinnen followed a lead into the ash wastes that resulted in the successful ambush and taking of notorious scoundrel Abdul Goldburg. Unfortunately, Goldburg’s many ‘friends’ and enemies alike had good reason not to want him to fall into the authorities’ hands, and the Butterspinnen were immediately beset by gangsters and other bounty hunters. Forced deeper into the wastes, they took refuge, along with their valuable captive, in an abandoned settlement, just as a dust storm began gathering.
Kill Team 129 had been reluctant to approach the settlement, knowing that the inhabitants had been slaughtered by some ash waste monstrosity the previous year. Nevertheless, Lady Yanzi had ordered the immediate elimination of Abdul Goldberg, as he knew far too much, and her word must be obeyed. As they approached the cluster of buildings a blood chilling bellow was heard coming through the swirling dust.
The Game:
Kill Team 129, moving in from the east, knew the bounty hunters and the target were holed up in the large (orange striped) building. Sniper Pei and Tech Xin snuck up through the fuel yard to the south, while Squad Leader Cui cautiously advanced with the rest of the team behind the medium (purple striped) house.
Haas and Erl were the first to spot movement behind the fuel drums, Haas cursing as his Tangler hissed out of ammo and his web went wide. Erl was also off the mark, his laser rifle shot refracting somewhat through the increasing dust storm. Both caught the glimpse of a huge shadow rapidly moving from the south towards the militiamen they’d just fired on.
Pei and Xin also saw the lumbering beast emerge right before them. The sniper’s usual steady hands failed as he cracked off a shot towards it. Xin was more level headed, raising his pistol to the creature as it was almost upon him, he squeezed the trigger and sent a burning laser bolt straight between it’s bulbous eyes, bringing it down just a couple of meters from him.
While this went on, Haesa had been judging the distance between buildings, and taking a run up, he used his bionic legs to leap across to the roof of the purple house. In a slick move he landed, rolled to his feet and launched a web at Xin, down by the truck, squarely hitting the heroic Tech and entangling him. Silber also used this chance to fire her plasma rifle at sniper Pei, blasting him off his feet as the plasma bolt scorched through his light combat armour.
EFE300M called a warning, having spotted Zhou levelling his machine gun by the fencing to the north east. However, before the bounty hunters could act a burst of automatic fire from Zhou rained over their rooftop position, hitting Silber in the arm, causing her to drop her plasma rifle. With this covering fire, Medic Cai sprinted through the billowing dust, from the corner of the purple house across to the front of the orange one, with Squad Leader Cui taking up another covering position behind him, at the corner of the purple house. Back in the fuel yard, Pei rallied his nerve, and with a groan pulled himself to his feet. Rifleman Huang took the chance to dash across the open street, from the purple house over to the entangled Xin, by the truck.
Haas barked some orders over the communicators, and Haesa turned to launch some webs at Medic Cai, who was running towards the door of the orange building. The sticky chemicals spatted against the wall and clipped Cai a couple of times, but not enough to stop him. Meanwhile, Haas himself used automatic fire to hit Squad Leader Cui, grazing his leg and plugging him in the torso, only Cui’s armour preventing more serious injury. Next to Haas, Silber ducked down into cover and retrieved her plasma rifle.
In the fuel yard, Pei poured some suppression fire towards the orange building, though without hitting anyone. Rifleman Huang, having reached Xin, turned to see the reptiloid Haesa still on the purple building roof, launching webs down at Cai. Huang sent a hail of fire at Haesa, who went down heavily with a screech. Silber's heart sank at the sound, but Haesa's great comrade, Thorsten Erl, took it worse. "Screw this!" he yelled, "Goldburg ain't worth this, we gotta help Haesa." Erl threw his rifle down and raised his hands to the militiamen. "Come get Goldburg, he's in the house here!".
The battered Squad Leader Cui gave the order to Medic Cai, "Proceed!". Cai burst through the door in front of him, and sure enough, there in the darkened room was Abdul Goldburg, cuffed and at his mercy. Cai drew his combat knife and walked over to Goldburg. At that point he was dazzled by light, as Haas threw open the trapdoor in the roof, and let rip with his assault rifle. With unerring accuracy, Cai's knife arm was mangled, before a shot took him in the head, killing him instantly.
"A trap!" cried Squad Leader Cui, as he and his team reeled from the loss, just when they had thought victory was at hand. The entangled Xin gave up all hope, and the rest of the team were in a bad shape. "Withdraw", was Cui's order, as he limped back himself with the demoralised Zhou, while Huang and the wounded Pei shouldered Xin, to carry him to safety. There was no further exchange of fire, as Kill Team 129 disappeared into the dust storm.
Post-game sequence:
With help from Medbot EFE300M, Haesa survived and made a full recovery. The crew of the Butterspinne had earned 9 XP, while the Militia had gone away with nothing (assuming I’m right to have drawn the distinction between the terms ‘OOA’ or ‘killed’ in the victory conditions). The bounty hunters spent 1 XP to make Silber’s plasma rifle a slung weapon (since the miniature has a strap for it modelled on), and 5 XP to give Erl the Fire into Melee trait. The remaining 3 XP were banked.
Conclusions:
As with my first game, I really enjoyed this one. I think it showed the positive points of Rogue Stars, in that even with a simple, brief action, where one side was basically ‘camping’ for the whole game, there were exciting, cinematic moments throughout, and the situation remained completely unpredictable as events unfolded.
In both of my games, Haas’s Fire into Melee Trait, that removes the risk of hitting friends when firing into close combat, proved absolutely critical and provided the turning point that gave victory to the bounty hunters. I’m wondering if there should be more restrictions on this Trait, such as needing Marksman at level 2 minimum before you can get it. Or perhaps I’ve just experienced one of the unlikely flukes that pop up in Rogue Stars and make it such an interesting system.
This was probably the last outing for the crew of the Butterspinne, since I’ve now discovered Five Parsecs from Home, which I’m using for the campaign elements, combining it with Rogue Stars for the tabletop games. I’ve therefore got a new crew running; the crew of the Prima Luce, and have reincarnated a couple of miniatures from the Butterspinnen. I hope to post some of their exploits in the future.
Thanks for reading, hope you’ve enjoyed.
Photos:
- Crew of the Butterspinne L-R: Silber, Haas, Erl, (Abdul Goldberg - Captive), Haesa, EFE300M.
- Kill Team 129 L-R: Medic Cai, Sniper Pei, Squad Leader Cui, Tech Xin, Gunner Zhou, Rifleman Huang.
- The board, with initial deployment
- Haesa entangles Xin, as sniper Pei gets back to his feet
- Squad Leader Cui and Gunner Zhou give covering fire
- Medic Cai enters the house to down the target
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April 16, 2024, 08:07:22 PM
