We had the play test for the Salute game yesterday.
Department X assaulted the hidden lair of evil mastermind Daedalus Pleasence, to rescue Dr Hugo Solomon and his allies, and stop the launch of stolen Albion Rocket Consortium rocket Guinevere. The launch was being overseen by S.H.I.V.A. lieutenant Dr Mao who had provided a deadly payload of Nerve Gas to wreck devastation on old London Town.
Morgan provided Ref duties, while Paul 'Overlord' Smith and I played the heroes with Ross and Hayden taking the rotters! Paul also provided his WIP villains lair which you may already have seen pics of - but believe me it's even better up close.
Here's a couple of pics of the initial set up:
Event cards were played and resulted in a
Longstanding Grudge between Martial arts masters Agent Pandora King and henchman Oni! God forbid that they should meet...
Department X's led a surprise assault with Sgt. Big Tam Frazer and the Extraordinary Agents rappelling to the Helipad while General Gordon landed in his gyrocopter.
Meanwhile, the failed infiltration team of Solomon, King and their Naval Frogman started in the cells - locked up alongside the ARC astronauts they were trying save!
The surprise attack triggered the rocket's countdown, forcing Mao, his Femdroids and Technician lackeys to try and deliver the nerve gas to the rocket before it launched.
Meanwhile Pleasence rushed to get his technicians to the control room to oversee the launch. The Countdown rolled down in the end phase of every round and could be speeded up with more of Pleasence's technicians in the control room. However, if the heroes could disable three key junction boxes in the Launch Pad, Generator Room and Control Room - they had a chance of delaying take-off.
Gordon and Frazer struck quickly surging into the base while Solomon, King and the Frogman made a slower start as they attempted to escape (unsuccessfully!) from the cells. This slow start drew the attention of Pleasence's henchman Oni - and Solomon was forced to deploy a number of his fantastic gadgets to stop the steel-fan wielding villain. Meanwhile, Pandora and the Frogmen led a valiant escape from the cell block, with Ms King despatching technicans and Femdroids - and even going toe-to-toe with Oni who had shaken off Solomon's Confusion Beam gadget and had re-entered the fray!
In the launch bay, a firefight was raging, with Frazer and Gordon penetrating into enemy territory and Disabling the first of the junction boxes
But Mao and his deadly Femdroids were heading their way and the tide began to turn as the ravishing robots unleashed their chest cannons at the wide-eyed Agents.
The nerve gas may slow progress to the launch-bay as the countdown continued...
Collecting their weapons from the Villains lounge, the Frogmen and Dr Sololom pressed on to the control room, deftly leaping the retractable platform over the deadly shark tank. They burst into the Control Centre with the good Doctor triggering his
Pocket Watch Jammer gadget - sending both a waiting Femdroid and Pleasence's Super Computer into an Uncontrolled state.
Daedalus's screams (
Screamer SFX) attracted his Right Hand Man, Icarus - but the Frogman and Solomon made quick work of the villains - Stunning the rotters in short succession.
It seemed the tide had turned, but the Uncontrolled Fembot, retaining some semblance of its original programming attacked the heroes with an energy burst. This surprise attack put the heroes on the back foot - losing initiative a couple of rounds in a row - which meant the sexy simulacrum began to shift the battle back in the villains favour. Their
Deadly Allure and
Seduction SFX kept Gordon and his Agents on the defensive, but Big Tam made a break for it and rushed onto the upper gantry to try and stop the nerve gas single-handedly.
But with the canister just within his reach, Dr Mao activated his Jet Pack gadget and unleashed the lightning from his metal claws - frying the brave Scot and sending him plummeting from the gantry!
As the countdown continued to click down, it was beginning to look bad for the heroes. Control of the Control Room have shifted back to Villains as the previously Stunned technicians got to their feet. Sustained attacks on Dr Solomon from all corners, brought the hero to his knees and the Frogmen buckled too. Even the late appearance from an escaping Astronaut, who had shuffled through the ventilation system to reach the Control Room could not save the day.
Outside, the Femdroids had finished their deadly work and Gordon and Pandora soon found themselves to be the lone survivors and desperately tried to stop Mao and the Technicians loading the nerve gas.
In a suicidal dash across a gantry, Pandora was felled by Femdroids bazookas - and Gordon was left the last man standing!
He could do nothing to stop Mao from loading the nerve gas, just as the rocket was about to launch...
TO BE CONTINUED...
So a Major Victory for the villains, but it certainly didn't seem that way, with play swinging back and forth through-out the game. Oh, I single-handedly managed to forget about my Astronauts for almost the entire game!
The revised
Leader SFX worked very well, adding a nice extra tactical level to activations. We need to clarify the Uncontrolled Status a bit too. Honestly, not a blatant advert, but thank goodness for Status Markers as we had loads going on!
A few things to adjust for Salute, but overall it seem pretty balanced - and a rollicking good laugh to boot
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April 19, 2024, 08:10:57 PM
May 18, 2013, 10:06:05 AM