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Author Topic: Battle Report - First Run at a solo game  (Read 1794 times)

Offline Basement Dweller

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Battle Report - First Run at a solo game
« on: June 06, 2013, 04:03:36 AM »
Okay...so I have been thinking about Strange Aeons - Solo for a while.  I've seen some topics on it and thought I would start a campaign with a new list and see if I could work through some possible solo rules.

So here is the basic premise...

Bad guys are rolled up from tables.  So I created 12 seperate 15 point lists.  These would be used for games ranging from 15 to 19 points.  To play a 17 point battle you would roll a 15 bad guys list and add 2 points by referencing the +2 point table.  I've started the 20 point lists but haven't finished yet...had to start somewhere.

So here are our heroes...



My character Zuko with cleaver and improved command, Spoons (he has a useless psychic power) with 2 cleavers and heroic, Zabuza with cleaver and +1 DEX, and Mr. Ito my civilian and .22.  They have been tasked with investigating some weird activities happening in an old, decrepit graveyard.  As this is really all my terrain, my heroes will always be investigating a graveyard...



I rolled up my bad guys and got undead...a mummy, 2 zombies and a zombie dog.  A pretty simple HTH list which is okay as I want to figure out how this is going to all work.  I played a fight but remembered later that I need one more bad guy than good guys for fight.  My idea to fix this is to always drop the cheapest model and replace him with cultists (randomized between armed with club and armed with .22).  So I should have replaced the zombie dog with 2 cultists...but moving on...

I set up my heroes first...at the entry gate as it looked appropriate.  I started the bad guys 10 inches in to speed things up.  Starting with the command model (mummy), I marked the center of the board and rolled a D10 and moved the model the the number rolled either left or right 10 inches from the short edge.  I used where the D10 was pointed to decide the direction.  I then placed all the other bad guys the same way but rolled a D10 from the commmand model...that way all the bad guys are in command range.  I liked how this worked for this game as it was random and would force me to spread out to deal with all the lurkers.



I went first advancing the brave Mr. Ito front and center.  For the bad guys, I decided the command model must nominate any models in CC range first, then any models in Range with guns 2nd, then randomize everyone else.  Not perfect, but should be a good start.  I also decided that HTH models and Ranged models will have a default table that I will start with for activation. For the HTH models the table is just:

1-3 - advance to the closest model
4-6 - advance to cover but getting closer to the closest model
These of course are always overridden that if within charge range the model has to charge...randomized between targets if more than one option exists.

I randomly rolled for each model with the command model always going last.  My HTH command model has one order.  Move forward but keep all models in command range if possible.  If not possible, keep the maximum number of models in command range.  This is over run by these two truths:

If in CC range, charge
If cause fear, move into maximum fear causing range

Doing this the zombies moved forward, one staying behind a building not get shot.  The zombie dog ran up the middle and got gunned down by Zabuza...making poor Mr. Ito very happy.  The undead continued to shamble forward with the mummy coming up the middle.  I started to fire at the girl zombie but my ninja wasn't as well trained with a .45 as you would hope.  Spoons charged the other zombie and got schooled...I got to use his double parry but it wasn't enough.  Bad rolls were making things rough for our heroes.  Red dice are the bad guys...blue the good...





Unable to deal with the zombie right in front of him, my leader charged the zombie and made short work of her with his cleaver.  This also made sure Mr. Ito was closer the mummy...poor Mr. Ito.  As the mummy got close the fear rolls started but everyone was keeping things together.  Mr. Ito probably wished he failed, but instead he bravely stood up to the mummy only to be decapitated quickly and easily by the ancient evil.  Spoons was unable to handle the mummy and frenzied...the evil was too evil...so he charge him and in his frenzied state was able to dispatch the mummy in a flurry of 6s.



The chubby zombie made his way around the last building as quick as his rotting legs could with our heroes firing blindly at him, unable to stop his advance.  The zombie reached Spoons and knocked him to the ground before taking him out of action at the start of the next turn.



My leader got the zombie in his sights...jam...by the time he cleared his gun the zombie was on him.  Unlike his shaky ninja agents, Zuko was able to run his sword through the zombie's skull and dispatch the last lurker.



Zuko was unable to find a map piece and the doctors could not reattach Mr. Ito's head.  Spoons seems to have developed a fear of blood from his zombie encounter...not the best trait for a ninja but these things happen when surrounded by evil.  I gave Spoons heroic and got me a new Mr. Ito and my list is now 17 points and ready to investigate another graveyard.

All in all, it was actually pretty fun.  The random placement really set up for a random game and my bad rolling almost doomed me.  I gained a skill but also a phobia, so that should add some fun next game.  The random HTH models worked okay...how creative can you be with zombies and a mummy?  I will have to see how this will work with shooty cultists and if I need to add more randomness in.

One thing I am going to do is add a point to the lurker's points for every win a row I get.  So next game the lurkers will get 17 for my list +1...so 18.  This will mean that the robotic actions of the lurkers will be improved if I keep winning.  This is very 80s video game logic to me (Techmo Superbowl in particular) that no matter how bad they are, they will win eventually with shear points.

If anyone is interested, I can try and write the tables and rules in something legible if anyone else wants to give it a go...

EDIT - Just clued in my 15 points lurker list is 16 points...wow...will have to swap out a zombie for a zombie dog...
« Last Edit: June 06, 2013, 04:09:04 AM by Basement Dweller »
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Offline Mathyoo

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Re: Battle Report - First Run at a solo game
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2013, 06:20:20 AM »
Hello,

great report! I quite like the eerie feel of the graveyards and for a long time, it was my only terrain as well!  lol

You got some interesting solutions for solo play, but there is one that I feel wouldn't always work - the charge. If you got miniature that is better for firing (or a .22 armed cultist!), nobody would charge with it :P.

And regarding your list, keep in mind a character in CCB can't use command. As for double cleavers, I am pretty sure you can use cleavers bonuses in CCB if you only hold 1 cleaver and a bowie knife (but not sure).

It is a pitty mr. Ito's head didn't work out!  :D

Offline Basement Dweller

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Re: Battle Report - First Run at a solo game
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2013, 09:37:06 PM »
Thank you.

Regarding being forced to charge...this is only for HTH models...shooty models (cultists with guns, etc) will have them advancing in cover to shoot basically and never charging unless they fail a resolve and frenzy.

I thought I giving models a "profile" or "type" such a bruiser, sniper, commando, etc...and then build a reaction table based on that.  Maybe assign models randomly and allow for more chaos.  Would probably have to up the bad guys even more but the randomness might be more fun...really just brainstorming as I go at this point...


Offline Mason

  • Elder God
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Re: Battle Report - First Run at a solo game
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2013, 10:12:06 PM »
This is great stuff, Basement Dweller.
 8)

Your AI system sounds a little similar to mine, which reminds me that I still havent gotten around to putting it up yet.... ::)


 

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