The July 2018 session of the Mass Pikemen Gaming Club was fun time for all. We had an epic battle using the Combat Patrol™ gaming system. The battle (called “Get The Data!”) was between the attackers (an alliance of the Texican Space Rangers and the Hurraku Space Phraints) and the combined forces of the Robot Peacekeepers and the Space Dwarves. The objective for the attackers was to seize weapons design data from a computer in an abandoned and ruined factory/research facility. The defenders mission was to exact a high price in casualties from the assault force.
So why did I align the Texicans and the Hurraku? One picture in the Star Rovers game shows them having a drink at Moondog Maude’s Cantina – so I went with that.
Hey, after this drink, let’s go to battle!
I assigned points differentially for the attackers and the defenders based on the mission. The Hurraku attacked on the defenders’ left, and the Texican Space Rangers attacked from the defenders’ right. The defenders also had Robo-Sentry guns deployed run by RT22. I also gave them Roberker, a flame-throwing giant robot to help with their defense.
Will prepares to defendThe Texicans destroy a Robo-Sentry gun, then take cover. You can see the defenders in position in the building. If only the defenders had mortars!Two Texicans are dispatched by automatic weapons fire. I use casualty cards to designate fallen figures and to help score the battle at the end. Plus I think it shows the battle’s progression without having a bunch of minis tipped over. Chris Comeau (Texican commander) made a bold move and had his gray squad jet pack directly into a bunker filled with one of Will’s Robot Peacekeeper team. The bots passed a reaction test and the Rangers took massive fire and three dead before they could fire. The red beads mark morale checks for them, the blue for the bots. This sacrifice was to prove worthy, as follow on teams of Space Rangers were able to clear the stunned robots from the bunker.Another of the 5 Robo-Sentry guns is cleared by the Space Rangers.On the other flank, Jared Burns and Mike Morgan were able to use the long ranges of the Hurraku blasted to keep the defenders’ heads down. They maneuvered to flank the defenders.One of the Agribot automatic weapons did hit a team of Hurraku for one wound. Unluckily, the team promptly failed morale and became pinned behind a boulder. They were eventually able to rally.Back on the right flank, Will and Dave decided that it was time for Roberker to counterattack with his dual flame throwing arms. Roberker successfully roasted a number of the purple-sombreroed Space Ranger team. However, he put himself in the open……and he took automatic weapons fire from multiple Rangers. The plume from his smoking hulk is next to the bunker…Chris Comeau smiles…he also killed Roberker in his last game BTW!The Robot Peacekeepers in the bunker then drew an unfortunate morale result that caused them to perform a banzai charge (I have robots use the WWII Japanese in the Pacific cards for morale). Thus, they left the nice safe bunker and got mauled. Note the large number of blue morale checks to be performed after the banzai charge.By this point, Will and his dad Dave had to leave, so I took over. The defense was collapsing, so I withdrew the front line defenders as best as I could.The sacrifices of the Texican Space Rangers allowed the Hurraku to penetrate the defensive position. The first in was their Sith warrior, who used the powers of the Force to smash two robots (RT22 and a Robot Peacekeeper) with a Telekinesis attack by sending them into the factory walls. This destroyed them. As you can see, the morale checks were piling up……so why not add more to the carnage with a satchel charge thrown by a Hurraku Space Phraint into the Space Dwarves (the smoke plume here)! Meanwhile, the Hurraku Space Phraints swarmed in.The attackers swarm the compound. Game over.
The game was fun, and when the tide turned, the attackers did a good job of exploiting the openings presented. I love it when maneuver is executed well. The Texican Space Rangers aggressiveness resulted in nearly 50% casualties, but helped the Hurraku press their assault on the other flank. The defenders did get some very unlucky morale results, but so did the attackers so it was a wash there. Next time I run this scenario, I probably will include some defensive indirect fire support as well as some time constraints on the attackers.
Still, it was a fun session, and I am appreciative to the players! It was nice to meet everyone, and I’m glad that they got to learn the system so quickly. Our next session is tentatively scheduled for August 18th.
