(Planet 28) Waiting to Extract

 My foray into campaign play using the 1st Edition of Planet 28, before cracking open the 2nd Edition hardcover, was supposed to be light-hearted, and barely interconnected.  However, after the incident at Colgar Station 6, and some random rolls, things got serious mighty quick.  

Captain Nate, owner/operator of the Placidity, had been injured during a quick shootout with Blue Martians, and as the crew headed back towards the ship, the injury appeared to be far worse than first feared.  None of the med supplies they packed were working, and he was slowing the entire group down.  Finding some ruins, the sent the ship mechanic, Jewel, to run batch to the ship and extract them from their location.  While it may seem odd that Alan the pilot wasn't sent, he was considered the Captain's best friend, and his motivation had kept the injured man going far longer than others would.

The Placidity  (827)  Objective: Evade capture/death for 8 turns.  

Captain Nate 

Agility: 2, Fighting 5, Shooting 6, Move 7cm, HP: 20

Persuade, Inspire, Pilot

LasPistol (d8, 25cm), No Armor (1d4-1)

Currently -4 to his agility and -3cm to his movement due to a serious leg injury. Numbers are adjusted on the stats.

Gina - 1st Mate

Agility 6 , Fighting 6, Shoting 7, 

Gunslinger

Shipsweeper (1d12+6, 30cm, Knockback, Explosive, Reload)

Alan - Pilot

Agility 8, Fighting 4, Shooting 4, Move 10cm, HP 20

Inspiring, Pilot

No Armor (1d4-1)

Adam -Merc

Agility 6, Fighting 5, Shooting 7 Move 10cm, HP 20

Gunslinger, Sniper

Hvy Rifle (d12+6, 40cm, 2-handed, -2 to opponents armor)

The Crew of the Placidity

What they did not know was that the Chimneysweeps, the Gnomish Planetary Defense Force, had been embarrassed by everyone else during the skirmish, and put out a sizable bounty on both the Placidity crew and the Blue Martians.  

The Blue Martians had long vanished into the wilderness or a nearby city, but the a trio of the best bounty hunters on the planet decided to team out and split the take.

The Bounty Hunters Guilde (776)  Objective: Capture members of the crew (base to base contact) before the end of turn 8.  

Donnie Riddlebottom - Retiree (213)
Fighting: 6
Shooting: 7
Agility: 4    Speed: 10cm
Hit Points: 20
Traits/Abilities: Brawler, Loot
Equipment: Explosive Laser Pistol (1d8, Range 20, Characters within 5cm of any character hit by weapons takes d6 damage), Light Armor (Royal Order of Space Winnebagos Vest)

Jhorka - Pelegian Sapper (Retired) (330)

Fighting:  8

Shooting: 7

Agility:   5

Speed:  10cm

Hit Points:  20 

Traits/Abilities:    Fear, Gunslinger, Throw, Persuade, Sabotage

Equipment: Heavy Pistol (1d10+2, Range 25) Heavy Armor (1d12+6, -1 Agility already applied)

"Gary"  Garindan Bounty Hunter (233)

Fighting: 5

Shooting: 7

Agility:  6

Speed: 10cm 

Hit Points:  20 

Traits/Abilities: Sniper, Coward, "Shore Footed", Climber 

Equipment:  Scoped Heavy Rifle (1d12+6, Range 60, Knock Back, -2 to opp's armor value), Light Armor (1d8)

The Bounty Hunter's Guilde:  Donnie, Jhorka, and Gary

The crew were held out in some ruined buildings.  The Bounty caught up shortly thereafter.  

Turn 1-2:  Jhorka and Donnie attempted to work the limited cover to assault the position Adam (and by turn 2 Gina) were hiding in.   Adam's heavy laser rifle has a step below a support weapons, yet he could penetrate the Pelegian's armor.  

That person wasn't in the window a second ago...

Turn 3-4:  A firefight between Jhorka and Adam proceeded, with Adam's cover taking most of the damage, but him still taking some superficial wounds.   Donnie attempted to use that distraction to dash behind the ruins, but Gina was peeping out the window and a blast of the "Shipsweeper" didn't hit the bounty hunter, but it did question his life choices.

Turn 5-6: Adam confirmed Donnie's missteps, as he turned to shoot him out in the open.  Two shots knocked the bounty hunter down, and he quickly scrambled out of way (and out of the game).  

Meanwhile, Captain Nate stayed under cover, ready to support the other ruins if they had become overrun.  Alan continued to inspire the Captain to help at a moment's notice.  "Jewel will have the ship here in a jiffy.  Just make sure you don't get me killed, please!  You can do it!"

I pictured the badly wounded Captain, leaning up against the wall, laser pistol pointed towards the unknown enemy coming closer, a la Tom Hanks in the end of Saving Private Ryan.  Except there were no P-51s to be angels on their shoulders, but there was a bounty hunter sniper off in the distance.

Long range weaponry in Planet 28 can be nasty...

Two shots hit the Captain, his body flying against the wall, knocking some of the bricks down.  His body crumpled to the ground.  Alan grabbed his captain and pulled him back over the wall. 

Adam changing targets was enough of an adjustment for Jhorka to get a better shot.  Two massive barrages of fire struck the mercenary.  Although he was still alive, he had had quite enough and scrambled towards safety, anywhere else but there. 

Shooting shot after shot at a heavily armored bounty hunter with no effect was just too much for Adam the merc.

Turn 7-8: Both Gina and Alan knew that they were in far worse shape against the sniper at range, but it was doubtful they were wearing a tin can thicker the Jhorka, so both made a mad dash towards the firing position. 

Two crew members try to go after the unarmored bounty hunter.

Gary the sniper hit Gina running across the open.  The shot was not as devastating as either that hit the Captain, but the force of the blow knocked her back half the distance she had already sprinted.  With Jhorka catching up, Gina determined it was in her best interests to run back, and perhaps defend whatever crew was left behind the ruins, namely the Captain.

Alan dashed around the corner and confronted the sniper, but came up short (he needed to use all his actions to reach and could not engage in melee.

Alan reaches the bounty hunter...

Seeing the flailing human running at him, Gary simply took steps back and fired two shots from the hip.  One missed....

...just for him to get blown away and point blank range.

The other hit, stopping the pilot in his tracks.  

Seconds later, an old transport ship emerged over a nearby hill.  The defensive weaponry usually wasn't effective in ship-to-ship combat, but even the erratic firing throughout the area was enough for Jhorka to take heed and retreat.  

Game Notes:  As I continue to expand my use of rules, the despite the much higher curve for "military" hardware, the tougher armor might was well make them spit balls.  Mind you, Adam's Heavy laser rifle (essentially a support weapon) was the same roll as Jhorka's heavy armor, but he never got close wounding him (Even before the extra d6 from cover.  Just because a bounty hunter wants to be well-protected doesn't make them idiots tactically.)  The scary thing is there's a level of armor above heavy (powered) that's simply ridiculous.  For 40k considerations, Space Marine armor is heavy, Terminators have powered armor.  As I explore the Space Hulk implications of using Derelict with Legions of Steel minis, the Paladin PBA is probably medium armor, with the close combat and Behemoth troops getting upgraded to heavy.

I statted out Gary's sniper rifle two years ago, and it emulates what I wanted it to do.  Against lightly armored opponents, it was simply devastating, and should have been even worse!  I forgot to use Adam and Gary's special ability Sniper (This character may re-roll any failed skill rolls when shooting).  Adam was hitting but not penetrating armor.  Gary had a number of misses late in the game which certainly would have changed the narrative.  In the end, I'll keep the scoped heavy rifle on Gary, but next time I'll add the Reload trait to the weapon.  With Sniper and Reload, the weapon effectiveness against soft targets should remain the same. 

I also realized while referencing the rules that Alan's Inspiring ability is +1 to all friendlies skill checks within 10cm.  I was referencing the Inspiring Zeal skill which focuses a +1d10 skill bonus for figure within line of sight.  Considering the only reason I didn't have him fetch that ship was that ability (and I couldn't find Jewel's card.) I'll chalk to up to a live-and-learn lesson.

Campaign Results:  While I haven't read the 2nd Edition cover-to-cover I was relieved to see the campaign rules have the tiniest adjustment.  In the 1st Edition and revised pdf, character rewards start with a period, so I originally assumed (with question) that tenths of points were awarded (0.5 for every enemy killed, 0.1 for surviving.)   The second edition has replaced that period with a proper and distinct bullet point, so I'll need to make some adjustments from the prior game.  It makes much more sense, but the older material it emulates was never completely fair or logical either.  I just figured they wanted folks who levelled up to be bad-asses.

Injuries:

Captain Nate survived, but now must roll 1d20 for break tests.  He has one more game at Agility 2 until the leg heals up, the 7cm movement is permanent. 

Gary's hip shot was meant to maim, not kill.  Alan has a shattered leg, only -2 to agility, but for 4 games.  His reduced 7cm movement means he and Captain Nate can take slow walks together in between games.  

Rewards:  The Crew of the Placidity simply needed to have someone alive to pick-up after 8 turns. They earn the 10 points, which is probably the belated reward they got for obtaining and transmitting the biological data in the previous scenario.    The bounty hunters failed to kill or capture any figures.  

With my revised interpretation (Thank you bullet points), Gary terrorized the table with 15xp, enough to afford him a nice set of medium armor under those clothes, just in case someone does get close to him.)

Despite not hurting Jhorka, all of Adam's successful shots result in 1xp each, so he's on his way for something.