(Planet 28) The Murder Ball Extrication

On Death Planet Iota, the remnants of the Gnomish Space Marines (GSM)  trapped there casually patrol a swath of land surrounding the trading post of Mosley's Station.  The station itself is a lawless area, with rival gangs fighting over territory.  Recent acquisition of plans detail the construction of a "Murder Ball" by the GSM.  Unable to use this information, the gangs have decided to ally themselves to protect the data until an agent of the rebellion, Manuela Bo-thans, can escape town in an armored vehicle.  

Scenario:  

Duration: 8 Turns

 

Gnomish Space Marines

Capture Manuela and the stolen data - 5 pts

Per Resistance member killed or routed - 1 pt

A single figure needs to be touching the armored car prior to the end of turn 8.

3x GSM Scouts

3x GSM, 1 Hvy Rifle

3x GSM, 1 Hvy Rifle

4x GSM

Mosley Station Resistance

Allow Manuela to escape with the data - 5pts

Per GSM member killed or routed - 1 pt

Figures may set up on, in, or around any building on half of the board closest to the armored car. 

4x Hivers Gang - not the bad-asses from the Great Tractor Heist. They are wearing medium armor

4x Dink-Dinks - Heavy Pistols and no armor 

3x Rat Runners - armed with some powerful rifles with Knockback capability. No armor.

4x Chimneysweeps - Corrupt GSM planetary defense force turned organized crime.  Light Amror

Special Rule:  All gnomes have the "Slow" Trait, meaning for each movement action, they subtract 1d6 cm from their base of 10cm.  Rat Runners and Dink-Dinks are not gnomes. 

The GSM enter town limits

Turn One:  Seeing empty streets and heads peering over rooftops, the GSM leaders immediately realized the element of surprise was lost... and so they panicked.  Fearing getting caught in the open, they stuttered much of their maneuvers. losing valuable time.  In reality, they were still out of range of most of the weapons in town, save a lone heavy rifle shot, which cratered the nearby ground.  

Turn Two:  While most of the gangs took the high ground, the Hivers roamed the streets, where their hand flamers, power swords, and pickaxes were more efficient.  The GSM moved up, their heavy rifles trying to get a bead on the Chimneysweeps, with no success.   The Chimneysweeps acknowledge the attack, by unloading a barrage of SMG fire, nicking only one GSM.

The problem with a game with short races, they can't see over the rooftops without help. 

Turn Three:  The Hivers heavy turned the corner and unloaded into the GSM, with no success.  The GSM moved up and only caused superficial wounds.  

Meanwhile, the three GSM scouts on the right flank became pinned down from Dink-Dink fire .  The four-man GSM rifle team on the left flank worked the side, only attracting some fire from a lone Chimneysweep on the room. 

Turn Four:  Amazed that their heavy hadn't been killed the other hivers jumped out into the street.  A hand flamer badly injured one GSM, and wounded three others, two of which were caught hiding around the corner. 

When you don't have a template, a row of chips work just fine.  

Turn Five:   The GSM continued to panic, now stalling in the middle of the road.    The Hivers charged with abandon into the group. 

Behind the melee, a GSM heavy rifle finally got a bead on a Chimneysweep on the roof, nailing him in the chest.  He immediately broke, dashing down the stairs and pushing his way though the GSM who finally reach the door to the building.

Nobody told me war hurts!  Get me outta here!

Meanwhile, as the scouts were trying to find a way around the Dink-Dinks gun, a lone scout climbed up onto the roof to draw fire, and hopefully return some as well.  The Dink-Dinks  were not known for their shooting prowess, but today they volley fired with great accuracy. Three shots severely wounded the scout and the subsequent fall did not help either, but he did not break.  

This odd piece of architecture broke my fall. 

Turn Six:  With the melee's in the street delaying the GSM, but proving ineffective, the Hiver leader and the Heavy broke off and tried to chase down the GSM rifles on the left flank.

*KA-POW*  *KA-POW* *KA-POW*

Three shots rang out, and the GSM still on fire flew back many feet.   The melee and surrounding buildings hid most of the GSM from the Rat-Runners, so they concentrated their fire onto the one figure they could see.  He was dead after the first shot, but the subsequent hits flew him back until the building stopped his flying body.  

The downed GSM on the far left was standing near the doorway before he as assassinated.

The GSM Rifles on the flank decided against running into the Chimneysweeps' building, rather high-tailing it towards Bo-Than's departure.  

Except their heavy rifle, who managed just enough speed to ascend the steps and shoot one of the gnomes in the back, sending him hurtling off the building to his death.  As the others turned to meet him, another was shot in his back, by a heavy rifle in the streets.

The lone survivor, turned towards his nemesis on the rooftop, screamed his warcry and fired.

*Click, Click*

In a system that uses d10s for combat, the lower the better, two 10's were bad news.  I almost pondered him jumping off the roof to join his fellow gang members. 

Realizing Maneula was leaving soon, the Dink-Dinks descended to street level and towards teh armored car.

Turn Seven:   Manuela emerged from underneath the armored car.  It would be ready to go in one turn.  

The Hiver leader turned the corner and saw the GSM Rifles nearly out of sight.  He stopped his pursuit.  The Hiver heavy turned around, and seeing bodies on the ground that magically appeared, took a few shots at the GSM on street level, sending one fleeing.  

The GSM Heavy on the roof wounded the lone surviving Chimneysweep, and he surrendered.

The lone GSM with any purpose finally climbed atop his building again, using some cover.  Relieved that the Dink-Dinks weren't shooting at him, that was short-lived as the Rat-Runners powerful guns tore into him, tossing his corpse back onto the street. 

His death was not completely in vain, as the scouts finally scurried up the right flank with some speed, but not enough to reach Manuela in time.  

Turn Eight:  One lone GSM Rifle had made it to the building adjacent to the armored car.  All he needed to do was get his stubby little legs over there and the mission would be complete.  

The gang members had other ideas.

The Dink-Dinks had reach the courtyard with one held action, and the Rat-Runners readjusted themselves, most with a saved action, although one hit a sweet shot through a window and a doorway to not only wound a different GSM rifle, but the knockback took them off the board! 

The brave GSM rifleman waddled through the building as fast as he could go....

... and ended up just short. 

As the armored car pealed off, with Manuela and the Murder Ball plans inside, the gang members opened fire, just to add insult to injury.  

Every shot missed....

Post-Game: If there was a turn 9, the two gangs would get another round of firing, and probably not miss again, however, I believe a better narrative is the GSM Rifles covering fire allowed him to escape., and the GSM as a whole withdraw from the town.  

Final score:  Mosley Station Gangs 8 - Gnomish Space Marines 4

As I continue to work with Planet 28, I definitely don't like the static initiative using each figures' Agility score.  

Also, I slowly comparing the 2nd Edition rules revisions to the 1st.  Medium armor (1d10+3) is out, replaced by Ballistic Armor (1d8+4).  A minor difference, but considering the Hiver's armor kept them safe from makeshift weapon melee attacks, it's still fine.  

This scenario was inquired by a Star Wars scenario, Mosley Station – Tomorrow’s War on Tim's Miniature Wargaming Page, over a decade ago! 

I should have time this week to reset the board and try things out using Fistful of Lead - Galactic Heroes as a refresher for Historicon.