Galactic Heroes: "Bodyguard Work"

 I couldn't have a long weekend without a solo game, and so I got the table cleared off and set up a 3' x 3' battlefield this afternoon. I decided to give the new Galactic Heroes 2nd Edition from Wiley Games a go through, and opted to give the Rebels of Krankor IV another battle.

To recap, in previous games, the Rebels (ex-slave laborers mutated by the toxic working conditions on Krankor IV) failed to kidnap the planetary governor, Baron Hadimir Vlarkonnen, but managed to fight off a team of mercenaries sent by the Baron to capture a set of data crystals detailing the location of other rebel cells. In today's game, the Rebels needed to protect a sympathetic pilot carrying a data recorder from a group of mercenary assassins sent by the Baron. The standoff took place around a ruined factory on Krankor IV. 

THE CREWS

 THE REBELS (Crew Trait: Ranger)

•  Lursa (Leader; Encouraging, Impervious, Deadeye; Mutations: Life Leech), armed with a Blaster Pistol and Chameleon Cloak
• B'etor (Specialist; Killer, Deft; Mutations: Extra Arms), armed with Pistols and light armor
  
•  The Maw (Regular; Bloodthirsty; Mutations: Gaping Maw), armed with an Autorifle and Chainsword 
• Torso Jones (Regular; Thundering Charge; Mutations: Iron Hide), armed with an Autopistol and Buzzsaw-Axe 
• Manta Claws (Regular; Steady; Mutations: Fangs and Claws), armed with a Blaster Rifle and light armor
  

ASSASSINS (Crew Trait: Eagle-Eyed) 

• Steve Austen (Leader; Veteran, Impervious, Encouraging), equipped with light armor, an Autopistol, and Optical Sights, granting him the Deadeye trait as a bonus
• Miller (Specialist; Ranged Fighter, Quick), equipped with light armor, an Autopistol, and a Medi-Pack
• Flynn (Regular; Steady), equipped with light armor and an Autopistol
• Dirk (Regular; Dodge), equipped with light armor and an Autopistol
• Blue Commandos (Grunt Group; Killer), equipped with Autorifles

The Assassins deployed on the landing pad in the left-hand corner of the board; the Rebels deployed in cover, scattered around a ruined factory. 

The assassins quickly began to spread out and take pot-shots at the Rebels - and the first two Shooting attacks of the game, by Flynn and Dirk, both came up "1," sending both assassins Out of Ammo. Torso Jones rushed to engage Dirk in melee combat, and got shot in the back by Steve Austen for his troubles.

Jones kept trying to fight Dirk, but wound up getting curb-stomped by the assassin. Shortly thereafter, the Maw took a bunch of Shock tokens in quick succession and decided he'd had enough and routed off the table.

The assassins worked their way down from the landing platform to the ground, keeping a constant barrage of pistol fire on the rebels, who darted from cover to cover. From there, it became a tense running gun fight, with the rebels retreating deeper into the ruined factory, the assassins advancing, getting shot at, retreating, and the rebels cautiously stalking forward. 

 

The tide really turned when B'etor unleashed a blaze of autofire from her three pistols, killing Flynn and one of the Blue Commandos and wounding Steve Austen. Miller raced to use the Medi-Pack on Austen, and Manta Claws took out Dirk with a shot from his blaster rifle. B'etor was wounded, by pulled a Queen of Hearts card when she activated, allowing her to heal and stand back up - and using Burst Fire again to take out Miller and the last remaining Blue Commando. 

Cornered and stunned, Steve Austen kept fighting to the last, but eventually he was laid low, and the pilot carrying the crucial data recorder was free to escape off Krankor IV. 

***

Great game, I had a ton of fun. This game ran for a staggering nine rounds; usually my solo games run about six. The light armor made a surprising amount of difference; figures wearing it could reduce the severity of a wound by rolling 8+ on a D10, and the assassins rolled a lot of 8+s. It definitely kept them all in the game much longer than they would have stayed otherwise; the grunt group of Blue Commandos was impressively useless, with two dying and one routing off the table to a failed Recovery roll fairly early in the game, and other than putting two Shock markers on the Maw, failed to accomplish much. 

If you're interested, Wiley Games is running a sale through tomorrow for Memorial Day weekend; I ordered some more Wound and Shock tokens (because I would like to get some larger games going). Most of the miniatures on the table today are from Diehard Miniatures, who currently have a Kickstarter going that I've pledged to.