Star Wars Mission #3: Save the Captives!

    Stormtroopers & Corporate Security escort three captured rebel hackers through Mos Eisley

The third mission in our continuing Star Wars campaign using Space Weirdos rules was played last Sunday evening. We had a seventh player show up -- Andy, who joins us from time to time when he doesn't have to be at work really early on Monday. I decided he would play the part of the armed and dangerous citizens of Mos Eisley, who are upset about the Empire's takeover of their city. So far, the rebels had won both scenarios, so this one would see if the Empire could "Strike Back," so to speak. 

So, listen to the Star Wars musical score and imagine the following paragraphs in a pyramid shape, receding into the distance...

    The players gather around the tabletop depicting the main square and alley ways of Mos Eisley

Stung by the raid on the TIE fighter base, the Empire has ramped up efforts to find the rebels responsible for hacking their defense systems. Darth Pylor and his imperial agents have tracked the transmissions down to a house on a narrow street in Mos Eisley. Mobilizing a force including Stormtroopers, Corporate Security, and the redoubtable Bronze Legion mercenaries, they have raided the house and captured three rebel technicians. Taking a few moments to download data from the rebels' systems and to secure the technicians with Taze Cuffs, the force exits the Rebel hideout. Stormtroopers toss incendiary grenades behind them into the house, and Darth Pylor's force begins its march back to the main square.

The time taken and the large imperial presence in town has alerted both the Rebel Alliance and their local Tatooine allies. Desperately, the rebels have mobilized a force to try to rescue the captives. If nothing else, they will make the Empire fight its way out of Mos Eisley. Back in the main square, the Bronze Legion calls in to report they have spotted members of Foxhurst’s Criminal Syndicate operating in town. Are they going to help the Rebels in the rescue attempt? Or do they have some other nefarious plans afoot...?

 

    Column of Stormtroopers & Corporate Security outside the rebel hideout begin to move out

The imperial side deployed first, their forces augmented with two large Imperial City Walkers (to counter-balance the Mos Eisley force, and incidentally, the walkers were the Criminal Syndicate's objective). The Bronze Legion stayed in the square to guard the people mover vehicles, which they planned to depart on. The City Walkers also stayed behind in the main square, as both they and the vehicles were too large for the narrow alleys. Figures from the other four factions would move onto the board with their first action. They were not permitted to deploy within 2 stick lengths of an Empire or Corporate Security figure, though. Space Weirdos uses 5" movement sticks, so the rebels and their allies would enter at least 10" away from imperial figures.

 

    A citizen's eye view of the people mover vehicles parked in the square before the shooting breaks out

When Keith, playing the Bronze Legion, saw the setup and heard the deployment rules, he knew his forces would be going through the wringer early on. On their first action, the Mos Eisley figures could deploy in any of the buildings surrounding the main square, which meant they'd likely be targeting Bronze Legion troopers. Tom's Local Rebels showed up in a far corner of the board, in what I assumed would be an attempt to cut off the Stormtroopers escorting the captives. Initially, they were too far from the captives and captors to see them, so they also immediately started shooting at Bronze Legion troopers. The situation got worse for the Legion when the Criminal Syndicate arrived in the main square, half of its force driving on in a truck and the others coming in on foot. Before long, blasters were zipping back and forth across the plaza, sending citizens scattering for cover.

 

    Two rebels move past some droids wandering the streets & close in on the Stormtroopers

Mike W's Rebel Alliance arrived behind the captors and began sniping at the trailing Stormtroopers immediately. However, the rebels hung back a bit, staying in cover, and did not press too closely. Their plan was to shoot down the Stormtroopers and corporate security agents from a distance, and then dash in to rescue the captives. As Corporate Security, Joel heard the blaster fire from Tom's forces ahead. So, he detached two men from their column to block off the Local Rebels. They blasted away at them, forcing Tom's figures to take cover and engage in a firefight. This allowed the captors to continue moving slowly with their three captives towards the main square. Darth Pylor tried to keep the force moving briskly, although he was also targeted by blaster fire from angry citizens, as well.

 

    One Stormtrooper goes down (green sticker on bottom) & the column reacts to fire from their rear

Beset on all sides, the Bronze Legion held off their adversaries as best as they could. However, once the Criminal Syndicate's truck pulled into the main square, the mercenaries when on the attack. The mercenaries had been frustrated by Foxhurst's enforcers the last several games, and wanted payback. Keith switched to targeting the criminals with most of his force. The first imperial casualties began to fall, though -- the heavily armored City Walkers. One went down to the persistent and repeated blaster fire from Tom's troopers firing from across the square. A cheer went up when the first, towering warbot fell with a crash. 

 

    A Mon Calamari rebel snipes at the captors' column, hanging back in case "it's a trap!"

As the other walker advanced on the rebels, Foxhurst suddenly darted forward. The syndicate leader sprinted up to the walker and slapped a briefcase-sized metallic device onto its leg. It stuck with a magnetic clank. Immediately, electrical sparks flew from the device, running along every limb, shutting it down in midstride. Foxhurst waved frantically to the truck, signalling it to back up next to the disabled walker. The criminals planned to steal one of the imperial walkers!

 

    Criminal leader Foxhurst takes advantage of the chaos in the square to rush up & disable a walker

However, it was not to be. Bronze legion troopers poured fire into the truck, first knocking out Quiddo who was riding in the truck bed. Next, another mercenary charged the truck, ripped open the passenger door, and dove across the cab and began pummeling the driver, Sluggr. Initially, the slug-like Hutt slumped over the wheel, the truck coasting to a stop. He recovered quickly, though, and shoved the trooper away with his massive tail. He looked out the window to Foxhurst, only to see his leader dodging intense fire from the mercenaries, and sprinting towards him and leaping into the back of the truck. Blaster fire followed Foxhurst, though, and he too was soon slumped in the truck bed next to Quiddo. Seeing this, Sluggr threw the truck into reverse and began heading towards the square's exit. Things were not going as planned for the criminals, again! The Hutt decided it would be best to get his comrades off the table.

 

    One of the Bronze Legion mercenaries exchanges fire with an angry (& armed) Mos Eisley citizen

Sluggr's plans were dashed when the Bronze Legion trooper still inside the truck's cab fired several times. Howling in pain, the Hutt opened the door and rolled out, slithering away into a nearby open garage. The armed Mos Eisley citizen in the garage watched him go past, then darted out the back of the building, not wanting to mix it up with the infamous syndicate. Chuckling, trooper slid over, took the controls of the truck, and sped off with the two unconscious criminals in the back of the cab. The remaining criminal, Trumonkar, continued to fire away at the Bronze Legion troopers, but was unable to change his syndicate's fortune.

 

    With Corporate Security providing flank protection, the imperial column gets closer to the square

Between the Corporate Security officers holding off the local rebels, and the Stormtroopers fighting a rearguard action against the Alliance, the captors steadily progressed towards the main square. Both people movers waited on them there, engines idling. Soon, the captors had bundled all three captives into the closest vehicle and climbed aboard themselves. Both the Local Rebels and the Alliance were simply too far away and their fire was too ineffective to stop the progress of the captors. Once the captives were secure inside the mover, the vehicle began accelerating. It weaved between the combatants still struggling in the square. Then, reaching an open street, the vehicle went to full power and disappeared from the square.

 

    The unfortunate rebel hackers & their guards are whizzed off-board in an imperial people mover

The departure of the captives did not lessen the intensity of the fighting, though. One of the Bronze Legion troopers was down, victim of fire from angry citizens. Another was engaged in a furious gunfight with Mira, the owner of the shawarma shop on the square. Angry at the departure of the captives, the Local Rebels blazed away at any imperial targets they could get in their sights. The disabled walker had been rebooted back to life when Darth Pylor used the Force to yank the disabling device off of its leg. Rebel fire poured into it, though, and soon it crashed to the ground next to the other smoking city walker. 

 

    Bronze Legion mercenary reverses the truck off-board with 2 unconscious criminals in the bed

Darth Pylor shouted to the remaining Stormtroopers, corporate security agents, and Bronze Legion troopers to get aboard the remaining people mover. Fire in the main square was slackening, as first the Rebel Alliance, and then next the Mos Eisley citizens, took cover and withdrew from the fight. This allowed the remaining imperial forces to leap aboard the mover and soon they were speeding out of the square, as well. The citizens still around jeered at them as they left, but the rebels were in no mood for celebrating. Their hackers had been taken prisoner and spirited off the board in imperial custody. Many of their secrets might be uncovered. It was time to head back to their hideouts and try to minimize the damage done to their cause this day. 

 

    Enraged by the capture of its technicians, rebels pour fire into the square, downing the last walker

So, the Empire's "strike back" ended in triumph, just as in the original movies. The three imperial factions scored a total of 20 victory points, doubling the other four factions. The Mos Eisley citizens acquitted themselves well, tying for second with 7 VP. However, the two rebel factions managed only 3 VP combined, while the Criminal Syndicate scored 0 VP. If their fortunes continue to fail, how long will it be before a new criminal syndicate emerges to replace them? With Foxhurst and Quiddo captured by the Bronze Legion, what will the other members of the syndicate have to pay the mercenaries to get their leaders back? Plenty of fodder for new scenarios was harvested in this game!

 

    Victory point totals for Mission #03 - Save the Captives! - a comfortable imperial victory

In the campaign standings, the Local Rebels played by Tom are still in the lead -- barely! Behind them (by one point) are the Bronze Legion mercenaries. The Empire (played by Mike S) are also close behind at two off the lead. Only the Criminal Syndicate is having a truly lackluster campaign. Otherwise, the Empire vs. Rebels total victory points are fairly close, by my count.

 

    Campaign standings by victory points after 3 turns -- Local Rebels (Tom) are winning!

I think the campaign itself is going well, and the Space Weirdos rules are definitely a success. They're easy to learn, and create wild and woolly action on the tabletop with sometimes unexpected results. I haven't noticed our games being as lethal as some other Space Weirdos players online say their matches are, but I don't mind. As long as the players are having fun, it doesn't matter if the body count is lower than anticipated. I hope you enjoyed the reading the battle report, though. If you're interested in checking out Space Weirdos, they're available for download inexpensively on Wargame Vault!

 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 180

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 61

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 159

Giving 'Men Who Would Be Kings a Try'

    Left wing of my force on its way to destroy a Pathan village in Keith's 'Men Who Would be Kings'

Our group has become enamored with the Daniel Mersey line of rules in the last year or so. Our latest foray into the "Rampant" system, as it is sometimes known, was last night trying out the Colonial rules, The Men Who Would be Kings. Our group has played Lion Rampant, Xenos Rampant, and Rebels and Patriots, so far. This was a new one for us, and in our opinion, the bloodiest of the lot! Since we had six players, and Keith did not have enough figures of any one native people to make a three-player side, he decided to set up three separate, one-on-one matchups. In the first, Allen's Zulus trying to prevent Mike W's British colonial force from marching past them and reaching the safety of the opposite board edge. In the middle game, Tom was commanding a Boxer Rebellion force intent on reducing a church they'd previously burned, and drive off the Western powers forces attempting to save the Chinese Christians there. Joel and I played a Brits vs. Pathans matchup on the Northwest frontier. I was attempting to destroy a village while Joel was trying to prevent me from reducing the buildings to rubble.

    Although they activated below par, my British artillerists were deadly with their shots!

Unfortunately, I did not think to take pictures of any of the other matchups. I focused on my game with Joel, as we were trying to learn the specifics of this set. Although the Rampant games share a common set of mechanics, each game has their own twist or tweaks for the periods. The big thing we noticed for Men Who Would be Kings, besides the bloodiness, was that all types of activation rolls need the same score for success. In our games, it was usually a "6" on 2d6, or a "5" if you had Discipline +1. So, it didn't really matter if you were activating to move, move at the double, shoot, or charge into melee, your unit needed the same number for all of them. Each troop type does receive one or two "free" actions -- well, most of them do. My artillery did not, and ended up failing their activation roll pretty much every other turn like clockwork!

    Early stages of the battle as my British force of 4 units advances on the Pathan village

The biggest difference -- and what caused this game be so bloody -- is everyone's base "armor" is one. In Rampant games, the shooter or both sides in melee roll their prescribed number of attack dice, typically looking for a 5 or 6 (or 4-6 for many cases in this game) on 10-12 dice. You total up your hits and compare it to the armor of the enemy. If they have an armor of two, you inflict a casualty for every two hits. For example, if a shooting unit score five hits, and the target has an armor of three, you would do only one casualty (no rounding up). If they have an armor of 2, you inflict two. And if you have a armor one, like most troops in this game, that's five hits! Actually, the game doesn't even use the term "armor." The only things that acts as armor are cover and long range.

    Close up of Keith's 25mm Ral Partha highlander figures, who fought very well in battle

So, when my British highlander units at short range and in close order (Why not be in close order, as it doesn't reduce your move or make you easier to hit?) fired at Joel's Pathan unit, I was hitting on each 4-6 on 12d6. I admit that I was rolling very well to hit throughout the game, routinely scoring six or even eight hits. Needless to say, that will devastate a 12-man unit! So, Joel and I were done in about an hour of gaming. Although he was defending a village of hard cover buildings, it didn't help him much. The scenario ruled that a unit inside would be eliminated if a building was destroyed. To do that, I had to inflict 10 hits. When attacking the building (at short or long range), I rolled 12 dice and needed a 4-6. On my first shot at a building, I rolled five hits in one turn. Joel's occupants realized that an average roll on my next shot would destroy it. So, they scrammed and advaned to attack my infantry, instead. So, the hard cover was essentially a death trap for his troops, and useless as cover for him. 

    Pathan left wing advances towards my forces, thankfully across open ground where we could shoot

My tactics in the scenario were simple. The artillery was on my far right corner of the board, and would shoot every turn it activated (about 50% of the time) at either enemy troops or reduce buildings. I placed both of my highlander infantry units in close order, and they would advance till within range and then plant themselves and fire. And fire. And fire again. My British lancers would wait till a unit had been reduced below half strength, and then charge and finish them off, while the infantry switched to target a new Pathan infantry unit and begin reducing them down. 

    After the enemy was softened up by the highlander's fire, the lancers would dash in & destroy them!

We outranged the Pathans' rifles, too, firing 24" to their 18". So, I essentially had the advantage of sitting back and waiting for them to come within range, and then shooting them down. Yes, I realize that was the basic tactic of colonial European powers in this era. I can't imagine it made for a fun game for Joel, though. He killed four of my troops the entire game -- two by shooting and two by fighting back in melee when my lancers charged home. When he and I decided the outcome was a foregone conclusion and called it, he had only two reduced units left of the six he began the game. It was a bloody slaughter!

One difference in Men Who Would be King that I did like was that the number of dice rolled to attack an enemy by shooting or melee is controlled by the number of figures in your unit. In most Rampant games, a unit rolls the maximum dice (typically 12 or 10) when it is above half strength. When it falls to half or below, it rolls half that number of dice. In these rules, it is normally one dice per figure. So, you can wear a unit down with casualties and gradually see a reduction in its effectiveness. Maybe another reason our games were so bloody is that Keith made the decision to minimize the terrain in our first, learning game. I think that was a good idea, but it hurt the natives. Another thing that hurt the natives was the boards were relatively narrow -- each area was only about 3.5 feet wide by about 4-5 feet deep. The narrow frontage prevented them outflanking the colonials, and made our firepower that much deadlier, with enemy units always in our shooting arc. 

    The closest the Pathan advance got to my forces -- they were soon driven back by artillery & rifle fire

An obvious fix would be to give the natives more cover and the opportunity to outflank the enemy. Would it help the native forces? Definitely. That said, in the middle game, Tom's Boxers cleared the field of the colonial Western power units. He was able to use the Boxers' deadly charge and cut down the enemy. Now, Tom and Mike S admitted they got a couple rules wrong that might have affected the game some. Mike seemed pretty convinced he was outclassed, though. So, maybe it depends on which native force is matched up against which colonial power? What about the third game? It was pretty evenly fought -- and bloody, of course! However, Mike W's British fought off the attacks and destroyed enough of the Zulu enemy that it was obvious he'd be able to eventually fulfill his victory conditions and march off-table. So, it was 2-1 colonials. 

The games went VERY quickly -- the longest finished at two hours (Joel and I after an hour or so). So, I think the balance probably hangs in the scenario design and forces chosen. An unfavorable scenario, plus unfavorable matchup, can be very one-sided -- like my game. With me having the superior range (36" for my artillery and 24" for my rifles), I could sit back and pound his village all day long. That forced him to come out of the buildings and come after me. He was also hampered by the scenario, which forced him to deploy half of his force in the central buildings and the other half on his baseline. Contrast that with Tom's scenario in the center. Mike S was forced to put on sacrificial lamb of one of his units in the center ruins of the church. Tom's entire force could advance from his baseline together -- too many for one unit to keep at bay. It was just a matter of time before one of the Boxer charges drove him from the church and slaughtered him. And then, his remainder force coming up would be depleted of its firepower by the lost unit. With the Boxer's bigger units and superior hand-to-hand ability, I think Tom's scenario favored him as much as mine favored me over Joel.

    One building reduced to rubble in the village, and now the lancers prepare to sweep through it

Still, I enjoy playing the Rampant series of games. I think this particular one may need more tweaks, or careful scenario design, to prevent it from being a one-sided bloodbath. Obviously, we could use the same colonial figures and simply play the Xenos Rampant rules, if we wanted. We'll see what Keith wants to do, though. Either way, it was a quick fun game, which is what the Rampant series does well!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 172

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 61

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150

What A Tanker -- a WW II Game in Canada??

    Allen rolls the dice, literally &figuratively, with his advance along a road up the center of the board

Those who know me are well aware that I do NOT like the classic tank game. I can think of little more tedious in miniatures than a game full of looking up armor penetration charts and arguing about whether a shot is hitting front or side armor. However, What A Tanker, by Too Fat Lardies, is a pleasant diversion from such chart-based, uber-detailed gaming. I actually enjoy the game, and it is probably the WW II game our Sunday Evening group has played the most over the years -- especially recently!

    My Lee tank, right, lines up a shot from the cover of the woods at Keith's Canadian Valentine

The GM is almost always Keith. Though he enjoys the minutiae of discussing differences between the various Panzer IV versions -- the type of thing makes my eyes glaze over instantly -- Keith likes these rules, too. He embraces the simplicity of What A Tanker and can be depended upon to set up an entertaining scenario using these abstracted, detail-light rules.  This scenario was no different. It was firmly in the "What if?" realm, and featured a 1940s American invasion of Canada in response to a Fascist coup taking over that country. Allen, Mike S, Andy, and myself were the American invaders, while Joel, Tom, Mike W, and Keith were the Canadian defenders. Each of us controlled one tank, but would receive a replacement if ours was blown up (at the cost of surrendering a victory point). The defending Canadians were bolstered by several hidden anti-tank guns, which Andy argued probably made victory unrealistic for us.

    Allen's first tank rolls merrily up the road, while Mike W's (with the inexplicable bottle cap) awaits

Our chances of winning weren't improved by my friend Allen's "Hey, diddle-diddle, let's drive up the middle tactics" with both of tanks. His first was destroyed early on by a combination of shooting from Mike W's tank and one of the anti-tank guns controlled by Tom. His second was well on its way to suffering the same fate on the same approach up the road going through the center of the board. Andy went on a sweeping move on the right flank, but was outfoxed by Tom, whose tank darted from cover, got a side shot, and blew him up. Mike S sent his tank through the woods to blow up the ammunition trucks parked in the courtyard in town. He wasn't going to be bothered stalking enemy tanks if he could rack up some easy victory points for us!

    Joel's tank, left, enters the courtyard to rescue the ammunition trucks from Mike S's predation

Meanwhile, I decided to pretend my tank commander actually wanted to live, and would maximize his chances of not being blow up while taking shots at the enemy. Every move of mine ended up in cover that either made it difficult to spot my tank or harder to hit. It paid off almost immediately when my first shot across the board put two hits on Keith's Valentine tank. Sensibly, Keith darted out of my line of sight to reinforce the center. I switched to stalking Tom's tank, who was dueling in a game of position with Andy. There was one turn when I didn't move at all because my tank would have ended up out in the open, unprotected by any line of sight restrictions or terrain. Cowardly? Perhaps, but my tank not only inflicted big hits on two different enemy by the end of the game, it did not take any damage.

    That Tom -- he's a wily one! His tank blows up Andy's tank with a side shot near the railroad tracks

Meanwhile, our side finally scored a kill when Joel's tank turned into the courtyard to rescue the ammunition trucks. His shots at Mike S's Lee tank all went wide, while Mike's return fire did not. After 2-3 turns firing, Joel's crew bailed from their disabled tank. Still, at the end of the game, we had lost two and they lost only one. Both Allen's second tank and Mike S's tank were badly damaged. We called it a Canadian victory -- another in a long, historical tradition of failed American invasions dating back to even before 1776. I agree with Andy that the odds were stacked against us, with the Canadians defending their turf and having three anti-tank guns. Still, it was fun -- we laughed and had a good time. 

    One of my Lee tank's positions utilizing cover -- "never give the enemy an open shot" was my motto!

If you haven't played What A Tanker, and you're not a control freak who doesn't like a game where you can't necessarily do what you want to with your forces because of bad dice rolls, you might want to give it a try. It is certainly more light-hearted and more of a "game" than a simulation. And in my book, that's a good thing!!

    The 8 of us enjoyed a lot of laughs around the table - Keith, at right, presiding over the game

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 167

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 57

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150

    Tom spies out my tank's deployment, safely tucked between a building & the sprawling center woods

Ninjas Escape With the Treasure in 28mm 'Test of Honor' Samurai Game

    Tom's mounted noble charges into the village center in his game-long attempt to save his bride

  We gave Test of Honor Samurai rules a try out yesterday evening at our regular Sunday evening gaming get-together. It was a kind of free-for-all scenario with eight players. It is a tribute to the rules that the game actually flowed well and there wasn't a lot of waiting around for your turn. My friend Mike S was running it, and was using some modifications that he'd seen at a sprawling game at Historicon. He had to adapt on the fly when players on the same side of the table decided to attack each other. It worked out, though.  

    One of the clans gets ready to cross the stream to join the fray in the village center

 

I was playing the Ninja force, which doesn't begin the game deployed ontable. My mission was to hijack a payment going from one clan to another. We didn't know which clans were involved in the transaction, nor the form of the payment it would be. Everyone else had similarly vague missions, which he intended to make each player not trust the other, including their neighbor. It worked like a charm for Mike W, who promptly attacked Keith's force in the early stages of the game. To be specific, he sent two of his samurai over to kill the draft ox pulling the cart containing Keith's two female samurai. The ox proved to be made of sterner stuff than expected, resisting two swings of the sword by two separate warriors. 

    Hilarity ensues as 8 factions tussle near the village in the center of the board

Tom also charged into the fray early, when he saw someone upend a palanquin containing his noble's bride. The fact that the bride jumped out, armed with a sword, didn't deter him from shouting to any and all in the area "hands off" his bride. He was the only mounted figure in the game, and he was still swinging his sword and upholding his bride's honor (or avenging her after she was slain) at the end of the game. I seized upon this confusion in the village center to have my ninjas bolt from inside one of the houses and search the inside of the palanquin. Mike confirmed it contained the treasure I was looking for, announcing it to the table at large. This meant that slowly many other players shifted from their local feud to attack my black-robed thieves trying to abscond with the treasure.

    'Ha, haaa!!' My Ninjas reveal themselves and then discover the treasure in the overturned palanquin

The ninjas darted back into the house from which they'd came, and my other ninjas emerged to fight off the attacks of the other players. As the ninjas, I could remove any civilian figure and replace it with my own undeployed troops, representing us uncloaking our disguise. I was rolling fairly well and was able to fight off Mike S's mercenaries who, unbeknownst to me, were also hiding in the very same house on the second floor. I sent the trio of archers holding the treasure out the back door, hoping to bolt for the board edge. Joel's clan raced to cut off my retreat, but I was able to beat back his attacks, for the most part. Opposite Joel, Keith and Mike W's clans ceased their battle, perking their heads up, "Treasure...?" They also moved forward, trying to close the jaws I was attempting to escape from. 

    Escaping our the back door with the treasure, we are immediately beset by Mike S & Joel's forces

There was lots of laughter around the table as we mocked each other's vague missions. We began pulling up Google Translate and typing in our taunts to each other, to read aloud in Japanese by the female voice on the app.  Just when it looked like the last of my archers carrying the treasure was going to go down, the games was called on account of time. The 4th quarter reprieve by the clock meant we had possession of our objective at game's end. Of course, I declared my victory to the jeers of the other players.

    My ninjas cut down one of Keith's samurai who attempt to waylay us and steal our seized treasure

I'm sure there were numerous things we did wrong in our first Test of Honor game. Still, the game flowed well and eventually the various factions came to blows. I would probably tweak the scenario to give incentive to factions on the opposite sides of the table to attack each other. Maybe victory points for killing members of rival clans (who are the ones opposite you)? There can also be secondary objectives for each player, like Tom's protecting/rescuing his bride, my hunt for treasure, etc..

    'The Affair of the Ox Cart' sparks a clash between Mike W and Keith's clans

I'm sure we'll play more Test of Honor soon since most seemed to have a good time in the game. My friend Abel D runs the game regularly at HMGS Great Lakes and regional conventions. I'd never got a chance to play in one, but everyone seemed to be having a good time at his table. Now I can see why, and look forward to the next time Mike breaks out his samurais, ronin, ashigaru, and ninjas!

    The palanquin moments before it is overturned and the donnybrook in the village begins...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 161

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 50

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150

Star Wars Mission 2: Firefight on the Flightline

    An imperial TIE fighter base deep in the Tatooine desert is the target of a surprise raid by the rebels

Deep in the desert of Tatooine, a TIE fighter base responsible for patrolling an area rife with Tusken raids, has received instructions to go upgrade its computer coding for its perimeter defenses. There was a possible security breach in Mos Eisley, and upgrading systems is recommended. When a squad of Bronze Legion mercenaries are flown in to augment the flight line's security, the base commander decides perhaps the instructions were more urgent than he realized. The technicians begin to work their way through the laborious re-coding process when alarm sounds. All perimeter security defense have been over-ridden and taken offline by a signal of unknown origin. The base commander orders the flight line on full alert!

    Recruited by the rebels, Sluggr of the Criminal Syndicate slips on board, but is immediately targeted

This was the setup for our second mission in our Star Wars skirmish campaign using Space Weirdos rules. In the first mission, the rebels successfully retrieved the stolen security plans from the droid in a chaotic battle in Mos Eisley. Now, the rebels are using this information to raid imperial bases after knocking their security systems offline. For extra muscle, they contract with Foxhurst's Criminal Syndicate, who surprisingly quickly agrees to join the raid. Do they have ulterior motives? And what about the squad of mercenaries from the Bronze Legion? Are they wholly on the imperial side? Each player was given their own particular victory conditions, which did not always neatly coincide with those of their allies!

    Stormtroopers, led by Darth Pylor at top center, begin blasting away at the attacking syndicate

Our regular six players were present -- host Mike W as the Rebel Alliance, Tom as the local Tatooine rebels, Allen as the Criminal Syndicate, Keith as the Mercenaries, Joel as Corporate Security, and Mike S taking on the role of the Empire. Each player had a chance to upgrade the stat of one of their four characters prior to the mission. This will simulate the fighters gaining experience. I've decided rather than keeping track of experience points, I would simply allow one upgrade between each session so that the sides remained relatively equal. I did tell them that players taken out of action during a mission and not revived by the end would have to roll for their recovery. I actually still need to work out how I am going to do that!

    Action slowly simmers around the board as players maneuver their characters from cover to cover

I allowed the defenders (Empire, Corporate Security, Mercenaries) to leave up to half their figures off-board at the start of the game, writing down which building they were located in. It would take one of the characters three actions to appear adjacent to the structure they wrote down. The attackers would start on the short edges with the goal of placing explosives in contact with the TIE fighters. It would take two actions to set the charges with the third action presumably being spent running for cover. Then BOOM -- the TIE fighter would be considered destroyed and anyone inside the 5" blast diameter also possibly taking damage. 

    Although hapless in the films, the Stormtroopers aggressively & successfully defended the flightline

The rebels first movement were very tentative. They came on board and crept only marginally closer, hiding behind the next terrain piece or building. I honestly feel they missed an opportunity, as do the Initiative rolls, they all moved first. Their first figure moving wouldn't have to worry about any defenders having opportunity fire set in place. After all players had moved one figure, they then moved a second figure in the same order. The stormtroopers and mercenaries immediately began placing figures in overwatch. As subsequent attackers moved, energy blasts lanced out and the attackers began to fall. The criminals, in particular, took it on the chin all game. At one point or another, three of the criminal figures were taken out of action. Their leader, Foxhurst, used the Force to heal them back up, but they were struggling to get near the high value cargo that they'd actually come to steal.

    Finally, Zimeon - leader of the local rebels - dashes forward boldly and blows up the first TIE fighter

Finally, the local rebel player (Tom) took a chance. His leader, Zimeon, dashed forward at the end of turn three, ducking under the wing of a TIE fighter. As defenders drew a bead on him, he used his Command Points to dodge closer to his objective. On Tom's first action of Turn Four, Zimeon planted the charges, set them, and ran for cover. Ka-boom!! The first TIE fighter exploded. The angry defenders blasted away at Zimeon, but Tom cleverly used his new turn's command points. The first one was used to dodge the first shot (back towards cover), and the second time he was targeted he used one to "Power Up" his Defense roll. Zimeon dove for safety behind terrain, unharmed.

    Outnumbered mercenaries waged a fierce firefight against both rebel factions at one end of the board

This seemed to energize the attackers. With much urging by Tom and the other players, Mike W's Rebel Alliance finally gathered their nerve. Rebel pilot Knox imitated Zimeon's tactics and successfully blew up a second TIE fighter. Time was against the raiders, though. The Corporate Security and Empire were slowly getting the perimeter defenses back online. This would allow them one extra attack (2d10 -- the games most powerful) at an enemy character with no range or cover modifier. 

    Spurred on by Zimeon's success, the Rebel Alliance uses their tactics to destroy another fighter

All three defender players fought back aggressively against the attackers. Mike S's stormtroopers almost completely shut down Allen's Criminal Syndicate. I was worried I had made victory conditions too easy. All he had to do was move adjacent to one of three designated high value pieces of cargo (only he knew which three they were), complete a "Use Item" (two actions), and thereafter it would hover and follow the criminal who planted, immediately matching their movement. When we called the game, Allen's leader was within 1 move of one of the pieces of cargo, but he never made it into contact with enemy and ended the game with 0 Victory Points.

SCENARIO 2 VICTORY POINTS

Keith's Bronze Legion mercenaries fought like lions to defend the flightline. For the most part, he disregarded the victory conditions I'd given him and fought hard to defend the spacecraft, like a loyal imperial soldier. Joel's Corporate Security also were all over the table, shooting at any attackers they saw. In the end, it wasn't lack of effort by the defenders that caused the empire's narrow loss. It was the fact that the rebel players weren't giving up, and were pushing the attack, so couldn't count as "repelled." Once again, Local Rebel player Tom was the victor, boosting the morale of the Tatooine rebels.

CAMPAIGN STANDINGS AFTER TWO TURNS  

 I'm really happy with how Space Weirdos rules are working out for our Star Wars skirmishes. We've made a couple tweaks, particularly on Overwatch for a six player game, but everyone seems to be happy with how things are progressing. I felt this game was a little slow to get going, but it could also be that some players had not played the rules in awhile. Mission 1, These Aren't the Droids You're Looking For, took place two months ago. I think I need to run the game more often than that to keep us up to speed. It's not like we don't play other rules systems, and it is easy to get them confused, as regular miniatures gamers know so well!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 237
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 138

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 43

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 112