The RDF are once again on their long patrol and as they approach the settlement of Mariposa they see the gates are shut and BPI IFVs outside and BPI troops on guard.
Something is afoot.
They gear up for action!
The BPI have been hassling the settlers of Mariposa about coming to work for BPI after they had an incident and several workers were killed.
The settlers refused, that was 3 days ago.
Now the BPI are back with trucks and are intent on employing the civilians regardless of their wishes.
The BPI will roll a D6 at the end of each turn where a squad has been overseeing the loading of the relocation trucks.
The result is how many people are loaded on the truck that turn, once they get 15 people they will depart.
The RDF must stop them.
Turn One.The RDF have the MS1 Command Module in play which is a sophisticated mobile battle HQ.
At the start of each turn the MS1 module may either be used to grant +1 to the RDFs initiative roll or may re-roll any one command roll that turn.
They opt for the re-roll.
The BPI win the initiative and try to command the infantry in front of the RDF to ‘fall back’.
Falling back has a difficulty of 3; they are Grunts and thus have +0 to the roll.
They roll a 2 and fail to fall back, maybe they were confused as to fall back into the compound or into the APC…?
As they failed to command a unit, the turn passes to the RDF.
The RDF attempt to command the MS1 Pathmaster, it needs a 4+ and gets a 3, a fail.
However they use their command re-roll and get a 6!
It moves at combat speed which allows it to also fire a single weapon.
The Smart Missiles have a Damage Value (DV) of 5.
This means they roll 5D6 to hit.
They need 5+.
They score 2 hits, the APC makes 2 saving throws of 5+ and fails both.
As it failed more than 1 save, the extra fail adds to the damage chart, so here the additional failed save means +1 to the damage roll.
A 4 is rolled which becomes a 5, this results in the loss of one of the APCS HMGs.
The Pathmaster is finished, so they may elect another unit and try to command them.
They elect an infantry squad that is inside the Pathmaster and try to command them to ‘advance’.
This requires a 4+ and they pass.
The squad exits the Pathmaster and advance on the BPI and open fire.
They have a missile launcher (3DV) and 4 assault rifles (1DV each) making 7D6 to roll.
We need a 5+ and roll for the missiles, it misses!
The rifles get a 1, 3, 5 and 5 making 2 hits.
But at short range the assault rifle is deadly and may re-roll any 1’s.
They re-roll the 1 and get a 6, making 3 hits.
The BPI make 3 saves and pass 2.
That single hit means the BPI squad get a ‘shaken’ marker.
Shaken markers modify any command rolls that squad makes by -1.
They are removed if the squad passes a command roll or are hit again.
The idea behind the shaken marker is to make units under fire less gung ho.
They get -1 to their command rolls which means orders like advance which are normally a 4+ are effectively a 5+.
Whereas an order like fall back or take cover which is normally a 2+ becomes a 3+.
Thus the system encourages shaken units to try and stay out of harm as they are under fire and may have wounded troops.
The RDF may now try to command another squad, they try a Pathfinder Ranger.
They pass and it moves at combat speed and opens up with its GMG at the BPI infantry who are shaken. (if a shaken units fails another save it loses a figure, so the RDF want to pile the pressure on them until they start taking losses).
However it only manages 1 hit and that is saved.
Still their turn (they have not failed a command roll yet) they attempt to command another squad to exit the Pathfinder Ranger with the advance order, needing 4+, they pass and the squad advances and fires.
This squad has a Minigun, 5DV as well as the 4 assault rifles.
9D6 in total, 5 hits and 2 saves meaning 3 failed saves.
The BPI unit is already shaken so the 1st of the 3 failed saves kills a figure outright and also removes the shaken marker.
(It is removed as you can argue that they had -1 to their command rolls as Steve was wounded and the squad was looking after him, which is why they would be most likely to pass command rolls that meant avoiding fire as they were helping Steve) However Steve is now very dead so they do not have that ‘burden’ of a wounded comrade.
When a figure is killed the attacker rolls a D6 and on a 6 may choose which one is removed, we got a 3 so the defender chooses.
The 2nd failed save now shakes the squad again.
The 3rd failed save again removes the shaken marker as another trooper dies.
Obviously we did not keep putting the shaken marker down and then up and then down, we saw that a shaken squad failed 3 saves and said dead, shaken, dead.
So we knew that after the firing there would be 2 dead and no shaken marker.
Sounds complicated but in practice is very quick.
They RDF do some more firing at the BPI infantry but fail to make any hits.
They advance a squad from out of the MS1 Command Module and it has a missile launcher, it opens fire on the BPI APC.
It has 3DV and all 3 hit!
The APC fails all 3 saves…!
That means that the 2 additional failed saves grant +2 to the damage roll.
Awww man we get a 2 which becomes a 4, what a waste of a +2!
Still the shot wrecks the drive train and the APC is immobilised.
Eventually the RDF run out of things to try and command having passed all 7 attempts!!
The BPI fail to do much other than shoot some RDF and give them a shaken marker.
At the end of the turn the BPI roll a D6 for the relocation and get a 3.
That is 3 people so far on the trucks.
Turn Two.This turn the RDF use the MS1’s +1 initiative bonus.
The BPI get a 1 and the RDF a 6.
Oh well it was a waste but never mind…
They try to command a shaken Alpha Squad.
The shaken marker means all command rolls are at -1.
So an advance order of 4+ needs a 5+ on a D6.
If they try that and fail they remain shaken and do nothing, this would make them sitting ducks.
So they are commanded to ‘take cover’.
This has a difficulty of 2+, they roll a 3, which with the -1 becomes a 2 and they pass.
They remove the shaken marker and take cover.
Here you can see the need to give troops under fire the order that is most likely to keep them alive.
Had we tried advance or aimed fire etc, they would have failed and still be shaken and in the open.
Lots of firing on both sides, the most notable being the Pathmasters aimed fire of 5D6.
3 hits and 3 failed saves on a BPI APC, as we know the additional 2 failed saves means +2 on the damage chart.
We get a 5 which is now a 7 and that is kablammo time, one destroyed APC.
Rest of Game.The BPI manage to get a missile launcher squad into cover and hit a Pathfinder Ranger in the side, a flank shot means -1 to the vehicles save.
It ends up losing its GMG.
Lots of moving and firing and missing for a few turns, each turn that passes though the BPI relocation trucks get fuller!
The RDF manage to break into the settlement, get shot at a lot, engage in HtH and despite having chainsaw bayonets (chayonets) lose to the BPI.
However the Pathmaster throws caution to the wind and heads off at full speed around the rear and over a few turns manages to disable the trucks that had filled up on relocated civilians.
With the trucks now disabled the BPI pull back and leave the RDF to mop up the mess…
Hooray for the RDF!!!
Here are some pictures, forgive the quality the lighting was bad and I could not find my tripod either.
