Legendary: A Marvel Deckbuilding Game (NAGA 27-05-2015)

Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game is set in the Marvel Comics universe.   Legendary is a deck building game for 1-5 players. It has a play time of about 45 minutes and works well with any number of players.  We played with 3 players (Nick, Brent and I) and the game lasted about an hour and a bit but we were learning the rules as we went.

To set up the game, players choose a mastermind villain (Magneto, Loki, Dr. Doom, etc.), stack that particular villain’s attack cards underneath it, then modify the villain deck as needed based on that villain’s particular scheme. Players then choose a number of hero decks – Spider-Man, Hulk, Cyclops, Wolverine, etc. – and shuffle them together; since players use only a handful of hero decks out of the fifteen included, the hero deck can vary widely in terms of what’s available.

In Legendary, players assemble a team of super heroes from the Marvel universe to try and thwart the schemes of an evil Mastermind.

Each player starts with a pre-determined number of SHIELD agents and Troopers.  Agents add to your ability to recruit Heroes such as Spiderman, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, etc.  Troopers are your basic fighting resource and they can support more powerful heroes as you battle the forces of an evil mastermind.  Over the course of the game, players will recruit powerful hero cards to add to their deck in order to build a stronger and more resourceful deck. Players need to build both their recruitment powers (to enlist more heroes) and their fighting ability (to combat the villains who keep popping up to cause trouble). Players recruit heroes from an array of five cards which are based upon SHIELD’d flying HQ, with empty slots refilled as required.

At the start of a player’s turn, he reveals a villain and adds it to the row of villains. Each other villain moves one space along the city trying to escape.  This row has a limited number of spaces, and if it fills up, the earliest villain to arrive escapes, possibly punishing the heroes in some way. Some villains also take an action when showing up for the first time, such as kidnapping an innocent bystander. The villain deck also contains “master strike” cards, and whenever one of these shows up, the mastermind villain (controlled by the game) takes a bonus action.  It also contains Scheme Twist cards.  As the evil Mastermind acquires more and more Twist cards he or she can affect the players in various ways

As players fight and defeat villains, they collect those cards, which will be worth points at game’s end. Players can also fight the mastermind; if a player has enough fighting power, he claims one of the attack cards beneath the mastermind, which has a particular effect on the game. If all of these cards are claimed, the game ends and players tally their points to see who wins. If the mastermind completes his scheme, however – having a certain number of villains escape, for example, or imposing a certain number of wounds on the heroes – then the players all lose.

Game Components

The base game includes a game board and a huge 500 cards:-

• 60 starting cards (Agents and Troopers)
• 30 S.H.I.E.L.D. Officers
• 15 Hero decks (14 cards each)
• 4 Masterminds (5 cards each)
• 7 Villain Groups (8 cards each)
• 4 Henchman Villain Groups (10 cards each)
• 8 Scheme cards
• 11 Scheme Twist cards
• 5 Master Strike cards
• 30 Bystander cards
• 30 Wound cards
• 60 Divider cards

The heroes in the base set are: Black Widow, Captain America, Cyclops, Deadpool, Emma Frost, Gambit, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, Nick Fury, Rogue, Spider-Man, Storm, Thor, and Wolverine. The Evil Masterminds are Dr. Doom, Loki, Magneto, and Red Skull.

How To Play

The setup of the game takes a little bit of time. The villain deck must be created (Consisting of Villains, Henchmen, Bystanders, Scheme Cards and Master Strikes). Then the hero deck must be built. You chose 5 different super heroes to play during the game and all of their cards are shuffled into 1 big deck. You then deal 5 heroes into the HQ for recruiting and you’re ready to play.

We set-up to play and our evil Mastermind was the Red Skull.  We chose Captain America, Spiderman, Thor Odinson, The Hulk and Iron Man as our heroes and dealt the top five cards from the combined Hero Deck onto the board.

Evil Mastermind Red Skull

The turns are actually quite easy and broken down into 3 steps:
1. Villain Phase
2. Recruit and Battle
3. Cleanup

1. Villain Phase. Play the top card of the villain deck. If it’s a Villain it goes onto the villain track. The track is a series of 5 different locations around the city. As the villains progress along the track, they get closer to escaping from the heroes (bad stuff can happen if they do). Each villain has a fight strength and some unique abilities.
Other cards that may appear are bystanders (who get captured by villains), Scheme cards (the effect varies depending on the Masterminds scheme), and Master Strike cards (which are basically the Mastermind getting his hands dirty and pounding on the players).

2. Recruit and Battle This is where you can add cards to your deck by recruiting them from the SHIELD deck or the Heroes deck or battle the Villains or Evil Mastermind. Almost all of the Super Hero cards will have either a recruit number or fight number. You use your recruit points as a form of currency to add heroes from the HQ to your play deck. Fight points are used to battle the villains on the villain track. If your fight points equal his fight value, you KO him and he is added to your score pile.
Hero cards also will usually have a special ability that will help the player in some way (such as drawing more cards or adding to other cards fight/recruit power).

SHIELD Agent Phil Coulson

HERO Thor Odinson

HERO The Incredible Hulk

HERO Captain America

HERO Spiderman

3. Cleanup Discard your hand and draw 6 new cards. This is the standard cleanup phase found in most all deck building games. Discard everything in play/hand and draw 6 news cards.

In our game we did manage to defeat the Red Skull and I won convincingly with 34 points worth of Villains and Masterminds versus Nicks 14 and Brents 9.

Overall I was very impressed with Legendary.  Once we picked up the rules it became quite easy to play.  It was only once I;d started writing this review that I realised Legendary:A Marvel Deckbuilding Game was related to another game that I had previously looked at and seriously considered Legendary:Encounters (the Aliens version of the same game).

Legendary: Encounters

The core box set usually retails at around £48/$60.  That isn’t too bad at all for a game with the almost infinite replayability that this game does.  I cannot fault the slick graphics and layout of the images which are typically Marvel…bright and engaging.  There are plenty of expansions to keep this game interesting including but not limited to Legendary:Dark City, Legendary: Fantastic 4, Legendary:Guardians of the Galaxy and Legendary: Paint the Town Red.  All are reasonably priced at around £20 each although Legendary:Encounters and Legendary:Dark City are stand alone games in their own right and subsequently retail at an average price of £45.

Legendary Expansions

Broken, Beaten and Scarred – Spring Equinox (E2 2015)

Well I’d normally do a “Hots & Nots” on Facebook but as I have this ‘ere blog and I did mention about going I thought i’d mention it here.

Firstly it was my second time crewing in GOD for Empire and first full event (I had to leave early last event).  Even though we were about five regulars down we still knocked it out of the park.  Many thanks to Charlie & Waz, Choo, Super Mike, Jane and everyone who helped out in GOD.  In true Matt P style I won’t name names but seem to list some anyways.  My brain in frazzled and my body aching from a hard weekend so forgive me if I haven;t named you, its not personal.

Working in GOD doesn’t always give you the most time to spend with your buddies doing cool stuff in a field but I wanna thank Phil & Peter (Adamah and Matteyaus) for always keeping me involved and up-to-date when I could get out the GOD tent.  Its always a pleasure with the guys from Silent Tide.

Also the guys from the Winter Bear, Timmy and co, you guys always around waiting for a single Benefactor to drop some money behind a bar for you always makes me feel welcome.  I know I’m paying for your company but its pretend money and you take the banter!  Seriously you guys are great and make me feel like I’m part of stuff.

There are various other people who are always around to spread the plotty love and keep a GOD Crew member with little time in the field involved……Matt Deaville & the Shattered Tower, Shaun Sullivan, Matt Heath (Escon), Tom, Scott, Esther & the Cenotaph lot, Joe Wood and Cantiarchs Hold.  It makes you feel like people care whether you take the field or not and is hugely appreciated.

Mad props to Matt Heath for some awesomely emo plot.  Thanks to the Navarri who sought me out to return the note and Censer they found.  I’d have taken the battlefield Sunday morning anyways but the Censer and letter from the last of my Grey Watchers really made me go hell for leather and do as much as I can to really get my teeth into Reikos stuff.  I took to the field thinking today was indeed a good day to die and I came very very close.  Got some interesting scars to take home and I’ll only do something about them when Beacons Rock is retaken, all Chapters (including the Grey Watchers of Peytaht) are home in Reikos and show that all the death and sacrifice wasn’t in vain.  If I die trying then so be it but it wont be for the want of trying.  For any other barbarian Druj scum reading this….you’re next!  I’m coming for you!

I had a really really great weekend, some tense emo moments regarding my lost Chapter and returning personal effects to people from dead soldiers etc.  Some great trading with people out there in Dawn and League andwhilst the group didnt make as much profit as we can do we were people down and we had to invest to improve peoples Congregations and Military Units.  Its a slow process but we’ll get there.

I left the event feeling like I’d made a difference both in GOD and in the field.  I’ve had a real eye-opening experience in terms of what goes on behind the scenes and it was nice to have players thank me for our efforts.  Its very rewarding.

#RememberExile

#AllTheBoysHighguardBoys

The Deadites vs The Green Machine (Blood Bowl @ NAGA 20-05-15)

So last night at NAGA Wayne Phillips returned the favour for last weeks demo of Star Wars X-Wing by bringing his Blood Bowl stuff along for a game.  It had been quite some time since my last game, at least over a decade, and when I last played Games Workshop were still running the show.  Now the game is in the hands of the players and is using the Living Rule Book (LRB) which has some key changes made to both the Teams and the game rules.

We decided we’d run with League rules so following the full pre-game procedure and post game procedure but whilst playing we both realised we were treating the game as a 1 off and going for broke.

Wayne opted for an Undead Team called “The Deadites” and I lumped for an Orc Team called “The Green Machine”.

Waynes team “The Deadites” were set-up as follows:-

2 x Mummies – 240,000gps (3-5-1-9 Regenerate, Mighty Blow)

2 x Wights – 180,000gps (6-3-3-8 Regenerate, Block)

3 x Ghoul – 210,000gps (7-3-3-7 Dodge)

3 x Skeleton – 120,000gps (5-3-2-7 Regenerate, Thick Skull)

1 x Zombie – 40,000gps (4-3-2-8 Regenerate)

3 x Re-Rolls – 210,000gps

My team “The Green Machine” were as follows:-

3 x Black Orc Blockers – 240,000gps (4-4-2-9)

4 x Orc Blitzers – 320,000gps (6-3-3-9 Block)

2 x Orc Throwers – 140,000gps (5-3-3-8 Sure Hands, Pass)

2 x Orc Linemen – 100,000gps (5-3-3-9)

3 x Re-Rolls – 180,000gps

2 Fan Factor – 20,000gps

The teams setup…..Orcs playing up and Undead down.

The Undead inflict a single casualty on the Orc Team sending a Block Orc Blocker to the Dead and Injured Box.

The Orcs leave only 6 payers on the pitch for the Undead.

Having tossed the ball downfield the Undead play at damage limitation as the Orcs start to turn the screw and put even more players in the Dead & Injured box.

The intended pass is missed and drops just wide of the Blitzer receiver. Double coverage from a Wight and a Ghoul make it difficult to reclaim the ball.

The Undead swarm around the thrower as he desperately tries to throw the ball away downfield.

Having just decimated his Wight partner the ex-Reikland Reaver Zombie faces a block from the same Black Orc. The Black Orc stumbles and falls.

The Orc Thrower in the backfield is looking for a free receiver to pass the ball to.

The Undead pack the backfield to stop the Orc Blitzers from creeping through. The Black Orcs do what they do best and put the hurt on the Undead.

Orcs Line up to receive the ball again. Now they outnumber the Undead team.

Score to the Deadites!!! 2-0 on the whistle of halftime.

After twice fumbling his pick up roll the Orc Thrower is forced to chase back and attempt a blitz to recover the ball from the Ghoul. He slips whilst going for it and falls over leaviing the Ghoul free to trot in an easy touchdown.

First blood to the Orc team…..a Mummy is permanently removed from the field of play courtesy of a Black Orc. Almost the end of the first half.

After a bad kick-off result the receiving Orc team are caught flat footed and the Undead break through their lines.

The Ghould dodges away and scores for a 1-0 lead. The teams setup again.

The Ghoul escapes and runs for the line. the Orc Thrower goes back to try and slow him as the Blitzer Blitzes him. Double Skulls! After a re-roll….Double Skulls! Unbelieveable!!!!

The Undead build a loose cage but the only Blocker capable of getting back and putting coverage on is a Black Orc who will be outnumbered.

The Orcs scramble back to provide coverage but their slower players struggle to get back leaving their most potent blockers upfield.

The Undead swarm forward in numbers pushing the Orcs aside as the Ghoul gets up, grabs the ball and retreats into the safety of the Undead cage.

An Orc thrower and Blitzer chase back to bring the Ghoul down.

The Undead break the cage and escape downfield with a Ghoul carrying the ball.

With one Mummy down and another not in contact with an opposing player their threat has been negated. The Orcs roll onwards with Thrower 9 carrying the ball inside the cage.

The Green Machine rumbles upfield slowly causing carnage with its 3 Block Orc Blockers smashing everything in their path.

The Ghoul is knocked down and the Orc thrower carrying the ball advances upfield over the LoS.

A ghoul and a Wight roll around the right flank to attack the cage.

After turn 1 a mini-cage has formed in the back field. The Undead need to choose between blitzing with Mummies or going for the ball carrier.

The defending Undead team set-up conservatively to Kick-off to the Orcs.

The receiving Orc Team lines up looking to form a cage down the left flank.

The Line of Scrimmage.

Final Scores are in:-

The Deadites 3 – 0 The Green Machine

Casualties 1 – 5

Competions 0 – 1

A resounding and thumping victory for “The Deadites” with the Ghouls showing their real worth and stealing the show.  Clearly the Ghoul with 2 Touchdowns would be MVP.

For “The Green Machine” it was difficult to choose a single MVP as all three Black Orcs caused carnage throughout, one of the Throwers remembered his worth in the end with an amazing collection of rolls and the Blitzers were a serious impact.  In the end for the casualties alone I gave the MVP to the Black Orc that removed a Wight and a Mummy.

This was my heaviest ever defeat at Blood Bowl with a team im somewhat unfamiliar with but it all came flooding back.  There seemed to be some interest at NAGA for a game or two here and there so Wayne and I may look at setting up a once a month league with a few teams.  The dice did not favour me tonight and thats not an excuse because I was beaten by a better team coached better.  I enjoyed myself and will definitely be playing more.

Right I had better go as I have teams to paint and LARP gear to pack ready for Empire this coming weekend.

The Devils Run: Route 666 Kickstarter by Word Forge Games

As part of the Hairy Gamers on Facebook I get to see a lot of Kickstarters for various games made my friends and companies and if Im honest I very rarely ever commit to these unless they truly interest me.  Recent investments include the Battlesystems Sci-Fi Terrain and PRODOS AvP:The Hunt Begins, one of which has been delivered and the other is in the final stages of delivery following approval by Fox.  Im happy with both.  I like Kickstarter as a mechanism for funding projects and its good that backers can receive exclusive content and artwork etc that your average joe-gamer buying via retail wont receive as a thank you for backing the project.  Kickstarter works.

Recently a game appeared that made me sit back and take notice, and I’ll tell you all why.  As a younger gamer I played Games Workshops Gorkamorka and Necromunda.  I also played a Steve Jackson game called Car Wars.  It used cardboard vehicles and had a rather complicated rules system.  Some small part of me wished I could combine all three into one awesome game using customisable miniatures involving gangs attacking eachother on the road in a post apocalyptic world…..a bit like Mad Max.  Nothing ever really filled that void for me as a gamer….until recently.

GW’s Gorkamorka.

Gorkamorka contents.

GW’s Necromunda.

Necromunda contents.

Steve Jackson Games Car Wars.

Steve Jackson Games Car Wars contents.

Via the rather excellent friend of the Hairy Gamers, Mark Rapson, I became aware of a new game about to hit Kickstarter.  It was perfectly timed given the reboot to the Mad Max franchise and the success of Sons of Anarchy.  It had everything I had been waiting for…..cars, guns, gangs, combat, crazy post-apocalyptic characters all in one neat package and even better the miniatures would be produced by PRODOS a company well known for its resin miniatures and excellent customer service.  Seemed like everything was in place was a successful Kickstarter.  The product?  Well its The Devil’s Run: Route 666 by Word Forge Games.

           

The Devil’s Run: Route 666 is a 2, or more, player family game of post-apocalyptical mechanical carnage set in the near future; a dark and barbaric place, where World War 3 has seen the demise of the USA and Russia. Twenty years after the war, those that have survived must fight for everything. Post-apocalyptic North America is a feudal land run by numerous gangs, the most powerful of which control the interstates and rush to win control of the aid-drops (ADs) delivered by the new superpowers; the SRI (Super-Republic of India), the UCE (United Countries of Europe) and Brazilia (formerly South America). Each player controls a gang of ramshackle vehicles and their characterful drivers as they race across the remains of America to lay claim to the aid drops and the riches they contain. Each gang will do whatever it takes to get to the drops first…murder, death, kill, race, win!

  

Its a 20mm (1:72 scale) vehicular combat game based on the major interstates of a post-apocalyptic former USA.  You build a gang and fight for control of the roads running your rivals off the road and destroying their bikes, trikes, pick-ups and buggies as you strive to become the most dominant gang.  The game utilises resin miniatures and dice to create a customisable combat game.

There is a Facebook group dedicated to this game, if you’re interested I suggest that a good starting point!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Devils-Run-Route-666/370271359846875?fref=ts

You can also find a growing community dedicated to custom models and updates and spit-ballin’ ideas for The Devils Run on Facebook too:-

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1620950651452093/

There’s also a YouTube video giving some background behind the game, the look and feel of the product and showing some of the awesome characterful artwork for this game:-

https://youtu.be/SvfrsDEN6RY

Go take a look!  Get involved and make a pledge!  I have!

#borntobewild #highwaytohell

Mancave Monday – Star Trek Goodies

Yeah yeah I know…..I said I wouldn’t post again this week, well that was until I got home and found some awesome Star Trek Attack Wing goodies waiting for me.  What is it they say about the best laid plans of mice and men and all that?

Well when I got home this evening it was my intention to put together some Star Wars Armada stuff but waiting for me was an awesome package….my Sakharov, a Type 7 Shuttlecraft from the episodic OP event “Peak Performance” and my USS Hood, Excelsior class Federation Starship from the Q-Continuum Month 1 OP event “Encounter at Farpoint“.

The Sakharov, Federation Type 7 Shuttlecraft.

Stats – 1-2-2-2 Actions – Evade and Scan.

A swarm of Type 7 Shuttlecraft.

Sakharov Base Plate.

Type 7 Shuttlecraft Base Plate.

Type 7 Shuttlecraft Maneuver Dial.

Sakharov and Type 7 Shuttlecraft Ship Cards and Maneuver Card.

Captain Data (CS3) and Generic Federation Captain.

Elite Talent – Computer Analysis. Crew Upgrade – Sirna Kolrami.

Tech Upgrades – Escape Transporter and Warp Drive.

Additional Rules Card – Shuttlecrafts.

“Peak Performance” OP Resource – Master Strategist.

USS Hood, Excelsior Class Federation Starship.

Stats – 3-1-5-4 Actions – Evade, Target Lock, Scan and Battlestations.

A wing of Excelsior class Starships.

USS Hood Base Plate.

Excelsior Class Base Plate.

Excelsior Class Maneuver Dial.

USS Hood and Excelsior Class Ship Cards and Maneuver Card.

Captain Robert DeSoto (CS4) and Generic Federation Captain.

Crew Upgrade – William T Riker. Tech Upgrade – Tachyon Detection Grid.

Upgrade – Systems Upgrade. Secondary Weapon – Type 8 Phaser Array.

“Q-Continuum: Encounter at Farpoint” OP Resource – Evasive Maneuvers.

Q-Continuum OP Event Cards pt1 – Honoured Judge and Incredible Power.

Q-Continuum OP Event Cards pt2 – Very Advanced and A Powerful Mind.

These ships have been available at OP Events in the states for a while now and we’re just beginning to see them appear over here in the UK.  My FLGS, Youngs Hobbies, will be hosting an event in the future to enable players to win these ships.  I’ll probably end up volunteering as TO for those events and possibly playing if we need an extra player.  Already owning 3 of each I wont be taking prizes if I do.

I’m a very happy geek this evening.  Just finished watching WWE – Payback and now preparing to watch Game of Thrones whilst I was preparing these pictures and writing this blog entry.

Both ships have already been reviewed elsewhere so Im not going to reinvent the wheel by doing it again.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Guess I ought to go to Ikea and buy another Display Case as I have too many ships for the current ones.  What a nice problem to have eh? #firstworldgeekproblems

Enjoy and let me know what you think by adding a comment.

Hi ho, hi ho, its off to LARP we go!

Sorry folks, there wont be any planned updates for this blog this week as I’m heading off to indulge in another geek-tastic hobby of mine this coming weekend.  I will be LARPing in a field somewhere hopefully in sunshine but recent experience shows me that its probably not the going to be the case.  I’m a volunteer at GOD (Games Operations Desk) for Profound Decisions Empire LRP events.

I will be playing the part of my Highborn Unconquered Benefactor, Archelaus, formerly of the Grey Watchers of Peytaht but now of The Silent Tide.

The Highborn are a people supremely confident of their own place in history. They revere the highest ideals, to epitomize Imperial Virtues, to reflect the noble obligations of leadership and thereby to embody the very spirit of the Empire. They created the Synod so that they might stand vigil over the collective soul of the Empire. Their manifest destiny is to drive the barbarians from the land and unite all humankind; they will accept nothing less.

The children of Highguard are a blazing beacon of righteousness in a dark and grimy world that too often chooses to take the easy way, to reach a compromise with vice. They stand against the tide of wickedness and say “No. This is not acceptable. We can be better.” Regiments of disciplined soldiers march to battle, shoulder to shoulder, determined to take the fight to the enemies of civilisation. Their first thoughts and their last are for their beloved Empire, and they know that even if they are struck down a life of virtue will see them reborn once more, given another chance to bring humankind to its shining destiny.

The chapters, the great stone settlements in which most Highborn dwell, are scattered across the plains that lie between Urizen and the Bay of Catazar. Many are built on ancient battle sites, scenes of triumph in the historic wars that wrested control of the land from the barbarians. All are heavily fortified, with granite quarried from the southern mountains, for the Highborn will brook no expense to protect what is theirs. “Wood burns, stone endures” is an old Highborn aphorism that says much about their perspective.

Although the First Empress put aside her nationality when she united the Empire, the Highborn consider their nation the proud parent of the Empire, and themselves to be its founders, tutors and guardians. They protect the Empire with their armies, guide its hand in the Senate and guard its soul in the Synod; perhaps most important of all, they keep the Imperial Histories to record and tell of the deeds that make the Empire great.

The Unconquered are skilled warriors who undertake scouting missions, employ sabotage and terror as weapons to weaken their foes, and seek out specific targets on a battlefield. In contrast to the archers and skirmishers of many other nations, the unconquered favour medium armour and short bows, and are not shy about engaging in close combat with hand weapons if the tides of battle make retreat-and-fire an unappealing option.

Think of them as a cross between the Nightswatch from Game of Thrones and the Rangers of Gondor from Lord of The Rings.

You can find out all about Empire and the world in which it is set on the Profound Decisions website:-

http://www.profounddecisions.co.uk/home?0

For those unfamiliar with the idea of LARP (Live Action Role Play) or LRP (Live Role Play) you can pick up the vague idea of it from wikipedia:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_action_role-playing_game

If you’re interested then feel free to comment and or drop me a line and I’d be happy to discuss it with you and point you in the direction of a group or event suited to your requirements.  There are various events throughout the year and some from very familiar settings such as Stargate and Serenity.  There are also LARP events set in the expanded universes of other games such as World of Darnesses Vampire:The Masquerade and Games Workshops Warhammer 40K.  Whatever style of background you;re looking for there is likely to be an event for you somewhere.

So, if I get the chance to update then I certainly will but I cant make any promises as prep for an event usually involves most of my free time….mainly remembering where my kit is and arranging vans and ensuring tents are cleaned and have all their pegs and guy ropes.

Star Wars X-Wing Thursday in the Mancave

So tonight in the Mancave I’ve been attacking the remaining pile of Star Wars X-Wing stuff that had accrued during my month off. I had a pair of TIE Bombers (Imperial), a pair of Z-95 (Rebel), an M3-a Scyk Interceptor and a Starviper (both Scum and Villainy) to open.
Mitch Dunton had a spare Starviper (for the Scum and Villainy faction) going so I picked up that last night at NAGA. I also had that to open.

Good times! Lots of new ships to test and play with.

#flycasuallike

Star Wars X-Wing “The Trench Run” Demo @ NAGA (13-05-2015)

Tonight at NAGA I was taking an old LARping buddy of mine who had recently moved into the area along to meet the guys and see what NAGA was like.  He’d expressed an interest in playing Star Wars X-Wing so with that in mind I booked a table and came up with an idea to show him the ropes.  Initially I consulted with fellow Hairy Gamer, Tris, who being a huge Star Wars nerd and all round X-Wing guy gave me some advice.  The plan was simple, two fleets using “big recognisable” names from Star Wars that  Wayne could choose from.  As the ships for both fleets were put on the table Wayne decided he’d take control of the Rebels which were as follows:- 

130 points ——

Han Solo (50) YT-1300 (46), Chewbacca (4)

Luke Skywalker (32) X-Wing (28), R2-D2 (4)

Biggs Darklighter X-Wing (25)

“Dutch” Vander Y-Wing (23)

That obviously left me with the Imperials to fly and my fleet to face those Rebel scum would be as follows:-

130 points ——

Darth Vader TIE Advanced (29)

“Howlrunner” TIE Fighter (18)

Backstabber TIE Fighter (16)

Black Squadron Pilot TIE Figfhter (14) x 2

Boba Fett Firespray-31 (39)

The idea was that most of the pilots in this battle participated in the Trench Run from Star Wars:A New Hope, so they would be something a fan of the franchise would understand and have “seen in motion”.  The only exception being Boba Fett, who wasn’t there but everyone loves Boba and I included him rather than spend those 39 points on more TIE Fighters.  At least this way Wayne would see the difference between high skill pilots and low skill pilots, big hull and shield ships versus no shield ships, hard hitting 360 degree arcs and 90 degree fwd arcs.

With our fleets decided we setup.  The first turn was quite slow as Wayne was new to the game.  There were some mistakes made and Actions forgotten but as we went along I reminded Wayne.  I was getting him into the habit of taking Actions even if he couldn’t do anything in the Combat Phase……so that later taking those Actions would feel like second nature to him.  The two fleets tentatively Advanced and I encouraged him to take at least one of each Action available in his fleet if possible so I could “learninate” him and explain what each action did.  With no Combat after turn 1 we had an opportunity to build up the learning turn by turn.  We took our time and I explained how the Maneuver Dial and templates worked.  It made sense to him.  I also covered some basics like crashing into other ships and obstacles such as asteroids.

We also had a number of named pilots with unique abilities so as we deployed and moved I explained how Wayne may way to use those abilities.  He was flying “Dutch” Vander with a wingman of Biggs Darklighter.  Biggs can take an attack if he could be targetted on behalf of “Dutch” and when “Dutch” takes a Target Lock action another friendly ship within range 2 can also acquire a Target Lock.

As we made our way through turn 2 the two fleets closed on each other.  Boba’s Firespray and Backstabber and Black Squadron Pilot TIE’s advanced on Dutch and Biggs on Wayne’s left flank.  My second Black Squadron TIE and “Howrunner” advanced into the asteroid field ready to take on his YT-1300 captained by Han Solo with Chewbacca.  Down Wayne’s right flank father and son advanced on one another as Luke Skywalker left the safety of accomanying Han and went for Vader in his TIE Advanced.

Now we were in a position to fire and we slowly made our way through this.  The process was explained that unlike maneuvering we now give the higher skill pilots an opportunity to go first.  Starting with our 9’s.  As we both had a pilot skill 9 captain the first shot was determined by Initiative.  The Empire always get Initiative in ties so Vader shot first.  At long range Hans’s YT-1300 gains an additional defense die.  We roll, we modify results and we compare final results.  This process continues until we finish the round.  I explain how Target Locks and Focuses work along with Evade tokens.

All in all a good game was had and Wayne picked it up very quickly.  In hindsight both Luke Skywalker with R2D2 and Han with Chewbacca were a little tough to break down and despite an impressive showing from a resilient Black Squadron Pilot I couldnt break down that YT-1300.  In the end after more than 2 hours of playing it ended up with a fully hulled and unshielded YT-1300 versus my 1 Hull point Black Squadron TIE.  If I could get close enough to fire Wayne would get the first shot and probably destroy me.  It was getting late and we were on opposite sides of the board so to finish the game off I displayed what happens when a ship lands “off the mat”.  My plucky TIE took one for the team and flew off the board so we could both get home.

I’d like to think Wayne enjoyed the game.  He was a little suprised at the cost of some of the components especially in the aftermarket such as EBay.  He seemed to like the fact that playing the game did not mean he had to invest as heavily as he would have to in other games such as Warhammer 40k or Warhammer FB and he could only buy 2-3 ships and play.  I’m thinking of doing a Star Wars Armada demo next week for Wayne if hes interested?

Its been a very Star Wars month in the Mancave as I did a review/deboxing of my Star Wars Armada, did a demo for Wayne of Star Wars X-Wing and yesterday my Star Wars Imperial Assault game arrived.  Im seriously considering running a campaign for a few mates at Chez Marden once a month.  I currently play in one at NAGA and really enjoy it.

Star Wars Imperial Assault Campaign aka How I hate Transdosians so very very much (@ NAGA 11-05-2015)

Jyn Odan – Sly Smuggler extraordinaire

My smugglers card.

My smugglers abilities and gear including the newly acquired “Slicing Tools”….which will come in handy later.

Tonights battleground…looks easy. Only two Royal Guards and two Probe Droids.

Imperial Assault…mwah ha ha haaaaa….all mine!

So tonight at NAGA we ran our monthly Star Wars Imperial Assault campaign.  Alan was GMing and playing Imperial Forces, Mitchell, Dave, Ed & I play Rebel heros.

Having had a small measure of limited success recently following my hiatus from gaming I returned to play Imperial Assault.  The scenarion didnt look or sound too bad and even Alan was complaining that it sounded like a cakewalk for the Rebels.  We had two objectives;-

1) Rescue a Rebel Captive and escort them from the facility (not timed)

2) Prevent a transmission of some sensitive Rebel data being made and disclosing the location of Rebel spies throughout the Empire. (4 Turns)

There were a number of locked doors between us and the location of the terminal for the Transmission but we could walk relatively unobstructed through the corridors to the location of the Captive.  Only 1 door stood between us and him.  Given my relative handiness with engineering based tasks I accepted the mission of stopping the transmission.  As luck would have it I have just bought some new gear that would allow me to re-roll a dice when performing an engineering check, my “Slicing Tools”.  So being the fastest Rebel and the best at Engineering checks I would race ahead and attempt to get through the sealed doors and stop the transmission whilst the heavies took out the Imperial forces and made their way to the Captives cell.  Sounds like a plan until the Empire got involved.  The two Royal guards advanced into the doorway between us and the rest of the facility and blocked it off.  They’re tough hombres to begin with but two together buffing each other makes for a really difficult to overcome obstacle.  This trapped me behind our lines for a turn making it difficult for me to get to the door i needed to get past.  Once Ed’s jedi had thrown one of them aside I could sneak past and make a run for it.  The coast was clear.

Ed’s Jedi, Dave’s Sniper and Mitchell’s Soldier fought off the two Royal Guards and got caught by an exploding Probe Droid before the Imperial reserves arrived.  An E-Web was stationed at the far end of the corridor and bitter experience has shown us to get rid of these horrible things as quickly as possible.  Luckily it was badly positioned and couldn’t do us much damage for now.  By the end of turn two I had made it to the doorway and performed my first engineering check, needing two “boons” to successfully override the doors locking mechanism.  I failed and used up my “Slicing Tools” to re-roll just about managing to open the door.  I could now take a shot at stopping the transmission but it would have to wait until next turn, giving me two full turns to stop the message.  The rest of the team were getting bogged down in the corridor facing the seemingly indestructible Royal Guards.  As the door opened within the  room stood two Transdosian Mercenaries with their devastating shotguns and an Imperial Officer, who now activated got turns before any of us could respond.

Sensing the threat from my Smuggler our GM Alan’s nefarious plan sprung into motion and I was targeted by both Transdosians.  I took a lot of damage from point blank shotgun blasts and was forced backwards into a corner where my “moonwalking” dancing skills would be wasted as they had penned me in.

Thankfully I had only flipped but was bleeding quite badly and this was stopping me achieving too much.  I was stressed and desperately needed a med-pack and rest.  We activated my Smuggler first and I had an attempt at stopping the transmission…..taking damage from a harmful effect for doing so.  Another smuggler fail as I failed to stop the message.  Again both Transdosians targeted the Smuggler and blasted her to pieces in the corner as the Imperial Officer joined in for fun.  I hastily applied a med-pack to remove the harmful effect and hopefully grant me a fourth turn to have another attempt at stopping the transmission.  Ed’s Jedi was badly beaten and stressed, Mitch’s Soldier had already flipped and was badly wounded and Dave’s Sniper was injured but doing ok.  It was looking bad for the Rebels.

Turn four began and I was fairly confident that I would not last the round unless some small miracle occurred.  I attempted to stop that transmission again and this time exhausted every re-roll I had trying to scrape a partial win but still to no avail as I failed again.  Unable to run away or dodge I had to simply stay put and let the Imperial Officer and Transdosians kill me.  Two shotgun blasts later a seriously wounded and unplayable Smuggler fell and crawled away into an air vent.  I was out of the game.  Mitch’s Solider followed suit rather quickly being taken out by some Imperial Reserves in the form of an E-Web….yes another bloody E-Web!!!

Dave and Ed forced onwards attempting to rescue some measure of success from an already failed mission.  The trasnmission had been sent and we couldn’t possibly win.  Now all that was left was to save face and escape with the Rebel Captive.

The Jedi and the Sniper managed to evade and get past the Imperial forces and sneak around to the corridor where the  Captive was located.  Having eventually forced their way into the cell they realised that escaping would not be easy as the captive could not help them attack in any way nor did he move very fast.  His move of 2 was almost half of my Smugglers normal movement of 5 and it wouldn’t take long for the Empire to close in around them and block the corridors making escape almost impossible.  Slow progress would have been better than no progress at all except that the Imperials blocked our Rebel heros into the cell and proceeded to beat and shoot them to death slowly.  Eventually both succumbed to the weight of imperial troops and died heroically, crawling off to fight another day.

Well its appears our celebrations in March were short lived as the Empire came back with a vengeance this month.  They certainly gave us a good kicking and taught us not to be so cocky.  We shall be back though!  Watch out Alan!!!!!

Star Trek Attack Wing: The Collective OP3 “The Battle for Sector 001”

Today I participated and volunteered at a local stores Star trek Attack Wing Tournament in Coventry.  Young’s Hobbies were running The Collective OP Month 3 event “The Battle for Sector 001”.  Scott Young runs the tourney and Im there as rules support/TO.

There was quite a good mix of abilities and experiences of the players, only Scott, Daniel Ryan, Ashton Batchelor and I had played in all the other events in this OP Series so far.  My biggest competition could not attend so the path was clear for me to win the series overall.  As a TO and volunteer I dont take prizes or payment in any way and I actually pay the same as they players so I run competitive fleets.

I had a number of options to run in todays tournament…..I had…Federation/Dominion with Officer Exchange Program (OEP) using Intrepids and a reliant, Klingon Pure with Vor’Cha and K’Vort, Klingon/Romulan OEP with Vor’Cha, Dominion/Indepednent, Klingon/Independent, Klingon Pure 2 with only Vor’Cha, Breen Pure, Romulan Pure using Interphase Generators, Federation Pure with Fighters, Independent Pure with Lores Meat Gringer, Mirror Universe/Independent OEP using Negh’Var and Assimilation Target Prime, Kling Pure 3 using Changs BoP and Torpedos, Dominion Pure with Triple Keldons & Fighters, Romulan/Federation OEP and Dom Pure with assimilated Galor.

Armed with enough ships to sink a battleship Hairy Gamer Tris and I set off for Youngs Hobbies.

Tris took the following:-

Chang’s Bird-of-Prey (22)
Chang (4)
Surrender as Ordered (4)
Kunivas (2)
Photon Torpedoes (5)
Ship SP: 37

Vor’cha Class (26)
Martok (5)
Klingon Flagship (10)
Defense Condition One (5)
Drex (4)
Ship SP: 40

Vor’cha Class (26)
Nu’Daq (3)
N’Garen (4)
Ship SP: 33

Total Build SP: 120

I went with:-

Resource: Hideki Class Attack Fighters (20)

Cardassian Keldon Class (24)
Gul Dukat (5)
Ship SP: 29

Cardassian Keldon Class (24)
Luaran (2)
Boheeka (0)
Ship SP: 26

Cardassian Keldon Class (24)
Sar (1)
Ship SP: 25

Dominion Attack Fighters (20)
Ship SP: 20

Both builds dropped a lot of attack dice but Tris’ relied on getting good defence from Cloak and moving free actions around from Martok to Nu’Daq and Chang.  Mine was relying on my fighters soaking up some damage and hitting hard and fast.

The other players fielded fleets as follows and I’ll post a comment for each fleet below:-

Scott Young – Mirror Universe

Ashton Batchelor & Daniel Ryan – Federation

Aaron James – Borg

A hard fought afternoon was undertaken and eventually I was declared the not only the winner of the event with 3 wins out of 3 with an almost perfect record but the winner of the series with 8 wins out of 9 and a total of 29 out of a possible 33 Battle Points overall.

1 – Jason 29 (Admiral)

2 – Daniel Ryan 17 (Vice Admiral)

3 – Ashton Batchelor 16 (Rear Admiral)

4 – Daniel “Orky Dan” Thomas 15 (Commodore)

5 – Scott Young 12 (Fleet Captain)

6 – Andy McGarry 11 (Captain)

=7 – Tris Taylor 10 (Commander)

=7 – Anthony Marsden 10 (Commander)

=9 – Nigel Thomas 6 (Lieutenant)

=9 – Aaron James 6 (Lieutenant)

11 – Kevin Roberts 5 (Ensign)

=12 – Owen Cartwright 4 (Ensign JG)

=12 – Nic Harbut 4 (Ensign JG)

We had to have a roll off to see who won between Ashton and Tris as both fleets were wiped out by the Borg Cube Token and neither player scored enough damage to beat it.  This was missed during the tourney as we scored it as a Tie.  So I rolled for each on their behalf and and recorded the results.  In the end it was Tris who scored 1 Battlestation on 5 dice and Ashton who got 3.  That game went to Ashton.

Tris Taylor’s Roll Off Video

Ashton Batchelor’s Roll Off Video