Recently, I have slowly managed to recruit a few players to try out Stargrunt. It's been a long process, but I'm patient. We're using a mish-mash of miniatures and have come up with some background fluff for our games (which has been a fun process). Our last game was the first for one of the new guys and he enjoyed the experience.
We played at our FLGS and it happened to be on a day when they were hosting a 40K event. Our game was tucked off into a corner but garnered several curious looks. "That's not 40K," and "Stargrunt? Never heard of it," were commonly voiced comments but everyone seemed interested in what was going on. Likewise, no one had ever heard of either the Pig Iron and Vor minis we were using, but I think the exposure was a good one. There are Sci-Fi minis games out there besides 40K!
The Men and the Mission: One platoon of green troops, and an IFV defending a landing pad until the dropship comes in to pick up a VIP and fly her away to safety. Two special forces squads and two regular rifle squads are staging a surprise assault on the base to try to grab the VIP before she gets away.
The game started with an Observation roll for the defenders to see if they could spot the SF teams, which had crept in toward the base perimeter. Unfortunately
During the fighting on Bayerlin, UDSS agents managed to kidnap Liselle Theron, daughter of Kryton Corporation CEO Jaques Theron. A platoon from the 3rd Brigade "Internationale" was charged with getting Liselle to a remote airfield, and providing security until a dropship could be brought in to take her away.
An informant gave Kryton the location of the pickup, and quickly contracted with Ramstar to dispatch a rescue mission. Two squads of Ramstar Special Forces, backed up with regular troops and rocket-assisted artillery on call, deployed to the target area.
The Special Forces managed to infiltrate within spitting distance of the defenders' perimeter before unmasking and opening fire, quickly suppressing an enemy position. On the left, the UDSS troops hopped over the wall and began to move forward, only to quickly come under fire from the mercenary troops which suppressed them and made them seriously consider the wisdom of their move. The UDSS HQ, up on the landing pad, opened up but the range was too great for their fire to be effective.
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The battle began to develop as the defender moved the IFV into position near the building where the VIP was being held. Using the vehicle as a shield, the squad guarding the VIP began moving toward the landing pad.
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Upon gaining the wall, the SF called in their artillery strike. The heavy barrage landed on target on a UDSS squad position near the center of the table, and the general purpose rounds devastated the defenders, killing four and wounding one, breaking the squad.
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The arty was the signal for the Ramstar regular troops to move in and they began advancing down the right and left sides. The UDSS squad that earlier went over the wall came scurrying back, jumping into the gun pit for cover. The firefight was heating up!
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The UDSS IFV moved up, its RFAC spewing 20mm death at the mercenary special forces. The elite troop had staying power, but even so, the IFV's heavy cannon took its toll, killing two and suppressing the mercs. Both special forces teams volleyed their IAVRs at the IFV but the rockets failed to penetrate.
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Meanwhile, the UDSS squad escorting the VIP made its way to the landing platform and began to add their fire to the HQ squad. An attempt was made to contact the dropship, but the VTOL was as yet out of range.
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The Ramstar regulars moved up, laying fire on the UDSS squad in the gun pit and suppressing them. Thus pinned, one of the Special Forces squads charged into close combat. A bloody struggle ensued as the mercenaries and the revolutionaries got to grips. Despite losing three men, the UDSS hung on, forcing another round of hand-to-hand fighting.
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The Ramstar platoon commander, pinned down with his squad by the IFV's cannon, and getting tired of it, managed to recover from the suppression and then laid some grenade launcher fire in on the IFV. The hits didn't penetrate but the rain of grenades off the vehicle's armor caused the driver to think better of his exposed position and pull back.
The struggle in the gun pit continued and ended as the two surviving UDSS troopers in that position broke and ran. The Ramstar mercs moved in, consolidating the two chewed-up SF squads. The UDSS platoon leader growled in frustration as his attempts to rally his broken squad in the center were stymied by crappy comm-links. Equally frustrating was the failure of the dropship to answer his calls for dustoff!
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The Ramstar forces closed in, going over the wall. On the left, one squad of regulars dashed forward. The IFV revolved its turret and opened up. Somehow, the mercenary troops were spared the shredding wrath of the UDSS gunner. At nearly standoff range, the mercs slammed grenades into the IFV but just didn't have the right angle to penetrate the vehicle's armor. The other merc squad, now at the base wall, landed a stonk of grenades right on the top deck of the IFV and took it out, forcing the crew to bail.
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Finally, the UDSS commander got a call through to the dropship loitering on the horizon, and the bird began its run-in. Ramstar anti-aircraft forces locked up the incoming dropship but the pilot managed to break their lock with some NOE flying.
The UDSS platoon leader then got to work rallying his broken squad in the center. The corporal there grabbed the two routing survivors of the close combat fight in the gun pit, and the bailed-out IFV crew, and folded them into his squad. They then managed to suppress the mercs firing on the IFV.
As the range closed between the attackers and defenders the fighting around the landing pad was fierce. The UDSS was barely holding on and the Ramstar mercs didn't have much time left before the dropship showed up. The UDSS squad that took the VIP up to the platform began moving back down to hold off the oncoming mercenaries.
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Then the screaming roar of the dropship's jets announced its arrival. The pilot lined up on the Ramstar squad approaching the landing pad and opened fire with its HEL. The mercs dropped like bowling pins.
With two UDSS squads on the landing pad, the dropship touching down and the bulk of his forces still too far away, the Ramstar commander decided to cut his losses and pull back. The dropship blasted off, carrying Liselle away.
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This was a pretty exciting game to watch (I was refereeing). The Ramstar player had a much smaller force with a lot of opposition to get through and he almost did it. The quality difference (the Ramstar SF were elite and regular quality, the UDSS troops were green) was very apparent. The Ramstar mercs took a lot of suppression markers but usually shrugged them off quickly, and their comms rolls and such were usually successful, whereas the UDSS player had a hell of a time doing the same (it wasn't helping that he was rolling a ridiculous number of 1's).
It was only the third game for me and the Ramstar player, and the first game of Stargrunt for the UDSS player. Stargrunt's command rules take a game or two to fully get a grasp on, and some gaming instincts from other games set you up for punishment in SG. Early in the game, the UDSS player tried to advance a squad toward the enemy, breaking cover and moving into the open. He was quickly shot up, suppressed and reduced in Confidence level, and forced to dive for cover again. Later, the Ramstar player took out this same squad by first suppressing it, and then charging it for close assault. The use of and importance of covering fire and such in SG is one of my favorite parts of the game, since it actually makes fire and maneuver tactics meanigful.
The Ramstar player's final push for the landing pad was pretty cool. He took his troops over the wall and went for it – when his squad didn't blown away by the IFV I was amazed. The fight in the gun pit was also pretty crazy, and again I was amazed that the UDSS troops managed to stand their ground after the first round of fighting, and even though they broke and ran they took down two special forces guys first.
I think I still got a few things wrong – it was the first game where we had vehicles involved, and the use of artillery. But I'm learning more about the nuances of the game and really liking it so far. Assymetric scenarios like this one are also cool and force players to think creatively in order to push toward their objectives.
Looking forward to more Stargrunt!
makes models of models of models...
