"What could go wrong?" Topic

What was your most epic run-in with the titular "famous last words"? This could be a disheartening fail or possibly an extremely fortune-driven win (what could go wrong for the other guy).

So, we were playing Atlantis Sinking and I had a heavy unit (Master Bacon – two piggy-backed anthropomorphic swine with guns and cleavers) that was facing down a very light unit (a Reaper Mousling) that had become separated from its pack. The general combat exchange was on the order of 30:1 in my favor for these two units. I wasn't worried, so SWMBO maneuvered the Mousling in for the first strike. Hit. Big hit with < .5% odds. Still I had about a 10:1 advantage over the little booger, so I let have. Miss, miss, miss, miss. Then a coupe-de-grace from the Mousling finished me off.

Sad thing is, my unit could have easily outmaneuvered hers, completely avoiding engagement. But it's just one Mousling … what could go wrong?

Years ago we're playing the Aliens board game from Leading Edge. We were playing the Escape from the Processing Plant scenario, the famous scene in the movie where the Colonial Marines first encounter the Aliens. We need to move across the board and get out. Things are going well, then someone (whom has been lost to the ages) says, "So far we're doing pretty good…."

OMG!!!! All Hell broke loose. From that point on, we got our butts handed to us and we were slaughtered!!!

Ever since then if someone says something akin to "We're doing pretty good", cries of despair and angst will ring out and the memory of the Aliens incident will be re-visited…..along with cold stares and harsh words for the offending jinx bringer-on-er……….

Was playing Bugs! from 2HW. My squad was holding off a horde of bugs, with the considerable help of the chain gun on their APC.

Bug hole opened under the APC, swallowed it up, and now the grunts had bugs front and back.

It was a bad day.

Playing Merp trying to spy on an alleged Thieves Guild HQ, it was set at the bottom of a valley. So my rogue took some "see in the dark roots" & got a good hide roll and began to sneak down the slope. "OK" says GM "roll on your climb skill, as the slope is quite steep" "Easy it's my main skill, I cant hit anything but I can climb like a squirrel"….I roll critical fumble…and tumble all the way down :(
Luckily iirc a decent Diving or Acrobatics saved me from the worst of the crit damage tables.

Funnily enough the same char also fell off a balcony and shot a party member due to a weapon fumble!

Playing a WWII skirmish game. We had a very memorable encounter. Movement/firing were based upon action points (APs).

British soldier (with 10 APs)carrying a Bren moved one inch (1 AP) and saw a german soldier with his back to him. Immediately fired on auto (3 APs) with a roll of 1=critical miss/out of ammo when firing on auto. Immediately reloaded (3 APs) and fired on automatic (3 APs) with a roll of 1=critical miss/out of ammo when firing on auto. End of his action.

German soldier reacts (10 APs) after being sprayed by Bren fire and being missed. Stands and turns to face enemy (1 AP), Fires MP40 at enemy on Auto (3 APs) with a roll of 1. Reloads (3 APs), Fires again on Auto, with a roll of 1.

German player then decides to close assault (5 APs), rolls a 1 (we assumed he slipped and fell) and gets a wound (-2 AP). Stands (3 AP).

British Player close Assault, rolls a 1, with a wound etc.

You see where this is going. Finally another player simply threw a grenade into the room, rolled a 10 and killed everyone. Victory points to both sides.

It wasn't really a "what could possibly go wrong" moment, but I have a story similar to jdpintex's. The game was StarGrunt, played in 25mm with some nice terrain, including stackable buildings, about 15 years ago. I don't remember who the combatants were, but possibly different Sword Worlds factions. The action went more or less like this:

One squad (let's say it was Gram Army) had lost a few men to direct and indirect fire. The enemy (let's say it was Sacnoth Army) close assaulted at about 2:1 odds. All of the Gram soldiers lost the close assault, except the squad leader.

The squad leader ran into a nearby building (first action) and fired out the windows at the squad that had just attacked him, incapacitating one soldier (2nd action).

The Sacnoth squad close assaulted again. The Gram squad leader survived and retreated -- upstairs, because he could not retreat into enemy forces outside.

Gram squad leader fired again, down the stairs, incapacitating another Sacnoth soldier. Sacnoth squad ran up the stairs to close assault again.

The Gram squad leader survived and retreated -- upstairs, because he could not retreat into enemy forces downstairs. I think he got another Sacnoth soldier via direct fire.

The Sacnoth squad close assaulted up the stairs yet again. Sacnoth lost another man in the close assault, but finally took down the Gram squad leader.

The Sacnoth squad started with 6 or 7 soldiers, as I recall.

That reminds me of a battle where my friend had placed his best and strongest unit guarding a stone bridge that was the only way for my army to cross. We had a major river bi secting the battlefield and my army had been divided into 2 fairly equal parts on both sides of the river, my friend had placed his entire army on one flank and was getting ready to really go after my outnumbered forces on that flank. He smiled at me and stated you are not going to get across, hehe. I then said we shall see and proceeded to charge my War elephants that had been behind my lead unit onto the bridge. The elephants normally would have had almost no chance to get his unit but because he was parked on the bridge and could not use our rule for evading elephants the charge was quite successful and utterly squashed his elite unit. The elephants then proceeded to smash into his now unprotected left flank and the battle was over.

We are playing GDW's Third World War Series, all of it, and my partner comes up to me and says, IF we take Bucharest the Romanians will defect (we had the magic card and the other conditions were already met). Give me all the paratroopers and drop them on Bucharest. Guaranteed.

Right. Well it turns out the Soviet third line armored division garrison didn't die if he rolled a 6, just mostly dead, and that wasn't enough.

So anyway the Nato paratroops fought their way to Odessa where, the remnants, were evacuated to Turkey.

And the Southern Front Soviet player hung the Romanian Politburo from the Bucharest lampposts and destroyed the Romanian military. Bit of roleplaying there just before he fled to Switzerland ahead of the KGB death squad on his trail…

I was the Confederate player holding a very nice defensive position and the Union were breaking like a rock on it – so my fellow Confederate player said, "let's go give them Yanks a schoolin'"

So like a fool we moved out of our nice cozy breastworks and charged – to be mowed down like wheat by those oh-so-intact Union batteries – and then their cavalry took care of what was left

I was playing a ww2 game as the German player. After demolishing the American force opposing me, I moved 3 Kingtigers down a road to exit off board, thus fulfilling the victory conditions. There was one Sherman between the KT's and the edge of the board, and we all laughed about how the game would be over in 30 seconds or so. Over the next few turns, all of my shots missed, and the Sherman scored a turret ring hit one one KT, a critical hit on a machine gun port on another and permanently tracked the last one. Kind of like Mike Tyson getting knocked out by a grade schooler.

Are you sure it wasn't a haunted Stuart?

Friend of mine and I were playing VOID. He had VASA, I had Viridians.

He put a Knight of Fury (psychic-melee-specialist) all alone in a heavily armored APC and his plan for that "unit" was to go like hell across the table and let out the Knight in my deployment zone to wreck havoc. Odds were all but certain it would survive all the way due to its speed and heavy armor saves (it had bull plates.)

At the end of his second turn in my deployment zone, before he could eject the Knight of Fury the next turn, I assaulted his vehicle with the only unit I had nearby, a Viridian Mortar Team (the mortar and combat blades are their only weapons, no pistols or rifles.) He laughed at me, assaulting an APC with knives…

With nothing but those three machetes, I hit and penetrated the heavy armor, the dice roll indicated one passenger in the APC is killed outright. There is only one passenger, the uber-close-combat-psychic-hero Knight of Fury.

Rule to take away… "Don't laugh."

HA!! I could write a lexicon!

In my rule set, "Oh God!" Anything but a six, you dice for initiative. This is handled by each side having a set of initiative cards numbered 1 to 6. On any turn YOU CHOSE which card you want to roll on. At the start of the game one side HAS initiative for the drawing of the event card, after which they must use one card and roll for initiative. If anyone mutters the words.

"I want to save my 1 to 6 initiative card for when I might need it later in the game so I'll use my 1 to 4 card or my 1 to five card…."

"I want to wait and I want to surrender the initiative to the other guy so I will use my 1 card…."

Or ANY variation of the above…

The Angel in charge of irony will hear and you will roll a 1 or a 6 or whatever you don't want.

"What can go wrong?" "How bad could it be?" whatever… it's like cursing God, or inordinate pride before "the Gods" or whatever. It's like Oedipus saying "Well what the heck so she's a lot older than me, she's really Hot! The furies will descend on you and show no mercy.

We also all know that the name of a unit is everything and how they do in their first battle after they come off the painting table will govern their fate throughout their life.

I have a unit of Der Kriegspielers "Guards of minas Tirith." Pained them up. Put them on the table. Top notch elite unit, highest stats you could wish. FIRST BATTLE, my friend looks at them and with a grin says "BUNNY EARS." I had to admit that from the front the alleged eagle wings did look like Bunny ears because they were so long and thick. That was it. In the ensuing battle they charged the lowest, worst, most weak, despicable worthless scum unit possible in the game and were DEFEATED! Then the scum charged them the next turn and put them to rout. Since that time EVERY battle has been the same way. They could be attacked by a squirell with a cross look and they fly to the four winds. I have rebased, repainted, renamed, re-stated them and nothing helps.

Be very careful, the demons of he ages crowd about you seeking an opportunity to destroy you.