The Assault on Krystyna's Rest (R40K Battle Report)

A mate of mine, Mic, came over and we played a quick R40K game.  As Mic wasn't that familiar with Rogue Planet rules, we kept things simple playing a 200 Credit Patrol Game with Lizardmen versus Imperial Guard.  I was intending to use the scenario rules outlined in one of my recent Posts (see here) but given we were only playing a single game, we decided just to play a straight 'destroy the enemy' style engagement.
 The two forces we employed were as follows:

• Mic's Imperial Guard: 1x Assault Squad, 1x Tactical Squad and 3x Support Specialists with Flamers; versus
• Jason's Lizardmen: 1x Spear Band, 1x Sword Band and 2x Temple Guards.

So how did it play out?  

Mich was able to take advantage of the inoperable Demolisher Tank blocking the road.  I did my best to move my Lizards on either side of the Tank but was just frustratingly an Action Point or two short for the first few Turns - leaving me choking at the (aptly named) choke point.  Finally, I managed to break-through and declare a Charge in an attempt to smash into Mic's front-line however Mic cleverly declared a Counter Charge with his chainsword equipped Assault Squad.  That Assault Squad earned their keep: they kept three of the four of my Units (the Spear Band, Sword Band and one Template Guard) tied up for many Turns.  Despite the weight of numbers, they just kept on keeping on.

In retrospect, I likely should have moved into the building and flanked Mic, but without any ranged weapons, it just didn't occur to me that it would have been viable tactic.  Maybe next time...

Whilst the drama was unfolding around the Tank, Mic also moved his Flamers on top of a nearby building.  The elevation offset the Saurus' tough hide and that coupled with the +2 buff for Flamer attacks on Groups (i.e. the Spear and Sword Bands) meant that he was well positioned to rain down gouts of flame in and around the mosh.  Another fortunate factor was the manner in which I was unable to take full advantage of Mic's Action failures.  In Rogue Planet, anything less than a Total Success Skill Check result generates one or two 'free' Move Actions for the opposing force.  Unfortunately, if a Unit's engaged in Melee, they can't benefit from the same.  Grrrr!!

Eventually, I broke the deadlock, but with heavy losses, and charged both remaining Temple Guard to first dispatch Mic's Tactical Squad then pursue his Flamers.  Whilst the Tactical Squad crumbled under the weight of the two huge Lizard's great axes, one succumbed to flamer fire.

The last stages of the game were very tense.  I had but one Temple Guard but nothing left in the Energy Pool.  Without the ability to access any Energy, Temple Guards aren't any resilient than a standard Saurus.  Mic had three flamer-equipped Guardsmen on the rooftops.  Fortunately, while the flamers weren't optimal, they were able to largely negate the Saurus' thick hide.  Also, Mic had some of his Energy Pool left which meant he had the opportunity to absorb/negate a significant amount of damage.

My Temple Guard rushed to the building's overhand then scaled the ladder to engage with the first Guardsman.  Mic's attempt to charge and knock the Temple Guard off the balcony failed and the Temple Guard dispatched the brave Guardsman with a Critical Strike, denying Mic the opportunity to offset the hit with his Energy Pool.  One down, leaving 2 Guard versus 1 Temple Guard.  I was thinking "I can do this!".

During the next Turn, Mic chose the default 3 Actions and I rolled 4, giving me the option to either take or concede the Turn's Initiative.  Knowing that Mic would be shooting at me, and lacking any ranged weaponry, I felt I couldn't afford to let Mic fire at me unopposed (I'd be limited only to attempting Dodge Counter-Actions only), so I took the Turn into my own hands.  Declaring a Charge onto the nearest Guardsman the Lizard hurtled across the rooftop into the inferno.  This time, however, it proved too much for the Temple Guard.  Mich's Rogue Die result of 4 matched one of the Charge's Skill Die rolls, meaning the Temple Guard received 4 hits.  Without any Energy Pool points remaining, the result was charred, smoking Lizard husk falling at the feet of a shaken but stoic Guardsman.  Victory to Mic's Imperial Guard!

It was a really fun game that took about an hour to play.  The combination of great terrain, awesome models (thanks Brent Seymour!) and good company made the time fly.  Some post battle thoughts:

• Do Temple Guard require a bit of something to further differentiate them from their more common brethren?  Revisiting their current stats, I think maybe... they're already tougher (Medium Armoured), generate two Energy Points and can access the Energy Pool, but attack-wise, they're presently no more threatening than any other Saurus (which is threatening enough!).  I think I'll give them an extra point of CQ, bringing them up to CQ5 which raises their cost to 59 Credits, putting them baseline Melee skill-wise on par with both Cold One Riders and Old Bloods.
• I'm still astounded how, in a game system which does away with measured moves, movement and positioning still remain such a critical element when it comes to tactics and gameplay.  Mic even said the game felt like Chess without a board + fun!
• I felt the absence of Hero/Leader Units, but it was still a great game all the same.
• My newest junk-bashed terrain works great - the building's ladder and balcony were bloody awesome if I say so myself ;-) more of that later.

I'm already looking forward to our next game...