Tuesday 3 November 2020

CoTGB: The Anchorhead War (Second Battle)


Next report from Mark at Mos Pattaya of the ongoing campaign using the Challengers of the Great Beyond rules:

As news spread of the destruction of Anchorhead by the Sand People, refugees from many remote settlements fled to Mos Pattaya and the other larger towns to seek safety. Leaders of the Moisture Farmers’ League, using the slogan “the only good Tusken is a dead Tusken”, raised funds to hire a mercenary outfit to take the fight to the Sand People.
 
Early in the Month of the Crottled Greep, the mercenaries headed into the Dune Sea, into an area long known to contain Sand People camps and home territories, on a search and destroy mission.

Biffo at the Krayt Gorge

For this game the two sides were:

Mercenaries (6 life points)
1 x Crime boss (leader) (Lorm Woathsom) - character (3 slots)
1 x Medic (Dr McCoy) - character (2 slots)
1 x Sentry gun (Robot Walker) - character (3 slots)
2 x Starport thugs (Humanoid scum) - squads of 6 (6 slots)
1 x Cadets (Battle droids) - squad of 6 - (2 slots)
 All these figures are plastic Star Wars minis by Wizards of the Coast. No longer in production.


Sand People (7 life points)
1 x Champion (Liet Kynes) - character (3 slots)
1 x Maverick (leader) (Stilgar) - character (3 slots)
1 x Marksman - Tusken with jezzail rifle - character - (2 slots)
3 x Proud warriors (Sand People) - squads of 6 - (6 slots)
1 x Trappers (Jawa) - squad of 6 - (2 slots)
The Trappers are WOTC Jawa figures, the others are from the Ironclad Minis ‘Sanwar’ range. The additional squad accidently left out of the shot is from my Archives Cultists, they are very old Citadel Necromunda figures from the ‘Redemptorist’ gang. You’ll be able to spot them in some of the following pictures.



Here is the tabletop, showing the Krayt Gorge and initial deployments. The Trappers + a Proud Warriors squad are hiding in the wood. All terrain (buttes, thornbush & rock thickets) is impassable, except for the camp, three small dunes, and the green wood (which is growing around a soakhole, hence the Tusken camp).


The Sand People are coming from the West (L side) as the mercenary column approaches from the East (R side). The huts represent a Tusken camp. Each hut passively defends at S:M3 / M:M3 and counts as being in cover. If the Mercenaries can destroy them all they can remove any Proud Warriors squad on the table (they have run off to defend their families).

After 3 turns the Mercenaries are advancing cautiously towards the camp, trying to ensure any Sand People movement in the open will be punished by shooting.


The Sentry gun has moved off the dune at R to a position from where it can shoot at the warrior squad way across the table, and on turn 3 it fired, causing three hits. In a non-initiative response move a warrior squad (ex-Redemptorists) hidden in the wood has appeared on the flank of the gun ...

Turn 4 was a busy one, the Sand People won initiative 3-5. The Warrior squad that emerged from ambush charged the Sentry gun, which scored only one hit using opportunity fire against them (not aimed fire = no bonus dice). In the ensuing melee the Warriors took the gun to condition Red (they destroyed it next turn). This is at bottom of the photo.


Another Warrior squad, and the Champion, charged into the Cadets, who failed to score any hits as they came in. The melee ended with 3 Cadets & 2 Warriors down, and the Champion lost 1 life point (of 5) (Blue marker). The Cadets go to condition Green. This is in the centre of the photo. The Mercenaries responded by moving up a thug squad to where it can charge or shoot at the other Warrior squad (top of photo) next time.

At the end of turn 6 this was the position. At top of photo the Mercenary leader (Crime lord Lorm Woathsom) has scooted around the large butte to be out of LOS of the Sand People marksman, who is hunting him, just out of shot on the dune at R. The various explosions each mark the destruction of a unit.

At L, the Sand People have lost a warrior unit, though the leader (Stilgar) survives on condition Yellow and another Warrior squad is nearby on condition Green. This is the unit that previously destroyed the Sentry gun. The Mercenaries have 2 Scum squads in this area, 1 on condition Yellow and 1 undamaged. Both sides have been using the leadership bonus in the melee here.


Over on the R the Sand People have a Trapper squad untouched in the wood. They also have a Warrior squad on condition Green, and the Champion (Liet Kynes) who has lost 3/5 life points. But the Mercenaries have lost their entire Cadet squad, and their Medic. It should be noted that Dr McCoy did heal 1 lost cadet, and inflicted two hits on the Sand People attackers, before falling. There are lessons to be learned here about forward deployment of Medics ... they need to be close to the action but not too close. Probably safer to use them supporting units in shooting mode rather than getting close to mêlées,

Win/lose check.
🚩 Mercenaries: Living: 1 character + 8 squaddies = 2 lives. Dead: 2 characters + 10 squaddies = 4 lives.
🚩 Sand People: Living: 3 characters + 12 squaddies =5 lives. Dead: 12 squaddies = 2 lives.   

So the Sand People have won again, after a somewhat shaky start. The mercenaries did try a strategy of pushing for the Tusken camp using firepower to cover their open flank, but in the end it fell short. It looks as if only Lorm Woathsom and one squad of Starport scum (undamaged units) will be able to get away. The Sand People have only the Trappers undamaged, all other surviving units are on condition Green or Yellow.

Next - the Imperial garrison on Tataouine gets involved.

Cheers from Mos Pattaya
Mark



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