COTGB Scenarios: Rearguard Action

Another distant signal have been received from Mark Stevens in Pattaya, and has been reposted here for posterity....

This scenario represents the aftermath of a battle, which the Defenders have lost. Their rearguard is trying to delay the pursuit for as long as possible so the leadership can escape. The two sides are :

The Forces

Desert Raiders, 16 slots (living count 7):
🟌2 x Proud Warrior squads (4) 
🟌1 x Trapper squad (2) 
🟌1 x Starport Thugs squad (Mercenaries) (3)
🟌1 x Marksmen character (armed with jezzail) (2)
🟌1 x Maverick character (Stilgar)* (3)
🟌1 x Muscle sidekick character (bodyguard) (2)

Trading Conglomerate, 16 slots (living count 7):
🟌 4 x Cadet squads (warbots) (8)
🟌 1 x Primordial beast character (Col. Kranki)* (4)
🟌 1 x Burden character (Kranki's special friend) (1)
🟌 1 x Sentry gun character (3)

* Leaders

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After forces are chosen, terrain placed, and opposite sides selected, the sides dice roll to see who will be attacker & defender. The Desert Raiders will be the defenders. They choose one card from their bid deck (at random) and must remove slots from their line up equivalent to the card bid value. In a two player game this need not be immediately revealed to the Attacker, but in a solo game it’s easier to assume spies or traitors have conveyed the information to Attacker HQ before the game starts.

The card the Desert Raiders drew was a 5. The slots removed are 1 Starport Thugs squad and 1 Muscle sidekick character. The Living count accordingly is reduced to 5.

The Attackers (Colonel Kranki & the Trading Conglomerate) will be the NPC).

Here’s the tabletop with starting positions, which are handled per a normal CotGB game. The Desert Raiders have their Proud Warrior squads in the centre-left forest & behind the largest hill. The Trappers have been given the ambush capability so are not deployed yet. The Marksman is behind the hill at upper left. The leader (Stilgar) is with the Proud Warriors at centre left.

Kranki, the Burden, & 2 Cadet squads are in the centre between the hills, with the other Cadets at centre top. The sentry gun is on top of the biggest hill.

The hills, and swamp are assumed to be covered with rocks, ditches, etc that provide cover.

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Turn 1: Trading Conglomerate bid 1; Desert Raiders bid 2

Kranki advanced 1 Cadet squad from the pair on his left, onto the small hill, towards the enemy Marksman. Stilgar responded by inserting his Trapper squad (revealing the ambush) onto the hill, between the Cadets and the Marksman.

Turn 2: Trading Conglomerate bid 6; Desert Raiders bid 4

Stilgar took shots at one of the Cadet units with the Marksman and the Proud Warrior squad in the big forest. He passed on the rest of his activation points. Both units missed but in return fire the Cadets hit one of the Proud Warriors. Kranki used his non-initiative points to move 2 cadet squads towards the Proud Warriors in the big forest.

Turn 3: Trading Conglomerate bid 6; Desert Raiders bid 6

A drawn bid. Both sides get two action points usable for shooting only. Trading Conglomerate goes first. Kranki shot at the Proud Warriors in the forest with both Cadet units that had closed in on them. They scored only a combined 1 hit though. The Proud Warriors, responding with Return Fire, scored 2 hits, 1 on each Cadet squad. Then it was the Proud Warriors turn to shoot, using the depleted squad in the first + the other squad on the edge of the big hill. One hit. So at the end of this firefight Turn the Proud Warriors squad has lost 2 figures, 1 Cadet squad has also lost 2, the other has lost 1. 

Here’s the end of Turn 3 position. On the big hill on the left a Proud Warriors squad is facing off the sentry gun. Behind the hill, a Cadet squad & Kranki wait. In the centre, the firefight between the Proud Warriors in the forest & 2 Cadet squads moving in has left 2 Proud Warriors & 3 Cadets down. On the right, more Cadets face a Trapper squad, plus the Marksman.

Turn 4: Trading Conglomerate bid 5; Desert Raiders bid 3

The Proud Warriors use their Initiative points to do aimed shooting. The Marksman & both Warrior squads will shoot at the Cadet squads facing the Warriors in the centre forest.

The Cadets opt to stand their ground and return fire. In a highly successful firefight for the Desert Raiders, they took no losses but downed 4 Cadet figures, taking the two squads to Green and Yellow condition, respectively. Kranki used his non-initiative points to move the Cadets facing the Trappers off the hill, and his last Cadet reserves forward.

Here we are again, end of Turn 4 

Turn 5: Trading Conglomerate bid 5; Desert Raiders bid 2

Stilgar calls in the Trappers from the hill, and the Warriors from the big hill. I wasn’t sure if the Sentry Gun would be able shoot at the Warriors as they moved, the hill crest might be in the way, A dice roll indicated that, indeed, the gun could not get a firing solution. Kranki used his non-initiative points to move the sentry gun forward, and move himself and his Burden associate up to the Cadets.

Turn 6: Trading Conglomerate bid 4; Desert Raiders bid 6

Kranki orders a charge on the Proud Warriors in the big forest, by his Condition Green & Yellow squads. The Proud Warriors use opportunity fire against the incoming Yellow unit as it charges, taking it to condition Red. Kranki also moves other units into better positions. Stilgar uses his remaining non-initiative point to move his Trappers into the big forest.

In the combat, the Proud Warriors fight the condition Green Cadets first, killing two of them for no loss, taking those Cadets to condition Red. They then battled the other Cadets who were already on Red. The Proud Warriors killed the last warbot standing, eliminating this squad.

Here’s the end of turn position. So far, Kranki’s attempt to bash his way through the defence has been a failure, as he uses Cadets (shooting experts) to try and dislodge Proud Warriors (fairly good at both shooting & close combat) from defensive positions. Does he have the intestinal fortitude to keep up the pressure. Or if not, what alternative tactic will he switch to ?

Turn 7: Trading Conglomerate bid 2; Desert Raiders bid 4

Finally, Kranki looks away from the big melee, and sees other opportunities! He uses his initiative points for the Sentry gun to shoot at the Proud Warrior squad nearest it, and to insert another Cadet unit into the melee. The Warriors return fire as the Sentry gun shoots them up , causing it to suffer 1 hit (condition Green) but the Warriors in turn are almost wiped out (condition Red). Maybe they should have tried to dodge.

Stilgar uses his non-initiative points to move the Trappers into line behind the Warriors, as a new defence line in the forest, and for the Marksman to take an opportunity shot at the fresh Cadet squad as it charges into the melee, taking down 1 warbot.

The ongoing melee starts with the Warriors fighting the fresh Cadet unit. No losses on either side. Against the other (condition Red) Cadets, desperation led them to cause another Warrior casualty before being wiped out.

End of Turn update. The close combat in the big forest continues, with the Proud Warriors now at half strength (3 figures) and a fresh cadet unit  piling in with 5 figures in hand. Stilgar the Desert Raider leader is just to the rear, and the Trapper squad is lined up behind him. To the right, the Desert Raider Marksman awaits a fresh target. To the left, the Sentry gun has taken the other Proud Warrior squad to condition Red with a single burst of fire, but itself is now on condition Green.

Kranki & Burden, and the last intact Cadet squad, wait to the rear of the action.

The Trading Conglomerate have failed to break through by the end of Turn 7, so cannot win a Major Victory, though a Minor Victory is still very possible.

Casualties so far: Trading Conglomerate have lost 13 Cadets (2 dead, 5 living). Desert Raiders have lost 8 Proud Warriors (1 dead, 4 living).

Turn 8: Trading Conglomerate bid 2; Desert Raiders bid 1

Stilgar orders his Marksman to shoot at Kranki, who is the closest enemy not in melee and in LOS. Kranki dodges. Bugger. Kranki uses his non-initiative point to move his last intact Cadets up to where they can shoot at, or charge, the Marksman next turn. About time.

The melee in the forest continues. The Warriors take another loss and go to condition Yellow. The Cadets take two losses and go to Green.

Turn 9: Trading Conglomerate bid 1; Desert Raiders bid 1

Another drawn bid, due to a sudden violent electrical storm. The reroll give Trading Conglomerate 6; Desert Raiders 5.

Stilgar himself falls back behind the Trappers, and his Marksman ducks into the cover of the adjacent hill, attracting opportunity fire from the nearby intact Cadet unit. The Marksman fails to dodge and is shredded in a lethal Cadet fusillade. This is a serious blow, it might lose the game 😧 for the Desert Raiders.

In the melee, the Cadets pull off another win. Rolling lower, their melee dice wipe out the last 2 Proud Warriors before they can respond, and so they lose nothing themselves. With this the Desert Raiders have 3 dead and 2 living, so lose the game. Here is the final position.

To the left, the stand off between the sentry gun and the condition red Proud Warriors continues. To the right the intact Cadet squad celebrates the destruction of the Desert Raider Marksman (out of shot to the right). In the centre, Kranki and his special friend celebrate as the Cadet unit on condition Green dispose of the  last Proud Warriors after their epic defence. Deeper in the forest the Trappers, and Stilgar, are intact but must now try to escape the wrath of the victors.

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Losses: Desert Raiders: 11 Warriors, 1 Marksman = 3 dead, 2 living. Trading Conglomerate: 15 warbots = 3 dead, 4 living. This counts as a Minor Victory for the Trading Conglomerate. Had the game continued into Turn 10, the Desert Raiders would have won a Major Victory, regardless of the usual win/loss rules, for holding off the Trading Conglomerate long enough.

A damned near-run thing. It was won on the playing fields of the Bakhtiar Warbot Foundry.

That’s all from CotGB land, and Pattaya, for now.

COTGB Scenarios: Research Station X

Some distant signals have been received from Mark Stevens in Pattaya, and have been reposted here for posterity....

CotGB is “Challengers of the Great Beyond” a sci-fi skirmish ruleset by Victor Jarmusz (publisher Ganesha Games), using the “Battlesworn” engine. The most unusual aspects of which are (1) no measuring move or shooting distances; (2) activation is by competitive bids. Sounds weird. Works well. There is a solo play mechanism which retains the bidding element. Here’s shot of the rule book cover ➤

As the cover art suggests is very much at the space opera / science fantasy end of the spectrum. Think Flash Gordon rather than Starship Troopers. My own figures are mostly WOTC Star Wars plastics.

Anyway, here is the “Research Station X” scenario provided in the rules. If time permits I’ll do the “Rearguard Action” scenario too, in a follow up report.

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The Forces

The two opposing forces for this game will be a Crime Gang and a Smuggler crew, both based on the list of possible sample forces but, per the scenario special conditions, reduced to 9 slots only.

Wat Tambor & his Crime Gang (living count 3)
🟌2 x Starport thug squads (total 6 slots)
🟌1 x Crime Lord character (total 3 slots) (leader)

Worm Loathsom & the Smugglers (living count 3)
🟌1 x Starport thug squad (total 3 slots)
🟌1 x Robber Crew squad (total 3 slots)
🟌1 x Smuggler character (total 3 slots) (leader)

In a nutshell, this is a fight to control (or deny enemy control) of a squad of passive “scientists” in a research station in the centre of the table.

I will be actively playing the Smuggler faction, and the Crime Gang will use the NPC bidding. The Crime Gang are attackers.

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Turn 1: Crime gang bid 3, Smugglers bid 2

So the Smugglers get to make 2 initiative points, and the Gang get 1 non-initiative point. Loathsom (despite his name he is a popular and successful Smuggler) decides to move himself and his Starport Thugs squad up to the edge of the research station. On the other side, Tambor moves up one of his squads too. Here is the end of Turn position The Crime Gang came in from the left, the Smugglers from the right.

Turn 2: Crime gang bid 3; Smugglers bid 3

The “drawn bids” table indicates the Smugglers (as nominal defenders) get to set a trap under a selected enemy unit. Loathsom targets Crime Lord Wat Tambor himself. He is hit by a trap, and goes to “prone” condition

Turn 3: Crime gang bids 6; Smugglers bid 3

Loathsom and his Starport Thugs enter the research station and look for the scientists (under the  scenario rules the latter are not in LOS at this point, presumably they’re inside the building). His Robber Crew also move, using their Rocket packs to fly right across the table to a position near the enemy who are still on their own baseline.

In response, the Gang use their non-initiative points to recover Wat Tambor from the effects of the trap, throw a protective cordon between Tambor and the Robber Crew, and enter the research station to search for the scientists.

Here’s the end of turn situation. In the research station, the two gangs of Starport Thugs face off. Elsewhere, Tambor is screened by his other Starport Thugs from the Robber Crew who have dropped in to say hello.

Turn 4: Crime gang bid 1; Smugglers bid 1

Another drawn bid. The alternative initiative resolution prescribed in the drawn bid table translated this to Crime Gang 5; Smugglers 3, plus no flying is allowed because of a violent electrical storm.

Admin note: For the sake of making it harder to capture scientists, I decided that any unit/s in the research station must use 1 miscellaneous action to capture 1 scientist, until they are all caught. 

The Smugglers use their initiative points for the Robber Crew to shoot at the Starport Thugs closest to them, but  missed as the Thugs somehow dodged 😞. Elsewhere Loathsom ordered his Thugs in the research station to keep looking. He and they used 2  miscellaneous actions to capture 2 scientists. 

The Gang used all their non-initiative action to catch 2 scientists of their own. We now have this weird situation with the two squads of Starport Thugs occupying the same terrain space, but unable to charge (they will not charge an enemy unless it is condition Yellow or Red) or shoot (I ruled LOS was not good enough inside the BUA being the effect of abstracting rooms, walls etc).

End of Turn situation. You can see the boffins (on grey sand bases) alongside the squads (& Loathsom) that have caught them. Two more eggheads remain uncaptured as yet. Hiding under their lab benches no doubt.

Turn 5: Crime gang bids 6; Smugglers bid 6

Another drawn bid, that’s 3 out of 6 bids drawn. Both sides get 2 action points for shooting only, resolving shooting from the nominal attacker (Crime Gang) first. Also 2 melee phases. Well, there are no melees under way, but there is an available firefight, which we can stretch to 2 exchanges of fire. 

The Crime Gang’s Starport Thugs had shot at the Smugglers’ Robber Crew twice, and received two rounds of return fire, the Robber Crew had been wiped out and the Starport Thugs were in condition Red (reduced to 1 figure only). Here is the scene of carnage:-

Turn 6: Crime gang bids 5; Smugglers bid 2

Worm Loathsom and his Starport Thugs inside the research station use both their initiative points as miscellaneous actions and round up the two remaining scientists. Now they have 4 from 6 and the Crime Gang have only 2 from 6. The Gang use non-contact moves to move their condition Red unit & Wat Tambor up to the outside edge of the research station.

Turn 7: Crime gang bids 5: Smugglers bid 4

Loathsom orders his Starport Thugs to pull back from the research station, and he himself does likewise. The scenario allows the captured scientists to move with the capturing unit. The retreating units stop just outside the station (change of terrain). In the non-initiative phase, Wat Tambor moves into the research station to join his own Thug squad. Here’s the state of play as the end-game gets under way;

Turn 8: Crime gang bids 4; Smugglers bid 4

Another drawn bid, now 4 from 8! Regroup. The defender (Smugglers) get 2 non-initiative points. The attacker gets nothing. The Smugglers (Worm and the Starport Thugs) retreat to the large thorn bush patch and take up defensive positions just inside.

Turn 9: Crime gang bids 1; Smugglers bid 5

The Crime Gang advance through the research station and take up positions just opposite the Smugglers. Tambor and the other (condition Red) unit cannot join them, no actions available.

Turn 10: Crime gang bids 4; Smugglers bid 1

The standoff between the two squads of Starport Thugs continues. They cannot charge as the enemy is not on condition Yellow or Red. But they now can shoot. The shooting bids are Smugglers 1, Crime gang 2. The Gang opt to return fire rather than try to dodge. The Smugglers cause 1 loss to Tambor’s men, who turns out to be one of the captured scientists. The Crime gang shoot back from the research station, with no result.

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That’s the end of the game.

The Crime Gang end with a living count of 2 (after losing 5 thugs who also count as 1 dead). They gain +2 for occupying the research station unopposed and +1 for living captured scientists. Total = 5

The Smugglers started end with a living count of 2 (after losing the 4 Robber Crew). They have +4 for the captured scientists. Total = 6.

So, a narrow win for Worm Loathsom and his Smugglers.