This Turn my Crew is tackling Story Track Event #2. Much like the previous Turn, this battle is pretty epic. There's a ton of super aggressive mercenaries, with heavy weapon support.
Crew names below are often abbreviated G to M, as explained in: Crew Roster, which also tells you about my team and a bit about their ship. See also the Index of my Five Parsecs articles for a list of previous Missions and other content.
Pre-Battle:
1.1 Flee Invasion: - n/a
1.2 Decide Whether to Travel: - not yet, but soon
1.3 Starship Travel Event: - n/a
1.4 New World Arrival Steps: - n/a
1.5 Gain 1 story point if it's turn 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, etc. - not this time
2.1 Upkeep and Ship Repairs: -
Crew Upkeep - 1 Ship Debt - 0 Ship Repairs - 0 Medical Care - 0
2.2 Assign and Resolve Crew Tasks: -
Because of the Story Track, this Turn I cannot Track Rivals. Any encounter I do have is assumed to be related to the Story Track, regardless of if it's a Patron Job, Rival attack, etc. There's a old friend-turned-enemy, named Q'narr, who has hired the Blood Storm Mercenaries to get even with me.
Find a Patron - Train - J Trade - H, K Recruit - Explore - I, M Track - Not Allowed Repair Your Kit - Decoy - L, G
Noteworthy results from Tasks: - Juniper trains Combat Skill to 3.
Trades get us a shotgun and a rumor (this is our 2nd rumor).
Explore gets us a rumor, and an information broker who sells up to 3 rumors for 2 each, but since I'm now at 3 I decide not to buy more.
2.3 Determine Job Offers: - I have a pre-existing Patron job. Whatever we do this Turn is now modified by the Story Track.
2.4 Assign Equipment: - No changes.
2.5 Resolve Rumors: - I rolled a "3", so we get a new Quest. I roll a random name for it on a weird little Quest Item Name Table I've created, and I get: "The Xanthous Soul from the 5th Dimension".
2.6 Choose Your Battle / Job Description:
It's my last chance to go after the Menrva Bail Bonds job that the Cultist Rivals kept me from pursuing last turn. - Menrva Bail Bonds calls us up with a Bounty. Danger Pay: +1 Credit Time Frame: Turn 8-10 Active Benefits: Provides a Rumor when I succeed. Active Condition: Busy, If the Mission is a success, the Patron offers a new job automatically next Turn. Objective: Secure - You must end 2 consecutive rounds with crew within 2” of the center of the table. A crew member with an enemy within 6” of them does not count. Once this is achieved, you Win. If you drive off the opposition, you can complete the objective at your leisure. Deployment Condition: Delayed: 2 random crew members won’t start on the table. At the end of each round, roll 1D6: If the roll is equal or below the round number, they may be placed at any point of your own battlefield edge. Notable Sights: Really Shiny Bits: 2 credits, at 8" to the SouthEast.
However, that is now modified per the Story Track. I'm on Mission #2 of the Story Track, which reads in part: "If you pick up a Patron job this campaign turn, it’s assumed to be a job you took on to get closer to your quarry. If you get attacked by Rivals, they are attacking you en route. ... Fight a standard battle against Blood Storm Mercs from the Hired Muscle Subtable. All normal rules apply, but minimum encounter size will be 4, even if the dice would otherwise indicate a smaller force. ... If you manage to defeat a mercenary by Brawling, you have captured him and can interrogate them for information. Add +1 story point."
Battle:
Deployment Conditions: - Delayed: 2 random crew members won’t start on the table. At the end of each round, roll 1D6: If the roll is equal or below the round number, they may be placed at any point of your own battlefield edge.
Notable Sights: - Really Shiny Bits: 2 credits, at 8" to the SouthEast. .
Objective: - Secure - You must end 2 consecutive rounds with crew within 2” of the center of the table. A crew member with an enemy within 6” of them does not count. Once this is achieved, you Win. If you drive off the opposition, you can complete the objective at your leisure.
Enemy Type: - Hired Muscle. Sub-Type: Blood Storm Mercs
Outlawed in many systems, the Blood Storm merc company are cold-blooded killers. They will take any assignment that doesn’t involve an excessive amount of warcrimes.
Numbers: - +0 (but Minimum Encounter Size this Turn is 4) Panic: 1 Speed: 4” Combat: +1 Tough: 4 AI: A Weapons: 2B
2 regulars with Hand Laser + Blade, 1 specialist with Rattlegun + Blade, 1 LT. w/ Hand Laser and Blade
+ Unique: Enemy Bruiser A particularly unpleasant-looking individual. Panic: Fearless Speed: 4” Combat: +1 Tough: 5 AI: G Weapons: Power Claw
Hired Muscle: Being paid professionals, you are -1 to any attempt to Seize the Initiative.
Ferocious: +1 to Brawling rolls when Blood Storm Mercs are initiating combat.
Mostly short range weapons, but the Rattle Gun's dangerous across most the table.
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| Initial Deployment - Mission 10 (Story Track Event #2) |
Deploy: We are infiltrating the Cult Compound, which is a huge manor-like building. What we don't know is that it's a set up. Inshubur's old friend Q'narr has a team of Blood Storm Mercs hidden inside the manor. These Blood Storm Mercs are bad mamma-jamma's.
In our previous run-in with the cult, Moreva was recognized at a distance and everything went pear-shaped real quick. So as we approach the manor, she and The Kid stay a long distance back. (Mechanically, they are Delayed for the first few Rounds.)
To keep things simple, I only loaded the ground-level of the map. (It's a map I had from a D&D game I've been running, and just added a few computer screens, holograms, and technological devices.) H'Xex's jump belt only allows him to go 3" above the table, so we'll assume the upper floors are taller than that. The AI in 5 Parsecs is straight-forward enough, the Enemy won't go upstairs if I don't.
Round 1: -
Seize the Initiative: Is at -1 against Hired Guns, but that's canceled by the +1 for being outnumbered (a resulted of the Delayed Deployment). Our total is a 7, so we don't seize it.
Quick Actions - Inshubur approaches the manor.
Enemy Actions - The aggressive Blood Storm Mercs won't sit quiet in manor and wait for us to come to them, so they start moving across the courtyard in a hurry, trying to get to the closest PC.
Slow Actions - Leonidas and Juniper follow the Captain. H'Xex jump-belts along the side of the building and makes as much noise as he can in an effort to lure the Mercs away from our main objective.
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| Red lines are Enemy movements, Red X's are where they died. Blue/Green/Yellow lines are PC movements. (Blue is JumpBelt use, Yellow is characters delayed until later entry.) Question Marks indicate PCs that went missing. This was a pretty dynamic battle. |
Panic Test - None.
Enemy Ploy on a "1" - I'm using the Enemy Ploys from the Guns and Tricks supplement for the first time ever. At the end of Turn 1, it has a 1 in 6 chance of triggering a Ploy, and I rolled a 1. That triggers a roll on the Ploy table, which is a "100" so their ploy is Reinforcements. 3 more Mercs are deeper inside the building, one of them with a rattlegun. This means I won't roll for ploys in future Rounds, but it does also reduce their Panic Range from 1 to 0. Unless something else changes it, all the Blood Storm Mercs are now Fearless. And they outnumber me 2-to-1 now. Not a single shot fired, and it's only the first round, but things look pretty dire already.
Delayed resolves on a "1" - I rolled a 2, so Moreva and The Kid are still delayed off map somewhere.
Round 2: -
Quick - Inshubur swings out wider from the building, and H'Xex continues in the other direction to distract the enemy.
Enemy - They can't get LOS to any targets, so most of the Blood Storm Mercs head towards H'Xex's distraction. One of them, however, is actually closer to Inshubur and him, and so goes that direction. The diversion is working.
Slow - Leonidas and Juniper head north. J doesn't Dash because she's lurking by a window where she might get a shot at Mercs inside the building next turn.
Roll for Battle Events between Round 2 and 3 - Looks valuable: Randomly select a crew member, then place a marker 1D6” from them in a random direction. The enemy will ignore it. If any crew member moves into contact and spends a non-Combat Action, obtain 1D3 credits.
Delayed resolves on a "1-2" - Nope, I rolled a "5". Still delayed.
Round 3: -
Quick - A really good initiative roll has 3 of my 4 characters going in the quick phase. H'Xex moves to a window, and puts two tight clusters of shot in the head and torso of the first Merc into the room. Inshubur rushes the main gate, but completely blows what should have been a simple shot on a Merc in the open.
Juniper goes on overwatch at the front window, hoping for some lucky snapfire at any Mercs rushing H'Xex. It's a trap that wouldn't work against Cautious or Tactical AI, but the Aggressive AI of the Blood Storm Mercs means they'll rush right into the jaws of death if within 12" of a good brawl.
Enemy - The LT rushes towards H'Xex, but gets stunned by Juniper's withering plasma snapfire. The Bruiser goes over the table, and drives H'Xex back with frantic Hand Lasering of the window.
The Merc that Inshubur missed closes half the distance and returns the favor.
Slow - Since he can't get a clean shot no matter where he goes, Leonidas doubles back for the "Looks Valuable" and scores us 2 Credits.
Delayed resolves on a "1-3" - I roll a "6". Where's my back-up?
Round 4: -
Quick - Initiative is bad this turn. Only Inshubur gets to go, and only because her Reactions is a 4. She charges the Merc and they brawl. Both roll 1s, but Inshubur gets a reroll with her Elegant Boarding Saber, and wins the melee on the reroll. So that's 2 hits on the Merc, who goes down.
Enemy - The group on the far East of the map move south, with the one in front getting a clear shot at H'Xex. He picks up a second Stun and falls back 1". The Enemy LT shakes off their stun and gets into position in a window. The Bruiser runs along side them, but doesn't have enough movement to crawl out the window and brawl H. So instead they rush to the window, fire a Hand Laser, and put the third Stun on my K'Erin crewman! This would take him out, but H'Xex spends his Luck instead, and ends up diving for cover just beneath the window where the LT is.
Unable to get LOS to H'Xex, the Rattlegunner moves across the room and opens up at Juniper. Cover and Heavy mean the manor walls eat up all 3 shots.
Slow - Juniper returns fire, and the Rattlegunner eats plasma-heated death. Inshubur can't quite get LOS on anyone, so instead she heads into the Manor towers to go after the Notable Sight and get ready for close quarters battle.
Here's the part where it would be really smart for H'Xex to bail with his Jump Belt. He could drop back 9" into cover. Normally, K'Erin don't get to run away, but if they are Stunned, then they are temporarily pacified and may do so (this was clarified by the game's designer on his Discord). That's what I had planned to have him do, as he'd served as a great distraction already. But then his Luck roll pushed him right up to the window, less than 1" from the enemy LT. Because he's stunned he can't crawl through the window and also Brawl, but he can stand his ground and shoot from point blank. There's 5 enemies bearing down on him, it's probably suicide, but it's in keeping with the personality, so what the hell?
2 Hits, and a "6" on one of the damage rolls, so the LT is out of the fight. Too bad the reinforcement Ploy made the baddies fearless, as I sure would love their morale to start cracking right about now.
Delayed resolves on a "1-4" - I roll a 3, so Moreva and Kid are no longer delayed. Just in the nick of time. I get to put them on the board touching my edge of the table.
Roll for Battle Events between Round 4 and 5: "99: You want me to check that out? Select a random crew member. They may opt to go check out something they insist they saw. If they do, they are removed from the battle. After the battle ends, they may roll once on the Loot table (p.131). If you opt not to go, you cannot send a different character, and the chance is lost."
I number off my characters and roll the die. Rolling H'Xex would be amazing, as it would likely save him from getting KO'd next round. Most of the characters leaving right now would actually be okay, and worth the Loot. About the only roll that would be bad would be Inshubur, as she's perfectly positioned for snagging objectives right now.
So, of course, that means I roll Inshubur.
It's a tough call, but I'm feeling like I can risk it now that backup has arrived. Inshubur drags off the captured Merc to interrogate.
Round 5: -
Quick - A good initiative roll saves H'Xex's bacon. He can't see the bruiser, and can't shoot if he moves, but he does have range to one of the other Mercs, whom he drops. Then his stun clears.
Moreva dashes. The Kid sits tight on sniper overwatch with his Infantry Laser, to fry the Bruiser if she goes out through the window.
Enemy - So I thought H'Xex was going to be okay, but that remaining Rattlegunner disagreed. She shot him twice. No longer having a target, the others move through the building.
Slow - With no opportunity for Snap Fire, The Kid advances into cover. He shoots at the Rattlegunner, but misses. Juniper crawls through the window (this takes +2" of movement, per the rulebook). Leonidas heads north.
Round 6
Quick - The Kid stuns the Rattlegunner.
Enemy - Rattlegunner is out of range, and the Kid's not the closest PC either, so they run inside. All three Mercs move closer to Juniper, but only the Bruiser is close enough to shoot. Hand Laser hits, but only stuns.
Slow - Leonidas heads to the gate. Moreva to a window. Juniper returns fire, double-stunning the bruiser.
Round 7
Quick - Juniper blasts the Bruiser. Plasma Rifles are deadly. The Kid moves up.
Enemy - The last 2 Mercs advance across the great hall. The Railgunner shoots at Juniper. It's a hail mary shot that can only hit on a 7+ (due to Cover and Heavy), but it scores 1 hit! Luckily damage roll is low and only stuns.
Slow -Moreva breaks a window and climbs in. Leonidas runs through the gate.
Round 8
Quick -Initiative bombs out. Only The Kid gets to go first. He'll hold off in hopes of snapfiring through the window.
Enemy - Hand Laser backtracks slightly to get closer to Leonidas since he's moved up. Rattlegunner stands and shoots. Both miss entirely.
Slow - Being stunned does not stop Juniper from setting the Rattlegunners head on fire with plasma. Moreva picks up the Really Shiny Bits. The Kid goes through a window, since all the adults did it first.
Leonidas kills the last Merc.
Analysis:
This was a big crazy battle that made real good use of the terrain. Sending H'Xex as a diversion was a sound strategy, as it broke up the enemy advance and made them come into my other guns bit by bit. Assuming he doesn't die in the recovery step, it will definitely have been worth it.
Post-Battle:
4.1 Resolve Rival Status: - Rolled a 2, so there's no fallout from this fight.
4.2 Resolve Patron Status: - Menrva Bail Bonds continues as our Patron, and because of the Busy Condition offers us a new job automatically next Turn without us using a Find Patron Crew Task.
4.3 Determine Quest Progress: - n/a
4.4 Get Paid and Benefits of Success: -
Total of 8 Credits (Leonidas found a "Looks Valuable: +2 Credits", Moreva found - Really Shiny Bits: 2 credits, and Danger Pay: +1 Credit, all on top of a roll of 2, adjusted to 3 because we held the field)
Active Benefits: Provides a Rumor when I succeed. We keep hearing mention of something called the The Xanthous Soul from the 5th Dimension, and you can bet Inshubur will want to learn all about it.
Active Condition: Busy, If the Mission is a success, the Patron offers a new job automatically next Turn.
Inshubur brawled a Merc and won. Per the Story Track: If you manage to defeat a mercenary by Brawling, you have captured him and can interrogate them for information. Add +1 story point. This brings me back up to 7 story points.
4.5 Battlefield Finds: - Vital info : Turn in this information to get a Corporate Patron automatically on this world.
4.6 Check for Invasion!: -n/a
4.7 Gather the Loot: - Data Files worth 2 Rumors!
Inshubur went after a "You want me to check that out?" So we get 1 bonus Loot Check beyond normal. This becomes "Mysterious Items" worth 2 Story Points.
This bring my totals to 5 Quest Rumors and 9 Story Points.
4.8 Determine Injuries and Recovery: - I roll a "7" which means H'Xex is dead... but I just collected 3 Story Points, so naturally I spend 1. The reroll is a "30". No Turns lost in sick bay, but 1 piece of random equipment is damaged. His Combat Armor is Damaged, which is fine, as I'd forgotten he even had it, and I think I forgot to roll for it when he got hit.
4.9 Experience and Character Upgrades: G.0 H.2 I.3 J.4 K.4 L.3 M.3 - First Kill: H Rookie: K Unique: J killed the Bruiser
Moreva raises her Reactions to 2.
4.10 Invest in Advanced Training: - Not yet.
4.11 Purchase Items: - None.
4.12 Campaign Event: - The life support system on the ship needs upgrading badly. Upgrading the life support system will cost 1D6 credits. The ship cannot be flown until this is paid. If your crew has an Engineer, modify the roll by -1. Moreva is an Engineer, and I rolled a 1, so that becomes a 0. Paid.
4.13 Character Event: - Juniper: You argue with the rest of the crew. During the next campaign turn, the crew member refuses to do any tasks but will participate in battle normally. Apparently, she wasn't happy about Inshubur buggering off, or Moreva and The Kid being late. Timeliness matters.
4.14 Check for Galactic War Progress: - N/A
4.15 Tick Story Clock: - Set the Clock to 2 Ticks, but the next Event cannot begin until you have traveled to a new world. Generate this as normal when you do.
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