Saturday, February 2, 2013

The Bunker Job

A couple nights ago both of my girls went to bed at a reasonable time (a minor miracle) so I decided to try a little solo game. I grabbed my Fear and Faith rules and went back to my sci fi team from my very first post. They're a 296 pt force that you can look at here.

From left: Gabbi Steele, Rx28, Boxerbot 9000, Cal Middleton, and Barnabas Cook. (The fuzz on the lens that provides the lovely smudge over Gabbi and Rx went unnoticed until I uploaded the pics to my computer for editing. Better get used to it now.)

Cal Middleton and his smuggler crew picked up a job to destroy a comms bunker on a remote agriplanet. The corporate forces that control the planet are a nasty bunch but Cal and his ship really needed the money.

The bunker was patrolled by the standard laser-armed drones. I used three of these GZG grav drones.



Here's their list. The drones have a fairly low Quality, making activating them a chore. I chose to make their moves random and that strip on top made things really easy. Upon activization the drones move forward in the direction of the stripe. When their move is done, I check to see if any of Cal's crew is within sight (long range). If not, I roll 2d6 (couldn't find a d12) and turn the drone accordingly, ready for its next round. Easy peasy.

The good guys needed to creep through the night to the bunker and plant some explosives. It would take two actions to plant the bomb. The drones would call for some Space Nazi backup if the crew was spotted, but Cal wasn't concerned. This would be an easy job.


Special rules:

  • Dark. Sight limited to long range.
  • Backup. Once the drones call for backup they roll a d6 at the start of every round. First round backup shows up on a roll of 6. Second round, 5 on a d6 and so on.
  • Medic. Two successful Quality rolls will heal an ally.
  • Radio silence. The good guys can't use a radio without giving away their position. If they want the truck to move they have to get close enough to yell.

The setup. Cal's stolen transport truck arrives from the NW.

The crew unloads, confident in their firepower and skills.

Cal heads south along the ridge followed by Boxerbot. Gabbi heads for the trees knowing her stealth will keep her safe. Barnabas heads around the hill to the north, hoping to get a good field of fire. Rx28 botched his activization and turned play over to the drones.


Gabbi eyes a drone.

The drones make their moves.
Crusher moves east to the ridge line. Rx28 heads south to stay close. Cal, Gabbi, and Boxerbot 9000 get in position to storm the bunker.

Safe behind some rocks, Cal is ready to make his move.


The drones move again. That random movement was playing havoc with my plans. Just when that southern drone was within my reach he turned right around and flew the other way. Gabbi and Boxerbot get a little risky and head toward the open.

Cal impulsively rushes across the arroyo and blasts a drone with his pistol hoping to take it out quickly. He manages to knock it down but not destroy it.

Drone's turn. For the life of me I can't figure out what that drone is doing in the lower right. He wasn't there. But the one just beyond the bunker was. He moved in and blasted away at Boxerbot with his laser.

That laser packed a punch. Boxerbot destroyed.

Rx28 knows he can help. He just has to get there.

Cal takes care of the downed drone.

Gabbi is about to take some vengeance for Boxerbot.

Oh crap.

No, really. Oh crap.

Aw, man.

Cal makes it to cover as the Nazis advance.

Cal shoots at a drone, knocks it down, and declares retreat. Gabbi is made of sterner stuff opens fire.

Gabbi is a badass. One drone destroyed. One drone knocked down.

Things look grim as the Gabs is knocked down by burst from a Nazi  goon.

Finally. Maybe you've been wondering what Barnabas was doing way up north. The answer would be BOTCHING ALL HIS ROLLS! He finally makes his way back to the truck and yells at the driver to get down to the riverbed.

The truck is on the move.

Just in time. The good guys mount up and take off.

But, oh no! Barnabas is left behind. Let's hope he evades capture or I might have to play a rescue mission.
This is only the second solo game of Fear and Faith I have played and I have to say, I need to to this more often! It was really tense and at the end I really thought they were all going to kick the bucket.

It was great to play on that board too. I sunk a lot of work into it and this was the first time I've used it.

8 comments:

  1. Great game! I really got to look up those rules. Great looking miniatures and scnery too.

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    1. Thanks, Mr. Harold. I really like the Fear and Faith rules for small group games. They're very simple (some might say too simple) but robust enough that I use them for my Weird West games and now for pulpy Sci Fi.

      $9 at RPGNow. Well worth it.

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  2. AMAZING board, so much work in that. Some very clever homebrew tweaks to F&F as well... You really got a lot of out the system withoit too much fuss!
    Flashing steel takes the concept of your medic roll and extends it to a mini swashbuckling/rpg system. You may want to take a look.

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    1. Super! Fast easy and slam-blam action on small scale is what I like! Great job: story action and scenery. I'm waiting for the next episode.

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    2. Thanks, Spacejacker!

      Just did some reading. Flashing Steel looks super fun. Plus, it looks like the kind of stuff I could use to lure my more RPG friends into playing. Thanks for the tip.

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    3. And thanks to you, Jay. I'm definitely going to have to play a rescue mission to get Barnabas back.

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  3. Excellent figures and an amazing table. The story was a lot of fun, too. Looking forward to the next instalment.

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  4. That looks like it was really fun. I'm a Ganesha fan as well.

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