Wednesday 3 May 2017

Mutants & Death Ray Guns Report: Star Wars - "Rogue Two"

BEN KENOBI AND DARTH VADER BATTLE OVER A SECOND SET OF DEATH STAR PLANS
This game was played using the basic rules of “Mutants And Death Ray Guns” by “Ganesha Games”, and was 'thrown together' using some pre-painted "Wizards Of The Coast" miniatures in order to represent the Rebellion's attempt to steal a second copy of the Death Star plans on the planet Scarif. The scenario comprised of a party of six Pure Human characters facing a smaller (but better equipped) gang of Pure Humans across a 2’ x 2’ tabletop populated with Island Palms by “Battlefront Miniatures”.

“The story so far… During the Battle of Scarif a shuttle containing a copy of the Death Star plans has been blasted into pieces before it could reach Princess Leia's CR90 corvette. Believing that she could still recover the data from the wreckage, Organa has enlisted the help of Jedi Knight Ben Kenobi and flown to the planet's surface on a recovery mission. Unfortunately, Grand Moff Tarkin, aware of the shuttle's fate, has also arrived at the crash site, and together with Darth Vader, is personally scouring the area for the battle station's schematics..."
THE TABLETOP - THE PLANET SCARIFF
Landing on of northwestern corner of the tropical planet, the Rebel's mission was to visit three debris locations (Objectives Alpha, Beta and Omega) and extract as much valuable data as was hidden there. The Empire, arriving in the southeastern corner, had to try and stop Princess Leia, and additionally retrieve as much of the Death Star plans as they could. No-one would know how much information had survived the crash at the three locations until they had used an Action to search for it.

Because all of the Stormtroopers were wearing their instantly recognisable white armour, they were all treated as having Flak Jackets, and carried Assault Rifles to represent their E-11 blaster rifles. Darth Vader had some additional special rules for being both a Hero [always automatically rolls one success, regardless of their Quality] and the group's Champion [+1 to Combat Score]. He was armed with a Powered Weapon [+2 in Melee Combat unless opponent is wearing a force field] and was given a Force Field in order to better replicate a Sith at the height of his defensive powers. Grand Moff Tarkin was armed with a Pistol and a Fragmentation Grenade, and was the group's Leader [Quality increases by +1].
GRAND MOFF TARKIN INSTIGATES HIS PLAN TO RETRIEVE THE DEATH STAR SCHEMATICS
The Rebel Troopers all wore Flak Jackets, and were armed with Pistols (to represent DH-17 blaster pistols). They were also given the Slippery skill to allow them to retreat from hand-to-hand combat without penalty. Obi-Wan Kenobi had the special rules Hero and Champion. He was armed with a Powered Weapon, and was treated as wearing Flak Armour to represent his aged skills with a 'swirling' lightsaber. Princess Leia was armed with a Pistol and a Fragmentation Grenade, and was the group's Leader.

Confidently striding northwest, Lord Vader made his way directly towards Objective Beta in the centre of the battlefield. Behind him, Tarkin began moving west, just south of some palm trees, with an accompanying stormtrooper providing the Grand Moff with some protection. Two more 'bucketheads' headed north in the direction of Objective Alpha.

Realising that the Sith Lord could not be allowed to dominate the middle ground, Ben Kenobi began hurrying towards Objective Beta himself. Perhaps it was time for the former friends to meet one another a final time..? Behind the 'Clone Wars' general, a couple of Rebel troopers started to fan out towards Objective Omega. Whilst Leia and another of her men, raced east towards Objective Alpha.
BEN KENOBI RACES TOWARDS DARTH VADER TO STOP THE SITH LORD IN HIS TRACKS
Straining his elderly muscles, Obi-Wan managed to get within touching distance of the crash debris at Objective Beta. He momentarily smiled as he realised he had arrived before his 'young' padawan. Surely the Force was with him. Unfortunately however behind him, perhaps somewhat intimidated by how powerful Anakin Skywalker had become, the Rebel advance faltered and no-one else moved...

To the north, one stormtrooper continued on his journey towards Objective Alpha, whilst his companion fired at the 'crazy old wizard'. Sensing the attack, Ben easily batted away the shot with a flick of his lightsaber. Hearing the sound of battle commencing, Tarkin increased his pace west and momentarily spotted Darth Vader purposefully stomping up to the elderly Jedi Master; an epic confrontation was about to occur...
THE OLD JEDI KNIGHT PERHAPS FOOLISHLY LEAVES HIS REBEL FRIENDS FAR BEHIND
Standing amidst the shuttle's wreckage at Objective Beta, Vader launched himself at the old man in front of him, and frustrated, stepped back when he saw his blow parried by the bearded Jedi Knight. The northernmost Stormtrooper continued on his trek towards Objective Alpha, but perhaps enthralled by the lightsaber duel taking place in the middle of the battlefield, no-one else from the Imperial party moved.

Realising she had a chance to strike for the Rebellion, Princess Leia fired at the Stormtrooper fast approaching Objective Alpha. The shot flew wide, and frustratingly was all the offence Organa's party would muster. Had Obi-Wan missed an opportunity to strike down his protege..?

Firing again at the seemingly hapless Imperial trooper in the northeastern corner, Alderaan's senator cursed as she saw her intended target remain untouched. Padmé Amidala's daughter was clearly far deadlier in the senate's debating chamber than she was with a laser pistol. To the south Obi-Wan Kenobi attempted to defeat his opponent with a powerful strike, mistimed his blow and was killed by Vader gruesomely... Fortunately for the Rebellion, no other Rebel troopers were within range of the Jedi Knight's death to warrant an obligatory Morale Test. But Ben's death clearly rattled Leia's forces as they all momentarily stopped to grieve.
DARTH VADER DEFEATS HIS OLD MASTER AND CLAIMS OBJECTIVE BETA FOR THE EMPIRE
Successful in his personal duel, Darth Vader retrieved the Death Star data located at Objective Beta and discovered it was worth two victory points. Turning northeast, the Sith Lord then started to make his way towards Princess Leia and Objective Alpha. He would soon crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke.

However before Anakin Skywalker could get any further, the stormtrooper by Objective Alpha arrived at the shuttle's debris field, and managed to fire at Organa's approaching figure. The Alderaan senator was hit, and crumpled to the ground dead. Horrified at their inspirational leader's demise, and already unsettled by Vader's seemingly simple victory over General Kenobi, all but one of the Rebel Troopers fled. With Grand Moff Tarkin close to Objective Omega it was clear the day belonged to the Galactic Empire and the Dark Side of the Force... 

33 comments:

  1. A dark day for the rebellion Simon, lovely account of the game.

    Can I ask a cheeky favour - for your batreps can we have an occasional overview picture like at the end if a turn or something so we can visualise the whole state of play?

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    1. Thanks Andy. A dark day indeed.

      Tbh, there wasn't much to really show in the 'widescreen' version of the game as the Rebels genuinely just cowered in the northwest corner for the most part. But I'll try and do some overview piccies for future BatReps.

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  2. Cool report Simon! I looked at Mutants and Death Ray Guns for Star Wars a while back, but felt that they didn't really work for Jedi hand to hand combat. Did you feel Obi-Wan got gruesome killed too easily? I might need to take another look at the rules.

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    1. Cheers Natholoen! Much appreciated. Tbh this game was very much thrown together as a last minute battle, so it was just a case of giving everyone two equipment and one skill each. However, the roll was a one and a five/six as memory serves which saw an end to Obi-Wan, so I thought him and Darth both having powered weapons, with Vader having a force field which negates the +2 combat in melee bonus worked rather well.

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  3. Nice treat. Just went browsing the blogs and found this new AAR. Very highly enjoyable and a great surprise to wake up to with my morning coffee.

    Ganesha Games does it again I think. Can you please tell me how you (in your own thoughts) think Mutants and Death Ray Guns handled the Star Wars genre? As I too, have a lovely large collection of WotC Rebel Storm Star Wars Skirmish Game minis (but currently no `go to` preferred system to use them with**) I`d be very interested in hearing your own verdict Simon?

    ** well not strictly true. I do have the original Rebel Storm rules but no stat cards to go with the minis, so not ideal: not without having to go on line and download all the stats cards.. then print and cut them all out and put into plastic sleeves - what a pain that would all be.

    Loved the game play through. Personally I liked how the old man was no match for Vader. It felt thematically right. But omgggg what a bad result for the Rebellion. Maybe Leia was just badly wounded and lived to fight another day, yeah? A week in a bacta tank would see her right as rain again, hehe.

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    1. Thanks Hils. I think "Mutants And Death Ray Guns" handles "Star Wars" rather well just when using some simple throw together stats. I think if you sat down, and used the "Ganesha Games" stat builder though, you'd be onto a real winner!! Jedi and Sith could be 'mutants' with mind powers etc with people like Darth Vader proving expensive but incredibly powerful. Its just a nice rule system imho and the Success rolls constantly adds that element of risk to the proceedings.

      As a complete aside, my copy of "Metamorphosis Alpha" has arrived. What a great recommendation!! Loving the look of it already, and looking forward to sitting down and reading all the fluff - expect a "M&DRG" BatRep soon set within the starship Warden... ;-)

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  4. I feel a disturbance in the force, as if the whole universe cried out at once, NOOOO ! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE ! Great Batrep Simon and May the 4th be with you

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    1. Cheers Dave. Those are some splendid quotes btw. May The Forth be with you too :-)

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  5. I absolutely loved that even though I have no interest whatsoever in the rules system. It is about time the mighty Empire showed who really rules the galaxy! To be fair, I wasn't that bothered who won, I just wanted to see a good scrap. It did, however, feel a bit too easy for the Empire.

    +1 to Andy's suggestion for more overview shots.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. I think the Rebels early quick failures brought the game to an end far quicker than I'd have normally expected. but that can happen with any of the "Song of Blades & Heroes" rule-sets. I'll certainly see about some more overview shots in the future :-)

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  6. What a great post Simon and a fitting one given the day!

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  7. Another great AAR. I'm starting to realise just how flexible the Ganesh Games systems are. Have you tried the new traits from Project Simian Ultra X at all?

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    1. Thanks Mark. I've not yet even opened the "Project Simian Ultra X" rulebook, as I want to really get to grips with just "M&DRG" first and create a bit of a library of characters first. I've yet to even try group orders etc, but once I dip into the expansion I'm sure they'll be plenty of good stuff to add to my existing stats.

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  8. Very enjoyable. Like Hils I`m interested to hear what you thought of M&DRG when applied to Star Wars - Does it lend itself well to it do you think? I really liked the batrep: can never get enough SW battles, the more the merrier. I agree with Andy about pulling/zooming the camera out a bit to get some more of those wide shots. Makes it easier to see what`s going on.

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    1. Cheers Steve. I thought "M&DRG" works very well for "Star Wars" personally :-)

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  9. I always maintain, it doesn't matter how bad a set of rules is. Or adversely, it doesn’t matter how good or detailed a set of rules is, the same thing applies in both instances; rules are secondary to the atmosphere and style of a game set up (from the adventure itself to the chosen tone of the genre), and that`s down to the people playing at the table. You got it absolutely right here. It felt like an episode of Star Wars, and it came alive in your retelling. Also, chalk this up to another win for Ganesha I think?

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    1. Thanks very much indeed Dave. It certainly was a win for "Ganesha Games" and "Mutants And Death Ray guns" in my books too!!

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  10. Good grief...that's that then. Ben Kenobi never met Luke Skywalker, the Death Star plans never make it to the Rebellion...and Star Wars never happened. ;D

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    1. "that's that then." - 'fraid so, Gordon... but that does also mean there wasn't a run of Ewok films in the future too ;-)

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    2. There's a lot to be said for that continuity, Stu. A Darth/Luke team-up in a galaxy far far away is a great idea for a future BatRep!!

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  11. A glorious victory for the righteous Galactic Empire!

    It will be mark the end of the Rebellion and the return to peace for the galaxy as a whole.

    Really enjoyed this, incase you didn't realise. :)

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    1. Cheers Dai. Very much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it :-)

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  12. A very apt and enjoyable AAR, although Kenobi went down a lot easier than I thought he would. Just goes to show that black leather trumps a tatty dressing gown every time. ;-)
    "Oi you Jawas, get off my land!"

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    1. Thanks Jez. Tbf it was a very unfortunate roll that saw Obi-Wan fall so quickly :-)

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  13. Nice batrep Simon.

    "Just goes to show that black leather trumps a tatty dressing gown every time", that's what I tell my wife every morning!! but does she listen... she just tells me I shouldn't answer the door to the postman dressed like that.

    Cheers Roger.

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  14. Good fun! I'd love to see more tales like this.

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    1. Thanks Barks. I'm hoping to get some more of my "Star Wars" pre-paints based up, as well as paint some additional "Imperial Assault", so hopefully there will be more.

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  15. Simply incredible. I sat reading this with my porridge spoon an inch from my lips, unable to tear my eyes away from the action even for a moment. More please.

    Very interesting to see Mutants getting such positive reviews lately. Its sad, but many less glamorous sets of rules tend (nowadays) to get heavily passed over for the more flashy shiny art ones. Which is a shame. Under that simplicity and functional cheap and cheerful look, very often masks a superior and more pleasurable system.

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    1. Cheers Tarot. I hope the porridge didn't get too cold!! I'm certainly hoping to bring "Mutants And Death Ray Guns" to the attention of as many people as I can with a series of regular BatReps ;-)

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  16. That's a good aim Simon, and one which will help many others make a sound choice for theselves. I think the problem often is that there ii simply too much choice available out there nowadays, and with companies all vying for the customers money, the best advertising will usually win - not necessarily the best game. This simple but complete game book is like Tunnels and Trolls was/is to Dungeons and Dragons.. i.e. not competition, but simply a cheap and cheerful easy alternative with oodles of scope for DIY customising to make the game YOU want, not the game the sellers want you to play (which usually includes all those expensive expansions). This book does it all. Okay there is one rather lovely expansion book - totally optional, but with change out of a tenner, you can`t really complain.

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    1. Thanks Hils. I'm certainly trying to cut right down on my rule-sets this year, and as you say, because there are lots of rule-sets out there, many with fancy graphics/print etc, its becoming increasingly hard to identify the really good ones - imho at least. "Mutants And Death Ray Guns" is definitely one of those sets though that can cover a myriad of genres with its scope.

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