28mm Battle Report: Batman And Rogue Trooper Verses Dracula

THE DARK KNIGHT AND ROGUE TROOPER BATTLE THE DARK LORD, DRACULA

This adventure takes place upon my usual 2x2 gaming board, with a small forest to the northwest, a couple of small swamp pools and a large complex layout of sewer pipes. The objective is for Batman and Rogue Trooper to find an ancient Chalice of the Vampires before Dracula or one of his minions does. There are five potential sites dotted about the sewer works but only one contains the artefact. The winner is simply the first side to locate the Chalice and leave the table from their starting edge.

“The story so far… Rogue Trooper’s search for the Traitor General has lead him to the outskirts of Gotham City. But instead of finding any clue as to the whereabouts of his target, the Genetic Infantryman encounters Batman desperately searching for a relic of the vampires. Teaming up the pair set off for the last known location of the Chalice of Vampires. But the Lord of all Blood Drinkers, Dracula, and a party of his fanatical followers may have just got there before them…”

THE TABLETOP - GOTHAM CITY SEWER WORKS

The game started with Batman and Rogue Trooper approaching the Sewer Works from the West and the Vampires from the East. The initial Audience Appreciation (AA) roll was tied, so as Dracula had the Weaver of Fates Star Quality we agreed for him to be immediately allocated an extra AA token as well as the two extra Event Cards he was entitled to.

The heroes won the reroll and Batman immediately dashed north towards the possible north-western relic site. Because the Dark Knight has the Leadership Special Effect he was able to activate the G.I. as well. Rogue moved east towards the central relic site, but fearing a horde of hungry vampires rushing straight at him, stopped short of the relic site and fired off Gunnar at one of the hissing blood drinkers. Unfortunately Dracula produced the Event Card “Astonishing Accuracy” which meant the bio-chipped weapon automatically missed. As a result we agreed that Rogue would be allowed to use one of his Luck cards and (re)roll the shot. The target vampire was well over half the distance of the Infantryman’s rifle but because the G.I. has Eagle Eyes, this penalty was ignored. The High Calibre shot rang out and a vampire dropped; Bagman having supplied Gunnar with silver-tipped ammo.

GUNNAR IN ACTION - ROGUE TROOPER TAKES OUT ONE OF THE VAMPIRES

With a loud hiss the vampires leapt into action. One of them even managing to reach the north-east relic location and search it within a single turn. Fortunately for the heroes it was empty. Using his two AA points to activate a fourth model, Dracula ordered a couple of the vampire lackeys to rush towards Rogue’s location but both failed to cross the difficult terrain of the sewer pipes. Cursing, Dracula himself leapt effortlessly across them and using an Adrenalin Boost (or at least a quick snack from a blood bag he had about his person) took a third action to charge into Rogue Trooper. The Lord of Vampire’s utilised his knowledge of Pressure Points to roll an extra die to damage but amazingly rolled a one to hit, and, doubtless having simply caught Helm a glancing blow, was forced to use his Luck to try again. This time he struck the Infantryman but unbelievably rolled snake eyes to wound. What was in that blood bag… carrot juice!?!

The start of the second turn saw Dracula win the Initiative and a couple of AA tokens (allowing him to activate an additional lackey again). The Transylvanian Count then played the “No Faith In The Plan” Event Card on Rogue Trooper, reducing the Souther’s morale by -2. As the vampire’s fanatical lackeys split up with some heading towards batman and others towards the central site, all attention was momentarily drawn to the vampire minion in the south-east corner who searched that relic site… and came up empty. Incensed Dracula utilised the shoe dagger in his Russian footwear and caught the G.I. off guard, causing a wound. The Lord of Vampires pressed home his attack and after both combatants had used their Luck to shrug off the effects of poor dice rolls, it was Dracula who stood tall over the unconscious blue-skinned Infantryman. Suddenly all went quiet as the vampire lackey in the centre of the Sewer Works searched the potential site for the relic and found… nothing. 

THE LORD OF ALL VAMPIRES - DRACULA TAKES OUT THE LAST GENETIC INFANTRYMAN

Batman, realising he was at just one of the two remaining potential relic sites, looked about him in desperation, but the Chalice wasn’t there… it had to be hidden in the south-west corner. With a swish of his cape, the Dark knight bolted for the opposite edge of the tabletop, and using a Heroic Surge, not only reached the final site’s nearby drain system but managed to strike Dracula a savage wound with a Bat-a-rang as he rushed by. The tiny bat-shaped throwing star had penetrated the vampire’s undead flesh, despite the Count’s Invulnerability.  Thank goodness Alfred had insisted on him dipping his weapons in a garlic broth before he left the Batcave. With a grim smile the Caped Crusader also saw Rogue get to his feet, doubtless brought to his senses from something within the box of tricks known as Bagman.

Sadly the next turn was again won by the Lord of Vampires and instructing one of his lackeys to race towards the final relic site, Dracula floored the genetic infantryman once again before hurtling into Batman himself. But the Dark Knight would prove less easy to incapacitate. A bruising sweep of the vampire’s fist evaded Batman’s body armour and only Luck saved him from an early fall. But Dracula still needed to use his own Heroic Surge if he was going to take the Caped Crusader down. An ‘All or Nothing’ swing by the Count produced a double six but it still took all three of the dice his knowledge of Pressure Points created to bring Batman to his knees.

THE FALL OF BATMAN AND ROGUE TROOPER - DRACULA RULES SUPREME

Behind him the central vampire attempted to chomp on Rogue’s neck but ended up breaking both his fangs on the Infantryman’s genetically toughened skin. But with neither the Dark Knight nor the G.I. recovering their senses at the end of the round, the fight was over, and Dracula, the relic in his hand, was able to disappear into the night with his vampire minions.