Star Breach : Rescue Mission Redux

It's COVID-19 quarantine time... time to play a solo game of Star Breach on my new MDF terrain from MAD Gaming Terrain (I don't get a single cent for this mention, BTW 😉).

And I really cannot believe the dice rolls! I set up a game using the proper stats for Corrupted L’Orani (using the pre-painted Therian faction from the long-defunct AT-43 game with assistance from a proxy Mech from the Warmachine Cryx faction) vs Nomadic Raiders post-March FAQ (using the Rebs faction from Deadzone and a walker mech from the Red Blok faction from AT-43) ... and I rolled a 3 on a d12 for the mission ... Rescue Mission ... again!!!! What the...?!

TURN 1

The Corrupted L'Orani went first. Most ran up to their max movement. 


A couple ran up the double storey building for a better commanding view to attack. Ditto the Raiders, although the height wasn’t as good as the L'Orani. The Raider Alpha took advantage of his Jet Wings to really move up the table and come almost into contact with the pilot. Not sure if that was the wisest move but... we’ll see come Turn 2. 

The only action came from the respective Mechs. The L'Orani fired on the Merchant Marine and Raider Alpha. Did 2 damage on the Marine and zero on the Alpha. 

The Raider Mech fired AOE shots on the L'Orani Jester and Black Warrior. Missed the Jester. And the Black Warrior simply used Shadow Step to move out of harm’s way!!! What the-?

In the Special actions phase, the Raider Mechanic went into Ambush mode ... goodness knows why. He wasn’t in any position to do any damage with his short ranged flamethrower. The Raider mech concentrated fire on the Black Warrior. This time it was right in the centre of the AOE so it couldn’t pull any Shadow Step shenanigans. The Mech hit ... but the Black Warrior then used Ancient Decay to regain 3 health ... else the Mech would’ve finished it off then and there!

The L'Orani mech concentrated on the Marine ... and whiffed all 4 shots!!!

Turn 1 AAR : this terrain makes for some pretty interesting challenges. AOE weapons reign here. Tough to get good LOS for any other weapons. The L'Orani are in a good position to put some serious hurt on the Raiders next turn. The Raiders (if they can pull the first dice) have a good chance of grabbing the pilot and running away with her/him. As expected, the Corrupted L'Orani are very tricky now I'm playing with the full, proper rules. Only AOE weapons stand a chance of targeting them, with the requisite penalties for shooting.

TURN 2

Yes! The first die pulled was the Raiders. The Alpha went first and also triggered his Natural Leader 1 Skill, allowing the First Mate to activate next. 

The Alpha went up first and grabbed the unconscious pilot. Unable to sight the L'Orani Alpha, he settled for the wounded Black Warrior ... and hit! Leaving him with only 1 health. 

The First Mate went Down but that allowed everyone within 7” of her to get a +1 shooting bonus.  

Next die pulled was also a Raider die. That went to the Mech with a Fire order. Aimed at the Black Warrior and finally put it out of its misery. Tried again on the Jester. No luck. +4 vs +6 and the Mech got crap rolls. 

Next die pulled... Raiders again! The Marine went next. Plasma Shotgun was useless on the L'Orani Alpha. All the Alpha had to do was take a 2” Shadow Step and the Marine couldn’t even see him! So he settled on the (relatively) exposed Black Warrior down his sights. 2 shots later and *poof* went the Black Warrior. 

Finally ... revenge for the L'Orani! Instead of activating the Alpha though, the Jester moved. 3” forward, dropped down another 3” for free and finished off with a final 4” ... yes, she has 7” movement! 

Then she cast a Swap and easily made the roll, what with +5 Init and only needing a 5 on 2 dice. Hey presto! The bewildered Raider Alpha found himself blinking in the middle of the L'Orani half of the table while the L'Orani Alpha found himself B2B with the prized pilot! 

Remember I said the previous turn I wonder why I even bothered to put the Mechanic into Ambush the previous turn? Never waste an opportunity, no matter how small. That stunt by the Jester put the L'Orani Alpha within range of the Mechanic and without further ado, he pulled the trigger on his flamethrower! The first roll was a miss but the second was brutal and dealt 6 damage!

The next die pull... unbelievably, was another Raider die! That went to the aptly named Raider... and he missed the Corrupted Alpha with his rocket launcher! Sigh. That's the problem with one-shot weapons in this game. No re-rolls.

And again... another Raider order die! The human Crew went first, climbing up and taking a shot at the L'Orani Alpha ... with no luck. Even though with bonuses etc. he was a +6 vs +5 Init. He did hit, but the rolls were so close they only did between 2-4 damage and the Alpha’s armour easily shrugged it off. 

Finally ... a L'Orani Order die! That’s all the Alpha needed and he took off like a bat out of ... well... anywhere, really. 14” Run with Jet Wings that ignore terrain ... a no-brainer, really. 

Next die ... the final Raider die. The Yndij Crew went forward ... luckily he was on the side where the L'Orani Alpha was headed to. But UN-luckily, there was a Black Warrior right in his path! But what the heck ... nothing ventured, nothing gained. And he really needed to have LOS to the L'Orani Alpha to give the Raider Mech a chance to hit with the guided missiles. 

It’s all L'Orani dice now. So the L'Orani Mech activated and Advanced (to be better positioned to Assault in the Special Actions phase) and took point blank shots at the Raider Alpha. Point blank! It was +3 vs +5 .... and lo and behold ... the Alpha dodged all four shots! Will his luck hold out against the next onslaught that’s sure to come his way? 

The Bloodsworn went next. He immediately Assaulted the Raider Alpha! Having won the round and dealt 1 damage, he went again. Won and dealt 3 damage ... and repeated the 3rd and final time. 

The last 2 L'Orani order dice went to the remaining Black Warrior and L’Orani Cultist. Target : the hapless Raider Yndij. Turns out he was a VERY lucky Yndij as ALL shots missed! Talk about living dangerously! (My usage of d20's is to track the final die rolls after bonuses etc.)


Special Actions Phase

Since the Raiders went first in the earlier order phase, it was the turn of the L'Orani. The Mech immediately assaulted the Raider Alpha! Can the Alpha survive?! It’s +6 (Mech) vs +7 (Alpha) ... and the Alpha lost the roll by 1!!! That dealt another 3 damage to him, making him Walking Wounded! Now it’s +6 vs +3. One more hit like that and it’s bye bye Alpha! And nope! He lost the roll and he’s down and out!!!

Next up was the Raider Mech. The only weapon he had that could hurt the L'Orani Alpha now was the Homing Plasma Missile. At +3 vs +3 it’s now all or nothing. One good hit could see the Alpha blown to bits... but no. Both attacks only netted 1 damage. Dang!

The aptly-named Jester went next and pulled the same stunt again! She swapped both Mechs over! Potentially putting the Raiders in a heap of trouble! Talk about tricky Corrupted L'Orani shenanigans!

Last to go was the Medic. Not having anything else to do, he went Into Ambush.  

Turn 2 AAR: the Raiders are in serious trouble. Losing the Alpha meant losing 55VPs and the First Mate can now no longer have ANY skills at all! And if the first die pulled next turn is a L'Orani one... that’s waving bye-bye to another 65VPs! The only hope is if the Raiders get the first die and their Mech can pull off a Hail Mary and finish off the L'Orani Alpha. That would give them at least a fighting chance. Not looking good is all I will say. I can pinpoint exactly where it all went pear shaped for the Raiders ... when I didn’t move my Medic up within 6” of the Raider Alpha to attempt to block any psychic shenanigans as what eventually happened to their detriment. 

(NOTE: After pausing for the night -- those 2 turns took about 90 mins due to stopping to take photos and making write-ups -- I double checked on the Star Breach FB page. Turns out I made a serious error. The Corrupted L'Orani Alpha, while being B2B with the pilot, could not have run off with her since he technically did not fulfil the requirement for doing so. He needed to at least make an Advance order to pick her up. So he would’ve been exposed to fire from all sides before he could run off again. This totally changes the entire outcome of the game! So I decided to abort and start over. Or try another mission.)

Still, it was a very fun mission and I'm really enjoying playing with my new terrain. My next game should look even better as I managed to lay a basic coat of primer on most of the buildings. The Corrupted L'Orani are now very tricky to play against... and the Nomadic Raiders have now been nerfed (sad face).

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