Terminator Genisys: Demolish! pt. 2 & 3

I received my Rise of the Resistance board game faster than expected and immediately used the drone and spider-dog minis to play a couple of games of Demolish (yes, again).

I won’t bore you guys with the first game as it was a repeat of a Skynet loss even though the fight was closer this time and there was a real danger Skynet could’ve succeeded in the mission.

(The moment when the Resistance prevented the Terminators from winning the first game):

The second game had the Resistance attacking, using the same 11 models as earlier games. But it was Skynet that was majorly different : 3 T-72 Spider-dogs; 2 drones; 2 T-800 Terminators in a defensive role.

The game started slowly with the Resistance getting a major blow in by killing a T-7 for the loss of 1 trooper. More than an even exchange.

In turn 2 (as expected) the Resistance blew up Objective 1 because Skynet had a major brain fart and decided to be greedy and split fire between 2 Resistance troopers when it should’ve gone for the guy at the objective. (Given the dice rolls, he would’ve died, too!)

And the Resistance managed to plant the explosives at objective 2 at the end of turn 2 as well, so if the Resistance goes first on Turn 3 it’s game over, man. Game over.

But to extend the drama, Skynet got initiative and went first on turn 3 and downed the trooper at objective 2. So much for a quick and easy Resistance victory.

From then on it was a massive firefight as Skynet confidently pushed its machines forward and the Resistance darting about frantically trying to bring down the machines while also trying to achieve their objectives.

Alas, in this battle, mere flesh was no match for titanium steel and even though the humans did their valiant best, their best this time wasn’t good enough. (Resistance MVP : Rocket Launcher guy who survived numerous attacks while managing to destroy several machines... a couple at point blank range!)

The Resistance had yet another chance at winning the game on Turn 4... (see above) when they managed to get a trooper B2B with Objective 2... but Skynet again got the initiative for Turn 4, with predictable results:

Good men and women fell trying to trigger the explosive while the machines marched relentlessly forward. Grenade Launcher guy was subdued this game, only managing to destroy a T072 at the beginning, and Reeling a drone twice.

The Resistance Captain was effectively out of the game for 70% of the time as he was reeling too much to do anything effective before he went down at the end.

The mission had a nominal end game at turn 5. After which players roll a d4 and the game ends on a 4. But, a "4" was avoided and so the Resistance had a lifeline for Turn 6. Can they manage to pull off a last gasp win?

As it turned out, no. Despite sterling work by rocket launcher guy. 

At the end of turn 6, players roll a d6 and the game ends if a 4+ is rolled. As it turned out... the game dragged on for a 7th turn. With the mission being mathematically impossible for the Resistance to win, as even if they managed to get a trooper B2B with Objective 2, they'd have to survive the inevitable Terminator onslaught AND avoid rolling a 4+ on a d20 to ensure a turn 8 happens... and then they would have to win the initiative. A tall order and one that the brave Resistance fighters failed to rise up to.

At the end of the game, the Resistance had lost 9 out of 11 troopers. And they were nowhere near objective 2. Whereas Skynet still had 3 machines left. One of them a Crawler parked right at Objective 2, where the Resistance would have to dislodge it via combat before triggering the explosives.

And so we record the first win for Skynet!

AAR: this is the Terminator side’s first victory. In part because they now have 7 models which makes a big difference. In part because both sides now rolled like crap and the Resistance is the side that will suffer the most from poor rolls as they die on a 4+ compared to the Terminators on a 8+ on a d8 roll.

The Terminators also had a huge stroke of good fortune to get the initiative on Turn 3. (Ditto on Turn 4.) If the Resistance went first, that would’ve been game end. 

But it didn’t and the superior d8 skill dice of the Terminators and their 8+ damage really made a huge difference.

Now I wonder if I played the Retrieval mission again, whether the Resistance will win as easily as they had the first few games.

NEXT: I found a 3D print for a Spider Tank on Thingiverse. I’ll get that one printed out, then pick up a Tamiya 1/48 Abrams or Humvee. I have a full size Hunter Killer drone on the way from eBay (although who knows when I’ll receive it with all the COVID lockdowns) so I’ll probably pick up a 1/48 scale Apache model and play a 500 point game on a 3x3 table. This won't happen anytime soon though, given that my hobby time has been severely curtailed.