Chrome Hammer: 2.VIP!

After the last mission, the 'Punks did some Downtime activities where the 'Punks gained some Rep (XP) and GigaBits (money) the crew go on their next job: Escort a VIP’s daughter that’s been snatched from a gang that kidnapped her. The rescue was done by another crew of 'Punks, and the hand off was to confuse any pursuers, so there are 2 lots of 'Punks to chase. (2nd 'Punk crew is off stage). 'Punks start on left and exit is on the other side of the table.

Glitch for the mission: Red Barrels. In each quadrant, place two volatile ChemBarrels 6” from the center of the quadrant. Roll random directions for each, but a “No Move (1)” result means place it in the center of the quadrant. ChemBarrels may be attacked at range with a -2 TN bonus, or attacked in Assault range automatically. If successfully attacked, they explode, doing 1D6 Damage to all Units in Assault range (roll separate Damage for each). Yes, an exploding ChemBarrel will explode other ChemBarrels in Assault range. Enemies that miss a ranged attack will hit ChemBarrels in Assault range of their target. Successfully attacking a ChemBarrel does not Expose the attacker. Exploding ChemBarrels each give the Enemy 1D6 Response Points.

To spice up the game, I made my own addition: a gang of gangers chasing after the VIP’s daughter. They spawn at end of Turn 1 and only activate after the Enemy on turn 2.

NOTE: At the last minute I opted to run 4 'Punks instead of 5 because the VIP also needs an order to activate and it’s easier to roll a 4 or 5 to activate the needed models than roll a 5 or 6. So for this mission it’s: Ivan (dwarf Hacker); Hannibal (troll Mage); Jackie (ork Ronin); Lady M (human Face); VIP; Aerin (elf Shadow). Apologies for the unpainted minis but they were a last minute addition.

TURN 1 

All 'Punks activate and Move Out towards the exit. Aerin heads to a loot crate. Ivan to an open terminal. 

Guards spawn in 3 corners but fail to scan the 'Punks.

3 gangers spawn in lower left corner, searching for the VIP’s escaped daughter. 

TURN 2 

Aerin unlocks the loot crate gets some Armour. (Can’t be used this mission).

Argh. Ivan fails to hack the terminal!!!

Everyone else moves out to the exit. 

Guards fail to scan the 'Punks.

Gangers move closer to 'Punks. 

TURN 3

Ivan hacks the terminal and obtains some pay data that will aid the ‘Punks in the final showdown with the CEO of the Fantastic Military Solutions megacorp. 

Aerin moves towards exit, ushering the VIP along. Lady M moves out of the building to Assault the guard. Deals him 4 damage and he runs away! But Lady M is now exposed, giving 6 RPs to the enemy. And +6 more from a 1d6 roll! (Note the red barrel in the picture that I opted not to use.)

The Enemy now has a total of 12 RPs that the Enemy can use to spawn Reinforcements and implement Protocols. (NOTE: I was supposed to check for this at the end of the 'Punk Phase AND the end of the Enemy Phase. But for this game, due to some less than clear rule-writing, I only checked at the end of the Enemy Phase which made the mission simpler for the 'Punks).

The pressure is on! Guard 1 moves away to Defend and heals 1 HP.

Guard 2 fails to scan Jackie. 

Guard 3 moves into LOS of an exposed Lady M but can't attack because it's taken both his actions.

Guard 4 scans Ivan and he loses 2 stealth, leaving him with 1. Enemy now has a total of 14 RPs!

A ganger moves and scans whoever is in front of them, searching for the VIP. They scan Aerin and she loses 2 stealth. (I played it that Stealth lost this way doesn’t go to the Enemy.)

Reinforcements: A Sarge spawns in lower right corner. 

Protocol: Adrenaliser! All Bio Enemies get a cumulative +1 to Assault!

TURN 4

All 'Punks activate.

Aerin ushers the VIP to the exit. 

Lady M stays exposed to draw the heat away from the VIP. Moves to terminal but fails to hack it. 

Ivan moves back to entry point as his way out is blocked. He’s too far behind thanks to his earlier failed hacks. 

Jackie moves to cover the rear of the fleeing punks with the VIP.

The guards move in. Guard 3 moves into cover and in LOS of Lady M. Guard 1 shoots Lady M for 3 damage. She firefights back and kills him, giving another 4 RPs to the Enemy who now has 18 RPs total.

Sarge moves towards Lady M but isn’t in LOS of any other ‘Punks. 

TURN 5

Only 3 'Punks activate.

Aerin moves to engage Guard 2 and hits for 5 dam. Guard scans back. Aerin loses 1 stealth. Enemy has 19 RPs. (Normally Aerin would automatically be Exposed after making this attack but the Silencer allows her to shoot without being Exposed but it does make her lose 1d6 Stealth AND gives the Enemy 1d6 RPs which I forgot to do).

Lady M moves to engage and finishes off the guard giving 6 RPs to the enemy. Total: 25 RPs. 

The VIP runs for the exit.

The Sarge engages and shoots VIP (only target in sight). Misses! Guards 3 & 4 move to engage and shoot the VIP. Guard 3 hits for 1 dam. The other misses! (Actually I overlooked the fact the VIP has 2 Stealth so they Enemy should’ve scanned her to locate her first, instead of shooting her. However that kind of made up for the missing Response Point check and made the game a bit more exciting.)

The gangers rush forward. One shoots at the VIP and misses!

Another ganger fails to scan Aerin.

The last ganger ends up 3" away from Jackie. It’s a Close Call! Jackie loses 1 Stealth immediately and the ganger scans Jackie who loses 3 total Stealth.

A Rapid Response Team squad spawns in the lower left corner. Phew! Too far to be of any danger! The Suspicion protocol is implemented immediately but there’s no 'Punk target in LOS so it’s no effect. 

An ED-2099 spawns in the top right corner! Thankfully a building blocks LOS.

The Scramble protocol is in effect! Every Corp Unit gets a free move at the start of the next Enemy Phase.

TURN 6

Only 4 'Punks activate. 

The VIP, Aerin and Lady M successfully exit. 

Jackie stealthily moves back to the deployment zone. Ivan can’t activatet but is one move away from freedom. 

In the best movie ending… the gangerss and enemy forces chase fruitlessly after the VIP’s getaway car, leaving Jackie and Ivan to slink off unnoticed. 

+ + +

That was a very good game. Full of tension and uncertainty. The addition of the gangers really made it tense because otherwise the enemy guards were kind of easy targets. I also got lucky where the Sarge spawned else he would've given the Guards lots of bonuses to scan and shoot.