First Aid! Play-test 1

First Aid

Play-test Part 1.

Date Played: 07/07/2012

The nearby Abby has been destroyed by stray Artillery Fire! The Abby was being used as a Medical facility for innocent victims of the raging war. Only part of the Abby remains and those who weren’t killed have abandoned the former sanctuary. Reconnaissance reveals that many of the medical supplies are still intact. Get to those precious supplies before the enemy!

What is the point of this game? The point is for the players to return an objective to each of their objective squares. There are only 7 objectives, in this case medical supplies, on the table so only 1 player can win!! Each player has 4 rubble tiles located along their deployment zone which are considered to be objective squares for that player’s force. These are where the medical supplies need to be dropped off after they are picked up by the units on the board. As soon as any player has 4 objectives simultaneously occupying on all 4 tiles wins the scenario. A unit carrying an objective must spend an action to pick up or drop off the medical supplies. Moving onto the objective square with the medical supplies is not enough, and they must be dropped off to be considered as occupying the space. An enemy unit may enter your objective square and steal the medical supplies. Reinforcements for all players start to arrive in Turn 8.

We were looking to create a “must win” scenario. No Turn limit, no victory points, no draw or sudden death, just a cut and dry one person wins and the other person loses scenario. A challenging objective was also very important since we didn’t want the structure to break down and become a typical elimination scenario. But we also wanted some longevity since sometimes the die rolls favor destruction and armies are quickly dwindled down or otherwise crippled. Thus the decision was made that each player gets +20 points starting in Turn 8 to help refresh their forces. It was also decided on that each player receives 1 Tank Trap and 2 Ammo Crates to place as cover, but we spaced that step out in our set-up due to our eagerness to play!

Special Terrain Rules:

• Forest Tiles:
  Refer to OperationGhostlight for rules on Forest Tiles, but here are the basics:
• Blocks Line Of Sight, except for a unit occupying the space.
• Blocks Vehicle Movement
• No Cover Elements may be placed on this square
• Provides Soft Cover for Infantry Units.
• Can be set on fire to become a Forest Fire Tile by Heavy Laser Weapons, Phaser Weapons, and Flame Weapons. See Operation Ghostlight for more details.
• Forest Fire Tiles block all movement (including jump), block all line of sight, and cannot be occupied by an unit.
• Rubble Tiles:
• Provides Soft Cover for Infantry Units.
• Does not block movement for any Unit.
• Does not block line of sight for any Unit.
• Ammo Crates and other Soft Cover elements may be placed on this tile.

Scenario Guidelines:

Map size needs to be 4 tiles by 4 tiles with a large multi-level structure in the middle of the map (minimum size of a single tile, or 9 squares, and a minimum of 2 stories with a roof). The multi-level structure does not have to be “solid” (i.e., part of the structure can be a single story with a roof, where other parts can be 2 or 3 stories high. It was hit by artillery fire, so it doesn’t need to be 1 full piece.). Since the building is heavily damaged and open to the world players may only enter on the building tiles that are physically present. In some instances this means that there is line of sight from the roof to the 1^st floor since parts of the second floor are missing altogether. The rules for Jump and Artillery Weapons still apply (i.e., no jumping into the middle of the building through the hole, and no Artillery Strikes unless the payer is on the roof). Players may use normal Terrain Tiles to add a little more stability, if desired. Additional Terrain Tiles may be placed on other portions of the map. 4 to 6 tiles should be sufficient.

• No Turn Limit
• Army Points:
• 350 points for each army
• Starting in Turn 8 each player will gain an additional 20 points each turn to spend on units to bring in as reinforcements. These points stack with other unspent points so players may choose to wait several turns to buy more expensive units. Units bought with these points must be placed before the player’s final activation.
• Cover Elements (per army):
• 1 Tank Trap
• Tank Traps cannot be placed in the building or on a Forest Tile
• 2 Ammo Crates
• Ammo Crates may be placed in the building or on a Forest Tile
• Cover cannot be placed on the deployment zones or objective tiles.
• The Rubble Tiles acting as the objective squares will still provide Soft Cover to units that occupy them.
• There are 7 objectives on the board. These represent the medical supplies that the players are looking for. Each player rolls 3 combat die and the one with the most hits takes 4 of the objectives, and the loser takes 3 of the objectives. The player who won the die roll starts placing the medical on any legal space inside, or on top of, the structure. Objectives may not be adjacent to one another and cannot be placed outside of the structure. Each player has 4 objective squares spaced evenly apart in their deployment zone that are marked with Rubble Terrain, and follow the associated Terrain rules. (4 tile’s wide, so each objective tile should be the center square of each tile along the map edge). The first player to return a single objective to each individual objective square wins the scenario.
• Rules for objectives (a.k.a. medical supplies):
• It costs one action to pick up an objective.
• It costs one action to drop an objective.
• Only infantry units and Heroes can carry an objective, and any single unit can only carry a single objective at a time.
• An objective may be dropped at any time, as long as the unit has the required amount of actions.
• An objective may be picked up from any location, including an opponent’s objective square, but cannot be taken from a unit that is carrying an objective.
• An objective square may only have a single objective placed on it at any given time.
• If a unit carrying an objective is eliminated, the objective is dropped on that square, is considered to be occupying said square, and available to pick up.
• Attacker:
• Retrieve 4 the medical supplies (objectives) and return one to each of the 4 objective squares!
• Defender:
• Retrieve 4 the medical supplies (objectives) and return one to each of the 4 objective squares!
• Points & Victory:
• There are only 7 objectives and the first player to retrieve and drop off an objective on all 4 objective squares will win the engagement.
• A player will not automatically win by eliminating their opponent. Reinforcements will always arrive on Turn 8, so the players are in the game until one player fulfills the requirements of the objective.
• Victory Points do not aid in determining a winner of the engagement. Players may record Victory Points if they are needed for part of a larger campaign or league play.

Justin v. Christian

• Attacker:
  Justin – Allies: 350 points
  Action Jackson – Johnny One-Eye – OZZ-177 – Rhino – BBQ Squad – Crack Shots – Grim Reapers – Grim Reapers – Recon Boys – Recon Boys – The Boss – Pounder – Rattler 
• Defender:
  Christian – Axis: 350 pointsLara – Manfred – Markus – Axis Gorillas – Axis Zombies – Beobachter – Heavy Laser Grenadiers – Kommandotrupp – Sniper Grenadiers – Sniper Grenadiers – Sturmpioniere – Lothar – Ludwig – Ludwig

• Turn 1:
  Basic Deployment with both sides charging their units up to the building and trying to keep the lanes of fire across the board clear.

• Turn 2:
  The Allies moved into a few objective squares, as did Markus and his Axis Gorillas. Some action was exchanged between Manfred’ Sturmpionieres and Rhino’s Hammers. The Allied forces underperformed and took some major hits. OZZ and his Grim Reapers were also able to move into position and cause Markus to suffer some wounds. The Axis Zombies pick up a medical supply objective.

• Turn 3:
  Rhino and his Hammers were able to harass Manfred and his Sturmpioniere’s before being eliminated. Markus and his Gorillas made an attempt to flee with their objective, but were ultimately cut down by Action Jackson and his Red Devils. A Ludwig and the Pounder traded blows, but the 8.8 cm guns proved too powerful and eliminated the Allied Walker. Johnny and his BBQ Squad pick up some medical supplies and head back towards one of their objectives, while OZZ and his Grim Reapers secure more medical supplies.

• Turn 4:
  Both Allied units carrying medical supplies make a run for their objective squares. The Axis Zombies successfully reach an objective square and drop off the medical supplies they were carrying. The Recon Boys pick-up a third objective of medical supplies, while Lara and Manfred both move to pick-up more medical supplies. The other unit of Recon Boys move to position themselves to fire upon Manfred and his Sturmpioniere’s. The Allies lost their Crack Shots when they were unable to get a secure position to fire upon the Beobachters. 

• Turn 5:
  The Allied units were able to drop off medical supplies on 2 of their objectives. Lara and her Heavy Laser Grenadiers reached their objective square, but no with enough actions remaining to drop the objective. The Sturmpioniere’s were eliminated by fire from the same unit of Recon Boys, but Manfred was still alive and kicking with one health point and was still carrying the medical supplies. The Grim Reapers fell to indirect fire from the Axis Lothar.

• Turn 6:
  Lara and her Heavy Laser Grenadiers dropped off their medical supplies in an objective square. An Axis Ludwig was moving to flank the Allied player, and succeeded in eliminating the Allied Rattler. In response many of the Allied units were moved along the edge of the structure to prevent fire from the Ludwig and indirect artillery fire form the Lothar. The Allied units were able to finish off a unit of Sniper Grenadiers, but Action Jackson and his Red Devils fell to the Axis Zombies, who were making their way to a 4^th objective. Manfred made his way toward another objective square. The second unit of Sniper Grenadiers were able to get into position to start harassing the Recon Boys carrying medical supplies.

• Turn 7:
  The Allies used their Command Squad ability Field Repair to bring the Pounder back into the game and eliminate the flanking Axis Ludwig. Johnny and his BBQ Squad made short work of the Beocachters before falling to direct fire from the Lothar. The Axis Zombies picked up the last objective of medical supplies. At this point a unit of Recon Boys are trying to get to an objective square, but are threatened with fire form the remaining Ludwig and Lothar, as well as taking fire from Sniper Grenadiers. Manfred is still making his way to an objective square.

• Turn 8:
  The Recon Boys were able to score eliminate the first unit of Axis Sniper Grenadiers. The other unit of Recon Boys was still unable to navigate the open space to reach their objective square and drop off their medical supplies, but they were able to eliminate the Sniper Grenadier threat. The Axis brought back their fallen Ludwig with the Field Repair ability and destroyed the recently revived Pounder. OZZ made a suicide move with his Heroic Attack to position himself to destroy the Kommandotrupp and any other units he could. The Axis used their points to bring in more Beobacthers and Sniper Grenadiers.

• Turn 9:
  The start of this Turn saw the Allies win initiative and have OZZ cause a measly 2 wounds on the Kommandotrupp before falling to the Axis units. Manfred was finally able to reach an objective square and drop off his medical supplies, while the Axis Zombies came just one square shy of the final objective square. The Recon Boys were still too scared to make the run to the objective square with their medical supplies. The Allies used the 20 points form Turn 8 and 20 points from Turn 9 to bring a Rattler back into play to try and stop the Axis Zombies from reaching their destination. The Axis brought more Sniper Grenadiers into play.

• Turn 10:
  The Allies took the initiative and moved the Rattler into position and eliminated the Axis Zombies who dropped their medical supplies! However the Sniper Grenadiers were in prime position to pick-up the medical supplies, and with a reactivation from the Kommandotrupp, were able to reach the 4^th objective and drop off their medical supplies to secure an Axis victory!

• Victor: Christian – Axis

• Victory Points: 
• Justin – Attacker: 167 points 
• Christian – Defender: 324 points

What a terrific game! This was a blast to play and I have to thank my opponent, Christian Honetschlager, for conceiving of such a great scenario. I can see a lot of potential in this scenario and look forward to further play-testing.

The Allies came very close to taking this game early. Rhino and his unit of Hammers performed a Sustained Berserk Attack on Manfred and his Sturmpionieres only to score a grand total of 3 hits!! Had the dice followed the statistical average the Axis unit would have been quickly eliminated and the Allies would have been holding 4 objectives by Turn 4.

Manfred definitely gains the MVP award for this scenario. Surviving a Sustained Berserk Attack, fire from Action Jackson and his Red Devils Phaser Weapons, attacks from the Recon Boys, and managed to walk the objective from the roof all the way down to one of the farthest objective squares. The Axis Zombies did a great job of securing 2 different medical supply objectives and were definitely key for the Axis gaining a victory.

What are some things I can try in the next Play-test? 

• Reinforcements arrive earlier than Turn 8. Maybe Turn 6 would be a good alternative.
• Tank Traps and Ammo Crates are definitely needed to help units move around the board and block infantry Line Of Sight. 
• More objectives to help speed up the scenario. Maybe 9 objectives in total.

More importantly, what do you think? Try this scenario out with your local gaming group and email us your results at pdxdusttactics@yahoo.com. What changes would you make? What do you like and what would you like to see changed?

Stay tuned for more scenarios that we are currently Play-testing and other announcements.  Good Gaming!!