I playtested Gruntz again! So after playing a couple of games with the setup I showed you in the last entry, I decided the table was a tad too big, so I updated the lists adding a few troops. In this game I also tried some rules of my own, which I’ll note in bold face and explain where necessary.

The updated lists were as follows:

Therians (New Israelis list)

Commander
Squad + Heavy Carbine + Micro Missile
Squad + Heavy Carbine
Golgoth Walker
Points total: 43

U.N.A. (Slammers list)

Commander
Squad + RPG
Squad
Tank
Fire Toad Walker
Points Total: 40

For the second U.N.A. squad I used a few Imperial Guard models from 40K and the leader was an Infinity model. They didn’t stand out much amongst the rest of the troops, specially since they spent the whole battle inside the vehicle. That’s the other thing. I remembered the Chimera tank in 40K is also a transport, so I let it carry a squad worth of troops. As far as the walkers, I created the stats. They are quite a mess but played well, and the points are probably totally wrong. The basic thinking is that the Fire Toad is a light walker, while the Golgoth is a medium. Here they are:

Wraith Golgoth
10 Points
Move 6 / ToHit 12 / Soak 16
Medium Sonic Cannon: 14 inches / 12 damage
Medium Nucleus Cannon: 12 inches / 14 damage / AP4
24 Hit Points

Fire Toad
7 Points
Move 5 / ToHit 10 / Soak 14
Light Laser: 12 inches / 14 damage / AP2
Light Laser: 12 inches / 14 damage / AP2
20 Hit Points

I treated them as vehicles, as you can see from the profiles.

Deployment and first turn. I put an objective marker for each force which was deployed. To capture it there should be a non suppressed enemy unit at 4 inches at the end of a turn with no enemy near it. The deployment zones were 10×15 inches and on opposite short sides of the table.

For the first couple of turns there was only movement. The U.N.A. sent the tank (with a unit inside) through the right, the other infantry unit and the commander down the center jumping from cover to cover and the Fire Toad walker running towards the left flank. The Therians covered their right flank and put up a defense up the hill for the coming tank.

In the third turn the tank opened fire against the Golgoth, and the first two rolls of the game were double sixes! It hit for 8 damage. In the 4th turn the tank moves and shoots again doing 4 more damage, but a heavy carbine and the Golgoth itself open fire against the U.N.A. vehicle and do some damage. The Golgoth shot both its weapons because it did not move during the phase. Meanwhile the Fire Toad found a nice defense nest where to protect the coming of troops from the flank with its objective safe far behind.

In the 5th turn the U.N.A. commander uses his faculty making everyone move again. The tank gets to move twice and open fire. An infantry unit moves 3 times, something not allowed by the regular “action assign” rules, but I considered it was legal this time because it was about the commander’s faculty. I have no real confirmation on that from the designer though. The Therians respond shooting with the Golgoth and damaging the tank. The commander also shoots the tank and activates his own faculty making all grunt squads fire twice. Somehow the little guys manage to damage the tank with a mix of anti-armor and small arms.

Sixth would be the last turn. The U.N.A. complete their original plan to great results. First the grunt squad go prone behind cover except the missile launcher which fires against protected gruntz and deals a wax result because the AP factor kills the light cover protection. The tank makes a double move towards the enemy objective, the squad inside disembarks and makes a move, reaching within 4 inches of the objective! The Therians go for a last-ditch effort. First the commander uses both his actions to remove the suppressed state of the gruntz and give another action to the Golgoth. Another thing I’m not sure he can do in the rules, but nothing seems to say he can’t. They try to shoot long distance to suppress the capturing unit. They miss! It’s up to the walker. He makes a move. Then shoots, trying to supress the invaders. He sadly misses too. He still has another move thanks to the commander. He ends up 5 inches from the objective!!

It wasn’t really a close game, but it was quite exciting specially in the end. The U.N.A. used their strongest for this scenario, which was mobility. The Therians failed to create a solid defence. Once again the ranges seemed a bit short for these figures and the table space. I tried fighting in a much much smaller surface after this game and they worked, but the battle seemed quite crowded. I think playing in this kind of big play space with longer ranges would be just perfect.

Another fun game, one of many. I’ve got a few more pics of games coming up soon. Can’t wait to see how this game develops.