Isolated on Gothica - Turn 1

The following is a report of a solo battle I am playing of an evening while isolated. The rules are my variation on Stargrunt II: ‘Dustup’. They can be found here.

This initial scenario is a bit of a test of long range firing and heavy weapons. As it is being played solo, I am using some playing cards to randomly activate units. A red card means the humans can activate and a black one means the aliens can. On the first turn, the aliens get to activate first reflecting they start the skirmish. The report will have a few notes included [explaining the rules and other editorial comments].

The Formics are a race of intelligent insectoids that are known to comprise multiple castes each bred for specific roles. Once they infest a planet, there is almost no eradicating them and they consume anything and everything. A hive of Formics recently invaded the planet of Gothica. While the imperial Navy was able to destroy the bulk of the hive ships before they could disgorge their cargo of spores, sufficient spores and lava landed on the planet to create havoc.

Bugs on the horizon

The local planetary defence forces initially attempted to wipe out the infestations where they landed, but none of the troops sent into those areas returned. Instead, the infestations and surrounding areas were mercilessly bombed and cordons established.

Human defensive line

Lieutenant Robinson and his platoon of ‘Rough Necks’ are Manning part of such a cordon. The armoured vehicles usually accompanying the Rough Necks were withdrawn for refit and repairs, but a squad of heavy infantry and a squad of palace guards have been attached to Robbo’s platoon.

For now, the Formics are laying low and probing the line. The bulk of the Formic forces seem to be made up of the warrior caste. These are formidable opponents and, should they decide to attack en mass, will be hard for unsupported infantry to hold back.

LT Robinson posted his 4 rifle squads in the centre of his line with the heavy infantry on the right and the veteran guardsmen on the left. His reserve is his armoured support forces, which are on call.

Facing the humans are 4 small broods of warriors armed with maggot spitters and various claws and hand to hand weapons. They are supported by two gun beasts, colloquially referred to as ‘dragons’. A warrior ‘prince’, so called because they appear to be smaller versions of ‘kings’, has been spotted in the vicinity and is assumed to be coordinating them.

"There’s movement in bug city", sergeant Bogart voxed Platoon Sergeant Elliott.

Sergeant Elliott sent a soldier to wake the LT. "I’m going down to the line" he told the platoon vox operator. "Let the LT know".

In the distance, the aliens were stirring. A medium sized dragon emerged from its hiding place and took a shot at the humans with its heavy barb spitter. Sergeant Douglas saw the gun point in their direction and yelled "incoming" just in time. As the men ducked behind the comparative safety of their defence wall, a seed pod erupted just short of their position and a mass of thorns and tangle weeds erupted in front of them.

[The range is 36", well within the 96" effective range of a heavy barb spitter, so the defenders have a D8 target die. The defenders are semi-concealed (ie cover) and ‘propped’, so their die shifts up twice to a D12. The attacker is one of the dumber Formics, so only has a D6 quality die, but the heavy cannon has a D12 firepower. The bug rolls a 12 and a 3 against the defenders 8. As only one fire die beat the target die sergeant Douglas’s squad gets a suppression marker.]

[In actual fact, it was the warrior prince that was activated and it attempted to activate both dragons. Needing a 3+ on a D8, it rolled a 2 for the second action, and thus the humans on the left of their line were spared their own opening salvo.]

The veteran heavy infantry on the right end of the human line were the first to react. Sergeant Wayne urged his men to aim at the dragon that had just fired to their front. Using their heavy laser rifles and supported by the squad plasma rifle they fired twice at the beast as it momentarily paused to absorb the recoil from its weapon. The first volley kicked up dust and rock around the monster, stunning it briefly. The second volley, however, was even more accurate and multiple hits scored the tough hide of the creature.

[The heavy laser rifles and the plasma rifle are all sustained fire weapons, so they are able to use both actions to fire as long as they do so against the same target. The targe die is again a D12 (D8 shifted up twice) and the firers have a D10 quality die, a D10 firepower die (5xFp2 rifles) and a D6 support die for the plasma gun. The firs shot rolled 8,3,1 against a 7 causing a suppression and the second shot rolled an 8, 8 and 6 versus a 3. As two fire dice beat the target die, the target is suppressed and the fire die are totalled to determine hits. The total of 22 is divided by the target die type (12) resulting in 1 hit and a 10/12 chance of a second, which was successful, resulting in 2 hits. Unfortunately the heavy laser rifle’s D6 impact die was not enough to penetrate the D10 armour of the dragon.]

[A red card was drawn again]

Sergeant Douglas realised that the thorn pod had burst short of their position and was quick to get his men back in the line and returning fire. They managed a quick volley combining their laser rifles and the plasma rifle, targeting the group of Formic warriors emerging from their hiding place. However, the shot was too hasty and missed.

[To remove the suppression marker, the squad used an action and needed to roll 3+ on their D8 unit quality die. Their shot was a D8 quality die, a D10 firepower die and a D6 support die against the warrior’s D12 target die. The target rolled a 12 meaning all the fire dice (6,5,3) failed.]

The dragon on the human’s left flank, having failed to react to the orders of its prince, reared up and aimed its heavy venom spitter at the human squad to its front causing Sergeant Audrey’s squad to hesitate. This was followed by a volley from its twin maggot spitter secondary weapons that, fortunately for Audrey and his men, missed their target.

[The venom spitter rolled a 4 and 2 on its D8 and D10 against a 2 on the D12 target die. The maggot spitters rolled a 6 and 8 on their 2xD10s but the humans managed a 12 on their target die.]

Sergeant Cagney had his men line up and fire two controlled volleys at the warriors to their front. The first shot went wild, but the second managed 1 hit, but failed to wound any of the aliens.

Bogart’s squad also raised their weapons and fired. However, both volleys missed their intended target.

The brood of Formic warriors on the human left flank fired their maggot spitters at Douglas’s squad. However their shot also missed. [yet another 12 was rolled on the target die]

Sergeant Audrey attempted to get his squad back into a semblance of order, but he could not get his men to shake out. [He rolled a 2 and then a 1 on his two attempts to unsuppress – needing a 3+ on a D8]

The Palace Guards, on the extreme left, stood to as if on parade. They raised their rifles and the squad grenade launcher and fired a well controlled volley. As expected, they hit home, but once again the alien armour proved to tough for the laser rifles. While the grenade launcher reloaded, the rifles fired a second volley but the targeted warriors had dropped low enough to avoid being hit a second time.

Platoon Sergeant Elliott saw Audrey’s squad having trouble regaining their nerve after the earlier near miss. He shouted at them to get into the fight. After another brief pause, they did so and raised their rifles ready for action.

[The platoon sergeant is able to use actions to re-activate rifle squads. He needs to roll 3+ on his D8 quality die. He activated squads Audrey and Bogart in that manner. Audrey once again failed his first unsuppress attempt , but fortunately succeeded on his second attempt.]

Bogart’s men fired two well controlled volleys, both of which hit the warrior target. While the shots did cause the warriors to stumble, they did not appear to cause any wounds.

The neighbouring warrior unit, however, shook off their shock [recovered one suppression] and fired on Bogart’s men. They must have still been a little stunned and their shots went wild.

Nurse Betty, who was standing by ready to treat any wounded breathed a sigh of relief that so far noone had actually been hit. But, no sooner had that thought crossed her mind when the dragon on the right, that had begun the battle under direct influence of the hive mind and the warrior prince, reared up again clearly shaking of its momentary stunned status. [Removed both suppression markers].

Finally, the remaining unit of warriors also shook themselves up and managed a shot at the Palace Guards [causing one suppression].

The turn thus ended with all of the Formics having recovered their suppression and only the Palace Guards left with a single suppression marker. Long range fire appears to have the expected result of limited success but just enough to halt any attempts at forward movement. I intend to play one or two more turns using this configuration just to get a sense of how it works and then I will slowly add some heavy weapons to see if they can break the line anywhere.

Stay tuned...

　

　

　

Who Will Win

I will be seeing my nephew in a few days, so I thought I would line up all my Tyranids for a photo to encourage him to get painting his Space Marines.

To be fair, not all of these are finished, so I need to get cracking on finishing them off.

The Battle Wing of 26 Space Marines consists of a Battle Sergeant, a tactical squad armed with stormbolters and power fists, a tactical squad armed with stormbolters and chain fists, a tactical squad armed with stormbolters and lightning claws, an assault squad armed with thunder hammers and storm shields, and a devastator squad (5 centurions) - 2 with lascannons, two with heavy bolters and 1 with grav cannons.

The tyranids include a hive tyrant, 5 carnifexes, 8 tyrant guard, 8 raveners, 6 lictors, a broodlord, 24 warriors, 128 genestealers, 112 hormagaunts, 144 termagants and various other bits and pieces. Hidden in amongst the horde is one of the original tyranid warriors from "advanced space crusade".(given the angle it is pretty hard to make out, but a hint is it is kind of in the middle)

Turn Five

Sergeant Wayne called to the rest of his squad “fire everything you’ve got and keep it busy”. Then he calmly spoke to the gunner “take your time and hit it where it hurts”. The squad fired their heavy laser rifles in short controlled bursts. Most of the shots ricocheted of the building, but they succeeded in distracting the monster long enough for the gunner to take careful aim. His shot found a gap in the wall and struck the creature cleanly on the back. However, despite leaving a smoking scar where the beam burned through the creatures armour, it seemed unaffected.

The critters on the left then finally built up the nerve to advance and occupy the ruins vacated by the slinkers in front of them. From the security of that position, they fired another volley of grubs at squad Autry. None of the humans were injured by the grubs, but once again, they had to stop shooting to make sure they scraped away any grubs that did land on them before they could burrow under their clothing.

But sergeant Autry quickly got his men back up and shooting and they let loose another volley on the slinkers to their front.

The nearby brain bug floated into the ruins behind the critters and nudged them to keep shooting. Squad Autry was subsequently hit by another large cloud of grubs launched by the alien weapons.

Corporal Cooper reached down and selected yet another AP round for his missile launcher and his gunner fired once more at the big bug. Again, the heavy round did nothing but stun the creature. It roared once more and turned its head as if trying to work out what kept hitting it.

Meanwhile, squad Bogart kept falling back until they were behind squad Douglas. The bug that had attacked them lifted its head and looked around searching for a new target. Corporal Stewart launched another AP round at it, but it impacted on one of the walls and merely caused the creature to take cover again.

The slinkers in front of Clarke began shuffling about, but he fired a long burst at them. One more of them blew apart in a spray of ichor and the rest dropped to the ground again to stay out of the fire zone.

If anyone had been looking closely, they may have seen a brief shimmer of energy surround the brain bug on the right. The beast in front of it momentarily shook itself and then recommenced it slow march towards the line of soldiers. While the critters that were now securely behind the ruined building in front of Cagney began firing volleys of borer beetles at him and his men.

Corporal Grant fired yet another AP missile at the advancing beast, but once again, the round impacted in front of the creature and merely stunned it. Grant cursed whoever it was that had made the batch of missiles he had been issued with. The creature shook itself once more, turned towards Grant and took a few paces.

Gable did not see the monster approach as he was busy lining up the slashers. His twin machine gun fired with a loud clatter. Five of the creatures were shredded, but the rest simply huddled lower to the ground and screamed in defiance.

The critters continued firing at Cagney. A veritable hailstorm of beetles came flying over the walls forcing the men to drop behind its protection. Even then, one of them was hit cleanly in the head, but the bug was crushed as it hit his helmet. Cagney tried to get his men to raise their weapons again, but the storm of beetles was to thick and they could not be persuaded.

The slinkers in the centre could be seen moving about behind the large mound of rubble in front of Wayne and Gable. Lieutenant Robinson surveyed the scene. He determined that the bug in the centre of his position was still the greatest threat and quickly relayed that thought to sergeant Wayne. Then he tried once more to get hold of sergeant Bogart and see if he could get his men back into shape.

Wayne’s fusion gunner knelt down and took a deep breath. He pulled the trigger releasing a sustained pulse of energy that struck the monster just behind its head. the creature roared briefly and then dropped to the ground, a smouldering gash almost severing its head. It tried to rise again, but seemed unable to support its weight and it collapsed, still breathing, but seemingly disabled.

Now that they were behind squad Douglas and comparatively safe, Bogart was able to gain control of his men and settle them down. He had them check their ammo and begin to straighten themselves out.

Squad Douglas cautiously advanced toward the position vacated by Bogart. While some of the broods of bugs began to shuffle and sniff the air in preparation for attacking.

Turn Four

Squad Bogart levelled their rifles and fired another volley at the slinkers threatening squad Autry. While the sustained fire was obviously causing the slinkers to keep their heads down, the rubble provided too much protection to actually hurt them.

On the other flank, the brain bug began to use its influence to improve the cooperation and coordination of the aliens. Unknown, to the humans, the brain sent a psychic message to the slashers in front of it to prepare to launch their attack. Simultaneously, it commanded the critters behind the slashers to charge forward and fire at the humans to provide the distraction necessary to give the slashers the chance to pounce.

[Rules: the brain used its 2 actions to communicate with the slashers and critters. The slashers then attempted to remove their one suppression marker, failing on their first attempt, but succeeding on the second. The critters used one action to advance (10 inches after subtracting 2 to cross the ruined wall) and then fired at squad Wayne in the open.]

The strange weapons carried by the aliens fired a swarm of beetles at squad Wayne, catching them by surprise. Fortunately, the extra armour worn by the rangers was proof against the strange ammunition.

However, squad Cagney did not flinch. They continued firing at the slashers they knew to be lurking mere metres away from them in the ruins. As near as they could tell, the fire from the laser rifles was not hitting the slashers, but it did succeed in keeping them pinned for a few more precious minutes.

[Rules: In a two player game, the obvious thing to do at this point was have Cagney fire at the slashers that were now completely unsuppressed and well within charge range. However, as I was playing solo, I decided that on a d6 roll of 5 or 6, I would leave the slashers and activate some other human squad. as it happened, I rolled a one and so Cagney got to shoot. Once again they only managed to score a suppression, but that was enough to keep the slashers from charging.]

Yet, even the sustained laser fire was not enough to overcome the instincts of the slashers, particularly after they had been egged on by the nearby brain bug. The swarm shrugged of the effects of the shooting and leapt over the fallen walls and rubble heading straight towards squad Cagney.

Meanwhile, sergeant Wayne rallied his men and they quickly climbed the sandbag wall and took up firing positions behind it once again.

The critters that had raced towards his squad, then seemed to have lost their nerve, as they moved further from the brain bug, and reverted to the skulking and lurking that is their normal nature. They rushed into the ruined building that the slashers had just left. Feeling more secure amongst the protection of the rubble, they fired a hasty salvo of beetles at squad Cagney above them. Most of the ravenous beetle simply collided with the walls, but enough of them made it through gaps and over the walls to cause the soldiers to check their fire.

Corporal Gable still had his guns facing both the slashers and the critters and he pulled the trigger to unleash another sustained burst at the slashers that were now in open ground. This time, four of the creatures were mown down and the remainder were briefly stunned.

However, despite the growing casualties amongst the smaller bugs, they were doing their primary job of keeping the human defenders busy. As the soldiers manning the defensive line concentrated their fire on the nearby bugs, the big bug that had been slowly advancing continued to do so. It relentlessly approached the humans and was preparing to charge.

Corporal Grant was watching the beast as it steadily made its way along the road. he loaded another armour penetrating round in his gunner’s missile launcher and, as he tapped the gunner’s head to signify the weapon was ready, he muttered a silent prayer for divine guidance. With the beast now so large in the gunner’s sight, it was difficult to miss. The missile streaked towards the target, but once again only struck a glancing blow that momentarily caused the creature to halt.

The aliens were now very close to the defenders position and maintaining pressure all along the line. The brain bug in the centre skimmed forward and took shelter behind some ruins amongst the slinkers there. As it approached, it issued a psychic command to the beast nearby to spur it forward. Jolted into action by the command from the brain, the beast that had been lurking amongst the ruins, sprang up and galloped toward squad Bogart who were busy shooting at the slinkers.

But this bug too was in the sights of one of the missile teams. As it broke cover, corporal Stewart’s gunner fired an AP round at it. The round went wide and the beast continued charging.

[Rules: Stewart’s team were just over 12” away making the range die a d6. He rolls a d8 for quality and a d10 for the firepower of the AP round. The d6 scored a 5, but the other dice were a 1 and a 3 respectively indicating a miss. Only one of the firing die needed to beat the range die to cause suppression and prevent the bug from charging. because the bug had been activated by a transfer action from the brain, it still had its own activation available. It moved 10” in the previous turn (after shaking off one suppression marker) and was now only 2” from squad Bogart. Oh dear]

With a roar, the beast tensed ready to leap over the wall protecting Bogart and his men. Bogart saw the monster charging and was already yelling at his men to run. But they were not quick enough. With the momentum its bulk provided, the creature leapt over the first wall reached the second in a single bound. It immediately sprang over that wall and crashed into Bogart’s men just as they themselves were scrambling over it.

[Rules: it might be worth explaining the close assault rules here. In order to initiate a close assault, the attacker must have 2 actions available. ie it can not be suppressed. The attacker declares they are charging and must pass a confidence test. In this case, the alien needed to beat a 1 on a d10. The defender then must also pass a confidence test (beat a 2 on a d8 in this case) or automatically withdraw one combat move (1d6x2”). The defenders passed, but elected to voluntarily withdraw anyway. They rolled a 4 allowing them to withdraw 8” and just exit the rear of the building. At this point, the attacker has 3 options: Abort the assault, automatically occupy the vacated position, or try to charge anyway. The alien elected option 3 and therefore got to spend its 2 actions moving. Because they had withdrawn, the defenders lost the option to stand and shoot. The beast rolled a 6 and a 1 for its movement giving it a total of 14”. Subtracting 4 for having to cross the two walls meant it still had just enough speed to contact the retreating humans. In close combat, the beast attacks with a d8 and a d10, while the humans defend with a d8. In response, the humans also attack with a d8 and a d10 while the beast defends with a d10. However, the humans are unlikely to have the strength to actually injure the beast if they hit it. At the end of each round of combat, both sides (usually) test confidence again and may run away. The winner is left to regroup on the position. Each time a unit withdraws, it drops a confidence level and it becomes harder to get them to fight again.]

The creature crashed into the men and slashed its long talons wildly. One trooper was impaled and flung away in a heap. The men raised their bayonets to try to fend of the hulk, but they were unable to coordinate themselves. Instead, they turned and ran again. The beast briefly looked around for something to strike, sniffed at the wounded soldier and then withdrew into the rubble while it looked for a new target.

Meanwhile, the third missile team, commanded by corporal Cooper, rapidly reloaded an AP round and fired once again at the big bug immediately in front of them. Again, the round glanced off the creature.

The brood of slinkers in front of Cooper began moving again as if they were ready to charge. Corporal Clarke tried to dissuade them off this and turned his heavy machine guns on them, but it did not seem to have much effect.

[Rules: I have to interject here as this may be crucial. The twin heavy machine gun rolls a d8 and 3d10 for firepower against a range die (shifted up for concealment) of a d6. The aliens rolled a 5 on their d6, while the shooting dice rolled 3 fours and a five – no effect. At this point, the slinkers are therefor no longer suppressed, having used their activation to recover, and a brain is potentially close enough to activate them again and send them forward.]

The third brain bug floated forward and its proximity was all the added incentive the slinkers needed to make their move. The jumped from their hiding places and raced straight towards squad Autry. However, the fire from Clarke’s FSV caused just enough hesitation for Autry to turn his men and loose a hasty volley at the slinkers as they rose up. Instead of running headlong straight towards Autry, the bugs crept slowly trying to stay low and out of the line of fire.

[That is, they rolled a 2 and a 1 for their movement]

That only gave Autry and his men the time they needed to steady themselves and improve their aim. They fired another volley and killed two of the slinkers, but did not force them back.

The critters behind the slinkers could be seen to shuffle around, but remarkably, they did not move forward to follow their kin.

Sergent Flynn watched as Bogart’s men ran from the beast to his right. But he could also see the position on his left was at risk too. He yelled at Autry’s men to keep the pressure on the slinkers and squash them with their rifle fire. Another controlled volley tore into the slinkers and another two of them fell dead, but still they held their ground.

The beast nearby roared again, but still appeared slightly dazed and did not move.

Lieutenant Robinson tried to contact sergeant Bogart and restore some degree of control. However, Bogart was having trouble getting his men to listen to him and they remained on the verge of panic. Instead, Robinson radioed sergeant Wayne to get him to deal with the beast in their midst. The veteran rangers, as cool as ever, reacted quickly and turned on the beast. The fusion gunner aimed his weapon, but the beam was deflected by the rubble hiding the creature.

Turn Three

The critters on the right skittered into the protection of the ruined building, presumably in order to creep towards squad Cagney and support the slashers already in the ruins.

Meanwhile, the fusion gunner in squad Wayne lined up his weapon and took a second shot at the rearing big bug in front of him. He timed his shot to perfection and hit the weaker underside of the beast with a concentrated beam that bored right through it. As it fell to the ground, sergeant Wayne shouted to the rest of the squad to withdraw back behind the defensive wall.

The big bug on the left, facing squad Autry, also reared up and seemed to shake itself as if preparing to charge again. But, as it did so, corporal Cooper fired another round at it. The missile exploded against the thick armour on the beast’s shoulder, tearing a large chunk of chitin from its body. But he was not as luck as the fusion gunner and the beast remained upright, seemingly unhurt.

The swarm of slinkers advancing up the centre raced forward into the ruins dircetly infront of squad Wayne. From his vantage point at the top of the shrine. Lieutenant Robinson saw the slinkers advance and radioed Wayne to warn him. Rather than simply turning to run, the ranger squad turned their guns on the emerging slinkers and fired a volley at them as they steadily stepped back towards the protection of the sandbag wall. The big bug to the rear of the slinkers also began moving forward and reached the cover of the ruins sheltering the slinkers.

Squad Autry continued to fire on the bug in front of them, but even the plasma rifle did little more than irritate the creature.

Behind the alien line, the brain bugs began to advance. First the brain on the left floated towards the critters that were creeping along the road. They seemed to jump as it approached them and leapt forward firing a hasty volley from their strange weapons as they did so. A stream of grub like things burst from their cone shaped guns and sprayed the walls around squad Autry. Fortunately, despite the enormous number of grubs that were launched, no one was injured, but the men did stop firing and began checking themselves to make sure there were no grubs attached to them.

Fortunately, corporal Clarke already had his heavy machine guns pointed in that direction and only had to make a slight adjustment to fire a long burst at the critters. Four of them were shredded by the heavy calibre rounds and the remainder fled to the safety of the nearby ruins.

The slinkers that were already hiding in those ruins shuffled about as the critters pushed through them, but remained close to the ground to avoid the attention of Clarke’s heavy guns.

Squad Bogart now turned from the bug to their left and began firing at the slinkers to their right to cover the withdrawal of squad Wayne.

Another brain bug drifted forward towards the big bug and slinkers hiding in the ruins in the centre of the battlefield.

Platoon sergeant Flynn noticed that squad Autry had stopped firing and could see them patting themselves looking for grubs. He shouted to sergeant Bogart to have his squad fire at the slinkers in front of Autry to make sure they did not use the lull to launch an attack. He then yelled at squad Autry, ordering them to ‘get back on the line’.

The remaining big bug, on the right, marched slowly down the road towards the imperial line, all but ignored by the imperial soldiers who were already engaging nearer targets.

Squad Cagney maintained their fire on the slashers to their immediate front, but their fire was having little effect. The slashers could be seen leaping and bouncing behind the rubble ready to spring at any moment.

Corporal Gable was working his guns across the line of aliens in front of him. He fired a long burst at the slashers and caught one as it emerged from the rubble, vaporising it.

The third brain bug reached the protection of the ruins behind the slashers and critter.

Corporal Grant fired his missile at the big bug that was slowly moving down the road toward him. Once again, the thick hide deflected the missile, causing nothing more than a flinch. Corporal Stewart’s gunner fired at the big bug in the centre, but this round also simply bounced off its hide.

Turn Two

Ignoring the weak fire from squad Cagney, the brood of slashers continued to leap over the ruins and approach the Imperial defenders. Cagney’s men kept firing, but the bugs were just too good at using the ruins as cover.

While the soldiers defending the line were distracted by the advancing hordes, a big bug began its charge straight down the road towards squad Autry while a second big bug advanced more cautiously towards the centre of the Imperial line. Just in time, Autry noticed the charging bug and had his men turn their firepower on it causing it to flinch and slow. Sergeant Flynn also caught sight of it and quickly shouted to corporal Cooper to stop withdrawing and set up his missile launcher again.

Cooper and his gunner raced back to the sand bag defences and set up their launcher. However, they were too hasty and their shot went wild.

Another big bug also then raced forward between the two broods of slinkers. Fortunately, squad Bogart immediately opened fire and corporal Stewart fired his missile at the beast, but the round landed short throwing up a cloud of debris. All this firepower was all sufficient to deter the beast from continuing.

A fourth big bug followed up, again more cautiously. Corporal Grant fired his missile at this beast, but the shot went very wide.

[Rules; Two of the big bugs rolled 11 for their movement (2 actions each 1d6) and so raced forward 22 inches. Almost to the Imperial line. The missile team closest to one of them (Coopers) was activated by sgt Flynn and turned back to the sand bags. Then using its own activation, it fired at only 8” using a d8 and d10 against a range die of d4. While the range die only resulted in a 3, the shooting dice both rolled a one and hence missed. The shooting at these two bugs was similarly appalling for the whole turn.]

With the Imperial soldiers busy reacting to the arrival of the four big bugs, the smaller critters and slinkers were able to shake off the effects from previous fire. One brood of critters moved from the far building to follow up the slashers.

Corporal Clark turned his heavy machine guns on the bug in front of him and let loose a long burst that seemed to have no effect. Corporal Gable responded in the same way and fired at the bug to the left of his tank.

Lieutenant Robinson watched in horror as the two bugs raced towards his men, but as the concentrated firepower slowed and then stopped them, he saw there was only a brief moment in which his men had to react to deal with the threat or the bugs would quickly recover and leap the remaining few metres and tear his men to pieces. He called sergeant Wayne and ordered him forward with his heavy weapon team to engage the nearest bug. He then ordered sergeant Autry to have his plasma gunner concentrate on the bug to their front and fire a sustained burst.

As he looked up at the battlefield again, Robinson saw Wayne and his men leap their sand bag wall and sprint towards the bug. The fusion gunner led the charge. They briefly halted at the corner of the ruins sheltering squad Bogart and then the fusion gunner stepped forward to virtually point blank range and fired. Unbelievably, the shot seemed to have no effect on the beast.

To make matters worse, three brain bugs slowly drifted from behind the protection of the distant ruins. Their influence was known spur on the smaller creatures and they could launch their own powerful psychic attacks.

The situation at the end of turn 2.

Turn One

The first alien force to advance was a brood of slashers that raced forward towards the ruins in front of squad Cagney. The soldiers of the Imperial Army commenced firing almost immediately, but had little effect at long range and the bugs successfully made it to the cover of the ruined building.

[Rules: the slashers are fast and so move 1d8x2” per action. In this case, they moved 20” using both actons and just made it to the edge of the ruins which provided concealment (a +ve range die shift). Cagney’s squad were firing at 25” or range band 4 for regular troops, which means the range die was a 10 shifted up to a 12 for concealment. Their firepower is 9 laser rifles at 1 rounded up to a d10, plus a plasma rifle at a d6. Both dice were shifted up due to the special ‘sustained fire’ rule which allows some weapons to be used over 2 actions to grant a +ve die shift. Their quality is regular: d8. The d12 roll was an unbeatable 11, so even though they rolled two 8s and a 4, the riflemen had no effect.]

On the imperial left flank, a brood of critters emerged from behind the distant buildings and darted forward seeking to similarly use the protection the ruins offered them. Squad Autry had used the few seconds warning they had to position themselves and so were able to fire a more controlled burst at the bugs downing two of them.

[Rules: the critters also spent 2 actions moving, but only at d6x2” per action. Yet they managed a very respectable 16”. The range was just on 24” so range band 3 shifted up once for a d10. The Imperials rolled a d12 and two d8s as above scoring 11, 8 and 5 while the aliens managed only a 4. This resulted in suppression and two possible hits. (if more than two shooting dice exceed the range dice then total ALL the shooting dice and divide that by the range die type: 24/ 10 = 2 hits with a 4/10 chance of a third.) The laser rifles have an impact value of d6 and the critters have an armour of d4 with a +2 shift for hard cover to d8. The rolls were 5 vs 2 and 5 vs 4 resulting in two kills. This forced a confidence test for suffering casualties, but the bugs passed, needing to beat a 3 on a d6.]

On the right flank another brood of critters slowly crept into the small ruined building at the far edge of the table, but remained hidden and so did not draw any fire.

Instead, in the centre, squad Bogart opened up on the critters on the far left, hitting them but they were too well protected by the cover to suffer any losses.

A brood of slinkers then raced forward almost reaching the ruins in the centre of the battlefield before corporal Clark turned the guns of his FSV on them. Two of the bugs were torn to pieces by the twin mounted heavy machine gun.

[Rules: slinkers are also ‘fast’ and therefore move d8x2” per action – in this case a total of 26”. The range was 19” or band 2 for a heavy weapon. The firepower of the twin HMG is 3d10 and the crew are the normal regular d8. So the FSV rolls 3d10 and a d8 against the range die of only a d6. This resulted in a total of 5 hits. With an impact of d8 against an armour of d6, the final result of only 2 actual kills was a poor result. The slinkers passed their confidence test for taking casualties and remained where they were.]

Another swarm of slinkers raced forward at almost the same time and using the first group to mask their initial movement, they almost reached squad Bogart. However, corporal Gable had just lined up his HMG on the initial swarm of slinkers and this second group appeared to him as nothing but the leading edge of that group as they emerged from behind them. His twin barrels roared to life and mowed down three of the slinkers.

[Rules: the slinkers managed to roll a double 8 for their movement and so raced 32” directly towards squad Bogart, stopping only about 4” short. The other FSV then fired as above, but managed 3 kills. Those slinkers also passed their initial confidence test]

Meanwhile, using the charging critters and smaller bugs as a distraction, four big bugs began their slow advance toward the Imperial lines.

Just as Gable’s burst of machine gun fire tore into the charging slinkers, corporal Cooper and his gunner fired a missile at almost point blank range, stunning but not wounding any of the bugs. Only a fraction of a second later, a second missile also hit them fired by corporal Grant. This was enough. As well as killing a fourth alien, the remainder recoiled from the onslaught and sought the safety of some nearby ruins.

[Rules: Missile launchers are heavy weapons. The first one was only about6” from the target who were in the open. Hence the range die was only a d4. The missile team have a quality of d8 and firepower of d12 when firing an AP round. However they only rolled a 12 and a 3 against the range die result of 4, thus only suppressing the target. The second missile, although at longer range, rolled even worse with only two 4s, but the range die only managed a 2 resulting in two hits. The impact of the AP round is d6 as is the armour of the slinkers. One roll managed to succeed and this was all that was necessary to force a confidence test. This time the d8 did not beat the necessary 3 and the slinkers fell back to the nearest cover with a total of 3 suppression markers.]

Squad Wayne turned their heavy laser rifles on the remaining mass of slinkers and poured a steady stream of fire into them causing them to balk and keep their heads down.

Meanwhile platoon sergeant Flynn assessed the situation and decided that although the initial attack seemed to have been blunted slightly, the nearby slinkers were still a huge threat. He tapped corporal Cooper on the shoulder and ordered him to withdraw further where he could fire at long range on the dug in slinkers without exposing himself to being overrun. He then turned and shouted to Bogart to concentrate his fire on the slinkers directly to his front.

[Rules: the platoon sergeant and platoon leader can use an action to attempt to (re-)activate a subordinate squad. This is the primary role of leaders in SG and represents the effect that their influence has on the performance of the squads. That is, it is not necessarily the case that the activated squad is doing more, just that they can be more effective if guided by their superior officers. In this case, the missile team was successfully reactivated, but squad Bogart was not.]

As corporal Cooper and his gunner grabbed their equipment and started moving back to another position, a missile streaked overhead and slammed into the area now occupied by the withdrawing slinkers.

From his position at the top of the shrine, lieutenant Robinson saw the initial rush of the alien hordes and the effect his men’s firepower was having on them. Only on his right flank was there a swarrn that seemed to be unaffected. He grabbed the radio and tried to call sergeant Cagney to make sure he was concentrating on the slashers to his front. The fire from Cagney’s squad seemed very poorly concentrated, but he got no reply. In frustration, he called sergeant Wayne to encourage him to hold his position and clear the slinkers away from their immediate front, while keeping an eye on the right in case the slashers made another rush. In this case, it was unnecessary. Squad Wayne were stoically and methodically firing at the slinkers and had them well and truly pinned.

[Rules: squad Cagney was not reactivated, but Squad Wayne was. The additional round of shooting that this enabled caused a third suppression marker to be placed on the nearest unit of slinkers, effectively pinning them for at least one turn.]



The scene at the end of turn one. Squad Cagney is out of shot to the right.

Bugs - Intro

It has been weeks since the bugs arrived. All over the planet, infestations have taken hold. In some isolated places, these were rooted out, but the local defence forces are insufficient to completely eradicate the invaders. Now, known infestations are cordoned in an attempt to prevent them from spreading while the human inhabitants wait anxiously for help from the Empire.

However, time is on the bug’s side. Deep in their burrows, they breed or spawn or whatever they do to create more and more of the voracious creatures. If help does not arrive soon, the numbers will be overwhelming and humanity will lose another planet to the swarm.

In hundreds of locations, small forces of defenders surround known infestation sites and try to hold back the occasional foray. Whether these assaults are probing attacks looking for weaknesses in the defences or whether they are designed to wear down the spirit and patience of the defenders is anyone’s guess. The hive mind is inscrutable.

Lieutenant Robinson and his platoon occupy one such defensive position in what was the city of Camlan. Nothing much remains but the bombed out ruins of once glorious gothic style stone and marble buildings. The area immediately in front of their position has been cleared as best it can to provide lines of sight for the defenders.

“Here they come!” shouted one of the soldiers in the observation post. Lieutenant Robinson turned to see dark shapes in the distance moving as if tumbling over the ruins towards them.

“Signal stand to” he instructed his comms operator, but he knew it was unnecessary. The squad sergeants would already be rousing the men and getting them into position. He heard the engines of his two FSVs (fire support vehicles) start up. Their twin heavy machine guns were in fact the main defensive line, with the soldiers of his platoon there to prevent the tanks from being overrun. His other key weapon systems were the three missile teams. These were the only weapons he had that were capable of taking down the larger alien monsters, but they were slow to fire.

Lt Robinson established his command post in the ruined shrine building. As this was the tallest building in the area, this gave him an excellent overview of the battlefield.

On the left flank, sergeant Autry’s squad was deployed in a ruined medical facility that the soldiers had christened ‘the lab’. In the centre, sergeant Bogart’s squad was deployed in a ruined chapel and sergeant Cagney’s squad was deployed on the right in the old archive. The final rifle squad, led by sergeant Douglas, was deployed behind Bogart’s men in a prepared defensive position in the park in front of the shrine building.

Between Autry and Bogart, the first FSV, commanded by corporal Clarke, was parked behind a sand bag emplacement. The second FSV, commanded by corporal Gable, was in a similar position between Bogart and Cagney. Sergeant Wayne and his rangers were deployed with Gable’s FSV as a week point in the line were some ruins quite close to the centre position and the extra firepower of his squad’s heavy laser rifles would help to keep the bugs from occupying those ruins.

Two missile teams, led by corporals Cooper and Grant, were also deployed near the FSVs to use the same cleared fire lines. The third team, corporal Stewart’s, was held in depth with Douglas’s squad.

The platoon’s medic, a nurse named Betty who had joined them after the initial fighting, was also stationed with sergeant Douglas’s squad. Platoon sergeant Flynn was also in this central position from where he could intervene if necessary.

[Rule: both lieutenant Robinson and sergeant Flynn can exercise command and re-activate subordinate units. LT Robinson can activate any squad or tank (but not the missile teams) via radio, while SGT Flynn can activate squads within 6” (including the missile teams) or the tanks by using the intercom at the rear of the vehicle.]

Death Watch

We recently played a game to test the strengthened Space Marines against a horde of Tyranids. The aim was twofold: to test the marines and to give some of the mid-sized ‘nids a go.

The forces were:

A 5 man death watch team, comprising a Librarian, 2 marines with heavy bolters (suspensor variant) and 2 marines with boltguns and special ammunition. Each man was treated as a ‘squad’ for the purpose of activation and the Librarian acted as a leader and could transfer actions.

Facing them were 2 broods of genestealers, 4 tyrant guards and 6 lictors.

On the face of it, a very uneven battle.

The marines set up in a building in one corner of the table and the tyranids set up along the opposite long table edge.

I did not record the events in detail, but thought I would at least post a brief summary in case anyone is interested to see how it went.

I have made two versions of Space Marines in my conversion to SG. The first is simply human troops in power armour, just like normal power armoured troops in SG. The second takes into account some special rules associated with the marines and has rules for their genetic enhancements. This option is aimed at giving them capabilities similar to those found in the 40K novels. We used the latter option.

After the first turn, all of the tyranids had advanced, some to within assault range, but the nearby ones had all been suppressed by the fire from the marines. The game then consisted of attempts by the nids to assault whenever one of them was in a position to do so.

The marines consistently used their special rule ‘combat tactics’ to withdraw from the intended assault and thus continue to apply their firepower against the nids. A few of the tyranids did manage to close, but they were held off by the marine.

At the end of the game, the marine squad had dispatched all of the mid sized tyranids and was cleaning up the genestealers for the loss of only the Librarian in hand to hand combat with one of the lictors.

It should be noted that the tyranids had no ranged weapons with which to suppress the marines. This was an intentional decision to see if a small squad of marines could hold off a horde of bugs.

The Stats:

The boltguns were able to fire special ammunition. Each time they fired, the player could decide which was being used.

Dragon fire: FP d6, I d8, rapid fire, ignore cover and concealment

Kraken: FP d8, Id8, rapid fire

The heavy bolter had the following stats: FP 3d6 if moving or 3d8 if stationary, I d8.

The librarian also had the 'blood lance' psychic ability. This was treated like a ranged weapon, but with a variable range - 1d10 x 6". It fires along a single straight trajectory and any unit it hits is suppressed and takes a single impact d12 hit (against normal armour save) with no cover shift. Vehicles take a d12x2 hit against armour. Confidence tests are requied for casualties.

The rapid fire rule allows a squad that spends BOTH actions shooting a +1 die shift to their firepower.

The Marines also had the ‘combat tactics’ special rule. This allowed them to voluntarily withdraw from close combat without loss of confidence as long as they passed their initial test to stand. This allowed them to keep withdrawing from the tyranids and continue firing on them.

The marine genetic enhancements helped the marines to survive when they did get caught in hand to hand with the tyranids. As per the medical rules in SG, when a marine in power armour is wounded, a medical dice is rolled immediately to see the effect. 1 = dead, 2-4 = down and wounded. The Space marines roll a d10, instead of the normal d6 making them quite hard to kill.

The rules for the marines were based mainly on the standard stern guard rules and such a squad could be used for this scenario. The suspensor model heavy bolter is a variant published in white dwarf (and on GW's web page) specific to the deathwatch. It allows them to move and shoot. In SG terms, I allow standard heavy weapons to be fired by power armoured troops, but they must spend 2 actions to do so. The suspensor turns the heavy bolter from a heavy weapon to a support weapon and allows it to be fired using a single action, but with reduced firepower (3d6 instead of 3d8).

Observations

The Marines worked more or less as expected. However, I will tone down the combat tactics ability a little. In this game, we had the marines withdraw and their original position automatically occupied by the attacking bug. Instead, I will allow the bugs to roll their movement die and see if they can still contact the withdrawing marines. Additionally, the withdrawal will be treated as the activation of that marine (squad) so that they can not just keep evading indefinitely – numbers should count. And finally, they will not be allowed to withdraw in this manner if suppressed. In this game, the nids had no means to do this, but normally, an assault would be preceded by suppressive fire and that should count.

The Tyranid Forces

The Tyranid forces for the previous battle report were:

2 broods of 8 gaunts with fleshborers. Quality green (d6), LD 1, Mob 6, arm d4, FP 1, I d8, Attack 1, damage d6. Move through cover.

2 broods of 8 gaunts with devourers. Quality green (d6), LD 1, Mob 6, arm d4, FP 3, I d6, Attack 1, damage d6. Move through cover.

2 broods of 8 hormagaunts. Quality green (d6), LD 1, Mob 8, arm d4, FP 0, I 0, Attack 3, damage d6. Move through cover, fleet, bounding leap.

1 brood of 8 genestealers. Quality green (d6), LD 1, Mob 8, arm d8, FP 0, I 0, Attack 2, damage d8. Move through cover, fleet, rending.

4 mine nodules

All Tyranids (except genestealers) are subject to the hive mind and instinctive behaviour. This means that when they are activated, they will either ‘lurk’ or ‘feed’. A unit that is lurking may only move toward an enemy unit if it is moving towards cover. They will not close assault an enemy. A unit that is feeding will always move towards the nearest enemy and will close assault if possible. Only the intervention of the hive mind can alter this behaviour. Synapse creatures, that have a close link with the hive mind, can attempt a communications test to activate other broods in the same way that human leaders can activate subordinate units. When activated in this way, the brood will obey the hive mind unquestioningly. Tyranids always have a high motivation.

Genestealers activate and move according to the normal rules and have their own confidence. They are designed to be killers in close combat. As a result, whenever they are involved in close combat, they use a quality die of d10 instead of their normal d6. This applies when they are testing confidence to assault, testing at the end of a combat round and when they are rolling for attack and defence in close combat (see house rules).

Move through cover: Treat all terrain as one class better than it is. For example rough terrain is treated as clear.

Fleet: Add 2” to movement.

Bounding leap: Ignore movement cost to cross obstacles/ climb buildings.

Rending: Opponents receives negative one die shift to armour type.

Spore Mines: Move 1d6” towards nearest enemy. If within 3” they explode with a 3” burst. Impact d8. Each turn, every active nodule produces a new spore mine.

Robbo's Roughnecks

This is a description of the IG force used in the previous battle report.

All forces began the game 'confident'.

Platoon HQ: Lt Robinson,3 guardsmen. Quality regular, LD 2.

Squad 1: Sgt Bogart + 9 men. Quality regular, LD 2. 9 Laser rifles, 1 plasma rifle.
Squad 2: Sgt Cagney. As above.
Squad 3: Sgt Flynn. As above.
Squad 4: Sgt Wayne. As above.

Assault Squad: Sgt Wayne + 5 men. Quality veteran, LD 2. 5 heavy laser rifles and 1 plasma gun.

2x Fire Support Vehicles: Cpl Clarke and Gable. Quality regular, LD 2. Twin heavy bolters. Tracked (d12 movement).

All guardsmen have partial light armour (d6) and the storm troopers have light armour (d8). The FSV are armour class 1.

Laser rifles: FP 1, I d6
Plasma gun: FP d6, I d10
Heavy laser rifle: FP 2, I d6
Twin hvy bolter: FP 3d10, I d8.

Rapid fire: Laser rifles, heavy laser rifles and plasma guns can fire in sustained mode. If the squad spends 2 actions firing instead of 1, shift the FP die up by one. Eg, a squad of 9 riflemen and 1 plasma gunner would normally have FP (9x1) d10 + d6, but if they choose to rapid fire (use both actions to shoot) they fire at FP d12 + d8. They still only fire once per activation.

Frag Grenades: All guardsmen have frag grenades that can be used to destroy mine nodules and the hive node. They require 1 action to place and have an impact of d6.

Krak grenades: The stormtroopers have krak grenades that can be used to destroy mine nodules and the hive node. They require 1 action to place and have an impact of d12.

Stargrunt 40K

Background

Why attempt to convert 40K to stargrunt?

I like the look and style of the 40K figures and have collected quite a few over the years, but I don’t find the rules very satisfying. Whereas, I like the use of suppressive fire and the command and control rules of SG. The 40K universe also provides a variety of alien forces to add interest to games and most potential opponents are familiar with this background.

I think it is important to try to carry over some of the flavour of the 40K troops and weaponry into the game rather than just renaming some of the Stargrunt weapons to match the 40K names. Additionally, if I am to convince any 40K players to play my games, they need to have some sense of how troops and equipment will operate, at least on a relative scale. Thus, the performance of equipment and troops needs to be broadly similar and some of the 40K special rules need to be replicated.

The basic rules, although appearing completely different, are in fact quite similar. Both use squads as the basic manoeuvre element and are aimed at platoon to reinforced company sized forces. Units move, shoot and engage in close combat, where the effectiveness of weaponry depends on the skill of the user, the lethality of the specific weapon and the armour or defensive qualities of the target, with just a little luck thrown in.

The greatest difference is in the role of leaders. In 40K, leaders tend to be the best equipped and most effective combat troops. In Stargrunt, leaders concentrate on commanding their forces and are penalised if they engage in combat: especially if they loose! One way around this is to treat 40K leaders, not as part of the chain of command, but as heroes or special characters and leave the commanding to less well endowed professionals. Alternatively, the heroic style of leadership found in 40K will continue to work in Stargrunt, but the command benefits will be reduced.

40K Edition

These rules are based on the 2008 edition of Warhammer 40K.

Rule Amendments

All of my normal house rules apply to this set of rules.

Psykers

Psychic powers are an important part of the 40K universe. There effects are fairly easy to replicate as most are essentially another type of weapon. To use a psychic power, the psyker must first pass a reaction test.

Troop Types

Stargrunt categorises troops into green, regular and veteran. There are also the special categories of militia and elite that can be used for special cases. Troops are also given a leadership rating between one and three with one being the best. These categories determine how well the troops shoot, engage in melee and deal with morale issues.

40K uses three different attributes to determine these abilities. BS (ballistic skill) is used to rate the ability to use projectile weapons. WS (weapon skill) is used to rate the close combat abilities of the troops. LD (leadership) is used for morale tests. Some sort of averaging system is needed to convert statistics from one system to the other.

The main human forces in 40K are: guard conscripts, guards, veterans and space marines. Ideally, I want space marines to be considered the elite forces of the imperium and guardsmen should equate to the standard SG human. Adding WS and BS for these troop types gives the following: conscripts 4, guards 6, veterans 7 and marines 8. Thus we can establish the following conversion rule.

A sum of 4 or less equals militia. A sum of 5 equals green, 6 equals regular, 7 equals veteran and 8 or more equals elite.

For troops with a particularly low leadership or some other special cases, this may be adjusted accordingly.

40K LD is usually between 5 and 10. The Guardsmen are rated as 7 and the Marines as 8. If we again take this as the average human, we assign these values to a Stargrunt leadership of 2. By extension, a 40K LD of 9 or 10 gives a Stargrunt leadership of 1 and a LD of 5 or 6 results in a leadership of 3. Anything that falls outside this range, can be dealt with using special rules.

These classifications, only refer to the average example of the specified troops. Troop quality, or leadership may vary according to the scenario or whatever force composition rules you would choose to use. Some suggested random values are included in the table.

Personal Armour

40K defines armour by its "armour save" value. Stargrunt has 5 types of personal armour, each of which is associated with a dice type: Basic Battle Dress (D4), Partial Light Armour (D6), Full Light Armour (D8), Light Power Armour (D10) and Heavy Power Armour (D12). This provides a simple one to one correlation between armour save and armour type.

This scheme maps simply to the 40K scheme of armour saves. A save of none of 6+ equates to an SG armour type of d4. A save of 5+ is armour d6 etc.

Optionally, particularly tough troops (usually alien) might also gain a benefit to armour. The average toughness for humans is 3 for Imperial Guard or 4 for Space Marines. This is therefore the mean that is represented by the normal Stargrunt armour. If a creature has a toughness greater than 4, then shift up their armour dice. If the toughness is less than 3, for a particularly weak creature, then shift it down.

Weapon Systems

Weapons in stargrunt fall into four basic categories:

Close combat weapons are those dedicated to close combat such as bayonets and swords. This also includes the specific 40K weapons such as lightning claws and power swords, as well as claws and teeth.

The standard Stargrunt rules have been modified to provide greater variety in close combat weapon performance. See new rules in an earlier post.

Many 40K close combat weapons have special characteristics. In general, to convert these to stargrunt, use the following guidelines. Weapons that confer an extra attack have a high attack value. Weapons that ignore armour have a high damage value.

Typically, troops with no close combat weaponry have a melee value of 0.5. A single close combat weapon provides a melee value of 1.0, while 2 close combat weapons have a value of 2. This can be further modified if the troops would normally have additional attacks or are particularly skilled in close combat. The damage value for weapons is based on the strength of the user.

The weapon’s impact is based on its user’s STR. STR 2-3 becomes 1D6 impact, STR 4-5 becomes 1D8 impact.

Small arms are the personal weapons carried by the majority of infantrymen, generally rifle-type arms but also including pistols, submachine-gun types and similar.

The Range characteristic is used to determine the weapon’s firepower. Each 12" increment in the weapon’s range equals 1 firepower point. So, a range of 12" is firepower 1, a range of 24" is firepower 2 etc. Weapons with a rate of fire of 2 or more get an extra firepower point.

The weapon’s impact is based on its STR. STR 2-3 becomes 1D6 impact, STR 4-5 becomes 1D8 impact.

Weapons with a limited range may be limited to close range (a single range band).

Infantry support weapons are things like squad automatic weapons, man-portable plasma guns, small portable missile or rocket launchers and so on- anything that may be carried and fired by a single trooper.

The Range characteristic is used to determine the weapon’s firepower. Each 12" increment in the weapon’s range equals 1 dice shift. So, a range of 12" is firepower 1D4, a range of 24" is firepower 1D6 etc. Weapons with a ROF of 2 or more gain a +1 dice shift.

The weapon’s impact is based on its STR. STR 2-3 becomes 1D6 impact, STR 4-5 becomes 1D8 impact, STR 6-7 becomes 1D10, STR 8-9 becomes 1D12. This impact value is used for dispersed infantry (including PA equipped troops). The impact against armoured targets is shifted up or down depending on the AP value of the weapon. A 5 or 6 means shift down one die and a 1 or 2 means shift up one die.

Some weapons have a blast effect. For these weapons, the FP die is shifted up by one for a blast weapon, or two for a large blast. Usually, the damage die is shifted down to compensate.

Some vehicles mount support weapons. These weapons use their normal firepower dice not the fire control of the vehicle and use the quality of the troops to determine the range bands for the weapon just as infantry support weapons.

Heavy weapons covers any weapon that is large enough to require mounting on a vehicle, or on a tripod, wheeled, hover or grav-mount. Heavy weapons range in size from medium/ heavy crew served machineguns right up to the heaviest tank gun.

Those on ground mounts are generally crewed by 2 persons and take one action to set up and one to take down. Both crewmen are required to move the weapon and are encumbered (d4 movement) when doing so. A single trooper in power armour is able to carry and use some heavy weapons, in which case they do not need to be setup or taken down. Light PA troops are encumbered but heavy PA troops are not.

SG replaces firepower with a fire control dice. However, the nature of many heavy weapons in 40K is better represented by retaining a firepower value.

For most weapons, the impact value is calculated in the same way as for support weapons: ie it is based on the STR of the weapon. This is the impact value used against all target types.

Most heavy weapons of class 2 and above only get a D6 impact versus Infantry because they are basically dedicated anti-armour weapons.

Range for heavy weapons is not really an issue in stargrunt. However, the weapon class represents the maximum range multiplier that can be used due to target size. Eg. a class 2 weapon has a 12" range band versus class 1 targets and a 2x12" range band against class 2 targets and above.

Firing a heavy weapon requires one action and may not be combined with fire from other weapons. Vehicles with multiple crews have additional rules.

Special weapons are any weapons that have special rules. They may be support weapons or heavy weapons.

For example, twin linked weapons usually get a +1 FP die shift to reflect higher rate of fire.

Vehicles

Many vehicles have multiple crews. When a vehicle is activated, it is essentially the commander who is activated. He may initiate 2 actions as for a normal squad. Thus, a vehicle may move twice, move once and shoot one weapon etc. However, if the vehicle has a dedicated driver, an additional move action (up to a max of 2) may be taken. Each weapon that has a dedicated gunner may also take one fire action (though each weapon may only fire once per activation). Thus, a vehicle may move twice and fire any/ all weapons (if they have dedicated gunners).

Crew can bail out of a vehicle.

Armour values

Vehicle armour in 40K seems to vary between 10 and 14 while Stargrunt uses classes 1-5. To convert from 40K, 10-11 equals armour class 1, 12-13 equals 2, 14-15 equals 3. Higher armour classes are reserved for larger vehicles, bunkers etc.

Mechs

Some vehicles are a type of mech. These include the Space Marine dreadnought, large Tyranids and some of the Tau battle suits. They have some characteristics like vehicles and some like power armoured troops. In general, they are treated as vehicles and given a size and armour value. However, they can engage in close combat and follow all of the rules for that.

Battle Commentary

I received an email pointing out that the narrative format made it hard to see a difference between a SGII game and 40K. I guess, in a way, that is a compliment, and it isn't directly my aim to compare the two systems. I simply prefer SGII as a game, but confess to liking both the miniatures and background of 40K.

However, I thought I would just include a small commentary that might give a feel to how SGII works for those who are not familiar with it. My notes for the game do not generally include the actual dice rolls and scores etc, but there is enough information to reconstruct roughly what happened.

Firstly, just a quick summary of the game differences.

SGII uses alternate squad activation rather than the IGOUGO sequence of 40K. When activated, a unit can perform 2 actions: move, shoot etc. The major restriction is that no weapon may be fired more than once in a given activation. There is no inherent reason one is better than the other and both can certainly provide an interesting narrative. Particularly if you assume that in reality, many things that appear to happen sequentially due to game mechanics actually happen simultaneously.

To play the game solo, I use a chit pull method. In a cup, there is one red chit for each human unit and one for each alien unit including one representing all of the spore mines. When a chit is drawn, I activate a unit from the appropriate side. In this scenario, the aliens received one new unit at the end of each turn, so one extra chit was placed in the cup at the same time.

Thus, early on in the game, there were more human units that aliens, but as the game progressed the numbers balanced out. Similarly, when one unit was removed, or two units merged (as the two gaunts with devourers did late in the game) the number of chits is adjusted accordingly.

The other mechanic that needs mentioning is the opposed die roll. Various capabilities, such as troop quality, weapon firepower or armour class, are rated with a particular die type (d4, d6, d8, d10 and d12). Results are determined by rolling one or more of these dice against a target value set by rolling another die. For example, to convert a ‘hit’ to a ‘kill’ the target rolls a die matching its armour class and the firer rolls a die matching the weapon impact value.

I will begin the commentary at game turn 9, as this is where the crucial action is set up. The diagram below is an attempt to recreate the initial positions.

The tyranid forces are:

1 genstealers
2 termagants with fleshborers
3 termagants with devourers
4 hormagaunts
5 termagants with fleshborers

The two ‘S’ symbols mark approximately where the remaining spore mine nodules were and the ‘H’ marks where the hive node is.

Turn 9.

Cagney shoots at the genestealers scoring 2 hits, but no kills – ie suppression. Scott advanced towards the fleshborers in the archive and shoots with no effect. Flynn also advances and shoots with no effect. The fleshborers return fire against Scott with no effect. Fleshborers in the chapel shoot at Wayne with no effect. The devourers, who had two suppression markers, recover one suppression, but fail the other. Wayne shoots at some nearby spore mines and destroys them. The hormagaunts remove their suppression and advance towards the CP. Gable shoots at the devourers suppressing them again. The genestealers also remove their suppression and advance behind the hormagaunts. The HQ activates and runs away, also ordering Cagney to make a run for it, which they do and both exit the western side of their ruined building.

Comments

The apparent ineffectiveness of the shooting results from two factors. Both lasguns and fleshborers are some of the poorest weapons. The have quite low firepower values and quite low impact values. Most of the terrain is at least ‘cluttered’ and provides an added difficulty to the ‘to hit’ rolls representing obscuration and the buildings also provide a hard cover bonus to armour die rolls.

Shooting works using the opposed die roll method. First a range die is determined based, surprisingly, on the range between target and firer. In the case of the guard firing, the range increment is 8 inches, equel to their quality die type. So at 0-8 inches, the range die would be a d4, at 9-16 inches a d6 etc. If the target is behind some sort of concealment, the die is shifted up by one type. In this example, the range was probably just over 8 inches and the termagants were in a building, so the range die was a d8. The firer then determines their firepower. This is either the sum of the small arms firepower for the sqadd and/ or any support weapons. In the case of Scott's guard squad, there was 6 riflemen, each with a firepower of 1, and a plasma gunner. So the total firepower was 6x1 = 1xd6 plus a d6 for the plasma gun. To this, they add their quality die of a d8. So, I put 2x red d6, 1x red d8 and 1x green d8 in a cup and roll the dice. The red dice have to beat the single green die to have an effect. If one die beats the green one, the target is suppressed, if more than one, then you calculate hits and compare weapon impact vs target armour to calculate kills.

At the end of the turn, the platoon HQ was able to re-activate Cagney’s squad and have them run away from the genestealers. This is one of the features of the rules that I really like. Commanders command. They can spend one action to attempt to communicate with a subordinate unit and have it (re)activate. Because they have two actions, a platoon command can attempt to activate two subordinate squads. This is one of the main ways to differentiate forces – command density or span of command.

In this scenario, the Tyranids had no commanders, and so could not benefit from these extra activations. This will be described in more detail when I post the rules for the Tyranids.


Turn 10.

Gable fired at the hormagaunts shielding the genestealers with no effect (ie rolled tragically low). Wayne also fires on the hormagaunts and kills 1. Cagney uses 2 actions to keep running and makes it to the scriptorium. The genestealers charge Wayne (as he is now the closest enemy squad). In response, Wayne opts to voluntarily fail his reaction test meaning that his squad drops a confidence level (from confident to steady) and withdraws behind Gable. This also means he sacrifices the option to stand and shoot at the genestealers as they charge. Luckily for him, the genestealers roll quite low on the movement dice and do not make contact, leaving them in the open and surrounded by IG weapons. the fleshborers shoot at Scott and suppress his squad. The hormagaunts remove their suppression, but remain in location. The HQ attempts to activate Wayne’s squad again and has them shoot at the genestealers. It also tries to reactivate Gable, but fails the comms roll. Wayne scores 3 kills (the first against the genestealers) and they pass their reaction test.

Arguably, here, they might have preferred to fail and withdraw behind cover. Unlike the reaction to charging, the rules do not permit voluntary failure from shooting, but this ought to be considered.

Scott recovers from his suppression and continues shooting. The devourers recover one suppression marker again, but still have one. And Flynn continues to advance and shoot.

Comments

I fully expected the genestealers to reach the stormtroopers and wipe them out and it seemed, given the positions at the time, the most likely thing for them to do. in fact, at the beginning of the turn, I was concerned because there were three guard units well within range of the genestealers and it didn’t look likely they would all get away.

I did not note the exact distances etc, but the genestealers roll 2d8x2 for movement, giving them the potential to cover 32 inches. The storm troopers could not have been 20 inches away even after they withdrew a bit. This would have a significant effect on the battle as only the storm troopers were equipped with the melta-bombs necessary to destroy the hive node. Krak grenades have a small chance of succeeding.

As it was, the combination of firepower and a bit of luck saved the guard.

Turn 11.

Gable shoots at the genestealers and kills 4. They continue to stand/ threaten, but have 2 suppression markers in total. The hormagaunts charge the HQ, but don’t quite make the distance. Wayne shoots at the genestealers and kills the last ones. Cagney shoots at the hormagaunts, killing 1. The HQ orders Cagney to keep shooting and they take a shot themselves with no effect. Cagney’s fire kills another hormagaunt. Scott and Flynn and the fleshborers continue suppressing one another.

Comments

At this point, the genestealers are dead and the remaining 4 broods of gaunts are at less than half strength. The hormagaunts are in the open and will probably be shot to pieces before they can recover from their suppression and charge again. The other broods will stay hidden amongst the protection of the ruins but are too ineffective to stop the guardsmen from mopping them up.

Overall, I was pretty happy with how both armies played. The guards mostly stuck with the plan of using their firepower to suppress the tyranids and stop them getting close. The genestealers using the hormagaunts as a shield seemed likely and almost worked twice.

The dice seemed to work evenly against both sides. Early on, Scott’s squad kept rolling very low for movement and hence took far to long to get to the second mine nodule and when they finally did, they took three goes to destroy it, losing 2 or 3 guys in the process. (Sgt Scott was subsequently shot for incompetence) The spore mines themselves were not all that effective, apart from the lucky one that damaged Clarke’s Razorback leaving him at the mercy of the nearby hormagaunts. Their main job was just to slow down the guards and give them something else to worry about occasionally.

So, stay tuned for the actual rules.

Stargrunt Battle Report

Despite the best efforts of the Imperial Fleet, system defence ships and even merchant vessels, a few hive ships made it within striking range of the planets of the Anglia system. Thousands of mycetic spores rained down onto the planets. Local defence forces were quickly mobilised to try to clear the infestation before it could take hold.

This is one such battle.

“Right lads, gather ‘round. You have all seen the meteors. They are alien spores. The army is being dispersed to find them and destroy them. A meteor has been reported down in Aquila Square and we have been ordered into the city to clear it.” A murmur ran through the assembled platoon as the soldiers alternately expressed concern and bravado.

“Here is the plan” Lieutenant Robinson continued. “We will approach from the south in a rough line clearing the buildings as we go. The impact has damaged most of the buildings, so be careful.”

“Clarke and Gable, you will form our main fire line. The FSVs will advance north on either side of the square providing fire support. Bogart, your squad will be on the far right and you will clear the Shrine on the east of the square. Flynn, your squad will clear the Scriptorium on the west of the square. Scott, you will be the far left and clear along West St and then the Archive building to the north. Cagney, you will hang back in the centre as a reserve. And Wayne, you and your storm troopers will be the assault team. Once we find the hive, you will take it out.”

“Questions? Ok, mount up, speed is critical.”

1

Bogart and his men crept carefully through the Shrine, picking their way over the rubble. Unseen by Bogart’s men, a brood of termagants, that had emerged from the hive, scuttled into the ruined chapel directly north of the Shrine. Luckily, Corporal Gable, in his Razorback, detected the movement and turned his turret mounted twin heavy-bolters on the aliens, downing one of them. Corporal Clarke, in his Razorback, began picking off spore mines floating across the square.

On the other side of the Scriptorium, Sergeant Scott fired at a floating spore mine, causing it to explode. He then ordered his men to edge forward along the western wall of the Scriptorium. At the same time, Flynn and his squad climbed into the ruined Scriptorium and began picking through the rubble as another brood of termagants slithered out of the hive.

2

LT Robinson grabbed the vox and encouraged his men to push forward as rapidly as possible. Upon reaching the northern end of the Shrine, Bogart’s squad took up firing positions and destroyed yet another floating mine. On the other flank, Scott’s team ran toward the nearby spore mine nodule and dropped some krak grenades into its mouth destroying it with a satisfying bang. Flynn and his men clambered over the rubble to try and keep in line with Scott.

The second brood of termagants rushed towards the Archive building north of the square, while the first brood fired their fleshborers at Bogart’s men, killing one. Clarke responded with his heavy bolters and downed another two of the aliens, and Gable added his suppressive firepower. Meanwhile, Cagney fired at another pair of spore mines drifting across the square. Yet more termagants flowed out of the hive like ants.

3

Bogart’s men fired on and detonated another spore mine that emerged from a nodule in front of them, and Scott did the same, however, it did not explode. Flynn saw the mine and ordered his men to shoot at it too before it reached Scott’s squad. Cagney continued his long range fire at any spore mines that drifted into the open space of the square.

Gable engaged the termagants that were making for the Archive, catching them as they reached the protection of the collapsed walls. One of them didn’t make it. Lieutenant Robinson shouted into the vox for Flynn and Scott to get a move on before the critters could get established in the Archive. But they were still being held up by a couple of spore mines floating in the air between them and their objective. Both teams did, however, now occupy the northern wall of the Scriptorium and could at least bring fire to bear on the Archive.

Assessing that the hive node must be behind the Chapel, where both broods of termagants had come from, Wayne took the opportunity to advance up behind Gable’s Razorback, hoping for a chance to dash froward with his melta-bombs.

Clarke edged his FSV up to the corner off the Shrine and fired at a spore mine drifting towards Bogart. But the third brood of gaunts, armed with devourers, took the opportunity to rush towards a pile of rubble linking the Chapel to the Archive. The gaunts now formed a continuous line protecting their hive and a fourth brood, hormagaunts this time, scuttled out of the hive looking for something to attack.

4

The platoon seemed to be in a good position. Both large buildings had been cleared and the probable location of the hive had been identified. However, the gaunts had dug in amongst the rubble and would prove difficult to eradicate.

Gable turned his heavy bolters on the gaunts directly in front of him in the rubble. The explosive shells halted their advance and tore two of the bugs to pieces. The termagants in the chapel fired on Bogart’s men keeping them busy, but Clarke returned fire with his heavy bolters and swatted yet another bug. This didn’t stop the hormagaunts from rushing over the rear walls of the chapel ready to spring forward and carve up any humans they found with their scything talons.

Meanwhile, on the other flank, Flynn continued to shoot at the spore mines that kept emerging from the earth in front of them. Scott’s team also fired on the spore mines and, having cleared the area, advanced on the nodule. Cagney kept the square clear of mines by continuous fire and it seemed as if every one was firing in all directions.

But, still unobserved, another brood of hormagaunts, erupted from the hive, hungry and angry.

5

Gable kept up his fire on the gaunts at virtually point blank range and another two bugs were left nothing but pools of ooze amongst the rubble. Wayne joined in, firing on the chapel. Flynn took out yet another spore mine and Scott rushed to reach the now unguarded nodule.

The second hormagaunt brood rushed around the chapel, on the eastern side, heading straight for Bogart’s squad in the Shrine. The spore mines continued to drift around the battlefield, and, just as one of Scott’s troopers reached the nodule with a grenade in hand, one emerged and detonated right in his face. The two gaunt broods with fleshborers returned ineffective fire, and the devourer armed brood fired at Gable. The volume of fire from the devourers temporarily knocked out the FSV’s sensors.

The hormagaunts in the chapel then leapt the walls and charged directly for Bogart and his men. Luckily, they saw it in time and scrambled backwards away from the wall just in time at the gaunts stabbed at every gap with their long talons. Falling on their backs and kicking as fast as they could to escape, Bogart’s men fired almost blindly at the gaunts as they attempted to climb through the walls, and, unknowingly, managed to kill one of them.

Cagney maintained his clear-by-fire across the square, and Clarke, having missed the chance to shoot at the first group of hormagaunts, turned his guns on the brood east of the chapel and killed two of them. Lieutenant Robinson tried to encourage Bogart and Scott to keep pressing forward, but Bogart could only manage to keep firing at the gaunts only metres from his front. Worst of all, a brood of genestealers now climbed from the hive.

6

The rear group of hormagaunts, although taking heavy fire from Clarke’s guns, shrugged it off and remarkably leapt towards the guns reaching the cover of a pile of rubble in only a few bounds. The genestealers followed up behind the gaunts, using them as a shield. The gaunts in the Chapel, switched their fire from Bogart’s squad to he FSV only a few metres in front of them.

Recovering from the previous explosion, Scott sent another soldier forward to drop a grenade into the nodule, but he must have still been flustered as it did not go off. He was saved from disciplinary action by the mine that immediately popped out of the nodule’s mouth and exploded before he had a chance to look up. Flynn’s men, meanwhile, kept the gaunts in the Archive busy.

Cagney continued to fire at any spore mines that moved across his field of view, but some now drifted behind Gable’s FSV. Wayne saw this and turned his fire on the mine before it got too close. Gable got his sensors rebooted and, encouraged by Lieutenant Robinson, once again fired at the gaunts to his front and killed a further two. While Bogart’s men kept firing as fast as their trigger fingers will let them desperately trying to keep the hormagaunts out of the Shrine, but completely unaware of the genestealers advancing unhindered behind them.

7

The genestealers reached the Shrine and, climbing up and over the bodies of the hormagaunts, poured through the holes in the wall and onto the surprised guardsmen beyond them. With the benefit of the rubble for cover, the guardsmen briefly fought back, but, as they realised the hopelessness of their situation, and watched in horror as their squadmates were eviscerated around them, the last few tried to run. The screams did not last long.

The gaunts in the Archive fired on Scott’s men, still reeling from the two mines that had already hit them. The hormagaunts that had advanced on Clarke’s FSV, kept going and closed on Wayne and his squad, but he and his men turned to meet them and killed three of them with their concentrated hellgun fire. Gable also rolled forward and turned his turret towards the hormagaunts mowing down the remainder.

As yet more spore mines bubbled up from the remaining nodules, Cagney turned his fire on the Shrine suppressing the Genestealers. All these distractions allowed some of the mines to close on the Guardsmen. One detonated against the side of Gable’s Razorback, scaring the armour, but doing no permanent damage. Yet another one detonated amongst Sergeant Scott’s bewildered men, but the Emperor’s protection, and their armour, saved them. But, a third one detonated on the front glacis of Clarke’s Razorback, killing the driver. Corporal Clarke himself, jumped from the turret and began running back towards the platoon CP.

Lieutenant Robinson was on the horn again yelling at Scott and Flynn to pull their fingers out and clear the f#$king Archive building or he would shoot them himself. When, before his eyes, the brood of hormagaunts that had been chasing Bogart’s squad erupted from amongst the Shrine, leapt onto Clarke’s FSV and launched themselves at the running Corporal. No one saw him die as he was smothered by their claws and talons.

And, to make matters worse, the fourth brood of gaunts, that had emerged shortly before, scuttled over the rubble to reinforce their similarly devourer armed swarm-mates in front of the remaining FSV.

8

The situation now looked dire. Their right flank had been turned, as the genestealers wiped out Bogart’s squad and the CP itself was threatened. Flynn and Scott were making little progress against the spore mines and the termagants dug in amongst the ruined Archive building. And the direct route to the hive node was now blocked by fresh gaunts.

The hormagaunts, still covered in poor Corporal Clarke’s blood, launched themselves at Cagney’s squad guarding the CP. The brick walls of the ruined building provided some protection, but the guardsmen were forced back. However, their firepower must have surprised the gaunts because, inexplicably, they turned around and bounded back towards the Shrine.

Meanwhile, after another ear-bashing from the LT, Sgt Scott once again shot the nearby mines and attempted to get to the nodule. This time, the krak grenade went off and turned the nodule into a smoking crater. Corporal Gable once again turned his guns on the devourer armed gaunts in front of him. The remaining troopers and gaunts exchanged fire with little changing. However, ominously, the genestealers were seen moving around inside the ruined Shrine.

9

Sgt Cagney ordered his men to fire everything they have at the genestealers, and they were lost in a cloud of smoking rubble. Flynn and Scott, no longer held up by mines, advanced on the Archive building and fired continuously on the gaunts huddled amongst the ruins. Gable continued to fire at the gaunts between the two buildings, and Wayne exchanged shots with the remaining brood of gaunts in the Chapel. But the firepower was too dispersed and the hormagaunts once again crept towards the CP providing a screen for the genestealers that skulked out of the Shrine behind them. In response, the HQ and Cagney’s squad began a hasty withdrawal in an effort to avoid the same fate as Bogart.

10

Gable turned his turret and fired at the hormagaunts, but his shots went wild. Wayne fired on them too, and the extra experience of his storm troopers paid off as they downed one of them. Under the protection of this volume of fire, Cagney’s squad managed to make it all the way back to the Scriptorium. Again, the battle for the Archive building continued with shots exchanged on both sides.
Confronted by the storm troopers, the genestealers did what they do best and charged Sgt Wayne and his men. Whether it was training, or whether it was fear, they quickly fell back behind the cover of Gable’s FSV. But, LT Robinson noticed they were advancing more cautiously than normal and ordered Wayne and Gable to stand and shoot while they were in the open and crossing the square.



11

Gable kept firing his twin heavy bolters until the barrels were close to melting, but it was having the desired effect of both slowing down the genestealer advance and cutting them down. Wayne and his men added the firepower of their hellguns and the plasma gun to this wall of lead. When the smoke cleared, all of the genestealers were lying in shattered pieces. The hormagaunts flung themselves towards the platoon HQ, while it was otherwise distracted directing the fire of the platoon. Cagney’s squad, now occupying the eastern wall of the Scriptorium, stopped their charge with well timed fire.

End

With the principle threat of the genestealers eliminated and only small groups of gaunts huddled amongst the ruined buildings. The platoon quickly regrouped and destroyed the hive node before it had a chance to convert more biomass into additional alien constructs. The mission was successful, but at considerable cost. Fifteen men were dead, only two of whom had enough body parts to be buried, and one Razorback Fire Support Vehicle was badly damaged.

The men were too tired to celebrate, and were not given an opportunity do so anyway. Not every search and destroy mission had been a success. The remainder of the platoon were soon re-deployed to counter the emergence of an expanded alien threat. The fight for the Anglia System

Commentary

I have played a similar scenario before that pitted Space Marines against a similar Tyranid force. However, this is the first time I have used Tyranid rules based on the latest codex. The primary changes are that the gaunts no longer have the ‘without number’ special rule and the refinements to the ‘instinctive behaviour’ rule. The specific rules and the conversion to SGII will be described in a separate post.

The Tyranid force was deliberately quite light. Anything more difficult would have been impossible for the light infantry of the Guard to deal with. The Genestealers were as destructive as expected and the only hope the Guard have against them is to keep them suppressed so they can not engage in close combat. The lack of any Synapse creatures limited the flexibility of this Tyranid force and the ability of the Guard platoon HQ to focus sub-units and keep the pressure on the Tyranids proved critical. Firepower was subdued in this scenario because almost every unit made use of the prevalent hard cover. However, I am concerned that the Guard still lacks sufficient firepower. Particularly if they are faced with larger creatures.