Long Range Gaming Group

 

STAR WARS CHAIN OF COMMAND: RISE OF THE LARD - Game Report

Scenario

The Wednesday Wargamers played a modified version of the Star Wars Chain of Command game that Rob played at Oozing Lard in the summer.

The background for the scenario was:

The Rebellion is not going well, the Rebel fleet is scattered far and wide and a rag tag force under the command of Princess Leia Organa has retreated to Lardos IX, a small moon on the outer rim of the Pynt sector on the edge of the Pi spiral arm.

The Empire is hard on the Rebel’s tail and have landed a force outside the small fortified lawless town of Mos Painfuly, where they are ordered to destroy the Comms Array located there.  This is the only comms array on the moon, and the Rebel’s only means of communication with their fleet. 

The winner of the game will be decided on Victory Points (VP’s).

Empire Victory Points:

• Reduce Rebel Force Morale to 0: 2 VP’s
• Dispatch an Engineering team to destroy the Comms Array: 2 VP’s
• Kill or capture Princess Leia: 2 VP’s
• Retrieve a missing Probe Droid from a group of Jawas, as it carries vital information as to the whereabouts of the rest of Organa’s troops on the moon: 2 VP’s. 
• Achieve Darth Vader’s personal objective of beating Luke Skywalker in combat and returning him to a JoP, to be turned to the Dark side by the Emperor: 2 VP’s

Rebel Victory Points:

• Reduce Empire Force Morale to 0: 2 VP’s
• Destroy the Empire Engineering team before they can lay the charges to destroy the Comms Array: 2VP’s
• Kill Darth Vader: 2 VP’s
• Purchase a Medical Droid from a group of Jawas, to replace those lost in the Rebel’s retreat: 2 VP’s
• Achieve Luke Skywalker’s personal objective of finding a group of Tuskan Raiders who may have knowledge on the whereabouts of Obi-Wan Kenobi: 2 VP’s

Force Lists

The Empire Force consisted of:

• Darth Vader (Ranking Senior Leader)
• Dir Orson Krennic (Senior Leader)
• Rocket Launcher Team
• Engineering Team
• Sniper
• 3x Sandtrooper Squads
• Deathtrooper Team
• E-Web Heavy Repeating Blaster
• 2x 74-Z Speeder Bikes
• AT-ST

The Rebel Force consisted of:

•  Princess Leia Organa (Ranking Senior Leader)
• Luke Skywalker (Senior Leader)
• Heavy Repeating Blaster
• Sniper (Cassian Andor)
• 3x Pathfinder Squads led by Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and Jyn Erso.
• Wookiee Squad led by Chewbacca
• X-34 Landspeeder
• AT-RT Walker

Game Report

There was no Patrol Phase. All JoPs were pre-positioned.

The town was surrounded by a force field which allowed the passage of lifeforms and machines, but blocked energy, preventing blaster fire into or out of the town.

The were also several “wandering monsters”, a Rancor, a Sandworm, and a Tuscan Raider sniper team, which would randomly move towards/attack the nearest unit. Unfortunately neither the Sandworm nor the Tuscan Sniper activated during the game.

The initial turns saw Luke and a Wookiee team on a Landspeeder dashing along the north edge of the map towards the Tusken Raiders, to ask them about Obi-Wan, with the Empire deploying an AT-ST to try and intercept them.

The Rebels also deployed a Heavy Repeating Blaster team in the cacti in the east, but this was hit by the AT-ST’s mortar, killing one man. Having lost his best friend, the gunner then discovered a hungry looking Rancor had appeared behind him. He managed to move further into the cacti and hide before the Rancor managed to attack him.

Despite repeated AT-ST fire wiping out several of the Tuscan Raiders, Luke managed to obtain the info he needed, completing his objective. He then headed back to the Landspeeder to join the battle.

Meanwhile in the east and west, the Rebels and Empire both deployed squads into the town, and snipers (who were both ineffective) on the corners of the city wall. The Empire also sent a team of Speeder Bikes through the main town entrance.

A firefight between Jyn’s Pathfinder squad and Sandtrooper and Deathtrooper squads went badly for the Rebels, with the majority of Jyn’s squad being wiped out, forcing her to flee.

The Deathtroopers then advanced further east, to try and prevent Leia, leading a Rebel Pathfinders squad and a Wookiee team, who had entered through the NE corner entrance, from reaching the Jawa’s droid shop; and also to shield the route for their Engineers to reach the Comms Array.

The Rebels took out one of the Speeder Bikes, forcing the other to retreat, before charging the Deathtroopers who had positioned themselves within the eastmost market shop.

Repeated Melee attacks within the shop wiped out the Deathtroopers, leaving only their leader alive, who was subsequently killed by Leia in a one-on-one fight (Girl Power!!).

The Landspeeder carrying Luke slowly advanced towards the main town entrance, hitting the AT-ST with its Ion blaster on the way, causing it to be temporarily disabled. Unfortunately the AT-ST managed to fire back before Luke reached the town, killing his driver, and forcing Luke to use his force powers to create a sandstorm screen as protection from further attack whilst they argued over who would drive.

Han led more Rebels into the town in the SE corner, but they were immediately fired upon by the Sandtroopers in the town, receiving heavy losses and shock, forcing them to take cover behind the nearest building.

Dir Krennic soon reached the Jawa’s shop, to begin negotiations for the return of his Probe Droid, whilst his Engineers and their Sandtrooper protection reached the Comms Array, ready to start planting explosives.

The Empire were now close to completing two of their objectives, and with more Sandtroopers entering the town from the NW, they outnumbered the Rebels. With Luke stranded in the desert outside the town, Leia was becoming at serious risk of being captured/killed.

Although the Empire’s Force Morale had dropped to 4, losing them a Command Dice, it was considered that the Rebels were unlikely to complete any more of their objectives and therefore they decided to cut their losses and abandon their mission, ceding victory to the Empire.

Conclusion

An interesting game. The use of objectives and victory points to decide the winner prevented the game from descending into a pure shooting contest.

The Empire deployed Darth Vader early in the game, giving them his extra (Red) Command dice, which helped them rapidly advance into the town and gain a strong position covering the Rebel entry points with units on Overwatch.

The Rebels delayed deploying Leia and her Red Command dice until late in the game, giving them less activations and consequently slower progress into the town. The Rebels also had an objective outside the town, which distracted key units, delaying them from entering the battle. The Rebel main heavy weapon, an AT-RT, was never deployed, and their Heavy Repeating Blaster team never fired, mainly due to trying to escape the clutches of the Rancor.

The Sandworm and Tusken Raider Sniper were never activated, and the Rancor never got to eat anyone (which deeply disappointed Rob).

If the game had continued to an end, it is unlikely the Rebels could have prevented the Empire from destroying the Comms Antenna, or recovering their Probe Droid. And with the Rebels outnumbered in the town, there was a high risk of Leia being captured or killed. Luke may have arrived in time to save the day, but the Empire’s AT-ST was still a formidable weapon which would probably have given the Empire an unbeatable position.

The Force lists and unit stats were those used in the Oozing Lard game (rather than Rob’s latest iteration), and may not have been adequately balanced. This will be addressed in future games.