Scenario
Having been frozen in Carbonite on Cloud City by Darth Vader, Han Solo was handed over to Boba Fett for delivery to Jabba the Hutt. The Empire have tracked Han Solo to a small desert village on Tatooine where the handover to Jabba is taking place. As the Emperor still wants to capture Luke to turn him to the Dark Side, the Empire is planning a trap. They have leaked the handover location to the Rebels, assuming Luke will lead any rescue attempt, and have secretly deployed troops in the village, with the main force, led by Darth Vader, waiting for the arrival of the Rebel rescue force. Jabba has come with his own personal protection, including Lookouts. They will protect Jabba with their lives.
Special Rules
Luke Skywalker: Luke must be captured ALIVE. All other Rebels may be killed; Han Solo in particular. A single Leader kill (Hit roll of 1), or wound (Hit roll of 2 or 3), will render Luke stunned and he can no longer activate for the rest of the turn. Once stunned he can be captured by the Empire, and must be carried/escorted back to the Empire’s Initial Deployment Point. Luke can be healed back to consciousness by a Medical Droid, but if he was stunned by a Leader “kill”, he will act as a Junior Leader, and cannot run, for the rest of the game. The Empire do not take a morale test for killing a Medical Droid (because they don’t care).
Han Solo: Once Han is reached by the Rebels, a lone Jabba will hand him over without further resistance.
Han must be unfrozen before he can be moved. This requires completion of a Task Roll of 6. After he is unfrozen, he must be escorted back to the Rebel initial deployment point. He will be temporarily blind for 6 game phases. Whilst in this condition he cannot run or take any action other than movement. He will count as a man when calculating the effect of shock. He cannot be killed until all members of the squad/team escorting him have been killed; they will protect him with their lives. After 6 game phases his sight will be restored and he will become a Senior Leader, and operate normally.
Jabba the Hutt: Jabba’s bodyguards will protect him with their lives. No hits will be allocated to Jabba whilst a bodyguard is alive.
Boba Fett: Boba Fett will attempt to flee when alerted by the Lookouts. If attacked he will fight back. (He is very heavily armed, so this is not advised.)
Victory Conditions
To win a victory the Empire must capture Luke Skywalker, and either recover him back to their Initial Deployment Point, or drive the Rebels off the field by reducing their Force Morale to zero. To win a victory the Rebels must recover Han Solo back to their Initial Deployment Point, or drive the Empire off the field by reducing their Force Morale to zero.
Force Support
The Rebels had 11 support points, and selected a special forces Pathfinder Squad, an Adjutant, a Medical Droid, and the newly acquired X-34 Landspeeder to aid the quick recovery of Han. Their starting Force Morale was 8. The Empire had 10 support points, and selected their special forces Death Trooper Squad and an E-Web Tripod Mounted Blaster. Their starting Force Morale was 10.
The Patrol Phase
The Patrol Phase was adapted to include Patrol Markers for Jabba as well as the Empire & Rebels. This was to avoid both sides ending up with Jump-Off Points in the village. The Rebels had 2 free moves before the Patrol Phase started. At the end of the Patrol Phase the Rebels & Empire both placed three Jump-Off Points. The Rebels had one in and one behind the palm trees in the north, and 1 behind the northern hill/dune. The Empire had one behind the cacti in the south, and one behind the southern hill/dune, and one on their baseline. The Empire also had one Jump-Off Point hidden in the southern Desert Houses (unbeknown to the Rebels). This could be used to deploy one squad or two teams. This was the Empire’s planned ambush. The Empire squad/team hidden in the house had observed that Jabba had a Lookout stationed behind each set of barricades. The remainder of Jabba’s force was already deployed inside the central Desert House containing his Initial Deployment Point. They would remain there until alerted by the Lookouts. Jabba did not place any other Jump-Off Points. The Rebels activated first.
Game
The Rebels luckily started with a double activation, so deployed their elite Pathfinder Squad and Luke into the palm trees, and then advanced towards the village, quickly (but not silently) taking out both lookouts. Alerted by this, Boba Fett fled the scene, as he was no longer being paid, and Jabba’s remaining guards ran out of the ruined house to investigate. The Rebels squad and Luke continued to advance towards the northern house, where they had concluded Han was located. Luke plus his rifle team entered the house, killing Jabba’s personal bodyguard, whilst the heavy weapon team waited outside as protection. Jabba quickly surrendered Han, deciding to wait and see what would happen next. The Empire then quickly deployed their similarly elite Death Troopers, who had been hiding in the southern house, and they advanced towards the action. The trap was sprung! Luckily, the Empire also got a double activation, so they quickly closed on the Rebels. Concentrating on trying to un-freeze Han, Luke sent his rifle team out to join the battle outside, and hand to hand combat commenced. With 2 elite teams of Special Forces going head-to-head, this wasn’t going to end well, and it didn’t. Both sides took heavy losses, with the Pathfinder leader being wounded and rendered unconscious, whilst the remainder of his squad was forced to retreat, leaving him behind.
The Death Troopers then followed up and opened fire, wiping out the remaining Pathfinders and capturing the still unconscious leader. Whilst this was going on, Jabba’s two remaining guards entered by the east door and attacked Luke. Luke used his lightsabre to quickly dispatch them, but took a light wound in the process, luckily not enough to stun him.
He then finally managed to complete the un-freezing of Han.
Meanwhile, outside the village, both sides continued to deploy troops. The Rebels deployed a Senior Leader and a squad of Troopers into the palm trees, while the Empire deployed Darth Vader, a squad of Stormtroopers, and the E-Web Blaster in the cacti, and a Rocket Launcher on the NW corner of the southern hill, the latter two both covering the approach to the village from the north east, expecting the imminent arrival of the Landspeeder. The Empire then advanced their Stormtroopers and Darth Vader into the central outcrop of rocks, to threaten the Rebel Troopers.
The Rebels deployed a second squad of Troopers behind the northern hill to provide much needed support.
Having seen their Special Forces squad destroyed, the Rebels retreated out of sight to the back of the palm trees, to wait for their reinforcements to catch up. This allowed the Empire, with a double activation, to advance into the village, and take position behind the barricades, covering both the palm trees, and the western door to the house containing Luke. The accumulated Rebel losses and wounds had now reduced their morale down to 4, and with the Empire still on 10, the Rebels were getting close to losing. With the southern exit from the house now clear, Luke escorted the still blind Han off the Western edge of the board and made a dash into the nearby ravine, while his squads of Troopers started to retreat back to their Jump-Off Points.
This ended the game, with neither force having fully achieved their objectives.
The mission will continue in the next game, with the Rebels trying to rescue Luke & Han who are hiding somewhere in the ravine, while the Empire are still under orders to capture Luke and bring him to the Emperor. The ravine is a dangerous place. Home to bands of Tusken Raiders, who hide in the upper walls of the ravine and will snipe down at anyone foolish enough to enter.
Caves in the lower walls are lairs of various dangerous and hungry beasts. Whilst the floor is pitted with Sand Worm nests, waiting for any potential food to wander too close.
Jabba, is still angry at losing Han. Will he hire more bounty hunters, including the deadly Boba Fett, to recapture Han?
Standby for the next thrilling instalment.
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