On Saturday (2020-08-29) i was able to assemble a board and played out 2 missions with the new crew.
I'm generally referring to the crew members (here and while playing) by their 'role'/special abilities, thus i have 'leader', 'hustle', 'scrounger', 'sniper', 'knife'. I did give them actual names but it has been easier to remember their 'call signs', and additionally if they actually die then i don't need to bother remember new names.
Both missions were played on the same size board, approximately 4'x4'. The Hot Spot locations were rolled up semi-randomly - as in, suggestion rolled (2d10 with scatter - will probably use 3d10 next time) then placed on nearby/appropriate terrain, or terrain moved to accommodate their position.
The first mission was Tier 1, one Mission Objective (MO) and two Hot Spots (HS). The Mission Objective roll involved a downed drone so i placed the drone in a barn which it had 'crashed' into.
Starting in a corner the crew unloads from the APC and sets out. HS1 is nearby. Overwatch is set and the HS is triggered. 2 swarms of giant rats emerge and are quickly dispatched. There are no anomalies, mild loot.
The next HS is in the open and the MO in a barn near it. The crew moves forward. Triggering the HS and releasing 4 dogs. Overwatch takes 2 immediately, and 'leader' removes a 3rd to finish his actions. The last one circles around the 'store' building (top left, with the pallet) towards 'sniper'.
'sniper' splats the last dog and the crew sets up overwatch for the MO. The MO is triggered, 2 more swarms of rats which are picked off easily.
Some electronics are filched from the drone (completed MO) and the crew bails, meeting the APC along the road. all up 2550cr of goodies were found including some binoculars and a med-kit. Not a huge haul of gear but having 'scrounger' roll double loot for every location boosted the credits.
The second mission was Tier 2 (first time playing a higher Tier but figured i now have enough rules under my belt), one Mission Objective (MO) and four Hot Spots (HS). The Mission Objective was 'data something something'...
This map was the first time using the ship on the table, so the MO was placed vaguely "on the ship's bridge".
Starting in the opposite corner the crew alights from the APC and set off down the road. As they enter the dock area they move into positions and set overwatch.
Unfortunately 'leader' throws bolts like a complete nupty for 2 whole turns before finally triggering the Hot Spot. An anomaly appears, bandits jump out and are taken out quickly by the overwatch that has been now been chaffing for a fight for 2 turns. Although we're now on level 2 the hostiles didn't manage to attack before being destroyed.
'scrounger' searches the anomaly, failing his Will check but making his armour save against the anomaly's attack. He retrieves a rather non-descript sparkly artifact with no apparent useful effects.
With time now running short the crew quickly pushes toward the dock.
Putting the ship on the table was an impulsive decision so i didn't have a 'water' section prepared. Bit of off-cut tarp did the job well enough.
Also need to make some purpose-built dock from mdf in due course. The ship's hull sits very high so elevation is required to actually get up onto the ship.
After a relatively successful bolt toss the MO was trigger and produced some zombies. 'sniper' overwatches one zombie and 'hustle' shoot another on his way up the gangway.
'hustle' dashes continues his charge, around to the far side of the ship, taking out another zombie and then retreating to deny the zombies an immediate attack.
The final zombie rushes (2 actions for Tier 2) at 'hustle' making it into base contact as the last move of the turn.
'sniper' aims and takes an aimed shot but missing the zombie. The zombie attacks and 'hustle' counters. Both hit but only 'hustle's armour saves him. The last zombie is dead... deader.
'scrounger' ducks into the bridge, retrieve the 'data something something' and everyone gathers at the dock for extraction.
And that was that.
The second mission gained the crew 6250cr of booty including a med-kit, red-dot scope, and a sparkly, useless artifact.
[later] i did the faction cuts days later. The current stockpike is 4335 credits and unused gear includes: 2x med-kits and 2x kevlar plates (sold the anomaly and bought kevlar instead).
Thoughts...
Overall it was a very entertaining session, i had fun, which is the primary objective. The story was quite narrative and engaging, there was exploration, some tension and it was immersive. Pretty much what you'd get from the video game experience.
However... i never really felt that my guys were threatened.
In the Tier 2 map with more hot spots, the hot spots were just places to avoid and i still setup for and dealt with my usual 2 objectives. With somewhere around 6-9 turns you're really limited to what you can safely tackle (gimpy bolt throwing aside), overwatch takes up a lot of actions and the idea of triggering multiple hot spots unprotected is extremely unwise and not a way i'd ever choose to play.
With two people it's another matter, you have literally twice the actions available and may even use the objectives (un-overwatched) as weapons. You're also looking to get to the objectives before your opponent. It's fundamental a different mechanic/intent to solo play.
The turn limit adds a pressure which is nice, but that seems to mainly restrict what you're going to trigger rather than force you to do more. I do like having it there.
I opened up a discussion on the fb group re this and some good suggestions were made.
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[later] I have since done some work and made some 'solo house rule recommendations' available here.
This is only partially tested but i think there's a plausible improvement for solo.
In a nut shell you get your first 6-n turns as normally, then all of the objective points start randomly producing hostiles at an increasing rate, forcing you off the board - so you need a solid exit plan too. The deadline becomes a more serious factor and there's the possibility of far more risk-vs-no-reward combat if time runs out.
[later still] I'm now also experimenting with randomly (and far less frequentyly) having the hot stops auto-trigger during the 'safe phase'. making them a far larger threat.
[Update 2020-09-02]
I got a plastic-backed canvas drop sheet from bunnings. Note to self, one tube of clear silicon barely covers anything. Going to need probably 3 or 4 more to get a good effect.
Anyway, spread one tubes worth on. Will spray it darker once that cures. i was hoping at least for a full coat of silicon but not to be. at least this first tube should mix up the under-surface a bit for the spray colour (just going to start with the matt grey, maybe some highlights with the lighter spray too later).
It's an art piece so we'll see how things all turn out.
until next time...
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