AAR Playtesting new FiveCore options

Anyone who read the blog more than a few times will have seen that I play alot of NWG's FiveCore and it's supplements more than almost any other ruleset.

So todays post is a small AAR designed to test out some of the new solo play mechanics for FiveCore 2, as well as some from a project of my own..

Disclaimer:All these mechanics are still in a playtesting stage, and may change before the final release of FiveCore 2

This action was later to be known as "the Shootout at OKI Corral".

The new mechanics in question is a determination and order system for the solo gamer, giving you some guidelines to how this "A.I.-controlled" opponent would react to any number of situations.
I also decided to give an alternative activation mechanic a spin, that is why you sometimes see more than 2 activations in the regular turns.

For this test the OpFor consisted of 3 purple alien pirates, with a copper pirate and Purple leader. auto-rifles all around, exept the leader, he carried a pistol.

The Adventuring Group consisted of Doc (on the right with the shotgun), McGee (on the left,blue vest and helmet with a pistol) and 3 local resistance fighters with auto-rifles.

The objective of this fight was to get to the Corporate exec in the OKI compound and extract him to your board edge. The pirates got the advantageous position since they beat the good guys to the scene.

The priority orders work by rolling on a table, giving the specific model or unit an order.
A unit is a small group of models (in this example, the 3 regular pirates).
The first order was for the unit to take up defensive positions for example, so when they activated they took positions on opposite sides of the street, giving them good cover and clear firing lanes.

The Leader and copper pirate I treated like command Group, their first order was to regroup, that is to say, stay close with the rest of the crew and in good cover if able.

Priority orders can be rolled for every turn if you want a more chaotic and undiciplined feel, but for this game I only rolled new orders when the old ones were fullfilled or if they proved unachiveable.
Any order that can't be applied to a unit is turned into a cautious move if needed, and an attack against the most imminent threat.

There was a whole lot of movement with only occational gunfire up untill this point, but when the pirate behind the top wall got forced back into cover at the same time as the first of the fighter, the action really got going!

McGee and purple leader trade shots to no real effect. 

Poking his head out for a little too long, one of the pirates get a face-full of lead for his troubles.

The determination mechanic is designed so that any great setback like the loss of a vehicle, heavy weapon, leader or just huge casualties force a determination roll.
You roll a d6, on a 2-5 they carry on as usual, but on a 1 they will attempt to fall back to a defensible position and check again if their new position becomes untenable. On a roll of 6, a fighting retreat is ordered, trying to help casualties as they retreat.  

The offending fighter is knocked down by the pirate behind the big building. 

 

 

 

 

Flinching into cover, McGee is in trouble.. 

..but he manages to knock down the copper pirate with some well-placed shots.

Seeing the opportunity to take the fight to the enemy, the pirate hiding behind the OKI walls suddenly charge, doding bullets left and right. He easily captures the knocked down fighter!

       2 turns of shuffling and firing to no effect at all, but Doc is in position to do something..

Suddenly, Doc peeks around the corner, catching the pirate by surprise. His shotgun booms, knocking the shattered remains of the pirate into the dirt. a few rounds spank off the compound walls, but Doc is no worse for wear.

Purple leader is tending to his wounded comrade, and he manages to get him back on his feet. It's just a fleshwound!

His luck finally run dry, the brawling pirate is knocked over by a hail of auto-rifle fire. 

Mcgee repeats his shot from before, once again wounding the copper pirate, but his leader will get him on his feet again in no time flat..

At this stage the pirates had to fall back, but the copper pirate tried to reach his wounded underling, while Purple leader  headed for an convieniently parked transport.

Doc had just secured the exec and was getting ready to bolt, when he saw the enemy. A little too late, as it turns out. The pirate's reflexes were the quicker this time, and Doc was knocked out of action.

The wounded pirate succumbed to his wounds however, and the pirates went into full retreat.


Game over!

The game ended a draw, with equal losses and no side having fulfilled their main objective but hindered the enemies.

These new tools makes playing the OpFor more interesting as you get some pointers on how they should react and what to prioritise. Not that you couldn't decide this for yourself, but I think this solution is an elegant way to make the enemy more human if you will.