2nd game of Starstrike

After getting into the swing of things with my first game, I gladly prepped the table this weekend to try out some of the new terrain, and switched out one of the factions.

I wanted to try out an more assymetric scenario, with a few elites against a larger group of rebels.

The forces this time around was:

Rebels:

Rebel leader 1 model
Sp  5
Su  6
Tr   5
Mo 5
Di  5
Ld 1
Armed with Assault rifle


Rebel squad 1 4 models
Sp  5
Su  3
Tr   4
Mo 7
Di  4
4 assault rifles


Rebel squad 2 4 models
Sp  5
Su  3
Tr   4
Mo 7
Di  4
Ld1
4 assault rifles



Mercenaries 5 models
Sp  5
Su  5
Tr   6
Mo 7
Di  6
Ld 1
5 heavy rifles and grenades

And facing them was:

Bloodmist Power-Armor squad 6 models
Sp  4
Su  8
Tr   6
Mo 8
Di  7
3 carbines
1 Squad automatic
1 Beam Cannon
All were equipped with Power gauntlets.

The PA squad was tasked with disruption, hired to kill at least 2 of the 4 rebel leaders, while the rebels needed to hold out for 4 turns. A secondary objective for the rebels was to kill at least 3 of the attacking PA.

The battlefield. A small village where the rebels holed up, planning their next strike in their revolt.

The Bloodmist quickly siezed the initiative, moving up into good cover. Both rebels and their mercs rushed for cover, hoping to get into an advantageous position. Bullets were soon flying and the machinegun of a PA specialist reaped bloody harvest, taking out a merc and their leader!

Pulling of a lucky shot, one of the rebels managed not only to hit the PA leader, but rolled a natural 10 for damage, knocking out the enemy!

Moving up yet again, the left-most rebels draw a bead on one of the bloodmist as he's crossing open ground, and they open fire. The hail of automatic fire forces the trooper to go heads down, but his armor protects him from any further harm.

The following round, the pinned trooper gets himself into cover and returns fire. The unlucky rebel doesn't have the advantage of heavy powered armour, and goes down.

On the right flank the Bloodmist troopers manage to take out one more merc as they reposition themselves.

 The single most bloody event of the game takes place here, when the second Bloodmist specialist fires his beam cannon, hitting and killing 3 of the four rebels, including their leader!

At this point they had taken out the minimum 2 leaders, but with time to spare, they aimed for all of them, this would later prove a mistake. 

 A couple of shots are traded, a few heads down are inflicted, but no further casualties on either side.

Start of the third turn, the Bloodmist aim to assault the leader of the right flank. Quickly the plan is halted in it's tracks however, as the trooper charging across open ground is pinned down yet again.

On the left flank the mercs manage to knock out the PA specialist with the machinegun, while only being pinned by the return fire from his comrade.

Under heavy fire, the one trooper pushes on, determined to get the leader on the right flank. But he is again stopped short by reaction fire. 

With most of the remaining rebels firing on him, the trooper takes 5 heads down counters, buffeted this way and that by incoming fire, before the attrition gets him and a bullet finds it's way through his armor.

With both sides having fullfilled an objective, I called this game a draw. The kill count was 7 to 3 in the Bloodmists favour. If they had only fallen back after completing the mission rather than going for extra credit, it would have been a solid win.

The purpose of this game was to strech the limits and see if a single elite squad with good armour and weapons could hold their own against a larger force. and with mission completed and a better than 2:1 kill ratio, I'd say it worked out fine.

As for the future, I have 2 fantasy playtests that will be shared soon, with a 3rd game of Starstrike and Fantasy planned, hopefully this week!

Til next time!