Mr. Bigg's big supprise (AE Bounty game report for Station 42)

 The bounty hunting crew known as "The Valkyrie" were hired by an unknown employer to capture Mr. Biggs the boss of the Venture Star Prospecting Company.  They were also to capture Nancy his secretary and Karl Mason a scientist who works for Venture Star.  They were told Mr. Biggs would be inspecting a prospecting camp later that afternoon and that they might find it easier to take him there.
 

 The Venture Star Prospecting Team 1 were working at a site when they received a distress call from their base camp.  It was their boss Mr. Biggs who said he was under attack from bounty hunters.  Fearing for their paychecks the team headed back to base to try and stop the kidnappers. 

 The Venture Star base camp was small.  One large tent, a power generator, some fuel tanks, a few vehicles, and some other equipment.  Mr. Biggs has arrived in his flying sports car. 

 The prospecting team decided to split up and approach from several angles.  Victor the crew chief and Johnny the explosives expert would sneak up behind the camp with their backs to a large Mesa.  The security team Arnold and Joe would attack on one flank while the equipment operators Harry and Xavier would attack on the other flank.  The Valkyrie were getting the hostages together in the middle of the camp trying to figure out how to get them out of the area.

 Arnold and Joe began the shooting using suppressive fire to pin Alecia behind some fuel barrels.  Vera drug Karl away from the shooting around the back of the dump truck.  Kara ran up behind a car to get in a better position to shoot at the attackers while Valarie unloaded with her LRF slugthrower at Arnold and Joe.  Harry and Xavier tried to shoot Valarie but found they were out of range while Victor and Johnny moved in from behind.
 

 From her new position Kara was able to gun down Joe but Arnold still managed to pin down Alecia with more suppressive fire.  Victor moved up and took some shots at Valarie but missed.  The bounty hunter then returned the favor but her shots bounced harmlessly off the crew chief's personal magnetic field.  Valarie then decided that they needed to get Mr. Biggs out of there so she ran back and grabbed him.  Johnny wasn't able to find a clear path to charge Vera so he simply moved up and engaged her in hand to hand.  Harry and Xavier decided they needed to get closer so they move up towards some equipment crates.     

 Johnny and Vera traded blows.  Vera went down but managed to wound Johnny.  Valarie threatened Mr. Biggs to get him to sprint towards safety with her.  Alecia tried to drag Karl and Nancy out of the camp but was pinned again by suppressive fire from Arnold as well as Harry and Xavier.   

 Again Johnny couldn't get a clear path for a charge so he simply moved up to engage Alecia.  The two fought but neither damaged the other.  Kara moved up to grab Nancy. 

 Kara tried to move away with Nancy but was pinned by Harry and Xavier.  Johnny and Alecia kept fighting. 

 Alecia knocked Johnny out but both her and Kara came under suppressive fire from the prospecting crew so they were unable to move very far. 

 The prospecting crew continued to move in and try and pin down the bounty hunters.  Victor moved up and engaged Kara in hand to hand. 

 The bounty hunter made short work of the crew chief.  His personal magnetic field was of no use in hand to hand.  Alecia tried to run but was again pinned down. 

As the rest of the prospectors moved in Kara and Alecia decided that getting the boss was enough so they released their hostages and retreated. 

Notes:  We did a ton of things wrong in this game.  We forgot several special abilities during the play and we got the rules for suppressive fire wrong so it was a bit more effective than it should have been.  We counted it as a bounty hunter victory because they got both their faction objective and their secondary objective while the prospectors only got the primary objective.  It was still a fun fight but I didn't post a lot of the detail because we made so many mistakes.  The Valkyrie were bounty hunters and we used the mercenary list for the prospecting crew. 

Assault on the Redwing Farm (AE Bounty game report for Station 42)

 An unknown group of mercenaries have been attacking farms near Station 42.  Marshal, Malcom Reed of Pleasant Valley decided to gather a posse (large mercenary crew) to defend the farms from these mysterious attackers.  From left to right the posse consisted of; Scott and Marian Redwing (Fresh Meat), Marshal Reed (Sergent), Randall Donne (Sniper), Miles Anders (Fresh Meat), Remi Boutin (Fresh Meat), on the top row, and, Ludia Donne (Sniper), Ivar (Fresh Meat), and Cleatus (Fresh Meat), on the bottom row. 
 

 The 285th Mobile Infantry "Hell Knights" are one of the best equipped and best trained mercenary armies in the Solar System.  This private military company is usually retained by governments to engage in wars or serious police actions.  They will however work for anyone with the cash.  "No Conflict Too Large, No Operation Too Small" is their motto.  Several units of the Hell Knights elite heavy infantry had been hired to harass farmers on Titania by an anonymous employers.  They didn't know why they were there and they didn't care.  As long as the pay came through.  They had even been ensured that the government of Titania would turn a blind eye during the course of the operation and no Confederate troops would be involved.  Their mission was to make life "uncomfortable" for the farmers of Titania.  They were not to use excessive force unless met with organized resistance.  Two elite fire teams (veteran mercenary crew consisting of two elite old guard units) had been deployed to attack the Redwing Farmstead and kill the militia who had gathered to defend it.  They were also instructed to capture Marshal Reed who was leading the defenders.  This was to be a show of force to convince the locals to back down. 

 The mercenaries advanced on the farmhouse where they believed the Marshal was located.  One team took up a position behind the garage and the other behind the pig barn. 

 The squad behind the garage then moved into position inside one of the garage doors.  One of the mercs took a pop shot Marian Redwing but he was out of range.  Randall Donne stepped up into the open doorway of the farmhouse and quickly shot down one of the attackers despite the mercs armored suit and cover. 

 The other merc squad moved into position near the door of the pig barn.  One merc taking cover inside the door while another crouched behind the ramp.  The merc inside the door took a pop shot at Miles Anders who was taking cover behind one of the steel supports holding up the farm house.  The support was hit and absorbed the shot.  Lydia Doone took aim at the merc crouched behind the metal ramp to the pig barn and dropped him just as easily as her husband had.  Marshal Reed was beginning to wonder just who these people were.  Suddenly it seemed to make perfect sense to him that they showed up kitted out in full military gear. 

 Marshal Reed stepped up to the farmhouse window with his boosted light rapid fire particle beam pistol and snapped up a couple of burst at one of the last merc in the garage.  The merc slid down the door jam onto the floor apparently dead or too wounded to keep fighting. 

 Things were looking bad for the mercs.  Scott and Marian Redwing moved up to a position behind one of the supports to their house.  Unfortunately the last remaining merc gunned Scott down.  Marian fired back but missed. 

The merc inside the barn was surrounded but continued to fight.  Several shots were traded back and forth between the merc and the posse members.  Finally Randall Donne stepped into the doorway and dropped the last merc. 

Marshal Reed's posse had managed to stop the mercs without much of a fight.  Even they couldn't believe their luck.  Scott Redwing had been their only casualty and his wounds were serious but not life threatening.  One merc had been killed so Marshal Reed took the wounded mercs into custody. 

Notes:  Well that was perhaps the shortest battle of AE Bounty we have had.  It only lasted three turns.  For both forces we used the mercenaries crew.  I ran the mercs and I chose to build them using the veteran crew.  I chose two old guard squads and used my regular choices to make them "elite" grade.  This gave them four action points each turn which I figured would help negate the fact that I gave them Armored Suits which reduced their movement by 1 per turn.  I also armed them with powerful but short ranged particle beam rifles.  I figured when they got in range they would rain death down on their enemies.  Not so much. 


For the posse we used a large mercenary crew with; a sergent, two snipers, and three units of fresh meat.  Everyone except the marshal were armed with slugthrower rifles and armor piercing ammunition.  The Marshal had a boosted LRF particle beam and a personal energy screen.  What made the posse so deadly was that both the snipers had the ability "Hunter: human".  The Hunter X ability is extremely powerful in an all human setting.  Because of this we have decided as a house rule to restrict it to individuals only for this setting.  The snipers were able to completely negate the merc's cover and reduce their armor by 1 point with the AP rounds.  My wife also managed to roll an insane number of 6s.  In fact every sniper shot that hit was a 6 followed by a 6 damage roll.  Three of my guys went down by round two like chumps. 


It was fun to see the difference between a tweaked out veteran crew and a large crew.  Even with the amazing rolls I think this would have been a hard fight for the mercs.   

Moving house at the end of March!

We are moving house at the end of the month to a new location that is much closer to our work and babysitter and just about everything else.  Right now we live about 6 miles outside the town where we work is a pretty nice community but gas prices are going up here and it's getting difficult for us to afford to stay.  The rent at the new place is only a bit more and we will have about twice as much house including some really cool options for gaming space. 

We plan to finish up a couple more projects tomorrow and play a game or two of AE Bounty while we pack but that will be the last game and set of projects that we plan on doing until we move so I will have perhaps a post or two more between now and the end of the month.  I also have one more "Maxed Out" game report to write which I hope to get done soon. 

We are all really excited about the new location and our new game space!

Station 42: Phase 1 Complete!

Well we have the Station 42 project to the first phase of completion. The buildings are all done and we have about 7 ships and a number of vehicles ready for the table as well as a number of miniatures. We still have a lot to do not only on the Station itself but also on a number of the surrounding locations. We have already made good headway on the pirate base and we should have some updated for that soon. Here are some pics of the Station as it is:

M.S.S.R. short range patrol unit

I picked up a few Pig Iron Productions Kolony militia from The Warstore just a few days ago. I've been eyeballing these guys for quite some time for my spaceport project. In my 3031 Sci-Fi setting the M.S.S.R. have a base near Station 42 on Titania. These guys will represent a unit of garrisoned troops at the base.

I really like the comblock look of these figures which was clearly what the folks at Pig Iron were going for. They have really expanded their Kolony range as well so I have several options for expanding this force. The figures were cast really cleanly. Very light mold lines and no serious miscast. They are sculpted in a very nice "English" style. Simple but very nice looking figures that really have a lot of character similar to figures from Wargames Foundry, Copplestone Casting, or older Games Workshop figures.

I based these figures on Renedra 25mm plastic bases. I also got these from The Warstore a few months ago. 50 bases for $4.00 was a deal I couldn't pass up. The bases are perfect for minis with cast bases since they are only half the height of a standard "slotta" base. I simply used some Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler to blend them in.

Wolfhound Friekorps painted!

Way back in August 2010 I put together a group of Wargames Factory Shock Troopers as my "first" crew for AE bounty. Then they set on my shelf for over a year. We played several games of AE bounty and we even painted up crews for the game but I didn't get these guys painted up until a couple days ago. I painted them up with combination of drybrushing and washes mostly. I wanted them to look dark and germanic. I decided to muddy up their boots and coats which I think worked pretty well to add some interest to an otherwise grey/green paintjob. Over all these arn't fantastic paintjobs but they get the job done and I think they make a decent looking crew.

AE Bounty Battle Report "Valkyrie Ambush"

The Bloodborn pirates under the command of Captain Cyclopse had been causing problems for the citizens of Station 42 and the surrounding area. Eventually their victims decided to do something about it. Pooling their resources they hired the well known bounty hunting team known as "The Valkyrie".

The
Valkyrie

(Standard Crew)

Valarie (Gunsel Individual Elite
Hero)

M/3 RC/3+ CC/3 A/3(4) S/2 DR/6 W/4

Equipment: LRF Slugthrower, Shock
Grenades, Light Armored Suit

Abilities: *Solo *Hunter (Human)

Hero Type:Unkillable

Traits: Impervious (5+), Unstoppable

Action Points: 4

Kara (Bounty Killer Individual
Regular)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/3(4) S/3 DR/5 W/3

Equipment: LRF Slugthrower, Adrenal
Booster, Light Armored Suit

Abilities: *Solo *Hunter (Human)

Traits: Berserk

Action Points: 2

Vera (Bounty Killer Individual
Regular)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/3(4) S/2 DR/5 W/2

Equipment: LRF Slugthrower, AP rounds,
Light Armored Suit

Abilities: *Solo *Hunter (Human)

Action Points: 2

Alecia (Lurker Individual
Regular)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/3 S/2 DR/5 W/2

Equipment: Shock Gloves, Electrolaser
Pistol, Cloaking Field

Abilities: *Solo *Hidden Deployment
*Hunter (Human)

Action Points: 2

The Bloodborn Pirates

Standard Crew

Captain Cyclopes (Human Veteran
Blooded Warrior Hero)

M/3 RC/3+ CC4 A/5(7) S/3 DR/5 W/3

Equipment: Particle Beam Rifle, Light
Armored Suit, Personal Magnetic Field

Ability: Apathetic, Command, Get up and
shoot!

Quartermaster Grimm (Human
Regular Individual)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/5(7) S/2 DR/4 W/2

Equipment: Particle Beam Rifle, Light
Armored Suit, Personal Magnetic Field

Ability: Apathetic, Issue Equipment

Quartermaster Vinnie (Human
Regular Individual)

M/3 RC/4+ CC/3 A/5(7) S/2 DR/4 W/2

Equipment: Particle Beam Rifle, Light
Armored Suit, Personal Magnetic Field

Ability: Apathetic, Issue Equipment

The Ductrats (Human Green Squad)

M/3 RC/5+ CC/2 A/3 S/2 DR/3 W/1

Equipment: LFR Slugthrower, Light
Armored Suit

Ability: Apathetic, Random Equipment

Da Gurlz (Human Green Squad)

M/3 RC/5+ CC/2 A/3 S/2 DR/3 W/1

Equipment: Slugthrower Pistol, Light
Armored Suit

Ability: Apathetic, Random Equipment

Knowing that pirates can't pass up a free ship the Valkyrie use their own ship as a decoy to draw out Captain Cyclopes and his gang. The pirates close in to inspect their new prize.

The Valkyrie spring their trap. Early in the fighting one of "Da Gurlz" is shot down by Valarie's LRF slugthrower. Grim and Vinnie take cover in a rocky outcropping while the Captain and the Ductrats make a long flanking maneuver.

The fighting gets serious. Da Gurlz rush forward and shoot at Vera on the hill but they are gunned down in turn by the Valkyrie. Captain Cyclops, completely unfazed takes two shots at Vera on the hill and she falls. Kara and Alecia trade shots with Vinnie and Grimm the two pirate quartermasters. Kara takes a would and the Valkrie quickly discover that both pirates have personal magnetic fields. "That's going to make them hard as hell to kill in that position! Flank em!" shouts Valarie.

Captain Cyclopse takes up a positon in the rock after his own personal magnetic field fizzled out and he took two wounds. Valarie fires a hail of lead into his position and the Captain goes down. "Die Scum!" she exclaims.

Kara and The Duct Rats shoot it out on the other side of the hill. "I'm hit...again" Kara says as the she guns down the last of the crewmen. Vinnie and Grimm snap off several shots with their particle beam rifles but for the most part miss their targets. "Guess we shouldn't have drank the Captain's rum eh Grimm!" says Vinnie.

Vinnie and Grimm attempt to move into better positions seeing that they are getting flanked. Kara and Alecia charge Vinnie who puts up a stronger than expected defense. Alecia is wounded in the exchange but they take the pirate down. "Take that Sucka'" Alicia stays as she kicks Vinnie in the head.

Kara then moves up to get in a better position to take out Grimm but Valarie shoots the last pirate down with a barrage of fully automatic fire.

"Damn that was a hard win" says Valarie. "Those people better pay up" replies Kara.

Note: I ran the Bloodborn Pirates who suffered their first loss in this fight. My wife and Daughter ran the Valkyrie. This is the first time we have played with the Bounty Hunter crew and it's a nasty crew to face. The scenario was "Ambush". The Pirates has Tertiary objective as a dirty trick with Assassination and Delaying action as their secondary objectives. The achieved both of these objectives by Assassinating Vera and lasting for over 6 rounds. The Valkyrie had "Faulty Technology" as a dirty trick which they used on Captain Cyclopes's Personal Magnetic Field and their secondary objective was also delaying action. The Valkyrie won the primary objective as well and their faction objective and their secondary objective. A clear victory for this bounty hunting crew.

AE Bounty Battle Report " Boon's Irregulars assault a smuggler's hideout

A truck pulls up outside the hideout of the crew of the "Hotrod Pricess"

Whisper the crew's hacker points out the window. "Hey boss these must be the guys my contact back at Statin 42 told me about". Vincent the crews pilot looks out the window "Alright Lisa and I will go see what they want You guys stay here and cover us". "Hey it's going to be hard for us to cover you with this storm blowing in" replies Tommy.

Several men and women get out of the truck and spread out. They seem to be armed and they start making their way towards the old abandoned com bunker that the smugglers are using as a base. Vincent and Lisa take cover behind some rocks. "They don't look friendly" Lisa says.

The Storm is making it hard to see very far ahead. Redjack scans the field in front of him and sees some movement over near some old fuel barrels. "Got you" he says under his breath. A shot rings out and Lisa is struck in the arm by a high caliber bullet. Moments later another shot hits Vincent in the leg.

Vincent and Lisa flee away from the sniper. "Damn that guy is good!" Vincent says as he ducks behind an old crate.

Vincent hears the sound of boots splashing through the mud behind him. He spins around and brings his boosted particle beam pistol "Betty" to bear on a large target. Chuck goes down screaming and clutching his leg as the beam burns through his thigh.

Vincent and Lisa reach the bunker as the intruders close in. Tommy and Mike spot Carson Boon the leader of the militia group "Boon's Irregulars" moving up along the edge of an old crater. The pair opens fire and several shots ping off Boon's personal magnetic field although one shot gets through. "Damn it!" Whisper yells. "I was trying to hack that idiot's field but it's defense software kicked in and gave me a virus!"

From inside the bunker the smugglers put up a strong defense as the militia members move in. The bunker was built for a full scale war and most of the militia members shots are in vain. Whisper continues to try and hack Carson Boon's personal magnetic field. "I got it!" he exclaims.

At almost that exact moment Boon appears in the doorway of the bunker and open fires on the first target he sees. Whisper goes down in a hail of fire before he is even aware of his attacker. Tommy and Mike are both gunned down moments later by Redjack.

The fight turns desperate. Boon and Vincent tangle briefly in hand to hand but Vincent give boon the slip and makes a break for the door. He turns and snaps off another shot which hits Boon in the shoulder. Lisa guns down two militia members hiding near some rocks but more close in.

Vincent takes another shot at Boon and hits him in the arm then turns and runs but Red lifts his rifle and takes a whot. Vincent goes down shot in the back by a green militia member. "That's for Chuck you bastard!" Red yells. Bleeding from several wounds Boon opens up on Lisa and takes the last smuggler down. Bonnie walks into the bunker and looks around at the carnage. "Hey Boon isn't that the hacker we were suppose to capture?" Boon just shrugs.

Note: This is the first game of AE bounty I have run with my home brew smugglers list. Even though they were wiped out to the man I felt the list did exactly what it was suppose to do. I did forget that Vincent the crew's pilot has a personal magnetic field which would have helped him resist the wounds he took but I don't think that would have changed things in the end. I'll be posting the crew stats for the smugglers and my rules for this in the next day or so. We were afraid that the hacker rules would be too powerful but they seemed quite balanced. The hacker got two viruses trying to hack and only managed to hack one piece of gear although he did fry Boon's field.

I think we are about ready to begin an actual AE Bounty campaign based in our Spaceport setting. We just need to finish a couple more projects and play a few more practice games.