Setup
So I picked up a rule set called G.U.A.R.D.S. and finally found time to play it. I also have two storage containers full of Star Wars Miniatures that haven't been used much lately. This is the perfect chance to put together some storm troopers and shoot some lasers!
What I have done is set up a troop heavy battle that is inspired by the movie, but I didn't want to read through and try to build hero units, I wanted to get in and play. I understand the infantry rules for the most part and want to explore some of that space, and I want to expand my understanding to the vehicles. With those two sections figured out, I figure I can run some really fun scenarios.
With all of the building restrictions in mind, the Rebels are a very heavy melee infantry build that use their little furry friends to try and over-run the installation while the commandos are there to disable/blow up the shield generator.
For the Empire, there is a core of storm troopers and a small sampling of scouts that should distribute very long range fire support. There was also a pair sweet bi-pedal walker that I wanted in on this, so I made 1 walker vehicle to fill out the points for the empire.
Units
Rebels (Model Count: 55 infantry)
Commando Squad (x2)
Models: 4 (1 leader)
Unit Level: Seasoned
Equipment:
-Blaster (Infantry Rifle)
-Thermal Detonators (Thrown Grenades)
-Blast Jacket (Light Armor)
Demolition Squad
Models: 3 (1 leader)
Unit Level: Veteran
Equipment:
-Blaster (Infantry Rifle)
-Thermal Detonators (Thrown Grenades)
-Blast Jacket (Light Armor)
Special Rules: Bunker Buster (This unit can place a high explosive package at the imperial bunker to destroy the generator. The package is placed one turn and detonated the next. If the package is detonated, the Rebels win the game.)
Ewok Pack (x6)
Models: 6
Unit Level: Green
Equipment: 1 axe and 1 dagger each (2 Close Combat Attacks)
Ewok Archers (x2)
Models: 4
Unit Level: Green
Equipment: Bows (Infantry Rifle)
Empire (Model Count: 19 infantry, 1 vehicle)
Storm Trooper Squad (x3)
Models: 5 (1 leader)
Unit Level: Seasoned
Equipment:
-Blaster (Infantry Rifle)
-Thermal Detonators (Thrown Grenades)
-Storm Trooper Armor (Medium Armor)
Scout Squad (x2)
Models: 2 (1 Spotter, 1 Sniper)
Unit Level: Veteran
Equipment:
-Blaster Rifle (Sniper Rifle - Sniper Only)
-Blaster Piston (Pistol - Spotter Only)
-Scout Armor (Light Armor)
AT-ST
Models: 1 Medium Armor Light Walker
Unit Level: Seasoned
Equipment:
-Heavy Repeating Blaster (Heavy Machine Gun)
The Empire is set up in one corner of the board with a building designated to be the Shield Generator that must be defended at all costs. The Rebels deploy diagonally across the table from the Empire.
The 'tide of fur' as I now call it is ready for a fight, and the game begins with us using the 'Move' action once each for a blazing movement range of 6" for everyone. Not much happens on round one as nothing is in range to do anything, but the tide is getting ready to move in, and they smell fear...
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| A nice, blurry picture from above. The Tide is rolling into town...
Turn two starts with one of my Scout Squads deciding that the high ground isn't really worth the time, so they fire off a shot into the tide, scoring 2 unsaved hits and dropping one fur ball. The tide continues to move forward, and then my walker fires of it's heavy repeating blaster scoring 4 of 4 hits! It feels good to get some solid hits in!
After the first activation round's slow movement, I house ruled a new action type that we called 'Hustle' so an infantry squad can move up to 9" for their 2 activation points. It isn't clear if you can do 'Move' twice, so we split the difference. The Rebel scum used this to great advantage on my flank, getting around the on-site storage containers these troopers need for spare walker parts and maybe some cold storage for rations.
Turn 3 is where the Tide crashes into the imperial front, and it turns out that Scout Squads do not do well in a fight.
 
A pack of fur balls spotted the source of some blaster fire and closed in. The scouts went down in the flurry of stone-age weapons. Turns out 12 attacks hurt. "How well does that plastic armor protect you?"
I lucked out in the movement and my walker was just out of range for the charge on turn 3. One of my storm trooper squads took a few arrows and lost 2 brave men. We fired everything we had, but even with the wall of blaster fire, the Tide would not stop. Somehow, we still haven't seen what has sent these local beasts after us. Are there Rebels afoot?
Desperate at the start of Round 4, I need an activation die so I can get my walker out of here! The Tide is too close...
As usual, the dice betray. The Tide gets first activation and my wife wastes no time in wasting my walker.
The rules are not clear if Close Combat attacks work on vehicles. Most other weapons have an Infantry Dice value and a Vehicle Dice value that tell you how many dice to roll depending on the target. Close Combat doesn't make a distinction, so we decided that the ewoks can get there tools into some weak spots and probably do some damage, but it maybe should be tougher to do? To show the 'tougher' part, we applied a +2 penalty to the attack rolls. 6 fur balls still scored 5 hits.
With the 5 hits, I roll and get 3 saves. 2 rolls on the table are: 8 and it doesn't matter because the 8 killed the walker in a big ball of fire, killing the crew.
With the walker down, the commando squads finally made it into position to help the archers put shots into my storm troopers. The masses of fire were just too much before the wave of fur overtook the rest of my main front.
One ewok was a hero this day. In 3 bouts of blaster fire and a thermal detonator, he lost all of his comrades. Unwilling to let their lives be lost in vein, he charged fearlessly into battle against these white terrors that live in his forests. Making 8 saving throws on 9+ to save, this beast rolled into a squad of storm troopers taking two gun butts to the head, still chopping down two of his foes and watching another pack swoop in to finish off the last two troopers.
By round 5, the Scout Squad that was left on the top of the bunker is all that remains of the imperial forces. Armed only with a Blaster Rifle and a Blaster Pistol, the scouts hold their ground firing into the freshly revealed demolitions team headed strait for the generator.
There isn't much to be done as the Tide of Fur rolls over the last bastion of defense right after the spotter takes a blaster shot to his bucket, leaving the sniper alone to be mauled by mini bears.
By the end of the fight, the Rebels had lost a total of 17 ewoks (2 of which were archers) and no commando models.
The imperial forces were eliminated to the man. Quantity won over Quality by a long shot.
Wrap Up
The game went reasonably well with all things considered. I think we missed one retreat that should have happened on one of the Ewok Packs. Otherwise, I learned 3 things:
Sniper Rifles Don't Feel Like Sniper Rifles-
The rifles have a great 32" shooting range and 2 Infantry Dice. They would be solid in large numbers, but they do not feel like sniper rifles. Shooting into a mob and putting 1 suppression on a unit might slow them down, but I was expecting them to feel more like the 'one shot one kill' type of weapon. The way they are set up, they don't play they way I expect. These should maybe cause suppression and remove a model for 1 Attack Die. That would maybe give them a better feel.
Vehicles Need More Guns!-
I couldn't find clear rules on how to equip a vehicle, so I grabbed a support weapon. Turns out, I should have put 3 heavy machine guns on the walker. 4 dice was not enough for the points it cost in my army. I needed to be able to wipe out an entire squad of fuzz, not just slow one down and maybe do some damage. It also seems that a vehicle with 1 gun or 100 guns costs the same. I know the rules are still being refined, but I think some guidance for weapon systems limitations would be a good add for these.
Also, maybe clearing up that Close Combat thing would be good too. I think what my wife and I did works ok, but that mob of ewoks is 36 points and my walker was 130. I know I under equipped my unit now that I have played, but it did not feel like it was even 60 points worth of unit.
Close Combat Kills -
The suppression mechanic is the key mechanic to this game. It sort of acts like a shield that refreshes itself after every activation though, so ranged attack hits can be 'soaked' by suppression markers instead of losing fighting power. Close Combat attacks don't allow suppression to be taken, casualties only. I didn't think that 6 bear folk with two attacks would be so devastating. I guess I should have done some math and figured out how many dice that is and realized that those hits are going to kill, not just scare someone.
Signing Off
At any rate, my wife and I had a pretty good time. I hope we play a few more games and iron out some of the rules confusion. I would like to field a few more vehicles, but they don't seem to be worth the points. We will likely stick to non-hero units for a few more games. On top of that, we haven't even gotten to Command Points and Special Abilities yet! So much to do!
As always, happy gaming!
-Zenfall
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