Because the game is very detail oriented, combat involves hit locations and cover, similar to Six Gun Sound: Blaze of Glory. If you've played that game, you have a LITTLE leg up on this one.
I had intended to run a single game, but the first went so quickly that I reran it.
I did not assign any of the figures attributes, since this was really a learning game for me, and I wanted to keep it somewhat simple.
Here is the basic set-up. It's mid-afternoon in a less fashionable area of New Beginnings. There has been automatic weapons fire in front of a large apartment building, and initial reports are that a Metalhead has gone on the rampage!
A patrol car with 2 officers shows up, but the patrolmen quickly realize that they are seriously out-gunned and call for back-up. It arrives in the form of a SWAT team. The Law Level is 3. This has to do with how many Possible Enemy Forces may show up. I elected to have none on the table to start, but they can be generated by doubles on the activation dice.
Here are the 2 patrolmen on the scene.
Name Rep Fitness People Savvy Science
Sgt. Carter 4 4 3 2 0
PC Doris Swan 4 4 3 2 0
Both are armed with BA Pistols, and have access to a single shotgun in their prowler. They are both wearing bullet-proof vests
Swat Team
Sgt Mims 5 5 4 3 0
Aaron 4 4 3 2 0
Hughes 5 5 3 2 0
Lowenstein 4 4 3 2 0
All are armed with assault rifles, BA pistols. All are wearing tactical armor.
All of the police force were rolled up on the Police chart.
Olga the Metalhead 5 5 0 4 3
She is armed with an assault rifle. She has CyberLegs, giving her a normal move of 12", the ability to leap to the top of a one-story building, and 4d6 on the Fast Move roll.
She has a Cyber right arm, giving her a +2d6 in melee. Because of this arm, she is left-handed.
And she has an Imaging eye, giving her the ability to see through concealment, but not cover.
She uses the Merc QRS.
Here is the setup for the first game:
Turn 1: Police 1, Olga 4
Olga is happy where she is, having cleared the street of all passers-by.
The Swat team splits in two, the first group led by Sgt Mims heading for the near corner of McDoom's. The second group, led by Hughes, fast moves towards the left rear corner. The patrolmen move near the cab of the truck to give whatever help they can.
Turn 2: Police 3 Olga 6
Sgt Mims and Aaron step out from the corner (Meanwhile Lowenstein and Hughes don't get far enough to get her in sight.)
The new In Sight test now comes into play. Basically, each figure in sight roll dice based on their Rep and the situation, looking for successes on rolls of 1,2, or 3 on each d6. I didn't record the actual rolls, just the number of successes. Olga has 4 successes, Sgt Mims, 3, and Aaron, 2, so Olga goes first, putting 2d6 on Mims and 1 on Aaron. Not only does she miss, she runs out of ammo.
Since Mims and Aaron both have their firearms ready, they fire, getting 2 hits each.
Olga is hit in the chest, which OD's her. She was also hit in the gut, the left leg, and a lesser hit in the chest. Had she survived, there might have been damage to her Cyber leg.
Over in 2 turns.
Needless to say, this wasn't enough action for me (though I'm sure it was for Olga), so I played another game. The setup was the same, except this time Olga was to theright, behing the taxi. Her location is determined by the PEF location roll.
Game 2:
Turn 1: Police 6, Olga 6
Since this was over the Law Level of 3, it generated a PEF in front of the the apartment buildings front door, and in sight of Aaron. It was resolved a 5 Law Abiding Citizens. This intitiated a Challenge Test, which Aaron with a ready weapon won 4 successes to 1. The group took one look, and hurried back into the building.
Turn 2: Police 5, Olga 5
Turn 3: Police 5, Olga 2
The Swat team moves forward 8". Only Aaron and Sgt Mims break cover and see Olga behind the taxi. This, of course, brings on an In Sight test!
Olga has 4 successes to 2 for each Swat team member. She fires 2d6 at Mims and 1 at Aaron.
She hits Mims in his off arm which is a Knock Down, and the gut, and he is a bleeder, at -1 to all his stats. She misses Aaron.
Both take Received Fire tests and both receive the Carry On result. Since both are still in sight of each other, they take another In Sight test, and have the same number of successes, firing simultaneously.
Olga his Aaron in the gut, bleeder, and gun arm, Knocked Down.
Aaron hits Olga in the chest, bleeder, and the off arm, which is cyber. This knocks her down, Stunned, and any future action with that arm will be at a -1 to her Rep.
The other 2 Swat team members take the Man Down Test. Hughes passes 2d6 and Carries On. Lowenstein passes 1d6, and Carries On, only because he is with 4" of Hughes, who is Carrying On.
Both of them Fast Move toward Olga, since she is stunned, hoping to get there before she recovers.
Turn 3: Police 5, Olga 6
Hughes makes it to Olga, and captures her.
After the action is all done, and the perp is captured, it's time to do first aid. Sgt Carter moves to Sgt Mims, and attempts first aid. Obviously, he slept through that class, because he's no help at all. Sgt Mims bandages himself, and regains 1 point to all his stats. He only had a single bleeder, reducing him by only 1 point to his stats.
Doris' hands are a lot better, and she has 2 successes on Aaron, so he recovers fully.
Hughes can't figure where to apply pressure, but Olga knows and saves herself.
I'm very pleased for a first game.
Both times, Olga went down, but in the second game she gets to go to trial. And her charges are: Brandishing a weapon Level 3, Endangerment, 2 counts of Mayhem Level 2, and Resisting Arrest. The fact that she is a Metalhead will make her defense all the more difficult. It looks like Hard Labor and deportation after her term(s) are served is the best she can hope for.
Obviously, there is much more here than any game Ed has released so far. There are human and alien races, professions, jobs, and a million ways to get in trouble. For instance, if they had not been police, all the figures would have been subject to various criminal charges. You can have a pistol; you'd just better not draw it in front of witnesses you leave alive! And people do call the cops at the sound of gun fire. A great addition to the stable, that will keep you busy for many a rainy day. Wow!
