Another go at Firefight, the skirmish level sci fi game from mantic (and their answer to GW's 40K game). This time we upped the size to 1500 points, and added in a vehicle, some walkers, a flyer, and the use of orders to see how the game played.
Andy took the Marauders, and I took the GCPS. The mission was 'Violent encounter'. VPs are accumulated for each 5% of the enemy's strength destroyed.
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| The initial set-up, with Marauders on the left, GCPS on the right. |
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| GCPS Marines rushed forward into fortified ruins to claim an objective. |
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| Similarly a unit of Goran auxiliaries did the same |
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| Things evolving on the GCPS left - a unit of Orc commandoes backed up with 2 units of Goblin snipers. Marines backed by autocannon and Striders thinking about being aggressive |
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| The other orc commando unit tried to be a bit sneaky, pushing towards the Marines ensconced in the fortified ruins |
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| Andy pushed his missile armed raptor vehicle around the Marines' right flank |
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| Marines in the centre rained fire down on a unit of snipers, eliminating the entire unit (it had been deployed in the forest area at the top of the photo( .. not a lot of resilience there |
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| Suppressions accumulating all across the battlefield |
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| A unit of Marines try to move forward to take the initiative on their left, backed by the fire support of a unit of autocannons, and two striders |
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| However the defensive fire of the commandoes on the hill, equipped with two flamers, caused devastating casualties |
This unit had been nominated under secondary objectives as a 'meat shield'. This meant that their loss did not give VPs to the enemy.
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| Air support arrives for the GCPS |
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| And another air strike ... |
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| Only the sergeant survives from the Marines on the left, and the commandoes opposing them have taken serious fire, with quite a few suppressions |
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| The GCPS fire support platoon equipped with laser cannons is eliminated after coming after serious sniper fire |
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| More air strikes... |
At this stage we realise that the special ability of each side's commander meant that units within 12" can't be Grounded. However both sides have several units grounded at this stage, unable to shake off sufficient suppressions. This proves to be crippling for both sides. The Marauders however still have a unit of Goran auxiliaries, and several units of Goblin snipers very much intact and able to take the initiative on the battlefield.
Secondary objectives included the Marauders gaining 3 VP if their commander is alive at the end of the game. For the GCPS 1 VP was gained for each time an order was rolled for and the number of successes exceeded the number required.
The Marauders were ahead by 1 VP.. a minor victory, and so GCPS pulled back for the night.
I was surprised at how quickly units became grounded. We tended to stick to the terrain, and so I was also surprised at how little manoeuvre there was as a result. It may of course be because we haven't mastered the nuances of the rules yet.
Looking forward to another game at some stage.
I've played a few games of Firefight now and initially we had little maneuver and lots of suppression. You need to remember; each unit has two activations but they can only shoot once. You also really need to use the order system. The game doesn't work properly if you don't. Use your orders to remove suppression and remember that you can also do a Re-Group action to remove suppression.
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