Gunfight in Grozniansk - a neo-Sov Space Weirdos shootout AAR
Background
In the old centre of the ruined city of Grozniansk a patrol of Federal Special Forces edge through the rubble. Their mission is to locate a computer containing vital information that was left in an apartment by a government official. With the forces of the local militia commander Bashtaev the Grey Wolf operating in the area, will they be able to succeed in their mission and safely extricate themselves from the rubble?
The forces
The Militia forces are classed as Fanatics and are all armed with Auto rifles (Assault rifles) apart from one armed with an Auto Cannon (LMG).
The Federal Special Forces are also all armed with Auto rifles (Assault rifles) apart from one armed with a sniper rifle.
The full stats for both forces can be found here.
Table Set up
I played the game on a mat that measured 23in x 31in. This is slightly larger than the normal 24in square area for 75pt Space Weirdos games. However, I needed to have enough space for the 4 large damaged apartment blocks and still have room to fight over the central crossroads. I placed piles of rubble on the streets and a destroyed military truck at the crossroads. There is little in the way of clear line of sight. The computer is located in the yellow apartment block top left in the photo.
The Militia win the initiative roll. Bashtaev uses 2 actions to move up towards the ruined vehicle and uses his third move to open fire on Senior Sergeant Orlov. The dice are rolled with both combatants scoring the same the attack is deemed to have missed. Activation now passes to the Federals.
Senior Sergeant Orlov activates. After being fired upon, he chooses to use 2 actions to move to enter the nearest building and get under cover. That end his activation.
Usumov moves forward to support Bashtaev using 2 actions. Having moved it reduces his firepower and his shot misses.
Corporal Pekarsky moves into the building to support Sergeant Orlov.
Edilov moves up hugging the side of the building.
Private Kukushkin take 2 moves towards the Militia and opens fire on Edilov but his shots are wild and he misses.
Ibragimov moves up to support Bashtaev on his right flank and fires on Private Kukushkin. He hits so Kukushkin must roll on the Under Fire table. The result is Snap Shot so he automatically returns fire at -1DT but there’s no effect.
The last Federal soldier Private Gruzin now uses 2 actions to move up to support his comrade Kukushkin. He also fires on Ibragimov. He hits and the roll on the Under Fire table is Out of action. First blood to the Federalists.
The last man to activate is the militia man Magomadov, who takes 2 actions to move up and take the fallen Ibragimov’s position. He opens up on the Federalist who killed his brother militia man. Obviously rattled by the fall of Ibragimov his fire is wild and he misses.
Turn Two
Again the Militia win the initiative roll. Usumov uses all 3 of his actions to open up on the Federal soldiers with his Auto Cannon hitting once. The roll on the Under Fire Table determines that Private Kukushkin is Down and staggered.
Private Gruzin returns fires on the Auto Cannon operator. He uses one action as an Aim and the other two actions to Shoot. He hits twice but the first roll alone is enough as it’s twice the defence dice, and the roll with the additional modifier on the Under Fire Table sees Usumov taken out of action.
Seeking vengeance on the unbelievers, Bashtaev takes a leaf out of the Federalist’s book and spends an action to aim and fires twice on Gruzin. He doesn’t have the same success though missing with both shots.
Using the gunfight to his advantage, Senior Sergeant Orlov uses 2 Move actions to slip out the back of the building he was occupying to take cover by the side of his objective - the yellow building.
Being a highly strung type Magomadov doesn’t bother aiming and uses all three of his actions to Shoot at Gruzin. On two of the three rolls the soldier rolls better defence dice and on the third roll the extra point of defence that his heavy armour gives him nullifies the firing. If he survives Private Gruzin will be a legend in his unit for coming through so much fire unscathed.
The next Federal soldier to activate is the sniper Corporal Pekarsky. He uses his actions to climb up a floor in the building he is in and gain a good place for shooting next turn.
Edilov is the last Militia to activate. He makes a Move action then an Aim action and then fires on Gruzin. It’s a hit and a roll on the Under Fire Table is a 10! Gruzin’s luck has finally deserted him and he’s Out of Action!
The last model to activate is Private Kukushkin who had become Down and Staggered at the start of the round. He fails his Recover roll so stays out for the count.
Turn Three
For the third round running the Militia get the initiative. Bashtaev takes two Move actions to where the fallen Gruzin lies and with his third action despatches the unconscious soldier. (12:49)
This may not have been the Grey Wolf’s cleverest move as he is now in line of sight of the sniper Corporal Pekarsky. He uses one action to Aim increasing his die to 2D12 and rolls 17 against a response of 4. Things aren’t looking good for the Holy man and the roll of 8 and +3 modifier on the Under Fire Table unsurprisingly sees him put Out of action.
Seeing the leader fall Edilov has few options open to him so he holds his position and hunkers down behind the wrecked truck.
Seizing the moment Senior Sergeant Orlov takes Aim and Shoots twice at Edilov. The first shot hits and Edilov is
Staggered. The second shot also hits with a Dive for cover result which has no effect as he’s already
Staggered.
Magomadov takes a Move action to better position himself and then takes two Shoot actions at Senior Sergeant Orlov. Both shots miss.
Turn Four
The militia have lost their leader and must check against Willpower. They pass and can carry on the fight.
Finally, the Federal troops win the initiative roll. Corporal Pekarsky takes aim on Magomadov and Shoots. He rolls 16 against 5 and gains another +3 on the Under fire table. Rolling a 10 the modifier is not even needed, and Pekarsky claims his second kill as Magomadov falls.
In his staggered condition, Edilov has only one action open to him, he passes his Recover roll and stands
Senior Sergeant Orlov takes Aim on the recovered Edilov and Shoots twice. Strangely his aimed shot misses, but he scores a whopping 13 against 7 for the next shot. The roll on the Under Fire Table means Edilov is now Down and Staggered, he’s had a hard time of it.
Turn Five
Bizarrely as they only have one figure left and he’s Down and Staggered, the Militia once again gain initiative. Edilov once again passes his test and Recovers only for Senior Sergeant Orlov to take aim and Shoot him twice. The first shot misses but the second hits the last remaining militia man finally putting him Out of action.
Victory to the Federal Forces. Senior Sergeant Orlov and Corporal Pekarsky now search the yellow house to recover the computer and complete their mission. The two old comrades have succeeded. So what if they lost a couple of men on the way, that’s what they were there for!
Conclusion
This was a great game. I really like Space Weirdos, it's a deceptively simple game that allows you to add the depth through the background and narrative you put in. The dice shift mechanic worked well and reminded me of some of the Ambush Alley mechanics which is a game I love. Space Weirdos is an individual level game whereas Ambush Alley is team/squad level. I've also got Sword Weirdos which shares many of the mechanics and I'm looking forward to playing both the games more.
I don't have any Sci-Fi figures so I used some of the post-Apocalyptic Eastern European types that I bought originally for Zona Alfa, which I've yet to play! They are all 20mm Elhiem. The buildings are the Berlin Buildings from Commission Figurines. The cobblestones are Metcalfe model railway sheets. The rubble piles are scratch built using any old junk I had lying around at the time. This was mainly MDF, plasticard, cork, sand, small stones and foamcore.
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