Star Wars Campaign Game 23 – Kashyyk Endgame

Wookies on a balloon!

Scenario

During the previous ground action, the Imperials managed to keep the shield generator in action long enough to allow the cloning materials to be evacuated out-system. 

Shin Hati occupies a Command Post, coordinating the retreat of the last Imperial Remnants off planet. Wookies lead the Rebel Assault on Shin's position. How long can she hold out?

Set Up

The table is 3’ x 3’, on Kashyyk. The Imperials set up first, with Shin and at least the Scout Sniper inside the Command Post, and the rest within the semi-circle marked off the western table edge. The Rebels set up second, within 6” of the eastern table edge. The Wookie balloon is at Low Altitude.

Special Rules

Reinforcements:

·       Baylan Skoll starts in reserve. Starting at the beginning of the 2^nd turn, the Imperial side rolls a D6; on a 4+ he comes on at the centre of then western table edge.

·       If Baylan does not appear, add 1 to the die roll each subsequent turn. At the beginning of Turn 5, if not already in play, Baylan automatically appears.

Capture:

·       Instead of rolling To Wound an opponent in Close Combat, you may Capture instead. 

Victory Conditions 

The Imperials receive 1 Renown point for every full turn they occupy the Command Post.

                  Baylan Skoll receives 5 Renown points for rescuing Shin Hati.

The Rebel Alliance receives 1 Renown point for every Imperial Stormtrooper or Scout Trooper OOA.

Rebels gain 3 Renown points for capturing the mercenary Shin Hati.

Ending the Game

The game ends when Shin Hati exits the western table edge, or at any rate by the end of Turn 6

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Last Thursday we played the latest game of the ongoing Star Wars Galactic Rebellion Campaign, using Wiley Games' Galactic Heroes 2nd Ed. I confess that I have been lax updating the blog regarding these campaign games. I plan to "fill in the gaps" for those earlier games over the next few weeks.

The Rebels had two squads of Wookies (one riding in a hot air balloon controlled by an astromech droid), a squad of Veteran Troopers (including a flamethrower), a captured AT-PT walker, and leadership provided by Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano.

The Imperials were represented by a wounded Shin Hati leading a squad of Scout Troopers, a squad of Stormtroopers with a rocket launcher, with mercenary Force user Baylan Skoll in reserve, coming on to try and rescue his apprentice.

The Command Post was coordinating the final evacuation of Imperial forces off of Kashyyk, the Wookie homeworld. Below, some views of the table looking towards the west.

As seen in the scenario description above, the scenario was asymmetric, with differing goals for the two sides. The Rebels realized early on that though one of their goals was to capture Shin, if she was put Out of Action those Renown Points would be denied the Imperials. Conversely, the Imperials had a bit of a dilemma: they could try to exfiltrate the wounded Shin early, but she provided protection and stiffening for the defence of the Command Post.

Rebel setup, north to south: Wookies and Sabine in a balloon, more Wookies, Veterans, Ahsoka, and the walker. 

The Imperials had Shin and a Scout Sniper in the CP, with the remainder of the troopers set up behind scatter terrain.

The game started fast and furious. There was a general advance by the Rebels across their entire line. The Sniper, who reigned supreme in the previous ground action, managed to go Out of Ammo with his first action. A missile hit the Wookies in the balloon, putting OOA or wounding a couple. For his trouble, the Imperial missile went OOA after taking fire from the survivors in the balloon.  The walker ran deep, into the southwest corner, setting up future action. Sabine jump packed onto a large tree in the northwest, threading the Imperial northern flank. With only two models inside the CP, a couple of Scouts ran toward it, to help ensure the CP remained in action. 

For his trouble, the Imperial missile went OOA after taking fire from the survivors in the balloon.  Sabine leaped down amongst the Imperials, into close combat, putting an Imperial Stormtrooper Officer OOA. Baylan rolled well and came on from reserve, jumping and running into close combat with Sabine. Baylan, armed with a Deadly lightsaber, rolled a natural "10"; Sabine in turn only rolled a "9", resulting in Sabine going OOA, thrown down into the forest floor. Baylan then put up a Shield. The Walker started its southern flank attack by flaming a couple of Stormtroopers. The Wookies on the ground started to hit the Imperial line, putting another Scout OOA. A Rebel with a Flamer managed to get a stream of fire into the CP, Wounding our putting OOA some of the Scouts inside, and Shocking Shin, who in turn Pushed the Rebel away from cover. 

Next Turn, the Walker finished off a couple of Stormtroopers, stomping them into the ground. Shin Jumped out of the Command post and ran to the relative safety of a large tree. Baylan moved in front of Shin to cover his apprentice, daring anyone to attack him. A surviving Stormtrooper also moved, to cover the north side of the same large tree. Another Wookie was shot out from the balloon's basket. Concentrated Rebel fire left only one Scout Trooper on their feet inside the CP, enough to score another Renown point. Meanwhile, due to horrible Jump rolls, Ahsoka managed to make it to mid-table.

In the fourth turn, a Wookie managed to close with and put OOA the last Stormtrooper. The Imperials then drew the next highest card and Shin made her way off the western table edge, ending the game.

The Imperials scored 3 Renown for holding the Command Post for 3 full Turns, and an additional 5 Renown for Shin's rescue, for a total of 8 Renown. The Rebels scored 8 Renown for putting OOA 8 Imperial Troopers. It was a tie!

This was a very close, tense game, whose outcome was far from certain until the last played card. With neither side having an advantage, the stage is set for the Fourth Season Finale Episode.

Thanks again to Elliot, Michal, Hugh, Dallas, and Rob for joining me for fellowship, beer, and Twinkies.

AHPC XV Submission #5 - Soviet Casualties, Star Wars Characters, and some Special Themed Minis

 This submission is a bit of a mixed bag consisting of wide variety of different miniatures. 

First up is a group of eight 28mm Soviet casualties in Summer uniforms by May '40 Miniatures that I picked up at Historicon last July. Having done a set of German casualties as pin markers last year for AHPC XIV, I thought I would expand my collection with additional markers for some of my other Bolt Action armies. Alas, I could only find the Soviet casualties among all the dealers there. 

The bases were cut from old dining gift cards, and a small box was made to accommodate a die at one end. I then built up the base with Spackle and pushed a figure into it while still wet. Once the Spackle was dry, the figures were then removed and the base covered with sand and painted with craft paints. The figures were primed black with a rattle can and then painted using Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes before being glued back onto the bases. As a final touch, I added some grass flocking and a few tufts of vegetation. 

All eight pin markers

A close up of two of the poses

A close up of the other two poses

Next we have some Star Wars characters by West End Games that were done for some specials themes as part of Dante's Divine Comedy. The figures of miniatures of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker as he appeared in 'Return of the Jedi', and an Imperial officer have been languishing a box with other Star Wars minis, glued on 1 inch washers and with sand added to the base. They were primed black with a rattle can, and then painted with Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes. Lots of black, dark grey, and grey, followed by Nuln Oil.

The last of the Star Wars figures is one of Obi Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. He was painted with Vallejo acrylics (Flat Flesh, Dark Sand, Chocolate Brown, Stone Grey, White) followed by Citadel Reikland Fleshshade on the face and hands, Army Painter Mid Brown Wash on the robes and cloak, and Army Painter Blue Tone on a white base for the light saber. 

The last two figures are ones associated with some special themes drawn from Dante's Divine Comedy, specifically those of Lust and Gluttony. I didn't have anything in my existing inventory to fit the bill of Lust, but was able to find an inexpensive stl file on MyMiniFactory of a Succubus with Chain Whip, that was also described as a Lust Demon. A friend printed the figure for 28mm scale, although it actually stands 32mm tall. The detail is very fine, and the wings and chain whip are quite fragile. I can't see this lasting very long on the tabletop before something gets broken. It was primed black with an airbrush, and then painted (very carefully) with Vallejo acrylics. I kept the palette simple with shades of red and black/dark grey. Here's the final result.

 

The next Circle of Hell was Gluttony. Again I didn't have anything in my stash of 'great unpainted', but was able to find another stl on MyMiniFactory of a fat lord on his throne stuffing his guts. This is a 40mm figure that comes in three pieces - the base, the throne, and the fat lord, which definitely made it easier to paint on the detail. The pieces were primed black with an airbrush and then painted with Vallejo acrylics with a few Citadel washes. Once completed, the separate parts were glued together. Here is our fat town lord with a drumstick on one hand and a goblet in the other, while a broken wine bottle lies at his feet.

 Thanks for stopping by.

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIV #6 - Star Wars & Science Fiction

 As part of last year's painting challenge I completed an assortment of retro Star Wars miniatures that were sculpted by Nevile Stocken of Archive Miniatures within weeks of the first Star Wars movie hitting the theatres. Alas, Stocken couldn't get a licensing agreement, and the line was modified to become 'Star Rovers' with enough changes made to circumvent copyright. These were a gift from a friend who got them from the estate of a mutual friend who had passed away. A total of sixteen figures consisting of Obi-wan Kenobi, Greedo, R2-D2, a Tusken raider, four Jawas, and eight Stormtroopers. With the exception of the Jawas, the figures stand 32-34mm tall. Obi-wan's light saber, and the gaffi stick of the Tusken raider  had broken off at some point. I rebuilt them using lengths of florist wire.

I was initially going to build the structure in the background as a Gondorian tower for Minas Tirith, but the materials I had weren't giving off the right vibe. I decided to add another building to my Tatooine collection instead. It stands 8" tall and the base is 8" on a side.

Somewhere in Mos Eisley

 

Stormtroopers

Tusken, Kenobi, Jawas, Greedo, and R2-D2

More Stormtroopers

 

 The last of the Stocken figures is a Bunny Stormtrooper, one of a variety of modifications to the original sculpts made to avoid copyright infringement. It could easily be converted back to a normal Stormtrooper by snipping off the ears, tail, rabbit teeth and toes. Unfortunately there was only one of these in the bag of minis my friend gave me.

In addition to the Archive miniatures, I also painted up two old-school 25mm Star Wars miniatures of Han Solo and Leia Organa from West End Games. They were painted with Vallejo acrylics, with a wash of Citadel Reikland Fleshshade on the skin areas. In the background is a plastic model kit released by MPC for 'The Return of the Jedi' which is approximately 1/78 scale. A bit small for the figures, but it works well on the game table.

 

Keeping with the Science Fiction genre are two female troopers from the Eurasian Solar Union by Ground Zero Games. I picked these up off eBay years ago with plans to add them to the mix of various manufactures that I painted up as my planetary militia. I had done a few of these for a previous challenge, and I used the same colour scheme using Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes.

Lastly I painted up five resin cast vehicles from Scotia Grendel, consisting of two of their tracked Sci-Fi APCs and three of their wheeled A.T.A.C. APCs. I had purchased these at least fifteen years ago when I was still running an after-school wargames club, and I needed more vehicles for the large number of students who attended. In the end, I never found time to paint them and, after I retired, there was little incentive until now. Once again, the Painting Challenge has provided the necessary motivation to paint up items that have resided in a storage box for over a decade. 

The wolf's head on the back of the tracked APC is actually detail that is cast on the model in slight relief. I painted them white on both vehicles. 

A group shot of all five vehicles

6-wheeled APC, right side and front

6-wheeled APC, back and left side

Tracked APC, front and left side

Tracked APC, right side and back

 All of the figures and vehicles in this post were done for various themed challenges associated with the Challenge Library - Children's Books, Manga and Graphic Novels, Romance,  Science-Fiction, and Lady Sarah's Library Cart. It will be interesting to see what themed tasks will be presented in this year's 'Divine Comedy'.