Battle on Endor

 

This week saw the first game with my friend Andrew for about 15 or 16 months.  We decided to go for a Star Wars game and I'd decided Galactic Heroes would be a good rule set and one that Andrew hadn't played before.  It was only on the day of the game that I noticed that we'd actually played GH back in 2019, using the exact same scenario I'd been planning!  Some hasty rethinking was called for so we switched to one from the book with a very familiar plot.

The Rebels, led by Han Solo and Chewbacca are trying to destroy a force field generator on a forest moon to allow the Rebels to destroy the 'Doom Moon' (as it's referred to in the rules, for copyright and comedy reasons).  Opposing them are Boba Fett and IG-88 and a squad of Stormtroopers.

Top Secret Imperial base....

The problem for the Rebels is they have a tight time limit to get the bomb to the generator and 2 figures need to accompany it across the table.  This is where I made my 1st mistake... I'd assumed the table was going to be 3' x 3' but for this scenario it should have been 2' x 2', meaning I was very unlikely to ever get there on time!  I only realised this part way through but never mind!  Han and Chewbacca led the advance, quickly wounding Boba Fett and dodging several shots from the Stormtroopers.  Chewbacca recklessly charged into hand to hand (paw) combat with a Stormtrooper and embarrassingly came of worst, being driven back to the ground and then cruelly shot and killed.

Han continued to trade shots and somehow survived being blasted by Boba's flames which promptly ran out of ammo.  This led to a flurry of 1's on the dice rolling which led to half the figures being out of ammo at one point.  In fact Boba's flames ran out 3 separate times and should probably go back to the shop under warranty.

IG88 hadn't done very much and before he could head off to the battle he suddenly came under now fire from small furry marketing products (note - I didn't have enough Ewoks so had to use Jawas as a less cuddly substitute) 

Jawas Ewoks emerge from
 the undergrowth 

The Ewoks may only have been armed with bows but they were very effective...probably more than the Stormtroopers.  IG88 went down under a hail of arrows and had to crawlmoff into cover to recover.

 Han continued to hold off the Stormtroopers and survive Boba's repeated attempts to toast everyone with his flames.  More Ewoks appeared (these turned up when a Joker was drawn but we decided to limit them to 2 groups as they were proving too powerful).  Andrew then changed tactics and ignored Han, turning his attention to the poor rebels carrying the bomb...if they were despatched the base would be safe.

One Rebel was gunned down and we realised that even if Han and the surviving rebel did nothing but march to the base they would only just get there at the time limit with no time to actually set it off so we called it a night.  The Empires Death Star remained intact and the rebellion was crushed.

Good fun, despite the cock up with the table size... it might have made a difference but I suspect the Heroes would have been gunned down anyway.

Galactic Heroes #2 - Escape from Mos Eisley

So you wait ages for a game of Galactic Heroes and then 2 come along at once!  Since all the figures were still handy after my 1st game last week I re-ran the same scenario again, but this time as a 4 player game (rather than 2) and with a lot of changes to the scenery.   The game was very kindly hosted by Eric the Shed who supplied the fabulous Mos Eisley buildings and scenics... the buildings are actually from his Sudan collection but really look the part, especially when he added in some decorative-only gun turrets and vehicles.

Thanks to a post on the excellent Jim's Wargames Workbench blog, I was also able to use some rather nice Star Wars themed playing cards for the game.  The only confusion came when the rules call for bonuses for One-Eyed Jacks...R2D2 doesn't have eyes!

As before, the scenario ( see my previous post for more info) involves our heroes crossing a desert town to get to a ship with a trusty droid containing half of the vital Death Star plans while also interrogating some random Jawas who have the other half of the plans 

Eric the Shed's fantastic terrain

Since there were 4 players I'd changed the characters round a bit.  We now have a group led by Luke and Princess Leia and a 2nd group of heroes with Han Solo and Chewbacca.  As before the Imperials have Darth Vader and a bunch of stormtroopers but their 2nd squad consisted of some bounty hunters led by Boba Fett and the robot IG-88.

That's a Reek in the background which luckily didn't break loose
(although that was one of the random events)

The city was a suitably complicated maze of alleys and streets and the rebels quickly made their way into town, questioning Jawas as they went.  The Bounty Hunters were doing the same although I get the impression that their techniques were a bit more brutal!  While the stormtroopers cautiously made their way towards the rebels, Darth Vader strode briskly through the streets quickly cutting down 2 of the Rebels and then taking on Chewbacca in a fight.  This was pretty one sided and Chewie was quickly turned into a furry rug...

A running gunfight broke out in the centre of town between Han and the stormtroopers but the Rebels had now secured the 2nd half of the data they required and now needed to get across town to the waiting ship.

Han takes on the Stormtroopers

...while Luke and Leia head for the ship with the droid

Han managed to blast his way past the stormtroopers and Bounty Hunters and made it to the ship (we decided he really ought to be the pilot). The only chance we had of stopping Darth Vader from carving up the rest of the rebels was for Luke to hold him off so, in true Episode 6 style, they faced off with lightsabers.  Luke managed to wound his father (presumably cutting his hand off... DV seems very careless with hands...) and left him in the dust, rushing back to the waiting ship.

Boba Fett had been skulking by the ship but was gunned down in a blaze of surprisingly accurate Blaster fire, leaving IG-88 as the last hope for the Imperials.  Some of the Rebels had boarded the ship but the robot then tried to board too and a point-blank fight took place in the doorway, preventing take off.  He was eventually pushed back, allowing the remaining rebels to board and the ship to blast off from Mos Eisley, with Darth Vader shaking his (remaining) fist in fury, and IG-88 dangling from the undercarriage!

I think with rules like Galactic Heroes/Fistful of Lead, you need to make sure the traits each figure gets are thought out carefully and reflect the setting, otherwise it runs the risk of being a bit generic. The rulebook suggestions (and especially the ones in the GH Codex Galactica supplement help get the traits and design right.

The other really important factor in a setting like Star Wars (or in the Sharpe FFOL games we've played) is that there needs to be a degree of role-playing: everyone plays the characters to suit the story...Luke needs to be heroic, Darth Vader needs to be ruthless etc. Another really fun game with a nail-biting last minute victory for the Rebels... just how it ought to be!