Howdie. Just last night I participated in a gigantic game, the Imperial assault on the Rebel Echo Base hidden on the ice planet Hoth. I was tasked by Jayson Gardner ( you may know him from such books as
Where Heroes Dare and
Primera Battala ) and Bryan Miley ( of
No More Room in Hell infamy ) to complete vehicle and infantry stats for this game, using my current sci fi rules system Zero Sum Oblivion.
Zero Sum Oblivion was not written with the Star Wars universe in mind... but it was written to allow players to develop their own troops and backgrounds to meet their expectations of a sci fi gaming system. In the event, the troops were statted out with no trouble. The vehicles were a bit trickier, as it was important for the game to proceed like the battle as shown in the movie The Empire Strikes Back. In the end, it seemed to work out, as the Rebel players desperately tried to stop the slowly advancing AT-ATs. Dozens of storm troopers, and most of the supporting AT-STs, would crumple to the snowy ground under withering Rebel fire... but at the same time, one after another of the snow speeder crashed, as Rebel ATGAR and DF.9 guns were silenced, and the defensive trenches cleared of Rebel infantry.
Ultimately, the Rebel leaders would concede defeat once all three AT-ATs had moved into close range to the power generator. There are rumors of a continuation fight in the Rebel complex, as storm troopers fight corridor by corridor, room by room, to cleanse Echo Base of its Rebel infestation....
Staging prior to start of game.... the AT-ATs and AT-STs would start at the table edge.
Here, the Imperial infantry are advanced into their starting positions.... no one seems eager to take the big open spot in the middle. Commander Gardner declared that even open snow conferred incidental (-1) cover. The storm troopers would have to trust in their Emperor and the quality of their armor.
Rebel Speeders are unleashed.... and the carnage begins.
A break in the action, for Wampa cake... what does it look like from inside Echo Base....
The storm troopers on the Imperial left flank take heavy casualties but empty the trenches to their front... Rebel commanders desperately try to move more units to protect the hangar... on the Imperial right, losses are lighter and the Rebels have little left to stop the storm trooper advance. The battlefield is lit by numerous burning wrecks, including one area known as the bonfire of death (as everything near to it seemed to erupt in flames sooner or later).
The final Rebel gambit was to use troop carts to deploy additional Rebel forces from deeper inside the base... you can see one troop cart empty, all of its infantry occupants gunned down without a chance to even fire a single shot. The AT-ATs were now in close range to the generator, and the battle comes to a close.
It was a great game, I personally had a lot of fun, thanks to Jayson and Bryan for including me in this Hoth battle. I think overall my stats for the game elements worked pretty well... unfortunately no Rebel speeder had the chance to try a harpoon cable attack (they were making every effort to gain position to do this), and ultimately "no AT-AT was harmed in the making of this game" to the misery of the Rebel commanders.
Ever seen what a Wampa can do to a storm trooper, son? Well we wanted to find out. 3 Wampas against 16 storm troopers...
3 dead Wampas and 8 dead storm troopers. The Wampas are pretty tough, but maybe I needed to go a little bit further with them.
Til next time.....
Once the rules get published I will have to pick a set up. It looks like a good time.
ReplyDeleteColKG