Knyghte, Pyke & Sworde: Objective Battle

 Hey!  It's minis time again!  Finally!

I asked some folks what I should play next, and they said KPS again, so don't blame me.  Unfortunately, the short notice prevented me from painting up new guys, which really is a shame, but I decided instead to mix it up by playing an "Objective" battle this time.

I'm playing both sides, as usual, Blue vs. Red again.  To get objectives, each side rolls twice on a table, in the open, but then secretly chooses one of the two objectives.  The objectives are then revealed, and both sides roll for deployment type.  Blue ended up with "Find the Loot" (secure one of three random tokens) and Red got "Slay the Leader" (kill best opposing Captain), and for deployment I rolled the relatively boring "All Forward", which is just a normal "everybody starts on their side" setup.  The game will only last 4 turns.  That doesn't sound like a lot, but man, there was so much blood in so few turns!

Rolling for Charisma, the Blue Captain gets 6, and the Red Captain gets 1.  Sure, that seems fair.  (Actually, it is pretty fair because I got confused about who had how many points and basically forgot to use more than one.)

The ruins outside of Bombston.

Three Shields, Three Missiles, the Red Captain (in yellow), and a Scout.

Three Missiles, a Scout, three Shields, and the Red Captain (in Green).

Turne 1

Initiative: Red

As often happens, everybody pretty much runs for the center, although unlike a stand-up fight, this is because Blue Captain is trying not to give away his position, and Red is trying to keep his options open.  One of the Blue Missiles chooses not to Run, just in case.

Tense music plays...

Turne 2

Initiative: Red

Red Captain sees his target and bravely charges toward Blue Captain.  He's no dummy, though, and he stays behind the trees where the Blue Missiles can't see him.  Unfortunately, he's still right there in front of three angry Blue Shields, who quickly chop him down.  Now, those Shields were Exhausted from their run, and that caused one Shield to take a Glancing Blow, but it seems like it was probably worth it.  With the Red Captain down, the Red Shields and Red Missiles test Bravery, with the Missiles unfortunately fleeing from what would have been an optimal position!

"CHAAARGE! SHOW NO MERC..." *SQUISH*

The Red Missile troops consider going home.
(Hur. "Red Missle."  Hur. Hur.)

Turne 3

Initiative: Blue

The Red Shields attack the Blue Shields, wounding one and Crit-ing another to death!  The Blue Captain advances through the woods and uses a Charisma point to sic one of the wounded Blue Shields on the Red, getting the poor Red Shield killed in the process.  Nobody said I was great at games.  Also, it turns out that Blue found the correct Loot token on the first try.

Weird.  Why hasn't the Red Captain de-rezzed yet?

Turne 4

Initiative: Tied, so Red

Man, is it Turn 4 already?  There's no way that Red can get to the Blue Captain in time, so they concentrate on denying Blue their objective.  Things get really tactical here.  Blue needs to end the Turn with more guys within 6 inches of the objective than Red, with Individuals (like the Captain and Scouts) counting as two figures.

The Blue Missiles wold like to take a "Hail Mary" shot at the Blue Captain, but the Blue Missiles are closer.  Still, every casualty counts, so they unload on the Blues, but miss.  The Blue Missiles, on the other hand, hit the Red Shields twice, and though one makes his special Shield save to avoid the hit, the other is Knocked-Out.

Those same two remaining Red Shields then charge the Blue Missiles, getting two hits, but only one kill.  Now, both sides are counting up points.  Unfortunately, while they've brought everyone together into the table center, Blue is behind, so the Blue Scout goes for the "easy" kill, attacking a Red Missile.  He hits, but only wounds the Missile trooper.

The Red Scout realizes that this is a perfectly good idea, and does the same thing to the Blue Missiles, only he actually takes one out!  With their second casualty in a Turn, the remaining Blue Missile fails his Bravery test and retreats, removing yet another figure from the battle to secure the objective.

In desperation, the remaining Blue Shield lunges at the Red Scout, but takes a second wound and dies.

Man, look at all those corpses!  Seven survivors out of 16 warriors.

Ye Ende

That's the end of the four turn and the end of the game.  Nobody scored their objectives but adding up the value of slain enemies, Red wins it, 22 to 21.

There. That's done.  Another solid game in just four turns. Very tense, and a bit of a photo finish.  Admittedly, I totally forgot to use the Blue Captain's Charisma, but there's no guarantee that it would have changed the outcome.  I really like the way the chaotic melees feel in this game.  Definitely have to get this in front of a live opponent some day.  Or maybe I'll suck it up and try something on Tabletop Simulator. :)

Ĝis la revido!

Jason "Ludanto" Smith C;E