Having laid out the parameters and force organizations of the scenario in part 1, let’s get on with the results of the game.

Rescue Run: A Star Wars/Stargrunt Scenario (Part 1)

Michael DiBaggio

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Mar 9

I GM’d a three-player Star Wars game using a hybrid of West End Games’ Star Wars Miniatures Battles rules and Jon Tuffley’s Stargrunt II rules. We used the classic 25mm Star Wars miniatures that WEG …

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Starting Positions

First things first, the Imperial player (Russ) had to decide where he was going to keep the captured rebel spy, Klev Natasken. He reported to me, secretly, that he was in the white building on the far right.

Since the scenario dictated that his Stormtrooper squad was currently on patrol and needed to be kept in reserve, he could only deploy the two Imperial Army squads and his hero, an Imperial officer. One squad was broken up into three separate detachments of 3-men each to guard each building. The figures were placed on the roof for easy sight, but it was understood that they were inside. The second squad was placed in cover behind the building that held the prisoner and the officer was outside the middle building to command the situation.

This was a risky gambit, since, according to the Stargrunt rules, detachments must receive orders from the original squad in order to act. However, Russ judged it worth it in order to keep the rebels guessing about where the prisoner was. Time was on his side, and any delay in finding him would make it more likely for reinforcements or the ISB speeder to arrive on the table and offset his numerical disadvantage.

The Imperial forces Stargrunt values were as follows, with all starting morale values being STEADY since they were TIRED from being in the field. Mission Motivation was MEDIUM.

• Imperial Army Squad A (center bunker) - Regular 1
  -Detachment 1 (left bunker) - Regular 2
  -Detachment 2 (right bunker, guarding the prisoner) - Regular 1

• Imperial Army Squad B (right wing) - Regular 3

• Stormtrooper Squad A (reserve) - Veteran 2

• Imperial Officer - Regular 2

Next, the Rebel Alliance player (Jeff) rolled for his entry points. They ended up coming in on exactly opposite ends of the board, with the Nighthawks squad (8 Infiltrators) coming in on the right and the Nightcrawlers squad (10 infiltrators) coming in on the left. The Alderaanian rebels had a fatigue level of FRESH, giving them a starting morale value of CONFIDENT, and their Mission Motivation was HIGH.

• Nighthawks Squad (right forest) - Elite 1

• Nightcrawlers Squad (left forest) - Elite 2

Shell, commanding the Blacksun Brummbar’s local rebel faction, had a 10-man squad and two heroes, consisting of her RPG characters, Valencia Stella-Mustang and her mining droid R-0K. A random roll determined them already in position in the center forest. Since they had already been following and harassing the Imperials for several weeks, they had a TIRED Fatigue Level, which gave them a starting confidence value of STEADY, and their Mission Motivation was MEDIUM.

• Rebel Squad (center forest) - Regular 2

• Hero/Droid (center forest) - Regular 2

As far as the weather, we would roll every turn to see if the cloud cover increased, thereby decreasing the visible range on the table. But to start with, the visible range was 12” in the clear or 7” in the woods.

Opening Moves

It took three turns for any rebel units to get close enough to actually sight any Imperials. This happened to be the Nighthawks squad of 8 infiltrators on the right side of the forest, who got to the ruined gate right around the same time Imperial Army squad B got on the opposite side.

Imperial Squad B also split into two equal size detachments for some reason, perhaps trying to catch the rebels in a pincer or to keep from being enveloped themselves. This turned into a bit of a fiasco, however, as the squad failed two separate communication rolls to give clear orders to the detachment!

The Battle

The next turn, the rebels got the initiative and the elite infiltrators of the Nighthawks squad tried to get the jump on the Imps guarding the gate. Hoping to maintain the element of surprise, they attacked only with their suppressed projectile weapons, holding back with the second repeating blaster and the missile launcher which surely would have made mince-meat of the Imperial detachment at close range. Unfortunately, their clumsy attempt caused no casualties and did not even suppress the Imperials who, owing to the extreme closeness of danger, sprung immediately into action and repaid the Rebels with interest. Two men were wounded the Rebels were suppressed.

But at least now the Imperials could sound the alarm and call for the much-needed reinforcements. But much hinged on if and when they arrived.

Meanwhile, just around the corner, the other Imperial detachment got pasted by the Blacksun Brummbar’s rebel squad, who stormed out of the forest to catch them in the crossfire while they were distracted by the action at the gate.

Even with the benefit of cover from the ruined perimeter wall, the rebel fusillade was devastating, killing two and wounding one soldier. As the monstrous reptilian Gronks hooted and the disgusting Talz piped on its mouth-kazoo, the steadfast Imperials prepared to receive the inevitable close assault.

On the left flank, the other squad of Alderaanian-aligned infiltrators broke cover and rushed in to form the other claw of the pincer. They were closely supervised/used for cover by Valencia StellaMustang and her mining droid.

The Imperials on the left flank abandoned their bunker and ran to activate the comm tower so as to eliminate some of the penalties in calling in company level support (that is, the AT-ST). Unfortunately for the Empire, their request was denied twice by a surly adjutant who didn’t like their tone.

At least the squad of veteran Stormtroopers took the situation seriously and arrived two turns later on the right flank. They marched quickly up the table to defend the right-most building, which, unbeknownst to the rebels, actually held the captured spy Klev Natasken.

In this affray, they were assisted by a couple of Imperial soldiers manning the building, who poured fire on the already severely hurt Nighthawks squad. But the elite rebels quickly recovered and responded the only way they thought reasonable: by firing a missile into the building! Did we mention they didn’t know that their VIP prisoner was in there?

With the explosive damaged magnified by the confined area of the building, all the Imperials were blown to bits, and so was Klev Natasken. With one swoosh of a missile, the Alderaanian Rebels had destroyed the Empire’s chances of victory, but also their own.

Adding injury to insult, the remaining Imperials swiftly finished off the remnants of the exposed infiltrators squad with raking fire from the flanks.

The rest of the game was academic. Both forces were mauled, and both had lost their main objective. But, since the Imperials couldn’t convince the upper echelons to send them more firepower and had both outnumbered and outmaneuvered them, the ruthless revolutionaries decided to kill as many Imps as possible. There were a lot of one-sided affairs like the assault on the central building, which completely leveled the place and killed the defenders, but made an Audie Murphy-like hero out of the last brave Imperial soldier, who not only survived continuous repeater and grenade fire, but repulsed a close assault

After another indecisive turn, the ISB speeder finally arrived on the battlefield, only to be told by the officer on the scene that if they wanted to interrogate Klev Natasken they would need a lot of squeegees and a time machine. Damning the lieutenant for his ineffectiveness, the Space KGB scuttled off in their armored speeder, promising a severe tax audit.

Although the Imperials got the worst of it in terms of casualties, the battle was effectively a draw. Even the team affiliated with the local brigand Blacksun Brummbar left unsatisfied, since the double agent Natasken wasn’t killed by one of their own missiles.

That’s all she wrote for this battle, but both sides expressed interest in replaying the scenario, thinking they’ve learned a lesson or two. This pleasure, denied to real battlefield commanders, is yet one more reason why wargaming is to be much preferred to the real thing.

Be sure to leave us some Monday morning QB style comments. If you’ve actually played this old SWMB scenario yourself, I’m especially interested in hearing from you.

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