Monday, August 1, 2022

Battle Report - Super Villains Attack!

This is the fifth playtest I have done, but the first one I've taken sufficient notes for to present any kind of after-action summary. The scenario is a combat-focused one, with the villains trying to abscond with three pieces of mysterious technology, while the US Army, aided by a couple of heroes and some local law enforcement, attempt to stop them.




The villains (nominally the Player Characters although this is a solo game) are pretty straightforward, with Solomon Grundy and Namor as heavies, Catwoman as a more mobile operative, and Dr. Sivana with a potentially wide array of useful gadgets. They are aided by NPCs: two mercenary fire teams, and a truck-mounted machine gun (anachronistically, a technical).




They are opposed by a squad of US Infantry, some snipers, a pair of policemen, an officer, a machine-gun team, The Guardian and Nick Fury, with the potential for more reinforcements. If the villains cause enough mayhem (property damage or profoundly excessive violence), they will eventually attract the attention of Superman himself.




One characteristic of the system I am using is that PCs can avoid any negative consequence (anything from damage to enemy reinforcements arriving), but in doing so, they accumulate an unpredictable amount of stress depending on the result of their resistance test. This allows the heroes (or here, villains) to act in as hypercompetent or even superhuman a manner as one might see in a comic book or summer blockbuster.


Round 1: Solomon Grundy opens the battle by charging headlong into the military firing line, hoping to destroy the Browning .50 cal dominating the main approach. Assisted by covering fire from the mercenaries and pushing himself to extra effort, he is able to nearly close the distance without taking any physical damage or even stress.




Namor follows up to confront the police that Grundy bypassed, knocking one out with no return damage. While the two bullet-resistant villains are brute-forcing the direct route, Catwoman scampers across the rooftops while Dr Sivana accompanies a second team of mercenaries up the alley, although the later hesitates involuntarily, and another pair of police enter the area ahead of his path.

 



On the authorities' side, the two snipers target Catwoman, who is able to dodge but accrues one stress. The officer devotes his action to calling for reinforcements, and the remaining feds shoot at Grundy, but to no effect. Finally, the villain NPCs take potshots at the cops and solders, dealing scattered damage.





Round 2: Grundy makes it to the machine gunners and starts stomping! They take damage but aren't done yet. Namor lashes out with his full super strength, easily destroying the remaining policeman and damaging his surroundings as well.




Catwoman bounds further along the rooftops, effortlessly dodging the sniper fire directed her way. For his part, Dr. Sivana pulls out a ray gun, and supported by his mercenaries, finishes off the police blocking his exit from the alley.

Nick Fury heads towards the super-science threat emerging from the alley, while The Guardian and one fire team charges Grundy, and the remaining fire team and both snipers fire upon Namor. Grundy only takes one stress resisting the damage, Namor takes none. Wrapping up the turn, the technical damages a fire team and the mercs near Sivana wound Nick Fury.




Round 3: Grundy and Namor defeat their respective foes, suffering no consequence but an excess of property damage sending the mayhem counter up another tick.


Catwoman moves forward, very nearly in position to hijack the truck with an objective on it




Sivana moves up to blast Fury with the ray gun, exposing himself to return fire in order to get the clearest shot. He injures Nick Fury but his blaster very nearly malfunctions, costing him two stress to prevent the loss of his weapon.



Grundy takes one stress brawling with the Guardian and soldiers, while Catwoman is able to take cover behind the truck to avoid the snipers.

Not confident of his chances against a supervillain, the officer moves to the edge of the battlefield, still radioing for help.

Sivana's mercs gun down Fury, while the other band of mercenaries advance in search of a target.

Round 4:

Catwoman hotwires the flatbed and immediately guns it back towards the lair, weaving between her mighty compatriots in their swirling melees, crouching in the seat to avoid the potshots of the snipers. Sivana orders his mercenaries to join the battle in the center, but they (rather sensibly!) balk. The other mercs, however, join of their own accord.





While the other soldiers' efforts come more or less to naught, the officer's profanity-filled radio diatribe finally bears fruit -  a tank rolls onto the battlefield to even the odds.




Round 5: Namor finishes off the soldiers he is fighting, while Grundy seems to be struggling against the Guardian. 

Catwoman swerves the truck onto the sidewalk, knocking a fire hydrant loose and showering the street in water. 



Sivana, calling in support from the technical, manages to deal some damage to the nearest sniper. The other sniper and the tank both shoot at Namor; even his Atlantean physique is at risk from the big gun, he takes stress to avoid the damage.

Round 6: Grundy keeps trading blows with the Guardian, while Namor charges the officer, but the military man is tougher than he looks, and Namor takes a hit while dealing no damage.




Catwoman escapes with an objective, driving off the battlefield and on to the villainous base!




Dr Sivana finally outguns the sniper, but faces a major consequence and takes four stress to prevent the arrival of serious reinforcements. 




Round 7: At long last, Solomon Grundy defeats his shield-bearing foe, albeit at the cost of an arm!

Namor, on the other hand, seems to have entered his own stalemate, unable to harm or be harmed by the officer.

Sivana shoots at the tank, but its aim is better than his. Diving out of the way to avoid the blast, the doctor maxes out his stress, and is out of the battlefield.




At this point, I call it. With one Villain PC out, and one objective claimed, I think it's a pretty convincing draw. I played the PCs pretty uncreatively, but this was probably roughly compensated for by my uncharacteristic luck with the resistance tests.












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