[renegade scout] 5: the menace of the ruins

[twisted moon]

connie and karen have been trying to find a way to free their shipmates; they have made contact with the leaf dealers, who want to see jamaall and deshane freed. they have agreed to include the two bonehead skins in their plans if they can prove they are trustworthy. to this end they have been asked to track down the remaining members of scabies punks, known distributors of melange, with extreme prejudice.
the leaf dealers have sent two adolescent gang members, dangelo and ludo, with connie and karen. these are ostensibly their guides, but are in fact undertaking this task as an initiation to become full gang members.
on their way through the ruins, looking for the punks' encampment, they discover the reason for their evil reputation when they are ambushed by a band of skulkers.

dangelo and ludo are starport scum armed with baldes and scarp pistols.

skulkers are a tier 3 threat and have the trait Slippery
when moving cautiously skulkers suffer no terrain penalties, can cross obstacles up to their own height at no cost and ignore all risks from dangerous or unstable terrain. as you'll see, i forgot this at the relavent parts of the game.
there are D3+3 skulkers in ambush on the table at the start of the game, one armed with a primitive pistol and the others with primitive rifles.
at the start of each turn a group of D3 more arrive from a random outside edge of a random tile not currently occupied by any of the bonehead skins or the dealers (this could be open to abuse, but I’m playing solo and trust you to play in the spirit of the game should you wish to recreate this skirmish). roll a d10 to see how each is equipped in addition to a blade:

1-2 primitive pistol
3-4 primitive rifle
4-5 shotgun
6-7 frag grenades
8 rattle gun
9 grenade launcher
10 rocket launcher

set up
four skulkers were generated, and one put on each tile in a position of concealment. the bonehead skins and their guides will enter on the closer, left-hand tile with the intention of passing through the mausoleum.
their objective is to exit off the opposite side of the table.



here's the layout of the table with the bonehead skins and their allies coming in on the bottom left.
here are close ups of the hidden skulkers.

 

[twisted moon]

pre-game
there were no pre-game actions.

turn 1
i gave the bonehead skins and co. priority.
ludo moved forward 4”, aiming to move around the right of the altar.
the skulkers took no action.
dangelo moved forward 4”, looking to move around the left of the altar.
the skulkers took no action.
karen moved forwards 3½” behind ludo.
the skulkers took no action.
connie moved forwards 3½” behind dangelo.
the skulkers took no action.

dangelo checked for spotting range and got a total of 12” meaning he can easily see the skulker with with pistol who is in heavy cover on the roof. he takes a shot but misses (due to the cover he can only hit on a 1).
the skulker fires back and also misses.
ludo get 9” for spotting range, so she can also see the skulker on the roof and takes a shot, but misses.
the skulker to the right of the mausoleum takes a shot at ludo at long range and misses.
karen and connie only have line of sight on the skulker with the pistol.
karen rolls 11” spotting range and takes a shot. she misses and runs out of ammo.
the skulker in the tower next to the mausoleum takes a long range shot at ludo but misses.
connie rolls 8” spotting range, shoots at the nearest skulker who is within short range and hits causing a wound and taking him out of action.
the Skulker in the church tower takes a shot at ludo but is out of range.

that ends the turn. here's a shot of the main scene of action at the end of turn 1.



turn 2
three skulkers turn up on the bottom edge of the tile to the left of the mausoleum, armed with a grenade launcher, primitive pistol and primitive rifle respectively.

priority alternates to the skulkers.
the newly arrived skulker with pistol runs 10” towards the mausoleum.
dangelo runs 8” towards the tower in front.
the newly arrived skulker with rifle runs 9” towards the mausoleum.
ludo moves 4” to her left to take cover by a gatepost.
the newly arrived skulker with grenade launcher walks 5” towards the mausoleum.
connie runs 8” out of the left door of the mausoleum and along its external wall.
the skulker with rifle to the right of the mausoleum walks 3” forward to regain line of sight on ludo.
karen walks 4” forwards, getting out of line of sight of the skulkers in front and to the right of her.
the remaining skulkers are happy where they are.

no-one who ran can use ranged combat.
the Skulker in the tower next to the mausoleum shoots at dangelo at short range and hits causing a wound and taking him out of action.
ludo shoots at the skulker above her at long range and runs out of ammo.
the skulker in the church tower shoots at ludo at long range but misses.
karen reloads her scrap rifle.
the skulker with the grenade launcher fires at ludo, but runs out of ammunition.

connie, ludo and karen all pass their morale tests for the loss of dangelo.

that ends the turn. here's a shot of the main scene of action at the end of turn 2.



Turnt 3
another three skulkers arrive on the far edge of the church tile. hese are armed with a primitive rifle, rocket launcher and primitive rifle respectively.

priority alternates to the bonehead skins and co.
ludo runs 8” to shelter by the corner of the church.
the skulker above her walks 2” to regain line of sight.
connie runs 8” up to the tower in front of her.
the skulker with grenade launcher walks 6” (reduced to 4” by 2” of difficult terrain) along the side of the mausoleum.
karen runs 8” following connie into the lee of the tower.
the skulker with pistol runs 12” through the mausoleum behind her.
the skulker with rifle runs 12” behind him.
all three newly arrived skulkers walk 6” parallel with the church wall, towards the most recent sounds of gunfire.

ludo cannot fire as she is sheltering. connie and karen cannot either as they both ran.
none of the other skulkers can fire, either because they do not have line of sight or because their weapons have the slow attribute and cannot move and fire.

here's the table at the end of the turn.

 

[twisted moon]

turn 4
two more skulkers arrive on the side edge of the mausoleum tile, armed with a primitive pistol and a rattle gun respectively.

priority alternates to the skulkers.
the skulker with rifle slightly further from the church walks 6” towards ludo.
ludo runs 8” down the other side of the church.
the newly arrived skulker with pistol steps 1” inside the outer wall of the mausoleum and 5” forward to the corner.
connie walks 3” into cover, ready to give supporting fire to karen.
the skulker in the tower walks 4” to get line of sight on connie.
karen runs 8” passed connie.
the skulker with grenade launcher walks forward 6”.
the skulker with rocket launcher walks 6” into the church.
the skulker with rifle closest to the church walks back 6” to intercept ludo when she comes around the corner.

the skulker on the building next to the mausoleum fires at ludo at long range, misses and runs out of ammunition.
connie fires at the skulker with pistol at the corner of the mausoleum at long range, and runs out of ammunition.
the skulker with grenade launcher fires at long range at ludo, who is in heavy cover, and runs out of ammunition.
the skulker with rattle gun fires at long range at connie, who is in heavy cover, he hits once but fails to wound. connie passes her hit the dirt check.

here's the table at the end of the turn, although ludo's slice of the action is largely off camera.



turn 5
two Skulkers arrive on the starting edge of the ruined building tile, armed with a grenade launcher and shotgun respectively. they are unlikely to have any impact upon the game.

priority alternates to the bonehead skins and co.
ludo runs 8” off the far table edge to safety.
the skulker with pistol who crossed the mausoleum moves 6” to take shelter on the opposite side of connie’s heavy cover.
karen walks 4” off the far table edge to safety.
the Skulker with rifle follows his comrade 6”.
connie walks 4” off the far table edge to safety.

that ends the game.



post-game

connie gains 10 exp. for a total of 16. she increases her attack dice to 2, leaving her with 6 exp.
karen gains 4 exp. for a total of 10. she increases her movement to 5, leaving her with no exp.

dangelo made an immediate recovery and I shall rule he evaded the skulkers and caught up with the rest of the group in the ruins some hours later. he gains 3 exp.
ludo gains 4 exp.

on to the raid on the punk's encampment.