IHMN: The Good, the Bad, the Weird

My first event at the Guns of August game con was IHMN: the Good, the Bad, the Weird, which was based off the movie plus a few twists. The time is the mid 1930's; the setting, Japanese-controlled Manchuria.

The table had a square walled courtyard in the middle and a scattering of buildings and hillocks around it. The courtyard had gateways opening east and west; inside the courtyard was a coterie of cultists, surrounding the McGuffin.

Four forces started at the table corners and set out to capture the McGuffin. In the southwest, my Red Sash Gang of bandits, plus Park Chang-yi (the Bad). To the northwest, a squad of the Japanese Army, plus Yoon Tae-goo (the Weird). Northeast, Faction A of a Chinese warlord's army, plus the bounty hunter Park Do-won (the Good). And southeast, Faction B of the warlord's army, assault troops with submachineguns. The three heroes could have been used separately from the forces they started with, but none of the players took that route. Each of the players had about a dozen figures.

In early turns, the Japanese and Faction A advanced towards their corners of the courtyard, my forces moved onto a rise to get a line on the Japanese, and Faction B advanced towards me. I pointed out to the Faction B commander that my rifles outranged his SMGs, and mentioned that he could speed up his promotion by arranging a vacancy in the captaincy of Faction A. Prodded by a sprinkling of rifle fire that he couldn't effectively return, he took the message to heart and withdrew to the east.

I advanced carefully, getting into position where I could cover the western courtyard entrance. Meanwhile Faction A deployed half its men against the Japanese and sent the other half, led by the fearless Park Do-won, into the cultists' lair. On the west, the Japanese mirrored their deployment, although they were marginally distracted by bandit bullets. Only "marginally", though, as my bandits evidently went to the Stormtrooper School of Marksmanship. I rolled 3s so often that we concluded that my forces must be a Triad gang.

The game master announced that, now that outsiders had violated the sanctuary, on every cultist turn he would roll d%; on a 01 result, Something Bad would happen. ("Something Bad" could have been a Yeti, or Cthulhu, or a dozen giant spiders, but the GM never rolled a 01). The Japanese and Faction A forces assaulted the cultists. Faction B dithered for a couple of turns, but eventually started taking potshots at the backs of Faction A. And I continued shooting the air, the ground, the walls, passing birds, everything except the Japanese troops I was aiming at.

The Japanese finished their melee opponents first. While Faction A was still entangled with the cultists on their side, the Japanese formed a line and fired indiscriminately into the melee. In the ensuing havoc, they took possession of the McGuffin, and victory.

Due to taking careful cover and not being much of a threat, I only lost one bandit. For all my shooting, firing in volleys with military rifles, my tally was one soldier killed (literally, my last shot in the game) and one knocked down. The latter lay helpless in the open for a couple of turns, exposed to my massed rifle fire--and therefore absolutely safe--before getting up and rejoining his unit in the assault on the cultists.

Game Prep Lessons: put all the unit info (weapon and armor characteristics, effects of Talents) on the unit cards so people don't have to flip back and forth through the books during play. Distill the Quick Reference Sheet down to one page (or less) of what's relevant to that session--no need for Vehicle and Beast stats if they're not going to be in the game. Make copies of the QRS for everyone. Twelve figures is too many for new players with a three hour time slot; start with six or eight and keep reserves at the table edge to replace casualties.

Tactical Lessions: roll better dice.

In Her Majesty's Name: Scramble for a Wreck

As a refresher before Guns of August, I put another solo scenario on the table. A Martian sky sailer has crashed at a village in the Khingan Mountains in northern China. Who knows what secrets it might hold? Goovernment forces are on their way to secure the site--but so is a force from the Black Dragon Tong!

The map is 22 x 36 with a dozen huts scattered around a central firepit, with conifers along the southern edge. Smaller firepits trail smoke, north-to-south; firing into smoke is -1, firing through smoke is -2. The wreck of the Martian vessel is in the northeast corner. There are five markers scattered among the huts, plus two more are on the Martian vessel, each covering a d6 with a random score; carrying off that marker earns that score. In addition, each enemy Leader is worth 5 VP, as is a captured Walker; other combatants are worth 1VP each.

The Black Dragon Tong (246 points):

• Wu Jen (Clouding Men's Minds, Levitate, Venom)
• Tong Lieutenant
• 2 x Dragon Warrior
• 3 x Tong Member
• 6 x Boxer (3 muzzle loader, 3 club)

The Chinese Army (adapted from the USMC list) (248 points):

• Captain (Leader +2, Tough, Duellist)
• Sergeant
• 6 x Soldier (Bayonet Drill)
• Scout Walker (operator one of the 6 soldiers)

The Army enters from the eastern half of the south edge, the Tong from the northern half of the west edge.

On turn 1 the Tong warriors rush in--several of them have extra speed, and most of them don't have firearms so they have no reason not to Run. The soldiers, moving more sedately, march up the east side, except for Private Shen (who rushes for the southwestern hut) and Sergeant Wang (who yells "I'll cover you!" and settles in with his rifle). The soldiers fire a few shots, and miss; their adversaries, all having moved and only a few having firearms, don't bother to reply. The Tong make contact with two markers--both 3's.

Turn 2: Private Shen steps into the southwestern hut with three Boxers hot on his heals. Privates Chu and Lu go into two eastern huts, while the Captain and the Walker stay outside to defend them; Wu Jen charges Captain Lee, and a Dragon heads for the Sergeant. Two more soldiers run to the crashed Martian vessel.
Privates Lu and Chu appear to have been issued blanks instead of live ammo, and  Wu Jen dodges the Captain's revolver bullet. The Scout Walker fires on one of the Tong warriors, but the man is devoted to the Dragon Lady and the bullet merely causes him to stumble.
Two Boxers and Private Shen trade blows, to no effect. Captain Lee slashes Wu Jen, but the Black Dragon master ignores the wound. He leaps into a Thousand Crane Strike and smashes the Captain to the mud. Things are looking grim for the Army, although they do have possession--at the moment--of four VP tokens worth 14 VP.

Turn 3: Private Shen is still stuck in a hut, facing two Boxers. The other privates grab their loot and withdraw; the Walker and the Sergeant stay in place to cover them. Wu Jen intercepts one of he Army men; the Tong Leader and two of his henchmen attack the Walker, while one of the Dragon Warriors attacks the Sergeant. Two Boxers carry their loot off the table; the score now stands at Tong 11, Army 0.
No shooting, as everyone who has Line of Fire is already in melee. The Tong in contact with the Walker could shoot, but between its high armor and their "Moved" penalty, they couldn't hit.
As the Dragon Warrior runs up to him, the grizzled Sergeant takes two quick steps and lunges with the bayonet, skewering his target--but the power of the Dragon is stong in this one, and he staggers but does not fall. His counterstroke lays the Sergeant low. Private Shen puts down one of his assailants. Wu Jen, perhaps a little overconfident after his easy triumph over Captain Lee, swings at Private Quan but misses. The Walker and three Tong members trade blows to no effect.

Turn 4: The Army wins the initiative yet again. Two soldiers race to safety, and the Walker withdraws with Tong members trailing behind. One of them catches up to the fighting machine, and narrowly dodges its Steam Fist. Private Shen disposes of his remaining foe in the southwest hut. Just south of the Martian wreck, Wu Jen smiles evilly at Private Quan, gathering his chi...and then the ghost of Captain Lee possesses the soldier, and the Black Dragon Master suddenly finds himself on his knees, run through by the bayonet! He looks down in shocked disbelief, clutches the blade, climbs heavily to his feet...and then falls dead!

Turn 5:  Private Shen grabs his Martian artifact, races out of the hut and away to safety. Private Quan runs to the Walker, which is still at bay facing two Tong fighters. And the wily Sergeant rises to his feet again!
The Sergeant's "Rifle butt to the knee, barrel to the chin" puts down the wounded Dragon; however, the second Dragon brings his halbard down hard, and this time the Sergeant won't be getting up again. A few yards east, the Walker's steam fist smashes one of the Tong.

Turn 6: Private Quan leaves the field, leaving the Walker to face two Tong members and the remaining Dragon Warrior, while the Tong Lieutenant and two Boxers mill around on the west side. The Dragon Warrior takes a might swing at the iron man, and watches his halbard head snap in two. The Steam Fist punches back, but the Warriuor is still under the effects of opium and the blow does not phase him.

At this point the Army has all five Privates off the board, with 19 points of Martian loot; Wu Jen, a Dragon Warrior, a Tong Fighter, and two Boxers have fallen, for 9, bringing the Army total to 28. The Black Dragon Tong has 6 points of loot, plus the Captain and the Sergeant for another 6, bringing the total to 12. Even if they manage to down the Walker, that will only bring them to 17. A glorious victory for the Army!

For any of the Victory Point dice, if the score showing had been a 6, I'd have rolled another die: 1-3, nothing unusual; 4-5, it's Explosive; on a 6, it's a Thark survivor of the sky sailer...armed and irritable. But they were all 5 and below.

Lessons learned:
Melee ability is important. Martial artists are fast, and even if they don't make it into contact, a -3 for Running Target and another -2 or -3 for their Speed makes it hard to hit them in the Shooting phase.

Armored Walkers are tough.

And if the dice have it in for you, there's nothing you can do. Private Quan rolled an Attack roll 10, Wu Jen got a Pluck roll of 1, and then his Fanatic's reroll was also 1 Clearly Private Quan had supernatural aid....