The Company Rules #8: Undiscovered Country

The Company Rules #8: Undiscovered Country

Two trooper teams per side, both forces must plant four beacons in a square grid.  First to get all beacons wins.  Oh, and there is an EW problem with this world, all electronics tests (shooting, setting beacons, missiles etc have a 50% chance of failure.

Peaceful, for now

Hajunka Marines are fed up with this place, time to plant the retrieval beacons and blow this joint

Biomass, we need to call the cube to assimilate the biomass

Both sides jockey for position.  Hajunka opts to split up, one team to pin down the Borg, the other to plant beacons.  The Borg stay together

1-4 of 8 go on overwatch, 5-8 of 8 move to plant beacons

Hajunka heavy fire team sneaks up on the Borg

Hajunka get the first beacon up and running (Google is doing something odd, this shouldn't be sideways)

Borg fail to get beacons up

1-4 of 8 open up on the Marines, scoring poorly (its the EW disruption of firing)

Hajunka fire back, same problem, no hits

Hajunka move on, trying to set more beacons

The Borg modulate their phasers and score hits on the Marines

The Marines have some luck in return

Marines hustle to get beacons up - they keep failing their EW test

The Borg get two beacons running

Shots trade ineffectually in the middle

Still no beacons?  Time to do something different paerhaps

Oh no, the Borg go all out launching salvos of ballistics at the central marines

One down

Two down

KaSplat, all down (best round of Ballistics EVER!)

The Borg gain the upper hand in the center

But, the Marines do get another beacon running

More than can be said of the Borg

The surviving Marines cover each other as they try to set more beacons

Inflicting more damage on the Borg

But by exposing themselves they start to take hits

Borg and Marines trade hits on the flank while both forces jockey to plant beacons, its now a race to get the last two running

More firing, more wounds

Borg get a beacon up, one to go!

Marines get beacon 3, and try setting beacon 4

Borg get beacon 3, both sides need one beacon to win

The Borg go for broke with a Ballistics salvo

Which spectacularly fails to get through, only one missile squeaks by

But it scores hits on the Marine, but not enough to kill him and prevent that beacon

More missiles, the Borg focus on the last Marine setting beacons

This time two missiles get by

Boom!, Marine down, no beacon

Meanwhile, the Borg plant thier last beacon.  the Cube is on its way.  Win for the Borg.

Alas, the last two survivors are destined to be assimilated...

The field at the end

 

What a cracking good game.   There was lots of firing, trading wounds, drama from beacons failing and a couple of fun spectacles from the missiles.  It really came down to that last round of firing, if it has failed the Marines (who won initiative) could have got their beacon up before the Borg. 

This is one of the reasons why I really enjoyed picking up and playing these rules.  The game is small, fast and the fate of a force really can pivot mid-game.  Fun a small (and cheap) packet!