Stardate: 8/30/4004
Mission: Operation Sitting Duck

Crew Manifest for the Bonnie Lass:
Toreck, Security Officer (Silicoid Marine)
Roger Vinci, Helmsman (Human Pilot)
Hannibal, Security Officer (Human Marine)
Villus, Medical Specialist (Tentac Scientist)
Knig’t, Engine Specialist (Canosian Engineer)
Vruxi, (Zoalan Engineer) UNAVAILABLE

Robotic Crew:
Crash (Pilot-Bot)
Bee Bop (Engineer-Bot)
Spinner (Science-Bot)

Mission Log – Operation Sitting Duck: The crew of the Bonnie Lass had little time to enjoy their success from Operation Boot Camp (see previous session report). No sooner had the Teleporter Bay been replaced with an additional Life Support module, the crew got the call from Commodore Xubo for their next mission.

The group arrived at the mission briefing without the services of Vruxi, the Zoallan engineer, who had come down with a case of Carapace Fungus during Operation Boot Camp. However, two new recruits were assigned to the Bonnie Lass for what Commodore Xubo named Operation Sitting Duck. The recruits were quickly introduced as Hannibal, a brawny human marine, and Knig’t, a Canosian engineer with something to prove. Major Vicious Hug, the facetious Tentac Engineer, and Doctor T’Klack, a high ranking medical officer renown for his hypochondria, were also present at the mission briefing.

As the crew got acquainted, Commodore Xubo punched in some coordinates on the holo-map display. Zooming through space, the holo-map finally focused on the Longbottom, a Zoallan frigate in the Sector X-54. The Universal Republic received an emergency distress call from the Longbottom. The ship was taking energy samples from a gas nebula in Sector X-54 when it wandered too close to an unmarked mining planet. The planetary defenses viewed the Longbottom's presence as a threat, and sent small snub fighters out to intercept the ship, while bombarding it from a suborbital missile platform near the planet.

Amazingly, the missiles and snub fighters nearly took out the Longbottom before the crew could react. Science Officer Kurruk of the Longbottom, possibly the only surviving crew member, sent out the distress signal just before the engines were slagged and all the power drained from the ship. The Longbottom is now listless, suffering a relentless attack from the snub fighters and nearby missile relays. Its hull stabilizers can only hold out for so long.

Major Vicious Hug, still fuming at the crew's inability to achieve Speed Factor 9 during the Boot Camp mission, insisted that the crew test the Bonnie Lass' acceleration and engine integrity. Finally, Doctor T'Klack mentioned that with the expected injuries incoming from the crew of the Longbottom, and the current backlog of cloning requests from a few unsuccessful missions, that casualties should be avoided, lest pay get docked.

Mission Objectives:
1) Rescue the Longbottom (from Commodore Xubo)
2) Identify the registry of the attackers (from Commodore Xubo)
3) Achieve Speed Factor 9 (from Major Vicious Hug)
4) Suffer no casualties (from Doctor T'Klack)

Before heading out, the crew named the intrepid bot companions requisitioned from HQ to assist them on their mission -- Crash the Pilot-Bot, Bee Bop the Engineer-Bot and Spinner the Science Bot. As the crew geared up and punched in the hyperspace coordinates, several of them worked together to add some armor plating to Crash and Bee Bop. The marines upgraded the starboard blast cannon to improve accuracy. The trip was brief and unremarkable, but the crew exhibited incredible skill, as all upgrades went off without a hitch.

The Bonnie Lass jumped into the quadrant right in the thick of things. Two small snub fighters were unleashing small payloads of missiles at the crippled Longbottom. Several large gas clouds dotted the horizon, and an orbital data relay station spin silently in a slow orbit around the mining planet.

After getting their bearings, the Bonnie Lass jumped into action, trying to draw the attention of the smaller vessels. Toreck and Hannibal manned the cannons, but realized that the slower rate of fire was not going to get the job done. They both started working on converting the cannons to their multi-fire setting. Meanwhile, Villus started scanning the quadrant -- to ensure no nasty surprises lurked in the nearby gas clouds. Villus eventually shifted focus on the snub fighters, and picked up an unusual energy flux from their missile bay. The missiles were not standard warheads, but seemed to be some new sort of weapon unknown to the Universal Republic!

5) New Mission Objective: Determine nature of new weapon and gain sample, if possible.

Knig't struggled mightily to keep the Bonnie Lass energized, as the rolling ship proved difficult to maneuver through. Despite Bee Bop's assistance, Knig't had a hard time pumping the engines, and the ship slowly lost power. The snub fighters broke off from their attack on the Longbottom and closed in on the Bonnie Lass, blasting away with their cannons.

Trying to buy as much time as possible for his engineer, Roger took a gamble and turned the Bonnie Lass around hard -- putting it on a collision course with one of the ships! Despite the smaller vessel's attempts to veer, Roger ran the ship down. A monstrous collision took place, nearly tearing the smaller craft in two. However, the Bonnie Lass suffered severe damage, as the helm and both life support systems were damaged during the collision.

Hannibal and Toreck quickly left their posts to try and repair the damaged life support. Roger had suffered serious damage as the helm consoles exploded in a shower of sparks, and barely maintained consciousness. Villus rushed to aid the wounded, while Knig't carefully worked his way to the engines and started planning a massive power draw as soon as the ship steadied itself.

Through sheer luck and determination, Hannibal fixed the life support, just as the oxygen levels were dropping dangerously low. At the same time, Knig't patched a power relay in the starboard engine and power coursed through the ship. All systems were soon back online and powered up.

With Roger back at the helm and Knig't redirecting nearly all power to the cannons, Toreck and Hannibal gladly manned the cannons and started firing at the damaged snub fighter. Villus completed a scan of the small ships, and recognized them as the Canosian snub fighters the Briar and the Bramble. Villus also confirmed that the planetary defense structure was also Canosian in design. It looked like the damaged snub fighter was trying to return to the planet, when a shot from the Bonnie Lass struck its engine -- blowing the smaller ship to pieces!

Unfortunately, the ship was very near the Longbottom, and shrapnel from the snub fighter tore several holes in the Zoallan frigate. Small fires and explosions started to dot the surface of the Longbottom, and Villus knew they didn't have much time left.

While focused on taking down the damaged vessel, the crew temporarily lost sight of the second ship, the Bramble. Just then, a volley of missiles streaked from the Bramble and struck the Bonnie Lass. Bracing for impact, the crew instead got a taste of the new weapon Villus had been downloading information on. GravBomb Missiles! The missiles tore into the port engine. Despite doing minimal damage, the concussive nature of the missiles rocked the vessel mightily.

It was all Roger and Crash could to to keep the ship steady as the Bonnie Lass turned to bring both guns to bear on the Bramble. Bearing down on the Bramble, the Bonnie Lass soon caught up to the small vessel. Warning klaxons sounded as soon as the Bonnie Lass got within 3 clicks of the planet -- a barrage of missiles burst through the planet's atmosphere, headed toward the Bonnie Lass from one side while a missile from the Bramble approached from the other! A missile impacted on the Science Bay, tossing Villus around the module. An amazing shot by Hannibal dispatched the second. Villus was able to maintain composure and ECM the Bramble's missile -- sending it straight back into the smaller ship's missile bay!

An enormous explosion tore through the Bramble's missile bay and life support. Soon, the Bonnie Lass received a vox from the Bramble stating the Bramble was standing down and surrendering. The entire crew save the pilot had been decimated by the redirected missile, and life support was failing. Villus instructed them to completely power down their weapons, and to report to the planetary defenses to do the same.

The crew was faced with a dilemma. Shortly after the surrender from the Bramble, the Longbottom's science officer reported that the hull stabilizer was failing, and the Longbottom was falling apart. Realizing they could do nothing for the crew of the Bramble without risking the lives of the Universal Republic crew on the Longbottom, the Bonnie Lass docked with the Longbottom and started tending to the wounded and repairing the damaged ship modules. By the time they reached the Bramble, the crew was dead.

However, the Bramble was repaired to flight worthy, and taken back to Universal Republic headquarters for study. Several of the GravBomb missiles were still intact in the otherwise damaged missile bay. And superior officers would certainly be eager to learn what they could of an unlogged Canosian mining operation deep in Sector X-54.

The crew was met with a hero's welcome and earned a great deal of admiration from several superior officers. Commodore Xubo could not have been more pleased, especially with acquiring the GravBomb missiles -- which were quickly sent to the Science and Engineering Corps for research. Major Vicious Hug begrudgingly applauded their efforts for testing the ship's speed capabilities, as well as for keeping the Bonnie Lass fairly damage-free. Doctor T'Klack was pleased that no one had died, as the entire crew of the Longbottom would need substantial time in the medical facilities to recuperate. The crew received 285 experience, prestige and pay.

Hannibal gave an impassioned speech about how an additional engine would not only have provided sufficient power to better arm the Bonnie Lass, but possibly provided enough speed and maneuverability to have rescued the dying crew aboard the Bramble. Deeply moved, the Universal Republic Dockwork Depot provided the Bonnie Lass with an additional Engine module for services rendered.

ynnen (#52018),
Hey, thanks for writing these session reports up- I'm interested in getting a copy of this game, and these are pushing me closer and closer. Awww. Who am I trying to kid- I'll get it when I get some spare money.

These reports are very well written and entertaining to read. The only thing I could ask for would be a description of a turn or two, to see how it actually plays out.

Thanks!

quixotic (#52640),

Thanks for the comment! This has quickly become the favorite game of one of my gaming groups. It has a lot of depth and lots of options with a very distinct RPG feel. Granted, you can play it without a lot of extra details and stick to the tactical game, but I think you'd be missing out on a lot.

I'll try to jot down a few turns so folks interested in the game can see what the crew members actually do in terms of the game mechanics. One interesting thing that the game experience offers that I had not seen before is the dual-nature of the action.

In one facet, you have the ship-to-ship combat taking place as the starships wheel, turn, fire cannons and maneuver like they would in an advanced game of Star Fleet Battles (albeit, on a much simpler scale).

In another facet, you zoom in during that battle to see what the individual crew members are doing.

Have to chase down that smaller craft? You might need to have the engineer run down and pump the starboard thruster for more power to direct to the engines.

Having trouble hitting that smaller target profile for the nimble Canosian vessel? Perhaps the science officer should switch from scanning the nearby gas clouds for data and try to acquire some targeting locks on the ship to increase your accuracy.

Pilot having trouble controlling the ship as it starts to come under heavy fire and still maintain speed? Maybe one of the Marines needs to leave that port blast cannon for a few rounds and help steady the ship.

While each of the professions definitely has its area of expertise, the fact that anyone can help out or pitch in with any action is one of the things that makes this game so much fun. And creates one of the more interesting decision points in the game.

If the pilot gets knocked out during a direct hit to the helm -- who's going to steer the ship? Who's going to try to revive the medic if he's the first one to fall?

As the campaign continues, my group is also acquiring new equipment, upgrading their ship and starting to learn new skills and abilities. It adds a lot of depth, and helps provide a lot of replay value and a built-in incentive to keep playing.

I can't say enough about this game. But before I ramble on ad nauseum (too late??) I'll try to remember to take down some turn-by-turn notes!

ynnen (#52018),

yeah, your reports are awesome. If I could only convince my friends to try it out, I'd buy it in a heartbeat (oh, and get the wife to let me buy it of course). I believe that I would love the game and your session reports are a great help.

I do have a question about the tiles and ship size. How do you determine the size of the ship and what does it do to the ship's statistics? How many tiles are included in the Bonnie Lass and which types? Is it easy to add tiles to an existing ship?

Thanks
-Bren

jygro (#52921),

There are ship "templates" which help provide some structure to the ship building aspect of the game. Each of the different races has a unique design theme they follow, and ships of that race have a particular look/feel to them, as well as a special racial ability.

Each "section" of the ship is called a Module. It's represented by a 5 x 5 square depicting the layout of that particular module (like the computers in a Science Bay or the navigational equipment in the Helm) as well as the Battlestations a character can occupy to "use" that particular module.

Ships are built in increments of 3 modules. Some modules are mandatory. Any spacefaring ship must have at least 1 Engine (to generate power), a Helm (to navigate), Life Support (which can support up to 4 crew members), a Hyperdrive (to navigate at Faster-Than-Light speed) and a Science Bay (to perform various scientific functions).

Since ships are built in increments of 3, you can see that the required bits take up 5 slots by themselves... So the smallest possible space ship would be composed of 6 components -- those listed above, plus one additional module. The standard "starting" ship is comprised of 9 modules (which the game classifies as "size 5" for convenience... there is no size 1 or 2...). Each 3 additional modules your crew gains or purchases increases the ships size to the next level.

You could always put in another version of one of the required modules (like another engine to help generate more power!) or use any of the numerous other modules available (cannons, missile bays, tractor beams, etc). There are hundreds of combinations.

The layout of the ship is vital to how the ship operates. Engines must be placed on the outer portion, facing "back". The helm must face "forward". Other modules have certain restrictions (like a hull stabilizer must be completely internal). Aside from the placement restrictions, the modules are the "path" a crew member has to navigate to get from one part of the ship to the other.

Also, the ship's layout determines what area of the ship gets hit during combat. If you have a long, narrow ship, it may be difficult to hit from the front or rear, but fairly easy to hit from the sides. And when it does get hit (and it will!), which module is struck can dramatically impact the game!

If life support is hit and gets damaged, the entire crew may suffocate. If the helm is rocked, you can't navigate the ship. If the engines are slagged, you won't generate any more power and become listless.

The ship size is very important, as well. First, it is part of the difficulty in handling the ship. Larger ships are more challenging to maneuver. Second, larger ships can sustain far more damage. Finally, larger ships are easier to hit -- they take up more room, so there's greater margin for error on the part of enemy sharpshooters!

Whew... That was a pretty long-winded response. But I get all jazzed talking about this game. My group absolutely cannot get enough of this game... If you have any other questions about the game, or you'd like me to clarify something else, just let me know!

ynnen (#52018),

I too would like to add my thanks for spending time to write such quality reviews and session reports!

I tend to get frustrated when I am invited to play with my immediate family who tends to play games in a non-competitive manner. i.e. placing the robber in SoC where it will do the least damage to everybody! I am very interested in this system as I believe it will fit their play style and keep me motivated to game with them.

I too would appreciate more details on game specifics.. As Gorilla's web site is rather sparse and there doesn't seem to be too much information on this system yet..

Thanks once again

ilan

Fantastic session reports! I have already ordered the game and am just waiting for it to arrive. It sounds like it will be right up our alley.

I would like to second the suggestion of including actual gameplay mechanics in your reports, so we can see how the nuts and bolts work.

Also, how are the space battles handled? Is there a seperate board used with tokens showing tHe ships? Also, in one of your reports a crew member transported to another ship. Is a map then created for that ship, or are the actions there abstracted?

Looking forward to reading more of your crews exploits!

[
Also, how are the space battles handled? Is there a seperate board used with tokens showing tHe ships?

A: there is a hex game board that you can put tokens on to represent the ships, planets, asteroids, space phenomena, etc.

Also, in one of your reports a crew member transported to another ship. Is a map then created for that ship, or are the actions there abstracted?

A: the enemy ship is set up using the same modules tiles as the heros ship, but the size and the species registry is based on the mission. sometimes they could have a bigger ship or smaller and sometimes they could have more then just one, depends on the mission setup.

ynnen (#52018),

Great review.

I just bought the game and cannot await now to try out.

However I couldn't find the mission you are referring to in the book!!

alex

alexst (#80510),

Righto, alexst -- I'm sneaky that way! I didn't want my group to know what they were up against, so I created a mission from scratch, really embracing the RP aspects... I also created a chain of command within the UREF that they were a part of, with different people at different levels of authority assigning different (and sometimes ever-so-slightly contradictory) mission objectives.

A few of my players read through the players book, and I'd bank that a few of them skimmed the missions for some insight -- ahem, or merely out of curiosity...