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Mike Read
Thailand
Bangkok
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For this solo session of Insecta I'll be running two young mutants through the tough Rainforest hive. I've read that the Desert hive is supposed to be a little easier but it's OOP and extremely hard to find (if anyone does have a Desert Hive they can stand to part with please PM me!)
I also can't bear to cut up games so this session was run using my newly built Vassal module for Insecta... hence the screenshots.
So, first I have to create some mutants. For the solo hive game I'm allowed two... here are my lads:
"Rocky" is a spinose cross between an ant and a spider with grasshopper legs and urticating setae 'for close encounters'.
"Curly" a venomous termite with hooks, claws and a springtail to get around quickly and knock those hovering bugs out of the air.
I constructed both both bugs to have a mix of projectors, grappling attacks and close combat capability. I also gave them both what I hope is a high enough dexterity to hit what they're aiming at but we'll soon see.
I have a choice to start in the Foyer or the Dungeon but since the Ambush bugs look dangerous I decide to go for the Dungeon and draw my first two hive bugs from the Exopterygote deck.... The lads are up against a Giant Damselfly and a Lanternfly Planthopper.
The Damselfly is big and scary (Instar 3!) but the little Lanternfly looks like an easier mark. Perhaps if we can take the big fellow down quickly we'll be ok.
Neither of my bugs are particularly agile in the tunnels so the spinose Rocky takes the initiative and crawls out first, leaving Curly in reserve. The Lanternfly moves next, flying in madly hoping to grapple and entangle Rocky with his web spinner. The big Damselfly flits in beside. My boys have a chance here, with luck, the Damsel may well attack his own hive buddy.
Since projectors always fire first Rocky chooses to use his web bola against the Damselfly. At this range he can't miss the bigger creature... but with a quick check of the rules I find out that Rocky can't sling a bola unless he has three leg pairs. I hadn't spotted this earlier but it seems he'll need to grow an Instar and more legs before he can use his projector. Curly could take a shot at the Lanternfly but he'd also risk hitting Rocky and decides against. So it's on to close combat!
The Damselfly has the greatest dexterity so attacks first. As I'd hoped he rolls too high on his instinct check,which leaves him very confused as to who to attack. He bites out in a random frenzy and (bingo) successfully munches on the Lanternfly's rear end. The huge 19 points of damage is more than enough to chew through the Lanternfly's defenses leaving the little insect in a mangled lump of dead bug meat.
With a quick prayer to the bug gods, Rocky lashes out with his mandibles. Fortunately he doesn't need to check for frenzy since Curly is behind him and he sees only the monster Damselfly. He scores a hit but finds that his little mandibles are simply not strong enough to penetrate the bigger creature's defenses.
With the Lanternfly out of the way, Rocky leaps over the Damsel to land directly behind him, while Curly scuttles out of the tunnel with his venom projector locked and loaded. I make a random roll for the Damsel to find that that the fly chooses to face Curly as he comes scuttling out of the tunnel.
Curly starts off combat by spewing a spray of entangling venom but it proves to be ineffective against the big fly. Given the lack of success I'm starting to get worried... clearly the lads are in trouble.
The Damsel lunges at Curly and hits, easily tearing off every one of his appendages and also taking a big chunk out of his abdomen. Curly is still in the fight but with no way to crawl down the exit tunnels he now has no chance to escape from the chamber. Rocky hits easily from the rear and this time manages one small nick on the fly's tough abdomen.
With the chances of defeating the Damsel looking slim, Curly bounces into the chamber, puts his back to a wall, and prepares to die fighting while Rocky makes a leap towards a getaway tunnel.
As the Damsel approaches Curly, he once again unleashes his sticky venom... and scores this time (13 vs 6). Both of the Damsel's wings and two of his three leg pairs are entangled in a venomous mess. The fly makes another lunge at Curly but fortunately misses this time. At the end of the round the venom payload takes effect but it only causes a weak 1 point of damage while the fly shakes a pair of legs free from the webs.
With a quick waggle of antennae to Rocky, Curly indicates to "carry on"... he is out of venom and it's now only a matter of time for the brave bug. Rocky eyes safety of the tunnel, pauses briefly, then changes his mind... with a mad cry he leaps back to aid his friend landing right on the Damselfly's back in a vicious grappling attack.
The big fly makes a bite at Rocky's head but is confounded by his spinose body and misses him by just a hair. With Curly cheering on Rocky punches into the fly's abdomen with his urticating satae (13 vs. 10) ripping out his own appendage but leaving the fly with a dexterity of only 9.
Fortunately this risky maneuver completely turns the tables... the fly now has to roll a nine or less on five dice to hit Rocky (Instar 3 + Accuracy 1 + Spinose 1) while Rocky needs a nine or less on two dice (Instar 1 + Accuracy 1).
Rocky can only deal two dice of damage to the three dice defence for the fly so the inevitable carnage takes time.... he starts well and within five seconds the fly has a head wound, both wings torn off, and another slash to the abdomen which leaves him practically defenseless with a dexterity of just 5. Another long eight seconds later and Rocky emerges victorious from a pile of bug bits, clutching the severed head of the Damselfly as his trophy!
Aftermath - The Ecdysis
This quite astounding victory leaves the lads with four food markers between them. I decide to share them out equally. Rocky increases his instinct to 8 and his dexterity to 10 then metamorphoses to Instar 2. As a larva he grows two new pairs of legs and this will be enough to get his web bola working for the next encounter.
Curly eats his two portions, increases his instinct to 6, his dexterity back to 9 and restores his damaged limbs, effectively bringing him back to his initial appearance. He has the option to metamorphose but I decide that his instinct is still a tad low so I choose to leave him as a clever maggot for the present.
Conclusions
In retrospect it probably wasn't so wise to choose only entangling projectors. I may find them be quite useful against smaller bugs later on, but it appears that entangled limbs make no difference on your ability to hit or damage larger creatures. (assuming I played it correctly).
The big opponents are really tough for little mutants and you need either a lot of luck (as Rocky had) or must try and run away, in the hope of finding smaller opponents.
Rocky's brave decision was actually a carefully calculated risk... being spinose makes him tougher to hit and knocking just a couple of points off the dexterity of a creature like the Damselfly really made a difference... those little scratches can be important!
So Rocky and Curly live on! Unless they run into that evil-looking Hissing Roach I think they may well stand a good chance of survival against the rest of the insects on this level.
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Curt Ligot
United States
seattle
Washington
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Awesome, awesome session report. I actually shed a tear when Rocky was going to leave the selfless Curly behind.
Great job on clearing the room. You had way more success than I did in an easier Hive.
Your Vassal module looks amazing. I may have to look into that stuff. My wife is getting sick of my Dungeons and Hives taking up the dinner table.
Thanks for posting!!
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Nicolai Broen Thorning
Denmark
Ebeltoft
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Yes, indeed, thank you for posting.
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Was George Orwell an Optimist?
United States
Corvallis
Oregon
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I've long regretted not buying this when it was widely available. It's like a more serious version of Quirks. If anybody would like to trade their copy, I'm open to offers.
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Curt Ligot
United States
seattle
Washington
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I could be wrong but I know there are "Mutant Kits" out there and maybe some Rainforest Hives. All hope is not lost.
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Was George Orwell an Optimist?
United States
Corvallis
Oregon
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There are certainly expansions available, but I thought the base game was needed for them to realize their potential.
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Wulf Corbett
Scotland
Shotts
Lanarkshire
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The Mutant Kit contains everything needed for hot bug on bug action - but not the opposition. You can play a sort of player vs player gladiatorial game with just the Mutant Kit, but you have to make up all the creatures from the parts. The other games include cards to duplicate a vast array of real existing creatures (like the Mantis) on prepared cards.
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Was George Orwell an Optimist?
United States
Corvallis
Oregon
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Wulf Corbett wrote: The Mutant Kit contains everything needed for hot bug on bug action - but not the opposition.
I'm not sure I understand. The opposition???
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Wulf Corbett
Scotland
Shotts
Lanarkshire
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Sphere wrote: I'm not sure I understand. The opposition??? In the full game, your mutant creations fight pregenerated real world creatures - in the Mutant Kit these are missing. There are rules in the full game for which real creatures you encounter at which stage in the game.
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Insecta, 2nd edition, included the multiplayer "arena game" which tends to be one-off battles among custom designed insects. It also included what amounts to the Desert Hive expansion, which has desert-type bugs that populate a hive for the "hive game," which provides a narrative and solitaire rules, as it's your designed-bug up against real-world insects from a desert environment.
If you take the Mutant Kit and add the Desert Hive expansion, you have the equivalent of the what was in the second edition. But since Desert Hive is out-of-print, you can just add the Rainforest expansion, and you have pretty much the complete game experience (but with rainforest-type insects in the hive).
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