Russ Massey
United Kingdom
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Inspired by the session reports of Curly and his adventures I visted Leisure Games in London and found they had copies of the Insecta Mutant kit and all the expansions in stock. I snapped them up, read through them all and couldn't wait to start my own mutant adventures in the Hives.
Trilobite looks quite intriguing, but I thought I'd start with the basics, and cut out the pieces for the original Desert Hive first. Incidentally, for an arachnophobe like me, some of these cards are a bit disturbing. I may have to put post-it notes to cover some of the spider depictions in order to avoid getting the creeps while playing. Funnily enough, ants, beetles and other insects don't bother me at all, while crabs do. Must be the number of legs I guess.
I built 2 mutants for my solo session. The first was Beatle; an armoured mutant with Ant mandibles and legs, and a Bombardier projector for maximum firepower. He would be the tank. He started with Dex 8 and Instinct 4. His partner was Sting; Sickle mandibles, a pair of wings, 2 pairs of legs, and, of course, an envenomed stinger to tail it off. Sting would be the fast grappler to take out dangerous ranged enemies before they could fire. He had Dex 9 and Instinct 3.
DUNGEON
Wanting as few foes as possible to start with, the pair entered the Dungeon on the lowest level of the Hive and encountered a Jerusalem Cricket and a Milkweed Grasshopper. Both were fast jumpers and the 'hopper could spit entangling venom which would ignore Beatle's armour. That was the bug's only attack however, and at Instar 3 it was so relatively clumsy that even adjacent to my much smaller bugs it would be rolling 3 dice and needing 12- to hit.
TURN 1
The grasshopper is the fastest of the combatants and it hesitates to force my bugs to move before it chooses a firing position. The cricket is next fastest, and as it needs to get in close to use its mandibles it hops forward 4 hexes to be adjacent to both invaders and block the access from the tunnel to the chamber itself. Sting is next. As he started stacked with Beatle he needed to make an instinct roll (1 dice for 3-) to leave the hex. He rolls a 1 and backs away 2 hexes back along the transit tunnel to avoid the cricket. Beatle then backs off a hex and swings his rear to face the cricket with his Bombardier projector. The 'hopper now leaps 5 hexes over his companion to end adjacent to Beatle.
Beatle and the Grasshopper open fire simultaneously. Beatle has Dex 8 and must roll 1 dice for his Instar 1 and 1 dice for range of 1 hex to the target, less 3 dice for the size of the Instar 3 target. Auto hit. The boiling fluid does 4 dice damage and he rolls 13. The target rolls his Instar in dice as a defence and gets 15. No damage! The 'hopper rolls 3 dice for its Instar + 1 dice for range and minus 1 dice for Beatle's size. That's 3 dice needing 11 (the 'hopper's Dex) or less to hit. A roll of 12 just misses. Sting and the Cricket are both out of engagement range. Beatle rolls a 3, and is now out of ammo for his projector. The 'hopper rolls 6, and adding its Instar of 3 gets a 9. Plenty more spit where that came from.
TURN 2
Hopper hesitates, and the Cricket jumps over his hex and grapples with Beatle. Beatle fails his instinct roll to escape the hex and is locked in combat. Sting doesn't want to give Hopper a chance to hit both of them with a single gob and, unable to get over the melee hex, he elects to remain adjacent to the fight, hoping that he has the wit to use his mandibles on the right combatant.
Hopper spits into the melee and just misses Beatle again, but the larger Cricket is not so lucky and finds all three limb pairs and his entire abdomen entangled in burning sticky fluid. The cricket is immobilised before he can act. Sting successfully makes his instinct roll (a 50:50) and hits the Cricket's limbs, but fails to tear any off as they are glued in place. Beatle wants to ignore the helpless Cricket, and succeeds with an instinct roll to attack the adjacent grasshopper instead. His mandibles hit but are unable to penetrate the chitin of the larger bug. Cricket takes 4 points of poison damage to the head from the Grasshopper's venom.
TURN 3
Hopper hesitates. Cricket is still incapacitated. Sting waits. Beatle rolls to leave the hex and succeeds, moving to grapple the 'hopper. Hopper rolls a 6 for instinct and bounces back out of the combat to an adjacent hex where he can continue to spit. Sting crawls forward to grapple the helpless Cricket. Hopper rolls his third 12 in a row to just miss Beatle with his projector again. Sting jabs his stinger into Cricket for 6 damage to the abdomen. Beatle's mandibles chomp on the 'hopper again, and again fail to do any damage. The poison from Sting's stinger reduces the Cricket's Dex to 1 as it frees its abdomen fully from the glue.
[I just looked up Incapacitation and realised that Incap'd bugs don't count for purposes of instinct, so you can leave their hexes without needing to roll.]
TURN 4
Beatle moves in to grapple the Grasshopper again, and the 'hopper again backs off a hex. Sting still has no clear route past his comrade until he can force the 'hopper back 1 more hex, so he stays to finish off the Cricket. This time the Grasshopper's spit hits Beatle, glueing fast all his leg pairs and doing 1 entangling hit on the abdomen, incapacitating him. Sting finishes off the Cricket with ease. The effects of venom reduce Beatle's Dex to 3.
TURN 5
Sting takes to the air, flies over the struggling Beatle and hurls himself at the hated 'hopper. The obviously intelligent grasshopper makes yet another instinct roll to back 1 hex away from Sting. His spit hits and completely envelops poor Sting. Beatle frees one pair of legs. Venom lowers Stings Dex to 3. Is it all over for the outmatched mutants?
TURN 6
Beatle begins dragging himself over to the dead Cricket, with the idea of eating as much as he can and escaping from the combat. Hopper hits Sting again, but at last has run out of spit. Sting perishes as a result of the poison, but the Grasshopper no longer has any form of attack, and flees the chamber. Beatle is left alone to fully free himself from the goo and then consume the cricket and the body of his friend for 3 food. He molts three times, increasing his Dex to the maximum of 10 and his instinct to 6. As part of the last molt he chooses to metamorphosise to Instar 2. Seeing the effectiveness of the Grasshopper goo he chooses to add a Nasutus Projector to his head and then goes on alone. There is no path connecting to the Foyer from the Dungeon, so whatever route he takes he will have to take on three foes. Mentally tossing a coin he chooses the Root Cellar and crawls onward.
ROOT CELLAR
The enemies prove to be Dragonfly, Ambush Bug and Earwig. Beatle only rates the Dragonfly as a major threat, since he thinks the smaller bugs will have difficulty damaging through his armour.
TURN 1
The Earwig moves in to grapple, and the Ambush Bug crawls adjacent to bite into the melee. Beatle makes his instinct roll (2 dice now, needing a 6 or less - a chancy thing) and backs off 1 hex back down the tunnel, turning his deadly rear. The dragonfly has 2 pairs of wings and cannot crawl, so is unable to follow Beatle into the cramped confines of the tunnel, and settles for hovering over the Ambush Bug, both now staring into the Butt of Doom. Beatle lets fly. He can't miss the Instar 3 Dragonfly, and also hits the Ambush Bug, needing a 10 or less with 2 dice. The scalding fluid burns away all the Bug's limbs and reduces its Dex from 10 to 8. The Dragonfly also loses all its wings and limbs and has its Dex drop from 14 to 13. Once again Beatle proves to be a one-shot wonder - no more ammo.
TURN 2
The Earwig scrambles past his incapacitated mates and grapples again with Beatle, who accepts the challenge. Beatle is faster and rolls 3 dice needing 10-, missing with an 11. The Earwig pincer is rolling 2 dice needing 8- and hits, but the 3 dice of damage fail to penatrate Beatle's 3 dice of defense this time.
THE GRAPPLE
The fight continues and both miss, with Earwig then managing to hit but only 1 damage getting through, and as that is to Beatles limbs it is ignored. Beatle tears off a pair of the Earwig's legs and then bites through the head chitin for 4 points, reducing instinct to 3. Earwig only manages to land another ignored point of damage to Beatles legs. A few more seconds combat and Beatle lands a solid chomp to the Earwig's abdomen, finishing it off. The other 2 foes are killed without opposition, and Beatle consumes 3 of 4 food and keeps 1 in his crop for later. He raises Instinct to 12, Dex to 13 and then metamorphoses to Instar 3, which improves his armour to level 2.
Whoops! I just saw on the mutant card that molting cost increases with Instar, so at Instar 2 it's 2 food to molt and not 1. Beatle will have to use all 4 food to molt twice, so he'll only be able to increase his Instinct to 9. That's a bit on the low side when he'll be rolling 3 dice, but I still think its worth going to Instar 3 for the extra armour. Beatle's greatest fear now is of being entangled. At Instar 3 he's a big target for projectors, and with no allies he could quickly be overwhelmed if he gets incapacitated. That means being trapped in a web is very worrying, so he decides not to investigate the Foyer and the possible black widow spider until he has cleared out the last chamber on level 1.
THE PARLOUR
The enemies revealed here are the Preying Mantis, Walking Stick, and Assassin Bug. The Mantis is a tough melee opponent, and the A-bug has a Bombardier Projector like Beatle's own (though much smaller, as the bug is only Instar 1, so Beatle reckons he can take a hit from it). It's the Instar 2 Walking Stick that troubles Beatle most, as he has a glue projector, though his only other attack is a contact venom that is useless against armoured enemies. Beatle can't afford to be immobilised or the Mantis would rip him to shreds, so he resolves to take out the Walking Stick first, then the A-bug until it runs out of ammo or is dead, and then the Mantis.
TURN 1
Only the Mantis is faster than Beatle. Everyone hesitates, forcing the slower bugs to move first. The A-bug works out that it can hit Beatle automatically at 3 hex range (and stands a decent chance up to 5 hexes away). It flies forward and presents its rear toward Beatle in such a way as to cover the Walking Stick in its arc of fire in case it gets attacked. The Stick can hit auto with its glue at 2 hexes, and crawls forward into range. Fortunately, Beatle's speed lets him move later and crawl around the Stick to attack it from the rear, but he's unable to get out of range of the A-bug. Mantis flies forward 4 hexes, but was too far away to engage. The A-bug lets fly at Beatle and does a whopping 18 points damage from 4 dice. Beatle's defence roll is 3 dice for his Instar and 2 dice for armour. He rolls 18 exactly, and shrugs off the attack. A-bug checks for ammo, and has no worries. Beatle turns his fangs on the Stick, needing 13- on 4 dice. He hits with a 10, but the 4 dice for damage only manage 8 points. Stick rolls 3 dice for defense, but manages a paltry 5, so its Dex drops from 12 to 9.
TURN 2
The Stick goes first and swivels to face Beatle. A-bug is fine where he is and prepares to fire again. Beatle thinks hard. He can maneouvre to attack the rear of Stick again, but Mantis will be able to grapple him whatever he does, and his chances of making an instinct roll to attack anything outside the grapple aren't good. He decides to grapple the Walking Stick, which will prevent it using its projector while providing a target rich environment for the A-bug. The Mantis leaps in to the fight and A-bug splatters the tumbling trio indescriminately, hitting all 3 bugs automatically. The Stick is unharmed, but Mantis takes a shocking 11 damage to its abdomen, reducing Dex to 4 and effectively putting it out of the fight. Beatle's armour shrugs off the damage. Stick has no weapons usable in a grapple, while Beatle misses and Mantis can no longer hit a target.
TURN 3
Stick makes its intinct roll to escape the combat hex and moves clear. Beatle tries to do the same, rolling an 8 to his relief. He crawls around and behind the Stick and presents his rear. He's now 4 hexes from the A-bug, who would have to pass an instinct roll to avoid firing at the closer Mantis.. The Bug succeeds however, and hits Beatle, who once again shrugs off the 11 damage. The A-bug's ammo supply is still fine. Beatle blasts for 15 Bombardier damage to the Stick, and after taking off defense it reduces the bug's Dex to 2, making it no longer a threat. Beatle actually manages to retain further shots with his projector.
TURN 4
The Mantis moves in to grapple. A-bugs line of sight to Beatle is blocked by Stick (which I only just realised), so he moves to an unblocked position 2 hexes away from the melee. Beatle fails an instinct roll and is trapped in the grapple. Even with his crippled Dex, the Walking Stick can roll 1 dice to hit the combatants in melee and succeed with a 1 or 2. He lets fly and hits Beatle!
All Beatle's legs are immobilised. And the Stick hasn't run out of spit. A-bug fires another blast which hits both combatants. The Mantis takes 7 damage to the head, and the A-bug at last runs out of juice. Beatle shakes free 1 pair of limbs and will be able to act next turn.
TURN 5
None of the enemy have any need to change position except the A-bug, who now enters melee with his puny fangs. Stick spits again, only hitting the ailing Mantis this time, and wrapping tight its preying claws and one pair of legs. Beatle tears off another pair of Mantis legs. A-bug's fangs scrape ineffectively against Beatle's armoured hide.
TURN 6
Stick spits again and once again hits Beatle. Beatle had freed 2 pairs of legs, but now they are both entangled again. The other bugs are ineffective. Beatle frees a pair of legs.
TURN 7
Stick spits and misses. Beatle hits Mantis but can't tear off the thoroughly gummed limbs. A-Bug continues to blunt his fangs ineffectively.
TURN 8
Stick misses and finally runs out of spit. Beatle finishes off Mantis.
REST OF FIGHT
Stick goes into grapple with its ineffective poisoned labium. Beatle casually tears the head off the A-bug and beats the Walking Stick to death with it over the next few seconds. Seven food for Beatle and he's totally uninjured. He molts twice and saves 1 food, raising his Instinct to 13 and Dex to 15. Only the Foyer remains occupied on level 1.
THE FOYER
A Cave Cricket! And to think Beatle was worried about Black Widows. Before the Cricket can flee, Beatle scrambles forward to grapple. The Cricket makes its instinct roll and jumps clear. A long range Bombardier blast using 6 dice needs 15 or less, and narrowly misses. The Cricket fails its instinct roll to exit the chamber, allowing Beatle to close the range and blast away again. this time only 4 dice are rolled, and a 9 hits. The Cricket loses all its legs and is bug fodder for Beatle. The 2 food it provides, plus 1 in the crop, allows Beatle to molt again. He gains Dex 17 and Instinct 14 and grows to Instar 4, which allows 2 new limb pairs. He decides on more legs, giving him a respectable crawl speed of 5!
Next stop is up to trophic level 2.
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Mike Read
Thailand
Bangkok
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Wow Russ, I haven't read this through closely yet but let me just congratulate you on a great looking report. I've got some catching up to do with my bugs (or bug). Looks like you survived the early rooms ok, good luck with Trophic Level 2!
Can't believe you managed to find a Desert Hive set. I checked Leisure Games site and they only mention the others. Will have to send them an email.
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Russ Massey
United Kingdom
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Well thanks.
I was surprised to see the Desert Hive as well after what people had already said about its rarity. It could be that Leisure Games stock records for e-mail sales don't always match their inventory 100%. I do know Insecta has been hanging around in the shop for a few years before I bought it - I usually pick up all the Sierra Madre Games, but I'd never really twigged what Insecta actually was until I read the session report.
I had to force myself to take a break and write up Beatle's experiences. I really wanted to go straight on to the next level, but I'll save that for tomorrow. I'm a bit worried that a single bug is open to being taken out by one unlucky die roll, so I'll be surprised if he makes it all the way.
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Gary Pressler
United States
West Lafayette
Indiana
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Yeah, a lone mutant is likely a dead mutant before long. But I'm rooting (slant pun?) for him! I need to figure out how to get this to the table to play with others soon.
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