Downed Drone Downtown

Another RESISTANCE: EARTH AAR

Another test game last night with Matt, Other Pat, and myself. (Neighbor Mike was out sick) This time, the survivors need to destroy an alien drone in a more dangerous mission area. Nine ‘Point of Interest’ with potential salvage plus a central objective. Alien Drone is damaged and poses no threat but there is one mid-tier Sentry on guard and a Sector Patrol in the area.

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THE CREW

We decided on a party of one Civilian and three Soldiers. Each player character starts with one Ability (passive ability, no roll necessary) and one Skill (Technical if Civilian, Tactical if Soldier. Action roll required to use) plus gear, a weapon, and some type of body armor.

Players deploy from a corner. Enemy patrol deploys at one of the other three, randomly determined.

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POINT OF INTEREST LOCATIONS

As a Solo/Co-op game, the Point of Interest locations add another layer of risk, reward, and randomness to the game. One POI per square foot of playing area, (so 9 on a 3 x 3 mat) there’s a POI Card card for each one. The POI cards are shuffled into an Event Deck which is placed face down beside the table, the top cards to be revealed as each location is searched. A few of the locations hold vital supplies necessary to continue the fight against the alien invaders. Others yield special supplies or even other survivors. Still other locations have nasty surprises. You never know what you’re going to get until you check.

CHARGING RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE

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The survivors waste no time on their first move. Other Pat and Matt take their Soldiers straight toward the downed drone objective while my Civilian and the third Soldier sneak toward the garage to check the nearby POI.

My Civilian’s Scrounger Skill came in incredibly handy as a successful action roll allows him to peek at the POI Card without triggering it. Then, if desired, he could spend another action to actually claim it. Or slink away quietly as required. (which it definitely was the first few POI)

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ON THE STREET

Other Pat and Matt’s Soldiers take down the Sentry, but the shooting draws the attention of the Sector Patrol. Here they come.

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BUT HAND GRENADES

When they work, work quite well. A beautiful lob, perfectly placed. Matt’s Soldier took out all 5 aliens with the blast.

LULL IN THE FIGHTING

Any activity in a mission area generates attention from the Alien Overlords, which means there’s an ever-present chance of an Alien Rapid Response Force dropping in to rain on your parade. The more important the area, the faster the response time. (There’s a Turn Counter to track mission time) But with the area momentarily cleared, the survivors have a short window to loot and scoot before more enemies arrive. Which is exactly what they do. (They need supplies to continue the fight, make new equipment, and build their roster)

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TIME TO BAIL

The crew splits up and searches the remaining POI finding some weapons, some much-needed Supplies, and even another Survivor – who could be a valuable asset to their effort. (The Survivor’s characteristics would be determined between games in a campaign)

The sound of an Alien transport inbound, the Survivors exit the area in a nick of time.

AFTERMATH

Good game. Lucky dice rolls for us, particularly Matt’s Soldier who not only took out the Sentry, sabotaged the Drone, but then managed to blow up all five aliens in the Sector Patrol in one go.

My Civilian with the Scrounger Skill proved very useful as his Searches warded off a trap, an attack by feral dogs, and a waste of time searching an empty stash location.

Going over the game after, we were almost apologizing to the dead aliens for how well it went; good dice rolls for us/poor ones for them, judicious use of team members and their skills, methodical tactics… This was one of those missions that almost makes you think you could indeed take back your planet from the xeno invaders who are enslaving its people and draining its resources.

Here’s hoping the next one goes so well.

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That’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by. More to come because Resistance is building.