STALKER7

AN INSURGENT EARTH AAR

Rowville… a nice town. A quiet town. A good place to raise your kids.

Its Main Street was sprinkled with quaint, Mom-n-Pop shops, a Big-n-Juicy Burgers, Sweet Tooths ice cream, one of those shiny aluminum, all-night diners with the neon tube signs, tidy offices for the Sherrif, the PTA, and the Rowville Gazette. There was a great park at one end – had a flag pole, a baseball diamond, a bandstand, and a super cool playground with a wooden castle and rope bridge.

A small town with a big heart! Nothing bad ever happened in Rowville, not really.

Until they came.

Rowville is still quiet these days. But that’s because it’s empty.

Last Tuesday night saw the first in another series of test games for INSURGENT EARTH, the upcoming, post alien invasion rule set. Joining the Exploit Zero and Nightwatch stable, players will be gathering supplies, rescuing other survivors, sabotaging alien facilities, improving their skills and gear, all to take back our planet from xenos invaders.

Having taken refuge in a nearby national park, a rookie Resistance cell finally mustered the courage to go back into their home town for badly needed supplies. There had been fewer of the strange space ships burning through the sky the past two weeks, so Jasper Meechum, Corporal Julio Ortiz, Ellen Rapley, and Gene ‘Trip’ Trippits went shopping.

Down on Main Street

First stop was Sid’s Garage. Good place to find tools, spare parts, some batteries and fuel perhaps. A slow, cautious approach, the group ducked into the repair bay and started scrounging. Sky was still clear and the only thing moving out on the street was a few tattered pages from the Gazette, stirring in the wind.

Like Kontraband, Insurgent Earth offers valuable salvage located in searchable locations throughout the board.

Ellen, former church treasurer, is good at getting more than expected out of what looks spent and dry. (the kind of lady that could squeeze a nickel and get six pennies out of it.) First cache found.

That done, she and Corporal Ortiz head to the street while Jasper and Trip approach two other potential caches.

Sector Patrol

Jasper had just crept across the parking lot to check out a stack of boxes when a Xenos Sector Patrol arrived. Rowville being a low value area, the patrol consisted of low-caste drones. Still, there were five of them all hefting weird guns, and they caught him out in the open. The oil drums give him some cover but Jasper takes a hit.

The Rowville cell consists of three civilians and one soldier equipped with starting gear, so even though these are drones, the players decide they’re not inclined to go toe-to-toe with them. “We’ll kill them later,” says Ellen.

Besides, now that contact has been initiated, a Xenos Rapid Response unit is on the way. Jasper manages to grab some components out of the boxes then takes off running, scrambling into the nearby office and out of the patrol’s line of sight. Hearing laser fire and seeing Jasper move quicker than a scalded dog, Trip, Corporal Ortiz, and Ellen dash across the street.

The Better Part of Valor

Jasper dives through a side door right before the aliens round the corner. They fail to detect him and pause in middle of the parking lot. “Probably waiting for back up,” the Corporal mutters.

Balancing the need for supplies against staying out of an Alien Occupation “Relocation Camp”, (or ‘death by laser’) Ortiz goes on Overwatch so Ms. Rapley can dig through a pair of garbage cans. Meanwhile, Trip keeps one eye on the aliens and the other on a nearby exit.

Speaking of backup, it’s Turn 4 and the Alien reinforcements arrive. A pair of heavy drones (Murder Marbles) drops onto the street, lasers crackling with energy, actively scanning for threats.

Ellen holds up some canned goods and two bottles of water. “Time to go,” she shouts.

Ellen, Trip, and Corporal Ortiz duck down an alley and skirt alongside what used to be the Rowville Savings and Loan toward an exit corner. Still in line of sight, the whole pack of invaders is right behind them.

“I hope Jasper made it out,” Trip murmurs.

Back of the bank, Ellen spots one last searchable location and skids to a halt. “Wait!”

Ortiz raises his rifle. Trip keeps running.

Murder Marbles closing in, the Corporal starts whispering, “Wegottago. Wegottago. Wegottago.”

“Got something,” Ellen cries, and lifts up more food supplies. “Now we go.”

And they did.

AFTERMATH

No shots fired by the Resistance. That was different.

This being the first in a series of linked games, the players opted to Loot and Scoot. Get in get out. Grab what they need, save their ammo, don’t get killed. Weird.

This bunch of guys is usually much more… murderous.

Regardless, the game went well. Confirmed that the game worked and helped clarify the wording on an essential explanation.

We should be back next week when our heroes will scour the Rowville Industrial Park.

Until then,

Game hard. Stay Safe.

ps. Jasper made it out.