Licking Their Wounds and Counting the Cost

Davin and his team returned to their ship, having dropped off Miss Daisy with her grateful son. 

Unfortunately the bounty hunters who had gone to capture the woman were far from grateful (a 1 was rolled). The crew had another enemy to contend with (so I had better give them names).

The Bounty Hunters - Thaali, Immen & Pata Yulig

 I decided to also assess their wounds to see how long it would be before they sought their revenge.

Thaali received a torso wound (out for 2 episodes); Immen - gruesome fate and Pata Yulig received minor injuries. So no wonder, they are now enemies - they want revenge for the killing of their leader.
The crew learnt that there was a reason why Miss Daisy lived in the shanty town and Arrik Chattza's clothing was so threadbare as they received 3 Credits as payment (plus the promise of treasures in heaven). They now have 9 Credits in their coffers.
They were no luckier with their looting either - just two weapons found and they were both broken (roll of 8). I decided (without rollling) to have them find Immen's hunter's rifle and one of the other bounty hunters' shotguns. Each will need 3 credits to repair them.
Vinca will need to spend an episode in the sick bay, having received a nasty arm wound from Pata Yulig's shotgun. That will give him plenty of time to contemplate his own revenge.
However, there was some good news. Having heard of their escapade, they were approached by a stranger who asked to join their crew:-

Drinna Kiles

Origin: Lower classes of the mega-city, Tanaquil Standpoint
Motivation: Faith
Class: Bounty Hunter
2 Quest clues

Drinna is a local lad, "growing up" (he's quite short) in the only city on the planet. He has tried to carve out a living as a bounty hunter but has not been very successful. A neighbour of Miss Daisy, he was impressed with the way the crew dealt with enemy bounty hunters and decided to throw his lot in with Davin.
However, having just fought off three bounty hunters, the crew were not fully in favour of Drinna joining them. Some wondered how much they could trust him. A heated argument broke out between Jaa and Jeela with Davin eventually overruling everyone. With Vinca incapacitated, they needed a replacement so Drinna was welcome to join them. Jeela stormed off to the sick bay to look after Vinca and think things over while the others reflected and learnt from their experiences.
Onto episode 2...

Episode One - Walking Miss Daisy

The crew decided to remain on the planet. So far they hadn't upset anyone so life could be quite peaceful.

Upkeep

6 Credits. They currently have 6 Credits left so need to find some work.

Jobs

Davin Kinall went to see the sights and bumped into a personal trainer who helped him with his fitness regime (+2XP)
Vinca Jissard accompanied Davin on his sightseeing and received a hot tip for an opportunity mission
Garm Izel decided to do a bit of training (+1XP)
Porro Thif went off with a few trinkets that he had picked up here and there and managed to trade them in for a repair kit
Jaa Maduel also did some training (+1XP)
Jeela Dystra went looking for a patron. She already had two that she could call on but bumped into a new one (a throw of 6).
In the main square she listened to a rather dishevelled preacher zealously challenging the authority of Unity. When he had finished his sermon, she approached him to ask for some clarification on his claims. He welcomed her interest and asked if she might be willing to help him.
The preacher, Arik Chattza, had caught word that Unity were displeased with his ministry and were seeking to shut him up. They had tried to do so before through various means but failed. This time they were trying something different. They planned to kidnap his widowed mother and hold her hostage. Obviously they didn't want it to be known that they were behind the plans so they had recruited three bounty hunters to carry out the deed.
Arik asked Jeela if she would go to his mother's home in the shanty town on the outskirts of the city and bring her back to him. Knowing that they need a few credits and hoping that his state of dress did not truly indicate the level of his wealth, she readily accepted the offer.

~~~

Miss Daisy is a frail, elderly lady so I gave her a move of 3", equal to that of Porro Thif but slower than everybody else.
She has also learnt not to trust anybody. She will need to be convinced by Davin and the team that they have come to rescue her (I decided on a difficulty roll of 5+ though Porro and Jeela's +1 on persuasion rolls will help)
 

Miss Daisy was in her home (indicated by the red arrow) as the crew arrived at the southern edge of the town. 

To the north a carrier crawled to a halt and disgorged three bounty hunters, who quickly took cover behind rusting shacks.

The three bounty hunters - the leader in the centre armed with her hunter's rifle while the other two carry shotguns. Their instructions were to capture Miss Daisy; not harm her. Their plan was, therefore, to advance slowly along each flank and then close in on Miss Daisy.

Davin (hand gun) decided that he and Porro (rifle) should visit Miss Daisy and

explain the danger that she was in. Porro's persuasion skills should help that task. Meanwhile Vinca (rifle) was to shield the left flank, Jaa (hand flamer) and Jeela (shotgun) the right flank and Gorm (blaster rifle) the centre. Davin and Porro would then lead Miss Daisy along the safest route.

The initial turns involved both parties simply advancing, making as much use of the cover provided by the various buildings and rock formations.

Porro soon reached Miss Daisy and tried to convince her to go with him...and tried...and tried...and tried...how hard can it be to roll 4+? It actually took five attempts.

The bounter hunters took up positions, ready to pick off their foe. The leader took a shot at Garm but missed and, sticking his head above a rock, got hit by Vinca and was downed.

Another bounty hunter took up position behind a shack and shot at Garm but only managed to stun him. Vinca decided to creep upon him and surprise him.

Vinca jumped out and fired his rifle at point blank range and misses. Now he was in for it. The bounty hunter blasted both barrels of his shotgun at Vinca and also missed.

Who would be able to act again first? The bounty hunter and finally Vinca was hit.

But as Vinca fell to the ground, Garm aimed his blast rifle at the bounty hunter and disabled him.

Despite losing the other two members of his party, the final bounty hunter's morale remained steady and he sought to fight on. But before he had a chance to fire a shot, he was caught in a pincer movement by Jaa and Jeela and was caught in a hail of bullets.

Finally Miss Daisy decided to believe Porro and to go with him. Did she really have any choice?!

And Porro accompanied her through the township, wondering he he still needed to do some more work on his persuasion skills.

For a first game, it seemed to work well. I felt that the bounty hunters were a little outnumbered. The rules say that you roll two dice and choose the higher number. I threw a 2 and a 3. it is not linked at all to the number of figures that they are facing.

I wonder if it might be worth experimenting with the system taken from 2HW where you roll dice which decide whether the enemy has one less, the same amount or one more than their opponents.

Next post, we'll discover how Vinca is and how much the crew earned from their efforts.

The Campaign Finally Launched

Welcome to another attempt to improve my work/life balance by regularly setting aside some time to do a bit of solo wargaming.

I've been painting up the 15mm populace of my universe for many months (though I still have a lead mountain), acquiring and knocking up various scenery and collecting more than enough rule sets for longer than I care to think about.

Now, inspired by similar blogs (for example Another Slippery Slope, TTown Hobby and A Fist Full of Cow Dung) I think I'm ready to go so here goes...

Meet the Crew

I'm mainly using the second edition of Five Parsecs From Home (with a few adaptions and additions from the first edition and Salvage Crew).

The Whole Crew

Davin Kinall

Origin: A tech guild on a mid-tech.

Motivation: Fame

Class: Scoundrel

Enemies: The Children of Gul (Raiders)

Davin grew up on Aeliana. He had been expected to follow in the family tradition of starting as an apprentice in the Company of Honourable Jump Technicians and working his way up to mastership but he always knew that there was more out there and he wanted some of it. In a moment of utter frustration, he took off in an old but serviceable ship that was in for an overhaul. Unfortunately the ship was the only means of transport for the Children of Gul, a local gang of raiders, who have regularly sought to reclaim their craft and express their disappointment in a physically appropriate way.

Vinca Jissard

Origin: Research outpost on a frontier colony

Motivation: Power

Class: Ganger

Enemy: Battle Droids

Gift from an old lover

Vinca is the result of Unity social experimentation on the distant world of Varinia. Having enjoyed the tasks of leadership as a Unity guineapig, he developed a taste for power and escaped the establishment to recruit his own criminal gang. However, while having some success and gaining some notatiety particular within Unity, he soon discovered that leadership is not so easy amongst a gang of bloody-thirsty robbers and his position was usurped by an even more powerful individual. 

Now he works with Davin, though his ambitions for power still remain and it is not unusual to see him occasionally undermine his boss.

Garm Izel

Origin: Orphan utility programme at a scientific outpost.

Motivation: Faith

Class: Soldier

Patron: the bounty hunter, Mada Gorba

A sanctioned alien

Fragile

Fascinated by xeno-forms

No concept of property

One Quest Clue

The infant Garm was discovered as the only survivor on a battle-damaged craft. While Unity's orphan programme was designed only for human beings, it was decided to accept him on it as well with the intention of trying his race out for recruitment to the army. 

Growing up amongst nothing but humans led Garm to develop a great curiosity not just for his own race but also for all non-homo sapiens. This also led to a sense of discomfort when called upon to attack other races and so he left the army as soon as he could and became a freelance operative, allowing himself to have more choice in whom he killed.

Garm embrances the faith of his people - another important means for him to express his true identity.

Origin: Religious cult on a struggling colony

Porro Thif

Motivation: Technology

Class: Technician

Patron: the pirate, Bo Sund

+1 to persuasion rolls

Sharpshooter

Slow

Porro was born into the Cult of the Etherial Trapezoid on the planet Marilla. During the time of initial settlements, it was not realised that there was a virulent strain of a disease similar to Terran leprosy present on the planet which has led to much disfigurement of its inhabitants.

Porro, now cured, keeps himself completely covered up to hide the frightful scars left by the disease. He has also developed great eloquence in an effort to counteract his strange appearance.

From his meditations in the Cult, Porro has always had an interest in technology. This also means that he can serve his employers well while remaining hidden to the general public.

It may seem strange that he should be regarded as a sharpshooter given the rather baggy, bulky clothing he wears but he is. It was something that he discovered for himself when he was working for the infamous pirate, Bo Sund, and was the only one able to pick off their ambushers.

Jaa Maduel

Origin: Scientific outpost

Motivation: Loyalty

Class: Scientist

Patron:  a mysterious figure

Jaa served for many years carrying out (some might say) rather dubious experiments on behalf of Unity. He never questioned the morality of the tasks he carried out because of his high regard for the aims of Unity and his interests in the wonders of science.
However, he was to discover that his ill-founded loyalty was not reciprocated when there was an explosion at the outpost and he and his co-workers were left to die. Fortunately he was saved by a passing traveller who responded to their distress signals. Sadly, all his colleagues had died.

Deserted by his employer, he turned his back on the organisation and now works for Davin.

Jeela Dystra

Origin: Long-term space mission

Motivation: Political

Class: Special agent

Patrons: mercenary outfit and local gang

+1 to persuasion rolls

Guts

Jeela was born and grew up on the first mission flight to Fortunata. Her parents were responsible for the terra-forming of the planet. On completing her education, because of her prowess in languages, diplomacy and problem-solving, she was recruited into the secret service to ensure that all Unity worlds remained compliant.

After more than a decade of work, now she is not so sure. She remains faithful to the claims of Unity but is not so sure of their practices. So she remains on the organisation's payroll but follows her orders rather more loosely, always managing to find a good explanation for her apparent wandering from the straight and narrow. Some of her more questionable practices have led her to some interesting partnerships and employments.

And there you have them - the (current) six crew of the Sunder's Wing. All the origins, motivations, etc were exactly as created by the dice I rolled. I then chose the figures I had that best suited them. It was then great fun writing up a backstory to explain how they all fiitted together.

Their first mission will be coming up shortly.