Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 100: Loading Bay Raid and Escape the Robots!

 Hi!

As promised, here's the play through of the scenario that I posted the other day in which mercenaries Dmitry and Rosario must infiltrate a loading bay, locate an item for their mysterious employer and escape, hopefully without alerting the robots who guard it!

The Background

Rosario ducked out of sight as a rusty cargo robot trudged by on its assigned task. It had taken her and her new partner, Dmitry several hours to sneak into the docks near Freeport Cities spaceport and the closer they got to Loading Bay K9, the more robots they'd had to dodge. 

Whatever item their employer had hired them to retrieve must be worth a fair bit judging by the level of security in the area. Now they were approaching Bay K9 and somewhere within was the Item. Hopefully the two would be able to find it and exfil without attracting the unwanted attention of security. Fortunately, the only robots in the area were low processing power Cargo Droids who could be easily avoided so with a signal to Dmitry who stubbed out his cigarette and donned his mask and cocked his machine pistol they moved out into the shadowy bay.

The Forces 

The mercenaries are represented by Rosario who is toting a Las Rifle, knife and light armour and Dmitry who has a machine pistol, knife and light armour. Dmitry also has the Gunfighter skill which will allow him to fire his weapon in close combat.

Security is represented by unarmed cargo robots, a security robot and a heavy security robot. The first three are low processing power models who can only activate once per turn and have half the number of wounds as the heavy security robot. The security robot is armed with a las pistol while the heavy security robot is armed with a heavy pistol. 

The Layout

The game takes place in a cluttered loading bay and has six piles of cargo that need searching to find the Item. Each time a character spends an action in base contact with an icon, they roll a D10 to see if it is the Item they are looking for. A roll of a 10 results in the item being amongst the cargo they seek. Each unsuccessfully searched token adds one to the score.

The two cargo robots begin at the south end of the bay, out of sight of the mercenaries and buzzing around doing their assigned duties. If they come within their front 90 degree arc of the mercenaries and within 20cm, they raise the alarm and begin activating normally and will attempt to stop the mercs from escaping. There is also a chance that they will activate repeatedly during the turn or indeed more robots may appear.

Rosario and Dmitry begin the game crouching in the shadow of an unused office building and begin moving stealthily out to search for the Item they have been hired to recover.

As I'm using Planet 28m models activate in descending Agilities so movement will be Rosario, the Heavy Security Robot, Dmitry, the Security Robot and the Cargo robots activate last.

The Game Part 1

Turn one sees Rosario peer around the edge of the unused office and spot a ladder leading to a better vantage point across the corridor from her so she glides over to it and quickly climbs up, aware of the danger of being spotted in such an exposed position. Meanwhile Dmitry rushes forward from the other side of the building and moves to search the first of the cargo stacks.

The two cargo robots buzz around but are well outside detection range of the two mercenaries. No reinforcements arrive.

Turn two starts disastrously for the mercenaries as Rosario moves to climb down from the roof of the cargo container and looses her footing, falling to the hard ground and lightly injuring herself. Swearing under her breath, she pulls herself to her feet and readies her trusty las rifle. Fortunately her fall hasn't attracted the attention of security and she releases a breath she didn't realise she was holding.

On the other side of the loading bay, Dmitry searches the cargo and finds nothing before moving towards the next stack, quietly chuckling to himself as he hears muffled swearing from his companion.

The two robots trudge backwards and forwards, intent on their programmed tasks and oblivious to the two shadowy figures moving around the other end of the bay.

Turn three has Rosario reach and search the cargo in front of her but again, the results are negative, the Item must be further towards the southern end of the bay which may explain the presence of the two cargo robots.

Dmitry moves through the narrow alleyway towards the third cargo stack but pauses at the alleys mouth. A glance to the right reveals Rosario aiming her rifle at him and he lowers his pistol and nods a greeting before glancing to the left where distant clomping of robotic feet marks the presence of company. Fortunately the robot is not in line of sight of either character and they are safe from alerting Security for another turn.

The two robots continue moving around with one putting on an unexpected burst of speed (I rolled an extra activation on one!) but their path leads them back into the southern end of the bay and away from the mercenaries.

Turn four has Rosario move forward to cover the alley whilst Dmitry moves to search the cargo and the Item is located. It is a small canister of Xenos origin and gleams dully in the light. Shrugging at their employers poor taste in alien tat, Dmitry stashes the Item in his backpack and turns to motion for Rosario to move towards the exit. 

As they exit the alleyway, the unmistakable whirring and clanking of a heavy robot can be heard approaching and Rosario and Dmitry exchange a worried look, the contract hadn't mentioned anything about the Item having a security sensor attached to it.

From the gloom of the southern end of the loading bay, a bulky ironclad form emerges. The heavy security robot has arrived, its stubby gun tracking right and left as its sensors locate the interlopers and sirens begin blaring around the bay.

Turn five begins with Rosario vaulting over a nearby cargo stack and laying down fire at the bulky robot as it clanks forward. Her hurried shot flies wide and Dmitry utters an oath in his native tongue as the security robot's heavy pistol barks fire at him. Fortunately the robots fire misses him, screaming over his head and destroying a nearby box. In return he lets rip with his machine pistol but the bullets glance harmlessly off the robots armour. Seeing that discretion is the better part of valour, He follows Rosario's lead and takes to his heels. It is only a matter of time before more robots arrive and they are captured.

Alerted to the intruders, the two cargo robots move as fast as they can towards the noise of gunfire

Turn six sees Rosario take careful aim at the rapidly approaching robot and open fire with her las rifle. The searing beams of energy rip into the robot badly damaging it but not slowing its advance. In return the damaged robot sends a hail of lead towards her position, forcing her to duck back into cover to avoid getting hit.

Dmitry, aware that time is running out for them, continues to move as fast as his legs will carry him, sure that Rosario will be fine and catch up soon and shouting over his shoulder at her to get a move on.  Meanwhile, more robots begin arriving from the southern end of the warehouse including another security robot and the pressure is on!

Rosario, hearing her colleagues shout, turns and dashes after him, neatly avoiding the increasingly accurate fire from the heavy security robot and exits the table.

As I had completed the scenario, things could have ended there but I wanted to set the two mercs the challenge of escaping the area whilst being pursued by robots seeking vengeance so set up for a second game!

The Game Part 2

Gasping for breath, Rosario and Dmitry have outrun their pursuers and can see the exit to the Warehouse and their route to freedom but they're not out of the woods yet as Security has tracked them down and even now have dispatched fresh forces to capture them.

The two mercenaries enter the board from the south and must exit the northern table edge to win. Robots will appear every turn from a random board edge and attempt to stop them (I bodged the following rolls on a D10: 1-5 Cargo robot, 6-8 Security Robot, 9+ Heavy Security Robot. A Second roll to determine board edge on a D8 would determine where they appeared!)

 

Turn one saw Rosario and Dmitry dash forward as fast as they could, heedless of what could be awaiting them as they make their escape. Unfortunately,  a cargo robot appears from a doorway ahead and moves to block them.

Swearing, Rosario opens fire with her trusty las gun but her shots scream wide, pitting and bubbling the concrete behind the robot.

Dmitry moves forward and blazes away with his machine pistol but he too fails to damage the approaching robot. Clearly whatever they've stolen is important enough for security to pull out all the stops to retrieve it. To make matters worse, a second cargo robot lurches out of a nearby passageway and moves towards the startled merc!

Rosario again opens fire on the robot blocking their exit but despite hitting the machine, it refuses to die. Meanwhile Dmitry turns toward the sound of approaching feet and sends two bursts towards the newly appeared robot, sending it spinning to the ground smouldering and out of action.

Before he can congratulate himself, a familiar outline emerges from the southern doorway and a heavy security robot marches out, its pistol blazing. Fortunately the machine misses Rosario and she sends a burst back at the robot before retreating from it towards the exit.

Distracted by the second cargo robot's destruction, Dmitry turns just in time to avoid the clumsy swing of the first.

Rosario, seeking a better position, moves next to a cargo stack and lets rip at the heavy security robot, making it rock back on its feet as her shots hit home but barely scratching the sturdy droid. In return, the robot fires again but its targeting array has clearly been damaged as it again misses its mark.

Recovering from his momentary surprise, Dmitry fires a burst into the unprotected hydraulics of the cargo robot he's stuck fighting and the machine is sent crashing to the ground, smoking and twitching as his bullets find the mark, he then makes a dive to the doorway next to Rosario, only to discover the passageway is a dead end.

Seeing another doorway further down the passage, Rosario dives towards it and glances out. Freedom is only a short run and they will be able to lose their pursuers in the maze of alleyways of Freeport Cities slums but they need to get out of the building first!

The heavy security robot opens fire again, this time at Dmitry who grunts as a shell pierces his flak vest and he feels the hot stickiness of blood begin to seep through his tunic. The wound isn't bad but he's not too keen to be on the receiving end of more fire if he can avoid it.

Just as it appears things are looking up, Rosario hears Dmitry getting hit and glancing back out the door is horrified to see the unmistakable form of another security robot approaching from outside. Swearing profusely, she takes careful aim at the clanking robot and reduces it to scrap with two well aimed shots. The exit is clear and now the two mercenaries just need to get away!

The heavy security robot moves forward to try to cut off the escape of the two fugitives but despite firing wildly after them, the two mercenaries make good their escape and disappear into the nearby slum.

Conclusion

Rosario accepted the ice cold beer from Dmitry and breathed a deep sigh of relief, they'd recovered the Item they'd been hired to steal and avoided pursuit by dashing down stinking alleyways and scrambling over rooftops and managed to patch up their cuts and bruises as well as Dmitry's wound. The Romanov was now slumped low in his chair opposite her, a Vodka in hand and dribbling smoke from his cigarette, seemingly content with his lot in life. 

Now they just needed to take the Item to their mysterious employer. She'd Voxxed ahead and the meet was to happen later that evening in the nearby mercantile quarter. What could possibly go wrong? As if sensing her thoughts, Dmitry offered up a toast and suggested they should demand extra for all the trouble they'd gone through. Smiling, Rosario returned the toast and decided that she'll be happier once the Item has been handed off and she can relax for a while.

Well, I have to say, that was quite a fun couple of battle reports back to back for my 100th day of lockdown! 

The scenario worked out pretty well and the only change I think I'd make would be to tool up the Heavy Security Robot a bit so it had a more powerful gun but it did it's job, driving the mercenaries away while the lower class robots slowed them down.

I've actually played the Loading Bay scenario four times now to try it out and each time the mercenaries have escaped but the arrival of more robots resulted in one being taken out of action in one game and another being trapped in a dead end and having to fight their way out in another (it resulted in a robot crashing into a storage tank which triggered a very impressive explosion too!)

Apologies for the length of the post but I really enjoyed playing it and putting together the report!

In other news, my pdf of Brutal Quest arrived this morning and I'll post a bit of a review in the next day or so but initial thoughts on it are positive but in the meantime, All the best!