Playing Rogue Trader in 15mm

I have been spending most of my hobby time painting recently. Not that I think that is a bad thing, but I felt the urge to actually play with some of the figures that I have painted.

I ummed and ahhed over which set of rules to use from my somewhat large library for a while. This hunt for the 'right' set of sci-fi rules has been going on for longer than I care to admit, but something always pulls me back to an old friend.

I think some of the attraction of Rogue Trader is my familiarity with the rules. I bought them in 1987 or 1988, although I'm not 100% sure, and I have never stopped playing them. I am at the point where I don't need to check the charts to find the results, which really speeds things up.

I should probably try playing some rules that I am less familiar with, but I just didn't feel like it today.

A couple of years ago, I went on a real 15mm painting binge, inspired by the idea that 15mm is a much better scale for my 3 by 2 playing area. These forces have spent some time on the table, but probably not as much as they deserve.

After watching Outland, starring Sean Connery, the other week, I wanted something that was a little less sci-fi fantasy. *Rogue Trader* is a very flexible set of rules, which can be used for a lot of different flavours of science fiction.

Rather than trying to come up with a narrative, I turned once more to the book with all the answers and rolled on the narrative plot table. I picked up the dice and ended up rolling a 16 on Chart 2.

I took this bare-bones idea and developed it in my own way.  

Scenario 

The Turner's Mining Syndicate mining base on SC-150M was being hampered by attacks from the local populace, which were proving detrimental to the syndicate's profit margin. To limit these attacks and get the operation back on track, TMS security forces were to be sent to set up a perimeter defence shield. The TMS security forces would have to hold off any attacks by the locals until the technicians had got the shields online.

In advance of the main force, the local leaders sent two groups of their best soldiers to disable the perimeter defence shields before they were fully initialised.

Game obejctives

TMS Security Forces: Hold off any attacks until the technicians have finished bringing the perimeter defence shield online.

In Turn 7, roll a die. On a roll of 6, the shield is activated. In each subsequent turn, the required score is reduced by 1, so in Turn 8, a roll of 5 or more will succeed.

Hostile Locals:Their objective is to make contact with the perimeter defence shield's generator.

Forces
TMS Security Forces
Squad Alpha-(Imperial army stats)
Sergeant-Yeovil (champion), Lasgun, Bolt pistol, Powersword, Mesh, and Flak armour, and eye protection.
4x Troopers, Lasgun, knife, and Flak armour, and eye protection.

Squad Bravo-(Imperial army stats)
Sergeant-Newman, Lasgun, Bolt pistol, knife, Mesh, and Flak armour.
4x Troopers, Lasgun, knife, and Flak armour.

Squad Charlie-(Imperial army stats)
Sergeant-Williams, Autogun, Las-pistol, Flak armour.
4x Troopers, Autogun, knife, and Flak armour.

Squad Delta-(Imperial army stats)
Sergeant-Craig, Autogun, Las-pistol, Flak armour.
4x Troopers, Autogun, knife, and Flak armour.

Hostile locals
Phalons (Tyranid stats)
Leader- Zor Vix, Bolt gun, knife, Flak armour
2xTroopers-Bolt gun, knife, Flak armour
2x Troopers-Shuriken catapult, knnife, Flak armour

Xar (Zoat stats)
Leader- Dorthan, Bolt gun, knife
3xTroopers-Bolt gun, knife
1x Troopers-Shuriken catapult, knife

Deployment

In my solo games, I tend to experiment with different methods of random deployment, but for today's game, I kept it simple. I divided the board into three sections and rolled 1D6 to determine where each unit would start.

Squads Alpha and Charlie were deployed on their left flank.

Squads Bravo and Delta de-bussed in the centre of the defences alongside the technicians.

The Xar's approached the base opposite squad Alpha.

The Phalons were the last unit to arrive.  They took up position on their left flank.  They looked to use the forest as a safe way to approach the mining camp.

Battle Report

The dawn light was breaking as the TMS transports pulled into the outskirts of the mining camp. Sergeant Yeovil barked out his orders, sending his troops to their assigned positions while the technicians started work on the perimeter defence shield generator.

 

The scent of the ape-thing invaders sent a ripple of anger through the Xars. The chitinous insectoid centaurs roared with rage and scuttled towards the waiting interlopers.

The Xars levelled their weapons at Squad Alpha as they charged across the open ground. Shots slammed into the improvised barricades, which protected most of the squad from the barrage. One unlucky trooper was hit by a piece of shrapnel that punched straight through his armour, killing him.

Sergeant Newman studied his bio-scanner. He knew that the local pests would soon emerge at the forest edge. Their slow progress had given his men time to range in their weapons. As the forest undergrowth began to part, the squad opened fire as one. The fusillade tore into the advancing Phalons, one of them crumpling to the ground.

The Phalons showed no response to the death of their comrade. They calmly took cover in the undergrowth, their alien movements guided by invisible thoughts from far away. They returned fire on Squad Bravo, but their shots all impacted harmlessly on the barricades.

A cold shiver ran down Sergeant Yeovil's spine as he watched the Xars scampering towards his position. Switching on his comms, he directed both Squads Alpha and Charlie to fire on the Xars. The air ionised around Squad Alpha as its troopers opened fire with their lasguns, shortly followed by the boom of Squad Charlie's autoguns. This combined fire didn't even slow the oncoming aliens.

Sergeant Newman smiled as his men kept the roaches pinned at the forest edge. The very sight of these abominations made Newman's stomach turn. He realised that they needed to be wiped off the face of the planet. The NCO directed his men's fire. The withering barrage ripped another Phalon to pieces.

Dorthan bellowed his challenge to combat and led his brood brothers in a charge on the human position. The youngest brood brother was hit by a shot as they clambered over the ape-things' defences, but he simply shrugged off the wound. The stench of the ape-things became more acute as his brood brothers ripped them to pieces.

Zor Vix closed his cyclopean eye as a wave of disapproval reached into his mind. His troops were failing in their simple task of sweeping this nuisance from his home. The voice in his head commanded him to advance and finish these creatures off in melee combat. Zor Vix turned to his men and, in a fluting whisper, ordered them to charge the position.

The melee was a blur as Sergeant Yeovil fended off one of the giant centaurs with his power sword. Looking left and right, he saw his squad being torn to pieces. The NCO's resolve broke, and he fled the combat with the only other surviving member of the squad.

Seeing Squad Alpha break, Sergeant Williams led her troops in a last-ditch effort to save the surviving members of the squad. They desperately struggled with the chitinous creatures, but most of their blows bounced off the monstrous hide. Two of her soldiers wrestled with the smallest of the creatures. Together, they managed to prise apart a damaged piece of chitin and plunge a dagger into the exposed flesh, killing the creature.

Bravo Squad turned to look at their sergeant, none of them able to believe their eyes as the Phalons broke cover and started to sprint towards them. Sergeant Newman laughed softly as he told his men to exterminate the infestation in front of them. Hot beams of light flashed through the air, puncturing the advancing Phalons in multiple places. They all froze for a moment as their brains slowly realised that they were dead, before they fell. Zor Vix was the last to fall. He whistled a short lament to the futility of conflict, which, sadly, none of the humans could understand.

Sergeant Craig looked nervously at the defences on the left flank and realised they wouldn't hold for much longer. What chance did Charlie Squad have of holding off the centaurs? The balding, middle-aged sergeant wished he had taken the offer of early retirement after taking a bullet in the knee during the food riots on New Astor. Lifting his cap, he wiped the sweat from his head and ordered his men into a blocking position. The technicians needed more time to get the perimeter shield up.

Sergeant Williams and her men's valiant actions had bought enough time for Alpha Squad to break off and regroup, but they could no more stop these insectoid killing machines than King Cnut could hold back the tide. Charlie Squad broke and ran for their lives.

Dorthan sneezed as his olfactory senses were bombarded by the stench of fear from the fleeing ape-things. For a second, he was tempted to order his brood brothers to hunt down and slaughter the creatures, but the impact of a heavy round striking his hide reminded him that there were still enemies willing to put up some sort of a fight.

Taking a swig from his hip flask, Sergeant Craig tried to steady his squad as the alien creatures charged towards them. Squad Delta scored several hits on the Xars, but their bullets simply flattened against the chitinous hide. In the ensuing melee, Sergeant Craig was the first to fall. He was hampered by his old wound and ageing reflexes. The squad's resolve hardened as they watched their beloved sergeant die.

Dorthan and his brood brothers roared with joy as the melee raged. These ape-things did not flee. They stood, they fought, they died in honourable combat. They were worthy enemies. The death scream of one of his brood brothers added to the glory of the fight. The ape-things could fight, but they could not stand for long against Dorthan and his brood brothers.

Delta Squad was gone, Charlie Squad was out of the fight, and Alpha Squad was down to just two combatants. Sergeant Yeovil knew when a fight was over. He grabbed the last surviving member of his squad and ran for the transport. He was determined not to die that day. No amount of credits was worth it.

The technicians looked nervously at the approaching aliens, their work hampered by fear. The second technician wrestled with a thick cable, its surface slick with sweat and writhing in his hands like a snake. He finally managed to plug it in, and the generator flashed into life for a few seconds before dying again, smoke pouring from the portable battery he carried. He turned and shouted to Sergeant Newman, “You need to buy us more time!”

The acrid smell of smoke reached Dorthan's olfactory senses, and he saw the cursed machine that he and his brothers had been sent to destroy. A deep rumble sounded from his chest, and the three remaining Xars charged at the machine. One of the aliens fell before they reached it, but Dorthan and his companion laid into the machine. They ignored the fire from the ape-things. Their goal was to destroy the infernal engine, and they would not fail.

The perimeter defence shield generator was completely wrecked before Bravo Squad could put the aliens down. Sergeant Newman looked at the Second Technician as if to ask whether it could be fixed, but the technician just shook his head.

Finals thoughts

I am very biased, but Rogue Trader is a really cracking set of rules if you approach them in the right way. For me, the rules are best played at this sort of skirmish level, with a clear scenario and narrative.

The game was a real nail-biter, which I hope I have conveyed in this battle report. It reached Turn Eight, and, unluckily for the TMS forces, the die roll to start up the shield generator came up a four. The game wasn't over, though, as Bravo Squad managed to kill one of the Xars, forcing a morale check which they passed.

There were moments when, with better dice rolls, the TMS forces could have held the locals in check, but fate was simply not on their side.