Opokt Campaign 7/9: the Opokt island

A solo campaign based on OPR Grimdark Future Firefight  and Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart (NSAABH). Campaign set-up details here.

Background and previous events: 1988 – hypergates appear in different places of the Earth. The gates lead to what apparently is a different version of our planet in which elements of the present world mix with elements from the remote past and from what possibly is a remote future. From the hyperplanet, invading armies, dinosaurs and giant golems attack our world. The governments of the Earth send SWAT squads through the gates: their task is to explore the hostile planet on the other side and hopefully find a way to shut the hypergates and stop the invasion.
Sgt.Ephraim and his comrades  must shut-down an unstable wormhole which has been reported in the Opokt area. The wormhole is under the control of Damocles Garth, a renegade marine who has joined the collaborationists. The earthlings have been informed by an anonymous source in Damocles’ army: who is this person?
I use the NSAABH card deck to answer these three questions:
(Clubs) Where exactly is the wormhole?
(Diamonds) How can it be shut-down?
(Spades) Who is the anonymous informant?
(1) Five of spades – the anonymous informant is not a robot.
Ephraim’s squad recovers a memory deck whose position had been revealed by the informant. He sent the earthlings a handwritten note: so he/she is not a robot. Ephraim fails a 50-50 roll to discover a second card.
(2) Two of spades – the informant isn’t Damocles’ sidekick Tia. Ephraim’s squad is confronted by a group of gaters lead by Tia: clearly, she is loyal to the collaborationists.
(3) Ace of diamonds – the wormhole cannot be shut-down by explosives. Our heroes are defeated in an attempt to break through the defence of the gaters. They receive new from their HQ that the wormhole is supposed to be resistant to explosives.
(4) Ace of Clubs: the wormhole is not in the dungeons below Opokt. The team explores the dungeons and find nothing bug bugs and collaborationists. They win the fight, and, by questioning a prisoner, Ephraim also discovers that
(4b) 4 of Spades: the mysterious informant is not a civilian, but someone in the blue army.
(5) 2 of Diamonds: the earth HQ dig more valuable intelligence out of the memory deck: the wormhole cannot be shut-down by a technological interface.
(6) Ace of Spades. The informant is not Damocles. Only one spades card is left. The informant is a blue soldier: Ephraim’s team recovers him.

__________________________

New card: 4 of clubs – the wormhole is not on an island on the Opokt river.

The informant tells the earthlings that the wormhole might be on an island on the Opokt river. Ephraim’s team go and check the place: they don’t find the wormhole, but there could be something of interest to retrieve. I set up the encounter as a treasure hunt: the six blue markers correspond to potential locations for the
objective.

Blue opposition:
a Veteran
an infantry squad
two snipers
a mutant rhinoceros

The two snipers are “scouts” and they are directly deployed near two of the points of interest.

Turn 1: the blue sniper on the lower-left immediately finds and grabs the objective! All the other units advance towards the center of the island.

Turn 2: the blue sniper with the target object begins retreating towards his exit. The two infantry squads exchange shots and one of the green man goes down. Calaf charges the blue Veteran.

Turn 3: Ephraim shoots at the retreating sniper but misses; then he is cornered by the blue infantry. Calaf and the veteran are still engaged in melee. The rhino charges the green infantry. Pierre tries to get a clean shot to the retreating sniper.

Turn 4: Pierre manages to take down the sniper! The target is available, but no green figure is close enough to try and pick it up. Ephraim is put out of combat by the green infantry. Finally, Pierre is stunned by the second sniper.

None of the two sides managed to recover the target; but the green suffered more losses than the blue.

NSAABH:
Clubs: Where exactly is the wormhole?
1. — Underground: below Opokt town.
2. It is a portable device, carried around in a van.
3. In an abandoned factory.
4. On an island of the Opokt river.
5. In Damocles’ HQ.
Diamonds: How can it be shut-down?
1. — Blasting it with explosive.
2. By a technological interface.
3. Some kind of spell.
4. A physical key.
5. Killing Damocles.
Spades: Who is the anonymous informant?
1. Damocles.
2. — Damocles’ sidekick Tia.
3. A  collaborationist soldier.
4. — A civilian.
5. — A robot.

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Opokt Campaign 6/9: fight for the informant

A solo campaign based on OPR Grimdark Future Firefight  and Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart (NSAABH). Campaign set-up details here.
Background and previous events: 1988 – hypergates appear in different places of the Earth. The gates lead to what apparently is a different version of our planet in which elements of the present world mix with elements from the remote past and from what possibly is a remote future. From the hyperplanet, invading armies, dinosaurs and giant golems attack our world. The governments of the Earth send SWAT squads through the gates: their task is to explore the hostile planet on the other side and hopefully find a way to shut the hypergates and stop the invasion.
Sgt.Ephraim and his comrades  must shut-down an unstable wormhole which has been reported in the Opokt area. The wormhole is under the control of Damocles Garth, a renegade marine who has joined the collaborationists. The earthlings have been informed by an anonymous source in Damocles’ army: who is this person?
I use the NSAABH card deck to answer these three questions:
(Clubs) Where exactly is the wormhole?
(Diamonds) How can it be shut-down?
(Spades) Who is the anonymous informant?
(1) Five of spades – the anonymous informant is not a robot.
Ephraim’s squad recovers a memory deck whose position had been revealed by the informant. He sent the earthlings a handwritten note: so he/she is not a robot. Ephraim fails a 50-50 roll to discover a second card.
(2) Two of spades – the informant isn’t Damocles’ sidekick Tia. Ephraim’s squad is confronted by a group of gaters lead by Tia: clearly, she is loyal to the collaborationists.
(3) Ace of diamonds – the wormhole cannot be shut-down by explosives. Our heroes are defeated in an attempt to break through the defence of the gaters. They receive new from their HQ that the wormhole is supposed to be resistant to explosives.
(4) Ace of Clubs: the wormhole is not in the dungeons below Opokt. The team explores the dungeons and find nothing bug bugs and collaborationists. They win the fight, and, by questioning a prisoner, Ephraim also discovers that
(4b) 4 of Spades: the mysterious informant is not a civilian, but someone in the blue army.
(5) 2 of Diamonds: the earth HQ dig more valuable intelligence out of the memory deck: the wormhole cannot be shut-down by a technological interface.

_____________________________

New card: Ace of Spades. The informant is not Damocles. Only one cards is left: the informant is a blue soldier.
I set up a scenario in which one of the two sides will be in control of the informant, escorted by an Infantry Squad. The other side must eliminate the Infantry Squad to take control of the informant. A 50-50 roll assigned the informant to control of the Gaters blue squad: The informant has been uncovered and Ephraim’s squad must recover him.
The informant is the figure marked with a pink cube. The blue enter from the South. In addition to the infantry squad, they have two veterans (running men), a sniper (crouching) and a flying bug. The Sniper has the scout ability and takes position on the relatively high building. This turned out to be a poor decision: he never had a clear line of sight to any opponent.

The squad with the objective moves towards the right. So does the green army. The two sides soon exchange shots in the narrow area near the wrecked yellowish car. Pierre takes two wounds from the two blue veterans. Calaf takes down the first of the three infantry men escorting the informant. The flying bug initially moved to the left, and at turn two it is still a the center of the board, far from the action.

Pierre is engaged in a double fight against the veterans and the flying bug: he doesn’t inflict any damage, but he survives all the attacks.
This allows Ephraim, Calaf and the green infantry squad to focus on the main objective. The task is tougher than it seems. The last infantry man is killed by the very last shot of the fourth turn. The informant is now safely in the hands of the Green army!

I must say that this time I played the blues quite poorly: both the bug and the sniper were not used at full potential. On the other hand, the veterans had some lucky shots, so it turned out to be an engaging fight anyway.

NSAABH:
Clubs: Where exactly is the wormhole?
1. — Underground: below Opokt town.
2. It is a portable device, carried around in a van.
3. In an abandoned factory.
4. On an island of the Opokt river.
5. In Damocles’ HQ.
Diamonds: How can it be shut-down?
1. — Blasting it with explosive.
2. By a technological interface.
3. Some kind of spell.
4. A physical key.
5. Killing Damocles.
Spades: Who is the anonymous informant?
1. Damocles.
2. — Damocles’ sidekick Tia.
3. A  collaborationist soldier.
4. — A civilian.
5. — A robot.

Opokt Campaign 5/9: two robots too much

A solo campaign based on OPR Grimdark Future Firefight  and Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart (NSAABH). Campaign set-up details here.

Background and previous events: 1988: hypergates appear in different places of the Earth. The gates lead to what apparently is a different version of our planet in which elements of the present world mix with elements from the remote past and from what possibly is a remote future. From the hyperplanet, invading armies, dinosaurs and giant golems attack our world. The governments of the Earth send SWAT squads through the gates: their task is to explore the hostile planet on the other side and hopefully find a way to shut the hypergates and stop the invasion.
Sgt.Ephraim and his comrades  must shut-down an unstable wormhole which has been reported in the Opokt area. The wormhole is under the control of Damocles Garth, a renegade marine who has joined the collaborationists. The earthlings have been informed by an anonymous source in Damocles’ army: who is this person?
I use the NSAABH card deck to answer these three questions:
(Clubs) Where exactly is the wormhole?
(Diamonds) How can it be shut-down?
(Spades) Who is the anonymous informant?
(1) Five of spades – the anonymous informant is not a robot.
Ephraim’s squad recovers a memory deck whose position had been revealed by the informant. He sent the earthlings a handwritten note: so he/she is not a robot. Ephraim fails a 50-50 roll to discover a second card.
(2) Two of spades – the informant isn’t Damocles’ sidekick Tia. Ephraim’s squad is confronted by a group of gaters lead by Tia: clearly, she is loyal to the collaborationists.
(3) Ace of diamonds – the wormhole cannot be shut-down by explosives. Our heroes are defeated in an attempt to break through the defence of the gaters. They receive new from their HQ that the wormhole is supposed to be resistant to explosives.
(4) Ace of Clubs: the wormhole is not in the dungeons below Opokt. The team explores the dungeons and find nothing bug bugs and collaborationists. They win the fight, and, by questioning a prisoner, Ephraim also discovers that
(4b) the mysterious informant is not a civilian, but someone in the blue army.

________________________________

New card:
2 of Diamonds: the wormhole cannot be shut-down by a technological interface.

The scenario is a classical “size ground” with five objectives (the pink cubes). I roll for random opposition and get:
Tia (Damocles’ sidekick) same stats as Ephraim
A fast flying bug
Two robots (who have the “scout” special ability and Tough:3)

The two scout robots can be deployed anywhere, and they immediately secure the two buildings with objectives.

Turns 1 and 2: Ephraim and Calaf face the green robot near the building on the right. The robot receives two hits, but Calaf is stunned in the fight.
Pierre shoots a well aimed rocket at Tia, who is over-confidently advancing in the open. She is Tough:3 two, gets two wounds but still stands.
The infantry team fights the black robot on the left. Both sides take damage.

Turn 3: The green robots stuns Calaf again. Ephraim shoots at him but misses.
Pierre also misses his last chance to put Tia out of combat. She retreats behind the red van, also securing an objective.
The fight on the left side doesn’t go well for the earthlings: they loose another soldier and the third is stunned.

Turn 4: The flying bug, who had been quite behind cover the whole time, flies to one of the objectives. Tia and the robots control an objective each: the earthlings have none.

This was a humiliating defeat for the green army. Yet they receive news from their HQ: new data have been extracted from the memory deck. The wormhole cannot be shut-down via a software interface.

 

NSAABH:
Clubs: Where exactly is the wormhole?
1. — Underground: below Opokt town.
2. It is a portable device, carried around in a van.
3. In an abandoned factory.
4. On an island of the Opokt river.
5. In Damocles’ HQ.
Diamonds: How can it be shut-down?
1. — Blasting it with explosive.
2. By a technological interface.
3. Some kind of spell.
4. A physical key.
5. Killing Damocles.
Spades: Who is the anonymous informant?
1. Damocles.
2. — Damocles’ sidekick Tia.
3. A random collaborationist soldier.
4. — A civilian.
5. — A robot.

Opokt Campaign 4/9: Opokt Dungeon!

A solo campaign based on OPR Grimdark Future Firefight  and Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart (NSAABH)

Background and previous events: 1988: hypergates appear in different places of the Earth. The gates lead to what apparently is a different version of our planet in which elements of the present world mix with elements from the remote past and from what possibly is a remote future. From the hyperplanet, invading armies, dinosaurs and giant golems attack our world. The governments of the Earth send SWAT squads through the gates: their task is to explore the hostile planet on the other side and hopefully find a way to shut the hypergates and stop the invasion.
Sgt.Ephraim and his comrades  must shut-down an unstable wormhole which has been reported in the Opokt area. The wormhole is under the control of Damocles Garth, a renegade marine who has joined the collaborationists. The earthlings have been informed by an anonymous source in Damocles’ army: who is this person?
I use the NSAABH card deck to answer these three questions:
(Clubs) Where exactly is the wormhole?
(Diamonds) How can it be shut-down?
(Spades) Who is the anonymous informant?
(1) Five of spades – the anonymous informant is not a robot.
Ephraim’s squad recovers a memory deck whose position had been revealed by the informant. He sent the earthlings a handwritten note: so he/she is not a robot. Ephraim fails a 50-50 roll to discover a second card.
(2) Two of spades – the informant isn’t Damocles’ sidekick Tia. Ephraim’s squad is confronted by a group of gaters lead by Tia: clearly, she is loyal to the collaborationists.
(3) Ace of diamonds – the wormhole cannot be shut-down by explosives. Our heroes are defeated in an attempt to break through the defence of the gaters. They receive new from their HQ that the wormhole is supposed to be resistant to explosives.

__________________________

(4) Ace of Clubs: the wormhole is not in the dungeons below Opokt.

I set up a “size ground” scenario in a dungeon below Opokt: the side controlling most of the pink cubes wins. I decided that I will roll each turn to see what opposition is found. The green were lucky in their deployment roll and got the best entrance.

Turn 1: they are lucky again and meet no opposition. The Infantry Squad sizes the objective area in the first room.

Turn 2: Two giant bugs enter the scene.

Turn 3: Our heroes kill the bugs. Ephraim is wounded in the fight, but he manages to move towards the objective in the South-East room. A blue sniper takes position in the North-West room and wounds Pierre.

Turn 4: The green control four of the five objectives. The sniper hits Pierre again and Tia (Damocles’ sidekick) appears together with four veterans, but it is too late to make any difference. Calaf also takes down one of the enemies with a well-aimed shot.

Since this is the first of the three central “act”, I give Ephraim a chance to discover an extra clue. I roll a 50% die, and this time Ephraim is successful!
4 Of Spades: One of the blue soldiers is captured and questioned. He tells Ephraim that there is a traitor among the blue army: the mysterious informant is not a civilian.

NSAABH:
Clubs: Where exactly is the wormhole?
1. — Underground: below Opokt town.
2. It is a portable device, carried around in a van.
3. In an abandoned factory.
4. On an island of the Opokt river.
5. In Damocles’ HQ.
Diamonds: How can it be shut-down?
1. — Blasting it with explosive.
2. By a technological interface.
3. Some kind of spell.
4. A physical key.
5. Killing Damocles.
Spades: Who is the anonymous informant?
1. Damocles.
2. — Damocles’ sidekick Tia.
3. A random collaborationist soldier.
4. — A civilian.
5. — A robot.

Opokt Campaign 3/9: Blue Breakthrough

A solo campaign based on OPR Grimdark Future Firefight  and Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart (NSAABH)

Background and previous events: 1988: hypergates appear in different places of the Earth. The gates lead to what apparently is a different version of our planet in which elements of the present world mix with elements from the remote past and from what possibly is a remote future. From the hyperplanet, invading armies, dinosaurs and giant golems attack our world. The governments of the Earth send SWAT squads through the gates: their task is to explore the hostile planet on the other side and hopefully find a way to shut the hypergates and stop the invasion.
Sgt.Ephraim and his comrades  must shut-down an unstable wormhole which has been reported in the Opokt area. The wormhole is under the control of Damocles Garth, a renegade marine who has joined the collaborationists. The earthlings have been informed by an anonymous source in Damocles’ army: who is this person?
I use the NSAABH card deck to answer these three questions:
(Clubs) Where exactly is the wormhole?
(Diamonds) How can it be shut-down?
(Spades) Who is the anonymous informant?
(1) five of spades – the anonymous informant is not a robot.
Ephraim’s squad recovers a memory deck whose position had been revealed by the informant. He sent the earthlings a handwritten note: so he/she is not a robot. Ephraim fails a 50-50 roll to discover a second card.
(2) two of spades – the informant isn’t Damocles’ sidekick Tia. Ephraim’s squad is confronted by a group of gaters lead by Tia: clearly, she is loyal to the collaborationists.

(3) new card: Ace of diamonds – the wormhole cannot be shut-down by explosives.
The earthling HQ is working on the memory deck retrieved by Ephraim. They find information that confirm beyond any doubt that no type of explosive can damage wormholes: the energy of the blast is simply carried to the other side.

I set up a breakthrough scenario. Ephraim, Claude, Pierre and the usual infantry squad must cross the board and exit from the opposite (South-East) corner. The opposing blue army consists of:

• A giant golem (Q:4+ D:4+ giant fists:A2 rending)
• Two veterans
• An infantry squad

Pierre (bazooka) targets the golem and kills him!
All the others advance towards the center of the board.

The blue infantry charges: Calaf is stunned. Pierre shoots a second rocket towards one of the blue veterans, but misses.

The green infantry charges the blue veteran near the stairs, who resists the attack and kills one of the green soldiers. The blue infantry squad moves towards their objective (North-West corner)

Pierre kills the veteran in front of the gray car. Calaf shoots to the other veteran but misses. The blue manage to reach their target area with three figures (the whole infantry squad) while the green (having lost an infantry men) reach their exit with only two figures.

The blue win by a narrow margin.

Opokt Campaign 2/9: Tia queen of the hill

A solo campaign based on OPR Grimdark Future Firefight  and Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart (NSAABH)

Background: 1988: hypergates appear in different places of the Earth. The gates lead to what apparently is a different version of our planet in which elements of the present world mix with elements from the remote past and from what possibly is a remote future. From the hyperplanet, invading armies, dinosaurs and giant golems attack our world. The governments of the Earth send SWAT squads through the gates: their task is to explore the hostile planet on the other side and hopefully find a way to shut the hypergates and stop the invasion.
Sgt.Ephraim and his comrades  must shut-down an unstable wormhole which has been reported in the Opokt area. The wormhole is under the control of Damocles Garth, a renegade marine who has joined the collaborationists. The earthlings have been informed by an anonymous source in Damocles’ army: who is this person?

I use the NSAABH card deck to answer these three questions:
(Clubs) Where exactly is the wormhole?
(Diamonds) How can it be shut-down?
(Spades) Who is the anonymous informant?

(1) five of spades – the anonymous informant is not a robot.
Ephraim’s squad recovers a memory deck whose position had been revealed by the informant. He sent the earthlings a handwritten note: so he/she is not a robot. Ephraim fails a 50-50 roll to discover a second card.

New card: two of spades – the informant isn’t Damocles’ sidekick Tia.
I set up a “king of the hill” scenario: the side with more figures on the top of the central building at the end of turn 4 wins.
The “collaborationist” opposition is formed by:

• Tia (the paper mini): same stats as Ephraim (Sergeant)
• two Veterans (running guys): same stats as Calaf
• three bugs (Assault Grunt stuts: Q:5+ D:5+ Claws(A2) Fast, Strider)

 

The earthlings (green) have a slightly higher point count (120 vs 105). But when I rolled for entry sides, the collaborationists (blue) got the more advantageous right side. All buildings and stairs are difficult terrain.

The three bugs are fast and ignore difficult terrain (strider): they start climbing the stairs. All the others advance.

Calaf and Ephraim kill the giant ant. The green infantry squad and Pierre (bazooka) try shooting at the cricket, but fail. Tia and the two blue veterans use the second stair to reach the target area.

The cricket blocks the road to the green infantry: the humans charge, but with no effect. Ephraim and Calaf run behind Tia towards the stairs on the right. Pierre shoots and misses again.

The green infantry men are badly damaged by the cricket (2 figures down). Ephraim and Calaf engage a firefight with the veterans: Ephraim takes one wound, Calaf and one of the blue men are stunned. It’s a clear blue victory, with four unstunned figures at the top of the building.

Opokt skirmish / NSAABH Campaign 1/9

First session in my new OPR Grimdark Future Firefight skirmish campaign. I draw a card from the Nine Steps and a Bloody Heart (NSAABH) deck: five of spades – the anonymous informant is not a robot.

Set-Up: “1988: hypergates appear in different places of the Earth. The gates lead to what apparently is a different version of our planet in which elements of the present world mix with elements from the remote past and from what possibly is a remote future. From the hyperplanet, invading armies, dinosaurs and giant golems attack our world. The governments of the Earth send SWAT squads through the gates: their task is to explore the hostile planet on the other side and hopefully find a way to shut the hypergates and stop the invasion”.

Sgt.Ephraim and his comrades  must shut-down an unstable wormhole which has been reported in the Opokt area. The wormhole is under the control of Damocles Garth, a renegade marine who has joined the collaborationists. The earthlings have been informed by an anonymous source in Damocles’ army: who is this person?

I will use NSAABH card deck to answer these three questions:

(Clubs) Where exactly is the wormhole?
(Diamonds) How can it be shut-down?
(Spades) Who is the anonymous informant?

Ephraim receives a message from the Earthlings HQ: the informant has pointed to an area in Opokt where a memory deck with important data can be found. Strangely, this information has been delivered by means of a hand-written card: it is not clear if the writer was a man or a woman.

Ephraim (Sergeant with pistol) reaches the area, together with Pierre (bazooka guy) and Calaf (running veteran) and a riflemen squad. They find a strong opposition by the blue insurgents: three veterans, a soldier armed with a bazooka, an infantry squad and the usual robot.

 

I have randomly placed six markers representing possible locations for the memory deck (the green pebbles). Entry points for the two armies are also random: the Ephraim enters from the North-East, the blue men from the South-West. The robot has the “scout” special ability and is directly deployed next to an objective marker.

Turn 1: several units from both sides reach objective markers. The green infantry squad is the lucky one: they find the memory deck inside the orange car.

Turn 2: the robot charges the green infantry, but the earthling manage to resist the assault and stun the robot. Calaf and one of the blue veterans fight hand-to-hand inside the building. Ephraim and Calaf start a furious fire-fight with the rest of the blue army: they are both wounded (both are Tough and can take 3 hits) but also the blue take damage (an infantry man and one of the veterans).

Turn 3: The green infantry retreats towards their exit point. Calaf kills the blue veteran. Epharim receive one more wound, but the mission is now accomplished and our heroes can retreat.

Since Epharaim won this encounter, I decided to roll to see if I can draw another card. He inspects the memory deck trying to extract information from it. I simply give him a 50-50 chance of success, but the roll fails. I will uncover the second card when it will be time to set-up the second session…