MechaStellar VER 8 – Tabletop Gundam Gameplay Example – Round 2

In this series of posts we are going to do a Tabletop Gundam Gameplay Example for MechaStellar usings units from the 08th MS Team. You can look at the Mecha Unit Profiles for the Federation and Zeon on the downloads page. Click here to for Game Setup and Round 1.

Below the break we will cover the 2nd round of a 5 round game of MechaStellar. We will go turn by turn each round and include some insights into the Gundam Tactics.

Round 2

Starting momentum – Federation 3 / Zeon 3

Turn 1 – The Federation player goes first this round, she selects Karen to activate first. Karen moves forward into Rapid Fire range which gives +2 Shots.

She also has the High Ground which confers a [Tactical Advantage] bonus giving +1 Critical Hit. While it does not apply here, some weapons such as a giant drill receive an additional bonus on Critical Hits..

Before firing Karen uses [M-1] on the Make it Count pilot skill giving a bonus Critical Hit, on top of that Karen as a Seasoned Veteran gains +1 Hit against Level 0 pilots such as the Dom. The odds are stacking up against the Dom.

Karen makes 5 shots with her Beam Rifle; she has accuracy 9 while the Dom has Evade+3, so the Dom needs a 6+ to Evade each shot.

The Dom rolls 5d10 and gets [2,3,7,7,10] = 2 Hits

From there we have +1 Crit Hit from Tactical Advantage and +1 Crit Hit from Make it Count (+4 hits so far). On top of that Karen’s Seasoned Veteran trait gives a bonus hit so out initial 2 Hits has transformed into 7 Hits. As you can see, a Skilled Pilot is a force multiplier.

The Dom has enough HP to take 3 hits, so if the Zeon player had 4 Momentum they could try and save the Dom. That said, the beam rifle is high penetration so even if the Dom had enough HP left an Armor Save would still be required to see if the beam rifle would pierce straight through the cockpit. Alas, the Zeon player only has 3 Momentum so the Dom is destroyed. The Federation player gains [M+1] for destroying a unit.

End of turn Momentum – Fed 3 / Zeon 3.

Turn 2 – A Zaku II activates next and comes out from behind the obscuring forest to move into rapid fire range vs Karen. Machine Guns and a few other weapons are unique for granting bonus Hits instead of bonus Shots in Rapid Fire range.

The machine gun makes 6 shots at Accuracy 8, Karen has Evade+3 so she needs a 5+ to evade each shot.

Karen rolls 10d10 and gets [2,2,2,4,5,5,8,9,10,10] = 4 Hits, Rapid Fire+2 Hits = 6 Hits total.

Her Shield will block one of them, bringing it down to 5 Hits each dealing 200 DMG. The Federation player opts to take the 1000 DMG rather than lose Momentum.

The Zaku uses its remaining movement to move closer to terrain. Prior to finishing the turn, the players eyeball it and agree that if Ez8 does not move then the Zaku will have cover against Ez8 based on its current firing angle.

Turn 3 – With the Dom now much closer, the Federation player must decide on their target priority. Sanders’ Artillery cannon is less effective in Rapid Fire range (1/2 range) so he could try to take the Dom out now before it gets any closer, or Sanders can try to finish off the Zaku Cannon.

The Federation player mulls it over and she decides to try and finish off the Zaku Cannon rather than let them bombard the rest of the team. Sanders will once again strafe between the two rocky outcroppings, firing then ducking behind LOS cover.

With the Gunnery Expert trait he takes a +1 Hit bonus then he uses [M-1] on Make it Count for a bonus Crit Hit and targets the same Zaku Cannon as last time.

The cannon makes 4 shots at Accuracy 9, the Zaku Cannon is Evade+2 and needs a 7+ to Evade each shot.

The Zaku Cannon rolls 4d10 and gets [3,7,8,10] = 1 Hit + 1 Gunnery Expert.

Make it Count gives a bonus Crit (+2 Hits) for 4 hits total. At least Cover will block one of them. The Zeon player doesn’t want to lose his artillery yet and so spends 3 Momentum to keep the Zaku Cannon alive.

End of Turn Momentum – Fed 2 / Zeon 0

Turn 4 – The Zaku Cannon attacked in turn 3 activates now and uses a Focus action to gain the ability to target any model, then fires on Karen who is out in the open.

The Cannon makes 4 shots at Accuracy 8, Karen is Evade+3 so she needs a 5+.

Karen rolls 4d10 and gets [1,3,8,10] = 1 Hit and 1 Critical Hit which totals to 3 Hits.

Karen’s Shield automatically blocks 1 hit, the Federation loses [M-1] and then takes the last hit for 500 DMG.

End of turn Momentum – Fed 1, Zeon 0.

Turn 5 – Shiro is up next, he moves to get a clear shot on the Zaku by the hillside then attacks in Rapid Fire range for +2 Hits.

The machine gun makes 6 shots at Accuracy 9, the Zaku is Evade+3 so it needs a 6+ to Evade each shot.

The Zaku rolls [1,2,4,5,7,8] = 3 Hits + 1 Crit + 2 Hits from Rapid Fire = 7 Total Hits dealing 200 DMG each.

Out of Momentum, the Zaku is perforated and taken out of the fight. The Federation gains [M+1] for the Ez8 Gundam destroying an enemy unit.

Shiro in the Ez8 Gundam has a few inches of movement left and uses that to move towards Karen’s Gundam Ground Type. This movement serves two purposes:

The first is to make it harder for the other Zaku IIs to get into Rapid Fire range vs Shiro; while the Ez8 is very sturdy, a constant barrage of machine gun fire will eventually bring it down. The second reason is to ensure that the Ez8 is the closest model that way the other units cannot maneuver to make Karen the closest eligible target and finish her off.

End of turn Momentum – Fed 2 / Zeon 0.

Turn 6 – Shiro’s ploy works and a Zaku II unloads on the nearest target, the Ez8 Gundam. The Federation gains [M+1] thanks to Shiro’s Commander trait.

The Machine gun in Rapid Fire range makes 6 shots & +2 Hits, Accuracy 8 vs Shiro’s Evade+3, so Shiro needs a 5+.

Shiro rolls 6d10 and gets [1,7,7,7,8,10] = 0 Hits + 1 Crit + 2 Hits from Rapid Fire = 4 Hits total.

Shiro’s Shield blocks one hit, and the Ez8 Gundam takes the remaining 3 Hits at 200 DMG each. The Federation player could have lost Momentum to prevent the damage but she would prefer to save it since Karen might need it later.

End of turn Momentum – Fed 3 / Zeon 0.

Turn 7 – The Acguy commander is up next. He unloads on Shiro (the enemy Commander) with his Megaparticle Gun which has +3 shots in Rapid Fire range. Shiro gains [M+1] when attacked thanks to his Commander trait.

The barrage makes 6 shots at Accuracy 7 vs Shiro’s Evade of +3 so he will need to roll a 4+ to evade each shot.

Shiro rolls 6d10 and gets [2,2,3,4,7,10] = 3 Hits.

Shiro’s shield blocks 1 hit, and he takes the remaining damage putting him at 1200 DMG taken, just over 50% of HP. His Idealist trait now kicks in so while below 50% HP he gains +1 Block per enemy Weapon system which will prove to be a potent defense in the upcoming rounds.

Since the Mega Particle Gun has high Armor Penetration value Shiro now makes an Armor Save to see if the beam causes catastrophic damage. With two hits he rolls two Armor Saves. The Armor PEN is 5 and Shiro’s Armor Save has a +1 bonus, so he only needs a 4+ to succeed, but unfortunately rolls a 1 and 2 on the Armor Saves.

Normally, this would destroy the unit but Shiro can use the [It’s not over yet!] rule to lose 1 Momentum to immediately pass each failed Armor Save. The Federation player could have simply lost Momentum to block the shots and skip the armor save, they instead took a gamble and were hoping to take damage while losing 0 Momentum. Alas, hindsight is always 20/20.

End of turn Momentum – Fed 2 / Zeon 0.

Turn 8 – The second Zaku Cannon activates. It chooses to stay behind LOS cover since the Zeon player doesn’t want him to get shot by Karen’s Beam Rifle. Since Karen is too close for Indirect fire (IDF) it instead targets Sanders. IDF has a -2 penalty, or -1 if the unit doesn’t move in the same turn as the attack. The Zaku Cannon uses a Focus action to fire on Sanders and its second action to attack.

The artillery makes 4 shots, Accuracy 7 vs Sanders Evade+3 means he needs a 4+.

Sanders rolls 4d10 and gets [2,7,9,9] = 1 Hit which is blocked by Sanders’ shield.

Turn 9 – The Dom on the left flank activates, firing on Shiro when he gets a clear shot then uses the rest of his movement to head towards Sanders. Shiro gains [M+1] thank to his Commander trait.

The Bazooka makes 3 shots, Accuracy 9 vs Shiro’s Evade+3. Shiro needs a 6+.

Shiro rolls 3d10 and gets [2,4,5] = 3 Hits, his Shield blocks 1, Idealist blocks another and he uses the Momentum he just gained to negate the last hit.

Turn 10 – Zaku II uses the Full throttle action to continue advancing down the edge of the map towards Sanders.

Turn 11+ – The remaining Zaku IIs consider using Full Throttle to get behind Shiro’s sight arc for Blindside attack next turn but their movement is lacking. Instead they all advance to get into rapid fire range for next round.

At the end of the round each side gains [M+1].

End of round Momentum – Fed 3, Zeon 1.

Click here to continue to Round 3 of the MechaStellar Gameplay Example.