Battle Report – Gundam Odessa 1500pts

Battle Report, Gundam Tabletop, Gundam Tactics 10 Minutes

Here’s a battle report for a large MechaStellar 1500pt game featuring 15+ units on both sides. This game was played before the recent HP / Evade overhaul and points rebalance so expect some discrepancies.

For the narrative we decided on portraying a slice of the Odessa campaign featuring some heavy hitters on both sides including Yuu Kajima’s Blue Destiny (with Hughes and Sumona in GM Cold Districts / GM Command Early type) and the White Dingo GM Sniper II on the Federation side and M’Quve and his Gyan along with Nimbus and the Efreet Custom on the Zeon side.

Yuu and the Blue Destiny weren’t paired up until after Odessa but a little anachronism is part of the fun in running a MechaStellar “What if?” game. Likewise the White Dingo was in Australia and the GM Sniper II wouldn’t be produced for some time.

Keep reading to see some anachronistic Gundam battles. At the end you’ll find the Gundam Tactics Post Mortem from both players.

Forces

Federation

  • GM Sniper II (White Dingo ver)
    • Commander Trait: Commando
  • Blue Destiny Unit 01 (BD1)
  • GM Cold Districts x2
  • Guncannon x2
    • (Downgraded to Basic pilot -50pts each)
  • Guntank
  • 3x Gundam [G]
    • (Downgraded to Basic pilot -50pts each)
    • 1x Machine Gun, 2x Artillery Cannon
  • 4x GM Ground with Machine Gun
  • 1x GM Land Combat with Railcannon

Zeon

  • Gyan (M’Quve)
    • Commander Trait: Resourceful
  • Zaku x9
  • Zaku Magella x4
  • Zaku Cannon x2
  • Desert Zaku with long barrel machine gun
  • Efreet Custom
  • Dom x3

Unit Profiles can be found on the downloads page: https://mechastellar.com/game-downloads/

Special Rules

Players were using the Strategic Commands and Influence Module. Commands chosen:

Federation Commands

  • Overwatch (1 Influence
  • The Valiant (3 Influence)

Zeon Commands

  • Reinforcements (X Influence)
  • Lightning Raid (3 Influence)

Models & Terrain

Gundam 1/400 Collection (You can read more about Gundam miniatures here.)

Large Aquarium Rocks and 40k Terrain

Terminology

Since this was a large battle the turns with a lot of unit we tried to be very concise. When attacking we wrote it as “Zaku attacks Gundam [G]” or “Guncannon into Zaku Magella” to keep things short.

When a player loses Momentum it will be listed as [M-1] or [M-2] for instance. If the Federation lost it then it will be listed as F[M-1] if it was Zeon then Z[M-1]. When they gain Momentum for destroying a unit or attacking in Melee it would be listed as [M+1].

Both players used their Momentum defensively to try and preserve as many units as they could early on hoping to have more turns than their opponent later on. As a result you won’t see heavy casualties till later on. When you see a player burn a Momentum like F[M-1] or Z[M-1] this is almost always done to ensure the unit has HP remaining to survive.

Dice rolls and hits / evades won’t be listed, if you want to read a battle that goes through the mechanics of MechaStellar turn by turn you can find that here.

(Abbreviations: MIC = Make it Count Pilot Skill. IDF = Indirect Fire. LOS = Line of Sight. VP = Victory Points)

Key concepts. 

  • Momentum [M] is used to protect your units or to pass a failed Armor Save. If two Momentum is lost it will be denoted as [M-2].
  • Shooting – Enemies roll Evade to avoid your shots. A roll of 1 is a Critical Hit and worth 2 hits. A roll of 10 always Evades.
  • Target Lock – When the target is within Sensors range 1s and 2s are Critical Hits on Evade.
  • Rapid Fire – When a weapon is within half range it often gains bonus attacks. For instance a Bazooka makes 3 shots, but gains a bonus +1 shot in Rapid Fire range.
  • Melee – you and your opponent split your melee dice pools into attack and defense. If the defender survives they get to counterattack. Every 5+ on a d10 is a Hit or Block, every 10 on Attack is a Critical Hit worth 2 Hits.
  • Armor Saves – Some weapons like a beam saber have a chance to deal catastrophic damage, the target rolls an Armor Save vs the weapons Armor Penetration (PEN). Each failed Save does 1000 DMG.
  • Ace Evade Skill – Ace Pilots can auto-dodge an entire barrage of attacks with a small amount of Momentum. You’ll notice the Aces in this battle evading very easily early on.

Round 1

  • Start of Round Zaku Desert uses Tactician to give Focus actions to a Dom.
  • Zeon goes first but can’t target the White Dingo GM Sniper II due to its Commando Trait. 
  • A Zaku Cannon attacks Gundam [G]. The Federation loses F[M-2]
  • Gundam [G] return fire into the Zaku Cannon. Zeon loses Z[M-1]
  • The 2nd Zaku Cannon attacks the same Gundam [G]
    • Critical failures on Evade, Gundam [G] takes 3500 DMG and goes down Z[M+1]
  • Guntank uses Focus to target any unit and attacks a Zaku with a Magella Cannon (Zaku Magella for short) Z[M-1]
  • Zaku magella return fire back into Guntank F[M-1]
  • Guncannon attacks Zaku Magella Z[M-1]
  • Zaku Magella return fire but the Guncannon effortlessly evades.
  • The 2nd Guncannon attacks Zaku Magella
  • Zaku magella return fire but cover soaks up the Hit
  • The 2nd Gundam [G] attacks the Zaku Cannon  Z[M-1]
  • Zaku magella attacks Blue Destiny 1 (BD1) who effortlessly evades
  • BD1 takes the high ground
  • Dom attacks BD1 F[M-1]
  • GM Cold Districts takes the high ground
    • (M’Quve uses Hide Bombs but the roll fails)
  • 2nd Dom attacks BD1 F[M-1]
  • 2nd GM Cold Districts takes the high ground 
    • (M’Quve uses Hide Bombs, the Federation doesn’t want to lose the Cold Districts so F[M-1])
  • 3rd Dom into BD1 F[M-1] (down to 0 Momentum!)
  • The 3rd Gundam [G] into Zaku Cannon destroyed F[M+1]
  • M’Quve move towards GM Sniper II
  • GM Land Combat attacks a Zaku who is flattened by the railcannon F[M+1]
  • A Zaku takes the high ground
  • GM [G] attacks that Zaku
  • The Zeon player learned a lesson about moving a unit that close and instead the next Zaku moves to support M’Quve out of sight
  • GM [G] attacks the high ground Zaku destroying it F[M+1]
  • Zaku move to support M’Quve
  • GM [G] to support GM Sniper II
  • Zaku move to support M’Quve
  • GM [G] to support GM Sniper II
  • GM Sniper II into a Zaku Cannon easily destroying it from the High Ground.  F[M+1]
  • Zaku Desert attacks GM [G]
  • 2x Zakus move and shoot GM [G] destroying it Z[M+1]
  • Remaining 2 Zakus move to high ground
  • Efreet Custom micromissiles into GM Cold F[M-2]

End of Round (EOR) Momentum Zeon 6  Fed 2. 

Then Zeon [M+3] (thanks to M’Quve Resourceful Trait) and Fed[M+1]. Both sides gain +1 Influence

Round 2

  • Starting Momentum Zeon 9  Fed 3
  • Stategic Commands used – The Valiant (Federation) and Lightning Raid (Zeon)
  • Zaku Desert uses Tactician to give Focus actions to M’Quve
  • Efreet Custom full throttle into Melee Z[M+1] with GM Cold Districts who is subsequently beheaded. 
    • At least he got an Overwatch in with 4 Hits, the Efreet loses only [M-2] thanks to EXAM
  • The Efreet then uses Merciless Melee to attack BD1 (Overwatch 4 Hits). 
    • Efreet Melee ATK 10d10 / DEF 2d10,
    • BD1  DEF 6d10 / ATK 4d10. 
    • Efreet 13 Hits vs BD1 5 Blocks + Spirit in the Machine (+9 Blocks LUCKY!!!). 
    • BD1 Counterattack 8 Hits vs 4 Blocks. 
    • Efreet loses Z[M-3] to pass Armor Saves
  • BD1 – Defiant + Rival grants +2 Hits going into Melee.   
    • ATK 10d10  DEF 2d10. 
    • Efreet  DEF 4d10 / ATK 6d10. 
    • BD1 Attack 5 hits (ouch) vs 4 Blocks Z[M-1]. 
    • Efreet Counterattack 9 Hits vs 2 Blocks. 
    • BD1 loses F[M-3] and passes all the armor saves.
  • M’Quve uses full throttle to attack GM Sniper II.  13 Hits vs 5 Blocks.  Defeated. Z[M+1]
    • Defeating the Commander gives Influence +1
  • M’Quve then Engages GM [G] and gets hit by Overwatch
    • He cannot attack again but he at least ties up the GM [G] in Melee 
  • GM Cold attacks a Dom from high ground Z[M-2]
  • Dom into GM Cold with blindside flash F[M-2]
  • Guncannon attacks a Dom with its beam rifle destroying it. F[M+1] 
    • Then its Cannons attack a Zaku Magella who effortlessly evades
  • Zaku Magella into Guncannon 2 Hits
  • Guntank into Zaku magella Z[M-1]
  • Zaku magella into Guntank F[M-1]
  • GM [G] moves (M’Quve uses Hide Bombs F[M-1]) then rapid fire shoots a high ground Zaku Z[M-2]
  • Zaku return fire with high ground
  • GM [G] into the wounded high ground Zaku Z[M-1]
  • Zaku with high ground into wounded GM [G]
  • GM Land Combat fires into a Zaku then Melee F[M+1]
    • Overwatch (no hits) 
    • Attack 5 Hits vs 4 Blocks Z[M-1]
  • Zaku melee attacks the GM Land Combat Type
    • 3 Hits vs 1 Block, takes significant damage
    • Below 50% HP so Valiant kicks in.
    • Counterattack 5 hits vs 1 Block.  Zaku is destroyed F[M+1]
  • Gundam [G] full throttle into Melee F[M+1] into wounded high ground Zaku
    • Overwatch 3 Hits
    • ATK 7 Hits vs 4 Blocks. Defeated F[M+1]
  • Zaku shoots at GM Land Combat F[M-1] then Melee Z[M+1]
  • Gundam [G] retreats out of RF range for artillery then blasts a Zaku destroying it F[M+1]
  • Zaku attacks GM Land Z[M-3]
  • Overwatch (no hits)
  • Zaku Attack 4 Hits vs 5 Blocks. 
  • GM Land Counter 2 Hits vs 1 Block, the Zaku fails the armor save and is destroyed.  F[M+1]
  • GM [G] will attack Gyan with Valiant active 7 Hits vs 6 Blocks Z[M-1] then F[M-2] disengage and fire (Lightning raid gives +1 Evade) but alas 5 hits.  Down goes M’Quve from a poor Evade roll.
    • Defeating the Commander gives +1 Influence
  • Zaku Desert type fires at the GM Land Combat type F[M-2]
  • Guncannon attacks a Zaku Magella who effortlessly evades
  • Zaku magella return fire effortlessly evades
  • Zaku magella into Guncannon 1 Hit
  • Dom into wounded Guncannon with flash blindside destroyed Z[M+1]
  • Last Dom attacks the Guncannon who miraculously evades

EOR Momentum Zeon 1  Federation 1.  Each gain +1M and +1 Influence

Round 3

Reinforcements!!
  • Momentum Zeon 2  Fed 2
  • Desert Zaku uses Tactician to give Focus actions to a Dom
  • Zeon uses the Reinforcements Command using 2 Influence for 200pts of units
  • Federation is up first.  Guncannon issues a challenge to the Dom
  • Guncannon focus plus beam rifle into a Dom, defeated with failed Armor Saves F[M+1]
  • Overwatch reaction command with GM Cold Districts into a Dom with high ground advantage 7 Hits.
  • Dom activates next, Federation uses their last Influence point for another Overwatch attack on that Dom 5 Hits destroyed. F[M+1]
  • Wounded GM [G] with high ground attacks a Zaku destroying it F[M+1]
  • Zaku rapid fires into a wounded GM [G] destroying it Z[M+1]
    • Then melee Z[M+1] blindside the GM Land Combat destroying it.
  • Wounded GM [G] finishes off Zaku F[M+1] then fires on Zaku with high ground who effortlessly evades
  • Zaku return fire destroying GM [G] then retreats
  • Gundam [G] pursues and melee F[M+1] 7 Hits vs 3 Blocks, destroyed F[M+1] then fires on Zaku below Z[M-2]
  • Zaku returns fire on Gundam [G]
  • The next Gundam [G] uses IDF on a Zaku Cannon Z[M-2]
  • Zaku Cannon fire at Gundam [G]  takes 400 DMG from mgun then Z[M-1] vs Rockets
  • Guntank into Zaku Magella destroying it F[M+1]
  • Efreet Custom melees with BD1 Z[M+1] 
    • Attack 10 Hits with Make it Count vs 0 Blocks F[M-5] with EXAM to block.
    • Counter 5 Hits vs 2 Blocks + Spirit in the machine +10 Blocks (!!!). 
    • The Efreet Custom then uses Z[M-2] to disengage and fires its grenade launcher F[M-2]
  • BD1 melee F[M+2] with the Efreet, Defiant & Rival gives +2 Hits and MIC gives +2 Hits  11 hits vs 2 Blocks (terrible terrible roll).  Then BD1 machine gun into the Zakus Magella destroying one.
  • Zaku magella into BD1 F[M-1]
  • GM Cold into last Zaku Magella destroying it F[M+1]
  • Zaku Desert attacks Gundam [G]
  • Zaku Cannon attacks Gundam [G]
    • Takes the machine gun fire but loses F[M-3] vs rocket barrage
  • Zakus go into GM [G] destroying it Z[M+1]
  • Last 2 Zakus go attack Gundam [G]

EOR Momentum Zeon 0  Fed 3.  Each gain M+1 and I+1

Round 4

  • Momentum Zeon 1 Fed 4
  • Desert Zaku gives Focus to Zaku Cannon
  • Federation up first
  • Gundam [G] high ground attacks a Zaku destroying it F[M+1]
    • Then Melee [M+1] another destroying it.
  • Zaku Cannon with focus unloads destroying Gundam [G] Z[M+1]
  • Federation uses Reaction command to overwatch with Cold Districts into a Zaku magella destroying it F[M+1]
  • GM [G] into Zaku then melee (Overwatch 2 Hits) 4 Hits vs 3 Blocks Z[M-1]
  • Zaku melee into GM [G] 6 Hits vs 4 Blocks F[M-2]
  • Guntank IDF Zaku Cannon Z[M-1]
  • Zaku Cannon IDF return fire amazingly avoids all damage
  • Guncannon IDF into Zaku Cannon Z[M-2]
  • Desert Zaku into Gundam [G]
  • Gundam [G] IDF into Zaku Cannon destroying it
  • BD1 uses Make it Count for +1 Action to full throttle then shoot into desert Zaku
  • Zaku II attacks BD1
  • GM Cold attacks a Zaku

EOR Zeon 0 M, Fed 7M.  Then both sides +1 Momentum and Influence.

Round 5

  • Federation is up first
  • BD1 shoot Zaku II destroying it with Make it Count F[M+1]
    • Then Melee F[M+1] Desert Zaku destroying it
  • Zeon activates Zaku Cannon
    • Reaction Command on the GM Cold Districts whose Overwatch fails to destroy the Zaku Cannon.
    • Zaku Cannon Fires into BD1 5 Hits, burns F[M-3]
  • GM [G] goes next and finishes off Zaku in melee then shoots Zaku cannon ending the game.

Victory Points

Federation 35VP

  • Frame +27VP
  • Pilot +4VP
  • Destroyed Enemy Commander Round 2 +2VP
  • Challenge: +2 VP

Zeon 17VP

  • Frame +16VP
  • Pilot +1VP
  • Destroyed Enemy Commander Round 2 +2VP
  • Lost an Ace -2VP

While the Federation overwhelmed Zeon in this battle, sometimes even when all your units are destroyed you can still win based on Victory Points if you destroyed many of the high value enemy targets or if you are playing with secondary objectives.

Gundam Tactics Post Mortem

We haven’t done a giant battle in a while, this one was a lot of fun and we’re happy that with all the changes to the core combat rules it still plays quickly when using lots of grunts. The total duration for this game was an 1hour 50minutes.

Influence and Commands were a fun module for big battles with both the valiant and lightning raid causing a lot of mayhem.

We realized in this battle that as written there was nothing stopping you from using the Overwatch reaction Command on the same unit over and over again. So the fix is going to be limiting it to once per Round for each unit.

The Reinforcements command we thought would be nigh unstoppable in this game. We have it based on points to keep it fair. The downside is that grunts from the OYW are very cheap while grunts from later eras such as Zeta Gundam and Char’s Counterattack are very expensive, so 100pts won’t go as far. That said, even with the reinforcements from the table edge the Federation was able to keep up the pressure and strike down Zeon.

One last thought is this battle report was from a few months ago before the HP / Evade / Shields overhaul. It would be really interesting to play the same setup and see what the results would be.

Published

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