Note: This was a battle report from MechaStellar VER7 there are a number of updates to gameplay and victory points since that time. For instance in this version only a single armor save was rolled but failing it was instant death.
This is probably my favorite game we had of Defend the City. We had a tag team match with two players on each side. Defend the City is a game mode where the Defenders are trying to preserve the city while the Attackers attempt to destroy it.
The Attacker side had units from Gundam Wing (Wing & Heavy Arms) plus units from Gundam SEED (Freedom & Justice). In the 2v2 game each player picked a Commander trait, Wing had Vigilant Leader and Justice had Three Times as Fast.
The Defender side focused on Mobile Suit Gundam with an unlikely alliance between the Federation and Zeon. They had Big Zam, Zaku IIs, Gelgoogs, Amuro in the Gundam plus two Guncannons along with Gipsy Danger from Pacific Rim. In the 2v2 game each player picked a Commander trait, Big Zam had Resourceful while Amuro had Unyielding.
The players were using the Battle Damage and Climactic Events modules.
Below the break you’ll find the battle report. We were having a lot of fun with everyone at the table and the audience and so only remembered to take a few photos per Round.
Setup for both sides.
Our Defend the City / Rampage game started off with an explosive start. The Attackers won initiative and went first, Freedom iced two Zakus then with the Tear through the Ranks skill destroyed a few more units and a few buildings earning them a surplus of Momentum and Victory Points.
Freedom proved too evasive for the Defenders to land any hits at this range.
Justice soon followed suit and brought down several more Zaku IIs.
On the other side of the field Gipsy Danger went toe to toe with Heavy arms but the Overwatch perforated its chassis and it suffered several thousand damage before it could engage in Melee. Opting for a simple elbow rocket punch, Heavy Arms was luckily able to avoid complete destruction.
Amuro’s Gundam managed to fire off a barrage of bazooka shots and get into melee with Wing. Wing retreated and fires its buster rifle at Amuro and several buildings.
Big Zam kicked off its turn depleting the defenders already low Momentum to fire it’s main mega particle cannon across the field, wiping out several buildings it should have been protecting in order to strike at Justice Gundam. Justice emerged unscathed although it drained most of the attackers Momentum.
Justice Gundam pressed forward and daringly struck a Zaku in Melee, but due to some poor rolls (and lots of Momentum used by the Defenders) the Zaku survived and Justice was tied up. Justice used a Momentum to disengage to allow the Zaku to be shot down.
The round closed out with the Zaku’s pushing forward and getting off some long range shots against Justice, Freedom and Heavy Arms; the repeating shots hammering the Phase Shift armor.
A lone Zaku that survived Freedom’s initial blitz was behind him and Blindsided in Melee, luck was with him since several Critical Hits overwhelmed Freedom’s defenses, the battle damage roll disabled the main camera, the players joked that a heroic Zaku managed to decapitate Freedom.
The Gelgoogs went last and alas, a failed armor save meant that a beam rifle shot disabled Justice instantly. The Defenders scored a lot of VP for wiping out an expensive unit in Round 1.
The Second round was just as deadly, Wing’s buster rifle wiped out several buildings and Zakus although the OG Gundam managed to narrowly avoid. Wing then pushed into Melee with the OG Gundam who they fought to a standstill.
In a later turn Gipsy Danger managed to sweep in from behind taking him out. Heavy Arms finished off Gipsy Danger while the OG Gundam pushed forward to avenge him, barely surviving the Overwatch fire as well.
The Big Zam player saw an opportunity to score some victory points and double cross the Federation and fires its main gun wiping out both the OG Gundam and Heavy Arms.
The Defender scored big taking out Justice, Wing and Heavy Arms early, while the Attackers were raking in points by demolishing so many buildings (not to mention the points every time Big Zam destroyed a building).
Round 2 closed out with Freedom wiping out more of the western flank while the remaining models pressed forward trying to corner the headless Gundam falling one by one.
The tension was thick in the last few rounds. The Freedom Gundam was the last unit left for the attackers and it was headless missing its main camera. It was facing down a handful of grunts with Big Zam approaching. The two players on the attackers side deliberated on what to do and finally decided to go all in and cash out their Momentum,
“It’s not about winning, it’s about sending a message haha!”
Freedom laid low two Zakus and activated Tear through the Ranks, next it fired its rail cannon into the Gelgoog who survived with 500 HP BUT WAIT! The Gelgoog failed its armor save, with the unit destroyed Freedom could use tear through the ranks to strike again!
It sent its final shot into Big Zam, dealing a hefty amount of damage, what’s more the battle damage caused the I-Field Generator to fail leaving it vulnerable.
In the following round Freedom managed to go first and repositioned using its twin plasma cannons it fired a devastation shot taking out both Big Zam and Guncannon. Freedom spent the remaining Rounds fulfilling more secondary objectives and destroying buildings.
The final score ended up being tied 30 VP to 30 VP.
(This game from two years ago was what convinced us to change the initial scoring format for Defend the City. It was recently changed again with the VER9.3 Wargame Rules where the attacker is rewarded for each building but at a slower pace than before.
MechaStellar 