Starship Troopers - Battle Report - Outpost Assault

2024-12-28 Starship Troopers / Battle Report / 10mm-SF / 15mm-SF /

I wanted to try out some of my recent projects in a game, combining my 10mm Starship Trooper Arachnids, 15mm generic space marines and desert outpost walls. I still want to do the MI in 10mm, but they're a ways off and the 15mm guys just about work, though the outpost walls only come up to their thighs.

About 4000 points of bugs and MI in a retreat and extract scenario for the humans. The idea was an outpost they have to hold for the dropboats to arrive and a patrol they can either sacrifice to slow down the bugs or attempt to cover as they return for more VP.

The Hoppers tore up the patrol, dodging or saving most fire. They disrupted more than they killed, but effectively pinned down the whole patrol. The marauders weren't fast enough to cover the patrol nor get a good angle on the plasma artillery. And the plasma fire was intense; the outpost command time was wiped out and one marauder crippled and another damaged.

I made a major tactical blunder keeping the fire support mechs in the outpost. I thought Tree would try to take the outpost, attacking from both sides. Instead he methodically took apart the patrol and then the marauders, and finally the outpost itself.

One of the scattered patrol fireteams being ambushed and overwhelmed by warriors, dragged back into the tunnels for food.

Plasma artillery was absolutely nightmarish this game, the MI crippled but failed to kill one piece before the marauders were wiped out and the air support shot down. Then they were free to pin the wall defenders, blowing up whole sections and then concentrating on the evacuation dropships.

The final moments at the outpost were seeing the last ship off the planet explode and rain down chunks while a pair of tankers surfaced and hosed down the last defenders.

It was a slaughter and an overwhelming Arachnid Empire victory.

Reflections and Notes

I need to give the patrol more firepower. The arachnids need fewer burrowing tokens partly for a better looking board and partly because ground attack is an all or nothing affair in our experience. Possibly more air support for the MI as well. Really I need to run it about as-is one more time to check if any of this was a fluke of chance or inherent problems with the scenario.