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swordtart · 01-27-2017, 11:31 AM

As an update to the actual attack.

On approach there was lots of firing at the Shiruken, but it mostly just scabbed off metal armour (producing even more obstacles in front of the convoy).

The player trike tried to squeeze between the Shiruken and the roadside barrier. When he was <2" away he fired off a pair of MMLs but the effect was disappointing. He didn't ram the Shiruken (which would have been very bad for both of them) but as he was passing through the 1/2" gap, the Shiruken had a 1/2" move that t-boned him in the side (stopping the Shiruken). The damage to the trike was minor (and the Shiruken was undamaged) but the trike had to conform, and ended up being spun round pointing at the barrier. His next move was a mandated 1/2" straight and so he powered into the barrier at 65 MPH... ouch! Fortunately his low DM reduced the damage to 2/3 and as a result he lost all but 1 point of his armour. As the barrier also lost all but 1 DP, it stopped the trike dead. As the dust settled the trike driver looked over to the adjacent Shiruken to see its driver pointing a heavy pistol at him (crazy fool!).

His end position made a ram by the rig impractical and blocked LOS to most of the Shiruken. Now the majority of the outer lane was blocked by both vehicles. In frustration at the effect of the lasers on the laser reflective metal, the rig targeted the rear tyre. This easily cut off the wheel producing yet another obstacle in the outer lane. As the Shiruken was stationary at this point even the HS -6 had no effect.

At about the same time, the Mid-sized tried to slip around the other end. He manoeuvred early as going straight he hoped to avoid any hassle from the oil he would need to drive though whilst still just avoiding the dropped spike plate. He was unaware of the lurking Platypus until he was committed. His metal armour saved him from most of the damage from the rockets (scabbing off more obstacles in the process). He flubbed his control roll and the crash table result was about as bad as it gets with a major fishtail followed by severe skid. The resultant fishtail luckily pointed him back towards the middle of the road and the skids were all rendered benign. If you hadn't known he had lost control, you might have believed he performed a perfect powder slide round the spike plate and the other obstacles.

Meanwhile the rig had course corrected and emergency braked to avoid directly ramming the Shiruken as it would be on top of a load of oil at the time of impact. Instead it was forced to drive over 3 obstacles, each being a D3 hazard and each potentially causing tire damage (the player had thought solids were immune to obstacle damage rather than just debris damage), quite why he thought he wouldn't be taking the hazard is another matter entirely. Predictably he lost control, but the trailer crash table is quite benevolent and he lucked out with just a severe skid for the tractor and a major fishtail for the trailer. Sadly the fishtail was in wholly the wrong direction and in the next movement the trailer sideswiped the Shiruken (barely missing the trike). This resulted in even more obstacles littering the highway, but at least it squirted the driver of the Shiruken out of the opposite side of the car as pink paste. Another failed control roll resulted in a severe fishtail, which handily straightened out the rig.

The emergency braking was to prove critical as both the Midsized and the Rig were now on a convergent course and both were skidding. Had the rig still been travelling at 65 it would have shunted the midsized. As it was, they simply skidded toward one another until they were 1 1/2" apart. In the meantime the trailer had struck virtually every obstacle in the road and its tires were very battered.

The trike fired at point blank range at the barrier (and still managed to miss with one missile) but successfully blew a breach in the barrier allowing it to start to nudge its way off-road.

At the start of turn 4 we took stock. With no rear or side firing weapons the Rig and the Midsized would need to turn around to continue the engagement and past experience had told them that by the time they did, the baddies would have ample time to escape. As it was on the other side of the barrier LOS between the trike and the Platypus was blocked. The Shiruken was dead, but it wasn’t worth salvaging even before they sideswiped it, ditto the Platypus. Even if they killed it, the Platypus might do some damage with its remaining pair of light rockets. The players decided that as long as the Platypus kept away from the trike, they would let it go.

The Platypus with only two rockets and seeing the damage a ram would do decided that it had done its job, this was just a softening up attack after all. Whilst one good hit on the trikes front would breach it, getting into a position to make that shot was improbable.

So the players kept on trucking at 35 to allow the trike to catch up. As it had solid tires, even though the trike had no OR suspension it only suffered -1HC when off-road, so it could easily get up to 30 until it found a gap in the barrier. The Platypus slunk off to fight another day.

They never bothered to call it in though, so the next poor sucker down that road is going to have a shed load of obstacles, oil, a spike plate and an abandoned car to contend with ;)

01-27-2017, 11:31 AM	#10
swordtart Join Date: Jun 2008	Re: Dreg gangs As an update to the actual attack. On approach there was lots of firing at the Shiruken, but it mostly just scabbed off metal armour (producing even more obstacles in front of the convoy). The player trike tried to squeeze between the Shiruken and the roadside barrier. When he was <2" away he fired off a pair of MMLs but the effect was disappointing. He didn't ram the Shiruken (which would have been very bad for both of them) but as he was passing through the 1/2" gap, the Shiruken had a 1/2" move that t-boned him in the side (stopping the Shiruken). The damage to the trike was minor (and the Shiruken was undamaged) but the trike had to conform, and ended up being spun round pointing at the barrier. His next move was a mandated 1/2" straight and so he powered into the barrier at 65 MPH... ouch! Fortunately his low DM reduced the damage to 2/3 and as a result he lost all but 1 point of his armour. As the barrier also lost all but 1 DP, it stopped the trike dead. As the dust settled the trike driver looked over to the adjacent Shiruken to see its driver pointing a heavy pistol at him (crazy fool!). His end position made a ram by the rig impractical and blocked LOS to most of the Shiruken. Now the majority of the outer lane was blocked by both vehicles. In frustration at the effect of the lasers on the laser reflective metal, the rig targeted the rear tyre. This easily cut off the wheel producing yet another obstacle in the outer lane. As the Shiruken was stationary at this point even the HS -6 had no effect. At about the same time, the Mid-sized tried to slip around the other end. He manoeuvred early as going straight he hoped to avoid any hassle from the oil he would need to drive though whilst still just avoiding the dropped spike plate. He was unaware of the lurking Platypus until he was committed. His metal armour saved him from most of the damage from the rockets (scabbing off more obstacles in the process). He flubbed his control roll and the crash table result was about as bad as it gets with a major fishtail followed by severe skid. The resultant fishtail luckily pointed him back towards the middle of the road and the skids were all rendered benign. If you hadn't known he had lost control, you might have believed he performed a perfect powder slide round the spike plate and the other obstacles. Meanwhile the rig had course corrected and emergency braked to avoid directly ramming the Shiruken as it would be on top of a load of oil at the time of impact. Instead it was forced to drive over 3 obstacles, each being a D3 hazard and each potentially causing tire damage (the player had thought solids were immune to obstacle damage rather than just debris damage), quite why he thought he wouldn't be taking the hazard is another matter entirely. Predictably he lost control, but the trailer crash table is quite benevolent and he lucked out with just a severe skid for the tractor and a major fishtail for the trailer. Sadly the fishtail was in wholly the wrong direction and in the next movement the trailer sideswiped the Shiruken (barely missing the trike). This resulted in even more obstacles littering the highway, but at least it squirted the driver of the Shiruken out of the opposite side of the car as pink paste. Another failed control roll resulted in a severe fishtail, which handily straightened out the rig. The emergency braking was to prove critical as both the Midsized and the Rig were now on a convergent course and both were skidding. Had the rig still been travelling at 65 it would have shunted the midsized. As it was, they simply skidded toward one another until they were 1 1/2" apart. In the meantime the trailer had struck virtually every obstacle in the road and its tires were very battered. The trike fired at point blank range at the barrier (and still managed to miss with one missile) but successfully blew a breach in the barrier allowing it to start to nudge its way off-road. At the start of turn 4 we took stock. With no rear or side firing weapons the Rig and the Midsized would need to turn around to continue the engagement and past experience had told them that by the time they did, the baddies would have ample time to escape. As it was on the other side of the barrier LOS between the trike and the Platypus was blocked. The Shiruken was dead, but it wasn’t worth salvaging even before they sideswiped it, ditto the Platypus. Even if they killed it, the Platypus might do some damage with its remaining pair of light rockets. The players decided that as long as the Platypus kept away from the trike, they would let it go. The Platypus with only two rockets and seeing the damage a ram would do decided that it had done its job, this was just a softening up attack after all. Whilst one good hit on the trikes front would breach it, getting into a position to make that shot was improbable. So the players kept on trucking at 35 to allow the trike to catch up. As it had solid tires, even though the trike had no OR suspension it only suffered -1HC when off-road, so it could easily get up to 30 until it found a gap in the barrier. The Platypus slunk off to fight another day. They never bothered to call it in though, so the next poor sucker down that road is going to have a shed load of obstacles, oil, a spike plate and an abandoned car to contend with ;)