My first game of 5150 Star Marine (and some rules questions)

[cml]

I was looking for some sci fi rules that would work for solo play and had heard good things about THW, so I purchased a pdf of Star Marines.

Tonight, I finally got a chance to play.

I started by creating a star, although I skipped the background section because I just wanted a quick game to try the rules rather than a campaign. I did give myself a trait though (born leader), and I rolled for a second one but didn't get anything.

The squad followed roughly the same pattern, with me filling out my allowance of Rep 5 marines and getting a single auto 5 weapon (which went to on of the Rep 5s who also rolled Crack Shot). Other than that, there was a marine with Nerves of Steel and one poor SOB who rolled unlucky. Unlucky was a very fitting trait, but more on that later.

Rather than going through campaign generation, I decided to try my luck at a simple boarding action against some pirates. I bet those marines thought it was simple too, until they stepped foot onboard the enemy ship.

Landing in the Cargo bay (I rolled a 5), they were met by a group of four panicked civilians. Rather than generating them straight away, I decided to resolve the PEF for the section first. "Why generate them until I know they aren't dead," I joked. And wouldn't you just know it, I rolled anti-boarding measures followed by a 6. I designated one of the Rep 5s to attempt a hack to stop the depressurization, but it was too late. There went all of the civilians, and I started to wonder what the Pirates had that they were so desperate to protect. Now, the rulebook doesn't specify what happens to people wearing Exo-Armour when the section is depressuized (at least that I could see). I was going to use a regular challenge, but then I remembered the free-falling rules from later in the book. Adapting those, I ruled that those marines that rolled two successes would be able to continue, while one success meant that they were effectively out of the fight and zero successes would have the same outcome as the free-falling rules. I considered having one success allow them to rejoin the fight at a later time, having landed elsewhere on the ship, but I think that might be better suited to larger ships or stations.

 

So I rolled two dice for each of my marines. Everyone passed, except for the Sgt with Nerves of Steel who rolled one success, and the unlucky guy, who rolled zero. He died before the first round of combat, talk about unlucky. With Sarge dead, the Corporal who had been in charge of the second section took command (Rep 5, Auto 2, no traits).

Moving on from that deathtrap, the marines found a squad of four pirates waiting for them. Four couldn't be too bad, could it? I mean, I still had four marines, and one of them was a star. Three of the pirates were nothing special, but the fourh certainly was. She had a rep of 5 and a suit of Exo-Armour.  So I did what anyone would do in the situation, which is to say that I decided that she must be their leader and rolled a trait for her, which turned out to be Resiliant. Incidentally, she was also the only female pirate that was generated on the entire ship. Combat went relatively smoothly, with the pirates winning the action roll but failing to do any real damage with their shooting, only managing to force the Corporal to duck back while leaving the remaining marines able to return fire. The return fire took out one pirate and, after a passed will to fight check on both sides, I moved onto the marines actions. With my dice finally deciding to roll numbers lower than 6, this resulted in two more pirates being removed from the fight (one dead, one out of the fight). The pirate captain fired off a few shots to force the marines back into cover before taking off in the direction of the crew area.

Resolving the PEF for the crew area, I found myself facing a bit of a conundrum. The rulebook states that there should always be a squad defending the bridge, and elsewhere it says that a pirate ship should have two detachments. However, there is also a PEF in each section. Rather than spending too long on this, I resolved to ask about it here after my game. For the meantime, I gave the surviving pirate a challenge. If she succeeeded, she would be able to call the squad from the bridge (actually the crew area PEF) to fight. If she failed, she would probably be gunned down by the remaining marines before making it to safety. She managed one success, before rerolling and succeeding fully. A squad of six more pirates rushed from the bridge to meet my marines.

The pirates won the action test again (6,6 vs 6,5 if you can believe it)

Combat was a little more difficult to resolve with the marines being outnumbered. Between that, combatants ducking back, and the huge amounts of damage put out by an Auto 5, there were a few times where the initial matching of targets had to be redone. For the pirates, I lined their leader up against mine, before randomly assigning the remaining pirates while ensuring that each marine was targeted once. I also decided that each pirate would focus all of their firepower on their primary target. When it came to the marine turn, I had to reallocate targets due to pirates having died to return fire (And due to the Corporal spending more time ducking back than fighting). I tried to keep pairs who had already been targeting each other intact, while moving marines who no longer had a target. Was this correct, or should I have felt free to create the optimal situation for myself once the marines were active? Likewise, should I have done that for the pirates, or was I correct to assign them at semi-random?

After the Marine's shooting there were no pirates left in the fight...until I remembered that one of them was resiliant. The pirate captain's out of the fight result became a duck back, and she promptly fled in the direction of the bridge. The marines followed her and, knowing that there was no squad there, I decided to resolve the bridge PEF anyway, "Just in case". And that is why, when the marines finally stormed onto the bridge, they were met with the sight of the pirate captain finalizing the command she had just entered into one of the command consoles. The bridge was depressurized, and all of the marines save for the star went for an unscheduled spacewalk. They all rolled one success based on the rules I had decided on earlier, so they would all be recoverable at least. So would the pirate captain, who also managed one success, unless she had another escape plan in place. Looking back, a part of me wishes that she had succeeded fully and left me with a one-on-one battle between her and my star. Things for later in a campaign, eh? I guess I had better roll for that background, because I will definitely be playing more of this.

If anyone has an answer for any of the questions that came up during gameplay, or any general advice regarding the game, it would be much appreciated.

[easyeight]

Sept 28, 2021 20:42:10 GMT cml said:

I was looking for some sci fi rules that would work for solo play and had heard good things about THW, so I purchased a pdf of Star Marines.

Tonight, I finally got a chance to play.

I started by creating a star, although I skipped the background section because I just wanted a quick game to try the rules rather than a campaign. I did give myself a trait though (born leader), and I rolled for a second one but didn't get anything.

The squad followed roughly the same pattern, with me filling out my allowance of Rep 5 marines and getting a single auto 5 weapon (which went to on of the Rep 5s who also rolled Crack Shot). Other than that, there was a marine with Nerves of Steel and one poor SOB who rolled unlucky. Unlucky was a very fitting trait, but more on that later.

Rather than going through campaign generation, I decided to try my luck at a simple boarding action against some pirates. I bet those marines thought it was simple too, until they stepped foot onboard the enemy ship.

Landing in the Cargo bay (I rolled a 5), they were met by a group of four panicked civilians. Rather than generating them straight away, I decided to resolve the PEF for the section first. "Why generate them until I know they aren't dead," I joked. And wouldn't you just know it, I rolled anti-boarding measures followed by a 6. I designated one of the Rep 5s to attempt a hack to stop the depressurization, but it was too late. There went all of the civilians, and I started to wonder what the Pirates had that they were so desperate to protect. Now, the rulebook doesn't specify what happens to people wearing Exo-Armour when the section is depressuized (at least that I could see). I was going to use a regular challenge, but then I remembered the free-falling rules from later in the book. Adapting those, I ruled that those marines that rolled two successes would be able to continue, while one success meant that they were effectively out of the fight and zero successes would have the same outcome as the free-falling rules. I considered having one success allow them to rejoin the fight at a later time, having landed elsewhere on the ship, but I think that might be better suited to larger ships or stations.

 

So I rolled two dice for each of my marines. Everyone passed, except for the Sgt with Nerves of Steel who rolled one success, and the unlucky guy, who rolled zero. He died before the first round of combat, talk about unlucky. With Sarge dead, the Corporal who had been in charge of the second section took command (Rep 5, Auto 2, no traits).

Exosuits (and spacesuits) can function in vacuum. The easiest way to do it is to have them make a Will to Fight test, pass 2= carry on, pass 1 or 0 = some (or all) figures leave the table (they got vented into space and spend the rest of the scenario getting back or getting picked up). I’ll clarify this in errata.

Moving on from that deathtrap, the marines found a squad of four pirates waiting for them. Four couldn't be too bad, could it? I mean, I still had four marines, and one of them was a star. Three of the pirates were nothing special, but the fourh certainly was. She had a rep of 5 and a suit of Exo-Armour.  So I did what anyone would do in the situation, which is to say that I decided that she must be their leader and rolled a trait for her, which turned out to be Resiliant. Incidentally, she was also the only female pirate that was generated on the entire ship. Combat went relatively smoothly, with the pirates winning the action roll but failing to do any real damage with their shooting, only managing to force the Corporal to duck back while leaving the remaining marines able to return fire. The return fire took out one pirate and, after a passed will to fight check on both sides, I moved onto the marines actions. With my dice finally deciding to roll numbers lower than 6, this resulted in two more pirates being removed from the fight (one dead, one out of the fight). The pirate captain fired off a few shots to force the marines back into cover before taking off in the direction of the crew area.

Resolving the PEF for the crew area, I found myself facing a bit of a conundrum. The rulebook states that there should always be a squad defending the bridge, and elsewhere it says that a pirate ship should have two detachments. However, there is also a PEF in each section. Rather than spending too long on this, I resolved to ask about it here after my game. For the meantime, I gave the surviving pirate a challenge. If she succeeeded, she would be able to call the squad from the bridge (actually the crew area PEF) to fight. If she failed, she would probably be gunned down by the remaining marines before making it to safety. She managed one success, before rerolling and succeeding fully. A squad of six more pirates rushed from the bridge to meet my marines.


Sure, you can do it that way. But you could also just have the figure fall back to the Bridge, and add her to the last PEF on the Bridge.

The pirates won the action test again (6,6 vs 6,5 if you can believe it)

Combat was a little more difficult to resolve with the marines being outnumbered. Between that, combatants ducking back, and the huge amounts of damage put out by an Auto 5, there were a few times where the initial matching of targets had to be redone. For the pirates, I lined their leader up against mine, before randomly assigning the remaining pirates while ensuring that each marine was targeted once. I also decided that each pirate would focus all of their firepower on their primary target. When it came to the marine turn, I had to reallocate targets due to pirates having died to return fire (And due to the Corporal spending more time ducking back than fighting). I tried to keep pairs who had already been targeting each other intact, while moving marines who no longer had a target. Was this correct, or should I have felt free to create the optimal situation for myself once the marines were active? Likewise, should I have done that for the pirates, or was I correct to assign them at semi-random?

That sounds right

After the Marine's shooting there were no pirates left in the fight...until I remembered that one of them was resiliant. The pirate captain's out of the fight result became a duck back, and she promptly fled in the direction of the bridge. The marines followed her and, knowing that there was no squad there, I decided to resolve the bridge PEF anyway, "Just in case". And that is why, when the marines finally stormed onto the bridge, they were met with the sight of the pirate captain finalizing the command she had just entered into one of the command consoles. The bridge was depressurized, and all of the marines save for the star went for an unscheduled spacewalk. They all rolled one success based on the rules I had decided on earlier, so they would all be recoverable at least. So would the pirate captain, who also managed one success, unless she had another escape plan in place. Looking back, a part of me wishes that she had succeeded fully and left me with a one-on-one battle between her and my star. Things for later in a campaign, eh? I guess I had better roll for that background, because I will definitely be playing more of this.

Looks like you have a potential recurring Baddie for your campaign!

If anyone has an answer for any of the questions that came up during gameplay, or any general advice regarding the game, it would be much appreciated.

Great questions, keep 'em coming!
Cheers!

[cml]

Thank you for the answers, and for posting them so soon after my initial post.

I played another game and have some more questions.

The mission was another boarding mission against pirates, which started with yet another depressurisation. No civilians this time at least, although the marine carrying the auto 5 failed his will to fight roll. Moving to the next section, the squad was faced with four pirates. I rolled two sixes for their rep while generating them, which resulted in a Zhuh-Zhuh and a Xeog. I could not see anything telling me which of the three Zhuh-Zhuh tables to roll on, so I went with the Infantry table. It made sense to me at the time, since this was actually going to be a pirate. I also noted that the Pirate table has a Rep of three listed alongside the note saying to roll on another table. Does this indicate that the figure's Rep should be three, or should their Rep be determined by the new table? I went with the latter option for now, which resulted in a dead sergeant during the following fight.

Other than the dead sergeant, the fight went relatively smoothly. The pirates went first thanks to advantage and the Zhuh-Zhuh (Rep 5)killed the sergeant. Both sides passed their will to fight rolls after the pirate turn, and then the marines set about getting revenge. Only one pirate survived, with the rest out of the fight if not killed outright.

The next section held no surprises, and so the squad moved on. Reaching the bridge, they found six more pirates, in addition to the surviver from earlier. They were all Basics this time, so at least I didn't have to worry about that. The problem was that I was outnumbered seven to four. The pirates went first due to advantage, again, and the first turn didn't go well for either side. The pirates killed another marine, but two of them were rendered unable to continue fighting by return fire. Then, two of the pirates surrendered - which makes sense given that two of their number had just been shot. At the same time, the remaining two marines other than my star both left the section.

My star was alone against three pirates and could not fire due to having ducked back. Thanks to free will, he decided to remain in the fight. Two more of pirates, who had him outnumbered three to one and under so much fire that he couldn't leave his cover, surrendered. The rules say that both sides make a will to fight test each turn, but something feels a bit off with this situation.

The following turn saw the final pirate removed from the fight and the success of the mission.

After the mission, it was time to see what happened to the surviving marines. Of the three marines that receved decreasing d6s, the only one to lose any Rep from them was the marine who was flushed out into space at the start of the mission. The corporal, who was one of the two to leave the section during a fight, lost a point of Rep from the Pay the Piper table and was also marked as a coward. The other marine also lost a Rep, going down to three. Given that he left at the same time as the corporal, who had assumed command after the sergeant's death, does this count as being ordered by a leader or should he also be a coward now? I did not roll on this table for the marine who left the table due to anti-boarding measures - he didn't retreat, which is the assumption that the table makes, he was just unable to rejoin the mission. Is this correct or should I roll for him as well?

As for my star, he was promoted after the mission, having received enough fame to make it to Private 1st Class (I rolled for a background following the last mission, and he had received +5 starting fame from his father.)
Fortunately for the squad, it will be receiving reinforcements to bring it back to full strength - I will generate those before my next game.

Finally, I have a few questions regarding something that could have happened had I made a different decision during the game. If I had chosen to have my star join the rest of the squad in retreating back one section, since it was not the section they entered from, presumably they would not leave the ship immediately. In that case, would they be able to make another push onto the bridge or would they just fall back the rest of the way? If they could, would the pirates who had surrendered also rejoin the fight? Also, in that situation, it appears that the marines would have to leave the section due to squad losses each time a will to fight roll was made. Is that correct?

[easyeight]

Oct 3, 2021 23:15:02 GMT cml said:

Thank you for the answers, and for posting them so soon after my initial post.

I played another game and have some more questions.

The mission was another boarding mission against pirates, which started with yet another depressurisation. No civilians this time at least, although the marine carrying the auto 5 failed his will to fight roll. Moving to the next section, the squad was faced with four pirates. I rolled two sixes for their rep while generating them, which resulted in a Zhuh-Zhuh and a Xeog. I could not see anything telling me which of the three Zhuh-Zhuh tables to roll on, so I went with the Infantry table. It made sense to me at the time, since this was actually going to be a pirate.

Yep, that was the way to do it. And Zhuh-Zhuh get the Rage bonus in melee.  


I also noted that the Pirate table has a Rep of three listed alongside the note saying to roll on another table. Does this indicate that the figure's Rep should be three, or should their Rep be determined by the new table? I went with the latter option for now, which resulted in a dead sergeant during the following fight.

The (3) indicates if you roll a 6, roll again and see what the figure is - (3) When a “6” is rolled roll 1d6. If a 1, 2, or 3 is rolled the Pirate is a Zhuh-Zhuh (1 – 3), Xeog (4 – 5) or Razor (6).Roll on appropriate List for stats.

Other than the dead sergeant, the fight went relatively smoothly. The pirates went first thanks to advantage and the Zhuh-Zhuh (Rep 5)killed the sergeant. Both sides passed their will to fight rolls after the pirate turn, and then the marines set about getting revenge. Only one pirate survived, with the rest out of the fight if not killed outright.

The next section held no surprises, and so the squad moved on. Reaching the bridge, they found six more pirates, in addition to the surviver from earlier. They were all Basics this time, so at least I didn't have to worry about that. The problem was that I was outnumbered seven to four. The pirates went first due to advantage, again, and the first turn didn't go well for either side. The pirates killed another marine, but two of them were rendered unable to continue fighting by return fire. Then, two of the pirates surrendered - which makes sense given that two of their number had just been shot. At the same time, the remaining two marines other than my star both left the section.

My star was alone against three pirates and could not fire due to having ducked back. Thanks to free will, he decided to remain in the fight. Two more of pirates, who had him outnumbered three to one and under so much fire that he couldn't leave his cover, surrendered. The rules say that both sides make a will to fight test each turn, but something feels a bit off with this situation.

Duck Back doesn't end the fight, the figure just ducks behind cover to get away from being shot at. When the figure moves into LOS, or another figure move into its LOS, you trigger a new In Sight test and start in again. And yes, both sides make a Will to Fight test because getting in a firefight sucks and is scary, and figures may decide to leave even if you think they should stay. That's where higher Rep figures (with more training and experience) are more likely to stay in the fight than less experienced ones.

The following turn saw the final pirate removed from the fight and the success of the mission.

After the mission, it was time to see what happened to the surviving marines. Of the three marines that receved decreasing d6s, the only one to lose any Rep from them was the marine who was flushed out into space at the start of the mission. The corporal, who was one of the two to leave the section during a fight, lost a point of Rep from the Pay the Piper table and was also marked as a coward. The other marine also lost a Rep, going down to three. Given that he left at the same time as the corporal, who had assumed command after the sergeant's death, does this count as being ordered by a leader or should he also be a coward now? I did not roll on this table for the marine who left the table due to anti-boarding measures - he didn't retreat, which is the assumption that the table makes, he was just unable to rejoin the mission. Is this correct or should I roll for him as well?

I'd say don't roll for him. And if you think the Coward attribute is too harsh, make it a result of getting a Pass 0 on the Pay the Piper roll. This is all to add flavor to your game, btw, use the rules the way they make sense to you.

As for my star, he was promoted after the mission, having received enough fame to make it to Private 1st Class (I rolled for a background following the last mission, and he had received +5 starting fame from his father.)
Fortunately for the squad, it will be receiving reinforcements to bring it back to full strength - I will generate those before my next game.

Finally, I have a few questions regarding something that could have happened had I made a different decision during the game. If I had chosen to have my star join the rest of the squad in retreating back one section, since it was not the section they entered from, presumably they would not leave the ship immediately. In that case, would they be able to make another push onto the bridge or would they just fall back the rest of the way?

In that case you'd fall back one map section and have to attack the ship tile/area you retreated from again, or bypass it by going through a new ship tile/area. In this case, the Bridge is your target so you'd attack it again against the already revealed PEF.

If they could, would the pirates who had surrendered also rejoin the fight? Also, in that situation, it appears that the marines would have to leave the section due to squad losses each time a will to fight roll was made. Is that correct?

This is up to you. You can play it abstractly and just remove those pirate figures when they surrender, which is what is assumed, or do it more detailed -  have one Marine figure escort them off the ship (in an older version of Star Army, or perhaps NUTS, one figure can control up to 6 surrendered figures), or if the Marines also left the ship area let the pirates rejoin their crew. Your call.

[cml]

Oct 5, 2021 15:08:09 GMT easyeight said:

Oct 3, 2021 23:15:02 GMT cml said:

Oct 4, 2021 0:15:02 GMT 1 cml said:


My star was alone against three pirates and could not fire due to having ducked back. Thanks to free will, he decided to remain in the fight. Two more of pirates, who had him outnumbered three to one and under so much fire that he couldn't leave his cover, surrendered. The rules say that both sides make a will to fight test each turn, but something feels a bit off with this situation.

Duck Back doesn't end the fight, the figure just ducks behind cover to get away from being shot at. When the figure moves into LOS, or another figure move into its LOS, you trigger a new In Sight test and start in again. And yes, both sides make a Will to Fight test because getting in a firefight sucks and is scary, and figures may decide to leave even if you think they should stay. That's where higher Rep figures (with more training and experience) are more likely to stay in the fight than less experienced ones.
 
Sorry I didn't make this part clear, I meant that he passed the following Will to Fight due to free will, after not having shot due to spending the turn recovering from ducking back.
 
Finally, I have a few questions regarding something that could have happened had I made a different decision during the game. If I had chosen to have my star join the rest of the squad in retreating back one section, since it was not the section they entered from, presumably they would not leave the ship immediately. In that case, would they be able to make another push onto the bridge or would they just fall back the rest of the way?

In that case you'd fall back one map section and have to attack the ship tile/area you retreated from again, or bypass it by going through a new ship tile/area. In this case, the Bridge is your target so you'd attack it again against the already revealed PEF.

If they could, would the pirates who had surrendered also rejoin the fight? Also, in that situation, it appears that the marines would have to leave the section due to squad losses each time a will to fight roll was made. Is that correct?

This is up to you. You can play it abstractly and just remove those pirate figures when they surrender, which is what is assumed, or do it more detailed - have one Marine figure escort them off the ship (in an older version of Star Army, or perhaps NUTS, one figure can control up to 6 surrendered figures), or if the Marines also left the ship area let the pirates rejoin their crew. Your call.
 

I think I will probably rule that the surrendering pirates will rejoin the fight unless the marines are able to secure the area in the future. That is if the situation actually comes up, of course. In the situation I encountered during the game, I was down to 50% of the squad of marines, meaning that, at most, I would be able to score one success on the Will to Fight test and would therefore have two marines leave the section each time I had to roll. Assuming that my star was the last one left in the section, would the other marines show up at some point to make another push, or would that only be possible once I retreated as well? If it would happen, when would they return?

Once again, thank you for the answers.