This is Not a Test - Keeping the Peace

Engagement eight of our This is Not a Test campaign saw the Flores Minor Ranger Corps venturing back into the northern greenbelt. There, while salvaging barter script from a ruined settlement, they came across an unknown warband approaching the settlement from the opposite direction.

Roger joined the campaign with a new Peace Keeper warband. While the FMRC (deployed along the lower edge of the table) are led by Sarge, a road marshal, Roger's Sons of Morpheus (deployed along the top) were led by Ice T, a hanging judge. The two crews are therefore very different in make-up. Roger's starting crew had the leader and three elites supported by three sacrificial lambs. To balance out 270+ difference in warband values, he took the 'Grin and win' and 'Really good luck' strategies as well as three further sacrificial lambs as supports.

The FMRC took up position with Buckshot, Frygga and Ogg on the right, Demo, Point, Snake-Eyes and Pup in the centre behind Hotshot, while Doc, Heavy and Sarge deployed on the left where they had sweeping views diagonally across the settlement.

Ice T and the swarm of sacrificial lambs deployed on Roger's left (opposite Backshot and the hillfolk), while his three elites deployed on the right. The hanging judge led the lambs forward but attracted a lot of fire for his troubles. Heavy, Doc and Sarge all fired away, causing a wound, but their shots otherwise pinging off his rock-hard abs.

In the centre of the settlement, Point and Hotshot were both taken out of action by Roger's quartermaster's minigun in a hail of lead, but then he and his backup both jammed their guns. Demo skulked up to lob a grenade but, again, the bogeys were too hard for it to have any impact.

Back in the scrub on the right, Buckshot tried unsuccessfully to take out Ice T with further shotgun fire, while the hillfolk took the fight to the sacrificial lambs. Over in the centre, Roger's crew were pinned down by a lot of fire so he took the nuclear option and started detonating the lambs. One took Ogg out with her, but otherwise there was a lot of noise but little impact. By the end of turn four, Roger's crew were reduced to less than half their starting number and he bottled, leaving the FMRC victorious.

In the post-match sequence, it turned out that all casualties were able to recover - except the sacrifical lambs of course. Ice T's crew all scored additional experience (from their 'Grin and win' strategy) and scrounged a huge pile of barterscript - half of it recovered from a toilet... 

For the FMRC, Point found tunnels that will allow him to act as a ranger for the next two engagements, while Buckshot found a COG Bunker. Despite his banged head, he managed to break in and 'redistribute' an actuated gauntlet - I'm sure that will come in handy!