Hold the Bridge

A month or so back, Bruce introduced me to Xenos Rampant, the sci-fi addition to the Rampant series. The system is very flexible and gave a surprisingly good game when we playtested it. I pointed up two Star Wars armies from old West End Games figures I had and we had a go the week.

With the destruction of the second Death Star and the apparent death of the Emperor, Imperial governors have been left to try and maintain order in countless systems across the galaxy. Here, the Imperial commander must deny the Rebels a key crossing on an impassable river. Most of the rebels set up on the far side of the table, but three units of commandos could dice for entry anywhere.

Stormtroopers hold the bridge while the rest of the Imperial forces are deployed on either side of it. Rebel speeders come up the left flank and send some hapless scout bikes back across the river. The speeders would play a key role in the Rebel's eventual victory.

Meanwhile, behind the bridge, annoying Rebel commandos begin popping up and tying up Imperial naval troopers and a unit of dewback riders. On the far side of the river, Imperial walkers shoot the heck out of a bunch of Rebel troops.

The speeders catch a walker trying to cross the bridge and severely damage it. The Rebels were able to capture and salvage this walker at the end of the game.

In front of the bridge, a unit of naval troopers occupied a bog, which tied up the Rebel advance. After several assaults and rounds of fire, the Wookiees finally appeared out of the woods. This was very bad news as they charged into melee and beat the snot out of the Imperial troops.

Meanwhile, despite taking serious damage from the Imperial laser cannon, the speeders and commandos were able to put a real beating on the second line Imperial troops. Eventually, the Stormtroopers deployed back across the bridge to try and stabilize things.

This left a small unit of scout troopers to defend the bridge against the advancing Wookiees.

That went poorly for the scout troopers.

In the end, the remains of the Imperial forces had to pull back and leave the bridge of the Rebels.

Overall, a pretty good game with 57 points per side, divided into two detachments. We manage dit in about an hour and half. Making vehicles more vulnerable on the flank and rear works. We tried out an NCO upgrade rule for the rebels (better activations) but that wasn't really very meaningful. Next game, we'll try to add in a few heroes and a Force user to see what that is like.