JOBOP: On The Ground Electronic Compliance
Objective: Hack the mode in the Japanese Tea House at the centre of Arc931’s garden area and maintain ACCESS for as long as possible
++Visualiser loading. Shadow Backer online, credentials issued for access to Arc931, expect electronic countermeasures and on-the-ground resistance. ++
The Crews
For my first game in our Reality’s Edge campaign, I squared off against Hendrik’s crew. He had a Console Cowboy as his Showrunner, a Sprawl Ronin, Street Doc, Infiltrator and an Enforcer. My crew comprised Wilson (Enforcer Showrunner, geared for melee), April (Console Cowgirl), Mae (Enforcer), Jack and Spike (Gangers) and 1337357 (Console Cowboy). I was the attacker, tasked with gaining and maintaining access to the node in the Japanese tea house in the centre of the table, nestled amidst a rather nice garden area, not your usual densely urban sprawl area. We roll up the special parameters and the central node get s an upgrade to firewall rating of eight – obviously this node is far more important than a tea house point-of-sale and inventory system.
The Game
The first turn I moved out, with my console cowboys moving to their respective nearest CAT Terminal, thinking I’d access for additional Shadow Backer activations and to gain INFO, before converging on the central node after clearing out the resistance hiding in there. The CAT Terminal April was nearest had the Rogue App hitch, so it was hostile to whoever moved within 8” of it, seeing April’s pistol disabled in turn one. Due to poor placement on my part, April was gunned down in turn two by Hendrik’s Infiltrator shortly after gaining access to the CAT Terminal but before she could gain any INFO. With the loss of one of Console Cowboy’s, I decided to go straight for the throat, charging Wilson into the tea house, thinking I’d test my melee fit-out on him. Hendrik had two models on overwatch within the building, one of which counter charged Wilson, although luckily I had the ‘Against All Odds’ skill which grants me a +1 when outnumbered. I fail to connect with the Sprawl Ronin, seeing the three-way melee stay for turn three.
I won initiative on turn three, so Wilson activated and started wailing on the enforcer, dishing out four damage, and for some reason I then decided to attack the Sprawl Ronin, which was a mistake as I should have finished off the Enforcer, dealing four damage to him also. Hendrik played well when play passed to him, with the Sprawl Ronin attacking Wilson and pushing him back, which then allowed the Enforcer to unload his shotgun at point blank range, although luckily his tailored armour weave suit was sufficient to protect him from the shot. I retaliated by using my Shadow Backer to install the Sabotage app on the Enforcer’s shotgun, disabling it for two turns. This triumph was short lived, as Hendrik’s Showrunner fired back, using Sabotage to disable Wilson’s masterwork bludgeon turn three and then Mae’s shotgun in turn four.
On turn four, I have Wilson move next to the central node and use his V-Spyke, then bolt my Shadow Backer into contact with it and start pounding it with the Gatecrasher app, although she isn’t successful this turn. Hendrik’s Enforcer charges Wilson, and hits him, taking him down to three HPs.
On turn five, I throw all four Shadow Backer actions into the central node to no avail, cursing how difficult it has been try and gain access. Hendrik’s Shadow Backer had been using Slice to try and take down my Shadow Backer (having successfully forced 1337357 offline last turn), and his successful attack this turn took her to one DHP left. When play passed to him, Hendrik’s Street Doc healed his Sprawl Ronin who then moved and started shooting his SMG at Wilson, taking him out-of-action. I also moved 1337357 towards the central node, figuring he could help my Shadow Backer try and gain access (by throwing more dice, it felt like a real brute force attack at this stage) once he’s back online. Meanwhile, Hendrik’s Infiltrator has been blasting away at Jack, gradually whittling down his HP, whilst he, in turn, shoots his SMG at Hendrik’s Enforcer, getting him down to one HP left.
I win initiative on turn six again, luckily, and my Shadow Backer starts off with Gatecrasher on the central node – I roll a 10 and Hendrik rolls a 1, so I’m in and take access of the node. I follow up by using Reconnect to get some DHP back and Slice on Hendrik’s Shadow Backer, hitting for four DHP. With 1337357 back online, I use his Decapitate app on Hendrik’s Shadow Backer, missing with the first attack, but getting through with the second and taking him offline. My Enforcer comes charging into the tea house and slams her inactive shotgun into Hendrik’s Enforcer’s face, taking him out of action.
Turn seven and Hendrik wins initiative, moving his Showrunner into the tea house and attempting to wrest back control of the node, but after failing to do so, his crew realises they have failed in their mission and opt to strategically withdraw…
Luckily my three out of action models survive, although April is permanently injured (-1 melee). We skipped the balance of the campaign resolution steps as it was getting late and past my bedtime, so I need to revisit that and work out what else I need to resolve before the next game.
Conclusion
This game went a lot smoother than my first two games as I come up-to-speed with the rules and the layout of the book, but there were still a considerable number of rules missed/forgotten, such as grazing tests which slipped my mind until turn six at which point it was too late to implement. Part of the problem here is the book has no index and certain things are in odd places (like the firewall rating of a CAT Terminal), so it isn’t the most user-friendly rulebook. The game is also very token and administration heavy, with hit points, digital hit points, disabled weapons/equipment, status effects, ranged attack hits still to be resolved and so on all needing to be tracked and in addition to remembering each crew members skills and equipment and what benefits they confer. Hopefully this will continue to improve as we play more, and I remember to better use the quick reference cards I printed out!
Also, I’ve written his in a shorter form way than my usual battle reports, without detailed notes, so some things have been overlooked or recalled in a disjointed way. Let me know what you think of the style relative to my other reports in the comments.
Thanks for the report, quite good size, I think, maybe add narrative if you want.
Had to say that hacking mace/club/stick is bit too much for me.
Thank you. Good call on the narrative part, I’ve seen some of the other guys starting to create narratives around their crews so I’ll have to go along! The hacking rules are a little simplistic in that sense, justified by the hand wave comment of ‘corporate installed safety measures’ to avoid unnecessary complexity but to each their own.