Carnage on Omega Epsilon VII

This afternoon, my daughter and I tried out the free "Away Team" rules from Astro Miniatures. The miniatures are also produced by Astro, in  15mm scale.

We used the Astro Explorers as a Star Fleet landing party, and the Raptor miniatures to represent the Gorns.  I played Star Fleet, my daughter was the Gorn.

Table set up: The mission was to retrieve a powerful and deadly item known only as "The Artifact." This strange object is all that remains of the extinct alien civilization that lived in the jungles of Omega Epsilon VII long ago.


There are 4 alien crystals in the jungle. One of them is the Artifact, but to determine which it is, the characters must contact the crystals and examine them (an IQ test in game terms). When the Artifact is located, the character must bring it back to their shuttlecraft (i.e. move off their table edge with it).  The first player to do so wins the game.

Forces:
The Gorn force consisted of 6 characters, all using the basic "Raptor" profile from the rules. All were armed with Phaser pistols, and two figures had Tricorders.

The Star Fleet party had 7 characters: Two Command Officers, A Chief Science Officer with a Tricorder,  a Science Officer with a Tricorder, a Medical Officer with a Med Kit, and two Security Officers.  All characters were armed with Phaser pistols, except the Security Officers, who had Phaser rifles.

Mission Report:

Star Fleet moves up, approaching the nearest alien crystals

The slower Gorns move up as well.

The Medical Officer approaches a crystal, with the Chief Science Officer and a Command Officer close behind.

Meanwhile, the Gorns enter the jungle on their side of the table.

The female Science Officer scans a crystal. She has located the alien Artifact!

The Security Officers exchange fire with the Gorns.

Redshirts down!

Firing accurately even in the jungle condition, The Gorns continue to advance, hoping to snatch the Artifact from the fleeing Science Officer.

The Captain goes down to Gorn fire, as the other officers move up in a delaying action.

The second Command Officer goes down, too!

Fortunately, the Medical officer was able to revive him.

The Science Officer heads for the shuttle, carrying the Artifact.

Going toe-to-toe with the Gorns...

...not a great idea.

However, their sacrifice is not in vain.

The Science Officer was able to to get the Artifact to the table edge and win the game. The tough but slow moving Gorns were able to do a lot of damage, but couldn't manage to get to her in time.  A Pyrrhic victory for Star Fleet.

The rules are simple and quick.  They don't go into much detail, but they got us pushing my new minis around the table, which is all I really wanted. I think this is the type of rule set where the scenario makes all the difference.  I have some other Star Trek based scenarios that I want to try out with my kids in the next few weeks, so more to come.  I will also try to get some better pics of the painted miniatures posted.