Welcome to the next installment of our trip into the universe of Terminator Genisys. This time around Sam and Owen have gone for Scenario 2: Hold your Ground. This battle involves larger forces on each side, with the aim to capture and hold the objectives scattered across the battlefield, or to destroy the enemy!
Terminators:
10 Endoskeletons
Resistance:
Commander (2)
11 Plasma Rifle-armed soldiers
2 with Rocket Launcher
2 with Grenade Launchers
Sam: This game would see just how devastating 10 Terminators would be on the battlefield, as they stalk their human prey. For this battle, we opted to put away the paper mat included within the game and use the Premium Mat that can be bought separately. This 33” x 22” matt is great, as it is non-slip, durable and is essentially an invaluable upgrade when playing larger games. This mat, combined with barricades from the set and some of our own scenery really brings the war gaming aspect of the game to the fore.
After playing through the first couple of scenarios, we had a better understanding of the game, and used more advanced rules for this battle. We rolled to see who would go first and set up the armies according to the scenario, with each force using the Crawl template to measure how far to deploy onto the board. Owen had control of the Resistance, whilst I commanded the implacable machines.
Owen: Seeing what one Terminator did to my Resistance fighter’s last game really made me aware of just how tough they are! So to get more resistance fighters with a leader and heavier weaponry enabled me to do some proper damage to the Endos. I had to be careful with them, as throughout the game they were easy targets for the Endos plasma guns, fortunately in the game all of my units are in cover when being shot at, this represents them hitting the dirt – which is the sensible thing to do!
Sam: Well, 10 Endoskeletons taking on numerous puny humans. No problem! My endos stalked through the wasteland, gunning down anything they can see. Unlike the resistance, my Terminators do not gain any cover, after all they are nigh on indestructible constructs of death! The grenade launchers and rocket launchers however gave me pause for thought, as they are better at taking down my terminators. The rocket launchers in particular can fire two types of warhead, one anti-tank the other perfect for group shots.
Opportunity fire was an interesting addition to the game, essentially allowing me to leave a terminator ready and scanning for the resistance – ideal for protecting the objectives I’d already captured. Victory would be mine, er… Skynets.
The playtime for this game lasted a good hour as we got to grips with the rules, and was a hard fought battle! A great aspect of this game is that the movement enables you to get to where you want to go in quick order. However it also gives a great tactical depth as you never know just who will get the next turn so that shot gun wielding hero could well be out on his own; don’t roll a FATE on that dice!
In our next game, we take it to the next level, with added forces, special Endos and Kyle Reese himself enters the war against the machine!
