The Coming Storm – Fallout Battle Report

We’ve finally arrived at the final tutorial scenario in Fallout Wasteland Warfare which is the end of the campaign. While I’ve had the best of intentions of completing super huge campaigns in MESBG, this is the first campaign I’ve seen to its conclusion in my wargaming career. Hopefully there will be plenty more in future years!

Story Recap – While Jeff and the Survivors have been battling a band of Super Mutants led by Ram, neither side has had a decisive win against the other. The Brahmin have been on the move all night, as if chased by the vast, dark clouds brewing in the west. This can only mean one thing: a super storm. Jeff and his crew must find shelter or they will perish. Unfortunately, Ram has similar ideas. But it gets worse, a roar in the distance indicates that a Deathclaw is nearby!

Scenario Setup – This scenario has a fairly open layout with markers in every corner and the middle of the board which can be used to control the siren. The siren is used to move the Deathclaw a short distance either towards or away from the siren as desired. Of course, your opponent can do the same thing so it there is a bit of a cat mouse game going on there as a Deathclaw is hard to kill and does a fair bit of damage as well. The two sides deploy on opposite corners which is not too far away from where the Deathclaw shows up.

To complicate matters, the Deathclaw enters the table at a set point but when that occurs is random. You determine this by flipping a tiny cardboard luck token and on the fifth time you see the clover side up, in comes the Deathclaw! Having a random entrance with a scary mini like this is always cool in my book so that will certainly spice this scenario up.

Either side can win by killing the opposing leader. If that does not occur, at the end of Round Six, whichever side’s hero is closest to the Cave Entrance wins the game. It sounds simple but with a Deathclaw raging across the battlefield, this will be a hard fought game.

Additionally, its worth mentioning that this game is using the full rules. The new rules are all based around heroic units that lead a warband. The heroes, in this case, Jeff and Ram, have the chance to get free action points through VATS, they can land devastating critical hits if they build up enough critical points with a particular weapon, and finally, they can use luck which is very similar to Might, Will, and Fate points in MESBG. In other words, the heroes will be even more heroic in this game which should be an additional layer of fun and strategy.

The Survivors – The Survivors have a pretty familiar side with not many changes. It is kind of a hodge podge of units with Bob and Daria, the settlers, being fairly effective at range but soft targets. Dogmeat is fast and hits fairly hard but is fragile. Jeff, the Sole Survivor, is not equipped especially well this time around but he does have the Laser Rifle to pick off enemies. Finally, there’s Aspirant Goddard, who is the tank of the group. He can’t do much damage but he can certainly take a lot of it. My plan with the Survivors was to try to stay away from the Deathclaw by advancing across the table early and trying to maneuver Jeff towards the cave as the game went on. Obviously, shooting is key with the Survivors since they have poor melee weapons (other than Dogmeat) so trying to find a way to lure the Super Mutants into the open and then blasting them is always ideal.

The Super Mutants – The Super Mutants have numbers in this scenario with two mobile hounds that I never seem to use effectively. The Enslaved Tech is very fragile and not useful for combat but makes a great siren operator. The Aviator is not a bad shot thanks to his special goggles and so he will be the only unit on this side interested in shooting instead of melee combat. The Super Mutant and Ram, the Brute, both excel in close combat and will try to get there against the softer Survivor targets whenever possible. Of course, if the Deathclaw damages or kills some Survivors along the way, then that’s more than acceptable too.

Round One – The Survivors and Mutants maneuvered around the battlefield with both sides electing to make use of cover and move away from where the Deathclaw enters the board. Many of the Survivors found shelter behind an old construction shed.

Where as the shipping container made for good cover for the Super Mutants.

Surprisingly, despite the odds making it likely for the Deathclaw to show up this round, I flipped the token each time a unit activated for both sides and only two came up with the clover side showing. The clover side needed to show up three more times for the Deathclaw to make an appearance.

Round Two – Daria went first this round and took cover in the shed near the window. She fired a shot at the Super Mutant behind the barricade but missed. A clover appeared on the flip so now there are only two to go before the Deathclaw appears!

Super Mutant Hound Two readied but did not activate yet. No clover this time.

Bob approached the siren controls on the far side of the battlefield and would be ready to use them as needed in future turns. Another clover appeared on the flip and now there was one to go…

Super Mutant Hound One also readied but did not activate. The fifth clover appeared and the Deathclaw entered with a roar!

Jeff went next and rightfully wanted to move away from the Deathclaw so that it would hopefully pick up the Super Mutant scent instead. This put him out in the open until his next activation.

The Aviator and both Super Mutant Hounds activated with each one moving away from the shipping crate to put some distance between them and the Deathclaw.

Dogmeat continued to make his away around the far end of the table while maintaining cover.

The Enslaved Tech turned on the siren and the Deathclaw moved slightly away from the Super Mutant side.

Aspirant Goddard moved near Jeff to try and present a more interesting target to the Super Mutants. He used his second action to Prepare just in case any enemies moved in range.

The Super Mutant realized that he was the closest to the Deathclaw and needed to get out there so he moved to the far side of the campsite.

Ram went last and picked up two action points from VATS. Very handy! Ram used one to inch up towards the Survivors. He was now in long range of Aspirant Goddard and used the second free action to fire a shot with a slight penalty. It surprisingly hit on a 1! Ram’s luck didn’t last however as Goddard prevented the damage with his power armor. Ram moved forward and shot again. The shot pinged harmlessly against the ground. “Enough with these dumb Humie weapons. Let’s go bash their heads in, boys!” he yelled.

The Deathclaw was closest to Daria so it moved towards her and then it charged and was ready to swipe at if she moved away.

Round Three – The Survivors went first once again and saw an opportunity to go after Ram. Jeff went first and edged up thanks to a VATS generated action point. That conveniently put him in close range with Ram using his laser rifle. His first shot was going to miss by a single point so Jeff used a Luck token to subtract two from the result and hit Ram, who took two damage. The second shot struck Ram again doing two more damage. The Super Mutant leader had five wounds left.

Incensed by Ram’s cry of pain, Mutant Hound One lumbered across the camp to catch up to the action!

Bob activated and used the siren to draw the Deathclaw away from Daria before she could be hit by it. The creature was now dangerously close to Ram…

The Enslaved Tech turned on the siren to steer the Deathclaw closer to Daria and away from Ram.

Daria activated next and took a couple shots at Ram. The first one missed and the second did a single point of damage, bringing him down to four hit points.

Growing impatient and eager to hit something, Ram activated next but did not get any bonus action points this time. He started off by taking a stimpack and healing four of his five wounds. With his second action point he moved towards Jeff and away from the Deathclaw at the same time.

Goddard went next and moved forward and then charged Ram to try and keep the Brute near the rest of the Survivors.

With Dogmeat also poised to join the fray, the Super Mutant Hound Two bounded forward to try and present an alternative target for Jeff’s loyal companion.

Dogmeat ignored the mutated canine, however, and went after Ram on Jeff’s command. The attack missed and generated an action point that could only used to react to Ram. It was not quite the result that the Survivors were hoping for.

The Super Mutant went next and while he could fling an explodey thing at Dogmeat or the walking tin can (Aspirant Goddard), he decided not damaging the boss would be best and charged the runt of a dog instead.

The Aviator advanced and had Daria in range but the shot struck the construction shed harmlessly.

The Deathclaw charged Daria again and this time got to swipe at her and she suffered two damage. She only had two hit points left and was now in a tough spot…

With half the rounds completed, it was clear that combat was going to pick up. It looked like the Super Mutants had overextended themselves and Ram was quite vulnerable.

Round Four – The Survivors went first again as the model count remained unchanged. Aspirant Goddard activated first to try and hit Ram with his baseball bat. The first swing connected with a thud and caused two damage. The second attempt whiffed.

The Super Mutant activated next, eager to protect the boss from Dogmeat with his sledgehammer. His first attack landed with a crunch and hit poor Dogmeat for three wounds. That is half of the little guy’s life! The second swing went wide and no further damage was done.

Dogmeat seemed to know that he wouldn’t last much longer and attacked Ram with everything he had left. The first bite took a chunk out of Ram’s hamstring doing two wounds. Ram had four hit points left. The second attack would have caused another wound but Ram used a Luck token to prevent the damage.

Super Mutant Hound Two charged Dogmeat to try and get rid of the melee threat and help Ram retreat from the scrum in the middle of the battlefield. The hounded landed a nasty blow and Dogmeat whimpered and collapsed to the ground.

Bob activated and moved the Deathclaw towards the siren to free Daria from the creature’s grasp. He lined up a shot against the Super Mutant Hound before it could cause more problems and missed. The second shot also harmlessly hit the ground. Unfortunately, this was classic Bob as he rarely seemed to hit anything with his weapon in this campaign.

Ram activated and got an extra action point from VATs so he decided to club Goddard with his pipe wrench using the free action. The attack did a single point of damage to Goddard’s power armor. Ram decided he needed to retreat and let his boys try to push forward and defeat these pesky humans. Goddard missed with his bat and Ram made it safely back to the radioactive pool.

Daria retreated from the construction shed and moved away from it to try and lure the Deathclaw away from the Survivors.

Super Mutant Hound One activated and saw that Jeff was vulnerable so it charged across the battlefield and made contact with him.

Jeff did not get a free action and had a Super Mutant Hound in close combat with a Deathclaw lurking too. He decided to flee both of them for now. Jeff took one damage from the hound in the process and moved against the water tower. He tried to shoot the beast from close range but his nervous aim wasn’t good enough.

The Enslaved Tech continued to effectively do his job and used the alarm to move the Deathclaw closer to Aspirant Goddard.

The Aviator fired off his bolt-action pipe rifle and hit Goddard twice doing two damage to his armor.

The Deathclaw charged Aspirant Goddard and tried to claw at the armor. Fortunately, his Power Armor prevented any damage.

Round Five – Things were looking pretty tenuous for the Survivors who hadn’t killed anything so far and Ram seemed to be outsmarting them as the storm was getting closer and closer…

Jeff went first and picked up a much needed quick action from VATs. The free shot on the hound missed though. The second shot did not hit the mark either but did set the hound on fire which could cause damage over time. The third shot disappointingly missed but Jeff elected to use a luck point to turn it into a success and do two damage to the determined hound.

The fire did one damage to the Hound and continued to burn but that did not stop it from charging Jeff again. The hound not only bit into Jeff’s leg causing two wounds (and burning another of his luck tokens in the process) but also injured his leg which would cause him to move slower the rest of the game. This was a turning point in the game and all but guaranteed that Jeff couldn’t get closer to the cave entrance than Ram.

Despite being in the thick of things, Goddard was holding up surprisingly well all things considered. He was was able to retreat from the Deathclaw without taking any damage which continued his good luck. He took a shot with his revolver at the unengaged Super Mutant Hound to try and weaken the overwhelming forces against him but it unfortunately missed.

The Enslaved Tech moved the Deathclaw towards Goddard once again.

Bob activated next and sent the Deathclaw right in front of the Super Mutant and Hound. He took a shot at the hound and to everyone’s surprised, he not only hit it but caused three damage as well! His second attack unfortunately missed so the hound survived.

Ram moved slightly back and decided to take a couple of potshots at the Deathclaw for fun. His enjoyment was short lived as each one missed.

Daria advanced towards the shipping container to try and take out the Enslaved Tech who had been controlling the Deathclaw pretty effectively thus far.

The unengaged hound charged Goddard and tried to rip into his power armor but the metal was too strong for its teeth.

The Super Mutant bravely or stupidly charged past the Deathclaw to make contact with Goddard and surprisingly whiffed with his sledgehammer.

The Deathclaw turned and saw that the hound was closest so it charged the mutated canine in the back. With a mighty swipe, the hound was fatally flung into the air and out of the way of the Deathclaw.

Round Six – Bob went first and pushed the Deathclaw back away from the combat with Goddard to make the creature more likely to attack something Super Mutant at the end of the turn. He then moved forward to get a shot at Ram. The bullet hit but Ram used his remaining Luck tokens to prevent any damage. This was pretty much the Survivors’ only way left to damage the Super Mutant leader and the game really was slipping away now.

The remaining Super Mutant Hound activated next and took another damage from the fire. It attacked Jeff twice but the combination of his armor and final luck token prevented any damage.

Jeff activated next and picked up a much needed free action. His first attack unfortunately missed. As did his second one. The third shot finally killed the Hound but it was much too late.

The Enslaved Tech pushed the Deathclaw towards Jeff as Ram’s side continued to play with his prey.

Daria advanced on the Enslaved Tech and fired a shot at him. She hit and nearly killed the Tech if not for a lucky armor save preventing one damage. While the Tech would survive this battle, it was hard to say if he was lucky because he would continue to be enslaved under Ram’s cruel thumb.

The Aviator tried to pick off Bob with a couple of shots but both missed.

Goddard decided to take some of his frustration out on the Super Mutant nearby causing a single point of damage.

The Super Mutant launched a grenade at Jeff and while it hit, his armor saved all of the damage.

Ram strolled over to the entrance of the cave when the storm finally broke. The last thing he saw was the Deathclaw charging Jeff and swiping at him furiously. Ram’s boys would mop up any Survivors brave enough to stand their ground and then have plenty of good eating and shelter until the storm blew over. Jeff, on the other hand, would be lucky to escape and anybody left alive would be unlikely to follow his leadership any longer.

Post Game Thoughts – A dark and tragic turn for these Survivors but one that I struggled to prevent. While the Survivors looked like they were in firm control for a good portion of the game, once Ram retreated, the game took a turn towards the Super Mutant side and they never let go from there. This game was quite a chess match with the Deathclaw causing trepidation for both sides. Unfortunately, the Survivors preference to shoot made it hard for them in this scenario. Even if Jeff had not gotten injured, he was clearly outmaneuvered by Ram and it was clear for the last two rounds that the Super Mutants would win if Ram survived. In that sense, this game fizzled out a bit towards the end but it was still fun to play. I would be remiss not to mention the amount of bad shooting and melee combat whiffs as well. You would think there were a bunch of Imperial stormtroopers out there with how bad the accuracy was at times. Indeed, not many units even died in this battle which was odd to see, especially in the later stages of the game.

There are undoubtedly things I could have done better in the game too. The Deathclaw caused minimal damage and I think both sides really tried hard to avoid the fierce creature. You can’t realistically kill it and the other side, so all you can do is try to contain it and minimize the damage it causes. Somehow, the Super Mutants seem to get the best of Deathclaw as it mostly hindered the Survivors in the early game even if it didn’t cause too much damage. The Survivors didn’t get almost anything out of Dogmeat and in hindsight, I should have used him to get the Enslaved Tech in the early rounds and make it so the Survivors could control the Deathclaw more easily.

If there was a man or creature of the match, I would say the Super Mutant Hound that injured Jeff’s leg would probably be most deserving. Not only did it slow Jeff down and cause some damage but the leg injury was the coup de grace as it turned out. Ram did a great job of taking damage and leading his troops forward but also knowing when it was time to back off and go grab the win as well. The Super Mutant seems a little too cunning for his own good, if you ask me!

In terms of the rules, I’m sure I made mistakes but I still had plenty of fun and I like the new heroic rules quite a bit. Five games in and I really enjoy this game still and will keep playing it for the foreseeable future. It is a great blend of strategy and theme for me anyway even if there are things about the rules that could be streamlined and/or improved.

To sound like a broken record, I threw down all of the Fallout terrain I own practically for this game, except for the two train tracks and shotgun house because I didn’t feel that they matched the scenario well and I really need to get more terrain done for Fallout. I would have liked to have had a cave entrance made but ultimately, I decided that it wasn’t worth the time as I didn’t think it would be that useful in the future. I also wanted to finish this campaign so that I can play whatever scenarios I want going forward. I have a lot of painted minis done and I want to use them! I also felt in this scenario, more than any, the Survivors had weird loadouts that didn’t make sense. Goddard could take tons of damage but couldn’t dish any out. Jeff couldn’t fire his best weapon all that effectively which made him perform below what I expected and so on. Perhaps, I will give the AI a try soon as I know a few of you are interested to hear how it performs. With this campaign concluded, it will be a surprise to everyone, including myself, to see where I go from here!