Mercs: Game 2 versus the Kem Var

Greetings once again InterWebs!!!! Over the long Holiday weekend I managed to sneak a game of Mercs in against the infamous Mordian 7th and his ever so sneaky Kem Var. We decided to go with one of the basic missions from the rulebook in which my invading CCC team had to sneak into a Kem Var storage facility to destroy 3 crates (which were full of Kem Var worm larva.....don't ask what they do with the worms!). The scenario calls for specific team members on each side which I did not have a problem with although I am sure the Kem Var would have liked to have brought their 'heavy' weapon trooper.

The initial game setup:

You will notice that there are a fair number of crates out there....which could hold the Kem Var 'Worm Larva'? Mordian 7th and I decided to have the largest crates (also marked by a smaller crate on top) be the 3 crates which must be destroyed/protected in the mission.

Turn 1: The action starts off fairly quietly as the teams move into position

Kem Var assault leader and another trying a flanking sweep.

CCC Demo man (who likes to be alone, he actually works better if he is more than a card length from anyone) moves to intercept.

The Kem Var Monkeywrench (their repair guy, able to fix broken armor) tries to be sneaky:

The Kem Var Sniper takes position on another flank close to one of the objective crates (just off screen).

The CCC team move in response (I rolled poorly on initiatives).

At this point we were 1 turn into the game and I could already tell the action/bullets were going to start next turn. The Kem Var were trying a 3 pronged assault on the CCC in the hopes of busting through them and getting at the CCC Incinerator. If the Kem Var could knock her out of the game they win; the CCC need to destroy the 3 crates of 'Worm Larva' to win.

Turn 2: The bullets (and grenades) start to fly

I rolled much better on my initiatives this turn and here you can see my CCC assault leader moving into position to deal with the single Kem Var sneaking through the interior of the chemical plant.

The Kem Var Sniper and Assassin discuss the strange noises they hear off in the distance. I really like this shot of the two Kem Var mercs waiting behind a barricade trying to pick out the enemy coming at them with the Sun at their backs. What you can not see is the CCC Heavy anchoring is armor in preparation to unleash a 'Wall of Lead'.

CCC and Kem Var jockey for positions and cover on the other flank. I think the Kem Var should have charged forward more on this flank and pressed the advantage. If they could have killed the CCC Demo man quickly things would have gone a little different on this side of the chemical plant. However, alas the CCC Demo man had time to throw a couple of frag grenades (in turn 2 and 3) which really put the hurt on the 2 Kem Var even breaking one of their suits of armor.

Turn 3: The blood starts to drop

The Kem Var Assassin slowly makes his way forward using as much cover as possible. Just ahead of him you can see one of the large crates with a small crate on top which marks one of the 'Worm Larva' objective crates and in the far distance you can see the CCC Heavy set in position to unleash hell.

The 'Wall of Lead' held one side of the table for me the whole game against the Kem Var Assassin and Sniper (allowing the rest of the CCC team to single out and overwhelm the other Kem Var). This side of the table was a lot of fun with the Kem Var having to pass 'Supression' tests to advance against the 'Wall of Lead' that was being thrown at them. I love what the company has in their info about his gun: "In his steady arms he wields a 5.56x45mm single man-operated suppression weapon nicknamed 'The Jackhammer.'"

On the other side of the chemical plant the action is a little more personal after the second grenade goes off from the CCC Demo man. Here you can see the final moments of the action on this side. The Kem Var leader finally jumps out of cover, gains a bit of elevation (critical in this game) and delivers the coup de grace on the CCC Demo (who really caused some hurt on the Kem Var with his grenades) just as the CCC medic rushes up to apply a medpack.

After arriving too late to save his buddy the CCC medic calmly guns down the Kem Var Assault Leader. Revenge!

Turn 4: The last hope of the Kem Var

The suppression of the Kem Var by the CCC Heavy continues although the Kem Var Assassin is slowly making his way closer towards the very vulnerable CCC Heavy. Only time will tell if the Assassin can summon enough courage to overcome the 'Wall of Lead' and make the charge to engage the Heavy in melee.

After stunning the Kem Var Monkeywrench last turn with an EMP grenade the CCC Assault leader moves forward for the kill before the Monkeywrench can fix his broken armor. I can hear the CCC Assault Leader yelling "I can see you now" before he unloads on the now visible and very vulnerable Monkeywrench. It did not end well for the Kem Var Monkeywrench as both shots from the Assault Leader's weapon hit and punched through the broken armor.

With the Chemical Plant interior cleansed of Kem Var defenders the CCC Incinerator moves into position to start to burn the crates down.

The End:

Having only 2 team members left alive (1 with broken armor) left to stop the 4 fully healthy CCC Mercs the Kem Var decided to cut their losses and the 2 survivors made a dash for it. This left the CCC in charge of the field and they burned down the last 2 crates without difficulty.


Final Thoughts:

This was a fun game for sure although it took a little longer than it should have, we are still very much learning the rules as we go along. We also tried to incorporate all the Advanced rules as well (bounding, suppression, overwatch) which did slow us down a bit because we still had to look some stuff up. I am really enjoying the game of Mercs, it reminds me of early editions of Warhammer 40k (2nd edition) with all of the various modifiers to shooting based on cover, height, LOS, etc. The summer convention season is approaching and I am hoping to get some games of Mercs in during the 2 large conventions I attend (GenCon and Origins).

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Take care! I will leave you all with this:

The next Mercs team!