Five Parsecs From Home 2nd Edition: Testing the combat rules

Five Parsecs From Home 2nd Edition is a rule set by Nordic Weasel Games aimed primarily at the solo player, although it can be played same-side or even against an opponent. It contains a rich and detailed campaign system that is reminiscent of Mutant and Death Ray Guns but takes it even further with a whole bunch of randomized tables for loot, enemies, etc. The book says it was inspired by the likes of Firefly and Trigun but in reading the rules it definitely makes me think of Necromunda, which I've never played...A shame! I know there's a new version but an $8.00 PDF will do me just fine as opposed to plunking down $100 for a game...well, maybe when I was younger I would! End wild tangent!

 Basically, you start a crew of five or six scoundrels and ruffians who battle it out over harsh deserts, rundown cities, snowy plains, or whatever you have the terrain for; it really doesn't matter where you choose to have the fight as the rules are pretty flexible as far as terrain features. You can even hitch a ride via spaceship to another planet! You roll randomly for things like equipment, your characters background, which might even grant bonus stats and rolls on the equipment table. You can also start with enemies that might just track you down...or you can track them down!

 Combat is pretty basic and I will be testing it here before I delve into a full-blown campaign. This is not a review! As I have not played the game with all elements I can't say if I like it or not. Nothing worse than some guy reviewing something then you come to the end and it states "although I haven't played the game..." Makes me pull my smeggin' hair out! Anyways, here goes the combat rules!

First step: Setting up the terrain. You get to set up terrain anyway you like. I took the advice of T Town Hobby, a fellow blogger and, as far as I know, the only person who has a blog with posts about Five Parsecs From Home 2nd Edition. He recommended setting up terrain conducive to a good story and just whatever looks fun. Here's what I came up with...

Love them catwalks!

Second Step: Deployment. T Town had a pretty cool trick. Lay out six tokens for the enemy in logical places 12 inches apart from the hero spawn points. Take four token and use those for possible hero spawn points. Then just roll for each enemy and hero, placing them in the appropriate numbered area. This is how it looked at the start.

Another angle.

Third Step: Death and destruction! Now the fight begins...I'll caption the photos to let you know what's going on.

Figures on the table.

There are three phases of movement Quick Actions, Normal Actions, and Slow Actions. First you roll a dice for each of your figures. Then you put away any dice higher than their Reactions number. They all start out at 1 but can go up on character creation. Say you roll 5 dice and score 1, 1, 4, 5, and 5. You keep the ones and can assign the Quick Actions to a single figure for each 1 you rolled. The rest have to wait for the Slow Actions phase.

Note: You can move then shoot but not shoot then move. You can, of course, remain in place, shoot, or just move.

The Normal Action phase belongs to the enemy and the Slow Actions are reserved for the rest of your characters. Usually you can move 4" or dash for an extra 2". Any skills can be raised via training and experience so you're not stuck with 4" of movement. Seems slow when you're used to moving 8"!

Line of sight?

Yep!

To shoot you have to be in range and have a line of sight to your target. I did so fired two rounds from my auto rifle adding my combat score of...+0. To score a hit I needed a 6+ as my target was behind cover. You can also hit on 3+ if the opponent is within 3" and out in the open or 5+ if out in the open, within range, and with no cover. You add your combat score to the result. Of course, I missed this flurry of bullets. Starting characters remind me of the opening scene of Star Wars: A New Hope when both sides are blasting away at each other.

Man down!

Eventually you will get a hit or be hit! If a character hits, you roll 1D6 adding any "Damage" from the weapon list. Anything above a character's toughness and they're dead. Anything below and you place a "Stunned" token beside them. These can only be removed at the end of the next character's activation and stunned means you can only move or shoot, not both, and must target the closest threat while shooting. Stunned tokens are cumulative and can only be removed once per character activation.

Now, moving onto melee or "Brawling." Each character rolls 1D6 adding their combat stat and any additional modifiers. The lower guy gets hit and on a draw, BOTH guys take a hit. If you roll a 6 the opponent takes an extra hit. If you roll 1, well then buddy, you take an extra hit. Double 1's means disaster or a particularly brutal slobberknocker! Hits are resolved as in the shooting section.

All in all I had a fun time. I think it would be a lot more fun if my characters were trained up a bit on the combat front. Most shots missed. Was like a bunch of storm troopers running about the board. Also, I think the board would benefit from being 24" x 24", at least for me. Getting right into the action always keeps me interested and I'm more likely to finish a game.

Here are some notable photos from the game!

This guy actually got stunned three times in one turn!

This was the big boss lady for the enemies. She had an auto rifle and +1 to her combat score. She used it well!

Pot shots through the window of a car owned by the bad dudes!

"Choose your targets carefully..."

Boss lady strikes again!