The Beat Down Downtown

The stage was set. Two teams were ready to go head to head but only one would emerge victorious!

Here's the table in all it's glory! We actually ended up not using the citizens as we just wanted to play Smackdown and relearn the rules as it's been nearly a year since we played last. We're still using the starters but we added two level 1 supremes to either side to bring the total level up to 8. 

For the Heroes we had Ace, Tekkna, Wildman, Supreme Grimm and Grimmrock, while the Villains were Nuke, Anansi, Aurelius, Grimmancer and Stanley (Gentleman). 

I won the terrain advantage and Stanley took the rooftop position atop the Harmonic to provide overwatch for the rest of the villains. Nuke, Aurelius and Grimmancer clustered together in the street to benefit from Grimms support power while Anansi deployed downwind behind the dumpsters hoping to use her webslinger power to get a quick hit in turn one before swinging away to safety. 

Round 1 was mostly dedicated to the Supremes getting in to position for Round 2 and loading up with Power Up Dice. However with Stanley's Sniper Rifle I thought I might just be able to take a shot at Tekkna and mete-out some early damage to a weaker target. However I hadn't accounted for Wildman. 

Stanley ran forward, perching himself on the edge of the Harmonic's roof, rifle resting on the low brick wall, lining up the shot when the beastly Wildman bounded up onto the awning and let loose a fearsome howl. Not expecting the attack Stanley recoiled in fear and tumbled onto the fire escape below, taking a nasty bump and putting him totally out of position for the rest of the round. 

With Gentleman down and unable to provide cover fire, at the start of Round 2 Nuke threw caution to the wind and rushed headlong into enemy controlled territory. 

Tekkna raised the shields and hid behind Grimmrock for protection before Nuke unleashed the apocalypse, hitting every Hero except for Supreme Grimm who had taken shelter behind the Harmonic, just out of range. However Nuke's recklessness was not without a cost, he blasted Anansi too and now he was stuck out in the open with no AP or movement left. 

Wildman took advantage, leaping down from the awning with a rending slash that left Nuke heavily wounded and an easy target for Ace of Wraith's Queen of Blood. 

With Tekkna's shields severely hampering the Villain's attack Stanley attempted to redeem himself by taking pot shots at the beast with his Sniper Rifle. 

Only to expose himself to Supreme Grimm's overrun attack!

By the end of Round 2 Nuke and Grimmrock were both off the table and the villains were definitely on the back foot. Round 3 began with most of the Villains clustering around Aurelius to take advantage of his tank power, so to avoid being easy pickings for another overrun attack Stanley pulled back, cocking his Sniper Rifle in the crook of his arm and shooting Supreme Grimm square between the eyes. 

With the heroes down to three supremes it looked like the game might tip back in my favour but with my tank surrounded I knew I couldn't hope to last long. Fortunately Anansi was on hand to help. Unleashing a Web Barrage she was able to push Ace back up the street and pull Wildman into the middle of the barricades, while dealing out some damage and rearranging her teammates too.  

Ace took his shots, scoring extra targets far too many times and peppering the backs of the Villains with his spectral bullets. Then it was Aurelius' turn to shine, he stepped up turning his fists to molten gold and planted Wildman right in the jaw. The beast was done for, fatigued and out of position he was a sitting duck for Gentleman who took a snap shot bringing Wildman down to just one health remaining. 

Round 4 began and Aurelius was done for, two hit points remaining he had to take a chance, if he didn't clobber Ace now the old timer would turn spectral and all hope would be lost. He powered up but it wasn't enough. Ace withdrew and used Queen of Blood, finishing Aurelius and Anansi from behind like the coward he is. 

With his final action Ace turned Spectral and denied Gentleman the finishing shot. So there was no hope of a win, the best I could hope for at this point was a marginal loss. Torn between using Sniper Rifle and Snap Shot to put the last point of damage on Wildman, I decided to make sure. Stanley hopped over the barricade and took the shot at point blank range.

And missed...

Enraged Wildman turned and pounced. He tore Stanley to shreds, healing a life in the process, ensuring that Wildman could not be killed this round. Stan dropped a flash grenade, surviving the vicious assault, retreating behind the barricade. There he took his final shot, knowing he couldn't place enough damage on Wildman to kill him. Seconds later Wildman pounced once more and this time it really was the final curtain. 

A decisive victory for the heroes. 

I made some glaring errors but overall a fun game on a beautiful table!

Hope you liked this write up and I hope to get Pulp City back to table, hopefully sooner rather than later.

The Duke