"They're the world's most fearsome fighting team..."

After a busy January, I've had a quieter February on the painting front, however, I have managed to get a couple of new models done for my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project done, so that seemed like a decent excuse for a game of 7TV.

The game was played at just 25 ratings, and we used the Battle scenario. The basic outline of the plot is that the Turtles are attacking Baxter Stockman's secret lab, which is guarded by the Purple Dragon gang.

The heroic cast featured the four Turtles (from left to right: Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Donatello) and new addition, April O'Neil. She a Pulp City miniature called June Summers which I was kindly given by Pulp Citizen of the Ecclectic Gentleman Gamer blog (which you should read). I'll talk more about her on my next post.

In terms of the crew, all April really adds is the ability to activate both her and a Turtle at the same time with her Leader ability. However, she is also a bit of a liability, as her Most Wanted trait makes her worth a VP if taken out, despite being an Extra.

The villainous cast was led by the mad scientist Baxter Stockman, in his mutated-fly form. This model was made from one of the Crooked Dice Failed Experiments (which conveniently come with a fly head and claw arm amongst the options) with some wings taken from a Heroclix Queen Bee I picked up for 50p in York. I'm really pleased with this conversion as it really only needed a tiny bit of rough sculpting on his back to achieve. There are some clearer pictures later in the report.

With Baxter were two Scientists (who were there to provide gadget cards) and the Purple Dragon gang (a Minion Squad) featuring a commander, a thug with a flamethrower and five gang members, two with rifles, two with pistols and one with an SMG (well, a shotgun, but it sort of makes sense).

The table was set up with my usual 3'x3' crossroads layout. Baxter and the Dragons were defending the factory and warehouse on the left, whilst the Turtles would attack from the right.

The Purple Dragons take to the streets.

Scientists cower behind the sniper on the roof.

Stockman-Fly buzzes quietly to himself.

Leo and Donnie sneak through the builder's yard.

April follows Mikey up the road to the lab.

Raph immediately grabs a rooftop objective.

Climbing suckers allow Raph to grab a second objective.

Leo and Donnie pick up a third as the cross the street.

And Mikey grabs the third, but leaves himself exposed.

The Purple Dragons fire everything they have at Mikey...

...but he loses only a single wound (by burning through 9 Plot Points).

Stockman-Fly wounds Raph with his acid spit.

As a consolation, the Purple Dragons secure the final objective.

Mikey breaks out his skateboard....

...charges the flamethrower Dragon, takes him out, and...

...nips round the corner to meet up with the guys.

Isolated, Raph heads for cover.

April makes a dash for it and trips...

The Dragons attack...and miss everything!

Dodge editing sees April safe.

Mikey does a 'skate-by' on the Purple Dragons.

Injured; Raph tries to hide from Baxter.

The Turtles continue to clean house. Only a few to go now.

April stays safe in the warehouse.

Sleep spray followed by Acid Spit takes the fight out of Raph.

However, things look bad for the villains.

Also, Baxter is weakened by his exertions.

The last Dragon in the street falls, threatening to axe the villain cast.

Mikey rushes the factory, just to be sure.

With the game up, Baxter drops a gas grenade to cover his escape.

When the victory points were counted, it was 9-5 to the heroes...a scoreline that flattered the villains. Despite losing Raphael, and a single objective, the only points the villains scored were from the nerve-gas gadget Baxter used just before his cast was axed, leaving Leo and Donnie with statuses.

The Turtles proved just too tough for the Purple Dragons to reliably hurt, and Michelangelo's resilience on the first turn was just amazing. The failure of the shooting meant that the game was up fairly early one, as Minions are no match for the Turtles up close and personal.

Baxter Stockman was also in the wrong place, as even though he took out Raphael single handed, he would probably have been more use supporting the Purple Dragons with the other three. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

This was my first proper TMNT game, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The bad guys are currently struggling from a lack of stars and co-stars, however that's due to change soon, as somebody big, mean and spiky is on the way...