Fallout From Christmas

No, this post isn't about arguing with relatives. It's about me revisiting Fallout Wasteland Warfare and busying myself with a few games (well, a campaign) to re-familiarise myself with the game and especially the solo rules.

In order to do this, I revisited the tutorial campaign from the boxed set as it slowly introduced rules and limits the amount of variables involved.

Each scenario has fixed forces and pre-selected equipment (some of which are odd choices) and from game to game the only impact of who won or lost would be narrative.

I'm not going to get too detail as this will already be a fairly chunky post. Also, there are lots of tokens in the pictures, this is because in the solo game you really need the to keep track of what is happening and I didn't want to faff about moving them all the time.

1. Troubled Beginnings 

Having woken up in Vault 111, Nora heads out into the wasteland. Joining a group of Settlers, they come across a group of Super Mutants checking their traps with a dog caught in one of their snares.

Nora decides to act...

Hearing the Settlers approaching, the Super Mutants leave their traps and come charging through the ruins to attack.

Nora takes the opportunity to rush to the aid of the captured dog.

However she is spotted and attacked by a huge Brute armed with a sledgehammer.

She twists away from the hulking creature and runs to free the dog whilst the Settlers lay down a hail of fire that drops on of the Super Mutants.

The dog bares its teeth and leaps snarling for the Super Mutant Brute.

The Settlers gun down the second Super Mutant heading their way and move up to help Nora. However, the dog is knocking flying by the Brute and lies whimpering in a heap.

In a rage, Nora empties her clip into the Brute, ending its miserable life.

The dog survived and joined Nora, who names it Dogmeat. The Settlers lead the lair to their encampment, staying wary now the knew that there were Super Mutants in the area.

2. Fort Davis

Nora decides to stay with the Settlers for a while and joins an expedition to the ruins of Fort Davis to search for a rumoured weapons cache.

However, upon arrival, the group sees the lumbering forms of Super Mutants moving amongst the wreckage.

Nora and Dogmeat try to get closer, but the creatures are alerted and rush to attack Dogmeat.

Meanwhile, Settlers root around amongst the ruins. They turn up a few weapons, but nothing worth dying for. 

Outnumbered and with bullets whipping through the air around him, Dogmeat takes fright and flees.

As the Super Mutants burst towards Nora, she fires off a few parting shots before retreating with the Settlers and their meagre haul.

3. Water Treatment Plant

The few weapons retrieved from Fort Davis had helped a little with providing security in the camp, but there were other concerns, such as a water shortage.

An expedition, included a Free Tech, was launched to head to an old water treatment plant to see in the mechanisms could be repurposed to pump water to the camp.

However, almost as soon as the work had been started, a group of Super Mutants and their pet Hound attacked. Almost as if they had been waiting for the Settlers to be distracted.

Nora, Dogmeat and one of the Settlers tried to hold off the attack, to give the Free Tech time to complete his work.

However, their line was broken and a Hugh Brute charged the Free Tech.

Meanwhile, one of the Settlers had located the ancient generator controls, and managed to get it working.

Managing to slip away from his attacker, the Free Tech made the final alterations that would ensure that the encampment would be provided with enough water to not only survive, but flourish.

With the job finished, and embattled Nora broke free and retreated with the rest of the Settlers.

4. The Lost Journal

Returning to camp, the group learn that an injured member of the Brotherhood of Steel, Aspirant Goddard, had been taken in after searching for information on a compound that would reverse the effects of the F.E.V. and destroy the Super Mutants.

Realising that this could ensure the settlement:s safety, Nora dons the man's power armour and leads a party to the junkyard to locate the safe containing the lost journal.

The only problem: the junkyard is Super Mutant territory.

Realising they needed to move quickly before more Super Mutants arrived, the party split up to search for the safe and its keys.

Nora, clomping along in her T-60 Power Armour, located one set of keys and also sought to draw the attention of the Super Mutants.

However, the creatures seemed to know what the intruders were after (perhaps because the last person to wear that armour had been after the same thing) and when one of the Settlers located the safe hidden in a Phoenix Fizz machine, all she could do was shout its location to Nora before she was cut down in an ambush.

Meanwhile, the search for the keys continued to no avail. Nora was growing frustrated, but another issue also buzzed round her head.

Where was Dogmeat? Was he glitching and stuck on a rock again?

As Nora prepared to try to burst through the gathered Super Mutants, she suddenly heard a barking.

Dogmeat ran up with a set of keys in his mouth, dropped them in front of Nora and then leapt at one of the Super Mutants.

This gave Nora the space she needed and she shouldered her way through to the safe, retrieving the journal just as more Super Mutants appeared at the edge of the junkyard and thunder could be heard in the distance.

There was a storm coming. It was time to get under cover.

5. The Coming Storm

The journal was revealed to be worthless, but Aspirant Goddard was grateful for the help and offered his assistance to the Settlers.

A huge rad-storm was on the horizon and the group had decided to move their encampment to some nearby caves to wait it out.

Nora, Goddard and a few others would go on ahead to clear the caves of any threats before the rest of the caravan arrived.

The Settlers made directly for the caves, staying together. The storm had begun and there were fell noises on the air.

A group of Super Mutants had clearly had the same idea and were making for the very same caves. However, upon seeing the Settlers, several of the creatures snarled in fury and made directly for them.

However, the attack was interrupted by a ravenous Deathclaw leaping to attack the Mutant Hounds.

Super Mutants don't run from a fight, even against such a fearsome beast, the pack master and his hounds sought to bring down the Deathclaw.

Meanwhile, the Settlers took advantage of this distraction to make directly for the caves, exchanging sporadic fire with those Super Mutants that had managed to get ahead of them.

One Super Mutant leapt in amongst them, striking down Dogmeat but taking heavy damage from an enraged Aspirant Goddard.

Meanwhile, the pack master and Hounds struggled to subdued the Deathclaw, which equally was making heavy weather of them.

One of the Super Mutants, seeing its compatriot surrounded, a Deathclaw on the loose and a storm about to hit in full force, assessed the situation, decided to leave everyone else to their fate and ran into the caves.

The Super Mutant that had slain Dogmeat was brought down and Nora and another Settler headed into the caves to deal with the one that had gone inside.

Meanwhile, the Deathclaw finally got the upper hand (with a little help from a lightning strike), ripping aport the two Hounds and hurling the pack master into a heap.

The Super Mutant lay there groaning as the terrifying beast closed in on him.

Aspirant Goddard faced the last member of the Super Mutant gang, an Enslaved Tech. He offered the man a chance to join the Settlers, or even come to work for the Brotherhood.

With his captors dead, the man eagerly agreed and he was welcomed into the group. The rest of the settlement arrived just in time to avoid the storm which Nora watched from the cave mouth, musing on the death of Dogmeat.

Fortunately she knew that, once the storm had passed, she could head up into the hills near Vault 111 and find another dog without any problems. She had no idea why this was the way the world worked now, it just did.

***

All in all I've really enjoyed playing through the campaign and I'm going to play some more linked games of Fallout Wasteland Warfare, either another pre-written campaign or having a go at Settlement Mode. I'm not sure which.

There were a couple of issues which probably stem from the tutorial games not specifically being written with solo play in mind. Sometimes the objectives in the scenarios were unclear and quite hard for A.I. controlled Super Mutants to achieve. Also, some of the weapon loadouts made no sense for the Super Mutants (e.g. the Brute never makes ranged attacked under A.I. control, but was given a plasma rifle in the last scenario). These are issues I need to consider if I start designing my own forces.

***

Other than playing a LOT of Fallout Wasteland Warfare over the past few days, I also, predictably was given a few wargaming bits and pieces for Christmas.

Not too much, but enough to keep me happy;

• A Mumakil for MESBG (including 13 Haradrim);
• 5 Foreign Delegates for my Carnevale Patricians;
• 2 Lesser Ugdru for my Carnevale Rashaar!
• A book of fantasy backgrounds by John Hodgson;
• A wet palette (finally).

I still have a massive Lead Mountain to work through, so not adding too much to it is healthy. I am very keen to get my teeth into the Mumakil, mainly because the post title writes itself.

I think there might be another post before the weekend, but I've also got my review of the year to come.

Acquired: -37

Painted: 396

Lead Mountain: 641