Tag: Galaxy Defenders

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Galaxy Defenders – Mission 2: New Hopes

A radio cry for help comes from the nearby Area 51 scientific research base. The aliens are attacking the scientists there! The agents hurry to rescue them, if possible…

Agent Mercury charges forth and slices a gashing wound into the xeno lurking behind the sand dune.

It quickly backs away to bring it’s blaster to bear…

but not before Titanium cuts it down with his SAW.

Just as the machine gun fire subsides, a woman wearing a blood stained lab coat bursts out of the closest door, quickly followed by a 8 foot tall spider-alien! It’s claws tear into the woman’s flesh, and a moment later, her screams abruptly die.

Meanwhile, the dying cries of another scientist from around the corner presage the arrive of another spine critter.

Mercury rushes forward to try to pull the aliens’ attentions away from the civilian scientists, her blade slashing deeply into the xeno – but not quite enough to kill it.

The other Arachnos attacks with its pincers, but she manages to parry and dodge the most damaging ones.

However, the grievously wounded Arachnos is able to grasp onto her and drag her back inside the building.

Titanium comes up to support her – but one spine critter leaps through a window and lunges forward with its jaw, repelled only by his thick armor. The other one charges forward from around the building, blood from the scientist still dripping from its maw.

Mercury’s blade dispatches the Arachnos, setting herself free to move to engage the other Arachnos.

But the scent of blood from her ragged wounds also draws the spine critter’s jaws towards her. Thankfully, ber training at such close combat melee allows her to defend against the vicious teeth.

This gives the medic an opportunity to move up and deploy the GD-209 drone – its autocannons quickly dispatching the spine critter.

Just then the radio squawks an encouraging message from HQ “we found the malfunction is caused by an alien jamming mechanism – proceed with visual confirmation of the scientists ASAP!” And so Agent Titanium moves up to the office building, but it turns out the detected signal just inside the door is an alien, and not a scientist! The SAW at short range makes quick work of the Xeno however.

But the xeno is accompanied by another Arachnos, and yet another leaps through the back window into the room where Mercury is, surprising her as its claws tear into her. She drops, fighting to remain consciousness in the hopes of rescuing the scientist she spies cowering in the corner of the room!

The medic quickly moves up and pumps Mercury full of stimulating medicines – this jolts her up and with the extra vigor, delivers a debilitating blow in retaliation against the Arachnos.

Mercury rescues the thankful scientist and moves to the back door…

…where the signals turn out to be a another xeno chasing a scientist! And next door, a spine critter scrambles to join the melee against Titatnium.

Mercury’s sudden appearance and attack causes the ranged-combat Xeno to back away! The medic risks himself to rush up to rescue the scientist, even as it puts him directly into the line of fire of the Xeno.

Meanwhile the scientist just next door attempts to stay out of the way of the flying spines and razor sharp claws of the raging melee between Titanium, the Arachnos and the spine critter!

More aliens show up – fresh human blood covering their maws.

[I just received the first expansion box set which came with painted minis – yay! (I don’t paint…)]

It is not looking good for the agents – a Xeno Beta has just entered into the room with Titanium. (And I just drew the card that activates all the baddies!) The agents are close to death and the scientist is bleeding out. Does Titanium go for a hail Mary to try to rescue the bleeding scientist? Or try to live to fight another day, leaving the scientist to the aliens?

Titanium attempts the rescue – and the gambit fails. The scientist dies, impaled by a hail of spines. He gasps out with his dying breathe, “there… is… another…”

A moment later, that last scientist bursts out of the door of the main research complex, a pair of Arachnos chasing her and discharging a sticky web that suddenly traps her. Mercury can just reach her by leaping through the window, but can only attempt a rescue after dealing with spine critter waiting just outside the door…

And Mercury deftly dispatches the demon dog, rescuing the last scientist!

No other scientists left to rescue, the agents themselves need to get out alive! No easy task as the medic still has the Xeno Beta targeting him as well at the Arachnos that is clawing at him, and Titanium still faces off against three aliens.

As Mercury moves back to support the medic, the pair of Arachnos rapidly advance on them. A flurry of vicious attacks leaves the medic and Titanium teetering on the edge with one hit point left…

At the end, Titanium was able to escape, but the medic fell to the barrage of blaster fire from the Xeno, sacrificing himself to save Mercury one last time.

Well, I managed to meet the victory condition of rescuing three scientists and have at least half of the agents survive… That was very close!

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Galaxy Defenders – Mission 1: Close Encounters

Since I’d been having so much fun with Shadows of Brimstone, I went looking for other campaign co-op board games to try out. I read a lot of good things about Galaxy Defenders (plus, it was a sci-fi themed!) so I picked up a copy a few months ago. With the stay-at-home recommendations, I finally got a chance to bust it out and try it out last week.

I had a very good time playing it – it felt like a board game of X-com’s tactical battles.

Here’s a narration I sent my friends as I was playing solo as three agents, code-named Chromium the spec-ops solider, Thorium the medic, and heavy-weapons expert Titanium:

The agents are sent in the desert to investigate sightings of strange creatures. Once there, the agents are dazzled by strange unnatural lights that gradually change shape into alien figures previously only seen in Sci-fi movies…

“Alpha Agent to HQ, we have a problem! – Over”

“We are receiving the images, Alpha Agent. The Xenos are using teleporting devices… destroy them at all costs! We are sending you reinforcements.”

“AGENTS, your mission is to destroy the teleport points and come back alive! Over and out.”

Agent Chromium leads the effort, charging forth and blasting apart a Spine Critter with his GD4A1 battle rifle! But the intense full auto that plastered the bug has jammed his rifle!

The rifle shots also attracted the attention of the other spine critter which rushes forward before Chromium can clear the rifle. The marine resorts to his Eagle 1 sidearm and blasts it away before the acid dripping jaws can snap down on him (crit with the pistol!)

But the agents realize it is too early yet for celebration as a flash of an unnatural light to their far right begins to coalesce into the shape of another alien – they are teleporting in somehow! (Game uses a blip system until line of sight is established.)

Relaying this information to HQ, the order comes in for the destruction of the strange devices to stop the invasion – so Agent Titanium rushes forward and tosses incendiaries on the closest one…

The medic moves up to support, but a shotgun blast as the newly arrived Spine Critter only results in spurting acid blood as the critter charges forward.

And then MORE alien reinforcements show up in the distance!

Turns out the critters are just pets for the humanoid Xenos that unleash a hail of blaster fire, almost killing Chromium outright.

Then the critters attack – surprising the agents as the needle-sharp spines in their back launch out in a cloud, piercing through the agents’ armor.

Whew! I was reminded the medic had a medkit, which helps patch up the punctured and bleeding marine.

Agent Titanium then opens up with his squad assault weapon tearing apart two of the Xenos and severely wounding the third!

Titanium’s SAW continues to roar as it brings down the last of the xeno trio before he drops another incendiary on the second teleportation device.

Chromium used the rally to finally kill the spine critter with his own rifle, but its acid blood splashed onto the nearby agents, burning through armor to soft flesh underneath!

As the wounded agents try to keep the remaining spine critter’s jaws at bay, another xeno teleports in. It’s blaster tears large wounds into the medic, but at least Titanium is able to finish off the critter – with more acid splatter (fortunately, the medics back armor was intact and absorbed the brunt of it!)

Another xeno teleports in, forcing the medic to seek cover behind an outcropping of rocks.

So the two xenos focus their fire on Chromium instead… The last of their blaster shots rips through the battered armor and explodes out the front of his chest.

Even as their leader falls, the mission must go on! Titanium moves to provide cover for the medic to plant the incendiary on the third of the four teleport devices, but then HQ radios that the alien squad leader just appeared! (Not looking good…)

With few options available, Titanium charges forward to buy the medic time, and dumps the rest of his ammo on the trio of Xenos, but completely misses!! (Doh! Not one hit on his alpha strike!)

Titanium’s pristine armor fortunately absorbs the majority of the return fire, as they trio reposition to cover the remaining teleport devices – and give them better use of their ranged blasters.

Still, with the world at stake, the medic rushes forward from behind cover and plants the third incendiary…

And Titanium continues to charge onward towards his goal as yet another xeno teleports in. Dropping the now ammo-less SAW, he slices a vicious wound into the newly materialized and surprised xeno with his curved blade, and tossing another incendiary into the last teleport device with his offhand.

The wounded and startled Xeno retreats back to his leader while only giving ineffectual blaster shots at Titanium.

The medic’s shotgun roar at the aliens, puncturing small holes in their armor before retreating back for cover.

As the last teleporter is engulfed within the flames, the two remaining agents quickly retreat to reassess this alien threat…

Yay! Victory conditions met.

The game plays pretty quickly, and certainly had some tense moments. There’s a way to increase or decrease difficulty with a handful of options. I choose to play on the very hard level, which includes things like being unable to easily flee melee combat, line of sight includes facing, permanent death, and maximum number of defense dice being able to be rolled. All-in-all, quite enjoyable, and I’m looking forward to continuing play with Mission 2.