Hi!
Sorry for my english, this is not my first language.
With my GF, we've borrowed the GoW at friday afternoon, so our weekend was about the war against the Locust.
****** Spoiler alert *****
1. run - Emergence (2p: Dom & Fenix): Won.
That was an easy one, some sort of demo level. Dominic (played by my GF) hunted down everything what he sees, so Fenix should run forward to have a chance for some kill.
We weren't exceting about this level, but this one for training: we've learned all the rules, and game mechanisms.
2. run - China Shop (2p: Dom & Damon): Won.
That was a bit harder, but (with some luck) we could manage it. Damon (Me) had some nightmarish turn in the second stage, after stucked between two drones, a wretch, and the Berserker herself, of course. It was lucky, but I could escape from them in three turns with zero cards (run away with one of the healed cards in my Order step, and luckily could use the other ones as reactions succesfully), then I could fully regenerate before Stage 3. On the last level Dom has some serius wounds from the Wretches, but didn't bleeding out. Then one shot from the Hammer of Dawn and one from Dom's shotgun killed the Berserker.
This run has a little bit more fun like the first one, but weren't too exciting.
3. run - Belly of the Beast (4p: Fenix (GF), Damon (Me), Dom (GF), Augustus (Me)): defeated
We started the saturday with the next scenario, and decided to try it with 4 player mode (two played by my GF and two played by me): it was a quick and deadly try (especially according to the previous ones).
We could go until the end of first level, but we were mostly run out of ammo and Augustus were bleeding out for 2 or 3 turns.
After exploring level 2, we were nailed to the ground by locusts at the last tile of level 1. First drawn the General AI Card, which sais every Locusts come to 4 range from the far, then Wretches attacked us, we could kill them: at the end of turn 6 of them spawned at four range from us…and so on…
So we couldn't handle the overwhelming monsters, and the Locusts killed the COGs one by one.
We were disappointed about the cause of the loss, it happened by the difficulty of the scenario, or by the four player mode.
4. run - Belly of the Beast (2p: Dom (GF), Damon (Me)): defeated
So we gave an other chance to this mission.
It wasn't a memorable try. We were killed in the third tile (the one with the weapon activation point). We had two Drones after us and a Theron Guard before us, when we reached the tile. We killed the Theron Guard and the Drones, ambushed a drone from the next tile, but he survived the overkill.
He perform an extremly successfull attack against Dom's zero successess on defend dices, so Dom started to bleeding out. And the 2 turns while I could revive Dom, were enough time to the Locust to surround us with a horde of nightmares.
But, at least, we could find out, the third scenario is a hard one.
5. run - Roadblocks (2p: Dom (GF), Damon (Me)): Won.
It was a piece of cake. We could save our ammo, grenades and good Order cards (Sit Tigths, Ambushes) on Tickles, boost up with some Scavenging, and a Scorcher from the weapon activation.
Then the way to the Map Exit was a massacre.
6. run - Belly of the Beast (2p: Dom (GF), Fenix (Me)): defeated
Another try….
We reached the keycode at level 2, were nearly bleeding out two times, and left some wretches behind, and some set-up drones before us on level 2.
We have decided to run backward, and do not confront with the drones, when (by the General AI Card) the Drones come to 4 range to Dom. Some of them were not in cover, what means they were in LOS. I could get out one of them, when two other drones drilled a hole under Fenix.
Drones at left, Wretches at right, and Drones at my area… That meant happy ending for the Locusts.
7. run - Scattered(2p: Dom (GF), Damon (Me)): defeated
That was the most enjoyable scenario.
On the first two level, according to the 1 player setups, we could go forth tactically, and with clever play there weren't too hard situations or empty clips.
But the AI card were against us: my GF drew "Reinforments" AI card three times…But I drew nearly all Boomers' Card, what meant two Boomer in advance, and one cover them on the other level… Dom couldn't deal with them.
On Sunday afternoon I tried the solo mode of the game.
8. run - Emergence (1p: Damon): defeated
After a perfect and carefully advance until the end of the map, I made a bad decision.
Two Drones spawned at the emergence hole, and I decided on the quick solution: dropped a granade on them. One of them stayed unharmed, and the other one had only a wound,and stayed alive too. But the emergence hole were sealed, so a Wretch and a Boomer appeared next to the two Drones.
The Drones moved one, the wretch moved two area toward me. Then I drew the General AI card, which moves the Locusts in two range to my area to attack there. I killed one Drone, dodged the wretch, but the other drone hunted me.
9. run - Emergence (1p: Fenix): won
I had the exactly same decision at the end, but the granade killed one of the Drones, the other moved on me, but in Locust turn, it was the only which attacked me. A killed it by gurading, then on my next turn I can move on the Boomer and attack him three times (he died by the first), then the wretch didn't meant any problem.
10. run - Belly of the Beast (1p: Fenix): defeated
I was curious about that scenario solo mode, due to the previous defeats.
It was much easier, cause I never get seriously surrounded by Locust: in the one COG move - one Locust move system I could run out from the middle of the swarm, and keep them only in one side, and a bit safer distance.
In this game, the luck was first on my side: I could get the boomshot from the random weapon deck, which is the most effective weapon against the Lambent Wretches with it's omen triggered automatic damage on the area.
I've defeated near to the end of stage 2, by a single Drone (he rolled 3 double wound; and I rolled zero success on 5 die - and I had "only" 5 cards in my hand).
/Just for fun:
It was a defeat, but I want to see the end of the scenario: so "loaded" the game before the attack, end re-roll the dies. I had to "load the game" one more time, in a same situation. And at the end I raelised I played the last stage in wrong way: I only drew one AI card at a time/
***** Spoiler end *****
I've some thought about GoW, and the original question about the unballance…
My main question on the statistics: how could you win the Belly Scenario such easy???
But I have to work now
