Welcome to the jungle

We've been playing our Sharpe Power Armour rules mix (based on Chain of Command, Sharpe Practice and What a Tanker), fielding power armour units on both sides. This time I wanted to try an asymmetric scenario where power armour has to take on low tech militia type adversaries. In order to prevent the militia being obliterated in the first turn, we needed lots of cover on the table: jungle!

The scenario:

The Resource Development Administration not only mines for unobtanium on Pandora but also on other planets where the natives don't appreciate their activities. A technical malfunction has forced an RDA gunship to make an emergency landing in the jungle. The RDA is sending a power armoured taskforce to recover the pilot and repair the gunship if possible. The natives hurry towards the landing site to retrieve munitions, weapons and ordnance from the gunship. Eating the pilot would be a bonus.

The pilot scans the jungle for threats

The natives are slowly moving through the undergrowth towards the landing site.

Some of the columns carry heavy weapons mounted on beasts of burden.

The RDA task force consists of 2 heavy power armoured troopers and 2 support robots. They muscle their way trough the undergrowth.

Both sides have almost reached the clearing where the gunship has landed.

The natives rush past the gunship, into the firing arc of the RDA taskforce.

The machine gun fire takes down the beast with the heavy weapon and allows the pilot to escape into the jungle.

The surviving natives charge the nearest power armour trooper, inflicting some serious damage. Unfortunately they also took enough damage to break and retreat into the safety of the jungle.

The problem for the natives is that when they can shoot at the RDA taskforce they can also be shot. And while they succeed in taking out one of the robots, they're taking a lot of casualties.

Nevertheless, one native group sneaks up to the missile pods of the gunship, using the gunship as cover.

They start to remove missiles from the pod.

One of the RDA power armoured troopers uses his jump-packs however to land smack in the middle of the native group, scattering them in close combat.

Although the power armour is severely damaged, repair actions restore it within an few turns to full functionality. Because of their losses there is now no real chance for the natives to get near the gunship so they fade away into the jungle.

The pilot meanwhile enjoys a refreshing beverage and some snacks from the supply drone.

The rules performed reasonably well. The natives got pretty far, destroying one robot and severely damaging the two power armour troopers. A scenario where the natives benefit from prepared ambushes and hidden IED's will probably provide a more balanced game.