Blood in the Streets!

     It's time for some good old fashioned gang violence. The Second Class Elitist and TokenGamerChic  get stuck in for our first ever LXG Battle Report... Spinespur style!

     Alright, so since this was a bit of a demo game as well, we chose small forces to start with: a named character from our chosen factions, and a couple street thugs. 70 points would allow us to try a little bit of everything, and still be a small game.

     TokenGamerChic chose the Slaughterhouse, and brought along Pigskin. Her thugs were a bludgeon thug, a molatov thug, and a chainsaw thug.

     I picked up the Institution, and put Dr. Akron into play, along with a short blade thug, a Molotov thug, a chainsaw thug, and a bludgeon thug.

     Okay, so I want to apologize in advance for the quality of the table... we just started building a brand new DIY urban table, and even though it's still in its early stages we decided to use it anyway. Not to worry, the table will continue to become more impressive over the coming weeks.

    Wanting to focus on learning the gameplay, we decided to avoid all the lovely scenarios present in the book and focus on more basic stuff. Deployment we simply did as 6" in from the table, everyone on the ground floor (that second bit is in the rules). We rolled for "Control" (Spinesur's scarier word for "initiative") and TGC won. 

     The first turn is uneventful. TGC moves her forces up through the construction zone, deciding not to spread that far from Pigskin. (Fear is an important resource in Spinespur, and Thugs can't utilize it. Pigskin can utilize it for them if they're within 7" of him, so that was pretty much her bubble.)  Attempting to draw her into a trap, I split my force into two pincers- the good doctor and Molotov going pretty center, and the rest of my goons hoofing it far right. 

     TGC continued to move forward towards midfield, keeping most of her models tight, sending her chainsaw thug out to intercept the flanking move.  I continued to press my thugs around that side, using broken-down vehicle as cover. When the chainsaw thug settled in behind the tow truck, I figured I could swing it to both sides and take him out early! 

     In the next round, I have my machete wielding Luchador [Editor's note: really, how many games allow you to type that phrase?] move out around the truck, and move in to scrap with the chainsaw thug! My dice abhorrently disagreed, and the machete swishes harmlessly though the air. TGC activates the chainsaw thug next, doing two attack options. One of which hits and grinds him up pretty badly. Pigskin, smelling the blood of an upcoming victim, moves up and hurls his weighted chain into the side of the Luchador thug, ripping him to pieces.  The Luchador's partner in crime in the photo above, a baseball bat biker, decides survival is the better part of valor, and falls back on his activation towards the middle of the table, shouting "Screw you, hesse!" 

    I decide something needs to happen in my favor, so I change my tactic and advance up Doctor Akron. Standing in the middle of the street, he transforms into The Beast, and howls at the chainsaw thug. Thuggie decides the devil you know (the big mean mother wearing a pig's head a few feet away) is better than the devil that just appeared, and stands his ground. Doc Akron is massive as the Beast, with insanely high stats and 30 points of damage needed to take him out.

     TGC's molotov wielding thug steps up, and hurls the flaming concoction at biker thug, hitting him square in the chest. the splash is just large enough to also engulf my molotov thug in a Flyers hoodie (affectionately known as "Broad Street"). Both take damage and are engulfed in flames, meaning they'll take even more at the end of the turn. Pigskin uses the weighted chain to attack Doc Akron in Beast form, and pulls him up into close range. TGC's chainsaw thugs moves in to flank Doc Beast, but accomplishes nothing aside from ending the turn (and thus my thugs crisping up for two more points of damage each.)

      The battle is now a true street fight, with everyone standing dead center of the table in the middle of the street. I manage to wrest control from TGC for the first time all game. I make the mistake of thinking this is a good thing... Broad Street tries to flambe TGC's molotov thug and chainsaw thug but misses. The chainsaw thug attacks the beast, grinding steel blades into bone. My biker thug moves up and club the chainsaw thug's head in severely. TGC's bat welding thug steps up into the Beast and hits nothing but air. The Beast evens the fight out a bit by dropping both the chainsaw thug and the bat weilder in one turn! TGC's molotov thug in the snazzy suit picks up the downed chainsaw, and rips my biker thug to shreds.  Pigskin lays into the Beast with his cleaver, doing a ridiculous 16 points of damage!

     Top of the next turn and TGC grabs control. I know that means at this point, to quote Bill Paxton, it's "Game over man!!!", but I soldier on anyway. She activates Pigskin first, and he's hackin' and whackin' into the Beast for another gruesome 16 wounds. Broad Street fails to do anything to the former-molotov-know-chainsaw thug, who cleanly cuts him in two.

Result: TABLED.

Recap: 

• All in all, a stupidly fun game. Even though we were learning the game kinda on the fly, the mechanics are actually incredibly simply once you get into the game.
• Fear- it's not just the mindkiller, it's the gamekiller. Fear is a palpable important mechanic in Spinespur, and learning how and when to use it is crucial.
• Yes, characters can take a ton of punishment. However, characters on the same tier as them will dish it out quickly! Pigskin going last in the turn/first in the turn meant 32 points of damage before I could react at all.

     So, that's it for this one. If you're interested in finding out more about Spinespur,  read this article, visit Comfy Chair Games, and make sure to pledge in the Kickstarter!  Hope to see you in the street real soon, Chum!

The Second Class Elitist.