Space Station Zero Mission Ten: The Greenhouse

Two Muppets enter the Greenhouse, but how many will leave? Read on...

Leaving DeeDee's freezing corpse in the Chemical Lab, Axon and Packman enter the next room. It's warm and humid and teeming with plant life of all colours and shapes. A faded sign on the wall reads HYDROPONICS BAY 4. 

"Well at least you'll feel at home," Packman mutters to Axon.

Suddenly, the medic spots a tentacled creature moving behind the foliage...

The Greenhouse contains several dangers, any one of which could mean curtains for the remaining Muppets, who start the mission in the top right corner.

There are three plant mutants (there should be four but I only have three models). Each one can move 6" and has nine lives. They can only attack in close combat, for which they get a +1 on their roll, and their tendrils carry a poison that can reduce the Muppets' combat stat by 1 if they fail their save. The effect is cumulative, so if they keep failing they could end up at zero combat ability.

The whole room is filled with plants that release spores if disturbed by fighting. When engaging in close combat, the Muppets roll a D12 and on a 9+ they have to make a Reaction Save to see if the sports were released. If they fail, they suffer however many wounds they failed by.

Finally, there are tar pits hidden throughout the room. Upon moving, they have to roll and a 10+ means they've fallen into a pit. They need to make a Reaction Save 4 to get out, and failing means they're stuck for that turn and their combat stat is reduced by one. If their combat stat falls to zero, they're out of the game. As I'm sick of missions where the Muppets spend most of their time stuck in one corner of the room because of failed rolls, I'm going to change it up a bit: they'll move then roll to see if they've ended up in a tar pit. The mission succeeds when all the mutants are destroyed.

Oh, and as I need all three plant mutant minis for this mission, Axon is back to his regular form for now.

Can Packers and Axon survive? Let's find out as we kick off with the aptly-named Turn 1.

After flipping a coin to see who goes first, Axon moves 4" to his left to take aim at one of the mutants. Before firing he passes his move test, so he's clear to blast away! He hits three times, and the mutant manages to save all three. We're off to a classic Muppets start, folks! Axon's second shot strikes the mutant four times, and it rolls a double-12 for a critical success! It's safe! 

Packman retains initiative and moves up next to Axon, taking aim at the same mutant. He passes his move test, so yay for that, and then totally fails his shooting roll with a 1, 3, 5, 5, 7 and 11. Well done, Packers, very well done indeed. 

Initiative passes to the plant mutants! The closest one moves 6" towards our favourite space pirates but isn't close enough to engage in combat, so it simply moves again right up in Axon's grill. As both Muppets have activated, the turn passes to the next two plant mutants (and I'm sick of typing out "plant mutants" so from now on they're called Roger, Brian and Dave). With Roger menacing Axon, both Dave and Brian double-move 12" to get closer to the not-so-dynamic duo.

Mesdames et messieurs, bienvenue à tour deux!

With all the acumen of someone who thinks "tactics" are small mints that come in a plastic box, I've once again managed to get my Muppets stuck in a corner and need to get them out ASAP. Packman makes a break for it, running 8" up the side of the room to hide behind the massive green plant and miraculously fails to fall into a tar pit. 

Unfortunately for Axon, initiative passes to the plants, and Roger takes a swing at him, his poisonous tendrils striking the solder three times. Axon passes his spore test and makes two saves, leaving him with three wounds. To rub some salt into that wound, his combat stat is reduced by 1. He punches back at Roger but fails to hurt him.

But it gets worse; he fails to regain initiative and Brian moves up to have a go. He hits Axon twice, and after passing the spore test again Axon saves both! He smacks Brian twice but the plant successfully fends off the blows. We could be here for a while. 

Initiative stays with the mutants, and now Dave tries his luck. Of his five hits, four land on Axon! He passes the spore test and then saves three of the wounds, taking him to two and his combat stat to 6 for shooting and 3 for fighting.

Axon knows he has to get out of there, and luckily the rules state you can disengage from close combat at any point. So he does, pushing his way past Dave, Roger and Brian and legging it 8" up the board to end up on the opposite side of the big green plant from Packman. He's also safe from becoming stuck in a tar pit. 

Children, the next section is brought to you by the word "Turn" and the number "3".

Axon isn't safe as he's within the plants' 6" move stat. He moves another 4", passes his test, and turns to fire. A quick note on his loss of combat points: The rules state that the loss of points lasts "until the end of the encounter". I'm taking that to mean that Axon is actually back up to full combat strength as the fight has finished, so yay!

Eight balls of white-hot energy shoot towards Roger, four striking the green-purple mutant. He fails all four save rolls and is down to five wounds! Axon fires again, hitting Roger four times but two of the dice are 12s — critical success! The hits are doubled to eight, and Roger can only save one. He's blasted into chunks of steamed eggplant!

Packman's up next. He's feeling a bit guilty about buggering off and leaving Axon to face all the mutants alone, so he turns to fire at Brian, who he can see through the foliage. Four of his six bullets smack into Bri, but the plant rolls four saves! Now, I know that characters can move then carry out an action (shoot, fight, operate machinery or whatever), but I'm not 100% sure that they can perform an action and then move. But the idea of Packers shooting at Brian and then just standing around strikes me as stupid even by Muppet standards, so he's moving another 4" away from the mutants and passes his move test.

Now Dave and Brian activate. Dave heads for Packman, double-moving closer but not close enough to fight, and Brian does the same to get within striking distance of Axon.

Turn 4!

With Dave so close, Packman doesn't know whether to shoot first and leg it later, or move and then fire. He decides on the former, points his pistol at the tentacled tuber, and lets fly. Four of his six shots hit Dave, and the plant only saves one, dropping to six wounds! Packers then runs 4" towards Axon AND FALLS INTO A TAR PIT. Oh well, it had to happen sooner or later. He needs to make a Reaction Test 4, meaning all four dice have to succeed. And he does it with a roll of 2, 8, 8 and 10! He doesn't get stuck!

It's the mutants' turn. Brian's undulating tentacles strike out at Axon, hitting him twice but the black-clad soldier saves both! Axon can only manage two hits back and inflicts a wound on Brian but his spore test roll fails, meaning he has to take a Reaction Test 3! He fails one and suffers another wound, leaving him hanging on with one left!

Axon disengages from the fight and moves 4" away from Brian. After passing his Move Test he fires, and manages to get only one hit from eight shots. Brian rolls his four save dice and gets three 12s, so he's fine. Axon's second shot is almost as bad, hitting the plant twice, and Bri only saves one of them. He's down to 7 wounds. 

Here comes Dave! A 6" move brings him close enough to lay a smackdown on Packman. Three of five punches hit home, and Packman saves just one! The medic's left on 2 wounds and before striking back he needs to pass the spore test. The dice bounces around the tray and it's a 7. Packers is safe! He lays into Dave and rolls an amazing 2, 2, 12 and 12! It's a critical success, the hits are doubled and Dave reels under the impact of eight blows! He can only save one, the other seven mushing him into a green stain on the floor! Way to go, Packers!

We're into Turn 5, there's just one mutant left and the Muppets might actually make it through this mission!

Axon activates first and moves 4" away from Brian. He's desperate to kill the mutant and fires a blast of pure energy at it. Four of his shots hit and Brian saves three! He's down to 6 wounds. Axon's second shot only hits twice, with Bri saving both.

Packman's up next. He's in a bit of a quandary: does he try to kill Brian, or go to Axon and attempt to heal his wounds? I genuinely didn't know which was the best course of action to take, so I put my faith in the Dice Gods and rolled a D6. 1-3 meant he'd shoot, 4-6 meant he'd help Axon. It came up 3.

Packers takes aim and fires. Three of six shots hit Brian, and the mutant saves them all. Oh, bugger. Ruing his crap shooting, Packman moves closer to Axon AND FALLS INTO ANOTHER TAR PIT. He fails his Reaction Save and is stuck!

But he's about to face an even bigger threat as Brian moves within punchin' range. He lets fly at the trapped medic with his tentacles, hitting Packers twice. Because he's stuck in the tar, Packers' combat stat is down to 3. All three dice fail and he's knocked out!

It's Turn 6, and what was I saying about the Muppets making it out alive?

With Packman down, Axon knows he has to take Brian out or he's toast. He moves 4" back to get some more space between him and the mutant, and happily doesn't fall into a pit. Five of his eight shots hit Bri, but among them is a double-12! CRITICAL SUCCESS!! Five hits turn into 10 and Brian only saves two. Pieces of Brian fly all over the place as he explodes and the Muppets have made it through!

But have they? I have to roll 2D12 to see how Packers fares. A total of 16 means he makes a full recovery! Axon and Packman live to fight another day!

This mission was an absolute ton of fun to play, and so, so much better than the last one, which Joe aptly described in the comments as "a pointless dice-rolling exercise". Shooting things is always fun, and although I was worried about the game turning into a chase around the board, having the mutants able to keep pace with the Muppets added to the tension. Chuck in some appallingly bad rolls as well as some amazingly good ones, and it all added up to a very enjoyable game.

There are three possible exits from the room, and as two of them lead to missions I've already played I took the third. Next up: The Weapons Locker!