I WANNA BE SEDATED:

A BABYLONS BURNING BATTLE REPORT

Text by Ian Scott, photos by Mark Eatherington

INTRODUCTION:

This is an account of a small Babylons Burn ng skirmish scenario that Mark
Eatherington and I fought out on the 24
th
November, 2004. We took some photos
during the game and decided to write the game up in case anybody wants to try a
similar scenario.
i

The basic outline of the scenario two rival factions racing to grab a stash of
morphine was decided upon in advance and we agreed to a fairly low point limit of
2750 points. Mark set up the table in advance on the understanding that Id get to
choose which flank to take and large quantities of beer and Monster Munch (the
breakfast of champions) were, of course, readily to hand at all times!

THE SCENARIO:

A prolonged turf war between rival street gangs had cut off the Dr. Feelgood
Syndicate from its usual trade routes for several months. The Syndicate had no
food growing capabilities of its own it was based around an old pharmaceutical
warehouse and factory and had been trading drugs for food, arms, pharmaceutical
ingredients and equipment. With no shipments getting in or out, the Syndicate
bosses attempted to ration their supplies by the simple expediency of not feeding
their slave labour. Eventually the slaves, on the edge of starvation, rebelled and
rushed their guards. Those who survived escaped into the night, taking most of the
remaining food supplies with them and the few Syndicate members who had
survived by locking themselves into the central compound ultimately starved to
death.

The gang war was finally ended at least temporarily when it spilled over into
territory under the protection of the Santorelli Mob. Within a few days, word had
got around that Dr. Feelgoods was deserted but intact. The lure of large quantities
of morphine lying around for the taking was too much for the Santorelli Mob to
ignore and they quickly organised an advance party to take the Syndicate
compound and hold it until enough vehicles could be found to empty out the
warehouse.

Unfortunately for the Mobsters, they werent the only ones to hear about the
stash. A cult Reverend Lovejoys Church of Ultimate Grace had been much
depleted in recent months after a series of attempts to gain admittance to local
Enclaves and spread the word were violently rejected. Reverend Lovejoy recognised
immediately that the abandoned Syndicate compound would provide a fine new
1

home for his Church to rebuild and, better yet, explore their concept of prayer and
meditation through the medium of intravenous injection

The Ultimate Grace Culties and the advance party of the Santorelli Mob arrive in
front of the compound at the same time and theyre not happy to see each
othernow its a race to get inside the compound and close the gates on the
competition!


The outer barricade of the abandoned Syndicate compound. The open ground in front of the entrance meant whoever
reached the gatehouse first would probably have a big advantage.



THE MOB FORCE:

I decided to play the Mobsters in this scenario. With the low point limit, I knew I
wouldnt be able to afford any Mercs to back me up I wouldnt even be able to
afford any cheap Ganger allies if I wanted to be sure my core Mob squads would
have enough firepower to deal with any Cultists that got in their way.

Sticking to Mob squads meant that Id be going without long range weapons but I
reckoned there would probably be enough cover to get to the gates without taking
too much fire and then hit the Cultists at close range where my shotguns, SMGs,
MPs and heavy handguns would give me an overwhelming advantage in firepower.

Whenever I field a Mob force, its always led by Maria Santorelli the eldest
daughter of the big boss, Constanzo Santorelli. In about six battles shes yet to be
hit so I tend to think of her as a good luck charm!

2

Maria Santorelli (officer)
Veteran Exp. Level
Armour Level 1 (fur coat!)
SMG, HE Grenade and Shades
Points: 432

Wary of the special vendetta rules that apply to Mob forces (theyve screwed up
my plans before) I decided Id better add a second officer Marias trusted
lieutenant, Knuckles Vinzetti to help keep any wayward NCOs in check.

Knuckles Vinzetti (officer)
Regular Exp. Level
Armour Level 0
Heavy Handgun and HE Grenade
Points: 310

Comms-links would have been nice but I decided to buy a runner instead since I
figured she could double as a bodyguard for Maria.

Theresa Liotta (runner)
Regular Exp. Level
Armour Level 1 (leather coat)
SMG and HE Grenade
Points: 280

I had originally intended to field three squads of four but in the end I opted for two
squads of five so that I could afford a few more automatic weapons and shotguns.

The Enforcers (5 troops)
Regular Exp. Level
Armour Level 0
Heavy Handgun / SMG / Handgun / Pump Action Shotgun / 2xMachine Pistol
All troops with shades
Points: 945

The Garibaldi Crew (5 troops)
Regular Exp. Level
Armour Level 0
Heavy Handgun / Handgun / Pump Action Shotgun / Machine Pistol / Handgun
Points: 810

Total Points for Mob Force: 2777

Okay, so I went 27 points over budget. I could have dropped an HE grenade or lost
six pairs of shades but I knew Mark would go over budget too (he always does)
and, hey, the Santorellis wouldnt be the Santorellis without shades!



3



THE CULTIST FORCE:

Mark took the Cultists in this scenario. He sensibly decided to do without any
Templar squads for the same reason that I didnt bother with Mercs there just
werent enough points available.

Mark knew hed be outgunned up close so he decided to make sure hed have
numbers on his side. He fielded quite a few Culties with hand weapons only a
dangerous strategy but he reckoned it would mean that he could afford to scatter
some rifles through his force which would give him a huge advantage over my Mob
goons at medium and long range.

Naturally, the Reverend Lovejoy would be there to lead his fanatical followers into
battle. Mark had decided that Lovejoy would be his only solo element so that he
could field more rank and file troops.

Reverend Lovejoy (officer)
Veteran Exp. Level
Armour Level 1 (heavy coat)
Pump Action Shotgun and Machine Pistol
Points: 475

Alpha, Beta and Delta squads as deranged a bunch of happy clappers as one
could hope to meet! All the squads featured a lot of hand weapons mixed in with a
selection of rifles and handguns. Beta squad were green, the rest were regulars.

Alpha Squad (6 troops)
Regular Exp. Level
Armour Level 1 (heavy robes)
Sword / Semi-Auto Rifle / Angle Grinder / Assault Rifle / 2xHandgun / Handgun
All troops with gasmask
Points: 1140

Beta Squad (6 troops)
Green Exp. Level
Armour Level 1 (heavy robes)
Sword / Semi-Auto Rifle / Angle Grinder / Assault Rifle / 2xHandgun / Handgun
All troops with gasmask
Points: 855

Delta Squad (5 troops)
Regular Exp. Level
Armour Level 1 (heavy robes)
Handgun and Club / Semi-Auto Rifle / Chainsaw / Hammer / Machine Pistol
Points: 800

Total Points for Cultist Force: 3270
4


Thats right an overspend of 520 points! I could have told him to drop some
cultists or reduce some experience levels. In retrospect, I should have told him to
drop some cultists or reduce some experience levels. However, given that Mark
was threatening to deny access to the Monster Munch and the fact that we didnt
have much time to play the game in, I decided to let it pass. Next time though



SETTING UP & ORDERS:

I chose the left flank and Mark took the right. We had decided that all forces must
be set up on one terrain tile in the bottom corner of the relevant flank we would
then have to race up the table, trading gunfire on the way, to reach and hold the
gate.

A
view of the battlefield looking up the table towards the gate to the Syndicate compound. The wide road sections of Marks
modular terrain board were to cause no end of problems for the short-ranged Mob forces.

The table was laid out in blocks there was plenty of cover in each block but very
little to prevent fire up and down the wide open streets between them so we knew
we would have to be careful not to get caught in the open.

The Mob forces set up in the cover of three abandoned trucks parked up in front of
an old lock-up facility. There was plenty of solid metal to block them from the view
and fire of the enemy but they were surrounded by open roads.

5


The Mob force is deployed in the cover of a parking lot full of trucks.

Meanwhile, the Cultists set up behind a derelict shop. They were bunched so closely
together that a few HE grenades would have taken out the lot but Mark knew I
didnt have anything that could hit him at that range and, in any case, most of his
force was out of my LOS.


The Cultists at set up (resisting an urge to go dumpster diving).

Giving orders was a simple process since we both had a very clear objective and
only one way to attain it get to the gate and stop the other side from doing
likewise!

It was clear that whoever reached the gates first would have a big advantage but I
was worried about all the open space to my right (the main road). For that reason I
6

ordered the Garibaldi crew to take the warehouse in the centre of the table whilst
the Enforcers would be sent as fast as possible up the left flank with orders to take
and hold the gatehouse. The warehouse would give the Garibaldi Crew plenty of
cover and from there they could harass the Cultists and cover the advance of the
Enforcers. If I needed them t move up subsequently, Id send my runner to give
them new orders.

Fortunately, whilst Mark had also seen the need to hold the centre of the table, he
had decided to take the shanty town behind the warehouse with his Beta Squad.
This wouldnt pose an immediate threat to the Garibaldi Crew since the warehouse
has no windows or doors on that side. Less fortunately, whilst Mark ordered the
Alpha Squad to advance to the gate as fast as possible up the right flank, he
ordered the Deltas to the same objective, but via the warehouse right on a
collision course with the Garibaldi Crew!



TURN 1:

Marks cultists made a mad dash across the street at full pelt on the far right flank
whilst the Enforcers did likewise on the far left.
Meanwhile Maria and her runner held back (I didnt want to bunch up too much)
whilst the Garibaldi Crew took cover behind an old VW camper van on their way to
the warehouse meaning that most of them were out of LOS.


Positions at the end of Turn 1.
7


The few Garibaldis who did have LOS didnt have anything that could hit the tightly
bunched Cultists at that range. Not for the last time, I wished I had an RPG or a
LAW

The Cultists did get off a few rifle shots at the visible stragglers from the Garibaldi
Crew but with the long range and the fact that both sides were running, its not
surprising that they didnt come close to hitting anything.


Marks Cultists rush across the street in a tight bunch, confident
that theyre out of my range. My kingdom for a rocket launcher!


TURN 2:


The Enforcers moving up through multi-storey ruins with Maria bringing up the rear.

8

The Enforcers pushed forward into a large derelict building with Maria and the
runner hot on their heels. With several buildings between them and the nearest
Cultists, I wasnt too concerned with keeping them in cover.


The Garibaldi Crew reach the front of their warehouse objective.

The Garibaldi Crew pushed on towards the front door to the warehouse with
Knuckles bringing up the rear while Mark did his best to cram his entire force into
the narrow alleyway at the other end of the warehouse. I realised subsequently that
I probably could have got off a few rounds with a shotgun at the rearmost members
of the Delta Squad but I didnt notice at the time and I very much doubt I would have
hit anything anyway given the range and other modifiers. Nothing Mark had was in
a position to fire so turn two was over in no time.


Disappointed Cultists find the Gun shop already looted and nothing playing at the Elite Cinema.

9


TURN 3:

In this turn, whilst the bulk of both our forces continued in their rush for the gate,
Marks Deltas entered the warehouse via the backdoor and were joined a
moment later by the Garibaldis coming in through the front!

Only one of the Cultists was visible the rest were behind some of the crates that
littered the warehouse interior. The first Mobster through the door opened fire on
him with a Machine Pistol firing full-auto bursts. Unfortunately, she must have been
distracted by something shiny as with two bursts at just 12 metres range she
managed to hit absolutely nothing Marks Cultist wasnt even suppressed. And if
that wasnt bad enough, the second burst jammed her gun!


Doh! The lead element of the Garibaldi Crew gets a jam result
just as a gang of angry looking monks storm the warehouse.

A second Mobster moved to the doorway and opened up with his handgun. Again,
the dice were against me and I got no hits but at least this time I managed to
suppress the Cultist. Now I just had to pray that the Garibaldi Crew got better
initiative than the Deltas next turn so that I could pull back before my now unarmed
lead element got rushed by half a dozen drooling religious loons









10

TURN 4:

It seems my prayer paid off the Garibaldis initiative roll (after modifiers) was 7!
The plucky young lass who had rushed in with gun blazing last turn beat a hasty
retreat out of the warehouse and attempted (unsuccessfully) to fix her gun. The
guy with the pistol in the doorway fired four times at the lead Cultist but hit only
once. After the Culties -2 damage modifier was taken into account he only ended up
with a light wound but at least first blood had gone to me!

There wasnt much room for manoeuvre in the warehouse doorway so the third
member of the Garibaldi Crew moved to the corner of the warehouse and, seeing
the Beta Squad Cultists moving into the shanty town, opened up with his shotgun
to no great effect.


The Deltas take control of the warehouse whilst the rest of the Culties mass in the street and shanty town to the north.

Feeling rather outnumbered, the rest of the Garibaldis hunkered down on
overwatch and waited for mad monks to rush out of the warehouse or around the
corner from the shanty town.

Now it was Marks opportunity to strike back in the battle in and around the
warehouse. While the cowardly Betas dived for cover, the Deltas rushed forward
for the kill. The Garibaldi in the doorway who had proved to be such a bad shot with
a handgun got his comeuppance one Cultist heavily wounded him with a handgun
and he was finished off with a well placed rifle shot from close range.

11


The Garibaldi Crew beat a hasty retreat from the sliding door after one of their number is gunned down.

Elsewhere, my Enforcers and Marks Alphas were both in the process of moving
across the street in front of the Syndicate barricade. The range was long and both
squads were moving fast. The only Alpha who could see the Enforcers and had the
range needed an 11 to hit. I was feeling pretty cockyright up until Mark made the
roll and cut down one of my guys with a three round burst from a Kalashnikov
AK47.


The Enforcers, slowed down by climbing through windows, are lagging behind
12

Alpha squad in the race for the gate. Theyre also now one man short

Uh-oh In the space of a couple of minutes, Id gone from being fairly confident of
an easy victory to finding myself two men down without having inflicted more than a
scratch.


TURN 5:

Turn five began with the Cultists Alpha Squad making a dash for the gate to the
compound they let off a few rifle shots as they went but had no luck.

Next up were Delta Squad the monks in the warehouse. The first to reach the
door emptied his machine pistol into the Garibaldis NCO, hitting him no less than
10 times! Suffice to say he was very dead indeed. A second monk rushed through
the door waving a chainsaw but was suppressed by overwatch fire and failed to
press home his attack. That left two monks in the open doorway with the Garibaldi
Crew yet to act an unenviable position.

Back up at the gate, the Enforcers were rushing to the cover provided by a bunch
of sand-filled oil drums. The ranges had finally closed to such an extent that most of
the enforcers could now get a shot back at the Alphas but only one handgun shot
found its mark, lightly wounding a Cultist. This wasnt the first time a heavy wound
had been modified down to a light wound by the Cultists special -2 damage rule it
really can mean the difference between total victory and humiliating defeat for
Cultist forces.


The Enforcers and the Alpha Squad clash at the gatehouse.
13


At last, it was now the turn of the Garibaldi Crew to act. That pesky machine pistol
was finally unjammed but not in time to fire this turn. Instead, I concentrated on
turning that chainsaw-wielding monk into Swiss cheese with the combined
attention of a handgun and a pump-action shotgun at close range finally the Mob
got a kill!


And then there were three Delta Squad take a hammering in the warehouse.

Lastly, Knuckles moved in and put a round form his heavy handgun into the monk in
the doorway, heavily wounding him and effectively putting him out of the game.


















14

TURN 6:

The loss of their NCO put the Garibaldi Crew at a disadvantage so I decided to have
Knuckles, my second in command, adopt them. He put the heavily wounded monk
out of his misery for good measure too.


Knuckles adopts the Garibaldis and prepares to do some liquidating.

The remaining monks inside the warehouse decided that another rush towards my
waiting guns would not be a good idea and, instead, hastily closed the sliding door.
Cowardly but wise!

The Enforcers now rushed the gate, firing as they went. The lead Cultie was hit by a
shotgun but, once again, modified the damage down to a light wound. A second hit
from a heavy handgun (fired by the Enforcers NCO) put him down for good but its
a shot that could have been directed elsewhere if the Cultists werent so damned
tough. The Enforcers SMG trooper decided to forgo taking a shot at the Cultists,
deciding instead to lay down a suppressive fire zone in front of the gate. That
should give the Alphas cause to stop and re-think their actions.

The Alphas did indeed think better of rushing through the open gate. Instead they
returned fire but, in an orgy of bad dice rolling, failed to hit a thing. Phew.

15

Enforcers and Alphas fight it out at the gatehouse.

The Garibaldi Crew opened the door again but nobody felt like sticking their head
round the corner overwatch counters were much in evidence

Unfortunately, I had pretty much forgotten about the Beta Squad who had been out
of sight in the Shanty Town and all my Garibaldis were facing the warehouse door.
So when the first of the Betas rounded the corner, there was nothing to stop him
from gunning down the Garibaldis only shotgun element.


Beta Squad sneaks up on the Garibaldi Crew, heavily injuring one of them.




16

TURN 7:

The Enforcers got the highest initiative score and lost no time in cutting the leading
Alpha Cultie in half with no less than nine hits from a machine pistol! A second
Enforcer finally managed to make it through the gates.
Maria, bringing up the rear managed to heavily wound a second Cultist leaving just
three of them on their feet.

The Alphas werent slow to counter attack the Mobster with two machine pistols
went down to a frenzied angle grinder attack and my last remaining shotgun guy
was eliminated by six hits from an assault rifle burst.


The aftermath of the Cultist counter attack.

Now, including solo elements, both sides had four figures in the vicinity of the gate
but the Reverend had yet to act. Thankfully, having run through the gates to take
out the leading Enforcer before she could shut the gates, he missed twice from
close range with scores so low its a wonder he didnt shoot his own foot off!

17


The Reverend couldnt hit a barn door from twenty paces

Back at the warehouse, things were getting vicious. The Betas continued to work
their way around the corner and took out Knuckles, leaving the Garibaldi Crew
without a leader once again.
The remaining two Garibaldis finally worked up the courage to enter the warehouse
again (better than staying outside with six Cultists rushing toward them). Between
them they took out two more of Delta Squads monks leaving just one lightly
wounded monk armed only with a hammer. Wisely, he shuffled behind some boxes
and hid.


The Garibaldi Crew clean out the warehouse.


18

TURN 8:

Oops! At the worst possible time, the Garibaldis get a modified initiative roll of 0
(thanks to their dead NCO) meaning that theyre frozen with indecision. They wont
be able to act at all this turn and they have Cultists all around

Caught between a mad Cultist with a sword and a mad Cultist with a hammer, they
both go down without much of a struggle. The centre of the table now belongs to
Mark and its all going to come down to the struggle at the gate.


The Garibaldi Crew comes to a sticky end!

Maria and her runner get off to a good start, taking out Alpha Squads angle
grinder with SMG fire from long range.

The Reverend opens up next, and this time he doesnt miss and the only Enforcer to
make it through the gates shuffles rapidly off this mortal coil. Thankfully, he doesnt
have enough action points left to close the gate so theres still a chance.

The Alphas act next and Marias runner (who hasnt actually done any running as
yet) is killed by a lucky shot.

The last remaining member of the Enforcer squad their NCO takes down
another Cultist. Nobody else is in view so he goes on overwatch to cover the gate.

Its been a very bloody round.

19


High noon at the gatehouse.

TURN 9:

At the start of the ninth turn, I had only two elements still standing Maria and
the Enforcer NCO. With Reverend Lovejoy and one remaining Alpha Cultist, Mark
also had two elements in the vicinity of the gate so there was a chance I could still
succeed in my primary scenario objective of taking the gate if I got good initiative
rolls and lucky to-hit rolls.


Maria Santorelli begins to feel a little lonely

20

But then again, even if I did take the gate, Mark had no less than seven Cultists
milling around at the warehouse and if I took the Reverend out, command would
pass to the Beta Squad NCO who would inevitably rush the gate and there was
little chance I could hold them off, even if the last, wounded, survivor from Delta
Squad stayed behind to give the chop to my wounded Mobsters in the warehouse.


The Beta squad has, amazingly, yet to take a single hit.

Other things to consider were the fact that I didnt want to ruin Marias 100%
survival rate and also the horrible possibility that we might run out of beer! With
these things in mind, I agreed to concede defeat on condition that my remaining
troops be allowed to depart safely from the table.

The Cultists began to chant as they skipped triumphantly towards a whole
warehouse full of opiates

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Ian: Whilst it didnt go my way, it was certainly a fun game with a lot of action. It
lasted about two and a half hours but we probably could have cut half an hour off
that if we werent stopping every few minutes to make notes for this report or take
photographs.

There were some flaws with the layout which I would change if we play this scenario
again and I certainly made some mistakes with my tactics and when selecting my
force.

If we were playing this again, I think Id opt for a lot less open space either by using
less roads or by putting more abandoned cars on the roads as cover. Im always
telling other people that cover and lots of it is the key to a good game of
Babylons Burning but in this case I failed to heed my own advice and there was
therefore a bit less tactical ducking and diving than usual.

21

As far as the forces were concerned, the Cultists proved to be a lot tougher than I
gave them credit for. In previous games, theyve not done too well against my crack
Enclave troops but in this game their mix of hand to hand prowess and accurate
long range rifle fire was more than a match for me. The Mobsters that have served
me so well before were really not suited to such an open battlefield they really
need Merc support to give them some long range punch for a layout like this (or
else cheap Gangers to soak up casualties whilst the Mobsters get in close).
Underrating the Cultists and overrating the Mobsters led me to put the Garibaldi
Crew out on a limb at the warehouse and, while they did tie down two thirds of the
Cultist force for quite some time they never really achieved their aim of slowing
down the Cultist advance to the gate and they never had much chance of survival
once it became clear that they were outnumbered two to one.

Could the Mob have won? Its possible Id have been better off picking the right
flank which offered more cover (but would have involved moving my chair an idea
too horrible to contemplate!) and I should have been more aggressive. Oh, and did I
mention Marks scandalous points-overspend-cheating? Another 500 points worth
of troops definitely would have improved my chances!

Mark: Well, I won, but then I did have the unfair points advantage! When we started
the game we didn't think it would have had that much effect, so Ian let me carry on
without changing my force (that and I threatened to withhold crisps!) We'd both
seen that in general, Mob forces had fared better than Cultists in our previous
games, and basically it only gave me one extra green squad.

However, those extra numbers, along with some very lucky dice rolls made all the
difference. It was a fun game, fast moving, and only slowed down by the need to
take notes and photos. Even though I won, it was quite a bloody battle, with two of
my squads wiped out, leaving only the green Beta Squad left, which was odd, as in
my original plan, they were meant to draw Ian's fire and be the 'sacrificial lamb' in
the shanty town area, so my more experienced squads could get to their objective
unhindered!

I think if Ian had the same points values, it would have made a whole heap of
difference, even a single sniper would have probably swung the outcome in his
favour, taking out my elements one at a time from a distance while they were out in
the open.

And yes, we're already planning the rematch, with a higher overall points value, and
this time, I promise not to go over by 500 points!







22