Total Extinction Beta Play-Test by Jeff La Belle & Crew

We played Total Extinction by Sentinel Games. All I can say is WOW!  Fast paced, engage lay, easy to play, and seriously, after reading the rules, you don’t need to look back much at all.

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Preparing a Game of Total Extinction

Britt played the Colonials. Her force was made up of Captain Zoya, a commander, 6 Spetsnaz, 18 Troopers, 1 T94, 1 ZSU, and the Shtorm.  She wanted a huge force, so we gave her one.  Basically everything that comes with the £40 Lieutenant Pledge Level. Chi played the Glorlon host.  He had his Mentor, a BioTank, a Suppressor, 3 Genociders, 4 Raiders and 10 Soldiers. Again, basically a Lieutenant Pledge Level for the Glorlon, if with couple of extras.

Play materials:  I had prepared some print and play miniatures, which are available online, as are blast markers, unit and tactical cards, even the terrain. We had two sets of dice: 1d20, 1d12, 2d10, 6d8, 4d6. The game-rules, of course.  Finally laser-cut rulers, which Julio and I had designed.

We really picked a large game, using most of the components that come in the starter set (the £80 Captain Pledge Level). Wow! That is a lot of minis in the starter set. Using that many miniatures helped test how fast-paced this game truly is.

The rule book said six turns, so we wanted to see if that was really possible, can you get a game this massive play fast!?!  The short answer is yes!  But here is how it went.

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The Objective of the Game

The Colonials had to take out the Glorlon mentor. Kill the command and control. The idea is to disrupt the harmonic leadership and thereby throw the enemy into disarray.  The Glorlon host’s objective?  What all good aliens want: total annihilation of the enemy!

The two factions set up on a 6′ x 3′ table.

The start areas were the opposite ends of the table, within 12″ of the end.  Both sides arrayed their armies as seen below using the print and play beta pieces we created.

I should mention we used no terrain so we could just focus on getting the basics down. I highly recommend building, buying, or hacking some terrain into this game though. I can only imagine the havoc, confusion AND fun it would have added. For our next test-game I will definitely add terrain!

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A Game of Total Extinction

The two sides rolled to see who would react first and attack the other. Britt won!  She takes her 10 command points plus 3 for her commander Captain Zoya and 3 for the 3 for the Colonial lieutenant and buys (only!) the Strategic Flexibility tactical card.  Hmmm.

She moves her armor up to their maximum, as well as all her troops, following an age old tradition set forth by the Brits from ancient earth’s colonial days: a stand and deliver tactic of line up, side by side in a row to deliver volley after volley until the enemy is crushed.

She knows the Glorlon’s preferred method of attack is often a simple mad dash to overwhelm. Then she surprises everyone with a double movement!  These are veterans ready for the fight!

Chi has 10 command points plus 3 for his Mentor, he takes the Glorlon Mental Control and Strategic Flexibility tactical cards.

The Glorlons react to this insulting pestilential insult called bravery as expected, if these Colonials want an up close and personal fight, then they shall have one their Mentor sings to his troops.

Chi’s turn: In timeless mindless horde’s strategy…  all Glorlon move their maximum distance!

The Raiders begin their flanking maneuver to get up and close with the armor.  The BioTank and Suppressor lumber through the Soldiers to rain death on the Colonial troops.

Britt’s turn again. Her armor, itching to soften up the enemy, move first. She plays her Strategic Flexibility tactic card and moves her armor in a further 8”. The T94 crew determine that they are in range of the Mentor and target it with a salvo.

She rolls her dice and beats its defense. She then rolls for damage and exceeds its armor, wounding it. Two Soldiers caught in the blast radius are not so lucky and die.  Her Shtorm does not want to let the T94 crew have all the fun and attempts to hit the – now exposed – Mentor!

Before anyone can blink, the Mentor is killed!  The enemy commander is dead.  The Glorlon host is in disarray and Britt’s Colonials have defeated the enemy!

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Post-Game Comments

Ok, for a simple rules check beta test, all I can say is WOW!

We made it a simple mission and the game just flowed!  No problems at all really. It was even faster than I expected! Total time from setup to Chi’s demise? Just 32 minutes.

Admittedly, a “kill-them-all“-scenario would have lasted longer, and terrain would have slowed things down too, allowing for more action and strategy.

However, we really wanted to focus on the rules and keep it simple. The team thought it was great, and the miniatures will only make it more so. We are already planning on playing again!!!