Mr. Saxon and the Sea Devils

(A scenario for Doctor Who Miniatures Game inspired by UNIT: The Coup by Big Finish Productions)

Briefing: The Master

The Master has returned from Malcassairo in the stolen TARDIS and has set himself up as Mr. Harold Saxon, aspiring politician and currently Minister of Defence. Knowing as he does the Sea Devils from old, when U.N.I.T. tell him of suspicious underwater activity off the south coast of England he has decides not to take any chances.

The RAF, the Royal Navy and U.N.I.T. deploy all their forces, and when The Valiant announces that something appears to be coming ashore, he has no hesitation in launching an all out attack by land, sea and air.

Objective: kill all the Sea Devils

Figures and Models

Mr. Saxon (stats as in Last of the Time Lords)

Bodyguard (human Security Guard with pistol and body armour)

A suitably expensive car.

Briefing: U.N.I.T.

The Unified Intelligence Taskforce has the job of defending earth from unusual threats. The troops are trained, motivated and equiped to take on anything.

Led by veterans of the raid on the ATMOS factory, two squads have been despatched to the south coast of England, in expectation of an attack by the creatures known as Sea Devils. One squad will be deployed by Royal Air Force helicopter, another by Royal Navy hovercraft and the Army is providing armoured support.


Two U.N.I.T. squads:
Sergeant with personal weapon
4 soldiers with Assault Rifles
1 soldier with an LMG
1 soldier with an ATRL ('bazooka')

All have a pistol, radio with headset, two handed baton, handcuffs and two grenades.

Helicopter (e.g. Lynx).

Hovercraft with SFMG.

Armoured vehicle with an SFMG e.g. Challenger tank, Fox armoured car or Saxon APC.

(As the hovercraft and helicopter are primarily used to deposit troops on the battlefield they do not need to be represented by models.)

Briefing: The Sea Devils

A colony of Sea Devils (or Sentient Aquatic Reptiles as they prefer to be called) has revived form its hibernation of the coast of England. Learning of the fate of their brethren up the coast and their land dwelling kin in Derbyshire they have decided that they cannot fight the humans who now rule their planet and so wish to make peace.

They have identified a suitable human with whom they wish to make contact and have invited her to a remote spot near the coast where she is to meet a peace delegation.

Objective: to contact Sarah Jane Smith and make the offer of peace to humanity

Figures

8 Sea Devils

Briefing: Sarah Jane Smith

Sarah Jane has received an enigmatic and slightly fishy message inviting her to a rendezvous at a deserted spot by the sea. Suspecting this may not be an adventure for children she has decided to invite along her old friend Sir (formerly Brigadier) Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. The old soldier appears to be mellowing in his old age and is now somewhat suspicious of the gung-ho approach of his former U.N.I.T. colleagues.

Objective: to find at least one Sea Devil and escort him off the board, probably by hiding him in Sir Alistair's car.

Figures and Model

Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (stats as normal, but armed with a concealed gun in his walking stick: 4,5 or 6 to hit, range 8 inches, STR 3).

A suitably stylish car

Sarah Jane Smith

The Board

The board represents a deserted and inhospitable part of England's coast. One of the short edges is a beach with sand dunes. The other is a canal with a straight road running along the seaward side of it.

The rest of the board is marsh.

The sea and the canal can be represented by the board edges rather than having to be modelled.

The hovercraft may only move over the sea and the beach and cannot enter the dunes, which are difficult terrain for everyone and impassable for vehicles.

The marsh is also impassible for vehicles, and is difficult terrain for humans. However, because of their webbed feet, Sea Devils can move normally across it. Additionally, as a heavy mist lies over the marsh, visibility is limited to six inches into, or within, it.

Because they have an aeroplane in the sky directing operations, soldiers can always move as if they can see every other figure, or model, on the table.

Only Sea Devils may enter the canal, and whilst underwater can only be attacked with hand grenades.

Playing the Game

Two player game

Player one - Mr Saxon and U.N.I.T.
Player two - The Sea Devils, Sarah Jane and The Brigadier

Three player game
 
Player one - Mr Saxon and U.N.I.T. squad in hovercraft
Player two - The armoured vehicle and U.N.I.T. squad in helicopter
Player three - The Sea Devils, Sarah Jane and the Brigadier

Four player game

Player one - Mr Saxon and his bodyguard
Player two -U.N.I.T.
Player three - The Sea Devils
Player four - Sarah Jane and the Brigadier

Five player game

Player one - Mr Saxon and his bodyguard
Player two - U.N.I.T. squad in helicopter
Player three - U.N.I.T. squad in hovercraft and armoured vehicle
Player four - The Sea Devils
Player five - Sarah Jane and the Brigadier

Order of play

Sir Alistair's car is parked in the middle of the road with Sarah Jane and Sir Alistair either in it or next to it. In the two player game they may not move until a Sea Devil gets within six inches of them.

Before the game starts: The player(s) controlling U.N.I.T. and Mr Saxon secretly record which side of the board the armoured vehicle and Mr Saxon's car will enter from.

Turn One: The Sea Devils enter the board from the sea (obviously) and may make a full move. U.N.I.T. radar detects them and the game is on.

Turn Two: The U.N.I.T. helicopter may land anywhere except in the sea or in the canal.

Turn Three: The hovercraft enters the board from the sea.

Turn Four: The armoured car and Mr Saxon's car enter the board from the directions previously recorded.

Mind the civilians

U.N.I.T. may not shoot at unarmed civilian models unless they are using 'lethal force' against themselves or another human. Similarly, they cannot shoot at a civilian car except in the situation where a U.N.I.T. soldier is on the road and an unidentified car is driving towards them and not stopping.

However, as a military operation is going on any civilians found can be arrested for their own safety, which is achieved by a successful 'attack' using Capture or Brawl. Note that for U.N.I.T. Mr Saxon and his bodyguard also count as civilians.

Mr Saxon may shoot anyone he wants to, of course, and so can his bodyguard if he is with him. He borrow any weapon off a UNIT soldier. The Master may also either drive the tank, or use its weapons, but not at the same time.

"Oh, It's You Sir"

As they have not been given any orders to the contrary, the U.N.I.T. soldiers will obey Sir Alistair once they know it is him. This requires Sir Alistair to be within six inches, if he is in the open, or adjacent to them in his car.

Sir Alistair may then use his leader ability to activate U.N.I.T. soldiers. Figures thus activated may not be activated again in their next activation phase. U.N.I.T. soldiers will obey any basic order immediately (e.g. 'move over there', 'give me your gun', 'release that prisoner' etc) but more unusual orders, such as 'arrest the Minister of Defence', require the Brigadier to pass an INT test. He cannot order the soldiers to shoot a human being (or someone who looks human and is member of the government) except in the circumstances described above.

Sonic Lipstick and Laser Screwdrivers

These can be put to various uses subject only to limitations of games master approval and good taste.

Examples could include:

• Producing a deafening blast of noise in a soldier, or the bodyguard's, headset. This requires a roll of 4,5 or 6 and affects all suitable models within six inches. The victim's are stunned for one turn. This can only be done once (they disconnect the headsets).
• Immobilising a car. Again requires a roll of 4,5 or 6, has a range of six inches and is also a temporary effect, but can be repeated.

The laser screwdriver can also be used as a weapon that inflicts one Hit Point damage (no saving throw).

Morale

Count the U.N.I.T. soldiers and Mr Saxon and his bodyguard as separate groups for morale tests. This means that if his bodyguard is disabled Mr Saxon must make a morale test at -1 for suffering 50% casualties. The bodyguard may not move more than 6 inches away from Mr Saxon, and will evacuate him to safety if his boss looses a Hit.

The Sea Devils carry out morale tests as normal, but as Sir Alistair's car represents safety they can 'retreat' towards it if they fail the test.

Event Cards

A player may use an event card marked "Hero" or "Monster" if his forces contain at least one model of the correct type.

In a multiplayre game the cards are dealt as follows:
The Master - one card
U.N.I.T. - one card for each squad
Sarah Jane Smith and The Brigadier - two card
The Sea Devils - one card

End of the Game

The game ends when all the Sea Devils are dead, or when one has exited the board in the company of Sarah Jane or Sir Alistair.

Aftermath

If Sarah Jane manages to escape with a live Sea Devil a press conference will be hastily arranged at Sir Alistair's house the next day. The ambassador will then give his message of Peace Between Species to a bewildered TV viewing public.

However, a press release from the Ministry of Defence explains it all as a prank by a retired officer, disgruntled about his pension, a disreputable journalist and a man in a rubber suit. A scandal involving a minor celebrity then dominates the air waves and people quickly forget about the whole incident.

The Seventies Version

The game can, with a bit of difficulty, be time warped to the classic era of Doctor Who. Sarah Jane Smith will not have her sonic lipstick and Sir Alistair returns to being The Brigadier. Increase the size of the U.N.I.T. squads to 9 men and a sergeant. The Master won't have his laser screwdriver and will be accompanied by Colonel Trenchard, who has a pistol and is effectively under his control.

Notes on models

This scenario does allow you to go mad with the military hardwareI use a 1/48 Airfix Lynx AH1 model of  as it can be used for both modern and classic eras of the game (just). However, to stick with the nautical theme of the game a Royal Navy Merlin might be more appropriate, or the more modern Lynx HMA8, also available from Airfix. For the seventies version a Wessex would be the most likely chopper to be used, although 1/48 versions are rare today. If you don't mind the model domiating the table, Italari do a 1/48 version of the RAF Chinook.

Sands Models used to do a 28mm Griffon 2000 hovercraft, which would have been perfect. instead, I used a Demonscape sci-fi model. Instead of a hovercraft an ordinary landing craft could be used. I don't know of any models of contemporary craft, but a World War Two LCVP, like the one made by Warlord Games, would do as they haven't changed much. However, you don't actually need a model at all and you can just bring the soldiers on from a board edge.

As for the armoured vehicle, here you can really have fun. If you don't have an AFV you could just
use a Land Rover with a machine gun on or in it, just make it a rule that the Sae Devils can't shoot at it. However, if you want the heavy metal there are lots of options. I used a 1/48 Challenger tank as it looks scary and one appeared in the TV series. Other options are a Warrior AIFV, made in 1/48 by Airfix, a Scorpion or Scimitar, available in 28mm from Sloppy Jalopy, or a Saxon APC from the same people.The latter is a lot less impressive on the table, but is perhaps more the sort of thing the army would deploy.

For Mr Saxon's car, anything by Siku is the right scale. He has a choice of Porsche 911, Ferrari GTO, Mercedes SLK, Lamborghini Aventadore, and probably a few more I've missed. I went for the 911 with the big wings as I thought it suited John Simms' protrayal of him best.

For Sir Alistair you need something a bit more staid and British. Siku do a Range Rover and a Jaguar S Type. If Sarah Jane drives they also do a VW Beetle or Golf and various other more sensible cars.