Miniature Monday - Sentry Guns Deployed!
After a short break, we're back with another Miniature Monday! This week we're showing something a little different. Neither a Psion nor an Aberrant, but still a danger on the battlefield, we present the Sentry Gun!
The rules for Sentry Guns were included in the Trinity: Battlegrounds boxed set, but their miniatures were released separately in blister packs containing two guns each. In the game, each Sentry Gun represented a piece of equipment a Psion (or rarely, an Aberrant) could carry into battle and deploy in a strategic position. Like the Remote Sentry Weapons in a certain famous movie, the gun would then activate and automatically fire at enemies who moved into range. The Sentry Gun could be destroyed, but it required a concerted effort with powerful attacks, meaning it was wisest to avoid it entirely. This ability to cover an area of the battlefield while the deploying Psion moved to handle other tasks made the Sentry Gun a powerful tool for cunning players.
We've mentioned equipment, mutations, and Psi Powers in each of our previous articles, but gone into little detail about how these are equipped to a character. Each miniature released for Trinity: Battlegrounds came with a full set of game statistics, but the rulebook also had rules to create your own custom characters. To build new characters, players began by choosing what size game they wanted to play by setting a point limit for each force (the rules suggest 1,100 points for a small, beginning battle) and a level limit for how powerful individual characters can be (the rules suggest levels 1-3 to start). From there, it was time to create individual characters. For each character, the player chose what Tier (for Psions) or Caste (for Aberrants) the model would be. This determined the model's base cost, how many attribute points it had to distribute, what its maximum attributes were, and its base Action Points. Aberrant characters were more powerful than Psions, but also more expensive, meaning Aberrants would usually be outnumbered on the battlefield. After a model's attribute points were distributed between the six attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Mental, and Social), Psions chose a small number of skills they were trained in. There was a note that Aberrant skills would be covered in a later supplement, but that was unfortunately never released. Both Psions and Aberrants then chose a number of Psi or Taint Powers based on their Social attribute, with Psions having a few limitations to show their focused training, while Aberrants could choose any power they wanted. Once powers were assigned and derived statistics were calculated, characters could purchase equipment and mutations. Each mutation or piece of equipment had a listed point cost, which was paid for each equipped character, and a character's Strength limited how much they could be equipped with. Because of this, it was important to consider each item wisely to make sure it would see use on the battlefield. Each player would follow this process to create characters until their point limit was reached, and then it would be time to test their creations out on the battlefield.
In order to track the details for each character, the Trinity: Battleground boxed set included a stack of unit record sheets for Psions and Aberrants, as well as punch-out cardboard equipment and mutation tokens to serve as a quick reference during play.
PDFs of all these components will be included when we re-release the game, so that new and returning players can enjoy the full experience just as it was when Trinity: Battleground first released.
Stop by next week when we show off another rare Psion, and talk about scenario play and playing campaigns.