Games Workshop Lost Patrol Review

Picked up my first GW Game in quite some time called Lost Patrol.  For those that don't know, GW released Lost Patrol back in 2000 and 16 years later they release an updated version.


Lost Patrol Year 2000



Lost Patrol 2016

The game retails for $60 + tax. You can find it on ebay for a little less, but not much less.

The game comes with
5 Space Marine Scouts
12 Genestealers
6 Infestations
30 Map Tiles
3 dice and rules

Lost Patrol pits 5 Space Marine Scouts against a planet full of Genestealers.  The subtitle "Death In The Jungle" is essentially what happens to the Scouts 99 out of 100 times.



There is a 8 page rule book (6 pages actually have rules) and 30 map tiles.  The rules totally favor the Genestealers.



The Genestealers and Scouts have their own How-To directions for putting them together.



The Genestealers are grey.  There are enough bits to make 12 Genestealers, 6 Infestations with a bunch of arms and heads left over.


The Space Marine Scouts come in a burt red/orange color.  There are bits to make 5 scouts with a few extra weapons left over.

Playing The Game

Lost Patrol is played via a turn sequence.

1. Scout Players Actions
2. Genestealer Player Removes old Jungle Tiles that can't be seen
3. Genestealer Player Places new Jungle Tiles
4. Genestealer Player Takes Actions
5. Genestealer Launches Assaults

Scout Player Actions

The scouts can perform 2 types of actions.  Move or Fire.  They need a 6 to kill a Genestealer, so most of their shots are going to be misses.  They don't have the ability to boost any of their shots, so their weapons are pretty useless against the Genestealers unless they roll a lot of 6s.

Tiles

The Genestealer player adds and removes tiles based on where the Scouts are located.  If a Scout can't see a particular part on the map it gets removed from play.  This can be good news for a Scout, if that part of the map contains Genestealers.  If that part of the map contains Scouts, they are lost in the jungle and die.

Genestealer Player Actions

The Genestealer player can perform 3 actions.  Place Genestealers, Infest and Move.  They can perform any of the 3 actions in any order they wish.

Assault

Assault works based on how many Genestealers are in a hex where the Space Marine player needs to beat the Assault value.

1 Genestealer = Assault 2 2 Genestealers = Assault 4 3 Genestealers = Assault 6 (Maximum Assault value) Bonuses +1 Sergeant gets a +1 bonus on Assaults +1 The Heavy HMG gives a +1 bonus on Assaults if he is supporting from a different hex. -1 If there is only one scout in a hex that is being assaulted Assault Outcomes

• Genestealer wins - Scout is removed, others are pushed back
• Scout wins - Genestealer is removed
• Tie - Scouts are pushed back

I have yet to win a game playing the Scouts and my guess is I would have to be amazing lucky to win.

I found the rules easy, but IMO GW should have added additional rules to make it easier for the Scouts to win.  It doesn't matter what the scouts are equip with besides the heavy bolter.  Having other weapon options that add bonuses could improve game play.

Here are some recommendations

Heavy Bolter - Hits on 5s instead of 6s and gets 3 dice.
Shotgun - 2 dice against adjacent hexes at 5s, 1 dice at 2 hexes away at 6s
Bolter - 2 dice at 6s
Bolter Pistol and Sword - 1 dice at 6s, +1 Assault

Overall the game is fun, although for a scout player it is rather frustrating because you know you will almost always lose.  I really like the tiles.  I decided to sell off the Space Marine Scouts, because I already have painted metal ones.  The Genestealers are Genestealers and are pretty cool.