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| Spetsnaz... (credit: CoD4). |
It has been too long since there's been a game of Infinity on this blog. On this occasion I was lucky enough to host a game for two of my gaming buddies- one of whom has been steadily building an Ariadnan force. With many weeks of ceaseless painting- it was time to see the force in action!
Ariadna seems to be the faction to beat (in some scenarios anyway) and I was very interested to see the match up.
I pulled up a chair, charged the camera and broke out the popcorn- it was time to be entertained...
ARMIES
ARIADNA
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| The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! |
9 
1 
0
VOLUNTEER Chain Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (6)
SPETSNAZ (CH: Ambush Camouflage) HMG / Pistol, CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 38)
SPETSNAZ (CH: Ambush Camouflage) Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 34)
GRUNT Heavy Flamethrower, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (10)
CHASSEUR (Minelayer) Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 20)
CHASSEUR (Minelayer) Rifle, Light Flamethrower, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 20)
FOXTROT (Forward Observer) Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (18)
SCOUT Lieutenant Ojotnik, D-Charges, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (29)
HANDLER Rifle, Smoke Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (10)
ANTIPODES AP CC Weapon. (5)
4 SWC | 200 Points
There are a few proxies in here:
> The Foxtrot is proxied by Uxia McNeill
> Caledonian Volunteer is proxied by a Metro
> The Grunt is proxied by a Moblot (though they have the same armour rating of 3... u wot m8?!)
> Spetsnaz HMG is proxied by a Spetsnaz Boarding Shotgun
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| Yes, that's all the Ariadnan's have... |
With so many hidden camo tokens, the 'open' list was looking pretty thin.
PANOCEANIA
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| God Wills It! |
Group 1 9 1 0
AUXILIA Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (14)
AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (4)
AUXILIA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle + AUXBOT_1 / Pistol, Knife. (15)
AUXBOT_1 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (4)
BOUNTY HUNTER Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 20)
FUSILIER (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (12)
FUSILIER Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (12)
FUSILIER Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (10)
FUSILIER HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 18)
TRAUMA-DOC Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (14)
NISSE MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 34)
JOAN OF ARC Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, DA CCW. (+1 | 50)
3.5 SWC (+1) | 199 Points
There are a few proxies in here:
> Fusilier HMG is proxied by Angus
> Trauma Doc is proxied by Bipandra
The Bounty Hunter rolled up an ADHL on the booty table.
Joan de Arc is the lynch pin of the force. With her Inspiring Leadership giving a reusable Command Token for Co-Ordinated orders every turn this PanO force was going to be an aggressive advancing army. And with Joan at the lead- ARM 5 and BS15 badassery... it was going to be a tough force to stop.
TERRAIN
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| Deployment zones on the LEFT and RIGHT. |
I decided to set up the buildings all over the map, ignoring the roads. Sometimes the roads restrict the creativity of the battlefield setup and I wanted to eliminate some of the biggest fire lanes.
The key terrain features are:
1. Purple brothel
2. The apartment block
3. Blue house
4. The Garage
5. Yellow house
6. Container yard
7. The Grey General Store
8. Distribution tower
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| View from the opposite side. |
MISSION
In "Frontline" points are scored at the end of the game by controlling the No Man's Land between the two deployment zones. The No Man's Land is divided into three zones- and controlling the zone farthest away from your deployment zone garners 3 points. The zone in the centre is worth 2 points and the zone closest to your deployment zone is worth 1 point.
There are also 2 classified objectives for each player....
CLASSIFIEDS
Ariadna rolled up Sabotage and Telemetry.
PanOceania rolled up HVT Inoculation and Extreme Prejudice.
LIEUTENANT ROLL OFF
With a flourish, PanOceania passed its willpower roll on a 15- a critical! Ariadna slunk in with a 6.
After a quick appraisal of the table, PanO elected to choose board edge and made the Ariadnan's deploy first.
The Ariadnans elected to take the first turn.
DEPLOYMENT
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| Deployment zones highlighted. |
ARIADNA Deployment
PANOCEANIA DEPLOYMENT
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| PanO deployment. |
With not a lot of clues to go on, PanO plowed on with its deployment.
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| PanO right flank. |
Utilising the cover of the buildings, the Trauma Doc and Joan took cover behind the buildings. The Auxilia FO hid inside the Yellow building covering out a window and his Aux-bot watching out a doorway.
The Bounty hunter hid himself behind a container whereas the other Auxilia and Angus the Fusilier HMG took up position around the vehicles.
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| PanO left flank. |
The fusilier paramedic dropped prone on the roof of the Blue building whilst two Fusiliers took up position around and inside the purple brothel.
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| Fusiliers hiding out in the purple brothel. |
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| Joan watching out with her pointy multi-rifle. |
RESERVE DEPLOYMENT- ARIADNA
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| The Garage... |
Two camouflage markers appeared on the Garage.
RESERVE DEPLOYMENT- PANOCEANIA
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| Nisse appears! |
And finally the Nisse is positioned atop the Blue building over looking the containers and the garage.
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| MSV2... bring your camo! |
HVTs
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| Ariadnan HVT... |
A drunk and addled Achilles waddled around the front of the containers under the watchful eye of his Ariadnan protectors.
THE BATTLE BEGINS...
ARIADNA Turn 1
PanO immediately burned a command token to rob Ariadna of two orders. So with a slightly gimped 7 regular orders, the Ariadnans considered their options.
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| Ahah! |
Flipping off his camo cloak, a Spetsnaz sniper appeared atop the garage.
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| And he spies a Nisse sniper. |
Taking aim at the distant Nisse the Spetsnaz sniper shoots and the Nisse shoots back. The Nisse loses out in the face to face roll and takes a wound... which with Shock- turns him into dead.
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| Pow! Shock ammo.... Wait, isn't that Joan? |
With the Nisse out of the way, the Spetsnaz sniper trains his rifle on Joan...
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| Dodge! |
... Who successfully dodges out of the way.
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| Time to hide again. |
With Joan winning the face to face, the Spetsnaz sniper drops prone- completing his order.
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| More camouflage tricks! |
Atop the apartment block, a camouflage marker stands tall- spotting an Auxilia in a window.
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| Who me?! |
The Auxilia elected to wait.
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| The Foxtrot reveals (proxied by Uxia) |
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| Right.... |
The Foxtrot attempts a forward observe roll but the Auxilia dodges successfully.
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| I do not tolerate failure. Again! |
The Foxtrot burns another order....
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| Success. |
Now back towards the Grey general store....
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| A camo marker moves into position. |
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| I see you! |
Angus, the HMG wielding Fusilier is caught looking the wrong way!
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| Scout! |
Materialising out of his camo cloak, the scout bangs out a few shots with his Ojotnik.
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| Taking aim... |
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| The Scout doesn't miss. |
Angus is knocked unconscious. With Angus down, the Foxtrot on the apartment block makes his move.
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| But is seen by the Auxilia. |
The Foxtrot drops prone to make his away across the apartment roof top and successfully dodges a wild shot from the watching Auxilia FO.
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| Success! (Uxia wasn't varnished and so was replaced with the Zouave). |
With a dwindling number of orders, the Ariadnans began playing conservatively.
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| Pull back! |
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| Re-camouflage. |
Having killed two important figures and picked up a Classified- it was time for PanO to respond.
PANOCEANIA Turn 1
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| Joan considers her options |
With most of the overwatching Ariadnans now dropped prone or out of view, there was an opportunity to advance.
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| Inspiring Leadership pays dividends. |
Joan, the Bounty hunter and the two Auxilia utilise a Command Token for Co-ordinate move.
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| Joan moves forward mid-order. |
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| PanO rolls forward. |
The Bounty Hunter, trusting in his honed instincts, climbed the nearest cargo containter ladder and spied a nearby camo token.
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| Out in the open... |
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| Intuitive attack would be deadly... is that a Camo marker behind the bot? |
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| Chasseur! |
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| Rifle firing! |
As the bot trundled out into the open, the nearby mine was triggered and a Chasseur fired on the bot from behind.
Spooked by the prospect of an intuitive attack, the Scout (hiding on the corner of the Grey general store) opted to dodge- revealing him from his camouflaged state....
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| Fire! |
Meaning the bot could use it's second short skill to fire.
(Editor's note: Ariadna forgot that Intuitive attack is a long skill. Thinking (erronerously) that intuitive attack was a short skill, the Scout dodged- revealing himself and actually making himself a valid target for the flamer. If the Scout had remained hidden as a camo marker, the bot could only have attempted a 'Discover').
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| I'm burning! |
The Scout failed his dodge roll abysmally and dropped unconscious. Though subsequent rolls extinguished the flames at least.
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| The other camo token evaporates- (it was an Ambush Camo token). |
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| The nearby mine goes off. |
The triggered mine damaged the Auxbot and the Chasseur didn't miss... knocking the bot down to Unconscious Level 2.
Seeing the central Chasseur revealed, the other Auxilia made his way forward.
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| Trundling forward. |
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| Getting closer. |
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| Surprise! |
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| Heavy flamer at the ready. |
The Chasseur failed her change facing roll when the bot rolled into her Zone of Control... and then she failed her dodge roll when the bot advanced on her and vomtted out a gout of flame.
If it was any consolation, the bot had strayed out of the control of the auxilia and was now de-synced and useless.
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| Only a scorch mark is left. |
With the centre taken care of, PanO advanced the Trauma Doc.
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| Ready. |
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| Advance. |
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| In position- close to the HVT. |
And with the Trauma doc in a protected position...
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| A storm of lead erupts. |
Co-ordinated suppression fire springs into action- the two auxilia, the Bounty hunter and Joan hosing the Ariadnan deployment zone with their weapons.
If the Ariadnans are going to stand up- there's going to be a lot of dice getting thrown at them.
ARIADNA Turn 2
At the beginning of the Ariadnan turn 2- they found themselves in Loss of Lieutenant!
In one of those wildcards of fate, the Scout sniper (who had unwittingly dodged in front of an aux-bot) had been the lieutenant- leaving his force hamstrung with irregular orders.
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| Spetz HMG. |
Undeterred, the Spetsnaz HMG revealed atop the Distribution Tower and fired down on the Auxilia in suppressive fire.
With the advantage of the combat camouflage attack on top the camouflage bonus, the Spetsnaz won the face to face roll. The Auxilia passed his armour roll- and his guts check- but wisely chose to fall back out of view.
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| Fall back! |
With one less suppressive fire model out of the way- it was time to deal with the other 3 Ariadnan models locking down the board.
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| Standing up to the barrage of bullets. |
The Spetsnaz sniper stood up, facing down the combined fire of Joan, the Bounty Hunter and the Auxilia (who had dropped out of suppressive fire).
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| 2 burst versus 7 burst |
Allocating one burst to Joan and one burst to the Bounty Hunter- the Spetsnaz tried his luck.
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| Nothing! |
They must have been using water pistols because that round of fire left everyone suprisingly uninjured. The Spetsnaz was too difficult to hit with his combat camouflage penalties and PanO armour was too hard to penetrate.
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| Repeat! |
With a command token converting an irregular order to regular, the Spetsnaz sniper had another shot.
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| Joan takes a wound. |
Despite taking a wound to the sniper fire, Joan sticks and keeps her suppressive fire on.
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| I'll take it! |
The Bounty hunter also lost his face to face roll but he passed his armour check handily and managed to hold his position (and suppressive fire state!).
Sensing an oppurtunity, the Ariadnans plowed another order (and another Command Token) into the Spetsnaz sniper- braving another 7 burst in ARO to fire.
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| Second wound! |
Joan lost her third face to face roll with the Spetsnaz sniper and then suffered her second wound.
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| Deciding that discretion is the better part of valour. |
Joan fell back in total cover leaving the Bounty Hunter to take care of the Spetz sniper.
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| With Joan retiring to safer cover.... |
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| ... the Bounty Hunter sprays and prays. |
... but it's not enough. The Bounty Hunter also fails his face to face roll and is hit and killed by the Shock ammo of the Spetsnaz.
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| BOOM! Headshot! |
Leaving the Auxilia with his third unopposed shot.
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| And who misses AGAIN! |
With suppressive fire out of the picture, the Spetsnaz HMG saw a cowering Joan de Arc!
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| Joan on the left, Spetsnaz HMG on the right. |
Burning another command token, the Spetsnaz HMG hosed Joan down with lead.
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| Blazing away on Joan. |
Joan attempted to dodge but failed and the storm of lead killed her outright.
Now there was one last PanO figure on suppressive fire....
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| Foxtrot stands up. |
After recamo-ing, the Foxtrot burned the last command token to stand up and fire down the last Auxilia in suppressive fire.
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| Auxilia blazes away in return. |
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| But loses the face to face (penalised by camo AND surprise shot). |
With the midfield swept of enemies...
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| Antipodes advance. |
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| Getting ready for the last turn. |
PANOCEANIA Turn 2
After such a brutal Ariadnan Turn 2 and losing their Lieutenant, PanO was on the back foot. The dice rolls had been very lucky for Ariadna though- would it still hold up?
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| Fire on that Spetsnaz! |
The Auxilia trying to atone for missing the Spetz sniper on 3 previous occasions- fired again... but missed. Though luckily the Spetsnaz sniper- out of his optimum range band- also missed.
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| Blam! Blam! Blam! |
Another Fusilier moved to the cover of the purple brothel and fired on the Foxtrot who attempted to dodge.
The Fusilier successfully landed a hit on the Foxtrot- but he passed his armour save and dropped prone.
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| Drops prone. |
The remaining Fusilier used her irregular order to push forward to dominate the zone closest to the PanO deployment area.
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| Capturing zones is what this game is about. |
With one last order and a command token, the Auxilia tried for a fifth time to kill that damned Spetsnaz sniper....
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| Missed again!!! |
The Auxilia lost his face to face roll AGAIN- but luckily passed his armour save. Passing his guts roll, he held his position.
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| Not much choice here... |
The Trauma doc went into suppressive fire- apprehensively awaiting the coming Ariadnan onslaught.
ARIADNA Turn 3
One word, "Charge!"
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| The antipodes advance and then pause. |
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| Dashing through the open area with the first short skill |
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| One of them is detected. |
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| Successful discover by the Fusilier! |
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| Look at the size of that thing! |
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| But the second short skill carries the antipode pack away before anyone can fire on them. |
Having safely made it passed the Fusilier, the antipodes loped forward.
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| Forward doggies! |
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| Camo markers get spotted by the nearby Auxilia. |
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| Revealing a second Antipode. |
However, now that the assault pack was completely out of view....
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| Re-camouflage. |
Then with the next order....
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| Attack! |
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| Screams of terror are suddenly cut short. |
One down....
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| Having tasted man flesh once, the slavering monsters are hunting for more. |
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| Panicked fire! |
The Trauma Doc- utilising suppressive fire, took down one of the uncamouflaged antipodes, but the spearhead Antipode (who was camo'ed) ripped her apart with unopposed rolls.
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| What a nice snack! |
With the middle zone completely cleared of PanO figures- the field was firmly in control of the Ariadnans.
PANOCEANIA Turn 3
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| In retreat (but not Irregular!) |
Now in retreat, the PanOceania side poured all its remaining command tokens and orders into one Fusilier. If she could make it into the farthest zone of no man's land- she might- just *might*- mitigate the defeat they were facing.
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| Run! |
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| Run again! |
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| The Fusilier girds her loins.... |
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| Where as the Spetsnaz HMG readies his weapon. |
Using her last order- the Fusilier dashed into the open and tried to dodge the incoming fire from the HMG.
She passed her dodge handily.
Now it was down to the Spetsnaz HMG firing a single burst.
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| Critical! |
With the Fusilier head shot by the overwatching Spetsnaz- it was time to count the cost.
ARIADNA: 7 Victory Points
PANOCEANIA: 0 Victory Points
CONCLUSION
The whole game hinged around the PanOceanian 1st turn.
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| 21 dice- not one crit. Not even ONE successful face to face or unopposed roll! |
Opting for a coordinated suppression fire wasn't a bad option- it just seemed the dice were in the Ariadnans favour. 3 rounds of fire- with 7 burst per round of fire- should have taken that Spetsnaz sniper out of action. Unfortunately for PanO, it didn't work out and the Spetsnaz reaped a deadly toll on the advancing PanO soldiers.
I wonder if dashing Joan forward right up into a protected corner of the battlefield and then putting her on Suppressive fire would've changed things. She would have been 50 points of multi-rifle on suppression fire at ranges of 16" and less. She would've been hard to wrangle out- even for Spetsnaz.
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| Are you not entertained?! |
Despite the convincing win from Ariadna, it was a fantastic game to watch- things really were in the balance right up until the Spetsnaz carried the day.
With Ariadna camo spam looking to become a favourite list, it's time for me to re-base my Charontid. If MSV2 Morats don't do the trick... I'll have to bring in the MSV3 EI aspects.
Until next time, happy gaming!
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