Every end has a start

Meanwhile the Quadrantenterror-tournament came to an end and the European Team-Event is prepared, so that there are at least two games to report.

Game 1: Test for Europe

We finally decided to continue real games in our small group, so I used the chance to have a first test-game for my lists for the European Team-TTS-Event I am hosting at the moment. One of my locals also attends this, so that was the perfect chance for both of us.

Druze Bayram Security
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GROUP 1 8 1
HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
CLIPPER DRONBOT Smart Missile Launcher / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 18)
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)
DRUZE (X Visor) Shock Marksman Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27)

GROUP 2 5 1
HUNZAKUT (Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)

6 SWC | 298 Points

Open in Infinity Army

The list was designed for Decapitation and Transmission Matrix, so I wanted to have a safe killing potential with the Clipper and the LGL (and the Peacemaker), but also some units to secure some zones in form of the Pathfinders and Fugazis, which also fill the role of the needed utilities. I wanted to provide the targeted-states via sat-locks and FOs here, since that were the main sources recently and the fireteam composition made it difficult to squeeze in an AHD. The KHD and the EVO together showed a good hacking-potential and with the team-mode in the event, we should be able to keep hacking-factions away from my throat in Transmission Matrix.

I only took my notes after the game, so I can't remember the list properly. The main things to have in mind were:
Maghriba Guard, Mukhtar MSV 2, 4 Ghazis, Liberto minelayer, Farzan minelayer, Naffatun Lt and many cheerleaders.

To note here is, that it is a strange feeling from the TTS back to the real life and your set terrain-boxes. With all the terrain available in digital, tables tend to be quite dense, far away from what we have in some cases in our group. So the table became a bit open and the change really big. But besides that, it is so much more fun to have the miniatures on the table and roll real dice! Hopefully everyone will be able to return to this safely as soon as possible!

I won the Lt-roll and chose the DZ with better potential to shoot the Ghazis on their way. Haqq takes first turn. The mission is Decapitation.

There are two Ghazis on each side, Maghriba Guard in the center, barely covered by a small building. Some cheerleaders are on the left side, as well as a Lasiq viral rifle prone on the tower, waiting for his chance. The Lt is hiding on the right, guarded by a Rafiq. Four camo markers are deployed in the center, tending to the right side. The Mukhtar is deployed behind the building on the right flank.

With the Mukhtar on the table, there will be a Fiday as reserve, so everyone needs some overwatching guy. With all my remotes, that is not that difficult. The Peacemaker should strike over the left side, with the LGL prone on the building. My core-link took the right side to have a chance against the Mukhtar with my MSR. I was expecting to loose the MSR right away, so I spread him out a bit more, stretching the ZoC of my link to maximum. The REMs supported where needed all over the DZ and the Hunzakut FO was deployed advanced on the right.

An impersonator is placed next to my Hunzakut FO on the right and I place my Sierra right away to make it as hard as possible for him to snack my link. The Mukhtar is Haqq-datatracker and I nominate my SMR out of tradition. My designated target is placed in the center (there were no good spots available) and the other designated target is placed behind the building on the left.

Haqqislam 1: Overclock activated. The Ghazis advance unharmed but the Fiday looses his mustache on his path towards my Sierra and gets discovered. I take the risk and place a mine with my Hunzakut FO, which blows the Fiday in the next order. My designated target stuns the approaching Ghazi, while the Sierra saves all shots from Maghriba Guard. The TAG enters suppressive fire.

Druze 1: If I only had an AHD, I could have placed a repeater next to the building where the Mukhtar stands and grenade him without any problems. But without that, I need to pass the camo markers and the Maghriba Guard. My link advances carefully, only to get the MSR shot directly by the TAG. Some more orders and the rest of the link is back in safety. Meanwhile group two and the Peacemaker burn several orders to get two Ghazis on the left dogged. But now the REMs are safe.

Haqqislam 2: Now the Mukhtar starts and shoots down nearly all my REMs step by step and kills the designated target on his way. The Maghriba Guard takes out the last Pathfinder.

Druze 2: The Peacemaker tries to engage Maghriba Guard via the center but gets shot in the second try. The LGL fails to grenade the designated target.

With this, the game ends, since I have nothing left to threaten the Mukhtar or the TAG, not speaking from the Libertos somewhere. Haqqislam wins 10-0 or something like that. The TAG locking down my whole approach on the right side was the biggest problem here, followed by the hard to counter Mukhtar in active turn. The best chances against the TAG had the Brawler with 50% for one wound, while the Peacemaker was out of chances from the start on. My list relied to much on the speculative fire-things and on easy targets for my Peacemaker, so that the layered defense with open firelanes on the right blocked my tools to deal with the camo markers and the Mukhtar, while my Peacemaker can't make any impact on the left side. Even if my MSR had wrecked the TAG, that would have consumed my whole turn one and left them exposed to the Mukhtar as easy targets. But we talked enough about missing reliable gunfighters to deal with such situations, right? (Just imagine this before RTF was released: There would have been a Djanbazan HMG instead of the Mukhtar. It is slow, easy to kill and expensive. After the Fiday failed, the Maghriba Guard would have been the only real problem here, since a Djanbazan couldn't reach all the positions the Mukhtar reached easily here...But well...I don't want to discuss this again.)

Game 2: Last round of Quadrantenterror

I have only played once against Tohaa and had only an rough overview about the Spiral Corp units. What I had in mind was the thread of a linked Tagmaa-sniper, many impersonators to look for and many tools to deal in medium rangebands. Summed up that was everything I didn't want for Druze, since I can't get any benefits on my own with a good midfield-presence, my limited long-range options could be erased by the Tagmaa and More than one impersonator is always difficult to handle.
The mission here was firefight, making all this problems worse, since I expected both forces to wait for someone advancing and getting shot. With my limited mobility, I definitly did not want to advance here.

QTohneEZ
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GROUP 1 7 1
HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)
DRUZE Lieutenant (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)

GROUP 2 5 2
BASHI BAZOUK Submachine Gun, Chain-colt / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
HUNZAKUT (Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 18)
ARMAND Minelayer MULTI Sniper Rifle, Nanopulser, Antipersonel Mines / 2 Breaker Pistols, Shock CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 42)
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)

6 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

I probably made my first mistake here with my list. Somehow I planned for a mission with an exclusion zone, so I planned with my REMtasy-list without checking the other list further. While I noticed there is no exclusion zone in firefight, I switched to the other list without further looks. So I consequently forgot about the Bashi Bazouk here - I am sure this would have been the game for him to shine...
Besides that, I had my sniper and the Sierra to lock down things in the midfield, backed up by some flash pulses. I really had no plan to advance somewhere, so the Peacemaker should be more for area denial this time - Impersonators with E/Maulers are a big thing here!

Spiral Corps
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10
DRAAL (Minelayer) AP Marksman Rifle, D-Charges, Antipersonnel Mines / Viral Pistol, Knife. (1 | 40)
DRAAL Submachine Gun, Pulzar, D-Charges, Dazer / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30)
KIEL-SAAN (Special Fireteam: Triad) Red Fury, Panzerfaust / Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon, Shock CC Weapon. (1 | 53)
NEEMA Lieutenant (Advanced Command) Spitfire, Nanopulser / Viral Pistol, Shock CCW. (1.5 | 48)
JAAN STAAR Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / 2 x Viral Pistol, CC Weapon, Knife. (1 | 31)
KIIUTAN Submachine Gun + E/Mitter, E/Mauler / Viral Pistol, Knife. (1 | 28)
KUMOTAIL Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 22)
CHAKSA SERVANT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
CHAKSA SERVANT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Baggage, Sensor) Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 10)
CHAKSA AUXILIAR (Baggage, Sensor) Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 10)
KAELTAR (Chain of Command) Light Shotgun, Flash Pulse + 2 SymbioMates / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 21)

6 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

As always, it is created from memory and I am not very sure about the Kaeltar and the remaining points. The Draal should be the main carrier for thze Kiel San, after the impersonators had done their job. Probably Neema should be plan c if everything went south and the Chaksas to secure the DZ.

The table was the problem why I tended to not use the REM-list initially, since I was a bit afraight of the climbing abilities of them on this table. The two rock-formations denied so much space, that it became very important to control them somehow and this ability would have been reduced with too many REMs, I guess.

I won the Lt-roll and let my opponent deploy first in the north. He decided to play first, what I really appreciated.

One impersonator showed up in the right building in my DZ, the Draals with the Kiel San forward deployed on the right with the Marksmanrifle on the rocks with active stratus cloud. A camo marker showed up next to the building on that side. Neema and a Auxilia hide behind the containers, while the other Auxilia guarded the Bioengineer and the Kaeltar (or whatever) in the fenced area. Neema and the Draal Marksman got a Pokemon from somewhere I don't know.
Since there were no Auxilias left in positions to form an additional triad, I was expecting an additional impersonator or an infiltrator instead of a Tagma.

The impersonator in my DZ denied the place for my core-team overwatching the Draal-triad. I did'nt want to place my Lt that near towards him. So Armand took that position instead, backed up by an ABH and a Fugazi. Peacemaker, ABH and EVO went on the left side in the 'inner area' overwatching their backs. My Pathfinder took the center and the second Fugazi took care of the left corridor. Hunzakut FO advanced on the center line on the left and the LGL prone on the highest point near the center line on the right to grenade the triad if necessary. I needed to control the Kiel San somehow, so I deployed my core-team on the rocks, with the MSR overwatching the center and the Kiel San, the KHD looking for his back and my Lt down on the ground hidden in a niche. I wished for a Bahi Bazouk here to simply block the entrance of the right building for the impersonator. I should have better looked on my list here...

A second impersonator deployed on the rocks near to my core-team and I placed my Sierra in the left corridor with good view over my whole DZ if needed. The Bioengineer was SPiral Datatracker and I chose my left ABH. The Kiel San rolls super-jump on metachemistry (of course...), while my ABHs got semi-useful stuff.

Spiral 1: Overclock on my REMs. To free the Kiel San and the triad, the impersonator on the rocks alias Jan Staar crits my MSR-Brawler and needs some tries to get my KHD down. Now the Draal shoots down the right Fugazi with Armand not able to wound him. The second impersonator shoots the left ABH and together with the Draal all orders are burned by trying to get rid of Armand. The only success here was the EMauler, isolating him.

Druze 1: If I could disable both Impersonators and the Draal, things could be interesting again. The Pathfinder advances, sat-locking Jan Staar. Now my LGL lands four grenades on him, finally killing him. Armand finishs the second impersonator by surviving a shot from the Draal, but I am out of orders now, so I overclock my remotes and advance my Hunzakut FO a bit, to cross some space for the next turn.

Spiral 2: THe Kiel San takes the action by jumping up to the LGL, knocking him out in CC and taking a covered position overwatching my DZ on the rocks. In the center the second Draal loots the panoplies, grabbing a MSR somewhere.

Druze 2: With marksmanship the SIerra gets shot by the Kiel Sans panzerfaust, followed by Armand, trying the same. My Hunzakut advances into the enemy DZ and fails to forward observe a servant several times for my classified. A mine is placed next to the Auxilia and the Bioengineer and I need to retreat him a bit.

Spiral 3: Now the Kiel Saan erases my DZ, while the MSR Draal snacks away the Hunzakut.

Druze 3: Only my ABH is alive and I forget again about my Bashi, so nothing is done.

I loose 7-0 with 280 to 12 points remaining. I won't complain about bad luck here with some rolls. The bigger problem simply was the additional wound on everything important on the opposite side. Jan Staar took forever to die, the second impersonator, too, and then there were no ressources to deal with the Draals and the Kiel San. I maybe could have been able to deal with that if he had not rolled super jump on this map. Armand made a good job, besides getting isolated. If I would have been able to use him with more orders each turn, he could have changed some things into my favour. But with all what went not as planned, the LGL and my Pathfinder did and excellent job and made exactly what they are for: Surprise the opponent with an unexpected attack and kill. Of course, it was countered to 75% by the symbiont armor, but at least it was an option available.
All in all, Spiral appeared as the worst faction to play against (combined with Tohaa) with Druze. It may change, if someone finds a way around the limited thread-potential per turn. If the peacemaker or a linked HMG could have get some shots on the important targets, they could have gone down quite quick, but even then only three targets could be erased per turn, exposing the valuable guns. The Hunzakuts or sniper rifles available simply would not be able to sneak through enough hits, I guess.

With that result, I end up on the 17th place from 20, if I remember right. Not what I had planned for, but at least one game was won and some OPs could be scored over the course.

Final thoughts:

I debated some time with me, if I really want to play Druze until N4 kicks in, or if I want to try some other things meanwhile. But everytime I start creating lists for other factions, I am missing the flavour or the uniqueness. Many factions got some simple, stupid good units recently, so that you have to take them and use them in most cases, making every game quite similar to each other. This problem, or that other sectors have their own problems like MO or QK, bring me back to Druze every time, even with not so good results recently. Maybe the Team-Event will create some nice games for this and after that, we will see what N4 delivers for this sectorial.