For the Rescue! [Starmada vs. QK]

 

What is better than a good old rescue-mission? Right: Some solid demolition job! But as life is, sometimes you need to rescue something. This time, AssaultUnicorn hit me up to finally try out Rescue from ITS 12. While he heared that it is a quite shitty mission, I was really eager to finally try it out. I just remember how I thought about a few years ago that this is a difficult mission, since you need four HVT models...How things change.

Rescue
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GROUP 1  10  
 KAPPA Missile Launcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 17)
 KAPPA Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
 KAPPA Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
 BLUECOAT (Lieutenant) Submachine Gun, Heavy Riotstopper / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 16)
 BLUECOAT Adhesive Launcher(+1B), Heavy Riotstopper / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 13)
 CRUSHER (Forward Deployment [+8"]) Submachine Gun, Light Rocket Launcher, Nanopulser, D-Charges / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (1 | 35)
 CRUSHER (Forward Deployment [+8"]) Submachine Gun, Nanopulser, D-Charges / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 29)
 KYTTÄ Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)
 BETATROOPER Spitfire, Nanopulser(+1B) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 40)
 RAPTOR Spitfire, Light Flamethrower / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 43)
   DEVABOT Heavy Flamethrower / PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 5)

GROUP 25  / 2
 CRUSHER (Combat Jump, Parachutist) Boarding Shotgun, Panzerfaust, D-Charges / Pistol, E/M CC Weapon. (0 | 36)
 VARANGIAN Submachine Gun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
 VARANGIAN Submachine Gun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Heavy Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
 FUZZBOT (Minesweeper, Repeater)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 8)
 FUZZBOT (Minesweeper, Repeater)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 8)

 5.5 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Even if the DBS-itch starts growing, I wanted to go with Starmada for this, just to give AssaultUnicorn a good match. From the previous experience, I changed my list to a 10/5 split. The second group was simply there to trade two Varangians against something valuable and to park the AD Crusher until I can dragg him in group one and into action. The core-team explains itself and is the major problem of the list: Once someone knows Starmada, your Lt is dead. Two Crushers should be able to get the HVTs, while the AD one should kill the opponent carriers. As major beatsticks the Beta and the Raptor are taken.

 
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GROUP 1  9  / 1  / 1
 YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 8)
 DJANBAZAN Heavy Machine Gun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 34)
 DJANBAZAN (BS Attack ) AP Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 31)
 DJANBAZAN (BS Attack ) AP Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 31)
 SEKBAN (Specialist Operative) AP Rifle, Chain-colt(+1B) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 24)
 HAFZA (Lieutenant) Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 15)
 HAFZA Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 15)
 KAPLAN (Engineer, Deactivator) Combi Rifle, Adhesive Launcher, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
 KAPLAN Heavy Rocket Launcher, Light Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 23)
 LEILA SHARIF  (Hacker) Shock Marksman Rifle, E/M Mines, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 20)

GROUP 21
 YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 8)
 SHIHAB REMOTE Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 24)
 SHIHAB REMOTE Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 24)
 NAJJARUN Engineer Rifle, Light Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 15)

 6 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

No one can argue against a good DJanbazan-castle with two snipers and some fillers in the link, so AssaultUnicorn goes with it as well. To work a way forward towards the HVTs, a haris of Kaplans and Leila is screened by the HMG. One Yuan Yuan to support the Djanbazans where needed and one to cause some havoc where needed. To make absolutely shure nothing touches the HVTs, two Shihabs and a Najjarun are taken for additional defensive reasons.

The Ulusun Dislileri created a hostage situation in the office-area of an orbital to raise some pressure on a panoceanic company. Unfortunately, they took guard of the wrong officials here, so that the local Starmada-detachment had to interfer in this conflict. The ground level was quite obstructed but once you think about taking the upper level of the map, you really have to navigate through firelanes. Some billboards block the longest firelanes from side to side, but thats it. Each side has at least two HVTs on the elevated area.

I win the Lt-roll and go first.

The core-team is scattered in and around the right building in the south DZ with the ML on the roof. Everyone tries to look in a different direction and not be under the same template as his next buddy. Te Raptor is deployed in front of that building to have a 360° look into the unobscured center of my DZ. Each safe spot in the center of the zone is taken by a Varangian, a Fuzzbot and the Beta, while the other Fuzz and Varangian overwatch what is possible on the left. The LRL Crusher has a look on the far left flank.

QKs sniper-castle takes the building on the right with both snipers on the roof, overwatching the corridor on the right and where the HVTs are standing. The first Shihab is deployed inside the building, just for redundancy. A Najjarun on the central elevated area telegraphs something bad, having a great view on the center, while the haris takes the left behind the big building. The Djanbazan HMG also starts there.

My second Crusher is placed in the center of the map on the ground level, while a second Shihab appears next to the engineer.

Star 1: I probably loose two orders in group one. The central Varangian advances in the left corridor, setting up some smoke and dies to the Shihab. Under the smoke, the Beta can advance into the opponents half of the table, dropping the Shihab unconscious and out of LoF, then is stopped by both snipers overwatching a corridor too broad to move through. One sniper is shot prone but with that the Kaplan HRL dodges into LoF and I need to retreat. Back in the center, the Beta, both Crushers and the last Varangian enter suppressive fire.

QK 1: One Yuan Yuan joins the Djanbazan HMG, while the second one lands next to my core-team. This guy manages to pistol down my ML and a second Kappa before it gets stunned but still threatening my link.  The second one wrecks my Beta in CC and places a smoke grenade between the HMG and my LRL Crusher. The Djanbazan climbs up the tall building and takes out the LRL.

Star 2: If I won't slow things down now, I will get serious problems, so I throw the AD Crusher, now group one, behind the Djanbazan-core successfully. The boarding shotgun does its job, taking out the two Hafzas and the Sekban, as well as the Shihab in the building. Now the Raptor advances, forcing the other sniper prone. While the remaining Crusher shifts a bit towards the left to catch that Yuan Yuan, the third Kappa trades itself against the other Yuan Yuan.

QK 2: In LoL some CTs are burned to get the Yuan Yuan in CC with the Crusher. One sniper stands up, facing the panzerfaust of my AD Crusher and eats the inevitable crit, killing it directly. The remaining sniper shifts a bit to the center and the Najarun repairs the Shihab next to him.

Star 3:  All HVTs in range are still overwatched by the Shihab and the Najjarun, so the AD Crusher first scores net-undermine. The Raptor takes action again, killing the Shihab and the Najjarun, then synching one HVT but ends up with not enough orders to get it out of the exclusion zone.

QK 3:  AssaultUnicorns Yuan Yuans and my Crushers are no good combination in CC and it happens what always do: My Crusher shoves a d-charge into the booty-pockets of the Yuan Yuan, blowing it into pieces. Nevertheless, the left side is uncovered and the haris advances, synching two HVTs with the last orders.

Since AssaultUnicorn controls two HVTs in the exclusion zone and I have one and my classified, we tie 2-2. Withpout my AD Crusher in general and without his successful landing, I would have been totally screwed, since Starmada has no good options to deal with the ARO-castle AssautUnicorn deployed. As the Beta failed to crack a first serious wound into his force, the cheap attrition with his Yuan Yuans would have simpy  drained all my dynamic. With that, the haris would have been able to evacuate at least two HVTs with ease.
With this result, I will probably give the AD Crusher a closer look in the future. It feels a bit more versatile than the Santiago, since he also has parachutit, which I miss on the Santiago. Having more than 40 points falling somewhere into your DZ while there is an important job to be done somewhere else hurts too much. But with how Starmada is structured, the AD troops add the missing long-range coverage, since they telegraph a hard to predict thread and strike from new vectors.

Rescue itself of course turned out to be a tough but different mission. Once you got a bit bored from the usual ITS-stuff, one round of rescue may change it and give you new energy. In a tournament it is an interesting design-piece, since it requires some important list-decisions. AssaultUnicorn invested a bit too much in his defense, but that may be due to QK in general, since real forward-pieces are missing, while I had to push forward and distract from my weak defense.