Smart x Quatronic [DBS vs. Bakunin]

 

One of the goals of the IGIL was to leave room for other TTS-tournaments besides our league, like RAL, VaulSCs events or even some german ones. One of these were the latest iteration of Tristan228s 'Quadrate Kämpfer', where I wanted to bring back my DBS in some competitive games. Different from most of the recent TTS-tournaments, the maps were different for each pairing of each round. The first mission was Supremacy, where I faced Tristan228 himself on the former Field Test-map from VaulSC, which was slightly modified to fit with the needs of the other two missions.

REMtasy Rebirth 1
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GROUP 1  10  
 DRUZE (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Pitcher, D-Charges ( ) / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 30)
 DRUZE (Lieutenant) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 24)
 VALERYA GROMOZ (Hacker) Combi Rifle, Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 21)
 BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper Rifle ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 27)
 BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 12)
 BULLETEER Spitfire / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 23)
 DRUZE (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Pitcher, D-Charges ( ) / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28)
 DRUZE (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Pitcher, D-Charges ( ) / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28)
 PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 15)
 FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)

GROUP 24  / 1  
 CLIPPER DRONBOT Missile Launcher / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1.5 | 16)
 PEACEMAKER Heavy Shotgun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 20)
   AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 4)
 KAMEEL  (Hacker, EVO Hacking Device)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 15)
 KAMEEL  (Hacker, EVO Hacking Device)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 15)
 HUNZAKUT  (Forward Observer) Rifle, Light Shotgun, Shock Mines ( | Deployable Repeater) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18)

 6 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

I decided to take my REMtasy-list for this tournament, since it is quite flexible, the Clipper lets me reach most of the threads and I am more and more used to how the double EVO and double KHD works well. The plan was not that sophisticated here: Implement a network of repeaters in the midfield, dig in the Peacemaker and the KHDs somewhere to secure the zones and then let the Clipper do the clean-up.

 
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GROUP 1  9  / 1  / 1
 REAKTION ZOND Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 25)
 VERTIGO ZOND Missile Launcher / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1.5 | 17)
 TSYKLON Feuerbach, Pitcher / PARA CC Weapon(-6). (1 | 36)
 RIOT GRRL (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, Blitzen / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 29)
 RIOT GRRL Spitfire / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 33)
 RIOT GRRL Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
 BRAN DO CASTRO Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 31)
 ZERO (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)
 MODERATOR (Lieutenant) Combi Rifle / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 9)
 MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 6)

GROUP 21
 ZOE & Π-WELL undefined / undefined. (0 | 44)
   ZOE (Hacker) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 25)
   PI-WELL Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 19)
 MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 6)
 ZONDBOT PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)
 ZONDBOT PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 3)
 SALYUT (Deactivator, Repeater)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 8)

 5 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

One thing you get to used to, is the fact that there is always a faction that can do DBS stuff better and more precisely. This game should display this situation perfectly, where Tristan228 brought a quite similar list regarding the plan of nuking everything out of the quadrants. Unfortunately Bakunin has some better support with Zoe & Pi-Well, Riot-Girls and Zeros by hand. 

As mentioned, the map was a slightly modified iteration of VaulSCs Field Test-map. An objective room was added in the center, creating an additional long firelane through the center, which made the central ARO-position in the north side even more powerful and LoS on the map even more difficult. But that was seen to late and I fell to my earlier experiences on the original map.

Bakunin wins the Lt-roll and I deploy first in the south, also going first.

To utilize the ARO-position on the right, my core-team together with the Clipper is deployed around the building there. The EVOs are scattered behind, while the center is taken by the Pathfinder, a KHD and the Fugazi. On the left the Peacemaker and the second KHD should take care of intruders.

Adversary to my core-team a TR-bot starts, backed up by a Zondbot. The second Zondbot accompanis the Riot-core with the Tsyklon on the central building. Zoe hides behint it, the SML-REM on the left, also overwatching some firelanes. Pi-Well should run up the left, together with a Morlock. The second one is on the right and one camo-marker starts in the center.

My Bulleteer should take the right side and a camo marker infiltrates on the left right in front of my DZ.

DBS 1: I notice that I am quite pinned with most of my tools, so I ned to get rid of the TR-bot and at least the Tsyklon, in best cases completely. The boosted Bulleteer runs up the the right, shoots down the Tsyklon and enters suppressife fire with the TR in ZoC. Of course Gromoz has the wrong codes downloaded and fails to spotlight it. Both KHDs advance cybermasked and the Clipper needs to be rescued from the rooftop.

Bakunin 1: Zoe repairs the Tsyklon, which lands a repeater next to the Bulleteer. Bakunin is better in coding, so the bot is targeted, scoring telemetry, then shot by the Riot spitfire. Pi-Well advances, activating the first console after the left Morlock gets stunned in the midfield.

DBS 2: Since all the ARO-pieces are still in place, I continue with turn one plan: Shooting things down. The Brawler MSR takes the job, downing both REMs and the repeater. The Hunzakut advances in the midfield but fails to get rid of the advanced Morlock. While trying to gun down the central marker, he is shot by a Riot. The central KHD takes over, eleminating the Morlock but also getting shot by the chain rifle.

Bakunin 2: Again the Tsyklon returns but then is finally wrecked by my MSR Brawler. The remaining Morlock discovers the last KHD but is stunned before doing any damage. SO the Zero KHD tries to hack this out and eats a crit in return. This streak is continued by Pi Well advancing and getting also stunned and isolated. To crown the situation, the core-team advances and fires a medikit (there needs to be a Moderator paramedic or something like that) at the Zero, which hits but only breaks his neck completely.

DBS 3: Well, that last turn was in my favour, but if that really helps is the question. I still have not enough pieces left to a) move into the quadrants and b) gun down the threads there. So I try to maximize my OPs. The Pathfinder shoots down the last Morlock and advances on the right. In the second try, it manages to activate a console. Pi Well is nuked off the table and Bran manages to shoot down the Peacemaker, which settles the result of the game.

I loose 10-2 in this first round of the Quadratekämpfer-tournament. Some bad decisions during deployment and missing trust in my MSR Brawler shaped the game and set me on the backfoot after turn one. Of course, the Bulleteer would have been able to wreck the Tsyklon and also the TR-bot, but thanks to remote presence and the ability to fall prone now, that could not be expected. Starting with my core-team would have been more reliable and less risky and also would have left me with enough orders to do what I always should do first with this list: Setting up a decent repeater-network. Normally I am not efficient enough with killing in turn one, but with this list, that should not be the goal. But instead doing what I always do, I switch to the opposite here and start killing stuff...Crazy world.

Let's start a cyberwar [Operation Lung Tien game 3]

While at least a small beachhead could be established on the orbital by Yu Ying-troops, the next target was to destabilize internal and external defensive capabilities. Coupled with severe losses, most of the field generators could be destroyed. Again the Yu Ying contingent, this time driven by the energy of revenge, carried most of the success, whiping out most of the JSA-troops sent to defend the generator-bay of the orbital. On the other side of that area the Foreign Comany conceded to a Bakunin force with unclear recordings of that shootout.
If the operation shall gain new momentum and not get stuck before at least basic functionalities of the orbital are disabled, a serious shutdown of internal and external communication and weakening of defensive strength is needed now. With inreased remote-support, Druze security teams now are sent towrds the main server-farm, defended by Bakunin-infowar specialists.

The mission this time had two consoles on the center line and one antenna in the center of the table. Objectives are to control consoles, activate the antenna and kill more army points and specialists. To make things a bit wicked, each player has two small deployment boxes on the north and south edge, so that each player deploys on both sides of the table and the game evolves from left to right and vice versa. Also the deployment of infiltrators is limited to the edges of that boxes.

REMtasy Rebirth 1
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GROUP 1  10  
 DRUZE (Hacker, Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Pitcher, D-Charges ( ) / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 30)
 DRUZE (Lieutenant) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 24)
 VALERYA GROMOZ (Hacker) Combi Rifle, Zapper, Pitcher / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 21)
 BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper Rifle ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 27)
 BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 12)
 BULLETEER Spitfire / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 23)
 DRUZE (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Pitcher, D-Charges ( ) / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28)
 DRUZE (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Pitcher, D-Charges ( ) / Viral Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 28)
 PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 15)
 FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)

GROUP 24  / 1  
 CLIPPER DRONBOT Missile Launcher / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1.5 | 16)
 PEACEMAKER Heavy Shotgun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 20)
   AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 4)
 KAMEEL  (Hacker, EVO Hacking Device)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 15)
 KAMEEL  (Hacker, EVO Hacking Device)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0.5 | 15)
 HUNZAKUT  (Forward Observer) Rifle, Light Shotgun, Shock Mines ( | Deployable Repeater) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18)

 6 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

Instead of writing a list designed to the mission, I was curious to recreate my N3 REMtasy-list, which turned out quite flexible. The defensive hacking-core should provide some long-range ARO and do the work of long-shot pitchers and ARO-hacking, while the KHDs can set up additional pitchers and strike out opposed hackers and free the path for the Bulleteer. They also provide me two more marker-troops to rush places in turn two and three. While heavy lifting is done by a boosted Bulleteer, the Pathfinder could be a solid back-up in the lategame. Hunzakut and Peacemaker to deliver surgical and early pitchers, the Clipper to either be a real thread or force the opponent into psychological pain by avoiding him. Why the second Kameel? If I need to rush my Bulleteer into an uncleared midfield, I want him to have an active firewall.

DF03
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GROUP 1  7  / 1  / 1
 VOSTOK FTO (Mimetism [-6]) Mk12(+1 Dam) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 44)
 CLOCKMAKER Combi Rifle, D-Charges ( | GizmoKit [+1B]) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 18)
 MODERATOR (Infinity Spec-Ops) (Hacking Device(Hacker), Minelayer(Shock Mines), Doctor) Combi Rifle / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 10)
 MODERATOR Combi Rifle / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 9)
 MODERATOR (Lieutenant) Combi Rifle / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 9)
 CHIMERA Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Eclipse Grenades / Viral CC Weapon, Pistol. (0 | 20)
   3X PUPNIK DA CC Weapon. (0 | 3)
 ZERO (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 22)
 TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)

GROUP 27  
 SIN-EATER Heavy Machine Gun / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 32)
 KUSANAGI Spitfire / Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (1.5 | 42)
 REVEREND HEALER Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, EXP CC Weapon. (0 | 33)
 REVEREND CUSTODIER (Hacker, Hacking Device Plus) Boarding Shotgun ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 30)
 SALYUT (Deactivator, Repeater)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 8)
 TRANSDUCTOR ZOND Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)
 SALYUT (Deactivator, Repeater)  ( ) / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 8)

 3.5 SWC | 299 Points
Open in Infinity Army

On the Bakunin-side a Vostok-core including a battle-hardened spec-op could bruteforce his qay through whatever there is left by the Überfallkommando. They are protected by a Zero KHD and the group two Reverend-link. Kusanagi to shoot things, the Custodier to hack things and the Healer to keep them alive.

The picture this times shows the centerline vertically, so that player a deploys in the south corners, player b in the north corners. Each side has a more obstructed box and a more open one. The long lane from north east to south west is obstructed by some walls and containers, but is also weakened by the missions special rule that each shot over 32" fails automatically.

I win the Lt-roll and decide to deploy second in the south, while my opponent chooses the second turn.

His Vostok-team takes the north-east box with better protection and available roofs, screened by a camo-marker. The Reverends together with the Überfallkommando start in the east box with Kusanagi standing directly next to the Chimera, a bit more advanced.

The core-team scatters around the building in the east with hackers and EVOs on the rooftop and the ABH as well as the sniper on the ground to add some flexibility. They are joined by the Clipper, just in case. Everything else hides in the west, only the Fugazi having a look on the midfield.

A Sin-Eater protects Kusanagi on the east, while my Peacemaker also gets on that side to deliver the repeater and some stress for the nuns, if I can't handle them properly.

DBS 1: I lose two orders from group one, but land a repeater in front of Kusanagi with ease. The spotlight succeeds, but it takes four missiles to blast her away. In the progress, the Chimera manages to dodge out of blast-range. Out of orders, I shoot a pitcher in the left midfield and cybermask the KHDs coordinated. The Pathfinder takes a first run towards the centerline to be prepared for later action.

Bakunin 1: The Überfallkommando takes care of my repeater on the east and get the Chimera spotlighted. Meanwhile the Vostok takes the roof of the bigges building on the west, dropping my Fugazi and that pitcher, but failing to down my Hunzakut there. The pitchers of the nuns break while landing.

DBS 2: The next missiles drops the Chimera unconscious. Now the infowar intensifies with one of my KHDs dropping the HD+ using the Pathfinders repeater. On the way to shoot a pitcher next to the Vostok, the Healer dodges in LoF, but fails to wound the KHD. A pitcher is landed. With some orders left but no idea how to wreck the Vostok properly, the MSR climbs the building and wrecks the Sin-Eater, a Flashbot on that side and the Reverend Healer.

Bakunin 2: Finally the experience of the last missions pays off, as the spec op breaks free from the link, rushing into the midfield and reviving the HD+ as well as the Chimera. Also he plants a mine next to the central antenna. The Clockmaker starts his run towards the north console.

DBS 3: It is time for the Pathfinder to shine. Within repeater-range, the KHD again drops the HD+ and the Pathfinder manages to shoot the spec op, but the mine is enough to disable him. With activated cybermask, the KHD sneaks into the center, but fails to activate the antenna and gets shot by the Vostok. Gromoz grabs my own console and the Chimera dodges two missiles.

Bakunin 3: While the Clockmaker securs the north console, the Chimera smokes up the antenna, which is activated by the Zero KHD in the third attempt. This also secures my HVT, which stands nearby.

Since I could not hold the center good enough, I lose 5-6 in a quite tight game. High command this time promotes myself, while Kusanagi and the spec op can be recovered. Again, the main objectives could be achieved, but only with high costs, risking the further prolonging of the operation.

N4 Escalation League Part 2

Even with a lockdown-light at the moment in Germany, a lot of work and several games in TTS increase the backlog and deny the time to write down all the battlereports. So the second part of the report about our Escalation League took a bit longer than expected.

 

Round 2: Hunting Party

While the first round for me turned out quite nice, I hoped to continue this in round two. The choice of mission boosted this, since I am the only one with proper experience of these nieche-missions in our local group. Also my opponent, Bakunin, lost his first round horribly, so what could go wrong?

At the time I was preparing these lists, I thought that I could build a Varangian-haris, what is not the case. So I wanted to slinghot Shona into CC with this link and gluing things down. The Lawkeeper was the major beatstick, utilizing his speed to remove obstacles from the perfect position. In case something goes wrong, there is a Beta spitfire and a full linked Psi COp MMR as last defense. Minimizing on specialists here should reduce the opportunities for my opponent to score some points.

The haris of Reverends is a general appearance in his Bakunin-lists. For Hunting Party, their high PH is a real benefit. I am not sure about the composition there, maybe Kusanagi was also in that list to add some firepower. Besides that, everything else is gathered in a core-link build around a Riot spitfire as major beatstick. A Morlock and a Zero KHD should cause some trouble besides that.

The map has some niece elevated spots in the center, topped by a tower in the south deployment zone. I manage to go first and get the south deployment zone.

The haris with Shona takes the right side, since I can simply smoke the edge and advance there. The core-team is scattered on the left around the corner with the Lt high on the tower to be safe. As a back-up, the Beta takes the center.

The Moderator-core is also deployed on the right, the Reverend-haris on the left. A Morlock screens the core-links.

My Badlands Patrol takes the left center and gets a camo marker infront of him on the center line.

Starmada 1: Mr. Mad Cop advances, which triggers the Zero KHD, placing a mine. The Psi COp glues him to prevent further problems and then disables the mine.With the next movement, the Badlands Patrol gets shot by a Moderator. To get a better position, the Psi COp advances a bit, which is used by the Zero to reset. On the left the Varangians advance and enter suppressife fire under smoke.

Bakunin 1: The Riot Grrl utilizes her visor, executing both Varangians and Shona without any problems. A new mine is placed by the Zero, which fails to activate the console.

Starmada 2: A first shot of the Beta is dodged by the Zero, which leaves the LoF. The next four orders only scratch the armour of the killer-Moderator and the Beta needs to retreat. Before entering suppressive fire, he recieves a first wound.

Bakunin 2: First the Zero activates the console, then he drops a mine next to my link. The following shot downs the Psi COp. I am out of options here, so the game ends.

While I loose 7-0, our Newbie scores the second win against Shasvasti, taking a good place to win the whole league, but still leaving everything open for the last round.
Would the Patrol have reached his target and burn down the Reverends, I would have been in a much better place. Loosing him to a Moderator with combi rifle was bad. Having the Zero unglued that fast was bad, too. But when the Beta fails to kill the Moderator several times, things were gone. My smoke-dodge plan with the Varangians failed totally, since I misjudged the new potential of MSV 1. Being able to see through smoke, even with the modifier, limits the potential of smoke-tricks drastically.

Round three: Highly Classified:

Luckily we could use the last possible date before the second lockdown to end the league physically, of course with enough distance and safety-measures. So it went against WinterFor with the aim to score a major victory and hope to win the league with enough objective points.

The anchor of this list is the Beta-haris with two Psi COps, since this team can shoot nearly everything and score several objectives on the way. Saladin should grant me some more flexibility. The list also was created before I knew about the missing haris/core for Varangians. So one needs to go on his own, while the other one guards Shona on her way forward. Parvati rounds everything in terms of classifieds and once two turns are played, the Santiago should be able to wipe out whatever is left.

Due to the time and an advanced time for the game in that evening, I am not really sure about some points of the list here. There was a Fusilier core with Karhu and Orc for classifieds and to do some shooting, a Boygg for more shooting and a MSR Nisse for reactive shooting. To do some other stuff, a Nokken is included, as well as a Pathfinder. There may have been a further heavy weapon, but I don't remember properly.

Our big shopping center cut the right into two pieces, while the left was taken by smaller terrain pieces. There was no deploying on the higher roofs allowed, but the north got slightly better ARO positions, especially into the midfield.

I somehow need to go second, starting in the south.

Two REMs, a Nokken MSV and a heavy gun take the left, while the core, together with the Boyg and the Pathfinder start centered or on the right. The HVT is deployed on the right, behind the bus.

Together with Saladin, my haris takes the right side. Parvati hides in the center and Shona together with two Varangians are deployed on the left. The HVT also is on the left side.

The Nisse MSR is deployed on the high building on the left side and my Crusher guards my HVT in suppressive fire.

WinterFor 1: The Pathfinder crosses the table, scoring identity check on my HVT. On the right, the Boygg climbs up the shopping center and does a wound on my Beta, while everything else dodges out of sight. Some units advance a bitand the Boygg enters suppressive fire.

Starmada 1: My hacker scans the Boygg out of SF for datascan, so that the Beta can gun him down easily. On the left the Crusher finishs the Pathfinder and the MSR, then enters suppressive fire on his own.

WinterFor 2: A Fusilier hacker scores datascan on my Crusher, then the core team advances. The Karhu repairs the Pathfinder, scoring test run.

Starmada 2: The haris team advances, cutting through the whole core-team and scoring extreme prejudice on the way. The Psi COps then score identity check and follow up on the HVT.

WinterFor 3: Someone shoots down my exposed Psi COp hacker and scores extreme prejudice on him, making the game a tie.

Meanwhile the match between Bakunin and Shasvasti also ended in a tie, leading to the result that our newbie won the league with 7 OPs, followed by myself thanks to some more OPs and 4 TPs, while Bakunin took the third place, also with 4 TP and Shasvasti on the last place with 1 TP.

In general the league was a good start into the new edition, since everybody had the chance to include new skills and units slowly and could focus on new interactions in the first games. I did not expect that everyone of us goofs at least one game, mixing up the ranking completely. Only our newbie failed to mess things up. So now the consideration for lacking experience is gone and the big guns are taken in the future. But of course only strong games let you grow. For the future, we need to find some ways to deal with Covid during the winter, but the next project for our small group is on the horizon!

Into the new era

After we all get our hands on the new rules and profiles of N4, there is only one big question: How does it turn out? The timing of our next game day couldn't be better, so I had the chance to make my first N4 game only one day after the new rules hit the floor. DBS got a bit gifted with the new edition, at least that is my view here. The new fireteam-options smooth things a lot, some new profiles and changes also solve some issues in the overall game and the new hacking-game is a big deal for DBS. Of course, some profiles stay behind their potential (I am looking at you, Arslan!), but that isn't such a big deal as it was in N3. The first game was against Bakunin in Quadrant Control.

To reduce the amount of new things a bit and get a better sense for the core rules, I started with my normal list-type. A core-team with some cheerleaders and the Brawler MSR, something as back-up weapon, two Hunzakuts, the Peacemaker to punch needed holes and the obligatory REMs. With that, I had enough points left to include Tao Wu for reasons. Since hacking is the major thing for me, I focussed on this. two hackers should target whatever I need and whatever possible, so that the two LGLs can use it in active and all my other weapons could benefit from this, too. The EVO is needed for assisted fire, but the loss of some of the old programms hurts a lot. In addition to this, I am quite salty about the loss of sat-locks and sniffers, what reduces the overall value of Pathfinders and Fugazis here a lot.

My opponent took the same approach as I did and recreated his current N3-list, using some of the new things (the Riot-link with the TM here and the quite flexible but not well defined Reverend-core). Three heavy hitters covered in bodies and supported by Morlocks and Zeros to sneak around potential problems seems to be the major plan here.

Since I have the feeling of changed favoured rangebands, what should be tested in reality, I tried to set up a map with a more open left side and a more obstructed right side. Initially the big wall in the center wasn't there, creating a nice firelane, but that seemed to be a bit too risky.

I won the Lt roll and decided to deploy second in the south, planning for going second in general.

Bakunin deploys the Reverend-link in the center together with the Moderator and one Morlock. The other one takes the left, while the right is covered with a camo-marker and the haris of TM and Riots.

Since I won't get any grenades or hacking-attacks through the tinbot on the Riots, I plan to gun them down and deploy my core and duo-link togehter on the right. A Pathfinder and a a Fugazi take care of the flanks. The FO Hunzakut is deployed in front of them. The LGL takes the left middle, backed up by the other Pathfinder.

A second camo-marker appears on the right and my Peacemaker takes the middle left to threaten the Reverends with the Auxbot. The MR-Riot gets datatracker, as well as my SMR Druze.

Bakunin 1: The central Morlock trades himself for the Auxbot and gets targeted on the way. On the right, one Zero tries to sneak towards my link, gets targeted and fails to wound my SMR. The Reverends advance in the center, shooting a pitcher next to my Peacemaker, but fail to hack him. The TM totally fails on my MSR and goes unconscious. In the end, the other Zero places a mine next to my FO Hunzakut.

Druze 1: I am in an unexpected good shape. Three grenades are needed to drop the Zero in front of my DZ. I fail to target the other trough a repeater from the FO Hunzakut and shoot him directly then with my LGL Druze. I try to free my Peacemaker and aproach the Reverends over the left side but get immobilized and fail several times to reset him. The right Pathfinder gets assisted fire and enters suppressive fire.

My datatracker is still in my DZ and we tie on quadrants: 1-2

Bakunin 2: The Riots in a reformed link advance and shoot down my MSR, followed by the Pathfinder. That frees the path for the Reverends, taking down my Peacemaker and the LGL Hunzakut and struggling with their position. While the healer closes up to the TM, the HMG gets targeted by my Brawler. 

Druze 2: The link is refilled with the KHD. The SMR now advances into my near right quadrant and the LGL shoots down the spitfire-Riot and kills the HMG-Moira with a critical speculative grenade.On the left I do a bad trade with my Pathfinder against the Morlock. The Fugazi needs to advance into the left quadrant.

Both DTs are in a quadrant, but the Riot is too far advanced and stands in my quadrant, making it a 3-3 now.

Bakunin 3: A clever positioning of the Reverends on the left side could tie the game. The Healer revives the Taskmaster, which tries to gun down my LGL. A hit from my LGL drops the Healer and the next shot kills the TM again. The Fugazi manages to take cover against the Reverends and the Riot Dt goes back into the far right quadrant.

Druze 3: I only need to drop the datatracker, so I send my Hunzakut, causing the first wound with the template mode, then shooting the last one normally. 

Now I control more quadrants and one with my datatracker. By killing the last Riot, I secure the HVT, making it a 7-3 victory with only a few Reverends left.

Our first turns were quite bad on both ends but I ended up with a bit more luck and better positions. The new infowar in general and the availability of hackers and repeaters in DBS then tipped the game into my direction. On the other hand, the new crit-mechanic and the reduced pointcosts for armour make it really hard to drop units with multiple wounds and high arm in cover. The Riot-spitfire recieved a double-crit and one additional hit, doing three wounds. Otherwise it would have taken longer to drop her, causing major problems. The negative mods for resets out of different states are a real risk, while the new targeted state and interaction with speculative fire balance it out a bit. On the other hand we forgot about the +3 bonus on BS for all my speculative grenades. Nevertheless, the LGL-Druze now is a real blast! Normals grenades are a big thing for him, the x-visor also and the interaction with the complete list have sold him completly to me! In the start of the second turn, I felt a bit undergunned what would have been a big problem in N3. Now I could compensate this with the new link-flexibility and the support of the rest.

DBS finally plays and feels like it is supposed to be and will be a real opponent now!

Caving In (WinterFor vs. Bakunin)

While there were many things to do, it took some time to get a new game in. So close before N4 will drop, we planned to play some more irregular stuff. For this, AssaultUnicorn from the CB-forum has created two custom missions for the moment. To help a bit with playtesting here, we chose "Cave in", as it seemed quite funny to deal with Taigha Creatures emerging from everywhere. But before we go into the game, I have to admit, that the concept was a bit more complicated than a normal ITS-mission, so some things were played wrong and not read carefully.

Here is the mission-description:

 

My opponent for this was my local sparring partner. I expected some Aleph-stuff here, but since the mission requires a quite unique set-up, that did not matter that much:

 Cave in
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

10  
 VARG (Minelayer) K1 Marksman Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0.5 | 30)
 VARG (Sensor) Combi Rifle, Heavy Flamethrower, WildParrot / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
 ORC (Mountain Terrain, Climbing Plus) MULTI Rifle + 1 TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 44)
 MAQUINISTA (WinterFor) (CH: Mimetism, Multiterrain) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
 KNIGHT OF JUSTICE Lieutenant Spitfire / Heavy Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (1.5 | 51)
 LOCUST Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Breaker Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Shock CCW, Knife. (0 | 35)
 SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
 BØYG Mk12 / Heavy Pistol, Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 55)
 FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
 FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)

 3.5 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

This time, DBS was no option. Since some D-charges are needed here and DBS have no great access to them, I switched to an other faction. I was not sure if I should play WinterFor or O-12 with some proxing, but in the end I went for Svalarheima, since I could field a fully painted list here. The core-team should be the multi-tool to close one hole, then stomping the cave and doing things with the civvies. To get some tools into this link, the Vargs are included. The Locust should rally for some more holes on his own and disable the Wardriver in the cave, so that it won't harrass my HIs on the way. The Boyg appeared as a nice back-up and strong hammer to change every problem into a nail.

 Cave In
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 6  
 MODERATOR Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 10)
 MODERATOR Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)
 MODERATOR Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)
 MODERATOR Spitfire / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 15)
 MODERATOR Spitfire / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 15)
 TASKMASTER Boarding Shotgun, Pulzar, CrazyKoalas / Heavy Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 43)

GROUP 26  / 1  / 1
 ZERO (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
 PROWLER Boarding Shotgun, Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 31)
 PROWLER Spitfire, D-Charges / Pistol, CCW. (2 | 36)
 KUSANAGI Spitfire / Pistol, Shock CCW. (2 | 43)
 REVEREND CUSTODIER Hacker (Assault Hacking Device UPGRADE: Icebreaker) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 32)
 REVEREND HEALER Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, EXP CCW. (0 | 32)
 MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 6)

 6 SWC | 300 Points
Open in Infinity Army

No LI as it was supposed for this, what is a small bummer. That gives a flexibility, I miss in my list. So there were some tools to deny any area to me and to push forward in the same place, like the core-team and the Taskmaster. Three camo-markers should be able to deal with the mission and avoid attacks by some wild Taighas. The haris of Reverends was the tool for the cave here, even with the Healer and her exp-ccw as only opening.

With not much mountain-terrain on my opponents site, we gathered the normal terrain. The two towers in the south were quite tempting for some snipers but the DZ in general had reduced room to deploy a full core-link. The emergence-holes are displayed as consoles here.

Bakunin wins the Lt-roll and chooses to go first. I wanted to deny the sniper-towers, not thinking enough about a good deployment of my link, so I choose the south DZ.

The Moderator-core is deployed in the center with the haris in front of them between the bus and the cave. One camo markers starts on the left, two on the right.

My core-team scatters behind the boxes on the right, quite open. The mine goes a bit advanced to cover the Taigha. The Boyg hides on the left with the Locust next to the emergence hole on the tower. That is reinforced by both Fugazis.

A Taskmaster overwatches the left hole and I place the Sierra on the right with the same purpose.

Bakunin 1: Two Taighas emerge on the holes in front of the Bakunin DZ. The Morlock sets up smoke on the left hole, while the core-team approaches and clears out the right Taigha. A Prowler on that side needs two attempts to seal that hole, while an other Prowler on the left one does the job in one try. The Moderators advance and take out one Fugazi. A pitcher is shot in front of my KoJ. The Custodier tries to hack my KoJ, which resets and due to bad placing, is fried by the Wardriver in return. The Healer picks it up in the second attempt. The Taskmaster bodyblocks the left Taigha.

WinterFor 1: The left over Taigha fails to berserk the Taskmaster and is wrecked in return, while two new ones ermerge near my DZ. The Sierra clears out the right one. Now the Engineer crosses some distance and deploys D-charges on the right hole and the cave-entry. On his way he tries some shots against the Taigha and the pitcher. The pitcher is more sturdy than the Taigha, so it takes one order too much to clear them both. The core is reformed.

Bakunin 2: Kusanagi shoots down the Sierra and the Healer does one wound to the cave-door. By shooting at my KoJ the Moderator spitfire inflicts one wound but dies in return. A new Pitcher is set up there and the left over Moderators as well as the left Prowler enter suppressive fire.

WinterFor 2: Since the holes on my side are not sealed, two new Taighas appear. The left is taken out by my Orc, taking a wound in return. The flamer-Varg leaves the link to clear out the pitcher and the other Taigha, surviving the chain rifle. With his flamethrower he burns out two more Moderators and dies in return. I reform the link and the Locust cybermasks himself after detonating all the D-charges and doing one wound on the cave-entry.

Bakunin 3: The Taskmaster finally opens the cave and shoots the Wardriver. The Healer with her combat-heels has some problems with the mountain-terrain but manages to recover all civvies and guide them deep into the DZ.

WinterFor 3: Things are nearly done here, since I have to kill all the civvies far away to change the game. The Locust is not equipped for longer ranges and the right is denied by Kusanagi, so I choose the Boyg for a last try. He manages to shoot his way through the remaining Moderators, tanking several shots from the Prowler. Nearly in the enemy DZ, he forces the Taskmaster into cover and shoots the first civvie. With my last order I fail to shoot Kusanagi in the back and finally get shot in return by the spitfire Prowler.

With all holes sealed and one civvie killed, I loose 4-8. I wasted too many orders on the Taighas and the pitchers in special, which took me the opportunity to fry the Wardriver and maybe breach into the cave on my own. Together with the limited combat-group, that broke my neck here. Nevertheless the sturdyness of most of my units equaled for a nearly non-existing defensive play and the performance of the Boyg was outstanding. His shooting-abilities paired with hyper-dynamics is really useful to start some unexpeted rambo-runs. Maybe a Nisse-haris would have been a better choice here, backed up by a defensive core, a Locust and maybe a Nokken, since then I would have been able to deal with the Reverends more easily.

Regarding the mission, it was not really clear who owns which Taighas and how they should react. We concluded that everyone controls the Taighas emerging on the opposite side and that they only follow enemy models but ARO on everyone. Besides that it felt a bit imbalanced to close the holes nearly for free, while you need to take great efforts to crack the cave. With 3 STR and ARM 6, the doors are really sturdy. Maybe some reduction of ARM (to 4 maybe) would be great here. Nevertheless it was a nice experience and an very interesting game!

A wicked week (four reports)

Again, there are some games to report. Some days off in this time open quite some space for interesting games.

Game 1:

Somehow I got a real itch to field the Al Fasid and @AssaultUnicorn was searching for an opponent to test his LI Dashat-list in the recent mission for the TTS-league. So I took this chance and clicked together something that feeled like a good-stuff vanilla Haqqislam-list but felt quite potent somehow.

AUFasidLI
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

10
FASID HMG + (Smoke and Normal) Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 53)
ÁYYĀR (Surprise Shot L2) Shock Marksman Rifle / 2 Viral Pistols, CCW, Knife. (0 | 39)
MUKHTAR (Multispectral Visor L2) Red Fury, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 37)
NAHAB Red Fury, Nanopulser / Pistol, Viral CC Weapon, Knife. (1 | 36)
FARZAN (Marksmanship L1, Forward Observer) Rifle + Light Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)
HAWWA' Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)
FIDAY Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW, Knife. (0 | 31)
SHIHAB REMOTE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
HAFZA Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
NAFFATÛN Rifle + Heavy Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)

5.5 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

Since I took the one big guy here, I saw no reason for not including a second HI and I always wanted to test the Ayyar, since he is a really cool guy! The rest was filled with troops good for scoring different things and able to do several things at the same time while being mobile enough to strike where necessary.

Ball Buster
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

10
HÚLÁNG Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, E/M Grenades, D-Charges / Pistol, Monofilament CC Weapon, Knife. (0 | 44)
SAITO TOGAN Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW, Knife. (0 | 39)
FASID HMG + (Smoke and Normal) Light Grenade Launcher, Antipersonnel Mines / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (2 | 53)
ZHĒNCHÁ (Forward Observer) Submachine Gun, D.E.P., Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34)
RUI SHI Spitfire / Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 20)
ZÚYŎNG (Tactical Awareness) HMG / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (1.5 | 38)
ZÚYǑNG Lieutenant Combi Rifle / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0 | 27)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
VALERYA GROMOZ Hacker (Hacking Device UPGRADE: Expel) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)

5.5 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

There was a rock-solid core-link with a Zuyong HMG and the Rui Shi as heavy hitters, backed up by two ABHs to keep the cost down. I was not surprised to see an Al Fasid on the other side, this time, since I know he is a fan of this big guy and I anounced using him before. But here was a Hulang as omnipotent gunfighter to support him. The package was rounded by a Zhencha to reach the dangerous spots if needed.

I don't know where AussaultUnicorn dug out this table, but it was a quite fun one with a lot of forest-terrain and so with a lot of low-vis and saturation-zones.
I won the Lt-roll and decided to go first. AssaultUnicorn picked the north DZ for his deployment.

The left side is covered by my Ayyar in Holo2-state, my Shihab and the Hawwa in camo-state, while the Farzan takes the center of my deployment. The Al Fasid is placed in total cover on the right with his mine on the flank. The Hafza is disguised as a second Naffatun. Both of them have positions in the right backfield. The Mukhtar should go on the left, a bit centered. My Fiday is deployed in the building on the left near the opposite DZ.

The Zuyong-team took the right building with Valeria outside of the link as reserve-filler if needed. On the right, the Fasid overwatches the firelane towards my DZ and his mine covers the backfield.

I choose not to deploy my Nahab, while AssaultUnicorn deploys a Hulang overwatching my Fiday. While I nominate my Fasid as datatracker, Gromoz becomes the other one.

Haqq 1: The Mukhtar advances through the left building and drops the Al Fasid with ease. Now the Ayyar advances but can only force the Hulang in cover. On his way he scores a classified on the HVT on this side. The Ayyar and my Mukhtar enter suppressive fire.

Dashat 1: The Hulang imm-2ed my Ayyar with an EM-grenade and takes out my Mukhtar. After activating the central console, the HVT on the left is replaced and the link shuffles a bitt o gain more LoF in the center.

Haqq 2: My Hawwa starts and tries to spotlight the HVT but fails several times until Saito Togan appears and engages him. With his last order, the Hawwa succeeds to carbonite the Hulang. This is used by my Fiday to clear out Al-Fasids mine and the Hulang but gets shot by the Rui Shi. My Nahab enters on the near right side but gets critically glued by the ABH.

Dashat 2: Saito kills my Hawwa and the Zhencha approaches in the midfield, placing a mine and activating the right console. Then he treats back in camo state.

Haqq 3: My Farzan activates the central console but failst o drop Saito. Now my Fasid advances a bit and drops the Rui Shi on his way.

Dashat 3: Saito gets his knife into my Farzan and finally finishs my Ayyar in CC. The Zuyong HMG forces my Fasid into cover after he recieves one wound. Valeria scans one additional HVT and the Zhencha fails with his DEP on my wounded Fasid.

With 9 – 2 and 180 to 130 remaining points, @AssaultUnicorn wins this game. His Hulang was quite scary and took more ressources than expected. In general, this was a very cool game and the list performed quite good, since everyone was able tot o his job…Besides the Nahab. There was a nice spot next tot he Fasid and outside the DZ for him, but here the Fasids mine was gold. Maybe he could have killed the Fasid in one order, but with the next ordert he mine would have probably taken the Nahab out, so I needed an other plan.
The only problem here was that there were so many cool and good units in the game, that the Fasid had no need to roll out or was not the best option for most of the jobs. Yes, he is a big toolbox and a great unit, but at least after the addition of the Ramah-units, badly optimized in everything, there is always someone better in a single task. So you really need to create a place for him in Vanilla. In Druze, that should be something different, but maybe he ist o good there with the smoke-launcher and minelayer.

Game 2:

This one was a test-game for our event-match against my regular local opponent, who is also playing Bakunin in this event. I was not happy with this, since Bakunin sucks and in a different way than Ramah does, but it was a nice opportunity to test the list for the mission.
We played Supplies like it is in ITS 11 but with a 16" deep infection-zone around the center-line. On each roll of 19 or 20, you get infected like it is written in the viral outbreak mission. So failing to grab a box can be very dangerous and the mission becomes quite lethal.

LISupplies
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

9 1
SAITO TOGAN (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW, Knife. (0 | 40)
HUNZAKUT (Forward Observer, Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 18)
PEACEMAKER Heavy Shotgun + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
SCARFACE & CORDELIA TURNER . (1.5 | 78)
SCARFACE 2 Mk12, Heavy Rocket Launcher / AP CCW. (1.5 | 61)
SCARFACE Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. ()
CORDELIA TURNER Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 17)
NASMAT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
VALERYA GROMOZ Hacker (Hacking Device UPGRADE: Expel) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
ARSLAN Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Light Shotgun / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 36)
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
DRUZE HMG, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29)

6 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

I wanted to have at least two fast specialists to grab the boxes, so the Hunzakut made it into the list and Saito thanks to his TO and infiltration abilities. To fill the points, Scarface was included and since I needed a good engineer and someone to buff my REMs, Valeria should accompany Scarface here. The Peacemaker was intended as a corner-guard if I go second, so the heavy shotgun seemed to be the way to go. I didn't want to leave without MSV this time, so the Brawler-MSR was included with at least two Druze to form a small but flexible link. Arslan as point-filler and the HMG for reasons.

Jurisdictional Command of Bakunin
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

10
PROWLER (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, CCW. (0.5 | 33)
REVEREND CUSTODIER Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 34)
REVEREND CUSTODIER Hacker (Hacking Device Plus) Lieutenant Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 34)
REVEREND HEALER Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser / Pistol, EXP CCW. (0 | 32)
RIOT GRRL Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 34)
RIOT GRRL Boarding Shotgun, Stun Grenades + TinBot B (Deflector L2) / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30)
RIOT GRRL Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 33)
RIOT GRRL (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, Blitzen, Stun Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30)
ZERO (Minelayer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 19)
ZERO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

This time, the Riot Grrls were there again, backed up by three camo-guys and a strong hacking brick fomed of Custodiers and one Healer. There were specialists available on each corner and a solid link to guard the paths to the consoles.

For this round in the event, everyone is using the supplies-table from VaulSCs league.
I loose the LT-roll and deploy second in the south.

The Reverends are placed on the left side, guarded by two camo markers in the midfield. The Riot-link deploys on the right with the ML on overwatch for the middle console. Two camo markers are deployed on the roof near the right crate.

My Brawler MSR takes the building on the right side to have a look on the left console, while the Peacemaker and the Sierra take positions on the left, overwatching the left side and the midfield. Scarface takes the center with Valeria. My Hunzakuts starts in the center of the table and Saito is placed in hidden deployment next to the right crate.

Bakunin 1: The Reverends advance on the left and shooting pitchers into my DZ. On the right side, the Zero KHD opens up the crate and extract a box, while being engaged by Saito. With the last order, Scarface gets possessed by the Reverend Custodier.

Druze 1: I cancel the possessed-state and reform the duo-link. My Sierra drops the pitchers and the Zero minelayer on the left and Scarfaces advances into the midfield. A double-crit drops the Riot ML and the BS-Grrl but Valeria dies somewhere on the way.

Bakunin 2: The Reverends shift to the right side and the Healer picks up the ML. Now the Spitfire drops Scarface.

Druze 2: My Hunzakut scores HVT: Designation on the nearby HVT and gets shot on his way back. Cordelia fails to repair Scarface but gets rid of the mine on the left crate.

Bakunin 3: The Reverends grab a box on the left crate, while the Prowler drops my Brawler. The Riots are advancing in the midfield, grouped in a narrow corridor.

Druze 3: Saito kills the Zero and picks up the box. He fires a speculative smoke-grenade between the Riots, so that Cordelia can advance and secure the HVT. Arslan takes care of the Prowler.

I win this close 3-1, since we tie on boxes but I made both classifieds. Against Bakunin my list was lacking a solid hacking-game, which made Scarface a big target for the Reverends. As the main attack-piece, this was a bit risky and after loosing him, I needed to dig really deep into my toolbox to secure the game, since the Druze HMG is to slow to reach the important places in turn three. So this was an additional game with him not having made a single shot. The Peacemaker was nice, since he scared away the Reverends and forced the Zero to guard them, but paying 21 points for a single Flamethrower seems to be a bit expensive.

Game 3:

Again I was one of the test-partners for @AssaultUnicorn in the upcoming league-mission "Field Test". This time we wanted to go on full force and instead creating something completly new, I took Druze for this - it should be as hard as possible for him!

REMtasy
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 9
PEACEMAKER Spitfire + AUXBOT_3 / Electric Pulse. (1 | 27)
AUXBOT_3 Heavy Flamethrower / Electric Pulse. (- | 4)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
PATHFINDER DRONBOT Combi Rifle, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 16)
VALERYA GROMOZ Hacker (Hacking Device UPGRADE: Expel) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
SCARFACE & CORDELIA TURNER . (1.5 | 78)
SCARFACE 2 Mk12, Heavy Rocket Launcher / AP CCW. (1.5 | 61)
SCARFACE Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. ()
CORDELIA TURNER Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 17)
NASMAT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
NASMAT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
DRUZE Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle + Pitcher, D-Charges / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 25)

GROUP 2 5
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
FUGAZI DRONBOT Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
BRAWLER Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Akrylat-Kanone / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 12)
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)

4.5 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

It felt like an odd decision to take this REM-list for this mission, since there are several different classifieds to be accomplished, but with the characters in it and some specialists, I was confident to match some of the classifieds and deny everything else. Most of the REMs are for aggressive redundancy and button pushing, while Scarface is as always nothing more than a bait.

Making sense of Kaplans
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

GROUP 1 9 1 1
GHULAM (Deployable Repeater) Rifle + Light Shotgun, E/Mauler / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
GHULAM Doctor Plus (MediKit) Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
GHULAM Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 16)
HAFZA Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 18)
ODALISQUE Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 30)
HAFZA Lieutenant Rifle + Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
SHIHAB REMOTE HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
FANOUS REMOTE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
FANOUS REMOTE Flash Pulse, Sniffer / Electric Pulse. (0 | 8)
YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8)

GROUP 2 5 3 2
KAMEEL Hacker (EVO Hacking Device) Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 25)
LEILA SHARIF Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Shock Marksman Rifle, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
KAPLAN (Fireteam: Haris) Spitfire / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 29)
KAPLAN Engineer Combi Rifle, Adhesive Launcher, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 27)
YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8)
HAWWA' (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
YUAN YUAN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8)
WARCOR (360º Visor) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3)

6 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

A flexible Ghulam-core with several opportunities to score the classifieds was supported by a guy in reserve. Most of the scoring-potential was included in group two with the Hawwa as the only real infiltrator and the Kaplan-haris as a scary shooting and buttonpushing-brick with Leila in it. Of course there are some Yuan Yuans to distract the first attack from the valuable targets.

The table is quite dense with some odd firelanes in between. You really have to circulate a lot to get your LoF and to estimate things right. The elevation of the dark area makes things really interesting and gives some delusive cover.
I lost the Lt-roll and deployed second in the north DZ.

Leila and her two Kaplans are deployed on the right behind a billboard, with the Hawwa in the center, a bit advanced. The Ghulam-team hides on the left behind the staircase and a Ghulam hacker is nearby on the corner of the elevated dark area. The HVTs were as far forwarded as necessary, scatter over the whole table.

Scarface and Valeria take the left side, while my REMs are scattered over the whole DZ, looking to each side. The Pathfinders are all deployed on the right side, while the left one should be guarded by my Sierra. The Lt is lying on the highest position possible and the ABH takes care of Valeria. The Peacemaker is ready to start on the left with the Auxbot ensuring a burning welcome for every pirate. The Druze KHD is lying on therooftop in the center of my DZ, ready to stand up and rescue the situation.

A Shihab is placed in the center, while I deploy my Sierra in the left corridor on some crates. The Kaplan engineer is nominated as datatracker, while I nominate my Druze KHD.

QK 1: I forget to overclock my REMs but reduce group two by two orders, so that the haris isn't going anywhere. Three Yuan Yuans drop from the sky, everyone next to Scarface but out of LoF, since there is no other juicy spot uncovered. One Yuan Yuan fights with a monofilament-ccw, while an other one grabs a light flamethrower. Some smoke is distributed and the Yuan Yuans start harassing my flank. One chainrifles my ABH and my Sierra, while Valeria and the Kameel make their saves and the Sierra is shooting him down. The monofilament-guy is boxed unconscious by Scarface in CC, while the guy with his torch burns out Valeria and the Nasmat on that side. With the remaining orders, the Ghulam links shuffles on the left side and the Ghulam sniper climbs on the rooftop. The Shihab also advances a bit.

Druze 1: Scarface tanks the flamethrower and shoots down the last Yuan Yuan. As there is no juicy objective drawn for the moment, I decide to reduce the scoring potential by burning out the Kaplans and Leila. For this, the Peacemaker gets assisted fire and advances through the midfield. On his way the Shihab and the Hafza HRL are shot down. The Auxbot reaches the haris and everyone fails their dodge-rolls and armor-saves, but the Auxbot is shot by the Ghulam sniper. I advance a Pathfinder a bit and overclock my remotes.

QK 2: The Ghulam Hacker refills the core-team and the sniper kills my Peacemaker. The Warcor scores harvest (remove something in CC) on my Auxbot. Now the Ghulam-link shifts into the mid of the DZ and the sniper climbs the central building from where he gets LoF to my Lt. I succeed at several dodge-rolls so my Lt survives.

Druze 2: My Lt won't survive a second turn but has no option to leave his position. So I need to score a lot in this turn and prepare for a short third one. I redraw a harvest-classified instead of something other juicy. Luckily, Scarface has a Yuan Yuan in front of him, who he finishs now. To reduce the danger from the Ghulam-team, Scarface advances, doublecritting the Odalisque on his way but then getting imm-2ed by an E-Mauler while failing to wound the Hawwa. Cordelia and her remaining Nasmat advances a bit and my REMs are overclocked.

QK 3: Only few orders are left and no good classifieds are drawn. The sniper finally drops my Lt.

Druze 3: In LoL, I am one order short to score a second classifieds. I try two times and loose a Fugazi and a Pathfinder, until I remember the OPs for surviving army points, so I skip the last try for a classified and call it here.

In the end, we tie on classifieds and nobody has done one with his datatracker. Since mine is alive and more army points are surviving, I win this game 4-1. We discussed that, besides bad dice for @AssaultUnicorn and some really nice rolls on my side, the Yuan Yuans were a bit too much in turn one, since thei consumed all the orders, which could have been used for the haris. It was quite obvious, that my Auxbot will try a shot on them in their actual position and with Cordelia in the back, I was confident to get him there. In the end, the Peacemaker was a beast again, nut when it comes to a fully linked sniper, things become serious and I have to take risks. I didn't want to engage him with Scarface on more than 24", so that was the problem I had to deal with after I got no LoF to him in turn one. AssaultUnicorn digged in quite well in the late game and did his best to make it as hard as possible for me, but since most of the specialists were gone, he only could scare me away and hope for fitting classifieds.
Thanks a lot for this game!

Game 4:

This was finally the scheduled game of Supplies in our current TTS-event "Dragon Corp Pandemic Protocol". Since the pairings were done in the beginning, I knew it would be against Ramah and I was expecting a Mukhtar-haris, Tarik with some Ghulams and some other toys. So I decided to skip my hacking-game here and invest a bit more in heavy hitters. I changed the Peacemaker into the spitfire here, because it was gold in the last games and the table was that open, that the shotgun wouldn't have been a good attack piece.

LISupplies
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

9 1
SAITO TOGAN (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW, Knife. (0 | 40)
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)
SCARFACE & CORDELIA TURNER . (1.5 | 78)
SCARFACE 2 Mk12, Heavy Rocket Launcher / AP CCW. (1.5 | 61)
SCARFACE Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. ()
CORDELIA TURNER Combi Rifle, Chain-colt, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 17)
NASMAT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
VALERYA GROMOZ Hacker (Hacking Device UPGRADE: Expel) Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
SIERRA DRONBOT HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 25)
ARSLAN Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Light Shotgun / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 36)
BRAWLER (Multispectral Visor L2) MULTI Sniper / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 28)
DRUZE (X Visor) Combi Rifle, Chain-colt / Viral Pistol, Knife. (0 | 23)

5.5 SWC | 299 Points

Open in Infinity Army

I was thinking about upgrading the single Druze to a KHD, but than Saito had to be the normal one, which would have been a high risk in this mission. If there would not have been a specialist nearby his position, the crate is unopened and he can't grab the box. So the SO-profile was the one to go with in this case.

Ramah Taskforce
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9 1 1
MUKHTAR Doctor Plus (MediKit) Boarding Shotgun, 2 Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 30)
MUKHTAR (Fireteam: Haris) Viral Rifle, 2 Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 31)
MUKHTAR (Multispectral Visor L2) Red Fury, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 37)
CARMEN Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades + Bâtard / Heavy Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 22)
BÂTARD Trench-hammer, AP CCW. (- | 5)
TUAREG Doctor Plus (MediKit) Rifle + Light Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 33)
TARIK MANSURI Lieutenant L2 Spitfire, Nanopulser, Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (1.5 | 59)
KHAWARIJ (Fatality L1, Multispectral Visor L2) Mk12 / Pistol, AP CCW. (0.5 | 36)
LEILA SHARIF Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Shock Marksman Rifle, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
GHULAM (NCO) Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher (Normal and Smoke Ammo.) / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 16)
GHULAM Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 16)

5 SWC | 300 Points

Open in Infinity Army

Mainly what I was expecting. The Mukhtar-haris is too shooty and mobile to be left at home in this mission and the Ghulam-core is always a great backbone. To fill the points, Tarik may be the best addition here. Carmen & Batard are the needed smoke-support for the Mukhtar and the Khawarij, while also quite fast. The Tuareg Doc would also have been my last pick in this mission, since he offers some tricks with the crates.

I loose the Lt-roll and deployed second in the south (since I already knew this side).

The Mukhtars are deployed on the left flank, while the Ghulam-core takes the center, ready to attack over the right side. Carmen & Batard hide on the right.

The Peacemaker takes the left side with the Auxbot overwatching the corner where Mukhtars will start shooting at my Brawler, while the core-link finds a nice spot for the Brawler in the center. Cordelia hides in the center and Scarface sets up a defensive position in the right corner to use his HRL here. Saito is placed in hidden deployment next to the right crate.

Something is placed in hidden deployment, while I set up my Sierra in the right center to overwatch the path of the Mukhtars on the left.

Ramah 1: The MSV-Mukhtar takes a step to the left and shoots my Auxbot out of safety-distance. Now Tarik rolls out, dropping my Brawler and doing two wounds on Scarface, until one HRL-hit forces him into safety. Carmen sets up smoke, which is used by the MSV-Mukhtar to drop my Sierra. The Doc tries to grab the box on the left but only catches a flue on that crate. The Tuareg appears on the right and is engaged by Saito on his way to the crate.
The Mukhtar Doc survives his flue.

Druze 1: Since the Mukhtars are out of cover on the left, the Peacemaker crosses the edge and shoots everyone of them down. The MSV-Mukhtar is dropped right after he starts sneezing. My Hunzakuts engages the Ghulam-link hiding in the right building and gets shot by placing a mine in the entrance to that building. Scarface advances a bit and enters suppressive fire to avoid someone leaving the building on my side.

Ramah 2: The link is reformed without the sniper, which is used to clear the mine. He fails his dodge but makes his save. Now the Ghulam-link is reformed back to five bodies. The Khawarij jumps up and shoots Saito out of the CC, while the Tuareg makes one save against a missed bullet. Leila takes the middle box after Scarface is shot by the Khawarij and the Tuareg grabs the right box and retreats.

Druze 2: There will be nothing to gain in this turn, so Cordelia advances on the left, grabbing the last box and hiding as good as possible in the building nearby. In the progress, the Nasmat repairs the Sierra.

Ramah 3: Carmen & Batard advance Cordelia and set up smoke on their way. Batard kills Cordelia in CC and grabs the box. Both retreat into the central building near the northern DZ.

Druze 3: This turn is medded up completly, since we forgot about Batards mimetism and one CP spent on my side by reparing the Sierra. I advance Arslan coordinated with the Sierra, Peacemaker and Valeria into the midfield, while shooting on Batard. He dodges several times but is finally dropped down but with the box out of reach. Arslan tries to reach it but dies to a crit of Carmes heavy pistol. Valerie barely reaches the ZoC of the enemy HVT, what was impossible if I had counted my CPs correctly.

So the game ends in a 8-0 for Ramah. It was a quite intense game with things going down in the second half of my first turn. The Peacemaker made a good job but took one order to much for this. So there were no ressources left to eleminate the Ghulam sniper and safely place the mine. Maybe I should have shot the sniper with my Hunzakut first, but the risk of dying before the mine was placed, appeared to be too high here. Everything else came down to dice then and my missing ressources to dig out a full core-link.

At least some close wins, but clear losses for this week. The important game for our event was lost in the end, which is not that nice. But in general, I am very satisfied with how things turned out in this games and that most of them were quite close with some options left in turn two and three.
Thanks to all my opponents for this and thanks to Vaulsc and all the other people beyond the TTS-communitiy for the lovely tables and the work he invests into the TTS-community at the moment!