Gecko Wars: The Blitzen Menace
Our local warcor managed to snag the Beyond Operation Icestorm box early, so I faced down a Kriza Borac HMG. We were practicing for Deadly Dance, and we both brought Geckos. I had faced my opponent’s Aleph before, but never his Nomads. It was quite instructive to see another vanilla Nomads player in action. This was also I think the first time that I really made use of my Gecko.
Overview
- Mission: ITS Deadly Dance
- Forces: Nomads versus Nomads (300)
- Deploy First: Nomads (OpFor)
- First Turn: Nomads (OpFor)
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/logo_501.png[/img][b] Nomads[/b]
[b]GROUP 1 | [/b][img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_regular.png[/img]8 [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_irregular.png[/img]1
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_16.png[/img] [b]INTERVENTOR Hacker Lieutenant (Hacking Device Plus)[/b] Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | [b]25[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_41.png[/img] [b]GECKO[/b] Mk12, Chain-colt, Blitzen / . (0.5 | [b]54[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/sep.gif[/img] [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_41.png[/img] [b]GECKO PILOT[/b] 2 Assault Pistols, Knife. ([b][/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_33.png[/img] [b]LUNOKHOD[/b] Heavy Shotgun, Heavy Flamethrower, D-Charges, CrazyKoalas (2) / Electric Pulse. (0 | [b]25[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_5.png[/img] [b]REVEREND MOIRA[/b] MULTI Rifle + E/M Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Shock CCW. (1 | [b]34[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_4.png[/img] [b]INTRUDER (X-Visor)[/b] MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | [b]43[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_23.png[/img] [b]MODERATOR[/b] Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | [b]10[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_30.png[/img] [b]MORAN[/b] Combi Rifle, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | [b]21[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_10.png[/img] [b]ZERO Hacker (Assault Hacking Device)[/b] Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | [b]24[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_9.png[/img] [b]BANDIT Hacker (Killer Hacking Device)[/b] Light Shotgun, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | [b]25[/b])[b]GROUP 2 | [/b][img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_regular.png[/img]2 [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_irregular.png[/img]2 [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_impetuosa.png[/img]3
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_48.png[/img] [b]KRAKOT RENEGADE[/b] 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | [b]14[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_13.png[/img] [b]JAGUAR[/b] Adhesive Launcher, Panzerfaust / Pistol, DA CCW. (0.5 | [b]13[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_12.png[/img] [b]MORLOCK[/b] Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | [b]6[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_12.png[/img] [b]MORLOCK[/b] Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | [b]6[/b])
[b] 5.5 SWC | 300 Points | [/b]Open in Infinity Army
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/logo_501.png[/img][b] Nomads[/b]
[b]GROUP 1 | [/b][img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_regular.png[/img]9 [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_irregular.png[/img]1
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_56.png[/img] [b]KRIZA BORAC[/b] HMG / Heavy Pistol, CC Weapon. (2 | [b]54[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_14.png[/img] [b]DAKTARI[/b] Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]14[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_34.png[/img] [b]ZONDBOT[/b] Electric Pulse. (0 | [b]3[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_4.png[/img] [b]INTRUDER (X-Visor)[/b] MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, CCW. (1.5 | [b]43[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_41.png[/img] [b]GECKO[/b] 2 Combi Rifles, Chain-colt, Panzerfaust / . (0 | [b]53[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/sep.gif[/img] [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_41.png[/img] [b]GECKO PILOT[/b] 2 Assault Pistols, Knife. ([b][/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_10.png[/img] [b]ZERO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device)[/b] Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]21[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_10.png[/img] [b]ZERO (Deployable Repeater)[/b] Combi Rifle, E/Mauler / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]19[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_9.png[/img] [b]BANDIT Hacker (Killer Hacking Device)[/b] Light Shotgun, Adhesive Launcher / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | [b]25[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_30.png[/img] [b]MORAN (Forward Observer)[/b] Combi Rifle, CrazyKoalas (2) / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | [b]22[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_13.png[/img] [b]JAGUAR[/b] Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | [b]10[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_13.png[/img] [b]JAGUAR[/b] Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | [b]10[/b])[b]GROUP 2 | [/b][img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_regular.png[/img]1
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_16.png[/img] [b]INTERVENTOR Hacker Lieutenant (Hacking Device Plus)[/b] Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | [b]25[/b])
[b] 4.5 SWC | 299 Points |[/b]
Deployment
I win the rolloff and have him deploy first. His Interventor starts in the back, with the Kriza and Gecko on my far left. On the other flank is a Intruder MSR and a Daktari, with her bot backing up the Kriza. There are two Zeros in the midfield on my right, with a Moran pretty much dead center of the board in the church-building-thing. This game also marks the first time that I’ve been on the receiving end of a Bandit KHD, which hid in the building on the left. The terrain was a bit slapdash, but we were the last table to start playing on game night and thus got last choice of the store terrain. We made it work. His Jaguars hang out, guarding the approach to his Intruder.
I put my Jaguar Panzerfaust on a crate watching the Gecko and Kriza, backed up by a pair of Morlocks. My Lunokhod is on the right side of the USARF paper terrain, with an armless Gecko to its left. My Intruder counterdeploys his Intruder, but outside of LoF. The trees in the middle are a saturation and low-vis zone, so that made for an interesting fight later on. The corner of the big plastic building was just barely in my deployment zone, so I stuck my Interventor on top of it, prone. My Zero AHD went up front on the same building, and our Morans faced off in the center. He forced my Koalas back by with his deployment though. Clever. Finally, I pair up my Bandit KHD with his Bandit KHD, and try to get some repeater coverage on the left by sticking a Moderator Pitcher in the little weird wooden corner thing to the right of the bridge (it’s actually part of the church building’s roof, which we used for more terrain. My Krakot was my reserve, I think, and that comes down on the plaster building, prone.
Turn 1
Before anything starts, we roll to see what quadrants we need to get to, and we both get our far right quadrants (from our perspectives). Neat!
Top of Turn 1 – Nomads (OpFor)
He starts with a coordinated order, moving up the Gecko and Kriza. He also includes his Moran, who scoots one of his Koalas forward to clear mine. Smart. That’s what I would’ve done. His Kriza is the spearhead, and unloads three shots at my Jaguar Panzerfaust, along with a single max range shot from the Gecko. I manage to crit the Kriza and the Gecko whiffs. He fails one of his ARM rolls and the Kriza takes a nap. He runs the Daktari’s bot out and picks up the Kriza again (I whiff on the ADHL shot), and the Kriza keeps rolling up, finally wiping out the Jaguar. He shoves the Kriza up a little more to see around the corner and just pastes my Moran with 5 dice. He coordinates another order and scoots the Gecko and Kriza up again, this time targeting my Gecko. I throw a shot at him, but everyone whiffs. He tries again with the Kriza but I whiff my Mk12 and I tank the HMG shots.
Bottom of Turn 1 – Nomads
My Morlock runs up on the left and goes down to the Kriza. The Morlock on the rolls up unopposed, and the Krakot super jumps down to double chain rifle the enemy Moran. Now comes the serious business part of the turn. I activate the Bandit with a regular order, walking it by his Bandit, into the building. He decloaks and attempts a discover, so I just Redrum him. The Kriza shoots my Bandit with a pistol, but I pass my ARM. I shotgun the Kriza down next, then scoot out the other side of the building and attempt to ADHL the Gecko. He passes his PH roll and I fail my ARM roll against his Chain Colt. I think I made a few mistakes here, I walked into view of the Kriza as I was hacking, and I should’ve re-camoed and gotten out of Chain Colt range of the Gecko before trying to ADHL it. With my last few orders, I climb the Lunokhod up the building where the Intruder is and park it in cover.
Neither of us is dominating anything, so the score is tied.
Turn 2
Top of Turn 2 – Nomads (OpFor)
He wipes out my Krakot, who is just farting around in the open, with his Intruder, and then starts advancing his Gecko. Our Geckos trade a ton of fire, with basically nothing happening. At one point I tanked a Panzerfaust without taking a wound, which was pretty awesome. Him throwing a Panzerfaust at me reminds me that my Gecko has Blitzens, so I start shooting him with that! With his final order, he finally gets his Gecko into my DZ, so I throw my last Blitzen at him and land it, and he fails both BTS rolls. I wish I could say that I was planning this all along, but I had totally forgot my Gecko even had Blitzens.
Bottom of Turn 2 – Nomads
My remaining Morlock charges up at the revealed Intruder, LoF blocked by the church’s tower. I end my first short movement skill in LoF of his Zero DepRep, but he throws away his ARO and I successfully discover. With my next order I dive into close combat and gank the Zero. My Intruder finally reveals himself and guns down his Intruder, thanks to Surprise Shot. My own Zero climbs down the building, basically in the same location as his Zero, and I Climbing+ my Lunokhod into my quadrant, taking a potshot at a Jaguar, who successfully lands a smoke grenade.
We measure and find out that yes, his Gecko is in my DZ and not in his quadrant! I get a point for dominating my Quadrant with the Morlock, Zero, and Lunokhod.
Turn 3
Top of Turn 3 – Nomads (OpFor)
He activates his KHD zero and guns down my Morlock, but my own Zero drops him. Out of good options, he calls the game.
4-0 Nomad Victory!
Notes
- Well, first off, remember your troop’s equipment!
- Jaguar Panzerfaust is so good. They cannot ignore it.
- I need to remember that I can’t deploy Crazy Koalas such that they will boost if something activates. Good to know.
- I need to be more careful with my Morlocks, don’t just throw them away.
- Krakots are really good, but they really need Morlock support. I think I need to think more about synergistic deployment for them. It requires a bit of thought because of the Krakot’s forward deployment.
- This was also a bit more of an open board, so smoke is even more important.
- Intruder versus Intruder through a saturation zone is very interesting… It really is just about as close to even odds as you can get.
- This game was a bit one sided, mostly because of dice. I don’t think that I would’ve done as well as I did had I not had that critical Panzerfaust crit on the first turn. That stalled his advance, along with my Bandit’s mini-rampage.
- I made some mistakes with my Bandit, but she came through for me anyway. I need to use my camo state more carefully and be more aware of my placement, especially if I’m going to reveal.
- I probably should’ve moved prone into the building, so the Kriza couldn’t see, and then on my next order, hacked his Bandit, recamoed, shot the Kriza, recamoed, and then dealt with the Gecko, possibly in CC. Yes, that is incredibly order intensive, but it would totally have been worth it.
- I don’t think the Kriza should be used often in coordinated orders. Losing the burst detracts from his skillset.
