Skirmish with Onyx Boarding Party

Got a quick game in with a newer Combined player, who was practicing for the Ordo Fanticus Club Challenge coming up in July 2017. Basically a 200 point, limited insertion tournament where everyone gets a 4 exp Spec Ops.

I threw together a quick 200 point list and we rolled for a random ITS mission. Close game! Mini-TAGs are a real PITA to deal with.

Overview

We rolled Highly Classified, and my secret classified was Data Scan.

• Mission: ITS Highly Classified
  • Experimental Drug
  • HVT: Espionage
  • HVT: Retroengineering
  • Sabotage
• Theatre: Don Peyote Repurposed Freighter
• Forces: Nomads versus Onyx Contact Force (200)
• Deploy First: Nomads
• First Turn: Onyx Contact Force
• Strikezone Wotan Report: WiseKensai versus SimpleKnight

[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/logo_501.png[/img][b] Nomads[/b]

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[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_16.png[/img] [b]INTERVENTOR Hacker Lieutenant (Hacking Device Plus)[/b] Combi Rifle, 1 FastPanda / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | [b]27[/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_14.png[/img] [b]DAKTARI[/b] Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]14[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_42.png[/img] [b]LUPE BALBOA[/b] Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Panzerfaust, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, CCW. (0 | [b]23[/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_2.png[/img] [b]GRENZER[/b] Missile Launcher / Pistol, Breaker Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | [b]29[/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_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_24.png[/img] [b]TOMCAT Engineer[/b] Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]22[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/501/logo_48.png[/img] [b]KRAKOT RENEGADE[/b] Submachine Gun, Chest Mine / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | [b]15[/b])

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[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_regular.png[/img]10 [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_impetuosa.png[/img]1 [b]| 3.5 SWC | 199 Points |[/b] Open in Infinity Army

[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/logo_604.png[/img][b] Onyx Contact Force[/b]

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[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_11.png[/img] [b]OVERDRON[/b] Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon / . (2 | [b]74[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/sep.gif[/img] [img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_11.png[/img] [b]STALDRON[/b] Flash Pulse / Knife. (0 | [b]0[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_16.png[/img] [b]Q-DRONE[/b] HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | [b]26[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_21.png[/img] [b]IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater)[/b] 2 Light Flamethrowers, Flash Pulse / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | [b]9[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_14.png[/img] [b]MED-TECH OBSIDON MEDCHANOID[/b] Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]23[/b])

[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_2.png[/img] [b]NEXUS Lieutenant (Specialist Operative)[/b] Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]16[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_1.png[/img] [b]UNIDRON (Forward Observer)[/b] Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | [b]15[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_1.png[/img] [b]UNIDRON (Forward Observer)[/b] Plasma Carbine / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | [b]15[/b])

[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_1000.png[/img] [b]Treitak Spec-Ops (4 XP)[/b] [i](Engineer, EI Hacking Device)[/i] Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | [b]14[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_22.png[/img] [b]ÍMETRON[/b] . (0 | [b]4[/b])
[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/604/logo_22.png[/img] [b]ÍMETRON[/b] . (0 | [b]4[/b])

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[img]https://assets.infinitythegame.net/infinityarmy/img/_logosweb/orden_regular.png[/img]10 [b]| 3 SWC | 200 Points |[/b] Open in Infinity Army

Deployment

I deploy first. Grenzer Missile Launcher and Jaguar ADHL go on buildings covering some major firelanes. Lupe, the Daktari, and the remaining Jaguar watch my backfield for AD troops. The Moran puts a repeater bubble in the center, with Acid Burn the Zero AHD on the left and Zero Cool the Interventor prone on a building behind her.

My opponent puts down a TR HMG Q-Drone facing off against my Grenzer and Jaguar ADHL, supported by a Ikadron. The rest of his stuff goes on my right, pretty much. He landed an Ímetron behind a building, but his second one deviated close to my deployment zone.I figure I’ll get a free impetuous order kill with my Krakot on the deviated Ímetron, so I bring him out of reserve and put him on that side. My opponent plunks down an Overdron with HRMC and we’re off to the races!

Wasn’t super happy with my deployment this game. Not a lot of cover on my side of the table, but I made the best of it. I intended to use Lupe, the Grenzer Missile Launcher, and the Jaguar ADHL to ARO things, so I left them out. Lupe wasn’t really placed very smartly, and didn’t do much of anything the whole game.

Daktari Inira pulled off her blue gloves and tucked a stray strand of her thick, purple hair behind one ear. Since the arrival of the Don Peyote, there had been a seemingly endless stream of injured Nomad personnel, military and civilian alike, streaming past her triage station, all survivors of La Forja. The Reverend Healers were focused on the worst but salvageable cases, leaving her to splint broken bones sustained during sudden decompressions or to collect the cubes of those too far gone to save. Just today she had been forced to pull the cubes of three Alguaciles who had expired after taking an Ariadnan T2 round to a vital zone during the heavy fighting on La Forja. As she fumbled around with bleary eyes for a fresh pair of gloves, the harsh white overhead lights flashed red.

 

“This is Captain Escobedo. There’s a Combined Army boarding torpedo bearing down on us, looks like it’s going to impact on the Engineering Deck. Prepare to repel boarders. Not all of you are from Corregidor, but it’s time to earn your air! Weapons free, send those alien bastards to whatever hell they believe in!”

 

Zero Cool the Interventor, visor down, left hand gesturing frantically at something only he could see came to a breathless halt next to Daktari Inira. “Dak, we’ll need medics on the engineering deck. These guys can wait,” he said, gesturing to a pair of Alguaciles supporting a young comrade missing all of his leg below the knee. “It’s just a puppy bite, Dak,” said the wounded Alguacil. “I put the damn antipode down though,” he continued, miming shooting his pistol, grinning weakly.

 

Inira consulted her comlog for the Alguacil’s vitals and handed him a Fentanyl lollipop. “Good job, kid,” she smiled. “Keep his leg elevated, the biofoam spray sometimes falls off,” she instructed the two other Alguaciles who were sporting wounds of their own. “Need us, boss?” one of them asked Zero Cool. “No, but the Dak needs your rifle,” replied Zero Cool. The Alguacil shrugged the combi rifle off his shoulder and offered it to Inira, who took it before stripping the Alguacil of a few magazines. “Let’s go,” she said, as she and Zero Cool took off at a jog.

Turn 1

Top of Turn 1 – Onyx

First move is to try and remove my ARO pieces, so my opponent puts Assisted Fire on his Q-Drone through the Ikadron, and starts shooting at stuff. He manages to kill the Jaguar ADHL, but the Grenzer puts two wounds on the Q-Drone.

 

“Sitrep!” demanded Zero Cool. “I scraped together who I could,” replied Lupe, crouched behind a building. “We don’t have much in the way of heavy weapons, and the Grenzer in overwatch reports there’s an Overdron-class TAG stomping around back there.”

 

“I’m too far from that thing, Cool,” chimed in Acid Burn the Zero AHD. “There’s a hostile repeater near me though, I’ll see what I can do.” Zero Cool clambered up a ladder to get a better look.  Atop the building, a Jaguar looked over the barrel of his Panzerfaust at Zero Cool and nodded in greeting. “Some kind of REM is creeping into overwatch at our 12. I lost sight of it though,” said the Jaguar, sighting back down his Panzerfaust. The only warning he had was the muzzle flash before a stream of tracers cut him in half. “Q-DRONE!” shouted the Grenzer over the tactical frequency. Zero Cool flinched as the shockwave from the Grenzer’s missile washed over his position. “I can’t confirm a kill, but I hit something,” updated the Grenzer.

He activates the Overdron and throws 5 HRMC shots at the Grenzer, but I make 3 ARM saves. He tries again and finally takes out the Grenzer.

I don’t have anything left out to shoot at things, and the Crazy Koalas are too far from the action. My opponent is thus free to climb Dr. Worm up to pick up the Q-Drone and advance his link team up to cover the Ímetron near his deployment zone. With his last order, he throws the Q-Drone, the Overdron, and some other random stuff that can’t see anything into suppression.

“Contact! TAG!” shouted the Grenzer again, before the high-pitched whine of charging capacitors betrayed the TAG’s position as it spooled up it’s Hyper-Rapid Magnetic Cannon. Zero Cool watched as a pair of missiles arced from the Grenzer’s position, gouging deep divots out of a bulkhead near the Overdron. Capacitors charged, the deadly railgun spat a stream of saboted slugs, boring a hole through the coolant pipe the Grenzer had taken cover behind and through the Grezner himself. “Dak!” pleaded Zero Cool, choosing to ignore the flatlined vitals on his combat HUD. “He’s gone, LT,” replied Inira, looking at the same data.

 

Bottom of Turn 1 – Nomads

I  spend the Krakot’s impetous order, come around the corner, and fail to kill the Ímetron. The Q-Drone stays in suppression with me outside of 24″ so that’s good at least! I try again with a regular order, finally killing the Ímetron, but losing the Krakot to the Q-Drone, who breaks suppression. Not terribly pleased with these results, but dice are dice!

“Boss, there’s some sort of device attached to a data port here. Definitely not one of ours,” warned a Tomcat Engineer, newly arrived to the fight. “Destroy it and the terminal, we’ll sort it out later,” commanded Zero Cool. “Roger that, liberally applying high explosives!” exclaimed the Tomcat before slapping a D-Charge on the offending devices and detonating it.

I bring in the Tomcat to D-Charge the building I nominated for Sabotage, and maybe sweep through his backfield. Unfortunately, his HVT is on the other side of the table from all of this, so I’m probably not getting the Retroengineering objective.

I’m concerned Acid Burn the Zero AHD might not make it all the way to Turn 3 with the Ikadron right there, so I set about trying to get my Data Scan secondary classified and the HVT: Espionage primary classified.
She manages to immobilize the hostile hacker through the Ikadron’s repeater, and then proceeds to fail a ton of WIP rolls. With my last few orders I scurry her away and recamo her in her original position.

Acid Burn crept up towards the hostile Aliens, probing for a weakness in their foreign firewalls. “I can’t find an opening, ‘Cool!” she reported. “Just flood them and watch what comes back,” suggests Zero Cool.

Turn 2

Top of Turn 2 – Onyx

My opponent brings Dr. Worm up to tickle my HVT and get the HVT: Retroengineering objective. He needs to get across a gap that Lupe is watching in order to Sabotage a building, so the Overdron blows her off the table, dodging a Crazy Koala on the way, with the Tomcat’s combi-fire plinking off the Overdron’s butt armor. To finish the job, the Overdron shoots at the Tomcat, who manages to dodge around the corner.

Dr. Worm is now free to walk up to the big green building in the picture, blow up something important, then run away. With his last order, he walks the Ikadron around the corner to cover Acid Burn and dodges my remaining Crazy Koala. The above picture is from the end of Turn 2, so the tracking on the classifieds is from the future -uture -uture…

JNCO Jean Jimmy the Corregidor Technician (Clockmaker Sculpt I use as my HVT) brandished a pair of bolt cutters at Dr. Worm as it approached. “Let’s go, cabron!” he blustered, taking a few savage, adrenaline-fueled swipes at the alien. Dr. Worm recoiled before extending some of its tentacles towards JNCO Jean Jimmy, apparently trying to tickle him.

 

The ticklefest was interrupted by the whine of capacitors charging as the Overdron stomped around the corner behind Jimmy. The slugs moved so fast they ionized the air, generating beautifully deadly trails of faint blue-purple light. “Lupe! Get to cover!” warned Zero Cool too late. Lupe took a slug in her shoulder, the hyper-rapid round going straight through her armor and through her as if she wasn’t there. She slumped to the ground as blood began pouring out of her shoulder. The Overdron took another step forward, leveling the HRMC at Lupe to finish the job, only to spin around as a full magazine of combi rifle rounds clattered off its rear armor.

 

“Oye! Big guy!” taunted the Tomcat, reloading and putting another half magazine of rounds into the Overdron before rolling behind a bulkhead. Obliging him, the Overdron spooled up its cannon again, scything a deep furrow through the deck where the Tomcat had been standing moments before. Seizing the opportunity, a Jaguar darted around the corner, dragged Lupe to relative safely, and set about trying to stabilize her.

 

“Uh… the Bakunin tentacle monster just blew up my tool chest,” stammered Jimmy on an open channel as Dr. Worm scuttled away.

Bottom of Turn 2 – Nomads

I really need to get some more classifieds, so I pop Zero Cool up with his Lieutenant order and take some shots at the Ikadron. It ends up taking two orders, but I finally manage to drop the pesky thing. Fortunately the Q-Drone can’t see any of this. Dr. Worm has a bead on her original position, so I run her all the way around and commence hacking.

During all of this commotion, the Ikadron crept around the corner, greeting Acid Burn with a pair of lit napalm projectors. “‘COOL!” she hissed from her position of concealment. Zero Cool broke cover and drilled two three-round bursts into the Ikadron’s center of mass. He was rewarded by the Ikadron falling to its side, ichor leaking from the wound.

 

Acid Burn dashed past the inert Ikadron, pausing briefly to scan it for any relevant data. “I’m getting some returns from the packet flood, I’m transmitting them to you,” she informed Zero Cool, who simply allocated some buffer space for the datastream in response.

Acid Burn’s dice have cooled since the last few games, but a few orders later I manage to get both of my primary and secondary hacking classifieds done by hacking the HVT and the Ikadron. With my last order, I drop Zero Cool prone (which I should’ve done earlier as  part of one of his shooting orders). Whoops.

Turn 3

Top of Turn 3 – Onyx

My opponent runs his hacker up and accomplishes HVT: Espionage, but his luck is bad too and this costs him something like 3-4 orders. He doesn’t have all that much to do after that and just settles a few things into better positions.

Bottom of Turn 3 – Nomads

I’m behind by one primary objective now, and there’s no way I’m going to be able to get my Tomcat Engineer all the way across the table with the orders I have, especially with the Q-Drone up and alert. I decide to try for a a hail mary, and coordinated order my remaining Jaguar and my Daktari, who start running at each other. The Daktari dives prone behind a barricade while the Jaguar runs through the open. My opponent obliges me with a single DA shot from the Overdron’s HRMC. I pass one, but not both ARM saves, sending my Jaguar unconscious!

My Daktari rushes to save her comrade and makes her Doctor roll before taking a combi-shot from Dr. Worm and going unconscious herself. At this point, my opponent is securing the HVT, I’ve got my secondary classified, and we’re tied on primary classifieds. I didn’t know he hadn’t accomplished his secondary classified, so I thought it might come down to army points and spent the rest of my orders chewing through his link team with the Tomcat, who managed to take out his whole link team, the hacker SpecOp, and an Ímetron. Clearly I should’ve done this on Turn 2! Fiddlesticks.

“Dak! Dak! Lupe’s bleeding out. I’ll bring her to you!” said the Jaguar, slinging Lupe over one shoulder. “No, just keep pressure on the wound, I’m on my way!” Daktari Inira countered. “Oh whatever, I’ll meet you halfway,” huffed the Jaguar, burdened by the weight of the BAMF on his shoulders. “Drawing fire!” interjected the Tomcat, running around the corner and putting controlled bursts into the backs of the Unidron fireteam that was advancing across the engineering deck. “X-ray down. X-ray down. X- Oh hell, they’re all dead,” he said, counting the bodies. “Uhh.. I got five.”

 

“Big guy is still up!” warned the Tomcat over an open channel. “So is the Bakunin tentacle monster,” replied JNCO Jean Jimmy. The Jaguar jogged across no-man’s land towards Daktari Inira, Lupe bouncing on his shoulder as he did so. A thin blue streak of ionized air traced a line through his stomach, followed by the whip-crack of a supersonic round. The Jaguar stumbled, falling to his knees, managing to unceremoniously but safely toss Lupe’s unconscious body as far as he could toward Inira before falling flat on his face.

 

Daktari Inira ran forward, skidding to a halt next to the prone Lupe. “We need Reverend Healers on the Engineering Deck!” she advised Zero Cool, pulling a blood bag out of her medical pouch to combat Lupe’s hypovolemia. “Stay with me. Stay with me,” she repeated, words that had left her lips so many times over the last few days that they had become her mantra. Inira felt the blow to her back as a rifle round penetrated her armor. “Well, that’s my liver,” she said to no one in particular, continuing to stabilize Lupe until shock set in.

 

Inira came to, hours later. An Alguacil paramedic came over to check on her. “What happened?” she asked, weakly. “You guys held them off long enough for the Geckos to get there,” he replied. “Lupe?” she asked. “Right here,” came the reply from Lupe, lying on the neighboring cot. “Thanks again, Dak,” said Lupe. Inira didn’t hear her, already asleep.

Game ends, each of us has 3 primary objectives. He’s securing the HVT, and I’ve got Datascan.

5-4 Nomad Victory!

Notes

• My deployment sucked. Again.
  • I was really concerned about a Fraacta drop troop, so I deployed accordingly. This was actually probably okay.
  • I really needed to do a better job of protecting my HVT. If I had the Missile Launcher Grenzer, Lupe, and the Panzerfaust Jaguar all watching the HVT, I think I might’ve had a chance at taking out the Overdron.
  • I think this is at least the 3rd time I’ve thought this, but I need to stop letting Crazy Koalas dictate my Moran’s deployment. It’s just so tempting to. Really, I want the Moran to be able to do something useful and if he’s on a building on Turn 3, he can’t really.
• I was very pleased with the way I used Zero Cool’s Lieutenant order to start taking out the Ikadron. It could’ve ended with him flash pulsed, but even that’s not too bad. I’ll take the small win.
• Acid Burn, well, burnt a lot of orders this game, but she won it for me so who am I to complain?
• AHDs are very flexible, but they need a lot of support.
• I need more things with repeaters. Morans have too many jobs to do and too much ground to cover to be everywhere at once.
• Hacking through repeaters is good, because then I can hack something with a repeater that isn’t a hacker safely.
• I think my order-to-order tactics have improved the most recently. I’ve gotten more comfortable declaring AROs, deciding what to do with each short skill, and my play has gotten cleaner.
• However, my turn-to-turn strategy could use some work. I need to be more comfortable with accomplishing objectives later in the game, and setting units up better to cover one another and to increase their chances of survival.
•  Once the Grenzer survived the initial HRMC attack, I should’ve failed guts and taken total cover instead of staying out to ARO. Noob mistake.
• After accomplishing Sabotage, I should’ve just accepted the fact that I was going to be unable to get HVT: Retroengineering and just gone to town on his link team with the Tomcat, which was facing the wrong way.
  • I could then put Zero Cool in suppression to cover Acid Burn and just done the hacking stuff later in the game.
  • This was easily the biggest mistake I had this game. I had an opening and didn’t exploit it. I was just so worried about losing Acid Burn to the Ikadron and then having to do something ridiculous with Zero Cool to get him where he needed to go.
• As for my opponent, he asked for notes after the game, so here’s a paraphrased record of what we talked about:
  • Try to murder me more with the Overdron on Turn 1. That’s what it’s for.
  • Good use of the Q-Drone, but it’s an attack piece in addition to being a defensive piece. Having two mobile, high-burst weapons is very hard to deal with.
  • Definitely should’ve chosen Shock on my Jaguar. I think we both forgot that Shock was an option on the HRMC or I never would’ve tried that tactic. He also didn’t need to ARO against a clearly non-threatening Jaguar.