Antares: Hold the Line! Redux

Pre-bombardment: 1 support team went down with 2 pins. Another Domari squad had 1. The other 2 units untouched. All Freeborn elected to have Ambush orders. 

Started with 2 X-launchers, 1 Domari and 1 Feral squad on the table. The Feral for a Distort die sink. And yes, it really served as one, too!

Turn 1

Ghar advanced. Elected to use the Amps from turn 1. Managed to run 20” by end turn 1. Freeborn reacted and scored a lucky hit on the Assault Squad. 

Made a mistake with the Distort die but never mind. 

The Assault squad’s Amp burned out. The Battle’s survived. The Freeborn x-launcher that was Down... stayed down!

Turn 2

The Battle squad ran up and advanced and fired on the Domari. Did a bit of damage. Since the Domari were behind the batter shield, the Ghar elected to use Disruptor Cannon. Caused 1 casualty. (Note: I didn't have enough points to get a batter drone so the squad was essentially naked with only the obstacle protecting it). 

Everyone else ran up. The 2nd Freeborn Feral squad failed the command test to come on the board. 

The Assault Squad, with about 4-5 pins on it, elected to Rally. It survived 2 Break Tests this turn!

The Feral squad already on the map got his with the Distort die. The 2nd Freeborn support squad that was down finally recovered. The Battle squad managed to recover its Amp die. 

Turn 3

Battle squad moved forward and did a bit more damage to the Domari. They survived a Break test. 

The Freeborn kept hitting the Assault Squad with Net ammo from the X-launchers and a Domari squad actually hit as well with its  micro-x placing a final total of 6 pins on the Ghar! They rolled a 2!!! And survived the Break test yet again! (Note: Micro-X launchers don't pin heavily armoured units!)

The Feral squad got hit (again!!!) with the Distort die. Seeing the way clear the outcast squad entered the light woods and fired at Feral 2, causing 1 casualty. 

All dice recovered at end of turn. 

Turn 4

Freeborn pulled 3 dice in a row and spent them all on the Ghar suits. They tried on the Battle squad but missed. The support squad was too near the Battle squad so tried a speculative shot at the outcast squad. Needing a 1 or nothing to hit, they failed. 

But... the Domari micro-x saved the day! Put 2 pins on the Assault squad for a total of 6 and the Break test finally rolled a 10! Insta-Break! (NOTE: the micro-x should NOT have put any pins on the Ghar since it's heavily armoured). 

The Battle squad finally did in the Domari 1 squad with a fire rate of 9 shots. The Domari failed the Break test and broke with 6 pins on 3 models.

Now is where the Ghar lack of actual combat units is telling. They only have 2 combat effective units left and the outcast squad is a Distort die sink. Leaving only 1 combat effective unit. 

Turn 5

The Freeborn activated but not much could be done. Domari 1 managed to land a sling-net shot, causing 2 pins. (See note above). And that was it. The Ferals ran up and Feral 1 (with 1 pin on it) failed the command test, so it went down. 

The Battle squad tried for the support squad and managed to hit, causing 1 casualty. It passed the Break test though. 

Everything else shifted to the left wing to meet the remaining Ghar suit squad. Support 2 tried a shot and blew it with a “10”!

Support 1 (with only 1 crew and too close to the Ghar suits to shoot anyway,) decided to be the Distort sink for this turn. 

Seeing the way clear, the sneaky Outcast squad did a major sprint for objective 3, catching the Freeborn by surprise! Now what?

Turn 6 will be pretty interesting. If the Ghar manage to be the first to pull a dice out of the bag...

All dice recovered. 

Turn 6

Ghar weight of fire is telling. Took off Domari 1 due to failed Break test. 

But the most interesting was the battle between the Feral 2 and Outcast squad. Freeborn drew first dice and Assaulted the Outcast squad with a Feral squad. Who passed a reaction test and fired first. Caused 2 casualties: the leader and a grunt. Ferals fired but whaddya know... the Outcasts survived to a man ... er... Ghar. 

The follow on combat : neither side caused casualties. With 2 hits apiece. Common consent : one follow up round. This time, the Freeborn lost a troop. Triggered a Break test and passed. Consolidated. Which was what the Ferals wanted anyway. So both sides went eye to eye at the barricades. 

Other than that... the Feral 1 made it to the barricade and fired on the Ghar... to no effect. Both support squads tried blind fire and failed. 

Rolled a d6 and the game ends now. 

Result : a draw. 

AAR: biggest mistakes for the Ghar: being too chicken with the Assault squad. Should NOT have done the rally order. Wasted order. AND... slingnet ammo does NOT cause pins on Heavily armoured units! Argh!!! I forgot!!!

Also: my Freeborn support squads should NOT have had the batter drones!

I've realised this is a tough scenario for the Ghar to win at 500 points. Firstly, they only have 4 order dice (sans amps) and vs the Freeborn with 7 order dice, that's a significant disadvantage! The other side of the coin is the Freeborn don't have a way to damage the Ghar and need to rely on pins to get rid of them.