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It's been quite a while since I last played a game of Beyond the Gates of Antares, due to the fact that two games that have momentum* (hear that, Warlord Games?) have swept my gaming group: CMON's ASOIAF and BFM's Team Yankee/Flames of War. So when one of the members in my boardgames group expressed an interest in Bolt Action, I immediately offered him a taste of BtGoA.
So yesterday we set up a table and went at it. He took the Algoryn with an AI Command Squad and 2 AI squads (with 5 troopers instead of the usual 4) and I took the Freeborn with a Command Squad, 2 Domari and a Feral squad. (After checking post-battle in Battlescribe the Algoryn were a bit negatively unbalanced points wise compared to the Freeborn, but that was balanced out by my crap die rolls as you will see 😝). I should've taken 1 Domari and 2 Ferals instead.
The scenario was a modified (because I forgot the actual scenario setup) version of An Unexpected Encounter, where all units set up already on the table.
TURN 1
I did the first move (didn't pull a die out of the bag) to show him how movement and firing was done, especially with the Command Squad's "Follow Me!". Of course I didn't hit a thing, and he quickly got the hang of it. So our squads moved into cover.
TURNS 2-3
Our squads basically traded shots with each other and I have to say, Algoryn behind barricades are crazy strong thanks to the +2 RES modifier. He did better at this stage by focusing his fire on one of my Domari squads. I couldn't return the favour because I'd spread out my forces too much and the terrain blocked my squads from having effective firing solutions. I only managed to place 1 pin on his squads a turn, whereas he racked up 2 pins per turn from 2 squads on that one Domari.
That plus my crap die rolls meant my Freeborn Command Squad kept failing their recovery and AG rolls after their first turn's Sprint action! Seriously! They spent 60% of the battle DOWN! Even when they had no pins on them!
TURNS 4-5
After my Domari squad on my right flank was pinned to oblivion, I remembered to start moving my squads off the table. Of course, my Command Squad failed... again! Too much time spent in the rear echelons and not enough time on the front lines is my analysis 😡.
However, my remaining Domari squad ran to the table edge on my left flank and his AI squad there was hunkered behind a building thanks to sustained fire from my Feral squad (surprisingly one of my more effective squads). He kept trying to pull off his concentrated fire on my Feral squad but couldn't quite pull it off.
TURN 6
Of course, my Command Squad failed their Recovery Roll in turn 5, so they basically sat with their pants down right in the middle of the table with NO cover! But because he had to worry about my Domari squad on my left flank, he placed his AI squad there in Ambush and shot them up. However, 4 models survived and they managed to exit.
AAR: I kept reminding my friend the objective was to exit off the opposing table edge but he got worried about his 3 squad vs 4 squad numerical inferiority. Despite me reminding him his troops were tougher than mine. So I got one unit off the table and he didn't.
I didn't use any variant weapons in the squads to keep things simple, so we only used the basic mag guns both factions had.
I wasn't happy with the way I played, as it's been a while but that's no excuse. He played better than I did, and he was a newbie at tabletop minis gaming (although he does play boardgames with minis combat). Good for him. Bad for me.
MVP Awards
Algoryn: Probably the AI Command Squad. Managed to pull off a lot of "Follow Me"s to shoot my Domari off the table.
Freeborn: Probably the Ferals. Their threat kept the AI squads in check and hunkered down.
Most Useless Unit: Gee... I wonder which unit it could be? 😀
Rules I forgot: Strike Value. Reactions. Re-roll hits if unit is down.
Overlooked: Only the Algoryn Command Squad had access to the plasma carbines RF2, not the normal Mag Guns. Ha. So that's how my Domari were shot off the table!
*In the sense of visibility of community, YouTube video battle reports (the Tabletop Warlords are the sole one waving the Antares flag) and releases. Having ZERO news in all the weekly Warlord Games newsletters for the past several months has been... discouraging to say the least.
So yesterday we set up a table and went at it. He took the Algoryn with an AI Command Squad and 2 AI squads (with 5 troopers instead of the usual 4) and I took the Freeborn with a Command Squad, 2 Domari and a Feral squad. (After checking post-battle in Battlescribe the Algoryn were a bit negatively unbalanced points wise compared to the Freeborn, but that was balanced out by my crap die rolls as you will see 😝). I should've taken 1 Domari and 2 Ferals instead.
The scenario was a modified (because I forgot the actual scenario setup) version of An Unexpected Encounter, where all units set up already on the table.
TURN 1
I did the first move (didn't pull a die out of the bag) to show him how movement and firing was done, especially with the Command Squad's "Follow Me!". Of course I didn't hit a thing, and he quickly got the hang of it. So our squads moved into cover.
TURNS 2-3
Our squads basically traded shots with each other and I have to say, Algoryn behind barricades are crazy strong thanks to the +2 RES modifier. He did better at this stage by focusing his fire on one of my Domari squads. I couldn't return the favour because I'd spread out my forces too much and the terrain blocked my squads from having effective firing solutions. I only managed to place 1 pin on his squads a turn, whereas he racked up 2 pins per turn from 2 squads on that one Domari.
That plus my crap die rolls meant my Freeborn Command Squad kept failing their recovery and AG rolls after their first turn's Sprint action! Seriously! They spent 60% of the battle DOWN! Even when they had no pins on them!
TURNS 4-5
After my Domari squad on my right flank was pinned to oblivion, I remembered to start moving my squads off the table. Of course, my Command Squad failed... again! Too much time spent in the rear echelons and not enough time on the front lines is my analysis 😡.
However, my remaining Domari squad ran to the table edge on my left flank and his AI squad there was hunkered behind a building thanks to sustained fire from my Feral squad (surprisingly one of my more effective squads). He kept trying to pull off his concentrated fire on my Feral squad but couldn't quite pull it off.
TURN 6
Of course, my Command Squad failed their Recovery Roll in turn 5, so they basically sat with their pants down right in the middle of the table with NO cover! But because he had to worry about my Domari squad on my left flank, he placed his AI squad there in Ambush and shot them up. However, 4 models survived and they managed to exit.
AAR: I kept reminding my friend the objective was to exit off the opposing table edge but he got worried about his 3 squad vs 4 squad numerical inferiority. Despite me reminding him his troops were tougher than mine. So I got one unit off the table and he didn't.
I didn't use any variant weapons in the squads to keep things simple, so we only used the basic mag guns both factions had.
I wasn't happy with the way I played, as it's been a while but that's no excuse. He played better than I did, and he was a newbie at tabletop minis gaming (although he does play boardgames with minis combat). Good for him. Bad for me.
MVP Awards
Algoryn: Probably the AI Command Squad. Managed to pull off a lot of "Follow Me"s to shoot my Domari off the table.
Freeborn: Probably the Ferals. Their threat kept the AI squads in check and hunkered down.
Most Useless Unit: Gee... I wonder which unit it could be? 😀
Rules I forgot: Strike Value. Reactions. Re-roll hits if unit is down.
Overlooked: Only the Algoryn Command Squad had access to the plasma carbines RF2, not the normal Mag Guns. Ha. So that's how my Domari were shot off the table!
*In the sense of visibility of community, YouTube video battle reports (the Tabletop Warlords are the sole one waving the Antares flag) and releases. Having ZERO news in all the weekly Warlord Games newsletters for the past several months has been... discouraging to say the least.
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