Brandon decided to take the scourge and I had the UCM. We reviewed our quick reference sheets that were provided with the box set and rolled our dice to see who decides the turn sequence.
Turn 1
UCM: So I lost the roll and had to deploy first. Brandon and I are used to activation games like DUST tactics so he knew to let me go first on the first turn. I sent my UCM Condor drop ship with three Sabre tanks straight up the middle at full move value.
Scourge: Brandon decided to counter this move with basically an exact mirror move with his own Scourge Hunter tanks in their drop ship.
UCM: I took the Condor with the Rapier AA tanks and deployed them on the right side watching a corridor that had line of sight pretty much all the way down the board.
Scourge: The Scourge deploy their Reaper AA tanks and they move up the middle opposite the center objective behind the center building.
UCM: The last battle group with the Bear APCs and the Legionnaire infantry moves behind a building about 12" up the board but close enough to deploy towards two different building objectives. I wasn't sure which one Brandon was going for yet and I decided to wait until next turn to see which one he was going for and take one of the others.
Scourge: Brandon activated his infantry group moved and disembarked his APCs and moved towards the side of the board that was opposite my Rapier AA tanks which would make perfect sense and net him an easy objective if I couldn't stop him.
Turn 2
UCM: So I win the roll off and I wasn't really in range of anything at this point so I deployed my Sabre tanks from their Condor and moved them towards my left flank where I could start maneuvering towards some targets of opportunity.
Scourge: Scourge Hunter tanks move in and take some shots but luckily form me only one can see my Sabres and he fails to do anything missing his Accuracy roll with a one.
UCM: I move my infantry up in their Bear APCs after they disembark and we both forget that I can disembark from APCs into the building so they sit outside the door with my Condor nearby.
Scourge: The Reaper AA tanks start moving around the center building and are trying to get an angle on some ships but they are short on range.
UCM: I move up the Rapier AA tanks and get closer hoping for some reaction fire next turn. My condor for them moves close to the center since that is where the action will be.
Scourge: The APCs drop their cargo and the Scourge infantry occupy an objective building.
Turn 3
UCM: I win the roll again and I open up on some Scourge AA tanks with my Sabres taking down two of them with some accurate rail gun fire.
Scourge: The fire from the Scourge Hunters target my Bear APCs that are sitting exposed in front of the building. Luckily for me my opponent rolls badly and damages one but fails to destroy the other. Brandon brings his Marauder drop ship around and tries to get another hit on my Sabre tanks but I react with my Rapier AA tanks and blow that thing out of the sky. Luckily I was only about an inch within range but that thing went down before it could do any damage.
UCM: I activate my infantry group in an effort to save what I can. I drop one squad in the center building and I move the other Bear APC towards the a rear building en route to my right flank objective. The Condor moves towards the Hunter tanks but I miscalculate how close I am to the Reaper AA tanks and Brandon pays me back. The Condor takes some serious damage but hangs in with two damage points. This will come back to hurt him down the road.
Scourge: The infantry find their objective load up but sit tight in their drop ship. Brandon decides to keep them hidden for the turn behind a building. He informs me that he is going to wait and just move the full movement value next turn which will take him off the board and secure him his points rather than move the half value and risk some unwanted AA attention.
UCM: The Rapier AA tanks are moved since they already shot and I'm hoping that they can get close enough to get reaction fire on the Scourge drop ship next turn. Their Condor moves towards the middle of the action and takes a shot but misses.
Scourge: The Reapers move into some cover but have already shot their drop ship sits tight with no shot or movement.
Turn 4
Scourge: The Scourge win when it counts and Brandon decides to use his Hunter tanks to take down my Sabres. He opens fire and hits with two. Then he rolls for his energy and only damages one. This is huge and only one tank is removed.
UCM: The Sabre tanks open fire but they focus on the AA Reaper tanks instead of the Hunter tanks. Two of the Reaper tanks are taken down by rail guns and the Sabre tanks move back a little opening up some distance.
Scourge: The Scourge drop ship moves off the board with the objective getting Brandon 2 VP. I tried to react fire but I was out of range by 2". His other APC moves towards the center objective but is out in the open. At this point I am feeling a little behind and I start looking at my other objectives.
UCM: The infantry search the center building and find nothing, the other squad is able to disembark and enter the building while the Condor is feeling a little more secure knowing their is only one AA unit out there. I also decided to take a chance and open fire with my infantry in the building using their missile launchers. They give the APC one Damage Point but its still coming their way.
Scourge: The AA drop ship moves up and opens fire with some wide pattern shots killing a legionnaire.
UCM: The Rapier tanks move forward and secure the rear of the center objective building.
Turn 5
UCM: Infantry search again and on the far right flank they succeed and get into their Bear APC and get picked up by the Condor which starts moving towards the board edge. The other infantry squad fails to locate the objective but remains in the building it fires its missile launchers again but fails to hit the target.
Scourge: The infantry APC moves around the building towards the center objective but fails to get in cover and is left out in the open right next to the door. The full move plus the bonus from their special rule was needed so the troops were unable to disembark from their APC.
UCM: I win the roll and use my Sabre tanks plus the Condor to eliminate all the Hunter tanks. They last one was destroyed by the missiles from the Condor.
Scourge: The last Scourge drop ship tries to get an energy 9 shot on a vehicle but it misses.
UCM: The Rapier tanks move in and I can shoot with two of them at the Scourge APC. I open up and hit but I need to roll 6s with the Rapier to do some damage. I roll one six and that's all I need. The vehicle rolls a 5 on the chart and it is done along with a base from the squad after it rolled on the chart and was destroyed.
Turn 6
UCM: I activate my infantry and the center squad locates their objective. The Condor races off the table on the right flank barely making the leap. But now its 3-2 in my favor.
Scourge: Brandon makes an attempt to shoot up my infantry that have failed to embark in their Bear APC but he just doesn't have enough good rolling to kill them. We call the game at this point and there is not really a way that Brandon can win.
UCM victory 3-2
After Action Review
Brandon: Brandon thought the game flowed very well. He liked the activation phases with the entire battle group going at once. He did not like that he could not mix his AA tanks with standard tanks. I explained to him that with larger games things change with the battle groups. He liked that idea. I was impressed with the UCM armor and he told me that the importance of having AA and using the combined arms of your force was essential.
Robert: I really liked the gameplay and I really enjoyed the rules. I need to read up a little more on the embark/disembark sequence. I feel that I need to get a better understanding of that part of the game. The game was great and I love the minis and I really think I will have to get PHR and Shaltari soon.
Conclusion: Thanks for reading and I can honestly say that this is the best starter set on the market for tabletop war gaming. Definitely a Christmas add on. I will take pics next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment