Asteroid Blues

Operational orders for the Hassassins of Task Force Karambit were clear: the Xaraks Gun Battery were to be seized at all costs. High Command did not trust the Ariadnans to control the defense grid that dominated shipping around Novy Bangkok. Infiltrating the team into the inhospitable regolith plains of the planetoid was a simple enough task. The problem is of course, that Haqqislam was not the only force with designs on the gun batteries. Which is how Karambit ended up running into their old foils: the Nomad strike team commanded by Desange. While agent Kampilan and TF:Karambit had bested the Nomads in previous engagements, it seemed that the Nomads had learned from their defeats. The result was a sound drubbing for Task Force Karambit, as clumsy deployment, bad decisions, and poor luck resulted in a tactical disaster.

Initiative: Hassassins choose second
Deployment choices: Nomads have deployment choices.
Hidden Objective: Net-Undermine

Hassassin deployment was a refused flank, with the Ghulam link team anchored at the right, the Asawira and Muyibs up the middle, and the Fiday up front. A Daylami trooper attempted a forward deployment, but failed clumsily. A Lasiq sniper took up position at a good sniper roost, but was a mistake given that the Nomads almost certainly would field an Intruder sniper and smoke grenades.

Turn opens with a morlock rushing out to get shot by the Lasiq, while another morlock slid up the side. Then came the first surprise of the day: a parachuting Gecko accompanied by a Tomcat engineer, both of which had braved the micrograv and vacuum to slide into position. The Lasiq managed to plink the Gecko as it entered near the Fiday's hiding spot.

With attention focused on the Hassassin, he tried to smoke bomb his way out of there, but ended up riddled with bullets. The Intruder then finished things off by plinking the Lasiq off her sniper roost. A Moran infiltrator attempted to gain control of one antenna, only to be downed by a lucky shot from a Muyib. The Tomcat engineer then patched up the Gecko with experimental repair protocols, earning Desanges a point for a secret objective. Mary Problems approached the central Tech Coffin to plunder its treasures, while the Gecko and TR-remote moved up to dominate the other antenna.

Ghazi Muttawiah irregulars rushed forward in an attempt to shock the Nomad advance. One of them gives Mary Problems a scare, only to be swiss-cheesed by a Sin Eater HMG. The other Ghazi was shredded by the Gecko, but not before disabling it with an E-Marat.

The Ghulam fire team then attempted to disable the TR-remote, only to be hammered repeatedly by merciless HMG volleys (and some really poor rolls). Doctor attempts to bring back the HMG result in too many command points spent.

Karambit attempted to regain some traction by slipping in a Ragik Spitfire along the flank, automatic fire putting down a Salyut Zond and a forward observer, while the Asawira link crawled up the center line.

The Tomcat engineer activated the right flank antenna, shot the Ghulam doctor in the back (a mercy for her patients, I suppose) and then repaired the immobilized Gecko, bringing it back into the tactical net. Mary Problems secured her hold on the tech-coffin, while the TR HMG finished off more Ghulams, breaking the link, while the remaining Morlock tried to sneak through. The Morlock attempted to count coup and take the Ghulam FO, but a lucky shot from the trusty Rafiq brings down the irregular.

With the Ghulam link in shambles, the Asawira and Muyib attempt to move up the middle. The Spitfire damages the Gecko, but does not dislodge it. Things are looking pretty grim. Starved of orders, the Ragik just claims the Net-Undermine objective.

The Gecko finishes off the Asawira spitfire, the Intruder takes the Ragik, and the Sin Eater lazily saunters off to claim the last antenna. At this point, TF: Karambit quits the field in disgrace, radioing for evac.

Score: 1-9 in favor of the Nomads. A crushing defeat.

Conclusion: A combination of horrible decisions, poor rolls, and forgetful resource management results in an atrocious defeat.

-I kept throwing resources at strongpoints and not using alternative flanks.
-I'm too used to taking initiative, so need to plan defensive deployments better. This worked out much better in game 2 against Einhorn's Tohaa (batrep in progress), but was absolutely horrible here.
-Atrociously poor doctor rolls. That old Ghulam doctor sculpt needs to be taken down for medical malpractice, and maybe replaced with that new doctor in the Haqq support pack. Or those fancy new Hakims.
-I'm growing over reliant on fire teams. Need to go back to playing Vanilla Haqq for better area coverage. Alternatively, RTF for a very different flavor of elite light infantry.