Asteroid Blues

Infinity

Session 3: The Doom Foretold

300 POINTS
PanOceania
Kazavon V7
VS Yu Jing
GenObvious

SESSION 3: THE DOOM FORETOLD

Did you know that Countermeasures is going to be in our tournament on the 28th? If you didn't, now you do, and you know that's why we're playing it! Sterling and I are co-judging for AZAIV and while we got together to go over our to-do list for Armageddon we mostly actually got together to play on his absolutely AMAZING corridor table he built primed and sealed-- some of it even that morning before we played!

I'm a big fan! Corridor tables change up the meta for Infinity a lot, and they make Varuna, well... it was gonna be hard mode! I wanted to win initiative really badly so I could go first because neither side looked particularly welcoming to my long-distance ARO game, and while I did bring helots, I only had 2 in this list and I knew that was going to be tough-- the enemy forces could approach pretty much all my vectors, so if my opponent got any Classifieds that could be played through walls, things are going to get dicey...

As you can see in the video above, I tried really hard to go first! But in the end it didn't matter and Sun Tze beat out my 4 to his 5. He chose initiative so I picked the tableside least bad and we were off to Counter some Measures!

Sterling's list is a solid 9/10 from me, and that's only because I don't take 10 orders anywhere anymore. This is a really worrying list because nothing is hidden and I can't be ignorant and blissful about the approach vectors. Worse, on a corridor table, his shotguns, SMGs and chain rifles are going to be rough. Varuna withers versus direct templates-- dodging is not this faction's strong suit-- and I'm very worried that with no ability to protect my approach, his army is going to lodge itself in my DZ and just spend each turn beating me up there.

Not just that, but I consider Sun Tze the TAG of ISS. BTS 6 means he's making most resistance rolls at BTS 9, and that means trouble. I want to Isolate or kill him ASAP, whatever I can do to try to cut his army off at the neck here.

As you can see here, this list has a little bit of everything. A linked Kamau HMG and Kamau sniper for busting down the big targets, a ZC KHD and a ZC Sensor/Jammer for classifieds, a Bulleteer, a machinist, a Trauma Doc, a TR Bot and a regular Fusi Hacker to give it Marksmanship... as well as an FO Fusi if I need to make a late-game play for something!

In a corridor table, the Kamau Sniper is going to be way less useful-- I'm going to use her as an attack piece and leave the ARO to the two Helots and the Sierra, making sure to use their SMGs when able and rocket launchers when defending against the link.

I chose the section I deployed on, the section to the left of the camera here, for two reasons-- the two wide corridors that reached up towards the center. With the rules of cover reversed, and many Classifieds requiring LoF, I planned to pin both of my HVTs there and force my opponent to table me to get to them. I wouldn't have strong ARO presence on the first turn, but after I had two long sight lines to take advantage of. If I was on the other side, I wouldn't even have doors to hide behind...

Sterling places his army down first, showing me Sun Tze, a smoke grenade launcher, a Sophotect and a flash-pulse bot along with a five-man core that isn't quite five-men yet. I can't hold anyone, so I do what I can, placing down my entire army just behind a pair of flimsy doors on the far side. The idea is to hold the line as best I can the entire time and then do a controlled breach after his first round-- one that may be difficult if I can't find cover!

I'm glad I have a Sierra Dronbot this go around and I put him in the direct path of the link, hoping I might chew up the HMG and force him to completely divert.

His held is a Husong Yaokong-- a Yu Jing TR Bot-- right next to the Sophotect and the flash pulse buddy, as well as a Zhanying hacker who completes the 5-man core. With that, we shake hands and off we go!

FIRST ROUND

The first spread of carts is HVT: Designation, Net Undermine and Follow-Up.

That's not great for me.

In about eight orders, Sun Tze has walked up the board down a corridor and so has the Flash Pulse bot and the TR bot, the TR bot taking a good vantage point in cover to the location of my Sniper. The Zhanying puts up Marksmanship L2 on the Husong Yaokong TR Bot and then Designates my HVT twice through a wall with Spotlight, and Sun Tze passes WIP on a 17-- critting-- to get Net Undermine.

The replacement cards are Predator, which we both laugh about because our armies lack CC about 16 overall-- and Telemetry.

I'm waiting for Sun Tze to take Follow Up as well, but instead Sterling moves his link closer-- getting up to and opening the door to peer down the corridor at my TR Bot and the Camo Token next to him, a SMG/LRL Helot.

As that is his last order, the turn passes to me-- and I set my eyes on Sun Tze.

With Sun Tze within ZoC of my HVT, I chuck Follow Up. The replacement is Telemetry-- ugh!

My ZC Sensor/Jammer senses a golden opportunity from Sun Tze and moves closer, closer in Camouflage. I'm going to entrench myself, jammer him ceaselessly and see how things shake out. Sterling is not easily taken advantage of, though-- he declares Dodge to keep the ZC from getting behind him. The thing is, this Dodge-- it takes me by surprise. I can't let Sun Tze move back there or a Guts roll can get him out of my Jammer's ZoC, so I can't heckle him with my next 8 orders-- so I Surprise Shot him with my Assault Pistol. Sun Tze only rolls a 7, but my best roll is a 10! Sun Tze passes armor and fails guts to move into cover-- even better, because now my Kamau Sniper can get LoF on him if he gets up to the corner!

Unfortunately, now the ZC is revealed-- out of cover and out of Camo.

My Trauma Doc pops open the door and my Kamau Sniper leans out to say good morning to the Husong Yaokong down the way-- putting 3 shots on him on 16s versus the Husong's 4 on 11.

Nothing can stop my best roll from being a 5, and the Husong puts one wound on the Kamau, dropping her. Sterling reminds me it's shock, but thank the PanOceanian gods for putting Shock Immunity on these flippery dudes.

With my Trauma Doc right there, I spend an order and no command tokens bringing Tigerfish back up to try again. This time it sticks-- and I put the TR Bot into Unconscious L1 with one successful roll. I step around the corner and straight kill the Chaiyi Yaokong, then run up to the corner behind Sun Tze in order to engage him. I put a shot on the unconscious TR Bot as it's right next to the Sophotect and I end up dealing only 1 more wound to it despite hitting it three times... putting it unconscious L2.

I need orders to kill Sun Tze. I shoot him with the Kamau, beating him handedly and dealing 1 wound. I shoot again, and his flash pulse beats me-- I fail BTS vs a 13 despite having a BTS 9 in cover, because what God in this world could roll a check with a 75% success rate? and spend a Command Token to not drop Sun Tze out of my LoF.

With my final few orders in hand, I put Marksmanship L2 on my Sierra Dronbot and then move a Helot SMG/LRL closer to the link. The HMG in the lead discovers and I shoot him with one free rocket on an 11-- and it misses, leaving the Helot out in the cold.

The Sierra activates and shoots the Wu Ming HMG. The Wu Ming is +3 from range and +3 from a 5-man Link but -3 for Cover, putting him on 16s, and the Sierra is +3 from range, ignoring cover, on a 14. The Sierra rolls 2 4 4 20 and the Wu Ming drops 6 and 18. The Sierra takes a wound and goes unconscious-- exactly what I expected, taking that fight with 2 extra burst and all...

With nothing left to leverage, it's Sterling's second turn time. I was hoping to get Net Undermine with my ZC, but now he's out of cover and probably dead unless this revealed Helot out of cover really steps up to the plate.

ROUND TWO!!

Sterling discards Predator and gets Capture-- that one will be harder to do, so he's not pressured, already winning and all.

With Sun Tze pinned down by a linked Kamau and a ZC Jammer-- meaning anything Sun Tze does can be met with a Jammer and a pair of sniper shots on 16-- he's feeling... pressured. He could Follow Up last turn, but now he needs LoF-- or to bring his Zhanying into ZoC of an HVT, of which I have two on their side of the board...

Sterling has his Sophotect engage in a series of staggering ninja maneuvers to reach the TR Bot, Cautious Moving twice and then bringing him up in 1 roll. The TR Bot turns on the Kamau and opens fire, taking the -3 from Mimetism to cancel his +3 from range. The Kamau hits him and surreptitiously deals 3 wounds to the bot, removing it-- and keeping Sun Tze pinned in!

Rolling on a 15 with... what, 4 more command tokens? PanO marvels at the ability to score these... what did you call them? Obb-jek-tivbes?

The Wu-Ming link opens fire on the Helot, who shoots back on 11s and gets a roll of a 10-- but since he was being shot on 19, disappears in a haze of gunsmoke.

The link repositions in a big cluster and steps in front of the ZC Sensor/Jammer, deleting him instantly before continuing on their merry way.

Stepping forward, the Zhanying Hacker declares Breaker Combi on the unconscious Sierra Dronbot, killing it easily-- it was, after all, less than 4 inches from a Machinist in a Haris and would be an easy target to rez. The Zhanying moves closer...

And runs into the ZoC of my Zulu-Cobra KHD. They're a regular hacking device, and they try their best, but the ZC drops them with a well-timed Skullbuster-- the breaker ammo ends up being their bane! They go unconscious, removing them from the link!

Worried now about the Kamau HMG about to come bursting through the door, the link repositions, prepared to engage him.

My turn begins with the Kamau kicking open the door to go get the Wu Ming link-- literally! The door broke as I tried to open it, giving us the PERFECT picture opportunity.

THIS IS THE LAST TIME I TAKE YOU IN FOR BREAKING THE CONCILLIUM CONVENTION MR. SQUIDWARD

After all this bluster the Kamau HMG strolls up to the corner and engages the Wu Ming Boarding Shotgun in a shootout. The Wu Ming is in 0 band, -3 for cover, -3 for Mimetism, with no bonus for Link-- he's on a 7. The Kamau HMG is on a 13-- 0 range band, but the Wu Ming has no cover.

Of course the Kamau HMG is crit by the Wu Ming shotgun and goes unconscious.

Thinking quickly, I have my Machinist pick up the Kamau and drag him away, far away to the corner, to score Rescue. Since my Machinist is my Datatracker, I'm going to get an extra point for this-- and that's awesome!

I forgot to mention: At the start of the turn, I discarded HVT: Inoculation and revealed... Data Scan.

So, uh... the ZC KHD does that to the Zhanying's unconscious body. So now I'm 2 for 2, 1 up for doing one with my Datatracker.

The rest of my turn is prepping my defenses, putting people in Suppression Fire, putting Marksmanship on my Bulleteer, getting the whole squad ready for what's about to rain down on them.

My last move is to move my final Helot up, up, and into LoF of Sun Tze and the remainder of the link. They see the Helot on the second move and Discover them easily-- but the hope is to make the link have to move and pay the price shooting at it or dodging, or to try to put more wounds on Sun Tze to throw things into disarray. Nevertheless, the last turn begins!

ROUND THREE!!!

With Rescue and Data Scan scored, they're replaced-- by HVT: Kidnapping and another card I don't remember! Sterling discards this unremembered card and replaces it with Mapping-- a card he can score if he can shove the Wu Ming into my deployment zone, and, in his words-- table me to score it.

Sun Tze starts off the turn by moving towards the helot, out of cover, into nearly melee. He opens fire on it, putting only 1 shot of his Multi Rifle on it-- and the other 2 on the Kamau Sniper. His two rolls on the Kamau are complete misses, and the Kamau fires back on 16s-- because he's just within 16" when he gains cover against her during the move. I roll a 17 and a 19, missing Sun Tze completely, and he lands the 1 die against the Helot's 3 dice on 11s and the Helot goes unconscious.

Well... that was a thing!

The Link activates, rushing down the hall that the Helot was guarding to spill out into my deployment. They move into LoF, the HMG at the lead, and eat a huge amount of ARO-- including 3 members of the Link being hit by a heavy shotgun from the Bulleteer. The Wu Ming HMG lead places his shots carefully-- 2 shots against the Fusi hacker, 1 on the Bulleteer, 1 vs the Kamau Combi, 1 vs a Fugazi Dronbot and lets the WarCor shoot.

The Wu Ming contests the Bulleteer's shotgun with his HMG shots -6, hitting on a 6 and crushing the Bulleteer's roll of 3. Every member of the link behind him makes ARM except for one, dealing a single wound overall.

The Fusilier Hacker shoots on a 15 and misses vs the Wu Ming's 2 shots on 10, dying.

The Fugazi Dronbot lands their Flash Pulse against the FO Wu Ming, who passes BTS, and the Wu Ming HMG misses them.

The WarCor misses their free stun pistol shot on the Wu Ming HMG.

The Kamau Combi Haris shoots at the Wu Ming FO and rolls a 17, missing by 1, and the Wu Ming HMG shoots them for free and kills them.

It's hiiiiiiiiigh noon...

With only a Flash Pulse bot and a WarCor alive in that corral, the Wu Ming FO maps the door in my deployment, scoring a 3rd Classified.

The replacement is Test Run. The Dream is now alive, and Sterling's turn is over-- I count my orders-- I can do this if I just pass a roll, maybe 2!

I spend my first two orders bringing the Fugazi up to harass the Wu Ming, trying to pin them in melee. Moving then calling for ARO then going into melee doesn't work due to SSL2-- I pin my hopes on them failing dodges, but none do, and none are stuck in melee with the Fugazi. I try again, but now he eats a huge amount of gunfire and goes down-- if I had run him towards my Machinist I'm certain he would have just let me go, unopposed. I was hoping to pin a few down with the Fugazi's melee so that they didn't have to die for me to get to the unconscious Bulleteer with my Machinist!

My WarCor jumps on this grenade, trying to Stun Pistol one of the Wu Ming out of cover, but she eats a Shotgun for her trouble and dies. Oof.

Now I need this to work-- in some capacity, in any regard. I bring my ZC KHD up to the corner to just see the HMG Wu Ming and we exchange gunfire-- I put a single wound on him, but he fails guts out of my LoF. Good enough-- I can see the shotgun Wu Ming now, and engage him as well, doing a single wound to him, and he falls back again. I fire again at a new Wu Ming and successfully deal 1 wound... see where this is going? The ZC KHD runs out of orders with 3 still alive Wu Ming my DZ. Now it's up to the Machinist to gunfight her way through them, which is difficult but not impossible-- because my Kamau Sniper can get to the HMG now and put him down!

The Kamau Sniper moves into position behind the HMG and snipes him from well over 30 inches away. The Wu Ming responds with HMG, but the Sniper handedly wins the duel, hitting him 2 times and

he makes all 4 rolls and fails Guts, sliding out of the Kamau Sniper's way...

Wow. This is... well... I've never felt so utterly betrayed by my dice. Everything in this entire match has just been an exercise in utter frustration, but the crown on the whole thing is still yet to come.

I have 4 orders left for my Machinist to run up and hit the Bulleteer. The first order moves them just before being seen, the Kamau HMG on their back, and then the second rushes them out into LoF of the entire Link!

Six shots come her way and she heroically shoots back, splitting 3 ways-- and thanks to Mimetism, all of the shots miss, incluDING HER OWN.

One more order runs me up to the Bulleteer-- I have a command token, 4 inches, all I need is 4 inches...

There's the distance between the models at the total movement value of 4 inches.

The Machinist has 1 order left-- the Wu Ming drop chain rifles and shotgun shots into her, and she rolls to Dodge. If she dodges and the Bulleteer only takes 1 W from the Chain Rifles, I'll make this. I just need to roll an 11.

The Machinist rolls a 20, eats 2 chain rifles, 2 shotgun shots and 2 HMG shots and her and the Bulleteer die, game over.

Mood: This screaming cat face.

The final score is 7 to 4-- my first loss of Asteroid Blues!

Great play with Limited Insertion from GenObvious has me on the backfoot the entire game, but man, if I just didn't have the orders to try to make that last ditch run I would be way less mad about losing here! It felt like my dice just could NOT perform the entire game, like I was on some weird bad luck streak detection and something just needed to be rebooted for the computer to start processing right again. The number of free shots I put into Sterling's men that were complete misses just became comical at the end-- the 17 19 to hit Sun Tze as he walked away from the Kamau was just staggering. That's the second time my Kamau has missed a character Lieutenant in ARO on those exact rolls, what the heck!

Despite the terrible rolls I had a great time playing Sterling and I'm honestly excited for the next time we do. Maybe I'll be able to get revenge for this game-- but to be fair, I'm completely fine with the bounty on Tigerfish not being claimed yet. We live to fight another day!

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Recommend Commander For Commendation

20 People Recommended Kazavon V7 for commendation

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Yu Jing
GenObvious
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