Asteroid Blues

Our LGS bought a narrative tournament pack, the one with Victor Messer and the limited edition Guija, so we ran a tournament to share the wealth! The narrative tournament itself has some pretty crazy rules:

If you'd like to learn more about the MEME CONTEST we're running, along with other parts of the Bromad Academy mission, click the asteroid below!

I had intended to run a Merovingan army for this, but with Asteroid Blues in full swing I was obligated to represent Nomads as the Grand Poobah of the Nomad Council. We had intended to run a full three round tournament, but enough of us had family/social obligations that after two really really long first games we had to pack it in after only two games.

My first game was against Isaac (xammy), who has put down his PanO for the foreseeable future to play O-12. This was my first game ever against O-12, so despite studying the army a little I was full of trepidation!

Isaac's a shrewd and careful player, so I was in for a tough game. The board itself was full of tall mountains and structures, and I tucked some fun catwalks and buildings into the mix to provide some more ways of getting around the table.

Isaac's actually responsible for putting all this MDF together, so I'm glad he's getting to enjoy it!

Overview

• Mission: Frontline (Xenotech Narrative)
• Forces: Nomads versus O-12
• Deploy First: O-12
• First Turn: O-12

Frontline
GROUP 1 | 9 1 1

INTERVENTOR Hacker Lieutenant (Hacking Device Plus) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 25)
ZOE & PI-WELL . (0 | 47)
ZOE (Hacking Device. UPGRADE: Stop!) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28)
PI-WELL Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0 | 19)
ZERO Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
ZERO (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
TOMCAT Engineer Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, D-Charges + 1 Zondcat / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 26)
ZONDCAT Electric Pulse. (4)
KNAUF MULTI Sniper / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 32)
KRAKOT RENEGADE Submachine Gun, Chest Mine / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 15)
LIZARD MULTI HMG, Heavy Grenade Launcher / . (2.5 | 87)
LIZARD PILOT Submachine Gun / Pistol, Knife. ()
LIBERTO (Minelayer) Light Shotgun, Chain-colt, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 10)

GROUP 2 | 3 3

MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | 6)
MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | 6)
MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | 6)

5.5 SWC | 300 Points | Open in Infinity Army

I threw a list together without much more focus than "bring a Lizard." The rest sort of fell into place after that. Double engineers because I didn't have points for a bot for Zoe, and Knauf to deal with some of the scarier dogged O-12 things.

Game 1 - xammy

ALPHA Lieutenant (Strategos L2) 2 Light Shotguns, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0 | 26)
LAMBDA Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 16)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
GANGBUSTER Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Submachine Gun, MadTrap / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
GAMMA Feuerbach / Heavy Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 58)
OMEGA HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 48)
SIRIUS Red Fury + 1 SiriusBot / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 29)
SIRIUSBOT Heavy Riotstopper / Electric Pulse. (0 | 5)
EPSILON MULTI Sniper, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 30)
VARANGIAN Submachine Gun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
VARANGIAN Submachine Gun, Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
HIPPOLYTA Breaker Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Flash Pulse, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, EXP CC Weapon. (0 | 38)

10 3 | 6 SWC | 299 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Isaac brought a list of O-12 beefcakes along with a Hippolyta cruise missile and a Gangbuster to help lock down the midfield. As a former PanO player, Isaac was really ready to shoot whatever I left out off the table, so I resolved to not do that.

Deployment

I chose deployment and gave Isaac the side with less cover in his deployment zone. It wasn't a huge deal with the vastly extended deployment zones, so Isaac didn't really have a huge problem deploying.

He basically mirrored his deployment, a heavy hitter (Omega + Lambda) on either side, Varangians on one side, Hippolyta on the other. The Gangbuster and Sirius covering both sides of the midfield, and a smattering of Yudbots for the Lambda doctor everywhere. His Alpha was on the left, tucked behind a building way in the back of his deployment zone.

At this point, there were so many scary things on Isaac's side of the table that I knew I'd have to be really careful in setting up a defense. Just enough had to be left out ARO, and I'd have to defend a lot of corners. Isaac told me he would have two reserves (the Lambda and Epsilon) so I knew I'd have to set up two safe spots for the TAG to live.

There were basically only two spots to hide the TAG, on the left behind the dark grey building, and on the right behind the smaller of the two boxes. I set up some chain rifles (or chest mines in the case of the Krakot) on either side, and then screened access to my Interventor with Pi Well. Zoe hid on a roof, without much else to do, and then I cheekily put a mine covering the Gangbuster with the Libertos and the Zero KHD lurking below.

Isaac put the Epsilon on the left to back up the Sirius, and the Gamma on the left to challenge Knauf, who was watching Hippolyta's avenues of approach. I stuck the Gecko all the way on the right, as far away from Hippolyta's EXP CCW as possible.

Turn 1 - O-12

Isaac elects to cancel Hippolyta's impetuous order and the two Varangians advance safely. I missed that the Epsilon can see the Libertos inside the ground floor of the big central building, so Isaac starts things off by discover+shooting my poor fishman. I leverage HyperDynamics L2 to dodge out of the building safely.

The Gamma can see Knauf after moving a bit, and it only takes one order to drop him. Boo!

Isaac tries to get rid of the Libertos with one of the Varangians' SMGs, but I dodge around the corner to safety.

This lets the Omega start wandering around while ordering Lord Business (Isaac's Xenotech) to deploy the Multiscanner. It takes two orders but it finally got done.

This does let the Omega get into a position where it can see my Zero KHD to discover it on the second short skill. I hope Isaac will roll poorly, but he discovers successfully.

Isaac's got a few more orders so he decides he wants to get Hippolyta into the fight. She super jumps into view of the Zero KHD and the Libertos, forgetting that the Zero has a light flamethrower thanks to the special tournament rules!

I drop a mine with the Libertos and torch Hippolyta with the Zero's flamethrower, burning off her ODD and a wound, putting her into NWI. I lose the Zero and the Libertos goes dogged as a result of her breaker combi rifle fire though. After a bit of mild self flagellation for his perceived mistake, Isaac decides to commit Hippolyta to try and take out two Morlocks.

Both Morlocks successfully protect themselves with smoke, and Hippolyta goes down to a combination of the mine and the Libertos' shotgun. With his last order, Isaac shifts the Siriusbot into a more aggressive position covering my Morlock.

Turn 1 - Nomads

I sacrifice the Morlock staring down the Siriusbot to a cloud of riot adhesive and throw smoke for the Krakot. The other two Morlocks make it safel though. I spend some time discussing the finer points of LoF with Isaac, regarding the Krakot's approach to the Sirius, and even with the Morlock's smoke there's no safe way forward under the watchful eye of the Gamma.

Well, all that means is that it's Tomcat time. I bring on the Tomcat and threaten an electric pulse. Isaac dodges in response, but the Tomcat's rifle fire drops it unconscious.

Some light bouldering later, the Epsilon is down for the count as well!

I spend a command token to slingshot a Morlock on the right into chain rifle range of both Varangians. They dodge, and I attempt to pistol one down but whiff. At least I left the Morlock in an inconvenient spot for Isaac on his turn.

I really want to get rid of the Gamma. After failing to take it out with the Lizard's tactical awareness order, we discover that the Tomcat is in its rear arc! I take advantage of this, and in a single burst cause three failed ARM rolls, shooting it off the table! Almost as good as shooting Joan off the table in one order with a Chasseur!

I didn't have any more orders after that, but I think that was a pretty good final order of the turn!

Turn 2 - O-12

After not spending the Varangians' impetuous orders, Isaac starts things off by exacting retribution for the downed Gamma by shooting across the table with his Omega. Sadly, this is enough to drop my Tomcat.

Isaac then demonstrates the superiority of O-12 over PanO by picking up the Epsilon...

and the Sirius with his WIP 14 Lambda doctor! It still takes him a command token, but at least the Lambda's Yudbots weren't issued with pistols instead of MediKits. I suppose the real takeaway is that O-12 quartermasters are better than PanO ones? I dunno.

The freshly healed Sirius Red Furies down my Krakot, and then Isaac carefully doesn't activate the Varangians in the face of my Morlock's chain rifle.

Turn 2 - Nomads

My threatening Morlock moves into base to base with the nearest Varangian. Isaac Berserks in response, with the other Varangian dodging. I surprise him by throwing smoke to protect the other Morlock, sacrificing this one to the Varangian's sword.

This lets me carefully super jump onto the Omega's roof, throwing smoke and crawling into place to avoid getting shot through the smoke by the Epsilon. I get one swing in on the Omega, and while it's not a crit, Isaac fails BTS and passes ARM, meaning the Omega is IMM-2 and Isolated!

With the Gamma gone, I can push my TAG away from the Varangians and towards Isaac's weaker flank on my left. I spend pretty much all of my remaining orders trying to take out the Sirius and failing, with Red Fury rounds just bouncing off the TAG's armor as I lose face-to-face after face-to-face roll. I spend my last order shooting the Siriusbot unconscious as well before passing turn, thoroughly discouraged by the TAG's performance.

Turn 3 - O-12

The Varangians swarm the Morlock on the catwalk and drop her. Ah well. She did her job.

Then one of the Varangians normal jumps into view of the mine covering the Gangbuster and clear it, surviving the mine and the fall damage! UGH.

Isaac's got a few orders left to try silly things, so he announces (loudly) that he's going to do something very stupid. He gets the Epsilon into LoF of the Lizard and immediately loses it to a EXP round.

He spends the last orders of his turn advancing his Alpha and very carefully getting the Gangbuster pushed forward along with its MadTraps, hoping to glue my Lizard.

Turn 3 - Nomads

I dash his hopes by clearing the MadTraps with a successful dodge from my remaining Zero. The rest of my turn is just driving my Lizard across the board, gunning down the Sirius and tanking some rounds from the Alpha.

I manage to get the Lizard all the way into the far zone, out-pointing the Alpha and the Omega there. Isaac's got the middle zone on lock, but I have my near zone and am securing his HVT, making it a

7-3 Nomad Victory!

Post Game Analysis

That was a really tough game. I think I leveraged my tools really well at the right points and got lucky with some key dice rolls. The Tomcat taking out three models was very strong, especially just one-shotting the Gamma. That was pretty statistically aberrant, with only a 2.57% chance of doing all three wounds!

Using the Morlock to take out the Omega was also great, and is exactly why I consistently take the E/M CCW variant. Sometimes you just need a one-shot-stop and a 6 point Morlock can deliver that for you. I keep hearing feedback from others about my list that I need some more regular orders in group two. I agree, I would love to have some, but it seems to be working so far... it's just not as bursty of an attack option, you have to develop it over the course of multiple turns. It requires patience.

This being the first game against O-12, I think it's warranted to discuss them a little bit. They have an excellent shooting game with lots of mod stacking or high armor. The Gangbuster is also a standout profile. Isaac and I discussed the game a little bit on the walk to lunch from the game store, and he and I both agreed that he misplayed Hippolyta. Saving her for a turn two push would've been more effective. The Omega and Gamma are of course standout profiles--I honestly would take the Gamma Feuerbach as my lieutenant, having played the Kriza so often. The Alpha is a good (if obvious) option as well.

The Team Sirius combination is also very effective. The Red Fury gives them a lot of striking power and the mimetism is very effective as well. MSV is definitely something to start prioritizing if your meta has a lot of O-12 in it. A very elite army that requires some careful play. To me, it seems like a mix between PanO and Nomads that is very distinct from ForCo. All the Nomad tricks, but PanO gunfighter quality. There are just so many troops with BS14! Always a great game with Isaac.

If you'd like to read more of my battle reports, you can find them at MercRecon.Net. If you'd like to find out about the Meme Contest or other aspects of the current Bromad Academy mission, you can check it out here: Mission 014: Asteroid Blues. Thanks for reading. Go Go Nomads!