Airborne versus Forgeworld! Game 3! Warning: TONS of pics!

Edit: Omg! Mord has split up the thread in two parts!

Fortunately for me, with help of our scenery-providing friend, I managed to talk theColonel into doing a rescue scenario. The evil spark in his eyes told me he’d rather have executed him, but in truth he’s far from being so uncivilized. So I had a shot at regaining my CO intact. In hindsight, however, I should have let him die…

Game 3: International Rescue! Thunderbirds (well, Harakoni Warhawks!) are GO!

We came up with our own rescue scenario (Mord, why isn’t there one in the rulebook? o.O). Captain Aetos was being held at gunpoint in the Praetorian base of operations. He had two guards, with the rest of the team having set up a perimeter. The Harakoni deployed outside the base. Their objective was to reach their Captain and remain in base-to-base contact with him for one turn. If successful, the Captain would regain his equipment and be able to fight along. The attackers would win if they could get their CO outside the defenders’ base.

During the game we came up with a little siderule: seeing the advance of his squad, the Captain was allowed to make an unarmed strike at one of his guards, in an attempt to break free. Of course at this point the Praetorians would be allowed to respond in their own triggerhappy way!

You’ll notice the Harakoni troopers having a little more paint on them: I managed to sneak in some painting time!

We’ll start off with an overview of the battlefield. theColonel managed to make rather awesome overview pics this time!

The table:


Entrance to the Praetorian HQ (which, quite fittingly, was avoided like the plague by the Harakoni!):




Deployment:

First, the Praetorian deployment:


Note poor Captain Aetos being held at gunpoint!


And the Harakoni deployment. Going from the first overview pic, they deployed in the building on the far right side of the table.


Turn 1
Having the initiative, the Harakoni made their past the edge of the battlefield towards a small entrance in the Praetorian base. Using up all their actions in movement, they could but sit and wait for this turn to end as they took cover between the ruins and foliage.

On watch at the top of the gate, a Praetorian Lieutenant spots the Harakoni moving in through the foilage, squeezes the trigger and immediately drops the recruit on point.

The Praetorian guards


Sniper time!


Turn 2
The Harakoni continue to move forward. Another recruit is picked off by the eagle-eyed Lieutenant (bad pun: he actually has the skill ).

Turn 3
Pissed off with his men being shot to bits, one of the Harakoni sergeants lines up his autogun and shoots the Praetorian Lieutenant right in the face, being saved by his armor. This Lieutenant, however, has the courage of a little boy (having picked up a ‘nervous’ condition in the first game AND being robbed after the second one – was it the second one?) and with a loud: “SCREW THIS SHIT!” decides to make a run for it!

Yeah, even in the Praetorians’ turn the Lieutenant cannot seem to figure out where he left his balls (probably on the nightstand, right along with his toupet!). The remaining trooper on the gate cannot hope to match his superior’s shooting skills and the Harakoni escape this phase of the game unscathed.

Lieutenant Chickenshit makes a run for it (crouching, next to the tank trap)! Note the advancing Harakoni in the back.


Turn 4
More returning fire from the Harakoni proves ineffective as they continue to footslog through the ruins. The Praetorians are putting a dent in the Harakoni meatshield, however, as another recruit bites the dust!

Turn 5
Things are really heating up for the Harakoni now, as the Praetorians converge on their intended point of entry into the base. The flamethrower and sharpshooting Praetorians take their toll.

The Harakoni advance is stopped in its tracks.


Turn 6
With the Praetorian Lieutenant refinding his courage, the Harakoni’s chances at getting into the base dwindle as they are now pressed into an effective bottleneck. In an attempt to play the hero, the Harakoni CO goes kung fu on one of his guards, only to bust his hand on their armor and be subsequently clubbed to death by said guards. Fail…

The Praetorians close the trap…


Turn 7
The Harakoni finally manage to kill one of their opponents! Yes, it was that bad (didn’t I say I regretted attempting this rescue, yet?).

Turn 8
The only true hero on the Harakoni side reveals himself: the medic caps the Praetorian CO’s ass, gangsta style!

Turn 9
The Praetorians close in for the kill, the Harakoni practically beat and their numbers swiftly dwindling in their hopeless final attempt to reach their OOA Captain.

I guess this is why they call it Death Squads! 'Firing Squads' would have fitted nicely, too…


Turn 10
*sigh* … having had enough bloodspilling, the Harakoni CO (that would be his Lieutenant) voluntary routs the squads. A victory to the Praetorians!

Post-battle Sequence

All is not lost for the Harakoni, however: though robbed of his gear, Captain Aetos was later found in a dark alley, minus one eye and without a shred of dignity left. He was subsequently rearmed, replacing his powerfist and slugger with… a combat knife and an autopistol. Will he ever be the same again?

Standing tall in his place was the Second Lieutenant, however. This guy lost his arm in the final charge. With the medic still alive, a bionic arm replacement was soon found: only to be rejected by his body! The second time around, however, the replacement was accepted.

Now here comes the cool part: this is all happened to this model:



Yes, I had used him like this from the start. Destiny, eh? Sad part is I had almost no cash left to rearm my Captain. Oh well…
Colonel got away with a ton of upgrades, buying a heavy stubber and generally increasing his squad’s awesomeness. An observation here: we differ almost nothing in squad rating, yet Colonel’s gear is far superior by now (and by now we both have 10 models). DS totally needs a different way of calculating ratings!

Next week we plan on bringing Colonel’s little brother into the mix, with… Eldar! Excellent, time to upgrade my squad at the expense of a newbie. I’m gonna get you, Praetorians! Next time. NEXT TIIIMEEEE!!!

(Again, Colonel, if I missed anything cool, please feel free to add!!)

VERY, VERY COOL LOOKING! Even in a W.I.P. state that is a BEAUTIFULLY CINEMATIC gaming table. GREAT STUFF!

Another great report and the scenery looks superb - I wish my gaming looked like that.

Also the lieutenant is a top notch design - love it! Very cool stories being created here. Makes me jealous that my campaign hasn't got started yet!

Laney

DeafNala wrote:

VERY, VERY COOL LOOKING! Even in a W.I.P. state that is a BEAUTIFULLY CINEMATIC gaming table. GREAT STUFF!

Though I assure you my friend is flattered by your positive comments, the table is far from W.I.P. It is, in fact, quite complete, haha.

@02laney: thanks man, we appreciate it. Look for the next one about next week! (:

theColonel is now back to his own original name (which I had before Toyota, damn them....)

I dont really have anything to add. As always great words to my pictures. It may be interesting to note that, instead of killing the Harakoni Captain after the failed resque scenario we decided to return him with multiple injuries and without gear. This way the enmity between the two could continue in full, the Harakoni captain hugely humiliated

I like the terrain. Is some of that old printer cartridges?

Sorry about the W.I.P. thingy; I was referring to the yet-to-see-a-paint-brush minis rather than the terrain...I've got to learn to get my thoughts across better .

@franzyland: I know our friend used up three old VHS players in the process of building this terrain.

@DeafNala: that does make sense. Prius and I are the slackers.

I will read this INCREDIBLE report soon! Thanks for sharing.


After the release of v0.6.0 we plan to include MORE Scenarios... on this release we revised what we have. Like you suggested... a Rescue Scenario is in order!

Wow! Nice terrain. Great report. Keep up the great work.

Great stuff,
Brian