After Action Report #1 - Operation Unrelenting Facade

AFTER ACTION REPORT #1 - Operation Unrelenting Facade

In this series I join forces with my opponents in order to try and present play-by-play Battle Reports from both players' perspectives simultaneously.

 

Disclaimer! Please note that the game you're about to read about was played prior to the N4 Fireteam update of March 2022. 

So, It's a Battle Report?

Luckily for us, the Infinity enthusiasts, the internet is home on quite a number of high quality Battle Reports about our favorite wargame, be it in written or video form. I've also been interested about trying my hand on writing such retellings of battles for quite some time now, but for the longest time I've struggled with the format. If I were to just snap some pictures and write my narrative on what happened, the end result would in the best case be entertaining, but I'd be a player writing my own history, which would mean that the objective value of the report would be greatly lessened. Furthermore, much of the plurality of the game would be lost, as Infinity is famously a game where "you're always playing", and simply recounting the battle from one player's perspective would leave half of the story more or less untold.

Insert my new After Action Report -series! In this article series to be, I'll be teaming up with willing opponents in order to provide you, the reader, with play-by-play battle reports from BOTH players viewpoints! I agree with the opponents beforehand to write up the game no matter what happens, so what you'll get is Infinity at it's rawest - all that remains to see is whether what you're about to witness is a close fought battle decided by the last Order, or a total rout where the dice end up more or less dictating the result!

 

The Table: 'Amal - the Abandoned City

Today we're playing on the first terrain set that I built for Infinity! It was inspired by a line of backstory from the Daedalus' Fall book about the City of 'Amal; a rare terraforming failure in the history of Bourak, and an area that's inhabitation had to be abandonned due to an ecological disaster. This board setup features plenty of diagonal streets broken by various Line of Sight blocking objects. There are also two pieces of Desert Terrain (Difficult Terrain, no visual mods or Saturation Zones) near the accesses to the northern table's "Mining Area". The program I used to cut the terrain from the surrounding background also cut off a Crane at the top of the map, a tall billboard near the left hand Deployment Zone, and some suncovers from the right side DZ, but you'll be able to see them in the Battle Report's pictures!

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mission: Unmasking

Tanan, my close buddy who I started the hobby with, and I got a chance to play our first ITS Season 13 game face to face, so we decided to try and record a Battle Report while we're at it! As my Helheim -themed table is still very much at design stage, we decided to play a Mission that could be set up on my 'Amal - the Abandoned City -table without it feeling too out of place. In the end we chose Unmasking, both because it doesn't include any new ITS extras (that we totally haven't had the time to prepare models for), and because it's a really tense and fun Mission to play!

The Ramah Taskforce List - "Active Defence, Elastic Offence"

I'm currently testing lists builds around the concept of "Active Defence" - a style where I don't give up any ARO pieces for my opponent to directly engage from the get go, but rather force them to spend Orders just to get to attack something, all the while drawing them closer for my active turn pieces to attack come my active turn. The following list includes some mutually supporting pieces, as well as several avenues of approaching the various changing battlefield situations I might end up facing.

 

I have three strong, aggressive Hackers who I'm tasking with advancing on the Consoles and identifying the enemy Civilians with. I'll most likely pick the HVT's closest to the said Hacker as I go, as this means they should most likely be able to engage their targets on the same turn as they active the Consoles. While it's true that the Infiltrating pieces only get an additional 4'' of Deployment thanks to the Exclusion Zone, I think the skill will still end up being useful under the circumstances. The Mukhtar and the Tuareg also have the option to Spotlight enemy Designated Targets for Guided Missile strikes, and they can also mark advancing models on the reactive turn in ARO. Then again, my opponent loves his Dog Warriors and Antipodes, so I don't expect them to last long once I commit them to the fray.

I hope I'll be able to leverage the Ghulam NCO's Smoke to Cover the advance of my forward moving pieces, and both the Nahab and the Tuareg also have access to a Marker State to faciliate their attacks. Carmen & Bâtard can either form a defensive perimeter around some of the HVT's, or I can launch them forward as the situation dictates. The Shakush should mostly perform supporting fire duties, but I'll be sure to keep an eye on the opposing squad's defensive structure - if it breaks down over the course of the battle, I won't be above switching him to the first group and going for a deep run.

The Ghulam Core will hang back in reserve if possible, and I'll deploy them offensively or defensively as the battle proceeds to it's critical phases. It's too bad I couldn't shoe in any Viral guns into the list, but getting the Mukhtar Viral Rifle would have ended up costing me a Specialist, and in the end I decided against swapping the Tuareg for a Hortlak Janissary. Let's hope those aren't decisions I'll have to regret later...

The Tartary Army Corps List - TAK Unmasking v1.3

TAK Unmasking v1.3 is my latest  take on “victory through unyielding force”. 21 orders, 18 troopers and 25 wounds + a Dogged model + a No Wound Incapacitation model in a 15 slot list! Due to the extreme nature of this Mission (a lot of button pressing, killing HVTs and the presence of an Exclusion Zone), I wasn’t too worried about a Lieutenant assassination, so Voronin is a no-brainer LT choice. Three extra Regular Orders, please! The list is a little light on Specialists (4), but I feel I should have enough “extra” Orders (Fireteam movement and Impetuous Troops) to do whatever is required for scoring the Mission.

I’m a simple man with a simple strategy: move up with the Dog Warriors and Antipodes, kill or tie up enemy offensive pieces, and when everything is relatively safe, press buttons and kill the Decoys and the Designated Target...

If the Dog Warriors are unable to cross the field because of heavy enemy presence, I'll try to use the Ratnik and the (Core Fireteamed) Line Kazak AP HMG to clear the way.

The Initiative Roll

Grotnib: I won the Initiative Roll and immediately decided to go first; I want to secure a decisive Objective Point lead before casualties start to mount up, and then try and slow the tempo of the game down so that Tanan can't catch me on the scoreboard!

Tanan: I lost the Initiative Roll and Chose Deployment. Had I won the Initiative Roll, I would have chosen Deployment anyway, because this is a Mission that you can win by hiding the HVTs.

The Deployment

The Deployment Zones and the placement of HVTs:

Grotnib: I didn't mind having to deploy first, as this time I had a pretty solid idea on what was going where to begin with, more or less regardless of my opponent's deployment!

I placed two of my HVTs on the northern flank in the "Mining Area", and chose the one more exposed to be my Designated Target in an effort to play some mind games. The second Decoy was placed in a secure spot near to the bottom of the map. I tasked my Warcor and Carmen & Bâtard with the defence of the northern Civilians (with Bâtard standing very visible in order to Discover any advancing Camouflaged enemies and hopefully acting as a bullet magnet, Carmen disapointingly rolled a Light Flamethrower from Booty), and deployed my Fireteam behind the buildings towards the southern edge of my Deployment Zone to give the illusion that I was about to bubble wrap the lone HVT located near there. This position would also give me the best avenues to launch Smoke to cover the south and middle Consoles, as I was suspecting that my opponent would have no Multispectral Visors at his disposal to contest my advances after my Ghulam NCO had done his thing!

The Shaytaniyah was tucked away near my Core, and the extreme southern flank was occupied a Prone Lieutenant decoy and a Prone Fanous, while the real strike team commanding Ghulam hid behind some boxes near the middle of my DZ. I tasked the Nahab with the south Console, deployed the Mukhtar to take the middle one, and Hidden Deployed the Tuareg to secure the northernmost Objective. The Shakush was deployed in reserve to be called upon when needed.

Tanan: In my opinion, Unmasking is a “Map Mission”, meaning that the player who keeps Deployment has a possibility for a game winning edge before any dice are rolled. I feel that the player keeping Deployment should be asking themselves the following questions:

1) After the opponent has deployed, Is there a spot in the game table where you can put all three of the HVTs, or just the Designated target, so that you can reliably guard them from first turn attacks?
2) After the opponent has deployed, is there a favorable firelane that you can use to prevent the opponent from activating a Console (or Consoles)?

When answering these questions, it's best to try and guess how many/what enemy troopers are Hidden Deployed, Parachuting, Combat Jumping or otherwise not yet deployed.

Because it would be boring from the report point of view that the answer for 1) would be “yes”, Grotnib seems to have set up the table actively making sure that the map didn’t have amazing HVT hiding spots available. This is one of the things I feel potential Tournament Organizers need to consider when choosing Missions for a tournament. Alternatively, you need a house rule (example: friendly HVTs can’t be in each other's Zones of Control), or you risk handing this significant advantage to an observant Deployment keeping player.

My Designated Target is in the best hiding place of  the map, near the southern edge of the table. Decoys are scattered to far away places.

For various reasons, I feel that the state of active vs reactive player in Infinity is currently heavily tilted to favor active player's attack pieces. I feel that if a good attack piece can engage it's foes in its favorable range bands, the target is pretty much dead unless the defender gets exceedingly lucky. I knew from our earlier encounters and discussions with Grotnib that at least one of his last trooper(s) probably has an HMG. He didn’t disappoint when the last unit deployed was a Shakush TAG with an HMG. I also notice that Grotnib's army only has 14 (Order generating) models visible. This means there is a high probability that either a Hidden Deployed or a Parachutist trooper is waiting to make its presence felt. 

Because I feel TAK doesn’t have (nor does it need) “gold standard” ARO pieces (the likes of full Fireteam Cored Heavy Infantry with heavy weapons and Multispectral Virsors or really dangerous Hidden Deployed troopers), I feel that the key to good defense with TAK is hiding everything except the most durable and  the cheapest of troopers (such as Antipodes, Warcors and Dog Warriors), and then deploying the last trooper (or two troopers, because the list of course has Voronin) in an optimal spot, where the last trooper can’t get easily HMGed by the opposing reserve drop.

Top of Turn 1 (RTF's First Active Turn)

Grotnib: After my opponent strips two Orders from my Group 2, it's time to open the festivities! I use the Shakush's Tactical Awareness Order to take a peek at the enemy Warcor before returning to Total Cover. The journalist is the only thing that can meaningfully contest the Tuareg's march to the north Console, so she has to go. I'm not planning on using the TAG for anything else this turn if everything goes to plan, so this should be a low risk play - especially considering that we're clearly over the Flashpulse's optimal range. Four large caliber HMG hits later I've drawn the first blood.

Tanan: Grotnib's reserve, the Shakush, has been deployed to a position from which it can shoot at my Warcor - hopefully my decision to deploy the journalist in such a commanding position has somewhat forced my opponent's hand! The Warcor has a 35% chance of surviving the encounter and keep writing headlines, but sadly she goes unconscious after the first HMG burst.

Grotnib: With the Warcor gone, the Tuareg springs from Hidden Deployment, move-moves to the Console, and using a second Order to crawl to the Objective Prone, activates it (rolling 2 dice on 18s feels pretty nice) to reveal the enemy HVT hiding behind the crane nearby. Unfortunately it's just a Decoy, but I've accomplished my first mission! Tanan's Antipodes make some conservative Dodges, and a high stakes game of cat and mouse is begun!

Tanan: The non-surprising Tuareg Hidden Deployment trooper reveals himself and advances to the Console. With the Warcor unconscious, I can’t do anything to contest this. Even if the Warcor was watching the firelane, the Tuareg would still have probably pushed the button successfully.

Grotnib: I use my next two Orders to land Smoke from my Ghulam NCO to blind the Line Kazak Missile Launcher and the Ratnik Heavy Rocker Launcher, so as to allow my Nahab to advance to the southern Console uncontested.

Tanan: Grenade Launchers haven’t been very popular in N4 because the weapon lacks a +3 Range Band; even when backed with full Fireteam Core support, they can struggle to hit enemy troopers. However, Fireteamed Smoke Grenade Launcher is as good as ever, because of the +1 Burst and the +3 BS. Grotnib places Smoke so that they cover the Line Kazak ML and the Ratnik HRL firelanes in an optimal way. I have no way to prevent that from happening. Let’s see how much mileage Grotnib can get out from that!

Grotnib: With the coast clear, my Nahab Killer Hacker sprints to the Console, activates it, and identifies the middle HVT (towards which he's already moving after touching the Console)... This Civilian turns out be a Decoy too - bah! Tanan had made the smart play, and chosen the most secure HVT to be his Designated Target, and I in turn convinced myself that he was trying to pull a fast one on me! I'm starting to feel a tad worried about my dwindling reserves of Orders for this turn...

Tanan: Nahab Killer Hacker predictably presses the button, but I think that Grotnib made a slight error here. He should have first activated the center console with the Mukhar Hacker before committing the Nahab to its movement.

Grotnib: I take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand - I can still get the last Console! I use the Ghulam NCO's Smoke Grenade Launcher once more, and also shift my Fireteam from an evasive posture into a more defensive one. With the enemy Lines of Fire blocked, my Mukhtar Hacker is free to advance to the middle Objective, activate it, and finally reveal the Designated Target! The vengeful supersoldier uses the last Order from Group 2 to take up a defensive position midfield, and successfully Spotlights the Decoy nearby! (The Mukhtar's facing ends up being exactly the opposite of what's shown on the picture - the outstretched hand makes this a necessity!)

Tanan: Once again, the full Core Fireteamed Smoke Grenade Launcher proves how useful it is by blocking a third Line of Fire. The Mukhtar Hacker advances, presses the button, and Spotlights the Decoy. Having Spotlight succeed against the Decoy's Reset was rather important, because Grotnib can now very easily kill it with his Missile Bot next turn, unless I do something about that Shaytaniyah...

Grotnib: The Nahab finally gets the go ahead, and I move him so that he's just a tad out of the LoF of the Kazak Missile Launcher guarding the approach to the Designated Target. I Dodge to get an AROless 4'' Move, which takes me to within 8'' (and within Line of Fire) of my prize. Had the Dodge failed, I still could have Cybermasked to get into position, but this approach ends up saving me an Order! Next the headstrong supersoldier fullfills his mission, and Berserks into the hapless Designated Target - I don't want to risk getting stopped by a lucky Stun Pistol round, or beaten by a Dodge, so I go for this all-or-nothing play where there's a very high chance of mutual destruction. The brave supersoldier gets shot up on the way in, but while I don't manage to score a Critical Hit, two BTS saves against Damage 14 is just too much for the Designated Target and I score a tremendously important kill; three points for Gryffindor!

Tanan: The Ratnik and the Dog Warrior predictably eliminate the Berserking Nahab, but losing the Designated Target on the first turn makes the game a whole lot more difficult for me. On the bright side, one of the enemy high end offensive pieces is now dead! Got to say that I feel Grotnib played this turn and this interaction exactly right. When you are going for the Designated Target, Berserk is the best choice because not even a critical Dodge can save the Civilian! I also feel that this was also the only turn that he could have reliably killed my Designated Target...

Grotnib: I spend Carmen's Irregular Order to position her to contest the advance of enemy troops on the northern flank - she can take pot shots at approaching Antipodes and hopefully deter the Irmandinho from trying to rush the Console located there! I've taken control over all the three Objectives on the first turn, and killed the Designated Target - not a bad start to the game!

Tanan: Not that it matters, but the one revealed antipode has so far declared three Dodge AROs and failed all of them - bad dog!

The Bottom of Turn One (the First Tartary Army Corps Active Turn)

Tanan: Not looking too good for me, since I have lost my Designated Target. Sticking with the original plan, my strategy for this turn is to advance with Dog Warriors and kill the Missile Bot and as many enemy active pieces as possible to prevent my Decoys from dying.

 

All the three Dog Warriors and the Irmandinho execute their Impetuous movements. The northernmost Dog Warrior tries to avoid the Tuareg's and Carmen's shooting with Smoke, but suffers a wound in the process and transmutes. The other Impetuous troopers move forward with impunity. Such Order efficiency!

Grotnib: My opponent's first active turn starts with all the three Dog Warriors and the Irmandinho dashing forwards using their Impetuous Orders. The only one that any of my troops can see and thus react against is the werewolf moving towards the north Console. I react by declaring Shoot AROs from both Carmen and the Tuareg because they're safe to do so at this range, and the latter manages to wing the approaching foe turning it into the wolf-form! I also Flashpulse the thing with my Warcor - even though Immunity (Total) means that I can't actually Stun the beast, this way I can face to face it's attempt to throw Smoke!

 

Tanan: The Dog Warrior on the southern flank has been tasked with the destruction of the Shaytaniyah Missile Bot to save the Decoy from certain death. Using the first Regular Order from Combat Group 1, the Dog Warrior moves forward and puts down a Smoke template, but gets Spotlighted by the RTF Hackers due to a nearby Repeater.

Grotnib: Tanan spends the first couple of Orders of the turn advancing the Dog Warrior on the south flank towards my Shaytaniyah - it seems he's determined to save the Decoy I've Targeted! There really isn't much that I can do just yet (thanks to my opponent's use of Smoke), but I do manage to Spotlight the aggressor through the Fanous' Repeater! I consider Dodging the REM to stand from it's Prone state, but decide against it - I'm probably going to need that Regular Order later, and there's nothing the humble robot can do to stop the Dog Warrior's advance! Eventually the werewolf can't advance any further without providing my Mukhtar free shots from the next diagonal street, so Tanan sends in another doggie...

 

Tanan: Having gone as far as I can with the southern Dog Warrior, it’s time to try and remove the Mukhar Hacker with the Dog Warrior from Combat Group 2. I don’t really care if the Dog Warrior gets Spotlighted or not, because the Shaytaniyah Missile Bot is probably going down this turn, and even if it doesn't, Dog Warriors are extremely resistant to Guided Missile attacks thanks to Immunity (Total) and their high PH.

Grotnib: There's really nothing I can do to stop the Dog Warrior closing in on my Mukhtar Hacker from reaching his target... Then again, the werewolf has no reliable way to take out my supersoldier either, so I'm happy to see my opponent spend Orders on trying to fight me, rather than have his Specialists advance on the Consoles! There's nowhere I can Dodge that would make my position considerably better, so I (unsuccessfully) try to Spotlight the approaching foe.

 

Tanan: Let’s talk a moment about why Dog Warriors are great at close distances!

Combat Group 2 Regular Order #1 on the Dog Warrior: The werewolf moves so that it gets a Line of Fire to the Mukhtar, and the enemy soldier is forced to declare a Dodge ARO, or take two Chain Rifle hits to the face. Instead of using Direct Template attacks, I could have advanced the Dog Warrior into melee using a Move-Move activation. I decided against this, because a failed Dodge can kill the Mukhtar Hacker here. Risk to the Dog Warrior: zero.

Combat Group 2 Regular Order #2 on the Dog Warrior: The Ariadnan moves to engage the Mukhtar Hacker in melee. Once again, the supersoldier is forced to declare Dodge ARO, or take two Chain Rifle hits to the face. This time not even a successful Dodge ARO will save him, because the Dog Warrior declares q skill CC 21 AP DMG14 Close Combat Attack against the Hacker. Risk for the Dog Warrior: zero.

Being in the Engaged State with a somewhat expensive (31 points) model, who is a novice as a close combat fighter (CC16), is also the safest place to be in for my Dog Warrior to be in at this point of the game. Grotnib doesn’t have dedicated close combat specialists nearby, and any shooting attacks against the Dog Warrior will be at an extra -6 modifier, and any misses will hit the Mukhtar! The supersoldier can try to disengage by Dodging, which the Dog Warrior can prevent by winning the face to face roll using CC21, or with a successful normal roll Dodge of his own (the active player has to make their Dodge move before the reactive trooper does theirs). Next turn, assuming that the Dog Warrior survives (which is very likely), I can use the Impetuous activation to make a “free” kill attempt against the Mukhtar Hacker. Did I say that Dog Warriors have a high Order efficiency?

Grotnib: As the Dog Warrior rounds the corner the Mukhtar Hacker declares a Dodge - I really don't feel like taking two Chain Rifle hits, and I don't mind locking my enemy in melee should it come to that! Tanan tries his luck with the Direct Templates, but I pass my roll! Next Order, the Dog Warrior moves into melee with the Mukhtar, and I almost get ahead of myself by declaring a Spotlight (which I feel is the right thing to do in an extended melee), but Tanan kindly reminds me that he's still got the Chain Rifles available this activation. I thank him for the reminder, and Dodge instead. The werewolf declares a CC Attack and (somewhat luckily) causes a wound on my supersoldier, but at least it's now tied up, and cleaning up the Mukhtar could prove difficult for my opponent later on!

 

Tanan: With the Mukhar Hacker tied in melee, the Dog Warrior on the south side makes a mad dash to the Missile Bot's Zone of Control. Unfortunately he has to tank a free BS attack ARO from a full Fireteam Cored Ghulam, as well as once again wander into the Repeater extended enemy Hacking Area. The Dog Warrior brazenly makes a Move-Move in full view of the Ghulam. The Haqqislamite takes two BS17 shots against the Dog Warrior. In my opinion, the BS attack ARO reasoning is somewhat debatable here. Sure, Grotnib can theoretically put down my advancing piece (1%) or cause 2 wounds (14%), but the most likely outcome is that the Dog Warrior takes one wound (50%), which just makes him a better Grenade lobber (due to the PH enhancing effects if his Transmutation).

Grotnib gets lucky, and the southern Dog Warrior takes two wounds, before it starts throwing Speculative Attack Grenades. This is another situation where Dog Warriors really shine. Normally, lobbing Speculative Attack Grenades against anything is very likely a waste of valuable Orders with only a 20-30% chance of causing wounds. In this situation, the transformed Dog Warrior can get two single wound troopers under the template, and his target number is very high (PH16+3-6=13). Yara Haddad is rolling Dodges on 11s (because of the Sixth Sense provided by her Fireteam), and the Shaytaniyah Remote Dodges on 7s. Dog Warrior has  a 57% chance of taking out one of the troopers, and a 11% chance of taking out both. To me, those are extremely efficient and risk free Order usage probabilities. Not too surprisingly, the Shaytaniyah Remote gets hit and goes unconscious.

Grotnib: The southernmost Dog Warrior activates again, and dashes into Total Cover on the other side of the building from my Shaytaniyah. My Fireteamed Ghulam positioned to contest this move puts two wounds on the aggressor, but that's obviously not enough. The wounds cause the creature to assume it's wolf form, which increases its PH value, but I absolutely have to deal with the beast next turn anyway, so better to start putting wounds on it while I have the chance! The next Order sees the hulking Ariadnan Speculative Attack a Grenade over the building between the Shaytaniah and Yara Haddad. I Dodge with both, and lose the Missile Bot for my troubles... It was a tad lucky for Tanan to score a kill with his first try, but at least it has cost him plenty of Orders to get into position, and the Dog Warrior has suffered two wounds for his efforts! The Guided Missiles aren't at their best in this matchup anyway, so the loss is very much acceptable!

Tanan: The Impetuous move left my northern Dog Warrior in a somewhat bad position. I activate the werewolf with its Irregular Order, move it so that it toes the Desert Terrain, and Chain Rifle the Tuareg. I’m taking a small risk (11%) of suffering a wound from Carmen's Heavy Pistol, but that's something I'm willing to live with. The Tuareg has PH12, so it’s unlikely that this attack kills the enemy though... To my amazement, the Tuareg fails the Dodge, but the Haqqislamite's ARM1 scarf helps him pass both DMG13 Armor Rolls! The Warcor's Flashpulse hits the Dog Warrior, and I choose to go prone, which gets me out of Carmen's line of fire.

Grotnib: You get a Dog Warrior, you get a Dog Warrior, you get a Dog Warrior! The last werewolf to get going this turn is the one located on the north flank, and it advances to within Chain Rifle range of my precious Tuareg. I Dodge to try and conserve my valuable piece, all the while firing Carmen's Heavy Pistol and the Warcor's Flashpulse ineffectively at the Ariadnan. I fail the Dodge, but luckily pass both of my saves - that was too close!

Tanan: Because the Shaytaniyah Missile Bot went down quicker than expected, I can spare a few Orders for my relatively squishy (at least when compared to the Dog Warriors) Fireteam Core. The squad advances and the Line Kazak AP HMG guns down (51% vs 22%) the Ghulam Panzerfaust and the rest of the Fireteam takes up positions overlooking some sweet, long diagonal firelanes. The Irmandinho uses his Irregular order to go hide in the nearby stairs.

Grotnib: My opponent uses the next few Orders to reposition his Fireteam into more aggressive a position for future turns, and sneaks the Irmandinho to the cover of the middle building for a relatively easy access to the north and middle Consoles in the later turns. The Line Kazak AP HMG takes out my Fireteam's only overwatch piece - the Ghulam Panzerfaust. I left the Haqqislamite in a position that would require a couple of Orders to get to, so the sacrifice was well worth it! Tanan was rolling five dice at 14s against my two on 14s, and the catastrophic failure state of losing the HMG would have gutted the opposing strike team's long range firepower, so I didn't feel bad about taking my chances. Unfortunately the Ghulam misses both her shots and gets riddled with bullets; oh well - nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Tanan: The Antipode Assault Pack has a "free" Tactical Awareness Order, so I move them forward, not expecting anything meaningful to happen. Grotnib tries to be clever and plants a Shock Mine with the Tuareg's ARO. This opens up an attack vector for the Dog Warrior if it can use the Mine as a Line of Fire blocker, but first I have to get the Deployable Weapon Discovered. I use a Regular Order on the Antipodes, which sadly fail to Discover the mine (rolling for a 13). Grotnib sees through my plot, passes the Dodge roll, and stands up with the Tuareg. Curses!

Grotnib: What follows is a funny interaction! Tanan moves his Antipodes forward to contest the northern Console, which I react to by having my Tuareg place a Shock Mine in front of him as a deterrent... My opponent realises that while the Camouflage Token doesn't block Line of Fire, as both the Tuareg and the Dog Warrior are Prone, a revealed Mine would cut the LoF, and thus allow the werewolf to Chain Rifle my Skirmisher who'd in turn be Dodging at a -3! The Antipodes activate again to Discover the Mine, and I realise what's about to happen, so I Dodge with the Tuareg to try and correct the partially self-inflicted situation. My brave scout passes his Dodge and retreats 2'' standing up, and the Antipode fails it's Discover. All the while this deadly dance is happening, Carmen's Heavy Pistol rounds strike everything but their targets, and the Warcor's Flashpulse seems to be out of battery...

 

Tanan: Let's talk about the Veteran Kazak Paramedic and Ratnik Heavy Rocket Launcher Fireteam, AKA “The Dynamic Duo”, that I use my last Combat Group 1 Orders on. The Duo moves towards the Console, and the Ratnik guns down Bâtard. The problem with TAK Specialists is that they aren’t that durable, or very good at brutal, long range, attrition focused firefights. Veteran Kazak is the most durable Specialist in TAK, and he can usually murder anything non-TAG in a gunfight using his trusty T2 Rifle assuming that the target is within 16”. If the target is over 16” away, the elite soldier will run into problems though... A clever opponent can prevent the Veteran Kazak from advancing by keeping a good ARO piece more than 16” away.
Ratnik HRL on the other hand  is simply a steal with a 47 point price tag with it's 2 wounds, Dogged, ARM 6 and a effective Range 32”, Burst 3, Continuous Damage Template Weapon. Ratnik also sports a Heavy Shotgun and a Heavy Pistol for close range firefights! The only problem spending orders on Ratnik is that the movement part of the order is usually wasted, unless the Mission favours Heavy Infantry movement... Fortunately, Veteran Kazaks are Wildcards in this Sectorial, and thus they can be part of a Ratnik Duo! Together, the Veteran Kazak and the Ratnik can waltz up the game board, kill (almost) anything that dares to show their face, press buttons, defend stubbornly, and crack jokes about Aleph while at it. On the northern flank, the Dog Warrior proves that they are also great at Mine disposal by triggering the Shock Mine, but avoiding it with a successful PH16-3=13 Dodge. The Dog Warrior then retreats to protect my northern decoy.

On the whole, my turn went pretty much as expected. The Missile Bot is unconscious without any Engineers nearby. All Dog Warriors are in annoying places ready to wreak havoc unless killed next turn. My button pressers are all alive and reasonably near the consoles. The only free enemy upfield active piece is the non-Camouflaged Tuareg Hacker.

Grotnib: The Duo of Ratnik and Veteran Kazak Paramedic advance towards the north Console, and the larger soldiers blasts away poor Bâtard. I was hoping I could whittle down some additional Orders by having him stand clearly visible, yet still in Cover. While it was too bad that I lost Cârmen's companion to the first shot, it's still one less Move the Heavy Infantrymen got to make! The Duo's members end up in defensive positions with thin Lines of Fire; enough to contest my moves, but still forcing me to move to get any good shots on them - well played Tanan, well played! My opponent uses his last Order to retreat the northernmost Dog Warrior to Total Cover overlooking my opponent's decoy, and the Tuareg Dodges to avoid potential Chain Rifle hits. All in all, I feel pretty great about the turn; I only lost a couple of models, and I managed to keep Tanan away from all the Consoles!

Top of Turn 2 (Ramah Taskforce's Second Active Turn)

Grotnib: I kick things off by using a Command Token to move the Shakush into the Group 1, as I want to keep the option of a deep strike open if I end up needing it. I use a couple Orders to maneuver the TAG to take shots at the northernmost Dog Warrior, who I cause a wound to.

Tanan: Continuing our ongoing series “Why Dog Warriors are great at being awesome and you should be like them too, Part 3”.  There is a concept in Infinity called “Order efficiency” which almost everyone agrees exists but most players have different opinions about. Everyone agrees that movement in Infinity is very efficient and predictable. You spend an Order, and the trooper moves the first movement value as a first part of an Order, and then possibly the second movement value as the second part of the Order. No dice rolling involved, so it’s 100% predictable and totally worth it if the scenario favours advancing. Not so much if you make skill checks... Part of being an excellent Infinity player is making sure that you maximize chances of successful skill checks that are important to the Mission. For example, in this game Grotnib's list has three aggressive Hackers. Taken together, they provide at least 3 extra Orders (because Hackers can roll an extra dice when pressing buttons in Unmasking) for the Mission assuming that they can reach the console and I can’t, which is vital for winning the Mission. If your Sectorial doesn’t have/need/want active Hackers, like is the case with TAK, you can try to brute force this requirement by having access to “free” movement Orders in the form of Fireteams and/or Impetuous orders like I have done, but it’s not the same. RTF is a finesse Sectorial played by enlightened, forward looking people. Not like TAK, which is played by simple-minded people with simple strategies. What does this long rant has to do with Dog Warriors, you ask? Rolling any 50/50 face-to-face checks in Infinity is extremely inefficient from the Order point of view. That’s the reason why throughout different editions and FAQs of Infinity, good players have tried to prevent the opponent from making meaningful opposed BS Attack rolls (coughkodalismoketrickbeforefaq1.1.1cough), or have stacked visual mods and/or high ARM (like the Avatar) for the attacker. If given the choice, a top level player never gets into a situation where their opponent's multi wound, high ARM or Immunity (Total) trooper has a high skill ARO check that negates your Order expenditure. Even if you got lucky and succeed in a single match, it’s very likely that in a tournament environment you will fail at a similar roll at some stage and because of that fail to reach the podium - winners don’t take chances! Dog Warriors force opponents to take risks. It’s just that simple, which suits perfectly for us straight shooting TAK players. For mere 24 points, you get 3 Immunity (Total) wounds, and Smoke ammo skill check at 17s or 19s against most non-MSV BS Attack rolls. I dare you to find a trooper that wants to spend Orders to kill Dog Warriors in the comment section!

Back to the action! The Shakush TAG with HMG takes aim at the northern Dog Warrior. The Dog Warrior throws a Smoke grenade in response, and predictably (60%) takes only a single wound and voluntarily fails it's Guts Check to move into Total Cover. Dog Warriors once again doing their best, causing their opponents Order inefficiency. Am I surprised? No.

Grotnib: I use the Group 2's first Order to have my Lieutenant Decoy break from Cover and fire at the Targeted and wounded Dog Warrior that took out the Shaytaniyah. I'm rolling three dice at 17s against a Smoke toss at a 19, and even should I fail, I've still got the option of bringing Yara over to finish the werewolf off, so I'm not feeling terribly worried. I didn't need to bother though, as the Ghulam displays remarkable professionalism by knocking the Dog Warrior unconscious with the first salvo from her Rifle. I use the remaining two Orders in the pool to move the Ghulam into Cover overlooking the street, put the werewolf out of its misery (Tanan has Medikitted them a few too many times for me to leave any lying around unconscious), and end the turn in Suppressive Fire.

Tanan: The Dog warrior once again throws Smoke against the Ghulam, but with Targeted State and two previously suffered wounds, he sadly goes down to being unconscious. It’s worth mentioning that the "free" ARO Hacking my opponent executed last turn pushed the probabilities of success significantly up (35% → 45%). Ghulam also uses a second Regular Order to put him out of his misery (82%). I'm a little disappointed about how easily the Dog Warrior got put down this time. I wish he could have lasted an Order longer...

Grotnib: I spot the Veteran Kazak Paramedic preparing to make a play towards either the north or the middle Console, and I decide to send the Shakush to fire a salvo at the Specialist. I split Burst against the two Antipodes that I can see while moving towards my firing position, but I can't land any hits against their Dodges. I know I'm only going to get a single try at downing the Paramedic, as Tanan will surely elect to fail his Guts Check if he survives. I get lucky here, as I'm able to force several saves even though I'm rolling for 11s (due to the Veteran Kazak's Mimetism (-3) and Cover), while the Ariadnan veteran is Dodging on a 12. Even better is to come though, as Tanan fails two saves and I take the Paramedic cleanly off the board! This is a huge win, as this cuts to my opponent's already rather lean complement of Specialists! The Shakush then retreats to a very defensive position near his starting spot, and goes into Suppressive Fire, daring the Dog Warrior in melee with my Mukhtar to make a move!

Tanan: I wanted to preserve the Fireteam Duo, but I was forced to leave the Veteran Kazak Paramedic eyeing the center Console. The advancing Shakush takes aim at him, and despite Cover and Mimetism (-3), manages to score two hits on the Veteran Kazak Paramedic. I fail to roll even a single 10 on the saves, and the mighty Heavy Infantry gets taken out by the volley! Dice gods, why have you forsaken me?!

 

Grotnib: I see an opening for Carmen to make her presence felt, so I use a combination of the Ghulam NCO and the biker herself to Smoke off the firelanes that Tanan's long range pieces have towards the north flank. Then Carmen finally gets to accelerate forward, and a Move takes her to within LoF of the both the nearby enemy Decoy and the wounded Dog Warrior. The werewolf and the biker exchange Chain Rifle shots, and the Civilian Dodges. Surprisingly both the Warbands end up just being fine, but the Decoy gets taken out in the crossfire. I move Carmen around the crane preparing to launch a suicide run against the Ratnik and/or the Irmandinho, but my Chain Rifles fail to take out the Dog Warrior as I go. This more or less forces the biker to double back and finish off the creature with another volley (I couldn't engage the thing in melee without getting shot up), and extremely luckily I pass all my Chain Rifle saves while darting in and out, so miss Carmen lives to fight another day!

Tanan: The northern Dog Warrior is where I want him to be, protecting the Decoy from Carmen. Carmen could easily kill the Decoy with her Heavy Pistol, but that would mean that she takes a free Chain Rifle shot from the Dog Warrior. Alternatively, Carmen could Chain Rifle them both, but that play has the risk that the Decoy could pass his Dodge roll. Grotnib chooses to Direct Template them both, and moves to  prepare soon-to-be-Dogged Carmen to perforn a suicide run against the Ratnik. The Decoy fails the Dodge, but miraculously both Carmen and the Dog Warrior pass their saves! Carmen comes back and does the same thing again, and this time the werewolf ends up dead, but that famous haqqislam ARM1 scarf protects the biker yet again. What now; 4/4 opposing passed Chain Rifle saves against this doggie?!

Grotnib: I end my turn by turning the Warcor's Irregular Order Regular to shift my Tuareg into a new position, this time overlooking both the middle and the north Consoles. This is very much a suicide assingment, but I'm in a comfortable Scenario lead, and if I can force Tanan to spend Orders taking out a Mimetism (-6) model that's Dodging to avoid hits with PH12, I may be able to stall him just long enough frustrate his Scenario plays a bit further... The Antipodes Dodge in response, more menacingly than actually dangerously.

Tanan: The Tuareg moves to cover that previously mentioned diagonal firelane to prevent my Irmandinho from getting into the central console. She will soon learn that fancypants thermo-optical camo won't protect her from the Core Fireteamed AP HMG! Antipodes ARO Dodge in response, but their movement is hampered by the area of Desert Terrain.

The Bottom of Turn 2 (Tartary Army Corps Second Active Turn)

Tanan: It's not looking good for me, but all isn’t lost! Losing the Veteran Kazak Paramedic means that I only have the single Irmandinho to press the northern and middle Consoles with. On the bright side, Fireteam Cored Line Kazak AP HMG is going to have a field day. So many good targets to kill from the optimal range band! The goal of the turn is to clear the middle Console, activate it, and use Ratnik to kill the HVT and Chain Rifle-resistant Carmen that has been left standing next to it. The first thing to resolve is the “free” Impetuous CC Attack against the Mukhtar Hacker. No real risk for the Dog Warrior, and not surprisingly, the werewolf kills the supersoldier. Irmandinho discards his Impetuous Order, because the Tuareg is watching the firelane he'd have to cross. I'll need to take out that Skirmisher as soon as possible!

Grotnib: Tanan's pools of Regular Orders start to look a bit dwindled, and I've downed two of his Dog Warrios, plus his toughest Specialist, but he's still got plenty of access to Irregular and Impetuous Orders, so this is going to be a rough ride! The werewolf that's in melee with my Mukhtar uses the Impetuous Phase to make a Close Combat Attack - I elect to Spotlight to contest the roll, plus I don't want to cause a wound, because that'd make the Dog Warrior transform and thus become more dangerous a melee opponent! I elect not to Suppressive Fire with my Shakush and my Ghulam Riflewoman - causing three wounds on the beast when it's locked in melee seems unlikely, yet killing my own supersoldier would pretty much be a forlorn conclusion. The Ariadnan wins the face to face roll and kills my Mukhtar - sigh... I still feel that the AROs were the correct ones to take, but alas, it was not to be!

 

Tanan: The  firelanes of the Tuareg Hacker, Yara and the Shakush are crisscrossing, but I can still navigate them! My Fireteam Core Line Kazak AP HMG takes the lead and moves to see the Tuareg Hacker guarding the center Console. It all comes down to this! Assuming that the Tuareg declares a Dodge ARO, Full Core supported Line Kazak AP HMG has a 49% chance of dropping the Tuareg with each Order spent. This is a risk free shot for the Line Kazak, and once I have killed the Tuareg, the HMG will delete Yara and after that try and put some hurt on the Shakush. The Fireteam's Specialists can then freely advance and push the buttons. What could go wrong...
1st order: the Tuareg survives.
2nd order: the Tuareg survives.
3rd order: the Tuareg survives.
4th order: the Tuareg survives.
5th order: I’m forced to pull back the Fireteam, but the Tuareg finally dies.
I’m (almost) tilting. The chance of the Tuareg surviving 4 orders from AP HMG is about 5%. It's not looking good for my Fireteam...

Grotnib: My opponent maneuvers his Fireteam to bring the AP HMG to bear on my stoic Tuareg. Tanan is looking for 8s on five dice, and even though the Line Kazak is out of Cover, the long range means that I decide to Dodge in response to try and negate as many hits as possible, and thus force him to use valuable Orders gunfighting my Skirmisher, as opposed to advancing on the Consoles. Had my opponent just advanced brazenly forward, I would have been able to take unopposed shots at his Specialists, and he didn't seem to be ready for that. In the end the AP HMG fires at the Tuareg once... Twice... Thrice... I roll silly good on my Dodges, and Tanan is basically looking for Critical Hits - to no avail! I elect to hold my position; I'm effectively printing money right now! The fourth salvo also ends up being ineffective, and although the Tuareg finally falls to the fifth attack, the damage is already done - Tanan has used all the Regular Orders from his primary Group just to rid himself of my troublesome Skirmisher! Rest in peace my brave Badawi; rest in peace...

Tanan: After a refreshing drink made out of my own tears, I get back into the game. The match might still be winnable, and even if it isn’t, my pride demands that I play to the bitter end! The Irmandinho advances to the central Console, activates it to reveal a Decoy, and returns to his hiding spot. Ratnik then predictably shoots both the Decoy and Carmen to kingdom come. On a whole, my turn went horribly wrong when the Line Kazak AP HMG failed to kill the Tuareg quickly enough!

Grotnib: There's no longer anything stopping the Irmandinho from advancing to the central Console and activating it. Tanan elects to reveal the HVT right next to Carmen, which turns out to be a Decoy - phew! Ratnik fires his Heavy Rocket Launcher (+1B) against the revealed HVT and my mercenary biker, both of which Dodge, but the Ariadnan's aim is true and both are blown apart. There's little for my opponent to do, but to try and push the Antipodes slightly forward yet again and pass the turn! My stalling is working wonderfully, though now I'm starting to run critically low on Orders with which to hamper my opponent further!

The Top of Turn Three (Ramah Taskforce 3rd Active Turn)

Grotnib: I count my remaining Orders and take note note of the fact that I don't have any Command Tokens left before I forge my plan. Tanan still has enough Orders to catch me on Objective Points if I don't do something about the state of the play, and I doubt my ability to defend the remaining Consoles with my depleted troops, so I choose aggression instead. I first consider pushing the Shakush as far forward as I can, but I'd need to take out the last Dog Warrior in my immediate vicinity in order to get going, and that sounds pretty risky... Eventually I decide that the time has come to execute a proper old school last turn Ghulam charge instead - if I can get past the werewolf waiting for me around the corner, I should be able to flank the Line Kazak Fireteam! The first to activate is the Shakush using its Tactical Awareness. It challenges the Dog Warrior, who successfully drops Smoke at it's feet. This is fine by me, as it frees me to start pushing the three member Fireteam forward! As Yara rounds the corner to advance past the Dog Warrior, the werewolf elects to ARO with a Chain Rifle shot (despite being in Smoke), in case I elect to shoot. I'm happy to just keep advancing, and when Tanan realises what's about to happen, he declares a Dodge on his next ARO instead. This time I fire Yara's Heavy Pistol (+1B) to deny my opponent his movement, and I score two wounds, effectively stopping the werewolf from pursuing the Ghulams any further.

Tanan: The Shakush tries to clear the center Dog Warrior with it's HMG, but once again the doggie is just too awesome and throwing Smoke prevents all damage. My juvenile gloating is premature when I notice that I misplaced the Smoke Template in a way that prevents the Dog Warrior from leaving the smoke template using a single 2” Dodge or Guts move. Oh boy, here comes the appropriately righteous Ghulam rush! I totally deserved that. We get into post FAQ 1.1.1 world or hypothetical BS attacks, which don’t happen when Yara doesn’t shoot the Dog Warrior. The werewolf then tries to Dodge (PH16) to slow down the Ghulams, but gets two wounds for his trouble. The Dog Warrior backs down and the Line Kazak Fireteam is on their own.

Grotnib: The next Orders see my Doctor spearheaded Ghulam Fireteam reach the Line Kazak Fireteam without any additional trials. The only remaining Light Shotgun armed Haqqislamite rounds the corner to target the bunched up enemy Fireteam that was unable to spread out enough even with their Zone of Control Dodges. I position the Doctor so that only the closest Line Kazak has Line of Fire (the poor Ariadnan covers me against the rest of his comrades), and I unleash the Burst 3 Direct Templates. The dice fall pretty much as expected, and both the Rifle and Forward Observer Kazaks end up dead, while the Paramedic and the Missile Launcher pass their Dodges; the Fireteam is broken though.

Tanan: The Line Kazak Fireteam gets one free (PH11-3=8) Dodge because Sixth Sense doesn’t work in our meta against non-attacks. The crucial pointmain Line Kazak fails his Dodge, which means that the Fireteam is neatly together for that Burst 3 Light Shotgun Direct Template. I know that Grotnib doesn’t have that many Orders, so everyone declares a Dodge ARO. Predictably the Rifle and the Forward Observer Line Kazak fail their Dodges and die to auto-hitting attacks. The Fireteam is broken, so the next Dodge is going to be even harder for some of my troopers.

 

Grotnib: I press my attack with the second to last Order, while Yara Haddad angles for a last ditch attack on the final Decoy. Both of us recognize the importance of the remaining Line Kazak Paramedic, but I feel that culling my opponent's Orders will be just as effective as killing the Specialist. I decide to hedge my bets, and move the Ghulam Doctor so that she can target either the enemy Paramedic or both of the remaining heavy weapons. The Line Kazak Specialist fires his pistol, while the Missile Launcher and the AP HMG Dodge. I decide to lay two Templates on the Paramedic and one on the other two enemy soldiers - by casting a wide net I hope to score at least some kills! The last enemy Specialist on this flank indeed falls, as does my Doctor, but the other Line Kazaks survive. I spend the final Order of Group 1 to give Yara the chance to take out the last enemy Decoy, and the Heavy Pistol (+1B) scores me the kill, though my brave operative doesn't survive the AROs of the remaining two Line Kazaks.

Tanan: Another activation for the Ghulam Fireteam and I choose to shoot the Ghulam trooper with my Paramedic while the rest of the Line Kazaks Dodge. The Ghulam lays down two templates for the Paramedic and one on both the heavy weapons. The AP HMG and the Missile Launcher armed soldiers pass their PH and PH-3 Dodges, the Paramedic dies, and the Ghulam goes unconscious. After rolling I noticed that I made an error here. I should have Dodge AROed with everyone. It probably wouldn’t have affected the end result, because Grotnib would have just used the Light Shotgun's Hit Mode against the Paramedic which was (along with the Forward Observer), the real target of the attack run in the first place. Yara makes a glorious last attempt at the Decoy's life using the final Order from the order group. Fittingly, she dies from the Line Kazak heavy weapon fire, but takes the Decoy down. Well played, sir Grotnib. Well played.

Grotnib: With only a couple of Orders left in the second Battle Group, there isn't that much to do. My Lieutenant stands bravely up to take three shots on 8s against the Line Kazak AP HMG in the open, whose rolling one dice on an 11, but the Ariadnan's aim is true and the Haqqislamite falls. My very last active Order of the game is spent putting the Ghulam guarding the long diagonal street back on Suppressive Fire, and then it's time to pass the turn. I'm very pleased with how things have worked out up to this point, and I feel Tanan will be very hard pressed to recover the situation! Now I just need to keep my cool and hope for some good last minute dice rolls...

Tanan: My Line Kazak AP HMG  in the open takes some shots from the faraway Ghulam, but surprisingly manages to put down the attacker  (47% to 12%). Yay, I got lucky!

The Bottom of Turn Three (Tartary Army Corps 3rd Active Turn)

Tanan: I only have few Orders left, so I’m banking on that not yet revealed HVT that the Ratnik is looking at being the Designated target. If it is, I can still score a draw. No sense in not trying it! I use a Command Token to move the Irmandinho to Combat Group 1. I choose to use the last Dog Warrior's Impetuous action, even though he gets shot at by the Ghulam in Suppressive Fire. Smoke ammunition evades all but one shot, which the Dog Warrior saves. The Shakush is watching the Irmandinho's movements, so I forgo his Impetuous activation.

I need to clear the way for the Irmandinho to get to the north Console. I first try to remove the Shakush with the Ratnik's Heavy Rocket Launcher, but the TAG eats multiple HRL shots like a boss thanks to its ARM 6. Then I notice that the Dog Warrior is very close to the Shakush, and a single Smoke Grenade solves a problem that multiple heavy rockets couldn’t! I save one Order for the Ratnik in case the Irmandinho manages to activate the console so that he can take a shot at the northern HVT if I manage to reveal him.

Grotnib: Tanan tries to take down my Shakush guarding the Irmandinho's route to the north Console by repeatedly firing the Ratnik's rockets at it, but the engagement turns out inconclusive, thanks to the TAG's ARM 6. Eventually my opponent blinds the Shakush with some Smoke thrown by the Dog Warrior, and this frees the Irmandinho to make a last ditch play.

Tanan: The Irmandinho makes a run for the northern Console, but fails the WIP check and gets
Stunned by a Flashpulse hit. The last Combat Group 2 Order remains unused; the game is over and I've lost.

Grotnib: The game eventually comes down to the wire, as the best Infinity games do! Tanan has two Orders to spend, and the way to tie the game is to have the Irmandinho that has advanced forward successfully activate the northern Console, identify the HVT that the Ratnik has Line of Fire to - the Designated Target that is - and shoot it with the Heavy Infantryman by spending the last Order. Unluckily for my opponent, the Irmandinho fails the WIP check, gets Flashpulsed by the Warcor, and the game ends in an RTF victory!

The End Score: Ramah Taskforce 10 - 1 Tartary Army Corps

Post Game Thoughts and MVPs

Grotnib: Phew, I sure feel relieved! I was nervous going into this game knowing it was going to be the first Battle Report to go up on the blog, so I was worried that the report wouldn't be a good read should one of the players play poorly or if the dice decided to go absolutely hayware - luckily my fears ended up being unfounded!

It's always great to play Tanan, especially live on the real tabletop! This game really showcased what Infinity can be at it's best; a tense, fun game between two well matched opponents! There were plenty of nail biting moments, and both players were very keenly aware of what the other was trying to achieve most of the time, which led to great cat and mouse moments and plenty of laughs! The dynamic of the battle also shifted drastically several times through the course of the game: I went all in on advancing the Mission parameters on my first turn, then Tanan took the initiative and I had try and slow him down, until at the beginning of my last active turn I realised I could no longer keep my opponent contained and thus I went on the offensive once more!

I was able to execute my plan pretty much without a hickup! I feel that at the end of the day, the dice were pretty even in this game - even though I got really lucky with the Tuareg holding up Tanan's Fireteam for a whole turn, he succeeded on many 50/50s on the first try, so I don't feel too bad about that one!

I think this game showcased some of the strengths and weaknesses of Ramah Taskforce. I was able to leverage my tactically highly capable pieces to take the Consoles and kill all the enemy HVTs quickly and effectively, and the supporting troops also pulled their weight (and then some!) by saving the day in the end. On the other hand, my decision to go all in on Scenario plays early on, coupled with the somewhat fragile nature of my RTF striketeam, meant that Tanan was able to out attrition me towards the end of the game - had my Ghulam charge failed, there was a very real chance that I would have lost the game!

 

Hats of to my opponent - even though I activated all the Consoles and killed the Designated Target on the top of first, he kept his cool and fought his way relentlessly towards a victory or atleast a tie! The end score does sure look lopsided, but had Tanan succeeded in his Irmandinho's WIP roll and had the Ratnik then proceeded to blast my Designated Target away, the game would have ended in a well earned 6-6 tie! A special praise must also be given to Tanan's fantastic piloting of his Dog Warriors; I really feel that his usage of the werewolves elevates them to a whole other level of dangerousness!

One last note; I've found reading through (and editing) Tanan's version of the battle to have been extremely educational! Even though we talk about our games and theorise about Infinity together, I don't think anything can give you a better understanding of someone's play than actually reading through their decision making process activation by activation! I only hope the readers of this Battle Report will feel more or less the same way!

RTF MVP Award:

The Murabid Tuareg Hacker - this guy activated my first Console, defended it against overwhelming odds and finally heroically laid down his live to secure me the victory! Even in the exalted presence of the Ramah strike team's supersoldiers, this brave warrior really stood head and shoulders above his comrades in arms - the Haqqislam High Command will surely mark this soldier as a high priority for reviving...

Tanan: As always, gaming with Grotnib is best in life. His plays were nearly perfect. It’s not a shame to lose to a gentleman and a good player even if I feel the great dice gods hated me at times today. I may sound salty here, but I’m not. Dice gods giveth and dice gods taketh. If I didn’t like that, I would play some other game. The best way to live life is to fight fairly, cleanly, and without regrets to the bitter end every time. Infinity is a great game to exercise that function.

In my opinion, if you want to improve your gameplay and keep your ego in check, you should definitely make a list of your gameplay mistakes instead of just blaming your bad luck. I definitely made some small and big gameplay mistakes today. If you think that I missed a mistake, please let me know in the comment section!

1) Missing a Frontovik Sniper: By dropping the Missile Launcher and the AP HMG Line Kazaks, my list could have had a Frontovik Sniper which could have seen through Smoke, which could have been important during the 1st turn. Then again, one salvo from Yara could have killed him... I personally still think that relying on a one wound MSV Sniper to hold a flank is wishful thinking. Ramah Taskforce is very good in this Mission due to the excellence of supersoldiers and the Fireteam Cored Smoke ammo of the Ghulam NCO.

2) Deploying the HVT to the northern flank: I could have deployed the decoy to the south. It was way too Order efficient for Carmen to kill the Decoy up there.

3) Deploying the Warcor so that it has a large Line of Fire. The Warcor was in partial cover, but perhaps with too big a Line of Fire. Then again, the Shakush TAG could have been on my southern flank killing those valuable Line Kazak cheerleaders... My hope was that it would have taken at least two Orders to kill the Warcor!

4) Deploying the Antipodes to the northern flank: the Antipode Assault Pack did get some free AROs and cost the enemy some Orders, but the Desert Terrain zone hampered their movement quite a bit. In retrospect, I should have deployed them to protect the Fireteam.

5) Ignore the Targeted Decoy: I could have advanced, pressed some buttons and killed some dudes, instead of advancing with the southern Dog Warrior. Then again, because I killed the Shaytaniyah Missile Bot during turn 1, it came down to Grotnib's final order to kill the Decoy.

6) Letting the Shakush get a bead on the Veteran Kazak Paramedic: I wanted to keep the Duo together, so the Veteran Kazak was perhaps too visible. Couple of inches to the north would have meant that the Shakush would have needed more Orders to try and kill him.

7) Placing the Smoke Template during Reactive Turn 3, and  the final Reactive Turn in general: by placing the Smoke Template poorly, the Dog Warrior needed two successful Dodges to get a Line of Fire to the Ghulam Fireteam. A better Smoke placement could have affected Grotnib's gameplay. I also made poor choices with my Line Kazak Paramedic AROs, which got my Specialist killed. My entire team was also poorly placed, because I thought that I could have taken out both the Tuareg and Yara using the AP HMG.

 

TAK MVP Award:
Group 2 Dog Warrior in the center, which killed the Mukhtar Hacker, generated 3 Irregular and Impetuous Orders, cost several enemy Orders, and made the last turn button press attempt possible with Smoke. Good doge!

The Battlefield Falls Silent... For Now!

There you have it; the first official the Good Guys Wear Orange Battle Report! The match ended up being all I could ask for and more, and I hope you, dear readers, also find it interesting and/or informative! If you have any comments on the battle or questions you would like to ask either of the players, please feel free to leave a comment down below!

Until the next time - I wish you the very best in leading the Swift and Deadly Spear of the Haqqislamite Army to Victory!