After Action Report #3 - Operation Astral Tears

AFTER ACTION REPORT #3 - Operation Astral Tears

I wasn't planning on taking part in the Durgama Takeover Online Campaign, and even less so planning on writing Battle Reports for it. However, one night I chanced upon the most nice gentleman who introduced himself as Asura Amari on the Campaign website, and he was looking for a TTS game. After our game I noticed that the website would reward my Opponent further if I also wrote down my part of the game. I figured this would be a two birds with one stone type of deal, so I ended writing this Report for both the Durgama Takeover Campaign and the Good Guys Wear Orange! As I wasn't planning of making this report to begin with, I originally did't take any pictures - which meant that I had to go back and recreate the battle from memory to get what I needed. All this is a long winded way of saying that this After Action Report is going to one of a lighter variant told only from my perspective - you can read Asura Amarin's version on the events here!

 

Into the Jungle

My Opponent asked if we could play our game for the Gekidan Research Park: Itokawa Site of the Campaign, which meant that our Mission would be Powerpack with two minor twists: Amplifier would give a +2 mod for all Comms Attacks and the Emerald Jungle would mean that the Saturation Zone across the middle of the table would give a +1'' bonus to the first MOV Value of models with Terrain (Jungle) or Terrain (Total). Of these two buffs Amplifier got me a bit anxious; before we started playing Asura Amari told me he'd be playing Opeations Subsection of the SSS (duh?), which meant that I might be going up against some pretty heavy Hacking. On the other hand, this should be just fine; I'm stress testing a Hacking light list anyway!

The Table: Canals by Whyrocknodie

My Opponent was kind enough to set everything up for our game, and he'd chosen the excellent Canals table created by who else but Whyrocknodie himself! I've played several games on this table and I really like it; the map features several long firelanes for heavy weapon shootouts, areas of tight spaces for close quarters combat, and enough Difficult Terrain to spice things up without it getting too bothersome. Wrap everything in a thematic and stylish package and we have a truly classic Whyrock table! As I was recreating the play for the photos, I realised that my Opponent had accidentally misplaced his Console a tad, but that didn't end up affecting the game too much, so no worries there!

 

 

 

 

 

The Mission: Powerpack

I hadn't played Powerpack in a while, so this would a nice change of pace! The Mission Scoring divides into four parts; activating up to two Consoles on the middle line of the table, controlling the Opponent's Console at the end of each round, keeping your Opponent's troops away from your Console at the end of the game, and then there are also two Classified Objectives. The fact that most of the Objective Point Scoring happens at the end of the game means that going second is very strong in this Mission. Then on the other hand, the fact the each force has to deploy in two 16'' by 12'' areas at the corners of the board means that maintaining your squad's defensive structure can be hard, and thus a powerful Alpha Strike can really put a spanner in the works of a player looking to take Second Turn for easy end of game Scoring - a nice and balanced "asymetric" Mission tempo from where I'm standing!

Ramah Taskforce List - "Fire and Maneuver"

This is a list I created after my latest tournament experience, and I've really enjoyed playing it since! This list seeks to take full advantage of the diverse Fireteam options, excellent gunfighters and the fantastic Specialists that RTF can bring, without going all in with any particular facet of the Faction.

My first Battle Group is anchored by a mostly Ghulam Fireteam Core spearheaded by the verstatile Zhayedan Sniper, while the more active tactical elements include Carmen&Bâtard, a Tuareg Hacker and a Duo made up of a Shakush and Yara Haddad. I've really had fun playing this pair; Shakush can bully his way through most opposition and Yara can (quite literally) troubleshoot any situations that light TAG doesn't want to deal with (Hackers, Mimetism, tigh spaces, really high ARM enemies)!

The Second Group is dedicated for firesupport - the Khawarij Heavy Rocket Laucher can threaten anything in the game, and the Ghulam NCO can lay down Smoke without digging into the first Group's Orders. Shaytaniyah does Shaytaniyahy things and the Beasthunter is a great throwaway Skirmisher!

The Operations Subsection of the SSS List - Aleph Powerpack Level 3

The core of my Opponent's list seemed to be made up by the traditional OSSSS all stars; the Dakini Fireteam Core, Asura Hacker Lieutenant (+1 Order) and the full suite of Posthuman Proxies. What surprised me was the Hacking infrastructure, which seemed to more defensive than offensive in nature, due to it's focus on Killer Hackers as opposed to traditional Hackers, as well as the lack of Pitchers and/or aggressive Repeater carrying models - the list was even missing a Guided Missile platform!

As you can see there only 14 models in the list, which forced me to play around the imaginary 15th model that could have been a Hidden Deployed Dasyu or a Combat Jumping Garuda - an excellent list building solution by my Opponent! I encourage everybody with access to scary off-table units to leverage the possibility of their presence to the fullest extend, even when there's actually nothing there for the Opponent to be afraid of in real life!

The Initiative Roll

Asura Amari won the Initiative Roll (due to his namesake's high WIP!), and snap chose to go second. This made me rather nervous, as I figured my Opponent had to have a solid Scoring plan because he was willing to endure Deploying first and going second in order to get the final say when it came to the Mission Objectives. Then again, he'd confessed to me before the game that he wasn't all that familiar with Ramah Taskforce, so I couldn't draw too hard conclusions from the limited evidence before me!

I picked the side that seemed to offer better bases of fire and stronger attack vectors for an Alpha Strike, and asked my Opponent to deploy first!

The Deployment

My Opponent deployed very conservatively - most of his pieces were tucked away prone in Total Cover near his board edge, while his long range pieces (the two heavy weapon armed Dakinis and the Sniper and Heavy Rocker Launcher Proxies) took up commanding positions in order to challenge my advance. His WIP15 Proxy Engineer and her Peripheral (Servant) Yudbot would mean that the Dakinis would be very hard to take out for good, but there was really nothing I could do but to press against them none the less - fighting constatly reviving robots and having to spend resources taking out Proxies that don't provide any Orders for their commander anyway is just part of the course when facing Aleph!

I had the luxury of getting to see my Opponent's deployment before planning out my positions for a first turn attack. I tasked the Zhayedan with tacking the Heavy Rocket Launcher Proxy and afterwards hopefully pinning my Opponent's flank in place from his vantage point, while the Haris would support my Duo's assault against Asura Amari's Fireteam Core. My Opponent's defensive posture meant that he would be hard pressed to exert combat power against me on his first turn if I could defang his big guns, so that's what I set out to do.

Top of Turn One (RTF's 1st Active Turn)

Luckily I was able to deploy my Beasthunter in such as way as to enable him to approach my Opponent's Dakini Sniper safely. My first move took the Mercenary across the Lines of Fire of the Heavy Rocket Launcher Proxy and the HMG Dakini, and my Opponent elected to Discover with both of them. As there was no longer any danger for my Beasthunter, I could take a free shot at the Dakini with my Panzerfaust. I only had a 40% chance of hitting, but hey; best things in life are free! I promply rolled a critical hit and blew the heavy weapon dotting robot all the way to dead before the dumbfounded eyes of my Opponent's Engineer - so it's gonna be one those games, huh?

A MOV-MOV and a MOV later my Beasthunter was ready to lay a Heavy Flamethrower Template over my Opponent's Flashpulse Bot while at the same time splashing the Dakini Sniper. The Lamedh was burned to a crisp, but the Sniper passed it's Dodge. Since I still had a couple of Orders left in my secondary pool, I chose to drop an AP Mine on the rooftop before trying to Pistol the Dodging Dakini. The Yudbot got knocked out in the crossfire, but the Dakini managed to survive yet again! The Beasthunter got Spotlighted for his trouble and this awarded my Opponent the Telemetry (AROmetry?) Classified, bah!

Okay, let's do this the old fashioned way! I choose to advance the Shakush conservatily forwards in order to take out that troublesome Dakini Sniper. The TAG gets the job done; thanks to the Saturation Zone I'm firing three dice against one in return, and as the Yudbot is gone, repairing the Dakini is going to take some work! I retreat the Shakush back into a position from which it can provide some covering AROs, but at the same time my Opponent can't engage him with his remaining big guns without excessive effort.

So far so good! Now I need to challenge the Heavy Rocket Launcher Proxy in order to free up my offensive pieces on the other flank. I'm not happy to take on such a tanky and dangerous model - while the Zheydan is four times as likely to wound the Posthuman as the Posthuman is to wound him, the Proxy can take some hits and keep going, while the Zhayedan cannot. Then again, the Immortal's only job is to establish fire superiority on his flank, and if he fails, there's little difference to me whether he fails by hiding in Total Cover or by burning to death... So let's do this! Luckily for me, the veteran operative does not let me down; over a number of Orders he manages to knock out his advesary - another goal for the team Good Guys!

Now that the Heavy Rocket Launcher Proxy is gone, the Zhayedan is free to move into a more commanding firing position (but not too commanding; I don't want to push my luck by dancing with the other Proxy!). This allows me to take a potshot at the Flashpulse Bot, but the engagement turns out inconclusive.

I spend the last Order of the turn to move Carmen & Bâtard forward into a safer position; I'm pretty sure I'm going to need them later on!

Bottom of Turn One (OSSSS's 1st Active Turn)

To kick things off, Asura Amari uses his remaining Command Tokens to shift what is left of his Dakini Fireteam into the Battle Group one. My Opponent's counter attack then begins with one of the two surviving Dakinis taking the fight to my valiant Beasthunter. I don't think the Targeted mercenary is coming home after facing a Burst 4 Combirifle, so I choose to use the Heavy Flamethrower as a fair away present. The Beasthunter gets killed, but the Dakini passes it's save!

Next the Asura uses Cybermask to enter Impersonation State, which allows her to walz right to the first Antenna and activate it by spending a number of Orders. My brave Warcor manages to Stun her in the process however!

My Opponent cleverly re-Impersonates his Stunned Asura and retreats her into a more defedable position, before moving his Warcor into a position from which to cover her.

Next my Opponent tries to Move-Dodge the (Bike Recon provided) Motorized Bounty Hunter past my Zhayedan's fireline, but a lone high caliber shot rings across the battlefield and the Biker falls despite her rolling +4 ARM on Booty!

Top of Turn Two (RTF's 2nd Active Turn)

The Zhayedan begins my second turn by claiming his next victim; this time it's the Lamedh that gets gunned down. This face to face roll is almost risk-free for me, and it's a crucial step towards engaging the Asura lurking in the garden - she is by far the biggest threat to me moving forward!

Next my ITS Motorized Bountyhunter drives forwards and guns down the enemy Warcor mercilessly. Unfortunately her luck runs out as I use her to draw the Proxy Sniper from her Camouflage - I'm rolling three dice on 6s against a single dice on 10 and the Bountyhunter falls!

It seems this is going to have be a one woman show then! Carmen moves carefully fowards and positions herself near the Asura, but out of the Proxy's Line of Fire. Next I very, very carefully pick a spot for her to throw some Smoke into. I have to find a placement that blocks the Sniper's LoF to my advancing Biker, without covering the Asura, or I won't be able to Discover her! I find the right spot, though it takes two Orders to actually land the Smoke!

I force the Asura out of Impersonation by moving both Carmen and Bâtard to threaten her with Discovers. This is the most dangerous part for me, as the Asura opens fire against my heroine with her MULTI Rifle using Shock Ammunion. I try to oppose the shot with my Heavy Pistol (+1B), but Carmen gets hit anyway. Both me and my Opponent tense as I roll my save... And I pass! Phew - that was way too close!

It should be more or less smooth sailing from here on out! Carmen and Bâtard pile in on the Asura, and a triple critical from her Heavy Pistol (+1 Burst) in melee mode strips two wounds from my Opponent's Lieutenant. An Order later the Asura is dead, and I'm feeling a whole lot more comfortable about the game!

Next I use the Ghulam NCO's Smoke Grenade Launcher to blind both the Dakini rifleman and the Proxy Sniper when it comes to Yara Haddad. She proceeds to engage the Dakini with her AP Marksmanrifle before falling back to Total Cover, and the robot falls!

Carmen has done her job and then some, so she's basically playing with house money at this point. I consider just leaving her to be something that my Opponent has to deal with in his turn, but I can't see a reliable way of taking out the Proxy Sniper, so in she goes! I'm unlikely to take out the Posthuman with my Chainrifle (+1B), but causing a wound on it will make it much easier to deal with later on! The Sniper elects to shoot my Biker and Carmen goes down, but Bâtard crits his Trench Hammer throw and pastes the Proxy before the Chainrifle armor rolls are even made... I'll take that!

Bottom of Turn Two (OSSSS's 2nd Active Turn)

My Opponent tries his best to recover the flank that's being pressured by the Shakush and Yara tandem by sneaking his Proxy Engineer to the downed Dakini Sniper. His luck fails him however, as despite WIP15 the Posthuman botches her roll and ends up destroying the robot for good!

Throughout this game my Opponent demonstrated an excellent ability to find the best outs in terrible situations, and the following sequence highlights this skill. Instead of spending his Orders to try and fight my big guns, Asura Amari Cybermasks his Apsara and starts advancing her forwards. The Zhaeydan could attempt a couple Discovers along the way, but I'm worried that my Opponent is trying to bait the Immortal into giving him free shots with the SMG, thus clearing the way for the 15th model that actually isn't there! My conservative response to this advance allows the Apsara to activate the middle Antenna safely, though my Warcor does manage to Stun her.

With her last Orders the Apsara then sets out to take control of my Console for the round, which is something I just can't allow! I've been keeping the Tuareg Hacker Hidden so that he can make a Scenario play on my last turn, but now he's the only one who can stop the Apsara, and as the enemy combatant is Stunned, she can't take out the Badawi in return anyway. My eagerness to take things slow has come to bite me now however; if the Apsara passes her Dodge or her ARM save and elects to fail Guts, she will be able to secure the Objective, giving my Opponent a commanding Objective Point lead before the last round. I elect to fire the Tuareg's Light Shotgun in Direct Template Mode in order to avoid the chance of missing my shot. I get lucky (again), as the Stunned Apsara fails both her Dodge and her ARM roll - too close!

Top of Turn Three (RTF's 3rd Active Turn)

Okay, I'm well and truly in a commanding attrition lead, but now is the eleventh hour to turn that attrition advantage into a Scneario advantage! The Tuareg starts my last turn by activating the centre console and then moving to the one the Asura activated earlier on. I'm not going to try and activate it just yet though, as I have a sneaking suspicion that my first Battle Group is about to run low on Orders, and I can try to flip the Console as a part of Coordinated Order later on, if things come down to that!

The only piece if mine that can reach my Opponent's Console safely is the Shakush, so he charges forward while Yara repositions to a good ARO position along the parapet of her building. This baits my Opponent into taking a free shot at her with his last Dakini, which in turn allows the Shakush to gun down the robot with normal rolls (Yara even passes her save thanks to her Bioimmunity!).

 

My TAG's next MOV-MOV provokes a Dodge ARO from the nearby Shukra Killer Hacker, who positions himself to stop the Shakush's advance on my Opponent's Console. Luckily for me, the Khawarij is able to stand up on his rooftop, draw Line of Fire to the troublemaker and take him out with three DMG 15 Continous Damage Templates!

I use the last Order from my Group One as a Coordinated Order to both get the Shakush into base contact with my Opponent's Console and have a crack at activating the Antenna with my Tuareg, but sadly my Hacker fails his roll, even despite his WIP of 15!

I use the remaining Orders from the Second Battle Group to march my Haris up to the last Antenna and try to activate with my Ghulam Doctor, but alas she also fails! I have secured most of the field, evened out the Antennas and captured my Opponent's Console; this should be enough to close the game, despite the fact that my Opponent has completed two Classified Cards and I have none!

Bottom of Turn Three (OSSSS's 3rd Active Turn)

In our excitement we totally fail to take note of the fact that the OSSSS force is well and truly in Retreat! at this stage of the game, but this results in one more memorable moment! Even though my Opponent's strike team is in tatters, he still expertly manages to find a potential path to swing the game back in his favor, and it's one that I've totally missed! Asura Amari uses his Proxy Engineer to repair the Dakini Paramedic back up, and the heroic robot levels his Medikit at the Apsara despite the extreme range - my Opponent is looking for a 5... and he rolls a 6! The Paramedic gets knocked back unconcious, and the Engineer fails to repair it back up a second time, effectively ending the game!

Takeover Compelete

This battle again reminded me why I enjoy Powerpack quite so much; the asytmeric tempo of the game means that the player going first will often find it easier to inflict losses upon their enemies than would normally be the case, but on the other hand the player going second has a big advantage when it comes to Scoring Objective Points - I all but blew my Opponent's force away, but he still could potentially have won the game (if it were not for Retreat!).

Thanks again to my great and gentlemanly Opponent, who instead of being salty actually chose to get some ice cream in the middle of our game - good man! This was my humble part in the Durgahama Takeover, so for now it's time to say...

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