Once More in Iskandria

...with the dust settling on the landing pad as the penultimate shuttle leaves the planet surface with the Koralon horde descending on the mining town the remnants of the feuding forces are forced to make a last dash to get to the landing pad and get that last shuttle. The only problem, there's only room for one Strike Team.

Kev and myself had arranged for this weeks game to be the previously promised re-visit to the 2nd Edition Urban War rules, and we had planned a Junkers vs Viridian clash. On the night Doug was also up for a game so we re-arranged the barney to a three way Junkers (Doug), Vasa (Kev) and Viridians (Me) and a 'Take the high Ground' scenario which meant a random turn ending from turn 6 with the landing pad in the centre of the previously arranged table as the scenario objective.

The quiet streets before the storm hits

Dougs Junkers started off the proceedings and since he had the greater numbers, and lacked any meaningful ranged attacks moved up quickly towards the VASA, Viridians on his flanks and towards the objective.

The Junkers begin to move out from the cover of the flats
and make an early move to control the landing pad.

The VASA, seeing the main initial threat as the Junkers moved towards them in a general sweep with two snipers taking up commanding positions early on and the Black Legion nasties moved on to the roof tops ready to swoop on anything that came into view, or wait until the last moment and jump to the landing pad to claim victory.

The VASA Suppressors move through the pipefarm
covered by their sniper team

My Viridians had deployed in a bit of a conjested area of the table and found it a bit slow to extricate themselves from the tangle but this did give a decent amount of cover while they tried to keep coherence as they moved out. 

The Viridian Marines try to move out of their bottleneck

Early on, from round two, the Junkers and the VASA teams started to clash as the two forces closed quickly on each other. Kev's shooting and indeed his combat dice being pretty poor came off from several skirmishes much the worse and forgetting his initial plan launched his Black Legion into a couple of street fights which he unfortunately lost against the odds. The Junkers Greater Pitbeast making a meal of a couple of the VASA elite troops. 

A Greater Pitbeast and support makes a dash towards
the VASA keeping in cover

While the VASA were occupied trying to survive the gladiatorial onslaught, the middle squad moved quietly towards the landing pad and started to occupy the building all but un-opposed. On their right flank they had a longer walk to move towards the tardy Viridians who though slower anyway were being held up by not wanting to move out piece-meal. The Viridian Mortar team did manage an early hit on the advancing Suppressors and causing several police to dive for cover slowing their advance towards to Junker troops stoming towards the objective.

The Junkers move cautiously towards the Viridians

This meant that the Junkers on this flank came at the Viridians in one's and two's and unfortunately for the Junkers here, my dice rolling was a bit more numerous and ulimately successful bringing down two or three of the Gladiators in short order.

A Junkers Pitbeast makes a rush at the Viridians
as they break from cover.

Two Junkers Pitbeast did make it through the Viridian hail of fire, one in particular, though aimed at the encroaching VASA Suppressors moving through the pipefarm, launched intself at the nearest target, a Marine who was moving towards the VASA enforcers.

A view through the periscope -
a rampaging Pitbeast surprises the Viridians

With a hail of accelerated flachettes ripping around it, the beast made it to the Viridians but enraged by the fire, the beast rampaged through the Marine lines and emerged the other side unscathed but dealing no damage. The other beast leaping to vicorate a slightly worried Marine was cut down by the Strike Team Sergeant in mid air.

The rampaging pitbeast came to on the other side and despite a hail of hits from the surrounding Marines survived long enough to dispatch a very puzzled Marine before finally being put to sleep by the other Sergeant using her CAL extra moves to riddle the thing with bullets.

The Viridians finally manage to get out of their
bottleneck and start to close in.

By this time, the Junkers had put a big hole in the VASA force and the Viridians with a bit of aid from the VASA snipers and Suppressors had put a bigger hole in the Junkers lines.

The VASA and Viridians move in for the kill

Though the Junkers had the high ground and were generally in cover, their numbers were looking grim. The Viridians almost untouched by hiding from the main arena of battle and picking anything off that moved into view, were looking the strongest but the furthest from the objective and the VASA also reduced to breaking point but moving in for the kill it came to round six.

The VASA Suppressors move to take out
 the last of the Junkers

With the VASA and Junkers trading shots from combat shot guns and blows around the doorway of the landing pad, each taking losses and a couple of losses to the last of the Junkers moving towards the fray around the landing pad from Heavy Gauss rifle fire both the Junkers and VASA were forced to take a break check from 60% losses which they both failed.

The Viridian Sergeant was then in range to do a sprint over the high level pipes to the landing pad to claim victory for the Viridians.

A hard fought battle with the victors given the victory by default, more by being slowed down early on and letting the other two parties batter lumps out of each other before coming into the battle to pick off targets almost at will, a victory is a victory and after last time where I grasped defeat from the jaws of victory, I'll take it anyway it comes.

Another fun game full of the bits that make skirmishing gaming fun, with lots of cinematic moments and dice dealing despair, mainly to Kev, but to everyone in roughly equal measure it was anyones game till the last. Other game will no doubt ensue soon.