Al's mad experiments: A Nomads logbook

[UCanCallMeAl]

After a couple of weeks taking a break from playing Nomads, I finally got back to them. I played my third game with the previous list against Imperial Services. We played a 20x20 mission for a change and rolled number 7 for our primary objective and number 1 for our secondary.

This means we had to upload things on one of two consoles and kill as many enemy troops as possible. As you will see, both of us scored a lot of kills in a very short time.

My opponent was playing the following list:

Imperial Service
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GROUP 1 9 1 4
CRANE IMPERIAL AGENT (X Visor) Spitfire, 2 Nanopulsers / Pistol, DA CCW. (2 | 54)
XI ZHUANG Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, MadTraps / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 20)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Kuang Shi Control Device) Combi Rifle + Light Smoke Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD (Forward Observer) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 13)
CELESTIAL GUARD Hacker (Hacking Device) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 21)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
KUANG SHI Chain Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 5)
SFORZA Viral Rifle + Adhesive Launcher, Nanopulser / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 25)

GROUP 2 4
SOPHOTECT Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 31)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
YUDBOT Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)
GARUDA Tacbot Boarding Shotgun / Electric Pulse. (0 | 21)
DAKINI Tacbot Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0 | 15)
HSIEN Lieutenant HMG, Nanopulser / Pistol, AP CCW. (2 | 61)

5 SWC | 300 Points

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And this is the table we played on.



Initiative was rolled and my opponent won, taking first turn. I chose to deploy on the “south” side of the picture and made him deploy first.

I.S.S deployment

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He deployed two Kuang Shi on the left near a Dakini tacbot. The Sophotech took cover behind a house near the center of his DZ and to her left the Celestial guard fireteam, led by a Crane rank officer and Xi Zhuang, deployed with the Hsien watching the battlefield from the rooftop.



The last two Kuang Shi deployed further back on the right side so they would not run into gunfire at the start of the game. He kept a Kanren in reserve which would later reveal to be Lucien Sforza.

Nomads deployment

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On the left side of the objective room I placed the Intruder prone on a rooftop. One of the Zeros infiltrated down the street to watch this approach supported by another Alguacil further back, accompanied by a Morlock. The Daktari stood behind a nearby house.



Behind the objective room I placed the Lunokhod, the Interventor, the Uberfallkommando and another Morlock.



Finally, the Iguana stood watch over the right side of the map, taking cover behind a crate.



My last Zero was deployed close to the console on the right.

And with deployment done I stripped two orders from my opponent’s main pool and the game was on.

I.S.S. Turn One

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The Kuang Shi all moved forward unchallenged and remained there, safely away from the combat. Then the Celestial guards started moving towards the console on the right up to the closest building, being careful not to expose themselves to the Iguana.



A Garuda tacbot dropped from the skies but missed is landing and scattered near the console on the left. Lucky for him none of my models could see him there so he got off easy.

The Hsien moved up, taking on the Iguana. He cracked it opened on the second exchange, but the pilot ejected safely, being just a little worse for wear.



With the Iguana out of the way the Crane moved on the roof in sight of my Zero and discovered it. The Zero managed to lay down a mine before being shot down, making it a little harder to approach the console.

Disregarding the danger, the Celestial guards advanced again. The mine exploded on the Crane who took the hit without flinching and Xi Zhaung uploaded some data on the console before pulling back into cover. He took the opportunity to put the Mad Traps into standby mode as well.

The Kanren advanced on the left flank, taking some fire from the Alguacil but not being troubled by it. The turn ended with my opponent in a good position to watch both consoles.

Nomads Turn 1

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I started my turn by moving my Morlocks a bit, covering the right side of the objective room with smoke and obscuring the street on the left with the other.



The Uberfallkommando moved up a bit and completed the smoke cover on the right. I also had my Tomcat arrive on the right side, near the console.

With smoke deployed I moved my Intruder in position and took on the Hsien, dealing enough damage to send him into unconsciousness.

I then moved the Tomcat up, using the Zoncat to trigger the nearest Mad Trap and get rid of this obstacle. I moved the Iguana pilot into the smoke and placed him in suppressive fire to watch while the Lunokhod moved along into the smoke. After placing one of the Krazy Koalas in standby the remote took a shot in the dark with his heavy flamer and took out the Crane Agent.



The surviving Zero moved through the smoke on the left to watch the console and placed a mine on the way. The Intruder and the Uberfallkommando moved up a little more and I finished my turn by placing some models into suppressive fire.

I.S.S. Turn 2

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Now leaderless, my opponent used his command tokens to make 4 regular orders before starting his turn.

The Kuang Shi moved once more, but they were all too far to do anything. Xi Zhaung moved up, taking out the Iguana pilot and dying to the Krazy Koala I had left on stanby. Another Celestial guard took out the Lunokhod but was killed by its flamer in return.



On the other side, Sforza revealed himself and took out my Intruder.



One of the last Celestial Guard moved on top of a building to the right and shot at my Interventor who managed to survive and move behind the Chimera for cover. And that was the end of that turn.

Nomads Turn 2

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The Morlock on the left flank moved towards Sforza and was killed for his trouble. The one on the right moved towards the Celestial Guard on the roof and was wounded and went into NWI (thanks to MetaChemistry).



I had my Tomcat climb the wall and kill the Celestial Guard with his light flamer, but lost him in the process. The Zero on the right flanked moved up and killed Sforza, opening the way to the console on that side.

Using the few orders I had left, I managed to upload data with an Alguacil and the Zero on the left. My Interventor made it to the console on the right but I had forgotten about the last Mad Trap and got stuck before I could push the button. I was out of orders and with both of us in retreat the game ended there.

This game ended in a tie with both of us having uploaded data twice and having killed 75% of the enemy force. A bloody battle for sure and very tense until the last order was spent.

Next time I will be looking into making a thematic list for the next few games, using the Bakunin sectorial. Let’s hope it works well.

[UCanCallMeAl]

Here is the list I played last weekend and will continue to play for the next few games.

Fifth Experiment - Bakunin P.D.
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GROUP 1 10
MODERATOR Spitfire / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 15)
MODERATOR Combi Rifle + Pitcher / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 10)
MODERATOR MULTI Sniper Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (1.5 | 17)
MODERATOR Combi Rifle + Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0.5 | 13)
MODERATOR Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Electric Pulse. (0 | 9)
TASKMASTER Red Fury, Pulzar, CrazyKoalas + TinBot A (Deflector L1) / Heavy Pistol, DA CCW. (1 | 53)
RIOT GRRL MULTI Rifle, Stun Grenades / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 32)
ZOE & PI-WELL . (0 | 47)
ZOE (Hacking Device. UPGRADE: Stop!) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 28)
PI-WELL Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse. (0 | 19)
ZERO Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 24)

GROUP 2 3 3 3
DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)
ZERO (Deployable Repeater) Combi Rifle, E/Mauler / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
REAKTION ZOND HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)
MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Assault Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 8)
MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, E/M CCW. (0 | 6)
MORLOCK Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 6)

5.5 SWC | 299 Points

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I have not played a sectorial in a while now, so it will be a nice change of pace. I wanted something thematic so I made what I imagine a Bakunin special force squad would be like for internal security on the ship.

The main punch of this list will be the Taskmaster, supported by the Morlocks and a defensive link of Moderators. The Riot Grrrl will be hunting camouflaged units and the Reaktion Zond will provide overwatch.

The Zeros are there to help with Hacking and board control. Zoe and Pi-Well have also been recruited to lend their expertise to the force.

Next up, we will see how well this list performed on their first game.

[UCanCallMeAl]

My first game with Bakunin P.D. was played against an Ariadna vanilla list. We played the Frontline scenario from I.T.S. Season 8.

This list is a poor match for this kind of scenario, having units with low point costs, but I gave it my best and we had a pretty even match in the end. I was also lucky as hell on my dice and rolled way more critical hits than should be allowed.

Here is my opponent’s list, from memory.

Ariadna
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GROUP 1 9 1 1
VAN ZANT AP Rifle / Heavy Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 38)
UXÍA McNEILL (Covert Action) (CH: Limited Camouflage, Superior Infiltration, Specialist Operative) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges, Smoke Grenades / 2 Assault Pistols, AP CCW, Knife. (0 | 27)
SCOUT Ojotnik, D-Charges, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 29)
FOXTROT Boarding Shotgun, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 19)
MINUTEMAN Lieutenant AP HMG / Pistol, CCW. (1 | 34)
SPETSNAZ (CH: Ambush Camouflage) HMG / Pistol, CCW, Knife. (1.5 | 38)
TANKHUNTER Portable Autocannon, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 34)
MARAUDER (Multispectral Visor L1) Heavy Rocket Launcher / Assault Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 26)
DEVIL DOG Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades + 1 K-9 Antipode / AP Heavy Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 30)
K-9 ANTIPODE AP CCW. (7)
112 Light Shotgun / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 12)

GROUP 2 1
LINE KAZAK Paramedic (MediKit) Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11)

5.5 SWC | 298 Points

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And we played on this table.





My opponent won the initiative roll and took first turn. He deployed first and I chose the side with the stack of containers on the right and the colorful crates.

Here is a picture of the table from above with Icons marking the location of all deployed models.

Ariadna deployment

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On his right flank, he deployed the Tankhunter on the roof of the nearest L-shaped building. Right next to it, the Devil Dog team was standing at the ready at street level. Up ahead, the foxtrot took position behind a barricade near the center.

The Minuteman lieutenant deployed on top of one of the houses connected by a bridge along with the line Kazak paramedic and the Marauder w/Heavy Rocket Launcher.



On the left flank the 112 and the Spetsnaz deployed on top of a building.



The Scout deployed closer to the center, infiltrating ahead of the main force. Uxia stayed in reserve and infiltrated in front of my Reaktion Zond and some of the moderators hiding behind a large crate.



[spoiler=Nomad deployment]

For my part, I deployed Zoe on the left flank. She would soon be joined by a Zero who failed her infiltration roll.
The Taskmaster also took position on this side, watching the Devil-dog team from afar. A little further towards the center, a lone Morlock watched the back in case Van Zant showed up later.



The Moderator fireteam took position behind the crate that stood in the center of my deployment zone, flanked by two Morlocks and the Reaktion Zond. The Daktari also waited nearby to provide aid to the wounded.



The Riot Grrrl and Pi-Well watched the right flank. My last Zero infiltrated near the middle of the map, near the camouflaged Foxtrot.

Ariadna Turn 1

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The Devil-dog teams started things by rushing forward, avoiding the shots from the Taskmaster by hiding in smoke.
The Spetsnaz moved next, taking out the Morlock to the right of the Moderators but getting shot by the Moderator sniper and falling unconscious.



It was at this moment that Uxia made her move, rushing out of cover and opening up on the Reaktion Zond and two moderators with her shotgun. The Moderator with the Spitfire went down while the other was saved by her armor. Uxia was not so lucky and fell to the remote’s hail of fire.



Meanwhile, the 112 rushed to the wounded Spetsnaz side. However the soldier was too far gone and perished in his arms.
Van Zant entered the fray, bent on revenge, and found a nice spot to land behind some crates. The Daktari tried to take him out before he could move, but her shots went wide with fear of the veteran paratrooper.



He proceeded to take out one of the Moderators and the Daktari before settling back into cover.

As the Ariadna offensive started to slow down, the Antipode jumped on a nearby roof and triggered one of the Taskmaster’s Krazy Koala, losing his life in the process.

Nomads Turn 1

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My turn started in loss of lieutenant, so after turning one of my irregular orders to a regular I started moving my Morlocks.
The one in the street headed towards the Devil dogs, throwing smoke on the way, while the other moved through one of the houses in the same direction. Between the two of them, I managed to cover the main street in smoke.

Next I had to get rid of Van Zant, so I sent Pi-Well to do the job. He managed to land a hit but Van Zant would not go down so easily and pulled back out of sight.

The Reaktion Zond discovered the Scout hiding nearby and shot it down and my camouflaged Zero crossed the street towards the buildings in the center, remaining undiscovered.

The Taskmaster used the smoke cover to move to the corner of the building, advancing is remaining Krazy Koala with him while Zoe and the nearby Zero moved back to make sure the Devil dog would not be coming for them next turn.

The moderator with the LGL moved back a bit and the Riot Grrrl entered a house, moving towards the 112.

With my regular order I coordinated Pi-Well, the Taskmaster, and two moderators into suppressive fire.

Here is how it looked at the end of turn 1.

Ariadna turn 2

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The Devil dog moved up to the corner and got hit by the Taskmaster but survived the chain rifles of the Morlocks. Lucky for him, he was just out of range of the Krazy Koala.



The Kazak paramedic tried to shoot a medkit at the Scout but failed to hit anything. Van Zant decided to take Pi-Well on, moving closer and taking a swing with his axe. But the little robot was ready and gunned him down before he got too close.

The Marauder then moved left, taking a shot at the Moderator sniper but getting hit instead and going unconscious.



It was now up to the Tankhunter to take out the pesky Moderator, and sure enough the explosive rounds did the trick.
Finally, the Minuteman moved towards the fallen Marauder, taking out the Morlocks and the Taskmaster on the way.

Nomads turn 2

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With the game coming to an end, the Riot Grrrl moved out of the house and settled in suppressive fire near the 112, ready to advance again next turn.

Pi-Well moved up towards the middle, passing by the Reaktion Zond and giving Zoe the opportunity to activate some support ware in the process.

Now with Marksmanship activated, the remote moved left to take out the Devil Dog and try its luck on the Minuteman. Sadly superior training won out and the remote was destroyed by the AP HMG.

The Zero hacker moved up behind a house and that turn ended without any more deaths.

And here is how it looked by the end of turn 2.

Turn 3

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What happened this turn is a little fuzzy and I do not have enough pictures to jolt my memory so I will simply resume the events as best I can.

Some fire was exchanged by the Minutemen and the remaining moderators but he managed to bring them both down. Then the Foxtrot advanced closer to my DZ and the Tankhunter moved further up the table.

On my turn I crossed the Riot Grrrl into the zone in front of my opponent’s DZ and moved the remaining Zero near the Tankhunter. Pi-Well also moved up along with Zoe to prevent the Foxtrot from scoring.

And that was about it.

The game ended in victory for Ariadna with a final score of 4 to my 1. Sadly my Zero was not far enough to score inside the 5 point zone and my Riot Grrrl was worth 1 point less than the Tankhunter. On the other side, Zoe was not far enough to score and Pi-Well was equal in points with the Foxtrot. I had to use my Intelcom to prevent my opponent from scoring 5 points so he ended up controlling the middle and his 1 point zone.

I always struggle with Frontline and when my Taskmaster went down I knew it would be hard to secure zones with the models I had left. I cannot complain however since I was very lucky this game and scored a grand total of 8 critical hits at key moments. If it had not been for this the game might have been a lot harder.

Still, I am very happy with the way this list played and am looking forward to next week’s game.