First Encounter - part 2.
Turn 3
Michael once again scored Priority, electing to activate his Curator. Issuing two orders to the Attendant Proctor dropped their suppression down to level 2, and then the namites sprang to action again, spawning yet another brood of Shatter Thralls. Remaining in place behind the barricade, the Curator Took Cover and shot at the Karist Troopers with his staff, not inflicting any direct damage but excess suppression once again killing off a Trooper.
The Curator continues to spend command point liberally.
In an attempt to dislodge the Tamakin from the Breakthrough Zone, the Minnows Dashed across the battlefield once again. Their weak Cybel Pulses managed to kill off one of the Tamakin, leaving the survivor on suppression level 4.
The Minnows harass the Tamakin brood.
The Assault Squad meanwhile attacked the Proctat once again, bringing the Attendant champion down with weight of numbers before consolidating further into the Breakthrough Zone and shaking off a point of suppression.
The Assault Squad consolidates their position.
In a moment of deja vu, the sole surviving Trooper by the Secret Cache finds himself once again assaulted by Shatter Thralls. With his suppression level on maximum, he is unable to damage them with Defensive Fire, and is torn apart by their detonation. The nearby Vapor Thralls are pushed up to suppression level 4 by the blast, and the Minnows likewise increased their suppression to 5. Engaging Energized Namites from the Faction Objective, Michael elects to drop the Vapor Thralls' suppression to 3, and restores a Tamakin to the battlefield.
How many of these things are there...?
Attempting to get away from the Minnows' attack, the Tamakin shuffled towards the back of the Karist deployment zone, Taking Cover behind the trash unit. Their refuge turned out to be short lived, however, as the Tempests were able to Dash back to draw a bead on the cowering thralls. With the Nova's gauntlet out of range, the Tempests' Ravager Cannon shots were blocked by cover, but did manage to raise the Tamakins' suppression level.
You can run, but you can't hide!
With the need to hang around the no-longer-secret Cache gone, the Vepor Thralls charged the Minnow flock, their diminutive forms evading the Angels' Defensive Fire. The thralls' mandibles inflicted an injury on the Minnows, pushiong their suppression up and causing another suppression injury - taking out a Minnow.
Bug vs Bat!
Both sides had once again scored 10 VPs for their Breakthrough units, with Energized Namites granting an additional VP to the Kaigus Pact, leaving Michael with 21 VPs to Iain's 20.
The battlefield at the end of turn three. (Click for bigger)
Turn 4
Priority for turn 4 went to Iain. He bid 8 command points to bring back the unit of Karist Troopers, which Michael chose not to contest. Michael in turn bid 10 command points to bring back the Attendant unit. Iain's counter of 8 was insufficient to block these reinforcements.
Beginning his activations, Iain Dashed the Minnows into cover near the Kaddar Nova, where the angels Regrouped in order to drop all of their suppression.
The Minnows huddle up to shake off all of their suppression.
Moving forward slightly to get out of sight of the Tempests, the Tamakin unit also Took Cover and Regrouped.
This looks much safer!
At the battlefield's rear edge, the newly arrived Attendant unit moved into position to take Aimed shots at the Karist Assault Squad, killing two of the troopers and raising the survivors' suppression level to 4..
Reinforcements have arrived!
The Karists countered with their own reinforcements, their new Trooper unit moving on to lay down a hail fo fire on the huddled Tamakin. Even with cover, the thralls were cut down by the incoming fire.
Newly arrived Troopers finish off the Tamakin.
Seeing a new target worthy of their prowess, the Tempest unit moved back up to bring the newly arrived Attendants into range of their Ravager Cannons. They managed to inflict 4 injuries on the unit, not enough to kill any of the Biologis troops, before shaking off a point of suppression.
The Tempests target the Kagus reinforcements.
Curator Mualii remains in place behind his barricade, his staff cutting down one of the remaining Assault Troopers and leaving the survivor Confused. Spending another command point, Mualii finished his activation by spawning a new unit of Tamakin by the Breakthrough line.
New Tamakin join the fray.
The newly spawned Tamakin moved into the ruin, settling in and Taking Cover in their Breakthrough Zone. On the other side of the battlefield, the remaining Assault Trooper did similarly, going On The Move and Dashing behind a cooling tower to shake off a point of suppression.
This looks safe....
Meanwhile, the Vapor Thralls move over in an attempt to block the Troopers from shooting at the Tamakin.
The outlook is cloudy.
This turn, while both sides once again scored for their Breakthrough units, their opponents' each also had a unit in the zones, meaning only 5 VPs each this time. This left Michael with 26 VPs to Iain's 25.
The battlefield at the end of turn four. (Click for bigger)
Turn 5
Heading into the final turn, the Kaigus Pact once again won Priority. The Attendants moved forward to bring the lone Assault Squad trooper back into line of sight. As the Trooper fell to a hail of poisoned darts, the Biologis troops expended two command points to spawn another unit of Shatter Thralls to help control their side of the battlefield.
The Trooper's refuge was not as secure as it seemed.
Eschewing the chance to inflict more damage on their enemy, the Kaddar Nova and his bodyguard set their sights firmly on their goal, Dashing into the Breakthrough Zone and Shaking Off their final point of suppression.
Bringing it home.
At the same time, the Minnows tried to dislodge the entrenched Tamakin from their own Breakthrough Zone. The small angels flew back into the antenna yard, but their Aimed fire proved ineffective, causing only a single point of suppression.
The Minnows try to defend their zone.
The newly spawned Shatter Thralls charged in a last ditch effort to push back the Nova's squad. Defensive fire killed one base of the small creatures, with the remaining Krii's detonation killing a single Tempest and pushing their suppression back up to 4.
So many explosions...
To cement the Kaigus hold on the Breakthrough Zone, Curator Mualii dashed forwards from his cover, an extra 4" from going On The Move pushing him into the safety of the ruin. Commands issued to the Tamakin and Vapor Thralls dropped both of their suppression levels to 0.
Safe in the Zone.
The Karist Trooper squad shuffled out from behind the service shed to draw a bead on the Tamakin in the ruin, but their fire was blocked by the terrain and failed to cause any damage.
The Troopers are unable to damage the huddled Tamakin.
With little to do that would affect the final result, the Vapor Thralls stayed put on the edge of the ruin, bringing the turn to a close.
The Karists had managed to get a unit into their Breakthrough Zone, but with the Attendants also in the zone this only netted Iain another 5 VPs. Meanwhile, the Kaigus Pact had two units (Tamakin and Curator) in their Zone to the Karists' one (Troopers), which scored Michael 15 points - 5 for having a unit in the zone, 10 for having more units there than his opponent in the final turn. He also scored a final 2 VPs for DNA Harvest, bringing his VP total to 43, to Iain's 30, netting a victory for the Kaigus Pact!
The battlefield at the end of the game. (Click for bigger)
This was a very close game right up to the last turn, where the points doubling for the additional unit in the Breakthrough Zone pushed Michael's VP total way out in front. Michael made better use of his Command Points throughout the game, throwing a constant stream of thralls at the Karists to wear them down, and being able to respawn the Tamakin to jump into the zone at the end was a definite help. Iain neglected to properly hold the Secret Cache, choosing instead to focus on trying to get units into the Breakthrough Zone, which was a valid tactical choice but meant that even without the bonus Breakthrough points at the end, Michael would have come out slightly in front due to the 3 VPs netted from the DNA Harvest objective.
Kaddar Prentis cast his gaze wearily over the remnants of his patrol. The Kaigus forces were more tenacious than he had credited them for, and all had most assuredly not gone to plan. This was not where it would end, however. While they had failed to teach the interlopers the lesson they had intended, the Karists would return with a more sizeable force and retake this territory. They would eliminate the gene-shaped invaders, or he would earn his Ascension in combat. That was the way.
