The ballad of Ba Fashas, a Durgama Takeover story

 

The Phase Two of Durgama Takeover is still raging but, unfortunately, I won't be able to play in the upcoming days. Therefore, this campaign ends now for me but I can't say it's really over until I stitch together the story I told thorugh my reports and I get to describe how much of a positive experience it has been for me, so here I am.

To be part of an active community playing and telling stories about a shared universe is a privilged experience which I could not have experienced this time, due to seasonal issues, without the help of TTS (TableTop Simulator) and the wonderful addons provided by the online Infinity Community, especially THE main mod, 3D Infinity miniatures project and Badlazzor's Infinity Maps.

I got to play three games: two with Lockdownit_, a great player & fun guy who also recorded one of said matches on Twitch, and one with butchee, my "everyday" opponent.

As the title suggests, I also spent a lot of time telling the story of my Commander - tying togheter the three games. Here, you can read the whole thing with links to my battle reports.

Operation Golden Ratio: episode 07 (season finale)

Intro 

Time passed. Despite working effortlessly on the remains of Patroclus, Nomads technicians got nothing but a glimpse of Laocoön and its meaning. However, back on Concilium, heads rolled for what had happened on Space Station Donacimiento. Aleph went paranoid at the idea of further Laocoön anomalies now that Nomads had case zero and issued a full scale update program on all Aspects and recreations to limitate and ward off any inconvenience. The damage in terms of delays and subsequent litigations was considerable, especially adding the fine paid to Varuna for what was later dubbed "The Donacimiento Incident". 

But after some time under apparently cold ashes, the flame of Project Laocoon started burning again. The OSS had been monitoring Batth'o Ubelin, the silk trader whose luxury ship's wreckage had been used by Tunguska as a base for infiltration on the Space Station. On his leisure world recreating the Old West, Ovestland, the attractions re-enacting Pat Garrett and his posse had started to malfunction, forcing extraordinary maintenance. The OSS figured out the malfunctioning was due to parts of Project Laocoön hidden into the attraction's software. Even if it meant to blow up Aleph's cover on Ovestland, the legacy of Project Laocoön had to be destroyed... 

Gilles de Gillesville - Mordheim Questing Knight

Ciao!

This is my entry for #SeptemBret2021 contest on Mordheim Italia Facebook Group.

I managed to get 2nd place for best background story and 2nd place for best painting - "Newcomers" category. 1st place in the category was awarded to Armand de Chamillon, herald of Cups, another entry from an author of this blog 👍.

The winners in the "Champions" category were just another league, I strongly recommend to check all entries out on the Facebook group and on Instagram! 

Band of Brothers Mordheim Warband

 

Ciao!

I want to share the "Band of Brothers" Reikland warband I have been working on for a while and which I am planning to play on October 3rd 2021 at the "Warlords of the City" Mordheim Narrative Event in Pollenzo.

As required by the organizers I also wrote some background story for my brave mercenaries, hope you like it!

Concealing the discomfort coming from the injuries to the left arm and the forehead, the officer walked into the office of General Roald Sulzberger and stood to attention.

"Captain Hoffman report to Sir General." he spoke in a firm voice. The general slowly raised his gaze from the papers that cluttered his desk, stared at his subordinate with arrogance, and then, slumping noisily into his chair said:

“Captain welcome, better late than never… I'm really curious to know what happened. I hope you realize that due to your delay, my girls were unable to attend the prom. The fact is really unfortunate since they cared so much. They couldn't wait to wear the new dresses I had given them!"

Rutger Hoffman stiffened his jaw but managed to stay calm.

"Sir, according to the orders received, the Company was on time at the rendez-vous with the ferry to escort Miss Sulzbergers during the last leg of their journey to the Capital. Unloading operations took much longer than expected. The quantity and the size of the luggage exceeded any reasonable expectation. It also took the ladies a few hours to freshen up and choose what clothes to wear for the trip."

The General listened absently, cleaning his fingernails with a letter opener.

"The march then proceeded slowly, punctuated by countless breaks including snacks, refreshments, card games and even a game of badminton!"

Hoffman continued.

“When we arrived in Kleindorf we were greeted with enthusiasm by the population. They thought we were the backup they had sent for. The village had been under attack by bands of Beastmen for days, and they had sent several relays for help. Needless to say, no messenger made it out of the woods around the village alive and we weren't their reinforcements. At that moment I made the decision to defend the village, without our help they would have had no escape. We fought for three days and three nights and finally managed to disperse the attackers. In this regard, I would like to point out some soldiers who have distinguished themselves in a part-"

The captain's report was abruptly interrupted by the general who, red with anger, had sprung to his feet and, banging his fat ringed hand on the desk with fury, began to yell at Hoffman:

“Captain, shut up, I've had enough! You have disobeyed specific orders and endangered the lives of my daughters who I was told they also had to take care of the wounded! I don't even want to think what horrors you exposed my little girls to!"

As Sulzerberg gasped, the Captain replied:

“Sir, the whims of your spoiled offspring had by now delayed us by more than half a day on the schedule. Continuing further, the darkness would have surprised us in the forest with far worse results. In addition, the lives of over a hundred families, including elderly and children, depended solely on us. I made the only decision I could have."

“And so you are guilty of treason and sedition! Captain, you are a deserter and an insolent! You are under arrest and suspended from command with immediate effect!”.

A heavy silence fell into the small room. Hoffman had realized he had passed the mark but could no longer bear the nonsense of his superiors, particularly that slimy and corrupt parasite of Sulzerberg. The general had not dismissed him and therefore he stood at attention waiting.
Sulzerberg, for his part, had recovered from the fit of anger and was now sitting thoughtfully rubbing his temples. Then he let out a grunt of satisfaction and, glaring at the captain, said to him:

“Captain, I could have you and your men executed today. And Sigmar knows how much I would like ... On the other hand, I cannot deny your qualities as a fighter and commander. By virtue of the latter, I want to offer you a way out. Collect what's left of your Company and go to Mordheim. Bring me a cart full of wyrdstone and you will be forgiven... And now get out of here, by tomorrow at dawn you have to be on the move!"

Captain Hoffman saluted and took the door.
Lieutenant Schott and Sergeant Major Lemberger met him as soon as they saw him.

“Gentlemen, recover the men who are still capable of fighting and let's get ready to leave. Schott, I saw that a Halfling Scout and a Dwarf Slayer are bivouacking by those campfires, ask them if they are interested in joining us for a fair pay. Let's go to Mordheim..."

Armand de Chamillon, herald of Cups

The Mordheim Italia Facebook page issued another contest and this time I had to participate! The theme was Bretonnia so with the help of my brother I found an old knight and decided to put some paint on it.

You can go and search for #SeptemBret2021 to see all entries!

Lionel stopped under the portal, distracted by a distant, barely audible sound. While his zombies continued in pursuit of the last Tileans of Kemperbad, who had come to seek fortune and death in the city of the Damned, the necromancer retraced his steps, leaning on the parapet that overlooked market square, as if he wanted to find that noise with his gaze. When it finally found the young man's ears, the sound had become more distinct: Lionel recognized the hunting horns that had besieged his master's tower and decided to gather the band to leave that palace as soon as possible. Climbing over the bodies of the Tileans, he ran up the stairs to the main floor, dimly lit by a waning moon that could be seen from the gutted walls. In the center of the hall, a thin figure was drinking from the jugular of an unfortunate halberdier. 

"Genoveffa, the Hunters are approaching, we must go". 

The vampire dropped the body to the ground, getting closer to Lionel. Her long black hair swayed in the dark, as if weightless. 

"My young friend, you are as well versed in the dark arts as you are unfamiliar with the traditions of our old world. Can't you distinguish the sound of a Bretonnian trumpet?"

At that moment the sound returned, carried by the night breeze, as closer and clearer. It was a sweet and ringing call, evocative of noble deeds and lofty ideals, yet veiled by a shadow of sadness, as of melancholy for a golden age now past. 

"What you hear is the trumpet of Armand de Chamillon, a Bretonnian knight. His sire sent him to Mordheim in search of his eldest daughter, with whom the young man was secretly in love. Since then, he has traveled the length and breadth of the city trying to recall her with the sound of his trumpet ". 

Lionel grimaced, annoyed at his mistake but visibly captured by the tale. He strained his ears to hear the sound of Armand's trumpet once more as he trotted away among the rubble buildings. 

"Human tragedies are bizarre, I am very intrigued. I wonder if his is a vain hope or if he will ever be able to reunite with that girl and bring her back to her land".

"I doubt it" replied the vampire "I don't want to go home".

I also toyed with the idea of making it possible to see this character in action so I wrote, but didn't test, the rules for his Dramatis Personae profile.

Painting Infinity: Ko Dali

Finally, my Ko Dali from Betrayal is complete! I really tried to push myself, painting the best I could. Therefore I didn't use inks, painting shadows by mixing complementary colors. I hope you'll enjoy the final result as much as I do.

I also tried to sculpt some additional roots in the base, following Marco Frisoni's milliput tips. 

In fact, Marco's videos were really inspiring and, even if spending so much time on a single miniature does not match with my ideal hobby schedule, I'm glad to have had this adventure out of my comfort zone.

Ko Dali will only play as a proxy/HVT for my second Sectorial, Shasvastii, which I will start painting from now on. Anyway, I think her profiles are very well balanced and versatile so I will definitely play her as soon as I have enough models to run a vanilla Combined Army list.

If you haven't already, make sure to check out the Betrayal graphic novel: it's a graceful mix of action and complex topics, accessible and enjoyable both to the casual reader and to the Infinity long-time enthusiast!

Operation Golden Ratio: episode 05

Intro

As the ship started its approaching maneuver over Rodne, Alisaa sat next to Gina. In a matter of minutes, they would have landed on Island 3, a PanOceanian outpost built during the construction operations of Space Station Donacimiento, now reduced to a mass of falling debris over the lush rainforest covering the planet. The outpost had been scanned by Aleph's probes which revealed recent biological activity: investigations on site were extimated to be compromised by Nomads interference with an 83% chance, henche the armored support.  

"I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts."
Gina looked back, without saying a word, uncomfortable with Alisaa's approach, who continued: "Apparently, this is something Laocoön said. According to Virgil, he was a Trojan priest who saw through the ruse of the horse and was therefore punished by the gods."
Alisaa stopped for a moment, looking at the barrel of her Combi Rifle, as if considering how to go on.

"After the Perseus incident, PanOceania made a motion to O-12 for the development of a failsafe dormient biotech antibody that would trigger upon Cube disconnection during class E missions. The motion was approved but Maya managed to soften it: mission class was rised and the bioweapon was only loaded on a limited number of subjects as a pilot program. Despite a number of close call events, Laocoön remained silent, until six months ago...".
Gina felt like she could ask for more information. It was a game she was not yet used to.
"So it triggered without satisfying the requirements?"
 "Yes, and not on a common trooper."
Their comlog light up, commencing mission countdown... 

Mission and lists 

This 300 point mission was Countermeasures, from ITS season 12 supplement. 

After the last defeat, Aleph goes for a more order intensive list bringing back the Dakinis and Parvati. The unusual 3-proxy formation is kind of a forced choice made to guarantee an adequate ARO power since the Garuda and the Dasyu are not on the table at deployment. 

Deployment 

Aleph wins the roll and keeps initiative, deploying and going first. A command token is spent to keep out the proxies and the Dasyu. The left flank is taken by the MK5 proxy supported by the hidden deployed Dasyu. On the center left goes the proxy MK2 and MK1 medic both on top of the building while the Danavas remains at street level. The center right is occupied by the big core link while the Naga goes on the far right. 

Nomads counter deploy with the Grenzer MSR and his two Securitate buddies on a rooftop with decent LoS to interfere with Aleph's approaching the HVTs. On the other end of the board, the Transductor also on a rooftop for some annoying flash pulse ARO action. The Perseus-Hollowman-Stempler Haris goes in the middle next to the Puppetattica minelayer. Zondnautica on the left flank in total cover ready to impetuously scoot forward. Mary and the Heckler also in the center making best possible use of forward deployment to hack and jam enemies going for the middle HVT and hopefully score some objectives themselves. Last but not least the most neglected of my toy soldiers, the Spektr FO goes in hidden deployment on the right, in the thick of the jungle ready to leverage his Terrain (Total) skill.    

Turn 1 

Classified Objectives: 

• Net undermine
• Identity check 
• Mapping discarded in favor of Capture

One command token is spent to move a Netrod from group 2 to 1. The core link advances toward the center, securing Identity Check with the MSV Deva. The MK2 proxy reveals herself to shoot the Grenzer sniper. Saturation reduces her active turn efficiency and she is shot down by DA ammo despite surprise attacking. She tries once again after being healed by the doctor but then goes down for good.

Nomads draw: 

• Follow up
• Identity check
• Capture is discarded in favor of Inoculation 

The Zondnautica comes forward covered in smoke to complete Net undermine and Follow up. The Naga reveals himself as a hacker and tries to trinity the Zondnautica but to no avail and moments later is shot down by the Grenzer. A camo token reveals himself as a Heckler and places a fastpanda in the center of the table. Through its repeater, Mary Problems isolates the combi Dakini. 

Turn 2 

Classified Objectives: 

• Inoculation
• HVT kidnapping canceled in favour of HVT designation
• Experimental drug    

The MK5 is in position to take HVT designation home easily and makes it. The MSV Deva goes on the right to wipe out the Zondnautica and succeeds. She then proceeds forward to shoot the Grenzer with her spitfire. Despite the 5 shots in good range she's not only sent to NWI, which would have been positive since the Experimental drug objective and nearby Parvati, but also to the graveyard. Cautiously moving, Parvati comes in range of the HVT and reaches him to complete Inoculation. The objective is secured, but Grenzer sends her to unconscious level 1 with just one DA hit.

Nomads draw: 

• Rescue 
• Test run
• Experimental drug is discarded in favour of Sabotage. 

The Hollow man comes forward and exchanges shots with the HMG Dakini, which surprisingly damage it. The damaging is a great opportunity to complete Test run and the clockmaker reaches the HI to heal it, securing the objective. Trekking once again through smoke, the same engineer aims for Sabotage. He goes unconscious due to the fire from Dakinis and MK5 proxy but succedes, securing the objective. The rest of Nomads army comes forward. 

Turn 3 

Classified Objectives: 

• Rescue is discarded in favor of In extremis recovery
• Telemetry 
• HVT: retroengineering

The Garuda parachutes to secure Telemetry but is made unconscious by a lucky shot. Trying the easy way, the Proxy MK5 goes for the Transductor Zond but a hidden Spektr is revealed and he steals the objective succeeding in forward observing. The Deva lieutenant goes though enemy fire to reach the unconscious engineer and secure In extremis recovery. 

With 5 objectives completed to 4, Nomads are declared victorious. 

Debriefing 

Aleph - OSS

In hindsight, I should have run White Noise with my Danavas the first time I shot the Grenzer. That would have allowed me to move freely on the right side with the core link to tamper Nomad's left flank. It will be something to remember for the next game. Having no hacker-only objectives drawn has been both a blessing and a course. It didn't allow me to use the well placed Dasyu I had in HVT ZoC and ultimately made it a waste of points in this mission. Overall I think I didn't help myself when I had the opportunity and on the rest of the occasions dice where pretty rough to me. 

Nomads - Tunguska

Pulled a victory out of a few crits and good armor rolls. All my specialists did well: Zondnautica and the Clockmaker excellent value for money. The Spektr did nothing but achieving the objective in ARO and securing the game. Mary and the Hollowman haris did not shine but still anchored the center and a STR 2 HI was good for Test Run. The Grenzer MSR is just solid but I might have said that already, even in a 3 men team he was a pain for my opponent to deal with. 

Outro 

Boris opened the hatch and went down the blood stained stairs, reassured by the low parameters detected by the Grenzer's biometric visor. Back on orbit Ludmilla, his trusted Clockmaker, briefed him via comlog: 

"One of the escape pods left Space Station Donacimiento during the biotechvore event. It was dubbed as a system failure but it must have been the subject they were looking for. Landing here and surviving on this rock mustn't have been easy."

Boris cautiously opened the door, pointing his gun to the body lying on the opposite side of the room. His flashlight lighted up the battered body of a Myrmidon, unconscious and with a missing arm. Despite the damage delivered by the biotech antibody, his face was still recognizable to the astonished nomad. 

"Ludmilla, call for a top priority extraction: we've got Patroclus here."

Operation Golden Ratio: episode 04

Intro

Laying on an intensive care bed Boris Legasov was debriefing with Tunguska's high command while nano-surgeons were at work to patch the effects of the biotechvore on his battered body. Actuating costly and highly compromising show of force he had failed twice to secure high value targets. It was now time to go back to more conventional tactics. 

Varuna's intervention made things more complicated and simpler at the same time, Aleph was now inclined to a quicker although sub-optimal solution, it was time to negotiate and set up an exchange. Boris had no illusions, Alisaa Murdock was going to try to trick him, but he knew the game well and was confident to be able to turn the tide in Tunguska's favor.

Mission and lists

This 300 point mission was Capture and Protect, from ITS season 12 supplement. 

The Armory and Panic Room, tackled with 5 men "death star" Core Link Teams built with different mixes of Krizas, hollowmen, characters and REMs went really bad for Tunguska (there might be a dedicated post to the topic but before that I want to play the mission/list combo some more times) so now we are back with a more standard and trusted selection of troopers. Aleph instead sits the Marut on the bench and brings back the Asura with a Yadu-heavy brigade.

Deployment

Aleph wins the initiative roll and decides to have Tunguska deploy first which in turn elects to go first. 

Tunguska places the defensive core team castled on the center-right, Puppettattica, Lunokhod, Heckler and Warcor guarding the beacon perimeter, Clockmaker on the far right and Transductor Zond on the far left. A command token is spent to keep 2 troopers to deploy later: Mary Problems and the Zondnautica.

Aleph anchors the left flank with Asura's 3 men team and the right flank with Deva's. The beacon guarded by an hidden deployed Dasyus.

Seeing a weaker side with an exposed hacker Mary Problems goes there while the Zondnautica takes the center.

Turn 1

Zondnautica Zips forward and parks in total cover waiting for the threat level to be reduced before further advancing toward the beacon. Mary goes on an adventure, pushing the flank and placing some repeaters so that the Interventor can activate white noise to cover her advance from the MSV Deva. Once in ZoC she starts pounding the Yadu hacker with Trinity, it takes a couple of orders to remove it from play. Then Raoul Spector’s lands into the white noise zone, so close to the Deva she can feel the heat of the retrorockets. Combined efforts of Mary’s submachine gun and Raoul’s DA CC weapon eliminate the Deva and the Yadu HMG.

Aleph begins with 3 orders less and some issues to deal with in its own deployment zone. The surviving 3 men team advances in the middle laying down a drop bear nearby the beacon. The MSR Grenzer performs well stopping the advance and neutralizing the HRL Yadu. All responsibilities fall over Asura's shoulders, she wears a cybermask and advances frying the Zondnautica hacker in the process ending the turn in a protected position at the edge of Nomad's territory and also achieving the classified objective!

Turn 2

The Heckler shoots its Fast Panda into the Asura's ZoC and Mary Problems engages OSSSS Lieutenant with killer hacking programs. The Asura is a tough nut to crack and after a couple orders a single wound is lost by the HI.

Raoul runs now for the beacon. He eats the drop bear (risky as NWI does not grant shock immunity!) and survives the surprising appearance of the Dasyu with his boarding shotgun. He manages to disengage and makes it close to the middle of the table, inside friendly repeaters' ZoC. With the last order Mary Problem attempts one more Trinity against the Asura, this time killing her.

Aleph's turn 2 begins in LoL and Retreat! With 2 orders left the only chance is turning one regular and dash the Dasyu to land one last boarding shotgun hit in Raul's back. If he can make it will be an OSSSS victory (thanks to the classified objective). The Grenzer MSR and the Securitate with Feuerbach are guarding Raul's back and despite the inconvenience of the saturation zone the Dasyu is exploded.

Game ends with a 3-1 victory  for Tunguska.

Debriefing  

Nomads - Tunguska

Back to the comfort zone of a more solid and tested list. Grenzer MSR in big link is just awesome both in active and reactive turn. Mary and Raoul did the job and nobody missed Perseus. The speed bumps placed to protect the beacon did not come into play but would have worked ok I assume. The Zondnautica also did not have the chance to shine, everybody loves it and I want to bring it again.

Aleph - OSSSS

Weird list built around the Dasyu, a unit I wanted to test since long time. Lesson learnt: no more than 2 Yadus.

Still the list itself, was not so underpowered: the main error was to spread out my troops in a linee too thin although I knew I had less orders and I was going to go second. It would have probably been better to entirely deny the flank with the big link and castle around the beacon in a stronger position to increase turn 1 survivability and then retaliate with my hard hitters.  

Outro

Tessa had just finished working on Alisaa when the door opened and Gina, the ship's Danavas attaché, entered the room.

The young aspect, empowered by her role, questioned her senior Sophotect with no preambles:

-Is she operative?

Tessa looked at Alisaa's face: nanobots from her mother forge kept going in and out her empty eye sockets.

-Almost... Her voice came out faintly, as she had been out of breath, but in a whiff she re-established her normal tone.

-...but you were there. So tell me: what happened?

The Danavs assumed a stiffed position, as if she had been reporting to Maya herself:

-She went careless. They had numerical advantage and she didn't seize the initiative when she had the opportunity.

The Sophotect turned to the nearest porthole: the relict of Space Station Donacimiento was now entering the upper atmosphere of Rodne. A broken station crashing over a desert planet: an appropriate allegory of what she thought about the whole operation.

-Where's the tech coffin, is he safe?

-He...? The Danavas look puzzled and Tessa realized she didn't know the full story of project Laocoon. A typical behavior of ALEPH: sending ahead her aspects without proper information. She should have known better, after all these years.

The mother forge announced the end of the repairs, quenching the silence between them, and Alissa woke up.

-The tech-coffin - she said, rising up sitting on the bed - is in a safe place. You don't have to worry about it. Now the Nomads have a bio sample, a copy. However, even if the asset we had to secure is safe, we're still missing the one we had to find...

Both Gina and Tessa hold their breath.

...and I think it had been on Rodne all along

 

 

Operation Golden Ratio: episode 03

In previous episodes, Nomads from Tunguska have been fighting against Aleph's OSS over a PanOceanian research facility on Space Station Donacimiento. Fights stormed both the station and the Nomads' hideout, while Aleph tries to get control over its mysterious assets on the Station but a distress signal is sent from the station to call for PanOceanian reinforcements....

The Varuna Immediate Reaction Division was established to be the first to face any threat against the Hyperpower or its interests and a distress signal sent to Neoterra by space station Donacimiento was no exception. 

Minutes before docking, J. "Wimpy" Wellington briefed his soldiers: 

"They will let us in but it doesn't mean they'll avoid confrontation, aknowleding our authority. In fact, by entering the station, we're walking right into Aleph's trap. They'll try to crush us with everything they have and blame Nomads or what else for it. They have the station and they control the narrative, so we need to find what they're looking for before they do." 

He had already visited the station, six months before, escorting an S-tier classified sample to the attention of professor Anastacio Esguerra, lead research of project Laocoön. As he recalled the eerie sensations felt at the time, sitting next to the frozen tech-coffin, a bad feeling dawned on him: could it all be due to that sample?

300 points of masterfully painted Varuna 

This 300 point mission was Acquisition, from ITS season 12 supplement. 

OSS starts first and immediately tries to break Varuna's defensive stance by sending a Garuda tacbot behind enemy lines. The landing fails and the Garuda has to go back to table edge with the only positive effect, for both players, of revealing an hidden deployed Croc Man. 

Look at that spaceship!

On the other side of the table, MK2 proxy shoots the Orc, forcing him to duck down. Now, with only the Kamau sniper still standing, it is Marut's duty to move away from the center to PanO's left flank and shoot him. With the last orders, the Shukra consultant moves up on the right flank and completes the classified objective. 

Varuna starts its first turn by moving forward the haris fireteam on the left. The link is supported by the Bulleteer, which goes on a rampage over the Dakini link exploiting the assisted fire support program provided by the Mulebot. The haris team hacks and controls the left antenna, also completing the classified objective. Meanwhile, at the center of the table, the Orc and the Marut start exchanging shots, wounding the TAG. 

On turn two, Aleph secures the right antenna with the proxy MK1 hacker and shoots down a Fugazi dronbot with the Shukra consultant in an attempt to thin down PanO's order pool. Trying to take down the central Orc, the Marut is heavily damaged and has to be repaired, consuming important orders that would have been useful to neutralize the incoming Bulleteer. 

Varuna has the upper hand on turn two: the central Orc finally takes down both the Marut and the Shukra consultant, forcing OSS to play turn three in loss of lieutenant. The Deva hacker is also wiped out by the Bulleteer, leaving the table without having spent an order. With only two command tokens and five irregular orders it looks like things cannot be recovered by Aleph. 

Left: MK2 sniper controls the alley between the tech-coffin and left antenna.
Right: Marut is about to go down despite being in suppressive fire (don't mind the wrong token).

Turn three starts with Parvati: using her own order, she superjumps onto the center platform next to the tech-coffin. As a result, the camo marker is revealed to be a Zulu-cobra trooper who tries to take down the doc/eng with his jammer, but fails. With the last two orders provided by the netrods, the Zulu-cobra is shot down and the tech-coffin is controlled. The rest of OSS can do little if not bracing for Varuna's turn three. 

The Bulleteer uses all the orders from its group to take down Parvati but to no avail. The haris group tries to reach the tech-coffin from the left flank but is pinned down by the proxy MK2 sniper and the need to control the left antenna. Leaving its position, the Orc reaches the tech-coffin but its put to unconscious state by a lucky submachine gun shot. With the last two orders, the Fusilier lieutenant reaches the area but to no avail. The match, dominated by PanO firepower, ends with an unexpected 7-4 victory for Aleph.

What next?

Before retreating from the docking bay, J.W. looked at the tech-coffin one last time: the refrigerator module had been shut down and the frost on the front panel had started to vanish. Pressed against the glass, as crying for help or cursing its enemy, was a mysterious burned hand... 

Fake news!

Breaking news: In a dramatic turn of events, following a biotechvore hazard incident and rumors of an attack from Nomads terrorist, Space Station Donacimiento is once again in the eye of the storm. 

According to Alisaa Mudlock, Aleph's aspect now in charge of the station, terrorists have hacked the station to send a false distress signal promptly picked up by Varuna separatists who tried to seize the station. The attack was foiled by the OSS but the terrorists have taken control of one a station's modules and managed to compromise its orbit. 

The Varunan High Command still haven't made comments on the matter but a statement is expected by the end of today.

Operation Golden Ratio: episode 02

In previous episodes, Nomads from Tunguska have been fighting against Aleph's OSS over a PanOceanian research facility on Space Station Donacimiento. Fights stormed both the station and the Nomads' hideout, while Aleph tries to get control over its mysterious assets on the Station... 

Boris opened the hatch and reached the control board, dominated by the eerie silhouette of an hollow man. "How's our malware doing, Wintermute? Have you found anything worthy?" 

The android turned to him without unplugging from the control board, stretching the cables that once controlled the ship, before its wreckage had been elected as their base of operations. 

 "That Alisaa Mudlock, Aleph's aspect on the station, she's been interrogating the scientists." 

Boris had always tought the hollow man's voice sounded like underground drilling operations on Dawn. 

"Now she wants to inspect an old cargo that left the station two days ago. Some components of Project Laocoön may have been sent to Neoterra without autorization. They want to retrieve the components, but they think it might be a trap since the cargo is such in a bad shape: it looks like the hull is compromised." 

"Well" said Boris, relieved by the good news "I think we just may prove them right this time, shouldn't we? Take Chrome and Newrose with you: we'll steal those components right under their nose". 

This 300 point mission was The Armory, from ITS season 12 supplement. 

Aleph decided to keep initiative and deployed keeping the three posthumans proxies last. 

Tunguska went for a tightly packed deployment, exploiting the additional cover provided by localized decompressions to control access points to the objective room during the first reactive turn. 

With only one order stripped down thanks for Shukra's counterintelligence, during turn one the MK2 proxy shoots down the first hollow man of the fireteam core from the vantage point acquired via infiltration. 

The rest of the orders were used by the Naga to mine two of doors to the objective room, as the Yadu haris link advanced towards the room, destroying one Tsyklon remote in exchange of three NWI.

During Nomads' first turn, the remains of the hollow men fireteam core tried to shoot down the sniper, but to no avail. With a few orders left, the other fireteam with Perseus, Raoul Spector and the Stempler advanced on the Dakini side.

On turn two, Aleph entered the objective room and opened one of the panoplies, securing the zone of operations. With a few orders left, Tunguska shot down the Deva with MSV in the Dakini link and prepared for a final assault to the armory. 

Turn three wasn't much different from turn two: Aleph kept dominating the zone of operations while Tunguska tried to turn the tide but failed to conquer the heavily fortified objective room despite the selfless sacrifice of Perseus and Spector. 

The match ended in a sound victory for OSS, who managed to retrieve the genetic assets fundamental for Project Laocoön. 

What next? 

Boris Legasov sat down on the Captain's chair on the main deck. He had just ended a spiky holoconference with Tunguska's Command where he had to balance the important intelligence he had gathered with the recent defeat on the cargo. His comlog blinked impatient, indifferent to his adsorbed reasoning. 

"What now? It better be important." 

"It's about Space Station Donacimiento: they just sent a distress signal to Neoterra."

Playing Infinity N4: TAG along

Finally, my Marut is painted and ready to battle!

For anyone wondering, the mat is Neo-Tokyo PVC from Deep-Cut Studio 

Approaching a bigger miniature has been really fun and very satisfying but I have to admit the assembly part was quite stressful.

To celebrate, I decied to write a short story about Aleph's TAG, enjoy:

Zizhan glanced down the street, where holographic cherry blossoms sizzled in the rain. A graceful river of citizens was flowing quietly out of the subway, dispersing itself into the night's alleys. He took a moment to find Huyên into the crowd: a tall, beautiful woman with a Jade Empire service combi rifle concealed in the cello case strapped on her back. Her face was now perfectly calm, totally abandoned to the moment, so different from the one she had when she confessed him her concerns on their mission, a few days before. She didn't share their lieutenant's approach: according to her, using heavy infantry troops in such a densely populated district was reckless and would have compromised the operation. 

His comlog started blinking: combat group one was on the move and it was time to act. He went down the stairs and pulled up his hood to protect the visor from pouring rain. The zone had to be clear for the extraction of lieutenant's trusted Tiger Soldiers but, moments before he could finish deploying his mines over the perimeter, a sudden blast rose a cone of flames and dust two blocks away from his position. Hell stormed from his comlog: combat group one had engaged the enemy sooner than expected. 

Going upstream the screaming crowd of civilians, Zizhan reached the burning remains of a flower shop: a scorched cello case welcomed him as he inspected the area drawing his pistol. "White Carp to Blue Tortoise: I am engaging the enemy on sector four!" he gasped into the comlog, exploding three bullets towards a dakini tacbot peeking from a balcony, as instructed by his visor's infographics. 

Zizhan dashed back to take cover behind a vending machine. "White Carp to Blue Tortoise: do you copy?". The colorful lights of the vending machine started dancing, mistaking him for a potential customer to attract. Somewhere, nearby, rounds from a familiar combi rifle exploded, breaking once again the concert of rain over the city. After loading his gun, Zizhan peeked back into the alley: as he saw the Marut's silhouette stand out against the clouds he realized he wouldn't have a chance to see Huyên again and tell her their lieutenant was right.