In the period directly before the final assaults on Terra, and the rise of the IlClan, a small but sharp conflict occurred on the nominally Galatean League planet, Syrma.
An independant taskforce from Clan Jade Falcon's Gyrfalcon (Delta) Galaxy, seeking flanking paths around the maddened Clan Wolf, attacked the planet and destroyed the DePaik Resource Solutions mining facility, scattering or destroying the local garrison.
The Clan Protectorate offered to send a force to relieve the planet, choosing elements of the 1st Nova Cat Provisionals for this duty.
Escorted by a FWLN task force, the Provisionals encountered heavier than anticipated opposition from the Jade Falcons in orbit. Despite this, a star of the Provisionals were inserted, and successfully made landfall near the planetary capital, Skopje. They moved in to contact the local government, while the FWLN task force called for additional help.
Unsure as to the Nova Cat's rational for their presence, or even their existence (as the Falcons considered the Nova Cats a dead Clan), they ordered a Sweep Star to eliminate the intruders, while the rest of the attacking force dug in, awaiting reinforcements for the larger attack yet to come ...
The scene of the battle - the Capitol building in the capital city, Skopje.
(Note: the area behind the Capitol was grassy plain.) Clan Jade Falcon deployed from the upper left, Clan Nova Cat from the upper right.
Turn 1The Nova Cats moved up towards the Capitol (they displayed a near obsession with maintaining control of it), sending the Cizin point to flank down the main highway.
The Falcons sent the Hellbringer and Eyrie through the city backstreets in an attempt to flank the Cats; this was probably the cause of their downfall.
The remainder moved towards the Cats, using buildings for partial cover. Unfortunately, by concentrating their firepower, they were able to knock out the Gyrfalcon, and confirm their
dezgra status with the Falcons, who had not intended to treat them honourably anyway. Some damage was done to one of the Nova Cat Ocelots.
Turn 2The Falcon's Shrike moved to support the Summoner while the Cats jumped their Shadow Cat and an Ocelot to the roof of the Capitol.
The Falcons gained some revenge for their loss, knocking out the Shadow Cat
The Eyrie had jumped to a handy roof (more soon), and dinged some Nova Cat paint.
Turn 3There is no
zellbringen in the city.
The infernally fast Cizin shanked the Hellbringer from the rear, while the Eyrie watched on. Together with the Shrike, they sent one of the Cat's Ocelots down to destruction. The Shrike and the Cave Lion danced around the Capitol.
Turn 4The Nov Cat's remaining Ocelot decided to valiantly back-stab the Shrike. Two can play at that game ... he chose unwisely.
Jumping behind the Ocelot and overheating its guns, the Shrike vaporised its target. But alas, the murderous moppets (aka the Cizins) brought the Eyrie down at last.
Turn 5So now it was the dance of (delaying) death; the Shrike alone, against the Cave Lion and the moppets. The Jade Falcon pilot used the Capitol as cover, and overheated again, scoring on the Cave Lion, who returned the favour. But this only delayed the inevitable.
Turn 6No-where left to run.
Turn 7The Shrike's pilot hoped that he might survive the Cizins if he avoided the Cave Lion.
End of the line ...
So my good friend and talented artist SchwerpunktPrinzip finally got to have a game. This was our first Alpha Strike game, and we had an absolute blast!
We decided to use Stars of DA minis he'd painted - the Jade Falcons had a Shrike, Summoner, Hellbringer, Gyrfalcon and Eyrie that Schwer had painted for me back in 2016
Whereas Schwer fiielded a Cave Lion, Shadow Cat E, two Ocelots, and a point of Cizin he'd painted and modified in 2018:
Given the small numbers, we decided to ignore formation abilities, and do initiative by unit, not by formation. Otherwise stock Commander's Edition rules. I'd bought the cityscape set for DropZone Commander, and it looks fine with the DA minis. Then we read the skid rules ... which turned out not to cause many issues, as Clan pilot skills meant we had to roll 3s or 4s to avoid skidding. Plue, the "dirt" looking patches were considered not-pavement, and the Cizin of course were skid immune. We also played a friendly convention not to measure distance to enemy units, and rely on estimation with measurement during the fire phase.
Took about an hour and a half. My dice rolls were average, but when you need 8s and 9s and roll 4s and 7s, them's the breaks. Schwer's rolls were more 2s and 12s, but that worked a bit better for him.
Yes, the Falcons were humbled, and have ordered a WarShip to be crashed into the capitol. And yes, I made the rookie mistake of splitting my forces, and of letting him field Cizins >:D But a good time was had by all; we can see doing an IS company-on-company, with formation initiative, for the next game, which will also lack the "wrestling with chainsaws" that Clan on Clan seems like it might be.
And the battle awards are:
Biggest threat, least impact clearly goes to the Eyrie, which had Schwer very concerned while it leapt around inflicting the odd fleabite. And
Most valuable player(s) Those magical murder moppets, the Cizins, forever to be known as Kevin and TomTom!
And special thanks to Schwer for being a great player!
