Battle for Xilos

Looking at the 3rd scenario, it was clear that this would be a great chance to bring in someone new to Gates of Antares, using it as something of a demo.
We put him on the explorers’ team and dropped the lists to 500 points to keep things moving; it’s a work night, after all! The explorers were my C3 and some thrid party models subbing in as Isorians. Brendan provided the Ghar Empire’s troops and was out to put an end to our archaeological adventures.

This actually worked out really well; with three different forces we got to showcase several different unit and weapon types without it being terribly overwhelming and we could drive when to let some infighting break out once our new gent had a firm grasp of the basics.

Turn 1
The explorers made their way in from two different table edges, with the Concord Drop Command scooting ahead to claim a relic right away.
Everyone played nice and no shots were fired, although the Isorian Phase Sniper did choose to go onto Ambush.

Turn 2
The Ghar came on pretty heavily into the far left short edge, as far from the Isorians as could be. The tectorist scouts showed up first, scanning with their odd little doo-dads. Then the outcast and Assault units showed up and tried picking on the drop command. Pbffttt….Command 9 is amazing. Drop command lost a man, took two pins, and completely recovered in turn 3.
The Outcasts lost a grunt from 42″ away as the Phase Sniper made use of his Ambush order.

On the other end of the table, an Outcast unit emerges behind the Phase Sniper and avenges their fallen vat-brother.
The medium plasma drone snipes an Assault battle suit with its might Strike 6 plasma cannon

Turn 3
The medium plasma drone manages to assassinate ANOTHER Assault suit. This is unprecedented success!
The Isorian troops poured some fire into the Outcast unit they were dealing with, trying to put enough pins onto it that it won’t continue to be a problem.
The Assault squad is out for blood. It rolls through a C3 strike squad that was angling for a second relic.

Turn 4
The drop command squad has decided to head toward the nearest board edge as quickly as it can to score some points before that Assault unit rolls through any further.
With an Assault right in front of it, the medium plasma drone tries to fire and misses with an 8. That’s all the Assault squad needs; it rolls through the drone, gobbling up another VP in the process.

Turn 5
The Assault squad rounds the corner and assaults the final C3 strike squad, shredding them in close combat and attempting to move on to a phase squad afterwards. The Isorians focus their efforts on relic recovery, snickering while the Concord troops try to take down the Ghar battle suits.
The Drop Command Team punched their grav chutes and got off the table, securing 2 points for the C3.

Turn 6

An Isorian Phase Squad managed to get a relic within a couple inches of a board edge. If Turn 7 happens, they should be able to make it!
The roll for a final turn comes up…one more turn! With no Concord troops left of the table, it was up to the Isorians to score some big points.

Turn 7
The Isorians manage to dive off the board edge unopposed with a relic and also keep possession of one on the board.

FINAL SCORE – 6 to 5 Ghar
The Ghar were able to keep two relics out of the explorers’ hands and exterminate four units, for a total of six points.
The explorers had two relics off the table and were in possession of one, for a total of five points.

This worked out to be a really fun scenario, and while none of us were out for blood, it wound up being a really close game and everybody had a good time with it. Definitely a scenario I’d recommend for a club night!