Post weekend update and Planetfall 2.0 thoughts

Well it was a fun weekend. My son and I got a chance to try out a game of planetfall using the new 2.0 rules. He proxied a Works Raptor core helix and scout helix while I ran a Sorylian command helix with allied Terquai scout helix.

This is fairly early in the first turn. I had moved the command barge up to put some hurt on my son's medium tanks. This proved to be a mistake unfortunately as his heavy and medium tanks were able to bring down the barge early in turn two.

This was toward the end of our game. I must say that the Ja'Gor recon walkers performed extremely well and were probably my MVP in the game.

Thoughts:

• The Terquai gunship has quite a bit tougher than it used to be. with 6 shields and flying it was quite a best in this game before it was brought down by the Works raptor AA tanks and interceptors.
• The command barge was not as tough under sustained fire as I thought it would be. This worked against me early in our game. 
• My heavy infantry, (Sorylian and Terquai), were very hard for my sons tanks to dislodge from the objectives. This gave me the game in the end as he could not remove them in time so I won by objective even though he really had decimated the majority of my forces.
• The orbital support markers were not as difficult to dial in as I expected them to be.
• Odd I know, but the game still felt like planetfall even with the additional range bands and revisions and it was still a lot of fun!

Battle Reports from this weekend

I had the good fortune this weekend of playing two games of Planetfall.

The first game was against my wife. This was very small game just so she could learn how the game worked. She chose my Dindrenzi for her first foray while I field my Aquans. We each fielded a minimum sized core helix to keep the game short and uncomplicated. On the first turn we traded some shots and my Imzani's slightly longer movement allowed them to take the secondary objective at the center of the board. She took her tertiary objective with her Letos. At the end of the first turn her Kratos Heavy tank had been damaged and my Lamana squadron had been damaged. Our planetfall counters, which started at 7, were at 6 and 5. During the second turn we both deployed around the secondary objective where my Imzani squadron was damaged and my Lamana squadron was destroyed as was her Kratos. Her Letos also contested the objective. At the end of the second turn our counters were down to 2 and 1. During the last turn I moved my Sedna up to protect my last Imazni but was unable to finish off her Eris squadron. In a desperate gamble I moved my imzani behind her letos but only managed to destroy one. She ended the game destroying my last Imzani. At the end of the game our planetfall counters were: Dindrenzi -3 and Aquans 1.

For the second game my brother-in-law and I played an allied force versus my dad.

Zenian Forces
Directorate Core Helix
Desolator Heavy Tank
Retaliator Medium Tank Squadron
Informer Light Tank Squadron
Intruder Assault Vehicle with Patriot Light Infantry Cadre

Directorate Recon Helix
Anarchist Light Tank Squadron

Directorate Assault Helix
Nemesis Robot Battle Squadron
Purgation Medium Battle Tank Squadron

Kurak Forces
Terran Core Helix
Vidar Heavy Tank
Heimdall Medium Tanks
Partial Valkyrie Light Tank

Terran Assault Helix
Loki Battle Robot Squadron

Terquai Recon Helix
Iophon Heavy Gunship
2x Temporal Portals
2x Nabis Heavy Infantry Cadre

Starting Planetfall Score: 20
Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of notes on this game but after the first turn the Directorate was at 15 and Alliance forces were at 16. At the end of the second turn Directorate forces were at 11 and Alliance forces were at 8. The third turn was a blood bath and both forces made planetfall with the Directorate edging out the Alliance forces -9 to -8.
This was a really close game. My Dad's forces played quite well, particularly his purgation medium tanks and Retaliator medium tank squadrons. The Nemesis walkers absorbed a lot of fire from Terran and Terquai forces before going down. My initial impression was that they were exceedingly dangerous and will generally be one of my first targets in the future. My Nabis drones performed excellently, damaging a Nemesis and destroying the Patriot Cadre. The Heimdalls, as always, were my brother-in-law's star squadron.

Overall it was a very fun game and very close all the way until the end. I'm still working on getting pictures up of my Dindrenzi Assault Helix but hopefully that will be soon. Thanks for reading!

Battle Report - Dindrenzi vs Aquan

Recently, my son acquired a Dindrenzi core helix to go with his Works Raptor. This was our first game with them. His core and recon helix versus my Aquan core and Terquai recon helix. It was a very close game but in the end I was able to wrestle a minor victory from him.

True to his forces, my sons approach was direct and overwhelming. His primary objective was to recover a crashed Works Raptor escape pod. The Aquan forces in the area were in possession of the pod but looking to recover the local computer/sensor equipment possessed by the Dindrenzi. There was also a secondary objective to acquire a small supply depot for both sides.

I apologize for the quality of the pictures. My tablet doesn't appear to have been in focus for some of the pictures.

Aquan Forces
Core Helix
1 x Sedna Heavy Skimmer
3 x Lamana Medium Skimmers
4 x Imzani Light Recon Skimmers
1 x Khitari Strike Shoal
1 x Stinger Missile Battery

Terquai Recon Helix
1 x Iophon Heavy Gunship
2 x Temporal Portals
2 x Nabis Heavy Infantry Cadres

Dindrenzi Forces
Core Helix
1 x Kratos Heavy Battle Tank
3 x Eris Medium Battle Tanks
5 x Leto Light Tanks
2 x Damocles Mk 2 Sky Pods
2 x Nyx Infantry Cadres

Works Raptor Recon Helix
3 x GX-74 Heavy Interceptors
5 x LR-6 Recon Tanks

Aquan/Terquai Forces Deployed

Deployment of the Dindrenzi - The LR-6 Recon Tanks move to acquire the secondary objective.

Lamana's move and open fire on the Dindrenzi Medium Tanks damaging one of the tanks.

A lot happened between pictures here. Both Sky pods were deployed. The First Nyx Cadre took the bunker, the second advanced toward pod both opened fire on the Imzani inflicting heavy casualties, destroying three. The Iophon relocated to zero in skydrop marker and opened fire on the bunker destroying a Nyx fireteam. The temporal portal materializes and out from it spills a Nabis Cadre who open fire on the Nyx on the field destroying two fire team with minimal losses. 

The GX-74 Interceptors advance and open fire on the Iophon. Its shields unable to stop the torrent of fire fail and the gunships goes down in flames. A major loss for the Aquans this early in the battle.

The Sedna opens fire on the Kratos causing some damage.

Khitari Strike shoal attempt to storm the bunker and dislodge the defending Nyx Cadre.

The Khitari are repulsed from the building losing three fire teams while on destroying one of the Nyx fireteams. The Kratos Opens fire on the Sedna causing some damage. A stinger missile battery is dropped from orbit and opens fire on the GX-74 interceptors causing no damage.

Turn two - The Aquans win initiative and reposition the Lamanas to open fire on the Kratos causing further damage.

The Kratos and Eris tanks pound the Sedna. Finally it explodes leaving the Aquans without any heavy units. Elsewhere the Nyx in the bunker destroy the lone Imzani. The Nyx Cadre in the field is destroyed in a firefight with the Nabis Cadre.

I unfortunately didn't take anymore pictures after this point that are worth anything. The Kratos was brought down with some extremely lucky rolls from my Khitari Strike Shoal remnants. We had set a lower zero hour score for our game and the game hinged on my stinger missile battery to win as I was down one point still.  With an amazing roll the stinger missile destroyed the lone Circe giving me two points and wrestling a minor victory from my son.

In reflection the Aquans would have likely performed better if I had tried to stay to the edges and picked at his forces as opposed to holding the line. The Nabis Squads really did an awesome job at this and both squads were still alive at the end of the game. My son played well with his Dindrenzi and without two extremely luckly rolls at the end of turn 2 would have beaten my Aquans. Looking forward to our next game!

Terran vs. Aquan battle report

My brother-in-law and I played a quick 875 point game between the Aquan Prime and Terran Alliance on the 4th. Our zero hour tracker was set to 15 to keep the game short. The Aquan primary object was to information from the black box of a crashed Terquai gunship. The secondary objective was to locate the crew survivors. The Terran Alliance was attempting to retrieve several prototype units. A walker was their primary objective, a dropship was their secondary objective. 

Aquan Prime Strike Force

1 x Sedna Heavy Skimmer

2 x Lamana Medium Skimmers

3 x Imzani Light Skimmers

1 x Khitari Strike Shoal: 1 x Commander, 2 x Sweeper bases, 1 x Gun team, 1 x Standard base

Terran Alliance Force

1 x Vidar Heavy Tank

2 x Heimdal Medium Tanks

3 x Valkyrie Light Tanks

1 x Sinir APC

1 x Hirdmen Infantry Cadre: 6 x Standard bases

I forgot to take a picture before moving my Khitari but this is the starting position for the Aquan forces as they begin to infiltrate the settlement.

The Terran Alliance forces deployed on the opposite side of the settlement.

The Valkyries attempt to secure their secondary objective. Unfortunately for them the Imzani's attack them from behind destroying two. The remaining Valkyrie fails its morale save ensuring its destruction at the end of the turn.

The Sinir rolled forward and deployed its cargo of Hirdmen infantry. The infantry occupied a building and fired on the Imzani destroying one.

At the end of the first turn the Aquan forces had loss two bases of Khitari and an Imzani. They also held their tertiary objective. The Terrans had lost their squadron of Valkyries and the Sinir was damaged.

During turn two the Imzani squadron swept north to occupy the Aquan secondary objective. The Sinir advanced on the Khitari and opened fire on them destroying one base while being destroyed in the process. The Khitari took cover behind a building to avoid the heavy weaponry of the Heimdal and Vidar. Seizing the opportunity the Hirdman Cadre occupied the Terran primary objective. The Sedna and Lamana exchange shots with the Vidar and Heimdals. The Lamana squadron takes 1 damage. The Vidar suffers 1 damage during the exchange as well.

The Terrans win initative and the Vidar rolls foward to fire on the Sedna at effective range. The attack is devastating dealing 2 damage the heavy skimmer. The Lamanas move up to cover the Sedna and open fire on the Vidar. An amazing set of rolls for the Vidar's shields protect it from any damage. Worried about the Sedna's powerful lasers the Hirdmen leave their objective and occupy a building near the Sedna and destroy it.

The valiant Khitari move back to take the Terran objective hoping to deny them the zero hour points. The Terrans have no intent to be denied it though, Magellan cannon preparing to fire.

While I don't have a picture of it the Imzani relocate to secure the Aquan primary objective garnering 4TV at the end of the turn for me.

22 hits from the Magellan cannon. The Terrans blew away half of the building to dislodge the Khitari.

The Heimdals attempt to reverse and get a shot on the retreating Aquans but are blocked by the corner of the building. This was a game changing event as the damaged Lamana was unlikely to withstand the shots fired by his Heimdals and would have garnered them an additional 4 TV.

At the end of the game the Aquan's were able to squeak out a minor victory over the Terrans with -1 versus -2 on the zero hour tracker. I forgot to use hit & run again which might have saved the Sedna as I would have fired and relocated it instead try to cover with the Lamana. Overall, a very fun and close game. I am very much enjoying the Aquan forces and play style. The Terrans are a tenacious foe and I have quickly learned that they are extremely effective at clearing infantry from buildings. Definitely looking forward to our next game