My Shaltari meet with some Resistance

I grabbed two games this last Saturday, both versus Andy's Resistance, and Jim joined in with his PHR for the second one. Those Resistance Free Riders are really nasty. Don't believe me? Read on to see why.

Andy's list was the same for both games, as was mine.

Andy first:
Jessie with Bertha(he hasn't gotten his command model in yet, so had to wing it with a special one)
1 more drill
2 battle groups with a squad of 4 Freeriders and a squad of 2. He also had the same in his command group
2 squads of three Gun Wagons
3 squads of two infantry in jacksons
A pair of Archangels

I had:
Command- Coyote
Infantry- 3 squads of Braves
6 Tomahawks with 3 Kukris
2 Tarantulas with a Firedrake
2 squads of Jaguars
2 squads of 2 Yaris
3 Havens and 3 Edens

As you can see, I have picked up the oomph of my list, adding a lot more hitting power. We rolled table quarters for mission. My plan going in was move from my starting quarter to the left and right, holding three at the end. I had a snag, since my Edens couldn't land heading to my right, due to some nifty new cars I picked up. So, I instead pushed heavily towards the left, circling a bit for the right. I had planned to hold my infantry in readiness, but it soon became evident that my new, heavy firepower force wasn't up to the task, and I would need the weight of fire offered by my infantry. So, I moved my Eden into position to drop a pair of Havens, which are also good anti-infantry, and then some Braves. I then pulled out a crazy pilot card to land my Eden, but he pulled out an espionage card, and oh the craps, I was stuck. I continued to try and do something with my big guns, but largely came up empty. I should also point out that my Firedrake managed to roll ones on its blast the first two turns. I also failed this game and the next to use the Dragon Cannons, which should be pretty awesome versus his bikes. The following turn Andy was able to drop both of my remaining Eden, stranding my Havens and thus my Braves in space. It also meant that I could not longer move my force sufficiently to extract myself from behind his horde of bikes. As such we called the game so as to get in another.

With nobody seeming ready to play, Andy and I decided on a rematch. This time we rolled Recon. It also became apparent that Jim wanted a game, but hadn't been sure there would be late gaming. So, we pulled him in as well.
Jim's list:
Zues with Hyperion with Neptune
A squad of 2 Erebos with Neptune
A Hades
2 squads of an Ares and a Phobos with Neptune
A squad of Odins with Neptune
2 squads of Immortals in Junos
An Athena
I deployed, Andy deployed opposite, and Jim was stuck in the middle. I brought almost everything walking on, except my Tarantulas, which I wanted a little forward, and able to react to anything coming on.  Both Andy and Jim brought most of their stuff on board center, with Jim giving me both squads of Ares/Phobos to deal with. For the most part, I came in to my right, away from Jim. As I had waked nearly everything on, I was able to fire first turn. Before he was able to take a second activation with them the Ares/Phobos squads were gone. I also spent much of the first two or three turns holding my AA to attack their Fast Movers, and did a fairly good job of either killing or deterring them. In the end, I killed both Archangels and damaged the Athena. The Athena only lived my attack because I failed to kill it before it hit, and with its run done, and being on one damage left, I decided to hold my shots for the Archangels. This game was largely about me gaining air superiority. Or at least freedom. Having taken out the Phoboses, I targeted the Gun Wagons, they they turned out to be stupid resilient due to some command cards and poor rolling. In the end, I managed to snag an objective, give to a Haven, which died. Pick it up with a Yari, zip to and Eden, kill his stupid Wagons with my Gauss Rifles and the Lifthawk with my Small Arms, meaning I could easily and safely exit the board the following turn, nabbing me 2 points. In the end the game finished 5-1-1, giving me a win for the week.

Strangely enough, Andy was super upset about how my Braves could take down two gun wagons and a Lifthawk in a single turn. Which struck me as odd, since his Freeriders easily took down skimmers and striders with impunity. Often at several a turn. Either way, I enjoyed myself, and, up until the very end, think they did as well. They didn't finish the game, and opted to take a draw, not figuring kill points. All in all, my weekend went well, and I finished with a decent score. The flip side is that I can't play Andy until my third game next week, and Jim until my second. Being as I can't seem to get anyone else to face me, it may be rough. As far as the league stands, Patrick and James haven't played since week one, I think Carl has two weeks in, Shaffer is still fussing over models and refuses to play with out painting his models he is ignoring first, Tony has only played about half his weeks, Nabors, Shea, Andy, Jim, and myself are by far the most consistent. I think all four of us will have five weeks, at least, to score from. I think Andy is beating me on points, I am not sure about Jim, but I am still sitting fairly high, so I feel good about that. The tourney will likely be run by yours truly, so I will miss out on that, which kind of sucks, but whatever. Should be a blast, and, hopefully, we will pull some more players.