Strikezone: Wotan - Ariadna Brawl

I was planning to play different missions this weekend for the campaign but the people I normally play with decided to go to a tournament. I didn't want to go to that event and so I could at least log something, I had to teach the game to another mate of mine instead. To keep things simple (and help my faction a bit in Wotan) I gave him a choice to play either USArianda or Caledonia, and the lists we played were fairly similar of only 150pts. 

The report itself is bit more narrative written than my regular battle reports. I wanted to try it out before committing to doing like a proper story report. 

Just like with the previous Wotan article, more photos and the army lists can be found on the Wotan website report; link below.

Game 3: Those are my guns!

"After the successful fortifications of the Indra-3 Security Coordination and Control deck the Ariadna army began to prepare for focusing its attention elsewhere in the blockage. It should have been a routine task to visit the armory for equipment and weapons but as fate would have it Caledonian operative Lilith and his freedom fighters decided to visit the armory at the same time as Field Commander Jarod and his Rangers. 

While they might be good mates at time of peace (well, as peaceful as it can get on Dawn), their competitive nature would not allow either of them to stand down and let the other get to the armoury first. After all, everyone knows it is not just about beating the enemy, you gotta have the guns that make the loudest bang to look bad ass while doing it!"

The USAriadna Rangers decided to fortify against the Caledonias and took the high ground with most of their units bunkered down, as not to make it easy for the aggressive Highlanders to get close. The Caledonians were true to their reputation and started the skirmish by charging head on, only to realize the Rangers had a sniper covering one of their flanks. Cameronian of clan McDonald learned this the hard way as he was caught by surprise, failing to use his Smoke Grenades and took a bullet.

With the flanking option gone, more direct approach was decided and a Scots Guard with support of a Highlander and a 112 Doctor rushed the armory. The American WarCor was handy with his Flash Pulse and forced the Highlander to Smoke the room, allowing the Scots Guard to pick up a Light Shotgun. The 112 Doctor stayed outside of the armory while several other Caledonian units advanced forward.

While the Caledonians were busy securing the armory, the Rangers sent a Devil Dog Marine on a flank attack of his own. He knocked out one of the Blackwatch Regiment Volunteers but otherwise held his position, threatening the other nearby Caledonians. Not as hotheaded as the Caledonians, the Rangers planned to take the armoury later with a superior force and to that end sent unit in slow tactical advance for a later assault.

The Caledonians had the armoury secured for now and planned to keep it that way. Though while the Scots Guard and the 112 Doctor were busy searching for new weapons, the Highlander noticed a USA Grunt trying to flank them. He would have none of it and charged outside. The resulting spray of bullets and Chain Rifle made it hard to see who was hit by what but in the end they both managed to knock each another out of the fight.

It wasn't easy to move within the army thanks to fire from Grunt Sniper and the American WarCor but those were taken care of by the Scots Guards, a burst fire of SMGs into the Sniper and a Molotok against the WarCor. This seemed to upset the Rangers. They were shouting something about not targeting non combatants but the Scots Guard with Molokot just flipped them off. Turned out it was a distraction, allowing the Devil Dog Marine (whos K-9 was taken out of the fight by a Volunteer with HMG earlier) jump into close combat with the rude Scots Guard.

The Caledonians are always ready for a fight though and the Scot managed to stab the Devil Dog in a leg with his trusty knife. While that was going on, a Marauder Paramedic tried to wake up the WarCor but he was knocked out good and had to be evacuated out of the fight. The rest of the Rangers kept slowly advancing, getting ready to push the Scots out of the armory soon.

The time for fun was coming to its end, the HQ would tolerate the brawl only for so long before calling both Commanders sodding wankers and restricting their access to booze as punishment for wasting time; which nobody in Ariadna wants! With that mind the Caledonians decided to rush the armory with everyone that was close enough to make it. The units inside tried to grab more weapons and equipment but in their hurry and excitement from the fight they forgot the access codes and the panoplies wouldn't open.

 
The close combat fight between the Scots Guard and Devil Dog was still going on but a human, even a Scotsman, could hold out only for so long against an angry Dog-Warrior. After one punch too many the Scots Guard was knocked out, allowing the Devil Dog to join the attack on the entrenched Scots inside the armory.

First came attack from the front and a hail of bullets took out the Scots Guard with SMGs. Then an attack from the right, engulfing most of the room in fire and taking out the 112 Doctor and a Scottish WarCor. In the end there was only one Scots Guard left, fending off the Rangers with his Marksman Rifle. The last attack came from a Grunt, charging in with her Rifle. This could have give the Rangers control over the Armory but the pressure got to her and her shots went wide, missing the Scots Guard completely who then knocked her out.

The Caledonians celebrated their victory by mocking the Rangers with witty insults as they had to wait outside while the Scots picked all the coolest guns for their next missions.