Covenant of Antarctica 800 points list
Core Force - Naval
Prometheus Class Dreadnought with target painter - 295 points
Callimachus Time Dilation Orb - 70 points
Two Zeno Class Armoured Cruisers - 180 points
Three Plutarch Class Destroyers - 105 points
Aerial Force
Two Icarus Class Medium Flyers - 140 points
One squadron of fighters and one squadron of dive bombers.
Total of 790 points.
Empire of the Blazing Sun 800 points list
Core Force - Naval
Two Ika Class Mechanical Squid - 200 points
Three Tanuki Class Gunships - 225 points
Nine Uwatsu Class Frigates - 225 points
Aerial Force
Two Inari Class Scout Gyros - 150 points
One squadron of fighters and one squadron of torpedo bombers.
Total of 800 points.
Deployment
We decided to play down the length of a table and after placements, the fleets were arranged like so:Olly positioned his Time Dilation Orb and Dreadnought in the centre of his deployment zone. He placed his Armoured Cruisers and Destroyers on his right flank with the Icarus flyers and token aircraft on his left.
I placed my two squid in the middle of my zone. I had a squadron of four Frigates on the left with the two Inaris and three Gunships. On my right flank, I positioned my token aircraft and a squadron of five Frigates.
Turn One
Olly won the initiative and activated his Callimachus Time Dilation Orb which he used to teleport his Prometheus Dreadnought onto my right flank. Normally the first few turns in Dystopian Wars involve closing with the enemy and picking off units with select gunfire and ordnance attacks, culminating in massive broadside volleys and boarding assaults on the fourth turn. This isn't the case when playing the Covenant of Antarctica.This put me in a difficult situation - and it was only my first activation. I could either activate my five Uwatsu Frigates and conduct a large volley from their turrets and gun batteries; or I could activate my IKA Mechanical Squid and attempt to derelict the model.
My Uwatsus swung to starboard and unleashed a volley of 19 attack dice (AD) onto the Prometheus. Blazing Sun Frigates may be small but they can dish out a lot of dice in range band one (RB1) and their 12" move enables them to get in close to the enemy.
As both of their weapon systems are secondary, the first ship can link fire with itself for seven AD. Each ship after the primary shooter can link fire with itself for seven which halves to three. The 19 AD resulted in one hull point (HP) of damage being dealt.
The Prometheus activated next and set about punishing my Frigates for their insolence.
The rear turret caused one HP of damage to the lead Frigate, while a combination of turrets and broadsides damaged another and sunk three. The Dreadnoughts Ack-Ack (AA) also caused two of my torpedo bombers to be shot down. Fortunately my squid were saved from this bombardment as primary weapons cannot fire on submerged models in RB1.
As the Prometheus wouldn't be able to fire until the next turn, I decided to throw whatever I could against it. I summoned my squid from the murky depths and initiated a boarding assault on the Dreadnought with the leading robot. The second fired it's tentacle guns to no effect but the first IKA wrapped it's tentacles around the hull of the Prometheus. At the end of the activation, the squid had been destroyed but it had reduced the Dreadnoughts Assault Points (AP) to five, leaving it open to a boarding assault from another unit.
Olly started moving the rest of his fleet up the table for the rest of his activations.
For my next activation, I decided to test the Blazing Sun's new Tanuki Class Gunships.
Moving into RB2 they linked fire with their turrets for nine AD which failed to penetrate the shield barrier. The Tanukis launched another ordnance attack against the Prometheus in the form of torpedoes and rockets. The 12 AD of torpedoes managed to exceed the Dreadnought's critical rating (CR) which resulted in weapon damage, meaning all of its AD from primary and secondary attacks were halved in addition to losing two HP; but this wasn't the end. The Tanuki rocket attack caused a further HP of damage and started a raging fire due to their incendiary rounds.
The rest of our activations consisted of moving units up the battlefield for a traditional naval engagement.
Turn Two
The Japanese won the initiative and advanced their Gunships within boarding range of the Covenant Dreadnought. Their 18 AP launched off the decks flying into a barrage of AA in which five Samurai lost their lives. The ensuing battle on-board the mighty Prometheus saw the Samurai emerge triumphant. Without marines or a crew, the ship becomes derelict and is essentially out of the game. The remaining Samurai jet pack back onto their gunships.Olly activated his Time Dilation Orb and teleported it behind an island in the middle of the battlefield.
The rest of turn two was spent manoeuvring units up the battlefield.
Turn Three
The Blazing Sun won the initiative and I moved my Inaris up to make a RB4 attack on the Covenant Destroyers. With only four dice hitting on fives or sixes, this caused no effect.The Callimachus moves around the island towards my left flank and activates it's time dilation generator to create a temporal field between itself and my Frigates. The field means any model firing into or out of the bubble suffers half AD when it attacks.
Unfortunately for Olly, my Frigates 12" move enables them to swing behind the temporal field and unleash a salvo of AD which causes a critical hit on the Orb. The Callimachus takes a Hard Pounding which results in the loss of 1D3+1 AP. The Orb loses three AP and two HP.
The Covenant then sends its Plutarch Class Destroyers to engage the Blazing Sun Frigates; sinking one and damaging another.
All other units then move during their activations with no effects from firing.
Turn Four
The Antarcticans seize the initiative and place another temporal orb in front of their Time Dilation Orb.My remaining three Frigates then launch another salvo at the Orb which causes one HP of damage. One Frigate is then lost when Olly's dive bombers move into base contact.
My Inaris then link their guns in RB2 on the Plutarchs. They then fire two separate rocket volleys onto another destroyer. Both targets are sunk. The remaining Destroyer activates and sinks a Japanese Frigate.
The Blazing Sun Tanuki Gunships then link their rockets in RB4 on the approaching Icarus Flyers for 12AD. The rockets penetrate the shields and AA fire on the lead flyer which results in a Hard Pounding on the critical hit table. The Icarus loses three AP and two HP.
The Icarus squadron then activates but fails to inflict any damage on the gunships.
Turn Five
I win the initiative on the final turn of the game and activate my Inaris. They link their turrets in RB2 for nine AD on the Time Dilation Orb which produces a critical hit. The ensuing Fusion Leak drops the Orb's CR to the same level as it's DR and causes two HP of damage, putting the Callimachus on one HP.The following rocket barrage results in another critical hit which destroys the Orb. Due to the Combustible Cargo Model Assigned Rule (MAR) when an Orb is destroyed, it rolls 14AD against any model within four inches of it. The explosion destroys the remaining Japanese Frigate and Covenant Destroyer plus the dive bombers circling above. Most importantly, the Orbs destruction results in the death of Olly's fleet commodore.
Results and Analysis
The game ended with a Blazing Sun victory - something I was not expecting.Covenant Losses
Prometheus Dreadnought - Derelict = 590 points
Callimachus Time Dilation Orb - Destroyed = 70 points
Plutarch Class Destroyers - Destroyed = 105 points
One Icarus Flyer on two HP = 35 points
Dive Bomber wing - Destroyed
Total of 800 points lost.
Empire of the Blazing Sun Losses
One IKA Mechanical Squid - Destroyed - 100 points
Seven Uwatsu Class Frigates - Destroyed - 175 points
Two Uwatsu Class Frigates on half HP = 24 points
Two Torpedo Bombers - Destroyed
Total of 299 points lost.
After my last engagement against the Time Orb Dreadnought combo I wasn't feeling optimistic.
Playing the length of a board favoured me greatly. It enabled my Tanukis and Inaris to hang back and launch a devastating salvo of rockets as the Covenant forces slowly advanced. More importantly, it gave me enough time to throw my force against the Prometheus without having to worry about being counter-attacked for a couple of activations.
I'm very impressed with the Tanukis. They are superior to Blazing Sun Cruisers in every form. The same cannot be said for Olly's Zeno Class Armoured Cruisers. They only have a six inch move and their primary weapon is a particle accelerator. This weapon is incredibly powerful at close range, but by the time the Zeno has limped into the fray it will probably be too late.
The Squid are still amazing even after being downgraded by the errata. One squid was able to reduce a Covenant Dreadnought to five AP by itself. Imagine if my other squid had been able to board.
I really enjoyed last night's game and I'd like to thank Olly for agreeing to play. I'm looking forward to my next oceanic engagement so if you want to arrange a game, be it full or a demo, please let Gambit know.
A new range of Dystopian Wars models are set to appear on the Kid's Dreams Horizon this week, including units from the Russian Coalition.
Happy Gaming,
John, of the Blazing Sun.
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