Road to Babylon - Zero Division Battle Report #01

After more than a week after we launched our new campaign, Road to Babylon, I finally got to schedule a couple of matches. The first one is against our new blood, Keith, who chose to succumb to the call of Axis' Laser firepower.

Keith deploying his army

Without further adieu, here's his list:

Keith, AXIS

Army Name: Blutkreuzspinne

Hermann-10

Panzerprinz (commander)-14

Wotan (laser)-20 

Blitz -25

Bloody Baron-8

Angela Wolf-4

Konigsluther -20

Faceless Death-12

Faceless Death-12

TOTAL: 125 AP

What's noteworthy is that we recently traded walkers: my Wotan for a Jagdluther. So I'm practically facing my own monster with that laser-wielding biped.

Keith won the Initiative roll at the start of the setup so that makes me the Defender for our match. Here's what we ended up with using the campaign's Battle Builder:

Objective: Food for Thought

Deployment: Defender Delayed Reserve

Condition: Night Fall

Food for Thought is a tricky one but I didn't want us to have Perfect Day for our Condition so I took the gamble and placed my last Scenario Point on Objective. I made sure the 2 Objective Markers I placed are in cover in preparation for my Paratroopers.

As 2 of my 3 Platoon Advantages dictate that most of  my units be placed on Reserve, Delayed for this particular game, I only had my 2 Six Shooters and The Big Boss to deploy. Keith, being the Attacker deployed all of his units on the opposite side. His formation suggests the kind of offensive he's planning to apply against my forces.

My Heavy Destroyer Walker platoon, deployed near the lower right corner of my side of the table.

Keith's army being deployed on the opposite short table edge.

Turn 1

The first turn was pretty uneventful for me mainly due to Delayed Reserve. I only had 3 units to Activate and it is still Night time so I opted not to do any aggressive maneuvers with my twin Six Shooters yet. My Heavy Command Squad issued 2 Move Stimulants on the walkers in front of them.

Keith marched his units toward my side of the board but was not able to shoot at anything yet.

No Objective was controlled at the end of this turn.

Turn 2

I won Initiative roll. I was hoping to do some damage with my "green" Six Shooter so I immediately activated it, doing a Marched Move and shooting at the approaching Hermann. Epic fail as it was not able to land any hit even after doing Salvo. This proved a disadvantage for me, as my walker was gunned down by the Axis light walker it tried to take a nibble at. After a rain of Laser rolls, my Six Shooter was literally baptized by fire and was the first casualty of the crossfire.

The remains of my wrecked Heavy Destroyer Walker

A Blackhawk and Wildfire were able to enter the map, with the former choosing a more secured location behind a building close to the wrecked Six Shooter. The Wildfire, living up to its namesake, on the other hand, tried to sneak attack on the opposing aircraft, landing a couple of dents. The Bloody Baron didn't take this lightly though, blasting all of its available weapons on my light walker. The Blackhawk didn't fare so well either as it was vaporized by the Wotan's laser weapons afterwards.

One of my Red Devils was able to drop as well this turn, giving out an opening fire to the already activated Konigsluther. The Brits were able to land 2 phaser Hits, resulting to a promising (on my part, at least) 6 points of damage on the massive walker.

Action Jackson was able to join the action that same turn, but was not able to cash in any damage. I tried reactivating him with the Big Boss but to no avail.

As the turn was about to end, we checked for our Objective's shenanigans and ended up taking out one of Keith's unsuspecting Faceless Death on the far side of the table.

Objective score: Marc - 2, Keith - 0

Turn 3

I was able to win Initiative again this round. With so much threat and potential brewing, I didn't hesitate on taking my chance to take down the Konigsluther. Action Jackson and the remaining single paratrooper left from my first Red Devil joined phasers for a Sustained Attack and with the second roll, dealt the killing blow!

Jackson leading the action against the Konigsluther

The opposition immediately retaliated with the Blood Baron adjusting its position and firing at the paratroopers. It wasn't enough to permanently end Action Jackson, however, taking only a Hit of damage. His subordinate didn't prove so lucky, though.

A few more exchanges of shots were thrown from each side of the board this turn. My remaining Reserved units were kept off table though, without the right rolls despite the 2 dice they got.

What caught me off guard was when my Heavy Command was left open without cover against the might of the enemy Wotan. With some luck, however, my Medic survived. When it got the chance to activate, it brought back an Officer and was successful in calling a Six Shooter as reinforcement. The walker joined the fray right away, causing heavy damage on the Wotan.

No bombs were triggered by end of this turn.

Objective score: Marc - 3; Keith - 1

Turn 4

Again, I won the Initiative roll. I think this is one, if not the, worst moves I made during the course of the game. As opening move, I moved my slightly damaged Six Shooter towards Action Jackson. I was trying to achieve several things with this maneuver: give Action Jackson a needed cover from the walkers to his left flank, Secure the Objective nearby, and gun down the nearest threat. Due to lack of thought, I wasn't able to achieve any of the three.

Good thing for me, it didn't backfire. Jackson still survived and was able to secure another Objective. By this time, I have more threats on and off board. Keith was able to pulverize my recently returned Six Shooter, yet again, without it doing any damage this turn. Despite of this, my remaining forces were able to neutralize the remaining walkers and secure 1 more Objective. I was able to eliminate Panzerprinz as well.

Time is up, so this was our last round for the game. Another Objective blew up but no unit was damaged, leaving only 3 Objective markers on the map.

Objective score: Marc - 6; Keith - 1

endgame board presence

Result

By the end of the game, I'm controlling 2 uncontested Objectives so that nets me another 4 Campaign Points (fulfilling Commander SO 'Bring Home the Bacon'). The other Objective marker was contested by Keith's Angela against my 2nd Red Devils. I was also able to get my Commander, Action Jackson, control an Objective, adding 1 more to my total.

Total Campaign Points: Marc - 11; Keith - 2

thumbs up for a great game!

Post Game Assessment

Punctuality is a must! We would've finished earlier had I arrived on schedule. Not looking forward to be caught on traffic again for my next games.

Thanks to Keith for a great game! The potential wrecking force of the Konigsluther and Wotan combo is not something you take for granted. Not to mention the addition of a skilled pilot like Panzerprinz aboard one of them. Had I lost those Initiative rolls, things may have turned differently.

Next game on my calendar: versus Jojo's Kalte Bliss!