Having been fortunate enough to acquire a ticket to Warlords Xilos Horizon campaign weekend, I have settled on using the Isorians. Now, currently I only have one squad of Isorians painted, and need to bring a thousands points worth of the bio-mechanical badasses with me. I enjoy a challenge, so have started putting together an army list and assembling my figures from the stash.
To give some context, the campaign will feature the 6 scenarios present in the battle for Xilos campaign book.I'll give a short over view below of what to expect from each mission
Mission 1: Xilos Landing
This scenario has the defender place half their units on the board, whilst the attack drops down from orbit to attempt to destroy a generator in the centre of the board. The scenario features a space invaders style pre-game to determine the attackers deployment, This is a game that will require a heavy infantry presence, both for the attacker and defender, as the only way to capture or damage the generator is through moving infantry into base contact with it.
Mission 2: The Ghar Strike Back
This scenario has the defender surrounded in the centre of the board, by an attacking force The defender is attempting to bring a transmat station online, and does so placing an order dice in the bag for this too. When the defender pulls the order dice they may opt to roll a D6 instead of activiting a unit, and add these to a rolling total. Once this reaches 20 the game ends, though the defender may only do this once per turn. I anticipate this taking me 20 turns... The attacker is attempting to over whelm the defender before this total is reached, and may recycle units that are destroyed at the start of their next turn...
Mission 3: Exploration - The Battle of Discovery
In this multiplayer mission 2 or more explorers fight a Ghar force for control of builder relics. 2 per explorer plus an extra relic are placed on the board, with the objective being for the explorers to find the relics and get them off the board, whilst the defending Ghar try to stop them. Victory goes To either the explorer who removes the most relics, or to the Ghar if they inflict more damage on the explorers or prevent them from withdrawing the relics. What makes this scenario interesting is that the explorers have to cooperate to a certain extent to avoid being overwhelmed by the Ghar, however they also have to keep an eye on their capturing their own objectives...
Mission 4: Tunnels - The Builders revealed
Interesting mission this one with a lot of uncertainty. The basic premise and objective is to fight through some tunnels and secure the objective rooms. However, tunnels can collapse and beasties can appear to attack you as well as the enemy. Forces are suggested to be around the 750 point mark, and and nothing larger than a 50mm base can be used. This is going to be a very tense fight, and again going to be quite infantry intense. I can see the the not being able to fire through squad mates becoming quite an issue here too...
Mission 5: Jail Break- The battle for freedom
Another attack/defence mission, with 6 objectives (prisons) and the attacker moving onto the table on the first turn along one of the long table edges. The defender starts with half of their units on the table, and then brings the other half on later. Victory goes to whomever can liberate or control the objectives by the end of the 6th or 7th turn. Another mission that will require a lot of aggressive play to try and head off the enemy, and mobility will be important too to try and sneak around and get to the prisons,
Mission 6: -A greater conflict - The Builders awake
A large multiplayer mission this time, with 3 pairs of players facing off across a 12 foot table, and moving on from the first turn. One of the short edges has an advancing dimensional rift (!) whilst the other short edge is the escape point. Each opposing pair of players has a different set of objectives, with the ones closest to the rift needing to escape, the middle pair scoring points not only for escaping, but also destroying their opposing pair's units and capturing relics as they go.
The final pair closes to the exit are attempting to destroy one another, whilst still scoring points for killing other players forces. To make matters even more interesting, the dimensional rift advances throught the course of the game, and any models caught behind it are destroyed. The game lasts until either the rift reaches the other end of the board, or all units are destroyed/escape.
This is going to be a tough mission and require a pretty single minded focus on the objective I feel.
My Force
For the event I am taking my Isorians as it's a good motivator to actually get them painted up. Unfortunately the Isorians still have some gaps in their range, however it's just another challenge to adapt and over come!
Isorians in general
Isorians are very similar to the Concord, in that they are well armed and armoured, however the biggest different is contained with their armour. Where Concord are more resistant to blast weapons, Isorians can use their phase armour to go down when fired at, even after they have activated, making them quite tasty and resilient. I have a feeling this will be critical in some of the scenarios, especially number 6.
Senatex Command Squad
Command squads allow you a certain level of tactical flexibility as they have a good accuracy skill, but more importantly have the Follow, Command and Leader special rules. This allows them to activate another unit smultaneously as themselves, to help with the command checks of friendlies, and also to be a little more resilient to recieved fire. Very useful as a centre to the battle line or to help get stuff done slightly out of sequence of the order dice. Well armed too, I've equiped the leader with sling net ammo to help pin down the opposition, and also equipped them with a spotter drone. The temptation is to really tool this unit up, however I want to keep them small and flexible so they can get to where I need their buffs the most without getting in the way of my main units.
Senatex Phase Squads
These are the bread and butter of the army, and I'm taking mine in 7 strong squads to maximise their resilience, as quite a few of the scenarios award extra points for destroying the enemy. Between that and their phase armour they should prove hard to kill, but so they are dishing out some pain as well they have a spotter drone, sling net for the leader and a plasma lance to hurt any bigger targets.
Tsan Ra phase squad
These are a fairly points heavy unit, and only 3 models strong, though they have fairly good resilience and very good fire power. I don't see them as a front line unit though, and more as a fire base. Their weapons are very flexible though, being able to pump out 3 shots each, or a single shot with high strike value, Again, I've equipped them with sling nets to help put pins out when needed too.
Senatex X Launcher team
I love these weapons, they are cheap, can be deadly, but also have the option for some dirty tricks with their ammunition. Again I've gone for net ammo to pin stuff and give me more tactical control. Hopefully. Also the team has a spotter drone to help them see targets...
Senatex Phase Sniper
A very characterful unit that I couldn't leave home. I've equipped my sniper with camo and shield drones to increase their survivability. The sniper is here to act as a sniper, surprisingly. with D6 shots when stationary, a long range and good strike value, as well as ignoring the targets cover bonus, the Snipers job will be huntiing Nu-Hu and leaders that come into it's line of sight...
Senatex Light support drone
Another useful choice, I've only the points for one, and will probably use it in conjuction with my sniper to give myself a nice fire base for the rest of my forces too attack from. Equipped with a plasma light support it's job is to hit enemy units or light drones that may appear.
Senatex targetter shard
Targetted drones are my favourite unit in the game! my dice rolling is generally awful, and these little guys really do help massively with to hit rolls, as a few together on an enemy unit can make shooting vastly more accurate and deadly. Only the one shard, but at least there's a lot of them, and it's an extra order dice in the bag.
In all, I'm very excited for this event, it looks to be a great days gaming, and the Isorians look to be a unique and interesting faction to play. I've got one unit painted, and have gone for a dark, almost Star Trek Borg like colour scheme. I'm still not finished on basing so will add more there once inspiration strikes, however now it's time to get assembling and painting...
You can read more about Beyond the Gates of Antares here, and can see more of my work or contact me for commissions at Volley Fire Painting Service.
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