Another game of Recon+, this time against Jordan. We played the same scenario as I played against Isaac, which is the Exfiltrate mission from the Recon+ pack. To save you some clicking, here’s my description of the mission from my other battle report:

For those of you that don’t know, Exfiltrate is basically Rescue, but with the added complication of Unmasking-like mechanics. Two of the three HVTs are agents, and one is a civilian, randomly chosen at the beginning by shuffling some face-down tokens to be placed next to the HVTs. When you Synchronize with a HVT, its token is flipped over. The civilian HVT isn’t worth any points and is therefore a waste of orders. Furthermore, all the agents are considered hostile troopers and can be shot once revealed! Definitely a tough mission to be playing in the Recon+ format, especially given that there’s an exclusion zone.

Jordan brought my old nemesis, Caledonia, to the table, but I was ready to face him with some Japanese Secessionist Army schenanigans!

Overview

Mission : Exfiltrate

: Exfiltrate Forces : Japanese Secessionist Army versus Caledonian Highlander Army (Recon+)

: versus (Recon+) Deploy First : JSA

: First Turn: JSA

Recon A KEISOTSU Lieutenant Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 9)

KEMPEI (Multispectral Visor L2) Shock Marksman Rifle / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (1 | 25) YURIKO ODA Combi Rifle + E/Mitter, D-Charges, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 24)

KEISOTSU (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)

KEISOTSU Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11) RYŪKEN (Forward Deployment L2, ODD) Submachine Gun, Antipersonnel Mines, D-Charges / 2 Breaker Pistols, Knife. (0.5 | 24)

TOKUSETSU EISEI Doctor (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14)

YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3)

NINJA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 29) 8 | 2.5 SWC | 149 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Caledonian Highlander Army WALLACE Lieutenant Combi Rifle + Light Flamethrower, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW. (0 | 35)

VOLUNTEER Paramedic (Medikit) Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 10)

VOLUNTEER Chain Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 6) ISOBEL McGREGOR T2 Rifle, Flash Pulse, D-Charges, E/Mauler / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)

VOLUNTEER Chain Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 6)

VOLUNTEER (CH: Limited Camouflage, Inferior Infiltration) Rifle, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11)

HIGHLANDER Chain Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW. (0 | 6)

CAMERONIAN 2 Chain Rifles, Grenades, Smoke Grenades / AP CCW. (0 | 23)

S.A.S. (Forward Observer) Rifle / Pistol, AP CCW, Knife. (0 | 24)

WARCOR (Aerocam) Flash Pulse / Stun Pistol, Knife. (0 | 3) 7 3 2 | 0.5 SWC | 150 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Deployment

I won the roll off and elected to go first, hoping to abuse the Ryuken-9’s ODD. I put my Keisotsu across the backfield, with my anticipated link team being Yuriko, the Paramedic, and the FO, but I made sure there was a legal fireteam including the Kempetai SMR (mislabeled on the right there) within coherency. Yuriko’s mine was right at the edge of 8″, covering the approach to my backfield in case there were any big pushes from a Cameronian or something. I protected the left with the Ryuken and her mine, and then flanked the both sides of the table with the Doctor and her ‘bot. My Ninja sat hidden in at the edge of the exclusion zone in hidden deployment (my reserve). Jordan deployed a Wallace/Volunteer core on his right, with a Volunteer LSG nearby to refill the link if necessary. He’s still getting used to CHA, so he missed the “inferior infiltration” on the Volunteer rifle and just deployed it on his side of the table, along with a SAS. I assumed that the second camo token was another SAS, so this error went unnoticed until later in the game. Jordan stuck his two impetuous models on the left, ready to punch a hole in any deployment weaknesses I might’ve had. The cherry on top of Jordan’s CHA sundae was a 112 masquerading as a Warcor. Unfortunately, Jordan forgot to deploy Isobel, which meant he was down a model and an order the whole game. I forgot my Ninja existed the whole game too, so I guess that evens out? With all the list and deployment mistakes out of the way, we were off to rolling dice.

Turn 1

Top of 1 – JSA

My Ryuken tries a long-range SMG shot (I love X-Visor on these guys) against a Volunteer, who successfully dodges out of the way. Jordan’s warcor is not so lucky though, and gets shocked off the table on the next order. Jordan reveals his Volunteer inferior infiltration next, which we just rule is okay since we’re halfway into my turn at this point, and the Ryuken easily guns it down. I scoot the Ryuken across the midfield, leaving a mine in her wake, and then give the challenge phrase to the Moderator HVT there. He fails to give the countersign, which means he’s not one of my agents! Darn. I’m out of orders to get to the other two and back safely, so I settle for leaving another mine and scooting the Ryuken into cover. I need to put some serious roadblocks in the way of the Cameronian, or I’m dead, so I push my Yuriko/Paramedic/FO link into the midfield and cover it with anti-Dog Warrior AROs, hiding the Paramedic, who is the link leader. Dreading the worst, I pass the turn.

Bottom of 1 – CHA

Jordan starts things off by successfully beating out Yuriko’s E/Mitter shots with some smoke from his Cameronian. The Galwegian, unaware of the mine thanks to the Cameronian’s smoke, runs straight into a cloud of shrapnel and dies. Alright! I’ll take that. The Cameronian super jumps on top of a building to make his way towards my deployment zone, eliciting some fire from my MSV2 Kempetai, a pair of E/Mitters from Yuriko, and some flash pulses from the Keisotsu FO. Given that he can’t beat out my MSV2 Kempetai with smoke, Jordan elects to dodge. Of course, with his luck, Jordan’s dodge beats 5 dice worth of ARO–stupid Dog Warriors and their ridiculous PH! He keeps moving, hopping the Cameronian off the roof and dropping a chain rifle on my Keisotsu FO and Kempetai. Thankfully, my HVT prevents him from also chain rifling my Paramedic. Phew! This also puts him right in range of Yuriko’s mine. I declare 2 E/Mitters, 2 flash pulses, a shock marksman shot, and two combi rifles in ARO. I hit with everything except the flash pulses. Between the marksman rifle, the two combi shots, and the mine, I manage to do two wounds, knocking out the Cameronian. Thankfully, Jordan also fails against the E/Mitter shots, which at least would have stopped his rampage. My Keisotsu FO passes ARM against the chain rifle, but my Kempetai gets knocked out. It’s at this point that Jordan surprise shots Yuriko with his SAS FO, but Yuriko is a champ and crits him. Wallace runs forward and tries to take out Yuriko as well, but I pass ARM and fail guts back into cover. Now that the Volunteer Paramedic is further forward, she pokes out and shoots the SAS with her MediKit, bringing him back to consciousness. With that done, Jordan pushes the SAS further up, using my Moderator as a shield against the Ryuken’s remaining mine in the midfield. This lets him get LoF to Yuriko, who manages to fend off another round of shooting before Jordan has to pass the turn.

Turn 2

Top of 2 – JSA

My Doctor picks the Kempetai back up… and I send her in to take out the SAS from outside of 16″. Jordan dodges, but it’s not enough versus my 3 on 15’s and the SAS is shocked off the table. The way clear, I send in my link and the Paramedic absconds with one of the Moderator HVTs while the FO gets ready to grab the last one on my final turn. We’re playing with the new ITS10 classifieds, and I had rolled Net-Undermine on chart. Basically a Veteran, Elite, or Chain of Command trooper needs to spend a short skill in the enemy table half to… undermine… their… nets? Presumably it’s meant to be the act of inserting a quantronic virus or some such sci-fi thing. Well that’s COOL! Yuriko is a Veteran, thanks to her being a character, so I snag that on my last order. I had hoped to drop a mine covering Wallace and his link, but you gotta play to the mission!

Bottom of 2 – CHA

Jordan remarks that he hates mines and wants to get rid of them, but first he has to get rid of Yuriko. Wallace comes around the corner and chucks some smoke to cover his approach. I attempt to shove a D-Charge in Wallace’s face with Yuriko’s respectable CC 11 (-3 for D-Charging). What’s shocking is Wallace only has Berserk and no other close combat skills! Unwilling to let me get a normal roll with a D-Charge, Jordan makes it a face to face and crits Yuriko off the table with his EXP CCW. With Yuriko down, Wallace can easily shoot my Keisotsu FO… and discover and clear the mine with a lieutenant order.

Turn 3

Top of 3 – JSA

This does mean that LoF to Wallace is but a short movement skill away for my Ryuken-9, so she shocks him off the table with her SMG. After attempting to bring the Keisotsu FO back to consciousness with my Paramedic (and failing, I guess JSA has PanO problems today), I retreat my Paramedic and her HVT back to my deployment zone before setting up some nasty AROs. I move up my Keisotsu Lt, and then throw him, the Ryuken, and the Kempetai into suppression. In Loss of Lieutenant and down to a handful of volunteers, Jordan calls it, making it a

5-0 Japanese Secessionist Army Victory!

Notes

Notes for Me

Well, the Ryuken-9 is a monster. That X-Visor and ODD make her a killing machine. I’ll have to rethink lists to make sure she has orders.

I was really happy with the way I prepped for the Cameronian. Getting 6 rolls against it with an E/Mitter was beyond my wildest expectations. Actually knocking it out was just gravy.

I’m not sure what the Ninja does in this list for the scenario. The Tactical Bow isn’t a great Recon+ weapon, I think. I think I’d rather have a second Ryuken-9, but I’m sure my next game will end with me wishing for a Ninja.

Yuriko continues to impress. She does all the things, it’s really awesome. Too bad she doesn’t have minesweeper too! I wish I could find another way to get a Panzerfaust into the Keisotsu link. That way I can take her E/Mitter profile all the time.

Definitely happy getting that new classified. It’s pretty cool, fluff- and mechanic-wise, and it also kept me from over-extending and putting a mine next to Wallace.

That was a great game! It taught me a lot about how to control the midfield with JSA–you really have to think about it and dedicate orders to setup.

Notes for Jordan