Ever since coming back from Adepticon, I’ve been excited to put StarCo on the table. Daniel was in a similar position with his JSA, and he was looking to get some practice for Rescue at 300 points for the upcoming tournament. I find Rescue to be a pretty tough mission, but after chatting with Pete and Obadiah, I had a list and a plan.

Overview

Mission : Rescue

: Rescue Forces : StarCo, Free Company of the Star versus Japanese Secessionist Army (300)

: versus (300) Deploy First : StarCo, Free Company of the Star

: First Turn: StarCo, Free Company of the Star

Rescue MOBILE BRIGADA Lieutenant MULTI Rifle + Light Flamethrower / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 39)

MOBILE BRIGADA HMG / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 42)

MOBILE BRIGADA Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 34)

SEÑOR MASSACRE Boarding Shotgun, E/M Grenades, Eclipse Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW, E/M CCW. (0 | 26)

DAKTARI Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 14) BANDIT Combi Rifle, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, DA CCW. (0 | 27)

HAWWA’ Hacker (Assault Hacking Device) Boarding Shotgun, D-Charges / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 26)

SPECTOR (AD: Combat Jump) Boarding Shotgun, Nanopulser, Drop Bears / Pistol, E/M2 CC Weapon. (0 | 33)

REAKTION ZOND HMG / Electric Pulse. (1 | 26)

RIOT GRRL Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (2 | 33) 8 2 | 5.5 SWC | 300 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Japanese Secessionist Army GROUP 1 | 10 SHINOBU Lieutenant Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, Monofilament CCW. (1 | 47)

SAITO TOGAN (Specialist Operative) Combi Rifle, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, EXP CCW, Knife. (0 | 40)

NINJA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Shock CCW, Knife. (0 | 35)

NINJA (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Shock CCW, Knife. (0 | 35)

NINJA Hacker (Killer Hacking Device) Tactical Bow / Pistol, DA CCW, Knife. (0 | 29) KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14)

KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14)

KEISOTSU Missile Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (1.5 | 14)

YURIKO ODA Combi Rifle, Panzerfaust, D-Charges, Antipersonnel Mines / Pistol, CCW. (0 | 23)

KEMPEI (Chain of Command) Boarding Shotgun / Pistol, CCW, Electric Pulse. (0 | 21) GROUP 2 | 2 KEISOTSU Paramedic (MediKit) Combi Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 11)

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

YÁOZĂO Electric Pulse. (0 | 3) 5.5 SWC | 300 Points | Open in Infinity Army

Deployment

I had 10 orders worth of StarCo, with the Massacre+Daktari+MB link. I just piled them up in the center of my deployment zone, trying to avoid getting them shotgunned by an Oniwaban. I figured I’d put the HMG Brigada in a position where he could get shoot stuff, with the rest of my guys stretched out to avoid being templated. My Al’Hawwa AHD went on the right.

I put my TR bot watching the central corridor at an angle, with the Bandit just in front of it. Daniel put down four TO camo tokens and a 3 missile launcher Keisotsu link with Yuriko and his usual chain of command Kempetai. His doctor went all the way on the right with her ‘bot near the leftmost Keisotsu missile. I placed my Riot Grrl ML watching one of his Keisotsu and the central fire lane, and Daniel put down a 5th TO camo token. Seriously!? 3 ML and 5 TO! UGH this felt like it was going to be a real slog of a game. Fortunately, Daniel is a great opponent and every one of our games is a tense yet funny affair! With that, we shook hands and I grabbed my order tokens to get things started.

Turn 1

Top of Turn 1 – StarCo

Well, Pete and Obadiah had suggested just getting the link up the field under the cover of Massacre’s smoke, so I set about doing just that. I figured I’d use the HMG Brigada to dice down one of the three missile launchers to drop the link bonus down a bit, so I poked him around the corner to see the rightmost one. I’m still a little fried after all that flying to/from Adepticon, so it takes us awhile to figure out what our target numbers are. Right after we decide that Daniel needs a 13, he rolls a 13. WELL DAMMIT. I fail both ARM saves after the crit and have to pick up my HMG Brigada on the first order of the game. Nooooo!!! I take a deep breath and let the salt wash away, then discover that I’ve misplaced my list and don’t know what Raoul’s PH is. Since Army Mobile hasn’t updated, it takes us quite awhile to find his statline, but two phones and two browsers later I finally have the statline in front of me. I place the template right near Daniel’s helper bot and drop him in. I’m using a Zhayedan to proxy him, because 1) the model is awesome 2)… the model is awesome. I chuck a drop bear around the corner and start shotgunning things. The shotgun template covers Daniel’s Keisotsu paramedic and that troublesome Kempetai, blasting the Kempetai off the table. The drop bear doesn’t manage to kill anything though. I coup de grace the paramedic for a classified and chuck another drop bear around the corner before gunning down Yuriko. The drop bear takes out one of the ML Keisotsu and the template covers Yuriko’s mine, but the mine manages to save on a 20! There’s Daniel’s ridiculous ARM save luck at work! Raoul shotguns down the leftmost ML Keisotsu before retreating behind the building. I reform my Mobile Brigada link and get them settled into cover, putting my Brigada Lt on a roof prone to keep him safe from Kitsune’s sword. With my last order I drop a mine with the Bandit to discourage any TO camo markers from collasping my left flank.

Bottom of Turn 1 – JSA

After pushing the doctor into the first combat group, Daniel decides to take revenge on Raoul, pushing the bot around the corner…

After looking it up, it seems that I can’t apply any modifiers to the CC roll, including bonuses to my own roll. So after saying out loud: “okay, just have to beat a five!” I immediately roll a 1. We call everyone over to see the ridiculousness, and Daniel declares that in his heart of hearts, he’s already won this game. I agree wholeheartedly! With the score settled, Daniel spends the rest of his order pool getting Saito into the midfield, dangerously close to my Brigada link and the civilians. Saito ends the turn in marker state, prone behind some cover.

Turn 2

Top of Turn 2 – StarCo

With Raoul tasered by the ‘bot, I stick to the plan and run Massacre up the field under cover of smoke to grab one of the civilians (represented by the Nomad token below). I spend the rest of my order pool retreating him back to the safety of my deployment zone and throw my Brigada Lt, Brigada combi, and Daktari into suppression in the midfield.

Bottom of Turn 2 – JSA

Daniel throws Kitsune at the problem, slicing my poor Brigada combi in half with a monofilament crit and taking a missile to the face from my Riot Grrl like it’s nothing. Daniel and his ARM saves! JEEBUS. Kistune advances even further, expecting my Brigada to suppression fire her and shoot her with a missile from my Riot Grrl, but I break suppression and introduce her to some FLAMES OF STARCO JUSTICE! Forced to dodge instead of special dodge: smoke, she gets hit in the face with napalm and goes down for the count. Daniel activates his remaining Keisotsu missile launcher and tries to take out my Lieutenant. Over two orders, my Brigada manages to dodge away and my Riot Grrl drops the Keisotsu with a missile.

Turn 3

Top of Turn 3 – StarCo

I run my Al’Hawwa up to grab another civilian and get it back to my dead zone, trying to provoke Saito to reveal the whole way. Daniel doesn’t bite, so I use my Lieutenant order to intuitive attack him. He dodges in response, successfully, getting closer to my Al’Hawwa.

I advance towards Saito again, and he dodges. I choose to F2F the dodge with shock ammo from my MULTI Rifle, and that does the trick. With only my Bandit’s order left, I drop another mine and pass the turn. Daniel informs me that he’s in loss of lieutenant in his last turn and concedes.

9-0 StarCo, Free Company of the Star, Victory!

Daniel did a great job this game, as usual. He kept cool and played to the objective even after losing his whole link team. It was just tough to get his guys across the table through what I had set up. Raoul really put him on the back foot and then having a pile of Brigada to get through in the midfield was just enough to slow him down and get me the win.

Notes