This battle report covers the second of three scenarios concerning control of a gold mine. In this scenario-- All That Glitters-- there are four pallets of gold lying in the middle of the field, and you have to haul them back to your deployment area. While dragging a pallet of gold, your movement rate is reduced by two points. This makes cavalry very important. The full rules for working with gold pallets are as follows.
The army composition for this scenario is 10,000 build points, of which no more than half can be custom units.
In this scenario Nate played a Han army and I played a Roman army.
Thanks to Stormrider, four of these units can push to move twice in one turn without downing a figure. This is especially useful for the Tiger's Eye, which as a sortie only consumes 2 order points to do it.
Because there wasn't room in this army for a Call the Iron Rain unit, the artillery units used were normal rather than being based in Way of the Bow. (To the extent that delivering 10 range dice with Good Fortune could be considered normal.)
This army relies on a ballista to cripple cavalry units that get too close and a pair of 7th Legion Chargers to fetch gold pallets. The army is rounded out by a Minotaur unit for close combat, two archers, and a trio of Gallic striker sorties.
The scenario has a single Control Terrain in the middle with four pallets of gold sitting next to it. Various blocking terrain items surround the center. The pallets of gold are sortie bases with pictures of gold bullion on top (real gold bullion being outside our budget limits).
Nate placed the Honor Division on his far right, followed by the first Raven Column, a Nomadic Skirmisher, the second Raven Column, and a Flame Strikers with the Tiger's Eye in front of it. This whole group was to the right of the blocking terrain on the near side of the control point. In the center he placed Khudu's Place, the unit possessing the Stormrider ability. On the left side of the blocking terrain he placed the other Nomadic Skirmisher, the Nomadic Riders, the second Flame Strikers, and the Phoenix Squad artillery sortie.
On Nate's right I had a group consisting of a Hammer of Mars sortie, a Sagitarii Column, and the two 7th Legion Chargers. On Nate's left I had the other Sagitarii Column, the other Hammer of Mars along with the Hammer Incendia, the Ballista Velox, and the Steel of Savros with the Familia Bovis in front of it.
Nate won the dice-off and took the ambush turn. Because this was a 10,000-point game, a normal turn was 10 order points and the ambush turn was 5.
Nate started off by moving up one of the Nomadic Skirmishers and a Raven Column. Then he stashed the Tiger's Eye behind blocking terrain where it would be safe from my ballista. The ballista can do 4 damage a turn, downing one of the Eye's Kor Tiger Riders and reducing it to a speed of 4. At full strength in this particular scenario, the Eye is the most powerful thing on the board, being a sortie that moves 7 and doesn't lose a figure when pushing. In other words: move 7, grab the gold, and flee at 5 for only two order points. The loss of a single figure, however, would make it useless. Hence, Nate took special care in placing it.
On the other side of the field, I did a similar thing, only more so. I moved both of my 7th Legion Chargers into position to grab some gold and run next turn, then moved the Ballista Velox so that it could cover the gold pallets and brought Steel of Savros behind it to help with Artificer healing. Finally, I moved a Sagitarii Column up for range support and regrouped the forward Charger for defense.
That was the end of the maneuvering phase.
The Tiger's Eye has a move of 7. Using the turning tool, Nate worked the Eye around the blocking terrain and positioned it right next to a gold pallet facing back toward his deployment area. This used 5 movement points.
The Tiger's Eye has a rearward movement cost of 2, so Nate used the last 2 movement points to back into the gold pallet, locking it onto the Eye. Because the Eye is a sortie, the entire maneuver cost one order point.
With the gold pallet attached, the Eye's speed was reduced to 5, but this was more than enough. Nate spent another order point to drag the gold as far as possible back toward his deployment zone. Because Stormrider was active and the Eye is a Xiongnu cavalry unit, pushing to move it again did not require downing a figure.
Nate had 8 order points left. He spent the next 15 minutes agonizing about whether to go for another gold pallet or to attack. This was a bit of a new experience: the high victory point benefit of stealing a pallet meant that there were more strategic choices than normal.
Nate decided to go for the violence. He moved his Nomadic Skirmishers into base contact with my forward 7th Legion Chargers (2 order points).
Nate now executed a close combat attack with the Nomadic Skirmishers. Because they have Charger, the attack cost only one order point. The die roll was 9 to 4. Nate did four damage and took one back.
A further attack by the Nomadic Skirmishers would require downing a figure. Instead, Nate spent an order point to regroup the Skirmishers for defense, then spent 2 more to move the Raven Column up to shoot the uninjured 7th Legion Chargers.
Because the Raven Column has Hail of Arrows, it was unaffected by the units intervening in the line of sight, The attack was 10 dice to 0. Nate did 7 damage, downing 3 figures on the target. This made it effectively useless for gold grabbing, since if it pushed it would be reduced to a speed of 1 with a pallet attached.
It was now my turn.
I couldn't reach the Tiger's Eye with anything, so I decided to deal with the Nomadic Skirmishers. If I could get them away from the 7th Legion Chargers, I would have a chance to grab some gold before that unit was killed. First, I shot them with the nearby Sagitarii Column. The attack was 8 dice to 5, and I did 5 damage.
I decided that if I could take out the Nomadic Skirmishers quickly enough, I could then cripple the Raven Column with a strike by the 7th Legion Chargers. There was only a 28% chance of doing this with another shot from the Sagitarii Column, but a strike by a Hammer of Mars using Fervor would have a 55% chance. I pushed the Hammer to base the Skirmishers.
The attack was 9 dice to 5 (8 plus the Fervor bonus). I did one damage and took three back, which was pretty disastrous.
I had to go with an alternate plan. I moved up the Sagitarii Column to shoot the Raven Column.
The attack was 8 to 1. The roll was as spectacular as my previous one was lame, and I did 7 damage.
With my final order point, I regrouped the Hammer of Mars to increase its defense (from 0 to 1, but it was something).
Nate started his turn by moving up the Flame Strikers on his right so they could cover the middle of the field.
Next, he brought the first gold pallet back into his deployment area for 5 victory points. This involved a trick with the turning tool. When you use the tool, you can place any notch of the turning base on the far side of the tool. By placing the front notch, Nate flipped the Tiger's Eye around so that the gold pallet ended up fully inside the deployment zone. In addition, the Eye was now positioned for another run to grab some gold.
The gold was immediately removed from the table and Nate collected 5 victory points.
Nate now shot the forward 7th Legion Chargers with the injured Raven Column. Because the Column was down to only five figures, it no longer had Hail of Arrows, and had to pay a one-die line of sight penalty for shooting over the Nomadic Skirmishers. This, plus the penalty for shooting into melee, dropped its attack from 10 dice to 8. The final roll was 8 dice to 4, and thanks to a Good Fortune reroll that brought him an extra 6, Nate did 4 damage.
The forward 7th Legion Chargers was down to a single figure, and the rearward Chargers had only two. This meant that neither could be used as an effective unit for hauling gold. To grab gold and run, you need to be able to push: the near Charger could not push because it was down to one figure, and the far Charger would be reduced to a speed of 3 after pushing, meaning it could only travel a single step. The archers would quickly murder it at that speed.
Nate now regrouped the Nomadic Skirmishers for offense and attacked the Hammer of Mars. The attack was 5 dice to 1, but Nate only needed 4 damage to kill the unit, it having been grievously wounded in its own earlier attack on the Skirmishers. As it turned out, he got exactly what he needed, and collected another victory point, raising the score to 6-0.
Figuring that the Raven Column would be dead next turn, Nate decided to use it one more time to shoot the rear 7th Legion Chargers. Pushing dropped the range dice from 10 to 8, and he took another 2-die penalty for shooting over the top of the Nomadic Skirmishers and an intervening pallet of gold (which counts as a friendly unit for line-of-sight purposes).
The final attack was 6 dice to 0. Nate had an 83% chance of getting the kill, and he rolled more than enough.
Nate picked up two more victory points, and the score was now 8 to 0 in his favor.
With his last order point, Nate moved his second Flame Strikers unit forward to cover the control point.
It was now my turn. The first task was to eliminate the Raven Column. I used two order points to shoot them with the nearby Sagitarii Column. The attack was 8 dice to 0. I needed 4 damage (a 91% chance) and got 6.
The kill netted me two victory points, so the score was now 8 to 2 in Nate's favor. Next, I pushed the Familia Bovis onto the control point (4 order points).
The Familia Bovis was very likely going to be attacked soon, so I spent another order point to regroup it for defense. I had 3 order points left.
I pushed the Sagitarii Column to shoot the forward Nomadic Skirmishers. The attack was 8 dice to 0, and once again I needed 4 hits and got 8.
The death of the Nomadic Skirmishers gave me two more victory points, so the score was now 8 to 4 in Nate's favor.
With my final order point I moved the Hammer Incendia forward to support the activities at the control point.
It was Nate's turn again. He used one order point to move up the Flame Strikers on his left and then another to have them Fireburst the 7th Legion Chargers, killing them for another 2 victory points.
Nate now led 10 victory points to 4.
His next step was to push the second Nomadic Skirmishers unit to base the Familia Bovis. Because Stormrider was in effect, the push did not require downing a figure.
The attack was 9 dice to 5, and only cost one order point, since the Nomadic Skirmishers have Charger. Nate got a critical hit, doing 5 damage.
Nate had three order points left. First, he moved the Tiger's Eye behind the blocking terrain, in position to make another gold run.
With his remaining two order points, he moved up the Phoenix Squad on his left and the Flame Strikers on his right.
Now it was my turn. In order to base the Familia Bovis, Nate had moved the Nomadic Skirmishers into range of the Sagitarii Column. I started my turn by shooting at them. The attack was 8 dice to 0, and thanks to a critical hit I did 8 damage.
I had 8 order points left. I used one to perform Healing on the Familia Bovis, increasing the number of Minotaur Warriors from two to three, one short of the maximum.
One more order points brought the Hammer Incendia forward, and with another I used it to Fireburst the nearby Flame Strikers for three damage.
I needed to finish off the Flame Strikers, so I regrouped the Sagitarii Column for movement and moved it into range to shoot the Strikers. This consumed three more order points.
The attack was 7 dice to 3, and I did 5 damage, killing the Flame Strikers and collecting another victory point. The score was now 10 to 5 in Nate's favor.
With my final order point I regrouped the Sagitarii Column for defense.
It was Nate's turn again. On his previous turn, he had stashed the Tiger's Eye in position for another gold run. It took one order point for the Eye to base the nearest gold pallet.
With his second order point, he pushed the Tiger's Eye to flee with the gold back to his deployment area. The attached gold pallet reduced the Eye's movement by 2 points, to 5, but thanks to Stormrider, there was no need to down a figure to effect the push.
Nate had 8 order points left. He used one to move his remaining Flame Strikers into position to Fireburst the Sagitarii Column or the Hammer Incendia.
He then used 4 order points to push his remaining Raven Column so that it could shoot the Sagitarii Column.
The line of sight clipped the Flame Strikers, but this did not matter because the Raven Column had Hail of Arrows, so the attack was 10 dice to 4. Nate did 8 damage, reducing the Sagitarii Column to a single figure.
Nate had one order point left. With the Sagitarii Column having been reduced to uselessness, he chose to Fireburst the Hammer Incendia with the Flame Strikers he'd moved up earlier, doing 3 damage. The Incendia was reduced to five figures.
I started my turn by using one order point to Fireburst the Nomadic Skirmishers using the Hammer Incendia, killing the Skirmishers and netting 2 victory points. The score was now 10 to 7, with Nate still in the lead.
It was time to make a grab for some gold. I had no cavalry left, but I had two units with Hustle sitting in the center of the board.
First, I moved the Hammer Incendia next to the near gold pallet.
Next, I pushed the Hammer Incendia to haul the gold back toward my deployment area. The movement rate of the unit was reduced from 5 to 3 by the weight of the gold, but the Hustle ability added 2 to its speed, so the unit could move the full 5.
I had 7 order points left. I used one to do Healing on the Familia Bovis, bringing the number of Minotaur Warriors up to a full 4 and another to regroup the unit so that it had its maximum speed. Two more order points brought it into contact with the remaining gold pallet.
I had three order points left. I used two to move the Familia Bovis back toward my deployment zone. Again, the gold pallet reduced the movement rate by 2, but the Hustle ability increased it by 2.
With my final order point, I regrouped the Familia Bovis for defense.
It was Nate's turn again. First, he moved the Tiger's Eye and its gold pallet into his deployment zone, collecting another 5 victory points.
The score was now 15 to 7 in Nate's favor.
Next, he moved the Flame Strikers onto the control point.
From here, the Flame Strikers could Fireburst any of the units I had in the vicinity. Nate chose to target the Hammer Incendia, reducing it to a single figure. He had 7 order points left.
Next, Nate moved his Raven Column into position to shoot the Familia Bovis in the back.
The attack was targeting a bad side, so the defense of the Familia Bovis was reduced from 4 to 1, making the roll 10 dice to 1. Nate rolled a critical hit and did 9 damage.
Three order points left in the turn. Nate used one to move the Phoenix Squad into position to finish off the Familia Bovis.
The attack was 6 dice to 2, and did 5 damage, killing the Familia Bovis and giving Nate 17 victory points to my 7.
With his final order point, Nate moved the Tiger's Eye back out onto the field. This was a push, but thanks to Stormrider, it did not require downing a figure.
The situation was pretty hopeless for me at this point. I had only three functional units left, the fastest of which had a speed of 4. On his next turn, Nate would get 3 victory points for the control terrain and another 3 for killing the Hammer Incendia and the Sagitarii Column, both of which were down to a single figure. That would put him two points from winning, and he still had a completely untouched unit of Nomadic Riders ready to come out and play. Rather than draw out the game with a lot of fruitless delays, we called it a win for the Han.
The idea of this scenario was to encourage people to play with cavalry. There is no question that cavalry has an advantage, especially the Xiongnu units with Stormrider on the board. The first time I played this scenario, I killed my opponent's Tiger's Eye as soon as it made its appearance. Nate, however, deployed it much more effectively, using the blocking terrain so that when my turn came around the blasted thing was out of range. By not using the cover effectively for my own cavalry units, I allowed them to get killed before they could do anything useful.
Not having a gold-grabbing sortie on my side of the board to match the Tiger's Eye was a major disadvantage. It seems clear to me that people who don't have the Eye and Warlord Khudu are going to need something with similar capabilities, so I've developed the following three units. These are not as powerful, but they only cost half as much.
This game has more strategic depth than other scenarios. You are constantly having to decide whether to concentrate on the gold, the control terrain, or killing your enemy's units. You will find that even 10 order points is not enough to do everything you want.
Finally, remember that the turning tool is your friend, and if you are not being creative with it, you are going to find yourself running out of movement points in a scenario where movement is just as important as your ability to attack. Start practicing now!