AT-43 Battle Report 01072008: Therians vs. Karmans

Having completed the first scenario in Phase 1, it was now time for the second scenario, Fire in the Hole! Once again I would be fighting Karmans, but this time I was able to play against Ron who is one of the newer players at the store. For his army, he was fielding a full unit of Kaptars with ZZ-cannons, a full unit of Wendigos with grenade launchers, a unit of K-Warriors, two Easy Trikes, and Venerable Cornelius. (Just a quick note: We decided that heros can be played either with a unit or solo unless the army book says that he must be attached. For example, Urash must be attached to a Storm Golem unit while Cornelius may be attached to a Wendigo unit.)

On my side of the table were Nimit-Urash, an Incubus Golgoth, a unit of Bane Goliaths, a unit of Storm golems and a full unit of Assault Golems. Ron was not fielding any of his experienced units while I had all of my experience on Nimit-Urash who had both the Aimbot and Penetrationbot combat routines (For those who don't know, this means that Nimit has an additional re-roll on his weapons to hit and a re-roll to damage; quite a nasty combination!). So with our battle plans laid out in our minds and the board prepared for the upcoming conflict, we got underway.

I managed to win the Authority check on the first turn and moved my Banes onto the right side of the board, taking cover behind a couple of low walls and securing one of the minor access points.

For his opening move Ron moved his Kaptars onto the center of his side, putting himself in a good position to control one of the nanogenerators.

Next I moved on the Incubus Golgoth on the left side of the board. Having been placed on Overwatch, the Kaptars opened fire on the walker and were able to damage its legs.

In response, the Incubus opened fire with both of its nucleus cannons but I did not shot at the Kaptars. Instead, I made sure to destroy the nanogenerator to deny him the RPs that he would have earned.

Ron brought the Wendigos in next on the right side of the board and my Banes opened fire on them. Unfortunately they had taken cover and while most of the shots bounced harmlessly off of the low walls, one stray blast managed to catch a Karman as he ckeck to see if it was safe.

Nimit-Urash came onto the board next right beside the Banes. He opened fire on the Wendigos with the Sonic Cannon but even with the Aimbot routine he was only able to take out one more Karman! Next, I fired the Nucleus Cannon at the nanogenerator that was near the Wendigos and was able to easily destroy it.

Once I had finished firing, I used the Reconfigure routine to remove one of the low walls that was in front of the Wendigos (I need to remember to do this first next time...) and then I created a Hekat.

Next, Ron brought on his Easy Trike squad and opened fire on Nimit-Urash. As the electrical bolts shot from the two Trikes the scene quickly went from this...

...to this.

For his last move, Ron brought on Venerable Cornelius and placed him next to the Wendigos.

This wrapped up the first turn with the Karmans earning 5 VPs for controlling one of the major access points while the Therians earned a mere 2 VPs for controlling one of the minor access points (since the Incubus cannot control the access point because it is a vehicle). As for reinforcements, both of us remained at our starting values of 300 RPs for the Karmans and 69 RPs for the Therians.

As with the other turns in the game, second began with the roll for Cosmic Hazards, but this time something actually happened! A meteor came screaming down out of the sky headed right for one of the Kaptar heavy weapon troops!

The piece of rock hurtled from the sky, bounced harmlessly off of his head, and landed at his feet. So much for a cosmic assist on this one...

Ron won the Authority check this time and opened fire on the Hekat with his Wendigos. He managed to score several hits but when he went to roll for damage we realized that the ZZ-rifles of the Wendigos are too weak to penetrate the armor of the Hekat! Oops...

First up for me this turn was Urash (big surprise there...). Without his Golgoth he was way too vulnerable so I had him use Reconfiguration to create a low wall next to the Banes and high- tailed it to some cover!

Ron moved his Kaptars next, moving them closer to the Incubus. Openning fire with the ZZ-cannons, he was able to disable its legs and damage the frame but the weapons remained unscathed.

The Hekat then rushed forward and attacked the lead Easy Trike. At this point, they were the only things on this side of the board that could damage the Hekat and I was eager to removed that threat. There was a flurry of grim scythes as it attacked but I was only able to do one point of damage! Rolling for damage, I was lucky enough to hit one of the jammers but this still left them as a formidible threat.

Moving next, the Trikes flew over toward the center of the board and opened fire on the Hekat. I expected the worst but in a stroke of sheer luck they only managed to score two points of damage, one to the legs and the other to the frame!

The Incubus was next. First I repaired a point of damage that it had take to the frame and then used the nucleus cannons to snipe the two heavy weapon troops in the Kaptar unit.

Since Ron My Banes were next and they let loose a storm of nanomuntions at the two Trikes. The shots ripped into the Trikes, destroying the rest of their weapons and damaging the engines one of them.

This ended the second turn with the Karmans now at 10 VPs and I only had 4 VPs. Needless to say I was getting a little concerned at this point but at least I was able to keep his reinforcements off the board.

Ron won the Authority check for turn three and started things out by moving his Wendigos forward to deal with the Bane Goliaths and Urash. Opening fire with the grenade launchers, he was easily able to ground both units but luckily (for me at least) no one was hurt. Then the rest of the unit opened fire on Urash.

This is how many cover saves that I would have to make for Urash to survive...

You can imagine how well that turned out.

My Bane Goliaths stood up next. Yay. (I really don't like indirect weapons...)

The Easy Trikes went next and they quickly moved to the other side of the table behind the unit of Kaptars in the hopes that the one and only mechanic could repair at least one of the weapons.

After this Ron moved Cornelius up to take control of the nanogenerator located in the middle of the board.

The Hekat went next and I have to say that this was one of two really silly mistakes that I made during the game. Instead of simply having the Hekat walk over the whole unit, definitely killing both heavy weapon troops and probably killing some more to boot before I even attack in close combat, I walked around the unit so that I could get to the medic and one of the heavies. What was I thinking?!?!? Grrr...

After all of this, I only managed to kill the medic and made a drastic mistake that would come back to haunt me.

Ron charged his remaining Kaptars forward to engage the Incubus in close combat. For most troops this would be a futile attack, but with their power grips there was a chance that they could do some damage to the Golgoth. Luckily for me only two of the unit could engage me and they both failed to damage my walker.

To end the turn, my Incubus charged forward through the Kaptar unit, killing two troops, and then opened fire on the nanogenerator that Cornelius was trying to secure, easily destroying it and denying Ron those RPs.

This brought turn three to a close and had the Karmans at 15 VPs while the Therians only had 6 VPs. At this point my only hope was to eliminate his remaining infantry to keep him from getting those last five points.

Ron won the Authority check for turn four easily and activated his Wendigos first, which is when my mistake from before came back to haunt me. Opening fire on the Bane Goliaths with the grenade launchers, Ron was able to roll four hits, meaning that each Bane would have to make two damage tests. Considering the low power of the grenades and the fairly heavy armor on the Banes, we were all surprised when he killed not one but two of the Banes!

After that, the Wendigos moved forward and the rest of the unit opened fire on the last remaining Bane, easily destroying it. If only I had just moved the Hekat through them instead of going around them... Ah well, you live and learn.

The Banes were next in my activation sequence, but with my LPs being at a premium now I decided to simply skip my turn rather then spend them needlessly.

Cornelius moved next, getting behind one of the containers and out of the line of sight with the Incubus, which was activated next.

Opening fire on the last remaining nanogenerator, I easily destroyed it and then moved through the Kaptar unit again to try to kill as many as I could. This part of the plan did not work very well as I only managed to take out one of the Kaptars. This was the second major mistake that I made. I should have just focused on destroying the Kaptars instead of shooting at the nanogenerator, though with the dice falling as they did I still would have left one Kaptar on the board which would have been enough to control the access.

After I did this, the Kaptars charged the Incubus again but were still not able to do any major damage.

On the opposite side of the board, I charged the Hekat through the Wendigos killing both of the grenade launchers and another troop and then I killed a fourth one in close combat. Even so, it was not enough to keep the Karmans from winning the day.

All and all, it was a great game! There were several times when we were playing that it really looked like things could go either way, though in the end there were simply too many targets for my Golgoths to handle and no where near enough infantry on my side to hold the objectives.

That is all for today, but be sure to come back soon as we have another game tomorrow! This time it will be the third scenario, Holding the Production Line, and I am hoping to use the upgrade rules for nucleus cannons. Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! Plus you will be able to see my new and improved scratch built hyperlink antenna. So until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

At-43 Upcoming Releases: Operation Frostbite, Cobra M8 and Nina Zero

Hey everyone,

Rackham just released some new information about Operation: Frostbite in their latest newsletter.

"Élysée… an orb of ice swept by raging winds and covered in slow crawling glaciers. Its temperate zone is a tundra where even survival is an accomplishment. A few sheltered valleys, kept warm by hot springs or some other climatic quirk, have harbored the Karman settlers who came to study an indigenous species apparently related to theirs.

However, here where life seems barely possible, Red Blok mining excavations have spread like a plague, leaving the ice scarred and blackened with slag. Collectivist industry is in urgent need of elysium, an ore that can only be found on this planet, and the mines clawing at the crystal seams survive the best they can since the beginning of the war.

The planet´s ice fields lie in the shadow of the Therian doomsday devices, shut inside their gigantic fortresses and abandoned by their masters. To those turning their gaze to the poles, these buildings are a blank tombstone on which the stone carver has yet to chisel the name of the deceased. Yet everybody knows the name it will bear: Élysée."

In addition, they also released a PDF excerpt from the campaign book that you can find here. Really good information there, including a history of the planet explaining why the four races are fighting over this big chuck of ice and some info about new units for each factions. Can you say new vehicles and troop transports?

In addition to this, Rackham also released pictures of the Cobra M8 for the UNA and Nina Zero with her Golgoth, Babylon Zero. Here are the pictures with the respective blurbs.

"The Cobra M8 is the latest version of the Defender Snake, designed to improve on the versatility of this assault strider. Equipped with an advanced tracking system capable of following several targets at once, this strider mounts a medium laser cannon and a medium missile launcher.

This makes it the ideal support machine for infantry units and recon striders alike. The targets it does not destroy the first time become easy pickings for the troops accompanying it. Its missile launcher is perfect for destroying armored fighting vehicles, while its laser cannon is a nightmare for enemy battlesuits."

"Nina Zero is an officer and a hero for the Therian army. She comes on foot and aboard her combat strider Babylon Zero. As a soldier, Nina Zero can become the officer of any bane goliath unit. Aboard her armored fighting vehicle, she is a unit of her own. Overseer Nina Zero has her own routine, "Zero Fire", which allows her to benefit from sniper rule even when she moves. Her armored fighting vehicle is equipped with a pair of medium nucleus cannons 2.0, an tweaked version with increased rate of fire! On top of that, this exceptional overseer can recruit a Red Blok unit into her company. The special rules of Nina Zero are detailed in AT–43 Campaign: Frostbite."

Well, that is all for now but be sure to check back soon for the Fire In The Hole! battle report and more. Until then, may all your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Battle Report coming soon!

Hey everyone,

I know that I said that I would be posting a battle report and it is still coming, just slightly delayed. Between thinking that I lost half of the pictures, finding the pictures, thinking that my computer had might be jacked up and the couple of hours that it took to get it working smoothly again... Well, let's just say that I have been a little busy.

But have no fear! I will have the report on the Fire In The Hole! scenario posted within the next few days, featuring Venerable Cornelius vs. Sigma Urash. Who will win this intense battle? You'll have to come back to find out but until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Upcoming Releases: the Red Blok missile lock

Hey everyone,

Rackham has just released a picture of the Hussar for the Red Blok. Here it is in all its Frostbite glory.

Equipped with a rocket launcher and the only missile launcher that the Red Blok fields, this vehicle has the ability to pack some punch. Sure the Kossak with its dual rocket launchers can potentially inflict more damage in one turn, but with the missile launcher the Hussar has the potential to reach out and touch someone from a much greater distance.

As for the paint scheme I am sure that there will be people who complain about this not being in the "traditional" red (in fact people already are). I can understand what they are saying but personally I still think that this is a very nice looking miniature.

So when will it be available? Rumor has it that the Hussar with come out in August but unfortunately this is not official. Don't worry though, as soon as I hear something concrete I'll be sure to pass it on!

That's all for now but there should be at least one battle report coming very soon! Yay!!! So until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Upcoming Releases: the Red Blok hot foot!

Hey everyone,

Rackham just released pictures of the upcoming Molot type I combat strider for AT-43. For anyone who doesn't know, this walker is armed with two flamers so even those units that are hiding in their bunkers won't be safe anymore. The other interesting thing about it is the paint scheme...

This will be the first of the army book units that will be released in the new camo pattern. Personally I think that the paint job still looks great and I like the irony of it (see the big metal thing that is painted like a snow ball and spews fire? what's not to love!) but I imagine that some people are going to have issues with it. At this time, Rackham has not said anything about making it available in the original pattern but from what I have heard all of the armies will be switching over to the new paint scheme once Frostbite rolls around. Not that this bothers me too much though as the Therian idea of winter camo is red.

Now the big question is when does it come out! Well, Rackham has not put any official release dates on their upcoming minis (rather smart in my opinion as posting release dates only seems cause trouble) but it is listed as being in the same wave as Operation: Frostbite which Rackham has said will be released in time for GenCon which is in August (yes, I admit that I actually had to look that up...).

That's all for now but until next time, may all of you dice come up Dragons!

DUST News: digging a little deeper with the DUST Sourcebook

Hey everyone,

I finally received my copy of the DUST Sourcebook! Yay!!! So what does this fine tome contain? Well, it gives you some background for each of the factions and also includes some information about the walkers (called Tactical Armors in the book) and infantry units that you find in the world of DUST.

Overall, it is an interesting read but the information is pretty limited unfortunately. Still, I was able to identify the minis that were at GAMA with a little more detail. So, without further ado, lets get into some DUST shall we?

First up is what appears to be the M45 walker, aka Mickey the Frog. This appears to be the standard version of the walker, though the main barrel is different from the picture (it is a much shorter barrel there). From the fluff, this is the main workhorse of the Allied warmachines.

This appears to be a the amphibious version of the M45 (note the barrels mounted on either side of the chassis), but the main weapon is different. The sourcebook descibes it as mounting the same 75mm howitzer as the standard unit but it looks more like a machine gun to me.

The final version of the M45 described in the sourcebook is the "Barking Dog" assault model. This version is supposed to mount six external recoiless guns on an external turret mount. This miniature has different equipment though (looks kind of like they are rockets) so it might actually be a different version of the M45.

As for the Axis walker, it appears to be the Luther, though again the weapons are slightly different. In the sourcebook it is described as having a 3.7cm autocannon but that is all. The other hand is a giant pincher, while the miniature appears to have some kind of rocket launcher instead.


Digging around the DUST game website, I found a rendered image of this mini which is labeled as the Luther C2 while the sourcebook appears to list the one pictured as the B version. Either way, it looks great!

There is some more information in the sourcebook (character histories and troop types) but I'll save that for another day. I have also heard a rumor that Paolo himself might be in town in a few months so I am definitely going to try to corner him and ask him a few questions about the game and the minis.

That's all for now but until next time, may all of your dice come up Dragons!

AT-43 Upcoming releases: more information about Operation Frostbite and the Cogs

Hey everyone,

Rackham has released more information about what exactly Operation: Frostbite will contain. You may remember in an earlier post that Rackham had said that there would be a "crystal base" and a "large crystal base". Turns out they were being quite literal in the description!

This is the crystal base...

And the large crystal base...

There will also be Civil engineers included in the set. Early speculation about these minis was that they might be characters from the upcoming novel set in the AT-43 universe, but it turns out that they will just be your average Avan trying to make a living on a freezing, ice ball of a planet. Not bad miniatures and they will be an interesting addition to the line, though as a Therian player they don't really do much for me in the game. Could be a interesting scenario though, "Save the Scientists" kind of thing. There is no word as to how many will come in the set, but here are the three that they have released pictures for.

Not quite sure what is up with the third one as he looks kind of like he has a hair dryer with a portable power source. Seems kind of odd to me, but that's Avans for you.

In addition to the miniatures, Operation: Frostbite will also include another story based campaign composed of 37 missions (now that's a lot of missions!), new neutral units (those pictured above plus the MedTec units), new combat drills, troop transport rules (sounds like we can expect some new vehicles in the future), support units rules (finally! yay!), and new units for all four factions. All in all, it sounds like it will be a great addition to the game. Oh, and there will some reversible. outdoor terrain tiles included as well, though I have heard a rumor that the terrain rules are still going to be very limited.

Rackham also released some WIP pictures of the new Cog minis, but unfortunately they really are WIP pictures. Here is one to give you an idea what I mean.

They do look cool, at least from what you can see of the details, but we will have to wait a few more weeks until we get some really good pictures of them.

Well, that's all for now but there will be more soon! After playing on the small boards for AT-43, I decided to make one for Warmachine. Pretty basic overall, but I really like how it is turning out. More on that soon. Until then, may all your dice come up Dragons!