Xenos Rampant: Fighting Retreat

Scenario Golf for Xenos Rampant

It happened again: we played Xenos Rampant: Scenario Golf “Fighting Retreat”. After our last mission, the Imperial Commonwealth fought the Star Alliance on a lost trade outpost called Golbazar, a moon in the Astara system. Last Thursday we played another game of Xenos Rampant. The Star Alliance was trying to gain access to a small, but strategically relevant communication relay on LV205, another inconspicuous planet in the Astara system. They were however surprised by a detachment of the Imperial Commonwealth. And this time they brought the heavy guns: a walking tank!

There was only the option of retreat for the Star Alliance. Fighting will be done another day if possible.

But something jammed their communication systems when receiving orders. They shouldn’t have messed with this damn com-relay in the first place…

Fighting Retreat

The Star Alliance rolled Defender, the Imperial Commonwealth Attacker. Star Alliance’s mission was to flee from the center of the battlefield an gain points for every unit brought o safety. The Imperial Commonwealth was of course trying to avoid this from happening, earning points for every enemy unit destroyed .

Deployment

Star Alliance set up at the center of the table, the imperial Commonwealth on a long edge.

Xenos Rampant: Fighting Retreat

Wrong orders

The start of the battle didn’t exactly go as planned. Let me explain: We quickly read the mission brief in the scenario section of the Xenos Rampant rule book and were convinced my Star Alliance detachment had to retreat towards the enemy edge. Even though we thought that was a bold (or rather suicidal) move, we went with it. We would, upon reading the scenario rules a second time, realize wrong orders were issued …

After some rounds and constantly being shot at or charged, we realized, that Star Alliance was heading in the wrong direction. By then, their Fighting vehicle had been destroyed, as well as a unit of light infantry. Another light infantry was battered and unable to fight.

Xenos Rampant: Fighting Retreat

The first unit being attacked was the Star Alliance Fighting vehicle. The imperial Commonwealth combat walker intercept the glider before it could break through enemy lines.

Change of plans

After intercepting the right orders, my Star Alliance detachment decided to escape to the other side of the board. But not without taking revenge on the already damaged walker Mech. My support infantry used their mortar canon and indirect fire combined with a spotter unit to blast the walker’s brains (or circuits boards) out. It did succeed.

Meanwhile, the highly trained units of the Imperial Commonwealth were trying to annihilate the red invaders. David’s troopers were spreading out and slowly encircling the Star Alliance soldiers. But by then, my remaining light infantry units took advantage of their free move actions were already retreating to the (free) edge of the board. Remember that every unit brought to safety is worth 2 victory points.

To safety!

The last rounds consisted of the Imperial Commonwealth chasing the remaining Star Alliance units. My last units to remain were my Elite infantry and their commander as well as my (slow) support infantry and their mortar canon. By that time, David’s troopers were already at the same height as my two remaining units on the board.

All my light infantry units were off the table at the end.

After 7 rounds the game was over.

Xenos Rampant: Fighting Retreat

Odds changed drastically during this game. With wrong orders, my units were doomed to fail. With the correct orders, it became extremely difficult for David’s detachment. Me winning in the end, was due to lots of cheap light and freely moving infantry units, earning me 2 points each for getting them to safety and only giving 1 point to David for each exterminated unit, since their point cost is terribly low.

Ending Xenos Rampant: Fighting Retreat

Imperial Commonwealth (Player: David)Star Alliance trade corp. (Player: Eric)
Victory points: 6Victory points: 12
Career points: 1Career points: 3

This ends another Xenos Rampant game on Golbazar.

Leave a Reply