Shattergrounds

Welcome back to our series of articles where we break down the contested locations and their accompanying missions for Phase 1 of the Shattergrounds Campaign. 

Let’s continue with the conflict in the Tai Sui Facilities in the Huaqiao region.

Tai Sui, the deity whose sixty incarnations represent time in Chinese mythology, lends its name to the facilities that house the Master Clock, a powerful quantronic clock that provides the official time of the New Calendar (NCT). This is used for navigation in space, which is very important but it is also the time reference for Aristeia! broadcasts, which is even more crucial!

Faction Goals and Starting Influence

Yu-Jing are heavily invested in the energy research being conducted by Bureau Agni and many of their citizens are research staff in the local facilities.

JSA are focused on protecting a small population of ethnic Japanese citizens in the area known as Gubei or “Little Kyoto” whose existence predates the Japanese independence Uprising.

Yu-Jing starts with the advantage in this area with JSA 2nd and all other factions 3rd.

Mission Overview 

The mission for this area is Cryogenics on Page 13 of the Phase 1 PDF.

This is a mission from last season’s ITS 14 PDF which is similar to the classic Supremacy mission but with a few noticeable differences for the Shattergrounds Campaign.

The scoring for this mission is all based on the status of the Quadrants and Tech-Coffins 

• 3 Objective Points each for controlling a Quadrant that has the revealed HVT in it at the end of the game.
• 3 Objective Points to have activated at least two of the Tech-Coffins on the table.
• There is one Classified Objective worth 1 Objective Point available to each player.
• There are also alternative Objective Points available at the end of the game if you have not dominated a Quadrant containing a HVT.
  • 1 Objective Point each if you are Threatening a HVT with one of your units

To score a full 10 points in this mission you will have to

• Open at least 2 Tech-Coffins during the game (and hopefully have found the HVT’s)
• Dominate the Quadrant(s) that have both of the HVT’s in them at the end of the game.
• Get the Classified Objective 

The two HVT’s, both yours and your opponents, start the game hidden inside two of 4 Tech-Coffins which are in the center of each quadrant. 

• When a specialist unit passes a WIP roll to Activate a Tech-Coffin they roll a D20 to see if a HVT is within. It’s an initial 60-40 percentage chance to get an empty coffin to one with a HVT in it .
• The process of elimination means that once two “Empty” rolls are made the remaining coffin(s) must contain the HVT.
• Doctors and Paramedics get a +3 WIP bonus to Activate the Tech-Coffins and also get to make two rolls instead of one so they are your most valuable specialists in this mission. 
• To Threaten a HVT  a player must have at least one Trooper (as a Model, but not as a Marker) in a non-Null state inside the HVT’s Zone of Control.
  • Don’t forget that you can Threaten your own HVT in this mission.  

The mission features four Quadrants that are evenly spaced to divide up the area between the two Deployment Zones. 

• To Dominate a Quadrant you must have more Victory Points than the opponent inside the area. 
• These Quadrants cannot be measured before the end of each game round.
• Only Troopers represented by Models or Markers (Camouflaged, Shasvastii-Embryo,Seed-Embryo…) count, as well as Proxies and Peripheral Troops.
• Troops in a Null State do not count.
• Units with the Baggage Skill give an extra 20 points on top of their normal points cost when dominating a Quadrant.. 
• Troopers possessing the Shasvastii Special Skill that are inside a Quadrant count for their points while they are in the Shasvastii-Embryo State or any non-Null State

Each player gets a Defensive F-13 turret to place in their deployment zone for free at the start of their deployment

• It’s basically a free Total Reaction Remote armed with a Combi-Rifle that can’t move. Use it to guard a board edge.

General Mission Tips

• This mission is very similar to Superiority, the mission discussed in the previous Mission Briefing, so most of these tips will be familiar.  
• Activating two Tech-Coffins should be your first priority, as soon as you’ve achieved that you’ll have claimed 3 valuable Objective Points that can’t be taken away. 
• You don’t have to go after more than two Tech-Coffins unless you want to ensure you reveal a HVT early in the game or you want to deny your opponent 3 Objective Points.
• It’s very hard to Score for Quadrants in the first round unless you go second and can take at least one Quadrant from the opponent.  Usually it ends up that both you and your opponent control the two quadrants on your respective halves of the table.
• Infiltrating Camo units, Combat Jump Units and Parachutists are great for taking Quadrants at the last minute from an opponent and if they are Specialist Troops they can Activate a Tech-Coffin as well. 
  • Hellcat Paramedics, Hassassin Bokhtar Doctors and Gao-Tarsos Paramedics are all great Combat Jump Specialist Troops for this mission. 
• Likewise a unit in hidden deployment, preferably infiltrated, can reveal at the end of a round to take a quadrant by surprise.
• Bringing multiple baggage units to secure the quadrants on your half of the table is a good idea.
• The often overlooked CaseVac skill (ITS 15 PDF,  Page 10 ) can be of use in this mission to grab your HVT once revealed and move them away from the opponent to a position of safety. 
• This is a good mission for the Reinforcements mod as both players can build high points Reinforcements groups to secure the two quadrants on their half of the table on the 2nd or 3rd turn. 
• This frees up more of the initially deployed non-reinforcement units to concentrate on taking the two quadrants on the opponent’s half of the table or threatening the opponents HVT in a Quadrant you don’t think you can dominate.
• As with most missions with end of game scoring, this is a good mission for the Reinforcements mod as both players can build high points Reinforcements groups to secure the two quadrants on their half of the table on the 2nd or 3rd turn. 
• Bringing in Reinforcements to threaten HVT’s is also a good idea as you should be able to place a great many of them in the HVT’s Zone Of Control with the Reinforcement deployment rule.

Special Campaign Rules 

The Campaign Special Rules are DEPOT, ARMORED REINFORCEMENTS and KEEP ON TRUCKIN. 

DEPOT means that any trooper possessing the Engineer Special Skill (or any of its variants) apply a +3 WIP MOD Attribute value when declaring this Special Skill. In the same way, in this scenario, the GizmoKits apply an extra +3 PH MOD to their target. This MOD is cumulative with any other MODs

• Engineers have all the parts they need now! A +3 mod to WIP generally means a roll of 17 or 18 most of the time to fix any units with STR and that covers Remotes, TAG’s and some special units like Eudoros or Karakuri as well as the F-13 turret in this scenario. 
• Remember this can be done through Peripheral Servant bots as well.
• The +3 MOD for GizmoKits works for all units with STR including TAG’s in this mission; however you’ll still have to start with the PH value listed in brackets for the GizmoKits in the TAGS profile.
• However some remotes and special units will really benefit from this bonus. Eudoros and Rindaks will heal on 16s and the Su-Jain on a 17! 

ARMORED REINFORCEMENTS means all TAGs have a SWC value of 0.5, regardless of the value shown in their Unit Profile.

• Time to bring all the TAG’s!
• PanO, Combined Army and Nomad Players will love this given their access to many high SWC cost TAG units. A Cutter, Salamandra, Johutm or Avatar for 0.5 SWC, YES PLEASE.
• Don’t forget that most armies have access to mercenary Triphammers as well though there are a few TAG profiles that go from 0 SWC to 0.5 SWC with this rule so keep that in mind.
• Bringing multiple expensive TAGs is more economical than you’d imagine as though TAG’s are still expensive they come with additional Tactical Awareness orders to offset the cost. 
• Also consider that in some Sectorials you can take multiple large S7 and smaller cheaper S6 TAGS and link them together.
  • Shock Army of Acontecimento can take a Duo of Tikbalang’s, Onyx Contact Force can take a Duo of Overdron Batroids and Ramah Taskforce can take the truly bonkers Duo of Maghariba Guard’s

KEEP ON TRUCKIN gives each player a free Monstrucker unit for their army without having to pay its cost of SWC and it doesn’t count for the order cap.

• Monstruckers are flat out amazing units. People who can take them in their factions  generally already do.
• They are decent Engineers with WIP 13 and Climbing Plus meaning that they can fix those Total Reaction Remotes up on top of buildings. 
• Even better in this mission they will benefit from the +3 Mod to their Engineering rolls.
• Their 3 profiles are all useful with generally some access to a template weapon and your choice of E/M grenades & Adhesive launcher, Drop Bears and an SMG or the Akrylat-Kanone, Rifle & D-Charges who also has 360 visor.  
• All three profiles are excellent and it really comes down to individual taste and if they’ll act offensively or defensively as to which to take.

Faction Focus 

Let’s take a look at the Yu-Jing and JSA units who can be the most effective in this campaign mission 

Yu-Jing

Yu-Jing have the always solid Tiger Soldiers and now the Liu Xing Combat Jump units to help them seize quadrants, the latter of which will land with an explosion that can break up a troublesome link team. High value and tough Heavy Infantry like the Hac Tao, Hsien or Camouflaged & Infiltrating Dàofěi are great for putting lots of points in Quadrants quickly.  

To make the most of the Special Campaign Rules consider the following units 

• Krit Kokram provides a WIP 14 Engineer with ARM 3 and a bunch of useful skills such as NCO and  Minelayer profile.
• Chief Mech-Engineer Chung-Hee Jeong is also a WIP 14 Engineer whos +1 Damage to all his BS weapons really shines when he has access to a K1 Combi  or a Light Rocket Launcher.
• Guijia and Blue Wolf TAGs are decent but expensive points wise, however you can take a Duo of  Guijia’s in Invincible Army and a Duo of Blue Wolves in White Banner. 
• Don’t forget about Triphammers though who only cost  57 or 58 Points, bring AP Spitfires and get to make a roll on the Booty chart for unexpected upgrades.
• The standout unit for Yu-Jing is the already terrifying Su-Jian who in this mission can get Gizomokitted back up on 17’s and because they have the extra level of unconscious from Remote Presence, will be a major headache for your opponent unless they expend a lot of orders to put them down.
  • Play Imperial Service, take 3 of them and just watch your opponents face drop. 

JSA 

JSA are known as an army that favors the fast attack. To that end taking fast moving Specialist Troops like Aragoto Biker Hackers will let you Activate two Tech-Coffins very quickly if you get the first turn. Back them up with the Kuroshi Rider and Yojimbo who can both hit hard and fire smoke grenades to cover the advance of the rest of your army. Shikami make excellent Quadrant scoring units given their high mobility and cost as do Oniwaban who can come out of hidden deployment to tip a Quadrant in your favor or eliminate an opponent’s expensive unit like a TAG

To make the most of the Special Campaign Rules consider the following units 

• JSA only has two base Engineer options and the best of them is Yuriko Oda who comes with the benefits of WIP 13,  Mimitism, Minelayer and some decent weapons in the form of  a Panzerfaust or E-Mitter.
• Monstruckers are still your best engineer option here but WIP 16 opens up a range of possibilities that JSA normally lacks .
• You have access to only one TAG profile, however it’s the O-Yoroi, it’s awesome and you get 2 of them.
• A martial Arts TAG with an Explosive CC weapon hitting on 18’s, AP Heavy Machine Guns, Heavy Flamethrowers and CrazyKoalas for anyone dumb enough to get to close. 
• A superb unit and you can take 2 of them for 150 points and 1 SWC, you’ll be able to fix them on 16’s with your Monstrucker. Do it for the novelty value alone!
• With access to decent engineers in this mission, think about leaning into combat remotes like the Ru-Shi and LU-Dan.
• The always great Karakuri now get a bit more survivable  given you’ll have the means to fix them with a WIP 16 Monstrucker should their STR 3 Remote Presence and Total Immunity let them down.      

That’s all for now, can you think of any tactics or unit combinations that will allow you to dominate this mission? Put them in the comments below.

Check in soon for more Shattergrounds Mission Briefings.