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. 

I hope you’ve been enjoying these articles so far. Let’s continue with the conflict in  Location 3: Terraforming Environmental Studies Campus  in the city of Bhai

If there’s one location on Concilium Prima where Haqqislamite culture is predominant, it’s Bhai. This isn’t due only to its architecture, but also to the fact that most of its residents are of Haqqislamite descent, even if they have Conciliar citizenship. The Terraforming Environmental Studies Campus is largely the reason behind it. Created to monitor the unstable tectonics of the neighboring Choola region, it has become key to the safety of Concilium Prima, as it now also keeps track of the Quantum Anomaly Zone that is affecting the planet’s mantle and crust in this area. Adding to their challenging tasks, the campus experts must work together with the engineers of the Ur Hegemony to minimize any possible adverse impacts.. 

Faction Goals and Starting Influence

The Terraforming Research center is heavily supported by Haqqislam who have a large number of their citizens both working there and living in the surrounding city. 

This area is the location of the Quantum Anomaly Zone in which the central T’zechi Digester is located, making it a priority target for the Combined Army. 

Haqqislam starts with the advantage in this area, Combined Army 2nd and all other factions 3rd 

Mission Overview 

The mission for this zone  is “Cutthroat”  a Direct Action Mission Page 16 of the Phase 1 PDF.

This is an aggressive mission where the goal is to kill as much of the opponent’s army as possible. Since it’s a DIRECT ACTION MISSION there’s no HVT or Classified Deck so you can concentrate on killing. 

The scoring for this mission is based on killing your opponents units, targeting their Lieutenants and making use of your special Key-Ops unit.    

• There are 3 Objective Points available for killing more Army Points than your opponent.
• There are 3 Objective Points available for killing more of the opponents Lieutenants. 
  • If you and your opponent both kill the same number of Lieutenants (but at least 1)  you both gain 2 Objective Points.
• There is 1 Objective Point available for killing the opponent’s Key Ops
• There are 3 Objective Points available If you Kill more of the opponents Troopers with your Key Ops than they do with theirs.

To get maximum Objective Points in the mission you will have to:

• Kill more of the opponents army points than you lose to them.
• Kill more of their Lieutenants than you lose.  
• Have your Key-Ops unit kill more of their army than theri Key-Ops does of yours.
• KIll their Key-Ops unit. 

Players deployment zones are 16 inches instead of 12 so units will be able to get into action but also be in danger a lot sooner. 

In addition there’s no retreat condition either so prepare for glorious last stands of handfuls of units.

The identity of your Lieutenant in this mission is open information meaning you must reveal to your opponent who your Lieutenant is at all times. This is important as you will gain a lot of objective points by going after the opponent’s Lieutenants. 

• That’s Lieutenants plural because as soon as you start a turn with your Lieutenant in a null state you elect a new one immediately so no turns of Loss of Lieutenant in this mission.
• If your Lieutenant is in a Marker state (Camouflaged, Decoy, ect…) you must indicate which Marker is the Lieutenant or which Markers are the Lieutenant in the case of a skil like Holoprojector.
• A Lieutenant is considered Killed if they were a Lieutenant at any time during the game, and they either enter Dead State or are in a Null State at the end of the game.

Each player will have a Key Ops unit who not only gets Dodge (+3) and a Tactical Awareness Order but also gives extra points if they kill more units than your opponent’s Key Ops. 

• However if you lose your Key Ops unit it’s a free objective point for your opponent so be careful with them.
• Can’t be an Irregular troop, a Remote or a unit that goes into any kind of marker state. 

General Mission Tips

• Keeping your Lieutenant safe is key in this mission, you won’t be able to hide them amongst your line troops nor will you be able to have them disguised with Holomask or hidden as a Camo Marker or Holoecho.
• You can choose a tough Lieutenant who can defend themselves, is hard to take down or one who will deter the opponent from going after them.
  • Examples would be an Aquila Guard, Dàofei, Mormaer or Gamma unit who are rock solid Heavy Infantry. 
  • Yevgueni Voronin and Daemonist Observant also make good Lieutenant’s who can stay hidden from Line of Fire and use their Guard Skill to deter anyone who comes to take them out in Close Combat.
  • TAG’s also make good Lieutenants if the profile is available since an Engineer placed close by can heal them before they reach a Null state, unlike units with Wounds who need to be in a Null state to be healed.     
• Use this opportunity to take the “Obvious Lieutenant” units who you would normally avoid because you can’t hide them amongst your troops but who bring something extra to the army.
  • Hector with his Strategos L1 and +1 Lieutenant order which gives you 3 Regular Orders.
  • Sun Tze with his even better Strategos L2 and +1 Command Token which in this ITS Season can be changed into a Regular Order.
  • Casssandra Kusanagi for the +1 SWC to your army.
  • Or even the Taqeul who can have either +1 Lieutenant order or +1 Command Token, comes with Pheroware Skills to protect himself and has Regeneration (if they ever release a mini for it *sad pheromones*)
• On the other hand, taking out the opponent’s Lieutenant quickly and efficiently requires units who can get to them quickly and hit hard.
  • Impersonators like Hassassin Fiday’s, Kiiutan Imposter’s &  Speculo Killer’s are the obvious choices but we’ll get to them in a bit. 
  • Parachutist units that can enter from the opponents deployment zone can score quick Lieutenant kills; Van Zant, Equipe Mirage-5, Rasyat’s and Carlota Kowalsky are some of the units who can do this.
  • Any infiltrating Killer Hackers can use Cybermask to go into an Impersonation state to bypass defending units.
  • Units with Grenade Launchers can also use Speculative Fire to try and hit a hidden Lieutenant  from a distance.
  • Or you could always just Combat Drop a Caskuda on them and see what happens…
• The choice of Key-Ops unit is crucial and it’s best to pick either one of your tough troops who would benefit from the extra order and Dodge bonus to act aggressively, or a sniper unit who can hang back and pick off targets at range, ideally with a nearby medic to keep them alive at the end of the game. 
  • Someone like Hippolyta makes an excellent Key-Ops as she is very mobile with Super Jump and 6-2 MOV, is hard to hit due to her Mimetism -6 and will Dodge 3 Inches on 17’s hopefully where she can Beserk into Close Combat with her Explosive Close Combat weapon. 
  • A Key-Ops Bolt Sniper in a 5 man team can pick off targets at a base BS 19 when in optimal range with their MSV 1 and Marksmanship, while the extra Tactical Awareness order just means one more shot to take. 
  • Find someone in your army who is a certified badass and make them the Key-Ops to increase their effectiveness.  

Special Campaign Rules 

There are two special Campaign Rules for this mission OPEN RANGE and SYMBIOCUIRASS

OPEN RANGE means that  the -6 Range MOD of any BS Weapon, piece of Equipment or Special Skill automatically becomes a -3 Range MOD.

• The average Combi Rifle just became a lot more deadly! In fact all weapons that use the same base Combi Rifle ranges are now more effective, that includes Plasma Rifles for Combined army and Viral Rifles for Haqqislam.
• Assault Pistols are now a force to be reckoned with especially for anyone with +1B on them. 
• Light Rocket Launchers, Adhesive Launchers, Mine Dispensers, Grenade Launchers and Spitfires also gain a little boost from this rule.
• The big winner however are Pitchers who’s huge -6 rangeband now becomes a -3 band all the way from 16 inches to 48 inches. Nomad Players and anyone with access to multiple pitchers will make the most of their ability to threaten a huge area with hacking now in Line of Fire and with Speculative Fire. 

SYMBIOCUIRASS Before each Game Round starts, both players must make a Saving Roll against BTS with Damage 12 for each Trooper whose Unit Profile has a Wounds Attribute value lower than 2 Unit Profile. If the roll is failed, that Trooper is affected, applying a PH-1 and ARM+2 MOD until the end of the game, and does not need to roll again.

• WERE ALL TOHAA NOW!
• Ok so those light units with Combi Rifles have a good chance of going from ARM 1 to ARM 3 for free and since it happens at the start of EACH ROUND INCLUDING THE FIRST they can potentially start the game that way! That’s for both the Active and Reactive player.
• A -1 to Physical isn’t a bad tradeoff for +2 ARM and it will only affect those light meatsack units, not Heavy Infantry who typically have 2 Wounds or Remotes who use STR instead. 
•  Many many light units will benefit here.
• However, here’s the kicker for this Special Rule. Because affected units need to make a BTS save, this saving roll will cancel any Camouflage, Impersonation, Holomask or other Marker State that would normally be canceled by having to make a saving roll.  
  • While it is entirely possible to re-enter the marker stats on your active turn, should you meet the conditions, the level of security provided by being in Marker states at the start of a turn is gone in this mission.
  • Keep this in mind when building a list for this mission and also if deploying units like Camouflaged Infiltrators or Impersonators especially.
• The only Camouflaged state that isn’t affected by this Special Rule is the Hidden Deployment state since units in this state are not present on the table to make the roll. They’re just hidden that well.

Faction Focus

Let’s take a look at the Haqqislam and Combined Army units who can be the most effective in this campaign mission 

Haqqislam

If you’re playing Haqqislam then you know you can take Hassassin Fiday’s, they do exactly what you expect by “Hassassinating” the opponents Lieutenant. They are a little squishy so don’t expect them to survive too long after they do their jobs but few other units do the job better. You can take  2 of them in Hassassin Bahram and their character unit Hussein al-Djabel who is somehow even more lethal.  

• However keep in mind the effect of SYMBIOCUIRASS which will mean Fiday’s will lose their Impersonation Marker states before the turn begins. 
• Provided you are going first place your Hassassin’s somewhere in total cover and out of Line of Sight so that they can reapply their Impersonation state straight away. 
• If you are in the unfortunate position of going second then follow the advice above but use your Hassassin’s as a threatening speed bump for your opponent. If they survive until your turn you can start Hassassinating as needed.  

Tarik Mansuri makes a good Lieutenant for this mission as he brings +1 Regular Order, +1 SWC, is immune to both Criticals & Shock, has Natural Born Warrior to deter Close Combat units and has BS +2 Damage with an AP Rifle & Light Shotgun if he needs to kill anyone. 

If you thought a Key-Ops Bolt Sniper was bad, how about a Hassassin Lasiqs with Viral Sniper Rifle in a 4 man Fireteam, with  DAM 16 and able to hit units out of cover with BS 16? Every unit in this Fireteam can have a Viral weapon, they keep Ariadna players from sleeping at night. 

A Hassassin Barid Killer Hacker has access to Pitchers and Trinity (-3), applied to the opponents roll remember, for 15 points meaning they can reliably eliminate opponents hackers in this mission at range. Take 2 if going up against Nomads or ALEPH.    

Haqqislam has a vast amount of light units with 1 wound and low BTS, they might have the most units who will benefit from the SYMBIOCUIRASS rule outside of Arianda.

• ARM 3 Hassassin Fidays, Ghazis with Armor, the Nazarova Twins with ARM 3 why not?
• Big standout units are Djanbazan’s who can be ARM 5 and will still regenerate on 13’s making them very hard to put down indeed. 
• To a lesser extent Zhayedan will do the same on ARM 4 but the ability to pass the regeneration roll drops to 10. 
• Odalisques who can be ARM 4 and keep their NWI and 360 visors.
• Hafza’s also go to ARM 4 making them more survivable 
• Honorable mention to Druze and Kaplans who will both benefit from this rule. 
• Finally the venerable Janissaries now get to be proper ARM5 Heavy Infantry!  

Combined Army

Haqqislam may have the Hassassin Fiday but the Combined Army has the Speculo Killer who is arguably even more effective. The combination of Smoke Grenades, a Boarding Shotgun and a Monofilament Close Combat weapon mean they are a universal threat to all units from line troopers to TAGs. Shasvastii can take two of them and have access to a profile which has Minelayer which is just unfair on many levels.

• Don’t forget about the Greif Operator who has an Impersonation option but just isn’t quite as good as the Speculo, no harm in taking one for this mission though.
• The same effects of SYMBIOCUIRASS  that apply to the Hassassin Fiday also apply to your impersonators, so choose your deployment spots carefully and be prepared to potentially lose them early in the game

The Avatar is the most obvious of obvious Lieutenant’s but has the notability of being absolutely terrifying to face on the table.  Beyond being WIP 17, having ARM 9, BTS 9 and 3 STR it’s got +1 Order & +1 Command Token, Strategos L2, Mimetism -6 a host of other abilities and is armed with a Multi HMG & a Sepsitor Plus which is a weapon you never forget your first time using or for that matter experiencing. You nearly need to build your list around it given its huge points and SWC cost but few units in the game cause the sheer amount of raw intimidation as the Avatar for an opponent.   

Combined Army have access to lots of Plasma Rifles and Plasma Carbines even on their cheap Unidrons who will benefit from the OPEN RANGE rule. Bit & Kiss have access to Pitchers to extend the range of your scary hacking units like the Charontid or Anathematic both of whom have Plasma Rifles and make ideal Key-Ops in this mission. 

The Combined Army aren’t as well known for their light units as Haqqislam but there are still a few standout units who would benefit from the SYMBIOCUIRASS rule.

• Morats get access to Kyosot Killing units who can get bumped to ARM 5 as long as their BTS of 6 fails at least once and that unit has T2 ammo on all their BS weapons 
• Ko-Dalli can get a nice bump to ARM 4 and will still combat jump with her initial PH of 13 as the SYMBIOCUIRASS will happen after they hit the table. This also applies to other AD troops like Fraactas and Rasyats who might become a bit more survivable when they drop in the opponent’s deployment zone.
• What’s more annoying than Taighas, Gakis,  and Pretas, those same disposable units with ARM 2! 
• The big winners here are the Yaogats who can all easily get to ARM 5 which makes taking a Fireteam of these units who all have MSV2 very attractive.
• Shasvastii units who generally have low ARM will benefit as will any of the Umbra units like Nourkias who will only get nastier with more armor.

That’s all for now, I hope you’ve enjoyed this (lengthy) mission briefing, 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.