Shattergrounds

Captain Hauser was supervising the unloading of the dropships when the alert came in. The fighting on Concilium had been going on for weeks, but his unit had been tied up in a logistical nightmare. Everyone was itching to get in the fight. Looks like they wouldn't need to wait long.

Combined army forces were moving up on Ariadna positions on Okolnir. Hauser grabbed his rifle and gathered a squad. 'It's time to get in the fight!'

The terrain was a little light which limited deployment. A Line Kazak team with a Kazak doctor and a Vet Kazak deployed on the right with a Dynamo. A Ratnik with two Frontovniks in the center with a Wardriver, Irmandinhos and a Traktor Mul on the left, Strelok near the middle of the board.

The Combined Army forces deployed the Charontid in the center with good sightlines on both consoles. The other major threat was the Overdron on the left.

We had initiative but the Charontid covered both consoles. I had to hold the Irmandinhos and Dynamo back or they would have rushed into it's line of fire. This had to be my priority so I ordered the Vet Kazak onto a rooftop to engage the Charontid. It was a tough firefight, but the Charontid had no where to hide and eventually fell to a hail of AP rounds.

With the threat removed the Irmandinhos surged ahead, deploying smoke to cover their advance. Unfortunately the delay from the Charontid meant they were unable to reach the console.

The alien forces counterattacked aggrssively. Multiple enemy engaged our fireteam, but where unable to break the fireteam or wound the Kazak. A Taigha sacrificed itself to stop one of the Irmandinhos while the Overdron eliminated the other.

Our advance had been stalled by the enemy so I needed a break through. I felt like our best option was to force an opening with the Ratnik. He advanced trading shots with the OVerdron eliminating it. This got our Frontovnik close enough to activate a console. Unfortunately, the enemy server was located on the central server, still completely surrounded by the enemy. I called in the Paracommando to try and divert the enemy forces to the right flank.

The alien forces responded with a drop trop of their own. The drop trooper managed to wound Frontovnik Engineer and working with the Umbra also eliminated our Paracommando. The enemy was making it difficult to reach our objective, but they have failed any meaningful advance.

With time and options running out I was forced to take some desperate actions. My only chance was for the Ratnik to reach the server. The Vet Kazak started clearing the path. Then the Ratnik charged. Enemy troopers fell before the armored goliath and we were gaining ground. As our hopes were rising the Umbra Legate managed to score a hit on the Ratnik. With little regard to his own safety our remaining Frontovik drew his assualt pistol and combat knife and charged the Legate. Locking him in hand to hand combat and deftly dodging his blows. As time was nearly up the Ratnik brought his hammer down on the server smashing it to pieces. The remaining enemy forces fled the field.

I recommend that Frontovnik Kozlov be commended for valor.

This was a super close game that came down to the Ratnik landing a hit on the last order of the game.