Sunday 11 February 2018

"Warlord Games" Battle Report: Doctor Who - Battle For A Draconian Desert Moon - Part Two

THE TENTH DOCTOR LEADS AN ARMY OF ZYGONS, SILENTS, JUDOON AND SEA DEVILS
“The story so far… Dalek Sec has landed a Dalek invasion army on one of Draconia's moons. But the Doctor has assembled an army from some of the Earth's mightiest defenders, in order to buy the Draconians. Unfortunately, having landed upon the desert satellite, the Time Lord has discovered that the Skaro mutants are not alone in their ambition to conquer Draconia, and have brought some 'friends' of their own..."

THE TABLETOP - A DRACONIAN DESERT MOON
"Warlord Games" Battle Report: Doctor Who - Battle For A Draconian Desert Moon - Part One

With Dalek Sec's forces pressing ever further west, the Vashta Nerada attacked the Zygons stationed by Objective Two (a destroyed Dalek hulk), and literally ate two of the shape-shifting extra-terrestrials in mere moments. Behind the microscopic beings a group of Cybermen fired at the recently retreated Silence, but to no avail. Disappointingly for the race of cybernetically augmented humanoids, the silver giants near Objective Five (a container of green goop) were equally as unsuccessful when shooting at the close-by Sea Devils.

From his position atop the Badlands Bluff, it was clear to Dalek Sec that his allies were failing in their tasks. The leader of the Cult of Skaro subsequently directed some ineffective covering fire towards the Judoon whilst his two drone units re-positioned themselves to cover Objective Three (an ancient bronze statue of a Draconian Emperor) and Objective Four (a space-radio system).
DALEK SEC WATCHES THE CYBERMEN'S FAILURE, AS THE VASHTA NERADA ATTACK
The fighting around Objective One intensified as the surviving Zygons fought back against the Vashta Nerada and electrocuted enough of the swarm to cause an astronaut suit to crumple to the ground. Sensing electrical discharges might be a solution to the ravenous "dust specks", the Silence moved up behind the refugees from Zygor in support. Sensing the moment was at hand, the Tenth Doctor closed in with the Cybermen just south of the large swamp pool and used his sonic screwdriver to bring down one of the Mondasians.

The Sea Devils and Judoon poured their combined firepower into the Daleks just in front of the Badlands Bluff, and scored three hits. But the drones were all saved by their dalekanium armoured shell-casings [Saving roll of a 5 or 6]. En mass the Zygons in the north continued to battle with the Cybermen and incredibly managed to 'fry the circuits' of three of the silver giants.
THE CYBERMEN BATTLE BOTH ZYGONS AND THE TENTH DOCTOR
With the battle on a knife's edge, and the invaders northern flank seemingly close to buckling, the Tenth Doctor cried out in frustration as the Cyber-centre held fast despite the buzzing of his sonic screwdriver. Momentarily exasperated, "Sandshoes" turned to see his Zygon allies proving far more successful against the Vashta Nerada as another two space-suited skeletons collapsed onto the moon's surface.
THE ZYGONS FIGHT OFF THE LAST OF THE VASHTA NERADA
However, all was not lost for the Time Lord, as the orange multi-suckered aliens to the north swarmed the remaining Cybermen in that area, and stood poised to assail the nearest Dalek unit - if they could only survive the imminent rain of destructor rays... Fortunately, not all the golden drones were focused upon the Zygons though, as the energy blasts belonging to the Sea Devils and Judoon finally destroyed one of the Daleks in front of the Badlands Bluff.

The thousands strong swarm of Vashta Nerada tried to re-inflate their fallen space-suits [At the start of their turn, they must roll a D6 for each missing model. Upon the roll of a 6, that model is returned to the unit], but failed, and additionally struggled to bring down any more Zygons. The story was the same for all of Dalek Sec's forces, with both the Cybermen and entire Dalek firing line all proving successful in their attacks.
DESPITE LOSING IN THE NORTH THE CYBERMEN CAPTURE OBJECTIVE FIVE IN THE SOUTHEAST
As the battle entered its final stage, the Vashta Nerada managed to eat another Zygon, whilst poor Wilfred Mott was brutally chopped down by a Cyberman's hand. One unit of Daleks quickly trundled towards Objective Three, whilst the other fired upon the northern 'horde' of Zygons, and killed one of them. Dalek Sec hovered down to Objective Four to claim four Victory Points for the glory of the Supreme Dalek. This was subsequently added to the single Victory Point the Cybermen attained by holding Objective Five.
POOR WILFRED MOTT IS KILLED AS THE DALEKS RE-POSITION THEMSELVES
The Zygons fried the remaining Vashta Nerada, and were awarded three Victory Points for Objective Two. The Tenth Doctor was unable to overcome the Cybermen in the centre of the battlefield, so only attained a stalemate against the silver giants. The Sea Devils captured Objective Three, earning two Victory Points, whilst the Judoon charged into the nearby Dalek unit and almost destroyed it.

Further north, one party of Zygons launched themselves upon Dalek Sec, and incredibly took out the commander of the Seventh Incursion Squad's two bodyguards. Nearby, the other group of Zygor refugees travelled west back to Objective One and five Victory Points.
DALEK SEC AND HIS DRONES ARE BRUTALISED IN THE BATTLE'S FINAL STAGES
It quickly became clear that despite the combined might of the Dalek/Cyberman invasion force, that the Doctor's rag-tag army had somehow managed to thwart the Skaro mutants' plans to conquer Draconia... for now at least.  

24 comments:

  1. Victory from the jaws of defeat it seems. Thank you for the battle report.

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    1. Thank you for your comment, Phil. It was a bit close right up until the Zygons broke through the Cyber-lines.

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  2. That was very closely fought. Congratulations to the Doctor and the forces of good on their victory... although I have to admit I wouldn't have minded if the Daleks won. I had divided loyalties in this battle! Terrific game, Simon!

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    1. Cheers Bryan. Hopefully for the next one I can incorporate a bit more rules explanation and some overviews of the action - maybe as graphics rather than minis.

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  3. Nice bat rep dude. Keep up the good work!

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    1. Thanks Simon. I'm trying to get two BatReps in per month, but am already behind that goal ;-)

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  4. Exterminate failure! Damn it at they did not even have stairs to cope with!

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  5. Great bat rep are cyber men always so weak?
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. The Cybermen simply had a bad day tbh, as in other games they've been indestructible. I hope to go into the rules a bit more in future BatReps, but they not only have some shooting capability, but save any hits on a 5 or 6; which tends to roll far more than you'd think.

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  6. Yay for the Doctor! Great report Simon.

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  7. Great BatRep Simon, interesting conclusion

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    1. Thanks Dave, and for commenting; I appreciate you must be rather busy currently with all the wargame shows currently taking place - Still up for a chat at Bournemouth?

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    2. Most definitely mate, I like to keep up as much as I can over these busy times ! LOL

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    3. Excellent. I'll see you there :-)

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  8. Nice finale, Simon. An interesting mix of races, none of which seemed to have the upper hand. Does this indicate that all the paticipants are pretty evenly matched? Or are certain races less effective against others?

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    1. Thanks Jez. All the races' statistics are identically costed, so they should be balanced that way. For example, where one is quicker than others (e.g Silence) then they're weaker in other areas (e.g. long range shooting). The hope is that on any given day any one unit can best another, so its all down to dice rolls and tactics.

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  9. Terrific, if bloody action and I must admit I was rooting for the Daleks throughout - so close, yet no cigar.

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    1. Cheers Joe. No cigar this time, but it was close, and tbh Dalek Sec can always blame the Cybermen for this defeat ;-)

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  10. What a lot going on! Some strange alliances too - and shouldn't the Doctor have been trying to *stop* all the fighting :-) ?

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    1. I'm hoping "Warlord Games" issue a few more 'good' races in the future, Hugh, so my mix isn't too odd. As for the Doctor, well number 10 is still close enough to the War Doctor to like a good fight - at least that's my story ;-)

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  11. Yeah, this is obviously a bogus story. Completely fake. We all, really, now that the Daleks actually won. I blame their allies. Should have been a purely Dalek force, then the outcome would have been different. Possibly. Maybe. Might have been. We'll never know.

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    1. Thanks Roy, LOL :-) I do have some more Daleks on the painting table, and have since painted up a unit of Ogrons to act as their table fodder too. Expect the Daleks to launch another attack upon Draconia's moon at some point soon ;-)

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