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Invisible Enemy
MICROMACHINE SKIRMISH WARFARE
 


 
MARS ACTION REPORT 173

 
This was an MGV action which took place on Mars, with an Australian strike force conducting a landing pod insertion onto the surface. The landing zone was contested by a force of Selangor MGV units which took measures to contain the landing.

Australian Forces and weapon selections (Total 201 points):
One Super Komodo heavy MGV (thermal main)
One Komodo heavy MGV (thermal main)
One Gila A5 heavy MGV (missile main)
One Tokay weapon platform (missile main)
Three Whiptail medium MGV (various kinetic and photon mains)

Selangor Forces (Total 201 points):
Two Hammerhead heavy MGV (kinetic mains)
One Thresher heavy MGV (thermal main)
Two Mako medium MGV (photon mains)
One Sharpnose light MGV (photon mains)
One Cat superlight scout MGV (beacons)
Several lines of neutralizer barriers laid to channel the Australian attack into lanes.

 

Above: Battlefield overhead view. The Selangor positions are along the bottom half of the photo, the Australian landing zone is along the top right of the screen centered on the dark landing pod towers. Australians have advanced to forward positions including right center, where a Super Komodo MGV has halted in front of the Selangor neutralizer barrier (lines of blue orbs).
 
The engagement occurred on a somewhat open area of rocky ground littered with clumps of fungus towers, pieces of rock debris from the surrounding bombardments, finer rock debris left over from landing pod impact as well as fine rocky debris and ice formations native to the landscape. As noted there were also lines of blue neutralizer barrier deployed by the Selangor.

Game notes: This is our first Invisible Enemy game with the new Mars surface gaming mat. It is was made by Deep Cut Studios using their custom mat making service, and came out very nicely. This is not their stock Red Planet gaming mat which is a more high altitude perspective with sharper contrast. The master file for this mat was made for a more dusty looking, up-close effect and is 44" x 60". It is based on existing public domain images which were modified in Photoshop for final use. It worked great.

Deployment:
Australian forces started the game scattered around the area near their three landing pod towers. Selangor forces deployed with heavy forces covering an open lane not blocked by neutralizer barriers (N-barriers). The heavy Thresher was furthest toward center while remaining in direct support of the two Hammerhead MGVs and their Cat scout. The right flank barriers were covered by two medium Mako units (see above). All Selangor units began the game declared under full camouflage adjoining terrain features.

 
Turn 1
Selangor won the W initiative roll. They chose not to move or fire and remained under cover.

Australia won the X initiative roll. They immediately began moving to consolidate their position and move forward. The big Australian decision at this point was whether to move right and enter the open lane covered by Selangor heavy units, or attempt to punch through the neutralizer barriers at some point. The heavy Super Komodo had an engineering module for payload, so the punch-through capability was there (payloads are chosen pre-game without knowing enemy force selection). Decision was made to punch left through the barrier furthest from the Selangor heavies.

Selangor won the Y initiative roll. They chose not to move or fire and remained under cover.

Australia used the Z phase to blind fire missiles onto one of the (suspected) Selangor Hammerhead positions. Despite the lethal volume of fire, only one infestation hit was scored and that was immediately cleaned up by the Hammerhead.

 

Above: Turn 2, Australian Super Komodo and Whiptails advance on the Selangor N-barriers.
 
Turn 2
Selangor won the W initiative roll. They chose not to move or fire and remained under cover.

Australia won the X initiative roll. The Super Komodo and three Whiptails converged on the narrow gap that led to the Selangor left flank. The Super Komodo pulled up to the N-barrier but without enough movement left to begin clearing. As a defense against possible Selangor moves, the heavy Komodo MGV was placed behind cover in the center, where it covered the two missile platform units against incursions from the right.

Selangor won the Y initiative roll. The two Makos opened photon fire onto the stopped Super Komodo. The Selangor player is a good range guesser and was able to roll full strength photon attacks. Both Makos scored really well and the Super Komodo immediately suffered multiple defense, payload, speed hits and one brain (B) hit. Good shooting and seemingly early indication that the Australian player may have underestimated the fight that two smallish MGVs could put up.

Australia used the Z phase to conduct indirect missile and direct thermal fire onto the now spotted Mako positions. All fired on Selangor Mako 2, which put up a mixed 4/2 missile defense. The Australian missile attack was lackluster and "only" scored 11 internal hits on the Selangor MGV (could have been much worse, the Gila and Tokay have formidable missile loadouts). The Super Komodo's thermal attack destroyed one hull section and scored a sensor (Se) hit. Again, it could have been worse.

The Reset phase saw no sudden deaths (Mako now had a B hit which triggered recurring check for sudden AI death). Mako 2 experienced further spread of the nano-infestation which triggered an additional B hit.

Player's Notes: When attempting contested barrier clearing, it is probably better to pull-up to the barriers with at least enough remaining movement to clear one barrier immediately. In this case, by the time the Super Komodo began clearing the next turn its Engineering module was already damaged and no longer clearing barrier at full rate.
 

Above: Turn 3, the Selangor heavy MGV strike force moves on the Australian landing zone. At background left is a Thresher (heavy MGV), at center are two Hammerheads (heavy MGVs) and at right is the Cat scout unit which specializes in beacon marking enemy targets.
 
Turn 3
Australia won the W initiative roll. They repeated their fire onto Mako 2. The Australian Tokay missile platform anticipated that the Mako 2 would defend its core, so it went for an all-hull attack. This was correct, the Mako 2 did go for 100% core defense and so all 14 missile units ploughed onto the Mako, triggering 14 hull based infestations. Bad news. The Gila achieved a lesser hit now that the Selangor player was mixing up their defense more, but still the Mako ended this phase with 23 hull infestations! That's a lot and nearly impossible to recover from, it's just a matter of time before they find their way into the core. The Super Komodo botched its shot and missed Mako 1.

Australia won the X initiative roll. They immediately began clearing N-barrier, but the payload damage to the Super Komodo's engineering module meant that only one barrier "blob" could be cleared, with one point applied toward clearing another... slow progress. The Whiptails caught up with the Super Komodo and took position on either side as they waited for the barriers to open (the Selangor placed barrier orbs so tightly, that two needed to be cleared before a Whiptail could fit through without becoming trapped). The Australian missile platforms, becoming slightly "nervous" as to what the Selangor heavies might do, began to slide toward the Australian left flank.

Selangor used the Y phase to move. The main Hammerhead/Thresher strike group moved quickly forward into the open lane to their front, led off by their beacon firing Cat scout unit.

Selangor used the Z phase to fire. The two Makos scored more damage on Super Komodo, most critically to its now valuable engineering module. On the Australian right, the lead Hammerhead and Thresher opened fire on the Komodo which was guarding the Australian flank. Some damage was done to Komodo but nothing particularly lethal despite that MGV being beacon marked by the Cat scout unit (the beacons did help and generally proved valuable).

The Reset phase saw no sudden deaths, but Mako 2's rampant nano-infestations caused four B hits, very dangerous for next turn for Mako 2.

Player's Note: The Selangor player's tactical logic had been to allow the Australians to commit forces as far to their left as possible before striking their right. Hence their remaining silent for two turns. This seemed good at the time, but we will see that it did not work well. The Australian left flank forces were highly mobile and easily able to redeploy, little was gained by two turns of inactivity except to allow the powerful Australian missile platforms two more turns of operational freedom.

Tactical Note: Medium level photon units make good barrier guards! Tactical Errors: Australian Whiptails failed to give cover-fire support for Super Komodo.


 

Above: Turn 4, Selangor Hammerhead MGVs advance on the Australian landing zone. The beacon marked Australian Komodo is immediately behind the pile of black rocks in the center, with a Hammerhead and Cat scout passing it.
 
Turn 4
Selangor won the W initiative roll. They continued their movement around the Australian left flank, moving quickly in their need to make up for lost time.

Selangor won the X initiative roll. Both Mako continued fire onto the Super Komodo, further damaging it. Sharpnose had moved over from the left flank and added its firepower to the defense. The Hammerheads continued their concentrated fire onto Komodo. Fortunately for the Australians the Komodo is a high quality heavy unit and it was under cover. Thresher took a long shot at the Tokay missile platform and inflicted two hull cells destroyed which jammed Komodo's main weapon and reduced its speed (along with putting two large holes in the side of the "ship").

Australia used the Y phase to move. Due to Super Komodo engineering damage, the Australians gave up their attempt to fully clear the left flank barriers. They instead cleared a gap just large enough for a couple of Whiptails to fit through single file. Those went after the Makos and Sharpnose. A third Whiptail (Whiptail 3) returned to the edge of the landing zone to help face the oncoming Selangor heavy units. The Australian Tokay moved into the slot adjoining the Super Komodo and took cover in the lee of the large black rock that dominated that part of the battlefield. The Gila (the other missile platform) also retired further back toward the far landing pods in an attempt to keep as much distance as possible between it and the enemy heavy units now known to be heavily equipped with kinetic weapons (kinetic weapons work best at closest range). Basically the Australians repositioned themselves to face and fire upon as many enemy units as possible.

Australia used the Z phase to open fire on the entire Selangor front line. Hits were scored on Mako 1 (Mako 2 was obviously falling off-line), Sharpnose, Thresher and Hammerhead 1. The Gila scored a particularly good volley of missile fire against Hammerhead 1 by doing an all-core assault against a mixed defense and then winning the competitive die rolls. The light Sharpnose suffered a main weapon jam and a complete loss of repair points, meaning it would be unable to fire again for the rest of the game. It became nothing more than a spotting vehicle - which was actually to matter in later turns despite the Selangor not using any missile weapons in this game.

The Reset phase saw two sudden deaths due to previous B (AI brain) hits: The Selangor Mako 2 and Australian Super Komodo both died (Mako on a 5 roll and Super Komodo on a 6 roll). During the recurring damage phase the Selangor Hammerhead 1 amazingly went through a seven dice core infection roll without suffering any spreading or B hits. Lucky vehicle. The Australian Tokay failed to clear its main weapon jam.

 
 

Above: Two whiptail MGVs move in on the defending Mako and Sharpnose units. Of the paired Makos at left, one has been mostly knocked of out commission. The whiptails are concentrating on the leftmost Mako that is halted next to the fungus tower.
 

Above: The right flank of the Selangor line on Turn 4, showing the Whiptails and Makos (lower left) and the Super Komodo and Tokay at center right. The Super Komodo and Tokay are both damaged, with the Tokay attempting to gain cover next to the large rock so it can conduct repairs without being further shot at. The blue blobs are neutralizer barriers, which are impassable to MGVs and are able to immobilize them if they approach within one inch. In the distant background is the Australian Komodo, damaged and backing away from the advancing Selangor Hammerhead MGVs.
 
Turn 5
Selangor won the W initiative roll. They chose to fire starting with the Thresher jamming Whiptail 3 which had just come around the corner to engage oncoming Selangor bases that were advancing on the Australian center. It was a long range jam and so only reduced the whiptail to half speed for the turn. The Selangor Cat fired another marker beacon onto the Komodo which was immediately fired upon by every MGV in range: Hammerheads 1 and 2, and Thresher. The combined close range kinetic fire devastated the Komodo, reducing its speed to 1", giving it four Mj hits (main weapon jammed) as well as completely wrecking its payload. This put the Komodo entirely out of commission as far as any combat actions were concerned. The surviving Mako on the Selangor right flank managed to take another shot at the nearby Whiptail 2, scoring some minor damage.

Selangor won the X initiative roll. This involved a general advance by all units to engage remaining Australian units in the center, immediately in front of the landing zone. However both Australian missile platforms has left the area several turns before, so there wasn't much to shoot at except the now halted Komodo and the newly arrived Whiptail 3. On the Selangor right, Mako 1 and the Sharpnose both advanced past the whiptails in an attempt to pass through or block the barrier gap. They were gambling that the slightly damaged whiptails did not have remaining speed to turn 180º and pass them (this turned out to be incorrect, and one of them had no speed damage).

Australia used the Y phase to move. They conducted a general adjustment of lines, with the two flank Whiptails that had punched into enemy lines returning the way they had come, coming to point blank range on Mako 1's "six" in the process. Whiptail 3 closed at maximum speed onto the flank of Hammerhead 1, which was just coming into sight from behind a pile of rocks.

Australia used the Z phase to fire on available targets; The Gila fired its entire missile loadout onto the tiny Cat scout unit; the Australians had gotten tired of their units being repeatedly beacon flagged and then fired upon by the twin Hammerheads. This put a full 14 core infestations on the small unit, which would effectively kill it within a turn. The two returning whiptails fired into the Mako 1 rear, effectively halting it in its tracks (so to speak). Whiptail 3 managed to get a deep point blank shot into the side of the Hammerhead to its front, causing moderate damage.

The Reset phase saw no sudden deaths, however the Tokay missile platform repaired its jammed main armament and the partially dismantled Komodo - which had by now been bypassed by the Selangor - managed to repair two of its four Mj (weapon jam) hits. Fortunately for it, none of its many hits were the dreaded Mk (main weapon destroyed).

 
Turn 6
Australia won the W initiative roll (finally). The two whiptails returning to the landing zone happened to still be on Mako 1's tail and gave it a kinetic coup de grâce from point blank range. Whiptail 3 was still on top of Hammerhead 1 and ploughed another point blank shot into its side, good for four more damage hits. The Tokay and Gila missile platforms (which had dispersed to prevent group losses) began coordinating their fire onto single targets starting with Hammerhead 1. They went for relatively easy to score hull infestations, hoping that the resulting hits would spread to the core. They scored heavily, so it remains to be seen whether those superficial hull infestations will take hold in time to affect the battle.

Selangor won the X initiative roll. Given the circumstances of Australian fire increasingly focused on the heavy units, the Selangor needed to get those missile platforms. Hammerhead 1 turned to face down the Whiptail on its flank (Whiptail 3), Hammerhead 2 passed it and turned into the small canyon where Tokay was hiding next to the now knocked-out Super Komodo. The Thresher and Cat moved forward at maximum speed to bring the Australian Gila into line of sight. The Gila had wisely begun angling away from the center of action while maintaining its standoff fire.

Selangor won the Y initiative roll, so they were able to immediately open fire based on their previous moves. The Cat and Thresher team did a spot and fire attack on Gila, scoring twin hits with the Thresher's thermal weapon. This blew two large holes in Gila and damaged multiple systems. Hammerhead 1 blasted the whiptail in front of it with its main and secondary kinetics, scoring seven more damaging hits.

Australia used the Z phase to further redeploy; Gila turned hard left and ran behind its landing pod, hoping for cover. Tokay continued sheltering in-place and the returning pair of whiptails passed through The Slot, maneuvering around the knocked out Super Komodo to engage the oncoming Selangor heavy units.

The Reset phase saw a predictable sudden death for the Cat scouting MGV. Hammerhead 1 experienced a massive spread of the nano-infestations along with two B (AI brain) hits. The destitute Australian Komodo managed to affect more repairs - its speed was now up to 2" and most of its weapon jamming events had been repaired.

Game Status: As of turn six, three MGVs are dead (Mako 2, Cat and Super Komodo), three are badly damaged (Komodo, Mako 1 and Sharpnose). The only undamaged unit is the Selangor Hammerhead 2 which is just rotating forward as the next front line heavy unit for the Selangor.



 

Above: The Selangor Hammerheads break into the Australian landing zone. In the foreground is a Cat scout MGV, followed by two Hammerheads and a Thresher bringing up the rear (this Thresher was armed with a thermal main weapon which had a much longer range than the Hammerheads kinetic weapons. Remember that players can choose any weapon combination they want during game setup, so no one MGV type is locked into using a particular armament). At left is a whiptail moving to attack the lead Hammerhead. In middle distance is a beacon marked Australian Komodo which is badly damaged; speed down to 1" and main weapon jammed. It barely managed to turn so it could pass behind the enemy Hammerhead after it went by. This Komodo unit was able to conduct some amazing repairs in the following turns and managed to re-engage - after being passed over as "lost" by its enemies.
 
Turn 7
Selangor won the W initiative roll. They fired again, with Hammerhead 1 taking another run at Whiptail 3 immediately to its front (the whiptail had remained, gambling it could fire next). The "hammering" on the medium rated whiptail finally pushed it over the edge; the point-bank kinetic attack scored crucial core hits, one of which triggered an on-board explosion that destroyed three hull sections. This triggered more B hits and another chain reaction explosion that further crippled the MGV and wiped out its sensor suite. Whiptail 3 was not dead, but it was out of the game with zero movement, main weapon almost permanently jammed and multiple brain and power hits among its many problems. Surprisingly, Mako 1 managed to get a shot off at the Whiptail 2's rear but missed - not bad for a severely damaged unit. The remaining Hammerhead/Thresher team concentrated their fire on Whiptail 1 as it came back through The Slot passing the still sheltering Tokay, scoring the first real damage of the game on that Australian unit.

Selangor won the X initiative roll and used it to move on the approaching whiptails with the intent to punch through them and get to the Tokay missile platform hiding next to them. Thresher moved forward into a blocking position, hoping to re-acquire line-of-sight on Gila and also block any Australian units trying to go around the hammerheads.

Australia used the Y phase to move its two surviving whiptails forward to block forward movement of the hammerheads. The Australian player knew one of the hammerheads was badly infested and hoped for a sudden loss there. For the end of turn, Australian missile platforms began a general fire onto the two remaining "mint" enemy units; Thresher and Hammerhead 2. The game was turning into a race against the clock - could the remaining Selangor heavy units track down and destroy two damaged Australian missile platforms before they succumbed to missile deployed smart corrosives? Had they moved out sooner, this might not have become a problem, but who knows. So far it's a close game.

The Reset phase saw two more sudden deaths due to lingering (and unrepairable) B hits: Mako 1 and Whiptail 2 both suddenly went down (Hammerhead 1 survived its two B hits, much to the Australian player's disappointment). Whiptail 2 had been fighting off sudden death since early in the game when the Mako/Sharpnose team dinged it over on the Selangor right flank.

Unfortunately for Hammerhead 1, its onboard infestation continued to spread wildly, causing four more B hits. This put the heavy MGV into "walking dead" status, meaning that it would definitely stop function due to sudden AI death at the end of the next turn. Whiptail 3 continued to suffer multiple after-effects of its thorough pounding at the hands of Hammerhead 1, with numerous power system malfunctions causing chain reaction failures on-board. It wasn't dead yet, but it was obviously out of the game.

The formerly destitute Komodo managed to get its speed up to 4" and it cleared the final jamming event that was preventing its main weapon function. Suddenly the Komodo was back to life, able to use its main armament and had 40% speed available! Pretty amazing for a vehicle as smashed up as it was. It had already used its last two inches of available movement to point back toward the main action, so who knows.
 

Above: Australian whiptails return to their lines only to discover two Selangor Hammerheads moving to meet them. The Hammerheads have already had a long fight across the battlefield and the one at center is near shut-down (AI death). However even at the end of their strength they remain dangerous. Note the Australian Tokay missile platform sheltering in the lee of the black rock. At right are the Selangor Thresher and (now dead) Cat scout MGV. The Thresher is wisely about to turn left in pursuit of the evasive Gila missile platform that would continue to launch damaging indirect fire attacks.
 
Turn 8
Australia won the W initiative roll. The two whiptails moved forward past Hammerhead 1 while the Tokay made a run for cover behind the nearby ice formation. This involved a dash over the top of the small ice ridge, but positioned it for a return to the theoretical security of the rear lines (this was to prove mistaken logic). The Gila continued its zigzag course to put as much blocking terrain between it and anything dangerous.

Selangor won the X initiative roll and use it to fire on the one intact enemy MGV in sight: Whiptail 2. Thresher botched its shot but Hammerhead 2 hit it hard and knocked out numerous weapons and payload systems. Pretty much exactly what they wanted at this point.

Australia won the Y initiative roll. Basically everything still in the game fired at Hammerhead 2. It put up a great missile defense by rolling awesome dice, but it still suffered nine core and eight hull infestations which, while not immediately disastrous was probably a bad sign for near future turns. Most unfortunately an up-close hit by the surviving Whiptail 1 damaged the Selangor heavy unit's main weapon with an Mj hit. To everyone's surprise the Australian Komodo took a long range shot at the rear of Thresher from its bypassed position back at the center of the battlefield. It missed, but still signalled it was alive and fighting. Had the Selangor not delayed their advance, they might have had time to dispatch Komodo completely.

Selangor used the Z phase to try bringing Tokay into line-of-sight. Thresher pressed forward at max speed and Hammerhead 2 followed Tokay over the ice ridge.

The Reset phase was predictable this turn; both Hammerhead 1 and Whiptail 2 shut down due to sudden AI death caused by their respective combat hits. Hammerhead 2's on-board infestations started running out of control and it failed to unjam its main kinetic weapon.

 

Above: Overhead view nearing end of the game. At lower right, the two surviving whiptails are moving past the knocked-out Hammerhead 1. At upper center Hammerhead 2 has the Tokay cornered and the Thresher is off to the left making sure it keeps an eye on things. At upper right the (until now) ignored Sharpnose is coming back into play in the role of spotter.
 
Turn 9
The Selangor are obviously running out of time. They must kill off both Tokay and Gila before their heavy units are systematically run down by onboard nano-infestations.

Australia won the W initiative roll and used it to follow the Selangor units with their surviving whiptails and to a lesser degree the surviving Komodo (amazing). The Tokay continued its run by racing past Hammerhead 2 in the direction of the Gila's cover. As noted before, the Tokay would probably have been better off staying where it was.

Selangor won the X initiative roll and used it to turn and follow Tokay, with Thresher in pursuit of the Gila. Almost everything else was dead.

The next initiative roll was important for obvious reasons; it decided who got to fire next during a crucial pursuit turn.

Australia won the Y initiative roll, the MGVs split their fire between Hammerhead 2 and the Thresher. Komodo managed a long range hit on Hammerhead 2 that destroyed one hull section, but both Selangor units conducted well organized dice defenses against incoming missile attacks. Some hits were scored but nothing major in addition to what was already there (which was bad enough to be real about it).

Now the awkward truth; Hammerhead 2 was on Tokay's tail and its main weapon was still jammed! Thresher was moving away but still in line-of-sight, so it took a full shot at Tokay and crunched it with two hull destructs, one of which triggered some serious internal damage including complete destruction of Tokay's main battery. So; chalk one Australian missile platform down.

The Reset phase saw the end of Whiptail 3's lingering demise. Komodo again survived the sudden death die roll check for its (unrepairable) brain hit. Hammerhead 2's many infestation hits finally ran out of control and got into the core, triggering a deadly five brain hits. This meant sure death next turn. Komodo is now back up to half speed!


 

Above: In foreground, the Thresher (right) catches up with the Gila (left). In the background, some of the final MGV positions at the end of the game.
 
Turn 10
Selangor won the W initiative roll. The Thresher finally ran down the Gila and got within line-of-sight (Cat was dead, so Thresher was doing its own spotting). Hammerhead 2 turned to face off against the two remaining damaged Australian MGVs. Sharpnose completed its race from the rear lines (where it had followed the two enemy whiptails through The Slot) and moved past the surviving hammerhead, mainly to aid as general spotter just in case.

Australia won the W initiative roll. The Gila attempted to run over a rock pile into cover, but was spotted by the Sharpnose so... no cover.

Australia won the Y initiative roll. The Gila opened fire on the pursuing Thresher and scored more infestation hits. The Thresher was running out of time. Whiptail 1 took a rear shot at the pesky Sharpnose spotter, causing some damage but nothing crippling (it's main weapon was already gone).

So, down to the wire; the Thresher took an "over the rocks" shot at Gila and scored two hull destructs, but all the damage was to speed and defense value, nothing to kill it or shut down its weapons. Hammerhead 2's last shot of the game was using its secondary kinetic weapon to bang on Whiptail 1 at close range. It was a deep strike and put a B hit on the Australian MGV.

The Reset phase saw the inevitable death of the heavily infested Hammerhead 2. Thresher finally lost control of its massive hull and core infestations and racked up six B hits; one turn left to live.

 

Above: Final MGV positions around the Australian landing zone, black spikes mark dead units. In the foreground is the withdrawing Selangor Sharpnose.
 
Turn 11
Selangor won the W initiative roll so the players are seeing how the last shot of the game goes; will Thresher kill the Gila or at least knock out its heavy weapons? It fired and scored another two hull destruction hits on the Australian missile platform. Rolling for actual damage, the hits "only" reduced the Gila's speed to 1" so, nothing deadly, the Gila survives.

The only other movement was the Selangor's Sharpnose unit moving off the board, sole survivor of the forces tasked with repelling the Australian landing. The Australians were left with only three very badly damaged units, two of which were unlikely to survive more than a few more turns on their own. End of game!

 
 
 
Post game notes and tactical pointers:

The game started off with the Selangor attempting to bait the Australians against their barrier line. But, upon seeing that the Australians had chosen to aggressively use missiles, they should have forcefully used their own very powerful kinetic attack units to immediately hunt down and cripple or destroy those MGVs. The units they were trying to bait onto the barrier line were all highly mobile in any case.

The Australians made a mistake by stranding valuable assets against a defense line protected by (apparently) lethal photon armed MGVs and leaving their right flank effectively open (one Komodo was not nearly enough to stop three heavy enemy MGVs). They lucked out in that the Selangor delayed moving forward, which allowed time for the Australians to realize their mistake. Even then, they broke up their fast attack group which was risky but ultimately carried no major penalties.

Tactical pointers: If you end up facing an enemy who is aggressively using missiles, you must harass and/or hunt down those MGVs from the very start. If you end up facing an enemy who is aggressively using kinetic weapons, you need to keep them at a distance as much as possible. Photon weapons are a good armament for lighter MGVs due to their ability to score damaging hits against more heavily protected units, although they require some skill to use against moving targets. By no great surprise, combined arms forces seem to garner the greatest benefits.

Weapon and payload selection: It is always best to have at least one unit with an engineering module and another unit with a repair module. I have not yet seen what happens if someone makes a payload platform like Tokay into a giant repair station, but its effects could be impressive - if it can be protected!


 






 
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