Scenario: Run, Fartok, Run!

Scenario Type: Asymmetric, Narrative

This is one of the earliest scenarios written for BtGoA v1, now updated to Antares 2. Experiences on playing this scenario and variations are always welcome!

This scenario recreates the moment on Ephra when Fartok realises he has been betrayed by the usurper Karg. He has lost his battlesuit andd his fellow troopers and is on his own.

Fartok knew he had been hit hard – the retort of the shot echoed inside his battle armour like an exploding comet as he span out of control. The warning lights of his combat array blazed red and the stench of leaking plasma began to fill the tiny capsule. The armoured machine collapsed into a tangled heap on the ground. Seconds before he had been an invincible warrior of the Ghar: Fartok Commander of Battle Group Nine. Now he was a trapped inside the wreckage of his battle armour, held fast by a web of tangled feedlines and neuro-plugs.

Dizzy with pain he instinctively scrabbled for the emergency release catch beneath his harness, jerked it free from its housing and pulled with all his strength. The stricken machine wheezed uncertainly as pneumatic valves popped open and chemical propellants began to react with a reluctant fizz and a gurgle. And a bang! The explosion shot him and a chunk of his supporting harness straight out of the battle armour, tearing away the neural linkages through which the machine was controlled like a second skin. It was like being flayed alive and for an instant he was consumed by the unimaginable agony of it.

Fartok lay on the stony ground shivering, racked with pain such, as he had never thought possible. The world outside the battle suit was agonisingly bright and the noise of gun fire felt like a thousand hammer blows upon his senses. Everywhere there were Ghar machines lying broken and smouldering amongst pools of bubbling plasma. A few Ghar troopers were still standing, gallantly directing their Scourer cannons upon the enemy. But Fartok could see they were fighting a losing battle. Even as he watched another armoured suit exploded as the shot from an Algoryn Mag Cannon shattered the machine’s casing into a thousand pieces.

‘Curse those scum of Battle Group Ten!’ Fartok thought to himself once the pain began to subside and he came to his proper senses. His old rival and brood mate Karg, Commander of Battle Group Ten, had been responsible for reconnoitring the line of attack ahead of the assault. How could they possibly have failed to notice the build up in enemy forces? Surely Karg must have spotted the new Algoryn defences and seen the numerous emplacements. It was a death trap. Had Karg led him into a trap deliberately? It seemed more than likely Fartok thought with a sour grimace.

‘Commander… you are alive!’ squeeked a terrified Ghar voice from amongst the rubble. It was Drok one of the Battle Squad leaders. He had managed to escape too. His face was pale and he was covered in blood. The ragged remnants of his armour’s feed lines hung from his tattered pilots suit.

‘Yes Drok I am alive,’ he snarled, ‘ now let’s get out of here’. Fartok looked around but all he could see were Algoryn in every direction. They would be lucky to make it back to their own lines alive. But he had been lucky already. Lucky to have survived a fatal hit to his battle armour and luckier still that the clumsy escape mechanism had actually worked. In any case, he had to live, because one thing was for sure: someone was going to pay. And that someone was Karg!

Fartok, High Commander of Ghar Battlegroup Nine, leads the charge against an Algoryn bastion on Ephra when his forces are suddenly attacked from all sides. He is expecting support from Karg, commander of Battlegroup 10, but the expected support never arrives. Too late, Fartok realises…

It’s a trap!

Fartok’s battle armour is struck and immobilised. All around him Ghar warriors are either dying or fighting for their lives.

Fartok manages to free himself of his armoured casing, but now he is vulnerable and alone amidst the confusion of battle. Without powerful battlearmour suits Ghar are practically blind, feeble and defenceless. None-the-less they are determined creatures and none more so than Fartok himself…

This scenario was designed to make use of the exclusive Fartok miniature on limited release with the pre-orders of the game in 2015. It can be used with almost any Ghar Outcast figure as Fartok, however, as all carry the all-necessary lugger gun!

In this scenario the Ghar player has to get the Fartok pilot model off the table and escape the carnage so Fartok can go on to avenge the loss of Battle Group 9 and lead the Outcast revolt. The remnant of the Ghar force is vastly outnumbered and surely doomed, but still capable of winning time for Fartok to get away.

See dismounted Fartok’s stats on his own character page.

We’ll let Rick continue:

Set Up

You’ll need an area 4’ x 4’ to play the game – if your table is longer (e.g. 6’ x 4’ or 8’ x 4’) then just play within the area required.

The table is divided into four edges as shown below. Note that because Fartok was ambushed during the fighting on Ephra against the the Algoryn, we have set the scenario up to represent the back story with Algoryn as ambushers. However, the game will work perfectly well with other forces in the ambush role should you prefer.

The devastation of Ephra can be represented by patches of boulders, rocks or ruins arranged as area terrain and obstacles. We leave it to the players to decide exactly what terrain to use and how to place it, depending on what is available, but ideally scenery should be arranged as follows:

Place four areas of terrain along each Algoryn edge and within 10” of the edge – these can be rocky ground/rubble (light terrain), boulder fields/ruins or rocky pinnacle (dense terrain). Make sure you leave a gap between the terrain areas sufficient to move troops through as this creates a broad corridor down the centre of the board for Fartok to make his run.
Next the ambushing player places two further areas of rocky ground or rubble (light terrain) aligned down the centre of the table and at least 10” from either Fartok’s starter edge or escape edge.
Finally, the Ghar player can place up to 20” of rocks or rubble arranged into obstacles at least 3” long anywhere in the open corridor between the Fartok starter and escape edges. These give Fartok a chance of hopping from cover to cover, and will help to block line of sight as he makes his run, so think carefully about how you place these.

The Forces

The Ghar force is an FL1 force of 50 points plus Fartok. A single Distort Die should be used. The selectors insist on at least two battlesuit units, but a third may be useful. The battlesuit units cannot be upgraded to command units.

The Algoryn force is a 100pt, FL2 force. This is easily capable of overwhelming the Ghar without too much trouble in the normal run of things. However, the object of the game isn’t just to destroy the Ghar it is also to stop Fartok! Also the Algoryn forces are distributed unevenly and this will hinder their ability to deal with the surviving Ghar.

Deployment

At the start of the game place all of the Ghar units including Fartok within 10” of the Fartok starter edge. These are troops that have survived the Algoryn’s initial fire – the remnants of other destroyed Ghar units can be imagined to litter the
battlefield both behind and in front of our forces.

Once the Ghar units have been placed the Algoryn player positions half of his force (half the number of order dice rounding up). These units must be divided as equally as possible between both Algoryn edges and must be deployed within 5” of the edge and not within 10” of Ghar units already deployed. Remaining Algoryn units can enter along either Algoryn edge at the start of the second or any subsequent turn, but will require an order test to move on, as normal.

Objective

The Ghar player must escape Fartok off the opposite table edge – alive: if any portion of Fartok’s base crosses the line he has made it! Nothing else matters as far as the Ghar player is concerned and the remainder of the force can be sacrificed to enable Fartok to escape.

The Algoryn player’s objective is to destroy the Ghar battle force and if he can stop Fartok as well then so much the better! His mission is to destroy all the Ghar battlesuit units – if he fails to do this he cannot win even if Fartok fails to escape.

Game Duration

The game lasts for six turns, possibly a seventh, as described in Playing the Game. Break points are ignored.

The game ends immediately if:

Fartok escapes; or
all the Ghar battlesuit units are destroyed and Fartok is killed.

Victory

If Fartok escapes the Ghar player wins regardless of other considerations. Hurrah for Fartok!

If Fartok fails to escape within the time set for the game them the Algoryn player wins if he has also destroyed all of the Ghar battlesuit units in their entirety. All Hail the Council of Algor!

If neither player can claim victory the result of this encounter is a draw.

Special Scenario Rules

Ambush

Because the game represents an ambush, any of the Algoryn units already deployed on the table can begin the game with an Ambush order if the player wishes. Remove an order dice from the bag and place the unit/s on ‘Ambush’.

Pinned

To represent the fact that the Algoryn have already hit the Ghar army hard, and the surviving force is thrown into confusion, each Ghar unit including Fartok begins the game with 1 pin already. Remember that probe units (e.g. Ghar
Flitters) don’t take pins so there is no need to worry about these.

Fartok the Pilot

At the time when our scenario takes place all that lies in the future, and Fartok is merely an escaping pilot, helpless and vulnerable without the protection of his battle armour. Well not quite helpless. He is Fartok after all – and no push over!

Stats for a dismounted Fartok are on the Fartok character page.

Tactical/Play Notes

Fartok is very fragile and his best bet is to try and avoid being hit at all, which is why the Ghar player gets to position obstacles along Fartok’s escape route. These will provide some cover and possibly intervening terrain along the way, but be careful not to block Fartok’s path at the same time. A series of sprints can carry him across the table in as few as three turns – so there is room for the odd missed move or advance if that best suits the terrain – as with a high Co stat, Fartok stands a good chance of passing any Recovery or Order tests due to pins.

For the Algoryn player it’s vital to get a few units into Fartok’s path and this may well prove sufficient to deny the Ghar victory. However, the Ghar forces are not insignificant and must also be tackled if you are to win the game. They will prove a tougher proposition and you will need some powerful support or heavy failing weaponry to penetrate the Ghar battle armour. The Ghar are vulnerable to pins, so do whatever is necessary to keep them pinned down if you can: mag guns and most Algoryn weaponry has too low a SV to overcome the Ghar heavy armour and force a pin with hits alone, but the overload ammo on the Algoryn Infantry’s micro-x can cause a pin almost every time.

The Algoryn player could field an SD Hazard force instead of a Vector AI force. Here, the Hazard troopers can pin Ghar suits, so could present a tough opposition. But this comes at the loss of agility and speed, so be wary in fielding those heavy (though slower) infantry units.

Of course, other factions could try the same: it could perhaps be an ongoing competition to see who can stop Fartok or manage to have him escape.

Optional rules: Survivors

This game is all about getting Fartok away – but what about the other survivors? The battlefield is strewn with Ghar who have somehow managed to escape their armoured casings. If you have more pilot models why not play with two, three or more: you can mark which is Fartok under his base – no need for the other player to know which is which – and track pins and damage (though a Wound may show Fartok up, a bit). The other pilots should have the dismounted pilots stats in the Ghar Army List, should have Tough 1 and Fartok’s Hard to Spot rule.