This is a scenario for low point value games intended to be used by players relatively new to Antares. It has 5 VP maximum, so can be used with the others in this series, and supports the 60/60-plus format lists. The scenario is based on Scenario 6: Data Recovery, but adapted for small forces and with VPs adjusted for 4 objectives and 5VP in total. Here, we start playing around with using Rally orders to achieve an activity.
Type: Matched, Objective/Narrative; 2-player; 60/60-PLUS recommended
One of the supporting IMTel starships in orbit has exploded. Whilst most of the components have burnt up on re-entry, the cores with the mindstates of citizens were built with survivability in mind and have survived both the heat and the impact. Though the location is remote and far from your forces, you must recover the mindstates, either to save your own citizens for clone implantation, or to interrogate the mindstates for the information they hold. The problem? You have no idea which mindstate units have survived the crash!
Setup
Four small objectives should be placed as indicated on the map.
Chose or dice for whether a 60 or 60-PLUS game is to be played, and for which long table edge each player uses as their base edge.
Deployment
Both forces come on anywhere along their own table edge in turn 1.
Objective
Test as many mindstate cores as possible to see if they are intact and send the data to your own forces.
Game Length
The game lasts for six turns and ends immediately if both player’s forces have tested all the remaining cores.
Victory Points
Break Points are ignored in this game. Each objective scores different points depending on where it is on the table.
| Success Criteria | VPs Earned |
|---|---|
| Testing a core in your own half of the table (each) | 0.5VP per |
| Testing a core in your opponent’s half of the table (each) | 1.5VP per |
| Testing all 4 cores | +1VP |
Special
Testing a Mindstate Core: To test a Mindstate Core, a unit must have either sole control or contested control of the objective being tested (see Playing the Game, p. 15). The unit then makes a Rally order to gather the information and on success gains the victory points appropriate for the marker’s location.
Destroying a Mindstate Core: A data core can be destroyed through shooting or hand-to-hand assault. The cores have the following statistics:
- are very well armoured, having Res 13;
- are Small and have Tough 2 (-1 Acc and line of sight to them can be easily blocked);
- do not take pins or orders.
Once a Data Core is destroyed, remove it from the table.
Design Notes
This is a deceptively difficult scenario as all the juicy points are in your opponent’s half of the table and making a Rally can be awkward when under fire. However, a Rally allows you to remove a fair few pins, so as long as a larger or tougher unit is used to extract the data, it should be fine.
Sometimes, it can be a good idea to focus on just two or three objectives and either destroy or ignore the other. Such a focus could be to test the two in your own half and just one in your opponent’s half of the table.
A strategy occasionally used is the ‘burnt ground’ tactic in which your own units destroy the cores after testing them. Often, though, this prevents your own forces from properly supporting each other, so should be considered carefully.
Antares Nexus 
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