5150 Gaea Prime - First Defense: Enemy Within

 

Having the Hishen Morale Campaign dropped in the last mission I had the opportunity to locate and strike a hidden base on Gaea Prime. This is one of the Special Missions in Gaea Prime - First Defense, Enemy Within.

This time I deployed 1st and 3rd squads on both flanks as sector 7 in the middle did not have direct access to the Hishen Command Center. As the fight was going to be in closed spaces I chose not to equip the specialists with Inferno Grenade Launchers but with SAWs.

Turn 1. Gaea Prime 4 - Hishen 6.

Hishen didn't activate. I fast moved forward my squads on both flanks.

3rd squad on the left resolved first PEF which turned into nothing.

1st squad took positions on both doors. The left one leading to the Command Center and the top right one to a PEF.

Turn 2. GP 5 - Hishen 3.

I opened both doors from the Command Center. First the 3rd squad on the left flank. 3rd squad engaged half of the Hishen squad and in the firefight they killed one Grath and a couple of Hishen. The Razor Psy blasted one section and made it to duck back.

On the right flank the 1st squad had bad luck with Hishen scoring many sixes and later one PEF showing up. They exterminated the PEF who turned to be a crew, but the other half of the Hishen reinforced squad in the Command Center decimated them, only surviving Sgt. Blacksmith and one grunt who ducked back and after that left the battlefield. 1st squad disappeared and now 3rd squad was on its own.

Turn 3. GP 2 - Hishen 3.

Hishen moved first. The last PEF entered the room and turned into a full squad. Half of it fell down but only Sgt. Gorman and one grunt survived in the end. The corporal crouching behind the boxes stood heroically against a crossfire from the Command Center and the last PEF and he even killed the charging Razor, but he didn't make it.

Hishen survivors from the Command Center surrendered to the StarArmy trooper in the base.

Sgt. Gorman broke into the room and put down two Hishen. The last one fled the battlefield. Mission over.

After the mission.

Well, it was a bloody assault and I almost failed it. One wounded soldier from 1st squad didn't recover but the squad received two new grunts as replacements, one Rep 4 and one Rep 3. The squad was now at five members strength.

Three men from 3rd squad were KIA and one wounded, but he never recover. Fortunately the squad received replacement up to paper strength. 3 Rep 4 and 2 Rep 3. Sgt. Gorman raised his Rep to 6.

Hishen Campaign Morale dropped again and now is at level 1; one more drop and the campaign is over with the Hishen kicked out of the planet.

I had two rolls on the Research and Resources Table for winning this Special Mission so I chose and successfully researched Plasma Gun and Battle Tactical Armor (BTA)!

Watch out Hishen scum!

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5150 Gaea Prime - First Defense. Pressing forward.

 The Hishen Morale Campaign have dropped to 3 and now I was on the counter offensive. This battle is a normal Attack Mission and battle number 9 since the start of the campaign, and I'm under the second stage of the Hishen invasion.

As usual the battlefield is divided into nine equal sections and terrain and PEFs (Possible Enemy Forces) are generated with dice rolls. For this mission I deployed 1st and 2nd squads.

Turn 1. Gaea Prime 4 - Hishen 5.

Hishen didn't activate and I fast moved forward my two squads.

Turn 2. GP 3 - Hishen 4.

Hishen received some reinforcements on sector 1 in the form of a spaceship crew. PEF on sector 6 fell back and the other two didn't move.

Then I moved the 1st squad who spotted and resolved two PEFs but both were a false alarm. That meant that the last PEF was going to be enemy troops for sure.

Without hesitation I advanced my 2nd squad and resolved the last PEF. It was a Hishen squad led by a Razor! My squad won the Reaction Test but failed some shots. The Razor "bullet moved", charged and killed one of my troopers in hand-to-hand combat; some Hishen saved their lives by duckig back on time.

The Hishen passed the Will to Fight Test thanks to their Razor leader but the Star Army didn't and most of them resulted suppressed and Hunkered Down.

 Turn 3. GP 2 - Hishen 4. 

Hishen activated first; bad news. The Razor mind controlled one Gaea Prime soldier who shot to his comrades and then was shot down by them when they returned fire. All surviving members of the squad except Cpl. Hill surrendered to the Aliens! Seeing that, Hill run for the hills (Fled the Battlefield).

 On Gaea Prime's activation the 1st squad took revenge by shooting down the Razor monster. The Hishen squad without their leader fled the battlefield and abandoned their prisoners.

Turn 4. GP 4 - Hishen 6.

One section of 1st squad went to rally 2nd squad on the left flank while Sgt. Blacksmith (my Star) with the other section rushed forward to assault the last Hishen.

They won the Reaction Test but Hishen crew valiantly returned fire putting one of my men to sleep and making another one to take cover. Then Sgt. Blacksmith threw an Inferno grenade. Game over.

 After the Mission.

Razors are nasty. Rookies say there is nothing worse than a full squad of Grath, but veterans know there is something worse, a Grath squad led by a Razor!

There weren't any replacements and Cpl. Hill was never to be seen again, but one of the troopers from 2nd squad could recover from his wounds and go back to fight.

ASI finished researching Star Navigation. Soon Gaea Prime will be able to build a star ship and kick out the Hishen from the system.

The Hishen Campaign Morale fell down again to two. Their end was near!

Until then.

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Phoenix Ark, second part and conclusion.

The surviving troopers of the last mission finally reached the Hishen ship, a G'narr class. They have to take it intact so the guys from ASI can put their hands on the engines and energy system that allow warp navigation.

I normally play on a 4x3 feet table but this time I played on a 3x3, and folded the rest of the mat to give room to set the interior of the spaceship, so I could play both outside and inside the ship on the same table. I used my old Space Hulk tiles to represent the Hishen spaceship, but the rulebook will contain tiles of a specific spaceship to use for this mission.

As usual I rolled for terrain, deployed my troops and rolled for PEFs, one on sector 2 and two on sector 3.

Turn 1. Gaea Prime 1 - Hishen 2.

Hishen moved first and one PEF in sector 2 moved behind the spaceship and out of sight whereas another from sector 3 advanced and turned into a reinforced squadron.

In the firefight that followed two men from 1st squad hit the dirt and the Hishen suffered several casualties that made the rest put their heads down.

Turn 2. GP 2 - Hishen 4.

Ducked Back Hishen recovered and and popped out to fire but they were intercepted by 1st squad who fired first. I decided to fire with the Inferno grenade launcher first to kill them all quickly, but I failed miserably and then the specialist was shot down when the Hishen returned fire.

The last PEF advanced and it was a spaceship crew, but I couldn't fire at them as they crossed to the next forest and got out of sight before my troops could pull the trigger.

Now my boys activated. They suppressed the Hishen squad and run to the ship.

3rd squad run forward and took position on the ridge of the hill on the left to watch for enemies...

From there they could spot the PEF that was hiding behind the ship but it was a false alarm.

The last PEF crossing to the other forest near the spaceship.

Turn 3. GP 3 - Hishen 1.

1st squad accessed to the ship through the crew section and stumbled upon a Hishen reinforced squad. Star Army reacted first, killing one Grath and one Hishen, and putting the rest on the run.

The Hishen squad duck for the closest cover and split in two, with some fleeing to the bridge and some to the firing room.

I decided to send a section of the 3rd squad into the ship to back up 1st squad, and left Cpl. Rousie (Quick Reflexes and Rep 6) and the specialist with an IGL on the hill to watch their backs. Now there was combat in and out of the ship.

Turn 4. GP 5 - Hishen 1.

1st squad proceeded to the firing room and clean it from enemies.

Sgt. Corben and his section from 3rd squad got into the ship.

Outside the Hishen leader was rallying his troops in the wood while the spaceship crew waited for them in the other forest.

Turn 5. GP 4 - Hishen 5.

Hishen did not activate.

Corben's section assaulted the bridge and exterminated one full squad of Hishen plus the fugitives from the other one. One of Corben's men was hit but his armor (Exo!) resisted and he ducked back.

1st squad entered in one of the cargo sections of the ship and found more rats hidden there. This time Hishen shot first. Sgt. Blacksmith and one grunt could take cover behind some barrels and crates, but Cpl. Hill and another guy didn't make it.

Turn 6. GP 4 - Hishen 3.

A seven! I rolled hoping to receive some reinforcements after having two casualties but they didn't show up.

I regrouped the two sections from 1st and 3rd squad and assaulted the last section of the ship, the thrusters, I finished the last Hishen. The spaceship was mine!

Outside, the Hishen leader ended rallying all his grunts and as they had superiority in numbers, they switched to Attack and then advanced with both squads outside the woods.

Then Rousie and the specialist reacted and burned first one squad...

And then the other one.

After the mission:

Now that my troops are wearing Exo-armor there are no more Out of the Fight soldiers to recover but there were some KIA, so I rolled for Replacements and my two squads returned to paper strength, but all of them Rep 3 rookies!

After that I rolled for the Morale Campaign and I went up to 5 whereas Hishen went down to 3.

The research for laser weapons was finished and then I rolled twice on the R&R table for winning this mission, and successfully researched Starship building and now that I got a spaceship, Alien Energy Source as well.

Soon I will be able to fully build the first Gaea Prime spaceship, to board the Hishen command ship and cut the head of the snake and so win the campaign, but there are still some bitter fights ahead.

Until then.

Phoenix Ark, 1st part.

Well, it's not exactly the first part, but to play Phoenix Ark first you have to win an attack mission with a second objective; so this is the attacking mission in which I have to exit through enemy lines with 374 of my forces intact. If I win, then I will be able to play Phoenix Ark.

So as usual I divide the table into nine sectors, generate terrain, deploy up to two squads and then roll for PEFs. I got two on sector 3 and one on sector 6. This was the first mission from the Hishen second invading wave, but my troops were now wearing Exo-armor for the first time and were reinforced with Inferno grenade launchers. I felt invulnerable.

Turn 1. Gaea Prime 5 - Hishen 3.

I didn't want to fight through sectors six and three so I moved fast my 1st squad to the left flank. 3rd squad rushed forward towards the hills.

Hishen activated and the PEF on sector six advanced and it turned into a squad. They got me in the open.

1st squad was giving their backs and couldn't react. The last man went down, and the specialist with the Inferno turned around when he was shot and fired, but missed and wen out of ammo!

Fortunately, one section of 3rd squad was covering them from the hill and could open fire on the Hishen in the building, frying most of them. The rest fled the battlefield.

Turn 2. GP 6 - Hishen 2.

Hishen activated first and one PEF from sector three advanced and turned into another squad who engaged with my section on the hill.

Half of the Hishen squad was Out of the Fight and the other half Hunkered Down and without leader to rally and completely suppressed. The other PEF did not move.

Turn 3. GP 3 - Hishen 1.

3rd squad gave cover while 1st squad kept running to the hills. Hishen's last PEF advanced out of sight.

Turn 4. GP 5 - Hishen 5.

Doubles and Shadow Corp appeared but as I had taken their base I ignored this and roll again for activation.

Turn 4. GP 1- Hishen 3.

Hishen did not move. I moved fast all my troops towards the border of sector one, with half of the 1st squad already leaving the table.

Turn 5. GP 2 - Hishen 6.

I moved the rest of my troops out of the battlefield and won the mission.

Afther the mission.

I cannot roll for replacements or Research as I didn't go back to the base but kept advancing to cross Hishen lines and try to take a landed Hishen spaceship intact. That's is the Special Mission Phoenix Ark!

Until then.

Shadow Hour, a Special Mission for 5150 Gaea Prime - First Defense

Interrogation on some captured Shadow Corp mercenaries have finally shown results as now you know where their headquarters are. Assault the base and let no one escape unpunished.

This is how it starts another Special Missions in 5150 Gaea Prime - First Defense. Assault the Shadow Corporation headquarters and get rid off those pesky mercs once and for all. Kill'em all!

I set up the map with the walls of the base dividing the map into nine sections. The map was 2x2 feet instead the standard 3x3 but it played equally well.

I deployed 1st and 3rd squads and then three PEFs plus one squad in section five, the command center.

Turn 1. Gaea Prime 1 - Hishen 3.

No PEFs moved. Star Army squads moved fast to the left, center and right to try to break into the command center on three different ways at the same time.

3rd Squad to Left.

Center.

1st Squad to Center and Right.

Turn 2. GP 6 - Hishen 4.

The PEF in the command center moved forwards but turned into nothing, phew!

A second PEF moved from section three to six and it also turned into nothing. But when the door was opened, 1st Squad could see the third PEF on section three which turned into a Base Crew Squad. Basically guys in Soft Body armor armed with pistols.

In the fire exchange two grunts went down. Those crewmen sure did a lot of shooting practice! Sargent Blacksmith (my Star) Duck Backed out of sight and then Hunkered Down when failing the Will Test.

Turn 3. GP4 - Hishen 3.

2nd Squad came as reinforcements on sector nine.

2nd Squad moved fast forward and engaged the rest of the Base Crew, who fled the battle after taking one casualty.

3rd Squad opened the door to the command center, won the initiative in the Reaction Test and threw a couple of Inferno hand grenades, killing all occupants in one go. Mission over.

After mission.

The grunt Out of the Fight recovered from his wounds but there were no replacement for the KIA in 1st Squad.

Corporal Artois from 1st Squad developed Quick Reflexes.

The Shadow Corporation headquarters was covered in looted alien technology as well as many investigation projects that could be recycled for Gaea Prime, that allow me to roll twice on the Research and Resources Table. I researched Exo-armor and started researching Laser weapons (it will be ready after next mission).

The mission went really fast with two PEFs turning into nothing and me receiving reinforces on the third turn; and those Inferno grenades are something!

But this was the sixth mission and the end of first wave of the Hishen Invasion. In the second wave, they will be more dangerous and will use Inferno weapons as well. Thank to the Goddess that I have already developed Exo-armor for my troops!