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.