Like a virgin, Gates for the very time~~~~~

Hello wargamers it's time for another article here on WR!  I'm not sure what has gotten into me lately posting articles in a short time span from each other but that doesn't matter!  What matters is that here we are together sharing our collective experiences together.  Isn't that such a lovely sentiment? Anyways let's get down to business.

I had the recent pleasure of getting in my very first game of Gates of Antares with Mike our resident Gates advocate and pusher here in our area.  Since it was my first game Mike and I decided to bring about 1000 points to the field.  I brought my Algoryn force and Mike brought along his infamous Rebel Ghar.  So not knowing what is an optimal list I opted for the following based on the rule of "aww yeah:"

• AI Command Squad - Leader 3 upgrade, Plasma Carbines
• AI Assault Squad x7
• 2 AI Squads with 2 Micro-X Launchers
• AI Heavy Support Team with Mag Mortar with all of the ammo
• Targeter Probe Shard x6
• AI Avenger Light Skimmer with Mag Light support, Batter Drone, HL Booster
• AI Specialist Support Team with Light Plasma
• 3 AI Support Teams, x2 Mag Lights, x1 X-Launcher

So after rolling off we ended up playing a Matched Mission of Hold the Line where I was the defender and Mike was the attacker.  So we set up the board and kicked off with the very first Gates game for me!

Getting the game ready

So first turn went by rather cautiously for the both of us.  Half of my force started on the field, electing to put my Plasma Support, Command Squad, a Mag Light Support, the AI Assault, and the Mag Mortar out there.  My AI Assault held the barrier on my right flank with the Mag Mortar sitting in the back with a good field of view.  My center had the Command Squad and Mag Light Support hiding behind a dense forest, meanwhile my left flank had the Plasma Support.  Early on the Plasma went on Ambush forcing Mike to advance his Rebel Ghar behind the woods to stay out of harm's way.  I did spot some of his space goblins coming up with the Mag Mortar but I rolled a 10, so I fired a soft pillow at their heads.  I'm so considerate.

Second turn things starting heating up as we started to trade off shots here and there.  My Mag Mortar ended up taking out an entire unit of Attack Scutters, which was pretty awesome!  It's like you could hear the round whistling through the air right before landing on top of their buggy eyed faces, good stuff!  My left flank wasn't doing too bad at this point, not great but not bad either.  My center moved up into the woods to get a better position while my right flank was pretty intimidating, especially since my Avenger came on to the field to counter his Command Crawler.  

"See those Scutters right there? Watch this..." - Mag Mortar team comms to AI Assault Squad

Turn 3 things started to get a bit intense.  Mike and I traded fire back and forth.  Space Goblins and Artichoke Heads dying left and right.  Pin markers everywhere!  Oh the various species of descended humanity!  My left flank started to fail on my, the Ghar taking out a AI Squad in vicious melee.  Meanwhile my right flank was getting work done.  Those AI Assault squad troopers just kept putting out the shots on the Command Crawler.  Was it going to hurt him? Nah, but I was going to keep it down!  Mike shot at my Avenger and at first we thought it blew up in one hit as I rolled a 10 for the save and a further 10 for the damage roll (but the drone survived a disruptor shot with a 1 :| ) but a quick re-read and it was just given some pin markers instead.

Sad Avenger Panda

Turn 4-5 my left flank made me sad.  Let us imagine this: you are the Algoryn.  Your race has fought the Ghar countless times.  You know them, they know you.  Should that slow you down? YOU WOULD THINK NOT! Apparently 1 pin marker was enough to keep half my army down, down, down!  Granted it also made it difficult for Mike to advance, but at this point he had already secured the left objective.  The center was being fought after but with the troopers in the woods and my right flank supporting the center it was not looking good.  The Mag Mortar did some work and blew up a Tectorist, take that metal detector!  The Command Crawler was starting to move again though as Mike kept passing command tests...

The slowly dying left flank

Final turn Mike ended up pulling the victory as the Command Crawler assaulted the terribly pinned down AI Assault squad.  They just kept taking hits after hits and finally they couldn't do it and abandoned the objective.  Still I managed to hold off for as long as I could and I think over the course of the game we had some good moments of "oh geez now what do I do?"  Also for my first game I didn't think I did too shabby myself.

The right and center, stand strong my troops!

So now that I have my first game in what can I say about Gates of Antares.  Keep in mind this is my first impression for you salty spittoons out there that get defensive easily!  I enjoyed the game and I had fun playing.  I think the differences between the factions stem from minor differences that have a great impact in practice.  The d10 system was pretty easy to adapt to and the concept of how to take tests/apply modifiers was quickly grasped.  There is a lot of intricacies in this game and I think that once you start getting past basic mechanics there is a lot to be had.  In some ways that can be a turn-off because of how easily complicated this game can get if you are not careful.  It's not Infinity level of complexity however so it has that going for it, but I think that if you are not prepared you can get overwhelmed easily.  Like the abundance of different ammo types and probes and drones and rules, while awesome when picked apart (Scoot ammo not only sounds cute and fun but also pretty useful to get people out) can be like whoa...dat's a lot.  Still I had fun and I like the game enough to keep playing and invest more time and money into it.  Is it a perfect game? Not at all (I mean have you seen the book design?).  Is it worth your time?  I think it has some strong potential.  It's the stuff I love about Bolt Action with all the stuff I like about Sci-fi and what I want in a war game.  

So there we have it!  My first foray into Gates of Antares and my proverbial virginity lost.  Now I just need those Hazard Suits to call me later and tell me how pretty I look in the dark.  I hope you all are enjoying your gaming and until next time folks play well and play fair!