Star Wars vs. Battlestar Galactica: Part 1
Mission: Cleanse (Gamma Level)
Points per Player: 2150

Pat won the die roll to determine quarters, and to no one’s surprise, took the one with the waterfall. From the top of the waterfall, he would be able to shoot over trees and down into clearings. Having played on jungle tables many times before, I already knew that paths and clearings were deathtraps—whenever possible, I would be avoiding them. 

I set up first, putting my unit of Heavy Destroyers near the center of the board; I kept my Monolith in reserve. Pat put one Leman Russ atop the waterfall and parked the other by the river to guard it. Pat and I both deployed our troops in the safety of the trees: I set up one squad of Warriors to march across the river into an adjacent quarter (hopefully out of sight or out of range of Pat’s big guns), one squad (with the Lord) poised to enter another quarter. My last Warrior Squad was in reserve, to be “beamed in” by the Monolith. Pat put a few squads on the waterfall, then scattered the rest throughout his table quarter, awaiting my advance. 

I held my Flayed Ones in reserve, set my Destroyers behind some foliage, and put the Scarabs as far forward as they could: their job was to zip forward and tie up Pat’s shooting units. Whether they reached their target in one round or two was really immaterial, as their mere presence would force Pat to divert fire into them—better them than precious Necron Warriors. 

Pat held his Callidus Assassin in reserve, put Grand Moff Tarkin and his squad near the middle of the board, and placed the Command Sentinels and the Anti-Tank Squad atop the waterfall. He put the Stormtroopers, the other Sentinels, Vader and his entourage (in their Chimera) towards the edge of his table quarter, eager to make a push into no-man’s land. 

Before the game got underway, Pat had Aurra Sing use her “Word in Your Ear” ability to push my Heavy Destroyers back 6". They weren’t exposed to fire, but they were that much further away from their primary targets, Pat’s Leman Russ battle tanks. 

Imperial Guard/Daemonhunter Turn 1
Pat won the roll to see who went first and decided to strike. Vader’s Chimera used its Amphibious ability to travel down the river (towards Necron Warrior Squad #2) without needing to take any Dangerous Terrain tests—very clever, I had to admit: Mr. Eibel is more than just a pretty face. 

In his Shooting Phase, Pat’s IG troops and tanks opened up on what they could see, which wasn’t much. Nevertheless, Pat bagged four Scarab bases, wounded another, shot a Destroyer, and dropped three Necrons from Warrior Squad #1 (the Necrons accompanied by Centurion Lucifer, my Necron Lord). Not too shabby at all.

Necron Turn 1
The Destroyer and the Warriors that Pat had put down on his turn stayed down as I bricked their We’ll Be Back! rolls. My ‘bots advanced, my Scarabs zipping forward but not making it into close combat. My two remaining Destroyers, who were supporting Lucifer and Warrior Squad #1, gunned down a heaping handful of nearby Guardsmen. My Heavy Destroyers, out of range of the Leman Russes, fired on Vader’s Chimera; all three missed as I rolled three 1’s “to hit.” Arrgh! 

Imperial Guard/Daemonhunter Turn 2
Vader’s Chimera again used the river to drive 12" toward my forces. Inquisitor Vader and his retinue dismounted and fired on the Heavy Destroyers, with results similar to mine: Vader failed his psychic test to use Scourging, and my Heavy D’s made their save against the flamers wielded by Vader’s  Stormtrooper Vets. 

Callidus Assassin Aurra Sing also failed to harm any Necrons when she chose to appear alongside Necron Warrior Squad #2. Her neural shredder is best used against troops with low Leadership: as Warriors have a Leadership of 10, she had about as much chance of hurting them as I do of dunking on Shaq. 

The rest of Pat’s firing was more effective, bringing down another Destroyer, killing two Scarab bases, and wounding another. In the Assault Phase, Aurra Sing charged the Warriors, dropping one and taking a Wound for her troubles. 

Necron Turn 2
The Destroyer that had laid an egg in Pat’s previous Shooting Phase made its We’ll Be Back! roll. The Monolith dropped down near the middle of the board and unloaded Warrior Squad #3, who promptly fired on Vader and his retinue. The Heavy Destroyers added their fire, and when the shouting was over, five members of Vader’s retinue had gone to join the Force.

The Monolith unleashed its flux arc projectors, killing two Stormtroopers that had wandered too close. Centurion Lucifer and Warrior Squad #1 used the Veil of Darkness to bamf into rapid-fire range behind the Conscripts, killing 13 of them. The Callidus exercised her prerogative to leave combat before the Assault Phase could begin, and the Scarabs charged into some Guardsmen, killing one grunt and losing another Wound on a Scarab base. Hi-ho.

Imperial Guard/Daemonhunter Turn 3
Displeased to find heaps of Necron Warriors around him, Vader led his retinue toward Warrior Squad #2, which Aurra Sing had recently moved away from. Like a loyal dog (albeit one sporting heavy weaponry), Vader’s Chimera followed him. Two Sentinels and the Stormtroopers advanced, and the Grey Knights (painted to resemble the Emperor’s Guards from Return of the Jedi) Deep Struck near Centurion Lucifer and Warrior Squad #1. One of Pat’s Leman Russ tanks moved into the river for a better shot and found itself immobilized.

In the Shooting Phase, the Sentinels dropped two Toasters from Warrior Squad #3, the battle cannon shot from the immobilized Leman Russ deviated 4” off of Warrior Squad #2 (dropping two of them), and the Grey Knights and Conscripts combined their fire to bag nine members of Warrior Squad #1. 

The Anti-Tank team vaporized the Destroyers, the other Leman Russ totally missed Warrior Squad #2 (6" deviation—Pat was NOT happy about that), and the Stormtroopers shot one member of Warrior Squad #3. Vader, his retinue, and Aurra Sing all fired at Warrior Squad #2, killing one droid. 

We also decided, after Pat accidentally knocked down the idol terrain piece for what must have been the fifth or sixth time, that this statue had been destroyed in the fierce firefight. For the rest of the game, we left it laying down on the table, sparing it from further damage. 

In the Assault Phase, Vader and his retinue (and Aurra Sing) charged Warrior Squad #2, killing another one.

Necron Turn 3
Smirking evilly, I rolled for We’ll Be Back! and watched seven ‘bots from Warrior Squad #1 and one ‘bot from Warrior Squad #3 stand back up for further gits and shiggles. 

Who says Necrons aren’t mobile? Centurion Lucifer used his Veil of Darkness to ‘port away from the Grey Knights and reappear on the other side of the river, leaving the Knights with no targets (other than the nearby Scarabs, still in fruitless hand-to-hand combat with several Guardsmen). Warrior Squad #2 used the Monolith’s teleporting ability to escape Vader and his henchmen and emerge within rapid-fire range of Tarkin and his Command Squad. Necrons can’t feel joy, but I did as Tarkin and his chums evaporated under gauss fire. The only bummer was that a Heavy Destroyer tried to move into some difficult terrain and crashed.

More ‘bot firing wiped out the Stormtroopers, destroyed a Sentinel, and stunned and destroyed the weapon on another. Lucifer and his Necrons fired at will, inflicting massive casualties on Guardsmen. The Scarabs continued to buzz around their Guardsmen, slowly wearing them down. 

© Copyright Kenton Kilgore, February 2005
 

Top