Durgama Takeover

*NOTE 1: All buildings with playable interiors (exclusively the Armoury building in this game) were played under the assumption that models could draw line of fire into, out of, but not through. Template weapons functioned normally, but could not select a target unless they abided by these line of fire rules. Mines and other deployables were not affected, and could affect targets through. ‘Doors’ on buildings without playable interiors were treated as ladders.
*NOTE 2: O-12 list as posted is not the original, and the order groups are likely incorrect. Will be corrected with the original list PDF at a later point.

Returning from the stalemate in Zebu, the Collateral Compassion Division regroups to begin work on the operation to consolidate power in the Cameliard region. However, they were followed by the dogged O-12 forces that had been hounding them since the original push into the region. Did Concilium forces not trust in the ability of the Yu Jing armies to defend the region where PanO had failed? Or were they acting towards more malicious ends? In either case, of show of force was in order, especially if O-12 intended to make off with any of the valuable relics now under our charge.

Yu Jing wins the Lieutenant roll, and opts to go first. They are then made to deploy first on the western side.
Using Strategos and a command token, Sun Tze 2.0, the Daofei, and the Hulang are held in reserve. Thanks to this, the Yu Jing deployment and strategy are kept ambiguous. A Shaolin and two Kuang Shi are sent to reinforce the hard-to-defend firelane running north-to-south across the edge of the deployment zone.
O-12 forces, now exposed but not yet enured to this ambiguity, group up with the intent of pushing several lanes at once. Shona and a contingent of Varangians to the northeastern end, and a Beta with yet another Varangian to the southeast. A Crusher sits in the midfield, watched by an E/M mine provided by a Raveneye. Interestingly enough, a mimetism (-6) camo marker is placed in the southern side of the O-12 deployment zone, watching the AC2 and the firelane leading to it. It is enticingly curious as it is threatening.
Sun Tze is positioned to keep an eye on Shona’s line of advance, while also watching the centre lane of the theatre of operations. The Daofei is positioned in the southern midfield, ready to advance as soon as an opening is available. Lastly, the Hulang and his koala are positioned in the northern side of the battlefield to support the Guilang minelayer already sitting atop the north-most building.
O-12 places the Omega inside a building, watching their AC2 and starting in suppressive fire.

(Casanova, Hippolyta, Warcor, and Valkyrie all represent Varangians, Bit represents a Monstrucker, and Sun Tze 2.0 Marksman is represented by a Sun Tze 1.0 in this game and the associated photographs)

(Yu Jing to the west, O-12 to the east)

Turn 1:
Yu Jing Active: The Liu Xing is moved to group 1 using Strategos. The Shaolin and two Kuang Shi placed in forward positions move eastward impetuously to establish their defensive positions. The EVO repeater activates controlled jump. With the camo marker in the O-12 deployment zone representing a serious wrench in any plan to advance, the Liu Xing is dropped into battle sooner than originally intended, directly atop the offending marker, as well as the Kytta bot near it. However, instead of the Lynx sniper that was expected and relatively harmless at this range, the marker revealed to be equipped with a plasma carbine, almost the perfect weapon for the situation. As the Liu Xing landed and shots were fired, by time the smoke cleared, no one was left standing. While losing the Liu Xing this early was a blow, the removal of the Lynx and Kytta watching the rear line opened up a path.
Next, the Guilang, HERO OF THE STATE EMPIRE, would activate. Moving eastward down the building side towards the enemy DZ while avoiding discovery, he narrowly avoids the range of the enemy E/M mine. Slowly and carefully, he winds his way up the stairwell beside Shona and her Varangian guard, and discretely deploys a mine at the top. He hides himself once more, and readies for his assault, finally rounding the corner to attack with his shotgun. The Varangian is killed immediately, while Shona suffers a wound, but doesn’t go down yet. With enemy forces at the foot of the building taking notice and preparing to close in, the Guilang knows not much time is left for his operation to succeed. In a final heroic act of dedication to the state empire, he bravely faces his assailants and opens fire on the Varangian and Kytta below him. The combined enemy fire from Shona, the Omega, and Varangian shreds him to pieces, but not before his targets are themselves horribly maimed in the process. Let it be noted that the recovery of his Cube in particular will be of utmost importance.
With the last few remaining orders, the Beasthunter sneaks his way into combat with the Crusher, shrugging off its nanopulser while cleaving him in two.
Lastly, the Hulang enters suppressive fire while the Monstrucker moves into position, throwing drop bears to reinforce the defenses around the AC2.

O-12 Active: With a sizeable hit to their command structure, the O-12 forces attempt to respond quickly and with similar aggression make up for lost momentum. A Razor, lying in wait, begins to move forward to try to push directly into the Yu Jing AC2, but is unable to get very far before being caught between Sun Tze, the monstrucker’s drop bear, and the Daofei. While he narrowly dodges Sun Tze’s sniper rifle and the bear, the Daofei manages to hit home and neutralize the Razor before he can even get started.

“Man, Sun Tze is so freaking strong.”

Pushing forward instead along a more direct path, the Omega begins his assault, his eyes on an overconfident Sun Tze. He opens fire, striking the Yu Jing commander down in a single volley.

Sun Tze is dead.

With Sun Tze removed, Shona begins to move forward to take on the Hulang, but her advance is too ambitious, and she walks into the mine left behind by the Guilang, HERO OF THE STATE EMPIRE, killing her. With Shona down, and the Omega overextended, he attempts to reposition behind cover to threaten the Hulang directly. The two exchange shots, but neither is able to harm the other.

No points scored.

Turn 2:
Yu Jing Active: Loss of Lieutenant. The Hulang moves towards the Omega, opening fire and inflicting a single wound. He then moves into close combat with it, but in his hubris, is bested by the unassuming foe, taking a wound himself.
The Beasthunter takes action, jumping off the ledge and into contact with the AC2, striking it, yet failing to break through its automated defense systems and becoming stunned in the process.
The Daofei, tired of everyone’s incompetence, takes to action, moving to complete in-extremis-recovery of the unconscious Razor to complete the classified objective. He then moves to shoot at the Varangian threatening the southern flank, taking it out and then settling himself behind the wall to keep his hacking systems trained on the Beta trooper, the only remaining trooper that can harm the Yu Jing AC2, should it attempt to move forward.
With the Varangian removed and no one else with line of fire to it, the Beasthunter re-enters camo state in order to help defend itself until it can attempt to attack again.

O-12 Active: The Beta, being the last chance to destroy the Yu Jing AC2, tries to move forward, but is caught by the Daofei and quickly isolated. Cho and the Raveneye officer attempt to do everything in their power to remove the Beasthunter, but are unable to harm it as it repositions itself behind the AC2, using it as a shield. The Omega attempts desperately to fight off the Hulang, who’s cockiness has been sufficiently admonished, and is cut down.

Yu Jing: 1 // O-12: 0

Turn 3:
Yu Jing Active: The Hulang, now free to act, moves eastward to take down both Cho and the Raveneye. With the enemy forces guarding the AC2 defeated, the Beasthunter attempts to make up for their previous embarassment, destroying it in a single strike. The Daofei activates a Panoply.

O-12 forces are now in retreat.

End of Game: Yu Jing victory, 10/0

Closing thoughts: I’m really enjoying the ambiguity and curve-balls in list building that Sun Tze 2.0 brings to vanilla Yu Jing. He takes what tends to be a very standardized list-building structure, and mixes things around enough to make things interesting. Furthermore, the strategic control to be had over deployment can really mess with peoples expectations going in against a Yu Jing opponent. That said, he probably could use a little something more for his cost. I think if he got Marksmanship (you know, for the MARKSMAN LEADER variant) and could join Xian teams in ISS, he’d pretty much be perfect. Still, I look forward to messing around with him more in the future.
In this game, he was clearly in over his head. His deployment was originally done with the intent of dealing with Shona and her ilk, but the Guilang performed well enough that it simply wasn’t needed. As purely a sniper, he’s only mediocre at best, and any opponent that knows just how much (or little) respect is necessary for that will punish him harshly, and I walked right into that. It would have been prudent to use one of the last movement orders in turn one used for the Beasthunter to coordinate him going prone. Or simply keep him out of line of fire until he was necessary.