I'm playing through the missions in the Pariah Nexus Crusade book, in order of appearance. The sixth mission is called Unstable Archeotech.
The goal of the mission is to claim an objective, and then to sacrifice your shooting and charging phases to move the objective into the enemie's deployment zone. At the end of round 5, the objectives detonate and Victory Points are scored based on its location:
The Blood of the Omnissiah regiment has broken through the defenses of a Genestealer Cult on its day of ascension. The adepts have raided a dig site and disabled quantum shields only to be outflanked and ambushed as the Stilling began to take hold of their troops. Nearly overwhelmed by Tyranids and the effects of the Stilling, they managed to capture some key objectives and pressed on.
Unfortunately, it has recently come to light that the Tech-Priest Engineseer, like many of the Tech-Magi of other regiments, brought along some dangerous and unstable archeotech for use in the battle. As they move closer and closer to what appears to be a noctolith pylon in the distance, the Blood of the Omnissiah comes upon an archeotech device embedded within a fallen servitor. With a burst of interference, the Tech-Priest Engineseer's device and the newly discovered device reveal their incompatibility. No matter what incantations and rites the Tech-Priest Engineseer invokes, both devices start to overheat. They're both going to detonate (5 rounds from now, to be precise), and to make matters worse, the silhouettes of Tyranids and their worhippers appear on the horizon.
Then again, maybe the Adeptus Mechanicus can use the unstable archeotech to their advantage. Placed within the Tyranid's ranks, the explosion of an archeotech device could clear the path the adepts need to continue their invasion!
I'm switching back to the Cohort Cybernetica detachment. Because of the ongoing threat of Aberrants, I've decided to place the Tech-Priest Engineseer in charge of some Kataphron Breachers instead of Skitarii infantry. Scipio Ω5-Quintus leads the Skitarii Vanguard unit.
As for my Tyranid Cult army, I feel that a Reductus Saboteur doesn't quite fit in with a mission themed around unstable devices on the verge of detonation, so he's out. Otherwise, it's the same army as last time, and frankly I feel that removing the Reductus Saboteur will force me to use models that had been otherwise sitting around doing nothing in previous games. There are only 2 objective markers in this mission, so I don't need units to sit and hold objectives. On the contrary, the goal of the mission is move each objective into the enemy's deployment zone so that they detonate there at the end of round 5.
I'm using the Insidious Infiltrators Compat Patrol rules from White Dwarf 497 along with the default Genestealer Cults detachment rules.
Pariah Nexus has a great subsystem for deciding which player is Attacker and which is Defender. First, each player secretly chooses an Aggressive, Balanced, or Defensive strategic footing. Then you cross-reference the intersection of the 2 choices in the Strategic Footing matrix on page 105.
The Adeptus Mechanicus chooses Defensive and the Tyranid Cult chooses Balanced. According to the chart, that means the Adeptus Mechanicus is Defender, and the Tyranid Cult gains the mission's Advantage. This mission's Advantage allows the Tyranids, once per battle, to move an objective marker without taking a penalty to shooting or charging.
The Adeptus Mechanicus rolls high for initiative, and institutes the Conqueror Imperative, granting the Assault keyword and -1 Armour Penetration to their weapons.
The lictors are both Infiltrators, and have deployed to control each objective. With all Genestealer Cultists hidden away in Reserves, the targets are predetermined.
The Kataphron Breachers advance and open fire, and miss their target. The Lictor doesn't even have to make Saves, that's how bad they did.
The Skitarii Vanguard open fire at the Neurolictor and deal 2 Wounds. It would have been many many more, but for the Neurolictor's 4+ Invulnerable Save (which ignores their AP.) The Cybernetica Datasmith has an answer for that, though. She's got an archeotech pistol that deals Devastating Wounds, and manages to roll 6 to Hit and then a critical Wound, dealing 1 more Wound. Her Kastelan Robots get just 1 Wound through, and then only thanks to his invocation of the sacred Conqueror Protocol (+2 Attacks.)
The plan was to have eliminated the Neurolictor by this stage, but despite it being targeted by literally every ranged attack this round, that's not happened. The Skitarii Vanguard have a Rad-saturation aura effect that nullifies a nearby enemy's Objective Control (OC), so they can definitely steal the objective from the Neurolictor. They make a Charge and move in for some close-quarters combat, hitting their target a surprising number of times but failing to wound due to Invulnerable Saves. But Scipio Ω5-Quintus gets 4 Wounds in with his servo-arc claw thanks to Devastating Wounds, and the Neurolictor not only ceases to control the objective but leaves the board entirely! This is an important early victory for the adepts, because those Aberrants and Neophyte Hybrids are going to emerge in mere moments.
On the opposite end of the board, the Kataphron Breachers and Tech-Priest Engineseer make a Charge at the Lictor. The Lictor has Fights First and deals 2 Wounds. It could have been worse, but the Adeptus Mechanicus made some good Saves and spent a Command Re-roll. The Kataphron Breachers deal 3 Wounds to the Lictor (no thanks to the Tech-Priest Engineseer, who rolled 1, 1, 2, and 2 to Hit.) However, the Adeptus Mechanicus does currently hold both objectives, for what that's worth.
On the Tyranid Cult turn, the bad boys emerge from their hiding places. It makes sense for the Genestealer Cultists to avoid the Tyranids, so they swarm around the Skitarii Vanguard while the Neurogaunts swarm around the Lictor.
Between the Neophyte Hybrids and the Aberrants, every last one of the Skitarii Vanguard are removed, leaving only the Technoarcheologist at the objective, and with only 1 Wound remaining. It's completely different over on the opposite end of the battlefield, where the Lictor and Neurogaunts fail to wound the Kataphron Breachers and Tech-Priest Engineseer.
Both objectives are held by the Tyranid Cult, but no points are awarded until the end of the next Round's Command phase.
The Adeptus Mechanicus rolls high again for initiative and enacts the Conqueror Imperative to grant the Assault keyword and -1 Armour Penetration to their weapons.
Scipio Ω5-Quintus makes a Desperate Escape from the Aberrants and takes cover behind some ruins. This leaves the Aberrants without an immediate and obvious target, unless they move away from the objective they control. The Kastelan Robots charge at the 2 remaining Aberrants and tear them to shreds. No Aberrants on the board by Round 2 is a new record for me and, by the Throne, does it ever feel good. Interestingly, this threatens to rob the Tyranid Cult of Victory Points for this objective, because progressive scoring doesn't happen until the end of the army's Command phase.
On the opposite side of the battlefield, the Tech-Priest Engineseer swings his Omnissian Axe in the heroic move we've all been waiting for, and slays the Lictor! There are still 10 Neurogaunts cluttering the objective, though, and the Kataphron Breachers are unable to pile in sufficiently to reach them all. They manage to kill 4 of the little bugs, but the Adeptus Mechanicus still doesn't control that objective.
On the Tyranid Cult's turn, the Neophyte Hybrids throw grenades at the Kastelan Robots from a safe distance, dealing 1 Wound to each robot. They choose not to Charge this Round, which is a calculated risk. By not Charging, they stay alive, but they also don't capture the objective. However, it's a long way all the across the battlefield to the Tyranid's deployment zone, and to move the objective the Robots must sacrifice their Shooting and Charging phases. Just how many grenades can the Kastelan Robots take?
The Neurogaunts use the mission's Advantage option and grab the archeotech and move it 6" toward the Adeptus Mechanicus deployment zone. To do that, they must make a Desperate Escape out of melee engagement. They fail their Leadership roll and lose 1 Neurogaunt in the move.
Adeptus Mechanicus rolls high again, and of course keeps the Conqueror Imperative for Assault and -1 AP. The Kataphron Breachers wipe out the rest of the Neurogaunts and take control of the other objective.
This leaves only the Neophyte Hybrids on the board, which is in no way how I'd expected this battle to go. The Kastelan Robots take a chance and ignore the Neophyte Hybrids and move their objective 6" toward the Tyranid deployment zone.
On their turn, the Neophyte Hybrids throw more grenades, causing 4 Mortal Wounds. Both Kastelan Robots are now at half health, more or less.
Amazingly, the initiative roll is exactly the same as the previous 2 Rounds (Adeptus Mechanicus 6 and Tyranid Cult 4). There's no advantage to the Protector Imperative against the Neophyte Hybrids, so the Conqueror Imperative stays active.
The Kastelan Robots should be able to make it into the deployment zone, but only if they give up their attacks. Then again, it may not be necessary to make it to the deployment zone, given that the Tyranid Cult has only 1 unit remaining. As long as the Neophyte Hybrids don't get access to the objective, there's no way for the Tyranids to win this mission. Holding the objectives in No Man's Land is possibly the smart strategy, in this situation.
The Kastelan Robots activate Kill Protocol (not actually a protocol, just a reference to a Hammer and Bolter episode) and slaughter half the Neophyte Hybrids in a hail of phosphor and flames. Scipio Ω5-Quintus takes a shot from hiding, and kills a cultist. And then the Kataphron Breachers help out, and take out the rest. There are literally no more Tyranids or Genestealer Cultists on the battlefield. In no way had I anticipated this.
Scipio Ω5-Quintus Advances toward the objective controlled by the Kastelan Robots. There's a metagame reason for this (any unit in range of an objective at the end of the game gets a bonus XP.)
This was a cleverly designed mission. I love the idea of mobile objectives that explode at the end. Having to sacrifice your attacks to move an objective seems particularly harsh, though, and seems to be a disincentive to moving them more than once, to be honest. It seems like just keeping an objective in No Man's Land and then defending it is the sensible way to go. Maybe with larger armies it's different. Either way, I enjoyed this mission and I enjoy its unique rules.
The Army gains 3 Requisition Points (1 for the battle, 2 bonus for winning this specific mission) Each unit gains 1 XP for taking part in the crusade, and the Kataphron Breachers, Technoarcheologist, Tech-Priest Engineseer, Kastelan Robots, and the Cybernetica Datasmith gain 1 XP each for ending the game within range of an objective they control.
Because they won, they also get to roll for archeotech. They need a 5+ to find archeotech, so of course they roll 1. I guess all the archeotech got detonated.
I'm awarding the Tech-Priest Engineseer with the Marked for Greatness bonus 3 XP, because seeing him take down the Lictor gave me hope that this miniature isn't just meant to sit around and look pretty.
In total, here's where the army is:
The Tyranids get 1 Requisition Point and 1 XP for partaking in a battle.
A list of the Crusade Forces that have seen action so far, whether they were in this battle or not:
The Neurolictor fails its Out of Action test, so gains 1 BattleeScar. It rolls 4 on the Battle Scar table:
DISGRACED
You cannot use any Stratagems to affect this unit and this unit cannot be Marked for Greatness.
This feels thematic for Death's Shadow. It was doing pretty well until this mission, and I can imagine that this failure would blemish its reputation within the hivemind.
The next mission is Polarising Energies.