Beyond the Gates of Antares

Club night and an opportunity to play something a little different, Dane offered to umpire a Beyond the Gates of Antares encounter I had read plenty about it but never seen it in action and was keen to roll some dice.... I know nothing about the various forces involved but the test of any rule set has to be the ability to pick the rules up easily and win a scenario if you if you can throw enough fire power at your opponent and they are damned unlucky.

 A face off between Red and Blue Factions.

I massed my forces on the far right including a hover tank with a drone who produced a nifty force field which could shield some of my units.

My opponent had opted for some shiny hover bikes but a lucky shot in the first round saw them fail their morale and go to ground, they were unable to pass their morale for a number of rounds which hindered the red forces flanking force. - Shooting ranges are really long compared to most table top games Infantry weapons being able to hit targets at 50 inches ouch...

As the Red Tank entered the centre of the table I threw everything but the kitchen sink at it, I scored very little damage but I was able to pin it on several occasions which forced it from the table.

If you are in the open you really are in for a nasty time.

Sitting on the high ground with support drones and some heavy fire power it was all over everytime a Red unit raised it's head it would receive 4x the return fire coupled with the force field it was all over.

If the hover bikes had not been stopped in the first turn it could have been a very different affair but the luck of the dice were definately with me.

The dice activation and order mechanics gave you a couple of tactical headaches when you watched dice after dice pop out of the bag for your opponent, but you had the satisfaction of knowing you would be next. You really need plenty of cover on the table if you are to survive more than a couple of rounds.

I can't see me purchasing any troops for Antares but it did make for a nice evenings game.