Campaign: Paradiso - Ariadna Impressions 1

I played my first Campaign: Paradiso game last Friday, and it was a hell of a nail-biter.

By way of some explanation, I've chosen to stick with my first Infinity love - vanilla Ariadna.  We're playing a sort of hardcore mode, wherein you're locked into a faction (including sectorials) and characters of any kind can die for good if you fail the requisite rolls to save them with MEDEVAC and CUBEVAC.  This was chosen mostly as a handicap for the more experienced players in our area, but man...I'm already feeling the pain.  I was scared, for instance, of taking Covert Uxia or Valerya Gromoz because losing them in the first mission means that I will never see them again.  This also means that I am basically down any kind of hacking support, so I feel like I have to be super-aggressive when it comes to eliminating the enemy's hackers (who can invariably stop my attempts at winning by jamming the signal).  The first game felt like I had to be constantly on the offensive, because my opponent had access to options that just don't exist in the Ariadna toolkit.

That said, I had a lot of fun.  Here's a quick run-down of what I fielded and how I felt about it.  The Task Forces, by the way, are combat groups I indicated with coloured beads.  It made things a lot easier on everyone, including me!

Task Force Blue

Alfonso Padron - Irmandinho Smuggler (AP Rifle)
Status: KIA
Alfonso joined the Ariadna Expeditionary Force with the promise of phat booty.  He served his nation well, but was mercilessly mowed down by a Yu Jing war machine before he had a chance to collect.

This particular Irmandinho was an absolute dynamo.  I had deployed an Irmandinho on either side of the table just in case the Alien Info decided to be tricky, and good thing too...after the other Irmandinho discovered that the Alien Info was actually furthest away from him, Alfonso found that he was in the perfect position to recover the data.  My opponent had the location covered with a Keisotsu HMG, though, so I needed to spend orders on my Chasseur to clear the lane before Alfonso could reach the objective.  He eventually grabbed it and managed to survive a Tiger Soldier onslaught (thanks to his elevated Prone position and the selfless warning of my Spec Op's Alert ARO), but was coldly gunned down by a Su Jian before he could transmit.

Rating: 10/10.  Alfonso did his job in relatively few orders because of his Impetuous status, and served as a real bullet-magnet for my opponent's first turn.  A shiny gold star for you, Alfonso.

Lillianne DuGaul - Dozer
Status: Alive and Kicking
Lillianne was always good at breaking things.  After a short stint in a juvenile correction facility, she was offered the chance to do well by her country and receive combat engineer training to assist on the Paradiso front.  Now Lilliane has forgotten the thrill of destruction, but has a new thrill - running up-field to accomplish objectives in the face of enemy fire!

I honestly thought that I'd go into this scenario with my Irmandinhos ripping around the field and my Dozer just standing there doing nothing.  Lillianne picked up the slack near the end of the game, though, and recovered the Data from the fallen Irmandinho after a brave rush up to his position (I had deployed her around the middle, while the two smugglers were on my flanks).  She failed to send off the data immediately, as the enemy hacked her transmission, but I got in a few more attempts after slaying the enemy hacker with my Dog-Warrior.  Unfortunately, Lillianne didn't seem to be familiar with how data transfer devices work, so after 4 normal rolls (my last 4 orders before my opponent ran off the table), I still didn't manage to upload anything.

Rating: 7/10.  Lillianne grabbed the data to upload it, but in the end it didn't make much of a difference because I'd already scored the points for picking it up.  It was nice to have her around as a backup, though - not to mention she lets me field Traktor Muls (which didn't do anything, but don't tell Lillianne that!).


Bohdan Khmelnytsky - Intel
Status: KIA
Bohdan was named after a famous Eastern European hetman, and everyone in the Stavka had high hopes for him.  He didn't fail to disappoint, bravely warning his colleagues of enemy attack...but that heroic act was his last one.  Time for the Stavka to start training another "elite" troop...

I know I didn't have to use my Intel in the first game, but I wanted to at least have the model on the table.  Bohdan was pretty hidden, so I didn't anticipate any real altercations in his area of the battlefield.  My opponent, though, had other plans - a Tiger Soldier dropped down within his LoF, ready to blow my Irmandinho out of the water from behind (said Irmandinho was not within 8" to turn).  Instead of shooting the Tiger, which was closer than 8" away, I opted to Alert my troops (chiefly my engineer) so that the Tiger would have a much tougher time of things.  Bohdan failed the face-to-face that followed, and fell face-first into Paradiso dirt, dead as a doornail.  That's ok, though...there's plenty more where that came from.

Rating: 7/10.  I wasn't counting on Bohdan to do anything at all, and at least he managed to warn my Irmandinho (which survived the Tiger as a result) and buy me some time.

Odyn - Traktor Mul Uragan
Status: Running smoothy.
Odyn sat there, purring smoothly.  Lillianne gave it a look, and turned to her other work.  But Odyn was watching...oh yes, watching and waiting.  Soon, it would get its day in the sun.

I had a few Forward Observer models, but no real opportunities came up during the game.  Between rushing for the objectives and using my Chasseur to set a whole bunch of things on fire, my Uragan sat in the back of my lines, running on standby.

Rating: 5/10.  Really, it's not the Uragan's fault.  Still, I wish I could have gotten in some guided missile shots.


Dva - Traktor Mul Minesweeper
Status: Didn't even run out of gas.
Dva silently mocked its brother Uragan after the battle.  Sure, it had giant missiles, but did it get to use them?  No.

Dva was around basically as a Baggage backup for this scenario.  I didn't get the opportunity to take advantage of Baggage anyway, but it was nice to have around.

Rating: 7/10.  Dva did what it was supposed to do: hang around, provide an order, and give me Baggage.  Good times.

Task Force Red

Xoan Curro - Irmandinho Smuggler (+2 ARM)
Status: Relaxing in a bar somewhere.
Xoan Curro really hated his kinsman Alfonso Padron.  I mean, really hated him.  So when Alfonso signed up for the Ariadna Expeditionary Force, Xoan just had to do one better.  Now Alfonso is face-down in Paradiso dirt and Xoan is enjoying all the booze and women his paycheque can buy.

I deployed this particular smuggler on my far right flank, and my very first non-Impetuous order of the game was him scanning the console and finding out that the Alien Info was on the far side of the board.  After a little game of impetuous chicken with an Oniwaban (neither of them ever saw each other), the late game saw Xoan running across to the middle of the table and scanning one more console for +1OP.  Overall, Xoan scored me 2 points, so I'm not at all sad about his performance.

Rating: 8/10.  Xoan wasn't quite the order sink that his cousin was, but he managed to score me just as many OP.  He definitely gets a silver star for this one, and at least he lived to enjoy it...


Gleb Domashev - Tankhunter
Status: at the ammo depot, paying through the nose to replace his one fired Autocannon round.
Gleb is a career soldier.  After a long stint in the Line Kazak Corp, he reenlisted with the hopes of doing more for his country.  And in Ariadna, how much "more" can you get than an Autocannon?

I intended on using Gleb to mow down my opponent's heavier units, but he never really drew LoF to any of them.  He did nothing all game except move once and scare the daylights out of an enemy Tokusetsu with an ARO shot that went wild.  I don't even think the presence of the Autocannon made my opponent flinch, because he really felt that the objective crunch was on with my quick start.

Rating: 3/10.  On one hand, Gleb didn't really get to do what I wanted him to do.  On the other hand, he flubbed an ARO shot needing a 15 to hit (and probably rip the enemy Tokusetsu to pieces).


Osip Budanov - Line Kazak Lieutenant
Status: Drinking cough syrup to soothe his sore throat.
Osip was born to lead.  In fact, when he joined the Line Kazaks, they told him that a Lieutenant position awaited him some day.  With his booming voice and incredible ability to hide behind tall objects, Osip knew that they were right.

Osip basically stood steadfastly behind total cover and shouted orders all game long.  In other words, he did exactly what a non-combat Lieutenant should do.  If I never go into Loss of Lieutenant, my Lieutenant is doing his job right.  Enjoy the cough syrup, Osip: you've earned it.

Rating: 7/10: Osip didn't actually do anything, but I feel like it's not really a Lieutenant's job to "do" things so much as it is "stand there and don't die."  And at that job, Osip was a pro.


Mirren Abernathy - Wulver
Status: doing whatever it is Wulvers do after battle.  You can probably guess.
Mirren was a born killer.  Actually, he was a born quarter-breed, but that one-quarter was born to kill, so it sort of evened out.

Mirren was much like Gleb in this game.  Like Gleb, I planned on using Mirren as a counter-threat to blow up enemy units that stuck their noses out too far, but no such opportunity presented itself.  My opponent played really cautiously, and when there was a threat, either my Dog-Warrior or my Briscard dealt with it.  I love Wulvers and I would have liked to actually do stuff with Mirren in this game, but objectives come first.

Rating: 5/10.  Mirren basically stood there all game, polishing his Mk12.  The flank he was covering only had a very shy Oniwaban on it, and it would have taken too many orders to re-position him while scoring objectives at the same time.  At least he didn't miss a potentially game-winning shot, though.


S'hivy Pes - Dog-Face
Status: Licking his wounds and probably doing whatever Mirren's doing, too.
S'hivy Pes (Grey Dog) really only came along for the violence.  He knew that there were important secrets to be found on Paradiso, but leave that to the tech-heads, he figured.  Plus, he knew that enemy tech-heads would be chasing the same goals, so what better way to work out his aggression than by tearing apart a bunch of pretentious cyber-dweebs?

S'hivy Pes was my mother-effing MVP.  He protected the Alien Info objective, killed the Tiger Soldier menacing my lines, killed the Tokusetsu who almost managed to send off the data, killed the hacker who was preventing me from sending off the data, and...well, generally made life hell for my opponent by just being within 5-10" of the objective.  I was intensely happy with Pes' performance, especially after my Chasseur cleaned up the potential threats (HMG, Spitfire) to his health.  This is one Dog-Face who earned his R&R.

Rating: 10/10.  S'hivy Pes' order efficiency and utter refusal to die (even after taking 2 wounds) puts him in the gold star book for this game.


Jean Cornett - Chasseur FO
Status: KIA.
Jean Cornett always knew that he would die for his mother country.  He just didn't know he'd die worlds away, chewing on Paradiso dirt.  At least he managed to take an honour guard of enemies with him to Hell.

I saved Jean for my reserve deploy, and actually tried to infiltrate him despite the campaign's rather harsh infiltration penalties.  He scattered about 10", but it was a lateral scatter so I didn't mind too much.  I headed towards my opponent's deployment zone, dropping a few mines along the way (I didn't want to make things too easy!), and let loose with a flamethrower against a Keisotsu HMG and an Aragoto Spitfire.  The Keisotsu survived, only to miss with his ARO and take 3 Rifle bullets in the face on the very next order.  I spent the last of my orders on objectives, so Jean was left hiding behind a building...and on my opponent's next turn, the Su Jian came out and blasted him to pieces.  Jean's mine managed to deal a point of damage to the Su Jian, though.

Rating: 9/10.  This aggressive Chasseur really won me the tempo in this game.  I'm not sure if the mines he left behind were of any use (besides the one that hurt the Su Jian), but his destructive output definitely helped my Dog-Warrior cover the objective without the threat of heavy weapons looming over him.  The only thing that would have made Jean's performance better is if he had lived and burned the Su Jian to a crisp, but that's almost wishful thinking.  Jean definitely deserves a posthumous gold star.


Mori Kazuo - Briscard
Status: writing touching poems after the battle.
Mori Kazuo was a Nipponese defector who found love in the arms of a very boisterous French woman.  After meeting her family, he vowed to protect his newfound kin and way of life, even if it meant putting his own life on the line.

Kazuo is a Tokusetsu model that I used as a proxy for my Briscard Forward Observer, mostly because the actual Briscard is not out.  This guy mostly lurked around the back-field with Mirren and Gleb, but when the enemy Su Jian showed itself through Low-Vis, I knew that I had to seize the opportunity.  Using a cautious move, I managed to cross the Su Jian's LoF, gaining Cover and firing on it with my next order.  Since it had already sustained a wound from my Chasseur's mine, Kazuo's Marksman Rifle caused enough hurt to put the remote-heavy beyond the aid of enemy engineers.  After only one game with the Briscard, I have to say that I love the Marksmen Rifle/MSV1 combo.

Rating: 8/10.  Kazuo wasn't pivotal in my overall plan, but he did manage to get rid of the Su Jian that was giving me trouble with the objective.  He also proved to me that the Briscard is definitely a unit worth buying.


Kyle - Volunteer Chain Rifle
Status: cleaning up after the battle.
Kyle joined the Ariadna Expeditionary Force because his mother wanted him to.  He was always a timid boy, but with a beret pushed down on his head and a Chain Rifle thrust into his arms, what choice did he have?

Kyle basically just stood there wetting himself the entire battle.  He was supposed to be backing up Xoan, and I admit that the presence of a second Chain Rifle on that flank (opposite an Oniwaban) made me feel a little more comfortable, but I didn't end up spending a single order on Kyle the entire game.  Which, I guess, makes him a grade A cheerleader.

Rating: 6/10.  Kyle had an opportunity to nail an Oniwaban with his Chain Rifle, but I opted not to in favour of actually achieving objectives.  Still, the potential for automatic hits made Kyle seem a lot more useful than he actually was.  Oh yeah, and he was a 6 point order all game long.  That's a plus, right?