The brave defenders settled deeper into their holes, waiting for the first enemy vehicle to appear on the road.
But of course, TOG doesn't follow the rules roads.
The rules were that rebels would start hidden, and TOG would start with all forces on the board. This was their initial placement:
Of course, that put them directly on top of my front squads:
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TOG was racing forward at a higher flight level, hoping to get the initiative and kick their bounce infantry out before dropping to nap-of-mars flight. The infantry squads managed to opportunity-fire before they could do this.
Each squad dumped all their missiles into the underbellies of the lead TOG platoon as they raced overhead. Trying for full kills, they aimed 3 missiles at the lead APC, and 1 more at the 2nd.
It was a heavy sucker-punch. The 2 lead APCs exploded in midair before their squads could jump. A third grounded hard but the squad survived. And the last sustained severe damage and could only turn left for the rest of the game.
Big portion of the battle here. Kinda got busy and forgot to take pictures. The TOG deployed a battlefield-deception trick of "fresh guacamole" that confused both sides for a time.
The engineering vehicles were only intended as a distraction, but TOG really, really wanted them. They sent the damaged APC off the board after the vehicles. We decided that whatever outcome happened on the main board would apply to them.
Later in the battle. The Wolverine got some good side shots in, then left his position to start a circle attack. Oncoming TOG vehicles focus all their fire on the Sterling tank. Being dug in, his turret was soon reduced to swiss-cheese, but no important components were damaged.
The Vipers, having expended their long-range missiles, moved forward to hit the next wave of TOG. The Spartius sweeps in from the opposite side. The Wolverine now has some helm damage, and a TOG APC latches on like a dog to his tail.
The brave-but-suicidal Sterling crew is direct-firing through the holes in the turret.
In the turn after the above picture, the Spartius comes in range of the surviving TOG dismounted squads. Over a dozen TVLG missiles are simultaneously launched into the left side of the Spartius. It doesn't survive.
But what's this? TOG displays a new combat tactic not seen before. Knowing the Wolverine can't turn, he leapfrogs over the tank and drops mines in front! Mines raining from an APC? Who said the hidebound TOG couldn't learn new tricks?
The Wolverine barely survives the mines attack. Alive, they can no longer change direction or speed. They'll only live until they hit something. We wanted to see how that would play out, so we random-rolled another map to tack on, giving it another turn or two.
The Sterling finally unearths from its bunker, and lumbers away at a slow waddle. But now the fire is coming in on the well-protected sides, giving it more chance to live. Coms have been knocked out, it has to do its own laser painting for the rest of the game.
A radio intercept from TOG: "Capture that small tank alive!" The Sterling slowly lumbers after the fleeing tanks.
The TOG mine-layer tried the trick again. Amazingly, the Wolverine didn't die, again. Thank Mars for hanging chads of armor. The Wolverine continues on until it smashes into some woods.
And again, it survives. The TOG have a brutally-destroyed hulk to pick apart and reverse-engineer. Dammit!
The End Game. The Sterling suffers a rain of mines and finally dies. The Spartius is gone. One Viper has a dead commander and can't turn right, the other has no combat capability left. The Rebels fail their morale roll and surrender.
The TOG have won, but at a terrible cost.
The brave heroes of the RearGuard have accomplished their mission, and their names will ring in history.
