Spring Cleaning - with an AT-AT!

A narrative battle report for Star Wars Legion – André (Confederacy of Independent Systems; Battle Droids led by Count Dooku) vs Fortytwo (Alliance to restore the Republic; Rebel Troopers led by Leia Organa and Mandalorians led by Sabine Wren).

800 Points (Standard)
Scenario: Unnatural Resources

It was a nameless planet far from all trade and smuggling routes. A wild place, covered in mangrove swamps that stretched to the horizon, with numerous predators lurking in their labyrinthine thickets. Count Dooku sensed in the Force how the planet brimmed with life, a fermenting cycle of being eaten and born. The battle droids marching in dense ranks at his side had no sense of it, and yet they seemed more nervous than usual, their sensors overwhelmed by the numerous inputs that were non-stop at low, almost subliminal levels nudging their self-preservation protocols.

The Count was not here with his force without reason, but to investigate several rumours of an ancient technology that brought gases – extremely valuable for war production because they were rare – from the swamps stretching far into the depths to the surface. The aim was to tap the production sites suspected to be in a certain area and to capture as much of the precious gas as possible, leaving behind a small occupation force if possible. The Count advanced into a small depression dotted with trees, rotting fallen timber, and numerous bubbling pools, and ordered his troops to halt. He surveyed the terrain and discovered thin swathes of a foggy gas seeping from circular openings in the ground at even, parallel intervals.

And he perceived something else – something was lurking here. No, there were two different kinds of lurking: One was a wild, instinctive lurking whose presence in the Force was in tune with that of the planet. But there was a second lurking – a calculating, trained, intelligent lurking that did not belong in this world. They were not alone here at all….

His intuition was not to deceive him – beyond the small pool near the centre of the little hollow, the jets of numerous jetpacks suddenly flared up and he saw the flash of single sunbeams on helmets with a characteristic T-sight. Mandalorians leapt into action! But the Count hesitated a little longer, and his patience was rewarded: on his left flank he caught sight of a few figures darting through the dense undergrowth, taking up firing positions with soldierly movements. Now he ordered the troops at his side to march forward, while at the same time he moved a scuffed barricade over the heads of his battle droids by means of the Force, protecting them.

Over her helmet radio Sabine heard Leia’s voice, short, curt, in her calm, encouraging tone: “Incomming” That was the signal! She rushed forward with her mother Ursa, her younger brother Tristan, a warrior from Ursa’s guard, and a unit of clan warriors, and took up position behind some thick, fallen tree trunks. As they arrived, the triple bombardment of the corvette Liberator, which was in a stationary orbit several kilometres above the target area, struck the ranks of the droids. Heavy explosions flashed through leaves and thickets, causing destruction and confusion among the droids. But they also startled something else. From the damp thicket, a tentacle suddenly struck Sabine. She ducked, and fired a warning shot towards the creature, which instantly moved away from the warning shot towards the droids. Sabine paused for a moment, and an idea came to her. She turned to the clan warrior next to her and he immediately nodded at her – he had the same idea. Before they could exchange a word, however, Stab Riders of the battle droids buzzed out from between trees on the left, and there was a brief, fierce exchange of fire, in the course of which they roughly brought down the droids on their repulsor vehicles, bleeding themselves in the process.

After the Mandalorian clan warriors had destroyed a unit of the droid vehicles flitting among the trees, Sabine and her mother’s unit opened fire on the droids flanking the Count behind the barricade they had brought with them. On his right flank, the rebel troopers also opened fire, and the ranks of the droids accompanying him thinned faster than the Count would have liked. At least his troops on his right flank were now starting to drain the precious gas. He smiled – barely, but contentedly, but his face slipped as suddenly a massive movement on the ground stole his attention, followed by swirling, destructive tentacles that threw his droids into complete chaos and had no respect even for him. They truly had aroused the wrath of the planet….

A fierce exchange of fire now erupted around the centre of the hollow, and Sabine and the Mandalorian clan warriors on the left flank in front of the centre – not far from the Count – knew how to direct the frenzied creature with small warning shots more effectively than the near-panicked droids, who were so overwhelmed with the chaotic situation that even the escape trigger on their self-preservation protocols no longer worked properly! In the crossfire of the Mandalorians behind the thick tree trunks, not far from Dooku, and the consistent long-range fire of the rebel troopers to his left, the ranks of battle droids at his side gradually dissolved. His remaining troops continued to drain precious gas. A second unit of Stab Riders was to keep the remaining Mandalorians busy, but even these vehicles could not withstand the combined fire of the rebels for long.

Now that the Count was no longer protected by dense lines of droids at his side, and visibly battered by the creature raging further in the undergrowth, Sabine and her mother Ursa and their unit concentrated their fire on the Count, relaying his position to the rebel troopers at the same time. Leia led a squad of her rebels to a gas vent, and they now began tapping the precious gas as well. Dooku sensed he was getting into trouble here, and it was time for a lesson….

(What happened next was unfortunately not well documented photographically, but it is no less exciting in narrative form!)

Filled with rage fuelled by the loss of control in this filthy battle, Dooku reached into the Force for Ursa Wren and her unit, pulling them within reach of his lightsaber blade. At the same time, blue-glaring lightning twitched from the fingertips of his outstretched hand, reducing the rebel troopers to their leader at the gas vent. Under the blows of his blade, the clan warrior and Tristan Wren went down, and he wounded Ursa Wren. Ursa was ready to take on the unequal fight with the Count, and at least avenge her son with a permanent scar on the Count’s face, but when she heard a low moan in Tristan’s helmet, family was more important than revenge. She went to her knees and hastily pulled Tristan out of the Count’s sword range as numerous blaster shots from the Rebel Troopers hit the Count over Ursa’s head. The disbelieving and pain-distorted face of the Count, who fell to the ground unable to continue to fight, was revenge enough for Ursa, and she pulled her badly wounded son further into cover with one hand while she continued to fire with the other at the remaining droids in the centre of the hollow, hastily assuring Sabine that her brother would live.

Sabine was ready to jump to her mother’s aid, but she was in control of the situation. Instead, she leapt onto the head of a creature that rose briefly from the pool in the centre of the hollow, lured by the noise of battle and potential wounded prey. From the creature’s head, Sabine fired wildly into the trailing droids, and then – igniting the Darksaber – leapt from the head of the re-diving creature into the middle of their ranks. No droid at the central gas vent remained in one piece. Meanwhile, Leia ran as fast as she could in the direction of the centre gas vent, hoping to siphon off some more of the precious resource. She paused and exchanged a look with Sabine, who was no less disappointed. Leia looked around and analysed the situation: Yes, the droids had made a fat haul, but there was nothing worth mentioning left of their force. Nor was the Count to be found – he had dragged himself from the battlefield with a tactical victory, but his ego had taken a beating, of that Leia was sure. It would take a little time and resources, yes, but turning tactical defeat into strategic victory was something the Rebellion had to learn very early on. “It’s not much, but we still have a few combat-ready troops here, and Dooku certainly won’t be back, soon. Let’s see if we can salvage anything from this mission…”

Thanks to André for the beautiful game! Thanks also to the tournament orga of the Star Wars Legion World Open Qualifier in Hannover for the many fantastic tables to play on! How did the game formally end? In terms of victory points, André clearly won, but he didn’t have anything worth mentioning left of his army at the end for that, so I’ll at least chalk up a moral victory for the rebels!