Major O'Neil sipped his cup of tea, as he stood in full dress uniform on the balcony of the ancient abandoned fortress. Tiny flakes of snow drited down across his golden hair, drifted along the gold epalettes of his dress uniform, and settled on the surface of his hot tea, instantly melting away. Before him, parked on the ice of the lake below, sat the Ninthe Company's Strike Crusier. The cruiser had to make an emergency landing to elixit reparis on its hyperdive navigation computer.

Major O'Neils daring escape from the forces of Capitol had made the Holovids, and he had been toasted back home on Ceres the geat Cybertronic asteroid. The Immortal himself had said how he was doing a great job, and hinted that had they found O'Neil in a less that alive state, there were outstanding orders for his Diamondization. Diamondization was the ability to reinject life into a corpse. A free ticket from death reserved for only the greatest of warriors. Even his commanding officer Everassur Severus was not marked for Dimaondization. So, inbetween all the parties and the medals, he had been taken down to a secret lab where he had met the origonal Doctor Diana herself! Now His dna was floating in a vat in the belly of Ceres, just in case..

Major O'Neil pulled a cented hankercheif from the sleve of his dress uniform and dabbed tea from his pencil thin mustache as he remembered. Oddly enough though his commanding officer Everassur Severus had been at every award ceremony, the Everassur had not seemed very happy. O'Neil had told the Immortal "Well you know, Everassur Severus sits at a desk these days, and doest get the chance for a bit of daring do, like I do". Perhaps he had whispered that a bit too loudly. Everassur Severus might have overheard.

But the Everassur had agreed, that O'Neil was a brilliant warrior and tactitian. (Although he did caugh a few times after the word brilliant). And so O'Neil and the Nineth Company were ordered out to the front. O'Neil had to admit there was a bit of relief when the Strike Cruiser's hyperdrive navigation system went amok, and they dropped out of warp. It turned out they were not going to make the battle after all. In the three days that it would take to reapairi the ship, the fighting would be long over.

He read over the inquiry report in his other had as he sipped hot tea in the cold air. The investigation he had ordered had mentioned the possiblity of sabatoge. O'Neil had that wiped from the record. He knew it had not been sabatoge. The missing part was in his pocket.

Behind him crisp boots stepped quickly on the black rock of the ruins and then stood slient waiting for O'Neil to turn around. "Lieutenant Henry, reporting for duty Sir".

O'Niel put the report down on the black stone battlment and slid the hankerchief back into his sleeve. "How goes the repairs, Lieutenant", he said turning around.

"Very good sir!", said Henry smartly, arms behind his back in parade rest. "The engineers are ahead of schedule. We may be able to make the battle after all!"

"Well!", said O'Neil. "er... tell them not to rush... i dont want us all to get lost in the Warp and all... take your time and do it right the first time, I allways say".

"Yes sir!", said Henry smarly, his third arm snapping up a sharp salute. Henry had a horrifed look for a moment and the arm returned behind him.

O'Niel took another sip of tea. "Lieutenant.. I cant help but notice you have... a third arm".

"Er.. I dont understand, what arm sir?", said the Lieutenant nervously.

"Its right there, growing out of your left armpit", pointed O'Neil with the cup of tea.

"Oh!, Yes sir! That arm sir! Very good sir!", said Henry with a nervous laugh.

O'Neil took another sip. "Lietuenant Henry, I cant help but remember, but you did NOT appear to have a third arm yesterday".

"No, sir!", said Lieutenant Henry.

"Where did it come from then?"

"Perhaps its genetic?", offered Henry.

O'Neil nodded thoughtfully. "And do any of your family have history of sponaneous third arms? Mother? Father? Cousin?"

"No Sir".

"Well im affraid thats probably not it. Why dont you tell me everything you remember that happened between the time of having TWO arms, and this morning when you had THREE".

"Yes Sir", said the lieutenant. His face took on a glassy look and his mouth dropped open as he remembered. "You see.. with everyone camped in this abandoned church, me and some of the lads of Nineth Company were doing a bit of exploring sir, it being so massive and it beeing to cold and snowy outside to do anthying. Plus this powdery snow is the wrong sort to build snowforts."

O'Niel nodded encouragingly so the Lieutenant started talking more freely. "So we was down in the basement, and we found what appeared to be this large laboratory. Filled with vats of strange floaty stuff. On the floor there was these big glowing red runes see. So we decided it would be a good idea to sleep down there."

O'Neil raised a hand. "Lieutenant", O'Neil said softly "I have to call into question some of your Soldiering. Why did you want to sleep in the basement?"

"Well those glowing runes were awfuly warm. And me and the boys thought it would be good to put our bedrolls on them, it being so cold outside".

O'Neil nodded. "Well.. that makes some... sense... somewhat", said O'Neil. "But why didnt you report all this to your commanding officer?

Lieutenant Henry looked sheepishly at the floor "Well, sir, I should have.. but see there was only nine runes, and there were already eight of us sir, and we were afraid everyone would want one and there wasnt enough to go around".

Major O'Neil paused for a moment and put down his tea. "Well im sorry to report, Old Chap, that you seem to have been infected with Dark Synergy".

"Is it bad, Sir?", asked Henry.

"Fraid so, old bean", said O'Neil.

"Is there anything we can do about it?"

"Oh Yes!", said O'Neil jauntily. Turn around. Thats a good lad. Its a simple fix. The Doctors say a quick injection of lead will stop the spread.

"Oh.. good", said Lieutenant Henry, facing the other way. "I was worried there for a bit. A led injection you say? You mean like a shot?

"Er... yes!", said O'Neil un-buckling his service revolver. "Just like a shot".

"Will is sting?" Asked Lieutenant Henry.

"Only for the briefest of seconds", said commander O'Neil.

****

Private Cafferty walked down the stone spiral steps to the basement holding the two-way video holo infront of him like a ward against evil. On the holo, O'Neils beaming face encouraged him on. "Thats a good lad, not much further now". The private stepped out into a massive underground chamber carved from the same black stone as the abandoned fortress above. All around him were giant vats filled with murky green goo. Strange things swam in those vats.

"Do you hear buzzing", said the hologram of O'Neil. "Im pretty sure abandoned fortresses should not be buzzing". Private Cafferty was too terrifed to answer. The Private's feet keep moving foward though, as if of their own will. He walked into the center of the room where nine great red glowing runes pulsed in the floor like a heartbeat. On top of the runes, were several bloody corpses in bedrolls. The remains of Lieutenant Henry's platoon. In the middle of the ring of runs stood a twelve foot tall, beautiful woman.

"Now Here we go!", said the holigram of O'Neil. "Hold me up, Private so I can say hello.".

The woman in the middle of the room was completely naked, her pale alabaster skin pulsed rosily with the reflection from the red runes in the floor. She smiled at the Private and put her hands on her hips seductively. Her long black hair hung down brushing over the top of her ample boosom. "Oh.. a guest!", she said like a Lioness talking to a springbuck.

Private Cafferty held the holo out in front of him. The woman was beautiful. So beautiful that he could not look away. In fact, he didnt care about anything anymore, as long as he could gase on this lady's enrapturing form. He didnt even mind the six large spider arms that grew out of the woman's spine, and swayed menacingly. Somehow... somehow.. they just made her more beautiful.

"Um... Hello!", said the holo of O'Neil. Look.. just wanted to say sorry for stopping in your house. We had no idea anyone was home, the upper floors look abandoned. Our ship broke down, but were almost done.. So... er... thanks for the hospitality.. but we wont be long."

The naked giantess adressed the two way holoviewer. "Oh.. please stay longer. There are so many of you.. I can... sense it...". At the word sense the spider arms emerging from her back wiggled excitedly. "Why dont you come down here yourself and let me show you my hospitality?"

O'Neil gave the naked beauty a dashing smile and ran a finger across his pencil thin mustache. "Oh?", he said leaning in with anticipation. "And what kind of hospitality could that be?"

"I will reach through your mouth and suck your flesh out of your skin, like a soft boiled egg!", the woman screamed. The spider arms flashed out at Private Cafferty and everything went black.

O'Neil, far above watched the stactic on the holo video for only the briefest of seconds before pushing the button for General Alert. "All troops... this is Major O'Neil. This is not a drill. You are to fall back to the strike cruiser Imidately. Leave all equipment but weapons. This is a red alert. We have hostiles in the fortress. All hands retreat! All hands retreat! Now! This is not a drill".

Out the window, he could see members of the Nineth Company start running towards the frozen lake. They had been with O'Neil long enough that they were well practiced in a full retreat. His comlink chirped open. It was the engineers from the Strike Cruiser. "Major!", they said worriedly. "We cant take off! We have not completed repairs! What are we going to do?"

"No worries!", said O'Neil pulling the missing part out of his pocket. "While you techs have been fumbling about.. I.. er... fabricated a replacement myself.... out of a spare Atillia. Prepare for takeoff".

****

Raven pulled out his Dark Legion army for the fight last weekend. We decided to play a MASSIVE 1500 point Heavy OCC army.

His army was:
Tech Warlord Golgotha
Nepohyte of algoroth lord
8 man squad of undead legionnaires led by a necromutant
7 man squad of undead legionnaires led by a necromutant
2 x 5 man sqads of Necromutants
3 x Rasides
2 x Necrobeast Riders
Behemoth.


My army was
Custom Tech Lord (the ever dashing but cowardly) Major O'Neil.
2 x 5 man squads of Chasseurs w/ rocket launchers
1 x 5 man squad of Armored Chasseurs
2 x 2 man squads of Machinators (my favorite units)
2 Scorpions
2 Atillia Mark 1s
2 Eraddicator Death Droids
(apologies for the Anime Robot substitution for the Death Droids, as funds are what they are)
(please also ignore the fact that one robot appears to be doing interpretive dance, the driver has been sacked)


You think with ALL THIS HARDWARE I would CRUSH my opponent. Dont understimate the power of Rasides.

We rolled the mission Search and Destroy, meaning we would be fighting for table quarters. The board was a typical Raven board, heavy in terrain, with a massive temple sitting in the middle. It looked like this:



My plan was to sit back with all my robot goodness and just pound him as he came in. I too often get pulled into the "Agressor" in fights with raven, since Cybertronic forces fight best in medium range (18)". This time it was going to be different. He was gonna come to me.

Raven rolled and chose the table side. Deployment looks like this

Turn 1. Cybertronic wins initiative.
I had TWO death droids. One on the north part of the board, and one in the center. His warlord Golgotha was on the other side of the board and I was hot to blow her up. In hindsight, with the new (and fantastic) adendum where dead warlords provide half their cards, Warzone is no longer a game of "hunt the warlord", like Infinity is. It makes it a much better game, in my opinion.

The Northern Eradicicator moves across the field, pounding rocks into dust. "Droid Alpha reporting, target aquired. Attacking the large blue naked woman". The Droid fires scorcher and its rocket launchers at Golgotha, taking 3 wounds, which are transferred to the undead around her.

Standing in the rubble of her creations. Golotha hisses "Destroy them, my pets". Three rasides raise their weapons and let loose a salvo. Aiming carefully at the deathdroids torso, all three rasides connect, and the droid explodes in a flash of smoke. I stand there stunned. Raven does the happy dance.


The middle squad one of unarmored chasseurs see the explosion of the droid. "Get To Cover!" Barks their squad commander. They all move up into the fortified trench in front of them. Behind the temple, a pack of two necrobeast riders up behind the temple, looking to sweep south.

AT the south side of the table, the Armored Chasseurs also fortify themselves. Waiting for the undead to appear from the trees. Little did they know, a dark Neophyte of Algaroth was sneaking along the southern edge of the table. Seeing the Armored Chasseurs, he called upon the dark powers of Algaroth... but Algaroth was out.. to tea.. and did not respond (failed the psychic power roll with a 19).

Seing their sister squad safely tucked in a trench, the second unarmored chasseur squad jumps behind the available trenches. They scan the horision for trouble, but there is too much terrain inbetween. No shots are taken. In the distance there is a pounding, like cannons going off. A grove of trees part, and a massive Dark Legion Behemoth emerges.

The two Exterminateur mark Is move up to also take cover in the trenches, but due to terrain and range, have no shots.
The remains of Ravens's squad of Legionaires surronding Gototha takes shots at the second Death Droid but the bullets bounce easily off the heavily armored shell.

Hiding in the smoke of the northern destroyed deathdroid, a pair of Enhanced Machinators lay still. Instead of moving, they waited their chance, hoping that the enemy commander would become exposed.
The middle unit of Necromutans shamble up behind the Behemoth and take shots at the Death Droid. Again the bullets bounce harmlessly off the death droid. At this point i am thankfull that the other squad of rasides that Raven has purchased, had not arrived in the mail yet.

THe Second Death Droid, opens fire at the first Necomutant squad killing in a massive hail of fire and kills all but one of them.
Golgotha, seeing this destruction just in front of her., crates a Dark Gate in front of her, providing saftey of cover.

O'Neil, feels very exposed. "Ive got to get into some cover!", he says to himself. He sees the squad of Armored Chassuers up on the hill. "They will do!", he says, as he sneaks up behind them.
On the far side of the battlefield, the second squad of Necromutants moves to the center of the board behind the large temple.

On Cybertonics second to last turn, O'Neil gets the report of the Rasides on the far north destroying his army. "How can I escape of you people keep dying!", he radios back. "Send in the scorpions".
A pair of scorpions erupt from the ground. After a hail of fire and a flashing of pincers, One Raside lies dead, and the other two are wounded.
With nothing else to do, the souther most Undead Legion moves up.


Up on top of the dark temple, the second set of Machinators pass, lying in wait to ambush the necrobeast riders once they come around the side of the temple.

The End of Turn one and im already down a deathdroid. It looks like this.

Turn Two:
Cybertronic wins Initiative.

With the air cooling of its hot barrels, the second (and only remaining) Death droid locks its sights back on Golgotha hiding in the trees. Unable to get a bead on her due to the portal in front, it opens up a withering fire on the legionaire squad in front of her, killing all but two.
On the very north part of the battlefield, the Rasides are locked in Hand to Hand Combat with the Scorpions. Raven plays a "bloodlust" card and turns and burns, giving the rasides five attackes each, and the rasides start whacking at the scorpions like Julia Child on a chicken. In the end, each scorpion has one wound.

Far to the south of the battlefield, O'Niel, safely in the middle of a squad of ablative armor, er.. armored machinators, pulls out "Old Blue", his trusty heavy sniper rifle. Scanning the woods, he sees the Dark Lord comming out from behind a rock. "Happy Birthday Old Bean!", he whispers and squuezes the trigger. The Dark Legion Lord explodes in a flood of black bile.
The Dark Legion moves the second necromutant squad, that was behind the black temple up enough to fire at the Erradicator. It takes one wound to the chest.

Around him, the Armored Chasseurs are able to see the emerging necrobeast riders, and fire at the front one, causing two wounds on its torso.
Igoring the hail of fire, the dark riders bound out from behind the temple, in a mess of snapping teeth and flicking tails.

The Southern most unarmored Chaseur squad in the trench take shots at the two necrobeast riders. But being part of Ninth Company it was the first time anyone had actually FIRED their weapon, and they all miss. Even the rocket launcher (Horrendously bad rolls here)
The remaining two necromutants up north by the behemoth fire at the deathdroid, and with a bout of GOOD luck, cause another damage on the Deathdroid.

Still in combat with the Rasides, the Scorpions unleash a whirlwind of death (and I burn a few cards) and kill both of the remaining rasides. This unfortunately leaves them defenseless and out side of close combat.
The remains of the legion squad by Golgotha shoot at the scorpions and cause a wound, killing one of them.

The Northern machinators, that had been hiding, move around keeping to the cover, and fire at the remaining legion squad by Golgotha, killing the last ones.
The Behemoth lets loose a growl and fires a heavy maggot shell at the remaining death droid, causing a wound on the engine.

But now the Behemoth is in the line of sight of the Exterminater Mark 1s. "Engaging enemy" they drone in their electronic voice. Firing a hail of shots into the behemoth, all of them either miss, or bounce off its thick skin. The Behemoth roars in definace, spittle covering the Death Droid. A small amount of oil runs down the Death Droid's leg.
The Southern Legionarry squad shambles forward.... "BRAAAAAAINSSSSS....."

Safely from their perch on top of the run, the southern group of Enhanced Machinators fire down on the necrobeast riders, but all miss (another terrible roll).
Golgotha, seeing the exposed remainig scorpoin steps through her magic mirror. "I AM THE QUEEN OF DEATH!", she cries. Her six spine claws lash out piercie holes in the armor of the last scorpion. In a flash of sparks, the scorpion collapses, the light going out of its red glowing eye. She then drops down a second dark portal for cover.

The End of Turn Two looks like this.

Turn Three. Dark Legion takes Inititiave.
The now angry Behemoth moves up, out of cover and fires another massive Maggot Shell. It however misses (with a roll of 20) wizzing right past the Death Droid. More oil drops down the leg of the Deathdroid.
In the north of the board though, Golgotha stands alone over the bodies of the two scorpions triumphant. Behind her she suddenly hears a strange beeping. She turns to see two Enhanced Machinators bound up to her. Electric cracking fists smash down on her, wounding her twice and causing electric shock, paralizing her. [Now its time for me to do the happy dance, and Bill is upset for leaving his commander exposed]

On the far side of the board, the necrobeast riders charge into the Armored Chasseurs. In a flury of claws, teeth and tail they rip appart three of the five troopers.
Major ONeil looks in horror as one of the beasts chews happily on a Chassears leg, just feet in front of him. He tumbles backwards and lifts up Old Blue. Firing a hail of shots, they all bounce harmlessly off of the necrobeast rider, which looks up from his meal and growls. O'Neil does what he does best. Turning and burning a card he Flees 10", back behind the saftey of the closest unarmored machinator squad. "Move asside! Commander Comming Through! Cover my flank!"

From behind the temple, the last squad of Necromutants fire at the Deathdroid. Their careful aim finds the chinks in the droids armor and it explodes in a fireball. [Another round of terrible roles for me]
In revenge, the two Exterminateur Mk 1s shoot and kill 3 of the 5 Necromutants, leaving two.

Far to the north, Golgotha uses her one action to remove her stun condtion. Then sneering in contempt she steps into her mirror, and teleports away. The machiators engage "Clucking Noises and Chicken Dance program 2.0".
Up on top of the ruins, the two Enhance Machinators pass.

The last undead Legionaire squad in the south shambles up and shoots at the machinators on top of the ruin, causing a wound on one.
The unarmored chasseurs to the south shoot and kill one of the two necrobeast riders.

This is what things look like at the end of turn 3.

Turn Four, Dark Legion gains initiative.

Golgotha turns and looks at the two machinators flapping their arms and walking in circles in a very birdlike manner. "I will teach you to mock the mistress of death!" she screams, and charges back into battle. With another whirlwind strike from her back claws, she causes one wound on one of the machinators, killing it.
The last machinator brings a heavy electronic fist down on Golothas head, with a shower of electric spaks.. A tremmor runs through the dark legion's line. Golgotha's corpreal form begins to dissovlve. "I am not undone, machines of steel!", she hisses" I will return to reap your downfall". Golgotha fades into the Dark Symetry.

The necromutant squad on the north turns and looks at the machinators standing over the body of their leader. They let loose a moan of horrir and unleash a fire of bullets, killing one. .
The two Atilila Mark 3s move up and shoot at the hiding necromutant squad and kills three, leaving one.

Back down to the southern end of the battleield, the remaing necrobeast riders beast bites down on the head of an Armored Machinator and begins to chew contentedly.
The last armored chasseur looks at his fallen comrade doing an impression of a fruit rollup in the mouth of the necrobeast rider. He then looks at the back of his retreating commander. "Im following orders!", he yells and he runs in retreat. The necrobeast rider takes a half hearted swipe at him but the Chasseur escapes.

Bellowing in rage as the resonation of Golgotha's banishment rattled around in his pea sized brain, the Behemoth turns and fires at the remaining Machinator but misses.
In the trenches, the unarmored chasseur squad two shoots at the last necrobeast and kills it. "Huzah! Well Done!", shouts O'Neil, who composes himself.

Lastly the Undead Legion to the south opens fire again on the Machinators on the ruin, killing one.

The end of Turn 4 looks like this.

Turn 5.
Were now starting to look at table quarters. This is turn 5, and we know that winners are gonna be done based on how many quarters we have secured.
Dark Legion Win Initiative (again!) sheesh! my dice.

The Behemoth takes a few steps around the trees and fires at the last machinator on the north hill. With a bellowing roar it launches a huge shell in a sweeping ark. The explosion rips appart the machinator... launching its head high into the air. "I can see the ship from here", was the last thoughts in its electronic brain. The North East quarter is secured to Dark Legion.
On top of the ruin, the last enhanced machinator runs up, squeeking into the table quarter, and goes prone. Thus contesting the South East quarter.

The last two legionaires in the north, charge the two Exterminaturs! Their attacks bounce harmlessly off the robots.
The robots in turn, headbut the legionaires. One is pounded into a greasy mess. The other miraculously makes it save with a 2. Raven's move now contests the North West quarter.

To the south, the undead legion, now unable to target the machinator on top of the ruins moves. fire at the unarmed chasseurs, but fail to wound any.
Kill them!, screams O'Neil in a much too high voice. The Unarmored Chasseurs open fire on the zombie and kill half of them. "We got them on the run sir! Should we press our advantage?" a young recruit asks O'Neil. Far in the distance the Behemoth bellowed. "Er... my main concern is to get you to saftey, trooper Smyth."

"Its Evans", says the trooper.

"Yes", nods O'Neil. "Him too.. .now fall back to the ship".


Post Game Recap:
Raven's troop remaining.
1 Necromutant in HTH with one of the Atillias
1 half strenght squad of undead legionaires
1 Behemoth

My troops remaining
1 Enhanced Machinator (hiding on the roof)
1 Armored Chasseur
2 Squads of Chasseurs
2 Exterminateurs
O'Neil.

But.. because this is Warzone.. and killing isnt everything. Its a Tie. We both secure one board quarter, and there are two contested ones. All and all a very fun game.

In my post game analysis, I have several thoughts.
One, i chose unwisely for where to put my unarmored chasseur gun line, having almost no line of sight the entire game.
Secondly, Rasides are INSANELY GOOD at taking out their points in vehicles.
Lastly, Raven never went crazy with the behemoth. One charge down my gunline could have wiped out a lot of people.

All and all lots of fun.


***

Everaseur Severus watched the battle footage play out on the screen in his office. The Machinator on the roof of the Dark Legion Fortress had taken excelent coverage of the battle. In The Everaseur scanned the battle footage for anything, ANYTHING he could use against the officer.

"There!", he pointed at the image of O'Neil running from the Necrobeasts. "Explain yourself there!".

front of his desk, in full dress uniform stood O'Neil at attention. Blond curls framed his angelic face. His pencil thin mustache looked recently trimmed. "Sir! I was running to my troops! To bolster their morale!", barked O'Neil sharply.

Everaseur Severus sighed. It could be seen that way, though Severus doubted it.

"I read your report.... It says you deliberately disobayed your orders to move to the front..."

"Yes SIR!", said O'Neil "Because our Sensors picked up Dark Legion activity behind the lines, sir! We had to protect Cybertronic, Sir! No time to radio for backup, Sir!".

"And these sensor readings?", asked Severus.

"Destroyed in battle Sir, im sorry to say", said O'Neil crisply. "But they must have been correct sir, because well... there they were....".

Severus sighed... the whole story smelled wrong. He knew O'Neil was lying but he couldnt figure out exactly where. Severus stared at the file on top of his desk labled "Major O'Neil, Mirrorman induction ceremony".

"Aparrently", choked Severus... "Your being promoted to the Mirrorman Corps".

"What!", smiled O'Neil. "Another award ceremony?"
Without thinking he raised one hand and wiped his moustace...... "SMASHING!", he grinned.

Great report. A shame the Deathroids did not perform better .

I learned from previous bought a with them just how dangerous they are and targeted them early. It just so happens that the razides excel and killing them. The other one got nickel and domed to death by my necromutants and finished off by te behemoth.

This was my first game with the dark legion and I like them a lot.

The beast riders soaked up a TON of fire before dying. Doug put over 20 shots into one of them before it got into h2h and only managed to piss it off. If them would have charged the basic troops instead of the armored ones it would have been really bloody.

I really wasn't sure how to play the behemoth. I forgot all about his Bezerker charge. Best time though!

I need to spend some time going over my cards. I had and used some good ones, but I want to make sure I'm using them the best way.

It was a fun and challenging game. Can't wait to do it again soon.

Great Batrep, looks like it ebbed and flowed each turn as to who had the upper hand.

How long did the Battle last I know it was 5 turns but the actuall playing time for that large battle.