In our last post we started to look at the Ion Age setting, but now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty of actually fighting using the 15mm Patrol Angis ruleset!

My intention here, is to compare and contrast how Patrol Angis from Alternative Armies plays, with how Eternøl from Electi Studios handles. My initial expectations is that Patrol Angis will provide a much more granular experience, versus Eternøl lending itself to a more stream-lined mass battle experience, but we’ll see how it plays out…

For my first game using Patrol Angis, I decided to eschew the usual scenarios and turn limits provided in the rulebook, for a straight-up ‘kill-or-be-killed’ game. Playing alone, I also made use of the game’s ‘Silent Player’ mechanic, which allows you to choose the overall temperament of the AI player (defensive, neutral, or aggressive) and then randomises how it behaves, through the use of black, grey, and white tokens drawn for each unit activation dictating how it uses that action. Here, I will admit that I did occasionally play fast-and-loose with how to interpret the draws and their respective actions, but overall tried to maintain the spirit of the system.

In terms of forces, my competing armies were simple mirror images of one another. Patrol Angis uses a system that builds up a 22-man Lance (think ‘platoon’) in different constellations of 2-man (Mina), 4-man (Demi), or 10-man (Post) units. Both Lances consisted of a Retained Command Mina, a standard Retained Demi with Angis Mk7 Rifles, a Medic Mina, a Retained Support Demi with an Anvil 888 Launcher (essentially a missile launcher), an Assaulter Demi armed with Octa Powerswords, a Retained Sniper Mina, and a Retained Support Demi with two Moth Type 12 Launchers (essentially grenade-launchers). This meant that each Lance had a good mix of units, and would allow me to get some experience in the mechanics for ranged fire, close combat, support weapons, and some of the simpler special rules.

So let’s jump straight in!

INTRODUCTION

The 81st Infantry regiments first outing, is a simple training exercise to prepare them for service in the Gurtan Quarantine Zone: Lance A facing off against Lance B upon the training deck of one of the quarantine fleet’s mighty vessels, under the watchful eye of their Starvaulter trainer, which you can read about here.

TURN 1 – Opening Gambits

Both forces deployed their Demis and Minas as two 10-man Posts, with their Command Minas remaining separate, with mirrored deployments along the diagonal axes.

The silent player (which I elected to run using the ‘Neutral’ mode) won the d6 roll for initiative by 6:3, meaning that we both received six activation tokens to distribute amongst our units, with the silent player receiving one bonus token for having won the roll off.

The silent player opened the engagement by having the Post on its left flank target mine on the right with the ‘precise shot’ action. Most mechanics in Patrol Angis use a d8 system, with the target of rolling higher than a 2+. LOS to the targeted Demi was behind two walls which were less than 3cm in depth (+2), and the ‘Chameleon Circuits’ in their Alwite armour were active (+1), but their attackers had used ‘precise shot’ giving a -1 advantage. So essentially 4+ to hit all told. After armour saves were rolled and the nearby Medic Mina had worked their magic, two knights were dead, but the remainder passed their morale check.

My understrength Post then reformed into a reduced-strength Rifle Demi, a full-strength Support Demi, and a full-strength Medic Mina. Whilst the silent player toyed with hunkering down (using the ‘Self Preservation’ action) I decided to move up my full-strength rifle demi and rake its opposing number with fire, gunning down 3-out-of-four, with the last man standing passing his morale check.

More hunkering down from the silent player allowed me to move up my Support Demi with the Anvil 888 Launcher, but unfortunately it found no appreciable targets to fire against (mainly because I forgot about Indirect Fire!). The silent player’s under-strength Rifle Demi moved up and fired, but also had a lacklustre time, failing to score any hits.

The remainder of turn one saw me using my Assaulter Demi’s jump jets to close the distance with the enemy, and the silent player reforming its second Post into an Assaulter Demi, a Support Demi, and a Medic Mina.

TURN 2 – Closing in

The silent player once again won initiative, 4:2, seeing us both having to work with a slightly reduced pool of activation tokens.

My Assaulter Demi moved into close combat with the enemy’s left flank, and I quickly discovered that melee in Patrol Angis is a truly brutal affair. Laying into their opponents, my Assaulters benefitted from 5 hits each (1 Base, +2 for Assaulter, +2 for Octa Powerswords) for a whopping 20 hits, absolutely massacring the silent player’s Post on that flank. However, the sweet taste of victory soon soured, as later on the silent player moved up its Assaulter Demi (by using their Command Mina’s ability to pass on activation tokens), and returned the favour, annihilating mine to a man. At this point, I realised why Assaulters should ideally be armed with pistols as well as a CC weapon: Had mine had some ranged capability, I may have been able to whittle down the opposing Assaulters before they made it into close combat!

As the rest of turn two played out, I rapidly moved my Support Demi with the Anvil 888 Launcher up to the centre of the battlefield. My Rifle Demi moved up and opened fire on the enemy Command Mina, but a combination of poor rolls, coupled with the fact that the enemy were hunkered down in ‘Self-Preservation’, meant that the best they could manage was shaving one wound off the enemy’s Baron. My Support Demi with Moth Type 12 Launchers would also have a crack at them, but also faired just as badly, thus ending the turn.

TURN 3 – Turning the tables

Turn three saw me finally winning initiative 6:3 resulting in a much richer pool of activation tokens to call upon. My Rifle Demi moved up and opened fire on the silent player’s Command Mina (the short distance counting as ‘Point Blank’ range), but once again failed to score any meaningful hits. In retaliation the Command Mina opened fire, killing two of the riflemen, the Demi subsequently failing its morale check, doubtless shaken by their poor performance and unexpected loses.

During the turn, the silent player mostly chose to hunker down to make use of ‘Self-Preservation’, or to continue to do so, whilst I placed my Support Demis on ‘Overwatch’ hoping to catch out the silent player if it chose to move up. My Command Mina decided to enter the fray, using jump jets to boost itself next to my Support Demi with the Anvil 888 Launcher, holding the centre of the battlefield, and my Medic Mina also followed suit. The jump jet mechanic allows you to double the movement distance of your unit(s), but only has two uses per miniature, per game.

Towards the end of the turn, I was able to ‘Re-motivate’ the remains of my Rifle Demi which had faired so poorly this turn.

TURN 4 – Closing the distance

Initiative once again returned to the silent player by 5:3, with it electing to move its Assaulters into superior cover to guard against any further flanking on my part. Unfortunately, this allowed me to move up my Sniper Mina, and rake them at range, killing two. Shaken by the incoming fire, the Assaulters failed their morale check, and would require ‘Remotivation’ to get themselves out of the line of fire.

There was a sporadic, and largely inconclusive, exchange of fire across the enemy’s right flank, but it allowed my Command Mina to dash forwards, to later be assisted by my Medic Mina using jump jets to move up in support. This placed my Command Mina perilously close to their opposing number, and the bulk of the silent player’s remaining forces.

TURN 5 – The beginning of the end

Initiative returned to me at 6:3 with a good stock of activations to throw around. I opened with my Baron attempting to use his Carwennan’s ‘Indirect Fire’ ability to bombard the enemy units hunkered down behind the bunker. Unfortunately, to no effect. In response, the silent player attempted to ‘re-motivate’ his Assaulters, but they were subsequently taken out with precise fire from my Sniper Mina, who then used their jump jets to take to the roof of one of the bunkers, and start chipping away at the enemy’s Medic Mina (with little success).

My Command Mina used this opportunity to also move up and fire upon the enemy’s Medic Mina, but the silent player was dug in like a tick on its right flank, and weathered the storm of incoming fire. However, my forays did not go unanswered, as their Support Mina with the Moth Type 12 Launchers attempted ‘Indirect Fire’ but the close range worked against them, and they failed to hit.

Elsewhere, my Support Demi with Anvil 888 Launcher, opened up on its opposing number to devastating effect, and it was only the urgent ministrations of the silent player’s Medic Mina that managed to save the life of their own missile launcher, albeit with their morale in tatters as the last man standing in their Demi.

TURN 6 – Fire and fury

I once again won initiative 5:3 and set about bombarding the enemy’s Medic Mina with my Anvil 888 Launcher, but weathering storm and shot, their precocious doctor survived everything thrown at them, hunkering down as much as possible. Infuriated by the ineffectiveness of the opening salvo, my Baron’s Command Mina charged into close combat with the Medic Mina, the first round of combat seeing them hack apart the orderly as their Medic gallantly held their ground. Unfortunately, a second round of close combat was too much, and their Medic finally succumbed.

Attempting to exploit the situation and the distraction provided by their Medic, the silent player’s Command Mina moved up to attempt to fire upon my forces, but ‘Overwatch’ from my Support Demi with the Moth Type 12 Launchers saw both their Baron and his Standard Bearer fall. However, ‘Cynue Enhancments’ allowed the former to survive their first true death, and stand once more, albeit very much alone. Not keen to spend any more time out in the open, and seeing my Command and Medic Minas combine into a formidable Demi, their revived Baron raced to find cover, only to fired upon by my Sniper Mina, with two successive salvos managing to whittle off a wound.

TURN 7 – The end

For the final turn, initiative returned to the silent player, but its options were limited. In its opening gambit, its lone missile launcher operator attempted to overpower my Command/Medic Demi and force a morale check, with some small measure of success as the orderly fell to blunt force trauma of a missile launcher barrel to the face. However, my Demi held firm, and struck back, absolutely butchering the lone antagonist.

By now, all that remained of the silent player’s forces, was his lone Baron, making for the centre of the battlefield, hoping to give my forces the run around and pick them off piecemeal. Unfortunately, two sustained rounds of fire from my roof-top Snipers utterly riddled them, wiping out the last remnants of the enemy Lance.

Victory had been secured!

CONCLUSION

First and foremost, I have to say, I had a lot of fun with the Patrol Angis! Definitely a great way to spend an afternoon, and I thoroughly enjoyed the unique experience of solo play.

Initially, I did find the rules a little complicated, and made good use of the downloadable ‘quickplay’ sheets available from the Alternative Armies website. The main rulebook is packed with granular detail and examples, but this could be a little overwhelming at times and sometimes made mechanics hard to find – If there’s ever a reprint, I would definitely recommend streamlining and reorganising a little, and perhaps adding a comprehensive index at the back of the booklet. That being said, once you get the hang of the core mechanics and mathematics, play does rattle along at an enjoyable pace, and things are fairly straightforward; veteran gamers will have no problem leafing through the core book.

In terms of unit sizes, I definitely felt the benefit of having gone for 5-man and 2-man movement trays: As the maximum unit size is 10, two 5-man trays go together quite nicely to form a decent Hexagon, which can easily accommodate a 4-man Demi on each, with the remaining 1-man slots for a 2-man Mina (see image below). It’s then simple enough to reform into the three units (2x Demis and 1x Mina) by removing one miniature from each 5-man tray, and placing them on a 2-man tray. This also allows for you to create thematic drop-ins, to replace missing miniatures. Another happy coincidence, is that 20mm slots are also the perfect size to hold marker gems, great to show off casualties as you will have seen throughout my battle report.

In terms of force composition, I definitely enjoyed the flexibility the rules provide in this instance: You can plan out your force down to the load-out of individual miniatures, but also easily create standard Minas (2), Demis (4), and Posts (10) without too much hassle. The ability to split and reform as one of a unit’s possible actions during play, also gives you unparalleled flexibility in responding to the changing battlefield situation, breaking down Posts and Demis as you choose, and reforming them back up as needed. Opting to buy the entire Retained Knights infantry range, really gave me a lot of choices, but I think I’ll be reordering the entire range again at some point to really get the maximum out of possible force compositions (at at Alternative Armies prices, its ridiculously affordable to do this compared to other systems).

In terms of future gaming in the Ion Age, my next stop is definitely going to be the Khanate range of infantry models. Quite apart from exploring how this faction plays versus their Retained enemies, it will also allow me to offer guests a genuine two-player experience. I’ll also be looking to add vehicles and weapons platforms to both at a later stage, and exploring the range of 15mm terrain available from Alternative Armies (and other vendors). So it’s safe to say I’m firmly hooked, and can definitely recommend the system!

Next stop, seeing how the Eternøl miniature agnostic rules from Electi Studios compare…