Blog

Introducing Cold Storage, the first of a brand new set of Pendulum-ready Warcaster: Neo-Mechanika skirmish scenarios! Based on the concept of using the activation token mechanics to “freeze” your opponent’s models. Taking the low-hanging fruit (the outside objectives) is easy, but holding those while having relevant activations in later pulse rounds can be challenging if you’re not able to secure the center objective. A few tactical tips we discovered in playtesting: Grabbing the center objective early isn’t always the best idea, since when you capture it is when the effect is triggered, you may want to delay seizing it until a really juicy target ends up on an outside zone. Moving powerful models off of outside zones can be a good way of preventing them from getting frozen, but that makes holding those points more difficult of course. Holding off on effects that remove activation tokens until late in the pulse round can be a life-saver. Be careful not to trigger a ready phase for your opponent, conversely, if you’re clever, freezing your own models can trigger your own ready phase next turn! Locally the Vancouver meta has been playtesting this scenario since the end of November, and I’ve landed on a scenario that’s dynamic, balanced, and gives players new ways to interact with the game. We’ve found it a great way to spice up skirmish tournaments and gives TOs more options other than the limited Pendulum set, I hope you enjoy it.

Skirmish Mission: Cold Storage

Two forces converge on an arctic research facility on a far-flung world, carrying ancient samples collected from the permafrost. Any increase in temperature would destroy the samples, so the capsules containing them have a fail-safe that uses arcantrik devices to rapidly drop the temperature to preserve the valuable secrets contained within.

As the invaders close in to seize the samples, the defenders of this remote facility have an ace up their sleeve; triggering the fail-safe on purpose to stop attackers in their tracks.

SETUP
Place four permanent objectives onto the table as indicated on the map. Objectives should be centered at the points described. The objective in the center represents the control module. The control module objective does not provide cover. The three objectives in the corners and side represent cryogenic containers. Cryogenic containers are considered to be terrain features and provide cover.

SPECIAL RULES
When the control module objective is scored each round, the player that scored may choose one cryogenic container to be deep freezed. Immediately place an activation token on any units within 1” of a cryogenic container that has been deep freezed.

SCORING
Each player can only score each objective once per Pulse round, and objectives are scored when a unit ends its activation while securing the objective.

1 victory point is scored for objectives during the first Pulse round, 2 victory points are scored for objectives during the second Pulse
round, and 3 victory points are scored for objectives during the third Pulse round.

VICTORY CONDITIONS
After the third Pulse round is scored, the player with the most victory points wins the game.

Some in game shots below