It took a bit of work to finish this one off but I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I was now ready for some more Infinity action.
We set up the board, this time with our additional figure, making for a full starter group. I lost initiative again so I chose sides and made the Haqq set up first. Not wanting to leave a figure unprotected, the Haqq set up with a group of three on the high ground, including his camo'd sniper. The rest of his squad set up on the other side along an open corridor.
I debated how to counter-deploy and decided to oppose his group, knowing that if they went first, I'd have a bunch of reaction shots back at him. If I started, my Hsien Warrior's Heavy Machine Gun would have the range band advantage and a huge burst of 4 shots per action.
Curious as to how this would all play out, the Haqq gave me initiative. I debated briefly about dropping my Tiger Soldier right behind them to get the jump on the Haqq but I failed my jump check again and had her in the backfield again. I started loading up on my Hsien Warrior to see if he could Rambo the three opposing figures. It was OK Corral time and I liked my odds.
I focused my shots on their "Immortal" troop and landed a crit to drop him/her. The return fire from the other figures' reaction ended up putting a wound on the good Captain. Feeling confident, I kept up the pressure and fired again, taking down another enemy but my overconfidence was pushed to the limit and another reaction shot dropped the big Hsien.
All-in-all, I was still up so my remaining orders sent my Invincible up and took out the last figure. I was still up five orders to three when the Haqq took their turn. I had used my last order to move my Invincible up to the corner of the building when the camo'd sniper came out, using all his orders to get into position and fire at my Invincible.
We failed our discover roll and the sniper's shot was true to wound my Invincible. Thinking I was in the clear, I smiled only to see that the Haqq had made the sniper the lieutenant and revealed the order to fire again and take cover behind the building. My reaction shots failed and the sniper hit the Invincible again, dropping him. I was in some trouble now as my three Zanshi were on the ground and easy to pick off and my Tiger Soldier was on the other side and away from the fight.
For my turn, I ran my Tiger Soldier up and was able to pick off one of the Haqq mooks up top with a well timed crit. I then ran her over to try and get a shot out at the hiding sniper. He was facing the other way so could only turn around in reaction but the shots failed. I decided I needed to take a desperate shot and revealed my lieutenant (the male Zanshi) and he rushed out from cover to take a shot at the remaining Haqq mook on the building. The shot was another crit and the Haqq fell.
Due to the Tiger Soldier's mimetism giving me an advantage in any shooting attack and the poor up-close performance of the Sniper's sniper rifle, the Haqq decided to rush the kitty soldier and try to knife her to death. It was risky as it would require a full order to get there first.
Unfortunately, it'd be an order he would lose as his dodge failed and the Tiger's hit struck home, taking the Haqq sniper down for good.
While we still saw the Haqq play from behind, this match was a lot better (and the best so far). The momentum of the game kept swinging back and forth and I think it could have been even better had we both not tried the silly OK Corral setup.
One more mission will finish off the starter set but there is a little more prep to get the last figures ready.