The forthcoming Beyond the Gates of Antares narrative supplement, ‘The Battle for Xilos’ features six key new characters who find themselves (for better or for worse) at the heart of the struggle… you’ll soon become very familiar indeed with these antagonists – some of which you may recognise (though ‘The Battle for Xilos’ takes these individuals forward in time, to the events portrayed in the Xilos campaign) – and some will be entirely new to you!
During the build-up to the launch of ‘The Battle for Xilos,’ we’ll be offering a few tantalising previews of what you might expect from the first narrative supplement for Beyond the Gates of Antares… to whet your whistle and offer a primer before final checks of the Drop envelope, and deployment to the battlefields of Xilos…
We kicked things off last week with a few familiar names– Fartok, Josen, and Karg… but today we thought we’d throw something fresh into the frey…
Amano Harran, Oszoni Freeborn Mercenary Captain
In common with the sons of other aristocratic families Amano was keen to make a name for himself beyond the confines of the Vardos. With his warband of hand-picked Freeborn fighters, he became one of the most spectacularly successful and best known mercenary leaders in the whole Determinate. The Oszoni celebrated enthusiastically when they heard of Amano’s daring raids and courageous deeds. Amano naturally took great pains to ensure that they did!
Back home Amano’s supporters spread tales of his generosity and success, spending freely of the riches that the young mercenary captain ensured found their way into the hands of his closest allies. To the ordinary Oszoni he was soon hailed as a hero! Handsome, courageous, generous and almost universally popular, his deeds quickly became the stuff of legend and his adventures the meat of gossip throughout the Vardos.
Amano Harran has certainly made a name for himself among the worlds of the Determinate, and his ship
– the Nebula – has become almost as famous as its captain. Utilising some of the most advanced technologies of Antarean space, it is often assumed that the Nebula is equipped with alien derived space drives as yet unknown to the human civilisations of Antarean space. That may indeed be so, for Amano’s travels have certainly taken him to worlds beyond the ordinary congress of human space.
Amano Harran – Captain of Amano’s Company of Freeborn
Infantry Command Unit
Limited Choice
Substitutes For: Freeborn Command Squad with Special Options in Freeborn list and Freeborn Command Squad in Freeborn Adventurers list.
Special: Command, Follow, Hero, Leader 3, Wound, Fast Shot, Charismatic Aura.
Special Rules
| Command, Follow, Hero, and Leader3 | …are all standard unit rules as described in the Antares rulebook on page 133. |
| Wound. | If Amano Harran fails a Resist test then instead of falling casualty he is wounded. Once wounded if any further Resist test is failed he is removed as a casualty. |
| Fast Shot. | Amano Harran is amongst the most adept shots in all of Antarean space. To represent his proficiency with weapons we give him the fast shot rule. This means that with any hand or standard weapon he shoots twice instead of once using the same weapon at the same target. |
| Charismatic Aura. | Amano’s ability to charm and cajole extends beyond mere social chit-chat to the bewilderment of even the most simple-minded of creatures and machines. If any enemy unit is within 10” of Amano then it cannot be given an order without taking an Order test against its Command, even if it has no pins, and both its Command and Initiative stat are reduced by -1 when making order and/or reaction tests. |
| Xilos Stasis Key – the Time Twister. | ++ IMTEL DATA PARAMETER BREACH ++ ABNORMAL DATASTREAM FLUCTUATIONS IDENTIFIED ++ CONTENT REMOVED ++ |
| Zantu Plasma Duelling Pistol. | This finely crafted hand weapon is a product of the meticulous Zantu craftsmen, alien creatures of diminutive size but ferocious collective intelligence. Few humans have ever met the Zantu face-to-whatever passes for a face amongst the Zantu.
The duelling pistol was made for Amano and has been cognitively melded to him, making it both impossible for anyone else to use and intuitively part of him. |
‘The Battle for Xilos’ is almost upon us – head over to the Warlord webstore to secure your copy today!
Sam Phillips