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 earlier this week with a familiar character – Fartok – Leader of the Outcast Revolt – the Ghar who refused to kneel before his masters!
Today we have another familiar face… Kamrana Josen… who is already available as a Commander model – based upon his actions upon the battlefields of Aan Four – however, the supplement sees Josen having advanced to the rank of Commander-in-chief of the Xilos Expeditionary Force… an older and more responsible Commander, deep down he has lost little of his old determination. Experience, promotion and the demands of increased responsibility mean that his role has changed from that of a field commander to the Commander-in-Chief of an entire army.
Josen during his actions upon the battlefields of Aan Four – a little earlier in his military career
Here’s a quick snippet from ‘The Battle for Xilos’ with a little more… (please note that some sections have been removed, and other segments are excerpts of longer/larger material from the book.)
Commander-in-Chief Josen C3 XEF
Kamrana Josen veteran of the Seventh Segment War and hero of Aan Four (much of which is detailed on/around page 228 of the core Rulebook) rose steadily through the ranks of the Concord Combined Command following his exploits against the Vorl. His sudden deployment to the world of Xilos came as a complete surprise to Commander Josen, especially because he was already leading an exploratory force into the Western Interface to counter an Isorian push into the fiercely disputed region. Josen and his small but powerful force was instead diverted to Xilos together with hurriedly mustered scientific reinforcements comprising some of the PanHuman Concord’s finest minds.
Designated Commander in Chief C3 Xilos Expeditionary Force (XEF) Kamrana Josen found his small force unexpectedly blockaded by aliens ensconced on the planet and by their considerable space fleet. The Concord ships were more than a match for the enemy ships, inexplicably primitive as they were, but the enemy planetary defences were another matter. To the Concord fleets shard the defences were as incomprehensible as they were formidable. During the course of the war for Xilos Josen would come to understand more about the Ghar, for his force was the first recorded contact between the Ghar Empire and the PanHuman Concord.
A 3D render of the forthcoming C-in-C Josen miniature – expected to hit the landing zones of Xilos soon!
**INCOMING IMTel… STATS PARTIALLY DISCOVERED FROM PAGE 119 – The Battle For Xilos!**
Commander-In-Chief Josen C3 XEF
Infantry Command Unit
Substitutes For: C3 Strike Command Squad in Concord army.
Special: Limited Choice.
| Unit: Infantry Command | Ag | Acc | Str | Res | Init | Co |
| Strike Commander: Plasma Pistol, HL armour. | 7 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| 0 x Strike Troopers: Plasma Carbine, HL armour. | 7 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Special Rules
| Command, Follow, Leader 3. | Are all standard special rules that are described in the main body of the rules. See Special Rules for Units in the Antares rulebook on page 133. |
| Wound 3 | (excerpt).…If Commander Josen fails a Resist test then instead of falling casualty he is wounded instead. Josen can be wounded up to 3 times in this way. Once he has suffered 3 wounds if he fails any further Resist test he is removed as a casualty like any other individual. If Josen is wounded then the unit cannot lose pins it has equal to the number of wounds – See page 119 for further explanation |
| Steady There, Soldier | Any unit that fails a test against Command, for example units failing an Order test or a Break test, can reroll the dice if Josen is within 10”. |
| Very Well Prepared | (excerpt) …This special rule affects the ‘Well Prepared’ Army Option. If the force includes Commander Josen and the player also includes one or more Well Prepared Army Options, then for every Well Prepared the player pays for he gets one further Well Prepared for free. – See page 119 for further explanation. |
Article written by Richard Dando
Sam Phillips