Battle Report: vs UCM - GenCon 2013 Round 1

Setup: Just a photo of how Hawk Simon set up the board with CityScape terrain.



Buildings:  In an effort to standardize games, this is what Hawk Simon said:  The two on the left were Large (Armor = 6, Damage Points = 30), the two in the middle were Normal (Armor = 6, Damage Points = 20) and the one of the right was Small (Armor = 6, Damage Points = 10).  These are the five shapes found in CityScape.



Props:  Kudos to Gunthyr and KennKong who made this from plastic piping caps(?)!  You roll a lot of dice in DropZone and you don't want them going through your buildings and models so these were pretty convenient to keep the dice in one place!  Thanks guys for letting me have these!!!



Note: To the best of my memory, this is what I think Gunthyr had. 

1.5k Gunthyr's UCM
Clash: 1497/1500 points
Standard Army
    Standard Roster [1497/1500 pts]
        Field Command [247 pts]
            Kodiak: Kodiak, Condor(Lieutenant) [199 pts]
            Falcon Squad: Falcon [48 pts]
        Armored Formation [438 pts]
            Sabre Squad: 6x Sabre, Albatross(+Missile Pods) [303 pts]
            ^ Sharing ^ Rapier Squad: 3x Rapier [135 pts]
        Legionnaire Corps [354 pts]
            Legionnaires: 3x Legionnaires, Condor, 2x Bear [141 pts]
            ^ Sharing ^ Legionnaires: 3x Legionnaires [78 pts]
            Rapier Squad: 3x Rapier [135 pts]
        Special Ordinance [149 pts]
            Gladius Squad: 2x Gladius, Condor [149 pts]
        Expeditionary Group [242 pts]
            Praetorians: 2x Praetorians, Raven A(+Missile Pods) [132 pts]
            Wolverine Squad: 4x Wolverine B, 2x Raven B(+Missile Pods) [110 pts]
        Air Wing [67 pts]
            Archangel Squad: Archangel [67 pts]

Note: We realized after the match was over that Gunthyr forgot to deploy his 2nd squad of Rapiers.  :-(

Battle Map:  In Targets of Opportunity, there are five objectives (marked "o") and the center one is worth 2VPs.  Building E was Large.



Pre-Battle Thoughts: 
The two biggest threats were the Praetorians (all Exotics should be feared and rightly so!) and the Armored Formation (6 Sabres and 3 Rapiers represent a lot of firepower).

TIP:  Personally, I think Bears (and all APCs) are just too slow and I recommend mounting all infantry in Light Dropships.  Remember if Light Dropships are within 1" of a building the dis/embarkment from/to the building AND dis/embarkment from/to the Light Dropship counts as "1."

Nevertheless, while Legionnaires are there to die (much like my Scourge Warriors), 6 Squads of them can overwhelm, even Exotics, with sheer numbers.

Highlights: (sorry, I don't remember enough for play-by-play)

• The Armored Formation landed on Turn 1 in Column 2 in my Offensive Zone.  The Gladius squad was between Buildings B & E and Column 2.  With such a concentration of force, I conceded that area of the battlefield to UCM.  To protect my Defensive Zone and to slow down the advance of these units, I landed Prowlers on my side of Buildings D & E (one squad behind each building).
• 4x Wolverines B, 2 Raven-Bs and the Falcon approached my Right Flank.  They had a firefight with a squad of Hunters.
• My Tormentors were dropped on Turn 1 on Column 3 to pressure/threaten Building E & F.
• Praetorians discovered an objective in Building A and removed from the battlefield on Turn 2 (2VP).  They returned on Turn 3 (rolled a 6) and went entered Building F where they were subsequently destroyed by my Tormentors.
• 6x Legionnaires entered Building E.  My Tormentors destroyed 2 stands before both squads of Destroyers had CQB with the Legionnaires.  I messed up and only rolled half of my CQB dice so the Legionnaires held on.  Eventually, the Destroyers found the objective and removed from the battlefield (3VP).
• My Scourge Warriors found the objective in Building I and removed from the battlefield (2VP).
• My other Scourge Warriors tried to find the objective in Building D but UCM eventually leveled the building.

Final was 5-2VP.  WIN FOR THE SCOURGE!

Post-Battle Analysis:

• Tormentors: 1) You have to destroy them (e.g., with the Wolverines, Ravens + Falcon on my Right Flank).  2) If possible, you got to let Scourge forces occupy the building so they can't flame the building.
• We both agreed that the Praetorians should have went for the objective in Building E.  Personally, I think UCM needs to have 2 squads of Praetorians.  Being so cheap, Legionnaires should be dedicated to bot duty in objective searching.
• Armored Formation:  Note- Gunthyr rolled horribly for falling masonry.  He must have had 20-25 damage points with no masonry kills.  By my math the Armored Formation including Albatross can do about 12.6 damage to a building per turn (each Sabre = 1.12, Rapier = 1.68!!!, and the Albatross = 0.84).  To this end, depending the situation, it might be worthwhile to use your AA to levels buildings.  Surprisingly, the Rapier is better at building demolition than the Sabre MBT!
• In Targets of Opportunity, since the center objective in Building E is the most vital, you should ask yourself the following question at the start of the match.  Can I win the CQB to secure the objective?  If the answer is no, I think you should level the building as fast as you can.