I had played Joe in a local friendly tournament a few months ago. It was Targets of Opportunity and I beat him in a tight match 2-1 VP so, coming to GenCon, I was worried about meeting him again.
In that matchup, infantry-wise, I had 4x Stands of Destroyers, 2x Stands of Warriors vs. Joe's 2x Stands of Razorworms and 6-8x Stands of Warriors.
Joe's Scourge - I'm forgetting 100 pts... maybe he had a better commander?
Clash: 1411/1500 points
Standard Army
Standard Roster [1411/1500 pts]
Oppressors [455 pts]
Desolator: Desolator(Champion) [195 pts]
Desolator: Desolator [140 pts]
Prowlers: 8x Prowler, 2x Intruder Beta [120 pts]
Vanguard [222 pts]
Hunter Squad: 3x Hunter [105 pts]
Reaper Squad: 3x Reaper [117 pts]
Warriors [188 pts]
Warrior Horde: 2x Warriors, Intruder Alpha [94 pts]
Warrior Horde: 2x Warriors, Intruder Alpha [94 pts]
Warriors [188 pts]
Warrior Horde: 2x Warriors, Intruder Alpha [94 pts]
Warrior Horde: 2x Warriors, Intruder Alpha [94 pts]
Occupation Patrol [250 pts]
Prowlers: 8x Prowler, 2x Intruder Beta [120 pts]
Destroyers: 2x Destroyers, Intruder Alpha [130 pts]
Invasion Host [108 pts]
Tormentor Squad: 2x Tormentor [108 pts]
In Round 2, the scenario was Recon. There were 9 pieces of intel, buildings (A through I).
Note: Each player can search for each intel!! Ack! We always thought it was one and done!
Also, only the occupier of the building can search on the start of their turn.
This battle report is based on our misinformed assumption!
Pre-Battle Analysis: Joe had 5 Stands of Infantry to 4 Stands for me. Initiative was the key because if he landed on Buildings D, E and F, then on likely rolls he would outscore me 6-3. Recon is why I recommend having 4 Squads of Infantry mounted in Light Dropships. You must occupy building first to search.
Looking at Joe's army...
- His only AA was one squad of Reapers. If I could get my Fast Movers early, then I could hit anywhere! (My Fast Movers did not show up until Turn 3 or 4 so my Fast Mover advantage was nil.)
- Tormentors!!! - I believe they are the best Scourge unit.
- Prowler Spam - He had 16 of them. However, I wasn't too worried because of the Skimmer rules which makes Scourge and Shaltari tanks harder to hit.
- I figured that my 2x Destroyers capture/could hold any building that I chose.
- 2x Desolators... I did not what to expect from that.
- On Turn 2, both of Warriors found Objectives at Building G and I (rolled "6s") and took them off the board. Joe found Intel at Buildings A, B and C. I found Intel at Building H. 5-3 VP and I was leading.
- On Turn 3, I won initiative but I was stupid because I wanted Joe's infantry to enter buildings first so my Tormentors (near E & F) wanted to flame so troops. Remember you can't shoot at buildings where your own troops are. So Joe got to D, E and F first! On likely rolls, he was gonna win 6-5. So I threw everything at Building E to level it in one turn so he couldn't search for the intel. Notably, my Desolator's Focused Ion Storm failed to do damage! I sent in both squads of Destroyers with "Blast Their Way In!" and killed two squads of Warriors with falling masonry. (Note: Blast Their Way In! is against the building and can only target enemy infantry if they are on the wall. Also, you cannot enter on the side of a building where troops are at the wall.) The building had about 4 DP left out of 30 DP. Joe subsequently leveled the building and I lost both squads of Destroyers.
- Since I had lost a large portion of my army trying to destroy E, I knew I was down on Kill Points (within 200 is a tie). I HAD TO win on VPs. Likely, Joe was gonna find intel in D and F so we were gonna be 5-5 and I was gonna lose. Joe found intel on F... Joe (4)... Me (5). I was hoping for him to find an objective or find a bomb in D. To prepare for him finding an objective in D, I sent all my forces against that area. Joe found a bomb on D so I was gonna win...
- We battled it out and the sky was filled with Intruders! I remember my Desolator doing Eye of the Storm to wipe out a squad of Hunters and about 6 Prowlers. He was then shot down by Joe's Reapers.
Post-Battle: (Playing the correct rules henceforth.)
- Fast Movers - while my Corsairs did nothing this game. I really believe you need Fast Movers, especially in Recon, to knock out Light Dropships to prevent objective removal from the battlefield and infantry rapidly deploying. I would trade a Fast Mover for a Light Dropship in a heartbeat in this scenario.
- Troops: In this scenario, you need to win close combats and retrieve intel (hopefully objectives). 2x Exotics and 2x Troops seems like a strong ratio.
- Getting 4VP on Turn 2 was huge (and very lucky)!
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