This is the 2nd time that Dave's Monkeys and my Therians have clashed at the Abandoned Base, and this battle was pretty damn entertaining to play. Dave pushed 2 companies in the sector, allowing him to mix and match his army lists - maximizing the number of Monkey mechs he could field. I still had Tiamat's company controlling the sector from the first week.
Dave's forces, again, entered the sector on the Western edge. He quickly gained control of the 2 Karman crystals and started collecting RP. I entrenched what few infantry I had on the objective markers, and set Tiamat to reproducing Hekats as quickly as she could. (I was using the same strategy of 'camping' and harassing Dave's small mechs and infantry with Hekats to prevent his entry to the Abandoned Base).
This battle, however, turned out differently than the Turn 1 battle. Dave made quite an impact with his Buggy and Trikes. My Hekats weren't produced quickly enough to halt his advance, and it didn't take long for Dave's Monkey mechs to get in the Base and start creating havoc. Dave scored a major moral victory in this battle by taking out Tiamat. (I could have respawned her, but I would have forfeited VP in the process, risking the loss of the battle).
In the end, Dave and I fought to a draw - even at 20VP. Both of our forces were pushed out of the sector. I think, though, that I suffered the brunt of the attrition in the battle - losing Tiamat was expensive and puts a serious hole in that company.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Frostbite - Turn 2 - Underground Base
In this battle, Rob's 3rd company pushed into the Underground Base, where my Therian forces lay entrenched. Both of our forces were entering from opposite sides of the building, which meant that terrain wasn't going to be a factor. It also meant that we were going to come into conflict quickly.
Rob's GenCol list gave him quite an advantage by allowing him to field 2 Urods (one cloned). As we've seen in past battles, Urod plays a really significant role in any Red Blok army list - drawing a lot of fire, and repairing damage quickly. If Urod isn't taken down within the first few turns, it's likely that the Red Blok will steamroll over any opposing force. If you can destroy Urod, then the Red Blok forces have typically crumbled under the pressure.
Even though I was fielding Babylon Zero (our only Urod killer, at this point!), there was no way she could stand up to two invading Urods. I foolishly had Babs overwatch one of the Urods, which prevented me from targeting one of the Urod's frame - to take it out of the battle. By the next turn, Babs had sustained enough damage to put her own of the action (and I subsequently forgot to 'pop' Nina Zero from the destroyed mech. Oops).
The rest of the battle ground on, painfully, for another hour and a half. If VP, and company survival, weren't at stake in the campaign, I would have conceded the battle after Babylon's death. Instead, I was forced to continually retreat, while having my Company Commander pump out Hekat Golgoths. The Hekats proved some distraction, allowing my main force to retreat, but there was no way to hold objectives or gather much in the way of RP to bring in reinforcements.
This battle was rather frustrating for me to play, mainly because it "ended" rather quickly and dragged on unnecessarily. It also made me really question some of the game balance of AT-43. Maybe it's sour grapes talking, but the game gets rather frustrating when it seems that specific units dominate play. Army point value is supposed to mediate unit power, but I question whether some units are priced correctly.
Oh well. Lessons learned, differnt strategies to consider, and more battles to fight.
Rob's GenCol list gave him quite an advantage by allowing him to field 2 Urods (one cloned). As we've seen in past battles, Urod plays a really significant role in any Red Blok army list - drawing a lot of fire, and repairing damage quickly. If Urod isn't taken down within the first few turns, it's likely that the Red Blok will steamroll over any opposing force. If you can destroy Urod, then the Red Blok forces have typically crumbled under the pressure.
Even though I was fielding Babylon Zero (our only Urod killer, at this point!), there was no way she could stand up to two invading Urods. I foolishly had Babs overwatch one of the Urods, which prevented me from targeting one of the Urod's frame - to take it out of the battle. By the next turn, Babs had sustained enough damage to put her own of the action (and I subsequently forgot to 'pop' Nina Zero from the destroyed mech. Oops).
The rest of the battle ground on, painfully, for another hour and a half. If VP, and company survival, weren't at stake in the campaign, I would have conceded the battle after Babylon's death. Instead, I was forced to continually retreat, while having my Company Commander pump out Hekat Golgoths. The Hekats proved some distraction, allowing my main force to retreat, but there was no way to hold objectives or gather much in the way of RP to bring in reinforcements.
This battle was rather frustrating for me to play, mainly because it "ended" rather quickly and dragged on unnecessarily. It also made me really question some of the game balance of AT-43. Maybe it's sour grapes talking, but the game gets rather frustrating when it seems that specific units dominate play. Army point value is supposed to mediate unit power, but I question whether some units are priced correctly.
Oh well. Lessons learned, differnt strategies to consider, and more battles to fight.
Summer: the Bane of Wargaming
5 weeks since my last post - Wow. The month of September has been surprisingly busy, and wargaming has ground to a halt.
A month ago, we wrapped up Week 2 of Frostbite, so that leaves me behind 2 battreps and an update of our campaign map. The battreps are going to be rather abridged and to the point, this time. I don't have photographs, and the battles took place about 2 months ago. So, they're not exactly fresh in my mind.
A month ago, we wrapped up Week 2 of Frostbite, so that leaves me behind 2 battreps and an update of our campaign map. The battreps are going to be rather abridged and to the point, this time. I don't have photographs, and the battles took place about 2 months ago. So, they're not exactly fresh in my mind.
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