After my loosing streak I was happy I was able to prove myself I still got it. It sure helped to read the missions and ahead and have a plan! It was a bit of a gable in all three games as I always went first but thanks to an advise of one of my mates, I was prepared for it. It worked out and I ended up on the second place. I don't have the rankings but from what I recall it was really close with the first place.
All my opponent were really sound too, it was fun to play against them even when I kept them in their deployment zone, which I know from experience can be frustrating.
I went home with a boxset of Govads, an objective room by TT Combat and a Haqq Spec Ops Dog-tags. I also won the painted armies raffle and got an Umbra Samaritan. So my ticket and fuel almost paid for itself, which is always nice.
My Army Lists
List A
List B
After Games Expo I grew bit more fond of Urugans so these lists were based off my older lists but making use of the Traktor Mules. I also went down in numbers of SAS and Caterans, which I thought might not pay off but it worked. I love the Caterans but since we have access to normal Hacking Device now, Urugans are pretty useful to hold off enemy troops.
Also these lists do have 12XP Spec-Ops as it was allowed on this event, but usually we play non-Spec-Ops events so will have to tweak these lists again for other events.
Game 1: Transmission Matrix - Caledonia vs PanO
Won 8 to 4 (2 TPs)
My first game was against Kris and we ended up playing on my table, which I always enjoy. I believe Kris won the Lt Roll and decided to go second. There was not much difference in table sides as far as objective placement so I have decided to take the side with the highest building, which I didn't end up using but it meant Kris wouldn't have it. Last time I played this mission I won by going for three objectives each turn and making it difficult for my opponent to retaliate, so I planned to try do the same.
I have deployed Urugan on each side objective with small support and my Scots Guard Link on the middle. Kris had Sniper Nisses as the only visible ARO piece, which worried me, and the Nisses has also deployed on the opposite flank from my Cameronian. I would have preferred to take on the Nisses with B5 Molotok but I couldn't get close enough so my Missile Launcher had to do the job, which he did and Nisses was blown to bits. Since Uxia failed to infiltrate I wanted to use Cameronian to take out the Fusilier I thought was the Lt (there was a choice of three) and I was about two moves away from getting there when Kris revealed Swiss Guard with HMG. This of course changed priorities.
I tried to Chain Rifle her (and managed to kill Konstantinos by hitting them both) and took 1 Wound off I believe, I tried to finish her in CC but died in the process. I knew the Swiss would be a problem in Kris' active turn, even the Scots Link would have trouble because she'd pick them off one by one. So I decided to go balls to the wall and attack it with Scots Guard and Wallace. Since the Swiss couldn't kill Wallace in CC with one hit, I smoked made a Smoke path and spread the Scots, leaving the Missile and Molotok around the middle objective. The idea was to get Wallace and at least one other into CC for bonuses but only Wallace could make it. He went Berserk and killed the Swiss. I ended my turn with Coup de Gracing the Swiss to make sure its dead and then putting my Scots into defensive positions, with Wallace going to hiding.
Even though I didn't kill the Lt, my gamble paid off. The Scots managed to end as a full Link and it helped a lot to keep Kris in his deployment zone. He tried to take on the Scots Guard with Hexa but didn't out roll me and then Wallace dropped smoke, so she couldn't do much. He also brought on an AD trooped but he got hit by Flash Pulse, as did two other units who went against the FO Scots. Which really halted Kris' ability to attack the objectives.
My second turn was mostly about fortifying defenses. I brought Sniper to the middle and aligned the Molotok, Missile Launcher and Cateran in such a way that anyone attacking them would have hard time getting only one ARO. I was bit stupid when I spend around 3-4 Orders going against Supressive Fire Fusilier with double SMG Scots Guard. I was in my good range bands but it didn't give me any advantage. I think I only killed the Hexa this turn, completely forgetting about the AD trooper with Spitfire.
At this point I believe Kris's only way to shift me off the middle objective was the AD trooper. We found a spot where he could only be AROed by the Missile Launcher but it was over 24", getting any closer meant more AROs. He was hitting me on at 7s while I was on flat BS 12, so even with his higher Burst he wasn't able to hit me though I couldn't hit either. This drove Kris to move out and attack in better range, but against all three of my AROs. Which didn't work out for him, all my guys survived and the AD trooped died.
This left Kris with no heavy weapons and I was able to in my last turn to run deeper into his DZ with Wallace and kill three troopers, two in CC and one was shot because it had Electric Pulse. I made a mistake of getting carried away with Wallace instead of focusing on my Classified. My hacker ended with only one attempt to Data Scan and it failed, so I didn't get full 10 for the mission.
In retrospect I think it might have been a mistake on Kris's part to reveal the Swiss so soon but at the same time if he didn't do it my Cameronian would kill lot more troops and likely his Lt (there were two Fusiliers I was going to kill and one of them was the Lt), so he wouldn't be able to do much in his first turn with the Swiss. It was definitely not an easy decision either way. Getting so far up the board with the Link could have been very bad for me and without knowing the range bands, it was a good play to attack them with the Spitfire.
Game 2: Decapitation - Caledonia vs Onyx Contact Force
Won 8 to 2 (3 TPs)
My second game was against the Wargaming Trader himself. Ian brought his awesome looking Onyx army which is very new and I never played against it so I wasn't sure what to expect. If I remember right I won the Lt Roll, but either case I went first. My plan for this mission was to attack the enemy Lt, kill it and protect my own for the rest of the game. I had only one Infiltrator but figured even if Uxia fails her roll like last game, I had enough to hammer the enemy force in the first turn. Ian deployed his Lt behind cover on a roof of a building that wasn't fully in his DZ. Which was a good spot as I'd have to go all the way around the building to see it, but it also allowed Uxia to Infiltrate on the roof. Thankfully she passed her roll.
It made my first turn strategy bit easier. After Super Impetuous troops run off, and half of them died, my first move was to attack Ian's Link of Batroides. I have dropped smoke with Highlander just enough so my Missile Launcher could only see one member of the Link with Carbine, blocking LoS of a Sniper. I won the face to face and when Ian checked, it also hit the Sniper. Which would have allowed him to shoot back through the Smoke but we both forgot about it till long after the game. Both of the Batroides died. Ian also revealed a TO camo token in attempt to ARO the Missile Launcher but when we checked there was no LoF, the table was quite deceiving!
Uxia then moved up the roof towards the enemy Lt. I couldn't keep her in cover against him as I needed full cover against the TO Marker I knew was waiting. But even without cover the B5 Assault Pistols done their job and Lt died. After that I realized Uxia was in a very good spot to take out Ikadron and EVO Hacker REM. My Cateran also revealed this turn, taking down another member of the Batroides Link, which left Ian with only two. I ended my turn with Scots Guard and everyone else protecting path towards Wallace, who was my Lt.
The table was less open than it looked, especially across the middle most line of fire were blocked, which didn't give much room to Ian to attack from distance. He still had two missile launchers on the board, one of which was in TO, but my Link was still on full strength, giving me the advantage in any shoot out. Ian spent his turn bringing back some units with Dr. Worm's slave drones and fortified his position around the building with Dr. Worm, who became his new Lt. My left flank was very open, it had good partial cover but I couldn't move without being shot. I risked my Cameronian to attack the TO unit but was too far from it with only one move and failed the face to face rolls. In retrospect I should have not done it as I later realized there was a LoF to the TO unit underneath the platform in the middle. Which allowed my Molotok Scots Guard to attack it in my good range and put it unconscious. After a Highlander Chain Rifled the EVO Hacker, Uxia went to kill it completely this time, and also done my Sabotage Classified.
With less Orders each turn, Ian had hard time moving anywhere near my Lt and used his turn to heal the unconscious TO unit and then attacked few of my units not in full cover, that he could see from his DZ. I was lucky to lose only one Uguran. In my last turn I was trying to get the second Classified but kept failing. I couldn't do the card I drew so I was trying to get close to Ian's HVT but he kept killing everything because I had to move through LoF of a Batdroid Missile Launcher that I couldn't see with my heavy weapons. My second Urugan with Marksmanship Lv2 had the best odds but I kept rolling bad with it. Before end of the turn I managed to kill the TO Missile Launcher. This left Ian with very little to do in his last turn. He couldn't take my HVT either as I had troops around it.
Ian said after the game he should have deployed differently but both deployment zones were very similar. I could have gone on each flank or through the middle so it would been hard to defend all access points. It was the same with my DZ if Ian had the first turn. Hard to say if his Lt could have been better off inside a building. I think it might have make it harder to kill him on the first turn but Uxia is good at getting wherever she needs, even if she dies in the process of the assassination.
Game 3: Supremacy - Caledonia vs Imperial Service
Won 8 to 0 (3 TPs)
I am not fan of Supremacy so I was bit worried in my last game, especially since I lost the final game one too many times already. It didn't help Andy was playing IS, which is an army I am not very familiar with. On top of that, when I won the Lt Roll I decided to take pick a side and Andy said he'll go second. I think I decided sides anyway, might have just pick go first. Which I regretted immediately after because going second helped me to win this mission plenty of times before! So I gambled everything on being able to Alpha Strike, but I didn't feel it was a good gable in this mission. As a fun fact, this was the same table I played on the last mission in Totally CRIT and won back there, though it was set up differently.
What decided my strategy for me was Andy's deployment (especially after Uxia failed her roll and so I couldn't hunt for Lt). He had a Link Team of HI with Hacker who had 1 Wound (I don't know these guys names), and deployed them in a line behind a building. Since they seemed like the strongest part of Andy's list, I deployed my Wulvers on the same flank and the plan was to hit them with Heavy Shotgun, take as many off as possible. I got close and then it took some maneuvering with Smoke, but I was able to pull it off. I think I took a Wound off all of them but the first guy and killed the Hacker, my Wulver done a good job surviving and ended in front of them all in cover. At the start of the turn one of my Highlanders run towards some Forward Deployment unit and they ended up killing each another in CC, which was funny. I also sniped a WarCor with my Cateran, I know how deadly they can be so I wasn't going to let him live! The biggest mistake I made this game was not Re-Linking my Wulvers properly. I had to break the Link at one point and then Linked 4 of them back but after I ended my turn I noticed if I made someone else the Link Leader, all 5 would have been in her ZoC, giving my Shotgun more shots and better BS for everyone.
My mistake was paid for in blood and three Wulvers died that turn. At least they did not go down easy. I managed to take down all but two of the HI troops. By the end of his turn Andy tried to push into the quadrants in front of his DZ in attempt to over-point my Wulvers (I didn't contest the other one) but with all my AROs available I was able to kill everything but one HI trooper which was not more points than Wallace and the lastWulver. In my second turn the surviving trooper was giving me lots of trouble. I was bit stupid because we were within 8" and I kept shooting with T2 Rifle. Eventually I run into CC and activated both Berserk and Natural Born Warrior (which pushed me to CC 30!) to kill the trooper, something I should have done from the start, or keep moving back to get outside of the 8".
There wasn't much else to shoot at so I then spent the rest of the turn destroying the objectives so Andy couldn't get them. Uxia did activate one before blowing it up. There wasn't much Andy could do in his second turn, all his hard hitters were dead and everything else was deployed at the back of his DZ. I think he was just consolidating defenses in the one quadrant he was holding. In my third turn I sent Uxia to get the last objective and also blow it up.
I think what helped me in this game was learning from the last game I had against Adam in Totally CRIT. In that game I didn't push with the Wulvers far enough even though I could have done similar thing I did this time, hit bunch of troops with Heavy Shotgun in a Link. Another lesson from the same event was from playing against JSA and having a very drawn out shoot out between Wulvers and another HI Link, its not something I would want to happen again if I can help it. It was risky to spend all my orders on the attack because it could have failed if I couldn't make it close enough but once again Wulvers proved their worth and came through for me. I really need to give them a good paint job!
In retrospect deploying the Link differently might have made it harder for me to hit them all but I get why Andy didn't put them on roofs for AROs. Going second you want your expensive things alive and having them exposed would have allowed me to shoot them from distance.
Bonus photos of Serenity Valley table set up:
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