FIASCO 2016

On the Sunday 30th of October, I have attended another FIASCO event with the Leeds Night Owls club, we were also demoing Tanks and Beyond the Gates of Antares. Looking back at my article from a year ago, I have actually learned from the last year's experience! I did prepare leaflets with contact for the Northern Alliance, myself and the club, though now I am thinking I should have also print something about the different companies that I have bought things from for my board, people asked about the terrain often.

And just as I planned a year ago, I do have my own Ariadna themed board that I took there to show off. For the next event like this, I am considering doing like a 50/50 table where I'd have mine on one half and something more future sci-fi themed on the other half, just to show the different kind of boards Infinity can be played on.

Since all my Infinity playing mates were being lazy gits, I have attended this event alone to demo Infinity. I brought everything of Red Veil starter box but the minis since I don't have those painted, though I had Ice Storm minis that were painted for Northern Alliance to use for demos. I also had samples of Caledonia, Military Orders, Japan Sectorial and Morats. Which reminds me, for the next event I should also print a sign that says something like "Would you like to try Infinity?".

I spoke to lots of people about Infinity, showed the different things I had and pointed them to Infinity vendors that I knew were in the hall, but did only few demos. Andy from Ragnarok Games had lots of stock and I also noticed Mighty Lancer Games had Infinity stock too. It was cool to see Infinity being sold!

Also shout out too Yorkshire Renegades who were also showing one of their Infinity tables. Their huge banner stand made me envious, I should look into getting one for myself. Oh and a t-shirt, I need to get myself Infinity/club t-shirt.

This year I did remember to take more pictures during the day too.

From a Wooden Spoon to an ITS Event Winner

This month last year I have started this blog. I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep it alive for this long, let alone get almost 35,000 reads over that time. So I thought I would write something different for the one year anniversary. I have been planning this for a while. I been meaning to do it after my first ITS win but there was always something else to write about! I am hoping it will give you all some insight into "behind the scenes" and perhaps some idea on how to be more competitive with Infinity, if that is what you are after. That said, this is not a "how to guide" so I can't promise it'll work for everyone.

I have been playing tabletop wargames for almost a decade now, can't quite remember what year I got into Infinity (it was when N2 was already released) but it was in May 2015 when I started to really think about playing competitively. The only reason I remember the specific month is because it is directly linked to an article on Corvus Belli website. It was in May that they showed the Le Muet miniature (for the first time I think) and basically said if you want this miniature, you'll have to earn it by winning an ITS event. Until then I didn't really know you can win special miniatures.

My first thought was that I am not going to worry about it because I am never going to win one. The only tournament I have done up to that point was the first Northern Open and I came last, but I had a great time! Plus I wasn't that interested in the tournament scene. Bit later on I thought "Hold on, if other people can do it, why can't I? Infinity doesn't have meta game like Warhammer games." I went on the UK Infinity Facebook page and the forum list of UK events, and signed up for every tournament I could travel to. I actually did well on the second Northern Open and later managed to win my first ITS event in December.

So how did I manage to do it?

Well, short answer would be I went from casually playing Infinity once a week to playing as often as possible and going to about two tournaments per month, basically live and breathe Infinity. It wasn't enough just talking about it, playing it, reading online... I wanted to write about it too, which was the main reason I started this blog.

As you likely know, in its core Infinity has a very simple and efficient system but it also has tons of special rules and each unit has large amount of utility. The trick is to always find the right way to use a unit in each given scenario. To achieve that you need to practice, a lot. I am pretty sure its the same like with any other skill, the more you practice, the better you will be at it. Personally I have stuck with one army for the whole journey (Caledonia). Not only because I really like the army but it helped me to practice using the same army in different ways, I do quite enjoy finding out new utilities for the available units. One of my mates plays different army every few months and he is good with all of them, I'd say he is more efficient when it comes to writing army lists so he doesn't need dozen of models to try out different things.

If you can't practice very often, I would highly recommend to at least read up on tactics for your chosen army and Infinity in general, especially mission specific tactics. The missions do impact the army lists and how you play, which is another good thing to keep in mind. Its possible you can have one army that is good for all missions, but tailoring your army to missions where you can does help. In my experience it did anyhow. I have also noticed the impact practicing missions before an event has. We used to practice more often earlier in the year and I do feel I was doing better than I am now. If nothing else, it lets you see the things you could improve in your army list.

Another thing I found personally useful was finding my own use for units. Especially online you'll always have people trying to tell you what to use, what not to use and while their opinions on units might be valid, you ought to make up your own mind. For that reason I always try to only give recommendations and suggestions when giving opinion on units or army lists. It can easily happen that a unit that is being overlooked by others, could work amazingly for you and your play style.

So yeah, there really isn't any big secret behind winning tournaments. I do believe practice was the main thing and I feel lucky that the people I play and practice with are also competitive so we can always challenge each another even during casual games.

Even if you are new to go the game, go out to tournaments and have fun! It is the best way to learn new things and play new people. Don't worry about loosing either, keep at it, learn from all games and one day you can be ITS event winner too.

Tactical Table Overview - UK Masters, Day 1

It has been brought to my attention (by being mocked by my mates of course) that I complain about tables too much. Which in fairness I might do but thats because I have strong dislike for impractical terrain and on events I seem to play on tables that could have been set up better. That said, after post-game thinking I do find that set up and assessing tables is not my strong suit. So idea came to my mind about new type of articles.

I want to try have a look at different tables with a tactical eye and assess their advantages and disadvantages as far as the mission, Deployment Zones and how they will play out later in the game. I hope it will help me assess tables before games and make smarter choices. If this also helps any of you, even better!

As of right now what I look for at tables and base my choices around are four things; 1. where is the highest vantage point, 2. what cover does the Deployment Zones offers, 3. which side has better routes for my army to get to objectives (or out of the Deployment Zone), 4. the placement of objectives.

I try to keep those points in mind when deciding if I select a Deployment Zone or if I'll take Initiative (I might have been taking first turn too often lately). Now lets have a look at the tables I played on in Day 1 of UK Masters and try assess them tactically.

Table 1 - Mission: Supplies

On this table the extra thing to keep in mind is the Mountain Terrain. Depending on your and your opponent's army, it could be better to give them the side with more terrain. If their units do not have Multi-terrain or Mountain Terrain, they will be slowed down by it. Neither side has a higher vantage point but the lower side (from photo's perspective) does have more terrain to spread your army behind.

Each side has multiple paths between terrain to move out, though the lower side does have more open space on the left between terrain which could mean too much movement spent without cover. The top side does have faster access to the big warehouse (which has doors on both sides), which could make for a good cover to advance through.

As for objectives, the one on the left is hidden from both deployment zones (for Prone troops at least), probably more so from the top side. The middle objective is behind the tower, making it fully hidden from the lower deployment zone. On other hand the objective on the right is hidden from the top side. Which makes both sides more or less equal in this regard.

For the sake of this article, lets assume your army doesn't have many (or any) Infiltrators to just deploy next to the objectives. Access to the objectives during the game seems easier from the top. You can advance behind the big warehouse building to get to the middle with only small alley between the tower and the building being open, likely small enough to allow Cautious Move. From the tower, or advancing behind terrain on the top left you can get to the left objective. You'll also have access to the right objective through the warehouse.

From the bottom, the safest way way to advance seems to be from bottom right, towards the warehouse or through the objective room building and behind the tower. The bottom left section is very exposed once you get pass the buildings and there is plenty of line of fire from the top half.

My verdict: For this mission the top Deployment Zone does seem to have advantage as far as getting to the objectives from your DZ. While the bottom is likely to offer more deployment options for your troops. If I was made to pick a side, I would go with the top.

Table 2 - Mission: Antenna Field

The first thing I noticed about this table was that it had no high vantage points, or at least relevant vantage points. You do have double stacked containers and a tower on the far right but those are in the mission's Exclusion Zone so you can't Infiltrate on any of them. The Objective on the right is on top of the crates, near the tower so its worth keeping it in mind but depending on your army, it might simply be too many Orders to make use of it. Most of the table is quite equal leveled, though if you are feeling brave and have troops with Camouflage or other Equipment to make them hard to hit, they can just stand on terrain to get high ground.

But it is more likely most of the fighting will happen on the ground level. Deployment Zones appear to be similar as far as terrain density but I would say this table is deceiving. The lower Deployment Zone does not actually have that much useful terrain, at least that was how I felt during deployment. The lower right corner has very impractical advertising signs and the rest has lots of flat walls, no roofs and too much space between terrain.

While on other hand, the top Deployment Zone has lots of small scatter which makes it likely lot harder to fully hide troops without going Prone, but it is very dense so it should be easier to stay in cover. The mission is also very Order intensive so it could be more forgiving to have troops not fully hidden. I would expect people to focus more on getting to Objectives. The dense scatter terrain is also better for Fireteams, you can keep all the members close together without being behind the same wall. Additionally, if you are playing the walls at top left as fully opaque, it makes good full cover.

As I have found out, getting out of your Deployment Zone and to the objectives is also better from the top. There is more terrain that gets you to the Objectives and offers more opportunities to set up defenses. The objective in the top Deployment Zone is sort of in the open but you can just hide Prone hind it and then on left and in the middle, you can have troops around those brown-white buildings (or lanterns?) to protect the troops who will be on the Objectives.

Going from bottom, however, you have to run into the open quite soon after leaving your Deployment Zone, which might end up being a death-trap if your opponent went first and set up AROs. That was exactly the scenario I faced in my game. And my opponent even denied me the objective on a roof in the lower Deployment Zone by having a sniper standing on terrain that I couldn't outshoot.

Lastly, even the objective on the right on top of containers proved to be accessible better from the top. You can get behind those containers quite easy and then climb. While going from bottom, there is again lots of open ground to cover to get to the containers.

My verdict: My game on this table really made me think I should assess tables better into later turns, not just look at Deployment Zone. My opponent used the terrain well to his advantage and during the game I seen the lower Deployment Zone was not the best choice. The top side had better defense options for later turns.

Table 3 - Mission: Comms Centre

This table felt very much the opposite of the previous table. It had lots of roofs and levels, with the highest vantage point being double stacked building on the left side, though it was outside of the deployment zone. Both sides were more or less equal in heights but the top side actually had better access to a good vantage point. You could have deployed on lower level of the white-orange building or just behind it, and then walk up (probably by Prone to avoid AROs). It would give your troops quite nice overview of most of the board.I was quite keen on the highest vantage point though, getting all the way up there would let me see the the whole board. It would have been perfect for Infiltrating Snipers.

Both sides had a nice mix of terrain in each Deployment Zone, though the open spaces were not so terrible because the area between the green hedges (with the trees) was Low Vis and Saturation. What I thought would be useful by deploying on the bottom size was the seemingly easier access to building in the middle. I did not make proper use of it during the game but it does have good access to four objectives. It is close enough to them that you can go out, activate them and go back in to get cover and wait for the enemy.

When it came to movement outside of the Deployment Zone, I felt like the bottom half of the table had move cover and terrain to use for defense. The road running diagonally across the whole mat seemed more detrimental to the top Deployment Zone because you had to cross the open space to get to objectives while you could use the middle room for cover from the lower Deployment Zone.

Plus the long building on the top left had doors facing the edge of the board and then another doors leading into the top Deployment Zone. Which I did use during the game and it turned out to be a good attack point. Same could be said about the middle building though, you could rush from top and it would lead you straight to the lower Deployment Zone and your troops would have good cover.

The objectives seemed to be spread mostly even as far as cover and access. Though the top Deployment Zone had a lot easier access to an objective on a roof (which I realize only now I had a trooper there the whole game that could have at least active it!). The objective on white-red building I think was about the same, how safe the access stairs would be would really depend on the set up and troops positioning.

My verdict: I still feel like the lower Deployment Zone was the better choice but I did not utilize it properly. I think an aggressive army would benefits from good access routes into the top Deployment Zone through the building on top left and in the middle. However, a defensive army could make good use of the nice overview the top level of the white-orange building could provide.

Smoke Grenades (in Caledonia) 101

 
I believe it is fair to say when talking about strengths of the Caledonian Army, the three main things are tough units, plenty of T2 ammo and access to Smoke Grenades. From the nineteen unit choices (in current ITS season, and excluding Spec Ops), six of them have access to Smoke Grenades so it is very likely you will have them in your army. If you played against someone with Smoke Grenades before, you know how useful they can be. Though they can just as easily mess up your game if you don't plan ahead at least a little bit when using them.

In this article I would like cover some of the tips and tricks for Smoke Grenades that I use in my games. Before we get into it, keep in mind this is from Caledonia perspective. Most of this could apply to other armies as well, and there are some stuff that other armies can do but Caledonia can't, I won't talk about as I don't have experience with those. 

Smoke Screen in Active Turn: This is probably the main use people think of when it comes to Smoke Grenades, to block Line of Fire (LoF) from enemy troops. Smoke Grenades create a Zero Visibility Zone (Zero Vis) template of infinite height.Only Multi Spectral Visor Level 2 or higher can see through Zero Vis zone, so Smoke can protect you from the vast majority of troops in the game. To me Smoke Screen has two uses, a single LoF Block or a Smoke Path. In either case, it is very important to remember that Smoke activates at the end of the Order if you successfully pass your rolls (or win face to face). It basically means you can't throw Smoke and move through it without being seen in the same Order.

The LoF Block is simple enough, you need to move between point A and point B but enemy trooper can see the space between the points so you throw Smoke down to block LoF. The best way is to throw the Smoke while you are out of sight so it is an unopposed roll. Keep in mind though you can run out and have Face to Face roll with the enemy ARO (unless they have MSV Lv2 or higher) but in this scenario you have to make sure the template blocks enemy LoF for your entire movement. If they can see you out of Smoke, they shoot you for free. I don't recommend running out to throw Smoke unless you have to.

Smoke Path should also be self explanatory but it can be tricky to pull off. Sometime the distance between point A and point B is too long for one template and/or there are multiple AROs on the way. New people make the mistake of throwing Smoke down, moving into it and only then realizing they can't see the next point where they want to throw Smoke, it happened to me a lot too. The trick is to throw the Smoke in such a way that it blocks the first section but still lets you see the next point, while keeping your guy safe behind the first template. You can usually achieve this by throwing the first template further out or make path on an angle instead of going in a straight line. This is what I meant when I said earlier to think ahead when using Smoke.

Special Dodge, aka Smoke Dodge, in Reactive Turn: This can be confusing for many people. The name of one of Smoke Grenade traits is Special Dodge, and implies it has something to do with the Dodge skill. It doesn't and I know the name is confusing. To use Special Dodge, you are throwing the Smoke Grenade which is a Shooting Attack that uses PH instead of BS. This definition is more important in Fireteams (will get to that later). What happens when using Smoke Grenade as ARO is a face to face roll (unless they have MSV Lv2 or higher) and if you win, you negate the enemy shots and place down the Smoke template. You are not Dodging but effectively just winning a face to face shooting roll without causing damage.

This Special Dodge also doesn't work against template weapons, like Flamers and Chain Rifle. Those will hit automatically as normal though you can still throw the Smoke Grenade. The great thing about Special Dodge is that if you throw the grenade within 8", you get +3 PH and in Caledonia that means you'll be often rolling for 16, 17 or 19 (considering base PH of troops with access to Smoke Grenades).

The most obvious application is to protect the trooper that has the Smoke, like a 45th Highlander. You throw the Smoke either at his feet or further away to block the enemy LoF. But you can use Smoke to protect your other units. Say you have 112 not far from your Highlander and enemy is coming down at you but can see the Highlander first. If the Highlander can see your 112, he can throw Smoke at him to keep him hidden for later enemy Orders. My point is, think about what the enemy is aiming to achieve. Are they trying to kill the guy who has the Smoke, or are they going for someone else?

This applies more to your Active turn, but if you ever find yourself in situation where more then one enemy is shooting at your trooper that is throwing Smoke, remember the face-to-face is against all of them as long as the Smoke covers you against all. But you make only one roll, while all enemies roll against it (same as when you Dodge against multiple enemies). 

Smoke in Fireteam (Link Team): Following up from an earlier point, when you have Smoke Grenades in a Fireteam (very easy in Caledonia as Wallace can join all of them) it is important to keep in mind that throwing Smoke Grenade is a Shooting Attack (BS Attack is the skill name). This is most important in your Reactive Turn because it allows you to have some members use their Rifles and others can throw Smoke Grenades, so you have a chance to kill the enemy and be hidden for their next Order.

However, you can't Dodge and throw Smoke Grenade to Special Dodge, two different skills and it would make some members break from the Fireteam. 

Smoke & Close Combat (CC): This ties with the Smoke Screen from earlier. In Infinity getting into CC is hard because the enemy can shoot you to pieces as you are running at them. In Caledonia you can solve lots of problems by hitting things in CC with claymores but you still don't want to be shot while getting into CC. What I have done in the beginning, and I imagine other people start that way too, is to throw Smoke to block LoF so you can get close to the enemy but then you run out of it. Which does gets you into CC at least but still the enemy will get to shoot you.

What you want to do is to put the enemy into Smoke. Perhaps common sense, right? But it took me a long time to remember it during games. All you have to do it be able to land the template either to touch the enemy so they can't see, or get it close close enough so when you get base-to-base, you are still in the Smoke. All you need is part of your base inside to count as being fully in Zero Vis zone. Either case, once the smoke is landed, you can just walk into CC and its claymore time!

If you take nothing else from this article, remember that last point if you like getting into CC. I can't tell you how many times I was sacrificing troops needlessly when I could have just sacrifice one to put the Smoke on the enemy (or very close).

Obscuring your own LoF: This is something I still do today (I know, shameful), where your ARO is to throw Smoke and only after you done it you realize that your sniper, who was important for later AROs, can't see anymore. Therefore I would highly recommend, every time you use Smoke keep in mind your other troops and their LoF. Take a step back and think about it before you roll any dice, too late after that!

UK Masters - Day 2

This is continuation of the Day 1 from UK Masters. Before I get into it, it was pointed out I didn't write about the seminar by Gutier in the first article. That was for two reason, he didn't have anything new on the slides as all the things were showed recently on bigger events by Bostria (so you can see it all online) and secondly, as it was after all three games and I was extremely tired (I was up for around 36 hours at that point), I was slipping in and out of conscious state while sitting down. Some people spoke to him a lot more but I don't remember anything new.

So back to the games. After getting some good night sleep I felt good about the second day. All of the missions were about killing, with the only wild card being the last mission as I never played Firefight before (practice before events really does help if you want to come prepared). However, despite being rested I did made some big mistakes in my games, mostly by not utilizing my army the way it was supposed to be used, especially in the first game.

Game 4: Frontline - Caledonia vs The Neoterran Angels
Lost 1 to 4 (0 TPs)

This was a match destined to happen. In the first day Tim managed to get very similar results in game 2 and game 3, we were playing next to each another (one time they even said Tim is playing Peter... but different Peter!). I wanted to play Tim because we always have good games and it was another opportunity to see if I can keep up my winning streak against him. The table we got also seemed decent, with the only thing bit out of place being a lone sniper tower in one deployment zone. It literally had room just for one unit and LoF to almost everywhere. It would have been nice to have it but I wanted to go first and Alpha Strike. So I deployed with that in mind, one SAS getting high on roof just to hold a board section and one failing his Infiltration roll. Tim decided to bunker down in top left corner. It was quote open but far from my Wulvers Link. My first mistake of the game was when deploying Uxia. I remembered Tim had a wierd ALEPH Lt last time we played but she was on ARO position which made me thing its not her (turned out it was at the end). Only after I deployed Uxia near a Total Reaction bot I realized if I went for that ALEPH unit anyway, I could have shotgun my way through like 3-4 troops that were lined up behind her.

Tim dropped a 40mm camo marker as his reserve which I had no idea what it could be as I never seen one in PanO army. My mistake number two: when I see Total Reaction Remote my response is (whenever I can) so snipe it from over 32" away. Its the easiest way to shoot them because they get -12 BS when I shoot from camo state, so its unopposed rolls. Problem was, the table had some tricky line of sights. What you thought you could see you actually could not, so I wasted too many Orders moving my Sniper around. It was stupid as it left me with too little Orders for Wulvers. Smarter thing would have been to just run Wulvers with Smoke cover since only MSV Lv2 Tim had was a Black Friar that could see nothing at that point. Once the TR Rem was unconscious I sent Uxia to finish it off but Tim revealed his Hexa in the sniper nest and she killed Uxia. That pretty much ended my turn. Complete Alpha Strike fail on my part (remember how I said I didn't use my army the way it was supposed to be used?).

In his turn Tim understandably wanted to get rid of my Highlanders and sent Auxilia with Auxbot to deal with them. There was a prolonged fire fight between them and two Highlanders. The Highlander getting Heavy Flamed kept passing high ARM saves, in the end only the other Highlander died. Then the mysterious camo marker moved around to shoot at my Wulvers. It turned out to be Clausewitz Uhlan. First round of shooting nothing happened as he used Feuerbach and we were both at bad ranges, he was shooting against my Mk12. So I kept the Wulver standing up with LoF. Then the son-of-a-bitch TAG pulled out a HMG! I went for Dodge but it didn't save the Wulver sadly. I was dropped down to 4-man Link. At least Tim wasn't mistake free either. He moved up his Bulleteer Rem and put it in Supressive Fire, completely forgetting about a nearby SAS behind a building.

But fear not dear reader, I wasn't finished with my mistakes either. In my turn, first Impetuous Highlander killed down the Auxbot and the Auxilia, dying himself in the process. Then the SAS went back to camo marker state and moved behind the Remote. However, to get into Close Combat he was going to get shot by the Hexa that could see just the very top of the silhouette. You are probably thinking why didn't I just go Prone then? Well because I completely forgot, just didn't occur to me at all. Sometime we miss the most obvious and easiest solution I guess. So I sent in the SAS, killed the Remote and then he got headshoted. Still not thinking straight for whatever reason, I then proceeded to have a sniper-off between Cateran and Hexa. After wasting too many Orders nothing happened. I did get one hit in, but Tim passed the ARM save. My second turn was just as useless as my first turn.

The only good thing for me was that Tim knew how deadly my army can be up close so he was keeping to his deployment zone. Should my Wulvers, even one of them, get within CC distance of the TAG, it would be dead. The Hexa finished the Cateran now that she had the Active Turn advantage. I think he ended up only unconscious. The rest of Tim's turn was moving up some units and putting them on Supressive Fire, making it hard for me to get anywhere pass the middle line.

I sent my Wulvers to a building in the middle, hoping to contest that section as I still had around 140pts in the Link Team left. Though I knew I'd struggle to win either way since the TAG was just too many Points Tim could put anywhere with a single model. I did send Heavy Shotgun Wulver against second Auxilia because the blast also hit the Black Friar. One of them died, I think it was the Black Friar but not entirely sure. Because of how I positioned Wallace and two Wulvers it was hard to judge if they were in the middle zone or the one closest to my DZ, but they seemed to be out of the middle.

Tim went for the win by putting everything he had left (or everything he could get in there with the Orders he had left) in the middle. I think he knew if he went for the zone in front of my DZ he could end up being over-pointed by my Link and then maybe not even hold the middle since I still had camo marker in there and we both had out Intel cards to add points to a zone. It was the smarter move and when we measured it, my Link was not in the middle zone. Funny thing was that if I shuffled the Link two inches forward, they would be in the middle and think would have won on Points by like 2-3pts. It was a fun game for sure though. It had to happen eventually for Tim to beat me!

Game 5: Supremacy - Caledonia vs Yu Jing
Won 6 to 3 (2 TPs)

With three loses already I was not feeling very optimistic about my overall chances to rank anywhere decent, so I was going to this game with the intention of just having fun. I don't believe I played against Phil, my opponent, before but I know we been on same events because he has this really well painted Guijia that I remember seeing on painting competitions. Which funnily enough betrayed his reserve model. I believe I deployed first as I took the first turn, I just remember looking at what Phil deployed and thinking its not enough, there had to be something big in reserve (I don't believe he asked me to turn around or something to place down TO markers for photo evidence). The reserve did turn out to be a TAG in the end.

The table we played on was very open (unfortunately I forgot to take a whole table photo). There was a river running through it with hills and woods enclosed by the river and buildings on the outside. It worked for us as neither had Total Reaction Rems or too many snipers/long range weapons but overall I didn't think the table was that good, most of it was very open and two TR Rems would have shut the board down. The river and woods rules would only do so much. As we were playing Supremacy my plan was the same as always, dominate zones with Wulvers. The plan was to run them down the right flank, lots of buildings for cover would make it easy in theory. The overall goal was to take out the TAG which would reduce Phil's points by a lot.

I started the turn with using Uxia and my SAS on the left. Phil deployed few units in a line which I aimed to exploit with a Shotgun but one of his camo markers stopped me (might have been TO before it revealed, its been a while!). It changed my plan to attacking the revealed unit instead. Phil made a bit of an error where he declared Discover instead of Hold/Delay when Uxia, still in camo state, moved. Which gave me a free shot in my second half. I only took off 1 Wound and Phil decided to fail guts and moved further back around a hill. It meant my SAS couldn't shoot at it so I just put him into Supressive Fire to watch over Uxia. The Wulvers did not run all the way into Phil's Deployment Zone. Mainly beause he had Mad Traps (adhesive koalas) which I didn't want to risk running into. If they were normal mines I'd go tank it but adhesive is a bitch, the risk of being stuck unable to a thing was too high. I ended my turn with Wulver holding down a building in the top right quadrant (from my perspective). The Wulvers did kill a camo Hacker that was hiding on the building.

Phil started his turn with bunch of Impetuous units running at Uxia. I did well (almost by accident) with having the SAS watching over her. She was able to Dodge all the chain rifles while he gunned them down. I am not sure if it was the last Chain Rifle or the wounded Camo Specialist that got her in the end but she did go conscious. Phil also managed to kill one Wulver with his MSV Lv2 Remote by using the Smoke Trick (where he shoots out of Smoke with MSV Lv2). Which I did not think about in my turn. I believe it was in this turn where Phil killed my Cateran (which I revealed in response to a free shot at one unit he moved into open, which I failed to kill) with his TAG but otherwise kept back for now, well after wrecking some faces on my left frank. The SAS did not survive. I did win the first turn on Quadrants.

In my second turn I went for the wounded Specialist. My plan was to send two Highlanders, one to kill him with Berserk, the other to do Coup De Grace for my Classified. It did not quite work out, I run out of Orders. I took a second Objective in this turn (first turn I used Volunteer Medic to take one). Since I had two of the Objectives I planned to destroy the rest with T2 weapons. Unfortunately for me I wasted bit too many Orders on this because I kept missing, even an objective right in front of me! But in the end I did destroy enough so Phil could only get one at most while I had two.

He was more aggressive with his TAG in the second turn, it killed just about everything else leaving me with only the Wulvers, WarCor and one Highlander for the last turn. He did run the TAG all the way into my Deployment Zone (well just in front of it to score quadrants) but didn't move his other units much. My Wulvers were still really close to his Deployment Zone, they could have kill a lot if he wasn't careful with his ARO set up. The reason I wasn't attacking was the MSV Lv2 REM, it was in Supressive Fire with Spitfire and I wasn't on full Link so I didn't want to have a shoot off. I could have go climb around it and maybe get into CC but it seemed too risky for little payoff. One Mad Traps was still around, my second SAS shot one of them.

In my last turn I could have try game it more to have more Objective Points but I wanted to do something cool, like killing TAG in CC. So Wallace and Wulvers backtracked where they came from and run back to my Deployment Zone and towards the TAG. Sadly I was quite short on Orders. It was a long way to run. I only managed to get in Wallace with his 6-4 Movement. I did manage to hit it in CC, might have Crit, but Phil passed the other two ARM saves so the TAG was only Wounded. In his last turn Phil didn't activate it at all! He was just killing my exposed units and moving to quadrants, leaving the TAG vs Wallace combat unfinished. Terrible cliffhanger ending if you ask me but understandable he didn't want to risk it.

In the end Phil did get the quadrants and had one of his Classified done. I had none of mine but I won in two rounds and had two objectives while Phil had none, giving me a minor victory. It was a fun game overall, even though I couldn't a TAG... again... for the third time.

Game 6: Firefight - Caledonia vs Nomads
Lost 2 to 9 (0 TPs)

Last game, last chance to go home with 50/50 record of three wins and three loses. I was paired against Luis and his Nomads with no idea what to expect from this mission. I did want to take a list with very few Specialists due to the scoring of this but because of the other missions I couldn't so my plan was to score higher on everything else.The table we got was one of the Northern Open tables, though I never played on it before. It looked interesting, lots of open places but also lots of crowded ones too, a good mix. Before the game we agreed to only shoot through the big doors but windows were only shooting into the building or out of it, not all the way through. It didn't make much of a difference during the game but its always good to try cover everything with your opponent before you start. For this game I had the first turn, Luis made me deploy first.

I seen a good path for my Wulvers to get into Luis' Deployment Zone so they went onto my left flank. My SAS both went next to the objectives with Booty and I held back Uxia, planning to put her on the third objective. But without realizing it, Luis messed up that plan by placing Hunter with Crazy Koalas there. I should have just put all three Infiltrators to the middle so he couldn't deploy any Koalas nearby but I completely did not think about that. I still placed Uxia on the right flank though, hoping it would clear up. Luis put down Iguana TAG as his reserve, another chance for me to finally smash a TAG! or at least try to.

My first turn was careful assassination of long range threats. I believe I used my Wulvers to kill both Total Reaction REM and Lunochod REM with Koalas. They were both on the left flank inside a warehouse. In Full Link I always feel confident with my Mk12 (unless its camo or Supressive Fire). I did spent the extra Orders to kill the remotes complete, giving Luis no chance to bring them back with Engineer. I also started to roll on Booty table with one of my SAS (on the left objective), he got himself +2 ARM and then ODD. Pretty good I thought. I did move up some of the other units and tried to end the Wulvers in a defensible position (believe it or not, I still struggle to find good end point for my Links). My Paramedic Volunteer who was too short to get to an objective just ended up in Supressive Fire in the open.

Which turned out to be a good thing when Luis began his turn with Extremely Impetuous Morlocks. They were all gunned down by various AROs. One made it to CC with Uxia. Luis admitted he didn't really know Caledonia after she killed him and I explained the only units not good in CC in my army is the WarCor and Volunteer. Luis followed that up with a very bold move. I completely forgot that in this mission, all AD troops can come on any board edge. So he sent his Tomcat behind my Wulvers. Only WarCor had Line of Fire and he decided to Alert so my Wulvers could all face the Tomcat. It didn't stop it from using Flamethrower to catch Wallace and one Wulver with T2 Rifle. That was scary because I tend to keep Wallace as my Link Leader (since he is not suppose to be getting shot), so I couldn't break the Link. It was only Light Flamethrower so I decided to go balls out and just shoot the bitch Tomcat with everyone. The Tomcat got obliterated but my Wulver girl failed two Saves, so she ended up Unconscious. Then the important save on my Lt... failed one but passed the second, so he was on No Wound Incap. Lucky for me. Luis did move away the Hunter with Koalas but then moved up his Iguana so Uxia still wasn't free to just go for the objective. I am actually not sure happened to Uxia from this point on (she had no impact on the game), I know she died at some point though, think it was by the Iguana.

In my second turn I went for more Booty rolls from the objectives. Second SAS grabbed himself a HMG and Multi-Rifle (in the middle), while a Highlander found a Light Grenade Launcher and a Motorbike! (of the left objective.) My Wulvers then moved into the Warehouse, killing a Jaguar that was hiding there. I was planning to launch an attack into Luis' Deployment Zone in my third turn and keep Wallace far away from his units. I don't believe I killed much else because everything was hiding and the TAG was on the other side of the board.

In his second turn Luis was cheeky with his Smart Missile Launcher. Instead of Guided he was able to draw LoF to one of the Wulvers, catching Wallace in the blast. I did manage to Dodge it all though. But it sure made me think about positioning a lot more. The Iguana tried to kill the SAS and Highlander but could only killed the Highlander on the bike. The SAS in cover with OOD was too hard to hit. The Iguana kept moving into my backlines, grabbing itself Booty from objective on the way. From all the things it could get, Luis found ODD for the TAG! So it was definitely out of question for me to try shoot it. I did make one mistake in his turn with ARO. One of his troopers moved to LoF of my Sniper and I decided to hold, then the trooper went into Supressive Fire (no longer in LoF of the Sniper). I should have taken the shot. It would have revealed my Sniper but at least he would have done something this game (he did nothing, not even revealed himself). The Iguana did try to Discover it earlier but failed. In that turn I believe I lost the non-ODD SAS and WarCor. All Highlanders were dead by now.

By the time it was my last turn I have identified who Luis' Lt was, a Tunguska Interventor Hacker. I could have hide my Wulvers and Wallace but I wanted to have some fun (no risk, no gain). In retrospect I didn't need to move Wallace with the Wulvers once he put down Smoke for them but something that I never came across before happened. As I rounded corner with one Wulver to shoot a trooper which was blocking LoF for the Smart Missile Launcher, Luis declared Dodge and said it allowed the other units to now see and declare AROs. It sounded like nonsense but he said it happened to him in a different event and someone else confirmed it so I went with it (later we clarified on Facebook its not intentional part of the rules in the English rule book, its not in the Spanish one at all apparently, and will be removed with FAQ at some point.) It didn't make much difference at that point as he missed, or he might have just kill the Wulver that was going to shoot.

It did threw up my plans either way. Making me use a different Wulver to climb over the vehicle they were all hiding behind to get shot at the Lt. This time though the blast did get more of my people and Wallace died. Luis' Lt survived, either my Dodging or passing ARM saves. In his last turn all he had to do was count what was dead and what was left. I don't think he could get more Booty rolls than I had since I had six and he had only one or two, but on everything else he was winning.

Besides that "trick" at the end, it was quite a fun game and I hope to play Luis again in the future. I also have to say I really liked this mission. It was amusing to see what you can found for troops from Booty rolls. The scoring in the end did not represent how close the game was until the end. If I managed to take out his Lt with mine alive, and not getting my Link killed my Missile Launcher, the huge swing in points would have been in my favour. It is impossible to prepare for something you never came across before but lesson from this could be: just use what you need, nothing extra. I only wanted +1 Burst so three Wulvers without Wallace would have worked just as well. Or even maybe sending just one could have done the trick.