1.31.2010

Battle Report: My Worthiest Victory

Okay, so here's Game III, Daemons Vs. Daemons... what can I say?  There are games and there are games.  I can't easily explain how great this win was, and it was a testament to the character of my opponent that he didn't sour my high in the least - he was really cool about the whole thing.  I run the real risk of embarrassment by adding the video Intro and Closing, but what the hell.  The Master Manipulator (every store needs one) occasionally needs new fodder.


Jon gets the choice and gives me the first turn.  Daemons 101, right?  Well, that standard move isn't as strong when you're playing another Daemons player.  He basically gave me a drop into an open field and the ability to choose my assaults at the top of Two.  The picture shows the first model of Jon's army being placed for Deepstrike, and the four units of my preferred drop.  I could have stacked 5, but in this case if I didn't get what I wanted - the two units of Fiends - I wanted to have 5 units on the backend to hopefully make up for it.  I knew proper use of my Fiends and Flamers was going to be critical this game.
 
Jon's army is designed to maximize the pain on the first drop.  He uses a couple of single Screamers to add to his numbers - 13 in all, if I'm not mistaken - so he dropped seven units on me.  Luckily for me, unluckily for him, one of the three two-man units of Crushers suffered a mishap and was destroyed.  As I've learned the hard way, that's going to happen with Daemons on occasion; Jon let that setback go pretty quickly.  A word here about the Crushers... so, two-man units?  I wasn't sure why, given how often we see the big units in Daemons lists, designed to soak up a ton of firepower, but the answer here is elegant.  The footprint is the problem; 5 or more models of that size take up a ton of room and a canny opponent can use that size against you.  Also, it's an expensive unit - you practically have to run Fateweaver and build the list around Juggers.  Jon was running 6 at 1250, quite a number, and none of them were tripping over their feet.

 And this is how it looks after the top of Turn Two.  My Flamers came in and hit their drop, then toasted most of the Daemonettes in the central building; the one or two left I assaulted... with the Flamers!  This move surprised him, I think, but that unit was safer in combat than out.  He went first - but he was going to anyway with Initiative 6.  The Flamers had 3 attacks at Strength 4 on the charge, and the Herald had a few Strength 3 to add; they soaked the hits and killed off the few remaining models, then swept a bit farther up the board, away from the Daemonettes on my lower left flank (placed there by me due to a mishap).  The unit of Plaguebearers I brought in at the beginning of Two I placed as a further buffer.  The Fiends both jumped the other big Daemonettes squad, killing it off completely, then spreading out to block assaults.  If it looks like I was protecting my Flamers... I was.  They were too important.  The two units of 'bearers on the right flank I used to assault the Bloodcrushers.  This was a sac move, but with poison weapons and an Invulnerable Save, I just needed to hold the unit in place for as long as possible.  The Princes that dropped I used to take pot shots at the Slanneshi Herald, doing a wound.  

Sorry for the wall of text, but Turn Two was the most important of the game, far as I was concerned.  I got and held the initiative, picking the assaults in a manner most advantageous to my units.

  My opponents other units make their way on.  He uses his DP to assist his Crusher with the kill.  By this point, Jon had adapted his strategy and started concentrating on killing my Troops choices off.  I saw it coming, but like all good moves there wasn't much I could do about it.  I would have to sweep the board for a major win.  You can't see it well in the picture, but he has two of the six Daemonettes still on the board, and both are sitting on objectives.  My Fiends and Flamers were too far north, having finished off the units on that side.  I had to waste a turn getting into position for the last 3rd of the game.

 
I don't have the pictures of the last two turns.  Basically, Jon blocked with the Screamers, trying to protect the central unit of Daemonettes, but I was able to finish off the Khorne Prince and last Crusher, help my Prince finish off the closest unit of Daemonettes, then get in position for the final assault.  The Flamers opened a path for a multi-unit charge and I swept the board....  I'll let my last video speak for itself, as it were - and the finger at the end was meant in jest! - but I have one observation to make.  Jon will continue to be a dangerous opponent to play - I am under no illusions that somehow this one win makes me 'better' or something... but my last one-and-a-half years of constant practice and traveling out of town for tournaments has paid big dividends.  I think the key to playing well is playing consistently - playing mistake-free as much as possible, and I recognize this is difficult for players to do without constantly striving for improvement.

1 comment:

Big Whit said...

My poker face, my poker, My poker face, ma,ma,ma,my.

(A new favorite!) Anon: I haven’t even bothered playing a game of 6th yet, cause I have read the rules, and actually understand how they interact with units. I know my armies no longer function how they should, and so I need to change them.

Strictly Average: 'cause 6-inches is all you get.

Stalking Jawaballs since 2009.

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Brent, preferred 2-to-1 over Not Brent in a recent, scientific poll.

Brent: emptied the Kool Aid and DRINKING YOUR MILKSHAKE with an extra-long straw.

Unicorns don't exist.

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He's not like a bad guy from a cartoon, all devious but never quite evil, Not Brent is bad beans, man, bad beans.

Dethtron: "Again I feel obliged to remind you that trying to sound smart only works if you are."

MVB: "I am not one to join the unwashed masses of self-titled 40k experts out there distributing advice from their blogs about exactly how your list should be built..."

Shiner Bock on tap: that's how I choose hotels.

Strictly Average: The Home of Hugs and Gropings.

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MoD: "Welcome to Brent's head."

Competitive is Consistent.

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Warboss Stalin: "You know, if it actually WAS funny, maybe I wouldn't mind."

Mike Brandt: "It's not a successful bachelor party if you don't misplace someone".

"The Master Manipulator (every store needs one): "...now, enough stroking."

Kirby: "I don't know about gropings. Seriously, Brent, keep it in the pants, please."

Loquacious: "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get Hugs & Gropings or Stalks Jawaballs into Brent's little tribute."

Captain Kellen: "I rate this article a Brent on the Faith Hill to Nancy Pelosi scale!"

Drathmere: "Come for the balls, stay for the Brent? Kind of disturbing, man."

Go no further, lest thee see something thine eyes would fain look past!

Isabelle: "So, thank you for supporting your local and not so local unicorns. A noble gesture like that can show some scared kids out there that they don't have to hide from everyone and it's ok to be who they really are."

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On Internet Advice: You see, I have an almost religious belief that's it's a huge, colossal waste of time.

...I think I'll call it the Gun Shy Pattern Stormbuster, because after the Internet destroyed my first humble effort, I find I'm a bit worried about the reaction to this one.

Lauby: "Is it left over from that time you thought that you could just complete step one 12 times to meet the mandates of that court order?"

Not Brent: "I guess we'll have to read on and find out. Signed, Not Brent. Especially today."

Cynthia Davis: "I think the scrolling text is from Glen Beck's new book."

Grimaldi: "Spamming certain units creates interesting possibilities but also fatal weaknesses."

Purgatus: "Math can inform decisions. It cannot make decisions."

Thoughts? Comments? Hugs and gropings?

You'd be that much quicker to figure out what I mean when I refer to a Unicorn if I covered it in a rainbow flag.

SinSynn: (To Brent) "Curse you and your insidious influence on the internets..."

Dave G (N++): "You know you're an internet celebrity when your following is more akin to tabloids."

I prefer the term Internet Personality (or IP) myself, seeing as how I coined it.

Lauby: "Your attempt to humanize him as failed. I feel nothing but scorn for his beard - it's like a warcrime or something."

BBF: "I've always thought you are a good player but I finally figured out that you are a great player. It's hard to see sometimes because your personality is engaging, sincere and quite charming - to me that is kind of a rare combination."

'Clearly cheating?' I didn't misspeak: you jumped to conclusions. If you'd like to apologize I'll be happy to send you an autographed picture of my ass.

Ass.

I thought I was doing alright before I realized I was losing.

Age and treachery beats youth and vigor every time.

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