Game II: Brother Captain James

Okay, here's the Battle Report for Game II of the Da Boyz GT in Rochester, New York.

As an aside, I got an email from Kris, the Blood Angels player from Game I.  I'm going to reply more specifically in a blog post, probably tomorrow, but I wanted to mention one thing.  I referred twice to his inexperience but I wasn't more specific than that.  I alluded to it, but here it is straight out: I meant his inexperience playing in GT's.  The dude knew how to rock his army, but nobody I know does as well as they want in their first major Indy.  It's a different scene.

I got both my preferred drop and my preferred turn choice.  Here's BCJ's setup, and on Turn 1 he shoots across the board, spreading out his army to make the drops difficult for me.  The Mission is Lost Artifact, so we had to locate the objective before fighting over it.

Here I am playing Brother Captain James from the Battle for Salvation.  I wanted to ask him Jawaballs-specific questions, but there wasn't much time...



I really liked his army.  I thought it was subtle and interesting - and I was extremely worried about playing it.

His Terminators.  I snapped a lot of pics of his army - I really, really dig this one.  I will say I thought this unit should have been more centralized.  Does Shrike allow Infiltrate?  I think that's why he set up here.  I thought a better spot was in my Deployment Zone, on the objective.

More army pics.  Those Land Speeders are one unit... probably a nod to comp.

Here he is, spreading out.  Do YOU see any great places to Deep Strike in 6 units?  To say this made me nervous is an understatement.

His Stern Guard.  He Combat-Squaded them, and on unit has the Librarian.  Awesome models, with hand-painted symbols.

I'm actually really, really disappointed.  Evidently I didn't take pictures of my Deep Striking deployment.   Suffice it to say, I was surgical.  This unit with the Icon is centralized and in cover.  I have a 5-man Horror squad playing distraction on the right flank, but for the most part I teleport in on the left and start laying waste to his Marines with Bolt, Breath, and Gaze.

Here's a good time to say this: if you are a new Daemons player, DON'T use Icons.  Don't.  This game is an example why.  I rarely lose models to mishaps - as in, maybe 1 unit in 30 games - that kind of rare.  It's because I played without them for so long that I know exactly what to do and where to place.  Now that I use Icons, I have both tools at my disposal.  In this game, without that experience, Brother Captain James' strategy of spreading out would have probably destroyed my chances right from the beginning.  There was very, very few places to successfully land.

Proof my dice aren't loaded.

So, I'm rolling right.  After this pic, I take the time to destroy those Tac squads in the upper left hand corner before moving on.  I end up finding the objective right there where my Herald is, below that destroyed tank.  I hold it and use that spot as a lever to sling bits of my army around the board.  At this point, the game is effectively over - and Brother Captain James knew it.  I have to say, he played on for pride, smiling the whole time.  He was a great dude and a pleasure to play.  This was one of my favorite games of the weekend, just because of that.

More pics.  Told you I took a bunch.

He's still got several solid units, but he has to approach me over difficult ground; plus, I have the charge range he doesn't, even with Fleet.  Still, this had to be played correctly.

Shrike flies over, trying to split my close combat forces, methinks.  He ends up targeting Plague Bearers, which is cool by me.

Here come the Terminators.

This is the game from another angle.  I'm pretty fond of this type of battle line.  My father is a historian, so I grew up with tales of ancient battle... I think I unconsciously think that way sometimes.  Here's a strong, anchored left flank.  The slower units are in the center - that kind of thing.

That battle is joined...

...and there is the envelopment.  

This game is an example of my army working perfectly.  I grabbed the initiative early and held on to it throughout the game.  Regarding Brother Captain James... what's there to say?  This mission played to my strengths but that dude is a gamer.  Great guy, great game.