Adepticon Championships, Game 2 (Mech Guard!)

This was a tough match up - a very tough match up.  While this isn't the Guard army I would build, it's still a great build... but worse, from my point of view, it seemed custom made to beat me.

He had three units of two Hydras with Heavy Bolters and Heavy Stubbers: Str6 Twin-Linked, Str5, Str4... and separated across each third of the board.  Most of the game they pivoted and fired, pivoted and fired.  And that's just a portion of the army - you can see the rest in the picture.

I didn't get my preferred wave.  No alpha strike.  I dumped my Fiends on one flank and landed my Icon in the middle of the board.

One thing that isn't noticeable is the Master of the Fleet... that's just like the kiss on the cheek after a spanking in front of the girl's volleyball team.

I normally split my drops evenly, but here the strategy was different: I loaded my shooting in the preferred wave and my Fiends and Troops in the secondary.  I wanted my Heralds and Princes on the board, softening up the armor long before my Troops hit the field.  This was an objective based game - there was never a doubt in my mind he'd go after my Horrors in the worst way.

I used cover to block as much of the shooting as possible, then started launching assaults.

I didn't get my preferred wave, so with this matchup I'd have to pick my spots carefully.  If I couldn't salvage as much of my Fiends and Horrors as possible before the rest of the army arrives - late, thanks to the MotF - I'd lose.

I went to ground over and over with the Horrors in the first three turns; to my mind, one of the most underused rules in the game.

Notice the Fiends in the center?  They multi-charged two Chimeras.  That's how to deal with Mech Walls.  The resulting explosions can potentially devastate the Vets ('cause it's always Vets!) inside, but I usually hope for a Pinned result.

I'm pretty sure I lost my Icon by this point, but the Horrors going to ground in cover soaked a lot of shooting.

 So I'm softening up the left flank, but the right flank is largely untouched.

Not much left, and the Master of the Fleet means my reserves plain aren't coming in.

 Despite my best efforts, I'm losing way too many models.  I start conserving where I can.  The good news is the left flank belongs to me...

I never will hit the Hydras on my extreme right flank with Fiends - that's too much board to cover, even with Beasts.  Still, they take out 3.5 of 6 units.  I can live with that.

 ...the bad news is, here's his right flank.  It's an objective game and he's still got more models.

Here's something to consider though: in the scenario, it was important to get units into your enemy's deployment zone.  You'll notice I end up moving units inside toward the end.

Bolt, Breath, and Gaze; the latter (Str5) can still take out armor with rear shots.

Ding ding!  Saved by the bell, 'cause here comes the rest of the army.  The downside to the Master of the Fleet is everything usually comes in on Turn 5 - that's a lot of stuff, late in the game.

This was taken from the extreme left board edge.  I control more space, but the Vendettas are a primary target now.  I can't have them swooping in to steal my objectives, nor tie me out with the deployment scenario.

A Daemon Prince lands here and shoots down one Vendetta.  Notice the lone Fiend, hiding.  I'm not giving up easy Kill Points!

I chase this model around the board before finally destroying it.

That's basically it; I went from coming close to losing every unit I had on the table to practically wiping out the Imperial Guard.

My opponent was a great player who knew how to play his army... the advantage I had was the countless games I played against Evil Homer's Mech Guard.  This isn't a fluke - I usually beat Mech Guard.  (The games are here if you want to hit the labels on the right.)

And it usually surprises them.  One advantage of playing a lesser known build is opponents are often under-practiced against your army... plus, there's a tendency to underestimate you.  (Space Wolves players have loaded the board with Thunderwolf calvary then called this army cheesy after the game.)

This was a tough army to face... but actually Game 3 was the toughest I'd face in my first 4 games...

(That's foreshadowing, by the way.)