Hard Boyz Round II, Part One

So Hard Boys 2011 has come and gone... and if you want to remind me there's another round, I'd say, "PPPPSSSSSTTTTT!"

Round II is Hard Boys!  It's the reason we play, right?  As a reminder, me and Everyone's Brother From Another Mother Big Whit (who's now dating a 21-year old, so is probably way too exhausted to be reading this) went to Chicago for Round III two years ago... and it sucked Hard.

Here are a few of the armies - and I wish I'd taken the time to take pics of all of them!  It's fair to say I was very, very impressed with the general quality of list at the Comic's Asylum venue.  Kippah Jim, one of my new favorite people, played the army that knocked Goatboy out in Round 2; that is, an all Terminator Grey Knight List... 50+ Terminators marching across the board!  Awesome!

Besides what's shown above, there were what, four Grey Knight armies?  Maybe five.  There were two Stelek-style Space Wolves MSU lists (which played Parking Lot together in Round 3), a Street-Sweeper Eldar, my Bolt'n'Beast Daemons, and another Nid players.

Game One

I was paired against Kenny and his Street Sweeper Eldar in Round 1... ugh.  This was the only army at the venue I was really worried about, in that it's the only one I felt could run away with the game.  Also, if he gets Turn 1 there'd be no way to stop his Messenger getting across the board, barring an almost stupid amount of luck.  Well, I played him and he did get Turn 1...

...but more important than any of that was the rather stupid mistakes I made right in the beginning.  I'd analyzed it correctly prior to deployment, decided on a strategy... and then almost immediately abandoned it!

I took two text messages and a call from my brother about my father (who as you know was in the ICU at the time), and even though everything was fine when I looked up and saw Kenny's deployment, I thought, "Man, I'd better stack my shooting so I can stop that Wave Serpent!"  Then I undid the waves I'd already separated... bad idea, Brent.

Brent's Rule One:  Never stack a wave.  Well, I did.  I will say my Deep-Striking was unreal!  I think I had six Hits in a row... and then lost a unit of Fiends to a very unlucky drop (12-inches to 10 o'clock if you must know!)... ouch!

Still and all, it wasn't a great strategy but it could have been worse... except I then tried to bring down his Fortuned Wave Serpent.  Ever tried to do that?

The few shots sent at Wave Serpents brought them down.  I needed more of that, not wasting time shooting a vehicle I couldn't possibly stop.

The only thing I did right was place my messenger on the extreme right flank.  They'll make it to his deployment, no problem.

Here was the left flank after Kenny's shooting phase in Round 2.  Things are bad, but despite a rocky start my head is back in the game.  I develop a plan to try and steal this in the latter phase of the game.

I take my two Heralds and target Fire Dragons.  My hope is I can reduce the unit size then charge in and hide in combat, thus saving the Heralds for my Round 3 and 4 push.  It almost works, with one Herald effecting a charge... while the other Herald sent the Fire Dragons running for the board edge!

I could have hoped for a better reserves roll in Round 2; while I got in two Khornedogs and a Horrors unit, I really needed one or both Fiends.  I can't afford to play impatiently, so I wait out a turn on the right flank.

This is the top of 4, skipping ahead some.  One the bottom of 3 I dropped very aggressively with 'Bearers and Horrors in the middle of my opponent's army, hoping to distract some of the elements of his army and allow my Fiends and Khornedogs to survive a turn.

Note the Fiends are well hidden from his War Walkers, but a Guided unit does manage to target them and bring them down to one model.  It wasn't until he set up his next shot that I realized he was firing through area terrain and my unit should have received cover... but it was too late.

Never go backwards!

That's all she wrote!  By this point I'm down far too many units and Kill Points to effect a draw, much less a win.  I resign in Round 5.

I was satisfied with the game.  Kenny played a very tight, very competitive game, and it wasn't a surprise to me that he's successful with it in his area.  In fact, he won Hard Boyz Round II with it a few years ago!

And as far as my play... well, part of winning tournaments is playing mistake-free.  I didn't do that - and the reasons don't matter!  I think it's interesting (and maybe important) to analyze what was happening for you, the reader...

...but reasons don't make for good excuses.  I made mistakes; he didn't, and that's part of the game!  He fully deserved this win.

...

But I will say this.  After the game Kenny was rightfully happy with the results, but he mentioned twice a tournament I played and won at the Comic's Asylum sometime earlier this year.  He said something like, "Yea, you won that but I really wanted to play you, because I could have beat you."

Kenny is a decent dude, and I don't think he meant anything by it, but the comment does come across as a, "Well, you didn't beat me that day," sort of thing.

Again, I don't think he meant anything by it - he was happy after a good win against some internet dude!  And it was - a real ass-kicking!