Hard Boyz Round One, Game Two

Yes, yes, yes - I'm perfectly aware that I've not been updating Strictly Average enough... but have you listened to the weather? The heat wave over the midwest is unreal, and my place of residence in North Texas is breaking all manner of records. Between that and working double duty at the hospital, I've been flat worn out.

 Which isn't to say I haven't been working on stuff; rather, I just haven't been blogging about it yet! I've got a ton of material, just waiting to use. For now, let's roll in to a quick battle report.

Pretty awesome, right?  Game two was against Vulcan marines.  Objectives were the key, and my opponent's army is a good counter to my bad intentions.  He has the Godhammer hang out in the center, where it'll be a lot of work to break through AV 14, and his two Iron Clads can hold my army up for days if I don't deal with them carefully.

I take first turn, and he does what I hoped he wouldn't, spreading out as much as possible whilst still supporting each unit.  It makes the deep strike tricker, since I can't risk loading a flank for fear I'll mishap, so I have to spread out more than I'd choose.

Left flank.  Vulcan's in the ride - he must be dealt with before later turns, when my units are spent.  That, and the lack of space, means I'm devoting some guns to the left flank.

Right flank.  Here's where I have to win to win the game.  Why?  The two Ironclads across the table.  They also have to be dealt with... but I can't just jump in, otherwise those two models will tie up significant chunks of my army.  I have to be patient.

Turn two, and he's given the left flank a swift punch in the jaw.  Still, Vulcan isn't safe in a tank, so I have to jump on him.

The right flank in my turn becomes home for much of my strength, dropping down safely thanks to the Icon.  I'm still waiting behind an imaginary line, making sure my Fiends have as much Cover as possible.  The Plaguebearers move toward the center.  There job is to win or contest the center.  With the Raider there, it'll probably be contest, but I have no choice - it's worth 4 points by itself.

Right flank, still my turn.  I start shooting up Vulcan's unit, but some whiffed rolls protects the man himself.

I charge with my Khornedogs.  They won't win, but they can stop him from joining the safety of another unit.  I'm sacrificing a significant chuck of my army for the sole purpose of taking out Vulcan, but even with hindsight I'm convinced it's right.  He simply can't survive to spearhead a counter-assault later in the game, when objectives become all-important.

His turn sees some ineffectual shooting, thanks to Cover and Invulnerable saves...

...and he decides to take the fight to the Plaguebearers.  He's not blind to their importance.  He's got a Captain leading Vanguard with Power Weapons, so keep in mind he can't claim the objective with them in the Raider.  He later tries to find the time to get Scouts in the Raider, but by that point I'm wise to what he's doing and won't allow them room to disembark from the Speeder.  Since he can't embark the same turn, I'll own him.  He'll recognize that and change plans.  For new players, that's something worth learning.  There are times to stick to a strategy and times to develop a new one on the fly.  There were numerous examples of both in this game.

Here come the Ironclads... but I believe they just stepped past my invisible line...

Left flank; Vulcan takes out all the Khornedogs, but it leaves him open to a round of shooting.  Bye, Vulcan!  You pain in my Daemonic butt!  At least he didn't bring a damn Libby with Null Zone!  Of course, this flank is still stacked for the Marines, but my Herald and Prince create some luft.  Keep in mind too, two of these vehicles were immobilized, diminishing the threat.

Game over.  This is turn three or four, but that's basically it.  I dropped the Ironclads with shooting, which allowed me to charge the Fiends right past into the backfield.  With Fiends supporting the assault in the center, and another unit soon to support the beleaguered left flank, I'm able to pull his models off enough objectives to win the game.

I never was able to get that darn Raider though, despite an entire turn of Fiends rushing it.

My opponent was a very, very capable general and a good sport.  It was the closest of the three games I played in Round One of Hard Boyz.