Turn 3The Techpriests continue to scythe down my units this turn. The remaining robot blows away my Lascannon squad, while the Icarus Array and stub carbines of the Infiltrators obliterate the infantry squad that had just marched on the board (and joined the growing pile of dead and injured guardsmen filling that space). The Infiltrators couldn't get off a charge, though, since they couldn't quite squeeze by the two remaining infantrymen standing next to the waterfall. One of them was shot down by the enginseers laspistol, the other disintegrated by the Dominus's more esoteric weaponry, but their purpose had been served.
The Rangers elected to fall back from the Sentinel while the Dragoon charged the Scions, killing 1. Finally, the Neutron Laser blasted my wounded NE sentinel away. Man, it's a good thing this game isn't for Kill Points.
Top of Turn 3
In my half of the turn, the third Scout Sentinel arrived, as did the Punisher and the Valkyrie (loaded with the powerfist officer, Astropath, and Veterans). I also got yet *another* infantry squad and another officer to lead them. The Punisher rolled on the same place everybody is--my center. It was flanked by the last Scout Sentinel on one side and the last infantry squad on the other, followed by the last Company Commander. The Valkyrie flew on to the extreme SW corner to stay out of range of the Icarus Array for at least its initial turn.
Despite Shroudpsalm and the Stigies doctrine to protect the Infiltrators, the combined firepower of the Punisher, Mortars, and infantry squad put an end to the Infiltrators. I foolishly split fire from my Punisher, shooting the heavy bolters at the last robot, but they did nothing. The plasma gunner in the infantry squad was luckier, scoring 2 wounds. Of course, doing 2 wounds to those robots wasn't paying off - I haven't mentioned it, but almost all non-kill damage I did to them was just repaired by the Dominus every turn. The plan, then, was to try and engage the stationary robot in combat with something cheap and tarpit it for the rest of the game. This was ostensibly the Scout Sentinel's job, but the Dominus and Enginseer were in the way, so I multicharged both of them. They did 4 wounds altogether with their attacks and I did nothing (of course), but at least I would force them to fall back next turn. I
had hoped they wouldn't be able to repair if they fell back - I was wrong about that. Oh well.
At last, the Valkyrie opened up with its heavy bolters and multilaser on the Rangers, knocking them down to only 2. It's multiple Rocket Pods put another wound on the Robot. The Scions remained in combat with the Dragoon, though no wounds were exchanged.
Bottom of Turn 3
Uhhhh...uh-oh...Here comes the air-cavalry!Turn 4At the cost of much blood and treasure, the AdMech hold on the central objective is slipping. The Enginseer and Dominus fall back from the Sentinel, though the Dominus is able to heal the damaged robot back to 5 wounds. The Dragoon falls back from the Scions (I win the staring contest! Ha!). The robot, Neutron Laser, and Icarus Array all target the hapless Punisher, doing 9 wounds. It is holding on, but barely. The Rangers plink ineffectively at my infantry at long range.
Top of Turn 4
Here we go! The Scions shoot at the Robot, doing nothing, but charge the Enginseer, losing one guy and are catastrophically unable to do a wound in combat (I mean, jeez). Heavy bolters blazing, the Valkyrie guns down the last Rangers as it screams past and drops the vets, Astropath, and powerfist commander using Gravechute Insertion. The vets kill that damned robot in short order while the Astropath tries to psychic away some wounds on a character, but fails his check. Though the map doesn't show this, the forward Scout Sentinel charges the Dominus, if memory serves, but takes no damage (nor does it do any damage).
The scout sentinel at my rear falls back to secure my DZ objective with the mortars and my warlord. It pops smoke. Finally, since I'm not sure if I'm going to need to bolster my home objective or the center one, the last infantry squad takes up a neutral position, putting me in easy Move/Move/Move range of either place.
Bottom of Turn 4
A thoroughly inept meleeCue "Ride of the Valkyries"The Veterans put an end to that damnable robotMy final push for the centerYes, and ANOTHER picture, just because this looked so epic...Turn 5Things get a little squirelly in this turn, so my memory might be off, but the Dominus either (A) actually did destroy the sentinel last turn or (B) fell back and did nothing. I seem to recall him ray-gunning and charging my vets, killing a few and locking them in combat. I also lose another scion to the enginseer's servo arm. The Dragoon tried to snipe my Astropath and did a wound, but that's it. Finally realizing they need to move, the Vanguard and Dunecrawlers stomp down off their hill. The Neutron Laser and Icarus Array try to shoot down my Valkyrie and do 4 wounds or so. Not a lot of other action on the board, other than the Vanguard advancing as fast as they can towards their home and center objectives.
Top of Turn 5
They *finally* get off their asses!In the bottom of 5, the vets fall back from the Techpriest but are issued a Get Back In The Fight, letting them rapid fire the Dominus to death. The Astropath uses Psychic Maelstrom to smash the Enginseer flat, freeing up the two remaining scions to make a bid for the center objective, too.
The Valkyrie throws her in hover and shoots salvos of rockets and bolt rounds at the forward Vanguard unit, killing 3. Various other small arms fire take out one more vanguard in the other unit. My infantry move up, making a play for the center, as well--my back-up, should things go badly. Their officer follows them.
Now, if the game ends here, I've got it and then some. If it continues, well, we'll see. Uncle Tungsten rolls a 3, so on to turn 6!
Bottom of Turn 5
Turn 6Things go...poorly for me here. The Icarus Array, for one thing, completely ERASES my backup infantry squad with some stratagem that lets it hit on 2s (it was so devastating, I mistakenly removed my officer, too, though he should have stuck around). The Dragoon and some radium carbines kill off the scions (And the Dragoon then charges the Astropath--not pictured. He maybe took a wound or something). More radium carbines and the Neutron Laser kill some veterans and then they are charged by the Neutron Dunecrawler, which wipes the remainder of them out. This leaves my Astropath and Powerfist commander and *that's it* holding the center objective. Jeez.
Top of Turn 6
The last push by the cyborgs Hmmm...okay, this is getting really,
really close. I've got Warlord + home objective + Center objective, for 7 points.
He's got First Blood and his home objective and is
threatening the center. I need to both take away his home objective and hold on to the center by my fingernails to win. Fortunately, the Valkyrie and mortars and Punisher (damaged though it is) are equal to the task. The Valkyrie nukes the ones on the enemy objective, the Punisher and mortars kill the rest. My Astropath falls back from the Dragoon (not pictured) and both him and the powerfist commander claim that central objective. I do a few wounds to the Neutron Dunecrawler with a krak grenade (I think), but nothing serious. I am not in a good position to defend the central objective if there's another turn, so I'm really hoping the game ends.
We roll. We get a 1. Game over.
Bottom of Turn 6
Final ScoreVostroyans: 7
Ad Mech: 1
Post-MortemDamn. That game was a
lot closer than the score indicates. I had barely any gas left in the tank, though my opponent was in largely the same boat--we had exhausted each other. This was definitely one of the best games I've played in a while--clever stratagem use, close score, massive casualties, big back and forth. I really hated having to roll for reserves again (man, have I not missed
that), but it kept the game really tense. Splitting up my forces hurt a lot, since the Guard really relies on units working in concert rather than any one unit working alone. Those robots were nasty, nasty, nasty. The Valkyrie coming in on Turn 3 really saved the day (and man, what a *great* unit that is, too!).
I think my opponent could have benefited by moving his Vanguard and Dunecrawlers forward earlier, rather than hanging back as long as they did. I really didn't need more enemy guns in the center, and he could have made things even worse for me.
The real star of my game, though, was the little Scout Sentinel assaulting the crap out of everything across the board. It did a lot to disrupt enemy shooting and really pulled its weight--I'm going to like those little guys, I'm thinking.
Anyway, it was a fantastic game and a tight match. Next in this campaign arc is a Stronghold Assault mission as I blast apart the AdMech base. Let's see how it goes! Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, to my opponent!
