A Shotgun Too Far
Well, right after the drubbing that Isaac gave my Tohaa:
I had to do it all over again 5 minutes later against Erik (Zelaponeepus). We’re playing on the same table I played on Shane, because that game also wrapped up:
Overview
- Mission: Supply Drop
- Forces: Tohaa versus Combined Army (200)
- Deploy First: Combined Army
- First Turn: Combined Army
We know the plan for this list: Clipsos get the boxes, maybe, and the impersonators get boxes that my opponent gets. Maybe. The problem is that I don’t have enough orders to do everything, which is a bit of a bummer.
Supply Drop
KAMAEL (Lieutenant) Combi Rifle / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 12)
KOTAIL Spitfire / Pistol, CC Weapon. (1.5 | 35)
CLIPSOS (Forward Observer) Combi Rifle, Flash Pulse, Shock Mines / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
IGAO Combi Rifle, Nanopulser, Pheroware Tactics: Mirrorball / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (0.5 | 28)
JAAN STAAR Light Shotgun, Shock Mines / Viral Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1 | 31)
GREIF-OP (Surprise Attack [-3], Impersonation [IMP-2]) Combi Rifle, D-Charges / Breaker Pistol(+1B), CC Weapon. (1 | 21)
MOTORIZED BOUNTY HUNTER Submachine Gun, Chain-colt(+1B) / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-6). (0 | 9)
DIPLOMATIC (CC Attack [-3], Specialist Operative]) Nanopulser, Flash Pulse, Pheroware Tactics: Eraser / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 5)
LIBERTO Submachine Gun, Chain-colt / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 8)
7
3
1 | 4 SWC | 199 Points | Open in Army | Copy Code
Erik’s list is pretty similar, in the sense that he has stuff to get the boxes and impersonators to get any boxes I get. His list has more orders and has a better support package and higher top end power with Sheskin. That’s just how Combined works–you get a big stompy and some utility pieces, and Tohaa has the tools spread out a bit more.
Erik (Zelaponeepus)
GROUP 1
GROUP 2
SHESKIIN (Lieutenant) Red Fury, Pulzar, D-Charges / Pistol, DA CC Weapon. (1 | 54)
IKADRON (Baggage, Repeater) Light Flamethrower(+1B), Flash Pulse / Pistol, PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 9)
RINDAK FTO (Paramedic) Submachine Gun, Flash Pulse(+1B) / Heavy Pistol, PARA CC Weapon. (0 | 27)
SHROUDED (Hacker, Killer Hacking Device) Combi Rifle, Shock Mines ( ) / Pistol, CC Weapon. (0 | 25)
ÍMETRON . (0 | 6)
R-DRONE Flash Pulse / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (0 | 7)
Q-DRONE Heavy Machine Gun / PARA CC Weapon(-3). (1 | 25)
TAIGHA Chain-colt / AP + Shock CC Weapon. (0 | 6)
4 SWC | 200 Points | Open in Army | Copy Code
Deployment
I won the rolloff and chose side to keep me on the same side of the table as the TAK versus Shas game I was playing next door. Erik decided to go first, which is not really what I wanted, but oh well. He sets up the Q-Drone pretty far forward in the center and the Rindak and Shrouded on either side to go for Tech-Coffins. The Imetrons hide where they can, and the Taigha are screening spots for units with boxes to retreat to. The Liberto covers the approach on the right side with its mine.
The Greif is across the centerline, daring me to do something about it. I use my Libertos to pretend to lay a mine (the Igao) on the other side of the wall from the Greif in case Erik decides to push. The Clipsos are in positions that will enable them to easily go after any of the objectives. Jan Staar is all the way on the left, and the Greif is ddeployed a little more aggressively on the right. I probably was too conservative there and could have been even more aggressive with both of them.
I stacked up all my stuff behind the VTOLs, hiding the Kotail as a Kamael. Meh. Not that exciting. Sheeskin was Erik’s reserve and I think Jan Staar was mine.
Turn 1
Top of 1 – Combined Army
Not all that much to report here–Erik grabs the box with his Shrouded since I’m not contesting it, and runs away to his deployment zone before moving the Q-Drone forward onto the helipad. I would’ve taken more pictures but I was busy dealing with Calibans in the other game and was a little distracted. The Libertos moves up, lays another mine, and stacks itself in the doorway to fight Jan Staar if it comes to it.
Bottom of 1 – Tohaa
I’m really feeling the lack of orders. Learning from the last game, I know I have to keep as much of my stuff alive as possible and do asymmetrical damage to Erik when possible. Real big insurgency vibes. On that note, I gotta get rid of the Q-Drone. Thankfully, I have a Clipsos at point blank range where I can force a dodge by neg twelving it, regardless of whether or not Surprise Attack is active or not.
The Libertos discover-shoots the Greif, which is nice.
I super jump the Kotail over the wall, bypassing even the need to D-Charge it and start fighting the Libertos there, which drops a mine.
I dodge clear the mine with my Libertos on a critical dodge and shuffle the Diplomat forward to get into range of the central objective. One nice thing is that I can do all of this as a coordinated with the MBH to move it up.
I don’t have much left to do this turn and recamo the Clipsos and reset the Kotail’s position. I haven’t done much damage but I’ve created a bit of a barrier to movement near the middle objective, and I’ve at least removed some problems.
Turn 2
Top of 2 – Combined Army
Well, Erik’s out for blood. He starts by rolling a Taigha in to try and deal with my Libertos. I dodge successfully, and the MBH and Kotail take out the Taigha.
The other Taigha stays put to protect the Shrouded carrying the box, so it’s the Libertos coming in next to fight my Libertos. I dodge successfully, flash pulse the Libertos, and the MBH shocks it off the table. Phew!
Sheeskin decides to push on the Clipsos, and instead of playing it safe and just shooting the Clipsos, he goes for the Protheon CC play. This of course works quite well after discovering the Clipsos… unfortunately the Diplomat is right in range and isolates Sheeskin!
This is huge. While he can, Erik moves the Ikadron forward to secure the helipad and the Rasyat removes the Diplomat…
and my Libertos.
Bottom of 2 – Tohaa
I really don’t have much in the way of options here. I can’t get onto the helipad–Sheeskin is just isolated, not dead, and she will destroy anything I put up there. I need to make some space for myself. I try to make a run by past all the mines that Erik’s Libertos laid, but the Ikadron discovers me. I end up just dodging past the mines, although I do get flash pulsed, which is annoying.
I had hoped to do some order pool damage with Jan Staar, but I don’t have enough order to push anywhere else and settle for setting up the MBH and shaping the rest of my forces a little.
Turn 3
Top of 3 – Combined Army
Erik pushes the isolated Sheeskin forward to take out the MBH, which is really annoying for me.
He spends all of his orders getting the Rindak onto the helipad and securing the middle objective.
Bottom of 3 – Tohaa
I have just enough orders to win this. I reveal the last Clipsos and get the remaining box while Sheeskin dodges around to get a shot.
The Kotail rockets forward, super jumps up and gets owned by Sheeskin but drops the Rindak in one burst, tying us on boxes.
I try to get a shot on the Shrouded with Jan Staar, but I’m outside of the max range of a shotgun, so I can’t make it happen. I am, however, securing Erik’s HVT with my Clipsos, and that’s game.
3-2, 117-113 Tohaa Victory!
Post Game Analysis
Well, this was actually a pretty similar game to the last one in broad strokes. Both Isaac and Erik got a box back home and very safe on the first turn, then I got them both in Loss of Lieutenant in the mid game. Having Veteran is so powerful, as you saw last game, and Erik not having Veteran helped me alot. I think the key differences between games were:
- Table – no low-vis and sat is a big help when I’ve got a bunch of combis and stuff
- More Careful Play – I only really risked my irregular orders this game, which kept me in the game for longer. I didn’t dodge Jan Staar or the Igao out or anything like that.
Still, this was a very close game, and Erik made a critical mistake going for the Protheion kill. I don’t think my execution of the plan was very good here either, I just pushed myself a little harder and was able to capitalize on a key mistake by my opponent. I don’t think the list implements my idea very well. I should probably have removed the Greif and one of the Clipsos and included some Kaauri snipers or something to give me some more board presence and ability to fight things like the Shrouded more effectively. I could also have been far more aggressive with both Jan Staar and the Greif, but I have too much respect for Taigha and their ability to problem solve to try to rely on that. Thanks for reading.
