InfectedSloth's Gencon Battle Report

[infectedsloth]

A bit late, I know. I wrote this a while back, but I'm just now getting around to posting it.

2019 Gencon battle reports

Cluster Draft:

I've been a big fan of cluster draft ever since Kevindola introduced it at an Illinois tournament. Back then, it was called pod draft and only used two pods, unlike cluster drafts three. My report for this tournament will be less detailed than the other ones. I made pods the day of, right before the event. I settled on:

- White Wyrmling x4, Arkmer
- Raelin v2, Marro Warriors
- Kozuke, Mezzo

I like White Wyrmlings in cluster draft. They're low variance and complement most figures. I filled the pod out with Arkmer to provide some oomph. The Raelin v2 is a shout out to OrcElfArmy1. I wanted to do Iskara, Rechets, and a squad of rats for my last pod, but OrcElfArmy1 talked me out of it. I didn't have a lot of figures to work with for my last pod. Mezzo x1 and Kozuke worked well in my 2017 Main Event army, where I placed 2nd, so I decided to make it my last pod.

I don't remember the order of the draft for any of my games.

Round 1
Map: The Borogoves
Opponent: Veggie
Glyphs: Healer on my right, not sure what the other glyph was.

Veggies Pods:
- Forsty, Marcu, Isamu
- Keamon, Tarn
- Torin, Marro Warriors

My Army:
- Raelin v2
- Marro Warriors
- Frosty
- Marcu
- Isamu
- Mezzo
- Kozuke

Veggie:
- Arkmer
- White Wyrmling x4
- Marro Warriors
- Tarn
- Kaemon

Our first game of the Con, but it certainly wouldn't be the last. I didn't love how the draft played out, but I felt it was more than doable. Veggie opened with Torin and double Marro, while I moved Frosty, Mezzo's and my Marro's up. I didn't want to overextend Forsty to go after his Marro. If I used Mezzo's to go after his MW, I knew he'd have Keamon waiting as an answer. Veggies used Marros as an effective poke. I had a fair amount of units for his Marro's to target, while my Marro's could only attack his Marro. My only other option was to target was Torin, but I definitely didn't want to risk attacking him. Once I had killed a Marro, or two Veggie ran them back and cloned back up. Veggie was playing well and had the edge in the opening. I wasn't playing bad, but I knew I had to change things up.

Round three was a critical round. At some point during the first two rounds, Veggie had moved up Keamon. Frosty was my only answer to Keamon, but he was still two turns away. I decided to put all three OMs on Frosty in the hopes of catching Veggie off guard. It had been a slow, methodical game up to this point, so I was banking on Veggie not expecting triple Frosty. Veggie had his first two OMs on Keamon. Going into his second turn, Veggie couldn't get out of Frosty's threat range. My Frosty was able to engage Keamon and made short work of him. Once Keamon went down, Veggie started mixing OMs between the White and his other units. My Frosty continued to wreak havoc on Torin and the Tran. During this time, Veggie's White got behind me and starting going after my idle Marro and Mezzo. The White managed to do quite a bit of damage, but four attacks of 2 can only do so much. I started mixing OMs with my other units to bring down the White. Veggie brought out Arkmer to get some big attacks on Frosty, but I was able to target Arkmer with my remaining Marro's. I had enough figures once Arkmer went down to sweep away Veggie's last remaining figures.

Win 1-0

Round 2
Map: Venom
Opponent: Sir Dendrick
Glyphs: Move on the bottom, Lodin on top

Sir Dendrick Pods:
- HSB x2
- Black Wyrmlings x5
- Nee-Gok-Sa, Venoc Vipers x2

My Army:
- Black x5
- White x3
- Arkmer
- Nee-Gok-Sa
- Venoc Vipers x2

Sir Dendrick's Army:
- HSB x2
- Marro Warriors
- Raelin v2
- Mezzo
- Kozuke

I was feeling good about my draft. There's isn't a lot to say about this game. I led with Vipers and grabbed both glyphs and got some attacks. I followed with Nee-Gok-Sa to tie up his units. Nee-Gok-Sa didn't last too long but lasted long enough for my seven move Blacks to ravage his army. I won by a comfortable margin.

2-0

Round 3 (finals)
Map: Infectedglade
Opponent: Caps

Caps Pods:
- HSB x2, Marcu
- Warforged x2, Isamu
- Airborne, Tarn

My Army:
- Airborne
- Tarn
- HSB x2
- Mezzo
- Kozuke

Cap's Army
- Warforged x2
- Isamu
- White Wyrmlings x4
- Arkmer
- Raelin v2
- Marro Warriors

Once again, I don't remember this game as well as my others. I didn't like how the draft went. White Wyrmlings and Marro can handle an early drop better than most, and my Kozuke didn't have any prime targets. Early on we both spent time developing. For the first three rounds, my Airborne didn't drop. I played it conservatively, knowing that without the drop, my chances were slim. Things were slowly going poorly for me. Caps had most of his army developed, but his White Wyrmlings were still in his starting zone. I took a chance and went triple Mezzos in the hopes that he wouldn't go White, and I'd catch him off guard. Caps told me after the game that he wasn't expecting my rush Mezzo's when I did. I moved my Mezzos towards the bottom of the map. They were able to clean up most of Caps figures stationed there. Next round, my Airborne finally dropped. My Mezzo push cut down on his attacks per OM and allowed me to place my Air Borne in advantageous positions. With the help of the Airborne, my army was able to finish off Caps remaining figures.

3-0 Cluster draft Champion



Heat of Battle Uniques

Army:
- Raelin
- Izumi
- Tarn
- Marro Warriors
- Zeta
- Alister
- Crixus

I tested one game before the event. I played a similar army, but with Hydra, Isamu, and Marcu instead of Crixus and Isamu. I thought I'd see a lot of Joton and Krugs. While Hydra is formidable, I wasn't comfortable playing him with the prospect of so many Hydra counters. Raelin is almost a given for me in HoB. I wanted to drown out my opponents with figures and army cards, so I grabbed Izumi, Tarn, and Marro. Zetas upside is crazy in this format. With my numbers and Raelin, I felt I could safely put OMs on him without it being too high variance. Crixus and Alister both offer so much bang for your buck and can go toe to toe with the higher points heavy hitters I expected to see. I didn't see all the armies, but of the ones I saw, I didn't see any I liked better than mine.

Round 1
Map: The Venom
Opponent: Dragon Ruler
Opponents army:
- Niflheim
- Raelin
- Frosty
- Marcu
- Isamu
- Tarn

Like the last tournament, I started with a tough draw. George had a good army and is a good player. I placed first and was able to secure the highest point of the map. George had a couple of opportunities to counter place me but opted not to. After a placement or two, I assumed he wasn't interested in counter placing me, and instead wanted to optimize his placement. With this knowledge, I was able to go for some aggressive placements. By the end of the placement, I was in the exact position I wanted. I had Raelin and Zeta on the level four hex, with Izumi and Tarn as a screen. Marro's were behind the screen on height, and Alister and Crixus were in Raelin's aura in range of George's camp. George's placement was strong and made it tough on me. He had Frosty on the single hex by the road, with Raelin and Nilf on the three hex screened by Tarn.

Kicking off the game, I started by switching OMs between Marro's and Zeta. Zeta was able to shoot down on Nilf with three dice while my Marro peppered the rest of this army. George used Nilf to try to thin my screen so Frosty could get in the fray. I occasionally mixed in OMS on Tarn and Izumi to reform the line and tie up Nilf. Nilf eventually fell, but Frosty was now ready to do his part. He crashed into by now depleted line. An overextending Alister met him. Alister and my remaining forces were enough to bring down Frosty, but not before he destroyed his fair share. After Frosty fell, I had more than enough to mop up his remaining forces.

1-0

Round 2
Map: Infectedglade
Opponent: Alexander
Opponents army:
- Ornak
- Su-Bak-Na
- Kee-Mo-Shi
- Nee-Gok-Sa
- Marcu

I was impressed with the creativity of his army. I hadn't given anything like it any thought. While it's an innovative army, it's only decent in this format; I think it went 2-2. I could tell I was playing well this weekend, and I thought I had the best army in the tournament, so I wasn't too keen to play against such a luck-based army. My army has the benefit of mixing OMs and not being crippled by a single mind shackle, so I wasn't too worried.

Alexander placed first and stuck Ornak on one of the two highest points of the map. My Raelin ended up on the opposite perch. I made a critical mistake when placing. The entire time placing, I planned to put Alister on the level one hex in front of Raelin, thus surrounding her. When the time came, I placed Alister behind my other figures away from Raelin. I honestly have no idea what I was thinking, right when the first round started I immediately began to kick myself. I had an auto initiative win for round one. I planned to attack with the Tarn on my first OM, then move in with the Izmui to tie up his heroes. From there, my Marros could start shooting at their discretion. It started alright, my Tarn took Lodin, manly to keep it from him and started their attacks. Alexander's rebuttal was different than I had thought. As a result, my second OM on Izumi yielded nothing; they couldn't move through my engaged Tarn. By the end of the first round, I had already made two critical mistakes. Due to my Alister placement blunder, Su-Bak-Na was able to attack up to Raelin. My order marker mistake with Izumi allowed Kee-Mo-Shi to get behind me. She had her sights set on Alister.

My Marro Warriors had to deal with two pressing threats, Su-Bak-Na attacking Raelin and Kee-Mo-Shi behind my screen. Crixus couldn't get to Su-Bak-Na, and I wasn't keen on exposing Alister and Crixus to Kee-Mo-Shi. I needed my heroes for the tank that is Nee-Gok-Sa. My Marros were also getting four attacks of three on Su-Bak-Na and Kee-Mo-Shi, so I decided to stick with them. Despite my early mistakes, I still wasn't too worried, but like the first round, the second round didn't go well for me. Su-Bak-Na stood tall while laying into Raelin. Kee-Mo-Shi got a Mineshackle on my three wound Alister. The Heal glyph was within an overextended of Alister. The game was going badly for me. I buckled down, and my Marro's were finally able to take down Su-Bak-Na, but not before Raelin fell. My Crixus met Alister, but Crixus's two attacks of five yielded nothing. During this time, my remaining Marros were able to finish off Kee-Mo-Shi. One shield defense did its job and gave Crixus enough time to take out Alister. My Crixus and remaining Tarn were able to finish off a wounded Nee-Gok-Sa and Ornak.

2-0

Round 3
Map: Ashfall
Opponent: Wargameaddict
Glyphs: Unique Attack, Initiative
Opponents army:
- Krug
- Keamon
- Me-Burg-Sa
- Kozuke
- Izumi
- Tarn

I liked his army, and he drew a good map. I knew this would be tough. Wargameaddict (WGA ) placed well. He put Krug on lave, staring down my Raelin and Crixus. Keamon and Me-Burg were placed safe from harm on the other side of the map by the initiative glyph. Lastly, his Kozuke found themselves behind my Raelin, ready to charge. WGA had auto initiative and had his Izumi in range to take the Unique attack. I assumed he'd open Izumi, then Kozuke, to get a massive hit on my Realin and anyone else who had the misfortune of being in their path. I countered with an Alister gambit for my first OM.

The opening went how I predicted; he used his Izumi to grab the Unique Attack Glyph. Alister overextended on my first OM and was able to kill two Kozuke before he could activate them. I spent an OM on Tarn to clog strategic points and tried unsuccessfully with an attack down to get his Izumi off the glyph. Krug, boosted by Unique Attack, began attacking up at Raelin. I was okay with this; it gave me an opportunity to jump on the rest of his army. At some point earlier, he moved Keamon to the Initiative Glyph. My Alister crashed in to take out the Samurai, but Alister went down surprisingly quick. I switch activations to my Marro, who were more than up for the challenge. My Marros split attack between the Izumi on the unique attack glyph and his range heroes on the other side of the map. All my Marros attacks were down. About this time, Krug killed Raelin, but the order marker investment allowed my Marros to take out Keamon and Me-Burg-Sa. I accomplished this at only the cost of only a single Marro. His Tran tried to tie up my Marro, but my Marro was able to run and gun and eventually dispose of them too. Krug began attacking up on Crixus. Now was the time to focus my attacks on Krug. One shield defense once again earned its keep. Crixus was able to put quite a bit of wounds on Krug before falling. My Marro's and Zeta then finished off Krug. What was left of the Izumi were gunned down as well.

3-0

Round 4
Map: Invasion
Opponent: Veggie
Opponents army:
- Major Q9
- Raelin
- Ninjas
- Tarn
- Marro Warriors

Veggie and I both wanted to rest and get food before the Main Event. Veggie suggested playing our finals online. I agreed. Unfortunately, I forgot to write a report for the game after we finished. I ended up winning the game.

4-0 Heat of Battle Champion



Main Event Day One

Army:
- Raelin
- Nerak
- Heavies x2
- HSB
- Mezzo

Round 1
Map: Trouble Once Lurked Beneath
Opponent: Chill
Opponents army:
- Raelin
- Snipers x2
- Repulers x3

I wasn't thrilled with this as my opening draw, mainly because I don't think I've ever faced a cron army without Omegacron. Chill started with Repulers then moved his Raelin aggressively up to the highest point of the map. I liked this move by him and was hoping he wouldn't do it. For my part, I opened Raelin, Heavies, and Mezzo. My plan was for my Mezzos to cut through his Repulers, and then when the time came, I'd have my Heavies overrun his Snipers. My plan was working marginally well, but Chill's aggressive Raelin placement made it difficult for me to deal with his five defense Repulsers. I mixed in some Heavy activations to make use of their attacks per OM. Chills Repulsers were falling slightly faster than they should. My Heavies made use of disengage to occupy the high ground that his snipers wanted. Controlling the high ground was critical to my success. His snipers were never able to get camp out on height and rain death down on me. The combination of his Repulsers not lasting long enough, and my Heavies denying height forced Chill's Snipers to attack with only one attack. When the Snipers occasionally had two dice, it was usually on my 6 or 7 defense squaddies. Chill played well, but that level of offensive output just doesn't cut it against five activations per OM. He managed to take out a good chunk on my Heavies and all my exo's (maybe a Mezzo too) before my numbers overwhelmed him.

1-0

Round 2 (reverse round)
Map: Trouble Dance of the Dryads
Opponent: NicktheAnt
Nicks Army:
- Braxas
- Drudge x4

This was a great draw for me. Be that as it may, Nick is a phenomenal player, so I knew I had to be on my game.

I opened triple Drudge to try to thin his numbers. Nick split his army towards the left and right sides. I believe this was a mistake, as it made my Drudge much more effective. If he kept his Heavies in both aura's, there's a better chance my Drudge's attacks don't get through. Since the Drudge were not in both auras, my attacks from height were able to take down a couple of heavies. A couple of Drudge also fell, but that mattered little. My main issue was that Nick was getting dangerously close to my starting zone. I decided to bring out Braxas at this time. There isn't much more to say from here. Nick played well but was never able to get the attacks needed to bring down the Queen. Braxas did what Braxas does best.

2-0

Round 3
Map: Ashfall
Opponent: Lafon4ya
Lafon4ya army
- Venoc Warlord
- Venoc Vipers x4
- Aubrien Archers
- Zeta

I was confident with this matchup, but Vipers are always scary. I Moved up Heavies and Raelin to the left, on the center road outside my starting zone. I made sure not to have my Mezzo's or HSB adjacent to the level two hexes in case the Vipers went off with frenzy. Lafron4ya moved up Vipers, but they didn't do much. Seven move Zeta is terrifying, but this map has ample LOS blockers, so Zeta didn't have much of a target. I was able to move up the right side with a lone Heavies. He got an attack down and killed an Aubrien, thus cutting down on his attacks per OM early. I also secured the left side glyph (I believe initiative).

He was down to about half his Vipers, and I had only lost a Heavy, but you can never feel comfortable against Vipers. Sure enough, the turn I was dreading happened. He got four or five frenzies in a row. By the end of the carnage, I had lost 3 Heavies, and my previously full life Nerak and Raelin. I sweep away his vipers that did the damage leaving him with only two left. I probably still had the advantage, but we were too close for my liking. Next came a critical moment in the game when David moved up his last Vipers. He couldn't reach my figures, so he tried to space them outside my threat range. He didn't realize that my Heavy on the glyph could take a roundabout way and engage one of his vipers. The other Vipers I trusted his counting, so I didn't think I was in range. I was thinking of different options when David started kicking himself for miscounting. Sure enough, I had a Heavy in range of his other Viper. There are two lessons here, always count for yourself, and if you make a mistake, don't let your opponent know. My Heavies engaged both his Vipers but somehow didn't kill either one. The door was still open for a multi frenzy turn, but it wasn't in the cards. I finished off his Vipers soon after. The rest of his army was sitting at only one attack per OM, and I still had enough numbers to deal with them. He conceded not long after.

3-0

Round 4 (reverse round)
Map: Infectedglade
Opponent: Dragon Ruler
Opponents army:
- Raelin
- MDG
- Red Wyrmling x4
- Scared Band x2

George is always a pleasure to play. We were playing for a spot in day two. He was the one that knocked me out of contention for day two last year, so I was doubly motivated. I liked my matchup but knew it was not going to be easy. I need my Red's to kill his Mezzo's

The game was fought on the hive side of the map. We both started slow. I started developing Greeks and moved Raelin a couple of spaces up, but still on level one ground. George moved up Raelin on the road next to the Hive, but not before moving up his Heavies to guard Raelin. I eventually got all my Greeks to a location that satisfied me. MDS was blocking the northern approach, and if he wanted to attack my other side, he'd be attacking up into Raelin's aura. This all took time for me to set up. George used his time equally well. He developed his Heavies and also managed to move up both the Mezzos and HSB.

The next phase of the game saw us making minor positional optimizations and testing our opponent's defenses with calculated pokes. I would send a Greek out to hold the three hex road roundabout. On my next OM, I'd send a Red up behind the Greek to try to snipe a Mezzo. I would try similar Greek into Red combinations, but the Mezzo's always stood firm. I had to be more aggressive with the Reds. My last Red was finally able to able to take out a Mezzo. I imagine the Red took out a Heavy or two in the process, but don't reminder exactly. I had lost a couple of Greek as well.

Goerge decided now was the time to crash in. MDG and some Greeks attacked in the north. We were trading down at a relatively even pace, but our defense was largely staying strong. The battle one the other flank was equally as fierce. We were trading down at a similar rate when a time warning was called. The 90 points I'd lost from Red tipped the scales in George's favor. I traversed the swamp by the Hive in the hopes that my attacks of three up to his 6+ defense Heavies would land. It wasn't going well for me when last round was called. On George's third turn, he ran a Heavy away from my forces. We were rushing at the end, and George didn't realize that he could have jumped into the swamp where I couldn't get any attacks off and win the game. He moved his Heavy just in range of MDG. It came down to an attack that was either 4v3 or 4v5 (I don't remember if he had Raelin). My attack connected, giving me a nail-biter of a victory.

Day one: 4-0

I had been sick the whole week before Gencon and ended up feeling miserable on Thursday after we left the Con. I decided not to push myself and forfeit my last two games. I got in some much needed medicine, food, and rest during the break.



Main Event Day Two

Round 1 (reverse round)
Map: Platypus
Opponent: Dysole
Opponents army:
- Nakitas
- Raelin
- Dividers x2
- Roman Archers x2

Sam ended up being my draw. I knew this was going to be tough, both because of the matchup and because Sam is a good player. She's used to playing funky stuff, so I knew my army wouldn't throw her off too much.

The glyphs were something I heavily took into account. The Unique attack glyph is excellent for my army, and I've always been partial to the Initiative glyph. I didn't like my chances if our game turned into a battle over the glyphs. Dividers are supposed to function as a capable screen, but disengage bypasses that. The Dividers three attacks per OM also means they can't go toe to toe against the Heavies five. I was also scared of what the Mezzos could do to my Dividers. Smoke powder helps but takes careful positioning, and I'd also have to play around disengage, which I wasn't keen on. Perhaps I was too afraid, for I resolved to invest an early OM on the archers so their potent special attack would be ready for the Mezzo. Investing an early OM on Archers means that Dysole would get the jump on me. For my plan to work, I had to play a tight pod since my dividers wouldn't have the time for anything else, and disengage forces my hand.

As I've said, I knew I wasn't going to fight directly over the glyphs, but I still had to choose which side I was going to pod. The unique attack side seems obvious, but if I podded on that side, my chance of holding it is actually less than if I podded on the other side. If I podded on the Unique Attack glyph side, I would basically be giving her the Initiative glyph. The Initiative glyph simply isn't significant enough to send what precious few Dividers I have on it. On the other hand, if podded closer to the initiative glyph side, I could be more assured that she wouldn't hold it. I also might be able to snag the Unique Attack glyph with minimal resistance. These were some of my thoughts going into the match, and now it's time to see how it worked out.

I opened double Dividers and Archers. I left a spot for Raelin and, in the second round moved her up. During this time, Sam moved up Raelin and most of her army. One of my Dividers grabbed the unique attack glyph. I got one turn with the boosted Nakitias before my Divider on the glyph was killed. Sam had a Mezzo in threat range of my Archers, so I used my archers to get the jump on them. Thankfully my six attack archers got through the six defense Mezzo. I began mixed OMs between Dividers and Nikitas, trying to reform the line and thin out her advancing hoard. At this time, she opened another front on my right flank and managed to secure the Initiative Glyph. By this time, I'm down to about three Dividers. For my part, I've killed a Mezzo and a handful of Heavies. Sam utilized an aggressive Raelin play, moving her into my pod and getting an attack off.

My lines are all but breached at this point. I used another OM on the Archers to clog the gaps and get an attack down. It gave me some time, but Sam managed to wiggle through my line with Nerak and engage an Agent. Nerka's attack of 3v5 proved fatal. Things were starting to look grim, but my last Nakita's were still doing well. I think they got an engagement strike around this time and were also able to finish off Nerak. Once again, Sam made an aggressive Raelin move. He engaged an Agent and attacked up 3v6. The attack once again proved fatal. My Nakitas had been attacked twice all game, once 3v5 the other 3v6, and both resulted in a kill. I knew Raelin would have her sights on my last agent if I didn't do something about it. I used an OM on my Raelin and moved her to the height where my Nakita had just fallen. Sam's Raelin already had a couple of wounds on her. I was able to finish off Raelin after a couple of attacks down with my Raelin.

The end games started with me down to a Nakita versus a Mezzo with both Exxos, a HSB, and three or four Heavies. I run and gun to the corner, and a Mezzo follows. I get to a position where I can shoot down on the Mezzo. My Smoke Power works three straight times, and my hot attack dice finish off the Mezzo. Sam Heavies aren't in a position to swarm me all at once. My Nakita can get the first strike attacking up. If the Heavy survives my attack, it has to dodge an engagement strike then attack up. For three straight times, this scenario plays out. I think I got an engagement strike, but regardless the results are that it's down to a HSB versus an Agent. My Nakita ends up with the kill, and I somehow, with more than a little thanks for the dice, pull off the comeback.

Round of 8
Map: Venom
Opponent: Sawyer
Opponents army:
- Nee-Gok-Sa
- MDG
- Legos x2
- Roman Archers x2

I was happy with this draw; I thought I had the matchup. The one thing that worried me was the move glyph on the lower beach. Nee-Gok-Sa ran to the move glyph while Sawyer crashed his Romans into my Heavy pod that occupied the three hex in front of my start zone. Without the aid of their heroes, the Romans didn't last long. Nee-Gok-Sa entered the fray over late. Nee-Gok-Sa was able to engage my Raelin before I could clog the hole that the Romans created. I had to sweat it out for two order makers before a new round started, and I could fly Raelin back to the safety behind my wall. My Heavies weren't having much luck wounding the Nee-Gok-Sa, so I brought out my HSB. They didn't fare much better. His Roman counterattack yielded little, so Sawyer transferred OMs to his Archers. Nee-Gok-Sa finally fell to prolonged attacks. At the same time, my Heavies and Nerak met the Archers. The Archers one defense didn't last long. They were only able to kill a couple of Heavies before they were taken out. Sawyer conceded when he only had MDG left.

Semifinals (reverse round)
Map: Trouble Once Lurked Beneath
Glyphs: Healer and Initiative
Opponent: Mattias
Opponents army:
- Wyvern x2
- Spiders x5 (sit one)

Ken had already beaten MajorQ23 and OrcElfArmyOne this tournament. This proved that despite being an old school player, he is more than capable of playing our style of armies at the highest level. He also knows spiders better than anyone, so conversely, he knows how to play against them. The orcs five attacks an OM is very scary for my army. My goal was to make pokes at his army until his attacks per OM were down. It's a simple strategy on paper, but the execution is much more difficult.

For reference, my right side is the side with the three hex sand on level two in front of the starting zone. The initiative glyph was the right side while the healer on left.

Ken built up on the initiative glyph side, moving up Heavies, Raelin and Mezzo's. He had no intention of fighting on the heal glyph side. I had to cede that point for now, but I eventually wanted the battle to work its way in that direction. I moved up spiders to the central road and up both sides, while a Wyvern went left, and the other threatened the initiative glyph hill. The first scrimmage came when I attacked his figures that were on his side of the hill. I remember liking the situation I found myself in. Through the course of the fight, I moved in, managed to grab a Heavies, fly it over by my start zone, and get an Entangling Web. When the dust had settled on our first exchange, I looked at the damage and conceded that I lost the exchange. This was frustrating since I felt it was an advantageous position. It took a lot of mental effort and, in my mind, subtle plays to pull off. I was forced to rethink my approach.

The thing about Ken is that he values attacks per om more than anyone I know. Throwing a lot of dice with a hero doesn't do it for him. This philosophy shined in his gameplay. His primary focus was always on killing spiders. As I've set five attacks per OM can cleave through my all but helpless arachnoids. I had to be careful limiting his attacks.

Other than minor exchanges over the glyph, I backed off the fight on the right side. With my other Wyvern, I flew around the left side hill. Ken hadn't moved up the HSB yet and didn't have any OMs on them. The closest Heavy was seven spaces away from his HSB. I used this round to snag two HSB and kill them safely away from the rest of Kens army. I was feeling pretty good now. I had perceived the biggest threat to be him crashing in with Heavies then barging in with HSB. Now, this strategy had been nullified. Ken had now had full control of the Initiative Glyph and the right side, while I had moved both Wyrnes and my spiders to the left.

It was now time for a full-on assault. I maneuvered my spiders to limit his attacks then talon grabbed either a Mezzo or Raelin. I'm not sure which one I went for first, but they happened one after another. I was able to place Raelin in a position where my spiders could safely get attacks down. I got lucky and led off the attack on Raelin with a four for four poison sting. From there, Raelin didn't last long. My initial attack went well, but Ken answered with his Heavies. At some point around this time one of my Wyrens took two wounds. Nerak's eight move and disengage allowed him to tie down my wounded Wyvern.

We were approaching the endgame at this point. Nerak burned the heal glyph, but his vulnerable position caused him to fall from concentrated attacks. Ken was bringing over the last of his Heavies. My Spiders dwindled to the point where I could no longer risk order markers on them, but Ken no longer had the attacks per OM's to capitalize on this fact. My Wyvern was able to finish off his remaining figures.

Finals
Map: Dance of the Dryads
Glyphs: Move and Unique attack
Opponent: Veggie
Opponents army:
- DCoT x3
- Me-Burg-Sa
- Nerak
- X17
- Theracus

Orc, Major Q23, and I all thought Veggie had the advantage while Veggie thought it was closer to even, or I had a slight advantage. The jury is still out.

The Unique Attack glyph was on my left, and it was also the side where the level two 24 hex was immediately adjacent to my start zone. Heading into the game I was terrified of X17. Him locking down a Mezzo or my Heavies would be devastating. When Veggie played Major Q23 he placed an early OM on Theracus and plopped X17 on a glyph. I was convinced he would lead with the same strategy. I had to decide if he'd go for the Move or Unique Glyph. Move with melee bonding is incredible, so on the surface move seemed like the more powerful glyph. At first, I thought he'd go that route, but several made me change my mind. For starters with battle rush, most if not all the DCoT could reach the road before their first turn. They'd already be breathing down my throat, so move doesn't help much. The Move Glyph was also far less defensible than the Unique Attack Glyph. The last reason is specific to Veggie, but first, a little history lesson. The 2011 Peoria IL NHSD was both of our first tournament. We would continue to compete against each other at every tournament I attended. Illinois tournaments, there's Veggie, Gencon, there's Veggie, Online There's Veggie. 2012 Gencon was also the first Gencon for both of us. Since then, neither of us has missed a year. He is by far the person I've played most in tournament. We almost always have great games, and I enjoy playing and talking scape with him. If he's got a signature unit, it's hands down Me-Burg-Sa. "Sterilizing Pear" has been a thorn in my side for years. This was the last reason I needed to convince me that Veggie would make a play for the Unique Attack Glyph and not move.

X17 sitting of the unique attack glyph, with the effective threat range of 9 move and flying to tie up my figures, is an extremely powerful win condition. I resolved to counter this opening with a gambit of my own. I placed my figures one space back from the road, so DCoT would have trouble getting the jump on me. I then opened with triple OM's on Mezzo's and my X on Heavies.

I won initiative, which I didn't want. I started moving Mezzo's up the left side. Veggie opened with Theracus carrying X17, but instead of hopping on the glyph, he placed X17 on the level three lave that's in between the trees. It was a good move, one that I wasn't expecting. Veggie didn't have an OM on X17 or Theracus for the rest of the round. I believe this was a mistake. Without the threat of another OM on Theracus or X17 my strategy with Mezzo's opened up significantly. I contemplated whether to attack Theracus or X17. X17 is the more prized target, but he was on height, making him a difficult kill. I was on height against Theracus, so I was reasonably confident I could finish him off by the end of the round. Without Theracus, X17 couldn't tie down my main army. If Veggie used multiple OMs on X17 to try and tie my down, he'd be taking a considerable risk. I decided to first go for Theracus. I got extremely lucky and one-shot him. In my last three attacks of the round, I focused on X7, putting three wounds on him in the process. During the rest of the round, Veggie moved up Nerak, Me-Burg-Sa and his Death Chasers.

Heading into the second round, I realized a potentially crippling mistake in my game plan. Me-Burg-Sa had his sights set on Raelin. My heavies were two turns away from Me-Burg-Sa. I couldn't afford an OM on Realin due to the DCoT ability to lay waste to my army quickly, and there weren't any great spots for her. If I put an OM on Raelin and lost initiative, the game could be over. OM's on Mezzo's were appealing, and looking back it might have been a better decision, Regardless, I choose to put my OM's on Heavies. I was pretty much sacrificing Raelin, but she wasn't that important in this matchup. I was afraid of going two rounds and not activating my Heavies. If he crashed in and killed my Heavies before I activated them, I'd never forgiven myself.

Veggie won initiative, and Me-Burg-Sa immediately put three wounds on Raelin. Raelin fell the next turn. I maneuvered my Heavies in such a way to limit DCoT ability to crash in. Our orcs scrimmaged throughout the round, in which I got a slight advantage. The last OM of the round was on my Heavies. I was in the position I wanted. The possibility of an initiative switch and ten uncontested attacks would assuredly win me the tournament. My Nerak and Heavies got five attacks off, which did a lot of damage.

Heading into the third round I had five heavies, Nerak (might have been wounded), Mezzo's at full strength and a full squad of HSB. Veggie had Me-Burg-Sa, Nerak, X17 (three or four wounds), and about four DCoT. Veggie now had tough order marker decisions. He was on the verge of being reduced to one attack per OM. If I win initiative I almost assuredly win the game. I lost initiative, and Veggies Death Chasers made their attack. He finished off Nerak, but other then that wasn't met with much luck. My Heavies countered and made short work of his reaming Death Chasers. Me-Burg-Sa continued to show why he's such a fantastic unit. He thinned out my Heavies at an alarming rate. I brought out Mezzo's and started chasing down Me-Burg-Sa. Veggie played him very well, always limiting my attacks and forcing me to attack up. By this time, his Nerak and X17 had fallen to lava and stray attacks. I was able to chip away with Mezzo's until I finally managed to kill Me-Burg-Sa. I won with a Heavy, a Mezzo, and a Full squad of HSB.

Day two: 4-0 Main Event Champ

[vegietarian18]

Great writeups. Better late than never for sure.

I have a lot I could say about our championship game. As for the matchup of our two armies, I do think it's about even. They're very different styles though: yours was a huge pile of a defense and mine was a smaller pile of offense with a weird accent piece thrown in. But offense in Heroscape is much better than defense as people often forget. You cannot be attacked if the figure you attack is dead. I guess for me I just would have rather been on the Raelin side of the matchup here, since Raelin makes it much harder to make costly mistakes.

Anyway, I think the game was won by your gameplan. Your opening round of Mezzos and your placement of figures in your startzone were great moves that really made it difficult for me to do what I wanted (smash your figures with lots of dice from Deathchasers). My gameplan wasn't really clear to me quite honestly because I didn't know what you would do; I had to be reactive. At the start of the game my plan was just my standard plan with the army: grab a glyph with X17 and Theracus on OM1, then run the boosted Chasers trying to kill everything or at least leave something that melee defense +4 X17 can handle.

That plan was pretty quickly derailed with your first round of entirely Mezzo OMs. I was scared of Mezzos throwing 5v3s on to Chasers, and somewhat scared of the 4v3s onto X17 on the glyph as well. So I completely changed my plan and did something I hadn't done all tournament, putting X17 not on a glyph but on a hill where he could physically protect Chasers from the Mezzos. I knew I had no more OMs on him when I did this, and I knew you knew that, but I felt defending the Chasers from that angle of attack was that important. I only have 9 of them, and any 5v3s you can throw are brutal. You focused Theracus and X17 which was what I wanted from the play, but the attacks ended up doing a lot of damage to them which was bad.

I wonder if should have just stayed the course, and deployed X17 Theracus to Ulvania and then blasted and smashed Mezzos with Chasers and MBS on Round 1 OM2 and OM3. Mezzos can only die twice before they die for real, and I had 8 attacks of 4 (maybe a few less, but the same general point) I could have thrown at them. The scarier part of that route is I'm just not sure I have enough Chasers left to kill 8 Heavies, especially Raelin backed ones, and MBS is shooting at Mezzos instead of Raelin with this plan. It's hard to say. If I can blow up the Mezzos quickly enough to take tempo by the end of the round I think it works out, but I would just really need to find kills on them.

I'm only on OM1 after four paragraphs which says a lot lol. It was a good game, probably one of my favorites I've played, and changed a lot about how I play the game. Congrats on the win again.

[OEAO]

Great write-up, my friend! Congrats again on the performance!

I don’t remember that Cluster Draft discussion, but I’m happy to take credit for it.

Ken beat me in a regular round in Main, not the reverse round. Wyvern just wrecks Concan PKs, and Spiders really hurt when I want to bounce OMs around. I had tested the matchup at home, and I knew going in that it was a 0-100 matchup against Ken (higher against a non-Ken person). I tried to make the plays I could, and got value out of my Tarn, but I could have played my Mezzos better. It’s hard to go into a matchup that’s that horrible and not tilt, which is something I need to work on. Your point still stands, however: Ken is 17-1 across the last two Main Events. That’s pretty insane.

[Cleon]

Originally Posted by infectedsloth

The end games started with me down to a Nakita versus a Mezzo with both Exxos, a HSB, and three or four Heavies. I run and gun to the corner, and a Mezzo follows. I get to a position where I can shoot down on the Mezzo. My Smoke Power works three straight times, and my hot attack dice finish off the Mezzo. Sam Heavies aren't in a position to swarm me all at once. My Nakita can get the first strike attacking up. If the Heavy survives my attack, it has to dodge an engagement strike then attack up. For three straight times, this scenario plays out. I think I got an engagement strike, but regardless the results are that it's down to a HSB versus an Agent. My Nakita ends up with the kill, and I somehow, with more than a little thanks for the dice, pull off the comeback.

Holy crap!

[infectedsloth]

Originally Posted by vegietarian18

That plan was pretty quickly derailed with your first round of entirely Mezzo OMs. I was scared of Mezzos throwing 5v3s on to Chasers, and somewhat scared of the 4v3s onto X17 on the glyph as well. So I completely changed my plan and did something I hadn't done all tournament, putting X17 not on a glyph but on a hill where he could physically protect Chasers from the Mezzos. I knew I had no more OMs on him when I did this, and I knew you knew that, but I felt defending the Chasers from that angle of attack was that important. I only have 9 of them, and any 5v3s you can throw are brutal. You focused Theracus and X17 which was what I wanted from the play, but the attacks ended up doing a lot of damage to them which was bad.

I think you the correct play. Like I said I didn't see it coming and was more then concerned. You were just unlucky that my Mezzo's did as much damage as they did.

This was a game dominated by big decisions, but it didn't have as much tactical play. I feel we both made some great plays, but there was some sloppiness on both sides.

Originally Posted by vegietarian18

I wonder if should have just stayed the course, and deployed X17 Theracus to Ulvania and then blasted and smashed Mezzos with Chasers and MBS on Round 1 OM2 and OM3. Mezzos can only die twice before they die for real, and I had 8 attacks of 4 (maybe a few less, but the same general point) I could have thrown at them. The scarier part of that route is I'm just not sure I have enough Chasers left to kill 8 Heavies, especially Raelin backed ones, and MBS is shooting at Mezzos instead of Raelin with this plan. It's hard to say. If I can blow up the Mezzos quickly enough to take tempo by the end of the round I think it works out, but I would just really need to find kills on them.

I'm intrigued. I think if you go that route it becomes a much slower game. Once you take out my range, Me-Burg-Sa can control the flow of the game much more. You're probably better off going the route you took. My Mezzo's are gonna put the hurt on your DCoT, and tie them up for my Heavies on round two.

Originally Posted by vegietarian18

I'm only on OM1 after four paragraphs which says a lot lol. It was a good game, probably one of my favorites I've played, and changed a lot about how I play the game. Congrats on the win again.

Cheers pal
I consider you one of my main rivals in the friendliest way possible. We always have great games, and I feel playing each other through the years have improved both of our games. I'm looking forward to next Gencon. Your Dad better show this time!

The all Illinois finals was pretty cool.

[Dysole]

I still debate as to whether or not I should have engaged after running out of Exos. Not sure if it would have been the right call or not. That's really the only call in our game I'm not sure if I would do differently.

~Dysole, informationally

[infectedsloth]

Originally Posted by Dysole

I still debate as to whether or not I should have engaged after running out of Exos. Not sure if it would have been the right call or not. That's really the only call in our game I'm not sure if I would do differently.

~Dysole, informationally

You were making it difficult on me with ever OM. Your Nerak and Raelin play were particularity impressive. On a tactical level I don't recall anything that I really disagreed with.