Vydar's Florida Frenzy NHSD Battle Report

[Vydar]

If any of my opponents remember a battle differently, feel free to post the details here. After 7 games, my much of the tournament has become a blur.

Introduction
The Florida Frenzy NHSD tournament was held in Orlando with 18 attendees. NecroBlade and dbzking ran the tournament amazingly smoothly for a first time event. A HUGE thanks to them for all their time and effort!


In an effort to encourage diversity in armies, Florida Frenzy gave incentives to avoid playing "power pieces:"

Hendal sent a gold nugget to us with the criterion that it should go to the top ranked player not playing any of his "Big Five:" Q9, Krav Maga Agents, Airborne Elite, Marro Warriors, and Raelin (either version)

Armies without Q9, Raelin, 4th, or Deathreavers received +1 SoS for every army they faced that contained any of these A+ units from the Power Rankings.

Both Negation and Summoning glyphs were included. These glyphs can seriously maim armies centered around Raelin or Q9.


The format was:
- 440 point armies.
- 24 space starting zones.
- 2 random glyphs per map.
- Five swiss rounds plus Top Four.
- 50 minute rounds.

Maps: Mole Hills, Klomar's Training Ground Location VII (without the center glyph), and Highways and Dieways.

Glyphs:
Valda - Move +2
Lodin - d20 +1
Erland - Summoning
Gerda - Defense +1
Nilrend - Negation


My Army
My army was designed around restrictions I set for myself. I decided that I needed to play a Vydar pure army to live up to my namesake. I also limited myself by refusing to play any of the Hendal's "Big Five" or any of the four A+ figures mentioned above. I do/did not own the Nakita Agents, Laglor, or Major Q10. My choice for a backbone was easy: Microcorp Agents or Gladiatrons/Blastatrons. I went with the soulborgs. Having only 2 squads of each, I still had 160 points left. No two of the remaining Vydar army cards would fit in 160 points (James Murphy is 5 points too expensive) and I viewed Sudema as too much of a liability (and would leave me 20 points short). Fortunately, dbzking offered to loan figures out to attendees, so I took him up on the offer and rounded out my army with Q10.

150 = Major Q10
160 = 2x Gladiatrons
120 = 2x Blastatrons
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430 (Vydar pure!)


Round #1
I faced off against dbzking on Mole Hills:

100 = Ornak
70 = Heavy Gruts
120 = Krug
150 = Mimring
-----
440 (Utgar pure!)

Designed around Ornak, his goal was to move Krug and Mimring every first turn to do heavy damage. The Heavy Gruts bonded with Ornak to mop up anyone surviving that assault.

The match was fairly short lived. I had the side with the large ruin. On the second turn, one of my Gladiatrons on the glyph of summoning (to the left from my starting zone) and summoned Ornak. I surrounded him with Gladiatrons and gunned him down with Blastatrons (who had claimed the raised mound adjacent to the water). Mimring claimed the other glyph and killed a Blastatron, but I managed to get some Gladiatrons next to him and claim height. Winning initiative, I got two consecutive turns and the barrage was enough to take Mimring out. I set up a defensive position so that Krug had to either stand still and be pinged to death by Blastatrons with height or charge in. He charged, but didn't survive the 4 attacks with 6 dice that followed. The orcs were whittled down gradually from extra Blastatron fire throughout the course of the game.

Final Outcome: Victory with the loss of a single Blastatron.


Round #2
I faced off against igrillem on Klomar's Training Ground Location VII:

90 = Empress Kiova
280 = 2x Einar Imperium
65 = Tagawa Samurai Archers
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435 (Einar pure!)

I started on the side with the large ruin, though this map is basically symmetrical. The first two turns were spent advancing. On the second turn the Einar Imperium summoned Q10, so I got my just deserts for what I did to Ornak the previous game. I claimed the move +2 glyph and the center raised platform and began trying to defend Q10 by shooting the Imperium troops on the left hand side of the board. This actually was not the best tactic since Empress Kiova allows them to reroll defense dice. Oddly enough, out of the 8 attack rolls I made, igrillem only had to reroll one time and he still failed to defend. I switched tactics and gave the nearly dead Q10 and 2 of my Gladiatrons up for lost. Charging up the middle, I got some Gladiatrons up to Kiova and gunned her down with the Blastatrons. Once she was out of the picture, the Gladiatrons negated the Imperiums stealth flying and I took out the rest of the army from height fairly quickly.

I need to apologize on this match. When I got the +2 movement glyph, I did not realize that it didn't work on the Gladiatrons. This sped up my charge and enabled me to destroy igrillem's army with efficiency. The match would have been a much closer affair if I had not had that extra movement. I alerted the judges to my mistake and it was ruled that since he was aware that I was moving 7 and did not object I could keep my win. I still feel bad about doing that and hope he accepts my apology.

Final Outcome: Victory with a good amount of my Gladiatrons and Blastatrons still standing.


Round #3
I faced off against Dustin (BurnyFlame's brother) on Highways and Dieways:

110 = Airborne Elite
110 = Sgt. Alexander Drake
120 = Kaemon Awa
100 = Deathstalkers
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440 (Contains one of the "Big Five")

I was really looking forward to playing on this map as it favors close combat and the Gladiatron/Blastatron army plays more like a close combat army since I have to close with the Gladiatrons. I started on the side with the small ruin, though the map is basically symmetrical. The first round, Dustin's Airborne Elite dropped and he won initiative. I'm not sure exactly what he was thinking, because he didn't grenade me. The starting zones are 24 hexes and my army filled 18 of those hexes, so I automatically have a lot of adjacent figures at the start. He claimed the negation glyph on the first turn, hamstringing Q10, and killed 2 of my soulborgs with ranged fire. I managed to take down two of his AE on my turn. Over the remainder of the round I hunted down the remaining AE, lost another soulborg, and claimed the +2 movement glyph. He brought out the Deathstalkers the next round and killed a few more soulborgs (I think he Mauled the Gladiatron on the movement glyph), but the Deathstalkers were surrounded and killed fairly quickly. Then out came Drake and blocked the walkway to Dustin's starting zone. This is when I made a stupid mistake that most people learn not to make the first day they play HeroScape. I surrounded Drake with 2 Gladiatrons and a Blastatron and tried to shoot him from range with height advantage...yeah...I told you it was stupid. In the turns that followed, Kaemon Awa came out and used his quick release attack from behind the water barrier in Dustin's starting zone while Drake mopped up the figures in melee with him. I managed to get one Gladiatron across the water and into melee with Kaemon while my Blastatrons pelted him with fire. The end result was that Kaemon received 3 wounds, Drake received 1 wound, and I lost all my Gladiatrons and Blastatrons. At this juncture, I was winning by points (fractional scoring I had 150 points of Q10 and he had 88 points of Drake plus 30 points of Kaemon). Drake came charging towards my starting zone, which Q10 had never left. Having been negated, Q10 couldn't touch Drake at range as he approached. The 2 minute warning sounded and feeling the pressure of the moment, I didn't optimize my movement with Q10 well. I doubt it would have saved me anyway, since Drake was guaranteed to close with me - though I could have gained height advantage if I gave him first strike. I decided to get first strike on Drake instead, but he had height advantage. Q10 failed to wound Drake with his attack and Drake beheaded Q10 with one swing from his sword.

Outcome: Defeat - Drake (1 wound) and Kaemon (3 wounds) survived.


Round #4
I faced off against Harold (Star Wolf's father) on Mole Hills:

110 = Ninjas of Northwind
120 = Kaemon Awa
140 = Einar Imperium
65 = Tagawa Samurai Archers
-----
435 (Einar pure!)

This was a poor match-up for Harold. My Gladiatrons could negate not only the Imperium's stealth flying, but also the Disappearing Ninja ability. I started on the side with the large ruin. The Ninja's came out fast, to claim the glyphs. Two went to my left and one to my right. The ones on the left found a +2 move glyph and the one on the right the summon glyph. Magically, Q10 found himself transported into the path of danger yet again. The Gladiatrons arrived at the glyphs shortly after the Ninjas and enabled the Blastatrons to kill them with expedience. In the mean time, the Samurai Archers advanced and took the heights nearest to Harold's starting zone. They proceeded to rain arrows down on Q10. The second round started and Q10 managed to weather the assault, destroying 2 Archers before being dismantled. Some stray Blastatron fire claimed the final Archer. The Einar Imperium came out in force and managed to do some heavy damage to my Gladiatrons before two of them fell. Harold forgot about one of them he had left behind the ruin. At this point, Harold was slightly ahead of me in points, but Kaemon Awa did the only thing that a noble Samurai employed by Einar would consider - he charged into the fray. He and the final Imperium soldier were locked down by Gladiatrons and finally succumbed to Blastatron fire. They made a brave final assault and we erected a monument in their honor on the mole hill where they made their final stand.

Final Outcome: Victory. I think I had about 4 Blastatrons and 2-3 Gladiatrons still standing.


Round #5
I faced off against Blue Dane on Klomar's Training Ground Location VII:

150 = Q10
50 = Me-Burq-Sa
240 = 4x Marro Stingers
-----
440

I started on the side with the large ruin. The Stingers rushed out and claimed the glyph closest to them (Lucky D20) while one of my Gladiatrons claimed the one nearest to me (Movement +2). Some of my Gladiatrons reached the Stingers on the Lucky D20 glyph and locked them down while my Blastatrons claimed the center high ground. I killed a couple of Stingers with Blastatron fire, but Dane still held the glyph. At this point, Dane's Q10 entered the fray walking towards the center of the board. In one round, his machine pistol claimed the lives of 4 Blastatrons. A new round was starting and I realized that my Gladiatrons were too far away to engage Dane's Q10 with expedience and my Blastatrons were dropping like flies. I decided to load my Q10 with all the order markers and hope the dice favored me in the mirror match. Still having the +2 movement glyph, my Q10 advanced quickly. Dane continued firing on my squads, killing 2 more Gladiatrons. My Q10 began wrist rocketing his Q10 from the center high ground. Possibly because of my height advantage, Dane chose to shoot my squads rather than my Q10. He killed more Blastatrons (I now only had 2 alive and they were back in my starting zone) and possibly a few more Gladiatrons. My Q10 finished off his Q10, but my squads were in tatters. Then with a vengence, my Q10 did exactly what Dane's had done to me. He advanced while dropping Stingers like flies. Dane did roll a number of attacks on my Q10, but my dice were hot and he didn't receive a single wound. Three of the stingers finally reached the top of the high ground closest to Dane's starting zone. He had height advantage and the Lucky D20 glyph. Wanting to make sure my Q10 was good and dead, he rolled for the Stingers...and failed - no attacks this turn. This gave Q10 the opportunity to ensure my victory. Continuing his assault, Q10 cleaned up the rest of the Stingers along with Me-Burq-Sa without even receiving a wound. This was the first game I played where Q10 performed well. My first round he didn't do anything, my second and fourth he was summoned and killed, and my third he was negated and then killed by Drake. Both Dane's Q10 and my Q10 dominated, but fortunately my dice were hot and the failed Stinger roll ensured my victory.

Final Result: Victory - Unwounded Q10, 2 Blastatrons, and a handful of Gladiatrons remained.


Final Four
My record of 4-1 placed me in the top 4. Roller was 4-1. Dustin was 4-1, losing his final match to Sisyphus who went undefeated for the Swiss part of the tournament. Dustin had played Roller, Sisyphus, and me throughout the tournament, so his SoS was by far the highest at 19. Roller’s SoS was 14 and mine 13, putting me in 4th place. (Note: I had played none of the A+ figures, so there were no bonus SoS points for me.) All three of the other top 4 had at least one of the Big Five in their army, so I had clinched Hendal’s gold nugget prize! This was as well as I had hoped to do and better than I expected to do. I felt my army to be inferior to both Roller’s and Sisyphus’, but I seriously wanted my grudge match with Dustin (so did Roller).

Three new maps (selected secretly by dbzking and NecroBlade ahead of time) were used for the final four. The semi-finals would be played on First Strike and Ambush. The finals would be played on Ember Canyon Road (without the center glyph) – a very good map for my army.

The match-ups were based on seeding: #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3. That paired me with Sisyphus and Roller got his grudge match with Dustin. I hoped to play on First Strike as the bridge on Ambush left me very little room for maneuvering and surrounding with my Gladiatrons. At least, with my seeding, I wouldn’t have to fight Dustin's AE on Ambush and have them drop on the bridge the first turn.

Semi-Finals
Dustin and Roller matched up on First Strike. All I know is that Dustin beat Roller and Dustin's AE did some serious damage. Roller's army is recorded in the Final Rankings section.


I faced off against Sisyphus on Ambush:
80 = Raelin
80 = 2x Deathreavers
100 = Krav Maga Agents
180 = 3x Stingers
-----
440 (Contains two of the Big Five and two of the A+ units)

I started on the side with the large ruin, though both sides are nearly symmetrical and neither of us got near a ruin. I won initiative and started my ascent up to the bridge while running one Gladiatron into the river to try to claim the glyph nearest my starting zone. Sisyphus advanced with his Deathreavers looking for glyphs as well. By the end of the first round I had claimed the glyph (Defense +1) and blockaded the bridge from Reavers with my soulborgs. Sisyphus had claimed the other glyph (Move +2). I started trying to pick off Reavers and engage them with Gladiatrons, but with little success. I killed 2 or 3 of them, but they just kept swarming (this was my first time playing against them). Sisyphus brought up his Stingers, destroyed my glyph-holding Gladiatron, and claimed the glyph for himself. I unsuccessfully tried to beat him off the glyph, but if I got lucky enough to kill a Reaver, another took its place. We were even now – I had height advantage for defense and he had the Defense +1 glyph. The Reavers were rolling 5 defense dice and most of the Stingers had 6, due to Raelin’s aura. I brought Q10 up and unloaded on Raelin from height with 5 attack dice. After 3 turns she finally fell. During this time, Sisyphus had his sights on Q10, so he rolled for the Stingers' twice - failing both rolls and losing his attack. We spent most of the game in what felt like a deadlock. I’d shoot at him from the bridge, he’d shoot at me from the ground and we’d occasionally kill a squad member. Q10 was gradually gaining ground with his wrist rocket attack. Not wanting to be "stung" again, Sisyphus contented himself with picking off Blastatrons with his Stingers (Q10’s would have rolled 6 defense dice) while I picked off Stingers with Q10. (The Krav only moved once the entire game.) Sisyphus had just started a turn when time was called. He would be allowed to finish his turn and he decided to roll for the Stingers, got the +1 attack and barraged Q10. My dice were hot and Q10 escaped unscathed. Had he done enough damage, I would have had my final turn to try to regain the point advantage.

See Sysiphus Battle Report for his take on the battle.

Final Result: Victory by points – A large portion of both armies were still on the board.


Finals
I got my grudge match, facing off against Dustin again, but this time on Ember Canyon Road:

110 = Airborne Elite
110 = Sgt. Alexander Drake
120 = Kaemon Awa
100 = Deathstalkers
-----
440 (Contains one of the "Big Five")

Just like my previous game with Dustin, the Airborne Elite dropped on the first turn, while my 18 hexes of units were huddled in the 24 hex starting zone. One member dropped near the glyph on his cliff while three others landed on the cliff above my starting zone. He was looking to hit both of the glyphs in the hopes of summoning Q10 into the lava or at least negating him. Fortunately, he didn’t win initiative this time, so Q10 managed to kill two of the Airborne Elite and prevent him from claiming the glyph on my cliff. On his turn, he claimed the glyph on his cliff, which turned out to be +1 Defense, and then threw a grenade into my army. That single grenade killed 4 Blastatrons. My remaining markers were on my Blastatrons, so I advanced and hid as close to the cliff as possible. He got another shot off at a Blastatron with his AE, but I was lucky enough to survive. He ran his AE off of the lava field (one on his side and one on my side) and I think he killed a Gladiatron on the third round - I had made good and sure that he couldn’t see any Blastatrons by huddling them up against the cliff. The next round, Q10 finished off the third AE that landed on my side and went as high on the hill as I could without entering lava. I proceeded to slowly advance my horde up through the valley. His Deathstalkers moved onto the road. I knew they could get first strike on me, so I just kept advancing slowly figuring that I’d weather the first assault and thrash them with the counter attack, but the attack didn’t come. Instead, Kaemon Awa climbed up towards the lava fields. A new round started and I shot at Kaemon Awa with Q10 at a range of 8. This goaded Kaemon into moving up into the lava fields and returning fire. Q10 entered the lava fields and grabbed the glyph…of SUMMONING! Being bitter about his negation and following execution by the sword of Drake in the previous match-up (see Round #3), Q10 decided to send Drake swimming in the lava. Drake was so surprised to suddenly feel a burning sensation before going up in a whiff of smoke. Rolling for lava field wounds, Q10 took one at the end of the round, while Kaemon avoided being damaged. The beginning of the following round, Kaemon and Q10 traded fire with their double attacks. In the end, Q10 did 3 wounds to Kaemon, and Kaemon killed Q10 before my second marker. My 2nd marker was on Q10, so I lost a turn, and Kaemon shot two more Blastatrons (I was now down to 2). Fortunately, at the end of the round, the lava field did the final wound, claiming Kaemon’s life. I continued my advance through the valley and around the corner leading to Dustin’s starting zone. The Deathstalkers finally attacked. Weathering the first assault, I managed to take down two of them. It was now my two Blastatrons and 6 Gladiatrons against Dustin’s remaining Airborne Elite and Deathstalker (both engaged by Gladiatrons). It took more shots than I expected, but the Airborne Elite didn’t feel a thing when he was hit by two attacks of 6 dice to end the game.

Final Result: Victory with 2 Blastatrons and 5 or 6 Gladiatrons.


Roller beat Sisyphus on Highways and Dieways for 3rd place (See Sysiphus Battle Report for details.)


Final Rankings
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1st - Vydar (Record: 6-1)
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150 = Major Q10
160 = 2x Gladiatrons
120 = 2x Blastatrons
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430

-----------------------------------------------------------------
2nd - Dustin (BurnyFlame's brother) (Record: 5-2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
110 = Airborne Elite
110 = Sgt. Alexander Drake
120 = Kaemon Awa
100 = Deathstalkers
-----
440

-----------------------------------------------------------------
3rd - Roller (Record: 5-2)
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150 = Major Q10
100 = Krav Maga
80 = Raelin
60 = Izumi Samurai
50 = Me-Burq-Sa
-----
440

-----------------------------------------------------------------
4th - Sisyphus (Record 5-2)
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80 = Raelin
80 = 2x Deathreavers
100 = Krav Maga Agents
180 = 3x Stingers
-----
440


A complete ranking of all 18 tournament attendees can be found here.


Observations:
Marro Stingers seem to be the new ranged squad of choice. There were a number of armies at our tournament running 3 or 4 Stinger squads.

Kaemon Awa and Q10 were by far the favorite heroes in the tournament. Some of Q10's popularity may have been due to the lower point value of the armies (440 rather than 500 point armies). Furthermore, Q9 was highly discouraged and Q10 served as a suitable hybrid between Kaemon Awa and Q9.

I didn't feel like the sides on the Mole Hills map were actually fair. Looking back at my battles, I kind of feel that the side with the larger ruin is actually the better side. It seems to have better access to the glyphs and easy access to the high ground right next to the water, which I think is best tactical location for ranged squads.

[spider_poison]

Congrats Vydar, sounds like it was a good time. It's also really cool that you stayed true to your name

[NecroBlade]

Congrats again, Vydar, and thanks for the battle report! I didn't get to play you, but you were a good player and a good sport. I only wish my own Q10 had performed as well as yours!

[Vydar]

Thanks, both of you.

Also, congratulations to you on your win spider_poison.
And thanks again for setting up the Florida tournament, NecroBlade.

I had a ton of fun and it was icing on the cake when I made the top four and realized I had won the gold nugget. When I matched up against Sisyphus on Ambush, I thought it was over for me. I never dared to think I'd even play in the final, let alone win the tournament.

I just finished the final edits, so I think everything is cleaned up and in its place now.

[Sisyphus]

Wow. Your I really like the way you formated your battle reports. Do you mind if I copy that format my report?

Again congratulations. Playing against you was a lot of fun. You made no mistakes and showed no mercy.

[Vydar]

Originally Posted by Sisyphus

Wow. Your I really like the way you formated your battle reports. Do you mind if I copy that format my report?

Sure, go for it!

Again congratulations. Playing against you was a lot of fun. You made no mistakes and showed no mercy.

I don't know about "no mistakes," but at least not any mistakes that the dice didn't cover up for me. It always helps when your opponent whiffs their Stinger rolls. I really wasn't prepared for a map of that type and thought my tournament was over getting paired with the top guy on a bottleneck map. It was a good, close match-up, which always makes for a more exciting game!

[Star Wolf]

Vydar, If you had a hard time facing my father then you better be happy you didn't face me. you would have never made it into the top four. just kidding. good job.

[Blue Dane]

Wow!!! Awesome battle report. Couldn't have said it better. Again, congratulations on your win.

Also, if you can direct me to the cards link of the figures you sent to the prize table I'd appreciate it. Thanks again for the figures. Little Blue Dane loves them.

[NecroBlade]

Originally Posted by Blue Dane

Also, if you can direct me to the cards link of the figures you sent to the prize table I'd appreciate it. Thanks again for the figures. Little Blue Dane loves them.

There are more Evil Raelin's around, though, and probably more uses for those minotaurs, too.

[Blue Dane]

NecroBlade and Vydar, thanks for the links.

[Vydar]

Thanks, NecroBlade. I PM'd Dane a bunch of links as well.

[NecroBlade]

I wish I had gotten more prize pics, I wouldn't mind the custom stuff that was offered. Congrats again on taking home 1/4 of the prize table, Blue Dane.