Friday, March 04, 2016

Battle Report: Stryker2 vs Axis

Someone remind me to not be stupid please.

My list: Stryker2 (tier 2), Squire, Ol Rowdy, Stormclad, Sentinel, Lancer, Stormguard (10), 2x Stormblades (6+UA), 2 Stormblade Captains, Bunker Objective.

My opponent: Axis (tier 4), Corollary, 2x Inverter, 4 Enigma Foundries, 3x Clockwork Angels, 2x Obstructors (10 each), Reductors (10+Transverse Enumerator), Armory Objective.

Scenario: Incoming, 60 minute death clock.

I lost initiative and my opponent opted to go second, choosing the side that didn't have as much rough terrain in front of the deployment area which was important for his swarm of infantry and also somewhat jammed up my swarm of infantry. I went first and at this point I would like to mention how much I love the Advanced Move bonus for Stormblades that Stryker2 grants. I surge forward and end up in a good position. Then Axis' force surges forward, with 9 Angels all coming up one flank. At this point I didn't have a great caution option, so I rushed in with assaults and charges. This was as much a positioning effort as it was to inflict casualties. The retaliation was brutal, with half of my infantry being wiped out. At this point things were looking rough, but I opted to jam Stryker right up close near Axis, with Rowdy in B2B with him for added protection. Axis flinched, feated, and backed up. At this point he had 90 seconds left on his deathclock and I had 9 minutes. What I should have done was back Stryker up into my zone to dominate for 1 CP and then just camp focus and let him clock out. Instead I decided to push the train forward and go for the kill. Unfortunately my dice had a bit of a failure so I shifted to trying to destroy the objective but because the Armory objective has that sacrifice ability, I failed. At this point Axis rolled up and managed to finish Stryker off.

Lessons learned: Play to scenario when it's a smart option. Also, the Lancer is simply not adding enough value in this list so I'm planning to swap it out for 3 WAs on both Stormblade units instead. On the plus side, I'm doing well with death clock now and really like using it for every game. One last lesson is to not bunch up when there's sprays in the enemy forces. Those Reductors with the UA mini-feat were brutal on my Silverlines!

Games this year: 10

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