OODA Tournament Reports

[CitadelArmyGuy]

Reader warning up-front: These are going to be very long battle reports, extremely in-depth at the most basic level. I will be discussing my OODA loop on all nearly all the decisions I make. It will take a lot of words to describe things which only take a mere moment of thought, hence the length of this post.

The acronym OODA stands for Observe-Orient-Decide-Act. I have a Strategy article about it written here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...262061&st=0

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I participated in a 1500pt Local Tournament in Dallas TX on 17 November. I will be doing three full battle reports but only the first report will be in the OP. I will add the other two battles in the replies below when I get time to finish them.

I took 1 photo to show deployment and also to demonstrate terrain elevations. For the actual reports, I've recreated the games in Vassal because top-down view improves visualization of a battle, which is important for the OODA style.

The List I brought to this Tournament is as follows:

250: Mephiston

125: SW Runepriest- Jump Pack. Storm Caller, Living Lightning (Swap Prescience/Biomancy)

90: Sanguinary Priest- Jump Pack, Axe

225: 10 Assault Marines- 2 Meltaguns, Axe (aka Black Squad)

210: 10 Assault Marines- 2 Meltaguns (aka Red Squad)

220: 10 Grey Hunters- 2 Plasmaguns, Axe, Wolf Banner, Drop Pod

150: 3 Attack Bikes- 3 Multimelta

230: Stormraven- TL-Multimelta, TL-AssaultCannon, Hurricane Bolters

Mephiston always keeps his BA powers. Always. Even when I think I could be clever and swap, it's not true. Having Wings of Sanguinius and Strength 10 is just too important. Also, Mephiston will roll on Command Warlord Traits. Many think Personal traits is better for him, but I feel 4/6 of those abilities are low-value for Mephiston. Command table somewhat improves Mephiston mildly as a Force Multiplier to complement the Assault Marines contingent.

The Runepriest took Storm Caller and Living Lightning. He is mainly to provide Psychic Defense and Prescience to aid shooting and melee. However, his SW powers are tailored for opponents which I will not require Prescience to buff my melee. That means for fighting IG and Tau-- Both those Armies have Low-AP shooting, therefore Storm Caller for a mobile Cover Save will be more important to retain.

Since the Runepriest will be taking Divination 90% of the time, if I roll Forewarning/Misfortune/ScriersGaze (for Stormraven arrival, very important) then I will keep those powers and roll again on Divination. If I do not, then I will trade for Prescience and roll my other dice on Biomancy. This is because Biomancy table features 4/6 powers which help melee (which is where my Assault Marines want to end up). Also the 16% chance to receive Enfeeble is worth 'throwing away' my second dice because Enfeeble is the best melee power in the game.

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For the matches, it was Rulebook Missions. A Win gave 15 pts, a Tie gave 10 pts and Loss was 7 pts. Warlord/Linebreaker/FirstBlood only factor to decide your Win-Tie-Loss status. After determining your status, then each mission had 3 additional bonus points conditions.

So Mission 1 was Purge the Alien on Vanguard Strike deployment. Random Game Length, not to exceed 6 turns however. These following bonuses were for Game 1 only:

• +1 Bonus if you have more Scoring Units in the Enemies Deploy Zone at end of game.
  
• +2 Bonus if you kill a Scoring Unit while Night Fight is active.
  
• +1 Bonus if you brought a Fortification, or you destroy a Fortification.
  

For my Opponent on Game 1, I drew Tyranids. His list is as follows:

265: Tyrant- Wings, Hive Commander, 2x Scything, ToxinSacs. Received Iron Arm and Endurance

184: 8 Ymgarl Genestealer

171: 7 Ymgarl Genestealer

185: Tervigon- ToxinSacs, Catalyst

185: Tervigon- ToxinSacs, Catalyst

50: 10 Termagant

50: 10 Termagant

210: Trygon- ToxinSacs

210: Trygon- ToxinSacs

My Runepriest received Prescience and Enfeeble. For Warlord abilities, his Hive Tyrant received -1 to all my Reserve rolls and Mephiston received +1" charge range. My opponent won the roll for deployment zone choice and also won the roll for choice of First Turn, which he takes. There is no Night Fighting on Turn 1. None of my Squads roll Red Thirst.

Here is my opponent's deployment:

Now that it is my turn to Act, I will cover all the Observations I've made to this point. It is worth mentioning that Deployment is the most important Turn of the Game, in fact it represents "Turn 0" in my mind. Since Deployment is the most important Turn, the OODA for Turn 0 will be the longest and most exhaustive. Do Not Rush the OODA for Deployment. If you are on a timer then always take your time on Deployment and then rush your actual game turns, if you must. Also, from now on I will use Red Text to represent hindsight, things I missed, and other items which I did not consider at the time--- I make mistakes just like everyone else, most assuredly I do.

OBSERVE:

Observe 1- Opponent List. He is running Strong Monstrous Creatures with Average Light Infantry. He has 2 Reserved Trygons and 2 Reserved Ymgarls whom all arrive on 2+ on Turn 2. The Flying Tyrant received the perfect two powers- FnP, IWND and +D3 Strength/Toughness is a large problem, but my Runeweapon may create opportunities through denials. I found out after the game that a Tyrant is Mastery 1 so he couldn't cast both. He has practically no shooting worth mentioning. He has no templates or blasts at all. His list strongly prefers to fight in midfield. However, the Flyrant+Reserves means the list can be over-extended if enticed. Post-game thought: Trygons and Ymgarls may arrive safely, but are not very fast after they arrive. The Tervigons can build a large Gant Horde useful for Fixing me while his MCs tear me apart piecemeal.

Observe 2- Terrain. The board has plenty of area terrain for the Ymgarls to arrive in. None of the terrain in midfield or my DZ will be able to provide Cover Saves for the MCs. The Tervigons are hiding around ruins tall enough to give them Cover. My shooting will not be hindered by terrain considerations and almost all 24" fire-lanes are open (my shooting is 24" max).

Observe 3- Opposing Player. He seems about high-school age and fairly reserved. Friendly enough but quiet and poker faced. I get a feeling he will be playing aggressively (his list build mostly makes me think that) but his hiding Tervigons have me second-guessing that estimation. He doesn't take very long with his deployment and he didn't take too hard of a look at my list when I handed it to him. He has not really displayed many of the tell-tale habits of a veteran player.

Observe 4- Opponent Deployment. The Flyrant is positioned aggressively but the Tervigons babysitting the Termagants is very conservative. His Gants are a big liability for Kill Points and by keeping Synapse nearby it means they are fearless and cannot Go to Ground. However, Catalyst providing FnP offsets that by a small bit.

ORIENT:

Orient 1- Opponent List with respect to Mission. He cannot castle. His list precludes being able to earn any Kill Points at range, so he absolutely must close with me in melee. His Tervigons hiding in the back are not positioned well to support any form of assault until Turn 4 at best, even if they begin running forward ASAP. With the Tervis in the back, there is a possibility to beat him through superior concentration-- just depends where he chooses to commit his reserves. He has an average number of killpoints for 1500pts-- Total of 9 KPs.

Orient 2- My List with respect to Mission. I can castle and the Stormraven could go forth to kill 10 Gants, so the 'burden to win' is on my opponent. I have an average amount of killpoints for 1500pts-- Total of 9 KPs. My Drop Pod and my two weak Independent Characters are liabilities to manage however, putting me at disadvantage if I am not careful. There is only 1 Bonus Tournament Point I can earn, getting more of my Troops into his deployment zone than he has in mine. I have to mobility to achieve this, and his deployment seems like he will not be able to earn it at all. If I get lucky, Turn5 will bring Night Fight and I can bag a Gants-unit for a +2 Bonus Points.

Orient 3- Asset Allocation (Prediction). Only Mephiston can out-melee the Tyrant but the Tyrant might kill Mephiston due to Iron Arm combo with Shadow in the Warp (SitW). My Stormraven can kill the Flyrant but Iron Arm means it may take more than one pass. MM Attackbikes can take wounds off any MC easily, therefore must remain un-Fixed. Enfeeble is my single best asset- If I can make Trygons only T5 then with BA Furious Charge I can wound on 4+ with standard Assault Marines (Not to mention Axes on 3+). Not optimal but still doable if facing a wounded Trygon. Therefore my shooting should focus on applying MC attrition when possible, ignoring the Ymgarls. I estimate my Assault Marines can defeat the Ymgarls in a straight-up fight since I have so much Force Multiplication.

DECIDE:

Strategy-- Use mobility to engage the opposing Units one at a time, taking opportunities to cause division of the opposing units if possible. I won't shy from melee, but I will do my best to ensure it will be on my terms through concentration. Mephiston will seek to kill both Trygons, Stormraven will seek to kill Flyrant. Remove those 3 units and his list crumbles.

Tactics-- I will not Combat Squad to reduce my available Kill Points. Otherwise, none further at this time.

ACT:

Deployment-- I deploy packed as tightly as possible to concentrate on the left flank. This way I can assault forward as fast as possible towards the Tervigons in case the opponent executes a slow-advance strategy in order to use extra time to build a Gant horde. Honestly the most prudent choice would have been to deploy in the 'deep corner' created by Vanguard deployment-type. I knew he was coming to me, no question (as mentioned, he cannot afford to castle). However, I do not prefer to corner-castle myself since then I am trapped with no way to use my superior mobility. Also, in order to improve my chances to earn the +1 Bonus Point for having more Troops in his DZ than he has in my DZ, I chose the aggressive deployment over the mentioned defense.

Here is the Real Life photo with both sides deployed.

And here is the same deployment, replicated in Vassal:

OPPONENT ACTIONS (T1):

Psychics-- Tervigons give Catalyst to both Gants. Tyrant gives himself Iron Arm & Endurance.

Movement-- Flyrant swoops 24" to hide from LoS behind the mid-field tower. No other movement.

Shooting-- N/A

Assault-- N/A

End of Tyranid Turn 1:

OBSERVE:

Score, Advantage and Initiative-- 0 BA VP vs 0 Tyranid VP. Strategic Advantage is Mine, since he must actively attempt to win whereas I can castle and the Raven will earn a KP from shooting. The Initiative belongs to Him since he is dictating the flow of the game with his uncommitted reserves.

Reserves-- There are 4 pieces of likely area terrain for the Ymgarls to arrive into (the center-terrain is actually two pieces, see IRL photo). Trygons have the special rule to deepstrike safely like a drop-pod.

Turn 1 Situation & Threat Timing-- Opponent did not spawn any new Gants, nor did the Tervigons move towards me so they are not threats until Turn 5+ to my main forces. Flyrant has positioned far away from any other element, isolating itself for protection but leaving it useless until Turn 3+. Not so terrible though, since Trygons also have Turn 3+ threat timing. Ymgarls may have Turn 2+ timing if I am close enough to their Dormant location.

ORIENT:

Opponent Prediction-- Opponent may not realize I have the Strategic Advantage, because it appears he isn't playing aggressively enough. I understand that all his reserves will likely arrive next turn, but I can easily predict that one Ymgarls will appear in the bunker-area to my left flank and the other Ymgarls will appear in the center. It is possible he chose a more conservative location, using the exploded lemanruss terrain rather than the bunker terrain. Wherever the GH decide to drop, the Tygons will have something to fixate on for their own arrival. However, if I deliver the GH into the jaws of the Tervigons then he will likely commit the Trygons against my main force... where Mephiston is waiting for them.

Action Options-- With the Tyrant off to the far-right for a turn, I could use my mobility to pull to my left and keep it out of the game for a whole extra turn. My drop pod can consolidate with my main force, but then they would detract from the main-force mobility. I'm consciously thinking about the +1 bonus for having scoring units in his DZ. With Gants in the open, the GH can alphastrike them with reasonable odds for First Blood (Post-game Mathammer says 9.33 wounds average damage-- but I forgot their FnP). The GH represent 2 KP (them and the Pod) but if they secure First Blood from Gants then the trade will be worth it.

DECIDE:

Strategy-- Utilize Diversion and Maneuver to enhance separation of opposing units which the opponent has already begun doing for me.

Tactics-- Alphastrike with Drop-pod GH in attempt for First Blood. GH will then ensure Tervigons remain busy and will not move to reinforce any end-game Tyranid Assaults in midfield or my DZ. My Main-force will maneuver to left flank to distance the Tyrant. Positioning and Screening to prevent Ymgarls from fixing Mephiston to ensure he can assault any arrived Trygon in my Turn 2. Black Squad will bait-out the Ymgarls I expect to appear on my left.

ACT:

Psychics-- None cast, to prevent unnecessary Perils. The Runepriest should have cast Prescience on Black Squad, since they were baiting the Ymgarls.

Movement-- I place Drop Pod 11" from back edge but it scatters 3" inwards, the GH disembark to achieve flanking fire on the Gants in the open (also, semi-screening Pod away from Tervigons). All other units move 12" rearward and leftward, but Mephiston walks then runs. Meph is positioned safely from any potential Ymgarls. Black Squad is flush next to bunker terrain, but I do not enter in order to actually entice the Ymgarls to charge out-- they will do so at Inititiative 1, and then Red Squad can rescue Black. I could have moved to 'fill' the terrain with Bikes and ASM, thereby destroying the Ymgarls without a fight. However, I would have taken many many dangerous checks both entering and exiting, combined with the fact that I'm not totally 100% sure they will arrive there anyhow.

Shooting-- GH deal 3 PG and 7 Bolter wounds onto Gants. 8 die instead of all 10, due to FnP. So close! I had actually forgotten they had FnP active when I decided to drop there.

Assault-- N/A

End of Blood Angel Turn 1:

OPPONENT ACTIONS (T2):

Psychics-- Tyrant fails Iron Arm but gets Endurance. Should have known only Mastery 1. Tervigons give FnP one to itself and other to the 10-Gants.

Movement-- All Reserves arrive. Trygons deepstrike in first, but both scatter backwards into the midfield area terrain. Ymgarls appear to my near-left and far-right. Tervigons choose not to make new Gants. Flyrant swoops up 24" next to close-Trygon. Both Tervigons lumber over to the GH.

Shooting-- Tervigons shooting at GH does nothing. Trygon shooting does nothing.

Assault-- Opponent makes no Run moves. Ymgarls on my left assault Black Squad, lose 2 then kill 3 ASM. Prescience should have been active, would have helped Overwatch and Melee since I went at I4 and he was I1 (no grenades). I pass Ld9 morale check (a fallback would have been fatal, but Ymgarl I6 would have been a safety net). Also, a Terivgon assaults the GH but the other Tervi fails distance roll. Overwatch does nothing, I fail counter-attack check, Tervigon kills 3 GH and Axe deals 1 wound. I pass Ld6 morale check (sadly).

End of Tyranid Turn 2:

OBSERVE:

Score, Advantage and Initiative-- 1 BA VP (Linebreaker) vs 0 Tyranid VP. Neither of us have dominant Strategic Advantage, since I can get First Blood from the Ymgarls but he will kill the GH and Pod (2 KP tie-up). The Raven does still give me an edge for SA however. The Initiative still belongs to Him since he is on the attack and I am reacting to his plan rather than forcing him into my plan.

Reserves-- My Stormraven needed a 4+ due to Tyrant's Warlord ability but arrives anyway.

Turn 2 Situation & Threat Timing-- The Tyrant is positioned with SitW covering the Trygons. The Tervigons will kill off the GH, but should require another turn or two to finish them. The Tyrant is in charging distance for Turn 3, but currently is Swooping with no Iron Arm. Trygons scattered backwards so will not charge until Turn 4+ if I maneuver away. The far-Ymgarls won't be a problem for my main-force until Turn 5+ unless I move closer. So he has staggered his threat-timing for me, attacking in Echelon instead of multiple simultaneous threats. Granted the bad Trygon DS-scatter placed them farther to midfield than he wanted.

ORIENT:

Opponent Prediction-- He has collected fighting power together within mutally supporting distances and has chosen where to commit all forces. I predict the Tyrant will choose to hunt Characters through challenges, meaning it will target Black Squad (currently has the two weak ICs attached). The Trygons will hope to box me in, one heading down and one heading left, since they can't catch my ASM or Bikes is a raw-mobility chase. Those far-Ymgarls will hope to counter-charge any ongoing or failed melees for him. The Tervigons will easily eat the GH but they've been taken out of the game-- they'll earn 2 KP from the GH and Pod, but pose no threat to the main-force.

Action Options-- Red Squad must rescue Black Squad. There are too many weak-ICs in Black Squad, and also I can't afford to let that melee drag on; I need to free up my meltaguns for shooting the MCs which have arrived. First Blood is still up for grabs. Mephiston has a small chance to get lucky and Force Weapon a Trygon. Also, the near-Trygon paired with the Tyrant can reach my soon-to-be-post-melee ASM squads, so Meph must commit to charging the Trygon -- anything else is suboptimal. At the very least, Meph will Fix it in place and allow my ASMs to free themselves up from the Ymgarls. I want to hedge my bets for First Blood though, and also my Attack Bikes are high-value so I need to protect them in order to deal MM wounds onto MCs later. They are in striking range of the 2 remaining Gants, so they might finish what the GH started. They could place some attrition onto MCs starting this turn, but I feel First Blood from bagging two Gants will be easier and more strategically important (Wrong Orientation-- I should have noticed I've got 3 other ways to earn First Blood this turn). For the Runepriest powers, I'm sold on using Enfeeble against the Flyrant even though he gets a 5+ DtW. Enfeeble will greatly improve the Stormravens' ability to eliminate it in one pass, and will weaken it if it survives and charges into something next turn (its the only mobile threat at this point). I could Enfeeble a Trygon or Ymgarls, but those aren't threatening my main force until 1 or 2 turns from now. I also could have Prescienced the Attackbikes and hoped to fish a MM wound off the Swooping Flyrant, but that seems a poor choice in comparison. For the Stormraven, I can appear on my right flank or my left flank, but the right flank is deeper- also, right flank will allow me to shoot twice in my DZ before requiring to Zoom over to the opposing DZ. So the multi-turn Raven attack-plan works far better appearing on my right flank, at an extreme angle to hit the Flyrant first.

DECIDE:

Strategy-- Obtain First Blood to gain strategic lead. Eliminate or Delay the two main threats (Flyrant, Closer-Trygon) while the ASM focus on freeing themselves to prepare for melta shooting and/or counter-charging.

Tactics-- Mephiston will Fix (or hopefully Eliminate) the closer-Trygon. This is somewhat a kamikaze mission since he expects to get counter-charged by other-Trygon and/or Flyrant and/or Ymgarls. But Meph will attract enough attention to keep the pressure off my ASM and fragile KPs. He is worth 2 KP himself but he will likely earn 2 KP so the trade is justifiable. Red Squad will counter-charge Ymgarls to free Black Squad.

ACTION:

Psychics--Runepriest attempts to Enfeeble the Tyrant, but no success (rolled an 11). Mephiston uses Wings to get in the closest Trygon's face (no sense in tempting fate in poor charge-range dice just to gain a Hammer of Wrath)

Movement-- Stormraven arrives at an extreme angle to draw a bead on the Flyrant. Red squad walks into position to rescue Black squad (gaining Hammer of Wrath by walking). Attack Bikes push forward and leftward to deny any Tyranids from catching them.

Shooting-- Attack Bikes shoot and kill the remaining 2 Gants for First Blood. Stormraven deals a total of 4 unsaved wounds to the Tyrant, but FnP from Endurance ignores one leaving it barely alive. Mephiston's plasma pistol Gets Hot at the Trygon but he passes his armor save.

Assault-- Mephiston charges Trygon. Both Unleash Rage and Sanguine Sword are denied by SitW (get Perils on the SangSword too). Mephiston deals 3 wounds anyway, but the Force check is also denied by SitW. (The mathammer is 50% chance to Roll 10 or less on 3D6 ^_^ ). Trygon deals 3 wounds back to onto Mephiston leaving 1 left. Backfield, the Tervigon hashes two GH and they deal no damage in return, I pass Ld6 check. Ymgarls only kill 2 ASM from Black squad, then get slaughtered by the combined attacks of Red+Black squads. Consolidation puts the weakened Black squad into cover (in case Tyrant charges, at least it will be I1) and Red Squad pushes as far away as their 5" consolidate will let them from the Flyrant.

End of BA Turn 2:

OPPONENT ACTIONS (T3):

Psychics-- Tyrant casts Iron Arm and Endurance, but Runeweapon blocks both. Tervigons Catalyst themselves.

Movement--Flyrant turns and Vector Strikes 24" past the Stormraven's wing for no effect. At the time, I did not understand at all why he did that. I realize now it was to disengage the Flyrant since he only had 1 wound left, and to hide in the Flyer-blindspot as well. I conjecture he wanted to protect his Warlord KP and give time for Endurance to add back a wound or two using IWND. He could have done major damage by charging, but he didn't get any powers active so decided to play it conservatively [bad when you have an aggressive list]. The Trygon moved directly towards Red Squad, the Ymgarls moved towards Mephiston's melee. Other Tervigon closes the gap to the GH.

Shooting--Trygon runs closer to ASM.

Assault-- Both Tervigons finish off the GH, but the Axe places one more wound before death. The Ymgarls charge into Mephiston. With SitW absent, Mephiston easily Force Weapons the Trygon before the Ymgarls rend Mephiston's last wound. Consolidations as seen in picture.

End of Tyranid Turn 3:

OBSERVE:

Score, Advantage and Initiative-- BA 4 VP (First Blood, Ymgarls, Gants, Trygon) vs Tyranids 4 VP (Linebreaker, Warlord, Mephiston, GH). I have the Strategic Advantage because there are more KP for me to earn easier than he can gain back from me. The Initiative still belongs to Him, but I have the opportunity to sieze the Initiative starting this turn.

Turn 3 Situation & Threat Timing-- Flyrant has removed itself as a threat until Turn 5 because it will need another turn to fly back. Losing Mephiston while a full strength Trygon still remains is a small problem, but I've got all my melta left. Trygon and Ymgarls are threats for Turn 4, unless I move away making them Turn 5+ threats (didn't think of that at the time).

ORIENT:

Opponent Prediction-- Not a lot of prediction required anymore. He's gotta come at me as best as possible and hope it pans out. Terivgons will eat the Pod for another KP, but I've got plenty of assets to kill the remaining Trygon and Ymgarls while still having time to regain Linebreaker so I predict a net 2-VP lead for me within the next two Turns if I'm careful.

Action Options-- The Runepriest has a hard choice here- Enfeeble the Trygon, Enfeeble the Ymgarls, or Prescience something. If I Enfeeble the Trygon, I could shoot it then charge it with Red Squad + ICs after softening it, but that would leave them vulnerable to counter-charge from the Ymgarls with nothing helping me. If I choose to Prescience Red Squad, then I can still do the same (plus melta and Axes will hit better, although normal attacks will bounce off T6), but then I'll also have Prescience active to fight that counter-charge. One option I did not consider at the time was if I Enfeeble the Ymgarls, then I could use the Raven to wipe them. Then all the ASM could jump away, and the MM Attackbikes would have an extra turn to weaken the Trygon. This would have been the best play, but I smelled the end of the game and played aggressively.

DECIDE:

Strategy-- No Change from previous.

Tactics-- Eliminate the Trygon through concentration shooting, finishing it off with ASM charge if needed. Ignore the Ymgarls & Flyrant until next turn.

ACT:

Psychics-- Runepriest cast Prescience on Red Squad.

Movement-- Red Squad jumps to point-blank range on Trygon, with Black Squad behind (all 4 meltaguns in range). Attack Bikes move to within 12" range against Trygon. Stormraven achieves 12" range with Hurricane bolters against Trygon.

Shooting-- My entire remaining forces fire on the Tygon: a total of nine Str8 AP1, four Str6 and twenty-eight Str4 shots. Wasn't that much overkill though, I claimed all 6 Trygon wounds with only one overage.

Assault-- N/A

End of Blood Angels Turn 3:

OPPONENT ACTION:

Psychics-- Tervigons Catalyst themselves. Hive Tyrant casts Endurance and Perils on 12... and so dies.

Movement-- Ymgarls move to set a charge against Red Squad. Tervigons move to set charge on Pod.

Shooting-- N/A

Assault-- Ymgarls lose one from Overwatch (Prescience) then kill 5 ASM from Red Squad. I kill 2 more Ymagarls, leaving 4 remaining. Tervigons smash Pod.

End of Tyranid Turn 4:

OBSERVE:

Score, Advantage and Initiative-- BA 7 VP (First Blood, Warlord, Tyrant, 2 Trygons, Ymgarls, Gants) vs Tyranids 5 VP (Linebreaker, Warlord, Mephiston, GH, Pod). Strategic Advantage is mine since I have a decent VP lead. I have the Initiative now.

Turn 4 Situation & Threat Timing-- No threats remain at all, simply mop-up. Losing the Tyrant to Perils... just horrible for him. From here on out, I'll just give the actions.

ORIENT: Not Required.

DECIDE: Not required.

ACT:

Psychics-- Enfeeble on Ymgarls.

Movement-- Raven flies over to the wounded Tervigon. Black Squad remnants jump over to the other side of the ongoing melee for counter-charge. Attack Bikes move for Linebreaker.

Shooting-- Attack Bikes kill a few Gants. Stormraven puts all 4 wounds onto the Tervigon and kills it.

Assault-- Black Squad charges to rescue Red Squad. Ymgarls only kill two ASM from Red Squad (Enfeeble hurt them), then are wiped away by ASMs.

End of Blood Angel Turn 4:

I won't even drag through the details of the rest of the game to be honest. Here is the End of Turn 6:

So a Tabling Victory for Blood Angels. If he had created even one new unit of Gants, then I would not have tabled him however. As for the Tournament, the Win gave me +15 and I got +1 bonus point for having more Scoring in his DZ than he has in mine (obviously).

A point of frustration that Night Fight never showed up; that was a +2 bonus Tournament Point that was completely luck-based. Also, I couldn't get the +1 bonus for having or destroying a fortification since neither of us had one.

16 Tourny Points meant I'd be matched against another slight-winner for my Game 2 (The Tournament Organizers did not bestow full-bonus points for a Tabling Victory). I will be posting up Game 2 when I get the chance, but honestly I have been going into massive detail and this writeup is taking far longer than I ever anticipated. I will be far briefer on Game 2, but Game 3 is extremely important for me both personally and strategically to share with the B&C community.

[Brother Ambroz]

Interesting but it doesn't look like an especially difficult list, I haven't played a Nidzilla like list in 6th though so I can't say for sure. Still will be interesting to see how it turns out.

[Paulochromis]

you repeatedly refer to his termagants as hormagaunts - not the same beast at all !

[CitadelArmyGuy]

you repeatedly refer to his termagants as hormagaunts - not the same beast at all !

Got it fixed. You can tell I don't play against Tyranids hardly ever. This was my 2nd game against them in the past 8 months.

 

 

[PLACEHOLDER FOR GAME 2]

[Polythemus]

really very nice reporting. Detailed, graphical, strategic. i preread the report elsewhere.. but its nice to see it here. that is great analysis and you can really be proud of your work here, its excellent.

 

I will also say that i know how you feel with regard to adding graphics. That $¥]^ takes a long time.

[Storm Dragons 3rd Company]

Thanks for doing this. These kinds of BatReps are extremely useful.

 

Dan

[Kierdale]

Very well written and a good read. The effort is evident. Looking forward to the next two reports.

[Agent Purple]

First battle report I've enjoyed reading in a while.

 

Diagrams and description make it easier to visualize and comprehend than a lot of other formats.

[ianj253]

Great read! I've never gotten to play tyranid, but have always wanted too so I could unleash mephiston on the MC's. I guess shadows of the warp makes that harder than it appears though. Keep up the good contributions and I look forward to your next post.

[CitadelArmyGuy]

Thanks for all the kudos guys! I'm glad to see the effort seems to be worth it, and everyone likes the writeup.

 

Now that I've got my format down, I can knock out the other two quickly. Game 2 will be extremely easy and therefore I will not go into as much detail. The 3rd game will be just as detailed as Game 1 however.

 

Should hope to have Game 2 up tomorrow or day after! Booting up Vassal now... ;)

 

 

[PLACEHOLDER GAME 3]

[Paulochromis]

... I'll be editing this reply right here as a placeholder then edit in Game 2.

A trick I've seen employed in other forums is to secure thread 'placeholders' by making sure you are the first to reply to your own topics.

Do this for as many posts as you think you'll need (so 3 batreps = topic plus two replies).

 

Disadvantage is losing connection between genuine replies from other readers and the thread concerned, but these batreps look like they'll stand the test of time and be consulted afresh by many users, who will restart conversations, so those connections would become tenuous, at best, anyway.

 

Another approach is to make your very first post/topic an index. That works well once you've already started, like here for example.

Cut-n-paste your existing post#1 into a new post, add batreps 2 & 3, then tweak the first post so that it references the others.

It allows readers to quickly find the batreps, espcially if the thread attracts sufficient replies to become a multi-pager (or in your case if the key posts are lengthy in and of themselves). You can then use the first post to define/re-define terms, give an introduction/overview, etc.

 

Keep up the good work.

Cheers, Paul.

[.Torch.]

Fantastic battle report, what system do you use for the pictures?

[Axagoras]

Any reason your opponent didnt spawn any guants? Because I fight vs players with 2-3 tervigons and they flood the board with them.

[spafe]

My guess would be so as not to give away more KP's, esp if they spawn a small squad. Only time I would spawn was if I was going for complete anilation, which is very agressive for a tournie style

[Marine Errant]

Great batrep mate. Really nice to see a detailed analysis and breakdown. I especially liked the parts where you provide a rationale for the decisions you make. I have been playing since 1987 and have developed my own version of your OODA but it is really nice to see how other people think :devil:

[Cheex]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this, just like your last OODA report. Looking forward to the other two reports ;)