Monday, September 8, 2014

Tournament: Total Reaction 3: "The Return of the Combined Army"

Fun times ahead!
This is a departure from my usual blogposts in that it has my first Infinity tournament experience!

It was 250 points (two lists) but no Spec-Ops on ITS2014 variants.

It was held in Melbourne, Australia at the LaTrobe University campus.  It was superbly run and fantastically furnished with terrain (which if I'm not mistaken was generously trucked in and set up by many individuals donating their time and gear!)

Special thanks to the tournament organisers: Christian, Asher and Damien.  I was very impressed with how well it was organised, run and concluded (hilarious awards included!).



Right, so now we've set the mood!


ORGANISATION

The organising was superb. There were regular updates on the Facebook page and the player packs were easily accessible on google docs.

The player pack covered everything I needed to know- location, times and FOOD!  (So important to find food!)

Much excite!
And every player got a show bag of goodies including the new QSR.

Khazak... Hmmm... a new army maybe?
And a miniature!  And superglue!  And lollies and more....



And something for my regular opponents back home!


TABLES


Holy.... moly...
Look!  Just look!

Winner of the Terraforming award for Best Table.
Speechless.

New Bourak.
OMG.

KUM Biker garage.
More...

New Paranoia from CNC Workshop
Before adding scatter terrain
Details.... It's all in the details....








Even the simple tables are great for playing.



All I can say is that I now have seen how high the bar can be set by guys who do this only for a 'hobby'.  Truly beautiful.


ARMIES

I couldn't photograph everyone's armies so I've selected a few to show you.  Infinity sculpts are so good and some of these guys are very talented in their painting.  Lucky for you- some excellent photographers were doing the rounds and they Facebooked the photos- so I've downloaded a few pictures to display.  (Thank you to the photographers!)

ALEPH
Scots
Scots!
Gah!  Wulvers!!!!
Nomads
More Nomads

Alien scum!  Wait... I'm alien scum too!

Mad Moxxie or the Joker?
The infamous army of Kum bikers!
And finally my own:

My Yaogat spitfire is snoozing in the travel case....
And yes that's all the models from both my lists clumped together.


MY LIST

PRIMARY LIST
Combat group #1
Vanguard HMG
Vanguard Lt.
Vanguard Combi-rifle
Vanguard Combi-rifle
Treitak Anyat
Zerat Hacker
Obsidon Medchanoid + Slave drone
Kurgat Engineer- Mk12
Daturazi- chain rifle
Daturazi- chain rifle

Combat group #2
Oznat
Preta x4

SECONDARY LIST

Kornak Gazarot
Yaogat Spitfire
Rasyat Spitfire
Vanguard HMG
Vanguard FO
Vanguard Combi-rifle
Vanguard Combi-rifle
Treitak Anyat
Daturazi- chain rifle
Daturazi- chain rifle



MISSIONS

These were variations on the ITS2014 pack- which was great- as it adds a real sense of excitement because of the unknown element.

The missions were:
1. TESSIUM RUN
2. NO QUARTER GIVEN
3. DOG-TAGS
4. THE LAST ACTION HERO

They had a main objective and you got bonus points for:
1. Killing the Lieutenant
2. Inflicting 60% casualties
3. Friendly model in enemy deployment zone at the end of the game

and

4. Extra bonus point which was mission dependent (I can't remember them all).

I won't go into further detail... as they will be covered in the 4 quick AARs!

Special mention to my opponents: Ed, Marcus, Nick and Hendrik.  You were great sports and a pleasure to play toy soldiers with.


GAME ONE: TESSIUM RUN




Description: there are two endless treasure fountains of tessium along the centre line.  You must retrieve as much as possible and carry it back to your DZ (where it scores automatically).  Specialists can carry 2 tokens, normal models can only carry 1.

List Chosen: Primary

Enemy: Caledonian Highlander Army
Scots.
Battle Commentary:

Camo.  Lots and lots of camo.

Having kept up to date with the Miniwargaming Infinity batreps- I figured the Scots Guard 2nd Battalion was going to make a show and take my Morats to task!

Luckily I won the lieutenant roll off and elected to go first.

I hid my link team- unsure of how the Scots would behave...

Waiting for the battle to develop before committing.
Who's Uxia?
My sneaky Zerat- Calonice found herself right up against a Tesseum fountain, only find that Uxia MacNeill infiltrated into the same room!  Uxia had failed her roll slightly and found herself uncovered- but she was staring into the back of a badly positioned Calonice.

Luckily Impetuous orders go first and I was able to bring up a Daturazi- Justinian-to throw smoke to cover Calonice as she grabbed two pots of tesseum and raced for my DZ.

Wow!  Such Uxia!  Much hungry!  Wow!
Having heard many fearful things about Uxia, I sent one of Pretas in to deal with her.  Surviving a shotgun blast to the face, the Preta leapt into close combat.  The critter hit but Uxia passed her armour roll easily.

With no one covering the pot of tesseum, a Caledonian Moramer shot his way into the room with the tesseum fountain and ran off with his own 2 pots!

The rest of the battlefield was a bit of maneuvering for better positions in subsequent turns.

No less bloody around the other Tessium fountain (my Imetron objective marker)
I even managed to tempt the SAS to decloak and attack my Pretas who were ranging forward- leaving them open to being killed.

With that the score was 2-2!

CCW!
Back in the room with the Tesseum fountain, it was a desperate struggle of knife versus talon.  Uxia prevailed!  As the Preta lay dead at her feet, Justinian charged into Uxia and cut her down with his shock CCW.

Daturazis do what they (supposedly) do best- MA level 4
I moved my Vanguard link team forward to cover the other tessium fountain and sent Dr. Worm racing forwards.  He grabbed two pots and then slithered back as fast as he could.

It was now 4-2!

I hadn't counted on the Scots Guards- as one fellow edged his way around the flank of my Vanguard link team and cut loose with his dual submachine guns.

It was carnage as my Morats fell like bowling pins.  That Scots Guard killed 3 of my Morats in a savage revenge.

I made a desperate race back to the fountains but found my specialists caught out by overwatching fire.

Unfortunately we had run over time so we had to end the game.

Narrow win for me!


GAME 2: NO QUARTER GIVEN


Description: A variation on Quadrant Control.  Specialists are worth double points.   Points are accrued at the end of every game turn.  Bonus points for the 3 secondary objectives and 1 bonus point for "Around the World" (dominating all four quadrants).

List Chosen: Secondary

Enemy: Combined Army

Terrain:


View from my end of the board looking towards the Combined Army deployment zone
Combined Army DZ mid game.
Battle Commentary:

A dreaded Skiavoros!  And he won the Lt. roll and was going to go first.

With that in mind I hid all my figures and hoped he wouldn't be able to draw line of fire to any of them.

Hide!
More hiding!
Luckily, that was how it worked out!  I emerged unscathed from the Combined Turn 1and began to do what Morats do best- attack!!!

My trusty Vanguard link team gunned down an Imetron that had scattered almost on top of them.  Once warmed up, Bacchus- my HMG Vanguard- put a wound on the Skiavoros and sent him scuttling into cover.

Bacchus prepares to round the corner and engage a distant Skiavoros.
Unfortunately for the EI- my Yaogat Spitfire, Caesar- was able to move in for a shot from his position on an elevated plaza.  The Skiavoros was blown to pieces.

Moments before going over the top onto the elevated plaza
Daturazis climb onto the plaza- clearing the way for the Yaogat Spitfire (not in frame) to ascend.
Satisfied with the damage I dealt, I moved my figures into cover and waited.

Caesar moves to cover and waits.
I didn't have to wait long, as the Shasvastii Corax Hasht- who was also armed with a Spitfire- took exception to the Yaogat and chased after him.  Caesar was hit once, but luckily his armour (and cover!) held and the lucky Morat ducked into total cover.

In my turn, Caesar advanced to cover and cut down Hasht with his spitfire.  Then the train of carnage started!

Caesar methodically worked his way along the plaza, firing down into the streets- taking out batroids, Imetrons and was spying off a Medchanoid when he was rudely interrupted by a Noctifer.

Caesar sweeps the streets
Enemy Medchanoid hides from Caesar.
Noctifer and Yaogat trade fire!!!
The Shasvastii dropped out of TO camo to fire with his spitfire on Caesar- and hit him with a roll of 11.  I needed a Crit to win this face to face- I tossed the dice and got a critical on 12!  Talk about lucky!

The Noctifer's location relative to Caesar
It wasn't all Caesar and his spitfire though, Bacchus' HMG claimed a Malignos sniper perched up in a skyscraper by an ARO shot.

When the enemy Medchanoid fell to a Daturazi chain rifle, the hunt was on for the last specialist.

Bacchus spied him off in the distance- a Morat hacker- who dodged with a crit of 12.  With the fateful words- "I need a crit"- I rolled my 5 dice and got 3 criticals!

It was looking good but Shasvastii malice is not so easily turned away.  The Malignos got up from his automedkit and he shot down at the Treitak Anyat who threw smoke in response.  One round made it through and at double action- she failed one armour save and was knocked unconscious.

That being said, it was all looking good for me.  So in order go get my last bonus point, I air dropped my Rasyat down into the enemy DZ... out of sight of that damned Malignos sniper of course.

Decisive victory!


GAME 3:  DOG TAGS



Description: collect the dog tags of 3 fallen enemy models.  Each requires a WIP roll- however, subsequent dog tags after the first incur a -3 WIP penalty (e.g. last dog tag requires a -6 WIP roll).

List Chosen: Primary

Enemy: Combined Army

Lots of Morats!
Terrain:

View from my left corner looking to opponent's right corner
Battle Commentary:

Another Skiavoros- and he wins the roll and goes first!  Again!

Overwatch!
I grouped my link team up on a building- the Vanguard HMG providing overwatching fire- taking out an enemy Kurgat Engineer who tried to fire on him with a Mk12.  There was much shuffling about- but the most significant move was the Skiavoros who moved out of the enemy DZ and into the dead ground behind the garage.

With all my impetuous models so close by- I was worried about giving away easy kills close to the enemy DZ allowing their specialists to grab dog tags at will.

Taking a big breath- I gambled hard- moving my Vanguard link team out to engage the Skiavoros.  Even with the order efficiency that comes with a link team- it was hard to line up repeat shots on the dastardly model.  Bacchus had a roaring good time, cutting down an enemy Daturazi, an enemy Morat hacker and putting a single wound on the Skiavoros.

Bacchus having a good old time on the right.
Quintus standing behind some barrels with a worried look on his face.
Unfortunately it wasn't enough as the Skiavoros then proceeded to lay waste to the link team with a rain of plasma bolts.  I must admit all my previous good luck was balanced out in that exchange.  Not one of my AROs hit- from 4 models firing simultaneously- 3 models having unopposed rolls!

Disaster!
When the plasma cleared, Quintus was left standing in the centre reaching for his pistol- the only weapon he had left that worked.

The enemy Medchanoid raced forward and drowned out Quintus' pistol shot with a chatter of combi-rifle fire.  He slithered along methodically- picking up all 3 dog tags without failing one WIP roll- even with the final -6 penalty.

I was on the ropes.  I'd lost my lieutenant and had no dog tags.

The only Morat thing to do in such dire circumstances was to attack!!!

Defending the right flank after the left flank got vaporised.
Assaults on my right flank- mines stymie the Daturazi advance.
My Morats charged forward- with Pretas leaping forward and chain rifling that cursed Skiavoros to death.  The Anyat and my own Daturazis cut down the enemy Daturazis as the two sides raced towards each other in murderous rage.

Suddenly I found myself another turn forward and back in with a Lieutenant!  Hooray.  My much maligned Kurgat Engineer- Titus- found himself to be the man of the hour as he scooted around picking up enemy Daturazi dog tags before being shot in the back by an enterprising enemy Morat in an overwatch position.

My Pretas continued rampaging forward, chain rifling enemy Morat infantry before being cut to pieces by defensive fire.

And all of sudden I was down 2 dog tags to 3 dog tags and I had a fistful of orders and a nearby enemy Medchanoid.....

Dr. Worm- your presence is requested on the left flank!
... Galen- my own Medchanoid- got tapped on the shoulder (or claw?) and was sent racing forward to kill the enemy Medchanoid and take that infernal worm's dogtag to try and tie the game.  With two orders left, Dr. Worm paused- weighing up the enormity of the match.

1 order to move to cover and shoot (and hopefully kill).  Last order to move to the corpse and loot.

It was going to be a tall order....

Galen peeked around the corner and blazed away- unfortunately only landing one hit which the enemy medchanoid passed his armour roll for!  Alas!  It was not to be.  Galen fired again out of spite but the enemy passed his armour roll again!

I had torn the enemy army apart, they had two figures left and were in retreat- so my Morats salvaged some pride at least out of the loss.



Narrow loss.


GAME 4: THE LAST ACTION HERO


Description:  Your civilian model is the Last Action Hero.  You must kill the enemy's Hero- preferably accompanied by a fantastic one liner.  They can be added to a full combat group (gulp!) and they had rock hard stats.

Rock hard stats.
List Chosen: Primary.

Enemy: Ariadna (Vanilla).

Not every model here was used in his list!  Uxia,  Duroc and the TankHunter were not featured.
Terrain:


Ariadnans got the LEFT, my Morats deployed on the RIGHT
Battle Commentary:

This was shaping up to be hilarious.  My enemy chose the "Eraser"- armed with a hypermagnetic railgun and an X-Visor to boot.  Very appropriately Clausewitzian for my Continental opponent.  I went with "Rambo" complementing my philosophy of more orders being advantageous.

I had the advantage of (luckily!) getting to go first by winning the Lieutenant roll off.

Ariadnan right flank preparing for the Morat frontal assault (which never materialised).
Ariadnan camo markers dominated the centre building of the board- the Carpet factory.  Undoubtedly Chasseurs who would flame anyone who had to traverse the centre.  Indeed some even unhelpfully laid some mines.

Pretas advance up the centre- clearing mines and being a nuisance
That's ok- I brought my mine sweepers- 5 point Pretas!

Go-Go Marlene is out in the open!
I spotted an opportunity.  Go-Go Marlene (the enemy Hero) was hiding out the back of a building with her flank unprotected.  Ah ha!  Time to get some.

First I sent suicide Pretas into the centre building to block the doorways so the Chasseurs couldn't fire out at the passing link team.  It did even better than that, tempting the Chasseur out of cover and the two traded templates- fire vs. chain rifle.  The Chasseur was killed and my Preta collapsed a smoking ruin at the end of that exchange.

With their own flanks secured, Bacchus and his HMG marched out resolutely with the Vanguards (and Anyat) in tow.  Go-Go Marlene was very surprised as she found a burst 5 HMG stitching up the ground around her.  Looking around she saw a maniacally grinning Morat down the street to her left.    She took a wound and passed an armour save before ducking back into a doorway.

Undeterred, my Vanguard link team detoured around the Al-Jazeera communication array, gunning down Khazaks who scrambled to get out the way.  With some covering smoke thrown by Anyat to protect his back, Bacchus got into position and blazed away at the now wounded Go-Go Marlene as she took cover behind that doorway.

She tried to dodge but failed.  Marlene was hit 4 times and killed instantly.

With that the fight went out of the enemy.  The remaining Ariadnans mounted a counter attack with their remaining Chasseur and a few Khazaks- shooting down my Pretas cavorting in the streets and even claiming one of my Daturazis.

The subsequent turn was almost a forgone conclusion.

Piles of Ariadnan corpses....
With grim methodical efficiency, my Vanguard link team advanced down the Ariadnan back line, sending burst 4 combi-rifle shots or burst 5 HMG fire into light infantry who for the most part were facing the wrong way!

With all these uncontested dice rolls the Morats were wading through blood- Blood For The Blood God!- as it turned into a utter massacre.  When they were done there were just two active Ariadnans left.

My opponent conceded the game at the point.

I considered trying to encourage him to play on so I could get a bonus point for getting my Last Action Hero to close combat kill one of the fleeing enemy figures... but continuing to beat face when someone's having a miserable time just to scrounge a single point??  Nah.  I'm sure there are gamers out there who would disagree but that's what I did.

Decisive Victory!


CONCLUSION

Not even linked once!
I had a fantastic day out.  Between rounds I saw some great games being played over beautiful terrain with roars of laughter at lucky crits and cries of dismay at terrible fails.

To all the organisers and players and photographers- thanks again for such a great experience.  Having left the hobby a few years ago, I really think the community of Infinity players has brought me back.

Do you even lift?!


May the Red K Combat Group grow and prosper... I'm sure we'll reconvene and we'll see whether the alien scum triumph once again!

And... because you're all wondering how I went with my first tourney (with 26 odd attendees):

With MORE MINIATURES!!!


Until next time... Happy hobbying!

4 comments:

  1. Damn, Australia has good tournaments. :envy:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not a regular tournament attendee, but Total Reaction struck me as particularly exceptional in terms of organisation, gaming tables and atmosphere. If Australia's other tournaments are held to this standard then Infinity is going to explode!

      Delete