BFS: Game 3

There was a lunch break in there somewhere, but I don't even remember what we ate or who it was with. I was a complete zombie going in to game 3 already...I was concerned that I'd gotten so fatigued so quickly and still was only halfway thru the first day!

My next opponent was Stephen from 11th Company. He is SUCH a great guy and wonderful opponent. I've never had a "serious" game of 40k...hell, of any game...that was so competitive but at the same time so much fun. We laughed and joked and had a blast while still doing our damnedest to kill each other...and isn't that what it's all about!




Stephen had another Logan Space Wolf army, with Logan; 3 Long Fang squads (mix of Lascannons and Missiles); and 3 big Wolf Guard squads all with Storm Bolters with multiple Cyclone Termies in them. He also had three Lone Wolf Bricks (Chain Fists and Storm Shields).

The mission was Pitched Battle; Seize Ground, Kill Points, Quarters. I don't remember who won the roll, but I went first. I think. Hell, I can barely remember :P Stephen, help me out! :)

I deployed centrally, with Incubi and Reavers pushed forward. Hellions were leaning to the left, my intention was to get them on top of but mostly behind the central hill where they'd have cover for turn 1 but get to charge something on turn 2. His deployment was straightforward and brutally effective, with WG and LF all in terrain left, right, and middle. Logan sat in the middle with the LF, and the Lone Wolves lined up across from the Hellions.

After seeing his deployment, my plan was to shift everything except Hellions and one Reaver to the right, shoot up the right side of his line, denying that Objective while killing the middle WG when they came out to get the middle objective.

So I moved the Hellions and Reavers up to my left. Two other Reavers did turbo-boost Blade Vane attacks on the LF in the ruins, leaving 2 of them alive. One Venom was immobilized because I foolishly gambled and moved him in to area terrain. I don't know why. The Incubi shot up right between his middle and right blocks, wearing a giant SHOOT ME sign. Shooting thinned out the middle long fangs a bit, but both long fangs passed their Morales. Now I know this was a gamble. I figured he'd have to send the right Wolf Guard to assault the Reavers or they'd just zip around doing this all game, and shooting thru their 3+ cover wouldn't get him very far. My hope was that he'd get in to the Reavers, and be left out of terrain for the Incubi to assault and wipe them out. I figured worst case he shoots a few units at the Raider and Incubi to prevent that from happening, but that would save the rest of my army from all his missiles. I tried to give him bad choices...

Mt. Dew!

He did as expected, what I think was the best thing to do. The Incubi Raider was shot down, the Incubi took some fire. The Hellions were bombarded with frag missiles, going to ground behind the Reavers for a nice 2+ cover with FNP. The Lone Wolves shuffled forward a bit, but too far to hit the Reavers. Wolf Guard on my right shot up and assaulted both Reaver units. The Reavers didn't do bad, killing a couple but losing combat and running...2 left in one of the units, 4 left in the other.

Sadly the Wolf Guard consolidated too far in to cover for the Incubi to get in to them without going through terrain. I didn't want to waste the Incubi that way, figuring they'd get torn up too much before getting to swing. In retrospect, I think he only had fists on the termies, no power weapons hitting at I4, so I would have gotten the full number of attacks most likely (3+ and FNP on the Incubi because the Haemonculous started with them...I'd rolled the #6 again, so the Hellions didn't need him).

I decided the best choice would be to have the Incubi go upstairs and finish off the last Long Fangs. The fleet shifted a bit more, and the Wracks got out of their immobilized Venom to move up to the middle objective. Shooting nearly finished off the Guard and Long Fangs in the middle, leaving just Logan I believe. I also shot down one of the Lone Wolves with the Reavers who stayed in front of the Hellions.

Mt. Dew!!!

His shooting was starting to thin out but he did immobilize another Venom. Someone on this turn, I don't remember who, shot up the fleeing 4-man Reaver squad, killing two more keeping them from rallying. The Wolf Guard on my Right shot up the Incubi, who went to ground to survive the Cyclone barrage. I figured he was going to have to assault me eventually to get me off the objective if I could just stay alive long enough. The other Wolf Guard shot up the Hellions some more, they didn't go to ground this time so lost more than a few but didn't run. Two angry Lone Wolves assaulted the Reavers, ripping them apart.

If I'd put a Ravager in front of him last turn, he wouldn't have made it this far!

It looked like this next turn was going to be my last because of time. We spent so much time chatting and having fun, on top of me being an overall slow player (lots of things to move, then lots of things to shoot, then lots of melee = slow game) and both of us being very careful with our decisions. Now frankly I think I'm combining two turns in to one here, but you'll get the gist. I shuffled Venoms around to be close enough to get to objectives, while the Hellions ran backwards to get in cover near the objective at my bottom right. The Wolf Guard had assaulted the Incubi somewhere along the way, and wiped the Incubi out, losing several though. I gunned down Logan, having the satisfaction of killing him twice in one day. I had a Ravager go Flat Out to contest the far right objective (where the Incubi had been) and the warriors from a downed Venom went there to try to bubble-wrap the contesting Ravager. I tried to shoot down the Lone Wolf that looked like he was heading for my bottom left objective (where the Hellions were) but only did a wound. And that was the fail that cost me the game. On my last turn, I shot my Ravagers and Hellions at that thing trying to kill it. All I really had to do was move a Ravager flat out to get in his way. As it was he needed a 3 or higher Run to get to it. If I'd made him go around the Ravager, he'd not be able to contest, and I would have won 2-1. Instead, he was able to run the Lone Wolf to contest, shoot the Wracks off the middle, and tie it on Objectives. We both had two Quarters. He won on Kill Points, as I had given up all three Reavers; a Venom; Warriors; Wracks; Haemi; Raider; Incubi...but had only killed two Long Fangs, a Wolf Guard, Logan, and left two Lone Wolves alive: he won 9 to 6. Regardless of the outcome, this game was an absolute blast! My highest compliments to Stephen as a player, as an opponent, and as a person. A really super guy!

The End!