Mega Mikes Invasion Day 2

I have learnt something, Ad Vindutum means 'the Revenge' - thank you google

Looks like I get the indomitable pleasure of producing the 200th post - wow 200 hundred who'd have thunk it?

Here is day 2, if you haven't read day 1 it's here just for you.
As you may know from day 1, I have won all my games so far. I have had some good tests, but the sternest is to come.

After the 2 games, I have added some pictures of my army and some cobbled together thoughts about each battlegroup. Hope you enjoy.
Game 4
David Ray - UCM
Bunker Assault

Day 2, after an eventful and fun evening (and a very tasty burger) I was on table number 2. I had been chatting to Ed and we had a plan to both win our games so we would play each other on the top table for the last game - there are obviously a lot of variables in this plan.......
I'm quite glad I played against UCM for this mission. UCM's infantry is not the most commanding when it comes to CQB, and I don't have any flame weapons either! I had more squads of infantry than David, which is a huge bonus in Bunker Assault as they are worth more when in a bunker. But I need my Hazard suits to be firing not sitting in a bunker waiting for the apocalypse to end.
David had a lot of demo in his list. The Phoenix, 2 squads of Katanas and an Eagle. He also had a Ferrum and Rapiers.
David opted to bring on his 2 squads of Legionnaires in Ravens on turn 1. These were the only squads in 2 battle-groups. I matched them with Drones. Turn 2 came and I won activation. My Drones went after the Raven on my left, downed it and destroyed 1 base of Legionnaires in the crash. David had to activate the second squad before I dealt with them too. He flew them back 24" to hide well away from my Drones; this gave me a chance to finish off the Legionnaires, which I did. This left David a battle-group down from turn 2.
David's demolition was really whittling down the building with my Hazard Suits inside, I had a tough choice. Do I bunk out or fire at some Katanas that hadn't shot. I chose to shoot with 1 squad and see what happens. The managed to kill 2 Katanas, but I was sensible with my second squad and moved them to a different building.

I managed to finish off the Katanas on turn 3 and also took out the accompanying Eagle on turn 4 (that's another battle-group down)
Meanwhile on the other side of the board Davids Hazard Suits entered a building on turn 1, I entered with a squad of Hazards and Praetorians on turn 2, he matched me with his Praetorians on turn 2 also. Turn 3 was an even fight, but I had a card that gave me an extra 5 dice - hopefully tipping the balance. I rolled averagely against his Praetorians and killed a base, but did nothing to his Hazard Suits. 17 dice and not one 6. David killed a base of my Hazard Suits (3 6's in 15 dice) and also 6 of my Praetorians. I then failed my Fortitude test with them (which won me a spot prize of a DarkOps power generator). On seeing this develop, I moved my Legionnaires on to tip the balance.
David's other Hazard Suits lined the walls and got a bit of a kicking from the Longbow.
On turn 4 My Legionnaires fought in the CQB, got a bit dicked and failed their Fortitude test, but David's Praetorians also failed their test. I had finally wounded the Hazard Suits and my Praetorians got back in.

We were running out of time, and agreed that turn 5 would be the last. A culmination of some rules questions and a lot of thinking on both our parts.
The main thing that needed doing was the CQB. I finished off the rest of the Katanas, David had Legionnaires in the centre Bunker, but surrounded by Katanas and Wolverines. As David only had 4 battle-groups left, it meant I could go where I needed to be when I wanted to. In the CQB I finished off a base of Hazard Suits, which meant we both had 1 base of Hazards and 1 base of Praetorians. The building was right next to a bunker so we were exactly even, but I still had 1 base of Legionnaires in their Raven (after bailing the turn before). I was hoping to use them to contest David's home bunker but I needed to own this one so they stayed put (well, jumped into the bunker).
I had forced David into firing a Rapier as my Drones grew bold. This prevented him moving to a different bunker with them. In the end I owned 4 bunkers with David owning 1 and contesting 2 for an 8-4 win to me, I also had a kill point advantage of 738-405 which gave me a 16-4 win.

Game 5
David Bonner - Shaltari
Secure the Flanks

Last game, and a day of Dave's. I've played David a couple of times, and bemoaned the fact that he's a very good player, but seems to have trouble applying and using his infantry. His list is a great list. I has decent anti-tank a great amount of AA in several places. What I thought it was light on is infantry gates. He has 4 squads of Braves and 4 Havens.
I was ahead on points by 3. So the pressure was on David for a result.
I had a plan to get 2 of the objectives. I placed all but 1 squad into my home objective and the Mortar team couldn't make it. 1 Hazard team went into an adjacent building to have a shot.
I won the activation for turn 2 and searched with Praetorians and Hazard Suits and got straight into the centre objective building. My Drones managed to down 1 of the Eden gates.
David's Braves were protected by a Totem, meaning my building demo was 33% more ineffectual.
David searched with 2 squads and then dematerialised them.
I entered my home building with my Mortar team. The Legionnaires moved into the centre after another failed search.

Turn 3 and David finds his objective and hands to a Haven that can't get off yet. I still couldn't find either objective, but I did place an underground monorail between the 2 buildings.
I was chipping away at some Tarantulas and Birdeaters on the right hand side of the board. I also moved my Drones up to attempt the removal of the offending Haven.
Turn 4 came round, I won the activation and my Drones only managed 1 dp on the Haven. My Praetorians and Hazard Suits managed to find both objectives, which they handed off to the Mortar team. The Mortar team then handed off to their Bear, who using the road moved 8". The Bear was on 1 dp thanks to an earlier transgression with a Caimen's laser pod. A Tarantula managed to get a bead on the hull down Bear, thankfully he missed. I was killing off what I could, another Tarantula and Birdeater down.

Turn 5, and I need activation. I didn't. David had another shot on my Bear, a hit, and a 6 to wound. He gets it. Luckily for me David rolled a 1 and the 2 objectives survived - that would have been an awful way to lose a game! I prepared another extraction team. My Hazard suits got straight into a Raven, moved 12" then disembarked, picked up the objectives and walked off the table 1". Phew.
David was down to 1 Tarantula (with 1dp) out of 4 and 2 Birdeaters (also out of 4). David's Caimens and the squad of Birdeaters had been making their way to the left hand Focal Point with a Totem in tow. I just needed to contest it. I sent Praetorians, Hazard Suits, Legionnaires and Wolverines.
The right hand focal point I thought was mine, my Phoenix and Hazard Suits should be enough.
Turn 6 I will rename "the turn of the passive save". I also made a really silly mistake that I didn't figure out until I was wrapped up in bed that night.
I knew what David needed to do. He needed to get his Gharial onto the right hand focal point, my drones went after the Eden. 4 of them and 3 hits. 2 were saved and I wounded the gate. The other 4 drones went after the remaining Tarantula, 2 hits, I take an E10 - it gets saved. My Phoenix goes for the Tarantula, 1 hit....saved. The Katanas have a pop at the Tarantula too, 3 hits.......you guessed it 3 saves AAAAAHHHH! The Gharial gets picked up and dropped off close to the focal point, the Tarantula moves within 6" too. 2 squads of Braves and 2 Havens also contest it with my Phoenix, Katanas and Hazard Suits. On the other side I get my infantry where I need them to contest. I tried to kill more models off, managed 1 Birdeater. In the end I have 2 objectives extracted and contest 2 Focal points, David extracted 1 objective and owned both focal points for a 6-6 draw. I had a slight kill point advantage, but it doesn't count unless you win 485-419 so 10-10.

So what was my mistake? I could have won the game without firing a shot in turn 6. It would have saved me all the pain of seeing everything get saved! All I had to do was move the drones to where the Eden wanted to drop off the Gharial. Shaltari gates cannot end their move within 4" of another aircraft. I even used that little rule earlier in the game to stop David getting near the central building.
I felt so stupid when I thought of it.
Luckily that mistake didn't have an impact on the final outcome. I knew that on table 2 Ed and Erik had played out a draw and that Joe had a decent win but not enough to overtake me. I had won Invasion, with UCM.
(but only after a bit of a mix up with the data entry on the spreadsheet of dooom)

I got a magnificent glass trophy (which is so very sharp!) a KR double back-pack and the Oasis Palms hotel by DarkOps (review coming soon)

Really enjoyed Invasion, great games and great people.

List Review
I will go over my list and what I like and disliked about it

Phoenix and Ferrum

Nothing to moan about here at all. The 2 units (3+ with drones) can work together or alone. As I have said before the Phoenix has it all, Building demolition, anti-tank and anti- air with the added bonus of being able to score focal point and have a 16" move if needed.

The Ferrum drone base was a touch more tricky to use. I found a lot of the tables at Invasion quite sparse, especially on the back of the boards. I was surprised at how little opponents went after my Ferrum(s). Oh and black project on drones is supremely nasty!

Katanas and Ferrum

On a standard turn (2-5), it was normally a toss up between this battlegroup or my double Hazard Suit battlegroup as to which one I activated first. Even though there are only 3, the Katanas still pump out a lot of building demolition and are normally enough to finish of a building at the start of turn 2. With the added bonus of having the drones in a decent place you can really put the hurt on an opponent at the top of turn 2. This can send some reeling - and sometimes they don't recover.





Legionnaires

A token battlegroup, best used as a dead activation on missions like Ground Control, Bunker Assault or any thing where the infantry is not needed until turn 5 or 6. With UCM infantry the way it is at the moment I am liking the Legionnaires less and less. Granted they are as cheap as chips at 80 points for the squad but the only thing they do is search for objectives. Having a second use is why I am favoring Mortars, Praetorians and Hazard Suits especially.
Legionnaires are by far the worst troops in the game. I still don't understand how Resistance fighters are cheaper with a better weapon and fortitude!





Mortars and Longbow

This was one of my favourite battlegroups over the weekend. Having 2 blasts available when you need it is priceless. Also having the Bear to be an objective ferry was just what the army needs. I need my infantry searching, shooting, fighting - not leaving the battlefield not knowing when they would come back.
The Longbow is a very versatile piece. I used all 3 of the shots on multiple occasions. Probably the most popular though was the E10 direct shot, which works against most things. I'm still undecided as to whether the E8 blast or the E10 shot is better against a standard A6 building. With the E8 blast you have a 1/3 chance to do 4 damage, but a 1/3 to do 0.

Wolverine A & B, 2 squads of Hazard Suits

If you want reliable killing, look no further. 2 squads can jump into a large building on turn 1 and pump out 12 E7 focus 2 shots on turn 2. The thing to remember with them is don't be greedy. Kill the one thing you need to. Better to majorly overkill than to split fire and regret leaving everything with 1dp left! I learnt this the hard way over a few games before Invasion.
The versatility of the Hazards is just great. They soak falling masonry (which UCM needed so badly) they can search or they shoot. I even really like that they have this drawback; Hazard Suits would be far too over-powered if they could search AND shoot.
The Wolverines were really useful too. They are quick and effective at what they do. the added building demo of the missiles and the sniping of the AA makes them a threat.

Wolverine A's, Hazard Suits and Praetorians

Another crucial group. I'm so glad I managed to shoe-horn in the Praetorians. They offer a constant threat in CQB, especially when backed up by Hazard Suits. One to hit, one to soak. These were normally one of the last battle-groups I activated as I like to see where my opponent goes. Especially crucial against any CQB threat.

What now?
So, where do I go from here. I have finally accomplished what I have wanted to do for ages. Winning the big one with UCM. I will retire the double Ferrum for now though. I don't think it is overpowered, but I could see the focus on the drones go down to 3 and possibly lose scout (still undecided on that)
My next tournament is not until April 10th (Coastal Assault in Brighton) It's already sold out with an epic 24 participants; making it the largest non-Invasion event in the UK (possibly the world).

At our club, I am running an escalation campaign over the next few months. I am using PHR, so maybe if I enjoy them it might be them. The only problem with that is that I cannot see past Techboy's Invasion list. I genuinely think there isn't a better list out there for PHR.

Until next time zoners
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section. TTFN