Author Topic: BoT Ghost Bear  (Read 2678 times)

Kerfuffin(925)

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BoT Ghost Bear
« on: 09 August 2022, 01:57:58 »
I’ve been doing an AS Battle of Tukayyid campaign over the last 7 weeks. It’s been a lot of fun. My opponent has a ton of 3d terrain so it’s been very pretty as well. I have always meant to record better notes for my last couple games but I finally managed to make a concerted effort this time. Only special rule we used was 2d6 per point of damage.

I don’t have any pictures of the first battle, but I (Ghost Bear) managed to get half my force across the map. The massive forests prevented a lot of shooting. I probably shouldn’t have taken the option for hidden units, even with my large amount of active probes. I tried to get across too fast and I payed the price. I don’t remember much about it otherwise. I took more casualties than I wanted but I succeeded and made it out of the forest.

Next up (last week) was Spanac, and the mission was Assault on Dvigrad Fortress. In hind site we didn’t play it quite right. We played it as, buildings more than 6” apart and I had to control 50% of the buildings remaining. RAW it was no more than 12” apart for all buildings and I had to control all of them. Having larger than single ‘hex’ buildings also played a role, but can’t complain about 3d terrain.

My list

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1006442277603909632/IMG_0085.png

Here are pictures of set up from my side (first) and my opponents side (second).

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1003917158687985757/IMG_0069.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1006438268734287903/IMG_0152.jpg

And my opponents set up before I came onto the board. He deployed his BSP (conversion was something we invented for this) infantry in the 6 buildings closest to the wall. He also had a quick response Vedette deployed in the center to use the road for some extra movement.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1003917159019319326/IMG_0070.jpg

After turn 1:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1003917394995052585/IMG_0071.jpg (Ghost Bear view)
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1006438302766874686/IMG_0153.jpg (Comstar view)

I won initiative, and it would be the only time. I had 5 mechs and an elemental against the BSP infantry (6), the (BSP) Vedette and 6 mechs. We bumped up from 200PV to 300PV, so that meant I had 300PV with the bonus skill upgrade against 225PV as per the battle rules.

I moved up to obtain cover, and I in hindsite should not have been so aggressive up the middle, even though the Executioner is fast it’s not as fast as everything else and lagged behind. My opponent moved to force a lot of shots through the middle door. I got a few shots off for minor damage on the Black Knight and the Ice Ferrets high TMM and forest cover helped avoid the worst of the firepower sent back in return. The Executioner didn’t have a shot, and the rest of my force was isolated enough that they couldn’t take shots, outside of the Timberwolf, which shot at a building down my left hand entry way.

Turn 2:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1003917535986589716/IMG_0072.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1006438318852030544/IMG_0154.jpg

I lost initiative and it hurt on the attack. The infantry stayed still and the tank did some minor movement. I jumped my Grendel across into the very small safe spot between the three buildings and dumped the elementals off as well. The Black Knight came up to counter the Grendel by getting into melee, and the ShadowHawk and his back line mechs came around to counter the Timber Wolf moving up. The Thunderbolt stayed around to put some fire onto the Grendel and also slow up the Stormcrows advance down the right side. My Executioner moved up for a bit and the Ice Ferret couldn’t get to a spot without infantry interference so hid by the wall. Grendel and Stormcrow fired in the T-bolt and put some damage on. The T-Wolf had better shots at the Warhammer and put a decent number onto it, but took a ton of return fire. Black Knight killed the Elementals but took return fire from them and some heat. T-bolt iirc was ineffective at shooting, I didn’t have any notes on it. Vedette missed shots at the Grendel as well (it did no damage all game).

Turn 3:
 https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1003917706925461535/IMG_0073.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1006438336296136779/IMG_0155.jpg

Continued to move up on my end, speed helped even though I lost initiative. Only big loss in movement was the Tbolt getting around the Stormcrow. The infantry shoot at the Timber Wolf and the ShadowHawk melees. The Warhammer finishes off the Timberwolf, and the Ice Ferret avoids the Awesomes shots. The Black Knight kills the Ice Ferret but in turn is hit by the Executioner and finished off by the Grendel. The Stormcrow tried splitting fire earlier and missed the BLK but got the Warhammer. No idea what happened with the Tbolt, but it probably put damage into the Stormcrow. By now it became apparent I was too aggressive and my irrational fear of the infantry kept my Executioner out of the battle for too long. It didn’t help my executioner refused to hit more than one damage these first two turns it shot.

Turn 4:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1003918153870479490/IMG_0074.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1006438357125050428/IMG_0156.jpg

Continued to move aggressively, with only 3 mechs left it was going to be an uphill battle. Executioner put the Vedette into forced withdrawal, one point away from death (although as a BSP unit it wasn’t going to matter much as a whole). Vedette whiffs in return. The Grendel and Stormcrow (OV2) put damage onto the awesome and get a motive crit, but not enough for forced withdrawal. The Thunderbolt gets the Stormcrow dead, and the Awesome and ShadowHawk couldn’t do much to hit the Grendel.



Turn 5:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1003918569794449468/IMG_0075.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/954425348685176912/1006438346718986290/IMG_0157.jpg (Executioner eyes view)


My hope here was to finish off the ShadowHawk and Awesome with two mechs alive and finish off a large amount of buildings, and I could avoid the almost dead Thunderbolt. I won initiative but being outnumbered made it hard. Executioner put the ShadowHawk into forced withdrawal. I split fire (which again in hindsite was a bad idea) with the Grendel on both the Shadow Hawk and Awesome. I didn’t put enough damage on either. The Grendel fell in return fire from both. Which I guess saved my Executioner any damage.

We theorized how turn 6+ would play out, and there was no way I could accomplish my objectives. He would flee all his mechs and I couldn’t kill 8 buildings in 6 turns with only one mech. My executioner survived completely untouched and he fled his BSP vedette, the crippled Awesome and Shadow Hawk and the Thunderbolt that managed to avoid structural damage. The infantry I probably could have killed through the buildings if I wanted but no point in messing with BSP things.

My takeaways were I was too aggressive. I was too worried about the small damage of the infantry. My executioner didn’t share in the damage and it could have helped keep some other things alive until later. We are back to a Hoth forest as the Ghost Bears try to regroup on the way to Luk.
« Last Edit: 09 August 2022, 02:40:01 by Kerfuffin(925) »
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MarauderD

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Re: BoT Ghost Bear
« Reply #1 on: 10 August 2022, 10:07:42 »
Nice pics!  That 3D terrain looks really good.  Looks like a fun time.

Kerfuffin(925)

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Re: BoT Ghost Bear
« Reply #2 on: 02 September 2022, 00:44:39 »
Nice pics!  That 3D terrain looks really good.  Looks like a fun time.

Thanks, I'll try and see if I can't borrow some for next time.
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Kerfuffin(925)

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Re: BoT Ghost Bear
« Reply #3 on: 02 September 2022, 02:25:02 »

Alright, returning back from the city of Spanac through the Hoth Forest, on my way to Luk.

We played a Pushback mission, roughly fluffed as my unit working as a Vanguard that was ambushed. 6 turns before my reinforcements spoiled the party. Was 300PV, I think I was right on the nose and Comstar might have been one or two under

The Forces:
Comstar had a Highlander (skill 3?), Awesome (2), Rifleman (4), Archer (2), Marauder (3?), Thunderbolt(3?) and a Behemoth (4 BSP)

all my mechs are one skill better than their card indicates due to the campaign rules

Set-up:
I deployed first and then Comstar came onto the adjacent edges, half of his forces on each side. My Viper and Executioner held down the right flank, my Star Captain in the Kingfisher was in the middle, mostly to keep him away from a turn one ambush. The Mad Dog, Nova, and Adder held down the middle-left, hoping to use the forest to their advantage.



Turn 1: I Lost Initiative, and after the last couple games I've had initiative wise, I figured I would just kiss initiative goodbye for good. BSP stuff moves first regardless of initiative, so I only had that to go off of. I made the nearly fatal mistake of moving my Executioner up into the partial cover provided by the hill, and for some reason I decided to jump. The Marauder and the Thunderbolt (just on the edge of the SE woods out of frame) appeared behind the Executioner. The Viper ran behind the tank, getting into the rear arc to avoid some of its nasty firepower, but left it open from the Archer that would appear past the woods. The left flank went a little more my way, the heaviest of the Comstar Level II opted to fight from range, which their slow speed would hinder them later. My Mad Dog and Nova went into the forest to take some testing shots at them, while the Puma pivoted with the Kingfisher to try and salvage the right flank. Another set of poor positioning hurt my Kingfisher.

Shooting did not go well for me. The Viper stomped on the tank from the rear, and the Executioner added some fire as well, overheating 1. It wasn't quite enough, and as it was so slow and didn't count for anything I left it alone with the rest. The Kingfisher had ok shots on the Marauder and did a bit on it. The Nova fired at the Rifleman, hoping to take it down early as it has weak armor, that didnt happen but it got a little bit of damage. The Mad Dog and Puma added on the Marauder going internal but no crits.

Comstar's shooting was spectacular. The left flank fired onto the Nova, stripping it. The Marauder, Archer Thunderbolt combined for a Fire-Control hit on the Executioner with minor internal damage. I think they missed 1 out of 12 shots. The Behemoth hammered the Kingfisher as well.



Turn 2: I lost initiative again, so I had to cede my left flank, sending the Puma to try and put the Rifleman into forced withdrawal or fish for a good crit. The Mad Dog and Nova went back out of the forest and broke line of sight from the Comstar assaults, who stood still. The Thunderbolt and Marauder basically traded places and I held my Executioner until last to get him into base to base with the Thunderbolt. Kingfisher moved up to get partial cover, and the Viper tracked the Behemoth. Comstar didn't do any big maneuvers, just pulling the Rifleman back into some forest and moving the Archer up on the hill.

My Executioner already had a fire control hit and was overheating so shots would be awful. He figured no one would see so he punched the Thunderbolt in the back. The Kingfisher opened up on the Thunderbolt and allowed the Mad Dog to finish it off for a kill. The Viper shot and killed the off-screen Marauder, and the Nova put the Behemoth into forced withdrawal. The Puma had half decent shots on the Rifleman, but only put one damage on it to strip the armor.

Comstar didn't repeat its great shooting but had some good luck. The Marauder did a few to the Executioner, but no crit. The Thunderbolt and Behemoth hit the Kingfisher, doing some internal and getting a weapon crit. The Rifleman couldn't match the Adders skill so missed, but the Highlander and Awesome did not miss, and put the Adder down.
Both my Kingfisher and Executioner were very close to forced withdrawal, and the Nova was stripped so I was not feeling good, even if I nearly cleared the way for along the right flank.



Turn 3: I finally won initiative on a turn that mattered! The Behemoth went back to its turn 1 position to try and fulfill forced withdrawal requirements, and the Viper tracked it, but staying in the rear left it open to shots from the Archer. In hindsight, base-to-base is enough to not allow it to shoot back, so I didnt need to be behind it. Comstar moved the forces on my left more to the middle, the Rifleman took up a position in the back of the map, hidden by the hill. The Awesome sprinted to try and counter the faster moving clan mechs, and the Highlander just walked. The Archer moved up to get shots on the Viper. The Mad Dog and Nova just slowly advanced, and the Executioner hugged cover, the Kingfisher held back and hid in the forest to not expose itself to anything bad coming its way.

The Behemoth put a fire control hit on the Kingfisher and put it into forced withdrawal. The Viper took fire from the Archer, with a weapon crit and forced withdrawal damage. The Highlander doesn't have a shot due to overheat.

The Viper stomps out the Behemoth tank and the Nova puts one point of damage on the Highlander. No other shots from me, due to hiding.



Turn 4: I don't have initiative notes here, but I'm pretty sure I lost. Viper jumped away as fast as possible for a higher TMM and to try and escape with forced withdrawal. My Nova moved up, sheltered from his assaults next to a hill. Mad Dog moved up minimize fire, Kingfisher skirted the small hill and the Executioner moved up as well. Comstar's assaults continued to lumber forward, the Rifleman went up onto the hillside, and the Acher fell back behind cover.

Now keep in mind both my Assaults have Fire-Control hits...
The Nova hits on the Archer, stripping away some armor. Mad Dog puts the Rifleman into forced withdrawal but can't force a crit. The Executioner misses out on killing the Rifleman completely, doing nothing. The Kingfisher follows up with a miss on the Highlander.

The Highlander puts more damage and a crit (a second Fire-Control) on the Kingfisher. The Rifleman spots for the Archer, who puts the Executioner into forced withdrawal. Now I am rather annoyed none of my crits stick, but every crit he rolls is fire control.



Turn 5: I win initiative again, I must be dreaming. Nova stands still, feeling safe in his pocket beneath the hill. I finally remember my Mad Dog is not the prime (I almost spotted while firing earlier for it) and that it has jump jets, so he moved over the forest to get shots on the Archer. My assaults moved last, hiding in the forest (Exe) and behind some low hills (KF). My Viper escaped off of my board edge (which I should have said earlier was the far edge). The Archer fell back to gain some cover, the Rifeman started to flee, and the Comstar assaults took the high ground.

The Comstar Archer blew the Nova away, and the Highlander and Awesome could do little more than scratch the paint on the Mad Dog S.

The Nova's parting shots put some more damage on the Archer, but it was still going to be a hard ask to kill it. The Mad Dog needed 10s or 11s to hit, due to jumping and partial cover. On 4+1OV damage I roll 3 misses, a TAC, and a hit on structure. First crit was 11 for an engine, second was a 12 for a headshot. Finally, a crit worth rolling! None of the assaults have a shot, not that they could hit anyway...



Turn 6: Last turn I needed before the game ended. I won initiative again and kind of knew that was it. The Rifleman continued off board, I think sprinting off. I moved my Mad Dog into some cover. After seeing the Archer disintegrate the assaults thought better and backed down. My cripped KF and Executioner moved up slowly and no shots were had. The Ghost Bears survived the ambush, but barely.



Final Thoughts: Some positional misplays with the KF and Executioner cost me big early, basically neutering them with the crits. LoS against vees is harder than I thought. I recovered when I had initiative and was able to force the mechs on the left flank to spend two turns doing nothing by pivoting. The Viper could have been saved from forced withdrawal as well, at least for another turn, had I remembered the Base-To-Base rules correctly. The Executioner and Kingfisher both had 2/3 crits each and one structure left. I only lost two mechs, which is good, as I've just been scraping by in terms of Warchest Points. I was no doubt also helped by the fact we got the last turn warning from the store right as turn 5 was finishing up.
« Last Edit: 02 September 2022, 02:36:56 by Kerfuffin(925) »
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MarauderD

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Re: BoT Ghost Bear
« Reply #4 on: 02 September 2022, 10:10:09 »
1.  Looks fun.

2. That 3D terrain is everything I've been looking for.  Who owns it, who made it, and how do I steal it?  (I kid, but it looks really good)

3. Your force needs more Executioner TC.  But all in all, definitely has a good Ghost Bear vibe.  Did you roll the RATs or did you just use the MUL?  A blend of both?

4.  Was your ComStar opponent using all the CS specials from the sourcebook?  Some of those were pretty nice units.

Kerfuffin(925)

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Re: BoT Ghost Bear
« Reply #5 on: 02 September 2022, 13:53:09 »
1.  Looks fun.

2. That 3D terrain is everything I've been looking for.  Who owns it, who made it, and how do I steal it?  (I kid, but it looks really good)

3. Your force needs more Executioner TC.  But all in all, definitely has a good Ghost Bear vibe.  Did you roll the RATs or did you just use the MUL?  A blend of both?

4.  Was your ComStar opponent using all the CS specials from the sourcebook?  Some of those were pretty nice units.

1. It is. I do like campaigns.
2. Another semi-local guy, I think he’s bought and printed a bunch of stls. I’ll ask him about letting me borrow some next time we can get together.
3. I could afford it this time, and on 4x4 with alot of terrain it’s hard to get long range shots, so it’s not as valuable.
4. The Marauder, Rifleman, and Archer were all the CS variants. I’ve also seen the Shadowhawk and Warhammer CS version in earlier games.
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