A tournament report from the Mad Titan IV
The rules for this tournament were a little different; armies start at 600 points, and after each game, you drop 50 points from your army. Starting at 600, going to 550, then 500, etc., ending at 350.I decided to build my army around a core of 350, and add 250 points of units from there. Since Marvel was allowed, I decided to use one of those heroes.....Captain America. Raelin makes everything better, and Marro Warriors are decent shooters for 50 points.
Then, I needed 250 points to drop over the course of the day. After going over the available options, I decided on the 10th Regiment of Foot, because they're awesome. (Also, I don't have enough 4th to be able to use them instead.) My army for the event: Captain America, Raelin, Marro Warriors, 3 squads of 10th Regiment, and a Drow Chainfighter.
Game 1
The first game of the day, I was playing against fellow HS-er Hsskor (who happens to be my brother). He was using Braxas, 4 squads of Greenscales, and Cyprien at 600 points. The map was Hellsgate.
Braxas, Cyprien, Grimnak, Silver Surfer.....those were some of the figures I was really worried about. And here were two of them in the same army. Which was actually fortunate, because order markers were poorly split between the two.
My favorite opening for most games is with Raelin, placing her on height. I used the same move here, because even if the big heroes on the other side weren't going to roll dice, the Greenscales certainly would. I sent the 10th out next, hoping to eliminate Braxas before her chronic bad breath eliminated Captain America. Cyprien moved forward and used chilling touch on Raelin, rolled a 20, and moved on to Captain America. I used the 10th to take both glyphs, which were Attack +1 and Kelda.
Since I had my 10th on height while holding the attack glyph, the rest of the game was mostly a cleanup operation. Cyprien was attempting Chilling Touch on Cap, but had little success with it. My 10th brought down Braxas and Cyprien, and the remaining Greenscales didn't have much of a chance against my 10th.Dropping one squad of 10th to attrition.
Game 2
My next game was against Shedim Kabal on a map (built from SotM and FotA) that I don't remember the name of. I've met him once before, at a tournament in IL. Last time, we pulled a map that heavily favored my army; it happened again this tournament. His army had Tor-Kul-Na, 2 squads of Stingers, 2 squads of Nagrub, and 3 squads of Dividers. The map we were playing on neutralized Tor-Kul-Na, and the Stingers were the largest threat to my army. If I killed them and then held the high ground, I'd win the game with little trouble.
I opened like last game, placing Raelin on height; it may have not worked very well last time, but this game the extra defense would help. My 10th took both glyphs, (a dud and Wind,) then started to climb the towers. 10th are already favored to win against Stingers, and me beating him to the high ground kept this game from being very exciting.
I'm hoping that the map is a little more balanced next time I play Shedim Kabal.
Dropping the Chainfighter to attrition.
Game 3
This time I was paired up against vegetarian18 on a BftU/TT map, who was running 2x Black Wyrmlings, 3x Red Wyrmlings, and #x Phantom Knights. The only part I was worried about was the pair of Black Wyrmlings, the only units that really pose a threat to Captain America here.
I moved my 10th out first, hoping to take the wyrmlings out. The Phantom Knights wouldn't be very useful here, especially against the Captain. My 10th land on the nearest glyph to me, which is the glyph of Wind (no flying). This game, it's actually helpful, making his Phantom Knights a little slower. Until, of course, he lands on the glyph of Move +2, boosting his PKs to move 8. At least they don't get Disengage.
I try to hold down the Wind glyph, but his PKs are too darn fast, and always get height on the glyph. He makes a couple of attacks against Cap, but counterstrike pulls through both times. After those two attacks, he doesn't try for Cap again the rest of the game. He does manage to bring down Raelin and quite a few of my 10th.
I end up winning this game after a few more round. Captain America is probably the worst matchup for Phantom Knights; if he brought more Black Wyrmlings, he'd have had better chances against Marvel figures.
Dropping a squad of 10th to attrition.
Game 4
Up against Eternalthanos86, with 2x 10th, Marcus Decimus Gallus, Raelin, and Kaemon Awa. The map is Stygian Rift.
This army should make for an interesting match; my army really close to his, sort of. Captain America does a lot of the things that Kaemon and Marcus do, and if I don't do something stupid, it should be pretty close.
He wins first initiative, moving Raelin to a perch on height. I put my Raelin on the mirror perch, and he moves his 10th up for the glyphs. I stick Cap into shadow within Raelin's aura, and he puts his 10th onto the glyph on the far side from Cap. He pulls....the Attack +1 glyph. Right after I comment about how I'm hope that's not what he's going to get. Now the game is looking nasty for me; 2 squads of 10th having height on my units AND an attack glyph? I already saw this today, and now I'm on the receiving end of it. Ouch.
Well, my lone squad of 10th can't do much against the much much scarier 10th on height with glyph support, and my OM placement is less than optimal here. I move my 10th onto the other glyph, landing....a dud.
Between me having a poor position and making it worse with a few blunders, my chances of winning weren't so great. I do end up losing, but only after making him haul out Kaemon. (That counts for something, right?)
Dropping the last squad of 10th to attrition. My army is now down to 350.
Game 5
I'm fighting on a C3G map this time; Grundy's Grave. I'm up against Jaslow, who's wielding Charos, 2x 4th, and Eldgrim. I know that Captain America and Charos are close to evenly matched, and if I can fire on his Charos from height with Marro adjacent to Cap, he won't last a whole long time. Shield Throw & high defense will keep Cap around against the 4th, unless they land a glyph of Attack +1. My luck can't be THAT bad, right?
The starting zones are close enough to the high ground that I don't have to move Raelin at all, so I open by moving my Marro towards the two glyphs closest to me. Charos lands on the glyph opposite me, getting +8 initiative. My Marro get....a dud. His 4th move towards the middle of the map, shooting at Raelin from height. She manages to hang around long enough to gain even ground with the 4th, dying soon after. The 4th grab the glyph of Defense +1, putting their defense up to 4.
The 4th manage to put 3 wounds onto Cap before having their numbers reduced to ineffectiveness. Then Charos moves in and takes height on the good Captain. Disengaging with Captain America and moving over to height on the other end of the middle, Cap takes a fourth wound. Charos flies over, engages Cap, and takes a shot at him, finishing off the Captain. Without Cap, my remaining Marro Warrior doesn't last long.
Losing no units to attrition.
Game 6
Mohicans! I love these dudes. I've never been very good with them, though. Lord Pyre has Cyprien, Marcu, and 3x Mohican River Tribesmen. We're playing on Shrine of Mo-Ne-Ka, a really, really, really cool map. I wasn't hoping to run into Cyprien a second time. Cap can't kill him fast enough to stay safe from Chilling Touch, and I don't have any 10th here to save the day.
He wins initiative and moves his MRT along the back of the ruin. I move Raelin in the same direction, followed by Cap and the Marro Warriors. He rolled his Concealment once against my combined assault of Shield Throw/Marro gun-thingamabobs, losing all of his Mohicans. I, of course, lose Raelin. As usual. Of course, now the trouble is taking Cyprien out. I've got Cap on top of the ruin, some Marro hiding behind it, and Cyprien is circling around below. I send Cap up, Shield Throw Cyprien, and......fail miserably. Cyprien swoops in, rolls Chilling Touch, and puts two wounds on Cap; then, attacking, Cap manages to counterstrike a wound on the Vampire. Of course, Cap falls to Cyprien after a few more OMs, and the remaining Marro warriors can't keep enough wounds on to matter.I lose this game, while my opponent still has Cyprien and Marcu alive.
Thoughts
I won the first three games, and lost the last three. The difference in my army between those two points was having 2 or more squads of 10th. Cap is much too vulnerable to Cyprien and Black Wyrmlings, and needs squaddies around to save the day. The attack/defense bonus is handy, letting the 10th throw out some crazy rolls, but Marcus and Raelin can do that job better than Cap for fewer points. A special attack is a handy thing to have, though.
