Infinity Escalation League Vancouver, WA

[indytims]

So! We began our next Escalation League up here in the 'Couv tonight. This time around, we're going to advance a little slower: tonight's match was 120, but the next TWO weeks will be 150, followed by two weeks at 200, two weeks at 250, and then two weeks at 300. So 9 weeks instead of 5. I like that!

 

Our first mission was a simple Annihilation. I got to play Joe, another Ariadna player - and playing someone with the same army I always thought was like kissing your sister. Yeah, it's a girl, but... ugh.

 

Still, Joe is a lot of fun to talk to and play with, so we jumped right in. He plays strictly Caledonian, so I knew I'd be facing 45th Gals (he had 3) and of course Caledonian Volunteers (he had...5. His plan had been to form a link-team with them, but link teams and other advanced rules weren't allowed. So they were just regular Vols for today. He also had a Cateran sniper, as well as an SAS sniper, giving him 10 models and 13 orders.

 

I played Vanilla Ariadna, as usual. I took 2 Volunteers (Chain rifles), 4 Kazaks (all rifles, one a medic), a Hardcase, a Spetsnaz sniper, and a Chasseur, giving me 9 orders total.

 

He won the WIP roll and chose to go first, so I picked the side I wanted and let him set-up first. He popped two cammo markers up on high places, so I figured that wasn't good. He lined up his 45th together as well as some of his Vols, and his Vol HMG was in a nice spot up on a rooftop as well. I felt rather naked with my one sniper.

 

His first turn he moved, expertly tossing smoke grenades around to cover his move. I had most of my guys prone and unable to ARO anyway, but I did have a couple that could have - but I forced myself to be patient and didn't get lured out of cammo.

 

By the end of his turn, he had a 45th climb a ladder I didn't know was there, spotted my Hardcase, and forced me to make a decision. I decided to shoot as he engaged, and the die roll went my way and I put an arrow between his eyes. He failed both saves and died outright, which was a relief.

 

Sadly... his SAS watched the whole thing and then followed it up with a shot right in the cowboy hat of my Hardcase, taking him out. Not a good exchange so far!

 

He used his last orders to consolidate,then it was my move.

 

I saw where he had huddled his two remaining 45th Gals behind a wall, AND, I had a thought to lure out one or both of his snipers. I took one of my Vols - my cheapest guys - and ran him from cover to cover, giving his sniper a juicy open-field shot... he went for it, revealing himself, and as expected he shot and hit my Vol. Armor Save? Natural 20. WHAT bullet???! Where?? Was someone shooting at me?

 

This brought his Cateran out of cammo, so then I revealed my Spetsnaz... and went on a rampage. First, taking out the Cateran. Then, taking out his SAS, then, just because... I took out his Vol HMG, effectively removing all of his long-range firepower. It was methodical and the bloodiest 3-action rampage I've been on yet in my limited Infinity career.

 

To add insult to injury, my Volunteer that heroically dodged sniper fire? I looked at his list and realized - Wait... he's got a shotgun! He lined up a shot perfectly on both of the 45th Gals that I could now see... blasted them... and killed them both with two perfectly placed shotgun blasts. This was the first time ever that I got to use a shotgun.

 

At this point, he had 4 Vols left and conceded the game.

 

On an interesting note - we had ZERO crits the entire game. None at all, for anything. I think that was a first that I've experienced.

 

Joe also only made 2 armor saves... but they were on two different saves where he needed to make ALL of them or die. But all the other saves he failed, badly. I made two armor saves at very critical moments, and with a small game like this, two saves like that can easily spell the difference between victory and defeat.

 

A fun game for certain, I really enjoy playing and chatting with Joe.

 

Looking forward to next week! We had a great showing this week - 7 of us were there, and an 8th that had received his USARF box on the spot, and he was gluing figs together while the other games went on. I also know a couple guys that were missing - if we show up with a 'full group' that I know of, that's 10 guys for sure. Tonight saw 'little Nick's' first game, and I think he got two in.

[rudra34]

Good report!   I would love to be a part of this league, but I'll be working every Thursday night.  Keep the updates coming, it's good to hear reports of local games!

[Don't Panic]

Yea Tim I really enjoy your BR. Keep up the good work! :)

[indytims]

Thanks fellas!

 

Rudra, I know some of the guys frequently get together on Saturdays, as well. I would assume that you could get a league game in that day, too! That could be an option for you. I know I for sure would love to play you sometime! :)

 

And dp, I know I am getting old and probably forget a lot of stuff that happened, but usually I remember the important stuff, 100% accurate 50% of the time! :P

 

-Tim

[indytims]

Week 2 - 120 points

 

I played my same list from last week, and this week I faced George's Pan-O. The last time we played, he had terrible luck with his Nomads, so this time, he figured he'd pull out the big-dog Pan-O baddies and give me a run!

 

His list consisted of 4 Order Sgts (one with a Spitfire, the rest with Combis), a lone Fusilier doc, and a Father Knight w/Spitfire! For a 120 point game, he brought a 50 pt character! He was OUT FOR BLOOD.

 

We roll off and he picks to go first, I pick my side and make him set-up first. I had a total of 9 models, he had 6, so the order difference wasn't that bad. It was a much different game than playing against Joe with his 2059 order counters last week!

 

I put my guys down as best I can, lots of prone guys. This included my Camo Hard Case, Chasseur, and Spetsnaz. So with George having the first turn, he came at me with his Father Knight, using all six of his orders on him to discover a Mine in the middle of the boar, and then to swoop around a container and try to get the drop on my Chasseur. For her part, she held fast, dropping another Mine in ARO, and then dropping her third as he advanced on her.

 

Well, Mr. Father Knight smiled and put away his Spitfire and instead pulled out his Breaker pistol to get the range bonus. He hits once, and I roll a nat 20 to save. Who says models with 0 armor can't make saves? Then, he decides the pistol is TOO SMALL a weapon, and instead pulls out this sword that, to me, says that he is 'compensating' for something! He attacks and using the last of his orders, he manages to get two hits with a DA 14 damage attack. That's 4 armor saves needing 15s. And guess who made every single one of them? That's right, the cute lady engaged with him! Five armor saves in a row, all rolling 15s or higher. The best part was, George was laughing right along with me. When many people might have been hurling my fig through a window, George took it in stride with a great attitude.

 

Unfortunately, this was where I decided to cheat him. Well, 'cheat' is a strong word. But at this point, I had 3 mines laying on the ground, and we had them go off. Only, as I read tonight after I got home - the mines wouldn't go off as long as a friendly is engaged with the enemy, because both models would be effective, and a mine will not detonate if it would hit a friendly. The mines ended up killing the poor guy, but that should not have happened when we had it happen. He -SHOULD- have been engaged with the Chasseur still, even though he was out of orders. The only CC model I had was on a rooftop some distance away, and obviously on his next Active turn, it would have simply been a matter of waiting out my AWESOME DICE ROLLS... and THEN eating the 3 mines.

 

After that, it was my turn, and my Spetsnaz sniper came out of camo and took down his other Spitfire mode, leaving him with all combi-rifles. That allowed me to breathe a little easier, and after that, it was just a matter of order-starving him.

 

In small games like that, every model feels like it counts EVEN MORE, because you have so few of them. I know some folks don't like 'smaller' games, but I really enjoy games between 120-200 most of all. I do enjoy 200-300 points, too of course, but I have zero interest going above 300.

 

George was a gentleman, and wanted a rematch on the spot - but he'll have to wait. He about threw a fit when I refused to table him, letting his last model (the poor, lonely fusilier) live. Fun to play with as always, but I stepped aside so that another player who was hoping to get a game in could do so. I got to watch and then help clean-up, as Joe and Nick hammered each other on another table nearby.

 

I loved Escalation leagues in 40K, and I also love them in Infinity as well. Definitely helpful for those of us who still feel quite 'new' to the game! :)

 

-Tim

[indytims]

Week 3 - 150 points - Annihilation

 

This week, we move up to 150, and add Lieutenants. No command tokens yet, or link teams, or any of that fancy shmancy stuff. We're still at the lower level for the benefit of a few new folks that have joined us.

 

Coincidentally enough, one of those new folks is Nick. Actually, we have TWO 'Nicks' that have joined us as new players, which is totally cool, and I got to play "Pan-O" Nick.

 

For my list, I used the one from the previous week, but shifted stuff around a bit, and basically added in Uxia to get to 150. 120 to 150 isn't really that much of a jump, so it was a pretty easy deal adding her in. I'd have liked to dropped Van Zant in, but that would have had me dropping stuff to fit him in, and at 150 I just didn't wanna sink 1/4 of my points into one model.

 

Anyway, he won initiative and wanted to go first. I picked my side (and ended up picking the DUMB side) and also made him set-up first.

 

His list consisted of some sniper with MSV and 3 ARM, an Orc troop, a handful of Fusiliers, and a doc with a pal-bot-thingy.

 

This game was one of those where I saw 2-3 omens at the start that told me it was going to be a rough one. Nick did a long-range discovery on one of my cammo markers - and succeeded on the first try - and the proceeded to put a bullet through my Chasseur's head on the next roll. He spent the rest of his turn re-positioning and moving up the board with his ORC, and putting a few models into Suppression.

 

I had set-up Uxia way up on his right flank, right near his deployment zone since she made her Infiltration roll. I figured she was in a good spot to see a small gaggle of models behind some cover, and with dual-assault pistols or her shotgun, I figured I'd have a chance to ruin someone's day. The real threat, though, was his sniper whom he had placed up on the highest terrain feature on his side of the board. He had that, and the Orc that had moved up pretty far, and I knew if I was going to move at all, I needed to get rid of the sniper.

 

So I revealed my Sniper, and we proceeded to play the game of numbers. I put one shot on his sniper and one on his Orc, while each of those models ARO'd him in return. I scored several hits - and he made every save. When his Orc finally took a wound and decided to Dodge, putting two shots on his sniper still saw him making Saves at 6 ARM (3 ARM, plus 3 for cover). I spent 6 orders trying to take out either his Orc or his Sniper... and failed miserably.

 

In the end, he got to his turn and quickly killed my sniper, as well as one of my Kazaks.

 

On my next turn, I put Uxia into play. Seeing the ORC with one wound was too good to pass up. I got her into position, put her at the corner of a wall, and unloaded on the ORC, finishing him off - but JUST to unconsciousness.

 

Then, on his turn, his Sniper repositioned to where he could see Uxia, and made short work of her... AND he brought his Traumadoc over to heal the ORC _ which he succeeded at, of course.

 

At that point, I'd lost my three best models, so kinda became aggressive. I brought my Foxtrot around in desperation with his Shotgun to put a shot on the ORC, and a shot on the Sniper. The Orc, of course, made his save. The sniper didn't, falling unconscious! Yayyy!

 

On his turn, the Foxtrot was turned to paste, and he ran his Palbot all the way over from the other side of the board to climb up and heal the Sniper - and, of course, he succeeded again.

 

My one moment of glory came when in desperation, I charged one of my Volunteers across the board, across open ground, toward his Fusilier on a roof. Nick had everything else set up in Suppression, so trying to do anything against any of those guys was pointless. But on the other flank, the fusilier was just standing there on the roof looking lost...

 

In the end, that Volunteer in his kilt ended up making -6- armor saves in a row. Because, yes, Nick hit EVERY SINGLE TIME. And, of course, the Chain Rifle shot I got off he also succeeded in saving against. It wasn't until his last turn that he fired at my guy while I chain-rifled him in return and killed the Fusilier, while making my 6th save for my kilt-wearing bad-ass.

 

Ultimately, Nick won 6-2. I had done all the killing I did quite literally on the last turn. Nick was even amazed at his rolling, which was simply phenomenal. He had at least 5 crits at various times (critting Dodge really sucks!) and he easily made close to a dozen Armor saves. He made both Doctor rolls he attempted. And even with Discovery rolls, he made all three that he attempted.

 

It was still a blast, and despite how the game went, it felt like I still had a shot in the 3rd round.

 

Nick is a smart thinker and is picking up the game -fast-. Pan-O seems -perfect- for him so far, and he seems to be enjoying it. But you can bet that one day.... Vengeance Will Be Mine!!!!!!!!!!!!111111!!11112dkowk!!!!!!