Horizon Wars Battle Report 2 - 4th August 2016
Saturday, 13th August 2016
Battle Report for Horizon Wars game on Thursday 4th August, 2016.
This was a game played between Rob Wilson and myself last Thursday evening, we used Horizon Wars rules, with the "New Adventures" Supplement.
Mustering
We decided on a 15 Point game. My Battlegrooup consisted of:
Heavy Infantry CHQ
2 x Heavy Infantry
2 x Armoured Artillery
2 x Recon
1 x P2 mech (M4,F5,A2,D2, Assault Rig, Ace Pilot)
Total Force Cost (FC):15, Total Force Presence (FP):18
I had 3 command points, so upgraded my Heavy infantry units, giving them each +1F
Starting Momentum:18
Rob's Battlegroup:
Heavy Infantry CHQ
2 x Heavy Infantry
2 x Heavy Cavalry
1 x Armoured Artillery
1 x Recon
1 x P3 Mech (M3,F5,A4,D2, Extended Range (Medium), Agile Frame)
Total FC:15, Total FP:20
Rob also had 3 command points, which he used to upgrade his Heavy infantry by +1F
Starting Momentum:20
Intelligence
My intelligence Rating worked out at -2 (Good), and Rob's worked out at -3 (Poorly disposed)
Situation
I rolled a 10, Beaten, so had to lose 3FP before I started, I decided to lose one of my Armoured Artillery, since they were the only P3 I had, everything else was P2, so I would have had to lose 4P worth of troops if I chose differently. My starting momentum was reduced to 15 as well.
Rob rolled a 12, so could chose any Situation, and chose 2, Storm in a Teacup, mainly because that choice took no initial losses, combined with having most forces on table at the start.
Terrain
I got to place 6 terrain pieces, Rob could place 5, so after doing that, the table looked like this:
Mission and Purpose
I got Hold to Destroy, and Rob got Advance to Protect (not Patrol for a change!) This meant I started the game Poorly disposed, the same as Rob.
Deployment
I won priority, and chose to deploy second. Rob deployed opposite the industrial area, with 2 of his heavy Infantry, his Recon, 2 Heavy Cav and his P3 Mech, keeping his artillery and 1 x Heavy Infantry in reserve.
I deployed all but my artillery behind the industrial area, keeping the artillery in reserve.
Turn 1
Rob took 4 momentum damage, taking 2 on his artillery, and 2 on his reserve Infantry unit. I didn't have any momentum damage.
Since I deployed second, I got to activate a unit first. I activated my CHQ and using chain of command, moved my mech forward and fired at Robs mech. Rob reacted by moving and firing with his Mech, neither of us causing much damage at this point. I then activated my mech Firing at Robs Recon unit, scoring a few hits. Rob started bringing his units forward, doing move and shoot, while I advanced my heavy infantry into the building in front of me. Rob got a few good hits on my Mech, which was starting to look a bit battered by now. I also moved my Recon forward but keeping it out of LOS of Rob's troops, as I couldn't fire my artillery with Indirect fire until next turn. Rob repaired the damage to his units in reserve.
Turn 2
Due to Rob's mission, I lost 3 momentum, and was now down to 12. Rob lost 3 due to my mission, so he was down to 17, and only took 1 momentum damage.
I activated one of my Recon units and called in an artillery barrage, firing at Rob's most forward unit, one of his Heavy Cavalry. I caused a fair bit of damage, but didn't quite destroy it. It was at this point I realised I had made a major mistake in losing my 2nd artillery unit at the start, as I now could only call in 2 artillery shots, instead of a possible 4. I'd have been better off losing 1 Heavy infantry and 1 Recon.
Rob fired on my P2 Mech with his P3, which with it's extended range, managed to finish off my Mech, while I did 1 damage with my reaction shot.
Rob then advanced one of his Heavy infantry into the building across the road from the one I was occupying, so I charged the building with a Heavy Infantry unit, and lost, so my unit was destroyed, but causing several points of damage to his infantry.
He activated the damaged Heavy cav, shooting at my other Recon on my left, but was mostly ineffective. I figured I could finish off his infantry in the building, so charged with my Recon unit, but lost the melee again!
My momentum was now looking very poor for next turn, with -6 for troop losses and a possible -3 or -4 from Rob's mission, so in desperation, I tried killing as much as possible of Rob's forces. I fired at his infantry in the building with my Heavy Infantry in the building opposite (no more charging!) and finally destroyed it. At this point, Rob decided he woould try to destroy the building which my 2 Heavy infantry were hiding in, and got a hit - he needed 8 hits to destroy it. Then he fired with his Mech at my building, needing 9s to hit, and got this:
Turn 3
We realised the game was essentially over by now, I had 5 momentum (3+2 for the kill), and Rob had 17 (15+2 for 2 kills). Rob kept firing at my building, getting hit after hit, while I tried to kill the heavy Cav which was nearest my table edge. Eventually, he destroyed the building, taking the 2 Heavy infantry units with it.
Turn 4
Game over, my momentum was now -4, and Rob's was 16, an Utter victory for Rob! The game lasted around 2 hours.
So at the end of the day, a good fun game, but I'm a bit ambivalant about my decision at the start of the game on which units to lose due to the mission. On the one hand, it is nice ot know that the choices you make at this point matter, but on the other hand, the fact that I had effectively thrown the game right at the start was upsetting. Not that keeping the extra artillery would have won me the game, but I think I would have had a better chance with 2 artillery instead of 1.