Heavy Gear - CanGames Battle 2

For my second battle, I was paired up against DP9 forumite TekRat04. TekRat04, for those that don't know, is the individual reponsible for developing the PDF movment and status counters that are available for download at http://www.dp9.com/. Tekrat04 fielded a Northern tank-exclusive army, which consisted of an Aller, Hardy Aller, and Jaxon Support Tank.

Battle 2 was fought over an urban board that was intersected by a large river that was considered Impassible Terrain. A single bridge allowed passage to and from either side. My objectives were to HOLD the monument on my side of the board while at the same time SEIZE TekRat04's monument on his side of the board.

Here are a few bullets on observations made during this battle:

1. Top Speed Is Your Friend: This battle was more a case of losing VPs instead of gaining them; I had already gained 2 VP for placing my units within distance of my monument, my next goal was to seize TekRat04's. I needed my GP Squad to assault his monument. THis could only be achieved by literally staring down the guns of two Allers, quite possible the strongest unit of armour in the game. So I sent my units Top Speed over the bridge to do so, knowing they could certainly be cut to pieces, and that this move would possibly win or lose the game for me. Thanks to the favourable modifiers of Top Speed, after both Allers had fired all of their weapons at me, two Hunters had taken a Sturdy and Light level worth of damage respectively. The risk had certainly paid off! Here's a pic below of my GP Squad assaulting TekRat04's side of the river:

My beachhead is established on TekRat04's side of the river. I had taken out his Hardy Aller with a Parting Shot from my SC-carrying Hunter, while two Hunters made for his monument while dodging fire from his Aller. On the other side of the major road, my Sabretooth stalks his Jaxon Support Tank:

2. Smoke: TekRat04 used his Allers' Smoke Launchers to great effect. Due to the Concealment they created, I was unable to FO his tanks with my Infantry or Hunters, due to their low Detect ratings.

3. Tanks are Best Used Aggresively!: I had never encountered or used tanks before, but had been under the impression that in an 800 TV force they were almost too many points sunk into one unit. That impression is wrong, as TekRat04 sped forward to counter-assault my side of the river with is Aller. It soon become one shot, one kill as his superior weapons at Point Blank range put large railgun-shaped holes in many of my Gears. Below TekRat04's Aller attacks my MBZK-carrying Hunter and Stripped Down Hunter before assaulting my side of the river:

In the end, TekRat04's Jaxon was taken out by a barrage of MRPs from my Sabretooth, and his Aller was finally whittled down by a well-placed MBZK shot. I had emerged again with full VPs! Here's how my force looked after destroying all of his units:

In the end, my taking of full VPs in battles 1 and 2 lead me to tying with DP9 forumite Izzy as winner of the tournament. I got to go home with the title of "Canadian National Champion" and $50 dollars worth of free product from DP9. I picked up a Bobcat and Weasel 2-pack and so more dice counters.

I'd to thank everyone that participated in this tournament and the DP9 staff of doing an excellent job of hosting. I came away with a great experience, and am looking forward to defending my title next year. Until then, it's back to the hobby desk for me!