Heavy Gear - CanGames Battles 3 & 4

My third draw brought me up against DP9 forumite John Prins. For those that have followed my blog you'll know this would be a rematch of sorts, John bringing his Mekong Peacekeeper force up against my Northern Guard. Both of us however, had brought some new friends. John had retained the Paratroop Cadre and Fire Support Cadre, but also brought along a kitted out MP Cadre that included a Cobra MP and a Black Adder. I was really looking forward to this game, as John has got be the best opponent I've ever faced in Blitz. Playing him you can just see that no Action or Movement is wasted, and that everything he does in the game is really in anticipation of what will happen in the next round or two. There were three objectives on the table, and I was tasked with Forward Observing them all in order to identify which one had the civilians stand I was supposed to rescue and Hold until the end of the game. Lucky for me, I brought a Weasel along, and I could already start the FO from my own deployment zone under cover. Even luckier for me, I FOed the correct objective by round 2 and popped the civilian token into play. After that things became fast and furious; my Recon Squad's Jaguar sped in to pick them up, while elements of his Paratroop Cadre laid down some serious hurt with both their light bazookas and denying my use of CPs through their wily use of EW. I tried to smash them off the face of the planet, but even after a Field Gun attack and two Medium Artillery Strikes, they weathered the storm well and took minimal damage. In the John was in control of the civilian stand, with no units of my anywhere close to contest it, and he won 3-2 VPs. Here are a few pictures of the battle.

John pops smoke to cover the advance of his Paratroop Cadre towards an Objective.

Under the cover of a pile of scrap, my Weasel FOs the objective while friendly units advance upon it.

On the otherside of the battlefield, John moves elements of his Fire Support Cadre deftly though the scrap piles.

Northern forces have taken the objective, but heavily armed Southern units are on the prowl.

The civilian stand has been taken, and my Jaguar does it's best to take on the fire from its Southern advisaries.

My fourth and final draw had me up against DP9 forumite Hapotte. Hapotte had stepped in for his father Jean who had to leave and fielded a Northern force of: a Light Tank Squad with 2 Bandit Hunter Klemms; a Field Gun Section with two field guns; a Dragoon Squad, and; a Strike Squad. Both of us had the same Objectives: two Wipe Them Out orders to be randomly determined on our units. I knew I had to be aggressive to keep myself in the game. My first Field Gun shot took out one of his Field Guns and knocked a Sturdy Box of a Hunter. He also had his Rabid Grizzly go stationary to attack my quickly advancing White Cat (which took so much fire without a real scratch and should get Gear of the Match honours), a mistake I quickly capitalized on and had my Grizzlies take it out with HGM fire. My Artillery Strikes really paid off as well in this game as I rolled boxcars for my raw roll, and it took out both his Kodiak and a Cheetah. All of that happened in the first turn, quickly swinging the game in my favour. In the end I ran out the victor 4-0 VPs, and only lost a single Gear in the process. Here's a couple of pictures I took of the last round in action.

I quickly begin apply pressure to my left flank, with elements of my GP Squad holding a building, while the rest of their squadmates advance.

On my right flank, my Grizzly takes cover behind a structure to rain mortar fire over the battlefield, while a Hunter stands guard to the left.

My forces on the left flank take fire while advancing.

My White Cat leads the charge on the left flank, while Hapotte focus' his fire upon it.

The bulk of my forces have now all moved forward, with the exception of those units that IF capabilities.

The beginning of the end for Hapotte, as I consilodate my forces and begin mopping up the remainder of his units.

In the end I ended up with 4 tournament points, which were not close enough to eventual tournament champ Izzy's 7, and could not defend my 2010 title. Congratulations to everyone that participated and I must say that playing with everyone here is always one of the highlights of the year. Can't wait to do it all again next spring!