A Life Less Interesting

A friendly, this one. PegasusJF has asked for practice playing marines, and who am I to refuse?

The game's here

So, since it's my challenge, 30 points on a big map, which has drawn "Prison Break" with him inside the prison.

Deployment
This isn't actually an obvious choice. There are a number of very good hard-points, with access controlled by lockable military doors. The obvious choice for him is to hole up in one place, and pour fire into any attackers.

One good thing is that the deployment areas are exposed, or in destructable terrain. So, his weak point for that tactic will be the lack of access to ammo.

So, what to pick? Greys are a possible, but would be operating far from home - so would need one saucer as a mobile recharge point. Also, psykers won't have the fun of blinding troops so they can't fire, as there are bound to be overlapping fields of view. And all that open space would drain any guardian shields at a fast rate

Machina are again potential, but I know he's going to be Marines, and I'm always scared of snipers against my bases. Plus, long flight times for the missiles will reduce their effectiveness

Marines would be a fair match-up, but like Greys, I'd probably be operating away from my bases. Tempting to go sniper and grunt heavy and just pound his bases from range, wearing him down.

However, I'm going to give Pegasus the full Marine experience, and go Spawn. The general plan is to feint a rush from the bottom - if he has anyone at the deployment zone at the main gate, he should pull back pretty fast when he sees me. Whilst that is going on, buzzers can pop through gaps in the wall to scope out his deployment and location of bases. I'll try to keep his attention focussed on the drones at the bottom so I can move round and strike through a wall at the top.

So, the decoy force is 5 drones and a queen at the bottom-right - I want to show these to him
There's a scouting force of 3 buzzers at the bottom-left - again, I want these to be seen, so he pulls back to around his base(s). Any damage can always be recycled.
The main force is at far up and right as I can make it - Another queen, 3 spikers for long-range anti-base duties, 4 Splatters for the main rush, and 3 Spitters to herd him into the zone. Another 4 buzzers for scouting and swift assasination runs finish off the deployment

Turn 1: 10-20 secs

Nothing on initial deployment - I didn't really expect to - so carry on with the plan. Make like I'm going in at the bottom and right, whilst I actually go up
Buzzers will do a bit of wirecutting to ensure I've got good retreat paths - at this stage, all that matters is that the bodies are in an accessible position

Turn 2: 20-30 secs
So far so good. He's deployed at least a sniper and two grunts at the door, so they should have seen all drones and the queen on the right, and the buzzers on the left. The drones will do a bit of dancing, try not to get killed in a bad position and work out what forces he has. I'm expecting him to run, and group his forces.

Turn 3: 30-40 secs
OK, so he doesn't run. And, looking at the troops, I can see why he feels confident- there are at least 2 commos, 3 grunts and a sniper down at the main gate. That's 11 of the 30 possible points in one place. I am going precisely nowhere near that lot, until I can flank or run them out of ammo. There's also a single grunt I spotted near the top right, who may be about to spoil my surprise - not sure, but he may have seen most of the main attack force.

There's no-one in the next deployment zone I peeked at, so, assuming 2 bases, that's one per building at the top. With that guess, 14 of 30 are accounted for.

Carry on scouting, and feinting at the bottom. I'll also try and goo the grunt at the top, just for entertainment

Turn 4: 40-50 secs

As expected, he's planned to hole up in one of the buildings - the big one in the middle. Saw another commo, two extra grunts, a medic and a 'nader. Confirmed total is 19 FP.

He is at least aware of his weaknesses - the turn message was "I've been beaten by spawn before from what I've considered strong positions, but that was probably my problem, I was too static." I'll do my best to make him static again :-)

I'll carry on scouting and cutting holes for access - he's obviously worried about the drones at the bottom, and I think I'm managing to draw his troops down towards them, and away from my main attack forces, and his base(s).
I'll also try to get stealthy entry to the military building on the top-right. I can bite a window out and get a buzzer in next turn, to open the doors. If I did manage to goo his grunt at the top, that'd be a nasty shock for him. And even if not, that gives me access to dropping goo between his hiding place and his base.

Turn 5: 50-60 secs
Well, as promised, he's not being totally static on his defence. However, he still hasn't managed to land a shot on one of the buzzers, and the wayward shots are starting to cut handy access routes for me.
In addition, there isn't a base where I thought there should be, in the building at the top. That leaves only one location for a possible base - if he's deployed without one, he's in significant trouble

I also saw yet another commo, and 3 more grunts, for a confirmed 25 FP.

His tactics seem to be to have a commo with 2 grunts as a unit - there are basically 4 of these, one near the gate, one at the edge of the wall next to them, one in the dip in that same wall, and one guarding the back door. There are then the "specials" of a sniper, a 'nader and a medic.

Since I can't believe he hasn't got a base, I'll assume that the remaining 5 FP are a base and some grunts guarding it - mind, both the doors leading to the fielded building at the bottom irght are open, implying a second unit there as well (though why, I'm not sure, as I can't charge that route)

More of the same from me then - I'll dodge out of the building at the top, get into the military building at the top right, drill holes and generally try to attract fire from long distances. He's already starting to pull back a bit, as there isn't anyone in the gate any more, so the more I can encourage that, the better - some goo over the walls will help the cause :-)

Turn 6: 60-70 secs

Found the base. And, typically enough, it's 180 degrees out from where my spikers are. So, they're going to go for a long walk round the outside. Faintly amazingly, it seems to be unguarded - saw another 'nader this turn, and I can't believe there's only one medic, so that's probably the full count:
1 base (1)
4 commos (12)
2 naders (4)
1 sniper (2)
2 medics (2) - only one seen
9 grunts (9) - only 7 seen

I managed to goo up a 'nader and 2 grunts rather nicely, and I'm confident I can re-goo them 2 or 3 times - so they're basically out of the game. Also, I'm in position to goo his forces at the barricade behind the main gate - if I can goo them then it puts me into a very strong position.

Otherwise, I'll pull units out of range of the goo'd 'nader - he may go splash-happy this turn, and try to get access to the back of the building containing the base. I'll also feint a splatter on the far right, pretending to rush in to the goo'd troops. He'll pull back next turn, but it should give him something to worry about on that side.

I'll pull back the badly damaged buzzers for recycling - but will retreat away from the queens until out of sight

The plan is still to take the base first, but if I can goo up some more troops en route then that'll be lovely. At some point I may also want to rush a buzzer in to open a door or two, but that can be later when there are fewer lasers around.

Turn 7: 70-80 secs

Still no nades - though his first 'nader is now in a lovely position to hit my (feinting) splatter, so that'll waste some ammo

My goo at the gate managed to directly hit one commo - everyone else ran away - so I'm steadily forcing him back into the building, which is where I want him

And it's taking a while to chew through buildings, but as this is a 40 turn game, I'm not too worried at the moment.

Same plan as last turn then - move spikers into position, goo troops if I can (although I've irritatingly timed the shot to re-goo his 'nader wrong - there's a 3 second gap...) and chew access routes for the base and for splatters to get close. Oh, and do the duck-shoot thing to waste ammo - if he tries to go for a reload, I should have a splatter hiding there soon, for a very unpleasant surprise. I'll also shift one queen round to the top, to make recycling easier.

In the intermediate term, it also may be possible to split his forces. If I can get a bead on the top door, he'll end up with left, right and inside groups.

Turn 8: 80-90 secs

It's all going nicely. Both the duckshoot and the feint worked, and I pulled away with no damage.

I now have safe access to his base, so I'll weaken it so bady he can't use it. And as there's a goo'd commo near the front gate, I'm going to try to hit it with some forced-fire spikers from a safe range, where he can't see me and return fire. Just one hit should be enough for the goo to finish the job in a few turns, and I'm making sure the goo doesn't run out this time.
Apart from that. just some repositioning to behind the building at the top, ready for the charge.

Turn 9: 90-100 secs

Coo, judged the munching on the base a bit close - I think it has one point left. And I think I hit the commo once, as he's now down to one-third points.

Time to think strategy - He's now nicely pulling back at the top, into the "safe" building, except the one goo'd grunt. The group on the left, outside the building, are fairly static. And I've blocked access to the bottom door fairly well.

I'll send a splatter in the top door, see if I can't get a medic or the damaged 'nader. I've tried to time it so the commo on the side shouldn't get a shot in until 2 secs into the next turn.
I'll move my buzzers down on the left - that'll give him something to shoot at, and a group of 3-4 buzzers should be able to mob individual units, like his sniper at the bottom, fairly easily.

The spikers are now going down and left, getting into position to shoot along the length of the building through the gate. Hopefully, I'll be able to force-fire next turn and either hit the ailing commo, or someone sat in the building.

Overall, I think I've got him just where I want him - bunched up in a building with limited ammo. The other splatters are getting into position...

Score: 0-1

Turn 10: 100-110 secs

Still going well - took a tiny bit of fire to some buzzers, but nothing significant.

His outside team is steadily moving up, so I think he's rumbled my plans to attack through the top door. However, it may be too late for him.
The splatter is dead close to his commo inside, but won't do enough to kill, which is a shame. I'll move two squares down and then detonate - test orders show lots of damage to the commo, 2 grunts and it takes out the door control.

I've hatched another splatter from recycling, so that will rush into the military building, ready to wander through the doors about to be unlocked by my exploding splatter

The buzzers are congregating at the bottom near the gate, ready for a push next turn - after his commo dies from goo poisoning. At the top, I'm trying to cut off his outside forces by lobbing goo into his building from the toilets. Ugh - green explosive stuff coming from a toilet! Also closing in on the left, with bounced goo about to hit his current position early the turn after.

Unless something goes really badly wrong, the next two turns are going to be painful for Pegasus

Score: 0-1

Turn 11: 110-120 secs

The goo'd grunt at the got assasinated nicely by a buzzer, who then left the door open too long and got shot. Looks like I'll have to walk the queen all the way back to recycle the body

The first toilet goo got kicked away by a flukey grunt - jammy git - but there's a second shot incoming

Same again this turn - goo the commo at the bottom door, and drop goo inside the building at the top. Cluster the buzzers bottom left, ready for an assasination run, and try to pick off any isolated blokes...

And the spikers will be in position this turn, so force-fire along the building. This will take down the doors first, so I'll also drop goo into the botton door, to isolate his troops

Score: 1-3

Turn 12: 120-130 secs

Looking good. The commo's dead, and I think he's pretty much goo'd down, so just pick off isolated units - starting at the bottom left of his building.
The spikers will keep supression fire along the hallway, and everyone else will close in on the left-hand wall of the building

Score: 4-3

Turn 13: 130-140 secs
That worked nicely. His forces at the top are pinned in much goo, and I mobbed a grunt, medic and 'nader with the buzzers, losing only 2
It's just a matter of time now, as I can keep his top group pinned long enough for them all to die. I'll bring the drones and a splatter down the outside for a rush to the bottom door - those with spare time can munch on windows for buzzer access and for the spitter to fire through

Score: 12-7

Turn 14: 140-150 secs

Just getting in position. He's still pinned, and fairly static where not pinned.

Score: 12-7

Turn 15: 150-160 secs

And he concedes after a splatter takes out 3 of his remaining ungoo'd troops, including his only remaining medic.

Score: 16-8

Lessons learned

This game was lost on deployment, and in the first few turns. PegasusJF was obviously expecting a tank-heavy mech deployment, and had set out his troops accordingly - 4 commos would make very short work of any large, slow-moving targets like AI's or MT's
His plan was obviously to hole up in the central building, and snipe approaching troops.

However, those tactics are a disaster against spawn.

A much better plan with that deployment would have been to claim the top-left corner of the map, around the building containing the base.

Open space is your friend against spawn, as they can't see far and have poor ranged attacks. Clear out the outside walls to prevent yourself being flanked, and totally flatten the building at the top.
That leaves 3 approach zones for spawn - top past the central building, middle between the military buildings and bottom where the wall is.
Spamming plenty of 'nades into those zones would cause the initial rush some pain, and the firepower of 4 commos and the grunts in an interlocking killzone should do plenty of damage. He'd have to watch for spitters getting into the building at the bottom, but 'nades could go over the wall as well as goo-balls.

Oh, and the best way of killing commos is with goo :-)