A Life Less Interesting

OK, here's my first attempt at writing up a game - let's see how it goes

Having just arrived in the Elite league, I rather suspect my recent run of wins is going to come to a shuddering halt. But, let's see how some of these good players do it
Spacedog is some 20 or so places above me, so it'd be a good scalp!
We're playing a 30fp league match on Desert, and I'm at the top

Deployment
I always take ages during deployment - it's so possible to lose a game with a bad loadout before you even fire a shot. "Desert" is a big map with lots of open space, some military buildings as hardpoints and a fair number of fragments of building.

Machina are right out - MT's and AI's would just get toasted by any snipers before they even saw the enemy. Greys are a possible with a warper heavy deployment, but a bit too risky I think - the ranges are such that you'd be doing very little damage each time, and the slow warps would be easy to dodge
Spawn maybe, as a drone/buzzer rush, but I got my head handed to me on a plate with a similar map recently (v's marines) - so it's going to be marines

Now, with marines I'm not going to need a lot of close-quarters stuff, so 1 commander for a bit of redecorating and removal of enemy cover. 4 snipers, spread over the map, so I get fairly good view of what's going on - plus the long range force-fires they can provide are going to be very handy to soften up the enemy. 4 grenade elements (grunt + grenadier) take me to 23, so 2 bases, 4 medics and a spare grunt tidy up the deployment.
I suspect spacedog will go either spawn or marines, so I need to ensure my deployment areas can't get swarmed on the first turn before I can react. So, I deploy on the top half of the military building on the right - with a sniper right at the bottom to act as a chewtoy or spotter. Otherwise, I'm clustered around the top and right of the map - can bunch up in 1 turn if it's spawn

Turn 1 10-20 secs

He's Marines.
I can see a commander at a window at the bottom right, a grenadier near some barrels within striking range of the doors, a grunt at a window at the top and a grunt presumably about to run into one of the hardpoints.
So, we'll go with the original plan. Snipers fire through windows (and dodge), and everyone else stays out of sight. I'll launch a grenade at the end of the turn to explode outside the windows to the bottom half of the military building at the right, just in case he's planning to lob a grenade in next turn.
I'll also try to take out an irritating barrel that his grenadier will almost certainly use for cover at some point. The commander can take out a few walls to help with internal movement

Turn 2 20-30 secs - Contact

We have a lot of shots going off but nothing hits me. There are at least 4 grunts in the left-hand building, with two snipers in the windows - hopefully one of the shots through the window towards the right has hit that sniper. It looks like he has a similar gameplan, though probably more grunts and less grenadiers.

My sniper at the very top is going to take a couple of oppo shots at a grunt and then run, as he's behind some fragile cover - and I think his sniper will take it down next turn. In the mean time, the advanced grenade element, which I'm fairly sure he can't know about, will take down some cover so my snipers on the far right get some lines of fire - plus the spotter will try to finish off the grunt that the sniper is aiming for

I'll also dance a grunt about on the right, and see which of his units expose themselves. I'll try a couple of shots at his grenadier as well, but more in hope than expectation.

More sniper shots through windows as well - I'll concentrate on the building with all his grunts / snipers on the left.

Turn 3 30-40 secs - Good and bad

I saw a badly damaged sniper scarper away from the inwards-facing window on the left, so one of the previous window shots has obviously hit home. Plus, the sniper and 2 grunts against the grunt in the middle has hit him. It also looks like one of his other grunts on the left has taken a hit - I think he must have been unlucky and stood between my top sniper and a window...
On the bad side, the dancing grunt took rather more fire than I was expecting, and went down to a single sniper shot from the bottom right. So, that's a sniper and commo at the bottom right then. First blood to Spacedog. He did set lots of grunts dancing aroung the hardpoints in the middle though - so those are nice and safe, as I'm not planning to go anywhere near enough for grunts to do damage at that range.

Also my grenades on the left didn't do quite as much damage as I'd hoped, and most of the walls are still standing.

I'll advance the grunts on the left, and hope to pick off one of the damaged grunts, under sniper cover who are alternating moves, force-fires through windows and opportunity fire

The grenadier will move forward a little, and try to drop a grenade or two at the corner of the building Spacedog started from on the left. Sniper fire from the right will hopefully drop the wall first, so the explosion should catch anyone at that top window - I saw a grunt there last turn

Long range sniper fire again through the windows on the left, plus one to the window at the bottom for good luck.
It looks like I'm getting good leverage on the far left of the map, so I'm going to slowly redeploy my troops into position to back up the assault

Score: 0-1

Turn 4 40-50 secs - My turn for a bit of luck

A forced-fire sniper shot though a window took out Spacedog's sniper at the top left - he should have ducked after taking his shot. His two other badly damaged grunts have also run back, leaving (I think) just 2 grunts at the building on the left - one who may have taken a sniper shot mid-corridor, as the shot stops one square short of the wall.
So, he's backing out of there - I'll press home my advantage by advancing a sniper and a couple of grunts, but not to within grenade range.
My grenadier on the left is now running low, so I'll drop a couple of grenades towards the doors of the hard-point in the middle of the building, in the grunt in there was thinking of joining the party, and scarper for reload - the other grenadier is coming up to replace him.

I've also seen a grunt close to my hardpoint on the right of the map - a snapshot missed by miles. I think it's time to start spamming the insides of that building, in case he's just prepared his assault team (or wants to sneak a grunt in). Force fire through the windows plus a couple of grenades at the end of the turn will make it rather uncomfortable for anyone thinking about it. I don't really expect him to assault that way - but grenades in there will ensure he's not even considering it.

This is when I can start thinking about where his base(s) might be. On the left, I reckon just next to the double doors outside the building I've been grenading. I'll lob a forced-fire shot from my advancing sniper through those double doors, in case he's running through there.
And I'd also guess either within the hardpoint at the bottom of the map, or (if he's brave) behind the bit of wall on the far right, next to where his commander started. If it's the latter then continued sniper shots through the window just above it will pay dividends.

Score: 2-1

Turn 5 50-60 secs - So close...

Lots of fire came at my troops traversing to the left, but none hit. The grenade at the doors in the middle so nearly paid off - as it turns out the grunt was spotting for a grenadier, but his 'nader survived the point-blank explosion. Unfortunately, my 'nader got hit by a sniper during launch, and was then killed during retreat by return grenade fire - knocked over by a strong breeze. Got to think I was unlucky there
However, the force-fire from my sniper on the top left through the double-doors paid off nicely - killed something, and since there was a badly wounded grunt running that way, gotta assume it was him

The spamming on the right didn't entirely go according to plan - my 'nader almost taken out by a sniper from long range. I'll jink him back next turn for repair.

So, carry on with the original plan - spam on the right, and advance on the left. Gotta watch out for grenades on the left though - That badly damaged 'nader is in the central building somewhere...

Score: 3-3

Turn 6 - 60-70 secs - Good timing

Looks like the grenades on the right were the business - they didn't kill anything directly, but he's definitely advancing, and managed to get 2 grunts into the little corridor between the two halves of the building. Fortunately, one got badly beaten with the grenades, and my grunt dancing round the window managed to finish him off.
Not so great with the advance on the left though - miscalculated the range of his grenader, and took some splash damage. So, stay well away from there. Also saw where his sniper is hanging out, so expect a couple of force-fire shots through there next turn - he seems to like keeping snipers still :-) Plus, the kill last turn was a medic - so probably some badly beaten up grunt still round there...

Anyway, same again this turn - Need a bit of a trick shot to get a grenade into the corridor bit on the right where his other assault grunt is (without exposing the damaged 'nader) but I think I've got him, as there's a grenade going to land in his retreat zone in 3 seconds time.

On the left, I'm going to look into the room on the far left on HOS, plus punch a couple of holes for support fire. The damaged 'nader is going to move further out, and look round the corned on ROS - trying to get into position to hit where his sniper is

I'll also try to hit the grunt in the middle military building with sniper forced-fire, as he's dancing as a lookout. Not too likely to hit, but I'm trying to get supression fire rather than damage

Score 4-3

Turn 7 - 70 to 80 secs. Ah...

SpaceDog turns out to have a grenade element on the far left, launching directly into the room my grunt is entering. Irritatingly, it's the second grenade which does for him - which was intended to go through a window behind him...

He's also started dancing his snipers, as the forced fire misses. Shame.

On the plus side, the trick-shot with the grenade on the right lands precisely where I wanted it, killing the grunt. Since he's started spamming the other bit of the room, that should put paid to any attacks on that side for a bit

So, the assault on the left is over - No way I'm attacking blind against two grenade elements. A staged withdrawal, with the commo and sniper providing some forced-fire into likely windows, should be OK

On the right, it's looking OK - I know where his grenadier is, and the main assault force has bitten the dust. More forced-fire through windows, and a grenade long-distance - in case he's thinking of bouncing one through from the left-hand room.

I'll also use the time to reload a couple of snipers - they've been chewing through the ammo. I'll also put a grunt into the middle - I'm a bit aware there's a bit of a large hole between the left and right-hand groups of mine

Score 5-4

Turn 8 - 80-90 secs - Great "Staged retreat".

One grunt does nothing like what test orders showed, and gets wiped by my own forced-fire commo shot. Mind, retreating was definitely the best policy, as the building on the left lit up with loads of grenade explosions

The forced-fire on the right was very nearly successful - he had a commo stood outside the building one square away from where the 2 sniper shots ripped through

Losing that grunt was irritating, because I was just setting up for a long-range battle of attrition - and with a one-point advantage, I could afford to sit back and let the snipers hunt. Now, it's all a bit close - plus I've lost rather a lot of grunts, so I may need to redistribute some from the right-hand group into the middle.

The lone grunt in the middle (I think) was undetected, so I'll push him further forward - would be nice to have an angle on the corridor of the building on the right, should SpaceDog try the same stunt again. In case he was spotted, I'll use a sniper to force-fire the window that his central 'nader would need to hit me

Otherwise, pull back further on the left, and I'll pull back on the right as well - not seen his right-hand side 'nader for a while, and I'm a bit concerned about that...

Score: 5-5

Turn 9 - 90-100 secs. It's quiet.

More explosions on the left, but I'm well out of there. He's obviously not aware that I am, though. The central grunt spotted a couple of other grunts, and even managed to get a shot off - for almost no damage...

Looks like the sniper on the left is still in his regular hole, as a shot missed one of my retreating troops. I won't return fire though, as I'm not in position. I will try some snipers force-firing at the grunt in the forward pillbox though - he seems to have a pattern of dancing round the corner, and then to the middle

The commo is redecorating to remove cover, and slowly retreating - he'll need a reload soon.

The central grunt has done what he needed to, so I'll take a couple of snap-shots and back out of there

Score: 5-5

Turn 10 100-110 secs - too quiet?

Nothing much going on. The grunt I was aiming at bunnied over to the building at the right, so none of the shots were even near. I saw another grunt entering the killzone on the right, so I suppose there's another assault building - two grunts, plus the commo, sniper, 'nader and medic I know are still over there.

Since I've actually pulled a lot of the troops back out of there, I can't get quite the same density of spamming as last time - but the grunt can go look, and the 'nader will try to hit the approach lines. The other 'nader will go into the middle somewhere, with a view to hitting that corridor

Still pulling back on the left - the explosions have stopped, so he must be running back for reload now

Score 5-5

Turn 11 - 110-120 secs. Hmmm

I'm obviously being too static in the building on the right, as he's managed to sneak his commo into the corridor area. Which would have been OK, had I not chosen to do 2 oppo fires instead of one and dancing. So, single shot and the grunt is dead.

In the mean time, he's taken a leaf from my book and has advanced a grunt into the middle, behind a bunch of barrels. Since this is almost perfect range for my central grenadier, it's too tempting. In the mean time, I've got a sniper in the middle who can cover anyone trying to use the killzone on the right.

If I were him, this is where the commo comes blazing round the corner, followed by a couple of grunts, with a 'nader dropping something though the window. So, grenade time to spoil the party, and back away from the window.

The middle 'nader will hit the corridor, in case the commo stays there - though I suspect he won't, and I'll position the third 'nader to hit the outside of the building, in case he comes that way. Mind, he probably doesn't know how sparse my troops in there are.

The rest of the troops are re-positioning or reloading

Score 5-6

Turn 12 - 120-130 secs - Still not a lot

Some skirmishing on the left, but nothing too serious. His grunt in the middle sensibly decided to run away, and I saw the commo on the right back off towards a medic, so the pressure is probably off there too. I'll keep the spamming going though, just in case, with a trick-shot which should go off in the door the end of the corridor

A grenade in the middle, to take out the rest of those barrels, then back off

My snipers are starting to come back online after reloading, so time for some oppo fire for most of them, so as not to give away my position. Looks like we may be settling in for a long slog. From the right, where the sniper's already been spotted, I'll try a forced-fire into the front pillbox.

Turn 13 - 130-140 secs - Whooo...

Perhaps not. I've got a full assault incoming on all fronts.
The damaged commo didn't duck back at all, and I got a shot off at him as he passed my top window - where the grunt is dancing this time! That and a nearby grenade has so nearly got the commo - I got a tiny glipse of him with no green on the health bar at all.
In the middle, we have two grenadiers running forward to cover, with a bunch of grunts in support. Nearly managed to kill one grunt with a sniper shot, and was glad of pulling back last turn as the cover I was using got 'naded into oblivion.

So, on the right, I think I can get the commo - it's just whether he gets my grenadier first. Plus, he's surely going to drop a grenade through the window on the far right, so stay away from there. As I have a grunt on the corner, I'm going to take a risk and fire into the building, and then strafe towards the 'nader behind the barrels in the middle. The 'nader will spam to take out the grunts that are bound to be following up the commo, including a final strike almost on my own position.

Apart from that, I'm going to concentrate fire on the troops behind the barrels in the middle - combined with a bit of dodging, 'cos there's going to be lots of incoming fire

Typically, now is the time I need to reload my commo - just when I need him most.

Score: 5-6

Turn 14 - 140-150 secs - Incoming!

The thing with the grunt on the right worked wonderfully, and polished off his commo with no problem. He then stood around and attracted fire - including from a sniper - which killed him. Points well spent, if it wipes the commo. The spamming also (I think) took out the following grunt - I got a point at the right time.

All the fire into the middle did precisely nothing, so he has a grenadier in a lovely position to hit my final set of cover in the middle, which is exactly what he's going to be doing

Plus, his left-hand 'nader is also dropping shots into the middle, narrowly missing my grunt there.

Time for a comeback here. He's going to expect me to back off again, so I won't - instead, I'll hit the 'nader near the barrels with everything I can. Which turns out to be another nader and a grunt - my commo will arrive at the end of the turn, and should be able to polish off anything left over next turn. The'nader can then fire a traverse shot to the left, into the obvious cover his 'nader is probably going to be using

I'll pull back the 'nader on the right, as he's looking a bit rough, since the grenade I'd predicted did come in, on schedule, and I wasn't far enough away. Since he has a nader close to there, so it's time to evac that building I think - the killzone has done well, and chewed at least 6 points worth of troops.
The middle sniper will also pull back, as grenades are raining in

The snipers on the left can pull out, traverse and oppo fire - plus one forcefire through a window that I think his other 'nader is about to use

If I can blunt the assault force, I think I'll have enough snipers to carry the day, but this is the deciding turn

Score: 9-7

Turn 15: 150-160 secs - A bit of luck, both ways.

As expected, his nader in the middle pushed forward, and then, somewhat less expectedly, tripped over my incoming grenade, taking a point-zero explosion. Mind, the grunt on the side had almost finished him off anyway.

My retreating sniper took another shot from a grunt, then fell over from a grenade at extreme range. This seems to be getting a bit of a habit!

My snipers on the left took out a covering grunt, so that's looking quite hopeful over there.

And the other nader on the left approaching stopped exactly where I expected - and the force-fire missed by .4 of a second. Bah. Mind, there's one of my grenades going to explode there shortly into the next turn, so that nader is starting to look vulnerable.

I'm trying to work out the remaining forces, but there's lots I can't see SpaceDag has done a very good job of never showing much of his forces at one time.

Thus turn, I'm concentrating on the attack on the left, and retreating on the right, as if I were him, I'd be trying to put some grenades exactly where my troops currently are.
I will put a forced-fire sniper shot along the outside of the wall though, just in case the 'nader decides to come the other way.

I'll also bring the commo into play, jinking him into a good central position for next turn, with an oppo fire in on the left-hand grenadier as well. The badly beaten grunt in the middle is going to play bunny, and try to draw fire and not get killed!

My snipers on the left will split, with the damaged one taking one shot and running for healing, whilst the other will traverse a little between oppo fires, to mess up any carefully planned corner-dancing by his grunts - and duck return fire

Score: 12-9

Turn 16: 160-170 secs - Ooh, nice.

Phew. Got some good shots in here.
The main set of oppo fire, against his left hand 'nader, did nothing, and he managed to bounce my incoming 'nade away to reduce damage - I wasn't certain he could even see it...
On the plus side, my commo took his oppo fire against a grunt in the central building, and killed with a single shot - a nice bit of aiming there. His grenade shots all missed, which is good - He thought I'd stand and shoot with the snipers, but that just never happens for me. 3 shots left for his 'nader

Even better, the forced-fire on the far right took out his sniper, and I managed to guess the grenade pattern over there as well - backing out just in time. 2 shots left for that 'nader, by my reckoning.

With another grunt taken by sniper fire on the left, that's 4 points this turn without loss (or even damage) to my guys

This turn should be just mopping up. I'll set the commo to pursue his left-hand grenadier, as I think there's very little in support round there any more, just a sniper tucked away on the side of the building. My top sniper will aim for the 'nader as well, then skip round the boxes to dodge any return sniper fire. With support from the lucky grunt, that should be the 'nader taken care of.

On the right, back the 'nader there away for reload, and let the medics heal each other - Should be a safe spot there for one turn. I expect there will be a grunt come through and take out my base soon, but probably next turn

I'll advance the central 'nader, and hit the last useful bit of cover that one of his medics is hiding behind, at end of turn. Otherwise, just keep hidden and in a spot - the sniper on the right will cover, in case his medic decides to charge.

I think his attack is about spent.

Score:17-9

And suddenly, it's over

Conceding. My clock is too low to mount a substantial comeback. Well played!

And just when my nerves were starting to allow me to enjoy it, and that's a nice 11 points for the league. Gotta say that SpaceDog was a hefty opponent, scaring me on several turns, and it was a good game - maybe we'll have a rematch sometime...

Lessons learned: (for 30 point games...)
Sniper duels - It's unlikely to kill with a single shot (though that happened twice in the game). So, double-up the sniper force fires through the windows, and concentrate on one area. This will have the added advantage of drilling a corridor through the building for short views of units for information.

Medics - Two medics can completely heal one unit a turn. So, pair the medics. Otherwise, you end up half-healing lots of units - I'd rather have one completely healed bloke and the other in hiding somewhere

Grunts - I'd deployed with too few grunts, and was badly running out of them by the end. If he'd closed on the left, the snipers would have been in big trouble.

Killzones - Take out cover to force your opponent into certain (obvious?) positions - and grenade them as he arrives. In this game, the killzone of the military buildings on the right chewed up at least 6 points

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