Armoured Clash: The Battle for the Hill Fort (2K Union vs Crown)

 

Got another game in against Crown, moving up to 2K points. We’re still sticking with a 4ft x 4ft battlefield as recommended, and we played Lord of the Manor this time. I even took notes this time!

Union Forces ready to manifest some destiny

Deployment

Lord of the Manor doesn’t leave much room for creativity. I deployed my mechs centrally to stay out of LoS from the Galahad and Monarch brick. I figured I could tank a bit of fire from the Mordreds on my heavy mechs or lakota. MOABs went behind a hill as is their custom. Iron Horses went in reserves to again try Artillery hunting (now at full strength), and the Blazers went a bit further on the flank to hopefully not get murdered immediately.

A wave of Crown Steel

Crown formed a brick of all the TANKS on their left flank, with the Mordreds on and the Bors behind their central hill. Spitfires were ready to engage from behind the tanks, and the Sharps were deployed aggressively to claim the objective. 

Deployment after vanguard moves

Turn 1

I finished deploying first, but gave up the initiative. With the large central LoS blocker and short range on my mechs, I figured the activation advantage would be worth it. I think it worked out overall, but to punish me for my hubris my opponent immediately jumped into the central building with the Sharps, which took three activations (Heavy Mechs, Lakota, and Federal Troopers) to dig out. While I was busy with that he moved up his Galahads and Monarch, doing a bit of damage to my arc mechs.

The Lakota has some crazy luck with arc

As soon as the last sniper fell the Spitfires decided that the now vacant hill fort looked cozy. This lead to the realization that since we called it as Size 5, it could see over the hill my artillery was hiding behind. Thankfully the Monarch had already fired, so it was just the Bors, which still killed a MOAB and damaged another. We then returned to our regularly scheduled event of crown infantry slowly getting ground down in the hill fort while the rest of the crown forces advanced.

The second unit of Spitfires took offense at the unit of arc mechs hiding behind the hill fort and decided to get stuck in. This proved to be a bit of a mistake, as between an overwatching rocket fireteam and the mech’s defensive advantage half the unit died before getting to strike, ending with a lost combat and a wipe on withdraw.

Turn 1 ended with a score of 10 to 3 for the Union, 2 wiped infantry blocks in exchange for the crown still holding the objective.

 

Turn 2

Union wins initiative. Reserves came in, a flying column of Iron Horses pointed right at the Mordreds and the secondary objective they stood on. My Corsairs ended up in my right corner (my opponent’s infantry was mostly in transports or the building, so targets were scarce). The opposing Defiant got ready in the opposite corner to strafe the Iron Horses.

Beginning of T2, after reserves

And now for what we’ve all been waiting for! The Iron Horses charged the Mordreds in the flank, rolling 13 hits and wiping 3, the crew abandoning their last gun as they fled. We’re now 1 for 3 with them actually doing something. Hit and Run also let them grab the secondary objective, though that did not last long. They were later engaged by the Stirlings, followed by the disembarking Command Platoon, causing the cavalry to break and flee the battle. 

CHARGE!

The Crown, offended by this cunning strategem (or dishonorable sneak attack, take your pick) sends every spare bit of fire into the Iron Horses. The Monarch engages with its turrets, suppressing them. The remaining Spitfires decides discretion is the better part of valor and escapes from the hill fort, popping another two and causing them to fall back off the objective. This is kind of a theme with union light units. Once suppressed, they start running.

Seeing an opportunity, however, the Pacifiers hop into the hill fort, shooting the cowardly Spitfires in the back. In exchange an artillery strike is called on the objective, but good use of cover leads to just one pacifier lost. Meanwhile just outside the hill fort, the galahads and arc mech are having an indecisive slap fight. Then the Blazers rush in to support the mechs, going all in on Give em’ Hell and blowing up a tank outright.

Now to the aerial battle. Due to a lack of targets, the Corsairs enter the AA envelope of the Heavy Dragoons, losing one to anti-air fire. They strafe the central Command Platoon to minor damage. The Defiance moves to hit the Blazers, but due to their increased toughness survive the Rocket Team AA to limp off the board.

Dakka Dakka Dakka!

There’s some more minor exchanges of fire, with Infantry dropping on both sides. The Stirlings and Command Infantry on the flank both engage the Blazers, causing them to fall back each time. The Heavy Mechs reposition to hopefully engage the Galahads next turn. 

Hey guys what's going on over here?

The turn ends with Union holding the hill fort, 21 to 8.

 

End of Turn 2

Turn 3

Crown wins initiative. Both remaining planes are again positioned in their respective corners to strafe the center of the field.

Do you see those Mechs? Yes sir? I don't want to anymore. Yes sir!

The Monarch opens up on the Arc Mechs with it’s main gun and cannons, wiping the unit. Their supporting turrets open up on the hill fort, heavily depleting the Pacifiers sheltering inside and suppressing the unit. The subsequent Artillery bombardment drives the Pacifiers from the hill fort, leaving the objective open. However, they find their courage and retake the building afterwards, vowing to keep the Lone Star flying. Desperate attempts by the Crown transports, Command Platoon, and the last Spitfire fail to shift the last Pacifier.

. . . Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there . . .

The Lakota, with a mighty CHOO CHOO!, rams up the hill to drive the heavy dragoons back. The Newhaven’s gatling guns open up on the remaining infantry, wiping them out. Seeing the state of their remaining forces and the Federal Troopers advancing on the hill fort, the Crown quits the field.

CHOO CHOO!

 

End of Game

Summary and Lessons Learned

Fighting over one central building proved quite interesting, though there seem to be a lot of wrinkles to fighting over buildings that aren’t obvious at first glance. Jumping into the building exposes you to fire from the entire opposing force, which is only partially mitigated by the defensive bonus. I wonder if it’s a better idea to leave an objective building for later activations, or maybe just touch in with a scoring unit in the early stages of the game and preserve your forces.

For your damage dealers, you ideally want to be throwing at least 10 dice. That mostly means full strength, sometimes reinforced units. The Iron Horses definitely needed the larger dice pool, and the mechs were also kicking ass. Having a carriage along on the Lakota also moves its Impact attack up to 10 dice. I’m also planning to try out some smaller units for activation advantage. Being able to move on an objective later looks very important.

I’m also starting to think that Crown infantry should be the second wave, not the first. Spitfires are coming across as a troubleshooter unit, not something to jump forward and then tank fire. I think you probably want one full Spitfire unit to jump on an opposing light target of opportunity, and one or more basic to jump onto objectives late in a turn.

I liked the Monarch overall, but I think it needs to be played forward to get the most out of its secondary armaments. Optimally, the main gun should engage in some counter-battery fire turn 1 and then clear infantry turn 3. To get LoS to enemy Artillery, I think your best options are putting a size 2 unit on a hill, or flanking with some cavalry. I’d also suggest bringing Forlorn Hope to get it into range earlier.

The system continues to be lots of fun. We played 2K points in about 3 hours, and that was still with plenty of rules checking. Thanks for a great game (to both my opponent and the devs)!