CRUZ CHRONICLES #002

My good friend Vic was looking to get his Dust fix for not being able to play for 2 consecutive weeks now. Due to venue changes, his originally scheduled battle did not push through. Wanting to try my newly built ‘Elite Platoon’, I obliged to take him on.

Special shout-out to our friends from Marauders for lending us with their great venue, with pizza and soda on the side!

Now for the Battle Report!

DATE OF BATTLE: July 13, 2013

BATTLEFIELD: Marauders’ Base of Operations in Makati

GAME: Dust Tactics

ARMY LISTS:

My ‘Elite Platoon’: 295 Points

Rhino + The Hammers – 48

OZZ 117 + The Hammers – 50

Action Jackson + Devil’s Own – 54

Corps Officers – 35

Grim Reapers x3 – 78

Tank Busters – 30

PLAYER NOTES:

This is more of a fun team for me. Obviously I could have balanced it out more. My main plan was to cover as much ground as possible without losing strategic advantages from the cover and the structure.

Major Victor’s: 289 Points

Bazooka Joe + BBQ Squad – 48

OZZ 117 + Tank Busters – 54

Rhino + Tank Busters – 52

Recon Boys x2 – 30

Mickey x3 – 105

PLAYER NOTES:

Seeing a spam of Armor 3 units, I’ll be playing a more defensive position. Have my units take as much area as possible and hopefully win the war of attrition.

Objective: Area Control

TURN 1:

The first was consumed to position units where they will gain the most advantage. I tried to at least move the Reapers to squares where they can easily support the main hitters. I held back Action Jackson and OZZ’s squads for the Corps Officers to easily catch up with them.

TURN 2:

Our units kept moving forward. Well, except for Vic’s OZZ who decided to take cover behind the closest Mickey. My Ozz and a squad of Grim Reapers took early control of the structure. With Vic’s Bazooka Joe + BBQ Squad taking cover in the nearby tank trap, the next turn’s initiative will be very important to have.

TURN 3:

This was the only turn in the entire game where I won initiative. First blood was drawn by my Ozz and his Hammers on Vic’s Bazooka Joe-lead BBQ Squad. Managed to drop the squad to 1 soldier, Victor decided the flamethrower guy is more valuable given the predicament. It did try to avenge his fallen brothers but it failed.

TURN 4:

Having won Initiative yet again, Vic decided to have his lone flamethrower Sustain Attack on a nearby Grim Reaper. It succeeded on reducing one Reaper to ashes but the remaining two ganged up on him. On the other side of the field though, my Tank Buster squad was caught off guard by Vic’s own Tank Busters lead by his OZZ 117. Busted!

In response, my Officers decided that Action Jackson’s squad deserves the single supply of their Stim Pack. The British paratroopers Assaulted straight to the opposing Ozz and phasered the entire squad out of existence.

My second Grim Reapers tried to shoot at the opposing Rhino with a Tank Buster trio but they were able to maximize the cover provided by the structure they were in.

TURN 5:

The exchange of firepower carried over as the Mickeys started to get into the thick of battle. Mickey number 1 was able to drop one of my Hammers and deal 3 wounds to their leader, Rhino. The boxing veteran went on Berserk and turned Mickey 1 to a pile of dump. Blinded by rage though, he didn’t see Mickey #2 and was not able to dodge the bullets from its Howitzer and MGs.

Meanwhile, my Grim Reapers continued firing at Vic’s Rhino squad. It proved ineffective as Rhino and the Tank Busters charged to take my Ozz and his Hammers. All the Hammers were pounded by Bazookas and Rocket Punches while Ozz himself barely made it out alive with only 1 would left. The Officers did not want to see another fallen Hero so they decided to heal Ozz. Ozz seemingly revitalized took on Rhino and his remaining Tank Busters. Sustained Fire from the flamethrower took care of the Busters. Rhino and Ozz faced off, mano y mano with only their Rocket Punches. In a split second (and a rather unbelievable one, even for me) Rhino missed his mark while Ozz landed the single wound needed to bring down the master jumper!

TURN 6:

Mickey #2, having taken care of my Rhino and his squad was confident enough to further march forward, this time setting it’s turrets towards my recently awakened British squad. Only Action Jackson himself survived the spray of bullets. The paratrooper decided to run for it!

TURN 7:

The game is nearing its end. So far, my remaining units are the Corps Officers,  2 squads of Grim Reapers, Ozz and Action Jackson. Vic on the other hand still has 2 Mickeys, 2 squads of Recon Boys.

With Initiative favouring his side, Vic decided to get Mickey #3 peep into the structure’s entrances and released a load of bullets to the Grim Reapers hiding inside. The building walls proved very protective though as bullets bounced off them instead of the Reapers’ bodies.

Having his spirits still on the high with his victory over Rhino, my Ozz decided to charge right back into the building and take on Mickey #3 waiting right outside the structure’s other exit.

Ozz aimed his flamethrower at the towering walker and…

A huge hit!

Having his force reduced to 3 units all of which cannot reach my remaining 5 units, Vic surrendered his campaign and I was declared winner! 1 win in the books for my Elite Platoon!

AFTER THOUGHTS:

I really enjoyed fielding my Elite Platoon. Obviously it could use some tweaking like replacing Ozz' squad with a Tank Busters for added anti-vehicle and range. 

Next week, hopefully, we get to play some 200 Points to practice for our upcoming tournament.