Saturday, January 14, 2012

Gruntz: Kontrol vs. Quar

Sponkhound tank and Herkimer APC approach the city ruins.

Maurice and I sat down to play some Gruntz. 'Assault and Battery' scenario. His Quar defenders had three objectives on their side of the board, but only started with some of their troops on the table, rolling for reinforcements at the start of each turn. Both sides had 200 points. He started dug in, and would only be getting more backup, so I had to book it fast to cover ground before he really solidified things and made it a war of attrition.

(We did change the scenario a bit, having eliminated units count for two victory points, and units taken to half counting for one. Having it just be points costs for units makes the objectives feel like an afterthought.) (And I suppose I should mention we also alternated activations, instead of I-go-you-go.)


As I've noted previously, he's a damn fine painter. Here we see some brave Quar-riors (with their power armor backup) getting ready to go to ground at the first objective.


The Space Buddha approves!

Good overview of the battlefield. Righthand side, you can see my Sponkhound tank and Herkimer APC rolling towards the first objective, some fancy solar battery. We'll have none of that! Kontrol only believes in good ol' fossil fuels!



The other half of the field, we see the other tank and the other APC rolling up in the same formation. Some shots get traded back and forth, but no real action. The Quar set up their defensive lines.


Turn two. I win initiative. First shot, the Sponkhound on the way to the first objective takes a shot at his scout walker. 12! Roll for damage... 12! BOOM. Nothing left but shrapnel and memories. I consider conceding the game at this point, because nothing else I do will be as cool as that. But we press on.

More shots go back and forth. I get the Herkimer closer to the first objective, so I can unload the troops and bust it up. The Quar sense menace, and are pouring a lot of fire into the APC, and the damage is starting to bleed through my armor.

Now that we're engaged, we're seeing a dichotomy. I put together a list of fewer models with lots of armor but packing a punch. Maurice's troops are more numerous, but harder to hit, and with more diversified weaponry. So we have quite the boxing match going on. I don't hit as often, but when I do, things get crunched. In the meantime, he's throwing a lot of dice and wearing through my defenses. It's nifty. (And it gives me a little deja vu, heh.)

Turn three. Maurice gets the initiaitve. Concentrating his fire on my other Herkimer APC, which is bering down on the third objective (divide, conquer.) His whittling strategy is paying off, gets a critical on the vehicle, and handicaps... the armor. Uh oh. Sensing doom, I speed it forward to within inches of the third objective (a windmill! How vile.)


No sooner do I get there that one of his other scout walker punches a hole through the Herkimer, taking it out. My Kontrol squad bails out, near their goal, but they'll be walking home from deep within enemy territory.



Back at the first objective, I race up the first Herkimer. My Sergeant disembarks from his ride, and gives his extra action to the squad still inside. The Quar lay on some shooting, but it's not enough. The Kontrol squad disembarks and blows up the first objective. Score! They're decimated by some timely shots and grenades thereafter, but the price has been paid. (And thanks to the Automaton perk, they just don't care about casualties. Big ups.)

Turn four kicks in with me getting the initiative, and thusly securing the windmill objective. The tide has come in at last. All reinforcements are on the table, including an unwelcome addition mere inches from where the first objective was, but it's all falling apart now.


The Sponkhound from the first objective changes direction and throws a massive shot the long way towards the Quar gathered at the third, taking down another scout walker, but it's really for show. At this point I don't have the troops to secure the second objective, and it'd be an uphill fight for the Quar to eliminate the Sponkhounds without themselves being eliminated in exchange. I take it on points. 
Excellent game, with a lot of good dice rolls backing up solid strategy on both sides of the fence. Gruntz is proving to be a good experience for the group. Next time I will remember to get a picture of each of the complete forces.


* - As noted previously, my Kontrol Battalion army will feature the Boarhound tank. Now christened the Sponkhound, after one of the angrier native species of their home planet. This amuses me to no end. The word Sponk is a lot of fun to say.

9 comments:

  1. Some thoughts from Paul's opponent:

    1) Boy, those tanks were tough to crack and they were MEDIUM. I dread the day this guerilla-style force (light infantry and scout walkers) runs into a Siler or something. Maybe they need some larger Mecha support.

    2) I had a couple of shots to save the 2nd objective and possibly the game, including Paul possibly failing his bail-out test (needed a 6+ which he got) and winning the initiative roll the next turn (straight-up 2d6 test against Paul). Had either of those happened, I had a good shot at keeping 2 of 3 objectives.

    3) Paul's force consisted of 2x tanks, 2x APCs and 2x Gruntz squads. My force was 4x squads (w/ 2x Grenade Launchers attached), 5x scout walkers (specialists) and an APC.

    4) I didn't take advantage of the Infiltrator Perk on the Scout Walkers to deploy further up from the objectives. Had I, I might've had a shot at taking out an APC earlier via a concerted fusillade from the 3 walkers that started on the board, leaving 1 of Paul's 2 viable objective-destroyers hoofing it. Hindsight!

    Overall, a very entertaining game.

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  2. Looks like a fun game. Really enjoyed the write up. Robin

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  3. This is a beautiful review! As someone who enjoys both the Quar and the Control Battalion, I loved it. Would you be willing to share your Gruntz stats for the Quar?

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  4. Hey great AAR , great armies, selection and painting.
    Will follow

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  5. Komorigumo, I'll hit up my opponent for the stats and get them up here or elsewhere.

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  6. As requested:

    Regular Quar Rhyfler squads as I play them:
    Shoot 4, Guard 13, Skill 4, Assault 4, Soak 11, Mental 7, Melt Away (I picture them as guerilla-types), Laser Rifle, Knife, AP Grenade, Attachments have a Medium SA Grenade and AP Grenades. The Commander is similar, with S5, Soak12 and M8. He adds Over the Top and picks up a Plasma Rifle, HE Grenades and Energy Sword.

    The Scout Walkers (mixture of micropanzer and Khurasan DiMOGs) were Medium Specialists, S5, G11, Sk4, A3, So15, M7, Infiltrator, Spec. Heavy Laser.

    APC (Khurasan) was a Medium support, G11, So16, Sk5, Vehicle Medium Laser, Wheeled.

    Points values omitted to drive funding to Robin (buy the rules! :D)
    Enjoy!

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