Squat Army
Arty Guild (12xThudd Guns) 450pts
Arty Guild (9xThud Guns) 350pts
Forger Guild (12xForgers) 350pts
Forger Guild (12xForgers) 350pts
Mechanics Guild (9xBikes) 350pts
Hearthguard (4xHearthguard) 200pts
2xColossus 450pts
Grand Warlord 50pts
Ork Horde
Big Warband (Standard) 350pts
Big Warband (Standard) 350pts
Big Warband (Standard) 350pts
Uge Blitz Brigade (12xGunwagonz) 350pts
Uge Blitz Brigade (12xGunwagonz) 350pts
Baby Blitz Brigade (3xGunwagonz Oddboy Zzapp Wagon) 200pts
Baby Blitz Brigade (3xGunwagonz Oddboy Zzapp Wagon) 200pts
Kult of Speed (8xWarbikes) 200pts
Stompa Mob (3xStompa, 12xDreads) 645pts
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And the amount of terrain in use. One thing I've found when playing with/against Orks, is lack of terrain REALLY affects how they play.
Standard GT rules 12xPieces drawn up randomly by my laptop. Terrain pieces sizes are also standard GT. In this case we got 6xWoods, 4xHills, 2xBuilding Areas
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Did Rich try to exploit your apparent lack of speed with objective placement?
I get to place my Blitz, and I only need to cover one other T&H to prevent the Orks from getting two out of five objectives. Center place the Blitz with a less maneverable army and the point becomes moot as I will be able to cover one T&H no matter where he places them.
Simply put 8xForger stands alone can easily cover a frontage of 77cms, add a second formation of 8xForgers and they can cover 154cms. (Table is standard GT 180cmsx120cms) Each stand is 4cms long and each stand has a flank ZOC of 5cms, as each stand must be within 5cms of another stand this gives a single stand a frontage of 9cms (4cms the stand and 2.5cms on each flank). So 8xForger stands cover 77cms 8x9=72(+5cms for the open flank) total is 77cms.
Considering I was using Formations of 12xForgers covering a single T&H was not a problem to do and maintian decent depth in both formations. I could easily have covered both if I had wanted to.
There are two ways to play for a win in the GT scenario, one can either go for objectives or play for a draw and force a tie breaker. High Firepower armies can go for the tie breaker and win because they will often rip an enemy apart as they come in, and if the enemy stands there same thing still happens. The Mechanics Guild had one job, Hide until late in turn two, then dash thhrough a hole and into the enemy table half. Then spend turns three and four avoiding combat.
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It is a concern. But it's a concern I've seen with every single Squat list produced. In most cases, the lack of Mounted makes them a lot more powerful. As for the numbers, 21 Thudd Guns should average ~12 kills against Orks in the open. In cover (touching vehicles), they should average ~8.5. In Ruins/Buildings, it's just over 5. For a minimum 600pt investment, I don't consider those numbers outside the norm.
Sorry but these numbers are incorrect. 21xThud guns produce a hit ratio of 13.86 which should be rounded up to 14xHits. As the Thudd Guns are not using templates they can exceed the number of hits a formation using templates could achieve. This wipes out the 4xGrot unit screen and 9xBoyz (on average) leaving 3xBoyz and 4xNobz, which are immediately broken. So much for that group as a fighting formation. It isn't so much the hits produced and the saves then equated in to the formula, it is the potential single turn damage, as it pertains to the formation being fired upon, and the ability to also break said target formation.
I am no fool, and neither is Rich, I was playing for the tie breaker and used the terrain to my advantage picking the side of the table with the most open terrain so Rich had to cross open ground, dotted with hills, or stand his ground and just get blown apart. Also If Rich would have tried to cram his Boyz in the Woods or Buildings they would have been bunched up targets for the Colossus to then blow apart with their template weapons.
10cm move Quote
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Then the Squats should be doing it in stages. Either active advancement (you stop at 30cm, I Advance to 20cm and fire.
This situation you have created above assumes that I would still have the initiative to make that advance, Rich isn't that stupid and knows that is exactly what will happen with any army. He will tactically wait for the situation he wants to occur, as do all players. Ahh the game of chicken that we call the activation cycle, it is almost a game within a game in Epic-A, and makes for some very exciting and tense game play which I love.
Against tanks? This reduces the Forgers to a 7+ to hit while those Ork Gunwagonz over there are shooting at me with a 4+ to hit! Believe it or not but Orks can shoot and a 3+ to activate isn't that hard to get, you just have to have the guts to try, and Rich does. If I advanced I would saddle him with a single BM, he returns fire splatters about 4xStands and I inherit 5xBMs. He needs a 2+ to shed his single BM I need a 3+ just to get rid of just half of mine, and if I do succeed I still have 2xBMs (Only one active per the rules) to his zero. In the ensuing FF Assault I am handing the Ork player a 2+ resolution advantage before the first dice has been rolled, I am shooting it out with 12xGunwagonz at 5+ to hit with my 8xForgers at 5+ to hit. The Ork player almost can't lose!
Lets change the situation to a formation of 12xBuggies..................
Even just standing there and trying to shoot it out with those Buggies isn't going to get me anywhere as it becomes an even crap shoot, and that is a crap shoot where all of the initiative in the situation is in the Orks hands becasue I cannot advance on them (as shown above) and I cannot assault them. Basically if after a turn where we exchange fire the Ork Buggies end up with more losses and/or BMs then I end the turn with then I cannot exploit that advantage one snit because I cannot assault them so I just sit there and shoot at them again, or retreat. The reverse is not true those Buggies can hit me the moment I end the turn in a poorer BM and/or loss situation then them. Therefore the enemy has total control over the initiative in the situation, and if you lose control of the initiative you lose.
In this Buggy situation I am watching as a 350pt formation being totally exploited by a formation of slightly lesser value, and even if the points were even the Orks almost can't lose.
To prevent just this type of lopsided situation from occurring in the battle each of my Forger Guilds had a Colossus parked in the middle of them. (The above situation, and others like it occurred, in our playtests using a 10cm infantry move)
The Stompa Mob situation was much worse, and the realtive points weren't just Forgers vs Stompas because I wasn't going to just watch as a 645pt formation rolled up on a 350pts formation. I had the Forgers (350pts), a Colossus (450pts), and the Hearthguard (200pts) for a total of 1,100pts comitted to the action mentioned. Rich had the Stompa Mob (645pts), a Blitz Brigade (350pts), and a Baby Blitz Brigade (200pts) for a total of 1,150pts comitted to the action mentioned.
While the points comitted to the action were pretty even the tactical situation was abysmal. The Orks were stacked Stompa Mob in the lead, Blitz Brigade behind it, and the Baby Blitz Brigade third in line. This put the Stompa Mob and the Blitz Brigade in both assault and shooting range of three of my formations. The reverse was not true I was only in shooting range of the Ork formations.
All the initiative was in Rich's hands because I had no way to advance on him without comitting suicide, and standing there meant my eventual destruction. (Moving to change the situation to one of mutual advantage meant a turn where my firepower was reduced to the Colossus alone carrying out any kind of effective shooting. While the Orks could blaze away with full effect)
Now IF I had a 15cm move then I could have thrown all of my firepower at the Stompa Mob, gotten a BM advantage and then launched a clipping Assault FF to drive off the Stompa Mob. Orks have a huge problem rallying non-warband formations back to effective fighting formations as they lack the Nobz to shed their BMs. This would have effectively put the Stompa Mob out of the battle for one to two turns. BUT because of the 10cm move I was forced to sit and take it with no way to effectively respond.
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It doesn't look like Rich took anything to deal with them. Which is fine, but when an opponent has the capacity to do so, the protection needed to stop them from just falling over themselves and dying, really effects the cost/effect.
Mounted doesn't prevent them moving into cover, though the way I see some players act you would think mounted meant they died when they entered cover. In the Space Wolves vs Orks batrep I did for Dobbsy, Rich threw his Uge Blitz Brigade into Woods 'C' to attack the 1st Great Company losing one Gunwagon and driving the Marines out of the Woods. Also you can deploy them in cover right from the start with no possible losses, which is what I did.
Indirect Fire gives the Thudd Guns a max range of 90cms, and they don't have to see their target to shoot at it. Placed as I had them Rich needed to overcome my front line to have any hope of being able to draw a line of sight on them, short of getting aircraft, which he didn't.
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Mine average about 37pts and Mounted. It doesn't look like Rich took anything to deal with them. Which is fine, but when an opponent has the capacity to do so, the protection needed to stop them from just falling over themselves and dying, really effects the cost/effect.
So does the tactical skills of both players involved in the battle. Rich would have just loved to have been able to get at my Guns and I, of course, was doing everything I could to prevent him being able to do so. The army I fielded could have also prevented teleport and drop ship insertions from upsetting the guns. Both these formations were my reserves and they could have been placed to prevent such a move from causing immediate disruption of my guns firing and still perform their mission as a reserve. From that point on it would then become dependent on the overall battlefield tactical situation as to whether the deep strike could be launched effectively or not, and that is hardly a sure thing for either side.
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I have looked long and hard at it. I didn't just choose to create and develop a 10cm Squat army because it was easy. I'm much too lazy to do that. I did it because 15cm just didn't "do it" for me. And while I respect your decision to disagree, I have had people try to exploit it against me (and I've done so to my opponents). So I counter-exploited. You want to attack me from 26-30cm away? You either bunch up in tightly packed ranks. That's what Goliaths and Doomsday Cannons are for. You want to spread out along a wider front, that's what a clipping attack from a Mechanist Guild is for. Neither option suitable? I withdraw 5cm, and put you outside assault range, forcing you to have to advance. It's an inherent weakness for a race that is pretty strong in shooting. And does fairly well in Assaults. I'd like to see how it holds up against blind-test armies. It's not difficult to exploit any army if you know you're facing it.
Funny but why is it neccesary to bunchup in tightly packed ranks to exploit the 10cm move? Sorry but I do not understand the remark.
The tactical situation is the dominant factor here one can never assume that what one wants will always be available. The Mechanics Guild was busy on another part of the battlefield from the encounter mentioned above so was unavailable. Rich, being no fool, had forced the situation to occur.
Withdrawing 5cms would have solved nothing in the situation sited above as the only Ork formation that would have needed to move would have been the Stompas, thus I was still left in a situation from which I had no effective response.
As for blind testing I like using Rich, Jesse, Jack, and myself for playtesting the most because we never bother to slant the non-playtest army (In this case Orks, and call it the control army if you will) for the playtest army being faced, the Squats in this case. I encourage you to go to the Space Wolves vs Orks batrep I have posted and compare this army Rich fielded to the one he fielded in that game. (It is actually too bad that most of my old batreps aren't around anymore because you would be able to see that Rich's list pretty much stays the same with just few twist from lsit to list, and has for a very long time.) They are almost identical. However, it would be very 'cheesey' if I didn't let Rich see the list before he faced it.
Since my new Squat list isn't out yet, and the Thudd Gun stats have been changed to be the same as Demiurg (epilgrim and I were in the process of rationalizing both list to fit together). With a straight line to hit number enough Guns can exceed the effectiveness of the same number of guns using BP Templates in indirect fire. I already know this from other playtest armies so they will be moved to support in the new list.
I still am not saying drop the 10cm movement, but I would be remiss if I didn't show you how it can, and was, exploited. Rather it is being done so you can maybe find out where we failed to make it work, believe me if you can pull it off I would add it to my Squat list in a heartbeat. With all the accolades given to you for pulling it off, and rightfully so.
So you incorrect when you say I disagree with you, when in fact I would love to make it work. However if I do not show you how it can be exploited then you will not be able to find a way to make it work. My solution isn't to just simply disagree with you and site hypothetical examples I prefer to use playtest battles and the results achieved in those instead.
I really do hope this information helps
Cheers
Jaldon