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View Full Version : Brood Noob Has First Game, Learns Lessons



mozart
07-26-2007, 02:36 PM
My first game with Brood was last night and it didn't go to well, however that was expected as only 3 hours before did I get the models and Evolution in the mail. However, after a lightning session of filing (not much of this, yay Brood models) and gluing I was ready.

The game went very poorly for me, so I'm coming here for advice and just to kindof sound off about what I think I've learned and to get some feedback on that as well.

I'll start with the forces:

Mine (Brood):

Helexa w/ Adrenaline Bio-Gen
Gazelle
2x Brood Hound
2x Grist
2x Pud Thrower
2x Ratchet

750 Pts even.

His (Stupid Forsaken. I see you checkin' out my thread Wolf, J. Flywheel :twisted: ):

Warwind
3x Junkers
2x Shade
Reaver (Take Control of Shades)
2x Firestorm
Sister of Compassion
3x Coil

741 Pts.

To set the scene:

We decided not to use a scenario since I was new with the faction.

We used a nice amount of terrain. There were 3 large pieces: a building, a refinery looking thingy (2 big silos with a fence around it), and a swampy patch. There were also crates and barrels scattered throughout the middle of the battlefield, all less than 5cm tall.

I, as usual, lost every set-up and initiative roll imaginable. This is pretty typical for me though, so roll-on I must.

The Set-Up (Or as I like to call it, the point where I started losing right off the bat because I am dumb):

I deployed Helexa smack in the middle, about 15cm or so from the edge of the table. I had read here on the forums that it's best to keep Helexa out of trouble so I had her hang back. In the end I think I held her back too much, as she didn't really get into the action much until it was too late.

After that, I deployed the Gazelle right next to Helexa, with a couple of Ratchets in front of Helexa as well. I think I was a little too paranoid about protecting Helexa.

Then I commited the set-up mistake to end all set-up mistakes. I deployed the Grists way out to my right flank. I'm not really sure what happened there. I think I saw that there were 2 Firestorms on the opposite side of the table and all I could think about was to shoot them with something. I think this really hurt me as the game progressed.

The Pud Throwers I put out to the left of Helexa, and at the front of the deployment zone.

That was it for the regular stuff. Next were the Infiltrate items. Again I commited a classic mistake by deploying the Brood Hounds way too far forward of my army. Like an idiot I stuck them in (what I assumed at the time was) a forest directly across from the Firestorms. I say that I assumed it was a forest because it was a piece of terrain with one tree stuck on it, but we didn't agree to it before the game started so when it came time to decide whether it was or not we diced for it. I in standard fasion lost this roll. :lol:

Anyway, needless to say I was so paranoid about the Firestorms that I sacrificed 2 of my best units to them, for some reason placing my Brood Hounds right in front of them to get hosed down by streams and without any kind of support whatsoever, and taking my Grists out of the game as they were blocked off by terrain that intervened between their idiotic position out on the right flank and the rest of the enemy army.

So that was the setup. As far as the battle itself is concerned there isn't a ton to discuss. I'll be brief here, as I've been pretty long winded so far (thanks for stickin' with me).

The Battle: (Wherein our intrepid player gets curb stomped. Oh, and bottled. And kicked in the balls.

Let's see. How do I keep this short.... Oh, I've got it: I got wiped. :oops:

Instead of going through a turn by turn description of what happened, I'll give the highlights:

The Brood Hounds got set on fire by the Firestorms. They took enough damage to not be able to take regen rolls, as they had both been shot twice and suffered twice their HP in damage. Dead Doggs (not Todd Arrington).

The Grist, slowly making their way up behind the smoking corpses of the Brood Hounds, did manage to shoot the piss out of the Firestorms. So they died horribly. This was my one moment of satisfaction. After that the Grist were cleaned out by the nearby Warwind.

More toward the middle, things went rather poorly. I lost a Ratchet early on to a sneaky Shade hiding behing a pallet with barrels on it. The other just ended up getting shot up later as well. The Ratchets did nothin'.

The Gazelle leaped gracefully forward, eventually kicking a Shade and a Junker in the face, but both enemies survived the encounter and just kindof stood there looking at the Gazelles bewbs.

Helexa meandered forward. Early on she used her Adrenaline bio-gen on one Grist and a Ratchet. I think it helped the Grist close with the Firestorms, but the Ratchet just got to run forward to his death faster. In the last turn of the game, Helexa ended up just running forward, trying to claw a couple of Junkers eyes out. It worked, as both went down, but the Sister of Compassion just came up and numbed them both, so they got up and beat Helexa's brains out. Enough to not even be able to do a Regen roll. Those double facebeat weapons of theirs scored 4 wounds, doubling Helexas 2 HP.

The Pud Throwers were quite unimpressive. I did learn that I played the Puds completely wrong. I didn't get that they get to activate on their own. I thought they just activated when they were thrown or during the Lingering Effects stage. In the end however, it wasn't a big deal. I don't think I would have had any success with them anyway as they were promptly shot up by Shades and Coils as soon as they hit the table. Regeneration did not help these guys either. I failed one roll, and the other died having taken 2 wounds before getting to make the regen roll. As for the throwers themselves, I just ended up running one up into combat with a Shade. He got stabbed to death for his trouble. The other one was shot before he could do anything, and I forgot to drop his puds.

The Result:

I lost everything to the man. He lost 2 firestorms and one other model (a shade I think). It was horrible. Seppuku really is the only way to regain any jibblies. Oh well, I'll do without jibblies.

Stuff I learned:

Grists go in the middle. Don't put them away from the action. They shoot stuff good.

Brood Hounds have Spring Leap. Even with my crappy deployment, I think the Brood Hounds would have been able to get to the Firestorms and eat them with the leap.

You don't have to push the Brood Hounds out so far forward. Infiltrate means place later, not all up in the opponent's grill without support.

USE BECKON. I didn't use it. Not once. Extra activations for free? :smack forehead:

Get Helexa a bit more foreward. She wasn't really near much to support it. Given that she is a support kindof gal, that is kindof dumb.

Activate Puds appropriately.

Last bit of info for you. List contruction instruction (poet and don't know it) is fine, but all I own are contents of my list above and a couple of Sawblades. If at all possible, help is appreciated with what I have rather than something like: JOO NED MORE PUDZ LOL ZOMG.

Still, I'm open to suggestions, it's just going to be a few weeks until I can get anything else (namely at GenCon).

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I can't wait to check out your suggestions and comments.

Quirkworthy
07-26-2007, 03:05 PM
Seppuku really is the only way to regain any jibblies. Oh well, I'll do without jibblies.

:lol: What a great report! Sorry you got kerb stomped. Wouldn't have been as funny if you'd won though :D

Being a newcomer to DA myself, I can't offer scads of deep tactical insight. However, I would suggest you started out with smaller games. Less stuff means you can get the hang of what everything does and follow the rules without being (so) overloaded.

My first go was 300 points. I'll probably stick to that for another couple of tries till I have the basics of the rules down. After all, the rules are the same whether you're playing with 300 points or 700 (and if you get stomped at 300 you've still got time for another game the same evening).

Sounds like you're learning though, which is what it's all about.

Thanks again for brightening up the afternoon :D

kainthedragoonx
07-26-2007, 03:08 PM
JOO NED MORE PUDZ LOL ZOMG



Sorry I couldn't help it! :lol:

Anyway...something I might point out (I am a n00b brood player as well) is that in the beginning, Helexa might be a little too much to start with. She seems (to me) to be a very tactical piece, which requires a lot of knowledge and skill to use properly...which I don't have...yet! I used Murtros currently (when I even field a unique) but I have to say that nine times out of ten (I assume, I've played three games with the Brood :wink: ) I'm going to take two saw blades over Murtros. Def 2 and high armor and two wounds a piece are really nice for Brood. Sure sure Acid Blood is good, and Bio-Gens are good too, but it's two models for the price of one...which is pretty darn nice.

Something that I do (not sure it's it the best idea or not) but I normally toss Puds at big, mean, scary models. I mean get them into combat with sacrifice models...make your opponent make a choice...either kill the Pud with his big scary model (which eats AP) or try to break away allowing the Pud to munch on him some more! :twisted:

Anyway, I am a total Brood n00b myself, hell I am still wiping spawning pool joice off me...but just stuff I keep in mind when I am playing.

DA_Magpie
07-26-2007, 04:47 PM
Kain I don

mozart
07-26-2007, 05:44 PM
Thanks for the help so far, folks! I really appreciate it. And Quirkworthy, glad I could be of service. :bow: :D

In response to everyone's gracious help, I must first confess something. I am doing a last minute learning crunch for the 750 point tournament that I have signed up for at GenCon. :oops:

This is why I am learning....the hard way. That being said, I am not against dropping Helexa and popping in those two Sawblades. Aside from the models being awesome, I think they would be really good help. Then maybe I can work on Helexa afterwords. Doing that swap takes the list to 740 Pts, which is pretty close.

Also, thanks guys for the tips on the Pud Thrower targets. That helps a lot, as I kindof found myself going: "Eh, I'll fling one over there."

So, stuff I've learned from you guys:

Try smaller games. - I'll do this after I get my ass handed to me at GenCon. Logical, eh?

I NED MOAR PUDZ - I kid.

Try swapping Helexa for 2 Sawblades.

Toss Puds at Big Scariestm and also chuck them at Firestorms, SoC and Junkers.

Use the Gazelle and Brood Hounds as quick-strike pwn. This is a good way to start to handle infiltrators.

Brood Hounds find Coils to be tasty.

Don't pee pants when I see Firestorms.

Check.

Thanks again, looking forward to reading more!

mooseyjoe
07-26-2007, 06:01 PM
O yeah, try rolling better too. :tongue2:

Quirkworthy
07-26-2007, 10:32 PM
:yeahthat:

mozart
07-26-2007, 11:33 PM
*Goes to smash one of my d20s with a hammer in front of it's other d20 buddies*

Failure will not be tolerated.

bj
07-26-2007, 11:56 PM
instead take the offending D20 along with your other dice, line them up around the sink, put the 'bad' die in the Garbage Disposal, turn it on for about 10 - 15 seconds (or longer if it was really bad). Afterwards scoop up all the dice put them all together in you dice bag/cup until your next gaming session. That should straighten up the other dice pretty well.

Cyinn
07-27-2007, 12:36 AM
I like to use fire.
In dice correction.
And in other aspects of my life.
Such as getting a girl friend.
Nothing turns on a girl more than stapling Jr. to a posterboard crucifix and lighting him up.


(ok in 5 min retrospect, A. I was feeling strangly euphoric when posting that, B. Yes some one did that in new zeland for 400 american dollers, C. No it was not me)

mooseyjoe
07-27-2007, 01:23 AM
Wow, that didn't even require a picture to make me cringe. That was bad, real bad.

Pyrrhus
07-27-2007, 02:23 AM
@ Cyinn: err.... right then

Moving on - Try countering Junkers with Acid Blood units. Since they cause 2 wounds you score two acid blood hits and vs a junker's low AR, it is often fatal.

I prefer to use puds against softer targets. Coils and Firestorms are easier to hit than Warwinds, and force your opponent to waste all that precious ranged power against puds instead of your heavy hitters. Another tactic is to try and build a "Pud Wave" If you can get all 6 puds on the board and near the enemy at once they can be quite a bit more than a distraction. But thrown hither and yon across the board they get picked off or left behind quite quickly and don't really slow your opponent much.

Jamie
07-27-2007, 08:02 AM
The Brood Hounds got set on fire by the Firestorms. They took enough damage to not be able to take regen rolls, as they had both been shot twice and suffered twice their HP in damage. Dead Doggs (not Todd Arrington).

I agree with everyone else but no one mentioned this so I guess it is I who will warn you. Firestorms cauterize, that means you could not have regenerated the wounds anyway.