Game the Mission, Win the War!

The mission variations available at the Contest of Champions are impressive. Simple enough to fall into the standard mission formats - but a serious effort has been made to force hard decisions on the players each game, each round. Additional Victory Conditions and the Personal Bonus Objectives compound the possibilities. Its the grim darkness of the far future over there in Sacramento, and there is only war!

The Generals encountered at CoC are brutal and amazing. Careful thought and practice and plenty of pain/time has gone into the army lists there. The Tournament format, mission layout, and all the other etcs will force a hard thought list - to be successful on almost any level players will need a deep understanding of their own list as well as great skill at breaking down the opponents forces.

Know your list. Know the mission. Know the rules!

Now that we are familiar with the missions and understand things like the personal bonus objective, composition scoring, and the like, we can get into the business of Winning the War.

Build an Army for the Task at hand. Have a plan, at least a basic strategy to win the missions. EACH of the missions. Earlier we categorized the missions into three categories much like the Big Rule Book. Work out the various tactics, specific or not, that the units in the list will use to defeat other probable units and obstacles.

Paint the Army! The CoC uses a Checklist format, dont leave points OFF the Table! Dont be a jerk, pick your battles on and off the table, there is sportsmanship at this event. These are the bare minimums to stand a chance. This is where we begin!

The mission categories we identified earlier were Annihilation (3), Dawn of War (3), and Standard (4). 

We fully expect some mixing and matching of these mission formats and deployments, and even Additional Victory Conditions. Personal Bonus Objectives are worth mentioning once more because you cannot choose the same Bonus Objective as the Additional Victory Conditions. These are the three tiers for victory each round, and many can be accomplished without killing much of the opponents forces.

Further breakdown of the missions gives us the following:

* One Objective each, Table Quarters x 2

** Multiple Objectives x 4

*** Annihilation x 3

**** One Objective with VIP unit x 1

The reasoning for this further breakdown is to help matrix out which personal bonus objectives will be most likely and most beneficial for YOUR ARMY, as well as draw a big fat arrow right at the basic strategies YOUR ARMY will need to win the majority of missions.

These info bits combined with a careful understanding of each mission/deployment/additional/bonus tell us that Troops - good Troops and Proper Deployment and Use of Troops will WIN these Missions and that HQs of all sorts become more of a liability then usual. Although neither of points should be a surprise, we think that troop strength is even more important for the CoC format then many other Tournament formats because of the overall arrangement of scoring and the various victory conditions.

The next main considerations are the same as usual but require proper mention.

- Alpha Strike: Strategy and Tactics to deliver and survive - and does YOUR ARMY actually have an alpha strike against many of the army archetypes it is likely to encounter.

- Reserves: Army and Mission match up specific obviously. There are still strategy and tactical generics to be worked through and considered long before each battle. Reserve deployment options for each mission type on down the line of victory tiers. Hybrid reserve options for deployment like Spearhead or Refused Flank offensive/defensive strategies. For many lists we could be making considerations on only one or two units - others, the entire army!

This mental and physical preparation will improve performance on the victory tiers!

Here is a quick example breakdown of MY ARMY:

++ Sticky (FnP) Troops x 4

+ In fast Skimmers (some Aether sails!)

+ Reserve deployment advantages

+ Archon/Incubi SWOOPY KILLY: Hard hitting, fast, hard to kill, full of power weapons.

- No Real Alpha Strike vs Mech. Anti-Tank at a medium level (at best) overall.

- 16 Kill Points available in regular Annihilation

- Surgical Requirements for victory

- Tell my opponents my plan to win.... a future article.

To the Wolf, there is only the Hunt and the Joy of the Kill.

... end transmission ...

"...plan ahead..." Contest of Champions Personal Bonus Objectives

"...be familiar..." - The Contest of Champions Mission Book Summary & Battle Report Index

The Actual Mission Book - Great Escape Games, Sacramento

Contest of Champions: Mission Book Summary

Players participating in the Contest of Champions Tournament are asked to be familiar with these missions. We have been doing our best since the end of January to become experts. You are encouraged to visit the Great Escape Games forums and get the mission book directly from the source.

This tournament is year long with an event every other month. Its an Escalation League, starting at 1250 in January, notching up each competition by another 250pts to finish at 2500 in December. There is battle, sportsmanship, paint, and composition scoring each event.

Our club, the Wolfbrothers 40kNation Chapter, will host a CoC Primer Tournament on March 12th, mirroring the event format. With $100 in Prizes and FREE Entry it promises to be an exciting way to kick-off final preparations for the real fight on the 26th.

Although we are by no means finished, we sure have played the hell out of these scenarios as of late, and in the next few posts we will provide some insight on the task at hand in Sacramento:

This group of missions/scenarios are fairly straight forward. Each uses a standard deployment and a standard mission format. There are very few additional special rules and modifications - no limits on scouts and infiltrators and no surprise special outflankers (etc.) Each mission is really defined by its Additional Victory Conditions although the standard mission format is often modified.

We have identified 11 separate scenarios. Please read the actual mission book as it is subject to change and update. We have separated the missions into three categories: Annihilation, Dawn of War, and Standard:

Annihilation Missions:

#1 Capture the Enemy Camp: Pitched Battled, Killpoints - Each unit in your enemy deployment zone is worth an additional killpoint.

#3 Intelligent Design: Spearhead, Killpoints - Units are worth additional killpoints based on FoC and Points Value. (For Example, HQs are worth 1kp for each 50points.)

#9 Choices, Choices: Spearhead, Killpoints - 1 objective in center of table worth 2 killpoints.

Dawn of War

#2 Consume: Command & Control - Each table quarter is worth an additional objective.

#8 To Kill A Snake: Command & Control - HQ units are worth an additional objective.

#11 Ontime, Ontarget: Command & Control - Enemy VIP unit can score an additional objective.

"Standard"

#4 Head Hunters: Spearhead, Sieze Ground - Designated HQ is worth additional objectives.

#5 Storm Rising: Spearhead, Command & Control - Table Quarters are worth additional objectives.

#6 Shifting Sands: Pitched Battle, Three Objectives worth d3 Objective points each game turn.

#7 Unstable: Pitched Battle, Five Objectives - One in center, four others that might explode.

#10 Walk the Line: Pitched Battle, Three Objectives worth d3 each

Notes: #10 Walk the Line has replaced #6 Shifting Sands in the official mission book.

"Be familiar..." -- be prepared for these missions, in any order, but also any hybrid-combo of the mission elements. For example, we have seen #4 Head Hunters with Dawn of War deployment.