The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny

If you don't know the above reference you need to look up the band Lemon Demon and listen to the song with the above name right now. It's okay, I'll wait.

Right now Demitra and I are probably lining up to decide once and for all (or at least until the tournament) who the foremost Dust player is at Huzzah Hobbies. I'll be putting down my fully painted Allies across from his primed (only because they come that way in the box) Axis. Yep, this is a timed post and I'm trash-talking the day before. That being said, We're working on our long discussed but un-fulfilled threat do do a cooperative battle report (provided we remembered everything).

Here's what he'll be up against:

Faction: Allies ( 299 / 300 )

---  Combat Platoon (142)
Upgrade: Additional Resources (10)
Command Section: "The Boss" Ranger Command Squad (25)
1st Section: "Grim Reapers" Heavy Ranger Attack Squad (30)
3rd Section: "Death Dealers" Ranger Weapon Squad (20)
    + M9-D Bazookas (1)
4th Section: "Death Dealers" Ranger Weapon Squad (20)
    + M9-D Bazookas (1)
Support: MCW M3-D "Cobra" (35)

---  Assault Platoon (157)
Upgrade: Air Drop (5)
Command Section: "Hell Boys" Ranger Attack Squad (25)
1st Section: "BBQ Squad" Assault Ranger Squad (21)
3rd Section: "The Gunners" Combat Ranger Squad [Upgrade] (20)
    + M9-D Bazookas (1)
Support: HAW M6-B "Fireball" (85)
I'll be grabbing the "Gunners" squad when I get to the store, so hopefully they'll perform right out of the box. So much for my "fully painted" taunt, huh?

The point is that this is a "Fireball Drop" army, a concept which has terrorized Demitra for two of his last few games, most recently our "at home" game today. My fireball looks a bit different from the one here, and you'll be seeing it for the first time in the upcoming battle report. I figure I should have something cool to show off, win or lose.

This list is a bit of a departure for me, as it has no snipers in it. I've found them to be powerful, and I'm going to find out if they're powerful enough to be rated a necessity. It also has very little in the way of heavy infantry. I'm not so sure they're going to be missed though, as I have the M9-D Bazookas rather than the standard issue ones. These (hopefully) will assist in keeping the Axis walker population under control with their increased 1/4 firepower. That means a walker can be one-shotted assuming four failed armor rolls. Not likely, but it brings a smile to my face any way. I'm hoping I won't see a Wotan across the board from me. Those lasers have been known to wreck stuff.

The Cobra is there as an insurance policy. I entrenched it in a crater today, and it held up the majority of the Axis advance pretty much by itself. Sure it was nearly wrecked by the end of turn 4 (when we called the game) but the point is that it held. That turret-mounted Phaser and the .50 cal. and .30 cal. machineguns sure did their jobs. Should the Fireball get offed the Cobra will try to step  in as my mobile firebase. It may instead simply draw a bunch of anti-tank fire, which is okay with me provided it can weather the onslaught for a couple of turns. You see, Demitra is deathly afraid of Phasers, and hopefully the Cobra's 24" threat range will garner some knee-jerk firepower. Again however, a Wotan would spoil that fun in a big hurry.

Hopefully I'll have enough warm bodies to take objectives, as I expect to be heavily outnumbered (which is not surprising given that I sunk 120 points into walkers). Thirty-three dudes seems like a lot, until you remember that they're pretty much all Infantry 2, and that makes them bullet magnets.

Time to root for the good guys.