With the matches for round 1 now know and my opponents army list also known (shown previously) we have some extra things to consider. These fall in to 3 basic categories, secondary objectives, enemy threats and battle plan. I'll go through them all individually but there will be some overlap, especially between the objectives and the plan.
First up I'll look at the threats to my forces, which are many and varied! Ok, so that's true for the infantry but maybe not so much for the vehicles. The infantry are out matched in pretty much all departments by the enemy infantry, with things like the assault Intercessors being able to lock out 21 attacks, which should kill 8 models on average on the charge and only 6 otherwise. From a squad of 10, this isn't great! The blade guard are going to be even more deadly, as are the vanguard vets with lightening claws. However, they have little range firepower, with just 10 intercessors being able to fire. This means that keeping the infantry at range is the best option although not really possible. It does mean that it gives me clear targets for the first round of shooting, hit the assault units hard with the mortars, try and strip a few models off the units, even one or two would make a difference. As for the rest of the units, the bikes are the next most dangerous, they can pump out a lot of shots and are very mobile. Annoyingly, they are also 4 wound models and the Hellhammer cannon is a damage 3 weapon! It's the same as with the attack bikes, but at S10 I'm wounding on 2's with -4ap, so I should be able to put some hurt on them. Talking of the tank, there is little anti-armour weaponry here, the vanguard vets with hammers, the attack bikes and the invictor warsuits fists. With only the attack bikes being ranged, these will be an early target, followed by the vets, with the suits being last on the list due to their lack of mobility over the others.
So in quick summary, primary targets for anti-infantry are the assault elements, blade guard and assault Intercessors turn one and vanguard vets (w\claws) turn 2 or whenever they drop in. For anti-armour it's the attack bikes and then the outriders.
A very important issue in 9th is secondaries. New to the game these have quite an impact and it's very hard to pick which 3 I want. It was relatively easy to pick a few that I didn't want, such as Titan slayers and attrition. In the end I get it down to a short list of;
Assassinate
While we stand, we fight
Engage in all fronts
Line breaker
Domination
Investigate site
Repair teleport homers
Mental interrogation
Psychic ritual
This was a good start as it gave me option from all the sections, however, there were a few issues. Such as engage on all fronts, line breaker and domination are all from the Battlefield supremacy section. In the end I realistically brought the list down to these three options;
While we stand we fight
Engage on all fronts
Mental interrogation
While we stand we fight seems like a good one as the three models are my superheavy and my two flyers. Now my enemy doesn't have much anti-armour and the flyers, as long as they stay in supersonic mode should be able to weather what firepower he has and hopefully gaining me at least 10 points.
Engage on all fronts was harder to pick as all options were viable. However, I decided it would be easier to guarantee 10 points for the match by going for the quarters rather than objectives. I should, if I'm careful be able to get 12 points for this one. The other advantage of this one over the other two is that flyers count and I've got two.
Mental interrogation is my last choice. With 2 psykers on my side and none on his and 4 enemy characters, I should be able to get in range o get this off. I did think about psychic ritual but I'd much rather take some points rather than none, as worst case I should get at least 6 point here.
This means that I should be looking at gain a minimum of 28 point with a realistic chance of getting 36 points over the course of the battle.
Lastly we have the battle plan. The main plan is obviously to hit the enemy hard and destroy him but more realistically the plan will more about board control. Part of the plan is dependent on who goes first. If I go first then I will move up on to at least 3 objectives, with the home objective being held by the mortar teams and two squads of guard with the autocannons. The superheavy and two other squads will move to the centre objective and two other squads probably with the wyvern will move to the objective in the top left quarter, with other units dispersing around the board, with at least on moving in to the 3 quarter. When the flyers come on, they will drop there cargos in the enemy zones for the extra quarter and then go around taking out targets of opportunity. If I go second then I will still move up but I will be looking to keep things a lot closer together, especially if he has reserves. In both cases the mortars and wyverns will be going after intercessors and vets while the big guns go after the bikes and warsuits. The main thing will be to get at least 3 objectives and out score my opponent, maybe even pushing for 4 once my reserves come in to try and keep my opponent from scoring as many points as I can, while also maximising my opportunities.
Hopefully this will net me the full 45 points but I should be able to get 40 points quite easily, meaning I should hopefully be looking at a score of at least 68 but possibly even 81. Alternatively, I could be looking at less than 30!
I'm looking forward to this game, it's going to be a baptism of fire for sure! Hopefully I can pull out a win, even if it costs me all my models........
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