Some Painting *Gasp* And Battle Analysis

Sorry no pictures yet. Last night I was preparing my plans for facing Dalton in tomorrow's big game of BFG and I decided I wanted that last ship painted up, the new Slaughter class Insisto Oblivium, named in honour of the faction I was part of in the Gahmorra Conflict campaign.

I did a rough job but it matches all the other cruisers well enough. I need some new drybrushes.

While painting I planned my approach to the game. The thing about the Fleet Engagement scenario is that the game radically changes depending on the setup which is used, and that depends on the formation you pick for your fleet compared to the formation your opponent picks.

When I played this mission against Al, I had no idea what he would choose so I picked a formation that had the greatest likelihood of keeping my fleet together. Since Dalton is more like myself and more likely to do serious analysis of the choices, I think I've narrowed down what formation he will not take, and have acted accordingly in my formation choice. Of course, he may anticipate my choice and so act contrary to what I suspect so I have fine tuned my choice to be acceptable in either situation.

Crazy, no?

Regardless, I stringly suspect that tomorrow's game is going to be hard fought and close, with the result going either way.

Analysis:

The fleets are surprisingly similar, the significant differences being:

Black Storm --- Marines Inviolate
Despoiler with Warmaster & Marines --- Desolator with Lord and Marines
Devastation --- Repulsive with Marines
no additional Ld upgrades --- Both HC have Marines

Basically, my fleet gives up points on the second and third difference and pours them into the first difference. Basically, my BB is 200 pts(!) more than his. Also, if you compare the weapons of the Despoiler to the Desolator, you see that they have very similar broadsides: 4 lances and 6 FP for the Desolator, 3 lances and 6 FP for the Despoiler. Yes, I know the dorsal and side weapons are switched but the similarity is striking. Front facing weapons are comparable as well. So the question becomes, is the 8 launch bays, higher leadership, and 2 fleet re-rolls worth 200 pts?

I don't know the answer yet, but I should have an idea tomorrow night.