So once again, attendees at Canadian Grand Tournaments will know which missions they will be attempting to complete prior to arriving. However this year there are ten missions of which only six will randomly be used. Since I picked my entire army prior to learning any of this, my army selection was completely unaffected by this fact.
This mission is a take and hold style mission with a few variations. Deployment is non standard but tactics shouldn't be. I think if I am able to place the objectives (the Defender places all three) I will put them closer to me then my opponent. Although I lost badly in Calgary at this style of mission, I still think my tactics were sound. I have to roar forward with my rhino and Landraider. Infiltrators are allowed so once again I will send one unit at each objective. Getting the objectives was no problem in Calgary holding them against 190 Orks was. Hopefully I will neither run into a swarm in a city nor some super speedy army in Vancouver. Because Infiltrators are allowed, I like my chances in this mission. I also will likely roar forward twelve inches with my Landraider on the first turn rather then fire it's weapons. I'd like to see 190 Orks take an objective from Leperous backed up by his retinue and say the Plaguebearers. You don't have to get the objectives back to your deployment zone but it proved advantageous to retreat once you had the objectives in Calgary. The attacker gets to set up further forward but suffers from Limited Ammo so I think it is advantageous to be the Defender in this mission because they place the objectives.
This is the Nightfighting mission. Unlike in Calgary where Nightfighting didn't start until the fourth turn at the earliest, in this mission Nightfighting doesn't stop until the fourth turn at the earliest. It uses standard victory points but allows reserves at the players discretion and you get to set up 18" onto the board. This mission favours H2H armies. If I fight a swarm I will try to negate their advantage by setting up ridiculously deep in my deployment zone. I can't see much advantages to voluntarily keeping units off the board, maybe just maybe I might keep the Rhino squad in reserve. This game should be a bit bloodier then average but standard tactics will be effective.
At the start of the game you are only allowed to deploy your troops and your HQ. This isn't the best for me because I actually have a lot of points tied up in Elites and Heavy Support. The other twist is the ability to deploy 18 inches forward but not within 24" of the enemy. I think this mission depends a lot on your opponent, but generally if I get to set up first or my opponent doesn't do it, I will deploy my first troop squad the maximum distance forward. This is a bit of a prick move but I think it is good tactics and denies so much of the board to the enemy. The Nurglings will actually be useful for this purpose in this mission. There are additional bonus victory points for controlling table quarters. But only 100 VPs per quarter so I'm going to concentrate on killing expensive looking stuff. Hopefully I run into a more gimmicky army then mine for this mission.
Imagine a mission where both sides get Sustained Attack. Sounds like a scoring headache to me. Also since your troops keep coming back alive, people will play to the maximum time allowed. This mission seems like a poor choice by the organizers. I hope not to have to play it because my army is hard to kill so I tend not to resurrect many units in Sustained Attack. Also I have a fairly high percentage of Elites and Heavy Support and they can not be resurrected. Oh well I could always use more Plague Marines and Plaguebearers I guess...
Someone has spent too much time with a Thesaurus. This is similar to the Recon mission. It allows Infiltrators which is good and gives bonus points for getting your stuff into the enemy's deployment zone. This is another 18 inch deployment zone mission. I think all the 18" deployment zones are to help armies that aren't min maxed for the most lascannons/plasmaguns/rhinos. Obviously you can set up a lot closer to your opponent if you want to and the other side is amicable. Basically I'm putting my Landraider down to deny my opponent territory and daring them to try and destroy it.
First of all the princess is not a person but one of six random mission objectives. Whoever controls it at the end of the game wins. Since not every fake objective is a trap it makes sense to try and get to them quickly and see if it is the "princess". This mission has a tiny six inch "L" deployment zone and optional reserves. It doesn't allow infiltrators so it is slightly disadvantageous for me. Hordes and ridiculously fast armies are favored in my opinion, hopefully I get the Guard or something for an opponent.
Imagine a mission where half of your army is in reserve randomly and when they do arrive they can potentionally arrive on a flank, it is all random. This mission will be tough to play as you will not know what you or your opponent can bring to bear on any given turn. All things considered I'd rather not play this mission. It favours an army where every unit is mobile I believe. It doesn't have 18 inch deployment zones.
Basically there is an extra model, which apparently you need to bring if you're the defender in this mission. The attacker is trying to kill the Emissary who is WS2 BS2 S2 T3 W2 I2 A1 LD9 Sv4+ with no gun but with a hand to hand weapon. Whoever has the most points spent on fast attack is the attacker, so not me. This mission has a twin so I think you will likely play both of them or neither. As the defender it is tempting to put the Emissary in the Landraider because you get bonus points getting him into the enemies deployment zone. So basically if you want the maximum bonus points you have to advance into the enemies deployment zone keeping this guy alive. At least he has two wounds. At the very least he is going in my rhino and he will have a ridiculous human shield. It should be possible to win without doing anything too drastic, it really depends on the enemy. The opposite tactic is to set the emissary in the deepest darkest hole in your deployment zone, this is probably more sensible as it starts you out with a 150pt lead. Then you just have to kill more then your opponent. If your opponent looks competent with a dangerous army the hide in the corner strategy is probably the way to go. If you luck out and get an army you think you can beat easily I guess you advance and go for the massacre.
This is the twin mission to Emissary Escort. The person with the most points of Heavy Support is the defender, this is once again likely me. This mission is almost identical as the one in Calgary where I massacred my Imperial Guard opponent so I have to like my chances. Basically the attacker gets double points for every unit he gets into the Defender's deployment zone and the Defender gets double victory points period! This proved to be a big advantage for the Defender in Calgary, with most Defenders winning. The Defender has one big disadvantage in that he has to set up his entire army first. And unlike Calgary he has to defend the entire width of the table. Only the Defender gets Infiltrators, further cementing this as my mission. I plan to use the same tactics and I hope for a similar result as in Calgary.
This is the table quarter game. This was my biggest disappointment in Calgary I should have won this mission handily against my opponent if I'd done a better job of prioritizing targets. My opponent played slowly and didn't know the rules too well which was a bit bothersome, however failure to systematically reduce units to below 50% was my big mistake. I also tried to take three quarters and ended up with only one and a tie. This time I plan to advance only into the adjacent quarter on my short side. This will be secured and the enemy will be systematically reduced to below 50% for squads. If it looks like I can win big I will advance some moveable vehicles into his territory. I may still do this on the last turn, but it has a random turn length negating this popular but unsavory tactic. Focus is the key here, shoot all guns at the closest squad until it is useless for victory points purposes and move on. I may continue my plan of prioritizing anti tank units but even that has to be secondary to eliminating units that can actually accomplish the objective.