You Read Before Playing Escalation League

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

Last night kicked off the new round and there were some surprises and some Really?!? moments. Among the surprises we got 4 new players who got to come in with 1120 points.... A new Guard Player and the pleasant surprise a Chaos Demons player who brought in the Forge World Bloodthirster.. that is painted very well. The Really moment was Mike the Guard player with a Russ and Vulture(that's what I call the darn thing) won the league for the second time in a row. The best moment was the initial matchups were called out and I got the army of Khorne Berserkers off the bat in an objective control mission... the one where you roll to determine the number of objectives.

 

I finally quit screwing around and realized what I had to do if I want my army to like I want it to. Which means I dropped a rhino from my Blood Claws and with the additional points from my losses and draw I am up an additional 90 points. So what do I do? Set myself up for defeat at the hands of Guard armys by adding my Land Raider and a Land Speeder for some additional tank hunting.

 

The Next 3 months are going to be me adding nothing but Pack Leaders and more troops and Fangs.... Things are about to get messy. I might not win the first rounds, but my opponents are going to know that they have been kissed by a power fist!!

 

There were a couple of League Games last night. The Dark Eldar went up against the new IG player and got spanked...there were a couple of questions from that game first of all what do Plasma grenades do? Looked in the slim and fat rulebooks and didn't see anything... After careful reading Eric the D.E. player realized that he can turbo boost as much as he wants unless there is a FAQ or that has been corrected. Reavers suddenly got much more dangerous as he is going to be altering them. However it was too little too late as the numbers of IG overwhelmed the DE and finally brought them down. Didn't help as the IG player brought along 2 Leman Russ tanks on regular one Executioner variant.

 

Our reigning champion Mike took on the new Chaos Demon army and well the combination of a Leman Russ, Manticore and Valkyrie(Vulture) proved to be too much not to mention that the Demonic Deep Striking tended to be truly random. The Blood Thirster got blown apart turn 3 but massive amounts of combined fire, before it could make an impact in CC.

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

Yesterday was painful, very very painful my fellow Wolf Lords. I knew that Khârn the Betrayer was a baaad boy, didn't expect the rest of his army to be that bad.

 

The list went like this

Khârn & 9 Berserkers in a Rhino with Combi Bolter and Havoc Launcher

Demon Prince with the Mark of Khorne

3 Terminators with the mark of Khorne

6 Chaos Marines

2 Obliterators

Defiler

 

I was happy when I went in it was a Take and Hold Mission and I had been dithering back and forth on what to take. Couldn't make up my freaking mind to save my life when it hit me....Dragonslayer! Break him out... He hasn't seen the table in ages and he has been a faithful weapon in my arsenal so this is how my list looked.

 

Njal and 9 Grey Hunters with a Melta Gun and Power Fist in a Rhino

Hiemdal Grim Eyes and 9 Blood Claws with a Flamer and Power Fist

Long Fang Squad Harvest Sgt 4 Fangs with 3 Missile Launchers and a Lascannon

Land Speeder Typhoon "Gyrfalcon" with a Multi Melta

Land Raider "Dragonslayer"

 

I found out last week that draws are worth 10 points.

 

We rolled for objectives and got 4 2 each, and rolled the Max for terrain. Eric won the roll and decided to make me go first. I decided to keep Gyrfalcon in reserve to Deep Strike, Njal and Bodyguard on my Right Flank to the left of them was Harvest Squad and then on my faaaaar left was Dragonslayer allowing Hiemdal and the Claws to ride in him. My 2 objectives were in front of Njal and Harvest squad so it wouldn't take much.

 

Eric had set up his 2 objectives on opposite ends of the table and said that he was gonna go for mine...got a laugh out of me at the time. So he set up the Demon Prince across the table from Dragonslayer, the Chaos squad in a ruined factory, Khârn and his Bodyguard just to the right of the factory, the Obliterators on the top floor of the factory and the Defiler in the back right corner of his deployment zone. Tried to steal the first turn and failed, so off we go!

 

Turn 1

 

Top: I look over the table and really didn't like what I saw but what the hell, lets go for it. Dragonslayer moved over and slightly forward 6 inches, bringing his guns to bear. Njal and bodyguard moved forward to get near my far right objective, Squad harvest oddly didn't move. In the shooting phase, Dragonslayer's lascannons stunned and immobilized the Rhino carrying Khârn & company and the heavy bolters blew away a chaos marine. Njal used Living Lightning to put a wound on the prince and Harvest Squad ONLY managed to immobilize the Defiler.

 

Bottom: Eric wasn't thrilled about the Rhino and attempted to get it unstuck but the crew was reading the manual upside down. The Chaos marines moved up and ran. The Demon Prince took flight flying down the left flank to get behind Dragonslayer. The Defiler's shot drifted slightly off target only managing to catch one in the deadly blast, but due to bad spacing, it left the unit out of formation... The Obliterators' shot lascannons at Harvest squad but couldn't dial them in and missed.

 

Turn 2

 

Top: I am not in a good situation here. Storm Effects didn't matter. Okay movement.....Dragonslayer moves over another 6 inches and the Claws get out sensing that there are victims to slay. The old vets in harvest squad run up to some cover by my left objective and Njal & company's rhino moves behind cover. Dragonslayer opens fire with it's lascannons on the Defiler and only 1 hits and fails to gouge the lighter armor of the demonic engine. Njal's living lightning wounds the Prince again but fails to down him. The Claws slam into the traitors and even with rerolls only manage to down 2, while the traitors manage to down 2 claws. That sinking feeling is settling in.

 

Bottom: The terminators materialize from the warp and the rhino refuses to be repaired so Khârn and the Berserkers leave the wounded vehicle and move menacingly towards my claws. The Terminators move up towards Njal's rhino and using combi meltas manage to wreck the vehicle. The obliterators use Plasma cannons and only drop one of Squad Harvest. While the Defiler lines up his shot that lands on target and takes out 6 of the 7 marines in cover. The Prince charges Dragonslayer, and despite hitting 4 times fails to penetrate the massive armor. Khârn and company charge into the combat and Khârn on his own manages to wipe out 5 Claws..... The remaining Berserkers manage to inflict 13 more wounds causing my Claws and Hiemdal to fall.

 

Turn 3

 

Top: Okay I am really scraping the bottom of the barrel here, my claws are history, I got 3 Hunters left, the hunters piloting Gyrfalcon are hung over from their promotion party the night before and had their radio off so they didn't get the call, the only good news is Harvest Squad is back in the fight with only 2 Missile Launchers however. Okay Dragonslayer moves up and opens fire with the Lascannons on the Defiler and blows it to hell, while the Heavy Bolters drop 2 berserkers. Njal and the survivors move deeper into cover and the melta gunner fries a Terminator while Njal invokes Murderous hurricane to wipe out the rest of the terminators.

 

Bottom: The Chaos scum advance towards my objectives which are looking like they are going to fall. The Obliterators' lascannon shots are either misses or the Fangs managed to find cover. The rhino opens up on my hunters but didn't achieve anything. The demon Prince charged into the back of Dragonslayer again and despite hitting all 6 times failed to crack the mighty armor of the mechanical beast.

 

Turn 4

 

Top: Things still look bad but if I can pull a rabbit outta my..... First off the crew of Gyrfalcon woke up and dropped in, only into the scattered and Eric got to choose where. So he drops Gyrfalcon into difficult terrain but over by the Hunters...where I DID NOT WANT IT!! So this is how things went down. Gyrfalcon moved up and engaged the berserkers with everything it had and missed. Dragonslayer had enough of the demon Prince and moved up spun around and blew the Prince back to Khorne's throne to explain why he didn't bring back any skulls. Harvest Squad took aim at the 3 surviving Chaos marines that were within spitting distance and wasted 2 of them leaving the flamer alive. Njal invoked the power of the Storm and fried 2 more Berserkers.

 

Bottom: Eric moved up the Berserkers to within pistol range of the Hunters and the Lone surviving Marine moved down and lined up his shot. The Obliterators opened up first knocking gyrfalcon out of the sky... then the flamer iflicted 3 wounds on Harvest Squad and the Veteran Sgt decided to hoof it off the table rolling boxcars for his morale check... The Berserkers fired off 3 plasma pistols 2 wounded and 1 overheated but didn't take out it's owner and then that was it.

 

At that point I had to go and get my kid so we called the game, a solid victory to eric who was in control of 2 objectives 1 of his with his Berserkers and one of mine.

 

Tactics were okay, placement was shaky, but what really killed me were my dice. When I went to save against the 13 wounds I rolled 9 ONES! At that point I was livid. I could have inflicted some damage but not when my dice fail me like that. On the other hand Eric's dice were champs when it came to armor saves. His terminators died because he had to roll 7 saves, the only time he failed more than 2 armor saves to shooting. Anytime I would shoot him and he would have to roll he would only loose 2 guys. I was really excited for this game, it just has me really down that I freaking break the laws of averages against me. Funny enough Eric's Demon Prince lived up to the law of averages rolling sevens on 2 dice for all the 10 times that thing hit me. It was a good game, I am glad for eric, but I just hate that my losses seem to be piling up like this. I am one of the few guys who has played all his games and I am the guy with the most points. Mike our reigning champion has played all his games, and won all of them. He has NO ADDITIONAL POINTS WHAT SO EVER!!

 

I want to write off this round but I like to fight soooo...

[nurglez]

Unlucky, when the dice go against you its easy to let that effect how you play, played a game on friday where for my first 2 turns I had no luck at all. fired 3 combi melta's at a leman russ on my first turn, all 3 were within 6 inches, 2 were on the front armour, one was on the side, and all 3 missed... arjac's thrown hammer and 2 combi meltas on the front of a demolisher? hammer fails to even glance and the combi melta's miss again, woo.

 

A question, are you casting storm caller as well as shooting with njal? as he can use 2 powers a turn he might as well heh.

 

personally, I think that ragnar (hits on 3's. with I 6 and str 6 with 6-8 attacks if he charges, and gives his squad furious charge) would be a much better choice for your army then njal, but I can understand wanting to stick with a certain army/theme (been playing with a logan wing army and its not as reliable as my old death guard, but its fun damnit!).

 

I must also admit, that I wouldn't consider a landraider without something really juicy in it (for me, its 10grey hunters, wolf guard and ragnar in a redeemer ;)), blood claws just aren't that killy, even with a wolf priest along. There is a reason landraider's normally have thunder hammer/storm shield termies in them :D

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

I was able to get a second power off once the entire game. I don't mind loosing, never have my losses have been really helping me hone my tactics and work on my army composition. What is so freaking demoralizing about this one is how fortune, that fickle :P , just kicked my teeth in. I feel like I just walked in, set up, rolled to see who went first and said well that's it for me good game and shook his hand then put my army away. Makes me sick to think about it.

[Orphus]

Khârn doesn't suck. Where in your BR did he suck? They have a thread dedicated to what he's killed over on the Throne Of Skulls to prove how much ass he kicks. If playing chaos I'de take him.

Speaking of which, why don't we have one of those for Logan or Ragnar? Or one for what Bjorn managed to survive? :P

[Starkhan Fellblade]

Khârn doesn't suck. Where in your BR did he suck? They have a thread dedicated to what he's killed over on the Throne Of Skulls to prove how much ass he kicks. If playing chaos I'de take him.

Speaking of which, why don't we have one of those for Logan or Ragnar? Or one for what Bjorn managed to survive? :)

 

 

Wait for him to reply but i think he meant that it sucked for him, because he was so good

 

 

Starkhan

[nurglez]

aye, assume he meant that Khârn sucks because he's good, heh.

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

Pretty much what Starkhan said, he is just nasty to go up against unless you can isolate him and shoot him to death. Psychic powers, not happening today. Do NOT let him close with you or you will become Khârn chow! Just an ugly fellow to face off against.

 

Would I break him out if I was playing a Berserker army? In a hot second! I like to think that I would encase him in something tougher than a Rhino, but Khârn & 9 is cheap and effective. Hard to argue with that.

[Max_Dammit]

What happed to your pod that he could decide where it went?

Pods dont do mishap, you know that right.

[nurglez]

wasn't a pod, was a landspeeder :huh:

 

and pods can mishap if they go off the table ;)

[Max_Dammit]

Dont they just get destroyed

 

And i me read the speeder as pod, sorry :huh:

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

Yeah DSing with the Speeder was a mistake that will not be repeated. If I have enough cover I am going to be using it and moving it's full speed until I can get it into position to take the shot.

 

Funny though that was the first time I have ever employed the Deep Strike even when I played waaaaay back when, never liked the tactic.

[nurglez]

no if pods go off the table they mishap, as per the deep strike rules.

 

I never used to like the deepstrike rules, but having used pods with my logan wing, they are great. (even better with chaos marine termicide units, those guys rock).

[Valerian]

The Dark Eldar went up against the new IG player and got spanked...there were a couple of questions from that game first of all what do Plasma grenades do? Looked in the slim and fat rulebooks and didn't see anything...

 

I don't have any books with me, but I'm reasonably certain that Plasma Grenades are simply a type of Defensive Grenade. The rules for those are in the rulebooks, but essentially they just remove an attack from models that have charged the unit with the Plasma Grenades.

 

After careful reading Eric the D.E. player realized that he can turbo boost as much as he wants unless there is a FAQ or that has been corrected.

 

Nope; if your unit has the ability, they can Turbo-boost every single Movement phase, if you want them to. There are no limitations to how many times you do that (but you can't Shoot, or Assault anything in the turn that you TB).

 

Valerian

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

Funny enough, when I got the email announcing the next matches, I ended up drawing Taylor. If you have read the previous installments, and the name seems familiar, but you can't quite place where you have heard it before, that is because he was my last opponent before Eric. The vanilla marines in a drop pod.

 

Well he spent his points well it seems his list looked a little something like this.

 

Captain with tactical squad in a drop pod that packed 3 Melta guns(2 were one shots) and a powerfist.

3 Full Tactical Squads in Rhinos with various sundry methods of destruction.

Venerable Dreadnought with Assault Cannon and Storm Bolter.

Vindicator with Storm Bolter.

 

I broke out my usual suspects...

 

The mission was annihilation and there was a decent scattering of terrain. To be honest I am going to be as brutal about this as the game was.

 

Turn one high/low lights. Then Land Raider got immobilized and lost a Lascannon, my wolf priest rolled snake eyes on his invuln saves and the Land Speeder immoblized the Vindicator.

 

Turn 2 was pain.... The claws got wiped out by a land slide... lost another Lascannon on the Raider. Nothing hit in shooting and I just couldn't crack anything. Only highpoint was taking off the Dreadnought CCW twice.

 

Turn 3 The land raider got destroyed along with the Fangs, and the Speeder I forgot about because it had been stunned for so long...

 

Turn 4 The rhino carrying the Hunters got totaled and they charged the Dread and did nothing. The speeder got totaled..

 

Turn 5 nothing happened and the game ended.

 

I need something to break my karma, my luck, my attitude something... I refuse to believe that I break the odds this badly. I was excited to see all those little rhinos lined up waiting to die....only to roll an astounding amount of misses or when i did connect I couldn't crack the armor.

 

Only good news is that I am facing off against Jeff, the first guy I played who I gave the game to. It's capture and control, I am facing off against TEN SCORING UNITS!! They are all guard so I am not really too concerned.

 

I have to admit though, I am starting to get burnt out. I feel like all I am doing is handing out victories and despite the fact that I should be kicking Donkey Posterior and taking names I am losing..... badly.

[MaveriK]

never under-estimate your opponent, so doing so with the guard now, could be your downfall. how much practice games do you get in between before you actual matches? maybe its time to get new dice? :D no worries brother, we've all been on this road before! sometimes the dice gods favor you, sometimes they don't.

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

I have a good idea of what I am going up against and I am not concerned because either I will win or lose.... There isn't too much you can do in a binary set solution. I am not underestimating him.... last time I went up against him I was not prepared. I think that I am in a little better position now.

 

I know that he has 2 full infantry platoons and a tank or two. I think he is planning on turning turtle on me.... I don't think that he will have the ability to come after my objective, so I think that he is going to sit back and let me throw myself at his lines. I am not planning a full on frontal assault. I plan on holding my objective and then going in to contest his objective at the last second. But that is the general idea... now I am just working out the contingencies for the last minute.

[nurglez]

sometimes the luck just isn't with you. I've had my termies shrug off everything you could throw at them, then lose 3 to rapid firing lasguns.

 

I've had logan fail all 3 saves he had to make and die (the killing blow was from the dreadnought he was in combat with blowing up...).

 

Best thing you can do, is to carry on, try and learn that sometimes the dice will hate you, and to just carry on and get the game over with heh.

 

Tactics play a part, but I think luck plays a bigger one, no tactics but full luck will win a game more often then full tactics and no luck :)

[Loki-LaughingDeath]

Well I usually like to play on league night or on Thursday nights, but I will be heading out of town....and Jeff wanted to play today so we played.

 

This is what he brought to the party.

Command Squad with Commisar Melta Gun and Missile Launcher.

2 Platoons

-Platoon Squads had Grenade and Missile Launchers,

--Platoon Alpha had Lascannons and Grenade Launchers

--Platoon Bravo had Auto Cannons and Grenade Launchers

and for disFUNction....

 

2 Leman Russ Demolishers

 

He had taken advantage of the 10% change between games, so I decided to make a couple of switches myself and the list went like this

Njal and 9 Grey Hunters with a Melta Gun and the Mark of the Wolfen and Power Weapon in a Rhino

Hiemdal Grim Eyes Wolf Priest with 9 Blood Claws with a Flamer and Power Fist

Land Speeder Typhoon Gyrfalcon with Multi Melta

Long Fang Squad Harvest 3 Missile Launchers and a Lascannon

Land Raider Dragon Slayer

 

The mission was capture and Control and the Deployment was Table Halves.... We rolled for 5 pieces of Terrain and I set out 2 large rock outcroppings by my half of the table. Jeff Set out 2 walls and 1/4 of a ruined factory the 2 walls were on my far left and the Ruins on my right.

 

He won the roll for deployment, and planted his objective all the way back in the FAAAaaaaaaarrr left corner of his deployment zone then Planted Alpha Platoon 5 inches in front of his objective. Bravo Platoon got strung out on the right flank with the Commisar anchoring the Platoon in the middle. Demolisher 1 was on the left middle and Demolisher 2 on the right, behind a wall.

 

I looked it over and didn't like what I was seeing. My usual tactics of hey diddle diddle straight up the middle were a death sentence and he could theoretically pound the crap out of me if I went for a left flank assault.... So I turned turtle and formed a fire base using the rocks on my right and planting Sqaud Harvest there. Njal and the Hunters were just behind the Rocks to provide cover. Dragon Slayer went on the far right because I could start munching Bravo Platoon turn one. I decided to Deep Strike Gyrfalcon and my objective, heh, that in an act of Bravado, I planted right in the middle in no cover daring him to come and take it. I rolled to steal initiative and was short by one.

 

Turn One

 

Top: I just thought that was waaay to much fire power looking at my lines. Jeff, to my surprise took squad Alpha on an end run up the left flank with 2 Squads after he Moved Demolisher 1 up behind another Wall to provide the massive machine cover and to my dismay put my objective in range of it's cannon. Demolisher 2 moved out from behind cover to support Bravo platoon. Squad 4 which had deployed out the furthest on the Right moved up into the ruins and took cover behind the ruined walls. Then the rain started falling......and while much of it managed to hit, between cover and armor saves no one fell.

 

Bottom: I was a little surprised to see that I hadn't been scratched yet. Well time to get to work. Dragon Slayer advanced and Hiemdal and the Claws bailed out to engage Squad 4 of Bravo Platoon. The Rhino moved up a little to get a better view of the battle field. In the firing phase Dragon Slayer's heavy bolter opened up on Squad 3 shooting down 2, while the lascannon slammed into the massive barrel of the Demolisher Cannon destroying the weapon. The Flamer in Hiemdal's squad opened fire and sent 4 guadsmen to a flaming hell. The veterans of Harvest Squad split their fire the lascannon opened up on the other tank, the energy spent against the heavy armor. The Missile Launchers fired frag missiles into Squad 2 the fragments of the explosive heads only managing to injure 3 guards. Njal summoned a massive bolt of lightning that managed to take 2 guardsmen from the 1st Squad of Bravo Platoon. The Claws ferocity on the charge sent the last of Squad 4 to join their comrades and consolidated closer to squad 3.

 

Turn 2

 

Top: Jeff was rather surprised by the first turn antics of my claws and promptly decided to do something about it. Demolisher 2 fell back a little, the hull mounted lascannon failing to burn through the Ceramite armor of Dragon Slayer. On the other hand the light armor of the rhino was no match for the torrent of Lascannon shots that connected with it's hull and exploded in a massive fireball. The only thing that saved the Fangs and Hunters was their blessed power armor. The remainder of Bravo Platoon poured its fire into Squad Harvest, but once again their armor proved to be impervious to the weaker weapons.

 

Bottom: Gyrfalcon failed to arrive, and Njal and the hunters moved into the cover of the rocks with the Fangs. Dragon Slayer Moved back in between the rocks and the factory but was out of range to pick up the hunters. So it opened fire with the Lascannons immobilizing Demolisher 1 despite being behind cover. Njal summoned more lighning down on squad one of Alpha platoon and took down a guardsman. Squad Harvest's fire was not as efficient the Frag missiles spiraled out of control hitting nothing and the Lascannon blasted more holes in the wall in front of the Demolisher. Hiemdal and the claws opened fire on Squad 3 of Bravo Platoon, but the guardsmen took cover and no losses were inflicted.

 

Turn 3

 

Top: Alpha Platoon concentrated fire on Harvest Squad along with the Lascannon from Demolisher 1 and took down 3 of the veterans. Bravo squad opened fire on the Claws and shot down 1of the youths.

 

Bottom: Gyrfalcon came swooping in from the skies but the pilot significantly miscalculated and dropped in my far right corner. Dragon Slayer moved up next to the rocks getting ready to recieve the hunters. The Claws moved up into position to assault Squad 3 Bravo Platoon. Njal and the Hunters moved up in the rocks to get ready to board Dragon Slayer but before he moved aboard Njal paused and summoned a massive lightning bolt on the command squad that destroyed them and momentarily exhausted his psychic abilities. Gyrfalcon and the remaining members of Squad Harvest slammed krak missiles into the depleted remains of Squad One Alpha platoon reducing them down to 3 members the heavy weapon gunner, the grenadier and the Commisar who had joined the squad. Hiemdal and the Claws quickly dispatched the remaining members of Squad three and quickly moved back to hide behind the bulk of the enemy tank.

 

Turn 4

 

Top: Demolisher 2 moved out of the way to allow squad 1 & 2 a clean shot at the Claws. Demolisher 1 opened fire with it's hull mounted Lascannon and wrecked the road wheels on Dragon Slayer taking away it's ability to move. Only one more Blood Claw was overwhelmed by the torrent of fire that poured into the claws. Squad 4 of Alpha platoon opened fire on Gyrfalcon and destroyed the turbines propelling the vehicle forward. Squad 1 and 2 fired at Dragon Slayer, but the ceramite shrugged off the lascannons' concentrated energies. Alpha Platoon's command squad fired a krak missile into the last 2 members of Harvest Squad and took down another veteran.

 

Bottom: With no transport for Njal and the Hunters, the situation seemed bleak. The Claws advanced on Second Squad Bravo Platoon, Dragon Slayer opened fire on Third Squad Alpha Platoon and dropped 2 guards, while the Lascannons failed to penetrate the cover protecting the Demolisher. Njal and the Hunters advanced out of the rocks and Njal along with the surviving member of Harvest Squad and Gyrfalcon shot down the remaining members of First Squad Bravo Platoon. The Wolf Priest alone accounted for the majority of Second Squad Bravo Platoon and the young claws mopped up the remainder, consolidating behind a wall to take advantage of the cover.

 

Turn 5

 

Top: With Bravo Platoon gone, the Colonel was beginning to feel the pinch. Second Squad Alpha Platoon fell back to cover the objective, Fourth Squad Alpha Platoon opened fire on Gyrfalcon with it's lascannon but was only able to stun the gunner. Third Squad moved up behind the wall next to the demolisher and the Command Squad of Alpha platoon fired another Krak missile into the rocks by the surviving member of Harvest Squad. The massive imperial war machine, the Demolisher, attempted to grind the Blood claws to meal under it's bulky tracks, but the claws were too nimble for the lumbering machine.

 

Bottom: This is it, crunch time. Njal and the Hunters advanced as far as they could without sacrificing the ability to fire, but were no where near the objective... Hiemdall and the Claws advanced closer to Squad 1 Alpha Platoon, but couldn't get close enough to charge.....this time. Dragon Slayer opened fire with everything it had, the Heavy bolter took out one of Third Squad Alpha Platoon, but the real damage when the lascannons burned through the turret turning the firing mechanism for the Demolisher Cannon into half a ton of slagged metal. Njal and the last survivor of Harvest Squad focused their attentions on Second Squad Alpha Platoon and reduced the squad to half, but their resolve held. The Claws and Hiemdal open fire with their pistols dropping 2 guards from First Squad.

 

Jeff rolls a 4 and the game rolls on.

 

Turn 6

 

Top: Jeff is really feeling the pinch and has First Squad Alpha platoon and Demolisher 1 unload everything they have into the surviving Blood claws, leaving 3 claws and the venerable priest. Second Squad opens fire on the hunters with their lascannon, but fail to find the mark. The lascannon of the 3rd Squad burns the paint on Dragon Slayer, and nothing else. The Command Squad's Krak missile pounds more rock into flying shrapnel that fails to penetrate the ancient armor of the last survivor of Harvest Squad. Fourth Squad Opens up on Gyrfalcon but the high powered beam fails to hit its intended target. The Colonel gives First Squad the orders to go to ground.

 

Bottom: I move up my Hunters and Njal into position around my objective. The Claws move up but are still not within range of a charge... The heavy bolter rounds and lascannon shots fail to find living targets and are spent in the cover protecting them. Meanwhile Harvest Squad and Gyrfalcon finish off Fourth Squad Alpha Platoon with a volley of Krak missiles. Njal tears the heavens with another searing bolt of light.... leaving one surving member who runs for safety, leaving the objective unguarded. Hiemdal and the Claws fire on first Squad leaving 4 surviving members.

 

My turn to roll. Jeff is saying he's screwed either way, I am saying that he's got a chance. I roll a 6 and the game rolls on.

 

Turn 7

 

The Colonel has no choice but to have first Squad fall back to cover the objective. The Company Command Squad, Third Squad and the Demolisher all fire into the Blood Claws who are in charge range. 2 Claws fall to the Lascannons of Third Squad and the Demolisher. The command squad lines up with the Melta gun and fires. I Hiemdal steps up trusting in the power of his Wolf Amulet and is let down. The young Erol is overcome with grief and falls to his knees cradling his fallen mentor (rolled Boxcars for the Morale Check). Alpha Platoon Command Squad open up on the Hunters, but their nerves fail at the last second and the deadly krak missle veers off it's target into the distance.

 

Bottom: Njal and the hunters move to surround my objective securing it thoroughly. Gyrfalcon and the last Fang fire a volley of frag missiles into the Survivors from first squad...only to find out that Gyrfalcon is out of range. Scyld, veteran of thousands of battles takes aim and his frag missile explodes in the middle of the shattered guard squad killing off 3 of the 4 survivors. Njal concentrates and despite being shaken by a near miss manages to finish off the last survivor of First Squad, ending the game.

 

This was one HELL of a nail biter for me. Watching Jeff deploy was nerve wracking. Ten infantry squads. 98 trooper models 94 of which counted as scoring. 2. Big. Ugly. Fat. Tanks. One of which that was parked most of the game watching over my objective waiting to swat anything that came near it. At the start of my turn four, I really thought that the game was his. The hunters rhino was blown to a million pieces, the Land Raider was immobilized and sitting out in the open with 4 lascannons gunning for it. The Demolishers really influenced my deployment as well as my movements as I was very keen to avoid the range of those cannons.

 

Jeff and I have been having the same problem with our dice....so before the game he went out to the parking lot with a hammer and his dice and made an example of a couple. Evidently it worked for him, because he was rolling pretty decent. I broke out some of my dice that I have had a dubious, at best, past with. They were retired before the torching incident, and haven't seen much action so I figured they were due. I was right in one count. They were wonderful at making armor and cover saves, invulnerable saves, D6 rolls to see how many hits I got from Living Lightning, and to hit rolls were another story, but once I hit they tended to kill. This game taught me to use Krak missiles and focus on the kill, not to mention I really shouldn't deep strike with anything other than a Drop Pod....

 

I was ecstatic over the win....until I found out Jeff has a record like mine. The only win he has had was the initial victory over me way back when in November. Now I feel neutral. The win is great, it confirms that my wolves can achieve a victory.

 

I am scaling up for next month and am thinking about adding another Unit of Hunters and Long Fangs. I am also contemplating dropping the power fists for power weapons and Mark of the Wulfen in my Hunter Squads. Yes I do have the points and models to pull this off. The only thing is that I am tempted by a Drop Pod with a Dreadnought.....I just don't like sacrificing points like that.