Chaplain Admetus' Battle Report Thread - Game 32 added

[Captain Idaho]

As an aside on Psychic Powers - how are people playing it? If you want to take rulebook ones you have to note as such on the list; or you note the ones from your army book on the list and then choose to swap before deployment?

 

I think the latter is accepted in tournaments, thanks to the FAQs allowing for it before deployment. As such that's the way to play it for now.

[Chaplain Admetus]

I hate to do it to you man, you can only swap a power for the Primaris power after you've rolled one but before you can roll another.

 

Yes, quite! It caught me off guard the first time a friend explained this to me a few weeks ago, but it IS how it works.

 

When I read Admetus' report the first time, I made the assumption he rolled Foreboding first and kept it, then rolled Misfortune and was deciding to keep or trade it. Re-reading I see he rolled up both at the same time.

 

It is a really important rule to remember! Example-- your first roll can give Foreboding, then you swap for Prescience. Your second roll can give you Foreboding again and then you have to keep it!

 

SO there is a decision cycle all its own when it comes to deciding whether to keep a power at all or not. Doesn't matter on tables where you will never take the Primaris (Biomancy, Telekinesis) but will heavily factor anytime you are going to throw twice on a single table, DOUBLY so when you're rocking an Epistolary.

 

I'm surprised Admetus' that you didn't go for one dice on Divination and one dice on Telepathy-- that would dodge your 'order of operations' problem for power selection. Also, it's a favorite decision of mine. Shooty-support Librarians prefer double-Divination; Melee-support Librarians prefer Div/Telepathy or Div/Bio (Link to older thread explaining).

 

Almost right. I rolled Foreboding first, then Misfortune, then decided which one I wanted to swap for Prescience (if either) - fortunately the choice I made was still within the rules as I swapped misfortune. I can't see me giving up either foreboding or misfortune often, as they're the best rollable spells in the lore.

 

I've been really unimpressed with telepathy, that's why I didn't take it for my second power. Tbh, having the option of 2 powers was somewhat of a luxury, since I've not had it for a few games. I normally go Div/Div or Div/Bio, veeeeery occasionally I've gone Bio/Bio (the two times I did it I rolled iron arm and warp speed).

 

Also, some people (looking at you, Mort :) ) will be pleased to hear that I've managed to speed-build my raven (most of it, anyway).... its not finished but its in a state where I can put it on the table and it has all the important bits. So I'll be testing it tomorrow with twin-linked multi melta and twin-linked lascannon, taking out the Baal, epistolary upgrade, and that less-than-legit meltabomb to make room. Definitely using the multi-melta as one of my guns, not sold on the other - torn between assault cannon and lascannon. A twin-linked lascannon is a nice bit of anti-tank, but I do love me an assault cannon...

[Chaplain Admetus]

New Batrep!

Game 21

Mission: The Emperor's Will

Deployment: Vanguard Strike

Made the switch to try out the Raven (twin-linked melta gun, twin linked assault cannon, 4 bloodstrike missiles). Dropped the Epistolary upgrade, meltabomb, and Baal to make the space.

Facing off against non-cheese Space Wolves (one of the few non-cheesy SW lists around here):

Rune Priest with axe, Mastery Level 2 (got prescience and the S6 Assault 2 thing from biomancy)

Wolf Priest on a bike, 2+ armour, saga of outflanking (warlord)

Big unit of scout bikers

2x 10 Grey Hunters, two plasma guns, wulfen, power sword, rhino

Lone wolf in TDA, storm shield, power axe

Vindicator with bonus storm bolter

Longfang pack - leader with fist, 3 heavy bolters, ML, Lascannon, Razor with t-l lascannon

My librarian ended up with prescience and psychic shriek, and the lowest-leadership for enemies within 12" warlord trait (forget what the SW one was). I lost the roll off, and the wolves elected to take the first turn

Bikers are outflanking with the warlord. The longfangs and rune priest are at the back near the razor; 1 squad is in a rhino, one is on the Wolf objective. Vindy is shielded by rhinos. Lone wolf is on my right flank. I have both assault squads lined up outside of vindicator range, melta squad has red thirst. Devastators are at the top of the tower, and a combat squad in the crater on my objective. Other half of the combat squad are in the rhino held in reserve so I don't offer an easy first blood point in the draw scenario. Night fighting on the first turn, and I fail to seize.

Turn 1 - SW: He moves everything forward (including the longfangs, as I've set up out of their range as well) as far as possible, and pops smoke on all his vehicles. I feel unusually defensive.

Turn 1 - AS: Pod comes in and lands right next to the vindicator of doom, librarian presciences the devastators, and both assault squads advance. Sternguard melta-up the vindicator scoring 2 hits into its side armour... double 1 to penetrate for one of them, the other makes it through the smoke but only succeeds in ripping off a storm bolter. Trouble... The devastators fare better, managing to explode the empty rhino for first blood. I run the assault marines to space them all out in case of pie-plates.

Turn 2 - SW: The bikers come in from my right hand board edge, as the vindicator reverses. The GH squad gets out of the rhino and lines up a firing squad at my flamer unit. Lone wolf moves round the crater. The vindicator templates my sternguard killing all but the sergeant, whilst the drop pod loses two hull points (immobilised but its already immobile). The bikers shoot the melta squad, but can't get through the armour - 1 that does is saved by the priest; the grey hunters do better but most of their damage is also saved by the priest (at this point he's saved 4 assault marines, one of which had a flamer - he's paid for himself). The lone wolf manages to charge my assault squad, but gets battered to death by chainswords before he can attack.

Turn 2 - AS: Both my raven and rhino arrive, and go down the left flank. The melta assault squad goes after the bikers, whilst the flamer squad goes for the grey hunters. Sternguard sergeant goes to break the vindicator. Storm raven immobilises the razorback and takes out its lascannon, but its machine-spirited missile misses the vindicator. Devastator shooting lops a hull point off the vindicator, and the tactical missile launcher finishes the job. Psychic shriek from the librarian kills one biker, shooting a few more, and in combat I kill the rest. The wolf priest and my sergeant end up in a challenge, sergeant is kept alive by the priest and inflicts a wound. The assault squad vs grey hunters is a little more even, and the sternguard with power fist has a strop and punches the rhino, wrecking it.

End of turn 2. Assault Squad is out of sight to the right.

Turn 3 - SW: Not really a huge amount - shooting is mostly directed at the storm raven who shrugs it off. In combat I finish the wolf priest for Warlord, and the priest keeps my hammer-sergeant alive to tell the tale. I lose my fist sergeant in the other combat.

Turn 3 - AS: Raven flies off to have a go at the longfangs as the assault squad leap back into the fray. Librarian casts prescience on the devvies before he moves off. Combat squad pops out the rhino, and shoots the wolf guard, causing 3 casualties and they fall back. Sternguard sergeant has a go but can't damage them. Storm Raven utterly, utterly fails (all its shots either fail to hit or fail to wound the longfangs), and the devastators put down 3 with krak missiles. Slap-fight that is the combat drags on.

End of turn 3

Turn 4 - SW: More of the same... GH's rally, and shoot my sternguard sergeant dead. The razorback storm-bolters my combat squad, killing a dude, and I lose some more assault marines in the slap fight.

Turn 4 - AS: I flip the raven into hover mode as otherwise it'll either be off the table or pointing the wrong way for the rest of the game. Big assault squad moves up; Raven fails horribly again by missing with both bloodstrikes, and I shoot enough grey hunters dead to make them run away again. I'm reduced to one assault marine in the combat and flee, but am caught by the grey hunters.

Turn 5 - SW: Ineffectual shooting thanks largely to my priest, but I lose the last assault marine in combat.

Turn 5 - AS: The Raven shifts round and fails less this turn by finishing off the longfangs, but misses with its last missile (that's all 4 missing, for anyone counting). I have enough of a firing squad to kill the last few grey hunters in the open, and my big assault squad charges and massacres the grey hunters on the SW objective, for the loss of one assault marine.

End of turn 5. There's only the box and the rune priest left. We play out turn 6 and I'm able to get both (though the razor does take down my tactical sergeant in the process)... total annihilation, both objectives, and all 3 secondary objectives... clean sweep :lol:

Genuinely not impressed with the storm raven, didn't find it anything to write home about. Crap usage? Terrible dice? Help me out here. If that's the norm, I don't think I'll be running it 2 weeks from now.

[CitadelArmyGuy]

Stormravens are required for Air Superiority (dog-fight) and Close Air Support (gun-run). You only saw CAS, which is only half of its role, and the bad dice did not help either. Bloodstrikes at AP1 and the multimelta also at AP1 makes for excellent enemy flyer take-downs.

[the jeske]

Wolf Priest on a bike, 2+ armour, saga of outflanking (warlord)

wait . isnt the saga that gives outflanking limited to infantry non terminator armored models ?

[Chaplain Admetus]

Wolf Priest on a bike, 2+ armour, saga of outflanking (warlord)

wait . isnt the saga that gives outflanking limited to infantry non terminator armored models ?

 

Could be. To be honest, I don't know, I don't know the wolf codex all that well, though I think you might be right. Don't think it made much difference in this case, though, as all it did was set his warlord up to be thunder-hammered down to size by a sergeant.

[Morticon]

Wolf Priest on a bike, 2+ armour, saga of outflanking (warlord)

wait . isnt the saga that gives outflanking limited to infantry non terminator armored models ?

 

Could be. To be honest, I don't know,

 

Oddly, you can do this. You're only limited re: termy armour for OBL (for the wolf scouts). But saga of the hunter doesn't have the same restriction.

[Xenith]

Not really replying as I don't have too much to add, but enjoying reading the reports, keep them up!

 

Xen

[Chaplain Admetus]

Game 22

Mission: Big Guns Never Tire

Deployment: Vanguard Strike

First game against the new Chaos book. Lots of Nurgle - entire army had mark of nurgle, as it happens.

3 units of CSM of varying size (between 10 and 12), one had a flamer, one had plasmas, one had meltas.

3 Oblits

2 Oblits

25 Cultists

Lord with power fist

I got a useless warlord trait, he got the preferred enemy Space Marines bubble on his lord... everything within 12" is re-rolling 1s against me. Great... I won the roll and elected to go first, with the sternguard and devastators succumbing to the Red Thirst

3 oblits are in an objective on the forest out of shot to the right.

Turn 1 - AS: The pod comes in and I blast my assault squads forward, looping the rhino round the ruin. Librarian makes his unit invulnerable. Sternguard blast the squad at the top (smallest CSM squad), but despite hitting on 3s and wounding on 2s I only get 2 wounds through, which are saved. Missile launchers don't do a whole lot either.

Turn 1 - Chaos: Everything advances. My sternguard get generally abused (melta, bolters, plasma) and I lose all bar the sergeant. The other oblits and the rest of the army rake my not-invulnerable assault squad, and I lose 8 (apparently, my priest hasn't loaded his chalice yet). They don't break though.

End of turn 1

Turn 2 - AS: Raven decides not to join the party. Librarian fails prescience, but the squad goes after the smaller CSM squad anyway. 2 surviving assault marines bail for the objective in the top ruins, and the rhino moves round. I frag missile the cultists to begin thinning them out, and charge the chaos marines. Blight grenades mean I lose my bonus attacks, and without prescience I'm a bit shafted, and get bogged down.

Turn 2 - Chaos: Oblits move up and everything else advances threateningly, one other CSM squad going to help the combat. The oblits at the top melta my pod (for first blood), the others assault cannon my tactical squad, and cut them all down. The first CSM squad gets into combat; I finish off the one that was already there, but the second one bogs down my few remaining guys.

End of T2. There's still a CSM squad and 3 oblits off to the right.

Turn 3 - AS: Still no Raven. Boo. I continue to thin out the cultists, and send my other assault marines to join the fray. Combat again is a bit of a bust as I can't get through T5, 3+/5+.

Turn 3 - Chaos: My devastators get plasma-cannoned off the table. I'm fearless so can't even go to ground for a 3+ cover save. Lord and the last few cultists get into combat, I decline the challenge and most of my squad gets killed. I'm down to fist, hammer, priest and librarian.

End of 3. Most of my stuff is dead.

No more pictures, but I can sum up the rest of the game... Raven turned up and killed the 2 obliterators, but my librarian failed to wound the chaos lord to sneak a force weapon through. He gets into a challenge with a fist at some point, I do two wounds but he kills my sergeant, and gets the chaos boon that restores all his wounds. I try and make a fight of it using the raven to hopefully win by taking two objectives to his one (so sneaking it with both having a HS kill and linebreaker, him with warlord, first blood and one objective, but me with two), but my tactical squad fall back off of their objective. I'd have managed to pull out either a win or a draw if they'd stayed put and the game had ended on turn 5 (depending on if anything was in linebreaker range), but neither happened.

Chaos Victory by a decent margin.

Thoughts: Note to self - remember blight grenades. Blight grenades are bad for your assault marines' health. Especially since if one model gets it, it looks like it passes it onto the entire unit. I think Nurgle will be a really tough match-up for us, as they're so hard to get rid of in combat. I'm tempted to make the excuse that the lord's warlord trait really shafted me (and to be fair, it did - so many re-rolls...) but that's always a possibility, definitely something to watch out for. So now I'm going to go and make myself feel better by beating up some Tyranids...

[Morticon]

I think you may want to find 125 points and work a snippy dready into your list.

That raven is begging for one.

Would clean out the nurgle squads too.

 

Also, remember blits arent fearless, so Fear of the Darkness screws em over bigtime! We cant instantkill nurgle blits now, so thats one of the bigger aces in the hole.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Game 23

Mission: The Scouring

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

Squaring off against Nids, both of us testing our lists for Throne of Skulls next weekend. He has:

Flyrant with some stuff, inc regenerate

Tervigon, onslaught, regenerate, maybe others

10 Termagants (shooty ones)

25 Hormagaunts, toxin sacs (choppy ones)

3 Warriors, 2 with c-c stuff and one with a barbed strangler

3 Raveners with scything talons (I think)

2 Tyrannofexes with S10 guns, a flamer thingie, and something else.

Flyrant rolls Iron Arm and something else good, everything else sticks with its powers. Librarian grabs himself Prescience and Psychic Shriek. I win the roll off and take first turn, with no red thirst.

Looks like all the good objectives are on the other side of the board. 4 in his DZ, 3 in the forest, 2 in the building, another 3 in the rocks, my tac squad are on the other 2, and the 1 objective is by the barrels.

Tervy is in the ruins, Flyrant is hidden behind a fex, warriors are in the trees near them, and the raveners are next to the gaunts.

Turn 1 - AS: Pod slams down in the ruins. I don't want that Tervigon around for longer than is absolutely necessary. Librarian gets prescience onto the devastators on snake eyes, and the priest saves him (huzzah!). Both assault squads advance, and the rhino combat squad charges forwards, of the opinion that a measly one VP isn't worth it for that objective. The sternguard manage to lop 3 wounds off the tervigon. I consider trying to finish it with the devastator squad, but instead opt to put all 5 missiles (including the tactical one) into the raveners, knocking all 3 out for First Blood and a Fast Attack point.

Turn 1 - Tyranids: Flyrant swoops 24" straight forwards, failing Iron Arm but without Perils. One Tyrannofex and the warriors advance, the other moves sideways. Wall o'gaunts advances at me. Get into a debate about Onslaught and whether the gaunts can run, shoot and assault because of the wording in the Tyranid codex, but fortunately the FAQ's been updated to cover it - they can't charge if they're under the effects of onslaught at all. Tervigon poops out some gaunts, rolling 2, 2, 3. Ouch. Tiny squad, and the thing's no longer a real threat. One Tyrannofex manages to glance and immobilise my rhino, and lots of shots into assault marines leave the summary total of one dead, as the priest rolls like a boss. Gaunts and Tervy charge my sternguard - I overwatch one on the way in, and club most of the rest to death - dust settles, leaving my sergeant and one gaunt alive along with the tervy.

End of turn 1

Turn 2 - AS: Raven fails to come on - really need some better GPS for that thing. Librarian attempts a cheeky prescience on the devs again through shadow in the warp, rolls under 10 with a double 1, and the priest is on hand to save him again. They advance to get out of the flyrant's way, and the other assault squad jumps over the rocks. Tac squad gets into the ruin, fed up of their box. Now comes the horrible part... devastators land 2 hits on the flyrant, which both wound. He fails both jink saves and his grounding test, hitting the floor where he's finished off by the meltaguns in the assault squad. No more warlord, and nothing that can really take on the Raven barring a lucky shot from a Tyrannofex. Meltagun from the tac squad pops a warrior, and the flamers and pistols do a number on both gaunt squads. I charge the smallest one and break it, running it down. Sternguard sergeant gets punched to death by a justifiably cross tervigon, but not before he squashes the last gaunt.

Turn 2 - Nids: Warriors advance, as do the Tyrannofexes. Tervy shuffles sideways, making a long, arduous slog towards the 4 objective. Shooting doesn't accomplish much, and the hormagaunts charge my assault marines on the left, Tyrannofex charges the one with my characters. Despite getting 40-odd attacks on the left hand squad, power armour and priest save all of them (!); and I butcher the squad in return. I decline a Tyrannofex challenge (librarian sent away), and start the long process of beating him down with a hammer and melta bomb. Priest prevents some damage, as he's only S6.

End of turn 2, and the nid army is mostly gone... I can't really envisage me losing from here

Turn 3 - AS: Raven turns up, and blasts forwards. Librarian doesn't prescience. The flamer assault squad retreats to hold the objective in the rocks. The devastators take the Tervigon down to its last wound, whilst the raven massacres the two remaining warriors (mistake - I should have machine-spirited a weapon at the tervigon to finish it off). Tactical squad melta's a wound off the 'fex. Assault marines and Tyrannofex continue their slap-fight, its down to its last few wounds.

Turn 3 - Nids: 5 failed attempts to regenerate the Tervigon. Tyrannofex moves up and templates my tactical squad, scoring 5 wounds... I rub salt in the no-regeneration wound by proceeding to roll five 6s for my armour saves :) . It charges in and kills 3 guys, taking a wound or two in return, whilst my depleted assault squad finally finishes the first Tyrannofex. Annoyingly, the tac squad holds so I can't shoot the Tyrannofex to death.

End of Turn 3

At this point the nids just have a wounded Tyrannofex and a one-wound Tervigon left, so he throws in the towel... we play out turn 4 anyway and I manage to kill both in my turn. Nids are tabled for the loss of 3 tactical marines, 7 sternguard, and 5 assault marines.

I wasn't expecting that game to go as well as it did. An onlooker said after the game that he thought it was heavily in the Tyranids' favour, because "he has lots of monstrous creatures. You have assault marines". The priest was an absolute house this game - over 3 game turns I made 12 feel no pain saves; two of which were stopping my librarian's head from imploding, and that would have made the game trickier. I freely admit I got lucky bringing down the tyrant the way I did, but it was a very dangerous place to put it - if the raven had turned up it would have shot the thing out of the sky with ease. Tervigon rupturing itself on turn 1 helped too, as it meant I didn't need to devote any time to killing it as it wasn't going to start throwing gaunts all over the place. Really just a question of target priority... when all that's left are the slow things, BA have the edge no matter how many monstrous creatures there are.

[Chaplain Admetus]

I think you may want to find 125 points and work a snippy dready into your list.

That raven is begging for one.

Would clean out the nurgle squads too.

 

Also, remember blits arent fearless, so Fear of the Darkness screws em over bigtime! We cant instantkill nurgle blits now, so thats one of the bigger aces in the hole.

 

I know, I know, but there's just too much nice stuff... that and the fact that my Raven has developed an irritating habit of not turning up on time. Blits are fearless now, I think - they've not got termy armour any more, they have a 2+ save and the Daemon rule, netting them their 5+ and making them fearless. Just checked and apparently Daemons just cause fear, and aren't themselves fearless...interesting. I'm pretty sure his entire army was fearless though - either due to various special rules or the lord passing it on. Will have to check.

 

Fear is on my shortlist for powers to take alongside shield as my Librarian's basic ones - its a toss up between that and blood lance, and I don't think I'll ever make a decision until the last moment.

[Morticon]

yupyup! They cause fear, but they themselves are not fearless. And only LD 8!

Its their weak point now.

Cultists wouldnt have been fearless unless typhus was the HQ, and if typhus was the HQ, they couldnt have had over 10 cultists.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Lord was fearless and passed it on to the cultists, as you only need to contain one model with the fearless rule to be fearless. Its interesting, as my opponent didn't actually have the book with him (a shame as I was quite wanting to get my grubby mitts on it and have a general nose through) but a printout of the warlord traits and gift of mutation tables - I was informed that the entire army was fearless (and because it was Big Guns, it was also all scoring). Didn't know about the obliterators though.

 

On the plus side, I'm not as scared of Monstrous Creatures anymore...

[DAwarrior43]

On the plus side, I'm not as scared of Monstrous Creatures anymore...

 

At least not Tyranids, Daemons may be another story right :P

 

I love the batreps keep them coming!

 

Did the Hive Tyrants Iron Arm come into play at all? I figured that was going to give you fits at the beginning of this battle.

[Chaplain Admetus]

On the plus side, I'm not as scared of Monstrous Creatures anymore...

 

At least not Tyranids, Daemons may be another story right :)

 

I love the batreps keep them coming!

 

Did the Hive Tyrants Iron Arm come into play at all? I figured that was going to give you fits at the beginning of this battle.

 

Cheers dude :angry:

 

I was worried about Iron Arm too - fortunately he rolled a 5 and 6 for attempting to cast it on turn 1, and then the tyrant got blasted out the sky before he could try it again. I don't think the game would have gone quite so well if I hadn't got lucky and taken it out, but then he shouldn't really have been relying so much one one model, so swings and roundabouts I guess.

[Chaplain Admetus]

IT'S BACK! After a 3 and a half month hiatus, I've finally been able to get some games in with my beloved Angels Sanguine again! I've found a few gaming clubs in my new area, one that plays on Wednesdays and is better equipped/attended, and one that plays on Fridays (but is a damn sight closer to my house, so its currently winning :P). So, without further ado, I present to you... game 24!

Game 24

Mission: Purge The Alien

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

I've got a new list I wanted to try out, not sold on its effectiveness at all but I think it could be effective with some work. Angels Sanguine forces were:

Reclusiarch with JP (got bored of the librarian)

2x Priest with JP (1 with power sword, the other with meltabomb)

Sanguinary Guard - 3 sword, 1 axe, 1 fist, 1 infernus pistol

10 ASM, Power Sword, 2x flamer

10 ASM, Power Sword, 2x Melta

Baal Pred with Assault Cannon and HB sponsons

5 Bikers with Power Axe and Plasma Gun

Storm Raven

I'm facing some more gribblies - genestealer themed nid force. Lots of biomancy.

Swamlord with 2 hive guard (warlord)

Flyrant with the twin-linked S6 gun that gets silly amount of shots

Trygon with some shooty stuff

Big unit of Ymgarl stealers

2 Regular units of genestealers with a broodlord in each.

Both his big things rolled Iron Arm (yay...), swarmlord also got enfeeble, one broodlord got useless powers, and the other one got the thing that gives FnP, It Will Not Die and Relentless. Both had things that give him +1 to reserve rolls (so they'd be an auto turn up on turn 2), but my warlord trait was -1 to his reserve rolls. The Nid one was counter-attack in his DZ (rubbish). The nids won the roll and elected to go first.

Just the 2 MCs deployed for the nids, everything else in reserve (DS trygon, Ymgarls doing their thing, regular genies outflanking). I've got my Raven hiding out back, and the Baal is also attempting an outflank. I roll to seize the initiative, but fail. Sanguinary Guard succumb to the red thirst.

Turn 1 - Tyranids: The Swarmlord wanders forward, Iron Arms itself, and Enfeebles my melta assault squad. That's all.

Turn 1 - AS: I move everything more central (and I'm almost positive that the Ymgarls will pop out of the ruin in my DZ). My shooting consists of my bike squad, including my brand-new plasma gun biker, shooting at the swarmlord and his hive guard. I'm sure you can all guess what happens here... 1 for shooting, 2 for armour save, 4 for FnP

Turn 2 - Nids: He gets everything bar one squad of the stealers. Ymgarls pop up where I thought, and the regular stealers come on from my right (away from the bikes, annoyingly). Trygon pops up near my bikes and the flamer assault squad. Both the MCs iron arm themselves, and come forwards (flyrant flying now). The melta assault squad gets enfeebled again, and the trygon picks off one or two ASM. Flyrant shoots at and picks off 1 sanguinary guard. The Ymgarls assault both my sanguinary guard and my melta assault squad (annoyingly rolling high enough to engage both, I forgot they could move as well as assault the turn they popped out); choosing the +1 attack biomorph, I lose all but 1 sanguinary guard, and some assault marines. I kill a decent number in return.

Turn 2 - AS: Neither of my reserves turn up. Uh-oh. Plan was to have the raven damage the flyrant and then hurt it on the floor, and have the Baal hose the stealer squad that appeared. Even one of the two turning up would have helped. Ho hum. I sidestep the bikes, and point all of my unengaged forces at the Trygon. Bikes manage to take two wounds from it with bolters, Chaplain gets a third with his krak grenade. Bikes and assault squad charge in, I take wound #4 with the chaplain at I5, and then my priest glues a meltabomb to its face to finish the job for first blood (I lose some assault marines in the process, but not too many thanks to FnP being good). The other combat is where things get rough... he takes the +1 toughness biomorph, and combined with enfeeble, I'm not able to wipe the squad out, instead leaving him with one Ymgarl.... this leaves me completely at the mercy of the genestealers on the right, and I can't even overwatch them. Saving grace: the sanguinary guard survived and couldn't make it back even with pile in moves, so he's a free agent now.

End of T2. Scions of Sanguinius in a spot of bother... and the poor Trygon didn't even get any screen time.

Turn 3 - Nids: More Iron Arm goodness. Last genestealer squad arrives, also on the right flank. This is the Broodlord which has the decent powers, and bumps the current genestealers up, as they move towards my assault squad. Its an 8" charge, so I have a chance... The Swarmy moves up and hexes the chaplain's assault squad, ready for a flyrant stomping. Flyrant charges in and kills my sergeant (thank the Emperor for challenges), and the genestealers make it into combat and do a number on my assault squad. I kill the last Ymgarl.

Turn 3 - AS: Raven turns up, but still no Baal. Most of my forces are a bit screwed thanks to Biomancy, so I blast the bikes down into the far end of the table for linebreaker. Raven flies over and hoses most of the second squad of genestealers, leaving the broodlord left with 2 wounds. Uber flyrant of death eats my priest this time in the challenge, and in the other combat I kill some genestealers, but get reduced to just priest and sergeant.

End of T3. I'm developing a distinct dislike for Biomancy by this point.

Turn 4 - Nids: There's not much in the way of movement other than yet more Iron Arm-ing. The pink broodlord charges my last Sanguinary Guard, who manages to hit with his overwatch melta shot, and wound... but its T5, so it lives :(. It smashes face. To add insult to injury, my sergeant dies in a challenge to the broodlord, but against all the odds my priest lives, so I can't even shoot the damn bugs.The Swarmlord charges my other ASM and kills the chaplain in a challenge, whilst the flyrant squishes the regular marines.

Turn 4 - AS: The errant predator finally turns up on the right. It would have been phenomenally useful over there...two turns ago. The storm raven flies forward and empties its guns into the swarmlord and hive guard, killing one of the latter. The Baal decides there's no kill like overkill and completely obliterates any trace of the pink broodlord. My priest falls to the genestealers, who consolidate towards the ruin.

End of turn 4. Bikes are hiding down the back.

T5 - Nids: The stealers get into cover. The Flyrant flaps over and, in a crowning display of the dice deserting me, manages to score 3 glancing hits on my Raven with its S6 stupid-number-of-shots gun, and I fail ALL my jink saves

T5 - AS: In a last act of defiance, my Baal shreds the last of the genestealers in the building barring the broodlord.

We roll for and get turn 6, which consists solely of the flyrant smashing my Baal, and then call it due to the bikers not being able to do anything or be touched by the nids.

Overall Result - Tyranids: 10 VPs (8 units killed, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker) Angels Sanguine: 5 VPs (3 units killed, First Blood, Linebreaker

Overall thoughts: First of all, I hate Biomancy... T9 MCs is over the top. Secondly, who's stupid idea was it to make Broodlords T5 with 3 wounds

I'm not 100% sure what I should have done differently. Firstly, I should probably have spaced out more so as not to have been multi-charged by the Ymgarls. They tied me up in combat for just too long. Secondly, I should maybe have had my bikes more central so they could have had a go at the Genestealers when they turned up on the right flank.

The Sanguinary Guard did somewhere on the sliding scale between "diddly" and "squat", as did the bikers...I'm disappointed I didn't get to see them in action fully, especially since I went and bought a new bike yesterday purely so I could field the unit of 5. They're getting an auto-slot next game to see what they're made of. Sanguinary Guard I'm not sold on.

I think I got a bit unlucky with reserve rolls... if either of my units had turned up on turn 2 I'd have been in good shape, and I might have been able to take down that flyrant if the storm raven had made an appearance before it got stuck in combat. Everything just turned up at completely the wrong time; if it had been his Ymgarls that failed to show, I'd have had it easy.

The list is fun, but comes completely unstuck against combat armies that are superior to it to this degree. I think I might ditch the Sanguinary Guard. My original version of the list had a chapter banner with them and another 5 man ASM unit with power sword, but I dropped those to get the Baal in. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with just the two scoring units though. Upon reflection, it didn't actually perform too badly - any other mission than Kill Points it would likely have been a tie as I'd have just had to wait for the genestealers to come into the open, then maul them before I got battered by the Big Stuff. Oh well, onward and upwards!

Great to be back doing these, and I'll try to put another one up next week! For Sanguinius!

[StJude]

Good to see these again! I quite enjoy these.

 

I tend to rarely reserve my Baals for this very reason. I think this is what really hurt you.

 

Having a scout move before your turn is a great value to either get the Assault Cannons into range, or to back away and draw your opponent in. I would have reserved the flamer squad and used DoA rerolls to improve their arrival.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Yeah... I figured that having the Baal come on after the genestealers would be useful, and I didn't want to leave it to get Ymgarl'd. The point about the flamers is a good one, I should probably have reserved them. What really killed me more than the Baal hiding, I think, was just getting stuck in combat and having my shooting completely neutered. If I'd killed that last Ymgarl on my turn 2, I'd in all likelihood have been out of charge range of the genestealers (was at 8" anyway, would have been at least 9 with a consolidate move), and would have had both squads caught in the open. Then that assault squad, the bikers, and the Raven would have teamed up and most likely got rid of the two stealer units on the right in turn 3, whilst I tie up the flyrant with constant challenges, and use my mobility to dodge the broodlord. Assuming that scenario, I give up 5 VPs (flamer assault squad, chaplain, priest, warlord, probably linebreaker), whilst gaining 5 myself (2x stealers, ymgarls, trygon, first blood) and then its a case of dodging the flyrant and getting my bikes into his DZ for the win.

 

On a more tactic-related note, does anyone have any tips for putting a halt to Biomancy MC Tyranids? This is the first time I've played against it and its pretty horrendous.

[Father Mapple]

Lascannons and Krak missles for MCs on any type. AP3/2 means they get no saves, and S8/9 is enough. Predators or devastators are the only places you'll get those affordably. The only MCs with 2+ saves are Tyrannofex, which no one takes, and Swarmlord. Even Demon Prince's can only get a 3+ save. Missiles will hit on 3s, wound T6 on 2s, no armor save otherwise.

 

Also, having axes on the ICs helps, since on the charge you're S6, which is enough to wound normal MCs, but not Iron Armed ones. Remember, Iron Arm is only 1/3-1/2 of the time unless he's really lucky. But I keep my assault squads diverse as melta/flamer to get one shot at S8 AP1.

 

Meltabombs for sergeants maybe? Cheaper than fists, but with a fist, they won't kill any challenge-able MC anyways by themselves, so one attack hitting on 4/3s, wounding on 2/4s is better for 5pts than 2 attacks for 25pts.

 

And I never reserve anything against Tyranids. You need that shooting on turn 1 and 2 to make sure they're plinked down enough to be dealt with when they get into combat.

 

EDIT: Hit enter too quickly and added more.

[Brother Maikel]

I've not been impressed with Sanguinary Guard thus far this edition. Too many points for not enough bodies, and without a "native" character attached priests are either too vulnerable or end up ineffective. Plus they're instantly a target for every plasmagun and lascannon in the opposing army (especially if your Baal is still in reserve), and every successful wound is ~40pts gone.

 

As for 'nid biomancy MCs, two things: Mephiston (though stay away from any with Warp Speed) and Sternguard. Hellfire rounds and Combi-Plasma are both fantastic for taking down MCs of any stripe, and a unit of 6-8 Sternguard can put out enough shots to put a serious hurt on any MC.

 

Also, if you end up running anything on foot, I'd highly suggest Corbulo. 2+ FNP is amazing, plus his reroll is extremely useful with reserves: it pushes the chances of getting your Raven/Baal in on turn 2 to almost 90%, and if you don't need it for reserves it can be used for a failed armour save or flubbed to-wound roll later on. He's no slouch in combat either, with 4 attacks (5 on the charge) and an S5 Rending chainsword.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Thanks for posting this. I enjoy your reports and find them informative. I hope you don't give up on the Sanguinary Guard just yet, as I love the models, and would like to see how they fare given a fair trial run. I don't have much time to play so I rely a lot on battle reports rather than my own trial-and-error.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Here we go for number 25! Caveat: with B&C being under repair, gallery being dodgy, and me being lazy, this game was in fact played almost a fortnight ago so I'm going to be hazy on the specifics, so bear with :)

Game 25

Mission: The Scouring

Deployment: Vanguard Strike

Couldn't have a fiddlier set-up, could we... this time, the Angels Sanguine take the fight to the Dark Angels in the ruins of an imperial city! Excited to see what the new DA book has to offer, I'm using the same list as the Tyranid report. The DA list:

Belial (TH/SS)

2x 10 man Deathwing squads (1 with twin heavy flamers, the other with twin cyclones)

4x 5 man tactical squads, each with a heavy weapon - definitely 1 lascannon, 1 heavy bolter, 1 missile launcher, and I forget what the fourth had

DA won the roll for set-up and elected to go first, keeping Belial and the flamer squad in reserve for Deathwing Assault.

Deployment. SG are in reserve, bikes are out of shot to the left. Baal scouted. The '4' objective is between my assault squads, the '1' is on the far side, and I forget the rest. Its not important in the long run though. I roll to seize, and am successful! Squad without Reclusiarch falls to the Red Thirst.

Turn 1 - AS: The bikes move round the back of that building in a flanking manoeuvre. Both assault squads advance, and the Baal shifts forward. I plow some pot-shots from it into the terminators, and kill 2.

Turn 1 - DA: Belial and his crazy deathbomb of non-scattering, twin-linked pain lands next to my assault squads.... trouble! The tac squads shimmy around a little, and the other terminator squad advances. Belial's squad opens up into the right hand unit and lays down a lot of hurt, and the priest is nearest. He makes all but 3 look out sir saves, however, and then passes all his armour. The squad only fails 2 armour saves, and both are negated by Feel No Pain. Um...what? That's not right... Heavy weapons fire doesn't scratch the Baal, and the other terminators are more successful at assault marine slaying.

End of T1

Turn 2 - AS: Raven arrives, but no SG. Both assault squads advance, one flies down and away from the deathbomb, whereas I fancy the other's odds of whittling down terminators since its still at full strength. The bikes move round to shoot the nearest small squad, killing one or two. The Baal and Raven combine to get the farthest squad, for first blood. I kill no terminators with my shooting, though, and the assault doesn't go well as the Dark Angels can't roll 1s. Oops.

Turn 2 - DA: Belial's squad consolidates its position, and there's very little movement. Shooting from the heavy weapons is once more ineffective, and Belial's squad opens fire on the bikes, killing all bar one in an orgy of appalling red and black dice. Combat sees my assault squad brutalised even further, but worst case happens - I'm not wiped out. Can't flee because I'm fearless. Can't bring in fire support.

End of Turn 2

Turn 3 - AS: The sanguinary guard turn up and land near the big red building. The lone bike moves round to be a nuisance. Reclusiarch and his squad go to hold down an objective, and the raven and Baal move to engage the squad in said big building. The SG and biker open fire into the small combat squad nearest the combat, and accomplish absolutely nothing. The vehicles do better and eliminate their chosen target. In combat, my guys finally bite the dust.

Turn 3 - DA: The terminators turn and hammer their shots into the sanguinary guard. He inflicts 14 wounds, and I manage to fail 6 saves, losing the entire unit. The two tactical squads take down the biker.

End of turn 3. Conspicuous by its absence - my army.

Turn 4 - AS: I continue to shift round and need to make a play for denying some of the larger objectives. My shooting is sadly largely ineffectual though.

Turn 4 - DA: The Dark Angels just move a little bit, and plink off a few models where they can.

Turn 5 - AS: The assault squad high-tails it back towards their starting corner to try and get a better objective than the one they had before. Raven goes into hover mode, and it and the Baal obliterate the tactical marines in the centre of the table.

Turn 5 - DA: Terminators move to hold the central objective. Belial comes belting out of his unit (which shot my depleted final squad some more) and issues a challenge, which my reclusiarch accepts. I score 3 hits, and 3 wounds, and Belial rolls triple 1!


....no, not really. He makes all his saves and smears my Reclusiarch across the table, the squad flees off the board, and we call the game.

I think there are still some tac marines hiding under the top left objective, which I -think- was two points, but not certain.

Final Result: Angels Sanguine 4 VPs (First Blood, Linebreaker, 2 point objective); Dark Angels 13 VPs (Warlord, Belial's Warlord Trait, Linebreaker, 1 Fast Attack choice killed, 3 objectives totalling 9 VPs).

Well, clearly I used up all my luck on turn 1, as from there it was all downhill. I tried to take the terminators down with weight of attacks, but when that first charge did absolutely nothing I knew I was screwed. I'm still unimpressed with the bikes and the sanguinary guard, as after two games they've done absolutely nothing between them. I might give them one more game, but if there's no improvement I'll be trading them out. The Reclusiarch just doesn't add anything to the force, sadly, and being fearless is more a hindrance than a help. I can't really take on that many 2+ saves, I don't have the shooting to do it effectively and in combat I basically have to make the first round count, as otherwise I won't have the strength bonus or the number of attacks necessary to pull it off. If anyone thinks of anything I could have done differently, please let me know! I'll hopefully get another game this week, and be a bit quicker with getting the batrep in this time....

[sockwithaticket]

Jeez... Sorry, man that reads like a bit of a curb-stomping.

I don't really play so feel free to ignore any advice I give, but restoring the prescience Libby to the list would be a good start and scrapping the Bikers and Sanguinary Guard would be a good move. Roughly worked out you can get another dakka Baal and a 10 man RAS with power weapon and 2 plasma guns/pistols for the same amount those two units are costing you.

Alternatively, have you ever found the flamer assault squad to be particularly useful? If not then swapping the flamers for some plasma wouldn't be a bad idea. From what I gather in this edition you will need to have some AP 2 stuff floating around your army and when it comes to marines your best bet  is guns as the chances of you ever getting to use an axe for it's intended purpose are slim. 2 out your 3 ap 2 weapons were axes, I'd say you probably need 4 AP 2 weapons alongside the meltaguns for when you do inevitably encounter some 2+ saves and I would ensure that those weapons are ranged.

On a brighter note, nice to see you back!

[SnorriSnorrison]

Hey Chaplain, what was your expression of the new DA dex? I have yet to play against them and hoped for some BA-centric point of view. :) Oh well, your opponent's list wasn't very versatile I guess...just hard to take out. :lol:
 

Anyway, regarding your list. While I'd agree to drop the bikers, the Sanguinary Guard can be worth their weight in gold(armour), especially if you add the banner. You said you had problems taking out 2+ saves. If I may make this suggestion, I've recently included 2 plasmacannons in my army, one in a Tactical Squad, the other on the Stormraven, and they have proved to be effective enough against 10 or more Terminators, especially if they're slow.
Maybe the Librarian is a better choice than the Reclusiarch. His powers can be used on more than one unit and fearless against Terminators is not the best thing. :)

Other than that, great batreps! :)

 

Snorri