Chaplain Admetus' Battle Report Thread - Game 32 added

[Pathstrider]

Just catching up on this thread after a while (Great thread by the way, really useful!). One thing from the nid game...

 

 

 

I decline a Tyrannofex challenge (librarian sent away), and start the long process of beating him down with a hammer and melta bomb.

Can Tyrannofexs issue challenges? I thought only Tervigon/Trygon Prime/Tyrants were characters.

 

Mark

[Chaplain Admetus]

Thanks guys for the props and advice - I've made some tweaks to the list (some very severe) and got a game tonight that'll be going up either within the next 2 hours or sometime tomorrow, and I took advice on board when tweaking.

 

@Snorri - the new DA dex seemed solid. I think its quite designed to play to the Deathwing and Ravenwing (no surprise), but dirt-cheap divination librarians and being able to take a heavy weapon in a small squad is quite good, as having a 100-odd point unit that can plink a missile at things and score is nice. I actually dropped the SG and kept the bikers for my next list (the opposite of what you suggested) since I wasn't finding myself using the SG very well, putting it down to user error rather than a bad unit. Plasma is good shout though, and I've put in a 10 man tactical squad with dual plasma (gun and cannon).

 

@sock - the flamer squad is pretty useful against non-marine targets, but with MEQ generally being quite prominent it loses some punch. Good for clearing out xenos though.

 

@Pathstrider - no idea! I think its listed as a character in the back of the rulebook, but mine's downstairs and I'm lazy (he says, having walked half an hour each way already this evening to reach the gaming club....)

[Chaplain Admetus]

Well, here we go!

Game 26

Mission: Crusade (5 objectives)

Deployment: Vanguard Strike

After much thought and some input from other brothers, I've tinkered with the list. Gone is the reclusiarch for not adding enough stuff, and the new list has moved away from the very in-your-face choppy element of the past two games to a much more traditional build:

Librarian with Terminator Armour (I wanted regular power armour but can't find mine, found this guy though) and force axe

Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack

5 Terminators with Cyclone Missile Launcher (I found my old 3rd edition tactical terminator squad!)

10 man Assault Squad with 2x meltagun

10 man Tactical Squad with plasma gun, plasma cannon

5 man scout squad, all sniper rifles, camo cloaks

Baal Predator, t-l Assault cannon, heavy bolters

5 bikes, power axe, plasma gun (yeah, I kept them)

5 Devastators, 4 Missile Launchers

Dreadnought with missile launcher, twin-linked lascannon

I'm facing Space Wolves for this one - going to have to do his list from memory. 2 6 man longfang squads with maxed out MLs, 2 10 man grey hunter squads with dual plasma in drop pods, 2 10 man grey hunter squads with dual melta in drop pods (all 4 had a wolf banner), and a wolf lord with some wolf guard (2 terminators), some combi-plasma....in a drop pod.

Librarian rolled prescience and the overwatch power, and I won the roll to go first. Librarian got move through cover for him and anything within 12" for his warlord trait, wolf lord got the counter-attack one.

WARNING: RETRO MODELS AHEAD

Baal is outflanking. Sniper scouts are on the central objective, tactical squad is within striking distance of one on the far right. The third is in front of longfangs, the fourth is out in the open midway between the left longfangs and my scouts, and number 5 is waaaay off to the far right (this will be important later on). No night fighting, no red thirst, no initiative seized. Angels Sanguine, roll out!

Turn 1 - AS: The bikes moved around the terrain to get to the northern longfangs. Librarian cast prescience on the scouts, and the assault squad and terminators advanced down the middle. Tactical squad fidgeted a little to get some of their guns in range of the northern longfangs. The tactical squad and the bikers between them managed to take down three of the further back squad. The rest of my army ploughed everything into the 6 man squad nearer the centre, and managed to kill all six for first blood (that's off of the sniper scouts, 5 storm bolters, 7 frag missiles, and a lascannon). The assault squad runs a bit further forward.

Turn 1- SW: The first 3 pods arrive - the wolf guard, and the two plasma squads (my opponent decided there was no point brining a melta squad in to break my dread since he'd already lost first blood). They all landed in the centre of my forces, surrounding the terminators (see pic below). The longfangs opened up and shredded 3 of my bikers, including the sergeant. The grey hunters and wolf guard all targeted my terminators and assault marines (2 went for terms, 1 for ASM), and put down 3 termies, 1 of which was the cyclone, and 4 assault marines (1 melta). Bad dice rolls for plasma, and armour and the priest kicked into overdrive. I think he fired the wrong units at the wrong targets, and in the wrong order... if the squad on the left had gone first and gone for the assault squad, he had a decent chance of downing the priest, which would have improved his odds of killing everything else.

End of turn 1

Turn 2 - AS: The Baal joins the party from the left hand table edge. 12" leaves it within assault cannon range of the nearest grey hunter squad. Librarian presciences him and his 2 remaining friends, and stomps towards the right hand grey hunter squad. The assault squad high-tails it forwards towards the longfangs, and the bikers move round to be a nuisance. Dread shifts out of cover and forward. Shooting is undeniably effective, killing a full half of the grey hunter squad on the right, the remaining 5 flee back. I also whittle down the left hand squad, and I believe the bikers plink off one of the wolf guard (plasma is still alive). In assault, one of the assault marines takes a krak missile to the face on the way in but they handily cut down the remaining longfangs, and consolidate into cover. The librarian and his two remaining friends wade into the depleted grey hunters, lose the sergeant to a failed armour save as he cuts down 2, and the librarian and fist kill all bar one, who holds (thankfully for me).

Turn 2 - SW: The last two pods come in, and both land up near the tactical squad. Clearly, he wants that objective. The grey hunters rally, and go for the bikes. Wolf guard advance north towards the assault marines (he had the choice of going north to the assault squad, or south to the scouts. Shooting from both new GH squads cuts down 8 of my tactical marines, leaving one bolter trooper, and the guy with the plasma cannon. The now-rallied squad kills the bikes, but the wolf guard can't shoot down the assault marines. They try and charge but fail, one taking a bolt pistol to the face and dying for his impudence. The librarian and friend kill the last grey hunter, and consolidate a mighty 6", heading up to the north east.

End of turn 2... I'm very low on scoring models, but I still have enough to make it count.

Turn 3 - AS: At this point I can start planning properly, as all my opponent's forces are now on the tabletop. He's very heavily committed to the northeast where my tactical squad is used to be, and almost everything is concentrated on my right flank (both entire armies barring my Baal). With this in mind, I decide to make a play for the objective in the far west (the one I mentioned back at deployment), as I reckon my assault squad can get there in 3 turns. So the assault marines jump out of their terrain, and into the area occupied by the longfang squad that got destroyed on turn 1, followed by a 5" run diagonally back to try and put as much space between the wolf guard and them as possible. The Baal is more than 36" from the depleted longfangs, so moves up 12" to put both heavy bolters into them. The dread advances, and the librarian presciences himself and his friend once more before heading towards the nearest GH squad. The tac marine with bolter has to move to remain in coherency, but the plasma cannon stays put. The Baal puts 4 wounds onto the 5 grey hunters and he fails all his saves (ouch), leaving the last one to be plinked off by the dreadnought. Sniper scouts do sod-all, and the plasma cannon and 4 frag missiles thin out the grey hunters, and the librarian and his lone terminator wade in and finish them off.

Turn 3 - SW: The grey hunters advance, and shoot at the librarian and his friend, taking down the terminator. The wolf guard advance and shoot at the assault squad, but can't kill any, and they unsurprisingly fail their charge (8" or so through terrain). Drop pods all shoot at the 2 remaining tactical marines, and kill the plasma cannoner, bolter guy falls back 10". The grey hunters assault the librarian and inflict 12 wounds, but the librarian shrugs 11 of them off like a pro, and cuts down 3. The wolves break and fall back, and due to termy armour I can't chase them.

End of turn 3. Hero librarian is out of shot to the top right.

Turn 4 - AS: The assault squad jumps out the ruins (finally failing a dangerous terrain check, and an armour save, but the priest is on hand to keep the numpty alive), and runs a further 1", well within striking range of the far left objective on turn 5 whilst being out of range of the wolf guard. The Baal advances and it, the librarian, and the dread shoot the grey hunters further, reducing them to a mere 2 who flee again. The devvies try and break a drop pod but only stun it (lost a hull point earlier from the plasma cannon, and its between them and the GH). Librarian doesn't fancy his odds at what's now a 9" charge through cover so stays put and I pass the turn.

Turn 4 - SW: The SW see the writing on the wall and concede, as outside of seriously irrational dice there's no way of him winning.

End of the game. As far as scoring models go, I have the 3 assault marines on the far left, the 5 sniper scouts planted on an objective, and one tactical marine hovering near the one out of shot on the right.

Final Score (when the game was called): Angels Sanguine - 5 VPs (1 objective, linebreaker, first blood), Space Wolves - 0 VPs

More than a little surprised at the final result. The dice didn't favour the space wolves at certain points, it must be said, but I didn't roll hugely outstanding dice. Probably poor targeting choices on turn 1 on his part (as well as the vagaries of the dice gods) left me with more firepower to work with than I could have had, and from there it was relatively simple fire-focus tactics; focus on one grey hunter squad until its no longer there, rinse and repeat. I also think that he made an error instead of going after the assault squad with the wolf guard instead of the scouts (something he realised after the fact), and dropping the last 2 pods to focus on the tacticals. I'd have put one up to whittle them down, the second to deal with the assault squad, and sent the wolf guard after the scouts; I'd certainly have had a better time of it for the tactical marines, but would have been in a rougher position overall.

I have a newfound respect and/or love for blast templates, as he was nicely clustered outside of drop pods letting frag missiles and the plasma cannon get to work. I was pleasantly surprised with the tactical terminators as a support platform...yes, I only had one left at the end of turn 2 but he stuck with my librarian through 2 and a half grey hunter squads. Speaking of, I'll definitely be running the librarian again. He was originally meant to be in power armour and running with the tacticals, but I had a model malfunction and couldn't find my PA librarian with force staff, but turfed up this guy instead ( think I dropped a heavy bolter attack bike to pay for the armour). I found the old librarian died to easily, but with a 2+/5++, and not being thrown into the meat grinder thanks to his jump pack and running with assault marines, he's a lot more survivable. And divination is much better when applied to shooty units rather than choppy. Dreadnought was not outstanding, but was just generally quite solid, laying down supporting fire where needed. Designed as a tankbuster, but was pretty handy in this situation.

Overall, very pleased with a win against what seemed quite a strong list. I had admitted help from the dice gods, but I reckon I played solidly and capitalised on my opponent's errors/misfortune. The list'll probably remain the same unless someone has some compelling insight, and roll on the next one!

[Chaplain Admetus]

Game 27

Mission: Purge The Alien

Deployment: Dawn of War

I'm running the exact same 1500 point list as above, and I'm playing against the new Chaos book, what I think is only my second game against them... and its against World Eaters!

His list:

Khârn

Multi-melta hellbrute

Defiler

Forgefiend with the S8 guns

3x 16 berzerker squads, 1 with power sword, 2 with power fist, all with the re-roll charge range banner, and some other upgrades

Very straightforward... line up and fight! Librarian rolled prescience and misfortune, and got princeps of deceit as his warlord trait. I won the roll and elected to go first.

Picture taken after chaos failed to seize the initiative - scouts infiltrated to get a tiny bit further forwards and reactive deployment, and I used the warlord trait to redeploy the terminators off of that hill and closer to the main bulk of the chaos forces. Baal is being sneaky-sneaky and outflanking, Khârn is in the unit in the building, forgefiend is hiding behind it No red thirst, we're off!

Turn 1 - AS: bikers and assault squad advance gingerly, dread moves up onto the hill. Bikers manage to put 3 wounds on the nearest berzerker squad, but he makes all his saves. Scouts all fail to hit barring 1, who fails to wound. The devastators, lacking range to a better target and having them all spaced out, decide to point krak missiles at them, and score 4 misses... Dread fires at the defiler; ML fails to glance, lascannon misses, hits on the re-roll, penetrates.... and he makes his 5+ save for being a daemon. Finally, the plasma cannon fires at the hellbrute, and I roll double 6 for its scatter, the direction taking it square to the left and off the board. An entire turn, and no damage :(.

Turn 1 - Khorne: Everything advances, and the 'zerks run. Forgefiend fires at assault marines, but the power armour saves them. Hellbrute hits a tactical marine with its multi-melta, who has the presence of mind to duck behind the wall. Finally, the defiler blasts a cross-table battlecannon shot at the devastators, and it scatters onto the scouts, who hit the deck - 2+ save thanks to camo cloaks keeps them all alive.

End of turn 1. A whole turn with precisely zero casualties!

Turn 2 - AS: The Baal turns up, and I get to pick which board edge... I toy with bringing it on in the far left corner, but decide that Khârn will rip it to shreds and I'm not overly likely to wreck the defiler. Its also guaranteed to die next turn, and I reckon its more useful killing berzerkers, so I bring it on from the right. Bikes move up and shoot. The assault squad shifts forward, and I start shooting at things. I put down a decent number of berzerkers on the right, and shoot down some from the middle squad. Scouts are more accurate snap-firing, scoring 2 hits and 2 kills. My long-ranged firepower does absolute nothing to his defiler (out of range of the forgefiend), with my cyclone missile launcher and dreadnought all failing to penetrate or getting it bounced off the daemon save. My bikes manage to fail a 4" charge (3" of which was due to shooting the berzerkers that were formerly there), and my assault squad charges the weakened berzerkers. I kill them down to 3, but obviously they hold. Sergeant died in a challenge to a powerfist despite landing two wounding hits.

Turn 2 - Khorne: Everything advances... Khârn and his boys come piling out and head for my beleaguered assault squad. Bullets from various sources manage to drop 3 of my terminators (terminator armour isn't what it used to be), and I get charged... 12 berzerkers hit the bikes, and Khârn +16 hit the assault squad. My assault squad put all their remaining attacks after Khârn is done smacking at them into the 3 remaining berzerkers trying to kill them at the same initiative step so I don't forfeit first blood, but I fluff my attacks and leave one alive. They're cut down by the berzerkers, and the other unit easily wipes out my bikers.

End of turn 2

Turn 3 - AS: I shift around to shoot things a bit better. The tactical squad gets prescience'd and moves down to unload into Khârn's unit, except the cannoner who stays put. My bullets are better this time around as I put down 10 berzerkers, and kill most of the ones on the right (too little too late though). My long ranged fire once again completely sucks at destroying tanks - whose stupid idea was it to give the tanks a 5+ daemon save? I do manage to pick off the final berzerker for a kill point.

Turn 3 - Khorne: Stuff comes still further forwards. Forgefiend is persistently out of range (but acting as KP denial), hellbrute meltas a terminator. The right hand berzerkers fail a charge against my devastators, losing 2 to lucky missiles for their trouble, and Khârn and his unit initially fail to charge my tactical marines, but get it with the banner. Sergeant eats the challenge from Khârn to save marines, and between my guys and Khârn, he's just got the sergeant left at the end of combat...I hold (barely).

End of turn 3

Turn 4 - AS: I start moving up, and mop up the berzerkers with shooting. Devs pop the hellbrute, but I still roll badly to try and beat the defiler with my dread. In combat, Khârn kills all but the plasma cannon, who tries to kick the berzerker champion in the face, but can't get through his armour. He finishes the job.

Turn 4 - Khorne: his last berzerker and Khârn tear across the table towards my terminator and librarian. Shooting immobilises and stuns my dread, and Khârn charges in... he kills his friend, but also my librarian, and remains locked in combat with the terminator.

Turn 4 - awful photo is awful.

Turn 5 - AS: I start moving the devastators up to get into snap fire range of the forgefiend, lurking where I can't hit it. Dread snap-fires at the defiler, managing a hit, which penetrates, and rolls a 6 to explode it! Unfortunately, daemon save once again says no. The devastators manage one hit, but it fails to penetrate the forgefiend. Khârn kills terminator (duh).

Turn 5 - Khorne: Shooting is a non-event. Khârn charges the dread which manages a wounding hit with its overwatch shots! My opponent decides this is a great time to pass yet another 5+ invulnerable, and Khârn takes it apart. We roll for and get turn 6.

Turn 6 - AS: I put all my sniper scouts into Khârn, taking two of his wounds off...Baal finishes the job. The devs at the back move forward and my half-regular, half snap-fire devs still can't hit or penetrate the forgefiend.

Turn 6 - Khorne: In a repeat of the first shot of the game, the defiler attempts to hit the devastators, gets the scouts instead, who all hit the deck. There's no turn 7, and I'm clearly defeated.

Chaos Victory

Not really sure what I can offer in the way of post-game thoughts, other than to swear profusely about 5+ invulnerable saves. Across his daemon engines and Khârn, my opponent only failed one 5+ invulnerable save in the entire game, and that was a glance on the defiler (I believe in turn 2, could be wrong) which it recovered off instantly with It Will Not Die. Failing any of those would probably have given me a decent edge in the game. As it was, I just could not hit or penetrate with my ranged shots, and even when I did nothing came of it... and I still managed to drop everything bar said irritating daemon engines. Even the one to put Khârn down in turn 5 would have made a huge difference as it would have meant a chance of victory or a tie on turn 6. I had to deploy the devastators in cover otherwise they'd have been battlecannoned off the board in one turn, so I don't think I made all that many mistakes in deployment... perhaps I should have let the berzerkers go first to get into range.

I'm interested to know what people think - should I have deployed differently? Should I have outflanked the Baal on the other side to try and drop a tank from behind, at the risk of sacrificing my right flank (as the Baal did the most damage on that side)? Or did the dice just steal this one away?

[Chaplain Admetus]

Still no replies? :( Maybe this'll get some...

Game 28

Mission: Big Guns Never Tire

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

This week, the might of the Blood Angels descends upon on Ork shanty town in an effort to purge the greenskin invasion! Due to a minor miscalculation on my part (read: I forgot the termy librarian and dreadnought were on the painting table) I went back to my Throne of Skulls list, being the only list that I had on me and had the models for:

JP librarian, JP priest with sword, 10 ASM with dual melta and hammer, 10 ASM with dual melta and fist, 10 tacs with fist, ML, Melta, Rhino, 5 devs with 4 ML, 6 sternguard, melta, 3 combi-melta, fist, pod, and a raven. For this game, librarian rolled up prescience and misfortune.

The Ork list (awesomely painted and converted) had a warboss in mega armour running in a battlewagon with 5 nobz in mega armour, a warboss with klaw on a bike (warlord) running with a unit of nob bikers, 1 with a klaw, and one chucking out FnP. 20 shoota boyz with 2 big shootas, 10 grots, 3 units of 5 lootas, and a dakkajet. Orks won the roll and decided to take first turn.

Orks have the dakkajet in reserve, along with the grots. 1 loota squad is deployed in each piece of terrain in his DZ (the one on the right near the blue crate is kinda hard to see), shoota boyz are all in the terrain on the left flank near the wagon.

Blood Angels have the raven and pod in reserve, along with half of the second assault squad (the sergeant and both flamers). The 5 grunts are behind the big assault squad with characters. Devastators on the furthest back objective (turns out to be a grav generator, only mysterious objective that's relevant), half a tactical squad near the other one, and the remaining half squad are in their rhino. Its only now that I realise that I effectively went MSU for the game, which is not a playstyle I have a great deal of familiarity with.

One key point to note is that the wooden fences (around the furthest back objective in a V shape, near my ML combat squad, and connecting the left hand huts) are in fact tall enough to block line of sight, something that came into play quite a bit.

Devastators succumbed to the red thirst, no night fighting, and no seizure of the initiative. Warlord traits: librarian is making all orks within 12" use their lowest Ld rather than highest, and the biker warboss is scoring.

Turn 1 - Orks: With a mighty roar the Orks surge forward. Bikers down the centre, battlewagon down the left, boyz struggle through terrain. Shooting is comparatively light, managing to pick off 1 devastator at the back, and one tactical marine from the combat squad, and a few of the assault marines in the big squad. Does accomplish the important goal of getting the nobz right in my face.

Turn 1 - AS: Things that need dealt with right now are the bikers and the battlewagon. Librarian casts prescience on his own unit, and the pod lands behind the battlewagon, scattering near to the building containing the central objective. The combat squad strings itself out slightly to try and get bolters in range, and the assault grunts jump and hide along the back of the building and fence, out of sight. Rhino creeps down the flank, careful to remain hidden. There's no way I can avoid the bikers, so I decide the best option is to hit them rather than getting hit by them, and put the assault squad right in front of them. Shooting from the devastators is pretty woeful, and the combat squad realise they can't see their priority target on account of the fence, so shoot the lootas, killing 1. The sternguard fire all their melta into the back of the battlewagon, blowing it sky high and losing one of their number to the explosion. More than worth it, however, as the meganobz fail their pinning check(!) and are taken out of the game temporarily. I shoot everything from the assault squad into the bikers, and manage to sneak a wound off the warboss, before charging. I decline to issue a challenge, but his warboss does, and my sergeant with his thunder hammer boldly steps up to the plate. The librarian and priest between them manage to off a biker with power weapon attacks, and sheer weight of attacks from the assault marines kills two more, crucially including the FnP caddy. The bikers strike back and kill a few, and then its challenge time. My sergeant is predictably smeared to a pulp, but in a colossal blaze of glory smacks the warboss in the face with his thunder hammer, scoring two wounds, and the warboss fails both his saves! The orks fail their break test, and are chased down by the assault marines.

End of turn 1 - absolutely brutal for the Orks, now down one of their most potent units and their warlord, and with their other nasty unit temporarily out of play.

Turn 2 - Orks: Both reserves come on, the grots piling on near the back objective, and the dakkajet coming in on my right. Lootas on the right move out to snap-shot the rhino, and the boyz move across to be in range of the assault squad. The ork player also chooses to call his Waaagh this turn. The lootas snap-shoot my rhino, shaking it, and on the left he kills a sternguard. Dakkajet, remaining lootas, and shoota boyz all unload into the assault squad, and obliterate my only decent sized unit from the table, along with my librarian and priest.

Turn 2 - AS: Not to be outdone, my reserve rolls are equally reliable, getting the combat squad and the raven onto the field. The raven goes in for a dogfight, and the assault marines land near his lootas. The sternguard shift down the back, and open the shooting phase by taking care of some lootas (ignores cover ammo). Devastators fire frags into the big mob of boyz and thin them out a little. Storm raven fires its multi-melta and two missiles into the dakkajet (more than enough) and machine-spirits its assault cannon into the lootas... I only manage to rip two hull points off the jet and velocity lock it, and kill some of the lootas. The flamer assault marines target the grots, but are able to place the flamers to kill a loota as well. Both loota squads on the flanks flee.

End of turn 2

Turn 3 - Orks: The lootas on the left rally, the ones on the right don't, but only flee 2 inches. Back up, the meganobz shift through their wrecked battle wagon at the sternguard, whilst the warboss splits off and comes devastator hunting. Dakkajet moves 18", and the shoota boyz head towards my 5 assault marines. Dakkajet unloads into my combat squad of tacticals, killing all but the missile launcher (that thing gets altogether far too many shots for my liking). The fleeing lootas snap fire and manage to shake my rhino again, and all his other bullets kill 2 assault marines (1 flamer). Meganobs predictably make toast of the sternguard.

Turn 3 - AS: Raven cuts off to the left to go have itself some boyz. Assault squad leaps round the back to get a better flamer aim. Devastator shooting, lone tac marine, and the raven cut down a vast swathe of the shoota boyz. Assault marines flame a load of grots and a loota or two, but then fail a 4" charge (not even into terrain).

End of turn 3. Get the feeling my multiple small units are about to become multiple dead units.

Turn 4 - Orks: Dakkajet comes down towards the devastators, as does the warboss. Fleeing lootas rally. On the right, the lootas finally start rolling low for their shots, and only get the one each, and can't touch the rhino. Left hand side, same happens, and they get an assault marine. Central lootas are hoarding the ammo, and shoot at the raven. One gets hit, gets a 6 to penetrate, I fail my jink, and he gets a third consecutive 6 to blow it up. I wouldn't be irritated if it wasn't for the frequency with which this happens... in the last 5 games where its been destroyed, its been killed by snapfire almost every time. Dakkajet blows away 2 more devastators, and the meganobz assault and ruin my drop pod.

Turn 4 - AS: The assault marines move into position again, and the rhino moves up and spits out some tactical marines. Devastators move to be guaranteed out of the warboss's charge range, and snap fire into the jet to no effect. I put every available bolter into the boyz, and get them down to just two. Flaming kills all the remaining grots, and a loota for good measure.

End of turn 4

Turn 5 - Orks: No night fighting. Dakkajet turns and moves off the table. Warboss advances, and the meganobs move to take the middle objective. Shooting is ineffective, I think I might lose an assault marine at the back. He decides not to charge with his orks, making me kill him in my turn (so I can't kill two units).

Turn 5 - AS: I move the assault squad that's been hiding since turn 1 back out, since there's a slim chance I'll need them. Assault squad number 2 moves into the fences for cover, and flames the lootas dead to control the objective. The tactical marines advance and wipe out the remaining ork boyz, and the devastators hide behind the hut (warboss can't charge what he can't see!). Tactical marine on his own moves up to claim the objective the assault squad abandoned.

End of turn 5. We roll for turn 6, and get it.

Turn 6 - Orks: Not much they can do. Warboss comes in to contest the devastators' objective. Meganobs come out (leaving one guy within range of the objective) and shoot my assault marines, killing all but 1! The dakkajet comes back in and strafes the lone tactical marine, who passes 6 armour saves like a hero.

Turn 6 - AS: Last assault marine runs back to hide and claim that previous objective. Devastators move back again to play keep-away from the warboss. Rhino moves to block line of sight to the two assault marines on the back objective from the meganobs and dakkajet to prevent any turn 7 chicanery, and the tactical marines shoot down the lootas on the right flank. We roll for turn 7, but the game ends.

End of the game! Predictably brutal matchup between Blood Angels and Orks with next to nothing left.

Result: Orks 6 VPs (1 objective, linebreaker, warlord, 1 heavy support choice killed); Angels Sanguine 9 VPs (First Blood, linebreaker, warlord, 2 objectives).

Angels Sanguine Victory!

I'd forgotten how much fun playing Orks was. Its always nice as its a straight-up scrap and there's rarely any tricksiness or powergaming. Its also inevitably brutal, as the very small number of models left on the table shows. I think the real damage was dealt here on turn 1; taking out the biker squad and his warlord before they had a chance to really get going was key, and taking the other nob squad out of commission for a turn and slowing them down really helped. Dropping the flamers in from reserve was really helpful, as it ensured I'd get close to the target and have a turn of Ork-killing. I do wonder, given that the rest of the unit spent the game hiding, if I'd have been better off without combat squadding them, but I really wanted to max out on scoring units (as it turned out, I had 7 scoring units to the Orks' 4). I probably shouldn't have been greedy with the Storm Raven and should have fired the assault cannon into the jet as well... I really expected the 3 S8 AP1 shots to be enough to get it, didn't, and the jet caused a fair amount of damage. MSU is definitely a very different playstyle from the one I'm used to (read: mobbing the assault squads up and trying to smash face) and I enjoyed it, I'm thinking 10 man assault squads combat-squadded might be the way to go for more games. It has its obvious downsides, but adds a lot of flexibility to the game - if I hadn't used combat squads for this one, I think I'd have lost for sure.

That's all for now! Hope to get some more in soon!

[SamaNagol]

These are good reads. Thanks for posting them

 

I don't think people really know what sort of feedback you want though so might just read the batreps then not reply after?

[Captain Idaho]

Yes thanks for the battle reports. I've been studying the use of Stormravens and learnt a lot. If there's only 1 flier make sure you don't get greedy and shoot the blighter down with all weapons rather than spreading yourself thin and leaving it to the mercy of the dice gods (who care not for mortal math hammer!).

That was still a hard army to face I think. 2 big, bad hammer units with nasty Warboss attendents.

In the Ultramarines forum there was a post somewhere that discussed the merits of Assault squads in combat squads operating as a single unit. They can both charge if need be but one can take all the hits from overwatch whilst if one is charged the other can counter charge next turn or move away. It also allows for 2 grenades to be thrown in the shooting phase.

I'd try it myself but Assault Marines aren't so useful in an Ultramarines list, but to your BA/Angels Sanguine...

 

 

Does accomplish the important goal of getting the nobz right in my face

 

So it was that sort of game, eh?

[Pathstrider]

Ditto the above comments - I'm finding the reports very useful. I'm playing an ork list with nibs bikers and I find it interesting your assault squad was able to see them off...

 

Mark

[Captain Idaho]

Well remember it weren't just an Assault squad; Furious Charge, Precision and a Librarian and Apothecary, so don't get too complacent!

[Brother Maikel]

I generally find that outside of killpoints games, and occasionally The Relic, its almost always better to combat squad than not: on your turn you always have the option of having your units operate in concert, mimicing a non-combat-squadded Assault squad.  Then, when your opponent attacks you, either through shooting or close combat, there's a limit as to how many marines you can lose to a single set of attacks.  They can only shoot at one squad at a time, and in an assault they can either multi-assault you, losing any benefit of charging, or they can only take on half your squad, leaving the other half set up to counter-charge the next turn (getting all the benefits of charging) or escape (if the enemy unit is substantially better at CC than you).

 

On top of that you gain in flexibility, especially in objective missions where one Assault Squad can then take and hold 2 objectives, or your meltaguns can split off and blow up a tank while the other half of the squad sits in the backfield.

 

The only true negatives I've found are the increased number of KP you offer your opponent in Purge the Alien, an increased threat of First Blood (which can be mitigated through terrain, deepstriking, and your own first strike capability), and the odd failed charge of a half-squad due to poor charge distance rolls.

[Captain Idaho]

I totally agree. I've been using Tactical Marines the same way lately.

[Tyrant Lord 73]

I was watching this game and I don't think any of us could quite believe our eyes when that nob biker squad got so convincingly massacred. Well done on the win though, when I left after turn 3 it looked like it could have gone either way.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Chaplain Admetus: thanks for these reports. I read them with interest and find them educational. My lack of comments are due to my being such a neophyte with Blood Angels (I have yet to actually play a battle using them) so I have no advice to offer. I am just absorbing and learning.

[Gorthag]

Great reads, love your battle reports! I find the fact that you are always changing up the lists helpful, it gives me an idea of how different units can work in an army.

[TheRedeemed]

I'm in exactly the same boat, yet to play a game, but very interested to learn how Blood Angels work well as an army.

 

I really enjoy reading your reports, no replacement for actually playing the game myself obviously! But I feel that they are very educational for new players, allowing us to see your tactics in-game, what seems to work and what doesn't. Very helpful!

 

I would love to see the Sanguinary Guard prove themselves in a game for you! They seem like they should break face, but haven't gotten a chance to show you what they've got. Do they need to be near a Sanguinary Priest to have any real survivability? Especially as they do seem to be a target for AP1/2?

 

Keep it up mate! This thread benefits the entire brotherhood!

[p34ce]

I'm not convinced by tough, five man units myself. For the 200-250 points you have to spend on terminators or Sanguinary Guard, you could have a whole extra scoring assault unit, with flamers and a decked out sergeant.

 

Or a big, scary blob of Death Company, handing out a million attacks if they make it into combat reasonably unscathed, and moving at the same speed. Granted, though, they can't laugh off 30+ wounds like Terminators can.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Reserved for game 29 when I re-do it

Reserved for game 30 when I re-do it.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Due to the server crash wiping them out, I'll re-do games 29 and 30 at some point when I find the time. I posted game 31 separately (can be found here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/278181-angels-sanguine-vs-death-guard-1750-point-battle-report/) so here is game 32!

Game 32

Mission: Big Guns Never Tire

Deployment: Vanguard Strike

It's the age-old question, which is better - attack or defence? The Angels Sanguine accept a challenge from the Ultramarines to find out! A 1750 game of the Angels Sanguine trying to assault an entrenched Ultramarine position. I decided this was a perfect time to bring out a themed list I've been tinkering with.

Angels Sanguine 8th Company

Phaeton, Captain of the Angels Sanguine 8th Company (Captain with Jump Pack and Power Axe)

2 Sanguinary Priests with Jump Packs and Meltabombs

10 Assault Marines, 2 Meltaguns, Thunder Hammer

10 Assault Marines, 2 Flamers, Power Fist

10 Assault Marines, 2 Plasma Pistols, Power Sword

5 Assault Marines, Plasma Gun, Razorback

Baal Predator (t-l assault cannon, heavy bolters)

2 Attack Bikes with multi-meltas

5 Bikes, plasma gun, power axe

Storm Raven (t-l assault cannon, t-l multi-melta)

Ultramarines:

Calgar

Sicarius

10 Tactical Marines, Meltagun, Lascannon, Power Fist

5 scouts with camo cloaks (4 snipers, 1 ML), Telion

5 Terminators with Cyclone Missile Launcher

9 Sternguard, 6 combi-plasma, rhino

6 (I think) Vanguard - heavily tooled up; relic blade, power weapons on some, 3 storm shields

Aegis Defence Line with Quad Gun

Pre-game:

Ultramarines won the roll-off for table sides, and chose to fortify at one end of the table. They also got to place two objectives, both behind the defence line. The Angels Sanguine then placed an objective in the ruin just outside their deployment zone. Calgar got Immovable Object for his warlord trait (scoring), whilst Phaeton got Legendary Fighter (+1 VP for each character slain in a challenge) - these were rolled randomly, and it was only afterwards that we realised how well they fitted the game! Sicarius used his ability to grant the tactical squad the Tank Hunters USR for the game. Angels Sanguine won the roll for deployment and first turn, and chose to go first. No night fighting on turn 1.

Deployment. All photos are taken from the Ultramarine point of view. From left to right in the picture for the Angels Sanguine: Plasma pistol squad (sergeant on far left), 5 ASM with bolt pistols and chainswords (slightly left back), 2 attack bikes (behind building), flamer squad (with captain), bike squad, razorback. Both 10 man assault squads have attached priests. A combat squad with 2 meltaguns and the thunder hammer is in reserve (deep strike), the storm raven is obviously in reserve, and the Baal Predator is attempting an outflank manoeuvre. The Ultramarines have Sicarius and sternguard in the rhino (note an objective by the track), then a defensive line of tacticals and scouts, then the terminators anchoring the right flank. Calgar is attached to the scout squad so as to benefit from stealth (also sitting on an objective). Even with the re-roll from their second company captain, the Ultramarines are unable to seize the initiative.

Turn 1 - Angels Sanguine:

No surprises here - everything moves up as fast as possible, attack bikes coming down the flank with the assault squad. Both large assault squads roll a 4 for their run distance, netting them a mighty 16" distance up the board. The 5 man assault squad leaps up to the Angels Sanguine objective, and causes the first casualty of the game as one faceplants a wall, clearly not deserving of his promotion from scout. The razorback settles behind the building and takes out a tactical marine with its heavy bolter, as the bikes turbo-boost down the side. With that being all I've got, it's over to the boys in blue...

Turn 1 - Ultramarines:

In a slightly surprising move, the Ultramarines remain perfectly static. Calgar calls in his orbital bombardment on the captain's assault squad, where it fortunately scatters and only clips one model, the Sanguinary Priest at the back. It wounds, but the priest makes his look out sir! roll on a 2, and a regular trooper takes the hit. Virtually all the firepower the Ultramarines can bring to bear goes into the same squad, ripping it to shreds - at the end of the Ultramarine shooting phase, only the priest, captain, sergeant, and two regular troopers remain; they pass morale. It also looks like one of the assault marines in the plasma squad got shot (either that, or he's behind the hill).

End of turn 1 - many dead assault marines!

Turn 2 - Angels Sanguine:

With my assault marines depleted by roughly a quarter (9 out of 35), it's time to continue the advance! The combat squad of assault marines fails to show, even with their re-roll, and are apparently hobnobbing with the crew of the Storm Raven. The Baal predator does grace us with its presence, and appears in the bottom right corner behind the terminators. The plasma squad advances up as far as possible, with Captain Phaeton bailing out of his squad and into the plasma squad; the remainder of his squad moves up and takes cover behind the advancing rhino, being sure to cover the recently advanced bikes in the priest's Feel No Pain bubble. The attack bikes streak down the other flank and fire into the rhino at long range, dealing a single glancing hit which is saved by the oblique angle of the building. Shooting on the other side manages to cut down 2 terminators. I launch some charges (including a ballsy 8 inch charge through cover at the tactical marines), but both fail.

Turn 2 - Ultramarines:

The Vanguard Veterans arrive, declaring heroic intervention! They attempt to land near the bikers/razorback, but have nothing even close to the Angels' precision with jump packs, scattering 10" back and leaving themselves in no-man's land (mind you, at least they showed up, unlike some...). The rhino advances, and I honestly thought I was going to get my assault squad combi-plasma'ed to ribbons, but the ultramarines would rather stay in the tank until the storm raven is on as it would probably hammer them. Fortunately, the combi-plasmas from the hatch aren't as lethal. Calgar and the scouts move round to help deal with the bikers. Their snap-shots are surprisingly effective (more hits than I'd have hoped), but my saves are good and I lose only one bike. The other side is a different story, as the tactical squad (now in rapid fire range and manning the quad gun) manages to shred the assault squad, cutting it in half (including the sergeant). The assault marines stand strong, however! The terminators assault the Baal and explode it for First Blood. Vanguard declare a charge at the bikes (9" to them, or 9" to the assault squad) - plasma gunner rolls boxcars for his overwatch(!) but both bounce off storm shields; a bolter round gets through however and lays one of them low.

End of turn 2. I've lost a full third of my assault marines (down 13 out of 35) and my predator, but I'm now within range to strike at the heart of the ultramarine defences. Vanguard are blocked from sight by the central ruin - you can just see a sword sticking up.

Turn 3 - Angels Sanguine:

Combat squad is still a no-show - we'll be having words after the battle! The storm raven turns up and shrieks down the left hand flank. The assault squad moves up right to the defence line, to ensure a charge. The attack bikes also move up and aim at the rhino. The bikes advance across the line towards Calgar and the scouts, since I need to deal with those (a blob of 2+ cover saves and Calgar? Shouldn't be a problem at all... ) The few remaining assault marines from the flamer squad advance towards the Vanguard, and the razorback moves up and disembarks the squad near the Vanguard as well. Interceptor fire from the quad gun hits the raven 3 times. No results originally, but thanks to Tank Hunters it gets a glance and a penetrate, stunning the raven. The multi-melta attack bikes fire into the rhino scoring 1 penetrating hit, which explodes it, killing a few. They aren't pinned. Shooting from the bikes kills some scouts and strips a wound from Calgar, just 3 to go! The foot assault squad opens fire and kills some of the sternguard. The assault squad charges and finishes them off, consolidating into the hut. The captain's assault squad charges over the line into the tactical marines and wins combat, with the priest accepting a challenge from the powerfist sergeant and slaying him. The Ultramarines choose to fail their morale check, but are caught in a sweeping advance and continue to fight. The bikes launch into Calgar's squad, and kill a scout (I lose a bike to overwatch). Calgar takes a wound from hammer of wrath, and challenges my sergeant - manages to sneak one wound through with his power sword (stupid re-rolls!) and I fail FnP. Combat's a draw and I have one bike remaining, tying them up.

Captain Phaeton and his marines are breaking the Ultramarine line!

Turn 3 - Ultramarines:

The terminators come back into the fray to lay down some shooting. Sicarius detaches from the squad, and moves towards the combat. The sternguard open up into the attack bikes, killing one and doing one wound to the second, who fails his morale check and flees. Can't remember much else from shooting, but Calgar finishes off the final biker in combat. Sicarius charged (in retrospect, this shouldn't have been allowed since he'd come out of a wrecked transport) and challenged; I accepted with the priest in order to leave my captain free to brutalise the tactical marines. Priest died, but so did multiple tactical marines.

End of turn 3 - sternguard are on the left flank.

Turn 4 - Angels Sanguine:

I throw everything I have into the mix now - there's enough scoring stuff left for the Ultramarines to hold the line. The combat squad finally shows up and drops behind the defence line, ready to fire at Calgar. The raven banks across to help out. Assault squads also advance up, as the Razorback crosses the line without incident. The attack bike rallies and moves back, ready to help out. Shooting from the razorback and assault squads kills all the scouts bar Telion, and strips a wound from Calgar. Then the Raven opens up, dealing a hefty amount of damage - I make a mistake and do the wound pool in a stupid order, letting Calgar slip through the net; fortunately Telion fluffs his obscene cover save. The recently rallied attack biker fires at Calgar in a last ditch effort, and lays him low with the twin-linked boltgun of all things, claiming Slay the Warlord. In combat, Sicarius challenges and my captain accepts!

Sicarius strikes first with his coup de grace attack... hits, wounds, and I roll a 3 for my iron halo! So close... Captain Phaeton is defeated, offering the Ultramarines Slay The Warlord. I can't get rid of all the tactical marines, annoyingly.

Turn 4 - Ultramarines:

The sternguard retreat, and the terminators advance, ignoring the tempting target of the razorback to shoot at the assault squad, but do no lasting damage. The Sternguard open fire (with vengeance rounds) and gun down 4 of the 5 marines, including the sergeant - the last man holds. Free of challengers to hold him up, Sicarius brutalises my assault squad. And the last tactical marine JUST WON'T DIE!

End of turn 4. Were the game to end now, it would be a tie - 1 objective each, slay the warlord each, and first blood vs linebreaker. I've got at least one more turn to smash the Ultramarine resistance!

Turn 5 - Angels Sanguine:

I need that last tactical marine dead. Simple as. With that in mind, the attack bike and solo assault marine charge in to help their comrades. The plasma gun squad moves back to threaten terminators, and the storm raven moves across to help as well, going into hover mode. The final jump marines, down to the sergeant, a dude and a priest, move onto the objective. Shooting is largely ineffective, killing a terminator, and my mass combat results in the bludgeoning unconscious of the final tactical marine.

Turn 5 - Ultramarines:

There's a lot of shooting from terminators and sternguard into my jump-troops (hellfire rounds), but they stand firm. The terminators charge and rip apart the foot assault squad. Finally, the attack bike and multiple assault marines decide that enough is enough and to take vengeance for their fallen captain, putting boot, tyre and chainsword into Sicarius with righteous fury - they manage to take all 3 of his wounds, despite a 2+ save and feel no pain! As the Ultramarines 2nd company captain crumples into a heap, the remaining Ultramarine forces decide they've had enough and call it a day.

End of the game - the Angels Sanguine have stormed the position!

Final Score:

Angels Sanguine - 11 VPs (all 3 objectives, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker): Ultramarines 2 VPs (First Blood, Slay the Warlord). Solid Victory for the Angels Sanguine!

This game was great fun to play - nice to have two themed lists going up against each other without any of the cheese units or tactics that sometimes come with playing over-competitive games. An 8th company list is fun to play but really doesn't have the tools to deal with everything, so it will come crumbling down sometimes. Hammer and Anvil and scoring Calgar made me think this was going to be an uphill struggle, as I had the maximum ground to cover to reach the Ultramarine firebase, and a scoring behemoth of a warlord to deal with up there (though I love that both warlords got perfect traits to represent the battle). We both thought it was heading the Ultramarines' way in the first couple of turns, when the shooting was really taking effect and my reserves weren't coming in, but once I reached the line it swung back. The Ultramarines noted that the Angels Sanguine shooting was surprisingly key to the match; it didn't do a huge amount of damage, but it softened the Ultramarines up just enough to allow combat to go my way. I reckon this came down to a few key mistakes/dice from the Ultramarines, both involving the veterans on turn 2. If the Vanguard had landed properly they'd have done in my flanking manoeuvre, but I think they'd have been better off in my backfield where, no matter what scatter, they'd just have had to deal with 4 bolt pistol and chainsword marines unless I dedicated my remaining reserves to them. Critically, once they landed where they did, the Ultramarines had nothing to kick me off the back objective, and nothing to take linebreaker, and the Vanguard could have done both and made my job harder. Equally, though, they could have ripped the guts out of my left flank attack (right flank in the pictures) if they'd Heroically Intervened correctly, so both were reasonable calls. I would definitely have disembarked the veterans, though - I don't think my assault squad would have taken the sternguard very well, and I'd have been much less likely to overwhelm the tactical marines if they'd taken the full turn of sternguard shooting first. If I was forced to pick a key moment, I'd say that was it.

Man of the match award for the Ultramarines was tempting to award to Sicarius, but it went to the Cyclone Missile Launcher terminator for being generally consistent and solid over the course of the game. Nothing really leapt out initially for the Angels Sanguine, but in the end I had to give it to the Attack Bike who finished off Calgar, and had a hand in the clobbering of Sicarius.

There's a potential rematch on the horizon within the next few weeks once the Ultramarines get their shiny new book to play with, so look out for that. All that remains is to say thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!