Back from the Mechanicon, IW win over-all

[Emperors Immortals]

Great thread and some solid play there littlebitz, thankyou.

 

Like Prot, im curious as to teh ecto configurations abilities, Ive come to think that the Hades might be better, but now I will have to run several more games :P

 

Did you use the Smith on the fiend at all or just the defiler? Im thinking of running a defiler as mid field with a dirge caster to deny OW midfield - do you think it would be a waste of the battlecannons range?

[zyl-]

On deepstriking the terminators:

 

You can't.

 

To deploy the LR as a dedicated transport (which you have to do since your 3 slots are full of vindicator, defiler, forgefiend) you need to deploy with the termies IN the LR. Your best hope at that point is to roll Master of Deception.

 

And to the nay-sayers, that SW army list was indeed made to win.

[littlbitz]

you can't deploy the landraider and hold the terminators in reserve?

 

I thought transports could be deployed seperately

 

I just double checked the rule book and couldn't find anything that does not allow me to hold the terminators in reserve while deploying their transport at the begining of the game, it's like deploying a unit on the board and having the Drop pod arrive empty, also a viable and legal tactic.

[RapatoR]

On deepstriking the terminators:

 

You can't.

 

To deploy the LR as a dedicated transport (which you have to do since your 3 slots are full of vindicator, defiler, forgefiend) you need to deploy with the termies IN the LR. Your best hope at that point is to roll Master of Deception.

Well AFAIK, you don't have to deploy inside DT, however you can't start game with other unit inside it.

[zyl-]

Well I could be wrong, but I know I read something along those lines somewhere. Maybe I am thinking of the infiltration rules.

[littlbitz]

you are right Rap, the only restriction for transports is that the unit it was bought for is the only one that can start the game embarked, after that however, other units can hitch a ride.

[Emperors Immortals]

totally true, your LR can start empty with the termies DS, a tactic ive used many times - 1 turn empty LR firing platform, next flat out transport. Great for forward positions or just starting next to a unit and then taking them ionboard.

 

And that SW list is indeed brutal, horde SW is just plain bad news to face.

[littlbitz]

@Emperors Immortals: I do on occasion have the Warpsmith with the Forge Fiend as well as the Defiler, but that is usually just the first turn or two. Their ranges cause the units to divide quickly, and I usually keep my warlord back with the defiler.

Here is a quick picture of Mike's gorgeous Space Wolves which took best painted

Game 2 was against Alex Cauldwell

His list: Company Command with Auto-cannon, and Lord Castellan Creed, they had a Chimera Transport

Guardsman Marbo

1st Platoon Command had 3x flamers and a heavy flamer, in a Chimera

1st squad had a lascannon and grenade launcher in a Chimera

2nd squad had a lascannon and a sniper rifle in a Chimera

2nd Platoon Command had 3x flamers and a heavy flamer, in a Chimera

1st squad had a lascannon and a grenade launcher

2nd squad had a lascannon and a grenade launcher

his entire army had a Vox set-up

Valkyrie for Fast Attack with hellstrike missiles

2x Manticores (separate choices)

Our Mission was based on Big Guns Never Tire, meaning my Heavy Support choices are scoring!

we had three Objecitves on the board, one in each deployment zone, and one in no-mans land, almost board center. Deployment was Dawn of War.

He had first turn, and shot his Manticores destroying my Vindicator and taking 1st blood, took some pot-shots with a couple of lascannons and shifted some of his army about in an effort to organize an advance and get some fields of fire.

Having held my Terminators in Reserve for Deep Strike this game, I took my first turn to mount up my Cultists. and shot my Lascannons at the side armor of one of his Manticores blowing it up. I also moved my rhino up board center, in cover and popping smoke moving my Large 10 man squad onto the center objective.

His 2nd turn shooting was somewhat ineffective, maybe stripping a hull point or two, as he continues to gain position. I deep strike my Terminators down next to his remaining Manticore and destroy it, with some combi-mg shots.

This causes him to feel a need to take out the Terminators that are now behind his lines and threatening his precious Creed. Marbo pops up out of nowhere and attempts to aid in their cause. This also takes quite a bit of heat off of the rest of my army, though he does manage to push up my right flank and attempt to push me off of the objective in my own deployment zone.

My Terminators survive his attempts to shoot them off the board, and I launch an assault into both Creed and his command, and Marbo killing them all. All this while my Defiler and Forge Fiend pound his lines, while the Land Raider with Cultists scoots and shoots across board. It's only a matter of time before he is just about out of Lascannons and men.

At the end of the Day I hold 2 Objectives, for 8 points, killed 2 of his Heavy Support choices for 2 bonus points, had Slay the Warlord for a bonus 2, and Linebreaker for 2 more.

A convincing win for the Iron Warriors.

This game had lots of vehicles running around all over the board, and I found the front armor of Chimera tanks to be frustrating at times, though eventually most of them were cracked open.

The S8 on the Forge Fiend is quite a difference than the normal Plasma Cannon, and I am really starting to like it more and more.

Main thing I gained from this game was learning just how much heat my Terminators can take off of the rest of the army, giving them a chance to do their jobs.

Other thing I learned, but didn't mention earlier. I have to remember to be careful where I put my blast markers, I scattered my Battle Cannon shot from my Defiler right on top of my Forge Fiend (not the first time I did that either).

Oh and shattering terrain is huge when attempting to flush IG out of cover.

[Hellrender]

You are completly right about DS'ing the termies, and deploying the land raider empty. However, ONLY the Terminators for which the LR was bought, are allowed to start inside the LR during deployment. In your first turn, any other unit is allowed to also go into the LR.

 

I love your Batrep btw XD

[littlbitz]

Game 3 was against Angel Crespo playing an interesting Space Marine List led by a Master of the Forge.

His list: Master of the Forge with a Conversion Beamer

Tactical squad 1 with Las-Plas, Vet sgt has a Power Weapon

with a Razorback with twin-linked las

Tactical squad 2 with Missile Launcher, Flamer, Vet Sgt has a Power Weapon

with Razorback, twin-linked heavy bolter

Tactical squad 3 with Missile Launcher, Flamer, Vet Sgt. has a Power Weapon

Razorback with twin-linked heavy bolter and HKM

Terminator assault squad with Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields

10x Scouts with shotguns, Sgt has a combi-pg

Storm Talon with Typhoon Missile Launcher

Dev Squad with 4x Missile Launchers

The Mission was The Emperor's Will with a Hammer and Anvil deployment

Each primary objective was worth a huge 8 points, with Slay the Warlord being worth 2, and First Blood and Line breaker each worth 1.

I had first turn, and deployed in an aggressive manner, planning to keep my 2 cultist squads and the Defiler back to protect my home objective while moving forward with everything else. This was going to be an all or nothing affair for me, as I felt there would be a lot of ties coming out of this round, and if I could score big I could move up the ladder a little in Battle Points.

I curse the Battle Field Debris that has his Objective in it, making it a 5+. Again a huge boon for me.

I had first turn, and night fight helped me a bit here. Advancing with my Forge fiend on one flank, and the Vindi on the other, I advanced more cautiously with my Land Raider (with my Warpsmith and his small Chaos Marine Squad mounting up) and Rhino in an effort to destroy the threats to my Land Raider before I launched an all out assault.

With most of my weapons still out of range (he deployed back a bit) the rest of my first turn was fairly uneventful.

His turn is uneventful as well, with a Hammer and Anvil deployment and night fight first turn, not much to do but move.

In my 2nd turn, my Terminators decide they are not yet needed. moving another 6" with both the Vindicator and Forge fiend, I'm now in range and begin my bombardment of his lines. The Vindicator and Forge Fiend both focus on the closer targets, while the Defiler picks up a line of sight directly to his objective and begins pounding the squad there.

My Land Raider shoots and takes out the Razorback with Twin-linked las. his other Lascannon is on the opposite side of the board and out of LOS of the Land Raider giving me a sense of security.

In his 2nd turn, he fails to get his Terminators on, but his Storm Talon appears and flies on the board. The majority of his fire power on my right side goes into the Vindicator, and he strips a couple of hull points and immobilizes it. The rest of my army goes unscathed.

I continue to push hard with my Forge Fiend, tearing into his infantry, while bombarding on his objective again with the Defiler, causing him to begin to shift another squad onto his objective, my Terminators arrive and I deepstrike them right in front of his Devastator squad, trusting that their Terminator armor will save them from the Krak Missiles they are about to eat. I am forcing him to play a defensive game, In my movement, I contemplate moving my rhino up again and force it into his lines, but then I remember he has his Terminators in reserve still, and fear that they will simply walk right through the 2 Cultist squads I've left behind to protect my objective, so I back up that rhino a bit. Besides that Storm Talon is getting ready to bear down on me, so I take some Snap Fire shots at it with 2 Melta-guns, of course I miss.

In his turn his Terminators arrive, thinking he was going to go for broke and drop them into my lines he shockingly plays the defensive game and drops them in front of my Land Raider in an effort to stop their advance. His scouts show up and come in behind my Forge Fiend, trusting in the Sgts. Combi-plasma and weight of fire from S4 shot guns to tear into the rear armor of the Daemonic Beast.

His shooting is ineffective against my Forge Fiend, the Storm Talon Immobilizes the rhino, and the Missile Launchers and combined fire power of much of the rest of his army fell three of my Terminators.

Now fearful of my own objective with the Storm Talon bearing down on my poor cultists, my Chaos Marine squad bails out of their ride and spreads out.

the Forge Fiend, the Land Raider, and the Defiler all focus their efforts on the Terminators, killing 4 of their number!

I fire 3 Melta shots with snap fire on the Storm Talon. I hit, penetrate, pop...

My remaining Terminators crash into his Devastators and bloody close combat ensues.

wrapping things up, my Forge Fiend ends up being locked into combat with his Scouts, some would say this is the problem with the Forge Fiend, no CC ability, but in this case it's what I wanted. I was fearful that his scouts might make it to my objective to contest it, and I didn't want that happening.

I pushed again with my Land Raider and bailed out its contents, assaulting the remnants of the unit sitting on his objective.

Blasting away with my Defiler and slaying the warlord,the Vindicator which was long ago immobilized had cleared everything that came into its 24" front arc.

The battle for his objective is a bloody one, as he sends all of his remaining resources in a desperate attempt to take me off of his objective, but to no avail. At the end of the day I have a single Marine and my Warpsmith still standing on his objective, with my own firmly held in my own deployment zone. Slay the Warlord and Line Breaker also are mine.

another win for the Iron Warriors.

In this game, I feel I did pretty much everything as well as I could. The Flyer could have been a serious problem for me had I not gotten a little lucky and dropped it.

Deep Striking the Terminators continues to be brilliant, and the pressure I can present with my Vindicator and Forge fiend allows the Defiler to pound unmolested.

[Hellrender]

really enjoying these batreps, are there more upcoming? XD

[littlbitz]

Thanks for reading guys! I have two more games to report on, I'll get the next one up either later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

[Brother Ambroz]

Very nice batreps littlebitz. Getting ideas for my own lists reading these.

[Hellrender]

same. I would like to try the fiend myself, but i just cant seem to make points to make it effective in my own list, so maybe after a while XD

[littlbitz]

Early Sunday Morning, coming into Game 4, I was sitting 5th or 6th in Battle Points, and on Table 3 vs Evan Jones and his Chaos Army.

Our mission, Purge the Alien, with a Dawn of War deployment. This game would be scored a little differently than the others as this was the only one scored in the win-lose-draw format, at the end of the game you totaled up your Victory Points including bonuses for First Blood and the like, the winner receives 20, loser

8, and in a tie, each player receives 12.

I think this was done to attempt to balance things against certain armies, and seemed to work fine.

Evan's army:

Slaanesh Lord with the Murder Sword, Gift, Aura, MBs

Khorne Lord with pair of Claws, Jump Pack, Gift, Aura

2x Squads of Noise Marines

Hell Drake

Land Raider with Dirge Caster

Chaos Raptors with 2x Melta-guns, Icon, Mark of Khorne (this unit was very cool)

In a kill point mission my Cultists are really a liability, so in deployment, I hide one unit, out of line of sight and the other I deploy behind my Land Raider. My Warp Smith and his Body guard hide out of line of sight as well, and he parks his butt right next to the Defiler.

So on my left side, I have the Defiler, both Cultist squads, the Warp Smith and his Squad, and the 10 man squad in their Rhino. As bait, I deploy the Vindicator and Forge Fiend in cover as best I can on my far right side.

Evan deploys pretty much center, with his Raptors on his left, and in cover as best they can be. He has taken the bait and is going to go for the Vindicator and Forge Fiend.

In my first turn, I split the two units up and head around opposite sides of a ruin, I can't get good bites on the Raptors with my templates, but I manage to cause a few wounds. One Cultist unit mounts up early in the Land Raider, for two reasons, 1. its the safest place for them to be and 2. I'm going for line-breaker later. The Land Raider then faces off with his and fires both lascannons to no effect. I then begin pounding a unit of Noise Marines hiding in a Crater that only provides a 6+ cover.

In his turn he goes for it, I placed my Forge Fiend and Vindicator hoping to draw the Raptors away from my infantry lines, and this worked. He decides to go to my far right and take on the Vindicator. This draws his Raptors into the open for my Forge Fiend next turn. The Vindicator is Immobilized.

His other shooting is ineffective.

My Terminators Deep Strike next to his Land Raider, I scatter slightly and land in Dangerous Terrain, and actually lose a Terminator! :) I position my Forge Fiend to prepare to take out the Raptors.

I put a huge dent in the Raptors, he loses his Melta-gunners, and only his lord and a couple others remain. Combi-MGs from the Terminators blow up his Land Raider, and my Defiler and the Havoc of the Rhino lay down Blasts on top of what remains of the Noise Marine squad in the crater. This game is about over all ready, and Evan knows it, nearly everything that could take out armor in his army is destroyed, it's going to be an uphill battle for him from here.

His Helldrake comes in and heads directly for my deployment zone, the Slaanesh Lord and his Noise Marines enter the ruin where my Terminators landed, in an effort to dislodge them from his deployment zone

As the game continues on, he assaults my Terminators and my Chaos Terminator Champion would end up in a stale-mate with his Lord for the remainder of the game.

His Helldrake would take out one of my Cultist Squads for a kill point, but goes into hover mode in an attempt to take out my Warpsmith and his body guard, this proves to be the helldrakes undoing as my Warpsmith drops him with a melta-shot...

My land raider continues on to score line breaker with my Cultists bailing out and taking cover behind the giant tank in his deployment zone, while the rest of my army continues to pound his army.

20 points for the Iron Warriors.

[TheDarkApostle]

So littlbitz, how did the Power Lances work out on the Terminators? Worth it?

 

TDA

[Hellrender]

he did mention (think on his blog) wanting to change the lances to a different power weapon, so i doubt he was that satisfied with it. Too bad, cuz they look cool :D

[littlbitz]

The Power Lances were fine when I was loading my Terminators up in their Land Raider and getting the charge, since I started deep striking them however, I rarely get the charge, and the AP4 is terrible.

 

They are on my list of changes for this list as soon as I get a chance. I do like the look, so I will keep the ones I made to be used in large Apoc type games.

[TheDarkApostle]

So what will you be going for instead?

 

Power axes? Power mauls?

 

TDA

[Xenith]

Seeing as they actually look like halberds, I'd go with axes, and you won't even need to alter the models.

[Storm Dragons 3rd Company]

10x Cultists, Shotgun, Heavy Stubber

 

10x Cultists, Heavy Stubber

 

My two ten man Cultist units. Many have commented to me that I should take them in one squad of 20, I disagree. They are fragile, and if one bad morale check means you lose them all. No, for me 2 smaller squads works better. These guys are the sneaky ones. hiding in the back field and discouraging foolhardy deepstrikes by taking up space. Camping objectives, and even mounting up in the Land Raider to move out and take an objective or line breaker moving across field and bailing out last minute using the Land Raider for cover.

Care must be used as I said before the units are extremely fragile, but with so much going on in my list they are typically ignored, and have free reign.

 

' bitz,

 

I am enjoying your reports a lot and am sorry to derail your battle reports with questions, but I have a could of questions about the Cultists. Why the shotgun? And do you feel the Heavy Stubber was worth the points? I've been looking at running a Warpsmith as my HQ for mostly fluff reasons, and I keep wanting to put a Mark of Nurgle on him (call it bionics or something in a Iron Warriors army). This give him so much more survive-ability if anyone starts dropping S8 anything in my backfield (like say from a Ectofiend or some Terminators that deep strike in with meltas etc.) I still think of him as a maintenance unit for the vehicles. I've been trying to figure out if your list could accommodate that change.

 

How do you think you would have done against a mirror image list? I'm asking because it seems like deep striking terminators in your backfield would be a problem for you. I was wondering if giving the Warpsmith some sort of invuln like Aura might discourage this. A T5, power axe wielding, lot-of-attacks, 2+/5++ guy in the back might dissuade terminators from dropping in nearby, and if this guy is hanging out with your equipment, it might put the terminators a bit further away. The only other option would seem to be to re-target every gun you had on the termies, and that would seem to be a mistake in a mirror match. The obvious problem is that this would require points to come form somewhere and it adds them to a IC that you really intend to keep in the back.

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

[Captain Idaho]

The Power Lances were fine when I was loading my Terminators up in their Land Raider and getting the charge, since I started deep striking them however, I rarely get the charge, and the AP4 is terrible.

 

They are on my list of changes for this list as soon as I get a chance. I do like the look, so I will keep the ones I made to be used in large Apoc type games.

 

Yeah in a Landraider lances are awesome (provided you have a few lower AP weapons as back up after you've hurt a few units on the charge.)

 

They are nice models though so I wouldn't want to replace them.

 

Nice reports by the way. :lol:

[littlbitz]

Thanks again guys.

@SD3, to be quite honest, I simply used the cultists from the Dark Vengance box set. I do have a few sets of the Chaos half, so doing all auto gun,heavy stubber squads wasn't an issue.

I found the heavy stubber to be useful, though definitely no game changer, and like having the auto gun upgrade for shots. I can think of several games where both squads shooting at the same target was a good thing.

The shotgun, well he just looks to cool not to use. Wish I had something brilliant to say, but he is just a neat model.

 

I would have loved to upgrade my warp smith a bit, but 1500 points can be quite limiting, I am currently thinking on how to upgrade to 2k for the St Valentines day Massacre GT at the end of Feb. Maybe in that list.

[Rik Riorik]

Prior to reading this post I never even knew there was such a thing as a power lance in the main rulebook ^_^! Apart from that this thread also got me thinking about Vindicators. I've definetly warmed to them.

[CitadelArmyGuy]

Defiler with Havoc

Why the Havoc Launcher?

 

You do realize when the Defiler fires the Battlecannon, ALL other weapons are Snap Shots. Therefore the Havoc can't even fire. The Reaper Autocanon can only hit on 6s.

 

Page 71, last paragraph.