1850 tourney Batreps

[Drunken Angel]

The next week was an 1850 tourney with only one named character ie if someone entered a list and used Arjac that was it only one Arjac in the tourney.  Dante only one Dante only one Marbo and so on.  If you wanted someone get your list in early was the incentive. I managed to place 5th out of 40 in this tourney which was hard to recover from because I got thrashed in the first 2 games badly.  One of the reasons I dont have great notes and no photos was because I was so intent on the games.

I took The Sanguinor because Mephiston was already taken and I wanted to try him with an Axe Encarmine.

 

My list

HQ                                                                                                     

The Sanguinor, Axe Encarmine                                                        275

Elites:
Sanguinary Priest: JP, Power Axe, Melta bombs                                   95

Troop
Assault Squad x10: 2 meltaguns, Sgt Thunder Hammer Stormshield  260              

Assault Squad x10: 2 meltaguns, Sgt Power Fist Stormshield             255 

Assault Squad x5: 1 Meltagun, Sgt Power Fist Stormshield                 155

Fast Attack                                                                                                            

3 Attack Bikes: 3 Multi meltas                                                              150

Baal Predator: TL Assault Cannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons,

Dozer Blade                                                                                           150
Baal Predator: TL Assault Cannon, Hunter killer Missile                        

Dozer Blade                                                                                           130

Heavy Support                                                                                         
3^rd Coy Company Stormraven:
TL Multi-melta, TL assault cannon Hurricane bolter sponsons               230

Vindicator: Demolisher Cannon Dozer Blade                                        150

                                                                                       Total                1850

 

My first game Purge the Alien Dawn of War was against the 2nd ranked Demons Flamer Screamer list in the country It was short, 45 minutes and I was tabled.  I still had not figured out how to deny these guys the obvious advantages they enjoy.  The Sanguinor easily killed a chickentzeech combat thing.   I won't go into it because in another 2 weeks its all over for this spam list when the new codex drops.

 

The second game was crusade with  5 objectives against an opponent with 9 troops. I was playing against a Grey Knight Eldar list with Eldrad.  It was very hard to beat this shooting and I was in trouble with second turn and Hammer and Anvil, I was doing okay untill I lost the Raven to massed shooting that was fortuned and doomed.  I foolishly charged the Sanguinor into Eldrads squad he declined combat and his fleshbane equiped bodyguard killed The Sanguinor easily. Once again I lost the vindicator the baal and bikes but I was improving it was a  loss but not a total thrashing.  Hammer and anvil is hard for the baals to work supported by the RAS unless they deepstrike with the baals.  Lack of armour up close can also leave the bikes hanging around. This was a very good player who had three of the five objectives in his deployment zone forcing me to move down the table he could afford to throw a GK squad in my way for a speed bump and comfortably sit on three objectives.  Fortuned shooting is terrible and facing GK shooting without a priest handy is tough.  Deepstriking was possible but multiple units meant you were going to be riddled.  A second raven would have been very good here.  And so would an extra objective at my end.

 

The third game was Big Guns Never Tire vanguard strike with three objectives.  I was up against a footdar eldar army with a lot of wraithguard and walkers. .  I got 1st turn which was good.  This time I deployed only the RAS and bikes reserving all my armour.  I was able to get all my units on turn 2 the baals did very well as anti infantry I used one as a screen for the vindicator and managed to get it to survive to turn 5, long enough to drop 2  S10 templates on the wraithguard.  The Sanguinor pitched in and took care of the last three with a RAS and blessed Sgt while the other outflanking baal shot up some walkers at the back of the board.  The raven also shot up the wraith guard and the hurricane bolters were golden on infantry in the open. I dont know all the names but this was a Wraithguard heavy list with light vehicles/walkers for the majority of its shooting.  Once the wraithguard were gone I still had a bike, 2 baals pretty shot up but running and a raven with all its guns to move down across the board.  I won this comfortably.

 

The 4th game was Vanguard Strike with 5 objectives one in each quarter and one in the middle.  I was playing against a mech guard with lots of manticores basilisks russes and heavy tanks with punisher 20 shot cannons.  I got first turn and once again reserved all my armour and used minimum troops hiding the Sanguinor out of sight.  I had a priest a full RAS and another 5 man RAS with bikes on the board.  He deployed everything heavy in a ruin at the back and across the board to my right.  He had chimeras and two heavy anti infantry punishers towards the middle.  Night fighting rolled up.

First turn I moved the bikes up flat out moved the 10 man RAS with priest to a ruin to support the bikes with FNP, kept the Sanguinor in cover and moved a 5 man RAS out across the board but outside FNP.  This was all bait. He moved his 2 gatling gun punishers up to center board and let strip the bikes weathered a pile of shooting I lost 2 and 3 more RAS his other
shooting missed or was out of range with night fighting  but the feint had worked. I got the vindicator the baals and a suicide melta squad on T2 but not the raven.  The vindicator moved on and dropped a template at close range on the punisher squadron getting both the last biker finished then off leaving my RAS free to hide in the wreckage center board.  All the troops moved up into ruins and cover center board. The 2 baals outflanked on my right hitting side armour on a basilisk blowing it up and the other baal shot another thing with a big barrel blowing it up.  The melta squad dropped on a thing with a big template gun in front of his troops which they blew up.  His turn 2 the guard player got 2 vendettas on and shot my vindi up that was fine it had just chunked 500 plus points of armour and saved my RAS from being shot his shooting had diminished significantly I lost some more RAS to a couple of Chimeras. and got clipped by another template losing almost all the suicide 5 man squad. My turn 3 I got the raven on moved one strong 10 man squad with priest and sanguinor up towards more wrecked tanks and moved the depleted 2 man squad back to the main center objective.  I had brought them out to dilute fire and bait the heavy anti infantry tanks into the open and it had worked.  From memory the last of the melta deepstrike guys moved to line up another chimera and spilled it too.  The raven shot some guard in the open with bolters and assault cannon removing them.  I used POTMS with a bloodstrike on a vendetta and dropped it.  On the guard turn 3 I jinked out of some lascannon fire from the other vendetta. The guard player consolidated on his last objective and shot a bit he moved his last flyer into the middle of the board and shot a baal up. My turn 4 (I think) the last baal with its heavy bolters and assault cannon shot his command squad in the main ruin htey had been unable to hurt its front armour 13 with the autocannon they manned.  All the RAS moved up I had a 5 man squad jump out of the raven with skies of blood on another mid table objective into cover.  The melta gunner on the main objective pushed his meltagun out the window of a ruin and hit the vendetta with a six bringing it down.

At that point we were pressed for time T5 I moved more troops onto the main 5 point objective plus occupied his objective for next highest points and one other of mine for max points the Sanguinor moved into the building killing the HQ unit.  There was nothing left for the guard with no armour or troops except in the building and the Sanguinor was busy taking care of that.

 

I will take  abreak and try to work my memory a bit more for the last 2 games against a Necron list with a 750 point royal court on Hammer and Anvil and a Spacewolf Arjac Thunder wolf list with Dawn of War.  So more to follow if this is not too boring for you all

 

What I learnt so far was that the bikes raven and baals are very good if you move them to support each other once you can do that its a very fast list that can work against most things.

 

What has worked so far

Use bikes to intimidate and push armour back for the raven to get an extra turn of shooting.

Bikes spill troops for the raven and the baals

Bikes are expendable if they are to die to assault units move them to somewhere in front of the raven to make sure that even in death from assault the bikers have lined up another kill for the raven.

Vindicators in reserve deny shooting and give drop pod lists pause for thought.

The Sanguinor is not very good at AP2 initiative 1.  His blessed Sgt is godly

Hammer and Anvil against shooting lists is tough