Batrep X3 with Standard of Devastation list

[GlauG]

Following the game that went so badly for my one friend that he refuses to let me speak of it around him other than 'he lost', I thought I would see if it was as effective against other people.

Game 1: vs World Eaters

Librarian (Bolter, Prescience)
Techmarine, power field generator
Command Squad with Standard of Devastation
Tactical Squad with Missile Launcher (x2)
Tactical Squad
6 RW Knights
Mortis Contemptor with Kheres ACs and Cyclone ML
Land Raider Crusader with Multimelta

Opponent had a Khorne Berserker Rhino Rush list.

Khârn
Khorne Terminators
2x 8 Berserkers in Rhino (dirge caster)
CSM in Rhino (dirge caster)
Land Raider (dirge caster (sensing a theme?))
2x Obliterators
Vindicator
All the vehicles had dozer blades too.

We decided to play a kill points game, I won the roll-off and made him deploy first. He deployed in a fairly even spread, his Oblits on a hill at the back. My RW scouted forward up my right flank, everything else had been deployed as the gunline you might expect.

Turn 1: Hot Land Raider on Land Raider action! He charged his LR and Rhinos down the board, stopping just outside of 18' of my Multimelta. He managed to stun my Contemptor, but otherwise no result from his turn 1 shooting (bad vindicator scatter saved my gunline some pain).  In return, I popped the Vindicator with Plasma Talons, and the Prescience-boosted Contemptor got a lucky Rend and wrecked the Land Raider, exposing the juicy innards. Unfortunately, some crazy luck and look out, sir! Meant that Khârn took a single wound and only two Terminators died from my massed ranks.

Turn 2 and 3, he charged Rhinos up the board and turbo-boosted to get the Dirge Casters in range of my Tactical Squad. Foolishly, I declined the challenge with my sgt when Khârn and friends hit their line like a big red blender, leaving them locked in combat so I couldn't shoot them next turn! Almost lost me the game, in retrospect... I popped all but one Rhino, and killed off about half of his berserkers with shooting, while my RW took out his CSM squad. His next turn, he popped the Contemptor with his Oblits, assaulted another Tactical Squad and destroyed them totally, so in turn I desperately hopped my Command Squad and Techmarine out of my Land Raider for some extra shots. The gamble paid off, and in the end he had Khârn, a single Terminator, one Berserker his Oblits and  Rhino against 2 RW Knights, my Librarian, Command Squad Techmarine, Land Raider and Part of a Tactical Squad. The Land Raider hidden from the Oblits by a hugd piece of terrain in the middle of the board, he conceded as the rest of my army would be able to get another turn of unmolested shooting before he could Assault again, and I think by some fluke I had taken a wound from Khârn in CC.

Game 2, vs Counts-as Dark Angels

Same list as above for me vs

Company Master with Monster Slayer of Caliban
Techmarine with PFG, Servo Harness
Company Vets with a mix of combi meltas and Stormshields in Drop Pod
6 DW Knights
2 Tactical Squads with Plasma, powerfist sgt, heavy bolter
Devastators with MLs

We rolled Kill Points and standard deployment. My opponent took first turn and deployed his Devastators in a building (a Fantasy one, but the 40k scenery was all in use elsewhere), DWA'd his Knights and had the Techmarine and Vets in the Drop Pod. The Tactical Squads made a line with his Company Master in one. I deployed my gunline on a hill, with my RW Knights again scouting up my right flank.

First bit of bad luck for my opponent was his Drop Pod scattering off the board. It just went into ongoing reserves though.  With both of our sets of Tactical Marines out of range of each other, my opponent bravely marched his towards me. Shooting Bolters from the hip, they failed to do any damage, though their Devastator Brothers managed to do kill my Grenade Launcher Knights and another was killed by a different Squad. However, in my turn, it transpired he had walked within range of two of my three Tactical Squads, and I took out everything he had on the board save his Devastators, and a sole Tactical Marine locked in CC with the RW Knights.

Turn 2, he tried to DS his Drop Pod in front of my lines this time, only to scatter back into his! Wary of my Contemptor and its Interceptor rule, as well as my massed guns, he dropped his Knights near my Knights, on the other side of a small building from most of my force. However, he caused minimal casualties with his Veteran squad due to some lucky saves on my part and bad luck with plasma rolls, and my Tactical Squads blew them off the face of the planet. My Ravenwing drove away from his Knights, leaving his Knights without any useful purpose in game. His Devastators had their building shot out from under them, and my opponent conceded.

Game 3: Monty Necron's Flying Circus

I have a longstanding rivalry with one friend. In years of games, he has beaten me only once, maybe twice, and he still remembers a game where Mephiston singlehandedly destroyed his entire Tau gunline in 5E. He had been dominating our local meta with a nasty Cron list, which he was thinking of taking to Throne of Skulls, so I thought it would be a good challenge.

Contemptor and one Tactical Marine from the unupgraded squad were removed and replaced with 5 DW with a Heavy Flamer, so that it was a Tournament legal list.

My opponent had something like:

15 warriors, Zahndrekh, Cryptech, Szeras
15 warriors, Obyron
15 Immortals, Lord with res orb
Night Scythe
Annihillation Barge
So a pretty small but punchy army with lots of nasty tricks.

Mission was the one with an objective each.  My opponent won first turn, put his Warriors and Barge on the back line, with his Immortals in the Scythe. I castled up in the opposite corner, with DWA and my Knights outflanking.

Turn 1, the Warriors squad with Cryptech jumped in front of my lines by Deep Strike, losing a single Warrior to Dangerous Terrain. Then, using Xenos teleport homer-like items, the other Warrior squad was able to DS within 6" without scattering. Fortunately for me, they decided to try and glance my Land Raider to death... Made all the more unpleasant by the fact that he gave one squad BS5 and Tank Hunters due to special rules! However, I saved 8/10 4++ saves and he was left with egg on his face and three squads of righteous fury in his face... To say nothing of the Land Raider! My Deathwing dropped behind his Warriors and offed several with the helpful addition of the TL Heavy Flamer. Ultimately he was left with about 5 'crons in one squad, and a single Warrior plus Zandrekh in the other! Sadly, due to judicious abuse of 'Look out, Sir!' he was able to keep one of each alive so they were able to regenerate...  Luckily for me, not many of either did, six of one and four of another squad getting back up.  

Turn 2, the diminished 'Crons were reinforced by a Night Scythe full of Immortals... and another Res Orb Lord.  On the other hand, their shooting only took out about three or four Tactical Marines total.  One of the Character-led Warrior Squads decided to Assault my Librarian and the single Marine left from his squad, only to fall short on their charge distance!  Probably tripping over the solitary 'cron my Overwatch fire managed to bring down.  My turn rolled round, and my Ravenwing Bikers arrived from the perfect board edge to shoot the hell out of the Immortals, and proceeded to do so!  My sole Tactical Marine from the Librarian's squad ran for my objective, as his comrades had all been blown off of it, the Terminators advanced towards the Warriors preparing to Assault, and everything else stayed perfectly still.  One round of shooting later, and I had killed every single character he had on the board when the game was called for time, but he agreed that it was pretty much a walkover for me after he failed his key Reanimation Protocol rolls, as the characters were basically crucial to his whole build.      

So, SoD Lists are great, but your gunline definitely needs backup.  I'm considering an Aegis Defence line, but that would eat into points I would rather spend on something more mobile, so it's tough...  The key feedback from those games was "make a new list, or people will stop  wanting to play" >_>  So I might go back to my Ravenwing list for a while.  

 

[WatchCaptainAzrael]

Fustigation:36 working out for you still I see.

[GlauG]

Yeah, to be honest two turns of Salvo 4 shooting against an unwary opponent or one who has to advance towards you seems to be all it needs to take down anything that can be hurt by S4.  It's not an instant "I win" button, but it's sure as hell a lot easier to use than any other build I've used besides maybe my "charge forward for 2++ then shoot and Assault" Ravenwing army.  Pimping out the Land Raider to protect the Standard of Devastation squad really, really helps though, as it is a huge fire magnet yet weathers it well.

[march10k]

LOL...I looked at your list and thought "that's not a standard of devastation list, it doesn't have enought bolters!"

 

I guess it works for you, though...I can't wait to try mine on the tabletop!

[GlauG]

Well, my alternative list has an extra Tactical Squad and two more Land Raiders, but it seems like too much of a one-trick pony for me!  I did toy with the idea of a Dark Talon too, but it seemed like a big easy target if I kept it within range of the SoD, and doesn't bring much to the list if I use it as an actual flyer...

[march10k]

Well...TBH, my list has four tactical squads, only one more than yours, and no hurri-bolters, other than the one that the standard is riding in...plus mine has plas/plas in every squad, so the number of boltgun shots is probably similar...I just reacted to the number (3) of tac squads in your list, lol.