Battle Rep - RG Successor v Chaos - 1500 points

[Noxnoctis22]

We agreed upon 1500 points and rolled for an Eternal War mission, ended up with "The Relic". For deployment we rolled "Hammer and Anvil". No "Night Fighting". 

 

My List:

 

Shrike

Tactical Squad - 5 additional SM, Melta Gun, Combi-melta, Rhino

Tactical Squad - 5 additional SM, Plasma Gun, Combi-plasma, Rhino

Scout Squad - 5x Camo Cloaks, 5x Sniper Rifles

Vanguard Veteran Squad - 5 additional marines, 10x Jump Packs, 3x TH, 3 SS

Assault Squad - 2x Flamer, Power Sword + Melta Bomb

Assault Squad - 2x Flamer, Power Sword + Melta Bomb

Devastator Squad - 4x Lascannons

Devastator Squad - 4x Plasma Cannons

 

Opponent's list

Chaos Lord - fully-kitted out (Lightning Claw, Power Fist, 2+/3++) 

Chaos Sorcerer - forgot the powers

Chaos Terminators - 5-man grouped up with the Chaos Lord

Noise Marines - sonic blasters and blastmasters mixed in

Havocs - 4x Auto-cannons

Land Raider - carrying the Lord & Terminators

Obliterators - a 1-man & 2-man squad, both DS

 

I think that's all he had...

 

The board is a mirror image on both sides so there was no advantage to which side I picked but I was the one going first at least. The relic was placed in the center of the map where there just happened to be a large ruin, 6x12 inches in size. Since I was able to use my scout move and go first I was on top the relic right away.

 

I had my Plasma Cannons cover the left side of the board and the Lascannons covering the right, so once course his Land Raider came at me on my left side. 

 

Shrike's VV unit deployed directly behind the ruins in the center of the map, there wasn't too many good place to infiltrate closer to his back lines.

 

The 2 Rhinos moved up the board and ended up behind his main force and the center ruin with the relic. Granted he glanced them both to death but the Tactical Squads were able to disembark into the ruins. The big mistake my opponent made was upload his Chaos Lord & Terminators right in the middle of my 2 destroyed Rhinos. Tons of bolter fire were able to soften them up until Shrike's VV squad came in with HoW blows and massive attacks.

 

The Land Raider was still and annoyance as the one melta gun I had was unable to hit it's mark. The combi-melta I had blew it as well. Not to mention the one attempt I made with a melta bomb whiffed.

 

The Plasma Cannons were able to take out most of one of the Noise Marine squads. The Lascannons were just picking off a unit here and there, nothing too great, a real waste of the high strength shots. 

 

The Sniper Scouts were a waste of point this game, since there were objectives to secure they didn't do all too much. A few kills but very much "meh".

 

Once Shrike's VV squad was done with the Terminators they just swept across my opponent's backfield and was able to take out another 2 units before Shrike was killed and 2 VV units were left. The squad performed great, totally worth it.

 

Once his Obliterators came in from reserve into my battlefield both of my Devastator Squads bit the dust. They were left unsupported so not a big surprise.

 

By turn 5 it was just a game of keep away. It was truly and bloodbath on both side. I had a handful of Tactical Squad guys left and a few ASM but I had the Relic. He was left with an immobilzed Land Raider and just 2 Obliterators. So when the game went on to turn 6 I had ran away just enough to be out of sight/range of the Land Raider. I had the Relic, I had the win!

 

(/end rambling)

 

[SyNidus]

Well done Nox! I always like seeing a victory for the Sons of Corax.

 

Now there are a couple of questions you want to think about (indeed, these questions are how I was trained :) )

 

Was hoping you can share your thoughts with us:

 

- What do you think you did well in this game?

- What do you think you could've done better?

- What lessons did you learn?

- Would you change your list? If so, how?

[Noxnoctis22]

What I think I did well in this game....

 

I think I made the best use of RG Chapter Tactics in this game. I was able to be in the mid-field (where the Relic was) by turn 1. Got Shrike and his VV squad into multiple CC fight and had plenty of HoW wounds from the jump pack units.

 

What I think I could've done better...

 

I could have left a unit back to protect my 2 Devastator squads and I could have made a smarter choice of how to take on the Land Raider.

 

What lessons I learned was...

 

Once a RG army gets into assault range it's great (well, duh). "Hammer & Anvil" deployment helps out tremendously. A large infiltrated VV squad and smaller ASM worked great.

 

What I would change in my list...

 

The Scout Snipers are becoming less and less worth it, that's 70 points that could be used elsewhere. I need to keep better track of my high strength weapons so I can better deal with Land Raiders and such. Upgrading some Sgt. to veterans might help out against leadership, pinning and other tests.

 

1850 is the next point level we'd like to try, once we have the units and such, so I need to think about what I could add to my army at higher point levels as well.

[SyNidus]

If I may, there are a few things which stood out from your rep (of course I can't actually send the deployment and the terrain.

 

I think your deployment of the devastators could've been better, perhaps instead of deploying to either side, deploy more centerfield to give them better lanes of fire. Also, with the scout move, you can shift abit to adjust if need be. And not leaving any unit behind to guard them isn't a problem IMO. Them trying to gun for those boys means they aren't gunning for your others.

 

An alternative to that is deploying both heavy weapons teams to cover one flank, while the rest of your army pushes the center and remaining flank.

 

I'd also suggest replacing the Plasmagun on the tac with a Meltagun instead, to support your anti-tank capabilities.

[Noxnoctis22]

Normally I would place the Devastators in the center of the map to cover more area but with playing "Hammer & Anvil" deployment the map was much more narrow. With the large ruin in the center of the map it created two lanes of fire down each flank. I had one Devastator Squad cover each lane, it just so happened that he deployed his Land Raider opposite my Lascannons.

 

I was able to use the scout move for one squad to get them tucked in behind cover 4-5 inches from where the deployed.

 

The Devastators will always go down every game, protected or not. High strength and AP never seem to last but that's okay they did their job.

 

I'll definitely be dropping the Plasma Gun for a Melta Gun, the plasma is great but with only so much 8+ strength weapons out there I need to take them where I can.

[Noxnoctis22]

I promised myself that when I hit 1500 points with this army I'd shelf them for a bit to focus more on getting my DA up and running BUT I can't help but think about what's next for this army.

 

1850 is the point level that my gaming group likes to shoot for as a max so I've got 350 more points to go with this army. I have some ideas of what I'd like to try and add, here's some ideas

 

-Stormraven/Stormtalon - Who doesn't wanna take a flyer these days? Plus it fits into the fluff of my army really well.

 

-Librarian w/Jump Pack - Psychics being all the rage now.

 

-Chaplain - If not the Librarian the Chaplain could be a great second HQ.

 

-Scouts w/LSS - again fits my fluff really well.

 

-More Jump Pack units - Make best use of the RG Chapter Tactics

 

-Sternguard w/DP - this one is the biggest stretch for me. Great alpha strike just doesn't fit the overall theme of my army all that well.

 

Based on the army I currently have what to you feel is the best direction for me to go in when building up to 1850 points?

[SyNidus]

The flyers definitely seem like a great way to go...they fit RG armies very well and they are effective fire support.

[Lord Doyok]

Congratulations for the win!

[Barrogh]

My conrats to you on victory and then on finding someone who doesn't read Shrike's special rule as something that contains no special permissions, which is a common issue it seems.

[Tiger9gamer]

Two storm Talons work great with eachother as a fire support unit, just be aware that they are flimsy and can be delayed a lot.