Strike Force Sunray - The Siege of Eboracum Campaign

[Shaezus]

Game 3 Vs Necrons Mephrit dynasty (sp?)

 

His army:

 

Necron overlord with uber bling

 

Necron overlord with even seriously more uber bling than the first, in a catacomb command barge

 

2 x harbingers of (doom / pain...the ones that go with the deathmarks)

 

3 x harbingers of the storm

 

2 x 5 deathmarks

 

3 x 6 warriors

 

3 x doom scythes

 

3 x annihilation barges

 

2 x night scythes

 

Deployment: Dawn of war

 

Primary: The relic

 

Secondary: Command and control

 

Tertiary: STW, LB AND FS

 

Will post a more detailed batrep up with pics during the week, as this was an absorbing game as relic games can be. In short, I won first turn and put the SG in cover on one flank where they could move up, the DC in the middle aiming to support the tac squad who would land, grab the relic and leg it while the melta ASM and sicaran hit his two central most troop carriers.

 

What actually happened was I failed to inflict, even with the Damocles whose barrage has been a non-event in all but one of the games I've ever used it, a single glancing or penetrating hit on AV13. That's with 4 melta shots up close, a sicaran with lascannons and rerolls for penetration and an orbital barrage. The tacticals scattered off to land right in front of the necron line, so the DC grabbed the relic.

 

What happened next was my oppo rolled between 33%-50% sixes on his teslas whilst my armour saves were a good 66% ones and twos. DC spent the game pegging it to hide in the corner whilst the SG jumped up and smashed everything around them until they perished to the second unit of marks with their AP1, 2 to wound flamer.

 

Would have been a close win for me if it ended turn 5, but he had so much firepower left that on turn 6, for the first time ever in my 40k history, I was tabled. Bah.

 

Dante dying to the Tesseracht Labyrinth - yes, a 220 point LoW falling to a 20 point piece of wargear - was a big miffer, as I knew that by its rules it was activated at initiative step, but it has now been FAQ'd to activate at the start of combat. So you have to roll equal to or lower than your wounds or be removed from the board. So to add insult to the FAQ injury, I rolled a 5.

 

I can honestly say that from these three games I am definitely keeping the SG. A priest may make a small difference but ultimately they have been killed by S8 AP1 or AP2 weaponry where FNP makes no odds. Funnily enough my first Libby rolled sanguinary and got unleash rage and blood boil in all three games, blood boil killed two terminators, three fire dragons and three deathmarks. Not spectacular enough. The biggest thing is getting forewarning for the SG.

 

So with this in mind I am looking at maybe swapping a Libby for corbulo and bringing in more melta into the list. Always miss that reroll.

 

Anyway here's hoping things will improve tomorrow!

[Shaezus]

Next up for game 4: 3 wraithknights & 5 wave serpents. Should be fun :D

[Shaezus]

Game 4 vs Eldar

 

Deployment: Dawn of war

 

Primary: The scouring

 

Secondary: Deadlock

 

Tertiary: STW, LB AND FS

 

RESULT: 20-0 BA Victory. (these are TPs not VPs, will post VPs in batreps)

 

Tabled him turn 6 but it was still a 20-0 win on turn 5 anyway.

 

Deployed for maximum aggressiveness, sternguard dropped and killed a WK on turn 1 while the sicaran claimed a WS and another WS in turn 4. Managed to assault 2 WS on turn two with the DC and survivors of the meltacide ASM. Sanguard drew all the fire and WK assaults, finally dying with Dante in turn 4. Frying squad roasted two squads of guardians with the heavy flamer alone, as my oppo had disembarked everything to pump those rending shuriken shots into the SG.

 

Despite some really poor rolling on turns 2-3, this game was a joy because it showed the synergy between the units and why BA can be in-your face aggressive and be competitive with it. Great stuff, really happy! :)

[Jolemai]

*Taps foot*

[Shaezus]

:p

 

Forgot to say that last game was against a Belgian ETC dude, I couldn't understand what he was doing around the lower-mid tables but he said it was something to do with them not normally playing against FW models. I'm cool with non-FW now, as those hornets are just ridiculously under costed.

 

Game 5 overview:

 

His list: Blingitsu farseer on jetbike

 

Eldrad

 

Wraithlords x 5-7?

 

3 x dire avenger squads

 

2 x wraithknight, one with 3 x small blast AP2 whizz

 

4 x wave serpents

 

Deployment: Hammer & anvil

 

Primary: Crusade - 4 objectives

 

Secondary: Contact lost

 

Tertiary: STW, LB and FS

 

Wellll I won on VPs but lost on TPs 12-8.

 

In short, I deployed aggresively again after much thought on perhaps deep-striking the SG. Blew up two WS between the Damocles, ASM and sicaran but the sternguard didn't put a single scratch on their warlord despite causing 5 wounds with ignores cover. Things then got very hot, he had misfortune on the SG and they were dropping fast despite sanguine shield. The tacs again accounted for two DA squads and the Dante SG downed one WK and things developed into a chase as his warlord and other WK hit my sicaran in the DZ. Dante & co came back, were charge by the WK and pulled off a 14" hit and run, splitting so that Dante hit eldrad & wraithlords while a Libby and last 2 SG hit the farseer in my turn. Farseer died and I looked set to turn narrow defeat into victory, when Dante decided to forget what that thing in his hand was. 6 attacks on charge, 2 hits including MC reroll and 1 wound on eldrad who had already lost one to perils. Next turn he got same again from his 5 attacks, no wounds...and died. Bah. Thrilling game, sad sad end.

 

Synopsis & thoughts to follow

[Shaezus]

So I don't think I quite managed my goal of getting into the top 1/3, but with 48 out of 100 TPs I am happy with the lessons learned. The defeat to the necrons rammed home to me the need to deploy aggressively with the SG in certain situations. Indeed if I had not done this in my next two games, things would have been much worse.

 

So if I am not going to DS the sanguard, the Damocles is going. Particularly as it has only hurt one thing in about 8-10 games with its barrage. But what about Dante, as doesn't this mean DoA is invalid and he should be dropped? No, mainly because of EW and hit & run but also because of his extra wound, unit and attack over a captain and the +2 S from his axe. His free roll on the tactical table did make a difference too.

 

I take back what I said about having a priest. The Libbys were only good when I had wings and / or foreboding. Considering the hit-and miss affair of psychic powers and the presence of rending weaponry, not to mention a high failure rate on those 2-ups, a priest is a much more solid, reliable option. The extra WS would be a bonus. I am looking at a priest with the SG and either a chappy too or corbulo with the tacticals, as he would keep the oppo in place a little longer whilst they finish off the tacs and thus give the SG more time to smash face. That re-roll was sorely missed, it really can be a game changer and I truly appreciate just how much so when I don't take him.

 

So on the drive home I've got a list coming together with only two pods, the sternguard and the Damocles swapping their points towards MM attack bikes and grav bikes, while the libbys are swapped for a priest and chappy / corbs with the tacs. Not sure about the sicaran, it didn't shine as expected and was quite awful in two games, but maybe that was just the dice.

 

As for the sanguard, they are the backbone of an aggressive and competitive list, for sure, but their strength lies in starting on the board and for this to work they need to be supported by units which can be relied upon to do their job.

 

Anyway, thanks for reading my meanderings and I hope fellow BA may find my thoughts useful, whether you agree with them or not. :)

[Shaezus]

As an afterthought, just thought I'd mention that one of the other BA guys took the Angels Sanguine formation and was twice tabled on turn one. 4 minute games are not fun :(

[Shaezus]

Well, 81st place out of 164 who turned up (snowy weather meant a few couldn't make it, including last year's champ, Josh Roberts. So a bit short of my goal, but if Dante hadn't flailed like a fairy in the last combat of the tourny I would have been round about the mark. He's confined to the training cages as we speak.

[Jolemai]

Congrats all the same. Was there only five rounds? Oh, and where in Scotland are you to be surrounded by all these sheep?

[Leonaides]

Down near the closest point to wales???

[Shaezus]

Cheers matey :) Yep five rounds of three hours each, was almost tired enough by the middle of game three to ask my oppo to do my moves for me :p

 

I'm in north yorks, you lot don't have a monopoly on woollybacks ye know.

[Jolemai]

Oh right. So quite the trip then.

[Jolemai]

As an afterthought, just thought I'd mention that one of the other BA guys took the Angels Sanguine formation and was twice tabled on turn one. 4 minute games are not fun

This?

ALLIANCE LEVEL: Formation /

Battle Brothers

COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT: Shield of Baal (Blood Angels)

HQ1: Sanguinary Priest (60): Relic: Wings Angellic (25), Relic: Valours Edge (20)

ELITE 1: Death Company Dreadnought (125), Blood Talons (10), Heavy

Flamer (10)

ELITE 2: SternGuard Veterans (110), 2 Heavy Flamers (20), 3 Combi Flamers (30)

Dedicated Transport: Drop Pod (35)

ELITE 3: SternGuard Veterans (110), 2 Heavy Flamers (20), 3 Combi Flamers (30)

Dedicated Transport: Drop Pod (35)

TROOP1:

Scout

s (55), Bolt Pistols (0), CCW (0)

TROOP2:

Scouts (55), Bolt Pistols (0), CCW (0)

LOW: Commander Dante (220)

[Warlord]

FORMATION: Sanguine Wing (Shield of Baal:Exterminatus, Page

34)

ELITE 1: Vanguard Veteran Squad (95), 5 extra Veterans (95), 2

Power Axe (0), 6 Power Maul

(0), 2 power Sword (0), Jump Packs (30), Storm Shield (10)

ELITE 2: Vanguard Veteran Squad (95), 5 extra Veterans (95), 2 Power Axe (0), 8 Power Maul

(0), Jump Packs (30), 2 Melta bombs (10)

ELITE 3: Stern Guard Veterans Squad (

110), 5 extra Veterans (110), 5 Combi Grav (0), 5

Combi Melta (0)

HS1: Storm Raven (200), TL MultiMelta (0), TL Assault Cannon (0)

Total: 1,850 points

It doesn't look that fragile...?

[Shaezus]

2 - 2 1/2 hours, not too bad.

 

Yes that sounds like his list. I think he took Dante and the priest with the vanvets, the DC dread in the raven. So only 10 scouts plus 5 sternguard on the ground on turn one. There was plenty of cover terrain but not a great deal of LOS blocking, maybe he also got an unlucky scatter with the first pod but 15 bodies ain't a lot either way, not against a shooty army.

[Shaezus]

Game 1 Vs BA / SW

His army:

Angels Detachment - Baal strike force (Codex Blood Angels - page 110)

HQ1: Sanguinary Priest 60pts The Angels wing 25pts 85

HQ2: Librarian 65pts LVL 2 mastery 25pts, Terminator armour 25pts, Storm Shield 10pts Force Axe (0) 125 [warlord]

Troops1: Tactical squad 70pts +5 marines 70pts Heavy flamer 10pts Flamer 5pts Meltabombs (sergeant) 5pts 195pts Transport1: Drop Pod 35pts

Troops2: Tactical squad 70pts +5 marines 70pts Flamer 5pts Meltabombs (sergeant) 5pts 185pts Transport2: Drop Pod 35pts

FA1: Assault squad 85pts, 2 meltaguns 20pts, Combi Melta 10pts 115 Transport3: Drop pod (remove jump packs) FREE

FA2: Assault squad 85pts, 2 meltaguns 20pts, Combi Melta 10pts 115 Transport4: Drop pod (remove jump packs) FREE

FA3: Assault squad 85pts, 2 meltaguns 20pts, Combi Melta 10pts 115

Transport5: Drop pod (remove jump packs) FREE

Elite1: Command squad 100pts 3 Meltaguns 30pts Storm Shield 10pts 175 Transport6: Drop Pod 35pts

FORMATION: Wolf Guard Thunderstrike (Champions of Fenris - Page 57)

Elite2: 10 Wolf guard 180pts 6 combi plasma 60pts, Power Fist 25pts 300 Transport7: Drop pod 35pts

Elite3: 10 Wolf guard terminators 330pts:2 Cyclone missile launchers 50pts, 8 Combi Melta 40pts, 2 power fists 20, 8 Storm Shields (Free) 440pts

Combined total 1850

(Stormshields and combis are same models) (Powerfists and cyclone missile launchers are same models) (all drop pods have storm bolters)

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil

Primary: Big guns never tire (5 objectives)

Secondary: Tactical escalation

Tertiary: STW, LB, FS

Deployment phase

I won the roll for choosing board ends and for going first. My main concern was his melta dropping in and hammering the Sanguinary Guard, so I had been eyeing the board for LOS blockers. I already decided I needed to start them on the board; this was a key matter to winning in my mind. So I chose the board end with the one piece of terrain where the SG could all hide, and deployed like this (the Sicaran's dozer blade can just be seen poking up from the bottom right corner, with the scouts and DC blocking any melta-range DS). I started the Damocles in reserve. He had a null deployment. I gave him first turn.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_09_31_58_Pro1.jpg

One of my libbys drew blood boil and unleash rage. The other rolled foreboding and scrier's gaze. Happy about that. Dante's tactical trait was the one that got me an extra VP for an objective. Night-fighting was not in place.

Writing up now, I have no clear idea what tactical cards were drawn by whom so I've totally omitted them unless I remember them..sorry!

Turn 1 - BA / SW

He brings on the two tactical squads, one of the ASM and the command squad. The first tac squad lands on my short edge and lines up to fry the scouts. The second tac squad combat-squads and disembarks the opposite side of the wall to the SG, while the ASM land near them and line up on the Death Company. The command squad lands over on the other side of my DZ, probably anticipating the Damocles coming on into the ruins.

In shooting, he predictably roasts the poor scouts but kills only two death company with the combined fire of the other tactical squad and the melta ASM. I passed a few FNPS; the boys in black were pumped up for this one and were having nobody encroaching in THEIR DZ!!

Turn 1 - BA

The tacticals landed as one unit behind his tacs and ASM, lining up for much burnament. The meltacide ASM landed behind his command squad and ran out, guns at the hip. The DC moved close to his tacs / ASM ready to finish off either in assault, while the SG leaped over the wall and formed line facing the tacs who had fried the scouts. Sicaran did the obligatory jiggle a bit.

In the psychic phase I cast foreboding on the SG, in anticipation of a nasty melta drop next turn.

In shooting, the tacs, with the Sicaran chipping in, burned and shot up all but 3 of his tacs and some of the ASM. The meltacide ASM shot up the command squad, who lost 3 to melta and bolt pistol and krak grenade after passing an invul save or two. The SG opened up their Angelus fire into the tacs, softening them a little for the charge although the outcome was in little doubt to both of us. They charged the 1" and hacked up the 7 survivors without batting an eyelid, then consolidated a nice 6" further away from the short edge. The DC chopped up his remaining ASM in a frenzy of flying gore and pieces of armoured body parts.

This was the position at the end of turn 1: Primary: BA 3 obj, BA/SW 0. 2ndary: uh.. tertiary: BA 1, BA / SW 3

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_10_12_00_Pro1.jpg

Turn 2 - BA / SW

None of his reserves came on. With a single roll for the wolfguard and the termies, it did seem a bit risky to say the least. Plus some 1's and 2's for his other ASM. So...he had five guys on the board, three tacs who moved to the other side of the wall out of LOS from the SG but in plain view of the tacs, DC and Sicaran, and the two command squad survivors, who decided to charge into my ASM rather than face another round of melta death. I lost one dude in return for causing no casualties, but the combat remained locked.

Turn 2 - BA

The Damocles came on and hugged the wall near the Sicaran. The sternguard arrive and here was a very unexpected situation, and I had to give myself a good shake to make sure I was thinking straight...yep, it was possible for me to table him on turn two! Sadly in all the excitement I forgot to take a pic, but the planning was something like this: DC charge his top-most ASM's pod; sternguard shoot up his remaining tacs; Sicaran takes out the pod hugging my short edge and SG would multi-charge his command squad and their pod with Dante hitting the pod, and also one of the powerfists charging his tacs' pod with the libbys helping. Things were positioned to do this 'legally', which was a bit of a pain but hey that's the rules.

In the psychic phase I again went for foreboding but failed to cast.

In shooting, the sternguard let everything rip into his tacs and failed to do anything..sigh! Still, the charge range had been too much to risk - 9" I think - but this meant a bit of quick-thinking and tweaking; now the Sicaran would have to kill the tacs while either the PF sanguard or libbys charged the pod on my short edge. So the Sicaran opens up and his tacs hit the dirt; 6 autocannon (rending), 3 heavy bolter and 2 lascannons....two tacs die, while the last passes his two 6+ cover saves. AAAARRRGGHH!!! Well that meant I couldn't table him, but actually that wasn't much to complain about given his poor reserve rolls in the first place.

In assault, in a complex multi-charge everything got smashed apart from the pod near my short edge.

BA / SW turn 3

His Wolf Guard formation came on but the other two ASM squads did not. His Termies DS'd up top, landing close to my tacs and with LOS to the Sicaran. The 10 marines podded next to my ASM's pod and lined up to deal plasma death to the SG. Trust me to fail for foreboding when I actually needed it...this was gonna hurt.

This was how things looked at this point:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_10_50_31_Pro1.jpg

So he lets rip and after the fuzz has died down, 4 Sanguinary Guard lie dead and Dante is down to one wound. That could have been worse I thought, though 7 wounds from 12 plasma shots may be about right, considering Dante failed a few invuls. His terminators finish off the DC.

Turn 3 - BA

The SG form up on Dante and, gripping their axes more tightly with burning anger, prepare to avenge their fallen brethren by slaughtering the Wolf Guard. The tacs move away from the termies with an eye on objective 1 in the board middle, but still maintain rapid fire range. The Sicaran jiggles on the spot again, maintaining LOS to the terms.

In the psychic phase, nothing happens.

In shooting, the orbital scatters off and puts the frights up the sternguard but does nothing else. The Damocles' storm bolter kills off his lone tac, managing to do what 5 sternguard and a GAWDAYM Sicaran battle tank could not A few terminators are downed from combined fire of tacs, sternguard and sicaran. The SG and Dante let rip into the Wolfguard and charge in.

In assault, the Wolfguard are hacked down and wiped out without loss. The SG consolidate towards the middle, whilst my ASM survivors start moving to his DZ on a linebreaker run.

Turn 4 - BA / SW

His remaining ASM come down; one deploys in his DZ out of LOS from everything, the other drops near objective 1 in the middle, scattering to land in a huddle with my ASM's and the Wolfguard's pods. He splits off his warlord and priest and they make a beeline for the Sicaran and Damocles, whilst the terms remain close to objective 2.

In his shooting, his ASM and terms fire at the tacs, killing about half of the squad. His priest charges the Damocles but doesn't hurt it, his libby manages to reach the Sicaran and puts a glance on it.

Turn 4 - BA

The SG make their way through the bottleneck of pods and shrub terrain to eye up his ASM for assault. The tacs move up closer to objective 1. Sicaran does a jig while the Damocles scarpers from the priest. Sternguard loiter with intent near his warlord and terms. The ASM continue to do the Pink Panther towards his DZ.

In shooting, his warlord is slain by either the sternguard or sicaran. The priest is slain by the other of these two.

The SG assault his melta squad and slaughter them, consolidating towards his terminators.

Turn 5 - BA / SW

All he has is his ASM hiding in his corner, little more than a handful of terms and his remaining pods. His terms try to whittle down my tacs, to no avail. One of my ASM runners is taken down by a drop pod.

Turn 5 - BA

Dante thumbs the throttle of his pack and leads the SG up to the terms, opting for a 1" charge range over hammer of wrath and a 6" charge. The lone ASM crosses his DZ line and pulls a moonie at the drop pod, which is now out of range. The tacs trip over their own feet as they still try to claim objective 1.

In shooting, a few terms again are downed but I am holding fire with the Sicaran and SG so as not to increase the charge range. The tacs run the last couple of inches to claim objective 1 just in case something silly happens soon.

The charge is made and the Wolfguard Terminators are slaughtered to a man. At this point I am claiming 3 objectives to his 1, am well ahead on secondary and have all the points for tertiary where he didn't manage to get STW. So my gallant opponent concedes.

The aftermath:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_12_01_07_Pro1.jpg

AAR summary

Would it have made much difference had his Wolfguard came down a turn earlier? I actually think it may not have, as my SG were more or less in a corner where DSing his Terminators would have been very risky, and would have freed up the DC and tacs to move up and allowed the Sicaran to simply dash for his board edge and do the shooting from there. Anyway, it happened like it did and I was happy with the way things turned out (goes without saying when you win!?) but most pleased with the SG in assault. That I5 S5 MC AP3 is not to be sniffed at, and Dante makes slosh out of 2+ saves. Good stuff.

[Shaezus]

Game 2 Vs Eldar

 

His army: 

 

Farseer & bling on jetbike
Autarch?
Fire dragons
Dire avengers x 2
Wave serpents x 3
Hornets (3 x 3)

 

Deployment: Vanguard strike

 

Primary: Purge the Alien

 

Secondary: Cleanse & Control

 

Tertiary: STW, LB, FS

 

Deployment Phase

 

He won for choosing sides and going first. One of his hornet units went on the skyshield, pretty much everything else bar the WK went underneath. He rolled as Eldar do for psychic powers - namely misfortune, guide and prescience. 

 

I deployed the SG behind a hedgerow, with the Sicaran and Damocles behind ruins. The scouts infiltrated into the white ruins on the forward left. DC formed a bubble around the Sicaran's front. I had not encountered hornets before and was a bit concerned to say the least, but one thing for sure was I couldn't sit tight and had to go for it while I had all my forces. I drew the same powers as last game for one libby - blood boil and unleash rage - which would be useless and I regretted not going for divination. Second libby rolled misfortune and scrier's gaze, so no foreboding this time. Night-fighting was in effect. I failed to seize initiative.

 

Here's how it looked before kick-off:

 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_14_07_16_Pro1.jpg

 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_14_07_34_Pro1.jpg

 

Turn 1 - Eldar

 

He scouted out with the hornets and shook out with his WS. He was worried most about the orbital bombardment, then the sicaran. The Damocles took 2 glancing hits from a WS and failed both 3+ covers. His hornets on my right scored another glancing hit and it failed the cover save again. Bah. The WK and a WS shot at the Sicaran, it did pass a cover or two and one glance was all that got through. The remaining WS fired at the SG, killing one of them. All in all, could have been worse for me although he had wisely put his vehicles in cover from the Sicaran.

 

Turn 1 - BA

 

Meltacide ASM land within melta range of their WS target on my left-centre just forward of the battlement. The tacs drop in behind the hornets on the right, hoping to do as much as possible against their rear arc. Dante & SG advance upfield. The Sicaran shuffles. The DC move up alongside the SG but on the other side of the battlement.

 

Nothing doing in the psychic phase, apart from me regretting not going for foreboding with both psykers. But then against Eldar, the odds on pulling it off are that much harder anyway.

 

In shooting, the Sicaran unloads on the hornets on my left, doing a single glancing hit after he rolls his 4+ covers. The meltacide ASM have similar luck, rolling 3 misses then the penetrating hit was shielded down to a glance. On the other flank, the tacs come within one hull point of wiping out their hornets and claiming FS too, but their luck was also out. The SG roll a 1 in running.

 

Turn 2 - Eldar

 

The WK advances to charging range of the scouts. His hornets and WS remain in place on my left but drift back to hug the board edge, and on the skyshield. The right-hand hornet skims to the centre with a bead on the sicaran. One WS unloads its DA squad on the objective in the ruins next to the skyshield.

 

In shooting, he finishes off the Sicaran with the first salvo from the left-most hornets and wipes out the ASM with a WS and its DA squad. That leaves everything else to fire on the SG, which they do, causing 4 or 5 more casualties. On the right, the tacs fare no better under fire from a WS and the DA in the top right ruins.

 

The WK charges the scouts, killing one. They hold.

 

Turn 2 - BA

 

I'm down 3-0 on kill points and my core unit - the SG - has been mauled whilst my the tacs are clearly not going to achieve anything. The sternguard drop in the top right, going for LB and a kill point or two on the WS and DA in the ruins. They scatter and land short, unable to go for any rear arcs but still able to reach the DA. The DC decide they are not going to catch any skimmers so pile into the WK. The SG plough on towards the skyshield pad, knowing they are unlikely to get a charge on the skimmers hugging the board edge. The tacs move forward into the inevitable but are unlikely to reach anything of import nor damage much apart from any DA that stray into range.

 

In shooting, the sternguard fail to inflict a single wound on the DA - 10 shots with ignores cover, 3+ to wound but he passes all his 4+ saves. I don't think I actually do any damage at all to anything.

 

The DC charge the WK but fail to scratch it. The WK kills 2 scouts and a DC. Scouts hold.

 

Turn 3 - Eldar

 

He shuffles stuff around freely now that the sicaran is gone and I can't reach him. The sternguard take three casualties between the right-most WS and DA and are finished off by the hornets on the skyshield. The SG bear the rest of the fire and only Dante, a libby, the standard bearer and one SG are left. 

 

The WK kills off the last scouts and another 2 DC.

 

Turn 3 - BA

 

Hrmmmph. I make a token charge with Dante and his remaining retinue, but after the WK is left with one wound I decide to call it a day.

 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_15_25_50_Pro1.jpg

 

AAR summary

 

Lots of rending shuriken shots plus misfortune on the SG anyway, so once my tanks were gone it was an exponential downhill curve. Ok so the cover saves were a little bipolar to begin with; I should on average have wiped that right-hand hornet unit and destroyed 1 or 2 from the left-most with the Sicaran, and perhaps that would have made a difference. I could have really done with a bigger run from the SG on turn one, I didn't have a chance catching his WS in assault. Maybe I could have done things differently but in a kill-point game against this army? Sitting tight and going to ground really isn't my way, but...?!? MM attack bikes sprang to mind during this game, I think they may help counter the hornets.

[Shaezus]

Game 3 vs Necrons

 

His army:

 

Necron overlord with uber bling

Necron overlord with even seriously more uber bling than the first, in a catacomb command barge

2 x harbingers of (doom / pain...the ones that go with the deathmarks)

3 x harbingers of the storm

2 x 5 deathmarks

3 x 6 warriors

3 x doom scythes

3 x annihilation barges

2 x night scythes

Deployment: Dawn of war

Primary mission: The relic

Secondary: Command and control

Tertiary: STW, LB AND FS

 

Deployment phase

 

I won the roll-offs for choosing sides and going first. Despite having always been fully aggressive with relic missions in the past - this is a strong one for BA and I don't think I'd lost many yet - I opted to go flanking with the SG. Why I did this I have no idea, it makes no sense at all now as there was no AP2 or rending weaponry in the necron force and with the relic, concentration of force wins. But hey. I aimed to grab the relic with the tacs and use everything else to hammer the enemy and keep the flak off the tacs. The Damocles hid behind rocks in the middle whilst the Sicaran went on the right for coverage of the middle table. The scouts go in the ruins in front of the sicaran.

 

Turn 1 - BA

 

The meltacide ASM land true, all within melta range of the central cron transport. The tacs however, aren't so lucky and scatter 11" away from just forward of the relic to land smack in front of the other troop transport. Seeing this, the DC jump forward and seize the relic.  The SG jump up the right, making for a turn 2 assault on the vehicles opposite and aiming to roll in from there. The sicaran shuffles to get full LOS whilst being obscured still.

 

At this point I remembered to take pics:

 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_17_48_15_Pro1.jpg

 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_17_48_21_Pro1.jpg

 

 

In shooting, things go from bad to awful awry: the orbital scatters off away from covering the left-hand transport and barge to land over the command barge. My oppo takes the hit on the overlord, who passes his 3++. The meltacide squad do a carbon copy of last game and roll 3 misses; the single pen is this time jinked. The Sicaran joins the awful dice party and hits well but even with the SoM rerolls fails to get even a single glance. Something funny in the air here methinks! The DC run towards the bottom-left corner with the shiny thing, the SG scuttle forward a little.

 

Turn 1 - Necrons

 

Not a lot of movement, barring the overlord in barge on the right who shoots forward towards the scouts. The meltacide squad pay for their bad shooting with their lives, being wiped out by fire from the transport, its occupants, the cryptek also inside, and an annihilation barge. Also the overlord who disembarked from the transport. Lots of 6's for tesla but with that volume of fire I think that was the right outcome. The tacs go the same way, with everything else unloading on them and racking up 6's for tesla, whilst their armour rolls really were sub-par. 

 

The overlord in barge pulls of a 9" charge into the scouts and kills 3. They hold though.

 

Turn 2 - BA

 

Well that was like, totally OUCH man! So what for it, but to head fer dem hills with the relic and go apey with the SG. The sternguard fail to arrive (oppo's warlord trait was -1 to my reserve rolls, cancelling out the damocles' bonus). So the DC remember they can't use their packs and trundle off towards that corner. The SG jump forward and prepare to smash up whatever they can reach, with the two libbys splitting off to go for the annihilation barges.

 

In shooting, Dante's inferno made up a little for the mess of turn 1, popping the 'cron transport. The sicaran follows his lead and pops the transport closest to where the tacs had been. The DC run a little.

 

In assault, much to my amazement, everything gets in. The right-most libby succeeds only in stunning his target (+3 on the damage chart and still, yep) but the other lib explodes his, whilst Dante & SG charge the warriors from the transport and swat them aside. At this point, I noticed I had ommited the overlord. The overlord on the left finishes off the scouts and consolidates 6" towards the sicaran.

 

The state of play at end of BA turn 2:

 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_18_36_43_Pro1.jpg

 

Turn 2 - Necrons

 

One of the Night Scythes flies in and its cargo of deathmarks with harbinger drop out, casting their beady eyes of doom on the SG. The stuff on the right starts to move forward and across, hoping to catch the DC before they get into LOS-blocking cover. The overlord in barge flies over the sicaran and uses its flying attack thing to blow it up.

 

In shooting, I am introduced to the deathmarks and the AP1 template of the harbinger. 2's to wound all-round, not a lot of SG left standing after that basically. Everything else that can fires at the DC, but although two go down, thanks to a couple of FNPs the shiny thing is still theirs.

 

He decides not to assault with the overlord on the right and the marks. 

 

Turn 3 - BA

 

The sternguard land down towards the bottom right, acting as a blocking line to come what may. Dante a libby move to charge the overlord whilst the SG shift forward to charge the marks. The DC make it into LOS cover, the Damocles shifts over their way, away from the overlord in barge.

 

In shooting, nothing goes on. The SG charge the marks and Dante & lib charge the overlord. This is where I raise the rules on the Tesseracht Labyrinth, but my opponent is politely insistent it has been FAQ'd to act at the start of combat and he does seem to know his necrons, so after some consulting we carry on. Dante needs a 4 or less or is removed; I roll a 5. Shiddlesticks. The libby splits the overlord in half in a fit of pure ragee. The remaining SG  slaughter the marks, whilst the top libby finishes the annihilation barge. The overlord regenerates at the end of my turn.

 

Turn 3 - Necrons

 

The second unit of marks arrives. Everything else makes a beeline for the bottom right.

 

In shooting, the marks finish off the SG whilst other stuff accounts for the libbys. Not a lot else goin on, his only possible target is the damocles which he can't hurt.

 

Turn 4 - BA

 

The sternguard begin a fighting withdrawal and the damocles moves to block LOS to the DC from the rear. The DC stay hidden with the relic.

 

The sternguard manage to down the overlord again, but he regenerates again.

 

Turn 4 - necrons

 

The marks jump back into their transport, everything else continues towards the DC corner. The lord in barge manages to mash the damocles, but thankfully it is only wrecked so may yet protect the DC somewhat.

 

Turn 5 - BA

 

Well this is it, all the sternguard can do is form a wall around the DC as best as possible. It's still about 50-50, but only if it ends turn 5.

 

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150117_19_41_20_Pro1.jpg

 

Turn 5 - necrons

 

The marks phase out onto the remains of the damocles and aim at the DC. Nothing else can get in. In shooting, he kills all but the one DC with the relic! It all comes down to that roll for turn 6...naturally, I roll a 4 and the game continues onto my certain doom :(

 

Turn 6 - BA

 

The sternguard fire off and kill a couple of marks, the Angel's name on their lips as they go knowingly to their death.

 

Turn 6 - necrons

 

Combined fire from the overlord on barge, marks and a nightscythe finish off the last DC and last few sternguard, tabling me for the first time in as long as I am aware! Bah!

 

AAR summary

 

A couple of Generalship mistakes (not knowing the tesseracht labyrinth right and not putting the SG in the centre) coupled with rotten luck on turn one; think I was lucky to get as far as I did. Open to c & c as always.

[Jolemai]

Some interesting games it seems.

 

In game one it would never have occurred to me to start with the Damocles off the board. Don't get me wrong, thinking about it now it makes sense to avoid that alpha strike and because it's not needed in the first turn but it could have really messed everything up had it not come on. Very Baalsy move if you ask me.

 

How rusty do you think you were?

[Shaezus]

Rusty as expected, definitely. By game three, I think I was still thinking I was fighting Eldar instead of Necrons and forgot what I knew about cron weaponry, but then he did say his army was designed to fight marines and vehicles. As for against the Eldar in that second game, you'll always struggle against them when their dice are generally good and yours are generally on the unlucky side. I think defeat there was down to factors beyond my control.

 

With the Damocles the reserve manipulation still applies when it is off the board, but yes leaving it in reserve was a touch-and go decision in any case.

[Jolemai]

Hmm, didn't register that. Anyway, looking forward to the new two write ups when you have the time to  :)

[Shaezus]

Game 4 Vs Eldar

His army:

Farseer & bling

3 x Wraithknight

5 x Dire Avengers

5 x Wave serpents

May have missed something but that's what I think it was.

Deployment: Dawn of war

Primary: The scouring

Secondary: Deadlock

Tertiary: STW, LB AND FS

Deployment Phase

For some reason I didn't take any pics until the end of turn 2, sorry! My oppo was a Belgian ETC guy who said he wasn't used to playing against FW units and was pretty anxious about the sicaran. I was kind of buzzing with potential and apprehension, as my previous game against the point-ears went badly, but this time there were no hornets to deal with so I felt I had a chance if I could get to grips with his WS in assault. Question was how to do that...

He won the roll-off for sides, I won for deploying and going first. My plan was to throw the SG into his face in the centre and hope that the alpha strike and sicaran could do enough to hit any flanking units, so hopefully his central WS would have nowhere to run to. SoI put the SG in the middle, hoping to make use of the ruin right in the board centre. The DC went to their right using the LOS-blocking stack in the middle there. The sicaran and damocles went in my bottom right behind some tall pillars, with the damocles out of LOS and the sicaran poking around the corner. The scouts infiltrated into an area of crates and pipes to the right of the sicaran. He then had his WS spread out along his edge and the 3 WK together on my centre-right.

Night-fighting was not in effect. My psychic powers were wings, blood boil & scrier's gaze and forewarning. Not great, but I had wings for the first time.

Turn 1 - BA

The meltacide squad landed well and moved into melta range of the WS second from my right. The sternguard dropped into the open area on the middle-left, aiming to shoot one of the WK. The SG bounded into the small square of space surrounded by a 'ruin' of Aegis wall. Rolling for dangerous terrain, one of the libbys took a wound and two SG fell to double 1's. OOOyah! Not a good omen. The DC jumped up alongside them and hugged the stack for cover. The sicaran shuffled to get full LOS to the WS on my far left.

In the psychic phase I somehow pulled off wings and moved the SG forward, pretty much onto his DZ line, hoping to lure his WK in for assault and use hit and run in his turn to get me close to his WS line.

In shooting, the damocles either scattered off or its pens were jinked - I think the latter. The meltacide squad opened up and succeeded in stunning their WS. The Sicaran let rip and chewed up its target with ease. The sternguard targeted the left-most WK and scored just enough wounds to bring it down. NIce shooting fellas, that's just what we needed!

Turn 1 - Eldar

HI right-most WS skims around and lines up on the flank of my forces. The 2 WK move towards the SG, their intent pretty clear. With the 3 WS in the middle including the stunned one, he disembarked all of their troops and all focused towards the SG apart from those from the stunned WS. My oppo was confident that only Dante would be left standing by the end of the turn.

In shooting he really gave the SG what for; 2 WK, 4 WS and 2 squads of DA all concentrating their fire. Those rending shuriken shots took down one of the libbys and a couple of SG alone, whilst a few more SG fell to the WK and WS fire. So not quite as effective as he had predicted but pretty much what I had expected. A handful of SG and one libby stood firm alongisde Dante, hefting their weapons and eyeing the WK. Meanwhile on the right, he shot up the meltacide squad, killing the sarge and pinning them. But then he fired at them again, killing another marine and breaking them, so they ran and were no longer pinned. They only fell back a short distance, so I was happy and my oppo was kicking himself.

Both WK made the charge in. Dante hacked a few wounds off one of them before they took down all but three of the remaining SG plus a wound or two off Dante. That was a high price to pay for getting a hit and run boost towards his lines. So Dante rolled the initiative test to disengage, and got a 6. At this point I made it known that I hated 40k sometimes.

Turn 2 - BA

The tacticals drop in the centre and line up to deal some severe warmth to both squads of DA there. The sternguard move towards the DA in the top-right who had been in the wrecked WS. The DC moved up for the charge on their facing WS whilst the 2 meltacide survivors, shaking their heads in disbelief at the opportunity and blowing big raspberries at the onlooking DA nearby, moved to assault the WS they had previously stunned. The sicaran moves over to where the scouts are and lines up on the right-most WS carring the farseer squad.

In shooting, the heavy flamer scorched the target squad on its own and toasted a couple from the other squad. The sternguard and their pod picked off all but 2 of their target DA in the top-right corner. The sicaran blazed away at the farseer's WS, putting several pens or glances on it but only a glance got through the shields. The scouts enjoyed watching things.

In assault, Dante took more wounds off his WK but failed to kill it. Somehow only 2 SG were killed, I think Dante may have risked tanking a few. So only the standard bearer, libby and Dante were left. The two surviving DC charged their WS and went bananas, wrecking it in a flurry of blades and spit. The meltacide survivors used their fury to finish off their WS.

And here's where I remembered my camera:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150118_10_12_45_Pro1.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150118_10_12_59_Pro1.jpg

Dante passed his hirt and run roll this time and they leaped off into the protective bubble left between the tacs and their pod. The WK stomped their feet in dismay as their foe escaped, and consolidated to exact revenge on the little red men beneath them.

Turn 2 - Eldar

His farseer WS continued to float around on the right flank, whilst the other surviving WS in the middle decided to boost away from his lines and land to the left of the central ruins. One of the WK moves up to the tacs, the other one, its wounds smarting from Dante's blows, heads towards the sicaran.

His top-left DA take a smattering of shots at the sternguard but armour and 5+ cover prevented loss. The WK fires into the surviving DC. His remaining WS and DA finish off the brave meltacide survivors. The farseer WS takes down two or three tac marines.

In assault, the WK charges into the DC, finishing them off.

Turn 3 - BA

Dante and the SG survivor head south after the weakened WK. The libby splits off to go for the WS on the other side of the central ruins. The sternguard stay where they are so they can finish off that top-right DA squad. The sicaran draws a bead on the oncoming WK.

In shooting, the sicaran and scouts finish off the WK advancing towards them. The sternguard kill the last of their DA. The tacs decide to move up and keep the WK in place, lobbing a krak grenade at it for good measure.

In assault, the libby makes his charge and wrecks the WS. The DA leap out and head for the objective on the left of the field, via cover. Only one WS and one WK remaining now, plus a couple of DA squads.

Turn 3 - Eldar

The WK moves in on the tacs. The farseer WS zips out and lines up Dante and the last SG. The WK kills a marine and kills a couple more in assault without taking a wound. The WS finishes off the SG and Dante - some bayd dice thar!

Turn 4 - BA

The sternguard move towards the left objective and line up on the squad from the libby's wrecked WS. The sicaran eyes up the farseer's WS. The libby starts a linebreaker / claiming run towards the central objective behind rocks in the Eldar DZ.

In shooting, the sternguard kill 3 DA and the survivors hug cover. The sicaran lets rip at the farseer WS and wrecks it. The squad get out on the other side of the wreckage.

In assault, the WK keeps killing tacs at a nasty rate; only a couple left and their krak grenades bounces harmlessly off.

Turn 4 - Eldar

The farseer squad loiters behind their wreckage. The other DA near the sternguard loose of some snap-firing to no avail. The WK finishes off the tacs with a final decisive stomp of its big feet, and advances towards the sicaran.

Turn 5 - BA

The sternguard secure their objective. The libby secures his and gets LOS cover from the WK. The sicaran decides to stand and fire at the WK, hoping they and the scouts can take it down between them before it closes.

In shooting, the sternguard finish off the DA in cover, and the scouts and the sicaran manage to kill the WK between them!

Turn 5 - Eldar

Only the farseer squad left, and they huddle behind the wrecked WS, out on the flank and unable to do anything but hope for the game's end. He rolls and the game continues.

Turn 6 - BA

The scouts and sicaran continue their successful partnership, killing the last DA squad and farseer in one round of shooting!

AAR summary

Aggressive thinking paid off I think, but the biggest thing that struck me was the synergy between units. The sicaran didn't suffer from poor dice and cover saves and thus got to show what it can do. The SG had some unlucky losses with terrain and took a heck of a lot of fire and attacks and did little, but Dante was allowed to put a few key wounds on that WK, and fire was drawn from the DC and meltacide who got to do their bit as a result. The sternguard finally did something, and shone in the process. A crazy frenzy of a game! "I love it when a plan comes together".

[Shaezus]

Game 5 Vs Eldar

His army:

His list: Blingitsu farseer on jetbike

Eldrad

Wraithlords x 5-7?

3 x dire avenger squads

2 x wraithknight, one with 3 x small blast AP2 whizz

4 x wave serpents

Deployment: Hammer & anvil

Primary: Crusade - 4 objectives

Secondary: Contact lost

Tertiary: STW, LB and FS

Deployment phase

He won the roll-off for choosing ends and chose the end with more cover options. I won for going first and after again mulling briefly over a deep-strike I put the SG on my right flank, guessing that he would be putting stuff in the large ruins on that side of his DZ and hoping to make the most of this cover myself. The DC went to the left-centre, the damocles behing a LOS-blocking wall and the sicaran in a small piece of ruins on my bottom left. The scouts infiltrated into ruins forward of the sicaran's position. My 'plan' was essentially the same as last game: swoop forward and get into assault with his WS while the sicaran took out WS on the flanks.

He put his WS in a line with the 4th WS forming a point in the centre of this line. His warlord went into the ruins in front of my SG, the blast template WK went into the top of the same ruins and the other WK deployed opposite the DC.

My psychic powers were...blood boil and shield of Sanguinius, and scrier's gaze and the one that gives the libby re-rolls on saves etc. Nothing great sadly. He rolled guide, invisibility, misfortune and maybe some others. Night fighting was not in effect. He failed to seize the initiative.

Turn 1 - BA

The meltacide ASM dropped centrally and landed off to one side of his foreward-most WS. With the SG I did a little mulling...and decided that a lone warlord was not a chance to be sniffed at, so they landed next to the ASM but deployed closer to the ruins and lined up the farseer.

How things looked at this point (definitely rusty with remembering the camera!)

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150118_13_42_24_Pro1.jpg

The SG moved forward as much as possible whilst trying to minimise terrain checks, but yet again one of the libbys failed the check and failed his armour. The DC hopped up keeping level with the SG but on the other side of the wall. The sicaran adjusted to get full LOS on the WS on the right of the Eldar line.

In the psychic phase shield is cast on the SG.

In shooting, the damocles aimed to cover both central WS, with the hole of the marker over the front WS. The blast scattered, covering the rear WS and the one to its left, so neither got their jink and both were blown up and both DA squads inside failed their pinning checks. The melta ASM blasted at the forward-most WS and after jinks and shields, managed to glance it once. The sicaran saw this and switched aim, finishing off this WS and wrecking it. The sternguard chose the ignores cover ammo, as the farseer would have a 2+ cover, and scored 6 wounds. He passed all of his armour saves. Oh well, worth a go! The scouts take fairground pot-shots at the WK near them and do nothing.

Fairly happy with that round, it balanced things out somewhat I thought! Shame about the sternguard though.

Turn 1 -Eldar

He scoots his farseer over to the centre, shuffles his right-most WS forward a little and disembarks the DA. The WS on my right shuffles a little but its WL and eldrad stay inside. The WK in the ruins leaps down to confront the SG, while the other WK makes straight for the DC.

In shooting, the SG lose 3 men to the WK blast weapon after passing a couple of invuls. The meltacide squad perish under the weight of fire from WS and DA, whilst a couple of sternguard go down to fire from the other WS.

The blast WK fails a 6" charge on the SG, much to my disappointment as I was hoping to hit & run out and charge the other WK. Now I wouldn't be able to reach the other WK, who charged into the DC and killed three.

Turn 2 - BA

The tacs land and line up to toastify the two pinned squads of DA. The SG shuffle up around the WK for a 1" charge range. The SG turn to face the WK, so that it may be taken down by the end of this turn all going well. The sicaran sees the coming fate of the DC and pulls back a little.

In shooting, the SG unload their grav at the WK and strip several wounds off it. The sicaran shoots at the WS on my left and strips a hull point after cover saves. The tacs dish out extreme burnination to the DA; 9 out of 10 of them are fried, the last one legs it off the board. The scouts add some more sugar to their tea and talk about the weather.

In assault the SG pile in to the WK, Dante takes it down before it can raise a fist. The other WK finishes off the DC and moves closer to the sicaran. I knew this was going to cause bother and was ruing that failed charge by the other WK.

State of play at end of BA turn 2:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/timwoowoo/WP_20150118_14_31_11_Pro1.jpg

Turn 2 - Eldar

His WL disembark. Everything in his DZ looks angrily towards the tacs, while his WK moves on towards the sicaran, leaving 9" for the charge. The farseer comes over on to my left flank and I can see him turbo-boosting down that flank pretty soon.

In shooting, he casts psychic stuff and the tacs are whittled down to two or three guys by the concentrated firepower.

His WK tries to charge the sicaran and fails.

Turn 3 - BA

The SG advance towards the WL, 7" charge away. The sicaran shuffles.

In shooting, I opt not to fire with the SG. The sicaran blazes at the WK and puts a couple of wounds on it. The scouts join in but fail to damage it.

The SG fail their charge on the WL and eldrad.

Turn 3 - Eldar

Eldrad and WL decide discretion is the better part of being pointy-eared and jump into their WS before it turbo-boosts to the opposite flank, near the ruins where the scouts are. The WS on my left takes its squad and turbo- boosts near to the damocles in my DZ, forming a nice criss-cross with the other WS. The WK laughs at the sicaran and raises its fists. The farseer boosts forward into the ruins and loses a wound to terrain.

In shooting, the SG come under fire from one of the WS and lose a few men after some poor saving rolls, but I think he may have cast misfortune on them also. The other WS shoots up the scouts, killing several.

The WK charges into the sicaran and manages to smash its heavy bolter.

Turn 4 - BA

The SG sweep over to my left flank, hoping to close with the eldrad WS. The sicaran moves across and lines up on the farseer. The sternguard claim the objective in the left-most ruins where the farseer had started. The damocles scoots forward out of LOS of the WS nearby.

The sicaran lets rip at the farseer and totally fails to do anything, after some very flukelent saves. Sniff.

The SG make a successful 9" charge into Eldrad's WS, smashing it up.

Turn 4 - Eldar

The farseer smashes up the sicaran, then sniggers at its luck and hides in the ruins where the sicaran started. The WK is tempted by the SG even though the damocles is much nearer, and grants me what I needed by moving to charge them. Eldrad and the WL don't actually do anything IIRC. The WS near the damocles drops its passengers on objective 1 and comes back towards where the Sternguard are.

The WK charges the SG, killing a couple for the loss of a few wounds. Dante passes his hit & run roll and I get a 14" fall-back! I am losing by a small but certain margin right now, but this move brings me a good hope of victory, as we shall see. The SG swoop up to about half-way between the farseer and eldrad.

Turn 5 - BA

The libby and 2 SG split off to attack the farseer while Dante goes solo against eldrad and the WL.

The farseer is slain by the SG and they grab that objective. Dante rolls absolutely positively terribly despite making the short charge through cover: 6 attacks and only two hits after re-roll for MC...one wound gets through, so eldrad is down to 1 after failing perils earlier. Sigh...

Turn 5 - Eldar

His WK charges into Dante, whilst nothing much else of note happens. Dante is slain after another round of heinous to-hit rolls. What's wrong with him today? The WK was down to one wound, as was eldrad, and there were only 3 or 4 WL left. Bah.

I roll for the game to end and finally roll successfully

This ended with me ahead by 1 VP due to winning on secondary objectives, but he wins 12-8 in TP.

AAR summary

I could make excuses I suppose...hammer and anvil setup, eldar mobility, failed this and failed that, but overall the dice balanced out. Until the end with Dante's charge. In hindsight if I had thought carefully I would have seen the threat to the sicaran and dropped the sternguard against the WK on that side. But I chose the killer option and failed. Still, a very enjoyable game!

[Shaezus]

Putting the lessons into place; a new list. The aim of this list is primarily to deal with the top-tier lists as fielded by ETC players at cally recently. Secondarily, to deal with all comers of course. I feel it sacrifices a lot of BA-ness sadly, but the style of it is still very much ours; fast, aggressive, hard-hitting and with an overwhelming assault core.

 

I've utilised the FW house ruling on chaplains as keeper of relics, as seen in Jolemai's thread on FW skimmers. So to some this may not be acceptable, but set aside debate on that and cross that bridge when it comes.

 

Hornets inspired this list. So three sicarans and a caestus with Battle of Keylek legs of glory specifically for dealing with them and wave serpents. That's 750 points purely inspired by pointy-eared shenanigans. The assault element is what I ran pre-new dex, minus corbulo and with a priest and chaplain instead. I've also put in two more TH SS terminators. Hard killing, hard to kill. Grav bikes for MC primary and with meltabombs for charging hornets or WS. The Damocles stays, for the caestus. I could swap the priest for corbulo to make sure of it coming in, but would have to lose the HB sponsons on that sicaran and a terminator. Would also mean losing the veritas vitae and two rerollable warlord traits. Maelstrom objective-grabbing with pod tacs or bikes. Anti-horde filled by sicarans and tacs.

 

Combined Arms Detachment: Blood Angels

 

HQ1: Priest. Veritas vitae, bolt pistol (warlord)

 

HQ2: Chaplain

 

HQ3: Damocles command rhino (free slot)

 

Elite 1: 7 x Assault Terminators with TH SS

 

Troops 1: 10 x tactical marines. Heavy flamer. Flamer. Combi-flamer. Meltabombs. Drop pod

 

Troops 2: 5 x scouts with sniper rifles

 

Fast attack 1: 5 x ASM. 2 meltaguns. 2 inferno pistols. Drop pod

 

Fast attack 2: 5 x bikes. 2 grav guns. Combo grav. Meltabombs

 

Fast attack 3: Caestus assault ram. Battle of keylek legacy of glory

 

Heavy support 1: Relic Sicaran battle tank. Dozerblade. Heavy bolter sponsons.

 

Heavy support 2: Relic Sicaran battle tank. Dozerblade

 

Heavy support 3: Relic Sicaran battle tank. Dozerblade

 

CC & general thoughts most welcome! Do you think this can compete with all-comers, besides being anti-Eldar?

[Shaezus]

Option B: Swap the terminators for 8 sanguinary guard with banner and 3 fists, plus jump packs on priest and chappy.

 

Option Bb: Further swap caestus and Damocles for Dante and 3 MMAB or 2 MMAB plus HB sponsons and schism of mars on a sicaran. 10pts left for auspex and meltabombs on chappy.

 

Build B gives an extra body in assault and much better mobility, but loses invuls. 3 fists on the charge with chappy rerolls should still on average down a WK, plus also the 5 S7 attacks from the chappy. Definitely enough to take a riptide in 1 round.

 

Build Bb...not so keen on this but Dante and the SG complement each other.

 

Really want to try the Caestus though. Even just the threat of being assaulted could be enough to 'shepherd' enemy units away from objectives and into the Sicaran firing arcs. Can see so much potential for it, as I have seen what it can do - nothing is safe from it - and though its cost is high, I am happy to pay for what I get in return.

 

Any thoughts?

[Shaezus]

A resurgence of 40k at my club has coincided with changes at work so now I have my wednesday nights free to get some games in. As the cherry on the cake, Team England's 'open' event for 2015 is in about 6 weeks' time, so thought I would make the trip seeing as it's been more than 2 months since Cally and my most recent game of 40k

Rulespack link http://www.teamengland40k.co.uk/EventFiles/War_of_the_Roses_Rules_Pack_v1.3.pdf

No comp - only ranged D weapons are banned. So Invisibility will be as strong as ever.

My current list:

Commander Dante

Sanguinary Priest. Veritas Vitae. Jump pack - WARLORD

Chaplain. Jump pack. OR Librarian ML2. Jump pack

10 x Sanguinary Guard. Chapter Banner. 3 inferno pistols. 2 powerfists and 8 swords.

5 x Scouts with sniper rifles

10 x Tac squad. Heavy flamer. Flamer. Sergeant has veteran and meltabombs. Drop pod.

5 x ASM. 2 meltaguns. Sgt has 2 Inferno pistols. Drop pod.

5 x bike squad. 2 grav guns. combi-grav and meltabombs

3 x attack bike. multimeltas.

Sicaran. dozer blade. schism of mars legacy of glory.

Total so far = 1700

150 points to play with:

1. 5 death company. jump packs. power fist. plus combiflamer on tac sgt.

2. lascannon sponsons on sicaran. 5 x Tac squad with flamer and pod. Drop meltabombs on bike sgt.

3. 5 x Tac squad. Heavy flamer. Sgt has meltabombs. Razorback HB.

4. Caestus assault ram with battle of keylek legacy of glory. Drop MMAB and schism of mars. 30 points left - upgrades on tac sgt (powerfist + auspex on priest or combiflamer + HB sponsons on sicaran).

Any thoughts on making up the last 150? I've no idea what the meta will be like but it's fair to guess that Eldar will be dominant, with 9 Hornets being the in thing. Sadly I'm restricted by what I have available otherwise I would run 3 Sicarans.

I like the idea of having the razor tacs, as the missions are a combination of EW and maelstrom. But every time I see the word 'Caestus'..well I know what that thing can do and it will help the sicaran deal with serpents and hornets. Hmm. As for taking the chaplain or the librarian, well the chaplain guarantees rerolls on the charge and brings some higher-initiative bite, whilst the libby with prescience will be better overall..if he successfully casts. And as we all know, getting off even a WC1 power against Eldar is like trying to push a river uphill.