Battle Rep - RG vs Chaos 1850 pts

[Noxnoctis22]

Battle Rep - RG vs Chaos 1850 pts

 

++ Space Marines: Raven Guard - Talon Strike Force (SM RG Talon Strike Force) ++

 

+ Core +

 

Battle Demi Company

Assault Squad - 2x Flamer, Jump Packs, 4x Space Marines, Sgt w/Bolt Pistol & Chainsword

Chaplain - Bolt Pistol, Crozius Arcanum, Raven's Fury

Devastator Squad - 2x Lascannon, 2x Missile Launcher (Frag & Krak), 9x Space Marines, Sgt w/Bolt Pistol & Boltgun, Signum

Dreadnought - Multi-melta, Power Fist w/Storm Bolter, Drop Pod

Tactical Squad - Meltagun, 4x Space Marines, Sgt w/Bolt Pistol & Boltgun, Razorback w/TL Assault Cannon

Tactical Squad - Meltagun, 4x Space Marines, Sgt w/Bolt Pistol & Boltgun, Razorback w/TL Assault Cannon

Tactical Squad - Meltagun, 4x Space Marines, Sgt w/Bolt Pistol & Boltgun, Drop Pod

 

+ Auxiliary +

 

Shadowstrike Kill Team

Scout Squad - Camo Cloaks, 4x Scouts, 4x Sniper Rifle, Scout Sgt w/Sniper Rifle

Scout Squad - Camo Cloaks, 4x Scouts, 4x Boltgun, Scout Sgt w/Boltgun

Scout Squad - Camo Cloaks, 4x Scouts, 4x Boltgun, Scout Sgt w/Boltgun

Vanguard Veteran Squad - Jumppacks, 3x LC/PF, LC/SS, Sgt TH/SS

Vanguard Veteran Squad - Jumppacks, 3x LC/PF, LC/SS, Sgt TH/SS

Vanguard Veteran Squad - Jumppacks, 3x LC/PF, LC/SS, Sgt TH/SS

 

++ Inquisition: Codex (2013) (Inq Inquisitorial Detachment) ++

 

+ HQ +

 

Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor - Carapace Armour, Bolt Pistol & Chainsword, 3x Servo Skulls

 

1849 pts

 

 

 

++ Chaos Space Marines: Codex (2012) (Combined Arms Detachment) ++

 

+ HQ +

 

Chaos Lord - Mark of Slaanesh, Power Armour, Frag Grenades & Krak Grenades

 

+ Elites +

 

Emperors Children Sonic Dreadnought - Blastmaster, Chainfist w/Storm Bolter, Doom Siren, Searchlight, Smoke Launchers, Warp Amp

 

+ Troops +

 

Noise Marines - 4x Noise Marines, 1x Blastmaster, Noise Champion, Chaos Rhino w/Combi-bolter, Havoc Launcher, Searchlight & Smoke launchers

Noise Marines - 4x Noise Marines, 1x Blastmaster, Noise Champion, Chaos Rhino w/Combi-bolter, Havoc Launcher, Searchlight & Smoke launchers

 

+ Fast Attack +

 

Chaos Bikers - Icon of Excess, Mark of Slaanesh, 7x Chaos Biker, Chaos Biker Champion, 2x Meltagun

Heldrake - Hades Autocannon

 

+ Heavy Support +

 

Chaos Relic Sicaran - Extra Armour, Heavy Bolter, Lascannons, Searchlight, Smoke Launcher, Twin-Linked Accelerator Autocannon

Obliterators - 3x Obliterator, Mark of Nurgle, Veterans of the Long War

 

+ Lord of War +

 

Chaos Knight Errant - Dirge Caster, Foe-reaper Chainsword, Heavy Stubber, Ion Shield, Slaanesh, Thermal Cannon

 

1850 pts

 

Mission: Eternal War - The Scouring

Deployment: Hammer & Anvil

Night Fighting: Turn 1

Setup First: Chaos

First Turn: Chaos

Seize the Initiative: SUCCESSFUL for Raven Guard

 

Now on the actual Battle Report!

 

So as you may have guessed I’m aiming for a big Alpha Strike with this list. Taking the Talon Strike Force with the Command Benefit "Know When to Strike" paired with Shadowstrike Kill Team special rules "On Time..." & “On Target..” allows me to Deep Strike 3 VV squads near my Scouts Turn 1 AND Assault, oh boy oh boy! 

 

The Inquisitor and the Servo Skulls are a bit of a back up plan but with Hammer & Anvil (which I forced a re-roll for thanks to the TSF Command Benefit “Extensive Planning”) I had an ideal setup for what I wanted to do.

 

Instead of doing the Battle Report turn by turn I like to give each unit or groups of units a grade so I’ll be breaking them down one at a time.

 

Assault Squad - I started on the board but kept them out of sight of the enemy. I just wanted them on the board to avoid getting tabled turn 1. Normally I DS them onto a soft target and bathe them in flames but there was no soft targets on this Chaos list. They moved up the board turn by turn but did nearly nothing. I’m looking to replace them in this list as they don't seem to be worth the 95 pts. 

 

Grade - D-, would have been an F but they didn’t die so…

 

Chaplain - I made the mistake of starting him solo but luckily he was able to move up the board quickly and join a VV squad after a couple turns. I was able to hide him each turn so he was able to survive but he added very little to this army. Because he can’t join any of the VV squads before they DS (they’d lose all their fun rules if he did) there isn’t much to do with him aside from sticking him with the ASM squad on having him join a VV squad later in the battle. Another unit I’m looking to make a change with. 

 

Grade - C, wasn’t a liability to my army, survived the battle but only helped out a very little to the overall battle.

 

Devastator Squad - I combat squadded this unit, putting the Sgt/Signum with the Lascannons. I set them up in the backfield as always but with terrain and smart placement by my opponent I had limited options when it came to shooting each turn. As it always seems to be the Lascannons only hit/wound 50% of the time but that’s what the Dice Gods say so you have to roll with it….Both squads did their best, got in a few pot shots here and there. The ML squad went down to the Heldrake but the Lascannon squad survived thanks to being in ruins the whole time.

 

Grade - C+, not their fault, the terrain, LOS, poor dice hurt them more that anything. They’ll be in the list in one form or another. Just not the battle for them I guess.

 

Dreadnought - Dropped him down in the center on my opponent's deployment zone flanking the Chaos Knight Errant, he took a few HPs off him before he went down (more on that later). After that he when after one of the Noise Marines squad in a Rhino. Popped it open and with the help on a remaining VV or two wiped up that squad.

 

Grade - B+, did what a DP Dreadnought w/MM should should do, pop tanks and PF squish infantry. Has been a stable unit battle to battle no reason to change anything here.

 

Tactical Squads - Now we’re starting to get into the units that did some work. The DP Tactical squad landed in front on the Chaos Knight Errant because of a so-so scatter. The meltagun was able to hit but not able to get through the Chaos Knight Errant defenses. It held it’s own until the Heldrake finally swooped in a flamed then down. Both Razorback Tactical squads moved up the board fast and started picking off the Chaos Bikers until the fell then one moved onto the Noise Marines squad in a Rhino and the other moved onto the Emperors Children Sonic Dreadnought. The TL Assault Cannon is a really nice weapon, the re-roll, volume of shots and rending really let it do work on multiple threats. The Tactical squads stayed in the Razorbacks for most of the battle and only 1 squad got out when they needed to to take on the Emperors Children Sonic Dreadnought.

 

Grade - B+, were able to get up the board without being popped open (smart use of cover and distance), took on multiple units and performed well. The TL Assault Cannon will be in my army for the foreseeable future. Really liking the Razorbacks over the cheaper Tactical squad w/Rhino options.

 

Scout Squads - Now they really did the job of Raven Guard Scouts to a T. Because we deployed using Hammer & Anvil I was able to put all 3 units just outside my opponent's deployment zone. The Sniper Scouts were able to setup in ruins on one side of the board. In one turn they took at 3 Chaos Bikers which really thinned that unit out. Maybe got a few other shots in but nothing to major. With the other 2 Scouts squads the deployed in a straight line across the board with the Sniper Scouts. They were able to just tuck in and hide behind terrain to avoid being wiped out turn 1. They did next to nothing offensively but were the PERFECT Shadowstrike Kill Team scouts, glorified DS beacons for the VV squads. That’s up next.

 

Grade - A, did EXACTLY what they were supposed to do. Infiltrate, Scout, hunker down and wait for the VV squads to arrive. Then Sniper Scouts were the only ones that did much work after turn 1 but if need the other 2 squads would have move/ran to any objective that was close to them.

 

Vanguard Veteran Squads - Well well well, the MVPs right here! All 3 squads were able to DS and not scatter thanks to the Scouts. 2 were aimed directly at the Chaos Knight Errant and the remaining was aimed at the Chaos Bikers. The VV squads that went for the Chaos Knight Errant were able to get it down to 1 HP on turn 1, could have easily killed it if the dice were more in my favor. It went down turn 2 and after all the D weapons, Stomps, and Apoc Explosion there were still VV left standing. Next they moved to the Chaos Relic Sicaran and with the help on the Chaplain made short work of it. After all the work those 2 VV squads did 1 Space Marine was left standing to tell the story of the glorious battle that he had witnessed. The sole VV squad that went after the Chaos Bikers had trouble making charges, failed twice but still was able to put a hurting of them thanks to the LC/PF wargear they had. I can not state enough how great an option that is, the LC/PF combo is king!

 

Grade - A++, they came in on time and on target and went to work. Granted they lost marines along the way but a Chaos Knight Errant, Chaos Relic Sicaran and Chaos Bikers felt their wrath. When the whole army is setup to make these guys shine and the do, damn is that a great feeling.

 

Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor - Sat in the back, did nothing on note. His servo skulls did nothing as well. 34 wasted points. Maybe in another game against a different army he’ll be useful but not today.

 

Grade - N/A, nothing to grade on. Will have to play more games with him to see if his points are worth what he brings to the battle.

 

Did you really read all of that? WOW! Thanks. I really love writing these up as I love reading others as well. Maybe this was just an entertaining read to some or maybe helped other RG brothers out, either way chime in with your comments as I’d love to hear them.

 

……..

 

Oh I completely forgot how to tell you the battle ended!

 

We called it turn 3 as all that my opponent had left were a few Noise Marines, the Heldrake and the Obliterators which were still in reserve. We decided I would more than likely to claim more objectives and score more points at the very end because I had more on the table. Great game against a great player.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Noxnoctis22

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Apologies for my late response to this - I've been overseas!

 

First of all, congratulations on your victory.

 

I am interested in how you think the game would have panned out if you hadn't managed to seize. It sounds like you were able to hide them out of LOS, but with 12" moves I wonder whether the chaos bikers and knight would have been able to put enough hurt on them to neutralise a squad.

 

Re your assault squad - you could have kept the assault squad in reserve (and perhaps attached the chaplain to them) and not feared a t1 table - you've got scouts, devastators and tacs all on the board already, plus at least 1 drop pod and the vanguard units that automatically come in turn 1 - so there's no need to fear being tabled if you want to deep strike them in. Generally, however, consensus seems to be that assault squads aren't super great outside a sky hammer, so it might be worth considering replacing them with an attack bike or land speeder, I think.

[Noxnoctis22]

First off, Thanks!

 

Now if I didn't seize the game would have been much harder for me, that's for sure. It's hard to tell how it would have changed the game beyond that. I'll definitely be playing this list again, maybe in the next game I won't seize and I'll have to adjust my tactics. I took all key elements I had in my favor to maximize my alpha strike. I know it won't always been this "easy" but this is the ideal setup for my army so I was happy to see it shine when setup correctly.

 

Normally the ASM is kept in Deep Strike Reserve to act as a late game objective clearer with the dual-flamers and to use their mobility to grab objective but with no "soft" targets for their flamers to really hurt I put them on the table to start. There have been games where bad reserve rolls have left units out of the game almost completely so I put them out there from the start. I was at a bit of a lost on what to do with them.

 

The now Chaplain was solo, not the smartest idea to every have an HQ unit solo (free Slay the Warlord points right there) but as he's not able to DS with the VV units he kinda needed to hang back until they showed up. Luckily because he was a single unit I was able to hide him and jump/run up the board so that he could join a VV squad later on. Once there he did help a bit but there were a couple of turns where he did nothing at all.

 

Now you mention replacing the ASM squad with a attack bike or landspeeder in the Demi-Company and that's exactly what I'm going to playtest in my next game. I'm taking a LS next time, there is NO WAY a RG army would take a BIKE of any kind! (Maybe that's just me....)

 

Now with making that change we have another problem...what to do with the HQ slot? A Chaplain w/JP is ideal for a RG army but because he can't DS with any of the VV squads and I have no other JP unit he doesn't really fit. Now I'm left with a Captain as my other option, again no JP with him so he'll be a "standard backpacking marine". The solution I came up with is to take a Captain w/Power Sword+Boltgun & The Armor of Shadows. He's going to play a more supportive backfield role this time. I'n going to put him with a 10-man Devastator Squad w/4x Lascannons. Because he and his unit won't be moving they'll get +2 to their cover saves, and since he has a 2+ armor save he'll be there to tank the incoming fire (if any). Not ideal for a RG Captain but it's something to try out.

[Wrath of Bruinen]

I like the idea of an Armour of shadows captain sitting in the back with a devastator squad. Gives them some protection, and if terrain goes your way, you can even just hide him completely out of sight while still being part of the squad, which means you probably won't give up slay the warlord. With (hopefully) so many mid-board and assault threats, hopefully their army won't even get close to the devs, so you might even be able to drop the powersword for upgrades elsewhere

[Noxnoctis22]

It just seems very anit-RG to have a Shadow Captain not out there flying around with his jump pack smashing fools in the face but I guess have him lurking in the "shadows" with a Devastator Squad picking off vehicles as the Scout and VV squads do their work will be okay.

 

The Power Sword was thrown in there in the end as a points filler I guess. He could handle a backfield charge with it at least. Plus I have a model that will work perfectly that way already.

[Wrath of Bruinen]

Yeah, the classic RG captain should be swooping in on wings of fire. But equally, I think it is easy to picture a master strategist, coordinating surgical strikes from afar, watching as the battle unfolds to calling in the vanguard at the perfect time, moving a tactical squad to the opportune position. He effectively becomes you in tabletop form