Duz does RG

[XeonDragon]

They are really, really good dude.

[WAR]

Freaking awesome Duz!

[duz_]

Thx War and XD

Family photo time! (Apologies for the potato cam quality)

Had a practice game on Monday night. It was more for me to quickly learn / remember 9th and knock the rust off. I haven't played in over a year.

One of the locals stopped by to play in my new gaming space which has been ready since the beginning of the year, but thanks to nurgle I haven't really had any gaming guests over. The space was really nice - gonna be hard to play in stores now

Pretty happy with how the game went, learnt some of the nuances of 9th. I think if I give my opponents a heads up that I'm still a bit new to 9th and if they can point out any thing I might be doing wrong it should be alright. (Hopefully I don't play any of those guys who wait for me to miss play a consolidate or charge and say I can't pile in to maxmise hits, or I'm outta coherency so I lose models).

My opponent brought is tournament BT list which was fairly brutal and had me concerned. 2 redemptors, 4 man BGV, 2 chaplains, Helbrecht and an apothecary, with some assault ints, regulars ints and a 5 man hellblaster team in [my] impulsor.

I was lucky and got first turn. My VV's did their thing pre game moved and charged his lighter flank T1. He was fairly dumbstruck at how aggressive my RG were and I had him on the ropes for the first 2 turns. His BGV with ignores AP-1,-2 and his apothecary that only takes 1 damage were tough to deal with. When they got into my lines bottom of 2 I'd lost my base.

We talked out turns 3, 4 and 5 (turn 3 was just us trying to see how much we could kill ) and he might have edged out by a few points for the win. I'm ok with that since my list isn't optimised.

When I mentioned I hadn't played in over a year he almost fell over

Finally read the secondary missions too and gone through and highlighted the ones that should be a good fit for me regardless of opponent.

First game is 10ish on Saturday! Not sure what I'll work on between now and then, not sure if I have enough time to rebase the Warsuits, or highlight the one that needs it.

Edited November 10, 2021 by duz_

[XeonDragon]

Sounds like an interesting game - and a classy opponent. Dudes who wait for you to slip up are douches! 

[ONDIG]

BT and RG shouldn't fight!

They ought b friends!

2 best chapters on same table th0.. beauty!

Everyone ones a winner

[Dracos]

When’s your tournament?

[duz_]

Tournament has been an gone

I need to do a write up

I've already resized images ready for upload just need to sit in front of the pc to get it done

 

Spoiler it wasn't pretty :(

[Dracos]

Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Very interested to see what gave you issues. Good bad ugly in the end we help each other by sharing our experiences

[XeonDragon]

Tournament has been an gone

I need to do a write up

I've already resized images ready for upload just need to sit in front of the pc to get it done

 

Spoiler it wasn't pretty

 

Oh no!

 

Why do we fall sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Very interested to see what gave you issues. Good bad ugly in the end we help each other by sharing our experiences

 

Yes, this. We can learn from each other :)

[WAR]

That Sucks man

[duz_]

After laboriously uploading all the images I have from the tournament I know the wont fit in a single post. So I will start with the debrief followed by pics of each round (except for my 3rd where I took none).

Event was a 60 person 5 round GT. There was a lot of GK, Orks and Death Guard?? Orks took first and GK and Orks accounted for many of the other top 5 places.

There's a brief write up on Goonhammer for those who want a more detailed breakdown under the Westminster Hobbytown GT section.

I generally had a fun time, my opponents were good sports. A lot of attendees were at a tournament for the first time having picked up the game during plague times. Turns out the local scene is quite competitive, with some of thost first timers placing quite well. This was also the majority of 9th editions games I have played. Prior to this I'd played maybe 4 learning 9th games with a friend (we didn't learn much, we mostly played 8th without realising it ) and 1 warm up before the event to make sure I half knew what I was doing.

Overall I went 1 - 4.... (I was hoping for at least 2-3)

Opponents:

• R1: 27-94 vs Orks (this player won the event)
• R2: 63-69 vs Necrons (his score might have been higher, we were rushed at the end and could have miscalculated)
• R3: 58-93 vs Grey Knights
• R4: 97-78 vs Alpha Legion (WIN!!! This player also came last over all )
• R5: 46-89 vs Necrons

I am glad to say I was able to squeak my only win vs the vile Alpha legion. He was also a new player and at his first event. We had a lot of fun playing the grudge match and despite final scores it was a close game early on.

• R1: Not much to say here, punchy orks went first and punchied me. Really hard to deal with that many T5 bodies on the table, buffed with psychic powers
• R2: Durable Necorns were durable, I wasn't able to hold centre objectives with his units count as double obsec and selecting assassination might have been a bit presumptive
• R3: Ummm... I feel like I should have won this one. I got first turn and he was nicely casteled up I was able to charge everything I wanted first turn. My dice were ice cold and he rolled slightly above average for his saves. Example of how it went T1 - VV's, Shrike and Chaplain charge 2x 5 man Inteceptor squads. Kill 3 guys total. Return saw all 3 units wiped. 1 NDK killed my Storm Eagle in 1 shooting phase. (Meanwhile in the next round it took 3 NDK's to kill my 5 man devs). However that was followed by my 5 man assault Hellblaster squad over charging at some terminators. 3 of them over charged and died, 1 model managed to roll 2x1's and a 2... My opponent reminded me I should have taken a leadership test, I rolled a 6... Followed by a 1....
• R4: This was a fun match I was concerned with his list, but the terrain and deployment favoured me. The score seemed like a blow out, but that only happened in the last 2 turns when I got my claw stuck in.
• R5: I was doing well early on but by T3 I didn't have any staying power on the objectives so he was scoring 15pts to my 5.

Mission wise I generally chose:

Oath of Moment and Assassination (this was mostly because of laziness, I am unfamiliar with the secondaries and OoM seemed straight forward with my list and usually paid off in early rounds and Assassination because, well RG...). My other selections were abhor the witch (a good one vs psykers!) or Retrieve Octarius Data (again mostly because its simple enough for my brain to understand and score some points early on).

MVP's: Definitely my Warsuits and VV's.

Shrike, Chaplain and assault Hellblasters get a special mention

LVP's: Storm Eagle.... ugh the worst.... every time I bring it to any game. Now I have got it out my system though he shall remain in his display case.

Tactical Marines vs Intercessors vs Incursors:

• Tac marines: were kinda meh.... small table size made it hard for them to do much out of the drop pod. They were either wiped out or ignored - generally the former.
• Auto Bolter Intercessors: meh, cheap objective holders with limited utility - even double shooting 15 AP-1 bolter shots at units rarely removed anything from the board
• Incursors: my new favourite troops, great utility and theme. So much so I've built the 2nd 5 man squad. Going forward I shall 2 of these and some Infiltrators

I've been toying with what list I would take in retrospect. I will post that after the images once I'm finished tuning it.

One thing is clear to me this edition:

Smaller table sizes + centralised objectives mean CC is super important as you're force to hold and fight over these to win. Our even also used some fairly heavy terrain which was mostly obscuring and 1st level LoS blocking. This really limited firing lanes which meant my lascannon dev's were pretty useless. Maybe with the recent changes to IK's you might see more of them on the board, which will require such specialised firepower. Otherwise I'm re-allocating those points.

Also our Chapter Tactic for these size boards needs to be adjusted. 12" and 18" made more sense on a 6'x4' table. During these 5 rounds rarely was I able to take advantage of either of those buffs, even in the first turn :(

Hopefully that's not too brief of a summary, I think I hit the key points

A local store is going to start running some monthly RTT's so I might try and make it to some. Although that is a hardcore competitive club, so we shall see. Upside I got to meet some locals and players I might be able to get in games outside of events.

Edited November 24, 2021 by duz_

[duz_]

Round 1 vs Orks:

Deployment

Opponent went first and charged as Orks do

Tried to counter charge is smashiest unit in the army - didn't go well

After that it was just clean up and pack away

Round 2 vs Necrons:

One of the few tables with terrain that had a decent vantage point of the battle

Eliminators watch as my Warsuits get stuck in

Tac marines valiantly try to defend and objective, but are no match for dedicated assault units

Incursors attempting to hold the centre objective surrounded by overwhelming firepower + bugs that blow up

Shrike and VV's launched a gambit on the opposite flank - this actually scored me a few points, but took too many turns to pull off - damn reanimation even in its lesser form

[duz_]

Round 3 vs GK's - no pics, was too tired and depressed at that point

Round 4 vs Alpha Legion - Despite being concerned about his list (I've been on the wrong end of Venomcrawlers too many times I was excited for this match up, so was he)

Deployment, I was able to get into building pre game by using our Infiltration strat - was handy for my Hellblasters and Dev's that were in no mans land during deployment

My opponents turn and the warsuits got the bad touch from some terminator meltas and powerfists, but their job is to slow this stuff down

I quickly advance into his territory, my Storm Eagle decides the only thing it likes to do is wipe out Cultists....

Mid game I bring my forces to bear in the centre of the board. VV doing clean up of characters, tac marines holding behind enemy lines and Storm Eagle looking pretty, since apparently destroying anything is optional when you're a 1 CP relic....

Heavy support trying to find some firing lines to help... Assault Hellblasters made short work of terminators walking up the board, dev's failed to dent a single oblit so returned to the shadows to fight another day and hold the objective before the oblits returned the favour

[duz_]

Round 5 vs Necrons - Again one of the few boards with vantage points. I was feeling somewhat confident I could squeak my 2nd W against this opponent. My Storm Eagle failing to contribute anything meaningful and Nightbringer taking out a good 1/4 of my army that wasn't meant to be.

Deployment

T1 - decide to hold my VV's back to see what gap needs to be filled, as my warsuits and tac marines try and take the fight to the advancing machines

As you can see my plan didn't work all that well

There was a lot of nicely painted armies there, including a Gundam convert UM army which was neat. However, for whatever reason I really liked this one mind SoB list :lol:

[Dracos]

Orks and Grey Knights, man you ran right into the current meta minus AdMech and Drukhari. I was rooting for the Stormraven seeing as I really would like to try a couple Storm Talons or my Xiphon someday. Alas Marines are not Eldar when is comes to aircraft.

 

I think with a list adjustment you'll find the Necrons more manageable in the future. Though I hate running into Nightbringer list. I'd rather take on the Silent King any day. 

 

I have a pal here in Indy is a Night Lords player. Always enjoy the mirror match feel of our games. Give the heretics their +1W GW!!!

 

 

That terrain ... for a GT ... wow ... really hope they have a chance to upgrade that stuff. I noticed some "unusual" set ups? I assume they didn't wholly adopt GW's "official" tourney standards?

[duz_]

Actually the GK list I ran into wasn't meta and similar philosophy to me. Just liked the army and wanted to play in the event only 2 NDKs and 1GMNDK.

 

The Eagle on paper should do OK but never performed. Eg. 4 wounds left on a venomcrawler. Fired both twin linked lascannons and 2 krak missiles at it. Managed to land 1 wound of 4 damage outta 6 shots (both breeding 3s and 3s).opponent saved 1 damage with his FNP. Fired 2 krak missiles to knock off a character with 3 wounds left, did 1 damage...

It was also such a big visual and psychological target it rarely made it part turn 1.

 

I don't know about the terrain. My understanding was that it was meant up be aligned with the GW standardised layout. Problem was most ruins didn't have a second floor. A lot of the terrain was printed for this event. The event also went from 40 to 60 players after it sold out in an hr :lol:

The terrain pieces themselves weren't the worst I've seen. The layout, obscuring and fire level blocks LOS I found really skewed how the game was played though. I think the first level blocks LOS sad excessive when combined with obscuring especially since you couldnt really get to a 2nd level shooting position.

 

This is the somewhat revised list I think i might have done better with at least at this recent event. Still have 20pts to play with. Elimators are something that I believe need to be double or nothing a single squad just kept enemies heads down but couldn't take them out in one turn.

 

+ HQ +

Captain in Phobos Armour

Chaplain: Chapter Command: Master of Sanctity, Jump Pack, Litany of Hate, Plasma pistol, Warlord

Kayvaan Shrike

 

+ Troops +

2x Incursor Squad: 5x, w/ Haywire Mine

Infiltrator Squad: 5x, w/ Helix gauntlet

 

+ Elites +

2x Invictor Tactical Warsuit: Incendium cannon

Terminator Assault Squad: Teleport HOMER, 5x TH/SS

Vanguard Veteran Squad: Jump Packs, 2x Dual Lightning Claw, 2x Power sword, Storm shield, 2x Bolt pistol, Power fist, Sergeant: Storm shield, Thunder hammer

 

+ Heavy Support +

2x Eliminator Squad: Bolt sniper rifle

Hellblaster Squad: 5x Assault Plasma Incinerator

 

+ Flyer +

Stormtalon Gunship: Two Lascannons

[Dracos]

Do you generally deploy the Storm Eagle right away of keep it in reserve until T2. Unless you were using the transport ability also? That would be a sweet way to deliver (scratch everything on my army list lol) 5x2 Devastators or 10 Terminators T1

[jpwyrm]

If only you could guaranty the bird's safety turn 1 AND drop the Devastators after moving... Now that would be some nice Air Cav move! Sadly, we can no longer drop after moving like we used to be able to with the Stormraven, and no one except Deathwatch players can guarantee their flyer will go through turn 1 unscathed. 

[duz_]

Peers into the shadows... Geez it's dustier in here than usual! 

 

Not a lot going on with my RG lately. After my last humiliating effort I gave up on 9th and shortly after took an extended hiatus on hobbying beyond visiting here and listening to audiobooks. 

 

I rationalised some of my RG collection last year? Or the year before now I feel like I've been trapped in the warp and time doesn't make sense... 

 

Anyhow with the new MK6 HH marines I picked myself up half the box set. I'm wondering if I should clear house altogether on my marines particularly mini marines and start from almost scratch. I'd keep my Phobos marines and vehicles, but everything else would go. 

Then I can focus on primarily Primaris marines with a few HH Mk6 conversion for Devastator, maybe 1 tac squad and possible a VV squad (depending if Primaris ever get jump pack equivalents of VV and ASMs). 

 

I don't feel too bad doing this. I have a lot of unfinished marines that I haven't got to in years and probably won't use in future given the theme of my force. 

The newly painted mini marines would also forgoe their camo as much as I like it. This would mean I could paint the army a lot quicker and maybe even finish it? (Well in theory anyways). 

 

Any thoughts from the shadows? 

[XeonDragon]

It can be "refreshing" to do a clear out and "start again". I recently sold a bunch of marines that I hadn't stripped and re-painted, and it certainly helped get my enthusiasm up for tackling my grey pile of (nids) shame.

 

That said, Primaris vs First born is a style choice. I think the HH marines look awesome. I am think there is merit in using them as a base for "true scale" first born. I'm keen to have a crack kit-bashing a MK6 into a VGV, just to see if it is viable :)

 

I haven't played RG much recently, partly due to being sick of not being competitive, but also because it was feeling a little one-dimensional. I'm adopting a "wait and see" what happens... either we get a 9th edition codex a couple of months before 10th, or we don't and then we see how 10th goes. I've taken the view that if we don't get 9th edition codex, or we get a crap one, that's it for me and RG competitively until 11th edition. My thinking here is that if we have a weak, late in the day 9th edition codex, chances of getting anything good in 10th are slim to none. Likewise if we don't get a 9th edition codex, I think our chances of a decent 10th edition one are equally slim, as GW has more factions to cater for now, and RG are, if we are honest, fairly niche.... all of which bodes poorly for a competitive RG codex anytime soon.

 

That said... I have been toying with the idea of using my custom RG successors as BA successors, having run some games with similar lists and having had more fun (read: closer games!) with them as BA successors than RG successors. So maybe I'll find another chapter that works with a mixture of movement shenanigans, ranged attacked and deadly melee?

 

 In the meantime, I am enjoying painting some nids, slowly building and painting more incursors, some attack bikes and centurions and enjoying the occasional FLGS league event and RTT, but I only run RG successors for casual games now - they simply can't last the distance against most other well-piloted armies :( 

[duz_]

Thanks XD! I think I will... Now to set aside some time to inventory what I have! Hopefully I can get a decent amount back on them... 

 

Yeh the MK6 I don't want to jump in too soon. I'm worried there might be some FW upgrades for the assault versions. The Devastator I could probably start on know since I know what those weapons look like already. 

 

Probably a bit too early to call what will happen with our book in 10th. I wouldn't rule them out just yet though. I am questioning whether well see a 2.0 codex this edition. There may have been one initially, but GW could have nixed its release to bring on 10th sooner. 

 

I really hope 10th is easier to read and comprehend. I've really despised 9th rules writing, not to mention the constant mission release cycle. 

[XeonDragon]

I only played a single game of 8th, but I've found 9th exhausting to keep up with TBH. I am hoping we get something like a GSC index - general consensus seems to be that GSC are a "high skill level" army that can do really well if piloted well.

 

I have no problems with RG end up being an army that takes time to master but once mastered, can do well against any "meta" army. What worries me is if it ends up like it is now: an army that takes time to master (I mean, they all do, but RG takes longer INMHO) but simply doesn't have enough "oompf" and staying power to compete against top armies for a full 5 rounds.

 

I wish they would update the AOR rules to allow VGVs and Scouts, along with jump pack characters. I think that would make it almost semi-viable :) 

 

I have been toying with the idea of making a really fluffy all jump-pack RG army (minus obligatory 3 x troops of course), with Shrike. Could be fun to play... for the first 2-3 turns :) If I do that, I think I will go MK6 as the base of all the jump units :D

 

[Jaipii]

I've actually had 15+ games of 9th this year (I came back to the hobby around the end of 8th, but the epidemic meant I didn't manage to play a single game). Most of it has been Crusade, but a few Nephilim games in there too. 

 

At the moment we really don't have the hitting or staying power against Nids, Eldar or Creations of Bile CSM which I've been facing. Those matches have been pretty horrible experiences. Not being able to deal proper damage and being melted when they touch you really doesn't feel good. No matter how well I try to play the mission nor leverage our unique strengths really matters in the end.

 

I've managed to win games against Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, old codex CSM and Orks (before their balance dataslate boost). :D Then close games against Ulthwé CWE and Orks (after dataslate boost). I do think there is some potential in our current codex under the Nephilim pack. Our Nephilim secondary is super good and I've built my lists to score Behind Enemy Lines/ Engage. If we would receive a SM codex update where the basic SM units damage/staying power was properly addressed I think we could be a real contender again.

 

Disclaimer: I started with pure Raven Guard, but quickly changed to successors with Whirlwind of Rage and Hungry for Battle.

[XeonDragon]

12 hours ago, Jaipii said:

Not being able to deal proper damage and being melted when they touch you really doesn't feel good. No matter how well I try to play the mission nor leverage our unique strengths really matters in the end.

I totally hear you, couldn't have said it better myself :( 

12 hours ago, Jaipii said:

I do think there is some potential in our current codex under the Nephilim pack. Our Nephilim secondary is super good and I've built my lists to score Behind Enemy Lines/ Engage. If we would receive a SM codex update where the basic SM units damage/staying power was properly addressed I think we could be a real contender again.

Agreed. I think we can win against other low-tier armies, and get close / win if lucky against mid-tier if we really, really lean into our special secondary, BEL, engage, but it is still dicey. I find even with WWOR and BH (exploding 6s in melee + 2 on the charge), we barely do enough damage in melee, let alone anaemic shooting. Sigh. I think a few tweaks could get us there, really. 

[duz_]

On 12/4/2017 at 9:20 AM, duz_ said:

He has arrived!! :D

 

 

 

 

I think there's a reason I waited 6 years to assemble this model. 

He's done now, time for painting. Kept the wings separate to make things easier.