What have your Raven Guard done lately?

[Race Bannon]

HOLD EVERYTHING!

 

Only Primaris are the LTs?

 

Assault Marines?!

 

What's happening here

[thewarriorhunter]

I like the look of the 650 list - it seems balanced and a fairly nice all-comers list.  I'm not a fan of mixed Devastator squads, but that's my OCD (and you have a points limit...)

 

Let us all know how your games go.

 

For me, my Dark Eagles got a new home. I purchased a new case so all of them (bar the Drop Pods and Storm Raven) can live in one place. That made me a happy bunny.

 

Cases are good, gotta protect our investment of paint and time!

 

My devs are mixed because that's what's painted. I've got two Las cannons, two plasma cannons, one HB, and one ML painted up. They HB goes to my tactical squad so that's out. I'd prefer to field two LCs and two MLs so everything is 48" but the points/painted limitation got in the way of that.

 

If I had regular marines to field as LTs I could have saved a few points there but I don't have any that are done, and I'm not going to field a plain tactical with a boltgun as an HQ because I think it might be easily confused by both myself and my opponent.

[MajorNese]

Well, the FW order is out...until summer, I should have the Command Brick done. But at that workload, I guess I'll do WiPs this time...

[duz_]

Primed and base coated my Stalker Intercessors yesterday :D
I now have an even larger pile of primed RG to be painted... one day I might take a photo of my pile of shame... 

 

Or maybe not 

 

I did remember this time to prime grey then base black so I could see where I had hit with the base coat

Although basing grey on grey plastic is nearly as hard as basing black on black primer... 

Maybe next time I should try white primer 

[thewarriorhunter]

A final training exercise will be conducted by two of the newest Primaris Marines set to deploy to the Spectral Sicarii. They will lead a 650 point detachment of their Raven Guard brethren in glorious battle tomorrow. The foe is unknown but the goals are clear.

 

[Dracos]

I owe GW a great debt. If Primaris had not become a thing I would never had returned to the game I cant approach thewarriorhunter skills but  I would never had been attracted to the old Marines enough to return. I really need them to Truescale Guardsmen. 

 

I love your Spectral Sicarii

[Panzer]

 

I did remember this time to prime grey then base black so I could see where I had hit with the base coat

Although basing grey on grey plastic is nearly as hard as basing black on black primer... 

Maybe next time I should try white primer 

 

It might sound weird but I can recommend Leadbelcher spray primer.

I noticed the same problems as you with grey and with black primer and was thinking about going with white as well, however my Knights of Baal are a lot easier with Leadbelcher so I already had the can at hand and used it for other models as well. It lets you see whether you primed properly and I haven't had any problems with other colours not covering it properly so far. Bonus points for if you scratch off some paint by accident after a while chances are it'll look like battledamage. :D

[thewarriorhunter]

I owe GW a great debt. If Primaris had not become a thing I would never had returned to the game I cant approach thewarriorhunter skills but  I would never had been attracted to the old Marines enough to return. I really need them to Truescale Guardsmen. 

 

I love your Spectral Sicarii

 

I'm humbled by your compliments!

 

Tonight's game was amazing. Played a guy I didn't know at a store I'd only bought paint in. I did know one other guy who was there so we chatted for a bit when my game was over.

 

It was close, I had to make a lot of choices. We played a mission from CA:2018 and both myself and my opponent had a great time. Narrative Bat-Rep is in the works. You'll have to wait to find out who won until then.

 

Here's my 650 list that was 100% painted. I emphasize the painted aspect because that's always been a goal of mine and I'm able to achieve it in lower point games now!

 

[Race Bannon]

Man, I can't wait to read how ASM did.

[thewarriorhunter]

First part of my narrative bat-rep is up. I'm going to keep it in my WIP thread for now until I figure out where to consolidate it. I think if I post in this thread it'll get too broken up, and it doesn't really fit the spirit of it. Check it out here: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/339466-deployment-of-the-spectral-sicarii-homebrew-rg/?p=5237057

[thewarriorhunter]

OK. So the Narrative Bat Rep is up and done. You can find the link in to the start of it a few posts up. I think I'll eventually consolidate it all into a post over in the Libre sub-board.

 

For the actual battle report here are the details.

 

We played Beachhead from Chapter Approved. There are three objectives on the field: one dead center, one placed by me in my deployment zone, one placed by my opponent in his deployment zone. You score at the start of your turn beginning Round 2. 1 point for mine, 2 for the one in the middle, and 3 for the one my opponent placed.

 

We played 650 points on a 4 x 4 board and I deployed first. I put my devastators and warlord in ruins with a lane of of fire that covered the majority of the board. My snipers went into a tower a little forward of my deployment zone and the nature of the tower meant they couldn't be charged. My other LT and scouts went on the left flank so they could move up through ruins. My tacticals deployed in to the right and I used SFTS to move them up into ruins. I kept my ASM in reserve.

 

My opponent brought three 5 man units of pathfinders, 2 three man units of crisis suits, and two 5 man units of drones (4 gun, 1 shield). His two HQs were a cadre fireblade and a warlord in a crisis suit (proxy model on the table). He deployed his pathfinders and fireblade on the my left side and his suits and a unit of drones in the center. He kept one unit of suits and drones in reserves.

 

My opponent failed to seize so I got first turn.

 

Round 1:

 

I decided to have some fun and spent 3 CP on the orbital bombardment. His pathfinders and fireblade were all huddled up so I figured I go for it and try it out. Ended up hitting two units (I failed a reroll on the HQ to try and get him) and caused 6 mortal wounds across the two units.

 

My tactical squad and devastator squad wiped his drones and put a couple wounds on one suit. My snipers put a couple wounds on the fireblade and the scouts and LT moved up the left through ruins. They knocked out some more infantry.

 

My opponent responded by wiping out my tactical squad. With the amount of dice my opponent was rolling I thought I was playing orks disguised as Tau. His pathfinders didn't do much but did take out a couple bolter scouts.

 

Round 2:

 

My snipers showed up this game and finished off the fireblade. My devastators finished off the suits that were advancing down the center. Scouts got closer to the pathfinders and took out a couple more. My LT ran to the second objective so I could start getting some points.

 

He brought his crisis suits down in my backfield and knocked out a couple devastators. His warlord put 4 wounds on my LT on the center objective.

 

Round 3:

 

My LT on the center scored some points, scouts moved closer, snipers plinked at the warlord and didn't do anything. I brought my ASM down into the ruins with my devs and warlord. I needed to hold that objective so he couldn't get 3 points from being on it, and I also didn't want him to contest it.

 

He killed my LT with his warlord and knocked off another devastator.

 

Round 4:

 

My assault marines and devastators cleared the drones protecting the suits in my back line.

 

He put his warlord on the center objective and whiffed on my devastators.

 

Round 5:

 

I rolled to end but the game continued. I only had my HB scout left so I ran him to the center objective to contest and deny points. Assault squad and crisis suits continued to have a slap fight.

 

He finished off my devastators and his warlord was starting to put wounds on mine. He had moved his warlord off the objective to get more guns in range of me.

 

Round 6:

 

Opponent rolled to end but the game continued. I laughed that his warlord 'ran' away from my scout. HB shot him in the but and caused the only wound put on him all game. I was in the lead but worried about him catching up if we went to round 7 so I used my snipers to pop the remaining pathfinder sitting on his objective. They knocked him out and that was a future point denied.

 

He was down to a single suit that jumped into the ruins to try and contest if he got enough kills. He did not.

 

Round 7 didn't happen because I rolled to end the game and it ended. Spectral Sicarii win 10 - 6.

 

Thoughts:

 

My snipers did really well and that makes me happy. They tend to either be the MVP or a waste of points and never anywhere in the middle. My devastators were key, as usual. I'm really liking that unit and can't wait to get my Hellblasters done up. My tacticals did a good job but were just obliterated by the weight of fire from the suits. I probably could have played them better but they were a good distraction/speed bump.

 

I did forget to use Auspex Scan with my devs when he dropped his suits in my back line. Had I remembered to do that I might have been able to use my assault marines elsewhere. That was probably my biggest mistake I made. I did make some other small mistakes like forgetting the Siginum on my devs and the Storm of Fire for my warlord. I remembered those after a couple rounds but I know I missed a couple rolls.

 

Overall it was a great game. My opponent was a good guy and I genuinely enjoyed playing him. From what he and others said his list was pretty balanced and not an 'ard boyz affair. At the end of the game he had two models left and I had nine (he didn't touch my snipers all game). I really dig the size game that 650 allows for and I can't wait to go back. Next time I think I might take a more 'elite' list for fun. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mertbl]

Painted this guy up. Got a game scheduled today, we will see what happens.

 

Raven Guard LT https://imgur.com/gallery/ffgDE6J

[thewarriorhunter]

Looks good! You going to drill the barrel?

[mertbl]

Probably not. I'm not that into it.

[Jacques Corbin]

Aw man! You forgot to use Auspex Scan against a Tau player?! Too bad, they especially hate that trick. Did you not have the CP for Hellfire Shells? That Crisis Cdr would have really felt getting shot in the butt with that. Hey, great game though, it was a fun read!

 

Is 650 points a thing now, or just in your area? I do like the small point games.

[thewarriorhunter]

I thought about hellfire but didn't feel like whiffing since it's all or nothing. I had a couple rerolls that helped out so I'm glad I didn't spend them. I was very bummed about the Auspex Scan. I used it against a Necron dethmark unit that dropped in and wiped them before they even got to shoot.

 

The 650 is a thing at one of the local stores. I dig smaller games, I prefer 1250 and under but 650 is a real sweet spot. It's enough to bring a few toys but really makes you think about what you want your list to do. I really want to get my contemptor done so I can turn him into a point sink and see what happens :D

[thewarriorhunter]

Going to the 650 night tomorrow and wanted to take a different list. I'm assuming the beta bolter rule is in effect so I squeezed in my cataphractii squad and captain at the expense of no real high strength shooting.

 

+ HQ +

 

Captain in Cataphractii Armor: Chainfist, Combi-plasma

 

Lieutenants

. Lieutenant: Chainsword, Jump Pack, Master-crafted boltgun, Storm of Fire, The Armour Indomitus, Warlord

 

+ Troops +

 

Scout Squad

. Scout Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

. 4x Scout w/Boltgun

 

Scout Squad: 5x Camo cloak

. Scout Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Sniper rifle

. 4x Scout w/Sniper Rifle: 4x Sniper rifle

 

Tactical Squad

. 7x Space Marine

. Space Marine Sergeant: Boltgun/Bolt pistol

. Space Marine w/Heavy Weapon: Missile launcher

 

+ Elites +

 

Cataphractii Terminator Squad

. Cataphractii Sergeant: Combi-bolter, Grenade harness, Power sword

. Cataphractii Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist

. Cataphractii Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist

. Cataphractii Terminator: Combi-bolter, Power fist

. Cataphractii Terminator: Combi-bolter, Lightning Claw

 

 

Terminators and captain will be in reserve. They come in at 299 points so they're less than half the points and only 2 of my 4 drops. They are slow so I'm hoping to drop them into a position that they can cause a lot of damage. 22 boltgun shots should hopefully put in work. I put the combi-plasma on the captain to give him more shooting range since cataphractii are really slow at 4" of movement and half of the advance roll. If they get into melee they should hopefully put in work since they've got a ton of power fists.

 

Scouts will deploy wherever to be a nuisance and camp objectives. Marines will probably combat squad to help with moral and give me more avenues of travel for board control. I stuck the missile launcher in there to get something that has high STR.

 

My LT will be my warlord so he can have the armor indomitous and hopefully live longer. I plan on having him join up with the terminators as quickly as possible so their wounds of 6 become AP-1. I stuck the jump pack on him so I can hopefully hide him until the termies show up so he can then join them.

[thewarriorhunter]

I played a terrible game against a great opponent tonight. My 650 list above against Death Korps of Kreig. We may has well have been fighting with wet noodles. We played an Open War mission and the deployment negated any benefit that my scouts could have from the start as it was my entire half of the board. I made a lot of errors like forgetting I had the grenade harness on my Cataphractii Sgt and the Twist from the mission on a couple turns.

 

My largest error was on deployment and that cost me the game (we tied on points). Based on objective locations I should have gone for a false flank with my scouts and concentrated everything on the left side of the board. I ended up splitting my force in two and half of it never really got to contest any objectives. Had I thrown my scouts to the side and joined my tacticals up with my terminators I probably could have denied an objective and taken it to win on points.

 

Rolls were swingy on both sides and it really felt like we were in a slap fight. The other bummer was that my opponent was new to his army so he was slow and messed a few things up, was asking for take-backs, etc. I gave them to him because we were playing for fun but it was a little grindy.

 

I'll call it a Pyrrhic victory because I remembered my Auspex Scan this time (even though it was worthless) and I can take away some learning points.

 

The best part of the game was probably when I hopped two scouts into a small ruin so they could get cover and deny an objective. They drew a lot of fire and are the probably the unit that allowed me to tie the game. Had they not soaked up so much fire I probably would have taken losses elsewhere that would have allowed my opponent to take the majority of objectives. Also the beta bolter rule is nice. I rolled like crap but it was nice to throw so many dice and really felt like the marines had a little more 'oomf' to them.

 

The mission we played. The twist was fun but we both forgot about it after round 2.

 

 

My 650 force.

 

 

Deployment. My snipers and terminators each held two of the four objectives. Another was in the hills in the top center of the picture, the fourth in the small ruins just off center. I should have put most of my army with the terminators to push out towards the hills. Instead I wasted my tactical squad on the right side since they did nothing.

 

 

 

This was the best part of the game. My scouts survived a round of combat and hopped up to lick their wounds. They couldn't be charged and got a 3+ save in the ruins. Since they're obsec my opponent had to devote a lot of shooting to dislodge them.

 

 

[MajorNese]

Well, the second half of the Mastodon is taking a soap bath, while the test rhino is getting basecoated.

 

With the GSC bikes and quad, I'll see if there are options for Raptors scout bikers and astartes quad (count-as assault bike). A friend will get them anyway for his cult, so I'll borrow them when assembled but without driver or base.

[thewarriorhunter]

I really like the new bikes and quad. I'm strongly considering them for conversions but I'm also hesitant because I feel like there's gotta be a new Primaris reveal coming up soon. I wouldn't be surprised if something dropped when the Vigilus countdown.

[Race Bannon]

Are the cards worth having? I mean, I get the convenience part, yet would you think they are relatively "needed"?

[thewarriorhunter]

Are the cards worth having? I mean, I get the convenience part, yet would you think they are relatively "needed"?

 

Are you referring to the Open War deck? I'd say it depends on 'worth'. I bought them because I liked the idea of doing something fun/random that wasn't a book mission. Plus if you draw something that sucks you discard and draw something new, which we did. The first card drawn for objective was Courier and we dropped that.

[Panzer]

Are the cards worth having? I mean, I get the convenience part, yet would you think they are relatively "needed"?

 

We've used them quite a few times when a friend got them but ultimately the group decided on 'meh'. It creates many very unbalanced matches. It's fine as inspiration for narrative games in a campaign though I'd say.

[mertbl]

Mine are currently repainting their armor red and enlisting in the blood Angel's chapter. Going to adepticon and I think their plus 1 to wound will benefit me more on the vanguard than the -1 to hit on a unit that's closing the gap anyways. They needed a repaint anyway.

[Panzer]

Mine are currently repainting their armor red and enlisting in the blood Angel's chapter. Going to adepticon and I think their plus 1 to wound will benefit me more on the vanguard than the -1 to hit on a unit that's closing the gap anyways. They needed a repaint anyway.

 

Make sure to use the 3d6 charge Stratagem on them or else you paint them red for no real reason. +1 to wound might make them hit a bit harder the turn they charge but -1 to-hit against them makes them more likely to survive an enemies first turn so you have more to throw at the enemies lines. It kinda equals out I'd say so the only real advantage is in having a rather reliable charge from reserves via Stratagem as BA.