My first 8E game batrep, and thoughts/review

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Meant to get this up over a week ago. This was my first game of 8th Ed. Playing against my buddy's Necrons. Learned a lot, but ultimately got destroyed. These lists are from memory, so might not be 100% accurate.

 

Raven Guard 2k Points (Outrider and Battalion - 7 CP)

 

Battalion

 

Shrike

Chaplain - Jump Pack, Combi-Plasma

 

Contemptor - Kheres

Venerable Dread - Twin Las/Missle Launcher

Venerable Dread - Twin Las/Dread CCW

 

3 x 5 Man Scout Squads (4 Snipers, 1 Missle Launcher, Camo Cloaks)

1 x 5 Man Scout Squad (4 Bolters, Sarge with Twin Lightning Claws)

 

Land Speeder Storm - Assault Cannon

 

Outrider

 

Librarian - Jump Pack, Force Staff, Combi-Plasma

 

3 x 10 Man Assault Squad (2 Plasma Pistols)

3 x Sarge w/ Combi Plasma & Thunder Hammer

 

Necrons - 2k - Battalion

 

Overlord - Scythe

Cryptek

 

Triarch Stalker

 

3 x 10 Immortals (Tesla)

 

3 x 10 Deathmarks

 

3 x Heavy Destroyers

 

5 x Tomb Blades

 

2 x Annihilation Barges

 

 

Deployment: - We drew tactical escalation and the new slanted long board edge map

 

I deployed my 3 dreads midfield in the open with good firing lanes. I had high hopes for the contemptor.

 

I deployed all my scouts in area cover, midfield, near objectives (except the storm and boltgun scouts)

 

I placed Shrike, Chaplain, Librarian, and all 3 ASM squads in Reserve to attempt "Shadowstrike Killteam 2.0"

 

My opponent deployed spread fairly wide covering half his side of the board

 

One immortal unit on each flank paired up with a barge

 

The remaining immortal unit in the center on an objective, with the lord and cyptek

 

Tomb blades to one side, Heavy Destroyers opposite the other

 

He had one less unit meaning he got first turn.

 

Battle Round 1, Necron Turn 1 - He drew the kill X units card, bonus for 3, more bonus for 6

 

He moved all his immortals up a little bit while keeping them in cover.

 

He kept his immortals in reserve.

 

His barges and heavy destroyers squeaked up a small amount to get better firing arcs

 

His shooting phase all his infantry opened up on my scouts, killing nearly every sniper scout. I was left with one sniper and one missle launcher left from one unit on a midfield objective. 

 

Both barges, and the heavy destroyers opened up on the contemptor and took it to 4? wounds remaining crippling it (I didn't make a single invuln).

 

During Morale phase, I rolled for the 2 scouts left, and got a 5, thus giving me an 8, so I would lose one scout - I used ATSKNF, rerolled, and got a 6, wiping the squad - Great.

 

He killed 3 units and scored D3, for 3.

 

Battle Round 1, Raven Guard Turn 1 - I drew an objective that was under his lord/cryptek/immortals in the center

 

On my turn I moved my dreads into a better position to shoot at the heavy destroyers, and the contemptor and bolter scouts moved on the Tomb Blades

 

I dropped all my Jump boys in his corner, he responded by fortifying that flank and dropping in all his Deathmarks. I made the mistake of dropping the librarian first thinking he could soak one units worth of interceptor fire to spare me bodies. One unit is double tap snipers (20 shots), and he cranked out 2 mortal wounds and 2 saves, which I failed. Dead libby, never even cast a power. His interceptor fire (whatever you want to call it) from the other two deathmark units killed 4-5 ASMs. 

 

In my shooting phase I opened up on the tomb blades and killed 3 of 5. My dreads opened up on the far side flank annihilation barge and took a few HPs off.

 

My remaining HQ and ASMs opened up with all their plasma on the other annihilation barge, overcharged, and with Shrike's reroll took it out quite easily.

 

I attempted to charge the closest unit of Deathmarks. I had 5 charges in total to make, all of which were the minimum distance (9"), and I had the reroll for every charge, and I only made ONE unit into combat. Every single one of my units took overwatch fire, shrike took two wounds, chaplain took one, lost 2 ASMs from one unit, and 1 ASM from the other, and 2 more from the already weakened unit he focused on with Interceptor fire. Ironically the LAST unit to charge and make it in was the unit reduced to 5 guys from interceptor/overwatch. I killed one immortal, and even with my Chaplain nearby to buff LD, I still lost another guy to morale.

 

I didn't score anything.

 

Battle Round 2, Necron Turn 2 - Necrons 3 / Raven Guard 0

 

On his turn he moved up, secured two more cards (objectives in his deployment, regular hold and the 2 turn hold).

 

The unit of Deathmarks I charged warped out and left me exposed.

 

He opened up with about 50% of his army on my dreads, finishing the contemptor, and wounding one venerable. The remainder of his army on the flank shot up my jump boys real bad. I lost one whole unit, exposing Shrike, then lost Shrike, then lost another 2 guys off the other unit that didn't charge, and I lost a 6th from the unit left scratching their heads after the Deathmarks warped out. 

 

At this point I had 0 points, a wounded Dread, a healthy dread, my chaplain on one wound, and remnants of two ASM squads.

 

I decided to concede.

 

SO ON TO LESSONS LEARNED:

 

Deep Strike to try to charge, even with a reroll is REALLY STUPID and should not be tried, ever.

 

Aura buffs are very strong in 8th Ed, and ill be doing everything I can to stack them in future builds/modelling opportunities.

 

It is extremely aggravating there are no Jump Pack options for the buffing elite guys (Apothecary, etc)

 

I was really excited to run the Contemptor, and watching it getting taken to critical wounds and then be worse than a Ven Dread was very sad. I think I need to run more/all Contemptors for saturation, or none.

 

Overcharged plasma with Shrike is great.

 

Relying on assault to do the bulk of your lifting in 8th Ed is a mistake, I think. I used to play a very assaulty-alpha list in 7th, and it worked, but you just need more guns/dice/men on the field in 8th I believe.

 

In hindsight, with this list, I should have dropped into cover on his half of the board, shot him up, then tried to charge the NEXT turn after securing safer charge ranges.

 

Scouts in area cover with Camo Cloaks die like flies when looking in the face of 60+ Tesla shots. Which leads me to my next point:

 

Point for Point, immortals are SO STRONG in 8th with Tesla. You can buff their hit rolls with the lord, so they proc Tesla hits (3 hits off a 6, now a 5 or a 6 with the buff), meaning a 10 man unit can easily garner 25-30 hits every time they shoot. Take into account that it is an assault weapon (with 24" range), so they can run and shoot if necessary, there threat range is quite large.

 

ALSO

 

Deathmarks are probably the 2nd most efficient unit for dealing mortal ones. The fact they can warp every turn, respond to your opponents deep strike, and get to rapid fire is insane. I think the only other snipers in the game better are maybe ratlings because they are so cheap. Also the fact that Snipers put out the mortal wound AND the normal wound is crazy.

 

I kinda wished at the end I had 2 large units of scouts (10 each with rifles), and maybe no missle launchers, just to maximize my odds of mortal wounds.

 

That's it for now, I got a couple other oddities I have noticed about 8E, but it's getting late and ill have to add more later.

[Mr. Poe]

Great summary.

 

The charge off of deep strike move is going to be a strong temptation for RG players used to deploying the SSKT. It's really a suckers bet unfortunately. I haven't played a lot of games yet but it seem to be that its only worth the risk if you can take advantage of LOS blocking terrain.

 

For the scouts, they do drop like flies when concentrated fire comes their way. Did you get a cover save in the terrain you were in? 

 

The Deathmarks are a great counter to alpha strike / deep strike focused armies. Some might say a hard counter? They are something to be aware of and so are Tau with the new interceptor rules. This is shaping up to be a brutal edition. 

[Race Bannon]

Good summary.  And now, time for some armchair tactical opinions (ATO).

 

As I read it, I was a fan of the idea to put the Dreads in the center.  In my head they could be a hinge to an attack that sweeps to a side.  At the same time, they were the focus from the enemy because of their deployment, so if they go then so does your center.

 

I'm getting the impression dice rolls were against you overall.  Is that correct?

 

I agree about DS to charge.  Although the DS rules have vastly improved since ... 3rd edition, that 9" barrier is greater than average on 2D6, which makes the idea of a charge-on-the drop risky.  In my head, too risky.

[ShinyRhino]

Necrons are brutal in shooting now with the AP rules, and they're no longer slouches in melee now that comparative WS is also dead. I made all of the same mistakes in my games against Necrons, though at a much smaller points level.

 

The only real weakness to Necron shooting is that they have homogenous weapon options, so they can't split up their fire as effectively as something like a Tactical Squad can.

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

@ Race : My dice rolls were definitely sub par for sure, but in contrast, I put 40%? of my army in deep strike reserve and gambled, so ultimately I deserved to lose. 

 

Played another game against my buddy yesterday, we both changed up our lists.

 

My list: 

 

Battalion Detachment + Vanguard Detachment - 2k Points, 7CP

 

Battalion 

 

Shrike

 

1 x Primaris Lieutenant - MCBR

 

3 x 10 Scouts - 10 Sniper Rifles, 10 Camo Cloaks

 

1 x 4 Man Bike Squad - 2 x Plasma, 1 x Combi-Plasma (on Sarg)

 

1 x 6 Man Devastator Squad - 4 x Plasma Cannon, Armorium Cherub

 

1 x Stormtalon Gunship - Twin Assault Cannon, Typhoon Missile Launcher

 

 

Vanguard Detachment 

 

1 x Captain - Jump Pack, Combi-Plasma, Relic Blade

 

2 x Contemptor Dreadnaught - Kheres Assault Cannon, DCW/Combi-Bolter

 

1 x 9 Man Vanguard Veteran Squad - 6 Twin Lightning Claws, 3 Storm Shield + Chainsword, 1 Melta Bomb

 

 

My opponent

 

Necrons - Battalion - 6 CP

 

Imotekh

 

Overlord - Staff of Light 

 

The Special Character Cryptek that buffs dudes

 

2 x 20 Warriors

1 x 6 Immortals - Tesla

 

2 x Ghost Arks

 

5 x Tomb Blades, upgraded, with Tesla

 

2 x Annihilation Barges - Tesla

 

1 3-Robot Heavy Destroyer Squad

 

I think that was everything.

 

We rolled up deadlock and the corner/angle deployment (the one everyone hates)

 

We finally used my FatMat to play on, and used all the GW ruined building terrain - the table looked epic, like a ruined hive. The mat is divided into "blocks" where the first row of blocks on each long side is a 12" deployment zone, forming a grid, where a GW building fits perfectly on each "block" (http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server1400/3141f/products/204/images/952/Urban-Combat-6x4-TableWar-FatMats__96800.1485198755.1280.1280.jpg?c=2)

 

Anyway, the objectives were thrown down in a line centrally, 4 of them, with each of us having an objective RIGHT in front of our deployment zone centrally (right on the line so it was possible to control it from the start, with the other 4 outside the deployment zones.

 

I wen't first on deployment, and since we had an equal number of units, that meant I would get to go first.

 

I deployed a main "castle" in the 3 story ruined hab in my deployment by my marker, with the Plasma Devs, 1 scout squad, and the primaris lieutenant. I deployed my other 2 scout units on the hab on my far right flank on another objective, each squad taking their own floor of the building (most buildings were 2 or 3 floors with enough space to hold 10 28mm bases per floor, or a little more).

 

I put each Contemptor behind one of the two buildings, in case I get seized on. Lastly, I parked the flyer in my far corner as far away as possible. I put Shrike, the Captain, and Vanguards in reserve.

 

My opponent put his tomb blades to one flank in terrain, his two blobs of warriors in the center one in terrain one right next to them in the open, with his characters standing behind them passing out buffs. His Immortals were right between them. Lastly his heavy destroyers were to the far side set up opposite one of my contemptors to get a bead.

 

I went first, my opponent failed to seize.

 

Battle Round 1 - Raven Guard Turn 1

 

I drew 6 cards, one of which was the "Priority Orders Received" which has you generate a second card to pair with it, and you have to control that objective, with your warlord, for bonus points (you get the card plus the Priority Orders Received card). I drew Suprem/Domination (the control 3 markers one, I get the names mixed up). I drew a handful of other cards - Get them to fail a morale test, 2 control cards, kill the warlord, and a defend and control my opponent was parked on with his tomb blades.

 

I already had 2 markers controlled at the start, a 3rd was in the open was dead ahead of my Stormtalon. I moved the Stormtalon up to control that one, and shifted around the dreads to take up firing arcs. My vanguards dropped in on his far side near the tomb blades, shrike dropped in the main "castle" (Plasma/Lieutenant/Scouts), within ranged of that objective (we ruled Priority orders as my warlord only had to control one of the 3, since he can't possible hold them all) and my Captain dropped in to the secondary castle with 2 scouts.

 

I then opened fire.

 

My Stormtalon, scouts, and assorted leftover bolters opened up on the 20 strong unit of Warriors, taking them down to 4 remaining - 16 casualties. My Plasma overcharged and fired at one annihilation barge taking it down to 1 wound. My contemptor on the left flank took out a heavy destroyer, and the other contemptor put 2 wounds on the Ghost Ark. Rerolling Plasma (and snipers) is very good....

 

My Vanguards tried to charge the tomb blades (which my bikes killed on of), and I lost 3 to overwatch (hot damn that Tesla hurts in Overwatch), and I failed my charge.

 

I rolled a 3 for the D3 bonus on Priority Orders, meaning it was worth 6 points, plus I scored the morale card (warriors auto fail with 16 casualties), and I controlled 2 more cards, meaning I scored 9 points on turn one. I pitched the warlord kill card and kept the card where his tomb blades/my vanguards were.

 

Battle Round 1 - Necron 1 (Raven Guard - 9, Necron - 0)

 

He moved his immortals up, he flew his tomblades closer to my center castle, leaving the vanguards behind. Both ghost arks moved up. He did his buffing on the immortals and remaining warriors with his characters. He unloaded the 2 warriors and immortals into the Stormtalon, and did one wound (to be fair he had me take 7? saves, I made 5 of the 7 (a combination of 3 and 4 ups), and I used a reroll on one of the two failed saves to make it. The Heavy Destroyers shot at the vanguards (after the one I killed got back up, sonofabitch), and I took my saves on my storm shield guys, failing all 3 wounds done - woohoo.

 

His ghost arks that had advanced peppered the two contemptors, but only managed to do 1-2 wounds each. At the end of his turn id lost 3 Vanguard, and a smattering of small damage to the 3 vehicles.

 

None of the necron cards were scorable, he either didn't have the mobility to reach them, or I was sitting on them (at this point I was parked on 3 of the 6, with vanguards in spitting distance of a 4th).

 

My turn.

 

Battle Round 2 - Ravenguard 2 (Raven Guard - 9, Necron - 0)

 

I drew a smattering of control X cards, all but one of which were in reach. My dreads advanced up the field, as did the vanguard into the ruins with the objective his tomb blades abandoned to move up the field. They were positioned so that I could charge the Heavy Destroyers but still remain within 3 inches of the objective. I moved my bikes OVER to my castle so they would be within the aura buff range AND in double tap range of the tomb blades, and I jumped Shrike out so he could still buff the bikes, but be in charge ranged of the ark coming up to contest an objective.

 

My flyer moved into his deployment zone basically in double tap range of everything (it seemed godlike, and I was determined to fly it into the jaws of death and see if it could live).

 

I opened up with shooting, and decided to focus on vehicles/mobility. I figured if I could punish the remained of his fast stuff and his ranged stuff, he would never catch up.

 

Plasma bikes utterly destroyed the tomb blades (again, overcharged, rerolling hits, rerolling 1's to wound). Scouts/Stormtalon hosed out the wounded barge and put a handful of wounds on the other. My Plasma devs focus fired the wounded Ark down to 1 wound. Lastly I took a few potshots at the immortals and knocked 2 of 6 down. My dread on my left flank took out the same heavy destroyer he killed before (that got back up) to weaken them before the Vanguards charged. Lastly, my vanguard sarg threw the melta bomb and blew up a heavy destroyer as well - boom.

 

I charged the remaining heavy destroyer with the Vanguards, and managed to do 2 wounds and it lived. It managed to kill one with overwatch fire and punch another 

 

Shrike charge the wounded ark and went Wolverine on it, ez pz. Ultimately this was a greedy mistake, but I was getting tired of being parked in my deployment zone playing a shooting game. I wanted to get out in the field and get messy.

 

I scored another 4 of my 5 cards for something like 5 points.

 

Battle Round 2 - Necron 2 (Raven Guard 14 - Necron 0)

 

His remaining destroyer fell back from combat, and another one reanmiated, bringing it back up to two. The rest of his units wheeled to open up on the Stormtalon. He moved his other ark onto an objective for a point.

 

After his shooting phase, the Stormtalon survived with 4 wounds remaining. Hard to Hit with a3 3+ save is VERY tough to small arms fire, even if it is gauss. He took out a couple odd scouts, and the immortals and surviving ark opened up on Shrike, killing him easily. My opponent happen to draw Kingslayer this turn as well - whoops. The destroyers shot at my vanguards, killing another 2. At this point they are down to 3 guys and have managed to achieve nothing, once again, due to my folly of trying to deep strike alpha them - so stupid.

 

At this point its like 14-4, and my opponent agrees to concede, but wants to go another round just to see if he can destroy the damn Stormtalon.

 

I move up with my mobile elements, and wheel the talon around. I take out the other ghost ark, finish the other barge, I put a couple mortal ones on his HQ with snipers, and I clean up the immortals and Heavy Destroyers (finally those damn things are down and STAY DEAD).

 

I score another 4 points, and I pass to my opponents turn.

 

He moves all his guys from his remaining blob of warriors to get as many in double tap range of the Stormtalon, and shoots everything he has at it...and doesn't kill it. It falls to one wound and lives. He then charges my contemptor in his face with the blob and...does one wound (6+ to wound is a rough task when they only have 1 attack each).

 

Game ends something like 19 to 5, Raven Guard victory.

 

Some notes:

 

1) Aura buffs are SO GOOD this edition. Rerolls to hit and wounds are exceptional. Shrike is the cheapest Chapter Master in the game, and he is also the fastest. His best use is to set up 2-3 firebases, and jump him around buffing who needs buffs when they do.

 

2) Scout squads in large quantities DO in fact put out the hurt, especially when paired with rerolls.

 

3) List building saturation is key. Running two Contemptors increased the survivability of both.

 

4) The Stormtalon is straight sick nasty. Twin Assault Cannons are straight wicked. I am thinking I need Twin Assault Cannon Razorbacks - STAT.

 

5) I need to stop being stupid and bloodthirsty with my Jump Infantry. Be patient and force the enemy to come to me.

 

6) I played a shooting list basically, and to be honest it was nice winning but I did not have fun. I liked the Stormtalon and large blobs of scouts, but I miss getting stuck in and wrecking in hand to hand. My list didn't feel unfluffy to the chapter, but it did feel unfluffy to the way I personally play the chapter.

 

 

Thought for the day: Sergeants can replace their bolt pistol with another Bolter, Storm Bolter, or Combi-weapon, and they get to shoot both (in 8th Ed) by everything I read. That means Tactical Squad sergeants can put out the same firepower as 3 marines for the cost of 2 points (Storm Bolter). Neat bit of building tech, btw.

 

More thoughts to come....

 

 

[Claws and Effect]

Sounds like my list will wreck significant face, based on how that one played.

 

Nice batrep.