Iron Hands vs Blood Ravens 2000 points

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Greetings, B&Cers!  Today, I bring you a battle report fought at Warhammer Winter Park in Winter Park, FL against Patrick.  The mission was Spoils of War with Dawn of War deployment.  Before the game, we agreed to abide by Matched Play rules (something that will come into effect!).  The armies were as follows:

 

Iron Hands

CPs: 7

 

Battalion Detachment

 

Captain in Terminator Armor with thunder hammer & Shield Eternal

Librarian with force sword and bolt pistol, Veil of Time, Might of Heroes, and Smite

 

5x Tactical Marines with plasma gun, sergeant with combi-plasma & chainsword

5x Tactical Marines with plasma gun, sergeant with combi-plasma & chainsword

10x Scouts with camo cloacks, sniper rifles, and a missile launcher

 

Hunter

Thunderfire Cannon

Thunderfire Cannon

 

Razorback with twin-plasma gun and lascannon

Razorback with twin-plasma gun and lascannon

 

 

Vanguard Detachment

 

Techmarine with servo-harness, power axe, combi-plasma

 

Ironclad Dreadnought with double heavy flamer, assault launchers, DCCW & seismic hammer

Venerable Dreadnought with twin lascannon, DCCW, heavy flamer

Venerable Dreadnought with assault cannon, DCCW, heavy flamer

Veneberal Dreadnought with heavy plasma cannon, DCCW, heavy flamer

 

 

versus:

 

Blood Ravens (Salamanders Chapter Tactics)

CPs: 6

 

Battalion Detachment

 

Captain with power sword & master-crafted boltgun

Librarian with force staff & bolt pistol

 

5x Tactical Marines with plasma gun and combi-plasma

10x Tactical Marines with flamer, heavy bolter, and combi-flamer

10x Tactical Marines with melta, multimelta, and combi-melta

 

10x Tactical Terminators with assault cannon, CML, a few chainfists

 

Tri-las Predator

Land Raider Redeemer with pintle multi-melta

 

Rhino

Rhino

Razorback with twin-plasma guns and lascannon

 

 

 

 

DEPLOYMENT

 

My deployment was gauged to prevent his big bully unit of Terminators from dropping into my backfield.  I only used about two-thirds of my table edge as a result, with my main mobile force stacked on my left near the table edge; the only mobile formation deployed on the right was a single Razorback with embarked Tacticals and Librarian.  You can also see the Scouts infiltrated onto drilling platform that dominated the middle of the table.

 

Right to left:

http://i.imgur.com/YaLs1hP.jpg

 

Left to right:

http://i.imgur.com/Eryk5Sg.jpg

 

The March of the Ancients:

http://i.imgur.com/dlAz12W.jpg

 

My opponent likewise deployed most strongly on the flanks, with a Razorback and Predator facing down my Dreadnoughts with a combat squad in overwatch, while my refused flank on the right was now facing Rhinos and a Land Raider full of characters and the melta-toting Tacticals.

 

Left to right:

http://i.imgur.com/WG5Wl3S.jpg

 

Right to left:

http://i.imgur.com/aK2VHbI.jpg

 

 

My opponent finished deploying first and chose to take first turn.

 

 

 

TURN 1 (0-0)

 

My opponent immediately pushed forward against my weaker right flank, throwing the LRR forward and flaming into my Scouts on the platform.  Crucially, he divided his firepower by throwing the multimelta and assault cannon at my Razorback rather than throw everything into the Scouts; due to some good dice rolling on my part, only three aspirants were killed though the Razorback took six wounds.  His Predator and Razorback combine to knock my las-armed Venerable down to one wound remaining, but crucial FNP rolls kept it alive.

 

The Redeemer's Flamestorm Cannons take aim on Clave Decad's snipers:

http://i.imgur.com/nuYMlpG.jpg

 

 

My turn saw me push forward on the left and hold on the right.  The lascannon Venerable remained behind as the rest of the ancients, Iron Captain Tekton in tow, rushed forward.  Their advance was supported by the Razorback carrying Clave Dyad and a Techmarine.  In the shooting phase, the left-hand Techmarine Gunner repaired three wounds on the las-Venerable, while combined fire from it, my Razorback, my Scouts, and my assault cannon Venerable killed the Razorback, tilting the balance on my left flank dramatically in my favor and scoring me "First Blood."  The Thunderfire Cannons and plasma-armed Venerable Dreadnought combined to kill four out of five of the Tacticals of the enemy's overwatch element.  My Hunter and the wounded Razoback on the right strip a few wounds off the Land Raider.  In the morale phase, the enemy Tacticals would fail their test and run off the board, scoring me 1 VP for "Psychological Warfare."

 

The Razorback has finished off its opposite number:

http://i.imgur.com/3rLdQHz.jpg

 

 

TURN 2 (2-0)

 

Turn 2 begins and my opponent is still not happy with how relatively compact my deployment is; he decided not to teleport the Terminators in quite yet.  The Redeemer continues to push forward, closing in on my light flank shield and looking to open up a gap in my lines.  It flames my Scouts again and accounts for several more, this time contributing the assault cannon to them as well.  The multimelta was intended to end my Razorback, but it missed wide.  The Predator's lascannons rolled really, really well and blasted my assault cannon Dreadnought to pieces; such an affront to the Chapter and the Omnissiah cannot go unchallenged!  The Tacticals attempting to hold in the face of my massed assault force open fire with plasma guns into my Razorback, but failed to do any damage.  He scores 1 VP for "Hold the Line."

 

The Redeemer slashed into my right flank:

http://i.imgur.com/Pz0YieI.jpg

 

On my turn, the Clave Dyad disembarks and advances on the enemy Tacticals (the Techmarine stayed in the tank) while the Dreadnoughts continued their forward march.  The Razorback and las-Venerable opened up on the the Predator and did considerable damage, and my Tacticals gunned down two of his to reduce the enemy squad to a single Space Marine.  The Razorback and Hunter continued to attempt to plink the Land Raider to death, while the Thunderfire Cannons started raining shots down on the Predator and scored the final wounds on said tank to kill it.  In the assault phase, my Tacticals assaulted his Tactical Sergeant and killed the enemy in close combat; as those Blood Ravens had been baby-sitting Objective #6, I scored "Blood and Guts," "Secure Objective 6" (which was actually in his hand, but the mission has special rules for scoring "Secure Objective X" cards), and "Emperor's Retribution," the latter for three VPs!

 

The Tactical Squads clash over Objective #6:

http://i.imgur.com/VMfBaeK.jpg

 

 

TURN 3 (7-1)

 

My opponent was beginning to feel the crunch of my VP count, but completely forgot about his Terminators still waiting in reserve to help even the odds!  He unloads the remaining combat squad from one of the Rhinos and throws the now-empty APC towards my Tactical Marines, hoping to disrupt my formation on the left flank.  The contents of the Land Raider spilled out, forming a congo-line between my wounded Razorback and its accompanying Thunderfire Cannon.  Concentrated melta blasts finally put paid to the Razorback, and also cost me two Tactical Marines (the rest of the APC's contents disembarked as far as possible from the massed enemy infantry).  The LRR over-killed the Thunderfire Cannon, leaving the Techmarine hanging about on his own in a crater.  Incidental fire from the Rhinos' stormbolters killed two more Scouts leaving just three of them, and in the assault phase my Tacticals gunned down two of his attempting a charge that failed.  Unfortunately, that allowed him to remove enough models to give his Captain and Librarian room enough to charge my Techmarine Gunner which resulted in one dead Techmarine.

 

The Blood Ravens' main thrust arrives, before and after:

http://i.imgur.com/JE13LsY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vECSASX.jpg

 

In response to this aggression, I re-position my Librarian and his accompanying squad, Clave Tryad, into a bunker complex near the enemy Tactical Squad.  Back on my left, Clave Dyad, their Razorback, and my Ironclad square up with the empty Rhino while my Captain and the plasma-Dreadnought rush into the middle of the table to confront the Land Raider.  Lascannon and Skyspear fire leave the LRR wounded but functional, while my Tacticals' plasma guns riddle the empty Rhino with holes and leave it on about six wounds.  On the right, the Librarian powers himself up with successful castings of both Veil of Time and Might of Heroes, while his Tactical friends and the remaining Thunderfire Cannon rain death on the melta-squad.  In the assault phase, both Clave Dyad and the Librarian successfully charge the enemy and reap a bloody tally; the Raven heroes were too far away to attempt a Heroic Intervention and must look on as the Iron Hands butcher their troops.  On the left, the Ironclad lands a charge into the wounded Rhino and delivers a total of ten damage from its seismic hammer, completely scrapping the APC.  The plasma-Dreadnought weathers a storm of fire from the Redeemer and also lands a charge, its power fist tearing the mighty battle tank to pieces.  The enemy Tactical Squad passes its morale check, meaning I only killed two units and not three, thus only scoring a single point for "No Mercy, No Respite."

 

The struggle for the right flank isn't over yet:

http://i.imgur.com/7FDopgY.jpg

 

The left-flank forces annihilate an enemy Rhino:

http://i.imgur.com/HVTaQui.jpg

 

Venerable Brother Gollikon sizes up his prey:

http://i.imgur.com/wiQ2aZf.jpg

 

 

TURN 4 (8-1)

 

At this point, my opponent declares that he is bringing in his Terminators.  I politely remind him that, Turn 3 having come and gone and that since we had agreed to Matched Play, that they were destroyed.  He claimed ignorance so I showed him the rule, which lead to a self-effacing diatribe on his part.  I offered to let him bring them on anyway because I don't like simply trashing folks in a friendly game, but he declined and agreed to play the rule as-is.  This immediately locked victory for me because of the board state, but we kept playing nonetheless.  In his turn, he used the Tactical Flexibility stratagem to combat squad his remaining Tacticals, pulling the flamer-armed models out of the Rhino and leaving the heavy bolter-led team within it to drive over to Objective #2 which was about as far to my right of the board as it could be; this scored him "Secure Objective 2."  The flamer-armed team doused my remaining Scouts with bolt shells and promethium, but my went hot for armor saves and none of them died; a subsequent charge attempt up the ladder to the Scouts also failed to roll high enough to make the trip.  Meanwhile, his two HQs positioned themselves for a charge into my Tacticals, subsequently landing said charge.  His Librarian squad up with mine and punched his force staff right through my Librarian's guard and killed him in a flurry of blows; he then consolidated away from the melee and back into the crater.  My armor saves and Chapter Tactic-derived FNP rolls remained hot, though, and I lost only a single Tactical Marine to the combined attacks of the Captain and the enemy Tacticals; meanwhile, my own Tactical Sergeant managed to push a wound or two onto the Blood Raven commander with his chainsword!  The flesh is indeed weak!

 

Sergeant Vastopol duels the enemy commander:

http://i.imgur.com/nIno75D.jpg

 

 

For my part, I pushed my left-hand flank force fully into the enemy deployment zone.  This put three units (Ironclad, Tactical Squad, and Razorback) into the DZ which allowed me to score "Behind Enemy Lines," though I only rolled a 1 on a d3.  That Tactical Squad, however, had now been babysitting Objective #6 for two turns and thus scored me "Defend Objective 6" for two more VPs, bringing my total to 10!  My plasma-armed Dreadnought, arrogant for its destruction of the Land Raider closed on the scrum between Tactical Squads intent on murder.  Meanwhile, my long-range guns starting raining death on the few remaining Blood Ravens from afar.  The TFC killed two out of three of the flamer-armed Tacticals and the Scouts, eerily accurate, killed the three remaining Space Marines.  Using lascannons and the Hunter, I managed to put a few wounds on the last enemy Rhino, which by now had dumped off the last of its contents on Objective #2 and was making its way into my deployment zone.  My Tactical Sergeant continued dueling the Captain and survived another round of combat.

 

 

TURN 5 (10-1)

 

The enemy, down to the last of their strength, pulls a fast one.  The Librarian casts Smite on my Dreadnought, reducing it to five wounds, and then Might of Heroes on himself.  While the Rhino moves fully into my DZ and the Captain finally downs Sergeant Vastopol and his final squadmate, the Librarian charges my Dreadnought.  With the strength bonuses from Might and his force staff, the Libby is wounding the Dreadnought on 4s and pushes enough damage through my saves to kill the war machine.  The Omnissiah is not pleased.  The kill-tally allows him to score "No Mercy, No Respite" for 1 VP, and with the Captain, Libby, Tactical Sergeant, and Rhino all in my DZ, he also scores d3 VPs from "Behind Enemy Lines" and rolls a 3.

 

The witch ends the life of an ancient and honorable hero of the Chapter:

http://i.imgur.com/viM1FHT.jpg

 

With little left to target, I go to work.  My Iron Captain, who has been rolling poorly on his Advance rolls trying to get into charge range of anything, draws a bead on the enemy HQs.  My lascannons and Skyspear start punching wounds into this pitiable cluster of enemies, picking off the Tactical Sergeant and then plastering the Captain across the landscape as well to score me "Assassinate" and "Slay the Warlord" in one fell swoop.  At this point, Patrick only had his Librarian, five Tacticals in the wilderness, and half a Rhino left alive and was facing a 12-5 deficit in VPs.  We decided to call it and scored the final objectives, "Linebreaker," for both of us with brought final tally to 13-6.  A crushing victory for the sons of Ferrus Manus!

 

Iron Captain Tekton sets his sights on the final opponent, who quails in surrender:

http://i.imgur.com/LKp4KSV.jpg

 

 

POST-GAME THOUGHTS

 

Overall, it was a fairly crushing victory from the get-go.  The fact that Patrick didn't know to bring his Terminators down was one thing, but after I caved in his right flank on Turn Two, he needed them in to staunch the bleeding.  The problem was how little space there was to deploy in the middle of the board; the Dreadnoughts had fanned out at that point and the Scouts, though reduced in number, were blocking a significant amount of deep strike real estate.  He wanted them in the mix rather than operating along the front which was why he kept hesitating and in the end that bit him in the rear.  Ten Terminators is a hefty pack of points, so he was basically playing down in points the whole game.  With them in the mix, I would have made some serious alterations in my heavy weapon fire priority, and the added vehicle-killing power of a CML and an assault cannon would have finished off my damaged Hunter (winged by the LRR's melta) which is one less anti-tank gun for him to worry about.

 

As for my own performance, I can't find much fault in anything I did (though I'm always open to constructive criticism!).  The Captain has yet to be shot at or kill anything in either of the two games of 8th Edition I've played, though his re-roll aura on the Venerable Dreads means I hardly miss any shots so at least he is contributing.  I do wish I had some more mobile elements or at least more boots on the ground and towards that end I'm looking at reviving my list style from 5th & 6th Editions that was an all-mechanized infantry-heavy force.  We'll see.  His MVP of the game was undoubtedly his Librarian, who one-shot-killed both my Libby (previously wounded by a Perils roll) and one of my Dreads (previously wounded by Smite).  For me it's harder to say; Clave Dyad scored a huge number of VPs by snagging "Secure Objective 6," "Defend Objective 6," "Blood and Guts," "Behind Enemy Lines," and "Emperor's Retribution."  That being said, Sergeant Vastopol definitely gets an honorable mention for his glorious stand against the opposing Captain!

Edited August 21, 2017 by Iron Father Ferrum
Correctness

[Lord Ragnarok]

Nice BR! Thank you. How did you feel about the thunderfire cannon performance?

[Iron Father Ferrum]

TFCs have always been one of my guilty pleasures; I've used them religiously since the heady days of 5th Edition when they died if you sneezed on them.  S5 AP-1 is a great statline for punching damage into horde units like gaunts, boyz, or conscripts, and 4d3 shots per cannon has been netting me between 7 and 10 shots consistently which isn't terrible at all.  The errata about Command Reroll also means that if you absolutely poop the bed -- only get 4 or 5 shots -- you get to reroll all four dice, so that's only made them better.  Plus, their guiding star of being relatively cheap in points has carried on into this edition, so it's a fantastic way to get plenty of anti-infantry firepower into an army without dipping too heavily into the pool.  Plus, the Techmarine just has to be within 3" of the cannon for it fire, he's not actually shooting it anymore, which means he can either fire his own weapons if an enemy happens to be close enough, or in the case like today, he can step aside and repair a Dreadnought or tank that gets winged by enemy fire while the cannon itself continues to rain fire on the enemy.  It's just a great and versatile unit.

[Timur]

Nice game.  You're making me miss my bike Libby.  Thanks for writing that up.