1250 tournament - ready for round 2

[Frater Cornelius]

Just finished a 1250 tourney full of try-hards. We are talking things like Magnus with Changeling, Night Lord Tzeentch Princes to stack all those -1 hit mods and loads of Brimstones, 100 boys with 5 Weirdboys, 2 Stormravens, you name it. Got 4th out of 16, which really peeved me. But hey, anything that isn't an absolute victory in competitive game peeves me, so nevermind that. Besides, I probably deserve of bringing the Gman himself

My list:

Hidden Content

Tech Marine - Chainsword, Primarch's Wrath

5 Scouts - 1 HB, 4 Bolters
10 Intercessors - 2 Grenade Launchers

5 Hellblasters - Rapid Fire

Repulsor - Heavy Onslaught, Twin HB, 2 SB, Frag and Krak Launchers and the two Ironhail Stubbers
Razorback - Twin AC, HK missile

Big Bobby G himself

Game 1:
Worst match-up for me...
Magnus, 2 Tzeentch DP, one Exalted Champion of Tzeentch, Changeling, loads of Brimstones with 1 Blue per unit of ten, 3 more paid for summoning. Pretty lasty, as the Tzeentch DP were Night Lords and have -1 hit Stratagem as well as -1 hit from the Changeling?

Well, lost that game. Why? Luck. Got seized on, Magnus smites away bubble wrap, warp time and manages to charge Guilliman. He killed him in round 2, so Guilliman attacked 3 times and got back up with 5W. The problem? Opponent has god-like rolls and Magnus survived with 1W and then Smite Gman and rolls a 6 for damage...

Next turn he lost Magnus and all DP, but I lost RG, the Hellblasters, the TM and 5 Intercessors. Then the game simply devolved in him throwing all Brimstones my way and I did not manage to get past his 'save 3 out of 4 4++ saves'. Not much I can anymore, it was a boring game that was decided by good dice rolls.

However, I learned one thing when deploying. Marines generally struggle against Smite spam. What really helps is a psycher with Psychic Fortress. Park a tank like Repulsor (to cover more) or Razorback, cast Psychic Fortress on it and use Armour of Contempt. Even just Armour of Contempt and a better placed Razorback could have blocked Smite. In this game Magnus passing saves was the issue, but this is generally solid against psycher-heavy armies.

Game 2:
Due to the loss in round one I had an easy opponent. Cultist blobs with the Stratagem. Marines with Plasmas, Abaddon and Oblits. The issue? The army was on foot, which made it easy prey against all my dakka. Guilliman really went nuts with re-rolls and smacked everything in melee. The play of the game though? The Repulsor blew up and dealt 6 MW to the Exalted Champion Moving on.

Game 3:
This one was interesting again. It was against Sisters of Battle, which are deceptively powerful now. Celestine with a Gemini, 2 sets of 5 Dominions with Meltas in Flamer Immolators, Seraphim, a Priest and Cannoness with Flaggellants in Rhinos.

I got first turn again, which was good, because those damn Meltas Scout 12+D6" Oo. The Dominions got dispatched quickly. I bit of bad luck caused 4 Meltas to survive and knock 10W of the Repulsor, which the TM got back to 9W and thus fully operational. MVP right there.

The Flaggellants were the truly scary part. Some solid placement of Intercessors, however, prevent them from hitting my Razorback. One Intercessor per unit survived (calculated!), which prevent far reaching consolidation as well. After Guilliman and the Repulsor had their fun, I had to spend the last few turns hunting down Celestine...

Too bad, I did not get to play against the Orks or the Ravens, because of that loss in round one. I did table the other twos though.

Here is what I learned. Guilliman is hard-style. His re-roll on something as shooty as the Repulsor is amazing and his melee prowess and toughness make him a really tough opponent on such low points. Most of the kills are attributed to his melee, shooting and giving the Repulsor re-rolls. And of course the trick to attack after dying for 2 CP and then re-rolling the Armour of Fate or the amount of Wounds he would get back. Used it twice in the tournament to great effect (outside of Magnus not dying...).
Beyond that, the Intercessor are very solid blockers with their 2W. Hellblasters are excellent as always. The Scouts as well, especially their Hellfire Ammo. The TM is also underrated. Primarch's Wrath is excellent and him repairing the Repulsor is great.
The one thing I was a bit disappointed with was the Razorback. It never really got a time to shine as I either was forced to block with it or it was permanently in melee with some Brimstones. Its one shining moment was a 9" charge to prevent the opponent from Scoring 2VP. It is useful to block with Armour of Contempt, but so many shots are lost and always bound in melee... Not sure I would want to replace it though.

Anyway, it was and the final result wasn't too bad, so I am pleased. The list was smooth and only lacks a Psycher, which I have in higher point games.

Ideas and thoughts are welcome Edited October 26, 2017 by Frater Cornelius

[Prot]

Thanks for the batreps. I'm at the store now for Konor so I have to read this later... I think doing 4th is great in that environment. I just wanted to say although I've been against Reivers so I was hoping you took them! I literally just bought a box and am still contemplating loadout. Again though great results and nothing to be ashamed about.

[Frater Cornelius]

Thanks for the batreps. I'm at the store now for Konor so I have to read this later... I think doing 4th is great in that environment. I just wanted to say although I've been against Reivers so I was hoping you took them! I literally just bought a box and am still contemplating loadout. Again though great results and nothing to be ashamed about.

 

There was a reason I did not bring them. This tournament is strictly WYSIWYG and I have no Reivers. Since I am running Patrol Detachments, there was not reason to take the Intercessors over the Reivers. No worries, I have them in mind for the next one. I just need to build the models. My loadout for this list would've been Deep Strike + Carbines.

 

As for the results, they are good. I just dislike being 'lucked out' of a better placement :P

Edited September 2, 2017 by Frater Cornelius

[garreth]

G-Man everywere nowadays, even in patrol =) Interesting how do you strip all those wounds from Magnus? 3++ re-roling 1-s is solid. Were it mortal wounds from the Gm's sword or something else?

[Frater Cornelius]

Just Guilliman. However, Magnus should be dead after Guilliman hitting trice, even with a 3++ and 1s re-rollable. Unless my math is off, that is.

 

As for the Gman being everywhere, that is to be expected. However, I have yet to see anyone else playing him around here. I am literally the only one ever fielding him. To me, the Guilliman-syndrome exists solely on the internet, which is kind of funny.

Edited September 3, 2017 by Frater Cornelius

[Captain Idaho]

Regardless of the debate on his inclusion or not, well done for flying our colours in a Tournament and doing so well.

 

It's a funny one actually. Such small games encourage big baddies being on the table since opponents have less to oppose them. I know if I took on an opponent with 2000pts I'd feel okay to take on Guilliman or a Knight, for example. 1250pts I'd feel like it's a lost cause!

[Frater Cornelius]

Just to give you an idea of how it looked:

1st Orks with loads of Boys + Weirdboys

2nd Magnus + Brimstones

3rd Orks with loads of Boys + Weirdboys

4th Primaris + Gman

5th Character Spam with Assassins

6th Raven Spam

 

There are big-ish point gaps. One is between 4 and 5 and one is after 6. After 6, the balanced-ish lists start. Primaris are a bit of an outlier here, which can be attributed to lucky match-ups. But taking myself out of there we indeed see a pattern, something I also heard from others. Hordes or Characters with the optional Smite thrown into there is the stuff to beat, at least around here. This is one of the main reasons I run Psychic Fortress + Armour of Contempt blockers at 1850.

[Frater Cornelius]

Next one is already in the works. I will probably not visit the big 2k one close to me, seeing as I already planned a tourney with my AoS buddies, since my army progress has come to a halt and my motivation to do 40k is at an all-time low. But I will try to get my : back together for the next 1250 one.

 

There was a slight rule change. Seeing how the previous one was a merry HQ and LoW abuse fest, they limited the tournament to a single Patrol Detachment. Here is what I came up with:

 

Hidden Content

+++ New Roster (Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition) [73 PL, 1250pts] +++

++ Patrol Detachment (Imperium - Space Marines) ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

**Chapter Selection**: Ultramarines

+ HQ +

Marneus Calgar: Terminator Armour

Primaris Lieutenants
. Primaris Lieutenant: Master-crafted auto bolt rifle

+ Troops +

Intercessor Squad: 2x Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Bolt rifle, 9x Intercessor, Intercessor Sergeant

Intercessor Squad: Auxiliary Grenade Launcher, Bolt rifle, 4x Intercessor, Intercessor Sergeant

Scout Squad
. Scout Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun
. 3x Scout w/Boltgun
. Scout w/Heavy Weapon: Heavy bolter

+ Heavy Support +

Hellblaster Squad: Plasma incinerator
. 5x Hellblaster
. Hellblaster Sergeant: Bolt pistol

+ Dedicated Transport +

Razorback: Twin lascannon

Repulsor: 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, 2x Storm Bolters, Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Icarus Ironhail Heavy Stubber, Ironhail Heavy Stubber, 2x Krakstrom Grenade Launcher, Twin heavy bolter

 

We are talking 5 to 9 drops, a decent amount of bodies and Calgar. My "primarily Primaris" restrictions still stands. I own 2 Razorbacks and I will not buy any more of those abominations I am considering to drop 5 Intercessors for 5 Carbine Reivers with Grav Shutes to gain a little extra reach.

 

C&C welcome.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Frater Cornelius

[justicarius6]

As Marny is your beatstick instead of Big G you could potentially keep him in the game a bit longer if you made points for a personal medic in there somewhere.

[Prot]

Looks like something I would try.... It looks fun, and you'll have your work cut out for you, but I'm sure you'll do fine.