1K Pts (LEL G3) - Angry Goats (Iron Hands) vs Knight Wolves

[Goat Rider]

Part 3 of the ongoing Saga of the Lord Emperor League campaign, a 1K Point League at my FLGS.

Previous games I've played in the series, and other information about the Campaign, can be found here:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/341428-angry-goats-iron-hands-battle-reports-1k-league/

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To describe the weather as dreary would have been a grave understatement. Though the mists had appeared quite suddenly, the density of the fog had more in common with a plasteel bulkhead than the water vapor it was supposed to be made of. As the Dreadnoughts of Task Force Valdosta cautiously advanced through the soup, even their advanced sensors were hard pressed to get through the worst of it. Chaplain Dreadnought Valdosta was spending a disproportionate amount of his processing power just trying to keep the gaps in their patrol line from expanding. Communications were in even worse shape, as the fog reduced their effective range considerably. Scout Squad Kiko, normally sent far forward to recon ahead of the Dreadnought Lines, was forced to stay much closer than they would have preferred just to maintain radio contact. Chaplain Valdosta couldn’t help but think that this was an altogether terrible situation for any fighting force to be in.

As if on cue Squad Kiko felt, as much as heard, an incredible rumble approaching. With the opaque weather stifling even their gene-enhanced senses, the Scouts were hard pressed to locate the approaching force. It wasn’t until a massive Walker rushed past and nearly knocked over the tower they had been observing from that they were able to attempt to identify the threat. As the Knight, with the barely observable designation of “Crime”, and an escort of hulking bikes flew past their position, Squad Kiko attempted to issue a warning to the rest of Task Force Valdosta. The warning would not come in time.

The first inkling of trouble that the bulk of Task Force Valdosta received was the unmistakable sound of incoming fire. Venerable Ancient Repartida barely had time to register the assault before the impacts began to rock his chassis. The massive shells from the Avenger Gatling Cannon demolished the ruins around him just in time for the Stormspear Rockets and Battle Cannon Shells to land. The Dreadnoughts of the Angry Goats are well known for their resiliency, but even they can’t ignore direct impacts from 120mm rounds. Though the Ancient war machine was not fully destroyed, his systems were damaged enough to force a full system shutdown to avoid a core explosion and he would not be battle worthy again without some extensive repairs.

Dealings with Knights that the Angry Goats chapter had come across previously had been far from amicable. These consistently violent meetings had soured the entire Chapter’s opinions of what they now considered “rogue elements”. And as this encounter once again began with an unprovoked attack from what should have been an ally, it only proved their distain well founded. With a rage born of centuries of battle, Valdosta ordered his forces to advance. Unfortunately, the Dreadnoughts had become separated in the fog. And either by luck or by design, it seemed like Crime and his Biker escorts had wedged themselves right into that gap. And with Repartida already disabled, what should have been an ideal cross-fire scenario instead turned into a desperate sprint for Task Force Valdosta to reconnect their forces. But these ancient warrior were far from defenseless even when isolated, and their return fire was swift. In a cold and calculated volley of vengeance, Venerable Ancient Orobica fired his Lascannons and Autocannons at the towering Knight. Though several hits connected and caused damage, it was far from enough to slow Crime down. The two Contemptor Dreadnoughts, Saanen and Pyrenean, as well as Chaplain Valdosta all advanced towards the Knight from opposite sides with their respective Assault Cannons and Bolters spraying the Bikers around the Knight’s feet. But between the dense fog and tightly packed ruins, the shots had no noticeable effect.

Seeing the potential for his forces to be surrounded, Rune Priest Gudrun ordered a fighting withdrawal to keep his forces away from the running Dreadnoughts. As he gave the order, his eyes blazed and small series of bright blue energy blasts flew from his Rune Staff at the fast approaching Contemptor Dreadnought Pyrenean, scorching the Ancient’s armor. This was just the reveal that Squad Kiko had been waiting for in the dense fog. Upon seeing the glow, the Scouts let rip with a volley from their Sniper Rifles. But as the rounds flew down towards the Bikers, the Fog seemed to swallow them and the impacts went unnoticed by the Rune Priest. What didn’t go unnoticed, however, was the Scouts fire base. Their failed volley was revealing enough that the keen senses of a pack of Grey Hunters that had been lying in wait were able to zero in on their position. And under a hail of Bolter Fire and roar of Chainswords, these Space Wolves sprung from their cover and charged into the Scouts. What happened in that melee was best left to the fog.

Angered at the damage his mighty war machine had suffered, Crime unleashed his full volley of shots at the Venerable Dreadnought Orobica. This time, however, the blasted out ruins surrounding the ancient Dreadnought held strong and only some of the impressive rain of rounds found their mark. Thinking the Knight momentarily distracted, Pyrenean saw his opening and dashed towards the massive walker. But with a speed that defied his massive frame, Crime swung his guns around at the onrushing Dreadnought. Though his shots largely went wide, enough connected that the Pyrenean was severely hampered as he drew close. But his still functioning Fist immediately slammed into the walker ripping massive chunks of armor and machinery from the Knight. Seeing their fellow Ancient running into battle, the rest of the Dreadnoughts opened fire in support. But for fear of hitting their comrade, only a small amount of shots found their mark. But the combined damage was starting to add up, and the giant Knight was starting to slow.

With the allied Knight starting to take significant damage, Gudrun again pulled his forces farther from the Dreadnoughts. And with another warp-fueled attack he tried to end the assault of the nearest, nearly crippled, Contemptor. But luckily for Pyrenean, his ancient frame withstood the blast and he continued on. The Ancients Saanen and Orobica were less fortunate as the Knight split his fire between them. Though they were both still functional, they each suffered serious damage and were slowed in their assault. But no son of Ferrus Manus would let something as simple as being nearly destroyed deter them. Both Saanen and Pyrenean charged into the screening Wolf Guard Bikers, with Techmarine Surati sprinting behind desperately trying to repair what damage he could. Though their movements were sluggish, their sheer strength proved formidable and 3 of the bikers fell to their onslaught.

Seeing his brothers fall enraged the Rune Priest, and he struck out at Saanen with his force-charged staff causing some serious damage before he once again pulled his forces away from the Angry Goats. Seeing the immense damage that the remaining Dreadnoughts had suffered, Crime once again split his fire between Pyrenean and Orobica. This time, the already stricken frames of both walkers proved unable to withstand the barrage. They both collapsed from the sustained damage and shut down before their cores could overload.

Centuries of pent-up hate for Knights in general, and more than enough built up hate from the current battle, drove Chaplain Valdosta and the severely injured Contemptor Saanen towards the Knight again. But while Valdosta was still too far away from the retreating Knight to get to grips with him, he combined his firepower with Saanen’s to cause some additional damage to the near-crippled Knight. And though his Ion Shields had collapsed by this point, the smoking Knight was still far from defenseless. He was quickly able to prove this as Saanen recklessly charged straight towards the Knight. Even with his targeting sensors severely damaged, it’s no chore to send death raining onto a 15 foot tall war machine running in a straight line directly towards you. And Crime did exactly that.

The blast that disabled Saanen, combined with every drop of small arms fire that the remaining Wolves could muster, was enough to send even the well armored Techmarine Surati to the ground. With all of his other Battle Brothers fallen and disabled, Valdosta roared in righteous defiance. He unleashed withering barrage of Assault Cannon fire at the limping Knight as he charged directly towards the remaining Wolves. Crime, it seems, would be punished this day as the Knight finally fell to the Angry Goats assault. In his frustrated fury, Valdosta crushed another of the remaining Wolf Guard in his massive fist.

Seeing the carnage before him on the battlefield, Gudrun knew he would have quite a glorious tale to tell. And to make sure he would be around to tell it, he signaled his remaining forces to withdraw. But before he could get to speed, Valdosta sprinted forward and was able to take one final swing at the Rune Priest. Though Gudrun’s armor absorbed the worst of the impact, a sizable chunk of his flesh was now slowly sliding from the claws of the Chaplain Dreadnought’s massive power fist. The Rune Priest would have his glorious tale of victory, but also quite a massive scar to remind him of how close a thing it had been.

As the Rune Priest and his forces departed with songs of victory carrying on the wind, the massive wall of fog seemed to follow them away. With his sensors suddenly unhindered, Chaplain Valdosta ran over to check on his fallen Techmarine. Surati, wounded or not, was still the best hope that Task Force Valdosta had to survive until relief could arrive. And though the Wolves had withdrawn, Valdosta knew this was not a victory. He had failed to bring the massive Knight to battle, and his forces had been decimated as a result. His entire Chapter loathed weakness in any form, and the Chapter Master would not look favorably on this failure. The road to redemption for Task Force Valdosta would be an arduous one.

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[Goat Rider]

If you have any feedback, please let me know!

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This is a match during my FLGS's current "Lord Emperor League". The Lord Emperor League is a "King of the Hill" style league. There are 3 tiers, the current Champion on top, the Veterans in the Middle, and the Experienced at the bottom. The Experienced players have to challenge the Veterans in order to move up. If the Experienced players win, they take the Vet's place. If the Veteran wins, they get a "challenge token" and can then take on the Champion. When a Veteran challenges the current Champ and wins, he becomes the new Champ. If the Champion wins 3 successive challenges, they win the series and the tournament restarts.

For this match, I will be defending my spot as Champion!

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The Armies:

Spaces Wolves and Knight

Knight Crusader – Avenger Gatling Cannon, Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, Stormspear Rocket Pod, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber x2

Rune Priest on Bike – Twin Bolter, Storm Bolter, Rune Stave (Tempest’s Wrath, Smite)

Wolf Guard on Bikes x5 – Twin Bolter x5, Storm Bolter x5, Storm Shield x5

Grey Hunters x5 – Bolters x5, Chainsword x5

Angry Goats (Iron Hands)

Chaplain Dreadnought - Assault Cannon, DCCW, Storm Bolter, Armor Indomitus

Contemptor Dreadnought - Kheres Assault Cannon, DCCW, Combi-Bolter

Contemptor Dreadnought - Kheres Assault Cannon, DCCW, Combi-Bolter

Venerable Dreadnought - Twin Lascannon, Twin Autocannon

Venerable Dreadnought - Twin Lascannon, Twin Autocannon

Techmarine - Bolter, Chainsword, Servo Arm

Scout Squad - Sniper Rifles x5

The Board:

Deployment Type and Mission:

I knew that whatever mission that was picked, I was eventually going to need to charge in and punch something with my slow, slow Dreadnoughts. So, I picked the deployment with the hopes of deploying on two opposite sides to box him in to some degree.

He picked “Glory Seeker”, since almost my entire army had the Character or Vehicle keyword.

Deployment

He was forced to castle in the middle, and just put everything centrally.

He spent 1 Command Point to set up his Grey Hunters in Reserve.

I put a Venerable and Contemptor in both the Top Left and Bottom Right corners. The Chaplain Dread, as well as the Techmarine went in the Bottom Right Corner.

Completely forgetting about the Grey Hunters in Reserve, my Scouts went in the Top Right Corner far too close to the board edge.

First Turn:

With his +1 to going first, he was automatically beat the “1” that I rolled.
I then failed to seize.

Knight Wolves – Turn 1

· His Center forcers didn’t move.

· His Grey Hunters came in on the Top Right, just outside 9” from my Scouts.

· He sends the Heavy Stubbers and Bolters at the Scouts and kills 2.

· The Storm Bolters and Twin Bolters knock 2 wounds off of the Bottom Right Contemptor Dread.

· His RapidFire Battle Cannon, Avenger Gatling Cannon, and Stormspear Rocket Pod went after the Bottom Right Venerable Dreadnought. After all of his dice are done, I have 8 damage to save with my 2 layers of 6+ Feel No Pain.

o I fail all 16 FNP rolls, and he kills his first Dreadnought.

· Ouch. 2 Venerable Dreads can handle a Knight. But with only 1 left, it’s going to be tough to kill that thing.

Angry Goats – Turn 1

· Both Contemptors and the Chaplain Dreadnought move towards the Center.

· The Techmarine Advances, then heals the Contemptor up to full.

· The Scouts cause 3 regular wounds on the Rune Priest, rolling all 5’s to wound, but he saves them all.

· I spend 1 CP on the Venerable Dreadnought to grant him Reroll 1’s to hit.

· The Lascannon cause 6 damage to the Knight, even after spending 1 CP to try and reroll a 2 damage ... back into a 2.

· Autocannons bounce.

· Bolters and all 3 Assault Cannons bounce against the Wolf Guard Bikes.

· The Bottom Right Contemptor goes for a 9” charge, loses a wound in Overwatch.

· Fail the charge with a 4, 2. I spend 1 CP to reroll the 2, and roll 1 instead.

Knight Wolves – Turn 2

· His Knight shifts back and to the right to open the ground between himself and the oncoming Dreadnoughts.

· The Grey Hunters move up the terrain, and are only 3” away from the Scouts.

· He casts Tempest’s Wrath and Smite on the Top Left Contemptor, causing 2 wounds.

· His Grey Hunters shoot into the Scouts but their cloaks keep them safe.

· His Knight sends his Heavy Stubbers at the bottom Right Dreadnought and causes no damage.

· All of his Big Guns go after the Top Left Venerable. This Dreadnought, at least, understands what Feel No Pain is for. Between bad damage rolls, good saves (also spent my final CP to reroll one), and good Feel No Pain rolls, the Venerable only loses 4 wounds.

· The Grey Hunters Charge, receive no damage in Overwatch, and kill all but 1 of the Scouts.

Angry Goats – Turn 2

· The Top Left Contemptor moves his max distance to close range with the Knight.

· My Techmarine moves and Advances, while the Contemptor and Chaplain go their full distance.

· My Techmarine heals the Contemptor back to Full.

· My Venerable Dreadnought tosses his Lascannon and Autocannon shots at the Knight.

o Both Lascannons hit, but I roll 2’s to wound on both of them.

o 1 Autocannon goes through, causing 2 damage.

· My remaining Bolters go after the Bikes, while the Assault Cannons go after the Knight.

o 1 bike takes 1 wound.

· The Bottom Right Dreadnoughts are out of Charge Range.

· The Grey Hunters finish off the last Scout in melee.

· The Top Left Contemptor charges the Knight, and piles into the bikes to tie them up.

o The Dreadnought punches the Knight and causes 6 Damage, putting him into his 2^nd tier.

o Between a very effective Overwatch volley and Titanic Feet, the Contemptor is left with 1 Wound remaining.

And a Close-Up of the almost glorious charge!

Knight Wolves – Turn 3

· His Knight falls back away from the Dreadnoughts.

· His Bikes fall back to form a screen against charges.

· He casts Smite on the nearest Dreadnought, causes 1 wound, and the Contemptor saves on a 6 and lives!

· He Knight splits his fire between the Venerable and the Bottom Right Contemptor.

o Venerable only loses 1 wound

o Contemptor loses 6 wounds, and is down to 4.

· No charges.

Angry Goats – Turn 3

· The Top Left Contemptor, with only a 4” move, just heads toward the Bikes.

· The wounded Bottom Right Contemptor and Chaplain Dreadnought move 6” towards the Knight.

· The Techmarine Advances and Moves just ahead of the Contemptor, and heals him for only 1, leaving it in the 2^nd damage tier.

· The Venerable remembers how to shoot, and causes another 6 damage to the Knight.

· The Chaplain is out of charge range, and there isn’t a gap for the Contemptors to go after the Knight. But, both Contemptors make their Charge on the Wolf Guard Bikers.

o The Rune Priest Heroic Intervention’s into the less wounded Contemptor.

o Three Bikes fail their saves and join the Emperor.

o The Rune Priest causes 2 damage on the right Contemptor, dropping him down to 3.

o Both Contemptors barely survive!

o The Wolf Guard easily pass their morale test.

[No Photo]

Knight Wolves – Turn 4

· His Knight shifts farther away from the Dreadnoughts on the Right Side.

· The Bikes all fall back and reform the screen.

· His Rune Priest casts Smite, and causes 3 damage, with 0 successful FNPs, easily destroying the Left Contemptor.

· His Knight sends every shot he can into the Venerable Dreadnought.

o He dies an anti-climactic death in the first volley by the Stormspear Rocket Pod, and the rest of the shots are wasted.

Angry Goats – Turn 4

· The Contemptor moves as close as he can to the Knight and gets to within 6 inches.

· The Chaplain Dreadnought moves as close as he can but is still pretty far out.

· The Techmarine Advances and heals 1 wound on the Contemptor, bringing him up to 4 and back into the 2^nd damage tier.

· In desperation, every shot goes into the Knight.

o When the dust settles, 2 damage is caused and the Knight is down to 1 wound remaining.

· The Chaplain is out of Charge Range of the Bikes.

· The Contemptor multi-charges the Knight and the Rune Priest (the one of the left blocking the way).

o The Rapid Fire Gatling Cannon gets an impressive amount of hits, and destroys the Contemptor on the way in.

[No Photo]

Knight Wolves – Turn 5

· His Knight again shifts as far away from the Dread as he can while the Bikes hug the board edge.

· The Bolters, Twin Bolters, and Storm Bolters all go into the Techmarine, and he survives with 2 wounds.

· Unable to target anything else, and even with his reduced profile, the Knight easily annihilates the Techmarine with a massive volley.

Angry Goats – Turn 5

· After measuring, the Dreadnought is just outside 18” of the Knight, so even after moving, he can’t possibly make the charge.

· So instead, he moves towards the bikes, hoping to do some damage to them on the Charge.

· His Assault Cannon and Storm Bolter blast into the Knight, and plink off the final wound!

· At this point, we know that in order to have a chance of winning, the Chaplain Dreadnought has to kill both Wolf Guard and the Rune Priest on the Charge.

· He is unaffected by Overwatch, and makes the Charge!

· 2 attacks are sent after the Wolf Guard.

o 1 attack misses (on a 2+) and the other kills 1 biker.

· 2 attacks are sent after the Rune Priest

o 1 attack misses (on a 2+) and the other causes 3 damage, leaving the Rune Priest alive.

Results:

· With only the Chaplain Dreadnought still alive, the Knight Wolves killed 78 power level worth of units, per the mission.

· With only the Knight having actually died, the Angry Goats only killed 54 power level worth of units, per the mission.

Victory to the Knight Wolves!

Final Thoughts:

· Still missed taking a few pictures this game. Honestly thought I had one for every round, but the Camera felt otherwise, lol. Plus, with so few models, it was easy for each turn to fly by faster than I realized.

· Holy Crap, this game was intense!!! There were three moments that I feel really were critical in the match.

o When I failed 16 FNP rolls on my Venerable Dreadnought. If I had saved even one of them, it would have brought the damage down to just 7, and given me at least 1 round of shooting with both Venerables. Could have put the Knight down as early as turn 3, giving me 2 turns to take on the remaining Bikers.

o When my surviving Venerable Dreadnought rolled double 2’s with the Lascannons to wound the Knight in turn 2. Even with only 1 Venerable Dreadnought left, he was doing decent damage. Had I gotten even just 3 damage with that round of Lascannons, the Knight would have gone down early enough to have given me a chance to kill some Bikes.

o When my damaged Contemptor got absolutely nuked in Overwatch trying to charge the Knight in turn 4. While the Contemptor was pretty bruised at that point, it would only have taken a single good hit with it’s fist to have taken out the Knight at that point. And given me at least 1 turn of shooting for the remaining bikes.

· Some things I could have done better:

o My opponent and I were both fully aware that the Lascannons were the biggest threat to the Knight. Since the odds were that I was not going to be going first, I should have started them tucked outside of Line of Sight, rather than hoping that I could roll enough 6’s to survive the first turn.

o Advanced! With my main ranged anti-tank firepower neutered on the first turn, I should have sacrificed a turn or two of shooting to get my punchy Dreadnoughts closer to the Knight. Their DCCWs were far more likely to put in some lasting damage than a few stray Assault Cannon shots.

o Focused my Assault Cannons on the Bikes. With one Venerable Dreadnought down from turn 1, I got desperate to take down the Knight. But my best shot was to punch him, not shoot him. If I had been able to clear out some of his screening bikes earlier, I might have made the charge directly into the Knight in Turn 3.

o Roll more 6’s! My whole list is based around a slow advance with extra-resilient Dreadnoughts. But if I don’t make those critical feel no pain rolls, the army falls apart faster than a Techmarine can repair them. Have to keep a careful balance of saving Command Points for using Wisdom of the Ancients and rerolling critical saves.

· My Opponent was spot-on with his maneuvering. I tired to box him in, and he shot and punched his way right though my attempts to tie him down.

· His target priority was great as well. With 1 Venerable dead on first turn, and the Contemptors consistently slowed due to damage tiers, I had a hell of a time getting to grips with him.

· In addition, constantly using his bikes to screen the Knight proved a perfect tactic to buy even more time. Had he left a gap between his Bikes on turn 3 for either of my Contemptors to slip through, it could have been a much different game.

· His smart play, coupled with a couple of small instances of bad FNP saves on my part, was more than enough to turn the tide and hand him a well deserved victory!

Edited December 5, 2017 by Goat Rider

[Pearson73]

Sounds a tough game.

 

I'm really enjoying reading these reports and wish you luck in this league!

[Goat Rider]

Glad you're enjoying it!  I'm certainly having a blast playing!  It's a nice change of pace from the seemingly never ending 2K Tournament list prep :)

It was a super intense game!  We were both caught holding our breath on a few pivotal rolls, lol. 

Certainly a game I'll remember for quite some time.  It's not often that a game is as closely matched and engaging enough to go down the the final roll of the final turn to decide a winner!