The Lion and the Wolf (Redux) - Battle Report

[Berzul]

This Battle Report is dedicated to Kasper_Hawser

 

Today I fought a battle against Space Wolves. A challenge that had been pending resolution for quite some weeks. Although tt was a short battle, it was fought with savagery and honor, befitting both armies. What follows is an accounting of what the confrontation was like.

 

REPORT

 

This was a battle at 1850 points between my Dark Angel's Successor Chapter and a Space Wolves army. The scenario was Spoils of War from the Maelstrom of War missions. The board was set up with a statue of the Honored Imperium at the center of the board, in the middle of a crossroads, with a whole side of the board covered in blast craters and small patches of forest, and another board showing a small hill and some blasted terrain. Barriers were set up forming a sort of defensive line across the blasted craters.

 

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Objectives were placed as follows:

 

(1) On the far hill

(2) On the blasted terrain

(3) On one of the sides of the crossroads

(4) On the other side of the crossroads

(5) On one edge of the defensive line of craters

(6) On a gap in between the defensive line of craters

 

My army consisted of a Vanguard and an Outrider. A Company Master in Jump Pack leading 2 squads of Deathwing Terminators, a squad of Deathwing Knights, and a Deathwing Ancient. Then a Librarian on bike leading 2 Ravenwing Bike Squads of 4 bikes and an attack bike each, as well as Ravenwing Darkshroud and a Ravenwing Dark Talon.

 

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My opponent's army was a Batallion. Logar Grimnar and Njal Stormcaller, leading 2 squads of Long Fangs (one with missiles one with lascannons), a grey hunter squad in a Landrider, a squad of Wulfen, a squad of Terminators, and two squads of intercessors.

 

(No picture, sorry)

 

Deployment was front line assault. I deployed first, but finished deploying second, giving the Space Wolves first turn. I placed my ravenwing in a spearhead formation, with the Deathwing in reserve. My opponent placed the Landrider in the center of the board, with the Long Fangs in cover in woods and hills, all covered with screens of intercessors. His Terminators and Wulfen, along with his characters, were placed in reserve and deepstrike.

 

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Then my chance came to seize the initiative... and I did!!

 

So, first turn went to the Dark Angels.

 

TURN ONE

 

I drew Area Denial, Secure Objective 5, and Domination. I planned on discarding the las one, but the first was an auto D3 points. So, I moved my bikes forward, while keeping one bike squad in a line holding the 5th objective which was on my side. Then I dropped my deathwing in a long line in front of my opponent, with my knights flanking the Landraider.

 

Shooting did NOT go my way, managing to do little damage to my opponent. Charges did not go any better, failing all, even with the use of command points. But, Aversion and the Icon of Old Caliban, gave me hope of lasting the turn against his barrage of heavy weapons.

 

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My opponent dropped his Wulfen and Terminators, along with Njal, on my flank, going after my bikes that were holding objective 5. Lognar dropped next to the Landraider to start granting his aura of rerolls.

 

His shooting managed to kill a terminator on each squad, but little else. He wasted a lot of shots at -3 against my Dark Talon, which was pretty much what I had planned. His charges though, were good. He only tried one, with his terminators, against my bikes over objective 5, and though I managed to survive the charge, I was engaged now in a loosing combat. The rest of his units just worked as curtains for the Landraider and the Long Fangs, with the Grey Hunters covering Lognar himself; so no more combat took place.

 

By the end of Turn One, I was 3-0 and winning.

 

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TURN TWO

 

This is where pretty much all hell broke loose.

 

I drew objective 6, then moved my engaged bikes out of combat, turbo boosting them past the terminators and in between them and the Wulfen, over to objective 6. Then I moved everything else on up, closing in on my oponent in one large combat line.

 

Without much else to cast, since I was planning on entering melee now, I decided to cast mind worm on Logar Grimnar. With Njal so far away, he could not stop it. This is important.

 

Shots were fired, and then I charged with everything. Absolutely everything. Bikes, terminators, terminators, knights, company master, everthing I had. Units got tied into combat, piling in in such a way as to end up with the Intercessors and the Landraider, all tied up with everything in combat range of everything.

 

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My knights, nearby, managed to engage the las Grey Hunter that survived the shooting phase, encircling him. This is also important.

 

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During combat, I managed to get a lot of wounds into the Landraider, and I crushed the single Grey Hunter that was facing my Deathwing Knights. Then I consolidated 3 inches into Lognar, and I managed to tie him in with one Knight.

 

My opponent's turn came up.

 

He shot down my Dark Talon. Then chased up my bikes with his terminators, and tied them into combat again, looking to get objective 6. Started advancing his Wulfen.

 

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Then, with little else to do, combat continued.

 

He activated his terminators, killing most bikes but leaving 2 alive.

 

Then I spent 2 CP and counterattacked with my Deathwing Knights. I piled in, encircling Lognar, managing to get them into the Rites of Battle Aura of my nearby-engaged Company Master. At the same time, I decided NOT to pile in my Knight Master, keeping him in coherency of the squad, but within the aura of the Deathwing Ancient.

 

So, I had 12 attacks on Lognar.

 

He recieved 15 wounds in total.

 

It was beautiful.

 

Then the rest of the battle went on, with my ravenwing bikers getting in the last wound on the Landraider, destroying it.

 

It didn't explode.

 

That was even more beautiful.

 

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This gave me, by now, First Blood, Kingslayer, Line Breaker, Area Denial (2), Objective 5 and Objective 6. My opponent, at the same time, had Objective 6.

 

With half his army on the far side of the board, the rest of his forces decimated, and with such a wide gap in points, my opponent and I decided to call it on the bottom of turn 2.

 

A battle worthy of the virtues of both the Lion and the Wolf. Tactical and strategical. Swift and brutal. A quick clash that ended in absolute mayhem. And, when the dust settled and the air cleared, it was the Lion that stood victorious over the Wolf.

 

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Edited December 10, 2017 by Berzul

[Berzul]

(I just realized we used Mind Worm wrong... Damn... it clearly wouldn't have made a HUGE difference in te scores... but, still)

[Kasper_Hawser]

Oh God, I'm sorry if your friend is close to you, but as a fellow Wolf Player, I felt that his gameplay was disgraceful. the most minor of which is daring to field such ill completed models that was the Intercessors. OK, that one is my personal standard which I shouldn't push unto others, but seriously, it is such an eyesore seeing your awesome Deathwing Knights having to battle naked torsos with legs.

 

It's not that he lost against you that makes me annoyed, but his target priority is also off. Remember that this is a maelstrom game with speed and objectives being king.

 

1) Instead of targeting your terminators which was his IMMEDIATE THREAT or the Ravenwing which was your greatest/fastest strength in grabbing objectives, he instead targetted the Dark Talon which cannot capture objectives. Yes the Dark Talon has good weapons but in terms of the GAME, it is useless and on average, kill only 3 models a turn (2 for the cannon, 1 for the mortal wound.)

 

2) His Wulfen was also aimed at the wrong units, that was the one that SHOULD have been used against Deathwing Knights. Despite the 3++, Wulfen also a 5+ FNP against any wound and can carry shields themselves. And even if they die, THEY GET TO SWING BACK. Instead, he overcommitted a terminator squad and a wulfen squad against your bikes and left Logan completely unsupported.

 

golly gee! Leaving Logan to face DWKs? And I suppose he forgot that Wulfen have 7" and can advance and charge, therefore can also grab objectives if needed. GAH!!!!

 

I wonder how he dropped the Wulfen nearby.

 

3) Similarly, Njal was in the wrong place, should have been nearby Logan to deal mortal wounds, maybe even Jaws of the World Wof. Instead he put Njal near the bikes where Jaws is useless. The terminator HQs should have stuck together, support the Wulfen and made sure the DWK died before moving off.

 

Sigh, nvm. i'm going back to my lair and despair that once again, the only battle reports I see of the Wolves are of them getting their butts kicked, and in this game, it wasn't due to you outplaying him, but through what I think is sloppy strategy.

[Berzul]

Well... I do like to think I played a good list, and handled it with some good strategy and tactics, which was a factor into my victory

 

First off, the Dark Talon itself. I did bring it as a threat generator. Its weapons, against power armor, are not that good. I get more shots out of a bike squad most of the time. And this worked as planned. I went forward with it, and he spent almost all his firepower in bringing it down. Leaving my army almost without a scratch, and allowing me to drive/teleport right into charge range.

 

Secondly, I played the objectives. My list was meant to be played as a fast mobile force for objective capturing, while the Deathwing press the enemy from turn one. And I did get all of my objective cards this way.

Thirdly, I played my charges and my model positioning as best I could and needed. I managed charges, consolidations, and aura abilities, all tied in a nice bow to get Lognar into combat and smash him to bits, before he could get to me.

 

But, at the same time, I did get first turn which is a big deal. He did split his army in a way that made no sense at all (all your comments on the Wulfen, I agree with), taking a bait (the second bike squad) that I honestly didn't expect to work as well as it did (that was my fourthly tactical decision). He did mess up his target priorities.

 

So, I think my list was capable of winning this, had he played his army better, but it helped me win by turn 2 that he made a lot of weird calls that went to his detriment.

[SmiteThemAll]

Nice report!

 

How did you get on with the new stratagems ? Also which warlord trait did you end up using?

We certainly don't get a lot for 1850. I'm currently pulling all the cyclone missile launchers off my Deathwing in a desperate bid to make them cheaper. Seems like you went with Assault cannons. 

 

I'd love to go Deathwing/Ravenwing but currently my Ravenwing force is quite expensive (Sammy in Sableclaw/ 3xLandspeeder Typhoons/5 Black knights = 836 points)

Might have to try some Greenwing for a while and go the boring stand in a circle around Azreal and shoot route.

T

[Berzul]

Thanks!!

 

This was an Index fight. Haven't gotten my hands on a copy lf the Codex yet. So, no stratagems.

 

And yeah, I never did care much for Cyclone Missile Launchers. They always seemed (and still do seem) way to expensive. If they fired 2D6 frag shots instead of 2D3, I'd consider them. But I much rather take 6 shots flat, at S6 AP-1. I loose the Storm Bolter, sure, but is a good investment anyway I think.

 

As for warlord traits, went with +1A from the core rulebook.

[Kasper_Hawser]

Well... I do like to think I played a good list, and handled it with some good strategy and tactics, which was a factor into my victory

 

First off, the Dark Talon itself. I did bring it as a threat generator. Its weapons, against power armor, are not that good. I get more shots out of a bike squad most of the time. And this worked as planned. I went forward with it, and he spent almost all his firepower in bringing it down. Leaving my army almost without a scratch, and allowing me to drive/teleport right into charge range.

 

Secondly, I played the objectives. My list was meant to be played as a fast mobile force for objective capturing, while the Deathwing press the enemy from turn one. And I did get all of my objective cards this way.

Thirdly, I played my charges and my model positioning as best I could and needed. I managed charges, consolidations, and aura abilities, all tied in a nice bow to get Lognar into combat and smash him to bits, before he could get to me.

 

But, at the same time, I did get first turn which is a big deal. He did split his army in a way that made no sense at all (all your comments on the Wulfen, I agree with), taking a bait (the second bike squad) that I honestly didn't expect to work as well as it did (that was my fourthly tactical decision). He did mess up his target priorities.

 

So, I think my list was capable of winning this, had he played his army better, but it helped me win by turn 2 that he made a lot of weird calls that went to his detriment.

 

Well... I do like to think I played a good list, and handled it with some good strategy and tactics, which was a factor into my victory

 

First off, the Dark Talon itself. I did bring it as a threat generator. Its weapons, against power armor, are not that good. I get more shots out of a bike squad most of the time. And this worked as planned. I went forward with it, and he spent almost all his firepower in bringing it down. Leaving my army almost without a scratch, and allowing me to drive/teleport right into charge range.

 

Secondly, I played the objectives. My list was meant to be played as a fast mobile force for objective capturing, while the Deathwing press the enemy from turn one. And I did get all of my objective cards this way.

Thirdly, I played my charges and my model positioning as best I could and needed. I managed charges, consolidations, and aura abilities, all tied in a nice bow to get Lognar into combat and smash him to bits, before he could get to me.

 

But, at the same time, I did get first turn which is a big deal. He did split his army in a way that made no sense at all (all your comments on the Wulfen, I agree with), taking a bait (the second bike squad) that I honestly didn't expect to work as well as it did (that was my fourthly tactical decision). He did mess up his target priorities.

 

So, I think my list was capable of winning this, had he played his army better, but it helped me win by turn 2 that he made a lot of weird calls that went to his detriment.

 

sorry mate, please don't take this as criticism against you. It's the other guy I'm very disappointed with. List weirdness is one thing. You want to play Grey Hunters with Land Raider, nothing wrong. I just didn't see ANYTHING that made sense in his side. and for that, i'm so ashamed on behalf of Wolf players.

[Berzul]

 

Well... I do like to think I played a good list, and handled it with some good strategy and tactics, which was a factor into my victory

 

First off, the Dark Talon itself. I did bring it as a threat generator. Its weapons, against power armor, are not that good. I get more shots out of a bike squad most of the time. And this worked as planned. I went forward with it, and he spent almost all his firepower in bringing it down. Leaving my army almost without a scratch, and allowing me to drive/teleport right into charge range.

 

Secondly, I played the objectives. My list was meant to be played as a fast mobile force for objective capturing, while the Deathwing press the enemy from turn one. And I did get all of my objective cards this way.

Thirdly, I played my charges and my model positioning as best I could and needed. I managed charges, consolidations, and aura abilities, all tied in a nice bow to get Lognar into combat and smash him to bits, before he could get to me.

 

But, at the same time, I did get first turn which is a big deal. He did split his army in a way that made no sense at all (all your comments on the Wulfen, I agree with), taking a bait (the second bike squad) that I honestly didn't expect to work as well as it did (that was my fourthly tactical decision). He did mess up his target priorities.

 

So, I think my list was capable of winning this, had he played his army better, but it helped me win by turn 2 that he made a lot of weird calls that went to his detriment.

 

sorry mate, please don't take this as criticism against you. It's the other guy I'm very disappointed with. List weirdness is one thing. You want to play Grey Hunters with Land Raider, nothing wrong. I just didn't see ANYTHING that made sense in his side. and for that, i'm so ashamed on behalf of Wolf players.

 

 

Oh, don't worry, man. I did not take it as a criticism! I'm sorry. I typed this with some levity in mind, bit text never conveys tone.

 

All I meant was that, yeah, I agree that my opponent played an inefficient list, and played it with a less than effective strategy. But that, at the same time, I did have tactics and a strategy in mind for my list, and that I did not see it (as a player in the match) as only a mistake on his part to have been what gave me a victory, but a combination of good rolls, good tactics, and an inefficient list for my opponent.