Vostroyan 94th

[Marshal Marchenko]

++Battle Report++

+Cadians/Militarum Tempestus, Scorched Earth, Search and Destroy+

+Deployment+

I won the roll for deployment and so I took the corner with an objective in a building as the other corner's objective was in the open.

I set up my infantry reasonably far forward to get them towards the objectives as early as possible with my tanks in support to spread the Commissar tank stratagem leadership bubble across as many as possible.

There is an objective i towards each of the neutral corners, one in the centre, one in the sewage pipe by my deployment zone, one in the small building behind my demolisher and one in the open by the cadian guard squad.

+Turn 1+

After seizing the initiative for a fourth time out of five games, my opponent got off to a strong start. He moved his chimeras up and dropped in some scions to get on a total of 4 objectives. He then threaded some shots through the centre building to take out my tank commander for first blood. In my turn, I advanced as many guardsmen as I could to wrestle back control of the battlefield. Unfortunately, I made two tactical blunders this turn which meant I was only able to claim control of two objectives. Firstly, when I brought my rough riders on, they were closer to the Scion commander than the scion squad. Seeing an exposed character, I immediately let loose my plasmaguns and wiped him out before charging the scions. While this worked ok, I should have shot the scions and charged the closer commander as wiping out the obsec scions would have granted me control of that objective. In the opposite corner, I brought my Meltas on and targeted the chimera, thinking that there was little chance of me destroying it. Unfortunately I did, and as such the guardsmen inside disembarked and my opponent now had more models on the objective. Doh!

+Turn 2+

Turn 2 saw the intervention of yet more scions and they, combined with mortar fire took a heavy toll on my infantry. I probably lost around 25 infantry men this turn. Elsewhere, my second leman russ blew up in a firey explosion, taking some more guardsmen with it. However, my opponent struggled to regain control of many objectives, leaving the way open for a comeback. On the left flank, my second rough rider squad entered play and charged the sentinel. This put them on top of the objective in the enemy deployment zone and they destroyed it for two points. In the centre, my cyclops' made contact with his forward line causing massive damage to infantry and tanks alike. Again, my ratmen advanced and consolidated their control over the objectives, scoring me a massive 6 points this turn and bringing the scores back close to level.

+Turn 3+

Turn 3 saw my opponent take out most of the remaining visible units but importantly, he failed to retake any objectives. This allowed me to take the lead for the first time in my turn as I consolidated my squads out of sight onto the objectives.

+Turn 4+

My opponent continued to hammer my visible units but failed to do any real damage although he did finally take out the last of the rough riders thereby retaking that objective. It was too little too late however and with no real way of retaking 3 or 4 of the objective, my opponent conceded at the end of his turn 4. (Knocked down rats were still alive, I only remembered to take a picture after I had removed them so I hurriedly put them back.)

+Result: Vostroyan Victory, Score: Opponent Conceded+

+Verdict+

Despite the end result, this game could have easily flipped the other way if not for my heroic turn 2. That turn saw every infantryman make the advance move they needed to get on objectives as well as every lasgun finding its mark. The roughriders getting onto the enemy objective was also a major stroke of luck as they needed a 10" charge and I burned a CP to reroll a 1 into a 6 to just get it. My artillery were largely ineffective this game due to the opponents lack of tanks and my lucky cyclops and melta squads taking out the majority of them. I am now 4-2 in the league which places me in joint 3rd of 12 by number of losses. This is pretty good but I still have some nasty lists to face.

+Hobby Progress+

Something big is on the way:

This thing is taking ages to do as it is my first big resin model. Sooo many mouldslips to clean up but thankfully once the armour plates are on, they should hide most of them.

[librisrouge]

I have one of them and they're exactly as pretty and wonderful as you think it is. What do you plan to do as a base? It doesn't come with one and I'm a big believer that it needs one. I found a little wooden placard that I'm modifying. Any ideas?

[Marshal Marchenko]

I have a piece of 6mm ply that I could cut out and put a beveled edge on. As for how I'll decorate it, I have some Mechanicum building panels I got for free years ago that I might repurpose for it. I haven't given it too much thought yet as I need to buy some magnets and a load of paints to do the scheme I want to do but can't afford them right now so it won't see use for a while.

[Marshal Marchenko]

+League Update+

I played another league game last night against a Salamanders list featuring 3 quad-las predators but it was very one sided in my favour so I won't bother writing it up.

+Hobby Progress+

Here is a WIP photo of some of my ratmen. I am trying to decide on the scheme going forward. As these ratmen will be doing dual duty as conscripts and infantry squads, I was planning to divide them into groups of 10 and use a different colour instead of green on each in order to differentiate the squads easier. However, I have decided that the Knight World my regiment is assigned to is Damaetus III/II, home of House Vyronii. As the ratmen were meant to represent mutants shipped in to form a feudal peasant class for the devastated world in the wake of the heresy, it makes sense for them to wear some dark green as that is one of the House's colours. I am also thinking that I will paint the guns grey in the future and only have the aquilas blue so that they still tie in with my guard but don't stand out as much. One suggestion I have received for differentiating the squads is to paint different numbers of stripes on the guns. I am interested to hear what the forum thinks on these issues + general C&C.

[Marshal Marchenko]

My next game is arranged. This should prove to be a tough one as my opponent is the only undefeated player in the league and he uses a -1 to hit chapter trait which guard armies tend to hate.

 

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Imperium - Space Marines) [31 PL, 449pts] ++
 

*Chapter Selection*: Raven Guard

+ Troops +

Scout Squad: 5x Camo cloak

Scout Squad: 5x Camo cloak

Scout Squad: 5x Camo cloak

 

+ HQ +

Librarian: 1) Veil of Time, 6) Null Zone, Combi-melta, Force axe, Jump Pack

Librarian: 2) Might of Heroes, 5) Psychic Fortress, Boltgun, Force axe

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Imperium - Space Marines) [75 PL, 1395pts] ++
 

*Chapter Selection*: Raven Guard

+ Heavy Support +

Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought

. Two Kheres assault cannons

Hellblaster Squad: 10x Plasma incinerator

Hellblaster Squad: 10x Plasma incinerator

 

+ Troops +

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

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

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

+ HQ +

Captain in Gravis Armor: Boltstorm gauntlet, Master-crafted power sword, Warlord - Storm of Fire

Primaris Lieutenant

Master-crafted auto bolt rifle

+ Elites +

Aggressor Squad: 4x Aggressor, Aggressor Sergeant, Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Grenade Launcher

Primaris Ancient: Standard of the Emperor Ascendant

++ Total: [115 PL, 2000pts] ++

 

So the main threats from this list as far as I can tell will be the 2 10 man Helblaster squads and the 5 man Aggressor squad backed up by a variety of characters. The scouts and intercessors probably cant be dealt with effectively due to the ravenguard trait so as they have quite a low damage output I will probably ignore them as even if they are sitting on objectives, I will out number them. As for the main threats, I fully expect him to use a large chunk of his CP to deepstrike them in before the first turn. I therefore need to deploy cleverly to limit the damage they can put out. My cyclops will be vital here as if he drops too close, they hit automatically and do D3 damage so could neuter his best units early. However, I doubt he will fall for that so the cyclops will just be a deterrent. When the game starts, those aggressors will be target priority one for the manticore as they are one of the few units in his list that can effectively tackle the massed infantry that I put out and the manticore wounds them on twos. I am less scared of the helblasters, as although they will tear through my tanks, I don't think they pose too much of a threat to my infantry who are the game winners of this list. So that's the strategy, honestly though, I'm not sure how much it will help as that -1 to hit really cripples guard and doesn't really have a counter so this might be a bit of a rock paper scissors matchup.

 

I'd love to hear any advice for dealing with this list.

[WarriorFish]

Looks like a pretty strong list, somewhat predictable though. Take out the aura characters as soon as you can as the Lieutenant in particular will be quite annoying. The -1 to hit will be his trump card, so plan for it at all stages. Some good deployment for example could restrict his options so he has to choose between enjoying his -1 or getting decent shots in. Good luck! :tu:

[Marshal Marchenko]

If I get the opportunity to snipe out his characters I definitely will have a go but unless my snipers get very lucky or he makes an unusual blunder with his unit placement and my rough riders can get in, I think its unlikely that I'll be able to reliably do it.

[WarriorFish]

Unfortunately that is likely to be the case, but on the positive side it does make their movements more predictable. So even if you can't get at them keeping a close eye on their positioning will help and you never know the snipers might get lucky or perhaps they may make your opponent be more conservative or something else you can exploit :)

[Halfpint100]

I would say hellblasters, the aggressors and that contemptor are all threats. Focus on one at a time though in order to thin them out. It will be a tough game. Might be worth preliminary bombardment turn 1 to knock a few wounds off. Also, that ancient with the banner let's his models shoot or fight again if they are killed within the banner's range. So he needs to die!

[Marshal Marchenko]

+Battle Report+

2000pts, Resupply Drop, Vanguard Strike

+Deployment+

Utilising all of his command points before the first turn, my opponent kept the majority of his forces off the board using the Ravenguard Stratagem and upgraded his Captain to a Chapter Master. Knowing that my opponent would probably drop all his damage dealers on one side I tried to spread out my force to protect them from the aggressors. Unfortunately, this ended up being in vain as my opponent won first turn and so could then deploy his forces knowing that he would get the first opportunity to do some damage. Given the terrain set up on this board and the army I was facing, I think that this deployment map was possibly the worst option for me as it forced me to bunch up more than I would have liked.

+Turn 1+

Turn 1 was brutal. One squad of aggressors killed 5 full infantry squads after morale tests which would severely hamper my ability to capture objectives later in the game. Still, my primary damage dealers in the tanks were mostly (with the exception of the demolisher and banewolf) still fully operational. Knowing that I could ill afford to let those aggressors remain standing, I focussed the majority of my fire into them, leaving only one remaining. This did however, due to the nearby ancient, allow him to maul another infantry squad and my infiltrating command squad with their death shots. I also put some shots into the Helblasters, killing a couple, but they in return took down the rough riders with their death shots. Finally, on the left flank, One squad of guardsmen made it into combat with one of the helblaster units but only two survived. I knew this was a suicide mission but I hoped to tie them up and prevent them from shooting for a turn.

+Turn 2+

My opponent started his turn by smiting the plucky guardsmen in combat with the helblasters. So much for that plan. This turn, the helblasters were used against a basilisk and nearby tank commander, virtually destroying the basilisk but leaving the commander only slightly damaged. On the right flank, intercessors and the remaining aggressors made short work of an infantry squad charging for the objective. In my turn, fluffed wound rolls meant that I was only able to finish off the remaining aggressor and put a couple of wounds on the helblasters. This was turning into a very difficult game.

+Turn 3+

The destruction continued in turn 3 as the basilisk was finished off and the manticore was brought down to a single wound. All the while, my opponent continued his advance towards my objective. This turned out fortuitous for him as of the three alpha objectives he selected, only the one nearest to his troops remained on the field. In my turn, it was the centre objective that remained. Achievable but not a great result. I tried to focus in on the contemptor to try and protect my remaining infantry but it was to no avail as I rolled low for my hits on all my tanks and then nothing but ones for damage taking away only three wounds.

+Turn 4+

Turn 4 was mostly mopping up for my opponent. The helblasters took down my tanks while his characters assaulted my warlord and command squad. In the centre I had move, move, moved my remaining infantry squad towards the objective hoping that enough could survive that I would outnumber him on it but it was not to be.

+Turn 5+

Turn 5 saw my opponent mop up the last of my forces as I was tabled before I could take my turn.

+Final Score+

Vostroyans Tabled, Ravenguard Victory

+Conclusions+

In a rarity for me, I think my target priority for this game was pretty spot on and I was reasonably lucky with my hit rolls considering -1 modifier my opponent had. However, I think my deployment could have used some work. When playing guard, I am almost desperate from the first turn to start advancing towards objectives. As my list does not have any transports, it is very slow and so in order to have any hope of achieving far objectives I have to move forward from the first turn. This strategy has won me games in the past (see the AdMech game above) however it meant that I deployed too many guardsmen within range of his aggressors. Even though I didn't know where he would deploy them, I think if I had deployed my infantry squads further back, I would only have had to sacrifice about 3 squads rather than 5. This is only a maybe though as I feel that the deployment map really screwed me over as it prevented me from using my numbers advantage to spread across the battlefield and so force my opponent to split up his force and so lose some of the bubble effects. Lastly, I think if I had gotten first turn, the game would have been very different. Those last two aspects I can't change however, so next time I play the Ravenguard I will definitely reconsider my deployment.

+List Thoughts+

As I have almost reached the end of the regular league and will soon be playing in the playoffs, I have been considering how I would change my list if I were to do competitive list again. Firstly, I have no counter for the -1 to hit shenanigans. Looking through the guard book, the only answer to this I can come up with is large units of either rough riders or Bulgryns. Bulgryns are probably the superior choice of the two as they infinitely more survivable. I could also do with some scout sentinels to push back deep strikers. The cyclops have been mostly successful at deterring melee deepstrikers but are mostly useless against shooty deepstrikers as, due to their vehicle keyword preventing them moving through walls, it is hard to keep them hidden without negating their threat entirely. I would also consider running my ratmen as conscripts in a valhallan platoon and utilising their relic to keep them around. Lastly, having more snipers would also definitely be a boon as so many of the stronger armies I have faced rely on their characters.

[Tallarn Commander]

Tough game. Raven Guard have always been difficult for me to deal with. You were wise to focus fire on the aggressors. Those suckers put out an inordinate amount of anti-infantry firepower.

 

Would you consider adding 2 to 3 solo sentinels and 2 small squads of 5 ratlings to your list? They are fairly cheap in points and they would shove back any deepstrikers and they might shove back infiltrators a bit too. This would allow you to maintain the initiative by deploying your ground pounders on the line rather than further back. Plus, I rather enjoy my ATSTs and hobbits in space. :)

[Marshal Marchenko]

I am definitely considering adding sentinels and ratlings, I am just trying to work out how I can make scout sentinels with vostroyan pilots. Previously my cyclops have been enough but against units that can take them out with shooting when they deepstrike they dont help. Sentinels and ratlings would definitely help in that respect.

[walter h]

The cms, sniper has a head you might like as in style,but the pilot would require so .me GS ,skills

[spafe]

can you use 3rd party stuff... mad robot and a few others have some lovely vostie looking heads.

 

Sounds like a really tough game. Kudos to you, losing 5 squads before I even had a turn would really take the wind out of my sails if I'm honest (well, when you dont run pure inf anyway, my 2k list could prob lose 5 a turn and still have men alive at the end).

[WarriorFish]

Good to see you're getting lots of games in, hard games and loses are good as you learn much more from them ;)

[Marshal Marchenko]

One idea I have been tinkering around with is running an Elysian battalion with my vostroyan brigade. Elysian commissars still operate under the pre faq rule so would allow me to use my ratmen as vostroyan conscripts and Elysian sniper teams look awesome. 3 BS3+ snipers with 2w and deepstrike for 21 points. It would also allow me to run cyclops at the same points cost but with deepstrike. Therefore, if I drop the rough riders for sentinels, I can use Elysian infantry squads to cap backfield objectives instead.

[Halfpint100]

One idea I have been tinkering around with is running an Elysian battalion with my vostroyan brigade. Elysian commissars still operate under the pre faq rule so would allow me to use my ratmen as vostroyan conscripts and Elysian sniper teams look awesome. 3 BS3+ snipers with 2w and deepstrike for 21 points. It would also allow me to run cyclops at the same points cost but with deepstrike. Therefore, if I drop the rough riders for sentinels, I can use Elysian infantry squads to cap backfield objectives instead.

 

I am afraid they did change them in the most recent FAQ, it is just a bit hidden. You need the 1.1 edition

 

Pages 64 and 73 – Summary Execution Change this ability to read: ‘Summary Execution: The first time an Astra Militarum unit fails a Morale test during the Morale phase whilst it is within 6" of any friendly Commissars, one model of your choice in that unit is slain and the Morale test is re-rolled (do not include this slain model when re-rolling the Morale test).’

[Marshal Marchenko]

Ah that makes sense. I was just looking in the Elysian FAQ section not the Death Korps one

[Marshal Marchenko]

And my next opponent will be the Dark Angels. This list features a castle of Devastators and Razorbacks with a darkshroud to make them hard to hit. I think for this one, I will try and take out the Darkshroud ASAP before going for the razorbacks. If I take out those two targets, I think he will struggle to deal with my infantry and I can then go for the objectives.

 

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Imperium - Dark Angels) [58 PL, 1142pts] ++

+ Fast Attack +

Ravenwing Darkshroud : Assault cannon

+ HQ +

Librarian : 1) Mind Worm, 2) Aversion, Bolt pistol, Force stave

Ravenwing Talonmaster
. Land Speeder: Twin assault cannon, Twin heavy bolter
. Talonmaster: Heavenfall Blade
. Warlord: Brilliant Stragegist

+ Troops +

Tactical Squad: 3x Space Marine
. Heavy Weapon Marine: Lascannon
. Space Marine Sergeant: Boltgun, Chainsword

Tactical Squad: 3x Space Marine
. Heavy Weapon Marine: Lascannon
. Space Marine Sergeant: Boltgun, Chainsword

Tactical Squad: 3x Space Marine
. Heavy Weapon Marine: Lascannon
. Space Marine Sergeant: Boltgun, Chainsword

+ Dedicated Transport +

Razorback: Twin assault cannon

Razorback: Twin assault cannon

Razorback: Twin assault cannon

+ Elites +

Chapter Ancient: Combi-flamer

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Imperium - Dark Angels) [48 PL, 854pts] ++

+ HQ +

Librarian on Bike: 2) Aversion, 3) Righteous Repugnance, Boltgun, Force axe
. Space Marine bike: Twin boltgun

Lieutenants
. Lieutenant: Chainsword, Master-crafted boltgun

+ Troops +

Scout Squad: 4x Scout (Boltgun)
. Scout Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

Scout Squad: 4x Scout (Boltgun)
. Scout Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

Scout Squad: 4x Scout (Boltgun)
. Scout Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

+ Heavy Support +

Devastators
. Space Marine (Lascannon): Lascannon
. 3x Space Marine (Missile launcher): 3x Missile launcher
. Space Marine Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

Devastators
. Space Marine (Lascannon): Lascannon
. 3x Space Marine (Missile launcher): 3x Missile launcher
. Space Marine Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

Devastators
. Space Marine (Lascannon): Lascannon
. 3x Space Marine (Missile launcher): 3x Missile launcher
. Space Marine Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

++ Total: [106 PL, 1996pts] ++

 

Any advice? I haven't played dark angels before so are there any stratagems etc I should watch out for?

[Halfpint100]

Kill the darkshroud asap. It does have a small bubble though, so won't affect his whole army. He has a lot of assault cannons and due to characters, will re-roll 1s to hit and wound on his devs and maybe razorbacks.

 

Target priority and play sneakily if they haven't have moved, those twin ass cannon backs will delete an infantry squad a turn. So use cover

 

Due to his castling, if you can sneak a cyclops from cover to cover to get in that castle. It will hurt him!

[Marshal Marchenko]

++Battle Report++

+2000pts, Resupply drop, Search and Destroy+

+Deployment and Turn 1+

I deployed my forces in the standard way, artillery in the rear with russes in the centre and infantry screening. I won the first turn and immediately began to advance towards the objectives to try and achieve board control. For clarity, there is an objective in the building within my deployment zone, one in the centre building, one in the near side building and one in the devastator tower.

Then, using firstborn pride to nullify the nightshroud's aura I dropped a manticore missile on it and wiped it out with a little help from a basilisk. I then used my remaining heavy firepower to target the razorbacks, dropping one down to half wounds. In my opponent's turn, those same razorbacks and the missile launcher devs in their tower targeted my infantry, wiping out a good chunk. The lascannons turned on my banewolf but failed to do anything significant. This game would see my banewolf tank an unbelievable number of lascannon shots and just keep going.

+Turn 2+

In turn 2 I advanced again securing the nearside and central objectives. My artillery, now unhindered by the nightshroud started to take a heavy toll on the unforgiven. Another razorback fell along with a number of devastators and tactical marines in the backfield. My opponent returned fire but couldn't achieve much of consequence as my banewolf continued to tank everything thrown at it and the leman russes in the centre having used strike and shroud were difficult to hit. Notably, my cyclops managed to charge the remaining razorback which had to fall back. Here, my opponent made a vital mistake and let them live leaving them ominously close to his lines.

+Turn 3+

At the start of each of our turns, 2 objectives disappeared leaving the central objective and the far side one, held by the scouts in the picture above. This turn saw the battle conclusively turn in my favour as the cyclops closed with the devastator tower. As my opponent had layered his three dev squads vertically through the building to give them the best aura coverage, they were all within range of my cyclops explosion. One cyclops killed roughly 9 devastators, an ancient, a lieutenant and a librarian while the other took out the remaining razorback and some marines. It doesn't happen often, but when your opponent leaves the cyclops alone, they absolutely devastate armies.

At this point, hoping to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, my opponent jumped his warlord speeder onto the central objective and wiped out the guardsrats holding it. This was too little too late unfortunately as next turn I killed him with tank fire and my opponent conceded.

+Vostroyan Victory, Opponent Conceded+

+Conclusions+

Grabbing first turn was absolutely pivotal in this game. being able to take out the darkshroud and get my guardsmen into cover on objectives helped out a tonne. If my opponent had taken first turn, he would have been able to take out a whole heap of my guardsmen thus severely hindering my ability to score objectives. That being said, tactical cyclops related blunders aside, this was one of those games where I rolled all 6s and my opponent rolled all ones.

+Hobby Progress+

The ratmen cometh!

[librisrouge]

Good battle report and certainly one that taught your opponent a few lessons. I really need to get my demo tankettes built. Sometimes a plan just comes together beautifully and, in this case, beautifully means explosively.

[Hobojay40k]

Good battle report and certainly one that taught your opponent a few lessons. I really need to get my demo tankettes built. Sometimes a plan just comes together beautifully and, in this case, beautifully means explosively.

Only one really bud, kill the bloody cyclops next time!!

[Marshal Marchenko]

 

Good battle report and certainly one that taught your opponent a few lessons. I really need to get my demo tankettes built. Sometimes a plan just comes together beautifully and, in this case, beautifully means explosively.

Only one really bud, kill the bloody cyclops next time!!

 

Yeah, if you had put a couple of those lascannons into the cyclops rather than the banewolf, this could have gone very differently.

[librisrouge]

 

Good battle report and certainly one that taught your opponent a few lessons. I really need to get my demo tankettes built. Sometimes a plan just comes together beautifully and, in this case, beautifully means explosively.

Only one really bud, kill the bloody cyclops next time!!

 

One very important lesson, though!