Wolves v Knights league night

[TiguriusX]

2k points Space Wolves v Knights

My list-Ladies night!

I wanted to field test vindicare assassins. I was theory crafting the tournament I attended. Vindicares would be a real PITA to eldar psykers

This list includes 500 points worth of my shield maiden assassins

++ Vanguard Detachment (Imperium - Officio Assassinorum) ++

+ Elites +

Callidus Assassin

Culexus Assassin

Culexus Assassin

Eversor Assassin

Vindicare Assassin

Vindicare Assassin

++ Vanguard Detachment +1CP (Imperium - Space Wolves) ++

+ HQ +

Bjorn the Fell-handed: Heavy flamer, Saga of the Warrior Born, Twin lascannon, Warlord

+ Elites +

Venerable Dreadnought
. Fenrisian Great Axe and Blizzard Shield: Blizzard shield, Fenrisian great axe

Venerable Dreadnought
. Fenrisian Great Axe and Blizzard Shield: Blizzard shield, Fenrisian great axe

Wolf Guard on Bikes
. Wolf Guard on Bike: Storm bolter, Storm shield
. . Bike: Twin boltgun
. Wolf Guard on Bike: Storm bolter, Storm shield
. . Bike: Twin boltgun
. Wolf Guard on Bike: Storm bolter, Storm shield
. . Bike: Twin boltgun
. Wolf Guard on Bike: Storm bolter, Storm shield
. . Bike: Twin boltgun
. Wolf Guard on Bike Pack Leader: Bolt Pistol, Storm bolter, Thunder hammer
. . Bike: Twin boltgun

+ Heavy Support +

Relic Leviathan Dreadnought: 2x Heavy flamer, 3x Hunter-killer missile, Storm cannon array, Storm cannon array

++ Outrider Detachment +1CP (Imperium - Space Wolves) ++

+ HQ +

Iron Priest on Bike: Boltgun, Servo-arm, Thunder hammer
. Bike: Twin boltgun

+ Fast Attack +

Cyberwolves: Cyberwolf

Cyberwolves: Cyberwolf

Cyberwolves: Cyberwolf

+ Heavy Support +

Long Fangs
. Long Fang: Plasma cannon
. Long Fang: Plasma cannon
. Long Fang: Plasma cannon
. Long Fang: Plasma cannon
. Long Fang Pack Leader: Chainsword, Plasma gun
. Wolf Guard Pack Leader in Terminator Armour: Combi-plasma, Storm shield

++ Total: [108 PL, 1998pts] ++

His list

3 Knights

-Crusader (Warlord)

-Castellan

-Paladin

-2xHelverin Armigers

Mission: Secure and Control

Deployment: Dawn of war

I place my objective in the rear so I can hide infantry in the building and claim it

He places his objective in the middle of the killing field

Batrep!

I start deployment with a vindicare in the building and another on the backside on my objective

I place my callidus, eversor and a culexis in reserve and he is done with his placement. I mull over LOS options and then decide YOLO!! Full frontal assault.

He wins the roll to go first

I fail to seize

T1-top he moves forward and then unloads his knightly firepower

Helverin #1 gets 9 shots on my shield dread but only 2 wounds which I save

Helverin #2 puts 8 shots on my bikes and I fail 1/4 saves (dead biker)

Paladin has 2 battlecannon ("BC") shots and uses a CP to land both. I take 2 damage on my leviathan. The storm spear adds 2 more damage.

Castellan puts 3 volcanos on the shield dread. I save 1 but CP reroll fails and I eat 9 damage and die

Crusader puts 10 BC on the other shield dread. I fail 3 saves for 6 damage but FNP 1 of them. The avenger cannon takes 2 more wounds off and the stubbers finish off the dread

He is ahead 1-0 for first blood

T1-bottom

This is not good...my best weapons for killing knights are off the table

I push forward to clear the middle as best I can

My IP repairs 3 wounds on the leviathan as well

Bikes manage to put 5 wounds on the helverin and sneak 2 damage past the armor saves

Bjorn drops 11 LC damage on the castellan

Iron Priest finishes his repairs and bolters 1 damage on the nearby helverin

Leviathan splits fire and puts 3 HK into the WL-Crusader causing 5 damage and the storm cannons onto the helverin for 10 damage (it has 1 remaining)

I decide NOT to finish off the helverin and will use it to slingshot instead.

My LF-PC put overcharged shots on his Castellan and get 5 damage through (12 remaining)

He uses a CP for his ion shield on this and my callidus finally makes him spend 1 extra CP

The leviathan makes the first charge and clears overwatch

Bjorn and the IP follow up

I give the leviathan first crack but his ranged configuration is garbage in assault

Bjorn dispatches the final wound on the Helverin

The bikes charge the other Helverin as well and manage to put 2 damage on him

After killing the helverin I consolidate the leviathan close to shield Bjorn using the character rules

My opponent kindly suggests I shift Bjorn left so he can't just maneuver for an easy shot and I take his advice

T2-top

His WL-Crusader marches into my backfield

His Helverin falls back from combat with my bikes and can't fire this turn

The Castellan retreats to join the Helverin

10 BC shots on the bikers manage to kill 1 and put a wound on another

Volcano lance uses a CP to land a shot but I use my own CP to make the 4++

Plasma decimator puts 2 damage on the leviathan

Shield breaker missiles on the leviathan adds 3 more damage

The avenger gatling gun kills 5/6 from the LF squad

His paladin charges my bikes and takes 1 damage from overwatch then kills 1 biker in melee

My opponent can't believe my storm shields can tank that massive chainblade and decides to stomp it out in future rounds

T2-bottom

Crucial decision time for me...do I keep charging forward and ignore his WL-Crusader or do I take the opportunity to hunt his warlord for mission points...

Why not both?

Bjorn wheels around and gets within a 7" charge while the leviathan stands still to line up his target

The IP sticks with the leviathan and repairs 1 more wound (4 total so far)

I drop the assassin reinforcements as well

Callidus near bjorn to try and mortal wounds the knight (we both agree this is stupid and check with the league judge and find out the neural shredder gun technically works on the knight)

The eversor is in the rear building to get an overwatch free charge on the helverin

Culxeus drops near the WL-Crusader hoping to get lucky

I also move the vindicare assassins as close to his WL-Crusader as possible but using the wall to block LOS. If they can get in everyone else has a free charge

My LF-PC survivor puts 2 damage on the WL-Crusader

Bjorn hits and wounds with both LC but the WL-Crusader makes both 4++ saves. The flamer manages to sneak 1 damage through

The callidus gets 3 MW on the Wl-Crusader

The leviathan's storm cannons push 16 damage through on the helverin to kill it

Vindicare #1 makes it into combat with the WL-Crusader so everyone else has a free run

Bjorn needs a 7 but rolls a 4 and a 2. I use a CP and Bjorn makes it into combat

I send everyone in the area but my callidus fails her charge roll

I need to use a CP in combat but Bjorn puts 14 potential wounds on the WL-Crusader which have the potential to kill it

He rolls 4 FNP 6's and survives with 3 wounds remaining

Everyone else tries furiously to hurt a T8 target but fails miserably until the Culexus rolls double 6 and puts 2 more damage on the WL-Crusader leaving it with 1 single wound remaining

His return melee does nothing to Bjorn

T3-top

He steps out of combat with all his knights

The WL-Crusader lines up a rear shot on bjorn but only takes 1 damage from the BC

The leviathan takes 2 damage from the plasma decimator

The shield breaker fires at the leviathan but misses

Another BC takes 1 more damage from the leviathan

He charges into Bjorn and the bikes again

The feet of the WL-Crusader put 2 wounds on bjorn but I roll a 5 and 6 to prevent them

The bikes are not as lucky and get stomped to death

Bjorn retaliates and kills the WL-Crusader but it explodes

Bjorn takes 4 damage

Vindicare takes 1

Callidus takes 2

Culexus takes 5 and dies

T3-bottom

I forget to move bjorn

IP repairs 2 more on the leviathan (6 total repairs)

The leviathan pushes 7 damage onto the Castellan

Bjorn pushes 4 damage through as well and the castellan has 1 wound left

T4-top

His knights approach the objective and my leviathan yells NONE SHALL PASS

I take 1 damage from the plasma decimator (he is NOT overcharging b/c it might kill him)

The BC puts 4 damage on for 10 wounds total...the leviathan is starting to feel the pain

The paladin charges in and stomps 2 more damage onto the leviathan (it has 2 wounds left)

The IP heroically intervenes but his hammer can't hurt the paladin

T4-bottom

Leviathan falls back while iron priest stays put

We ask the league judge if I can perform repairs while in combat and he said if the rule only mentions moving it is legal

IP repairs 3 more (9 total repairs so far!)

My shooting phase is horrible. Bjorn rolls snake eyes for his LC wound roll and I don't finish off the castellan with my LF-PC

At this point I realize i have 1 more shooter available...my vindicare assassin (proxy model yaya)

He lines up his shot and rolls a 6 to take the final wound off the Castellan knight (not pictured...this was a dramatic recreation)

The paladin is not impressed and stomps out the IP in melee. There will be no more repairs

T5-top

His paladin holds steady and fires into my leviathan

BC does 3 damage putting it on 12/14 wounds

The paladin then charges in but his feet only do 1 more damage!

Still alive!

T5-bottom

I fall back and screen for bjorn

Everything that can move gets in bubble wrap formation

My LF-PC puts 2 damage through on the Paladin (it has 6 total damage now)

T6-top

My opponent rolls a 6 so game on!

The paladin finally kills the leviathan with a storm spear

He also takes 3 damage off the culexus with his stubber

The paladin decides to charge in and stomps out the culexus in melee

T6-bottom

The valiant last stand of the leviathan has delayed the knight long enough for Bjorn to get in position and charge

Bjorn and friends let out a furious howl and charge into combat

Bjorn puts 14 damage through on the paladin (4 wounds remain)

The callidus also sneaks a wound through (3 wounds remain)

The return stomps are brushed off with an armor roll of 6

I roll a 4 and we go on to turn 7

He gets first stomp at me but I save again

Bjorn retaliates and rips the Paladin to shreds

I score all except 1st blood and win the match 8-1

Victory for the wolves

[Karhedron]

Great Batrep and an impressive victory against a tough match-up. Looks like the assorted Dreads (and IP) were the real heavy lifters. You were unlucky to lose the Axe/Shield dreads so early but you recovered well from it.

[PeteySödes]

Heck yea grats on the victory! That’s great to hear, knights have me stressed.

 

I’ve been loving my Iron Priests lately too, even rolling mediocre they work well.

[TiguriusX]

The blueprint for my army really paid off this game with high toughness and invulnerable saves everywhere.  When things go well the entire army can tank like crazy

 

My dice started cold with the shield dreads failing crucial 3++ then got insanely hot for invulnerable saves and Bjorn's armor as well (I made 3/3 regular armor saves on 5+ against feet at the end of the game)

 

All the bad rolling from the tournament last weekend was averaged out with this game

 

My opponent also went through a streak of rolling low to hit/wound

 

 

In an average game the leviathan should have died 2 turns earlier and I wouldn't have been able to pin his knights in the middle

 

A little thing like that and he probably ends up winning 6-5 with the first blood being the only thing we can't mutually score to give him the edge

 

The knight army was definitely NOT what I designed my assassins to deal with so I will take the luck when it comes around

 

Speaking of luck I am going to remember this as the vindicare grand opening game.  I still can't believe I was able to finish off the castellan knight like that

[Karhedron]

Snipers get a good return on investment against Knights as mortal wounds are the perfect solution their T8 and invulnerable saves.

 

For much of 8th, Snipers were regarded as poor (apart perhaps the Troop versions as cheap slot-fillers) because the meta tended to revolve around hordes. It is too early to say if Knights alone will shift things much but it is interesting to see how "uncompetitive" units can suddenly become useful. A sign perhaps that too much of our valuations of units depends on the meta we play in.

[librisrouge]

Your list might not have been optimized to face knights (all those assassins) but I've learned the hard way that venerable dreadnoughts and, especially, BJORN THE FELL-HANDED ONE!! is scary for knights to face down. Bjorn, the Fell-Handed One, is particularly troublesome, since he can hide using Character and counter attack after a knight charges into the army. I've lost several gallants to charges from Bjorn after he's decided he didn't appreciate how those gallants treated his blood claws.

[PeteySödes]

Yea I’m firmly on team “Always Bjorn” lol.

[TiguriusX]

Snipers get a good return on investment against Knights as mortal wounds are the perfect solution their T8 and invulnerable saves.

 

For much of 8th, Snipers were regarded as poor (apart perhaps the Troop versions as cheap slot-fillers) because the meta tended to revolve around hordes. It is too early to say if Knights alone will shift things much but it is interesting to see how "uncompetitive" units can suddenly become useful. A sign perhaps that too much of our valuations of units depends on the meta we play in.

I was on the receiving end of 10 eldar snipers at the tournament and got to see this first hand as they sniped away at my leviathan.

 

It was definitely a factor in me adding the vindicares and i should have been firing them all game.

[Wispy]

I saw that warhammerofficial had commented a couple artists on instagram, asking permission to use some of their Primaris Space Wolves pics. Probably building up to something around the corner.

[TiguriusX]

So this was my first spin using the vindicare and I don't know all their rules.

 

As a "sniper" I assumed they would be useless and kept them out of the way until a last ditch shot to finish a knight.

 

I'm reading the rules to prepare for future games and learning they can do more.

 

One thing I missed in my list was Njal and Tempest to debuff knights.

 

To my surprise I just read that my vindicare has a blind grenade with 12" range that does the exact same thing (unit gets -1 BS for the turn if hit) . 

 

If I had played my 2 vindicares a bit more aggressively I could have messed with all his shooting.

 

All this experimenting with lists is making me fail step 1...know your army