For the Founding Father! Kallas' UM Log

[Joukernaut]

while tremor shells are awesome, don’t underestimate the regular shots of the thunderfire cannon. Firing twice with 4D3 S5 shots at AP-2 (devastator doctrine) and BS 2+ does some serious work against infantry.

[Kallas]

while tremor shells are awesome, don’t underestimate the regular shots of the thunderfire cannon. Firing twice with 4D3 S5 shots at AP-2 (devastator doctrine) and BS 2+ does some serious work against infantry.

 

Oh absolutely!

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I love my TFC .

[Kallas]

Hi folks, back with my second League game battle report. Took a little longer to get it written up, so sorry about that! This one is against Nurgle Daemons (and some Death Guard Daemon Princes).

The Lists:

Howling Griffons:

Battalion

Captain (Chapter Master, Relic Blade, Storm Shield, Warlord [Adept of the Codex])

Librarian (Force Stave, Bolter, Relic [Tome of Malcador], Powers [Psychic Shackles, Scryer's Gaze, Storm of the Emperor's Wrath])

2x 5 Bolter Scouts

1x 5 Knife Scouts

Ironclad Dreadnought (Chainfist, Hurricane Bolter, Heavy Flamer, Assault Launchers)

2x Razorback (Twin Assault Cannons, Storm Bolter)

Spearhead

Lieutenant (Chainsword, Storm Bolters)

3x Land Raider Helios (Storm Bolters)

1x Thunderfire Cannon

Slightly tweaked from the previous list after hammering out a few things. With the Chapter Master bubble, the -1 to hit from the Chapter Tactic isn't too bad, so Calm Under Fire isn't super necessary; and Adept of the Codex helps with CP regeneration. I also put in a couple of AssBacks and the Ironclad to give me more anti-horde firepower and a decent melee threat; useful against Daemon Princes!

The Librarian got the Tome of Malcador so that I would have options. Storm of the Emperor's Wrath might be worthwhile against Plaguebearers, and Psychic Shackles/Scryer's Gaze are both reasonable.

I obviously have less CP to play around with in this list iteration, but as long as I'm not being frivolous it should be alright.

+++

Nurgle Daemons:

Battalion

Epidemius

Poxbringer (Virulent Blessing power [+1 to wound for a Nurgle Daemon unit; 7+ to wound causes double damage])

2x 3 Nurglings

1x 4 Nurglings

Battalion

Sloppity Bilepiper

Spoilpox Scrivener

3x 30 Plaguebearers (Instrument, Icon)

Supreme Command (Death Guard)

3x Daemon Prince (All with dual Malefic Talons; Powers - 1x Blades of Putrefaction, 1x Putrescent Vitality)

- 1x Warlord [Tainted Regeneration: heal 1 wound at the start of each turn], Power [Miasma of Pestilence: importantly only targets Death Guard, due to being a DG DP], Relic [suppurating Plate]

So a pretty nasty, if somewhat standard, Nurgle Daemons list. Lots of Plaguebearers are going to be a pain in the butt to remove, but at least he isn't stacking up a unit of -2 to hit (which would make them a nightmare to prevent reaching me). -1 I can probably deal with; -2 is horrible. The Scrivener is also annoying, making the PBs ridiculously fast, and the Bilepiper making them harder to remove with morale is also just nuts.

The Daemon Princes are going to hurt if they reach me. Between their possible smites and their Talons, they can do some serious damage, even to my Land Raiders.

A lot of this match up will come down to the deployment and mission. A good set could see me doing alright, but I want to avoid Search and Destroy deployment (which has the least distance between us and gives me the least amount of room to manoeuvre).

+++

Missions/Deployment

The mission rolled up was #1 Seize Ground (six objectives, preset: bonus for holding/contesting five or more). Not terrible, but I'm likely going to be conceding the bonus point every round, and I can't see myself contesting him holding more.

Deployment was...Search and Destroy. Oh.

Secondary Objectives

Howling Griffons:

• Reaper - Even though they're tough to remove, the Plaguebearers are going to get shot up, and need to be removed, so this is kind of a no-brainer.
• Headhunter - His Princes are going to be aggressively in my face, so I should be able to get some points off of them, and if I'm lucky enough to blow through his PBs, I might get at the squishy(er) ones hanging back.
• Engineers - I don't want my Scouts involved too early, as they're very fragile and will give up Kill VP easily, so having them in the transports and hanging back on an objective isn't a huge loss, and he doesn't have much mobility/range to get rid of them quickly. Should be able to score these quite easily. One unit of Bolters, and the Knife Scouts were my chosen units.

Nurgle:

• Big Game Hunter - I have seven eligible vehicles and they're what he's mostly going to be smashing, so reasonable.
• Recon - Nurgle Daemons aren't actually slow, and in S&D he's going to be in every quarter in turn one. Very easy to achieve.
• Engineers - Two units of Nurglings were chosen (1x3, and the 1x4 unit) and they'd be pretty safe to be honest. If his plan goes off, then I'm going to be very busy killing off PBs in my face and won't have much left to shoot at Nurglings.

Since I'd 'won' the roll, I chose my deployment zone and my opponent started the deployment (alternating one unit at a time). With my transports, I finished deploying first and so got the +1 to the roll off. I promptly lose the roll and fail to Seize the Initiative. Sigh...

Deployment:

Griffons Deployment

Nurgle Deployment

One unit of Plaguebearers is in the Warp for 2CP.

Additionally, all three units get the Plague Banner stratagem (as it's pre-game) for 2D weapons once per game.

+++

Round One

Nurgle Turn One

Movement: Plaguebearers rush up, advancing (as I had deployed just outside of extreme charge range of all of his units). Princes shelter within the pestilent blobs.

Psychic: Two smites go into the Ironclad, who was specifically upfront to tank any smites. I use Armour of Contempt and save none of the four, bringing it down to four wounds remaining. Great.

Griffons Turn One

Movement: Not much movement, really. Ironclad moves back a little to not be the closest target for smites. Raiders shuffle a little, one of the left getting a line on his backfield Engineer Nurglings, the one of the right aiming at the other Engineers on my right flank. Bolter Engineers get out and sit on the objective in my deployment zone to start racking up those points next turn. Librarian pops out to try and Shackle his unit approaching on my left.

I make a mistake here and forget to disembark my Lt.

[img[http://bolterandchainsword.com/uploads/gallery/album_14924/gallery_99134_14924_777316.jpg[/img]

Psychic: Shackles fails/is Denied (I forget which), and Scryer's Gaze succeeds.

Shooting: I activate Inspiring Command for the Chapter Master to get everything in range, and pop Tremor Shells too. Lascannons into the Nurglings...do extremely little. I did about six/seven successful wounds and then managed to cause six wounds total to the two units due to an inordinate amount of 5++ saves. Urgh. TFC Tremors/Suppression Fires at both units of Plaguebearers, killing a couple but importantly slowing them a little. The rest of the Helios and Razorback firepower is pumped into the central PBs coming straight at, killing about eight.

No charges/fights.

Morale: Naturally, a bunch of PBs come back to the central unit.

End of Round One

Nurgle: 3

Hold One and Hold More, plus one on Recon.

Griffons: 1

Just Hold One for me. Getting a Kill on the damn Nurglings would've been nice, considering the amount of Lascannons pointed at them, but alas.

+++

Round Two

Nurgle Turn Two

Movement: They push up further. The two non-Warlord Princes prepare for some charges. Tremors Shells definitely helped keep them at bay a little here, as the front PBs would still need something like a 7" (on the dice) charge to reach my Razorback/8" to reach the Ironclad.

The third unit of Plaguebearers appears behind me.

Psychic: Princes power up with their various powers, but I do manage to Deny Putrescent Vitality (+1 S&T). Plaguebearers get Virulent Blessing.

Charges: Central Plaguebearers charge the Razorback and Ironclad. Charge initially fails, but a reroll gets them in (rolled a 5, then rerolled into a 9, so just enough to reach both, thanks to Tremor Shells!) One DP fails his charge, but the unbuffed Prince does reach the Ironclad. The deep struck unit also fails their charge on the Techmarine. Phew, got a bit of luck there!

Fights: Daemon Prince goes for the Ironclad, and I use Duty Eternal to try and get it to survive: with it wounding on 5s, and half damage, the Ironclad survives on two wounds remaining! A couple of PBs hit it too, but bounce off. The Razorback emerges unscathed. In return the Ironclad pummels the Prince, but a few Invulnerable saves and Disgustingly Resilient means it lives on two wounds as well!

Griffons Turn Two

Movement: Ironclad remains in combat, as the Librarian jumps up on the building to try and smite him clear. The Razorback in combat falls back, and the other goes raring off towards the recently arrived PBs and Nurgling Engineers. I made a second mistake here: I forgot to switch to Tactical Doctrine at the start of the round, and forgot to disembark the Lieutenant again. Raiders shuffle a little, and the Techmarine shuffles into Flamer range of the PBs.

Psychic: Librarian powers up, and Super Smites the Prince! Four wounds and the Prince is banished back to the Warp! Storm of the Emperor's Wrath fails, however.

Shooting: Tremor Shells is used again to keep the left flank slowed down. The Central PBs are stripped down, but not quite wiped out. The other central Prince is, however, opened up and so takes a bunch of Lascannons to the face, bringing it down to three wounds remaining (because twelve Lascannons on 900pts of Land Raiders definitely shouldn't be able to kill a damn 180pt Prince...). I can't afford firepower into the Nurglings this turn, and the moving Razorback and Techmarine kill off a couple of the deep struck PBs.

Charges: The Ironclad attempts to charge the wounded Prince, but fails. The Razorback charges the PBs, attempting to keep them from charging into my back.

Fights: Razorback kills nothing; PBs do nothing in return.

Morale: I think the centre PBs passed their morale, again, getting a bunch back. Urgh, why even have morale in the game when it's negated 90% of the time...

End of Round Two

Nurgle: 7

Hold One and More again, second Recon, and one of Engineers.

Griffons: 7

Hold One, Kill One (Prince) and Kill More, as well as a Reaper, Headhunter and an Engineers.

Definitely could be doing worse right now! Importantly, my opponent had forgotten about one objective right in the middle of his advance (nestled in a ruin) and so had been not scoring the bonus point.

+++

Round Three

Nurgle Turn Three

Movement: Left flank continues to push up. Centre Prince gets in close on the Ironclad. Important mistake (in my opinion) from my opponent, his deep struck PBs remain in combat with the Razorback but also did not pile in/consolidate towards my other units - this means I've still got some room to pull back into.

Psychic: Centre Prince starts by also Super Smiting the Ironclad off the board. Not to be outdone, the Warlord Prince also Super Smites the Librarian off the board. Yuck. Losing the Librarian is a bit annoying.

Charges: The Centre Prince is the only charge, I think, going for my Chapter Master and Razorback.

Fights: Prince pounds the Chapter Master, who survives on one wound! In return he brings down the Prince with his Relic Blade. Booyah.

Griffons Turn Three

Movement: My Raiders pull back from the advancing PBs, as I don't have any CP left for Tremor Shells. I position them so that one can pull back around the building first, then the other can pull back into the remaining space, while neither can be wrapped.

Shooting: Some more pounding of PBs. Nurglings also get some artillery fire. I believe I only manage to finish off the central PBs and strip off a couple of wounds from his Nurglings.

Fights: Razorback in combat with the PBs takes a few wounds over the rounds of combat, but is still ticking.

End of Round Three

Nurgle: 14

Hold, Hold More, Bonus, Kill One; one Big Game Hunter, a third Recon and a second Engineers.

Griffons: 12

Hold, Kill, two on Reaper, two Headhunter, and two Engineers, so far.

He finally grabbed the Bonus, and his smiting got him enough kills to tie the Kill More. It's close and could go either way; I think the deep struck PBs is a big mistake: they could be shutting me down hard, but I should have enough room to breath unless he starts moving them in.

+++

Round Four

Nurgle Turn Four

Movement: Left flank PBs and last Prince move up to get at my Raider. DS PBs remain in combat!

Psychic: Prince smites the Raider for a couple of wounds. Left PBs get Virulent Blessing.

Charges: PBs charge the Raider through a ruin and reach. Prince fails his charge!

Fights: PBs use their Plague Banner, but the 2+ save holds firm, taking no further wounds. Razorback bogged down in combat is slowly stripped of wounds one at a time.

Griffons Turn Four

Movement: Scouts jumps out of the Raiders and move up to strip down the Plaguebearers. Raiders pull back in good order. The centre Razorback moves up to shoot up the Nurglings in his backfield.

Shooting: Left PBs are stripped down quite a lot. Nurglings get stripped down too, but they're making a ridiculous amount of invulnerable saves and Disgustingly Resilient rolls. I think I do manage to kill off the second unit of Engineer Nurglings (I definitely prevented him from scoring all four Engineers points, so it must have been by this turn that both died).

Charges: Knife Scouts charge the Plaguebearers and kill a few, managing to tank to few return blows. I do make a mistake and charge with the Razorback into a central unit of Nurglings (the non-Engineers) hoping to kill a one-wound base, but failed and didn't really achieve anything by doing so.

End of Round Four

Nurgle: 19

Hold One, More and Bonus again; maxed out Recon, third point on Engineers, and still just one on Big Game Hunter.

Griffons: 17

Hold One, Kill One (a unit of Nurglings), Kill More; Reaper's on three, I think, two on Headhunter, and three on Engineers.

Very close still, but he's got the lead. I think I've hit a break point here. His Plaguebearers are ruined and most of his killing power is gone, so he shouldn't be able to remove my Raiders, so my firepower should remain pretty consistent from here on in.

+++

Round Five

Nurgle Turn Five

Movement: Prince moves up to get at the lightly damaged Raider. Right flank PBs stay in combat. Characters spread out a little to claim some objectives.

Psychic: Prince Smites again, doing a wound.

Charges: Prince charges the Scouts and Raider, taking a couple of wounds from overwatch but reaches the Raider. It bounces off the Raider, as 5s to wound and a 4+ save means it only take two damage. PBs and Scouts fight, Scouts surviving but killing only a couple. Importantly, however, they manage to kill enough to then consolidate around towards the Prince.

Morale: I think the PBs lose a few here, freeing up the Scouts.

Griffons Turn Five

Movement: Raiders pull back a little again. Scouts move to block off the Prince from the Raiders. Razorback pulls away from the Nurglings to shoot up some PBs.

Shooting: Prince gets shot up some but survives with one wound. I think I finish off the left PBs with some artillery fire.

Charges/Fights: Knife Scouts go in to try and finish the Prince, but they bounce off. Miraculously they survive, only one going down!

Morale

End of Round Five

Nurgle: 22

Hold One, More and Bonus. No additional secondaries.

Griffons: 22

Hold One, Kill, Kill More, maxed out on Reaper and Engineers, Headhunter still on two.

Ok, I think I've stemmed to smelly tide now. His PBs are bogged down or dead, and his Princes are basically done. It's now just trying to kill his stuff and get points. Damn close game though.

+++

Round Six

Nurgle Turn Six

Movement: Characters spread out for objectives and the Prince is locked in combat by the Scouts.

Psychic: Scouts take a smite, but only for one!

Fights: Prince tries to wipe the Scouts but their luck holds again! Two Scouts live, and bring him down!

Griffons Turn Six

Movement: Razorback moves to get a line on his characters (Tactical Doctrine has been activated at some point; and I did eventually remember to disembark the Lt!). Raiders push up to get some LoS on characters too.

Shooting: Two Nurgle characters are killed with Lascannons and Assault Cannons.

Charges: His last unit of Nurglings, hiding on the central objective, are alive with one base remaining. I try to charge them with Scouts to get Hold More in the last round, but fall short.

End of Round Six; End of Game!

Nurgle: 26

Kill One (I forget what, exactly), Hold, Hold More, Bonus.

Griffons: 27(!)

Kill, Kill More, Hold One, maxed out Headhunter.

Post Game Thoughts:

Phew, that was a damn close game!

My opponent definitely made a few mistakes with his deep striking unit of Plaguebearers, and they definitely cost him a lot. Forgetting about an objective also hurt, as he didn't get the bonus objective until turn three; if he'd gotten those in the first two rounds, that's a win to him.

I was quite happy with the Razorbacks and Ironclad, they helped with volume of fire quite a lot. I definitely messed up by not switching into Tactical Doctrine to let them move more freely, and I was kicking myself for not disembarking the Lt earlier, as his rerolls could've helped quite a lot.

There was definitely a strong, "Oh :cuss !" feeling when we got Search and Destroy and I lost the first turn.

It was a pretty exhausting and disheartening slog to chew through so many insanely tough bodies (and there were still about thirty Plaguebearers left!), but I managed to pull a win out of that rotten pile of corpses. My list was pretty damn resilient too, as his list had little anti-armour punch, and my Raiders being able to fall back and shoot was immensely important.

Well. I'm tired out from thinking about that game again, and I've got another League game tonight against White Scars, yikes!

Thanks for reading folks, hope you enjoyed it, and as always I'm happy to hear your thoughts, comments and criticisms.

Cheers,

Tom.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Wow that was a hard fought win for sure. Plaguebearers for days with full character support is bad news.

[StrummersGhost]

Very much enjoying the batreps, good job on the second game! I'm also continually intrigued by your use of multiple Land Raiders as I haven't seen any lists like that for a long time, it's great to see you getting success with it