Battle Report - 2000pt BA vs Tyranid - League Play 4

Well, tonight wrapped up the local escalation league game in a 2000pt pitched battle where Victory Points were king. Normal VP rules, plus objectives, table quarters, and ICs were all additional VPs. The difference between VPs per side would determine the scale of the win. I had to play the Nid guy as we were both in the running for first place, so we set up quick and got to it. My list was:

• 2x 10-man ASM (PF; 2x MG)
• 1x 10-man ASM (PW; 1x Fm)
• 2x 5-man Honor Guard (Blood Champ; 3x MG)
• 2x 10-man Devastators (4x ML)
• 2x Priest (JP)
• 1x Libby (JP; Shield, S10)
• 1x Reclusiarch (JP)

My opponent's army was 5 Tervigons (2 of which were HQs) and 3 Tyrannofexes and a whole table of termagants, so basically it was a Nid gunline. Here's some pics!

It was short and sweet really as he didn't want to get torn up and give up easy points, and I didn't want to be meat for the grinder (the grinder being tons of MCs). I had my Devastators lined up the whole time and aimed for the Tervigons most of the time, taking out 2 and then getting a 'fex down. My strat was really to play the game of extras and aimed to take table quarters and objectives mostly instead of committing to slugging it out. I used my HGs and ICs as a screen, eating up 'gants and tying up MCs in CC. The game ended up in a Minor victory for me, as he got a good number of points for taking 2 squads to half, and holding 2 objectives. I held 3 objectives and 1 table quarter (all the others were contested), and killed the MCs and some 'gants, but they were such little point value it didn't help get me that far ahead.

After the points were tallied, it looks like I was the clear winner for the League! Other games were still going, but it was to determine 2nd/3rd at that point as I had some 60-some points and I know the Nid player had about 49. I had a draw, a minor victory, and 2 massacres, plus some bonus points for bringing in my own terrain and extra game objectives. My reward? GW provided 45 bucks of in-game credit (for any GW product)! Not bad for a free league and it forcing me to go to my LGS, which I never did before this. All the guys were good players and sports, no discrepancies or rules lawyering went down. I might stop by again for little pick up games in the future. And I think there is a Apoc game next week where each player can bring up to 2000pts and it will be team game.

Anyway, thanks for following me thru my first league play and I will probably get back to painting and other hobby work for awhile so my men look better for the next tourny.

»Now... what to do with that 45 bucks? More marines for my BA? Get a box set and drum up some readership with a free give-a-way like all the other blogs? Start a fantasy army? Lemme know what you think.

Battle Report: 1000pt BA vs Guard - League Play 3

Last night was Game 3 of the local League here in town. Showed up on time like usual, but we had to wait for people to trickle in so we could make pairings. A different Plague player than the first one I fought was there, and I was not looking forward to fighting that again. Then the regular Nid player showed up, also not thrilling me on the prospect of battle. When a Imp Guard player showed up we figured it was time to pair up and start the fun. I guess technically I was supposed to fight the Guard at the last game but he wasn't there, so we decided to match up this time, which I was actually okay with. My list was:

• 2x 10-man ASM (PF; 2x MG)
• 1x 5-man ASM (PW; Fm)
• 1x 5-man HG (JP; PW; 3x MG)
• 1x Priest (JP)
• 1x Libby (JP; S10, Shield)

1000pts even and the plan was to DS everything. His list was:

• 2x Leman Russ (Battle Cannon; Las-cannon; Heavy Bolters)
• 1x Leman Russ (Plasma Cannon and sponsons)
• Command Squad with Medic
• Platoon with PF Commisar
• 3x Las-cannon HW Team

He won the roll off and deployed first, and we had 3 objectives to take.I held back and DS on turn 2, but the dice pointed at laughed at me when only my HG rolled in...

There you have it; ending in a massacre with max bonus league points. The guy was a good opponent and very nice about things. Some highlights were my kamikaze HG that used their 3 meltas to explode a tank and on the next turn weathering about 14 wounds from the main plasma cannon via cover, but then die from 4 wounds from the side sponson since I got no cover from it. The rest worked like clockwork, with my meltas popping tanks and transports and wiping units with assault. I gotta say, I toootally love the S10 sword now. Auto pens on rear armor, 4 attacks on the charge and still causes instant death on most things w/o the need to cast his force sword ability. Plus since my other power is used on the ENEMY turn, I can use the shield to save my butt and then charge in and take stuff out without having to be an Epistolary.

Right now I have about 1500pts as is, unless I change to units like Mephiston or Dante to eat up points, or go Mech, but I don't wanna do that. To plan for a 2000pt game I may need to think about expanding my list for more support and the whispers I hear about JP list support is Devastators, but I will investigate some more and build an updated list. Otherwise, happy with my guys today and my list in general. Other than that, the next two weeks will be filled with time spent magnetizing everything and ordering some Battlefoam to transport more guys? Jury is still out on that one.

»Any comments on my list? I know I shouldn't have let my HG die like that, but it worked out in the end. Devastators for support, or just add more killy in my 2000pt list? Battlefoam or save my money to spend on more models?

Battle Report: 500pt BA vs Tau - League Round 2

Last night saw round 2 of the Escalation League at my local store. I showed up on time like usual, but a lot of people couldn't play that day and will have to reschedule. There were an odd number of players so one would have to sit out til someone showed up. The more seasoned Space Wolf player I faced off with in round 1 said he would wait and let me face the other person waiting to play. He said this was his first time playing 40k and he pulled out a Tau army... Well what are the odds? I already felt bad for the kid before deployment. I had to re-do my list since it was built for 1000pts, so this was what I came up with at an even 500pt:

• 1x Libby (JP; Shield, S10 Sword)
• 3x 5-man ASM (1x MG; PW)

His army was approximately: 

• 1x Ethereal
• 1x 12-man FW Squad with Team Leader
• 1x ~20-man Kroot Squad with Shaper
• 1x Hammerhead (Rail; SMS; MT)

You all read my rant in the post below right? Well, I didn't want it to happen, but the dice gods were bowing down to me. I chose to go second and DS everything so he got 2 free turns of movement, as he spread out to take other table quarters. I decided to DS everything right behind his HH to melta it... and it happened. All 3 units and the Libby (all on his own) all made it in from reserves and either hit or scattered 1". This lined up 3 meltas with one taking down his HH in an explosion and the other popping the Ethereal. This lead his FW to take a leadership and they failed. This led them to fall back into me within 6" and they couldn't regroup and ran off the table without firing a shot. The Kroot turned around to charge at me but were outside of assault range so just fired and killed off 2 marines. I shot into the Kroot to weaken 'em and then the Libby and two units charged, with the 3rd waiting in the back to hold that table quarter. By the end of the turn the Kroot were wiped, ending the game on bottom turn 3.

The Organizer gave me the Massacre and points for assuming I could continue the game to hold 3 quarters and ones other than my deployment zone and this would could as my round 2. So, I'll have to make a 1500pt list for two weeks from now. I told the guy I fought that I felt bad for doing it, but really, I didn't think I'd pull off all units in on turn 2 like that and still get in all my shots in. We talked a bit about how he could improve some of his list, but really, not much can be done against my entire force starting withing 12" of his. He could use the Kroot as bubble wrap so I had to deal with them first, but this was his first game, so it's not like he knew that meta-game technique. Some of the other games going on were Plague Marines vs Eldar and Ork vs Space Wolves. Since they were in transports and the models were on the side table, I thought I'd take another pic of the Wolves:

Battle Report 1000pt: BA vs Tau - League Practice

Fit in a quick game to practice for Friday's League game. Here's a repeat of the scenario: "The game will play out that there is an attacker and the other is defender (determined by dice roll). The defender will hold a central bunker with the rest of his army coming from the deployment zone (a sort of reinforcement scenario). Winner is determined by Victory Points, but you get bonus League Points for either eliminating the defenders in the building and then holding it (if attacker) or having those troops survive (if defender). Both sides can get bonus points for holding more table quarters than the other as well."

So, I rolled higher and took the Attack role. If I should be a defender in the League game, I have a plan in mind already. Since everything of mine was deep striking, he got a free turn to set up his heavy weapons and he was planning on taking his troops from the building and falling back instead of making it a meat grinder. His list was:

• Shas'O (Plasma; Ion Blaster; MT)
• 2x Bodyguards (Plasma; Flamer; MT)
• 2x 6-man Fire Warrior
• 1x 4-man Pathfinder (1-Rail Rifle; mandatory DF)
• 2x Hammerhead (Ion; SMS; MT)
• 1x 3-man Broadside Team (TL-Rail; SMS; MT)

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

With that, I was able to wipe out everything except the DF was still immobile, a suit, and a single gun drone. That would basically chalk up to a Massacre of 17pts holding probably 2 table quarters and the center building, plus 1 for killing the troop choice from the center for the max 20pts. My VV squad of two L. Claws failed me and never came on until turn 5 and never assaulted because they scattered 4" away from the XV8 suits (plus the built in distance I gave them so they wouldn't scatter onto the suits). All my troops got shot to pieces with the XVs taking out one whole unit of 5 on their DS turn. The Libby did very little in the role I thought he'd play, but he did kill off the two suits, getting the Shas'O with his Force Sword sapping all its wounds at once. The priest also was outside of helping range most of the game, but that was just poor placement and reserves rolling.

So, there it is. It went well, but could have gone better if my VV came in soon, so the ASM had to pick up the slack. They did alright, but my goal is to not commit them if I don't have to to combat. I didn't adhear to that rule this time and it got me shot to pieces. I need to be more focused on a game plan instead of just reacting to what I see on the board and throwing it out the window.

»Side note, how do you guys play the Blood Chalice FC bubble? Do the units just have to start in range of it in the start of the Assault Phase to benefit from it (4th Ed PDF method) or check for FC after the assault move is completed when you need to determine what everyone's Initiative value is?

Battle Report: 500pt BA vs Space Wolves - League Round 1

As I mentioned, there is a League game going on at the local store starting at 500pt and ending at 2000pt with an extra Apocalypse game at the end to round it out. The first round match up was random match ups, but after that it will be more structured. So far about 8 people are in it as far as I can remember. I remember 2 Chaos Marines, one Imp Guard, Space Wolves, Orks, Eldar, and Tyranid, with me as BA. The organizer had Space Marines, but would only play if there were an odd number of people, so he didn't have to pull them out. I drew up against the Space Wolves player, the first time I've seen them in person. He said it was his third army he's painted and they were amazingly done. He had two Rhinos with some Grey Hunters in them and a 5-man unit of Long Fangs with Missile Launchers. He had a Mark of the Wulfen and a Priest that could cast some good magic including JotWW (not sure exactly what the model is called). I used my 3x ASM JP army kitted to take out some sneak Guard player or min-max marine with a Dreadnaught, so they weren't really that well kitted out to fight power armor. Mission was Spearhead deployment with the goal to hold table quarters. Equal hold was a draw, +1 a minor victory, +2 a major, and +3 a massacre. Bonus points for holding zones other than the one you deployed from. I drew first player and held all in reserves. He fans out to hold his zone. I deep strike into his lines to try and pop the Rhinos and hold them in that zone, then jump away and claim the other zones for a win. The pictures below are of mid-turn 2 and 3 and the end of the game, showing how it all turned out.

(Click for details)

 

In the first pic the x'd out Rhino was on the table when I took the pic but it was where the crater and GH stand and then after that he switched out the models so the painted one was still on the board. Counter-attack is a pain in the butt, that's for sure. I was able to get my squads together and used each other for cover or FNP and piled on the shots to take out two squads of Grey Hunters down to 3 guys. Unfortunately he took out one of my units, so I only had two to jump around to take table quarters. His Long Fangs piled on the ML templates but most missed or didn't cause wounds. In the end, I could either pull back to the closest quarter or jump to one on his side of the board, but either way, that Rhino would either contest or even tank shock my men. The most we could do was draw, and we both held our own deployment zones, so no bonus points to either. It was fun to fight something new and balanced and he gave me a run for my money. We both got 10 points towards the League for the draw. 

As part of the League you can challenge others for a win of +5 points or if you challenge and they decline you get +3 points. A guy challenged me to play his Plague Marines and I should have declined, but I just wanted to play some more. No pics, but obviously, I didn't do so well. We had 2 objective markers and by the end of turn 5, he had both and my marines were wiped out by his Chaos Lord wielding some Plague weapon that was 3 base attacks +d6, power weapon, poisoned. :-\ Next time it will be 1000pts so I am working on retooling my list and playing smarter. I need to stop dropping my DS'ers into melta range of units that can charge into CC for one. And I need to make power-weapons mandatory, even if it messes up other things, because fighting power armored dudes with none is not fun.

Battle Report: 500pt BA vs Tau - Skirmish

I got word of an Escalation League at the LGS where it starts at 500 then goes to up every two weeks to 1000, 1500, and ends at 2000. I'll detail it out in my next post which will cover the first game I played of the League. I built a list, mostly in fear of a mech enemy. Someone sneaky trying to field minimum troops and fit in a tank or walkers. The list was:

• 1x Libby (Shield, Lace)
• 1x Priest (Meltabombs)
• 3x 5-man ASM (Sgt has MBs; 1x Meltagun)

This comes out to 500 even. Covers vehicles well, but no power weapons or fists and that is the weakness here. The Tau list was:

• 1x Shas'el (Flamer; TL-MP)
• 2x 6-man FireWarriors
• 2x Hammerhead (Ion Cannon; SMS; MT; D-pods; Sensor Spines)

Basically my plan was to drop down first chance I got and melta the tanks and then do mop up. My Priest drops in first just fine but my Libby squad fails, even with DoA and the normal squad makes it in. I place my Priest near his HH on his flag but since I only have the 1 squad now, I take the shot on his HQ suit instead. Melta fails and one pistol wounds him, woo... The other normal squad drops near my flag to keep his units from just piling on it and holding it all game. In retrospect, I might have done better dropping it on the HH as well to try and pop it, or the suit. It boiled down to my two special squads working together on his point, and my loner squad holding the home base and him having two teams of a HH and 6 FW (one at his flag, one at my flag) with his HQ in the center, lending missile pods where needed. I only ever shot down a HH and nothing else, proving to be quite ineffective. However, I was able to weather dozens and dozens of wounds from missions and pulse rifles, winning the game by just surviving.

I'll soon do a write up of the actual League game I participated in and details on how it is structured.

Battle Report: 750pt BA vs Tau - Retaliation

The scouting party of marines that were dispatched were left bloodied and crawling back, past their smoking Rhinos as the second squad arrived on the battlefield. This battle report covers the rematch Jason and I declared at the start of the previous game where he stole the initiative. We deployed exactly in the pics as the first battle report. The follow are what happened with me zooming up to the center.

I skipped pics of turn 1 and 2 as I only get to the center and use cover and no shots were landed on me that did damage. The pics are tops of turn 3 and 4 and bottom of 4 and 5. The game ended at the bottom of 5. While I wasn't crushing him, I did a ton better as I had the mobility to get into range of disembarking and assaulting. Even with melta guns and bombs, I only managed to wreck one HH and take off an Ion Cannon and Burst Cannon the whole game. But, it was enough to keep the wounds from piling up. He was able to hold me off until turns 4-5 before I accumulated any real KPs, which ended in a 5 - 2 win for me. It goes to show that the littlest thing like having first turn can turn the tide. The scary thing is that Jason is refining his list as I type this, which means it will only get tougher for me as he becomes more points efficient and picks deadlier weapons.

Battle Report: 750pt BA vs Tau - Alpha Strike

Fit in a game last night and had a hell of a time of it. This will actually break down into two post to make sure I cover both the battles in detail and the lessons learned. My army was basically half of what I fielded against the Daemons in the report earlier.

• 10-man ASM (PW/MB; 2xMG; Rhino)
• 5-man ASM (PW/MB; 1xMG; Rhino)
• Librarian (Shield; Lance)
• Priest (Meltabomb)
• 5-man Sternguard (2xCombi-Melta; Rhino with HK Missile)

The Tau forces fielded by my enemy (Jason) was built around Hammerheads as they really appealed to him. He built it on his own and then I went over it to ensure it was legal and had the proper allotment of weapons/support systems and that upgrades like Team Leader were applied so he could use certain items. Sure, some of the selections are not the best, but this is his first list and we all have to learn the game via trial and error. We don't always accept other people's suggestions as the best without knowing how things really perform first.

• Shas'el (Flamer; Missile Pod; Multi-tracker; Shield Drone)
• 2x 6-man FireWarriors
• 1-Shas'vre (Cyclic Ion Blaster; Flamer; MT)
• 1-Shas'vre (TL Fusion Blaster; Flamer; MT; Shield Drone; Stim-Injector)
• 3x Hammerhead (Ion Cannon; Burst Cannons; MT; D-pod)

Now, for the twist in this report. I got first turn and kept it, to deny the Tau an Alpha Strike so I can go Flat Out, pop smoke, go FO again, then unload into his lines. What happens, Jason rolls his magical 6 for like the 3rd game in a row and steals the initiative! As I fume, he lines up his shots and explodes the Sternguard and wreck the utility Rhino with the special characters. Well... there goes the game in my head. I can no longer zip in with Meltas to take out the tanks and have to hoof it around to get into assault. We agree right then to play a rematch with the exact same deployment but I get first turn, to see how it would be different. Pictures follow with the play by play.

Basically, that alpha strike ended the game. There was no way to take out his tanks anymore and they just picked me apart with AP3 weapons, eventho I normally had 4+ or 5+ cover saves, it wasn't enough. It was my first loss in a while and only with the new BA, but it's all good. I learned a few things about BA, but makes me confident in the Tau being viable still. The list can be refined more and be even more deadly. My only counter would be to switch to Jump Packs under the cover of a Libby Shield to fore go the Rhinos getting popped. The rematch will be posted tomorrow with pics to show you how important deployment and first turn can be!

Battle Report: 1500pt BA vs Chaos Daemons - Purgatus

I managed to fit in a 1500pt game vs my friend and fraternity brother Darrin and his Chaos Daemons. He's mostly still learning the game but has a ton of models. He's more of a Magic/D&D guy, but will play just about any game with people. As per usual, I took some pictures and added some captions for you all to see, plus it's easier for me to go back to and go over my strategy that way. I can take video with my phone, but I hate my voice on recordings, so that's out for now, lol. Anyway my list was a tweaked version of the Mech list I just posted yesterday. Also note, this list has 0 invul saves and is basically like a horde marine list. Didn't set out to be that way, but what I'm doing is avoiding point sinks and going with a more is more approach. Too many awesome models die from a hail of bolter fire to suck up like 250 or more points. Running a lot of cheap, redundant models just seems smart in a game of dice. Plus, it breaks that psychological hold of an HQ. When my old PDF Dante would get murdered by a single Melta, it would throw me off as a general, as I dwelled on the loss. If I lose my 100pt HQ, I shrug it off and have another to take his place.

• 2x (10-man ASM: PF, 2-MG in a Rhino with Extra Armor) 530
• 2x (5-man ASM: PW/MB; 1-MG in a Rhino with extra Storm Bolter) 310
• 2x Priest 100
• 2x Librarian (S10 Sword, Preferred Enemy, Epistolary) 300
• 1x 10-man Sternguard 250

This got me to 1490 points. I believe Darrin's list was also 1490pts so we were even in points,  but not even in codexes as the battle will reveal. His list was approximately the below. They had a number of weapon upgrades but I don't remember them all like Phlegm and Breath of Chaos.

• Blood Thirster
• Skulltaker
• 2x Soul Grinders
• 2x Plague Bearers with Icon
• 2x 3-unit Flamer with Bolt of Tzeentch
• Nurgle Prince

(Click for larger pic)

So there you have it, another BA victory before turn 5. I guess I'm only friends with people playing old codexes and the books show their age. I'd say the single biggest let down seeing these Daemons in action is they mostly have 5+ saves. Sure, they're invul so they always get it against my shooting, but 5+ still fails a lot, as evident by the Nurgle Prince suffering a wound from 2 successful storm bolter shots. Also looking at their stat lines, nothing is really impressive save the Blood-Thirster, which he fielded, but failed to DS in. His best looking unit is actually the Flamer, since I guess each model gets a template over your units, and this can lead to a ton of wounds. You still have to roll a 4+ to wound with their weapon, but you're looking at a lot more than 1-2 wounds like a normal weapon at close range, plus each one auto-glances armor and the unit is Jump Infantry with a 4+ invul save. He was definitely let down by his first Soul Grinder as well, one of which he nicknamed "Lucky" for consistently dying on the first turn of his games. I chalk it up to it being such a threat that people throw whatever they can at it first. In this case, I zoomed up 2 Meltas and got a rear arc shot to take it down. I gave him some tips and we had a good after-battle talk to hopefully get him to think more about his army. Hope we get to play again soon!

Battle Report - 750pt BA vs Necron - DC Smash!

Well, I thought I'd get in a quick game last night and boy was it ever. I played Jason using my Necron again and I used a new BA list at 750pts. His list was the Lord, 20x Warriors, and 5x Destroyers. I basically brought half of my Death Company list I made when the codex hit. Mine was:

• Reclusiarch
• 5x Death Company with 1 PW
• 1x Death Company Dread with HF and Talons
• 1x Stormraven with PC, HB and Extra Armor
• 5x ASM with PW and Flamer
• 1x Rhino with extra Storm Bolter

He passed first turn to me on a spear-head KP mission. I ran the Stormraven (proxied by a Tau Devilfish on the tallest post I could find) up 24" and used PotMS to fire the PC for a hit and a handful of dead Warriors. The Rhino was hiding since it would just give up a KP and the troops wouldn't hurt the warriors much w/o a priest for FC. On his turn he fired two fists full of gauss shots, but only 1 glanced and I saved with my flat out cover. I warned him this might be the end of the game, as my dread assaulted one group and my DC assaulted the other. The Dread used the talons to wipe the whole squad. The DC with re-rolling hits and wounds decimated the other group. Since the all that was left was 5 Destroyers, he would phase.

So, it was a quick game indeed, and as with a lot of wins, not much was learned. The raven with DC is pretty much the biggest whackin' stick you can find in terms of assaulting power. The Necron were outclassed from the start. But, I suggested now that he knows the ropes of the game like rolling, saves, cover, etc, that we get him to use an updated codex, or at least just not Necron. I still have Tau laying around from another friend, or I could have him learn an army I've never fought before, like Guard or Eldar. I'll see what I can talk him into. ;-) Back to painting!

Battle Report: 750pt BA vs Necron

I finally got a chance to play some more small points games with Jason this weekend. We've moved up from Kill Team to normal games, but moved up to 500/750pts. We fit in a quick 500pt game that he won, but upon review in the after-action talk, I totally forgot to roll for Red Thirst and adding +1 attacks to everyone for having two CC-weapons. Suffice it to say, I couldn't kill much when I was rolling 1 attack per guy, two for the Sgt against WS 4 T4. Basically we just rolled looking for 4+'s all game and it was quite boring. We regrouped for a 750pt game last night with a firmer grasp on my rules, lol. Army lists are captioned in the pics and pretty much sums everything up, no real need to get into a long winded description. I rolled no red thirst for either assault squad and then that glorious 1 landed when I rolled for the Vanguard! That helped since it's hard wounding Necron, plus at one point I did lose combat, but being fearless kept me in and I saved my No Retreat! wound, so all was well. He got first turn, deployed first and then I went, not stealing the initiative. From the pictures, my guys are at the bottom, nearest the 10-Warriors by the huge P painted on the gaming board.

(Click for larger images)

Basically Jason is going through the same learning curve I did when I started playing Necrons. Mass of fire works, but basically Warriors are meat shields and he needs a bigger punch. He's interested in the Destroyers and we might move up to 1000pts where they start becoming viable for the points. He's mostly been fine just learning the ropes and having fun and not being overly competitive. This is also a good test bed for me and my units. The 500pt game saw 5-man teams with a special IC and RZBs with a weapon. For the points, it just wasn't worth it. He can still glance the crap off my RZBs and just one result can remove a 35pt weapon (unless I go LC/PG option). Plus if they are immobilized they can't repair themselves. And 5-men weren't impressive, except as I said in the first game, I did screw up and wasn't giving them +1 attacks for CC weapons, so that skews the results. But with my 10-man units (1 being an IC), they were devastating. The Rhinos were still glanced and lost a gun, but it's just a bolter, and I can still fire out with my Meltas or Blood Lance if my Libbies carry it plus cover myself with a 5+ from said Libby. Plus the rare chance I can still repair an immobilized result in addition to everything I already mentioned just makes them more versatile I think. The melta guns/Blood Lance plus some Sgts with Melta Bombs should be enough for anti-tank (sans a full mech Guard list).

Oh, other note is that this was the first time I ever fielded Vanguard and a Sgt with a power fist. VVs are nice, being able to pick and choose who to attack plus only 1d6 scatter makes them actually viable. The fist was invaluable only because rolling 4+ to hit and then 4+ to wound is a chore and usually leaves lots of guys standing. I only seeing this being good against weak CC units because I never had a fear of getting wiped out before I got to use it. I can weaken them with my 4 normal guys, then fewer Necron attack back with 0 power weapons, then I get my fist. Against a fist full of CC dice or a couple power/rending weapons, I rather strike first and kill as many as I can. Plus I only get 2 attacks after the first assault, since I don't have dual-fists. Not sure if a Lightning Claw would be better to just get the chance to reroll my wounds at higher I than going last, but getting almost guaranteed wounds. Food for thought.

Finally, I'm basing my tanks as you can tell from the pics. One is just primed with a single coat of Mechrite Red and the other has a layer of Red Gore on it which is pretty noticeable. I've ordered more paint brushes and will be going to town on these guys as soon as they show up plus churn out some more dudes so stay tuned.

Battle Report - 1000pt Necron vs Codex Marines

Managed to get in a quick game last night with my friend Garrett's Codex Marines. He built them back in 3rd Ed when he was a kid and had a few 3rd Ed models including an old school Rhino. He picked up the 5th Ed codex and set on making his list for 1000pts. He was surprised by all the changes and especially that he could fit so many units in 1000pts compared to the old price totals. I figured I'd dust off my Necrons since I've really only been playing my Blood Angels lately.

Marines:

• Captain
• 1x Tactical Squad (Melta-gun)
• 1x Scout Squad (Snipers)
• 1x Sterngaurd
• 1x Dreadnought (Assault Cannon/Arm)
• 1x Attack Bike (Multi-melta)
• 1x Terminator Squad (Assault Cannon)

Necron:

• Destroyer Lord with Solar Pulse
• 5x Destroyers
• 2x10 Warrior squad
• Monolith

This is the first time I fought non-Chaos marines, so I don't know exactly what to expect or how his army will work. We stick to pitched battle for simplicity, but roll for missions and get 5 objective points. He wins roll off and passes 1st turn to me. I set up along the length of the table and he does the same.

 

(Click for larger pics)

 Nothing too amazing happens as I take out his lonely Captain (the guy at the bottom of the picture of marine deployment) with my Destroyers. I move up the Monolith and catch the edge of the tactical squad with my Particle Whip, wounding a few. My Warriors were there to basically hold the line, which would not last. To keep things simple, I kept whittling away his units with shots while his Termies and Dread advanced with guns blazing. He assaulted my left most Warrior group and swept them with the Dread. I took out his tactical squad and scouts, leaving him no troop choices to hold. 

He swung his Termies at my last Warrior squad in the center bunker. They had chainfists that tore open that bunker like a can opener. It ended in a draw: I held one with troops but he contested and he had 0 with no troop choices. Since it was years for him, and like 6 months for me, we were both constantly going "Oh damn it, I shouldn't have done that!" and basically lots of learning happened. I learned I hate terminators when I throw 30 shots from Destroyers and Monolith at 5 dudes and I only take out one from a warrior in the bunker plinking him in the head. Garrett didn't realize the power of assaulting Necron til turn 4 and he said he will be more aggressive next time. I shake my fist at the monolith again for surviving, but not really helping much. His cannon is literally hit or miss, so he doesn't always make his points back that another 4 Destroyers maybe could or another Warrior Squad n' Lord to help hold the line more.

Next time he'll be better prepared, but I also want to play my Blood Angels again. I'm actually a fan of the old 'dex now, even after all the rumors going around. So I want to fit in a couple more games in with the old system. He will also be getting his hands on his armor from back home which will be more Rhinos, a Vindicator, and a single Land Raider. Guess it's time I start building and painting again, lol.

Battle Report - 1500pt Blood Angels vs Tau

Managed to fit in a quick game on Sunday with my friend Dak and his Tau again after a long hiatus. He's more into Dungeons and Dragons right now so his Tau are on the side lines at my place most of the time. I decided to repeat my last army list, which my friend Seth came up with during my last batrep. I also took pictures this time to help detail the situation! My list:

• Carbulo (on foot)
  
• 3 Death Company (on foot)
• 2x Land Speeders with MM and HF
• 2x Baal Preds with HB Sponsons
• 1x Furioso Dread w/ DC and HF
• 3x 10-man ASM (2 in Rhinos, 1 Jump Packs)
  
• Sargent w/ PW and MB
• 1 Plasma Pistol

One unit of ASM were using Packs for two reasons: 1) I didn't have enough Rhino hulls to represent 2 Preds and 3 transports and 2) I had yet to field Jump Packs and wanted to see how maneuverable and deadly they could be. Tau forces were (from my memory):

• 2x HQ Suits with Plasma/Missile and Shield Drone
• 2x Suits with Plasma/Missile
• 2x Hammerhead with Ion Cannon
• 1x Hammerhead with Rail
• 2x Firewarrior Squads, only 1 Devilfish transport
• Squad of Kroot and Hounds around 20 or more strong
• Mystery unit that was in the back, but never shot or did anything so I can't remember what it was.

Here is a picture of the opening layout. We rolled for Seize Ground and Pitched deployment. He won the roll off and handed me first turn. I deploy everything and so does he.

(BA Deployment Details)                (Tau Deployment Details)

For the most part in the Tau picture what you see is what you get. I had to point out my stuff as I proxy a lot. He tries to steal the initiative, but rolls low, a theme that will dominate his dice. I move my tanks up, staying behind the destroyed bunker to get cover saves instead of popping smoke. My Rhinos and Speeders on the right move up to the wall and tower with one of the objectives. My overall strategy this time around is to play the waiting game and make him close the distance to get shots on me, so I'm not out in the open getting pinged by all his S7 shots from Missiles and Ions. My forces in the center move up behind the bunker for cover with the goal of charging across the middle to get into CC with the Kroot on the other point. One of the Speeders on the right goes flat out to the center bunker as well, to help the Baal Preds take on the Hammerhead on the left. No shooting takes place on my first turn. In general nothing dies on the ensuing Tau turn via cover saves ignoring everything he throws at me. Here are the results of Turn 2 shooting, to speed things up:

(Bottom of Turn 2 Shooting Details) 

The Tau only managed a Shaken result on a Rhino and a Stunned result on one Speeder. My Baal Preds moved up to guard the point and my Speeder while getting angles to fire their ACs on the remaining HQ suit on the left. The Jump Pack ASM were in range to jump into the remaining FWs. The ASM took on shots from the FW and an Ion Hammer, but as I said, Dak was rolling lots of ones tonight and failed to down any of them. On the right, knowing I had the DC, a Furioso, and a HF Speeder all ready to pounce on the Kroot, plus I had a Rhino full of scoring troops on the flag behind the wall, I went for a crazy move and tank shocked his HQ. He failed his DoG and I crushed the suit and it's shield drone.

 (Turn 3 Details)

 

At the end of my shooting phase, before I even assaulted his FW with my ASM, he called the game. He failed to kill anything of mine and his troop choices were dwindling. He was down to one suit as well that already lost its drone and a wound. I would say my forces were nicely balanced and I was rolling an abundance of 4+'s with about 3-4 rending shots on his suits. He also rolled an abundance of 3-'s for his to-hits, to-wounds, and armor saves for his troops. 

Strategy Summary: I'd like to think I had a better strategy as well compared to other fights. Presenting 2 Baal Preds and a MM Speeder up against only 1 Railhead means he can pop one of my guys but I still have enough to kill off his suits. On the right I had a Furioso with HF, the DC, and a Speeder with a HF, all threatening his Kroot in cover (which wouldn't matter vs HF and assaulters with 'nades). This overwhelms the opponent's choices for attack and provides that even if something is eliminated, I have enough backups to get the job done. I also used more cover for my vehicles in terms of doubling up so the one behind is covered and then popping smoke on the front unit where possible. These cover saves stopped all his incoming missiles and ions, and he just rolled poorly for his two Rail shots so they never landed either. Also, with my limited Melta shots and good blocking cover, my strat was to avoid taking on the tanks. I took on the Devilfish as I had a side shot with a MM within 12" and got a destroyed result. Beyond that, I was going to focus on the suits and just run away from the armor or let my ASM charge in with a Melta bomb and 9 Krak attacks on the rear armor, rather than hope 1 melta shot hits his AV13. This seemed to work better as I popped his suits with ease, while his tank shots were deflected by smoke.

After the battle, I did find one thing I played wrong and that is having my Jump Pack squad enter the bunker in the center. The Rule Book states buildings are the exact same as transports except they are immobile, so they cannot fit Jump Packs inside. I jumped them to the door on turn one and embarked and then disembarked on turn two on the other side and moved them up to assault. Had I know, I would have just used the building as cover and stayed out, jumping over it and assaulting, either way, I would have made it in on Turn 2, but I wanted to write this down to remember for next time.

Battle Report - 1500pt Blood Angels vs Chaos (x2)

My friend Seth, who was the one that pushed me into the table top hobby, visited from out of town this weekend and he brought his mixed Chaos force to do battle. We played 1500pt, Dawn of War, with one Control Point, that being my AV14 Bunker in the center of the board. It was going to be a blood bath. We played two games using this setup. The first is sort of my "all-comers" list and the second is his suggestion of an "all-comers" list, so neither were geared for killing Chaos. His forces:

• Daemon Prince with Lash
• 3x Squads of Death Guard with 2x Meltas and a PF each w/ Rhino
  
• 2x Squads of Bezerkers w/ Rhino

My Forces in Game #1:

• Lord Dante
• Carbulo in Rhino with 3 DC
• 2x 5-man ASM in Rhinos
• Sargents had PW and Melta Bombs
• 10-man Tac Squad with Las-cannon
• 3x Landspeeders with MM
• 3x Baal Preds with HB Sponsons
• All vehicles had Extra Armor

My Forces in Game #2:

• Carbulo
• 3 Death Company (foot slogging)
• 2x Land Speeders with MM and HF
• 2x Baal Preds with HB Sponsons
• 1x Furioso Dread w/ DC and HF
• 3x 10-man ASM in Rhinos
• Sargent w/ PW and MB
• 1 Plasma Pistol

To keep things short and sweet, and maybe it's obvious, but both games ended in draws. With only one CP in the center, there weren't any chances for last turn grabs and there were just too many things to kill that any one thing could contest. In the first game I used two Landspeeders that had no weapons to turbo boost in and just provide something to contest. Overall, most of my stuff died, including Dante on turn 1 from a melta (*curses old edition codex with no eternal warrior*). In the second game it was more of the same, but my units fared a bit better with surviving and killing the Chaos, but still a draw. A picture of the end of game two is below. At the bottom of 5 we just laid it out on the table of what we'd do the next couple turns and it was determined that it was impossible for either of us to get a "win" as all of our units were on top of the point, so even if he cracked open the objective and killed my marines inside in one turn, there were still Rhinos that could sit and contest that would take more than 2 turns to wreck or destroy, so we just called it.

(Click for details with text)

Some observations, instead of a turn by turn account... Chaos are crazy tough to beat. Damn DG just don't go down with what weapons I have. Plus they get 2x Meltas, which I believe to be the best weapon/most broken weapon around. It kills anything, infantry or vehicle with two "rule modifiers" that being AP1 which adds to the dmg table (and ignores all armor) and 2D6 for pen, plus it's an Assault Weapon so you can fire it on the move. This is infinitely better than the "ancient and lost tech" of plasma weapons that can actually back fire and don't get either vehicle bonus. I digress... The other thing was how it felt anything he used to attack negated any of my special rules. Meltas, Monstrous Creatures attacks, and Power Fists all ignore armor, which screw my DC with FNP and Carbulo who can heal a wound... just not those types of wounds... Chaos also has defensive grenades that keep me from getting attacks on the charge, which is the whole point of an assault army. Also, he kept rolling 2s on the vehicle pen table, which I would ignore with my extra armor... but these were always Melta shots, leading to weapon destroyed results, which my Speeders only have one, and my Preds rely on their AC to do any real damage...

I can live with the draws as they just mean we both had good results and bad results. He knows how to better set up an attack, but I'm good enough at reacting to them to hold him off. I can always do better, but he has a couple years of play on me, so it will be awhile before I could best him in strategy. I'm also learning the limitations of my army and what can work and what doesn't. And yes, the picture is quite ugly with my unpainted Marines and Rhinos, Necron and Tau proxies, etc, but we never get confused as to what is what, and this is still the learning phase for me in the hobby. Plus as you can see I'm painting plenty of other things like terrain and tokens, haha.

» Any constructive comments on my army lists are welcome, though I feel either were quite well set up, maybe it's just my overall strategy that needs work. Also, how do you handle taking on the Chaos craziness of mobile Death Guard and Daemon Princes stomping everything?

Battle Report - 1000pt Blood Angels vs Tau

So this is my first battle report on here and it was between my Blood Angel successor chapter (yet to be named or built... haha) vs my friend Dak's Tau themed around the Soviet Union. The battle as 1000pt as I couldn't proxy enough Rhino hulls, as my 1500pt list has 3 Rhinos and 2 Baal Preds but I only have 3 actual Rhino models. So, my forces were:

• Lord Dante
• Carbulo in Rhino with 3 DC
• 2x 5-man ASM in Rhinos
• Sargents had PW and Melta Bombs
• 10-man Tac Squad with Las-cannon
• 2x Landspeeders with MM

Tau forces where:

• 2x HQ Suits (Plasma/Missile)
  
• 1x Elite Suit (Plasma/Missile)
  
• 2x Firewarrior Squads with Devilfish transports
• Hammerhead with Rail Cannon
  
• Hammerhead with Ion Cannon

Deployment and mission were spearhead/annihilation, he won roll off and went first and chose his quadrant. He deployed everything near the center and I deployed my las-cannon team near the center as well, everything else of mine is in reserve. The center of the board is my bunker from earlier posts, so it's up for grabs. One DF runs up and unloads his troops near the door and the rest circle around the bunker to get LOS on my unit which brings his other DF and HH near my table edge. The squad take shots like a champ surviving the round of shooting. They didn't have a shot at the end of the turn so they move to cover for the incoming plasma shots next turn.

Top of 2, he pours more shots into them reducing them to just the lascannon, but the final failed save was from a pinning shot, which I of course fail so he can't shoot next turn. I roll for reserves and one Landspeeder, Dante, and a normal Rhino come on. The speeder rolls on behind his DF, penning his rear armor for an immobilize. Dante arrived behind his HH, penning rear armor with his melta-pistol, wrecking it, and the Rhino just moves up 12" but forgets to pop smoke. The key here was the Tau not knowing I can come in on the whole table edge and the skimmers were both near 12" of my edge so were in range of getting 2d6 pen rolls on rear armor. On his turn, I think a suit missile'd the side armor of my Rhino and it got wrecked, failing an area cover save. My ASM pile out into this cover to get saves vs any plasma or Ion cannons. Their mission is now to melta the downed DF to get the KP.

Top of 3, one of his HQs goes to rapid fire plasma and missiles into my lone lascannon who promptly sticks the cannon into the ground and hides behind it, as the HQ rolls 4 1s missing all shots! The HQ is forced to charge or he will open fire next turn, and he is finally cut down. The ASM squad on foot takes some wounds from the Ion cannon but live on. His other units maneuver around but not much else. My second 'speeder comes on and moves up 12" to get in MM range of the second DF which hits on side armor and immob that one as well. My DC Rhino comes on and moves up and pops smoke. The speeder that immob the 1st DF moves around to fire on the HQ with his MM, but fails to hit. Dante jumps forward and pops a suit with his pistol.

Top of 4, his HQ suit proceeds to score a weapon destroyed and an immob on my 1st speeder, but doesn't give up its KP. His two downed DF launch their 2 gun drones each to bring the fight to me. His suit and some FW in the bunker fire at Dante scoring 1 wound, but Carbulo was close enough to heal it. I can't remember how, but my 2nd speeder was destroyed by fire, probably the Ion cannon. My ASM go to meet his one squad of gun drones and shoot them from the sky on their way to the downed DF. Dante jumps past the other downed DF where a suit was hiding and preceded to kill him in CC, leaving just one suit left, which was an HQ. The DC rhino moves up to stay within range of Dante to give him a saved wound for the next shooting phase.

Top of 5, he turns everything around and labels Dante the threat. The FW in the bunker come out so all can rapid fire into him, the other FW in the immob DF pile out and move to get into RF as well, the last suit comes around the bunker and the Ion HH take aim. Both squads of FW fail to wound, as Carbulo heals the only one they inflict. The suit inflicts one wound, and finally 2 Ion blasts aren't saved so he is knocked out. This allows my ASM squad to stroll over to the other DF and melta it and wreck it. My 3 DC unload and hop the nearby wall and charge his closest FW squad, winning combat but they only fall back a few inches, which sets me up to charge them on turn 6 and sweep them. Speaking of turn 6 my last rhino that came in on turn 5 rolls up and shoots the other gun drone squad from the air with help from bolt pistols inside. The other FW squad ran back in the bunker but couldn't shoot much. The game ends there as a win for me 7 to 4.

Some questions that came up, that I pose to anyone that plays and is reading this are: Can foot infantry go thru walls that are tall enough to cover a rhino and are gun drone squads that disembark from a Devilfish count as a squad that create a KP? For the first, I figured it was just a difficult terrain test, like they blow a hole thru the wall with explosives. We just played it as 1d6 difficult terrain, instead of 2d6 picking the highest. And for the second, I counted the drones as KP as they have an entry in the codex as an actual fast attack choice with a unit stat line, they just happened to start on the DF. My opponent said they shouldn't as they are more like a wargear choice for the DF. Lemme know what you think of this post as well, if it was too long or what. It was long as I don't have a way to recording it and making it like a 5-7 min post on YouTube like Jawaballs and the other bloggers. Thoughts?