League Winnings!

So I took some time to think about what I wanted to pick up with my FLGS winnings (provided by Games Workshop) and settled on something finally. I thought about more Dark Angels for Honor Guard or grab Devastators for my support choices. Also thought about some Vanguard, but found they were metal with certain load outs modeled and that's just not how I roll, haha. I even toyed with the idea of a Fantasy Army, but realized that I have friends with 40k armies that don't even play me much, let alone the fact that none of them have a Fantasy army, so I'd have to rely on the FLGS for any play whatsoever. So, it came down to one thing, I need more boots on the ground, so I went with another set of Death Company, which will be broken down basically to hand out icons and weapons to stuff like the HG and my Sgts. They were nice enough to just call it even on my choices because the winning were for $45, but the total for my stuff is $50. I guess basically whatever the person chooses in winnings, GW will ship an equal replacement to the store to make up for the items, so I didn't have to pay the difference! Anyway, the box is just near perfect, except I don't like all the body molds that much. But it has jump packs, power packs, melee weapons, bolters, and 20 should pads! Just the stuff I need to turn my vanilla and DA marines into BA marines. I also picked up the new Lemartes blister as the old Lemartes one is so god awful in comparison. He'll stand in for my Reclusiarch in my lists for now or actually get used if I ever play a fun game of an all DC, non-scoring army list. :-)

(League loot!)

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?

Army List: 1000pt Jump Pack - League Play

 (GW ©)

(Happy 50th Blog Post to me!)

Just a quick update today with a new army list for my next League game, which is slated for 1000pts. 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. Here is what I came up with as a possible list:

• 1x 10-man ASM (2x MG; PF)
• 1x 5-man ASM (1x MG; PW)
• 1x Libby (JP; Shield, Lance)
• 1x Priest (JP)
• 1x 10-man Vanguard Veteran
• Squad 1 (Sgt with L. Claw & SS; second L. Claw & SS)
• Sqaud 2 (Thunder Hammer & SS; second SS)

This comes out to 1000pts even. My main concern is the few troops, with either just 2, or combat squad the first unit to have 3 weak squads. The Libby and Priest will travel with the 5-man ASM to provide their powers, but be behind the 10-man for cover and try to stay out of CC as long as possible. The VV will be squadded down so I have two "beat-sticks" that will DS in and one will go for squishy infantry support like Long Fangs, Broadsides, Rangers, etc. The other will try to take out MCs or a tank. They will be there to do the damage while the ASM are there to take on easy targets like other troop choices and then fall back to take table quarters or the center objective. I don't want to commit them to the grinder of combat unless my VV are struggling.

I will be play testing this on Monday to see how viable it is with Jason. I have to submit my army list by Wednesday, so I'll have a day or so to tweak this should it not do well in testing. As for caveats, yes, I'd like to maybe get another weapon in the Squad 2 of the VV, but this is still only 1000pts so it was hard when you need the basics like troops and a libby with pack. And I'm using a TH instead of a PF cause I had 5 points swimming around and hey, I've never fielded one before so let's try it out! In my first game I didn't even have any power weapons or invul saves at all and I took out a draw by playing the objectives and not trying to slaughter the enemy, so this should be a bit more effective.

»Anyone have experience with VV and how to field them? Some people suggested I go Glaive instead of Claw, but not sure about it. Re-roll any failed wounds or re-roll a single failed to-hit? Or just go with the extra attack with the simple power-sword?

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.