NWG 2011 - Game 3 - American High

So game 3, Paul Quigley, Dark Eldar, Venoms!

Haemoculus
Shattershard

Haemonculus
Liquifier Gun


4x Trueborn
4x Blasters in Transport 1

4x Trueborn
4x Blasters in Transport 2

4x Trueborn
4x Blasters in Transport 3


5x Kabalite Warriors
Blaster in Transport 4

5x Kabalite Warriors
Blaster in Transport 5

5x Kabalite Warriors
Blaster in Transport 6

5x Kabalite Warriors
Blaster in Transport 7

9x Wyches
Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix with Phantasm Grenade Launcher and Power Weapon in Transport 8

9x Wyches
Haywire Grenades, Hekatrix with Phantasm Grenade Launcher and Power Weapon in Transport 9


Reaper
Flickerfield, Aethersails, Shock Prow

Reaper
Flickerfield, Aethersails, Shock Prow

Reaper
Flickerfield, Aethersails, Shock Prow


Transport 1: Venom with Extra Splinter Cannon
Transport 2: Venom with Extra Splinter Cannon
Transport 3: Venom with Extra Splinter Cannon
Transport 4: Venom with Extra Splinter Cannon
Transport 5: Venom with Extra Splinter Cannon
Transport 6: Venom with Extra Splinter Cannon
Transport 7: Venom with Extra Splinter Cannon
Transport 8: Raider with Enhanced Aethersails and Flickerfield
Transport 9: Raider with Enhanced Aethersails and Flickerfield

From the list alone I knew this was going to be a bad match-up for me (and in the multiple objective scenario no less) but on top of that Paul was a vastly better player than I was, so in true tradition of how I plan to take on a match I think I can't win, I brainfart.

I got the rolls for both objectives and sides so I set both objectives of mine just on front of my deployment zone. We had Pitched Battle deployment and my plan was to go refused flank and try just hold onto my two objectives. As you will see I didn't do a good job of it. I put everything bar the Vindicare (who Infiltrated on the opposite flank), the OXI's unit in their Razorback, and two Dreads (one Ven) on the left flank around the objectives using a large rock formation to block his Reapers from pummeling my vehicles. I knew he was just going to keep his whole army in reserve, and whereas that left me two turns of shooting down, it also left him down one and a chance that his Reapers would come on late, as well as the usual downfall of the army getting picked apart peacemeal. Or so I thought...it didn't turn out so colourful (and I would have settled for a simple blood red). So Paul set his objective up in terrain on the opposite flank and then reserved everything.




Turns 1-3

My first mistake was my usual mistake; comfortable with my position I got too comfortable and stayed put waiting for him to arrive on the board. So turn 2 of the Dark Eldar arrived and both Raiders as well as two Reapers and a Venom came on. The Venom and Reapers came on Flat Out behind a rock formation so I couldn't see the Venom. The Raiders stayed back near the Dark Eldar board edge and fired both Dark Lances at the Land Raider but to no avail.

Turn 3 I started shooting. The left flank shooting failed to do anything thanks to successful cover saves. The Vindicare managed to draw a bead and have range to the nearest Raider and managed to explode it, killing 5 of the Wyches inside in the blast despit Feel No Pain. The Ven Dread followed suit and wrecked the other Raider. The OXI's Razorback fired at the eastern most Reaper but the Flickerfield repelled it yet again.



The rest of Paul's army came on this turn unfortunately with all of the reserves moving on Flat Out. The Venom from last turn moved out from behind the rocks to shoot the Vindicare and the Reaper moved out somewhat as well. The Wyches moved forward and then ran.

All three Reapers opened fire on my right flank, Wrecking the Dread, exploding the Ven Dread (after I asked him to re-roll a Wrecked result) and Immobolised and Weapon Destroyed the Razorback. The Vindicare took a wound from the Venom fire as well.




Turn 4

My turn I only moved out a Razorback for my lines of fire. The Vindicare tried to take down the exposed Reaper but it passed the Flickerfield save again. Despite knowing the Wyches were now meant as a distraction I hadn't range of anything else yet bar the Venom in the centre so every bar one Land Raider Lascannon fired at the Wyches, the Venom passing its cover save and the Wyches been brought to 2 women (with the Haemonculus getting killed) and the unit fled.



The Dark Eldar were not subtle in Turn 4 and everything on the right flank swooped across the board en masse Flat Out bar one Venom which held back to shoot the Vindicare (and succeeded). The Wyches continued to run, one unit toward me and the other off the board.




Turn 5

At this point I had realised my mistake in that by not committing entirely to my refused flank, I didn't have enough vehicle to block up the objectives and stop him landing within 3" of them. Equally, if I disembarked my vehicle to block them up, I would get Venom raped. My hope now had to be that the game would go on to turn 6 and I could unleash an unholy amount of fire and Force Weapons on him to reclaim them.

The Razorback moved back to stay away from the Wyches and the Land Raider moved out to draw a bead on the incoming horde (of vehicles). A single Wyche was killed as everything else either missed, or in the case of the Lascannon that shot the Reaper, repelled by a cover save.

The Dark Eldar made one final massive move banking on a game end this turn, with one Venom going back to claim the Dark Eldar objective, the Wyches continuing their advance, and everything else swarming the objectives. A unit of Trueborn were dropped in near the west objective and ran onto it, a unit of Warriors dropped in behind the rocks, which turned out to be 3" from the objective and thus proved I placed it poorly. The Venoms circled around my army and the Reapers struck out. One rammed the Land Raider to no avail and the other collectively took out the Land Raider. The bailed out Terminators took a loss to Venom fire also.

The dice was then rolled and a 1 signalled the game end and a 2-0 victory to the Dark Eldar.




Conclusions

Well I mucked that one up rightly; it went 17-3 to Paul, so I was at least grateful that I didn't get tabled.

First mistake was in deployment; I should have either dedicated completely to the refuse flank with better objective positioning so that he needed to actually kill stuff before he could contest, or as Paul pointed out, sent out only two Razorbacks on the right flank and used the two free turns at the start to claim his objective so he would either have to split his force to deal with me, or stop to deal with those Razorbacks and Purifiers first, possibly long enough that he couldn't get across the board in time. Either way, that was mistake number one. Number two was Land Raider placement. The guns didn't get to go to their full potential, and one exit point was blocked off meaning once it was wrecked the Terminators had to abandon the objective. Of course, annoying amounts of Flickerfield saves passed didn't help matters.

I learned a lot in this game however, so I was optimistic coming out of it still.

With that day 1 ended and bellies were a rumbling. Pizza and pints it was, or so it was planned, but everybody ended up crashing early due to the previous night's festivities.

Also, we got the draw for the following morning and I was paired up on table 6 with Adam O'Connor and his Nurgle Chaos Space Marines. Stay tuned

NWG 2011 - Game 2 - Beautiful Mourning

So Game 2, Colin Murray, Chaos Space Marines, Capture and Control Dawn of War. Colin had a standard tournament Chaos list, so not the best match for him as I had prefered enemy against 4 of his units and was pill boxed away from Lash, not to mention the Reinforced Aegis.

Daemon Prince
Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Lash of Submission

Daemon Prince
Mark of Slaanesh, Wings, Lash of Submission


3x Terminators
3x Combi-Meltas

3x Terminators
3x Combi-Meltas

Chaos Dreadnought
Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer


7x Khorne Berserkers
Icon, Power Fist in Transport 1

6x Plague Marines
2x Meltaguns, Icon, Power Fist in Transport 2

6x Plague Marines
2x Meltaguns, Icon in Transport 3


3x Obliterators
3x Obliterators
3x Obliterators


Transport 1: Rhino with Combi-Melta
Transport 2: Rhino with Combi-Melta
Transport 3: Rhino with Combi-Melta

I got the first turn and deployed my objective in the south-westen ruins, held by a unit of Purifiers in their Razorback with the OXI. Colin deployed his objective opposite mine with a unit of Plague Marines in a Rhino and a Daemon Prince nearby. Colin chose not to seize.




Turn 1

Everything moved onto the board pushing hard west apart from the Land Raider who moved up the centre. Line of sight was obscured across the board by the darkness so the turn ended quickly.

Colin had a similar turn, moving everything onto the board by failing to see any of my army. Two units of Obliterators and the Dreadnought moved on west with the rest of the army coming on mid table, bar the Terminators who were waiting to Deep Strike later. The Daemon Prince who deployed at the start swung east into mid-table.




Turn 2

Most of my army shuffled forward with two of the Razorbacks switching spots. The Land Raider stayed still in order to unload on the Daemon Prince.
The western most Dreadnought and Razorback shot at the Chaos Dreadnought and destroyed its Multi-Melta and shook it. The Land Raider opened up on a Daemon Prince and wounded it. The Vindicare tried to wound the same Prince but was stopped by its Invulnerable Save. The Ven Dread managed to Immobolise the eastern Plague Marine Rhino and the other Dreadnought took down an Obliterator.



One of the Termicide units Deep Striked down behind the Grey Knight army, taking out a Dreadnought. The two Daemon Princes flew in behind the ruins in the centre for cover while the Obliterators continued their slow yet purposeful advance. The Chaos Dread ran forward.

The two man Obliterator squad blew up the OXI's Razorback, killing 2 Purifiers, so that the nearest Daemon Prince could Lash them through the wreck of the Dreadnought, though they passed their Dangerous Terrain tests. The Ven Dread also got Immobolised by the remaining Obliterators.




Turn 3

One unit of Purifiers bailed out of their Razorback and dual charged the Terminators along with the OXI's unit. Their Razorback also moved to get into a better firing position. The other Razorback and Dread continued to advance.

The advancing Dread and Razorback shot at the closest Obliterators and managed to take them out. The Vindicare and Ven Dread also teamed up to take out the two man squad. The Land Raider opened up on the wounded Daemon Prince and brought it down to one wound, which the last Razorback managed to take.

In the assault the Purifiers managed to kill 2 Terminators with their Halberds before the Terminators took down 2 of the OXI's Purifiers. The Daemonhamemrs then finished the last one off. The OXI's unit consolidated toward the objective whie the larger unit moved behind the Razorback.



The second unit of Terminators tried to Deep Strike next to the Land Raider but scattered off 7", forcing them to run nearer and into cover rather than waste their one Melta shot at long range. The Plague Marines decided to bail from their Immobolised Rhino and run toward their objective. The Berserkers' Rhino went forward full speed and the Dread advanced further. Chaos shooting didn't do much, only Immobolising the advancing Razorback.




Turn 4

The Land Raider moved toward the Chaos Terminators and the Grey Knight Terminators bailed in order to assault. The large Purifier unit embarked back into their Razorback near the objective and moved to fire. The OXI's unit moved onto the objective and the unit in the now Immobolised disembarked and charged the Chaos Dreadnought after their Psycannons failed to hurt it. The remaining Dread also advanced again.

Despite all efforts, all shooting at the last Daemon Prince was stopped by his Invulnerable Save or cover. In the assaults, the Terminators wiped out the Chaos Terminators with ease however the Purifiers had less luck, unable to damage the Chaos Dreadnought further, losing both Psycannons in return.



The Plague Marines continued their move to and around the objectve. Shooting yielded no casualties however the Daemon Prince did manage to Lash the Terminators into terrain. In the assault the Chaos Dread was Immobolised but took out another Purifier.




Turn 5

At this point I realised that the Purifiers fighting the Chaos Dread were the only unit capable of winning the game for me, so the rest of the army concentrated on either supporting them or playing for the draw should things not work out for them. The Terminators managed to get back in their Land Raider also, just incase they got the turns to cross the board. In the assault phase the Chaos Dread killed the last two Purifiers for now damage in return.

In an effort to claw back points, the Plague Marines moved up and bailed out on front of the Dreadnought, while the Khorne Rhino moved near to the Land Raider. Everything else continued their current course.

The Rhino fired its Combi-Melta at the Land Raider but failed to hit. Elsewhere the Plague Marines blew up the Dreadnought with two Melta shots. With that, the game ended, a 10-10 draw.




Conclusions

It was a good and challenging game though I think I may have won if I started off slightly more aggressively. Still, a draw in the draw mission is not something one can exactly complain about

So now up on 29 points I dropped to table 4 to play Paul Quigley, former Ireland ETC Captain, and his Venom SPAM Dark Eldar.

NWG 2011 - Practice and Game 1 - Let Freedom Ring (and The Blackening)

So NWG has finally come and gone. True to the plan we left for Gorey Friday evening, stopping only for a quick bite to eat and drink for later. We arrived at the venue at around 11pm and as planned myself and a friend Jason Lane were set to play a friendly as we had never played before, despite being from the same city. And so a Grey Knight off there would be. As a reminder my Crowe themed list can be found here

Jason's list, despite also being Grey Knights, was drastically different to mine, a good example of how diverse the Codex is. Enter the Draigo-Wing.

Lord Kaldor Draigo

Librarian
Nemesis Warding Stave, Might of Titan, Smite, The Shrouding, The Summoning, Warp Rift


Vindicare Assassin

5x Purifiers
Master Crafted Force Sword, 3x Falcions, Psycannon in Transport 1


4x Paladins
Psybolt Ammunition

5x Paladins
Psybolt Ammunition, Brotherhood Banner, 2x Psycannons


Storm Raven
Multi-Melta, Assault Cannon, Hurricane Bolters, Psybolt Ammunition, Warp Stabilization Field


Land Raider
Warp Stabilization Field


Transport 1: Razorback with Twin-Linked Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammunition, Dozer Blade, Warp Stabilization Field

It would be an interesting dynamic with Draigo having the edge in combat meaning I would have to avoid him like the plague and try take out the transports ASAP. Note Draigo, the Librarian and the 4 Paladins went in the Storm Raven while the 5 man Paladin sqaud went in the Land Raider.

We rolled up a random mission and deployment and got a Pitched Battle Capture and Control. I rolled higher and got to choose sides and deploy first. I put my objective in the lower left ruins and put a Razorback in range with the Ven Dread nearby. I put another Razorback and Dread nearby in mid field and pushed everything else far east to maximise cover. Jason put a Razorback and Land Raider far east also to face the bulk of my army and kept the Storm Raven in reserve. I won the roll off for Infiltrators and put my Vindicare with the main army facing Jason's Land Raider. As such Jason couldn't get his Vindicare near my main army, and with me probably going first, he decided to Outflank instead. He tried to steal first turn and failed.




Turn 1

The OXI's Razorback (the eastern-most one) moved far forward to hide in the ruins while most of the rest of the army moved off east to get better firing lines to Jason's vehicles.

The Vindicare kicked off the shooting phase by Exploding the Land Raider. One of the Paladins took a wound in the blast. The rest of the army shot at the Razorback, Immobolising it.



The Paladins moved out through the terrain a full 6" and shot the OXI's Razorback, blowing up and killing 3 Purifiers in the explosion.




Turn 2

In my turn Crowe came on and ran up behind the Vindicare. The Land Raider went full throttle toward the Paladins as did the OXI and his Purifiers. The rest of the army replicated the previous turn.

The Vindicare took a shot at the Paladins, killing one. Everything else shot at the Razorbac, blowing it up. The Terminators and Purifiers followed up by assaulting the Paladins and completely wiping them out.



Unfortunately for Jason none of his reserves came on. His Purifiers ran forward shot at my Terminators, and then assaulted them. Unfortunately they only killed two of them and the Terminators struck back wiping out the Purifiers, consolidating onto Jason's objective.




Turn 3-4

In turn 3 I found myself with nothing to do so I rejigged my army. In Jason's turn 3 his Vindicare came on my side of the board and took a Turbo-Penetrator shot at Crowe, but failed to pass his Iron Halo. In retaliation Crowe charged the Vindicare and killed him. Jason Followed up as Draigo's Storm Raven finally entered play, going Flat Out on the western flank as was to be expected, and having Shrouding cast on it.




Turn 5

Most of my army moved west to respond to Draigo and managed to shoot down his Storm Raven. Draigo was in trouble so charged along with his unit into the Purifier's Razorback, but they only managed to Immobolize it, and the game ended then 1-0 to me.




Conclusions

By turn 3 the outcome became predicatable as the Storm Raven still hadn't shown up, allowing me to pick apart Jason's army peacemeal. If Draigo had flown in for support on turn 2 it would have been a very different game, albeit it at least would have given me something to do in turn 3.

So after the game we realised that the whiskey was already gone and everyone was gone home; turned out it was 3am somehow. So drunk as monkies we stumbled back to the hotel and crashed ready for a morning of war.

Next morning it was up bright and early and straight to the hotel for game 1...actually that's a lie, it was straight to the bathroom to get sick everywhere and then onto the shop for breakfast and then onto the hotel for game 1 :evilgrin:

Game 1 was Spearhead Annihilation and I was fortunate enough to get paired against Tyranids and on the same table I had played my game on the night before. Their general, Sean O'Regan was reportedly new to the game, however I got the distinct feeling during the game that despite this he knew his army well and was a competent general. I'm not 100% sure on his list but it was roughly as below:

Hive Tyrant
Lash Whip and Bonesword, Leech Essence, Paroxysm


Hive Guard


30x Termagaunts

5x Tyranid Warriors
Barbed Strangler, Deathsplitters

9x Tyranid Warriors
Lash Whips and Boneswords, Scything Talons

8x Genestealers
Broodlord, Scything Talons


14x Gargoyles


Carnifex
Heavy Venom Cannon

Carnifex
Heavy Venom Cannon

Carnifex
Heavy Venom Cannon

This doesn't add up to 2000pts so there's obviously more items in there but if there were they never came up and/or I don't know them (first game against Nids since 4th edition).

Sean rolled highest for table quarters and chose to go first deploying in the north-west leaving me to deploy in the south-east. His fighty Warriors and Genestealers were both outflanking with the Gaunts and shooty Tyranids staying in reserve. He opted to Deep Strike the Gargoyles. I spread across my deployment zone to maximise shooting lanes (note the map is wrong as the western-most Razorback obviously couldn't be that far west and was in fact on the edge line of the deployment zone). The Vindicare Infiltrated into the other quarter on my side to get clear shots at the monsters.




Turn 1

All of Sean's monsters moved up around the building taking shots at the transports, and succesfully wrecking the eastern most one.

In my turn the disembarked Purifiers moved into the nearby ruins and the Dreadnought moved into the wreck of the Rhino. The other Dreadnought moved up northward to get clear shots at the monsters.

The Vindicare started things out by doing two wounds to nearest Carnifex, and two remaining Razorbacks finished it off. The northern Dread managed to take out the Hive Guard while the Land Raider managed a wound on the lead Carnifex.




Turn 2

Sean got some good reserve rolls, getting on the fighty Warriors, the Gaunts, the Genestealers and the Gargoyles. The Gargoyles landed right on front of the Land Raider but failed synapse and got stuck shooting at it. The Gaunts failed synapse too, sending them into a nearby ruin. The Warriors came on the wrong flank only able to assault the Vindicare, however the Genestealers came in behind my army and managed a multi-charge on the two Dreadnoughts.

The Warriors easily over ran the Vindicare, while the Genestealers actually lost combat by blowing up one Dread and took two wounds from it. They held however and piled in to the second Dread. Meanwhile the Carnifexes had both moved toward my army through terrain.



I decided to take no chances and disembarked the OXI's Purifiers and the Terminators. The Land Raider and Psyback also advanced on a bit to make room while the Ven Dread moved backward to draw a bead on the fighty Warriors.

In phenomenal turn of shooting the Ven Dread and Lasback combined to take out 5 fighty Warriors (5 failed cover saves), while the Psyback and Land Raider teamed up to take down already wounded lead Carnifex.

In the assault phase the charge was sounded as the OXI lead his unit against the Gargoyles and the remaining foot unit charged the Genestealers. The OXI's unit completely anihilated the Gargoyles between Cleansing Flame and combat attacks while the Terminators wiped out the Genestealer and the Purifiers took the Broodlord down to his lastoud, though not before he killed three of them. The Broodlord fled, and managed to get away, the Terminators consolidating back away from the Hive Tyrant and the Purifiers skulking after the Broodlord.




Turn 3

The Nids were a bit weary after that last turn but Sean pressed on. The remaining reserves came on and made a beeline for the Broodlord's likely position after he fled again. The Gaunts failed synapse and stayed in their ruin. The Hive Tyrant and Carnifex each set their sights on respective quarry (the Purifiers and the recently arrived Crowe) while the fighty Warriors moved behind cover. Shooting was completely ineffective for the Nids and so it was on to the Grey Knights' turn.



With the Hive Tyrant closing in I needed to make strides to stop him, so I offered him up the Land Raider, moving it 12" toward him hoping he would get tempted to charge it next turn. The western units rejigged for shooting lanes and charge set-ups for next turn. Elsewhere the Purifiers moved out to try take out the Broodlord.

The Purifiers opened up on the Broodlord and though the Psycannon fluffed it the lowly Storm Bolter took him out. The two remaining Dreads took out the remaining Warriors while the combined efforts of the Razorbacks and Land Raider took 3 wounds from the Hive Tyrant. The Terminators, unable to see him shot at the shooty Warriors and killed one. The remaining Purifiers then tried to finish of the Hive Tyrant but failed.




Turn 4

The Hive Tyrant took the bait and charged the Land Raider, wrecking it. The Gaunts passed Synapse and moved out toward my army while the remaining Warriors moved up to the top of the nearby ruins. The last Carnifex kept toward Crowe. The Warriors took out one of the Purifiers.



Crowe leapt from his cover, charging the last Carnifex and wounding it. The lone Purifier on the eastern flank retreated into cover also to try save the Kill Point.

The OXI's unit decided against charging the Hive Tyrant and shot him down instead. Attempts at the Warriors failed.




Turn 5

The Gaunts moved up but were out of range while the Warriors failed to kill anything. Crowe kept hacking at the Carnifex finally seeing its undoing with two wounds and the last from a failed Fearless check.

As the last act of the game Crowe and the Purifers with OXI charged the Gaunts, activating a double Cleansing Flame which killed 25 of the Gaunts with 4 more falling in combat, the last caught and run down. With that the game ended 8-3 to the Grey Knights.




Conclusions

Well there's not a whole lot that can be said. The match-up was horrible for Tyranids, especially a Purifier based force, and the horrible luck of turn 2 didn't help Sean one bit. However he was quite the sport and kept his head high throughout the game. This would be a 19-1 to me and put me up to Table 1 for game 2 against Colin Murray and his double Lash Prince CSM. Report coming soon.

Unto the Locust(s)

Got in a second game with the list for the weekend tonight, this time against my all time worst match-up, Imperial Guard. It wasn't leaf-blower, but I had beaten it before with my Eldar and knew it had enoguh Ordnance to scare me with enough Lascannons and Melta to boot, so the Land Raider wasn't feeling too good about it.

Company Command Squad
Medi-Pack, Regimental Standard, Vox Caster, Melta Gun, Power Fist


10x Veterans
3x Meltaguns

10x Veterans
3x Plasma Guns

10x Veterans
3x Plasma Guns

[Infantry Platoon]

Platoon Command Squad
Power Fist, Meltagun
Infantry Squad
Grenade Launcher, Missile Launcher, Vox Caster
Infantry Squad
Grenade Launcher, Missile Launcher, Vox Caster
Infantry Squad
Grenade Launcher, Missile Launcher, Vox Caster
Special Weapons Unit
3x Meltaguns in Transport 1
Heavy Weapons Team
3x Lascannons
Heavy Weapons Team
3x Lascannons


Valkyrie
Heavy Bolters

Valkyrie
Heavy Bolters

Valkyrie
Heavy Bolters



Leman Russ Punisher
Heavy Bolters, Dozer Blade

Leman Russ Demolisher
Lascannon, Dozer Blade

Leman Russ Demolisher
Lascannon, Dozer Blade


Transport 1: Chimera with Dozer Blade

We rolled up Dawn of War Capture and Control with him placing his objective just off of a crater while I placed mine behind an impassable building. He got to go first and so deployed the Infantry Platoon, Company Command Squad and Chimera spread across his deployment. I chose to deploy a Razorback, a unit of Purifiers and the OXI and hid them out behind the same building my objective was behind. I chose not to try and steal initiative so as to waste his first turn of shooting.




Turn 1

Mike moved on his army with one Demolisher going over on his far right flank beyond the building and an empty Valkyrie also coming in on that side. Everything else moved in the centre bar the other two Valkyrie's (with Plasma and Melta Vets in each) Flat Out along his left flank. He tried some shooting but couldn't see threw the dark of night.



I decided based on his Demolisher positions that weighing toward my right flank would be best to avoid as much ordnance as possible in the early turns putting only a Dread and the Vindicare out to the left. I brought my army on moving all 3 Razorbacks full steam ahead while popping smoke. The Land Raider also moved at cruising. The Ven Dread and other remaining Dread moved on the far right, right on front of the two Valkyries. The Grey Knight's sight proved better as only the Land Raider failed to see its target however Mike managed to pass all of his Flat Out cover saves, and the Dread on the left fluffed it.




Turn 2

Glad that the night had lifted the Guard pressed on with their attack. All 3 Valkyries advanced at cruising speed so as to fire off some missiles. The Demolisher on Mike's far right moved at cruising speed around the building to try get closer to the centre of the board as the Chimera moved ahead of it. The other Demolisher and the Punisher moved ahead just enough to make better firing arcs. The Melta Vets also dropped out of the Valkyrie in order to try Melta the Land Raider.

In a surprising turn of events, despite hitting twice they failed to penetrate it. Similarly the Valkyries all missed their targets however the Chimera managed to wound the Assassin with its Multi-Laser right before a shell from the lead Demolisher exploded the lead Razorbck, killing a Purifier in the process. Taking its cue the Punisher reared up and let loose at the survivors, however despite the amount of shots it was able to pump out, a Psycannon Purifier and the Inquisitor survived. The Infantry Squad guarding the IG objective then used First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire to take them down. The Lascannon teams on the left also managed to shake the Razorback on that side, while the team on the right blew the Lascannon off the other Razorback as it failed all its smoke saves just like the others.



The Terminators bailed from the Land Raider who moved up only 6" seeing an opportunity. The east-most Dread moved in toward the lead Valkyrie while the west-most Dread moved through the cover toward the Valkyrie on that side. The remaining two Razorbacks moved at cruising speed again, now only a short distance from the Imperial Guards' lines.

The Vindicare opened up the shooting phase by blowing up the lead Demolisher, killing two Infantrymen and the Vox Caster from the HQ Squad. The Land Raider followed up, kicking up the Machine Spirit to fire at two targets using one Lascannon to explode the Punisher and the other to immobolise the lead Valkyrie. The Dread near it continued the assault but only managed to Shake it, while the Venerable Dread failed to hurt the Valkrie behind. On the other side the last Dread immobolised and shook the last Valkyrie. The Terminators had no interest in shooting however and assaulted the Veterans in the wood, annihilating them with ease and consolidating toward the enemy. The Dread over there also assaulted the now immobolised Valkyrie but to no avail, only shaking it more.




Turn 3

With two of the Valkyries now neutralised the last moved Flat Out over the forest to try and deliver more Vets to my objective. The Chimera continued to advance so the Demolisher could move out. Everything else stayed still. The Demolisher continued to show its worth now wrecking another Razorback while a stray Grenade exploded the other, killing one of the disembarking Purifiers in the process. Not much else was effected by the Guards' shooting however.



The Land Raider zoomed passed the Purifiers who ran up behind it and jumped in the side hatch just as it stopped. Crowe and the Ven Dread moved toward the remaining Valkyrie while the other Dreads lingered for options. The Terminators moved out of the forest and combined power with the Land Raider to wipe out the Lascannons team nestled in the eastern corner's crater. The Purifiers from the wrecked Razorback moved away from their wrecked vehicle toward the Guards' lines and tried running but didn't get very far.

The Vindicare continued his streak of marksmanship by exploding the Chimera, the flames engulfing two of the Special Weapons crew inside. The Dread in the West decided to finish off the Valkyrie near him as he had no other viable targets. The Ven Dread and supporting Dread in the East failed to pass the Valkyrie's cover save and so the Ven Dread and Crowe assaulted. They managed to stun and shake the vehicle, but the Plasma Vets inside remained safe.




Turn 4

With the Grey Knights finally closing in the Guard scrambled to take them down. The Plasma Vets jumped from the Valkyrie moving over to my objective. The now disembarked Special Weapons crew moved toward the Vindicare, as the Infantry Platoon all shuffled to try stay back from the Grey Knight charge.

The Demolisher started shooting by blowing the Dreadnought nearby up in an impressive gout of flame and metal. The Infantry Platoons many unit all opened up on the Purifiers on foot and managed to kill 4 of them, leaving one Psycannon totter left. That was all that happened however as even though the Plasma Vets wounded Crowe four times he passed all of his Invulnerable saves.



Finally in range the Purifiers ran down the ramp of the Land Raider and towards the nearest infantry squad. Its cargo now delivered the Land Raider got into gear and tank shocked 12" straight through 2 Infantry Squads causing one to panic and run off the board. It then unloaded its Heavy Bolters killing the Melta Gun and Medi-Pack from the HQ Squad. The lone Purifier made a bee-line for the Vets and the Termintors moved and ran inward.

The lone Dread tried to finish off the fresh Valkyrie but only managed to immobolise it. The Vindicare also immboloised the remaining Demolisher, however nothing else shot. Their war cries aloud the Grey Knight finally charged. Crowe and the Ven Dread charged the Vets killing 4 for no wounds in return, however the Guard held. The lone Purifier contacted the Vets in the north and summoned a Cleansing Flame that killed 5 of them, however he fell in the process. The other unit of Purifiers took down 8 of the Infantry between their flame and their attacks, breaking them and sending them packing, consolidating behind the Land Raider for safety.




Turn 5

Things were looking grim for the Imperial Guard who needed to really pull it back to get the win. All units moved in around the objective that could. The Lascannon team started by trying to take out the Land Raider but failed. The Plasma Vets then opened fire on the Terminators using First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire for extra Lasgun shots, and managed to kill off the Justicar and the Banner Bearer. The Demolisher then opened up and rolling a direct hit and then 3 6's (a double for Ordnance and then Damage) blew up the Land Raider taking out two Purifiers and two Vets in the explosion. The wall put up by the Grey Knights to stay safe while holding the objective was now gone. The Special Weapons managed to force the Vindicare to ground to ensure his survival (which proved unnecessary).

Meanwhile Crowe and the Dreadnought cleaned up the last of the Vets in the south consolidating back to their old positions.



The Grey Knights were now in danger of losing out and needed to go on the offensive once again and hope for the turn 5 finish. The last two Purifiers moved in on the Platoon Command Squad, shooting down two and killing two more in the assault for one in return. It was enough however as the last man left the field and the last Purifier consolidated 3" between the objective and the rest of the Imperial Guard to try speed bump them. The Terminators also moved in on the Vets, shooting down two and killing the last in combat, before consolidating into the crater and next to the objective.

Unfortunately for me, the game went on.




Turn 6-7

The last two turns proved decisive. The last remaining Infantry squad assaulted the Purifier and though losing 3 of their number managed to kill him and consolidate to the crater and objective. The Terminators also took 4 Lascannons to the face killing them despite going to ground.

Return fire killed 2 of the 7 Infantry but the morale check was passed and in turn 7 only one more went down after the Demolisher managed to Lascannon snipe a Dreadnought despite losing its Demolisher Cannon previously to the Vindicare. The Imperial Guard had held the field though a hollow victory it would be for what did it cost?


Conclusions

That was a super fun game and despite losing I was pretty happy with the result. Going into the game, it being Grey Knights versus Guard after all, I was expecting to lose but hoping I could at least draw; having the game won in turn 5 but narrowly losing it due to the game continuing is about as close to a win as you get without actually getting it so I was pretty chuffed. Totting up there was a 5pts VP difference in my favour, meaning tournament wise it was a straight 15-5 to Mike.

I think I played the list much better, and playing the Land Raider right made a huge difference. The Land Raider and the Vindicare were without a doubt the MVPs of the match. The Vindicare disposed of two tanks completely and neutralised another, earning back at least double his points value. The Land Raider was instrumental in the successful assault on the IG lines, getting the Purifiers in safe while tank shocking to break the line and creating a huge line of sight blocker for the objective has it not gotten blown up when it did.

I am certainly happy with the list and look forward to how it will do at the weekend.

Blood Before The Fall

I haven't managed to get the camera to take pictures of my painting progress (which has incidentally slowed down since my last post) but I did manage to get my first practice game with the list in tonight. Was up against Blood Angels in a 3 objective missions. Objectives were terrain pieces; an impassable building in the mid-west, a large shrine near the centre, and a ruin in my right deployment zone. We had Pitched Battle deployment. His list was roughly as follows:

Astorath the Grim

Librarian
Storm Shield, Blood Lance, Wings of Sanguinus


Chaplain
Power Fist

5x Sanguinary Guard
Standard, Power Fist, Inferno Pistol, 3x Master Crafted Power Weapons


10x Assault Marines
Power Fist

10x Assault Marines
2x Meltaguns, Sergeant with Inferno Pistol in Transport 1

10x Tactical Marines
Missile Launcher, Meltagun

5x Death Company
Power Fist, Power Weapon, Thunder Hammer? in Transport 2


5x Devastators
Plasma Cannon, 2x Lascannons, Missile Launcher

Storm Raven
Multi-Melta, Assault Cannon, Hurricane Bolters


Transport 1: Rhino with Extra Armour

Transport 2: Razorback with Extra Armour

Though maybe not considered an optimal army, the mass amount of bodies on the table coming at me quick would be a problem for my army. What's more, thanks to Astorath both Assault Squads and the Guard got Red Thirst meaning his charges would be devastating (or Furious).

The shrine in the middle really split the board in two and deployment (which I got to do first) was a toss up between going left where I would have better firing lines and give him a harder choice for deployment, or I could go right to be closer to more objectives. I decided for the firing arcs and deployed all the Purifiers and two Dreads on the left, with the other Dread and the Terminators on the right. He put the Tactical Squad (in combat squads) on a hill opposite my Terminators and put the Storm Raven in near the Shrine to try and get some cover. Everything else went opposite the Purifiers. Astorath went with the Assault Squads on foot, the Chaplain with the Death Company, and the Librarian in the Storm Raven with te Guard. The Vindicare Infiltrated in a wood near the Purifiers to get clear LOS to the Storm Raven.

First turn I moved to deny the Storm Raven cover from as many sources as possible and opened fire. In the end I wasted too much fire on it (the Vindicare eventually took it down but the hope was to take it down first so the Vindicare could destroy the Librarian's Storm Shield). I also managed to kill a Guard in the explosion and with the remaining shooting stopped both his other tanks from shooting.

His first turn was simple as he ploughed forward at full speed popping smoke. As a result I took little fire only having my Land Raider stunned/shaken.

To start my turn Crowe came on from reserves and hid behind a Razorback. The Land Raider cast Fortitude but the Librarian stopped it. Everything else shuffled for firing positioned and then let rip. The Ven Dread took down the Razorback to begin followed up by the Vindicare Turbo-Sniping the Chaplain out of the Death Company. Both LasPlasBacks opened up on the now exposed Death Company but they either failed to wound or they passed their cover saves. The other Dreads then took out the Rhino.

In his turn he moved the disembarked Assault Squad up to the Dread in the corner while Astorath led his squad up next to the wreck of the Death Company Razorback. The Death Company themselves ran at my Razorbacks though they would have to suffer another turn of shooting yet. The Guard approached the Land Raider and the Librarian unleashed a Blood Lance on it that hit but failed to damage it. The Assault Marines took out the corner Dread with Melta fire while the Devastators failed to damage the Ven Dread.

With the Death Company so close the Vindicare turned tail and retreated behind the Razorback as Crowe moved out into the forest. The Razorbacks turned all their guns on the Death Company taking out all but one of them. Crowe shot at the survivor but failed to kill him. The Dreads fired upon the Devastators taking out 3 of them, while the Land Raider fluffed its shooting against the Guard missing both TL Lascannon shots.

The return attack from the Blood Angels ended up being quite devastating. The Librarian and Guard moved up toward the Land Raider again, blew it up with a combo of Blood Lance and Inferno Pistol fire and managed a 5" assault through terrain at the Terminators inside. The lone Death Company member assaulted and destroyed one of the LasPlasBacks (killing one Purifier inside) while the Assault Marines opened fire on Crowe forcing him to go to ground. Meanwhile, one of the Tactical Combat Squads stated moving in on the ruin objective. In the Guard/Terminator assault, the Librarian stopped Hammerhand, which ended up not mattering as the Terminators totally wiffed hitting 2 out of 9 Halberd attacks and not wounding. The Guard killed the Banner bearer and 2 Halberdiers before the Hammer took down a Guard. The two remaining Terminators did manage to hold however.

The Grey Knights needed a sturdy retaliation in order to pull the game back. The Purifiers in the forest got out of their Razorback and manage to move to the edge of the forest. The Vindicare followed around the other side of the Razorback while the Inquisitor's Razorback moved out East to try take back that flank, popping smoke as it went. Meanwhile the Purifiers in the crate of their former transport moved out and ready to assault the lone Death Company member. The Dreads also moved in to try and support the Terminators with one getting close. The other opened up instead on the Devastators to no result. The Vindicare pulled out the only real shooting for the turn breaking Astorath's Rozarius and wounding him. On cue, the Purifiers charged Astorath's unit. To continue the bad dice the Justicar blew himself up trying to cast Hammerhand followed by only two Marines falling to the Purifiers charge, while the Purifiers themselves got wiped out. Next to them their brothers took down the last Death Company with ease, though the Terminators faired less well and were also wiped out for no damage in return (failing to cast Hammerhand); the Dread had failed to roll a 3 for charging into terrain.

The Blood Angels continued their assault off the last turn's victories with fresh attacks on the Vindicare and Purifiers. The Librarian moved and Blood Lanced the two Dreadnoughts, immobolising the Ven Dread and destroying the other. The Assault Marines moved in and forced Crower to ground again however this time a Melta shots hit home and killed him. The Tactical Squad continued toward the objective. Astorath managed to kill the Vindicare with ease however the Assault Marines was less fortunate only killing 2 of the 4 Purifiers and losing 5 of their number in the process. The Librarian and Guard assaulted the Ven Dread but failed to hurt it.

With time running out the Inquisitor led his unit from the Razorback and over the terrain into the Guard. The Psycotroke grenades led me down by making the Fearless Sang. Guard Ld 2. Meanwhile I failed to cast Hammerhand. In a silly mistake (first time using fun grenades) I forgot about my Rad Grenades and attacked the Guard at 4's to wound instead of 3's which allowed one to survive to kill two Purifiers and tie the combat. The LasPlasBack has shot all its guns at Astorath and wounded with all 3 AP2 shots but despite that Astorath passed 2 cover saves surviving. The other Purifiers near the forest killed 1 more Assault Marine bringing the unit down to 2 men.

The game pretty much ended however with Astorath surviving as he charged the remaining Purifiers fighting the Assault Marines. The add insult to injury they suffered yet another Perils taking out the last Halberd. Astorath then cleared out the Hammer. Elsewhere the Tactical Squad reached the objective and the Purifiers failed to kill the Librarian though they killed the last Guard.

With that we called the game as there was no way for me to win.

Looking back my deployment set me up for the fall. Though firing arcs were poor on the right side, being nearer to objectives would have been more important to my army (which has little mobility) and still may have forced some of his units left around the Shrine. That, and the seemingly constant bad dice aside, I didn't play aggressively enough with the Purifiers or more importantly the Terminators (who should have bailed and assaulted in turn 2 when the Land Raider was stunned). At the very least, at least I was able to easily identify the flaws in my game play and I'm hoping to get more games in to improve before the tournament.

Vindicare was mint. He took down at least twice his own points in only two turns and had the dice not abandoned the Purifiers on the first assault had Astorath set up to die to Force Weapons. I will be trying to get him into more of my 1750pt lists from now on I think.

Comments on the game would be much appreciated (albeit I give it to you that a lack of maps might make this difficult).

Let Freedom Ring With The Shotgun Blast

Hi all, it's been awhile. Last time I posted was March and I was painting Tomb Kings. Things have changed a lot since then so I'm going to give a quick recap on my gaming highlights since March:

- Went to the Irresistable Farce II as part of the Cork Limerick Intercounty Team and managed to get 4th place (for the second year in a row) staying in the top 2 of the tournament up until the final round where we taken down by HoLD.

- Took up 40k again after a 3yr absense. Finished off my old Eldar army and began a new Grey Knights army.

- Played both 40k and Fantasy at Conclave. Pulled off a 10th place finish with my Eldar in my first ever 40k tournament, and managed to win the Fantasy event for the third Conclave in a row with my Chaos army.

- Ran both games at Brocon again with an even better turn-out this year with great support from across the country.

- Attended a one day 5 game 1k tournament called Moocon with my Grey Knights, managing to come 13th, staying undefeated until round 5 when a faced off against Guard with 3 pie plates ignoring my armour and my Purifiers quickly went bye-bye though not without taking out a sizeable chunk of the Imperials on the way out.

- Attended Ireland's newest event Bannercon again with my Grey Knight. Had a good first day, losing to Blood Angels and beating Blood Angels and Space Wolves, though the dice abandoned me to a cruel fate day 2 and knocked me down to 9th place.

Since Bannercon I have been frantically painting Grey Knight trying to get the army to a standard I am satisfied with. I've found a scheme for Force Weapons that I am happy with no matter how much it anoys me to do it. Pictures will be up soon. I have managed to finish a Dreadnought, 2 Razorbacks, 7 Purifiers and a Land Raider fully so far and will be picking up the pace to try and paint a 2k army for NWG coming up soon.

As this may indicate, I have decided to focus on 40k primarily for this season and will try to attend as many events as possible with my Grey Knights. NWG will be a 2000pt event with ForgeWorld allowed. I'm trying a larger variant of my normal Crowe-Purifier list with the perceived problem of the regular list being the vulnerability of the Termiantors when they come down from above (and subsequently get shot to shit). As such, I'm running with the Land Raider I just painted. Here's the list below, comments welcome.

Castellan Crowe


Ordo Xenos Inquisitor
Rad Grenades, Psychotroke Grenades, Power Weapon, Power Armour

Vindicare Assassin

Venerable Dreadnought
2x TL Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition


5x Purifiers
2x Halberds, 2x Psycannon, Daemonhammer
in Transport 1

5x Purifiers
2x Halberds, 2x Psycannon, Daemonhammer
in Transport 2

5x Purifiers
2x Halberds, 2x Psycannon, Daemonhammer
in Transport 3

5x Terminators
3x Halberds, Daemonhammer and Psycannon


Dreadnought
2x TL Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition

Dreadnought
2x TL Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition

Land Raider
Psybolt Ammunition


Transport 1: Razorback
Psybolt Ammunition

Transport 2: Razorback
Lascannon and TL Plasma Gun

Transport 3: Razorback
Lascannon and TL Plasma Gun