Sunday, April 22, 2012

And the winner is....

NOT ME! :-)

Well, things have devolved into bat/event-reps I see.
Baby ate my brain, and it seems like every time I sit down to write speculatively/introspectively, I run out of energy (or lose the thoughts I have been mulling over through the week).
Ah well, such is the life of a filthy procreator!

I had the opportunity to go to an club-tourney this weekend, and as per the norm I had a blast with these guys!
I've been doing what I can to play outside the box, of late...GK/SW bored me to tears, Necrons are lacking something for me(not the least of which are some models I really WANT) and after 'Ard Boyz(may ye rest in peace) last year I haven't had the motivation to dust off the pointy-eared fetish-freaks of doom but once or twice(I know, I shall be flogged...and Khaine willing, when we reach Commorrhag, I shall be flogged again).

So, flitting about in my haze of 40k ennui, I've revisited a few past armies I seem to always enjoy...and started tweaking them a bit.
For yesterday's tourney, I returned to my Blood Angels...or, my Blood Wing.


Sunday, April 8, 2012

Batrep from the Sunshine State!

Okay, so I scrambled down to Florida to introduce the new 'spawn' to her mom's family.
Just on the off chance I'd be able to break away, I grabbed a low-model count GK force to play.
I managed to, and was able to get a game in with an old friend at my old store.
We were both being experimental, playing lists neither of us had fleshed out.
It was great to play a game that had NOTHING to do with the tourney mindset. With limited time resources, I've been getting too far away from those types of games in the recent past.
So, on with the show(?).

My list;
-Mordrak
(5x Ghost Knights: w/1x hammer, 2x halberds)
-5x Paladins (psycannon, hammer[mc], 2x Halberd, Narthecium, NWS)
-Venerable Dreadnought (2x Autocannon+psibolt)
-5x GKSS (hammer[mc], psycannon)
-5x GKSS (hammer[mc], psycannon)
-10x Interceptors (hammer[mc], 2x psycannon, 2x halberd)
-Dreadnought (2x autocannon+psibolt)
-Nemesis Dreadknight (teleporter, hvy incinerator)
-Nemesis Dreadknight (teleporter, hvy incinerator)
(I wanted the list to be 'pure' GK, nothing but hoofin-it holy-rolling paladins of the 40k ooni-verse!)

His list;(from memory...can't seem to not lose a list when someone gives it to me, dammit!)
-Rune Priest (JOtWW,???)**
-6x Wolf Guard Pack (one in PA[@@], the rest are terminators. at least one SS, a cyclone[##] and some combi-weapons).
Drop Pod
-9x Grey Hunters (PFist, Meltagun, Wolf Standard)**
Drop Pod
-10x Grey Hunters (PFist, 2xMeltagun, Wolf Standard)
Drop Pod
-10x Grey Hunters (PFist, 2xplasma gun, Wolf Standard)
Drop Pod
-15x Blood Claws (flamer, meltagun)@@
-6x Long Fangs (5x Missile Launchers)##
Razorback (twin-linked lascannon)
Land Raider Crusader
(note; attached elements are marked per **,##,@@)


Mission, Capture and Control (despite people's complaints of 'auto-tie', I have grown enamored of this mission).
Deployment, Spearhead (meh, deployment is...)

He won the roll for first, and deferred.
I chose the corner to my left as dep-zone. I rolled a '6' for Grand Strategy and made the interceptors, a Dreadknight and the Paladins scoring.
My deployment was roughly this (after 1st turn movement, which wasn't much...reserving the interceptors).


-Turn 1;
I shuffled/'ported forward a bit, ducked into terrain with the GKSS's and warp-quaked.

He then podded in central (with pods behind the building in center of the table) with 2 GH squads, pushing forward the Runepriest unit to JOtWW (both, it turns out) a Dreadknight and plasma it as well.
Turns out, the +1 to the MC roll saved both of them (rolled a 5 on each). The lead DK took a wound from bolter fire.

-Turn 2;
Warpquake again, failing with my leftmost unit.
Interceptors arrive (dammit, wanted them turn 3/4). I combat squad them, putting the shooting unit (dbl psycannon) into my backfield for support and running the cc element (dbl halberd/hammer) up the right edge with a shunt, hoping to bait his incoming reserve assets.
I hopped the lead dreadknight into assault range of the Runepriest and his unit, shifted my paladins and Psiflemen to the left (to open up on said target unit) and brought the other dreadknight up the center to shoot with/back up the lead DK. Mordrak+Knights, and a GKSS squad, came up on my right around the central building.
after all the shooting was finished, he had 4 GH and the runepriest remaining. I figured that was safe to assault with the DK, and did so...wiping out the unit+priest (taking no wounds in return, PFist fail). I then consolidated behind his drop-pod.

On his turn, EVERYTHING came in. Longfangs walked on central to his dep-zone for Cyclone shots, razorback came in to their right as a block/cover for them. Podded units dropped to engage the interceptors and lead DK (bait taken). Bloodclaws in LRC rolled up onto his objective AND to range in on interceptors.
After his fire, my lead DK is down to one wound and my 'bait' unit is wiped...that's all folks!


Turn 3;
I bring my paladins and dreads further up and away from my dep zone into his right flank. The lead DK hops forward toward his termies. My 'fresh' DK comes around my right side of the central building along with mordrak as my shooty interceptors join them. One GKSS squad secures my home objective, while the other gets set to storm the building's roof and set up a firebase.
Shooting nets a terminator or two, and the Longfang squad-leader. His remaining 1st turn GH squad is wiped with Psycannon and Stormbolter fire (running offtable with the few remaining...leadership rolls will NOT be kind to him this game). Psiflemen manage to stun the Razor.
I assault the termies with my wounded DK, taking them down to 2. His return swings send it packing.

He braces with the 'fangs for fire, moves the GH squad that wiped my interceptors into their cover, and brings the LRC (with load) into his 'gap' (between drop pods) to block my easy-avenue to his home objective.
His fire does little to my force, dropping an odd interceptor and reducing my remaining DK down to 1 wound (with bolter-fire again). No assaults this turn.

Turns 4,5 and 6;
I establish a firebase with my lead GKSS squad, adding to weight of fire. Paladins begin to lead the charge into the right flank of his dep-zone while Mordrak+Knights push into his left. Pressure forces his Bloodclaws and remaining GHs back. Fire forces his Longfangs to run off-table and wipes his remaining GHs out. Wolfguard Termies die to volume psycannon/Stormbolter fire. Razorback immobilized and gunless by Psifleman fire. By the end of turn 6, he's tucked into his corner with the LRC and Bloodclaws trying to park his objective.








Turn 7;
He commited the sin bottom of turn 5, he disembarked to wipe my DK and Interceptors (who threatened to contest his home objective) with his Bloodclaws. Not only did that expose him to fire, but he failed to wipe them quickly enough.
Top of 7, I unloaded on them...and they ran...11 inches, and off the table. And THAT was game!

(the game was terribly one-sided with the die rolls, I must mention. He failed nearly every morale test he was forced to take, was only successful with one of his counter-attack ldr rolls AND my first two turns of die rolling was so hot that I switched dice sets to mitigate...and proceeded to still roll above average, though not as obscenely. My only poor rolling was basic Dreadknight saves vs bolterfire. Truly, the Emperor protects his chosen sons)




7 turns of grand fun, though conditions didn't allow me to truly utilize Mordrak's abilities, AND I forgot psychic communion (which I could have used to attempt to delay my interceptors).
Even with that error, things couldn't have gone much better.

Neither of us were playing optimized lists by any stretch, nor was the terrain particularly thick, but it was fun and grinding regardless!