A quick game

 I had a quick game of kill team with my son the other week, using the terrain that just painted up and his newly painted Necrons. We didn't use one of the red boards from the new starter sets, as they are up high and when we played this game I was still in a cast for my broken leg and unable to climb up to get it. Even so the painted terrain still looked good on the Infinity board we were using. This game did highlight why I need to grab some more terrain, as it looked fairly sparse even on just a single board. Granted, what looks sparse for kill team is different to 40k, it definitely makes me realise I need more. 

As it turned out, I played Necrons and so decided to go for a fairly underpowered list compared to the Scions I was facing. This is partly due to the models that are available to the Necrons at the moment and partly as I wanted to give my son something he could actually beat. 

I know that there are really two schools of thought about this sort of thing, either "play as you would normally and they will have to learn to loose" or "go easy on them and let them win". I generally go for the second option, I don't always make it easy and have won on a number of occasions but I never play to trounce him, which I could if I played properly. It's not that I'm a good player, I've just got 20+ years extra experience with this sort of stuff. I have no doubt that in a proper competitive environment I would struggle to hold my own, even with a top tier team, but against my son I think I should be able to win very easily.

Anyway, the game was pretty close up until the last turn when I got surrounded and lost 3 warriors in quick succession. We were playing with commanders so I was at a bit of a disadvantage as my commander was significantly more expensive then the Scions Tempestor Prime I was facing. In the end I had just my commander, an Overlord against 8 or so scions, including one plasma and one volley gun. Hopefully soon we'll be able to get a combat patrol game with the new terrain and see what it all looks like.

Tournament round 1 analysis!

 

So, after my first game of 9th, which as a bit of a disaster, I've a few thoughts on the game and also 9th.

First up a quick run down on the menu forces and what they did in the game;

The Storm Lords arrayed for battle

Jump captain - did little during the game and while running with the clawed vets was not really required to remove any of the units they faced. 

Jump chaplain - was most useful for dropping the charge distance for the fist equipped vets, was useful but never really had much of an influence due to being dropped out on the edge of the board.

assault Intercessor squads - didn't get to do much during the game as both were destroyed by the Hellhammer early in the game.

intercessor squads - one held the home objective all game and the other gradually moved up to take my objective late in the game. Both proved very very hard to remove.

Blade guard squad - these were a name in my side the whole game. These will be target priority one next time. I threw bits and pieces of firepower at these guys during the game but I should have thrown everything at them early on and removed them. The main cannon of the Hellhammer would have been good for removing these guys, had I fired it them. With 3 wounds and a 4++ save, every failed save would have been a dead marine.

Blade guard, chief Apothecary and Judicar

Invictor tactical warsuits - the suits had their lucky pants on for the game as the vendetta fired 12 lascannon shots for 5 damage, which came from the 1 shot that actually went through. These guys should have been dead, or at least one of them should have been. 

Judicar - while not powerful himself, his ability really proved decisive. The ability to make a model fight last is really good and I should have targeted him earlier. I probably did have the chance to but didn't take it, which was a mistake.

Apothecary - not just an apothecary but a Chief Apothecary, which is massively overpowered! The ability to heal two models up to 3 wounds and bring a model back on full wounds for 0cp is huge and kept the blade guard punching at full power all game. He needs to die and die soon next time!

Vanguard vets - the claws did what they did and wiped out every unit they touched with ease, apart from the Ogryn Bodyguard, which proved a little harder, the fists were a less useful, originally dropping on the far side and then not really having any proper targets to attack.

attack bike squad - outflanked, missed, died to the Hellhammer, just as planned. Could have been a real pain but the Hellhammer did what it was supposed to and wiped them out with ease

outrider squads - these were a pain but I managed to deal with one fairly early but the other survived being hit with a Hellhammer, only taking out one and injuring another. I think I should have hit the blade guard rather than these guys turn 1. Still a unit that needs dealing with in a Scars list, due to there immense mobility.

So in summary, most of the units I thought were going to be the big threats were and then a few extras, namely the apothecary! I also ignored the blade guard, thinking that they wouldn't be able to do.much against the Hellhammer but with D2 power swords, this was a mistake!

I also guessed on three secondaries; Engage on all fronts, Thin their ranks and Assassinate. I was kind of right, as he did take engage on all fronts but took the mission specific secondary - direct assault and the marine specific one - oath of moments, which seems such a broad secondary that there is always going to generate points.

All in all these secondaries proved well chosen, with mobile troops easily able to pick up engage, and the second two complimenting each other nicely.  The oath of moments secondary is quite a good secondary and you can easily pick up 5 points over the course of the game by pretty much doing nothing.

Forces of the Imperium

But enough about my enemy, how did I do? Badly that's how, I had many good ideas which turned out to be not such good ideas but I learnt a lot of lessons, so that was a positive. Firstly the way objectives work in the sweep and clear mission is very powerful, claiming an objective until it's taken by someone else and not having to leave units babysitting objectives is very useful and something I forgot about. I could have moved up a lot more that I did. Secondly, talking of moving up, I did the unthinkable and split my infantry up and sent them off by themselves. This got them destroyed and my tank unprotected. This was a mistake and it cost me both tank and troops. Thirdly I was far to eager to push forward, I should have sat back for the first couple of turns and then pushed forward turns 3 onwards. I relied on the tanks toughness and high wounds to keep it alive but even with this the wounds were chipped of one by one or rather two by two by the blade guard. There was even opportunities to retreat with it at times but I didn't, which was silly. 

Secondaries wise, I think I did alright with them. Engage worked well and if I had thought a bit more at the time I could have easily managed this most turns. Parking the Hellhammer in one quarter, my main force in another and then pushed all the infantry up in to the third. The flyers would have occupied the forth when they turned up. I think the mental interrogation was also good, maybe I could use another psykers to make the most of it but I still think it was a good choice. The last secondary, while we stand, was also a good one for the game as my flyers took very little damage at all, due to the lack of long range high damage weapons the enemy had. The Hellhammer obviously died and as I mentioned above, I could and should have played better with it. In the end I think that I over played my hand and didn't really have a good handle on the abilities of my units. Needless to say I think I have a lot to learn about 9th but I also think I've made a good start. 

The next game will be a few weeks away, after at Christmas sometime. I hope that this will go a little better and I will have a better grasp of tactics and abilities. I don't think that the secondaries will change much but I do think how I play will. My opponent will most likely be Marines again but with a different flavour, so we will have to see how that goes. 

 

Tournament R1, the Enemy

This post is going to be a break down of all the individual units within the enemy army and my thoughts on them both as individuals and their place within the greater battle plan of the enemy. In truth by the time you read this I will have already played the game and will know better what effect each unit had on the game, so will try and write a little edit to each entry to see if I was right or not. 

The storm lords

The army is painted as storm lords, a white scars successor chapter and operate as any true scars successor would. This list is no different, it has a very fast and mobile feel to it with only a few units not being jump pack or bike units. 

Jump captain, lightning claw and bolt pistol - most likely to be running with the vanguard vets. He could be with either combat squad, fists to help with hitting or claws due to war gear. Not a big threat on his own but a definite force multiplier. Also the warlord, so if the chance occurs he will be removed.

Jump chaplain, crozier - most likey running with the other combat squad of vanguard vets. With the litanies he knows, he could be with either squad. Again, no a major threat on his own but a massive force multiplier and will be removed if the opportunity presents itself. 

2x 5 man assault Intercessor squads - these two squads are actually one of the least threatening units here, especially in the first turn or two. This is due to their lack of ranged firepower. Yes they are very quick, with a threat range of upto 24 inches but more likely 16 inches, however with only pistols, they have a limited shooting potential. This means they will mostly likely be advancing every turn and with these being troops, they will be going for objectives and as such are high on the priority list. 

2x 5 man intercessor squads - these will no doubt form the static home objective holders and probably won't move around all that much. They don't pose much of a threat as I doubt they will be advancing or assaulting much during the game. These will be low on the target list and will probably get the attention of the plasma command squad when they drop.

5 man Blade guard squad - Against a number of enemies, these would prove a major problem. With guard however there weapons are just as deadly as chainswords. I assume that these will be running with the Judicar and strike for the heart of my army. There shields will protect them from a lot of attacks and the hellhammer's -4ap is next to useless against these guys, instead it will require weight of fire to bring them down. These will be a priority for autocannons and heavy bolters.

2x invictor tactical warsuits - fast, mobile and aggressive, these will push up early and try to get the jump on objectives, forcing me to move up to take them out, rather than other targets. These are going to be high on the list and will be the main target for the Vendetta when it arrives plus the lascannons from the Hellhammer. 

Judicar - not a major priority, it's main ability doesn't do much for the guard, as fighting last won't make much of a difference to the outcome of the combat. In this circumstance, it doesn't provide much of a force multiplier either. All in all, a low priority target.

Apothecary - this model could be a pain if it is able to bring some models back, especially something like the bladeguard. Not really a priority in itself but worth taking out if I can.

10 man Vanguard vets with jump packs and 5x claws, 4x fists and 1x hammer with 10x shields  - this unit will combat squad, 5 men with fists and hammer and another 5 with claws. Thee fists will be a threat to my Hellhammer and will need targeting as soon as they arrive, the claws will go for the infantry and are less of a worry. The fact that they all have shields will make them a pain to remove. 

2 bike attack bike squad with multi-melta - these will be target number one for the Hellhammer turn 1. These will need taking out as soon as possible to stop them getting a chance to get shots in. They are the only real long range anti-armour firepower and with 4 shots have a good chance of doing some damage. These at at the top of the turn 1 list. 

2x 3 man outrider squad - this is the biggest range threat to the infantry, being fast and mobile with lots of shots. These are going to be pretty high on the target list and the main target for the Hellhammer once the attack bikes have been dealt with. 

So in summary, turn one the assault Intercessors and the attack bikes will be the main targets with other targets being attacked as opportunities appear. Turn 2, providing turn 1 went to plan, the bikes, vanguard and warsuits will be the main targets, after that it will be a case of taking out anything that's left  these units and then focusing on other targets. Simple.

I also guess that he will be taking these three secondaries, as they are the ones that I would take if it was me.

Engage on all fronts - he has fast, mobile and resilient troops and he want to close and engage, therefore he will be spreading around the board. It should be easy for him to claim 2 points a turn and probably manage to claim 3 points in at least 2 turns.

Thin their ranks - I have significantly more units and significantly weaker plus the two vehicles. In total I have around 130 models and so 13 points to give up here.

Assassinate - with 6 squishy characters and one slightly less squishy one on the board it should be fairly simple for him to remove several of these and claim points. With jump troops moving up to 24 inches and bike going up to 32 inches, it should be easy to sweep past screens and take out characters. 

Ok, so things may not be so simple but hopefully the dice will be with me and I can pull it off as planned!

Edit: ok, so there was so many errors I thought I'd right a separate post going over it all!

Game 2

This was the second game that I played a few weeks back and I forgot to say that these games were 1250 point games in preparation for Northern Invasion tournament. While I didn't attend due to family and work commitments, I did have several games against people who were going, mostly just to give them some practice.

The game itself was one of the missions from the Chapter Approved 2019 book and although I can't remember the name now, it's the one with the objective on the middle that you score points for when your within a certain range. Now, mistakes were made, big ones at that. The main one really was the Null Zone rule was missed and so the big blob of Boyz in the middle with the nob(?) With a kustom force field shouldn't have been getting the 5++ save. Anyway, we didn't pick up that one until the 3rd turn, by which point it was pointless changing the rules.

Anyway, let's talk about the game and I'll mention the other mistakes as we go.

Deployment

The guard, screen to the front and heavies to the back, plus a few units strung out to stop anyone da jumping in to my back field.

The orks, blobbed up around the mech(??) With the kustom force field. There's some Gretchen strung outs around the place to stop my deep striking units as well.

A closer shot of the mass of Orks

The orks did what was expected turn 1 and charged forward and as expected a big squad of 30 Boyz da jumped forward smashing a sentinel to bits and then, thanks to an. 11 inch initial charge, consolidate in to my lines, where mistake number 3 happens (I'll go back to mistake 2 shortly) my opponent payed 2cp to fight again, wiping out 2 squads of guardsmen, mauling a third and then consolidating in to my hellhound. Now, this shouldn't have happened and was actually picked up by my opponent after the game because as the guardsmen we're not targets of the charge, the couldn't have been targets for the second attack. Yes they could have been consolidated in to but not attacked. That would have left my right flank almost intact instead of badly mauled

The Boyz swarming the lines

Mistake 2, if you can see, there are 4 guns in the centre building. They are vehicles and that's a ruin, so they can't be set up there, so they should have been on the ground and out of cover, plus there lines of sight would have been a lot more restricted.

The fight back 

After the initial hit the guard fought back, managing to clear the lines of the initial Ork attack but this left much of the middle untouched. As a result the orks took the points in the first turn, plus first blood, putting them up 2-0.

The Orks at the end of turn 1

Turn 2 started as turn 1 did, the Orks advanced. There was a bit of shooting, mostly from the cannons, with the tractor cannons doing most of the heavy lifting, destroying one of my wyverns and somewhere along the line my hellhound also went pop. By this point I had taken a battering with the orks being relatively untouched.

The advance

I was running out of options at this point, so gambled and dropped in my scions on the flank, hoping to take out some of the orks and more importantly some of the characters. While it didn't take out any of the characters, it did cause the Boyz in the centre to pivot and came across the board to take them out, this along with a very brave platoon commanders charging up the middle did cause some issue for the Orks. Unfortunately they were dealt with pretty easily.

The brave and soon to be very dead platoon commander.

By now things were pretty dire. I was down 3 to 0 and with only 1 point per turn for the objective and only slay the warlord and line breaker on offer I would have to perform miracles to win. Any thought of miracles went out the window when my opponent played the stratagem that let him bring one of the Boyz squads back at full strength (endless green tide I think). So a squad that was down to about 4 or 5, went back to 30 and my second wyvern, while still alive, was wounded badly.

Lots of Orks, not many guard.

I did what I could in my turn but it really wasn't enough. The big group of Boyz on the flank we're still locked up with the last member of the scions, so couldn't be targeted, the KFF was doing a Sterling job keeping everyone safe in the middle and my dice were horrible. My opponents dice were on fire however!

The final stand

He's in there somewhere! Mines the grey one in the middle of the ring on the right hand side!

So at the end of turn 3 I was 4 - 0 down and time was definitely running out for the guard. Turn 4 was the final straw, as the remaining Orks or rather the Gretchen went to work on the remaining guard squads, removing over half of those that remained and claiming the centre objective for a 4th turn.

The few remaining guard.

Lots of orks

At this point I conceded as I was running out of units and we were also running out of time. At this point I was 5 to 0 and was looking at that going to at least 6, but likely 7 to 0 with line breaker. If I was really unlucky, then they might have got warlord for the full house and an 8 - 0 score line.

As I said at the beginning though, mistakes were made. Without the KFF and the 5++ save it gave, then a lot more orks would have died. The case in point was when a boy took a melta gun to the face and survived. Knowing the Null Zone was in effect would have changed a lot, including how my opponent set up, thus, how the how game played out. Not having my right flank wiped out by a charge that shouldn't have happened would also have changed the game. I lost nearly 3 whole squads and my hellhound got shut down. With 3d6 auto hits on the flames and the -1ap, quite a few orks would have been BBQ'd, plus all the extra lasguns and flamers that were in there would have taken down some more, freeing up at least one wyvern, or possibly both, to go after the other squad of Boyz, who probably wouldn't have been under the KFF. Finally, without the artillery being in the ruin, they probably wouldn't have been able to see the wyverns without being open and exposed and more vulnerable to the wyverns as well. Of course, you can never tell what the dice will do but the game would have been very different and who know maybe the guard would even have won!

I would like to add that I know my opponent was not cheating or being dishonest in any way, shape or form during this game. It was a new army and he was learning g the rules, if I had picked up on any of the errors during the game, they would have been rectified with no argument and so also accept that part of the blame for these errors lies with me. Hopefully we'll get time for a rematch sometime soon.

Game 1

This is the first of three games that I played a few weeks ago. The yearly local tournament is coming up shortly. This tournament is a 1250 point tournament and although there are few restrictions the key one is that there is only lord of war option allowed. this was due to last years tournament when a knight army (at 1500 points) wiped the table in all three games and took the trophy with little difficulty. While there was nothing wrong with the list, it wasn't very much fun for everyone else by the sound of it.

Anyway on to the game, we played a Maelstrom of war game at the above mentioned 1250 points of guard against Space Wolves. My opponent was running a fairly heavy list with three dreads, including one redemptor.

There was little was really bothered about in the list apart from the blood claws in the drop pod.

The three dreads.

The guard lines.

Turn 1 was as expected with the drop pod coming in and the blood claws charging the guard lines.

The charge

The wolves did as they were expected and tore into the lines taking out several squads of guard.

The result.

All of the rest of the wolves either stood still.and shot or advanced forwards.

In my first turn the primary goal was to clear my lines, which ianaged to do, although some mistakes were made, such as leaving the hellhound until last, meaning most of the targets were out of range!

The fight back starts.

The guard rally

At the end of turn 1 things weren't really going my way, with my opponent t scoring all 3 of his cards (21,33 and 52) and first blood and me scoring nothing (cards 11, 51 and 52, discarded 11). This out me 5-0 down already

End of the turn 1

Turn 2 started much slower, with the dreads reaching my lines, while much of the rest stayed back. The plasma long fangs did some damage to one of the wyverns but the guard survived fairly intact.

Dreads in the line

A better view of the danger.

The big thing to happen this turn was the charge of the dreads. Despite what it looks like in the pictures, the dreads went a different way and the right dread charged the hellhound and the left dread charged the units in front of the right hand dread. The left hand dread made it's charge and went chop chop through a number of guardsmen but failed to do enough damage to kill them and consolidate on to the wyvern. The other dread, well we've no idea if it would have made it's charge as the hellhound barbequed it before it had a chance, granted it was already wounded, down to a handful of wounds but still.

Reinforcements arrive

Slightly out of order but it's a pain to reorder pictures on mobile, the final result of the dreads charges.

During my turn, I dropped in my scions, only for one lot to get wiped out by the redemptor using a stratagem. The others did there job, taking down a number of long fangs and grey hunters between the two remaining squads. The rest of the army dealt the other dread, clearing the lines once more.

By now the scores had even out, with my opponent scoring nothing (cards 26, 36 and 46, he discarded 46). I on the other hand did pretty well, scoring all of mine (21, 51 and 52) plus stealing his card (26), to give a score of 5-4.

Turn 3 was unfortunately the last turn due to time constraints. I didn't as many pictures as we were busy trying to get the turn done. The wolves we're lacking in numbers by now but still managed to put a take down the majority of my reserves.

Two SW characters charge in, the result of which can be seen in the back of the picture below.

While the wolves struggles to really dent the remaining guard, the guard also struggled to dent the remaining wolves.

Somehow the sentinel survived a round of combat with a redemptor, it didn't survive two though.

At the end of turn three things weren't as I had expected. My opponent had managed to score 2 points from his cards ( 64 and 65 but not 46) and I had not managed to score any of mine (34, 35 and 41). Once we had taken line breaker in to account the scores were 8-4 in favour of the wolves, despite how few of there units remained on the table. At the end of turn 3, the wolves had the redemptor, an injured iron priest (who was also the warlord), one plasma cannon long fangs and a couple of grey hunters (I can't remember exactly how many but it was only 2 or 3) where as the guard had both wyverns, a hellhound, 3 incomplete squads of guard, several characters and a couple of scions. At this point we did some quick and rough mathhammer and we look at the cards we would have drawn. I cat remember what cards we drew but with what was on the table and looking at the cards it was looking like the guard would have been able to take victory should the game go on. The big issue was the redemptor as I was rapidly running out of things to damage it, however, there was little in my army that it could not damage in return.

So the final score went down as a 8 to 4 loss for the guard, which should have been an 8 to 5 if I'd actually though a little at the end and ran a model in to my opponents deployment zone. Oh well. So, although it was a loss for the guard, I really don't think I didn't anything wrong or would change anything to much, as if the game had gone 5 turns I think I would have been able to pull in to the lead as I had the bodies left to get to objectives and claim points.

The game! Guard Vs GSC

So the game itself! As you can see from the photos below, there was a lot of terrain on the tables and there was a real cities of death feel to it, my opponent did really a fabulous job on the table. As I said, we went for the city of death option from the rule book, which with a tank heavy army and a superheavy!

Some views of the table

This was actually pre-deployment, the units have just been dumped down on the table.

The main street

My opponents view of the battlefield.

The guard lined up ready to deploy. 

The GSC ready to hide.

Some deployment photos.

The thin green line, screening the tanks.

The guard deployed. The Valkyrie is actually part of the scenery but it did help to create a cool narative.

GSC post their deployment? Each genestealer represents a 'blip' counter or a unit, only the two sentinels are actually deployed as is.

After the big reveal! Traitor guard and GSC units everywhere!

The Valkyrie. 

The Valkyrie was actually part of the terrain and it's placement was completely random, however, once the deployment zones has been decided it became clear that it would make a cool focal point for the game. Sitting at the centre of the guard lines, a story quickly developed. A downed Valkyrie, carrying vital supplies in danger of being captured by the forces of the four armed Emperor and used against the forces of the imperium. As such a force of astra militarum have been deployed to secure the cargo, unfortunately they may not be the best forces for the job, manoeuvring their heavy vehicles through the narrow streets of the city.

Turn 1

Turn one was pretty quiet. The GSC moved up to get in range of the guard and took some pot shots, doing very little damage to the vehicles, knocking out some of the infantry squads but failing to score first blood.

The tanks remain but the thing green line got a little bit thinner.

In reply the tanks selected their targets and opened up, doing some damage to the enemy, including scoring first blood and setting themselves up nicely for turn 2.

Some holes start to appear in the GSC lines.

Turn 2

After settling in nice, things take a turn for the worse. The psychic might of the brood reaches out and drives the crew of the Hellhammer in to a frenzy and guns blaze in all directions! Yeah, not fun having a unit turned upon yourself, especially when it's a super heavy! It's a bit of a strange rule this, as it states that it can shoot as if the shooting  phase, so all of its guns, or make 1 close combat attack if it's in combat, just 1! Why can it shoot all its guns as per the shooting phase but only make 1 attack and not just attack as if the fight phase? Anyway, the hellhound killed a chunk of my army including my warlord! That's what a Hellhammer cannon to the face will do! Apart from that though not a lot happened.

Hellhammer cannon to the face!

In reply I gunned down a chunk more of the army, keeping a good gap between me and the GSC units or so I thought anyway.

Turn 3

I had been kind of concentrating on the closer units in addition to those that I thought would be most dangerous, which is why I ignored the likes of the mortars, as they can't do much to leman Russ battle tanks. However, the whole genestealer advancing and charging thing crept up on me again, despite already knowing they could.

Genestealers knocking on the door.

Genestealers knocking on heaven's door

I played a couple (I think?) Of stratagems when my opponent tried to charge in 4 units to my Hellhammer. In total he charges a GSC unit, a blood brothers guard unit, a patriarch and a brood of genestealers. Unfortunately, the GSC and Guard units were bother destroyed, the guard unit actually failed there charge. The patriarch tries next and was wiped from the board, despite throwing a number of hits across to the genestealers next to it. The remaining genestealers were then dispatched with easy, after also failing there charge, with snake eyes, twice. 6 heavy Bolters, 2 lascannons, an autocannon, a Demolisher cannon, a Hellhammer cannon and of course the little lasgun out the back really can put out a hell of a lot of firepower, even on overwatch.

The clean up begins.

After the failed charges destroyed a chunk of the forward units and also killed off the warlord, the guard went about killing off the rest of the GSC units, finishing off a couple of sentinels and some of the more depleted infantry units, although the shooting was less than satisfactory this turn, with the Hellhammer failing to do as much damage as it should have.

By this point it was getting late, nearing midnight at a rapid rate so we decided to call it there. As the game stood, I had 2 objectives and contested a third, while my opponent controlled just 1. This meant that the scores were 8 (2 objectives, first blood, slay the warlord) to 5 (1 objective, slay the warlord, line breaker) in favour of the guard. However, we reasoned it out over the next two turns and it would have probably ended up a lot closer, something like 8 to 11 or 11 all, depending upon if my opponent could claim the final objective up on the top floor of one of the ruins. In fact, it may even have ended 14 to 8 or even 17 to 5 in favour of the GSC but only if my shooting had been terrible and he had a lot of luck with his shooting and advance rolls.

As it was we decided that it would likely have been 11 to 8 in favour of the cult, however, I would claim the moral victory for killing the patriarch and holding the Valkyrie crash site, even if I didn't hold enough actual objectives to win. It's a shame we didn't get to finish the game as it was shaping up to be a close finish but any later and the wife probably would have killed me!