Post KotN Day 2

Well, day 2 started off a lot better than day one finished. Starting at the bottom of the table meant that I was drawn against another guard army, this one was a pure guard list though and what a list! I don't mean in terms of power gaming or WAAC but just in terms of models on the table. The picture below doesn't do justice to the army and I wish I had got a few close ups of the units, but I was too busy staring in wonder.

 

Game 4
Guard
Win - Primary 21-0, Secondary 4-4, Tertiary 5-0
Overall Win 17-3

You can just see some 2nd edition sentinels at the bottom of the picture above. These were a pain in the bottom all game and despite 16 Wyvern shots I only managed to do 2hp's of damage! Ok, so you don't get rerolls to wound as there vehicles, but with 15 to 20 hits, I would have expected to do some more damage! 

 

The rest of the game was really fun and despite the final score, the game was far from one sided. I was lucky with some of my dice rolls, the most notable one was my first shot with my Master of Ordinance, which despite the miss and about 11 scatter including the minus for BS, I landed on two Russ's and the Basilisk and as a result I got a pen and a weapon destroyed (lascannon) on one Russ and managed to destroy the Basilisk (+1 for open topped). This was a major boost for me, removing a major threat to my guys behind the Aegis line. I was also lucky with my reserved rolls and my outflank rolls, I got all but one of my sections on the board, (my Scion Command I think), and this was really the turning point. By turn three the game was swinging my way and it was all down hill for my opponent from there. All credit to him though, he put up a very good fight and didn't make it easy for me at all, and none of my units survived the game intact. If I hadn't have taken out the Basilisk on turn one I think things would have been different. The unit of the game though has to be the Wyverns, with the low armour saves of guardsmen, they were devastating, easily taking out a unit a turn.

Game 5
Imperial Fists
Win - Primary 9-6, Secondary 7-7, Tertiary 2-5
Overall Win 13-7

 



Well, when I saw this draw I thought I was doomed to a slow and painful death, but it didn't quite go that way. My opponent turned up with 2 Sniper Scout squads and 4 squads of termies, two with bolters and two with hammers, plus an inquisitor and Lysander. In support he had a Damocles Rhino, a Land Raider and a Stormraven. Having faced a similar army before I knew that this was going to be difficult, but I put my best foot forward and went for it. As it turned out, things worked out quite well. All his termies came in on either turn one or two, (he went first) and concentrated on where I had castled up in the corner with my Guard. As a result they decimated the Guard units but I placed all my reserves all over the rest of the board. This goes back to my second game, and playing the objectives. I knew that I would not be able to destroy all the termies or really rescue any of the Guard in the corner. As a result I controlled 3/4 of the table, destroying the 2 units of scouts and the Damocles Rhino and controlling all the objectives on the board edges. My Sternguard finally did there job and destroyed a squad of termies with their combi-plasma.

 

At the end of the game both fliers were still in the air, although his was a lot worse for wear than mine, despite the fact its got no wings in the picture! that was just due to the tree getting base in the way and unbalancing the plane. The game ended on turn 4, with my final reserves coming on, (after 2 turns of mishaps!) and moving in to contest an objective from the Land Raider and winning me the primary! Although, given the fact that none of the units landed where they were supposed to!

 



So after all that I ended up 16th, (this altered from 17th in the preliminary results, although not sure why) and had 4 good games and 1 that wasn't as good but I still enjoyed, mostly I guess down to my opponent. Which, I have to say, all my opponents were great sports and everyone was playing in good spirits and there were no silly shenanigans, that was left for the top tables!

So what next, well, I'll try and get a post up in a few days of my thoughts and lessons learnt from the tournament. There will be a bit to say, as this is a force I have never used before and I have learnt a lot about units and weapons.

post KotN Day 1

Right, Three games were played today, and I did very badly indeed. I will go in to details below, but mostly the losses were down to my tactical errors but partly down to a bad draw on the maelstrom cards.

Game 1
Eldar Serpent and Wraithknights.
Lost - Primary 3-15, Secondary 3-6, Tertiary 1-0
Overall loss 4-16

Well, this was going to go badly from the start, 2 Wraithknights, 4 Serpents with Dire Avengers and 2 squadrons of 3 Hornets plus a warlord with a 2+/3++.

 With very little to take on all that armour, this was going to end badly. My only bit of 'luck' was stealing the initiative at the beginning of the game, however, as it turned out this wasn't quite such a good thing. With some lucky shooting from the quadgun I managed to take a few of the Serpents down, and managed to eliminated the Avengers inside, but not after they managed to eliminate much of my reserves. Now this is where stealing the initiative proved to be the wrong move. At the beginning of turn 3 (yes, we only got to turn 3!) I had a lot on the board, line breaker and 4 of the objectives using objective secured, and a good chance. At the end of the turn I had nothing, but 1 of the objectives in my own deployment zone.

As you can see from the picture, (sorry for the quality, but they were taken on a ipad in a hurry) ive not much left, mostly the Wyverns and a Vet squad and Command squad in the lower right, with 2 assault marines at the top right and a small squad of Scions at the top. The Eldar on the other hand ae still almost intact. I think that one more turn would have seen me tabled. The only good point was watching a unit of guardsmen taking down a Wraithknight, with the help of a Psyker casting rending and orders (FRFSRF), was worth the look on my opponents face when he had the remover the model was priceless.

Game 2
Salamanders.
Lost - Primary 4-6, Secondary 1-14, Tertiary 2-3
Overall loss 0-20

What can I say, I played well but the dice and cards weren't with me. That showed in the fact that after 2 turns I was 9 to 1 points down on the secondary missions plus I'd given up first blood. I did make some errors, mainly trying to take on a Land Raider with just one Sgt with a power fist, needless to say it didn't go well" however, one member survived to claim my one objective and my vendetta got a VP for destroying his Land Speeder Tempest. I did make a mistake of not assaulting his Tech Marine with Thunderfire Cannon who was sitting on the objective, instead I just contested it. It might have made a difference to the game, but who knows. Again though, I had little left at the end, just one assault marine, one Sternguard, my Scion Command squad, my vendetta, one Vanguard and my Priest and my Commander, who was in a challenge with Vulcan!

 

In this game it was the cards that did it for me, in his first two turns he got some good cards, a lot of D3 points if X, mostly for holding objectives. As for myself, I ended up with a lot of card that were nearly impossible, but not actually impossible so I couldn't discard them. My first turn draw was to destroy a gun emplacement (Quadgun), an artillery piece (Thunderfire Cannon with Techpriest in a bolstered ruin) and issue a challenge (Sgt hiding behind Aegis at the back), all practically impossible and when I did discarded one card I got one that meant I had to basically sacrifice a unit to achieve it! As a result I should have played to the Primary mission, but I didn't and it cost me dearly, well, any chance of some tournament points anyway.

Game 3
Tau.
Lost - Primary 6-12, Secondary 5-9, Tertiary 2-5
Overall loss 0-20

Well, there is very little to say about this, 3 Riptides and all the Skyfire/Interceptor was to much for me to deal with. I took the chance and kept with the plan, hoping to overwhelm them with the number of reserves deepstriking. It didn't work, as I lost most of my guys and my vendetta to Interceptor. As  a result I never got going, and he just took me apart wholemeal with markerlights from the Tetras removing cover and boosting the Riptide firing to wipe out large parts of my army at a time. The game only went to turn 3 and I'm thankful for that, otherwise it would have been a tabling for sure. My opponent ended up coming 6th, so I was basically out played and out classed, just just out codex'd.

A shot of how it all started, well after his turn one movement. 

 

 The Tau in all its glory, minus a few reserves which made little difference to the outcome.

 

I have to say that I had pretty much given up at this point, I was feeling down at the start of the game and when I drew Tau for the last game I all but gave up. This probably didn't help matter during the game, but never mind. So far I'm about 5 to nothing against Tau, and that includes at least 2 tabling's and probably a few that would have been tabling's if we had got to turn 5. I know everyone has a certain army that they struggle against, and Tau are mine. No matter what I do, I just cant seem to get to grips with them.

 

So at the end of day one, three games out of five down and I was sitting on 4 tournament points and in 21st out of 22. Needless to say I was pretty down about it but I had had three good games and was looking forward to turning it around on day 2.





Post KotN post

Well, the weekend is all done and dusted and the flames of war have settled. So what was the result? It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse! I finished 17th, and after the first day that was an achievement! I had a really good time and had 4 really good games and one which, while not as good as the rest, I still enjoyed. I believe, if I can remember the name of the people I played correctly that they ended there tournaments, 6th, 8th, 18th, 19th and 22nd, so I lost to two good player and cant complain much at that I guess.

The top tables were quite closely contested and I heard a few 'discussions' occurring towards the end, when every point was counting. The overall winner was a Necron player with 3 Pylons (a Forge World super unit of some sort, never faced them and don't really fancy it either from what people were saying!), although at one point it was looking like it might be a Sisters of Battle player taking the trophy home (in the end he came 3rd, I think??) Either way the top end of the rankings was awash with FW units and Knights, there were even a Titan in there (possibly a Reaver? or maybe a Warhound?) either way, there were some serious units there.

The tournament was played over five round across the two days, using the Swiss pairing system (1st plays 2nd, 3rd plays 4th, etc etc) with the scoring being as follows;

Within each game there was a Primary, a Secondary and a Tertiary mission. The Primary missions were -
Game 1 - Crusade
Game 2 - The Scouring
Game 3 - Emperors Will
Game 4 - Big Guns Never Tire
Game 5 - Emperors Will

The secondary missions were played on a reduced deck of Maelstrom cards, with a number of the basic secure objective X removed as well as some alterations to some other cards. So the Secondary Mission was (Maelstrom of War) Cleanse and Control.

The Tertiary Missions were the usual secondary ones, slightly modified to Slay the Warlord (2vp), Line Breaker (2vp), First Blood, (1vp) with the addition of Through Attrition Victory, for super heavies (1vp for every 3HP remover)

If you won the various missions by gaining the most Victory points in game you were awarded Tournament points towards your overall tournament score. Points were awarded as such; the Primary Mission was worth 10pts, or 5pts if drawn, the Secondary was worth 6pts for winning or 3pts for drawing and the Tertiary Missions were worth 4pts for a win and 2pts for a draw.

I think overall this was a good way of doing things and the modification that were made did not stop people bring what they wanted or nerfed/changed the game in to something else. My own luck with the Maelstrom cards aside, this proved to be one of the most closely contested parts of the game. In addition, not relying on a straight win/lose system was good, as players who lost games still had a chance to score some tournament points, and it helped to differentiate players some more.

I'll get some quick reports up over the next week, nothing in-depth, just a few lines on my thoughts for each game and then a round up and lessons learnt thing at the end.

Ultimately, if there is a Kings of the North 2016, I will do everything within my power to make sure that I'm there, and hopefully with a fully painted army, although I doubt that bit will happen!

Kings of the North Weekend

Well, its finally here. I've been looking forward to this for months (in case you haven't guessed that!) My list was entered a few weeks ago and I have prepped my models ready. Not all of them are painted, not that I thought they would be! I'll try and get some pictures to post up here during the weekend and I'll keep a track of my games for some short write-ups when I get back.

So wish me luck!

The forces massed for deployment.

Well, KotN is just days away now and here is my force in all its glory.

 

Task Force Alpha34 of the 256th Imperial Battle Group, on parade before deployment planet side. All elements are represented and present for inspection by Inquisitor 

Tullas. 

 

The Hjaltland L.I. arranged for battle. Two squads to the rear with the command at the front flanked by a priest, a commissar and a psyker.

 

The forces of the Dagr Ormr, with the two Hjaltland Wyverns in the back ground. 

 

The forces of the Eagle Knights Space Marine Chapter, deployed ready for battle. Lead by a priest, with the two tac squads, the Sternguard and vanguard and the assault marines at the rear.

The aforementioned assault marines, ready and raring for battle. They are combat squadded here with the Sargent leading the right hand squad and his no.2 leading the left hand squad. Whether they deploy together or seperate will depend upon the enemy.

The leader of the Eagle Knights, the high priest, wearing the fabled Eagles Wings (aka the BA Angles wings). I should have got a shot of the rear but forgot. ( and yes, it's the DV DA Libby)

The Wolf Hunter, minus lascannons, as they have both fallen off! They will be reattached for the tournament though. This craft has quite a back story that I will ha to tell at some point.

 

The final push

Well, it's the weekend before KotN 2015 and it's time for the final push. Nost of this time will be spent marking up the bases with squad markings. Personally I go with the old school method of painting the rims of the bases with a primary unit colour and then marking up a small section with the squad colour. For example my IG platoons are coloured red, yellow and blue, with the PCS being solid colour, and the squads marked with colours. I.e. Red or 1st platoon - PCS is solid red, 1 squad is red with blue marker, 2nd squad is red with yellow marker, 3rd squad is red with white marker and 4th squad is red with black marker.

This may not look as cool on the board as the bases stand out a lot, but it makes squad identification a lot quicker and easier, especially when your all squished up behind an agies line.

 I use a similar system for my marines, with the various types of units having a colour, tacs are red, fast are blue, etc, again it May not look as cool as some but it is easy to tell troops apart. I do also mark up shoulder pads and helmets as well, although this is usually more subtle and so harder to recognise at a glance.

My MT are done slightly differently, but are marked up Iin a similar fashon.

I am also hoping to get a few more models base painted or even sort out the Wyvern conversions a little more, as the mortars on one are very basic and, to be frank, rubbish. I've been meaning to build a different setup for a while but have yet to get around to it, although my scratch building skills are somewhat lacking, if present at all! I have good ideas of what I want to achieve but lack any skill or ideas on how to actually achieve them, but I suppose if I keep practicing I'll get there in the end.

The battle plan

So, now that my list is complete, what's the plan? Well, it should be a relatively simple 3 step plan.

Step 1, Deployment - The IG are going to sit behind the Aegis line and wait, using the heavy weapons and Wyverns to target anything that maybe dangerous or that's to close, i.e. infiltrators. Sitting behind the line for a 4+ cover save, the line should hold for a turn or two until the rest of the force arrives. The Eagle Knights tactical squads will take up a position on the flanks to act as support and a buffer should any units try to outflank the Aegis Line.

Step 2, Deep Strike - This step will be split in to two, with the Eagle Knights assault units deep striking near to any infantry units that need dealing with. It will mean a turn of fire before they can assault, but that's what the Assault Marines are for, shielding the Vanguard Vets before they can do there jobs the next turn. The Scions on the other hand will be very target specific, with the melta unit going after any important vehicles, and the plasma guys going after the 2+ saves. the command squad will go with whom ever will require an order and the final squad will support the other squad. The Vendetta will come on and help with the vehicle situation and the Sternguard will hitch a ride, waiting until they are needed.

Step 3, Survive - This list does have a fair portion of the units used in an alpha strike type arrangement, so step 3 is to survive till the end of the game. this will involve the jump pack equipped marines jumping between objectives to claim points along with the Scions funning around in the back field. The IG will just hold the line with the Flamer Vets moving up if they need to, to claim objectives or flush out any camping enemy units. The tactical marines will be doing the same. The Sternguard as going to be my ace in the hole, so to speak. They will get out of the Vendetta when they need to, hopefully to take down something important, like the warlord.

The only danger is that the reserves will come in piece meal and I would be able to mass the forces I need, when I need them. If this happens though, I'll just have to combine what units I can to achieve something useful.

Well, that's the plan anyway, we'll see how well it works or if I even manage to stick to it. Knowing me, I'll get all excited and forget all about the plan and run around like a headless chicken all game, getting nowhere fast!

KotN army list done and dusted!!

So here it is, my 2000pt list as entered in to Kings of the North 2015! Read 'em and weep boys! (or laugh, which is more likely!)

Fortification

Aegis

Quadgun

The 851st Hjaltland L.I. Detachment (standard CAD)

HQ	Company Command	Boltgun
		MoO w/ Laspistol
		Standard
HQ	Preist	Autogun
HQ	Primaris Psyker	ML1
HQ	Commissar
Troop	Squad 1	Veteran Squad
		3x Grenade Launcher
		Autocannon
Troop	Squad 2	Veteran Squad
		2x Flamer
		Heavy Flamer
Fast	Vendetta
Heavy	Wyvern Squadron	Wyvern w/Heavy Bolter
		Wyvern w/Heavy Flamer

The 56th Dagr Ormr Detachment (standard CAD)

HQ	Command squad	Vox
		3x HS Volley
Troop	Squad	vox
		2x Metla
Troop	Squad	vox
		+2x Scion
		2x Plasma
Troop	Squad	+2x Scion
		Vox

And the Eagle Knights Detachment (Baal Strike Force Detachment)

HQ	Priest	Pistol
		Angles wings
Troop	Tactical
Troop	Tactical
Elite	Sternguard	Combi-Plasma
	Vanguard	Jump packs
		Power Sword
		Power Maul
		Power Axe
		2x Lighting Claws
		2x Lighting Claws
Fast	Assault	+5x Marines
		Power Fist