2024 league Gurad vs World Eaters

 This was my first game for the league and was the one game I really wasn't looking forward to. I really don't like going against World Eaters but I was determined to improve on my last performance (Here) and also the time before (Here).

The list i was facing was fairly compact, with Lord Invocatus, Master of Execution, Jackels, Khorne Berserkers, two Eightbound and two Exalted Eightbound, three Helbrutes and a Rhino, all topped off with Angron. Although it was compact, it was still very potent.

Guard deployment

World Eaters Deployment

I deployed quite forward but making sure to screen out any chance of deep strike drops behind me. Unfortunately I got first turn, which wasn’t what i really wanted as I wanted them to move in to a position I could shoot at them.

Turn 1 was very slow, with both of us only pushing forward slightly, turn two and we met in the middle, with me getting a charge off on one of his helbrutes with. My knight but failing with my Rough Riders. After smashing one of his helbrutes, i made the mistake of consolidating in to another, not realising it had a hellbrute hammer and not just fists it was modelled with. I had been told this at the beginning but had forgotten, one of my big issues with non-WYSIWYG models, it’s easy to forget detail in the middle of a game. Anyway, it smashed my knight down to just a handful of wounds with ease. 

In return, his Lord Invocatus minced my entire 20 man DKoK squad almost on his own, although the Eightbound with him certainly helped. 

It was at this point that things really started to go down hill, as I was really struggling to hold any objectives. The world eaters were getting right up in ot my pines and starting to chew through my units and while.i was managing to whittle them down, I just wasn't able to do it and score points.

At the end of the game, there was very little left on the board, I had a few troops hanging around a squad of scions with command squad attached and another Scion squad but not much else, my opponent had a rhino, Angron and a couple of eightbound. There was very little left on the table, which is what the disciples of Khorne are really after!

The games ended in the inevitable defeat but one I am happy with, as I did do better that previously and kept it to a minor defeat for the league, plus my opponent didn't score 100, which is nice. 

While some of the cards didn't help, I think there are a couple of mistakes that really cost me. 

I think the main mistake I made was with the Knight. I should not have consolidated in to the helbrute with the hammer. I know that if I hadn't it would have charged me and then o would have been in just as much trouble but I might have been able to interrupt and take it out before it could hit me.

Secondly I think I should have played the rough riders differently, not quite sure exactly how but not making the charge turn 2 was a big deal. Maybe I should have kept them back a bit more or chosen a different target for their charge. 

The next mistake is a bit more clear cut, I should have dropped the second Scion squad in turn 2 with the first squad. This would have meant that my opponent would have had to have sent units back to deal with them, rather than being able to press forward still. I was worried about the berserkers in the rhino, which went on to smash the rough riders. Maybe if I had dropped at the back they would have stayed back and the rough riders could have survived long enough to do some more damage elsewhere.

The last "mistake" might not be a mistake but may have been a bit of a missed opportunity. I did not use the reinforcements stratagem very much, twice in fact. I do wonder if I should have used it more and not spent the points elsewhere. I think that I did miss a few chances to get CP from Vox Casters, as I more often than not forget about that ability. This might have given me the ability to recycle a nother unit or two and maybe given me an advantage. However, to recycle more units I would have had to not use other stratagems, ones that did some work for me, such as the interrupt stratagem. At the end of the day though it's very hard to know which would have been better. 

One last thing to note is the fact that my opponent made a rules mistake with his initial scout moves from the Lord Invacartus. He used the scout move to push up his helbrutes but you can only use it to move infantry units. I don't think that made any real difference to the game and certainly would not have changed the outcome. 

At the end of the day, despite the loss, I had a really good game and it was good to get on to the table and roll some dice. Hopefully my next game will be just as good.