Hey everyone. I'd like to talk about one of my favorite games today. Dungeons and Dragons, and specifically why you should always consider fleeing as a very viable tactic.
I've been playing D&D 3.5 for quite a few years now, and a bit of Pathfinder as well, but in this time, our group has never ran away from many fights. Only when it was very clear to us that we were out matched have we ever ran away, and often only after we've lost a party member or two. Most likely this is because at least a couple characters are either overly prideful, or don't want to give up any potential loot, or sometimes both.
Recently this has changed. In one of our current campaigns, we have a very practical and guerrilla-type party made up of a Druid, Ranger, Scout, Monk and Barbarian. So far, loot has been of secondary concern for us, and the one prideful character in the party (a now deceased Human Hexblade) was killed in a battle with an Atach. This party, being very goal oriented (that goal right now being largely bringing down a corrupt organization) tends to not get drawn into fights that could easily be avoided and as a consequence, we've ended up fleeing from engagements that we may have even emerged victorious from.
This has meant that we have missed some loot, but luckily our DM has rewarded us for playing in character, and playing a smart game by giving us some good stuff on the occasions where we do end up fighting something. He has also been giving us experience for bypassing encounters, as if we had completed them, as we have technically dealt with them and come through successfully, even if it was by sneaking past, running away, or setting up a fortified area and using our generally superior range to pepper the enemy with arrows until they get close enough for the Barbarian, Monk and Wildshaped Druid to pounce
Running away has also allowed us to consume far fewer resources than standing and fighting would have. Talrin, our Elf Druid almost always still has spells left at the end of the day, The Kindler, my Human Ranger has been able conserve arrows fairly well, despite shooting 3 a turn when in combat, and Wayne Rockpile, our Dwarf Barbarian, has only come close to death once, despite being our only real tank and having a measly 16 AC when raging. Because we tend to only fight when at an advantage, we have been able to expend less resources then a conventional kick down the door party.
So next time your party is walking along and come upon a group of Orcs, consider weather or not you really need to be fighting them before you rush in. After all, one might have class levels and it may end up being a tougher fight then you anticipated. Who knows, the life you save may be your own.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
40k Apocalypse: D-Weapons
So with a game of Apocalypse coming up this weekend I'd like to talk about D-Weapons and their impact on the game. Any D-Weapon, particularly one that uses any sort of blast template can be so powerful that it has the potential to immediately change the game. For those of you unfamiliar with D-Weapons, when a vehicle is hit by one you roll on a table. A 1 is an automatic penetrating hit, a 2-5 is an automatic explosion on a regular vehicle and D3+1 Hull Points off a Super Heavy, and a 6 is a D6+6 Hull Points off a Super Heavy. Against infantry, a 1 is no wound, a 2-5 is D3+1 wounds, and a 6 is D6+6 wounds. All D-Weapons also ignore all saves, including invulnerable saves, as well as negating any Reanimation Protocols or Feel no Pain.
So obviously these weapons have the potential to be extremely powerful, and as such all possible effort really should be made to even out the distribution of D-Weapons between two armies or teams. For example, if I were to bring a list capable of firing 5 D-Weapon shots, the opposing force should probably have no more than about 6 or 7, and no less than 3 or 4. If you don't regulate this and you had one army with 5 D-Weapons against an army with no D-Weapons, the battle would likely be over before it really began, especially when you consider that the things carrying these guns are usually Super-Heavies, Titans, Gargantuan Creatures, or Apocalypse formations, which are generally pretty hard to bring down, especially en mass.
This brings us to building a list for an Apocalypse game. This can be tricky, as really the point of the game is for everyone to have fun, and I know that if I were to take a big scary Death Star (say the Lords of the Black Crusade formation) only to have it immediately blown off the table in one shot from a D-Weapon, I'd be a little discouraged, particularly if it was from something like an Eldar Lynx, where the formation it just one-hitted was easily double its points. Because of this I think its important to make sure that you have an alternate list or two. If you get to the game and realize that you're the only one who brought a whole bunch of Titans and Super-Heavies, it may be prudent to talk to the other players, especially your opponents, and as them if they're ok with facing such an intimidating force. If they're not, it might be best to have a backup list that you can pull out with fewer of these units, or even none at all to help even the playing field and make the game more fun for everyone.
The alternative is to warn everyone before hand that you are going to be spamming D-Weapons, and to bring as much of their own scary stuff as they can. People are less likely to feel like they just showed up only to pick up their models and go home if they had an opportunity to prepare against what they knew was going to be a tough fight, and it also helps to avoid having people who have invested their time and money into buying or building their own Titans/Super Heavies feel like "That Guy" for bringing their big scary models.
Its also important if you don't have any D-Weapons of your own to try and not get too upset when these things start causing you to remove entire units from the field at a time, often with no way to prevent it. This is Apocalypse, and the whole point is really to sit around with some friends, or maybe some strangers at your local store, talk smack, and enjoy this wonderful hobby of ours. My final advice to the people out there that don't have access to any formations, D-Weapons or Super-Heavies would be to set yourself a goal. Maybe try to get one of your characters into single combat with something, or aim to blow up that Baneblade before the end of the game. By giving yourself an objective, you can feel good about your army, even if most of it (or even all of it) gets wiped out by chasing around smaller goals and objectives.
So obviously these weapons have the potential to be extremely powerful, and as such all possible effort really should be made to even out the distribution of D-Weapons between two armies or teams. For example, if I were to bring a list capable of firing 5 D-Weapon shots, the opposing force should probably have no more than about 6 or 7, and no less than 3 or 4. If you don't regulate this and you had one army with 5 D-Weapons against an army with no D-Weapons, the battle would likely be over before it really began, especially when you consider that the things carrying these guns are usually Super-Heavies, Titans, Gargantuan Creatures, or Apocalypse formations, which are generally pretty hard to bring down, especially en mass.
This brings us to building a list for an Apocalypse game. This can be tricky, as really the point of the game is for everyone to have fun, and I know that if I were to take a big scary Death Star (say the Lords of the Black Crusade formation) only to have it immediately blown off the table in one shot from a D-Weapon, I'd be a little discouraged, particularly if it was from something like an Eldar Lynx, where the formation it just one-hitted was easily double its points. Because of this I think its important to make sure that you have an alternate list or two. If you get to the game and realize that you're the only one who brought a whole bunch of Titans and Super-Heavies, it may be prudent to talk to the other players, especially your opponents, and as them if they're ok with facing such an intimidating force. If they're not, it might be best to have a backup list that you can pull out with fewer of these units, or even none at all to help even the playing field and make the game more fun for everyone.
The alternative is to warn everyone before hand that you are going to be spamming D-Weapons, and to bring as much of their own scary stuff as they can. People are less likely to feel like they just showed up only to pick up their models and go home if they had an opportunity to prepare against what they knew was going to be a tough fight, and it also helps to avoid having people who have invested their time and money into buying or building their own Titans/Super Heavies feel like "That Guy" for bringing their big scary models.
Its also important if you don't have any D-Weapons of your own to try and not get too upset when these things start causing you to remove entire units from the field at a time, often with no way to prevent it. This is Apocalypse, and the whole point is really to sit around with some friends, or maybe some strangers at your local store, talk smack, and enjoy this wonderful hobby of ours. My final advice to the people out there that don't have access to any formations, D-Weapons or Super-Heavies would be to set yourself a goal. Maybe try to get one of your characters into single combat with something, or aim to blow up that Baneblade before the end of the game. By giving yourself an objective, you can feel good about your army, even if most of it (or even all of it) gets wiped out by chasing around smaller goals and objectives.
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Warhammer 40k Battle Report Khorne v.s Space Marines
Kharn the Betrayer has been spotted in Imperial space and seems to be attempting to open some warp games on a backwater world. Belial and his first company have been sent alongside Kor'sarro Khan's third company to stop him, and prevent the world from falling to Khorne.
In this 1550 point game I played a Khorne themed Chaos Space Marine list with Chaos Daemon allies against Todd's Dark Angels Deathwing drop with White Scar allies. The mission was the Emperor's Will with the Hammer and Anvil deployment type.
The Armies
Khorne's Army
HQ:
- Kharn the Betrayer (Warlord) - 160
- Daemon Prince of Khorne with Wings, Power Armour, a Boon of Mutation (Crusader) and the Axe
of Blind Fury - 265
- Bloodthirster (Allies) with one Greater Gift (Corpulescence) and one Exalted Gift (Warp Tether)
-300
Troops:
- 14 Chaos Cultists with Close Combat Weapons and Mark of Khorne - 94
- 9 Khorne Berzerkers with Champion with Melta Bombs and Power Sword - 220
- 10 Bloodletters (Allies) - 100
Fast Attack:
- Heldrake with Baleflamer - 170
Heavy Support:
- Chaos Landraider with Dozer Blades and Dirge Caster - 240
Total: 1549
I designed this list for one purpose and one purpose only. To go take some skulls. My plan was essentially to just rush him and try and kill as much as possible with the FMCs, Kharn and Friends, and the Heldrake, while my cultists took a home base objective and the bloodletters warped to the opponent's side and took his. Really it was just a fun list that would really make Todd worry about how he was going to deal with my wall of in your face death.
Dark Angels/White Scars
HQ:
- Belial (Warlord) with Thunderhammer and Storm Shield - 190
- Librarian with two Mastery Levels (Vortex of Doom, and Forwarning) - 90
- Kor'sarro Khan on Moondraken - 150
Elites:
- Vernerable Dreadnought with Multi-Melta, Powerfist with Heavy Flamer, and Deathwing Vehicle in Drop Pod - 180
Troops:
- 5 Deathwing Terminators, Sergent with Thunderhammer and Storm Shield, 3 with Storm Bolter and
Powerfist, and 1 with Assault Cannon and Powerfist - 245
- 5 Deathwing Terminators, Sergent with Thunderhammer and Storm Shield, 3 with Storm Bolter and
Powerfist, and 1 with Assault Cannon and Powerfist - 245
- 5 Tactical Marines with Plasma Gun in Drop Pod - 120
- 5 Space Marine Bikes (Allies) with 2 Meltaguns - 125
- 5 Space Marine Bikes (Allies) with 2 Meltaguns - 125
Fast Attack:
- Ravenwing Darkshroud - 80
Total: 1550
This force was awesome for me. He was deepstriking all of his Terminators, the Dreadnought and the Tactical Marines, and most of his force was only going to do substantial damage in melee, which is where I wanted to be in the first place. With him dropping down into my back lines, I wasn't going to have to trek up the board eating bullets the whole way, as I was initially expecting, which was a big plus for me. The main danger is that he would keep a bike squad hanging around his objective, or drop in the Tacticals, making it more difficult for me to take it with my Bloodletters, who would likely be unsupported. He also had a lot of troops for me to deal with, which meant that he could theoretically hold both the objectives at the same time, even taking losses.
The Game
We were using the Hammer and Anvil deployment. I won the roll of to choose which side I wanted, and I took the side with the small building in the hopes that my cultists could hide behind it. He won roll off for first turn and decided to give first turn to me. I was ok with this as it would allow me to get my FMCs into the air right away before he could shoot at them, making them much harder to kill.
I deployed my force pretty centrally, with the Landraider hiding a bit behind a small cluster of trees, the Bloodthirster in the middle, and the Daemon Prince in on the right. The Berzerkers and Kharn went into the Landraider and the Cultists, Bloodletters, and Heldrake went into reserve.
In response, Todd deployed up as far as he could on my left flank, thinking it would be a bit safer than the right where my Daemons could get to him faster. Personally I would have deployed farther back, but maybe he had a cunning plan...
Turn 1
Eager to get to grips with the hated traitors, the Bikes and Darkshroud gunned their engines forwards in their scout move, moving their whole force as far forward as possible. I was practically laughing at this point, as he had inadvertently moved hiss bikers into range to be completely slaughtered by Kharn and his buddies first turn! Kharn's command Landraider rumbled forward, and lowered its assault ramps, disgorging its bloodthirsty occupants almost right into the White Scars' lines. The Bloodthirster and Daemon Prince took off into the air, moving up to get as close as possible to the bikes. The Bloodthirster cracked his whip at Khan's squad, but failed to wound. Meanwhile, the Landraider opened fire with it's Lascannons and Heavy Bolter onto the Darkshroud, and despite having a fantastic cover save, it's grav-engine was destroyed, causing it to crash to the ground impotently.
Firing their pistols in berserk fury, Kharn led his squad into the Bike squad on the right. Though the Aspiring Champion attempted to call out the Biker's Sergent, but the Emperor's cowardly lapdog was suspiciously absent. In a remarkable display of martial skill, Kharn layed into the Bikers, slaughtering them to a man, and when that was not enough to sate his blood he turned on one of his own, killing an unfortunate Berzerker. With first blood under my belt this game was already looking up.
With a crackle of energy Belial and his team of Terminators teleported to the surface of the doomed world. His second squad materialized to the flank of the Landraider only moments later, accompanied by the Dreadnought's Drop Pod splashing into the river. The Dark Angels had arrived. Opening fire with the remaining Bike Squad, the Dreadnought, and Belial's squad, all of Kharn's retinue were gunned down mercilessly, and Kharn himself took a wound. The other Terminator squad set its sights on the Daemon Prince swooping through the air, though the quick-moving beast proved too elusive for their targeters.
In a bold Gambit, Kor'sarro Khan led his bikes in a charge against Kharn the Betrayer, who cried out a challenge to the Biker. Though Kharn managed to wound Khan, Moonfang struck true, and Kharn fell, gaining Todd Slay the Warlord. Unfortunately, caught up in the excitement as I was, I forgot to take a picture at the end of the turn. Hopefully I'll get better about this!
Turn 2
Gliding down, the mighty Bloodthirster descended towards Belial's squad, eager to add the proud first captain's skull to Khorne's throne. The Daemon Prince turned his sights to Khan and his Bikers, and descended upon them. The cultists, apparently unaware of their master's demise took to the field, running towards the warp gate in order to protect it. On the other side of the board, a unit of Bloodletters strode through another tear in reality, ready to defend it with their lives. The Landraider, moved over a little bit, it's Dirge Caster wailing , distracting both Belial and Khan from the incoming Daemons.
The Landraider's Lascannons were unleashed upon the Venerable dreadnought, damaging its thick armour and Destroying its legs. The Bloodthirster attempted to whip the nearest Terminator, but its attack was blocked by its shield. Their defenses lowered, the Bloodthirster charged into Belial's retinue and issued a bold challenge to the puny Sergent who stood in his way. Balking at the idea of facing such a beast, the Sergent attempted to slink away, but after a flurry of attacks from the Bloodthirster's might axe was hacked to pieces, along with another of his battle-brothers who had strayed to close, and though the creature took a few hits from the Terminators' Powerfists, the protection afforded him by Khorne stopped the blows inches from its body. The Daemon Prince issued his challenge to the Sergent of the Bikers, and this one decided to accept. His skull was promptly claimed and his body hacked to pieces by the towering Daemon. His sacrifice was not in vain, however, as the distraction his body caused allowed Khan and his Bikes to boost away to safety.
The Terminators moved towards the Landraider, determined to destroy it, while Khan's bikers drove off towards the cultists, and away from the Daemon Prince. Splitting their fire, the Deathwing fired their Bolters ineffectually at the Landraider's thick armour plating, while the Terminator with the Assault Cannon fired at the enraged Daemon Prince, causing a wound. Opening fire on the Daemon Prince with his Multi-Melta, the Venerable Dreadnought but yet another wound on the Prince. Over by the warp gate, the Bikers fired their Bolters into the cultists, gunning down 4 of them.
Following up their torrent of fire the White Scars charged into the Cultists , easily slaughtering the pathetic heretics. The eager Terminators charged into the Landraider, but only glanced its armour twice. The Bloodthirster again issued a challenge, and this time Belial accepted. Thanks to some cunning parries managed to survive the onslaught, though he didn't manage to wound the beast in return.
Turn 3
With a blood-curdling screech the Heldrake streaked through the sky, swooping down to pluck an unfortunate biker into the air and crushing him between its talons. The Landraider backed away from the Terminators pound on its side, and the Daemon Prince jumped forward to engage the Terminators. The Bloodletters restlesly continued to guard the second warp gate.
Craning its neck around, the Heldrake unleashed a torrent of flame into the remaining bikers, burning them all to ash. The Landraider fired its Lascannons into the Terminators, the concentrated beams of light easily burning through their thick armour, and killing two.
Bellowing its hatred, the Daemon Prince crashed into the remaining Deathwing, easily slaughtering them all with its axe. Belial, still battling for his life, managed to parry a pair of blows aimed at his neck by the Bloodthirster, but this left him open. Pressing its advantage, the Greater Daemon of Khorne delivered a punishing kick to the Captain, before leaping upon him. Seeing his imminent death, his retainers back on his battle barge activated his teleporter, warping him back to the ship moments before the Bloodthirster's axe swung down where his neck was only moments before.
Streaking down from the sky, the Tactical Squad's drop pod splashed into the river near to the warp gate near Khan. Khan himself decided to boost his bike back towards the Bloodthirster, hoping to help out the Terminators before it was too late. Channeling the powers of the Warp, the Dark Angel's librarian summoned a warp vortex, engulfing the Daemon Prince and banishing from the material realm. The Dreadnought fired its Multi-Melta at long range into the Landraider, but it was unable to harm it. Khan charged into the Landraider before realizing he had to way to harm it.Bellowing in fury at having its prize taken from him, The Bloodthirster turned on the remaining two Deathwing, but they managed to evade its wild swings, further fueling its rage.
Turn 4
Driving forward, the Landraider attempted to get the new arrivals in its sights, hoping to kill them before they could disrupt the gate. The Heldrake banked around towards the Tactical Marines. Unleashing another burst of flame, the Heldrake immolated 3 of the Tactical Marines, and wounded the Librarian. The Landraider following suit, fired one Lascannon and its Heavy Bolter into the marines, killed the remaining two, leaving the Librarian all alone. The Bloodthirster, finally caught up to the remaining Deathwing and slaughtered them, taking their skulls for Khorne.
The Librarian, now all alone, moved forward and tried to summon a new Vortex on the Landraider, but miscalculated, the Vortex instead landing right on top of the Bloodthirster. Luckily, Khorne's blessing continued to hold out and the Vortex failed to do any damage. In a desperate last gambit, Khan charged the Bloodthirster, but before Moondraken could even be lifted in defence, the Mighty Daemon's axe removed the unfortunate Captain's head from his shoulders, all but ensuring victory for the Dark Gods. With the Bloodletters holding the objective on Todd's side, and with him having no way to either remove them or capture mine, We declare it a Chaos victory!
Chaos - 6 (One Objective, Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker)
Space Marines - 2 (Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker)
Post Game Thoughts
Well that was a really fun game, even though it was pretty one-sided. I think Todd made a HUGE mistake by deploying his bikes so far forward, and then scouting them even farther forward, right into charge range. Because of that, he practically handed me First Blood, which in this mission type is basically game winning. Besides that, I also would have dropped the Librarian and the Tactical Marines back by my Bloodletters and tried to kill them with Bolter Fire and Vortex. I'm also not sure I would have taken second turn, as it allowed me to start out flying with my MCs.
If I were to do something differently, I definitely wouldn't have challenged Todd's bike squad with my Daemon Prince, as he was unlikely to challenge me in return and I likely would have slaughtered them then and there. Also, this is a game where I don't think the dice were really a factor, as we both got some good rolls and some bad rolls in roughly equal proportion.
As always, any comments are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!
In this 1550 point game I played a Khorne themed Chaos Space Marine list with Chaos Daemon allies against Todd's Dark Angels Deathwing drop with White Scar allies. The mission was the Emperor's Will with the Hammer and Anvil deployment type.
 |
| The Board |
Khorne's Army
HQ:
- Kharn the Betrayer (Warlord) - 160
- Daemon Prince of Khorne with Wings, Power Armour, a Boon of Mutation (Crusader) and the Axe
of Blind Fury - 265
- Bloodthirster (Allies) with one Greater Gift (Corpulescence) and one Exalted Gift (Warp Tether)
-300
Troops:
- 14 Chaos Cultists with Close Combat Weapons and Mark of Khorne - 94
- 9 Khorne Berzerkers with Champion with Melta Bombs and Power Sword - 220
- 10 Bloodletters (Allies) - 100
Fast Attack:
- Heldrake with Baleflamer - 170
Heavy Support:
- Chaos Landraider with Dozer Blades and Dirge Caster - 240
Total: 1549
 |
| My Army |
I designed this list for one purpose and one purpose only. To go take some skulls. My plan was essentially to just rush him and try and kill as much as possible with the FMCs, Kharn and Friends, and the Heldrake, while my cultists took a home base objective and the bloodletters warped to the opponent's side and took his. Really it was just a fun list that would really make Todd worry about how he was going to deal with my wall of in your face death.
Dark Angels/White Scars
HQ:
- Belial (Warlord) with Thunderhammer and Storm Shield - 190
- Librarian with two Mastery Levels (Vortex of Doom, and Forwarning) - 90
- Kor'sarro Khan on Moondraken - 150
Elites:
- Vernerable Dreadnought with Multi-Melta, Powerfist with Heavy Flamer, and Deathwing Vehicle in Drop Pod - 180
Troops:
- 5 Deathwing Terminators, Sergent with Thunderhammer and Storm Shield, 3 with Storm Bolter and
Powerfist, and 1 with Assault Cannon and Powerfist - 245
- 5 Deathwing Terminators, Sergent with Thunderhammer and Storm Shield, 3 with Storm Bolter and
Powerfist, and 1 with Assault Cannon and Powerfist - 245
- 5 Tactical Marines with Plasma Gun in Drop Pod - 120
- 5 Space Marine Bikes (Allies) with 2 Meltaguns - 125
- 5 Space Marine Bikes (Allies) with 2 Meltaguns - 125
Fast Attack:
- Ravenwing Darkshroud - 80
Total: 1550
This force was awesome for me. He was deepstriking all of his Terminators, the Dreadnought and the Tactical Marines, and most of his force was only going to do substantial damage in melee, which is where I wanted to be in the first place. With him dropping down into my back lines, I wasn't going to have to trek up the board eating bullets the whole way, as I was initially expecting, which was a big plus for me. The main danger is that he would keep a bike squad hanging around his objective, or drop in the Tacticals, making it more difficult for me to take it with my Bloodletters, who would likely be unsupported. He also had a lot of troops for me to deal with, which meant that he could theoretically hold both the objectives at the same time, even taking losses.
The Game
We were using the Hammer and Anvil deployment. I won the roll of to choose which side I wanted, and I took the side with the small building in the hopes that my cultists could hide behind it. He won roll off for first turn and decided to give first turn to me. I was ok with this as it would allow me to get my FMCs into the air right away before he could shoot at them, making them much harder to kill.
 |
| My Deployment |
 |
| Todd's Deployment |
Turn 1
Eager to get to grips with the hated traitors, the Bikes and Darkshroud gunned their engines forwards in their scout move, moving their whole force as far forward as possible. I was practically laughing at this point, as he had inadvertently moved hiss bikers into range to be completely slaughtered by Kharn and his buddies first turn! Kharn's command Landraider rumbled forward, and lowered its assault ramps, disgorging its bloodthirsty occupants almost right into the White Scars' lines. The Bloodthirster and Daemon Prince took off into the air, moving up to get as close as possible to the bikes. The Bloodthirster cracked his whip at Khan's squad, but failed to wound. Meanwhile, the Landraider opened fire with it's Lascannons and Heavy Bolter onto the Darkshroud, and despite having a fantastic cover save, it's grav-engine was destroyed, causing it to crash to the ground impotently.
Firing their pistols in berserk fury, Kharn led his squad into the Bike squad on the right. Though the Aspiring Champion attempted to call out the Biker's Sergent, but the Emperor's cowardly lapdog was suspiciously absent. In a remarkable display of martial skill, Kharn layed into the Bikers, slaughtering them to a man, and when that was not enough to sate his blood he turned on one of his own, killing an unfortunate Berzerker. With first blood under my belt this game was already looking up.
With a crackle of energy Belial and his team of Terminators teleported to the surface of the doomed world. His second squad materialized to the flank of the Landraider only moments later, accompanied by the Dreadnought's Drop Pod splashing into the river. The Dark Angels had arrived. Opening fire with the remaining Bike Squad, the Dreadnought, and Belial's squad, all of Kharn's retinue were gunned down mercilessly, and Kharn himself took a wound. The other Terminator squad set its sights on the Daemon Prince swooping through the air, though the quick-moving beast proved too elusive for their targeters.
In a bold Gambit, Kor'sarro Khan led his bikes in a charge against Kharn the Betrayer, who cried out a challenge to the Biker. Though Kharn managed to wound Khan, Moonfang struck true, and Kharn fell, gaining Todd Slay the Warlord. Unfortunately, caught up in the excitement as I was, I forgot to take a picture at the end of the turn. Hopefully I'll get better about this!
Turn 2
Gliding down, the mighty Bloodthirster descended towards Belial's squad, eager to add the proud first captain's skull to Khorne's throne. The Daemon Prince turned his sights to Khan and his Bikers, and descended upon them. The cultists, apparently unaware of their master's demise took to the field, running towards the warp gate in order to protect it. On the other side of the board, a unit of Bloodletters strode through another tear in reality, ready to defend it with their lives. The Landraider, moved over a little bit, it's Dirge Caster wailing , distracting both Belial and Khan from the incoming Daemons.
 |
| Holding the Objective |
The Landraider's Lascannons were unleashed upon the Venerable dreadnought, damaging its thick armour and Destroying its legs. The Bloodthirster attempted to whip the nearest Terminator, but its attack was blocked by its shield. Their defenses lowered, the Bloodthirster charged into Belial's retinue and issued a bold challenge to the puny Sergent who stood in his way. Balking at the idea of facing such a beast, the Sergent attempted to slink away, but after a flurry of attacks from the Bloodthirster's might axe was hacked to pieces, along with another of his battle-brothers who had strayed to close, and though the creature took a few hits from the Terminators' Powerfists, the protection afforded him by Khorne stopped the blows inches from its body. The Daemon Prince issued his challenge to the Sergent of the Bikers, and this one decided to accept. His skull was promptly claimed and his body hacked to pieces by the towering Daemon. His sacrifice was not in vain, however, as the distraction his body caused allowed Khan and his Bikes to boost away to safety.
The Terminators moved towards the Landraider, determined to destroy it, while Khan's bikers drove off towards the cultists, and away from the Daemon Prince. Splitting their fire, the Deathwing fired their Bolters ineffectually at the Landraider's thick armour plating, while the Terminator with the Assault Cannon fired at the enraged Daemon Prince, causing a wound. Opening fire on the Daemon Prince with his Multi-Melta, the Venerable Dreadnought but yet another wound on the Prince. Over by the warp gate, the Bikers fired their Bolters into the cultists, gunning down 4 of them.
Following up their torrent of fire the White Scars charged into the Cultists , easily slaughtering the pathetic heretics. The eager Terminators charged into the Landraider, but only glanced its armour twice. The Bloodthirster again issued a challenge, and this time Belial accepted. Thanks to some cunning parries managed to survive the onslaught, though he didn't manage to wound the beast in return.
 |
| End of Turn 2 |
With a blood-curdling screech the Heldrake streaked through the sky, swooping down to pluck an unfortunate biker into the air and crushing him between its talons. The Landraider backed away from the Terminators pound on its side, and the Daemon Prince jumped forward to engage the Terminators. The Bloodletters restlesly continued to guard the second warp gate.
 |
| Still Holding |
Bellowing its hatred, the Daemon Prince crashed into the remaining Deathwing, easily slaughtering them all with its axe. Belial, still battling for his life, managed to parry a pair of blows aimed at his neck by the Bloodthirster, but this left him open. Pressing its advantage, the Greater Daemon of Khorne delivered a punishing kick to the Captain, before leaping upon him. Seeing his imminent death, his retainers back on his battle barge activated his teleporter, warping him back to the ship moments before the Bloodthirster's axe swung down where his neck was only moments before.
Streaking down from the sky, the Tactical Squad's drop pod splashed into the river near to the warp gate near Khan. Khan himself decided to boost his bike back towards the Bloodthirster, hoping to help out the Terminators before it was too late. Channeling the powers of the Warp, the Dark Angel's librarian summoned a warp vortex, engulfing the Daemon Prince and banishing from the material realm. The Dreadnought fired its Multi-Melta at long range into the Landraider, but it was unable to harm it. Khan charged into the Landraider before realizing he had to way to harm it.Bellowing in fury at having its prize taken from him, The Bloodthirster turned on the remaining two Deathwing, but they managed to evade its wild swings, further fueling its rage.
 |
| End of Turn 3 |
Driving forward, the Landraider attempted to get the new arrivals in its sights, hoping to kill them before they could disrupt the gate. The Heldrake banked around towards the Tactical Marines. Unleashing another burst of flame, the Heldrake immolated 3 of the Tactical Marines, and wounded the Librarian. The Landraider following suit, fired one Lascannon and its Heavy Bolter into the marines, killed the remaining two, leaving the Librarian all alone. The Bloodthirster, finally caught up to the remaining Deathwing and slaughtered them, taking their skulls for Khorne.
The Librarian, now all alone, moved forward and tried to summon a new Vortex on the Landraider, but miscalculated, the Vortex instead landing right on top of the Bloodthirster. Luckily, Khorne's blessing continued to hold out and the Vortex failed to do any damage. In a desperate last gambit, Khan charged the Bloodthirster, but before Moondraken could even be lifted in defence, the Mighty Daemon's axe removed the unfortunate Captain's head from his shoulders, all but ensuring victory for the Dark Gods. With the Bloodletters holding the objective on Todd's side, and with him having no way to either remove them or capture mine, We declare it a Chaos victory!
Chaos - 6 (One Objective, Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker)
Space Marines - 2 (Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker)
 |
| End of the Game |
Well that was a really fun game, even though it was pretty one-sided. I think Todd made a HUGE mistake by deploying his bikes so far forward, and then scouting them even farther forward, right into charge range. Because of that, he practically handed me First Blood, which in this mission type is basically game winning. Besides that, I also would have dropped the Librarian and the Tactical Marines back by my Bloodletters and tried to kill them with Bolter Fire and Vortex. I'm also not sure I would have taken second turn, as it allowed me to start out flying with my MCs.
If I were to do something differently, I definitely wouldn't have challenged Todd's bike squad with my Daemon Prince, as he was unlikely to challenge me in return and I likely would have slaughtered them then and there. Also, this is a game where I don't think the dice were really a factor, as we both got some good rolls and some bad rolls in roughly equal proportion.
As always, any comments are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, 6 November 2013
40k: Knowing Your Opponent
Hey everyone. So today I want to talk about an aspect of the game that I feel a lot of people don't think about too much. Knowing your opponent. Now obviously if you're going to your local gaming store for a random pickup game, this might not always be possible, but for the sake of argument here we're going to assume that you have a fairly regular gaming group that you play with.
So first thing's first, lets talk about what I mean when I say know your opponent. What I mean by this isn't knowing what units they have access to, or even what armies they play (though that is of course a big factor). I'm talking about their tactics. What kind of player are they? Are they aggressive? Defensive? Are they generally going to just try and wipe out your whole army, or play a more subtle objective based game? These are the things that you should be thinking about when building your army and playing against certain people.
For example, I know that Todd tends to overextend himself by sending his fast units right at me quickly, which allows me to concentrate fire on them and bring them down relatively easily. Now this may be because he's a new player to the game, and rightly wants to see some bloodshed, or it may be because he likes to play a little more aggressively, the thing that does matter is that it tends to happen at some point in the game, and I can use this to my advantage. There is a chance that I can throw out a cheap unit, something that won't hurt me too much to lose in order to bait him forward even more, or pull a previously supported unit away from it's friends in order to isolate and destroy it. Think something like a unit of Rangers. They're practically guaranteed to be killed in the initial charge, and can be used to pull something scary, like maybe some Assault Terminators out of a Landraider close to my firing base all alone, where I can jump them with some Fire Dragons and/or Dire Avengers and kill the unit.
Now obviously this isn't going to work all the time. He might not take the bait, and instead continue on his path forward. He might read this post and become more cautious because of this, but the fact that I know he tends to do these things gives me an inherent advantage right from the get go.
Now lets use Brennan as an example. There are certain units that I know Brennan loves to use, most predominantly the Defiler. We often have games that we call "Crab Battles" where we each take a Defiler or two and run them up the board at each other blasting away with our Battle Cannons, and sometimes even making it to assault. It's quite likely that if I'm playing Brennan and he's bringing Chaos, there will be a Defiler in the mix somewhere. So because I know this about Brennan I can make sure that I'm really remembering to spread my models out to mitigate any incoming blasts, and try and keep any of my weaker armour in the best cover I can. I also need to make sure that I have a reliable answer to a Defiler in my list. Something a little more potent than plasma, maybe some Meltaguns, maybe some Obliterators. Whichever units I choose to use, I need to make sure that I'm prepared in both my deployment and my list building to face what he can throw at me.
Another important note is regarding the so-called "netlist". I see lots of people on various forums preaching that certain units and certain lists are the only things worth taking, or saying that certain other units aren't worth their cost. Try not to fall into the trap of blindly agreeing to this mentality. It's important to take the advice that you read and try to apply it to your own gaming group. The Chaos Daemon Flying Monstrous Creature spam list may be very popular on the internet right now, but if you tend to face lots of Tau with Missilesides and skyfire everywhere, it's probably not going to work out for you too well. Knowing your metagame and your opponent will do wonders for you both when designing a list and when playing the game, so make sure to keep it in mind.
So first thing's first, lets talk about what I mean when I say know your opponent. What I mean by this isn't knowing what units they have access to, or even what armies they play (though that is of course a big factor). I'm talking about their tactics. What kind of player are they? Are they aggressive? Defensive? Are they generally going to just try and wipe out your whole army, or play a more subtle objective based game? These are the things that you should be thinking about when building your army and playing against certain people.
For example, I know that Todd tends to overextend himself by sending his fast units right at me quickly, which allows me to concentrate fire on them and bring them down relatively easily. Now this may be because he's a new player to the game, and rightly wants to see some bloodshed, or it may be because he likes to play a little more aggressively, the thing that does matter is that it tends to happen at some point in the game, and I can use this to my advantage. There is a chance that I can throw out a cheap unit, something that won't hurt me too much to lose in order to bait him forward even more, or pull a previously supported unit away from it's friends in order to isolate and destroy it. Think something like a unit of Rangers. They're practically guaranteed to be killed in the initial charge, and can be used to pull something scary, like maybe some Assault Terminators out of a Landraider close to my firing base all alone, where I can jump them with some Fire Dragons and/or Dire Avengers and kill the unit.
Now obviously this isn't going to work all the time. He might not take the bait, and instead continue on his path forward. He might read this post and become more cautious because of this, but the fact that I know he tends to do these things gives me an inherent advantage right from the get go.
Now lets use Brennan as an example. There are certain units that I know Brennan loves to use, most predominantly the Defiler. We often have games that we call "Crab Battles" where we each take a Defiler or two and run them up the board at each other blasting away with our Battle Cannons, and sometimes even making it to assault. It's quite likely that if I'm playing Brennan and he's bringing Chaos, there will be a Defiler in the mix somewhere. So because I know this about Brennan I can make sure that I'm really remembering to spread my models out to mitigate any incoming blasts, and try and keep any of my weaker armour in the best cover I can. I also need to make sure that I have a reliable answer to a Defiler in my list. Something a little more potent than plasma, maybe some Meltaguns, maybe some Obliterators. Whichever units I choose to use, I need to make sure that I'm prepared in both my deployment and my list building to face what he can throw at me.
Another important note is regarding the so-called "netlist". I see lots of people on various forums preaching that certain units and certain lists are the only things worth taking, or saying that certain other units aren't worth their cost. Try not to fall into the trap of blindly agreeing to this mentality. It's important to take the advice that you read and try to apply it to your own gaming group. The Chaos Daemon Flying Monstrous Creature spam list may be very popular on the internet right now, but if you tend to face lots of Tau with Missilesides and skyfire everywhere, it's probably not going to work out for you too well. Knowing your metagame and your opponent will do wonders for you both when designing a list and when playing the game, so make sure to keep it in mind.
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Warhammer 40k Battle Report Eldar vs Space Marines/Tau
The forces of the Mon-Keigh have stumbled upon a precious artifact of Eldar origin. The craftworld Alaitoc has sent a force to sieze the relic and bring it safely back to the craftworld.
- Fire Prism with Holo-Fields - 140
Total: 1750
This is an unusual list for me. Normally I wouldn't take this many Rangers, but I thought I'd try 'em out and see how they did. Unfortunately the mission was the Relic so having lots of scoring units wasn't hugely helpful, and with the low damage output that Rangers tend to have, I wasn't feeling super confident in my list. Luckily, Everything in my army had the potential to bypass the Terminators' armour so that was a bit of a plus. I also got lucky and rolled Doom for one of my powers, so that would be a big help too, so long as he doesn't deny the witch too much.
Total: 1757
With his forward force decimated, Todd decided to try and rush the relic with his Chapter Master and the Fire Warriors he was accompanying. The Landraider turned its Lascannon on the Jetbikes, but failed to wound. Its machine spirit enraged by its immobilization, fired the other Lascannon at the damaged Fire Prism and managed to blow it up. The two predators fired everything they had into the Dire Avengers' Wave serpent, but due to some impressive jinking, it only sustained a single glancing hit. Trying to get closer to the Relic, the Chapter Master and his retinue ran forwards. The Thunderfire Cannon then set its sights on the Jetbikes, but due to some bad scatters didn't manage to do any damage.
With the Eldar force still very intact, the Farseer, Guided the remaining Fire Prism, cast Prescience on his squad and attempted to Doom the Chapter Master's squad, but their iron willpower prevented it. The Wave Serpent carrying the Dire Avengers moved forwards and dropped them off, the lead Avenger seizing the Relic for Alaitoc.
The Warp Spiders moved up, but tragically lost one of their member to the warp, whilst the rest of the tanks shuffled around and the Jetbikes moved to the Fire Warriors' flank. The Dire Avengers, wishing to eliminate the threat to their possession of the Relic, opened up on the Fire Warriors through the forest, killing a few, and the Wave Serpent added the weight of its scatter lasers to the fire. The Fire Prism tried to finish off the immobilized Predator, but once again its cover saved it. The remaining Wave Serpent , joined by the Rangers behind the defence line and in the Forest all fired into the Fire Warriors, killing all but two, and wounding the Chapter Master once. The Jetbikes added their fire and killed another Fire Warrior. The Chapter Master's precense allowed the lone tau warrior to keep his nerve though, and the squad did not run. The Warp Spiders continued to run forwards, before assault leaping again. The Jetbikes declared an assault against the Chapter Master, and no wounds were taken by either side.
With so little left to contest my hold on the objective, and with me having first blood as well, Todd conceded the game for a final score of Eldar 4, White Scars and Tau 0. An overwhelming Eldar victory!
Post Game Thoughts
Well that battle went very well for me, despite my list not being hugely capable for the mission type. The main thing that went my way was Todd's failing that first assault against my Rangers. Him failing the charge there allowed me to bring my entire army to bear on the Bike squads and gave me First Blood. Immobilizing the Land Raider was also a huge deal, as it meant that his Terminators never made it near my lines.
The dice really favored me this game as well. Todd managed to do no damage at all on my Wave Serpents and only killed one Ranger with his Orbital Bombardment, which was uncanny, and even his Thunderfire Cannon was scattering like crazy. My Jink saves were also going very well for me.
I think that he made a mistake deploying all of his Bikes and his Landraider on one side, as it allowed me to buy some more time with my deployment by simply deploying on the other end from him. I do think that I should have deployed my Rangers with the Farseer and the Icarus on the other side of the Defence Line, so that I could have more rapidly deployed my Dire Avengers. I also found myself a little unsure of what to do with all my Rangers, as I didn't want to deploy them too far up where they would just get eaten by his Fire Warriors or Bikes, and so they ended up mostly just sitting back the whole game. Not sure I would bring that many again.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and as always, any comments are appreciated!
This is a battle report of a 1750 point game between my craftworld Alaitoc Eldar vs Todd's White Scars with Tau allies. The mission was the Relic with Dawn of War deployment.
 |
| The Game Board with Deployment |
The Armies
Craftworld Alaitoc
HQ:
- Farseer with Doom, Guide, and Prescience (Warlord) - 100
Elites:
- 5 Fire Dragons in a Wave Serpent with Scatter Lasers, a Shuriken Cannon and Holo-Fields - 255
Troops:
- 10 Dire Avengers with Exarch in a Wave Serpent with Scatter Lasers, a Shuriken Cannon and
Holo-Fields - 285
Craftworld Alaitoc
HQ:
- Farseer with Doom, Guide, and Prescience (Warlord) - 100
Elites:
- 5 Fire Dragons in a Wave Serpent with Scatter Lasers, a Shuriken Cannon and Holo-Fields - 255
Troops:
- 10 Dire Avengers with Exarch in a Wave Serpent with Scatter Lasers, a Shuriken Cannon and
Holo-Fields - 285
- 10 Rangers - 120
- 6 Rangers - 72
- 6 Rangers - 72
- 3 Windrider Jetbikes with one Shuriken Cannon - 61
Fast Attack:
- 5 Warp Spiders with Exarch with Twin-Linked Death Spinners and Fast Shot - 120
Heavy Support:
- Fire Prism with Holo-Fields - 140
- Fire Prism with Holo-Fields - 140
- Wraithknight with Scatter Laser, Suncannon and Scattershield - 300
Fortification:
- Aegis Defence Line with Icarus Lascannon - 85
Total: 1750
This is an unusual list for me. Normally I wouldn't take this many Rangers, but I thought I'd try 'em out and see how they did. Unfortunately the mission was the Relic so having lots of scoring units wasn't hugely helpful, and with the low damage output that Rangers tend to have, I wasn't feeling super confident in my list. Luckily, Everything in my army had the potential to bypass the Terminators' armour so that was a bit of a plus. I also got lucky and rolled Doom for one of my powers, so that would be a big help too, so long as he doesn't deny the witch too much.
White Scars/Tau
HQ:
- Korsaro Khan on Moondraken - 150
- Chapter Master with Emperor's Wrath (Warlord) - 150
- Cadre Fireblade (Allies) - 60
Elites:
- 5 Assault Terminators with Thunderhammers and Storm Shields in Landraider - 475
Troops:
- 5 Bikes with 2 Meltaguns - 125
- 5 Bikes with 2 Melatguns - 125
- 12 Fire Warriors (Allies) - 108
- 11 Fire Warriors (Allies) - 99
Heavy Support:
- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons and Lascannon Sponsons - 140
- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons and Lascannon Sponsons - 140
- Thunderfire Cannon - 100
Fortification:
- Aegis Defence Line with Icarus Lascannon - 85
Total: 1757
I wasn't overly afraid of most of this army. The Terminators' Landraider having Scout thanks the the White Scars doctrines was a bit of a problem, but with any luck my Fire Prisms would be able to deal with it before it got too close. The other thing I was worried about was the Thunderfire Cannon. Firing four blasts a turn that could be ignoring cover was a big threat to all of my rangers, though the fact that it was only AP 6 when he fired with the shots that ignored cover helps a bit.
The Game
We Deployed using the Dawn of War deployment. Todd deployed first and set up his defence line pretty centraly, putting his fire warriors and both Predators behind it with the Bikes and Landraider on his right flank.
 |
| Todd's Deployment |
.jpeg) |
| Todd's Deployment 2 |
In response I decided to refuse flank a bit. I sent up my defense line on my right flank with all my tanks and the big squad of Rangers behind it. The Warp Spiders went into reserve to deepstrike, and the other squads of rangers went into the forest on my left and into the little tower on my right respectively. The Wraithknight stood to the far right, ready to come in and counter charge his Terminators or just jump forwards and stomp his Firewarriors.
 |
| My Deployment |
Turn One
He started by scouting up his Bikes and Landraider towards my lines. I failed to seize the initiative and there was no night fighting, which allowed him to rush up unimpeded. On his turn he moved up his bikes and Landraider even more, trying to get into my lines before I got a chance to blast him off the table. His two Predators opened fire on the Wraithknight, and between the two of them brought it down to 3 wounds. His Fire Warriors were largely out of range, so they didn't do much, but his Chapter Master decided to take advantage of my clustered deployment, and called in an Orbital Bombardment. Though he managed a direct hit on a couple Rangers and both Wave Serpents, ones were abound, and when the dust settled, only one Ranger lay dead. His squad of Bikes without Khan fired at my Rangers in the forest, but thanks to the cover of the forest, none were killed. Khan's Bike squad Turbo-Boosted further up the flank, and the Landraider Turbo-Boosted into the middle forest. His Thunderfire Cannon fired on the Rangers in the building but only managed to kill 4. The other 2 held.
He then attempted to assault my Rangers in the forest, but failed. Luckily for him my Rangers also failed to do anything with their overwatch, despite getting 4 hits.
 |
| Poor Rangers |
I began my turn by casting Guide and Prescience on the two Fire Prisms, and I Doomed Khan's Bikes. The Wraithknight Jumped up into the river, and the Fire Prism behind the building moved out and around to get a shot off at the Landraider. All the other tanks shuffled around slightly in order to take advantage of their Holo-Fields. The Rangers in the forest moved back, right up against the defence line, hoping to put some distance between themselves and the Bikes. The Rangers opened by firing with their pistols on Khan's bike squad, but didn't manage to do any damage. The Fire Prism near the Wraithknight shot its lance into the Landraider, blowing a track clear off and immobilizing it.
My big ranger squad fired into Khan's bike squad and took one down, before the Dire Avenger Wave Serpent blasted the squad with the Scatter Lasers, the Shuriken Cannon and its Shield, killing the remaining 4 bikes. The Fire Dragon Wave Serpent then fired the Scatter Lasers and the Shuriken Cannon into Khan, downing the legendary Bike Lord.
The Wraithknight then fired its weapons into the second Bike squad, killing all but the two Meltagunners, who held. A punishing turn for the Eldar!
My big ranger squad fired into Khan's bike squad and took one down, before the Dire Avenger Wave Serpent blasted the squad with the Scatter Lasers, the Shuriken Cannon and its Shield, killing the remaining 4 bikes. The Fire Dragon Wave Serpent then fired the Scatter Lasers and the Shuriken Cannon into Khan, downing the legendary Bike Lord.
 |
| What Bikes? |
.jpeg) |
| End of Turn 1 |
Turn Two
With the Landraider immobilized, and the Bikes mostly gone, Todd decided to jup the Terminators out and move them as quick as he could towards the Eldar battle line. His remaining bikes moved forward, ready to melta and assault my rangers. His Predators began firing by shooting at my Fire Prism outside of the defence line, but the pilots skill allowed him to jink away most of the damage and it only suffered a destroyed Shuriken Catapult. The Fire Warriors, desperate to kill the Wraithknight opened fire upon the monster, but even with the Cadre Fireblade's direction only managed to do two wounds to it. Luckily, the Landraider still had its Lascannon to fire, and it managed to destroy the wraith construct. The Thunderfire Cannon started blasting at the big squad of Rangers, wounding the Farseer, and killing two more Rangers, who held their position. The two Bikers opened again on the squad in the forest, but couldn't seem to find the elusive Rangers. He attempted to charge, but ran out of gas and only rolled a 3.
With the Space Marines done, it was time for the Eldar fusillade to begin anew. The Farseer once again Guided and Prescienced the Fire Prisms, and this time Doomed the Terminators. I rolled for reserves, and both the Jetbikes and the Warp Spiders came in. The Warp Spiders attempted to Deep Strike behind the Predator on the hill, but got a little confused and landed right by the building holding the rangers. All the vehicles shuffled around, and a few of the Rangers were forced to move over to get back into coherency. The Wave Serpent with the Dire Avengers moved across the river, ready to disgorge its cargo near the Relic. The Jetbikes drove up and killed one of the bikers, and the Rangers in the forest finished them off. One of the Fire Prisms shot the Terminators with a focused blast and killed two. Both Wave Serpents opened up on the Terminators and killed the other 3 under a torrent of fire.
The Warp Spiders ran forward, eager to get into the enemy deployment zone and hopefully wreak some havoc. The Large Squad with the Farseer, and the small two man squad of Rangers both fired at the Fire Warriors with the Fireblade, hoping to pin them down, and while they managed to kill a couple, the discipline instilled in them by the Fireblade kept them from being pinned. The last Fire Prism shot its lance into the Predator on the hill again, this time immobilizing it. The Jetbikes assault moved, and the Warp Spiders activated their Jetpacks and jumped forwards.
The Warp Spiders ran forward, eager to get into the enemy deployment zone and hopefully wreak some havoc. The Large Squad with the Farseer, and the small two man squad of Rangers both fired at the Fire Warriors with the Fireblade, hoping to pin them down, and while they managed to kill a couple, the discipline instilled in them by the Fireblade kept them from being pinned. The last Fire Prism shot its lance into the Predator on the hill again, this time immobilizing it. The Jetbikes assault moved, and the Warp Spiders activated their Jetpacks and jumped forwards.
 |
| End of Turn 2 |
With the Eldar force still very intact, the Farseer, Guided the remaining Fire Prism, cast Prescience on his squad and attempted to Doom the Chapter Master's squad, but their iron willpower prevented it. The Wave Serpent carrying the Dire Avengers moved forwards and dropped them off, the lead Avenger seizing the Relic for Alaitoc.
 |
| Taking the Relic |
 |
| Assaulting the Chapter Master |
 |
| End of the Game |
Well that battle went very well for me, despite my list not being hugely capable for the mission type. The main thing that went my way was Todd's failing that first assault against my Rangers. Him failing the charge there allowed me to bring my entire army to bear on the Bike squads and gave me First Blood. Immobilizing the Land Raider was also a huge deal, as it meant that his Terminators never made it near my lines.
The dice really favored me this game as well. Todd managed to do no damage at all on my Wave Serpents and only killed one Ranger with his Orbital Bombardment, which was uncanny, and even his Thunderfire Cannon was scattering like crazy. My Jink saves were also going very well for me.
I think that he made a mistake deploying all of his Bikes and his Landraider on one side, as it allowed me to buy some more time with my deployment by simply deploying on the other end from him. I do think that I should have deployed my Rangers with the Farseer and the Icarus on the other side of the Defence Line, so that I could have more rapidly deployed my Dire Avengers. I also found myself a little unsure of what to do with all my Rangers, as I didn't want to deploy them too far up where they would just get eaten by his Fire Warriors or Bikes, and so they ended up mostly just sitting back the whole game. Not sure I would bring that many again.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and as always, any comments are appreciated!
Saturday, 2 November 2013
Malifaux Battle Report 2 - Guild v.s Marcus Beast Pack
Marcus and his pack of mongrel have hidden a cache of Soulstones on the outskirts of civilized Malifaux. It is up to Lady Justice and her contingent of Death Marshals and Guild Guard to claim these precious gems and bring justice upon those who would seek to usurp the Guild's rightful rule of Malifaux.
This game was a real test of my ability to adapt to circumstances that ended up being wildly out of my own control. My Lady Justice Guild crew against my friend Todd's Marcus Beast crew. Keep in mind as we're still new to the game, there are bound to be some mistakes in these games. Please feel free to comment and let us know what we've done wrong.
The Crews
I was again playing my Lady Justice crew, but this time against Todd's Marcus Arcanist/Neverborn/Ressurectionist crew. Once again it was a 45 point game. The Strategy for this game was Theft, with me being the attacker, and Todd trying to defend. My schemes were Murder Protege (undeclared) and Protect Territory (undeclared), and his were Distract and Plant Explosives (undeclared).
The Guild
- Lady Justice with the Thalarian Stone upgrade - 1 SS
- The Judge with the Vengeance Bullet upgrade - 10 SS
- 3 Death Marshals - 18 SS
- Guild Austringer - 6 SS
- 2 Guild Guard - 8 SS
Total: 43 SS
I decided to try out the Guild Guard this game, as I thought that being about to move around between scheme markers would be very helpful if I was going to be dropping them all over the place. I knew that his crew was going to be quite mobile (though I didn't realize just how mobile until the game actually started), so I figured that shooting would be a little less important compared to to mobility. Turns out I was very right to think this. Again I had lots of stones with which to protect my master from harm.
Marus' Pack
- Marcus with the Trail of the Gods, God's Domain, and Feral Instincts - 3 SS
- Myranda - 8 SS
- Sabertooth Cerberus with the Imbued Protection upgrade - 11 SS
- Silurid - 7 SS
- Waldgeist - 6 SS
- Night Terror - 3 SS
- Shikome - 8 SS
Total: 46 SS
Once again, my knowledge on my enemy's crew was quite lacking. I knew that they were mobile, had next to no shooting and that they'd work best using hit and run tactics. What I didn't know was just how mobile they were, and that they had some pretty tough beasties that I'd have to deal with.
The Game
We deployed using the Corner Deployment again with the same steam punk ruins in the center, a river flowing around it on my side, some forests on his side and a kind of sewer-type terrain piece directly adjacent to the ruins.
Todd deployed first, and deployed in and behind his large forest piece. Many of his guys have unimpeded, so being in terrain hardly matters for him. He deployed nice and centrally, ready to go in either direction, depending on what I did.
I deployed Second and I think I made a big mistake here. I put my Austringer up in the little tower, and put Lady Justice and two Death Marshals on one side of it, with the Judge, both Guild Guard and the last Death Marshal on the otherside. The gem markers were more or less lined up the minimum distance from the center line and spread across the line, so my intention was to send Justice and her marshals one way, and the other group the other way so that at least one group would be able to grab a bunch of the gems and get back over the line. In retrospect I should have clustered the gems up a bit more, and just rushed in with my whole crew.
Turn 1
We flipped for initiative and Todd goes first. He activated his Silurid, who uses leap to hop out of the forest, moves, and then drops a scheme marker. I activate my Austringer, who simply uses focus with both his actions to gain to focus counters. Mostly I just want him to play his hand. He next moves up his Waldgeist and and it Germinates. I activate one of LJs Death Marshals and double move him down the flank. His Sabertooth next activates, and he too leaps forwards, then moves then schemes. Its at this point that I find out just how mobile these guys are, being able to move a total of 17" a turn. My next Death Marshal double moves up to join his buddy, hopefully he can lend him some support if things start to get violent.
Todd activates his Shikome next and just double moves her up near the edge of the forest. I Double Move Lady Justice up behind her Death Marshals. Marcus activates next and double moves before dropping a scheme counter. I double move my remaining Marshal across the bridge onto his weaker flank. He responds by moving his Night Terror twice over to support the Silurid. I double move Judge up behind the Marshal, and then he double moves Myranda next to the Shikome. Finally I double move both my Guild Guard onto the bridge.
Turn 2
Todd again wins initiative and moves Marcus Forwards, places a scheme counter and then moves him back again. My Austringer uses a focus counter and sends his Raptor out to harass the Sabertooth. We flip and I get my trigger and decide to use distract him, causing him to burn 2 of his control hand. I try to hit him again, but he cheats in a higher result, and I decide that one damage probably isn't worth cheating one of my few good cards that I got in my hand. Next he moves his Waldgeist who also drops a scheme counter. I double move one of my Death Marshals forwards towards the gem counters.
His Sabertooth then Leaps away towards the other flank, moves, and then places a scheme marker. My Death Marshal on the other flank moves forwards and takes aim at the Slurid. Unfortunately, his shot goes wide. His Shikome then double moves over towards the Silurid, and gets close enough to chain activate his Silurid, who leaps behind the largest building, moves to get into a better spot, and places a scheme marker. My last Death Marshal then double moves forwards, hoping to get some of those gem counters next turn. Miranda then moves over towards the Silurid and Night Terror and chain activates the Night Terror who just shuffles around a bit. With him all tapped out, I double move Lady Justice, the Judge, and both the Guild guard forwards some more.
Turn 3
Marcus activates first and runs over and charges the Judge, luckily I manage to resist both Duals, so Judge takes no damage. He next chain activates his Shikome who attempts to Shriek at Judge, but he resists. She then charges, and manages to do 3 wounds. The Silurid then chain activates as well and loops around and hits Judge for 1 more wound. I then activate Judge and hit the Shikome and do a total of 3 damage. Unfortunately I don't get any of my triggers or anything. The Sabertooth then charges Judge and does another 2 wounds to him, leaving him with 2 left. I move my Death Marshal over to the gem counter on the far right flank and pick it up. Myranda then activates, moves around a bit, and re-activates the Sabertooth Cerberus who attacks, misses his first one, but then mauls the second, and gets another maul and kills the Judge.
The Night Terror then chain activates and moves in on my Death Marshal and deals 4 damage as well as blinding him. My Death Marshal activates and tries to pine box the Night Terror, but fails twice. Great. The Waldgeist then moves forwards and plants some trees in the middle of the ruins, just in front of the third gem marker. I respond by moving a Guardsman and dropping a scheme marker. I then get to activate my next Guild Guard and investigate the scheme laid by his fellow, then double move through the Waldgeist's forest.
I next activate my Austringer who gives the second Guild Guard an Order, and so the Guardsman moves into contact with the third Gem marker and picks it up. I activate my last Death Marshal, and he moves over near the ruins still in the river and places a scheme marker. Finaly, Ladry Justice moves, grabs herself a gem, and moves back. At this point, Todd's explosives go off, and net him 3 VPs. Unfortunate, but there's not too much I could have done about that. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture at the end of turn 3, and turn 4 was to be the last turn due to time constraints. I also was unable to get an end picture. Hopefully next time!
Turn 4
I win initiative for the second time in 8 turns, and double move my Guild Guard with the gem across the center line, effectively earning me 4 VPs for the scheme. He activates his Shikome who moves across the center line and places a counterfeit marker before trying to shriek at the Death Marshal, who resists her even in his blinded state. Lady Justice moves herself back over the line, places a schem marker and move on a little bit more, still within range of the marker though for the point. The Waldgeist gives chase to the Guild Guard and distracts him. My wounded Death Marshal disengages from the Night Terror and moves towards the counterfeit marker and drops a scheme. He activates his Night Terror, moves over to the Marshal, destroys his scheme marker and distracts him.
My Death Marshal with the gem double moves back over the center line. Marcus moves, drops a counterfeit marker, buffs the Silurid, and tries to turn the Death Marshal into a beast. He chain activates the Silurid, who moves over and kills my Death Marshal, who thanks to finish the job, drops a scheme marker. I activate my other Guild Guard, investigate the scheme marker dropped by the Death Marshal, then move and destroy the counterfeit marker dropped by Marcus. He activates Miranda, who moves over and distracts the other Guild Guard, and I activate my Austringer who Orders my Guardsman to move away and drop a scheme marker. His Sabertooth leaps over the line and drops another counterfeit marker, and then my remaining Death Marshal fires ineffectively at the Waldgeist.
As the dust settles we count up the points. I get 4 VPs for having 3 of the 4 gems in my posession, while he gets 2 for having 2 counterfeit markers on my table half. He gets 3 More VPs for his cunning placement of the explosives, and I get 3 for holding some much needed territory. I failed to kill the Sabercat, so I get nothing from that, and he had 2 distracted models at the end of the last turn giving him another 1 VP.
Total VPs
Guild - 7
Marcus - 6
Post Game Thoughts
Wow, that was a tough game! The mobility of Todd's crew really caught me of guard, and put me at a disadvantage for most of the game. I truly felt like things were out of my hands until the very last turn, and it was only thanks to the lowly Guild Guard that I won at all. Their investigate ability was a huge deal in the end turn of the game. In addition, if the game had gone on to another Turn, Todd would undoubtedly have won, as he would have been able to just drop a bunch of counterfeit counters and there would have been nothing I could have done about it.
I will say that the cards were in Todd's favour. Getting two maul triggers on his Sabertooth was really nasty, and while I managed to get a good control hand on turn 3 which allowed me to cheat alot of damage that would have been done, I still flipped quite low for most of my duals.
I really think I botched both my crew's deployment and the deployment of the gem markers. I should have clustered the gems up as much as possible, and done the same with my crew. This would have forced him to either concede the main Strategy to me, or come and fight me in a straight up fight, where with Lady Justice and the Judge, I quite liked my odds.
The more I play this game, the more I see the differences between it and 40k. We're all still learning, but I think with every game, I'm understanding the game more and more. As always leave comments and let me know what we could be doing better. Thanks for reading!
This game was a real test of my ability to adapt to circumstances that ended up being wildly out of my own control. My Lady Justice Guild crew against my friend Todd's Marcus Beast crew. Keep in mind as we're still new to the game, there are bound to be some mistakes in these games. Please feel free to comment and let us know what we've done wrong.
The Crews
I was again playing my Lady Justice crew, but this time against Todd's Marcus Arcanist/Neverborn/Ressurectionist crew. Once again it was a 45 point game. The Strategy for this game was Theft, with me being the attacker, and Todd trying to defend. My schemes were Murder Protege (undeclared) and Protect Territory (undeclared), and his were Distract and Plant Explosives (undeclared).
The Guild
- Lady Justice with the Thalarian Stone upgrade - 1 SS
- The Judge with the Vengeance Bullet upgrade - 10 SS
- 3 Death Marshals - 18 SS
- Guild Austringer - 6 SS
- 2 Guild Guard - 8 SS
Total: 43 SS
 |
| Guild Crew |
Marus' Pack
- Marcus with the Trail of the Gods, God's Domain, and Feral Instincts - 3 SS
- Myranda - 8 SS
- Sabertooth Cerberus with the Imbued Protection upgrade - 11 SS
- Silurid - 7 SS
- Waldgeist - 6 SS
- Night Terror - 3 SS
- Shikome - 8 SS
Total: 46 SS
Once again, my knowledge on my enemy's crew was quite lacking. I knew that they were mobile, had next to no shooting and that they'd work best using hit and run tactics. What I didn't know was just how mobile they were, and that they had some pretty tough beasties that I'd have to deal with.
The Game
We deployed using the Corner Deployment again with the same steam punk ruins in the center, a river flowing around it on my side, some forests on his side and a kind of sewer-type terrain piece directly adjacent to the ruins.
 |
| Game Board |
 | ||
| Beast Deployment |
 | ||
| Guild Deployment |
We flipped for initiative and Todd goes first. He activated his Silurid, who uses leap to hop out of the forest, moves, and then drops a scheme marker. I activate my Austringer, who simply uses focus with both his actions to gain to focus counters. Mostly I just want him to play his hand. He next moves up his Waldgeist and and it Germinates. I activate one of LJs Death Marshals and double move him down the flank. His Sabertooth next activates, and he too leaps forwards, then moves then schemes. Its at this point that I find out just how mobile these guys are, being able to move a total of 17" a turn. My next Death Marshal double moves up to join his buddy, hopefully he can lend him some support if things start to get violent.
Todd activates his Shikome next and just double moves her up near the edge of the forest. I Double Move Lady Justice up behind her Death Marshals. Marcus activates next and double moves before dropping a scheme counter. I double move my remaining Marshal across the bridge onto his weaker flank. He responds by moving his Night Terror twice over to support the Silurid. I double move Judge up behind the Marshal, and then he double moves Myranda next to the Shikome. Finally I double move both my Guild Guard onto the bridge.
 |
| End of Turn 1 |
Todd again wins initiative and moves Marcus Forwards, places a scheme counter and then moves him back again. My Austringer uses a focus counter and sends his Raptor out to harass the Sabertooth. We flip and I get my trigger and decide to use distract him, causing him to burn 2 of his control hand. I try to hit him again, but he cheats in a higher result, and I decide that one damage probably isn't worth cheating one of my few good cards that I got in my hand. Next he moves his Waldgeist who also drops a scheme counter. I double move one of my Death Marshals forwards towards the gem counters.
His Sabertooth then Leaps away towards the other flank, moves, and then places a scheme marker. My Death Marshal on the other flank moves forwards and takes aim at the Slurid. Unfortunately, his shot goes wide. His Shikome then double moves over towards the Silurid, and gets close enough to chain activate his Silurid, who leaps behind the largest building, moves to get into a better spot, and places a scheme marker. My last Death Marshal then double moves forwards, hoping to get some of those gem counters next turn. Miranda then moves over towards the Silurid and Night Terror and chain activates the Night Terror who just shuffles around a bit. With him all tapped out, I double move Lady Justice, the Judge, and both the Guild guard forwards some more.
 | ||
| End of Turn 2 |
 |
| From the Other Side |
Marcus activates first and runs over and charges the Judge, luckily I manage to resist both Duals, so Judge takes no damage. He next chain activates his Shikome who attempts to Shriek at Judge, but he resists. She then charges, and manages to do 3 wounds. The Silurid then chain activates as well and loops around and hits Judge for 1 more wound. I then activate Judge and hit the Shikome and do a total of 3 damage. Unfortunately I don't get any of my triggers or anything. The Sabertooth then charges Judge and does another 2 wounds to him, leaving him with 2 left. I move my Death Marshal over to the gem counter on the far right flank and pick it up. Myranda then activates, moves around a bit, and re-activates the Sabertooth Cerberus who attacks, misses his first one, but then mauls the second, and gets another maul and kills the Judge.
The Night Terror then chain activates and moves in on my Death Marshal and deals 4 damage as well as blinding him. My Death Marshal activates and tries to pine box the Night Terror, but fails twice. Great. The Waldgeist then moves forwards and plants some trees in the middle of the ruins, just in front of the third gem marker. I respond by moving a Guardsman and dropping a scheme marker. I then get to activate my next Guild Guard and investigate the scheme laid by his fellow, then double move through the Waldgeist's forest.
I next activate my Austringer who gives the second Guild Guard an Order, and so the Guardsman moves into contact with the third Gem marker and picks it up. I activate my last Death Marshal, and he moves over near the ruins still in the river and places a scheme marker. Finaly, Ladry Justice moves, grabs herself a gem, and moves back. At this point, Todd's explosives go off, and net him 3 VPs. Unfortunate, but there's not too much I could have done about that. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture at the end of turn 3, and turn 4 was to be the last turn due to time constraints. I also was unable to get an end picture. Hopefully next time!
Turn 4
I win initiative for the second time in 8 turns, and double move my Guild Guard with the gem across the center line, effectively earning me 4 VPs for the scheme. He activates his Shikome who moves across the center line and places a counterfeit marker before trying to shriek at the Death Marshal, who resists her even in his blinded state. Lady Justice moves herself back over the line, places a schem marker and move on a little bit more, still within range of the marker though for the point. The Waldgeist gives chase to the Guild Guard and distracts him. My wounded Death Marshal disengages from the Night Terror and moves towards the counterfeit marker and drops a scheme. He activates his Night Terror, moves over to the Marshal, destroys his scheme marker and distracts him.
My Death Marshal with the gem double moves back over the center line. Marcus moves, drops a counterfeit marker, buffs the Silurid, and tries to turn the Death Marshal into a beast. He chain activates the Silurid, who moves over and kills my Death Marshal, who thanks to finish the job, drops a scheme marker. I activate my other Guild Guard, investigate the scheme marker dropped by the Death Marshal, then move and destroy the counterfeit marker dropped by Marcus. He activates Miranda, who moves over and distracts the other Guild Guard, and I activate my Austringer who Orders my Guardsman to move away and drop a scheme marker. His Sabertooth leaps over the line and drops another counterfeit marker, and then my remaining Death Marshal fires ineffectively at the Waldgeist.
As the dust settles we count up the points. I get 4 VPs for having 3 of the 4 gems in my posession, while he gets 2 for having 2 counterfeit markers on my table half. He gets 3 More VPs for his cunning placement of the explosives, and I get 3 for holding some much needed territory. I failed to kill the Sabercat, so I get nothing from that, and he had 2 distracted models at the end of the last turn giving him another 1 VP.
Total VPs
Guild - 7
Marcus - 6
Post Game Thoughts
Wow, that was a tough game! The mobility of Todd's crew really caught me of guard, and put me at a disadvantage for most of the game. I truly felt like things were out of my hands until the very last turn, and it was only thanks to the lowly Guild Guard that I won at all. Their investigate ability was a huge deal in the end turn of the game. In addition, if the game had gone on to another Turn, Todd would undoubtedly have won, as he would have been able to just drop a bunch of counterfeit counters and there would have been nothing I could have done about it.
I will say that the cards were in Todd's favour. Getting two maul triggers on his Sabertooth was really nasty, and while I managed to get a good control hand on turn 3 which allowed me to cheat alot of damage that would have been done, I still flipped quite low for most of my duals.
I really think I botched both my crew's deployment and the deployment of the gem markers. I should have clustered the gems up as much as possible, and done the same with my crew. This would have forced him to either concede the main Strategy to me, or come and fight me in a straight up fight, where with Lady Justice and the Judge, I quite liked my odds.
The more I play this game, the more I see the differences between it and 40k. We're all still learning, but I think with every game, I'm understanding the game more and more. As always leave comments and let me know what we could be doing better. Thanks for reading!
Thursday, 31 October 2013
Mobility for Chaos Space Marines
Hey everyone. Lately I've really been thinking of ways to get some mobility for the troops in my Chaos Space Marine army. Mobility for us can be a real problem as we have no way of making our bikes, or jump infantry troops, unlike our loyalist brethren. This makes claiming backfield objectives much harder, as you get to try and trek up the board, getting lit up by enemy fire the whole way. By the time you get there (if you even do), you're unlikely to have much left push a unit off the objective, or hold it against even a stiff breeze that decides it wants you gone. So, what do we have for options?
Well we have the old reliable Rhino. A super cheap troop carrier designed to get your guys where they need to go in a hurry, and offer them a measure of safety in the meantime. This is the theory anyways, and it worked great in 5th edition. However, since the change to 6th has come along, our Rhinos have become, more often than not, nothing more than an easy kill for first blood for our opponents. One option is to keep all your troops that are in Rhinos in reserve, and come in turn two (hopefully) after first blood is already off the table. The only problem here is reliability. If you can't get your reserves to work for you, your Rhinos may not come in until turn 3 or 4, and by then it's going to be hard to get to where you need to go in time anyways, so now all those points for the squads are wasted.
Another option, and to me a better one, is to make sure that you try and play with some LoS blocking terrain, and as much cover as you can. Your opponent can't kill what they can't see, and even if you have to deploy in view, a ruin can do wonders for your first turn survivability. Add in a 50% chance for night fighting, and you've got a decent chance of at least surviving the first turn intact, allowing you to boost up and get moving.
The third option that I've been toying with is more one of target saturation. Try and put as many scary units on the table as possible. Things you're opponent will both have to deal with immediately and that also won't die like a chump. Daemon Princes are great for this, and thinks like Las Predators can usually soak a lot of fire while being a major threat to MCs, elite infantry, and of course vehicles. Defilers are hit and miss in this role. The battlecannon can be a threat to certain armies, but armour 12 isn't anything to write home about.
Our next option for mobility is quite expensive, but more often than not will get the job done. Landraiders. These guys are usually too pricy for my tastes, but with the way my meta has been lately, the idea of loading them up with some troops and just cruising forwards has become more and more appealing to me lately. My main issues with them come from their lack of firing points, and our strange absence of any varient patterns whatsoever. What gives? Has the Dark Mechanicum never made some weird Daemon Landraider? Have we never stolen ourselves a Crusader? Oh well, I suppose that's just how it is.
So what should we take in our Raiders or Rhinos?
Khorne Berzerkers in raiders have served me well, particularly if you put 'em with Kharn, or a beatstick Lord. You can sort of point them at whatever you want to get hurt and let them loose, and usually they'll get the job done quick. They're real problem is that once you cleared an objective, they're not so great at holding it. The enemy can just sit there and shoot them down while they sit there and rage impotently, firing their measly pistols in frustration.
Plague Marines seem like the best choice, as they'll beat up basically any other troop unit in the game, given time, and maybe a bit of luck. Their main problem is their price, which when you put in some special weapons, and a full squad, and add that to a Landraider, is going to be very expensive. Still, I think they're your best option.
Noise Marines, I don't think would perform well in this role. They would have to get quite close in order to fire their guns effectively, and they're nothing special in assault. Their main advantage is once they get on an objective they can sit there and fire away with Blastmasters and any other sonic weapons you may have brought to the party, and if you give them the Icon of Excess, they can be pretty tough too. Still, I think keeping them back to defend your own objectives is a better role.
Thousand Sons are similar to Noise Marines in that they're a more shooty unit more suited to sit in the back or midfield and blast away. I can see potential cruising around into a good position and then bailing out to pump some AP 3 into some marines who thought they would be safe behind cover, but it seems pretty circumstantial to me.
And finally we get to the lowly Chaos Space Marines. I've been having a hard time making these guys work effectively in smaller 5 - 10 man units. They're just too easy to kill. Even with the Mark of Nurgle or an Icon of Excess I find that they don't have the damage output to really do enough damage to whatever they were shooting to put it down, or at least cripple it enough that it can't hurt you. Maybe taking a whole bunch of squads of them and swarming opponents could work, but it seems like a whole lot of investment, and it heavily hinges on your opponent positioning his units in a way to make this possible. Mark of Khorne and with the Icon of Rage in a Landraider seems to work ok, but at that point you may as well just take Berzerkers for the extra WS. I don't know. Just not sold on them yet.
Overall, I think I like the idea of Landraiders a bit better, especially because people aren't seeming to bring as much melta these days. What do you guys think?
Well we have the old reliable Rhino. A super cheap troop carrier designed to get your guys where they need to go in a hurry, and offer them a measure of safety in the meantime. This is the theory anyways, and it worked great in 5th edition. However, since the change to 6th has come along, our Rhinos have become, more often than not, nothing more than an easy kill for first blood for our opponents. One option is to keep all your troops that are in Rhinos in reserve, and come in turn two (hopefully) after first blood is already off the table. The only problem here is reliability. If you can't get your reserves to work for you, your Rhinos may not come in until turn 3 or 4, and by then it's going to be hard to get to where you need to go in time anyways, so now all those points for the squads are wasted.
Another option, and to me a better one, is to make sure that you try and play with some LoS blocking terrain, and as much cover as you can. Your opponent can't kill what they can't see, and even if you have to deploy in view, a ruin can do wonders for your first turn survivability. Add in a 50% chance for night fighting, and you've got a decent chance of at least surviving the first turn intact, allowing you to boost up and get moving.
The third option that I've been toying with is more one of target saturation. Try and put as many scary units on the table as possible. Things you're opponent will both have to deal with immediately and that also won't die like a chump. Daemon Princes are great for this, and thinks like Las Predators can usually soak a lot of fire while being a major threat to MCs, elite infantry, and of course vehicles. Defilers are hit and miss in this role. The battlecannon can be a threat to certain armies, but armour 12 isn't anything to write home about.
Our next option for mobility is quite expensive, but more often than not will get the job done. Landraiders. These guys are usually too pricy for my tastes, but with the way my meta has been lately, the idea of loading them up with some troops and just cruising forwards has become more and more appealing to me lately. My main issues with them come from their lack of firing points, and our strange absence of any varient patterns whatsoever. What gives? Has the Dark Mechanicum never made some weird Daemon Landraider? Have we never stolen ourselves a Crusader? Oh well, I suppose that's just how it is.
So what should we take in our Raiders or Rhinos?
Khorne Berzerkers in raiders have served me well, particularly if you put 'em with Kharn, or a beatstick Lord. You can sort of point them at whatever you want to get hurt and let them loose, and usually they'll get the job done quick. They're real problem is that once you cleared an objective, they're not so great at holding it. The enemy can just sit there and shoot them down while they sit there and rage impotently, firing their measly pistols in frustration.
Plague Marines seem like the best choice, as they'll beat up basically any other troop unit in the game, given time, and maybe a bit of luck. Their main problem is their price, which when you put in some special weapons, and a full squad, and add that to a Landraider, is going to be very expensive. Still, I think they're your best option.
Noise Marines, I don't think would perform well in this role. They would have to get quite close in order to fire their guns effectively, and they're nothing special in assault. Their main advantage is once they get on an objective they can sit there and fire away with Blastmasters and any other sonic weapons you may have brought to the party, and if you give them the Icon of Excess, they can be pretty tough too. Still, I think keeping them back to defend your own objectives is a better role.
Thousand Sons are similar to Noise Marines in that they're a more shooty unit more suited to sit in the back or midfield and blast away. I can see potential cruising around into a good position and then bailing out to pump some AP 3 into some marines who thought they would be safe behind cover, but it seems pretty circumstantial to me.
And finally we get to the lowly Chaos Space Marines. I've been having a hard time making these guys work effectively in smaller 5 - 10 man units. They're just too easy to kill. Even with the Mark of Nurgle or an Icon of Excess I find that they don't have the damage output to really do enough damage to whatever they were shooting to put it down, or at least cripple it enough that it can't hurt you. Maybe taking a whole bunch of squads of them and swarming opponents could work, but it seems like a whole lot of investment, and it heavily hinges on your opponent positioning his units in a way to make this possible. Mark of Khorne and with the Icon of Rage in a Landraider seems to work ok, but at that point you may as well just take Berzerkers for the extra WS. I don't know. Just not sold on them yet.
Overall, I think I like the idea of Landraiders a bit better, especially because people aren't seeming to bring as much melta these days. What do you guys think?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)