1500pts battle report - Dark Angels v Necrons - game 3

Who do I get drawn against for game 3? Only Ben and his implacable Necrons! It's over a week since Birthday Bash, I'm still playing catch-up so as usual my recollection of the game will be very sketchy.

The low down:

• One of the Maelstrom missions - 3 cards per turn
• Hammer and Anvil
• Warlord Trait - 3 enemy Units take pinning tests
• I set up second and failed to seize the initiative
• No night fighting. 

Ben puts his Necron defence wall across the road, presumably to stop foreign invaders!

The Ravenwing hold my near flank, Tactical Squad the far flank.

Scouts secure the ruins

Stalker, Scarabs and Spyder advance up the table. Don't know what Bend did shooting wise but he came away with 2 VPs for Ascendancy and Supremacy.

Dreadnought drop pod arrives behind the defence wall, the Dread taking a shot at the Quad Gun to help keep the Dark Talons safe [eventually]. I swing the Land Speeder Typhoons round the Bastion to get a lock on the Triarch, they blast away.

And it is no more! First Blood.

This might be the reason why! [that's 1/1296 BTW, I should have put a £1 on it]

My bikes get into combat with the Tomb Blades, or what remains of them thanks to my shooting.

He couldn't survive those odds but the bikes don't consolidate far and the enraged Spyder close by seeks revenge. First Blood, Objective 3 and Behind Enemy Lines get scored this turn.

The Scarabs manage to reach the Bastion and disassemble it with consummate ease before my Techmarine can even affect any repairs. This nets Ben a VP for Demolitions and leaves me just 3 surviving Devastators.

2nd Pod arrives, and I think the Dreadnought targets the Quad Gun again.

Just two bikes remain from the unit thanks to the predations of the Canoptek Spyders! I score no VPs

Flayed Ones that had infiltrated at the back of my DZ finally catch up with the Tactical Squad, killing them and leaving that flank with just a few Marines left from another combat squad. Ben captures Objective 6 for a VP.

The Land Speeders manage to insta-kill a few Scarabs but move out of range to leave the Techmarine to hold them in combat.

The Ravenwing must have been killed but their last known location is a beacon to the Dark Angel's finest who appear in a flash of light.

Tactical Squad and Dreadnought assault the Necron Warriors, two survive, I still can't score a VP.

Flayed Ones join up with the Scarabs against the Techmarine who his systematically smashing the Scarabs to pieces.

But he can't hold back their numbers and succumbs giving Ben Assassinate [and Slay the Warlord].

The Scarabs catch up with the Speeders and I'm lucky to come away with only 1 Hull Point of damage.

My Drop Pod gets destroyed,

 and the Spyders take on the finest of the First!

Two fall... er I mean not fall, we don't mention the Fallen, they die, that's it, dead, no more. But the remaining unfallen take out a Spyder and the last is wounded. Ben scores another VP for Obj 4.

Finally the Dark Talon arrives, screaming up Main Street.

He blasts away with all his weapons.

Killing one measly Eternal! Grr!. The Deathwing kill the last Scarab getting me Big Game Hunter and I also get Blood and Guts for 2 VPs

That's it, game over and it's 10:8 [Ben scoring 8 plus Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker, while I scored 6 plus First Blood and Line Breaker].

Necrons triumphant yet again but no bother, we had a great day and a good laugh. We were both exhausted at the end, made me realise I do not look forward to another weekend tournament if I feel like this after one day! Three great game with three great people.

I have some pics of the best army nominees to share and wrap up next...

1500pts battle report - Dark Angels v Space Marines - game 2

Doogie Doyle was my game 2.

The low down:

• One of the Maelstrom missions - 3 cards per turn
• Dawn of War
• Warlord Trait - Move through cover and Stealth Ruins
• I set up second and seized the initiative
• No night fighting. 

His list had some similarities to mine, think it was an Imperial Fists faction with bikes, two units of scouts, two Whirlwinds, three Rapier Quad Guns, a Thnderfire Cannon and a bunch of bikes including a Chapter Master with all manner of upgrades and bonuses

This was my set up and I was lucky enought to steal the initiative.

This meant I got my drop-pod in and Brother Cask managed to destroy the missile launcher on one of the Whirlwinds. My Ravenwing managed to kill one of the bikers but the unit had all sorts of saves and re-rolls thanks to the Chapter Master it was nigh indestructable. Knowing how durable the Rapier Battery was and even the scouts I suddenly realised the task I had ahead of me. 

Doogie focussed on the Ravewing in his turn. Not sure how many got killed but they don;t appear in any other pictures so they may have succombed at some point, if not this turn maybe later. Doogie scores a VP for holding Objective 1.

Turn 2 the Dark Talon arrived and VORTEX!

Gotta love D weapons as Doogie's bike squad gets sucked into the warp. Meanwhile my Drop Pod Tactical squad fired ont he Rapier Battery, to little effect. Doogie actually suggested I put the drop pod there to hamper his own shooting, so again the spirit of the event prevailed.

Brother Cask Melta'd the nearest Whirlwind to slag and then vaulted over it's smouldering wreckage with a 12" charge to go punch it's squadron buddy, wrecking that too [First Blood?]! BEAST!

Doogie's turn 2 and the Vortex is drawn to the Dreadnought, stripping a hull point off his sarcophagus. He picks up 2 VPs this turn - making it 3:1 in his favour.

My turn 3. Having targeted ground troops with the Quad Gun I remember skimmers are shot at full BS and there's one sneaking up my flank - not for long!

His bikes followed up but with little weaponry strong enough to harm the Bastion they aimed at the Devastators instead.

They'd lost two already but they couldn't survive the relentless attack. Doogie scores another 2 VPs for objectives 5 and 1 [because of the mission he could steal my objective card!]

I remembered the Deathwing this time, they mishap though and end up in the corner of the board - idiots!

What remained of my Plasma Cannon Tactical Squad entered the bastion with the Techmarine to take control of the building. I manage to score objective 5 for a VP.

What remains of the Chapter Masters bike squad ends my drop Pod and my Tactical Squad is killed too.

The final score is 4:7 to Doogie. I must work out how to tackle those artillery batteries, they were super tough and durable. The Chapter Master too was nigh unkillable with so many saves and bonuses, He's someone you want in your army!

So, one win, one loss, who have I got for game 3...?

1500pts battle report - Dark Angels v Dark Angels - game 1

First game and I'm drawn against Hendrik from Germany. We've met at previous Blog Wars [where I played against his friend Tobias] and Double Trouble [where I faced his brother Kai-Uwe]. This was such a nice pairing as I'd really appreciated Hendrik's support of the event and travelling all the way. Of course given recent GW news we entered into some good natured banter about who was the loyalist Dark Angels and who were obviously more loyalist ;) He had a slight advantage bringing Azrael, he is their Chapter Master afterall, but I pointed out he could just as easily have been Cyper or an Alpha Legion guy in disguise. He did also bring a Deredeo dreadnought with Missile Launcher, a Land Raider Helios, two Razorbacks with tactical Squads, Azreal and Command Squad retinue in a pod and a Nephilim Jetfigther. So my air superiority was well and truly lost!

The low down:

• One of the Maelstrom missions - 3 cards per turn
• Vanguard Strike
• Warlord Trait - Warlord and 3 Units get Infiltrate
• Liam got a Maelstrom Warlord Trait that allowed him to discard even the numbered objectives
• I set up second and failed to seize the initiative
• No night fighting. 

The best thing about this game was that Hendrik, from the off, was not treating it like a competition. PeteB had said a number of times it should be like a Tuesday night round at your mates and this what it was. I think Hendrik realised his force was a little unconventional and I was inexperienced with the Dark Angels [which probably means they were too young for them to be Heretics ;) So he was giving me advice about deployment and tactics. With my extra infiltrating units I deployed quite far forwards.

Hendrik's line was centred on the Helios with the Deredeo holding the 'high' ground and flanked by Razorbacks.

His drop pod arrived to secure objective 4 [I think]

With Azrael and his honour gouard inside.

Although my Ravenwing were the most dangerous threat Azrael targetted the Tactical Squad. I lost either 2 or 3 and the broke and ran towards the perceived safety of my Bastion.

The Bikes would be next on Azrael's list to hunt, but in the mean time had to jink to avoid shots from other quarters.

On the other flank the Razorback advanced, disgorging troops btu they failed to get through the bolstered defences of the science station. Hendrik scored the maximum 2 VPs for the turn on objectives.

My turn and the Ravenwing skirted round the rock outcrop, they focussed on the Tactical squad, just five guys and so close to the board it could be an easy kill. Unfortunately Jink makes my shooting go awry and the unit survives.

My automatic drop pod turned up, sending Brother Cask forth to melta the Helios. Again Hendrik advised me on where to drop the pod, providing an obstruction to the Helios's shooting/movement.

My Land Speeder Typhoons, Basiton, Devastators and regrouped Tactical squad shot at Azrael and his guard.

As the dust settled only Azrael and one marine was left standing.

Having killed the attached Librarian I take Witch Hunter and Overwhelming Firepower for 2 VPs, [First Blood too for that matter].

Hephilim arrives but cannot kill Cask. I think it took a Hull Point from my Quad Gun.

Azrael wreaks vengeance - Dark Vengeance on the Ravenwing.

Slaying them all!

My turn 2 and the Dark Talon zooms on. Out of the firing arc of the Deredeo's cannons I boldly refuse to Jink from it's missiles and survive.

In return fire up the Rift Cannon and BOOM!

Vortex! Sadly I only do 1 damage to the Dread.

I end the turn on another 2 VPs

The Nephilim enters into a dogfight with the Dark Talon, I think I was forced to Jink this time. Even so I think I was shaken.

One fo the Razorback's picks up it's squad and advances onto the landing pad.

My turn 2 and the second pod arrives, disgorging troops to try and secure Obj 2.

The shakend Dark Talon continued on it's merry way, just staying on the board.

Typhoons redployed to target the Razorback on my right flank but could not destroy it. The Scouts had broken in the previous turn but regrouped without any target to shoot at.

1 VP for Obj 2.

Nephilim goes for the Scouts, but they're just too hidden to fall, which cannot be said about the Dereadnought's pod. Not sure when Brother Cask fell but looks like he will need to be interred again if we caan recover his remains.

Tactical squad charge what remains in the bunker and my Techmarine charges the Deredeo. Hendrik's force is reduced to one and my Techmarine is stomped by the Deredeo. Thinking about it should I have got my 2+ save? Is a dreadnought only AP2 when it has a Dreadnought Close Combat weapon? Anyway, as my Warlord fell I did suddenly think didn't I have something else with a 2+ save? And my eyes dropped to see the Deathwing Command Squad I'd not rolled to bring on all game! You have to laugh - Hendrik and I did...

I do however make 2 VPs for Behind Enemy Lines and the scouts holding Obj3

Next turn and this is the only picture I took - scoring a VP, either for the Nephilim or a Razorback, not sure which. I know the Terminators did come on, perhaps they shot the Razorback in the back?

This was the final score, although with First Blood and Linebreaker I should have been on 10 and Hendrik should have +1 for Slay the Warlord.

There wasn't much left of my army. My notorious Bastion had survived a game, booking the trend but a lot had died and yet somehow I'd won - good cards I guess. It was the super-relaxed attitude from Hendrik that made the game for me though, I almost felt he'd been robbed of the victory, he definitely did not deserve to lose.

That also means, I believe this is the first time I've ever won game 1 of a tournament! Anyway, what matter is it was a good game and we invited Hendrik to the local curry house that night rather than leave him on his own. Birthday Bash really did it's job well!