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!

1500pts battle report - Caledonian Highlander 5 - Tyranids v Tau

Peter Lennon was my final opponent of the tournament, also with Tau but a slightly unique list with only 1 Riptide, it's almost as if he thought a Highlander event was about bringing just one of a particular type. That said he also had 2 Remora, 2 Tetra, 2 XV9 Battlesuits some Kroot and Farsight with his gang.

Psychic Powers Winged Tyrant HQ Tervigon CC TR Broodlord Onslaught Dominion Dominion The Horror Psychic Scream The Horror Dominion

The low down:

• Eternal War missions
• Maelstrom missions
• Hammer and Anvil
• I think I won deployment but asked Pete to deploy first and failed to seize on a 1!
• Warlord Trait -Warlord and 3 units get infiltrate
• Not sure about night fighting. 

Unfortunately I lost the most important dice role of the game - getting to deploy Infiltrators first. Peter positioned those Stealth suits the other side of the Factory ruins effectively blocking off my options to capitalise on my 5 Infiltrators. The best I could do was bunch up on the flank  halfway up the board and my Genestealers just 3" out of my DZ.

Peter had the advantage of the high ground and cover.

Peter lines up the Malenthrope with marker lights and he suffers 3 wounds before he's even moved. Luckily everything else was left unmolested.

With the weight of fire from all the Devourers the Riptide just couldn't last and was readily dispatched. This may have been First Blood and probably a Maelstrom Card too, things were looking good with the major threat out of the picture.

Kroot came on at the back of my DZ

The Remoras zoomed on, dodging through the ruins...

their targeting systems locking onto the Flyrant...

...putting 3 wounds on the conduit to the Hive Mind, despite jinking.

 
Farsight and his gang appeared behind my advance force.

They would not suffer the Tyrannofex to live and executed him with precision, the Malenthrope was also destroyed.

The Flyrant swooped across to take cover behind the rocks.

I actually think he may have died from a Perils, I think that's the Perils result of a two, which is a wound with no saves. Stupid winged flappy thing!

Meanwhile the Genestealers had only just made it into the Factory - lazy gets! But I think they did secure objective 6 for me.

Which did them no favours as they were cut to ribbons by the XV9s and Stealth Suits.

With no airborne targets left the Remoras focused their attention on the Hormagaunts holding objective 5.

They thinned their numbers but Farsight was nearby to mop anything else up.

The Carnifex came under fire from the Battle Suits on the building but their armour was ridiculously ineffective against the Tau weaponry.

That wasn't the end of their woes and the remaining Carnifex took another two wounds.

Farsight, rebel that he is assaulted the Hormagaunts.

They got wiped out with the Termagants next on his list.

The gaunts swarmed together, putting two wounds on his retinue.

The battlesuits systematically dispatched gaunt after gaunt

But the weight of number brought two of the suits down leaving Farsight and one bodyguard.

The XV9s faced down 8 spawned gaunts but however hard they tried they could not eliminate the last one as it skulked int e shadows.

The last Carnifex headed towards the Tau line unawares the last Remora had targeted it from behind.

The Carnifex was brought down and suddenly my entire flank had crumbled, so much for that good start!

The Tyrannocyte arrived deep in the heart of Tau territory, it's cargo of Rippers stealing the objective out from under the Battle Suits but it's Deathspitters limited in effectiveness against the Tau armour.

Meanwhile back in my DZ the Kroot had moved to snatch objective 2 away from my Tervigon. It was repeatedly casting dominion to keep the still engaged Termagants from bolting from Farsight.

With only one bodyguard left the suits could fight in close harmony using Farsights enhance Weapon Skill to hamper my ability to hit. He still took wounds but the brood was thinning each round of combat.

Eventually the Kroot contested objective 2, turn 5 came and the game ended. I think another 20-0 defeat after differentials [I socred points in the game but when you look at the difference Pete gets 20 points and I got zero for game score]. I thought I had a chance of the wooden spoon but Sandy must have had another bad game as he went away with the rather impressive trophy, £15 voucher and jar of lollipops.

With time left on the board, I know, me not going to full time! We played out the Farsight combat I was curious to find out if the Gaunts could prevail. Sadly they didn't, with Farsight cutting them all down - amazing, Tau succeeding in assault. I'm sure the Tervigon would have Miasmic Spit the Kroot off objective 2 and joined the fray at some point. But overall it was amazing to witness the nids just crumble so quickly with the loss of the Flyrant.

Another great event attended and five excellent games with genuinely pleasant individuals. The perception beforehand was the Caledonian events breed a more competitive atmosphere and although the Highlander format attempts to make it less WAAC there were clearly some very competitive builds. Of course I spent most of the tournament down on the bottom tables were just getting a win was challenging all round. I have to say not having any aspirations of progress it's so much more relaxed and enjoyable. I always play my best but if my best isn't good enough then I'll have a darn good time losing! I think this marks a new dawn in my appreciation of the social aspect above and beyond the competitive side, as evidenced by the selfies. I know it's a bit cheesy regardless of the results it's the people that count and the shared experiences, here's to the next event!