Bowling Ball Wrecks the Split

1750 Points, Hammer and Anvil Deployment, Big Guns Never Tire

OPFOR
127th Regiment (Traitor Guard), Company XXX
Company Command Squad - Officer, Officer of the Fleet, 3 Plasma Guns, Chimera
Veteran Squad 127-XXX-1-A - 10 veterans, 3 MGs, Chimera
Veteran Squad 127-XXX-1-B - 10 veterans, Autocannon
Veteran Squad 127-XXX-1-C - 10 Veterans, Autocannon
Veteran squad 127-XXX-1-E - 5 veterans, 3 flamers
Heavy support squad 127-XXX - 6 guardsmen, 3 lascannons
Devil Dog
Lehman Russ Exterminator, Plasma Destructor Cannon, Lascannon, MM Sponsons
Basilisk
Manticore
Vendetta
Aegis Defense Line w/ Quad Gun

Allies - Imperial Fists (E-Book Expansion Version)
Librarian (level 2, w/ Upgrade to 3 force points), Terrify, Dominate
5 Space marines, MG, CMG, Drop Pod

Third Company
Librarian Tigurius (Prescience, 4++ save, Misfortune)
1st Squad - 10 tactical marines, plasma gun, combiplasma, Missile launcher, Rhino
2nd Squad - 10 tactical marines, plasma gun, combiplasma, missile launcher, rhino
3rd Squad - 5 tactical marines, flamer, las-plas razorback
9th Squad - 5 devastators, 5 missile launchers, flakk missiles
Venerable Dreadnaught, heavy flamer, plasma cannon, DCCW
Landspeeder Squad 7 (2 landspeeder typhoons)
Stalker AA Tank
Stormtalon with Skyhammer missiles, TLAC

1st Company Support:
4th Squad - 10 Sternguard, 2 meltaguns, 4 combimeltas, Lclaw, drop pod

TERRAIN ASSESSMENT AND PRE-GAME PREPARATIONS
I was able to select the terrain, and based on some internet comments, selected enough city-themed terrain ro fill a 2x3 area, of which there were several LOS blocking buildings, ruins, and such, to which my opponent added a few craters. While I unpacked my army from their Battlefoam bag, my opponent placed the terrain. He used sort of a regular pattern to the terrain, ultimately the LOS blocking buildings were placed near table corners, and it was more ruins and open space or craters towards the table center.

We rolled for deployment and mission. Hammer and anvil (long ways), and then big guns bever tire...OK....look above...My opponent has artillery that can punch my units anywhere on the board. Just awesome.

We rolled for night fighting and it would be night on the first turn. Good for me!

We rolled to determine deployment zones - I won and selected for him the deployment zone with the slightly weaker cover.

We rolled for objectives (5). I placed one in the center and 2 in my deployment zone (one adjacent to a LOS blocking building, one in a ruin). My opponent did similar - one in a ruin, and one adjacent to a building. He placed his Aegis across the front of his deployment zone.

We then rolled for psychic powers (see above), and his warlord trait (reroll reserves). We then rolled for deployment (he was to deploy first).

My opponent, as all traitors should, deployed in a arch with the open end of the arch at his back edge. The Quad gun was deployed in the apex of the arch facing my lines, and the two heavy artillery pieces were placed to anchor the arch, about 20 inches apart at his board edge. He placed his Devil Dog, Lehman Russ, and Mechanized veteran squad on the upper right of the arch, intending that this would be the flank he advances from, while using the remaining core of his force to hold his two objectives (even his artillery could claim objectives in the big guns scenario). His command squad remained in their Chimera near the apex of the arch, where it could give orders to the surrounding veteran squads. His allies remained in the drop pod for a turn 1 assault, as did the smaller vet squad in the Vendetta. I'm glad it was dark because I could be slaughtered here.

I had the Stormtalon in reserves and the drop pod / sternguard squad to remain off-board for their first turn drop. I deployed the Devastators plus Tigurius in the ruins, which were located more than 48 inches from his artillery. Then I placed the Stalker behind them, at the table edge. The razorback squad was placed in the upper left at a location more than 36 inches from the quad gun, Squad 1 was placed in the lower left, forward in their rhino at a location where I could get a cover save. Squad 2 was placed in their rhino at a location near an objective, but more than a large blast templat distance from the devastators. The Venerable was placed behind the Squad 2 Rhino. All of my squads (including sternguard) of 10 were declared to be combat squadding. In the front, the only things in range (36 inches due to darkness) of my missile launchers or lascannon is the Devil Dog, a Chimera, Command Chimera, and some of the veteran dismounts behind the Aegis defense line.

  Overall, it was dark, the dawn before the battle, and I felt pretty OK with the deployment. I would not see a Turn 1 bombardment, and felt I could get away from the turn with little damage.

TURN 1
I SIEZED THE INITIATIVE.

Well, that was unexpected. My opponent is not pleased. I decided not to use any Ultramarine Traits this turn. Tigurius casts up his 4++ save and Prescience on the Devastator Squad. The drop pod is called down and it drops right in the open space of the deployment arch, deviating just 3 inches back towards his table edge. Out jumps the two 5-man combat squads. Like a bowling ball placed perfectly to deal with a nasty split, I go after his two (lynch)pins - the Manticore and basilisk. My other movement is restricted to moving Squads 1 and 2 forward a bit, and the venerable stays behind the Squad 2 Rhino for Cover. The lansdpeeders zoom forward 12 inches, to a location shadowed between them and the quad gun by a small building.

In shooting, the Sternguard Combat Squads explode the Manticore and Explode the Basilisk - the bowling ball works! In addition, the Devil Dog is exploded by the Typhoons. The IG Heavy Support Squad is forced to go-to-ground by other missile fire (losing only a wound). Well, what goes around, comes around.

My opponent has a bowling ball of his own. The yellow painted drop pod screams down through the atmosphere, landing in the triangle formed by my dreadnaught, stalker, and devastator squad. The yellow marines and librarian get out of the pod, at a location with side shots on mt Stalker, but giving the marines cover from my Devastators. The mech vet squad zooms forward in their Chimera towards my lines. His Lehman Russ turns around and heads back towards my Sternguard, and other units look to improve their fire lanes on them as well.

  The enemy marines light up my stalker with a glancing hit and a pen (stunning it). The Company commander then gives out orders to his nearby veteran squads to get back in the fight (heavy squad), and fire on my target (both vet squads). The heavy squad lascannons line up on my Squad 2 Rhino and explode it; no marines are injured or pinned. The sternguard then become the object of everything else, and when done, the sternguard are vanquished, but the drop pod remains.

Points: Marines = +/-7; OPFOR = +/-6

TURN 2
I roll and reroll for reserves and the Stormtalon remains off board (probably a good thing actually). I mover forward with Squad 1's rhino to get in position to fire on the advanced Chimera. The venerable moves to line up its plasma cannon on the nearby yellow marines.

In shooting, I get some of the enemy units to go to ground again behind the Aegis line, and the plasma cannon nets me 4 yellow marines. In the center, I shoot at the Chimera and get nothing for the effort. Shooting a the Lehman Russ also gets me nowhere.

  My opponent gets his reserves in the form of his Vendetta, which zooms forward the full distance, and the vets deploy accurately by grav-chute. He also begins to move forward with the Lehman Russ.

In shooting, the Russ tries to take down my landspeeders, but misses and jinx saves keep my speeders intact. The yellow librarian and the last of the yellow tac marines moves forward to shoot at Tigurius and the devs, but there is no damage. The advancing Chimera shoots at Squad 2's combat units, causing a few casualties. The Vendetta explodes the Stalker.

Points: Marines = +/-6; Opfor = +/-7

TURN 3
I roll for reserves and the Stormtalon remains off-board. Tigurius casts all three spells, but the misfortune on the yellow marines is dispelled (denied). I decide to use the tactical trait for the turn. On the upper left, Squad 3 moves forward but stays in the transport. Squad 1 moves forward to get side shots on the forward Chimera. The Landspeeders move backward to stay in a building shadow and be able to launch more rockets at the Lehman Russ. The Venerable moves toward the Yellow Librarian.

 In shooting, the razorback kills 2 grav chute vets, and they break, run ning towards the Lehman Russ. The Venerable flames the yellow marines, and prepares to assault the surviving yellow Librarian. The Chimera is exploded, causing a few caulaties, but the vets are unpinned and not broken (because it took plama guns to do it, Squad 2 cannot assault). The Dev squad shoots at the Vendetta, gets 4 hits, but S7 flakk Missiles just remove a hull point. Then the Squad 2 ML fires, rolls a 6 to hit, 6 to pen, 6 to explode...flaming wreckage misses the fleeing vet squad beneath. In assault, the yellow libraian is crushed by the Venerable dread.

The OPFOR is on the ropes, and clearly wants to get more damage in. The Lehman Russ moves forward a bit and tries to take out the Devs, and I lose 2 to plasma. Squad 1's Rhino is then exploded, and the two combat squads are in the crater; one half is pinned. The half closest to his vets now comes under fire, and is taken down to a single marine. He moves to assault the single marine (sergeant), and gets the charge in, the marine rallies from being pinned and kills one guardsmen, then sweeps the other survivors.

Points: Marines = +/-6; Opfor = +/-7

TURN 4
The Stormtalon arrives! I'm using the devastator trait. Tigurius casts his spells. Squad 3 moves forward, dismounts to flame the grav-chute squad and fire on the Russ with the Razorback. The Vets are eliminated, but the Russ remained unscratched. The Stiormtalon moves forward to take on the Command Chimera, and survives intercept but is Stunned and down to a single hull point. The Squad 2's halves begin to move across open ground to get on the objective on the center. The heroic sergeant of squad 1 begins running back through cover towards the open objective in my deployment zone. Other shooting causes the heavy weapon squad to break at the Aegis line and they begin running for home.

My opponent knows he can still pull this off if he can take the center objective with his Russ. His Russ moves forward. His Company commander tries to rally the fleeing heavy weapon squad but fails; in shooting, he eliminates 3 marines from Squad 3, who break and run behind their razorback. He also polishes off the plasma-half of Squad 2.

Points: Marines = +/-6; Opfor = +/-7

TURN 5
I'm planning for the game to end this turn. My Squad 1 Sergeant arrives at his objective. Squad 3 rallies and gets back in their razorback, which zooms forward to block the Russ from tank shocking onto the center. The Razorback fails to damage the Russ. The Stormtalon moved forward to shoot at one of the vet squads (at the quad gun), killing the Sergeant, but every other member survives. Other shooting fails to destroy the Russ. The Venerable assaults and destroys the Yellow drop pod.

My opponent keeps to his plan. The heavy squad continues to flee, and is now near the table edge. It fires on the drop pod and fails to destroy it. The Russ moved forward to fire plasma on Squad 2 at the center (shooting over the hood of my Razorback) and I lose 4 marines, but the ML survivor does not break.

Points: Marines: +/-12; Opfor: = +/-7

TURN 6
Squad 3 dismonts and also gets on the center objective. My Stormtalon, landspeeder, and razorback line up for side shots on the Russ and Explode it. My opponent concedes.

Final Score: Marines 9 points for objectives plus 3 points for destroying heavies, and one point for first blood (13 Points); Opfor: 6 points for 2 objectives and one point for the Stalker (7 Points).

END GAME ASSESSMENT
I have not played in a month, and you'd think I was a bumbling professor at time. Here are a few things that stood out in the game as my errors or mistakes:

1. Flakk Missiles are S7AP4, NOT S8AP3. Really difficult to take a Vendetta down with them.
2. A Venerable is NOT a Heavy. It cannot take objectives in Big Guns (or contest them).
3. RAW a Officer in a Chimera CAN issue orders as a Chimera Special Rule (in normal transports you cannot). Somehow in the past I was having to get the Officer outside the vehicle in order to get orders to units outside/his own unit and I cannot recall why.
4. My original intent was for the Stalker as a heavy in this list to take an objective; Somehow I got confused between that and the Venerable in the heat of the game, and actually wasted time in the game running the venerable after the Libby combat back toward the objective rather than forward towards the drop pod.
5. I used my rapid fire weapons on the Chimera which precluded me from assaulting it instead.
6. I dropped the Sternguard into the middle of the enemy deployment zone; the other option was to drop it between the Russ and the Basilisk; since it was DARK, that might have been a good option to consider. At that location, much of the Sternguard might have survived to assault veterans on an objective on Turn 2, or likely finish of the manticore later. That said, getting both Artillery Units on turn 1 was important.

Overall, at the end, my unit losses were 2 Rhinos, 2 Sternguard combat squads, the Stalker, and a Squad 2 Combat Squad. Not bad and acceptable.

Overall, it was an awesome time and the game was going in any direction through turn 4. I hope to see this opponent again sometime and share more experiences with using IG and marine allies!


           

Thoughts on Gaming in the New World of 40K

Some of you know I've been a fan of several 40K Podcasts. I've been listening to the 11th Company Podcast. This latest episode is over 4 hours. 4 Hours. 4. OK, here are my random thoughts on it. It is wayyyy too long. The biggest theme of the episode is...TOs can organize their events they way they want. OK, I get that, and I'm a proponent of it. A TO should schedule an event with enough time so all of the potential players know what the requirements are. And they can tell you what the event will be like. And if you don't like that, I'd encourage you to create your own event. On the concept that there are "amazing unbreakable lists", I can tell you that with all the games I've played, largely the losses I suffered was due to being outplayed or from making my own mistakes (like bad target priority or poor deployment). Overall, if half of the players show up with the same broken list, they will all have to realize at some point they will be playing themselves as a group after round 1, and at the end, there will be only one winner at the top. As for casual games, I love doing those on Wednesdays. On the topic of being a competitve player, anyone who plays a game by-and-large is playing to win. Some players are pretty pragmatic about that idea though. There is a guy at our local store, for example, who is a special needs adult. He'd love to win a game sometime. He really wants to. Every game. But he is also pragmatic about that happening, and with his own style of wisdom understands that he is also there to have a great time playing a game. And he loves each and every game. As for me, I understand clearly that I handicap myself in every game because I play with what I own, and I do not even try to play the "best recommended units". And I can tell you that in nearly every game, the difference between a win and a loss could boil down to a singlular moment in the game. As for the current status of the game, here are my thoughts: 1. Escallation - Bummer dude! You are trying to sell me a book with the same units as apocalypse. I see this as a supplement to include or not. So does Jervis. 2. The Forts - Meh! Nice idea to allow players to use their list points to PURCHASE terrain (some of it armed, some of it with game changing features, all of it a mish-mash of effects similar to mysterious terrain). Well dudes, I already like to play with terrain heavy tables placed in a narrative way. I already moved away from Aegis defense lines. Jervis also sees this as a supplement. So do I. 3. The end of White Dwarf as we know it! OMG? I had a store subscription to WD, and I have a collection that goes back pretty far. I'll miss it. I won't be subscribing to its replacement without seeing it first. Sounds expensive for what you'd get. But we won't no the truth of it till Saturday. 4. Tyranids! INCOMING!!!!! I will get the codex when it drops at the store (this weekend?). It sounds pretty awesome and I'll spend alot of time studying these guys! I hate BUGS! As for me, some of you have noticed I have not been doing much in 40K for the past MONTH! Yep, wife's birthday was a wednesday, Christmas was a Wednesday. New Years was a Wednesday. This Wednesday my Mother-in-law locked herself in my Garage. 4 Wednesdays in a row that have held my attention to other things. I may have to consider going to Adepticon this year...wonder if/when the tickets will be sold out. If not, then maybe the NOVA just to experience it. We'll see! In the mean time, got time for a game? Contact me...

So...are we headed towards a situation where if you want terrain you have to bring it yourself?

I have not yet had a chance to get in and see the new book expansions. 

It has been so busy at my real job...I'm even falling behind on listening to podcasts!

I was listening to the 11th Company Podcast episode 187 today and the segment on Tactical Terrain had me wondering...

Are we heading for 40K games where the table is devoid of everything but simple hills or area terrain, because you will be expected to bring your own as part of the points cost?  Lets face it, the new book has you spending points for barricades (4+ cover), barbed wire, tank traps (4+cover, impassable to vehicles), minefields, etc., in additional to bastions, bunkers/emplacements, etc...

What is next? Changing buildings into ruins during the game?

In our regular games we just use tactical terrain as part of the story board...will that now change?

This post will be pretty short...look for another one here shortly!  I'm thinking about dragging out my Epic stuff and play a game of 40K escalation with Spacewolves and a Titan Legion cleansing some Orks from an Imperial city.  It might take a bit of time...maybe I'll dig stuff out after the Patriots Game...I won't worry about points.  I'm more interested in modifying the 40K rules for use with Epic scale figs...

Stay Calm and Battle On

Seasons Greetings!

How is everyone doing out there? 

I said, How is everybody doing out there?

So, it is an interesting week in 40K. 

Only one disappointment - the Tyranids Codex did not come out before Christmas. 

Two interesting things happened - Escalation and Stronghold Assault have arrived.

As a blog all about Ultramarines, I am disappointed as Tyranids are the Ultramarines nemesis.  Hopefully they will be out soon, so I can enjoy the huge challenge that Tyranids bring to the game. 

As for Escalation and Stronghold Assault, I'll be looking at a book purchase hopefully tomorrow.  A little Christmas gift to myself.  Overall though, as a Space Marine Player, there seem to be very little in those books directly applicable to Third Company.  After all:

1.  Space Marines attack things.  We are not supposed to be holding ground with forts. Especially Third Company!

2.  The Ultramarines in 40K don't get meaningful super heavy vehicles.  I won't be running out anytime soon to pick up a Thunderhawk.  Third Company uses ground assault, drop pod assault, or a combination of the two.  One thing I have not heard about yet are the "formations" apparently in the book - maybe there is something there for Third Company (like multiple tank hunting devastator squads, but I speculate). The Apox book includes a triple-lascannon Predator formation of 3 Preds which can effectively become D-type weapons everyone is dreading...That might get me off to find more Predators...

So what does it mean for Third Company?  It means list tailoring will be needed to create a force capable of eliminating the rare Superheavy they might run into on the battle field.  It means understanding some of the new fortifications, and figuring out tactics and a list for the rare times I'll run into them as well.

So, as an example, a Baneblade (per the Apocalypse expansion) has Armour 14/13/12, and 9 hull points.  It is a 525 point unit (the cost of two upgraded Landraiders). I currently run a single Sternguard Suicide Pod with 2 meltaguns and 4 combimeltas.  It is possible (adding the Tactical doctrine on the turn the pod drops), for my pod squad to take down that Superheavy, hitting it reasonably 5 out of 6 melta shots, and if side- or rear armor is the target, getting +/- 4 rolls on the damage table (adding +2 to the rolls for melta).  Of these maybe 2 can be explodes, which cause another D3 HPs in damage each.  So, 4 HPs +  D3 + D3. 

Just adding combi-meltas to everyone bumps the squad price higher, but it remains less than the cost of a Superheavy. 

Once that last HP is removed, the Superheavy explodes, potentially in a catastrophic / apocalyptic way.

Interestingly, Revenant (Eldar) Titans would be a different problem, due to their Holofields.  BUT, that bad-boy is 900 points.  Makes me wonder if Holofields are a type of cover save, and if you can strip that away with Perfect Timing.

Necron Vaults are about the same point cost as a Sternguard Sui-pod squad, 6 HPs, and armor 12. 

Overall, the details will be in the Supplement, but what I want you to get from this post is...

Don't worry. 

Game on.

If you have/own/collect these Superheavy items, I'd play you, but be aware I'd need a list that takes your force into account, after all, Third Company can reasonably detect your large tank/beastie/skimmer/flyer before we deploy and then arm accordingly. 

This takes me back to a game a few years back vs. a guy nicknamed Big Nate.  He wanted to play an early version of Apocalypse, and had a Baneblade and other Imperial Guard units, while I had a simple Space Marine list, mostly tactical and devastator squads.  I was not prepared for anything about that game (did not even have the rules), so I was fairly beat.  It was one of those moments where I realized 2000 points has no reasonable chance of beating someone else's 2000 points.  The game was very fun however, with Ultramarines running and scattering through a cityscape hunted by a lumbering huge tank.  I did remove some of its structure points (the precursor to the HP system), but at the end his units had accomplished their missions while my survivors were scattered and still trying to take down his tank.

NOW....I also have the 555th "Triple Nickles" Regiment of Imperial Guard.  Hmmm....maybe they need to acquire a Superheavy....certainly not fortifications.  These guys are to accompany Third Company to distant battle zones and keep mobile....a great big tank might be just the thing for a mobile HQ....

First the book...then the models....

Tactical Conundrums from the Standoff

I was trying to think of some positive tactical take-aways from the Standish Standoff tournament, and there are a few small interesting things that I have not seen others blog about in any detail.  So here are some observations specific to two units that may help (me/you) in future games:

The Sternguard Pod Squad 
I went with an all melta squad - 2 with meltaguns and 4 with combi-meltas, one lightning claw sergeant (I had been known for using half plasma, half melta).  10 total marines (BTW, for the event, 5 were from 1st Company, 5 were from the Deathwatch, sharing the same pod. I was short a 1st Company combimelta...nobody really seemed to care...). Their tactical use was to combat squad every game into 2 equal meltagun teams. 

In the first game, their object was to take down a dual autocannon dreadnought (120 pts) on the left (open) flank, which was done with one combat squad using three melta shots and a krak grenade.  The other combat squad and pod shot up the nearby "Sons of Medusa" (Ironhands) tactical squad and Master of the Forge (115 pts) in the adjacent woods.  The dreadnought was a prime target because it could shoot up my vehicles at range, and in that it was worth 2 KPs in this scenario by my own choosing.  The primary mission accomplished with the explosion of the dread, the two combat squads and pod remained a distraction through turn 3 on the opponent's flank.  Their actions drew the Medusa's Terminator Captain and Tactical Terminator Squad off to the flank from the center.  The Sternguard whittled away at the tactical squad and killed a terminator or two before they were eliminated.  On turn 3 they even tried to assault the tacticals in the woods, but failed their charge range.  They were not able to accomplish their tertiary goal of taking out the Predator.  The last survivors, however, drew the Terminators from out of cover where my Plasma-cannon totting Venerable Dreadnaught wreaked havoc on them, eliminating the Captain and the others.

In game 2, the Sternguard were called down for a more difficult and very important task.  The Imperial guard were playing in a tight grouping, with a Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought (with overwatch) and a platoon command (4xflamer) squad anchoring the flank a thin bubblewrap.  Immediately within their coverage was the target - a Manticore that was showing its flank.   The Manticore was the target clearly because of its board-wide threat potential of D3 large blast AP3 templates that could eat marines by the unit.  I had first turn, so the pod dropped in and the Sternguard combat squaded into a team flanking the Manticore, and a team flanking the Mortis Contemptor.  Needless to say, the Contemptor intercepted the combat squad closest to itself and 5 Sternguard were immediately down.  The other combat squad achieved their mission and exploded the Manticore, taking out a halo of nearby guardsmen.  The drop pod itself remained a thorn in the opponent's flank for a few turns, but both Sternguard combat squads were toast before the end of the first turn. Overall, their mission was a success, in that the Manticore was never fired.    

In game 3, these hearty Sternguard were called in again to play a major tactical gambit.  Game 3 was all about getting Victory Points into 5 different geographic parts of the board, coupled with getting scoring units at the 4 objectives that marked the boundaries of the geographic zones.   In the center of the Demon (Nurgle) battle line, a Great Unclean One, and a "little unclean one with attached nurglings", and a Soulgrinder (armed to kill AP3 marines) combined to be a large number of points.  I decided that the Sternguard needed to make a nuisance of themselves with the goal of drawing one or both of these units back towards the back corner of the Nurgle deployment zone.  On the drop the pod deviated a bit, giving the combat squadded marines flank shot on the Soulgrinder, and direct shots at the "little" unit.  The soulgrinder exploded from the meltagun fire, even with the obscured cover save Nurgle was granting.  The "little unclean" unit lost about half of it size to the marines.  In response, "Great Unclean" moved after the closes Sternguard combat squad and with a hefty charge roll through the crater that used to be the 'Grinder, took out the combat squad (losing 2 wounds to overwatch) in the process.  In turn 2, the remaining sternguard led the "Great One" further away from the table center, and by turn 3 they were also eliminated from the game (and the "Great One" was down to less than half its wounds and now worth half its original Victory Points).  It even delayed itself further by charging the drop pod...

Overall, you can see how the Sternguard worked well in their applications - in all three case, the Sternguard unit with pod was used to achieve both elimination of an opposing unit that was of high value, and then was used to distract or cause the opponent to react to it. Because the unit worked deep in the opponent's deployment zone, it had to accomplish its missions(s) with no assistance (except for maybe the timely application of the Ultramarines Tactical Doctrine.

The Devastator Squad
In my list I used a 5-man, 4xML Devastator Squad with Flakk Missiles.  I was pretty concerned I'd see more flyers or Helldrakes than I did, which was mostly luck of the draw. As a reminder, I'd use a different color dice each turn to denote a ML fired with e boost from the sergeant's signum. 

In Game 1, my opponent had a 10-man Devastator squad with 4 MLs, no Flakk. We both had placed our Devastator Squads opposite each other, both on the top floor of some ruins.  Through the luck of stealing the initiative I was shooting first.  And this game became a small exercise in tactical leadership.  On the first turn, my devastators coupled with every weapon that could reach, whittled away at the opposing Medusa devastators.  In turn 1, Tigurius cast Prescience on them (reroll misses).  But here is where the tactical conundrum began.  Tigurius was with a tactical combat squad on the ground floor.  All of his spells were from Divination.  With all the cover going on in the opponent's deployment zone, I wanted to get Perfect Timing played on the Devastators to increase my firepower effects on the opposing units.  All non-witchfire spells are cast at the beginning of the movement phase.  A IC can only join or leave a unit in the movement phase.  So, what happened turn 2 was an error - Tigurius cast Perfect Timing, and then moved to join the devastators.  He then cast Perfect Timing every turn after.  As pointed out by a commenter on B&C, if a psycher casts a blessing that affects him and his unit, and then leaves the unit, the effect lasts on the psyche and that original unit for the duration of the effect.  So the Devastators would not have had Perfect Timing that turn, but the original combat squad (with ML) would have retained it. Overall, it probably had an impact on the game for that one turn, probably 3 extra casualties on the opponent.  More importantly, it showed to me what 4 MLs with perfect timing could do.  They also benefited from the Devastator Doctrine in repositioning, and later accounted for shooting down the opponent's Stormtalon. 

In Game 2, Tigurius started deployed with the Devastators, but he (and the sergeant) remained low behind cover while the missile launchers did their job.  In this game, the spells only included prescience, forewarning, and precognition.  This allowed the devastators to maintain a 4++ invulnerable save.  By turn 3 there were 2 MLs remaining, but they accounted for the Vendetta in addition to causing numerous casualties on the Guard blob squad.  By turn 4, they were down to the sergeant and Tigurius, but neither survived the game. As a side note - I lost game 2 due to a strategic error on objective (relic) placement, and on turn 1 tactical errors on Objective (relic) capture.  When playing special scenarios, it is always best to read and understand the tactical requirements of the scenario...Overall, the devastators worked very well, buffed by Prescience and Forewarning.  Frankly, as I write this, I seem to now think that I forgot to use my precognition rerolls on the last turn...Tigurius might have then survived the game.

In Game 3, my Nurgle Demon opponent had a flying demon prince and a unit of flying nasty bugs (plague drones of Nurgle).  In deployment, these were to be the primary targets of my devastator squad.  The squad was deployed across the roof of a small building, with the Sergeant and one ML marine on the ground (I wanted to be spread out if the Soulgrinder survived or the opponent had other AP3 templates or blasts).  Tigurius was deployed on foot nearby with spells of Perfect Timing, Forewarning, and Foreboding.  The Devastators did not have a major impact on turn 1 due to night fight.  On the following turns they focused on the Demon Prince and started stripping off his wounds and caused a grounding check, which attracted an assault by the drones.  They overwatched and killed a drone or two, but were assaulted nevertheless.  In one round or so of combat, the Devastators were reduced to a single ML marine, who was able to break off.  He rallied and aided in eliminating the drone survivors, and started flinging missiles down range on Nurgle troops that deep struck to the center from reserves.  On the last turn that attracted the charge of a spawn survivor, and I cannot recall if that sole marine lasted the combat. 

So, overall, you can see a few things here - in each game the Flakk missiles helped against flyers (mechanical or monstrous).  It also showed what buffing them with a psycher can do for their resilience or damage output, both are key.  As a tactical note I'd decided to have Tigurius spend game 3 attached to a 10-man tactical squad deliberately (I was using a rhino as a visual shield wall) and wanted to move that unit forward into the central geographic region for Victory Point scoring purposes rather than in my backfield.  In a larger game I'd almost consider taking a larger Devastator squad to have ablative wounds, although I've also experimented with having a Rhino just for added flexibility.

All for now, hope you enjoyed the read! If I can find some game photos that show these two units in use, I'll add them later this week.  If you want me to write up any of my other units as a similar tactical commentary, let me know in the comments.  See my prior post for some pictures from the game and a snapshot of my army used at the event. 

Standish Standoff Results are in...Ultras Done Good!

The Standoff is a New England event - in Maine, and it was held this past weekend.  40 Players (the event sold out), and about 12 hours of time from door opens to prizes awarded.  3-game format, 1750 points with composition, and scenario chosen from Creative Twilight's website. 

Overall, it is a good model for other 40K groups to follow.

If anyone had any doubt locally about the fun and variety of gaming, all they needed to do was come by the event.  Every player seemed to have something completely different.  I hope someone organizing the event grabbed a picture of every army tray and can provide some analysis and maybe a summary of the coolest, complex lists they saw.  I really cannot comment much more, since other than taking some shots of some of my favorite armies, and those of my 3 worthy opponents, I can't comment too much further there.  That said, here are some photos of my favorites I spotted before Round 1:

A beautifully painted IG army themed for the Red Star and Commissars: 

A nicely done Dark Angels army:

The "Harrowed" up from Boston:

Shiny's Ultramarines 2nd Company including Sicarius:

For me the event is all about seeing what everyone else does with this hobby, and catching up with old acquaintances.  Overall, I just wish I'd had more social time!  If there had been a pub closer, I would have considered meeting a bunch of player there after the awards were handed out.

As for the games, all three were different and posed their own challenges. 

In Game 1 I was paired with a guy named Jon from Framingham, MA, who travelled up with the Dorka Morka club. Jon had a really nice space marine army (iron hand chapter tactics), which was constructed around a Space Marine terminator captain.  The game started off looking pretty daunting, and his list was something I might have run, and is nearly identical to lists I've used (sans the Captain!).  He placed 2 of the three objectives,  so my strategy was to keep mine, and take one of his, and create a kill point gap in the process.  It worked pretty well, and after a nail biter of a game, Third Company came out on top and I advanced to Round 2 with 26 points...

Here is game 1 right after deployment:

Here is a closer shot of the woods where the toughest fighting would occur:

Game 2.  As luck would have it, my Nemesis, Ripped Dragon, also scored 26 points in Round 1.  There are 40 gamers from New England, and for the second time in my life I met Ripped in a Tournament!  Ripped's list is something pretty interesting...on first blush it looks like an Imperial Guard Blob with an Aegis and Manticore.  Then you see the details...the best IG General providing his buffs, a squad of crazed convicts, some air support, and then there is Tigurius with 5 scouts and a Contemptor Mortis Dreadnaught...So now you have a large blob that is essentially fearless, and well defended while it picks you apart. 

In that game I got to place 2 of the three objectives.  At the end, we both had an objective, but he had me on kill points.  We split the point in a close game that really hinged on a bad dice roll.  Interestingly, the game almost did not happen.  The TO tried to have us swap opponents with a lower ranked table, but we argued that we really needed to fight it out.  As it was, Ripped earned less points than me from any opponent of the day (He finished third overall out of 40!)

Here we are with deployment ongoing:

And here is my vehicle investments on fire...I still owned the third objective, but not for long...

Game 3 was against a strong but low-model count Nurgle list that I'd played against in the past, and it was the sort of list I'd designed my tactics and overall strategy around.  It was a fun game, and tactically, everything worked well or close to as designed.  I pulled in a strong win, and the day ended with a dice roll concerning whether I'd get 5 points for a tertiary goal or 3.  I won that dice roll, and started packing my stuff.  In game, I was able to address the flying demon prince, the bugs, and pretty much pounded the Nurgle to green paste.  I wish I'd had more pictures of this game.  Overall, the real fight was between the Sternguard and the core of the Nurgle army.  Eventually the Sternguard were gone from the table but they'd done a lot of damage as planned, sealing the win.

Overall, with all the soft scores, I finished 17th out of 40.  On just battle points, I was 16th, but only 6 points from being in the top 10.

So here is a parting shot -

Overall, it a lot of fun and inspiring.  I came out amazed and excited about the great variety in the hobby, and have some ideas on participating in the painting competition for the April Assault when Crossroads puts on their large springtime 40K event.

For my list - the MVP of course was Tigurius, who was a key support player in every game, until his untimely disappearance into the warp in Round 3 on the last turn.  The weakest unit based on the matchups I had was the Stalker.  It did nothing in Round 1, lost its weapon system in Round 2, and lost its weapon system again in Round 3!  A few of my my 3rd Company Ultramarines have earned some ribbons...

Standish Standoff - Last Minute Prep

Tomorrow is the Standish Standoff - the bigger of two major 40K events hosted at Crossroad Games - my FLGS in Standish, Maine.

The last time I checked there were still 3 slots open for a possible field of 40.  Undoubtedly there might be some last minute cancellations, so if you are on the sidelines and have the day free, cmon over!  Registration will begin about 9 AM, pub quiz around 10 AM, and round 1 at 11 AM.  There is a fairly good painting competition as well, so bring a camera! 

Just as a disclaimer, I stake no claim to any success or issue of the event.  Frankly, I've been a non-participant in the running of these events since being a judge in the first one.  My only effort towards the event is just trying to publisize it via my blog when I can, because I really want to see the event reach its goal.  I did not help with the event rubric, terrain, nothing.  The only thing I did do was buy some new models and paint from Crossroads for improvements to the visual nature of my own list.

Tonight will be some last minute prep work - I need to create some game sheets to help me select and use all of the added abilities that 6th edition brings.  I need to print some list copies to provide my opponents and judges.  I need to pack up for easy travel.  And maybe if there is time finish additional details on the models to be used for the day. 

Overall, I'm playing what I've basically been using - a Tigurius-led 3rd Company strike force.  It is not bad, and depending on the wide variety of expected opponents, it should work well. 

One last decision is to scenic base the tray for the day, or not. Less than 2% of your score is for having a scenic display board, so right now it is the last thing on my mind. 

It will be interesting to see how the venue can handle the event.  Beginning this afternoon they'll place terain for 20 tables. 

Besides keeping after my own games, I have an interest in seeing what will happen at the top of the heap for rounds 2 and 3.  One interesting thing about this event is that there is a huge variety of ways to score - and it will be interesting to see how that will be handled to determine pairings and the overall winner(s).  We also do not know what the day's Tournament Director will select as missions, or how complex they will be. 

All for now, Have a Great Weekend!