Well this was a bit of an event for us. We had originally planned a road trip for spring break but our destination was out of business so we decided on an
Apoc game instead. We arrived at the store at 11am. Set up started at Noon and the game ended at 9pm.
My list:
I decided to only use fully (or nearly fully in the Inquisitorial valks case) models. This meant no warhounds, no stormhammer or baneblades. It did however still leave me with a ton of guys.
Guard - 6230pts
Yarrick
Company Command -
Creed, 4 Meltas, 2 bodyguards, chimera - Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer
Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command - 4 Flamers, chimera - Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer
2x Infantry squad - Melta, chimera - Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer
4x Heavy Weapon Squad -3 Autocannons
Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command - 4 Flamers, chimera - Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer
2x Infantry squad - Melta, chimera - Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer
3x Heavy Weapon Squad -3 Missile Launchers
Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command - 4 Flamers, chimera - Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer
Infantry squad - Melta, chimera - Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer
Infantry Squad - Melta
3x Heavy Weapon Squad -3 Lascannons
6x Medusas
2x Leman Russ Squadron – 3x Leman Russ Executioner - Plasma sponson, heavy bolter
(We allowed the new russes to be taken in squadrons)
Leman Russ Executioner - Plasma sponson, heavy bolter
2x Leman Russ Punisher - heavy Bolter sponson, heavy bolter hull, heavy stubber
Storm Trooper Strike Force
2x Storm Trooper squad - 7 hellgunners, 2 meltas, sarge in a Valkyrie with missile pods
Storm Trooper squad - 7 hellgunners, 2 Plasma, sarge in a Valkyrie with missile pods
Marines - 5720
Land Raider Promethus
Battle Company
Captain – Plasma Pistol, Power Sword, Artificer Armor, Melta Bomb
Company Command – 2 meltas
6x Tactical Squads – Lascannon, melta gun
2x Assault Squads – Sarge with power fist
2x Devestator Squads – 4x Heavy bolters
Iron Cyclone Drop Assault
3x Deathstorm Drop Pods
3x Dreadnoughts – Assault cannon, heavy flamer, Drop pod
Siege dreadnought - Drop pod
(We allowed the siege dread to upgrade to the new inferno cannon for no points increase)
Iron Cyclone Drop Assault
2x Deathstorm Drop Pods
3x Dreadnoughts – Assault cannon, heavy flamer, Drop pod
Masters of the Chapter
Marenus Calgar
Captain 1 – Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Artificer Armor
Captain 2 – Relic blade, Artificer Armor
Captain 3 – Power Weapon, Artificer Armor
Captain 4 – Power Weapon, Artificer Armor
Honor Guard – 2 guard with relic blades, chapter champ with Digital Lasers, Banner bearer with chapter banner
(We agreed that since the honor guard are pictured they should be allowed to be taken instead of the command squad)
Assets –
Free - Vital Objective, Hold at all costs, careful planning, orbital bombardment, Ambush, Precision strike, orbital bombardment, surgical raids, Flank march
Taken – Experimental Ice Weapon, Disruptor Beacon, Supreme Headquarters, Hammer Blow
What I would be facing:
We first set up some terrain:
And then dropped the scatter dice as per the rules, the table was divided into roughly a 1/3 and a 2/3 piece. I won the roll to go first and knew that I needed the extra room for all my
IG so took the larger piece.
I deployed the masters and yarrick in the promethus on the right flank, next to all the heavy weapons teams. The medusas went in front, devestators took up positions in the back field holding 2 small buildings. Chimeras were scattered about with creed staying near the heavy weapons. Tacs combat squad placing lascannons throughout the lines and 4 of the meltagun ½ go up near the promethus. One assault squad goes on the left flank, one goes on the right flank, as does the company command squad. The drop pods, russes, and valks were all in reserves.
He then sets up a chaos alter (large blue object) and a warp portal (large red object) right in my lines!
And puts the baneblade in the middle back field, the stormsword in the middle both supported by 2 squads of havocs and oblits. More havocs go into the tall ruins, and termis and dreads clog my left flank.
Turn 1
Iron cyclones pick their deployment zones and the first strike hits. I kill, and pin, some terminators, stun a rhino, and then the deathwinds show up. Only 2 manage to make it through thanks to 2 disruptor beacons from a chaos conclave.
(We ruled only 1 beacon may be used per reserve unit) The 2 drop pods proceed to slow the game down immensely, and only stun a rhino.
The 3 that were disrupted were put in my back corner and do NOTHING. I don’t deploy them as I’m afraid they’ll fall off the table so I just put them away.
Storm Trooper Strike force comes in dodging a disruptor beacon off a chaos conclave (They’re everywhere I tell you!), and drops off it’s precious cargo.
The mobile portion of the right flank advances
and the left flank’s troops get out and stand in front of the termi wall.
I get 1 orbital bombardment and it kills a terminator, the storm troopers manage to kill 2 havoc squads
and then run up to the bane blade and apocalyptically annihilate it! In the explosion 5 stormtroopers and a few chaos marines all perish. Medusas pop a rhino and kill a dread, autocannons pop a rhino which then pins the squad inside.
Turn 1.5
He advances the terminators and dreads on the left flank.
The whole army advances minus the havocs in the bunker. Lucius and his body guard advance towards the assault squad on the right flank.
He kills the 2 deathwind pods, and then the stormsword fires, killing a squad of heavy weapons, and 1 from each of the 3 surrounding squads.
Turn 2
The cyclone dreads came down this turn, 3 were re-routed to the same parking lot with the other pods (I again decided not to put them down due to table height).
The russes also came on the board. Two of them tried to come on the right flank but were denied, while seven more tried to come on the left flank and five were also denied. In the end the back of my board was looking mighty crowded. I moved up the marines on the right flank, two squads boarded the now empty valkyries, and jumped the assault squad over Lucius.
Medusas fire and kill some marines, autocannons wound a demon prince
One of the dreads that landed had the experimental ice weapon and it fired it at a squad of chosen in a wrecked rhino. Collateral damage was the stormsword, a vindicator, and a dread. The chosen failed their test, and the rest of the tanks had their armor reduced. The dreads shot the now damaged tanks and stunned the vindicator, stunned a few guns on the stormsword. The valkyries shot the stormsword and managed to destroy the main gun.
Turn 2.5
Portal opens and Zarakynal, seekers, fiends, and keepers emerge and sow havoc in my lines!
I was able to disrupt 1 seeker squad, some fiends, keeper of secrets and some daemonetts were relocated the far corners.
He breaks a Pavane of Slaneesh and moves nearly my entire back line closer to the warp portal.
His rear guard units shot and shake 2 valkyries.
He shoots and charges the dreadnoughts and immobilizes one, and kills 2, then kills a drop pod.
The sorcerer kills the last of the Storm troopers.
The demon princes wipe out some marines and heavy weapons teams in the center. Raptors outflank and melta the promethus to death. Possessed show up behind the raptors and look scarry. Subjugator comes in and fires it’s doom siren killing half of the assault squad in the rear (who were allowed to leave combat cause they killed the termis), the rest are killed by the oblits. The subjugator then charges the masters of the chapter and kills a master while lucius dies.
Turn 3
Hammerblow and the masters of the chapter immobilize the subjugator. I kill Zarakanyl with ALL of the units that were disrupted (2 punishers, 4 executioners, and 3 dreads). Killed some oblits in the back field. Killed a demon prince, valks move and kill some daemonettes, company command kills the raptors. One of the dreads assaults the stormlord and apocalyptically annihilates it. In the explosion it kills the chosen, and immobilizes the defiler.
Turn 3.5
Three Rhinos outflanked into my back corner full of noise marines.
He killed off some stragglers (marines, heavy weapons, etc). Finished off the Medusas, Killed a valk, fired the subjugator and managed to kill some of his own daemonettes, then fired again and blew the subjugator sky high (no explosion though).
Fiends charge the company command squad killing all but the captain
Turn 4
Valks moved around
Chimera went for an objective,
Captain kills some fiends, I kill some marines.
Turn 4.5
He pops a valk, The chimera and squad going for the objective. Marines in the back field cause some damage, Terminators from left flank seize objective, daemonetts charge tank line.
Captain keeps on keeping on.
Turn 5
Dreads charged the flank marching marines, last master, Calgar, and the marines from the dead valk charge the displaced fiends and defiler.
Russes shoot up daemonettes.
Yarrick heads for the dead guardsmen on the hill.
Turn 5.5
Havocs immobilize Punisher daemonettes assault, everything that can charges the masters/marines fight and kill the marines. Daemonettes charge and kill Yarrick.
Chaos holds all 6 objectives and the game is called.
What I learned
Iron cyclone is horrible It’s useless against
MEQ, and it really slows the game down. I think I’ll put forward that for the 100 points it costs that the drop pods be upgraded to assault cannons. Since the pods still scatter it’s usefulness is very limited.
A deployed russ is a russ that gets where it needs to go. Flank marching russes is cute but when playing chaos expect the BOARD to be covered in a disruption beacon cloud.
MOVE Get off your butt and MOVE, move towards objectives, move away from the enemy, just move your tanks.
SHOOT Don’t forget your land raiders can shoot a gun when moving (promethus never fired). Don’t forget to shoot the dread that just landed, or to use the ice beam BEFORE any other guns fire (would have been nice to pop the stormblade a turn earlier). Start at one end of the table and work across, unless it’s something important.
Mark units that have done something this round with dice. Moved? Put a dice by it. Shot? Put a dice by it. Assaulted? Put a dice by it. I forgot to move a few things and forgot to shoot with even more!
Markers I own vehicle damage markers, I own vehicle damage dice, why then do I not know what shape my vehicle is in? Because I need to move around the table and grab a marker and in the end there was some kind of Arcane legion league crowding us in.
Deploy units that are on the edge, or mark with terrain He was able to drive his rhinos on top of where 6 drop pods should have been. Oops.
Remember your damned assets. I forgot about orbital bombardment and Brian let me use it (since it doesn’t seem to hurt anyone in cover). But using precision strike would have helped.
Paint more If you expect to keep up your “Don’t use and unpainted model” vow get more stuff painted.
Get another valkyrie I own 40 painted storm troopers, so I really need to get another valkyrie to take advantage of the Storm Trooper Strike Force. It only counts as 1 unit for disruptor beacon, so it’s a 50% chance it’ll go where I want it to instead of coming in piece-mail like everything else did.
Take better notes and more pictures This bat rep was hard to write using the few lines of notes we took per round. I think next time 1 person plays 1 takes notes on what their doing not what they remember from what they did. I also stopped taking pictures when the place got crowded so that makes for some uninteresting reading.