Despised Traitorous Cultist
Omaha, NE
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I've never done a batrep before, so I apologize if it's terrible. That being said, this was possibly the closest, most stressful game I've ever played, and being that it was fairly high profile, I know some are interested to hear about it. I would also encourage you to check out my opponent's blog (rumorsofheresy.blogspot.com), as he was taking pictures and should have a bit more detailed batrep going up in the near future. Anyway, on to the game.
It went down at the Bugeater GT in Omaha, NE. After 4 games, three of us stood undefeated, and I was cringing because I knew what was ahead of me. A brutal Dark Eldar list, fielded by a very competent general. To sweeten the pot even more, it was a Dawn of War deployment, complete with Night Fight! His list:
Baron Sathonyx
Haemonculus
7 x Incubi w/ Raider
19 x Hellions
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster, Venom w/ 2 x Splinter Cannons, Flickerfield
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster, Venom w/ 2 x Splinter Cannons, Flickerfield
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster, Venom w/ 2 x Splinter Cannons, Flickerfield
3 x Wracks w/ Venom w/ 2 x Splinter Cannons, Flickerfield
6 x Reavers w/ 2 x Heat Lances
6 x Reavers w/ 2 x Heat Lances
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
Ravager w/ Flickerfield
The amount of shots and damage that those Venoms put out is just really astonishing. I waltzed up to the table with my army:
Daemon Prince w/ Wings, MoS, Lash of Submission
Daemon Prince w/ Wings, MoS, Lash of Submission
9 x Berzerkers w/ Champion, Powerfist, Rhino
9 x Berzerkers w/ Champion, Powerfist, Rhino
8 x Plague Marines w/ Champion, Powerfist, 2 x Meltaguns, Rhino
8 x Plague Marines w/ Champion, Powerfist, 2 x Meltaguns, Rhino
2 x Obliterators
2 x Obliterators
2 x Obliterators
So it's a pretty standard Chaos "netlist". I have a few comments on that I guess... First, any army can be competitive, even if it is old. There are some hard counters that I luckily dodged all weekend (not a single IG player, for example), but honestly, I'm pretty confident with the list. Second, and I hate saying this (especially since it's been said a ton of times), but the CSM book is so limited for competitive builds. Anyway, those two thoughts are for another thread. Let's get to the game.
The Table: A ruined building in each corner, but mostly a large, wrecked highway running across the board
The Deployment: Dawn of War
Primary Objective: Kill Points
Secondary Objective: Objectives (4 on the table, placed before deployment)
Tertiary Objective: Table Quarters
Before I get started I'll apologize again for details I miss, I made the great choice of staying up late partying the night before, so the day is a bit of a blur. Pretty sure he won the roll and decided to go first. The Hellions started on the table, as did the Baron paired with the Wracks. I put down a couple Rhinos and a Prince. I knew I was going to have to take risks to win this, so I placed my Rhinos such that he would have to roll a 10 to see me across the table first turn. With 6 chances (DE get to re-roll their Night Fight), I was worried I would take some hits, but I had to try.
Turn 1:
Everything he's got cruises onto the table, with the Haemonculus tagging along with the Incubi (it's worth mentioning that he rolled a 6 on drugs, so FnP all over) as the Baron jumped off to party with the Hellions. All three Ravagers attempted to tag my Rhinos, but I lucked out and he couldn't see me.
I bring in my army, mounting up in the Rhinos and advancing. As it was night fight, I tried to get to the Ravagers with my spotlights, but it was to no avail. However, I did get the advanced Prince to see a squad of Reavers, proceeding to lash them closer. That let the next Prince see them, so he did the same. That let me assault them with the first Prince, I was hungry for first blood! Three Reavers down, no wounds back. The leadership roll comes down, it's a 5, he holds! What luck, I'm not taking 48 Splinter Cannon shots to the face!
Turn 2:
Well, one Prince was lucky, the other wasn't. He moved in his Hellions to assist the remaining Reavers and moved his Raider forward. The Venoms and Ravagers shuffled and started unleashing fire. Between awesome saves and poor shooting, it took all the Venom shots and a Ravager to shut down my open Prince. He also cracked open one of the Rhinos with Plagues (and stunned another). Combat was fairly uneventful, with one Reaver going down, and one wound on the Prince. Hellions decided to hop out of combat.
I knew the Hellions were going to be a tough squad, and my key was going to be winning a combat and sweeping, not digging through tons of wounds. With that in mind, I wasn't going to mess around. One Hellion was sitting about 11" away from a squad of Zerkers and Plagues, so I decided that they were both going in. I also attempted to ram the Raider (because it's really, really cool), but he made his skimmer save. My shooting wasn't ineffective, but it didn't give the results I was looking for. I immobilized two Ravagers and the Raider, but that wasn't going to stop them from shooting back... On to combat! I charge in and we end up having one huge combat. 8 Plagues, 9 Zerkers, a Prince on my side, and the Baron, 19 Hellions, and 2 Reavers on his. I don't remember who did what, but I ended up winning by 4. With a failed leadership, all I had to do was catch his Hellions. The Berzerkers roll... a 2! Oh no... The Plagues roll... 5! He rolls a 2, and the bloated ones catch him. Huge turn for me.
Turn 3:
This is where my opponent made one of his very few mistakes. The Reavers moved up to kill the Rhino I'd just rammed with, but he neglected to unload the Incubi. More shuffling in the back, mostly away from my now advancing Plague Marines. After the shooting phase I said goodbye to a Rhino and my other Prince, a handful of Plague Marines and Berzerkers, and 4 of my precious Obliterators! No combats.
I kept up the pressure with my Plague Marines, and shot my unmolested Plague Rhino forward to close. They were the only things that survived the Cannon shots with any reliability, so I wanted them up front. My Zerkers tried to get in position to shoot, but mostly they just moved toward an objective. I did knock one of the Venoms down, then my Zerkers went after the downed Raider and made short work.
Turn 4:
The shuffling got aggressive now. The Incubi advanced to eat the remaining Zerkers that killed their Raider, and Venoms started getting into position to score. Shooting saw my last Plague Rhino dispatched along with the majority of the other Plague squad. You already know what happened in combat, but I'll say it. 7 Incubi and a Haemonculus vs 4 Berzerkers... I lost... badly...
I was now in "How do I win?" mode. The larger Plague squad took position on an objective, and the remaining Zerker squad hopped back in their Rhino and parked on their objective. He had two of them in the bag, so I had to match him to compete. I did painfully little damage this turn, only taking out one of the Immobilized Ravagers.
Turn 5:
We were low on time, and we knew this was it. A crowd was gathering as most of the other games were over, and they knew we were duking it out for the final table. Time to finish this!
He moved the Venom with Wracks into my deployment one onto and objective. I knew this was coming, and there was nothing I could do about it. The remaining Reavers contested the objective by my Plagues. A Warrior Venom shot up to park next to my other objective. Not much in the way of damage, but the game was currently sitting at him leading 9-7 in KP and 2 objectives to none.
I took a moment to compose myself before I did anything. With a plan in mind, I set about trying to make things work. KP were too close to matter, so I knew I had to get my objectives back then go for the Table Quarters. Doing a little math in my head, I knew I could make it happen as long as the dice cooperated. Here's how it went down. The Plagues advanced, as did the Oblits, and the Berzerkers got out of their Rhino. Priority 1: I have to kill that Venom. No problem, two Twin-Linked Meltaguns should handle it. Until I miss with both, TWICE! Oh man, now it's down to me assaulting that thing, and it just moved flat out! The other side of the table went well, with the Plagues killing one Reaver with shooting and the rest in assault. It was now down to a single assault. 2 Oblits and 6 Berzerkers rush in, needing 6s to hit. He agrees to let me do Fists first. The Oblits swing, hitting once. Armor Pen... 1! NO! Ok Berzerkers, the game is on you! 4 Swings, 2 hits, and they get through. It's all on the line... Immobilized! He moved flat out, so the Venom dropped and the Warriors had to get out on the other side. Success!
Aftermath:
We went all the way to the wire with this one. Kill Points was first, we tied at 9-9. Objectives was next, tied at 2-2. Table Quarters it is. We both held one solidly, so it was up to the quarter where most of the fighting was happening. We were looking at Incubi w/ Haemonculus, Warriors, and a Venom with Wracks vs. Berzerkers, their Rhino, and 2 Oblits. Adding it all up, he had 364 VP in the quarter to my 414 VP. I took the third quarter by 50 VP to take the match.
I really can't say enough about how amazing that game was. Adam was a great opponent who I would really love to play again in a less important environment. There were definite ups and downs, and I'm really glad I could pull through, even though it was by the skin of my teeth. Great event, great game, great weekend. Finally... CHAOS IS ETERNAL!
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4500 pts
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Chaos rules you all drool! Blood for the Blood God! 
5K Points of Grey Knights and Red Hunters 
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