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It's that time again. Justicar Alaric's Blood Angels against my Guard. This time I've given Kris some tactics on how to beat my army, target priority on what to take out first and with what. Lets get on with it:

Imperial Guard "Steel Lions" - 2,000 points


HQ

Company Command Squad w/ Chimera 4 x plasma guns & carapace armour

Company Command Squad w/ Chimera 4 x plasma guns & carapace armour

Troops

Veterans 3 x meltaguns

Veterans 3 x meltaguns

Veterans w/ Chimera 3 x meltaguns

Veterans w/ Chimera 3 x plasma guns

Veterans w/ Chimera 3 x plasma guns

Fast Attack

Valkyrie multiple missile pods

Valkyrie multiple missile pods

Hellhound multi melta & smoke launchers

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Demolisher heavy flamer

Leman Russ Demolisher heavy flamer

Leman Russ Executioner heavy flamer

Total: 1,995



Blood Angels "Book of Blood" - 2,000 points

HQ

Librarian - jump pack, shield of sanguinus & unleash rage

Librarian - jump pack, shield of sanguinus & unleash rage

Honour Guard - jump packs & 4 x meltaguns


Elite

2 x Sanguinary Priest - jump packs

Troops

10 x Assault Marines - 2 x meltaguns - sgt w/ power fist

10 x Assault Marines - 2 x meltaguns - sgt w/ power fist

10 x Assault Marines - 2 x plasma pistol

10 x Assault Marines - 2 x flamers - sgt w/ power fist

5 x Assault Marines - plasma gun

Heavy Support

5 x Devastators - 4 x missile launchers

5 x Devastators - 4 x missile launchers


5 x Devastators - 4 x missile launchers



Game: Seize Ground + Spearhead

Deployment:

Once again I lost the roll off :( . Kris went first and deployed his Angels keeping all Devs in a ruin which an objective will be replaced near along with the 5 man Assault Squad. He then placed all the Angels in up close to the edge of his table quarter.

I deployed my two plasma Veteran units in terrain of the black building with Valkyries behind. I placed the Executioner on a hill so Angels won't get cover and Demolishers with it. CCS Chimeras are out front to get the bulk of their fire power into range along with the Hellhound to block LOS to the melta Veteran Chimera.

* Valkyries are proxy as Razorbacks as I left mine at home, doh!




* Tactical Notes

Ok Kris' Angels are pretty much in my face but in the open too. If I manage to seize the initiative I can rumble up and blow as many away as possible, either way turn 2 he'll be in melta range.

My first target is the Honour Guard - mass melta isn't cool. I'll be going for the melta squads after. I'll ignore the rest and those Devs, then when time is ready I'll turbo boost the Valkyries in attempt to contest objectives.

Turn 1

I attempt to seize the initiative and fail :(

Kris moves his Angels out bounding towards me while the 10 man plasma Assault Squad claim the objective which no holds at the moment in a ruin on Kris' side of the board.

Shooting Kris unloads krak rockets and pops my Hellhound, he uses meltas on a Demolisher and Executioner but luckily out of melta range so no good.

My turn I roll out the melta Veterans Chimera over the wreck of the Hound ok, one Demolisher comes forward with both CCS Chimeras, one Chimera rotates to get into range of a melta Assault Squad with a Librarian.

Shooting turn Executioner blasts the Honour Guard, with scatters kills two H.G and a Marine from the supporting melta unit with the other Libby. Demolisher and a CCS fire at other oncoming melta A.S with Librarian and chip them down, they pass morale ok. Other CCS fires at Honour Guard but the Librarians pesky shield keeps some alive.





* Tactical Notes

Kris' Angels are right on me, Kris is playing them aggressively instead of his usual defensive, which doesn't work. His new tactics are keeping pressure on me but this turn I've lost only a Hound so that's ok but I think other stuff is on borrowed time thanks to the amount of melta around.

My plan is to keep blasting melta units until gone, simple. Melta gone armour should be safe, mostly.

Turn 2

H.G move towards the Executioner while a melta A.S unit with Librarian goes for a CCS Chimera which just shot at the H.G while the other melta unit goes for the Executioner. Flamer Assault Squad moves in ready to tackle the melta Veterans once the Chimera is popped.

Shooting krak rockets fire at the rear of a CCS Chimera ready to setup the Librarian and Assault Squad but fails to do any damage after cover saves. Krak rockets smash into the melta Veteran Chimera and do some damage but I cannot remember what. Meltas fire from both Assault Squads causing weapon destroyed on a Demolisher, turret down and the CCS Chimera to pop. Honour Guard fail to pop the Executioner

In assault Librarian and Assault Squads charges CCS but Guard stay in combat. Flamer Assault Squad charges the melta Veterans Chimera with krak grenades and power fist and make it go boom, one Marine dead and over half the Guard but the Guard stay in around.

In my turn I move the Executioner back from the Honour Guard and the other Demolisher round to either blast the flamer Assault Squad or the melta unit. CCS still inside a Chimera move ready to give some rapid fire plasma justice. I turbo boost Valkyries, one across my table edge the other towards the objective Kris' side.

Shooting turn I nuke the flamer Assault Squad with Demolisher shot, melta shots and long range plasma shots. CCS lives only two Marines standing from the melta squad with the Librarian after shield power, they pass morale ok. Honour Guard take a pounding but two still survive and pass morale.

In combat I lose more Guard from the CCS but the plucky Commander keeps the fight oncoming, he's hardcore!





* Tactical Notes

Ok a Demolisher has nothing left but a heavy flamer so that's not a major threat to Angels any more, to be honest I'm surprised the Executioner lives on. Shame my Guard didn't fold in the Angels turn as I have two plasma Veterans sitting in Chimeras I could have plasma'd them too death.

Next turn I'll hammer that weakened melta Assault Squad and make it disappear and kill the Honour Guard, if the other melta A.S comes out of combat (which I hope it does) I'll blast it with the Demolisher and plasmas on my objective I already hold.

Turn 3

Not a huge amount of movement from Kris this turn, infact I don't think any at all besides moving his Honour Guard to get the Executioner.

H.G attempt to go at the Executioner again, but fail, again . Battered melta unit make the broken turret Demolisher toast. Krak rockets pop the Valkyrie along my table edge, attempt to pop the other Valkyrie but fail. The last CCS Chimera is popped though.

In my turn I move the melta Veterans out the downed Valkyrie to blast the surviving melta unit.

Shooting, surviving melta unit is wiped off the map Honour Guard are nuked by the Executioner, finally. CCS manage to long shot the 10 man plasma Assault Squad and kill one.

In assault my Commander finally snuffs it, bye-bye Commander :(

* Tactical Notes

Shame my Commander died if he held out and then lost next turn the Executioner could have shot at that full size melta unit (ok minus one) but not I will have to face them doing damage to me.

Apart from the solo melta unit there's no Angels. I just need to move the last Valkyrie closer and hope it holds out.

Turn 4

I suggest to Kris to move the 10 man plasma Assault Squad from his objective and use plasma pistols on the rear armouf of the Valkyrie, so he does. Melta Assault Squad moves to rear of a Chimera on my objective. I also suggest he forget the Executioner and go for my troops choices so I cannot claim any objectives, I've only got three left and only two in transports.

Shooting frags blast apart the melta Veterans which got out the downed Valkyrie, all die. Kraks blast the operational Valkyrie and wreck it, I'm forced to do emergence disembark as Kris has surrounded my exits, though before it's popped the plasma pistols did have a try. Meltas pop the rear armour of a plasma Veteran Chimera.

In assault the melta unit with Librarian charge and batter the plasma Veterans, the Veterans fail morale and fall back off the board.

My shooting turn I point everything at the Assault Squad in my table quarter and blast them, only a few remain and they fail morale and leg it.

That's me done!




* Tactical Notes

Bad times the Valkyrie is down and I couldn't fire the troops as emergency disembarked so those Veterans out on their own are probably toast. My Veterans out the other Valkyrie are gone too. All I've got left is a few slow moving tanks and a single Chimera. My hope is the Veterans hold out and the game ends next turn and I can get a draw.

Turn 5

In Kris turn he moves the 10 man plasma Assault Squad to butcher my Veterans hiding in terrain. The melta Assault Squad want a piece of that Executioner!

Shooting my Veterans take a ass whooping but not so bad thanks to good cover saves, I fear combat is where they will fail. Executioner finally goes down :(

In assault Angels charge the Veterans and win combat, Veterans fall back ok.

My turn I regroup the Veterans and move to contest the objective. I blast that last melta unit leaving no Angels in my deployment zone at all.





* Tactical Notes

If there's a next turn then I'm dead. No way those Veterans will survive out in the open with all those frag templates and bolt pistols. I just hope the game ends next turn and I get a draw..

Turn 6

We roll for turn 6 and it doesn't happen. Game ends in a draw, however, I suggest to Kris to carry on as the game is in the bag for him and don't want to rob his win. So, we carry on....

Kris goes to blast the CCS in a crater, I suggest to forget them and frag the Veterans in the open which does - two units kill one guy and Kris then uses his last Devastator unit to bomb down kraks just for fun blowing the little Veterans up.

Angels win claiming two objectives Guard claim one - woot! woot!






Summary

Yay! Well done Kris, you won mate . Kris played well he used the tactics I told him which was use meltas on the heavy armour and use kraks to pop the Chimeras which will setup the Assault Marines, just make sure kill the CCS first due to the amount of plasma packing then the plasma Veterans. Kris did the above, though one mistake was one Demolisher had the turret broke he should have left this as it wasn't a threat and take out the other CCS Chimera and then kill that squad which probably would have left more of his Marines intact. Also, the Honour Guard should have charged the Executioner when failed to pop it with melta could have done it over with kraks.

My mistakes were probably getting that first Demolisher too close. I should have pulled it back and then sent a plasma Veteran squad forward and used them instead of long range shots, probably would have saved myself a tank.

I really enjoy these reports, well done. It is great to see your opponent progressing as well and I am glad you played the extra turn. Being aggressive gives you a chance to win the game, but it is tough to keep it up if all you get is a loss in return.

Seems like the Dev's really struggled to take much down this game - bad rolls on armor or could he have positioned them for more side shots?

Edit: Also, what about keeping a melta squad in reserve to DoA in at the back and blow tanks that way? Does he have the Cover Save power on the Librarian, or Blood Lance? I think the lance might have been brutal against the parking lot of vehicles...

woop woop nice one kris

i'm looking forward to our next match up

i think that if he just sticks with his current list and concentrate on becoming betyter with it then he will soonm know what combo works for him and be able to fine tune it into an almost indestructable force

calypso the shield power saved my ass more times in this game than I can remember, that and the libby's are always in a melta unit so the anti tank is already covered.

I don't like to deep strike simply because you can't be sure when your guys are going to turn up.

I'm more than happy with the result of the game, and think I'll take croggy's advice and stick with it for a while before doing any fine tuning.

And Mark you owe me a fiver lol :p

I somehow missed the shield in the army list, just making sure

Good batrep and very cool that you gave your opponent good tactical advice. Very nice.

Many thanks, though wasn't you one of the folk complaining last time?

How wrong were all the people who thought this list couldn't win haha haha haha haha

I reckon I let you win will be the next comment

No we won't say you let him win. But he won after the game ended the first time so technically it was a draw. I still think that you need something else besides the devastators don't really fit the list.

Take more Assault Marines with meltaguns or Baal Predators.

I always had faith in that list, just had to wait til it popped up. Was reading your other one, reading about people saying it will never work, but i'm sure every list they've made wasn't perfect, anyways good battle report, and grats Kris, also on a side not read the doubles and also want to say grats on that win.

Tear Of The Angel can you explain why they don't fit.

It's a foot list and as such I wanted the heavy support to also be on foot, so that they can gain the benefits from priests should I choose to place one with them.

Tear OF The Angel wrote:No we won't say you let him win. But he won after the game ended the first time so technically it was a draw. I still think that you need something else besides the devastators don't really fit the list.

Yes, technically it was a draw. But Justicar was a turn away from winning and I didn't want to be a dick and take that away from him.

Like? Devs provide long range fire power and infantry like the rest of the list. Anything else would be armour which doesn't suit. The Devs do very well and extremely annoying, many people underestimate them.

Amaya wrote:Take more Assault Marines with meltaguns or Baal Predators.

How can more Assault Marines fit in? Baal Predators do not fit in a jump list...

Wolf Guard Leon wrote:I always had faith in that list, just had to wait til it popped up. Was reading your other one, reading about people saying it will never work, but i'm sure every list they've made wasn't perfect, anyways good battle report, and grats Kris, also on a side not read the doubles and also want to say grats on that win.

I did too mate. Unfortunately Justicar was using it wrong, but now he has seen the light!

for objective missions you might want to consider combat squading the marines so there are more targets to confuse the guard. target saturation is key against guard and who said the devs don't fit? it's more like the cheap rockets make the list, he needs some way to reach out and touch fast skimmers, and spamming rockets does that.

Mercer nice reports as always mate,

I can't believe people doubted that list its mean.

You shouldn't take flak for helping Justicar, wish I had someone to help me a lot of the time. Maybe i'll move to staffordshire

Justicar props on the victory

bagtagger wrote:for objective missions you might want to consider combat squading the marines so there are more targets to confuse the guard. target saturation is key against guard and who said the devs don't fit? it's more like the cheap rockets make the list, he needs some way to reach out and touch fast skimmers, and spamming rockets does that.

Exactly what I keep saying about the Devs.

SpankHammer III wrote:Mercer nice reports as always mate,

I can't believe people doubted that list its mean.

You shouldn't take flak for helping Justicar, wish I had someone to help me a lot of the time. Maybe i'll move to staffordshire

Justicar props on the victory

Me neither. Now this list has won not even a bad word in sight, weirdos.

Aye mate, move up here lol.

Okay I will bite...

I would make a few changes. I would drop the Honor Guard squad, I am not really a fan of them I think they are still too expensive for what they do. I would also drop the plasma pistols for Meltas - plasma pistols aren't worth it in my opinion.

I really like the idea of at least one squad DS'ing in using DoA - For this I really like Vanguard Veterans with the assault after DS rule who can go after Long Fangs, Heavy Weapons or Vehicles in the backfield.

Blood Lance is also a great Mech Busting power that seems to have a place. I know you want to use Shield on both Librarians, but this can be a secondary power for those cases when the shield is less important or when you have one active already.

Finally, I would add a few bodies to the dev squads - maybe 1 or 2 each so you can stack wounds on normal marines.

This is Justicars list, but I will make a few comments as he comes on from time to time.

The Honour Guard are good for getting the job done with mass special weapons plus come with a built in Priest. You should have a look at them, as of course that's your opinion.

Plasma pistols, yeah, maybe could do that.

Justicar has used Vanguard twice and they didn't work so well for him. Perhaps bad luck?

The Librarians aren't always together and means crowding around one to use that power. Blood lance isn't really needed with all the melta jumping around.

Not much point in Dev squads tbh. They're cheap and mass missiles. Adding bodies just makes them expensive, if you lose a missile launcher doesn't matter still got 3 left to do damage with or the SGT.

Best part was the little tactical notes.

Fun game.

We need to get you a better camera, your writeups are great but the inability for closeups makes me sad.

Very nice.

You could tell where this game was going by this picture:



Thankfully, your opponent took the advice and decided to use BA properly this time. Of course, he still took devastators. You walk before you run, I suppose.

i like this battle report. and admitably if you destroy the main wepaon on a demolisher leave it alone its more or less pathetic after that.

concentrate fire on hostile targets that could potentially do some damage

Regards

Ailaros wrote:Thankfully, your opponent took the advice and decided to use BA properly this time. Of course, he still took devastators. You walk before you run, I suppose.

While devastators have weaknesses, they are very valuable in a list such as this. Some things can be handled much better by 12 missiles than 17ish more assault marines. Genestealers f.ex. is a pain in the ass for assault marines, so giving them a healthy dose of frags first is a much better option. Keeping shooty vehicles shaken is very valuable so the rest of the list can close the distance, keeping vehicles stunned so you can rip them open i cc is valuable, opening up transports before the marines hit is valuable, having the opportunity to take out stuff that is faster than your jump packs is valuable. IMO, devs are the best firesupport in a jump list, and firesupport is needed in a jump list.

Plasma pistols are full of suck though. Meltas are just so much better, fills the same role & have many other uses. 2 extra normal attacks is not worth the tradeoff.

Thor665 wrote:Best part was the little tactical notes.

Fun game.

We need to get you a better camera, your writeups are great but the inability for closeups makes me sad.

I totally agree mate. It's my Iphone, pics on it suck. My Missus has got a decent small pink camera but my manstyle is at risk here

Ailaros wrote:Very nice.

You could tell where this game was going by this picture:



Thankfully, your opponent took the advice and decided to use BA properly this time. Of course, he still took devastators. You walk before you run, I suppose.

That picture is second turn. I moved up to blast Angels though ideally I should have held certain units back as mentioned.

Devastators are actually pretty cool

Besper wrote:i like this battle report. and admitably if you destroy the main wepaon on a demolisher leave it alone its more or less pathetic after that.

concentrate fire on hostile targets that could potentially do some damage

Regards

Yes, take out the Demolisher turret leave it alone. Kris should have done this and forgot about the heavy flamer on it, he would have been better going for another more juicer target.

Illumini wrote:

Ailaros wrote:Thankfully, your opponent took the advice and decided to use BA properly this time. Of course, he still took devastators. You walk before you run, I suppose.

While devastators have weaknesses, they are very valuable in a list such as this. Some things can be handled much better by 12 missiles than 17ish more assault marines. Genestealers f.ex. is a pain in the ass for assault marines, so giving them a healthy dose of frags first is a much better option. Keeping shooty vehicles shaken is very valuable so the rest of the list can close the distance, keeping vehicles stunned so you can rip them open i cc is valuable, opening up transports before the marines hit is valuable, having the opportunity to take out stuff that is faster than your jump packs is valuable. IMO, devs are the best firesupport in a jump list, and firesupport is needed in a jump list.

Plasma pistols are full of suck though. Meltas are just so much better, fills the same role & have many other uses. 2 extra normal attacks is not worth the tradeoff.

You hit the nail on the head mate. They can take out a variety of transports and don't always need to wreck and pop it, they can act to support other units. Can tackle monstrous creatures and infantry too.

Plasma pistols Justicar said he is ditching for more meltas.

Glad to hear he is swapping the pistols out.

I actually like the Dev squads. I suppose if the opponent is busy shooting at Dev's they arent shooting at assault Marines which is good as well.

In an all infantry army, Dev's do have a place since you have target saturation from the Assault Marines.

The idea behind the lance is you can conceivable blow multiple transports and set up some neat multi assault opportunities. Unleash Rage, naturally, is not a bad power at all

IMO against guard you need to get multiple units tied into one large assault to force huge negative modifiers on multiple units rather than wasting it on the 2 dudes left after a SM charge.

I can understand on the Vanguard, a lot depends on playstyle and the 4x Melta in the Honor is certainly nice.

He's tried pistols for several games now and they've never done anything and plasma guns for mobile units are not the solution. The meltaguns will be saving him 10 points too.

The Devs are pretty cool and I fear them. I rate them a lot and I don't even use them!

I know how lance works my point is the Librarians tend to go with a unit which assaults after where unleash rage is used more and has more advantage, shield is pretty useful too. The meltaguns and missiles deal with vehicles so lance isn't really needed.

Honour Guard are pretty cool in the right environment, they also bring a bonus Priest too

calypso2ts wrote:I actually like the Dev squads. I suppose if the opponent is busy shooting at Dev's they arent shooting at assault Marines which is good as well.

Except mercer wasn't the kind of guy to get duped into shooting devestators when there were meltaguns literally flying down his throat.

I'd think this game would have been much harder for the guard player if there were two more squads of assault marines, or some death company, or something multi-assaulting with krak grenades/powerfists out of a drop pod turn 1. I suppose he'll eventually learn that krak missiles really aren't all that great against most vehicles (especially the ones he cares about killing the most).

you cant assaut out of pods on turn they landed

kraks are good
meltas are over rated

You can if you're BA

and both krak and meltabombs hit rear armor, which, in the case of IG is almost always 10. I don't know how you could over rate a weapon which ALWAYS causes the tank to roll for damage when it hits.

@Ailaros BA cannot assault from Drop Pods

P.32 Drop Pod Assault special rule, final sentence. "A unit that Deep Strikes via Drop Pod cannot assault in the turn it arrives"

Please read the codex before posting comments which are blatantly wrong.