Deadly Dire Avenger
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Last night I had the honor of playing a new person at our store. He's been out a few times but I've not had the privilage of playing against him til now. As I got there late and most people were in the mood for smaller games we agreed on a smaller points game, 1000 points in all. A simple eradication mission with no real objectives other then to crush the life from our foe. So, without further babbleing I give you THE LISTS
*dramatic music fit for Iron Cheif*
My List:
1 Hive Tyrant with VC, TL-dev, Toxic Miasma, and a few other odds and ends like +1BS and +1Sv
1 Dakka-fex with 2x TL-Dev's, +1BS, +1Sv (normally for the elite I dont take the +1Sv, but if this is being taken as a heavy slot might as well)
1 Gun-fex with VC, Barb Strangler, +1BS, +1Sv.
2 Zoantrhopes with Warp Blast (*sigh*) and Synapse
12 Gaunts with Dev's and Toxin Sacs
12 Gaunts with Dev's and TS's
12 Hormigaunts with +1ws and TS's (Yes, I chose not to 16 nakked ones, and it was the right choice)
His List: (as best as I can guess. I dont know BA's very well)
1 Bael Preditor (? Lots of assualt cannons and heavy bolters)
1 Vindicator (big cannon shovel thingy)
5 Death Company squad (Um...black guys with jump packs and nasty CC weapons I think)
5 BA's with a Lascannon. Shooty
5 BA's with a Lascannon. Shooty
5 BA's with some chaplain guy...with a power weapon I think, CCish.
5 MORE BA's with...um...they were dead so fast I dont know what they had.
Yah, I'm no very firm on what his forces were, I hope this vague description will work well enough. In then end all that matters issssss.......
*more overly dramatic music*
THE GAME:
Set Up: I won the roll and selected him to start set up first...then promptly realised with the way I have my troops it really didnt matter because I had more squads them him by a few so I could adjust easily in deployment.
(Tangent)I STILL say this rule is stupid. You should each take turns deploying each TYPE of unit. Both players do all their heavys, then once both are done only then do you move on to the next choice. Armies like Nids and other 'troop' happy armies get a huge advantage in deployment just from having lots of little guys...for no real reason.(/tangent)
He ploped tanks in the middle of his zone, his Vind with a little bit of cover from the right side of my zone covered by a building. Otherwise spread his Red Dudes (BA's) across the board, mostly 8" back of the forward line. His black-jump-troopy CC nasty things (I'm guessing Death Company?) were right up on the right side (my right) ready to leap into combat. His Pred was slightly behind and to the left of the Vind.
I dropped my Fex's and Tyrant in the centre, no real cover for any of them but the Dakka dn Tyrant shielding the Gun-fex from LOS from the tanks (needed it to survive at least til my turn to shoot at the tanks) My Gaunt armie and 1 zoa deployed on the left side in a big cluster, ready to make a run from the woods up ahead and gain some cover before making the final advance. My Hormies and the other Zoa set up on the far right, opposing his Black-Nasties.
We rolled for turn. He won the roll and decided rightly so to give me the first turn.
(tangent) If you're NOT a pure shooty army (tau, IG) or you're not facing a pure shooty army, always give your opponent the first turn, let them do half the work for you by moving closer, its not likley they'll be able to bring crushing power to bear on the first turn anyways(/tangent)
Begin turn one...
*soft, mellow music underscores the romantic....er wait...wrong disc...Ride of the Valkerie at volume 11!*
TURN ONE:
My phase: I advance everything almost directly forward, the MC's make room for each other to shoot, the Gun-fex and Tyrant manage to shake the Pred with highly erratic fire. Everything else moves and fleets. Such a simple turn one.
His phase: Shooting takes care of...well...nothing. Every lascannon is shruged off and nothing else has range yet. I've made an error by a matter of a fraction of an inch. His jump-troops-oh-black-evil manage to get the Tyrant in a charge by the tip of the tape measure and I'm forced to defend. Those black monsters rip appart the Tyrant like it was just so much more used wrapping paper. There was more then one power weapon, or somehow they had a fistfull of attacks, either way it was over quick. Toxic Miasma turned a possible 9 wounds (all unsaveable) into a meer 5. Which is 1 more then they needed. Dead Tyrant. This ugly squad then consolodates into my Dakka-fex, locking it in CC to prevent its nasty shooty revenge.
TURN TWO:
My Phase: OH NOES! The leader is down! THE LEADER IS DOWN! The cries from the bugs can be heard by all in the room. They weep for the loss of their glorius Leader-Tyrant. He was a most kind and gentle king-bug. They beg the great Dice Gods to not forget him and grant them strength in their time of need when they are without the Leader. The shooting continues from the Gun-fex. He shakes the Bael-Pred. A Warp Blast manages to immobalize the Vindicator but thats it. The rest of the Gaunts surge forward and get into a bit of cover at last. The Hormies, enraged at the loss of their king, who had just yesterday feasted with them at their annual Eat-baby-human-and-Bridge-tournement festival, they rush into the backs of their kings slayers and....*drumroll* manage to kill one. ONE! All those attacks and only one goes down. The Nasty-Blacks take their swings towards the Dakka-fex and wound it twice, enraging it into swinging back with its stubby claws (it has 4 guns yes still has 2 attacks? Crazy!) The fex splatters one tiny human. The Hormies cry out the the Dice Gods again, beseeching support and understanding in their time of woe.
His Phase: Woe be the fool who taunts the Dice Gods by killing the Tyrant-King in turn 1, for his shooting splatters 6 shooty-gaunts and puts a single wound on the left-most Zoa. The rest of his army prances about, feeling all smug and superior in their pretty red paint and superior 'And They Shall know no Fear' stuff.(it was a nicley painted army, but like the Brits of old, they wore red to hide the blood seeping from the holes soon to be all over them. *side note: Thats NOT the real reason the Brits wore red...but still funny*) By prancing about I mean one of his squads, the one with the Chaplin or something, advanced up to the side of the Vindicator, covered behind a building from the Fex's. Then close combat, his black dudes turned their attention to the Hormies and killed 4. In a fit of rage the Hormies killed 2 more of these Black-Devils and stranded their leader to fight alone. He was outnumbered by a factor of 6 to 1 (with multiple wounds, and facing a MC that counts as 10 models) The Fearless son-of-a-squishy died to the press of bodies around him. 4 saves due to press and he failed 3 of them. Dice Gods be praised. The Hormies massacre-moved up the field 4" and the Dakka-fex 6".
TURN THREE:
My Phase: The Gaunt swarm pressed up further, the right half of them split off to engage the squad hiding with the Vindicator, and the other squad headed straight up the left board edge towards another BA squad. The Fex's shuffled their big feet to get some more shots off against the tanks. The Hormies and their Zoa plunged forward, eager for more meals. Shooting the Dakka-fex (God I love 8 Twin-linked, Re-wounding S6 shots!) and the left most Gaunts into the BA squad on that side of the table netted every single human soul consumed by the flung bug-ammo. They died quite in a messy burst of flesh. The Zoa flailed about madly with his brain (Warp Blast) but did nothing. These poor Zoa's are good at flailing about, but with BS 3 AND a Pshycic test to use the high blast function, THEN roll to penetrate? Thats a lot of things to go wrong. I'm starting to dislike Warp Blast a lot.
His Phase: The Pred goes to town and eats up all but 2 gaunts in my right squad, and the Vind eats up all by 3 in the other. Poor little gaunts, you served your masters well, and probably tasted good after the battle too! The Lascannons also drop my right hand Zoa dead. Otherwise all his shooting amounts for nothing and he fails anything else of note.
TURN FOUR:
My Phase: Blessed be to the Dice Gods, the Gun-fex blows up the Pred with a penetrating Barb Strangler shot. So very lucky on that one. The Dakka-fex goes to town on the side of the Vindicator and 8 shots cause 3 glances and 1 penetrating shot. All in all enough to blow the thing to chunky tank-bits, unfortiounit for me it blew up real good and left the wounded Dakka fex without its broken hull for cover. The Hormies still berserking form their last encounter manage to make their leadership roll (SNAKE EYES!) and charge into the Chaplin's squad and make pin-cushions of 3 of the 5 troops. 2 more go down though, leaving me with 3 left.
His Phase: Close combat blocks the most of his fire from his last 2 unscathed squads on the far right, he does manage a Lascannon shot against my 2 Gaunts, it strikes soundly...but the Gaunt clearly had no need for his left leg because he doesn't even flinch (a lascannon rolling 1 to wound is just silly, anything with strength greater then double its targets toughness plus TWO should basicly be considered Rending IMHO)
Close combat gets even better then that. His attacks swing at the same time as mine, he manages to kill all but one enraged Hormigaunt (wow...) and I managed exactly 3 wounds. His saves? A 1, a 2, and a 2. The whole squad goes down and the lone Hormi sings praises to the Dice Gods. He was too busy singing cause he only masacre moved 1" :
TURN FIVE:
My Phase: I move everything towards his final line, nothing really can shoot, even the Gun-fex who cant get around cover this turn. I decided to lurk the one remaining hormi instead of charging...trust me, this was a decision influenced by the Dice Gods themselves. It could have made CC alone, but probably would have died while MAYBE taking one with it. Instead I left it there and....
His Phase:
...forced him to make a leadership test on his squads to shoot anything except it. His first squad made it and killed the squad of 3 gaunts that were charging to get into range...but the other squad, the one with LOS on my Dakka-fex AND Zoa FAILED ITS LEADERSHIP!!! A lascannon and all of the bolters ripped appart the lone hormi without mercy. The Hormi's final breath was to give thanks to the great Dice Gods.
At this point my opponent conceeded the game to me. I was bearing down on the poor stranded squad with the Dakka-fex, Zoa, Gun-fex and 2 Gaunts. The shooting would have been brutal, but not only that, I would have been able to charge in and prevent counter fire for the next turn. He was done for.
Lessons to be learned here, dont kill the King turn one. The Dice Gods will not like it.
Hehe.
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