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Battle Report – Game Empire Pasadena 11/14/09
1850 pts, three rounds


Back to GE Pasadena for another go at their monthly RTTs. As always, if you haven’t been to Game Empire and are in the area, check it out. Nice store and staff (except for that Travis fellow j/k) and plenty of tables and terrain. I was here a few months ago for Round 2 of the Hardboyz tournament and we’ll see if I can do any better this time.

Still muddling along with the Guard.


Company HQ w/ 4 Flamers and Chimera w/ Heavy Flamer, Astropath
4x Veteran Squads w/ 3 Meltaguns and Chimera w/ Heavy Flamer
2x Vendetta
2x Hellhounds (squadroned) w/ Multimeltas
Leman Russ Executioner
Colossus
2x Hydras


Still have not come up with a build that I’m totally comfortable with despite switching it around every couple of weeks or so. Guess the only solution is more experience, so I keep carting it around from game to game. Sadly, although the army is fully painted, I neglected to take a group shot, so you’ll just have to suffer with the in-game pics.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Game One vs Tom playing Necrons

Deceiver
Lord w/ Disco Ball and Veil
12 Warriors
12 Warriors
12 Warriors
12 Warriors
Monolith
Monolith


Mission: Seize Ground w/ bonus points for killing all of a particular force org selection (i.e. all Troops, all Elites, etc). Spearhead deployment.

With not much that can reliably smack a Monolith (much less two), I decide for the time-honoured practice of going for phase-out. The Colossus can pound down the Warrior packs, while the rest of my army tries to get shots at the Warriors from around the Monoliths.

I lose first turn and set up castled in the corner with the Vendettas scouting to the right. Tom forms the Necron Phalanx and advances behind the Monolith wall.








Turn One – Necrons

Both Monoliths float forward and in a surprising move, both teleport Warrior squads to the front, who fire on and Shake a Vendetta. The other Warrior packs advance on foot towards objectives.








Turn One – Guard

That’s a pretty serious underestimation of Guard firepower and my army flattens both Warrior squads and the Lord.








Turn Two – Necrons

The Lord staggers back to his feet with “WTF” scrolling across his visor. Both Monoliths continue to advance with the Warriors behind them. Gauss flux fire lashes out but proves ineffective.








Turn Two – Guard

Attempting to swing around the Monoliths, 3 Chimeras head to the left, but the lead ends up immobilizing itself on the cliff. On the right, Vendetta fire downs a few Warriors and the Colossus sends metal bodies flying. Unable to draw LOS past the Monolith Wall, the rest of the army fires off a few rounds at the Deceiver for a wound.








Turn Three – Necrons

The Deceiver charges at a Chimera and vaporizes it with a single blow, spilling Guardsmen out into the wreckage. One Monolith immobilizes itself on the same cliff as the left Chimeras, but the other tries to Particle Whip the Executioner and ends up scattering to glance a Hydra instead.








Turn Three – Guard

On the left side, the 2 mobile Chimeras head for the objective, but another one immobilizes itself on the same cliff! The 3rd one zips onto the flag and blows smoke. Weapons fire scythes into the Deceiver and takes it down while the explosion claims a few Guardsmen. Artillery fire scatters long and a few more Warriors die to the Vendettas.








Turn Four Necrons

The mobile Monolith moves to contest an objective while Gauss fire immobilizes the last of the left side Chimeras.








Turn Four Guard

Hellhound and Vendetta fire knock down another couple of Necrons and we’re just about at phase out number. Sadly, the Colossus misses again, but Guard infantry disembarks and fans out to take an objective.








Turn Five Necrons

In a last push the remaining Necron Warriors try futilely to take down the left Chimera holding an objective.








Turn Five Guard

The guns finally seem to work again and the Necrons are swept from the board.








We roll for continuance and the game ends, so I won’t get the points for the Monoliths as the army doesn’t actually phase out. Off to round two.

Game two vs Garret playing Chaos Space Marines

Chaos Sorcerer with Lash of Submission
5 Chosen w/ 3x Meltaguns
10 Berserkers w/ Powerfist and Rhino
10 Berserkers w/ Powerfist and Rhino
9 Plague Marines w/ Powerfist and 2x Meltagun
9 Plague Marines w/ Powerfist and 2x Meltagun
10 Chaos Space Marines w/ Lascannon, Plasma Gun, and Icon of Chaos Glory
Predator w/ Autocannon and 2x Lascannon
Predator w/ Autocannon and 2x Lascannon





Mission is Kill Points (ack!) with a single objective in our zones for bonus points. Deployment is Dawn of War. I win first turn and deploy nothing as does Garret.





Guard Turn One

I roll onto the board stacking in the center to prevent getting ganked by Outflanking Chosen. Two Chimeras get tasked to guard my objective along with the firebase units, while everything else goes for the endzone.








Chaos Turn One

Garret sets up castled on his objective. Night fight means pretty much no shooting and we’re off to Turn Two.








Turn Two – Guard

General advance on the left with the Chimeras blowing smoke. Hydras and Hellhounds can’t stop either Rhino, while the Vendettas can only immobilize a single Predator.








Turn Two – Chaos

Plague Marines move up along with the Rhinos. Lascannon fire kills a Hellhound and immobilizes the other.








Turn Three – Guard

The Executioner crests the wall and smashes half a Plague Marine squad down, while the Vendettas kill a Predator. Both Rhinos live again under long range meltagun and Hydra fire, with one stunned. On the objective, the Chaos Space Marines take a Colossus shell to the face, killing half of them instantly.








Turn Three – Chaos

Chosen appear on the right side and blow off a Vendetta lascannon with a long distance meltagun shot. Both Plague Marine squads continue forward, one exploding a Chimera and the other one missing the immobilized Hellhound. The unstunned Rhino zips forward, daring the Guard to stop it. In assault, the Plague Marines fail their difficult terrain test on a pair of twos and that’s the turn.








Turn Four – Guard

Both Chimeras drive right up to the impudent Rhino, setting up the Executioner for mass Berserker kills. 6 meltaguns + Hydra autocannons should do the trick, yes? How about an Immobilized and Weapon Destroyed instead? Deprived of its desired target the Executioner zaps down more Plague Marines as a consolation prize. On the right, both Vendettas plus Chimera multilasers do not kill the Chosen either.








Turn Four – Chaos

Doo doo doo. Khorne Berserkers calmly disembark from their Rhino of Indestructibility, give it a nice pat on the side and then proceed to wreck both Chimeras and dump their riders out. Their brethren w/ Sorcerer also get out of their ride and merrily skip forward holding hands. Plague Marines finally kill the last Hellhound, and lascannon fire stuns the Executioner. Finally, on the right the Chosen immobilize a Vendetta, bringing it to the ground.








Turn Five – Guard

Uhhhhhhh. Not much to do now, methinks. The Guardsmen form a firing line desperately trying to burn down the Berserkers before they charge. They get about half of them. Colossus fire shreds the rear pack of Berserkers, but on the right the last two Chosen survive the Vendetta lascannons.








Turn Five – Chaos

Everybody now! “Blood for the ….” Just for good measure the Sorcerer lashes the Guardsmen into an aesthetically pleasing formation just before two Berserker squads mow them down. The Executioner falls prey to the Plague Marines and the Chosen squad explodes a Chimera.








Turns 6 and 7 (fast-forward)

The Guard dies.



Well, that didn’t turn out so well, did it? For some reason, I apparently thought I was playing a Capture and Control mission and neglected to just sit back on the far right side and pound Garret with superior long range firepower. I blame the infamous wall of Game Empire Pasadena which continues to haunt me through multiple tournaments. I even had deployment choice too! Yes, the wall is obviously to blame.





Game Three vs. Jason playing Imperial Guard

Command Squad w/ Creed, Astropath, Fleet Officer
6x Ogryn
Veterans w/ 3x Meltagun and Chimera
Infantry Platoon w/ 2x Lascannon, 2x Plasmagun, 2x Grenade Launcher, 2x Meltagun
Infantry Platoon w/ 2x Plasmagun, 4x Sniper Rifle
3x Sentinels (1 squad)
Manticore
Russ w/ Plasma Sponsons and Lascannon
Russ Punisher w/ Pask





Mission is Kill Points (argh!) w/ bonus points for killing all Troops. Deployment is Pitched Battle and I win first turn.

Deployment is pretty much in the center for me with the Vendettas setup on the flanks as usual. Jason’s Guard stretches across the long board edge. My primary target is the Manticore, as it’s deadly against packed in armour (like mine!).





Jason seizes the Initiative!


Turn One – Jason

Creed orders the lascannon teams into action and the right most Vendetta is Shaken. Battle cannon fire wrecks the lead Chimera and a plasma round drifts over and Stuns the Chimera behind it! I do get a bit of luck as the Manticore shot drifts away from the Hellhounds and fails to penetrate their side armour.








Turn One – Me

Well, that was annoying. I begin to move forward across the board, looking to get the Hellhounds into position next turn. Executioner fire nukes a few Guardsmen, the Colossus airballs, and the left Vendetta can only Immobilize the Manticore despite having side aspect shots. Not too good.








Turn Two – Jason

Storm Eagle rockets drop right on top of the Hellhound squadron and a good scatter picks up both tanks for Shaken and Weapon Destroyed results, which is still pretty lucky for me. Outflanking Sentinels shoot up the Hydras and charge them for no real effect. On the left, lascannon fire Immobilizes the Vendetta.








Turn Two – Me

Got to keep moving, but my advance is being strung out and I’m going to hit piecemeal if at all. Vendetta fire at least manages to blow off the Manticore launcher, but it’s still there and not a kill point. Hydras dink a Sentinel and the Colossus smashes most of an Infantry squad along, but it’s not crippling any effectiveness at all yet.








Turn Three - Jason

Ogryns show up on the left side, multicharge the immobilized Vendetta, exploding it and also get the Veterans in the charge, who lose 8, but hold on snake eyes. The center Chimera is taken out by lascannon fire and the survivors are pummeled by the Russ, losing half. On the right, things are no better as Jason’s Veteran Chimera zooms forward, drops its troops and takes out both Hellhounds with pointblank meltagun fire. The remaining Vendetta is Shaken by lascannon fire and the Sentinels continue to bounce around the Hydras.








Turn Three – Me

With the Ogryns guaranteed to be coming in on me next turn, I drive my left units at full speed to try to evade their charge. On the right, a Chimera flames most of Jason’s Veterans away while the Colossus misses everything. No picture for this turn as my tears made it hard to focus on the camera.


<no pix>





Turn Four – Jason

Ogryns double charge the Executioner and Chimera and Stun both. The Command Chimera is exploded by a battle cannon round and the survivors fall out. On the right, the remaining Veterans fail to hit the opposing Chimera and the Sentinels continue to shake the Hydras. My Chimera’s flamer is taken out by a lascannon shot to prevent me from cooking the rest of the Veterans.








Turn Four – Me

The command squad moves forward and torches some of Jason’s Guardsmen, but that’s really all I’ve got.








Turn Five – Both

Sadly, nothing exciting happens that can save the game for me. The Ogryns tear apart the left Chimera, but the troops survive. The Sentinels continue to chase after the Hydras, but never do end up killing any of them. We roll for continuance and the game ends.








So that’s it for the tournament. Rather disappointing, as I come in with a Massacre win and two Massacre losses, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. The good news is that all three guys I played were pretty nice, and even a losing tournament beats a day at the office. Hope you enjoyed the read.


Few of the armies at the event (there are both 40k and Fantasy RTTs run together and both were pretty full).

Nice report and pics

It seems that in both the games you lost, it came down to you having a bad turn of shooting allowing your opponent to wrestle the initiative away from you. Is there anything in the 'dex that could help balance this out for you? Maybe keeping some stuff in reserve would help by giving your army the chance to engage opponents on two fronts?

Super report. The pictures are great, and the maps really put it over the top. Thanks.

Maybe you could try making an army with a little more durability? Like, add another Leman Russ (of any variety) and take a few more squads of veterans, or maybe an infantry platoon. The problem I have with armies like yours, with all the armor twelve vehicles (my normal army has 15 vehicles, so I know your pain), is that there's alot of stuff so the army tends to trip over itself. Since Guard units really need to support each other, this leads to mass confusion and death on the Guard's part.

You really need to take either a lot, like a ton of stuff, to absorb the casualties, or take some tougher units like battle tanks and infantry platoons that won't die as easily and just attrition the enemy to death. Maybe the whole 'Guard as a shock army' with all the melta-guns and flamers is a good idea, but I'm definitely too stupid to make it work. I just take as many guys as I can and hope the enemy can't kill everything.

Fantastic job, your presentation was nice to look at and easy to follow with clear pictures and concise text. The maps were icing on the cake.

However I found extreme maneuverability of your Leman Russ Executioner was a little odd:

I'd have thought that would be impassible terrain to vehicles, being a vertical wall and all.

But hey if it works it works

that tank is AV14, imagine it'd have smashed through that little bit of concrete

Nice report, as others said those maps are great (!) and helped a lot in following what happened.

I also don't understand why your shooting seems to turn out so bad, just unlucky dice? Though you could add some punch by adding medusas. I tried them out in some vassal games (yeah this ain't real playing but for trying out lists I like it) and though I actually diregard artillery, medusas made it into my lists.

Fantastic tourney report!!!!

Very detailed, lots of photos and diagrams and very easy to follow.

Also, fantastic array of painted armies and very cool tables to game on.


Thanks for sharing. It's greatly appeciated.

Great report. Many pics, pretty toys, great maps, instructive tactics....
As I said, great report. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the detailed reports, pics, and maps. Your army looks nice.

Yeah, also confused about why there were tanks on top of crates and walls, but I guess we don't know why they were there?

- Blackbone

Fantastic report! What did you use for the maps? I'd love to get ahold of that.

Good report Improved a pretty boring day at my office

Great report! I haven't been down to GE Pasadena in ages, should try to get down for tournaments.

cool report with nice pics. what did you use for the cartoony overhead maps?

warboss wrote:cool report with nice pics. what did you use for the cartoony overhead maps?

Yeah, what program did you use for batrepping? That really took it over the top for me.

Great battle report.

Thats the first time I seen Hellhounds run in awhile. Do you like the Hell Hounds or would you cut them?

The overhead maps are generated using Vassal 40k. Unfortunately GW shut down the website to get it.

Great report and pics. it's always good to see so many well painted armies on tables with good terrain.

Any chance of some close ups of your forces? The camo scheme looks great.

Wow great report great pictures and the work you did with the computer to show what happened where there was no pictures was awesome as well.

Superb battle report!

Great pics and easy to follow Vassal recaps.

Wow you run a mean list.

Its a shame the last two games didn't end well.

Assault really ruined your games.

Thanks all for the comments! As Kirika said, the batreps are done w/ Vassal 40k, which I've been using for my last few batreps to display the games. BTW did anyone find the vassal pics a little hard to make out? I just realized that they don't look as clean as they usually did, and I think I compressed them a little too much.


JBlack: I usually try to deploy as many guns as possible at the start, so no, not much use of Reserves normally. That said, the vehicles tend to clog up each others' fire lanes and makes assault really deadly with multiple assaults happening. I had another game this week in which I kept the entire army in Reserve, came on in the corners and beat my opponent who drove the center, unsure of where I was going to appear. I'll probably start experimenting more with that sort of deployment, especially in Kill Point missions.

Saber: I've run the list with multiple Demolishers before, and I haven't really felt it worthwhile IMO. They're not really that survivable against close range melta/assault. Maybe standard Russes to give long range punch?

TeH_K42, Blackbone: Interesting to see that you guys play terrain like that as impassable to vehicles. Like Cpt. Icanus said, we assume that the tank can smash its way through the wall (dangerous terrain of course), but it gets placed on top of the terrain instead of literally tearing a hole in it. I agree that it does look stupid though.

Cpt. Icanus: Yes, the dice are to blame! j/k I think it has more to do with my play, as I get stuck into positions where I need a good turn of rolling to avoid getting assaulted and getting smacked when the dice don't go my way. It'd probably be better if I played more conservatively sometimes, spreading the potential crappy dice rolls over multiple situations. I've been running the vehicle horde as a single concentrated unit a lot, and while it gives out fearsome close range firepower, it gets hurt hard if it can't completely kill its targets. Probably try splitting them up more. And yes Medusas (and Manticores) are awesome, shame I don't own any.

Kirika: I absolutely love my Hellhounds, but sadly they haven't been working too well for me. Fast vehicles are great, their weapon loadouts are wonderful, but they are the same price (or more!) as Vendettas! Maybe if I saw less vehicles in most games they'd be better for me, but the perfect scenario of wiping out tightly packed light infantry never seems to happen for me. The Executioner on the other hand, always seems to wreak havoc on infantry both large and small. *shrug*

Gordy2000: Sure, I'll throw some pics up in a few.

SabrX: Player skill means more then a mean list, yes? Hopefully someday I'll hit my groove with the Guard, but for now I'll just keep muddling through.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hellhounds





Company HQ





Infantry








Executioner and Colossus





Hydras

Thank you for those excellent battle reports.

Nice battle report, thanks.

Nice report! and although you were on the losing end your guard opponent with Ogryns showed that ogryns can do really well in certain situations, and are not a "loser" choice as some others think...

Even though you lost the last two games ur game against the necrons was impressive even though their gameplay was odd and at sometimes wasteful i have had alot of trouble with chaos so i feel your pain when measly guardsmen are ripped apart by beserkers while they "merrily skip forward holding hands". hahahaha

Nice reports, thanks. Man i wish that I could go to those tourneys - my wife does volunteer work the 2nd saturday of the month and I am stuck babysitting

Really great battle report, and your armys paint job is excellent. Well actually all the armys at the tournement looked good. Great pics too.