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Saturday night and evidently it is the perfect time for a Grey Knight versus Chaos Daemon match.

There has been some worry amongst us Daemon players about the effect of the GK Warp Quake power. So, I made up what I think is a relatively decent GK list and then asked my son to play it. Now he is a better player than I am, but this will be his first exposure to the new codex. On the other hand, I've been playing with variations of this Daemon army for the past 18 months or so.

Here is my Daemons 2000pt army:



HQ: Bloodthirster with might, blessings
HQ: Herald of Tzeentch with chariot, bolt, gaze, master, legion
HQ: Herald of Tzeentch with chariot, bolt, gaze, master, legion
Elite: 6 x Fiends of Slaanesh (1 with might)
Elite: 6 x Bloodcrushers of Khorne (the usual extras)
Elite: 4 x Bloodcrushers of Khorne (the usual extras)
Troops: 5 x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
Troops: 5 x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
Troops: 5 x Plaguebearers of Nurgle
Troops: 5 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch with bolt
Troops: 5 x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch with bolt + changeling
Heavy Support: Daemon Prince of Chaos (Khorne with hide, blessings)
Heavy Support: Daemon Prince of Chaos (Nurgle with hide)
Heavy Support: Daemon Prince of Chaos (Nurgle with hide)

Here is my son's GK 2000pt army (with some proxies and some mislabeling):



HQ: Coteaz (will ride in one of the rhinos)
HQ: Librarian with 2 skulls, halberd, 4 powers (will ride in Land Raider)
Elites: 5 x Purifiers with 2 psyC, 1 DH, 2 halberds (in rhino)
Elites: 5 x Purifiers with 2 psyC, 1 DH, 2 halberds (in rhino)
Elites: 1 x Ven Dread with TL autocannons
Troops: 5 x GKSS with psyC (in RB with psy ammo)
Troops: 5 x GKSS with psyC (in RB with psy ammo)
Troops: 3 x Henchman with 3 meltas (in Chimera)
Troops: 3 x Henchman with 3 meltas (in Chimera)
Troops: 5 Death Cult Assassins + 3 Crusaders (will ride in Land Raider)
Heavy: Dread with TL autocannons
Heavy: DreadKnight (no upgrades)
Heavy: Land Raider

Due to a mistake in my calculations, this worked out to 2007 pts, but hey, what's a few points between family members ...

Mission
We decided to rerun a scenario from a local tournament we participated in the previous weekend. We are using Spearhead (table quarters) deployment, and it is used a combination of objectives and killlpoints. For the objectives, the board is divided into 1/3s with an objective placed equadistant in the middle of each third. The player with most objectives gets 7 points, 3 points each if tie. The player with most killpoints gets 5 points, 2 if tied. Finally, there was a tertiary objective: gain 4 points if you eliminate the opponent's most expensive HQ.

Who goes first
Unfortunately, my son wins the dice roll. Perhaps he'll let his father, who sacrificed so much for him, go first ...

Nope, he elects to go first. Oh well, he only has two units with warp quake. Perhaps he won't take advantage of it.

So he deploys in his quarter as follows:



I am unable to seize the initiative. But I do get my preferred wave (thirster, Tz Herald, BCx6, Nurgle DP, Nurgle DP, Horrors, PlagueBearers).

First Turn

He moves his GKSS units forward, disembarks, and then later runs to spread them out. He is able to cast warp quake for both of them. Oh oh, he knows what he's doing ...



Unfortunately, we didn't realize until after the photos were taken, that the rhinos actually contain the Purifiers, while the GKSS are in the razorbacks. I let him swap the vehicles later, so in the second turn photos below, you will see that the rhinos and razorbacks have magically switched places. Also, the circled objects are the objectives.

Because we were interested in visualizing the effect of Warp Quake, we measured it out and put down dice to indicate relatively accurately where the warp quake areas are on the board. As you can see, dropping or scattering inside the pink oval area will result in a mishap.



Here is a similar view of the warp quake area of the second GKSS unit.



As you can see, there is not a whole lot of room to land in, even with just two units of GKSS. I'm going to have to take a chance of either scattering into warp quake and getting a mishap, or stay away from it and scattering off the table. Sigh. Well, you have to love your children no matter what they do to you ...



Daemons Turn 1

First in are the unit of six crushers. Here is where I want them along with their scatter roll. Yikes, please don't scatter into warp quake ...



It was close. About 1.5" to spare ...


By the way, the three snail things are our three objectives. At any rate, the Thirster lands okay.



However, I see things in this quarter getting full pretty quick. Perhaps I can land a DP right in that little area in his quarter. Bullseye


It was kind of lucky since as you can see above, the warp quake area wasn't that far away.

My son then reminds me that Coteaz is inside one of the nearby rhinos (that's when we realized we had the rhinos and razorbacks mixed up). So in the above photo, the two razorbacks are really rhinos containing purifiers.

At any rate, Coteaz's I've Been Expecting You means that he gets a free shot at me. Two psycannons shoot out of the rhino and put one wound on the daemon prince.

Feeling confident, I drop the Horrors with the Changeling into the same zone.



Surely he won't risk shooting at the Changeling's unit? He does, and kills three horrors. The bolt from the Horrors ends up missing.

Chastened, I go back to dropping into my quarter. The next two units (Tz Herald and PlagueBearers) however both scatter off the table. The first is delayed, while the other is placed right in the very corner of his quarter.



Realizing that spot is totally cursed, I go back into his end and get lucky with another Daemon Prince.



End of Turn 1 evaluation

In dozens and dozens and dozens of games, I have had mishaps in the first wave very very very infrequently. Here, I've already had two. As well, I've had to drop my units in a way that wasn't ideal.

I like the tzeentch heralds. They're the next best thing to Kairos. You'll need their mobility. The only thing I feel that you should have done was to give your DP's wings. Mobility is very important against the knights (actually, against any army) as it will minimize the amount of shooting you would have to face. Since you don't have Kairos, it's all the more important that you can reach you opponent as quickly as possible. To get those wings (well, 2 wings at least), I would recommend dropping 1 unit of plaguebearers and perhaps 1-2 crushers.

Your son's GK list is fairly all-purpose as well. I like it.

It's going to be a tough call. I don't think the GK list has enough volume of fire to take out daemons, but then again, daemons are going to have trouble against a mech list such as this. The lack of mobility on the DP's hurt, but fiends and chariots help make up for it somewhat.

Overall, I think Daemons are going to take this one. They can take out the light transports and should just ignore the LR. They've got more resilient troops in objectives games and less kill points in annihilation.

jy2 wrote:... The only thing I feel that you should have done was to give your DP's wings. Mobility is very important against the knights (actually, against any army) as it will minimize the amount of shooting you would have to face. Since you don't have Kairos, it's all the more important that you can reach you opponent as quickly as possible. To get those wings (well, 2 wings at least), I would recommend dropping 1 unit of plaguebearers and perhaps 1-2 crushers.

I don't know, I've always been scared off by the crazy price on the DP wings. As well, this is more of less the army that I've been going with recently. I'd rather use Tz bolt princes (so mobility isn't as important) but I do like the look of my current forgeworld princes.

I guess it's mainly because you don't run Kairos. Kairos makes the investment in winged DP's much better as they are much more likely to survive and make it into battle. I don't like walking assault princes because they are just too slow. Bolt princes, on the other hand, is alright without wings. As a matter of fact, that's what my balanced daemon list uses - Kairos, the Masque and 3 bolt wingless DP's (along with bloodcrushers and fiends).

I like how you've shown the area of effect of Warp Quake. In an instructional battle report such as this, it is really helpful. Props to you.

Looking forward to the report.

In my local scene, bringing Fateweaver is considered beyond the pale so alas I've never run him in any local event.

Thanks for the props. I've been keen to finishing reading your latest report but I'm waiting until more of my game is done.

BTW, how did you manage to get such clear photos. My photos look great in photoshop but once they are transferred to Dakka they look terrible.

Yeah, Fateweaver is rather annoying to casual gamers. As a matter of fact, a list like yours without Kairos is already hard enough to face even with competitive lists.

Take your time with your report. The content is really good and insightful, and the time you put into the report really shows.

As for my pictures, I just used a very good camera. Originally, I was considering getting a $1000+ camera like a Nikon, but then my friend introduced me to his Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5. For a sub-$500 camera, I'd say its picture quality is just superb. It even takes great pictures at less-than-optimal lighting conditions. I really don't regret getting it at all, and I saved so much money compared to my other option. You can see its quality when you look at my batreps (well, most of them, at least).

After taking pictures, I use Picasa to fine-tune the photos, usually to brighten up some of the darker photos, before uploading it to photobucket or picasa.

jy2 wrote:
After taking pictures, I use Picasa to fine-tune the photos, usually to brighten up some of the darker photos, before uploading it to photobucket or picasa.

That must be it: Dakka is doing some processing to it after upload. I'll have to put them onto my own site and link to them ...

Turn 2 - GK

Now I soon realize the error of my ways in dropping the Nurgle Princes in his area without anything else to distract his backfield shooting units.

He unloads both purifiers, and using his purifiers, land raider, razorbacks, dreads, chimeras, kills the horrors and both Nurgle daemon princes. The four psycannon and the twin-linked s8 autocannons do yeoman service in this action.



He also moves his GKSS back while shooting at the crushers (and inflicts one wound). The best part is his justicar rolls 1-1 for his psychic test for warp quake and dies (but still casts it).



Turn 2 - CD

Part of the fun of playing daemons is their unpredictability. Part of the unpleasantness of playing daemons is their unpredictability. My reserve rolls are poor and only the Tz Herald, one plaguebearer unit, and the Khorne prince make it in.

Unfortunately, both GKSS are still using warp quake. The next image shows the warp quake zone. As you can see, I'm really pushed for safe areas.



No matter, the dice shine for me everything comes in with no scatter, though as you can see from the next image, the Tz Herald could easily have mishaped.



The Khorne herald came in safely as well, but just.



As did the plaguebearers (though I realize now that I could just have used the crusher's icon)



My crushers get decent terrain and run rolls and are ready to assault next turn.



My Tz Herald also kills two men from the GKSS, but they pass their morale check.

Turn 3 - GK

He moves a variety of units forward into stormbolter range.



Notice that he drove his razorback and his land raider so as to protect his GKSS. Now they can shoot out, and my oncoming crushers are going to have to assault his vehicles first before they can dine on grey knights.



He proceeds to shoot his entire army at the crushers. One is killed out right, and with wound distribution, four of the other five have one wound a piece. I do wish Fateweaver was helping me out here.

In case you're keeping track of kill points: GK: 3, CD: 0

Turn 3 - CD

Once again, reserve rolls disappoint. I just get the second Tz Herald, the second Horrors, and another Plaguebearer squad. I really needed to get the fiends and the other crushers on the board.

I try to land the Tz Herald safely out of warp quake zone but close enough to shoot the GKSS squad (I really need to kill that squad and open up the field for my deep striking). Unfortunately, I get a terrible scatter. Once I measure out the warp quake area (in the below picture), you can see I didn't judge my drop placement well. So it mishaps for the second time and once again it just goes back into reserve.



My Horrors land okay, and with everyone else moving up for assault, I pin my hopes on the Horrors killing that razorback. I hit, I penetrate, ... I shake it ... sigh ...



Now I'll have to assault the razorback instead of the GKSS with my crushers. The Thirster is going to go after the land raider rather than the DreadKnight.

Meanwhile, the other plaguebearers landed far side of the map and run back a bit. They will make a run for the objective (the snail thing by the dread) perhaps in turn 5.



My Tz Herald remembers that he/it can split fire and does so, killing the razorback with the Bolt and one more member of that GKSS squad in the ruins with Gaze.



The crushers have no choice but to assault the razorback blocking their way.



The Thirster assaults the LandRaider. There's nothing like big rusty old swords for destroying adamantium hulls ...



The result? The razorback explodes while the Land Raider has a weapon destroyed. I choose the Hurricane Bolters since the psy ammo enhanced versions have been pretty effective so far. I also get a shaken (or stunned), but it really doesn't matter because once again the Fortitude psy test was successful. I'm just beginning to develop a dislike for that power ...



Analysis

I'm not looking forward to the GK next turn (turn 4). The land raider will no doubt move and unload all those DCAs and their librarian helper. S6 (with hammerhand + might) I6 A3 on the charge (or is it A4?) is going to hurt.

Also, not getting the fiends and the other crushers in this turn really hurts. And since both GKSS still live (and deny tons of board space due to warp quake), I am going to be forced to drop back in my corner yet again. For the slow crushers, even if they do come in next turn, they won't really be able to affect anything. Hmph...

KP Score: CD: 2 GK: 3

Wow, you had lucky deep strike rolls.

Keep up the good work! I look forward to reading the rest.

In regards to Turn 3 CD, did you shake the Razorback with Bolt? If so and you pen it with a 1 on damage charge, shouldn't it be stunned since Bolt is AP1?

Looking great so far. I'm excited to see the rest of the report

That is one good looking demon army - well painted & converted w/ a nice selection of Forgeworld, Ultraforge, and Privateer miniatures to complement the core of GW minis. What did you use to make those nurgle snail plaguebearers?

I agree about the demon prince's expensive price tag - I typically only run one in an army and even then he's either MoT, Gaze, Bolt or MoT, Wings, Bolt. I cringe at the thought of a S5 T5 3+/5++ or 4++ monster who costs 200pts+ Soul Grinders might be less survivable, but they can outshoot a demon prince and S10 is awesome to have around once the Land Raiders come out.

We had a long discussion on the merits of a SG vs a Daemon Prince in the Tactics forum not too long ago.

Personally I run an all Slaanesh army, so I like to have 2 SG along for the ride. I mix in a Winged DP (I got one from Sersi on this forum that is exquisite and unique!) for flavor as well.

I really like the Khorne DP model there, it also looks phenomenal on the tabletop, it is as huge as a DP is supposed to be imo.

SabrX wrote:In regards to Turn 3 CD, did you shake the Razorback with Bolt? If so and you pen it with a 1 on damage charge, shouldn't it be stunned since Bolt is AP1?

Laughs. You're right, but with Fortitude, it didn't really matter.

eagleboy7259 wrote:That is one good looking demon army - well painted & converted w/ a nice selection of Forgeworld, Ultraforge, and Privateer miniatures to complement the core of GW minis. What did you use to make those nurgle snail plaguebearers?

Thank you. You getting three out of four in the mini identification test is pretty darn impressive as well! The nurgle snails are from Scibor.

calypso2ts wrote:We had a long discussion on the merits of a SG vs a Daemon Prince in the Tactics forum not too long ago.

I initially wanted a painter-oriented list. Realizing my limitations as a general, I eventually have gravitated towards a high T MC list with no vehicles, since it is forgiving of my poor decision making and also because in my area I face lots of armour (and thus lots of anti-tank weapons). Unfortunately, the DE codex and its poison weapons have hurt me a bit but I've generally done quite well with this army. I'd prefer to swap out the Khorne DP and perhaps one of the Nurgle Princes with Tz Bolt Princes but I'm not really a fan of the GW DP models.

randyc9999 wrote:

eagleboy7259 wrote:That is one good looking demon army - well painted & converted w/ a nice selection of Forgeworld, Ultraforge, and Privateer miniatures to complement the core of GW minis. What did you use to make those nurgle snail plaguebearers?

Thank you. You getting three out of four in the mini identification test is pretty darn impressive as well! The nurgle snails are from Scibor.

I almost ended up with that very same Ultraforge model for my Bloodthirster but when I went to go check out at the store the owner showed me a decent looking used GW Bloodthirster which he had at less than a quarter of the price. The level of detail on those Ultraforge demons is so impressive, especially up close, and they are certainly much nicer for assembly and painting than those old metal GW greater demons. The only drawback is the pricetag

The fiends aren't Privateer? I have to say I really like the way that unit looks - those models are impressive and certainly fit the chaotic feel of the army and avoid the repetition you get from using GW fiends. Thanks for introducing me to a new company, I've never seen them around before and I'm really liking some of the stuff in their line.

eagleboy7259 wrote:
The fiends aren't Privateer? I have to say I really like the way that unit looks - those models are impressive and certainly fit the chaotic feel of the army and avoid the repetition you get from using GW fiends.

The models I'm using for the Fiends are minotaurs from Scibor. A unit of 3 was $50 I think.

Turn 4 - GK

No surprises. My son disembarks the DCAs and Crusaders and Librarian from the Land Raider. He tries to cast Hammerhand but fails and takes a wound. Might of Titan goes off so those DCAs will be S5.





As well the purifier squad and the DreadKnight move up ready for the combat.



Before the combat, his GKSS shoot at the crushers. Of the five remaining crushers, four of them have one wound. Still, I'll get a 3+ save against his shots, so nothing much to worry about.



Yup, three stormbolters and psycannon wipe the crushers out because they failed to make a single save.

In other shooting, the chimeras and meltaguns and autocannon dreads shoot at the two plaguebearer squads. They show the departed crushers how to make saves and only suffer one wound.

Assault time. Everything piles into the BloodThirster.



I don't think the Thirster would be laughing if it knew what was coming ...



The dreadknight successfully casts dark communion and removes the thirster's blessing. It is, in the end, irrelevant, as the 5 DCAs deal the Thirster four wounds, thereby pissing off the purifiers who eagerly marched up wanting to show off their fast-moving halberds in action.

Analysis

Ouch. That turn hurt. In all the games I have ever played with daemons, I can remember perhaps only one or two games in which my unit of six crushers didn't survive the game. To have them eliminated by turn 4 is certainly a first, and by nothing but AP4 and AP5 shooting no less. Certainly I was unlucky with my dice rolls, but the two turns getting into position really hurt. Warp quake is certainly powerful against daemons, especially with quarters. I'm used to dropping my first wave in the opponent's face so that it will only have to suffer a single round of shooting. Not being able to get into combat until turn 4? That sounds like a recipe for defeat for the daemons.

Turn 4 - CD

I better get my units on the board this turn or there won't be anything left for the GK to kill.

The last Tz Herald, perhaps fearful of his last two mishap adventures, uses his powers to ensure I get a 1 on the reserve roll. I guess I'll see him in Turn 5.

The fiends and bloodcrushers do drop in successfully.





As you can see, I still was constrained by warp quake.



Without any alternative targets, I needed to keep the fiends behind the crushers. I got a great run roll for the crushers, so they are ready to be slaughtered by that lucky GKSS squad next turn.



Not such a great run roll for the fiends, who flex their purple muscles for the camera because they don't have much else to do.



Finally, the Khorne daemon prince gives the DCAs a wide birth and with a good run roll can maybe assault in Turn 5. Hopefully the Horrors will weed out those DCAs.



The Horrors score four wounds. Three of them are distributed to the crusaders and their 3++ save, one to a DCA. One Crusader and one DCA die.

On the other size of the board, the Tz Herald shots all four shots at the remaining two models in the GKSS squad and manage to finally kill it! Yah, turn five and part of the board is open for my deep strikers!

KP GK:5 CD: 3

Really liking the report so far. Gonna have to make sure I keep an eye on any reports of yours.

beautiful army!

Turn 5 - GK
After such sterling GK shooting last turn, I certainly faced this turn with some trepidation. The Khorne Daemon prince faced the shooting of the GKSS, the Purifiers, one of the Rifleman dreads, and the Land Raider. He took three wounds but still survived until the assault round.



Meanwhile the other Purifiers, the Chimera, and the other Rifleman shot at the four blood crushers in the ruins. It wasn't looking good as I quickly failed three 3+ wounds.

In preparation for the assault phase, the Librarian tried to cast hammerhand and might on the DCAs but once again only one succeeded. Coteaz was able to case hammerhand on the Purifiers. With three wounds on the four Crushers and whole lot of S5 I6 power-weapon attacks coming my way, it looks grim, not to mention the Librarian, the DreadKnight, and the Crusader's power weapons.



After showing his power with his Prince, Khorne again decided to influence the game. The crushers passed about nine 5+ inv saves and only took one wound (and thus lost one already wounded crusher). In return they slew three Purifiers and one crusader and put a wound on Corteaz.

The Khorne prince also won his combat killing two GKSS.

Turn 5 - CD

I think I have a chance now. If I can get the Fiends into that combat (which will require better than average terrain, run, and assault moves) then I might even out the kill points. As for the objectives, I think I stand a good chance of contesting both the two objectives closest to him (my other plaguebearers are firmly entrenched on the objective in my quarter area).

First things first, my other Tz Herald finally shows up and drops into the area previously held by the GKSS. It takes aim at the RifleDread ... and does nothing to it.



The other Tz Herald stuns the Chimera squatting on the objective. Also, during movement, the two plaguebearer squads ramble towards the objective.



During assault phase, the fiends are able to get into assault. A surprise awaits them in that the DCA and the purifiers are swinging at I6.



When the assault phase is over, two of the crushers are killed and four of the fiends are dead. The GK lose the final two purifiers, corteaz, the librarian, two DCA, and the one crusader.



KP: GK 6 CD 6

We roll and continue to turn 6.

May i ask how old your son is? His tactics are excellent.

Great report,

-Alex.

If this breaks forum rules then delete/ignore it please and sorry :/

No problem Alex, my son is 17. I'll let him know that you praised his tactics ... he'll like that!

Awesome looking daemon army, I particularly like the custom fiend models, very old-school style and a cracking modern paitnscheme!

Turn 6 - GK

My son moves onto the objective and shots everything at the two plaguebearer squads. One squad is finished off but the other still has two models. Also, melta henchman in the Chimera on the objective unload and kills the nearby Tz Herald (it had picked up a number of wounds over the past few turns). This action will, believe it or not, allow me a chance to win.



Also, his DCAs killed off the final crusher while the Dreadknight and the fiend redefine futility and thus remain locked in combat.

Turn 6 - CD

I can't believe it but I have a chance to snatch victory. My plaguebearers move up and contest the one objective. The other Tz Herald moves up and destroys the chimera, while my horrors are just able to kill the three melta henchman. And in the one remaining combat, the Dreadknight kills one fiend (but one fiend remains).



The game ends on turn 6. If we had a turn seven, my son would certainly have captured two objectives.

So, as far as objectives: CD: 1 GK: 0
For KP: CD: 9 GK: 9
And we both killed each other's most expensive HQ, so the Daemons pulled out a victory though a great deal of good fortune.

Conclusion

Well, this victory seemed pretty unlikely. My incredible luck rolling 5++ saves in Turn 4 turned the game around for me. But to be honest, I might want to put an asterisk besides this one. My son really had no idea about the GK as it was his first exposure to it; I've been playing with daemons for a long time and am very familiar with their abilities. I don't think he really made the best use of his librarian and DreadKnight's psychic abilities and he could have used his vehicles better at the end to make sure he claimed those two objectives. Also, we completely forgot about psy-out grenades on the GK as well as daemonbane on the NFWs.

I think the main mistake my son made was thinking that the actual grey knight units are close combat specialists, when really, I don't think they are. The vast majority of wounds he inflicted on me were as a result of shooting from the dreads, the psycannons, the stormbolters, and the psy ammo boosted land raider. As far as close combat goes, the DCA were quite impressive and with crusaders as protection, it is a pretty hardy unit. The purifiers and the GKSS were hardly impressive in close combat. So instead of charging into me, he would have been better off moving backwards and continuing to shoot at me.

MVP for the Grey Knights

#1
Warp quake. In spearhead, two units with warp quake is amazing, and really screws daemons. If he had a third unit with warp quake, I would have been pushed back into about an 18" square for most of my first wave. Even with only two warp quake units, I had three mishaps despite an unbelievable amount of luck with my scatter dice. For comparison, I normally play pretty aggressively with my daemon's deep striking and yet I usually only have a mishap about every three games. Here I had three mishaps, and had I not been so lucky with rolling hits, I could easily have had two or three more. Also, I was fortunate that none of my mishaps resulted in the destruction of any units.

#2
24" S4, S5, S6, and 48" S8 shooting.

MVP for the Daemons

My scatter dice and the plaguebearers FNP. Nothing else really.

Hope you enjoyed it all. I'm planning on posting another GK vs Daemons batrep but with a different GK list. Stay tuned.

As I said before a great read. I'm sure once your son learns the finer points of GK he will make it one hell of a fight (although this one didn't look like an easy victory).

Great stuff.

Nice batrep! Cheers. Seems to be that Warp Quake is the only really annoying thing for daemons, otherwise they stilll compete fairly well.

Btw, why were you still using 2 warp quakes after turn 2? I thought the justicar periled himself to death in turn 2 thus his squad wouldnt be able to cast it after that.

My impression was that a GKSS squad can still cast psychic powers even after the Justicar dies (but at the reduced leadership of the normal trooper).

Oh ok, thanks for that.

I didnt know the rules in the 1st place btw, hence my confusion

The whole unit is a psyker, not just the justicar. It's just that perils is resolved on him first and when he croaks, it is resolved on 1 single member of the unit at a time.

Excellent battle report. Very well done. It was both entertaining and highly informative.

One of the dilemmas that a daemon army (and tyranid army) poses is that, if done right, you present the opponent with so many threats that he is forced to deal with them. He actually doesn't have the resources to deal with your plaguebearers on objectives, who ironically, poses no threat offensively but is the biggest threat game-wise in an objectives-based mission.

That DCA unit is very impressive. Their performance has surprised me. I may have to try them out sometime.

Also, just to let you know, but the dreadknight is not a close-combat assault specialist. What he really is is a counter-assault support unit. Againt daemons, he needs support in CC. Rather yet, he should be supporting another unit in CC against daemons. Throw him in the fight with the DCA's and then cast Dark Excommunication. Then watch your opponent in horror as his bloodcrushers lose their iron hides and hellblades or his fiends loses their rending and hit and run and gets easily mowed down by your other units.

Thank you jy2, that's very nice to hear, especially given that your own battle reports are so well-crafted.

Indeed you are correct about the plaguebearers. It is a rare game indeed when at least one or two units of plaguebearers are still not alive.

Looking back at the game, I think he twice forgot to make use of dark excommunication. He also forgot to use the pre-combat flame attack of the purifiers. I think both of those would have made an important contribution to the game.

Next game my son wants to try the dreadknight with the sword, and will indeed use it more as a counter-assault unit.

As for the DCAs, my plan is to continue to use them as the army's CC specialists, but again more in a counter-assault way. My son's plan for the rematch is more guns sitting in midfield, with the DCA+crusader combo sitting in a Chimera as well as one dreadknight babysitting the shooty units in the midfield and acting as counter-chargers.

I do have a question for you (or for anyone else). When measuring for warp quake, if the GKSS unit has disembarked, would you measure from just the GKSS models or would you also measure from their dedicated transport as well?

Great report.

Wow! That's a very forge world heavy army. You have a beautifully painted army.

Wow, making 9/10 5++ on the crushers?! That's insane luck!

Congrats on winning. Thanks for sharing!

SabrX wrote:Wow! That's a very forge world heavy army.

Every time I look at my shelves and their GW + FW models I begin to think "I'm crazy to be spending money on this type of thing" ...