So today, armed with my trusty camera, I squared up to my most regular opponent, Will in our very friendly local
GW shop. I, as is my wont, brought my paladins, he brought his Templars. We played 2000 points.
My Grey Knights List (which has morphed steadily into this form, partly from my own experience, partly from that of one of my longstanding friends who I seldom see nowadays but posts here as Artemo):
Draigo
Librarian - Might, Quicksilver, Sanctuary, The Shrouding, Warp Rift, warding stave
5 Paladins - 2 psycannon,
mc hammer, 2 swords, 2 falchions
5 Paladins - 2 psycannon,
mc hammer, stave, sword, 2 falchions
Venerable Dreadnought - assault cannon, psybolts, heavy flamer, psyflame
Venerable Dreadnought - assault cannon, psybolts, heavy flamer, psyflame
Stormraven Gunship -
TL multi-melta,
TL plasma cannon
Stormraven Gunship -
TL multi-melta,
TL plasma cannon
Will's Templars (from memory):
Emperor's Champion (thanks for the correction, Toasted)
Mixed squad of 9 'proper templars' and 'novices' (I forget their proper names) in a Rhino
Mixed squad of 9 'proper templars' and 'novices' (I forget their proper names) in a Rhino
Mixed squad of 9 'proper templars' and 'novices' (I forget their proper names) in a Rhino
Mixed squad of 9 'proper templars' and 'novices' (I forget their proper names) in a Rhino
5 terminators (3 lightning claws, 2 hammer and storm shield) in a Landraider Crusader
Vindicator
Land Speeder with missiles and multi-melta
Venerable Dreadnought - assault cannon
Dreadnought - assault cannon
We rolled Annihilation and Dawn of War.
We played any infantry on or partly on a base is in cover, any vehicle at least half on a base also in cover.
I won initiative and went second. Will failed to sieze. He deployed one unit of templars in its Rhino in cover in a building and reserved everything else. I reserved everything, Draigo, Paladin squad and Dreadnought in one Rhino, Librarian, Paladin squad and Dreadnought in t'other..
Turn One
Grey Knights: crickets chirp and sweat crawls down the back of the Templars on outpost duty as they cower in their Rhino. I reserved so nothing happened...
Templars: His Vindicator came on 12". His two dreadnoughts also came on and ran into cover like big girls. Two other Rhinos rolled on. The Rhino squad that were on guard continued to cower, now in severe danger of drowning in their own sweat.
Turn Two
Grey Knights: reserve rolls are 4 and 4. Everything comes on in the Stormravens. I try not to cackle maniacally as there are normal people in the shop. They flat out 24" straight up the middle.
This picture's a bit dingy but you have to remember it's Dawn of War. It brightens up later (but for which side...?)
So I shoot both multi-meltas. Will remembers that he forgot to pop smoke. I give him the option to now.. Being stubborn as well as decent to a fault, he declines. First melta misses the Vindicator. Reroll misses. Second melta hits the Vindicator. Glance. A 6! Destroyed!
Sorry about the bluriness but I was rather pleased and my hand's aren't too steady anyway... Notice how it's brighter though...
Templars: His landraider comes on.
A view from the librarian's Stormraven
The men in black power armour open up with everything they have. Dreadnought shoots at Draigo's Stormraven and does nothing. Plasma gun from a rhino shoots at the Librarian's Stormraven and Get's Hot! (ha, ha!). Sadly the novice (surely it must be a novice) in charge of plasma weaponry is saved by his armour and spared an ignominious but hilarious death. Various melta fires from Rhinos with a startling lack of accuracy. The Landraider fireds its multi-melta with a similar lack of effect. All the novices are manning the guns today, it seems. Then the Venerable Dreadnouyght shows his junior brother and the rest of the army how it's done. His assault cannon rends Draigo's Stormraven which fails its cover save. Silver Raven Down!
Apologies for extreme blurriness, but I've just been shot down.
Turn 3
Grey Knights: The Librarian's Stormraven gets in close and unloads. Draigo's men advance!
A closer view of the action.
My idea here is that the Librarian's squad will assault and wreck his dreadnought in the building, my farthest dreadnought will shoot up the rhino he's facing and assault if the troops are man enough to disembark on the side nearest the camera (Will's templars have a terrible craven habit of emerging from wrecks on the far side from potential assaulters. He calls it good sense tactics. I call it shameful and cowardice. The Stormraven will shoot the Raider as will the other venerable. Assuming success and his terminators manning up and coming out forwards, the dreadnought will assault them.
So the shooting wasn't actually that great. The Rhino-hunting dreadnought got two penetrations (one from his incinerator - heavy flamer plus psyflame, one from his psycannon - assault cannon plus psybolts. Result? One stunned Rhino, which has extra armour. Bah! Some nefarious person replaced my Stormraven's twin-linked multi-melta with a couple of dodgy hair-driers and the Landraider survives. The other venerable and Draigo's squad all shoot it and achieve nothing. No matter! Assault!
Sorry about the blurriness again. I presume the photographer was too busy assaulting to mind his camera properly.
As you can probably just about make out, all three assaulting units get in.
Result?
The Librarian's squad, aided by Might of Titan, Hammerhand and Quicksilver (which I had cast before movement but forgot to mention above) explode the Templar dreadnought several times over. A paladin is wounded, you can just make out the cube shaped pool of blood at his feet.
The Rhino-hunting dreadnought achieves nothing again. Some nefarious person has replaced his doomfist with a cardboard replica, it seems.
The Raider-hunting dreadnought explodes the Landraider. Hoorah! Sadly no terminators die in the blast.
At this point my trusty camera packed up as the batteries died. Melta malfunction, Doomfist broken and now a camera with no power - you can't tell me that's just coincidence! I was rather annoyed by this as I'd hoped to have a full set of pictures (but was too cheap to go to Boots for spare batteries at lunch, which meant I missed out on recording our rematch, which was Spearhead/Seize Ground with 4 objectives and a fantastic see-sawing game - but I digress). Anyway, report continues but you will have to make pictures with the power of your imaginations. Sorry.
The Librarian's squad consolidated 5" towards the terminators.
His Emperor's Champion squad (which is in the white-topped Rhino partially visible at the back of the second from last - or 'penultimate' as we edyerkated folks sez - picture) gets out and moves through the building towards the Librarian's squad. Another squad get out of the Rhino that the venerable with the cardboard doomfist was unable to destroy. His last Rhino comes on near the action and the squad disembark. The Landspeeder also enters.
The squad that's been sitting in the Rhino right at the back (and firing plasma to no effect) brings down my Stormraven, which quite frankly I thought bloody rude. We'll have to walk home now. He does a lot of shooting at the Librarian's squad (having learnt the hard wayin previous games that one does not multi-assault full strength paladin squads if one wishes to win combat) to no real effect until with the last throw of the dice I lose two paladins to his pesky landspeeder missiles, rolling double ones. Will does a little dance. I maintain dignity commensurate with my age and merely do a little teeth grinding.
Assault! cries the Emeror's Champion and his squad, the terminators and the venerable dreadnought all assault the Librarian's squad and venerable dreadnought, the two dreadnoughts ending in base contact, the Librarian and Champoion squaring off and a templar hammer able to attack dreadnought or librarian..
Sanctuary! cries the Librarian and numerous difficult and dangerous tests are taken that result in the removal of one terminator with lightning claws and 4 templars from the Champion's squad. Sadly, they all make it into combat. It's most hilarious when they don't but no fun this time.
Assault! cries the sergeant in charge of the squad near my other dreadnought.
Sanctuary! cries the Librarian (i point out its 12" range).
Broken! cries Will merrily, rolling his saves and his eyes (sadly only two templars died and they made it into combat).
Now there is great slaughter upon the field.
My venerable fighting the single squad crushes a templar but loses his
cc weapon to a fist attack.
the main combat:
Squad and Librarian cast hammerhand.
Initiative 5 Emperor's Champion attacks the Librarian who laughs at the ease with which his warding stave deflects all blows. The Lightning Claws put a wound on each of the surviving paladins.
Initiative 4. I wipe out the Champion's squad and kill a stormshield terminator with my venerable dreadnought. Two paladins die to Will's venerable dreadnought's attacks.
Initiative 1. My hammer kills a lightning claw terminator. My venerable dreadnought is exploded.
The Librarian, alone amid a host of foes, passes morale.
Turn 4 - - Draigo to the Rescue!
The score is now Templars 4 (2 ravens, 1 squad, 1 dreadnought), Paladins 3 (vindicator, raider, squad).
Grey Knights: The Librarian casts Quicksilver.
Draigo and his men move up but don't shoot. They multi-assault venerable dreadnought and terminators. Librarian casts Might of Titan on Draigo's squad. draigo and the paladins cast Hammerhand. Overkill! cries Will, but his venerable dreadnought is really hard to kill
Initiative 10 - The Librarian kills the Brotherhood Champion!
Initiative 5 - Draigo kills a terminator.
Initiative 4 - The Paladins take no wounds from the dreadnought thanks to their trusty warding stave, destroy its
cc weapon and wipe the terminators.
Initiative 1 - The hammer does nothing.
My other dreadnought and his squad seemed to want a breather this turn. Their attack rolls resulted in them waving ineffectually at each other. Will curses not having given all his squads frag and krak as only his fist can hurt the dreadnought.
Templars: Will declines to commit his last squad to the combat. Nothing much happens in either combat.
Turn 5
With the aid of Might of titan and Hammerhand, i wreck his dreadnought The combat between my dreadught lingers on in anticlimactic fashion with one templar dying countered by an innefectual penetration.
Will's shooting at my men does nothing and although my dreadnought finally wins a round of combat, he fails to eliminate the squad.
We roll to see if the game continues and it does not.
Win to the Grey Knights 6-4.
4500 pts
