I was lucky enough to have my
FLGS (Grand Adventures Comics Murfreesboro, TN) hosting the semis, so I would have an arduous 10 minute drive to the event . This would be my 3rd semi-finals in a row with my Dark Eldar, but the first with the new codex. After losing it all in the 3rd game last year due to a monumentally dumb decision to go first last (with the crazy scenario) I was determined not to make any such mistakes this year. So after enduring the afore-mentioned trek, I got to my
FLGS and watched as people started to drift in. All in all it looked to be about 20-22 people (with a ringer).
So here’s my list, same as the previous round:
Baron
Haemie
LG,
VB
Haemie
LG,
VB
Haemie
LG,
VB
x3 Trueborn x3 blasters
Venom x2
SC, Nightshields
x4 Trueborn x4 blasters
Venom x2
SC, Nightshields
x4 Trueborn x4 blasters
Venom x2
SC, Nightshields
x7 Wracks acothyst,
LG
Raider Nightshields,
FF, shock prow
x8 Wyches heckatrix+agonizer,
HG
Raider Nightshields,
FF, shock prow
x8 Wyches heckatrix+agonizer,
HG
Raider Nightshields,
FF, shock prow
x5 warriors blaster
Venom x2
SC, Nightshields
x5 warriors blaster
Venom x2
SC, Nightshields
x5 warriors blaster
Venom x2
SC, Nightshields
3 Beastmasters
5 Khymerae
4 Razorwings
3 Beastmasters
4 Khymerae
4 Razorwings
Ravager
Nightshields,
FF
Ravager
Nightshields,
FF
Ravager
Nightshields,
FF
Lots of tools to handle most situations, not to mention the scenarios seemed REALLY
DE friendly. The table had lots of terrain as the store owner takes pride in having good looking tables.
Round 1
VPs and Pitched battle with a 500vp bonus if you get a messenger (chosen infantry model) into your opponents deployment zone.
My opponent was a nice guy from Kentucky I think with Mech Blood angels:
His List from memory:
Mephiston
Librarian Shield, termie armor storm shield
Sanguinary Priest
Chaplain pfist
7 Assault Termies 5
th/
ss, 2
lc
Land Raider Crusader
9 Death Company
Land Raider
X3 5 man assault squad, p.weapon
x3 Razorback
tllc
10 Assault marines pfist, x2 melta
X2 Predator
AC, x2
LC
I win the roll and decide to go first.
Deployment: I deployed centrally with the ravagers on the flanks that way I don’t have to worry about him refusing a flank. My messenger is a wrack, who goes on my left flank in cover beasts are deployed forward. My opponent deploys both
LRs in the center, both predators on my right and 3 lazerbacks on my left. The assault marines and mephie deploy behind the
LRs. The priest and librarian deploy with the assault termis (one of which is his messenger).
He fails to seize
DE Turn 1: I move forward my beasts but not to much, the rest of my army shifts around for better lanes of fire. The baron jumps to join the big beast unit in cover. My shooting phase starts with him casting Shield...goody. I manage to blow up one of the preds early on giving me
LOS to his assault marines with several venoms. The rest of my shooting stuns the Termies
LR...yippe and then about 5 other shots are saved by the shield...yikes! To make matters worse, 4 venoms net zero assault marines..... This is not so good.
BA Turn 1: He moves up tentatively with his vehicles and troops. His shooting manages to explode a wyche raider (they are pineed...doh!) and stun a ravager, and thats it as I manage to make more then my fair share of Flicker Field saves! Go 5++ !!
DE Turn 2: I move up one of my beast backs in the middle to tempt him to assualt with his termies and I move the other up my left to assault his razorbacks and pull out his Death Company. The rest of my flotilla starts to spread out and get cover free shots on his armor. Shooting sees his the Assault Termies
LR explode and he loses 2
TH/
SS termies to the explosion!! I also manage shake the predator, nd the other landraider I also immobilize a razorback. The rest of my shooting kills 2-3 more of the termies. In assault my left beast pack assaults 2 razorbacks and manages to shake another one.
BA Turn 2: His shooting much reduced and his
FNP bubble in danger not to mention a angry beast pack in his lines. He moves up the assault marines to shield the termies and the priest. The death company jumps out deal with the beast pack. Other vehicles move around. In the shooting phase the
DC LR manages to wreck a trueborn venom, but not much else is accomplished as I again make a ton of
FF saves
In
CC, the death company ROFLstomp my beasts, but then only massacre 1 inch...
DE Turn 3: I move up my central beast pack to either assault the predator or the termies (fully aware that I will lose them next turn). I dump the wracks out to liquify the
DC and maybe charge the survivors. I also dump out a squad of wyches, I have their Haemie join the wracks, who will either charge the
DC or the immobilized razorback. I also move up the previously pinned wyches to help the beasts. Shooting sees 1 of the razorbacks exploded and the squad inside pinned. I again shake the predator. The wracks+haemies manage to kill most of
DC with some trueborn and a ravager finishing off the squad shooting sees me cause enough wounds on the termies to force a save on the priest who dies! This allows me to kill a large # of the assault marines. In assault the wyches explode the ravager and lose one. The marines inside are unharmed. In the middle the beasts and wyches assault the termies, killing 1 termie and the librarian. I lose 3 models in return and hold.
BA Turn 3: Mephie wants to jump up and assualt the trueborn who lost their venom, but fails his psychic test on boxcars, and then rolls a 1,2,2 for difficult terrain, so he has not real choice but to assault the beasts. His remaining assault marines move to do the same. Shooting sees him explode the wracks raider and immobilize my rightmost ravager. In assault the assault squad that lost their razorback to the wyches charge in and get bushwacked down to 2 models. The assault marines and mephiston charge in. Mephiston wiffs pretty hard, and only kills 1 Khymarae, the wyches kill most of the assault marines while the beasts kill the last of the termies. Both of his units hold.
DE Turn 4: I position to finish him off. The wracks jump into the wyches raider and jump into his deployment zone (+500vp) . In shooting I blow up the last razorback, the predator, and immobilize/weapon destroy the land raider. I also kill all the
de-meched assault marines not in
CC. In
CC, the wyches reduce the assault marines to just the sergeant. In the big fight, I kill the last two assault marines, but mephi does a lot more and the beasts flee, but the wyches remain.
BA Turn 4: He has no moves, his shooting with this
LR explodes a ravager. In
CC the wyches wiff against the sergant , who wiffs in return. Mephiston finishes off the wyches + haemonculus and massacres into cover.
DE Turn 5: The fire squad lines up and I kill Mephiston with a ravager and a trueborn squad. The landraider is shaken/weapons destroyed a bunch. In
CC, the sergeant goes down and the wyches massacre over towards the
LR.
BA Turn 5: With only a mauled
LR left stuck on the corner of Darklight
St and Haywire Alley, he concedes.
3000vp and 24/24 Points!
MVPs had to be the beast packs (for forcing his hand) and my Flicker Fields, who rolled like a boss. I still think I would have managed without them, but making 60-70% of those saves made things ALOT easier!
So on Table 1 going into round 2, report to follow.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Onto to round 2!
Mission is to have the most scoring units within 6”of the center of the table.
After getting table assignments I see that my opponent is a fellow Blade n Bolter club member! He’s running an Ultramarine list thats not very well suited to this scenario.
His list:
Shrike
Khan
X2 10 Assault Termies 7
TH/
SS, 3
LC
7 Assault Termies 4
th/
SS 3
LC
Land Raider Crusader
X2 10 Tactical marines
LC,
MG
Rhino
X2 Vindicator Extra Armor
Sooooo 4 scoring units max and units that arent that hard to kill. He has almost no shooting and most of it is under 24”.
We roll for turns and I win thanks to baron.
Deployment: I set up centrally with ravagers and trueborn on the flanks but mindfull of outlanking, fleeting termies. The beasts front and center again. *Not the exact center of the table is in the middle of a large ruin. He sets up with the
LR in the middle the Vindicators on my left and the rhinos on either side of the
LR. He combat squads and puts the
LCs in ruins. 1 10 man termie squad deploys infront of the vindis and the other outflanks with shrike.
He fails to seize.
DE Turn 1: I move my beasts up to bait out the assault termies + Khan in the
LR (I don’t want them hiding in there until later). I line up for shots on the vindis and venoms gear up to shoot the
LC combat squads. Shooting stuns the
LR, explodes a vindi, and sees 3 out of 5 marines die in 1 squad (who break and start running) and 1 out of 5 of the other die (but its the Lascannon!). I also have tons of fire bounce off the termies, as not 1 dies....
Marine Turn 1: He drives up with the
LR and dumps out Khan and Co to assault the beast squad with baron attached. His other termie squad moves up as does his other vindi. The broken squad ralies. Shooting sees 1 Trueborn venom wrecked and another immobilized and weapon destroyed. His assault termies fleet with a 6 and are within 6 inches of the other beast squad but its through difficult terrain. In assualt, the fleeting termies don’t roll the 6 they need, and khan’s squad decides to assault BOTH beast squads! Predictably, between 9 khymaraes, 8 razorwings, and the baron the squad loses 4 termies before they even get to swing (khymaraes saved khan’s wounds). I win combat by 3, he fails, but dangit I catch him and makes his saves.
DE Turn 2: I start to moving the units that matter (ravagers and troops) away from the table edges and leave some bait units (trueborn) within assault range but far from the rest of my force. Shooting sees 1 rhino and the landraider exploded, the vindi shaken, and the 2 man
LC squad wiped out. In assault I kill of the rest of the termies and Khan hits and runs out of combat towards my exposed trueborn.
Marine Turn 2: Shrike arrives, on the left side and moves towards the trueborn bait. His remaining Rhino moves into the ruins and his Vindi moves up further. His termies in the terrain roll a 2 for their move and than a 1 for their fleet . His remaining tacs on foot move to hug the center and get cover. He has not shooting. Shrike and co massacre the trueborn, khan kills his trueborn and the center termies roll a 3 for their assault and fall short of the beast pack.
Remaining Turns 3-6: I shoot down the center termies and wipe out the tacs using the beast packs who then go to tie up shrike and co. Khan finally dies to blaster fire after constantly going to ground over 3 rounds. In the end I lose the beasts to shrike but reduce the squad to just 2 termies + Shrike, while I have 5 troops around the objective + Baron.
So another 24/24. REALLY bad matchup for my buddy. He made a bad call assaulting BOTH beast packs and I think that the squad with shrike should have started on the table and been putting on the pressure. As it was I was able to take care of what shooting he had and then just pick the rest of his force apart.
So 48/48 going into round 3. I know my potentially opponents are a Scary guard army or a Draigo wing list (with only 3 Pysfilemen dreads). Guess which one I want!
4500 pts
.....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
