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It's a Sunday again, which means it's time for a game with Shaun. After his last bashing from Necrons, Shaun has taken less Space Wolves and more Guard.

Grey Knights 'Purifier Order' - 2,000 points

HQ

Castellan Crowe
Inquisitor Coteaz
Inquisitor - psyker

Troops

5 x Purifiers w/ Rhino - 2 x psycannons, nemesis halberd & 2 x nemesis daemon hammers
5 x Purifiers w/ Rhino - 2 x psycannons, nemesis halberd & 2 x nemesis daemon hammers
5 x Purifiers w/ Rhino - 2 x psycannons, nemesis halberd & 2 x nemesis daemon hammers
5 x Purifiers w/ Rhino - 2 x psycannons, nemesis halberd & 2 x nemesis daemon hammers
5 x Purifiers w/ Rhino - 2 x psycannons, nemesis halberd & 2 x nemesis daemon hammers
5 x Purifiers w/ Rhino - 2 x psycannons, nemesis halberd & 2 x nemesis daemon hammers
3 x Servitors - 3 x plasma cannons
3 x Servitors - 3 x plasma cannons

Heavy Support

Dreadnought - 2 x twin-linked autocannons & psybolt ammo
Dreadnought - 2 x twin-linked autocannons & psybolt ammo
Dreadnought - 2 x twin-linked autocannons & psybolt ammo

Imperial Guard w/ Space Wolves - 2,000 points

HQ

Company Command Squad w/ Chimera - 4 x plasma guns
Logan Grimnar

Troops

Veterans w/ Chimera - 3 x flamers
Veterans w/ Chimera - 3 x plasma guns
Veterans w/ Chimera - 3 x meltaguns
4 x Wolf Guard w/ Drop Pod - all in terminator armour & 3 x storm shields

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Battle Tank
Leman Russ Battle Tank - heavy bolter sponsons
Manticore Rocket Launcher

Game: vanguard strike + the scouring

Deployment

Objectives have been placed with one on top of the shrine, one in a ruin bottom left, one in the centre by the tower ruin, one in a large ruin my table edge, one in a large ruin on Shaun's table edge and one in a ruin in Shaun's deployment zone.

Shaun wins the roll off for deployment side and deployment, he picks first turn and takes the upper right half of the board. He deploys the CCS Chimera, Manticore and Flamer Chimera behind a ruin while the Russes are against the right board edge. Chimera with plasmas is deployed in a ruin where a objective is while the Melta Chimera deploys behind that ruin.

Now I have two choices when deploying; I can put all my vehicles behind the big shrine ruin and Shaun cannot draw LOS to me. However, this puts my further away from the objectives. If I deploy as forward as I can, I won't get cover, but I have plenty of space to spread out to reduce blast damage. I chose the latter of the two evils and deploy in the open, I do my 'slow rhino' formation though spread out my tanks and have them in two rows of three. Behind the Rhinos are the Dreadnoughts and in ruins are the Servitors; Coteaz's unit cannot draw LOS, so first turn I'll have to move them.







* Tactical Notes

I really do hate Mech Guard. They are pretty shooty, have very good range and enough guns to strip hull points and blow through power armour i.e plasma guns. Everything in Shaun's army is a threat. If I can seize the initiative (I normally like to go second in objective games), I at least don't have to stand there and get blown away.

I will move my Rhinos up and tackle the Chimera in the ruin and fire at Leman Russes. Dreadnoughts will dakka the Manticore until it is dead or surpressed.


Turn 1

Shaun holds his position with all units and uses the Russes for cover for the Chimeras. He pops smoke with two Chimeras, though one is in a ruin so is ok and the other is behind as Russ so is already ok.

Shooting; Manticore gets 3 shots and drops down on a Rhino, it scatters and his the Servitors in the large ruin with Coteaz and flips back onto the Rhino; the Rhino is weapon destroyed and Servitors pass cover saves. Leman Russes open fire on Inquisitor's unit, first blast misses though other hits and smokes the Inquisitor.

My first turn; Coteaze and Servitors move up through terrain to get better LOS. I move Crowe though terrain though keep him inside for a little longer. Rhinos move 6" forward while two flank around the tower and move 12" - I will move them flat out to cover more distance. Dreadnoughts move to get better LOS on the Manticore.

Shooting; psycannons and autocannons dakka the Chimera in the ruin and it is wrecked; squad passes pinning test test. Two Dreadnoughts fire at the Manticore and it is shaken and has a single hull point left. The two Rhinos flanking around move 6" flat out.





* Tactical Notes

I think I've got lucky on my first turn as the Manticore didn't cause a load of damage and for some reason Shaun fired the Leman Russes at the plasma cannons instead of Rhinos. I guess maybe to take out the Servitors before Logan and his buddies arrived.

My turn hasn't been too bad; I got a point for first blood and stopped the Manticore from firing, it also only has a single hull point left.

Next turn I will remain static and open full psycannon fire power onto the Leman Russes and take them out. Autocannons will finish off the Manticore and tackle any Chimeras out in the open. Once those threats have been dealt with, I can move up and start grabbing objectives.

Turn 2

Logan arrives from deep strike and the Pod lands the other side of the ruin, Logan and Wolf Guard bail out, though they are a long way from my lines.

Not much movement by the Guard, only movement is the Flamer Chimera moving up to get the objective in the large ruin Shaun's side of the board and the Vets on foot moving up and claiming the objective in the ruin.

Shooting; one Leman Russ takes a crack at a Rhino and scores weapon destroyed. Other Leman Russ blasts one of the paired flanking Rhinos, though it misses big time.

My turn; I move my Rhinos closer as after some pre-measurement I find they are not in range. One Rhino lingers behind and remains in position so can lay down dakka on Logan. Rhinos paired on the flank reverse down so their rear is facing towards Shaun's table edge and both draw LOS on the Chimera which is by the objective in the large ruin.

Shooting; Servitors without the Inquisitor pass mindlock and bomb Logan, shame they cannot hit anything. Coteaz casts prescience and the Servitors manage to kill a single Terminator. Dreadnought and Purifiers I left behind dakka the Terminators, but only Logan takes a wound. Two Dreadnoughts fire into the Manticore, though Shaun makes all cover saves. Both paired Rhinos dakka the Flamer Chimera in the ruin; it is stunned and has one hull point left. Shots go into the Leman Russes, though bounce off while shots thin out the Veterans on the objective; they pass pinning.







* Tactical Notes

Looks like the pressure is on. Shaun has his Terminators down and my Servitors failed to thin them out as much as I like. If the worse comes to the worse Shaun will reach the Dreadnought is close combat. Shaun still has his big guns left to shoot, though at least the Manticore cannot take much damage.

On the other hand, I am right on Shaun's objective by his table edge and he really hasn't got much to stop me as his units are away. If I can stop Shaun's mobility and tackle his units by the objectives he has, then this game is in the bag.

Next turn I'll dakka the Terminators with plasma and psycannons. Autocannons will blast the Manticore while psycannons go full auto on the Leman Russes; I really need to tackle them so I can bail out and get objectives without getting blown away. I'll bring up the paired Rhinos and bail on squad out so they can charge next turn.

Turn 3

Logan and his mates move forward to attack my Dreadnought while Melta Chimera flanks around the ruin where the Veterans are on foot and the Leman Russes move away to keep out of range.

Shooting; Manticore fires and booms my weapon destroyed Rhino; all Purifiers are fine, until they get shelled by a Leman Russ, though the guy with the halberd in invincible and passes all cover saves; shame Veterans do him over with lasguns, lol. Other Leman Russ smacks one of the flanking Rhinos and causes stunned. Multi lasers fire, the melta tank takes off a hull point from the Rhino using to block Crowe.

Assault; Logan and his mates try to assault the Dreadnought, though roll assault distance 6" and the Dreadnought is 8" away.

Grey Knights turn; Dreadnought backs away from Logan while all Rhinos except one remain in position; one blocking Crowe moves up along with a Dreadnought so can dakka the oncoming melta Chimera.

Shooting; Dreadnought fires into the Manticore and it goes boom. Rhinos flanking fire into the Flamer Chimera and it goes boom and fire into the side armour of a Russ and take off two hull points. Dreadnought and Purifiers dakka the oncoming melta Chimera and reduce it to a single hull point and stunned. Other Leman Russ gets shot by psycannons and has two hull points left. Rhino storm bolters dakka the Vets in the ruin; three left who pass morale. Plasma cannons and psycannons lay waste to Logan and the Wolf Guard; they are wiped out.





* Tactical Notes

Ok, looks like the nail is in the coffin now. Shaun's troops have spilled out by the objective in the ruin his side, if I can rock up, bail out and use Rhino for shield, then my Purifiers can move in and assault. The melta Chimera is also on borrowed time as are the Leman Russes. As a bonus, the Wolf Guard are gone so I can move a Rhino back to the objective in that corner.

Turn 4

I don't think there's any movement from Shaun this turn.

Shooting; Shaun orders the +2 cover order to the Vets on the ruin and they go to ground for a nice +2 cover save. Multi laser on the melta Chimera snaps fire at the oncoming Rhino though does nothing. The CCS Chimera fires and immobilises the Rhino which lost a hull point already. One Russ fires at the Purifiers in the open, it scatters and misses, the other blasts the Rhino which has a single hull point, shot scatters and lands on the Purifiers, though only one fails cover save.

My fourth turn; Rhino with two hull points moves forward with Crowe coming behind. Both Rhinos flanking move up 6", though one moves against the ruin and the Purifiers bail out using the Rhino to block LOS. One Rhino moves 12" towards the objective bottom left corner.

Shooting; psycannons fire into the one hull point Leman Russ and it goes boom, the way has now cleared and I dakka the CCS Chimera which is wrecked. I dakka the CCS with psycannons and they are wasted; that's a point for slay the warlord. Psycannons and autocannons open up one the one hull point Chimera and is it wrecked (Shaun has lost all mobility); squad passes pinning test, though I fire at them with plasma cannons and Shaun passes all cover saves. Rhino which moved 12" towards the bottom left objective moves 6" flatout and is right next to it, next turn I just need to bail my Purifiers out and it is mine.






* Tactical Notes

Ok, this is it. I just need to bail out my Purifiers on the bottom left objective and also get the other Purifiers into assault and that's it. I don't think I have to even do that really. I think this turn I'll finish off the Leman Russ tank and the melta Veterans, just in case of a next turn.

Turn 5

Shaun moves the melta Veterans forward ready to get some pay back on the Rhino with two hull points.

Shooting; meltas slag my Rhino and it is wrecked. I can't remember what the Russ fires at.

My turn; Rhino moves out the way and Purifiers move into terrain and are 2" away from the Veterans. Crowe attempts to move through terrain to get the unit of three Veterans and rolls snake eyes! Purifiers bail out the Rhino in the bottom left corner and claim that objective.

Shooting; plasma cannons bomb the Veterans leave them with one man standing, I don't bother firing more and the single dude fails morale and falls back.

Assault; Purifiers charge the Veterans and cast cleansing flame, one Purifiers dies in combat though the Veterans are totally wiped out.

At this point we call it a day as Shaun only has one objective and I have all others.













Summary

I think Shaun had some bad luck with the scatter dice; he rarely landed on target. Other than that I think he needs to adjust to mech Guard and realise that he needs to move out with the Chimeras to get those plasma guns and meltaguns into range. The longer those weapons are sitting back the longer they do not have a in-game effect and makes things easier for me.

The Space Wolves didn't work out too well. They do add some combat, but I think they were positioned too far away from the action. When some codexs are good, you don't always have to add allies. I think a pure mech Guard force would work fine here.

Another great bat rep as always, I think Shaun needs some tips though the Guard side is nice but the Wolf side could be improved.

Do you guys know which army your going to be facing before writing your army lists?

From Shaun's list I think he could be hitting harder and heavier.

I think he needs to rethink his Wolf allies but this is only if he knows he's playing Grey Knight's against your other armies it wont be as effective. But against this build I'd drop the Wolf Guard squad they arent threatening enough instead I'd replace them with a Long Fang squad with five multi meltas and use Logan's Relentless and land between two dreads move into position and split fire on both.

If you don't know what your up against then combi meltas for the Wolf Guard and either an assault cannon or cyclone would be useful but only two storm shields give the others two chain fists and a claw. I'd even consider the fifth with claw at the back without TDA to save points.

For the troop choice I'd drop the vet flamer squad and replace with a grey Hunter plasma squad of the same points worth. Then roll them in quick and fast in a big group, support by numbers is the best I find against marines.

Does Shaun ever win games? Serious question.

I think I recall him winning once, but I can't remember for sure. 9/10 of the battles seem to end with Shaun getting torn up. lol

Nice batrep, but sadly it was clear as soon as I looked at the lists that Shaun does need a bit of help. He's playing guard, and you had more troop choices than him, and that wasn't offset with crazy awesome artillery/valks/vendettas/the usual Guard stuff people take if they're not spending the points on troops.

I'll have a look around, there was an excellent article I read a while ago that gave me some fantastic help in list-building. Was written for 5th ed but was so strategic it applies now with hardly any changes needed.

GiraffeX wrote:Another great bat rep as always, I think Shaun needs some tips though the Guard side is nice but the Wolf side could be improved.

Do you guys know which army your going to be facing before writing your army lists?

From Shaun's list I think he could be hitting harder and heavier.

I think he needs to rethink his Wolf allies but this is only if he knows he's playing Grey Knight's against your other armies it wont be as effective. But against this build I'd drop the Wolf Guard squad they arent threatening enough instead I'd replace them with a Long Fang squad with five multi meltas and use Logan's Relentless and land between two dreads move into position and split fire on both.

If you don't know what your up against then combi meltas for the Wolf Guard and either an assault cannon or cyclone would be useful but only two storm shields give the others two chain fists and a claw. I'd even consider the fifth with claw at the back without TDA to save points.

For the troop choice I'd drop the vet flamer squad and replace with a grey Hunter plasma squad of the same points worth. Then roll them in quick and fast in a big group, support by numbers is the best I find against marines.

Thanks about the report.

I am going to write Shaun a bad ass Guard list this afternoon (typical Chimeras with triple Manticores and 'Dettas), but he only likes to use what he has and doesn't want to be 'gamey'. I would have honestly thought he would have learnt gamey tricks from me

I have no idea what army he is bringing or what list. In fact he built his list at my house and I asked him who he wanted to play against. He let me decide and I picked Purifiers, based upon what I've being playing with lately and what Shaun has played against recently.

TBH I wouldn't take allies. I think in Shaun's list the Wolves made his Guard weaker and added very little.

BlaxicanX wrote:Does Shaun ever win games? Serious question.

I think I recall him winning once, but I can't remember for sure. 9/10 of the battles seem to end with Shaun getting torn up. lol

No, I am afriad he rarely wins. I think he has beaten me a few times. He is one guy who really doesn't mind about losing .

It's all down to tactics and list building I am afriad.

Captain Roderick wrote:Nice batrep, but sadly it was clear as soon as I looked at the lists that Shaun does need a bit of help. He's playing guard, and you had more troop choices than him, and that wasn't offset with crazy awesome artillery/valks/vendettas/the usual Guard stuff people take if they're not spending the points on troops.

I'll have a look around, there was an excellent article I read a while ago that gave me some fantastic help in list-building. Was written for 5th ed but was so strategic it applies now with hardly any changes needed.

Thanks about the report.

Yes, his list needs some work. I think he needs to stick to a list and learn it instead of trying different ones.

I've got list building articles on my blog www.imperiusdominatus.com he should have read these though

 mercer wrote:


I am going to write Shaun a bad ass Guard list this afternoon (typical Chimeras with triple Manticores and 'Dettas), but he only likes to use what he has and doesn't want to be 'gamey'. I would have honestly thought he would have learnt gamey tricks from me

I have no idea what army he is bringing or what list. In fact he built his list at my house and I asked him who he wanted to play against. He let me decide and I picked Purifiers, based upon what I've being playing with lately and what Shaun has played against recently.

TBH I wouldn't take allies. I think in Shaun's list the Wolves made his Guard weaker and added very little.

I find it strange you guys play together so much - most people tend to game not so often with people with very different gaming philosophies, it gets frustrating after a while. And no offence whatsoever intended Mercer but I think you're a tad more competitive than Shaun

I reckon if he wants to use models he already owns, take the above list, drop the wolf guard, drop pod and ragnar, replace with a rune priest and 2 units of grey hunters in rhinos with twin meltaguns. That alone would give him a lot more flexibility and power, and let the Wolves contribute something instead of being a point sink like they were this game. He'd still be lacking long-range anti-tank, which I think in both your last couple of games was pretty cruicial, but I guess he needs his own solution to that. Vanilla Russes sadly just don't do much against Rhinos, which I've found too many times. One needs something to crack the mehtelbawkses before the russes can splat the contents.
I personally would've just had a platoon covered in dakka somewhere significant, and spent less on wolves *and* vehicles, but that's me. Everyone's got a different style!

And yes, as long as he stays true to his collection and his non-competitive principles, there's nothing wrong with a bit of a tweak to his list from you to, er, "diversify it with more varied resources", so to speak.

I think it doesn't want to take the piss if you know what I mean. Some people (like myself) will just use bad ass lists and be done with it. For some reason Shaun doesn't want to. I think perhaps because he doesn't want to upset anyone. I might be wrong.

He used what you said last time and while it was better than Logan and his mates, it didn't add anything what Guard cannot do.

I think something like max Vets in Chimeras, single CCS, single Vendetta, two Hellhounds and two Demolishers and a Manticore would work. Personally I would do for two 'Dettas and a full house of Manticore's.

I think he wants to stay to his collection because that's what he has at the moment. I am pretty sure he's willing to buy more stuff. I don't think he likes to proxy tbh.

I enjoy that philosophy mercer. I just like to play at my best and that starts with my list. If I feel that purifiers are the way to go then I may tweet it but our lists are near the same.

 mercer wrote:
I think it doesn't want to take the piss if you know what I mean. Some people (like myself) will just use bad ass lists and be done with it. For some reason Shaun doesn't want to. I think perhaps because he doesn't want to upset anyone. I might be wrong.

He used what you said last time and while it was better than Logan and his mates, it didn't add anything what Guard cannot do.

I think something like max Vets in Chimeras, single CCS, single Vendetta, two Hellhounds and two Demolishers and a Manticore would work. Personally I would do for two 'Dettas and a full house of Manticore's.

I think he wants to stay to his collection because that's what he has at the moment. I am pretty sure he's willing to buy more stuff. I don't think he likes to proxy tbh.

I get that. I've always tried to make sure I never overdo it with any one thing - too much plasma, for example - as a hat-tipping to my intrinsic moral code of being only 'semi-competitive' instead of fully. And not proxying... is great... I wish I could do that!

And yes, you're right, pure Guard is the way forward - he just seems to love those wolves. I'd suggest that since he's not too aggressive with his play style, in your above list swap the hellhounds for basilisks and the demolishers for regular russes (he seems to like them) and use the basilisks and manticore to pop transports. He could take one of the vet squads out of a chimera and put them in the vendetta for a late-game objective grab as well - give you a run for your money perhaps!

In the end it's his baby, I'm sure he'll follow his heart. Maybe it'd be fun to challenge him to play the cheesiest list he can conceive of, just as a 1-off?

Oh, and get him to read some of Ailaros' batreps. While ailaros likes footguard, his riffing on stormtroopers has given them some real appeal for me.

I really like the ruins being overgrown, nice touch there.

eldartau1987 wrote:I enjoy that philosophy mercer. I just like to play at my best and that starts with my list. If I feel that purifiers are the way to go then I may tweet it but our lists are near the same.

What do you run in your list then?

Captain Roderick wrote:

 mercer wrote:
I think it doesn't want to take the piss if you know what I mean. Some people (like myself) will just use bad ass lists and be done with it. For some reason Shaun doesn't want to. I think perhaps because he doesn't want to upset anyone. I might be wrong.

He used what you said last time and while it was better than Logan and his mates, it didn't add anything what Guard cannot do.

I think something like max Vets in Chimeras, single CCS, single Vendetta, two Hellhounds and two Demolishers and a Manticore would work. Personally I would do for two 'Dettas and a full house of Manticore's.

I think he wants to stay to his collection because that's what he has at the moment. I am pretty sure he's willing to buy more stuff. I don't think he likes to proxy tbh.

I get that. I've always tried to make sure I never overdo it with any one thing - too much plasma, for example - as a hat-tipping to my intrinsic moral code of being only 'semi-competitive' instead of fully. And not proxying... is great... I wish I could do that!

And yes, you're right, pure Guard is the way forward - he just seems to love those wolves. I'd suggest that since he's not too aggressive with his play style, in your above list swap the hellhounds for basilisks and the demolishers for regular russes (he seems to like them) and use the basilisks and manticore to pop transports. He could take one of the vet squads out of a chimera and put them in the vendetta for a late-game objective grab as well - give you a run for your money perhaps!

In the end it's his baby, I'm sure he'll follow his heart. Maybe it'd be fun to challenge him to play the cheesiest list he can conceive of, just as a 1-off?

Oh, and get him to read some of Ailaros' batreps. While ailaros likes footguard, his riffing on stormtroopers has given them some real appeal for me.

I've sent him this list: http://www.imperiusdominatus.com/2012/10/army-lists-imperial-guard-mech-list.html which I hope he does use. I will use my D.E as well; because I am that hardcore .

I do think it's the money aspect of it really and not wanting to have a uber cool list. After all, Shaun normally does have as many Veterans as he can possibly field with the models he has.

Dinamarth wrote:I really like the ruins being overgrown, nice touch there.

Thanks, man. I am working on bases for them. I'll also do patches of plants around too.

At 2000 points I run the following

HQ
Libby with Halbred
Divination)
Crowe

Points: 305
Troops
8 Purifiers
2 Psycannon
5 Halbred
1 Hammer
Rhino
Total: 267
Troops
8 Purifiers
2 Psycannon
5 Halbred
1 Hammer
Rhino
Total: 267
Troops
8 Purifiers
2 Psycannon
5 Halbred
1 Hammer
Rhino
Total: 267
5 Grey Knight Termies
5 halbred
Psycannon
Total= 225
Heavy
Dreadknight with heavy incinerator and personal teleporter , Sword 260
Dreadknight with heavy incinerator and personal teleporter, Sword 260
Dreadnought with TL AC Psybolt 135
Total : 665points
List total: 1996


The meta down here does not know how to deal with the dreadknight in their grill. YEs they die a good bit but it takes a lot to kill them. They killed over 1250 points of Paladins excluding Draigo.

I finally got a some things done with my DE this week. I should be able to put them on the table soon. Thanks to you, I am not going to be running into 6th with no idea of how things are going to work.

Glad I could help on the D.E front

That looks a good list, looking forward to the batrep.

I figure the between the two of us, we could take both the GK and DE books to crazy levels.

 GiraffeX wrote:
That looks a good list, looking forward to the batrep.

I think he will whoop my ass. If I take D.E he is guranteed a victory. If I take Purifiers he will still beat my face in, but I expect it to be a tough game.

nice titan next to the table there

I'm confused by the guard/wolf list. I don't own a space wolf codex but i just did the math and all the guard units only add up to 1090, including tanks. I didn't add any bells and whistles but something still seems off for that list. Did I add things wrong?

K/S

That is one sweet looking Grey Knights army, both the list and the army itself - well done! Thats alot of cash but damn nice army!

Killingspree wrote:I'm confused by the guard/wolf list. I don't own a space wolf codex but i just did the math and all the guard units only add up to 1090, including tanks. I didn't add any bells and whistles but something still seems off for that list. Did I add things wrong?

K/S

I think you're right. I just checked myself and I got 1090. I do not know the points of the wolf stuff, but it won't come to 2k. I bet Logan is about 200 points and the Wolf Guard cost that as well.

kaiservonhugal wrote:That is one sweet looking Grey Knights army, both the list and the army itself - well done! Thats alot of cash but damn nice army!

Thanks, dude. I got the army in a trade with my mech Guard tbh.