Finally getting around to uploading this! This is the first battle report I've ever written, and rather fittingly is for my first tournament, which took place a few weeks ago in the heart of London in sweltering hot weather at Darksphere (
www.darksphere.co.uk). Good turnout, places were limited to 12 with a reserve list and there were some fairly serious competitive players there. I fielded the Seventh War-Company of my own Sons of
Tyr, using the Space Wolf 'dex. They're an Ultramarines successor Chapter with a native American theme, a rough draft of their Index Astartes can be found
here.
We used an interesting house rule for this tourney which worked surprisingly well: rather than rolling 1d6 to determine the battle mission, the missions were combined into Purge the Alien + Crusade, The Scouring + The Emperor's Will, and finally Big Guns Never Tire + The Relic. Sounds complicated, but actually I enjoyed it a lot. The expanded range of objectives (particularly in Purge/Crusade) made for some very tactical games, especially on the second day of the tournament. It really punished armies that couldn't redeploy quickly to grab objectives (i.e. me) - I normally excel at camping games, where I can park a Vindicator, allied-in Contemptor Mortis and Long Fangs behind an Aegis with Logan giving Preferred Enemy/Tank Hunters buffs, but this tournament rewarded players with the ability to redeploy rapidly and contest/claim objectives in the late-game. Aside from me, there were two other Marine players, one Codex and one
BA, two Eldar/Dark Eldar players (I think one was Eldar primary and the other was
DE primary, with the opposite as allies) two
GKs, two Orks, one Ravenwing, one Deathwing, and one
CSM army. So a good mix of armies all around (and no Necrons or Tau, surprisingly, although one of the Ork players had an allied Tau detachment).
So, to get started. 6 games played over 2 days. Day 1 brought games against Grey Knights + Guard allies, Orks + Tau allies, and finally a huge horde of Bad Moon Orks that was exceptionally well painted and modelled. My army was as follows:
from C:
SW:
Logan
Rune Priest
10x Grey Hunters, 2 meltas, wolf standard, drop pod
7x
GH, 1x plasma, wolf standard, drop pod
5x
LF, 4x missile launchers
Vindicator
ADL w/quadgun
Librarian, Null Zone, The Avenger
5x Sternguard, combi-plasmas
10x Tacticals, lascannon, melta
Contemptor Mortis with the works:
With hindsight, I'd make a huge number of changes to this list (and in fact I've decided to switch to C:
SM for a bit to get away from the Wolfy theme, but that's a story for another time). Most obviously I should have gone with more scoring units at the expense of Logan, who wasn't put to best use in this event.
Day One
Game One - Purge the Alien / Crusade
First game was against Grey Knights with some Guard allies. We rolled Hammer and Anvil deployment, and there were 4 objectives spread pretty evenly across the field, with 1 being in the very centre behind a large piece of terrain through which I couldn't draw line of sight (this turned out to be very important later on). Coteaz and a Strike squad camped on a rearfield objective whilst
DC Assassins, an Inquisitor and some Crusaders shot forward in a Land Raider to seize the midfield objective. I held two objectives in my deployment zone with a Tactical squad and some Grey Hunters. My deployment was a pretty standard gunline as follows:
Turn 1: a Dreadknight zooms across the field to say hi:
It kills a single Marine with its heavy incinerator, and the rest of the
GK army is either out of range or out of sight (e.g. in an
LR hiding behind a ruin).
My 'pods come down; between the Sternguard and the Tactical squad, the Nemesis Dreadknight gets murdered and gives me First Blood. Across the field, however, things take a turn for the worse, as a
GH squad podding down fails to take out the Raider with 2 meltagun shots from close range. Bad move.
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Turn 2: The Imperial Guard arrive in a pair of Vendettas, zooming on from the
GK's backfield, they take out the Vindicator with their lascannons. Ouch.
The Grey Hunters by the Land Raider are also taking damage from its psybolt-armed hurricane bolters and assault cannon, and in a shocking display of armour save rolls, both meltaguns in the squad die. So they retreat in my turn, and from this point on I am effectively unable to kill the
LR. I return fire at the Vendettas with Interceptor and do little damage (neither the Logan-manned
ADL nor the Contemptor were feeling it), so in my turn I can do little to them as the Intercepting units can't fire.
Turn 3: Marbo arrives. I did not realise that the Interceptor rule gave me the ability to shoot at units coming in from reserve; I thought it only let you fire at Deep Striking units, so if I'd been aware of this there's a good chance Marbo would have bit the dust on arrival. Unfortunately I wasn't aware, so Marbo turned up, and one thrown demo charge later...
...the Long Fangs and the Contemptor die in a spectacular explosion.
My turn: Marbo dies as the Space Marines turn as one and blast him apart in a volley of bolter shells, but he's already done some severe damage. Logan manages to down a Vendetta with the quadgun. The Grey Hunters, Sternguard and second Grey Hunter pack which podded down on turns 1/2 are circling around the ruin, staying away from the Land Raider's guns, waiting for the game's last turn to make a dash for the objective the Raider is parked on. Not looking good for me with the loss of the Contemptor and the Vindicator, both of which were the only units I had left which could crack a Raider open.
Turn 4: the
GK player dumps his
IG veterans from the Vendetta, and they rush towards Logan, who is by now on his own. By this point I'm hoping the dice will start to go in my favour, but it's not to be. Two meltagun shots and a lasgun volley (!!!!!) later and Logan bit the dust (I really did roll that many 1's).
In my turn I kill the Vendetta and a Grey Hunter squad butchers most of the Veterans. They don't wipe them out, however - the Lord Commissar in the unit survives, and as we're doing Kill Points, I need to chase the Commissar to get another
KP. By this point I'm aware that my best shot at victory (thanks to losing Logan and the
KPs given away by the Contemptor and Vindicator) lies in killing the Lord Commissar for another
KP and then contesting the central objective. Not easy with an
LR parked on that objective and a Death Cult menagerie inside.
Turn 5: the Death Cult emerge from the Raider and seize the objective. The rearfield Strike Squad take some potshots at the Sternguard creeping towards the central objective and kill one.
My turn: the Grey Hunters in the south of the board catch up with the Lord Commissar and execute him in a storm of bolter shells, avenging Logan's death and scoring me another Kill Point. Now it's just a matter of that central objective...
...which, as it turns out, is not to be. The Sternguard, Librarian and Grey Hunters charge the Death Cult. I've reckoned without the high Initiative and S4 power weapons of the Death Cult, however (never played them before) and they wipe out the Space Marines before they can strike back. I've lost the first game by quite a margin thanks to a bit of bad luck and some really bad tactical choices. It would be very easy to blame this on the dice rolls (losing Logan to lasguns was unfortunate) but in reality I should have had a better solution to the Raider hiding behind the ruin. I should also have read the Interceptor rule properly, as Marbo would probably have been killed on arrival without a chance to throw his demolition charge. I should have made a push on the Land Raider earlier with either the Contemptor Mortis or Vindicator to try and take it out, as leaving it untouched for most of the game ended up costing me victory. Definitely a learning experience.
Game Two
I believe the missions we rolled here were Scouring and Emperor's Will, but I could be wrong. This one was against an Ork player with Tau allies. His army consisted (as I remember) of Ghaz Thraka, a pair of Battlewagons, two mobs of boyz in the wagons, a small Loota squad and a bunch of Nobz on bikes in reserve. A Tau contingent with a named
FW character with
FW squad, a small Pathfinder squad and a Riptide completed his force.
Deployment was on the same board as the previous game with virtually identical unit placement. I was surprised he placed the Nob bikers in reserve as I know how tough they can be to shift once they're in your face. I won the first turn, so my drop pods rained down from the heavens towards his Tau allies whilst the rest of my force dug in behind the
ADL.
The Sternguard dropped in behind the Riptide, moving into the area terrain nearby for cover, whilst the Grey Hunters were dropped further south to eliminate the Pathfinders.
With a priority target in their sights, the Sternguard took 2 wounds off the Riptide, whilst the Grey Hunters vented their fury on the Pathfinders, wiping the whole squad. The Librarian with the Sternguard used The Avenger to graze the Riptide's shins and more importantly immolate some Fire Warriors, thanks to the psychic power's ability to ignore cover. In the Ork player's turn the Battlewagons zoomed forward and the Nob bikers failed to make an appearance; the return fire from the Tau failed to make much of an effect, surprisingly, although the Riptide did kill a bunch of Sternguard.
My turn 3. The Contemptor Mortis decided to earn its stars and obliterated the Battlewagon with Ghaz inside, killing quite a few of its passengers and wounding the big Ork himself! The Vindicator gunner, inspired by the ancient warrior, targetted the mob of Boyz + Warlord sitting squarely 24" away, and...
...I should really have taken a before photo. Suffice it to say that there was a huge mob of Boyz, and Ghaz, sitting there before the Vindicator fired.
From this point on I didn't take a lot of photos - the Ork player had had some very bad luck, and although the Bikers turned up in his turn it was too little too late. The Grey Hunters and Sternguard spent the rest of the game slitting Fire Warrior throats in the forest at the back of the board before being obliterated by an enraged Riptide pilot. The other Battlewagon met a similar fate (this time a lucky lascannon shot) and its passengers were mown down by bolter fire once they came close enough to my lines. The end result was a victory for the Sons of
Tyr.
Game Three
The third game brought another matchup against Orks. Different board, different terrain, and a
much bigger enemy army than either of the last two matches. This really felt like a game against the Green Tide, and it was a stunningly well painted and converted army - every model was painted to a very high standard, a strong Bad Moonz theme was evident throughout the army, and one of its centrepoints was perhaps the best Ork dreadnought I've ever seen, the Contemptork:
From the outset it was obvious this was going to be a tough one. The enemy army had three huge mobs of Boyz, three Dreadnoughts, a huge Lootaz mob, a Grot mob with a Big Mek and big blasty gun (whatever the one is that rolls
2D6 for its strength), and a Nob biker deathstar with a Warboss. And a dakkajet somewhere in there too.
We rolled Vanguard Strike deployment, and the mission was Big Guns + the Relic. The scenery for this board looked really good, as I hope you get a feel for from the pictures. The Relic itself (an Eldar probe) was on a high rock in the centre of the battlefield blocking line of sight, and very tricky to get up, as the only route was a long winding stairway that left one exposed to the entire enemy army. I decided fairly early on to try and win the game by Kill Points (through enemy
HS units) and keeping him off the Relic.
My deployment was a tight gunline. An objective on my left flank was held by a squad of
GH and one on the right was held by allied Tacticals. The Long Fangs had an excellent vantage point in the ruins, and combined with the Warlord trait I rolled which gives all units Stealth (Ruins) they had a 3+ cover save, making them virtually indestructible throughout most of the game. Logan held the quadgun whilst the Vindicator and Contemptor acted as anchors for the gunline.
And the Ork horde's deployment. You can't see the third Dread, but it was there. Best painted army at the event easily.
Turn 1 - the Green Tide advances. My gunline holds fast and watches the range counters on their weaponry tick down...
Strike from the skies, brothers! The Sternguard and Grey Hunters drop on top of the Bikers trying to flank me. Praise the Emperor and combi-plasmas - the Ork warboss is taken down to 1 wound and a bunch of bikers are killed. The Painboy still lives, however, and the Warboss is pissed off...
Revenge. Whilst the rest of the green tide surges towards the midfield objective, a Dreadnought charges the Sternguard and the bikers turn with murderous intent towards the Grey Hunters.
Elsewhere, the unthinkable has happened. Despite taking a pounding from the Contemptor, tactical squad, Vindicator and Long Fangs, a lone Ork boy has made it to the top of the rock upon which the Eldar probe has crashed! Roaring in triumph, he seizes the probe, dragging it behind him as he begins to make his way down the mountain. Behind him, more boyz and the hulking form of a looted Contemptor look set to secure the Ork hold on the objective.
In response, Eagle Cadre (my Long Fang squad) turn their attentions from the Ork dreadnought on the left flank towards the centre field. Two floors beneath, Condor Cadre (Grey Hunters) move up to the ruin's outskirts, preparing to defend the objective - a wounded Guardsman with critical information on the Eldar probe - from the approaching Warboss and bikers.
On the left flank things have gone better for me. The Grey Hunter squad is gone, torn apart in a gore-drenched killing frenzy, their drop pod sawn apart by power klaws and crude Orkish weaponry. Behind them, however, the Sternguard squad has blown apart an Ork dreadnought with krak grenades, gaining me an essential
KP. The Ork warboss and his bikers never reach Condor Cadre in the ruins - several Nobz are blown apart in a hail of boltgun shells by Condor, and the survivors - the painboy and Warboss - turn and flee off the table, securing me a Slay the Warlord
VP.
The Dakkajet turns up and does some damage to the Vindicator, but thankfully it's not gone yet. The Big Mek, sitting atop the highest peak of the entire battlefield, takes out the Contemptor Mortis and a handful of Tacticals in a flash of energy from his Shokk Attack Gun (I think it's called). Given that the green tide is still coming towards me, and the Orks have possession of the Relic, this is a bad, bad sign. I needed that Contemptor badly...
A much thinned Boyz mob closes on the dwindling Tactical squad...
The rest of this game was so close I didn't have time (or the inclination) to snap photos. Suddenly, with the death of the Contemptor and the seizing of the Relic, it didn't matter that I had possession of two objectives and more
KP/
VPs than the Ork player - with the Relic in his possession he would win the game. The ending stages of this mission saw an unbelievably long walk from Logan across the field whilst the Grey Hunters and Tacticals stayed put to hold the home objectives and the Long Fangs poured frag shells into the Ork mobs advancing towards me. Logan never managed to catch up with the Boyz mob holding the objective, but in the end he didn't need to. By the time the game finished I had managed to kill one more Dreadnought and this
VP alone won me the game, with the Relic still in the Ork player's hands. I had been very fortunate to rack up as many kills as I did early on, and that the game ended when it did - had the game gone on another turn the Ork player could have knocked me off my home objectives easily.
Day Two, Game Four
Sunday morning and the first game was against a Ravenwing list with Guard allies. Again we rolled Big Guns/The Relic. The
RW list was a typical Dakkabanner list and a couple of attack bikes. The Guard took the form of a single large blob and some Sabre defence platforms with lascannons. I deployed terribly - my Long Fangs didn't have line of sight to anything for the entire game or were out of range, and I couldn't do much to the Ravenwing, most of whom had a 2+ or 3+ cover save. I got trashed, although I did manage to wipe out the Ravenwing command squad and kill two biker squads. I didn't manage to snap any photos of this game, although there wasn't much exciting to take pictures of - after turn 3 I'd done the damage I could, he'd taken out my Vindicator and Contemptor, and basically hid behind a large ruin in the centre of the field holding the Relic until the game ended, whilst my Long Fangs pondered the meaning of life.
Game Five
Penultimate game, and this one against Dark Eldar with Eldar allies. We rolled Scouring/Emperor's Will. We were back on the board I played on for the first two games, and again a lengthways deployment, but this time I was on the other end of the board. Deployment was familiar:
...whilst if you can't see my opponent's army, or much of it, it's because most of it was hiding behind that ruin in the centre (he was very, very good at
LOS-evading).
So, turn one, and the skies rain drop pods. The Grey Hunters do nothing at all whilst the Sternguard kill a War Walker and immobilise another. Feeling tired, chaps?
This game was an odd one. After the initial failure of my drop podding units to do much, the
DE player hid at the very end of the board out of range of my guns. We traded fire throughout the game - he targetted my scoring units and I targetted his transports, meaning that by turn 5 he had some Wyches in the centre holding an objective with a big cover save, his Warlord in the back holding an objective (having rolled the Scoring ability as a trait) and a big unit of Jetbikes contesting the 3-point objective on my left. Unfortunately I lost this one, as the Eldar jetbikes proved too tough to shift (although I killed well over half of them) and the Wyches in the centre just wouldn't fail cover save throws. It was an interesting one, if a little static towards the end, and gave me an appreciation for how important it is to be able to redeploy in the late game.
Game Six
After the Ravenwing game this was probably the biggest slaughter I suffered in the tournament, but I had a lot of fun, considering we played until turn 3 and then called it. The bloke I played was a ToS regular and had a
BA pod list with a Baal as the only unit starting on the board. I took one photo before my Vindicator was blow up by an
MM dread. I like to think of this photo as every Vindicator gunner's wet dream:
In fairness I did kill most of the Death Company and immobilise two Dreadnoughts, but on the
BA player's second turn when the skies started raining drop pods (again) with assault marines, and my Long Fangs, Grey Hunters, Tactical squad, Vindicator and Logan had died, I decided to call it as it was getting late and I knew it could only end one way.
In the end, I went 2-4 at this tournament. Far from the gleaming record I'd been hoping for, but two of those games could have gone the other way quite easily (the
DE and
GK games) and gave me a lot of learning experiences for the next tournament. Overall I'd say this was a good first competition from the point of view of lessons learned, if not outcome. As I'm switching to C:
SM now, with my eyes on quite a different list to my normal gunline, I'm looking forward to writing some more battle reports in the future (hopefully with clearer turn-by-turn accounts) and reaping the rewards of the lessons learned from this tournament.
Hope you enjoyed reading, if you enjoyed this please let me know - next time I'll try and take notes as I go rather than relying on pure memory. If you're in the area of Darksphere (London
UK, near Waterloo bridge, www.darksphere.co.
uk) there's a friendly bunch of
40k players meeting weekly on Weds nights at 7pm. Newcomers are always welcome.
Cheers
Arkhan
