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2014/09/29 02:04:14
Subject: [1000] Titan's Bastards SM at Neophyte Challenge 2014 (Game1, 2 & 3 Completed)
Ok so I headed to Fun Atelier here in Hong Kong on Sunday for the Neophyte Challenge, which pits relative new comers against each other in a very relaxed, friendly tournament. The army mix was a little disappointing - almost all space marines variants - but it was a fun day nonetheless with an interesting mix of minis and tactics on display.
I expected to continue my steep learning curve at this event, as this would only be my 2nd/3rd/4th games of 40K in a long long time, but as long as I didn't get tabled in every match I would be pretty happy with my performance. Squeaking a win somewhere would be a bonus. Since my Titan's Bastards list tested pretty well in last weeks practice game I decided to make no changes to my list.
LINE UP
Iapedus’ Space Marines: The Titans Bastards Chapter (Iron Hands C.T.) 1000pts
Spoiler:
H Q
Libby, Lv2, Terminator Armour, SS, Force Stave
TROOPS
Scout Squad – 5 man, HB, Hellfire Shells
Tactical Squad – 5 man, PG, Rhino
Tactical Squad – 5 man, MG, Rhino
ELITES
Sternguard – 6 man, 4 x combiplasma, DP Legion of the Damned – 5 man, MM, MG, combimelta
Dreadnought – TLAC x 2
FAST ATTACK
Landspeeder – MM x 2
So before we kicked off, I got to have a look at some of the other armies present - if you recognize your guys, feel free to give them a shout out!
COMPETING ARMIES
Spoiler:
Chaos Space Marines Army
A really well painted Chaos Army, lots of customization and green stuff going on. My first game opponent, he would go on to win 'Best Painted'.
Space Wolves Successor Army
Solid Space Wolves army, well painted but a fair bit of proxying going on. My third game opponent.
Ultramarines Army
Neophyte2012, and his Ultramarines. My practice opponent form last week. We would avoid each other in the draw, which was nice as our lists had changed very little since.
Space Wolves Army
Innocent looking Space Wolves army for those, like me, who are unfamiliar with Thunderwolf cavalry. My second game opponent.
Eldar Army
Nasty looking Eldar force - two wave serpents and a wraithknight at 1000pts, ouch. Gladly avoided in the draw.
This message was edited 8 times. Last update was at 2014/10/13 09:12:39
If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate
Chaos Lord, Mark of Nurgle, Burning Brand of Skalanthrax 115pts
Cultists x 10, 50pts
CSM x 5, Mark of Nurgle, Plasma Rifle, Rhino, 140pts
Chaos Spawn x 5, Mark of Nurgle, 180pts
Raptors x 5, Mark of Nurgle, flamers x 2, combiflamer, 130pts
Havocs x 5, 4 x AC, 115pts
Maulerfiend, 125pts
Obliterators x 2, Mark of Nurgle, 152pts
Total: 1007 pts
Total Models 35/Infantry 33 /Characters 1 /Vehicles 2 /Psykers 0
SETUP
Spoiler:
Mission: Eternal War: The Scouring
Deployment: Dawn of War
Initiative: My opponent goes first but I will try to seize
Special Rules: Reserves
Terrain: Battlefield is the ruins of an ancient temple, dedicated to the worship of long dead gods. Terrain was set by the organisers, but in truth it was a bit sparse, with cover severely lacking on my deployment edge. Objectives were marked by barrels with a 4,3,3,2,2,1 on the underside and placed randomly. The objectives were well spaced and even, with the four point objective ending up right in the centre, making for an interesting game.
Warlord Traits: I roll Rites of War, which turns out to be completely useless. He roles on Conqueror of cities giving all his units Move Through Cover and Stealth in ruins. That is a serious buff for his guys on this terrain.
Psychic: I roll Hallucination, Dominate and Psychic Shriek Primaris. He has no Psyker.
PRE GAME ANALYSIS
Spoiler:
Reasons why Titan’s Bastard will win:
1: Legion of the Damned. As was shown in the practice game, these guys will give me flexibility with their rerolled deep striking, but are also going to melt everything in their path. Target for these will either be either the Rhino or the Maulerfiend.
2: Psychic Phase. Despite the fact that I have rolled poor powers, I will effectively get the phase to myself, and can use Dominate to slow down his Obsec units while Shriek could have a field day with all those low LD units.
3: Iron Hands. On paper at least , the Chapter Tactics for these guys are great, giving a good overall buff to every unit in my list. I didn’t remember to use them in the last game, but it is now indelibly stamped on my mind after the previous disaster.
Reasons why the Chaos Space Marines will win:
1: My inexperience. Not only a general level of 40K greenness, but I have never fought a Chaos list either. I know to look out for the obliterators, and the Maulerfiend looks unfriendly enough to focus my efforts on. Everything else I will just have to see how it pans out.
2: Obliterators. I have read enough battle reports to know these guys are death incarnate, and the fact they are deep striking makes me think I will probably lose the dreadnought or a rhino the turn they arrive. I’ll just have to hope for poor reserve rolls or a mishap.
3: Mark of Nurgle. Pretty much everything is T5, which is going to give my bolters a tough time wounding. And god forbid I end up in CC with anything…..
DEPLOYMENT
Spoiler:
The CSM deploy first and setup aggressively – Havoc and cultists in ruins on the left flank claiming the 2pt objective and with good field of fire, Rhino with 5 man CSM, Raptors and Maulerfiend in the centre, and Spawn on the right flank. Obliterators in reserves
Titans Bastards deploy defensively – both rhinos behind cover on right to stay out of the Havoc squads AC, with PGTAC unit deployed to hold the 2pt objective. Rifleman Dread exposed left of centre flank near the 3pt objective, mainly as there is no other cover available. Scouts infiltrate up centre into cover to be within reaching distance of the 4pt objective. LotD, Sternies DP and Land speeder in reserve.
I decide to try and seize……and succeed!
TURN 1 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Taking the initiative has really caught my opponent out in the open and exposed, so I will have to try and press my advantage. Drop pod arrives, and comes down in the right corner to get in behind the spawn and line them up for a volley of hellfire ammo (T5? Bah!). It scatters slightly further away than I would have liked, but it will at least give me Line breaker. Rhino with MGTAC rumbles up the middle flat out, using ruins to block LOS to the Havocs. Scouts move up for an angle on the Spawn, while Dread and the empty Rhino on the right flank stay put. I roll a 1 for Warp charge and get nothing off. So much for dominating this phase...
Sternies unleash the rapid fire hellfire on the spawn, but I roll appallingly and only manage 2 wounds at 2+. This would be the start of a bad day on the dice. Scouts chip in with a hellfire shell but it scatters off, while the Dread has a pop at the havocs but fails to kill anything. Everything else is out of range, resulting in a pretty underwhelming first turn.
TURN 1 – Chaos Space Marines
Spoiler:
I expect my sternguard to be assaulted by the spawn, but instead they peg it away towards the centre objective, leaving me to realize that I now have my best unit stuck way back in the far corner where they will most likely struggle to contribute anything to the rest of the game. Balls. Maulerfiend leaps onto the 4pt objective and lines up the scouts for assault, while the Rhino and Raptors move up.
Havocs fire on the Rhino, glancing it and destroying the storm bolter. Maulerfiend kills three scouts, including the HB, but they hold (which is not ideal)
VP – Titan’s Bastards 0:0 Chaos Space Marines
TURN 2 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Legion of the Damned arrive (Hooray!) but land speeder remains in reserves. LotD deep strike behind the Maulerfiend and spawn, looking to deal some damage. They scatter slightly out of MG/combi MG range so I reroll. The reroll is even worse and they, like the sternguard, end up way on the back edge, narrowly avoiding mishap. My two best units are effectively out of the game by turn two. Brillz. My rhino rumbles towards the centre and unloads the MGTAC squad, while everything else holds position.
I cast Dominate on the spawn to try and slow them down, but then proceed to forget about its effects for his turn. Nothing else goes off. My Dread opens up on the Rhino, immobilizing it. Sternies and LotD do nothing from range - in hind sight I should have forgone firing and just ran then towards the action. Knwoing they will be dead next run anyway, my remaining scouts go for glory and assault the spawn (I think we both forget they were tied in assault with the Maulerfiend, but it makes little difference) and they die magnificently, giving my opponent first blood. Another utterly ineffective turn ends, but I do recharge a HP on the rhino with IWND.
TURN 2 – Chaos Space Marines
Spoiler:
Obliterators come in and deep strike directly behind the Dread...
Everything in the centre moves away from the Sternies/LotD, while the CSM pile out of the immobilized Rhino. The raptors jump to position themselves in front of the MGTAC.
The Obliterators live up to their name and destroy the Dread, getting an explosion result on the damage table. My only unit on the left hand side of the table is gone, giving him free reign. The Raptors hit the MGTAC squad with three flamers, annihilating them. Havocs have nothing left to fire at.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 0:1 Chaos Space Marines
Turn 3 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Thinks are looking really bad. We are running out of time, and he is well positioned to grab all the juiciest objectives without much resistance from my guys. My Land speeder makes it into the battle and comes on from my left hand table edge. Sternies & LotD continue their slow shuffle to try and get into the fight.
The empty Rhino on the right flank makes its move for the 1pt objective, while the one in the centre decides what to do. Since I am sure it will be a fireball come next turn, I consider ramming the Maulerfiend just for laughs. My opponent quite helpfully points out though that perhaps I should contest the 3pt objective instead as time is short? This was indicative of the incredibly sporting behavior displayed by my opponent throughout. I take his advice and move into position.
In a rare change of fortune, I cast psychic shriek on the Raptor squad, who are just about in range of my trundling librarian. It hits, and I roll a mighty 15 on 3D6, causing 7 wounds with no saves, killing the unit instantly. WHY IS THIS POWER NOT MORE HIGHLY RATED?!?!?! I also get a VP for the unit being fast attack. This is great, but the fact that these are the only casualties I inflicted on my opponent should tell you everything you need to know.
The landspeeder shoots at the Maulerfiend and manages to hit with both MM, only to fluff its AP roles and not even glance it. LotD try to wreck the immobilized rhino but also fail.
TURN 3 – Chaos Space Marines
Spoiler:
He moves his spawn back onto the 4pt objective and we decide to call it a game. My opponent doesn’t realize that VPs will be used to work out overall rankings until we are totting up the scores, but since the rhino would almost certainly have been wrecked next turn I concede the contested 3pt objective.
RESULT
Spoiler:
VP POINTS
Titan’s Bastards: 5 pts Linebreaker 1pt
Eternal War Objectives 3pts
Fast Attack Kill 1pt
Chaos Space Marines: 14 pts First Blood 1pt
Linebreaker 1pt
Eternal War Objectives 12pts
Chaos Space Marines Victory!
BREAKDOWN
Decisive moment – you could say when we rolled for sides, given the dearth of cover on my left flank. Probably fairer to say when I place my DP though, as this meant over a third of my points were effectively out of it after turn 1 – they didn’t even use their 4 x combiplasma!
Key units
Titan’s Bastards: Librarian. Only one contender really, provided the only bright point of my game in causing the only 5 casualties, and won a badly needed VP for it.
Chaos Space Marines: Obliterators – arrived just at the right time destroy the Dread and free up the entire left flank. They also grabbed four VPs to boot (3EW + 1 Linebreaker).
STATS
Titan’s Bastards: Models remaining 21/32
Kill to Death Ratio 0.45
Efficiency 32%
Chaos Space Marines: Models remaining 30/35
Kill to Death Ratio 2.2
Efficiency 68%
POST GAME
Spoiler:
Well first thing to do would be say a huge thank you to my very sporting opponent Brett – he was very generous with his advice (even in the face of losing VPs for doing so) and showed great patience in the face of my lack of rules knowledge. He would go on to do very well at Neophyte 2014, picking up Best Army, Best Story and 1st Runner up spot - all well deserved.
As was pointed out by my opponent at the end, I had a terrible game with the dice, but that alone wasn’t enough to explain the manner of the defeat. I made some tactical gaffs with deep striking units, and undermanned one whole side of the table (party due to a lack of cover). My opponent saw that though and took full tactical advantage of it. He also knew that getting away from my Deep strikers in the rear would be more beneficial than just assaulting them, and went after the objectives at the right time.
Having remembered to use it this time, I found the Iron Hands CT to be a bit lack luster. On paper it looks good, but I practice I did not make a single FNP save in the game, and only one IWND. The Deep strike scatters also cost me, despite the reroll, but poor initial placement was as much to blame.
Anyway, a good game to start with and I managed to not get tabled, achieving my very low tournament expectations in the firs game! It can only get better from here, right? I moved on to the second match in hope of putting those hard lessons learnt to good use.
If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate
Wolf Guard Battle Leader, Thunderwolf, Armour of Russ, Black Death, Fangsword of the Ice Wolf, 185pts
Grey Hunter x 10, 2 x PG, Rhino, 205pts
Grey Hunter x 10, 2 x PG, Rhino, 205pts
Stormwolf, TLMM, TL Hellfrost Cannon, TLLC, 235pts
Thunderwolf cavalry x 3, power axe, SS x 2, meltabomb, 170pts
Total 1000 pts
Mission: Eternal War: Big Guns Never Tire
Deployment: Dawn of War
Initiative: I go first but my opponent will try to seize
Special Rules: Reserves
Terrain: Battlefield is the smoldering husk of an imperial city, rank with the stench of death and decay. Terrain was again preset, and again a bit sparse, but at least this time there was more cover on my deployment edge. The 3 Objectives barrels were also preset and I have chosen the side with one objective in it, another just outside, with the third being the other side of the central ruin.
Warlord Traits: I roll Rites of War again, which again turns out to be completely useless. I think he roles something in the Space Wolves codex which also turns out to be useless
Psychic: I roll Invisibility (Yay!), Dominate and Psychic Shriek Primaris. He has no Psyker.
PRE GAME ANALYSIS
Spoiler:
Reasons why Titan’s Bastards will win:
1: Legion of the Damned. Their poor showing in the first game was my bad. These guys are still awesome and can do some serious damage. Target for these will either be either of the Rhinos, especially if still full to the brim of juicy space marines.
2: Psychic Phase. Once again I will effectively get the phase to myself, but now have invisibility to buff my Libby & the sternguard. Shriek again could be useful against the grey hunters.
3: Low model count. My opponents force is looking very sparse, just four units. This will make it difficult for him to challenge all three objectives on the board, especially if the Stormwolf gets stuck in reserves.
Reasons why the Wolfy McWolfenstien Wolfborn FangWolf Wolfbrothers of Wolverhampton will win:
1: My inexperience. This will apply to every game today.
2: Thunderwolf Cavalry. Whilst I know nothing about them, the fact they chew up over a third of his points has me thinking perhaps there is more to them than just their outright silly appearance. I have also heard some drawing of breath and muttered comments to this regard over the lunch break…..Bah! How bad can they be?
3: Stormwolf. Again, a well-armed flyer and my lack of AA could mean a long afternoon if it comes in on turn two.
DEPLOYMENT
Spoiler:
Titans Bastards deploy aggressively – one rhino and MGTAC squad on the left flank to grab objective 2, Dread in the middle with fields of fire around the central ruin and hold objective 1, with the second rhino and PGTAC squad on the right flank. Scouts infiltrate up onto Objective 1. LotD, Sternies DP and Land speeder in reserve.
Space Wolves deploy all in the right corner, tightly bunched (if only I had orbital bombardment!) together, presumably to be out of sight of my Dread.
My opponent tries to seize……and fails!
TURN 1 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
I learn my lesson from the first game and bring the drop Pod right down in the thick of it, creating a nice road block for his tightly bunched units. Direct hit on the scatter too, perhaps this game will be different after all? Dread shuffles for an angle, MGTAC disembark the rhino and camp on objective 2. PGTAC disembarks and moves up to ruin for cover & LOS on far corner. I roll a 1 for Warp charge and nothing happens this phase...
Sternies unleash the rapid fire combi-plasma……..at the closest rhino*. It explodes, killing three of the Grey Hunter inside and giving me first blood. Further firing from the scouts and DP storm bolter whittle them down to four, but they would hold. The Dread has a pop at the other rhino and immobilizes it, taking it down to 1 HP. I’m pretty happy with that first turn
*in hindsight, this was a massive target prioritization error. This volley should have gone at the Wolf Guard Battle Leader and his posse. But hey, we live and learn…..
TURN 1 – Space Wolves
Spoiler:
I expect my sternguard to be assaulted by the TWC unit, and am not surprised when they are. What I am surprised by is the way they tear through my sternguards, wiping them out to a man and leaving my Libby all alone. He survives a challenge with the WGBL and they stay locked in battle.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 1:0 Space Wolves
TURN 2 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Neither the Legion of the Damned nor the land speeder comes in from reserves. The left flank rhino rumbles towards the centre and helps the scouts hold Objective 3, the PGTAC gets up behind cover, while the Dread and right flank rhino switch positons, allowing the Dread better angle or fire.
I roll a three for warp charge, and use everything to get invisibility off. My Libby is going to need this if he is going to survive combat this turn. He tries to deny but fails.
My Dread finishes off the other Rhino, wrecking it. Its occupants pile out and receive a barrage of fire from the TAC squad, Scouts, rhinos & DP, reducing them to 6. They hold. My Libby not only holds his own in combat, but deals a wound to the WGBL. Hopefully he can tar pit this unit for another turn…
TURN 2 – Space Wolves
Spoiler:
Stormwolf fails to arrive, Grey hunters have some shots but hit nothing. TWC & WGBL score an unbelievable number of hits on the Libby, even with invisibility cast. He fails his save and dies, giving my opponent kill the warlord. They consolidate forwards past the drop pod, free to rampage in the next turn.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 1:1 Space Wolves
Turn 3 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
At this point, I am still happy with the way things are going – I still hold all three objectives and have him pinned in the corner (ha!). Legion of the Damned and Land speeder arrive as well, everything is rosy. I deploy both to help finish off the grey hunters, leaving my dread and the TAC to deal with the TWC & WGBL*.
Dread & PGTAC open up ion the TWC, but only manage one wound between them. Scouts, LotD and Land speeder also have a mare, only managing to kill one grey Hunter. Still, at least the LotD will get my line breaker……
*in hindsight, this was another massive target prioritization error. These units should have gone at the WGBL & chums. But hey, we continue to live and learn…..apparently.
TURN 3 – Space Wolves
Spoiler:
Stormwolf still doesn’t arrive. The remaining grey hunters shuffle around a bit and shoot at the Land Speeder, immobilizing it. They also kill two LotD due to poor saving roles from me.
The TWC multiple charge my TAC unit and the Dread. Three marines die and they break, while the dread is immobilized. Things are suddenly not looking so rosy.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 1:1 Space Wolves
Turn 4 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
OK, I can feel this game starting to slip away here and my opponent looks very confident considering he only has one whole unit on the pitch. My broken TAC regroup and head for objective 1, while the rhino swivels to get its rear away from the TWC. LotD fire at the grey hunters but only kill one. Combat with the TWC ends badly foe the Dread and he is wrecked. I forget to fire my Land Speeder.
TURN 4 – Space Wolves
Spoiler:
Stormwolf arrives, but doesn’t have much to shoot at – he kills two scouts around the centre objective. One group of grey hunters shoot the LotD, killing another one (again poor save throw). The other charges the land speeder, wrecking it with a krak grenade.
His TWC and WGBL split. The TWC charge the TAC unit, killing them and contesting objective 1 with the rhino. The WGBL charges the scouts in the ruin, killing them all, and then consolidates towards the rhino.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 1:1 Space Wolves
Turn 5 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Wow. In the space of two turns, these wolf riders have decimated my guys. I have very little left and no real way of getting back into this. I reposition my remaining TAC unit so they can still hold objective 2 and get some fire on the TWC. I also tank rush the TWC with the rhino, but they easily dodge it.
Firing from my Rhino and DP reduce the Grey hunters to two. I then charge the remainder with my LotD, believing a quick combat will ensue in my favour. It doesn’t, and these guys would remain tar pitted by one grey hunter for the remainder of the game. This also cost me line breaker.
TURN 5 – Space Wolves
Spoiler:
The Stormwolf fires on the MGTAC squad, killing three, but they would hold.
The TWC wreck the rhino on objective 1, claiming it for themselves. The WGBL wrecks the other rhino, claiming objective 3.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 1:1 Space Wolves
Turn 6 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
It’s over, but the dice say yes so we carry on. The MGTAC fire on the TWC, causing a few wounds, but stay close to the objective and in cover as he has no troops to take it and must rely on killing them to deny me.
TURN 6 – Space Wolves
Spoiler:
Stormwolf fires on the TACMG squad but they make their cover saves. Nothing else moves, but his grey hunter kills one of my LotD
VP – Titan’s Bastards 1:1 Space Wolves
Turn 7 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Aaaaaaand it goes on to the final round. I pile what fire I can into the TWC and add a wound. The LotD draws another combat.
TURN 7 – Space Wolves
Spoiler:
Stormwolf fires on the TACMG squad but they make their cover saves again. The Grey hunter draws another combat. It finally ends, and well before time is called by the organisers.
RESULT
Spoiler:
VP POINTS
Titan’s Bastards: 4 pts First Blood 1pt
Eternal War Objectives 3pts
Space Wolves: 8 pts Slay the Warlord 1pt
Line breaker 1pt
Eternal War Objectives 6pts
Space Wolves Victory!
BREAKDOWN
Decisive moment – the first shot of the game. My combi-plasma volley from the sternguard should have gone straight into the WGBL, as well as everything else I had. The grey hunters would have been far easier to deal with in the following turns. Alas, I went for the short term gain of first blood and paid the price in the long run.
Key units
Titan’s Bastards: Sternguard. Provided the bright point of my game, getting an explosion result on a full rhino for 1 VP.
Space Wolves: WGBL/TWC. These guys were amazing – between running/charging/reconsolidating if felt like they were moving over 20” a turn. They were also indestructible under fire, and munched their way through most of my force in in close combat. Awesome.
STATS
Titan’s Bastards: Models remaining 3/32
Kill to Death Ratio 0.72
Efficiency 42%
Space Wolves: Models remaining 6/27
Kill to Death Ratio 1.38
Efficiency 58%
POST GAME
Spoiler:
Again, my opponent was very sporting and showed great patience in the face of my lack of rules knowledge. He would go on to be overall Champion at Neophyte 2014, which made me feel a bit better about the result.
Having almost been tabled though, I really feel that I could have won this if I had just understood beforehand how dangerous the TWC/WGBL was, and piled all my fire into them instead of the rhinos & grey hunters. My DP placement was correct, but again my LotD and land speeder strikes went after the wrong guys. I still don’t understand his bunched deployment in the corner, but I failed to take full advantage of it.
Once again, I found the Iron Hands CT to be a disappointing. Not a single FNP or IWND roll did I make in this game. Anyway, another good game and more lessons learnt. My moral was starting to flag by this poit though, and I headed into the final game more in hope than expectation.
If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate
Out of interest, has anyone else been on the receiving end of a Thunder wolf cavalry battering? Are they always so awesome, or was it just me being pants?
If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate
TWC are good, but they can be dealt with by VoF (volume-of-fire). In other words, you've got to put a lot of shots into them.
My area is probably much more competitive, but we have a guy here (one of my teammates) who runs the "Thunderdome" Thunderwolf list. Basically, it's a deathstar army with 6 Wolf Lords on TWC and 2x15 fenrisian wolves. It's devastating if you don't know how to deal with them. However, in our group, he's lost more than he's won against us.
Er, I played against Dickson with another list a week before our warm up game. His TWC destroyed my vindicator and Rhino and tac squad and tarpitted the ironclad, but not able destroy it for 3 rounds of combat. Even power fist may have a hard time to get a glance or pen on AV13, while melta bomb can only have one attack, but 3 stormshield made them resilient against 3 dreadnought power fist attack.
Generally the TWC is only Ld 8, but that boss is the key in fixing it, if you can get terrify from psychic, maybe terrify them then psychic shriek, then followed by hellfire rounds from sternguard.
2014/10/07 15:28:29
Subject: Re:[1000] Titan's Bastards SM at Neophyte Challenge 2014 (Game1 & 2 Completed)
Neophyte2012 wrote: Er, I played against Dickson with another list a week before our warm up game. His TWC destroyed my vindicator and Rhino and tac squad and tarpitted the ironclad, but not able destroy it for 3 rounds of combat. Even power fist may have a hard time to get a glance or pen on AV13, while melta bomb can only have one attack, but 3 stormshield made them resilient against 3 dreadnought power fist attack.
Generally the TWC is only Ld 8, but that boss is the key in fixing it, if you can get terrify from psychic, maybe terrify them then psychic shriek, then followed by hellfire rounds from sternguard.
It's currently not completely clear if TWC with power fists are s9 or 10. And generally, they roll over ironclads thanks to that +1 or +2 str.
2014/10/07 15:36:30
Subject: [1000] Titan's Bastards SM at Neophyte Challenge 2014 (Game1 & 2 Completed)
Neophyte2012 wrote: Er, I played against Dickson with another list a week before our warm up game. His TWC destroyed my vindicator and Rhino and tac squad and tarpitted the ironclad, but not able destroy it for 3 rounds of combat. Even power fist may have a hard time to get a glance or pen on AV13, while melta bomb can only have one attack, but 3 stormshield made them resilient against 3 dreadnought power fist attack.
Generally the TWC is only Ld 8, but that boss is the key in fixing it, if you can get terrify from psychic, maybe terrify them then psychic shriek, then followed by hellfire rounds from sternguard.
It's currently not completely clear if TWC with power fists are s9 or 10. And generally, they roll over ironclads thanks to that +1 or +2 str.
Is TWC S5? Maybe my opponent made it wrong, because he regard rolloing a 5 is glancing the ironclad, and I did not realise that because I think TWC is naturally S4 T5.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, and they have rending, but that comes into fruit when rolled a 6. Anyway , they just have a ton of attacks
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/10/07 16:28:27
2014/10/07 17:06:02
Subject: [1000] Titan's Bastards SM at Neophyte Challenge 2014 (Game1 & 2 Completed)
My policy with TWC : "never let them charge, so fire at will !!"
Yeah, this was pretty much my issue in the game - I only had one chance to shoot at them first turn with the drop sternies, but I went for first blood on the rhino instead Almost every turn after that they were locked in CC with one of my units, and I couldn't shoot at them until I had almost nothing left.
jy2 wrote:This is kind of on a tangent, but have the protests in HK affected the gaming community there at all?
Not in a major way - the main venue is just around the corner from where they are blocking the roads in Admiralty, so it makes it more difficult to get there (no buses or cabs pretty much) but most of the guys struggle in one way or another. A lot of the gamers are students too, or at least liberal leaning pro-democracy supporters (like me), so it leads to some interesting tangential debates around the tables
Besides, I'm from London originally and I have to say that this is the politest civil disobedience protest I have ever seen. Apart from the initial tear gassing and baton charges, the only real issue has been triad thugs backed by shady mainland figures beating up the protesters, but every time they try to scare the protesters away the students come back stronger than ever!
*sniff* makes you proud to (almost) be a Honk Kong citizen
If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate
For some reason SW players forget that they are 10. Played a double tourney were my ally had TWC and he charged an IK and tried to kill the thing with str 8, then the same game his other squad charged a Baneblade and was trying to kill that with str 8 also.
Could of tabled em :(.
Just remember, you see TWC you shoot them with everything, then shoot them some more. They get in cc and you can kiss ur squad goodbye.
Nice reports! Keep them coming!
2014/10/09 01:09:32
Subject: [1000] Titan's Bastards SM at Neophyte Challenge 2014 (Game1 & 2 Completed)
My Opponent: William’s Champions of Fenris (Space Wolves):
Spoiler:
Rune Priest, Lvl 2 Psyker, Terminator Armour, Rune Axe, 110pts
WolfGuard x 10, combiplasma x4, DP, 255pts
Wolf Guard Terminators, 3x combiplasma, 3 x SS, Assault Cannon, PF, 205pts
Long Fangs x 6, LC x 5, 190 pts
Stormfang Gunship, 2x TLMM, 240pts
Total 1000 pts
Total Models 24/ Infantry 22 /Characters 1 /Vehicles 2/Psykers 1
SETUP
Spoiler:
Mission: Eternal War: Purge the Alien
Deployment: Hammer of Wrath
Initiative: My opponent goes first and I will not try to seize
Special Rules: Reserves
Terrain: Battlefield is the overgrown remains of an imperial research outpost, thick with the tanged growths of barbed weeds and garish flowers. Terrain was again preset, and again a bit sparse on both our sides, but with one very obvious vantage point that can see pretty much the whole board. No objectives as its purge the Alien – all out slaughter will be the order of the day.
Warlord Traits: I roll Iron Resolve, which contributes nothing to the game, while my opponent rolls something on the Champions of Fenris Traits table, which he duly forgets about and has no impact on the game either.
Psychic: I roll Shrouding, Terrify and Psychic Shriek Primaris. He rolls on the Champions of Fenris powers and gets something that I cannot remember (sorry) but his psyker as very little impact so doesn’t really matter too much.
PRE GAME ANALYSIS
Spoiler:
Reasons why Titan’s Bastard will win:
1: Legion of the Damned. OK, so these guys haven’t had the best of days today, but it has mostly been down to my poor target prioritization and not realizing they are better out of assault than in it. Target for these guys will be the Wolf Guard Termies & Rune Priest.
2: More guns. Simple really - he has more to kill with less, and I have less to kill with more. That’s about as Mathammer as I like to get.
3: Low model count. Once again my opponents force is looking very sparse, just four units. However I have learnt my lesson in that low model count doesn’t mean he will be easy to turn over. No TWC in his list, but something else must be chewing up the points for good reason….
Reasons why the Fenris’s Champs will win:
1: My inexperience. This will apply to every game today.
2: Alphastrike. I have allowed my opponent to go first, as he will only have one squad on the board if I go first and it is not the unit I want to target with my strike. Unfortunately this means I have to try and weather the storm of his first turn.
3: Stormwolf. A slightly different spec to my last opponents, but still a well-armed flyer, and my lack of AA could mean a long afternoon if it comes in on turn two.
DEPLOYMENT
Spoiler:
Space Wolves deploy their only unit in the right corner, up on top of the commanding piece of scenery. 5 LCs with a view of the whole board. Nice.
Titans Bastards spread out – MGTAC squad on the left flank in the crater, Dread next to them also in cover with good fields of fire, while both rhinos and the PGTAC try to hide behind the large oil tank on the right flank. Scouts infiltrate up onto the base of the oil tank for cover. LotD, Libby, Sternies DP and Land speeder in reserve.
TURN 1 – Champions of Fenris
Spoiler:
Commeth the onslaught. DP smacks down right in the centre, with the wolf guard piling out and going for the units on my right flank. Termies & Rune Priest deep striking left of centre, almost misshaping onto the central terrain piece, but just about avoiding it.
Long Fangs go for a Rhino with their LCs to try for first blood. They either miss, bounce or the rhino makes his cover saves afforded by the terrain. My rhino is leading a charmed life. Termies go for the MGTAC squad, again hoping for first blood with the heavy weight of fire, but only kill two. They would hold.
Wolfguard and DP take aim at PFTAC on right flank, but again fail to finish them off, killing only three even with rapid fire.
All in all, a pretty disappointing turn for my opponent - I have weathered the alpha strike better than I had any reason to expect, keeping first blood intact to boot.
TURN 1 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
I counter his DP strike with my own, bringing it down on my right flank just in front of his. Nothing else moves. Psychic phase I cast terrify on the wolf guard coming out of the pod. My opponent doesn’t try to deny. Then I cast Psychic Shriek on the same unit. My opponent realizes what’s happening and throws everything at denying it, but fails. I roll to hit successfully, and then roll 15 on the 3D6 to determine wounds!. With the -1 leadership from Terrify they take 7 casualties in one blow. Firing from the sternguard finish the Wolf Guard off, giving me first blood and a point for destroying a unit. I freaking LOVE psychic Shriek.
Dread and scouts take aim at Long Fangs up on the tower, killing three between them. They break, and run the maximum 12”. Unfortunately, they were about 12” up in the air so only make it as far as the base of the tower. But still a great result, rounding off a pretty good first turn for me.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 2:0 Champions of Fenris
TURN 2 – Champions of Fenris
Spoiler:
My opponent is reeling from the reversal of one turn, and really needs the Stormfang to come in from reserves…….. Which is doesn’t! Not sure what gaming gods he offended during the day, but his luck was definitely out. Termies trundle forward, and take out the remains of the MGTAC unit on the left flank. The Long Fangs regroup and vent their anger at being embarrassed by the scouts at my Dread, wrecking it also. This gives him his first points of the day.
TURN 2 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Legion of the Damned arrive from reserves, but scatter a bit closer to the termies than I would like. Land Speeder is still out. One rhino hides behind scenery, while the other begins to make a move up the right flank for line breaker. Scouts sit still. My Libby is just out of range of everything for psychic, so he and his unit move in on the DP while firing at the Termies to no effect. LotD melt two of them though, but they hold.
Scouts kill another Long Fang but this time they hold.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 2:1 Champions of Fenris
Turn 3 – Champions of Fenris
Spoiler:
Stormfang comes in for my opponent, giving him some hope. Terminators charge the LotD, locking them up in assault. The Long fangs have nothing to shoot at so shuffle about for a better angle next turn.
Stormfang takes aim at my Sternguard and hits with everything. My Libby, being at the forefront of the unit, tries to tank the hits on his storm shield, but fluffs his save roles! Instant death from the meltas gives him slay the warlord and a unit destroyed point!
TURN 3 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Land speeder comes in and Deep strikes towards the rear of the board. Rhino continues the charge for line breaker, while the Sternguard and remaining TAC marines assault the DP and try to Krak grenade it to death. They fail. Land speeder kills the remaining two Long fangs, giving me another point.
LotD loose three legionnaires in assault with the Termies but remain stuck in CC.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 3:2 Champions of Fenris
Turn 4 – Champions of Fenris
Spoiler:
Stormfang has nothing in its field of fire so flies off. His Termies are stuck in CC, and finish off another LotD, leaving just the sergeant.
TURN 4 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Rhino makes it to Linebreaker on right flank, leaving my Land speeder free to move back infield and look for something to blow up.
Sternguard try krak grenading the DP again and fail again. Land speeder decides enough is enough and takes it down first time, unfortunately killing a sternguard with the explodes result. Still, a noble sacrifice for the extra point!
The last legionnaire actually kills a terminator in CC, causing them to loose combat and break! This of course has dire consequences next turn, but at the time it provided much hilarity for my opponent and me.
VP – Titan’s Bastards 4:2 Champions of Fenris
Turn 5 – Champions of Fenris
Spoiler:
Stormfang comes back on and has a pop at my DP, but only manages to glance it. Termies finish off the lone LotD for an extra point.
TURN 5 – Titan’s Bastards
Spoiler:
Land speeder moves behind the Stormfang and snap fires, hitting with both meltas! Unfortunately I fluff both penetration rolls and he lives to fight another day. Everything else shoots at the Termies to no effect.
We roll to see if the game continues………but it doesn’t! And with that, Neophyte 2014 is all over!
RESULT
Spoiler:
VP POINTS
Titan’s Bastards: 5 pts First Blood 1pt
Linebreaker 1pt
Eternal War Objectives 3pts (3 units destroyed)
Champions of Fenris: 4 pts Slay the Warlord 1pt
Eternal War Objectives 3pts (3 units destroyed)
Titan’s Bastards Victory!
BREAKDOWN
Decisive moment – my opponents first turn. He needed to cause some serious damage with his alpha strike, but just didn’t get the luck he needed. That, combined with loosing half his troops in my retaliatory strike mean it was going o be an uphill struggle for him.
Key units
Titan’s Bastards: Libby. One bout of Psychic Shriek killed seven marines, severely hampering his strategy and allowed the sternguard to claim 2 VPs in the first turn.
Champions of Fenris: Stormfang. Killed my Libby to give him Slay the Warlord, and if it had gone on an extra turn or two this would probably have gone on to get some more VPs with impunity due to my lack of AA.
STATS
Titan’s Bastards: Models remaining 13/32
Kill to Death Ratio 1.05
Efficiency 51%
Champions of Fenris: Models remaining 4/24
Kill to Death Ratio 0.95
Efficiency 49%
POST GAME
Spoiler:
Wow, what a close game. Again, I had fooled myself into thinking I had it sewn up (esp. after turn 1) and didn’t realize how tight it was until we were adding up the points, In truth, his low model count actually worked in his favor this game as it mean there we were very few points on the table for me to go after.
My opponent was great fun to play against and took his turn of bad luck very well, carrying on to the bitter end in great spirit - very sporting. He would go on to finish last at Neophyte 2014, but was a great competitor none the less (he, like me also lost to the overall champion, and came up against the Eldar in game one so was really up against it all day).
My strategy was a bit better this game, not forgetting about Linebreaker and placing my DP/Deep strikers properly. Once again though, I found the Iron Hands CT to be very disappointing - again I didn’t make a single FNP or IWND roll in this game. I will definitely be trading these out for a chapter tactics that reflects my list a bit better for the future, probably something like Imperial Fists.
POST TOURNAMENT
Spoiler:
Well, that was great fun – not only my first batch of games in a lot of years but also my first competitive tournament ever. I achieved my goal of not getting tabled every game, and the bonus of a last gasp victory was the icing on the cake. With the points I managed to take in the early games and the final win, I ended up finishing 5th or 6th overall, which I was very happy with considering my lack of game time.
Going forward though, I think I will definitely look at changing up my list a bit a and building toward something that takes full advantage of the chapter tactics I pick. I will stick with the Libby/Sternguard combo as I think it did ok, and will probably have a look at maybe including another LotD unit in there, with Plasma fit out to compliment the meltapod.
Anyway, great fun – on to the next tourney!
If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate
The boy who played Champion of Fenirs actually played 1st game against me, he is a good guy, just unlucky and even lack of experiences compared to you and me.
IMHO, you may take more tough vehicles (AV13 to 14, more than 3 HP) in your army, either drop pod ironclad dreadnought and/or land raider will better suit the iron hand chapter, even better to take a master of the forge in addition to your Libby. If you want to bring sth similar to your list in the NC2014, than maybe Imperial Fist or Ultramarine would be better since even terminators would fall quickly if you score 15+ S4 AP5 hits. You may even consider using Ravenguard if you want to be more resilient to opponent's alpha strike due to 1st turn stealth, and you may even scout move your two Rhinos
I agree your idea on LotD. They are great.
IMO, I strongly propose you to bring something strong with sky fire, to fill the most significant hole in your army, in case there maybe "flying circus" from Tyranids, CSM and Daemon players in the Grand tournament.
2014/10/14 05:15:19
Subject: Re:[1000] Titan's Bastards SM at Neophyte Challenge 2014 (Game1, 2 & 3 Completed)
Neophyte2012 wrote: IMO, I strongly propose you to bring something strong with sky fire, to fill the most significant hole in your army, in case there maybe "flying circus" from Tyranids, CSM and Daemon players in the Grand tournament.
Yeah I agree - unfortunately I don't have the money or time to radically evolve my list before the grand tournament, so I will just be expanding it as best I can and looking to plug a few holes - I have a nice little surprise planned to fill the AA gap in my defenses I was thinking of switching to salamanders for CT but I don't have the models ready to take best advantage of it so I will probably stick with Imperial Fists for now. Hopefully I can improve my performance too and pick up a few more wins, but since we will be up against the 'old pros' I don't hold out much hope.
If in doubt, frag it out...
Fight spam with spam, cheese with cheese, and fluff with a razor sharp sense of the appropriate
.....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids 
.....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
Almost every turn after that they were locked in 
