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Deathwing Knights and Inner Circle Companions still benefit from Gladius, its just not mandatory anymore!

I took an Inner Circle Task Force for a competitive test game against a Tau army. The increase in DW Knights meant that I had to drop a character to achieve deep strike potential for all squads.

The new detachment rule was great. Being able to make all non-controlled objectives a Vowed Objective was a big quality of life improvement. Deathwing Knights with Maces can now do real work against vehicles/monsters, and being able to use the Inner Circle stratagem to reroll 1s or full rerolls on the Vowed Objective meant that my dudes could reliably take down the big Tau suits. Rerolling 4s with AP-2 and D2 with the number of attacks that DW Knights can generate at WS 2+ makes them terrors again.

The changes to Captains and "free CP" took some thinking, but being able to pop Armour of Contempt and -1 to Wound kept my Turn 1 deep striking Deathwing Knights and their Captain alive on an objective. Poor Belial will continue to compile reports on the Rock...

The Inner Circle Companions with Azrael were kind-of poaching going up against Tau, but they certainly blended big Tau infantry squads and some tougher Tau stuff. "Its a Ginsu. It can cut through a tin can and then cut through a tomato!"

There's a couple of very cool Dark Angels lists in today's installment of Goonhammer's Competitive Innovations: https://www.goonhammer.com/competitive-innovations-in-10th-pariah-powers-up-pt-2/

One list is a Gladius, the other one is an honest-to-God Inner Circle Task Force list. Both lists have 3 units of Deathwing Knights, confirming that they are major meta contenders (as if we didn't know that already). I like the Inner Circle list a lot, as putting a Judiciar with Inner Circle Companions is not something I had actually considered before (and yet it's brilliant!), and optionally for certain matchups one could instead put Azrael with them (matchups where the Judiciar just won't matter, like Tau). Jump Pack Assault Intercessors are also looking spicy these days, as a lot of Marines (especially Blood Angels for obvious reasons) are taking them as skirmish/utility pieces. Perhaps it's time to shelve Inceptors in favor of the much cheaper Jump Ints.

2 more Gladius builds are shown in today's Goonhammer article: https://www.goonhammer.com/competitive-innovations-in-10th-open-for-business-pt-1/

Both players went with similar builds, with 2 bricks of Deathwing Knights, some Inner Circle Companions, Azrael, and a Fire Discipline Aggressor brick, plus some number of Jump Assault Ints. The big news is that both lists ran THE LION! Looks like maybe he's back on the menu, boys! One of the lists ran a Repulsor to put the Aggressors inside for transport shenanigans, the other took a second Inner Circle Companion unit with a Judiciar for Fights First (probably a good call with Blood Angels on the rampage right now).

Azrael and Deathwing Knights just went up in points. The Lion and some Ravenieng went down.

Azrael will likely remain auto-include, but lists with triple Deathwing Knights will have to cut something. Gladius Fire Discipline went up, as did Eradicators and the Biologis. It is clear that the balance team is watching event results, as the main DA list has taken multiple hits today.

Yeah, the DA Gladius build got nuked from orbit, but it might still be viable, just with a unit of JumpAssInts removed or something (considering those went up too). My planned version for a tournament in a couple of weeks is slightly less affected as I was using the Lion and a Ballistus Dread, but it still went up 80-ish points. I'm actually debating cutting a unit of DWK and taking other stuff; I would be running some Inner Circle Companions but I'll never get those painted in time.

My hot takes on the changed units:

-Azrael: +10: Yeah this is probably long overdue to be fair. We're still going to take him, he's still pretty amazing for his points.

-Deathwing Knights: +15: Another one we all saw coming, these guys are probably still viable but possibly not as spammable.

-Land Speeder Vengeance: -20: Probably still not viable, especially with the big decrease on Storm Speeders making them look even better.

-Ravenwing Command Squad: -10: Very nice and makes Ravenwing lists slightly cheaper, but probably not enough to suddenly make Ravenwing stuff good (Black Knights didn't get touched and are still not good enough).

-Sammael: -15: He was overcosted before, but now he's a little more reasonable. I'm still not sure he's worth taking, as the units he can lead just aren't that good.

-Lion El'jonson: -15: He was already viable as a fringe pick before, but now we might see a bit more of him on tables, and that's a good thing.

-Apothecary Biologis: +15: This was probably a bit heavy handed, as the Biologis wasn't seeing any play outside of the Gladius. And now he definitely won't.

-Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs: +10 (for 5 man units only): Probably reasonable as they were just a little too efficient as scoring/position pieces. I think they're still viable in that role.

-Ballistus Dreadnought: -10: I think people have been sleeping on these bad bois, and now they just got even cheaper. Honestly they rock, as they don't need Oath to do their wicked work. At this new cost, they'll probably freeze out the Predator Annihilator though (not like anyone besides me was using those).

-Captain in Phobos Armor: -10: Nice to see this guy get cheaper, but Dark Angels weren't using him before, and I doubt we're going to use him now.

-Eradicator Squad: +5 per 3 models: Honestly this is kind of a slap on the wrist; these guys are still pretty nasty for their cost.

-Heavy Intercessor Squad: -5/5 models: These guys keep getting cheaper, yet still no one takes them. Damn shame, as the models are cool. I just can't think of anything they can do that another unit can't do better or more efficiently (especially in Dark Angels).

-Invader ATV: -10: This change does benefit Ravenwing lists that wanted to run them, as it does also make ATVs cheaper in Outrider squads. It's still not enough to get them there, but I suppose every little bit helps. Maybe Ravenwing will be viable one day.

-Invictor Warsuit: -15: This change is enough to get me thinking about Invictors at least, but I'm not sure exactly how I would use them. Maybe there's a fringe strategy for these out there somewhere?

-Reiver Squad: -10/5 models: These guys are now absurdly cheap; maybe they could see play as mission pieces? I doubt it, as they lack the "uppy downy" trick that Scouts have, and they can't move as fast after Deep Striking as Jump Intercessors.

-Storm Speeder Hailstrike: -15: This thing's guns are still kind of pitiful, but it does have a somewhat useful ability, and now it's cheap enough to maybe get there? Not sure you'd want to spend points on this instead of another damage dealer or mission play piece though, even if it's now cheaper.

-Storm Speeder Hammerstrike: -25: Okay, this thing is seriously nasty for its cost now, and really makes the Land Speeder Vengeance look sad. I might actually consider running multiples of this in some lists.

-Storm Speeder Thunderstrike: -10: The Thunderstrike got the least points drop of the three Storm Speeders, but it was the best one. Not sure but what it's been dethroned by the Hammerstrike, but I think it's still worth taking a single one both for its own firepower and as a buff piece.

-Suppressor Squad: -10: A nice points drop, but I'm still not sure DA need these in any way.

-Terminator Assault Squad: -5/5 models: Just a token points decrease, but we'd still rather have Deathwing Knights.

-Terminator Squad: -5/5 models: Another token decrease, and a little insulting that they didn't do the same for Deathwing Terminators. These guys still won't see play, most likely, except maybe in some fringe Inner Circle Task Force builds.

-Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs: +5/5 models: Not sure these guys deserved this, but we probably have our Blood Angels buddies to blame for this one. This will hurt ICTF builds more than anything else.

-Fire Discipline: +10: This enhancement is what makes the Gladius detachment really sing, so it's no surprise that it's going up. Between Erads, this, and the Biologis, that whole package goes up by 35 points, which hurts. I think it's still good though.

After these changes, I suspect that DA players may stick with the Gladius, but there will obviously be various retoolings of the list to account for most of the good stuff in it getting price bumps. I don't think Ravenwing got enough to make them suddenly viable, and nothing else changed enough to make me think DA are going to have much else to pivot to. We'll have to see.

Something I've been hearing about in the new (post recent dataslate) meta is the rise of the Dark Angels Stormlance. Basically take a Stormlance with 3 squads of Deathwing Knights, The Lion, a brick or two of Inner Circle Companions, and some mission play pieces, and run at the enemy. Advance and Charge is one hell of a drug, I can tell you that just from Assault Doctrine in the Gladius detachment. I might give the Stormlance detachment a whirl some time soon, but tomorrow I've got an RTT for which lists are already locked and I'll be running the standard Gladius build. I really got my ass handed to me last weekend at a GT with this list (pulled 3 Necron opponents, and Necrons are the DA Gladius' Kryptonite, I swear), but lists for the RTT were due right after the GT was over and I didn't have time to switch (plus I didn't have time to practice a new list anyways). The GT was very competitive, a real shark tank, but going 1-4 is just shameful for me since I've been playing for 10 years.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Something I've been hearing about in the new (post recent dataslate) meta is the rise of the Dark Angels Stormlance. Basically take a Stormlance with 3 squads of Deathwing Knights, The Lion, a brick or two of Inner Circle Companions, and some mission play pieces, and run at the enemy. Advance and Charge is one hell of a drug, I can tell you that just from Assault Doctrine in the Gladius detachment. I might give the Stormlance detachment a whirl some time soon, but tomorrow I've got an RTT for which lists are already locked and I'll be running the standard Gladius build. I really got my ass handed to me last weekend at a GT with this list (pulled 3 Necron opponents, and Necrons are the DA Gladius' Kryptonite, I swear), but lists for the RTT were due right after the GT was over and I didn't have time to switch (plus I didn't have time to practice a new list anyways). The GT was very competitive, a real shark tank, but going 1-4 is just shameful for me since I've been playing for 10 years.

Hey - playing a GT can mean some tough match-ups! I wouldn't call 1-4 shameful!

The full-aggro Stormlance Deathwing Knight and Lion list sounds kinda fun. Might have to try it. I am list-locked in a league right now (went with Gladius - its like when I play Skyrim, always end up as a Stealth-Archer no matter my intentions going in), but I will try that once its done.

Thanks for the kind words, I really felt bad after finishing that poorly though. But, I did manage to redeem myself at the RTT the following weekend by going 2-1 and taking second place out of 13 players, using the same list. I think my real takeaway from the whole thing is that I need more dojo time, especially if I'm trying to learn a new list. If and when I do the Stormlance thing, I intend to get plenty of practice before I try to play in an event of any real size.

My takeaways from the two tournaments:
-Lion is real good now. He was easily my MVP in most of the games (he only died like a chump in one game at the GT, and that was because I yeeted him up the board too early. Yes, he does die, but in many games he sold himself dearly (fights first is nasty). I did learn in one game that he really needs to beware of exploding Land Raiders...
-Deathwing Knights are a real nightmare to shift, with their -1 damage and access to Armor of Contempt, plus having 4 wounds. However, some armies can give them real trouble. They themselves are very susceptible to -1 damage stuff, and I learned in a practice game that Mortarion will absolutely make them sad since he can turn off their -1 damage. I've also seen some units like Sword Brethren with Helbrecht just angle grind their way right through a unit of these guys. Also, they are susceptible to just getting out-OC'ed as they are only OC1.
-The Fire Discipline Eradicator brick is scary, but is often a one trick pony, as they usually don't live long enough to get a second volley off. As such, I'm just not sure they are worth their points. And if your opponent doesn't have vehicles or monsters, they are very sad indeed.
-Azrael is worth a lot more than just his extra CP, so try to get him involved in the actual fight if you can. His gun, combined with his Sustained Hits, can make enemy infantry cry, and his melee is pretty respectable too. A lot of people run him with IC Companions, but I'll advocate for a brick of Assault Intercessors, as his sword loves the wound rerolls so he can potentially fish for Dev Wounds.
-If I were to run the Gladius again, I'd probably drop the Fire Discipline blob in favor of 2-3 Ballistus Dreads. I faced a couple of those in one round of the RTT (the game I lost, as it happens), and they are seriously good for their points now.
-Inceptors are still useful, as that 3 inch deep strike can get them into some tight spots for secondary play, places where you couldn't get a 5-man Jump Assault Intercessor unit. They cost a lot, but their shooting isn't nothing and they are non-trivial for many armies to kill.

How often did you find yourself facing lists without vehicles or monsters?

Not super often, but not zero times (don't remember off the top of my head).

The Lion wrecked my Necrons last weekend - he took down the Nightbringer and a full Warrior unit with attached characters. I am not sure that he will be in all my lists, but I think he is getting to a good place.

I am in a league right now with three-week rounds. The constant updates can make it a challenge, but at least it means we can switch things up as dataslates come out. I started with an Inner Circle Task Force with three units of Deathwing Knights, Inner Circle Companions and Hellblasters. It did well against a TSons list that was built to inflict short-range D2 shooting, but I did find my list had an underwhelming shooting phase.

I switched out to a Gladius to include an Eradicator Bomb and two units of Deathwing Knights. I lost in Round 2 against Imperial Knights but then won Round 3 against Imperial Knights. Then the dataslate came out and the points changes meant that I needed to rethink the list from the ground up. I went with two full Hellblaster squads in Gladius with a single unit of Deathwing Knights, full Inner Circle Companions, a Land Raider, a Lancer and a Stormspeeder Thunderstrike (and some screening units). In Round 4 I went up against Black Templars with two full Crusader units, a Lancer, a Ballistus, an Executioner and some screening units.

We played Scorched Earth on Crucible of Battle with layout 6 from the Pariah Companion. I hadn't faced Black Templars before, and while I had some melee I figured he would have the edge in a brawl. So I further refused my flank, clumping my Hellblasters on my left with Deathwing Knights and Assault Intercessors as a screen. He went first and advanced across the board, focusing on my Land Raider. He failed to kill it, and over the next two turns the two full Hellblasters focused on one Crusader blob at a time, starting on the left. Helped by Fire Discipline by the end of Turn 2 my opponent was down to a crippled Ballistus, a Scout Squad and a Lieutenant with Combi-weapon. Because I had initially held back to avoid a brawl my opponent scored well, but the result was still 91 to 62 for me.

We have our local "GT" in two months, and I will likely run Gladius Dark Angels (boooo!) but with some tweaks. Who know, maybe we'll get a good Detachment for Christmas? Maybe just take the Unforgiven Task Force and remove Battleshock as the mechanic for a start.

DA just got a new detachment as part of the Grotmas thing on WarCom, and it seems interesting, if not particularly powerful. Basically it's going for synergy between the Deathwing and the Ravenwing. I watched The Art of War's video talking about it, and they seem to agree, and they pointed out a bit of the jank you can pull off with it. I want to give it a try myself, as I like any excuse to put some Ravenwing on the table.

I’m giving it a run on Friday. Actually think I want to try Asmodai in with some ICC as his battle shock mechanic plays nicely with the Ravenwing part of detachment.
Will be curious if I like the play style over my current Inner Circle companions.

The nerf to Gladius (Fire Discipline) and buffs to some Ravenwing units might make the new Detachment more appealing. There is quite a bit to digest.

The Lion went up in points but his Sweep is back to Damage 2. I think he is playable.

I'm going to try out the new detachment, especially looking at the buffs to outriders and black knights.

Don't have enough models for a fully ravenwing force, but the new detachment makes me nostalgic for the old days of bikes with teleport homers calling in the terminators.

The Gladius is probably still fine; Fire Discipline, however, has been taken behind the shed and shot. All the changes to Ravenwing have me thinking about the Company of Hunters again; now that Outriders are actually good and Black Knights are possibly amazing, that detachment might have some legs. Lion's Blade is also looking a bit better. It's not all upsides though, as like all Marines the loss of full-phase Armor of Contempt is really gonna hurt.

Believe it or not, I'm actually also thinking about the brand new vanilla Marine detachment that just dropped, the Librarius Conclave. Ezekiel seems like he'd be good in that (leading some Companions), and putting a Terminator Librarian with each unit of Deathwing Knights to juice up their stats seems good (plus they'll appreciate the Sustained Hits he gives them).

I've just finished reading the Librarius conclave, and yes, it seems like a very flexible detachment that could be good for a combined wings approach. Just a shame we dont have librarians on bikes anymore (though they could be in legends for casual games?).

I'd like to see more of this sort of detachment in future, rather than the very specific ones we've mostly seen so far (see GSC for examples).

Take enough Librarians of different sorts and then fill out with whatever you fancy.

Has anyone tested the Grotmas Detachment yet?

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Has anyone tested the Grotmas Detachment yet?

I played it lat week vs a strong Gladius list. It has some nice interaction and I’ve adjusted my list accordingly. Have another game with it this weekend.
As a side note, I’m not a big comp player so my thoughts won’t be relevant in that setting.

I'm not a tournament player at all, I just like to see armies being played in different styles.

Games can get boring if you know what to expect, every time you play.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
I'm not a tournament player at all, I just like to see armies being played in different styles.

Games can get boring if you know what to expect, every time you play.

This is why I refuse to play Gladius with my DA.

I was going to take the following….

The Lion
Azrael
2 x 5 DW knights
6 inner circle companions
2 ballistus dreadnoughts
Gladiator lancer
5 Intercessors
2x 3 RW black knights
1x3 Outriders
Stormspeeder hammerstrike

But now that Ravenwing got a small boost in stats, I’m thinking of dropping The Lion and adding
Sammael
RW command squad w 15pt enhancement
5 scouts

Not sure which one I’ll try this weekend.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Has anyone tested the Grotmas Detachment yet?

I played against it Wednesday evening & again on Thur afternoon.

The Wed evening game was a 2v2 match. The DA player used it to OK effect vs my WE partner. For exactly 1 turn.
He charged a WE Landraider, killed it in the wide open, and found himself too far away to make any consolidation moves.
He was then shredded by a combo of my Drukari shooting & my partners WE counter-charges.
And that was the end of the DA effectiveness in that battle.

In my Wed match my Drukari simply wiped out the Ravenwing portion of the force before much effect could be enjoyed.

 ZergSmasher wrote:
The Gladius is probably still fine; Fire Discipline, however, has been taken behind the shed and shot. All the changes to Ravenwing have me thinking about the Company of Hunters again; now that Outriders are actually good and Black Knights are possibly amazing, that detachment might have some legs. Lion's Blade is also looking a bit better. It's not all upsides though, as like all Marines the loss of full-phase Armor of Contempt is really gonna hurt.

Believe it or not, I'm actually also thinking about the brand new vanilla Marine detachment that just dropped, the Librarius Conclave. Ezekiel seems like he'd be good in that (leading some Companions), and putting a Terminator Librarian with each unit of Deathwing Knights to juice up their stats seems good (plus they'll appreciate the Sustained Hits he gives them).

Terminator Librarian, Obfuscation, Prescient Precision.

Your DWK/Shootinators? can't be targeted outside 18", can't be overwatched, and for a CP have most of the Fire Discipline gimmick (shooting phase only still so no DWK) outside of the Gladius. Still fistfulls of dice with sustained+lethal hits and ignore's cover that can't be shot at from a safe distance isn't bad. I haven't done much theory hammer on it yet, but my gut reaction is it's possibly better on DWK that are already tough to move, but 10 Shootinators wtih Storm Bolters + 2 Frag Missiles is a lot of dice. Losing (or in this case never having) the 5+ crits might be what pushes it to the DWK.


Also with some potential is Terminator Libby with Celerity in with your DWK. You can now be shot outside of 18" but your average charge range is about that same distance.
Disappointing Calgar didn't get Inspiring for Aggressors considering he quite literally inspired Aggressors.

My first rough concept of a DA Librarius Conclave list:

In this list, Ezekiel goes with the Companions, the Termie Libbys go with the Knights (obviously), the Fusillade Libby goes with the Sternguard, and the other two Libbys go with the Hellblasters. The Scouts and ATV are there for mission play and harassment. Sternguard getting Anti-Vehicle and Anti-Monster 5+ combined with their Dev Wounds should help them punch up into big stuff really well, especially since they also get Sustained 1 on everything when Pyromancy is up. This combined with the recent dataslate buffing Sternguard makes them legitimately dangerous. One of the DWK units can Advance and Charge with Celerity, and believe me I know how powerful that is on a unit of DWK. I chose Presience as my third enhancement because I like the idea of being able to reactive move some Hellblasters out of harm's way, potentially denying an enemy charge. I could see taking Obfuscation instead though, as it also seems good. A big part of what I wanted to do with this list is put a Libby in each of my big units to allow them all to benefit from the detachment rules; all of them can at least get some benefit from each discipline (in the DWK squads, at least the Libby has some shooting to benefit from the shooty disciplines).

The Intercessor changes actually have me thinking Mechanized Infantry.

Tried out the new Grotmas detachment on the weekend. I think it has some play. I did not end up using the the Stratagem to gain +1 to Wound for Deathwing Shooting, but I think I have to really build into it with Dreadnoughts. The Stratagem to gain -1 to Hit and -1 to Wound for enemies in the fight phase is a little complicated, but I ended up using for three rounds. I was in a mirror match against a Deathwing Knight heavy Stormlance and the fight phase debuff strat made a big difference in two fights. I still lost, but it was a useful game to try some things out.

The ability to add 2 to charges was useful, but you can still fail a 7 even with a re-roll. I tried to be tricky with the one-per-game put a unit into Reserves enhancement to get a Turn 1 deep strike. I pulled it off, but then failed the charge (even with the buff). I think sticking with the Turn 2 deep strikes and then having that enhancement to get somewhere else is the better play.

I am going to try a Dreadnought heavy build that focuses on shooting and a second list that will be Terminator-heavy. I will see if a normal Deathwing Terminator unit with Cyclones and Stormbolters will appreciate the +1 to Wound followed by a buffed charge.

As an aside, my opponent's Dark Angels Stormlance build was quite effective.

Took Dark Angels to a thirty-two player five-round GT this weekend. A weekend-long storm prevented some players from attending, but still a good turnout. Played with Stormlance at an Escalation Tournament in early January, so tried it again but in a more competitive environment. Stormlance is good for Deathwing Knights and the Lion to get up the table quickly. I didn't test my list before submitting it, which is not usually a good practice. I did then get two practice games with it under tourney conditions, so there was that. I took:

The Lion
Azrael
Lieutenant with Combi-Weapon
Chaplain on a Bike (rebased and built up my old metal Bike Chaplain from 1998).

Deathwing Knights
Deathwing Knights
Sternguard x 10 with Combi-Weapons
Scouts
Outriders
Intercessors
Assault Intercessors
Gladiator Lancer
Predator Annihilator
Ballistus Dreadnought

Game 1 - Purge the Foe on Tipping Point vs Ultramarines Ironstorm

He had Guilliman, a Techmarine, 3 x Vindicator, 3 x Ballistus Dreads, 4 x Stormspeeders (different types) and 2 x 5 Incursors. This gave him a ton of firepower with good buffs and re-rolls. I knew I was in for a tough game. My rough plan was to kill his two infantry units early, tie up his left in a tank duel and push my melee on the right. This more or less worked (Incursors killed and two Vindicators), but there was a pivotal moment in his Turn 2 when he was able to a Vindicator in range of the Lion along with two Stormspeeders (who were in combat with my Outriders so shooting a penalty). The Lion lived after tanking most of his army's firepower. The Sternguard took down Guilliman (enough Dev Wounds) in shooting with the Deathwing Knights finishing him off when he stood back up. The Lion did really well, carving through a Vindicator and a Stormspeeder while tanking lots of shots. A narrow victory.

Game 2 - Take and Hold on Search and Destory vs Imperial Knights

He had Canis Rex, a Lancer, three Helverins, three other Armigers, a Vindicare and a Priest. I was a little worried about all that firepower. I tried to play cagey, sniping Armigers with my tanks while the Deathwing Knights, the Lion and the Sterguard lurked at the mid-board. My bikes and scouts took one no-mans land objective while the Lone Op Lt took the other. He used his Helverins really well and I lost a Deathwing Knight squad plus the Assault Intercessors. The Lion took the Lancer Knight down to one wound when it charged (it had been softened up by shooting), and the Lion then died. Azrael and the Sternguard took off the last wound in melee. Canis Rex then came in and killed the second Deathwing Knights squad. Things looked grim but my tanks each got one shot through on Canis and the Sternguard/Azrael team inflicted 13 Devastating Wounds in shooting followed up up by a charge that destroyed it. His Helverins were unable to come into the mid-field quickly enough and I eeked-out another win.

Game 3 - Terraform on Crucible of Battle vs Drukhari

He had Lilith, Drazar, Wyches, Incubi, Scourges x 3, Mandrakes, a bomber, a fighter, some bikes, four Venoms and some Kabalites. I knew I had to crack those Venoms open to get at the things inside, and I also knew I would have to take some charges. My shooting was effective against Venoms for the first two turns. Lilith swept away the Scouts and Assault Intercessors and crippled a Deathwing Knights squad, but the Lion and the second Deathwing Knights unit came in like a wrecking ball. Azrael, the Sternguard and the Intercessors spent most of the game hunting down light troops trying to score actions, and also crippled three units of Scourges. Sternguard Overwatch on Oathed Scrouges was really really good. The bomber and fight caused some havoc, but my units hung in there due to invuls and feel no pains against mortals. Sternguard really shone in this match, as did the Deathwing Knights acting as an anvil for the Lion.

Game 4 - Burden of Trust on Hammer and Anvil vs Orks Taktikul Brigade.

I had not faced this Grotmas detachment yet. He had a unit of Freebooters with a Captain providing full rerolls and 4++ against shooting, three units of Tankbusters, tons of Stormboyz and two Truks. There were also Nobz, Grots, some Boyz and some Kommandos. I figured my Sternguard would be the stars.

He went first and a Stormboyz unit attacked my left flank Scouts, who had repositioned to be withing Heroic Intervention range of some Deathwing Knights. This paid off and let me then slingshot a unit up the board after killing the Stormboyz. My shooting was effective and I killed the Freebooterz truck while Deathwing Knights and the Lion swept away the Boyz and Commandos. The Freebooterz had disembarked out of Sternguard shooting range and any charges. He crippled one of my Deathwing Knights units with shooting. I then moved my Sternguard up to lay waste to the Freebooterz with Dev Wounds, and then lost the entire squad to Overwatch. This was eye-watering firepower I was going into! This did mean, though, that he could not Overwatch the Lion who then lifted them. The Nobs went into a Deathwing Knights squad who hung in there with one model surviving. The Nobs were then lifted by the Lion and the other Deathwing Knights. My remaining units had been playing whack a mole with Stormboyz and Tank Bustas. Another tense win for the Dark Angels. Sad about the Sternguard, but I guess they did something by taking all that firepower?

Game 5 - Scorched Earth on Crucible of Battle vs Deathguard Grotmas Detachment

This was it - the two undefeated armies facing off for the trophy. He had sixty Poxwalkers, some Cultists, some Plaguebearers, some Nurglings, two Blight Haulers, 3 x 6 Deathshroud Terminators with attached Sorcerors plus Typhus and the Tallyman. I used my Scouts and Lt to try and keep his Scout moves back, but I knew I was in for a tough match. I went first first and tried to get as far forward as possible to keep the mid-field objectives under control. He used his Poxwalkers and Cultists to then flood the zone while a unit of Deathshroud lurked out of LOS in the middle.

In my Turn 2 I got a unit of Deathwing Knights into the Deathshroud while the Lion and Azrael plus the Sternguard were tied up with Poxwalkers. He used a very good Rapid Ingress to put a Deathshroud unit onto my back-left corner and turned that flank. I was able to grind through his Poxwalkers in the centre but I was falling behind on points. The Sternguard showed what they can do with an Oath of Moment overwatch volley into a newly arrived Deathshroud unit by killing five of them! Sadly, they then fell to a newly arrived unit of Plague Marines. Ah well.

By the end of Turn 5 my opponent had secured a 68 to 51 victory against me. I think I deployed a little too conservatively, which meant that his wave of chaff met me closer to my deployment area than would have otherwise happened. This put me behind, and was unnecessary on my part as he had little long-range shooting. His use of Rapid Ingress was also really good - it can be a game-wining Stratagem. Our Terminators ended up in slap-fights when they clashed as we both had defensive de-buffs, but his Deathshroud could quickly lift my other units with those torrent weapons. The Lion was great, but he couldn't be everywhere!

A great weekend of gaming. Going 4-1 and getting to the final was nice, and I faced a good variety of armies. Looking at my list, I do like Stormlance for a Deathwing Knight heavy list. The Sternguard with Azrael were a little specialized, but they did do an impressive amount of wounds on the Imperial Knight. The Lone-Op Lt was great, as were the Scouts and Intercessors. I had taken the Outriders and Chaplain as a Distraction Carnifex. but it also gave up Assassination in two games and they only really connected an impactful charge in one game. I could have swapped the Chaplain for another Scout Squad. The three vehicles did good work. Might swap the Predator for another Ballistus since the Pred really wants an Oath target but I was saving that for the Sternguard's prey.

I am going to try reworked Company of Hunters soon. Strats are still very "meh" but the detachment rule now does something for Bikes and it looks tempting.

In the battle against the Imperial Knights player, you said that he used a priest? What did he use it for?

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
In the battle against the Imperial Knights player, you said that he used a priest? What did he use it for?

I think the Grotmas detachment for IK lets you heal knights with Ad Mech Priests.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
In the battle against the Imperial Knights player, you said that he used a priest? What did he use it for?

He was there to be a cheap “action monkey” to score Tactical Objectives. He put him on Strat Reserves to then be able to place him somewhere in the mid-game.