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Hello again, and welcome to another battle report by yours truly . We had another great tournament at my FLGS, Valhalla's Gate Games, with 10 people showing up (the 10th was the TO, who acted as a ringer so we would have an even number). The armies on show were: Mechanicus War Convocation w/Flesh Tearers (for the drop pods ), Daemon Flying Circus, Astra Militarum w/Sisters of Battle, Astra Militarum w/Scions, 2 Blood Angels armies, Daemons/CSM/Daemonkin, Daemonkin w/Knights, the TO's Eldar, and my own Dark Angels. My favorite army in terms of appearance was the Guard w/Scions, since not only were they all painted, but they were very well done (wintry themed). I faced that army in my second game, so see below for how I fared against it. The missions we played were a homebrew concocted by the TO. Each featured a primary objective (such as Emperor's Will or Relic), Maelstrom of War, and Secondary Objectives (First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker). Each of those categories was worth 10 tournament points, with 5 for ties. I ran the following list:

With that said, on to the fun part: the games themselves! I do apologize in advance, as what follows is basically brief summaries with some vagueness, as my memory is not perfect. I did not manage to snag copies of the opponents' lists this time, so there may be some vagueness there too. The first game in particular is kind of blurred in my head, so please bear with me.

Game #1
Opponent: Daemons and CSM w/Khorne Daemonkin allies
Opponent's list:

Mission Primary Objective: Crusade
I rolled a 3 on the Dark Angels Table, netting me For the Lion! as my warlord trait. I can't remember what the opponent's trait was. I got Prescience and Psychic Shriek on my Librarian, since I didn't like what I rolled. My opponent reserved his Daemonkin cultists and his Nurglings (and of course the flyers as per the rules). I combat squadded the Ravenwing and the big Tactical squad (I did this in every game), putting the Libby with the grav bikes and the Ravenwing sarge in the other bike group. My bolter Scouts infiltrated near my opponent's deployment zone, but I kept the Assassin and the snipers in some ruins in my own deployment zone. I went first (my opponent failed to sieze), accomplishing very little really. My melta Tacticals did not really have a target, although they did bag a couple of cultists. My opponent took his turn and managed to kill one of the infiltrating Scouts with his cultists. On turn 2, I killed a couple of Flesh hounds (my opponent had failed to cast Invisibility on them on the first turn). My bolter scouts took out a few more cultists, but the heretics held their ground. My assault squad charged and fought with the Chaos Lord and his dogs, but ultimately ended up dying (although it took two rounds of combat to finish them). The Dreadnought failed his charge (rolling snake eyes ). Be'lakor took to the skies, although the Tzeentch prince remained on the ground and killed the Razorback. My Company Master and his retinue of plasma-armed muhreens piled out of the stricken vehicle in position to further threaten the hounds on the next turn. His nurglings and Fire raptor did not come in from reserves, although the Heldrake did, and it barbecued the melta squad. On turn 3, my opponent found out the hard way that expensive Daemon princes should remain in the sky. Through a combination of firing, the Tzeentch prince was brought low, ultimately finished off by some one of my grunts (a bolter or something). That got me Slay the Warlord. My combat squad with the Flamer charged the houndstar, and the Dreadnought made it in this time, but ultimately that was a costly mistake, as Goredrinker had made his Lord very nasty now. He killed the Dread and the tacticals (although the latter took two rounds of combat, like the assault marines earlier. Be'lakor shrieked the non-grav bike unit, killing one and scaring the others off the board. The Fire Raptor came in, and that was ultimately the end for me, as it killed a lot of stuff over the next couple of turns. The only other event of note was when his Daemonkin cultists came on. They got shot up badly by my bolter Scouts, but they got into combat and killed all but one Scout. I conceded on turn 4 (partially due to time). It was a fun game in spite of the loss. There were some good moments, like the Prince going down in a hail of bullets and lascannons from everywhere. The best moment might have been when the bolter Scouts got into CC with the Daemonkin cultists. Only the Heavy Bolter guy was still alive, and he and the two remaining Cultists just kept missing each other for like two turns! He even killed one of them on the last round before I conceded the game.

Game #2
Opponent: Astra Militarum/Tempestus Scions
Opponent's list:

Mission Primary Objective: The Scouring (objectives are worth different numbers of points)
I rolled a 3 for my Warlord Trait, getting me Rapid Maneuver. Not bad, but not great either. My opponent had Pask's warlord trait (choosing to be Preferred Enemy: Dark Angels). I got the same psychic powers as before, as I didn't like what I rolled (mainly trying for Invisibility). I infiltrated my Scouts (both units) to the center of the board. I kept the Assassin in some ruins in my deployment zone (near my Devastators). I went second, failing to Sieze the Initiative. Pask and his squadron mate moved up the field, but as I recall failed to really damage anything other than getting a Crew Shaken result on my Razorback. His Chimera with the Scions immobilized itself in a forest near my opponent's Deployment zone, and the Scions disembarked, moving toward a Maelstrom objective nearby. His Russes didn't do a whole lot either, although one of them did bag my two non-Lascannon Devastators (the squad passed their Morale Check). On my turn, I immediately set to work on my opponent's army. My Drop Pod with the melta men came in perfectly right behind Pask. The two Meltas turned his tank into a smoking crater, netting me Slay the Warlord on turn 1! My Vindicare assassin fired a turbo-penetrator at a Chimera, getting a Crew Shaken result. My Razorback, despite being shaken, managed to get a glancing hit on Pask's squadron mate. My grav bikes and Libby moved up the field, although at the end of the turn they were very much in no-man's land. On turn 2 the Drill arrived, coming up under one of the Tactical combat squads (with the flamer and sarge). It killed two of them when it came up. My opponent's units fired on the grav bikes, killing one of the gravs and the non-grav bike. Bad scattering from the Russes meant they did not accomplish much. On my turn, my Attack bike tried and failed to hit a Chimera (like, how do you miss at point-blank range against the side of a tank ). My Dreadnought and Devastators managed to blow up a different Chimera (the one that had been hit by the Assassin last turn, killing a couple of guys in the blast. My Assault Squad fired on the Scions, killing a few, but the plucky guys kept their wits and held their ground. The surviving tactical marines near the drill charged and wrecked it, getting some revenge for their buddies. The non-grav bikers hid in a forest for some cover (so hopefully they wouldn't have to jink). The surviving grav biker and the Librarian were almost upon them now, though... On turn 3, my opponent managed to vape the Attack bike with some plasma guns. His squad that came with the drill emerged from the hole and eliminated the marines that had wrecked it. My opponent left them set up perfectly for what came on my half of the turn (more on that in a bit...). His Russ that had been trying to kill the Devastators hit them perfectly this time, but they passed all of their cover saves from the ruins ! His remaining Scions picked off all but one Assault Marine, that being the one with a chainsword and plasma pistol. The final grav biker was killed by the immobilized Chimera (I never did kill that stupid thing...). On my turn, things definitely started to swing my way. I was already ahead on Maelstrom points, but now I began to take some objectives to prepare for the endgame (we were almost out of time). My Dreadnought wrecked a Chimera (the occupants had already disembarked). The Vindicare Assassin managed to Crew Shake the Taurox. The real big attack was when my Company Master and his buddies disembarked from the Razorback near the Drill veterans. The Master opened up with the Lion's Roar right on the center man in his squad (they were packed together like sardines!), getting a direct hit on all ten men. He wounded 9 out of 10, and they did not have any cover. The other muhreens finished the last guy. We had to rush turn 4 due to time, but my opponent managed to destroy my Sniper scout squad (he had been slowly picking them off earlier. The other scouts took the Maelstrom objective in the center, although in the end they were contested by the Taurox. My libby, now alone, blitzed across to my opponent's deployment zone to score Linebreaker. The game ended with me sitting on four objectives (this is where my Warlord trait kicked in, he might not have made it to an objective without it). I won the Primary, the Maelstrom, and the Secondary objectives, getting me a 30-0 win for my Dark Angels. What a fun game! There were some great moments for me (although they were heartbreaking for my opponent, I'm sure), especially when the melta guys popped Pask. It was a textbook way to use a suicide melta squad, and it worked perfectly! The bit with the Lion's Roar stands out for me too. A good showing for such a revered weapon.

Game #3
Opponent: Eldar (the TO's ringer army)
Opponent's List:

Mission Primary Objective: The Emperor's Will
Yikes, what a scary list, even for Eldar! It ended up not being too bad, actually. I got The Hunt as my warlord trait, and this time my Libby got Invisibility. Good luck getting it successfully cast against all those enemy Psykers, though. I don't remember what trait my opponent got (one of the Farseers was the Warlord). I went first, and my opponent failed to sieze. His Emperor's Will objective (chosen from among the available Maelstrom objectives) was in a corner in his deployment zone, and he put his Skyshield on top of it, with the Lynx on the Skyshield (nasty, nasty combo!). On turn 1, my Drop Pod came in right next to the Skyshield. My melta squad fired at that Lynx and managed, even through the layers of die rolls needed, to get the d3 hull points result from armor penetration (netting a mighty 3 hull points taken). I fired most of my other weapons at the Lynx also, taking one additional hull point. My opponent fired its D-weapon at my Grav bikes, getting a direct hit with one shot and scattering into my LS Vengeance with the other. Only one Grav biker died thanks to rerollable Jink saves, but the primary weapon was destroyed on the Vengeance. His Jetseer blob killed the entire Melta squad in close combat. On turn 2, mostly I spent time repositioning stuff to take some Maelstrom objectives (my Emperor's will was in the opposite corner from the Skyshield and Lynx). I fired every heavy weapon that could bear (including a Turbo-penetrator round from the Assassin) on that Lynx, taking a hull point with the Dreadnought's lascannon. Finally I had only one unit left to fire, the Scout snipers (their Krak missile had the power, but the rifles would need to rend to hurt the Lynx). The Krak rolled a 1, but three of the rifles hit. They would now need 4s to get through the special shield thing (Titan shield or something). Only 2 made it through that. I rolled for penetration, and one bullet rolled a 6, causing a rend. I then rolled a 5, adding 3 to the strength and netting a penetrating hit. My opponent then rolled a 1 for his invulnerable save from the Skyshield, and the mighty Lynx blew up! The explosion caused the nearby Drop Pod to explode, killing one of the Warlocks in the Jetseer council. On my opponent's turn, he moved his Jetseers toward the ruins holding my bolter Scouts, charging and killing them, and two of his Scatbike units arrived, taking position on the Skyshield. On turn 3, my Assault Squad (who I had put in Deep Strike reserves) still failed to arrive, and I achieved little with my shooting, although I did get some more Maelstrom points from holding objectives. On my opponent's turn, he moved and turbo-boosted his two Scatbike units from the landing pad to surround my Rhino, while the Jetseer multicharged it and the Devastators. They killed the Devs and wrecked the Rhino. Worse, he had encircled the Rhino with his jetbikes, preventing my combat squad inside from disembarking and killing them instantly (such a cheesy rule!). His other two Scatbike units arrived, with one being left on the Skyshield and the other near one of the unoccupied corners. On turn 4, my Vindicare took out one Scatbiker with a Hellfire round, and my Assault Squad dropped in near one of my opponent's newly arrived Scatbike units (the one in the corner). The assault guys failed to accomplish anything save one of them blowing himself up with an overheating plasma pistol. On turn 5, my opponent just consolidated his position, taking both Emperor's will objectives. He also killed my Warlord and his unit with psychic powers (including one very potent Shriek). I lost the secondaries and the Emperor's will, but I did win the Maelstrom, so I lost 10-20. It was a good game, especially knocking out that Lynx! Most of the other players agreed that it was indeed the shot of the tournament.

Overall, I mostly just was trying to have fun, not be competitive, so winning one of the games was just gravy for me! The big moments in the games also helped make it an enjoyable experience! I hope to continue to improve my skills and to get more fun games in!

THANKS FOR READING!