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2017/06/27 17:42:48
Subject: 2K 8th ITC Battle - The Walking Dread Space Wolves vs AdMech
Just got in my first game of 8th and I decided to run Space Wolves. This was a League Playoff game and it was actually supposed to be in 7th Ed. However, both my opponent and I decided to give it a go in 8th instead. This is my very first game of 8th and my opponent's 3rd. I put my list/army together at the last minute, just a day before the game (as I was expecting to be playing 7th) so pardon the mismatched units and appearance of my army. This list wasn't something that I have been working on (I just grabbed models that I currently have, with just some minor conversions), but it has always been something that I have been interested in running. So without further ado, I present to you, The Walking Dread.
2000 The Walking Dread Space Wolves vs Post-War Convo AdMech
2000 Jy2's The Walking Dread
Spoiler:
Note: I made 2 mistakes in my list, both of which I was not aware of until after the game. These mistakes include:
1) Only Venerable Dreads can take the Axe + Shield option. Thus, my list would have been over in points.
2) My army should have 5 Command Points, not 2.
2000 Post-War Convo AdMech
I don't have my opponent's list yet, but my opponent was running an 8th Edition update of his War Convocation army (that was what he was running in League play). When/if I get it from him, I will update his list, but to my knowledge, his army consisted of:
Honestly, I have not been following up with 8th Edition. I have not been following up on the various armies and their strengths and weaknesses. I've been playing more Sigmar recently than I have 40K. In terms of experience, my opponent should be slightly more experienced than I as he has played a couple of 8E games before this one. Hopefully, we don't fumble the rules too much in this game, but it will be a learning experience for the both of us.
Now inexperience with 8th aside, I know how to build lists. I know how to build competitive lists and I think I have a list that can be both fun as well as competitive. Moreover, it's got a theme that I've always wanted to try - a walking dreadnought list. Back in the days of 7th and earlier, I didn't think such a list was viable in a competitive setting (other than Imperial Knights lists). However, in 8th, I think such a list has become more feasible. Now, how it stacks up to the current competitive meta, I can't really say. But when I get more experience with it, I will get a better picture.
In any case, I can't really say who the winner in this matchup will be. What I do know is that, as both of our armies rely largely on shooting, whoever gets the 1st turn will have the advantage.
Adeptus Mechanicus:
I don't know how well 7th Ed. War Convocation has translated into 8th. I'm pretty sure that War Convocation, a super-competitive 7th Ed. build, will have lost some of its power in 8th due to the lost of all those free upgrades. However, my opponent is a good general and I think AdMech still has some strengths that makes them deadly. First of all, my opponent can basically give his army +1 save from his Canticles. That's going to make his guys fairly resilient to a lot of my shooting. Next, Cawl is a nasty force-multiplier. He basically gives every friendly AdMech unit within 6" of him re-rolls to hit with all shooting! My jaws dropped when my opponent told me that. Holy Ship! That's going to be some brutal firepower coming my way. All the more reason why I need to go first. I can't even target Cawl to get rid of his re-roll bubble, at least not until I kill everyone else first!
However, I can still make lemonade out of lemons. As an experienced general in wargaming, I know that these types of armies - the "bubble" armies - tend to stay together. In order to take advantage of Cawl's ability, he's not going to want to split up his army. That means I need to play to the objectives, as my opponent probably won't. If I can put the pressure on him (just by advancing and keeping my units within relatively close proximities to the objectives), then I can keep him away from the objectives. And if I can weather his firepower, I should be able to win this game. This is the essence of my theory of Positional Dominance in wargaming - play aggressive and play to the objectives and you will have an inherent advantage in your matchups.
My opponent's deployment. He puts his Infiltrators in "reserves" and finishes deploying first. In the ITC, that means he will get +1 on his roll to see who goes first.
My deployment. I hide both of my HQ's behind blocking-line-of-sight (BLOS) terrain. Unit of Wolf Scouts chilling behind enemy lines (in "reserves").
We weren't sure whether walkers could go up and down buildings, so for this battle, we made a houserule. Walkers could move up and down ruins, but they couldn't move through ruin walls (though they could move through doors in the ruins). After the game, I checked and the correct ruling is that walkers, being vehicles, could not move up the ruins. So consider this a houserule in this game (I only moved 1 dread down the building in this game).
We then roll to see who will be going first. I roll a 3. Ah crap, I'm going 2nd, I thought to myself. But to my delight, my opponent rolls a 1. Yippee! He really needed to win that roll, but now, I'm going to tear his knight a new one.
The Walking Dread 1
Spoiler:
The Wolves advance. Shooty "Rifleman" dreadnoughts stay still.
Rune Priest cast Stormcaller on dreadnoughts already in terrain. Lol.
I then let loose my full arsenal. Shadowsword targets the Acheron with its main gun and the Kataphrons with the rest of its weaponry. I get 5 shots for my Volcano Cannon (Shadowsword), but between poor rolling and my opponent making his Invuln saves, only 1 shot gets through. Ah crap! Not enough to kill him. I then roll for damage and get a 10. Holy ship! That's one unfricking-believably powerful gun. 4 of my dreads chip in to do another 8 dmg on the Acheron, taking it down to 9W remaining. My opponent uses one of his Command Points to re-roll a failed save this phase.
3 Lascannons whiff completely against a unit of Kataphrons, but between the Twin Heavy Bolters on the Shadowsword and 1 of my Rifleman dreads, I manage to take out 1 unit of Kataphrons for First Blood.
AdMech 1
Spoiler:
AdMech movement. As I predicted, my opponent keeps his forces together. Only his Knight advances.
It takes the majority of his firepower, even with all the re-rolls, just to take down just 1 of my CC-dreads. I do, however, expend one of my Command Points for a re-roll.
Note: I make a mistake here. I did not realize that you get +3 Command Points (CP's) just for having a Battle-forged army. Thus, I was only playing with 2 CP's when in actuality, I had 5.
In other shooting, Skitarii snipers put 3W on my Wolf Priest and another AdMech unit puts 3W on my lead CC-dread.
My opponent then charges with his Archeron. But to his chagrin, I make all of my 3++ Invuln saves. Moreover, thanks to my Wolf Priest and his 6" re-roll bubble in CC, my 2 dreads take out his Acheron. Ouch!!! However, I forget to consolidate my dreads 3" forwards.
The Walking Dread 2
Spoiler:
Space Wolves continue to advance aggressively. Currently, I have control of most of the objectives just by advancing my army.
CC-dreads pop smoke. One of my Rifleman moves out of the ruins.
I forget to cast Storm Caller. Doh!
Shooting takes out only 2 Kataphrons and the Rangers. That is because my opponent got the Canticle for +1 save for his entire army last turn. Moreover, his Kastelan Robots make their 4++ Invuln's against my Shadowsword's Volcano Cannon with the help of a Command Point re-roll.
No assault as my dreads are still out of range. Had I consolidated last turn, I might have made the attempt to charge this turn.
AdMech 2
Spoiler:
AdMech continues to retreat. He gets the +1 save Canticle once again!
It is a very good turn of shooting for my opponent as he takes down 2 CC-dreads.
He also almost kills a 3rd dread, taking off 7W from him.
Has it just become a game again? We'll see.....
The Walking Dread 3
Spoiler:
Things are starting to move much more quicky now. Wolf Scouts come in into my opponent's deployment zone. They move into terrain for the 2+ due to their Camo Cloaks.
Rune Priest fails to cast Storm Caller.
Volcano Cannon kills 1 Kastelan and the rest of my shooting kills his very last Kataphron. The +1 save makes the AdMech army really tough.
No assault yet.
AdMech 3
Spoiler:
AdMech continues to scoot back.
Infiltrators come in onto an objective. They would later fail their charge attempt.
Shooting takes off 3W from the Shadowsword as well as another 3W from my CC-dread (2W remaining).
Rifleman down!
The Walking Dread 4
Spoiler:
The beginning of the end.
Shadowsword takes out the Kastelan.
Riflemans combine to take off 10W from his Onager (1W remaining).
They also finish off the Infiltrators.
My dread then makes the impossibly long charge into Cawl. However, his charge takes him outside of the Wolf Priests re-roll bubble. Fortunately for Cawl, he makes both of his 5++ Invuln's against my dread. Combat is a draw with 0 damage apiece.
AdMech 4
Spoiler:
Snipers manage to kill off the Wolf Priest.
Admech takes off another 2W from the Shadowsword (5W of damage total so far, lots of wounds remaining).
Cawl strikes first and fortunately for him, is able to finish off my dread after I fail 2 3++ saves.
The Walking Dread 5
Spoiler:
Another dread and my Rune Priest advances.
I position my guys to claim 3 out of the 4 objectives. My opponent only has one.....
....but not for long. Rune Priest smites the mutherfocker down! Booyah B*otch! See ya, wouldn't want to be ya! Why am I getting worked up over 1 damage. Lol.
I finish off everything/one else but his 2 characters in the Shooting phase.
AdMech 5
Spoiler:
No guts, no glory. His Warlord is defiant to the very end.
Shooting, only 1 shot. Fails to wound.
Unfortunately, the game continues, giving me the chance to take out his Warlord.
The Walking Dread 6
Spoiler:
Say hello to my little friend! 19-0.
Crushing Victory for the Walking Dread - Space Wolves!!!
AdMech 6
Spoiler:
Sorry buddy, game ended last turn. Nothing to see here.
For my post game, I am going to do a review of how my units did.
Blood Claws:C. Didn't do anything in this game other than claim an objective, which was what they brought in to do.
Wolf Scouts:C. Their job was to take Linebreaker and possibly an objective as well. Nothing spectacular, but they did their job, with the help of the Shadowsword, which they hid behind.
Wolf Priest:B. His buff helped my dreads to kill the Acheron. He wasn't spectacular, but as a cheapish force-multiplier, unit-buffing HQ, he is a respectable choice.
Rune Priest:B+. His power is awesome, though not really necessary when most of my dreads were behind cover anyways. Smiting down the enemy was a bonus. This guy is my Space Wolf HQ of choice, at least for this army build.
Rifleman Dreadnought (2x Twin Auto-cannons):A. Good shooting in a durable package for a very reasonable price. This guy is a winner. Half the enemy's army was killed by the Shadowsword. The other half by these guys. Definitely highly recommended.
CC-Dreadnought (Axe + Shield):A. Total fire magnets. These 4 guys absorbed probably 2/3 or more of my opponent's firepower! In combat, they're no slouch either. Definitely highly recommended.
Shadowsword:A+. The MVP of the game. His Kill Count was unbelievable. This guy took out practically half of my opponent's army all by himself! I haven't tried any of the other super-heavies yet, but this guy is unbelievable! Now if only there is a way to let him re-roll his misses. Next time, I'm adding another 2 Lascannons and 2 Twin Heavy Bolters to this guy.
Overall, a very successful first outing with my new Space Wolves. I shall definitely give them more practice in the future. Stay tuned for future battle reports!
This message was edited 14 times. Last update was at 2017/07/18 21:00:29
I'm just happy to see you posting battle reports again. Your format and commentary was always my favorite (not a fan of the longer video style reports).
I think the dreads may have this one with how much tougher they are in 8th, especially in large numbers. Excited to see how it turned out.
2017/06/28 06:36:51
Subject: 2K 8th ITC Battle - The Walking Dread Space Wolves vs Admech
Thanks. I took a long break from writing (and from 7th Edition) but 8th Edition is getting me excited to write (and play) again.
The dreads are pretty good. My CC-dreads have 3++ Invuln's and the "rifleman" dreads put out 8 S7 AP -1 2-dmg shots each. That's actually quite a lot of firepower. And then I have Storm Caller, a psychic power that gives all SW units within 6" of the Rune Priest +1 cover. Basically, you are either shooting at dreads with 3++ or dreads with 2+ saves.
Great report! I think I saw you at the Kastle the other day but it looked like you were already cleaning up and I was setting up for a game, so I didn't go over and say hi. Good to see you playing and posting again in any case!
(Also, agreed that text battle reports are better than video!)
However, I think there may unfortunately be a mistake in your list - I believe that only Venerable Dreadnoughts are allowed to take the axe and shield combination.
2017/06/29 06:02:37
Subject: Re:2K 8th ITC Battle - The Walking Dread Space Wolves vs Admech
Oh, you were there? I'll say hi next time, though I don't normally frequent that LGS. You should join our league since you live in the bay. It's a lot of fun and gives you the chance to practice against other tournament players.
I was wondering when someone would point that out.
I didn't know it at the time. I actually just found out yesterday while posting here on dakka. So I made 2 major mistakes, one that helped my army and one that hurt my army:
1) Only Venerable Dreadnoughts can take the Axe + Shield. So it turned out my list was 80-pts over if I converted the regular dreads to venerables. I'd probably drop a dread or my infantry going forwards.
2) I was supposed to have 5 Command Points but only played with 2 in this game.
In any case, after I found out, I texted my opponent and told him of my mistake. I offered for him to have a rematch. However, he said that it was ok, that because this edition was so new that we might make mistakes like this. It's all part of the learning process.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/06/29 06:03:41
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2017/06/30 02:55:10
Subject: 2K 8th ITC Battle - The Walking Dread Space Wolves vs AdMech
This is a plug for our league. If anyone in Northern California is interested in playing, send me a PM.
We are currently in our 2nd season and actually, almost done. There is only 1 more match before the Championship. I am in the playoffs and if I can win my next match, will be playing for the Championship. It could potentially be a rematch between me and last season's Champion, Geoff "iNcontrol" Robinson (he beat me last season for the Championship).
The new season should begin no later than August (or possibly even mid-late July depending on when everyone can finish their games). This is a casual competitive league which counts towards the ITC rankings. Regular season is 4 games per person played over a period of 2 months (average 1 game per 2 weeks). After that, there are 2 playoffs, one for the winner's bracket and the other for the loser's bracket. Playoffs consist of a 3-game tournament-style elimination series.
The league is getting larger and larger. Season 3, this league could qualify as a Major event in the ITC rankings. Yes, we are expecting over 60+ players from the Bay Area to the Sacramento region (all Northern California). League is starting to get the interest of the more seasoned players as well - players like me, iNcontrol, Paul "Giraffe" McKelvey, Grant Theft Auto (GTA), Steve Sisk (BAO winner) and others. However, it is not all competitive. There are also a lot of casual players in the league playing more for fun and to see how it is like playing tournament-style events. It is also a great way to meet and play against new and cool people. In any case, I encourage all who at curious about tournaments or who want to play against new people to give it a try. It's a great way to get the tournament experience but at a leisurely pace.
Boss Salvage wrote: I am so excited to read this report! Because it's you (<3) plus it's positively overflowing with dreads
*rocks it*
- Salvage
Thanks!
Coming out with another Walking Dread battle report very soon!
Rynner wrote: I wasn't aware you could run an ITC event over two months and give out ITC points for it.
Yeah, you can. Northern California has one and Southern California has its own league as well. Make sure to talk to the guys at Frontline to see what their criteria are. It is basically like a tournament, only instead of all games played in 1-2 days, you can have them played over a longer period of time like 2-3 months.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/07/01 17:25:39
2nd edition: Blood Angels
3rd edition: Imperial Guard
4th edition: Iron Warriors
5th edition: Death Guard
6th & 7th edition: taking a break - power creeep (lethality of game) became too hot to handle
2017/07/10 06:30:46
Subject: 2K 8th ITC Battle - The Walking Dread Space Wolves vs AdMech
.....Bay Area Open GT 2013 - Best Tyranids 
.....LVO GT 2014 Team Tournament - Best Generals
