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2019/01/13 05:29:58
Subject: Blightlord DG vs Wraith-Spam Eldar - 2k NOVA - Is that a gun, or you happy to see me?
Still down in ol' Texas, and was invited over to Jons place (my opponent from: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/769783.page and https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/769671.page) for a BBQ/game day. The guys here are practicing for the Dallas Open GT, and while I wish I could go, the next best thing is helping these guys brush up on their skills and test their armies. My first opponent of the day is Micheal; a local player whom has been reading and watching battle reports for years, but finally jumped into the game. Being only his 5th or 6th game, he is still learning the ropes, but hes built an... unconventional list centering on Wraiths; which is really damn cool. He is still waiting for some of his models to be delivered, so he proxied a few things for this test match. The lists!
Renegade Knight [25 PL, 485pts]: Heavy stubber, Twin Icarus Autocannon
. Avenger gatling cannon and heavy flamer: Avenger gatling cannon, Heavy flamer
. Avenger gatling cannon and heavy flamer: Avenger gatling cannon, Heavy flamer
Mission and Deployment We played the relic nova mission with Hammer and Anvil deployment.
Eldar took: Slay the Warlord, Kill the Big Ones, and Big Game Hunter as secondaries, and picked mission 1 as his primary (end game scoring). Death Guard took Marked for Death (unit of 5 Wraiths), Titanslayer, and Strike the Rank and File.
Deployment looked like the following:
Death Guard won the roll off for first... but the Eldar seized!
Eldar Turn 1
Spoiler:
Micheal surveyed the battle field and decided that my Knight was the largest threat (I mean... it is big). He started by Advancing both Hemlocks. Next, he moved his storm guardians and small wraith unit toward the nurglings in the middle, while his HQ's shuffled around. His Wraithlord moves toward my Knight.
Psychic phase, he put doom on the white middle nurglings, and Restraint/Jinx on my knight.
Combined shooting from his army into my Knight resulted in it being knocked down to 15 wounds left. He also picks up a couple nurgling bases in the middle.
In assault he charges his middle wraiths/storm guardians into the nurglings, who hold strong. I think he killed a base? I'm able to kill both flamer Storm Guardians in return. I am able to pile in to block the Relic in the middle even more.
Eldar score no points for turn one. Score is Eldar 0- Death Guard 0
TACTICAL INSIGHT: I think Micheal made some sound tactical calls, especially for someone relatively new to the game; he tried to eliminate as many nurglings as possible to get the Wraiths to the relic, and then used the rest of his force to nickle and dime my knight. With Jinx on it, this was a good play! I think its cool the Hemlock fighters get psychic powers, this surprised me as I'm used to the Crimson Hunter variants.
Nurgle Turn 1
Spoiler:
I know I have to drop those fighters quickly, so I move my bottom two PBC's with a Poxbringer to intercept. I scoot my Knight toward the top right objective, while my PBC on that side scoots up to shoot the Jet there. My Demon prince jumps up, to help with the Hemlock if needed. My other Poxbringer walks up, getting a vector to charge and help my Nurglings if need be.
Psychic phase is awful; Micheal cancels ALL THREE of my spells :*(
Shooting I'm able to kill the bottom Hemlock fighter barely, while the top fighter I get to 3 wounds left. Even using Trail of Destruction, the -2 to hit (and all the saves) makes these things hard to kill.
Assault, my Demon Prince charges the top Hemlock against my better judgement, but luckily I take no damage on the way in. In the middle my Poxbringer makes his charge, and my Nurglings kill all the Stormguardians and wound a wraith, losing a base and a half; I consolidate all the nurglings into the Wraiths, which allows me to cover the Relic in waves of Nurglings. The top Hemlock fighter only loses two wounds in an astounding display of savery by Micheal... lol.
Death Guard score one Tertiary point. Score is Eldar 0 - Death Guard 1.
TACTICAL INSIGHT: Well, that second Hemlock living is going to suck; fliers with Strength 10 flamers really stink.... I'm starting to find out why people hate Eldar so much, haha. At least my PBC's can get locked down. That said, the goal here is to hold Micheal off long enough to grab the Relic myself. The Wraith Knight is going to be an issue, because my deployment put me too far out to really deal with it this game, which is fine; I'll take the "ignore and distract it" approach.
Eldar Turn 2
Spoiler:
Micheal leaves the middle Wraiths tangled with the Nurglings, and moves his Hemlock and Spirit seer over to that side. His Wraith Knight moves to smash my Demon Prince who is out in the open. His back wraiths shuffled forward a bit, but I can tell hes making a denial zone with the Guardians and the Wraiths... clever. he also knows the Terminators will be coming down in the back, so he wants weapons to deal with them.
Psychic phase he casts a couple smites, and puts Doom on the Nurglings again.
Shooting he does a couple wounds to a PBC, and plinks my knight a bunch more taking him to 7 or 8 wounds.
Assault he charges in his Spiritseer to help the wraiths, and combined they kill a few more bases; but the relics still swamped in bodies. I'm able to knock a few wounds off the Seer, leaving him at 1 wound left. His Wraith Knight destroys the Demon Prince, haha... that sword on that thing is disgusting.
Eldar complete Slay the Warlord and score a Tertiary point. As well, he controls his home objectives, and scores 1 Primary point. Score is Eldar 4 - Death Guard 1.
TACTICAL INSIGHT: His Wraith Knight is going to eat the top of the board, and I know I can't handle the dude. So I'll be focusing on the bottom of the board. For someone new to the game, Micheal is playing very well; while he doesn't know all the rules and need help, he has a solid plan.
Nurgle Turn 2
Spoiler:
I move my middle Poxbringer and secure the relic. My Knight and PBC up top stagger, hugging the hill objective. I retreat all the Nurglings from combat, making room for my PBC's to lay into those Wraiths. I drop in the Blightlords off the side of his Rangers.
Psychic phase I'm able to get off a couple smites, killing a wraith in the middle. This leaves 4 left.
Shooting the Blightlords fail to help with the wraiths, and plink 3 wounds off a weapon platform with bolters. Mortars claim some rear guardians, but Micheals dice love him, and despite 13 or so wounds, I only kill 2 wraiths in the middle. Despite Trail of Destruction, my tiered Knight can only do so much, and Micheals Wraith Knight only gets plinked to 14 wounds left.
Assault, the Blightlords make the Rangers on bottom, destroying them easily and consolidating over the objective there. I also charge a poxbringer into the Wraiths, bringing one to 1 wound left and taking nothing in return.
Death Guard score 1 tertiary point. They also score 3 Primary points (holding 3 objectives to Micheals 1). Score is Eldar 4- Death Guard 5.
TACTICAL INSIGHT: These Wraiths are way harder to kill than I imagined... I'm in for a world of hurt next turn. I do like how many Str 10, D6 damage weapons Micheals list has... its perfect against a list like mine!
Eldar Turn 3
Spoiler:
Micheals options are simple: he moves all his HQ's out to the top side of the board, where the Bonesinger heals his Knight for 3 (and he uses the strat to heal another 3) leaving the Knight at 20. The Knight moves up toward mine. His two middle wraiths he moves, but he poorly positions them; this matters a lot. His guardians line up shots on nurglings, while his back Wraiths move to intercept my Blightlords.
Psychic phase I deny everything but Doom, which goes on the colored nurglings.
Shooting he plinks a couple bases of nurglings, and fails to hurt my PBC's. His two wraiths in the middle are closer to my PBC than my Poxbringer... he wanted to try and force me to drop the relic, but that won't happen! He shoots the PBC, doing 1 wound after saves. His back wraiths shoot my Blightlords, doing really well; I think it was 6 saves? I fail 3 of the 6, killing 3 Blightlords (I failed all my DR's). Guardians pew-pew killing 1 base and almost another thanks to Doom.
In assault his Wraith Knight charges my knight, putting it into the dirt. He consolidates into the PBC there. His back wraiths charge my Blightlords, who kill one through Overwatch. The resulting combat sees me kill 3 more Wraiths, and he kills one more Blightlord. I'm able to pile into one weapon platform, luckily. He also charges his spiritseer into my Nurglings for some reason, and I'm able to kill it... I believe he tried to charge with multiple HQ's to finish the Nurglings off, but only the seer made it.
Eldar secure Big Game Hunter. They also score a Tertiary point. Score is Eldar 7 -Death Guard 5.
TACTICAL INSIGHT: Now that everythings on the field, I feel more confident; I just need to finish his wraiths, then kill his remaining Guardians and I should have this well in hand. My poxbringer with the relic will just keep running and his Knight shouldn't be able to catch up.
Nurgle Turn 3
Spoiler:
I move my bottom PBC around, and my other PBC moves up top. All the Nurglings move toward his HQ blob (Warlock, Bonesinger, and other guy). My PBC in CC with the Knight falls back, moving to stay within range of the objective on the top right. Poxbringers both advance.
Smites go out, and kill one wraith in the middle.
Shooting one PBC isn't able to finish the last wraith in the middle, but he plinks a guardian with his mortar. Second PBC finishes the middle wraiths, giving me my marked target.
Assault the Nurglings charge and kill 2 of 3 of his HQ's, leaving just the bonesinger which the nurglings pile into. He fails to do anything back. The Blightlords kill the Weapons platform and all but 2 wraiths, one of which has 1 wound left. He does 1 wound to a Blightlord.
Death Guard score Marked for Death, Tertiary, and 1 Primary point. Score is Eldar 7 - Death Guard 9.
TACTICAL INSIGHT: The game is essentially over at this point; I'm about to sweep everything Micheal has aside from his Knight. He might be able to scoop up a few points, though, so we will see!
Eldar Turn 4
Spoiler:
Micheal disengages with the remaining two Wraiths. His Knight moves to cover my top right objective so I can't stay within 3" regardless of where I fall back.
Micheals shooting is ineffective; the Blightlords tank everything he tosses at them. He does plink a couple wounds from the top PBC.
In assault, his Knight charges my PBC taking 3 wounds in return. In a shocking display... the Knight whiffs hard, doing 0 wounds!
Micheal scores 1 Primary point I believe. Score is Eldar 8 - Death Guard 9.
TACTICAL INSIGHT:
Nurgle Turn 4
Spoiler:
Theres not much to this turn... I clear all his Guardians, kill the Bonesinger, and finish his remaining wraiths. Before I charge the weapons platform he calls it. We talk through the score: I will be able to max everything except for Titanslayer, Micheal will be able to max his Tertiary score, but won't be able to really do much else.
End score would end up being Eldar 10 - Death Guard 17.
TACTICAL INSIGHT: See results
Results and Post Game Thoughts
Spoiler:
Death Guard win Turn 4 by concession, talk through of final turns would yield a final score of Eldar 10-Death Guard 17.
Micheal was a blast to play, he was super bubbly and being a prior maintenance guy we have a similar temperament. Being new to the game he also plays very well; he would have definitely kicked my ass if I had only played 5 games! He just needs to get down the rules, and he will be solid. A lot of this comes from the fact he watches battle reports and listens to pod-casts religiously; so he knows a lot about the game, even if he doesn't know completely how to play yet. I liked playing Micheal because he showed me that I cannot underestimate new guys; especially those who want to be competitive!
Wraiths are tough for my list, and Eldar Fliers are always a pain. I definitely want a rematch with Micheal one day! Overall I would say my biggest mistake this game was not knowing what some of his stuff did; he was playing a really crazy list with a lot of things I have never seen. Those Wraiths guns are pretty damn insane, I must say! But this was a fantastic game and I hope to face other crazy lists in the future... its a brave new Meta out there!
Thanks for reading
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2019/01/13 22:39:51
