2v2 40K: White Scars and Genestealer Cults vs Alpha Legion and Tyranids 1000 pts per Army

This will be a tough game to try to recount, because I only made less than half of the decisions on my side of the table, being teamed up with a force with many more units under its control. I had comparatively few units on the board, and because of the nature of playing two turns simultaneously, with coordination, there were a lot of things happening all at once, so it could be kind of hectic. I also was trying to participate and so didn't get as many pics as might normally in a game this size, with 2000 points on each side.

This mission was again an ITC type, with five objectives spread around the table in a cross pattern with one in the middle. This time, we deployed in the board corners, though, and the no-man's land was a strip down the diagonal center line. 

My force for the game is shown below. I ran a battalion detachment and spent 2 CP on pre-game upgrades, so I was working with 6 CP total.

Below is one of the opposing forces, tyranids of hive fleet leviathan.

This was our deployment. I put my stormraven in the back corner, facing the middle of the board, with my assault squad riding inside. I then put a tactical squad on one objective, and an intercessor squad on another, with a second intercessor squad, chaplain, and lieutenant grouped to the fore ready to go and grab the mid-field objective. Suppressors on the second floor of some ruins, and aggressors in outflanking mode, to deploy in the second round. 

Aggressors and the embarded assault squad.

Here the Alpha Legion and armiger helverins have deployed. There is a rhino, a lord discordant, some havocs, cultists, and plague marines. In the background, you can see a lot of small tyranids on the two terrain pieces.

In the first (enemy) shooting phase, my stormraven took 10 wounds from havocs and armigers, and so could only move 30" when it came time. You can also see here my tactical squad at the bottom has been depleted some, and my intercessors and chaplain have moved on the center objective. The buggies there belong to the genestealer force I allow to live as long as they fight against our mutual foes.

Intercessors are being moved on by some regular Alpha Legion heretics and some plague marine variants, as well. 

Here the rhino has moved around the building toward my intercessors on the point ahead of it, while the tyranids are also moving in that direction. The brood lords beside the lord discordant will soon move up into the ruins to join the melee.

The armigers here have blown up one genestealer buggy and shot down my stormraven, killing one assault marine in the process. The others have debarked there, looking to join the fighting in the ruins for the middle objective. The zoanthropes, tyranid psykers, have floated up to the top of the ruins and smote some of my intercessors.

There's a good fight brewing in these ruins.

Two brood lords charge my chaplain! Together they fight and bring him down to a single wound. He fights back and takes a couple of wounds off one of them. Then one of them fights a second time to take the chaplain's last wound and kill him.

Now my intercessors and chaplain are both gone. My teammate and I have decided to shoot down the brood lords, and so I'll charge my assault marines into the plague marines, instead. 

The aggressors arrive here to shoot and do some heavy damage to the brood lords, taking each down to only a single wound left.

This rhino is coming for my intercessor squad. 

Aggressors hanging out acting like a big target here.

All game I've been shooting the suppressors at the helverins opposite, but not getting very many wounds through the 4s to wound, and 5++ saves. I still think that was the right play, though. I might have shot the havocs, but one turn at least they had character status somehow, and others they were out of sight.

This is my destoryed/dead pool at this point in the game. That intercessor squad dying was unfortunate because that meant extra points for the other team via Marked for Death, one of the ITC special objectives.

Soon the aggressors joined the dead pool, being taken out by helverin and havoc shots.

And at one point it came down to just my assault sergeant in the ruins hanging tough.

My intercessors and lieutenant were charged by the rhino, tying up their shooting, unless I wanted to fall back and use a stratagem. I didnt have any CP left by this point, if I recall correctly.

The genestealers below are all on my side, for this battle at least.

This is how I spent my 6 CP in this game. One re-roll, and the stratagems you see below.

I don't really recall why I took this pic, but you can see the UI I made for myself to indicate the doctrine, and my three litany cards. The one turned over is for the new White Scars litany that no card exists for, Strike Off the Head, which allows me to reroll wound rolls. My chaplain had that and Litany of Hate (reroll hit rolls) up at the same time when fighting the brood lords, but they rolled really good saves anyway.

This was the state of the board as I had to perform a strategic retreat to get home in time for another matter. I made sure to brief my genestealer allies of convenience on what the few remaining units were packing, most important of which were the suppressors which were still at full strength. 

I had to duck out sometime in the fourth battle round, after our shooting phase. I am told the enemies probably won by a point or two, but my teammate was unsure of the count of wounds we dealt overall, so there's a slight asterisk there, and we might have had the points for victory ourselves via the Reaper ITC special objective. 

Either way, it was good fun, if a little hectic, like I said. We actually began probably an hour later than we should have, because one player couldn't get to the club as early as he'd thought originally. I'd have like to have stuck around, but I think I would have been all but eliminated soon, because of my fewer and more dangerous units, many of which were on contested objectives.

Some thoughts:

Losing the stormraven early meant losing about a third of my whole army early. In the context of a 2000 point list, it's only about a sixth, but even though we had 2000 points on our side, I only had a 1000 point list of my own. We weren't so much acting like one general with the wits of two, as we were two forces and two generals aligned but not coordinated like one person would do it. So, I felt like I brought a too-big unit in a too-small list, in the end. 

The armiger helverin models are bigger than I'd imagined, and very strong. Are these the troops choices of Knights lists? 

The Alpha Legion's -1 to hit at 12" is deceptively good. He had a few units that were -2 to hit at times, which sucks! 

I wish aggressors could fire twice after coming in from outflank, but alas. 18 plus 3D6 shots isn't too bad.

I've now played a couple of games in a row without a psyker, and you really feel it going up against armies that do have them.

My chaplain can just about always be relied on to be good value for points. I could have used Counter-Offensive to interrupt as the two brood lords fought him, but I wanted to save the CP for Rapid Fire later, and it worked out, thanks to the 3++ Sacrosanct Rosarius I gave him this game. The only times he's been useless was when he was too far away to assault any enemies AND didn't manage to get off a litany.

White Scars vs Genestealer Cults 500 pts 02/25/20

This was a quick game played almost as a warm-up for a later one. We pared down our larger army lists to just half their value, and played one of the new ITC missions. The deployment was Hammer and Anvil (lengthways, 24" deployment zones) with 5 objectives situated in a cross pattern on the table, with one in the middle.

You can see my deployment below. suppressors on one objective, assault squad at the bottom ready to advance toward another, tactical squad at the top same, iIntercessors in the middle same, and lieutenant and aggressors in a position to move up and potentially offer fire support to either squad to the side of them.

The dice here are all you see when genestealers are "deployed". They don't actually appear (or not) at these blips until the end of the first movement phase.

I had lousy advance rolls and couldn't get control of any of those three objectives in the first turn!

Now he's got a unit of acolytes that have popped in and are going to shoot at my tactical squad. Note the other squad appearing in the ruins at the upper right near that objective. Also note my intercessors and suppressors preparing to shoot.

Said acolytes managed to kill all five of my tactical marines, but notice the conspicuous absense of both them and the ones in the far ruins where the objective is. Now what big, ebon-clad unit might have shot twice in the interim?

Below are the stratagems I used this game. This was only a patrol detachment, so I only had three CP, and this is how I spent them, in a single play, on my intercessors.

I more or less had the game sewn up here, but my opponent made a good effort by deep-striking in a couple of characters and some acolytes and taking out my assault squad. I went on to kill them all with my suppressors and intercessors, mainly. I won this game by 4-5 victory points, if I recall correctly. I always let him track the ITC scoring, since he knows the rules better and has the app on his phone for it. And this was just a quick bit of fun, anyway.

It was a slightly odd game, for my White Scars. I never got any unit into melee combat, for one. Since everything was at range, and my units on the board mostly pretty capable in that regard, I never even left the tactical doctrine. But that just goes to show you that space marines are generalists, and can do anything pretty well.

My opponent contends that the game is, if not off-balance, just generally kind of weird in how it plays at low point levels. I think there is definitely something different in how it feels, but I wouldn't make a qualitative judgment about whether it is better or worse. I do feel like a game of 500 points on a side should probably be played on a 4'x4' table rather than a 6'x4' one, at least. All that empty space can make it feel sparse.

Early 2020 Playlog

While I've been concentrating most of my leisure time on televised dramas, reading, and painting and playing 40K, I have found a limited amount of time for video gaming, as well.

I wanted to try out Juno's Darkest Hour, mainly because I have a daughter named Juno, and it looked kid-friendly enough that she might like it. In the end, she did sit and play it for a while, but it was a little too difficult to enjoy, even for me. It is basically an action platformer like you would see in the old days on the GameBoy, and I single that platform out for its monochrome looks and zoomed-in, large character sprite aesthetics and the unforgiving game design of that era.

Dicey Dungeons is a game I was looking forward to trying out, but I'm really certain its lived up to what I thought it could be. Effectively, it's Slay the Spire but with dice mechanics. It's a good concept and structure, for sure. I probably just need to play more to really define it and set it apart from that game in my mind.

I played a little more of Inquisitor - Martyr, and yeah, it's fine. I'll come back to it later.

I also got deeper than ever into Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon, and now that I've got a handle on many of the Imperial Guard and Space Marines units from playing tabletop 40K, I'm getting more out of playing it. I'm to the point now where I have Titans to devestate the Orks with. It's fun, for a very simplistic game with next to no animation and very little in the way of production values whatsoever.

I picked up Kingdom Come: Deliverance for free the other day courtesy of the Epic store. Along with a couple of board game adaptations. I want to check those out soon.

White Scars vs Genestealer Cults 2000 pts 02/11/2020

For this game I wanted to mix it up a little after last 2000 point game, in which I brought all my vehicles. What's funny is my Genestealer Cults opponent brought a list heavy on their mining lasers, which would have been the perfect foil to my vehicles. None of which I brought in this list. Instead he found himself targeting infantry with them, and so was at a bit if a disadvantage in that regard. 

We played a mission from Chapter Approved 2019, which I believe was called Front-Line Assault, or something like that. We deployed in the diagonal format where each player has opposite corners, and there were four objectives; one in each deployment zone, and two on the center line between deployments. We ended up with one in the center and one nearer to one neutral corner.

It was up to me to go first or second, and knowing he usually prefers to go second, but built this list to do well either way, I had him go first. 

My deployment:

You'll notice the tactical squad in the very back on the home objective. This squad has a missile launcher, which is good, but the sergeant has a combi-flamer, which might be better in a more forward-moving squad. I might swap him out with the boltgun/bolt pistol sergeant going forward.

I put two Terminator teleport homers near the objective, had a couple of infantry squads held back to screen deep strikers, and a couple more ready to dash to objectives. My bikers were all positioned to race over to the enemy's objective, where his basilsks and mortar teams were camping it. I had my warlord, the captain in gravis armor, my librarian, and ancient over on the short edge of the battlefield near both my defenders and one attack group. My lieutenant and chaplain are with the auto bolt rifle intercessors all ready to strike toward the middle objective.

The enemy deployment is really only the blips shown here. All the models are just representing what he has as a blip, but not necessarily the blip near where the model sits. The big tyranid models he has on the table are proxies for ridgerunners, of which he has one on the table, and all three are grouped into one unit. Only the basilisks are actually there.

My reserves. Reivers and both terminator squads.

As I was going second, and neglected to pay for Prepared Positions, I had to weather the rain of shells. This was the toll it took before I did anything more than set up.

In my first movement phase, it was a priority to kill the character here hiding behind the terrain. This guy meant I couldn't deep strike in within 15", and he was blocking the way to the basilisks, which I was planning to smash up real good with all my terminators. So, I moved my biker khan and attack bike up toward that end. 

Advancing some guys up toward an objective in the first turn.

Keeping up a screen while trying to maneuver for shots with the foreground units here.

The tactical squad at the upper right here is coming around that corner toward an objective that would be hotly fought over all game.

Remember that character that used to be here? Now he's a trophy on my khan's belt. If this looks like it's going to turn bad for the khan, well it was a noble sacrifice. It took nearly everything you see there to kill him. He had -1 to hit for having advanced, and then a 4++ to boot.

This tac squad claimed that point they were headed toward, charging into a bunch of bikers to do so.

I had my scout bikers charge his three ridgerunners (remember those tyranids are proxies). One was killed in overwatch, but the other two made the charge and were able to bash up one of the buggies and do a wound or two to the character here, as well. 

At the end of the first round, all this had died, I had 4 victory points, 6 CP left.

Now going into his second turn it was time for his reserves to hit the table. He said he hadn't wanted to bring in everything right away, but felt like he had to, reacting to how I was moving. He brought in some acolytes here, which I responded to with an Auspex Scan, killing three right away.

Then he brought in a large mass of stuff at this objective I had taken with my tactical marines. The ones in the foreground are the aberrants, which are a major concern, and so I would have to get drastic with my next move!

Also, knowing what I had planned with my terminators, he brought in a screen for his basilisks.

Finally, the remainder of his stuff popped in here, including his warlord.

In movement, he fell back with the ridgerunners and the biker/sniper character. I used Butchered Quarry to get in a free attack with each scout when the ridgerunners fled, since the sergeant had his thunder hammer.

Another view of the action so far. Note his units on the left in the grey terrain piece. This is where the central objective is, so I would need to attack in that direction as well.

During his turn the aberrants charge into my tactical squad at this objective. I think they pretty much wiped them out, between their hammers, picks, and claws.

I had to defend my home field objective, because this group of new arrivals had taken out a couple of the models in the tactical squad. Since the ancient was nearby, they got to fire back in return, at least.



Back to my turn now, I'm moving guys up toward that center objective model.



And to counter the aberrant threat and retake the corner objective, I teleported in my thunder hammer and storm shield terminators. Hammers versus hammers! No ranged in either unit!



This tactical squad high-tailed it back toward the home objective in defense of it, thinking to charge into them. It ultimately wouldn't be necessary, because I just shot them off the board quickly enough that they were gone by charge phase.



My reivers deep struck into the middle of the board 9" from his unit near that central objective. You can see here my intercessors, lieutenant, and chaplain had also reached that point.



And finally, my terminator squad popped in here at the requisite 9" distance. In their shooting which immediately followed, they killed the entire unit on the orange building, and I sent a cyclone missile into one of the basilisks for the full D6 damage, which was fun.

Now there's a 30-minute period between pictures. I think this was when I finished up my second turn and then went to grab some water and hit the head, because the next pic is from after my second combat where my terminators had wrecked the aberrant character, and were then again on the move toward the rest of the aberrants:



I'll try to fill in the details as I go along...



I'd moved my lieutenant and chaplain with the two remaining intercessors with auto bolt rifles up to the middle objective here. There had been a couple of atalan jackals bikers here but I took them out in combat in my second turn before consolidating toward the unit on the terrain piece.



The terminators here had wiped out the unit that was on the orange terrain piece, and then suffered one death from some shooting. In fact, by the time I got to use them again,they were all blasted off by the basilisks' and mortar teams' shooting.



These Reivers are waiting to charge into that terrain to kill the acolytes sheltering there.



At this point I had gone through all of my CP on mobility and shooting stuff, to punish a fall back with Butchered Quarry, and a deep strike with Auxpex Scan. Three misc command rerolls, as well. I tend to spend a lot early to try to get to objectives or to make quick or key kills right off the start, while all my units are at full strength, and to set up further objective grabbing opportunities.



By now we're on his turn, and he's eliminated my two intercessors and lieutenant here, with shooting, I believe. He's then charged his warlord in at my chaplain. Big mistake, buddy! He took my chaplain down to one wound remaining, but got absolutely demolished in one round when my guy fought back. Welcome to the assault doctrine, scum. Slay the Warlord!



At this point I'm starting to doubt relying on terminators to take care of his armor as a strategy. If I hadn't had to divert the TH/SS team, this might have worked out better, but they were sorely needed elsewhere.

Forward, for the Khan! They killed most of the abberants in this turn, and I think lost one in the fighting back.

Where did you come/from where did you go/where did you come from/Patriarch Joe

At this point my librarian got off a very good Lightning Call on the bikers on the objective by his aberrants. 5 mortal wounds, enough to finish that unit off altogether.

My reivers by now had taken this terrain and killed the acolytes, and my chaplain had charged over and killed the biker/sniper character that had been there before. He may have done more work than any other model on the table this game.



My terminators and intercessors have cleansed the area around the objective but for one acolyte on the roof.



The objective is mine! I need to move intercessors up to hold it, though, so the terminators can move on.



The terminator captain is alone but undaunted.  He moves up, and fires his storm bolter and wrist-mounted grenade launcher into the acolytes screening the basilisks.



I am holding my backfield objective with just a tactical sergeant as my last full tac squad moves up toward the center.



He is now slyly bringing a couple of characters up toward the center objective.



His acolytes have moved up some for better range, I guess. They didn't charge, though. Combined overwatch fire has my captain down to three wounds remaining, after he failed a short charge in my previous phase.



Now that the objective ahead is taken, and there's no need to screen any longer, all this mass of marines need to move out.



The sergeant holding the point had mortars rain down on him, leaving it open, and in the moment not worth taking again. I have a solid points lead here now, and I need to do something about his mortars and basilisks!



But now attrition is starting to grind us down.

The genestealers think if they can remove the terminators with ranged fire from the basilisks and mortars, they might be able to move back in on the objective and close the points gap.

The remaining intercessor from one squad charges the last ridgerunner on the board. My librarian had finished the second last one off with a smite.

My terminators have been removed as planned, but not to worry, a captain and intercessors have retaken the objective before the battle round ends and points are awarded.

Finally, a sad bit of closure for the terminator captain, he died charging the first basilisk, from its main gun firing overwatch.

This was the end of the 5th battle round, when we rolled a 1 on whether to keep going, so the game ended. The final point tally was something like 19-10 in my favor.

It felt good to get a win in a game this big, but as always there were lessons learned.

1. I won purely by being on the objectives. I was being worn down constantly by shell rain, but that meant a lot of his army was a stationary gun battery or devoted to protecting it. He never even tried for my home objective, because he couldn't keep me off the neutral ones. As much as he tried with the corner one!

2. I can't rely on melee infantry to smash up vehicles, not even terminators. I need to bring more lascannons and missiles and such. For now that means one or more of my vehicles need to be in every list this size, probably two at least. Oh, I just remembered the Suppressors can do well against vehicles under T8, as well. Soon enough I'll have las-fusil Eliminators, too. And maybe Devastators after that, to shore up my anti-armor capabilities and flexibility.

3. At one point my terminators fell back out of combat to allow my intercessors to shoot the aberrants, and then my terminators charged right back in again. That's one easily overlooked ability of White Scars. I would probably fall back and recharge anyway to trigger shock assault, but that's an added perk. One thing I overlooked until after this game is the restriction on Devastating Charge (my super doctrine), that it only applies if the unit has charged or intervened that turn, so it's not just a blanket extra damage on melee in the assault doctrine like I had understood previously. It's more like the second half (first half allows re-rolling charges) of The Imperium's Sword warlord trait I often take, which again requires charging or intervening to add 1 strength and attack in the following fight phase.

4. Regarding use of CP. First, I should have spent on Prepared Positions this time. That was a mistake, not to. Second, there will always be a handful of must-reroll situations, like when you get a lascannon through to damage and roll a 1. You can't just let that happen. So you need to allow 2-3 CP each game specifically for that kind of thing. Command re-roll often isn't good value, but at times can be the best value you could hope for. You shouldn't refrain from ever using it, is the main thing. But of course, don't use it exclusively when other stratagems can often make a bigger difference.