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.
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.
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