3 games @ 1750 in one afternoon

My tourney list:
HQ – Grandmaster Rivan w/ m-c nfw, p-cannon, si, ph & HH; 3 GKT’s (1 p-cannon)
TR – Squad Armael (6 X PAGK; 2 p-cannons; fg, targeter)
TR – Squad Uriel (6 X PAGK; 2 p-cannons; fg, targeter)
TR – Squad Raguiel (6 X PAGK; 2 p-cannons; fg, targeter)
HS – LR Sanctus Fidelis w/ ea & sl
HS – LR Ira Divinus w/ pmsb, ea & sl
HS – GK Dread Garius w/ twllc, ml, ea & sl

Vs. Dark Eldar
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Spearhead (table quarters)
Eldar list (from what I can put together visually)
HQ – Homonculi
TR – 5 squads of 18 x DE (2 dark lances, 2 blasters for each squad)
EL – 9 x Mandrakes
6 x warp beasts w/ mistress
FA – 2 squads of 3 x jetbikes (w/ 2 blasters each)
HS – 3 x Talos (scropion looking things w/ S7, T7, D6 attacks, monstrous creature)
My opponent deployed first and took first turn. This being an objective based mission, I didn’t even attempt to seize initiative since I wanted last turn. He basically kept 4 squads of DE back to hold his objective while advancing everything else to assault my forces.

My strategy obviously defaulted to: destroy all incoming threats to my home objective before I make a raider dash to contest his. I can tell you that it was definitely a target-rich environment and the combination of 24 psycannon shots and 5 lascannon shots (+ the krak/frag missile) definitely came to the fore The real trick was how to prioritize and allocate my shooting to eliminate the most dangerous threats (highest of which were the Talos thingys, although the jetbikes came in a close second because of their blasters). He made very good use of cover so his units had cover saves almost the whole time they were advancing. By the time his forces reached my lines, one Talos was destroyed, as well as all the jetbikes and half of the advancing DE squad (would have been more but I rolled at least 10 snake eyes during all that ).
During his shootng phases, his barrage of dark lance shots managed to immobilize one raider. Luckily I was able to shrug off several other penetrating hits due to cover saves.
His warp beasts charged squad Armael (who was guarding my left flank) but was destroyed (mistress failed morale and ran for her life ). They then went on the offensive and charged the mandrake unit (thank goodness, didn’t know these things had 5 attacks on the charge if I let them). Took a few phases , but they destroyed this unit as well while losing half the squad.
On the other front, the other two Talos were within assault range so Grandmaster Rivan took the initiative and assaulted the first one. I was definitely not used to having to roll 5’s to wound but all I needed was to get one wound in. Rivan scored a wound and force-killed the first Talos. He then got assaulted by the second one and he force-killed it as well. He then ordered squad Uriel to embark their raider and head for the enemy objective. Rivan and his retinue then advanced towards the massed DE to draw some fire, basically sacrificing themselves hoping the raider would get into enemy territory. It worked because the raider, after zooming 12” and popping smoke, was able to make it to the DE frontline and disembarked squad Uriel. However, at this point, the game ended at Turn 5 and my squad or LR was still not within contesting range.

Game was a tactical draw. I really like how the game turned out (despite horrendous rolling on my part) because my opponent threw everything he had at me and after the smoke cleared, his entire offensive force was annihilated while I lost 3 PAGK. By game end, he was on the defensive and it was all up to the dice gods whether both my squad and land raider will be able to make it to his objective. Alas, time ran out. Arguably, one of the hardest missions to play since a well-played game by both players usually ends up in a draw.

Vs. CSM
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
CSM List:
HQ – Abaddon the despoiler
HQ – Typhus
EL – 3 x Chaos termies (all have lightning claws; one champion) (joined by Abaddon)
EL – 3 x Chaos termies (all have lightning claws and all are champions, mark of Slaanesh) (joined by Typhus)
TR – 5 x plague marines (2 meltas, 1 combi-melta; melta bombs) w/ rhino
TR – 5 x plague marines (2 meltas, 1 combi-melta; melta bombs) w/ rhino
HS – Chaos LR w/ daemonic possession (Abaddon’s ride)
HS – Chaos LR w/ daemonic possession (Typhus’ ride)
I had first turn and deployed my forces at the center of my board edge w/ squad Armael in front of LR Fidelis and Rivan & retinue in front of LR Divinus. Dreadnought Garius was behind terrain and the other two GK squads were beside the two raiders. He did exactly the same thing and deployed both LR’s in the opposite center w/ both rhinos behind the LR’s and all his models embarked. He tried to seize initiative but failed.

Already expecting this to be a LR shooting match, I embarked two squads in both LR’s (since they had nothing to shoot at yet) and started shooting. Talk about a shootout at the OK coral…for the next 3 turns, all we did was stay put and trade lascannon shots. The only deviation was he spent one shooting phase on my HQ squad. Shrouding failed me both times and Rivan lost his retinue. However, my gamble paid off because I ended up pouring more lascannon shots on his LR’s than he did on mine and by turn 3, Abaddon’s LR was immobilized w/ no lascannons and Typhus’ LR exploded spectacularly and killed one termie! So, game is tied at 1 KP apiece.
You can imagine what happened next…as Abaddon and Typhus started footslogging it, my embarked squads disembarked and joined the rest of my squads and started lighting everyone up. Additionally, as Typhus and his termies attempted to move from the difficult/dangerous crater that used to be their ride, bad luck killed off another termie and put a wound on Typhus. By the end of my shooting phase in the 5th turn, I had finished off Typhus, his last termie, Abbadon’s termies, one rhino, as well as put 2 wounds on Abaddon. By this time, I was ahead 5-1 in KP. I could have shot Abaddon down too but for fluff sake, I told my opponent that my GM was going mano y mano w/ Abaddon instead. The best I could hope for was for Abaddon to roll a 1 w/ his daemon weapon but he didn’t, so Rivan simultaneously force killed him as he himself got cut down. Oh well.

Victory for the Grey Knights!

Vs. CSM (same opponent, same list, same mission and deployment)
My opponent asked if I would be willing to play a second game since the first game ended rather quickly and that his tactical mistake was that he should have surged forward with his vehicles rather than stay back and shoot. I agreed and we set up again.
This time he went first and deployed his vehicles lined up at his 12” line. I did the same on my side although closer to my board edge and I tried to make good use of as much cover as I can (in hindsight, I should have altered my deployment since I knew he will raider-rush me). I wasn’t able to seize initiative and all his vehicles sped 12” and popped smoke. I fired all my heavy weapons and achieved nothing due to the combination of cover saves and daemonic possession. He moved both raiders up 12” again and disembarked both Typhus and Abaddon (and friends). Abaddon went for squad Uriel and promptly massacred them. Typhus went for Rivan and was (in turn) promptly force-killed. However, his termies struck simultaeneously at I4 (normally I5 for mark of Slaanesh but reduced to 4 due to sared incense) and had five attacks each! While they all also died, they brought down two GKT’s as well as put a wound on Rivan. So far, I’m up 2-1 KP.
And then I saw my chance to tip the balance. I noticed Rivan can assault Abaddon’s unit but due to impassable terrain and the proximity of one of my LR’s, Abaddon won’t be able to make base to base contact. So all my attacks would be on his 2 remaining termies. The only drawback was they would have initiative since I was assaulting into difficult terrain. My plan was to kill off the termies for another KP, and then, in the next round, take down Abaddon even if Rivan gets killed. I woud be up 4-3 and it was the only way to take Abaddon out of the game before he decimates the rest of my forces. Anyway, Rivan takes another wound and his last GKT gets killed but on my turn, I score 3 wounds. However, he manages to save one termie! I thought, not to worry, there’s still a chance. On the next assault phase, Rivan can split his attacks and hope to take both Abaddon and the last termie down before he goes down. BUT, since I lost combat this round, I had to take an armor save and yep, I rolled a freakin’ 1!!!! So, now he’s ahead 3-2.
His last termie jumps back in his LR to hide while Abaddon dutifully destroys my dread (although Abaddon put a wound on himself first ). One of his plague marine squads was able to get close enough to melta gun/bomb one of my LR’s. The game ends at turn 5 with CSM winning 5-2.
It was a good game nontheless. Rivan failing his armor save still gives me pangs but my major mistake was deployment. I should have deployed in such a way as to force him to take longer to reach me.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with this list. I’ll be using it for the 2nd round of the North American tourney on June 19. The only other thing I will change is to take out the pintle-mounted storm bolter on one of the LR’s and give two squads melta bombs instead. A pmsb on a LR is wasted since I will almost always move and fire.

Well done Brother Rivan! Loved all your reports; very exciting and fun games for sure I would give advice, but you already understand what went right and wrong ^^

All I've got to say, is that dirty chaos guy got lucky the second game, with your Grandmaster tripping and hurting his knee; he had to get rushed back to Terra after all.

nice games, was fun to read. those 1 rolls in crucial situations are always hard.. especially with terminator armor :/

Good report although i thought both the army lists (not yours the opponents) were really lacking, i mean two characters, and who takes talos's over 3 dissy's.
Not trying to take anything away from you but just some constructive critisism for your opponents.
How did the psycannons work for you, i never take them as they are highly costing but still would like to see them do well.

I seriously think that the CSM player should have been much agressive in the first game,I mean he had 2 special characters and termies in LRs and 2 shoory plague marine squads in rhinos.What are the LRs assault ramp for then,if not moving like "In yo face!" style and unloading CC units.I mean even Berzerkers are very deadly when they get the advantage of assaulting from an LR,let alone termies with Abaddon or Typhus.If you have such units in LRs,you never ever stay back and shoot vs GKs.I would understand against orks or tyranids to get those needed rounds of shooting into the nids before unleashing the CC fury of those units.And I think it is a rather vunrable army,since one LR cripled or destroyed would mean a very very expencive footslogging squad that will be ripped to pieces.

good batreps ... Abaddon is awful !!
Aubec

@Cornix: The psycannons worked really well for me. I know they are costly but they do make up their points in A LOT of shooting. And I don't really lose flexibility because I can move and still fire at 18". This is not really a bad thing because I would only usually move if something is coming at me and that means they would probably be within range anyway
BTW, what are "dissy's?"

@Ezekiel: True, that's why he changed his tactic in the second game. My bad was I knew what he was going to do but I didn't deploy properly. And yes, the vulnerability of that list is the dependency on his raiders to make it to the opponent's lines or the units will have to footslog it.

Well done Rivan. I've only played Dark Eldar once but found them very 'squishy'. Was the CSM guy ok with your Force Weapon bypassing Abbie's Eternal Warrior? What's your thoughts on the Hellfire Dread after all the smoke has cleared?

NemesisForce wrote:Well done Rivan. I've only played Dark Eldar once but found them very 'squishy'. Was the CSM guy ok with your Force Weapon bypassing Abbie's Eternal Warrior? What's your thoughts on the Hellfire Dread after all the smoke has cleared?

My opponent was completely fine w/ the Nemesis force weapon vs. eternal warrior situation, but then again he was a GW store manager, so he understands the rules and FAQs

I love the hellfire dread! I found that it really gives me that added flexibility/mobility to snipe from long range behind cover. And/or to snipe from the flanks. I found that my opponents tend to shoot at the raiders first so my dread gets to shoot unmolested for a few turns at least.

I've decided to keep the dread even w/ my 2000 pt list and maybe even w/ my 2250 list.

Abaddon is ok... The new rules for Dante though, he's one bitch now.

*Laughs* Well put Grimhack! And I always try to keep a spot for a Dreadnought in any of my lists; I love the guy, even if they don't tend to be nearly as survivable as our sanctified Land Raiders.

Cant remember the full name for the weapon but dark eldar can take a ravanger with 3 small blast templates at Str 7 ap 2, which i would think is better than a talos who are good but not worth over the ravanger.
I love your list though pure Gks really appeals to me and you seem to be good that them, so keep going

Ok, so my buddy and I decide to up our points and play at 2000. He says his is basically the same list w/ the addition of another 5-man plague marine squad w/ rhino, so his list will look like this:

HQ – Abaddon the despoiler
HQ – Typhus
EL – 3 x Chaos termies (all have lightning claws; one champion) (joined by Abaddon)
EL – 3 x Chaos termies (all have lightning claws and all are champions, mark of Slaanesh) (joined by Typhus)
TR – 5 x plague marines (2 meltas, 1 combi-melta; melta bombs; PW for sergeant) w/ rhino
TR – 5 x plague marines (2 meltas, 1 combi-melta; melta bombs; PW for sergeant) w/ rhino
TR – 5 x plague marines (2 meltas, 1 combi-melta; melta bombs; PW for sergeant) w/ rhino
HS – Chaos LR w/ daemonic possession (Abaddon’s ride)
HS – Chaos LR w/ daemonic possession (Typhus’ ride)

My 2000 pt list will look like this:

HQ – Grandmaster Rivan w/ m-c nfw, p-cannon, si, ph & HH; 3 GKT’s (1 p-cannon)
EL - GKT Squad Olorin (BC w/ p-cannon + 3 GKT's w/ 1 p-cannon)
TR – Squad Armael (6 X PAGK; 2 p-cannons; targeter)
TR – Squad Uriel (6 X PAGK; 2 p-cannons; targeter)
TR – Squad Raguiel (6 X PAGK; 2 p-cannons; targeter)
HS – LR Sanctus Fidelis w/ blessed, ea & sl
HS – LR Ira Divinus w/ ea & sl
HS – GK Dread Garius w/ twllc, ml, ea & sl

I decided a 4-man GKT squad w/ 2 p-cannons is more attractive than a 6-man PAGK squad w/ 2 p-cannons. I also discarded the pmsb to give one of the LR's the blessed upgrade (to counter his daemonic-possessed LR's). We'll see how our next battle goes

BTW, anyone know if Typhus has anything that can hurt a dread?

typhus force is 4 but has 1 psychic power that cause a glancing on 4+ ("souffle du chaos" in french) and a deamonic weapon (the nurgle mark doesn't augment the force) which is a force weapon too but as the dread doesn't have wounds it doesn't affect him.
btw, he can use his psychic powers (without warp perils) in the same turn than his deamonic/force weapon
Aubec

Thanks Aubec. So, technically, I can tie up Typhus' squad w/ my dread indefinitely...
As long as my GM is still on the board, I have the psychic hood, or I could give the blessed upgrade to my dread instead of my LR and my dread will have Aegis at Ld10 to counter Typhus' psychic abilities. Good to know

yes i think the blessed upgrade would be better used on the dreadnought
Aubec

If the dread had a CCW you could even instant kill him but you do need the anti tank.