Wednesday, February 9, 2011

[40K] Post # 200, Bat Rep #3 and Star Wars Imperial Guard!

I got in another 40K game during League play on Monday. It's an escalation league at 1250 points.

I missed the 1000 point games so I jumped from 750 to 1250. It's a big jump, and I'm not entirely sure I put together the best list to play- but I gave it a shot.

I played a CSM player whose list was roughly like this:

Defiler
4 Oblits
2 Demon princes
10 Man Squad with mark of Khorne
Dedicated Rhino
10 Man Squad
Dedicated Rhino
someone on that list had Lash, but I don't know who (I think it was an Oblit???)

Mine was something like

EC, AAC
7 Initiates, 2 Neophytes (1 power sword, 1 flamer)
frag & krak
Dedicated Rhino

7 Initiates, 1 Neophyte (1 lascannon, 1 flamer)
Frag & krak

2 landspeeders
1 Typhoon Missile launcher
1 Multimelta

Predator Annihilator
Turret TLLC
(side sponson las)

terminator Sword brethren
3 Storm Bolters, CCW
1 Typhoon Missile Launcher
1 Assault cannon

1 venerable Dred,
Extra armor
Multimelta

We used the ROE to determine deployment and neither of us liked the results, so we re-rolled to get pitched battle. My primary win condition was to destroy his objectives and my secondary was to hold any two.



[Important note about this destroying objectives thing: I had to start and stay in base-to-base contact with the objective marker through an assault phase, but I DID NOT HAVE TO ASSAULT it. ANY model was acceptable to accomplish this goal.]

His primary was to hold any two, with secondary to destroy more points than his highest unit cost him.

I deployed roughly in a staggered triangle, holding termies and land speeders in reserve for deep strike. I actually had a plan, hoping to rush the landspeeders to the objective

Notice that it's on the other side of the board behind a wall. This wall is apparently key to my opponent's play style.


with the pred and shooty troops as fire support. I then wanted to cross over with the termies

ALSO behind the wall.


and blow up some rhinos before destroying his marker.

That was the plan. Here's what happened.

Simply put, he blew my stuff up before I had a chance to do anything. First turn, my Pred was destroyed. [Defiler] My Dred got shot so he couldn't move or shoot. [Oblits, I think] My Termies and LS were off the board, and my Rhino only moved 6 due to a colossal overestimation of distance on my part.

My shooty troop squad was blown off the board on second turn, after I had gotten ONE shot off with the Las. [Defiler again.] This made me adjust my plan somewhat, as pretty much all my fire support was gone. I kept going in with my landspeeders and Rhino towards that first objective, figuring I could zip the LS away (bait) and then out-CC his CSM with my troops pretty easily. I shambled my Dred over towards his princes, hoping to get at least ONE shot off at them.

I did not.

I honestly put the Dred in sort of as a throwaway- I didn't know if it was worth having and I wanted to try it, but I wasn't super attached to it. I discovered that while the big guy never got a shot off, he's frickin' AWESOME.

My Dred stayed in CC with at least one Demon Prince (and one round of two) for three rounds without going down. I will give credit where it's due- my opponent could NOT make any sort of pen/damage rolls despite rolling 2D6 to save his life. He consistently rolled 'can't move/can't shoot', and the time he didn't, I made him reroll with the Ven ability and got a way better result. Dred simply smashed the flesh right off the Demon prince, over and over, until he had 1 wound left and ran away like a girl.

With  his one wound, he flies away.

All the rest of the game? Pretty dang boring. I managed to destroy an objective with my Terminators, and shortly after, got zorched by Oblits. More getting shot by Oblits and Defiler, going down in a big heaping pile of flames. Finally disembark my CC troop squad with Brother Darius at the lead, and get Lashed into a big mob for the Oblit's Las (or something. I honestly forget). I'm dead except a Rhino and the Dred before turn 4 is over.

This was not a fun game- and not because I lost.I'll explain why in a moment.

What I learned:

I like my Dreadnaught and want to include him in more lists. Maybe I can find him a couple friends, too. The resiliency and the ability to make my opponent re-roll was really pretty handy.

I keep trying the Mech list thing that everyone says is the way to win with BT. Every time I take more than one vehicle, it fails miserably. [I've played 2 other games I haven't reported here- 1 win, 1 loss; and some of my 'data' comes from those games as well.] I don't think I like Mech unless it's REALLY FRICKIN BIG, and need to figure out what the problem is.

I HATE OBLITS  As my son likes to say, I wish they would die in a hole. I need to find something to use against big nasties that's effective- because right now, I got nothin. 

What I can improve on:

I still need to read the rule book MORE.  I'm still fuzzy on some rules I use a lot, and I need to work on that. 

This league is the worst possible way for me to learn. For the most part, the people are great. They are truly a ton of fun to hang out with and I really enjoy them. Most of them are patient and really enthused about helping a new player learn. However, I tend to need to do the same thing the same way several times to really "get it", and this league- with it's weird deployment, mission and point levels, is NOT helping me. I'm doing my best, and I know I can read up some more to improve myself. But what's wrong with pitched battle? 

Making effective army lists. I'm still not convinced I understand the synergy between units and the army profile, and I spend a lot of time GUESSING.  

About my opponent: 
He's 13 and kicked my teeth in. I don't have a real issue with getting beaten by a younger opponent- it happens a lot with my son, who regularly stomps my face in with his Cryxx or Cygnar against my admittedly pathetic (but pretty!) Khador.

My opponent was very enthusiastic about his army and what it can do. He knew his rules inside and out. He explained a couple things to me that I didn't understand patiently. However, he ran right over me when I had a comment. I wish I could say something nicer than - he was impatient. If this had been my first game, I might honestly quit.

However, I have teenage kids. I understand this is a temporary mental issue and he'll get better.

Now, in celebration of my 200th post, a special feature. I mentioned in a comment on someone else's blog (CounterFett, this means YOU) that a local guy plays Imperial Guard using Star Wars figures. He brought them in and I snapped some shots of these lovely guys.






That's right, the Walker is assaulting the HULL of the Vendetta, baby!


11 comments:

  1. The issue with your dreadnought was it has a 24" weapon, so chances are its going to take some heat before it gets a chance to shoot.

    Potential solutions: use TLLC/missile launcher arm combo for long range shooting.

    Use a drop pod to deploy it so it can get really close with its multi-melta before your opponent can take shots at it.

    As far as the other stuff, make sure you deploy in cover so if you dont get the first turn you won't get your whole army annihilated.

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  2. wow. skateboard mike's still around? wait, this might have been his buddy.

    I think I trashed the stormtrooper IG back in the days of 4th ed. in the old shop, caddy corner from Dallas and Co. back when Alairos was still showing up.

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  3. Stormtrooper Imperial Guard - why not in a world the size of the 40K galaxy? And if not, there's the mighty multiverse.

    I also like the fact that your conclusions are almost as long as the rest of the report, and even go beyond the game.

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  4. That is super awesome! Yay!

    I had wondered why the online single sources for stormtroopers had dried up. Honestly I think instead of IG I would use Inquisition, so that my stormtroopers were, you know...stormtroopers.

    But that's just me.

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  5. Dreadnoughts are fun. Generally they do one of two things: blow up stuff or get into close combat and stick around and tie up the unit. I usually gear my shooting with them for being able to bust up a tank, which you had but as Nike said, it's only a 24" range so you need to be able to get it into melta range quickly (12"), like using a Drop Pod. Alternatively take better ranged weaponry.

    Don't get disheartened with the vehicle situation. You'll have some games where your Rhinos shrug off every shot and make it through an entire game and other games where they all get blown up on turn #1. If nothing else they are protecting the infantry inside so it's not for naught. Just remember to use your smoke launchers and don't be afraid to zoom up 12", at least that way if you lose it you're at least closer to your opponent.

    Yeah, the league is a tough place to learn by the sounds of it. If nothing else though you're still getting experience and that's what counts.

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  6. Thanks for sharing the pictures of the Star Wars army, awesome!

    Sorry the crazy league conditions are still messing with you, that's something I've been worried about as an obstacle to figuring out the basics. Keep at it though, I'm sure everything will fall into place soon enough for you.

    Wow, two hundred posts already? Way to go, Loq!

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  7. Hey Farmpunk...

    To the best of my knowledge, Skateboard Mike is pretty much based in Springfield now. He comes in every 4-6 months, but he's by no means a regular anymore.

    As for Alairos, he's "come back to the fold" and been part of our leagues here for the last six months or so.

    Later... GopherDave

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  8. With the DNs, and I run them a LOT, but I almost never run them with shorter ranged weaponry like MM or even the Assault Cannon... I use them as mobile fire support, so you see mine sporting things like 2x Twin Linked Autocannon, Heavy Plasma/Missile Launcher, etc... Also, since they can move and fire, I tend to start them either behind a building or behind a Rhino hull... Yes, they're not great in HtH, but the Marine armies we play are all excellent at that aspect, so I am ok with it just holding it's own until some Grey Hunters, Fleshtearer (they pretty much live for HtH) or Deathwing can come deal with the situation... Now, that does NOT cover the BA DNs, they're pretty much dropped or pushed out of a Storm Raven right into assault :-) Those can have the short ranged weapons, and with the number of BA players locally, get ready for that...

    Just my opinion as always, but I think a lot of your line squads are falling into the "swiss army" mold... They are "ok" at a lot of thingsm but do not really excel at anything. Marine Tac squads are pretty much all like this in my opinion :-) And why I haven't run one since 3rd edition (Grey Hunters don't count :-))... Honestly, the BT unit that I've seen give more people fits is a LR Crusader full of CC Marines and IC's... Hard to stop if it's played aggressively... That and just massed "bodies", huge squads on foot, spread out when facing incoming templates, but very "Khorne Berserker" in their desire to simply come to grips with the other force... Not saying you are playing a bad army build or playing it badly, just that you are facing some fairly "optimized" forces here and the weird missions are not helping since they make the learning curve VERY steep...

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  9. Nikephoros: I was behind some minor terrain, but the Defiler was so tall, and the Oblits were on a raised terrace- cover meant almost nothing for me.

    The Dread didn't get a shot because the Demon Princes flew in pretty quick, and he got locked in CC. (And was pretty good at it!)

    Porky: Thanks for the comment on my conclusion. I am working hard to learn the game, and I've found these war notes really help me.

    CF: So glad you got to see them!

    Thor: A Pod is on my list of possibilities, but it's long term. I'm still trying to get a sense of how everything works.

    The vehicles are tough- it seems like any time I take more than one, I become instant cannon fodder. Just frustrating.

    JJ: I am thrilled you liked seeing them!

    On 200: Thanks! My name sure does fit me!


    P: I'll have to see what guns the DN has available to him in the bag. I'd like to be WSYWIG, but I am still learning what stuff looks like (Missile Launchers and TLLC I have DOWN. Other than that, not so much.)

    The big squad sounds more like my style... I just haven't figured out how to make it work points wise.

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  10. That army over there isn't skateboard mike. It would be mine.
    Howdy everyone, I'm the Foggy Golem. That blonde guy with the Indiana Jones hat that pops in every so often.

    And yes Farmpunk. You did trash my army...back in 4ed...at the old store.
    But then again, who hasn't? Amirite?

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