OK, I’ll admit up front, this post will be much LESS spectacular than the last one. Colin and I started our game fairly late, so rushed through it as quick as possible (including me conceding in Turn 4 as the store closed). Without further adue…
My list looked COMPLETELY different than my first game – straight Chaos undivided.
Daemon Prince w/ Wings
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 2 meltaguns (no champion) (sewers)
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 2 Plasmaguns (no champion) (deployed)
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 1 Plasmagun and 1 Missile (no champion) (deployed)
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 1 Plasmagun and 1 Missile (no champion) (deployed)
10 Summoned Lesser Daemons (reserves)
The thought here was to overwhelm the puny pointy eared ones. As I will learn, that is tougher than one thinks, even IF sporting power armor…
Colin’s list (nutshell version)
Farseer w/ Guide and Doom and Stones
10 Dire Avengers – Exarch w/ dual cats and bladestorm
10 Dire Avengers – Exarch w/ Dire Sword/Pistol and defend
5 Pathfinders
5 Pathfinders
2 Wraithlords – I think both had Brightlance and Wraithsword
I chose Sewer Rats and surrounded the objective building with them; also chose razorwire and surrounded Colin’s deployment zone w/ them.
Colin chose Master Snipers and ammo dump. EXCELLENT choices as we'll soon see...
Colin and I used the v5 deployment method, so Colin deployed first, putting Pathfinders in 2 ruins, one of which was the ammo dump. Dires & Seer are all swarmed up behind the main objective; Wraithlords are flanking Dire-swarm.
I put Plasmagun unit between two ruins and the two Missile units in ruins with Prince behind a ruin for now.
I try to Seize the Initiative, and here’s where it all pretty much goes to shit… I don’t get the initiative.
Turn 1 sees Colin moving up the Dires and Lords. Snipers fire away and I believe kill a few of my Plasmagun unit – two, I think?
Turn 1 for me sees my Plasmagun unit and one Missile unit (closest to objective) moving forward; Prince also moving forward. Firing is ineffective – can’t even remember what I shot at, but all I shot was the missile launcher because that is all that could reach anything (or at least DO anything – bolters vs. Wriathlords being as effective as spit wads vs. adamantium).
Colin’s Turn 2 sees one Dire unit enter the objective (with Farseer) and the other one hugging the “far side” of said objective as it moves forward. Sniper Fire takes out a few of my Plasmagun Marines (damned AP 1 shots and Master Sniper combo) and PINS them. Seriously, re-rollable LD 9, and I fail TWICE. WTF, man?!? On a side note, my dice are ICE at this point. It started with the Seize Initiative roll and ended at the end of the game – in other words, I lost this game primarily because of dice (not to mention Colin’s excellent use of stratagems – fucking Pathfinders… heeheeehee). I’m pretty sure this is where my Prince dies to fire as well. At least I remember that my Prince cost me 130 points and netted me all of ZILCH, dying before seeing the sweetness of close combat!
My Turn 2 and the daemons arrive. I’d have preferred a later arrival, but since I *needed* them to arrive later, they sure made it a point to arrive NOW… At least I’m able to get them “forward” via the pinned icon bearer, and they’re now perched in front of the objective and Dire Avenger unit sheltering inside it. Of course, they deep struck into difficult terrain and I managed to loose 2 of the 10 to dangerous terrain. Grrr… The Meltagun Sewer squad also arrives, popping out of a hatch adjacent to the Pathfinders in the Ammo Dump. For “regular” movement, the two Missile squads move up, while the Plasmagun squad hugs cover for being pinned… Shooting is totally ineffective. 2+ cover saves on the Pathfinders in the Ammo Dump. Need I say more? Assaults… the rest of the daemons charge into the Dire Avengers in the objective building. Dires go first, I loose 2 daemons (now down to 6), Daemons then go and do next to nothing. Well, at least the Dires are tar-pitted.
Turn 3. Things are going crazy fast at this point and I’m sketchy on the details… (any help you can provide Colin and I’ll be happy to edit this for accuracy).
Colin moves the 2nd Dire avenger squad into position to charge the Meltagun unit. Lords move up and shoot, don’t recall it being terribly effective, but dual flamers did do at least some damage IIRC. Pathfinders take their toll on the Meltagun unit. At least they pass their LD test. For assaults, the Dires charge the meltagun unit and both Lords charge Marine Squads ("close" missile and Plasmagun units). Did I mention I didn’t take any champions? Did I mention I have no Power Fists in the list…
In the bottom of Turn 3, I think I loose one or two of my CSM squads; one getting Sweeping Advanced to death. I have next to nothing and time is running out.
Turn 4 sees Colin wrap up my last CSM squad with a Lord and the end of my Daemons. I have nothing in the building and my last two scoring units are stuck on Wraithlords. So I concede as the store prepares to close.
Colin got the Massacre – we surmised that the CSM wouldn’t survive another round w/ the Lords and had we played it out, I’d be completely wiped out.
20 BPs for Colin, Zilch for me.
Lets see… Analysis. I lost this game in List Construction. I compounded the fact with terrible dice. Colin compounded the fact with an excellent use of Stratagems (so why is it that MY pathfinders suck eggs and Colin’s rip Chaos Marines a new asshole…?). I never had a chance.
Small point games, and I tend to go “basic” and keep things cheap. Now I realize that’s not necessarily a good idea. Champions and Power Fists/ Swords would have helped. A LOT. Something “fast” like Bikes or Raptors would have probably neutralized one of the Pathfinder threats, maybe both if I could have gotten up on the first one early enough to then go over and whack the other unit. Maybe even a transport… But Colin was sporting 2 Brightlances, so given the luck I had in that game, I’m not sure a Transport would have actually netted me anything.
Stratagems also played a HUGE factor in this game. Mine were ineffective. Razorwire was crossed in the first turn, making it useless. Sewer rats is still my FAVORITE stratagem, but Ice Dice makes it have less *sizzle*. Colin re-rolling missed Hits on the Pathfinders (ammo dump), getting a mathematically unreal number of AP1 hits and some rends in there too (nothing like taking a couple of AP 1 wounds AND a rending wound or two…), and great use of Doom.
Excellent game, Colin. I think the funniest part was when we diced off for table quarter. Colin won. Yusif (sp?), Colin’s first opponent of the night, pointed out that “That” side was the lucky side of the table (the side Yusif used to Massacre Colin in game 1), and Colin chose it. Yusif was right… ;-) LOL.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
It Begins... Firesweep vs. Thousand Sons
Well, the Cities of Death league has started (last week). This week, I went into the action and caught up on both my Week 1 and 2 games. Without Further Adue...
Firesweep vs. Thousand Sons (Corey T)
At 1000 points, forces were small. The nutshell version is thus:
MJ Chaos Marines (Nurgle Theme).
Winged Prince (deployed) (why is everyone so surprised that all I do w/ this guy is put wings on him? No mark, No mojo spell action, just some wings to get him into CC fast. Yet somehow, it *SHOCKS* people that he has "nothing")
10 Plague Marines including 2 meltaguns and Champ with fist (sewer rats)
10 Plague Marines including 2 plasmaguns and Champ with Power Sword (deployed)
5 Lesser Summoned Daemons (reserves)
5 Lesser Summoned Daemons (reserves)
2 Obliterators (reserves)
Corey's Thousand Sons.
Winged Prince, MoT, spells (at least warp time, and wind of chaos I think)
Thousand Sons unit w/ Sorcerer (can't recall his spells)
Thousand Sons unit w/ Sorcerer (can't recall his spells either)
Dreadnought - Twin-lascannon, DCCW
Dreadnought - Plasmacannon, DCCW
We actually used the CoD deployment method (alternating deployments), then mid-way through the game, was told that we're supposed to use the v5 deployment method. OK. Will do so next time...
I deployed the Plasma Plague Marines in a structure near the mid-line of the table and the Prince behind a ruin in my deployment zone.
Thousand Sons deployed both 1kS units in cover/ruins, prince near a ruin (and near center of table), and the two dreads on either flank (Plasma one on Corey's right, Lascannon one on Corey's left).
Turn 1, I go first. *BLING*, I deposit one marker in the building my Plague Marines start the game in, and immediately start running towards the next one. Move and run gets one guy on the base of the building, but the "majority of the unit's models" have to be IN the ruin to claim it, so I end my turn with no shooting and one building in my possession. Also, the DP flies up to right behind a huge central building, out of sight of anything.
Bottom of 1: 1 unit of 1kS are in a ruin, so *BLING*, Corey controls a building. The other 1kS unit moves toward another ruin, but much like me, doesn't get the "majority" of the models into it (yet). Corey's Lascannon dread FIRE FRENZYs. SWEET! Two lascannon shots do nothing (fail to wound and/or saved w/ 4+ invuln.), but two heavy flamer shots KILL 3 Thousand Sons. Did I already say SWEET!?! The plasmacannon dread cooks off four of my plague marines. Aside from that, the 1kS Prince flies forward a bit.
Turn 1. Tied. 1 to 1.
From reserves, I get everything but one Daemon unit - Plague Marines, Daemons, and Obliterators. PM come out of a sewer on my right flank; daemons summon off 1st PM unit and run into another ruin; Obliterators land into the ruin the 1st PM unit started in. Movement for Turn 2 starts out with my Prince flying over the huge central building up close to the opposing Prince. Mwhaaahaaaa! The 1st PM unit completes their movement into a second ruin *BLING* and I also *BLING* the Daemon's ruin. The Sewer Marines almost get into another ruin, but just not quite. Shooting... 1st PM unit has nothing to shoot at, so continues to run. Sewer Marines line-up on rear armor of Lascannon dread and stun it and take out its Lascannon. Obliterators take aim on Plasma Dread and blow it up in spectacular fashion (ok, not so spectacular, but its dead). Assaults... Only one. My Prince on His Prince. Rather than return to this, let me just say that we exchange 0-1 wounds each for both halves of turn 2 and turn 3; my DP finally falls in Turn 4 (leaving his DP w/ 2 wounds).
Corey moves 1kS units up, the "back" one towards the large central building (still shy of it, though), the left flank one into another ruin near the Lascannon Dread *BLING*. Maybe a little bit of shooting on his part, takes out a PM or two from the Sewer unit.
Turn 2, I pull ahead: 3 ruins to 2
Turn 3, and the last daemon unit does not come in. 1st daemon pack takes off across the table, moving and running. 1st PM unit does the same and reaches its third ruin of the game *BLING*. Sewer Marines shuffle a bit and get into the ruin they were near *BLING*. The obliterators shuffle a bit in their ruin to line-up with the 1kS unit approaching the large central building. Shooting... Oblits put 2 plasmacannon shots on the 1kS unit, scattering one off and nailing the other (scatter of 4 inches minus BS of 4 = HIT). I think it killed 1 (Or maybe even none w/ that excellent 4+ invulnerable save they get). Sewer Marines lay into the dread again, hoping to pop it with meltaguns and shower the nearby 1kS unit. No dice. BOTH meltas miss, and the bolters vs. rear armor don't get the 6s they need to glance. Assaults - only the Prince on Prince action going on this turn.
The 1kS units continue to move up, as does the dread. The "back" unit is getting closer to the central building, but still not there yet. The flank unit comes out of their ruin towards the ruin my Sewer Marines are in, and the Lascannon-less Dread follows along, lining up with the Sewer Marines. Shooting... 1kS shooting is minimal, maybe a Sewer marine or two dies (maybe?). Assaults... Prince on Prince action is now becoming EPIC, tit for tat and drawn combats each assault phase. Dread charges the Sewer Marines. Krak grenades are great, kind of. Every PM gets at least one attack - the Krak "troopers" needing 6s to hit followed by 6s to glance (and they won't do the latter, but I think I "hit" that dread like 3 times in the first round of combat and several times more over the subsequent phases) and the Fist Champion needing 4s and 4s to glance. Glances and Penetrating hits come a couple per phase, but only ever stun/immobilize the Dread in the end.
Turn 3 - continuing to pull ahead, Me = 5 ruins, Corey = 2.
Turn 4, and still no daemons. But I'm OK with that. Movement sees the Obliterators lining up some more shots and the 1st daemon pack moving-running across the board; the 1st PM unit moves a bit and runs a little bit as well (accomplishing nothing, really). Shooting is limited, I have none. Assaults see the end of my Prince and the EPIC Prince on Prince action. :-( More activity on the Dread, but again, little progress is made on my part.
Corey finally gets his "back" 1kS unit into the central building *BLING* and also moves the flank 1kS unit towards the ruin my Sewer Marines were just in (until they had to counter charge the dread). A bit of a run, and he makes it into the ruin *BLING* (and a *Anti-BLING* on my part). The Prince moves towards the obliterators, wind of chaos's them, and kills one oblit (2 wounds from the WoC). Assaults sees the Prince rolling into the last Oblit and the Dread-Plague Marine combat still bogged down (a dead marine or two, a stunned dread). Prince kills the last Oblit.
Not that productive of a turn for me, Me = 4, Corey = 4.
Turn 5. 2nd Daemon Pack auto-arrives, summoned off the Dread-Sewer Plague Marine's icon into the bottom floor of the ruin the flank 1kS unit just took away from me. 1st daemon pack moves-runs into another ruin *BLING*, and 1st PM unit moves toward the central building. 1st PM unit shoots at 1kS unit in central building - they are up high and I'm not confident I can make it up in the assault phase (would need a 6 on the Diff. Terrain roll). Little to no effect of that shooting. Assaults see the Dread-Sewer unit continue to bog down, but the PMs are dwindling fast. The newly summoned daemon pack makes it upstairs and assaults the 1kS unit up there. 1 daemon dies and all the 1kS troopers die, leaving 4 daemons vs. the Aspiring Sorcerer.
Corey moves the Prince over to the ruin my 1st daemon pack is in and the 1kS unit in the central building shuffles around to Wind of Chaos my original PM unit. I feel bad here. I actually talked Corey into Wind of Chaos-ing me. His Asp. Sorcerer was on the 3rd floor and I was on the ground. I explained that if he moved down to the 2nd level, he could flamer the level below him - i.e., the ground where I was. Why do I feel bad for talking him into it? Cuz he rolled boxcars (Perils of the Warp) and lost his Sorcerer in the process. Sorry, dude. :-( Anyhoo... Shooting... Prince Wind of Chaos vs. 1st daemon pack, killing 2; and as mentioned, the 1kS Asp. Sorcerer attempted the same thing vs. 1st PM squad, but killed himself. Assaults... Prince assaults daemon pack, killing them all. Checking w/ the league organizer to clarify the scoring uint status and whatnot, it came that the daemons had done their job, claiming that ruin, and now that the Prince stood alone in it, he could not 'unclaim' it, so *BLING*. Meanwhile, over on the other side of the table, the 2nd daemon pack takes down the Asp. Sorcerer (last person) in that 1kS unit, so *BLING* for me (and *anti-BLING* for Corey).
Me =6, Corey = 3.
Game continues into Turn 6...
My turn 6 sees the 2nd daemon pack move-run over to another ruin that the 1kS unit had taken earlier - *BLING* for me (and *anti-BLING* for Corey). In Corey's 6th turn, he finishes off both Plage Marine squads. But alas, the game ends.
Final tally... (drum roll, please...)
Me = 7, Corey = 3. We determined that this did not count as a "Massacre" but was better than a "standard win" (forget the term) and counted as a "Major Victory" for me. Moral victory goes to Corey as he ended the game with part of a 1kS unit, a Prince, and a damaged Dread; all I ended the game w/ was 3 Lesser Daemons cowering in the 7th ruin...
17 BPs for me and, hmm, now I forget... 5 (?) for Corey (maybe 7?).
All in all, I was pleased. The Feel No Pain of the Plague Marines really took the wind out of those special bolter rounds the 1kS units have (the ones w/ AP 3 - no armor save, but FNP still applies). BUT, IMO, the MVPs of my force are the Lesser Daemon packs. Between two 5-strong units, they took a total of 4 of my 7 ruins, one of which was taken by Sewer PMs, lost to the 1kS, and regained by the Daemons.
Firesweep vs. Thousand Sons (Corey T)
At 1000 points, forces were small. The nutshell version is thus:
MJ Chaos Marines (Nurgle Theme).
Winged Prince (deployed) (why is everyone so surprised that all I do w/ this guy is put wings on him? No mark, No mojo spell action, just some wings to get him into CC fast. Yet somehow, it *SHOCKS* people that he has "nothing")
10 Plague Marines including 2 meltaguns and Champ with fist (sewer rats)
10 Plague Marines including 2 plasmaguns and Champ with Power Sword (deployed)
5 Lesser Summoned Daemons (reserves)
5 Lesser Summoned Daemons (reserves)
2 Obliterators (reserves)
Corey's Thousand Sons.
Winged Prince, MoT, spells (at least warp time, and wind of chaos I think)
Thousand Sons unit w/ Sorcerer (can't recall his spells)
Thousand Sons unit w/ Sorcerer (can't recall his spells either)
Dreadnought - Twin-lascannon, DCCW
Dreadnought - Plasmacannon, DCCW
We actually used the CoD deployment method (alternating deployments), then mid-way through the game, was told that we're supposed to use the v5 deployment method. OK. Will do so next time...
I deployed the Plasma Plague Marines in a structure near the mid-line of the table and the Prince behind a ruin in my deployment zone.
Thousand Sons deployed both 1kS units in cover/ruins, prince near a ruin (and near center of table), and the two dreads on either flank (Plasma one on Corey's right, Lascannon one on Corey's left).
Turn 1, I go first. *BLING*, I deposit one marker in the building my Plague Marines start the game in, and immediately start running towards the next one. Move and run gets one guy on the base of the building, but the "majority of the unit's models" have to be IN the ruin to claim it, so I end my turn with no shooting and one building in my possession. Also, the DP flies up to right behind a huge central building, out of sight of anything.
Bottom of 1: 1 unit of 1kS are in a ruin, so *BLING*, Corey controls a building. The other 1kS unit moves toward another ruin, but much like me, doesn't get the "majority" of the models into it (yet). Corey's Lascannon dread FIRE FRENZYs. SWEET! Two lascannon shots do nothing (fail to wound and/or saved w/ 4+ invuln.), but two heavy flamer shots KILL 3 Thousand Sons. Did I already say SWEET!?! The plasmacannon dread cooks off four of my plague marines. Aside from that, the 1kS Prince flies forward a bit.
Turn 1. Tied. 1 to 1.
From reserves, I get everything but one Daemon unit - Plague Marines, Daemons, and Obliterators. PM come out of a sewer on my right flank; daemons summon off 1st PM unit and run into another ruin; Obliterators land into the ruin the 1st PM unit started in. Movement for Turn 2 starts out with my Prince flying over the huge central building up close to the opposing Prince. Mwhaaahaaaa! The 1st PM unit completes their movement into a second ruin *BLING* and I also *BLING* the Daemon's ruin. The Sewer Marines almost get into another ruin, but just not quite. Shooting... 1st PM unit has nothing to shoot at, so continues to run. Sewer Marines line-up on rear armor of Lascannon dread and stun it and take out its Lascannon. Obliterators take aim on Plasma Dread and blow it up in spectacular fashion (ok, not so spectacular, but its dead). Assaults... Only one. My Prince on His Prince. Rather than return to this, let me just say that we exchange 0-1 wounds each for both halves of turn 2 and turn 3; my DP finally falls in Turn 4 (leaving his DP w/ 2 wounds).
Corey moves 1kS units up, the "back" one towards the large central building (still shy of it, though), the left flank one into another ruin near the Lascannon Dread *BLING*. Maybe a little bit of shooting on his part, takes out a PM or two from the Sewer unit.
Turn 2, I pull ahead: 3 ruins to 2
Turn 3, and the last daemon unit does not come in. 1st daemon pack takes off across the table, moving and running. 1st PM unit does the same and reaches its third ruin of the game *BLING*. Sewer Marines shuffle a bit and get into the ruin they were near *BLING*. The obliterators shuffle a bit in their ruin to line-up with the 1kS unit approaching the large central building. Shooting... Oblits put 2 plasmacannon shots on the 1kS unit, scattering one off and nailing the other (scatter of 4 inches minus BS of 4 = HIT). I think it killed 1 (Or maybe even none w/ that excellent 4+ invulnerable save they get). Sewer Marines lay into the dread again, hoping to pop it with meltaguns and shower the nearby 1kS unit. No dice. BOTH meltas miss, and the bolters vs. rear armor don't get the 6s they need to glance. Assaults - only the Prince on Prince action going on this turn.
The 1kS units continue to move up, as does the dread. The "back" unit is getting closer to the central building, but still not there yet. The flank unit comes out of their ruin towards the ruin my Sewer Marines are in, and the Lascannon-less Dread follows along, lining up with the Sewer Marines. Shooting... 1kS shooting is minimal, maybe a Sewer marine or two dies (maybe?). Assaults... Prince on Prince action is now becoming EPIC, tit for tat and drawn combats each assault phase. Dread charges the Sewer Marines. Krak grenades are great, kind of. Every PM gets at least one attack - the Krak "troopers" needing 6s to hit followed by 6s to glance (and they won't do the latter, but I think I "hit" that dread like 3 times in the first round of combat and several times more over the subsequent phases) and the Fist Champion needing 4s and 4s to glance. Glances and Penetrating hits come a couple per phase, but only ever stun/immobilize the Dread in the end.
Turn 3 - continuing to pull ahead, Me = 5 ruins, Corey = 2.
Turn 4, and still no daemons. But I'm OK with that. Movement sees the Obliterators lining up some more shots and the 1st daemon pack moving-running across the board; the 1st PM unit moves a bit and runs a little bit as well (accomplishing nothing, really). Shooting is limited, I have none. Assaults see the end of my Prince and the EPIC Prince on Prince action. :-( More activity on the Dread, but again, little progress is made on my part.
Corey finally gets his "back" 1kS unit into the central building *BLING* and also moves the flank 1kS unit towards the ruin my Sewer Marines were just in (until they had to counter charge the dread). A bit of a run, and he makes it into the ruin *BLING* (and a *Anti-BLING* on my part). The Prince moves towards the obliterators, wind of chaos's them, and kills one oblit (2 wounds from the WoC). Assaults sees the Prince rolling into the last Oblit and the Dread-Plague Marine combat still bogged down (a dead marine or two, a stunned dread). Prince kills the last Oblit.
Not that productive of a turn for me, Me = 4, Corey = 4.
Turn 5. 2nd Daemon Pack auto-arrives, summoned off the Dread-Sewer Plague Marine's icon into the bottom floor of the ruin the flank 1kS unit just took away from me. 1st daemon pack moves-runs into another ruin *BLING*, and 1st PM unit moves toward the central building. 1st PM unit shoots at 1kS unit in central building - they are up high and I'm not confident I can make it up in the assault phase (would need a 6 on the Diff. Terrain roll). Little to no effect of that shooting. Assaults see the Dread-Sewer unit continue to bog down, but the PMs are dwindling fast. The newly summoned daemon pack makes it upstairs and assaults the 1kS unit up there. 1 daemon dies and all the 1kS troopers die, leaving 4 daemons vs. the Aspiring Sorcerer.
Corey moves the Prince over to the ruin my 1st daemon pack is in and the 1kS unit in the central building shuffles around to Wind of Chaos my original PM unit. I feel bad here. I actually talked Corey into Wind of Chaos-ing me. His Asp. Sorcerer was on the 3rd floor and I was on the ground. I explained that if he moved down to the 2nd level, he could flamer the level below him - i.e., the ground where I was. Why do I feel bad for talking him into it? Cuz he rolled boxcars (Perils of the Warp) and lost his Sorcerer in the process. Sorry, dude. :-( Anyhoo... Shooting... Prince Wind of Chaos vs. 1st daemon pack, killing 2; and as mentioned, the 1kS Asp. Sorcerer attempted the same thing vs. 1st PM squad, but killed himself. Assaults... Prince assaults daemon pack, killing them all. Checking w/ the league organizer to clarify the scoring uint status and whatnot, it came that the daemons had done their job, claiming that ruin, and now that the Prince stood alone in it, he could not 'unclaim' it, so *BLING*. Meanwhile, over on the other side of the table, the 2nd daemon pack takes down the Asp. Sorcerer (last person) in that 1kS unit, so *BLING* for me (and *anti-BLING* for Corey).
Me =6, Corey = 3.
Game continues into Turn 6...
My turn 6 sees the 2nd daemon pack move-run over to another ruin that the 1kS unit had taken earlier - *BLING* for me (and *anti-BLING* for Corey). In Corey's 6th turn, he finishes off both Plage Marine squads. But alas, the game ends.
Final tally... (drum roll, please...)
Me = 7, Corey = 3. We determined that this did not count as a "Massacre" but was better than a "standard win" (forget the term) and counted as a "Major Victory" for me. Moral victory goes to Corey as he ended the game with part of a 1kS unit, a Prince, and a damaged Dread; all I ended the game w/ was 3 Lesser Daemons cowering in the 7th ruin...
17 BPs for me and, hmm, now I forget... 5 (?) for Corey (maybe 7?).
All in all, I was pleased. The Feel No Pain of the Plague Marines really took the wind out of those special bolter rounds the 1kS units have (the ones w/ AP 3 - no armor save, but FNP still applies). BUT, IMO, the MVPs of my force are the Lesser Daemon packs. Between two 5-strong units, they took a total of 4 of my 7 ruins, one of which was taken by Sewer PMs, lost to the 1kS, and regained by the Daemons.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Yet Another Cities of Death League
In mid-October, the local FLGS will be starting a short, 5-week 40k league featuring missions and stratagems (and ONLY those two items) from the Cities of Death rules. Its a 1,000 point league, which is kinda lower than I like, but guess mixing it up keeps it interesting.
Have not chosen an army to field, but may try to work out a heavy Chaos Marine list to run in most of the games. If not, there's always my Eldar ready to go.
Stay tuned, I hope to blog some of the league games; I also am embarking on a full army project (just awaiting the arrival of the last few tidbits to make it all complete and ready for building & painting...). Once all the pieces are in place, I'll announce the full scope of the project and track its progress here (I'm not a good enough painter and/or converter to warrant wasting the "pros" time over at the real forums). ;-)
Have not chosen an army to field, but may try to work out a heavy Chaos Marine list to run in most of the games. If not, there's always my Eldar ready to go.
Stay tuned, I hope to blog some of the league games; I also am embarking on a full army project (just awaiting the arrival of the last few tidbits to make it all complete and ready for building & painting...). Once all the pieces are in place, I'll announce the full scope of the project and track its progress here (I'm not a good enough painter and/or converter to warrant wasting the "pros" time over at the real forums). ;-)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
2008, Take 2.
........transmitting RSS signal galaxy-wide....
Happy New Year. As you can see from the distinct lack of blogging, I have been out of the loop of late. I failed miserably at the league I was documenting in earlier blogs. Hell, I've failed miserably at a complete other league season since then.
So I got a WarStore gift certificate for my birthday (woot!). After much hand wringing and rubbing, I decided to bulk up my Chaos Space Marine force by getting the last few HQ choices I wanted (I also picked up an Yriel model for my Eldar force). I purchased one (1) Abbadon the Despoiler and one (1) box set of Possessed Chaos Space Marines (plus the Yriel). For now, I just wanted the winged backpacks from the possessed box. Eventually, my intent is to build a nice Independent Character type out of the Possessed box, but magnetize it to depict various weapon combinations and psychic powers. For now, though, the wings were destined for a Daemon Prince and a Sorcerer for my Chaos SM force. The Daemon Prince is the Sauron model from the Lord of the Rings range. I like the height of the model to depict his stature, but he is also not SO big, that the possessed wing-pack looked too tiny. Here's a pic of the Sauron model with the wings attached. I've added a horizontal line to show his height difference compared to the top of Abbadon's head.
I'm very pleased with how the wings' size look in comparison to the rest of the model. ;-)
The second set of wings went to my Sorcerer. The base model is that of the Dark Angels' Grand Master of Librarians Azrael (?), with the simple addition of the winged backpack. His tome (spellbook) will "counts as" his Mark of Tzeentch to grant him a 2nd psychic power.
To these two, I've added stock-standard Abbadon and Yriel, although I did mount Yriel on a larger base built up with green-stuff.
In future blogs, I hope to document the painting of these four Characters. I'll focus on Abbadon and Yriel since they were part of my WarStore purchase. First order of business - a good weather day so I can spray-prime the models. Until then...
Happy New Year. As you can see from the distinct lack of blogging, I have been out of the loop of late. I failed miserably at the league I was documenting in earlier blogs. Hell, I've failed miserably at a complete other league season since then.
So I got a WarStore gift certificate for my birthday (woot!). After much hand wringing and rubbing, I decided to bulk up my Chaos Space Marine force by getting the last few HQ choices I wanted (I also picked up an Yriel model for my Eldar force). I purchased one (1) Abbadon the Despoiler and one (1) box set of Possessed Chaos Space Marines (plus the Yriel). For now, I just wanted the winged backpacks from the possessed box. Eventually, my intent is to build a nice Independent Character type out of the Possessed box, but magnetize it to depict various weapon combinations and psychic powers. For now, though, the wings were destined for a Daemon Prince and a Sorcerer for my Chaos SM force. The Daemon Prince is the Sauron model from the Lord of the Rings range. I like the height of the model to depict his stature, but he is also not SO big, that the possessed wing-pack looked too tiny. Here's a pic of the Sauron model with the wings attached. I've added a horizontal line to show his height difference compared to the top of Abbadon's head.
I'm very pleased with how the wings' size look in comparison to the rest of the model. ;-)
The second set of wings went to my Sorcerer. The base model is that of the Dark Angels' Grand Master of Librarians Azrael (?), with the simple addition of the winged backpack. His tome (spellbook) will "counts as" his Mark of Tzeentch to grant him a 2nd psychic power.
To these two, I've added stock-standard Abbadon and Yriel, although I did mount Yriel on a larger base built up with green-stuff.
In future blogs, I hope to document the painting of these four Characters. I'll focus on Abbadon and Yriel since they were part of my WarStore purchase. First order of business - a good weather day so I can spray-prime the models. Until then...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
We Interupt Your Regularly Scheduled Program...
Although this is my Cities of Death League Blog, I'm going to momentarily pause to tell about this weekend's event I'll be attending. After the witer holidays and some fieldwork caused me to get little-to-no gaming in, I decided it was time to get in a day's worth of 40k gaming. No good events were presenting themselves, though, so I decided to contact some friends and set-up a round-robin type of event. The original idea was for 4 of us to play a true Round Robin type event (i.e., where each player playes each other player once). Unfortunately, one of the 4 couldn't make it, so the three of us decided to open the event a little and make it a 6-person invitational event. As the three of us discussed what we wanted to do, it became apparent that we wanted what essentially would be an "anti-tournament" (thanks for coining the term, Mike). "What's an 'Anti-Tournament'?" you ask? Basically, it means every element of the event is geared towards being the opposite of what your standard 3-round RTT is.
- Custom Missions, with 2 assigned to each table (players dice to determine which one is played)
- 3 unique tables, one of which is Cities of Death
- 2500 points
- "anyting goes" (except no flyers, super heavies, or monstrosities) including variant army lists, Chapter Approved units, VDR, etc.
- 2 'longer' rounds (to accomodate the inflated points values)
- more relaxed lunch around the barbeque (burgers and brats) rather than the informal huddle around the pizza boxes
- NO scoring - just playing for playing's sake
- Door prizes for EVERYBODY
I'll be fielding my Deathwing army. I figured for a one-off event during a league, I'd field one of my non-league armies to "get a break". And since the release of Codex:Dark Angels, I have not had a chance to play my Deathwing. So it was a no-brainer!
So wish me luck. I'm REALLY looking forward to this event! While I sort-of came up with the original idea, I could NOT have done this without the help of Matt and Mike. So thanks guys - I'll try not to beat you up too badly w/ my 32 Terminators, 2 Land Raiders, and Dreadnought... ;-)
Game 3, Domination vs. SM (Dave)
Ok. So a second wind got this posted tonight. I figured if I didn't, it'd be next week before I got to it.
The third game of the league was the “Domination” CoD mission. This one is similar to the first week, but units must remain in the ruin to control it (rather than just drop a flag and move on). I played the sewer rats and medicae facility stratagems (although I totally forgot to use the medicae the one time a dire avenger died in that building). Dave chose the siege shells stratagem and the power generator (I think – the one that re-rolls missed to-hit rolls).
I won the roll for quarter and the roll to go first. The game started w/ Night Fight rules due to the Dusk and Dawn roll.
Turn 1 – both players
I went first and moved up some, behind some terrain (as much as possible). Dave also repositioned and moved up some w/ his assault squad/chaplain and tac squads. Neither of us could see, so little-to-nothing actually happened.
Turn 2 – Eldar
The Fire Dragons popped out of the sewers and wasted the Predator Destructor. Whew! I did NOT need that many autocannon and heavy bolter shots coming my way. The Farseer destroyed one of the Vindcators in an assault move. Whew! I did NOT need that pie-plate-of-death heading my way. The Harlequins (freshly primed, I might add) assaulted a Tactical squad and killed a few (there was a bottleneck and I barely got in base-to-base, so the Harlies didn’t get to attack a whole lot).
Turn 2 – SM
Combined fire from several tactical and devastator squads killed all 10 Fire Dragons. The assault squad and chaplain assaulted the Harlequins and killed a few; the Harlies split their attacks and whittled down both SM squads a bit.
Turn 3 – Eldar
My other sewer rat squad, a squad of Dire Avengers, came out of the same sewer opening the Fire Dragons did, entering a building, and bladestorming a Tactical squad, killing only 3. My shining spears assaulted the 2nd Vindicator and destroyed it w/ the Exarch’s Starlance. The Harlequins concentrate on the Chaplain and assault marines and in the process, wound the chaplain, but get cut down to only the Shadow Seer.
(interjection – with the Harlequins finally primed, I was looking for them to do some good for once. I’d say their performance wasn’t “great” per se, but it sure was heads-and-shoulders better than the first two games)
Turn 3 – SM
Much like the Fire Dragons last turn, concentrated fire from several SM units cut down the newly arrived Dire Avenger squad. A devastator squad shot at the Shining Spears, killing one. The Captain shot his storm bolter at the deployed Dire Avenger squad and killed one (this is where I forgot about my medicae facility). Finally, the Shadow Seer Harlequin misses the chaplain and gets waxed by a powerfist.
Turn 4 – Eldar
Things are really getting thick at this point and both Eldar and SM are dropping like flies… The deployed Dire Avenger squad bladestorms a tactical squad, killing 3 of the 5 there. Autarch jumps close to the Captain and instant killed him w/ a fusion gun shot. The Warp Spiders kill the remnants of the assault squad and chaplain with shooting. The Farseer assaulted a devastator squad to the tune of a 0/0 tie. The Shining Spears assaulted a tactical squad remnant and killed one.
Turn 4 – SM
One of Dave’s Devastator squads shot at the Warp Spiders and killed 4 of them, with the remainder of the unit failing their LD test and falling back. In my turn 5, the Spiders were too close to an enemy squad, so had to continue falling back; in turn 6 they finally regrouped, but too little, too late. Continuing w/ turn 4… The Eldar Farseer killed on devastator in close combat.
Turn 5 – Eldar
The Eldar forego shooting this turn. The Autarch assaults a Devastator squad, killing 2. The Farseer and other Devastator squad end in another 0/0 tie. The Shining Spears kill off the remainder of a tactical squad in the central building (thus claiming it).
Turn 5 – SM
A tactical squad repositions in a ruin and shoots at the two remaining Shining Spears, wounding twice, but both were saved (another “Whew!” moment, the Spears are still a scoring unit). A last man standing from a tactical squad moves up and flamers the shining spears, who saved against one wound. In the assault phase, the Farseer kills one more Devastator, but the rest pass their LD test to stay locked in combat. The Autarch kills one of the other Devastators, who also pass their LD test to stay locked in combat.
Turn 6 – Eldar
Its down to the wire folks. Most of the Eldar and SM are dead, and the 11th hour scramble for claiming objectives is in full tilt swing… The deployed Dire Avenger squad bladestorm a tactical squad, reducing it to 2 models. In the assault phase, the Autarch finishes off his Devastator opponents; the Farseer on the other hand, manages yet another 0/0 tie.
Turn 6 – SM
Somehow, the Shining Spears manage to stave off another flamer attack that was followed up by an assault.
In the end, the 2 shining spears captured the central building for me, and the Dire Avenger squad deployed into the medicae facility claimed that objective. Dave was also able to claim 2 objectives – the building the Fire Dragons and Sewer Dire Avengers couldn’t hold for an entire turn, and the building featuring the Farseer-Devastator squad combat (the Farseer as an independent character could not claim the objective, so his opponents did). In the end, this was just an excellent game. I had a ton of fun, and have to give Dave more Kudos! on his excellent Space Marine army!
So until next time, always keep in mind that the Turbo Boost button on your jetbike makes it harder for your enemies to hit you.
The third game of the league was the “Domination” CoD mission. This one is similar to the first week, but units must remain in the ruin to control it (rather than just drop a flag and move on). I played the sewer rats and medicae facility stratagems (although I totally forgot to use the medicae the one time a dire avenger died in that building). Dave chose the siege shells stratagem and the power generator (I think – the one that re-rolls missed to-hit rolls).
I won the roll for quarter and the roll to go first. The game started w/ Night Fight rules due to the Dusk and Dawn roll.
Turn 1 – both players
I went first and moved up some, behind some terrain (as much as possible). Dave also repositioned and moved up some w/ his assault squad/chaplain and tac squads. Neither of us could see, so little-to-nothing actually happened.
Turn 2 – Eldar
The Fire Dragons popped out of the sewers and wasted the Predator Destructor. Whew! I did NOT need that many autocannon and heavy bolter shots coming my way. The Farseer destroyed one of the Vindcators in an assault move. Whew! I did NOT need that pie-plate-of-death heading my way. The Harlequins (freshly primed, I might add) assaulted a Tactical squad and killed a few (there was a bottleneck and I barely got in base-to-base, so the Harlies didn’t get to attack a whole lot).
Turn 2 – SM
Combined fire from several tactical and devastator squads killed all 10 Fire Dragons. The assault squad and chaplain assaulted the Harlequins and killed a few; the Harlies split their attacks and whittled down both SM squads a bit.
Turn 3 – Eldar
My other sewer rat squad, a squad of Dire Avengers, came out of the same sewer opening the Fire Dragons did, entering a building, and bladestorming a Tactical squad, killing only 3. My shining spears assaulted the 2nd Vindicator and destroyed it w/ the Exarch’s Starlance. The Harlequins concentrate on the Chaplain and assault marines and in the process, wound the chaplain, but get cut down to only the Shadow Seer.
(interjection – with the Harlequins finally primed, I was looking for them to do some good for once. I’d say their performance wasn’t “great” per se, but it sure was heads-and-shoulders better than the first two games)
Turn 3 – SM
Much like the Fire Dragons last turn, concentrated fire from several SM units cut down the newly arrived Dire Avenger squad. A devastator squad shot at the Shining Spears, killing one. The Captain shot his storm bolter at the deployed Dire Avenger squad and killed one (this is where I forgot about my medicae facility). Finally, the Shadow Seer Harlequin misses the chaplain and gets waxed by a powerfist.
Turn 4 – Eldar
Things are really getting thick at this point and both Eldar and SM are dropping like flies… The deployed Dire Avenger squad bladestorms a tactical squad, killing 3 of the 5 there. Autarch jumps close to the Captain and instant killed him w/ a fusion gun shot. The Warp Spiders kill the remnants of the assault squad and chaplain with shooting. The Farseer assaulted a devastator squad to the tune of a 0/0 tie. The Shining Spears assaulted a tactical squad remnant and killed one.
Turn 4 – SM
One of Dave’s Devastator squads shot at the Warp Spiders and killed 4 of them, with the remainder of the unit failing their LD test and falling back. In my turn 5, the Spiders were too close to an enemy squad, so had to continue falling back; in turn 6 they finally regrouped, but too little, too late. Continuing w/ turn 4… The Eldar Farseer killed on devastator in close combat.
Turn 5 – Eldar
The Eldar forego shooting this turn. The Autarch assaults a Devastator squad, killing 2. The Farseer and other Devastator squad end in another 0/0 tie. The Shining Spears kill off the remainder of a tactical squad in the central building (thus claiming it).
Turn 5 – SM
A tactical squad repositions in a ruin and shoots at the two remaining Shining Spears, wounding twice, but both were saved (another “Whew!” moment, the Spears are still a scoring unit). A last man standing from a tactical squad moves up and flamers the shining spears, who saved against one wound. In the assault phase, the Farseer kills one more Devastator, but the rest pass their LD test to stay locked in combat. The Autarch kills one of the other Devastators, who also pass their LD test to stay locked in combat.
Turn 6 – Eldar
Its down to the wire folks. Most of the Eldar and SM are dead, and the 11th hour scramble for claiming objectives is in full tilt swing… The deployed Dire Avenger squad bladestorm a tactical squad, reducing it to 2 models. In the assault phase, the Autarch finishes off his Devastator opponents; the Farseer on the other hand, manages yet another 0/0 tie.
Turn 6 – SM
Somehow, the Shining Spears manage to stave off another flamer attack that was followed up by an assault.
In the end, the 2 shining spears captured the central building for me, and the Dire Avenger squad deployed into the medicae facility claimed that objective. Dave was also able to claim 2 objectives – the building the Fire Dragons and Sewer Dire Avengers couldn’t hold for an entire turn, and the building featuring the Farseer-Devastator squad combat (the Farseer as an independent character could not claim the objective, so his opponents did). In the end, this was just an excellent game. I had a ton of fun, and have to give Dave more Kudos! on his excellent Space Marine army!
So until next time, always keep in mind that the Turbo Boost button on your jetbike makes it harder for your enemies to hit you.
Week 3 Army Lists
Wow. This blog is late in coming. My game vs. Dave was like over 2 weeks ago. Better late than never…
This game, I decided to go with a much faster force and I also wanted to break out my Autarch since I had just finished a conversion of one. So here’s my list.
Autarch w/ Jump Generator, Fusion Gun, Power Weapon, Mandiblasters
Farseer w/ Jetbike, Fortune, Doom, Spirit Stones
8 Harlequins incl. Shadowseer (w/ H-kiss), 4x H-kiss, 2x Fusion Pistols, 1x Shu-Pistol/CCW
10 Fire Dragons incl. Exarch w/ Firepike
2 squads of 10 Dire Avengers incl. Exarch w/ Shu-Pistol and Diresword and Bladestorm
10 Warp Spiders incl. Exarch w/ Powerblades, 2x Death Spinners, and Withdraw
5 Shining Spears incl. Exarch w/ Starlance, Skilled Rider, and Withdraw
I did not get a chance to write-down Dave’s SM list, so have to go by a bit of memory and a few notes. Before I get to the list, I have to say, Dave’s SM army is incredible. It LOOKS awesome. It is well painted, features several nice conversions, and many older minis – combined these elements made for an excellent army. But wait, there’s more. Dave told me the backstory about the Chapter (I won’t go into it, I would not do the story justice) and how that guided the Traits he chose. Also, to fit with his fluff, Dave chooses to field ONLY low-level HQs. In essence, his Chapter is a Siege chapter. So he uses the “Devastators can = Elites” trait and the “heavy weapons can be exchanged for assault weapons” trait. The drawbacks were no scouts and no infiltrators (I think). Anyway, Kudos to Dave for his excellent army. Onto the vague list…
Low level Commander
Low level Chaplain
6 (or so) Assault Marines without the jetpacks
2 or 3 Tactical squads w/ 8 (or so) marines, melta and flamer
2 or 3 Devestator squads (6-man, I think) w/ Missiles and Heavy Bolters
Predator Destructor
2 (Yes, TWO) Vindicators
I’ll *TRY* to get a bat-rep up tomorrow night, but I’m striving to have a Deathwing “Belial” and Deathwing Terminator Interrogator-Chaplain painted for an event this weekend (Belial is half done, I-C is about 1/3 done). Until then, keep the mandiblasters charged-up and the teeth of your scorpion chainsword razor sharp!
This game, I decided to go with a much faster force and I also wanted to break out my Autarch since I had just finished a conversion of one. So here’s my list.
Autarch w/ Jump Generator, Fusion Gun, Power Weapon, Mandiblasters
Farseer w/ Jetbike, Fortune, Doom, Spirit Stones
8 Harlequins incl. Shadowseer (w/ H-kiss), 4x H-kiss, 2x Fusion Pistols, 1x Shu-Pistol/CCW
10 Fire Dragons incl. Exarch w/ Firepike
2 squads of 10 Dire Avengers incl. Exarch w/ Shu-Pistol and Diresword and Bladestorm
10 Warp Spiders incl. Exarch w/ Powerblades, 2x Death Spinners, and Withdraw
5 Shining Spears incl. Exarch w/ Starlance, Skilled Rider, and Withdraw
I did not get a chance to write-down Dave’s SM list, so have to go by a bit of memory and a few notes. Before I get to the list, I have to say, Dave’s SM army is incredible. It LOOKS awesome. It is well painted, features several nice conversions, and many older minis – combined these elements made for an excellent army. But wait, there’s more. Dave told me the backstory about the Chapter (I won’t go into it, I would not do the story justice) and how that guided the Traits he chose. Also, to fit with his fluff, Dave chooses to field ONLY low-level HQs. In essence, his Chapter is a Siege chapter. So he uses the “Devastators can = Elites” trait and the “heavy weapons can be exchanged for assault weapons” trait. The drawbacks were no scouts and no infiltrators (I think). Anyway, Kudos to Dave for his excellent army. Onto the vague list…
Low level Commander
Low level Chaplain
6 (or so) Assault Marines without the jetpacks
2 or 3 Tactical squads w/ 8 (or so) marines, melta and flamer
2 or 3 Devestator squads (6-man, I think) w/ Missiles and Heavy Bolters
Predator Destructor
2 (Yes, TWO) Vindicators
I’ll *TRY* to get a bat-rep up tomorrow night, but I’m striving to have a Deathwing “Belial” and Deathwing Terminator Interrogator-Chaplain painted for an event this weekend (Belial is half done, I-C is about 1/3 done). Until then, keep the mandiblasters charged-up and the teeth of your scorpion chainsword razor sharp!
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