Crusade Battles catchup

 It's been a few weeks since I last updated and in that time I have played a further three Crusade games. I am really enjoying playing Crusade but it's proving an up hill struggle to both expand my roster and get people to play it. Too many local players just see it in a negative light because in theory it could end up quite broken and unbalanced. But if you are playing it for fun and taking it that way, there shouldn't be any issues.

Anyway...

Game #2 was against young Chris and his Ultramarines. If you have read my previous posts, you'll probably remember that he's a new player and in six months since he started playing 40K has yet to win a game. With that in mind, I suggested that we play a small game to have more of an even chance plus he was still working his way around the Crusade rules and I didn't want to swamp him. We went with 25 power level and rolled the Assassination mission. I was the defender so he was out to kill my captain.

We both brought basically the same list. A captain with relic shield (although mine has the Burning Blade relic), a ten man Intercessor squad and a Redemptor Dreadnought (I have the heavy flamer and grenade launchers and Chris has the small onslaught canon and storm bolters). Quite a mirror match really. This ended up being a very short game with much bloodshed on both sides.

Our armies basically went at one another and left our captains to duel it out. We weren't worried about what the rest of our models were doing given the nature of the mission. Finally the two captains crossed blades. We spend three rounds battering each other but with 2+ armour and 4+ invulnerable saves we weren't doing much. Chris kept passing every save that I forced on him. His dice were on fire. Mine sadly were not, and he felled my captain on the fifth round.

Partly I was disappointed because my dice failed me a lot in that match but on the flip side I was really pleased that Chris finally got his win! The look on his face was great. After six months he finally got a win and the friendly satisfaction was obvious. Really pleased for him.

At the end of this match I think my Intercessors suffered a negative battle scar (although I forget what it was) and I felt that it was necessary to remove it with RP.

Game #3 was against my friend Dan's Harlequins. Dan has three Crusade armies on the go and presently was focussing on these. Having not faced Harlequins since the first couple weeks of 8th edition I was stoked to play against one of those rarer armies. Dan almost changed his mind to play Custodes but his cousin knowing I wanted to face the dancing Aeldari convinced him to stick to these. We went for 60 power level and rolled Raze and Ruin as the mission.

Bear in mind that this was before the recent balance update and I finally saw what everyone was talking about with these guys. Wow. I was tabled in three rounds (I didn't get my round 3) and all I killed of his were three troupe models and two jetbikes. I was absolutely massacred. I was decimated before I even really got the chance to move up the table and in close combat they ripped through me. Victory easily went to the painted Aeldari.

Thankfully in this game I didn't suffer any battle scars. The Redemptor did level up due to being the unit chose to be marked for greatness. I decided to give the plasma incinerator the auto-loader ability so it now has exploding 6's just like bolt weapons. I'm hoping that will be nasty in future games. I also used all my remaining RP to add two units of Outriders to my roster since some fast moving options were lacking from my list.

A fun game and I did want to face Harlequins but I was not expecting it to be such a total whitewash. 

Game #3 was played last night. I had posted up to our local shop Discord about a Crusade game and the only person to reply was young mister Chris again. I was hoping to play against someone new but I'm not going to turn down a game. This time we went for 60 power level which is what Chris had at the time. We rolled The Relic which seemed like a nice mission to test our skills on and I was confident that this time I would seize victory.

I chose to combat squad my two Intercessor squads even though I usually dislike doing so. My idea being it would give me more options to snatch the Relic since Chris has decided to go full ten man squads. I hoped it would give me the edge. Chris brought two things though which gave me pause. The first was a Gladiator. He's very fixated on his tanks for some reason even in small point games. Crusade is a bit different than regular matched play but probably not something I would have taken at this stage. The other was a full six man squad of Bladeguard. That was going to be a tough cookie to crack if I had to tangle with it.

I really wanted the first turn and my usual run of bad luck played out. Chris went first. He focused all his fire into my Assault Intercessors which was sort of my plan. Sacrifice them so that the Intercessors could get up there and grab the Relic. With the new Armour of Contempt rule he succeeded in killing just two marines out of everything he fired into them. Didn't stop him just focusing on that unit for a couple rounds. Chris made some obvious mistakes early on and for my money that was one of them. He should have been focussing on the easier combat squads but he didn't realise that until much later in the game.

My first turn and that auto-loader upgrade to the Dreadnought paid out in spades. I dropped his Redemptor in one round of shooting. Maximum damage. Unfortunately it did not explode which would have been nice as his captain, lieutenant and Gladiator were right behind it. I don't think Chris was impressed but I was happy. My plan here was to sacrifice whatever in my army to achieve victory. Everything got up into the faces of the Ultramarines while the Intercessors snatched the relic. 

Close combat was very much on his side however, especially with those damn Bladeguard. However, as the game trundled along Chris was not paying all that much attention to the Relic. He would gun down the unit holding it and the Relic got dropped slightly closer to my board edge each time. The point did come where I felt that as I lost models and units, that my sacrifice play was not working. I feared that once again Chris was going to snatch victory from me. 

The Gladiator continued to do nothing thanks to Armour of Contempt and my Dreadnought basically tore it apart. Chris charged his captain and lieutenant into it and they promptly died despite the relic shields. It was at this point that I saw my path to victory. I had gone second so I had the last turn of the game and the Relic was sat six inches away from one Intercessor squad. They walked up it and did the action. The game ended with the Rift Wardens in control of the prize.

Now that game was good. It swung back and forth nicely and it was obviously not until the end that a clear winner was decided. Edge of the seat style stuff. I think Chris was a little disappointed but he could see that he made mistakes. From my side of the table, he didn't focus enough on the primary objective of the mission. A small flaw that I've noticed in Chris' playstyle is that he likes to go for the kill and doesn't always think about how that will win him the game.

At the end of that game things turned around and securing victory has really helped my Crusade list. Following these games, this is where my roster currently stands.

+ HQ +

Primaris Captain Arthurus [5 PL] The Burning Blade, Warlord

Rank: Bloodied.

Heavy bolt pistol, Master-crafted power sword and Relic shield: Master-crafted power sword, Relic Shield.

Devastating Charge and Artisan Bionics.

Primaris Lieutenant Agrippa [4 PL] Bolt pistol, Master-crafted auto bolt rifle

Lost Leg.

+ Troops +

Assault Intercessor Squad #1 [10 PL]

9x Assault Intercessor: 9x Astartes Chainsword, 9x Frag & Krak grenades, 9x Heavy Bolt Pistol

Assault Intercessor Sgt: Astartes Chainsword, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad #1 [10 PL] Bolt rifle

9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

Intercessor Sergeant: Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad #2 [10 PL] Bolt rifle

Rank: Bloodied.

9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

Intercessor Sergeant: Plasma pistol

Grizzled.

+ Elites +

Bladeguard Veteran Squad [5 PL]

Rank

2x Bladeguard Veteran: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield

Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant: Heavy Bolt Pistol

Indomitus Crusade Veterans (Centurius Service Studs).

Redemptor Dreadnought #1 [10 PL] 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, Heavy flamer, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator

Rank: Battle-Hardened.

Auto-Loader on Plasma Incinerator and Repair Systems.

+ Fast Attack +

Invader ATV Squad [4 PL]

Invader ATV: Multi-melta

Outrider Squad #1 [6 PL]: Outrider Sgt

. 2x Outrider: 2x Astartes Chainsword, 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Twin Bolt rifle

Outrider Squad #2 [6 PL, 150pts]: Outrider Sgt

. 2x Outrider: 2x Astartes Chainsword, 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Twin Bolt rifle

++ Total: [70 PL] ++

Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)

Crusade battle 1 - Ambush

 

At GamesHub we have started our own small Crusade group as a change of pace from regular matched play and the ongoing league. I played some Crusade games against my friend Gary last year to get the basic hang of things although I felt that I made some mistakes so I have reset my list for this. 

I built my new list around the basic Patrol detachment and made sure to include at least option per basic battlefield role. So no flyers or super heavies. The Redemptor Dreadnought basically replaced the heavy support. One thing that irked me a little from a fluff perspective is that I cannot start with a chapter master so I have to have chapter master, Arthurus, as a "captain" and work up. He'll always be my chapter master regardless though. Not sure why that was needed but hey ho.

From my starting Requisition Points (RP) I bought another 10 supply so that I could add a Redemptor Dreadnought, my chosen relic (always the Burning Blade) and made my Bladeguard Veterans into veterans of the indomitus crusade. This left me with 1 RP which I decided to keep for now.

My crusade force is thus the following:

+ HQ +

Primaris Captain Arthurus [5 PL] The Burning Blade, Warlord

Heavy bolt pistol, Master-crafted power sword and Relic shield: Master-crafted power sword, Relic Shield

Primaris Lieutenant Agrippa [4 PL] Bolt pistol, Master-crafted auto bolt rifle

+ Troops +

Assault Intercessor Squad #1 [10 PL]

9x Assault Intercessor: 9x Astartes Chainsword, 9x Frag & Krak grenades, 9x Heavy Bolt Pistol

Assault Intercessor Sgt: Astartes Chainsword, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad #1 [10 PL] Bolt rifle

9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

Intercessor Sergeant: Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad #2 [10 PL] Bolt rifle

9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

Intercessor Sergeant: Plasma pistol

+ Elites +

Bladeguard Veteran Squad [5 PL]

2x Bladeguard Veteran: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield

Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant: Heavy Bolt Pistol

Indomitus Crusade Veterans (Centurius Service Studs).

Redemptor Dreadnought #1 [10 PL] 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, Heavy flamer, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator

+ Fast Attack +

Invader ATV Squad [4 PL]

Invader ATV: Multi-melta

++ Total: [58 PL] ++

Adam turned up with his Ork horde and quite frankly I was shocked. For the same Power Level he outnumbered me something silly. I really did not expect him to have so much when my force was rather limited. Without sounding defeatist, I could tell this was not going to be a good match for me. I had expected a warboss, weirdboy, three lots of boyz, and probably some lootas and a deff dread. Instead, he had a warboss, warboss on a giant squig, a huge block of boys, a unit of stormboyz, some snaggaboyz, some squig riders and three megaknobs. 

He got a lot more for his supply than I did. It got worse when we rolled for the mission and up came Ambush. I have played this mission before last year under match play against a friend's daemon army. In both instances I was the attacker and for a ambush style mission, it's really not in the favour of the attacking player. I did however become the attacker and I went for the option of splitting my force so that I got to go first. The plan was to try and do as much damage as I could before he could retaliate. It did not go well.

I had forgotten that Orks were now Toughness 5 and that made a big difference. It took one Intercessor squad with the Rapid Fire stratagem to bring down the stormboyz. I could have gone for the big blob of boyz but I didn't think I could drop enough of them where the stormboyz could be in my face straight away. Come Adam's first turn and he was in my face straight away. The boyz surged up and into my intercessors. They held out for three turns before they were dropped and Lieutenant Agrippa lasted an extra turn due to some good armour saves but he went down under those choppers. 

The ATV didn't last long and was crumped by the deff dread although I did knock a minimum number wounds off with the multimelta. Everything else spent the game in close combat. The assault intercessors did well but they were overwhelmed by sheer number of dice. My army was geared to a lot of shooting and I wasn't able to bring it to bear enough. Even when the second half of my army came in, they got a round of shooting in doing minimal damage before they were stomped by the meganobz and the snaggaboyz.

The hero of the game was the redemptor dreadnought. He came in, blasted the deff dread before tearing it apart in combat. Adam charged his warboss on squig into it, doing nothing and then being crushed just as easily. Unfortunately the dreadnought did go down afterwards but I felt he had done his job.

In the end I was tabled turn 5. I didn't even bother count the victory points as it was blatantly in the hands of my opponent. We shook hands, congrats in order and we discussed the game. It was fun if frustrating. I had really expected to do better than I did, although if the mission had been different, the outcome might have been more in my favour. With Ambush, the Orks started far too close to me and I really needed to gun them down and doing it with only half an army for three turns was tough. Good game though and hopefully in the future, I'll have better luck against Adam's greenskins.

I was lucky that only two units ended up with battle scars. Poor Lieutenant Agrippa lost a leg and the Bladeguard are suffering fatigue. I choose not to use any RP to heal those injuries as neither really impact them at this time. In the future I may change my mind. As for Marked For Greatness, that really had to go on the redemptor dreadnought. He did best of all in the game and deserved those extra XP. I am left with 2 RP and I decided to keep them. I won't add more supply and another unit or two just yet. I want to accumulate a couple more points before I do so, if I can. 

I'm hoping to get another Crusade game soon. At the time of writing this I was supposed to be playing against Adam's brother and either his Necrons or Chaos Knights Crusade list, but we've had to postpone. I have a free evening coming up and I'm going to try again then.

GamesHub League 2022 - Game 6

I played round 6 of the GamesHub league this past week against a Thousand Sons army. First time I have played against them since seventh edition. The problem was my opponent. I shall not name him here for fairness reasons. In the decade and a half that our local group has been playing, this person has developed quite the reputation as a Win At All Costs player and frequently a cheat. There are quite a few people who will not play him or at the very least require someone who knows his codex to be witness to the game. With that in mind I was not looking forward to this match but I'm a good sport and I was prepare to play if only to have a game and some fun. 

Rather than bring a typical list I decided to bring something a little different. I went for a Vanguard detachment. The idea being that I wasn't going to win so I would enjoy the game playing something different and some units I don't get to play very often. Some of the guys were trying to get me to play for the win and offered suggestions but I would not have enjoyed such a game against this opponent.

My opponent's list was not what I expected. He had played much more aggressive lists against other players so far in the league. His was basically a sorcerer, daemon prince, helbrute, two predator tanks and two basic size squads of rhubric marines. I expected more but I was also pleased that it wasn't too silly.

Together we set terrain up and then rolled for mission, which ended up being Crossfire. We rolled off and I got to pick my deployment zone although we both agreed that we would just keep to where we were standing for ease. I really wanted the first turn as I wanted to try and snipe out his warlord and sorcerers, but as always seems to happen, my opponent won that roll and went first. 

My opponent used this to great advantage. He gunned down one squad of aggressors, and killed two of my three eliminators. This prevented me from dealing with his sorcerers and grabbing a second objective. In response I kept the remaining aggressors out of sight on my own objective and moved everything else forward. Over two turns I did get his warlord by a mixture of bolter fire, one sniper rifle and the plasma incinerator on the dreadnought. After I got home that night I realised that I couldn't have done it as one of his units, a predator, was just slightly closer than his warlord. I messaged my opponent but we agreed that it didn't turn the tide of the game so were still happy with the outcome.

Over turn two and three, my opponent decimated my forces. What rhubrics I did kill, he was able to stand back up again with his Cult of Time special rules. Turn three I was able to bring down the daemon prince in combat with my dreadnought but not before I lost my captain to that foul daemon. I had given up at this point. The dreadnought blew up not long after.

Turn four and five went quickly. At this stage all I had left was one squad of aggressors sat on my objective who had done nothing all game. I simply went through the motions and said they are doing nothing. Game ended with a significant advantage in points to my opponent.

So... how did I feel the match went. Well, for one, my opponent didn't cheat. Not once. There were two things I had to ask him to show me. One was how the All Is Dust rule worked but that was on me as I thought it didn't something else. The other was his relic and again, he was correct on how that worked. I was never going to win but I did feel that the game was better than I had expected because he played it fair and square. For once. Now I can play other people and not him for a long time.

Did I go in with a bit of a defeatist attitude? Yes. I fully admit that but I had my reasons. Most games I can play for fun regardless but this one opponent is guy I don't want to. 

Round 7 I have the bye as we have an odd number of players in the league. That will give me time to get some friendly games in and even a little Crusade.

The scores on the doors. Please not that in my turn 4 I put the hold one objective scores in the wrong box.

My list:

++ Vanguard Detachment -3CP (Imperium - Adeptus Astartes - Imperial Fists) [46 PL, 3CP, 980pts] ++

+ HQ +

Primaris Captain [5 PL, 105pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Iron Resolve, The Burning Blade, Warlord

. Heavy bolt pistol, Master-crafted power sword and Relic shield: Heavy Bolt Pistol, Master-crafted power sword, Relic Shield

+ Elites +

Aggressor Squad [6 PL, 135pts]: 2x Aggressor, Aggressor Sergeant

. Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Grenade Launcher: 2x Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets, Fragstorm Grenade Launcher

Aggressor Squad [6 PL, 135pts]: 2x Aggressor, Aggressor Sergeant

. Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets/Fragstorm Grenade Launcher: 2x Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets, Fragstorm Grenade Launcher

Bladeguard Veteran Squad [5 PL, 105pts]

. 2x Bladeguard Veteran: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield

. Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant: Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy Bolt Pistol, Master-crafted power sword, Storm Shield

Redemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 190pts]: 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, Heavy flamer, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Redemptor Fist

+ Fast Attack +

Invader ATV Squad [4 PL, 85pts]

. Invader ATV: Bolt pistol, Multi-melta, Twin auto bolt rifle

Outrider Squad [6 PL, 150pts]

. 2x Outrider: 2x Astartes Chainsword, 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Twin Bolt rifle

. Outrider Sgt: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy Bolt Pistol, Twin Bolt rifle

+ Heavy Support +

Eliminator Squad [4 PL, 75pts]: Bolt sniper rifle

. Eliminator Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Bolt sniper rifle, Camo cloak, Frag & Krak grenades

. 2x Eliminators: 2x Bolt pistol, 2x Camo cloak, 2x Frag & Krak grenades

++ Total: [46 PL, 3CP, 980pts] ++

Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)

GamesHub League 2022 - Game 4/5

Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts, mainly work hours, my fourth round opponent and I were unable to meet up to play out league game. By the rules of the league if the players cannot meet up the game is recorded as a draw. My opponent and I have agreed to try and arrange a friendly game using the same list in the near future. That's why I haven't posted about round four.

Round five however... was played last week against an old club player Dan and his Adeptus Custodes. This was another round where I knew I was going to do badly. Custodes are such a tough army to deal with and I don't think regular marines are quite good enough. List building for this match was quite difficult. At 1000 points there isn't much I could take so I had to default to a basic list. I asked others about what I should take and the overwhelming response was to take something capable of taking down his jetbikes. With that in mind I dusted off an old dreadnought and the list was complete.

Dan and I alternated placing terrain on the table so that we had a nice fair distribution and then rolled up our mission, Forward Push. For ease we just picked the ends of the tables were were had already unpacked our models. I got the first turn and I was pleased because it meant I could get some shots from the dreadnought off onto the jetbikes. And this is where I made a silly stupid mistake. I got myself so focused on what I needed to do that after I moved the dreadnought I forgot to move everything else before I opened fire. To say I swore and kicked myself would be an understatement. To be fair, on his turn Dan forgot to activate something as well so I guess it balanced out.

I did managed to put some wounds on the jetbikes but not enough to bring one down. Dan had a unit of some sisters of silence all equipped with flamers and I did manage to gun the whole squad down much to my opponent's annoyance. They were a big part of Dan's plans so that helped me survive for an extra round maybe. On Dan's turn things did not go too well either. He couldn't make charge rolls for toffee even with a re-roll. Small mercies.

It was turn two that saw my downfall. I managed to drop a couple jetbikes and took some wounds from his commander on jetbike. But on Dan's turn he charged in and decimated by intercessors. The dreadnought did not survive long either. The Custodes combat abilities were top notch and nothing I could do was going to change that. Turn three and my remaining forces, captain and bladeguard were felled. Dan went on to sit on the objectives, gathering a huge score at the end of the match. 

After the end of the game Dan and I had a nice chat and a laugh about the game. It was heavily one side but we both had a nice game which is what really matters. At 1000 points it's much easier for Dan to built a good list to take down my marines than it was for me to find a way to deal with his forces. To further emphasise this, half of what Dan brought to the table never moved from where he placed it. Everything was his jetbikes and the two commanders, one on a jetbike and one on foot. I don't think I ever really had a chance.

My list:

+ HQ +

Primaris Captain [5 PL, 105pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Iron Resolve, The Burning Blade, Warlord

. Heavy bolt pistol, Master-crafted power sword and Relic shield: Heavy Bolt Pistol, Master-crafted power sword, Relic Shield

+ Troops +

Assault Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 195pts]

. 9x Assault Intercessor: 9x Astartes Chainsword, 9x Frag & Krak grenades, 9x Heavy Bolt Pistol

. Assault Intercessor Sgt: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 205pts]: Bolt rifle

. 9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 205pts]: Bolt rifle

. 9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

+ Elites +

Bladeguard Veteran Squad [5 PL, 105pts]

. 2x Bladeguard Veteran: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield

. Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant: Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy Bolt Pistol, Master-crafted power sword, Storm Shield

Dreadnought [7 PL, 140pts]: Missile launcher, Twin lascannon

++ Total: [47 PL, 3CP, 955pts] ++

GamesHub League 2022 - Game 3

 Round 3 of the GamesHub 40K league was against one of my co-workers, a young man named Chris and his Ultramarines. I need to preface this to say that Chris can be hard work. He tries too hard and doesn't really pay attention what's going on. I've played him a couple times and I've annihilated him every time and I'm not a good player. He gets fixated on things and this league was no different. He made poor choices in his list, his deployment and his tactics. Part of me felt bad because I knew this was a game I was going to win, one way or another.

List building was quite simple. Patrol detachment with the basics I needed to grab objectives. Knowing that Chris is focused on his gladiator tank I had to take something to handle it, so I kept points aside to take both a redemptor and a regular dreadnought. That way they could bring the tank down (if he took it) and handle his troop options. In the end he brought the gladiator and a redemptor himself. I made the right choice I think.

The table was set up by someone else ready but they placed three large ruins in a sort of V formation and little else in the way of terrain. I like terrain and this could have done with a little more. Even so, I got to pick deployment zone so I made a decision that I would take the side with two ruins and leave Chris to deploy in the open or funnel everything into that one piece of terrain. It left me deployed somewhat in the open, but as I combat squaded my troops I felt confident enough. But that's when fate interfered. Chris won the roll to go first which I really didn't want.

However, getting ahead of myself, it was during his deployment that Chris made his first mistake. For some reason which even he couldn't answer, he had taken a phobos librarian with temporal corridor (no actual phobos units to use it on) and deployed him forwards onto the middle of the table where he could do psychic ritual. Completely forgetting that he was beyond the range of his ability to prevent me shooting him. Part of me wanted to point this out but it was a league game so I kept quiet.

On his first turn, Chris poured fire into my dreadnoughts taking a good few wounds off of both. He barely did anything towards my intercessors which would prove his undoing. On my turn focused on the redemptor mainly and almost brought it down. My chapter master fired at the phobos libarian and for some reason Chris activated his relic armour which gave him a 3+ invulnerable save for the shooting phase. This time I did query if that was really what he wanted to do and he said yes. He failed the invulnerable save and then my chapter master charged him and killed him out right. Oh yes, and Chris forgot to do his physic ritual on his turn which was the point of having him there in the first place. 

Then things got awkward. Another player, whose game had been cancelled, started coaching Chris on what to do and how to do it. I did point out that this was a league game and maybe that's better kept for the end of the match but he kept going. I was getting a bit frustrated to be honest but I'd said my piece. Following the advice, Chris started winning points. He took down my dreadnoughts and a few of my marines. For a couple turns he was winning quite nicely.

At this point in the game I was focussing my firepower into his troop choices and basically removing his ability to hold the objectives while using obsec to take charge of the ones he was sitting on. Chris made another mistake in how he used his bladeguard veterans. Instead of being bodyguards for the warlord, he placed them on his right flank and used them to hold an objective. I basically let them alone for a good part of the game because they were being wasted. Towards the end I made a push to retake and claim the objectives and it worked. Mistakes in list and in tactics cost him the game. At one point it did look like he might win and he was getting a bit excited but I knew the game was mine. Last turn of the game and Chris has his three bladeguard and the gladiator left, while I still had most of my army intact.

It was a good game and we both enjoyed it. The other player did message later in the evening to apologise for directing him but I can understand the desire to help him out as he was doing so badly in the league so far. I said it was cool but next time wait until after the match before coaching. I won but not by a huge margin but where it counted. It was very much a game of the primaries but I'd say his mistakes gave me my secondaries to push the points up. I wish him luck in the rest of the league but I have a feeling he'll come last unless he starts to really learn his codex and army. Meanwhile I don't think I will achieve my goal of being top 50% by the end of the league. I'm just not having the luck that I need. But we shall see. 

This match was played slightly early due Chris and I not having good crossover with our shifts at work so it'll be a couple weeks until I find out who I have in round 4. Wish me luck.

My list:

+ HQ +

Primaris Chapter Master [7 PL, 145pts]: Chapter Command:  Chapter Master, Frag & Krak grenades, Master of the Codex, The Burning Blade, Warlord

. Heavy bolt pistol, Master-crafted power sword and Relic shield.

+ Troops +

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 205pts]: Bolt rifle

. 9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 205pts]: Bolt rifle

. 9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad [5 PL, 105pts]: Bolt rifle

. 4x Intercessor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

+ Elites +

Redemptor Dreadnought [9 PL, 180pts]: 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, Heavy flamer, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Redemptor Fist

Venerable Dreadnought [8 PL, 155pts]: Missile launcher, Twin lascannon

++ Total: [49 PL, 6CP, 995pts] ++

GamesHub League 2022 - Game 2

 Last night I played my second round of the GamesHub 40K league. I was wrong last time when I said that my opponent for this round was playing Drukhari. He was in fact playing Craftworld Aeldari (custom Craftworld), and the grey models confused me. Even so that made my predicament worse. I have absolutely no idea how to deal with either of those armies in 40K. They both outfight, outshoot and outmanoeuvre me as space marines. The only saving grace I guess is that at 1000 points on the smaller board, they can't fly around all that much.

List building was a nightmare. I just could not work out a list that I was happy with. I knew that I would have to go heavy on the troop choices and as much as I hate it, combat squad them in order to hold objectives and prevent my units from being overrun all at once. I opted for a small squad of hellblasters as I figured they might be good for anti-infantry and possibly an option for the jetbikes and skimmers that I would be facing. A friend talked me into a redemptor dreadnought even though I feared it would be a fire magnet for all those eldritch heavy weapons I knew my opponent must be taking.

Table set up hurt me a little bit as it hindered my avenues of fire but it balanced out as the Aeldari suffered just as much, or so I thought. We rolled our mission and ended up with Divide and Conqour, a mission that I had not played before which was nice. My opponent got the first turn and I knew I was in trouble. I needed that first turn but it was not to be.

While I remember, my secondary objectives were Domination, Lines of Demarcation and Oaths of Moment. I don't normally bother with the mission specific ones but this time and on a small table Lines of Demarcation seemed like a reasonable one to try.

Oh boy. First turn and I lost nearly half my army to the Aeldari shooting. So much for the terrain hindering him first turn. It really did feel like I was just picking models up off the table and that was my game for the night. On my turn I was forced to run like Hell to try and grab the objectives left and right of the table centre but bad rolls and a crater slowed my movement down and I failed to reach them. The Aeldari would subsequently get to them first and just gun me down under massed fire.

There wasn't much more to this game. He was much faster than me, and through good use of psychic powers, stripped my marines to the bone in three turns. I didn't even get a turn 3. That's how much of a stomping I took. My army was tabled and he lost two dire avengers and a war walker. If it wasn't for the fact that Rich is an awesome opponent, and our games are played with the right banter and fun approach, this could have been a bad bad evening. I went in knowing that this was not going to be my game and I was right.

Due to potential issues in arranging a match, I am playing my third round early - tonight in fact - and it may be my time to win a game if the dice are willing. Keep your fingers, toes and xenos appendages crossed for me.

My opponent was Rich from SprayBlack Studios over on Youtube. I recommend checking his channel out.

This is the list I went with. Wasn't happy with it really even before the game but it was worth trying out.

++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (Imperium - Adeptus Astartes - Imperial Fists) [55 PL, 12CP, 973pts] ++

+ HQ +

Primaris Chaplain [5 PL, 85pts]: 2. Catechism of Fire, Absolver Bolt pistol, Crozius arcanum, Frag & Krak grenades, Iron Resolve, Litany of Hate, Purgatorus, Warlord

+ Troops +

Assault Intercessor Squad [5 PL, 100pts]

. 4x Assault Intercessor: 4x Astartes Chainsword, 4x Frag & Krak grenades, 4x Heavy Bolt Pistol

. Assault Intercessor Sgt: Astartes Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 205pts]: Bolt rifle

. 9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 205pts]: Bolt rifle

. 9x Intercessor: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol

+ Elites +

Redemptor Dreadnought [9 PL, 180pts]: 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, Heavy flamer, Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Icarus Rocket Pod, Redemptor Fist

+ Heavy Support +

Hellblaster Squad [16 PL, 198pts]: Plasma incinerator

. 5x Hellblaster: 5x Bolt pistol, 5x Frag & Krak grenades

. Hellblaster Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades

++ Total: [55 PL, 12CP, 973pts] ++

GamesHub League 2022 - Game 1

 Last week saw the new 40K league start at our new gaming venue, GamesHub. It's a single fixed codex at 1000 points but you can change your list each round if you so desire. Each round is two weeks and any match not arranged/played counts as a draw. We have enough players that the league will last until the middle of the summer I guess.

Last week I played my first round against an old friend Mike, and he brought a Death Guard army to the league. Over the past year and a half since 9th has been out, I have played a few small 1000 point games against Death Guard. With one exception (against a very skilled player) I have always won, so I went in with very high hopes. 

Although I'm not a fan of the smaller table sizes, it was agreed at the start of the league that we would use the suggested minimum. We set a table up but there isn't much room for terrain at that size and we shifted things slightly so that we could fit the objective markers up outside of terrain. The mission rolled was Centre Ground (core rulebook) and once we had started the game we realised that we had set the objectives up slightly wrong somehow. It was still roughly the same so we left it.

My secondary objective choices were Oaths of Moment, Engage on All Fronts and Slay the Warlord. I very rarely ever bother with the objective that comes with the mission and this was no different. Oaths of Moment, however, has become the staple in every match I play.

It started to go wrong from pretty much the first turn. Every opponent I have had previous to this match played infantry heavy armies at 1000 points. Death Guard are expensive so this makes sense. Mike's list was not like that at all. He brought a Plagueburst Crawler and a Bloat Drone with lawnmower and I was not quite prepared for that. He won the roll to go first and away he went. Straight away I was under fire from the crawler's artillery. I managed to get my ATV up the side of the table and get a decent hit with the multi-melta but due to poor dice I either failed to wound or he passed his invulnerable save. I subsequently lost my ATV which meant my main method of dealing with anything tough like that was gone. Sure, I had a Redemptor Dreadnought but it was too slow to get that far up the table and I was needing to hold it for the waves of pox walkers coming in and the threat of a deep striking Lord of Contaigion with Deathshroud bodyguards. 

Pox Walkers were not such a problem. Massed firepower dealt with them easily but that damn Bloat Drone. I went straight into my Intercessors and decimated the lot. It took the sacrifice of my Bladeguard with help from the Captain to bring it down but by then I had next to nothing left. Mike brought his reinforcements in from deep strike behind my lines which forced me to turn the dreadnought back to hold them. Took one Deathshroud down but it then was brought down itself, and far too easily.

The game went to turn 5 where it was just my Captain left who just would not die. Last dice roll of the game proved to be his undoing, and that dropped him otherwise he would still be there. Mike won 55 points to my 44. Just 11 different which is quite close really and I was happy enough with that. But it was that damn Bloat Drone that won him the game. It just would not die and I was not fully prepared for an opponent bringing that or the crawler to a game this size. It's always been infantry heavy armies DG players brought to my table.

Even so it was a very good match. Frustrating but good banter which softens the blow somewhat. Next round I have a match against another friend's Drukhari army. Another game where I fear I won't do so well but keeping the fingers crossed.

My list for the game was as follows. It was nothing special, just a basic list I keep on hand for small point games.

++ Patrol Detachment 0CP (Imperium - Adeptus Astartes - Imperial Fists) [53 PL, 6CP, 1,000pts] ++

+ Configuration [6CP] +

**Chapter Selector**: Custom Chapter, Imperial Fists Successor, Inheritors of the Primarch

Battle Size [6CP]: 2. Incursion (51-100 Total PL / 501-1000 Points)  [6CP]

Gametype: Matched

+ HQ [5 PL, 105pts] +

Primaris Captain [5 PL, 105pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Iron Resolve, The Burning Blade, Warlord

. Heavy bolt pistol, Master-crafted power sword and Relic shield [15pts]: Heavy Bolt Pistol, Master-crafted power sword [5pts], Relic Shield [10pts]

+ Troops [30 PL, 525pts] +

Assault Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 200pts]

. 9x Assault Intercessor [171pts]: 9x Astartes Chainsword, 9x Frag & Krak grenades, 9x Heavy Bolt Pistol

. Assault Intercessor Sgt [29pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol [5pts], Power sword [5pts]

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 200pts]: Bolt rifle

. 9x Intercessor [180pts]: 9x Bolt pistol, 9x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant [20pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades

Intercessor Squad [10 PL, 125pts]: Bolt rifle

. 5x Intercessor [100pts]: 5x Bolt pistol, 5x Frag & Krak grenades

. Intercessor Sergeant [25pts]: Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma pistol [5pts]

+ Elites [14 PL, 285pts] +

Bladeguard Veteran Squad [5 PL, 105pts]

. 2x Bladeguard Veteran [70pts]: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield

. Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant [35pts]: Frag & Krak grenades, Heavy Bolt Pistol, Master-crafted power sword, Storm Shield

Redemptor Dreadnought [9 PL, 180pts]: 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, Heavy flamer, Icarus Rocket Pod [5pts], Macro Plasma Incinerator, Redemptor Fist

+ Fast Attack [4 PL, 85pts] +

Invader ATV Squad [4 PL, 85pts]

. Invader ATV [4 PL, 85pts]: Bolt pistol, Multi-melta [5pts], Twin auto bolt rifle

++ Total: [53 PL, 6CP, 1,000pts] ++

2022 and beyond

 Hi everyone. Long time and no see. Things have been very difficult and awkward both with work, real life and hobbying. This blog just has not crossed my mind until now but I think it is time to get back to blogging about Warhammer and stuff. 2022 seems like a good point to do that and hopefully with Covid getting under control the real world might open up again. But until then this is a little update as to where I am gaming-wise.

With regards to 40K I have been able to get quite a few games in since 9th edition dropped although due to the pandemic it has mostly been the same few people with one or two exceptions. Really looking forward to getting some games against everyone else again. I'm still really enjoying 9th edition and I've had some opportunity to try out the Crusade rules and I may well do a proper post about that in the near future.

The biggest thing this past year has been the opening of a new games shop / cafe in my home town called GamesHub. It's about time we had something like this and it's even better as the local club lost it's regular venue at the start of 2021, although whether the old club will regenerate or just become a part of the new shop is to be seen. Right now though we are starting a 1000 point league in store that will run for several months and I have my first match against Death Guard in a couple weeks. Normally I do well at low points values against Death Guard so fingers crossed I should be able to get a victory early on. I'll detail the league as it gets played in future posts.

The Rift Wardens chapter is growing quite well as during the pandemic I have had a lot of time to paint. There is only three or four small models left to paint until my pile of shame is done. I will try to get that done over the next month or so. 

That's basically where I am right now at the start of the year. Time to shake off the cobwebs and the general apathy and get this blog moving again. I look forward to chatting to you all again soon.

Vigilus crusade - a new start for 9th?

 Back when the first Vigilus book came out, I grabbed a copy and voraciously read through it. For a campaign book I just fell in love with the whole story. I felt like an absolutely perfect example of a 40K campaign. Only thing missing was a means to include Tau, Necrons and Tyranids but I get why they were not included. It would be just busy for lack of better words. 

One aspect of the book that I loved was the campaign system. Each stage of the war came with a couple specific blanket rules that allowed the campaign to be played nice and thematic. Nothing game breaking but cool all the same. I even started up a league, for lack of a better word, for the local club. The idea was to be play out the whole story over a couple years. To start with it the campaign seemed popular enough but after a couple months things turned a bit sour. The more competitive players at the club decided that narrative missions and the specific round rules did not suit them. Even though I had said that they could play any mission they wanted, they pulled out of the league and soon enough the whole thing had fallen apart much to be disappointment.

To say I was annoyed would be an understatement. But fair play. Can't please everyone all the time.

Recently I have finally got my hands on a copy of the second book in the series and as 9th edition has a few players from the club interested in the Crusade system I am hoping that I can restart the Vigilus campaign with them utilising the new rules once we get out of the pandemic and lockdown. Maybe with fewer players and with those more interested in a narrative play the idea might get somewhere.

10 points for a painted army?

In the 9th edition rules there is a new addition that says that you get 10 victory points if your army is painted to a battlefield standard. I think it is a bit of a silly rule especially as it is technically part of the rules system now. Such a rule... the requirement of a three colour minimum.. used to be a part of every tournament. After all, you want your models too look good to anyone walking past rather than grey plastic. 

It has always caused some consternation among a lot of Warhammer players that painting your models is just as big a part of the hobby as setting up a table and fighting it out against your friends. That painting was a requirement to play Warhammer. As some one who doesn't really enjoy the painting element (although these days my space marine force is fully painted) and for many years never had a painted army, I find it unfair to push this sort of element onto the fun and friendly casual game. But that is what is happening under 9th edition.

I personally would not use this rule and if playing against someone who had an unpainted army - whether due to time or a lack of desire to do so - I would simply say we're not using that rule. Let's just play. In competitive tournaments, leagues and the like, I can see that makes sense to use this to make people play painted forces or risk not winning over all (most likely) but it should not have been included as part of the core rules. 

Why?

Two reasons.... firstly, by the wording this means that tournaments can be played by opponents who do not paint their models. They will be down on points but it does not stop them playing. I'm sure most TO's will stick to a rule of painted armies so this isn't such a deal.

Secondly.... no where does it say what the definition of "painted to a battlefield standard" actually means. Is that the same as the old three colour minimum? Or does it imply something more? I would assume that the model itself must be painted with suitable colours and not just slapped on. Does it require models to be based? Probably not.

I don't think this was well thought out by Games Workshop and I'm sure that it was included solely to try and nudge players into buy their paints as a money making exercise. Painted model is always going to look better than the basic grey. I just don't like the concept that GW are trying push everyone into an area of the hobby that not everyone is interested in. Surely, having people play the game is a better way forward?

What are your thoughts on this?