Monday 7 February 2022

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] ++

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