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] ++

The Souless March - Vigilus

Points: 1000.
Mission: No Mercy.
Deployment: Search and Destroy.

An unexpected enemy has manifested in the deep deserts of Vigilus - the Necrons of the Mephrit Dynasty. The machines march forward and towards the holdings of the expanding Cult. It was a major engagement considering the forces arrayed against the Cult elsewhere on Vigilus at the time. It would see the Genestealer Cult forces decimated completely and several Cult outposts likewise destroyed within a few days. The Necron forces then faded back into the night leaving flayed bodies and burning wreckage, and a mystery for those who find the remains.

This past week our local club has had several new members brought to us. One new player was Sean and we had a cool game. Sean brought his Necrons to the table and I bought my Genestealer Cult. This was only his fourth game ever so we went for a basic kill mission. I set up first and decided to let my opponent have the first turn. I've not played Necrons with my Cult so while I expected to get hammered, I figured going second would perhaps be more helpful and I could see what Shaun did before I decided finally what unit was which ambush blip.

The Necrons advanced forwards across the table. His immortals claiming cover inside a ruin, while the lychguard marched into the central ruin which oddly halted their advance. At this point I revealed my units, and the machines opened fire. I lost an entire unit of brood brothers and my vehicles both lost a few wounds.

My turn and I drove the rockgrinder towards the immortals but they had inflicted significant damage and weakened it. I was just hoping to get in there and use the appropriate stratagem to detonate the cache of explosives onboard. Most of my fire went into Sean's annihilation barge and although it didn't explode this turn, it would not survive the second. Sure enough, the necrons destroyed my rockgrinder, while it did nothing on the charge. The cache detonated killing a handful models from the immortals and warriors, and knocking two wounds from his lord.

The next couple of turns were quite brutal. The necron shooting was incredible and I lost my leman russ battle tank but not before it destroyed a unity of scarabs and wounded the advancing nightbringer. I used the laying in wait stratagem to bring the hybrids in three inches from the immortals but the hand flamers did nothing, and the immortals then burnt them to the ground. Very ineffective but I didn't really have a better target. On my left flank I brought in my genestealers and patriarch. The idea being to charge into the necron warriors and cryptek but both failed their charges and took heavy casualties from the overwatch.

Sean then used veil of night to shift his lord and immortals closer to my genestealers. Their incoming fire dropped more genestealers though and that flank was beginning to crumble. In return I was able to smite a couple models but again things did not go well, and the souless machines gunned down my unit and the patriarch. Warlord kill went to my opponent.

Turn 5 and all I had left was my primus and one understrengh brood brothers squad. Despite being brave and charging in, the primus died horribly. At this point we agreed that victory was in the hands of the Necrons. Sean won this game 9 victory points to my 2.

---

This was just the sort of game that I enjoy. Just the sort of game that Warhammer should be as. There were no twinky lists or aggressive play. This was a straight casual fun game. A big thank you to my opponent for that.

I think that I could have done better but my dice were, as usual, not playing ball. I may have focused too much on the wrong targets but in hindsight, if the dice rolled well, I wouldn't be saying that. I really needed to get the genestealers into combat but it was not to be.

Hopefully we'll get a rematch again soon.
---

Unexpected Assault - Vigilus

To start with, the Genestealer Cult began to work on the assumption that the various warring factions would not notice their presence, or at the very least, be more occupied with their more "traditional" enemies to worry about a few minor uprisings which could be left to the local Arbites to deal with. With this in mind, the Cult went about it's usual sabotage attempts away from the front lines and it was here that they came into conflict with a foe totally unexpected. Somehow, a small force of chaos cultists had made planet fall under the confusion of battle, led by a pair of mighty daemon princes associated with the Word Bearers legion of traitor marines. These two forces clashed in the hinterlands beyond the hive cities while both sides were hunting down stragglers and isolated enemy units.

1000 points.
Genestealer Cult (Twisted Helix) vs Chaos Space Marines (Word Bearers).
Mission: No Mercy.
Deployment: Dawn of War.
Battle Zone: None.

I haven't played against Marko for a good while now so we were overdue for a match. I figured a nice small game was in order and so we went for one of the rule book missions over a campaign round one. I also wanted to learn a bit more about my new codex so this made sense too.

Marko decided to play a Word Bearers army although what he actually brought to the table was more a mass of cultists, possessed, a pair of daemon princes and two large blocks of summonable daemons. Not really what I would have called a Word Bearers army but hey, it was different so good to face.

The first couple of turns went really quickly. Marko had summoned his daemons - bloodletters and horrors, and used those as his main shock troops - while the cultists basically sat back and did very little. I began by moving up my rockgrinder towards the bloodletters in hopes of burning a number of them down and then running a few over. This didn't really work as I rolled low on the flamer and once in combat, I was being whittled away far too nicely by the daemons. In the end I was forced to use a stratagem to auto detonate the rockgrinder which did thankfully sent a number of bloodletters back to the Warp.

Meanwhile on the left flank, the horrors were pouring psychic warpfire into my troops and completely obliterated one unit in a single shooting phase! In retaliation I popped up my hybrids behind his lines and tried to flame down a load of cultists but only about 3 actually died. As happens in every game lately, the hybrids then died to massed firepower.

Eventually Marko claimed the center of the table and was able to slowly take down my new cult Leman Russ tank, which also did very little this game. The one time it managed to do any damage, Marko managed to get them back with a stratagem and drop them behind my lines.

The game was eventually a bloodbath as my genestealers appeared and tore his army to shreds. The Patriarch charged and slew one daemon prince and the primus took down the second before dealing with the possessed with ease. The remaining bloodletters were taken down by the genestealers before they too died to cultist fire.

By turn 5 I had next to nothing left and Marko was on nearly twice as many victory points as I was. He swiftly took down what I had left with massed small arms fire. Not much I could do.

---

So other than Marko's strange choice of playing a CSM list that was pretty much empty of chaos space marines... this was a good game. It went to show that you can have just as much fun with a basic 1000 point game as one with 2000 points or more.

I think I would have preferred to face a full CSM Word Bearers list as I would like to face more fluffy specific lists so hopefully next time I can convince him to do so.

---

Lunar Engagement - Cerberus

Planet: Cerberus.
Region: Cerberus sector.

Death Guard vs Space Wolves.
1000 points.
Mission: Only War.
Deployment: Pitched Battle.

Following the arrival of the Death Guard reinforcements from the Scourge Stars, Guilliman's assault upon the Chaos strong point of Cerberus had begun to bog down into a drawn out stalemate. Other space marine commanders requested that they consolidate control on other targets in the system, regroup and then strike harder at the final prize, Cerberus itself.

Harald Deathwolf volunteered to lead a small strike against the small Death Guard held outpost upon Cerberus III's moon. Upon that almost airless moon the two war bands clashed for dominance.

This match up was a friendly game to teach my friend Jason how to play 8th. He had played a lot of the previous editions but this was first go at the new one. With that in mind we went with the basic Only War mission and played across table for ease. The mission objective rolled was 1 victory point for each objective held plus 3 for the war lord.

My Death Guard achieved the first turn and Jason failed to seize the initiative. During our deployment Jason had set up a long fangs squad facing my right flank and that was a concern for me so I set my defiler that side in hopes of taking out a few with the battle cannon. What actually happened was the defiler decimated the entire squad leaving me without much in the way of targets on that flank and I had to swiftly adapt. I felt bad because Jason's dice just did not want to know. So many rolls and re-rolls were 1's and 2's.

Jason's first turn was more about moving his forces forward. Specifically his large pack of fenrisian wolves who swiftly got into combat with one of my rhinos. They would spend the rest of the game tearing it apart but it meant they were not a concern. His blood claws shooting was quite accurate I started losing a few models. Disgustingly resilience was not my friend this game.

Turn two and I flew my bloat drone closer shrouded by flies summoned by my plagucaster. I also made sure that the defiler moved towards my left flank to intercept his thunderwolf cavalry and Harald Deathwolf. I used one of the new Death Guard strategems to allow the defiler to fire it's weapons as though they hadn't moved. The battle cannon blowing one cavalry model away. On Jason's turn his razorback was able to score two lascannon hits on the bloatdrone leaving it on one wound! He chose not to assault the defiler with his cavalry due to the distance.

Turn three and combat was joined. I made sure that my defiler could get into assault easily. It tore through most of his remaining cavalry, leaving just one rider and Harald. At which point I kicked myself because if I had focused on Harald I might have killed him and gained 3 victory points! Jason did score a few wounds on the defiler but nothing to effect it's combat expertise.

Turn four was the last for us as we were getting close to the venue close up. Once the bloat drone got within range of his marines it was next to useless. Too damaged to do anything which was a little disappointing. This time the defiler focused everything on Haraldm, dropping him to one wound! On Jason's turn he took out the bloat drone which did explode taking out one space wolf and scratched the paintwork on his razorback. On my left flank the fenrisian wolves finally destroyed the rhino. Im played another Death Guard strategem to cause it to automatically explode. Three wolves were killed and by sheer luck one mortal wound went on to Harald taking him out of the fight! Yay!

At the end of that round I was holding two objectives and I had warlord kill. Jason was only holding one objective so victory went to the Death Guard 5 to 1. A good game as always with Jason. I felt a little bit bad because I had a fully fledged codex versus his index but I don't think I used anything too nasty and I hope he enjoyed the game.

---

Due to the flow of the game I was not really able to utilize my plaguecaster as I wanted. The cultists did very little but I had them purely for the job of holding an objective in my deployment zone and they did that job. The defiler was my model of the match this time around and made me proud.

---



++ Patrol Detachment (Chaos - Death Guard) [56 PL, 999pts] ++

+ HQ +
Malignant Plaguecaster [6 PL, 110pts]: Curse of the Leper, Miasma of Pestilence, The Pandemic Staff

+ Troops +
Chaos Cultists [3 PL, 48pts]
. 9x Chaos Cultist w/ Autogun
. Chaos Cultist w/ special weapon: Heavy stubber
. Cultist Champion: Shotgun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 185pts]
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Plague Marines [10 PL, 173pts]
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

+ Fast Attack +
Foetid Bloat-drone [8 PL, 158pts]: 2x Plaguespitters, Plague probe

+ Heavy Support +
Defiler [11 PL, 181pts]: Combi-bolter, Defiler scourge, Reaper autocannon

+ Dedicated Transport +
Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 72pts]: Combi-bolter
Chaos Rhino [4 PL, 72pts]: Combi-bolter

Bloat Drone drifts towards the enemy.

Thunderwolf Cavalry charges into battle.

Brutal battle with my Defiler.

Drukhari Ambush - Miridian

Planet: Miridian.
Region: Cadian sector.

Death Guard vs Drukhari
50 power level
Mission: No Mercy.
Deployment: Pitched Battle.

The Drukhari raiders fall back from the renewed Death Guard offensive. The ruins of Miridian go strangely silent in the green mists. Typhus delivers orders that his forces are to sweep the ruins and decimate any stragglers.
His own patrol soon comes under attack from an entrenched band of kabelites. Outgunned they fight on with the grim determination of their legion.

A nice small game against Gary D this week after my planned opponent had to bail. Gary brought his Drukhari out to play once more. This was also my first game with the new Death Guard codex so I was quite excited to see what my army could do now.

We decided on the night to play No Mercy and we rolled our deployment. When Gary started deploying a ravager and put two raiders in reserve I felt my shoulders slump. I wasn't sure that I had what I needed to take them down and fully expected them to destroy my predator first turn. I hoped to steal the initiative but it was not to be.

First turn he swooped in with the ravager and brought the raiders in on the opposing flank. Together knocked some wounds from my predator leaving it belching smoke. I advanced everything and used a new strategem to allow the predator to move and shoot. It took a couple wounds off the ravager but that was to be the last act it did.

With the predator destroyed fairly quickly, Gary turned his weapons on my plague marines. They soaked a few wounds but then they began to crumble. After a couple turns I had nothing of one squad. But luck was about to turn. My plaguecaster started to smite one ravager and a very lucky swipe with his stick sent it crashing into it's partner and exploding. Man of the match! Same turn Gary brought in a unit of scourges behind my lines only for them to be charged by my blightbringer who swiftly dished out psychic contagion with his relic bell.

On my left flank Typhus was marching his poxwalkers forwards all game. I had no idea what I was going to do with them so they simply acted as a shroud to protect him from incoming fire. They and Typhus charged the ravager eventually and Typhus cleaved it with a mighty swing from his manreaper. The remaining plague marines marched upon the ruin where the kabalite warriors and archon were cowardly hiding in. They slowly blasted the aliens away but despite knocking the shadow field from the archon, they were unable to kill him before the end of the game.

On the right flank it soon became a mosh with the warriors in the destroyed raider leaping into frenzied battle with my plaguecaster but a mixture of martial skills and new Nurgle psychic powers ensured that they did not survive. Then, between the plaguecaster and the blightbringer, they brought down the last raider although the plaguecaster died doing it.

The game ended turn 5 and when we counted up the victory points I amazingly ahead with 6 victory points to Gary's 2. For a list that I thought was not going to do well against what my opponent brought I was pleasantly surprised. As always though I kept forgetting that my opponent was using poisoned weapons so my high toughness was not useful and maybe I could have done something different to keep my marines alive. The new psychic powers however were really good and certainly helped me out a lot so I have nothing to complain about.

Unfortunately my camera phone died on me during the evening and I lost the photos of the game.


My list for the night was:

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Chaos - Death Guard) ++

+ HQ +

Malignant Plaguecaster: Curse of the Leper, Plague Wind

Typhus: Miasma of Pestilence, Putrescent Vitality.

+ Troops +

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword
. . Power fist and Plasma gun: Plasma gun, Power fist
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. 4x Plague Marines

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion: Plaguesword
. . Power fist and Plasma gun: Plasma gun, Power fist
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher
. 4x Plague Marines

Poxwalkers: 10x Poxwalker

+ Elites +

Noxious Blightbringer: Plasma pistol and Dolorous Knell.

+ Heavy Support +

Chaos Predator: Combi-flamer, Havoc launcher, Twin lascannon
. Two heavy bolters: 2x Heavy bolter

Bunker Assault - Fandrel

Planet: Fandrel.
Region: Damocles Sector.

Death Guard vs Tau Empire.
1000pts / PL 50.
Mission: Bunker Assault - Fire and Fury.
Deployment: Dawn of War.

The Tau fleet arrives into the Fandrel system and is dismayed to find the worlds of the system already swarming with the servants of the plague god. Desperate to seize these worlds for their mineral wealth the Tau swiftly move in to the main world and engage the Death Guard ships in a mighty void war.

Meanwhile, the Tau commanders dispatch a force to strike at the command structure of the enemy. Secretly deployed to the surface they make their way to the Death Guard fortress with orders to bring it down.

Challenged Adam to an 8th edition game with his Tau. Adam hasn't had a lot of luck with his Tau and he's having trouble adapting to how they now play. I suggested he pick a mission from my list and he chose Bunker Assault. But surprisingly he chose to go with the Fire and Fury battle zone. I was rather surprised he did so as most of what I expected him to take has the Fly keyword and thus potentially risking mortal wounds any time they move, and if they stay put bits of space debris could easily fall upon them. It was going to be an interesting game. We are also playing 50 power levels although as the attacker needs more than me, Adam had 60 Power.

I had to set up first with my mission specific fortress first and then what few units I got with the power levels. I could have been a complete asshat and deploy the fortress behind ruins where he couldn't see it but I'm too nice. Before the game started proper, Adam was able to move/redeploy his ghostkeel to a point half way between his lines and mine. It would prove to be a pain in the backside all game.

First turn and Adam didn't really need to do a lot. He managed to drop starship debris onto both my fortress and one of the plague marine squads. The ghostkeel dropping two more from a second squad. His other shooting was very good but the falling debris did the job.

My turn one and I moved the cultists forward. Initially my play was to get them closer to his fire warriors and draw their fire away from the plague marines who were just within range. Didn't work out quite so well. I was also very reluctant to move my plague marines forward out of fear of the ghostkeel. Instead Typhus just dropped a psychic miasma about to preventing Adam's forces from hitting them as easily. My bolters did very little in return. My debris was not as accurate this turn but it dropped a few models.

Turn two and Adam gunned down most of my cultists. That was their use but I felt that I could have done better with them in hindsight. Adam continued to pour fire into my fortress but the dice were not with him. He could hit just couldn't wound it. He was relying on the debris I think which was doing the job for him.

My turn two and I changed tact. The remaining cultists moved to try and get closer to the ghostkeel. My idea now was to hopefully get them into combat with it and tie it down for a turn, just to reduce the incoming fire. I started to move up my plague marines and I was able to get Typhus to knock a couple mortal wounds off the ghostkeel with smite.

Turn three for both of us went really quickly for both of us. I had kept most of what I had left just out of range of his fire warriors and Adam's tanks were more interesting in shooting the fortress. The fortress was surviving and I was holding out hope that victory would be mine. I lost the remaining cultists due to overwatch. Adam's dice suddenly working when I didn't want them to. But I was able to inflict massive damage to the ghostkeel with a meltagun.

The game went downhill from there. I was able to drop the ghostkeel but Adam's hammerhead tanks both managed to just rip the last few wounds from the fortress which promptly collapsed into dust and twisted metal. I conceded here. There was no way in a turn that I could grab another e victory points and secure a draw. If only his bad dice rolls had continued I would have secured a nice victory.

So, unless the Fire and Fury battlezone game I had against Joel's tyranids last week, the falling debris actually worked this time with both of us taking damage and casualties. I was disappointed by the fortress which really needed an invulnerable save and better than a 5+ automated fire. Perhaps if you could a unit in the fortress fire the weapons on their Ballistic Skill it would have been worthwhile. I made a few mistakes, including one mission benefit, but Adam did well and it was a fun game.


My list, not including the fortress (15 PL) was:

++ Patrol Detachment (Chaos - Death Guard) [33 PL, 572pts] ++

Typhus [9 PL, 164pts]
Chaos Cultists [6 PL, 84pts]
2 units of Plague Marines [9 PL, 167pts]

++ Total: [33 PL, 572pts] ++

A ghostkeel seizes a vital firing position.

Death Guard deployment.

Typhus directs the cultists to their deaths!

The state of play.

Tau deployment

Hunt for the Voice - Lelithar

Planet: Lelithar.
Cadian Sector.
999.M41

Dark Angels vs Death Guard.
1000 points.
Mission: Purge the Alien.

The Dark Angels sought the shadowy Heretic calling himself the "Voice of the Emperor," who was operating on the world of Lelithar. The so-called "Voice of the Emperor," Cypher, the infamous Fallen Angel.
The Dark Angels launched a number of strikes against this figure, but on each occasion found that the pressures of constant attacks upon their hallowed ground in the Caliban System forced them to redeploy their forces. Each time the Dark Angels manage to close on the suspected location of the Voice, he somehow proved able to slip through their clutches, leaving behind taunting, heretical graffiti.

A couple weeks ago I challenged my nephew to a game of 40K as an opportunity try out my Death Guard once again. I went in expecting to lose because I still need to learn how to play them but I was pleased at ho well they did handle themselves despite the high points cost.

My nephew made a small screw up as he was unsure how the Forge Organisation Chart worked with formations but it didn't matter for this as I was happy to play. He has three armies - Blood Angels, Dark Angels and Adeptas Sororitas. He is such a big Blood Angel fan that I expected to be facing off against a plethora of assault marines and furiouso dreadnoughts. Instead he turned up with a Dark Angel force mounted on bikes or part of a Ravenwing detachment full of land speeders. I was going to have a hell of a time.

I don't quite remember everything he had but it includes Sammael on his jetbike, a bike command squad, a squad of bikes, and the formation that gave him three land speeders and a darkshroud land speeder.

My list was:

Sorcerer - level 3.
Mark of Nurgle. Veteran of the long war.
Powers: Force, Nurgle's rot, summoning, plague wind and the one that makes weapons "get hot".

10 man CSM squad.
Mark of Nurgle. Veterans of the long war. Champion had power fist.

10 man plague marine squad.
Veterans of the long war.
Champion had power weapon and plasma pistol. Icon of despair and two meltaguns.
Rhino with two combi-bolters.

5 man terminator squad.
Mark of Nurgle. Veterans of the long war.
Combi-bolters and one reaper autocannon. Champion had lighting claw. The rest had one power fist and the others power weapons.

Aegis defence line with quad autocannons.

I deployed mine with the sorcerer and his CSM buddies holding the autocannon. The plague marines sat off to the side in a rhino looking to get around to objectives as needed. I also talked myself into holding the terminators in reserve which proved to be a poor choice as you'll see.

Battle was then commenced. He threw everything at my CSM squad on turn one. Bolters and plasma weapons both, and I either made every armour save or passed the cover save for the defence line. One dice in particular rolled nothing lower than a 4 for half the game! It has since been promoted.

Second turn he decided to move across the table and sweep in behind me rather than risk driving over the terrain. When he realised that he had wrecked my Rhino in the gap he needed he was not a happy bunny. On my second turn no terminators arrived. Poured everything into the land speeders and did nothing. The quad cannon did smash through one bike squad though which really helped my bacon.

Turn three and still no terminators! I ended up having to summon plaguebearers to stall his advance with the bikes. They did not last long which I found very disappointing. I really wanted them to last a bit longer but a free unit (although it cost my sorcerer a wound thanks to a issue with the warp). As the game went along my nephew did manage to kill my CSM squad but not before my sorcerer conjoured a second squad of plaguebearers to halt the bike advance and blowing his own head off with another mishap.

Eventually my terminators arrived turn four way past the point where I really needed them. They came down and took out a couple of bikes but the rest blasted them down to two terminators who then proved ineffectual other than to hold an objective.

My plague marines did fantastic though. They never did put a dent on the land speeders but they survived so much fire power and took down Sammael that I didn't care. At end of turn 5 it was getting late and my nephew was on 12 vp to my 5 so we called it there.

At the end of the day my army is going to be expensive as I want the mark of Nurgle on everything and I'd rather field plague marines than the regular chaos marines. I'd have liked some more models on the table but even so I was very pleased as to how the game played out.

Skirmish on Lelithar

Planet: Lelithar.
Cadian Sector.
999.M41

Dark Angels vs Death Guard.
1000 points.
Mission: Purge the Alien.





Early in the crusade the planet Lelithar came under Chaos attack. The Death Guard arrived and seeded the atmosphere with the virulent zombie plague. While the Planetary Defence Forces mobilized to fight the growing number of the dead, the Death Guard deployed to the surface many kilometers from the main hive city. Colonies were reduced to cities of the dead and the crops in the fields rotted to mulch. An astropathic call for help was sent. The Dark Angels chapter of space marines answered the call and began to deploy a company to the surface.

Out in the midst of the rotting fields of grain, a scout force of Dark Angels ran into their equivalent and battle was joined. The Death Guard were few in number and soon outmaneuvered by the space marines in their Rhino transports.  The chaos marines suffered heavy casualties from plasma weapons but the Dark Angels suffered as badly from their own weapons. Even so, the chaos marine scouting force was swiftly eradicated. From here the space marines prepared to take the battle to the enemy.

Chaos Sorcerer.
Mark of Nurgle. Veteran of the long war.

10 man plague marine squad.
Veterans of the long war.
Champion: power weapon and plasma pistol.
2x Meltaguns. Icon of despair.

5 man chaos terminator squad.
Mark of Nurgle. Veterans of the long war.
Champion: Lightning claw.
1x Reaper autocannon. 1x powerfist. 3x power weapon.

Helbrute.
Multimelta and power claw.

Game Notes:
This was my first game playing Death Guard. I didn't expect to win and went in with a positive mentality to just try out what I had build and painted at the time. I hadn't expected my opponent to bring a force deployed inside Rhino transports. I had trouble taking them down just because of range and crap dice rolls. He immobilized my Helbrute just outside of melta efficiency range and I failed to do anything with it all game. His plasma weapons hurt him and one plasma cannon deviated back onto his Rhino which went bang. If I remember right I called it at the end of turn 4 because there was no way I was pulling the game back.