The final game of the league! I faced off against Jesse and his unbound Daemons-Knight-Marine army. Comparing the lineups, things didn't look good for the Lahkers. Jesse's army looked very formidable, especially the Defiler and Obsidian Knight. Both were well-painted, I should add. Good paint jobs deserve attention.
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| Knights, Daemons, Marines–gotta field 'em all! |
Mission was Cloak and Shadows (we kept our Tactical Objectives secret), deployment was Hammer and Anvil. After some discussion we decided to roll off just once for objective placement and initiative. Jesse won, and objectives were set up evenly spread across the field. He set up with his Knight, Defiler, Chapter Master, Librarian (with the Shield Eternal), two units of Plaguebearers, one Herald of Nurgle, and one unit of Bloodthirsters all behind an Aegis defence line that cordoned off half of his third of the board. And it had a quad gun too. He held two units of Obliterators (one unit of two, and one alone) and a unit of two Nurgle Heralds in reserve.
Apologies in advance if and when I get Daemon units wrong, this was my first time fighting warp-spawn.
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| An actual gunline deployment for the gunline army for once. |
I used the same list as the week before (Decurion with Reclamation Legion, Judicator Battalion, Canoptek Harvest). I deployed about 6" farther back than usual, hoping to minimize first-turn casualties. Nemesor Zandrekh and the 15-warrior blob camped in the trees on an objective. I held my allied Scouts, Devastators with the Librarian (mastery level 2, otherwise vanilla), and my two squads of Triarch Praetorians in reserve. I failed to steal the initiative, and the game began.
Turn 1
Not a lot happened Turn 1. Jesse kept his melee units behind the Aegis line, and the Knight, quad gun, and Defiler killed a few warriors and wounded a Wraith. I think he captured an objective as well.
My turn, I turbo-boosted the Tomb Blades up to the middle objective behind the tower. The Canoptek formation scuttled forward, staying as much in cover as possible. The rest of the army inched forward, looking to get around the flank and pick off Jesse's units one by one. The Ghost Ark headed over to Zandy's unit to rebuild warriors. For the first time in any game, I believe, I did not fire a single shot in my first turn. I did switch Zandy's warlord trait to Divide to Conquer, putting a -1 nerf on Jesse's reserve rolls, and captured two objectives for 2 VP.
Turn 2
Jesse rolled for reserves, and got both Obliterator units in. Zandy denied the Heralds, they had to wait another turn. The two-man Obliterator unit dropped in by Zandy's blob, and the lone one landed by my Wraiths. The Bloodthirsters shuffled away from the Tomb Blades, the lone Herald leaped the Aegis line and headed for the Blades, and the rest of Jesse's army inched forward.
The Herald on the field opened fire with an AP2 flamer, I had the Tomb Blades jink. My dice, however, decided to get the bad luck out of the way, and two of the Blades failed their saves and RP rolls. More warriors died to the quad gun and Defiler battle cannon.
On my turn, I rolled for reserves, everything came in. Devastators strolled onto the table by the Obliterators, the Scouts outflanked and arrived on the board edge to my left, and I deep-struck both Praetorian squads. One landed on target behind the Defiler, the others scattered, rolled a mishap, and were placed by Jesse. He put them way back in my deployment zone.
In my shooting phase, the Praetorians fired at the rear of the Defiler, and glanced one HP off. The lone remaining Tomb Blade turned his bike around and floored it away from the Daemon lines. The Ark put one warrior back into Zandy's squad. Scouts killed off a couple of the Plaguebearers nearby, Devastators snap-fired at the Obliterators, rolled three sixes To Hit, and a few moments later there was one less Obliterator on the board. My Wraiths assaulted the other Obliterator, he lost one wound but stood his ground and fought. I believe both of us scored another objective this game turn.
Turn 3
Jesse's remaining unit of two Heralds of Nurgle arrived and deep-struck into the midfield. The Knight and Plaguebearers on the other side of the field both moved up, and the Defiler, Chapter Master, and Librarian went to deal with my pesky Praetorians. My last Tomb Blade had a very lucky escape from the 2+ poisoned shooting from the Heralds. Zandy's blob got even more lucky with their reanimation rolls, frustrating the remaining Obliterator and his heavy flamer (he wounded 6, killed 2). My Wraiths killed the other Obliterator in his assault phase and consolidated towards the Knight. The Praetorians lost a few men to the Chapter Master and Librarian, and dealt one wound in return. The Plaguebearers on the left side assaulted the Scouts, the Plaguebearer sarge-equivalent challenge the Scout Sarge, and a slapfight almost at the level of vanilla Marines versus vanilla Marines ensued.
My turn, I moved the Wraiths and Scarabs towards the Knight, continuing to hand out Reanimation rolls to both units thanks to the Spyder. (Have I mentioned yet I love the Decurion and its formations? I do. I do love them so.) Zandy's squad killed the remaining Obliterator in a hail of gauss-beams, and they got three more warriors back thanks to the Ghost Ark. The Scout-Plaguebearer slapfight continued, the Scouts slowly winning because of crappy Daemon saves. (It should be noted Jesse's dice were misbehaving, and mine were running surprisingly hot. Lady Luck will no doubt balance the scales in a future game.)
My Stalker knocked a hull point off the Knight, and the Wraiths subsequently assaulted the towering terror. After throwing about 30 dice at the Knight, a single glance was inflicted, and then he hit back with Strength D attacks and a couple Stomps. Two Wraiths remained. They held him in combat, however, so that battle cannon wasn't going to kill anything at the moment. I scored two more objectives, bringing the total to 4-3, my lead.
Turn 4
Jesse moved his remaining Plaguebearer squad nearer to my troops, and his Defiler took a shot at my Ghost Ark. The Ark jinked the shot successfully, and Zandy's blob continued to weather fire with considerably better-than-average RP rolls. The Knight finished stomping my Wraiths to death and surged forward one inch for consolidation. The Scout-Plaguebearer slapfight continued. Jesse scored an objective.
My turn, I moved the Devastators to a position where they could get shots on the Knight if it moved up. The Heralds died to concentrated gauss-fire (or maybe that was last turn...), and the lone Tomb Blade turbo-boosted into Jesse's deployment zone. The Scarabs dove into the Scout-Plaguebearer combat, finished the daemons, and freed the Scouts up to do stuff. I scored one more objective, and at this point the timer ran out and all games were called as they were. I scored Line Breaker, which tipped the balance 5-4, my favor. The Lahkers were victorious!
And thus my first competitive league ended, with a win-loss ration of 1-3. I'll take that over 0-4. I enjoyed the league overall, it was a good challenge to tackle. I don't know what exact time I shall return to the league, but I shall return for certain.
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| "Uh, guys? Behind us?" |
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| nope nope nope nope nope nope |
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| Knight pic, just because. |
In my shooting phase, the Praetorians fired at the rear of the Defiler, and glanced one HP off. The lone remaining Tomb Blade turned his bike around and floored it away from the Daemon lines. The Ark put one warrior back into Zandy's squad. Scouts killed off a couple of the Plaguebearers nearby, Devastators snap-fired at the Obliterators, rolled three sixes To Hit, and a few moments later there was one less Obliterator on the board. My Wraiths assaulted the other Obliterator, he lost one wound but stood his ground and fought. I believe both of us scored another objective this game turn.
Turn 3
Jesse's remaining unit of two Heralds of Nurgle arrived and deep-struck into the midfield. The Knight and Plaguebearers on the other side of the field both moved up, and the Defiler, Chapter Master, and Librarian went to deal with my pesky Praetorians. My last Tomb Blade had a very lucky escape from the 2+ poisoned shooting from the Heralds. Zandy's blob got even more lucky with their reanimation rolls, frustrating the remaining Obliterator and his heavy flamer (he wounded 6, killed 2). My Wraiths killed the other Obliterator in his assault phase and consolidated towards the Knight. The Praetorians lost a few men to the Chapter Master and Librarian, and dealt one wound in return. The Plaguebearers on the left side assaulted the Scouts, the Plaguebearer sarge-equivalent challenge the Scout Sarge, and a slapfight almost at the level of vanilla Marines versus vanilla Marines ensued.
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| Totally photogenic, right? Okay, maybe not, but that's a hell of a paint job there. Love the shiny blood on the axe. |
My turn, I moved the Wraiths and Scarabs towards the Knight, continuing to hand out Reanimation rolls to both units thanks to the Spyder. (Have I mentioned yet I love the Decurion and its formations? I do. I do love them so.) Zandy's squad killed the remaining Obliterator in a hail of gauss-beams, and they got three more warriors back thanks to the Ghost Ark. The Scout-Plaguebearer slapfight continued, the Scouts slowly winning because of crappy Daemon saves. (It should be noted Jesse's dice were misbehaving, and mine were running surprisingly hot. Lady Luck will no doubt balance the scales in a future game.)
My Stalker knocked a hull point off the Knight, and the Wraiths subsequently assaulted the towering terror. After throwing about 30 dice at the Knight, a single glance was inflicted, and then he hit back with Strength D attacks and a couple Stomps. Two Wraiths remained. They held him in combat, however, so that battle cannon wasn't going to kill anything at the moment. I scored two more objectives, bringing the total to 4-3, my lead.
Turn 4
Jesse moved his remaining Plaguebearer squad nearer to my troops, and his Defiler took a shot at my Ghost Ark. The Ark jinked the shot successfully, and Zandy's blob continued to weather fire with considerably better-than-average RP rolls. The Knight finished stomping my Wraiths to death and surged forward one inch for consolidation. The Scout-Plaguebearer slapfight continued. Jesse scored an objective.
My turn, I moved the Devastators to a position where they could get shots on the Knight if it moved up. The Heralds died to concentrated gauss-fire (or maybe that was last turn...), and the lone Tomb Blade turbo-boosted into Jesse's deployment zone. The Scarabs dove into the Scout-Plaguebearer combat, finished the daemons, and freed the Scouts up to do stuff. I scored one more objective, and at this point the timer ran out and all games were called as they were. I scored Line Breaker, which tipped the balance 5-4, my favor. The Lahkers were victorious!
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| Zahndrekh/Kobeh getting photobombed in his moment of glory. |
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