Battle Report #22B: 750pt Double-Header Part 2, Raven Guard vs Iron Hands

Marine Mirror Match, Xtra Tactical Edition!  This battle report contains an excessively wordy look at Raven Guard and Iron Hands tactics.  I hope you're happy, Ike.

This was game two of the afternoon we spent doing 40k at a café.  This time, Nathaniel and Ike were duking it out, with their Raven Guard and Iron Hands, respectively.

EDIT: For once Gabe, I am.

Nathaniel's list:

Same list as previous game, except the Sternguard Sergeant is the Warlord.

Ike's Clan Raukaan CAD:

HQ

Chapter Master w/Gorgon's Chain, Artificer Armor, Lighting Claw, Power Fist, Iron Halo, Jump Pack

Troops

5x Tac Marines

5x Tac Marines w/Grav-gun in Rhino

Elites

Dreadnought w/Assault Cannon, Power Fist w/Storm Bolter

5x Terminators, one w/Assault Cannon, one w/Chainfist

Mission was Purge the Alien (kill points), deployment was Hammer & Anvil.  Nathaniel's warlord was his Sternguard Vet Sarge, he got the RG Exit Strategy trait (add/subtract 1 from variable game length roll).  Ike's warlord was his Chapter Master, he got Merciless Resolve (12" Crusader bubble) from the Clan Raukaan table.

Deployment

Ike won the deployment roll-off.  Iron Hands, being dead 'ard tough (It Will Not Die on vehicles Dreadnoughts and characters, 6+ Feel No Pain on everyone), do best at sitting back and not dying, with Drop Pod Dreadnoughts taking out major threats early in the game.  Without drop pods, however, Ike opted to keep his most fragile unit (Tac squad with Chapter Master) in the woods to force any Raven Guard to assault through terrain, and secured the flanks with the Rhino-borne squad, Dreadnought and Terminators, who could either handle assault units (Elites) or be at least immune to tarpitting (Rhino).

Stay tuned to see why I was right about that last part but not the way I wanted to be. -Ike

Yes, the box is terrain.  No, we didn't get sponsored by Champion.

Nathaniel started with his Vanguard Vets and 10-man Assault squad on the table, with the Sternguard, Solac and the Land Speeder in reserve.  The Raven Guard's version of Chapter Tactics gives their non-vehicle units Shrouded till the start of Game Turn 2. Due to the unusually small table Nathaniel could position his Vanguard Vets at the edge of his deployment zone, for maximum first-turn assault capability, without being too worried about them getting killed before they had a chance to charge.  The Assault squad he positioned farther back, a little safer due to being obscured by the edge of the box they stood on. Their only probable threat being the possibly that Ike's Terminators might step to the right and try to get a volley off on them.

And, as in the game against me, Nathaniel stole the initiative.

GAME TURN 1

Nathaniel sent the Assault squad up on the box, keeping towards his edge so that the fewest IH weapons could reach them.  The Vanguard Vets he sent up the right flank, hugging the box's side.  That was all.

Ike said (after the battle) that here he got to aggressive.  He didn't take advantage of the Iron Hands' natural advantages (comparative) of ranged firepower and toughness, and instead had all elements, save for the Tac squad, advance.  This brought them almost within 12" of both of Nathaniel's jump infantry.  The key word being "jump" of course.

Check out An Afternoon of Kill Team if you want to see Gabe make the same mistake as Scout Marines vs Orks. Of course, that match took place well before this one did, so I'm feeling a bit foolish that I didn't see it happening when I did it here.

Ike's Rhino turned left to get a shot at the Vanguard Vets.  Ike then had his Chapter Master call down an Orbital bombardment on the Assault squad.  Some servitor along the line must have malfunctioned, for the large blast template scattered to Ike's left flank, and ended up only hitting the Veteran sergeant, who was carrying the storm shield.  He deflected the strike away from his squad, and then died to Ike's Grav-gunner as his shield was raised, but his sacrifice was not in vain.

GAME TURN 2

Nathaniel got his Land Speeder in and opted to Outflank on Ike's right flank, having seen Ike's forces had left enough room around them that he could fit his squads in right by them and took the opportunity.  The Assault squad moved down from the box and landed between the Termies and the Dreadnought, and the Vanguard Vets made it to the edge of the forest.

Nathaniel took a minute to think about what to do, and settled on targeting the Dreadnought first.  With the list he had, he had little chance of winning a head-to-head combat with a fully functioning AV 12/12/10 walker.  He evened the playing field by firing his Land Speeder's guns at the Dread's rear arc.  The Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolter brought the Dreadnought down to 1HP.  The Assault squad then assaulted it, attacked with krak grenades, and wrecked the Dreadnought for First Blood and a Kill Point.  In the meantime, the Vanguard Vets made it into assault with the Tac squad in the forest.  They killed the entire squad, leaving Ike's Chapter Master without any backup, but lost three of their four Marines.  The Assault squad consolidated towards Ike's Rhino.

Ike, now without his beloved Dreadnought and down a Tac squad, had his Terminators double back towards the Land Speeder, within assault range and secure in the knowledge that even rerolling Ravenjink doesn't protect it from power fists.  He had the Rhino Tank Shock the Assault squad, they passed their Ld test and one made a Death or Glory attack with an Eviscerator, glanced it, and stopped it in its tracks.  The Rhino's Tac squad whiffed their shooting against the Assault squad.  Ike finally saw some success when the Terminators assaulted and vaporized the Land Speeder in assault.  His Chapter Master slew the last Vanguard Vet, and ducked behind the tree to his right. The Chapter Master failed to make his IWND roll.

First time I've Tank Shocked a unit since 5th ed. I actually had to check the rulebook to make sure it was still part of the game! I had to relearn the entire procedure on the spot of course. I was honestly kind of hoping for it to to explode though. -Ike

GAME TURN 3

The Sternguard Veterans and Captain Solaq came on and Outflanked onto Ike's left. At the moment, Nathaniel had the Rhino corned on the left side of the field, with Ike's Chapter Master in the middle (only a short distance away), and the Terminators a short distance beyond him.  And he had the rear arc of a Rhino to shoot at.  Nathaniel wrapped his Assault squad around the Rhino, blocked the exit points, and then had the Sternguard fire on it.  They wrecked the Rhino, and as all the exit points were blocked, the Tac squad could not deploy and was lost.  Double dip kill points for Nathaniel.  The Assault squad then charged the Chapter Master and made it into combat losing 4 Marines to his Lightning Claw alone.  They dealt him several wounds and were locked in combat with him.

This event was closely followed by an unrecorded game against Gabe where he pointed out that several key assumptions I had about how the movement rules work with transported infantry units. With my mind thus blown and understanding of SM mech builds turned upside down I re-read the Dedicated Transport and Movement sections of the rulebook and learned that transported infantry units can actually fire Overwatch through the fire points of the vehicle carrying them. Good to know! -Ike

Ike, rapidly running out of options, couldn't do much more than bring his Terminators into the ongoing combat.  The Assault Marines survived just long enough to kill the Chapter Master for Slay the Warlord, and then were turned into pancakes by the Termies.  It was now down to Ike's 5 Terminators versus 5 Sternguard and Captain Solaq.

GAME TURN 4

At this point, Nathaniel had 7 Kill Points to Ike's 3.  Nathaniel could win just by standing around; Ike had to kill everything on the board to win.  Nathaniel doubled his chances to win by having Solaq break away from the Sternguard and advance on the Terminators.  This forced Ike to select one of two targets, both of which could only be killed one at a time , allowing the other to escape.  This was only made worse by the fact that Solaq is a multi wound melee character, with a unique relic that forces any hostile unit that targets him to pass a Leadership test to fire at him with full BS.

Ike chose to move around Solaq and fire at the Sternguard.  He killed 2 Vets at range, including the Sternguard Sarge, and got Slay the Warlord.  He did not get into assault, however.

GAME TURN 5

Nathaniel ran Solaq away from the Terminators, as did the Sternguard.  Between them they killed two Terminators at range.

Ike continued to pursue the Sternguard, on the basis that if he killed Nathaniel's shooty unit, he would have the advantage if the game continued.  This time the Termies made the charge to the Sternguard and killed them, but Solaq only danced farther away.

The game ended bottom of Turn 5, with a Raven Guard victory!  Nathaniel had 8 VP at the end (First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker with Solaq, and 5 Kill Points) to Ike's 5 VP (Slay the Warlord and 4 Kill Points).

Endgame.

Nathaniel and Ike talked a bit after the game, and it was decided Nathaniel's win came primarily from him playing to the Raven Guard's strengths (mobility, excellent assault capability), and Ike not playing to the Iron Hands' strengths (back up and kill your foes as they come at you).  Ike not getting the IWND rolls on his Chapter Master was a big deal in a game this small, it allowed the Sternguard to wreck the Rhino and the Assault squad to finish off the Chapter Master.

I liked these two small games, they went quick, we could chill out, and I could keep track of what was going on far easier than larger games.  The tactical decisions have a lot larger of an impact, since less units are involved, and there is less room for error.  I'd like to do this again, with a more refined list, rather than "Necron Gunline lite, hold the vehicles".

Battle Report #22A: 750pt Double-Header Part 1, Lahkers vs Raven Guard

Hey, I'm back!  After a woefully extended period of 40k-lessness, I got a pair of games in with Nathaniel and Ike, with 750 point lists, at a convenient café.

First game was the Lahkers versus Nathaniel's Raven Guard, and specifically his newly assembled Shadow Force Solaq.  The Lahkers had Acting Overlord Nihkyanh, present to expand his skills and knowledge of the dynasty's myriad foes, the royal Lychguard escorting him, and numbers on their side.  The Shadow Force consisted of Captain Solaq, the special Vanguard and Sternguard squads, Land Speeder Darkwind, and a single extra squad of Assault Marines with Eviscerators.

My list:

Nathaniel's list:

Deployment

We chose Kill Points as the victory condition, and rolled Hammer & Anvil for deployment.  Nathaniel won the roll-off, and chose to let me go first.

I set up the gunline with the tough Lychguard and Immortals on the right, the slightly-less-durable Warriors and Ref-tek in the woods, and the Spyders and Scarabs on the right.  I held the Tomb Blades in reserve.  Nathaniel deployed only the Vanguard Vets and the Assault squad, with Solaq, the Sternguard Vets, and the Land Speeder in reserve.

Nathaniel then stole the initiative, and got Night Fighting as well.  Stupid sneaky bird Marines.

GAME TURN 1

Nathaniel moved up with his squads, that was it.  Being Raven Guard, they had Shrouded until the start of their Turn 2.  This didn't worry me, however, I had the Solar Pulse on Nihkyanh.

I expected to wrap the Raven Guard up like a box with a flea in it, and then stomp on it.  Easy, right?  The gunline advanced, the Scarabs were spawned, the Solar Pulse was fired off, and I picked off most of the Assault squad at range.  Other than that, it was a quiet first turn.

GAME TURN 2

Nathaniel got both reserves in, and after conferring with Ike (who was spectating) had both Outflank.  He rolled the "you choose" option, and chose to arrive on my left flank, right behind the squishy Scarabs.  His mauled Assault squad and Vanguard Vets moved within assault range of my troops.  Then Nathaniel toasted the Scarabs with the Sternguard's heavy flamer and Solaq's pistol for First Blood.  The Land Speeder tried and failed to wound a Spyder.  The Vanguard Vets charged, won, and wiped out my Immortals.

My hopes for the Tomb Blades arriving were in vain.  I struck back at the Raven Guard with much anger but little effectiveness.  My whole Warrior squad only killed a single Assault Marine.  The Lychguard chased and got into combat with the Vanguard Vets, and slew all but the Sergeant, who was caught up in a challenge with Nihkyanh. 

GAME TURN 3

Though outnumbered, Nathaniel's Marines fought all the more ferociously.  The Land Speeder and lone Assault Marine killed a couple Warriors, and in the assault phase the Sternguard Vets punched one Spyder to death.  The lone Assault Marine was cut down by Warrior overwatch before he could get to grips with them.  Nihkyanh decked the Vanguard Sarge, won the challenge, and he and the Lychguard about-faced and headed for the distant Sternguard.

In my turn, the Warriors failed to glance the Land Speeder, thanks to its special Bird Marine re-rollable Jink, I forgot to roll for Tomb Blades to arrive, and the remaining Spyder failed to wound the Sternguard.

GAME TURN 4

Nathaniel scooted his Land Speeder towards my right flank, peppered the Warriors a bit, and otherwise focused on punching things with the remaining Sternguard and Solaq.  Despite having only a few models on the table, he was ahead by way of having First Blood and more kill points than I did, with Line Breaker if he could survive the game.

I finally got my Tomb Blades on the table, and they promptly failed to ding the Land Speeder.  I sent the Warriors out of cover and towards the Spyder-Sternguard combat, desperate to kill the Marines.  They failed their charge roll, which *spoiler!* was probably the final turning point.

GAME TURN 5

Nathaniel had nothing to do but hope Solaq and his last Vet stayed alive, and stay alive they did.  His Land Speeder zipped around and killed a few more warriors.

My turn was only a little bit longer.  The Tomb Blades futiley chased the Land Speeder, Nihkyanh and the Lychguard hoofed it as fast as they could towards the combat, and in the end only the Warriors managed to get into combat.  They did kill the last Vet, but Solaq survived.

The game ended bottom of Turn 5, with a Raven Guard victory, Nathaniel's 5 VP (First Blood, Line Breaker, and 3 enemy units killed) to my 2 VP (both Veteran units killed).  Captain Solaq rode off triumphant on the Land Speeder, leaving Nihkyanh feeling foolish, angry, and impotent.

It was a fun game, though, a nice little match that didn't take too long and that we could enjoy over coffee.  Coming up next, Nathaniel's Raven Guard take on Ike's Iron Hands.