Joined an "old school 40k" league which is using only the Combined Arms detachment, and a few tweaked rules of 7th edition. It's meant to be a laid-back casual league, where you can kick back and have fun and not worry about surprise Seer Councils or formations or anything like that. (Also no flyers, flyers are counted as Fast Skimmers. Yay for turn 1 Doom Scythe!)
Game #1, I fought Keith and his Space Wolves. All I knew about them was that Thunderwolves had eaten my Wraiths for breakfast a few years ago. They became my number one priority on my To Vaporize at Range list.
My detachment:
Keith's detachment:
My detachment:
Keith's detachment:
Harald Deathwolf w/3 Thunderwolves
Ajax "Captain Fenris" Rockfist (named Terminator) w/3 Terminators
10x Blood Claws in Drop Pod
10x Tactical Marines in Rhino
5x Wulfen, three w/TH/SS, two with Lightning or Frost claws
Venerable Dreadnought with axe and Dreadnought-equivlanet Storm Shield
We placed objectives, and also named our "enemies" for the modified mission we were playing (if killed they counted for 1 VP, separate/in addition to Slay the Warlord). I named Ajax as my target, Keith named Lord Nahz.
Keith won the roll-off and deployed first, grouping his Thunderwolves, Rhino, and Wulfen up. I laid out the gunline with the Praetorians and the Scarabs and Spyders set up to run through the Quonset huts and charge whoever they ran into. I chose not to steal, I wanted him to come to me.
GAME TURN 1
And come to me Keith did. First, the Dreadnought Drop Pod landed right by my Ghost Ark. Keith's deployed forces moved up, the Thunderwolves going the fastest.
I advanced and decided to ignore the Dread and hope for the best. Concentrated shooting, while initially underwhelming, did kill 2 Thunderwolves.
GAME TURN 2
Ajax and his Terminators deep-struck behind Kobeh's barge, and the Blood Claws' Pod landed on the right flank. I chose to use my Deathmarks' special rule and deep-strike in after the Blood Claws, intending to sweep them with 2+ To Wound rapid-fire. Turns out the Deathmarks were a bit rusty after so much time in the box, they took out a single Claw with their out-of-turn shooting attack. The Thunderwolves charged in among the huts, the Rhino dumped its Marines out and reversed, and the Wulfen advanced as well.
Ajax then threw his shield Captain America style, penned Kobeh's barge on the rear arc, and blew it up. One shot, with a shield. Stop ruining my games, Marvel. To top it off, the three Praetorians caught in the explosion couldn't be bothered to make their 3+ armor saves, or even their Reanimation rolls. And as an added bonus, the VenDread assaulted and blew up the Ghost Ark.
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| There used to be a Catacomb Command Barge there. |
The Triarch Stalker came on, and I took a chance and had him arrive right behind the VenDread. The Scarabs moved to surround the Thunderwolves, and the Warriors and Spyders prepared to hose the Wulfen and Blood Claws. The Immortals killed a Terminator, Ajax failed his morale check, and they fell back towards the Immortals, and then insta-rallied because Marines. Not as planned. The Spyders and Warriors failed to do appreciable damage to the other Wolf units. At least the Scarabs got in among the Thunderwolves and began chewing them up.
Turn 3
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| I've played Necrons for several years, but can I keep them out of assault? Nooo... |
The Wolves closed in on center field, with a little shooting, but mostly charging. The Warriors and Spyders were both charged and wiped by the Blood Claws and Wulfen, respectively. The Stalker got charged by the VenDread but came through; he hit, penned, and destroyed the VenDread's axe arm, leaving him with only the shield and S6. Not enough to even scratch the Stalker, and then the Stalker penned the VenDread in assault, but the Wolfy walker turned the tables yet again by saving the hit with his shield's invuln. The Praetorians, down to only a couple models, killed the last Thunderwolf, leaving Harald Deathwolf alone, who weathered the tide of Scarabs gamely.
I had nothing to move, nothing I didn't want to. The Immortals hosed the Terminators and killed two of them, leaving Ajax alone. It went straight to assault after that. The Stalker-VenDread combat repeated Turn 2's folly, and the Scarabs got in the one wound to KO Harald for Slay the Warlord.
Turn 4
Keith moved Ajax in against my Immortals, he successfully got into combat and challenged. Nahz, lacking an invuln and without AP2, skulked to the back line and refused the challenge. Ajax slapped a few Immortals around to vent his anger. The Wulfen joined the Stalker-VenDread combat, the Stalker weathered the blows but failed to inflict any damage.
I conceded at the end of Keith's turn 4. He had 9 VP total (First blood, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker, 2 objectives) and I had Slay the Warlord.
I think my biggest mistake of the game was not dropping my Deathmarks by "Captain Fenris" Ajax and his Terminators. I had my 2+ wounding assassin unit ready to kill something important (like, I don't know, the guy I'd selected as my target), but nooo, I dropped them off to kill some no-name Blood Claws. That and deploying the Stalker right by the VenDread, instead of deploying it on my left flank, where it could put its 36" heavy gauss cannon to use and not get tied up in CC.
The other league players were friendly, though, and they had a good atmosphere there. Laid-back, no pressure, just good times gaming. I must mention the Blood Angels-Iron Snakes showdown that was happening on the other table. Brothers of the Snake was the first 40k novel I read, so Iron Snakes have a special place in my heart.
I had nothing to move, nothing I didn't want to. The Immortals hosed the Terminators and killed two of them, leaving Ajax alone. It went straight to assault after that. The Stalker-VenDread combat repeated Turn 2's folly, and the Scarabs got in the one wound to KO Harald for Slay the Warlord.
Turn 4
Keith moved Ajax in against my Immortals, he successfully got into combat and challenged. Nahz, lacking an invuln and without AP2, skulked to the back line and refused the challenge. Ajax slapped a few Immortals around to vent his anger. The Wulfen joined the Stalker-VenDread combat, the Stalker weathered the blows but failed to inflict any damage.
I conceded at the end of Keith's turn 4. He had 9 VP total (First blood, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker, 2 objectives) and I had Slay the Warlord.
I think my biggest mistake of the game was not dropping my Deathmarks by "Captain Fenris" Ajax and his Terminators. I had my 2+ wounding assassin unit ready to kill something important (like, I don't know, the guy I'd selected as my target), but nooo, I dropped them off to kill some no-name Blood Claws. That and deploying the Stalker right by the VenDread, instead of deploying it on my left flank, where it could put its 36" heavy gauss cannon to use and not get tied up in CC.
The other league players were friendly, though, and they had a good atmosphere there. Laid-back, no pressure, just good times gaming. I must mention the Blood Angels-Iron Snakes showdown that was happening on the other table. Brothers of the Snake was the first 40k novel I read, so Iron Snakes have a special place in my heart.
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