I think the most excited I ever am about 40k is the moment when you get the first notification that a balance dataslate is out but haven't yet read it. After a couple of months of anticipation and refreshing the community page every Thursday in the month just in case that this time is the one when it drops. Sadly the moments after a dataslate is out tend to be the most disappointing, mostly due to too much anticipation (I've learnt to accept that like Tzeentch cultist I'm always after more change than is either required or likely to happen) but also as a CSM fan, they tend not to be great for us. And man was this current one not great for us. No change by itself was really out of order - I'd argue some were very good (Nurgle/Undivided strat change, Cultist respawning in both command phases all very apt) but the hits just kept coming.
With a tournament up ahead and with little time to practice I decided to go Death Guard, wrote a list and used my only scheduled practice game to test a mech heavy list with lots of Deathshroud . The list was fun, felt good and I was still either unsure of what I'd bring for CSM/sulking about the changes depending on your point of view, and started re-listening to the excellent Art of War Down Under Episode with Aiden Smalley talking about the DG Index. But that Nurgle Vindicator looked so tempting, and when CSM Rhino's had been given Firing Deck 2 I had enjoying running a Noise Marine heavy list shooting 2 Blastmasters out of a Rhino - which had gone pretty well up until I played against Eldar and lost so badly I went to play AoS for several months instead.
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| Lucius prepares to duel a technomancer as Necrons burst there way through CSM lines. |
The upside to the dataslate was that it did force a list re-think and it was fun to have a blank pallet at least without knowing what the 'best' CSM list already was. With Chosen/Accursed cultists both in the 'feels bad' category at the moment (even if they end up ok, just not fun taking nerfed units) I couldn't find a nice unit that could glue the rest of the list together and Noise Marines felt like a nice versatile all round option to fill that gap. So I called up my still pretty new at 40k brother, played a practice game against him throwing my tournament list at him, thought the list felt good and prepared to submit it - only to realise that having thrown the list without worrying about marks etc that my list was illegal (Nurglings and Lucius don't get on) so had to do a 12th hour re-write were I kept finding an awkward 200 points I never was happy with what I could take. There was then a 13th hour rewrite (wrong Mark on MoP which would have stopped him joining Possessed that a team mate spotted) and a 14th when I realised you could have a Sonic Blaster instead of a Plasma Pistol to go with Power Fist, Close combat weapon Chaos Icon and Doom Siren on the Noise Marine champion - apparently Noise Marines are expert jugglers so I ended up submitting this:
Dataslate disappointment. (2000 points)
Chaos Space Marines
Strike Force (2000 points)
Slaves to Darkness
CHARACTERS
Lucius the Eternal (95 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Doom siren
1x Duellist’s sword and Lash of Torment
Master of Possession (80 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Bolt pistol
1x Rite of Possession
1x Staff of possession
BATTLELINE
Noise Marines (85 points)
• 1x Noise Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Doom siren
1x Plasma pistol
1x Power fist
• 4x Noise Marine
• 1x Blastmaster
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
3x Sonic blaster
Noise Marines (85 points)
• 1x Noise Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Doom siren
1x Plasma pistol
1x Power fist
• 4x Noise Marine
• 1x Blastmaster
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
3x Sonic blaster
Noise Marines (85 points)
• 1x Noise Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Doom siren
1x Plasma pistol
1x Power fist
• 4x Noise Marine
• 1x Blastmaster
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
3x Sonic blaster
Noise Marines (85 points)
• 1x Noise Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Doom siren
1x Power fist
1x Sonic blaster
• 4x Noise Marine
• 3x Astartes chainsword
1x Blastmaster
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
Noise Marines (85 points)
• 1x Noise Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Doom siren
1x Power fist
1x Sonic blaster
• 4x Noise Marine
• 3x Astartes chainsword
1x Blastmaster
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
Noise Marines (85 points)
• 1x Noise Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Close combat weapon
1x Doom siren
1x Power fist
1x Sonic blaster
• 4x Noise Marine
• 3x Astartes chainsword
1x Blastmaster
4x Bolt pistol
4x Close combat weapon
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
Chaos Rhino (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Rhino (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Rhino (75 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-bolter
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
OTHER DATASHEETS
Chaos Predator Destructor (130 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-weapon
1x Havoc launcher
2x Lascannon
1x Predator autocannon
Chaos Vindicator (190 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-weapon
1x Demolisher cannon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Vindicator (190 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-weapon
1x Demolisher cannon
1x Havoc launcher
Chaos Vindicator (190 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Nurgle
• 1x Armoured tracks
1x Combi-weapon
1x Demolisher cannon
1x Havoc launcher
Possessed (280 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Chaos Undivided
• 1x Possessed Champion
• 1x Chaos Icon
1x Hideous mutations
• 9x Possessed
• 9x Hideous mutations
Warp Talons (110 points)
• Mark of Chaos: Slaanesh
• 1x Warp Talon Champion
• 1x Warp claws
• 4x Warp Talon
• 4x Warp claws
So to run through the list quickly - 3 Nurgle Vindicators were the draw to CSM (beyond them just being my favourite army.) Nurgle gave them some protection and with Sustained hits 5+ on their shooting a "reliable" nasty output (spoiler warning - that reliability wasn't as much as I hoped). I hadn't been that much of a fan of the Forgefiend prior to the dataslate anyway - it murdered things super well when it went off but it always felt like it was 30 seconds from exploding itself so the rise in points was a nice excuse to drop it especially as the damage 3 was covered elsewhere in the list. Second in was the Noise Marines and Lucius. For those who didn't fancy checking the exact wargear of the squads above - there were 2 types of Noise Marine squad - one slightly more combat focused with 3 chainswords and one with 3 Sonic Blasters instead. The combat squad also had a single sonic blaster on the Champion to give them the assault keyword as a nice little bit of tech for actions when needed (even if I dislike how the implementation of this is.) 3 Rhinos to transport them around/provide speed and protection were next in - if this was prior to dataslate they would have been Nurgle but there we are.
Undivided Possessed were the other big draw of CSM - catching a bit of a side effect of Undivided strat nerf but still capable of serious, serious damage. I'd tried 5 mans of Slaanesh briefly and not liked them, which puts Possessed in a weird spot that they either do all the damage with re-rolls to wound and dev wounds, or none without with only ap-1 (hopefully codex establishes more of a middle ground.) They were my answer to Necrons - they should blow up Wraith blob if for some mad reason they don't have FNP (or cripple them if they do) and by my dogey maths to about 8 wounds on average to a C'tan - which given C'tan have pretty much the perfect defensive profile against them (-1 damage, only wounded on 6's, fnp etc) is pretty impressive with just weight of dice to hopefully finish one off if I can soften it up first.
Predator Destructor was the next option on the list, nice little cost effect tank to add some long range firepower which left me with an awkward 200 points to fill. Ideally I'd have wanted Noise Marines best friends to fill the list, but Flamers of Tzeentch have a battleline tax now and Lucius doesn't get along with them. I wanted a Deep strike threat and backfield objective holder but couldn't find a balance that didn't leave an awkward amount of points left - in the end my options were MoP and Warp Talons (nice DS threat, not that bothered about MoP but added durability to Possessed) Cultists and another Predator (bit worried about Bring it Down/not having enough reach/mobility without a DS option) or go Daemon allies and add Masque for Lone Op with Daemonetts for a rapid ingress threat (didn't own Masque although friend did offer to borrow and would have had to downgrade Predator to Venomcrawler which I didn't like although did like the idea of the Daemon package.) Ended up wanting the Warp Talons mobility most, even if I wasn't sold on them before.
So with that all sorted the event - I'd had been to Beachhead twice before and had a lot of fun. Main reason I was going to it this year was because it did both Blood Bowl and 40k events (and like 12+ other game systems all supported) making it a rarity in the calendar and allowing both me and my Blood Bowl playing brother to go to same event which was cool. 6 rounds is one more than ideal, but far from a deal breaker even if it meant that last game could be a real battle of endurance! Whilst I really like UKTC terrain/set up its also nice to have another big tournament that runs things a bit differently, and having two similar but slightly different terrain set ups depending which table you played on was a nice twist I liked.
Round 1 - Mission A – Take and Hold, Chilling Rain, Search and Destroy v Rees Darvill's Imperial Knights
Kermit (2000 points)
Imperial Knights
Strike Force (2000 points)
Noble Lance
CHARACTERS
Canis Rex (435 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Chainbreaker las-impulsor
1x Chainbreaker multi-laser
1x Freedom’s Hand
Knight Errant (405 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Stormspear rocket pod
1x Thermal cannon
1x Reaper chainsword
BATTLELINE
Armiger Helverin (140 points)
• 2x Armiger autocannon
1x Armoured feet
1x Meltagun
Armiger Helverin (140 points)
• 2x Armiger autocannon
1x Armoured feet
1x Meltagun
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
ALLIED UNITS
Callidus Assassin (90 points)
• 1x Neural shredder
1x Phase sword and poison blades
Inquisitorial Henchmen (40 points)
• 4x Inquisitorial Acolyte
• 4x Acolyte firearm
4x Acolyte melee weapon
Yes the Army is called Kermit - not sure how well the photo's pick it up but Canis does have two expertly done pictures of Kermit painted onto his arms.
My Secondaries - Fixed - Bring It down/Storm Hostile Objective
Opponents Secondaries - Tactical.
Pregame thoughts - First time picking fixed objectives in 10th, Bring it Down v Knights bit of a no brainer, other I went for Storm Hostile given felt like we would fighting over middle objective a lot and I have good memories of The Long War secondary in 9th (also didn't want to do actions and just try and blow knights up with all firepower.) Beyond that 'hit the big things that come close' is a deep and complex plan that is often underrated - try and pick up the little Knights first and leave Knights without enough models to contest the middle objectives.
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| Imperial Knights deployment with one Armiger in reserve |
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| CSM deployment - one Rhino with a single Noise Marine squad as a forward screen with Vindicator and Warp Talons in reserve. |
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| Imperial Knights win first turn and move up to threaten, taking out a Rhino. |
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| CSM take the early hit well enough and start to manoeuvre to take out threats - Vindicators split up and this feels like an error looking back. |
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| Possessed move up and have the choice of multi charging and trying to kill 2 or just ensure one Armiger dies - I play it safe and go for the later option. |
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| Knights move in to counter attack having taken a bit of a battering - the Errant had taken 9 damage from Blastmaster fire as a bit of a bonus so was feeling good at this stage. |
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| Errant prepares to meet the Possessed head on |
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| Top left flank as Warglaive Slips past Chaos Lines and evaporates the Vindicator with its Thermal Spear in a single Salvo. |
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| Canis unleashed his firepower into the Possessed who in combination with the Errants charge are destroyed. The MoP survives, fails battle shock then gets cut down as he tries to escape. |
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| Chaos Turn 2 - suddenly things have taken a nasty turn but I have two Vindicators left and my Noise Marines are mostly intact. |
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| CSM shooting phase goes horribly, horribly wrong as both Vindicators low roll doing almost no damage. Noise Marine squads commit to the middle trying to salvage the situation. |
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| Vindicator lines up Armiger from reserve and does more damage to itself via Chaos Pact than the Armiger |
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| Blurry pic - Lucius squad and his back up squad do manage to take out a Armiger as the 2 Noise Marine Squads fighting the Errant dodge and weave well enough to slow the War Machine Down. |
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| Skipping ahead a turn here - Imperial Knights destroy everything in the middle except Lucius who barley clings to life. The bottom right flank is secured by Canis and I leave it to Knights after my Vindicator and Predator in the south are taken out. In my turn I send my remaining Noise Marines into take out the wounded Errant. When my Vindicator again low rolls into the Armiger in top right I charge it to try and slow it down. |
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| Warp Talons deep strike in to try and slow the bleeding, slowly scratching away at the Helverin at the back. I elect for Sustained hits over the more effect Lethal hits when pacting for them - needing a high roll to stay in the game. |
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| Imperial Knights smash there way into the centre taking out all meaningful resistance |
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| A bright spot for CSM as Lucius finally takes out the Armiger in the top right flank as he hides away. A Callidus teleports over to take him out but Lucius holds firm which at least allows CSM to get a trickle of points in the last few turns as he holds on with a single wound |
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| Knights however control the remaining objectives as the rest of CSM are destroyed. |
Final Score - 59 - 91 win for Knights.
Postgame thoughts - So this went wrong very quickly after a good start. Vindicators are swingy by nature but even with that in mind they badly, badly low rolled and against an army like Knight that can stat check you it was a pretty brutal way. Noise Marines are excellent at chipping away - but they can't really take on the responsibility of bringing Knights down by themselves without the big tanks taking a chunk out first.
So the mistakes I made that weren't just rolling badly - worth going into here in some detail as its basically my pregame thoughts for the next game as well and what I tried to think about after the tilting about bad rolls had passed.
- Not screening the Vindicators well enough. Whilst they can't outrange the Armigers and need to be in range to be shot back to shoot them, if I can keep Armigers 18-24 away from them with screens I can use Nurgle strat to keep them safe, or at least stopping Armigers getting 12 away would stop extra Melta damage would be a big help. Having been away from competitive scene for awhile and not facing as much anti-tank in local meta I think I'd overrated the Vindicators resistant. Rolling badly for a turn isn't so bad if you get another turn to high roll back.
- Having a Vindicator in reserve. Didn't need the mobile threat and had enough terrain to hide from turn one, and rather had extra firepower immediately turn one.
- Possessed killing one Armiger meant they traded down. Going for the multi charge, even if they don't kill both should cripple them (hopefully allowing Noise Marines to finish) and pin Knights back. Even if they did 0 damage to the second Armiger it would have saved a Vindicator by pinning alone and I think I got overly worried about the hit back in combat (only 4 attacks, FNP and invul to hopefully keep them safe.) I needed to be greedier or keep them back for a bigger knight to take out.
- Warp Talons - didn't need them in DS really. Not a massive mistake as it kept a Knight back to babysit the henchmen but starting them on the board and advancing up to North objective turn one makes it impossible for Knights to shoot them off and secures the flank with minimal effort. Not a big deal in the end, but a little thing.
- Vindicators splitting up - I was relying on them rolling average and doing a hefty chunk of damage that the Noise Marines could capitalise on. Having them focus a flank instead means even if they low roll they should at least both combine fire to help even out averages. Even if they don't (and dice made it mostly an irrelevance), trying to ensure sure overkill keeps them safer for longer makes life more awkward for Knights. Going hard on top left flank buys time for them to then commit into middle later and hopefully blast apart the Knights on the right flank.
Game 2 - Mission B – Priority Targets, Hidden Supplies, Search and Destroy v Mark Snook's Imperial Knights
Beachy Bois (2000 points)
Imperial Knights
Strike Force (2000 points)
Noble Lance
CHARACTERS
Canis Rex (435 points)
• 1x Chainbreaker las-impulsor
1x Chainbreaker multi-laser
1x Freedom’s Hand
Cerastus Knight Lancer (500 points)
• 1x Cerastus shock lance
• Enhancement: Mysterious Guardian
Knight Castellan (525 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Plasma decimator
1x Shieldbreaker missile launcher
1x Titanic feet
2x Twin meltagun
2x Twin siegebreaker cannon
1x Volcano lance
BATTLELINE
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
Armiger Warglaive (150 points)
• 1x Meltagun
1x Reaper chain-cleaver
1x Thermal spear
ALLIED UNITS
Callidus Assassin (90 points)
• 1x Neural shredder
1x Phase sword and poison blades
My Secondaries - Fixed - Bring it Down, Deploy Teleport Homer
Opponents Secondaries - Fixed - Bring it Down, Cleanse.
Pregame thoughts - So game 2 and Knights again. With the mistakes of last game in mind worth considering what's different - Extra Big Knight is an advantage as lower Knights mobility/ability to separate and Cleanse means a Knight won't be shooting (or the Callidus is in open) which is nice. Changed from Storm Hostile to Deploy Teleport Homer - means I don't have to be as aggressive in the middle if I don't want to be and can Sacrifice a Noise Marines squad a turn to screen and score points > expectation to damage. Otherwise, lets see if can learn lessons from game 1.
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| CSM deployment - Vindicators defensively deploy out of range of Armiger Melta cannons (only one in open so can Nurgle Strat if needed from big knights) otherwise mostly similar. Contrary to what I said in last game I put Warp Talons in DS again just to try and keep Callidus honest. Possessed also switch buildings from last time trying to threaten Knights deploying up North. |
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| Imperial Knight Deployment, less aggressive in middle, more in North |
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| Knights move up to get some early shots in but can't deal a great deal of damage |
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| CSM get through turn one pretty unscathed and prepare to move up in response. |
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| Side of battlefield shot - Possessed decided if they want to attack an Armiger or get greedy and go into the Lancer |
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| Noise Marine Squads in Rhinos move up, clinging to walls to cut down lines of Firepower and allowing a safe place to disembark if they are destroyed. |
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| Vindicator low rolls into the Armiger (out of the first 5 times they fired, they shot rolled a 1 for number of shots 4 times, not including a re-roll into another one.) But its combined Firepower with a Predator and Noise Marines does take out a Armiger. |
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| Get less greedy with Shooting, get more greedy with Possessed was a takeaway from last time. With the Lancer capable of a stupid amount of tank shock mortals I was very glad I could charge it rather than other way around. Whilst Possessed can't take it out they bracket the War Machine and deal it a crippling amount of damage. |
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| Knights turn 2 - Warglaive moves up to try and rescue the situation. |
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| On the south Right Canis destroys the Rhino as the Warglaive Cleanses the objective - without other Knights able to shoot them the Noise Marines disembark more aggressively than planned. |
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| The Warglaive destroys the Rhino but the passengers are fine and Possessed take out the Lancer in Knights turn |
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| The Castellan at the back low rolled had limited options to shoot turn one and did minimal damage, turn 2 it can only shoot at one Vindicator so I can use the Nurgle strat to ensure it does no damage. |
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| CSM turn 2 - I hide the Possessed in case the Castellan comes out to play. Even on primary with a healthy lead in both secondary and attrition, its about ensuring Knights don't have a way back into the game now. |
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| Combined arms warfare as infantry and tanks combine to take out the last threat to top left flank. |
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| Noise Marines disembark and start to swarm around as Rhino goes to both capture the Knights home objective and put a teleport homer down. |
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| Vindicator retreats back to 24 away- the Noise Marines ensure there isn't space for the two Knights to get closer to it so I can use Nurgle strat to keep it safe from return fire. |
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| Reverse shot of battlefield as CSM take control of the middle, keeping knights pinned back. |
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| Reverse shot from Knights deployment Zone going into their turn as two big Knights are left to face CSM. |
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| Vindicators are safe from return fire - it doesn't matter if they are low rolling as long if they can keep rolling! |
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| Castellan takes out Rhino as Canis battles for the right flank taking out Noise Marines aplenty. |
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| Warp Talons deep strike in hidden so I can use them to deploy teleport homers if needed as Vindicator moves up |
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| Another Vindicator moves in to the South, Possessed prepare to swarm the Castellan and Noise Marines capture Knight home objective/deploy teleport homers again. |
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| Possessed technically low roll into the Warmachine but its enough as they keep it pinned in. |
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| Canis is forced to jump out of the Knight as its destroyed, as Callidus moves over to cleanse. |
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| Backed into a corner the Castellan prepares to go down all guns blazing. |
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| Vindicators hide just in case something Castellan somehow frees itself but combined Predator fire and Possessed end up destroying the Knights. |
Final Score - 99 - 41 Victory to CSM.
Postgame thoughts - So the cleanse/extra big Knight were certainly points in my favour over the previous match, but really nice to learn lessons and turn around the match up in a convincing manner none the less. Vindicators were still underwhelming but making sure they had extra time to shoot and eventually get some average rolls (I can't re-iterate how often they ended up with 2 hits 1 wound no damage over the first 2 games, it was truly dire) but they were used much more effectivly. Possessed were MVP for sure - taking out near enough 1025 points and pinning Knights back whilst Noise Marines could do their jobs scoring and adding some chip damage.
Game 3 - Mission E – Take and Hold, Chosen Battlefield, Sweeping Engagement v Peter Feeney's Space Marines (Gladius Task Force)
Storm the beach (2000 points)
Space Marines
Strike Force (2000 points)
Gladius Task Force
CHARACTERS
Apothecary (80 points)
• 1x Absolvor bolt pistol
1x Close combat weapon
1x Reductor pistol
• Enhancement: Fire Discipline
Captain with Jump Pack (85 points)
• 1x Plasma pistol
1x Power fist
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (70 points)
• 1x Combi-weapon
1x Paired combat blades
BATTLELINE
Assault Intercessor Squad (75 points)
• 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant
• 1x Astartes chainsword
1x Plasma pistol
• 4x Assault Intercessor
• 4x Astartes chainsword
4x Heavy bolt pistol
Heavy Intercessor Squad (200 points)
• 1x Heavy Intercessor Sergeant
• 1x Bolt pistol
1x Close combat weapon
1x Heavy bolt rifle
• 9x Heavy Intercessor
• 9x Bolt pistol
9x Close combat weapon
7x Heavy bolt rifle
2x Heavy bolter
Intercessor Squad (80 points)
• 1x Intercessor Sergeant
• 1x Bolt pistol
1x Bolt rifle
1x Power weapon
• 4x Intercessor
• 1x Astartes grenade launcher
4x Bolt pistol
4x Bolt rifle
4x Close combat weapon
Intercessor Squad (80 points)
• 1x Intercessor Sergeant
• 1x Astartes chainsword
1x Bolt pistol
1x Bolt rifle
• 4x Intercessor
• 1x Astartes grenade launcher
4x Bolt pistol
4x Bolt rifle
4x Close combat weapon
OTHER DATASHEETS
Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (170 points)
• 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant with Jump Pack
• 1x Plasma pistol
1x Power weapon
• 9x Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs
• 9x Astartes chainsword
8x Heavy bolt pistol
1x Plasma pistol
Eliminator Squad (75 points)
• 1x Eliminator Sergeant
• 1x Bolt pistol
1x Close combat weapon
1x Instigator bolt carbine
• 2x Eliminator
• 2x Bolt pistol
2x Bolt sniper rifle
2x Close combat weapon
Eradicator Squad (95 points)
• 1x Eradicator Sergeant
• 1x Bolt pistol
1x Close combat weapon
1x Melta rifle
• 2x Eradicator
• 2x Bolt pistol
2x Close combat weapon
1x Melta rifle
1x Multi-melta
Eradicator Squad (95 points)
• 1x Eradicator Sergeant
• 1x Bolt pistol
1x Close combat weapon
1x Melta rifle
• 2x Eradicator
• 2x Bolt pistol
2x Close combat weapon
1x Melta rifle
1x Multi-melta
Gladiator Valiant (150 points)
• 1x Armoured hull
2x Multi-melta
1x Twin las-talon
Inceptor Squad (130 points)
• 1x Inceptor Sergeant
• 1x Assault bolters
1x Close combat weapon
• 2x Inceptor
• 2x Assault bolters
2x Close combat weapon
Incursor Squad (85 points)
• 1x Incursor Sergeant
• 1x Bolt pistol
1x Occulus bolt carbine
1x Paired combat blades
• 4x Incursor
• 4x Bolt pistol
1x Haywire Mine
4x Occulus bolt carbine
4x Paired combat blades
Repulsor (190 points)
• 1x Armoured hull
1x Hunter-slayer missile
1x Las-talon
1x Repulsor defensive array
1x Twin lascannon
Sternguard Veteran Squad (180 points)
• 1x Sternguard Veteran Sergeant
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Combi-weapon
1x Sternguard bolt pistol
• 9x Sternguard Veteran
• 9x Close combat weapon
9x Combi-weapon
9x Sternguard bolt pistol
Storm Speeder Thunderstrike (160 points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Stormfury missiles
1x Thunderstrike las-talon
1x Twin Icarus rocket pod
Secondaries - tactical from both players.
Pregame thoughts - Not as much anti tank here to deal with which was nice especially if I could take out their armour early. Mission was interesting, the placement of objectives meant primary could be very passive with 2 safe objectives. I deployed to the left aggressively as a result trying to pressure Marines as much as possible as my secondary game without Nurglings was a bit vulnerable to most of the 'movement' secondary options so I wanted to disrupt primary as early as possible. Sternguard combi-weapons were a real threat to Possessed - I wasn't going to play around it (Pressure > Safety) with aim to rely on volume of wounds and supporting units to follow up.
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| CSM deployment - far left objective in the far left building so Possessed and 2 Rhino's filled with Noise Marines prepare to charge up. Weakish presence in middle (very open, everything will die) with some troops to defend right. |
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| Space marine deployment, lone op reactive move Lieutenant in the middle |
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| Space marines win first turn and start moving up. The middle and right hide back after stickying both home objectives and take a few pot shots as CSM to little effect. |
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| Space Marines make an early push for right flank, in my turn Noise Marine disembark to repulse the attack. |
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| Rhino moves up to take care of Lieutenant - there's no reactive move with other threats around so I keep 9 away and unload Blastmasters into him to take him out. |
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| Blurry pic - Possessed move up advancing to force the issue on the left flank. I have option of advancing a Noise marine squad onto the objective needing a 2 or 3 from memory - I elect not to and hide them in the middle bottom ruin and soften up the Heavy Intercessor Squad with a Blastsmaster given its a nice profile into them. |
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| Space Marine early push is repulsed with only Gladiator remaining which gets charged to little effect by Noise Marines. |
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| Sternguard disembark from Repulsor and prepare to take out Lucius and his Noise Marines. |
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| No easy way into middle for Marines - although Eradicator are hiding in the Ruin to the right the Repulsor |
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| Right flank is a little bit of deadlock - CSM are kept pushed in but Space Marines have no way to push through. |
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| Possessed escape the Marine turn unscathed and are in position to strike. |
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| Things go wrong in the backfield for me - Space Marine reinforcements drop in and the Assault Intercessors make the 9 inch charge to take out my Noise Marines although I do hold the objective thanks to my tanks. |
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| So options here - I can pull Possessed back, or keep pushing forwards. I figure I hold my objective for now with my tanks and decide to keep pressure on Marines. |
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| Still no breakthrough on the right flank as my Powerfist keeps bouncing off the tank - at least its secure but with only a Incursor squad in the bottom right Ruin to hold the flank I really want to pressure Marines. |
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| Predator comes back to soften up the Assault Intercessors whilst I keep upfield pressure on. Don't like leaving my objective vulnerable but at least can do same to Marines and figure I might not get another shot upfield. |
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| Sternguard are the main threat to Possessed with Combi-weapons. I have to deal with the threat of them jumping back into Repulsor if I charge them so elect to try and destroy it with my shooting. After it pop's AoC I elect to shoot Sternguard instead and send Possessed after a Intercessor squad instead to ensure I take objective off them. |
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| Noise Marines charge some Eradicators but end up bouncing off them. |
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| Rhino frustrated with lack of progress rams into the Lancer to make some progress upfield. |
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| Assault Intercessors are left mostly alone as a result and they + Repulsor move in to contest middle. |
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| Eradicators fall back and shoot Noise Marines before charging in to remove Noise Marines as a threat. |
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| Backfield grasp goes Marines way as they take out a Vindicator but can't shift me from the middle. |
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| Mass charge into Possessed on top left flank after every spare gun unleashes into them. Possessed take the charge |
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| Chaos finally break through on the top right flank, Rhino takes the objective as Noise Marines charge on ahead. |
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| Repulsor remains a pain but CSM have control of objective. |
 |
| Assault Marines have been a problem in my backfield all game, but my guns are finally free to shoot them without other priorities. |
 |
| Problem solved. |
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| Warp Talons DS in and take fight to the remaining Marines on the left flank to speed up the Possessed (by now inevitable) victory. Marines finish the turn with only the Repulsor on the field. |
Result - CSM win 100 - 34
Postgame thoughts - So this went pretty much to plan. Marines ended up getting bullied on primary only scoring 10 all game and the lack of board control lead to secondaries being awkward for them. Possessed were excellent, causing problems without doing crazy damage for a change. The Assault Marines in my backfield were an issue but holding the centre meant I didn't have to worry and I was happy I didn't end up overreacting (I hate having home objectives under enemy control.)
Game 4 – Mission M – Purge the Foe, Chilling Rain, Crucible of Battle v Paul Lacey's Necrons (Hypercrypt Legion)
Beach head 24 (2000 Points)
Necrons
Hypercrypt Legion
Strike Force (2000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Chronomancer (50 Points)
• 1x Chronomancer’s stave
C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer (255 Points)
• 1x Gaze of death
1x Scythe of the Nightbringer
C’tan Shard of the Void Dragon (270 Points)
• 1x Canoptek tail blades
1x Spear of the Void Dragon
1x Voltaic storm
Hexmark Destroyer (70 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Enmitic disintegrator pistols
Imotekh the Stormlord (100 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Gauntlet of Fire
1x Staff of the Destroyer
Plasmancer (80 Points)
• 1x Plasmic lance
• Enhancements: Arisen Tyrant
Technomancer (60 Points)
• 1x Staff of light
BATTLELINE
Immortals (140 Points)
• 10x Immortal
• 10x Close combat weapon
10x Tesla carbine
Immortals (70 Points)
• 5x Immortal
• 5x Close combat weapon
5x Gauss blaster
OTHER DATASHEETS
Canoptek Wraiths (220 Points)
• 6x Canoptek Wraith
• 6x Particle caster
6x Vicious claws
Deathmarks (65 Points)
• 5x Deathmark
• 5x Close combat weapon
5x Synaptic disintegrator
Monolith (350 Points)
• 4x Death ray
1x Particle whip
1x Portal of exile
Night Scythe (145 Points)
• 1x Armoured bulk
1x Twin tesla destructor
Triarch Stalker (125 Points)
• 1x Particle shredder
1x Stalker’s forelimbs
Pre game thoughts: So played Necrons a few times, but never Hypercrypt - units like Possessed and Vindicators were taken directly for a match up like this so perhaps this is the 'purest' test of the list possible in terms of match up. With this game the first of day 2 was nice to 'send out the call' to team mates for advise (thanks Denis in particular) and work out what Monolith did in particular. Didn't help me with my plan as I forgot most come next morning but hey its the thought that counts? Gameplan ended up being mostly generic - Necrons didn't have much long range so protect Vindicators, use Rhinos/Noise Marines as bait to force Necrons to commit and unleash all my damage into whatever came forward.
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| CSM deployment - Vindicators hidden, Predator bit more visible but can be protected via Strat. Possessed in building to threaten middle/right objective. |
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| Necron deployment pre Monolith - ends up North of Wraith unit. |
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| Necron backfield protected as Immortals are in Night Scythe |
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| Sadly win first turn, 2 Rhino's move up to cleanse and a Vindicator deals no damage. Moving on! |
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| Shot from left of battle as Necrons prepare their moves. |
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| 2 C'tan on bottom right flank and both sides are wary - 2 Vindicators keep C'tan back to snipe at Rhino, whilst Vindicators hold back so they can't be charged. |
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| Necrons go hard on top left flank with Wraiths, Night Scythe and Monolith all attacking from various angles. Immortals briefly pop out of Night Scythe to shower CSM with shots as I lose a Rhino and Noise Marine squad. |
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| CSM lose a Rhino but hold right. Noise Marines try and soften up Hexmark - they don't do much but force a battleshock which results in the Hexmark being unable to overwatch. |
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| Turn two here is...a struggle. Vindicators have a another really poor turn of shooting as I struggle to kill the Night Scythe and it requires every last shot of every gun able to target it leaving me with nothing for either Wraiths or the disembarking Immortals I'd hoped to soften up. I charge them with the Vindicator who at least tank shocks better than he shoots. 2 Noise Marines charge Deathmarks but only kill a few, all who end up regenerating in Necron turn. |
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| It doesn't go much better here. Hexmark survives on a wound and my turn 2 feels like a blow out. |
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| C'tan start to move up - they can't get any charges off yet but cause some damage with their shooting. |
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| Necrons are ahead on primary and slaughtering me on Secondaries as they commit to the left flank hard. |
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| CSM repulsed from middle as Monolith blows up a Vindicator. Wraiths charge in to Lucius who strikes first and takes out the Technomancer. Necrons are were up 14 points at end of turn 1, up 18 by end of 2. |
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| Possessed have been trying to threaten middle/right but I can't keep them back any longer. My Predator soften up the FNPless Wraiths and Rhino moves in to keep them occupied. Noise Marines led by Lucius fall back and charge into the middle and Possessed go all in on trying to take out the Monolith. |
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| I need a hell of a turn and up top things go great. Make all my charges, Possessed exactly kill the monolith and Noise Marines with Lucius take the centre from the Deathmarks |
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| Two C'tan on the South remain a threat but Vindicator finally remembers how to use its guns and deals 8ish damage to the Nightbringer to soften it up. I'm still behind even after my turn but there's been a swing in the attrition war. |
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| I'm out of screen and immortals teleport 3 away from the Predator and move after shooting onto my objective to take Capture enemy output. |
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| Necrons score heavily but kill nothing of note in their turn. In response I kill in the immortals on my objective, take out Nightbringer and Stalker (which went to middle to fight Possessed.) Warp Talons also take the Necron home objective. |
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| Balance of power is shifting - its a question of if Necrons can hold onto their lead before the game ends. |
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| Every dice rolls feels pivotal at this stage - Void Dragon softens up a Noise Marine squad that threatens to take the objective it he leaves it, just failing to kill them to deny Necrons the 'kill' part of the mission primary for the first time. |
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| CSM hold the middle as they start to catch up on primary. |
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| Rhino and Predator keep Wraiths/Cryptek busy - the Predator tries to kill the Cryptek but leaves it on a single wound. I'm not bothered by this until Necrons draw behind enemy lines next turn! |
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| Turn 5 for Chaos - Possessed move up to take out Wraiths and ensure I kill something this turn. |
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| Its maths time - Necrons having been decimated on scoreboard find themselves behind and need a YOLO play. After some time they find it - DS Void Dragon 9 away, get Behind Enemy Lines for max and Storm Hostile objective if they charge Vindicator to end up 4 points behind, if they kill it they tie the game. It rolls several ones to hit and wound and I have 3 saves to make. I make two and the Vindicator clings to life with the literal last dice of the game! |
Final result - CSM win- 89 Necrons 85!
Postgame thoughts - What a game. So many twists and turns and a final dice roll to decide outcome, one of those games I'll remember in years time. I really thought I'd lost it when the Monolith rolled 6 hits with 3 shots against a Vindicator and blew it up whilst I was behind on scoreboard. Turns out however, that Vindicators can actually do serious damage and Possessed killing Monolith almost solo (there was some minor but vital chip damage from blastmasters in lead up) in a turn was a pivotal moment. Its and odd game looking back on - I was arguably too passive on a mission were I went first on hold/hold more kill/kill more primary that favoured going second especially against a army that should comfortably outscore me on secondaries. But on the other hand, holding back the Possessed until they had an ideal target worked and they swung the game in a way no other unit could have done (as opposed to using them as forward pressure were they could be chipped down.) Fantastic game, thrilled with the narrow win!
Game 5 – Mission F – Supply Drop, Chilling Rain, Search and Destroy v Tom Spicers Thousand Sons.
Magnus and Son
Thousand Sons
Cult of Magic
Strike Force (2000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Ahriman (130 Points)
• 1x Black Staff of Ahriman
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Psychic Stalk
Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (135 Points)
• 1x Arcane Fire
1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
• Enhancements: Athenaean Scrolls
Exalted Sorcerer on Disc of Tzeentch (140 Points)
• 1x Arcane Fire
1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
• Enhancements: Lord of Forbidden Lore
Infernal Master (105 Points)
• 1x Force weapon
1x Inferno bolt pistol
1x Screamer Invocation
• Enhancements: Arcane Vortex
Magnus the Red (440 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Blade of Magnus
1x Gaze of Magnus
1x Tzeentch’s Firestorm
Thousand Sons Daemon Prince with Wings (195 Points)
• 1x Hellforged weapons
1x Infernal cannon
BATTLELINE
Rubric Marines (105 Points)
• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer
• 1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
1x Warpsmite
• 4x Rubric Marine
• 4x Close combat weapon
1x Icon of Flame
1x Soulreaper cannon
3x Warpflamer
Rubric Marines (105 Points)
• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer
• 1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
1x Warpsmite
• 4x Rubric Marine
• 4x Close combat weapon
1x Icon of Flame
1x Soulreaper cannon
3x Warpflamer
Rubric Marines (105 Points)
• 1x Aspiring Sorcerer
• 1x Force weapon
1x Warpflame pistol
1x Warpsmite
• 4x Rubric Marine
• 4x Close combat weapon
1x Icon of Flame
1x Soulreaper cannon
3x Warpflamer
OTHER DATASHEETS
Mutalith Vortex Beast (165 Points)
• 1x Betentaled maw
1x Mutalith claws
1x Warp vortex
Mutalith Vortex Beast (165 Points)
• 1x Betentaled maw
1x Mutalith claws
1x Warp vortex
Thousand Sons Cultists (60 Points)
• 1x Thousand Sons Cultist Champion
• 1x Brutal assault weapon
1x Cultist firearm
• 9x Thousand Sons Cultist
• 9x Brutal assault weapon
9x Cultist firearm
Thousand Sons Cultists (60 Points)
• 1x Thousand Sons Cultist Champion
• 1x Brutal assault weapon
1x Cultist firearm
• 9x Thousand Sons Cultist
• 9x Brutal assault weapon
9x Cultist firearm
Tzaangor Enlightened (45 Points)
• 1x Aviarch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Fatecaster greatbow
• 2x Enlightened
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Fatecaster greatbow
Tzaangor Enlightened (45 Points)
• 1x Aviarch
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Fatecaster greatbow
• 2x Enlightened
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Fatecaster greatbow
Pregame thoughts - Not sure what to expect here, hadn't played against TS yet this edition. Still I was confident that I'd have more damage and if could play the game about 24 away I'd have the edge. Going second here was nice - with objectives mostly in the no mans land without a way to hide going building for building I was going to to try and not commit, force TS forward with scoreboard pressure as I had last turn to score and hit units as they moved up.
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| TS deployment - Rubrics hiding in building, Magnus and the Vortex beasts hiding out of range of Vindicators. |
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| Magnus always feels like he's in a "Is this your card" pose with his hand like that to me. |
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| CSM deployment - heavy on flanks to try and deny TS access to objectives, Possessed to hit anything that goes into the middle. |
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| TS win first turn and take some long range pot-shots destroying a Rhino whilst staying back out of range of Vindicators. Cultists and Tzaangors move up to pin CSM in as Noise Marines take them out. |
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| Vindicators and Vortex beasts trade shots both Beasts are injured in CSM's opening volley but neither are taken out. |
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| TS turn two - Tzaangors make it through unscathed to the objective as I'm about to be introduced to Cabal points properly. |
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| TS move up committing to the top left flank. |
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| No points for holding your home objective so I'd moved the Noise marines up in my turn rather than screen. TS draw Behind enemy lines and Deploy teleport homers as a grateful Daemon Prince Teleports across with (presumably) a big mocking grin on its face. |
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| Vortex beasts move towards the middle and the first Beast manages to single shot a Vindicator. |
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| Cabal points remove my Vindicators armour save and Flamers destroy the tank and pin my Warp Talons (behind building) down. |
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| Noise Marines move up to try and retake the objective |
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| I don't have any easy way to contest the middle with a disposable unit which is a worry. |
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| The Possessed stay patient, not wanting to rush their entry into the fight and get taken out (although they kept getting hit by my tanks exploding regardless.) Vindicator at bottom of shot only survived the turn thanks to Nurgle diverting Magnus's eye. |
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| Lucius leads a long bomb advance and charge into the Tzaangor on the objective to deny TS primary. |
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| Noise Marines charge into the Daemon Prince to try and slow him down, but are far short of the damage required. |
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| Warp Talons have to stay behind wall to counter the threat of overwatch and allow Noise Marines to move. I'd hoped to battleshock a flamer unit to allow them to move freely but it hadn't happened. |
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| With Vindicators taken care of Magnus commits to the objective on the right. He goes for extra movement rather than -1 damage. Lucius feels very, very, very small in comparison. |
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| Overview of battle from TS deployment |
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| TS move up to try and take out what remains of my top left flank. |
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| Blurry pic - I heroic in to avoid overwatch with the Warp Talons but the Infernal magister counter charges the counter charge and Warp Talons and Noise Marines are whittled away as I lose control of the flank. |
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| Magnus doesn't have -1 damage up and I'm down on attrition score and damage. Its go time for the Possessed - they fail the 7 needed to charge with a re-roll and everything collapses. |
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| TS purge the remainder of left flank. |
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| Possessed are my last unit, but Magnus comfortably picks them up by himself with the Vortex beast cheering him on for support. |
TS Win 73-19
Postgame thoughts - Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch, this was painful, this was bad and probably the most demoralised I've been after a game such a bad loss. Nothing to do with opponent for clarification (was lovely, and played exceptionally well) just felt like nothing I did mattered. Fair to say this game didn't go well on any level, and I can't even blame the dice like game 1! I hadn't played TS before and I just got picked apart and felt so helpless about it. The Possessed failing charge on Magnus felt like a big moment (especially on the Omega objective) but in reality it was the difference between a thrashing and a bad loss. The loss was bad enough I considered dropping (my brother was waiting on me to finish R6 either way given his Blood Bowl event had already finished) but elected to stay. What's annoying is, even looking back I struggle to think of what I'd do differently - I liked my overall plan, micro felt decent and look were it ended up. One I'll need to rethink once I've got some more familiarity with TS and purge from my brain until then!
Game 6 – Mission N – Priority Targets, Chosen Battlefield, Dawn of War v David Bannisters Eldar.
brighton elfs (2000 points)
Aeldari
Strike Force (2000 points)
Battle Host
CHARACTERS
Farseer (80 points)
• 1x Eldritch Storm
1x Shuriken pistol
1x Singing spear
Spiritseer (80 points)
• 1x Shuriken pistol
1x Witch staff
• Enhancement: The Weeping Stones
The Yncarne (350 points)
• 1x Swirling soul energy
1x Vilith-zhar, the Sword of Souls
Yvraine (100 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Kha-vir, the Sword of Sorrows
1x Storm of Whispers
BATTLELINE
Guardian Defenders (110 points)
• 10x Guardian Defender
• 10x Close combat weapon
10x Shuriken catapult
• 1x Heavy Weapon Platform
• 1x Bright lance
1x Close combat weapon
OTHER DATASHEETS
Rangers (55 points)
• 5x Ranger
• 5x Close combat weapon
5x Ranger long rifle
5x Shuriken pistol
Skyweavers (95 points)
• 2x Skyweaver
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Skyweaver haywire cannon
2x Star bolas
Skyweavers (95 points)
• 2x Skyweaver
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Skyweaver haywire cannon
2x Zephyrglaive
Support Weapons (125 points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x D-cannon
1x Shuriken catapult
Support Weapons (125 points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x D-cannon
1x Shuriken catapult
Troupe (165 points)
• 1x Lead Player
• 1x Aeldari power sword
1x Fusion pistol
• 10x Player
• 3x Fusion pistol
10x Harlequin’s special weapon
4x Neuro disruptor
3x Shuriken pistol
Wraithguard (380 points)
• 10x Wraithguard
• 10x Close combat weapon
10x Wraithcannon
ALLIED UNITS
Mandrakes (65 points)
• 1x Nightfiend
• 1x Baleblast
1x Glimmersteel blade
• 4x Mandrake
• 4x Baleblast
4x Glimmersteel blade
Mandrakes (65 points)
• 1x Nightfiend
• 1x Baleblast
1x Glimmersteel blade
• 4x Mandrake
• 4x Baleblast
4x Glimmersteel blade
Scourges (110 points)
• 1x Solarite
• 1x Close combat weapon
1x Shardcarbine
1x Solarite weapon
• 4x Scourge
• 4x Close combat weapon
2x Dark lance
2x Drukhari haywire blaster
Pregame thoughts - So this felt like a moment in time - the last time I'd played 6 Noise Marines v Craftworlds was the game I mentioned near the start that went so badly I started doing AoS > 40K and whilst that was 2 dataslates ago the lists were broadly similar. Both sides had taken some hits since then, so who had rebounded better? This was similar to game 3 - both in mission and my approach. 3 objectives had ended up close to middle so I wanted to be aggressive around them and ended up deploying heavier on left with my mobile units as a result. D-Cannons and Wraithguards were the units I was most worried about, the former I'd just ignore and hope they didn't murder me too effectively, the later I planned to introduce to Possessed and Vindicators and hope they exploded (and snipe Spiritseers with MoP or Lucius respective precision attacks). Simple right?
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| Eldar deployment from their perspective. |
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| Eldar took first turn and moved up Wraithguard whilst Rangers advanced to get a tempting target. |
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| Yncarne teleports so quickly to a D-Cannon destroyed Rhino that I don't even get time to photo my deployment. |
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| Possessed get a big advantage as they stage to attack next turn. Vindicators remain around 21ish away so Wraithguard would have to Phantasam forwards to be in range of shooting back. |
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| I forget to use Grenade strat until its too late and its ends up hurting, 2 Vindicators, Predator and Noise Marine Squad up throwing everything at Yncarne including a tank shock and leave it on a single wound left - at least forcing some CP and fate dice usage. |
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| Noise Marines make short work of Rangers as Eldar prepare for turn 2. |
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| Wraithguard adjust themselves to line up shots into my Rhino. |
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| Vindicator had deployed to far right early and found itself out the game, having to advance in my turn 1 to try and make an impact later but it had kept it safe. |
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| Yncarne falls back and I try and overwatch it, but it stays alive as Harlequins to the north move up (end up advancing forward further.) |
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| Mandrakes start teleporting around scoring secondary points. |
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| Yncarne destroys my Predator with my Noise Marines feeling out of position. Its go time for CSM though and they take out Yncarne at start of turn easily enough. |
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| Sheer unadulterated brutality from CSM in the middle. Vindicators remember they are meant to average more than 2 hits and unleash a vicious barrage into the Wraithguard (who had failed to get -1 to wound from Farseer.) Softened up the Possessed who'd tanked a barrage of D-Cannon shots rip the rest apart. The various Noise Marine squads tear into the Harlequins and take all but Yvraine out who is wounded twice. |
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| Given the onslaught Eldar have to throw their full weight of dice back to Possessed - ending up a inch over the wall with the Guardians so they can Phantasm back behind the wall if needed. |
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| Yvarine falls back and does some serious damage but when Possessed survive the turn the writing is on the wall for Eldar. Warp Talons and Possessed charge the two D-cannons and my tanks and Noise Marines take out the Guardians. |
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| Scourge place a teleport homer down, but that's its for Eldar's turn. |
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| CSM table Eldar as they wrack up a big win. |
Final Score - CSM win 97-51.
Postgame thoughts - So happy to have stayed, this was a real nice example of what CSM can still bring if given the chance - pure violence. This game more than any other was one for the Noise Marines to shine with there various sonic weapons well equipped to deal with any Eldar infantry that dared to show its face.
So I finished 38/162 players - towards the bottom of the 4/2 bracket with the hefty loss in game 5 really pushing me down. Given some of the horror stories that came out about CSM win rate over the weekend it seems pretty good all things considered and I was happy with how I played generally.
As for the list - it was really fun and it feels like it has a really nice base if not the finished article. Both HQ's felt questionable - Lucius probably needs a bigger squad to make use of Fights first to be good, MoP felt like a nice to have rather than key piece of puzzle - 80 points for a 6+ FNP doesn't feel like it offers enough, although its nice v damage 3 (if Doomstalkers become prevalent worth another look.) Lucius is needed for 6 Noise Marines squad - and I'm not sure 6 is needed. 3 in two Rhinos with A.N Other squad of something might be fine, but if a lighter infantry meta develops (Craftworld Aspect Warriors or Drukari) then going back to 6 does seem like a good choice and it never felt wrong having as many as I did. As for the difference between the more combat/range focused squads - the Sonic Blasters felt every so slightly better than chainswords but honestly the two were pretty similar most of the time.
Rhino's did Rhino things - if I did keep to 6 Noise Marines squads only having 2 and having points for something else I think would work (and make Bring it Down less appealing) but I'd need extra speed or DS options - I really wanted Bikers for this but couldn't find a nice unit to take alongside them in that awkward 200 points I mentioned earlier. Warp Talons are another unit I was lukewarm on - Raptors could probably replace them well enough.
As for the heavy tanks - The Predator Destructor didn't get many mentions or moments of glory but was low key very handy and I'd certainly be interested in adding a second. The Vindicators - well were do I start? Given they should average 100% hits after they pact they fell well below that (at least on their main cannon, the havoc launcher felt like it hit about 10 times on average) but man whey they hit, they do some awesome things. They felt rather fragile for their points without an invul - certainly noticed the increase of bigger guns to take them out compared to casual play even with a 2+ save. 2 of them and 2 Predators feels like way forward but if Necron 'big tough scary stuff' units keep expanding as meta then the pure damage potential of Vindicator might keep 3rd in a list. I'd love a unit that had a few layers of defences like the Possessed with MoP as a cheaper bruiser unit (which basically described Accursed Cultists) that and the teleporting around table tricks is what the army felt it wanted most.
Finally the Possessed. Wow what a unit. Expensive, little fragile for cost but if you need something dead and you have a CP you might as well remove it. Need the right target for sure to make sure you get value but just incredible. Wouldn't add a second unit, hope the codex tweaks them so they are in a nicer middle ground but absolute star unit again and again - no coincidence that games I lost were the ones they did badly and the ones they did well I won (including carrying the army what felt like single handed through the Necron game.) Had some nice synergy with Noise Marines in that they both dealt with units the other could struggled with.
Until next time!
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