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| Submitted By: Wyddr Date: April 11, 2011, 02:35:48 PM Views: 2475 | ||
| Summary: Codex Space Marines Versus Imperial Guard, Annihilation, Dawn of War. | ||
1250 Imperial Fists Vs Imperial Guard: Dawn of War Kaska's nose hurt; he needed a fix but didn't wanna ask. Sarge was in business mode--nobody got a fix 'till the job was done. Kaska knew the rules same as anybody, but his fingers were twitchy and his eyelid kept jerking and his farkin' *nose* hurt. Dammit. Next to him, Basko musta been readin' Kaska's mind. "What are we waitin' for. They're just sittin' there." Sarge ripped the binoculars away from Basko's hands. "Gimmie a look, snot." Sarge rubbed his nose and peered through the early morning gloom towards the Astartes tank. Kaska squinted in the same direction. Even at the distance of two hundred meters or so, the bright yellow hide of the razorback cut an unmistakable silhouette in the weak dawn sunlight. The Astartes didn't seem very concerned about hiding; there were a lot of trees around, sure, but the tank was there, clear as crystal. "Hey, sarge..." "Shut it." Sarge growled. "Thinkin." "Sarge, you think it might be a trap?" Kaska said, his heart fluttering a bit at the idea. Sarge chortled. "Yeah--five marines in a transport, and they're setting a trap. We got 'em in the sights of three lascannons and we outnumber the farkers five to one. What's the trap, Kaska? What, they got two-hundred kilo supermen hidin' in the farkin' trees? Ha-ha." Kaska sighed. "Sorry. We gonna attack?" "Lieutenant says we're waiting for the rest of the company, just in case." Sarge said. "And before you ask, nobody gets a hit before the battle. Makes you hungry to survive it, see?" Kaska nodded. "Yeah, okay." Basko, who was staring into the open sky, giggled suddenly and pointed. "Hey, look everybody--it's a shooting star. Good luck!" Sarge and Kaska looked up; they both knew what the shooting star really meant. It meant nobody was getting any hits anytime soon. "Oh amphetamine parrot." Kaska moaned, and put on his helmet. Last weekend, my friend Ryan and I went to our LGS to play a game. He brought along one of his students, a guy named Spencer from China, for him to see a game and also to immerse him in an English-speaking environment that he'd be motivated to participate in (he's a gamer himself). Anyway, I wanted to give my little Reserve Company list another whirl, so off we went. Imperial Fists 6th Company Reaction Force HQ Captain Troilus (Artificer Armor, Relic Blade) Elites The Helots (5 Terminators w/Cyclone Missile Launcher) Brother Hektor (Dreadnought w/Plasma Cannon) Troops Tactical Squad Attica w/Missile Launcher, Meltagun, Powerfist, Combiflamer --Razorback w/TL Heavy Bolters and Storm Bolter Tactical Squad Macedon w/Multimelta, Meltagun, Powerfist, Combiflamer --in Drop Pod w/Locator Beacon The Apollonians (5 Scouts w/CCWs, Bolt Pistols, Power Weapon, Meltabombs) Fast Attack The Apollo (Land Speeder Storm w/Heavy Bolter) Heavy Support Hepheastus (Thunderfire Cannon) Lustborn Homeguard HQ Company Command Squad w/Grenade Launcher, Missile Launcher, Vox --in Chimera Elites Guardsman Marbo Troops Infantry Platoon -Platoon HQ w/Lascannon, Vox -Infantry Squad 1 w/Sniper Rifle, Vox, Lascannon -Infantry Squad 2 w/Meltagun, Lascannon -Heavy Weapon Squad (3x Lascannons) Bastonne's Veteran Squad w/3x Plasma Guns, Bastonne --in Chimera Melta Veteran Squad w/3 x Meltaguns Fast Attack Valkyrie Gunship w/Multi-laser, 2 x Heavy Bolters, 2 x Rocket Pods Heavy Support Basilisk Deathstrike Missile Standard Leman Russ w/Hull Heavy Bolter Terrain and Deployment We rolled for mission/deployment and got Kill Points and Dawn of War, so no objectives needed to be placed anywhere. The board had an autumn theme with a huge forest at board center, a two-story ruined tower in the southeast-ish, a bunch of hills, and another smaller forest in the northwest. I won the roll off and chose to go first, just so I could snag the ruin and fortify it with my Techmarine. The only thing I deployed was the Captain plus the assault portion of Attica in their Razorback. They went at the center of the board as far forward as possible, which put them smack-dab in the middle of the forest. Ryan reacted by deploying the two infantry squads combined into one and putting them in the NW forest, while the Platoon HQ went between two small hills in the NE. Both were just about 18" away or so from my Razorback, so it would be near thing if it would be spotted on the first turn. Deployment:  Attica hopes the yellow actually works as camouflage this time Turn 1 Everything moves on the board from the IG side with the exception of Marbo and the Valkyrie with Melta Vets (which was outflanking). The Basilisk and Bastonne's Chimera cruise on in the NE corner, backing up the Platoon HQ. The Lascannon squad and the Leman Russ drive on in the center, while the Deathstrike and Company Command drives on in the NW, backing up the infantry. The Russ is able to spot the Razorback through the night fighting with a solid roll and lights it up with its searchlight. Accordingly, everything that *can* shoot at the Razorback, *does* shoot at the Razorback. The cover in the woods, however, serves it well and it escapes with only a stunned result, which suits me just fine. Top of turn 1:  They converge from the East... ..the Center... ...and West. In my half of the first turn, I had some decisions to make. It was too early, as yet, to accurately predict where I was going to do the most damage, but several things were certain: (1) The center had the least amount of kill points in the toughest overall boxes--a Leman Russ and a Lascannon platoon. I could kill the second one easy and at any time, but would have to do so at range, since I didn't want to expose myself to a short range battle-cannoning if at all possible. They would have to wait. (2) The east looked juicy--4 KPs and the only short range threat was Bastonne and company and (3) the west, with 4 KPs, looked okay, but with tougher targets overall (the Infantry squad was a big blob). I decided I needed to do a couple things. First, I sent the Apollo whizzing off in the direction of Bastonne and Basilisk country in the hopes of luring Bastonne and his Vets out of their metal box and, even if the Apollo bit it, I was betting the CC scouts could put the screws to a bunch of vets without *too* much trouble. The Thunderfire Cannon would back them up, moving onto the board in the SE in a position that gave it good LOS to both the NE and the center. Macedon, meanwhile, was sent to drop on the doorstep of the Infantry squad. They hopped out and shot/roasted 8 Guardsmen, but the little buggers made their check (nuts). They would be supported in future turns by Attica-Missile, which ran/stumbled into the fortified ruin in my deployment zone, and maybe even by Hektor, who ran onto the board at about the center and popped smoke. The Razorback, stunned as it was, stayed put with its valuable cargo in-tact. The Helots, of course, were in reserve to deep strike at an opportune time. Well, hopefully, anyway. Odds were they'd drop on turn 4 and scatter off the board or something... Bottom of turn 1:  Macedon hits the infantry Hektor and Attica-Missile take the center Hepheastus backs up the Apollo Turn 2 At the top of turn 2, the Valkyrie came in (naturally) and it outflanked right next to Macedon (naturally). My boys got ready to get shot in the face. This, of course, is a large part of the squads’ job. I just hoped a *couple* of them survived to beat up the Infantry squad next turn. The odds of this were largely curtailed when the Lascannon squad nuked their drop-pod off the board, causing them to lose their cover save against some AP 3 nastiness. Between the First Rank/Second Rank of both the Infantry squad and the Command squad, the Melta Vets, the Valkyrie, the Command Chimera, and the Russ, I was left with exactly one marine--the sergeant. Did he run? Hell no, he did not. Also, as a surprise to everyone, the Deathstrike Missile actually fired. My opponent has fielded that thing at least 3 or 4 times, and it has never managed a shot before. He fired it at Hektor, more or less, hoping to catch both the dreadnought and Attica Missile in the massive blast. It, of course, proceeded to scatter 8 inches to the NW and rolled a 4" explosion--nobody was hurt. I did my best Nelson Muntz impression. The Basilisk also lobbed a shot in that direction, but this time it hit dead-on, wrecking Hektor instantly (boo!). Finally, my lure worked and Bastonne's Chimera drove 12" and dumped the guy in the Apollo's face. To my massive surprise, it survived the onslaught of plasma firepower, losing its Heavy Bolter and getting shaken only (yay!). I was in a good position there for next turn. Oh, and the Platoon HQ shot at the Razorback again, but vaporized a tree instead of it. Top of turn 2:  Eeep! Valkyrie! Nice shot, doofus. No more Macedon. Hektor Doesn't Laugh Long In the bottom of turn 2, it was time to hit back. Also, to make things even better for me, the Helots dropped in. Seeing as there was no more Macedon to support and no locator beacon to use, I decided it would be a bad idea to drop the Termies in the west just to suffer the same fate as the Tactical squad before it. I dropped them in the east, just behind a hill, and in easy shooting range of Bastonne and his boys. As the Termies gunned down 8 of the 10 Vets, leaving Bastonne and another guy, the Apollo wizzed up and dropped the Apollonians in a position to triple charge--the Basilisk, the Chimera, and the remnants of Bastonne's squad. This they did, blowing up the Bassie, killing Bastonne and his buddy, and doing nothing at all to the Chimera. However, since I was able to kill guys in regular combat, I got a consolidation move, which I used to cluster behind the Chimera and out of sight of targets further west. The Thunderfire, seeing itself as not needed in the fight against Bastonne, targeted the Lascannon squad in the open at board center. It hit three times and insta-killed all three heavy weapon squads--there, problem solved. Attica Missile tried its luck at the Valkyrie, but missed. In the west, the Razorback surged forwards and dropped Troilus and Attica-Assault out to try and melt the command squad's chimera--they missed. Fortunately they had a Razorback to hide them from the Leman Russ's wrath...of course, that hadn't worked for Macedon, so I was pretty sure I had made an error there. Finally, and also rather disappointingly, I charged the Macedon sergeant into the corner of the big infantry squad, keeping some of them out of the combat by their not having enough pile-in distance to engage. I only had to make one save to get in my three big attacks, and I tanked it at a roll of 2. So much for that. Still, it was a good turn that put the score at 3-3. Bottom of turn 2:  Lookee! Terminators! Troilus gets a little over-eager. When Apollo Attacks--Before... ..and After. Turn 3 On the next IG turn, who should show up but Marbo. He pops up next to the ruined husk of the Basilisk and lobs a demo charge atop the Apollonians. He kills 4, leaving the sergeant to swear vengeance. Also in that neck of the woods, Bastonne's Chimera and the Platoon HQ try to shoot down the Apollo, but miss or fail to penetrate. Most of the rest of the firepower on the board does its absolute best to wipe out Troilus and Attica-Assault. The Melta Vets embark into the Valkyrie as it pounds my 6 marines. It is accompanied by the Leman Russ, the Company Command, their Chimera, the Infantry squad, and the Heavy Bolter on the Deathstrike Missile. Due to constantly having the opportunity to assign wounds to my 2+ save Captain and my decision to go to ground, I only lose two guys. I use combat tactics to fall back at the end of the phase (I only go about 4-5 inches or so) and will auto-rally the start of next turn. Whoopee! Top of turn 3:  Troilus and Company take it in the face In the bottom of turn 3, my scout sergeant decides not to go for petty revenge and charges the Platoon HQ instead, putting a wound on the Lascannon team but taking none in return--he remains locked until next turn. Marbo's fate lies with Hepheastus, who plasters him with 3 blast templates and insta-kills him three times over. So much for Marbo. The Helots march in a northwesterly direction, climbing atop a hill. Their Cyclone manages to blow up the Valkyrie, killing 5 of the Vets inside and pinning them for next round (there was much rejoicing on my side of the table at that). Attica Missile sends a Frag missile in their direction, I think, but misses. The Apollo bugs out of that corner of the board, heading for safety behind the ruin but not quite making it yet. The Razorback drives up next to the Command Chimera and tries to blast it with heavy bolters in the vulnerable side armour, but it doesn't get through. Finally, Troilus and the boys make a run at the Infantry Squad and barely make it into assault. Barely is enough, as it turns out--I kill 7 and lose 1 regular marine, they break and are run down. I consolidate into *my* NW forest. Bottom of turn 3:  Sarge Vs Platoon HQ Troilus and Attica assault the woods. Turn 4 I've done pretty massive damage to Ryan in turn 3, and things don't look too good for him. The score right now is 6-3 in my favour--he needs to make up some major ground if he's going to pull out a draw, let alone a win. He starts looking for easy kill points. First on the list is the Apollo, which gets another multi-laser/heavy bolter in the backside from Bastonne's Chimera, but they only stun it. Next comes an attempt to crush *either* Troilus or the last two guys in the squad with him. They soak lots of missiles, grenades, lasers, and artillery shells from the Russ, the Command Platoon, and their Chimera, but I only lose the last normal marine--the Sarge and the cap are still unscathed, though they *are* pinned from going to ground and I don't run them this time. Still, that turn is bad news for Ryan, especially since the Scout Sarge puts an end to the Platoon HQ and consolidates back towards Bastonne's Chimera. Top of turn 4:  In the bottom of the turn, I slap a few more nails in the coffin. Attica Missile kills 3 Melta Vets with a well-placed Frag missile, the Scout Sarge stuns the chimera with a meltabomb, and Hepheastus and the Razorback move into better positions, though they don't do any more damage. The real kicker in this turn, though, is the Helots--their Cyclone puts an end to the Leman Russ by penetrating the side armour and wrecking it. At this point, his army in shambles, Ryan surrenders the match. Bottom of turn 4:  The Helots nab their second vehicle of the day The Scout Sarge shakes up the Chimera Troilus enjoys an end-game forest stroll Final Score Imperial Fists: 8 KPs Imperial Guard: 3 KPs Post-Mortem Well, that went swimmingly, don't you think? Apart from the rather terrible thwomping of Macedon (which was more-or-less expected anyway) and the death of Hektor, there was really nothing more I could have asked from my army in this game than what they provided. I kept the initiative for the whole game, more or less, and my opponent never really managed a coherent enough offence to nail me. In playing the IG (which I do a lot), I'm starting to develop some definite opinions about their pros and cons. In particular, I think spreading one's deployment across the entire zone is a bad idea. Granted, the IG has the guys to do it, but if Ryan had castled himself up better, I would have found it a lot harder to take his army apart, piece by piece. Furthermore, I know Marbo is pretty popular in some circles, but let's face it--the guy *shouldn't* be used to pop in and just toss a demo-charge. That plan of attack rarely works (it's failed against me pretty much every time he's been used against me in that way) and all it nets you is a dead Marbo. Better to pop him up somewhere in cover and move him into position more carefully. Had Ryan placed him in the central forest and moved towards my little firebase, I would have been much more nervous. The MVP of the match has to go to that lone Scout Sergeant who, more or less single-handedly, netted 3 KPs and was well on his way to a fourth by game's end. That guy's been due for a bang-up performance--he usually chokes for me. Anyway, it was a fun game. I don't know how much of it Ryan's student managed to follow, but he seemed entertained and was very interested in starting a Tyranid army (yay! more opponents!). It was a fun game, as usual, too. Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, to my opponent! |
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