1500 game

Played a 1500 game yesterday in practice for a potential tournmanet in Feb. Used the following list:

HQ -
Libby w/Avenger & Null Zone

Elites -
Dreadnought w/2x TL AC
Dreadnought w/2x TL AC

Troops -
5x IST w/2meltaguns & Rhino
5x Scouts w/cloaks, HB & sniper rifles
10x Tacticals w/flamer, MM & Rhino
10x Tacticals w/flamer, MM & Rhino

Fast Attack -
2x Land Speeder w/HF & MM
2x Land Speeder w/HF & MM

Heavy Support -
Predator w/LC sponsons
Predator w/LC sponsons

Against Vince's SoB who went with Palatine, 3 SoB dual melta squads in Rhino, 5 IST w/meltas, Seraphim x6, Dominions w/4 Flamers in Immo and 3 Exos. After the game we discussed him moving towards a more Immo spam list and dropping the SoB numbers as they are eating into his points (compared to say 150 for 5x Celestians w/2mguns & Immo). Whilst I also like (and get annoyed the crap out of) Exorcists, the one gun mentality and mass cover really renders them ineffectual. I referenced StJohn and Stelek's idea of inducted guard but at this points level I think he'll just spam more Immos for the tournamnet (he's ordered 8).

I forgot to take pictures and we were at Vince's house (who only has city fight terrain...) so we made believe there were some forests about. I placed my objective in a building on the right hand side and he placed his objective in the middle in the open. DoW setup and Vince choose to go first. I deployed my scouts on my objective whilst Vince moved everything on the right side to gain as much cover as possible. His shooting was failure against the scouts as he couldn't see them. I moved everything on using a smoked rhino for 3+/4+ cover on everything and zoomed by Speeders forward on the far right. Using searchlights I Immobed a Rhino, wrecked his Immo and shook another Rhino.

Vince's turn 2 was relatively ineffective as he moved up and opened fire with the Exos. Between them they managed to down one Speeder, shake the other in that squad and take off an MM in the other squad. My turn 2 saw the shook speeder zoom again to get into melta position against some Exos and my Rhino wall advance, using each other for cover. My Dreads/Preds stayed relatively still. My 2nd speeder squad used a make believe forest for cover and took down one Exo. The rest of my fire saw more Immobs and shake/stuns on Rhinos and a Pred also shook another Exo.

Vince's turn 3 saw him attempt to move as much as he could (which was his Exos, 1 Rhino & Seraphim) and was able to take down the flat out speeder. His other shooting was ineffectual. My turn 3 I was able to finally start Rhino bunkering :) and took out two Rhinos. The Rhino I took out in midfield exploded and pinned its occupants whilst also taking out two seraphim next to it. The libarian accounted for one more with his avenger (silly invul saves) and another in combat but was killed in the process. My tac squad was also able to kill the Palatine and my Dreads/Preds stunned some more stuff.

Vince's turn 4 finally saw him move his sisters tucked up in the Rhinos about as I had finally reached midfield so he could get out and hit me. One squad went after my remaining speeders (their RHino had just been wrecked) and was able to take one down with meltagun fire and stun the other in combat (we forgot about Rapid firing and assaulting...this could of changed the game!). The other squad immobilised and removed the bolter from the IST Rhino and the Seraphim and remaining Dominions went after my Scouts killing 1. My turn 4 saw me attempt move my remaining midfield Rhino towards his objective and my other Rhino & it's Tac marines took care of 6/10 sisters attacking my Speeder. Everything else levelled their guns at the Dominions and Serpahim but there was one serpahim remaining when the smoke cleared.

Vince's turn 5 saw him move his ISTs onto his objective and hiden behind an Exo. He was able to wreck the IST transport but unable to get in assault range. The previously pinned SoB squad exploded the Rhino heading towards his objective and killed two marines inside. The other SoB squad immoblised the remaining Speeder whilst the Serpahim assaulted the Scouts but died in the attempt (2 scouts left). My turn 5 was pretty ineffectual as I killed a fair amount of sisters and stunned the Exo on the objective (hoping for an explodes to get rid of those ISTs).

At this point the game ended in a draw. I'm still unsure how this list operates in taking down hordes. Whilst out of about 50 opposing models Vince only had 15+ ish left (+2 tanks) I feel I'm relying too much on the Heavy Flamers from my speeders against IG, Daemons or Orks. I'll point out how effective weight of fire is in a later post as this was another game where it really showed it's worth.

A game well played by both sides, though a couple mistakes here and there. Vince needs to refine his list a bit more but was entertaining none the less. Also a game that finally took less than 3 hours! Vince is notorious for long games :P.