Some more BA games in-bound, these two against Loriness/Denis and his Grey Knights. Mission is capture & control, dawn of war. I win roll-off and hand over to Denis who picks the side with some nice LoS blocking terrain. He puts his objective down near one of these (where his infantry can hide behind a wall and not be seen whilst holding objective) whilst I place mine more towards midfield but greater than 3" away from a similar wall in midfield. This was a mistake since I had a Tactical squad (I know, right?) for the sole purpose of combat squadding to the backfield if necessary. This was a time it was necessary. Whilst my army was aggressive, placing my objective here also gave Denis ample access.
I apologise early for the grainy photo quality - my camera died so we had to use Denis' :P. I'm also doing these games back to front because this one is far more entertaining despite similar magnitude of mistakes (both sides) being made.
Deployment
Anywho, deployment! Denis deployed both large Strike squads + Inquisitor up on the 24" line in ruins. This gave him an early presence on the board and basically forced the game to be fought close to my objective whilst his was kept safe. See the issue? His small Strike squad + Paladins would come on from reserve (via deep-strike) whilst I brought everything bar my Typhoons on Turn 1.
Grey Knights Turn 1
I didn't bother to seize so Denis moved all his Strikes up the ruins to be harder to access. Two Dreads, Psyback + Chimera w/Psykers come in on the left flank to be able to shoot obliquely behind the central piece of terrain (where my army was very likely to go) whilst the Rhinos and other Dread deploy more centrally to keep the firepower spread even.
There were quite a few things we thought Denis should have done differently here. Paladins didn't need to be deep-struck - there's a Chimera. Instead they should have walked on Turn 1 and embarked into the Chimera which could have shoved them forward Turn 2 - hello Paladins in midfield. If they didn't do this and still wanted to come in from reserve, the Inquisitor really shouldn't have been so far upfield - psychic defenses came into play. Likewise, the smaller Strike squad should have walked on, either from reserves or Turn 1. Denis had deployed his objective for his squad to be able to do this perfectly whilst still holding an objective and being protected from fire. By not doing this...his objective was left alone.
Blood Angels Turn 1
Need to get to midfield - I remember this for once :P. With the Grey Knights so close and my objective right there, it's important to get onto that objective and force Denis to push me off. I therefore move a Rhino + Razorback + Attack Bikes 18" and pop smoke - even if they die my models will be there. The other Razorbacks move behind this line to get some early shooting in whilst the Attack Bikes stay behind these Razorbacks to come out where needed. The Dreadnoughts deploy on the right and I need to stop putting them in ruins all the time - it messes with their later movement.
The Assbacks manage to kill a couple of Grey Knights from the central strike squad and we head to Turn 2. Yes that is a Reckoner Warjack pretending to be an Attack Bike - one of mine fell to pieces en route :(. Only one ASM squad got Thirsty for some Red kool-aid.
Grey Knights Turn 2
The Strike squad comes on but the Paladins fail to - Psychic Communion was hooded but they rolled a one regardless. The Strike squad comes on near the bottom left hand corner which leaves Denis' objective with nothing on it. They scatter only D6" thanks to Servo Skull. The Grey Knights in the central ruins move up to the top level whilst the Rhinos, Dreads, Razorback (pops smoke) and Chimera move forward.
Shooting sees quite a bit get smacked around - the lead Rhino has its gun blown off, immobilised and is shaken (no top hatch for you!) whilst all three of the back Razorbacks are affected in some way. The left most Razorback with Power Weapon sarge gets shaken, the central Razorback with Librarian is immobilised and the right most Razorback with Priest is wrecked. Out come some ASM!
Blood Angels Turn 2
With a lot of my early mobility crippled (three of six tanks immobilised or gone) it's time to get out - thankfully I had moved all the tanks forward between 12 and 18". Unfortunately I got caught in a classic mistake - I tried to leave myself with too many options. With small squads I need to gang up on Grey Knights otherwise their Force Weapons can be annoyingly effective at cutting through Blood Angel bonuses. Without mass power weapons on even Sarges, this is even more important. With this in mind I needed to do one of two things - shoot or assault. I tried to to do both and you can guess what happens...
Regardless! The ASM from the wrecked Razorback trundle up towards the Grey Knights in the ruins to the right of centre whilst the Tacticals jump out and join them. The Libby ASM squad jumps out of their ride as well and moves in that direction with the Libby changing squads to the far right ASM. On the left flank the shaken Razorback goes fast and pops smoke whilst the fully functional Razorback drops its cargo (who run into the central ruins) and moves in behind the smoked Razorback. This gives the Attack Bikes with some quick movement, clear lines of fire on the newly arrived Strike Squad.
Shooting sees the smaller Strike squad scrapped - one Troops unit down. The ASM meltagun in the central ruins drops a Rhino and three of the Strike squad members from the right hand squad fall over to shooting. This of course leaves the squads out of range during the assault phase thanks to difficult terrain and ruin levels.
Grey Knights Turn 3
With having been silly, Denis has a couple opportunities to take advantage of the exposed Blood Angel squads on the right. The Dreadnought there moves round to engage the Tactical squad (who has no Power Fist) whilst the Grey Knights hop down from the ruins to tackle the ASM. The fire base on the left hand side shuffles around a bit for better firing positions, the Paladins refuse to come in even with Psychic Communion (another 1!), the remaining Rhino moves into the central ruins and pops smoke and the Razorback swings round behind it for protection. Both of these models severely pressure my objective from sheer proximity and tank shockness. The central Strike squad moves so it can shoot the ASM in the central ruins as well.
Shooting sees the lead Razorback on the left destroyed with a no-one dying from the explosion (though one ASM died inside). The central strike squad kills off a couple ASM including the Priest with shooting and we quickly move to the assault phase. The Dreadnought on the right engages the Tacticals - both sides will fail to do anything for a long time. The Central Strike Squad kills off the Assault Marines and consolidates around on the 2nd level whilst the Strike Squad on the right charges the ASM with the Priest reacting into the Psycannon and the Libby into a single Swordsmen (everything else is engaged). Both sides kill two members each (Hammerhand was hooded) and we move into the next turn.
Blood Angels Turn 3
Well one of my Troops is likely tied up forever with a Dread (woops) and another is dead with Denis' two larger (yet weakened) Troops still running around. Time to balance the table here whilst also protecting my objective from later tank pushes. I move my remaining mobile Razorback who...immobilises himself. Stupid dozerblades. The ASM on the right move up to join their brethern locked in combat whilst everything else moves around to get as much firepower to bear on the Grey Knights in the central ruins. That's four attack bikes, two assbacks, two Typhoons (who just came on) and some boltpistols/meltaguns. Dreadnoughts start moving towards midfield.
All this firepower sees all but two Grey Knights + Inquisitor fall over whilst the Razorback behind the ruins is also shaken - courtesy of a friendly Rifledread. The ASM on the right charge in to help their buddies out and between them manage to kill all the Strike Squad before they can strike back (I5 ASM kill the I4 Grey Knights, I4 ASM kill the I1 Hammer) and consolidate back towards the BA objective.
Grey Knights Turn 4
Denis is down to two Troop models - winning is going to be difficult without the table. Paladins finally come in and drop behind the Grey Knight lines. The Inquisitor + Strike Grey Knights move down to the bottom level of the ruins to stare off the recently immobilised Razorback whilst the firebase mobilises by emptying the Psykers onto the tabletop and sending the Chimera forward. The Rhino and Razorback move up to butt against the central piece of terrain and put more pressure on my objective.
Shooting sees one of the Attack Bike squadrons die from Psyfledread fire whilst the Paladins kill off one Assault Marine. The Inquisitor + Strike Knights move into combat with the ASM and Immobilised Razorback with only one Grey Knight getting into combat with the ASM to maximise their chances of staying in combat next turn. One from each side is taken down and the Razorback is wrecked. Combat continues.
Blood Angels Turn 4
I need to stop those vehicles and quick smart otherwise this is going to turn into a draw. I also need to be wary of the Paladins and what they are going to do in midfield (punch shit to death). My Dreadnoughts continue their move towards midfield whilst my ASM units run laterally towards my objective with both meltaguns trailing to shoot at the vehicles behind the central terrain. The remaining Attack Bike squad moves up to engage the smoked Chimera whilst the Typhoons shuffle sideways to get some looks at the midfield vehicles + Paladins.
The Chimera is immobilised by Multi-melta fire whilst it takes the combined effort of the meltaguns and Dreadnoughts to drop the Razorback. The Rhino is shaken by the other Dreadnought and the Typhoons kill one Paladin. In combat the ASM manage to kill off the final Troop model for the Grey Knights but the Inquisitor hammers one back into the ground leaving only two left.
Grey Knights Turn 5
Without a tabling (highly unlikely), Drawing is the best the Grey Knights can do at this point. The Rhino pushes through the central terrain and parks itself near my objective but leaving space for the Paladins to come in later. The Dreadnoughts move forward in case the game continues whilst the Paladins prepare to smack the Tactical squad in combat with the Dreadnought.
Shooting sees both Attack Bikes fall over whilst in combat the Inquisitor kills the ASM (for no damage himself) whilst the Paladins free the Dreadnought on the right from the Tactical Marines in an explosion of ice blue mist.
Blood Angels Turn 5
Rhino, Inquisitor & Paladins - need to be neutralised in some way. The larger ASM squad with the Libby and Priest move back into the immobilised Rhino (which has failed to repair all game) to contest the objective there. The Dreadnoughts move up again in case the game goes on whilst the other ASM squad moves around to block the Paladins from moving directly towards the objective whilst also putting pressure on the rear objective (in case game goes on and Paladins move around the blocking unit rather than through it).
And then we close our eyes and hope melta works this time... and it does. The Rhino on the objective explodes whilst the Dreadnought on the right gets immobilised - perfect! extra blocking. The Assback does a number on the Inquisitor and causes some instant death and two Paladins take wounds (but no deaths).
We roll for game continuance and it ends, 1-0 BA.
Conclusion
We both made pretty silly mistakes in this game - I placed my objective way too aggressively forgetting I had a sit back and shoot unit and then got my ASM + Tacticals stuck in no-man's land where they got engaged by the GK. Denis simply forgot his battleplan in regards to his objective and smaller Strike Squad and as discussed above, the Paladins really should have walked on and been dragged up by the Chimera. This would have magnified my mistake and likely cost me the game. As it was, it was the other way round as I was able to wipe Denis' troops from the floor and despite having my objective placed vulnerably nor able to actually reach his (only one unit of mine ever went beyond 24" from my board edge though without any need to get there with all Denis' Troops up close to me, I never really needed to), was able to pull out the win.
Despite these grievous errors, it was a good game - we'll say they cancelled each other out haha. However, I still need to work on a BA list I'm comfortable with that isn't screwed in the KP scenarios (i.e. 20+ KP MSU) - wasn't really happy with the Tacticals in the last couple games which I'll explain more in the next bat rep (as here their uselessness was entirely my fault).
