The final game of Day 1 - I was put up against a 2-0 player despite my single draw. The mission was Kill Points primary and a modified table quarters for secondary - player with greatest number of scoring units secured the Table Quarter. Deployment was Dawn of War.
My opponent's list looked like this:
Brotherhood Champion w/Psybolt
Paladin
5x GKT w/Thawn, Psycannon, Psybolt
10x GKT w/Psycannons, Psybolt, Banner
6x GKSS w/MC Hammer, Psycannon, Psyback
Stormraven
Dread w/Twin-linked Autocannon, Psybolt
Cannot remember the exact layout of the GKT squads but there was the usual mix of mostly halberds plus some token swords and hammers. The 10 GKT were going tobe tough to crack without a significant amount of firepower going in and with significantly less KP than me (8-10 compared to 15) and no KP margin, I had to be careful how I played this. Getting ahead early on KP and then playing defensively would be key.
Michael won the roll-off and elected to go first.
Deployment
The GKT were deployed on the 24" mark to push me back as much as possible. I deployed Mephiston hidden inside a ruined building to make him re-think about coming any closer Turn 1 and giving me greater movement options. I should also have infiltrated the Scouts somewhere but neither here nor there.
Grey Knights Turn 1
Everything for the Grey Knights moved on with the large GKT moving backwards (and running to make sure they cannot be assault by Mephy). The Stormraven held down the middle with the 5 GKT, Dread & Champion tucked away inside and the Psyback + GKSS on the opposite flank to shoot around the central peice of terrain. The Solodin was deep-striking.
Blood Angels Turn 1
Everything moved on with the Scouts starting to climb the ruins on the right and the Flamerbacks running up the middle behind the central terrain. Two ACLC Preds parked themselves on the left flank and one on the right flank to ensure LoS wasn't impeded by the central terrain or Flamerbacks. Mephiston moved up behind the central ruins on the right to limit incoming firepower but to put a big threat bubble on the GK next turn.
Grey Knight Turn 2
The Solodin comes in from reserve and deep-strikes behind the Razorback wall. The Solodin really should have walked on and hidden himself in the backleft corner - he was unlikely to do much and was a pretty easy Kill point for an army with a bunch of melta and lascannons. The GKT edged forward to ensure they had their Psycannons and a mass of stormbolters in range but weren't being threatened by the Flamerback pile and if Mephy wished to assault them would need to be way over extended to do so. The Stormraven moved forward to get a beeline on Mephy whilst keeping the central piece of terrain between it and the majority of my army. The Psyback stayed still and pewpewed.
The Stormraven managed to take off one wound from Mephy with mindstrikes. The GKT stunned the lead Razorback and the Psyback shook another. The Solodin did nothing.
Blood Angels Turn 2
The rear most ASM squad jumped out shoot down the Solodin with some melta fire whilst the other Flamerbacks moved around their stunned brother. The ACLC Preds moved to get clear lanes of fire and Mephiston moved in to kill whatever popped out.
The ACLC Preds managed to drop the Stormraven but did nothing to the Psyback. The ASM melta'd the Solodin to death giving me an easy Kill Point and Mephiston sat and thought about what he wanted to assault. The Dread was an easy KP but killing off the five GKT would give my army a lot more room to work with but was a lot riskier in terms of Mephiston dying. He went for the Dread but took two Perils on the way in. He killed the Dread and consolidated behind the ruins to limit LoS to him.
At this point it was 3-0 Kill Points to the BA's favor.
Grey Knights Turn 3
The large GKT squad moved towards the right hand board edge to get as much LoS on Mephiston as possible with the smaller GKT with Thawn & BroChamp moving towards the Razorback wall. The Psyback moved laterally to get a side shot on one of the ACLC Preds (poor movement on my side) and shoot commences.
The large GKT takes down Mephiston with some rending Psycannons thanks to the double Perils he took getting into combat last turn and the Psyback gets wrecks the ACLC Pred taking the KP count back to 2-3. The smaller GKT squad & co are able to Wreck the Razorback they get into combat with thanks to mass S6 attacks and we're all even at 3-3 KP a piece.
Blood Angels Turn 3
At this point, being even keel on the KP, it's time for me to bail from midfield. I don't have the combat ability without Mephiston to deal with 15 GKT + extras but I do have the mobility and shooting superiority to take down the Psyback & its contents whilst avoiding the GKT. If I can get my opponent to split the GKT and get the larger squad to go after a squad or two in the right hand corner, I could also turn around and alpha-strike the smaller GKT with ACLC, mass meltaguns and combat attacks. This also raises the point - should I ever have moved into midfield as it did cost me a Razorback. I certainly didn't have to looking back - trading Mephiston for one of the easy KP (Dread) after dropping the Stormraven was a nice 2-1 trade but if the RBacks hadn't been there, the GKT could have stuck together and with only the 1 KP buffer, the chances of the GK catching up weren't as reliable as I'd like.
With this in mind all my ASM + Razorbacks move away from midfield to try and split the GKT up with the larger squad going after the two durable targets (AV13 Pred, 2+ cover scouts) in the right corner - once the GKT got close the Pred would scoot away with smoke whilst the Scouts should take a couple rounds of shooting before falling over or take a while to engage in combat due to ruins. The Preds shoot at the Psyback but only shake it and we're still squared away at 3KP each.
Grey Knights Turn 4
The large GKT squad goes to the right after the Pred & Scouts there but does no damage. The smaller GKT squad goes through midfield with the BroChamp and Thawn for company in an attempt to shoot down the BA - they kill one ASM. The Psyback continues moving around for clear shots and is able to immobilise one of the Razorbacks and shake it.
Blood Angels Turn 4
The GKT have split apart, perfect! My army turns around and looks to smash those five GKT & co for some extra Kill Points and complete midfield dominance. This includes seven melta weapons, two lascannons, one autocannon, 12 bolt pistols followed by a bunch of close combat attacks (12 power weapons, 33 normal all at S5/I5). One of the Razorbacks swings round to provide a FNP bubble for the upcoming combat and to protect the ASM from the Strikes in case their Psyback remains functional - I did move it a bit too far forward however and gave the Strikes the opportunity to assault it (it really should be back 1-2" or pivoted on its side).
My shooting does barely anything against the GKT though one Pred is able to destroy the Psyback beforehand - it kills Thawn and one other guy thanks to some excellent cover saves. Combat comes around and my terrain rolls are just bad enough which means most of my guys can only engage the BroChamp who goes all Parry Mode on me. The end result - I lose three guys, he loses one, the Bro Champ laughs off 15 wounds or so and two of my squads flee 7" with the 3rd staying locked. Very bad!
Grey Knights Turn 5
Thawn stays down! Phew. The Strike squad moves up from their ruined transport with the larger GKT squad continuing its push up the right flank. Little else can move so we go straight to shooting and combat! The GKT kill two scouts despite them going to ground and the Strike squad does nothing with shooting but they follow-up in combat and explode the Razorback.
The melee in the centre with the ASM and GKT is a stalemate with no damage inflicted on either side.
Blood Angels Turn 5
Both my fleeing ASM flee another couple of inches leaving them still within that 6" range! Ouch. The GKT on the right are getting close so the Pred zooms away and pops smoke. With most things being tied up in assault it makes sure the AV13 is point at the large GKT squad to protect its side armor. The non-fleeing ASM not engaged in combat move up with the recently disembarked Priest from the exploded Razorback to try and swing the tide with more attacks. The other Razorback immobilises itself after I'm heard to say that I hadn't even needed my dozer blades this tournament so far (what. an. idiot.).
The ACLC Pred on the left takes down a Strike Knight before the ASM charge into combat and kill one of the Terminators before losing one of their own. The BroChamp deflects everything coming his way and combat goes on.
KP is tied at 4-4.
Grey Knights Turn 6
The GKT kept moving up on the right to bring more firepower to bear on the Scouts and the Strike Squad ran through the terrain to come help out in combat against the ASM units. The GKT shoot down the Scouts with some poor 2+ cover save rolls (5-4 KP to Grey Knights) and the Strikes hammer into the ASM and wipe out the closest squad but not before they manage to take down the final GKT (6-5 KP to Grey Knights).
Blood Angels Turn 6
Both the ASM squads keep fleeing but don't make to the edge of the board despite finally rolling higher than 4"! The two ACLC Preds take shots at the large GKT squad and kill a couple and get straight into combat where the final ASM and Priest are killed. The game ends on a three and the fleeing ASM count as two more KP bringing the total to 10-5, Grey Knight way.
Conclusion
This was an interesting game because I feel like executed the plan that I wanted minus a few movement mistakes (AV11 of Pred shown to Psyback, Razorback a couple inches too far forward allowing Strikes to assault) in that I got ahead on KP, retreated and split his army and then alpha struck the smaller component. If the larger component had been there I would have continued running away which brings us back to the question - should my RBacks have ever moved in? There's arguments for them not to, particularly since I got those easy KP out of the way early by sacrificing Meph and would have had a serious range and mobility advantage without the Dread or Stormraven. With hindsight, this is probably what I should have done with the way my opponent deployed but with the ability to throw my whole army at six models and gain two if not three KP (if Thawn stood back up) was something I felt my army could do and would give me a serious KP advantage even if both the Scouts & Pred died. Unfortunately this was not the case and once I got bogged down in the centre, without Mephiston my ASM couldn't break away.
For Michael, I felt deep striking the Solodin was a huge mistake - it was a free KP for me and I'd have kept the Dread on the ground. Although none of my ASM units could damage it in combat, getting through all those meltaguns was going to be tough and at range it was an AV12 platform (tougher to kill) banging out two S8 shots a turn into my AV11 which could have netted a bigger KP differential at range than his army was capable of without it.
Anyway, great game with a lot of laughs and it was good to see Michael have a good result in the end (2nd overall iirc?). I look forward to more games with his B-cup led army!
