Edit: I'm re-adding the pictures currently guys, sorry they got warped when posted for some reason.
The second of three mirror matches! This one was against a Stormraven based list with supporting Razorbacks. The mission was a standard rulebook one with five objectives placed in the centre of the board alternatively by players with Kill Points as secondary. Deployment was Dawn of War. Opponent's army list was:
Mephiston
Chaplain
Furioso Dread
2x5x ASM w/LasPlas (one with meltagun, one with flamer)
5x Death Company w/3 Power Weapons
2x Stormravens
The Death Company and Furioso were in one Stormraven and Mephiston in another so I was going to have combat units in my lines ASAP and my meltaguns weren't going to be as reliable at taking down the Stormravens as I would like - the ACLC Preds will need to help out here. Getting the charge off in the BA mirror match is important, particularly with Mephiston so there are really two options going here for myself. 1) go for the complete annihilation of the army, get everything out to maximise my chances of taking down a Stormraven and then charge/shoot what comes out. 2) stay inside and use my ACLC Preds to shoot down the Stormravens and then force my opponent to disembark me. Depending how my opponent uses the Stormravens will dictate how I respond.
Deployment
I win the roll-off and give my opponent the first turn the give myself more options in relation to objectives late game (i.e. contesting) and there is going to be no advantage to going second against the Stormravens in Dawn of War (they will move on Turn 1 with a turbo-boost). My opponent and I both deploy our Scouts on objectives with everything else coming in Turn 1.
Stormraven Blood Angels Turn 1
Both Stormravens move on turbo-boost style the full 24". The two LasPlas RBacks move on the right flank a full 18" and park near an objective there. Nothing else!
Mech Blood Angels Turn 1
I move on everything on the right with the Preds in the far right corner - this presents AV13 to the LasPlas and will force the left most Stormraven to go fast to get to the bulk of my army (risky deepstrike therefore needed to assault) or launch an assault against a tank at the front of my force and have everything shot to pieces. The same goes for the other Stormraven - unless my opponent can drop tanks here, he's not going to be assaulting anything juicy and is wiser to keep them inside.
The Flamerbacks form a wall on the left part of the army with Mephiston hiding behind them as counter-assault. A couple pop smoke to increase survivability. The Preds then try to shoot down the closest Stormraven but fail with the last Pred shooting at the closest RBack and getting a lucky spot roll and taking it down without cover- two ASM die.
Stormraven Blood Angels Turn 2
Both Stormravens go fast into the outskirts of my lines - if they don't die they will be spoiled for choice on what to assault next turn. The remaining LasPlas scoots up to bring its firepower to bear but gets way too close and gives my army lots of melta opportunities on it. The disembarked ASM consolidate onto the rear objective.
Shooting sees one Predator immobilised but that's it - with only a couple heavy weapons to shoot it's going to be hard to break open those tanks.
Mech Blood Angels Turn 2
So here's where I have to consider my major two options - jump out to maximise chances of taking down the Stormravens and what's inside or stay inside to force my opponent to take down tanks. I go with the first option as my Predators are the likely choices to get ganked regardless - if my opponent takes them down I will be forced to get out anyway but am more likely to be out of position to do so. With this in mind I look to take down the left most Stormraven as it has both the DC/Chaplain and the Dreadnought - I'm happier to let Mephiston to go riot from the other Stormraven until I can get my Mephy to charge his (or bring concentrated melta/lascannon fire to bear).
With this in mind three of the four Razorbacks on the left move to surround the Stormraven there and all three ASM squads jump out (one before moving). Mephiston moves up to join these guys as well. This leaves two spots for the units to disembark - close to the unit which can assault + Mephiston or smack in between of four meltaguns but also where two templates can get multiple infantry.
The Predators shuffle about for best firing positions (the Stormravens have cover regardless so it's about being able to see and minimise return firepower) whilst the final Razorback moves in front of the Scouts to protect them from the ASM in the LasPlas. The ASM in that RBack jump out and hide to be able to shoot the LasPlas with some melta fire.
The stage is set...and everything shoots. The ACLC Preds at the left-most Stormraven until it's down with the final ACLC Pred doing nothing on the right most Stormraven. The ASM in front of the LasPlas do nothing. The Furioso hops out between the four meltaguns and the Death Company in range of Mephiston/ASM who can assault - I feel it should have been done the other way around as the DC would have been unlikely to be assaulted. More meltagun fire drops the Dreadnought who takes an ASM in the explosion and a couple Death Company fall over from Heavy Flamer templates.
In combat Mephiston fails to make it on a triple 1 with the other ASM squad killing two Death Company members thanks to the Sarge with power weapon but losing all but one in return. Combat continues.
Stormraven Blood Angels Turn 3
With roughly half his firepower, mobility and combat gone, my opponent is now in a pickle. There are just too many units for him to deal with to reliably win the game. He takes the final Stormraven and moves it amongst my backfield Predators to shoot at Mephiston (who is exposed thanks to not assaulting). Meph jumps out to eat some Predators for breakfast whilst the LasPlas shuffles sideways to get three AP2 shots on the ASM in front of it - the ASM really should have jumped out before it moved to have some follow-up attacks in an effort to clean the unit up. The other ASM started moving towards the battle rather than staying on their objective.
The Stormraven takes three wounds off Meph and the LasPlas RBack drops two ASM who hold. Mephiston ends up munching the Pred pretty easily in combat whilst the DC kill the remaining ASM in combat (3-2 KP my way currently).
Mech Blood Angels Turn 3
I start thinking about objectives (never too early) and load up one ASM squad and launch the Razorback at the Scouts in the far left. I really should have moved the full 18" rather than the 12" to make sure the Razorback/unit would end up on the objective regardless rather than going for a template that turn. Two more Razorbacks position themselves on the right of the DC with Mephiston facing them - if they don't die in shooting he'll combat them to death and use the RBacks to block LoS to himself. The mobile Pred can't fit behind the immobilised Predator due to the board edge so it moves as much as it can to shoot at the Stormraven or Mephiston. The final Razorback moves forward to block off the moving ASM and drop another template on them whilst the disembarked ASM move up to whack the LasPlas again with melta fire.
Shooting sees the LasPlas shaken and the Stormraven stunned again (down to shaken). Mephiston takes no damage whilst the DC are wiped out and two Scouts die from the Flamer template and flee (but then rally). The ASM follow-up with an assault on the LasPlas to try and do further damage but fail. Mephiston runs to ensure he his hidden by RBack hulls.
Stormraven Blood Angels Turn 4
The shaken LasPlas drops off its ASM and zooms away near the Wrecked Pred. The disembarked ASM setup an assault on my ASM which were throwing grenades at their ride. Mephiston jumps from one Pred to another, using the hulls to protect himself from firepower whilst the shaken Stormraven zooms to midfield to take a pot shot at my Razorback racing for his scouts. The two ASM in the back right move up to engage the Razorback blocking them.
Shooting sees the Stormraven stuns the Razorback (a reason why it should have been closer last turn) and nothing else. Both ASM squads charge their respective targets and one squad of my ASM is reduced to one member strong. Mephiston manages to stun and weapon destroy the Predator he's engaged with thanks to some nice hood blocking (no S10!).
Mech Blood Angels Turn 4
The ASM in the immobilised Razorback on the left flank jump out and move to engage the scouts in combat - clear the objective! Both remaining Preds cannot move so they do nothing whilst my remaining ASM squads jump out of their ride to go help out their lone brother - Priests stay inside transports. The Razorbacks move around to block potential charges by Mephiston (unless he gets wings off) and to flame the other ASM. Mephiston jumps over the Stormraven to take it out in combat if necessary (risky).
Shooting sees the Stormraven fall down thanks to the accurate fire of a Predator but the flame templates do nothing against the two ASM. Not much else to shoot as most things are engaged in combat currently!
All the ASM charge - one into the squad of Scouts whol hold and the other two into the three ASM ganging up on the lone meltagunner and despite two power weapon Sarges, the squad holds. Opponent's Mephiston still cannot kill the Predator once S10 is hooded again.
Stormraven Blood Angels Turn 5
The LasPlas moves down to contest the objective the Scouts are on with both Mephiston and the remaining ASM moving in to support the big combat in that area (wings went off). The LasPlas attempts to destroy one of the Predators but fails to do any damage. The combined power of Mephiston and the extra two ASM see all but one of my ASM dead. The Scouts still hold in combat despite losing another member.
Mech Blood Angels Turn 5
The Razorback in the far left moves to position itself so the Scouts keep falling back if they fail their combat leadership and Mephiston moves through the forest to try and help out in the big bloody melee. Both Priests jump out of their rides to get into the melee as well - it's going to cost me KP but will kill the opponent's Troops and keep Mephiston pinned for my Mephiston to give him some loving. The Razorbacks move to block off my objective with the Scouts on it.
The Predators combined destroy the LasPlas Razorback and another scout dies in combat but they hold. Both Priests charge into combat, careful not to engage Mephiston (who therefore has to attack the one ASM) but only manage to kill one of the ASM (out of 4). The lone ASM on my side dies but both Priests are safe.
We head into Turn 5 one objective to zero in my favor.
Stormraven Blood Angels Turn 6
There is nothing my opponent can do in terms of moving or shooting so we go straight to combat. The Scouts finally fall and the ASM consolidate onto the objective. Mephiston butchers one of the Priests but the other one survives and manages to smack down one ASM - drawn combat.
Mech Blood Angels Turn 6
My Mephiston moves out of the forest to setup an assault on my opponent's Mephiston and we go straight there! With the benefit of Furious Charge I get to swing first and after a flurry of psychic powers and transfixing gazes and hoods, my opponent's Mephiston is dead as well as one more ASM from the Priest's attacks. The final ASM fails Fearless saves and the game is over with my opponent wiped out.
Conclusion
Despite it being a tabling, I only won 2-0 on objectives and 11-5 on Kill Points. In the end you only need to win by one but with combat just on the doorstep of the objective I was controlling on Turn 5, it was a close thing since my ASM couldn't get rid of the Scouts on the other side of the board.
The game basically boiled down to what was identified at the beginning - who got off the charges and since I was inside more mech and had more tools to drop his mech, that was generally me. I allowed his Mephiston to basically run amok (he really should have killed that 2nd Pred) as he was only dealing with one of many units at a time. In response to this I was able to take out his army and control the board though I should have really kept another ASM unit out of combat to hold one of the midfield objectives away from where the mass melee ended up occurring as a safety net.
In the end the double Stormravens didn't have enough to break my mech open and this gave me a serious advantage as I was able to pick and choose when (or if) to alpha-strike with mass jump outs and focus all my heavy firepower on two main targets.
