Let there be more Imperial Guard! Rawr. So after my terrible game against Footdar it was time to redeem myself and at least go 5-1. Oh wait, I failed on Day 1 so the best I could do was 4-2. Go me lol. I got matched up with Jonathan who ended up winning 2nd best sports as I recall with an Imperial Guard + Witchunters list. Unfortunately though we got set up on the same table I played my first game on! Silly fester program thing. The game was Pitched Battle with Kill Points, Table Quarters and objectives being the winning conditions.
Anyway, Jonathan's list looked something like this and my list can seen here as usual.
Cannons with some stuff
CCS with Autocannon, Grenade Launcher + Chimera
Inquisitor with Retinue + Hood
PCS with Autocannon, Grenade Launcher + Chimera
3x10x Infantry Platoon w/Autocannon + Grenade Launcher
2x10x Sisters w/2x meltaguns, Rhino w/Smoke, EA
10x Sisters w/meltagun, Heavy Flamer, Rhino w/Smoke, EA
2x Exorcist w/Smoke, EA
1x LRBT
So a decent amount of firepower, bodies and tanks whilst not being exactly optimised. Either way I needed to shut down the Exorcists and if Jonathan deployed the LRBT right, I was going to have a hard time dealing with it (as in previous games). Jonathan won the roll-off and gave me first turn so I deployed.
Deployment
With deployment and first turn in hand I knew I needed to get across the board and put pressure on his exposed infantry. This meant the Rhinos were deployed at the fore of my tank columns to get maximum movement for themselves. As usual the Razorbacks deployed behind to use their turrets early game over the Rhinos and then deploy their infantry later as needed. The Chimera deploys in the centre so it can move into the central terrain and provide MM and auras from there. Dreadnoughts deploy in opposite corners to generate side shots on Chimera/Exorcists if they go through the middle.
Jonathan then deploys with his three sisters squads going into reserve. Not sure this was really necessary as they could have stopped me up in midfield by Turn 2 since I would be moving forward and so would they. Jonathan's army is better than mine at range due to the mass of 36-48" firepower and since his guys are really cruddy in combat outside of the Sisters of Battle (faith), this means I can move forward much more aggressively to put the potential of combat pressure on his backline. Otherwise Jonathan deployed so his LRBT was well out of range of my weapons whilst being protected by two infantry squads and his ranged firepower deployed directly opposite me at angles to reduce the effectiveness of my Dreadnoughts. With his ranged advantage he probably should have simply deployed in a far corner. The far left would have put me closer but given him betting shooting angles whilst the far right would have put me further away but with a lot of cover. By doing this he maximises his range advantage and can again use the sisters to aggressively block/tarpit me in combat due to Faith points. Add in it was a Kill Point game and the lack of objective taking ability was minimised.
Imperial Guard Turn 1
Well it matters not as he seized! With his seizure I am much more exposed and having his army directly across from me is obviously advantageous in this sense. Ouch time. Only the LRBT and far right Exorcist moved to bring their firepower more in line with my tanks.
Jonathan opened fire with a lot of guns...and rolled an absolute ton of 1s. I don't think I've seen so many ones. The end result was an Immobilised Razorback on my left, a stunned Rhino on my right and a Dreadnought army shot off on the right. Very unlucky rolling after seizing the initiative. Shrouding helped here but the poor rolling on Jonathan's side was a much more significant factor.
Grey Knights Turn 1
Having dodged a bullet I needed to push forward as much as possible. This was difficult as each of the damaged vehicles were at the front of my line meaning everything had to move around them (Fortitude was failed btw). The Purifiers of the immobilised Razorback hopped out and ran into the central piece of terrain to provide supporting fire in later turns. The two lead tanks popped smoke so I would have some cover for next turn.
My fire was pretty ineffectual but I was able to shake both Exorcists and we went into Turn 2 with jack all having happened!
Imperial Guard Turn 2
With both of his Exorcists out of action for one turn, I've bought myself a brief reprieve but there's still quite some firepower staring me down. Both of the double meltagun Sister squads come in, one on my extreme right and one on my extreme left. Looks like both are going for my Dreadnoughts. With no other movement Jonathan opens fire again.
And once again does poorly! Damn those casino dice. Another Razorback on my left flank is immobilised, the Razorback on my right flank is shaken and the multi-laser is taken off my Chimera. Shrouding once again helped but it was the poor to hit rolls and to pen rolls that saved my tanks more often than not.
Grey Knights Turn 2
Having survived two turns of IG + WH shooting relatively unscathed, I was obviously quite happy. Time to move forward and disembark! On my right flank both the Rhino and Razorback (who passed Fortitude) moved forward to create a wedge with the strike squads getting out so most of their guys were hidden but the Psycannons had clear LoS. The Dreadnought on the right climbed up to get clear LoS but also exposed himself. The Chimera drove through the centre terrain piece setting itself up in a position with cover but from which the top-hatch MMs could fire clearly. The Purifiers from the 2nd Immobilised Razorback also hopped out in the centre piece of terrain and the Rhino and Razorback who remaining mobile swapped places so the Razorback was giving the Rhino cover and the Rhino could shoot from the top-hatch. I didn't get out here even though I could severely damage the infantry squads exposed though I choose to wait to be able to react to what the SoB Rhino did (i.e. I should have gotten out but oh well).
My shooting...was as bad as Jonathan's! I shook the SoB Rhino on the right whilst also shaking a Chimera + middle Exorcist. The Exorcist on the right was immobilised but could still shoot. The Razorbacks on the left were able to kill a few infantry from the Infantry platoon to the side of the LRBT.
Imperial Guard Turn 3
Two turns down and nothing was dead yet. Yikes. This benefited me obviously as I was getting closer to the Imperial Guard/WH lines where I was more effective due to superior statlines. Jonathan's luck had to turn to be able to turn this game around. His final SoB squad came on which he brought in on the right and popped smoke. Both of the other Rhinos moved and popped smoke as well. Another turn until they would be in effective range. And with that again it was time to shoot for Jonathan and he killed things!
The un-shaken Exorcist was able to drop the Dreadnought on my right flank whilst the LRBT dropped a big pie plate on my Rhino on the right as well. This caused it to be wrecked but was only able to kill one Grey Knight due to cover. The combined fire of the Chimeras, Autocannons and Grenade Launchers was able to shake the lead Razorback on the left but this was ignored by Fortitude next turn.
Grey Knights Turn 3
Jonathan had finally killed something and was up 2-0 but I was right in his face now. I moved the Rhino and Razorback tandem 6" on the left but didn't disembark the Rhino squad still (not wanting to eat a bunch of rapid firing faith bolters to the face) whilst the small Strike Squad jumped out to try and eliminate the weakened infantry platoon. The Purifiers on the left of the central terrain piece moved forward to better firing positions. On the right the Razorback moved to provide extended cover to the Grey Knights there whilst the two squads spread out to ensure cover and minimal hits would be caused from an LRBT blast again. Psycannons were of course exposed for clear LoS.
Time for some shooting! My Razorbacks + disembarked Strike Squad on the left were unable to kill the Infantry Platoon and it stayed firm thanks to the Cannoness' book. The Psycannons in the Rhino + the Psyfledread shook the SoB Rhino so they had to get out to shoot. The MM in the Chimera finally killed something with the far right Exorcist going down and a bunch of Psycannon shots shook and took off the multi-laser from the far right Chimera. All other damage was negated by cover.
Imperial Guard Turn 4
It was still 2-1 in Jonathan's favor and his SoB were coming into play now. The Rhino on the right with the meltagun/heavy flamer moved up and disembarked to attack the small Strike Squad hiding behind it's Razorback whilst the other Rhino on the right continued moving behind the big piece of terrain into my backfield. The SoB Rhino on the left moved up and disembarked the SoB with meltaguns close to my Dreadnought and then it was time to shoot!
The SoB on the right killed four of the five members the Strike Squad who holds firm whilst on the left the Dreadnought is immobilised. Phew! A combination of autocannon, grenade launcher, multi-laser, heavy bolter and las fire kills the Strike Squad in front of the Razorback on the far left whilst the Battle Cannon is unable to hurt the Razorback.
Grey Knights Turn 4
Some exposed Sisters (that sounds so wrong). Happy time for some Grey Knight Strike Squads. The Rhino based squad on the left hops out and moves up to assault the SoB + Rhino whilst the Rhino + Razorback move towards the Infantry Platoons to run tank shocks through them. On the right side the single remaining member of the small Strike Squad gets back in his transport which moves 12" up into Jonathan's deployment area (smack in front of the middle Exorcist). The large Strike Squad gets ready to shoot and then assault the disembarked SoB squad with the Libby casting Might + Quickening.
In the shooting phase the Psybacks are able to wipe out the weakened infantry squad on the left whilst the Dread immobilises the SoB Rhino in the bottom left. The Purifiers in the central piece of terrain are able to Explode the flanking SoB Rhino, killing two but they hold firm. The two Strike Squads shoot at their assault victims killing a couple each and then move in for the close combat kill (left squad fails to cast Hammerhand). The left squad is very ineffective only killing a combined total of two Sisters but wrecking the Rhino. The right squad is far more effective dropping the Sister squad to four remaining girls but unable to damage the tank. Both Sister squads hold and thank their 3++ due to Faith.
Imperial Guard Turn 5
At this point it was quite close on Kill Points (3-4 or something) so it was very likely going to move down the board so Jonathan looked to hold some objectives. The Sisterless Rhino tank shocked the GKSS and into the central piece of terrain to attempt to force them to flee but they stayed and the Rhino immobilised itself on terrain. The Sisters from the exploded Rhino spread out so they were still in the crater but also holding the bottom right objective there.
Jonathan's shooting is able to stun the Razorback on the far left, Immobilise the Rhino that side as well and wrecked the Razorback in front of his Exorcist. The single Grey Knight inside was then killed by the squad inside the Chimera on the right taking the KP total to 5-4 in Jonathan's favor. In the combat on the left, both sides killed two of their opposite and combat ensued.
Grey Knights Turn 5
I thought it unlikely that I would be able to manage four kill points in the final turn so I needed to go for the objectives. In this regard it was pretty simple as I was able to move my large Strike Squad on the right into contact with the objective there and move + run my Purifiers to contest the objective in the bottom right. 1-0 my way if the game ended this turn since my Rhino was contesting in the top left. Little movement was otherwise in order as I opened fire.
The MM's were once again able to destroy a tank this time exploding the Chimera. The CCS inside took a bunch of damage and eventually fled off the table as well. The explosion also hurt the Inquisitor + retinue leaving only the Inquisitor left. The Strike Squad on the right dumped a bunch of S5/7 firepower into the back of the Rhino exploding it and taking no damage in return. The Razorbacks + Purifiers in the central terrain piece shot the Infantry Platoon in front of the remaining Exorcist and was able to kill them all whilst the remaining Rifledread immobilised the final Chimera.
The game ended there and with my very effective shooting was able to win on Kill Points 9-5, Table Quarters 3-1, Objectives 1-0. Was a close game but with poor shooting to start, this hurt Jonathan a lot more than me and I was able to take advantage.
Post-game Thoughts
As I said above, the poor shooting from Jonathan in his first two phases (especially after seizing) hurt him a lot. I think if he didn't seize this would have been magnified as I would have had cover in the first turn and his deployment put him pretty close to me all things considered. I really feel he should have deployed in a corner giving him more time to shoot me and overcome his poor rolls. Same with the Sisters of Battle which with Faith are pretty annoying in combat, particularly against Grey Knights who have minimal attacks.
In the end the inability to destroy my transports and get cheap KP allowed me to play the game I wanted to play and ultimately pull ahead on KP though I clearly had the board control advantage due to Jonathan's rather static main army.
All in all was an amusing game with a lot of 1's rolled on both sides early on (my dice turned around T4 so I was able to kill stuff, especially Turn 5) and shows the advantages of being able to suppress an army reliably (stopping those Exorcists from shooting a lot). Jonathan was an enjoyable opponent and well deserved his Sports Award!
