The Carnival of Flesh : Raven Guard vs Dark Eldar 1850 pts Battle Report

Right after my lost to the Thousand Sons, I had a game versus a funky Dark Eldar Coven list as follows:

Ancient Haemonculus
Haemonculus
7 Grotesques
3 Splinterborn in Venom
10 Warriors in Raider
2x5 Wracks in Raider
3 Wracks in Venom
10 Scourges
2 Talos
Razorwing Jetfighter

Mission : Purge The Alien, but that wouldn't be fun for the DE so we rolled again --> Big Guns Never Tire (5), Night Fight in play.
Deployment : Dawn of War, RG chose to go second.

As can be seen in the picture below, the Coven deployed 2 Talos on the left flank and everything else to the right. Only the Razorwing was in Reserves.

I deployed the Centurions to counter the Talos. Chapter Master and the Assault Marines were deployed in the centre, hidden from the Scourges by the large Bastion. One Snipers infiltrated to the left and one more right behind the large Bastion. Finally, Shrike and the Vanguard Veterans infiltrated behind the small Bastion.


At the dawn of war

My attempt at Seize The Initiative failed and the Coven went first. The Talos split, one moved towards the objective and the other backed away towards the square build. Scourges jumped down from the tower and then the shooting began. 60+ poisoned shots and 3 Dark Lance killed 4 Assault Marine, took one wound off my Chapter Master, and killed 1 Centurion. Guess what? Both the Centurions and Chapter Master's unit failed Morale Check and fled towards the table edge. Lucky the Chapter Master and Assault Marines rolled low on the 3D6, stopping just about 2 inches from the table edge ( Phew! ). The Centurions fled 3 inches.

Came my First Turn, 10 man Tactical in 2 Combat Squads make a drop right beside the tower. 1st  Combat Squad destroyed a Raider (First Blood!)with 10 man DE Warriors, killing 6 Warriors in the explosion, forcing the survivors to flee 10 inches. 2nd Combat Squad Rapid Fired towards the Scourges, killed 2-3 of them.

The Centurions rallied and killed the Talos on the left. Prior to that, Shrike and the VVets already made their move towards the Talos, so now they were stranded in the open. The Chapter Master and his retinues jumped towards the small Bastion, safe from any enemy LOS. The Snipers at the centre embarked the Bastion, onto the Battlement and sat still.

Ooh.. here comes the pain

2nd Turn. Razorwing jetfighter entered the game and targeted the VVets with 2 Monoscythe Missiles, a Splinter Cannon and a Dark Lance. Lucky my saves were quite good where only 3 Veterans (all with Storm Shield) fell as casualties. Several poisoned weapons also targeted them but in the end, Shrike survived with 5 VVets. The rest of the army focussed their attention at the 2 Tactical Combat Squads behind their line, which they successfully destroyed with shooting and assault.

Came my turn, the Storm Raven arrived just in time to stop the Razorwing. Shrike led his unit to the square structure, closer to the Talos. Centurions shot at the Talos, causing 2 wounds. Deathwind Launcher targeted the Scourges, easily hitting 6 Scourges and a Venom (Splinterborn inside) if I rolled a Hit!, but alas, it scattered far towards the Grotesques, causing some wounds (Don't remember how many).

Then the Chapter Master ordered an Orbital Bombardment to strike at the same target, this time a Hit!. The Venom instantly destroyed, the Splinterborns pinned. 4 Scourges died, leaving only 3 left to fight. Additionally, the explosion also killed 2 more Warriors nearby, forcing them to flee off table.

Things were getting even

On the 3rd Turn, my opponent decided that it was a good time to start making a move towards the other objectives. 2 Raiders with 5 Wracks each split from the main force. One moved to the south of the large Bastion, the other one to the centre. Some poison shots reached the Centurions, causing one unsaved wound.

My opponent deemed that the Drop Pod with its deadly Deathwind Launcher a serious threat to his fragile troops. So he pulled back the Grotesques and wrecked it in assault. In the same phase, the Talos assaulted Shrike and the VVets, but Shrike slay it with the Ravens Talons.

When it was my turn, I pushed Shrike's and his unit towards a Venom (3 Wracks inside), they destroyed it in assault and the explosion pinned the passengers. Towards the centre, the Chapter Master led the Assault Marines to destroy a Raider, also in assault.

As for the last Raider to the South, I chased it with the Storm Raven but the gunship only managed to a weapon destroyed result. However, the Raider was within range of one Gravcannon, which wrecked it with an Immobilised result due to moving Flat Out in the previous turn. 5 Wracks inside passed the pinning test and moved towards the Bastion. Fully expecting that, the Snipers on the battlement had earlier moved into the Bastion to prevent the Wracks from entering it in the next turn. The Scouts on the left flank moved closer to an objective.

We're getting there 

Turn 4. The Grotesques moved towards the centre, they're going after the Chapter Master and his unit, but still too far for a charge. Scourges and Splinterborne shot at Shrikes unit, killing two Vets. The Wracks at the centre killed 2 Assault Marines with Liquifier Gun. The Wracks down south moved into base contact with the Bastion and shot Liquifier Gun through the Fire Points, killing 2 Scouts.

The Chapter Master showed the boys how real men fight.. ALONE!

This turn, I focussed on killing all the DE troops to secure my win. Strom Raven destroyed the Wracks hugging the Bastion. Shrike and his team killed the 3 Wracks up on the rocky terrain, and the Assault Marines killed the Wracks at the centre. The game was mine.

With the mission secured, I sent the Chapter Master (Alone!) to fight the Ancient Haemonculus and the Grotesques. However, the Ancient Haemonculus was not without his own tricks. He pulled out a glassy item and threw it to the Chapter Master... a Shattershard! The thing exploded upon impact and forced 2 Toughness Test on my Chapter Master, of which he failed one and was removed from the game with no saves of any kind allowed. Nasty stuff. Good for Wall of Death.

Our mission secured, let us go home boys

5th Turn. Splinterborn and Scourges killed all the VVets and reduced Shrike to a single wound. The Grotesques went after the Assault Marines, killed 2 with Liquifier Gun, but failed to reach assault.

Came my final turn, Shrike and the 2 remaining Assault Marines destroyed the Scourges while the Storm Raven took out the Splinterborn. The Scouts in the Bastion moved out and captured the objective nearby and the game ended.

RESULT:
Coven : Slay The Warlord
Raven Guard : First Blood + Linebreaker + 3 Heavy Supports + 2 Objectives = Raven Guard Won!!

Post-game Assessment:
The game was really fun. Both our list was quite even, fun and fluffy. This kind of game is the one that I enjoyed the most. His list had the advantage of range and uber CC unit. While mine has fast infantry and better survivability. We had equal chance to win at the start of the game.

The Tactical Combat Squads and Drop Pod with Deathwind Launcher is the catalyst for my win. Bt deploying them behind the enemy, I managed to divert his attention (especially the Grotesques) away from me. That gives me ample time to do what was needed to win me the game.

What also mades the different was his rolls for the poisoned weapons which was quite low. On the other hand, my rolls were superbly good on several occasions. My rolls were so good that I almost lost the Chapter Master and Assault Marines early on due to failed morale check. Even the Chapter Master rolled high on the Shattershard (hahaha).

Vanguards didn't do much in the game, what they did was protect Shrike, which can be done cheaper with regular Assault Marines. The Centurions on the other hand, did great taking out the Talos. Those are the only target worth their attention anyway since everything else was with 5+/6+ armoursaves which can just laugh out at their Gravcannons.

It was a very fun game. One I truly enjoyed.

That's all for today and thanks for reading.

MERRY CRISTMAS TO ALL!

Have a nice day :)

Against The Dark Master : 1850 pts Battle Report

Last week I had Be'lakor leading my Daemons of Khorne. But last Saturday was the opposite, the Dark Master fought side by side with Ahriman and the Thousand Sons, against my Raven Guard.

This was my list for the day:
Chapter Master - THammer, Shield Eternal, Artificer Armour, Auspex, Jumpack
Shrike
10 Vanguard Veterans - 5 with Storm Shields, 3 with Power Swords + Melta Bombs, 2 PFist
10 Tacticals - Meltagun, Combi Melta
Drop Pod with Deathwind Launcher
2x5 Snipers
10 Assault Marines - Vet. Sargeant with PAxe+Meltabombs
3 Centurion Devastators - Gravcannons + Amps
Storm Raven - TwinLasscannon, TwinMMelta, Hurricane Bolters

The idea for the list was to try out the Vanguard Veterans as they are very synonym with Raven Guard. I know they are points-better-spent-elsewhere especially in our highly competitive meta here, but I've always enjoyed playing games with fluffy list more than anything and wanted to see how they would perform on table.

My opponent was the Thousand Sons player I fought during the Force Recon Tournament. This was the second time my Raven Guard fought his army. The first encounter was a lost to my Raven Guard and now his Thousand Sons were made even stronger with Be'lakor within their rank.

Primary : Thousand Sons
Ahriman
Be'lakor
2x13 Thousand Sons
Baledrake

Ally : Black Legion
Prince with The Last Memory of Yuranthos
6 Chosens with 6 Plasmaguns in Rhino

The Game : Big Guns Never Tire (4), Night Fighting
Deployment : Vanguard Strike Deployment. Raven Guard deployed first.

I deployed the Chapter Master normally with Shrike and the Vanguard Veterans as close as possible towards the enemy deployment zone, inside the forest. 3 Centurion Devastators also deployed in the forest and the 2nd Assault Marines just behind them. Both scouts were put in reserves.

My opponent deployed as can be seen in the picture below. With Master of Deception from Ahriman, he Infiltrated both of the Thousand Sons units and the Chosens. But something I just realize when writing this Battle Report was that he might have Infiltrated both Be'lakor and the Black Legion Daemon Prince, perhaps by mistake. That was a HUGE mistake. Silly me for not realising that.

His attempt to seize the initiative failed.

The flock of ravens moved towards Ahriman

I began with Tactical Squad performed a Drop Pod Assault right in the middle of the enemy line, and break into Combat Squads. 1st Tactical Combat Squad with Meltaguns failed to destroy the Rhino (Chosens inside), causing only Crew Stunned result.

Centurion Devastators moved forward, shot at the Black Legion Prince, causing 10 AP2 and 3 AP5 wounds but he saved it all except 3. The 2nd Tactical Combat Squad tried to bring down the last wound with Bolters, but couldn't break through his Power Armour.

Shrike led the Vanguard Veterans and the Chapter Master towards Ahriman and his Thousand Sons on the left flank. The assault was a success, the Ravens lost 3 man while the Chapter Master lost one wound in a challenge, but they killed 12 Thousand Sons. With only Ahriman and a Rubric Marine left, I thought they might end it all in the next turn.

But I was wrong.

Came the enemy turn, The Vanguard Veterans were targeted with Hallucination spell twice, once each by Ahriman and Be'lakor. Even with Adamantium Will granted by the Shield Eternal, I failed to deny the spells and the whole unit was left standing still, doing nothing, for the whole game turn.

The Black Legion Prince Swooped forward and cast the Sunburst spell with 2 Warp Charges. The spell hits the Vanguard Veterans, Assault Marines (2 casualties) and the Centurion Devastators (1 wound). The spell also Blinded all three units (I failed all 3 Initiative Test hahaha).

The Thousand Sons unit at the centre moved back and killed the 1st Tactical Combat Squad (1st Blood). The Chosen on the other hand, disembarked from the Rhino and Snap Fired at the 2nd Tactical Squad, killing one guy but lost the Chosen Champion from Gets Hot!

Be'lakor glided forward and assaulted the Assault Marines. I sent my Veteran Sargeant to fight him and hold him for a round of combat. Ahriman fought my Chapter Master in a challenge but failed to cause any wound. The lone Rubrics started to slowly kill my Vanguard Veterans.

The reinforcements came

My 2nd Turn, all the reserves came in. I was hoping that the Scouts would came later, after the Storm Raven deal with the Baledrake that would come in the next enemy turn. I can only pray the Baledrake didn't make it in the next turn.

Now with the Centurions Blinded, I used them to take out the Black Legion Prince. The Prince had no chance against 15 Gravcannon shots, even if Snap Firing. The Storm Raven shot at the Chosens and killed 2 guys. Deathwind Launcher also targeted the Chosens, but scattered too far away. The 2nd Tactical Combat Squad on the other hand, failed to harm the Chosen with their Bolters.

Close combat saw Be'lakor killing 4 of my Assault Marines, leaving 3 guys left to fight him. Meanwhile, Ahriman took one wound off my Chapter Master.

On the enemy turn, the Baledrake came in, took 1 Hull Point off the Storm Raven with Vector Strike and incinerated a Scout unit with the Baleflamer. Ahriman and Be'Lakor again casted Hallucinate on the Vanguard Unit. They would stay in that sorry state for another game turn (Duh..). The Chosen squad wipedout my Tactical squad.

I was expecting Be'lakor to easily kill the rest of the Assault Marines (left with only 3 man) in this close combat phase. That would left him stranded in the open, easy prey for my Storm Raven and Centurions. But somehow Be'lakor failed miserably in his attacks, managed only 3 hits (after reroll) and from that, only 2 wounds. With one Assault Marines stuck with him in combat, Be'lakor would be free to do whatever he wanted in the next enemy turn.

Funny thing, Ahriman failed to wound to the statue of my Chapter Master.

3rd Turn. With nothing to do, I sent the Storm Raven and Deathwind Launcher towards the Thousand Sons. They killed some, maybe about 4-5 guys (Don't really remember). The Centurions shot at the Heldrake but failed to cause any damage. Then it was close combat where Ahriman still failed to harm my Chapter Master. Be'lakor killed the last Assault Marines and moved closer to my Centurion Devastators.

Things are getting worst for the Raven

On enemy turn, Be'lakor glided towards the Centurions, killed some with Psychic Shriek and the rest with assault. This time, Ahriman managed to kill my Chapter Master. Shrike killed the lone Rubrics but they stayed in combat. The Baledrake moved towards my 2nd Scout Squad, flamed and killed 3 guys.

This is the end

4th Turn. I sent the Storm Raven to hunt down the Baledrake. The attack damaged the Baleflamer, but failed to destroy it completely. In close combat Ahriman (boosted with Warp Speed) killed Shrike in challenge.

With almost nothing left to help me clear the enemy troops, I conceded the game.

Result : Thousand Sons Won!

Post-game Assessment:
Be'lakor again showed just how he worth every points you spent on him. It is thanks to his Hallucination that my opponent successfully locked my Vanguard Veterans, Shrike and Chapter Master from doing their job.

The Vanguard Veterans were nasty in their charge, killing 12 Rubrics in a single charge is no easy feat. I doubt any normal Assault Marines would be able to do it. But that is all I can say about them. Thanks to Hallucination, the Veterans didn't do anything after the 1st Turn, and were slowly killed by the lone Rubric Marines accompanying Ahriman. In the end, there's only two of them left facing Ahriman. I need more game with them.

The Centurion Devastators are truly dangerous. It was thanks to them that I can easily deal with the Black Legion Prince. I'm liking them already :)

Next:
With that concede, I had enough time for another game. This time was against the Carnival of Flesh.
The battle report for it will follow soon enough. So stay tuned :)

Until then, have a nice day.

Trying Out Be'lakor : Daemons vs Tau 1850 points Battle Report

My Warhammer Fantasy Battles session with Almond were cancelled. So I took this chance to try out the new Be'lakor. My list for the night:

Primary : Daemons

Be'lakor

Bloodthirster

2x10 Bloodletters

15 Flesh Hounds

Khorne Prince

Ally : CSM

Khorne Prince

5 Chaos Space Marines

Baledrake

My opponent was one of the better Tau player around. During the Ascension Tournament few weeks back, he did good with 2 wins and 1 lost record (same as me) whereby the lost was to the Tournament Champion. I always wondered how would my Flying Circus fare against his Tau. Let us find out.

 

Primary : Tau

Ethereal

Fireblade

2x Riptide

3x12 Fire Warriors

2x6 Pathfinders

2x Skyray

3 Broadsides

Ally : Farsight Enclave

Fireblade

2x3 Crisis - 4 Fusions, 2 Plasmas

I thought he was gonna bring 3 Riptides and a R'Varna. Not today it seems.

Mission : Emperor's Will, Hammer and Anvil deployment, Night Fight, Daemons deploy first.

 

I deployed 3 LOS blocking terrain that would help me advance. Tau on the other hand, deployed minimal terrain so he can have better killing ground. 

Deployment and Scouts move

Tau failed to seize the initiative.The First Turn began with the Bloodthirster opening the Portalglyph near my objective. Then I grimoired the Flesh Hounds and pushed all my Daemons forward, plus the 2D6 flat out move. Be'lakor attempted Puppet Master on the nearest Skyray. The idea was to use it to take out the second Skyray. But it was cancelled with a successful Deny the Witch.

 

The Tau alliance reacted

My opponent tried to kill Be'lakor early on with the Skyray and Riptide. But to my luck, his rolls was pretty bad with so many misses and even triple ones when rolling to wound with the S8 Missiles. Be'lakor lost only 2 wounds but was grounded.

 

The rest of his army aimed at the Flesh Hounds and that was when I realize just how strong this army is. 36 Firewarrior led by Etherial and 2 Fireblades dished out 132 S5 shots at short range, all hitting on 2+ thanks to the Markerlights. My Flesh Hounds got no chance at all hahaha..

 

The Daemons going for the kill

On my Second Turn, I grimoired Be'lakor, providing him with the much needed 2++ save. He sent a unit of Firewarriors and their Fireblade fleeing off table with Terrify. Then with Puppet Master, he took control of the rear Skyray and shoot at the Etherial unit, killing 6 guys. The 3rd spell, Psychic Shriek, didn't cause any wound to the target. A Bloodletter unit deepstriked nearby but was annihilated by the two Riptide Interceptors.

 

Bloodthirster and both Daemon Princes glided towards their target and assaulted. The amount of Overwatch fire they had to go through was scary, but they made the assault and destroyed a Skyray and a Firewarrior unit.

 

(Note: I just learned in this game that a Riptide that performed Intercept can still do supporting  Overwatch)



That didn't look good for the Daemons

2 Crisis Team, each with 4 Fusion Guns, and  Plasma Rifles deepstriked behind the Etherial without scattering thanks to a Homing-Beacon-like item. They easily killed the Bloodthirster. The Broadside team then killed my CSM Prince with Missiles + SMSs. The rest of the army tried to bring Be'lakor down but he survived with his 2++. 

 

Third Turn. The last Prince grimoired Be'lakor and then I sent him towards the Broadside Team. Terrify failed to send the Crisis Team running while Psychic Shriek failed with a roll of 11 on Psychic Test. Puppet Master on the nearest Riptide worked, killing 1 Crisis, 1 Broadside and 2 Firewarriors in the Etherial unit. Another 10 Bloodletter unit deepstriked nearby but was reduced to 4 guys by the intercepting Riptides. The Baledrake also came and incinerated a unit of Pathfinders with Baleflamers.

 

Close combat saw Be'lakor killing the Etherial and his unit while the Prince destroyed the Broadsides.

Two.. against many

The Crisis Team took out the last Prince while the Pathfinders destroyed the Bloodletters. Skyray took one wound off Be'lakor (single wound left). Both Riptides made a desperate assault towards Be'lakor, but Be'lakor managed to slay one of them with his sword and the other with Sweeping Advance.
When Turn 4 came in, there was 5 more Crisis defending the Tau objective. Baledrake moved closer, killed 3 Pathfinders with Vector Strike and two Crisis Suit with Baleflamer. Be'lakor then killed all the Crisis with Psychic Shriek and assault.

The end is near

With Tau having no more troops, it was a sure lose for them. But my opponent wasn't gonna concede. He killed Be'lakor and we moved on to Turn 5 just to find what's left at the end of the game. Baledrake finished off the Pathfinders and the game ended.

In the end, I have 5 CSMs and 14 Bloodletters (in three units, spawned by the Portalglyph), holding my objective while Tau was left with the lone Skyray.

Result:
Tau : 1st Blood + Slay The Warlord
Chaos : Slay The Warlord + Objective + Etherial. Chaos WON!

What I Think About The Game:
It was fun and scary at the same time. The Tau forces was strong. It was entirely at a different level compared to my fluffy World Eaters nor Raven Guard list. Neither can beat this Tau army without the help of uber luck on my part.

Be'lakor was the MVP of the game, sending a full Firewarrior unit + Fireblade running off the table, slain the Etherial and his unit, the two Riptides and Crisis Suits. Using him also marked the first time I ever used psychic powers in the 6th Edition. Hopefully I did nothing wrong in this game. I need to study the psychic powers well to make the better use of him.

I made a not-so-good tactical decision early in the game -- not making use of the  large LOS blocking terrain in the first turn. I was the one who put them there because initially, I planned to use them to hide my advance. This would effectively deny Tau the full use of their firepower for one turn. That way, I can also wait for the Baledrake to come and later closed in together for the kill.

But during the game, suddenly came an urge for me to do the opposite and just moved them recklessly forward. To act in character with the army. Because that is how I think a Daemons of Khorne would act, eager to spill blood, to please the Blood God as soon as possible (hahaha). I doubt even the cunning Be'lakor as general could stop the blood frenzy of Khorne Daemons. That almost cost me the game, but would also made it more meaningful if I came out on top (Which I did in the end :) )

62 skulls for the Blood God. A good harvest.

Thanks for reading. Have a nice day.