#21: Second Strike Game 1 - Descent of Angels

Well, tournament day was upon us! We were ready to go! And after a frantic morning of model assembly (and shattering my Stalker on the floor at home) particularly strong coffee with some friends, we began our first round.

My first matchup was against a Blood Angel drop pod list. Here's what he was fielding. 

Mephiston 

5 Scouts with sniper rifles and a missile launcher

Furioso Dreadnaught with a Frag Cannon, heavy flamer and fist in a drop pod

 

5 Sternguard with 2 combi-grav guns in a drop pod 

5 Devastators with 3 heavy bolters, a missile launcher in a drop pod.

Now, my first thought was that it was an odd choice putting a Devastator squad in a drop pod. With four heavy weapons, I think they would have been of better use in a backfield role. My second thought went something down the lines of panic and terror at the sight of Mephiston. He is still a beast of a psyker and I have next to no psychic defence. He was fast becoming public enemy #1!

So, the scenario was a variation of kill points. You had to keep track of how many points worth of models you kill, rather than each unit being worth one point. To top things off, every time a Troop choice was removed from play, it would be recycled and return to the board via ongoing reserves. While this scenario would completely turn most armies on their heads, we each had a single troops choice, and I can say now that this rule never came into play! 

Not wanting a Dreadnaught behind my lines, and being protective of my Stalker's squishy rear armour, I deployed in tight formation in one corner. 

(As you can see, I spent the morning of the tournament madly assembling neglected tomb blades, and yes, it pained me to deploy bare plastic)

The thing I am slowly learning about 40k is that an army can be both aggressive and defensive in the same game, and in this situation, I leant heavily upon a defensive deployment, anchoring my flanks on ruins and using my warriors to shield my more valuable units. You can just see my warlord, Illuminor Szeras (using the Orikan model, due to recent stock delays) dead centre to best share his Reanimation bonus, with the stalker sharing his BS bonus, which would become a common theme this tournament. Illuminor also conveyed +1 Toughness to the Warriors from his augmentations. 

My opponent held almost everything in reserve (not surprisingly) with the exception of a 5 man scout squad in the left hand ruins. 

After cheekily seizing initiative off me, my opponent began his assault! And he did so, fearlessly. Mephiston accompanied the Sternguard on my left, while his Furioso slammed down on my right. 

Now came the first time that I witnessed the tenacity of the Necrons. Mephiston added Smite to a barrage of grav-guns, frag cannons, heavy Flamers and special issue ammunition, not to mention the pod Storm bolters and some sniper fire. Only six warriors went down. That was not nearly enough! 

I returned fire with brutal efficiency. The Heat Ray turned his Furioso into an eruption of flame and schrapnel, felling another nearby warrior. The Sternguard suffered the full brunt of my army's arsenal. When the crackling guass faded, Mephiston, the last of his squad, slumped to his knees and expired. 

Still reeling from his horrific losses, my opponent deployed his third and final drop pod, Devastators taking up battlefield positions to my right. I was relived to suffer no significant losses from their guns, due to Snap Fire. 

Being satisfied that I had withstood the worst of my opponent's assault, I finally broke formation and began to move across the board, systematically glancing drop pods to death on my march toward his terrified scouts. 

The destroyers proved their worth, deleting the Devastators from the game in a single salvo thanks to Preferred Enemy and the Stalker's targeting array. 

From this point onward, my stalker implemented the unstoppable Heat Ray to destroy the final drop pod as my Tomb Blades slaughtered the scouts, as they tried to flee, thanks to their cover-ignoring Guass Blasters. 

At this point of the game, my opponent opted to end the game. The scenario special rule meant that he could bring the now-dead scouts back into the fray, but moving onto the board with heavy weapons meant he would be Snapfiring at an all-but-full strength enemy only to be gunned down again. 

My opponent was a true gentleman in defeat, however, and he got my vote for top Sportsman. 

So, with my first game being a crushing victory, in which I managed to secure secondary and tertiary goals (wipe out your enemy completely and kill a unit in the first turn of the game respectively), put me at the head of the rankings on a 20-0 win. 

I prepared for game two, knowing I would be in for a tough matchup!

Thanks for reading, the next three games will be up shortly!

Gabriel