Calypso2ts @ Da Boyz GT: 2 of 3

It looks like I am going to have the chance to finish off the New Year for the Mandulian Chapel with another Battle Report.  I have a pile of painting and modeling articles to get to come the New Year - not to mention strategy and tactics - but I feel an obligation to share these reports first to provide some context for my decisions

For those who missed the first post, in Round 1 I played a Space Wolves army with Grey Knights allies - that can be found here This is the second year in a row that I have started Da Boyz with a massacre win - it also means I expected a really tough game next.  Interestingly, I ended up paired against the Ringer - and I found that the first two rounds of Da Boyz are random pairings.

Sometimes playing a ringer means an automatic win but Da Boyz tends to use challenging opponents and lists.  In this game I was matched up against GK with IG allies - which is a very difficult opponents. Naturally, he also brought Coteaz - who is evil against Daemons in general.

First Blood was worth 3 points a round for the entire tournament and there are 3 objectives, scored at 10-5-0.  For this round the vital information is:

Opponent: GK w/ IG Allies

Missions: Scouring, Slay the Warlord, Victory Points

Deployment: Vanguard Strike

Once again, I am terrible with names so my opponent's escapes me but I do know he was part of the Dayton crew that had made their way up.  His list was:

HQ

Primaris Psyker

Inquisitor Coteaz

Elite

Psyker Battle Squad

Troops

3x Henchmen w/ 3x Plasma in Chimera

3x Henchmen w/ 3x Plasma in Chimera

3x Henchmen w/ 3x Plasma in Chimera

3x Henchmen w/ 3x Plasma in Chimera

3x Henchmen w/ 3x Plasma in Chimera

10x Henchmen - psykers

Infantry Platoon w/ autocannon

Infantry Platoon w/ autocannon

3x Heavy Weapons Team w/  lascannons

3x Heavy Weapons Team w/  autocannons

Fast Attack

-

Heavy Support

Dreadknight w/ Inferno Cannon and Teleporter

Dreadknight w/ Inferno Cannon and Teleporter

Dread w/ Autocannons, Psybolt ammo

Fortifications

Aegis Defense Line

Deployment

Warlord traits are irrelevant and Coteaz gets Prescience and Precognition.

My opponent wins the first turn and spreads out with the Dreadknights sheltered from any kind of alpha strike on my part.  I make a mistake here on my objectives and spread them way out - which means a single Chimera could snag an objective and kill off some Plagues while I would be out of position to deal with it.  I really want to grab the first turn to in this one so that he stays bunched up before I come down and to prevent psychic powers from going out.

There is  no Night Fight turn 1, so we get going

Turn 1

This picture is worth a thousand words.  I have seized on Coteaze in 2 of my last 3 games against him now!

I set my preferred wave to be 2x Soul Grinders, Fateweaver, Flamers, Screamers and Fiends and get it.  I need to take down the Psyker Battle Squad - a grounded Fateweaver is very likely to die to a leadership test from them if I do not.  I also want to wipe out the henchmen psykers in the open to remove their large blast.

I drop using the pillars to shield my vehicles and scatter badly with the Screamers.  Coteaz triggers his I've Been Expecting You... and then his psykers fails their large blast and Coteaz does not do a single wound! Very lucky start for me so far.

My sweep attacks, Warpfire shots from the flamers and Battle Cannons manage to wipe out all but 2 PBS members and I do a number on Coteaz's unit too.  I also Deny the With with my Flamers but the dreadknight standing there is going to bring down the pain.  One shortcoming of this list is it does not have many AP2 weapons other than the Fiends which, incidentally, lose Rending due to Dark Excommunication.

On the left the GK advance towards the objective behind the stacks in the corner.  This was a bad idea on my part.

I luck out and the Dreadknight failed his charge on the remnants of the Screamers who are poised to start wrecking vehicles.

Turn 2

I get two units of Horrors in and once again Coteaz fails to do anything with I've Been Expecting You.  I also get the Fiends, who are hidden behind the pillar, but ready to move in next turn. Their warpfire knocks down a huge portion of the psykers.  I fail to manage any damage on the Dreadknight.  I am going to eat the pain next turn.  On a positive note, I manage to destroy all 3 Chimeras and their trips with a multi-assault.  Fateweaver also pushes forward and fails to Spawn coteaz.  The Screamers also fail their charge and cannot pin down that infantry blob.

In response I take some lasgun wounds on Fate and he disappears with a failed leadership test.  Fateweaver has little trust in me.  The Dreadknight puts some damage into the Flamers, although my Soul Grinder not pictured here are standing strong.

More impressive are the Horrors who with the changeling inspire the Plasma Vets to blow away their own Dreadknight.  Pictures are scarce as we continue (and a bit before) because we are taking a long time in both our turns to make decisions and resolve combats.

Turn 3 - 5

He finishes off the Screamers, but the Fiends are just unstoppable this game and start rampaging across the board.  Their 12" move ignoring cover puts them in prime position and a few lucky charges mean I sweep out both Heavy Weapons squads.  The grinders are still plinging away from the back and you can see as single Horror behind the trees ready to take the middle objective.

It is another full points Massacre for me and I am walking into Round 3 with a perfect score so far!

Synopsis

This game really hinged on a few key plays.  Fateweaver exited very early from the game on my side, but managing a dual Fiend assault on the dread to rend it out and the Changeling causing the Plasma Henchment to kill their own Dreadknight was brutal.  I do not think I would have had an answer to the second Dreadknight if he had not failed that leadership test.  The changeling paid for itself with that play.

Overall, the end result here is not indicative of how close this game really was - with assault armies like mine if they get rolling the ending tends to look a bit one sided, but there are several intense early turns that can go either way.  I really enjoyed this game, and I think I enjoy taking it to Coteaz and his 3 man ld 8 henchmen even more.

On a side note, I forgot all tournament that you can Deny the Witch to Dark Excommunication - at least Daemons have some small defense against that terrible terrible power now.