| A great day of gaming followed by a great dinner. mmmm....salmon (said like Homer Simpson) Art's army not only looks great on the field but also very fun and challenging to play against. It's something different than your everyday nilla marines and Art is just fun to play against period. He still wants to tweek the codex a bit, but in my opinion, it's pretty damn good. Some lessons I learned. There is always something to take away from this. I like to take infantry heavy armies, that's just the way I play. Yes, I am a die-hard treadhead, but it's going to be infantry that win it for you. When I first started playing, I shyed away from armored fist sections, but in games like these last two, they really give you the mobility that the guard lacks. I'm thinking of running another squadron of sentinels. Your opponents lops all of his fire into these things and leaves your precious LR's intact. They're a distraction and can pack some good firepower for pretty cheap points cost. Well, that sums up a long day of gaming. If you have any questions about Art's army or my lists, or any other stuff, please contact me. Till another time. Auf Wiedersehen Blake |
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| Hi-Ho! Art here. My thanks to Blake for two GREAT games and giving me the chance to put in my 2 cents in his battle reports. A brief note about my chapter… The Mantis Warriors. I’ve tried very hard to make a chapter that follows the official GW fluff, is unique, has a distinct character, is interesting to look at, fun to play and most importantly… fun for my opponents to play against. I can field a Mantis Warrior structured army using a normal SM codex. But if my opponents allow me a few slight modifications to the normal army structure and a couple of special rules… I can field something really interesting and fun. Please contact me at sirgillian@home.com if you’re interested. Bunker Assault: (game 1) Blake wanted to fight my chapter at its full advantage, no holes barred. We chose the “bunker assault” mission as it allows my army to deep strike. Blake had the additional disadvantage of having most of his really nasty units in reserve. My sniper units (2 x 10 man) infiltrated onto the table and “The Drop” went well, with most of units falling just about where intended. By turn 2 I had two small assault squads, two termie squads & two characters in HtH w/ Blake’s army… so far, so good. I spent 4 (count them…4) turns trying to bring down 1 bunker. I hit it a lot; I just couldn’t roll better than a 1 or 2 for damage. After sweeping Blake’s left flank I proceed to “feed” my army to Commissar Yarrik, Hauptmann Greiss & his command squad. Yarrik ate 2 characters, 2 assault squads and a terminator squad…. unbelievable. Of course I killed him… 4 times… but the bugger kept getting up and killing more of my troops! Truly a man to be reckoned with (check that…. avoided). Finally Brother Jox (Dread) came over and stuck the fork in Yarrik with his power claw (whew!). I was impressed with Blake’s guardsmen… they (and he) really hung in there. A game that we thought was “over” by turn two lasted the full 6 and was much closer than the victory point tally indicates. Great job Blake! Cleanse: (game2) My turn for pain. I wanted to see how my army would stand up to the full terror of the Guard if I had to slog it across the field. I sent my two squads of terminators and my assault dreadnought straight up the middle, while my assault squads, land speeders and characters swung to the right and left. The scouts and support dread’s stayed more-or-less in my original quarter to add supporting fire. The Imperial Guard “made like chickens” and stayed home to roost. By turn two I had lost all 3 dred’s and my terminator assault squad. My fast attack units were having more success on the flanks, and the snipers were harrying Blake’s center…but all-and-all, things were looking pretty grim. I was helped initially by some way-ward ordinance shots but eventually Blake found his mark and obliterated my snipers. My flank assaults had pushed their way into the guard deployment quarter, but by the end of turn 6, I only had 6 or 7 figures left alive on the table and none of them were capable of holding a quarter. The power of the guard in defense is truly terrifying… I’m glad that (most of the time) they’re allies. On the good side; I went the full 6 turns, had an actual chance of winning until turn 5, and could have tied in 6 depending on Blake’s shooting. My two pronged assault with ranged support in the center did manage to confine him to his original board quarter… which I was pretty happy about (and is the kind of tactic the army is designed for). Congratulations Hauptmann Greiss! Your victory was well earned! |
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