First 40K Game in Months

So yesterday I had the pleasure of getting my teeth kicked in first game in against an excellent Tau player (Angelo) in my area.  I requested that my opponent bring a tournament list so it definitely looked brutal to the casual passerby.  Still, I had a blast and was not-so-subtly reminded that my list would need a lot of work if I wanted to play it in a tournament and win.

Space Marines have gotten a lot of love recently and know they can be ultra competitive.  I know White Scars are the dominant Chapter Tactic to take.  But still, I had to stick to my Salamanders (Into the fires of battle, unto the Anvil of War!) and see what they could do. The recent Angels of Death supplement gave them some pretty nifty new rules and I thought they might succeed.

We agreed to play the ITC Missions (we rolled up ITC Mission 2) at 1650 points per the BeakyCon rules and requirements.  Here is the list I took:

Flameblade Strike Force
Core - Space Marine Battle Demi-Company
HQ - Vulkan He'Stan (Warlord) - 190 points
Troop - Tactical Marines x5 (Flamer, Combi-Plasma, Drop Pod) - 120 points
Troop - Tactical Marines x5 (Flamer, Combi-Plasma, Drop Pod) - 120 points
Troop - Tactical Marines x5 (Flamer, Wrath of Prometheus, Rhino) - 120 points
Fast Attack - Attack Bike (Multi-Melta) - 50 points
Heavy Support - Devastators x5 (4x Multi-Melta, Drop Pod) - 145 points
Elite - Command Squad (4x Melta, Apothecary, Drop Pod) - 180 points

Command - Strike Force Command
HQ - Captain in Terminator Armor (Cataphractii Armor, Combi-Melta, Thunder Hammer) - 145 points

Auxiliary - Raptorwing
Fast Attack - Stormtalon (Skyhammer Missiles) - 115 points
Fast Attack - Stormtalon (Skyhammer Missiles) - 115 points
Fast Attack - Land Speeder (2x Heavy Flamer) - 50 points

Allies - Assassin Codex
Elite - Culexus Assassin - 140 points

Allies - Space Marines (Iron Hands)
HQ - Techmarine (Auspex) - 70 points
Troop - Scouts x5 - 55 points
Fast Attack - Drop Pod - 35 points

It was a pretty standard Drop Pod type list.  I originally wanted more flamers but with Vulkan I felt that utilizing the Meltas would be best.  I took the extra Captain HQ to give my Devastators Slow and Purposeful to fire when they arrived on the board.  My Raptorwing was purely to face other flyers and my Culexus was obviously to shut down Psykers to the best of his ability.  There are plenty of tweaks I could make to the list and had roughly 3 options but went with this one to see how effective aggressive MSU could be in this situation.  My opponent asked me why I didn't take a Conclave and honestly I am just not sure they will be available for use with the new Spess Mahrinz powers for BeakyCon.

Y'all will have to forgive me because I haven't played my Tau since before the new codex dropped.  So I am not completely familiar with all the newer stuff outside of the Stormsurge.  I asked plenty of questions during our game.  Going off memory, my opponent had the following list:

CAD - Tau
HQ - Commander (Iridium Suit, Drone Controller, 2x Plasma Guns, 2x Shield Drones)
Troops - 1x Crisis Suit (Twin-Linked Fusion Gun)
Troops - 1x Crisis Suit (Twin-Linked Flamer)

Fast Attack - Drone Unit (like 5x Marker Drones and 2x Shield Drones)

Riptide Wing
Elite - Riptide (Early Warning Override, Missile Pods, Feel No Pain, Ion Accelerator)
Elite - Riptide (Early Warning Override, Missile Pods, Feel No Pain, Heavy Burst Cannon)
Elite - Riptide (Skyfire, Missile Pods, Feel No Pain, Ion Accelerator) 

Optimized Stealth Cadre (?)
??? - 3x Ghostkeels (with the 6 shot gun, 2x Drones each)
??? - 3x Stealth Suits (2x Burst Cannons, 1x Fusion Gun) 
??? - 3x Stealth Suits (2x Burst Cannons, 1x Fusion Gun)

Again, my apologies for maybe not placing the guys in the right classification but just going off memory.

So deployment was Hammer and Anvil.  Angelo won the roll off and elected for me to deploy and go first.  I had null deployment so he set up with a pseudo castle around his Commander.  I think the big issue this game would be the flamer overwatch in most cases.  That, and having to find a way to penetrate cover out in the open along with bypassing 2+ Saves, Invulnerable Saves, and of course FNP.  Angelo did not seize and our Warlord traits were not important to the mission.

Turn 1

 

Turn 1 I opted to pod in my Command Squad (with Vulkan and Techmarine attached), my Devastator Squad, and my Assassin.  Each squad attempted to shoot at a different Riptide and I feel that was my first mistake.  I also positioned my Apothecary so that he would be the first to take a LOS roll.  Angelo opted to intercept both the Devastator Squad and the Command Squad with his 2 riptides.  It was risky to use the large blast template but it paid off by doubling out my Command Squad and deny FNP.  I had banked on the opportunity to use flamers against the Ghostkeel unit but that Mirrors ability that forces snap shots pretty much negates any chance for Flamers to be effective (or really just about anything else).  Being able to use it 3 times in a row would prove to be overly brutal.

I put a few wounds on each riptide before he managed to clean up on his turn.  My Assassin managed to mostly avoid any shots sent his way.  Angelo used the ability to "shoot twice" as a way to fire his riptides again on his turn.  I haven't read the rules but reviewing a bit on line makes me wonder if that was even possible as using Interceptor means you'd normally forgo being able to use those weapons on his turn.  Guess I learned something new.  In the end, he managed to clean up both of the squads leaving me with an Iron Hands Drop Pod (in orange) and an assassin hidden behind the green fortification.

I know we score Maelstrom objectives at the beginning of our next turn but he managed toscore the "Destroy and Enemy Unit" and I scored "Have a Scoring Unit at least partially within 12" of the enemy deployment edge".  Wow...just re-reading that I clearly see that I didn't play that right as I read it as "deployment zone", not edge...guess that impacts the scoring another few times.  So that should have been 0-1, not 1-1 Maelstrom.  Angelo got First Strike, and Slay the Warlord already.

Turn 2

 

 I rolled for reserves and managed to get my Rhino Squad, my Land Speeder, and one Drop Pod squad in.  The two Stormtalons came in automatically per the formation.  Nobody opted to intercept so I continued with my turn.  I tried to charge my Assassin into the Ghostkeel unit but 2 of them were within range to use their flamers.  6 Flamer Hits, 4 wounds, and 3 failed saves later I knew the game was pretty much over.  My Assassin died and my pod scattered too far to have any chance at capturing the Relic on that turn.  Plus I knew I would not be able to avoid the Tau shooting with them being so close to the board.  I opted to shoot my two Stormtalons at the one Riptide with Skyfire but got 1 rending attack.  So now I had 3 riptides running around with maybe 1 or 2 wounds max and outside of a few dead drones, nothing else.

On his turn, Angelo cleaned up my Land Speeder, my Iron Hands Drop Pod, and one of my Stormtalons.  He also cut the newly arrived Drop Pod marine unit in half.  Unfortunately they did not fall back (which at this point would've gotten me closer to the relic).  I managed to score Maelstrom Objective 1.  Angelo scored Destroy an Enemy Unit x2.  So we're at 1-3.

Turn 3

 

Going for broke (and having rolled Maelstrom Objective 2), I deployed my last remaining Drop Pod near Objective 2 and brought my Bike onto the table.  My two remaining Drop Pod 1 marines ran and for a short moment captured the Relic.  I was going to try and hide my 2nd Drop Pod squad but had a mental lapse and deployed them in sight of a Riptide.  They were Intercepted by an Ion Cannon that made quick work of that squad.  My only saving grace was my Drop Pod was still there to capture Maelstrom Objective 2.

On his turn, Angelo took out my remaining flyer, the Marines with the Relic, and one more Drop Pod.  I could've quit the game but opted to keep going for some masochistic reason.  I scored Maelstrom Objective 2.  He scored 2x Destroy an Enemy Unit.  So the running tally for Maelstrom was 2-5.

Turn 4

At this point my Scouts finally came in and chose to Outflank and came on the one side of the left side of the board.  I tried running them to the point where they weren't visible to any Riptide of Ghostkeel but there was a lone window (and some SMS Missiles) that would ruin that plan.  I moved my Attack Bike forward to attempt and put a wound on the Commander but whiffed on the wound roll.  My Rhino Squad opted to move forward to grab Maelstrom Objective 1.

Angelo Deep Struck one of his Crisis Suits near my Marines but scattered on top of the building.  My Bike took a smattering of Tau fire and succumbed to his wounds.  My opponent cleaned up all but 1 of my Iron Hands scouts (who miraculously made his 6++ FNP roll).  The Tau Commander grabbed the Relic.  I scored Maelstrom Objective 1 and Angelo scored Maelstrom Objective 2 and (yet again) claimed the Destroy and Enemy Unit.  Maelstrom 3-7.

Turn 5

For the Emprah!

hah...that is about all I can say about this turn.  I drew 3 horrible Maelstrom objectives but that game was out of reach regardless.

I had nowhere to go and nothing to really use.  I shot my one Marine Squad at the lone Crisis Suit and made his xeno-ass pay for his transgressions.  That made me feel good.  I ended my turn with a Rhino, 5x Tactical Marines, and a lone Iron Hands Scout.

Angelo used his turn to clean up the Scout and cut my Marine squad in half.  He took the Relic slowly back to his deployment zone and scored 2 more Maelstrom Objectives (I forget which ones).  3-9.

We rolled to see if the game ended but un-mercifully we continued onto Turn 6.

Turn 6

(No Picture)

I didn't even try and roll for Maelstrom.  I tried taking out a Crisis Suit with my remaining Tactical Squad but failed.  His riptides closed in, blew up the Rhino, and killed the remaining 3x Marines.  The game came to a very unceremonious end.

Though we didn't score Table Quarters clearly Angelo won that Bonus Point as well.  The final score would have been 11-0 in favor of Angelo as I only managed to take out his Drones and a single Crisis Suit much later in the game than expected.  So no shot at First Strike either.

Summary

While I cannot say I am surprised at the outcome, it was a bit of a brutal first game back.  I found that I am not nearly as rusty with the general rules as I am with the specifics of other armies.  I think that is one of the biggest differences between pretenders and contenders for any tournament.  Knowing what your opponent can do (at least in general) goes a long way to helping you plan out a more effective strategy.

We discussed post-game that putting Flamers on his Ghostkeels was huge as it prevented my Assassin from assaulting in.  I think in close combat he stood a chance at forcing a leadership check and perhaps sweeping them away.  The Riptides were the real threat most of the game however.

Vulkan is a nice HQ but he is too expensive and Melta attacks are too easily shrugged off.  Sure they are great at bringing down Void Shields or taking out armor...but Grav is really the answer to most units.  Being able to assault from reserves is another trick that would help me greatly not only against Tau but Eldar as well (especially with Wraith Knights being absent from this format).

Angelo was very paranoid when I deep struck in on Turn 1 and he expressed his frustrations with such Space Marine lists.  I knew however that I would have a hard time causing any damage with shooting alone.  This list may have performed well against Battle Company lists or perhaps even KDK...but not against a monster mash or heavy flyer type list.  Definitely not against Warp Spiders (Eldar), Tau, or Superfriends variants.

I have some ideas about Raven Guard that I would like to flesh out a bit more.  I don't want to take an Iron Hands deathstar or White Scars, but per our conversation of the Florida meta, I will need to to have any shot at performing well at BeakyCon.  I definitely rolled poorly this game but not so far out of the norm to really think it impacted the game much.