Pod league-Batreps

[TiguriusX]

I am trying out a new pod league system

After the "season" is over you go up/down to different skill pods based on performance

Games are scheduled at your convenience. We have 6 weeks to arrange 3 games...fits my crazy schedule much better

Lists can change every game

ITC format

I am starting in Pod 3 out of 5 (average skill)

I got my shadowspear vanguard forces earlier in the day and decided to assemble and bring a phobos wolf lord

I decided to bring the White Wolf to battle and test it out

12" anti DS bubble and the new warlord trait to focus fire is PERFECT synergy with my leviathan (leviathan can walk and fire at BS2 rerolling 1s and it makes it much harder to DS in and bubble wrap to stop the storm cannons from firing...something which I have experienced a few times at tournaments)

The only complaint I have is a WL needs a power sword instead of a basic combat knife

Opponent #1 GSC

Tons of bodies and characters

Assassins with magic rifles and a pistol wielding maniac

2 squads of rock saw guys

1 giant unit of stop sign wielding mutants

And a corrupted IG artillery battery of 2 wyverns and 2 basilisks

Plus mortar support (5 or 6 I think off memory)

my first match ever against GSC and I told him to stop telling me names and rules after a few minutes because it was non stop insanity

Knight wolves

+++ Pod 3 Knight Wolves (Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition) [113 PL, -2CP, 2000pts] +++

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Imperium - Space Wolves) ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

**Chapter Selection**: Space Wolves

+ HQ +

Njal Stormcaller in Runic Terminator Armour: 1. Living Lightning, 2. Tempest's Wrath, 6. Jaws of the World Wolf, Bolt pistol, Nightwing, Psychic hood, Runic Terminator armour, Staff of the Stormcaller

Rune Priest: 1. Living Lightning, 4. Fury of the Wolf Spirits, Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Jump Packs, Runic axe, Smite, The Armour of Russ

Wolf Lord in Phobos Armour: 5. Target Priority, Bolt pistol, Camo cloak, Combat knife, Frag & Krak grenades, Master-crafted instigator bolt carbine

. . Warlord: Warlord

+ Troops +

Grey Hunters: 4x Chainsword

. . Grey Hunter Pack Leader: Bolt pistol, Boltgun, Frag & Krak grenades, Power sword

. . 4x Grey Hunter w/Bolt Pistol: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Boltgun, 4x Frag & Krak grenades

Grey Hunters: 4x Chainsword

. . Grey Hunter Pack Leader: Bolt pistol, Boltgun, Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades

. . 4x Grey Hunter w/Bolt Pistol: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Boltgun, 4x Frag & Krak grenades

Grey Hunters: 4x Chainsword

. . Grey Hunter Pack Leader: Bolt pistol, Boltgun, Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades

. . 4x Grey Hunter w/Bolt Pistol: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Boltgun, 4x Frag & Krak grenades

+ Elites +

Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour

. . Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour: Storm bolter, Storm shield

. . Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour: Storm bolter, Storm shield

. . Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour: Storm bolter, Storm shield

. . Wolf Guard in Terminator Armour: Storm bolter, Storm shield

. . Wolf Guard Pack Leader in Terminator Armour: Storm bolter, Storm shield

+ Heavy Support +

Long Fangs

. . Long Fang: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma cannon

. . Long Fang: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma cannon

. . Long Fang: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma cannon

. . Long Fang: Bolt pistol, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma cannon

. . Long Fang Pack Leader: Chainsword, Frag & Krak grenades, Plasma gun

Relic Leviathan Dreadnought: 2x Heavy flamer, Storm cannon array, Storm cannon array

++ Super-Heavy Detachment +3CP (Imperium - Imperial Knights) ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Exalted Court: Exalted Court: 1 Extra Warlord Trait

Heirlooms of the Household: Heirlooms of the Household: 1 Extra Heirloom

Household Choice: Questor Mechanicus

. . House Vulker: Household Tradition: Firestorm Protocols

+ Lord of War +

Armiger Helverins

. . Armiger Helverin: 2x Armiger Autocannon, Heavy Stubber

Armiger Helverins

. . Armiger Helverin: 2x Armiger Autocannon, Heavy Stubber

Knight Crusader: Character (Exalted Court), Character (Heirloom of the House), Character (Knight Lance), Heavy Stubber, Heirloom: Endless Fury, Titanic Feet, Warlord Trait: Ion Bulwark

. . Avenger Gatling Cannon w/ Heavy Flamer: Avenger Gatling Cannon, Heavy Flamer

. . Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon w/ Heavy Stubber: Heavy Stubber, Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon

Pre-game and deployment

ITC mission #3 (the 4 objective on)

Deployment #1

Secondary objectives

Mine

-headhunter (he has like 10 characters)

-reaper

-big game hunter

His

-Kingslayer (my knight crusader)

-Old school

-Recon

Deployment against GSC is odd....they just put blips. After a few drops i told him I'm just going to deploy EVERYTHING to save time...

I tried to deploy to reduce his GSC DS tricks but basically...come at me bro

Artillery and tons of blips....nothing to see here

I win the roll off but know the blip rules are stupid...you basically can't shoot him turn 1

I defer and decide to go 2nd

Turn 1

The blips turn into a ton of GS cult....basically guardsmen

See that lone guy in the 3rd floor window? He tricked me good.

I thought I had all my HQs safe and protected. Nope.....that is a special assassin with a psyker killing rifle

He is able to see my JP RP with the armor of russ

He hits on 2 and wounds on 4 (mortal wound as well)

Blows my RP away....

I needed that RP for leviathan chooser of the slain and russ armor...that hurts

His artillery is minimal. I lose 2 GH total. Being in cover and only needing to roll 2s is very nice

However the RP kill gets him a kill point and his first strike secondary points

On my turn I clear his screens

The knight and leviathan plus both armigers blow 40 cultists off the board and open a path to his patriarch

Key note here....the patriarch grants a FEARLESS bubble so I had to waste shots on 3 models to clear them

In the melee phase the crusader says YOLO and charges the patriarch. I don't even know what the combat profile of the patriarch is but I have stomped out BA smash captains before so I have no fear

The patriarch is actually dangerous in melee. I learn that he can use his remaining cultist unit to eat wounds on a 4+

and he passes off all but 2 damage. He then claws 12 wounds off my knight (half!)

Oops...that didn't go as planned

I did score 2 reapers an killed/held more so I slowly pull ahead on points

Turn 2

Here comes the GSC trick time

He wants to send his melee super stars after my leviathan but can't get close enough due to my WL 12" denial bubble

Instead he sends a pysker that can make me turn traitor and fire on my own units!!!

He gets 3D6 to roll against my leviathan leadership

He rolls 1-1-2 (phew)

His patriarch also uses pysker spells and does the feared MENTAL ONSLAUGHT against my knight

11 v 9 here we go!!

He does 1 wound before I roll higher....phew

His melee superstar force comes in on the OPPOSITE side of the board to hunt down my armiger claiming an objective

They slaughter it easily

I try to counter attack and spend CP to fight with my knight hoping to kill his patriarch first.

He uses the GSC vect and rolls a 6....which means I get stopped AND I lose the CP

However the dice favor me in combat and I survive with 2 wounds left

The dice continue to smile on me as I stomp the patriarch to death despite needing 5's

He takes 3 damage rolls and is unable to pass any off to his nearby cultists

Splat!

My knight limps away at his bottom tier and manages 2 kills thanks to his flamer (needing 5's really sucks)

I send in my reinforcements to control the board

Terminators Njal and LF all come in

Njal smites and LL the assassin to death and I bounce a wound to his wyvern

My LFs fire at the wyvern but only do a few wounds leaving him with 2 or so left (doh!!!)

Terminators hose down the infantry and reduce them to 6 or so models

In my backfield I obliterate his psyker with regular GH fire and my leviathan manages to kill 5 or so of his assault abberation guys

Turn 3

The final GSC trick is played and he comes after me with rock saws

he has a little trouble due to my WL 12" bubble but he spends stratagem points to get free movement

He charges my WL with 1 squad and my GH/Armiger with the other squad

He drops the armiger to 1 wound and kills 3/5 GH

I interrupt with WL and take out 3 before I die

He consolidates into my leviathan preventing me from shooting and I stomp 2 more plus morale takes a few

Some minor combat is also happening near Njal.

The pistol wielding HQ comes in and guns down my LFs

On my turn the GHs all move in to charge and clear out the remaining cultists

They do the job and my leviathan is free but still in charge range...not looking good

I smite and LL the pistol wielding guy but he lives

The terminators can only get 2 guys to shoot at him but the SBs are ineffective

Turns 4-6

The game has literally come down to TOOTH AND CLAW

He throws wave after wave at my GH and leviathan force

First his rock saw guys come in and absolutely murder the GH then consolidate into the leviathan

Leviathan slowly stomps them down trying to get free

Before he can do that the abberrant stop sign wielding reinforcements join the party and lock him up again

On the 6th and FINAL turn he finally kills my leviathan (it came down to a single roll my 4++ against his last attack with 1 wound remaining)

This gets him a kill PLUS a last strike secondary point

Meanwhile his pistol wielding HQ blasts Njal and drops me to 2 wounds before I LL him to death (bounce to wyvern) and smite the final wound from the wyvern

Artillery and mortar fire rains down constantly but the Terminators only take a handful of wounds. 2 terminators are still standing on an objective when the game ends

The final act is for Njal to try and kill a basilisk. Going into turn 6 it has 5 wounds remaining.

Smite! (roll a 1)

Living lightning! (roll 3 damage)

I have to decide between bolt pistol and nightwing. I decide D6 shots are better....I roll a 1

I hit with a single psyber raven S3 against T6 and 3+ armor save

Against all odds I peck the final wound from the basilisk and kill it

Huge point swing because I get a BGH a kill and i stop him from earning kill more

Final score and thoughts

Game ends in a TIE 26 all

I enjoyed the new phobos wolf lord. I think he has earned more play time with the leviathan.

I regret choosing CADMUS as my knight house. I was hoping to use their unique stratagem to shoot incoming DS but I sacrificed too much for it.

If I had stayed a mechanicus house I could have fought at top tier even with 2 wounds and been MUCH more effective

I made some rookie mistakes facing GSC for the first time as well.

Choosing BGH was a mistake in hindsight. I should have done behind enemy lines because I knew my terminators and njal would be fighting there.

The assassin meta is something I need to adjust to going forward. I was not expecting a dead RP on turn 1....that hurt

All in all it was FUN

MVP has to go to the WL and leviathan combo because it drew so much attention from the GSC forces.

The GSC have nasty flexibility and hit hard but they fold like paper if you can counter punch.

I look forward to another match against them

Edited April 7, 2019 by TiguriusX

[Harald Fairmane]

Great batrep, that result on your first time vs gsc, not bad at all :) Edited April 7, 2019 by Harald Fairmane

[TiguriusX]

Pod game 2 (last game b/c other member of pod had to drop)

Opponent: Chaos (Magnus)

Demon Magnus

Ahriman

Shaman

Changeling

Fluxmaster

Bloodletter HQ

Sorceror

Tons of HQs basically

Had at least 2 max size tzangor archer guys that fly

4+ units of cultists

His deep strike army

Full sized bloodletter bomb (bucks of dice and 3D6 charge)

bloodletter HQ

30 horrors (90 shots out to 18")

He had at least 2 battalions worth of CP (maybe even 3) but spent most of it pre game

My army

++ Super-Heavy Detachment +3CP (Imperium - Imperial Knights) [41 PL, -2CP, 775pts] ++

Exalted Court [-1CP]: Exalted Court: 1 Extra Warlord Trait [-1CP]

Heirlooms of the Household [-1CP]: Heirlooms of the Household: 1 Extra Heirloom [-1CP]

Household Choice: House Krast, Questor Mechanicus

+ Lord of War [41 PL, 775pts] +

2xArmiger Helverins [9 PL, 172pts]

. Armiger Helverin [9 PL, 172pts]: Heavy Stubber [2pts]

Knight Warden [23 PL, 431pts]: Character (Exalted Court), Character (Heirloom of the House), Character (Knight Lance), Heavy Stubber [2pts], Heirloom: Armour of the Sainted Ion, Thunderstrike gauntlet [35pts], Twin Icarus Autocannon [20pts], Warlord Trait: Ion Bulwark

. Avenger Gatling Cannon w/ Heavy Flamer [89pts]: Avenger Gatling Cannon [75pts], Heavy Flamer [14pts]

++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Imperium - Space Wolves) [64 PL, -1CP, 1225pts] ++

**Chapter Selection**: Space Wolves

Trophies of Fenris [-1CP]: Trophies of Fenris - 1 Extra Relic [-1CP]

+ HQ [19 PL, 338pts] +

Iron Priest [5 PL, 66pts]: Boltgun, The Armour of Russ, Thunder hammer [21pts]

Njal Stormcaller in Runic Terminator Armour [8 PL, 153pts]: 1. Living Lightning, 2. Tempest's Wrath, 4. Fury of the Wolf Spirits

Wolf Lord in Phobos Armour [6 PL, 119pts]: 5. Target Priority, Camo cloak [3pts], Master-crafted instigator bolt carbine [6pts], The Wulfen Stone, Warlord

+ Troops [12 PL, 195pts] +

3xGrey Hunters [4 PL, 65pts]: 4x Chainsword

. Grey Hunter Pack Leader [13pts]: Chainsword

. 4x Grey Hunter w/Bolt Pistol [52pts]

+ Elites [11 PL, 227pts] +

Wulfen [11 PL, 227pts]

. 4x Thunder hammer & Stormshield [72pts]: 4x Storm Shield [8pts], 4x Thunder Hammer [64pts]

. 4x Wulfen [112pts]

. Wulfen Pack Leader [43pts]: Frost claws [15pts]

+ Heavy Support [22 PL, 465pts] +

2xEliminator Squad [3 PL, 72pts]

. 2x Eliminator [48pts]: 2x Bolt sniper rifle [6pts], 2x Camo cloak [6pts]

. Eliminator Sergeant [24pts]: Bolt sniper rifle [3pts], Camo cloak [3pts]

Relic Leviathan Dreadnought [16 PL, 321pts]: 2x Heavy flamer [28pts], 3x Hunter-killer missile [18pts], Storm cannon array [50pts], Storm cannon array [50pts]

++ Total: [105 PL, -3CP, 2000pts] ++

I added 2 units of eliminators (new sniper units) for testing

Reduced my knight to a warden and gave him a power fist just in case I got magnus in death grip range

Replaced my terminators with wulfen as Magnus insurance

Pre-game

We rolled SEIZE GROUND and FRONTLINE ASSAULT as the mission/deployment

I was hoping for more space between our armies but oh well...

Secondaries

Mine

-reaper

-head hunter

-KS-magnus

His

-recon

-engineer

-KS-knight

I deployed everything on the board. No reserve forces.

GHs went in buildings with an objective on the other side of the wall

Rest of my forces spread out for LOS to fire as well as DS denial on the flanks

The HQs and leviathan are dead center to go left/right based on how he comes at me

I made a mistake separating the knight from my SW HQs in an attempt to get him out of LOS from the goat bows....should have just let them have at me

He deployed front and center with 2 units of cultist engineers out of LOS near his objectives

2 units of cultists are in front with goat bows behind

Changeling and shaman are out of LOS behind building but in buff range

Magnus is in the rear

Turn 1

He rolls a 6 for first turn

I also roll a 6 and win b/c I had fewer drops

He declines to seize

I move my ranged units into firing positions

I identify the goat archers as the main threat to my knight and leviathan next round and try to limit their damage

They have a combo that lets them wound on a 4+ when firing....not good when your primary defense is T8 (knight/leviathan)

Leviathan gets buffed up from the WL and fires his storm cannons as the Tzaangor enlightened (the official name of the goat archers)

He only kills 7/9 because the changeling FNP is helping them shrug off some damage

The HK missiles hit Magnus and manage 4 damage on him

My warden fires his icarus array into Magnus and does 2 more damage

The gatling avenger only kills 2/9 goat archers from the untouched unit

Helverin #1 activates skyreaper protocols on magnus and rolls 12 shots. Out of 5 potential wounds magnus only takes 6 damage

Helverin #2 only gets 2 damage through and Magnus is still standing with 4 wounds left....doh

My snipers aren't likely to drop those remaining wounds so I fire at the goat shaman hoping to stop his combo.

Snipers do a grand total of 2 wounds

I took a risk on Magnus and it didn't pay off

I get 0 kills and Magnus is still alive

He moves everything up close in my face

Magnus gets healed up to 6 wounds and gets ALL his buffs up

Magnus uses warp time to get in my face and then gets a super smite roll of 12

I eat 8 mortal wounds but activate benevolence of the machine god to save 3 of them

Magnus charges in and beats my knight to a pulp

I need to save 1/6 with my armor save (have the 2+ armor relic)

I fail them all

I debate whether a CP on a 6+ is smart and decide who cares SW love bad odds

Fail the CP reroll as well

Knight is dead

He gets a kill and the kill more bonus as well as hold and hold more

Jumps to a commanding 4-1 lead on primary points

Turn 2

I move forward while positioning Njal to attempt psychic warfare with Magnus

I send my wulfen near magnus as backup to charge in as needed

I roll 3 damage for my smite dropping him to 3

I roll 3 damage for LL and kill Magnus in the psychic phase (we all have a good laugh at this)

It bounces and kills a goat archer

My leviathan gets super charged by my WL again and blows away the remaining goat archers on the left flank

My middle GH get into the building and gun down a few cultists then charge in to finish the job

They lose a GH to overwatch but butcher the remaining cultists

I have cleared 3 of his 4 screening units and his HQs are close to being exposed but he has reinforcements on the way

My wulfen also fail a 7 inch charge with full rerolls and are left out in the open instead of being inside the building with his last unit of cultists...not a good thing

The eliminators fail to eliminate anything. 6 dinky sniper shots a turn and so far not much to show for it

His horrors arrive on the left flank and obliterate my wulfen with 90 shots

His blood letters want to go after my leviathan but my WL 12" anti DS bubble is too hard to overcome and he is terrified of me using chooser of the slain to shoot him if he drops in the open

He chooses to go after my right flank helverin instead

He makes the charge into the GH and helverin and easily slaughters both

Meanwhile he sits on 5/6 objectives and starts earning bonus primary points

Turn 3

I have a decision to make....go LEFT after the horrors and hope the blood letters can't reach me or go RIGHT after the blood letters and hope the 18" range of the horrors keeps them off my ass

I decide to go right....

When the shooting and melee are over he has 3 bloodletters left (yes i used fury of wolf spirits and fought twice as well)

He hopes to roll a special number and get reinforcements but instead they die off

On his turn he swarms my far left flank with the GH and helverin (they had shot at pink horrors and killed like 3 total)

He charges at me with his bloodletter hero as well but keeps forgetting SW have 6" HI

I use my IP with armor of russ to shut him down and swing first.

The IP thunder hammer makes short work of the blood letter HQ and ends the threat

He still has the bonus point

Turn 4

I start the march left towards what is left on the board but I can't fire my leviathan at anything

His giant horror unit is touching my helverin in melee and his HQs have protection

Meanwhile I have no LOS to the units in the middle building

This hurts me as I can't chip away at him with my MVP

Snipers however finally do something worth mentioning. As part of his left flank positioning the changeling stepped into LOS of my snipers.

They quickly load the executioner rounds and manage 2 mortal wounds in addition to the actual damage to blow him off the table

He finishes off my helverin and starts blowing away my eliminators with the horror shots

he still has the bonus point

Turn 5

Not much to report

I keep moving left but am too slow to do anything

I shoot a bunch of horrors but they aren't dead yet

He finishes off my eliminators and puts a few wounds on the leviathan which I just heal with IP

He still has the bonus point

Turn 6

I unload my leviathan on a sorcerer who is not behind any units for protection

He does nothing and still has the bonus point

Post game and MVP

This was my first time facing Magnus. Man that was brutal but could have been so much worse. If I didn't get first shot i highly doubt I put that much damage on him with his defensive buffs active

My list is able to score in the mid 20's in ITC but I can't stop people from scoring their own points

I definitely can't out objective anyone. My "troops" are 5 man quick to die units and expensive as hell (195 bare for our minimum battalion tax)

He had the engineer cultists and regular objective sitting cultists he could use however he needed

I need to change how I approach the game and maybe not attempt objectives challenging at all.

My leviathan WL and Njal combo is definitely putting in work

The problem is the combo costs a good 600 points or so and have limited range

This also marks the end of my SOUP play for a while

With the ITC change to pure lists for faction points I will be doing all future tournaments etc. with my pure SW list

I was enjoying the company of a knight but also look forward to new list building challenges

Kind of sad I never had time to build and use my gdamn AM allies either

I finished this pod league experience 2nd out of 3 players

I won't go up or down. I sit and wait for new experiences in this pod now

Edited May 5, 2019 by TiguriusX