Grandmaster Emrys' First Battle - A Battle Blog Report

As Chris' Ulthwe Eldar army has been growing, I have been scaling my Grey Knights army to fit his maximum points value, approaching the 2,000 point mark. This past weekend we had a battle at 1,900 points. As Chris is just two models away from his full army, I thought that the points level would be a good place to promote my Brother-Captain to a Grandmaster of the Grey Knights. A couple of weeks ago we decided that this series of battle we've been having is actually part of a running narrative, in which the Grey Knights under the command of Brother-Captain Emrys and the Ulthwe Eldar under the command of Farseer Calran Ulthroon would have a running series of escalating battles in the pursuit of Chaos artifacts that would culminate in the final battles (at 2,000 points). By the time of the final battles, Emrys is promoted to a Grandmaster and Calran Ulthroon has called upon Lord Ulthran himself, Eldrad Ulthran, to aid in the fight.

Well this weekend was Grandmaster Emrys' first appearance, and he performed very admirably.

The mission was Omega level Take & Hold. We set up an objective marker in the middle of the board and proceeded to separate our armies according to the tenets of the mission.

I was able to deploy my entire force with the exception of my three Dreadnoughts, and my opponent had to keep his two Wraithlords and Vyper Squadron in reserve.

I deployed my army in two groups:

Group One - Squad Emrys (5 TAGK), Squad Auran (8 PAGK), and Squad Dalan (6 PAGK)

Group Two - Squad Detlin, Squad Sirim, Squad Gormann (8 PAGK each)

Group One deployed to the right of my deployment zone, with Auran and Dalan in the trees and Emrys out in the open, defiantly daring the Xenos scum to bring battle to him.

Group Two deployed to the left of the deployment zone, using the building in that table quarter for cover from the Eldar.

Turn One:

I won first turn and started to move my groups into position. Auran and Dalan moved into a firing position in the woods, Emrys moved into an open area towards the center, between the woods and a building. Squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann used the cover of a building to advance on the far side of the table. I opened up on the Eldar Pathfinders in their forward position, reducing their number to three. Unfortunately, the resilient Xenos snipers decided to stick around and cause trouble.

In my opponent's round, he moved up the Warlock unit to support the lone Pathfinder and used his Warp Spiders to secure the objective. Opening up fire on squad Emrys, one brave Terminator fell to the concentrated firepower. Three more Grey Knights died, coming out of squads Gormann and Sirim.

Turns Two - Six, the Short Version:

All three of my Dreadnoughts arrived on Turn 2 and shot up the Pathfinders, their Asssault Cannons were in range of nothing else. One Pathfinder remained, though he ran. The Farseers bunkered down in a building near the objective with the support of the Warp Spiders. Emrys then led a daring assault against the entrenched Warlocks, assaulting into thier cover and slaughtering the Xenos to a man. Auran and Dalan continued cover fire, while on the other side of the board, Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann had taken care of the Dark Reapers (whose Exarch had felled a Dreadnought). They now faced both Wraithlords and a supporting lone Farseer.

The remaining rounds saw the destruction of the Swooping Hawks, the Warp Spiders,a Wraithlord who fell to the Assault Cannon of the remaining Dreadnought, Squad Auran (compliments of the arriving Vypers), and another Dreadnought.

The game ended in a daring gambit by Emrys, as squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann broke cover (under the guns of the remaining Wraithlord) to add their weight to the secured objective. In the final round, Emrys felled the two Vypers with Psycannon fire, Detlin and Sirim took out the Wraithlord in combat as Gormann added his weight to the secured objective.

In the end, the Grey Knights losses totaled 2 Dreadnoughts, Squad Auran, and half of squads Detlin and Sirim.

The Eldar losses were heavy, with only the lone Farseer and the Guardians remaining.

The Result: Total Victory for the Order Malleus!!

It was a rousing battle, and the tactics session afterwards was good on both sides. I think Chris is learning what not to do against the Grey Knights, and I look forward to the day when he hands me a bitter defeat.

Until that day, though, may the Emperor protect us all.

D.G.

Deathwatch Marines

As my esteemed Ulthwe Eldar opponent (see links section for his blog) gain skill and luck, I have begun searching for ways to surprise him, and I believe that I have found one way.

This is my Deathwatch Kill Team, assembled from a previous DWKT that I had a few years ago. I replaced many of the bitz, making them a little more dynamic, and I plan to re-paint them to a bit better scheme and standard. I completely replaced the Captain with a Space Marines Veteran model with Power Sword and Storm Bolter. He will make a fine Deathwatch Captain. If you study the pictures, you can also see a Black Templar, a marine from the Space Wolves, and a marine from the White Scars. The other marines I am painting much as I already have, with no particular Chapter colors.

I am also considering this team as alternative to a squad of Grey Knights within my Daemonhunters army. They would make a nice alternative in some situations, and as my dealings with the Eldar become more frequent, it would make sense to include them and develop an running story line with the Kill Team vs. the Eldar.


The list for the Deathwatch Kill Team is below:

Deathwatch Kill Team

- Deathwatch Captain (Imperial Fists)
--Power Weapon
--Storm Bolter
--Frag Grenades
--Melta Bombs
--Iron Halo

-Deathwatch Veteran (Blood Angels)
--Lightning Claws

-8x Deathwatch Space Marines (1 White Scars, 1 Space Wolves, 1 Black Templars, 5 Codex)
--2x Heavy Bolters
--6x Metal Storm Ammo

Total: 385 Points


The Emperor protects,

D.G.

Prelude to a Battle Report

The Mission: Gamma Level Cleanse
The Opponent: Eldar
Points Level: 1,650

I am still awaiting the pictures that we took of our armies. We didn't take turn-by-turn pictures, but we did take a few.

Anyway, I say that the game can be won or lost in deployment, as Chris found out last night. Against an army with Shrouding and playing a mission with table quarters, don't give me a chance to lurk more then 30" away from the Dark Reapers for the whole game, effectively taking them out of the game. They were the anchor for a table quarter, but didn't even get to shoot ay anyone.

I'll expound on tactics later, but I'll post my 1,650 points list, with his list to follow in the actual battle report.

Grey Knights at 1,650 Points:

-HQ-

Brother-Captain
-Psycannon
-Psychic Hood
-4x Terminator retinue
--Psycannon

-TROOPS-

2x 10 Grey Knights

-FAST ATTACK-

10 Grey Knights
-2x Psycannon

10 Grey Knights

-HEAVY SUPPORT-

Dreadnought
-ML, TLLC, EA


The Emperor protects,

D.G.

Back to the Knights in Grey!

I'm trying to continue with the tactica article involving Grey Knights and the uses of their Special Weapons.

Some GK players prefer to limit the uses of the Special Weapons to certain enemies: Eldar, Orks, Tyranids, TAU, Imperial Guard. Yeah, mostly Xenos opponents tend to draw the attention of the Psycannon and the Incinerator. The Special Weapons certainly have more effective stats against non-power armoured enemies, but I contend that there are many uses for these weapons against power armoured opponents as well. These enemies include: Necrons, Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, and Witch Hunters (Sisters of Battle). Special Weapons are useful for the Grey Knights in these situations as well, but perhaps in a muted manner.

Now, many players will tend to make army lists based on the armies that they are likely to fight in a closed-circuit gaming group, a regular club, or even regular (meaning 1 v 1) opponent situations. This works for most situations, as these are friendly games and usually meant for the enjoyment of all involved.

However, there are are many players out there, and I count these in the majority, who do not have the time, want, need, money, or are otherwise uninclined, to create an army full of options, extra models, and units that aren't always used. This is especially true if the army is a secondary or tertiary force. So, it is very important for this to be taken into account when considering force organization.

In the next segment I will take these thoughts into the army list itself, talking about a stagnant army should employ at least a few Special Weapons in order to plan for as many eventualities as possible.

The Emperor Protects,

D.G.