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| Horusian Inquisitor |
A few weeks back, I decided to get back to 40K with a big 1,750 point battle against ClauseIV1918's Grey Knights. It has been a while since we played, and while I've been off playing other, non 40K games, he has still be doing a lot of 40K, although admittedly, much of it has been Kill Team.
Following my rule of causing mayhem wherever possible, I suggested we make the Storm of Magic Arcane Fulcrum to the right of the picture Mysterious Archeotech, although the psyker killing result would only hit psykers, not Brotherhood of Psyker units... And there's a Comm Relay up on the mesa in the centre.
You'll also notice Servo Skulls liberally scattered down the centre of the battlefield. This does not fill me with joy.
I'd thrown together a pretty typical army, and put my Ratlings in my own deployment zone due to the Skulls, while I sent my Storm Troopers off on an outflanking exercise.
And here's the left flank, with my command HQ in the Chimera and some Rough Riders making an outing for the first time in a while. But what's that hiding behind the bunker next to the mesa?
A Vindicare assassin, lurking among the buildings...
The Mysterious Archeotech is a power field generator, you say? Invulnerable saves for everything near it, you say?
It seems the Grey Knights decided that invulnerable saves are lovely things, and they want in on a bit of that action.
The Grey Knights advance, using what little cover is available as best they can...
The long ranged fire from the Grey Knight vehicles manages to detonate the Hellhound, killing one of the Ratling snipers in the ensuing explosion. Storm Bolter fire also causes the squad on the right flank to flee off the board...
The Guard then advance, and ClauseIV1918 suddenly looks a little nervous about the proximity of the Rough Riders to his assassin...
Well, it certainly won't go well for someone...
The Guard advanced, but their combined shooting had practically no effect on the Grey Knights...
The Rough Riders injure the assassin with a laspistol shot before charging, then he was trampled to death by their horses before the lances even strike home... They pull back, awaiting the counter assault. (Given how dangerous that strike was, in hindsight, I should probably have charged both units...
A wider shot showing the state of the left flank at the end of my first turn.
Meanwhile, on the right flank, the Demolisher and the Hydra had successfully wrecked a Razorback, causing the occupants to bail out.
A second assassin. Of course. The first assassin was clearly just a distraction. The Officio Assassinorum is getting smarter...
Grey Knight reserves start pouring onto the battlefield...
I'm not sure what these chaps were up to.
There do seem to be a lot more Grey Knights about, suddenly...
Well, that's really not good, is it?
The firing this round takes out the Leman Russ Demolisher.
While the Callidus assassin completes her mission easily.
A brutal exchange leaves the surviving Rough Riders fleeing for their lives...
A small squad of Storm Troopers arrive from outflanking to see if they can turn the tide.
While the conscripts in the centre provide a timely reminder to the Grey Knights that failings in accuracy of fire can be overcome with volume. Or, as attributed to Stalin, "Quantity has a quality all of its own".
The Dreadnoughts bring down my Valkyrie, leaving a lone survivor pulling himself from the wreckage.
And the return of fire at the Storm Troopers leaves only the sergeant alive.
Despite executing the squad sergeant, the weight of fire on the surviving infantry squad is too much, and they flee.
The Inquisitor makes a concerted effort to punch a tank to death.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Grey Knights move to encircle the surviving Guardsmen.
The assassin and a squad of Grey Knights gun down a large number of conscripts, and charge the survivors.
The combat, unsurprisingly, goes very poorly for the conscripts.
"What's he equipped with?"
"Melta bombs."
"Ah. That could be a problem."
It wasn't. He was kicked to death before he could place a bomb.
The Grey Knights then move to secure the second objective.
The Grey Knight Dreadnoughts hold the centre.
The Inquisitor slowly but surely batters the tank to death by backing off, shooting it, and charging it again...
The Command HQ disembark in as much cover as they can find.
A flank suspiciously empty of living Guardsmen...
And all in all, it looks bleak for the Guard.
The battle was called before I was tabled, but it was a comprehensive thrashing. It is certainly a combination of me being out of practice and ClauseIV1918 having improved his game a lot since we first played! He came in with a definite plan, which worked well. I had no real plan and a smattering of units.
Coming up with a list which has a more comprehensive 'use' may be something to look into. There are definitely more units I want to try and use, but that means I really need to get them assembled and painted! Still, it was a very enjoyable game, for all the kicking I received. I did manage to cause a couple of bloody noses to the Grey Knights - notably one of the squads which was a bit too overconfident about being out in the open, and the Vindicare assassin getting ridden down by the cavalry.
I have a couple of repairs to do, as well - one of the bodyguard's chainswords has come off, and a Rough Rider lance has snapped... That will need to go onto the "to do" list.
Humm. I might have been tempted to (in your position) refuse a flank in an Eldar Stylee; ie, park up everything in mutually covering positions on one side of the board; allow the GK to advance onto your 'gunline' and counter charge (with everything, to make the RR more likely to survive) when he got in range. It has it's risks, but it's the sort thing I would do if I were not playing grandiose unbalanced games.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I will definitely try a refused flank at some point - I think having Any Plan At All will be my starting point, though!
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