My final game in the Skypehammer campaign - Grey Knights vs the Night Lords!
It's a good knight from me, and it's a good night from him.
Game 3 - Grey Knights vs Night Lords
I get a brand new opponent for the final game: Till, a veteran of the Weekend at Burnie's events and Skyping in all the way from Germany. He was coming into this game on a win and a loss, much like myself, so we'd be scrapping over that bronze medal!
Lots of deepstriking horrors here. A bit of an Achilles Heel in that the Warp Talons are daemonic and therefore susceptible to Grey Knight Smites, but choices were limited. The Chaos Lord on the other hand is an absolute beatstick to face in close combat.
Grey Knights
Despite losing my last game, I have a feeling I may have accidentally overpowered the list - so it's out with the Terminators and in with the Interceptors (since manoeuvrability is never a bad thing). I also swapped out the Dreadnought, who disappointed somewhat, for a Dreadknight. I also ditched Empyrean Domination, since generating Command Points at this level seems wrong. And despite never having used Warp Shaping, I'm hoping to have an excuse to switch Tides at some point (although that extra damage to Smite is just so good)
- Incanus Grule - Librarian (HQ) (Warlord)
Storm Bolter Nemesis Warding Stave
Warlord: First to the Fray
Relic: Cuirass of Sacrifice
Powers: Armoured Resilience, Warp Shaping - 7 x Strike Squad (Troops)
Justicar with Nemesis Daemon Hammer,1 x Nemesis Force Halberd, 5x Nemesis Force Sword, 7 x Storm Bolters
Powers: Sanctuary - 5 x Interceptor Squad (Fast)
Justicar with Nemesis Force Halberd, 2 x Nemesis Falchion, 1 x Nemesis Force Sword, 1 x Nemesis Warding Stave, 1 x Incinerator, 4 x Storm Bolters
Powers: Vortex of Doom - Nemesis Dreadknight (Heavy)
Dreadfist, Nemesis Greatsword, Gatling Psilencer, Heavy Incinerator
Powers: Gate of Infinity
Chaos Space Marines - Night Lords
- Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (HQ) (Warlord)
2 x Lightning Claws
Warlord: One Piece at a Time
Relic: Scourging Chains - 7 x Chaos Space Marines (Troops)
Aspiring Champion: Chainaxe & Plasma pistol, Icon of Vengeance, 5 x Boltguns, Autocannon - 5 x Raptors (Fast)
Champion: Plasma pistol & Power sword, 2 x Chainswords & bolt pistols, plasma gun, melta gun - 5 x Warp Talons (Fast)
5 x Lightning Claw (pair), Mark of Nurgle - 5 x Warp Talons (Fast)
5 x Lightning Claw (pair), Mark of Khorne
+ Total: [500pts] ++
The Four Pillars
A more conventional mission this time around: The Four Pillars. Essentially, there are four objectives and you score 1VP if you hold more than your opponent at the end of the battle round (3VP if you hold all four, but that's not going to happen at this level). You also score a 'No Prisoners' objective each round if you kill more units that your opponent.
All the usual bonuses for Warlord, First Strike and Linebreaker. Our battlefield was this Imperial airstrip (that Valkyrie continues to haunt me!).
I won the roll-off and decided to deploy first and go second. In this scenario, I think it's better to have the last word in pushing units off objectives before scoring is added up, and at least I can be reactive to deepstrikes).
I set up on the end furthest from the Valkyrie (never trust a Valkyrie!), with my Strike Squad in one ruin, the Dreadknight more central and Librarian Grule coordinating things from the back.
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| While the rest of the Chapter looks on... |
I put the Interceptors into deepstrike and, for a chance, start with Tide of Shadows to protect me from some long-range sniping.
The Night Lords put one unit of Warp Talons and the Chaos Lord into deepstrike, then put the other Warp Talons on the extreme flank facing me. The Chaos Space Marine goes central, ready to race into the objective by the red container, and the Raptors cluster by the Valkyrie objective.
The Night Lords begin cautiously, running the Chaos Space Marines onto the Red Container objective and the Raptors onto the Valkyrie objective. With no shots to take, it's my turn.
I stop the Dreadknight onto the Blue Container objective, and then start with the Psychic Phase...
... which is where things go wrong.
The Librarian starts attempting Armoured Resilience and rolls Perils of the Warp and loses two wounds. The Dreadknight then tries Gate of Infinity on the Strike Squad and I use the Psychic Channelling stratagem to ensure it goes off - unfortunately, this just guarantees me a double-six and the Dreadknights also loses two wounds as the Strike Squad are catapulted across the table.
With eyes on both Warp Talons and Chaos Space Marines, the Librarian Grule uses his second power to switch to Tides of Banishment (so much for Tides of Shadows) and the Strike Squad itself can Smite away four mortal wounds on the Warp Talons.
I follow up by unloading on the Chaos Space Marines using Psy-bolt Ammunition, but despite having to make 15 4+ saves, only two heretics fall.
The Dreadknight uses Big Guns Never Tire to improve the aim of his Gatling Psilencer (immediately countered by In Midnight Clad stratagem) and only picks off one of the Raptors.
The Strike Squad follow up the the Assault Phase and hit the Chaos Space Marines hard, wiping out the squad, though just falling short of getting on the objectives.
So with one objective each, no-one scores that, but I do end the round with 1VP for First Strike and another for No Prisoners.
The Raptors' plasma burns off a few wounds from the Dreadknight, while the rest of the shots go into the Strike Squad. This is followed up with the dual charge from the Raptors and Warp Talon champion, who butcher everyone but the Justicar, who flails around with his hammer for a bit, then remembers an urgent appointment elsewhere.
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| "I have some rentals to return to Blockbuster." |
The Warp Talons, using Raptor Strike stratagem, pile into the Dreadknight, scratching it down to its middle bracket (though losing one of their number doing so). The Chaos Lord also makes a natural charge into Grule and rips the poor Librarian to pieces.
Out of respect for my general, I use my last CP to have Grule fight again, but he can't even dent the Chaos Lord.
I have one unit in reserve and respond with the same tactics as the first turn: I drop the Interceptors in the same place as the Strike Squad, between the Warp Talon and Raptor Squad, and then wipe both them out with Smite, Stormbolter and Sword.
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| "Let's go to work." |
The Dreadknight easily blasts aside the four remaining Warp Talons with his Smite (I said it was an Achilles Heel), but can't land a hit on the Chaos Lord, thanks to his One Piece At A Time warlord trait. The Lightning Claws bring the Dreadknight down another bracket, and he won't last long.
But the Dreadknight is large enough to keep the Chaos Lord from contesting the objective, and I did kill more units that turn, so despite losing my warlord, I am holding a 4-1 lead.
The third turn for the Night Lords has the warlord rip apart the Dreadknight (and they don't even get to explode - scandalous!) and then consolidate safely behind the Blue Container, out of sight of the Interceptors' guns.
... except they can activate their teleport shunt and leap across the battlefield to draw a bead on him. They promptly do so, Smite away two of his wounds and then gun him down with their stormbolters.
Results: Grey Knights victory!
Aftermath
That was a brutal trading of punches! When everyone can deepstrike and wants to get into combat, it's going to get bloody fast.
I really like the Night Lords stratagem (note to self: try not to start a Night Lords army) and they really do punch hard in the first round. With the disadvantage of the Warp Talons (essentially a guaranteed unit deletion every turn), I was surprised the battle went as close as it did. If that Chaos Lord had save one more wound, he could have torn those Interceptors to shreds.
Ultimately, the Grey Knights proved to have more mobility than even the Night Lords, and that swung the game for them. It's one of the things I've really enjoyed about playing the Grey Knights, and I didn't manage to make too much of a hash at my first attempt.
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| Who knows? Maybe he'll get some friends in 2021 |
So that ends my part in the campaign. It was great fun to participate, and thanks to Mr AP Burn for hosting. Onwards to 9th Edition!
Great campaign! Well done Mr AP Burn and thanks Stylus for the write ups!
ReplyDeleteCan’t wait to see your new Night Lord army.