My list included:
1x DA Company Master with Power Weapon/Storm Bolter (originally I had gone with an Interrogator-Chaplain, but decided I'd rather have Rites of battle and the Captain would come out cheaper).
1x DA Command Squad with Apothecary, Champion, Sacred Standard (This was actually illegal, but I forgot to change it when I switched out the Chaplain for a Master last minute), Power Fist and Power Weapon
1x IG Company Command Squad with Lascannon, Heavy Flamer, Melta
1x 5-man DA Scout Squad with 4 sniper rifles/Heavy Bolter
2x DA Tactical squads with melta/missile launcher
2x DA Tactical squads with Heavy Bolter/flamer and Power Weapon sergeants
1x IG Veteran squad with 3x melta/Lascannon
1x IG Valkyrie with Lascannon/Rocket Pods
2x 5-man DA Devastator Squads with 3x Missile Launchers/1x Lascannon
His list I do not remember exactly as far as weapons and specials, but it was basically:
1x Reclusiarch
1x IG Company Command Squad
1x 15-man Death Company
2x BA Tactical Squads with Multi-meltas/flamers?
1x 10-man Scout squad with sniper rifles
1x IG Infantry Platoon - 3 squads with Auto Cannons/flamers and a platoon command
2 x 10-man Assault squads with mix of meltas and flamers
Guardsman Marbo
2x Whirlwind
1x Vindicator
We played on a Forest/Jungle themed board with some clustered areas of terrain, so I figured going with a heavy infantry list would help me a lot as vehicles would end up getting bottle necked and would have to make difficult terrain rolls to move pretty often. We rolled for Warlord traits and we both got the Strategic trait of Conqueror of Cities which gave us Stealth (Ruins) and Move Through Cover (Ruins). There were a couple of terrain pieces that were ruins on the table, but basically the traits were a wash. We rolled and determined that we were playing The Relic with a Vanguard deployment. I won the roll for first turn and began my deployment.
Deployment: My idea for deployment was pretty simple. I decided to keep the Valkyrie off of the board in Reserves with the Veterans embarked on it. My deployment zone had a stone building which we determined would have armor 12, so I deployed one group of devastators on the battlements and placed the IG Company Command Squad inside the building. I also had a trench line in my deployment zone, so I deployed the other devastators there and then screened them with 2 tactical squads in front of them. the other two tactical squad went next to the building and my DA Command squad with the Master attached I deployed behind my building. My opponent deployed with his Death Company (DC) led by the Reclusiarch right out front and directly behind them was the IG infantry Platoon deployed as a blob with the Platoon command and company command directly behind the blob. He then flanked the blob on each side with a BA tactical squad. On the far side of his deployment zone he had the two whirlwinds and the vindicator. He kept the Jump troops in reserve. We then deployed our Scouts. I infiltrated with mine and placed it in a rock formation directly across from his vehicles while he combat squadded his scouts and deployed 5 men behind a wall that was close to the middle of the board and deployed the other group in a ruin directly across from my right flank. He attempted to seize the initiative, but failed.
Turn 1: Turn 1 went amazing well for me. My devastators opened fire on his whirlwinds and each group of devastators caused a whirlwind to explode. The rest of my shooting accounted for a tactical marine, 3 of his close scouts, and a few guardsmen went down to sniper rifles but made their Pinning check. I moved my tactical squads forward and moved my DA Command squad toward the center of my army. On his turn he advanced his death company with one tactical squad behind them for support. The other tactical squad along with the Vindicator moved towards my scouts. His shooting was mostly ineffective and accounted for 1-2 tactical marines I believe, but his DC was closer to the objective than any of my troops.
Turn 2: My Valkyrie arrived and roared straight for the objective. The Veterans inside used grav chute insertion to try and get as close to the objective as possible but scattered further back than I would have liked. I continued my advance with three tactical squads and the command squad, while my devastators and one tactical squad stayed back to provide supporting fire. My shooting was not nearly as good this time around as my devastators only managed to bring down 2 DC and the rest of my shooting accounted for one more DC and a couple of marines as well as the last of the close scouts. The only effective shooting I had came from the Valkyrie which opened fire on the blob. Both of my rocket pods were dead on and accounted for several guardsman (I believe 10 died). On his turn, his Assault marines arrived as did Marbo. Marbo he placed right in my back field near my command squad. 2 of the Assault marine squads landed next to my building, another landed near my scouts and the last landed right on my left flank. He continued to advance his vindicator and tacticals towards my scouts while his DC and other tacticals closed on the relic. on his shooting phase he killed a scout, and his vindicator shot my tacticals and scattered, but still managed to kill 3 tacticals. The rest of his shooting caused a Shaken result on the Valkyrie, killed an IG veteran and about 5 tacticals. But, perhaps the most important part was the fact that Marbo's demo charge killed three of the command squad and Autocannon fire damaged the building bringing it down to armor 10.
Turn 3: Since I could only do snap shots with my Valkyrie, I decided to just fly it off the table. I continued my advance with one group of tacticals towards the relic, but with so many units in my back field I had to redirect my forces. I advanced one group of tacticals towards the Assault squad on the left flank, while another group went towards the two groups on the right near my building. Also, since the building was damaged, I decided to pull my IG command squad out of the building, but I decided that my devastators would probably survive a collapse and left them in place. My DA command squad also advanced towards the relic to provide a counter charge if needed. My shooting killed three of the assault marines from one of the squads near the building, and I also managed to Shake the vindicator. a couple more guardsman died as did a couple more DC. I also charged the Assault marines on the right flank with tacticals. My power weapon was the only thing that managed to do anything and accounted for one assault marine, but his attacks killed two tacticals. I used Rites of battle and stayed in the fight. On his turn he decided to redirect his tacticals closest to the scouts back towards the relic and continued to advance the other group towards the relic. His shooting killed a couple of tacticals, a few IG veterans, and a scout. Meanwhile things went very badly on my right flank. He catastrophically destroyed the building and the resulting collapse killed 3 of my devastators and killed my IG company commander (I completely forgot to try "Look Out Sir!"). The death company charged my tacticals closes to the objective, while his assault marines charged my scouts, my IG company command, charged my tacticals closest to the objective, and the tactical squad in my back field. by this point, this left only my command squad, a badly hurt tactical squad, the IG veterans, and both devastator squads alive and unengaged. The resulting combats led to him annihilating all but my sergeant in the Death company fight, killing another scout, killing another tactical on the left flank, although he lost 2 more assault marines, and tied combat with two casualties each with the tacticals on my right flank against his assault marines. Perhaps most impressively though, my IG command squad held up against his damaged assault marines, sustaining only one wound which I put on the Heavy Weapon team.
Turn 4: I moved my command squad and the few remaining tacticals towards his DC which were still tied up against my sergeant. the Veterans also advanced towards his tacticals closest to the objective. Also, I brought my Valkyrie back and placed it right next to the relic to keep him from getting to it as he couldn't move within an inch of my base. The Veterans opened fire and killed a couple of his tacticals with their meltaguns. The Valkyrie once again killed a ton of guardsman and the devastators finally took out the vindicator along with a few more tacticals. I then charged my command squad and remaining tacticals into his DC. Assaults went ok, but with my reduced command squad, I did not do the damage I wanted to his DC. I killed several DC and only lost 1 tactical in return, I also issued a challenge on his reclusiarch with my Master and killed him giving me my second VP (the first being first blood). On the right flank, my IG command squad held out yet another round but lost all but the heavy weapons team. I killed all but the sergeant of the other assault squad, but lost another couple of tacticals. On the left flank, the scouts held out with only the sergeant left, but he was down to three assault marines. The other tactical squad on the left flank killed all of the remaining assault marines they were engaged with and consolidated back towards the objective. on his turn he managed to finally kill the remaining scout and the IG command squad in Assault, but not much else happened for him. I managed to bring down another couple of Death Company but lost my Apothecary and another tactical marine.
Turn 5: I opened fire with my devastators and brought down the last of his unengaged Assault marines. meanwhile my Valkyrie went into hover mode and hid behind a large statue near the middle of the board and killed a ton more guard. I finally finished the DC off, but other than that not much else happened, his remaining Assault marine managed to kill another of my tacticals in assault and I just couldn't seem to kill him. On his turn he moved one tactical squad up and took the objective and used his other tactical squad to screen. his shooting didn't do much, but he did manage to get a wound on my Master. We rolled for turn 6 and luckily rolled enough for another turn.
Turn 6: I opened fire with everything I had on the squad with the relic and killed them all, I also managed to shoot the screening squad to bits, leaving only 4 of them. The screening squad then failed their Leadership and ran 11". I still could not kill the last remaining assault marine in assault. On his turn, he regrouped and retook the objective. his shooting from his guard managed to kill a tactical marine but nothing else really happened, other than the fact that I STILL couldn't kill the last remaining assault marine. We rolled for another turn, but unfortunately, no turn 7.
Synopsis: If we had gotten a turn 7, I am nearly positive I would have won and quite possibly would have tabled him. All he had left were 4 tacticals, about 5 guardsman from his blob, his IG commander and one member of his squad and 4 scouts (that we both forgot about for almost the entire game)...and of course that one pesky assault marine that I just could not seem to kill. That one assault marine managed to not only be a thorn in my side, but also gave him a VP for linebreaker, so the final score was 4-2 giving him the victory. Overall, my strategy worked until his assault marines landed. I did not mange to kill enough of them in my shooting phase and they really disrupted my lines in the ensuing assault phases. This disruption reduced my firepower to the point where I was unable to really put enough shots on the tacticals which ultimately won him the game. After seeing how this list worked, I must say that I really liked it, but I think I need more infantry on the board. I also really liked the way his blob absorbed shots and how Marbo paid off for him, as the casualties he caused on my command squad I am almost positive allowed his DC to live an extra turn or two. I would definitely call Marbo and his assault marines his MVP's. On my side, I am just not sold on Scouts. Pinning is still not something that happens often, and they in total accounted for 2 assault marines and maybe 4 guardsmen. The rest of my army worked decently, but I really am sold on Marbo after seeing what my opponent did with him. my major mistake was not putting enough shots on his tacticals and I should have been doing that instead of focusing fire on the DC's. My MVP was definitely my Valkyrie as it kept him off the objective for a round and killed over 20 guardsman and a few marines all on it's own.
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