CGL Quarterly Tournament Results

My gaming group ran a tournament this weekend. It was a nice way to shake off the rust after not having been able to play for about 6 weeks. I think I might need to shake off a little bit more of the rust though, since I went 0-3.

Look out, sir! Behind you!

HQ:
    Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf (215 pts)
            Melta Bombs, Frost Axe, Storm Shield and 1 Fenrisian Wolf attachment
    Rune Priest in Power Armour- Warlord (120 pts)
            Runic Armour, Psyker Level 1 w/ Codex Powers; Jaws of the World Wolf and Living Lightning 
Troops:
    9 Grey Hunters in Drop Pod (195 pts)
            1 Plasma gun, 1 w/ Mark of the Wulfen
    10 Grey Hunters in Drop Pod (220 pts)
            Wolf Standard; 1 Plasma gun, 1 w/ Mark of the Wulfen
    10 Grey Hunters Pack in Drop Pod (175 pts)
            1 Meltagun
    10 Grey Hunters (160 pts)
            Wolf Standard, 1 Plasma gun 
Elite:
    Dreadnought (125 pts)
            Twin-Linked Autocannons
Heavy:
    6 Long Fangs (130 pts)
            1 Squad Leader, 2 Heavy Bolters, 3 Missile Launchers
    6 Long Fangs Pack (125 pts)
            1 Squad Leader, 3 Heavy Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers
Fast Attack:
    8 Fenrisian Wolves (64 pts)
    3 Thunderwolf Cavalry (220 pts)
            1 w/ Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, 2 Melta Bombs

    Aegis Defense Line with Quad Gun (100 pts)

Nick- Tyranids
Mission: Objectives

I'm always up for killing a little Xenos, so this was immediately going to be a fun matchup. However, he had 5 Monstrous Creatures and the Doom so it was looking like an uphill battle from the start. I was not wrong. He took two Tervigons which spawned a huge amount of Termagants first turn, but I killed plenty of the pests quickly. Then they both got stopped up early in the game, which helped.

But between them, two flying hive tyrants, and the Trygon, there wasn't much I could do. Too many giant scaries and not enough firepower to go around. Then, you know, the Doom flops down and my Long Fangs are suddenly gone. We took the full time allotted, 2 1/2 hours, and it was a slow grind the whole way.

I managed to hold onto one objective for dear life, and that was the only VPs I scored all day.

Result: Massacred.

Just as an aside, his army was lovely. The tan bodies with red carapaces is a great combination and it was very well executed. They're in the picture above.

Judd- IG
Mission: Purge the Alien

This was a grueling game even though we finished about an hour early. This deployment was Hammer and Anvil and it really worked to my disadvantage. He parked his line of vehicles right against the table edge, which meant that my Long Fangs deployed behind the Aegis weren't in range with their missile launchers. I did hop a squad over the Aegis at one point, but it wasn't enough.

As an assault army, my Wolves basically just ran forward and died to tank fire. There wasn't enough cover to go around. I managed to take a few shots at him, but for the most part it was wholly ineffective. Since I had to keep running at him, by the end of turn 6, all I had left on the board was 2 Long Fangs.

As far as games go, this one was not very fun. I had to run a hundred miles across the board to get to him, and even my quick Thunderwolves and Fenrisian Wolves weren't tough enough to survive the barrage of vehicle fire.

Result: Massacred.

Bill- Blood Angels w/ Sister Allies
Mission: The Relic

Bill and I have been threatening to play each other in a game of 40k for ages. We finally got the opportunity to battle it out- for last place. He took and interesting list of Blood Angels allied with Sisters of Battle. His Sisters hung out by an Aegis and shot some pretty good volleys into me.

It was definitely the closest game. The unit of Grey Hunters I sent toward the objective were the slowest, most pitiful guys ever. Rolled a 1 and then a 2 the following turn for their Run movements. That's some pokey marines. By the time I got to the Relic, his Terminator squad was right up there too, and just slowly killed them into oblivion. However, the Wulfen in that squad was really pissed. He personally took out three of the Terminators (thanks in part to his Rending).

It ended up that neither of us got the Relic. But, he killed my Rune Priest, got First Blood, had Linebreaker, and killed 2 units that had taken the Relic (which was an additional VP each, per the scenario). Considering we were fighting for dead last, we put up one hell of a fight. Definitely a great game.

Result: Massacred.

Obviously, I got last place. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. My friend Kevin took first place, my hubs took second, and Richard got best painted for his Daemons. No shock there, his Daemons look amazing.

Lessons Learned:

• I <3 <3 <3 my Rune Priest. His little 4+ nullify trick on psychic powers is so crucial. Combining that with him coming out of the drop pod and right in the middle of the action has been very effective.
• Hammer & Anvil deployment + IG army opponent makes me sad. But it's not going to kick my ass again. Lesson certainly learned.
• Space Marine on Space Marine action isn't as satisfying as killing Xenos since I'm hitting on 4s instead of 3s.
• The Wulfen, despite being expensive, can really more than make up for it. I originally had 3 in my list, I think I will go back to that.

Considered Changes:

• Putting a Wolfguard Terminator in the unit with the Rune Priest. I think he'd give the unit a little more survivability which is handy since the RP is my Warlord. I'd have to drop 2 Grey Hunters to do it, but I think it's a valuable trade off. I'd also need 3 total, their minimum unit size. So, I could, in theory, add one to each drop pod unit. They get expensive fast, but it might work.
• Adding another Thunderwolf to the unit. Right now the 3 of them have consistently been dying right before being able to get into combat. They're expensive but brutal... if they make it into combat. Which, they haven't been.
• Giving my Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf Runic Armor. It's 100% clutch on the Rune Priest, but with the Wolf Lord hanging out all by his lonesome, he's an attractive target. I think the 2+ would do him some good. The Fenrisian Wolf accompaniment certainly has.
• I may drop the Fenrisian Wolves entirely. I like them, they look rad, but they're ridiculously ineffective in even drawing fire away from other units. I could use their 64 points more effectively elsewhere.

Many props to John for putting the event together and running it. The scenarios were all interesting and I got in three great games against three good opponents. I'm looking forward to the next one that we run.

The next event on my agenda, though, is NOVA. I have 32 days to get my act together. It's going to be tough. Very tough. I have about 70 models left to paint. There's also about 12 left to assemble (including the aforementioned Termies). Not impossible, but it's going to take a very concentrated effort.