Game one of day two of the North West Open tournament would see my Deathwatch facing off against Daniel's Grey Knights army.
The mission for game 4 was ITC scenario 6- Secure and control. The eternal war mission consisted of two objectives, one in each of our deployment zones.
There were also four other maelstrom objectives; two labelled objective 1 and two labelled objective 2. The maelstrom table for this mission was:
- Hold Maelstrom objective 1
- Hold Maelstrom objective 2
- Destroy an enemy unit
- Destroy an enemy unit
- Have a unit at least partially within the enemy deployment zone (Behind Enemy Lines)
- Have at least 3 of your units and no enemy units at least partially within your own deployment zone (Hold the Line)
As with all the ITC missions, you generate 3 unique maelstrom objectives each turn by rolling on the table and choose the two you wish to try and achieve. If you roll up hold objectives 1 and 2, you can exchange it for holding three objectives for 3 maelstrom points. If you roll up destroy an enemy unit twice, you can exchange it for kill three enemy units for three points.
The tertiary objectives were First Blood, Linebreaker and Slay the Warlord. We would be using Spearhead assault deployment.
My Deathwatch army consisted of:
Battalion DetachmentWatch Master (W)
Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Pair Lightning Claws (W)
Kill Team 1- 5 Veterans, Vanguard Veteran with Pair Lightning Claws, 3 Frag Cannons, Storm Shield. (KT1)
Kill Team 2- 5 Veterans, 2 Missile Launchers, 3 Stalker Boltguns (KT2)
Kill Team 3- 5 Veterans, 2 Missile Launchers, 3 Stalker Boltguns (KT3)
Kill Team 4- 5 Veterans, Meltagun, 3 combi-Meltas (KT4)
Kill Team 5- 5 Veterans, 2 Frag Cannons (KT5)
Rhino (R)
Drop Pod- Storm Bolter (DP)
6 Vanguard Veterans- 2 Pairs Lightning Claws, Power Sword and Bolt Pistol, 3 with Bolt Pistols and Chainswords (VV1)
3 Deathwatch Bikers- Power Axe, Power Sword (DB1)
3 Deathwatch Bikers- two Power Swords (DB2)
Corvus Blackstar- Auspex Array, Hurricane Bolter, Twin Assault Cannons, 2 Blackstar Rocket Launchers (CB)
Vindicare Assassin (V)
6 Command Points
My Warlord was the Watch Master, who took the Tenacious Survivor warlord trait.
Daniel's army consisted of:
Vanguard Detachment
Lord Kaldor Draigo- Storm Bolter, Storm Shield, Titansword, Psyk-out grenades, Gate of Infinity, Hammerhand
6 Terminators- Storm Bolters, 2 Nemesis Falchions, 2 Nemesis Force Halberds, Nemesis Force Sword, Psycannon, 2 Nemesis Daemon Hammers, Hammerhand
Brotherhood Ancient- Sacred Banner, Storm Bolter, Nemesis Falchion, Gate of Infinity
5 Paladins- Storm Bolters, 2 Nemesis Falchions, 2 Nemesis Force Halberds, Nemesis Force Sword, Psycannon, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Purge Soul
5 Paladins- Storm Bolters, 2 Nemesis Falchions, 2 Nemesis Force Halberds, Nemesis Force Sword, Psycannon, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Purge Soul
Venerable Dreadnought- Twin Autocannons, Twin Lascannon
Venerable Dreadnought- Twin Autocannons, Twin Lascannon
Stormraven Gunship- 2 Hurricane Bolters, 2 Stormstrike Missile Launchers, Twin Assault Cannon, Twin Heavy Bolter.
Draigo was his warlord. Quite a small elite force. I was hoping that all the Vengeance shells (-2AP) on my Bolters could help with taking on all the Terminator armour that I would be facing. This game was played before the Grey Knights codex was released.
We placed the objectives as shown below:
Daniel won the roll for table side and chose the side with some good ruins to hide behind. I then started the deployment. The deployment order was:
The Dreadnought disembarked from the Stormraven on the left flank, the flyer then racing forward towards the Deathwatch lines. I had been playing this wrong all of 8th edition. There is no requirement for a flyer to go into "hover" mode for passengers to disembark, this might have saved my Corvus in a number of games. The rest of the Grey Knights reserves arrived, landing behind the Deathwatch forces on the left.
The Paladin unit cast Smite, killing one of the Kill Team in the ruins (Daniel actually forgot about his psychic phase entirely until half way through his shooting phase, I agreed to let him go back and he only cast one Smite to make up for it).
In the shooting phase, the Stormraven fired its Hurricane Bolters at the Kill Team in the crater. The Bolter rounds hit the squad and caused 7 wounds. I then managed to fail three of my 2+ saves and over half the squad perished. The Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolter fired at the Bikers, killing one of the squad. The Stormstrike Missiles struck the Rhino, taking three wounds from it.
One of the Paladin squads fired at the Kill Team in the crater, killing another of the squad. The squad's Psycannon fired at the Bikers, wounding one of them. Draigo opened fire at the lone surviving Veteran in the crater, wounding him twice, but failing to kill him. The Ancient fired his Storm Bolter at the Veteran, wounding him twice. I failed one of the 2+ saves and the squad perished.
The Dreadnought fired at the Deathwatch Bikers, the Autocannon killing one Biker and the Lascannon finishing off the last of the squad. The second Paladin squad fired at the Kill Team in the ruins, wounding them 5 times, but only killing one Veteran. The squad's Psycannon fired at the second unit of Bikers, wounding one of the squad.
In the charge phase, the Paladins attempted to assault the Kill Team in the ruins. They took one wound from overwatch fire, and failed to make the charge (even with a Command Point re-roll).
TURN 1- DEATHWATCH
In turn 1, I chose Kill an Enemy Unit and Hold Maelstrom Objective 1.
The Deathwatch reacted to the Grey Knights that had appeared behind their lines. The Kill Team and Captain disembarked from the Corvus Blackstar, moving around behind the building to target the Paladins. The Kill Team in the Rhino also disembarked, the Rhino them moving up to claim the objective. The Bikers moved to attack another unit of Paladins. The Assassin revealed his position, deploying at the top of the ruins next to the Grey Knights.
The Drop Pod arrived, landing on the objective on the right flank, the Veteran squad and Watch Master moving out to target the Dreadnought.
The Kill Team fired their Frag Cannons at the Paladin squad, only scoring a poor 17 hits with their 6D6 shots. They caused 11 wounds and Daniel failed 7 armour saves, losing two of the squads (with 3 wounds each, Paladins are tough!). The Bolters of the squad managed one more wound.
The second Kill Team also fired their Frag Cannons at the same unit. Out of 16 hits, only 6 wounded (despite needing a 3+) and killing one more Paladin. The Bolters of the squad managed to do another wound with their Vengeance shells. The Watch Captain and Rhino fired at the wounded squad, but failed to do any damage. The Bikers added their firepower, doing 3 wounds on the lone Paladin, but Daniel made all three of his 4+ saves to keep him alive.
The Corvus Blackstar fired at the second Paladin squad the combined firepower only succeeding in killing one of the squad. The Kill Team in the ruins added their firepower, killing one of the squad with a Krak Missile.
The Meltagun Kill Team fired at the Dreadnought, wounding him four times and destroying the enemy walker. The Sergeant and Watch Master fired on the Terminators with their Bolters, but failed to do any damage.
The Assassin fired on the Brotherhood Ancient, hitting and wounding him on a 6 (to do D6 damage). However, Daniel made his 5+ armour save and the Ancient was unharmed.
The Kill Team and Watch Captain assaulted the lone Paladin. The Captain struck the Paladin, wounding him 5 times with his Lightning Claws, but Daniel made four of his five 4+ saves. The Vanguard Veteran in the Kill Team managed another wound with his Lightning Claws, but the wound was saved again. The Veterans did four wounds, but again, not a single save was failed.
The Paladin struck at the Watch Captain, wounding him four times. I passed two saves and used a re-roll to pass another, but the Captain still took 3 damage from the blow.
That did not go as expected! Daniel was rolling 4+ and 5+ saves like they were 2+ saves (though not how I was rolling 2+ saves). Had I killed off the Paladin, I could have counted on the overwatch fire of the Frag Cannons to deter assaults. Now, there was nothing to stop Draigo from charging in and finishing me off.
TURN 2- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel scored his two maelstrom points. This turn, he selected Destroy an enemy unit twice for his maelstrom objectives.
The Terminator squad moved up towards the Meltagun Veterans. On the other side of the battlefield, the Stormraven went into hover mode behind the Rhino, as the rest of the Grey Knights advanced on the Deathwatch.
The Paladin and Draigo cast Smite, each killing one of the Kill Team in combat. The Ancient cast Smite, perilling in the process and forcing Daniel to use a Command Point re-roll to successfully cast and kill one of the Bikers. The Paladins then cast Purge Soul on the Assassin, but failed to do any damage.
In the shooting phase, the Dreadnought fired at the Rhino. The Autocannon wounded twice, doing 4 damage. The Lascannon hit and wounded twice. I made one save, but the unsaved wound managed to destroy it.
The Terminators fired at the Meltagun Kill Team, wounding them five times. I then failed three of my 3+ saves and half the unit perished.
The Stormraven fired at the Kill Team in front of it, killing four with the assault cannon and hurricane bolters. The Heavy Bolter fired at the Missile Launcher kill team in the ruins, killing one with its three wounds. It then fired its Stormstrike Missiles at the Corvus Blackstar, hitting and wounding twice. I then managed to save both wounds on a 6+ (with a bit of good rolling for the first time).
The Ancient fired at the Kill Team in the ruins, but failed to do any harm. Draigo fired his Storm Bolter at the lone survivor of the Kill Team, wounding him three times and killing him. The Paladins fired at the Kill Team in the ruins, wounding four times, but failing to get past their armour.
In the charge phase, Draigo assaulted the Kill Team in combat with the Paladin. The other squad of Paladins and Ancient assaulted the Bikers, the Paladins suffering one wound in overwatch.
Draigo attacked the Kill Team, easily wiping them out. I used two command points to interrupt and attacked the Paladin with the Watch Captain, finally killing him.
The Paladins and Ancient were both able to finish off the rest of the Bike Squad.
Not a good turn for me. I figured the game was pretty much over at this point, I had lost most of my army and only been able to kill off two of the Grey Knights units.
TURN 2- DEATHWATCH
At the start of this turn, I scored one point for killing an enemy unit. For my maelstrom objectives, I chose Secure Objective 2 and destroy an enemy unit.
The Vanguard Veterans arrived, moving to support the Watch Master and the Kill Team near the enemy deployment zone. The Corvus Blackstar also moved across the battlefield to support them. The Captain decided to stay in combat, he would die quickly, but might be able to damage Draigo.
The Kill Team in the ruins fired at the Stormraven, rolling a double 1 to hit and pretty much summing up my luck for this game.
The Assassin fired at the Brotherhood Ancient, once more hitting and wounding, but Daniel again made his 5+ armour save and was unharmed.
The Meltagun Kill Team fired at the Terminators, hitting and wounding, but Daniel made another 5+ invulnerable save (he was really rolling 5+ saves like they were 2+ saves). The Vanguard Veterans fired their Bolt Pistols and actually managed to kill one of the Veterans. The Corvus Blackstar added its firepower, killing another 2 of the Terminators.
The Vanguard Veterans and Kill Team assaulted the Terminators. The Vanguard Veterans managed to wound the Terminators six times, Daniel failing two of his 4+ saves and one more Terminator dying. The rest of the squad caused 5 wounds, but couldn't get past their armour. The Veteran squad caused another 3 wounds, but also failed to get past their armour.
In the other assault, the Watch Captain managed to wound Draigo once before being slain.
MAELSTROM POINTS:
Grey Knights- 2
Deathwatch- 1
TURN 3- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel scored both his maelstrom points. This turn he chose Behind Enemy Lines and to destroy an enemy unit.
The Stormraven moved up to the objective besides the ruins, while the Paladins, Ancient and Draigo also moved up on the ruins.
In the psychic phase, the Dreadnought cast Smite, wounding the Corvus Blackstar once. The Terminators cast Smite, killing one of the Vanguard Veterans. The Paladins then cast Purge Soul on the Assassin, periling once more and forcing Daniel to use a Command Point re-roll to save them. The attack did no damage on the Assassin. Draigo cast Smite, killing one of the Kill Team in the ruins. Draigo then cast Gate of Infinity on the Paladins, sending them to support the Terminators.
The Ancient opened fire on the Assassin, but failed to wound him. Draigo opened fire on the Kill Team, wounding twice but failing to kill any.
The Dreadnought fired on the Corvus Blackstar, the Autocannon wounding twice and I failed both saves. One of the Lascannon shots then hit and wounded, but fortunately for me only rolled a 1 for the damage, leaving it on 9 wounds. The Paladins then fired on the Corvus, but failed to harm it.
The Stormraven then split its fire. The Twin Heavy Bolter fired at the Corvus, hitting three times and wounding three times. I failed two saves and lost another two wounds. One of the Stormstrike Missiles then stripped another 3 wounds. The Assault Cannon fired at the last survivor of the Missile Launcher Kill Team, finishing him off.
In the charge phase, the Paladins tried to assault the Vanguard Veterans, but failed to make the charge, even with the use of his last Command Point re-roll.
The Terminators struck at the Vanguard Veterans, hitting and wounding twice. I then managed to roll a double 6 to block both wounds.
The Vanguard Veterans struck back with their Lightning Claws, wounding five times. Again, Daniel passed four of the five 4+ saves. The Power Sword Veteran managed to kill one after I used a Command Point re-roll to wound. The rest of the Veterans were unable to cause any wounds.
TURN 3- DEATHWATCH
At the start of my turn, I scored Hold Objective 2. This turn, I had to choose kill two enemy units.
The Watch Master moved up on the Terminator, while the Corvus Blackstar remained where it was to fire to maximum effect now that it was wounded.
In the shooting phase, the Asssassin fired at the Brotherhood Ancient. He hit and wounded on a 6, amazingly Daniel did not make his save. I rolled a 4 for damage, re-rolling and hoping to kill the 5-wound character outright, but rolled another 4 and he survived on a single wound.
The Watch Master fired on the Paladins, wounding them once. The Corvus fired at the Paladins, wounding them twice with its full firepower.
In the charge phase, the Watch Master assaulted the Terminator. The Watch Master managed to wound him four times. Daniel managed to make three of his four 5+ saves and only a single wound got through. Luckily, he was able to kill him with his Guardian Spear.
At the end of turn 3, things were looking even bleaker for the Deathwatch.
MAELSTROM POINTS:
Grey Knights- 4
Deathwatch- 2
TURN 4- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel scored both his maelstrom points. He also opted for Hold Maelstrom Objective 1 and Kill an Enemy Unit.
The Paladins moved up on the Deathwatch, while the Brotherhood Ancient and Draigo moved up on the Assassin. The Stormraven stayed in hover mode beside the objective.
In the psychic phase, Draigo and the Ancient cast Smite on the Assassin, taking two wounds from him. Draigo then used Gate of Infinity to move to support the Paladins.
The Stormraven fired at the Corvus Blackstar. The Stormstrike missiles hit and wounded once, but I once more made a 6+ armour save. The Heavy Bolters did a single wound, but I made my armour save once more. The rest of the weapons fired on the Assassin, killing him with the hail of Bolter fire.
Draigo and the Paladins fired at the Watch Master with their Storm Bolters, wounding four times, one of which got through his armour. The Psycannon managed to do another wound. The Dreadnought fired at the Vanguard Veterans, killing three with its firepower.
The Paladins assaulted the Watch Master and Meltagun Veterans, the overwatch fire killing one of the squad. Draigo also tried to charge, but failed the distance.
The Paladins struck at the Veterans, killing both of them. The Paladins with the Hammers struck at the Watch Master, wounding him 3 times. I passed two invulnerable saves and one Tenacious Survivor save on the 3 damage, leaving the Watch Master on one wound. He struck back at the Paladins, hitting four times, but only wounding once (despite needing a 3+) and killing one of the squad.
TURN 4- DEATHWATCH
This turn I scored kill an enemy unit. For my objectives this turn, I had to take kill two enemy units.
The Vanguard Veterans moved up to help the Watch Master, while the Corvus Blackstar moved up to grab the objective.
The Corvus fired at Draigo, but failed to do any harm (it was hitting on 6's with most of its shots).
The Vanguard Veterans assaulted the Paladins. Once more, the Veterans with the Lightning Claws managed 5 wounds, and once again, Daniel passed four of his five 4+ saves. This was getting ridiculous! The Watch Master was able to kill off the last Paladian with his Guardian Spear attacks.
MAELSTROM POINTS:
Grey Knights- 6
Deathwatch- 3
TURN 5- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel once again scored both his maelstrom points. For next turns objectives, he chose Behind Enemy Lines and Hold Maelstrom Objective 2.
The Stormraven moved up on the remaining Deathwatch units, joined by Draigo and the Dreadnought.
The Dreadnought fired at the Drop Pod, wounding it once with its Autocannon (for 2 damage) and a Lascannon shot taking a further 5 wounds. The Stormraven split its fire. The Stormstrike Missiles hit the Drop Pod, destroying it.
The Twin Heavy Bolters fired at the Vanguard Veterans, wiping out the last of the squad. The Assault Cannon fired at the Watch Master, wounding only once and failing to get past his armour. The Hurricane Bolters then fired at him, wounding 5 times but failing too to get past his armour. Finally, Draigo fired his Storm Bolter at the Watch Master, wounding him three times and killing him.
As I only had the Corvus Blackstar left, I counted as being tabled and the game ended there, a win for the Grey Knights.
VICTORY POINTS:
Grey Knights: Eternal War- 0, Maelstrom- 8, First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker.
Deathwatch: Eternal War- 0, Maelstrom- 3, Linebreaker.
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
That was an absolutely rubbish game. Daniel was a great opponent, but the game was simply awful for me. My absolutely terrible dice rolling was only matched by Daniel's fantastic rolling.
Seriously, over the course of the game, I managed to put 25 Lightning Claw wounds on his Terminator and Paladin units. He only failed six of those 25 4+ saves. When your opponent is making over 75% of his 4+ saves and about the same volume of 5+ saves, whereas you struggle to make regular 2+ or 3+ saves, you know you are in trouble.
I'm not trying to take the win from him or how well he played, but it really did feel like the dice were against me in this game as I simply could not catch a break.
This was the worst in the first turn when I assaulted the last Paladin on two wounds. I managed to do 6 wounds and he only failed a single 4+ save. Had I killed the final Paladin, I might have been able to have the squad survive to use their Frag Cannons in overwatch against Draigo or another unit. Maybe that would have been enough to kill him and go after the flyer in the following turn.
On that, the Stormraven was brutal. The amount of firepower that thing can put out is insane. Plus it is really tough to take down. Not that I would know, I couldn't hit the thing with Krak Missiles when it was right in front of me in hover mode, rolling a double 1 to hit.
Having a ton of Smite attacks also did not help. With a small elite army such as the Deathwatch, two or three Smite attacks each turn absolutely decimates my units. Gate of Infinity did not help me either. If the units were stuck in my deployment zone, I think I may have had a chance as I could have tied up or even destroyed the Dreadnought with my Meltaguns. However, the Paladins and Draigo coming in to support the Terminators meant that I did not have the firepower to deal with them that late in the game.
With another loss, I was hoping for a more even game to finish off the weekend for my final match.
6 Command Points
My Warlord was the Watch Master, who took the Tenacious Survivor warlord trait.
Daniel's army consisted of:
Vanguard Detachment
Lord Kaldor Draigo- Storm Bolter, Storm Shield, Titansword, Psyk-out grenades, Gate of Infinity, Hammerhand
6 Terminators- Storm Bolters, 2 Nemesis Falchions, 2 Nemesis Force Halberds, Nemesis Force Sword, Psycannon, 2 Nemesis Daemon Hammers, Hammerhand
Brotherhood Ancient- Sacred Banner, Storm Bolter, Nemesis Falchion, Gate of Infinity
5 Paladins- Storm Bolters, 2 Nemesis Falchions, 2 Nemesis Force Halberds, Nemesis Force Sword, Psycannon, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Purge Soul
5 Paladins- Storm Bolters, 2 Nemesis Falchions, 2 Nemesis Force Halberds, Nemesis Force Sword, Psycannon, Nemesis Daemon Hammer, Purge Soul
Venerable Dreadnought- Twin Autocannons, Twin Lascannon
Venerable Dreadnought- Twin Autocannons, Twin Lascannon
Stormraven Gunship- 2 Hurricane Bolters, 2 Stormstrike Missile Launchers, Twin Assault Cannon, Twin Heavy Bolter.
Draigo was his warlord. Quite a small elite force. I was hoping that all the Vengeance shells (-2AP) on my Bolters could help with taking on all the Terminator armour that I would be facing. This game was played before the Grey Knights codex was released.
We placed the objectives as shown below:
Daniel won the roll for table side and chose the side with some good ruins to hide behind. I then started the deployment. The deployment order was:
- Vanguard Veterans (reserve)
- Paladins (reserve)
- Drop Pod (Meltagun Kill Team and Watch Master)
- Paladins (reserve)
- Kill Team 2 (missile launchers)
- Draigo (reserve)
- Kill Team 3 (missile launchers)
- Ancient (reserve)
- Rhino (Kill Team 5)
- Dreadnought (LHS)
- Deathwatch Bikers (RHS)
- Terminators
- Assassin (reserve)
- Stormraven (Dreadnought)
- Deathwatch Bikers (LHS)
- Corvus Blackstar
I decided to deploy the Missile Launcher squads in my ruins to the right, as well as in the crater in front of them. This would give me some good fields of fire for the enemy army. I put a unit of Bikers on each flank, ready to go after the teleporting units when they arrived. The Corvus and Rhino went on my left flank. I decided to keep the Assassin in reserve. I was hoping to deploy him when Draigo and the Ancient arrived, or to go after his objective once the Dreadnought was destroyed.
As expected, Daniel kept much of his army in reserve, with only one Dreadnought, the Terminators and the Stormraven deploying deep in his deployment zone.
We both rolled a 6 to get the first turn, so Daniel went first thanks to his +1 for deploying first. I failed the seize the initiative.
TURN 1- GREY KNIGHTS
In turn 1, Daniel chose to destroy an enemy unit twice for his objectives.
The Dreadnought disembarked from the Stormraven on the left flank, the flyer then racing forward towards the Deathwatch lines. I had been playing this wrong all of 8th edition. There is no requirement for a flyer to go into "hover" mode for passengers to disembark, this might have saved my Corvus in a number of games. The rest of the Grey Knights reserves arrived, landing behind the Deathwatch forces on the left.
The Paladin unit cast Smite, killing one of the Kill Team in the ruins (Daniel actually forgot about his psychic phase entirely until half way through his shooting phase, I agreed to let him go back and he only cast one Smite to make up for it).
In the shooting phase, the Stormraven fired its Hurricane Bolters at the Kill Team in the crater. The Bolter rounds hit the squad and caused 7 wounds. I then managed to fail three of my 2+ saves and over half the squad perished. The Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolter fired at the Bikers, killing one of the squad. The Stormstrike Missiles struck the Rhino, taking three wounds from it.
One of the Paladin squads fired at the Kill Team in the crater, killing another of the squad. The squad's Psycannon fired at the Bikers, wounding one of them. Draigo opened fire at the lone surviving Veteran in the crater, wounding him twice, but failing to kill him. The Ancient fired his Storm Bolter at the Veteran, wounding him twice. I failed one of the 2+ saves and the squad perished.
The Dreadnought fired at the Deathwatch Bikers, the Autocannon killing one Biker and the Lascannon finishing off the last of the squad. The second Paladin squad fired at the Kill Team in the ruins, wounding them 5 times, but only killing one Veteran. The squad's Psycannon fired at the second unit of Bikers, wounding one of the squad.
In the charge phase, the Paladins attempted to assault the Kill Team in the ruins. They took one wound from overwatch fire, and failed to make the charge (even with a Command Point re-roll).
TURN 1- DEATHWATCH
In turn 1, I chose Kill an Enemy Unit and Hold Maelstrom Objective 1.
The Deathwatch reacted to the Grey Knights that had appeared behind their lines. The Kill Team and Captain disembarked from the Corvus Blackstar, moving around behind the building to target the Paladins. The Kill Team in the Rhino also disembarked, the Rhino them moving up to claim the objective. The Bikers moved to attack another unit of Paladins. The Assassin revealed his position, deploying at the top of the ruins next to the Grey Knights.
The Drop Pod arrived, landing on the objective on the right flank, the Veteran squad and Watch Master moving out to target the Dreadnought.
The Kill Team fired their Frag Cannons at the Paladin squad, only scoring a poor 17 hits with their 6D6 shots. They caused 11 wounds and Daniel failed 7 armour saves, losing two of the squads (with 3 wounds each, Paladins are tough!). The Bolters of the squad managed one more wound.
The second Kill Team also fired their Frag Cannons at the same unit. Out of 16 hits, only 6 wounded (despite needing a 3+) and killing one more Paladin. The Bolters of the squad managed to do another wound with their Vengeance shells. The Watch Captain and Rhino fired at the wounded squad, but failed to do any damage. The Bikers added their firepower, doing 3 wounds on the lone Paladin, but Daniel made all three of his 4+ saves to keep him alive.
The Corvus Blackstar fired at the second Paladin squad the combined firepower only succeeding in killing one of the squad. The Kill Team in the ruins added their firepower, killing one of the squad with a Krak Missile.
The Meltagun Kill Team fired at the Dreadnought, wounding him four times and destroying the enemy walker. The Sergeant and Watch Master fired on the Terminators with their Bolters, but failed to do any damage.
The Assassin fired on the Brotherhood Ancient, hitting and wounding him on a 6 (to do D6 damage). However, Daniel made his 5+ armour save and the Ancient was unharmed.
The Kill Team and Watch Captain assaulted the lone Paladin. The Captain struck the Paladin, wounding him 5 times with his Lightning Claws, but Daniel made four of his five 4+ saves. The Vanguard Veteran in the Kill Team managed another wound with his Lightning Claws, but the wound was saved again. The Veterans did four wounds, but again, not a single save was failed.
The Paladin struck at the Watch Captain, wounding him four times. I passed two saves and used a re-roll to pass another, but the Captain still took 3 damage from the blow.
That did not go as expected! Daniel was rolling 4+ and 5+ saves like they were 2+ saves (though not how I was rolling 2+ saves). Had I killed off the Paladin, I could have counted on the overwatch fire of the Frag Cannons to deter assaults. Now, there was nothing to stop Draigo from charging in and finishing me off.
TURN 2- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel scored his two maelstrom points. This turn, he selected Destroy an enemy unit twice for his maelstrom objectives.
The Terminator squad moved up towards the Meltagun Veterans. On the other side of the battlefield, the Stormraven went into hover mode behind the Rhino, as the rest of the Grey Knights advanced on the Deathwatch.
The Paladin and Draigo cast Smite, each killing one of the Kill Team in combat. The Ancient cast Smite, perilling in the process and forcing Daniel to use a Command Point re-roll to successfully cast and kill one of the Bikers. The Paladins then cast Purge Soul on the Assassin, but failed to do any damage.
In the shooting phase, the Dreadnought fired at the Rhino. The Autocannon wounded twice, doing 4 damage. The Lascannon hit and wounded twice. I made one save, but the unsaved wound managed to destroy it.
The Terminators fired at the Meltagun Kill Team, wounding them five times. I then failed three of my 3+ saves and half the unit perished.
The Stormraven fired at the Kill Team in front of it, killing four with the assault cannon and hurricane bolters. The Heavy Bolter fired at the Missile Launcher kill team in the ruins, killing one with its three wounds. It then fired its Stormstrike Missiles at the Corvus Blackstar, hitting and wounding twice. I then managed to save both wounds on a 6+ (with a bit of good rolling for the first time).
The Ancient fired at the Kill Team in the ruins, but failed to do any harm. Draigo fired his Storm Bolter at the lone survivor of the Kill Team, wounding him three times and killing him. The Paladins fired at the Kill Team in the ruins, wounding four times, but failing to get past their armour.
In the charge phase, Draigo assaulted the Kill Team in combat with the Paladin. The other squad of Paladins and Ancient assaulted the Bikers, the Paladins suffering one wound in overwatch.
Draigo attacked the Kill Team, easily wiping them out. I used two command points to interrupt and attacked the Paladin with the Watch Captain, finally killing him.
The Paladins and Ancient were both able to finish off the rest of the Bike Squad.
Not a good turn for me. I figured the game was pretty much over at this point, I had lost most of my army and only been able to kill off two of the Grey Knights units.
TURN 2- DEATHWATCH
At the start of this turn, I scored one point for killing an enemy unit. For my maelstrom objectives, I chose Secure Objective 2 and destroy an enemy unit.
The Vanguard Veterans arrived, moving to support the Watch Master and the Kill Team near the enemy deployment zone. The Corvus Blackstar also moved across the battlefield to support them. The Captain decided to stay in combat, he would die quickly, but might be able to damage Draigo.
The Kill Team in the ruins fired at the Stormraven, rolling a double 1 to hit and pretty much summing up my luck for this game.
The Assassin fired at the Brotherhood Ancient, once more hitting and wounding, but Daniel again made his 5+ armour save and was unharmed.
The Meltagun Kill Team fired at the Terminators, hitting and wounding, but Daniel made another 5+ invulnerable save (he was really rolling 5+ saves like they were 2+ saves). The Vanguard Veterans fired their Bolt Pistols and actually managed to kill one of the Veterans. The Corvus Blackstar added its firepower, killing another 2 of the Terminators.
The Vanguard Veterans and Kill Team assaulted the Terminators. The Vanguard Veterans managed to wound the Terminators six times, Daniel failing two of his 4+ saves and one more Terminator dying. The rest of the squad caused 5 wounds, but couldn't get past their armour. The Veteran squad caused another 3 wounds, but also failed to get past their armour.
In the other assault, the Watch Captain managed to wound Draigo once before being slain.
MAELSTROM POINTS:
Grey Knights- 2
Deathwatch- 1
TURN 3- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel scored both his maelstrom points. This turn he chose Behind Enemy Lines and to destroy an enemy unit.
The Stormraven moved up to the objective besides the ruins, while the Paladins, Ancient and Draigo also moved up on the ruins.
In the psychic phase, the Dreadnought cast Smite, wounding the Corvus Blackstar once. The Terminators cast Smite, killing one of the Vanguard Veterans. The Paladins then cast Purge Soul on the Assassin, periling once more and forcing Daniel to use a Command Point re-roll to save them. The attack did no damage on the Assassin. Draigo cast Smite, killing one of the Kill Team in the ruins. Draigo then cast Gate of Infinity on the Paladins, sending them to support the Terminators.
The Ancient opened fire on the Assassin, but failed to wound him. Draigo opened fire on the Kill Team, wounding twice but failing to kill any.
The Dreadnought fired on the Corvus Blackstar, the Autocannon wounding twice and I failed both saves. One of the Lascannon shots then hit and wounded, but fortunately for me only rolled a 1 for the damage, leaving it on 9 wounds. The Paladins then fired on the Corvus, but failed to harm it.
The Stormraven then split its fire. The Twin Heavy Bolter fired at the Corvus, hitting three times and wounding three times. I failed two saves and lost another two wounds. One of the Stormstrike Missiles then stripped another 3 wounds. The Assault Cannon fired at the last survivor of the Missile Launcher Kill Team, finishing him off.
In the charge phase, the Paladins tried to assault the Vanguard Veterans, but failed to make the charge, even with the use of his last Command Point re-roll.
The Terminators struck at the Vanguard Veterans, hitting and wounding twice. I then managed to roll a double 6 to block both wounds.
The Vanguard Veterans struck back with their Lightning Claws, wounding five times. Again, Daniel passed four of the five 4+ saves. The Power Sword Veteran managed to kill one after I used a Command Point re-roll to wound. The rest of the Veterans were unable to cause any wounds.
TURN 3- DEATHWATCH
At the start of my turn, I scored Hold Objective 2. This turn, I had to choose kill two enemy units.
The Watch Master moved up on the Terminator, while the Corvus Blackstar remained where it was to fire to maximum effect now that it was wounded.
In the shooting phase, the Asssassin fired at the Brotherhood Ancient. He hit and wounded on a 6, amazingly Daniel did not make his save. I rolled a 4 for damage, re-rolling and hoping to kill the 5-wound character outright, but rolled another 4 and he survived on a single wound.
The Watch Master fired on the Paladins, wounding them once. The Corvus fired at the Paladins, wounding them twice with its full firepower.
In the charge phase, the Watch Master assaulted the Terminator. The Watch Master managed to wound him four times. Daniel managed to make three of his four 5+ saves and only a single wound got through. Luckily, he was able to kill him with his Guardian Spear.
At the end of turn 3, things were looking even bleaker for the Deathwatch.
MAELSTROM POINTS:
Grey Knights- 4
Deathwatch- 2
TURN 4- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel scored both his maelstrom points. He also opted for Hold Maelstrom Objective 1 and Kill an Enemy Unit.
The Paladins moved up on the Deathwatch, while the Brotherhood Ancient and Draigo moved up on the Assassin. The Stormraven stayed in hover mode beside the objective.
In the psychic phase, Draigo and the Ancient cast Smite on the Assassin, taking two wounds from him. Draigo then used Gate of Infinity to move to support the Paladins.
The Stormraven fired at the Corvus Blackstar. The Stormstrike missiles hit and wounded once, but I once more made a 6+ armour save. The Heavy Bolters did a single wound, but I made my armour save once more. The rest of the weapons fired on the Assassin, killing him with the hail of Bolter fire.
Draigo and the Paladins fired at the Watch Master with their Storm Bolters, wounding four times, one of which got through his armour. The Psycannon managed to do another wound. The Dreadnought fired at the Vanguard Veterans, killing three with its firepower.
The Paladins assaulted the Watch Master and Meltagun Veterans, the overwatch fire killing one of the squad. Draigo also tried to charge, but failed the distance.
The Paladins struck at the Veterans, killing both of them. The Paladins with the Hammers struck at the Watch Master, wounding him 3 times. I passed two invulnerable saves and one Tenacious Survivor save on the 3 damage, leaving the Watch Master on one wound. He struck back at the Paladins, hitting four times, but only wounding once (despite needing a 3+) and killing one of the squad.
TURN 4- DEATHWATCH
This turn I scored kill an enemy unit. For my objectives this turn, I had to take kill two enemy units.
The Vanguard Veterans moved up to help the Watch Master, while the Corvus Blackstar moved up to grab the objective.
The Corvus fired at Draigo, but failed to do any harm (it was hitting on 6's with most of its shots).
The Vanguard Veterans assaulted the Paladins. Once more, the Veterans with the Lightning Claws managed 5 wounds, and once again, Daniel passed four of his five 4+ saves. This was getting ridiculous! The Watch Master was able to kill off the last Paladian with his Guardian Spear attacks.
MAELSTROM POINTS:
Grey Knights- 6
Deathwatch- 3
TURN 5- GREY KNIGHTS
This turn, Daniel once again scored both his maelstrom points. For next turns objectives, he chose Behind Enemy Lines and Hold Maelstrom Objective 2.
The Stormraven moved up on the remaining Deathwatch units, joined by Draigo and the Dreadnought.
The Dreadnought fired at the Drop Pod, wounding it once with its Autocannon (for 2 damage) and a Lascannon shot taking a further 5 wounds. The Stormraven split its fire. The Stormstrike Missiles hit the Drop Pod, destroying it.
The Twin Heavy Bolters fired at the Vanguard Veterans, wiping out the last of the squad. The Assault Cannon fired at the Watch Master, wounding only once and failing to get past his armour. The Hurricane Bolters then fired at him, wounding 5 times but failing too to get past his armour. Finally, Draigo fired his Storm Bolter at the Watch Master, wounding him three times and killing him.
As I only had the Corvus Blackstar left, I counted as being tabled and the game ended there, a win for the Grey Knights.
VICTORY POINTS:
Grey Knights: Eternal War- 0, Maelstrom- 8, First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker.
Deathwatch: Eternal War- 0, Maelstrom- 3, Linebreaker.
 |
| End of the game. |
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
That was an absolutely rubbish game. Daniel was a great opponent, but the game was simply awful for me. My absolutely terrible dice rolling was only matched by Daniel's fantastic rolling.
Seriously, over the course of the game, I managed to put 25 Lightning Claw wounds on his Terminator and Paladin units. He only failed six of those 25 4+ saves. When your opponent is making over 75% of his 4+ saves and about the same volume of 5+ saves, whereas you struggle to make regular 2+ or 3+ saves, you know you are in trouble.
I'm not trying to take the win from him or how well he played, but it really did feel like the dice were against me in this game as I simply could not catch a break.
This was the worst in the first turn when I assaulted the last Paladin on two wounds. I managed to do 6 wounds and he only failed a single 4+ save. Had I killed the final Paladin, I might have been able to have the squad survive to use their Frag Cannons in overwatch against Draigo or another unit. Maybe that would have been enough to kill him and go after the flyer in the following turn.
On that, the Stormraven was brutal. The amount of firepower that thing can put out is insane. Plus it is really tough to take down. Not that I would know, I couldn't hit the thing with Krak Missiles when it was right in front of me in hover mode, rolling a double 1 to hit.
Having a ton of Smite attacks also did not help. With a small elite army such as the Deathwatch, two or three Smite attacks each turn absolutely decimates my units. Gate of Infinity did not help me either. If the units were stuck in my deployment zone, I think I may have had a chance as I could have tied up or even destroyed the Dreadnought with my Meltaguns. However, the Paladins and Draigo coming in to support the Terminators meant that I did not have the firepower to deal with them that late in the game.
With another loss, I was hoping for a more even game to finish off the weekend for my final match.