Having taken a short break from gaming to settle in after my move to Oxfordshire, I was keen to find a local club to get back into some great 8th edition action. I found Oxford Gaming Club online and went along last Monday night to try out the new club.
I was able to arrange a game against Stu and his Mechanicus army on the club forum. This was fortunate, as I have been burned a few times just showing up to a new club and not getting a game in. The club meets on a Monday night from 7-10 pm. I prefer a 4 hour club night, but 3 hours is still a decent time for getting a game in (plus writing notes for a battle report).
The club members were really friendly and inviting, and it was a good atmosphere. They had some gaming mats to play on and a lot of terrain to fill our table and give my White Scars some good cover from the Mechanicus guns.
I didn't take full notes for a battle report, but took some photos and a few notes to share with you.
I tried something different with the army this time, going for a more mechanised force and using some units I hadn't tried in 8th edition yet.
My army consisted of:
My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment
Captain- Relic Blade, Master-crafted Boltgun, The Armour Indomitus
Lieutenant- Chainsword, Master-crafted Boltgun
10 Tactical Marines- Meltagun
Rhino- Two Storm Bolters
8 Tactical Marines- Flamer
Rhino- Two Storm Bolters
5 Devastators- 4 Grav Cannons
Razorback- TL Assault Cannon, Storm Bolter
10 Sternguard Veterans
Land Raider Crusader- TL Assault Cannon, Two Hurricane Bolters
10 Vanguard Veterans- 3 Pairs Lightning Claws, Bolt Pistols and Chainswords
6 Scout Bikers- TL Bolters, Shotguns, Chainswords
Stormraven Gunship- TL Assault Cannon, Twin Heavy Bolter, Two Hurricane Bolters, Two Stormstrike Missiles
The Captain was my warlord and took Tenacious Survivor. I decided to give the Stormraven and Land Raider a go in 8th edition. I haven't used these yet, but they looked tough with a lot of firepower. I also decided to give the Grav Cannon Devastators a go. These were a brilliant unit in 7th edition and was interested to see how they performed in 8th edition.
From memory, Stu's army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment
Belisarius Cawl
Tech Priest Dominus
Tech Priest Enginseer
3 Destroyers- Heavy Grav Cannons
3 Destroyers- Heavy Grav Cannons
10 Rangers- 2 Snipers
5 Infiltrators
Onager Dunecrawler
Imperial Knight- Reaper Chainsword, Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, Two Heavy Stubbers
2 Castellan Robots
I had yet to play Mechanicus in 8th edition, so would be interested to see how the game went. From reading online, I knew that Cawl and the Castellan Robots were really good, so wanted to try and neutralise these first. I was also a bit worried about the Knight, as I didn't seem to have too much that could deal with it in my army. Hopefully, I could ignore it for a while and just grab my objectives.
We were playing the Cloak and Shadows maelstrom mission with Vanguard Strike deployment.
I took the first turn and Stu failed to seize.
On my first turn, I pushed forward with the whole army. I drew Advance as one of my maelstrom cards, so wanted to get out of my deployment zone and it made sense to advance on the Mechanicus lines. Both Rhinos advanced and used their Smoke Launchers, while the Devastators deployed from the Razorback to bring their Grav Cannons to bear. I used the Born in the Saddle Stratagem to advance the Scout Bikers so that they could target the Dunecrawler and Robots.
My shooting took the Dunecrawler down to a single wound and put a couple of wounds on the Robots. I targeted the Rangers with the Land Raider and killed 6 of the squad. As they were Ld 7, I was hoping they would fail a morale test, as I also drew Psychological Warfare in my first turn.
In the assault phase, I charged the Dunecrawler with the Scout Bikers. I was unable to take its final wound, but did consolidate into the Robots to stop them from shooting in the next turn.
In the morale phase, Stu rolled a 1 for his Rangers, the only result that would allow him to pass the morale test. Typical! At the end of the turn, I scored Objective 2 and Advance.
In Stu's first turn, the Robots and Dunecrawler fell back from combat, as Cawl move up to the Scout Bikers and the Knight moved up on the Land Raider. The Infiltrators arrived from reserve, deploying next to the back Rhino.
The enemy firepower took a few wounds from the Land Raider, killed some Scout Bikers and wounded one of the Rhino. The Destroyers on the left flank killed four of the five Scouts in the ruins.
In the assault phase, Cawl charged the Scout Bikers, killing all but two of them. The Infiltrators failed their charge on the Rhino, a big blow from Stu. At the end of my turn, I passed my morale test with the Scout Bikers. I decided to use two command points to automatically pass the morale test on the lone Scout, as I didn't want to give up First Blood to Stu.
In my second turn, the White Scars infantry got out of their transport vehicles, one Tactical Squad and the Sternguard going after Cawl, with the second Tactical Squad moving to engage the Infiltrators. The Stormraven moved to the other Destroyers and Tech Priest Dominus on my left flank. I brought in the Vanguard Veterans to target the Destroyers on the right, supported by one of the Rhinos.
The Grav Cannon Devastators fired on the Imperial Knight, managing five wounds. However, I only rolled 6 damage on 5D3 shots! That gave the Knight a lucky escape. The Land Raider killed the rest of the Rangers in the ruins.
The Sternguard, Tactical Squad, Lieutenant and Captain targeted Cawl with their Bolters, managing to do 5 wounds on him. Cawl's 2+ save and the cover Canticles helping to keep him safe from my firepower.
The Stormraven fired on the Dominus, but once again the 2+ armour save kept him safe and he only lost a couple of wounds. The Tactical Squad managed to kill two of the Infiltrators, the Bolters killing one and the Flamer killing another on its own.
In the charge phase, the Sternguard, Captain and Lieutenant charged Cawl. On the right flank, the Rhino charged the Destroyers, soaking up the firepower, followed quickly by the Vanguard Veterans. The Scout Bikers charged the Dunecrawler and managed to take its final wound.
The Captain struck at Cawl, hitting 5 times with his Relic Blade, but only managing to wound once, which was saved by Cawl's Invulnerable. The Sternguard and Lieutenant were unable to finish off Cawl and the enemy warlord survived.
The Vanguard Veterans killed two of the three Destroyers. At the end of my turn, I scored Psychological Warfare (after the Infiltrators failed a morale test) and Objective 3.
In Stu's second turn, Cawl fell back from combat and the Robots moved up to target the Sternguard. The Knight moved up on the Land Raider and the remaining Infiltrators moved up on the Tactical Squad.
The Robots fired at the Sternguard, taking out half the squad. The Destroyers on Stu's right flank fired on the Stormraven, taking it down to four wounds after some great shooting.
The Robots charged the Sternguard, killing a few more of the squad. I was able to heroically intervene with the Captain and Lieutenant and kill one of the Robots with their attacks.
The Imperial Knight charged the Land Raider, easily killing it with his Reaper Chainsword. The Vanguard Veterans killed the last of the Destroyers in the squad.
At the end of turn 2, I was ahead 5 points to zero.
In turn 3, the Vanguard moved up on the Castellan Robots. The Stormraven retreated towards the White Scar lines, while the Tactical Squad fell back into cover from the Infiltrators. The other Tactical Squad moved up on the Knight, hoping to use their Meltagun to take it out. The lone Scout moved back to secure an objective.
In the shooting phase, the Devastators fired on the Knight, causing more wounds on it. I fired the Tactical Squad at the Knight, causing a wound with the Bolters, but failing to wound with the Meltagun. The other Tactical squad killed the last Infiltrator.
In the charge phase, the Vanguard Veterans assaulted the Tech Priest and Robot. The White Scars were able to take out both units.
At the end of my turn, I scored Area Denial and Secure Objective 5.
In Stu's third turn, Cawl moved up on the White Scars, while the Knight moved up on the Tactical Squad.
Cawl shot at the Sternguard, then charged them, wiping them out.
The Imperial Knight charged the Tactical Squad in front of it. After fluffing his attacks, only 5 of the White Scars were slain.
At the end of turn 3, I was ahead 7 points to zero. Things were looking good for the White Scars.
In turn 4, I moved up to mop up the rest of the Mechanicus forces.
The Devastators fired on the Imperial Knight, taking 8 wounds from it and leaving it on one wound. One of my Rhinos fired on it, taking its last wound with a Storm Bolter! Stu rolled for the Knight and it exploded.
The resulting explosion killed the Devastators, my Captain, the Lieutenant, most of the Tactical Squad, the Vanguard Veterans and Cawl. That was a hell of an explosion! One Storm Bolter shot had decimated much of my army and killed the enemy warlord.
In Stu's turn, the Destroyers fired on the Rhino and then assaulted it. They were able to take a number of its wounds, but were unable to kill it.
In the final fifth turn, I fired on the Destroyers with the remainder of my army, wiping them out and leaving only the Dominus. In Stu's turn, the Dominus tried to finish off the Rhino, but was unable kill it.
We called the game there. I won the game, with a score of about 12 to 2.
I had a great time at the club and will definitely be going back. Hopefully, I'll get many more great games in the coming months to write up.
I liked the White Scars army I took in this game. The Land Raider and Stormraven were quite effective, but were not optimal for a game against the Mechanicus. The number of 2+ and 3+ saves, combined with the cover save Canticles meant they were really effective at shrugging off the firepower from my Hurricane Bolters and -1AP weapons.
Annoyingly, when I kept damaging the Mechanicus characters, they kept healing the wounds back and undoing my damage! It was a great game against Stu, with a lot of fun moments. We had a good laugh during the game. The highlight was definitely the Rhino blowing up the Knight, with the subsequent explosion taking out half of my remaining army, as well as Cawl.
I took the first turn and Stu failed to seize.
On my first turn, I pushed forward with the whole army. I drew Advance as one of my maelstrom cards, so wanted to get out of my deployment zone and it made sense to advance on the Mechanicus lines. Both Rhinos advanced and used their Smoke Launchers, while the Devastators deployed from the Razorback to bring their Grav Cannons to bear. I used the Born in the Saddle Stratagem to advance the Scout Bikers so that they could target the Dunecrawler and Robots.
My shooting took the Dunecrawler down to a single wound and put a couple of wounds on the Robots. I targeted the Rangers with the Land Raider and killed 6 of the squad. As they were Ld 7, I was hoping they would fail a morale test, as I also drew Psychological Warfare in my first turn.
In the assault phase, I charged the Dunecrawler with the Scout Bikers. I was unable to take its final wound, but did consolidate into the Robots to stop them from shooting in the next turn.
In the morale phase, Stu rolled a 1 for his Rangers, the only result that would allow him to pass the morale test. Typical! At the end of the turn, I scored Objective 2 and Advance.
In Stu's first turn, the Robots and Dunecrawler fell back from combat, as Cawl move up to the Scout Bikers and the Knight moved up on the Land Raider. The Infiltrators arrived from reserve, deploying next to the back Rhino.
The enemy firepower took a few wounds from the Land Raider, killed some Scout Bikers and wounded one of the Rhino. The Destroyers on the left flank killed four of the five Scouts in the ruins.
In the assault phase, Cawl charged the Scout Bikers, killing all but two of them. The Infiltrators failed their charge on the Rhino, a big blow from Stu. At the end of my turn, I passed my morale test with the Scout Bikers. I decided to use two command points to automatically pass the morale test on the lone Scout, as I didn't want to give up First Blood to Stu.
In my second turn, the White Scars infantry got out of their transport vehicles, one Tactical Squad and the Sternguard going after Cawl, with the second Tactical Squad moving to engage the Infiltrators. The Stormraven moved to the other Destroyers and Tech Priest Dominus on my left flank. I brought in the Vanguard Veterans to target the Destroyers on the right, supported by one of the Rhinos.
The Grav Cannon Devastators fired on the Imperial Knight, managing five wounds. However, I only rolled 6 damage on 5D3 shots! That gave the Knight a lucky escape. The Land Raider killed the rest of the Rangers in the ruins.
The Sternguard, Tactical Squad, Lieutenant and Captain targeted Cawl with their Bolters, managing to do 5 wounds on him. Cawl's 2+ save and the cover Canticles helping to keep him safe from my firepower.
The Stormraven fired on the Dominus, but once again the 2+ armour save kept him safe and he only lost a couple of wounds. The Tactical Squad managed to kill two of the Infiltrators, the Bolters killing one and the Flamer killing another on its own.
In the charge phase, the Sternguard, Captain and Lieutenant charged Cawl. On the right flank, the Rhino charged the Destroyers, soaking up the firepower, followed quickly by the Vanguard Veterans. The Scout Bikers charged the Dunecrawler and managed to take its final wound.
The Captain struck at Cawl, hitting 5 times with his Relic Blade, but only managing to wound once, which was saved by Cawl's Invulnerable. The Sternguard and Lieutenant were unable to finish off Cawl and the enemy warlord survived.
The Vanguard Veterans killed two of the three Destroyers. At the end of my turn, I scored Psychological Warfare (after the Infiltrators failed a morale test) and Objective 3.
In Stu's second turn, Cawl fell back from combat and the Robots moved up to target the Sternguard. The Knight moved up on the Land Raider and the remaining Infiltrators moved up on the Tactical Squad.
The Robots fired at the Sternguard, taking out half the squad. The Destroyers on Stu's right flank fired on the Stormraven, taking it down to four wounds after some great shooting.
The Robots charged the Sternguard, killing a few more of the squad. I was able to heroically intervene with the Captain and Lieutenant and kill one of the Robots with their attacks.
The Imperial Knight charged the Land Raider, easily killing it with his Reaper Chainsword. The Vanguard Veterans killed the last of the Destroyers in the squad.
At the end of turn 2, I was ahead 5 points to zero.
In turn 3, the Vanguard moved up on the Castellan Robots. The Stormraven retreated towards the White Scar lines, while the Tactical Squad fell back into cover from the Infiltrators. The other Tactical Squad moved up on the Knight, hoping to use their Meltagun to take it out. The lone Scout moved back to secure an objective.
In the shooting phase, the Devastators fired on the Knight, causing more wounds on it. I fired the Tactical Squad at the Knight, causing a wound with the Bolters, but failing to wound with the Meltagun. The other Tactical squad killed the last Infiltrator.
In the charge phase, the Vanguard Veterans assaulted the Tech Priest and Robot. The White Scars were able to take out both units.
At the end of my turn, I scored Area Denial and Secure Objective 5.
In Stu's third turn, Cawl moved up on the White Scars, while the Knight moved up on the Tactical Squad.
Cawl shot at the Sternguard, then charged them, wiping them out.
The Imperial Knight charged the Tactical Squad in front of it. After fluffing his attacks, only 5 of the White Scars were slain.
At the end of turn 3, I was ahead 7 points to zero. Things were looking good for the White Scars.
In turn 4, I moved up to mop up the rest of the Mechanicus forces.
The Devastators fired on the Imperial Knight, taking 8 wounds from it and leaving it on one wound. One of my Rhinos fired on it, taking its last wound with a Storm Bolter! Stu rolled for the Knight and it exploded.
The resulting explosion killed the Devastators, my Captain, the Lieutenant, most of the Tactical Squad, the Vanguard Veterans and Cawl. That was a hell of an explosion! One Storm Bolter shot had decimated much of my army and killed the enemy warlord.
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| There were a lot more models on the board a second ago...... |
In Stu's turn, the Destroyers fired on the Rhino and then assaulted it. They were able to take a number of its wounds, but were unable to kill it.
In the final fifth turn, I fired on the Destroyers with the remainder of my army, wiping them out and leaving only the Dominus. In Stu's turn, the Dominus tried to finish off the Rhino, but was unable kill it.
We called the game there. I won the game, with a score of about 12 to 2.
I had a great time at the club and will definitely be going back. Hopefully, I'll get many more great games in the coming months to write up.
I liked the White Scars army I took in this game. The Land Raider and Stormraven were quite effective, but were not optimal for a game against the Mechanicus. The number of 2+ and 3+ saves, combined with the cover save Canticles meant they were really effective at shrugging off the firepower from my Hurricane Bolters and -1AP weapons.
Annoyingly, when I kept damaging the Mechanicus characters, they kept healing the wounds back and undoing my damage! It was a great game against Stu, with a lot of fun moments. We had a good laugh during the game. The highlight was definitely the Rhino blowing up the Knight, with the subsequent explosion taking out half of my remaining army, as well as Cawl.