My first game was against an army of Primaris Salamanders, with six objectives on the table to fight for. Lots of re-rolls, plasma and a knight: it was going to be tough. Managing to snag the first turn, Magnus be-lined for the Knight, hoping to strike it down before it could do any harm. I managed to get it down to four wounds in 1 turn, but it wasn't quite enough. Although Magnus was blasted into the warp soon after, it took an entire army's worth of shooting to do that, meaning the rest of my force was able to survive relatively unscathed. The knight was finished off my the prodigal son Ahriman. With everything else alive I managed to sweep up the primaris over three turns, focusing on the Hellblasters and Repulsor. The game ended with three objectives in my control, a 9-0 victory and my opponent tabled. Not a bad start, but there was more to go.
Game two was the same mission, but against Crimson Fists on short table edges. This time I had a longer distance to go, and instead of Primaris, he had Whirlwind artillery and lots more marines. Magnus did the same thing as last game, casting Warptime to get into combat with the scariest unit and cause panic in the ranks. Flying straight at a Land Raider crusader, he sliced the tank in two, with marines and a Librarian spilling out. Like the last game he was shot to pieces in the opponent's turn, but having managed to wipe out a big unit, he certainly cause the distraction I needed. With terminators teleported into my lines I had a bigger problem this game, and though it was a much tighter game I managed to secure a 8-5 win, holding three objectives, taking first blood, and linebreaker with my Achilles.
The third game was an interesting one, as it was the Event's PDF mission (as we had an odd number of players a substitute mission was set). The army was one Warhound titan, and a few Blood Angels. The special mission granted double 'slay the warlord' points for taking out the titan. Surprisingly, with dual turbo lasers on the board, this was the only game Magnus survived, managing to carve 18 wounds of the gigantic war machine in combat thanks to grabbing the first turn. With only 10 wounds remaining by the end of the first The Warlord was badly damaged, but managed to take Magnus down to 3 wounds, making him too slow to catch it, and with only 3 wounds, to risky to try psychic powers. The Achilles blasted the remaining wounds from the Warhound, whilst a limping Magnus and walkers finished off the small Blood Angels support. This game netted me 11 points, and I was only one of two people to bring the yellow menace down.
My final game was against a mechanised Iron Warriors army. Obliterators, a Knight and Havocs managed to severely wound Magnus and the Achilles in the first turn, but having survived that onslaught, Magnus cast his boosted Smite and charged the knight, bringing it down to a single wound. The Decimator decimated (non pun intended) the Havocs, and the Achilles managed to put a dent into the Obliterator unit. Sadly my opponent had to call it quits at turn two due to other commitments, so an automatic victory was given to me. He was a courteous opponent, and it's a shame we couldn;t finish up, as it was getting interesting. I would have lost my objective to rhinos full of marines and the recently arrived terminators (against my one spawn and Tzaangor), but on the other hand, he would have lost his objective, as all of my walkers and Achilles were alive, against the one Helbrute, two Obliterators and a lord on his objective.
So whilst I had won all four rounds, it also came down to points. Had I done enough?......
Yes! With 33 points, winning by a narrow two points difference. It was a close race throughout the tournament, and every opponent was fantastic.
The trophy (which is awesome in itself) was accompanied by some sweet prizes: a set of Sector Imperialis bases and a Forgeworld Legion Herald. It was a great day with great people, and now I have a taste of victory I want to try it all again next year.