I recently attended a two-day GT in Winchester. I took my World Eaters, who have been on a good roll recently at local RTTs, and wanted to see how they would fare at a larger event.
My list consisted of:
Angron
Lord Invocatus
Master of Executions- Berserker Glaive
Chaos Lord on Juggernaught- Favoured of Khorne
10 Berzerkers- 3 Plasma Pistols, Icon
Rhino
10 Jakhals
10 Jakhals
2 Chaos Spawn
6 Exalted Eightbound
3 Exalted Eightbound
3 Eightbound
Forgefiend- 2 Hades Autocannons, Ectoplasma Cannon
This is a list I have been trying out recently with the Forgefiend. I like the volume of autocannon shots, as they are great for clearing screens or marine bodies that I would need to trade a unit with in combat. The plasma cannon is also great for chipping away at vehicles or tougher bodies.
The Lord on Juggernaught is there for the blessing re-roll, as well as being a trade piece for actions or clearing units off of objectives.
Game 1
The first game was against Martyn and his Guard army. Martyn had previously won one of our GT events at Oxford, so I knew this was going to be a tough one.
Game 1 was Linchin, on sweeping engagement, with prepared positions.
His army contained Lord Solar and command squad, Tank Commander (demolisher), a Leman Russ, three Leman Russ Vanquishers, three units of 3 Bullgryn, 5 units of Catachans, 2 Chimeras, Gaunt's Ghosts, Earthshaker Battery, Callidus Assassin.
A very tough match up for the World Eaters. The scouting Catachans would be a tough screen to have to get through, and the Vanquishers could deal with Angron and my tough infantry quite easily if the shots got through the invun save.
I deployed in as much cover as possible, ready to scout up and deal with the screens if I got the first turn. Martyn used the Ghosts to block my Scout moves in the middle.
Martyn won the first turn, unfortunately. I really needed that to have a good shot in this game. He used the Scout move on the Catachans to move them up. He then used the orders and advanced to pin me in my deployment zone on turn 1, as well as drawing area denial. The tanks moved up to get better lines for turn 2.
In my first turn, I had to deal with the screens. The Forgefiend managed to diminish one, the Jakhals charging in to kill one unit and take another down to 1 model remaining. The initial screens were dealt with, but much of my army was in the deployment zone still and would struggle to make it across the board. I had managed to get on a couple of objective to stop him getting 15 on the primary.
In his second turn, the Chimeras had the objectives, supported by the Bullgryns. I forgot to shuffle Angron forward a bit, so he was able to be targeted by a couple of tanks and taken down to 8 wounds. Martyn had a lot of board control, so it would be a struggle to come back into the game.
In my second turn, I moved up on the RHS with the bulk of my forces, while the Spawn went after the Ghosts, and the 6-man Exalted moved to grab the centre. Angron charged and killed the Bullgryn, the Eightbound took the Rhino down to 1 wound, while the 3-man Exalted finished it off. Sadly, I was hoping the Eightbound would take down the Chimera, allowing the Exalted to finish off the squad inside.
The Berzerkers charged the Tank Commander, but failed to kill it. The Spawn killed four of the Ghosts, but tied up the Ghosts and Assassin in combat. In the middle, the Exalted killed the Bullgryn to grab the objective.
In the third turn, the Bullgryn moved up and charged the Spawn, but failed to kill them, keeping the units tagged once more. The firepower of the Guard tanks was able to kill Angron and the Eightbound. The Berzerkers were charged by another tank, although they managed to kill the Tank Commander. The Exalted in the middle were whittled down to a couple of models.
In my turn, the Bullgryn killed the Spawn. The Exalted charged and killed the tank in combat with the Berzerkers.
The fourth turn saw Gaunt deep strike and make a 9" charge on my Rhino to steal my home objective and deny me 7 pts on the primary in the next turn. The firepower managed to whittle down a few more of my models.
In the end game, I moved up on the objectives and killed another tank, as well as taking out Gaunt. The game ended 69-79.
This game was actually a lot closer than I thought it was going to be after the first couple of turns. There were a few key swings in the game that hurt me and cost me the game. Not hiding Angron properly was as issue on turn 2. Had he been at full strength, it would have taken more firepower to take him out in turn 3, keeping some of my other units safer for now.
I debated charging the Spawn into the tanks on the RHS on turn 1, but decided against it. The Bullgryn or Assassin could have heroically intervened, but probably wouldn't have killed them. This could have stopped them from targeting my units without falling back. I should have gone for this, as the spawn didn't do much else during the game and could have given me some breathing room to use Angron more effectively.
Getting first turn would have been a big boost too, as it wouldn't have pinned me in my deployment zone for the first couple of turns. This could have allowed me to stage on the objectives a bit better and score more primary earlier in the game.
Game 2
The second game was against Brad from Didcot Games Club with his Nids. This was Terraform with Tipping Point and Stalwarts.
His army consisted of three Exocrines, two Tyrannofex (one with flamer), two units of Gargoyles, Termagants, two units of Genestealers, Hormagaunts, an Exocrine, two Lictors, Von Ryans Leapers, and Biovore.
Brad used two Lictors and the Von Ryans to move block me on the first turn.
I got the first turn and moved up to stage behind the ruins. The Eightbound and Juggernaught Lord killed the Lictors. The Forgefiend was able to kill two of the Von Ryans.
Brad sent the lone Von Ryans after the Rhino, while the Hormagaunts moved up to block my units on my LHS. The Tyrannofex with the flamer was able to block my RHS, as I didn't want to risk the overwatch from it. He also used the reactive moves of the Termagaunts to steal objectives and block my Terraform and actions.
In my second turn, I charged the Gaunts and was able to kill them, while tagging the Exocrine and Tyrannofex. Brad used the Gargoyles to steal my home objective and my terraform objective as well. He tried to thin my units, but with many of them locked in combat, he struggled to do much damage.
The rest of game had Angron and my units killing the big monsters, while Brad used his units to jump around and grab objectives and do actions.
The game ended 73-66. A very close game, but the damage output of the World Eaters helped to swing it for me. The Nids were really good at move blocking and stealing objectives, and almost did it for Brad.
Game 3
The third game saw me take on Reiss and his Blood Angels. The mission was Scorched Earth with Search and Destroy and extra objective.
The army consisted of Dante, Priest, 10 assault Intercessors with jump packs, two units of 4 Jump Pack Intercessors, Mephiston with 5 Assault Intercessors, 5 Death Company, 5 Intercessors, 2 Lancers, 3 Inceptors, Sanguinor, 2 units of Scouts, Chaplain and 6 Bladeguard, Impulsor.
Reiss used the Scouts to sit on the objectives and move block me, with the rest of the army deployed further back to avoid charges.
I won the first turn and moved the Jakhals up towards the centre. The Eightbound went after one unit of scouts on the bottom objective, while the Jakhals and Forgefiend took out the other unit. The Spawn moved up on the top objective.
Reiss send Mephiston after the Eightbound, while the Jump Intercessors went after the Spawn. Mephiston charged in, with the Jugger Lord heroically intervening to the squad. Mephiston failed to kill the Lord, while the Eightbound were slain. The attacks back from fight on death were able to kill the squad with Mephiston, while the Jugger Lord kept him locked in combat.
In my turn, the Jugger Lord fell back to block the move of the Lancers to stop them targeting Angron. I held most of my squads back to wait for the Blood Angels to commit. The Forgefiend fired at Mephiston, but failed to do any damage.
The Inceptors came in and targeted the Spawn, killing one, but losing two in reply. The Jump Intercessors charged in and killed the last spawn. Mephiston charged the Forgefiend, but failed to kill it. The Jump Intercessors charged the Jugger Lord, but failed to kill him.
In my turn, I went for it. Angron and the Exalted charged the Bladeguard Veterans, while the Berzerkers went after the Jump Intercessors. Reiss used heroic to put Dante and the Sanguinor into combat with the Berzerkers.
Angron killed the Bladeguard and Chaplain, while the MOE killed the Sanguinor. The squad killed a few more of the Jump Intercessors. Dante's squad killed half the Berzerkers in combat. Lord Invocatus was able to kill Mephiston.
In his turn, the Death Company went into Angron. The Lancers and melta pistols failed to do any damage to Angron. In combat, I used the -1 damage strat and the Death Company only managed to do a couple of wounds on Angron, who wiped them out in reply. Dante killed the MOE squad with their pistols in the shooting phase, stopping me from attacking and doing damage to them.
In my turn, Angron moved and killed a Lancer, while the Exalted took the home objective off the Intercessors. I was able to burn a couple of objectives, while Reiss burned one.
Dante's squad was able to kill Angron, but I was holding most of the objectives at this stage. The game ended 99-72.
A great game. The fight on death blessing and -1 damage strat were key for this game, allowing me to shrug off a lot of the damage of the Blood Angels. The MOE was a bit wasted thanks to the heroic of Dante.
End of Day 1
At the end of the first day, I was on one loss and two wins. They were all very tough and enjoyable games, and I think I played them well. The loss in the first game to Guard was annoying. I felt I could have played a bit better and would have really liked to get the first turn.
I didn't remember the special rule on the Forgefiend at all in my games (battleshock on a unit when hit). I don't think it would make much impact, but would be nice to remember it in my games going forward. Going into day 2, I would hope for at least one win of the two games.