We're half-way through Day 1, and so far I'm sitting pretty with full points and a share of first place. However, I've had plenty of good fortune in securing two very favorable match-ups. Will my luck continue, or will it run dry? On the surface, my Round 3 opponent would seem to have all of the tools to deal with my army. Solid anti-air, anti-Typhus missiles, dakka out the wazoo to deal with Wraiths, Torrent weapons for flaming Zombies, MC Force Weapon SMASH.. Grey Knights may not be the terror they once were near the end of 5th edition, but this match could definitely prove to be my undoing.
Jesse Zischke - Grey Knights
Inquisitor Coteaz, ML 2 - Prescience, Foreboding
Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor, Carapace Armour, BP/Chainsword, 3 Servo Skulls, ML1 - Prescience
2x Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband: 10 Warrior Acolytes,10 Storm Bolters; 2 Jokaero
2x Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband: 10 Warrior Acolytes, 9 Storm Bolters, 1 Bolter; 2 Jokaero
2x Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband: 3 Crusader, Storm Shields, Power Swords
2x Stormraven Gunship, TL Assault Cannon, TL Multi-Melta, 2 Hurricane Bolters w/ Psybolt Ammo
3x Nemesis Dreadknight, 2 Doomfist, Heavy Incinerator
Aegis Defence Lines
Mission:
Deployment - Vanguard Strike
Primary Objective Alpha (W/D/L - 10/5/0 BP) - Table Quarters (controlled the same way objectives are).
Primary Objective Beta (W/D/L - 10/5/0 BP) - Recon (each player receives 1 VP for each scoring/denial unit which is a troop, fast attack, or elite within the opponent's deployment zone).
Secondary Objectives (2 BP each) - Slay The Warlord, Headhunter (destroy your opponent's most expensive unit), Last Man Standing (most units remaining).
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Alright, so Round 3! Jesse, I think, is another guy from the Dark Future Gaming blog. You can see his thoughts on the tournament, and gain a little insight on his list by clicking this link right here. Scanning over his list quickly, I knew he had a lot of shooting I would need to dance around. Those Mindstrike Missles also scared me as they usually kill Typhus dead. However, the missions favored me. We both had a decent chance at Primary Objective Alpha, but I had a clear advantage in the Beta Objective as I had lots of tr/fa units that were heading towards my opponents deployment zone anyways. If I could find a way to survive the initial Bolter onslaught, and take out his Dreadknights, I would get to the juicy center of his army and collect an easy win.
We rolled of for second turn and I won (!). Off to a good start. Jesse deployed two of his large Acolyte units in a gigantic ruin in the center of his deployment zone. One of them had the Inquisitor. The other two Acolyte units deployed to the right and left of the large ruin behind his Aegis, with the one on his right holding Coteaz.. All 3 of his Dreadknights reserved, as did his two Stormravens. Each Raven had a Crusader squad inside.
I deployed my Wraiths/Destroyer Lord behind a can wall on the forward edge of my left flank (noticing a trend here, yet?). Typhus deployed centrally with his Zombies behind a hill. All 3 Barges deployed behind the can wall as well. In reserves, I held my 3 Night Scythes and Heldrake. I don't remember what our Warlord traits were, but they didn't matter/come into play that I can recall.
Jesse's first turn was fairly uneventful. All he could see was my Annihilation Barges from the top of his ruin, so he Prescienced two squads of Acolytes and shot Monkey-Lascannons at them. He only managed to take the big gun off of my left Barge as was getting good cover saves.
My first turn, I jumped my Wraithstar over the wall and ran them forward. Typhus and friends started making the long, slow trek over the hill. All 3 Barges moved 12" over the wall and snap-shot at the Acolytes on my right flank. I killed enough to force a moral check and they ran off the board.
On Jesse's second turn, both of his Stormravens came on as well as one Dreadknight. Both Ravens stared down my Wraithstar, though one of them could also shoot at Typhus' unit if he could afford to. The Dreadknight deepstriked next to a servo-skull in between my Wraiths and his army. His ENTIRE army then proceeded to shoot at my Wraithstar. I reallllly needed something to survive there. Lucky for me, when the dust had settled, I still had my Destroyer Lord standing with a single wound and 2-3 Wraiths (one of which had a Whip Coil).
My turn 2 came around and I was ready for the Beta-Strike. Two of my Scythes came on, as did my Heldrake. Heldrake vector-striked a Stormraven and did no damage, gunning to the back corner for a shot at Coteaz' unit. Both Scythes pointed their guns at his Dreadknight. If I could shoot it down, my Wraiths would be able to charge his troop units which would take away a lot of my opponents firepower. I wasn't worried about his Stormravens yet as I moved in such a way to negate most of their firepower for a turn. Again, my Wraithstar and Zombiestar both advanced. Wraiths moved to within 1" of his Dreadknight and also within charge range of an Acolyte unit, Zombies were just slowly chugging along towards the ruin Jesse's army was hiding in. My Barges wiggled around a little for jink saves. After everything shot, his Dreadknight was down to a single wound, his Stormraven took some negligible damage, and Coteaz's squad had taken significant damage. In assault, my Wraithstar killed his Dreadknight no problem and consolidated against the wall of the central ruin to try and hide.
The rest of my opponents reserves came on next turn and fired some Flamers at my Zombies. No major damage was suffered. One of his Stormravens, with no targets present, was forced to fly off. The other one shot my Heldrake out of the sky. :( Sad, but it was a sacrifice I was ok with making. Everything else Jesse had shot at my remaining Wraiths and Destroyer Lord. The Wraiths died, but the Destroyer lived as I think he was hidden against the ruin. Things were starting to look bleak for my opponent.
As the game started winding down, my Destroyer Lord was able MSS one Dreadknight and Typhus Force Weaponed the other one. Typhus was able to due this by using Zombies to block him out from engaging the Dreadknight when I assaulted. Thus, Typhus couldn't challenge, but instead piled-in and attacked normally. The next round of Grey Knight shooting saw my Destroyer Lord finally get shot down, only to stand right back up. He proceeded to assault Coteaz, who killed himself with his own hammer after MSS went off. Typhus also eventually made it into combat with the Acolyte squad my opponents Inquisitor was hiding in and hacked him apart.
From here, the game should have been an easy win, but due to time it was not. With time running low, I was forced to bail my Warriors out early as they would be out of position if I waited any longer. This gave Jesse a chance to hover his Storm Raven, drop his Crusaders out, and try for an assault on one of my 5-men Warrior squads. If he could wipe them out, he would control that quarter. Thankfully, due to difficult terrain, he failed, leaving that quarter contested.
In the end, I held 1 table quarter with a Warrior squad, and the other 3 were contested by Crusaders and his last Acolyte squad. I easily won the Beta objective with a majority of my army in his deployment zone. I also got Slay the Warlord, Headhunter (Barges dropped one of his Stormravens, though Storm Shields kept the Crusaders inside alive), and Last Man Standing.
Victory, 26-0!