WarGames Con Test Game

In the midst of a sea of enthusiasm for Warhammer, my boy Big Whit asked me last week if I wanted a game of 40K.  I accepted, since BoLSCon WarGames Con is right around the corner.  It's also useful for me to keep the rules straight, since I'm famous for mixing rules if we're playing one too many different games.

I blame it on too many drugs in the 60's.

No, I wasn't born in the 60's.  Nor do illegal drugs pass these lips.  What?  No, I don't shoot up!  Suspicious much?  Let's move on.

CliffNotes:  There is a game of 40K and a bunch of pictures.

This is a straight game.  He brought the army he's most comfortable with, his Chaos Space Marines, and we rolled for the scenario, which turned out to be Seize Ground Dawn of War.

He wins the roll and makes me go first.  He places a Rhino with Plague Marines behind cover and a Lash Prince behind that.  I choose a conservative drop - pretty much a mirror split - and begin deep striking.  My strategy for Dawn of War changes depending on the army I face, because you just know that at the bottom of Turn 1 his army is going to come rolling on with the bit between its collective teeth, looking for targets within assault range.

Here's the other half of the board, where 3 of the objectives are stacked.  A unit of Bearers and a unit of Horrors drop in terrain.  I lose 2 Horrors.  Oh, the horror.  As I was saying, I normally put a few units near the line so the opponent can munch on them, so I can counter-assault later with the Fiends, who always, always drop behind the lines.

There he is.  I drop two units of Heralds and a Daemon Prince within range of Bolt.  One of the Heralds is my bait unit.  He's perfect for the role since he has 5 wounds and a 4+ save.

He rolls on.  His Chosen targets my Herald and his Plague Marines (I shot their ride down on the drop) move up to engage my DP.

He manages to drop my DP with combined firepower from the Predators and the Plague Marines.  That gives him the option of charging my Herald, which he does.  The Herald on the right suffers a charge as well.  I can understand the decision, since he knows how aggressive I play them and how useful they can be if they get rolling.  He wants them gone and almost does it.  Luckily, the 4+ save saves me.

On Turn 2 I bring in my reserves (in the picture above, it is the unit of Fiends on the left) and counter-charge his Daemon Princes with my Fiends.  I'm not able to bring the full squad to bear on the left, so we push, but I bring down the one on the right and consolidate in cover.  Little did I realize the champ in the Chosen squad was feeling a bit... funny.

Same melee, different angle.  It actually worked out well for me that his Daemon Prince survived, since my Fiends weren't the target of his firepower on the bottom of two.

Here's the battlefield from the left board edge.  You can see the right flank, which so far I've not talked about.  Basically, he brought on his Troops in Rhinos to concentrate on taking the objectives.  I also drop my troops on that side, supported by a Daemon Prince.

Here's an overview.  I'm starting to swarm his line.  I finish the DP on the left flank and set up for a charge on the Predators.  My second unit of Fiends is eyeballing the Plague Marines - all two of them - who survived the attack from my Deep Striking Herald.  In the center of the CSM deployment zone I have Fiends fighting his Greater Daemon... 'cause the Chosen Champ really, really wasn't feeling well and some headaches are better than others!  In the same terrain on the other side, is a unit of Chaos Space Marines, and with that let's turn our attention to the right flank.  He brought all his firepower to bear, unloading two squads of Marines and a squad of Plague Marines and unloaded on my lines.  It was a calculated risk, 'cause if it didn't work then payback would be a bitch.  And it was!  Big Whit was a bit disappointed that he accomplished so little with his push and could do very little as my Heralds and Daemon Prince started hitting the lines with Breath and Gaze.  His Plague Marines suffered the most, since they don't get Feel No Pain if they don't get a save.  Breath denies them that, of course.

His Great Daemon eats my Fiends and runs to support his troops.  My Fiends brought low one Predator and were pulling off the bumper on the other.  The Chosen were loaded in their rhino, ready to shift positions.  The left flank was mine.

Uh oh.  My Plague Bearers are wondering why the big Daemon doesn't seem to like them...

...where did they go?  The Daemon Prince ate them, then died.  I'd like to think it was a bellyache, but it was my last Daemon Prince dropping in.  I won't waste the space on more explanation: I'm engaged in mop-up and we call the game.

That's game!  I really appreciate Big Whit for playing this game with me.  He's never had much luck playing me - I mean that literally: his luck sucks - but he's always willing to help me out.  I think this game was important, since it keeps my skill with the list at a high level, but it also proved I need to spend some time with the rulebook before the tournament.  I don't want to make any silly mistakes just because we've been playing a lot of Fantasy lately.

Thanks again, Big Whit.