Daemons Vs Imperial Guard

So, Game 2 was Daemons Vs Mech Guard.  I've stated on a number of occasions that my army does well against Mech Guard, but I'll have to admit this army had me worried.  It had two Hydras, Russ Executioners, and Vendettas, as well as the standard Melta-Vet Chimeras.  To top it off, it made use of two Auto Cannon Heavy Weapons Teams and...

...and Inquisitor with Mystics!  Every Deep Strike was an additional challenge!

I managed to snap a lot of pictures, so I'll let the pictures tell the story with just a line or two of explanation each.  It should be noted, the Primary Objective was taking your opponent's objective and the Secondary was grabbing terrain features.  Luckily, the Secondary was worth 5 points more than the Primary... otherwise it would have been rather drawish.  I was confident I could break up his backfield and keep him off mine, but I wasn't confident that I could do more than contest his objective.  Mech Guard simply has too much to kill - there was no doubt he'd have some element remaining.

My opponent's name was James.  At the beginning of the game there was an uncomfortable vibe I didn't understand, but by Turn 2 we lightened up and enjoyed a great game.  Looking back, I think he was just a quiet, serious sort of dude, and it took me a bit to appreciate that.  I appreciate his brand of sportsmanship and competitive spirit and I'd love to play him again in the future.

I always develop a broad plan before the drop.  Experience lets me do this quickly.  In this case, I'd drop my primary, Fiends and Horrors, at a distance and move in under cover.  I needed to avoid needless casualties from the Mystics.

I had the second turn, so on Turn 2 his Vendetta and Marbo came in from Reserve and the shooting gallery started.  Each Fiend unit was torn up pretty good.

At the bottom of Turn 2, my Fiends launched their assaults.  I tore the backfield Vendetta from the sky, which was a nice way to start.

The other Fiends struck, though not as deeply as I would have liked.  I'd hoped to tie up both Auto Cannon squads but only grabbed the lead one.  I was charging from a distance and terrain slowed me down.  I did destroy one of the Leman Russes with a Bolt from one of the Deep Striking Heralds (if I'm not mistaken).

Marbo dropped in but his Demo Charge didn't do much damage to a unit with a 4-up Invulnerable.  I blasted him away with the three Horror units.  Part of my plan was to use these elements to hold my objective and grab easy terrain pieces in the back.

By Turn 3 the majority of my Fiends were dead, but the Heralds and Daemon Princes were on the board, tossing Bolt, Breath, and Gaze.

By Turn 4, the last Fiend from the lead two units managed to live long enough to charge the Hydras, destroying one.  One of the Heralds launched an assault on the Autocannons, mostly to stop the darn things from shooting me!  Anything that shoots Auto Cannons is a huge threat to Daemons.  

I was continuing to grab terrain.  My Daemon Princes were slower to close the gap - remember, I was dropping at a distance - but they soaked firepower from the Executioners and threw back Bolts in return.

My opponent still has a number of dangerous elements, so I continue to try and keep him tied down in his Deployment Zone.

Ditto from earlier.

Turn 5 sees the last unit of Fiends assist the Heralds.  I'd managed to bring down the Vendetta and closed the distance with the Inquisitor inside.  Ah, sweet revenge!

Here's a confession:  I hadn't realized the Primary was capturing your opponent's Objective.  I thought I would win the Primary by holding mine and contesting his, which is why the Herald is parked on the hill.  At the end of the game I was a bit confused about the Primary mission.  After reading it, I knew James was right in his interpretation but I went ahead and verified with the TO just to be on the safe side.  I didn't want to offend my opponent by double-checking with the judge, but it would have bothered me if I found out later we did it wrong.

James never let up, and by the end of the game he'd beat back a number of my assault elements.  That's fairly typical in the games I play against IG, and I know if I don't do as much damage in the middle game as possible I'll lose in the last turn.

Some rolls are just magic!  No, the dice aren't loaded - but this roll blew me away.  Unfortunately, it wasn't anything important, but whatever - I got the pic!

If my opponent ever reads this, thanks for a great game.  I thoroughly enjoyed playing you, and this game was a tense, close thing.