Most Perturbatory: Battle Report!

Gotta get them Wolves...

Through a series of unexpected and undesired circumstances in the setup of the match, this will be a much shorter report. To make up for the lack of content, however, I did manage to get some decent photos of the match as well as some photos of the tournament armies that happened to be playing as well. Now, onto the details!

Having a short while to throw down a pick up game, I decided the opportunity to use my modified version of the list from Dave 40k and see how well it performs against another competitive list. So, as a quick reminder, here it is.

2000 Pts - Codex: Space Marines Roster - Dave40k 2000 pt.
HQ: Captain Darnath Lysander
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad
   4 Terminator Assault Squad 3x Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield 2x Lightning Claws
      1 Sergeant
      1 Land Raider Redeemer, Extra Armor, Multi-melta
Troops: Tactical Squad
   9 Tactical Squad, Flamer, Plasma Cannon
      1 Sergeant, Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist
      1 Razorback, Lascannon and TL Plasmagun
Troops: Tactical Squad
   9 Tactical Squad, Plasma gun, Plasma Cannon
      1 Sergeant, Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist
      1 Razorback, Lascannon and TL Plasmagun
Troops: Scout Squad
   4 Scout Squad, 2 CCW+Pistol and 2 Shotguns
      1 Sergeant, Melta Bombs, Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist
Troops: Scout Squad
   4 Scout Squad, 2 CCW+Pistol and 2 Shotguns
      1 Sergeant, Combi-Meltagun, Power Fist
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Storm
   1 Land Speeder Storm, Multi-melta
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Storm
   1 Land Speeder Storm, Multi-melta
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron
   2 Land Speeder Squadron, Typhoon Missile Launcher x2
Heavy Support: Thunderfire Cannon
   1 Thunderfire Cannon
      1 Techmarine Gunner
Heavy Support: Predator
   1 Predator
Heavy Support: Predator
   1 Predator
Composition Report:
HQ: 1 (1 - 2)
Elite: 1 (0 - 3)
Troops: 4 (2 - 6)
Fast: 3 (0 - 3)
Heavy: 3 (0 - 3)

I had hoped to use it as I had described in the List article, but as I mentioned above, that wasn't going to happen. But before we launch into that, let's take a look at what will be on the other side of the table.

HQ
Logan Grimnar
Rune Priest
-Living Lightning
-Murderous Hurricane
Troops
Wolf Guard Squad
wolf guard w/ Combi Plasma
wolf guard w/ Combi Plasma
wolf guard w/ Combi Plasma
wolf guard w/ Combi Melta/ Wolf claw
wolf guard w/ Combi Melta/ Wolf claw
wolf guard w/ TDA/ Wolf Claw/ Cyclone Missile Launcher
wolf guard w/ TDA/ Cyclone
wolf guard w/ TDA/ Chain Fist/ Storm Shield
wolf guard w/ TDA/ Chain Fist/ Storm Shield
wolf guard w/ TDA/ Wolf Claw
Drop Pod
Wolf guard Squad
Wolf Guard w/ Power Fist/ Space Marine Bike
3x Wolf Guard
wolf guard w/ TDA/ Cyclone
Drop Pod

x5greyhunters
Banner
melta
MotW
rhino
Dozer Blade

x5greyhunters
Banner
melta
MotW
rhino
Dozer Blade

Fast Attack
SwiftClaws Biker Squad
SwiftClaws Biker w/ Power Weapon
x5 SwiftClaws Biker

Typhoon

Typhoon

Heavy Support
Long Fangs
x1 melta
x4 multi Meltas
x1 Drop Pods

Long Fangs
x4 Heavy Bolter
x1 Plasma Cannon
2000

Now, as you may be able to tell after skimming over it, the list is a hybridized Logan-Wing/Drop Pod list that is Tom's new experimentation. It's even slinging certain elements of my own list back at me. So, having our armies ready, we decided to use the Bay Area Open scenario because we both had fairly competitive lists and thought it would provide an adequate comparison of them.

Bay Area Open Scenario: The Bay Area Open scenario is all three book missions, played simultaneously. There are 2 Capture and Control Objectives on 40mm bases, 3 Seize Ground objectives on 25mm bases, and kill points as victory conditions. Whichever player achieves more victory conditions, wins. In the case of an equal number of victory conditions between players, the game is a tie. Follow all rules for placing objectives as outlined in the book. Seize ground objectives are placed first, before rolling for first turn and deployment as normal. Capture and control objectives must be the standard distance from one another and at least 12″ from a Seize Ground objective. After each game, Victory Conditions will be tallied, and the total amount earned in all games will be used for tie breakers.

So, we placed our objecives, and rolled off for who went first. Tom won the roll, and took second turn (to get the most out of his drop pods). The catch here is, we rolled Dawn of War for deployment. What side to choose?

The battlefield void of units.

With the ruins on the right side seeming to offer the best protection for my Plasma Cannon Combat squads, I opt for it. Wanting to rob Tom of the big advantage that Drop Pods afford his army (especially with the Melta Pod) I make the foolish decision to hold my entire army in reserves. This is a big mistake, but we'll get to the repercussions in a moment.

An excellent spread of forces for maximum control. I should have rolled on turn 1.

Taking advantage of the opening I'd left, Thomas wisely deploys to take the center of the board, as well as the long end with the majority of the objectives. With my reserves not coming on first turn, he now owns the field.

A pathetic response to such a threat. Where are you Lysander?!!!

Come turn 2, (having gladly skipped Night Fight) only 3 of my units trickle onto the board. At this point, I'm really concerned for my prospects. We both take a couple of pot shots at each other, but nothing really comes of it.

Slowly building up a force in the corner. The square building pieces are proxy Land Speeders.

Turn 3 sees a couple more of my units appearing, however, Lysander evidently thought it was a great time to go out for coffee or something. I move up into my corner of the board and Tom spreads out in the middle of the table to better secure his assets. He manages to kill one of my Typhoon Land Speeders with his own, but other than that, not much happens. At this point, he has to leave so we call the game.

Here's what I took away from the game. First, this was not a good test of the list and I will run it again before making a decision about how much I like it. I will say this for it, however, it's the first time in a long while I had a list with me that left me feeling comfortable about facing competitive Space Wolves. I'm eager to test it further. :) Second; deployment, deployment deployment. I should have deployed my forces in full and used smoke on my vehicles. With the scatter on Drop Pods and Night Fight rules in effect, I would have stood a decent chance of making a real stand. Third, Land Speeder Typhoons are a lot more potent of a force than I initially expected. I need to use them in builds far more often than I do.

Since this report was on the short side and a little lackluster, here are some pictures of the tournament that was running during our game. :)