Hagvarian betrayal day two pt.1- Or how we managed to wrestle defeat from the jaws of victory

So the second day of the Hagvarian betrayal kicked off with us facing of against an empty table. I jokingly asked the TO if that meant we won by Walk-over (eagerly licking my lips looking for any actual win) whereupon he said that he had just talked to the guys we were facing and they were heading in.

So unbeknownst to me and my team-mate we were facing one half of the duo from the Horus heresy podcast- "don't loose your head"  really cool guys. Our opponents were running Iron hands and loyalist Death guard. And were running company of bitter iron and a standard list. Albeit with THREE leviathan dreadnoughts. Neither i nor my opponent had ever faced one, and now we were to throw down with three. I was actually kind of excited

The company of bitter iron is a pretty cool and narrative RoW which is to represent the tactiturn nature of the IRon hands after the bitter defeat at Istvaan V and the death of their Primarch. Whereupon they are driven to the very edge of desperation and more flock to join the "disgraced" part of their army known as the immortals. Basically the player can take immortals as troops (souped up Breachers with FnP and can't sweeping advance, but get to snapshoot you as you flee)

The iron hands player had around four Land raiders.

i've actually got a pretty good picture of both below

So many landraiders 

Apparently none of the leviathans had ever seen a turn three until our game

The DG player had the rest of his units (a unit of deathshroud and grave wardens) on foot, and he ran crysos morturg, a loyalist DG praetor from book 1 and gave three units infiltrate. Which syngergized well with his army.

Now, a NOTE of interest. Apparently, until our game that i will go into soon, all other players had identified the fukken threat of three leviathans and tried to kill them turn one. So usually the DG player got to hang back and watch his IH team mate try to save the game.

The special mission perquisites for this round was that we got kill points at the end of the game, but each turn we ended in our opponents deployment zone we got one point a turn PER scoring unit. Which was powerfull. Having read the rules repeatedly and hearing my opponents discuss outflanking landraiders (no gooby no) i asked if they had read the mission? they said yes, they had, but no outflanking landraiders. whew!

SO we roll off, and Alpha legion and Iron warriors get to set up second.

our opponents fortfiy each flank with land raiders, and prepare to have a strong breakthough with two land raiders in the middle. And place the Leviathans to the right, and a frigging malcador in the middle

Getting some rudimentary cover he places the leviathans behind a rock formation.

So this is the end deployment just before start. Hoping to seize the initiative i intend to Speed all predators their FULL speed ahead, and try to snatch as many early objectives as possible, and standing in ther deployment and making them destroy me.

I also hid all my tanks, but since they were fast and the enemy lacked templetes we were not ALL that afraid of being shot to bits completely.

One of the other players went to the bathroom and said, "cover for me" when he came back he saw this

how sweet it is 

He looked at the DG player and said "you had one fucking job mate"

Still, no harm no foul. then the shooting. ALL THE SHOOTING

FEUER FREI!

Somehow my Rapiers instantly killed a land raider turn one. Then my buddies tanks blew up another, and my last predator managed to rend a last one to death

with three sixes chasing three more sixes.

My predators RUSHED forward, and my buddies tactical seized another objective, so by the end of turn one we were in the lead for about 8-0 or something.

We shot all that we had at all those scary Land raiders, but the death guard were more or less left unmolested, laughing at mortar fire, tank fire and artillery fire.

So on their turn two they moved forward, the leviathans raked my predators, and a tactical squad bith it pretty early.

They then flipped their objective counter, and managed to destroy the fourth landraider.Ouch.

Now, at this point the Ih player apologized for his behaviour and said that he was sorry that he was so salty. I thought he took it on the chin with aplomb and said that nothing of the sort was necessary, and we joked that he was just roleplaying his row

Our turn two and both of my Veterans show up, The sniper with HB in the corner by his remaining terminators and immortals, and the Melta ones around the leviathans. I shoot out a group of terminators, blow up a rhino, manage to hurt a leviathan that gets destroyed later.

My praetor jumps out and assaults a tactical squad of DG

My scorpius shoots at some other tacticals to deny them scoring units.

My veterans enter his deployment zone and snipes out some terminators

But overall we feel pretty good about stuff.

Which changes. And this is a good lesson for me and everyone who underestimates Terminators.

Conventional wisdom states that Terminators that footslogg are a points sink that are more or less better left ignored. The problem was that by single mindedly trying to wipe out the Iron hands, we had the death guard stoically advancing into our gunzone. The VERY THING they are famous for. 

So in their turn two they advance into our end zone, ten strong deathshroud and cut down iron warriors like something wheatlike in front of something scythe like. There is an opportunity missed here by me, but fine. 

Eager to prove the mettle of my praetor Votan i slam into the densely packed lines of deathguard. I win the combat by around 12 wounds and his single hope is a double one. He breaks and flees.

Alongside my landraider the indomitable iron warriors march to victory.

The field of battle at the end of turn two

After another turn of insane shooting and levelling our artillery to shoot over the barrells a lá some napoleonic desperation technique we manage to destroy one leviathan, whittle down the deathshroud and the graveguard, and at the onset of their turn three they wipe out my friends mortars

the Iron warriors take a stand and form a fucking battle line (!) and show their disdain for the death guard by rapid firing bolters into them.

No fear here

But the fact of the matter is that they are scoring two points per turn (deathshroud and graveguard have indomitable advance) and they have gorgons in a corner that are moving into our zone. So the points are evening out. Then, screaming into battlespace their kraken penetrator zooms in, fires missiles and wipes out another tank. 

On our turn three My avenger joins the fray

In the pipe, five-by-five, target aquired

Knowing full well it will be shot down by the ace fighter that is an avenger i shoot at the death shroud, managing a paltry six wounds, and kill two of the two wound terminators


We also manage to blow up their malcador, so i get the genius idea of charging his grave guard. And promptly lose thee men to charging into a biohazard wall of flame, only to emerge into a battle i lose.


We play two more turns and it comes down to the wire.

We tally up the points and it turns out that since my veteran broke, we lose by one points.

Had they not fled we would have won by one points.

So SHIT-HOT intense game, and great fun 

Hagvarian betrayal day one

So, off to the races we go!

Me and my buddy arrived in his car (thanks again bud!) came in, and talked around a bit, people more or less knew each other and i think we were the only real green ones, but after an hour we didn't really notice. Everybody welcomed us.

Now we had all gotten the mission packs aforehand, so we knew what the first mission entailed.

It was basically "get into the enemies zone at the end of the game" and if you shot at anyone that was not your closest target you rolled for Ld to see if you got to shoot at them.

our first opposing team was (i'm sorry i suck at names , and i'll leave em' out in case someone doesn't want to be mentioned cause they lied to get out of work......) An ultramarine player with a spartan, dreadclaw, some venators, and a deepstriking Assault squad with a lot of trimmings. The Anvilus had Suszerains in them and the spartan had a deathstar, he also had some veterans i believe

somehow not our biggest problem.....

 his friend had..... A metric fuckton of artillery. Oh god. So much artillery.

This was the first time i had faced Solar auxilia, and i think i asked the poor guy, like eight times "what's that" "it has how many Hull points" it's cannon does WHAT!"

He was really accommodating. He had one LoW HUEG tank, some dracosan transports. one malcador infernus and some others. Here's a picture

Now,each table was beautifully placed, and each table for all games had six objective markers, each one was one of the following

A) score 1-2 VP immediately
B) blank (get an extra maelstrom card)
C) biohazard, take a S6 Ap2 no cover allowed hit. if you AV you take an instand Haywire hit.

we also had two tactical cards and two maelstrom cards per team.

The tactical cards varied between "return a squad of your choice to the game" "disable an artillery piece" "instantly seize the initiative" and so forth. Really fun, nothing gamebreaking.

The maelstrom were, i believe, some handpicked from the standard 40k ones. which worked well.

As an aside i should probably mention, the first game was the harshest for us. The players themselves were stupendous sports, good fellows and explained what was happening. But we got creamed. To the extent where the TO came over, looked at the set-up and said.

"well, look at it like this, everything after this game will be slightly better"

he was not wrong


So we set up. Each player deploys in a small triangle in their corner. to fit everything in my buddy CRAMPS his guys up. Ass to crotch of iron warriors.

And i do the same, while placing some stuff into ongoing reserves.

So we start off, i move some tanks. Manage to immobilize my sicaran on a small tank trap...yup. i shave a hullpoint of a venator and whiff against the other as the SA player has a shroud bombardment

He moves forward. And we score a point for taking objective 3. We flip it. Toxic release.

Fuck.

My friend loses seventeen marines from two squads of thirty,  one tank and loses two more hull points.

i score another objective and we are up 3 pts.

yay

 Our opponents let loose. And destroy a tank and cripple another of my tanks.

The astra militarum have a tactical card that lets them outflank a vehicle squadron, they deploy three arty tanks against my poor team mate.

Meanwhile the Dreadclaw lands and instantly kills my Scorpius

We shoot a bit and my friends bears the worst of it.

haHA! i have you now my pretty 

turn two, i come on with all my veterans and try to let loose with meltaguns, snipers vets and prepare to charge him ,knowing it will be a vain hope, but might distract him

i accomplish little, but one of my tanks drives straight for the SA players LoW tank.

Oh shiet, they have us now! 

Their turn two, and the UM player counter infiltrates, which was pretty hilarious imagining my smug AL marines, being outmaneuvered by the UM impeccable planning.

I am more or less slaughtered to a man.

My sicaran is killed. And at the end of the turn i play our tactical card, letting me bring it back with one HP. Whereupon i try to brave the SAME rock,. AND DIE AGAIN

My predator manages to tank shock his puny techpriest, thusly earning himself some of my favor.

My team mate more or less engages his SA vanguard troops by himself. Slaughtering two groups of elites, his dracosan and some of the artillery tanks.


GG, well played. We lose by about fifteen points.

But we had a lot of fukken fun, and the other players never got smug or rubbed our faces in it.



The second game was against another Solar auxilia player, and a Raven guards players. This was a really awesome painted SA army ( although to be honest all armies were REALLY cool at this tournament, all closers) with a lot of customization and awesome paint for everything from the simplest footslogger to his two arvus. He wound up winning best painted which was well deserving. The other player had a badass ravenguard army with a lot of fast, mobile infantry with almost none tanks. Really awesome.

WE deploy trying to use the frikking awesome Forgeworld table. My buddy takes up firing lines and even though there is a lot of cover we try to give my assault tanks some space for movement.

In this game we designated four pieces of terrain, and at the end of the game they were worth 3 pts each.

The sound of cycling guns is the only sound heard from the iron warriors. 

The phosphex being loaded, preparing it's deadly cargo for a sweet caress. 

The alpha legion takes position in a bombed out church, it's fading vestiges providing little faith and no salvation. 

Our opponents had first turn and made the most of it, the raven guard had used the terrain masterfully and as the sons of corvax ran from house to house they closed with the resolute men of the IV'th legion.

As you can see he deployed mor deyhthan and veterans in rhinos and made a beeline for my friends quad mortars. A bold strategy, but, a wise one?

Probably. He disabled them by turn two but was punished by a fussilade of phosphex and his HQ was driven into a empty house.

Meanwhile the Brave men of the Solar stand a lonely vigil of a stratetgically important building. Defended by their malcador 

So turn one, they focus on removing my scorpius, my team mates quad mortars and basically anything that can dig them out of their fortified positions.

We weather the first turn pretty well, the exception being a tactical squad that was slaughtered to a man by the mor deythan (once per game they can get shred and rending on their shots) since they were protecting the quads.

the grav cannons immobilized my scorpius and took some hull points.

The RG player said he went for Grav quads as he didn't want to default to Quad mortars. Good man. Wish i was one ;)

Meanwhile, in our turn, we tried to bombard the living hell out of them and thin them out a bit as we had to dig them out. For the first time i realized that 60" of four shots per quad is good. Like, REALLY good. we grab a point or two, and the game is tight. My Landraider storms forward trying to close with his command team, mostly since his banner and commander makes all the auxilia fearless.

My rapiers proved themselves by shaking a malcador defender.

bit of a pickle to be fair 

On their turn two everything goes topsy turvy

no less than four flyers arrive. Two Primaris lightnings, one for each player, and two arvus lighters, shockfull of elite solar auxilia storm sections cycling up their volkite and ready to grip order from the chaos of battle.

And the solar proved that not only marines descend on the wings of angels. 

So this is what the field of battle looked like at the onset of turn two, the solar auxilia depending on the kindness of ravens to weather the storm, and taunting us to assault them.

The alpha legion's hubris would not disappoint them in that regard.

Arvus being precariously placed.

The aux player had a keen understanding of tactics, so as to isolate my terminators he deployed twin strike teams to deny us a clear approach.

The lightnings then made short of the land raider, as well as one of our other tanks. While the remaining flyers and tanks fired vicious S10 weapons into my terminators. leaving but two standing by their praetor.
while the raven guard, on the backfoot after being phosphexed generously into a building ,and eating scorpius fire to make him blend into the shadows. Charged the remainder of the quads.

The noose tightens

In our turn two I managed to take down one lightning with a Predator. Which was pure luck, but i'd take what i could get by now.

the pred in question.

my praeotr charged the raven guards grav guns, and cleared them out, he then consolidated into the command squad building of the aux.

Praetor Votan "steal-breaker" charges the fixed guns

Meanwhile both of my veteran squads arrived in the enemies backfield, braving lasfire to give accurate mortar fire and clear out a tactically vital building. And another of my preds makes a arvus locked into a straight path denying his troops to bail out and shoot at me.

The worm turns yet again. some solar aux strorm troopers bails out and makes short work of the remaining lagging spearhead. While my brave, brave! predator took another VP form an objective, he was slaughtered in turn three. 

In the corner The Solar aux and the raven guard cordinated their assault and started hailing shots at my veterans and rhinos

 His remaining veterans did an about turn out of their phosphex filled hidey-hole and made for my veterans, two troops with implacable advance taking terrain was enough to make them decide to focus on me. Which was a welcome break for my team mate.

In the meanwhile his malcador and dracosan had free fields in going into our deployment and mopping up

All the houses with the stupendously beautifull azure dices are tactically important. and grant 3 VP at the end of the game.

In turn three my Avenger comes in, shoots EVERYTHING (gary oldman style) at the raven guard veterans and does nothing. I am reduced to a paltry two rhinos, and my rapiers and quad mortars, the rapiers prove themselves once again and take out another malcador (!) while my avenger tries to crash into my opponent in one last, hatefilled moment of spite.

My praetor duels his commander, whiffs 4 out of 7 attacks, decapitates him with a last one, and only his standard bearer remains. And makes it into combat for another turn. A fukken hero that one.

Last turn my team mates domitar iron circle get overwatched to death by volkite and his praetor ignobly killed by a paltry techpriest.


we lose by ten points but, by the uncaring laughter of the dark gods it was epic.

The Hagvarian betrayal- intro and ruminations

So the time had come to head off to my first tournament, it was a Friendly team- tournament hosted by the Great hosts of the Verangian heresy.

Now i've never been to a heresy tournament, nor a mini's tournament at all, but the fact that it was narrative driven and the fact there was a clear focus on good spirit and a welcoming Engaging from both the TO and the participants itself made me feel like it would be a cool crew to sacrifice a weekend going to. Now for sacrifice i mean the fact that i was heading into unchartered waters here, i'm as eager to roll the bones as anyone else, but heading away from my family and mates and actually leaving the basement crypt i dwell in to be social means that i like to know who i play against. So this is a bit of a plunge.

and over all one i was glad that i did.

Now the rules of the tourney was loosely as follows

- One LoW allowed, but no ranged D strength weaponry
- One allied detachment that i believe was allowed to be 250 of your 2500 pts allowance
- two members to each team, 2500 for each person
- No primarchs chosen or leviathan force org.

I played with a mate from SLG warhammer in oldtown, Jimmy who ran his hammer of olympia armor ( a lot of Artillery and a lot of footsloggers)

While i ran my Alpha legion armored breakthrough

2500 points, no games won :D

Basically

Troops:
Predator with HB sponsoons and one on top
Predator with HB sponsoons and one on top
Predator with HB sponsoons

HQ:
praetor with digital lasers, paragon blade, power dagger and cataphractii armour and volkite charger
four bodyguards in cataphractii plate, bannerman, one combi-melta and two chainfists one Power fist.

Heavy support:
Predator executioner with PotMS and lascannon sponsoons
Sicaran with lascannons
scorpius

Elites:
Tenman vet with two HB, all meltabombs, nuncio vox, sergeant with Powersword and artificer armor. With a rhino that had a MM. Marksmen veteran tactic

Tenman vet with two meltaguns, all  nuncio vox, sergeant with powerfist, power dagger and artificer armor. With a rhino that had a MM. Marksmen veteran tactic

Two quad mortars with shatter shell

Two rapier lasers

Lord of War:
Suborbital strike wing consisting of
One avenger striker fighter with lascannons, and autocannons, with Tankhunter and a 4++ against missiles.


The idea was simple. i was the armored spear against the bulwark of my allied friend. All my fast tanks would go and cap points, advance ruthlessly, and take ground while shooting a lot of shots against infantry, while my veterans outflanked and gave my artillery good lines of sight. The praetor went straight up the middle with my tankhunters. While also tying up any potential deathstars.



Now, in short, here are some quick lessons.

• Play the mission, read the mission pack. READ IT. 

in our first ,mission we had to deploy in small triangles in the corners, but the TO was keen on pointing out that our "table edge" was the long edges. Which meant jack-all to me. But in reality it meant that ALL reserves, ongoing, could walk into your opponents backfield. Which if i had remembered it would have saved a lot of suffering. 

• Tanks are great. Dying aint-

Yeah, so fast predators, looked GREAT on paper. The problem is that Av 13 front and 11 back is not hard to kill. As a matter of fact i died to sniper bolt fire more than once. And losing scoring troops HURT in an objectives game. More so when you only have three. But again, i had my two veterans.....who also died. Still supporting my armour with infantry worked a lot better than it would have without it. 

• One flyer with AV 12 front, two HP and av10 back is basically giving away points.

Yeah. That's pretty much it. The avenger looked great since it could hunt tanks and ALSO mow down power armor with the AP3 gatling gun. But it died instantaneously in ALL Games. giving away betweem two to four points. (don't ever forget price of failure) 

beyond that, did i have fun?

Fuck yeah

I've travelled a lot, i've hung around roleplayers, PROSEC people, bartenders, competitive sportsmen, photographers and a lot of weird subcultures with a lot of peculiar rules. And most are welcome, but usually you get a sort of informal. but not really. Pissing contest. "oh, you've only done X for how many years? and you do your Y how? well at least you're trying kiddo" None of that here.

Everybody was real sporting, from the guys losing horrendously to the guys winning tremendously. I had a really good time and everyone was super accomodating. 

So i'll move on with my games.