games, games, games!

This Sunday I was able to play not one, not two, but three games of 40k!  On top of that I got to watch another game and hang out with some cool dudes and drink beer and eat pork!  If there is a heaven it must be filled with these things...and hopefully some chicks because it was a total wiener forest in Zach's basement.

I won't get too in depth because it was a few days ago now and I did play 3 games.  There were 5 of us so we split up, Atom (CSM) and Kel(BA) each with a 1000 points versus Karl's IG (2000).  Zach and I decided to do Killzone (400 points with some special rules, sometimes called combat patrol).  We were thinking that we could play 2 maybe 3 games of killzone and then switch up opponents.  We finished our first game before Karl, Kel, and Atom had completed deployment.  It was obvious that we were not going to be switching around.  In the end it probably didn't matter, it was a great time. For the future I'm thinking we should just use 1 table to have a 1 on 1 larger point game and then use the second table for smaller games.  The game seems to go slower when there are more then 2 players no matter what the point total is. 

Anyway, having never played Killzone before I was a bit nervous.  Marine armies are pretty crappy at low points.  At 400 I can't actually field two full units.  Despite my reservations killzone turned out to be a blast!  I can't wait to play some more, it was quick, deadly, and seemed to eliminate a lot of the units that can bog down a game.   Zach and I played two full games (6 turns) by the time the other game had reached the top of turn 2!

In game 1 I took a ten man squad of Death Company with Chaplain in a Rhino...that was it.  Zach had a bunch of Genestealers, a Zoey, and a Biovore.  I tried some moving shenanigans with my Rhino, but Zach popped it open almost immediately.  I charged the Genestealers and in what would be a reoccurring theme throughout the day, my Death Company crushed.  It took me the rest of the game to finish off the other two squads, but I did on the bottom of turn 6.  I had 4 models left, Zach had zero and no one had any objectives.  There were a number of other victory conditions.  Of a possible 30 points I got 4 to Zach's zero...not exactly a great win but a win the same!

Sometime in the second turn of the team game, go bikes go!

By this time our friends Karl, Kel, and Atom were fully deployed and actually rolling dice!  I believe it was the start of Karl's turn 1.  Being an avid hater of IG, I was pleased to see that Kel and Atom had done some damage to Karl's tank line.

For our second game Zach and I played slightly different armies.  I took a tactical squad in a Rhino and a Devastator squad (2 plasma cannons and 2 heavy bolters).  Zach took 2 giant swarms of little shooty bugs, some gargoyles, a Biovore and a Zoey.  I was hoping to lay down a torrent of fire and eliminate his army from range.  That plan went out the window when Zach dropped a spore mine on my Devastators turn 1 and made them flee.  They did rally and eventually started shooting, but the missed turn of shooting (and the loss of half the squad) sealed the deal for the 'Nids.  The plasma cannons were very effective against the bugs. I was able to kill the gargoyles and both giant swarms, but by turn 6 Zach had an objective and I did not.  Zach was spot on with the Zoey and the Biovore this game and they defiantly were the MVP's.

Karl's dreaded side board of reserves

So now Zach and I have played two entire games of Killzone and the other table is on turn 2.  Karl has done some serious damage it looks like and I see that 1 Valkyrie, 1 Vendetta, an outflanking squad, a Sentinel, and Gay Marbo have yet to hit the table.  I shed a tear for all the noble space marines that are about to die.  I kid Karl about how gross the IG are, but he has built himself up a nasty and quite honestly fear inducing list.  Although he doesn't win every game, usually his opponents win by just hanging on long enough for the game to end.  I don't think anyone in our group has thought of an effective counter to his Captain Pie Plate's Rolling Thunder Revue list yet.  

This guy would tie up the genestealers for most of the game

With two games under our belt, Zach and I decide to up the stakes, 1850!  It was our hope to be done shortly after the other guys finished their game.  As it turns out we ended just before the team game was complete.  Zach took everything he had, Hive Tyrant, Carnifex, Broodlord and Genestealers, Gargoyles, Fighty Gaunts, Shooty Gaunts, Lictor, Raveners, Biovore, and a Zoey.  I took a build I thought would fair very well against the vehicle-challenged Tyranids, 2 Stormravens and 1 Landraider, a squad of Death Company and Death Dread (with cheater claws) in one, a squad of assault terminators and Furioso Dread (with frag cannon) in the other Dump Truck.  The Land Raider had a captain and assault squad in it (jump packs removed).

Although I knew my vehicles would be relatively safe, I was afraid about only having 25 infantry models.  The game was two objectives (1 in each zone) spearhead deployment.  Zach went first and I chose to reserve everything.  Everything of mine piecemeal-ed on.  It wasn't until turn 4 that I had everything on the board, and by that time Zach had his entire army in my deployment zone essentially doing a giant pincer move.  Now, I'm not trying to sound smug (in fact it's probably out of guilt that I say this) but I took Zach to brown town.

Death Company Stormraven prepares to open fire

I was actually very concerned for the first few turns.  My Land Raider got immobilized almost immediately, my furioso was locked in combat (and missing his CC weapon), and Zach's hordes were pushing in on me.  When my death company Stormchicken came in everything changed.  I was able to unleash torrents of fire with everything and really push back at the on rushing bugs.  Two things really helped seal it.  One, Zach couldn't roll for shit.  His saves and hand to hand rolls seemed average, but any shooting he had was ineffectual.  His biovore and carnifex missed or failed to wound with every shot, the Zoey was out of range for most of its shooting until the end.  Had Zach been even average with his shooting I think the game would have been different.  Second, besides the Genestealers (which I have an irrational fear of), his one other unit that can crush me in hand to hand is the Hive Tyrant.  I was able to hit it with lascannon and melta fire for 2 or 3 turns and kill it without ever getting into hand to hand (I fear the day Zach gets Tyrant Guard).

Cheater Claws charges some bugs

Without the Hive Tyrant or the Genestealers to worry about I was free to assault anything in his army and have a better then average chance at killing it.   By turn 5 my death company and death dread were in his lines chewing through everything (the cheater claws were particularly nasty against gaunts) and my stormravens were picking off anything that wasn't locked in assault.  At the end of the game I had 1 objective, but Zach had only 3 models left.

In the end, there were no bugs

I killed 13, 5 ran

At the other table it came down to objectives.  Kel and Atom had held on long enough to win but by the look things they didn't have a lot left.  Kel used my sniper scouts and they proved to be awesome objective holders once again.  Those boys have earned a roster spot next time.

I hope it won't be such a long break in between games next time!