+ 2010 Battle 02: CSM vs GK +

Technically I've played a lot more than two games this year, but this is the second not involving my Warriors of Tzeentch square-basers, and the first for my thrice-cursed CSM. Up against a fully painted Grey Knights force, for which I took an entirely painted (minus 1 rhino) army of my own ...

Anarchonquistadores vs Grey Knights [1500]

Grandmaster
4 GK Terminators - psycannon
8 GK - psycannon
8 GK - 2 incinerators
Land Raider
Land Raider

vs

Deathscreamer Lord
Plasma Termicide
Dread - PC, HF, XA
9 CSM - IoCU, flamer, AC w/ PF, combi-flamer; rhino w/ XA
10 CSM - IoCU, lascannon, plasma gun, AC w/ PW
6 1k Sons - AS w/ warptime, icon, melta bombs
10-11 Demons
Defiler
Oblit

Defiler was an odd choice, but I've been using him more of late, and figured if the PA GK ever stepped out of their rides I could punish them for it. I definitely forgot about the aegis armor thing though :P

Game: 4 objectives, 'cleanse' deployment

Chaos won The Roll, took it and didn't have it stolen from them.


Defiler View of the Battlefield

Deployment:
GK terminators + grandmaster hung out behind the NW objective ruins, and both power armored GK squads started in land raiders on either side of that ruin.
Shooty CSM took the SE ruin and its objective, with oblit nearby, defiler providing extreme ranged support, 1k Sons + deathscreamer ready to head NW and the fighty CSM rhino likewise ready to go N and W. Dread, termies, demons all in reserve.

Turn One
Rhino rocks north, 1k Sons trip west, lascannon CSM + oblit + defiler all do nothing to the east raider.

GK respond by shuffling their tanks and having the termies stomp into that ruin. Land raider fire manages to immobilize the incoming spiky rhino.

Turn Two


X Marks the Objective

Dread scampers onto the scene mid-table, and plasma suicide team goes for the GK termies over yonder. The 1k Sons stumble forward, the driver of the rhino furiously beats on it but couldn't re-mobilize, the dread is out of spotting distance on the termies (aegisssss), and the termiciders, despite a stunning 5 wounds, only drop 1 terminator after he passes 4 inv saves. Vom-it. Defiler and both lascannons do nothing to the east raider again.


Token movement by GK raiders again. Two termiciders are gunned down by their counterpart's stormbolters (let that sink in: 6 S7 AP2 = 1 dead GK, 8 S4 AP5 + 3 S6 AP4 = 2 dead spikies), and the chainfister is sliced in half by the grandmaster. The termies consolidate back into cover, just in case chaos pulls more shenanigans. The raiders bounce their laz off the immobilized rhino or 1k Sons or something.

Turn Three


The demons decide it's a good time to take the east objective, so summon down and head for it - no rush, there's no way they're losing that thing. 1k Sons stump forward and throw rounds into the termies for no luck (deathscreamer = 4), rhino crew batters away, defiler + lascannon do nothing to the east raider. The dread chooses to fire frenzy rather than shooting the enemy termies, and slams two plasma rounds into the 1k Sons, scattering badly and keeping the automaton closest to him in one piece despite his best attempts. Rage begins to build in the chaos general at this point.



Ordo Malleus deign to move at all, to spite the angry dark marines. Small arms fire knocks down 3 1k Son robots, a raider immobilizes the dread, and the other one splatters the oblit.

Turn Four


The fighty CSM finally get out of their busted rhino and run for the SW objective, which unfortunately will bring them in fire frenzy range of the dread ... The 1k Sons have achieved range on the termies, so hang out for now, spraying AP3 bullets just because (deathscreamer = 2). The girls easily nab the eastern objective, CSM lascannon and defiler boomer do nothing to that east raider as usual, and the dread's template scatters off the termies.

And then the Grey Knights make their move! East raider dumps its squad into the NW objective, and west raider slams it south and disgorges its delicious power armored insides into the SW ruin. The deathscreamer takes a wound from somebody's bolter, a robot falls (leaving just 1 + sorcerer + lord), and members of the fighty CSM squad begin to evaporate under elite stormbolter fire and the attention of various raiders.

Turn Five


The forces of chaos are well aware at this point that the game is officially a draw, and has been for some time, but they decide to shoulder on. Then the dread fire frenzies on cue, looking at the poor CSM wanting nothing more than to pass by and finally punch some Imperials ... So the fighty boys back off and climb into the shooty marines' bunker, and let the dread fire frenzy into the GK squad, dropping 3 marines! Result! The remnants of the 1k Sons climb into the rhino, which remobilizes at long last! Sadly the deathscreamer had previously decided to go rambo and shoot down some of the power armored goody goods sitting on the NW objective - you know perfectly well what he rolled for shots, but the jam is saved by his inv. Ridiculous. The CSM lascannon did nothing as usual, and the defiler sneakily shot for the corner of the east raider so as to splash aegis-shielded marines with his template, but the scatter was immense to say the least.

Happily sitting on 2 objectives at this point, the GK are content to mostly just mess with the chaos guys until time is called. The termies scamper forward under cover of the east raider, the west raider gets LoS on the dread and detonates him, and a bunch of fire reduces the fighty CSM to the AC + 2 friends. And the deathscreamer dies in a blaze of stormbolter fire, with a nauseating feeling of deja vu at yet another death to small arms.

Turn Six


The game continues, ish. The rhino bearing the 1k Sons slams it 12" for the NW objective, but are so very very far away. And the lascannon tries for one more shot into the raider, but continues to suck. 6 turns of nothing, wow. The defiler mobilizes to bring some spotting range on the NW ruins, but his template either is out or scatters badly. With GK being fearless he would have had to kill ALL of them, which wasn't going to happen.


Termies stroll along, raiders shoot things, etc. Mostly, the defiler lived! Pyrrhic victory!

Objective Round Up





DRAW

A bit of a non-starter really, though he did play it as intelligently as possible, being cagey and staying at range until a late game objective grab. I don't believe he could have gotten a win with just 2 troops, without being very very aggressive, which would have brought him into the Chaos Zone of Dismemberment. True, a frustrating game for me, but my army struggles against even 1 raider - and this list had 2 lascannons, twice as many as usual for me. For once the havoks would have been better than the defiler, but I'm running the defiler for all comers more so meh.

Two more games to go from last weekend: 2k rematch vs Tau, 2k throwdown vs Orks Counts As Madness!

Painting: N/A
Building: Soulgrinder