Blog Wars 2 – Game Two (‘Nids vs. Blood Angels *again*)

Second game of the day was against Matt Greenwood’s Blood Angels. I’m not really sure what happened here…maybe I was drawn into a false sense of security from my previous game against Blood Angels, maybe I got really unlucky, maybe I just played completely crap…? Either way the game did not go well…

Matt’s list was something like:

Stormraven carrying Mephiston and a Furioso Dreadnaught

Furioso Dreadnaught in a Drop Pod

2 x Predator tanks

4 x Jump Pack Assault Marine squads

Baal (of the flamer variety)

My list is here.

The mission was capturing table quarters with a spearhead deployment.

Matt won the roll to go first and deployed everything in the opposite corner. Seeing as how I needed quarters, I planned on trying to control the centre and then spread out from there – so deployed as close to the middle ground as possible whilst getting cover.

Matt then used his Scout move to get the Baal right behind me.

Matts first turn and he spread his Assault Marines out and got his Stormraven and Predators into firing positions. A combination of shooting killed a load of Gaunts and took some wounds off the TFex.

The ‘Nids spread out into a position to meet the Blood Angels and I retaliated to the shooting by taking the turret off the Baal - making it pretty useless. I fired at the Stormraven with the TFex. Nothing happened.

Turn 2 and Matt dropped the Furioso Pod right behind me. The Assault Squads and Stormraven spread out more to try and take control of the 3 table quarters. Shooting from the whole army took the TFex down to a single wound.

I mirrored the Blood Angel advance – the Swarmlord moving left with Gaunts and a Tervigon and the Trygon went right with another Tervigon and Gaunts. The Hive Guard milled around the middle of the table to stay in range of targets. I tried to take the Furioso down with some shooting but failed. With my TFex looking very dead next turn (and not knowing about Furioso’s) I charged the nearby Dread hoping to get lucky…*squish*…I wasn’t.

Turn 3 and the Blood Angels continued their advance – shooting took a wound or two off the Swarmlord unit and the nearby Tervigon. The Furioso charged the Tervigon and managed to kill it with its ridiculous-reproducing-attacks-that-seemed-specifically-designed-to-piss-all-over-‘Nid-monstrous-creatures (as you can tell, I was slightly upset by this). The Tervigon died without striking back, killing a number of nearby Gaunts.

My Turn 3 and I’m 2 MC’s down plus wounds being taken off units all over the place…not good. My right flank continued to advance, but my left flank was all but decimated (there were two small broods of Gaunts milling around). Shooting managed to immobilise the Stormraven while it was still close to its deployment zone – meaning that the other Furioso and Mephiston would have to foot slog it (its not like Meph can fly is it?!).

There was no way I was going to let the Furioso rampage around with that sort of killing power so I threw the Swarmlord at it. The Furioso fell apart.

Turn 4 and Matt advanced Meph, the Furioso and two Assault Marine squads into my right flank. A single Assault squad stayed in his deployment holding that quarter and the another one moved to my left flank. Shooting hurt the Swarmlord and softened up the Trygon for Mephiston to charge in and kill it in a single round of combat.

With my right flank now getting pulverised I ran Swarmlord over as quickly as possible to support. A small unit of Gaunts were chasing around a weapon-less Baal using it as mobile cover. One brood Hive Guards managed to take a wound off Mephiston whilst the other tried to hit the Furioso…but failed to do any damage.

Turn 5 and Matt sent a unit of Assault Marines on my left flank to finish of the Gaunts contesting it. Shots seemed to come from everywhere at the Swarmlord and more wounds were lost. The Furioso managed to get the charge on the remaining Tervigon that I thought I had left out of range. Stupid attacks later and the Tervigon was dead… I think Mephiston and a squad of Assault Marines managed to walk through most of the Gaunts and the Hive Guard that were hanging around my right flank. Mephiston did manage to get Perils of the Warp and lost a wound – small blessings and all that…

There was no way for me to win now; I had the Swarmlord unit with a smattering of wounds left, the remnants of a brood of Hive Guard and some straggling Gaunts. Shots were fired into the nearby Assault Marine squards, but most were saved thanks to FNP. The Swarmlord charged Mephiston (I might not win – but I will take him with me…) and killed him outright with no problems.

The game unmercifully goes on to turn 6.

Matt is now in a position to hold 3 table quarters and with some luck could table me…all the Assault Marines on the right flank move into firing range of the Swarmlord. The Gaunts on the contested quarter are easily dispatched. Every shot from the Blood Angels army seems to go into the Swarmlord – but he stays standing! The remaining Furioso manages charge him…which isn’t clever. Swarmlord kills it and consolidates towards the Assault Marines.

I pull back every remaining ‘Nid and try and hold up in some terrain in my quarter – meanwhile the Swarmlord charges and wipes out a bunch of Assault Marines and consolidates into cover.

*sigh* Turn 7 and Matt literally throws every single shot in his army at the Swarmlord. He’s in cover…but fails its save on the very last wound and dies. I sob. Luckily – that means there was nothing left to fire at my hiding Gaunts.

In my turn I fire off some random shots where I can – but it’s already over.

Matt wins 3 quarters to 1 and has about 1700VPs (I have around 600).

It was a more brutal match than I was expecting…for a start no one ever comes for me first turn, so I was on the back foot straight away. I’m not really sure what I could have done differently either…

The better man definitely won and I didn’t feel as bad when I saw that he came in 3^rd place overall – congrats Matt!