North East Open Tournament Battle Report: Game 3- Deathwatch vs Imperial Knights/Astra Militarum

Welcome to my third battle report from the recent North East Open tournament. In this game, my Deathwatch army would be facing off against Connor and his Imperial Knights and Astra Militarum force. 

Ugh, another three Knights at the same tournament! I really hate Imperial Knights. They are no fun for the game and make most mono-Codex armies completely useless. They invalidate so many army builds in the game and are pretty boring to play with or against, in my opinion. With the Castellan in the game, there is little point in taking other vehicles, Knights or monsters in an army. If you don't get the first turn, they are dead. 

The mission was modified Frontline Warfare, but scoring at the end of each turn rather than at the end of the game, and using Hammer and Anvil deployment. The mission would also use kill points. There were one objective in your deployment zone (worth 1 pt), two in the centre of the battlefield (worth 2 pts each) and one in your opponent's deployment zone (worth 3 pts). 

Battalion Detachment

Deathwatch Watch Master- Guardian Spear (D)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield (WC1)

9 Deathwatch Veterans- 9 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, Chainswords, Vanguard Veteran- Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield (KT1)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (KT2)

5 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 3 Stalker Bolters, Chainswords, Terminator- Power Fist, Storm Bolter, Cyclone Missile Launcher (KT3)

5 Veterans- 2 Frag Cannons, 3 Shotguns, Storm Shield  (KT4)

5 Veterans- Missile Launcher, 2 Heavy Bolters, Bolters, Terminator, Power Fist, Assault Cannon (KT5)

10 Veterans- 6 Bolters, Meltagun, 3 Combi-Meltas, chainswords (KT6)

Rhino- Two Storm Bolters (R1)

Rhino- Two Storm Bolters  (R2)

Razorback- Twin Lascannon, Storm Bolter (Rz)

Outrider Detachment

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Relic Blade, Bolt Pistol, Lord of Hidden Knowledge (warlord trait), The Tome of Ectoclades (Relic) (WC2)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B1)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B2)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B3)

North East Open Tournament Battle Report: Game 2- Deathwatch vs Imperial Knights/Adeptus Mechanicus

Welcome to my second battle report from the recent North East Open tournament. In this game, my Deathwatch army would be taking on Adam with his combined force of Imperial Knights. Adeptus Mechanicus and Astra Militarum. 

Mission 2 was Big Guns Never Tire with Vanguard Strike deployment. This gives you points for holding objectives at the end of the game, with extra points for destroying Heavy Support units. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Deathwatch Watch Master- Guardian Spear (D)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield (WC1)

9 Deathwatch Veterans- 9 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, Chainswords, Vanguard Veteran- Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield (KT1)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (KT2)

5 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 3 Stalker Bolters, Chainswords, Terminator- Power Fist, Storm Bolter, Cyclone Missile Launcher (KT3)

5 Veterans- 2 Frag Cannons, 3 Shotguns, Storm Shield  (KT4)

5 Veterans- Missile Launcher, 2 Heavy Bolters, Bolters, Terminator, Power Fist, Assault Cannon (KT5)

10 Veterans- 6 Bolters, Meltagun, 3 Combi-Meltas, chainswords (KT6)

Rhino- Two Storm Bolters (R1)

Rhino- Two Storm Bolters  (R2)

Razorback- Twin Lascannon, Storm Bolter (Rz)

Outrider Detachment

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Relic Blade, Bolt Pistol, Lord of Hidden Knowledge (warlord trait), The Tome of Ectoclades (Relic) (WC2)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B1)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B2)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B3)

North East Open Tournament Battle Report: Game 1- Deathwatch vs Death Guard

Welcome to my first battle report from the recent North East Open 2019 tournament. I was invited up to Newcastle to take part in this ITC event and was looking forward to testing my Deathwatch with the new Chapter Approved points drops and Beta Bolter rules in effect. 

The first mission was against Luke and his Death Guard army. The mission was Dominate and Destroy with Search and Destroy deployment. This gives you one point for each objective held at the end of the game turn, as well as a point for each enemy unit destroyed. The mission would also use First Strike, Linebreaker and Slay the Warlord. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Deathwatch Watch Master- Guardian Spear (D)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield (WC1)

9 Deathwatch Veterans- 9 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, Chainswords, Vanguard Veteran- Bolt Pistol, Storm Shield (KT1)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (KT2)

5 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 3 Stalker Bolters, Chainswords, Terminator- Power Fist, Storm Bolter, Cyclone Missile Launcher (KT3)

5 Veterans- 2 Frag Cannons, 3 Shotguns, Storm Shield  (KT4)

5 Veterans- Missile Launcher, 2 Heavy Bolters, Bolters, Terminator, Power Fist, Assault Cannon (KT5)

10 Veterans- 6 Bolters, Meltagun, 3 Combi-Meltas, chainswords (KT6)

Rhino- Two Storm Bolters (R1)

Rhino- Two Storm Bolters  (R2)

Razorback- Twin Lascannon, Storm Bolter (Rz)

Outrider Detachment

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Relic Blade, Bolt Pistol, Lord of Hidden Knowledge (warlord trait), The Tome of Ectoclades (Relic) (WC2)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B1)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B2)

4 Bikers- Twin Bolters, Sergeant with Storm Bolter and Storm Shield, Chainswords (B3)

The tournament restrictions prevented double detachments, otherwise I would have tried to field a couple of Battalions for the extra command points. I had been having some fun with the army with the new beta bolter rules, giving a lot of firepower for the Bikers and other elements of the army.

8th Edition Assassins Codex Review

This month's White Dwarf featured updated rules for the Assassins you can field in an Imperium army. This review will look at the new rules for using the Assassins in your army.  

General

The Assassins can be fielded in any Imperium army, each costing 85 points. You can field them in a Vanguard Detachment, or they can be fielded for the cost of 1CP using a new stratagem called Operative Requisition Sanctioned. In matched play, this costs 1CP and you can choose to field any of the four Assassins, but must pay the reinforcement points for them. 

This is a good stratagem, as you don't need to specify which Assassin you are taking before you use it. For example, you could see your opponent's army and decide which Assassin is best suited to enhance your army during the game. 

Each Assassin has a 4+ invulnerable save and a similar general profile. They have 7" move, BS and WS 2+, strength and toughness 4, 5 or 6 wounds and between 4 and 6 attacks. 

The Assassin cannot be your warlord and can deploy from reserves using the standard rules. 

They also get another stratagem called Priority Threat Neutralised for 1CP. This can be played when an Assassin kills an enemy character. You gain 2CP (or 3CP if it was the enemy warlord). This is a nice way of getting a free command point if you have some left and kill an enemy character. 

Vindicare Assassin

The firepower specialist of the Assassins has gotten better in this new version of the codex. One big boost is that if he remains stationary, he always hits on a 2+ in the shooting phase. This is great for ensuring that he will have a great chance of hitting his target and is a great counter to negative to hit penalties from enemy abilities and stratagems. 

His primary weapon is the Exotus Rifle, which is range 72", Heavy 1, S5, AP-3 and D3 damage. It always wounds infantry on a 2+, giving you good odds of hitting and wounding with his shots. It also ignores invulnerable saves, as well as the Vindicare ignoring cover saves, so you have a good chance of getting through all but the toughest armour with ease. He can also target characters, even if they are not the closest. 

8th Edition Genestealer Cult Codex Review: Part 8- Heavy Support and Dedicated Transport

The final part of my 8th Edition Genestealer Cults codex review will take a look at the Heavy Support, Dedicated Transport and Fortifications sections of the book. 

Heavy Support

Cult Leman Russ

The Cult Leman Russ got a 10 pts reduction over the index version, making it slightly cheaper to take it.
The Leman Russ provides a nice weapons platform for the Cult. It also benefits from the Cult Ambush rule, which is great for it. This allows you to deploy it in optimal position after seeing your opponent's deployment, either to go after the best targets or to stay safe from enemy guns or attacks. This gives it a nice bonus to help it stay alive for longer.

It comes with the Battle Cannon, Eradicator Nova Cannon, Exterminator Autocannon or Vanquisher Battle Cannon. With Grinding Advance, this gives you some decent firepower on a fairly durable tank platform.

Another nice bonus is that you can purchase an Augur Array for only 5 pts. This gives you a single re-roll to hit once per game. This is a nice bonus for the Vanquisher Battle Cannon, allowing you to save your CP re-roll on a to wound roll or damage roll.

I like the Russ, it gives some much needed heavy firepower to the Cult, at a pretty reasonable cost. However, one of the problems is that it is a Brood Brothers vehicle, meaning it gains no benefit from Cult Creeds or some of the useful special abilities and stratagems in the codex. It does benefit from the Devoted Crew stratagem, allowing the vehicle to act as if it was in its top wounds bracket, so you can get a turn or two of strong firepower from it if you have the CP to spare.

8th Edition Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 7- Fast Attack

Part 7 of my 8th edition Genestealer Cults Codex review will take a look at the fast attack options for the army. The codex features a couple of new units in this section, which should be useful for giving the Cult some fast mobility on the board before the reserves arrive. 

Fast Attack

Achilles Ridgerunners

The Cult gets a new buggy, fitted with a heavy weapon for some mobile firepower on the battlefield. First off, I think these are some great models and I look forward to adding one to my army. 

The Ridgerunner has a standard profile for a light vehicle. It has move 14", which makes it one of the fastest units in the game outside of flyers. It has the standard WS6+ for vehicles and BS4+ for standard infantry. It is strength and toughness 5, has 8 wounds, 3 attacks and a 4+ save. It is only Ld 7, which may make it susceptible to psychic powers that use Leadership values. 

It can be armed with either a Heavy Mining Laser, a Missile Launcher or a Heavy Mortar, in addition to two Heavy Stubbers. The Heavy Mining Laser is 36", Heavy D3, S9, AP-3 and D6 damage, so is a great anti-tank weapon. The Heavy Mortar is 48", heavy D6, S5, AP-1, 1 damage and can fire at units not visible to the firer. 

You can also take either a Survey Auger, which denies enemy cover saves, or a Spotter, which increases the range of its weapons by 6". I think I prefer the Spotter, allowing you to go longer range with your firepower. 

The vehicle also gets the Cult Ambush rule, as well as a 6+ save against wounds. It can also make a 9" Scout move before the game begins, though cannot move within 9" of an enemy model. While the Scout move is a nice rule, you cannot use it if you begin the game in Cult Ambush, so may have limited utility in practice. 

The Flare Launcher also allows you to make a Biker unit automatically advance 6" once per battle, which is a nice bonus for some of your Bikers.