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.



Luke's army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment
Chaos Lord- Balesword, Plasma Pistol, Plaguebringer (Relic) (CL)
Daemon Prince of Nurgle- Malefic Talon, Wings, The Suppurating Plate (Relic), warlord (DP)
Lord of Contagion- Plaguereaper (LC)
5 Plague Marines- Blight Launcher, Bolters, Plasma Gun, Power Fist (PM1)
5 Plague Marines- Blight Launcher, Bolters, Plasma Gun, Plaguesword (PM2)
15 Poxwalkers (P)
3 Deathshroud Terminators- Manreapers, Plaguespurt Gauntlets (T)
3 Myphitic Blighthaulers- Missile Launchers, Multi-meltas (B)
Plagueburst Crawler- 2 Entropy Cannons, Heavy Sluggar, Mortar (PC1)
Plagueburst Crawler- 2 Entropy Cannons, Heavy Sluggar, Mortar (PC2)

Outrider Detachment
Sorcerer- Bolt Pistol, Force Stave (S)
Foetid Bloatdrone- 2 Plaguespitters, plague probe (D1)
Foetid Bloatdrone- 2 Plaguespitters, plague probe (D2)

Foetid Bloatdrone- 2 Plaguespitters, plague probe (D3)

A vehicle-heavy Deathguard force that could be tricky for my Deathwatch to take on. The infantry squads shouldn't be too much of a problem thanks to my poisoned shells on my special issue ammunition. 

We placed the objectives as shown below. I got to place the last of the objectives and select my deployment zone. This allowed me to stack one quarter of the board with objectives with some good ruins to protect my units. Luke would need to come to me to get the objectives, allowing me to use my superior firepower to cause damage as his relatively slow moving units were moving across the battlefield. 

We were using the ITC ruins rules, where the bottom level blocked line of sight, so there was good line of sight blocking board coverage for much of the board. 

We then deployed our forces. I put the firepower kill teams in the ruins in my backfield, with the warlord and Razorback beside them. I put one unit of Bikers behind them to re-deploy where needed. I put a unit of Bikers and Rhino on each flank, ready to move out onto the objectives. I decided to deploy the Intercessors on the table, ready to move up on an objective. 

I put the Watch Master, Storm Bolter Veterans and Meltagun Veterans in the Teleportarium. I figured I could use the Meltagun Veterans to hit the vehicles, with them getting to fire from reserve, rather than risk putting them in a Rhino and hoping they would get into range of the enemy vehicles. 

Luke put the Plagueburst Crawlers at the back of his deployment zone, with the Poxwalkers surrounding them to form a protective screen. The Daemon Prince and Bloatdrones went towards the central ruins, with a unit of Plague Marines beside them. The Blighthawlers went on the left, with the Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Lord and Sorcerer following. 

The Terminators and Lord of Contagion went in reserve to deploy later. 

I won the roll for first turn, despite finishing deploying second and took the first turn. Even though objectives would be scored at the end of Luke's turn, so he had the opportunity to steal them from me, I wanted to see if I could diminish his firepower a bit before he got to use it. Luke failed to seize the initiative. He then spent 2CP on the Prepared Positions stratagem. 

TURN 1- DEATHWATCH

On the left flank, the empty Rhino advanced towards the cover of the rock outcrop, while the Bikers moved up on the objective. On the right flank, the Rhino moved to another objective, while the Bikers and Intercessors moved up towards the Deathguard. The backfield Bikers advanced to support the right flank. For my mission tactics, I chose Troops, while using Fast Attack for the Tome of Ectoclades. 

The Razorback fired on one of the Bloatdrones, hitting and wounding. I did four damage with a CP re-roll and the drone took 3 wounds after a successful disgustingly resilient save. The Bikers added their firepower with their Kraken Bolters (-1AP) and did 6 wounds, two of which got through. 

The Missile Launcher Kill Team added their firepower and the Bloatdrone took 6 wounds in total (using the warlord's free re-roll). Some great saves and disgusting resilient rolls saw it took two wounds, with only three left. 

The central unit of Bikers fired at the Plague Marines in front of them with their Hellfire shells (2+ to wound). They squad did a great 14 wounds, but the prepared positions helped the Heretic Astartes, as not a single wound found its way past the armour of the squad. 

The Intercessors split their fire between the Bloatdrone and Plague Marines (not all were in range to only fire at one target). I used the Tempest Shells stratagem, doing two mortal wounds on the enemy vehicle, while the rest of the Bolters failed to do any additional harm. Two of the Plague Marines fell to the firepower of the squad. 

The Kill Team with Heavy Bolters and Missile Launcher then fired at the Bloatdrone, as I was hoping to score First Strike. I used the Hellfire Shells stratagem on the Heavy Bolter, doing two wounds, but Luke made both Disgustingly Resilient saves. I then used the Flakk Missile stratagem on the Drone, finally destroying it. The Drone exploded, doing wounds on the Daemon Prince and other two Bloatdrones. 

The Rhinos used their Smoke Launchers to obscure themselves from the enemy firepower .

At the end of my turn, I scored First Strike and one kill point, but had moved to secure a number of objectives. 

Not the best start. It had taken most of my army's firepower and a ton of command points to take out just a single Bloatdrone. The Prepared Positions stratagem was a big help to Luke this turn, as well as some fantastic armour saves and disgustingly resilient saves in my first turn. 

TURN 1- DEATHGUARD

On the left flank, the Blighthaulers, Chaos Marines and characters moved up towards the Rhino. The Daemon Prince, Bloatdrones and Chaos Space Marines converged in the central ruins.

In the psychic phase, the Sorcerer cast Cloud of Flies on the nearby Plague Marines, then cast Blades of Putrefaction on the Blighthaulers. The Daemon Prince cast Miasma of Pestilence on himself, using a command point to succeed.

The Blighthaulers opened fire on the front unit of Bikers, killing three of them with the Multi-meltas. The Missile Launchers only scored one hit, wounding with the use of a CP re-roll, but failing to get past the armour.

The Plagueburst Crawlers fired their Mortars at the Bike squad, killing off the unit with their combined firepower and taking them off the objective. The Cannons fired at the Rhino, doing only one wound.

At the end of his turn, Luke scored one Kill Point and First Strike. He scored two objectives, while I held three.

VICTORY POINTS:
Deathwatch- 5
Deathguard- 4

A very close first turn. Neither side had been able to do much damage to the other, and only an extra objective held had put me in an early lead.

TURN 2- DEATHWATCH

The Intercessors and a unit of Bikers moved up on the objective at the edge of my deployment zone, one Watch Captain moving out to support them. On the left flank, the Rhino continued to move up on the enemy backfield, while the Bikers moved into the central ruins. The Frag Cannon Kill Team disembarked from the Rhino and moved up on the Blighthaulers.

At the end of the phase, I used a Teleport Homer to move one of the Terminator Kill Teams to secure the objective on the left. The Meltagun Kill Team and Watch Master arrived on the right flank, moving to target the enemy vehicles.

In the shooting phase, the Meltagun Kill Team fired on the Blighthaulers, using a Doctrine stratagem to get +1 to wound. The Meltaguns did three wounds, after one failed to wound with a command point re-roll. Two wounds got through and did 5 damage in total. The Bolters of the squad did three wounds, but the vehicle passed two disgusting resilient saves.

The Watch Master fired his Tempest Shells stratagem at the Blighthauler, doing three mortal wounds, but Luke made all three disgustingly resilient saves. The Frag Cannon Kill Team fired their Frag Cannons at the vehicle, wounding it 6 times. The vehicle made another 3 disgustingly resilient saves, but it was enough to destroy it. The vehicle exploded, even with a CP re-roll.

The Shotguns of the squad fired at the second member of the unit, doing one wound. The Rhino added its firepower, doing another wound.

The Missile Launcher Kill Team fired at the Blighthaulers. Three Krak Missiles hit and wounded, but Luke made another three 6+ saves! The Stalker Bolters did another two wounds, but he made another two 6+ saves!

The Bikers fired at the Blighthaulers, taking four wounds from one. The Heavy Bolter Kill Team added its firepower, finally taking down another vehicle.

The Intercessors fired at the Plague Marines, killing the unit in a hail of Bolter fire. The second unit of Bikers fired at a Bloatdrone, taking three wounds from it. The Razorback fired at the Drone, doing one wound and three damage, but Luke made all three disgustingly resilient saves once more.

The other Rhino fired at the Poxwalkers, killing three.

At the end of my turn, I scored a single kill point for taking out the Plague Marines.

TURN 2- DEATHGUARD

The Daemon Prince and Bloatdrones moved up on the Bikers, while still holding on to the objective. On the left flank, the Deathguard continued to move up on the enemy forces. Luke then used the Cloud of Flies stratagem on the Plague Marines.

In the psychic phase, the Daemon Prince failed to cast Miasma of Pestilence. The Sorcerer then cast Smite, periling, but used a CP re-roll to pass. The attack killed three of the Frag Cannon Kill Team. He then cast Blades of Putrefaction on the Blighthauler.

The Bloatdrones fired at the Bikers, killing two of the squad.

The Plague Marines fired at the Meltagun Kill Team, killing two of the squad with their firepower. The Blighthauler fired at the surviving members of the Frag Cannon Kill Team, finishing them off.

The Blight Crawlers fired at the Rhino, destroying it.

In the charge phase, the Plague Drones and Daemon Prince charged the Bikers. The Daemon Prince did 8 wounds on the Bikers. The Sergeant managed to block 6 wounds with his Storm Shield before falling, along with the last Biker.

At the end of his turn, Luke scored three kill points and two objective points. I scored three objective points.

VICTORY POINTS:
Deathwatch- 9
Deathguard- 9

At the end of turn 2, things were even in victory points. I was still holding more objectives for now, but some amazing disgustingly resilient saves had seen my firepower do little over two shooting phases.

TURN 3- DEATHWATCH

The Meltagun Kill Team and Watch Master moved up on the Blighthauler, the Bikers moving over to support them, as the Intercessors moved up on the objective.

The Storm Bolter Kill Team arrived near the Intercessors to add their firepower to the volley.

The Meltagun Kill Team turned their attention on the last of the Blighthaulers, using the +1 to wound stratagem once more. Three of the Meltagun shots got through, doing 9 damage and the enemy vehicle took 7 wounds. The Bolters did another 6 wounds, four of which got through the disgustingly resilient save. The vehicle exploded, killing one Plague Marine and wounding the two nearby Deathguard characters.

The Bikers opened fire at the Plague Marines with their hellfire shells, doing 27 wounds and killing the unit. The Watch Master fired at the Sorcerer, wounding him twice, but he made both armour saves.

The Heavy Bolter Kill Team fired at a Bloatdrone, taking two wounds from it. The Missile Launcher of the squad did three wounds, two of which were saved by disgustingly resilient.

The Storm Bolter Kill Team fired at the Drone, doing 6 wounds on it. The Intercessors added their firepower, doing 6 wounds, but only one got through its various saves. The Razorback fired at the enemy vehicle, doing three damage. The Drone took two, leaving it on a single wound. The Storm Bolter of the vehicle managed to do the single wound required and destroyed the Drone, exploding it.

The Missile Launcher Kill Team fired at the last remaining drone. Showing the rest of the army how it was done, they destroyed the vehicle in a single volley, causing it to explode once more.

At the end of my turn, I scored four kill points and had position for a number of objectives.

TURN 3- DEATHGUARD 

The Daemon Prince moved up on the Storm Bolter Kill Team, while the Chaos Lord moved up on the Meltagun Kill Team. The reserves arrived, landing deep in the enemy deployment zone.

In the psychic phase, the Daemon Prince cast Miasma of Pestilence on himself. Blades of Putrefaction failed on the Chaos Lord, but the Sorcerer did manage to cast Putrescent Vitality on him.

In the shooting phase, the Chaos Lord fired his Plasma Pistol at the Meltagun Veterans, killing one. The Plagueburst Crawlers fired at the Storm Bolter Kill Team, killing three of the squad with their combined firepower.

In the charge phase, the Daemon Prince assaulted the Storm Bolter Kill Team, taking two wounds in overwatch fire. The Chaos Lord charged the Meltagun Kill Team. The Terminators and Lord of Contagion both failed their charges against the Deathwatch Warlord Captain.

In the fight phase, the Daemon Prince managed four wounds against the Veterans, but all were blocked by a Storm Shield in the squad. The Chaos Lord managed to take down four of the Veterans against him.

The Storm Bolter Veterans managed to put 5 wounds on the Daemon Prince, once of which got through its armour. The unholy powers of the runic armour managed to slay two of the Veterans in reply. The squad passed their morale test though and fought on.

At the end of his turn, Luke scored no Kill Points and held no objectives. I held four objectives.

VICTORY POINTS:
Deathwatch- 17
Deathguard- 9

A great turn for me had seen me take the lead. The superior firepower and numbers of the Deathwatch were starting to show.

TURN 4- DEATHWATCH

The Deathwatch fell back from combat with the Chaos forces, moving to secure the objectives.

In the shooting phase, the Storm Bolter Kill Team fired at the Daemon Prince, wounding him twice and taking him down to 3 wounds left. The Intercessors managed to do a great 14 wounds, but only one got through his saves.

The Bikers fired at the Daemon, taking another wound and leaving him on one remaining. The Heavy Bolter Kill Team fired at the Daemon Prince, killing him. The Watch Master fired his Guardian Spear at the Chaos Lord, killing him.

The Razorback fired at the Terminators, doing a single wound but failing to get past his invulnerable save. The Missile Launcher Kill Team fired on the Terminators, only doing a single wound.

In the charge phase, the Watch Master assaulted the Sorcerer, cutting him down in combat.

At the end of my turn, I scored three kill points and slay the warlord.

TURN 4- DEATHGUARD 

The Terminators and Lord of Contagion moved up on the Intercessors.

The Mortars opened fire on the Biker squad in the central ruins, killing one of the squad.

In the charge phase, the Terminators and Lord of Contagion charged the Intercessors. The Terminators struck at the squad, killing 5 of them in total and getting 5 extra attacks from Death to the False Emperor.

The Lord of Contagion struck at the squad, killing another 3. One more fell in the morale phase, leaving one one remaining.

At the end of his turn, Luke scored no kill points and no objectives, whereas I held five objectives.

VICTORY POINTS:
Deathwatch- 25
Deathguard- 9

TURN 5- DEATHWATCH

The Intercessor fell back from combat, as the Watch Master moved towards the enemy deployment zone. The Watch Captain moved up on the Terminators.

In the shooting phase, the Deathwatch opened fire on the Terminator squad, wiping them out with their combined firepower.

The Watch Captain charged the Lord of Contagion. The Deathwatch Captain struck at the Lord, doing three wounds. One got through, doing 3 damage. The Lord of Contagion did one wound in reply, but it was saved by the Captain's Storm Shield.

At the end of my turn, I scored one kill point.

TURN 5- DEATHGUARD

The Plagueburst Crawlers fired at the remnants of the Meltagun Kill Team, killing one of the squad.

In the fight phase, the Lord of Contagion managed to do a single wound on the Captain. The Captain did two wounds back, but was unable to kill off the Deathguard character.

At the end of the turn, Luke scored no kill points or objectives and I scored five objectives.

We rolled to see if the game wound end and it did. We each scored Linebreaker for 5 points (each secondary objective was worth 5 points).

VICTORY POINTS:
Deathwatch- 45
Deathguard- 18

End of the game.

A major win for the Deathwatch.

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Thanks to Luke for a fun game, it was incredibly close in the first couple of turns and could have gone either way.

In the first two turns, Luke seemed unable to fail a save, making some fantastic Disgustingly resilient saves to hamper my efforts. It took most of the firepower of my army and quite a few command points to take out a single Drone on my first turn. This was very worrying, as I thought I wouldn't have enough firepower to damage his army before they got in close.

Fortunately for me, after about turn 3, his saves started to even out and I was able to do significant damage to his force to claim the victory.

The deployment of objectives was also a big boost to me in this game. As I was able to place the last objective and pick the deployment zone, I was able to stack them in my favour so that I didn't have to venture far from my initial deployment to rack up the points.

I think the person deploying the last objective getting to choose the deployment zone is too powerful in most cases. You can be really gamey with the deployment, like I was in this game, and get the majority of the objectives in your own deployment zone or nearby. Luke had little option but to come after my army and objectives, giving his force and the objective deployment.

Fixed objectives can alleviate this a bit, but they are sometimes too predictable and can be boring too, allowing you to just sit back and score two or three each turn.

A very good start for the Deathwatch. I had got a bit win, which could see me take on a tough army for my second game. The army had performed very well in the first game, so I was keen to see how they would do in future games.