Beachhead Brawl Tournament: Game 2- White Scars vs Raven Guard

Game 2 of the Bournemouth Beachhead Brawl would see my White Scars take on an almost identical Raven Guard list, commanded by Simon, in ITC Mission 2. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

Impulsor- 2 Storm Bolters, Ironhail Heavy Stubber, Shield Dome
3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks
3 Eliminators- Bolt Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master Crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chapter Master, Imperium's Sword

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives
3 Inceptors- Assault Bolters
3 Inceptors- Assault Bolters

Battalion Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litany of Hate, Warlord
Phobos Librarian- Force Sword, Camo Cloak, Shrouding, Mind Raid

5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines, Smoke Grenades
5 Infiltrators- Marksman Bolt Carbines, Smoke Grenades
5 Tactical Marines- Bolters, Lascannon

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms


Simon's army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment (Raven Guard Successor)
Captain- Phobos Armour, Camo Cloak, Master-crafted Instigator Bolt Carbine
Lieutenant- Phobos Armour, Master-crafted Occulus Bolt Rifle, Grav-chute
5 Infiltrators- Infiltrator Comms Array, Marksman Bolt Carbines
5 Infiltrators- Infiltrator Comms Array, Marksman Bolt Carbines
5 Infiltrators- Infiltrator Comms Array, Marksman Bolt Carbines
3 Centurion Devastators- Grav-Cannons and Grav-amps, Hurricane Bolters
Thunderfire Cannon

Battalion Detachment (Raven Guard Successor)
Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted power fist, Storm Shield
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Canticle of Hate
5 Scouts- Bolt Pistols, Combat Knives
5 Scouts- Bolt Pistols, Combat Knives
5 Scouts- Bolt Pistols, Combat Knives
5 Assault Centurions- 2 Flamers, Hurricane Bolters, Siege Drills
4 Assault Centurions- 2 Flamers, Hurricane Bolters, Siege Drills

Spearhead Detachment (Raven Guard Successor)
Librarian- Phobos Armour, Force Sword, Shadowstep, Enveloping Darkness
Whirlwind- Vengeance Launcher
Whirlwind- Vengeance Launcher
Whirlwind- Vengeance Launcher

Chapter Tactics- Long-range Marksmen, Stealthy

A very similar list to the one which had just beaten me, so I knew some of the tricks. The Centurions were really tough and had a lot of firepower, so would need to be kept away from till I could do extra damage to get rid of them. Other than that, a lot of strong artillery to batter my forces from afar.

For secondaries, I chose Gangbusters, Recon and Engineers (the two Intercessor units). Simon chose Recon, Butcher's Bill and Headhunter.

We were playing Dawn of War deployment, and Simon got to choose his side. This meant that I deployed my army first.

I put the bulk of my forces in the centre on my objective; The Thunderfire Cannon, Eliminators, Chapter Master and Lieutenant, with a unit of Infiltrators and Intercessors to support them. I put one unit of Intercessors ahead, ready to move in on the central objective. I put the Tactical Squad in the ruins to the right, with the Scouts in front of them. I put a unit of Scouts, Infiltrators and the Phobos Librarian in the central ruins, with a unit of Scouts to the right of them. My other Scout went went in the ruins to the right in my deployment zone, to screen out enemy units. I put the Impulsor and both Inceptors in reserve.

In reply, Simon castled up on his right flank, placing the three Whirlwinds in the corner, and the Thunderfire Cannon in the ruins with the character support. The Scouts spread out in front of them, supported by the Assault Centurions. The Infiltrators spread out across the deployment zone, away from my forces. He put the two other units of Centurions in reserve.

My plan was to advance on the enemy army with the Scouts, hoping to take out the screens, then get a long charge to shut down his artillery on the first turn and get some good board presence. The Biker Captain would go after the Centurions and try to take them out, or reduce their numbers in the first turn, using the Librarian to stop them from firing overwatch.

I chose to take the first turn. Simon managed to seize the initiative! That was twice in a row against an army I couldn't afford to go second against. Oh well, time to see how many points I would lose by in this game.

TURN 1- RAVEN GUARD

The Infiltrators moved up slightly on the central ruins, while the rest of the forces held position. The Phobos Librarian failed to cast Enveloping Darkness on the Scouts and also failed to cast Smite.

The Thunderfire targeted the Scouts in front of it, killing three of the squad. The Centurions fired at the Scouts and Infiltrators, killing the rest of the Scouts and three of the Infiltrators. The Scouts added their firepower against the Infiltrators, doing one more wound. Two of the Whirlwinds fired at the squad, killing them off. The third fired at the central Scouts, but failed to do any damage.

The Raven Guard Infiltrators attempted to charge the Scouts, but failed to make the distance.

At the end of his turn, Simon scored Hold 1, Kill 1 and Butcher's Bill.

TURN 1- WHITE SCARS

The Biker Captain advanced towards the enemy forces, joined by the Chaplain. The Librarian moved up, but stayed out of deny range on the Phobos Librarian. The Scouts and Phobos Librarian in the centre moved up on the enemy lines, while the Tactical Marine with the Lascannon moved up to target the enemy vehicles. The Intercessors advanced towards the central objective.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian cast Storm-wreathed on the Biker Captain. He then cast Ride the Winds on the Phobos Librarian. The Phobos Librarian then cast Smite, causing 2 mortal wounds on the Chaplain, then cast Mind Raid on him, causing another mortal wound and gaining me a CP.

The Lascannon fired at the Whirlwind, taking 6 damage from it! The Thunderfire Cannon fired twice at a Scout squad (for 2CP) and wiped them out. The Phobos Librarian threw a grenade at the Chaplain and was able to kill him.

In the charge phase, the Biker Captain assaulted the Centurions and Scouts, the Chaplain going into the Centurions and Phobos Librarian went into the Scouts. My own Scouts failed their charge on the enemy Scouts after rolling a double 1.

The Biker Captain struck at the Centurions and Simon played Transhuman Physiology. The Captain did four wounds and three got through, killing one of the Centurions. Simon spent another 2CP to interrupt, attacking with the Centurions. I played Transhuman Physiology on my own Captain. He took four wounds, one of which got past is Storm Shield, while the Chaplain was slain by the Centurions.

The Phobos Librarian only managed to kill a single Scout after some poor rolling. The Scouts attacked the Librarian, wounding him twice.

I spent 3CP to fight again with the Biker Captain, but only managed a single wound to kill one Centurion. A pretty poor effort for the Biker Captain.

At the end of my turn, I scored Gangbusters, Hold 1, Kill 1, Recon and Hold More. Simon scored Headhunter and kill more.

VICTORY POINTS:
Raven Guard- 5
White Scars- 5

A draw after the first turn, but my forces had taken a beating and had not done much damage to the Centurions.

TURN 2- RAVEN GUARD
We both moved to the Tactical Doctrine.

The Phobos Librarian moved up on the enemy characters, while the Infiltrators moved up to secure the central objective. At the end of the phase, the Centurions landed on either side of the enemy deployment zone; the Devastators to the right and Assault Centurions to the left.

In the psychic phase, the Raven Guard Librarian cast Smite, doing 1 mortal wound on the Captain. Simon used a CP re-roll and got another 1 for the damage.

The Devastator Centurions fired at the Tactical Squad, wiping them out. The Assault Centurions fired at the Infiltrators in the centre, doing 24 wounds with the Hurricane Bolters, 9 of which got through the armour.

The Infiltrators fired at the Scouts, killing the squad. The Thunderfire fired at the central Intercessors, only doing 2 wounds, which were saved. Two of the Whirlwinds targeted the Intercessors, doing 5 wounds and I failed four of my 4+ saves. The last Whirlwind targeted the Eliminators, killing one.

The Captain charged the Biker Captain, using the Lay low Tyrants stratagem. He did four wounds to the Biker Captain. I failed three saves and the Captain died. I used 2CP to fight in death, only managing to do one wound on the enemy Captain. The Scouts attacked the Phobos Librarian, doing no wounds, while the Librarian killed one more Scout.

At the end of his turn, Simon scored hold 1, kill 1, Butcher's Bill, Recon and Headhunter.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS

The Chapter Master and Lieutenant moved up on the Assault Centurions, while the Librarian moved back to support them. At the end of the phase, the Inceptors landed on the left flank, near the Whirlwinds.

In the psychic phase, the Librarian cast Storm-wreathed on the Chapter Master. He then cast Smite, taking one wound from the Centurions. The Phobos Librarian failed to cast Smite, but did cast Mind Raid on the enemy Librarain, doing one wound and gaining a CP.

In the shooting phase, the Eliminators targeted the enemy Phobos Librarian, doing one wound to him. The Inceptors added their firepower, killing him.

The Thunderfire Cannon targeted the Scouts, doing 8 hits from 9 shots, but only three wounds on a 3+, killing 2 Scouts.

In the charge phase, I used the Fierce Rivalries stratagem on the Inceptors and made the charge on the Whirlwinds. The Chapter Master charged the Centurions.

In the fight phase, the Chapter Master struck the Assault Centurions, wiping out the unit. The Inceptors did no wound to the Whirlwind, taking one in reply. The Librarian killed two Scouts for no damage in reply.

At the end of my turn, I scored three points for Gangbusters, Recon, hold 1, kill 1 and Engineers. Simon scored hold more and kill more.

VICTORY POINTS:
Raven Guard- 12
White Scars- 12

At the end of turn 2, I was still in the game, with the score even. I had also managed to take out a unit of Centurions in combat, but there were still 2 mobile units that could cause me problems.

TURN 3- RAVEN GUARD
In turn 3, I moved to the assault doctrine.

The Assault Centurions moved up on the Inceptors in combat with the Whirlwinds. The other Centurions moved up towards the White Scars firebase. Only one of the Whirlwinds was able to fall back from combat with the Inceptors, using the False Flight stratagem to allow it to fire. The Captain moved up on the Phobos Librarian.

The Centurions fired at the Engineers Intercessors, doing 6 wounds with the Grav Cannons. All 6 of the wounds did 3 damage each, killing the unit. The Infiltrators fired at the Phobos Librarian, but failed to do any damage. The Thunderfire Cannon targeted the Eliminators, killing one.

The two Whirlwinds fired at the Eliminators, managed to finally kill the unit.

In the charge phase, the Centurions assaulted the Inceptors, while the Captain charged the Phobos Librarian. Both White Scars units were easily cut down.

At the end of his turn, Simon scored Hold 1, kill 1, Recon and Butcher's Bill.

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS

The Chapter Master, Librarian and Lieutenant moved up on the central ruins. The rest of the reserves came in, a unit of Inceptors landing on the left flank, while the Impulsor landed on the right flank.

The Librarian cast Storm-wreathed on the Lieutenant, then failed to cast Smite.

The Inceptors fired at the Whirlwind, doing a single wound. The Eliminators fired at the enemy Captain, but failed to do any harm.

In the charge phase, the Chapter Master, Librarian and Lieutenant charged the central squad of Infiltrators. Simon played Transhuman Physiology on the squad. The Chapter Master cut down two of the squad, the Lieutenant killed one, while the Librarian was able to finish off the last two of the squad.

At the end of my turn, I scored Hold 1, Kill 1, Recon and Hold More. Simon scored kill more.

VICTORY POINTS:
Raven Guard- 17
White Scars- 16

TURN 4- RAVEN GUARD

The Centurions moved up on the Inceptors, while the other squad moved towards the White Scars firebase. The Captain moved up on the central ruins.

In the shooting phase, the Centurions targeted the Inceptors, killing the squad. The other Centurions fired at the Eliminators, killing two of the squad.

The Whirlwind fired at the Librarian, doing three wounds. I failed two 4+ saves and he perished. The other Whirlwind fired at the Chapter Master, doing a single wound. The third Whirlwind added its firepower, doing three wounds. I failed all three saves and the Chapter Master perished.

The Captain charged and killed the Lieutenant in the fight phase.

At the end of his turn, Simon scored Recon, kill 1, hold 1, Headhunter (maxed) and Butcher's Bill.

TURN 4- WHITE SCARS

The Impulsor advanced towards the Infiltrators, as the Intercessors moved up after disembarking.

The Intercessors fired, killing one of the squad. The Thunderfire Cannon was only able to kill one scout in the squad of 2 remaining.

The Eliminator was able to take 3 wounds from the Captain in the middle.

In the charge phase, the Impulsor and Intercessors charged the Infiltrators, managing to kill two of the squad for no damage in reply.

At the end of my turn, I scored Hold 1 and Recon (maxed). Simon scored hold more and kill more.

VICTORY POINTS:
Raven Guard- 24
White Scars- 18

Things were pretty much over at this point. Simon was ahead on points and ready to mop up the rest of the White Scars army.

As a summary of the final two turns, the bulk of the forces moved up to take out the Impulsor and Intercessors, while the Centurions were able to wipe out the remains of the firebase in my deployment zone.

The end score was:
VICTORY POINTS:
Raven Guard- 33
White Scars- 20

A win for the Raven Guard.

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Another brutal game for the White Scars. This played out very similar to the first game. Not only was I going up against an almost identical army, I also got seized on once more. You can normally expect to get seized on in one game in a tournament, but I just had it happen two games in a row!

Again, my forces were well poised to go and shut down the enemy artillery on turn 1, but were subsequently butchered after getting seized on. Sending in the Biker Captain and Chaplain was an error on turn 1. They would have been hard-pressed to take out the Centurions in a single round of combat, even without Transhuman Physiology. I was just wasting a ton of CP to only kill half the unit.

A better bet would have been to keep them back to go after the Centurions that arrived from reserve. The Chapter Master would have been able to deal with the Centurions on the right, while the Biker Captain could have gone after the Devastator Centurions on the left. The Devastator Centurions probably would have lacked the combat ability to take out the Biker Captain in the fight phase, so he should have been able to whittle them down in combat, especially once the Assault Doctrine was activated.

Overall, the game went pretty much as expected once I was seized on. I was able to use my units to screen out the reserve Centurions a bit better to stop them from targeting my characters. This allowed the Chapter Master to go in and take out a squad in combat, as well as going after the central objective.

Not a great start to the weekend. I had been seized on twice and got crushed in both games going in. I was hoping that my luck would improve as the weekend went on.