IMPERIAL GUARD versus Necrons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary Warriner
Mission: Secure and Control
Level: Gamma
1st turn: Necrons
Points: 1500
Location: Nu Caledo, Kandaeon Worlds, Skolarii sector
Background: 951.M41 Captain Kennell is called to Nu Caledo by an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator Team investigating alien structures on the planetary surface. When the Cadians arrive, the Explorator team is nowhere to be seen. Following a distress beacon, Captain Kennell orders his men to the an archaeological dig site but they are ambushed by Necrons before they can reach the Adeptus Mechanicus. Kennell falls back, leaving the servants of the Machine God to their fate.


Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 Grenade Launchers
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons
• Mortar Squad, 3 Mortars
• Sanctioned Psyker
• 8 Stormtroopers Plasma gun, Melta gun, Veteran Sergeant with Power Weapon, Chimera
• 4 Ogryn Bonehead
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Braun Junior Officer, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 55, Lieutenant Dophan Junior Officer, Plasma Pistol and Power Weapon, Medic, 3 Melta guns
• Infantry Squad, Missile launcher, flamer
• Infantry Squad, Missile launcher
• 20 Conscripts
• Sentinel, Multilaser, smoke
• Sentinel, Multilaser, searchlight
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Necrons

• Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb
• 3 large Warrior squads
• 3 Destroyers
• Heavy Destroyer
• Tomb Spyder
• 8 Scarab bases
• Immortals

Terrain and Deployment
The table was moderately covered in area 2 forests, with three large area 3 buildings. I had one of those buildings to my centre-right and a large hill on my left.

I placed Kennell and Dophan's Command squads behind the building, with the Ogryns as counter charge. On my extreme right I had the Basilisk, a Sentinel and a couple of Infantry squads. In the middle I had the Conscripts, Stormtroopers, more Infantry and the Lascannons. On my left I had the Russ, the Mortars, a Sentinel and Braun's Command Section with the final Infantry squads.

Most of the Necrons were bunched up in the centre near the Lord. Against my right flank were the Destroyers, Scarabs and Tomb Spyder, while my left force was facing a Warrior squad and the Heavy Destroyer.

The Game
Gary won first turn and breathed a huge sigh of relief, as he had a chance to silence my Ordnance before it could fire. He succeeded in shaking the Russ with the Heavy Destroyer, then blowing it up in turn 2. One of my Sentinels took out the Destroyer in revenge, but the damage was done.

On the right my main concern was the Scarabs. They turbo-boosted 24" and would be in combat unless I could stop them. Fortunately I had quite a bit of weaponry of strength 6 or higher on this side of the table which would auto kill the bases.

Unfortunately none of it could hit.

The Scarabs charged next turn and killed an Infantry squad, my Lascannons and Lieutenant Dophan's Command. Captain Kennell put up some brave resistance until the Ogryns arrived, but the heart had been ripped out of my army.

I caused some casualties in the centre but they were largely negated by the Resurrection Orb. The Warriors surged forward and simply rapid fired my Guardsmen into oblivion. I lost all 20 Conscripts in a single shooting phase. That was a new one.

If I could engage the units in combat I thought I could claw back some pride, but my Stormtroopers were flayed alive by the Gauss weapons of the Necrons. My Ogryns couldn't reach the fight either, as they got a total of 3" on their difficult terrain rolls in the movement and assault phases. They were shot to ribbons as a consequence.

By turn 4 it was clear my shattered army couldn't continue the fight so I signalled the retreat.

Result: Loss - We didn't victory points as it was clear I had been massacred!

Imperial Control: -36%

Kennell's Commendation: None.

Learning points

• That was brutal. I have to say I am very inexperienced when it comes to Necrons, having only played them twice before. I won both of those games but it is clear to me now that that I was helped greatly by the missions, as they didn't allow the Necrons to set up as they wished. In this game Gary used the Orb to reduce casualties in the centre, and harried my flanks with faster units. The Scarabs in particular were devastating, easily destroying more than double their own points values before they were wiped out. Next time I'm taking the batteries out of the little blighters before the game starts!
• If I played this game again I would have played far more aggressively, trying to get all of my power weapons into play. Although Guard aren't great in an assault, it would have at least stopped my units being flayed alive by rapid firing Gauss guns. Ho hum, you live and learn.

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Seek and Destroy
Level: Omega
1st turn: Eldar
Points: 1500
Location: Ellix, Strophious Reaches, Skolarii sector
Background: Captain Kennell orders patrols to try and locate Inquisitor Tieral as well as the elusive Eldar. Instead they come across Cypher and a small band of Fallen. As Kennell comes up from the rear to question the mysterious Marine, the Eldar launch a surprise attack. The Cadians, with Cypher's help, drive off the Eldar. Cypher reveals the location of an Eldar webway portal to Captain Kennell.


Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 meltaguns
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons
• Mortar Squad, 3 Mortars
• Commissar Ord Bulman, Power Sword, Bolt Pistol
• Cypher with 6 Fallen, 2 plasma guns, aspiring Champion with powerfist
• 4 Ogryn, Bonehead
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Dophan Junior Officer, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Armoured Fist Squad, Missile launcher, flamer, Chimera with Heavy Bolter, Multi-laser
• 20 Conscripts
• Sentinel, Multilaser, smoke
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Eldar

• Farseer with retinue of Warlocks
• Wraithlord with Starcannon
• 10 Guardians with Starcannon
• 8 Storm Guardians with 2 fusion guns
• Falcon
• 5 Dark Reapers with Exarch
• Vyper with Bright Lance
• 9 Warp Spiders with Exarch
• 5 Fire Dragons
• 8 Howling Banshees with Exarch

Background
I had finally finished a unit of Ogryn in time for this game so I threw them straight into the fray. I was under no illusions that my army list was junk. Characterful junk, it's true, but junk nonetheless. Cypher is too expensive, the Mortars don't hit hard enough, I don't have enough Infantry squads for 1500 point games and I didn't expect the Ogryn to do anything.

Fortunately for me, Gary brought his Eldar army. His list has very serious limitations in 4th Edition and Gary is in a similar predicament to me; not enough core models (in his case Guardians) and no real choice about of units to change in the army list.

So while the army lists aren't really competitive I was at least expecting an interesting game.

Terrain and Deployment
We had about five pieces of large area 3 ruined buildings for this game as well as two forests and a couple of hills. The right flank was most congested with the left flank a close second. The centre of the table was a little more open.

With escalation in play we had relatively few models to deploy. Gary put his Fire Dragons on the right flank with his Guardian Storm Squad and the Banshees. The other Guardians with the Starcannon went on the left with his Farseer unit. The Dark Reapers set up centrally in a wood.

I had my infantry in the centre and on the right, covered by the Mortars and 3 Lascannons. Cypher and the Fallen hid behind a building on my left. The Ogryn and Captain Kennell were my counter charge behind the central wood.

The Game
Gary won first turn and took it. He pushed forward on both flanks, moving quickly through the ruined buildings. The Dark Reapers shot but couldn't see due to concealment.

I pushed the Conscripts forward, tempting the Banshees to assault them (so I could counter with the Ogryn). My shooting was pretty poor, though I did manage to pin the Guardian Storm Squad.

Gary couldn't decide whether to stick or twist with the Banshees. He would need decent difficult terrain tests and fleet of foot to get into combat but if he hung back the Mortars were sure to hit them next. In the end he went for it and came up an inch short. I blasted them to pieces in my shooting phase.

His reserves began to arrive in the shape of the Wraithlord and Vyper. They came on in the centre but their shooting was abysmal. The Dark Reapers came good, though, killing eight Guardsmen from a single squad. I hid the two survivors away for the rest of the game to preserve their victory points. Still the Eldar pressed forward on both flanks.

I got my Basilisk and Leman Russ from reserve. I put the Russ on my right and it killed all of the Fire Dragons in a single shot. On the left my Basilisk hit the Farseer and retinue and killed a single model. On the left I pulled Cypher and the Fallen back, away from the Farseer. I was determined not to use my counter charge elements too early in this game.

Gary got his Falcon and Warp Spiders in this turn and things started to hot up. The Falcon went for my Basilisk but fluffed it's attacks. In fact it took three turns to kill my open-topped artillery piece, and subsequently had no more effect on the game.

The Warp Spiders helped out the beleaguered right flank but rolled poorly in the next two shooting phases amid much gnashing of teeth from Gary. In the centre his Guardians recovered from being pinned and assaulted the Conscripts. All of the Conscripts died, then my Ogryns steamed in to finish off the Storm Guardians. His attack on this side of the table was crushed.

My Armoured Fist squad arrived in the centre, to take on the Dark Reapers. By turn five I had driven them off but my Chimera was destroyed. The left flank was all the Eldar had now and the Farseer was the most dangerous enemy there.

I managed to decimate the accompanying Guardians but the Seer made it into combat with the Ogryn. All of Gary's bad luck suddenly switched, and he beat off the Ogryn, the platoon HQ and Captain Kennell's squad by the end of the game. My counter attack from Cypher and chums was ineffective because of the wrecks of my Chimera and Sentinel creating a bottleneck I just couldn't squeeze through quickly enough.

Thankfully for me the game ended after six turns (my last against the Eldar had gone nine turns).

Result: Win- Imperial Guard 1593.5 victory points, Eldar 1420.5 victory points

Imperial Control: +7%

Kennell's Commendation: The Mortar squad for pinning the Storm Guardians and forcing the Banshees out into the open. And they also survived with no casualties, giving me 80 victory points.

Learning points

• A familiar shape and tempo to the game, with my early dominance disappearing once the enemy make combat. Then my army folds faster than a knackered deck chair. In my previous games I would have drawn or lost this game, but I just squeaked a win. That was due to little things, like hiding the survivors from an Infantry squad and keeping my reserves until later in the game. Of course it almost backfired when Cypher and the Fallen couldn't get to the Farseer. On the other hand, Cypher was worth 151 points on his own, so I denied those points to the Eldar and contributed them to my own total. Still, I know that Cypher isn't an effective counter attacker anyway due to his speed; I could really do with Rough Riders.
• Another way of playing my Guard army could also work, based on the way my recent games have panned out. What if, from say turn 4 onward, I just ran away from the enemy, to try and prevent him from making combat and therefore gaining victory points? Forget standing to shoot and forget counter-charging, just back off with my nearest units and shoot with the rest. I'll try it out in my next game.

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Chaos Space Marines - Death Guard

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Steve
Mission: Take and Hold
Level: Gamma
1st turn: Chaos Space Marines - Death Guard
Points: 1500
Location: Celebes, Salazar Systems, Skolarii sector
Background: The Death Guard attack on the southern quarter of Celebes Hive One is revealed as a feint when their main attack arrives from the north. Kennell meets the Nurgle Marines head on and blunts their attack. An uneasy silence falls across the Hive...


Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 meltaguns
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons
• Commissar Ord Bulman, Power Sword, Bolt Pistol
• Cypher with 6 Fallen, 2 plasma guns, aspiring Champion with powerfist
• 6 Stormtroopers, 1 meltagun, 1 plasma gun
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Dophan Junior Officer, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Armoured Fist Squad, Missile launcher, flamer, Chimera with Heavy Bolter, Multi-laser
• 20 Conscripts
• Sentinel, Multilaser, Searchlight
• Sentinel, Multilaser
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Chaos Space Marines - Death Guard

• Lord with Powerfist and plasma pistol
• 7 Plague Bearers
• 7 Deathguard with plasma gun, meltagun, asp Champ with powerfist
• 7 Deathguard with plasma gun, meltagun, asp Champ with powerfist
• 7 Deathguard Havocs with two plasma guns, meltagun, asp Champ with powerfist
• Dreadnought with autocannon, extra armour and smoke
• Dreadnought with multi-melta, extra armour and smoke
• Great Unclean One

Background
I had played Steve the week earlier but we had to abandon the game due to running out of time. This week we had a rematch. He had the same army while I had dropped the Inquisitorial elements in favour of Cypher and a squad of Fallen.

Terrain and Deployment
The table had a decent amount of varied terrain. I chose the side with good lines of sight to the objective. I had a ruined building on my left, a large swamp, a massive wood on my front right and another building on my extreme right. Steve had two ruined buildings opposite the wood, and vegetation of his own on my left.

I set most of my vehicles up on the right, sheltered from incoming fire by the building and the forest. My counter attack in the shape of Cypher and the Fallen and Captain Kennell's squad hid behind the wood. The rest of my men spread out in the centre and left with decent firing lanes.

Steve put most of his infantry on my right, inside the 36" minimum range of the Basilisk. His Havocs infiltrated to the other side of the forest. He dropped a Dreadnought on each flank - the multi-melta opposite my vehicles.

The Game
Predictably, most of the real action in the game took place in and around that wood. I wanted to use it to advance to the objective while Steve wanted to use it to cover his infantry advance.

Steve fed a Marine squad, his Havocs, his Lord, a Plague bearer unit and his Great Unclean One into the meatgrinder of the forest while I pumped in Cypher, the Fallen, Captain Kennell and his Command section, the Armoured Fist squad, my Lascannons, a Sentinel and the Basilisk.

The Deathguard took heavy casualties on the way in but rallied when the Daemons arrived and Cypher went down. In particular his wounded Lord scored some impressive victory point returns when he destroyed the Chimera and the Basilisk in successive turns.

On the left I won the early exchanges again but got caught out by the second unit of Plague bearers who accounted for triple their points value in Guardsmen.

We had both caused such damage to each others armies that the table was virtually empty when we finished, and neither of us was anywhere near the objective.

Result: Draw - Imperial Guard 1272.5 victory points, Chaos Space Marines - Death Guard 1127.5 victory points

Imperial Control: No change

Kennell's Commendation: The Mortar squad just gets the nod for several unlikely kills and for contributing their own victory points by not being killed.

Learning points

• For every bad dice roll I had in my last game against Steve, I got a good one in this game. After my second turn he was seriously considering surrender but he hung on in there and once he made combat he began to claw his points back. The last dice roll of the game - the Lords plasma pistol shot at the Basilisk - earned Steve the draw. An exciting and enjoyable game!
• I probably used my reserves too early in this game. I had assumed Steve would press forward recklessly (too many games against Gary's Khorne Berzerkers I think), but he hung back to mount a coordinated attack with his Daemons. In an effort to prevent them from summoning from the infiltrating Havocs I advanced into rapid fire range. I did kill the squad but was left open to assault from the Greater Daemon and Chaos Lord. I wonder what would have happened if I had hung back and committed them later? I must learn to be more patient.
• Spacing. Steve caught me out again with several 6" sweeping advances (Kennell got splattered by the Great Unclean One this time). This is due, I reckon, to my tactic of using multiple small units. It's largely unavoidable and is a definite weakness in this type of army.

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Chaos Space Marines - Death Guard

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Steve
Mission: Recon
Level: Alpha
1st turn: Chaos Space Marines - Death Guard
Points: 1500
Location: Celebes, Salazar Systems, Skolarii sector
Background: Sensor auguries detect enemy air movements in the previously uncontested southern quarter of Celebes Hive One. Kennell acts quickly and decisively; if the Cadians can reach the landing zone before the forces of Chaos hit the Hive, the new front can be crushed immediately. Upon contact with the enemy Kennell is surprised to see some old foes. The Death Guard have obviously finished their slaughter upon Kutch and have decided to throw in their lot with Khârn. Both armies fight ferociously only for the battle to be brought to a halt by a sudden chem-storm. The Death Guard return to their landers while the Cadians rush back to the northern front


Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 meltaguns
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons
• Commissar Ord Bulman, Power Sword, Bolt Pistol
• Inquisitor Lord Kurven, Psycannon, Mystic, Hierophant, 2 Sages, 2 Imperial Guard Veterans with plasma guns
• Callidus Assassin
• 6 Stormtroopers, 1 meltagun, 1 plasma gun
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Dophan Junior Officer, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Plasma Guns
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Melta Guns
• Sentinel Multilaser, Searchlight
• Sentinel Multilaser, Smoke Launcher
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Chaos Space Marines - Death Guard

• Lord with Powerfist
• 7 Plague Bearers
• 7 Deathguard with plasma gun, meltagun, asp Champ with powerfist
• 7 Deathguard with plasma gun, meltagun, asp Champ with powerfist
• 7 Deathguard Havocs with two plasma guns, meltagun, asp Champ with powerfist
• Dreadnought with autocannon, extra armour and smoke
• Dreadnought with multi-melta, extra armour and smoke
• Great Unclean One

Background
Both Gary and I were bored - we had played each other so many times in the last few weeks that we were sick of the sight of each other. Fortunately for us Steve showed up with a 1500 point Deathguard army. Steve is one of those players who has more army ideas than the time to create and play them. You never know which army he will turn up with from week to week or what tactics he will use. Whatever he plays he is a pleasure to game with as he doesn't get involved with heated rules debates and is as gracious in defeat as in victory.

He played Gary first, who pummeled the Nurgle Marines with long range firepower and then wiped him out in a vicious counter assault. I then challenged Steve on the same table. I felt pretty confident. On paper I reckoned I had the definite advantage; I had two pie plates and multiple melta and plasma squads, as well as missile launchers and lascannons. We were playing on a relatively open table and Steve had a list that I thought wasn't the strongest.

We rolled up a secure and control mission which I thought was fantastic. I had multiple small units which were actually quite mobile for a Guard army, while Steve had only a handful of high cost, low model count units. With time an issue, Steve suggested we roll something else. I reluctantly agreed. This time we came up with an Alpha level Recon. Much worse for me, as the Nurgle Marines would be advancing toward me anyway. Ho, and indeed, hum.

Terrain and Deployment
The board was pretty sparse with two large ruined buildings breaking up lines of sight in the centre and left of the board. The right had more patches of area 2 ruins and I had a large area 3 in my right deployment zone.

I dropped the Russ on my left with my melta gun Stormtroopers, Plasma Stormtroopers and Captain Kennell. The Conscripts, the last Stormtroopers, two Infantry Squads and my lascannons occupied the centre and I had the remaining Infantry Squad, Platoon HQ and the Basilisk on the right. I hung both Sentinels back near the centre, as a kind of mobile reserve.

Steve had a Dread behind each of the large ruined buildings (the multi-melta one nearest my Russ) and had his Havoc squad in between the two walkers. The rest of his Infantry went on my right, advancing through the area two terrain.

The Game
My basic plan was to advance the Stormtroopers and Conscripts in the centre as charge bait. Once they were destroyed I could slaughter the Nurgle forces with my plasma and ordnance. It failed miserably.

Steve took the bait, and even brought his Daemons on to join in the slaughter. Unfortunately for me his Plague Bearers got a 6" follow up move and just made contact with my supporting plasma Stormtroopers, while the Conscripts ran 3" and were re-engaged by the Death Guard. Every combat after that was equally as disastrous for me; if I needed to fail a morale check I passed it and vice versa, no matter the odds.

My shooting was atrocious for the entirety of the game. I failed to get above a three on the damage charts as I poured shot after shot into the Dreads and I just couldn't hurt the toughness 5 Marines. The one exception was the first Leman Russ shot. It went virtually the full 78" in a cross table shot and scattered straight onto the Lord, who died instantly!

Close combat was largely crap too. My Callidus arrived on turn two, caused no casualties with her Neuro-disruptor, charged into the Havocs, killed no-one and was cut down. Boo.

Right near the end of the game I got lucky with a Sentinel, though. I won a combat against the Plague Bearers who flunked their morale test badly and all fled back to the warp.

That was on turn four and the game was still finely balanced. Steve was still in the driving seat as he had four scoring units already in my deployment zone, but I reckoned I still had a chance as I had six scoring units left and still had some decent hitting power.

Unfortunately we'll never know what would have happened because time ran out and we had to go home.

Result: Draw - time ran out

Imperial Control: Unchanged

Kennell's Commendation: Sentinel Spade for that outrageous close combat with the Daemons.

Learning points

• You just can't beat bad dice. I can't even communicate how badly I rolled in this game. I suppose I had it coming after killing Gary's Bloodletters in close combat in my last game, but it didn't make it any easier to take.
  
• Looking at the two army lists, and after deployment, I honestly thought I could have had the game wrapped up after my second turn of shooting. Those Dreads shouldn't have survived beyond the second turn, never mind being in my deployment zone on the fourth, and my ordnance should have seen off the squads. Oh well, I just hope that is my unlucky game out of the way for a while.

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Secure and Control
Level: Gamma
1st turn: Chaos Space Marines
Points: 1500
Location: Celebes, Salazar Systems, Skolarii sector
Background: Khornate warbands slaughter the civilian population of Celebes in their thousands. Caught up in the carnage are the Celebes Ruling Council, including Governor Turf Knidel. Captain Kennell, with the aid of Inquisitor Kurven, hand picks an elite detachment to rescue the dignitaries. The forces of Chaos capture two lesser members but Kennell captures three, including Governor Knidel himself. The command structure of Celebes remains intact, for the time being.

Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 meltaguns
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons
• Commissar Ord Bulman, Power Sword, Bolt Pistol
• Inquisitor Lord Kurven, Psycannon, Mystic, Hierophant, 2 Sages, 2 Imperial Guard Veterans with plasma guns
• Callidus Assassin
• 6 Stormtroopers, 1 meltagun, 1 plasma gun
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Dophan, Junior Officer, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Plasma Guns
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Melta Guns
• Sentinel Multilaser, Searchlight
• Sentinel Multilaser, Smoke Launcher
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Chaos Space Marines

• Lord with Axe of Khorne
• 8 Bloodletters
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 5 Chaos Marines with 1 lascannon
• 3 Obliterators
• Mutated hull Dreadnought with lascannon
• 5 Havocs with 4 Missile Launchers

Background
I gave my army list a good shake up for this game. I wanted to experiment with multiple small and/or cheap units. The idea was that ultimately each unit was expendable in an assault - as long as it left the assaulters out in the open for my return fire. And with multiple squads I should be getting a lot of return fire.

I also wanted to continue my points denial strategy - taking less risks to preserve my units.

Gary dropped his Eldar and returned to Chaos for this game.

Terrain and Deployment
It was back to a more normal terrain set-up for this game with about 20-25% coverage. There were five area 3 ruined buildings and two area 2 ruins. My right flank was the most open so I decided to put most of my army on this side.

We rolled up five loot counters and to my surprise Gary put most of his counters on my right. I followed suit and felt confident even though Gary had won the strategy rating roll to choose the mission and won the dice off for table edge.

Gary spread his army out across the whole table again with the Berzerker squads on either flank. The Havocs were high up on a building on my right, overlooking the counters. The Obliterators and Dreadnought also had good lines of sight from the area 2 ruins in the centre. His 5 man squad and Lord were out on my left. His entire army looked very tiny compared to mine.

I had my Russ, Inquisitor, Plasma Stormtroopers and an Infantry squad on the right. On the left I dropped the Basilisk, an Infantry squad and the remaining Stormtroopers. The rest of my army was in the centre. I put the Sentinels on each flank and pushed them forwards with their scout moves.

I had the Callidus in reserve, while Gary had the Bloodletters and hounds to summon on.

The Game
Gary won first turn and all of his units that could rage did rage. His Berzerkers were pulled wide toward my Sentinels on either flank. The Sentinels paid the price by being destroyed in the shooting phase. The Obliterators hid behind the low ruins and couldn't hit my infantry so they went for the Leman Russ with three lascannons. They failed to hurt the 14 front armour.

In my turn I had a good chance to hammer both Berzerker squads. On the right the Russ got a direct hit and killed five models. The last three Berzerkers were killed by plasma fire from the Stormtroopers and Inquisitor Kurven's squad. The left was a different story. The Basilisk shot scattered away harmlessly, while my Stormtroopers and Guard Infantry only killed three Marines. In the centre I destroyed the Dreadnought with my lascannons.

The Bloodletters were summoned on my left, so that flank was surely doomed. The five Marine squad with the lascannon destroyed the Basilisk's Earthshaker cannon and both Stormtrooper squads were massacred in the ensuing assault.

In my second turn the Callidus arrived and shot and assaulted the Havocs. In a protracted combat, which lasted so long that she played no further part in the game, the assassin killed all five Marines for the loss of one wound.

I now had a dilemma on the right. The Russ was facing off the Obliterators who could hurt the tank but I couldn't really hit them back with their 2+ armour save, I had no cover and had to advance to claim the objectives. My Inquisitor and Stormtroopers couldn't see the Oblits behind the terrain, but the Oblits could move out themselves and still fire heavy bolters at my units. In the end I trusted in my armour 14 and hid the Infantry.

It worked because in the last turn I grabbed two loot counters with these squads. The Obliterators claimed one for themselves, but I was ahead on the right flank.

On the left I was in all sorts of trouble. I managed to drop the Bloodletters down to four models with the help of my central firebase but I couldn't hurt the Lord or Berzerker squad because they were in and around the ruined building. The Flesh Hounds summoned from them but scattered close to the Conscripts and only four could deploy. Result!

Those four dogs went on to slaughter my central units, though. They killed the anti-tank squad, my platoon HQ and half of an Infantry squad before I charged Kennell's squad in. They finally wiped out the Daemons.

Kennell's meltagunners also vaped the Lord, who had just driven off the Conscripts.

The best combat (for me) was on my left.

The four Bloodletters slammed into a ten man Infantry squad. Eight Guardsmen died but they still got to swing due to Close Order Drill. I hit six times and then got five sixes to wound. Gary failed four saves and the Bloodletters were sent back to Khorne. Oh the shame, killed by Guardsmen in combat!

It was now clear that I had won the game and all that was left was to grab the loot counters. Gary got another with his five man lascannon squad to add to the one claimed by the Obliterators. I got my third with the Leman Russ, over and above the two from my Inquisitor and Stormtrooper squad.

Result: Win - Crushing victory, Imperial Guard 2078 victory points, Chaos Space Marines 1138.5 victory points

Imperial Control : +47%

Kennell's Commendation: Infantry Squad 541 for defeating the Bloodletters in close combat.

Learning points

• I had a plan and it worked, despite Gary getting the choice of mission, choosing the board edge and winning first turn. I used the Sentinels to draw his Berzerkers onto my plasma and ordnance. Even though the Sentinels were blown up on turn one I destroyed the entire squad on the right which left the objectives free.

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Take and Hold
Level: Omega
1st turn: Imperial Guard
Points: 1500
Location: Ellix, Sub sector 4, Skolarii sector
Background: The Ordo Xenos discover an Eldar base of operations on Ellix. Captain Kennell and the Cadian 271st are called in to exterminate the aliens. Before the battle Kennell is joined by Inquisitor Kurven. Apparently, Inquisitor Tieral disappeared on Ellix some 56 years before and Kurven believes he is still alive. The Cadians and Daemonhunters track him down to the ruined city of Varltix but the Eldar arrive at the same time. Both forces fight to a stalemate and Tieral disappears again.

Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 meltaguns
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons
• Mortar Support Squad, 3 Mortars
• Commissar Ord Bulman, Power Sword, Bolt Pistol
• Inquisitor Lord Kurven, Psycannon, Sanctuary, 2 Acolytes with Bolt Pistols, 2 Mystics, 1 Hierophant, 2 Sages, 1 Gun-Servitor with Plasma Cannon, 2 Imperial Guard Veterans with plasma guns
• Death Cult Assassin
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Dophan Junior Officer, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Armoured Fist Squad 812, Flamer, Missile Launcher, Chimera with Multi-laser and Heavy Bolter, Smoke
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Plasma Guns
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Melta Guns
• Sentinel, Multilaser, Searchlight
• Sentinel, Multilaser, Smoke Launcher
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Eldar

• Farseer with retinue of Warlocks
• Wraithlord with Starcannon
• 8 Dire Avengers with Exarch
• 10 Guardians with Starcannon
• 8 Storm Guardians with 2 fusion guns
• Falcon
• 5 Dark Reapers with Exarch
• Vyper with Bright Lance
• 9 Warp Spiders
• 3 Rangers
• 3 Rangers
• 5 Swooping Hawks with Exarch

Background
I had made a few minor modifications to my list in order to accommodate my newly painted Mortar Squad. I had demoted an Eversor Assassin to a Death Cult Assassin and trimmed Inquisitor Kurven's Retinue. I still kept the Daemonhunter allies, though, as I was expecting to face Gary's Chaos army. I was therefore surprised to be lining up against his Aspect-heavy Eldar force.

Terrain and Deployment
This was yet another game on a terrain heavy board; at least 50% of the table was covered in area 3 ruins. We diced for the mission, rolled a six and then compared strategy rating rolls. Unsurprisingly Gary won and went on to pick a take and hold mission knowing full well that my largely immobile Guard would have trouble with it.

The objective was in the centre of the board, loosely surrounded by buildings in a 12" circle. I chose the board edge with the building closest to the objective, mainly to deny it to the Eldar. I feared a last turn push from Eldar units hiding behind it for the whole game. That's what I wanted to do!

I put Kennell's Command section at the rear of the ruin along with Inquisitor Kurven and his retinue.

The rest of my Infantry went into the ring of buildings overlooking the objective. Lines of sight to my own units were non-existent, though, so there would be no split deployment for me yet again.

Gary set up his Guardians, Rangers and Dark Reapers overlooking the objective too, safely tucked away in 4+ cover. He hid his Storm Guardians and Dire Avengers behind buildings on my left flank, and his Farseer and squad on my right. There were a lot of buildings on either flank and they provided Gary with excellent lines of advance, well shielded from my firepower. I decided to use my reserves to deal with these threats. The rest of my army would dig in and try to take the objective.

The Game
The opening turns of the game saw the Dark Reapers and a Ranger squad vapourised under my heavy fire (I won 1st turn). My return casualties were very light. It was clear from the start that the battlefield would break down into three main areas.

The Right Flank
I had infiltrated my Assassin wide right to threaten a Ranger squad. I hoped Gary would divert his Farseer unit to kill him and therefore drag the expensive squad well away from my lines and away from the objective. Instead, Gary brought his Warp Spiders on from reserve and shot him to pieces.

Gary also dropped his Swooping Hawks onto this flank to hit the Mortar Squad. I was hard pushed to repel the Eldar. My Armoured Fists zoomed onto the table and vaped the Hawks, while I whittled the Spiders down to three models (the survivors broke and ran). Unfortunately for me, I couldn't stop the Farseer and Retinue from making combat and they munched through an Infantry Squad and a Stormtrooper Squad. That put them in a good position to threaten my centre and the objective near the end.

The Left Flank
Things didn't go much better on my left. I hosed the Avengers and Storm Guardians with fire on their way in (I brought the Basilisk and Leman Russ onto this flank), but the Avenger Exarch and two Guardians contacted my Platoon HQ. To my surprise they took down the two Guardians in the first combat phase but that Exarch did for my entire flank single-handedly. Over the course of the rest of the game I put about eight armour saves on him but he passed them all and took out my Platoon HQ, Lascannon Squad and a Stormtrooper Squad (17 models worth nearly 250 points).

The Centre
With my flanks folded I should still have won the game in the centre. I routed the Guardians off the table and blew up the Vyper but I just couldn't blow the damn Falcon out of the sky. It had the Holofield upgrade which meant I was rolling two dice on the damage table and picking the lowest. I shook and stunned it numerous times but I just couldn't kill the bastard. It ended up inches from the objective and giving Gary a ton of victory points.

Gary kept his Wraithlord back until the end of the game then marched it onto the objective, shooting at Kennell's squad as it went. On turn six I pushed Kennell and Kurven out into the open to get fully within the requisite 12". We diced for the end of the game and got an extra turn.

The Wraithlord advanced but I ignored it, putting most of my shots onto the Falcon or Farseer unit. I reduced the Eldar HQ below 50% but still couldn't destroy the skimmer. The Farseer assaulted Inquisitor Kurven while the Wraithlord killed off the rest of Kennell's unit with it's Starcannon. I desperately needed the game to end but we rolled another 4+ and had to play the full nine turns.

That let the Wraithlord charge Inquisitor Kurven's Squad and take it below 50%. The Eldar had convincingly contested the objective.

Result: Draw - Imperial Guard 957 victory points, Eldar 1039 victory points

Imperial Control: No change

Kennell's Commendation: The Anti-Tank Squad for helping to take down the Reapers then holding up the Avenger Exarch for several turns in combat.

Learning points

• This was the first game where I tried a victory points denial approach. Normally I would take a risk to get in a shot, but this time I put safety first. As a result all of my tanks survived a nine turn game and saved me 400 victory points. The only other expensive unit was Inquisitor Kurven's but I had to risk them for the objective
• I absolutely shattered the Eldar army (they only had seven models on the table by the end) but I still didn't win due to one or two models making combat and destroying a disproportionately large section of my army. I really need some counter chargers to finish off those last few models.
  

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Chaos Daemons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 5th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Pitched Battle
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1500
Location: 278.M41, Mandag, Hexen Sub, Skolarii sector
Background: The Daemonhunters take Mandag spaceport allowing Imperial troops to land unopposed. The Daemonhunters go on to secure the perimeter along with their Imperial Guard allies.

Daemonhunters with Imperial Guard allies

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, thunder hammer, bolt pistol, sacred incense, sanctuary, 3 combat servitors, 2 acolytes with power armour and bolt pistols, 2 familiars, 2 hierophants, 3 mystics
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, power armour
• Inquisitor Mabus, Incinerator
• Eversor assassin
• 6 Stormtroopers, 2 flamers, rhino
• 6 Stormtroopers, 2 melta guns, rhino
• 6 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• IG infantry platoon
• Command section, junior officer, missile launcher, 2 plasma guns
• Infantry squad, missile launcher, grenade launcher
• Infantry squad, missile launcher, grenade launcher
• Infantry squad, missile launcher, grenade launcher
• Armoured Fist squad, flamer, Chimera, multilaser, heavy bolter, heavy stubber
• Sentinel, multilaser
• Leman Russ, heavybolter
  

Chaos Daemons

• Bloodthirster
• Winged Slaaneshi Daemon Prince
• Daemon Prince
• 8 Bloodletters, Standard, Musician
• 8 Bloodletters
• 5 Bloodletters
• 7 Daemonettes
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 3 Flamers
• Herald of Tzeentch
• 5 Horrors, Changeling

Background
This was an interesting game because it highlighted a situation that has often cropped up when I play against regular opponents.

Gary had put together some more ruined buildings, as well as five horrors. I congratulated him on the terrain and we discussed how important it was to have a good mix of line of sight blocking terrain (most of Gary's buildings have solid ground floors with no windows), area terrain (like woods) and obstacles (like barricades - Gary had constructed one of these as well).

Terrain and deployment
Gary won the dice off and put me in to bat. I chose the edge with a three storey tower in the centre which gave better shooting opportunities. I started Severus in the middle to utilise the mystics with all the guard infantry nearby. The Leman Russ anchored the right while the Armoured Fist squad held the left. Everything else would come on from reserve.

My plan was to hit the Daemons with my shooting via the mystics and then counter charge with my reserves just as the Daemons hit my lines. If the Daemons held back I would advance across the whole line and use my mobility and long range shooting to hit one flank and then turn on the other next.

The game
The bloodthirster and a unit of flesh hounds entered play in and around the woods in the middle of the table. The daemon prince and eight bloodletters arrived hard on my right flank. The herald also tried to land here but scattered badly and I placed it in the far left corner of the battlefield. I think Gary was trying to take out the Russ but with the loss of the herald it survived.

My flamer stormtroopers led by Mabus zoomed in from reserve and fried all but two bloodletters in a below average round of shooting. The rest of my shooting wiped out the survivors, though, along with the daemon prince, although my Leman Russ missed its shot completely.

On my left I shocked Gary by targeting his flesh hounds behind the wood. They were on the fringe beyond the last tree so got no cover save. I killed five of them. I couldn't see the Bloodthirster because of the tall trees next to him.

This was the subject of our first big 'discussion' of the game, which was ironic considering our conversation about terrain before the game began.

The three survivors came forward, along with the Bloodthirster to attack Severus' squad. The hounds failed their difficult terrain test from the hierophant and were short but the 'thirster got in. The greater daemon whiffed loads of attacks, as did Severus, but the Bloodthirster was finally killed after three rounds of combat. The hounds had been shot to pieces by this stage.

Gary continued to put heavy pressure on my right flank and the daemonettes and another bloodletter squad warped in. The flamers and horrors also arrived. The horrors killed several stormtroopers in Mabus' unit and he fled off the battlefield, just as he did in our previous game. I think Severus will be keeping a beady eye on him in future battles!

I held the left flank throughout the game quite comfortably. The winged daemon prince landed here and was supported by the herald moving up the flank. I lost the Chimera and a handful of guardsmen but killed both units with the help of Kurven and the melta gun stormtroopers in their rhino.

I got the Sentinel from reserve and moved it on from the flank behind the flamers. I charged into combat and held the Daemons up for several turns but I couldn't kill them - they passed six consecutive invulnerable saves.


The Changeling had a massive impact on the battle. Looking at the rules as written we eventually concluded that the power could be used every time one of my units shot within 24" of the Changeling. I failed three out of four leadership tests and killed my own Eversor assassin and finished off the plasma gun stormtroopers. The Russ passed it's test but it's battlecannon missed the daemonettes.

Gary dropped his final bloodletter unit onto the right flank too. At this point we paused the game again to have a long debate about keeping to the focus of the mission.

My view was that Gary hadn't won his last two games because he ignored the objectives, although he had caused heavy casualties. I felt I had adapted my gameplay from 4th edition to 5th edition which meant I was doing far less damage but stealing wins and draws.

In annihilation games the Daemons had a massive advantage because my army would give away almost twice as many kill points as they would. Rather than simply trying to kill as many of my units as possible, regardless of the casualties, I felt the Daemons should concentrate on accumulating a lead in kill points while giving away as few as possible themselves.

Gary pulled his bloodletters back to deal with my Sentinel. They destroyed it and then hid behind a building. The second flesh hound unit warped in in the far left corner behind a building and hid too.


It was the wrong move, though, because it meant I could kill his relatively weak exposed units quickly garnering me easy kill points. The horrors, flamers, small bloodletter unit and daemonettes disappeared in short order for just the loss of two guard squads. The Daemons killed some models from Severus' squad but not enough to claim a kill point.

Result: Win, 10 kill points to 9

Learning points

• Will Gary's tactics change now that we've spoken about how to win in 5th edition? Watch this space.
• I didn't much enjoy this game for the reasons I talk about below and I'm seriously considering giving up the playing side of the hobby for a while. I could spend the extra time painting more models and doing more with my blog. If I do continue to play I need to find a way to get more out of my games, whether that means playing campaigns, tournaments or with a mix of opponents.
  

Rant
The forest LOS/cover save and Changeling issues were perfect examples of the problems I have playing games against my regular opponents.

I read the rulebooks when I buy them, read the army codex, read White Dwarf, print out the FAQ's, check out online forums and listen to podcasts. My opponents don't. That means I am usually well informed about potential rules issues before they come up while my opponents aren't.

Most of the time I shy away from contentious units when I'm building my armies, and/or discuss them with my opponents in advance. I also 'pull my shots' on the tabletop and usually take the weaker option when a possibly arguable rule presents itself. I usually let my opponents get away with minor rules infringements during the game rather than pull them up on every little thing. This means I often feel like I'm playing a kind of 'ghost' version of the game with one hand tied behind my back.

By the same token my opponents must get frustrated when they play against me because every now and then I'll reference a rule that they are completely unaware of. Then they will point out that several games ago we played differently. That's usually because I didn't think it was a game breaking moment at the time and therefore not worth pointing out, because a new FAQ has been released, a codex is reprinted or rules are 'clarified' in White Dwarf, or maybe just because I thought they understood the rule and it was tight but I couldn't be bothered to argue about it.

They're probably coming to the issue from the point of view of precedence; they play the game the way they played last time without any in between reading of the rules or seeking out of FAQs and such. If it was good in the last five games why should it suddenly change now? From my opponent's point of view these inconsistencies might seem like rules-lawyering or worse, outright cheating.

When I got back into Warhammer fantasy I tried a different tack by trying to get the rules perfect during every game. I thought if we could nail things early there would be no problem later but that doesn't work either. Our games slow down to a crawl and I still feel bad about winning a game because my opponent didn't fully understand the rules rather than through a clever strategy or tactic.

It's like we're playing the same game but at two different levels.

Here's the question: is that my problem or is it up to my opponent to learn the rules?

Maybe I should just be a bit tougher, press my knowledge advantage and take the wins? Then the ball is back in my opponent's court and it's up to them to either put the effort into learning the game or continually get beat.

Or maybe I should just loosen up and play rough and ready with the rules, turning a blind eye to rules infringements and taking the hits when they come. It is just a game after all, a way to wind down after a tough day at work. Why should I get so worked up about something so minor?

I really don't know.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

DAEMONHUNTERS versus Chaos Daemons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 5th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Annihilation
Deployment: Dawn of War
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1500
Location: 278.M41, Mandag, Hexen Sub, Skolarii sector
Background: The Blood Angels have held off the Chaos Daemons long enough for the Inquisition and their Imperial Guard allies to arrive on Mandag. Their first task is to secure the remains of Mandag's sole spaceport and thus allow further Imperial reinforcements onto the planet. Inquisitor Severus leads the attack.


Daemonhunters with Imperial Guard allies

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, thunder hammer, bolt pistol, sacred incense, sanctuary, 3 combat servitors, 2 acolytes with power armour and bolt pistols, 2 familiars, 2 hierophants, 3 mystics
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, power armour
• Inquisitor Mabus, Incinerator
• Eversor assassin
• 6 Stormtroopers, 2 flamers, rhino
• 6 Stormtroopers, 2 melta guns, rhino
• 6 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• IG infantry platoon
• Command section, junior officer, missile launcher, 2 plasma guns
• Infantry squad, missile launcher, grenade launcher
• Infantry squad, missile launcher, grenade launcher
• Infantry squad, missile launcher, grenade launcher
• Armoured Fist squad, flamer, Chimera, multilaser, heavy bolter, heavy stubber
• Sentinel, multilaser
• Leman Russ, heavybolter
  

Chaos Daemons

• Bloodthirster
• Winged Slaaneshi Daemon Prince
• Daemon Prince
• 10 Bloodletters, Standard, Musician
• 10 Bloodletters
• 5 Bloodletters
• 7 Daemonettes
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 3 Flamers
• Herald of Tzeentch

Terrain and deployment
Gary had painted up more ruined buildings and had put them together in a two foot square area in the middle of the board. This created quite a dilemma for me as it closed off my shooting lanes substantially and would give the Daemons places to hide before launching an assault.

Fortunately I won the choice of deployment zone and I went on to pick the side with the tall building. I put my command squad on the top floor, two infantry squads below and Inquisitor Severus amongst them. Another infantry squad stood to the right of the building while my plasma gun stormtroopers took the left side. Everything else I stuck in reserve.

My plan was to hold the building using the mystics to get free shots at the dropping Daemons then counter charge with my reserve units.

The game
For the second game running, Gary got his second choice starting Daemons. The daemonettes lost a model when they materialised in the temple and the winged daemon prince landed nearby but scattered backward. The other daemon prince also warped in here. Two bloodletter squads put pressure on my right flank.

My mystics performed terribly and failed to predict the arrival of any unit. Nevertheless, my shooting phase killed lots of bloodletters and daemonettes.

The flamers, Tzeentch herald and a flesh hound unit warped in on the left while the Bloodthirster came in right in on the front left of the ruin. The other Daemons began to tighten the noose. My stormtroopers were wiped out by the flamers, herald and daemon prince shooting. The last daemonette charged into the building but was killed by the guardsmen.

I got my Armoured Fist squad, Sentinel, Eversor and both rhino stormtrooper units which were each led by an Inquisitor. My number one priority was to take out the Bloodthirster so Mabus and his stormtroopers zoomed up to rapid fire the beast, taking off a wound. My command section also shot at the Bloodthirster but I rolled four ones for the plasma weapons and they killed their wielders. The missile launcher missed. Then my junior officer wounded it with his laspistol. Eh?

Inquisitor Severus decided it was time to strike and charged in with his unit. They dragged the Daemon down.

My other shooting took the flamers down to a single model and killed the herald. The Sentinel burst onto the right flank and shot up a bloodletter squad from behind. It initiated an assault and tied the Daemons up for a turn before it exploded.

Gary threw all his Daemons forward in a desperate attack. The bloodletters on my right contacted my exposed guard squad which had been shooting superbly in the game so far. The guardsmen died to a man. The winged daemon prince and some bloodletters charged into the guardsmen that had killed the daemonette and killed them all in a couple of turns.


The flesh hounds charged into Severus' retinue. They caused horrendous damage and my unit was reduced to just two models but I then revealed my secret weapon; sanctuary. Severus pushed all the Daemons out of combat and into the sights of my guns. Nice!

My Leman Russ came on on the right flank but it's battlecannon missed all the bloodletters for two turns running. That meant I was forced to charge the Eversor into the last bloodletters. The assassin took one squad down to a single model and then took out the last three from another squad when he blew up.

The second flesh hound unit warped in on the right and managed to slaughter Mabus' stormtroopers. Mabus fled the battle. That meant I could shoot them up and wipe them all out.


The winged daemon prince had worked his way up the right flank and destroyed the Leman Russ in combat.

The heavily wounded walking daemon prince stalked through the building, shrugging off shot after shot until finally Inquisitor Kurven took it out with his psycannon. It had passed at least eight saving throws while on it's last wound.

The last action of the battle was my units shooting the winged the daemon prince out of existence and thus wiping out the entire Daemon army.

Result: Win, enemy army wiped out

Learning points

• I only won the game because Gary didn't play to the mission. He would always be way ahead on kill points so he could, and should, have kept at least one model alive to win but he just threw his models into the meatgrinder. Going all seven turns helped me too.
• My shooting was average overall despite Gary's protestations. My heavy and special weapons such as the battle cannon, missile launchers and plasma guns all underperformed but my above average small arms fire made up for it. It's a funny thing when you play a shooting army - people always notice the lasgun that causes a wound but they always seem to miss the preceding three missile launcher shots which do nothing.
  

SPACE MARINES - BLOOD ANGELS versus Chaos Daemons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 5th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Capture and Control
Deployment: Dawn of War
1st turn: Blood Angels
Points: 1500
Location: 278.M41, Mandag, Hexen Sub, Skolarii sector
Background: The Chaos Daemons are drawn to the the Adeptus Astra Telepathica in Skardallen, sensing the flickering psychic beacons of two powerful psykers in the warp. The Blood Angels scramble to rescue Molossian and Epirote before their brains can be used as a bridge for more Daemons to manifest. Following a vicious but ultimately indecisive confrontation both armies refuse to back down and more reinforcements rush to the battlefield.

Blood Angels

• Chaplain, plasma pistol, jump pack
• 5 Death Company Marines with jump packs
  
• 10 Tactical Marines, flamer, Vet sergeant with Powerfist, missile launcher, Rhino
  
• 5 Tactical Marines, melta gun, Vet sergeant with Powerfist
  
• Furioso Dreadnought, Venerable, Death Company
  
• Predator Destructor with autocannon and heavy bolter sponsons
• Land Raider
• Land Speeder with multi-melta
• 10 Assault Marines, Vet Sergeant with Power Weapon, Two Plasma Pistols

Chaos Daemons

• Bloodthirster
• Winged Slaaneshi Daemon Prince
• Daemon Prince
• 10 Bloodletters, Standard, Musician
• 10 Bloodletters
• 5 Bloodletters
• 7 Daemonettes
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 3 Flamers
• Herald of Tzeentch

Terrain and deployment
The battlefield was scattered with two and three level ruins about 12" to 18" from each other. Gary had obviously learned from his last game and put his objective close to mine. I began with my entire army in reserve and with all the Daemons deep striking we had an empty table.

My plan was to go hell for leather to capture one objective and drip feed units into the other to contest it.

The game
Gary dropped everything in around my objective with all his units mutually supporting each other. There were twenty five Bloodletters, seven Daemonettes and a Bloodthirster all around the objective. Many of them were within assault range of my board edge and I hoped to get the units to be able to steam in.

I got the regular Dreadnought, Raider and Predator. Rats!

I brought the Raider, Predator and Dreadnought onto the left flank and shot everything at the Bloodthirster but failed to hurt it.

A Flesh hound unit and the winged Daemon Prince dropped in on the left to oppose my forces. The second Flesh hound unit landed in between both objectives. The regular Daemon Prince scattered onto his own models and I got to place him in the top right corner of the board so he played no part in the game.

I brought the Rhino and Tactical Marines onto the left too, hoping to stretch the Daemon army. I had also switched my focus from taking my own objective to just contesting it and taking the Daemon objective. With the help of the Predator I killed six Flesh hounds. I flew the Assault squad up nearby.

I zoomed the Speeder up the extreme right. My Chaplain and Death Company came on too and I took a risk by taking on the Bloodthirster. Again my Land Raider and Dreadnought shot at the Greater Daemon, as did the Speeder but it shrugged off all wounds. By this stage it had emerged unscathed from four lascannon shots, three multi-melta shots, three heavy bolter shots and four stormbolter shots.

The Chaplain led the Death Company into the assault and took a wound off the beast. My Dreadnought charged in at the same time but was destroyed immediately. The Bloodletters charged in en masse and my Chappie and DC were slaughtered.

The Daemonettes charged my static Predator thanks to a 6" Fleet roll and blew it up. I flew my Assault squad back to wipe the lithe Daemons out in return. The surviving hounds on my left charged my dismounted Tactical squad but were killed a turn later. The winged Daemon Prince moved cautiously up behind.

Gary dropped the Flamers into a very risky position but it paid off when they immobilised the advancing Land Raider. The Tactical squad inside leapt out and killed the Flamers. That meant the remaining unit of Flesh hounds could now charge in. The Marines fought ferociously and took the dogs down to just three models.

My Death Company Dreadnought eventually came on from reserve and it charged into a Bloodletter squad who were acting as a bodyguard to the Bloodthirster. I rolled terribly, though, and only killed two Bloodletters. The Bloodthirster counter charged and exploded it.

In the fifth turn I made my desperate moves; I flew the Speeder onto my objective amidst a sea of Daemons and I turbo boosted my Rhino full of Tactical Marines toward the Daemon objective. Typically I rolled a one and the vehicle was immobilised in some ruins.

My Raider Tactical squad could still have made it to the objective if they killed the hounds but the winged Daemon Prince flew in to tie them up leaving the objective unclaimed.

Now all the Daemons had to do was tear the Speeder out of the sky. Three squads of Bloodletters charged in but the couldn't bring it down.

The game ended there.

Result: Draw

Learning points

• In terms of victory points, loss of units and sheer carnage the Daemons kicked my ass but I kept to the mission and luckily pulled out a draw. If Gary had tried to control his own objective a little earlier he would have comfortably won the game.
• When will Gary ever roll less than a six on the vehicle damage chart? Statistically I'm due about three games where all of my vehicles survive until the end of the game. At least my Speeder hung in there.
• Conversely that Bloodthirster passed virtually every save it had to make. Outrageous!
  

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: ?
Mission: Cleanse
Level: Alpha
Location: Banda, Halasus Marches, Skolarii Sector
Background: The Cadian 271st are called to the Halasus Marches to combat a series of pirate raids disrupting shipping near the Pangari Nebula. Tracking a ship back to Banda, Captain Kennell is surprised to see a Space Marine Chapter consorting with renegade Exigator Marines. While the Exigators make their escape, the unidentified Marine Chapter stands its ground and makes battle.
1st turn: Imperial Guard
Points: 1500

Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 meltaguns
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons
• Commissar Ord Bulman, Power Sword, Bolt Pistol
• Inquisitor Lord Kurven, Psycannon, Sanctuary, 2 Acolytes with Bolt Pistols, 3 Mystics, 2 Hierophants, 2 Sages, 1 Gun-Servitor with Plasma Cannon, 2 Imperial Guard Veterans with plasma guns
• Eversor Assassin
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Dophan Junior Officer, Missile Launcher
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun
• Armoured Fist Squad 812, Flamer, Missile Launcher, Chimera with Multi-laser and Heavy Bolter, Smoke
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Plasma Guns
• 6 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers, 2 Melta Guns
• Sentinel, Multilaser, Searchlight
• Sentinel, Multilaser, Smoke Launcher
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Space Marines

• Chaplain in Terminator armour with Thunder Hammer
• Whirlwind
• Vindicator
• 8 Devastators with Tank hunter and missile launchers
• 5 Bikes with 2 Melta guns
• Land speeder with heavy bolter and assault cannon
• Annihilator Predator with heavy bolter sponsons
• 3x8 Marines with plasma cannon

Background
I built my 1500 point list with Daemonhunter allies to combat Gary's Chaos army, that had been kicking my butt in previous games. I stripped out all the soft, fluffy and experimental choices in favour of proven killing power against Marines and Daemons.

In the event Gary was late getting to the store and a noob was looking for a game. A staff member suggested I would be a good opponent, so we set up a game. As luck would have it my opponent also had exactly 1500 points using his friends Marines, so he fielded them.

I thought an Alpha Level Cleanse would be a straightforward mission for a new player.

Terrain and Deployment
The terrain was largely ruined buildings, fairly evenly spaced around 12" from each other. A smallish wood occupied the dead centre of the board. My opponent won the choice of deployment zone and chose the least amount of cover for himself. That meant I had the most cluttered quarter, with poor lines of sight between my units (no split deployment in this game).

I set up with most of my forces hard up against the outside of my table quarter. I planned to zoom the Armoured Fists, a Sentinel and the Eversor off to my left to capture that quarter. The other Sentinel, an Infantry squad and an Inquisitorial Stormtrooper squad would move to the right. The rest of my army would form a formidable firebase in the centre.

The Marines were bunched up in the back of his deployment zone behind a large ruin. He took a risk with one Tac squad, setting it up way out on my left, totally unsupported. It looked like he was going to try and outshoot me from long range(!).

The Game
I won first turn and most of my movement was out on the left. I zoomed the Chimera out 12" and disembarked the squad. They would scramble into a ruined building on turn 2, claiming that quarter and threaten the side armour of any Space Marine vehicles rolling forward. The Eversor moved up behind the Chimera, using it as mobile cover.

My remaining moves were in the centre, bringing a Sentinel, a Stormtrooper squad and the Russ up behind the wood. I was fairly certain the Leman Russ would tempt the melta gun toting bikers out, then I hoped to counter with the rest of my troops.

My shooting was fairly good - I wiped out half a dozen Tac Marines and took out the Vindicator with a direct hit from the Basilisk, and caused further casualties here and there.

I was right about the bikes; they boosted 24" up behind the central wood. Noob pushed his Predator out to target the Russ but failed to damage it. He swung his Land Speeder out on my right and immobilised my Sentinel. The only other damage of note was from his Devs who killed 5 Guardsmen in an Infantry squad.

Those woods and the damage I sustained in the last shooting phase prevented me from killing more than 1 biker (I forced numerous saves but he passed virtually all of them). I pulled the Russ back and pointed my front armour at the Bikes. This was risky as it opened up my side armour to the Pred. Fortunately my lascannons came to the rescue and destroyed the Annihilator.

The bikes rounded the wood but their melta shots bounced harmlessly from the Russ' hull. Noobs Tac squads were still standing around, hanging in the breeze. They were out of Bolter range and their Plasma Cannons were only causing a casualty or two per turn. His Devs were also badly positioned with poor lines of sight, so he tried to move them through the large ruined building. They were still trying to get out of it when the game ended.

In my next turn I threw everything I had at the bikes. Terrible to hit rolls and more good saves left two alive. They took out the Leman Russ, but were then vaped by my Inquisitor's Plasma guns. The Russ had taken out an entire Tac squad before it went, though, and my other ordnance, the Basilisk, was thinning out the other squads nicely.

The Whirlwind killed 2-3 Infantry models per turn to no real effect - he kept shooting at different targets. The Marines also managed to take out my second Sentinel on the left with a jammy Plasma Cannon shot. Otherwise the only other action was on the far left where my Eversor contacted the Tac squad in the building. They hung around just long enough for the Chaplain to join the party and kill the Assassin.

At the end of the game my opponent had that Chaplain, one Tac Marine and a stunned Whirlwind left.

Result: Win - Imperial Guard 3 Table Quarters, Space Marines 1

Imperial Control: +20%

Kennell's Commendation: The Armoured Fist squad for securing the left flank with few casualties.

Learning points

• I really expected to win this game against a new player and that's how it turned out. He had a fairly decent army I thought, and his more experienced mate was helping him, but his own lack of gameplay let him down in deployment and target selection. Ho hum, you live and learn.
• My enduring memory of this game was asking the army's owner 'What is the name of your chapter?' 'The Turd Marines,' he replies. I blink. 'Well, they are brown...'
  

IMPERIAL GUARD versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Seek and Destroy
Level: Omega
Location: Celebes
Background: With the fall of the outer defences, the Cadian 271st are hard pressed to hold the Chaos assault. Captain Kennell hatches a daring and audacious plan. He will use the labyrinthine Celebes sewer system to deep strike his army behind the Chaos army and destroy them piecemeal. Although heavy casualties are inflicted on the invaders they take the field and the Guardsmen are pushed back further into the Hive.
1st turn: Imperial Guard
Points: 1500

Imperial Guard

• Command Squad 77, Captain Kennell Junior officer, Standard, 3 meltaguns
• Commissar Ord Bulman, Power Sword, Bolt Pistol
• Anti-tank Squad, 3 lascannons, sharpshooters
• 10 Stormtroopers meltagun, plasma gun
• Infantry Platoon
• Command Section 36, Lieutenant Dophan Junior Officer with Plasma Pistol and Power Weapon, 4 plasma guns
• Infantry Squad 501, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, sharpshooters
• Infantry Squad 541, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, sharpshooters
• Infantry Squad 609, Missile Launcher, Grenade Launcher, sharpshooters
• Armoured Fist Squad 812, Flamer, sharpshooters, Chimera with Multi-laser and Heavy Bolter
• 20 Conscripts
• Sentinel Autocannon, Extra Armour
• Sentinel Multilaser, Searchlight
• Sentinel Multilaser, Smoke Launcher
• Basilisk, Indirect Fire
• Leman Russ, Heavy Bolter
  

Chaos Space Marines

• Lord with Berzerker Glaive
• 8 Bloodletters
• 8 Flesh Hounds
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 3 Obliterators
• Dreadnought with lascannon
• Defiler

Background
This was my first game after the Winter War league, so I wanted to try something different. A 1500 point game would allow me to use my Commissar and new platoon leader with a powerfist. I also shook my list up by deep striking most of my foot troops, using the drop troops doctrine. Obviously, the points limit also allowed Gary to play a larger army, and include his Daemon units.

As we had never played an Omega level mission yet, we decided not to roll randomly for the level. We were both curious to find out how escalation and the random game length would affect our armies.

Terrain and Deployment
Another game with very dense terrain. There were 4 large ruined buildings we classed as area 3 terrain and numerous small patches of jungle we called area 2 terrain. I won the dice off to choose table edge and Gary was surprised by my decision. I picked the most heavily terrained edge - leaving Gary with the one relatively open side (opposite my right flank).

What I'd spotted was a line of woods down the centre of the table, dividing the left and right flanks. My plan was to allow Gary to advance in the open into my guns and then deep strike in behind him, so he would have to run back through the open to get at my newly arrived Guardsmen. That line of trees was crucial as it would slow down any attempt from him to reinforce that right flank. I wanted to kill all of the icons on this side of the board so that the Daemons could only arrive on the left. They would then have to slog through the trees and out into the open, under heavy fire all the way, to get over to the right.

Due to escalation (and my drop troops) we started with limited units on the board. Gary had a Berzerker squad on each flank and one in the centre. His Lord was hugging the trees in the centre. I had my lascannons in a ruined building in the centre of my deployment zone.

The Game
I got off to a good start when a high night fight roll allowed my lascannons to kill two Berzerkers on my left. Gary got good rage tests though, and all 3 squads of Khorne Berzerkers and the Glaive Lord ran 11" toward my lines.

Now I dropped everyone of my available reserves on the right, in the area just deserted by two 'Zerker squads. My platoon HQ landed right next to a Berzerker squad and killed 5 models. The rest of my arrivals scattered into inconvenient locations and I only caused 1 further casualty (those small woods were a complete pain).

I was now relying on the Russ and Bassie which had rolled on from my table edge, again on the centre right, as they had a clear line of sight to the central Berzerker squad. They both scattered and I only killed 2 models. Rats!

Gary now deep struck his Obliterators in next to my Russ. This was a risky move as he was surrounded by my units and close to the board edge. He got a hit, and the Russ subsequently lost its battlecannon. The surviving Berzerkers assaulted my platoon HQ but fluffed their die rolls and only killed 3 plasma gunners. My junior Officer miraculously survived with his power glove, and he wiped out the Chaos filth. Nice!

I had gotten off relatively lightly as the Daemons hadn't arrived yet, either. For my plan to work I had to destroy the icon in the squad in the centre, and kill the Lord who could also summon.

Captain Kennell dropped in and vaped the Lord (3 meltagun hits - 3 failed invulnerable saves). My lascannons did for the Obliterators. The rest of my army went for the central Berzerker squad and their icon. Despite the Basilisk, Sentinels and Infantry Squads shots I couldn't finish off the last two members of the squad.

The icon bearer and Aspiring Champion then assaulted a Sentinel. I got a further reprieve when Gary failed both reserve rolls for the Daemons again. His Defiler did turn up, though, and it took the gun off my Bassie. He couldn't kill my Sentinel in close combat, which was a good result for him as it meant I couldn't shoot at his icon.

Instead I charged the remnants of my platoon HQ and an Infantry Squad into the 2 Marines. I didn't even force a save. My shooting tore the battle cannon off the Defiler. For the want of better targets I shot everything else at the last Berzerker squad who had advanced into a ruined building on my left. They passed a ridiculous amount of saves and all survived.

Although I hadn't killed that icon it still left Gary with a dilemma - if he summoned from it and the Daemons landed on target he would lose models due to the proximity of my Guardsmen, and if he scattered he could easily be destroyed by landing on my other nearby units. He took the risk and it paid off big time. Both Daemon units scattered out into the open but well within assault range of my units.

My whole right flank folded as a result. Despite staggering units into terrain and having Close Order Drill, the dice just weren't with me and in quick succession I lost my Stormtroopers, Kennell's command squad and two Sentinels.

To add insult to injury those two Berzerkers in combat killed the Infantry squad, platoon HQ and Sentinel for the loss of just one man.

On the left things were no better. I forced 20+ saves on the Berzerkers in cover and they only failed one save. In the following assault they wiped out my lascannons and were then counter-charged with my Armoured Fists. I took them down to a single model but couldn't finish them off.

Result: Loss - solid defeat

Victory Points: Guard 1250, Chaos 1748

Imperial Control: -25%

Kennell's Commendation: That Platoon HQ for taking out a Berzerker Squad single handed.

Learning points

• I should have won this game. Gary's deployment was poor again - he still continues to split all of his Marine squads out across the breadth of the table. If I could have killed that last icon on the right I would have gotten at least one turn of shooting on the Daemons as they broke cover. Alternatively, I could have drawn the game if I had finished off the last surviving Berzerkers from two squads (statistically, I should have done it easily). Add in Gary's jammy deep strikes and my poor scatters and it just wasn't my day.
• Drop troops could be effective if they are configured right. Even though my army isn't that competitive, I should still have won. Ho hum. I think I'll stick to regular deployments in future. At least if Gary knows I have the Drop Troops doctrine in the locker it might give him something to worry about.