I will start the series by going through my list...here we go!
NOVAcrons
HQ
*Stormlord- 225pts
*Overlord + Barge- 240
*Royal Court#1-(145 total of three)
Harbinger of Despair(veil and shroud)-70
Harbinger of Eternity(cronometron)-40
Harbinger of Storm(staff of lightning)-35
* Royal Court#2-(185 total of three)
Harbinger of Storm(staff of lightning)-35
Lord (mss, res orb, warscythe)-90
Lord (mss, warscythe)-60
Troops
*9x Immortals w/ Gauss=153
*8x Immortals w/ Tesla=136
*6x Warriors w/ Ghost Ark=193
Fast Attack
*5x Scarabs
*4x Scarabs
*6x Wraiths(3 coils)
Heavy Support
*Annihilation Barge(Telsa Cannon)
*Annihilation Barge(Tesla Cannon)
*3x Spyders(1 Gloom)
Total=1997
So the basic-super simple breakdown of my strategy was to provide a rush/diversion w/ wraiths leaving me turn 1 & 2 to position the rest of my army to unload 24inch range hell.
The Telsa immortals were my bait and hook unit...using them to bring units out of the game and then veil away to claim objectives.
One of my initial concerns with the list was flyers but I quickly learned that if they don't kill all my vehicles(tough to do with av13 to start) when they come on and they stay within 24 inches(36 for barges)...they die. Because I need snap fire to hit anyways it gives my ark the freedom of moving 12inches and rapid firing 8 haywire shots and 22 regular gauss shots.
Spyders are in the list to provide assault support for the Guass immortals + pump out sacarabs for at least 3or 4 turns normally.
The HQ slot is pretty straight forward...Stormlord provides great anti-armor and helps keep my army alive for 1-2 turns. I say this because as you will see I was often afforded 2+ cover saves on vehicles turn 1 and 2 or 3+ saves on scarabs and immortals.
The Overlord is used to push forward, opposite wraiths generally, pushing the opposing army together...I was not all that impressed by the overlord but he is needed for contesting quarters and quick help situations...and a close combat monster in challenges.
Bat Rep #1 (Game 3 Nova GT)
This game was against a GK/IG allied force. Here is the list...
HQ
*Coteaz- 100
*Ordo Xenos Inquisitor(Psyker- Hammerhand)-85
*Primaris Psyker (had puppet master and the one that lets you move around after deployment)-70
TROOP
*GK Strike Squad x10 (Justicar w/ Daemonhammer, 1 Force Sword, 6 Halberds, 2 Psycannons, -Warp Quake & Hammerhand)- 260
*GK Strike Squad x10 (Justicar w/ Halberd, 1 Daemonhammer, 6 Force Sword, 2 Psycannons, -Warp Quake & Hammerhand)-255
*Henchmen(3x Acolyte w/ Razordback w/ psy ammo)=63
*Henchmen( 7xPysker w/ Barrage, 3x Acolyte w/ Chimera(bolter and multi-laser))- 173
*Veteran Squadx10(3xplasma guns)=125
*Veteran Squadx10(1x plasma pistol,3xmelta, demolitions, meltabombs, Chimera-bolter and mulitlaser)- 202
Elite
*Marbo-65
Fast Attack
Vandetta w/ twin linked las x3-130
Heavy Support
*Dreadnought w/ twin linked autocannons w/ psy ammo-136
*Dreadnought w/ twin linked autocannons w/ psy ammo-136
*Dreadnought w/ single twin linked cannon + psyfist- 131
*Griffon-75
Objective Priorities:
Primary--Objectives (objectives outside deployment count as targeting relays)
Secondary-- Mod. KP
Tertiary-- Quarters
TieBreak- VP
Deployment- Vanguard
So the game started with me winning the roll off and deciding to go second...unknowingly we rolled first for the side and then AGAIN for who goes first...so I ended up giving my opponent the choice of side assuming I had to do so in order to go 2nd...when I found I asked if I could actually pick side as we had not rolled for the first turn yet and my opponent said "no"...I guess it is one of the largest GT's in the country but after that I was expecting a rough/long game...in the end I won the roll off for turn and got to go 2nd anyway but he wisely blocked me from having a ruin to deploy in.
As you can see in the picture he deployed his forces in a straight line. The IG and 2 dreads going towards my far left side while his GK Strike Squads formed a line awaiting my forces and giving cover to his solo dreadnought in the middle. He tucked his Griffon away out of sight behind the ruins.
I pretty much turtled in the corner, placing my wraiths in front as always and the immortals further away to bait the GK Strike squads. I placed my Scarabs and Spider squads out of range of his griffon and chimeras/dreads so he wouldn't be able to spotlight them.
Turn 1 he pushed fwd with his Pykers and melta guard. He threw his two dreads behind each chimera and moved his griffon a bit forward. The GK took the bait and pushed towards the wraiths and Tesla immortals.
In shooting he spotlighted my 2 barges and ark with his chimeras and a single dread and then shot dreads at all three doing nothing. He then passed his test for Barrage and put down a St10 blast on my ark, annihilation barge, and chariot. This slowed the game as he was attempting to place the template on a single metal numb on the ark(clearly decorative) which allowed him to hit all three. In the end we called a judge and they ruled with him (a bit silly) but karma came back and he rolled a 1,2, and got one pen...which I saved using my cover from the ruins). All the GK strikes, one dread, and the griffon shot at the wraiths and even with him have prescience up he only killed two.
On my turn 1 I managed to hit his griffon after using my crono reroll...expecting to kill the thing I roll my d6 st 8 hits and get a 1...ok well at least I can knock the gun off on a 4 right? I rolled a 5 and he was stuck. Oh well. In my movement I moved the wraiths towards his chimeras and guard but out of sight from his GK(behind the center ruins). I spawned 3 scarabs taking a wound on a non-gloom prism spider. I decided to push this squad of 8 to my middle area terrain...making sure to keep them 36 inches away from the griffon. If he wanted to waste a spotlight on the scarabs at this point i was ok with that as he would be hitting at most 3 bases with a direct hit. After nearly losing 3 vehicles with one shot I knew I needed to be smarter and spread those bad boys out. I pushed the ark forward, moved the chariot with the wraiths, and spread the barges just enough to make a double hit pretty hard. My tesla Immortals pushed fwd getting 4 guys in range.
In shooting I shot 4 immortals into the closest GK strike squad getting three 6's I ended up kill three models (1 psycannon). The ark and 1 barge shot onto his psyker chimera only causing 2 glances(rolling 7 hits with a st 7 only getting 1 glance). The other barge turbo boosts to get a 4+ save.
Turn 2- His Vandetta comes in and nothing else(has harbo and acolytes). At this point the game is going really slow and we only have like an hour left. He pretty much backs up what he can and moves the GK strikes towards immotek. The valk flies right next to spyders getting ready to blow a barge down.
In shooting he casts puppet master on my boosted barge and gets it off- taking 6 shots on by chariots rear armor. Luckily I save everything minus a glance. He then barrages me again with his psykers but this time misses. His dreads and everything else that can, shoots at the wraiths killing 2 more. His vandetta shoots all three lascannons and only gets 1 pen through but rolls a 1. His GK shoot the Guass immortals killing 4 and wounding immotek (prescience and me rerolling passed saves is rough). I ended up saving 9 wounds on immotek in the game so his 2+ was awesome. At the end of the phase I rolled for my immortals and 3 came back.
In my turn 2 lighting only hits the unwounded chimera taking 1 hullpoint (lighting you suck).
I attempted to back up my guass immortals behind the hill but rolled a 2...ohwell. I jump my tesla immortals behind his far right object with his vets and i roll an 11 inch scatter which puts me at the edge of the table...giving me a nice rear armor shot on his griffon. I moved my barges 12 inches and my ark split to be 24inches from the vandetta and still only a roll away from the left objective. My chariot flew over his 2hp(remaining) chimera and only hit and glanced on 1...so now both chimeras are down to 1hp my scarabs, which pooped out another 3 bases have pushed fwd and are ready to assault. My wraiths I moved into position to kill anything that falls out of the vehicle, and both barges are in the middle ready to shoot the flyers or vandetta. I figured with 3 HP and only a 5+ jink if he chooses the immortals and 1 barge or ark should do the trick. I shoot the immortals first as they have no other targets. They only get 1 hp off. I then shoot my closest barge and he doesn't do anything on 5 hits WTF!!! I am now forced to shoot my 2nd barge which i really needed to kill the 2nd chimera as the ark will wreck the psyker one for sure. The 2nd barge manages to knock out the vandetta and the psyker chimera is wrecked. He fails his pinning check on the psykers...WOOT! My tesla immortals shoot his griffon up the but and make quick work of his remaining Hullpoints.
In assault he has backed the psykers out of the range of my wraiths so I decide to charge his chimera while assaulting the fistdread next to it with the scarabs. He ends up doing a wound to a wraith during overwatch but I make the charge and wreck the chimera and he gets out 3 inches behind the vehicle. My scarabs only lose a single base and as expected show the dread who is boss. After the combat he is clearly shocked and we laugh at how amazing scarabs are vs. armor.
We have 40 minutes left in the game at this point and we both realize we need to pick up the game speed. His acolytes in the razorback come in and he moves them near the objective. Harbo stays in reserve. He moves everything in my left corner back towards his objective, and he pushes his vets on the hill fwd to kill my wraiths with plasma and volume of fire. He moves the middle GK to the middle area terrain on his side of the board and the other squad to the far right objectives next to the acolytes.
In shooting I dont need to worry about his barrage st10 blast because they are pinned but he makes up for it with some amazing dreadnought shooting. He blows up the pen'd barge with the far dreadnought (not that unlikely but I fail two 4's and his hit was rending so thats the end for that barge) His dread which is now towards my side of the board takes its 4 shots on my ark and hits all 4 and pens 1 with a non rending shot and then rolls a 5 and I go BOOM! I lose 2 warriors in the explosion.
His melta vets take 3 meltas into the barge and take it down. Everything else on my left side shoots at the wraiths killing them with ease. His GK continue to try and kill the immortals and the stormlord keeps taking wounds like the boss that he is and in the end I lose 4 more immortals but once again 3 decide to come back (squad down to 7 immortals).
As my turn 3 starts I get through about 10 minutes of movement and they make the call for last round turn....my opponent throws his hands up and goes to look for a judge. I have no desire to end a game only playing 3 turns(even though it means a clear and easy victory for me) so when they come back I tell the judge I am fine with playing a 4th round and agree that I will fast play through my turns.
My lightning is still on but I forget to use it because of the round drama. I move my warriors into the objective on my left. I push my spiders to the middle of the board with the 2nd scarab squad on their left towards the ruin. I pump 3 bases into the 2nd squad making it 7 strong. I move the overlord towards the far objective and because my immortals are so far out in the back left corner I decide to jump them safely towards his vets to shoot some down and be ready to contest or take the objective. I place them 10 inches from the table edge and 10 inches from his troops and roll my scatter with confidence...and I get an 11 inch roll towards the table edge and mishap. I roll and he gets to place my models. He makes a mistake and places them in my back far right corner...this means they will be able to make last ditch effort and veil towards the middle objective as he cant cover the full range with his Warp Quake.
I move the remaining barge to take shots at his dread close to my far left objective.
In shooting I manage to do 1 HP to his dread and kill a few melta vets.
In assault I push my scarabs and overlord into all three of his squads. He rolls above average and kills a few bases and I roll well enough to dwindle down his psykers and kill his melta vets. His back vet squad remains untouched and while in a challenge coteaz passes his mss and I miss ALL THREE ATTACKS!! and he turns around and force wpns me to death after I fail a hammer hit to the face ...ugh.
Turn 4
Harbo comes in on my back left objective. He gets his acolytes out of the razorback and moves the GK squad over as well...smart move considering 3 acolytes wont hold up to a barge shooting them but a strike squad easily will. His middle GK squad pushes to the middle objective and both squads cast quake...leaving me about 5-6 inches of play to land w/ 5 inches of the objective on either side and run fwd to take it with the despairtek and immortals. His dread moves into the objective on my back left but leaves room for my warriors to take shots at it next turn(he wants to kill my untouched barge). In assault he kills all my remaining scarab bases now that he has a hammer free to attack me+ force wpns. He consolidates away towards his objective. At this point he has 2 objectives to my one. To win the game I need to kill harbo and his dread on my objective + veil onto the middle objective and if I can reach both squads with my spyders contest his back left.
My gauss immortals push fwd to attempt to take his strike squads under 50% but still hold the back left. The barge moves over to leave its options open. I can either shoot the dread, harbo, or his units on his back objective. My scarabs are out of position so they just move out of the way so I have more room to veil onto the center. My spyders roll their 3d6 to get through the terrain and roll two 3's and a two. I will still be in charge range of the remaining vet squad but his psycher and 3 acolytes are going to be free unless I win the assault and bounce through...which should happen with my spyders. It is now the moment of truth...veiling onto the center objective! I place my despairtek exactly the 5 inches away from the marker and about 8 inches from his 12inch mishap range from quake. I roll the scatter and get 8 inches...towards the grey knights. I roll and he places me back in my favorite corner of shame :-)
I go ahead and start to shoot. I now know I have to kill both harbo and the dread to save the W, assuming my spyders can win the easy assault. I go into the dread first with my warriors and blow him to bits with my haywire shots. I am now forced to shoot harbo with the barge and he takes a 7 st7 hits to the face and says goodbye...I ark to my warriors but only kill 1 which comes back.
Now for the game...I roll my assault and make the charge. I roll my impact hits(only 2 that were in base to base) and miss one and he saves the other....oh nooo the dice gods have officially turned against me!!! In assault he swings first causing 4 wounds with krak grenades...I make all my 3+ saves (thank god). I turn around and do 9 attacks to him, missing on 5 and killing 3. I win by 3 forcing him to take a leadership on 5. I am feeling like I have this in the bag...if he fails I can consolidate to the objective on a 3 or more. He rolls and gets a 4 and...................1. He sticks around to fight my monsters and saves the game.
The game ends on turn 4. We each have 2 objectives, I am ahead by 2 VP(needing one more to win), and we tie on quarters. It goes to VP and in the end I lose out by 24 or 26 total points. WOW...now thats what I call close.
All in all the game was a great game but I would have enjoyed at least one more turn as I had control of the game at the end of turn 4 with almost all his army tucked back in the far objective. He would have died to spiders in his turn leaving me room to contest the far left objective and bounce my tesla immortals to contest the middle or back objectives. The game was greatly slowed by a ton of stingy play which was frustrating but I understood the situation of the tournament.
I was upset about the loss but I was ok with it. I could have taken the free win with only three turns but I wanted to test myself.
