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Monday, November 4, 2024

Chaos Space Marines vs Astra Militarum, 29.10.2024

Disclaimer. This was the first time I was actually responsible of setting up the game and table for a 10th edition matched play game, and, uh, there were a few hiccups. I think my app was out-of-date and we actually played Leviathan missions; not that big of a deal, as we only played out round 3, due to the shop closing. I was also curious how we'd fare on a terrain setup that was one of the official layouts, so I just placed some ruins. We got Dawn of War deployment, and a lot of firing lanes. Let's say the Guard was at a slight advantage. At least I've learned a lot 😂😅



Battle round 1

The Guard went first, and the shooting was... let's say above average. I lost a Rhino and a couple of Legionaries; the Vindicator soon followed suit. I played my feel no pain stratagem on the Predator, but it still died as well.

With the guard taking all the center and me on the backfoot, I decided to move in aggressively. I knew my units would be slaughtered next turn, but I wanted to keep the tanks back.

Accursed Cultists bravely charging in to tie down the vehicles.

Legionaries and Raptors killed the center squad - 20 guardsmen, leaving only the Death Korps marshall. They also put a dent in Creed's Kasrkins.

Battle round 2

Scions deep strike in for Behind Enemy Lines.

My Cultists died and the Helbrute was injured, but the Rhino survived through a combination of smoke, feel no pain and atrocious rolling on the guard side. Where was that turn 1?

I moved everything out for a hail mary. If I did enough damage and tied enough stuff down, I could still bring it back.

Rhino vs Scions. I did a dark pact for shooting, for 3 MW to myself. Killed 1 scion. Great trade.

At least the Helbrute put a dent in the other scion squad. However, the Chosen failed their 7" charge with a reroll. At this point I just wanted to surrender.

The Obliterators did take a few wounds off the Rogal Dorn, and mowed down 15 guardsmen from the Lord Solar's backfield squad, but that amounted to nothing. No other 9" charges were made.

Battle round 3

We hurried up a bit to avoid the shop closing on us and decided to cut off at the end of the round. Guard shooting evened out, but I still lost models and they made big points on secondaries. I just rushed all objectives for end-of-game score. Made a big chunk of points and somehow won by 1 point thanks to being battle ready.

Conclusion

Guard tank shooting is brutal but that is why the terrain layouts are as they are. I won't make the set-up mistake again. 

Playing Leviathan missions felt - literally the same as Pariah Nexus. The latter one does balance out secondaries a bit, which turned on my lightbulb when I drew A tempting target.. And of course secret missions are more attainable than gambits, but we never got there.

In short: if you want to play a matched game, the latest terrain and mission combos are the best and most balanced. If the missions are just too samey after all this time... I do plan on some narrative games again, in the future.

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