Conclusion: Thursday Throw-Down 10/28/2010

Last night, Six-Deucer and I met up at Olympic Cards and Comics (OCC) for our usual 40K slug-fest that we have coined, "Thursday Throw-Down". This week was a little different; instead of Six and I facing off, Chappy and Joseph dropped in, and we were able to catch a game with each individual, respectively! I was a little late arriving at OCC, however, when I did show up I was greeted with a  nicely decorated table where all of the terrain was evenly placed. Six and I plan on participating in our first 40K tournament next month, which is a 2K teams' event.
Well, Chappy provided these two green players with a very sobering ass-whoopin' to demonstrate the types of tactics we will be facing...wow. It was A LOT of fun, and also a very informative play session. Last night I learned about troop composition, deployment strategy, target priority, the threat that infiltrators can pose, and that bug lists can be really unforgiving to psyker characters! Chappy pitted his 1K Tyranid list combined with a 1K vanilla Space Marines list against me and Six.

I played a 1,000 point Blood Angels MEQ list. However, my list could have been better optimized. For the sake of constructive criticism, I'll post that list:
HQ: Librarian (Libby) with Blood Lance, and Shield of Sanguinus
(2) 5-man Assault Squads in Razorback transports equipped with Twin-Linked Assault Cannons (TL-AssC). Each squad included a marine equipped with a melta gun. Each Sergeant was equipped with a hand flamer and power fist.
(3) Baal Predators with TL AssC.
(1) Vindicator Tank represented by a Rhino proxy.

A Baal Predator parks adjacent to the smoking wreckage of another Baal Predator as it prepares to square off against a Tyranid line.

After my conversation with Chappy (and watching his 1K vanilla marine force perform), I would be more inclined to trade both of my assault squads in exchange for two, ten man tactical (TAC) squads. It would force me to drop one of my Baal Predators' and replace my Razorbacks for Rhino transports, however, I could take a Las Cannon and a Melta Gun or Flamer and combat squad each unit (for a total of four scoring units). I did not better apply my assault squads to their full potential: One got rocked by infiltrating genestealers at the top of turn one due to choices I made in the deployment phase of the game; Chappy successfully deployed his genestealer, out of sight, which provided him enough distance to close with one of my two assault squads in his first assault phase.

Lets pretend that the blur effect is due to the high rate of speed that the Vendetta is traveling, rather than a sub-par Iphone camera!

There were quite a few high points for me during this first battle: Number one was losing this battle. Perhaps that sentence sounds absurd, however, the lessons that Chappy taught me as a result of this game were priceless. I got to see how units moved through cover and ruins as they closed for an assault; I got a demonstration how effective combat squads can be- and TAC squads. I was provided a live demonstration of units used as speed bumps, dangerous units (otherwise known as Death Stars), objective placement and defense, Tyranid effects on psykers', and later Chappy provided us with ideas and demonstrations how to counter his forces. After roughly four hours, we wrapped up our first game session- a loss for Six and I. One of the highlights of last night's throw-down was Chappy's meticulously painted Space Marines.

Chappy is an avid collector of obscure and vintage GW and Citadel figures...can you spot them?

My camera does not do them justice, however, I will share those pictures with you all the same. The clean lines, color choice, and detail work were awesome. Chappy had fluffy stories for primary characters found within that army which I really liked. Chappy's army looked awesome on the gaming table.

Overall, our first game was grueling, but very rewarding; thanks again Chappy!

Our second game pitted Six and I (using the same 1K list sported in our first game) stand against Jancoran and his 2K army of Tau. Six and I had a blast playing against Jancoran, who provided us with an almost limitless amount of patience as he helped us through rule confusion, mistakes, and the like. It was a kill-point mission (every destroyed unit would provide an opponent with at least one point) that we were unable to finish due to time constraints (new players are slow). I credit Jancoran for his patience and pleasant attitude; I had as much fun playing our second game as I did the first! Thanks Jancoran!

In conclusion, Six and I are a step closer to better understanding this game, and our relative forces we have chosen to play. I learned that specific dynamics in my 1K list don't compliment one another, and I'm going to make little changes to see if I can improve it to fit the way I want to play Blood Angels. Lastly, I learned that I really love get into close combat with my forces, rather than "plinking" from range.


Thanks again for the fun night, guys!