A Hero Falls: The Webway List VS Grey Knights

Well I have been rewarded this week with a great night of 40K with the gang at the FLGS. Most of the Dark Future Games crew was on hand, as well as GT from MI40K. After weeks of no 40K I finally got in a game. I broke out the Webway list once again to test the tweaks after my narrow loss to Old School Terminator in my last game. With a current record of 7 and 2 I was hoping to get a good test. I indeed found a decent test for the Webway list in the form of the Emperors finest. Grey Knights.

Tony, one of our resident Tau players, broke out his growing Grey Knights force. He has been testing his list and as he was the first person there that night I accepted his challenge. I streamlined the webway list down to 12 kill points. The left over points from the extra units were pumped into improving the wargear on my hekatrixes and haemonculi.

I was going up against a force made up mostly of purifiers lead by Castellion Crowe. They were supported by 2 Dread Knights, a venerable dreadnought and a Strike Squad. We rolled a capture and control mission with my favorite deployment type for the Dark Eldar. Dawn Of War.

I got first turn and I was able to deploy my Haemonculis with his Wrack body guard in their venom almost on top of the Grey Knights objective which was placed near the center of the table on a hill. A Razorback containing a squad of Purifiers set up behind a ruined building.

Turn 1

My venom on the board moved to the objective in the center while the second one moved on from the board edge towards my objective. The Razorwing fighter moved to the left side of the board to engage the loan Razorback on the table. Both Haemonculi and their Wrack body guards disembarked. I deployed the webway portals and took a couple of dark lance shots at the Razorback but despite being able to see could not hit.

The Grey knights moved on in force. A second Purifier squad moved to support the one that had set up on the table. Crowe moved onto the table flanked by two weapon laden Nemesis Dread Knights and the Venerable Dreadnought. The strike squad and the 10 man Purifier squad moved up on the right to engage my Haemonculis and his Wracks. I lost the lead Venom to Assault cannon fire, while most of the Wracks were mowed down by Heavy Psilencer and Psycannon fire.

Turn 2

With the webway portals deployed next to the objectives I rolled for reserves. The Beast Master Pack came howling with bestial fury from the lead portal sitting on the Grey Knight objective. The first Wych Squad sprinted out of the second portal moving towards the approaching Purifier squads moving up the left side of the board. The Razorwing managed to stun a Razorback while the Beast Master opened fire with their splinter pods and wounded the Dread Knight set up for close support. They then assaulted the Dread Knight and struck it down before it could even manage to swing its massive sword.

Crowe, Incensed seeing his brother marine struck down moved to engage the Beast Master pack. Assault cannon fire tore into the unit from the nearest Razorback as did the second Dread Knight. The Strike Squad had disembarked and added their storm bolters to the torrent of fire. The second Dread Knight and Crowe charged the Beast Masters and although a wound was dealt to both, the Pack was cut down.

Turn 3

The second Wych squad Emerged form the lead portal followed by the third. The last squad also contained the Mistress of the Cult Of Strife, finally deciding to grace the field with her presence. Lelith Hesperax strode onto the field like a hunting cat. She locked eyes with Crowe and bade him to wait his turn with a single raised finger and a malicious grin. The Haemonculus, now sans wrack body guard, joined the second Wych squad giving them 2 pain tokens in the process. Lelith and her squad moved towards the Strike squad and the remaining Dread Knight. The Second Wych squad moved to engage the Dreadnought. The first Wych squad made it to the Purifiers held up n their Razorbacks. The Razorwing managed to immobilize a Razorback while the remaining Venom manged to wound Crowe with a torrent of splinter cannon fire. Lelith hit the strike squad like a bullet while a majority of the rest of the squad engaged the Dread Knight. The second Wych squad charged the Venerable Dreadnought while the first squad charged the Razorbacks on the left flank. Lelith cut down the strike squad to a man and the last was cut down by the Wychs next to Lelith. The Dread Knight was wounded 3 times and manged to cut one Wych down. The combat lost the Dread Knight turned and although it could of stood strong, it was just to close to the board edge. The venerable Dreadnought fell to haywire grenades as did a Razorback.

The Grey Knights fought back with fury. Crowe moved to help the Purifier squad now liberated from their Razorback. The 10 man strong purifier squad closest to Lelith combat squaded and moved to engage the Wych squad the killed their venerable brother and that was now holding their objective. The Purifiers inflicted heavy casualties . The Squad forced from their transport moved and engaged the lone Venom immobilizing it and then destroying it with a Daemon hammer.

Turn 4

The Grey Knights were loosing ground fast. Lelith moved to engage the Purifiers on the objective. The Razor wing moved into optimal firing position on the Purifiers that had destroyed the Venom and unleashed its load of missiles. Crowe moved to engage Leliths squad while the remaining Razorback on the left flank tank shocked the wych unit that had destroyed its counterpart. They Wyches moved and were assaulted by the Purifiers left after the missiles barrage from the Razorwing. They were cut down and the Wyches surrounded the Razorback that had tried to run them down. Lelith killed the remaining Purifiers while the remainder of the Wych squad on the hill dispatched the rest of the squad that had assaulted them in the previous turn.

Turn 5

The remaining squad of Purifiers was unable to get out due to the wych squad surrounding their crippled Razorback. Crowe Stood alone on the field. The Wyches parted as their mistress strode forward with purpose and malice. She gestured to Crowe and charged. He struck with mercurial speed. Lelith parried and pirouetted like a deadly ballerina and separated Crowes head form his shoulders. The Razorback containing the last Purifier squad became their coffin as the wych squad, as one, primed their haywire grenades and slammed them onto the hull of the crippled vehicle. The Mon-keigh had been cleansed to the man. The humiliation Lelith had been dealt by The Master of the Deathwing had been re-payed by a fraction. The debt will only be satisfied with Belials head. Decorating her chambers.

So it ended with a near tabling. All that was left at the end of turn 5 was a razor back with no weapons and a gimped out rhino. We did not get a turn 6 so the game ended with me controlling both objectives. I have to say despite the purifiers striking at the same initiative with the wychs, thanks to force halberds, and hitting me every turn with purifying flame every turn it was not as bad as I thought it would be. The FAQ stated that it counted as a close combat attack so I get the 4+ save wyches get in close combat. This helped immensely and I am glad it was spelled out in the FAQ. After the game we went and broke down the action. Tony gained some very good insight and we discussed what to change in his list to make it more effective.

Well next time I will be discussing the new Meta that seems to be catching on again, at least at our FLGS. Foot Armies. Also I have acquired a bunch of orks from OST. The Thunder Porkas are making a comeback.

Until then.........

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls............. …....WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!

I Have Cast the Runes And I See Potential

I have been reading the runes so to speak lately. I think it has a lot to do with my break from the Dark Eldar and going back to my Craftworlders. I recently saw a play test codex leaked out into the blog sphere and forums. You would be correct in guessing its the impending Grey Knights codex which should theoretically be hitting stores in April and pre release copies are probably making their way to stores now in the infamous GW Black boxes.

I have seen this codex in its raw form. Having seen these things in the past, while working for GW, I can say that changes may be pretty minimal. I have seen some pretty nasty things in it as well. 2 wound Terminators with the potential to have FNP. A monstrous creature called a Dread Knight which is armed with force weapons. Everything in this codex, with a scant few exceptions is psychic. People are dousing their collective drawers, despite the high points costs on everything, because of how powerful the models are.

They are powerful. They are all psykers. Many Eldar players will cry foul when they read about the psychic capabilities of the army. This apparent strength of the army though is its main weakness when facing the forces of the Craftworlds. Even the Dark Kin have a big advantage. Worry not for the psychic superiority of the Eldar will stymy the Grey Knights more than any other force. Runes of Warding will be standard issue. They should be already, but some internet and tournament “experts” say you don't need them. I say any regular reader knows my stance on the subject.

The followers of the Ordo Malleus seemed convinced that this codex will be the end all beat all, the pinnacle of power armor perfection. In a way it is. I see it as hope though. Hope for the Eldar. I also see it as a terrible foreboding. A taste of evil is also it. I am sorry to disappoint if you think this was going to be a Grey Knight rant or preview I will leave that to Inquisitor Lord Vogrin over at DFG. This is more of what I see in the future for the Eldar and 2 of our mortal enemies. The Mon-keigh are a trifling compared to whats down the road. I speak of course about the Ygnir and The Primordial annihilator. Commonly known as the Necrons and Chaos.

Whether you believe in codex creep or not The Eldar and Chaos Marine Codex’s are going to be the last or next to last pair of codex’s. With the trends and rules we see in each consecutive codex we can see a picture emerge for our favorite codex. You have a two edged advantage thanks to this. Firstly you have rules that were developed, theoretically, with the codex’s behind it in mind. So you have some advantages in weapons and rules that work against the previous codex’s. You also have some refinements and nerfing though, which seems to be more prevalent in non imperial codex’s. You can argue the fact all you want, its still true. The second real advantage you have is that the system itself has aged to the point that you are comfortable with the rules and really only have to deal with semantics when the codex comes out and is then FAQed. The counter point to this is of course people are use to their codex's by this point and have a refined army list. That is usually not ready to deal with the new force so chalk up another advantage.

The point I am trying to make is that the Eldar Codex when it comes out will be nasty. More so I am worried about how nasty the Chaos Marines will get. That said I am also worried GW may nerf the hell out of both of them. I am leaning towards nastiness though. I also see people getting blind sided by the Necrons. I think one of the main disadvantages of the army are the “we'll be back” rules. People spent so much time and effort trying to understand those and doing them wrong, they paid very little attention to the unit rules and tactics involved. They also ignored adapting the tactics to 5^th edition. I honestly believe the impending Necron codex will be the gunman on the grassy knoll metaphorically speaking. It will be a total revamp like the Dark Eldar were. People will be caught off guard. I know I am stating the obvious to some, but I honestly think the Xenos releases from here on in are going to be nasty. There has been to much outcry for them not to be.

The Grey Knights do not worry me. They should not worry you either. So put them out of your mind. The forums and blogs will light up with clamor for the new power armored savages. They are a footnote. SO treat them as such. Lay waste to them.

As a side note I would like to applaud CSVinton of Dark Future Games. He recently rid himself of his Salamanders. I support you in your decision to rid yourself of power armor.

Next time I am going to discuss the second Mission in the “Test Of Khaine” tournament on March 19^th at Evolution Games in Lansing Michigan.

I also want to touch on the concept of the Footdar army. You can make them work very well. You just need a good plan and the right strategy.

Until then....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!