Tuesday 17 January 2012

Underdog, Scalper, or Clubbed Seal?

So this weekend it's the Caledonian Uprising and the draw for the fist round was made a few weeks ago and I have been drawn against the UK Number 1 and England ETC Captain Josh Roberts.

Yeah....
hey you at the back there stop digging that shallow grave! I'm not dead yet!


So having had too long to think (yes I get that bored at work), listening to podcasts, and having a ponder at the mission pack here's my thoughts on what or what not to do but first what I can gather what josh's Grey Knights are packing:
 
 
Inquisitor Coteaz
 
10 Purifiers. 4 Psycannons, 3 Halberds, 2 Daemon Hammers, Knight of the Flame with Halberd
Razorback, Twin-linked Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammunition
10 Purifiers. 4 Psycannons, 3 Halberds, 2 Daemon Hammers, Knight of the Flame with Halberd
Razorback, Twin-linked Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammunition
Venerable Dreadnought, 2 Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition

Henchmen Warband: 5 Death Cult Assassins
Razorback, Twin-linked Heavy Bolters,  Psybolt Ammunition, Search Light.
Henchmen Warband: 5 Death Cult Assassins
Razorback, Twin-linked Heavy Bolters,  Psybolt Ammunition, Search Light.
Henchmen Warband: 3 Warrior Acolytes
Razorback, Twin-linked Heavy Bolters,  Psybolt Ammunition.
Henchmen Warband: 3 Warrior Acolytes
Inquisitorial Chimera, Multi-laser, Heavy Flamer, Search Light
Henchmen Warband: 3 Warrior Acolytes
Dreadnought, 2 Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought, 2 Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought, 2 Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition 
 
Give or take a few points or a slight change in transports.
 
 
Hell of a lot of dakka to take of care of a horde of foot slogging Guard but the mission is Dawn of War with a corner to corner line splitting the board, Primary mission is 5 objectives (8 points), Secondary Kill Points (4 points) and another 8 - 0 points based on the victory points diffrence.

But on the up side the recent batch of FaQ's for most of the 40k armies does mean that I can deploy 2 whole platoons in Dawn of War! But the big question is do I blob up or not as at first glance it seems like a 5 objectives and dawn of war mission but 14 of the 20 games points are to do with killing stuff so I could forget about the objectives and try just to blow stuff up.

If I blob up all it takes is just 1 unit of purifiers to make combat and I'm shafted due to cleansing flame, but I could try to match the MSU style by playing the platoons as normal, or have a couple of 20 man blobs with a few 10 man units as bubble wrap/chaff to get in the way.

If he wins the roll of to deploy and forces me to deploy first I will just shove 1 unit forwards to keep him back, but if I deploy second I can see where he goes before I deploy my full strength.

As for target priority it's Purifiers, Purifiers, Purifiers! And then the razorbacks, not fussed about the Dreadnoughts unless they try to make combat with me. I aim to use the Strom Troopers as disruption - hopefully they can bag a razorback and take out the acolytes inside if it goes boom. As for the assassins they charge a unit, kill it and then die to lasfire - happy days, but I think they will skulk around and mop up units or sit on objectives.
 
I reckon that the purifiers will combat squad and hijack other transports and try to rush me with 4 units in effect, most of the time purifiers will go into a shoot fight and mop up in assault but with so many bodies they cannot win a shooting fight so have to make combat IMO.

The problem (hopefully) for the GK will be that I can knock out razorbacks quickly and his work is left to the Purifiers who could be left isolated if I play for kills, but playing for kills is risky as the game points for the objectives is 8 for a win or 4 for a draw, but kill points is 4 or 2, and a variable scale on victory points so it's a hard choice to make because if I set up purely not to take objectives I could lose big as I'm set in one way but if I go for objectives I could be diluting my fire power.

I will have to wait and see how I feel is the best way to play it - plus this is only game 1 in a 6 game tournament so it's no good obsessing over this one too much. If I lose badly I should hopefully get a easy game in round 2.
 
Time will tell!
Oh and hi to Ben :p

1 comment:

  1. ouch, nasty matchup for anyone. i would really split up if i were you. blobbing will play to his strenghts and not enable you to hit multiple targets as effectively. just keep throwing stubborn or fearless units in the way, hit the transports as soon as possible, and you might just get a few points out of this one.

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