FrAG Summer League 2011: 1850 Update

Everyone for the league has submitted their 1850 point lists. I will go through them here and make some comments in Purple. Hopefully this will not hurt anyone's eyes.


First up is my 1850 list (I am still stuck playing Chaos Space Marines)

Chaos Lord w/Terminator Armor, Combi-Melta, Daemon Weapon
10 Chaos Space Marines w/2 Meltaguns
Rhino w/Pintle Combi-Bolter
10 Chaos Space Marines w/2 Plasma Guns
Rhino w/Pintle Combi-Bolter
10 Chaos Space Marines w/Flamer, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Powerfist
Rhino w/Pintle Combi-Bolter
10 Chaos Space Marines w/Flamer, Meltagun, Aspiring Champion, Powerfist
Rhino w/Pintle Combi-Bolter
10 Chaos Space Marines w/Plasma Gun, Autocannon, Aspiring Champion
5 Chaos Terminators w/2 Combi-Meltas, Twin Lightning Claws, Heavy Flamer, Powerfist, Chainfist
5 Chaos Terminators w/2 Combi-Meltas, Twin Lightning Claws, Heavy Flamer, Powerfist, Chainfist
5 Chaos Terminators w/2 Combi-Plasmas, 2 Combi-Flamers, Heavy Flamer, Chainfist

I kept with the terminator theme (I think Chaos Terminators are slightly under-rated).
I decided to include tons more Infantry to help with scoring missions and to provide my army with a bit more staying power by eliminating pricey one-hit targets.

Round 1: PJ Brady in a Seize Ground, Dawn of War
(Space Wolves)

Ragnar Blackmane

Grey Hunters (9)
Melta

Rhino

Grey Hunters (9)
Melta
Rhino

Grey Hunters (9)
Melta
Rhino

Grey Hunters (9)
Plasma
Rhino

Wolf Guard (5)
4 Power Fists, 3 Combi Melta
1 Combi Plasma

Wolf Guard (6)
2 Terminators w/ Wolf Claw and Storm Shield
1 Terminator w/ Thunder Hammer Storm shield
1 Terminator w/ Combi Melta, Melta Bombs and Wolf Claw
1 Wolf Guard w/ Combi Melta and Powerfist
1 Arjac Rockfist
Land Raider Redeemer
Multi-Melta, Extra Armor, Hunter Killer Missile, Storm Bolter

Looks kind of like a n00b-hammer list. The strange thing is that the Land Raider may cause me trouble. In reality, there are only 4 Rhinos and a Land Raider with expensive ass stuff inside. I do not really fear this, but 40 Grey Hunters can be a pain for Chaos to get rid of.

Round 2: Chris Sult in a Pitched Battle Annihilation
(Dark Angels)
Belial Master of the Deathwing w/TH&SS
Dreadnought w/Multi-Melta & DCW w/Heavy Flamer [Drop Pod]
Dreadnought w/Multi-Melta & DCW w/Heavy Flamer [Drop Pod]
Deathwing Squad (5) w/TH&SS, Cyclone Missile Launcher, Apothecary
Deathwing Squad (5) w/TH&SS, Cyclone Missile Launcher
Deathwing Squad (5) w/TH&SS, Cyclone Missile Launcher
Deathwing Squad (5) w/TH&SS, Cyclone Missile Launcher
Deathwing Squad (5) w/SB&PF, Cyclone Missile Launcher, Sgt w/Power Sword, 1w/Chain Fist
Ravenwing Support Squadron Land Speeder w/Multi-melta & Typhoon Missile Launcher
Ravenwing Support Squadron Land Speeder w/Multi-melta & Typhoon Missile Launcher

A pretty standard Deathwing list. With more CSM's in my list I think I will have an easier time, but my victory ultimately depends on Chris failing 2+/3++ saves. Looking at the other players lists, I still expect Chris to go 5-0 again.

Round 3: Pete Daze in a Pitched Battle Annihilation
(Imperial Guard)

Command Squad (135) 1 melta, 3 plasmas, Officer of the Fleet
[Chimera (55) Multi-Laser and Heavy Flamer]

Psyker Battle Squad (100) 4 additional psykers
[Chimera (55) Multi-Laser and Heavy Flamer]

Psyker Battle Squad (100) 4 additional psykers
[Chimera (55) Multi-Laser and Heavy Flamer]

Guardsman Marbo (65)

Veterans (100) 3 meltas
[Chimera (55) Multi-Laser and Heavy Flamer]

Veterans (100) 3 meltas
[Chimera (55) Multi-Laser and Heavy Flamer]

Veterans (100) 3 meltas
[Chimera (55) Multi-Laser and Heavy Flamer]

Veterans (100) 3 meltas

Vendetta (130)

Vendetta (130)

Leman Russ Battle Tank (150)

Leman Russ Battle Tank (150)

Manticore (160)

Pretty standard Guard list. Pete added the psyker battle squads and Marbo to his previous list. The Psyker Battle Squads are awesome against Chaos because we have no Psychic Defense and we do not have ATSKNF (And they shall know no fear). Unless I can kill them quickly, I will have any units fleeing the table...

Round 4: v Leigh Brady in a Spearhead Cleanse (The old 3rd edition mission)
(Space Wolves)

Wolf Lord – 210
Thunder-wolf Mount, Wolf Claw, Runic Armor, Stormshield

Thunder-wolf Cavalry - 265
1 w/ wolf claw, stormshield
1 w/ close combat weapon, stormshield
1 w/ meltabombs, close combat weapon, stormshield
Thunder-wolf Cavalry – 185
1 w/ wolf claw, stormshield
1 w/ meltabombs, close combat weapon, stormshield

Grey Hunters – 155 (10)
2 melta guns
Rhino - 35
Grey Hunters – 155 (10)
2 melta guns
Rhino – 35
Grey Hunters – 155 (10)
2 melta guns
Rhino – 35
Grey Hunters – 155 (10)
2 melta guns
Rhino – 35

Long Fangs – 140 (6)
5 missile launchers, pack leader
Razorback – 75
Twin-linked lascannon
Long Fangs – 140 (6)
5 missile launchers, pack leader
Razorback – 75
Twin-linked lascannon

I would consider this list sub-par. There are a few minor things that are not great in my opinion. The Thunderwolf Cavalry have too many Stormshields and ZERO Powerfists/Thunderhammers. They will get spanked by dreadnoughts. The Wolf Lord should really have Saga of the Bear to prevent Instant Death. The Razorbacks seem a little out of place without scoring units inside of them. This list will likely still crush me though. I cannot deal with the Thunderwolf Cavalry.

Round 5: v Aaron Blough in a Capture and Control Spearhead.
(Blood Angels)

Librarian-100
Shield of Sanguinius, Fear of the Darkness

Brother Corbulo-105
2 Sanguinary Priests-150
Lightning Claws, Combi-Meltas

10 Tactical Marines-210
Lascannon, Meltagun
Sergeant- Combi-Melta, Power Weapon, Meltabombs

10 Tactical Marines-210
Lascannon, Meltagun
Sergeant- Combi-Melta, Power Weapon, Meltabombs

10 Tactical Marines-210
Plasma Gun, Plasma Cannon
Sergeant- Combi-Plasma, Power Weapon, Meltabombs

10 Tactical Marines-210
Plasma Gun, Plasma Cannon
Sergeant- Combi-Plasma, Power Weapon, Meltabombs

10 Devastators-210
4 Missile Launchers

10 Devastators-210
4 Missile Launchers

10 Devastators-210
4 Missile Launchers

This looks like a poor copy of the list that I took to the NOVA open in 2010. It has since become kind of popular in our group. This list...is not good. It looks great and semi-invincible on paper, but the reality is it will fold to a dedicated assault. For example, the Land Raider Wolf list above with Ragnar is going to eat this alive. I will likely struggle until my terminators arrive to take fire. It will all come down to positioning of units in this game.

So these are the next 5 games that I will be playing, I will post updates as they come. (and perhaps battle reports)

-Mike

FrAG Summer League 2011: Update 7/19/11

I finished the first round of our 3 round summer league.

I played next against Leigh's Drop Pod Space Wolves.
Leigh, in an epic feat of poor rolling, dropped everything down and was able to kill about 3 Chaos Space Marines. (including firing 5 multi-meltas, hitting twice, wounding once, but I 5+ saved) He conceded after the counter-attack.

I then faced the BA list played by Aaron. Due to some odd deep strikes, I was unable to kill Mephiston early with plasma guns. He did die, but not before taking out a Chaos Space Marine squad. The game ended on Turn 5 by a score of 5-6 I think. It was sad because I had terminators in combat with non-power weapon units...

I then finally played against Pete and his Imperial Guard. I deployed first to spread out, Pete did an almost-refused-flank. I deep struck the termies in and went to work on hitting the Chimeras to get easy(er) kill points. I was able to get up in KP's and hide with the majority of my Infantry.

At the end of the first season I end up 3-2-0 but with the most Victory Points Achieved!

Stay tuned for an update of the 1850 round.

-Mike

Throne of Skulls Recap: Part 4

The Good, the Bad, and the Drunk.

Okay, so there is a small amount of hoopla around Throne of Skulls. Most of this deals with lack of prize support (The army winners received a framed paper and an invite back to next year, overall winners got trophies)

The Good: The place was awesome. They reserved a huge ballroom inside of the recently renovated Tropicana resort on the Las Vegas strip (That likely was NOT cheap).
There was catered food on the two tournament days, which was EXCELLENT. This was great because food in Vegas is by no means cheap.
The atmosphere was incredible. I was lucky enough to have ~8 friends also going to ToS. That coupled with the laid back resort nature of the place made for an excellent time. I can't really describe it effectively to someone who was not there. It was an awesome time.

The Bad: Pairings and scoring. On the first day, it was possible to get paired against someone you already played. This was corrected on the second day, but in reality it should never have happened. The sportsmanship scoring was kind of bullshit. You could get up to 5 points off of sportsmanship. This could effectively net you an extra win and two draws worth of points. This is how some people won their army despite having a worse record than their peers. The lack of prize support has been spoken about to death so I will not cover it here. I will add that GW put in some serious cash to even get that place.

Terrain: A bastion and two ruins on a Realm of Battle Table? You need more fucking terrain. Why do you think I had a field day with guard? Making hills 6+ area doesn't count.

The Drunk: Having a bar with 2 for 1 cocktails (cheap ones too) was an excellent way to bond and energize the gaming floor. There were no disruptions or anything of that kind during the tournament. I thought this was an excellent addition to an already fun tournament.

-Mike

Kill Team

So, I downloaded this over xbox live (AFAIK the only media where it is available) and was surprised by how low the cost was (only around $10) and how much fun the game is.
I like how you have your choice of marine types, weapon and perk options, and the different chapters that you can choose from.

The game itself is pretty fun, it is a generic scrolling button masher kind of game. The only downside is that there is no option for co-op play over xbox live. (co-op can still be done on a local machine)

I only finished the first level, but all in all, for $10 I feel like I got a great value. I recommend this game

-Mike