Random Team Tournament - Round 1 - 1000 Points

This weekend (May 12) I had the chance to go to Millenium games for a random team tournament. This was a format I had not played before and had some strict composition rules. Before I too much criticisms hits my, and my opponent's, lists here they are:




Army Composition:
1000 Points consisting of :::: 1 HQ, 0-2 Elites, 1-3 troops, 0-2 Fast, 0-2 Heavy.
No Special character/Named Sergeants upgrades
Choices for Elites, Fast, and Heavies are 0-1 I.e. No two long fangs.
Choices that modify army selection are allowed. I.e. Master of the Forge. Sagas
You must also have at least 4 of the 5 force org slot


With a unique opportunity to completely screw over my ally, I decided to take my Chaos Daemons with the following list:

HQ
Keeper of Secrets


Elite
6 Fiends
4x Bloodcrushers w/ Icon, Instrument, Fury


Troops
12 Daemonettes
5x Horrors w/ Bolt


Fast Attack
-None-


Heavy Support
Daemon Princess w/ Mark of Slaanesh, Iron Hide, Pavane, Aura of Acquisence






The scheme used to score the tournament was:


Scoring: Winning the mission’s is going to award 12 battle points for both winning players, 6 for a draw and 3 for a lost


Diversity of Destruction In addition to points for a Win/Loss/Draw, bonus points are awarded for eliminating enemy units (one from each opponent) from a single force organization type.


At the end of the game, starting with HQ's, determine if an HQ belonging to each opponent has been removed as a casualty. If so, award a bonus point. Repeat this process for Elite/Troops/Fast Attack/Heavy Support slots.


Dedicated transports count towards this bonus and are tallied with the same Force Organization type as the unit with which they are selected.


If an opponent has no units for a given type, count it as if a unit was removed as a casualty for that type.




Painting: Score is based out of 12 judged by the judge.


I make the rounds ahead of the tournament and we have only had 10 players show this week for the event (the Lilac Festival, end of semester and the fact it was 75 degrees and sunny in upstate NY may have had some thing to do with this). The overall field was composed of:


1x Chaos Daemons (That's Me!)
1x Chaos Space Marines
2x Necrons
2x Imperial Guard
1x Grey Knights
1x Dark Eldar
1x Orks
1x Tyranids (Sorry Aaron, his Blog is here)


Amazingly short on power armour!


Round 1:
Mission - Kill Points
Deployment - Apocalypse style triangle halves
Allied Army - Necrons


HQ
Necron Lord w/ Mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe
Command Barge


Elite
C'Tan w/ Writhing Worldscape, Lord of Fire


Troops
5x Gauss Immortals
5x Tesla Immortals


Fast Attack
5x Triarch Praetorians (yep that is right!)
7x Canoptek Scarabs


Heavy Support
-


Opposing Coalition - Necrons/CSM


HQ
Chaos Lord w/ Terminator Armor
Necron Lord w/ mindshackle Scarabs, Warscythe
Command Barge
2x Crypteks w/ Tremorstaves


Elite
6x CSM Terminators w/ 2x Combi-Melta, Heavy Flamer
C'Tan w/ Writhing Worldscape, Pyreshards


Troops
6x Chaos Space Marines w/ Plasma Gun in Rhino
6x Chaos Space Marines w/ Plasma Gun in Rhino
5x Necron Warriors
5x Necron Warriors


Fast Attack
6x Canoptek Wraiths w/ 2x Whip Coils


Heavy Support
5x Havoks w/ 3x Autocannons
3x Obliterators
Annihilation Barge


We win first turn and elect to deploy in a corner that enables us to block LoS to their army using area terrain (and avoiding being in it w/ Writhing Worldscape).


The Wraiths and the C'tan are the biggest threats to us, we can probably roll the rest of the army if we eliminate them.

Deployment:

Turn 1:

Our opponents fail to seize.

Blue Team

I want to be in assault fast, which means we need the Fiends and Crushers. I am hoping for the Princess to come in and Pavane units out of cover off the icon and grab the Keeper as my third option. I roll a 6 for my preferred wave like a champ.


Since our opponents deployed over a broad front, I concentrate my Daemons on their open left flank and try to roll them up. This also lets me avoid the wraiths for a few turns and there is a nice clear landing field.


The crushers go first and move back 10" which means no assaults for them without a good run roll. I put the Fiends back by the crushers to get cover and the Keeper drops conservatively by as well. We shuffle everything over to the right side to continue overloading the flank except for the Gauss Immortals who stay put in terrain.


Shooting is negligible and I get some lousy run rolls that will keep the Crushers walking.


Blue - 0
Red - 0

Red Team

In response the Wraiths move forward, the Command Barge goes Flat Out and their Rhinos shuffle around, but are out of range. The Annihilation Barge and the Havoks open up on our C'Tan and blow him away. Tremor Staves put Fiends, Crushers and Praetorians into Difficult Terrain.


Blue - 0
Red - 1

Turn 2

Blue Team

I roll up my reserves and get none of them like a champ. Crushers advance and take a wound to terrain, but move 6", Fiends advance but do not get enough of a Fleet roll to make the charge and laugh at the Tremor Stave. We bait out the Wraiths with the Praetorians and the Keeper decides to go tie up the C'tan before it can get into anymore mischief..

Thus beginning one of the most controversial slap fights in modern history - they both whiff all their attacks and herumph angrily at one another.


Shooting forces a break test on some warriors who could care less and the Wraiths make their saves. We stun the Rhino nearest the Crushers with a Gauss Cannon from the Command Barge.


Blue - 0
Red - 1
KoS Whiffs - 7

Red Team

The Praetorians look delicious and the Wraiths move up and charge them. The C'tan continues to put pressure on us, ready to counter assault and shooting throws some wounds onto the Crushers. The Command Barge knocks off our quantum shielding, but only weapon destroys the barge. In assault the wraiths flub their attacks and three Praetorians die, two of which stand back up.


I make vague threats about crushing the Wraiths with the Fiends.


Enemy terminators/lord fail to arrive from reserve.


Blue - 0
Red - 1
KoS Whiffs - 13

Turn 3

Blue Team

This is a big turn and I really need to get my Daemon Princess for Pavane on his warriors or some Daemonettes in to deal with the C'tan. Instead I get 5 Horrors, the Dark Gods wink and say 'Ain't no thang, you got this.' I drop them off the icon and whiff a shot at the Command Barge Rhino near the Crushers.

Tesla/Gauss Immortals take some pot shots at the back warriors and they flee 8", but will regroup next turn.


We sweep the enemy command barge and make it explode. The Lord looks grumpy and I realize how close my horrors are to him. The Fiends make good on their promise and smash all but a single Whip Coil Wraith. The scarabs fail to make their charge on the Necron Warriors, but sit comfortable behind area terrain.


The Crushers hit the Stunned Rhino and predictably wreck it, forcing the occupants out on the other side. and they make their pinning check.


Blue - 2
Red - 1
KoS Whiffs - 19

Red Team

The C'tan Keeper slap fight continues to rage on. The scarabs get smacked by some Plasma Cannons, Tremor Staves and the Annihilation barge but keep on trucking. The Crushers go down to a hail of bolter/plasma fire along with the regrouped warriors shots while the Lord assaults into the Horrors and kills all but the Bolt guy. Finally, the Fiends rip apart the last Wraith and consolidate towards the exposed CSM's


Enemy terminators/lord fail to arrive from reserve.


Blue - 3
Red - 2
KoS Whiffs - 25

Turn 4

Blue Team

Some nice Pavane action would be great at this point but only the Daemonettes come in. I drop them near the havoks/warriors on the opposite flank, but they scatter 7" toward the board edge and mishap - to be placed in the far right hand side of the field. We agree to forget about them for the rest of the game.


The C'tan pokes the Keeper for a wound while the Keeper continues to do nothing. The Lord in Command Barge flies over the opposing overlord in assault and hits with all 3 sweeps, killing him and freeing my Bolt Horror. We moved the Praetorians close to the Lord so they can shoot him up/assault if he stands back up again but he stays down.

I let my opponent know that the Horror is going to wreck his last rhino and roll 4/5/4 (he fails cover from my fiends) to wreck the Rhino with a bolt. The Lord disembarks and engages the CSM that the Crushers had disembarked last turn and kills a few but they stick.


The Fiends multi-assault into the CSM and the Warriors but have to go through terrain. I make my tests but the CSM kill two models with 1 wound each from terrain. I respond by knocking down a few warriors and one CSM so we stick for the turn.


Finally, the scarabs go on a suicide mission and take down the Annihilation Barge.


Blue - 6
Red - 2
KoS Whiffs - 31

Red Team

The scarabs are roasted by the Twin linked flamers from the Obliterators while the enemy terminators deep strike off the remaining CSM icon near the Lord. They take unload on the Praetorians and manage to knock them both down.


The rest of the army takes some pot shots at the Tesla Immortals. In combat their C'tan finally take down the Keeper who is making sure my last horror stays safe. The Lord finishes off the CSM while I cause the Necron Warriors to flee off the board, and then Hit and Run out of combat so I can go after his Havoks for the bonus point.


Blue - 8
Red - 4
KoS Whiffs - 37: Looks like someone got tired and went back to the Warp


Turn 5 - and then I forgot to take pictures! We had some rules discussions here and it slipped my mind while I grabbed the BRB.

Blue Team

The Daemon Princess arrives and decides to play it safe in the backfield - I scatter forward and am dangerously close to his C'tan. I Pavane him back but only get a 1" pavane move - here we agree he would have tried to assault the Princess so I measure the distance between them before I move the C'tan for Pavane and it is 11.5", with 1" added I am a half inch out of assault range...phew.


I then run away with the courageous Horror who could and hide behind a very thick wall.


The fiends assault into the Havoks, whiff their attacks and only win by two which the remaining Havoks make. The Lord hops into his barge and we try for another lucky sweep to grab the HQ bonus point but fails to injure the Lord.


Blue - 8
Red - 6

Red Team

The Terminators go after the Lord's Barge, wreck it and massacre him in combat. I fail to take down the last Havok with a plethora of attacks and he holds out like a champion. The C'tan takes some shots at the Daemon Princess, but fails to do any real damage. The Obliterators try as well, but fail to injure her with some terrible scatter rolls.


We roll to see if the game ends, and it does on a 2.


The final tally for points


Victory: 12 points


Diversity of Destruction: 2 (we missed the Heavy by 1 Havok!)
Total: 14


We wander around after the match and it looks like some purifiers got a hold of 30 Orks at some point...