and pounced on some Space Pups…

Well, the summer WH40k league kicked off this past weekend and I did fairly well for someone that hasn’t been playing that often. This initial round consisted of two games ranging from 750 to 1250 points and each round lasts for two weeks. This allows players enough time to get in both games before the next round while not pressuring them to be there every weekend. So a player could play both his games in a single weekend and then skip the following weekend to go out and enjoy the nice summer weather; granted not a normal activity for many gamers ;)

I elected to play both of my games this Saturday, they were in the 1000 point range and both went really well and I admit that I had a lot of fun. My first game was against a Space Wolves player and I have to say that I’m very proud of my Deathwing terminators. I fielded three Terminator squads, Belial and a Dreadnought for each game. The squads each had a heavy weapon, two AC and one CML, a Chainfist and a Twin Lightening-Claw terminator. The dreadnought was outfitted with a default kit consisting of an AC and CCW to keep the points down. This army list worked out really well and allowed me to keep on task with countering my opponent’s movements and attacks.

As this was the first time that I had played against Space Wolves since the new codex was released, I wasn’t quite sure of what I would be facing. He took three six man Grey Hunters with Rhino/Razorback and a squad of Long Fangs. His Wolf Lord was armed with a Storm Shield and a special weapon and mounted on a Thunder wolf. He also had a Dreadnought mounted in a Drop Pod. I was lucky to setup and go first and I put everything out there on the board as I figured that I would need as much firepower early as I could get. I opened up and focused fire into one squad and took out the Rhino and then the squad with my shooting. On his first turn he charged his Wolf Lord up and then took out an entire squad of Terminator’s on Close Combat which really shocked the hell out of me; hadn’t realized just how powerful they made the new Wolf Lords.

During my second turn, I shifted all of my forces to the left and opened up on the Long Fangs with my dreadnought and one Terminator squad and then popped a few rounds into the Wolf Lord with the other. The Long Fangs lost a man and the Wolf Lord took a wound. On his second turn, his dreadnaught arrived via drop pod and promptly took out my dreadnought with a Multi-Melta. He charged another Terminator squad with his Wolf Lord and took out only two of them this time. The squad attacked back and caused another wound on his Wolf Lord but I lost combat and took three extra wounds which thankfully I made all of the saves so we remained locked in Assault.

The third turn, I charged and destroyed his dreadnought and then was lucky enough to finish off his Wolf Lord. On his turn he moved a Rhino up and rapid fired into my second Terminator squad taking out one more in Belial’s squad. He fired into my first Terminator squad with is Long Fangs but they miraculously made all of their saves. The fourth turn, I moved my first squad over to assist Belial’s remaining squad and they fired into his second six-man Grey Hunter squad wounding all but one. Belial’s men opened up and then charged the other Grey Hunter squad and wiped them out during the Assault phase but not before his Grey Hunter took out one more Terminator in Belial’s squad.

At this point, I was down to five Terminator models total and he had four Long Fangs, a single Grey Hunter, a Rhino and a Razorback left. On the Fifth turn, I began moving towards his Long Fangs and Grey Hunter and I fired off a few rounds at the Long Fangs, wounding one but during his turn he opened up on my first squad and I lost another model. He moved his Grey Hunter back behind the Rhino for cover and out of view from my Terminators. On the final turn, I opened up on the Long Fangs but he was able to make all of his saves and then he then was able take out all but one of my Terminators before the game ended.

I ended up winning the game and I must say that it was one of the most enjoyable games that I have had in a long time. The game was fast paced and very enjoyable and it didn’t hurt that I was able to make most of my saves during the game. I did play another 1000 point game that afternoon but that ended in a Draw but I realized afterwords that I had messed up at the beginning by forgetting to Deathwing Assault a Terminator squad that was held in reserve. That mistake put me in a position where I was forced to keep running around the table to try and hunt down a Deep Striking Necron Lord; kind of irritating. Good thing is that I won’t be forgetting to perform the Deathwing Assault anytime soon.

On that note, I’ll continue to play games to help the others get in their two games this coming weekend and I’ll be creating a few new lists to deal with the increased point levels in Round Two. So far the league is off to a good start and I am having a really good time playing again. Hopefully, this trend will continue and I’ll learn more about Fifth Edition and improve my tactics along the way.