(Ignore the tanks... they're not really there)
This will be a fairly short and sweet batrep. Starraptor and I wanted to try and get two games in last night, so we started with a 1500 point game. I've been playing my Mech Marines against his for the last several games, so I switched it up with a 1500 Biker list. I haven't played with my Bikers in a long time and it was his first game against a bike army. My list was:
HQ
Captain with Bike, Relic Blade, and Combi-Melta
Troops
Bike Squad (6) including PF, MGx2 and MM AB
Bike Squad (6) including MGx2, and MM AB
Bike Squad (6) including MGx2, and MM AB
Bike Squad (5) including MGx2 and MM AB
Fast
Landspeeder Typhoons x2
Landspeeder Typhoons x2 (I proxied with a MM/HF)
Elite
Rifleman Dreadnought
His List:
HQ
Librarian with Null Zone/Avenger (Proxied with a AOBR Captain)
Troops
Tactical Squad with Flamer, ML, and Rhino
Tactical Squad with Flamer, ML, and Rhino
Elite
TH/SS (5) with LR with MM and EA
Rifleman Dreadnought (Proxied with a AOBR Dread)
Rifleman Dreadnought (Proxied with a AOBR Dread)
Heavy
Predator with Lascannon Sponsons
Predator with Lascannon Sponsons
Pregame
We rolled up the mission and it was Pitched Battle with Capture and Control. Uh oh... This could be bad. He won the roll and immediately placed his objective on the top floor of a ruin in the corner. Yuck. I counter by placing my objective in the opposite corner behind some LOS blocking terrain. With his objective being beyond my range to contest, I really am just hoping to pull off the draw. If he piles more Tacticals into that ruins than I can kill with my bike shooting, it's game over.
You can barely see a ML Marine guarding his objective off in the distance, showing just how far away the two objectives are from one another. He continued deploying his forces and left a lone Combat Squad to guard his objective and deployed everything else to push mine. He split his Libby off from the TH/SS Termies and had him ride in the Rhino on my far right. He also threw a ML Combat Squad in the ruins near the rest of his forces.
He maked a game-changing mistake with his deployment. With only 5 guys on his objective, I actually have a chance of shooting them out of it. Even better for me, he left 2 guys on the ground which will allow me to charge and pull them off the objective if he doesn't move them!
I didn't try to sieze the initiative (I love last second turbo-boosts) and off he went. He shuffled his main force forward and popped smoke on his far right Rifleman. The LR moves directly towards the middle of the board to respond to my bikes. The Rhino with the Libby rushed towards my objective while the other heads more towards the middle behind the LR. His shooting was pretty ineffective with only a shaken Typhoon.
Gornall Turn 1
I turbo-boost both of my Bike Squads away from his LR and towards his objective. I move the Rifleman out from cover to shoot at his Rifleman and move my Typhoons out to shoot at his Rhino and other Rifleman.
My shooting was crazy hot and my Rifleman head-shotted the far right Rifleman even through smoke. One shot... one kill. One Typhoon Squad pops the middle Rhino, killing 3 Marines. The other Squad stuns the other Rifleman.
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| Before |
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| After... |
Starraptor Turn 2
That was a huge turn for me, as one threat to my objective was neutered, and I wouldn't have to face as
much return fire next turn. He started his next turn by moving his LR towards the center and his surviving Rhino at my objective. He also rotated one Pred to help deal with the Typhoons. He popped smoke on his Rifleman, but forgot on his LR (I offered to let him do it later, but he said "nah"). His shooting took out a Typhoon in one squad and stunned one in the other. He also rips an arm off my Rifleman and stuns it.
Gornall Turn 2
My small Bike squad came in from reserve, and I brought it in between the Rhino and LR so I can change targets based on my other shooting. My remaining 6 man squad didn't come in, so that was really good. My Captain went off alone towards the Combat Squad on the objective while his squad headed towards the surviving Rifleman. The non-PF squad headed in to make a suicide run on the LR. At this point, it was in a perfect position for me. If I stopped it there, his TH/SS wouldn't really be able to affect the game. The Rifleman pops smoke.
My shooting is once again spot on. One Typhoon kills his Rhino, while the combination of a Bike Squad and other Typhoon kills his Rifleman. The Bike Squad in front of his LR wrecked it, leaving me in great shape. I killed off some Marines in his Combat Squad near my objective with the Bike Squad that came in from reserve. His Libby also took a wound to boot. My Captain then charged the Combat Squad killing 3.
Starraptor Turn 3
At this point, Starraptor knew he was in trouble. Most of his forces were stranded in the middle with just the weakened Combat Squad and wounded Libby pushing my objective with a Rifleman on it. His Libby split off and went after my Bike Squad while the Tacticals started towards my objective. His Termies get ready to charge my bikes.
His Libby used Avenger on my Bike Squad and kills off a Biker and wounds my Attack Bike. His other shooting knocked off a wound or two on the Bike Squad with the PF. He also wrecked my Rifleman, leaving my objective empty. In his assault phase, he charged one Bike Squad with the TH/SS Termies and the other with his Libby. My Captain finished off his Combat Squad and consolidated back towards the middle. His Libby and my Bikes whiffed and did nothing. The TH/SS combat was a back-breaker, though. His Termies killed 3 bolter bikes and the Sarg and the AB and MG Bikes ran like Marines like to do. They didn't go off the table and were more than 6" from the Termies so they would live to regroup.
I rolled for my last squad and it came in. At this point, he had lost his objective, and I had a Captain and Bike Squad between his 2 Marines and it. I also had a Bike Squad coming on to eliminate his other troop choice. His Libby was locked in with a bunch of T5 Bikes and his TH/SS Termies were off in no-man's land. I also had another Bike Squad that had survived the Termies who could either turbo-boost to my objective or stay 12" behind the Termies peppering them with melta fire. Seeing all this, he decided to call it so we could get our next game in! Win for Gornall's bikers!
Post Game
Not much to say here. I felt I played a decent game, and exploited the openings available to me. The biggest mistake he made was in deployment. Had he simply put 20 Tacticals on the second floor of the his objective ruins, I would never had been able to clear off that objective. He could have simply rammed everything else down my right flank and I wouldn't have been able to stop it. Also, he allowed his LR to get caught in a position where I could suicide it with 1-2 squads, lose a squad (or actually not) and leave his Termies stranded. By changing his mind and having his LR and a Rhino move from one corner, to the other, it took a lot of pressure off me and allowed my bikes to dictate the battle. It also didn't help that I was rolling pretty hot the first two turns. I bet he never leaves guys on the bottom floor against bikes again, though. ;)
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