[Lord Borak]

Objective: Break through
Score 1VP for each unit in the enemies deployment zone. Characters/IC do not count.


Set up:
Dawn of War


Table:




List 1

HQ
x1 Chapter Master - 265
. Thunder Hammer, The Shield Eternal, Bike, Auspex, Digital Weapons
x1 Chapter Master - 270
. The Axe of Medusa, Grav Pistol, The Gorgon's Chain, Bike, Auspex, Digital Weapons


Troops
x4 Bikers - 114
. 2 Grav Guns
x4 Bikers - 114
. 2 Grav Guns
x4 Bikers
. 2 Grav Guns


Heavy Support
x1 Thunderfire Cannon - 100
x1 Thunderfire Cannon - 100
x1 Whirlwind Scorpius - 170
. Extra Armor, Battle Of Keylek Legacy


Space Marine AD, Salamanders Chapter Tactics
HQ
x1 Chapter Master - 275
. Drakesmiter, The Salamander's Mantle, Combi-Melta, Auspex, Digital Weapons, Bike

Troops
x4 Bikers - 94
. 2 Flamers


Heavy Support
x3 Quad Mortar Support Batteries - 180


Inquisitorial Detachment
x1 Inquisitor Karamazov - 200








There's just one thing this list was meant to do, and that's KILL KILL KILL. Sure, capturing objectives is nice (and I have a nice couple of Biker squads to do that), but you can't hold objectives if you're dead. Which the opposing player will be.


One thing immediately noticed is that I put almost half my points into just a few characters. Thanks to Salamanders getting a relic for EW, I now have a set of Chapter Masters that will just be too damn hard to kill without throwing entire armies at them. They each have an Orbital Bombardment to throw on their first turn in the field, and after that they can use their Auspexes to help support the rest of the list.
Outside of the Chapter Masters is Karamazov, who will camp with either the Quad Batteries or a Thunderfire (or even just stay by himself in cover, depending on how much AP2 the opponent has) and unleash his own bombardments each turn. The nice thing about the durable Chapter Masters is that he can target them on purpose and not get any scatters. That'll help if I just thrust the bikes up next to a squad but don't want to charge that one specifically.


Outside the Bikers, which we all know and love and therefore need little introduction to their role, all the rest of the points are in Heavy Support. Thunderfires got an amazing boost with Techmarines all being W2 (and 6+++/IWND makes them even more durable), and then I added the Scorpius variant of the Whirlwind. It gets Ignores Cover with that relic, which means I can launch D3+1 S8 AP3 Blasts that don't where you're camping. Awesome.
Rounding that out is the Quad Mortar Support Batteries. These are THE ultimate multitool. Getting a choice of either 12 S8 4 Sunder shots or 12 S5 Pinning Blasts ensures you're not going anywhere. AA isn't even an issue because of how many shots are put out.


This is definitely a unique all-comers that I'm excited to see go into action metaphorically.

List 2

Task Force Reliquiae (Imperial Guard/Tempestus Scions) - 1999 points


Cadian CAD Detachment: 1670 points


Commissar Lord Lazarus Glass (Warlord)
-Celeritas - Master-Crafted Chainsword. Additionally, when in a challenge, Commissar Lord has a 4+ invulnerable. For every successful save during a challenge, the opposing model takes one automatic hit from Celeritas with the Rending rule, even if the Commissar Lord dies in that round.
-Power fist
100


Infantry Platoon -
PCS
-Mortar


Infantry Squads x 3 (combined)
-Power Axes x 3
-Grenade Launchers x 3


245
Infantry Platoon -
-Platoon Command Squad
-Lascannon
-Vox-caster


Infantry Squads x 3 (combined)
-Commissar
-Vox-caster
-Lascannons x 3
300


Infantry Platoon -
-Platoon Command Squad
-Lascannon
-Vox-caster
-Infantry Squads x 3 (combined)
-Commissar
-Vox-caster
-Lascannons x 3
300




Vendetta


Vendetta


Wyvern Battery -
-Two Wyverns
130


Basilisk Battery
-One Basilisk
Wyvern Battery -
-Two Wyverns
130


Tempestus Scions Allies: 329 points
Tempestus Command Squad
-Meltaguns x 4
125
Tempestus Scions x 6
-Meltaguns x 2
102
Tempestus Scions x 6
-Meltaguns x 2
102


Cadian Warlord Traits:
1. Warlord (and therefore unit) have Zealot.
2. +2 BS for Warlord, +1 BS for unit.
3. Once per game, Warlord can make an Artillery Bombardment like a Master of Ordnance (unlimited range (Line of Sight needed), Strength 9 AP 3 Large Blast, scatters 3D6", only 2D6" if a Hit is rolled)
4. Friendly units in the Cadian detachment don't take Morale tests due to suffering 25% casualties from shooting if within 12" of Warlord.
5. Commissar Lord has Voice of Command (can give IG orders).
6. Warlord must always issue and accept challenges. Friendly characters in this detachment re-roll failed To Hit and To Wound rolls in a challenge.

 

[kingzerno]

This is another tough to call match up. At first glance the bikes have the advantage with their sheer speed. That's 4 units that will be in a deployment zone fairly quickly. However, they are all using grav guns, so will struggle to put the hurt on the guard with shooting so will need to hit combat. One good round of focused guard shooting could even this up pretty quickly.

And they have the flyers. That's 2 easy scoring units there straight away assuming they survive.

The key is bike death. If the guard can take out a unit of two in their first turn then they are in good stead. Given their firepower I'd be surprised if they didn't. However should they fail the bikes in combat will start making a mess of those squads.

I'm torn but I think I;m going to go GUARD here.

 

[andrewbeater]

I humbly disagree with Kingzerno's assessment (sorry Kingzerno). The mission is to break through, which means all units that get into the enemies deployment zone is a victory point. This plays right into the speed of the bikes and away from the slower Guard. For me, simply by way of the mission type, the winner is the Space Marines.

 

[Exarch Thomo]

Guard

The bikes are fast, yes, but only small squads and the grav-guns are going to be largely wasted. Once the bike squads are gone, the characters won't count for VP purposes, which is what this game is all about. The guard can out-artillery the SM guns quite easily, the infantry and vendetta's have enough guns to deal with the bike squads and deep striking the scions allows them to claim the VP objectives relatively uncontested, along with the flyers.

The guard are going to get hammered, and there probably won't be too many infantry squads left at the end of the game (if any) but what's left will be enough to hold up the IC's, but a solid round or two of shooting will help mitigate that damage and should see at least 2 bike squads removed, and then it comes down to scoring units - which you're looking at a best case scenario of 5 for the guard compared to a best-case scenario of 2 for marines.

 

[Frost89]

Space marines

Bikes are perfect to grab victory points, and hide if necessary. The artillery support will wipe out the guardsmen.