Throne of War GT Report Part 1 of 2

Hey everyone, Reecius here to give my tournament report from the Throne of War GT in Hawaii!

The event is a lot of fun and well run, thanks to Amory and his crew for putting it on! Also, it’s in beautiful Hawaii, making it an awesome vacation tournament. I came out a few days early and got to see some of my family here which was awesome! Here’s a pic of all of us enjoying some of the amazing scenery.

Obviously, it’s really pretty here! Plus, being centrally located between the mainland of the USA and Australia, it’s a relatively easy destination for players from many different locations to come and play.

Here’s my list:

Catachan Brigade: Infantry Company

• Straken
• 2 x Primaris Psyker
• Priest: Warlord
• Bullgryn x 9
• Astropath
• 6 x Catachan Infantry
• 2 x Scout Sentinel: H.Flamer
• Armored Sentinel: M.Laser
• 3 x HWS: Mortars

Cadian Battalion: Artillery Company

• 2 x Company Commander
• 3 x Infantry squads: Mortar
• Wyvern
• Bassilisk

Tallarn Battalion: Tank Company

• Tank Commander: H.Bolters x 3, Relic Battle Cannon
• Tank Commander: H.Bolters x 3, Punisher Cannon
• Company Commander
• 3 x Tallarn Infantry

The list has a ton of bodies, and excels at board control. It hits hard too, with solid melee in the Bullgryn and Catachans, shooting in the Tank Commanders and artillery units, and movement tricks with the outflanking Tallarn and orders for the other infantry. Plus, I have solid psychic ability and defense.

Game 1

Space Wolves Spearhead

• Rune Priest in Terminator Armor
• Smash Wolf Lord: J.Pack, Hammer, Armor of Russ
• Leviathan Dread
• Contemptor Dread
• Long Fangs: L.Cannon x 5, Pack Leader in Terminator Armor

Vostroyan Battalion

• Company Commander: P.Fist
• Primaris Psyker
• 4 x Infantry
• 3 x HWS: Mortars

Vostroyan Aux

• Shadowsword: Max sponsons

Sumonned Assassin

• Vindicaire

This was a very fun game, but also that Vostroyan Shadowsword and Vindicaire had me sweating! Thankfully there was a ton of LoS blocking terrain to help me out and provide cover as I went up the table. I got first turn and advanced my army into a large ruin mid table out of LoS of the heavy hitters and luckily was able to take out the Long Fangs with artillery support.

The game started going my way rapidly as I was able to largely avoid counter-fire and set up for a turn 2 charge into the Vostroyan lines. The dreads flanked me and dealt some damage before I was able to take them out with the Tank Commander and Bassilisk. My Catachans and Bullgryn went hard into the enemy lines and were able to punch through, letting them get into the back-lines to pressure the enemy objectives. The Shadowsword lit me up but I was able to take the damage without folding.

Meanwhile, the Scout Sentinels and outflanking Tallarn infantry secured objectives and secondary points, giving me a strong lead. My opponent was unable to get back in it when his firepower was reduced, although he gave it a strong effort. Great game against a very nice opponent.

Astra Militarum win, 33pts

Game 2

Renegades and Heretics Battalion 

• 2 x Commander
• 2 x Renegade Enforces
• 3 x Mutant Rabble (50 strong)

Death Guard Detachment

• Typhus
• Tallyman
• Poxwalkers (20 Strong)

812 reserve Points

Going off of memory on the list and so am forgetting a few things but the idea behind the list was to establish board control with the nearly fearless Mutant Rabble (thanks to the enforcers) and then use them to grow the invisible Poxwalker units (using Cloud of Flies) in size to become a massive unit as the others died.

The downside is that the list has essentially no shooting and also isn’t super fast. So, our two massive infantry armies lined up and went to battle! I was able to use my Sentinels to run around grabbing objectives and secondary points per usual, while the assault force of Catachans and Bullgryn went up the gut, right into the enemy forces, covered by punishing firepower from my artillery units and tanks. My list simply had the right tools to cut through that many enemy infantry models and while they certainly took a bite out of me, just didn’t have the ability to take that much shooting combined with the very strong melee punch of Catachans+Bullgryn. Also, the ability to fight when you die from the Infantry Company strat is very strong in a scenario like this. You keep blobbing up units and then when they are engaged you can fight when you charge, then again in your shooting phase thanks to fix bayonets but also when you die, meaning each Catachan warrior can put out an astonishing number of attacks before being removed.

The game was like two waves hitting one another but the Imperial tool box in my list was able to overcome the sheer numbers of the Renegade horde. Double shooting artillery, and massed las guns+Punisher tank was just too much.

Astra Militarum win, 34pts.

My last game for day 1 was vs. a mighty Ta’unar!

Tau Battalion

• Cadre Fireblade
• Shadowsun
• 3 x Fire Warriors (5 strong)
• 3 x Shield Drones (8 strong)
• Riptide: Burst Cannon

Tau Super Heavy Aux

• Ta’unar

This was a scary game to go into, as the table we drew had almost no LoS blocking terrain, so my entire army was at the mercy of the brutal Ta’unar shooting. I threw caution to the wind and deployed on the line, hoping to get first turn. My opponent made a bold play, also deploying on the line behind a screen of Drones, hoping to go first (he had the +1) as if he did, he’d be in range to hit me with all of his Burst Cannons and Smart Missiles, and doubtlessly deal massive damage to my infantry.

However, luck was with me and I won the first turn roll. This allowed me to focus everything on killing the Drone screen, and I then charged into the Riptide with Bullgryn and consolidated into the Ta’unar. This was huge as it meant the Ta’unar either had to leave combat and get no shooting phase, or shoot the Bullgryn in combat with it (which is a special rule it has). So, my opponent started dumping firepower into the Bullgryn which was fine by me as they’re tough cookies and they held the Ta’unar up for 3 turns! Fully buffed, they are very hard to kill.

Meanwhile, my opponent was trying to fight my entire army with less than half of his and the outcome was inevitable. He was overwhelmed by my army while the Bullgryn kept the Ta’unar tied up. As they diminished in number, I fed additional units into the Ta’unar to make sure it was never free to choose it’s own targets. I got lucky to capitalize on my opponent’s mistake as had he gone first, it likely would have been an extremely difficult game.

Astra Militarum win, 36pts.

So a solid showing day 1, putting me in 2nd place overall going in to day 2 where I had a very difficult game lined up vs a Repulsor/Predator/G-man list piloted by a veteran general.

Read part 2 of this tournament report, here.

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