Hi everyone, Michael here with another tournament report from a local RTT that I was running. For more review and analyses, check out the Tactics Corner.
This past week, I ran an 18-man event at my local gaming club. This was the second event that I ran, and wanted to get into the trenches in this one, as I found the event organisation at this level wasn’t too bad on the day. I wanted to take my Genestealer Cults to this one, as I had been having some success with them in the new missions. This was a 1750 pts event, so my list was:
Battalion Detachment (Twisted Helix)
Patriarch- WARLORD, Familiarr, Preternatural speed (Trait), Elixir of the Prime Specimen; Enhanced Resilience (Relic), Might from Beyond, Mass Hypnosis, Mutagenic Deviation
Magus- Familiar, Prowling Agitant (Trait), Might from Beyond, Psychic Stimulus, Mutagenic Deviation
10 Acolyte Hybrids- 4 Heavy Rock Drills, A Trap Sprung
10 Acolyte Hybrids- 4 Heavy Rock Drills
5 Acolyte Hybrids- 5 Hand Flamers, Lying in Wait
5 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Hand Flamers
5 Acolyte Hybrids- From Every Angle
Kelermorph- A Perfect Ambush
Nexos- Cranial Inlay (Relic)
10 Purestrain Genestealers- They Came From Below
10 Purestrain Genestealers- Our Time is Nigh
8 Purestreain Genestealers
4 Atalan Jackals- Demolition Charge
4 Atalan Jackals- Demolition Charge
Goliath Truck
Goliath Truck
Patrol Detachment (Twisted Helix)
Magus- Alien Majesty (Trait), Might From Beyond, Psychic Stimulus
10 Neophyte Hybrids
10 Neophyte Hybrids
This was a modification of my previous GSC tournament list. I dropped some units to make the points change. The only big adjustment was swapping out the Primus for the Magus. The Primus didn’t really do much for my list with how I played it. The second Magus would give me a third psyker I could dedicate for Psychic Interrogation, freeing up another Magus for buffing my units.
My first game was against Daniel and his Black Templars. The mission was Vital Intelligence. His army consisted of:
Patrol Detachment
High Marshal Helbrecht
Primaris Lieutenant – Neo-volkite pistol, Master-crafted power sword and Storm Shield
Assault Intercessor Squad- Fist of Balthus
Bladeguard Veteran Squad- Icon of Heinmann
Primaris Apothecary- Chief Apothecary, Selfless Healer, The Crusader’s Helm
Inceptor Squad- 2x Inceptor, Inceptor Sergeant, Plasma Exterminator x2
Eradicator Squad [15 PL, 250pts]: Melta rifle, The Crux Obsidian
Patrol Detachment
Primaris Chaplain on Bike- Recitation of Focus, Canticle of Hate, Master of Sanctity, Litany of Hate, Tannhauser’s Bones, Warlord, Wise Orator
Incursor Squad
Redemptor Dreadnought- 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon
Redemptor Dreadnought- 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon
I had not yet played against the Marine with Armour of Contempt. GSC previously had no problem shredding through Marines, but the loss of a point of AP could hurt my combat units. On top of that, the 4+ deny stratagem for Black Templars made taking Psychic Interrogation a riskier prospect, as the points could easily be denied.
For secondaries, I chose Deploy Teleport Homers, Assassinate and Stranglehold. Daniel chose Stranglehold, Assassinate and Oath of Moments. With Assassinate and Oath, I could deny a lot of points by keeping my characters hidden for much of the game. My plan was to use my obsec and superior numbers to control the objectives.
Daniel set up the bulk of his forces behind the large ruins in his deployment zone, with a unit of Incursors behind the ruins near the central objective and the Assault Intercessors behind the ruins on the left. I did similar, deploying the bulk of my blip counters behind the large ruins in my deployment zone, with the Bikers deploying to move up on the objectives.
I won the roll off for first turn and deployed my forces. I put the Patriarch, 2 Magus and Nexos behind the big ruins, guarded by a unit of Neophyte Hybrids. The other unit of Neophytes went on the left flank, while the trucks went on each flank. The Genestealers went in the middle, using their They Came From Below upgrade to move up on the central ruins, while the Bikers moved up to support.
The Genestealers advanced on the Incursors, while the Bikers moved up on the central objective. The other unit of Bikers and the Truck moved up on the left hand objective, the Bikers starting the Scan Primary action. The truck on the left moved up to assault the enemy objective next turn. I brought in the Lying in Wait Acolyte Squad on the right flank and they started the Teleport Homers secondary.
There was no shooting from my army, so the Genestealers charged in and killed the Incursor squad with ease. I then used the Return to the Shadows stratagem to remove the Genestealers and put them back into reserve to protect them from the enemy firepower. I scored Stranglehold and 2 pts for Teleport Homers.
In his first turn, Daniel moved the Assault Intercessors on the objective. The rest of his forces moved in front of the ruins, to hold the objective and target my squads. The Plasma Inceptors targeted a Jackal Squad and killed them. A Redemptor targeted the 5-man Acolyte squad and killed them with ease. The Bladeguard Veterans then charged the Atalan Jackals in the centre objective, aided by the Canticle of Hate from the Chaplain, easily wiping them out. At the end of his turn, he scored Oath for 3 pts and Stranglehold.
In my second turn, I got 8pts on the primary. The Genestealers in the Truck moved up on the Bladeguard Veterans, while the unit of Acolytes from the other truck moved up on the Assault Intercessors, their truck moving to support them on the objective. I brought in the Rock Drill Acolytes to go after the Inceptors, while a unit of Acolytes went behind the ruins on the right to do the Teleport Homers secondary. The Neophyte Hybrids did the mission action.
In the psychic phase, I used Gestalt Consciousness to give the Genestealers an extra attack. Again, my army had no real shooting power, so we went into combat.
The Genestealers charged the Bladeguard Veterans, The Acoltyes charged the Inceptors, while the other Acolytes went after the Assault Intercessors. I was able to shut down the overwatch of the Inceptors by using the Nexos to give them a crossfire Marker, while the Covering Fire stratagem stopped the firepower.
In combat, the Inceptors and Intercessors were easily slain. Three of the five Bladeguard Veterans were slain. Thanks to Transhuman, the damage was not as brutal as it could have been. I used the stratagem again to put the Acolytes who killed the Intercessors into reserve.
At the end of my turn, I got another 4 pts for Teleport Homers and Stranglehold.
In Daniel’s second turn, Helbricht moved up on the Genestealers, while a Redemptor went after the central objective. The other Redemptor moved to target the left flank forces, supported by the Eradicators.
The shooting phase was formidable. The Truck was easily destroyed by the Eradicators. The Redemptor killed the 5-man acolyte squad. The Acolytes were targeted by the remaining firepower and reduced in number.
In the charge phase, the Redemptor charged the Genestealers in the centre, while Helbricht charged the remaining Acolytes. Helbricht struck first, easily slaying the squad. I interrupted and attacked with the Genestealers in the centre, killing the last of the Bladeguard. The Dreadnought was able to kill all but 2, allowing me to secure the central objective and deny Stranglehold.
In my third turn, the Acolytes came back from reserve, moving to target Helbricht. The 8-man Genestealer squad moved behind the Eradicators, the Kelermorph moving to support them. I used return to the Shadows to take out the Neophyte Hybrids on the left. The last of the 5-man Acolytes came in to do Teleport Homers. In the psychic phase, I used the stratagem to give the Acolytes an extra attack with Might From Beyond.
The Kelermorph fired at the Apothecary, but was unable to cause any wounds after some great saves. The Truck fired at the Lieutenant and managed to put two wounds on him.
In the charge phase, the Acolytes charged Helbricht and the Genestealers charged the Eradicators. The Acolytes struck at Helbricht with their Rock Drills. They put 11 mortal wounds on Helbricht, but he made 7 of his 5+ mortal saves! The rest of the attacks from the Acolytes failed to kill him, taking him down to one wound! The Eradicators interrupted combat and were able to kill half of the Genestealers.
The Genestealers managed to kill a few of the Eradictors. Helbricht then struck with a mighty 16 attacks, easily killing the Acolytes! The Redemptor was unable to kill the Genestealers and stayed locked in combat.
Ouch! Some great rolls had kept Helbricht alive and secured him the objective.
In his fourth turn, Daniel moved up the Primaris Chaplain to secure an objective, while Helbricht went after the Acolytes. The Redemptor moved up to support the Eradicators. The Apothecary healed Helbricht and brought back an Eradicator. The Lieutenant moved onto an objective and started on the Primary Action.
The Redemptor in the centre shot at the Genestealers it was engaged with, easily killing them. The GSC forces were then assaulted, the Acolytes and remaining Genestealers being slain. At the end of turn 4, things were very close. This final turn would decide the outcome.
The Kelermorph moved to get away from Helbricht, while the Goliath Truck moved to the centre objective to contest it. The Neophyte Hybrids came in to get the final points for Teleport Homers. In the shooting phase, the Kelermorph fired at Helbricht, but failed to do any damage after the mortal wounds were saved once more.
The Kelermorph charged the Lieutenant on the objective. He failed to do any damage. In reply, the Lieutenant killed the Kelermorph. This was my plan! I used Legendary Demise to fire at the Lieutenant with my pistols. I was able to kill the Lieutenant with my pistol shots. I knew the Kelermorph would be slain in the next turn, at least he was able to take out an enemy character and even the Assassinate score and deny the action.
In his final turn, Daniel moved to secure the objectives. The Neophyte Hydrids were slain, and the Redemptor took care of the Dreadnought.
At the end of the game, we counted up the score. The result was a win for the GSC, 75-67. An incredibly close game!
After-Battle Thoughts
That was a hell of a close game! I thought Daniel might have snuck the win in the end, but I was able to deny him a lot of primary points early on, so that the end of game surge was not so bad. Plus, I was able to score well in two of my three secondaries.
Taking Assassinate was a mistake for me. I should have gone for Psychic Interrogation after all. Daniel was low on CP so would not have them to use each turn to deny me the points. I probably would have scored more on that than the 3 pts I got on Assassinate. However, this may have exposed my characters to risk of death and allow Daniel to score more on Assassinate.
As it was, my psykers didn’t do much in this game. After seeing his deployment, I was able to put them diagonally opposite the board. Daniel’s army didn’t really have the mobility to go after them, so I was able to deny him a lot of points on Assassinate and a few points on Oath.
Overall, this was a fun game. I’m not sure how much else I would have changed, other than the third secondary. I honestly thought that I was going to lose after Helbricht survived the combat with the Acolytes. Statistically, he should have died to the 11 mortal wounds and subsequent attacks, but a hell of a good roll from Daniel kept him alive to absolutely butcher my squads. Getting 16 attacks on a single character was brutal, and he easily chewed through my fragile units!
With one game down and a win, I was eager to see who the Cult would face next.
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