Hi everyone, Michael here with my second game report from taking the GSC to a local RTT that I was running. For more reviews and analyses, check out the Tactics Corner.
After the first win with my GSC, I saw myself taking on Mark’s Space Wolves in the Battle Lines mission.
My army consisted of:
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
Mark’s army consisted of:
Space Wolves Successor- Whirlwind of Rage, Born Heroes
Battalion Detachment
Captain- Belt of Russ, Rites of War, Hunter, Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield
Primaris Chaplain on Bike- Litany of Faith, Canticle of Hate, Wise Orator, the Armour Indomitus
5 Intercessors
5 Incursors
5 Incursors
5 Wolf Guard- 5 Storm Shields, Thunder Hammer, 4 Lightning Claws
5 Wolf Guard- 5 Storm Shields, Thunder Hammer, 4 Lightning Claws
5 Wolf Guard- 5 Storm Shields, 3 Thunder Hammers, 2 Lightning Claws
5 Wulfen- 4 Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields, Wulfen Frost Claws
5 Bladeguard Veterans
Cyberwolf
Cyberwolf
5 Eradicators- Heavy Melta Rifles
A combat focussed Space Wolves lists, with some strong firepower with the Eradicators. I did favour the GSC for this match up, but Armour of Contempt could mess up my plans once more.
Mark deployed his forces across the board. The Wulfen and Wolf Guard went in the ruins to his right. The Bladeguard, Chaplain, Captain and wolves went in the centre, ready to move up on the central objective. The Intercessors went behind the ruins in the centre, while the Incursors went on the left flank, along with the second Wolf Guard unit. I set up my blip counters, with only the Bikers deploying.
For secondaries, I chose Psychic Interrogation, Deploy Teleport Homers and Behind Enemy Lines. Mark chose Oath of Moments, Assassinate and No Prisoners.
I won the roll off for first turn, deploying my army.
TURN 1
I put the Nexos, a Magus and a squads of Neophyte Hybrids in the big ruin on the right, with the Truck with the Genestealers in it nearby. The Patriarch went with the central ruins with the other unit of Neophytes, along with a Magus. The Truck and Jackals were to the left. I used my upgrade moves to advance the Genestealers and Bikers.
The Genestealers advanced from the Goliath to move up on the Incursors that had forward deployed. The other unit of Genestealers went after the Incursors and Wolf Guard in the back field. I brought in a 5-man Acolyte squad , who started on teleport homers.
In the psychic phase, the Magus used Psychic Interrogation to get the points. I used a stratagem to cast a psychic blessing on the Genestealers, giving them another attack.
In the charge phase, the two Genestealer units moved into combat. One squad targeted the Wolf Guard, wiping them out and killing one nearby Incursor. The other squad of Stealers killed the second unit of Incursors and went back into reserves with the GSC stratagem.
At the end of my first turn, I scored psychic interrogation for 3 pts, Teleport Homers for 2 pts and Behind Enemy lines for 2 pts. A great start for the Cult.
The Wolf Guard moved up on the Genestealers, supported by the Chaplain, who got his litanies off. The Bladeguard, Captain and Cyberwolf moved up on the central objective, while another wolf moved up to the nearby objective. The third Wolf Guard unit and Wulfen stayed in position for now.
There was minimal shooting, as most of my units were locked in combat or hidden.
In the charge phase, the Chaplain and Wolf Guard assaulted the Genestealers and were able to kill the squad. At the end of his turn, Mark scored 3 pts for Oath.
TURN 2
I scored 8 pts on the Primary. The Atalan Jackals moved up on the cyberwolf on the left. The Acolytes in the Truck moved up on the Bladeguard, hoping to reduce their number. On the right, the Acolytes advanced to get behind enemy lines, while I brought on another squad on the left to do Teleport Homers.
I got psychic interrogation once more and cast Might From Beyond and Mutagenic Deviation on the Acolytes. The shooting phase saw the Jackals kill one wolf, while the Acolytes were able to kill the other.
In the charge phase, the Acolytes charged the Bladeguard. The Wolf Lord was able to heroically intervene and make them fight last. I spent a CP to make the Bladeguard fight last as well. The Wolf Lord was able to kill a few of the squad, while the Acolytes managed to kill one of the Bladeguard. The attacks back killed all but one Acolyte, and I spent the 2CP to pass his morale and keep the Space Wolves locked in combat for their turn.
At the end of my turn, I scored 4 pts for Behind Enemy Lines and Teleport Homers, and another 3 for psychic interrogation, as well as the 2 bonus pts on the Primary.
In his second turn, Mark scored 4 primary points. The Incursors moved up on the 5-man Acolyte squad beside them, while the Vanguard Veterans moved to engage the Acolytes that were sitting out in the open after failing their charge. The Chaplain moved into the centre of the battlefield. The Wulfen and Vanguard Veterans moved up to engage the Atalan Jackals on the objective.
The shooting phase did some wounds to the Acolytes and truck on the objective. In the charge phase, the Vanguard Veterans assaulted the Acolytes, while the Incursors charged another acolyte squad. The Vanguard Veterans easily dispatched the Acolytes. I paid 2CP to interrupt with the other 5-man Acolyte squad, but only managed to kill a single Incursor (Armour of Contempt was really punishing my ability to do damage). The squad as wiped out in reply, with the lone Acolyte being finished off too by the Bladeguard. The Jackals were easily destroyed as well.
At the end of turn 2, the GSC were up 28-13.
TURN 3
In my third turn, the rest of the reserves came in. The Purestrain Genestealers went in my deployment zone next to the Patriarch, who moved up to support them. Another squad of Genestealers came in on the enemy deployment zone, accompanied by the remaining Acolyte Squads, and the Kelermorph. The Atalan Jackals moved up to get Behind Enemy Lines. I got four primary points once more, while an Acolyte squad got Deploy Teleport Homers.
In the psychic phase, I got Psychic Interrogation, and buffed up the Genestealers about to take on the Vanguard Veterans.
In the shooting phase, the Acolytes fired their flamers at the Incursors, but failed to do any damage. The Kelermorph fired at the Intercessors on the objective, killing three.
In the charge phase, the Genestealers and Vanguard Veterans made it in against the Vanguard Veterans. The Acolytes made the charge against the other Veteran squad, while the Genestealers failed on the Intercessors. The Kelermorph charged the remaining Intercessors.
In the fight phase, the Genestealers killed four Veterans, while the Patriarch was unable to kill the last one! Mark interrupted with the other Vanguard Veteran squad, killing all but 2 of the Acolytes. The Kelermorph was slain by the Intercessors, after failing to do any damage. The remaining two Acolytes managed to kill three of the Vanguard Veterans with their Rock Drills, then managed to pass their morale on a 1 to stay in the fight!
The Bladeguard Veterans moved up on the Genestealers, while the Eradicators came in next to the Neophytes holding the objective.
The firepower of the Eradicators destroyed the truck with ease. The Wulfen charged the Magus, but he used his warlord trait to move 6″ and out of range of them. The Eradicators were able to charge the Neophytes on the objective. The Bladeguard charged the Genestealers, while the Wolf Lord assaulted the Goliath Truck.
The Genestealers were slain by the Bladeguard and Chaplain. The two Acolytes were able to kill off the Vanguard Veterans to claim the objective. The Patriarch was able to kill the last Vanguard Veteran, while the Eradicators killed a bunch of Neophytes and consolidated into the Magus.
TURN 4
In my fourth turn, I moved up to secure the objective the Intercessors were on and moved the Patriarch to deal with the Eradicators.
In Mark’s fourth turn, the Wulfen moved up to deal with the Patriarch, while the other forces moved up to kill the Neophytes.
I cast a couple of smites to kill one of the Eradicators. The Genestealers dealt with the Intercessors on the home objective, while the Patriarch was able to kill off the Eradicators, with the help of the Magus.
In the charge phase the Wulfen assaulted, killing the Patriarch and Magus in combat. The Wolf Lord was able to kill some more Neophytes.
We ran out of time in the round, so ended on turn 4. The final score was 72-56 to the GSC.
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
That game went pretty well! Most of my plan worked, and I think going to a 5th turn wouldn’t have made too much difference. I would have maxed out on Psychic Interrogation, Teleport Homers and Behind Enemy lines, as well as scoring more points on the primary.
The biggest thing I notices in this game was Armour of Contempt. It makes the Marines much harder to deal with with my Acolyte Hybrids, as reducing their AP2 claws to AP1 was noticeable. The AP3 from the Genestealers was great, as they were able to do a lot of damage thanks to their mass of attacks. Whereas before, I could expect the Acolytes to deal with power armour with ease, they are a lot more difficult now, especially if Transhuman could be activated.
If I was Mark, I would have pushed forward more with his forces on turn 1. He moved the central Vanguard Veteran squad to deal with the Genestealers that had taken out the units on the right. The Bladeguard Veterans could have been sent to deal with these, allowing the Vanguard to push up on my home objective. This would have threatened my objectives and characters and made me a lot more reluctant to go into his deployment zone with the bulk of my forces to score the points.
Again, the 5-man Acolyte squads are great for scoring the secondary points, and Deploy Teleport Homers is a brilliant secondary objective for the Cult. Two games down and two wins for the Cult, the next game would see me take on the Adeptus Sororitas.
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