ARMY OF THE WEEK: Ard Boyz After Action Report

My Ard Boyz outing took me to Birds of Paradise about 30 miles away from where I live. At first some friends and I was going to travel further to a store that we enjoy playing at known at Dark Side and enjoy some Amish food prior to the event. Sadly, one of my friends had to work and another had committed that weekend to his wife. I choose a new store strictly on the interest of checking out a new location and perhaps meet new players that I have never played against. The store itself ended up with 16 players on 8 tables making for a full turnout at the store.

The list I took was an IG list with Witchunter allies. I checked the GW site, the PDF is gone. No doubt removed so they can post up the Sisters of Battle new PDF in the next month or so. The core Ard Boyz lists it as a valid codex and the PDF for the FAQ does not disallow allies. Here is my list:

· Shraken with Chimera, 4 melta guns, Master of the Fleet and 2 bodyguards

· Inquisitor Lord with Psychic Hood, Bolter, Power Sword, Sage, Warrior and Familiar

· Callidus Assassin

· Vet Squad with 3 melta guns and Chimera

· Vet Squad with 3 plasma guns and Chimera

· 2 Platoons with a HQ with 3 melta guns and a flamer. 2 Squads with melta guns and a power sword. The last squad had a flamer and power sword. A commissar was assigned to the first squad with a power weapon.

· Vendetta

· Manticore

· Basilisk

· Leman Russ with Lascannon in the hull

Game 1 vs. Blood Angels

My first game was against a great guy by the name of Oscar. I met this gent a few years back at Anthem during one of their first events there. There were only 4 players attending the small store at the time before James expanded the game room to a second storefront location. We had a great game of Sisters of Battle vs. Tau. A true game of I shoot the Sister’s and he burns me alive. A great game, sadly I did not see him at any events for years until Ard Boyz. It was a real treat to not only to see him, but to have a chance for a game against a great player.

Oscar was playing his Blood Angels a new army for him and this was his list from memory:

· Mestiphon

· Chaplain

· 15 Death Company with power weapons (not all) in a Land Raider Crusader

· 2 Assault squads with jump packs, melta gun, melta pistol and power weapon.

· 2 Sang priests

· Baal Predator with Assault Cannons, heavy bolters and storm bolter

· Storm Raven with Multi Melta and Lascannons

· Death Company Dread with Blood Talons

· Heavy Weapons Team with 3 Plasma Cannons and 1 Lascannon (may have been a missile launcher)

· Vindicator

We swapped our traitor models and rolled for who goes first. I won and picked my side on the city based table we were assigned to. My deployment was simple, empty Chimeras to the front, the ones with Vets and HQs to the back. The Inquisitor loaded up into an empty one on turn 1. Shraken in the middle along with the heavy tanks in the back and the Vendetta flanked with the traitor. Both Platoons grouped into one squad each and shielded the flanks and forward parts of the side elements on each side.

Oscar placed out his Vindicator, Heavy Weapons Squad and the Crusader with the Chaplain and Death Company loaded up. Everything else went into reserve. This could be tough with the Master of the Fleet (later it hit me that we forgot that Decent of Angels allows a reroll) but would not make a huge impact on the game. He had a series of bad luck with reserves and scatters using DOA. One assault squad ended up on the far edge of the board and the Storm Raven was delayed a turn.

Highlights of the game for me was the Callidus being able to kill the traitor on his turn after she assaulted and put one wound on him. The next rounds allowed her to finish off the heavy weapons team and chase them off the board. For Oscar I have to say his brick was that Crusader that I could not stop. He also plowed down a Vet squad with melta guns, most of my platoon squad and forced them to fall back. If not for Shraken being able to rally them I think the damage would have been worse. The remaining Death Company ripped up Shraken’s squad leaving just him. The remaining 1/3 of the platoon sacrificed themselves to finish off the read of the Death Company as Shraken crushed the Chaplain’s skull with his bare hands. Only the Shraken and a single melta gunner were running for a Chimera for cover.

At the end of the game, we both had killed the traitor but I had managed to take a minor victory with full bonus points.

Game 2 vs. Necrons

The Necron player Jim was another great player. He had a rather basic and tough Necron list like this:

· 2 Lords both with scythes, one had a destroyer body, one had the orb, one had the Veil of Darkness and I think one had the 4+ inv save.

· 2 Monoliths

· 4-5 squads of 10 Warriors

· 3 Large unit of Destroyers

I won the roll again, took my table quarter and setup for a split move to each Empty Quarter and a run for the center with a defensive line to be left behind. He setup his Monoliths to the front and the warriors behind with destroyers in support. He managed to roll a 6 and seized the first turn! Ugh!

This was your typical Necron game; he would shot me, get several glances but was only getting 1-4 as results and just knocking around my transports. I was able to make one monolith immobile and destroy the second. About half way through the game he had one quarter and I had the other well in hand. It was all down to the center.

For the last round I could only hear the sergeants in the Veteran squads yelling “Drop your cocks and grab your socks! We’re going for a walk boyz!” as he slams the release switch to the hatch of the Chimera. And that is what my veteran squads did, they disembarked best they could within 2” and moved out. One squad managed to get close to the center objective but could be 3 or 4 inches! I open fire on his Destroyer squad around it and hoped the lone necron warrior near was not within 3”. As my shooting came to a close the plasma vet squad was my last squad and the one near the objective. I would have rather than them that last turn but instead I was forced to open fire and pray I was close enough. I rolled 6 wounds with the plasma and by luck I was right at 3”! WOOT! His warrior was 3.75 away from the objective! Another minor win but only with 1 bonus point this time.

I knew I was in the upper tier but it would take a good game to bump me further if I was going to continue to the second round. They started to pair us up until I noticed one of the top leaders was about to play the Necron player I had second round. This didn’t make sense so we inquired about it. Appears there was an error in the last round of matching. Gah! So instead of an IG player I get Grey Knights.

Game 3 vs. Grey Knights (Inquisition)

Kris was his name and had a rather straight up list. We were both close to the top and we both stood a good chance to continue on. He had this:

· Cotaez

· Grey Knight Lord that allowed the d3 special perks with purifier and terminator armor.

· 5 Squads of Henchmen each with a Jokero and a mix of Crusaders and Death Cult Assassins in Chimeras.

· 3 Dread Knights with mixed weapons.

This game was pretty heated the first part, we both was out for blood to win. He got some shock hits in but I managed to pull the lines together and hold my own towards the end. The flanking Dread Knights threw off my game plan and nearly cost me the game.

Highlights for Kris were the Dread Knights, those things able to jump 12” and that fist one with the STR 6 flame template was a beast. It blew up a Basilisk, Chimera and killed half the squad inside. Ouch! One key point for me was the Callidus being able to kill not one but two of these monsters in close combat. She was VERY lucky and he ignored her thinking she wasn’t a major threat. I would manage to get two wounds on them with shooting and she would finish them off with a pair of lucky 6’s rolls and a C’tan sword is nothing to sneeze at.

When we added up the points I think it was 335 or so in VP difference in my favor. Draw! ARG! I got two bonus points and waited for the other games to end.

I sat at 3^rd place for a long time until one game ended. A tyranid player that earned only 8 points his first game, managed to pull out not one but two massacres with full points! Yea, I saw the list and it was nothing that I could see as special or amazing. So, he took the 2^nd spot and I was bumped to 4^th along with another player that was using Blood Angels.

Well, there is always next year. I had fun, 3 good games, the players was great that I met. Some old faces and some new were great. The store was nice and the drive wasn’t bad. I’d go back for another event there.