As you all know, I play Imperial Knights. There was a scare when Games Workshop released the balance dataslate 2 weeks ago, which removed the Objective Secured for Armigers and the "count as 5 models, 10 for Titanic" rules. Apparently, we're getting them in the codex, so Games Workshop or whoever thought they could just take out those rules, never mind that it'll screw Knights over during the 1 or 2 months before their codex arrived, even though we have tournaments like the Renegade Open Spring Up GT and stuff. I changed my list and added Thousand Sons (so Rubric Marines and Scarab Occult Terminators) to "Chaos" Knights because I needed infantry with Objective Secured to grab objectives. Thankfully, Games Workshop had a change of heart and gave Knights back their "count as 5/10 if Titanic models" and Armigers' objective Secured back last Wednesday, and the Tournament organizer, Ben Cherwien, was kind enough to allow me to change my list back to pure Knights even though the cutoff submission date for lists was Monday. Thank you, Ben.
After getting advice from the Imperial Knight discord group (which I left after having some disagreement regarding the Tyranid codex - basically everyone was whining about how overpowered the Tyranid codex was, and they attacked me and talked down to me in a very condescending manner when I suggested that we wait for the meta to settle and players to actually play games first before coming to a conclusion), I went with House Raven. I used the same old Imperial Knight list that you guys are probably familiar with by now. You know, my Knight Castellan with Cawl's Wrath and Cold Eradication, Knight Preceptor with stormspear rocket pod and Ion Bulwark, 3 Armiger Knights Moirax - 2 with grav pulsars and 1 with lightning locks, and 3 Armiger Warglaives with meltaguns.
The first mission was Conversion and my opponent played Harlequins. He had 6 Voidweavers, went first, and...yeah. Needless to say, I was utterly destroyed. Funnily enough, my Knight Preceptor tanked 6 Voidweavers' fire like a boss, surviving the first turn with just a single wound remaining. Unfortunately, I failed to capitalize on that. The Harlequins' -1 to hit, no re-rolls allowed and army-wide 4++ invulnerable saves were just atrocious to play against - unable to pop off Order of Companions (which was the whole reason why I used House Raven in the first place), I was unable to do much except watch my Knights get deleted by a mixture of fusion pistols, sheer weight from shuriken cannons and the prismatic cannons. I was only able to destroy 4 Voidweavers and a couple more Starweavers, and a bunch of Troupes (eventually). At least I killed the Warlord and Characters, but I took Bring it Down, which on hindsight was not a good idea. In any event, my Knight Castellan survived, and I denied him To The Last once, so he scored 95 points to my 53. Well, considering that I didn't get tabled and my Knight Castellan survived, I'd call that a win in my book. Heh.
Random Taunar. I so wanted to play against Tau and see how my Knights would fare against the Taunar Supremancy Suit, but...oh, well. It is what it is.
The second mission was Tide of Conviction, and I ended up playing against Salamanders this time. This time, my opponent wasn't able to maximize his use of melta, or I somehow made all my invulnerable saves. It was a brutal back and forth game, with me losing my Knight Preceptor and all of my Knight Armiger Moiraxes. Funnily enough, my Armiger Warglaives all survived this game and helped me secure the objectives. I had the 3 of them run around to grab objectives. Instead, my Knight Castellan bore the brunt of the Captain on bike and Primaris Chaplain on bike, being reduced to 5 or 6 wounds (I can't remember, but fortunately I had Machine Spirit Resurgent). This time, I used Order of Companions 2 or 3 times and wiped out most of the Salamanders, killing 9 Vanguard Veterans (though the Armiger Warglaives helped with that), annihilating the Terminators and quite a few Bladeguard Veterans, the Eradicators (again, the Warglaives helped with that), and a bunch of other infantry that included 4 Aggressors. My Castellan eventually killed both the Chaplain and Captain on bikes after being smashed about, but I succeded in tabling my opponent on turn 5. My poor Knight Castellan was practically on his last legs, but the Armiger Warglaives did a lot of work, killing the last of the Eradicators, an attack bike, company Veterans and Assault Intercessors. Wow. I didn't think that would go that well.
I eventually won the game 94-66. Phew. That was a hard fought battle. Don't let the tabling fool you, the match was closer than the score or the last turn made it seem. A lot of it came down to me denying my opponent objectives while making use of Objective Secured Armigers to secure objectives. If Games Workshop hadn't given us back our Objective Secured Armigers and counts as 10 models Titanic Knights in the updated balance dataslate last Wednesday, I would have lost that game. Badly, I might add. That rule is a lifesaver. It changes everything. Don't underestimate Objective Secured Armigers and Titanic Knights counting as 10 models.
The third and last mission for the day was Secure Missing Artifacts. This time, my opponent was Space Wolves. He used the Whirlwind of Rage and Master Artisans successor Chapter Tactics, and it was quite brutal. In the first turn (in all three games, I went second, which suited me fine - I prefer to be the defender and go second, let my opponent come to me), his Longfangs and 2 Dreadnoughts with their Helfrost cannons killed my Knight Preceptor. Ouch. This time I failed all my invulnerable saves, and he was melted to slag by multimeltas.
From there I knew it was going to be an uphill task, and I did my best to grab objectives, with my Armiger Warglaives killing the Eliminators. I used Order of Companions three times - and I'm telling you, that Stratagem is absolutely amazing. Without it, I would have lost the two games (not including the Harlequin one). The Venerable Dreadnoughts survived volcano lances with their 6+++ Feel No Pain (ugh), and his Wulfen, Chaplain with jetpack and Assault Interecessors proceeded to wipe out my Armiger Warglaives. Oh, and the Longfangs too, though I killed one squad of Longfangs with my Knight Castellan. The game was pretty back and forth, with me losing all my Knights except the Castellan and a single Armiger Moirax by the end of the game. Funnily enough, my Knight Castellan survived a charge from Terminators with lightning claws and proceeded to both stomp and shoot them to death afterward. Despite losing so many models, I was surprised that I was able to all but table my opponent, with his Phobos Librarian being the sole survivor by the end of the game, hiding from my Knight Castellan (and surviving through Transhuman Physiology Stratagem). Eventually, I pulled back on primary objectives and a couple of secondaries (except Assassinate), with No Prisoners and Yield No Ground yielding lots of points. My Armiger Moirax also killed a bunch of Intercessors and the Cyber Wolves by themselves.
Unexpectedly, the game ended in a tie! Both my opponent and I scored 84 points each. That was hilarous and awesome. We both had a good laugh out of it. Honestly, ties are the best because nobody loses. What matters most is having fun!
Tomorrow, we'll be having Tear Down their Icons and Data Scry-Salvage. I don't know how I'll fare tomorrow, but I do know I'm exhausted as f. So I'll just sign off right now and continue writing more after the tournament ends tomorrow. Till then!
Didn't know you had a blog for your knights! Vulkan, of course, lives. Would love to run it back as I reflected on a few misplays!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, yeah! That sounds like a good idea.
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