The Roost of Turkadactyl

Out Of The Basement is a local Edmonton gaming group that has been operating for years now.  I’ve been playing 40K for twelve years and I am certain they were around before I started.  They run two events a year- one in January and one in July.  Gamer’s from all across Alberta flock to these events to play 40K, Fantasy, Malifaux, X-Wing, Warmachine, etc.  I’ve been to one OOTB event and that was years ago.  I wanted to see if my Carcharodons could stand up against the other best painted models.  Oh yeah, I was able to play some games too.  Let’s see how I fared.

I participated in a few local 40K tournaments in fifth edition.  Tyranids represented me three times (best overall, best painted, third in sportsmanship) and Adeptas Sororitas once.  In fact, my most memorable game was in a tournament playing my Tyranids versus Sean’s Red Scorpions.  I’ll get to that game another day because it is worthy of its own post.  Sean and I still talk about that game to this day and that was well over five years ago.

I left the tournament scene because some gamer’s get a little too ornery.  There are gamer’s who play for best general.  They play the power list and they know how to play.  Good for them.  I have no problem with that.  I go for best overall, painted and sportsmanship.  I typically make dumb mistakes so best general is usually out of my reach.  I have no problem with good generals and strong lists.  I have a problem with the gamer’s who get angry over bad dice rolls and try to take advantage of rules.  It turned me off the scene.  I was in a sixteen person tournament a couple of years ago but that was low-key.  there was no best general category and it was a very relaxed it event.  The itch has returned though, to return to a bigger event.

I wanted to put the Carcharodons up against the best painted.  Edmonton has some fantastic painters and I wanted to give them a run for their money.  OOTB is one of the bigger local tournaments so it made sense to enter.  This was my first two-day event.  Six 1850 point games were spread out over two days.  I have to say I lucked out tremendously.  All six players were fantastic sports and all could have received best sportsmanship.  So here is a quick run down of day 1.  All games used the ITC format found on the Frontline Gaming website.

Here is my list:

Carcharodons Gladius Strike Force

Battle Demi-Company

• Captain- power armour, power sword
• 5 Tactical Marines- sgt, bolter, boltgun, close combat weapon upgrade (Carcharodons can give Tacticals a CCW for one point per model)
• 5 Tactical Marines- sgt, bolter, boltgun, close combat weapon upgrade
• 5 Tactical Marines- sgt, bolter, boltgun, close combat weapon upgrade (Carcharodons can give Tacticals a CCW for one point per model)
• 3 Assault Centurion Marines- siege drill, twin-linked flamers
• 3 Devastator Centurion Marines- grav cannon and grav amp, missile launchers

Strike Force Command

• Tyberos- Warlord (preferred enemy-infantry)
• 5 Honour Guard- chapter banner

1st Company Task Force

• 10 red Brethren Assault Terminators- lightning claws
• 5 Assault Terminators- thunderhammer and stormshield
• 5 Sternguard- 2 missile launchers

I was wavering on what to take to the tournament and then I realized that if I painted up the Captain and five Tactical Marines I could field the Gladius Strike Force.  I wanted the Honour Guard in the list because those five models would boost my profile for best presentation.  I also wanted to run a ten man squad of Red Brethren.  The Sternguard were added to boost my anti-tank weaponry.  I could have removed five Red Brethren to boost up the Tactical Marines but at the end of the day the Carcharodons are all about Terminators so I went with what my heart told me.  The list has some glaring weaknesses but what list doesn’t.  Play with what makes you happy and this list made me happy.  Time to dance.

Game 1

I played Arthur with Eldar combined with Space Marines (Ultramarines chapter tactics).  I was sizing up all the armies displayed and determining which lists would demolish my list.  Arthur’s was one of those lists.  We played ITC mission one.

Eldar

HQ

• Autarch- Warlord (+1 seize, re-roll reserves), jetbike, fusion pistol, scorpion chainsword

Troops

• 3 Jetbikes- scatter lasers
• 3 Jetbikes- scatter lasers
• 3 Jetbikes- scatter lasers
• 3 Jetbikes- scatter lasers
• 3 Jetbikes- scatter lasers
• 3 Jetbikes- scatter lasers

Fast Attack

• 1 Hornet- pulse lasers
• 1 Hornet- pulse lasers
• 1 Hornet- pulse lasers

Lord of War

• Skathath Wraithknight

Skyhammer Annihilation Force- Ultramarines

• 10 Devastators- 4 grav cannon, drop pod
• 10 Devastators- 4 multi melta, drop pod
• 5 Assault Marines- jump packs, melta bombs
• 5 Assault Marines- jump packs, melta bombs

Arthur won deployment and first turn.  He spread the jet bikes and hornets across his table edge.  The Wraithknight was set up in the middle.  I blobbed in the middle of my deployment zone.  The Sternguard were perched in the ruin to maximize firing.  The Centurions hid on the bottom level to gain a cover bonus.  The Terminators were deployed at the front to give cover to everything else.  I split the squad of red Brethren.  Let the carnage begin.

The Skyhammer Annihilation Force arrives turn 1 and unleashed their payload.

There is a whole lot of shooting and the Carcharodons have a difficult time weathering the storm.  My right flank Red Brethren are eliminated to the grav cannon Devastators.  Arthur combat squads his Devastator units.  The hornets and jetbikes make short work of the grav Centurions.  My left flank crumbles to the torrent of fire as well.  I lose four red Brethren, two thunder hammer and a wound is taken off of Tyberos.  The Assault Marines on my right charge in to the Tacticals and lose one to overwatch.  I lose combat by one and run off the board.  The Assault Marines on my left charge.  Both sides stay stuck in combat.

The writing is on the wall for this game.  I expected this to happen and it is up to me to try take as much down as possible.  The Assault Centurions eliminate one five man squad of Devastators and are left in the open to eliminated in round two.  My other Tactical Squad on my right charge the Assault Marines.  I kill one but lose three in the process.  The Honour Guard charge the Assault Squad on my left and wipe them out.  Tyberos with the last survivor of the Red Brethren charge the multi melta Devastators.  The thunderhammer terminators charge the other multi melta Devastators.  As expected the Terminators kill everything in site.

Arthur is winning on Maelstrom points 1-0

Turn 2

The Hornets shot Tyberos and the Red Brethren.  Tyberos is instant killed and the Red Brethren is no more.  The jetbikes unleash a fury on the thunderhammer Terminators.  I only fail one armour save.  We didn’t keep track of the number of saves I had to made but I made far more than I should have.  The Wraithknight them double flamed the Terminators and I rolled two 1’s out of four dice to wipe out the unit.  The second grav cannon Devastators wipe out the Assault Centurions.

My turn doesn’t solve much.  The Honour Guard and Tactical Marines strike forward towards the Wraithknight knowing that it spells their imminent doom.  After two rounds of combat Arthur has two Assault Marines to my one Tactical Marine.

Arthur is winning on Maelstrom 3-0.

Turn 3

What a surprise.  The Sternguard, Honour Guard and Tactical Marines are eliminated to shooting.  The combat between the Tactical Marine and Assault Marines remains a draw.

Well, I wasn’t tabled in three turns.

Turn 4

The game is over but we play on to see who wins the epic slap fest in the corner.  One Assault Marine is killed in Arthur’s round of combat and fails the leadership test.  My Tactical Marine pursue’s and charges on my turn and wins the combat.  Arthur then kills my last model in turn 5.  Arthur wins the game 11-0.

Arthur played on the tops tables for the rest of the event.  It’s a hard list and I knew I stood no chance.  He was a good opponent and the game was still fun.  We had plenty of time to get to know each other after.  He has been in the hobby for a couple of years and now runs the Edmonton Warhammer League.  The link is now in the blogroll.

Game 2

A loss of 11-0 catapults me to the bottom table where I meet Mike, who also lost 11-0.  Mike plays in the same group as Arthur so I have a good feeling about this game.  This game was a blast.  It involved the Relic from ITC mission two.  Mike played Space Wolves and we both wanted to be in combat.  The relic was in open ground and this game saw a whirlpool of carnage in the middle of the board.

Space Wolves

HQ

• Herald Deathwolf
• Ragnar Blackmane- 2 wolves

Troops

• 13 Bloodclaws- power fist, meltagun, Stormwolf
• 5 Grey Hunters- meltagun, 2 chainswords, Razorback with twin-linked lascannon
• 5 Grey hunters- meltagun, 1 chainsword

Elite

• Dreadnought- power fist with heavy flamer, Drop Pod

Fast Attack

• 5 Wolves
• 3 Thunderwolf Calvary- thunderhammer with stormshield, frost axe with stormshield, chainsword with stormshield

Heavy Support

• 4 Long fangs- Warlord (Shrouded), 3 missile launchers

Formation

• Void Claws

Mike wins deployment zone and I win first turn.  My Sternguard sit on the objective in my zone and I hide a Tactical Marine squad in case the Sternguard are eliminated.  The grav Centurions are parked on the roof of a central building to maximize firing lanes.  Everything else is placed as close to the middle as possible to grab the relic.  I combat squad the Red Brethren.  My left contains the Sternguard, two Tactical Marine squads, Tyberos with five Red Brethren and the Assault Centurions.  The right flank consists of the other five red Brethren, 5 thunderhammer Terminators, the Honour Guard and one squad of Tactical Marines.

Mike sits the Long Fangs on the objective in his deployment zone and hides some Grey Hunters behind the building to secure the objective in the event that he loses the Long Fangs.  Everything else is on his front line to grab the objective.  Herald Deathwolf joins the Thunderwolf Calvary.  The Stormwolf and Dreadnought are placed in reserve.  Mike rolls to seize the initiative and is successful.

The Thunderwolf Calvary and Wolves advance to the relic.  The Razorback drives straight to my lines.  The Void Claws slog their way up.  The Dreadnought drops behind my right side.

Mike focus fires on the Red Brethren on my right and three are eliminated.

I move everything up except the Sternguard and the Tactical Marines being held in reserve in the building.  The Honour Guard and Tactical Marines on my right shoot the Wolves and eliminate the unit for first strike.  The grav Centurions shoot the void Claws and eliminate the unit.  The Assault Centurions shoot the Thunderwolves and cause one wound.  The Sternguard shoot the Razorback and shake the crew.  Tyberos and Company and the Assault Centurions attempt to charge the Thunderwolves and fail.  The thunderhammer Terminators charge the Dreadnought.  The ancient machine is destroyed but takes down a Terminator in the process.

I am winning on Maelstrom points 2-1.

Turn 2

The Stormwolf enters play.  Mike’s shooting doesn’t resolve anything.  The Thunderwolves charge Tyberos and company.  I lose three Red Brethren and Tyberos take a wound.  Mike rocks his invulnerable saves.

The grav Centurions and Sternguard attempt to damage the Stormwolf to no avail.  The Honour Guard and Tactical Marines advance on the Razorback.  The Tactical Marines make the charge and cause a glance.  The thunderhammer terminators charge the drop pod and wreck the machine.  The Assault Centurions and a Tactical Marines squad charge the Thunderwolves.  I lose a wound on Tyberos and the Veteran Sergeant from the Centurions.  Mike loses the three Thunderwolves, leaving Herald Deathwolf on his own.  The Tactical Marines are unable to consolidate into combat.

I am winning on Maelstrom 4-2.

Turn 3

The Stormwolf hovers and drops off Ragnar Blackmane and the Blood Claws.  The Razorback tank shocks the Tactical Marines and I pass my leadership.  The Razorback targets the thunderhammer Terminators and kills one.  The Stormwolf targets the Sternguard, killing one, and the grav Centurions and takes a wound off the front model.  The Blood Claws charge and the Assault Centurions are destroyed.  Herald Deathwolf kills Tyberos in a glorious duel.  I did not write down the casualties that Mike sustained.

Well, today is the Carcharodons lucky day.  They have combats to choose from.  The Sternguard and grav Centurions shoot the Stormwolf out of the sky now that was hovering.  The Tactical Marines shoot the rear armour of the Razorback and wreck the tank.  The Tactical Marines and Honour Guard charge the Grey Hunters.  The Tactical Marines bring along some popcorn and watch the Honour Guard go to work and eliminate the Hunters.

The Tactical Marines holding back in the ruins pop out and charge the massive combat in the middle.  They are joined by a second a Tactical Marines squad and the other unit of Red Brethren.  The support proves to overwhelm the Space Wolves, who lose an overwhelming number.  Herald Deathwolf flees the combat and drops the relic.  I lose one unit of Red Brethren.

I am winning 6-3 on Maelstrom.

Turn 4

The Grey Hunters come out of hiding and advance towards my Tactical Marines.  The Long Fangs kill a member of the Sternguard.  Herald Deathwolf jumps into the whirlpool of carnage.  I lose all Red Brethren.  I lose combat but pass my leadership.

The Sternguard and grav Centurions fire at the Long Fangs and kill one.  The Honour Guard join the frenzy and Herald Deathwolf loses two wounds.  Ragnar Blackmane kills the Chapter Champion.

I am winning 8-4 on Maelstrom

Turn 5

Shooting solves nothing.  Herald Deathwolf focuses on the Tactical Marines and wipes out a unit.  He then slain by power axe carrying Honour Guard.  Ragnar Blackmane survives combat and slays a Tactical Marine.

I advance the Tactical Marines into a ruin and into Mike’s deployment zone.  Combat sees Ragnar Blackmane defeated, but he takes the Captain down with him.  When the dust settles in the middle no original combatant survived the melee.  Only one Tactical Marine and four Honour Guard survived the carnage.  The Tactical Marine holds onto the relic as a reward.

I am up on Maelstrom 9-5.  We roll for a turn six and the game ends.  The final score is 10-1 for me.  Mike received his point from Slay the Warlord.  I claimed the primary (the relic), the secondary (maelstrom), first strike, and linebreaker.  This was a fun game for both of us.  We both had smiles from this match.

Game 3

My third game saw me go up against Apo and his Ultramarines.  Apo was not registered to participate.  He was a back-up player in case there was an odd number so he would fill-in as necessary.  His goal was to have a fun game and that was exactly what happened.  We both made mistakes but neither of us cared.  This was the last game of the day and it showed.  We were tired by the end of this.  Out Of The Basement hosts a pub night after and this game was standing in the way of the pub.

Ultramarines

HQ

• Librarian- Warlord (outflank), mastery level 1

Troops

• 5 Scouts- camo cloaks
• 5 Tactical Marines- meltagun, combi-melta, Drop Pod

Elites

• Ironclad Dreadnought- 2 hunter killer missiles, Drop Pod
• Ironclad Dreadnought- 2 hunter killer missiles, Drop Pod

Heavy Support

• 3 Devastator Centurions- grav cannon and grav amp, hurricane bolters, omniscope, Drop Pod

Formation- 1st Company Strike Force

• 5 Sternguard- 3 combi-melta, 2 combi-plasma, power fist
• 5 Sternguard- 3 combi-melta, 2 combi-plasma, power fist, melta bomb
• 5 Sternguard- power fist, melta bomb

Formation- Librarius Conclave

• Chief Librarian Tigirius- mastery level 2
• Librarian- mastery level 2
• Librarian-  mastery level 2

I forgot to write down the powers that Apo rolled for.  We play ITC mission three and I have first turn.  I place the Tactical Marines, Sternguard and Devastator Centurions in the ruins for cover saves and holding the objective.  The Terminators, Honour Guard and Assault Centurions are parked on my front lines, ready to go in either direction.  Apo places his Scouts close the objective in his deployment zone.  Everything else is in reserve.

I advance the Terminators forward and hold the Honour Guard and Assault Centurions back for Apo’s inevitable Drop Pod assault in my deployment zone.  Shooting only kills one scout.

My wife arrived at some point after this.  The event was at the University of Alberta.  My wife is a teacher so she disappeared to do marking.  She starting taking pictures so I let her document the rest of the game.

Four Drop Pods arrive for Apo. The Ironclad arrives between the ruins and advance towards the Tactical Marines.  The Conclave and grav Centurions land between the ruins.  The Sternguard land beside the Red Brethren.  The Tactical Marines land close to the Honour Guard.  Apo rolls his psychic powers and gives the grav Centurions shrouded and feel no pain.  He casts psychic shriek on the Honour Guard and I luck out and only lose one model.  I lose three Red Brethren due to combi-melta and plasma shots.  I lose 2 grav Centurions to Apo’s grav Centurions.  I lose four Honour Guard to shooting from the grav Centurions (omniscope allows split fire) and Tactical Marines.

Apo is winning 2-1 on Maelstrom

Turn 2

The thunderhammer Terminators advance towards the Scouts.  I shoot at the Conclave and grav Centurions and kill one Centurion and put a wound on a Librarian.  The grav Cent and Steernguard shoot the Ironclad and wreck the machine.  The Honour Guard charge the Tactical Marines and wipe the squad out.  Tyberos and the Red Brethren charge the Sternguard and wipe the unit out.  Two Tactical Marine squads and the Assault Centurions assault the Conclave and grav Centurions.  I make the mistake of having my Veteran Sergeant from the Centurions issue a challenge and the Librarians axe makes short work of the Sergeant.  I lose two Tactical Marines.  Apo loses another Centurion and now has two Librarians each with one wound remaining.  The Assault Centurions fail their leadership and run out of combat.

Apo rolls for reserves and a Sternguard unit and the second Ironclad arrive.  The Ironclad drops close the Tyberos and the Red Brethren.  The Sternguard land in the neutral territory and close enough to shoot the grav Centurion in the ruins.

The Sternguard shoot the grav Centurion and kill the remaining model.  All other shooting is futile and in combat Tigirius loses a wound.  Apo forgot to do psychic powers, which he remembered at the end of the assault.

Apo is winning Maelstrom 4-1

Turn 3

The thunderhammer Terminators advance to the objective in Apo’s deployment.  The Assault Centurions advance to the Sternguard.  The honour Guard close in on the Conclave.  My Sternguard shoot Apo’s Sternguard and kill two.  Tyberos and the Red Brethren charge the Ironclad and wreck it.  The Honour Guard charge into the Conclave.  The Assault Centurions fail their charge into the Conclave, who were closer than the Sternguard.  The remaining grav Centurion is killed along with the two Librarians that had been previously wounded.  Tigirius has one wound left.  I lose two Tactical Marines.

The Warlord Librarian and final Sternguard arrive.  They drop close to the thunderhammer Terminators.  The Scouts and Sternguard shoot the thunderhammer Terminators but they don’t budge.  The Tigirius gets Invisibility off.  The Scouts charge the thunderhammer Terminators and almost survived.  My Chapter Champion slays Tigirius.

Apo is winning on Maelstrom 5-3.  Apo calls the game after this turn.  My victory is inevitable and he wants to visit the pub.  It was a fun game and much to the Carcharodons delight there was a lot of close combat carnage.  I claim the primary for destroying more units as well as linebreaker and first blood.  Apo claims the secondary (maelstrom).  I win 6-4.  Apo was willing to give a 11-0 score.  I opted for a 6-4 score to stay closer to the middle of the pack with more relaxed opponents.

It was a good first day.  I’ll be posting what happened on day two and army showcases.  Good on you if you made it through this long post.