This months' tournament at my local store was a 2500 point ITC-format event that was themed around a "quest for knowledge", tipping the hat to all the students returning to classes this fall semester. For my list, I kept it simple, but brought out a "secret weapon" I was anxious to try!
It was a straight CAD, totaling 2500 points. I brought:
- Captain in Cataphractii armor with the Gorgon's Chain, Chainfist, and Combimelta
- Command Squad with 3 plasma guns and an Apothecary in a Rhino
- Techmarine
- Cataphractii Terminators with 4 Lightning Claws, Sgt with Powerfist and Grenade Harness
- -Land Raider dedicated transport
- Contemptor Class Dreadnought with a Kheres Autocannon
- 2 Tactical Squads, +5 marines, with 1 grav cannon and 1 gravgun each
- Centurion Devestator Squad with Grav cannons and Missile Launchers, sgt Omniscope
- Devastator Squad with 4 Missile Launchers
- Devastator Squad with 2 Lascannons
- Cerebus Heavy Tank Destroyer (Lord of War Superheavy Tank)
My first opponent played Blood Angels, using some Storm Raven shenanigans and Death Company dreadnoughts... The mission was Crusade, but I lost both on the Maelstrom objectives and the Primary. Notable events include my Cataphractii terminators being held in reserve, and mishap'ing twice in a row! They eventually made it to the table, but too late to make a difference. Also, the Cerebus made a decent showing in it's inaugural game, killing two storm ravens that went into hover mode. I also made the mistake of letting my Contemptor become immobilized with his back to the enemy, which proved to be it's undoing. Also, my techmarine made a valiant stand protecting the Cerebus from attacking Death Company, tarpitting them long enough for the Cerebus to secure a few kills.
I received 0 points out of 10 for this match, a pretty overwhelming defeat as far as points go.
I had to take a bye for the 2nd round, as some players had to drop out for work or other responsibilities. As close as the first game seemed, since I didn't actually secure either primary or secondary objectives, I ended up with 0 points for the first round. So being in last place, I was tokened with the bye. I actually would have preferred to play my 2nd round, even if I would have resulted in a loss, but I didn't have much choice in the matter. They awarded me 8 points out of 10 for taking the bye.
For the 3rd round, I played against Black Templars. Another CAD, he had a Knight and some drop pods, along with a small contingent of predators and dreadnoughts. By carefully deploying my units in cover and giving him the first turn, I was able to shield myself from the worst of his alpha-strike, and the Cerebus made some great returns by blowing apart his Land Raider early on before it could disgorge Grimaldus and his retinue. My Grav did wonders here, glancing hull points off the Knight, allowing my Cataphractii Terminator Sgt. to finish it off with a few well-placed Powerfist attacks.
My contemptor also did wonderful work, completely rendering his squads useless in CC, as they lacked powerfists or meltabombs. With the front armor value of 13, without being immobilized, once getting into combat their weapons were useless, driving them before him.
I won the game solidly, gaining both the Primary objective (special theme of multiple relics) and the Maelstrom objective, winning 9/10 points for the round.
As for my performance? I think I was pretty solid. I may not have been in any sort of running for the top 3, but I came in solidly middle-of the pack, which was actually better than I had hoped to come in, considering that I haven't been to a tournament for the majority of the year. I made some mistakes in the first round, such as forgetting to reroll failed wounds on the grav cannons that had amps, but I corrected those in the following round and played a solid game from then on.
Had I been able to play my 2nd round instead of taking the bye, I think I would have fared well. Maybe not securing 8 points, but I am sure I would have secured one objective or the other. Purge was a game type that I might have done well in, and that was the 2nd round's mission. I kept my unit count fairly low so it probably would have gone well, but who knows?
Either way, a satisfactory showing by my Iron Hands for their first tournament.
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