Battle Report #3 (7/12/12) Blood Angels vs. Orks

Blood Angels 2000 points

HQ) Librarian: Force Axe, Bolt Pistol; Unleash Rage, Shield of Sanguinius@100
Elite) Sanguinary Priest (2): 2 Power Fists@150
Elite) Sanguinary Guard (5): 2 Power Axes, 1 Power Fist@210
Elite) Terminator Squad (5): Assault Cannon@23
Troop) Assault Squad (5): Meltagun@100
-Rhino: Removed Jump Packs@15
Troop) Assault Squad (5): Meltagun@100
-Rhino: Removed Jump Packs@15
Troop) Assault Squad (5): Meltagun@100
-Rhino: Removed Jump Packs@15
Troop) Assault Squad (5): Meltagun@100
-Rhino: Removed Jump Packs@15
Troop) Death Company (9): 3 Power Axes@225
- Land Raider: Extra Armor@265
Troop) Death Company Dreadnought: 2 Blood Fists@125
-Drop Pod@35
Heavy) Storm Raven Gunship: Twin-linked Multi-melta@200

TOTAL POINTS=2000

This is the first take of my "Red Marines" list. Its mostly what I have for the army I simply used jump pack marines as Death Co. proxies. I also used a Drop Pod from my Ultramarines and a Vendetta proxy for the Storm Raven. I don't think that this list can stand up to a tough list. I think it is missing a lot and is a little light on scoring units because the DC units cannot score. I am also relying on the Storm Raven to take out any possible enemy flyers because the shooting weak. But I do think it will be a fun list because I have a lot of different units which I have never played before!

First match-up: Orks (My brother Ryan's)

As an older brother this may not have been the best game to test my new army. If I lose I wont hear the end of it. On the other hand it will force me to play my best and never give up!

The mission was Dawn of War and The Crusade. Both of which I have already played. I do like them both however, and I think they are one of the only missions that is truly competitive.

The Ork list I faced was a very shooty list with 3 Loota Squads, 3 Cannon Squads, a Big Mek, Grots, and a large Nob biker squad led by a Warboss. With the new rules for biker toughness this could be a tough unit to beat and nothing in my army can really handle it. My plan was to give the Nobs sacrifice units, mainly the rhino squads and bait them to either fail a charge or come close enough to charge them with multiple units after shooting. 

This worked well on the first turn as I pushed forward with most my army taking shots mostly at the Nobs. I tried to hide the dread behind its pod away from the Nobs. This was to draw most fire and threaten all three cannon squads. Unfortunately my brother stayed back with most his army and shot. He only killed the dread but this got him First Blood as well as not taking the bait in the Rhinos. Here is where I realized the big flaw in my army: I cannot assault out of the Rhinos. While I knew that you no longer can disembark and assault in the same turn, the realization that the way I designed this list needed to be able to do just that.

Turn two for me would have been great had I been able to assault. The assault squads could have charged 2 different loota squads and some cannons. Sadly, its against the rules! I just simply did not have enough shooting to take out that many Orks. I actually tried to tank shock multiple units once they were whittled down below 11 models but Ryan made all of his saves. I managed to at least push the Grots so far back that they could not get near any objectives.

Despite the armies shortcomings I managed to retreat a few assault squads and claim 1 objective while I threw everything else forward to stall. We ended the game on turn 5 with a 5 to 4 loss. Had it went on I would have lost by much greater. I should not have tested out a list against Ryan, hes actually pretty good...but don't tell him that!

Result: LOSS

Blood Angels (0-1-0)

Overall Record (1-2-0)