Deredeo, Daemons, Disco - Test Game III and IV

I got two practice games in yesterday; one was against my new nemesis, an Ork player named Martin Hultgren. Nicest guy ever, but he pilots one of the most devastating lists I have ever faced. We have played quite a few games against each other and I have lost every time, been tabled or very close to it by round three every game. It is one of those matches that a competitive personality actively goes looking for and dreads in equal proportions.

My second game was against another club mate, we have only played one time before but it is one of those opponents that you know that the game is always going to be fun and relaxing, just by the strength of your opponents personality, a perfect laid-back and friendly game that makes you love 40k even more.

Let us get to the games; I played my DDD list that I have mentioned before, trying to get as many reps in as possible before our club’s 3 round RTT later in the week.

Game 1 (Orks)

Ork Air Wing (Freebooterz)
Burna-bommer (2xSupa Shoota, Twin Big Shoota)
2 x Dakkajet (6xSupa Shoota)
Wazbom Blastajet (2xWazbom Mega-Kannons, Kustom Force Field, Smasha Gun)

Ork Battalion (Freebooterz)
Warboss (Power Klaw, Shoota [Index])
Weirdboy
Boyz (Boss Nob: Choppa, Kustom Shoota [Index], 28x Ork Boy W/ Shoota)
2 x 10 Gretchin
3 x Mek Gunz (Smasha Gun)

Ork Battalion (Freebooterz, Dread Waaaagh!)
Big Mek (Da Souped-up Shokka, Shokk Attack Gun, Warlord)
Weirdboy
3 x 10 Gretchin
Gorkanaut (2x Rokkit Launcha, Skorcha, 2x Twin Big Shoota)
Morkanaut (Kustom Force Field, Kustom Mega-blasta, Kustom Mega-zappa, 2x Rokkit Launcha, 2x Twin Big Shoota)
2 x Mek Gunz (Smasha Gun)

I picked Reaper, Big Game Hunter, Kingslayer (Warboss)
He picked Big Game Hunter, Recon, Headhunter
Mission was Cut the Heart and deployment was Front-line Assault

The player that won the roll has to select which deployment zone to get and the other player deployed their whole army and got to start. I won the roll… right there I knew this was an up-hill battle, if not impossible. As I said before I faced this army before and I know how devastating it is. The terrain let me hide some units but with his army spreading out over the whole board and with so many threats I knew I could not hide them well enough. I chose to deep-strike one unit of Plaguebearers in the hopes of getting them into all the Mek Gunz and the Shokka Attack Gun in the backfield later.

His first turn he kills a Deredeo, a Disco Lord and 11 Plaguebearers. I actually gamble and choose to roll for morale with the Plaguebearers, hoping I would get a one with the help of Sloppity, and I get it and they are up above 20 models again, lucky!

My first turn I move my last Disco Lord up 1,1” away from the Gretchin screen protecting the Gorkanaut and the Morkanaut. I kill them with smites and some shoots from the Deredeos Heavy Bolters, I also take down the Wazbom Blastajet with the two remaining Deredeos. That leaves me with a 7” charge for my Disco Lord with Diabolic Strength to get into combat with the Gorkanaut, I fail the charge rolling a 1 and a 2 and re-rolling the 1 into another 1. The game was sadly over there; his list has too many deadly threats and by failing to remove more than one the first turn I knew it was over.

His next round he kills the two Deredeos with only the Mek Gunz, and I give up as the rest of the shooting would remove most of my Plaguebearers (that I had failed to cast Miasma of Pestilence on) and the two ‘nauts would rush in and kill most of my characters.

I am bit on the fence here, in 40k with any given list, there will many times be a match-up that is unwinnable, this could be one of those match-ups. I like my list and I might just have to accept that and try to minimize the loss when I face this type of Ork army next time, or there might me some

Game 1 (Khorn)

CSM Battalion (Red Corsairs)
Huron blackheart (Warlord)
Sorcerer with Jump Pack (Warptime, Death hex, Relic-combimelta)
3 x 5 CSM Marines (Plasma/Gattling)
7 x Khorne Berzerkers
Maulerfiend

CSM Spearhead (Red Corsairs)
Chaos Lord with Jump Pack (Combi-plasma, Thunderhammer)
Tech-priest
3 x Vindicator

Daemon Battalion (Khorne)
Daemon Prince (Wings, Skullreaver)
Herald
2 x 20 Bloodletters (Banner, Instrument)
10 x Bloodletters

On to my second game where I picked Big Game Hunter, Headhunter and the Butchers Bill.
He picked Big Game Hunter, Headhunter and Old School
Mission was What’s Yours is Mine, the deployment was Hammer and Anvil

I won the roll to select deployment zone, he had to set-up his army and got to start.

I had read about the triple Vindicator combo before and thought I knew what it could do but I really should have asked before the game for the specifics. This game could have ended on his first shoot if the dice had been kinder to him.

He had his two units with 20 Bloodletters and the Skullreaver Prince in Deep-strike so I felt like I had to screen of most of my army, forcing me to clump up a bit too much to get all my characters and the Deredeos inside my Plaguebearer bubble. I made an error here deep-striking my second unit, with them on the table from the start I could have created a larger bubble and protected my army better from what was to come, lesson learned.

Back to his first turn, he moves his army up and then he uses Linebreaker Bombardment and targets one of my Deredeos, because I put all of my army in a bubble that 3” aura hit…

• 2 Deredeo
• Ahriman
• Thousand Sons Daemon Prince
• Thousand Sons Sorcerer in Terminator Armor
• Disco Lord
• Plaguebearers

Here is where I get super lucky; he only manages to wound the Plaguebearers and one Deredeo, killing only one Plaguebearers and putting six wounds on the Deredeo. If things had gone differently I could have lost my entire Supreme Command of Thousand Sons and more that turn, but the dice gods are fickle bastards and they giveth and taketh in times of need.

Next it was my turn and I decided that I needed to remove those nasty Vindicators or I would lose the game, luckily enough the range of Linebreaker Bombardment is only 24” so I could easily reach them with a Disco Lord. I used smites and the Deredeos Heavy Bolters to clear out the 10 Bloodletters that were screening the Vindicators and the indirect fire from the Deredeo to kill five Berzerkers, I also did 9 wounds to one of the Vindicators with some psychic powers and the Butcher Cannons. I then proceed to charge another Vindicator with my Disco Lord and kills it, throwing out an energy beam with the Spirit Thief ability killing the other Damaged Vindicator, and then one of them explodes putting some wounds on the last one.

His next turn the wrath of Khorn arrives, with 40 Bloodletters and a Skullreaver coming in; one of the Bloodletter units makes the charge into my Plaguebearers together with the Skullreaver Prince, the remaining Berzerkers, a Chaos Sorcerer and the Maulerfiend. Huron, the Tech-priest, and the Chaos Lord makes it into the Disco Lord that killed the Vindicators, the Herald of Khorn tries to charge but the Baleflamer burns him to a crisp. Long story short he brings my Plaguebearers down to nine models and kills my Disco Lord.

In my turn I fall back, bring in my second unit of Plaguebearers as a second screen in my backfield and smites away Huron, I kill the first unit of Bloodletters and my second Disco Lord kills the Skullreaver. I also do 11 wounds to the Maulerfiend with Butcher Cannons and with the help of the Thousand Sons Daemon Prince.

The game was over there and we called it.

Final Words

Two very different games, which I believe highlights what the strengths and weaknesses, are of my list.

• I do not survive well when being outranged
• I can deal with close combat and hordes quite well

I like my list and I will use it for my next RTT and possible further than that. I think that getting some more reps in will maybe make me see things I have missed before or enlighten me to different tactics when facing certain types of lists that I struggle against. In the meantime, it is a very fun list to play and that in the end is what it is all about.