Shattered Spear, An Aeldari/Grey Knights Battle Report
Well... that didn't go according to plan.
An exercise in not being too over confident in your own abilities, but at the same time a moment of pride as a student finally learns his army. This was a battle I had with a student in the club, and I'm really pleased with the result in a number of ways! However, I'm also now acutely aware of problems in my army list building.
The Aeldar Craftworld Wild Riders of the Bright Spear flotilla faced against a small force of the Emperor's Hammer, the Grey Knights of Titan. Here are the forces:
[108 pts]
Farseer Skyrunner: Singing Spear, Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult
Psyker: Doom, Fortune, Smite
[140 pts]
[60 pts]
[157 pts]
Warp Spiders: 4 Warp Spiders with Death Spinners. Exarch with two Death Spinners.
[98 pts]
Wind Riders: 3 Wind Riders withe Scatter lasers
[84 pts]
Psychic Powers: Smite, Gate of Infinity
[275 points]
Psychic Powers: Smite
[233 points]
Psychic Powers: Smite
[137 points]
My student used the Grey Knight army list I set out for him, which leverages some of the strongest teleportation shenanigans you can field for Grey Knights. They're a typically slow army, but the whole army can be right up in front of the enemy's face in the first turn. It looks great, and that is an amazing feat when you consider this is his first army.
Sadly... this is the only army I couldn't get first turn against. The Grey Knights had 2 units on the field., compared to my four. And that put me in a problem.
The Grey Knights deployed first making good use of cover. Since I was going to have to weather a turn of intense alpha strike, I turtled up behind some cover:
It... didn't help.
In perfect execution of the tactics I outlined for him, my student found the hole in my defensive deployment, dropped in, and wiped out the unit of Rangers for First Blood. Through some clever use of Stratagems (and burning loads of Command Points), the Shining Spears managed to get through most of the shooting with only loosing a single wound.
And then three were torn apart by the Dreadknights charge. They peeled a significant number of wounds off through using a Stratagem and overwatch, with the Autarch screaming in from Heroic Intervention to deal some hefty damage.
The next turn had the Warp Spiders drop in, and kill a single Interceptor. The Dreadknight was finished off from the Autarch blasting him apart with the Novalance, netting me a single victory point for Slay the Warlord.
At which point the bell went, and the club had to stop.
This was lucky for me, since I was then going to have to face 5 angry Terminators, and 4 Interceptors in charge range.
As any scientist who emerges from the wreckage of his labs says, I think I know where I went wrong. Turtling up just gave the Grey Knights more teleport vectors. It would have been far better for me to spread my forces out, using my superior speed to re-deploy after the first turn, hiding the Shining Spears behind the Windriders and Rangers. They would have then leapt out to take out any target, the Rangers and Windriders absorbing fire for them, and adding their shooting to the Spears' rampage.
I am very proud of my student though, who managed to teach his teacher a lesson, both in deployment and humility.
I can't wait until next week's game!
Until next time.
Thanks for reading.
If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated.
If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day!
If you want to support me directly, use the affiliate links below. I get a small percentage of purchases you make her, and you get cheaper miniatures! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my PayPal, or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my Patreon. Every Little helps!
An exercise in not being too over confident in your own abilities, but at the same time a moment of pride as a student finally learns his army. This was a battle I had with a student in the club, and I'm really pleased with the result in a number of ways! However, I'm also now acutely aware of problems in my army list building.
The Aeldar Craftworld Wild Riders of the Bright Spear flotilla faced against a small force of the Emperor's Hammer, the Grey Knights of Titan. Here are the forces:
The Bright Spear Wild Riders
Outrider Detachment (Aeldar Craftworld)
Craftworld Attribute: Saim-Hann Wild Host (Re-roll Charges, Bikers can move and shoot Heavy Weapons without penalty)
HQ
Autarch Skyrunner: Laser Lance (Nova Lance), Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult[108 pts]
Farseer Skyrunner: Singing Spear, Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult
Psyker: Doom, Fortune, Smite
[140 pts]
Troops
Ranger Squad: 5 Rangers with Long Rifles[60 pts]
Fast Attack
Shining Spears: 4 Shining Spears with Laser Lance and Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult. Exarch with Star Lance and Twin-linked Shuriken Catapult.[157 pts]
Warp Spiders: 4 Warp Spiders with Death Spinners. Exarch with two Death Spinners.
[98 pts]
Wind Riders: 3 Wind Riders withe Scatter lasers
[84 pts]
Total: [647 points]
Grey Knight Beginner List: The Lightning Hammer
HQ
Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight
Wargear: Nemesis Greatsword, Heavy Psycannon, Gatling PsilencerPsychic Powers: Smite, Gate of Infinity
[275 points]
Troops
Terminator Squad
Wargear: 4x Stormbolters and Nemesis Force Weapons, 1x Psycannon and Nemesis Force WeaponPsychic Powers: Smite
[233 points]
Fast Attack
Interceptor Squad
Wargear: 4x Stormbolters and Nemesis Force Weapons, 1x PsycannonPsychic Powers: Smite
[137 points]
Total: 645 Points
Sadly... this is the only army I couldn't get first turn against. The Grey Knights had 2 units on the field., compared to my four. And that put me in a problem.
The Grey Knights deployed first making good use of cover. Since I was going to have to weather a turn of intense alpha strike, I turtled up behind some cover:
It... didn't help.
And then three were torn apart by the Dreadknights charge. They peeled a significant number of wounds off through using a Stratagem and overwatch, with the Autarch screaming in from Heroic Intervention to deal some hefty damage.
The next turn had the Warp Spiders drop in, and kill a single Interceptor. The Dreadknight was finished off from the Autarch blasting him apart with the Novalance, netting me a single victory point for Slay the Warlord.
At which point the bell went, and the club had to stop.
This was lucky for me, since I was then going to have to face 5 angry Terminators, and 4 Interceptors in charge range.
As any scientist who emerges from the wreckage of his labs says, I think I know where I went wrong. Turtling up just gave the Grey Knights more teleport vectors. It would have been far better for me to spread my forces out, using my superior speed to re-deploy after the first turn, hiding the Shining Spears behind the Windriders and Rangers. They would have then leapt out to take out any target, the Rangers and Windriders absorbing fire for them, and adding their shooting to the Spears' rampage.
I am very proud of my student though, who managed to teach his teacher a lesson, both in deployment and humility.
I can't wait until next week's game!
Until next time.
Thanks for reading.
If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated.
If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day!
If you want to support me directly, use the affiliate links below. I get a small percentage of purchases you make her, and you get cheaper miniatures! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my PayPal, or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my Patreon. Every Little helps!
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