More PGK Battle Reports!

Oh man, so many games, so little time to write.  The good thing though is that I have got a ton of good experience in so I'm ready to share my results.  In these reports, you'll see optimized and balanced army lists because that's the way to victory.  I'll keep these BRs in note form because some of the games were ridiculous.


First game was against Tyranids:

Highlights here was that the game was Capture and Control on Pitched Battle.  The army list I used was this:

2000

HQ:
Grand Master (MC Psycannon, Blind, Rad) = 245
Librarian (4x Powers, Psybolts, 3x Skulls) = 190

TROOP:
10x GKSS (Rhino, MC DH, 2x Psycannons, Psybolts) = 295
10x GKSS (Rhino, MC DH, 2x Psycannons, Psybolts) = 295

ELITE:
7x Paladins (Apoth, MC DH, 2x MC Psycannons, BBanner, Psybolts, 2x MC) = 570

HEAVY:
Dreadnought (2x TLAC, Psybolts) = 135
Dreadnought (2x TLAC, Psybolts) = 135
Dreadnought (2x TLAC, Psybolts) = 135

• I forgot to put the skulls on the board and I rolled like ass on the scatter with my Paladins.  I mishapped and rolled a 1 on the table so my entire squad of GM, Libby and Paladins would of all died.  Good thing my opponent was a champ and reminded me of my skulls I forgot to place.  After a re-do on the scatter, my Paladins landed in front of his entire army of Termagaunts and went to town.
• The Paladins with the GM and Libby executed most of his entire army.  I must of went through a hundred gaunts (no joke); after shooting, assaulting and having him dig through Sanctuary.  When I plowed through everything and got in range of his Trevigon, Tyrannofex and Hive Tyrant, he forfeit.  His exact words were:  "I have never seen something take so much damage."  Yes, Paladins are absolute gods vs. normal attacks/shooting.
• My Rifledreads played counter-battery and they went through plenty of Hive Guard and forced others to go to ground.  HG die even through cover saves and any retaliation was stopped by Fortitude.  They just kept on shooting until Turn 5 when they were finally silenced by lucky shots from the Tyrannofex.
• Paroxysm is absolutely brutal if I can't block it with my psychic hood.  The one time it went off saw a drastic decrease in combat effectiveness and shooting from my Paladin squads.  This just shows me how important psychic defense really is.
• My GKSS held my points really well.  They shot at anything that got close and took advantage of cover to minimize damage.  For the points, I'm very satisfied that I had a unit that can put down so much fire and enjoy the safety of their Rhinos against heavier targets.

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My second game was against Orks and it was 1500 points:

1500

HQ:
Librarian (3x Powers, 3x Skulls) = 180

TROOP:
10x GKSS (Rhino, MC DH, 2x Psycannons) = 275
10x GKSS (Rhino, MC DH, 2x Psycannons) = 275
10x GKT (MC DH, DH, rest Halberds, 2x Psycannons, BBanner, Psybolts) = 500

HEAVY:
Dreadnought (2x TLAC, Psybolts) = 135
Dreadnought (2x TLAC, Psybolts) = 135

• I played well this game, but man.. dice were absolutely horrible.  The mission was 3 objectives and it was Pitched Battle.
• Early game blew up a Battle Wagon with the Psycannons shooting out of the Rhino and the explosions pinned his squad inside.  My DS came in on the spot with my Librarian and Terminators and they shot the Shoota squad to death almost.
• Next round, his Nob squad with Cybork Bodies, FNP and all different layouts WAAGH'd and came closer with another squad of Sluggas.  OK, no big deal.  I Sanctuary, he fails a couple here and there and assaults me through difficult + dangerous terrain.  I activate force weapons with Hammer Hand and have the Terminators swing at the Nob squad with 21 Instant Death attacks at I6 S5 and deal 1 wound.  Long story short, I lost everything but 2 Terminators even though managed to kill the Warboss before he got to swing his Klaw with my Libby.
• Next round I blow up some other vehicles and pinned another squad from the damage inflicted.  I still had a chance I thought, that was until I assaulted his Nob squad with my GKSS squad who tried to bail out the 2 Termies.  I activate force weapons, charge with 17 attacks and do no wounds.  He attacks back and kills everything I had.
• So what did I learn?  Even though I played well, I rolled like shit and my elite army suffered for it.  There's just nothing I can do with those kind of rolls.  It's cool, we'll get 'em next time.

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Game 3 was the most hysterical:

2000

HQ:
Grand Master (MC Psycannon, Blind, Rad, 2x Skulls) = 255

TROOP:
10x GKSS (Rhino, MC DH, 2x Psycannons, Psybolts) = 295
10x GKSS (Rhino, MC DH, 2x Psycannons, Psybolts) = 295

FA:
10x Interceptors (MC DH, 2x Psycannons, Psybolts) = 315

ELITE:
7x Paladins (Apoth, MC DH, 2x MC Psycannons, BBanner, Psybolts, 2x MC) = 570

HEAVY:
Dreadnought (2x TLAC, Psybolts) = 135
Dreadnought (2x TLAC, Psybolts) = 135

• Guess what his list was?  Daemons.  Guess what?  I lost.  In fact, I lost 9 kp (he tabled me) vs. 6 kp.  The mission was obviously Kill Points on Pitched Battle and I had the first turn.
• Let me tell you the reason why I lost:  He was the same Blood Angels player I played earlier in my BRs and I ran over his precious marines with my GKs.  He, in turn, decides to build a mono-Khorne Daemon army with Blessing of the Blood God all over the place.  Mat Ward, in all his genius, decides to give Grey Knights all Force Weapons.  BotBG gives all Khorne daemons a 2+ invulnerable vs. Force Weapons.  What makes it even more hysterical is that I didn't take a Libby this game because I had no idea I was going to face his list, and even if I had a Libby, I'd never give him Dark Excommunication.  I just find it really ironic that Grey Knights, in all their daemonhunting glory, is extremely handicapped vs. Khorne daemons.
• You know what, despite the obvious handicap, I played the game out and played extremely well.  I focus fired my GKSS and Interceptor squads into his Flesh Hounds and used my Rhinos to block his units and cover mine from assault.  Combined fire from multiple squads destroyed his Bloodthirster and one squad of Flesh Hounds on first turn.
• Next turn he got the charge off from a Daemon Prince of Khorne w/ Wings and he killed/tied up a GKSS for the entire game.  This went on forever because I just couldn't get past his saves.  His Flesh Hounds got into assault with my Pallies and they tied them up for a good amount as well.  Even though I killed a bunch of the hounds, those 2+ saves kept my Pallies tied in combat along with one of my Rifledreads.  I think my Pallies got tarpitted for 2 rounds, which isn't too bad, but that's still rounds they're not shooting.
• I charged one of my Rifledreads into his Bloodletter squads to tie them up since they couldn't hurt him but that didn't stop his Crushers who were slugging towards my Pallies.  To make things worse, those Crushers also had Skulltaker riding with them and that is a serious problem.
• Even though my Interceptor Squad shot one of his Princes down, the fact he had 3 with Wings overwhelmed my normal units and they couldn't do any damage to him because of the 2+ invul once he's in combat.
• The Pallies eventually broke free from the Flesh Hounds and shot/charged the squad of Blood Crushers.  Rad nades, Psyk-out nades, Hammerhand and BBanner put down 5 from assault and 2 from shooting.  This left Skulltaker alone in there to swing at my Paladins and he didn't manage to Rend/ID any to death.  One of my Pallies took a wound, he loses combat by 9 and makes all his 3+ armor saves.  Awesome.
• Next turn, I get charged by a Herald on a Chariot and another Daemon Prince; both with Blessing of the Blood God.  Though my Pallies fought bravely, Skulltaker beheaded my Grand Master, my Paladins did nothing to his units because of Blessing and they lost combat and ran off the field.
• At the end of the game, I analyzed my execution and battle plan and realized I didn't do anything wrong.  Everyone did what they're supposed to do, it's just that 2+ invuls in close combat vs. me means I kill nothing or get tarpitted.  Shooting is great, but with wings on all the Princes, a lot of field saturation (didn't help he got all his reserves in on time and without scatter), and beast-charging Flesh Hounds with Blessing means I'm in a world of shit.
• It really sucks that the Librarian and the Dreadknight are the only ones to carry Dark Excommunication and it sucks even more because I'll never take that spell.  Against anything but Daemons, it's worthless and even if you get it off, all you need to do is not be in base to base with the Librarian and it doesn't work.  Did Mat Ward forget about Blessing of the Blood God when he made all Grey Knights carry Force Weapons?  I wonder..
• Lastly, I would like to note that I'm a fan of the Interceptors.  The 30" shunt gave me the ability to reposition instantly and support my GKSS squads in the execution of his Bloodthirster and Flesh Hounds.  If they didn't have the extra fire support, I would of had a BT with Blessing amok my lines and that would of meant a lot of dead dudes.