Grim Dice 40k Tournament Report (Feb 2022) - Ork Green Tide Again

Hello!

You may remember at the end of last year I went to a tournament at Grim Dice Tabletop Gaming in Grimsby - well I went to another one. Same format, 2000 points, three games, though this time using the Nachmund GT pack. As before unpainted was allowed and full painting points were awarded to everyone.

I'm going to use the same format for this post as last time as well - brief army list description then a mini report of the three games, followed by some of my thoughts. So once again I took an attempt on the Green Tide style list, though once again I didn't go full horde, partly due to time concerns and partly as this is the way I'm leaning towards this build. The Boyz are great for board control and bullying troop units in melee, but they can struggle against tough targets and against heavy concentrated firepower. Currently I think spending a lot of points to buff them is a bit of a trap (outside of Bosses who do their own heavy lifting) so 'support' units take the form of units that can kill things Boyz can't and/or play the mission.

With that in mind, here's the list; Snakebites Battalion and Patrol, starting with 8 CP

HQ: Beast Boss (Warlord, Brutal but Kunnin, Beasthide Mantle), Warboss (attack squig, kombi skorcha, powerklaw, 'Ard as Nails, Da Killa Klaw), Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun

Troops: 3x15 Boyz (powerklaw), 2x15 Boyz (shootas, powerklaw), 15 Beast Snagga Boyz

Elites: 6 Kommandos (powerklaw)

Fast Attack: 2x3 Deffkoptas (Boomboyz), 6 Stormboyz (powerklaw)

Heavy Support: 3 Killa Kans (big shootas), 3 Killa Kans (grotzookas), 5 Flash Gitz (ammo runt, choppa, gitfinda squig)

So 90 assorted Boyz forming the core of the list, with some light vehicle support, couple of little 6 man units for retrieving Nachmund data etc, two killy bosses and a bit of unreliable but potentially deadly fire support. The Kans in particular feel like a bargain with the new points costs - in previous editions they would have got rokkits every time but now they are so cheap without them I'm using them as just a melee unit. The Shokk Attack gun and Flash Gitz were my big decisions before the event - I've not been convinced by either of them before but they filled the gap of shooting units and have to potential to swing into being really killy. The Mek also let me go without psychic to free up Abhor the Witch, which is nice.

So, on to game one, against Ash and his Necrons - a bit of a classic mix of Necron units not going too heavily in on one thing. Plenty of Skorpekh Destroyers to get up on points and lots of smaller units to play the mission, with a Night Scythe to deliver some of them. The mission was Conversion, five objectives with corner deployments and bonuses on offer basically for holding the objectives. For secondaries I chose Stranglehold, Retrieve Nachmund Data and Stomp 'Em Good (basically Grind but only melee counts). Ash picked the classic Engage on All Fronts and RND combo plus Grind Them Down.

I got first turn and everything moved up to hold objectives where possible, then the Destroyers struck to wipe a unit of Boyz, but it put them in a bad position for turn two when they got surrounded and beaten down by both Bosses and a load of WAAAGH!ing Boyz. The rest of the game largely followed a patern of Necrons grabbing a point then the Orks pushing them straight off, while I pushed further towards the Necron lines. We both lost a lot of models, but kept our home objectives, though the Orks were comfortably ahead on the primary points.

89-66 is a fairly comfortable score but certainly not totally one sided. Ash was at his first tournament so I was glad he didn't get totally battered!

On to the game two, this time against Conner and his Drukhari - a mix of elements as one might expect for DE, but a focus on two blocks of three Talos and lots of small melee specialist units. The mission was Tide of Conviction, six objectives with most of them in the middle, and bonus points on offer for holding ones in your opponent's half, with extra available for holding them at the end of the game. For secondaries I went with Raise the Banners High, Stranglehold and Bring it Down, while Conner picked the Engage/RND combo and the highest scoring 'kill' secondary vs my army, No Prisoners.

Once again I got first turn and it was largely uneventful, raising some banners and running forward. The Drukhari response was to move up onto objectives and blast some Kans with dark light. Turn two saw the killing really start, Beast Snaggas and Kopta Rokkits downing a couple of the Talos while charges on the right flank took out some transports. Casualties were high on both sides, Orks are pretty good at killing T3 elves if they get to fight before them, and Conner got some pretty poor rolls with his Incubi, both to activate their fight last ability and on the wounding on 4 ups.

Mid game we both had a significant failure that swung the game one way then the other. I failed a very short charge over a pipe into the second Talos unit with a full boyz mob, onto an objective, while Conner's Wych and Succubus got interrupted on by my shoota boyz and battered to death with gun butts before they could fight. The game came down to the last turn, with the one remaining Talos clearing out one of my objectives and my Stormboyz failing a charge onto Wracks on one of Conner's. 

81-72 to the Drukhari, in spite of some bad luck the last turn scoring picked up some big points for the DE. I felt like I played it really well but just didn't quite have that little extra something to claim it in the end. I think up until the last turn we both thought I was winning. A loss is a loss but it definitely feels like an improvement from the second game vs Drukhari last time.

And the final game was against... Rick and his Orks, my first opponent from the last event. Rick had swapped out his Speedfreaks for Beast Snagga heavy Snakebites, so this was going to be a very interesting game as he looked for some revenge! The mission was Data-scry Salvage, a six objective mission with one in the corner deployment zones and four on a middle line. Bonus points were awarded for doing an action on your home objective, equal to the number of central objectives you held. My secondaries were Assassinate, Engage and RND, while Rick picked Stomp 'Em Good, Engage and RND.

Once again I got first turn, moved up and scored a few points. I did some 'token' shooting, but this time it really powered up - the Deffkoptas on the left flank wiped a full unit of Squighog Boyz, and the Shokk Attack Gun blasted most of another! In Rick's turn one the WAAAGH! was declared and all his melee units crashed into my front line in a huge wave of destruction. A couple of turns of our fronts bashing into each other occured, with CP combat interruptions causing huge swings - at one point a unit of shoota Boyz interrupted to batter a mob of Beast Snaggas, wiping them out and claiming an objective. Rick's units were dead killy, but were hampered significantly by the Snakebite trait - we were both on the receiving end for once! I got my Stormboyz in behind the rear objective to RND and disrupt the grots holding it, and the Shokk Attack gun absolutely was super charged this game - two rolls of 11+ for it's srength to dish out mortal wounds, one of which killing a Squigasaur Boss, among several other good shots into Squighogs.

With all the killing across the centre line, and it being a 'hold two' mission, scoring started pretty slowly, but in the end with few units left for me Rick was able to score decently on the primary, however with his losses he was unable to score much for his secondaries, while I maxed assassinate thanks to all his squig mounted characters. It was a nail biter...

Final result, 69-66 to Rick's Orks, once again decided by the final actions of the game - in this case his Kans blasting my Beast Boss off an objective to give him 'hold more'. What a game!

I ended up going 1-2 again, on paper not an improvement, but the two losses were both super close and could have swung the other way with a roll or two - possibly just going first did it for me in the end? It definitely felt like this list had more to give me than the last one, and I'm sure I played it much better. I'm not immediately sure of any big mistakes, maybe I should have put the Kans into reserve vs the Drukhari and their dark lances, and I probably shouldn't have vs the Necrons? Though I was hoping for a better result I'm very happy with how the games played out, all three were fun and the last two were just really intense - but in a good way. (Though there is something to be said for getting smashed in game three so you can go home early!)

Looking at my list, I'm pretty happy with it really. I think I've proved for me that a Boyz heavy list can at least play the game if not magically become top tier competitive, so I might not take it again next time. But if I did I think I'd be looking at the Flash Gitz as a possible cut - they were decent but hampered by S6 against two of my opponents, I think I might get the Meganobz back in instead, they aren't very shooty but they are at least a threat to higher toughness units. I'd also look at unit sizes, I think the two shoota mobs could go down to ten - this keeps them cheap for holding back on objectives and with a lower power level it makes strategic reserves a decent option. I'm glad I took them though, their shooting was handy and both units earned their keep in melee! With the spare points I'd probably up the Beast Snaggas, since they are a proper threat to a lot of units out there, and maybe grab a unit of grots for actions and the like.

Anyway, once more, thanks to everyone, Grim Dice for running, my opponents for excellent games, and you for reading. Hope you enjoyed, and please stay safe out there.

Grim Dice 40k Tournament Report (Dec 21) - Ork Green Tide

Hello!

Time for a bit of matched play with a little one day tournament over at Grim Dice Tabletop Gaming in Grimsby. The event was billed as beginner friendly, with everyone getting the 10 points for painted regardless of actual painting. This meant that some people were taking some slightly silly lists or new armies which was a bit of fun. Personally I prefer to only play with painted models but it's nice to see a bit of variety in the style of events being run.

Anyway, I was running a variant of my Green Tide Snakebite list, toned down a bit in terms of boyz units to give me a better chance of getting through the games, and giving a bit of target variety if I came up against some newer players with an army that might struggle against just Boyz. To that end I put some Meganobz in there, and brought the KFF Big Mek as well to give him another go and see if I could get some extra survivability our of the Boyz. With the extra patrol and a bonus relic and trait the list starts with 8 CP.

Snakebite Battalion and Patrol

HQ: Warboss (kombi skorcha, powerklaw, Brutal but Kunnin, Super Cybork Body), Warboss (kustom shoota, big choppa, Headwoppa's Killchoppa, 'Ard as Nails), Weirdboy (Warpath, Da Jump), Weirdboy (Fists of Gork, Jabbin Fingers), Big Mek with Kustom Force Field

Troops: 4x 15 Boyz (powerklaw), 2x 11 Gretchin ('Orrible Gits), 15 Beastsnagga Boyz

Elites: 5 Meganobz (2 kombi skorchas), 15 Kommandos (Powerklaw, bomb squig, distraction grot)

Fast Attack: 2x 3 Deffkoptas, 5 Stormboyz (Powerklaw)

I'll not do a full report for each game, just a quick summary, partly because it was quite a lot of 40k crammed into the day and I'm not sure I can remember it all, and partly because I don't want to spend all week writing this!

Anyway, game one was against Rick and his Orks! Green on green is always a good laugh, so it was a good way to start off. It was Rick's first tournament, but he obviously knows the game as his list was quite a scary (and great looking) Speed Freaks/Freebootas combo! A whole load of buggies and bikers, plus a Boomer Gunwagon and a pair of jets - Dakka and Wazbomb. Having been on the receiving end of Tony's Deffskulls Speed Waaagh! I was prepared for this one to hurt! The mission was Scorched Earth, and the Snakebites got turn one...

I was quite lucky to get turn one charges from the Kommandos and the Jumping Meganobz, which did some damage and forced a response. I took some heavy casualties in the turn one and two shooting phases, but though I lost a lot of Boyz the Beastsnaggas powered up and killed the wagon and a some buggies, and we discovered that Warbosses are really good a beating up buggies - hitting one 2s, wounding on 2s with their x2 strength weapons and ignoring ramshackle. Ultimately I was able to take board control and the win, leaving just the planes flying around to wrack up some extra points for the Speed Freaks. Here's the score card:

So, sitting on 95 points put me on table two against Jack and his Drukhari. He was running what might be described as an 'old meta' list, running plenty of Wyches, Incubi and a Trueborn squad in Raiders and three killer characters, Drazhar (master of blades) and beefed up Succubus and Archon. Hellions, Reavers, Scourges and some Venoms meant there was plenty of mobility and a Ravager rounded out with a big more dark light shooting. The list had obviously taken some hits in the balance update but it still had a lot of stuff in it! The mission was Overrun, and I once again got first turn.

This felt like one of those 'it was close until it wasn't' games. Once again the Kommandos got a turn one charge to put on early pressure, and the Boyz gave me some good early board control. The Snakebite transhuman-lite along with T5 proved very good for me, causing some of the Drukhari melee units to underperform. The big shift happend in Drukhari turn two when Wyches, Incubi and some killer characters got into two of my basically full strength boyz units at once, making them both fight last. It was a big mistake on my part, I should have used one unit to screen the other from charges. I also got a bit lazy with screening in the back, as you can see my squig was staring daggers at the Scourges who found a gap to pop in and do nasty things to Grots. I'll also say that after this game I'm totally behind 12 point Wyches. Their 4+ in combat and assorted drugs mean the just survive much better in melee than T3 suggests - Redtoof was unable to clear a unit of 5 off an objective even with Brutal but Kunnin.

Scorecard. As you can see, not very close at the end, but not a total blank on the score. In this game I absolutely missed the shootas that I would normally take instead of the Meganobz, their overwatch could have been critical in a few places and having more bodies would have helped massively.

So going on to game three with a win and a loss, I drew against Sam and his Tau. While the last couple of games were against generally strong 'meta' lists, this one was absolutely a hard counter to me. His list had a smattering of infantry and markerlight support, some Stealth Suits, a big unit of Crisis Suits all with burst cannons, a Coldstar with all burst cannons, and the Ta'unar Supremacy suit! That's a lot of strength 5 multi shot firepower, and strength 8+ blast on the big suit. The mission was Sweep and Clear, and the Tau got first turn. Gup!

I think after the first shooting phase it was pretty clear how this game was going to go, as I lost about a third of my army, while the Tau were still several turns of movement away. I think I played reasonably well to salvage some decent points, and I rode my luck in places - notably the Meganobz Jumped onto the central objective on my turn one and somehow one of them survived the entire Tau shooting phase. I also failed a few key charges though which could have made it more interesting. I was particularly pleased with myself on the turn the first Kopta unit arrived and I successfully baited Sam into not firing overwatch from the battlesuits - making it look like the Deffkoptas were going to charge them while declaring into their supporting units with my other Orks and then at the last moment declaring the charge on Stealth Suits in the opposite direction. Kunnin!

So here's the scorecard, I think the result was pretty inevitable but with some more luck I could have scored higher I think. Amusingly I managed to get ROD in all three quarters that I didn't start in, before running out of units to do it in my own deployment zone. In hindsight I think I should have reserved more units and gambled on the 9 inch charges rather than just letting them get shot up.

In the end, one win and two losses is reasonable enough for me. I was hoping for 2-1 but I think I got three fairly tough match ups, including one which was a straight up counter - always a risk when taking a pretty spammy list. In game one and three the Meganobz were great, but it was very much reliant on some lucky rolls so I think I'm still going to take more boyz instead in future variants of this list. Interestingly enough for the Green Tide list, I never took the Green Tide secondary. I think against very killy armies it's too much of a risk as they can just chip all my units below 15, but it's good to have in the back pocket against slower, more defensive armies. This event has given me more to think about for sure, but it's mostly confirming my thoughts about the list - needs more Boyz (but not against Tau!) As an added bonus, even with a million models I did in fact finish all my games just about within the time limit!

Thanks to Grim Dice for running, and to all my opponents for good games. Even against the Tau I had a laugh and learned some important lessons. And thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and stay safe out there.

Drukhari Wave Three - Wyches, Wracks, Incubi, Mandrakes

Hello!

The Drukhari project is done! For now at least. I've painted up a load more infantry models, Wyches, Incubi, Wracks, Mandrakes, and some extras. As before, this was all done to my 'quick' painting standard (and without doing bases) - focusing on getting them done efficiently but looking good on the tabletop. My rule is that if someone says it looks good from four foot away, then it looks good! No take backsies! That said, I still wanted to put them in the light box and get some decent photos of them:

Wyches - painted to match the Hellions and Venom riders of the previous batch. Nice and simple.

More Wracks, once again, similar to the original bunch I did. Really like the twin meat hooks guy. Not sure if that's supposed to be a special weapon for them, but it looks awesome!

Incubi, again, attempting to match the previous scheme. I do think the face plate glow is an improvement though, it's a bit more dramatic with the ever useful Hexwraith Flame.

Speaking of which - Hexwraith got a prominent role in these Mandrakes for their ghostly green fire and for their blades. I deviated from the 'box art' versions a fair bit for these, but I think the result is pretty spooky, and in keeping with the rest of the force.

A straggler from the Scourges of wave two.

And finally, Ur-Ghuls from the Blackstone Fortress set. Not sure what these creepy lads do for the Drukhari, but I think they can hang around with an Archon. They probably just add to the ambience. 

Hope you like them, there's some fun variety in this range, the Mandrakes in particular were a fun job. Anyway, see you next time, stay safe!