Local Single Battalion Tourney Win - Part 3 (Kabalites v Custodes)

My list is posted here

Match 3
Scenario
This scenario was a little funky. Every player was given a list of the same 10 objectives. The objectives could be claimed anytime so long as the conditions were met. In addition, most of the objectives had two tiers. The four take objective X for 1 VP could also be turned in for Defend objective X for 2 VP; Destroy 1 enemy unit in the shooting phase for 1 VP could also be turned in for destroy 3 units in the shooting phase for 2 VP, etc.  Once claimed, you could not achieve it, or its other tier, again. This was meant to force players to choose between quick points against the risk of being knocked off of an objective or failing to achieve a higher kill count on a later turn.

As with the first battle, the four numbered objectives were in preset positions and each player placed a key objective in their deployment zones.  Every table was using the Spearhead Assault deployment. The center terrain pieces were again rotated to maximize the LoS blockage between players (this time my opponent and I remembered to agree that the terrain [some buildings] were to be considered impassible by all but flying units).


Any big open areas had terrain features, I just don't remember what any of the pieces that weren't important to the match were.

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My Opponent
Custodes Battalion

HQ
1x Shield Captain, WL, Eagle’s Eye, Castellan Axe
1x Dawneagle Shield Captain, Auric Aquilis

Troops
3x Custodian Guard
3x Custodian Guard
3x Custodian Guard

Elites
1x Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought
1x Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought

Fast Attack
5x Vertus Praetors

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Deployment
My opponent deployed his bikes at the tip of the spear with the dawneagle captain and 2 custodes squads close behind. The 3rd custodes squad was placed in cover on his key objective.  The 2 dreadspears & the foot shield captain were placed in deep strike.

I placed my venoms along my deployment lane with my ravagers forward and to the right. My non-WL archon was placed on my key objective. The two flyers were placed on my back line, with one lined up on each edge of the center terrain piece.  As with the previous two battles, mandrakes and scourges were in deep strike. The plan was to be able to move to the right to fire into the bikes if I got first turn, or to castle back and zone out the turn 2 deep strike if I went second.



Round 1
As it happens, I went first. The left two venoms pretty much stayed put.  The razorwings flew to each corner of the center terrain piece.  The ravagers and 1 venom moved behind the small buildings to the right to get LoS and range on the bikes. The back right venom shifted to the left a little. In the shooting phase, I took out two bikes with dissie fire and brought a 3rd to 2 wounds remaining. End of turn with no points scored, as I choose to wait on scoring objective 4 until the end of my opponent’s turn for 2 VP. [0-0]

My opponent moved all of the bikes towards me on the right.  The two center custodes squads moved up to defend objective 1.  The back custodes stayed put, to prevent me from nabbing easy points via deep strike the following turn (capturing your opponent’s key objective was worth 3 VP, defending it was worth 5VP!). This is where bad luck came into play for my opponent. All of the bikes fired into the right razorwing. I put lightning fast reactions on it and watched as 48 hurricane bolter shots and a further 6 shots from the guardians dealt… 5 wounds. He then charged the razorwing, where he lost the wounded bike to overwatch and the shield captain failed his charge.  After rolling 4 wounds, the -3 meant it went straight to damage rolls… where he rolled quad 1s, re-rolling one of them into a 2. The razorwing survived with 1 wound remaining & left me feeling bad for my opponent that it lived. The dice gods giveth & the dice gods taketh away. The turn ended; I scored defend objective 4. [2-0]

Round 2
My two objectives for my second turn were finishing off the bikes and zoning out my backfield to limit my opponents deep strike options.  I disembarked all four venoms and spread out the venoms and kabalites such that the only useful place my opponent could be able to drop down on my side of the board was to the left of the center terrain piece, far removed from anything vital.  As part of this shifting, the ragavers only moved a couple inches, and the left razorwing came over to the right side of the board, just behing the right corner of the center terrain piece.  The wounded razorwing moved into my opponent’s backfield, staying out of rapid fire range of the custodes. While I kept the scourges in DS to respond to the dreads, I did drop the mandrakes down to help finish off the bikes. Shooting saw my blasters, splinter fire, & fresh razorwing finish off the praetors.  The bike captain was downed by the mandrakes & a blaster shot, I think.  My ravagers took out one of the two custodes squads holding objective 1.  This left me with 3 shooting kills for 2 points and my opponent finished defend objective 1 for 2 points. [4-2]

My opponent searched and measured and tried but was unable to find a missed drop spot for his DS units.  He dropped one dreadnought on objective 3 and placed the other as near as he could on my right flank.  The captain came down behind the main building and the custodes squad shifted forward off of objective 1 to give him protection.  Shooting on the right killed a kabalite squad I had on objective 2 and took 3 wounds off of a venom. On the left, the other dreadnought killed a second kabalite squad. The right dreadnought failed its charge.  My opponent decided to keep the left dread on objective 3 and score it this turn, as I would just need to move a venom nearby to contest it next turn. My opponent scored: destroy a unit in the shooting phase (1), secure objective 3 (1), and clear an enemy controlled objective before the end of the shooting phase (2). [4-6]

Round 3
I moved and re-embarked the remaining kabalite squad to the left and the non-WL archon onto venoms, making sure both were in blaster range of the dreadnought. Venom to the back right also re-embarked its squad after shifting forward. The ravagers shifted forwards to defend objective 2. The fresh razorwing moved between the two custodes squads. The mandrakes stayed put, with the haywire scourge dropping down behind them. The venom to the right shot up the board to take objective 1 for a cheeky point. Shooting saw the right dreadnought and the custodes squad holding his key objective destroyed, as well as one of the custodes in the remaining squad. He finally rolled well with the invulns and I only did one point of damage to the left dread. The scourges had been Fire and Faded into protection. I scored: secure objective 1 (1) and clear and enemy controlled objective before the end of the shooting phase (2). [7-6]

On my opponent’s turn, he charged and destroyed the venom on objective 1 with the captain and the remaining custodes.  The dread charged both venoms on the left, and destroyed the one with the non-WL archons. I rolled a one on the escape, but luckily still had CP for the re-roll. He scored: destroy and enemy unit in the fight phase (1) and charge an enemy controlled objective and control it at the end of your turn (2). I scored defend objective 2 [9-9].

Round 4
The ravagers shifted to have LoS on both groups of units.  I disembarked both remaining venoms to be able to move-block the dread if I was unable to kill it and preven it from getting to objective 4 or my key objective. The left most venom moved onto objective 3. I tried to get one of the ravagers onto his key objective, but even with enhanced aethersails, I would have been an inch short. As such I just kept it to a regular move to have it in range in case there was a turn 5. Shooting killed the custodes and captain, and brought the dread down to 1 wound remaining. The non-WL archon and a kabalite squad charged. The archon got 5 hits, but only 1 wound (why couldn’t he have been my WL with eternal hatred for the re-rolls). He failed the lone save.  I rolled a 1 for damage. Command point!... 1 again… he still has his 6+++, but failed on a 5. 3 for 3 on sudden death victories. I breathed out a sign of relief and melted into a puddle on the floor after getting my first tournament victory.

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What I did right
-I was very pleased with my board control. Over the past 6 months or so I had been working on improving my zoning and move-blocking skills.  Both skillsets were used well in this match.  Even if I hadn’t finished off the dreadnought, I had left him in a position where he would be completely unable to score any of his remaining objectives on his next turn, whereas I would have been able to score 2 more for defend objective 3 and 5 more for defending his key objective.

What I could have done better:
-I was a little too conservative with the ravager movement. I should have recognized the need to move them farther on turn three to set up a turn 4 capture of his key objective.
-I should have been more conservative with moving my flyers on turn one.  There was absolutely no need to put them up that fast where my opponent could get off a turn 1 charge.
-Know the objectives. While I thought I was giving myself a 1-point advantage by taking objective one with a venom, I had forgotten about the charge and clear mission objective (which didn’t care if my opponent had already taken points from the objective in question), netting my opponent a point in his favor. Had we been pressed for time and forced to end at the end of turn three, that would have been the difference between a win and a draw.

What my opponent did right:
-Charging the flyer was the right move. It was the dice gods that made it disastrous.

What my opponent could have done better
-After the match he stated that he wished he had done his deep strike differently, starting with one of the dreads on the board and having the bike squad in DS.

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Please let me know if you have any questions about the match or anything that wasn't clear.