Welcome back, Dear Reader, to my ongoing blog of hobby and competitive progress through 2026. Last time around I was running a test with Huron's Marauders and frantically painting my army for the Clutch City GT. I had submitted a list that was something akin to throwing my shoes over the fence, committing to a much bigger hobby lift than I was prepared for. So this week I'm going to talk about how that all shaped up in the final days of painting and how the event went, with my usual blow-by-blow/battle report view of the event. There's a lot to cover, so let's dive in.

My List

This is the same list I was testing last week - Huron's Marauders with a Land Raider, Obliterators, and a Vindicator.

My List - Click to Expand

Clutch Huron List (2000 points)

Chaos Space Marines Strike Force (2000 points) Huron's Marauders

CHARACTERS

Chaos Lord (90 points) • 1x Daemon hammer 1x Plasma pistol

Cypher (90 points) • 1x Cypher’s bolt pistol 1x Cypher’s plasma pistol

Huron Blackheart (120 points) • Warlord • 1x Exalted weapon 1x Tyrant’s Claw

Sorcerer in Terminator Armour (80 points) • 1x Combi-bolter 1x Force weapon 1x Infernal Gaze

BATTLELINE

Cultist Mob (50 points) • 1x Cultist Champion • 1x Autopistol 1x Brutal assault weapon • 9x Chaos Cultist • 9x Autopistol 9x Brutal assault weapon

Legionaries (90 points) • 1x Aspiring Champion • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Chaos Icon 1x Close combat weapon 1x Heavy melee weapon • 4x Legionary • 3x Astartes chainsword 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Heavy melee weapon

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Chaos Rhino (75 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-bolter 1x Combi-weapon 1x Havoc launcher

Chaos Rhino (75 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-bolter 1x Combi-weapon 1x Havoc launcher

OTHER DATASHEETS

Chaos Bikers (70 points) • 1x Biker Champion • 1x Chaos Icon 1x Close combat weapon 1x Combi-bolter 1x Power fist • 2x Chaos Biker • 2x Bolt pistol 2x Close combat weapon 2x Combi-bolter 2x Plasma gun

Chaos Land Raider (220 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-weapon 1x Havoc launcher 2x Soulshatter lascannon 1x Twin heavy bolter

Chaos Terminator Squad (180 points) • 1x Terminator Champion • 1x Combi-weapon 1x Power fist • 4x Chaos Terminator • 1x Chainfist 2x Combi-weapon 1x Paired accursed weapons 2x Power fist 1x Reaper autocannon

Chaos Vindicator (185 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Combi-weapon 1x Demolisher cannon 1x Havoc launcher

Chosen (125 points) • 1x Chosen Champion • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Boltgun 1x Chaos Icon 1x Power fist • 4x Chosen • 3x Accursed weapon 2x Bolt pistol 1x Boltgun 2x Combi-weapon 1x Paired accursed weapons 2x Plasma pistol

Chosen (125 points) • 1x Chosen Champion • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Boltgun 1x Chaos Icon 1x Power fist • 4x Chosen • 3x Accursed weapon 2x Bolt pistol 1x Boltgun 2x Combi-weapon 1x Paired accursed weapons 2x Plasma pistol

Nemesis Claw (110 points) • 1x Visionary • 1x Plasma pistol 1x Power fist • 4x Legionary • 1x Accursed weapon 1x Astartes chainsword 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Nostraman chainglaive 1x Paired accursed weapons 1x Voice Eater

Masters of the Maelstrom (115 points) • 1x Garlon Souleater • 1x Garreon the Corpsemaster • 1x Katar Garrix • 1x Captain Sargotta • 1x The Enforcer

Obliterators (160 points) • 2x Obliterator • 2x Crushing fists 2x Fleshmetal guns

ALLIED UNITS

Nurglings (40 points) • 3x Nurgling Swarm • 3x Diseased claws and teeth

Exported with App Version: v1.46.2 (108), Data Version: v732

Let's start with the obvious: This is not the best version of this list. Far from it, really - the value in this Detachment is how it gives +1 to hit to DAMNED units, which means that it's going to do its best work in an army that runs Accursed Cultists and Traitor Guardsmen. Accursed Cultists in particular are a strong unit who really benefit from +1 to hit from the Detachment rule and can make use of the Detachment's other Stratagems, such as the ability to Advance and Charge and get +1 Attack on the charge with Reaver's Flurry.

I'm running a single unit of Cultists here and most of the power I'm getting comes from the Terminators, Chosen, and Obliterators. I've got some interesting tricks I can pull - doing a reactive move back into the Land Raider here is a solid play - but for the most part I'm not taking full advantage of this Detachment. But it's a paint list in that regard - I've chosen units specifically to eat up points when it comes to painting so I could get more done in a short period of time.

Saturday

The Clutch City GT is at a clubhouse about half an hour from where I live. It's pretty convenient as a drive and a lot of my locals are also attending: Several of the Sanctum crew I regularly game with like Garrett and T are there, and maybe a dozen of the guys from the local Warhammer store are there in their D-Tier jerseys. It's a good turnout and we connect between rounds.

About half of the tables are running a weird UKTC variant for terrain, which tends to be a bit more dense. That's fine by me, but it's also really hard to move through with a Land Raider - something I wasn't really expecting. It won't really be an issue outside of my second game.

Round 1: vs. Oscar Ruiz's Death Guard

But first is round 1 against Oscar. Oscar is a delight - he's a long-time Death Guard player and a strong player and he's here running Virulent Vectorium, with a more casual list that packs a Rhino full of Plague Marines instead of Blight-Haulers.

Oscar's List - click to expand

Virulent Funtorum (2000 points)

Death Guard Strike Force (2000 points) Virulent Vectorium

CHARACTERS

Biologus Putrifier (60 points) • 1x Hyper blight grenades 1x Injector pistol 1x Plague knives

Daemon Prince of Nurgle (215 points) • 1x Hellforged weapons 1x Infernal cannon • Enhancement: Revolting Regeneration

Lord of Contagion (145 points) • 1x Manreaper • Enhancement: Furnace of Plagues

Lord of Virulence (100 points) • 1x Power fist 1x Twin plague spewer

Malignant Plaguecaster (60 points) • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Corrupted staff 1x Plague Wind

Mortarion (380 points) • Warlord • 1x Lantern 1x Rotwind 1x Silence

Tallyman (50 points) • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Plasma pistol

BATTLELINE

Plague Marines (190 points) • 1x Plague Champion • 1x Plasma gun 1x Power fist • 9x Plague Marine • 2x Blight launcher 3x Heavy plague weapon 2x Meltagun 9x Plague knives 2x Plague spewer

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Chaos Rhino (85 points) • 1x Armoured tracks 2x Combi-bolter 1x Havoc launcher

OTHER DATASHEETS

Deathshroud Terminators (160 points) • 1x Deathshroud Champion • 1x Icon of Despair (Aura) 1x Manreaper 2x Plaguespurt gauntlet • 2x Deathshroud Terminator • 2x Manreaper 2x Plaguespurt gauntlet

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points) • 1x Heavy blight launcher 1x Plague probe

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points) • 1x Heavy blight launcher 1x Plague probe

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points) • 1x Heavy blight launcher 1x Plague probe

Poxwalkers (65 points) • 10x Poxwalker • 10x Improvised weapon

Poxwalkers (65 points) • 10x Poxwalker • 10x Improvised weapon

Poxwalkers (65 points) • 10x Poxwalker • 10x Improvised weapon

Exported with App Version: v1.47.0 (110), Data Version: v743

Plague Marines are fine, but you can't really afford to take them and Mortarion and Oscar knows it. The big threat to me here are the Blight-Haulers, which will tear up all of my 2- and 3-wound infantry from a Distance, while Morty will be Oscar's answer to vehicles once he gets close. I need to use Cypher to pressure him and stop him from getting value on his Daemon Prince.

The Mission: Linchpin + Search and Destroy

The big thing I need to do in this game is handle the Bloat-Drones. I'm not going to be able to hold the middle - I can't stop Mortarion from going wherever he wants to go - so I need to keep my home point screened and make sure Oscar mostly lands in front of me with his Deathshroud.

I'm going first.

That's not amazing and I draw Area Denial on the first turn, which is easy enough to score that I venture a cheap unit out there. My plan here is to run the Land Raider around to the right to take on those Bloat-Drones and use the Nurglings to tie up the Poxwalkers. Poxwalkers can't kill anything with -1 to hit and can't fall back and charge, so charging them functionally takes them out of the game for a round and forces Oscar to deal with them, wasting Bloat-Drone shots at them.

Oscar brings his drones down and kills my Nurglings and then brings his Poxwalkers over to the objective - he wants to sticky it - and gets his Plague Marines out with a plan to shoot it full of holes. However he only gets one set of shots - he takes a shot at it first with Mortarion and chips off 3 wounds, which allows me to surge with To the Favoured Go the Spoils, and I roll a 5 there, getting into combat with the Poxwalkers and out of line of sight of half of the Plague Marines. That saves me some shots and on my turn I'm able to get out behind the wall. At that point, Oscar jumps back into the Rhino with Mortarion's reactive move, but I spike my Lascannon shots and kill the Rhino and then make short work of the Plague Marines forced to jump out. Meanwhile Huron and his crew move up the flank and kill both Bloat-Drones.

The big problem for me is over on the left there, where Oscar's Deathshroud have dropped in and sweep through my Vindicator. Cypher and the Rhino are able to stop them from doing more damage, but I can't kill a Lord of Contagion with either - I get off some lucky shots to kill two but not before they wipe out my Cultists and drop my primary scoring.

The good news is that at midtable I'm able to take down Mortarion with a large volume of Lethal Hits shooting from Huron's unit while the Terminators have dropped in and claimed the Northwest objective for me while firing shots off at the third Bloat-Drone. I pick up Assassination and Display of Might on the final round and that makes a huge difference, putting me up over Oscar, who can only score Recover Assets for 3 on the final round - all he has left are those two Deathshroud and a unit of Poxwalkers.

This ended up being a very close game that ran to time. Those early turns took a lot of thought but by the final rounds there wasn't much on the table.

Result: 56-55, Win

Oscar submitted his list late and is playing with a penalty so I'm glad I won this game outright - I'd have felt bad if I'd lost on points and won on the penalty. As always, Oscar is a pleasure to play and we had a great game.

I grab lunch at the venue - a banana and some subpar pizza - but it'll do. I spend time talking to Garrett and T about their games and setting up for paint judging. I don't get judged - my game ran too long - so I'll have to set back up again later.

Round 2: vs. Niall Kitching's Adeptus Custodes

Custodes are always a tough army to play. They're not particularly strong as a faction - particularly if you aren't running the heinous triple Land Raider build - but when everything has a 4+ invulnerable save and your key units have the option for a once per game 4+ Feel No Pain, your games will often just come down to whether you win or lose those coinflips.

Niall's List - click to expand

The Revenge Arc Begins Now

A haiku: Feral Undead Doubt A Victory Is Due Have A Losing List

(1995 Points)

Adeptus Custodes Lions of the Emperor Strike Force (2,000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Blade Champion (120 Points) • 1x Vaultswords

Blade Champion (145 Points) • 1x Vaultswords • Enhancements: Superior Creation

Shield-Captain in Allarus Terminator Armour (140 Points) • 1x Balistus grenade launcher • 1x Guardian spear • Enhancements: Admonimortis

Trajann Valoris (140 Points) • Warlord • 1x Eagle's Scream • 1x Watcher's Axe

BATTLELINE

Custodian Guard (150 Points) • 4x Custodian Guard ◦ 4x Guardian spear

OTHER DATASHEETS

Allarus Custodians (165 Points) • 3x Allarus Custodian ◦ 3x Balistus grenade launcher ◦ 3x Guardian spear

Caladius Grav-tank (215 Points) • 1x Armoured hull • 1x Twin arachnus heavy blaze cannon • 1x Twin lastrum bolt cannon

Caladius Grav-tank (215 Points) • 1x Armoured hull • 1x Twin arachnus heavy blaze cannon • 1x Twin lastrum bolt cannon

Custodian Wardens (260 Points) • 5x Custodian Warden ◦ 5x Guardian spear ◦ 1x Vexilla

Custodian Wardens (260 Points) • 5x Custodian Warden ◦ 5x Guardian spear ◦ 1x Vexilla

Witchseekers (45 Points) • 1x Witchseeker Sister Superior ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Witchseeker flamer • 3x Witchseeker ◦ 3x Close combat weapon ◦ 3x Witchseeker flamer

Witchseekers (45 Points) • 1x Witchseeker Sister Superior ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Witchseeker flamer • 3x Witchseeker ◦ 3x Close combat weapon ◦ 3x Witchseeker flamer

ALLIED UNITS

Inquisitor Draxus (95 Points) • 1x Dirgesinger • 1x Power fist • 1x Psychic Tempest

Exported with App Version: v1.46.2 (1), Data Version: v732

Nothing crazy here; it's all a problem and I need to play conservative and make sure I'm getting the alpha strike whether I go first or second. I mostly want to go second here but I'm going to be reacting.

The Mission: Take and Hold + Search and Destroy

I'm going second.

That's mostly good but it means that the first turn is a nothing burger - Niall draws No Prisoners and Recover Assets, and kills my Nurglings for free points on the former. I draw Extend Battle Lines on my turn and score it free with Bikes, then I pull back with my tanks - I don't want to get charged by a Blade Champion across the middle of the table just yet.

I swing my Chosen, Chaos Lord, and Nemesis Claw to the right while Niall throws his Allarus at my Land Raider. He bounces and I'm able to kill the Blade Champion and his hangers-on, but the big disaster comes from the remaining combats - I spend my turn 2 completely bouncing off the Allarus and the Blade Champion's Warden unit at the top of the table, where I needed real damage to stay in the game. Not killing the Allarus shield captain is just real bad luck - Niall passed his 4+ saves there - and there's not much I can do about it.

I do eventually kill the Shield Captain but I lose a bit chunk of Huron's unit and my Obliterators to Trajann and the Wardens. My Terminators clear Niall's home objective and while I clear the lower right objective, I have a bad Battle-shock turn there which costs me 5 VP on primary. Had I pulled that one out I'd have won the game, but it wasn't meant to be. This one ends 83-79.

Result: 79-83, Loss

Niall was fun to play and we had a great game. I had some big plays late and pulled ahead on secondaries when I managed to score Assassination/Tempting Target/Marked for Death in the same round for a 15-point swing and Cleanse/Secure on the final round + 15 primary might have otherwise put me over. A great, close game.

Round 3: vs. Samuel Piper's Astra Militarum

One more game on Day 1, and it's into Sam's infantry-heavy Astra Militarum.

Sam's list - click to Expand

Yes Rico, Kaboom (2000 Points)

Astra Militarum Grizzled Company Strike Force (2,000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Cadian Castellan (65 Points) • Warlord • 1x Plasma pistol • 1x Power fist • Enhancements: Laud Hailer

Cadian Command Squad (65 Points) • 1x Cadian Commander ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power fist • 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Plasma gun ◦ 1x Plasma pistol • 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Lasgun ◦ 1x Master Vox • 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Lasgun ◦ 1x Medi-pack • 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Plasma gun

Militarum Tempestus Command Squad (85 Points) • 4x Tempestus Scion ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Hot-shot lasgun ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol ◦ 1x Hot-shot volley gun ◦ 1x Medi-pack ◦ 1x Meltagun ◦ 1x Plasma gun • 1x Tempestor Prime ◦ 1x Bolt pistol ◦ 1x Tempestus dagger

Militarum Tempestus Command Squad (85 Points) • 4x Tempestus Scion ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Hot-shot lasgun ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol ◦ 1x Hot-shot volley gun ◦ 1x Medi-pack ◦ 1x Meltagun ◦ 1x Plasma gun • 1x Tempestor Prime ◦ 1x Bolt pistol ◦ 1x Tempestus dagger

Nork Deddog (60 Points) • 1x Huge knife • 1x Ripper gun

Rogal Dorn Commander (275 Points) • 1x Armoured tracks • 1x Coaxial autocannon • 1x Heavy stubber • 2x Heavy stubber • 2x Multi-melta • 1x Oppressor cannon • 1x Pulveriser cannon

Rogal Dorn Commander (275 Points) • 1x Armoured tracks • 1x Coaxial autocannon • 1x Heavy stubber • 2x Heavy stubber • 2x Multi-melta • 1x Oppressor cannon • 1x Pulveriser cannon

BATTLELINE

Cadian Shock Troops (120 Points) • 2x Shock Trooper Sergeant ◦ 2x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Sergeant's autogun • 18x Shock Trooper ◦ 18x Close combat weapon ◦ 14x Lasgun ◦ 2x Meltagun ◦ 2x Plasma gun ◦ 2x Vox-caster

Cadian Shock Troops (65 Points) • 1x Shock Trooper Sergeant ◦ 1x Close combat weapon ◦ 1x Sergeant's autogun • 9x Shock Trooper ◦ 9x Close combat weapon ◦ 7x Lasgun ◦ 1x Meltagun ◦ 1x Plasma gun ◦ 1x Vox-caster

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Chimera (85 Points) • 1x Armoured tracks • 1x Heavy flamer • 1x Heavy flamer • 1x Heavy stubber • 1x Hunter-killer missile • 1x Lasgun array

Chimera (85 Points) • 1x Armoured tracks • 1x Heavy flamer • 1x Heavy flamer • 1x Heavy stubber • 1x Hunter-killer missile • 1x Lasgun array

Chimera (85 Points) • 1x Armoured tracks • 1x Heavy flamer • 1x Heavy flamer • 1x Heavy stubber • 1x Hunter-killer missile • 1x Lasgun array

OTHER DATASHEETS

Kasrkin (110 Points) • 1x Kasrkin Sergeant ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power weapon • 9x Kasrkin ◦ 9x Close combat weapon ◦ 3x Hot-shot lasgun ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol ◦ 1x Hot-shot marksman rifle ◦ 1x Melta Mine ◦ 2x Meltagun ◦ 2x Plasma gun ◦ 1x Vox-caster

Kasrkin (110 Points) • 1x Kasrkin Sergeant ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power weapon • 9x Kasrkin ◦ 9x Close combat weapon ◦ 3x Hot-shot lasgun ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol ◦ 1x Hot-shot marksman rifle ◦ 1x Melta Mine ◦ 2x Meltagun ◦ 2x Plasma gun ◦ 1x Vox-caster

Kasrkin (110 Points) • 1x Kasrkin Sergeant ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power weapon • 9x Kasrkin ◦ 9x Close combat weapon ◦ 3x Hot-shot lasgun ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol ◦ 1x Hot-shot marksman rifle ◦ 1x Melta Mine ◦ 2x Meltagun ◦ 2x Plasma gun ◦ 1x Vox-caster

Krieg Combat Engineers (60 Points) • 1x Krieg Engineer Watchmaster ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power weapon • 4x Krieg Combat Engineer ◦ 1x Autopistol ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Combat shotgun ◦ 1x Flamer ◦ 1x Remote Mine

Krieg Combat Engineers (60 Points) • 1x Krieg Engineer Watchmaster ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power weapon • 4x Krieg Combat Engineer ◦ 1x Autopistol ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Combat shotgun ◦ 1x Flamer ◦ 1x Remote Mine

Krieg Combat Engineers (60 Points) • 1x Krieg Engineer Watchmaster ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power weapon • 4x Krieg Combat Engineer ◦ 1x Autopistol ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Combat shotgun ◦ 1x Flamer ◦ 1x Remote Mine

Tempestus Scions (70 Points) • 1x Tempestor ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power fist • 4x Tempestus Scion ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Hot-shot lasgun ◦ 1x Meltagun ◦ 1x Plasma gun

Tempestus Scions (70 Points) • 1x Tempestor ◦ 1x Plasma pistol ◦ 1x Power fist • 4x Tempestus Scion ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Hot-shot lasgun ◦ 1x Meltagun ◦ 1x Plasma gun

Exported with App Version: v1.46.2 (1), Data Version: v732

Sam's list is caught in that weird space where he isn't running enough tanks. With another tank or two in the mix I'd be more concerned, but as-is I can handle two big threats, especially if he splits them wide. For everything else I have plenty of AP-2, 1-damage attacks to throw out at high volumes that can handle Kasrkin and Sappers.

I'm going first.

That's fine. I can move out and stay relatively hidden on this terrain and play aggressively. A Dorn can be an issue but I'm not super-concerned about one killing a Vindicator from across the table if it can't reach with its multi-meltas and I retain cover. I pop out enough to take one of the Chimeras down turn 1 for Bring it Down while moving up with my Rhinos and prepping to charge into Sappers. Sam spends his first turn pushing forward, and I respond by just shoving into one big Go Turn - I charge out with the Chosen, Nemesis Claw, Bikes, and Huron's unit, I drop in the Terminators and Obliterators, and I go wild at mid-table, more or less taking out the Dorns.

Sam smartly ingresses a unit of Kasrkin behind my Terminators, but I get super lucky and drop a 10" charge into them, going backward to keep him out of my backfield. The Terminators make short work of them while the Sorcerer's +1 AP helps the Legionaries and Bike rip through the Dorn at the top of the table.

Ultimately this one is over before turn 3; I've tone far too much damage to Sam's army and without the Dorns he doesn't have much that can threaten me. It's late in the day so we call it.

Result: 92-26, Win

Sam was a fun opponent and that's a tough way to end the day so I offer to buy him a drink on Sunday before I meet up with my crew. As much as I want to hang out that night, their plan is to hit up a place that "may have food trucks" and I am pretty ravenous so I pass and head home. I end up housing some Taco Bell and crashing nearly as soon as I hit the bed - I'm just exhausted after the first day of games. Something about the painting I did all week and the day's games have just drained me.

Sunday

One more day of games! I wanted to start 3-0 but that wasn't particularly realistic given the kind of army I was bringing. There was a chance I could skill my way to 3-0 but not against the first two opponents I drew. Today I just want to finish strong and try and end up 4-1 and have a shot at Best Overall (this won't be possible given how scoring is done but I also just always want to try and end up x-1).

Round 4: vs. Alex Arbuckle's Death Guard

OK this one's more familiar - Alex is more or less running the exact list I was back at Palm Springs.

Alex's List - Click to Expand

Stinky Bois (2000 points)

Death Guard Strike Force (2000 points) Virulent Vectorium

CHARACTERS

Daemon Prince of Nurgle (215 points) • 1x Hellforged weapons 1x Infernal cannon • Enhancement: Revolting Regeneration

Lord of Contagion (130 points) • 1x Manreaper • Enhancement: Daemon Weapon of Nurgle

Lord of Virulence (100 points) • 1x Power fist 1x Twin plague spewer

Mortarion (380 points) • Warlord • 1x Lantern 1x Rotwind 1x Silence

OTHER DATASHEETS

Deathshroud Terminators (160 points) • 1x Deathshroud Champion • 1x Icon of Despair (Aura) 1x Manreaper 2x Plaguespurt gauntlet • 2x Deathshroud Terminator • 2x Manreaper 2x Plaguespurt gauntlet

Deathshroud Terminators (160 points) • 1x Deathshroud Champion • 1x Icon of Despair (Aura) 1x Manreaper 2x Plaguespurt gauntlet • 2x Deathshroud Terminator • 2x Manreaper 2x Plaguespurt gauntlet

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points) • 1x Heavy blight launcher 1x Plague probe

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points) • 1x Heavy blight launcher 1x Plague probe

Foetid Bloat-Drone with Heavy Blight Launcher (120 points) • 1x Heavy blight launcher 1x Plague probe

Myphitic Blight-haulers (100 points) • 1x Bile spurt 1x Gnashing maw 1x Missile launcher 1x Multi-melta

Myphitic Blight-haulers (100 points) • 1x Bile spurt 1x Gnashing maw 1x Missile launcher 1x Multi-melta

Myphitic Blight-haulers (100 points) • 1x Bile spurt 1x Gnashing maw 1x Missile launcher 1x Multi-melta

Poxwalkers (65 points) • 10x Poxwalker • 10x Improvised weapon

Poxwalkers (65 points) • 10x Poxwalker • 10x Improvised weapon

Poxwalkers (65 points) • 10x Poxwalker • 10x Improvised weapon

Exported with App Version: v1.46.2 (108), Data Version: v732

The big difference here is that he's got a third Blight-Hauler instead of a Fleshmower, which means he's weaker in his backfield coverage and more dangerous into vehicles. My plan is to hang back and react and kill the Poxwalkers early to stop them from being a source of 6" deep strikes.

The Mission: Purge the Foe + Crucible of Battle

Purge is a good mission for Death Guard, and while I'm going second I need to make sure I put in work to stay caught up with Alex on kills. Unfortunately things go sideways immediately - I get some bad rolls and come up short on my attempts to kill his infiltrating unit of Poxwalkers, then whiff on them in Overwatch on Alex's turn after he drops +3" contagion range on his army, putting half my army in range of Deathshroud. To make matters worse, I lose the Land Raider and Vindicator to some truly rancid save rolls turn 1 and I'm left to try and make things up without either.

The way I end up doing that is by dropping the Terminators near my home and using them and Huron's unit with the Nemesis Claw and Chosen to kill the two units of Deathshroud. Remember when I said that Alex's list had a weaker backfield game? He leaves his home objective open - he put a Bloat-Drone on it and then pulled it forward to shoot things. So I ingress the Obliterators onto it, then on my turn use them to kill one drone, followed by the other on the following turn.

The Lord of Contagion stands back up and that's when Alex makes the mistake that costs him the game - he uses the LoC to do Establish Locus (fine), but then shoots Huron's unit with Mortarion, damaging them and allowing them to surge into the LoC and kill him in melee. Mortarion will end up killing the Chosen but one of the Nemesis Claw will survive and prevent him from using Leechspore Eruption on the following turn.

With the Deathshroud gone, Mortarion is the big threat here and I'm able to handle him mostly by using a mix of Lethal Hits shooting at +1 AP with the Sorcerer, Grenades, and having units surge into him when he shoots in order to prevent him from charging anything and getting off real damage. Morty eventually goes down and the Daemon Prince follows as Huron and his unit sweep across mid-table.

I was pretty firmly in control of this game going into the final round but there was one problem: Alex outdrew the shit out of me, getting particularly lucky draws on turn 2 with Cleanse and Marked (10 points), plus Display and Storm Hostile on round 4 (8 points), while I drew Display and Area Denial on turn 2 (unscorable), and Tempting Target on 4 when it was more or less out of reach. The good news is that on the final round I drew just enough - Establish Locus for 4 was free with the Obliterators on Alex's home point, and I was able to kill a single unit of Poxwalkers with Huron's unit to score 2 VP for No Prisoners and make it a 12-point primary turn , winning the game for me by 1.

Result: 79-78, Win

Another tough game against a fun opponent. I'm making a habit of close games with this list and I don't like it - CSM just be like that, especially when my army is more about fancy tricks than killing things outright.

I grab another quick lunch - some eggrolls and another banana - and hang out with T, Garrett, and Steven Salazar. At 3-1 I just need one more win to score the 4-1 finish I'm looking for, but I'm not going to be upset if I end up 3-2 with this particular list.

Round 5: vs. Thors Ignerson's Dark Angels

Thors' list is a nightmare - it's a ton of massed melee threats, all rocking -1 to be wounded and annoying in that a good number are also -1 to be hit - and I'm not particularly good at figuring out or remembering which black-painted model is which in that regard.

Thors' List - Click to Expand

Cock Block Birgade (2000 Points)

Space Marines Dark Angels Wrath of the Rock Strike Force (2,000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Azrael (125 Points) • 1x Lion's Wrath • 1x The Lion Helm • 1x The Sword of Secrets

Chaplain (60 Points) • 1x Absolvor bolt pistol • 1x Crozius arcanum

Chaplain in Terminator Armour (75 Points) • 1x Crozius arcanum • 1x Relic Shield

Judiciar (95 Points) • 1x Absolvor bolt pistol • 1x Executioner relic blade • Enhancements: Ancient Weapons

Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (70 Points) • 1x Combi-weapon • 1x Paired combat blades

Lion El'Jonson (315 Points) • Warlord • 1x Arma Luminis • 1x Fealty

BATTLELINE

Intercessor Squad (80 Points) • 1x Intercessor Sergeant ◦ 1x Bolt pistol ◦ 1x Bolt rifle ◦ 1x Power fist • 4x Intercessor ◦ 1x Astartes grenade launcher ◦ 4x Bolt pistol ◦ 4x Bolt rifle ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

OTHER DATASHEETS

Deathwing Knights (250 Points) • 1x Knight Master ◦ 1x Great weapon of the Unforgiven • 4x Deathwing Knight ◦ 4x Power weapon

Inner Circle Companions (180 Points) • 6x Inner Circle Companion ◦ 6x Calibanite greatsword ◦ 6x Heavy bolt pistol

Inner Circle Companions (180 Points) • 6x Inner Circle Companion ◦ 6x Calibanite greatsword ◦ 6x Heavy bolt pistol

Inner Circle Companions (180 Points) • 6x Inner Circle Companion ◦ 6x Calibanite greatsword ◦ 6x Heavy bolt pistol

Ravenwing Black Knights (160 Points) • 1x Ravenwing Huntmaster ◦ 1x Black Knight combat weapon ◦ 1x Bolt pistol ◦ 1x Plasma talon • 5x Ravenwing Black Knight ◦ 5x Black Knight combat weapon ◦ 5x Bolt pistol ◦ 5x Plasma talon

Ravenwing Black Knights (160 Points) • 1x Ravenwing Huntmaster ◦ 1x Black Knight combat weapon ◦ 1x Bolt pistol ◦ 1x Plasma talon • 5x Ravenwing Black Knight ◦ 5x Black Knight combat weapon ◦ 5x Bolt pistol ◦ 5x Plasma talon

Scout Squad (70 Points) • 1x Scout Sergeant ◦ 1x Astartes chainsword ◦ 1x Bolt pistol ◦ 1x Close combat weapon • 4x Scout ◦ 4x Bolt pistol ◦ 4x Close combat weapon ◦ 2x Combat knife ◦ 1x Missile launcher ◦ 1x Scout sniper rifle

Exported with App Version: v1.46.2 (1), Data Version: v732

The Lion and the Justiciar are the big problems here. The Lion's turn 1 rapid ingress going first is proper horse shit, and that 3+ invulnerable save isn't any better. Both fight first, meaning that they're nearly impossible to charge effectively.

I'm going second.

That's bad into the Lion, who can pick up on turn 1 in the Command phase to Ingress back down any time the Dark Angels player goes first - and there won't be anything I can do about it. The upside here is that Thors' army has almost no notable shooting, so I don't have to hide early.

So I go for it. I push up and charge in with Huron and his unit and my Chosen and Chaos Lord. Thors intervenes with the Lion, and this combat more or less decides the game. Thors makes a tactical mistake here - he fights Huron's unit first, using the Justiciar to precision Huron. To his credit, I fuck up bad on Huron's saves and take 6 damage, then I pass only one Feel No Pain save and Huron dies - that's real bad. I can react though - I use the Chaos Lord's once per game ability and interrupt here, reducing the cost by 1 CP. Then I pop off with 6 dev wounds to the lion while his mortal wound protection isn't up. As an added bonus, the Chaos Lord survived the Lion's attacks.

That should have been a decent start, queuing me up for success when the Deathwing Knights arrived at the top of the table and giving me the ability to finish the Lion off. Unfortunately, I had an insanely horrible run of luck on turn 2 that led to me more or less bouncing off Thors' entire army. The Terminators and Sorcerer I dropped to handle the DWK promptly shit the bed, with the Sorcerer failing his psychic ability test and taking 3 damage. As a result, the bikes, Legionaries, and Terminators got nothing going in the shooting phase and couldn't kill the DWK unit with their Chaplain in melee. Meanwhile the Vindicator and Land Raider failed to do any damage to the Lion, and the Obliterators dropped in and missed all their shots before bouncing off the Inner Circle Companions in melee.

We played a slugfest game from there but the damage was done. I bounced off the Lion a third time in shooting and then lost my Vindicator while Azrael and his unit showed up to kill my Terminators and they folded under the volume of Inner Circle attacks. I could potentially have gotten back into this one with a big luck swing, but that just wasn't happening at any point. Thors got the help he needed from Secondary draws most of the game as well and that helped him stay ahead even when he was only up 5 on primary.

Result: 75-67, Loss

Another close game, this time going the other way. I end up 3-2 and while I'm not upset at that, I'm not happy, either. After two years it's time to finally sit down and paint Accursed Cultists, I think.

That said, I had a good time with this army overall. That surge move is incredible, and the ability to pick units back up - particular Terminators and Obliterators - did come in hand on multiple occasions late. The big issue is just finding ways to get more CP. The Masters of the Maelstrom were helpful on that front, though it does require losing a model before they can do that. I also ended up using the +1 attack on the charge Stratagem quite a bit, and on the whole I felt like this was a fun detachment to play with.

Hobby Progress

The big thing was just getting some of those final models done. I finished the Terminators and Terminator sorcerer on Friday, and from there just had some minor work to do on a few marines to try and shore up my Chosen numbers. I didn't finish the Obliterators or the Nemesis Claw, so I ended up using Black Legion models for the former and Night Lords for the latter.

I'd end up taking some of the old Red Corsairs marines I'd painted with me just to fill out the ranks. That's not ideal but I just couldn't finish everyone in time. My plan is to grab another box or two of the Raiders and a couple upgrade kits when they're finally released, just to round out this force. I don't have a ton I want to add to it, but I do want to have more Legionaries, Chosen, and Raiders to work with, and I may paint another five Terminators at some point. Oh, and I have to finish the Nemesis Claw.

I probably should do another unit of bikers if I want to have a meta list but I just can't bring myself to do that much work again right now.

On the whole this was a really fun project and I'm happy with how it turned out. I've wanted to do a proper Red Corsairs army for a long time but wasn't motivated to do much with them before the new release. Now that they're out and have an aesthetic identity worth playing with - I used a ton of old MkVII bits and heresy MkIII armor bits on these - I'm really enjoying fleshing them out into a full army as a hobby project.

Next Time: More Red Corsairs

That's it for this week but I'll be back as always next week with more Hobby Progress and maybe another game? I'm not champing at the bit to get another one in right now but I do want to finish off some of these Red Corsairs before Iron Warriors upgrade sprues hit shelves. And it is past time I started painting units of more generic troops like the Accursed Cultists and Traitor Guardsmen.

See you next week.

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