Chronicles of the Aesir Knights

Greetings.

So I took part in a tourney this weekend and gonna try and write up a decent battle report before to many details flee my mind.

Bloomington Game Preserve, Indiana.
2000 points.

I play my Aesir Knights.
Deathwatch Master + Command Squad with Land Raider transport.
2 Tacticals with Vet Sgt and Missile Launcher.
1 Devastator with 2 ML and 2 LC.
1 Predator with Autocannon and Sponson HBs.
1 Predator with Autocannon and Sponson LCs.
1 Terminator squad with 2 AC. (forgot to put them out when I took my display photo)
1 Venerable Dreadnought with ML and AC.


Last tourney I went to was in Greenwood and there were like 22 people. But I never go to their regular 40k night, so I really didn't know what kind of turnout to expect at Bloomington (which is where I normally play). We only ended up with 5 people and one of the store employees ended up playing a spare army so no one would have to sit out a round. He couldn't win but he could certainly make you lose.

Having played my SM alot I knew about what to expect and the main people I feared was the local Ork player and the guy who plays a FW based Armoured Company. Not to say I would underestimate others, but I know the weakness of my army.

Match 1
Aesir Knights vs ...  Orks
Scenario: Traitor, 6 rounds
So I got one of the matchups right away I feared. A horde army. This guys army is rightfully feared.

So as we're deploying the judge comes up to us and tells us we set up wrong... apparently another table had as well. The scenario deployment was pretty confusing. In truth, I was fine.. the judge just didn't expect a SM army to set up far back. The Ork player had to move some stuff around though. This worked to my favor massively.

As per Scenario rules we each got an Elite from the other. I got some worthless Mekboy and he got one of my Terminators.



The deployment issue worked in my favor for 2 reasons. One is that he had his lootas on top of a close building and his zapguns in a faraway building. For those that don't know Lootas have good range, zaps not so good. The zapguns ended up not doing much the entire game. And the other way it helped was he placed his bikes in a very vulnerable spot on his left flank (my right). If I got first turn they were in trouble.

I got first turn.

I've never played against this army with my SM, but I have with my C:SM so I know the pain the bikers can bring. I rain blessed fire down upon them reducing the squad to the nob and 2 other bikers. In an effort to maintain control the nob beats the other bikers with his boss pole and then himself until order is maintained. At the end only the nob was left.

I also fired at the lootas and took out a few of them. And I take out his looted basilisk tank thing... Personal grudge from my first 'game' since getting back into the hobby.



We start advancing upon each other.... well.. mostly him moving towards me, with me just doing some repositioning as the game continues.

I end up taking to long on killing all his lootas and my dreadnought pays the price for that. But I'm able to destroy the wagon that is carrying my traitor, exposing his squad. The Knights suffer no traitors and fired upon them with no mercy.



A unit of burna boys (I believe thats their name) gets close to my line so I tear into them, reducing them to the nob and his bomb squigs. He ends up breaking and spends the rest of the game running away... never quite making it to the table edge.



I finally get satisfied with the proximity of the Ork advance and have my Land Raider charge forward and my Master and his command squad, and the Ork traitor, surge out and assault the Weirdboy and his squad. Proving little match to Severus and his Deathwatch the Weirdboy is cut down and the Knights prepare for the surge of Orks to follow.




Something must be said for sheer numbers. Eventually the Orks do overwhelm Severus and this command squad, as well as the traitor. But they were held back long enough for the rest of my forces to gun down the warboss and the remaining orks near them.

In the end 2 useful Ork squads remain, the zapguns are unharmed but useless. I still have a predator, tactical squad and devastator squad.



While no general remained alive and both traitors died the victory slips into the hands of the Knights.

Notes: Truly a fun game. And I did alot better then I expected. I figured a horde army would quickly overwhelm me and my shooting. Winning first turn and taking out the bikers asap was really the key here. Honestly, this was the funnest match I had the entire tournament.

Match 2
Aesir Knights vs Space Marines
Scenario: Cleanse II, 6 rounds

He also had a predator on the top of a building to the far left, that you can't see in the picture.

He wins first turn.

He starts to advance upon me but no notable kills. Some terrain ends up perfectly in his way and with terrible difficult terrain rolls two of his squads end up doing very little until near the end of the game.


I quickly reduce his bike squad to ruin and cripple his dreadnought, immobilizing it and removing its TL LC. In addition my heavy fire reduces his vindicator to scrap. At the end of my first turn his only vehicle remaining of any use was his predator on top of a building, that was so far away it could barely do anything.



Severus and his Deathwatch charge into the fray and I have to admit I underestimate the power of his tooled up Librarian. After several turns I do end up killing the Librarian and his basic Captain. But its no easy feat.

Near the end of the game I realized that while the dreadnought was little more then terrain it was still alive and thus could control one of his table corners. So I ended that quickly.



In the end I tabled him. Solid victory to the Knights.

Notes: This player is one that is switching to Orks as his finances allow him to buff up his army. I really didn't care for his SM army, not because it wasn't painted, but because several of the models were broken or just not complete. And some wargear wasn't shown on the models. Good kid, but I'm really hope his Ork army turns out as a better example of a fine army then his SM.

Match 3
Aesir Knights vs .... Armoured Company
Scenario: Never-Ending Conflict, random game length (we go 6 rounds)
Ok, so the other match I feared. Even with all the tank busting ability I have....

So let me get this off my chest (especially since the guy who plays this army could very well end up reading this). The guy is nice. I honestly think I could have a fun game against him if he played a non-FW twinked army. But I feel his list abuses FW rules and is tailored to win over have fun. Now granted this is a tournament and people want to win, but this is what he plays all the time it seems. Never seen him play anything different. And if you read my Apoc Battle Report you already know how I feel about FW rules. I hate them. Maybe I'll eventually have to get some FW books and use some special SM stuff... I don't know. But I hate the idea I have to resort to that to have a chance to beat this army.



I win first turn. So there is a hope... well, not really.

I take out his Chimera right away with my horde-killing Predator, since thats about all it can kill on his army. And I also pop another one of his tanks. But a full firing line of AV 14 is rather hard for anyone to deal with.



Frankly, my camera battery is starting to run low and I'm just not having any fun with this match so I'm not bothering to take many pictures.

In the end I'm tabled effectively (I do have 2 tacticals, but thats because of scenario rules). But I've destroyed his command Vanquisher, several other tanks and only two of his remaining tanks had turrets left. At this point he makes a comment that sickens me a bit. Along the lines of that he believes thats the most damage his army has ever taken. Now part of me feels like I should be happy, that I've hurt this beast more then anyone else has before me. But at the same point its a sign that maybe... just maybe that the FW rules he uses are overpowered and not really fair for normal games.

Notes: I hate FW rules. I've said it before, I'll say it again. He didn't use Inferno ammo this time, but he did use anti-tank/siege rounds that pretty much assures him a penetrating hit every time he fired. In addition he apparently can use this specialty anti-tank round against infantry. If I heard him correctly I think he wants to play again on Friday on the regular game night, but no... Not gonna do that. I don't mind losing, you can still have fun while losing if your opponent plays a fair list. I can't state enough how I feel that FW rules are unbalanced. Again, the guy is nice, but I honestly would like to see him play something else.

Tourney Conclusion:
So once everything is cleaned up we head back up to the store itself and await tourney results. Due to the low turnout we hear that everyone is gonna get something, always a plus.

As prizes are handed up the Ork player is announced as the best painted army. Which is humorous when you consider only the Armoured Company and Aesir Knights were fully painted. We all get a good laugh out of this. Later I realized why this happened, as people can only win one prize this one got handed down the list, since the painted armies would win something better.

I ended up with Runner-up and the undefeated(able) Armoured Company won Overall. I get a troop-size box of my choice and pick out a SM Dreadnought to use to build my C:SM Lobstrosity dreadnought.

Overall I was happy with the tournament and how I did. Still need to work on my playstyle a bit, but definitely heading in the first direction.

Aesir Knight Stats:
9-3-2
Ka-tet Stats:
0-1-0