Batrep - Iron Hands vs. Black Templar at 2k. Paint Rounds FTW

It's been a minute - but I finally got enough of my Iron Hands painted to throw down.  So, I grabbed them and a camera.

Iron Hands

Battalion Detachment

Captain in Gravis Armor (warlord)

Captain w/ Storm Bolter, Power Sword

10x Space Marines (combi-plasma, plasma gun, missile launcher)

-Razorback (twin assault cannons)

10x Space Marines (combi-plasma, plasma gun, missile launcher)

-Razorback (twin assault cannons)

10x Space Marines (combi-plasma, plasma gun, missile launcher)

-Razorback (twin assault cannons)

5 Scouts

5 Scouts

Stormtalon gunship (assault cannons, skyhammers)

Stormtalon gunship (assault cannons, skyhammers)

Vanguard Detachment

Techmarine

Dreadnought (multi-melta, storm bolter)

Dreadnought (assault cannon, storm bolter)

Ironclad Dreadnought (hurricane bolter, chainfist, meltagun, assault launchers)

Admittedly, the dreads are a bit of "what I have on hand" more than anything else.

Black Templar

Damocles Command Rhino

Techmarine (warlord)

Emperor's Champion

Terminator Chaplain

5 Terminators (4x hammers/shields, sarge w/ lightning claws)

5 Terminators (4x hammers/shields, sarge w/ lightning claws)

10 Crusaders (meltagun, missile launcher)

10 Crusaders (meltagun, missile launcher)

5 Scouts

10 assault marines (2x flamers, axe/plasma pistol on sarge)

Predator (twin las, 2x lascannons)

Predator (twin las, 2x lascannons)

Scenario - Cleanse and Control

Deployment

 I end up choosing DZs, and realize I'm going second.  I deploy scouts at the edge of my DZ, and the gunships serve as additional deep-strike deterrent.  I set up around my objectives, and his warlord/CP generator set up on his.

BT Turn 01

 Rhinos advance and pop smoke.  His predators completely whiff against everything - bunch of rolls of 1-2 n his shooting and wounds, which keeps him from scoring first blood.  His assault marines drop in.

Orbital Bombardment

 I learn (the hard way) that the Damocles Rhino comes with one free orbital bombardment.  Which hurts.  Mortal wounds to the rhinos, dreads, and gunship.  Somehow the marines avoid the pain.

What were our orders again?

 His assault marines fail the assault.  Which is fine with me.

Iron Hands Turn 01

 I hold my ground and open fire.  My objectives are kinda sad - I've got to get across the board, and hold the objective right by my dreads/2x razorback squad for two turns. 

Bullet allergy

 The stormtalons shred the predator, so first blood goes to me

Scout vs Scout

 I shoot his five-man scout squad off the objective they were trying to hold.

BT Turn 02

 His Rhino unloads, his assault marines unload, and his dice finally cooperate and shoot one of my flyers off the board.

Even in death, I still serve pain

 His marines whiff the missile and meltagun against the dread, then dive into CQC with it in an attempt to deny my "hold for two turns" objective.

You got this, boss!

 His assault terminators fail the charge, but the chaplain makes it, and crushes a few skulls.

I had a wingman a minute ago

Iron Hand Turn 02

 I solve the assault problem, and move to contest/claim up the objective in his DZ.  Man, I drew some sad objectives this game.

BULLETS!

 My regular dread broke off the assault, and everyone else combined to shoot the crap out of his Crusader squads.  They died to a man.

Stalemate

 The tac squad tags the Gravis captain into the melee, and the chaplain lives.  Takes a couple slaps with a fist, though.

BT Turn 03

 His last squad of assault terminators drop in, and promptly flub their assault.

Whiff

 The fight continues, and his marines whiff the assault again.

Tyin' up everything

 His assault marines grind through a few dudes, then consolidate into everything.

Finale

At this point, we called it.  My plasma squads fail to do anything against his Terminators, and he's got a 7-2 lead on objectives at this point.  I'm out of CP and have to get across the board.  We figured that at this point, he could've kept me pinned in and/or killed a lot of stuff, while I wouldn't have been able to close the VP gap.

End Result - Iron Hands are glad it's a paint-round-only match.

Closing Thoughts
Assault Cannon Razorbacks & Tac Squads
Pros - the configuration I brought is reasonably well-rounded.  Twin assault cannons have a solid volume of fire, so moving isn't THAT much of a penalty.  Plasma is decent as long as there's a captain nearby for re-rolls - and captains aren't too terribly expensive.

Note that combat-squadding a tactical squad is probably giving up first turn, period.  Your tac marines will probably take two drops at that point.

Dreadnoughts
I think these guys are gonna get lascannons next time around.  I need more long-range guns, and while the multi-melta and assault cannon are nice, I could use some longer-ranged firepower.

Ironclads
I think the hurricane bolter and chainfist are the way to go.  You don't have a ton of attacks, so the seismic hammer's -1 to hit is a bit of a pain.  The Hurricane bolter lets you do something outside of assault.

Scouts
I think a squad or two of scouts is still worth including - they're not that expensive, and they provide a much-needed buffer against deep-striking units. 

Gunships
I like the speed and firepower.  They're not too hard to kill, though, so you need to bring plenty of targets.  I'm definitely getting paint on these guys soon.  Still mixed about the secondary weapons though - the heavy bolters are cheaper, but the skyhammer rockets would be nice vs. other flyers.

BT - Assault Terminators
Really, these remind me that I need to get mine assembled.  I got lucky because he flubbed his assault roles, but if these guys don't make the charge when they arrive, you have a few options -
1) run away
2) kill them
3) bury them in bodies
Otherwise, they'll get into assault.  I think a sarge with claws is a good addition to the TH/SS guys, since it gives you a handful more attacks to thin out crowds.

Las-Preds
They're expensive and mono-purposed, but very good at what they do.  Unless the dice hate them.

BT - 10-man squad comp
He ran them with a meltagun and missile launcher - I think going with a combi-weapon matching the special would help.  Then again, missile launchers remain a versatile choice.  You don't get the AP of the lascannon (or strength) but you get the ability to do something beyond dropping a ton of damage on a single target.

Damocles Command Rhino
I'm not sure I'd take it under 2k points, but it and a cheap HQ (like a techmarine) will give you the two HQ choices for a battalion, and give you another 2-3 CP over the course of the game as long as you hide the warlord in the back. 

You want a cheap warlord choice, and you want to hide them for the CP and sit this thing in the back.  Drop that orbital bombardment on turn 01, and then sit on an objective.  If you aren't going to sit a cheap warlord in there, skip it.  BUT, getting extra CP through the game is potentially useful.

Gravis Captain
Honestly, if you have a gunline, you could do worse for an HQ than this.  A minimal captain is about 40ish points more than this guy, but this dude WILL do some damage in CQC.  I'm pleasantly surprised with this dude. 

Army Tweaks for the future
I'm thinking of re-tooling the dreads.  My first thought is to change the vanguard detachment to be 2x lascannon dreads and some grav-chute Rievers for objective-grabbing.