GT Strategy

Written by Paulo Lapa
Best General for the 2009 GT held by Neutral Grounds



WRITTERS NOTE:  This is a compilation of the different strategies I used for each race, and army types I fought.  *** WARNING***  It was two days of gaming so it will be quite long.  It includes several key details about each army and game.  have fought 5 different armies and I believe I fought the best; That means competitive lists you might face in the future might very well come from these guys…  feel free to go directly to an army you would like to learn about more.  I broke each encounter down to "assessing the opponent", "The Strategy", and of course "Game Highlights and Tactical Notes".  It would be difficult to write a general strategy for the whole GT as each mission and army was different.  I know I do not have as much tournament experiences as most of the guys who will probably read this but it will be worth it if someone learned from it or taught me something in return:

Match 1:  IG vs. OBLITERATOR CHAOS
Match 2:  IG vs. BATTLEWAGON-MEGANOBZ ORKS
Match 3:  IG vs. THUNDER SPACEWOLVES
Match 4:  IG vs. VULCAN HESTAN MARINES
MAIN EVENT: IG vs. IG!

MY STRATEGY GUIDE FOR RUNNING TO GT GAUNTLET

"Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."

- Sun Tzu, the Art of War

       In more than a decade of my Warhammer life, I have only joined 3 Tournaments, all of them GTs.  Of the these three the best strategic lesson came from my first one, funny enough I got sick then and I had to tell Freddie Tan that I had to leave with barely a quarter into the whole thing.  I was a noob and fought Luigi Scarella's Dark Eldar in a cleanse match, and seeing that I had Lascannon and fire power superiority I felt good about my chances.  Back in the 90's you only needed 5 marines to get 1 heavy weapon. So with a bunch of ground troops, 3 dev squads with all heavy bolters, and Las-plas razorbacks up the wazoo, I blasted away.  Hey, I was a teenager, so being brash and stupid was kind of a valid excuse.  I even got to kill my first archon with shadow field and thought: "Yey, me!".  It was a beautifully painted miniature so I knew it was kick ass (another lesson learned: Want your kick ass units to survive... don't paint them too well, =D).  What I didn't realize was that Luigi wanted me to shoot his archon!  His and the game's final turn came.  He didn't even shoot anything, he zoomed his Raiders to contest all quarters, claim one and the victory.  I think my jaw broke when it landed on the floor. :D  That's when it hit me like a dark lance to the face:  "It's not always about killing"...  That's how my beloved Necrons won before, with the Veil of Darkness not restricted to one.  Claiming anything was not even a problem.

       The funny thing was I almost didn’t play because I thought everything had to be painted (if anyone had pictures of my army you’d notice that day 1 and 2 had glaring differences).  Heck, I was even assembling the Valkyrie parts during deployment!  Nonetheless I was happy I did.
     
       The Imperial Guard list I made for this GT was never for mass killing (killed en masse, maybe :D).  I had but two "pie plate" units and one of them wasn't even designed for offense (psyker battle squad).  With mostly direct fire, it was designed to stop the enemy from being mobile and for strategic strikes, so that it can take its time to maneuver, kill, and accomplish objectives.  In an environment of mechanized races, I say make all of them walk!  Or else next thing we know GW will start manufacturing miniatures such as obese Eldar, or produce The Biggest Loser: 40k.  (See how the Necrons keep their figure, it’s because you can’t even ride on their transport, they have you out and walking as soon as you get on it. lol =D)
     
       Among my obvious choices for this concept was getting the Vendettas versus the mass-killing Valkyrie with MRP or Marbo versus getting a high damage artillery tank.  The army relied on what I like to call the "First strike capability" and "Target overwhelm".  First strike means using outflank, these units get to strike first, fast, and hard.  Needless to say that Last mission came back to bite my order issuing behind... but I'll get to that in awhile.  On the other hand, Target overwhelm means I have a large numbers of foot troops that I use to thin the enemy ranks, and if needed, use as human walls to make getting anywhere with the opponents army impossible.  Forget coversaves, after the 3rd or 4th turn it will become mathematically improbable for him to get anywhere near his destination or try and kill all the units in the table because the army presents too many targets.  This army is like water, it is not fierce like fire or tough and unbending as the earth, it simply fills the container (the table) until it takes over.  Lastly, like a lot of the vets, I crunch numbers. Yes, it was mainly used for dice results probability, but I crunch numbers to CALCULATE MOVEMENT.  That's how I know if a unit has enough in them to achieve anything, and that's how I track the opponent's progress.

       The most obvious weakness I have is that I am no rules lawyer (I usually defer to rule gurus Freddie and Lucas).  I know the rules, yes, but if anyone says otherwise I'd usually doubt myself.  This mainly stemmed from the fact that I am playing with people I haven't played before means there will be a lot of differences and grey areas.  As generally an outsider coming in the GT, we follow the host’s rules.  I have to ask judges what I can and cannot do.  i.e. We define coversaves differently.  Also, till I faced the Hestan Marines, I thought batch-rolling was mandatory, I was told that it was actually optional. Another one is that I cannot do an emergency disembarkation in a wreck, if the lone access point is blocked even if two other sides are perfectly open.   These are just a few examples.  I honestly played these differently in the south.  If you were in our shoes, you'd understand why we often had to ask for clarifications because we play the game entirely different from where we come from so ambiguity cannot be avoided.  I apologize for any inconvenience.  The lesson here, given that I cannot control any of these factors, I have to master my strategy and make sure to control those factors that I can.

Salubri3i:  This is a really long article filled with many tips on tactics from the writer.  to see the rest, click on "Read More" right below.  (ngayon ko lang natutunan meron pala nun! lol)

Match 1:  IG vs. OBLITERATOR CHAOS

Mission:  Annihilation with 3 turns of Nightfighting

Assessing your opponent:  Pick your poison.  An obliterator list is deadly because not only does it have anti-tank firepower but has killer anti-infantry as well.  The premise of this army is simple: open up with deadly salvos of Lascannons to get everyone out of their transports then have the sorcerer lash everyone into submission or convert them to the chaos faith with the good ol’ powerfist.  It’s as subtle as performing open brain surgery with a hammer:  Simple… ugly-elegant… and deadly.

* Obliterators were given the name for a reason.  Two wounds each, powerfist, 2+ save, Fearless, and with the benefit of coversave, these are tough bastards that will make short work of your army if you don't have a direct solution for them.  They have Lascannons for long range, meltas for short, and Lash-Plasma cannon combo for infantry who thinks they are safe behind their little "area terrain".
* Troop choices are no pushovers.  Two of the 3 troop slots are plague marines.  That means massive shooting wont cut it this time.
* "They are toydarian"... :D My Jedi (see my psyker battle squad conversion) mind tricks don't work on them.  Excluding transports, 7 out of 8 of the units are fearless.  That means other than a random D6 offensive weapon, my psyker battle squad are just another group of cute guys in dresses.
* He has "First strike" capability.  With a chaos icon on each squad, all his Plague marines have to do is not get wiped out and his obliterators get to plop right in the middle of the battlefield, guns blazing.

Strategy:
* We like flashlights (with my drunken shooting, and lights all over the place, add ecstasy and we could pass as a Techno-bar).  Our guardsmen aren't the only ones packing flashlights.  With 10 vehicles having searchlights I have to exploit the 3 turns of night fighting.  Bringing a flashlight to a gunfight doesn't necessarily mean I lose. :D
* In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.  In this scenario, the lowly rhino with its searchlight is king.  The earlier the rhinos are destroyed, the more turns I have of exploiting the night fighting.  Without a searchlight of their own, target prioritization becomes risky, or he'll have to settle for whatever chimera used the light.
* All hands on deck.  Outflanking all of my Vendettas would not have been a wise decision, seeing as I have more "eyes" than my opponent.  Keep them on the table in the far end to wreck havoc on rhinos.  When the obliterators arrive, feeling their way through the dark, Vendettas should deal with them with extreme prejudice.
* Any insta-kills should be reserved for obliterators.
* Try to do something productive with my Psyker Battle Boys.

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       Amazingly, this is the only game that deviated too far off plan I had to go to plan B yet somehow everything went perfectly fine.  The wrench in the engine was the fact that those rhinos stayed for 3 turns, despite being able to see all of em'.  Despite all the manticores, hydras, vendettas, multilasers, and autocannons that can see all 3 rhinos, I was only able to pop 1 a turn.  I dunno if these chaos guys are putting extra love on their tanks, or if my guardsmen came from a party last night.  Whatever the case was, they stayed for awhile.      That means I needed a wildcard.  He denies me his left flank by deploying everything on his right.  But being IG means we cover most of the table so we recover more from it than any other race in the game.
       That wildcard came in the form of the Psyker battle squad.  After the hydra downed the Rhino with the CSM tac squad inside (complete with heavy anti-tank weapon) the Psyker battle squad sprung into action, as if frustrated at me for having written them off.  The tank blast kills 3 guys, and the psyker battle squad casts "Weaken Resolve" and makes them run off table.  Next, with 1 Vendetta down and two suffered from bad wounding rolls it would appear that the obliterators would get to kill its share.  But again, the Psyker Battle squad, thinking it had nothing to lose anyway, casts a hail mary of a soulstorm on the obliterators.(Str equivalent to the number of Psykers, AP D6) and rolls a 1 on the AP then HITS!  Talk about “with a vengeance!”  I never underestimated them after that.

       All three rhinos were gone by the top of 3rd and it pretty much went as planned after that.  It was a good game but I was lucky with the mission.  Having more searchlights gave me the edge.


Match 2:  IG vs. BATTLEWAGON-MEGANOBZ ORKS

Mission:  Claim the objectives in a Dawn of War scenario with Vortex bomb surprise.

Assessing your opponent:  Here come the greenskins!  The battlewagon lists are small in numbers but made to deal maximum amounts of damage.  It counts on 14 AV protection to deliver its deadly cargo.  With two wounds, 2+ save, and a powerklaw each, the meganobz are a handful.  They are fast with the red paintjob, and when they reach your firing line, they sure as hell ain’t there to invite you to tea and crumpets.  The big caveat of this army is that objective grabbing was the trade off.  Scoring numbers barely numbers to 30, and when you play Orks, 30 is already the red zone.

* Lootas will destroy anything AV12 and below but being "Heavy" means you sacrifice mobility.  They are excellent support units but being a Heavy weapon greatly limits their versatility.
* Meganobz are extremely deadly but "slow and purposeful" means you can't expect them to go far without a ride.
* His Snikrot was the main threat, a flanking or rear position could mean problems for heavy support or distract everyone long enough for the Nobz to do their deadly craft.

Strategy:

* The numbers game.  Having small numbers is a huge disadvantage in this mission.  The Nobz and a single rutherd squad are the only scoring units.  If they are destroyed, it is game over.
* Make the Meganobz carry all the weight.  Pop the battle wagon and make them pay for that slow and purposeful rule.  Deal with them at my pace with 3 vendettas and a truckload of meltas.
* Reserve Autokills/anti-tanks for the scoring Nobz.
* From "Waaaagh" to Wag!  Have them use Waaag! But make sure they don't get the full benefit of free movement from it.
* The Lootas.  The more they shoot the less they achieve.  Keep the lootas stationary and comfortably parked so it cannot attempt a contest.  It does not have enough fire power to kill every single IG scoring unit.
* Life is cheap, and I have 94 of them.  Use large amounts of troops to line my whole table edge to nullify Snikrots outflanking maneuver.
* Make him earn the objective.  When facing a close combat army, it is advisable to put your objectives near the middle and out of any type of cover.  That means if by some small chance they do get to your objectives (and no, as ferocious in close combat as your guardsmen are, they will not drive them out in close combat using butter knives), he gets to earn his objective by having nowhere to hide.  With more than 100 guns trained at the claimer, that unit will have more red dots than a guy with chicken pox. 

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       The ork army was at a disadvantage from the beginning, since it usually counts on the army to get a wipeout.  The advantage of being infantry IG is that wiping them out is easier said than done.  The only priority I had was the nobz.  Stop them from getting to the objectives and I automatically win, 2 objectives to 1 (if the rutherd claims one).

       To accomplish this plan though, I had to make sure that it was then impossible for the ork's moving units to contest anything.  I made the megonobz walk as soon as they appeared on the table and blocked them up close with screens from vendettas, it doesn't matter if they assaulted.  What mattered is even if meganobz rolled all 6's from movement, to fleet, to assault, to consolidation, you prevented an ork player from maximizing a possible 24" movement (move 6", Waagh for 6", assault 6", Consolidate 6").  Facing them up close (the closer the better) when you think their gonna waagh! means you get to shave a lot of free inches worth movement since they wont fleet or go far with assault anymore.  If they chose NOT to use it, they run the risk of using it too late.  Basically, you are trading a single unit for the relative safety of everyone.

       After he rolled 4's and 1's in the 3rd turn, I crunched the numbers again.  I knew no Nob, especially with just 2 in each squad and whether I chose to blast them with Vendettas or not, will reach an objective whatever the roll. As for the Lootas, though they were tank killers, it was impossible for them to kill ALL 77 scoring infantry footroops with their 4+ coversave.

       After the Waaagh! was spent, I was simply playing out the game as the Nobz were nowhere near their target as expected.  It was a well fought game but the Ork army simply wasn't designed for the mission:  2 objectives to 1.  Had it been for kill points, I would have been sorely been behind.



Match 3:  IG vs. THUNDER SPACEWOLVES

Mission:  Chance encounter, Secret Mission with a spearhead deployment

Assessing the opponent:  I'm facing an old friend (matagal ng kaibigan, hindi matandang kaibigan a. lol jus kidding Pat!) and a fellow student of Rasec.  We virtually have the same experience in the 40k universe, with him slightly more since I shelved my toolbox back in 2000 with only a few games now and then.  We usually know how the other tailors his list.  He likes heroes and champions; I on the other hand like to see ordinary little men and women (I don’t mean midgets) in mass numbers band together for a common goal (cue patriotic music).  One is not better than the other, it’s just a matter of preference. 
       He is also using Spacewolves, the new sheriffs in these here parts.  Close combat wise these guys are kings of the hill.  The army relies on Land raiders for their protection and clipping/multiple assaults for mass carnage.
     
* Thunderwolf cavalry are monsters not only in the size of their bases.  They do mass murders as if it was their morning coffee.  These guys hit fast and hit hard like a ton of bricks.
* Njal is called stormcaller for a reason.  He gives a new definition to the word "s#!t storm".  And the best part?  He was purchased an invul save.  As if the guy wasn't tough enough.
* There were 2 Land Raiders, but only two troops.  This could play an important factor.
* He has "behind enemy lines" scouts...  The anti-tank specialists.


Strategy:

* The mission might be a classic cleanse.  Deploy everything to be a single step away from 3 table quarters.  Let the Vendettas take care of the last quarter.
* Have a Vendetta for Njal… Literally!  Have a twin-linked Lascannon with his name embossed and blinged on it.  This guy gets crankier every turn.  And seeing that he has an Invul save, sending Raguiel (marbo, a.k.a "The Emperor's Messenger”) to sic him out might not be enough.
* Land Raiders are no monoliths.  They aren't as hard to kill so avoid the trap of going after it too much if it doesn't contain anything worth killing.
* Play "pop the puppy" from a distance.  Forget the Land Raider, if this was going to become an Annihilation mission the Thunderwolves will kill its fair share.  Keep the Vendettas healthy and pick those dogs off from a distance.
* Be ready for anything, kill what can be killed and outmaneuver what I can't.
* Line all infantry squads along my Table edge, effectively neutralizing the scout's "Behind Enemy Lines" rule and be one step away from a table quarter.

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       Fastforward to the 3rd Turn, the mission is announced to be capture and control, with each of our objectives 6" from our starting corners!  With one Land Raider Popped and the other tactical squad disembarked I had a new objective:  Kill all 20 of the grey hunters!  I left the dogs to their wiles, the only reason I shot at them before was because I had Autocannons and Multilasers sitting around... I used it or lose it.  With the dogs near the middle, a chimera wall in place, it could only get to one objective at best.  The Grey Hunters are out in the open and so my flamer guys went wild.  All the guns, from multilasers to heavy bolters, to flamers, and even lascannons, were all aimed for the grey hunters.

       The Thunderwolves were wrecking havoc as predicted, killing everything in its path, but they were irrelevant now.  Mathematically speaking, The Space wolves didn't have enough numbers to make it to the objectives in terms of movement and survivability.  It was going to be my turn with 2 vendettas (1 still in reserve) with objectives in hand, a hydra, a manticore, 4 squads with special weapons, 2 Infantry squads, 1 Psyker Battle squad, and 2 healthy chimeras versus 5 grey hunters out in the middle and out in the open.  Funny enough we were in German uniforms so it was the Battle of Normandy again.  Yeah the dogs were probably full with all the guardsmen meat they have been eating (probably has constipation by now because of lack of fibre. lol :D) but I would’ve made sure those grey hunters felt like the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan.  If those grey hunters made it to the end in one piece, I shouldn't be playing Guard.  2 objectives claimed a lot of littered bodies.

       It was one of the best games I have played this year.  Thanks for the great game Pat!  Looking forward to more scrimmages.
     



Match 4:  IG vs. VULCAN HESTAN MARINES

Mission:  Kill the HQ

Assessing the Opponent:  He's using Charleston (get it? Lolz…hehehe *crickets* *tumbleweeds*).  The 3+ invul save, 6+ str, Heavy Flamer and the ability to twinlink the already formidable marine shooting shows that he means business.  He's one of the popular Marine Character choices and that's no coincidence.  This army has the best of both worlds:  twin-linked meltas, and twin-linked flamers!

       The units are spread evenly.  The list was balanced with more troops and numerous but lightly armoured targets.  With the exception of the techmarine-thunderfire combo, the list looked like something I would have used myself.  I hope I can use this to my advantage.
     
* Lucky draw.  I had faced a lot of opponents, but this is Kill the HQ.  And yes, I’m facing Vulcan Hestan accompanied by 7 Stormshield guys, arguably the toughest SOBs in the marine's current roster... Lucky me. >_>
* The allied grey knights have psychic hood.  There's a good chance my psykers will sit this one out again.



Strategy:

* Make Hestan Walk.  The best chance of killing Hestan would be to make him footslog.  If he gets to close he can clear a table half all by himself...  No exagerations.  I've used Hestan countless of times and did the same thing.  When he's surrounded with assault terminators, he becomes twice as deadly.
* 6 wounds = 1 dead terminator.  Use massive firing to thin down the assault terminators, assault terminators aren't as invincible as they seem.
* With the exception of Hestan's Land Raider, pop low armour vehicles first to reduce the numbers of threat.  Greatly reducing the number of armour piercing guns.
* Initiative cannot be stolen.  That means I could scout and deploy my Vendettas freely without fear.  Ask any of the South guys or Kuneho, of the 5 times I chose to use the scout tactic, 4 of those got my initiative stolen!  Hence my famous last line: "What are the chances"?  This time I can use the tactic well without fear of that surprisingly insurmountable 16% chance of screwing that up.
* Scout them to within 12” of Hestan’s Land Raider, then on my turn deploy my melta guys within 2”, move 6” then blast that Land Raider like it just stole insurance money from my grandma.
* If it's a similar to a list I would use, I could probably get the opponent's mindset better.  So I could either be 2 steps ahead or walking into a trap.

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       I thank Jojo for the Mefanamic as a throw up inducing headache was ravaging me at this point.  However, destroying the Land Raider went according to plan and offered minor comfort (try not sleeping before the 1st and 2nd day of GT to finish painting).  Other anti-vehicle and artillery units followed suit, but the psychic hood foiled my attempt of an early victory by thwarting “Weaken Resolve” twice.  Then something unexpected happened, after he massacred my melta guys with assault terminators and Vulcan, one guardsman was left standing… and rolled DOUBLE 1’s on his morale check!!!  Hell of a time for this guardsman to be brave, this guy will be scrubbing latrines well into the 41stk.  As if Vulcan wasn’t tough enough, he was saved one turn of shooting.  And he was in charge range of my HQ on a “stunned” chimera.

       I had to disembark my my HQ and block line of sight with a couple of chimeras.  The advantage I had at this point was that the army list he was using was something I would use.  That means all I have to do is think how I would use the list myself.

       I knew that if I hid behind my chimeras out of line of sight, he would use the plasma template to target the corner of the chimera and snag my command squad… I know I would.  That was why I let go of everything else and ran.  I spaced my command squad 2 inches away from the covering chimera.  The only way to hit me now would be a lucky deviation.

       I had the army right where I wanted, all thunder hammer guys are dead, no anti-tanks, no support in range, and Vulcan Hestan smack dab in the middle all alone WITH ONE WOUND LEFT!  That’s when Freddie Tan announced TIME!  What my Guardsmen would have given for a final turn but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.  It was still one hell of a game.  It’s a Draw!  






MAIN EVENT: IG vs. IG!

Mission:  Classic Cleanse, NO RESERVES! *head slumps down*

Assessing the Opponent:  Do not expect mistakes.  Freddie has been on tough slobberknockers, meat grinders, rubber matches, and slugfests.  Needless to say he knows how to use his army and he knows how to use it well.
    Obviously there’s nothing here that I don’t already know about.  It was almost a mirror match with slight differences.  Our type of IG relies on having a whole bunch of targets that slowly takes over the table as the game progress.  We both use cheap units so both of us knows neither of us would not hesitate to get into a battle of attrition!

* Bringing a cannon to a gunfight.  The army is similar to mine, except it has more firepower and table clearers versus my flankers and skimmers.
* Chimera attack.  It is almost as mobile, it has more chimeras.  I have a slight advantage with my vendettas.
* The army uses counter strategy. The mystics weren't a problem but the Psychic hood could be.  Because of the vast numbers and coversaves, it is virtually impossible to clean a squad right away.  I needed the Psykers because that means I only have to kill a few to make them run off the edge.


Strategy:
* Top priority:  Deny the Chimeras.  Only scoring units can claim quarters, my best bet is to keep the troop carrying chimeras at bay...  Even if it means ignoring his heavy support (ouch!!!  A bitter pill to swallow).  He must not be mobile enough to get quarters.
* No to gung-ho.  I say this in all seriousness, to have an epic battle one needs to have an epic opponent.  And it doesn't really get any more epic than Freddie Yu.  Freddie rarely commits a mistake so playing with him means I can't gamble (which I often do), No taking unnecessary chances!
* Major setback.  The ultimate kick in the nuts was the "No Reserves" rule.  With my army configuration, there goes my "First strike".  That's like telling Pacquiao "No punching with your left hand"!  I had to play to my strengths.  The vendettas make my army more mobile and effective in longer range anti-tank capabilities.
* My deployment zone had little to no cover.  That means my infantry should hide behind tanks and forget about shooting.
* Overpopulate the quarter.  If I stretch everyone, a combined infantry platoon can claim 3 quarters.  Since I have two of these, I have to start moving them by turn 3 and use chimeras as covers.
* Wrecked Chimeras work to my advantage, they provide valuable coversaves.
* Get lucky…

Game Highlights and Tactical Notes:

       He gets first turn and I have no “Reserves Rule”… it was going to be a long night.  With the Vendettas out in the open, and minimal cover, I was already readjusting tactics in my head based on what I think would be left of my forces.  Initially Freddie suffers from poor shooting.  I thought I was in the clear until his Manticore teed off, with one shot he obliterates my Hydra and destroys my Manticore’s eagle storm rockets virtually making it an expensive paperweight.  Using his last shot, he just levelled my whole heavy support!  I was counting on one of them to get at least a single shot off.  Now I am left to gun for the chimeras with no cover fire.
     
       I had to go for broke.  I overloaded his left flank with my vendettas and trained their guns to his right flank, aiming for the 3 scoring chimeras set to take his right quadrant.  I shoot at their side armour with TL lascannons and I managed to destroy one.  7 veterans were left after the explosion then I threw another Psyker hail mary.  I cast weaken resolve on the Veterans which Freddie contests with a Psychic Hood.  It was my Leadership 9 versus his leadership 10.  I roll a 3.  But lady luck was smiling today as Freddie rolls a 2!  Vets run off the table.
     
       What happened the next few turns was a blur, with tanks exploding left and right, troops getting scorched or blasted.  It was the bloodiest battle I have ever fought.  The surviving Kriegs are currently being treated for post-trauma disorder.

       Luck played a huge role.  I knew luck was involved, because not only did my HQ beat Marbo in single combat, but one of the PCS in a Chimera I was using to contest a quarter got blasted clean leaving my PCS unprotected.  Freddie blasted with a flamer and rolled for 5 guys, under the rules you have to be 50% over, and scoring in order to contest a quarter.  Freddie rolls 5 1’s!!!  He took a picture of it just so we could believe it happened. :D  That means for probably the first time in the badluck riddled 40k rolls of my life, Lady fortune chose to bend the laws of probability in grand fashion.
     
       The table was a mess, all I remember was that on the last turn I had virtually no tanks left.  Freddie had a Chimera contesting his right quarter which was coincidentally near a flamer special weapons team from a wrecked Vendetta, and a bunch of PCS melta guys.  I melted the Chimera and toasted the troops inside, giving me 2-1 in quarters held.
     
       So there I had it, it took 2 miraculous Psyker attacks to go through, Freddie’s 5 miraculous rolls of 1’s to wound, My HQ to incredibly beat Marbo in single combat, and my vendetta to be wrecked at the right place at the right time….  Whew!  Thank you sir may I have another!!!