This recap has been a long time coming.
Unlike when I had my first child, I knew I would eventually find my way back. I wasn't sure on how long it would take, but it would happen eventually.
The answer was just a tick over thirteen months – I "finished up" in April 2024, and apart from filling in at a teams event with World Eaters (which I don't really count), I haven't so much as picked up a 40k model in anger.
That changed this week. I'm back, baby!
It started with me trying my Librarius Conclave list on Monday, which felt awful to play. As it turns out, Assault Terminators suck, even led by a Librarian, and whilst the Sternguard brick is cool, it turns out "one and done" is not a good foundation for an army.
I won the game, but it felt like I didn't win the game because my opponent was learning too, and instead of pushing me over and finishing the job, he held back, giving me a key turn to rack up primary and secondary.
But I digress.
After the game long time friend and occasional nemesis Tim ("Evil Tim") pulled me up and told me in no uncertain terms:
"Just play Gladius."
So, I stewed on it in the car ride home. I was missing a Ballistus, the unit of ICC, a third unit of Terminators, and Azrael.
But the alternative was knowing that it would feel like shit all day if I played Librarius Conclave.
So I sweat it out, broke my rule of "box to table", and this is what I ended up putting on the table.
Then there was an 11th hour intervention from Tim to remove the Judiciar and pick up a unit of scouts.
Azrael (115pts) - Warlord
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (70pts)
5 Intercessors (80pts)
5 Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs (90pts)
5 Deathwing Knights (250pts)
5 Deathwing Knights (250pts)
5 Deathwing Knights (250pts)
6 Inner Circle Companions (180pts)
5 Scouts (70pts) - Sniper Rifle, Missile Launcher
Ballistus Dreadnought (140pts)
Ballistus Dreadnought (140pts)
Ballistus Dreadnought (140pts)
Repulsor Executioner (220pts)
With my army decided upon, I updated my scorekeeping iPad, loaded up on snacks and sparkling water, and headed out into the great unknown – Jolt Games.
A particular shout-out to my wife, who departed on Friday night to get dessert for us, and knew instinctively that I would need sparkling water for tomorrow, even though I didn't think about it or ask. That's true love, folks.
Game 1 – v "Titanic" Tim (Chaos Knights) – Scorched Earth, Search and Destroy
I had originally issued a grudge to Alex, but because he doesn't know how that works (grudging is a bit of an outdated practice) he didn't vocalise his acceptance, only reacting to my post with a flame emoji. This meant the grudge went unanswered. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Instead, I played against Tim E ("Titanic Tim") playing the same faction and a similar list. It could've been miles apart, but let's level with each other, dear reader, it's Knights. They're a big stat check that says "deal with me or die".
All week there had been ripples in the local and wider community about how strong knights potentially were after their new book, but given this was my second game under the new rules package, I just figured I'd try to do my best, and whatever Tim did, Tim did.
Unfortunately for me I did not think at all about my deployment:
Yes, that is almost my entire army too close to the wall and able to be charged by two big knights.
The mistakes kept coming, including not understanding that Chaos Knights, even the fighty ones, are vulnerable to AP3, which I had access to. I also missed an opportunity to use grenades for extra damage – and I had no idea how towering worked.
In what would prove to be a continuing theme for the day, though, the men in green did not go quietly into the night, removing three of Tim's big knights. Unfortunately, this came after Tim had removed almost all my Deathwing Knights, which was compounded by some shocking positioning which allowed my ICC to be shot off of the board.
By the bottom of turn 3 I had a handful of intercessors on the table, and that was that.
Result – Salamander Loss, 10-90
Despite how poorly I played, the wheels had begun to turn in my mind – with better positioning and use of stratagems, that game was winnable. The scoreline was a blowout in the end, but a little nibble here, and a little nibble there, and I could've made it work.
Getting blasted landed me the bye, but Apex Rowan was on hand as the bye-buster.
Game 2 - RowanBowl IV – Hidden Supplies, Crucible of Battle
A veteran from the other side of the Tyrannic War, Apex Rowan was running the shiny new Subterranean Assault detachment – Raveners, Triple Norn, and a unit of Zoanthropes, along with the customary tidal wave of Tyranid trash that locks you up.
I felt I had deployed better, but I refused to take advantage of the first turn positioning advantage, and played too conservatively. One step to the side, two steps back.
I allowed Apex Rowan to take the middle of the board, and by the time I realised I could outmuscle the bugs, there were already snakes and tunnels everywhere. With Norns parked in the middle of the board I did not have enough time to wrestle back the initiative.
It was a masterclass in positioning and playing around an opponent from Apex Rowan, and a lesson in just how chunky Deathwing Knights can be. Whilst Rowan won the war, I felt I had won the fight - I finished with all three units of Deathwing Knights intact and could've very well gone on with it, even with the Zoanthrope Brick threatening to shoot me to death.
Result – Salamander Loss, 40-76
Being the exhibition version of RowanBowl, I "technically" got a 50 point win. But again, Apex Rowan pointed out that whilst I had made a few mistakes and there was a fair bit of rust, the fundamentals were still there.
And given I'd be pairing up, I'd need to shake off some more rust for my last game.
Game 3 – v Jack (Necrons) – Linchpin, Tipping Point
Jack was running Awakned Dynasty with a pair of Kpop C'tans (geddit), 30 (!) Flayed Ones, some Tomb Blades for early skirmish, the Wraith Brick, a Destroyer block, and a bunch of other small utility pieces.
If the sin of my first game was playing poorly, and the sin of my second was being too timid, the third game was when I felt it all start to come together. It wasn't perfect, I left my JPIs off the board and just let them be destroyed, but it was the closest I came all day to putting together a complete game.
I found a balance between aggression and overextension, dragging Jack's first unit of flayed ones in range to be heroically intervened on as they closed in to eat my scouts.
Then, for my next trick, I jammed my ICC and a unit of Deathwing Knights into Jack's deployment zone, forcing the game to be conducted in his half of the board, giving me board control.
Whilst the Wraith Brick always loomed large on my right flank, the combination of Ballistus shooting and the dual threat of Deathwing Knights and Inner Circle Companions in Jack's deployment zone meant his Kpop C'tans couldn't reach the middle of the board for maximum impact until very late in the game, at which point I had opened up enough of a lead to carry the game.
Result – Salamander Win, 65-58
I would finish the day technically 2-1, which was enough for the top half of the draw, if only just. An improvement over my last Grim Series appearance, although with the serious asterisk of the bye to carry me into game 3.
At the end of the day, I felt very happy to be back playing. My opponents were all excellent and it was great to be back amongst my people.
And as an added bonus, thanks to my wife reading my mind better than I could myself, I woke up the next day without a nasty headache, and feeling pretty fresh overall.
My list also felt very nice to play – there's still a lot of learning to do around managing my board utility pieces, as much of the time they just stood off to the side waiting for something to happen, getting picked up as an afterthought by my opponent.
But the big shock to me was just how good Deathwing Knights and Inner Circle Companions are. Turns out, having all of your melee threats hit on 2s is insane, and when you start stacking buffs and triggering a go turn powered by calling Assault – I get why this army was so highly rated, and I'm keen to practice and get better with it.
…and paint the rest of my miniatures, too. That'd be nice.
Catch you next time,
Vulkan
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