Lando's Friday Challenge - Ron's Deathwatch

This week saw my third challenge game, against Ron Gargett's Deathwatch. For reference, my army is here;

http://hiveoffunandsilliny.blogspot.com/2018/06/landos-friday-challenge.html

Ron took the following (in order of deployment)

• 3 Bikers
• 3 Bikers
• Watch Captain with Jump Pack
• Corvus Blackstar, containing a Librarian and two 5 man Veteran Squads
• Corvus Blackstar, containing a Librarian and two 5 man Veteran Squads
• 5 Veterans
• Watch Master (Warlord)
• 5 Veterans
• Corvus Blackstar

This was my worst match-up so far; a mobile, shooting army. All the Veteran squads had a Frag Cannon for devastating Overwatch, and three Fliers to keep his guys out of assault. Both the Librarians had Null Zone too. After looking at my army, he chose the Furor Tactic, letting him re-roll 1s to wound my Troupes.

Ron chose the Cleanse and Capture mission. Three Objective cards a turn, so plenty of opportunities to score points. I'd have to approach the mission very carefully, holding Objectives is not the Harlequin strong point.

The Game

With Ron having the first turn, things were an uphill struggle. His shooting phase took a chuck out of my army and had the potential to leave me reeling. Luckily his assault phase didn't really follow up.

My first turn consisted of ignoring the Corvuses and taking on the units currently on foot, to much success. The only sticking point was the Watch Master, a solitary Biker and a squad of Veterans I couldn't quite reach. I left the Skyweavers in the Webway and Path of Heroes was pretty key too. I have become a fan of that Stratagem.

Ron's second turn felt like more of the first, with a lot more losses to my forces. I did manage to Deny a key Null Zone though, which let my Great Harlequin and his Shadowseer survive the turn on 1 wound each.

My response left him with next to no Infantry alive, merely the Watch Master, a Librarian, the Biker and 2 Veterans. This was facilitated by bringing on the Skyweavers. Haywire Cannons make a mess of infantry as well as vehicles. This allowed me to start racking up the points, as the Corvuses would have trouble scoring points in future turns.

Time meant that the third round was our last. Ron made a good effort in trying to pull points back and killed half the Skyweavers, as well as finally vanquishing my Warlord. I was very low on models at this point.

My final turn saw the Watch Master also fall, as well as the remaining Skyweavers put a lot of damage into 2 of the Corvus. Both were Hovering, making it easier to shoot one, and the other one was still in combat with a lone Player which allowed me to charge without receiving overwatch.

The game ended with me ahead, 8 Victory Points to 5.

Aftermath

To be honest, the game was brutal on both sides. If you were on foot, you were not long for this world. Both armies are good at killing opposing units in the phase of their choice, but not great at being on the revenge side of the equation. If the game had gone on, I would not have had many, if any models left at the end of Ron's next turn.

I can see why most people are putting their army in Starweavers. The mobility and protection seem key against armies like the one I faced today. I've also been finding the Prismatic Cannons hit and miss. The Focussed profile is not worth using at 1 shot, and the random shots on the other two profiles aren't great when you only have two of them.

However, I am becoming happier with the army as I become more comfortable with its usage. There are a lot of tricks available to the Harlequins, practice will help me learn which ones to use when.