40k League - 11th - Season 1 - Round 5 - Division 3

I wasn’t happy enough with getting two predictions wrong, so this time decided to go for all three. In fairness, we were very close to getting the two draws I’d predicted, but Matt and Weir had to go and ruin that for everyone. So, let’s see what happened:

Matt (Necrons / Take and Hold) Vs Dan (Death Guard / Priority Assets):

Not content with having already changed my disposition after round 2, I decided to pivot from Take and Hold to Priority Assets – which also meant changing my list a little, so I had some more action pieces. The core was the same though; nasty Plague Marine brick in a Land Raider, two DS/LoC to drop in, and a couple of Predators (DON’T FUCKING SEND THESE TO LEGENDS GW) and Haulers to help with the shooting.

Things started off really well, despite Matt getting first turn. I was able to dispose of the Nightbringer in Round 2 and kept Matt on the backfoot for most of the game…and then Round 5 happened – Matt sent everything he had left on the table forward, killing most of what I had left and denying me any meaningful scoring for the final turn, snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat. Matt played this well, and although I hate his stupid fucking army with a passion, I respect the hustle. It also showed that DG are having a really rough time of it at the moment, and the changes made in the most recent slate just aren’t doing enough to help them punch up against the stronger armies in the game. Priority Assets does feel like the right disposition for my list though. Well done Matt, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you get promoted to L2…unless a certain narrative chasing DA player can pip you to the post.

Prediction: Draw

Winner: Matt (92 to 84)

Weir (Dark Angels / Recon) Vs Craig (Death Guard / Recon):

On the next table over from Matt and I was this absolutely bonkers game to determine who was the best recon player in the league, the winner forever being known as John Reconnaissance ^TM.

I thought this might be a rough night for Craig, as I know very well how much the DG “buffs” have helped us out, and also Weir’s DA got a tummy tickle at best, so were still going to be an absolute nightmare to deal with.

I glanced over at the table around the midpoint and Craig was not looking very happy – he said that Weir had managed to kill a lot of stuff and so he was anticipating the killing blow to come shortly…and then something strange happened…Craig just kept on scoring and scoring and scoring. The Recon mirror is probably the most regarded matchup there is at the moment, with it seemingly being impossible to score highly, even if you are on the backfoot. Weir managed to edge this one, because of course he fucking did – maybe I should start predicting him to win.

At least they finished the game right at the acceptable limit of Lisa’s patience.

Prediction: Draw

Winner: Weir (100 to 97)

Josh (Chaos Knights / Take and Hold) vs Joe (Votann / Priority Assets):

I didn’t see this one unfold, but having played the same matchup this round, I understand what Josh and Joe would’ve been trying to achieve.

What I can only assume happened here though was that Josh went full LEEROYYYYYYYYYY at Joe, murdering his dwarves with the bigs and blunting his score in the later rounds.

The pivot change some of us were expecting didn’t come in this slate, so Josh was able to run the big stompers with reckless abandon. Something I know his smooth brain would’ve very much appreciated. Well done Josh and commiserations Joe, sometimes the dwarves can take down the largest of foes, and sometimes they get murked like JBL throwing a bin at Hornswoggle – I guess this was the latter.

Prediction: Joe

Winner: Josh (100 to 62)

And so we move onto Round 5, where it’s starting to look like who can have the cleanest sheet out of Matt and Weir:

Fixtures:

Matt (Necrons / Take and Hold) vs Craig (Death Guard / Recon)

Weir (Dark Angels / Recon) vs Josh (Chaos Knights / Take and Hold)

Dan (Death Guard / Priority Assets) vs Jamie (Imperial Knights / Purge)

Matt vs Craig

Craig has already proven he can take an absolute drubbing and still have you wondering if he can still score high enough to pip you to the post – but Necrons can kill far harder and are harder to kill than Dark Angels, and this also isn’t a Recon mirror.

Craig also only gets 1VP per kill in this mission – which was fine when he was playing against me and could rack up 6 kills in a turn… but I’m not convinced it will be as easy for him this time.

Prediction: Matt

Weir vs Josh

And now it’s the same matchup again but with wildly different armies. Like Craig, Weir is going struggle to get more than 1VP a turn from killing stuff when Josh is rocking 5 bigs (and some Nurglings), but he at least has more killing power to be able to achieve it. And, if the bigs aren’t around anymore, then Weir can just passively score his way to victory.

The Lancer is a serious threat though, with very efficient profiles into both marines and vehicles. And let’s not forget the firepower Josh will be backing that up with.

Could this finally be the game that stretches the narrative power of the Ravenwing to the limit?

Prediction: Through gritted teeth, Weir

Not sure why it felt the need to clarify this was made with AI…could you tell?? Also, we’re using CoPilot for the predictions slop because ChatGPT ran out of generations and I need to get this all done before I travel to Scotland STOP JUDGING THE SHIT SLOP.

Anyway, moving on.

Dan (Death Guard / Priority Assets) vs Jamie (Imperial Knights / Purge)

Now onto the only unique match of this round as I attempt to keep the centre and action, while Josh simply has to kill me. Perfectly balanced match!

Jamie’s list is very similar to Josh’s, minus some Nurglings and some heretical symbols. So I’ve got 5 bigs to contend with. I’ve probably got the killing power to take down 2 or 3 of these provided Jamie doesn’t get the drop on me…but all 5? Yeh I’m not convinced. That being said, cover is a thing, and Jamie’s bigs have let him down in the past.

Prediction: Jamie

And that just leaves Joe, who is on his second BYE of the league…… Burnham’s Britain.