Unit Reviews From Blog Wars X: Winners and Loosers

I thought I'd review the performances of my units from BWX. You can watch a vlog here that details how I got on at the tournament. 

As a whole my army performed quite well, but some units did better than others. Some of my units were probably a dead weight, at least in terms of the armies that I faced, or how they performed.

The Guys (thanks mike for taking the photo!)

Telion - loser

My "sudo vindicare" gave away first strike twice! Twice! And the other game I don't think he caused a wound. Admittedly, one of the times he died he took the chaos deamon warp storm table to the face, but he underperformed. In a practice game he earns his place by killing nurglings. I'm still tempted by Marneaus Calgar.

Librarian - loser

But in addition to Telion giving away first strike, my librarian gave away warlord in the two games I won by blowing his own head of! The second time he did that, he also took a grav centurion with him! Useful for a bit of preseince, but I'm thinking about taking him out tbh. And maybe trying a bike captain.

Scouts & landspeeder storm - winner

Easily justified their cost. Gave me speed and objective secured, as well as holding my left flank in the draw until the 4th turn. Even then they only folded because they got charged by a greater daemon. If I'd of remembered in the 3rd game I could have got more points by using them better as well.

Tactical squad, with missile launcher, melta, combi melta and drop pod - winner

I was going to say that they didn't do a lot but hen I remembered that the one guy left alive was the whole reason I drew with Dan. His contesting of that central objective meant that I didn't loose that game :). None of the armies I faced classified a melta drop pod as a threat, but creative use in all three games meant that they got me line breaker (twice) and claimed a couple of points in mission 3.

2 squads of grav gun bikes. (3 bikes per squad) - winner

One of the strong performers in every game. In the first game, One squad deleted a trygon prime in a single shooting phase. In the second game they were also instrumental in the draw, helping to clear plaguebearers from my home objective and reclaim it. They were a massive bonus in the third game, giving me speed and shooting to take out two units of obliterators. As with BW9, the bikes repaid their selection.

10 sternguard in a drop pod, with 2 combi meltas, 2 combi plasmas and a lightning claw - winner

A unit that probably overperformed in the first game, was badly used in the second and in the third hit once and hard. Overall, they justified selection. In the first game, they killed a flying give tyrant and some Gaunts. In the second game, they killed nothing. (I probably should of gone for a different target!) In the third game, they dropped down, killed typhus and then got eaten by Chaos spawn and a helldrake. A good inclusion. Predictably used, but a reliable and strong addition.

Grav centurions in a drop pod - winner

This unit again had a varied experience. In the first game, their pod scattered back towards my deployment. This meant that they couldn't shoot first turn, but did end up killing hive guard, tyrant guard and the swarmlord. They turned a refused flank into a wall of death all by themselves. In the second game, as with most of my units they didn't do a great deal. They punched some chaos spawn in combat but hat was about it.

In the third game, they were amazing. Took out a land raider, a unit of chaos terminators, a chaos librarian and a helldrake. And only the raider was before the librarian blew his own head off, taking one of them with him. They made it impossible for my opponent to come towards me.

I think having them in a drop pod is excellent. Partly because it means my opponent can't pinpoint where they are going to be as easily in the setup, and then if I loose or don't have first turn they are protected.

 
Devastators 3x missile launcher, 1x lascannon
Again, a unit that piled on well i was doing well, and didnt turn the balance when i wasnt doing well. i dont know if these guys are worth it tbh. They cement my backline, and help with anti tank, but i was never in a sitaution where i thought "man im really glad i have these devastators." tbh, even in my most recent practice games they havent been pulling thier weight. Maybe i should try without them.

Lord commissar and guard blob squad with two Flamers - unsure

Overall, these guys held a space. In the first game, they held a flank against Gaunts and in the third game they infiltrated near some obliterators and then ran against them shooting (and killed one or two). In the second game, they did a job defensively in that they absorbed a charge (and then died).  The model count in my army would be very low of it wasn't for these guys, and they have the potential to absorb firepower because there is so many of them. But they don't contribute offensively very often.

Platoon command squad with four Flamers - Winner

These guys did very little, but they are outrageously good when they work. For 50 points you get for flamer templates and you could put them in a drop pod if you wanted since the one the centurions ride in is from the fast attack slot.

Stormtroopers - looser

These guys did not a lot. They got me line breaker in the second game, but in the first and third games they didn't do an awful lot. Maybe I didn't use them well in the third game, I tried to use the to kill a helldrake after all. I'm not sure if I'll keep them in.

Squadron of 2 wyverns - winner

These guys are probably my MVP. in the first game, they killed about 30 gaunts, including most of a 20 man unit of gargoyles. In the second game, their kills got me first strike and the draw, killing a unit of plaguebearers and a unit of nurglings. In the third game, they did actually die, but not before they eliminated my opponent's objective holding units of plague zombies, and most of a unit of chaos spawn. They are a key part of the "walk through your comrades corpses to get to me" strategy. So yes, definitely my MVP. 

Conclusions
Overall, these are my top 3 units from each side. im now thinking about addressing these going forwards, shifting the focus a bit. but i need to make sure its not just done on form. as they say, form is temporary, but class is permanent.  

Winners:
1: Wyerns
2: Grav Bikes (seriously better than i expected!)
3: Grav centurions (i know they get called a bit of a crutch, but they arent a knight or a superheavy.)

Loosers:
1: Devastators
2: Telion
3: Librarian (who doesnt normally blow his own head of but was useless on the day.