Cadians Vs Blood Angels – 2022 League – Game 1 – 1,250 pts
Game 1 of the 2022 League - here goes...
Welcome to my battle report for this Cadians vs Blood Angels game and my first post regarding a League I’m in for the entirety of 2022 comprising of 10 players.
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The 2022 League
These first three games detailed below are sort of like the warm-up games. The results do not matter, but any Warlord Traits or Relics taken during these games must be kept. Your Warlord must also be the same for all of these games and 2,000 point games starting in April.
Game 1 – 1,250 points – January’s Game
For this game, you can take a Warlord Trait and a Relic for free, with no extra CP cost.
Game 2 – 1,500 points – February’s Game
In this game, you keep the Relic and Warlord Trait from game 1 and gain another Relic or Warlord Trait for free.
Game 3 – 1,750 points – March’s Game
Finally, in this game, you keep the Relic(s) and Warlord Trait(s) from games 1 and 2 and gain another Relic or Warlord Trait for free.
April Onwards – 2,000 points
All Relics and Warlord Traits from games 1, 2 and 3 are kept for the 9 games between April and December.
There are 10 players total and I will play each person once, for a total of 9 games at 2,000 points.
We are aiming for about 1 per month.
The full details and results of the 2022 League can be found here.
Cadians – “The Forgotten Phalanx” – 1,250 points
Here is my 1st list for this League. Note I have 2 Warlord Traits and 2 Relics, but I spend no CP to take these.
- The Laurels of Command – Relic
- Gatekeeper – Relic
- Grand Strategist – WT
- Old Grudges – WT
My Warlord who will remain the same throughout this league is;
Company Commander Emil Thanz of the Cadian 114th – A.K.A The Forgotten Phalanx
Cadian Battalion
HQ
- Company Commander Emil Thanz of the Cadian 114th as my Warlord – with Boltgun, Chainsword Grand Strategist Warlord Trait and The Laurels of Command
- Demolisher Pask with Multi Meltas and a Lascannon
- Gatekeeper Battle Cannon Tank Commander with 3x Heavy Bolters and Old Grudges Warlord Trait
Elites
- Astropath with Psychic Barrier
Troops
- Infantry Squad
- Infantry Squad
- Infantry Squad
Cadian Super-Heavy Auxilary Detachment
- Baneblade with a single pair of Lascannon and Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Secondaries
- For the Emperor – the new Astra Militaru secondary, score 1VP for each unit destroy to a maximum of 3VP per Battle Round
- Grind Them Down
- Psychic Interrogation
List Overview
The game plan here is just to shoot at much as possible and not get charged turn 1. If I can do that I think I stand a chance of a victory. Having played Lance’s Blood Angels a few times before I know what to expect, jump packs and melee Marines charging forward with some form of vehicle in the back doing damage to my vehicles from afar.
I think shooting the closest unit might be the best option, just drive back the melee units and stop them from engaging with me for as long as possible.
I opted for Grand Strategist over Kurov’s Aquila as it allows for more rolls to get that 5+. Grand Strategist rolls for each CP I spend, while Kurov’s Aquila allows only one roll for each Stratagem the enemy uses.
Gatekeeper seems like an auto-include at the moment to try and mitigate the -1 Damage effects all over the place at the moment. This Tank Commander has Old Grudges too – he can stay close to Pask and help remove a key enemy unit throughout the league.
In the future I can easily add;
- A Tank Ace for a CP, I have not done this yet as I want to see how this performs as it is
- Another Leman Russ to be ordered by Pask, as he has 2 Tank Orders, one for himself and then one for another regular Leman Russ
Blood Angels – 1,250 points
- Captain in Termatinor Armour
- Chaplain
- Redemptor
- Death Company Dreadnought
- 5 model Intercessor Squad
- 5 model Intercessor Squad
- 5 model Assault Intercessor Squad
- 5 model Sanguinary Guard Squad
- 3 model Eradicator Squad
Secondaries
- Oaths of Moment
- Assassination
- Retrieve Nachmund Data
Tide of Conviction – The Mission
This is from the new Nachmund Grand Tournament book.
You had to hold the objective in your Deployment Zone to get your Battle Forged CP in your Command Phase.
The Primary was 4VP for each of the following;
- Control 2+
- Control 3+
- Control More
And the final piece of the puzzle in the Primary is;
- Score 2VP for controlling at least one objective in the enemy’s territory – in your first, second, third and fourth turn
- At the end of your fifth turn score 2VP for each objective held in the enemy’s No Man’s Land and 4VP for the objective in the enemy Deployment Zone
Cadians Vs Blood Angels Deployment
Most of my forces went on my right flank. I had two infantry units to screen the Baneblade and one for the Tank Commander. Pask went on the far left flank on his own.
The Blood Angels speed out with fewer forces facing Pask and more facing my right flank. As expected.
Turn 1
Blood Angels took the first turn. I used Old Grudges on the Redemptor.
The Blood Angels came forward, but the Chapin and Sanguinary Guard stayed put, in the top right corner, waiting for the right time to strike. I lost 7 Guardsmen on the right that were shielding the Astropath and Tank Commander. This was all the shooting the Blood Angels could muster. The Eradicators were out of range of my tanks – thank goodness.
Pask motored forward as far as he could and used Shock Troops to count as remaining stationary. The Gunners Kill on Sight order was used so he could re-roll ones to Hit. Then Pask opened up with Hail of Fire (12 shots) from his Demolisher into the Death Company Dreadnought – it died! The 4 Multi Melta shots and single Lascannon went for the unit of 5 Intercessors and killed them to the man.
The Tank Commander remained stationary and went for the Redemptor, nearly halving its remaining Wounds thanks to Gatekeeper and Old Grudges.
My infantry moved to secure an objective and wrap the Astropath. He had done his power this turn for 4VP and I needed him alive to continue to gather than Psychic Interrogation VPs.
Finally, the Baneblade killed all three Eradicators and 4 out of 5 Intercessors on the back objective. This meant the Blood Angels would get their CP next turn. The Baneblade then charged the Assault Intercessors that had come forwards using Crush ‘Em – killing 3.
Turn 2
The Blood Angels went for the Baneblade this turn.
Their right flank was gone thanks to Pask and the Baneblade was now a big threat in the middle of the battlefield. It was charged by the Terminator Captain (who died in Overwatch), the Redemptor, Chaplain and the Sanguinary Guard. It died, but did not explode – which would have been ideal!
I lost a unit of infantry in the centre of y Deployment Zone from the Redemptor’s frankly amazing anti-infantry weapons. It was built for just deleting 10+ Guardsmen per turn. Even using Take Cover and Cadia Stands could not save them.
Pask moved around this turn onto an enemy objective for the new Mission Primary, called Overrun, for 2VP this turn. He had no targets – but was safe.
The Tank Commander killed all but one Sanguinary Guard unit, the last failed Morale and run.
My Infantry and Astropath moved onto an objective and the Astropath got my 4VPs again.
Turn 3
Not much left now for either of us. The Chaplain came and killed my Warlord, removing me from my own CP gaining objective. And getting 2VP for Overrun, the mission Primary.
I lost my final Infantry Squad to the Redemptor, leaving my Tank Commander and Astropath exposed.
Pask shuffled around the corner to get 2VP again for Overrun and killed the last Intercessor on the enemy Deployment Zone objective, no CP now for the Blood Angels either. He also killed the last two Assault Intercessors that the Baneblade charged in turn 1.
The Tank Commander retreated a bit to make an impossible charge for the Chaplain. He then used Gatekeeper against the Redemptor but it lived on a Wound or two. His Heavy Bolters made light work of the Chaplain – which was great and somewhat unexpected.
My Astropath got me 4VPs again.
Turn 4
The Redemptor killed my Astropath and my Tank Commander killed the Redemptor.
Pask gained 2VP for Overrun again.
Turn 5
Pask moved 10″ and then another 10″ with the Full Throttle Tank Order to get onto the enemy objective for a final 4VP.
Cadians Vs Blood Angels – Summary
Well, a win! My first in a while.
Why? I think I played better, I had that new Astra Militarum Secondary which went well with Grind Them Down and Psychic Interrogation was also fantastic and a pretty sure thing if I can screen the Astropath.
I felt my tanks did as they should do. I do not roll 4 shots for the Baneblade Cannon which helps a lot when you are trying to kill 3 Eradicators which are Toughness 5, 3 Wounds with a 3+ Save and have Transhuman on them.
It was still close despite my tabling the Blood Angels in the late game.
I love the new Primaries. It felt like I was in the game despite not holding as many objectives.
The smaller game helped as well I think. I could do just enough damage to weaken my enemy and then carry that advantage through to a win. In a bigger game against a 9th Edition Codex, if I did well at shooting then I would still be facing down a load of brutal units that would still punish me for not doing env more damage.
My next League game is vs Liam’s Custodes, 1,500 points… in late Feb.
