Finally!

It finally happened.  I finally gathered the motivation to go to the gameshop.  I took my Blood Angels and Empire, as well as some hobby supplies.  My intention was to hang out and hobby a bit, getting to know more than the half-dozen guys that I've seen in there every time.  Luckily, I even got to roll some dice and play a game!

I sat next to a cool fella named Will.  He displayed the kind of enthusiasm that I was used to seeing from years of recruiting new hobbyists.  He had acquired a Black Reach set and alot of other Space Marine stuff and was happily chatting with me about his paint scheme and his plans for his force.  I was super excited to be starting in that way.

I was also surprised by the amount of gamers in the shop playing Warhammer.  I went in at a quarter-to-five and found three tables of fantasy and one table of 40k.  It was awesome.  I was impressed, especially considering that this shop is frequented by soldiers and army-brats.  It was certainly promising for my Empire. 

I painted some insignia onto Assault Squad 7 while I observed and talked with Will and a couple of other guys.  When later I went to inhale my cancer-smoke, he joined me and asked to play a 1500 point 40k game.  I knew this was gonna be difficult as I could tell that he was as new as they come and our game was certain to turn into a teaching game.  But wait!  That's what I've recieved a decade of training specifically to do!!!  I happily agreed, finished my cigarette(s), quit the phone call I was on, and pulled out my Descent of Angels Blood Angels army.  And yes, I did warn Will that I was bringing that force and how he should set up to avoid the full wrath of Baal in turn 2.  I am fair, and this was going to be a learning game.  The mission we rolled was a 12-and-kill.  How appropriate for a firstie... 

Here's my list:
Librarian with jump pack, infernus pistol, upgraded to Epistolary
Sanguinary Priest with jump pack and power weapon
Sanguinary Guard with death masks, chapter banner, power fist, and infernus pistol

Vanguard Squad, 6 strong, with glaive encarmine, flamer pistol, two plasma pistols, 3 power weapons, and jump packs

Assault Squad with power weapon, plasma pistol, flamer, and meltagun, combat squaded

Assault Squad with thunder hammer, flamer, and meltagun, combat squaded

Furioso Dreadnought with extra armor, in a Drop Pod with a Locator Beacon

Here's Will's:

Cato Sicarius

Captain with power weapon and bolter

Terminator Squad, ten strong, with assault cannon and cyclone missile launcher

Scout Squad, five strong, with shotguns and a heavy bolter

Tactical Squad with a power fist, a meltagun, and a missile launcher, mounted in Rhino with a H/K missile

Tactical Squad with a flamer and missile launcher

Assault Squad, five strong, with power weapon and storm shield
Dreadnought with multimelta

Just after we got through deployment and the first turn, another kat, named David, started prowling the table.  Unfortunately for Will, my training then kicked into overdrive and I invited Dave to play as well.  Sure enough, he agreed and we set up for a three-way battle.  Oh, little did I know what I'd just done...

David's list:
Master Draigo

Librarian

Paladin Squad, 10 strong, with chapter banner, apothecary, and each individually armed.  I can tell you with certainty that there were four halberds and one hammer.  Ask me how I know...

Stormraven with plasma cannons, multimelta, and hurricane bolters

Land Raider Crusader with multimelta.

Yes, I know that Dave didn't seem to have two Troops.  I don't care, I was just happy to be rolling dice.  Plus, it allowed for Will and I to really focus on the Grey Knights as the 'cheezy third guy' and have some fun.  I've run far too many battles for events and such, so I felt really cool about this.  Yes, I also know that there was no way I was going to represent very well with my Blood Angels.  They are a great army, unless Grey Knights show up.  They did, and now all I can do is simply leap onto blades and scream 'For Sanguinius!' as I die.  But I was bound to make it fun.

We played, with David having the first turn, followed by me, followed by Will.  My Dreadnought came down in turn one and knocked the multi-melta off the Land Raider.  The Stormraven turned around and killed my Dreadnought (that was fast).  Will did little.  Then my Assault teams started arriving and shooting, and I successfully blew the assault cannons from the Crusader.  Of course, every red model I had died when the Land Raider disgorged a whole slew of Paladins.  But Will shot his Dreadnought into the Stormraven and blew it outta the sky!  It was awesome, made David start to worry, and I had it crash straight into one of my Assault teams and kill them.  I don't care what kind of armor you have, a gunship fallling on you means death!

The next turn saw little happen other than my Vanguard heroically-intervening right onto some Nemesis Force Halberds.  They died a glorious, if not useless, death.  The game went on into the late hours (Will is new, after all) with me having scored just two kill points overall (I went after Will's softer targets just to get 'on the board').  But Will put his gunline to the test as the rest of the Grey Knights took a beating and kept on marching.  The Land Raider ended the game with no weapons and finally destroyed, so I joked that we'll kill this Land Raider 'one armor plate at a time!'  His Paladins suffered one wound through seven turns of shooting and finally lost another four to Will's leftover power fists from Termininators.  Overall, the Grey Knights kicked our teeth in and won the game 8-5-2.  Will had a blast, David even kind of enjoyed himself (if you can't tell, he's not in the game to play), and I finally put some painted models on a table and rolled some dice. 

What did I get outta this visit?  Well, the guys in there are starting to remember me (keep in mind that I see the same people in there every month).  Everyone loves my painting (I have to give all the credit to GW-  'paint well or die' was the mantra when I put the red shirt on.), which makes me feel good.  And even the gameshop owner has conversed with me for more than the purchase of a White Dwarf's time. 

But most of all, I learned that Grey Knights are every bit as cheezy as the online blogosphere has said.  I wasn't expecting to do that well, and I even have a well-written Grey Knight army myself.  But fighting them with my assault-oriented Blood Angels was a disappointment-and-a-half.  Not too long ago, I felt that 40k was a well-balanced game and any army could beat any army.  I can see now that the rock-paper-scissors game has finally cemented itself in the 41st millenium.  I'm not bitter, but not rolling dice at all in the phase I specialize in can be a real downer.  But a game is just a game, and I'll just have to drop some Demolisher templates on silver doods every time I see them...

Will came away pumped.  He bought his wife the White Dwarf with the Sisters of Battle rules.  We left fifteen minutes after we closed and Will wanted to make it back today.  I may have to go give him a one-on-one run today.  More than anything, I got to play!!!  It begins, finally...