Hello, dear reader! My trip reports have been, let’s say “missing” from the site for the last, uh, checks notes however long it’s been since March 11th, 2020. I’d like to claim the excuse of gestures broadly at everything, but I’ve actually been to quite a few events since July here in the Dakotas and further south in the Midwest. It’s just been hard to sit down and write afterwards. But no more! I am in possession of #content and my editor started to bully me so here we go! [Editor’s Note: Took you long enough.]

The list: The Ultrahogs

Everything is the 7th most important thing to kill

++ Battalion Detachment 0 CP (Imperium – Adeptus Astartes – Ultramarines) [108 PL, 2,000pts, 8CP] ++

Chapter Selection: Hungry for Battle, Master Artisans, Ultramarines Successor

+ Stratagems +

Honoured Sergeant [-1CP]
Relics of the Chapter [-1CP]: Number of Extra Relics

+ No Force Org Slot +

Company Veterans [8 PL, 125pts]: 2x Company Veteran: Lightning Claw, Storm shield, Company Veteran: Astartes Chainsword, Storm shield, Company Veteran: 2x Astartes Chainsword, Company Veteran Sergeant: Lightning Claw, Storm shield

+ HQ +

Captain on Bike [6 PL, 100pts, -1CP]: Adept of the Codex, Astartes Chainsword, Bolt pistol, Stratagem: Exemplar of the Chapter, Teeth of Terra, The Imperium’s Sword, Warlord
Primaris Chaplain on Bike [6 PL, 115pts, -1CP]: 4. Mantra of Strength, Benediction of Fury, Litany of Hate, Rites of War, Stratagem: Hero of the Chapter

+ Troops +

Tactical Squad [5 PL, 110pts]: 3x Space Marine: 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Boltgun, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, Space Marine Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Combi-melta, Space Marine w/Special Weapon: Meltagun
Tactical Squad [5 PL, 110pts]: 3x Space Marine: 3x Bolt pistol, 3x Boltgun, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, Space Marine Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Combi-melta, Space Marine w/Special Weapon: Meltagun
Tactical Squad [5 PL, 90pts]: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Boltgun, 4x Frag & Krak grenades, Space Marine Sergeant: Bolt pistol, Boltgun

+ Elites +

Dreadnought [7 PL, 125pts]: Multi-melta, Dreadnought combat weapon w/Storm Bolter
Dreadnought [7 PL, 125pts]: Multi-melta, Dreadnought combat weapon w/Storm Bolter
Redemptor Dreadnought [9 PL, 185pts]: 2x Fragstorm Grenade Launchers, Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon, Icarus Rocket Pod, Onslaught Gatling Cannon
Scout Squad [4 PL, 70pts]: Scout Sergeant: Boltgun, Bolt pistol, 4x Scout w/Shotgun: 4x Boltgun, 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades
Servitors [2 PL, 30pts]: 4x Servo-arm
Servitors [2 PL, 30pts]: 4x Servo-arm

+ Fast Attack +

Suppressor Squad [5 PL, 100pts]: 2x Suppressor: 2x Accelerator autocannon, 2x Bolt pistol, 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Grav-chute, Master crafted
Suppressor Squad [5 PL, 100pts]: 2x Suppressor: 2x Accelerator autocannon, 2x Bolt pistol, 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Grav-chute
Suppressor Squad [5 PL, 100pts]: 2x Suppressor: 2x Accelerator autocannon, 2x Bolt pistol, 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Grav-chute

+ Heavy Support +

Devastator Squad [8 PL, 135pts]: Armorium Cherub: Devastator Marine Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Boltgun, 4x Devastator Marine w/Heavy Weapon: Grav-cannon
Devastator Squad [8 PL, 135pts]: Armorium Cherub: Devastator Marine Sergeant: Astartes Chainsword, Boltgun, 4x Devastator Marine w/Heavy Weapon: Grav-cannon

+ Dedicated Transport +

Land Speeder Storm [3 PL, 55pts]
Rhino [4 PL, 80pts]: Storm bolter
Rhino [4 PL, 80pts]: Storm bolter

++ Total: [108 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] ++

It’s fundamentally the same MSU shooting marine list I’ve been playing for the last six months, minus a couple stops at White Scars-ville that I hated (thanks Sean for making me YOLO swap to Ultrahogs four days before the Renegade GT!). The schtick started as “I want to play Rhinos” once Tactical Marines went to two wounds and I haven’t really looked back. 

How it works:

The usual game plan is as follows:

• Start with the suppressors off the table
• Melta Tac Squads and Grav Devs are in the Rhinos
• Everything stacks behind an obscuring piece of terrain

Generally I can no-sell my opponents first shooting phase if I go second. My turn one involves some shuffling of various infantry units in and out of the rhinos and pushing out to objectives. On turn two, when Scions of Guilliman turns on, the Suppressors come down, the Devs pile out, and everyone shoots their heart out as if they were stationary. The Dreads (both of the Box Bois as well as Brother Chungus) are back/midfield anchors that threaten a bad time in melee if anything tries to get too close, while the characters zoom around with the Rhinos dishing out auras and presenting a counter-charge threat while waiting for an opportunity to shoot out like bike-shaped missiles.  Finally, a couple sets of Servitors for extra objective coverage/screening/Activities, and the Scouts in a Land Speeder Storm opens up some real cute positional plays. 

Since this is a very mobile infantry-heavy marine list, I can usually ignore my opponents game plan and always pick the Not Garbage secondary objectives: Engage on All Fronts, Deploy Scramblers, and Oaths of Moment.

The Event

Up here in North Dakota we do a rotating monthly RTT in various cities around the state. This month was in Minot. Our COVID protocols have been good: All masks, red cards if you don’t comply, hand sanitizer is expected, and we generally have the store’s gaming area to ourselves. Being out in public in the plague isn’t super great, but we’ve been running these events for 6 months and no one has reported COVID from our events or from the bigger events in the Greater Midwest. I can say that of the major events I’ve been to I have never even had the con-crud afterwards. Almost without fail I’d go to a major or GT and feel like garbage for a couple days after, but with our new health protocols I haven’t had that problem. In the post-COVID world I’ll probably still be the Masked Wonder because I’m sick of getting sick. 

The Games:

Game 1: Sisters Battle Pile

Bare Unpainted Ladies - Click to Expand

Mission: 22 – Battlelines

My Secondaries: Engage, Scramblers, Oath

Opponent’s Secondaries: Linebreaker, Scramblers, Grind them Down

The Plan: Hide from the scary organ guns, kill anything that has good AP (Retributors) or is a melee theat (Celestine, Repenta)

First Turn: Sisters

Score: 92-28

Highlights:

• Smoke Launchers saving a rhino from Seraphim
• Every dread going from full to dead in single activations
• 10 Zephyrim charging out of deep strike with help from miracle dice is good, it turns out
• Celestine failed her roll to stand back up
• Tri-Pointing (remember 8th?!) an Exorcist with Suppressors

Game 2: The Tyranid Meme Dream

Yup it's a Harridan - Click to Expand

Mission: 11 – Retreval 

My Secondaries: Engage, Scramblers, Oath

Opponent’s Secondaries: Engage, Scramblers, Grind them Down

The Plan:  Try to kill everything but the big monsters, and only go after the Harridan or Dimachaerons if I don’t have a choice or I can pull them down in one turn. This list can bottle me on this Hammer and Anvil deployment unless I go first.

First Turn: Tyranids

Imagine a world where I took photos after game 1! [Editor’s Note: I’m imagining it right now, and I honestly prefer it.] The board was like the one in the first picture but with centered ruins that were further back so there wasn’t a firing line down the middle of the board.

Score: 57-95

Highlights:

• Oh hey look — a Harridan! That’s neat.
• Looks like he can indeed bottle me up real well
• HOLY SHIT IT SHOOTS REAL GOOD
• Dimachaeron is Forge World for “Giant Dinosaur-Shaped Harlequin”
• Putting 14 wounds on the Harridan with one Grav activation then punching it to death because it hovered on the bottom of one
• Oh god why do Dimachaerons have additional mortal wounds every turn and a FNP?!
• Please press F in the comments

Game 3: Remember House Raven Castellans?

Someone Uploaded the Wrong list to BCP - Click to Expand

Mission: 33 – Priority Targets

My Secondaries: Engage, Priority Objective (mission), Oath

Opponent’s Secondaries: Priority Objective (mission), Scramblers, While We Stand

The plan: Ignore the Castellan. There is a zero percent chance I have the damage to pull down 28 T8 4++ wounds. His infantry presence is light and Dunecrawlers are bad in combat. Hopefully I can keep out of line of sight of everything but the Castellan, kill anything that comes into the midfield and tie up the crawlers. It’s going to be a continuous game of sacrifice to buy board control and points. Bonus nachos if I can kill all his infantry and stop him from Deploying Scramblers. 

First Turn: Knights/Admech

Same as Game 2.

Score: 90-70

Highlights:

• I didn’t have the cover I thought I did and ended up losing two Suppressor squads and my Land Speeder Storm turn one – big oof there
• High rolling melta into the terrible bomber and two warglaives
• The Castellan is real good
• Good terrain makes the game not be just bigger scale Titanicus (Conditnote: Play Titanicus m’lord) [Actual Conditnote: You Play Titanicus.] {Naranote: sure don’t}
• Things going to plan on the scoreboard (didn’t stop Scramblers though) despite losing most of my army
• No really, having 3 models left on the board against 1000+ points of bullet hell can be a winning position, it turns out

Final Results

Record: 2-1
Battle Points: 239
Place: 3rd Overall

What Worked

+ The core of my game-plan worked well: Stay mobile, use Objective Secured aggressively to deny objectives, use the spare models from almost dead units to grab the center for Oaths or to hold the home objective(s).

+ Deep-Striking Suppressors and having the Scout bus to grab secondaries. Everything being kind of garbage but also kind of a threat creates awful decisions for my opponents and gives me depth of options

What Didn’t

– The two small Dreads are also a new add since Eradicators caught a points hike. I wasn’t the most impressed with them. On the other hand, if they were Eradicators and a Vanguard Vet squad (what they replaced) they would have been really disappointing in the games I played. 

– The game plan falls apart when: You get bottled up by GIANT BUGS who correctly identify that blowing up my mobility stops the game plan. 

Next time: Kansas

A trip to Kansas for our not-LVO. It’s the final ride for my year of Space Marines. I have an OK shot at winning best Space Marine for the year if I do well (suck it Rob, I told you I was playing Marines after the year of Ad Mech). I think I have some time to make some changes before lists are due, so I’ll ponder the post Bring It Down-nerf world some more but I have a feeling I’m locked in.

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