Welcome back, Dear Reader, to my ongoing hobby and competitive play progress blog for 2023. Last time around I was ambushed by an RTT and forced to deploy my World Eaters, which took me to a 2-1 finish – you can read that particular episode here.

Spring break in Texas usually hits in the first or second week of March, by which point we’re usually getting some amazing weather. With my son off of school for a week we decided to go on vacation, meeting up with my in-laws for a few days at the beach. We got back in some time around midnight on Wednesday the 15th. And then I had an RTT to attend the following Saturday.

I wasn’t originally planning to attend this RTT, but much like the prior one I had somehow worked myself into needing to go. Partly because the format was one I’d asked for – I’d suggested we try a Tempest of War event at some point – and partly because the event was doing a charity drive. Players were encouraged to bring bonkers lists, and so I asked if I could bring Vashtorr.

Oh, right – let’s talk about Vashtorr.

Hobby Progress

The big hobby progress I made this past month was painting Vashtorr, the wannabe fifth Chaos god. You may have seen him on Warcomm, no big deal or anything. Anyways, his rules suck complete ass. His Command phase abilities just aren’t very useful, his warlord trait is bad, and he doesn’t even get the benefits of exploding 6s in his own Army of Renown.

But the model is pretty great.

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgoen” Jones

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgoen” Jones

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgoen” Jones

The Cogs of Vashtorr are an interesting army, basically asking you to build around as many Daemon Engines as possible. I already had several on deck for my Black Legion, and with a little bit of work I was able to get a Venomcrawler up to tabletop standard in time for the event so I’d have something that could conceivably win best painted. Some other choice models which made it in:

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

Credit: TheChirurgeon

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

Credit: Robert “TheChirurgeon” Jones

The List

I didn’t want to put a ton of models on the table, nor travel with a lot. I took all of the painted Black Legion Daemon Engines I had – the Kytan, the two Forgefiends, the Lord Discordant, and the Heldrake – and added in a Venomcrawler, plus a pair of buffing units to raise banners and do actions. Here’s what I ended up with:

++ Arks of Omen Detachment (Chaos – Chaos Space Marines) [93 PL, 3CP, 1,995pts] ++

Arks of Omen Compulsory Type: Elites
Game Type: 5. Chapter Approved: Arks of Omen
Army of Renown: Cogs of Vashtorr

+ HQ [22 PL, -2CP, 400pts] +

Vashtorr the Arkifane [13 PL, 260pts]: Warlord

Lord Discordant on Helstalker [10 PL, -1CP, 195pts]: Baleflamer, Mark of Slaanesh [1 PL, 20pts], Stratagem: Relic [-1CP], Gorget of Eternal Hate, Techno-virus injector

Master of Possession [7 PL, -1CP, 125pts]: Cursed Earth, Gifts of Chaos [-1CP], Mark of Slaanesh [1 PL, 20pts], Mutated Invigoration, The Spite-Iron Goad

Warpsmith [5 PL, 80pts]: Chaos Undivided, Exalted power axe, Gifts of Chaos [-1CP], Talisman of the Forge

+ Elites [18 PL, 335pts] +

Helbrute [6 PL, 115pts]: Chaos Undivided, Helbrute hammer, Twin lascannon [10pts]

Helbrute [6 PL, 105pts]: Chaos Undivided, Helbrute fist, Multi-melta

Helbrute [6 PL, 115pts]: Chaos Undivided, Power scourge, Twin lascannon [10pts]

+ Fast Attack [6 PL, 105pts] +

Venomcrawler [6 PL, 105pts]

+ Heavy Support [16 PL, 330pts] +

Forgefiend [8 PL, 175pts]: 2x Heavy hades autocannons [50pts], Ectoplasma cannon [15pts]

Forgefiend [8 PL, 155pts]: 2x Ectoplasma cannons [30pts], Ectoplasma cannon [15pts]

+ Flyer [9 PL, 165pts] +

Heldrake [9 PL, 165pts]: Baleflamer

+ Lord of War [22 PL, 400pts] +

Kytan Ravager [22 PL, 400pts]

+++ 1,995 Points +++

The plan here is pretty simple: Try and go first. If I’m going first I can use either Vashtorr or the Lord Discordant to give the Kytan +1 to hit, give him Advance and Charge with a Stratagem, advance him forward and have the Master of Possession give him a 5+ feel no pain with the Talisman of the Forge, plus a 4++ with Cursed Earth and T9 with Mutated Invigoration, then throw him directly at the most vulnerable spot in my opponent’s line. With a 2-damage sweep and exploding 6s to hit, the Kytan can do an incredible amount of damage with a turn 1 charge, stuffing an opponent in their deployment zone and using the mix of a 4+ invulnerable save and T9 to shrug off enemy attacks.

If I’m going second, I have to hope he survives, and use the Infernal Surge Stratagem for -1 damage to help keep him on the table. While he charges up, the Lord Discordant and Venomcrawler won’t be far behind, with the Forgefiends offering ranged support while the Helbrutes hold objectives and do their thing.

It’s not a great list, and the Heldrake is easily the second worst part behind Vashtorr, offering very little in the way of stopping power and mostly just being able to annoy. STill, the tricks it does have hit hard, and I can stretch them further by doing charity donations.

Oh, right let’s talk about that.

The March Asgard RTT Tournament Format

There are two special things about the March Asgard RTT. The first is that we’re playing Tempest of War. This means secondary objectives aren’t nearly as important, and that’s one reason I can get away with the list up there, since most of the time I’ll have to focus more on moving somewhere or killing something within a turn or two to score 5 VP.

The second is we’re doing a charity drive. Players are being asked to donate to the Houston Food Bank, a wonderful charity and a personal pick of mine. They’re a fantastic org with a four-star (97%) rating on charity navigator and donating money to them goes a long way to helping those who need it. At this event, we’ll earn two tickets for every $5 we donate. Each ticket can be used to re-roll a single die, even one that’s already been re-rolled. If you want to re-roll something that can’t normally be re-rolled with a CP, you can spend 2 tickets to re-roll that one. I kick things off with a $50 donation but my plan is to donate more and buy my way to some wins.

Round 1: vs. Brendan Muller’s Astra Militarum and Votann

There’s a sweatband award at the event for “sweatiest list” and Brendan may very well win it with his Guard + Votann combo list. He’s not running the nastiest thing he could, and he gives up Judgement tokens, but the re-rolls for Magna rails in this format are incredibly nasty. My plan is to go first.

Brendan's list - click to expand

The Land Fortresses are a real problem, but the Russes are also going to be a pain. My big advantage here is that I have some solid melee threats that can move quickly and gum up the board, but I need to survive long enough to get there. The problem is that those Magna-Rail guns don’t allow invulnerable saves, so if one hits one of my units with a 3+ save, no amount of money spent on re-rolls is going to save it. My best bet here is the Lord Discordant, who with the Gorget of Eternal Hate has a 1+ save. That means AP-4 Magna-Rails put him on a 5+, which I can re-roll a few times to tank the shots.

The Cards:

• Deployment: Dawn of War
• Primary Mission: Vital Ground
• Mission Rule: Delayed Reserves

I’m going Second.

Ah, fuck. Brendan drops my Kytan on turn 1 with the stupid Magna Rails. I come back a bit, charging up the table and wiping out one of Brendan’s units with my Lord Discordant, who manages to stay out of line of sight of the Hekatons. I’m able to score Raise the Banners and Hold the Line early for 10 points and then I hold on to Bring it Down for a future turn.

Vashtorr gets off his only cool moment of the game when he charges the plasma Leman Russ early on (it pressed forward to shoot my Forgefiend, only to bounce off it dealing only 3 damage). Vashtor drops 6 hits on the Russ and using some re-rolls I force through 20 mortal wounds on the fucker. Brendan, being the absolute champ he is, rolls for his 5+ feel no pain against mortals and saves 11 of them, leaving the thing alive on 1 wound. Good job, Vashtorr, you fucking idiot.

Brendan continues to erase one vehicle per turn with each Land Fortress, dropping two Helbrutes, and then I’m able to slam into him with the Lord Discordant and spend $30 on re-rolls tanking the shots on his 1+. He’ll end up killing them with help from Vashtorr, though the first one will explode and take the Daemon out. The game moves relatively slowly and we don’t quite get to play round 5 but I’m way ahead on Secondary scoring by that point and have taken out all of Brendan’s vehicles and left him with just two units of basic Votann to work with. Not getting full scoring for secondaries on round 5 will ultimately screw me, though.

Result: Win, 76-54

Between rounds 1 and 2 is painting judging and lunch. I house some pizza and look at the lists. Andrew “the Savior of Lenk” Corban is here, and he’s brought a list that’s just two Stompas and a Gorkanaut, so he’s won the mad lad trophy for having the most bonkers list. He’s very humble about it.

I ended up spending around $60 during that first game to eke out a win, and I end up buying back in for another $50 before the game’s over. I’ll take that money into round 2.

Round 2: vs. James’ Thousand Sons

Next up is a game against Thousand Sons, an army I know very, very well. This list can’t really stop them from casting and the mortal wounds can be a problem, but without a solid secondary game they’re a lot less impressive and they’re going to be boned if I can get into melee. Plus I have some decent 3-damage attacks I can toss out.

James' list - click to expand

James is running Cult of Magic in a very character-heavy build. It’s not anything I need to worry about and while the Land Raider might be an issue, four lascannon shots isn’t likely to take out anything on my side turn 1. I can comfortably deploy aggressively, go second, and still charge in like a maniac. The only thing I’ll likely miss this game is the ability to cast my spells, since there are a ton of denies waiting for them.

The Cards

• Deployment Map: Sweeping Engagement
• Primary Mission: Direct Assault
• Mission Rule: Hidden Supplies

The extra objective marker here is a good deal for me, since it gives me one more non-Obsec point to play with and score off of. Trading units on objectives is going to create a lot of surplus points.

I’m going second.

I don’t mind that nearly as much here as there’s pretty much no way for James to take out my Kytan. He’ll end up dropping a Helbrute to 2 wounds as he moves forward and shoots the Land Raider but otherwise it’s an uneventful turn.

I of course power up – not quite to full, but enough with what I’ve got, and send the Kytan barreling into James’ lines, where he kills an Exalted Sorcerer and puts the Mutalith on 3 wounds.

He’ll end up killing the Mutalith and two of the Terminators before the Mutalith explosion takes him out, but he does enough there. Meanwhile James pulls his Terminator Sorcerers out of the Land Raider piecemeal and I’m able to kill 1-2 each turn as he drip-feeds me characters.

We trade back-and-forth in the middle of the table for a while, with James destroying Helbrutes and the Venomcrawler as I take out his characters, and I end up cleaning up the rest of his backfield with Vashtorr and the Heldrake after they arrive. I’m able to score pretty consistently all game and end up on 12 VP on my final turn plus 9 secondary objectives scored to go for the full hundo.

Result: Win, 100-71

A fun game and one that cost me another 30ish dollars. I buy in again for a final $50 and then get a note that my fellow Goonhammer author Norman has also donated $50 to my cause in order to help get Vashtorr a tournament win. Unfortunately, there’s almost no chance of that – I’m 2-0 going into round three, but so are two other players, and they each have scores of 100 in their first two games. I need to beat one of them, score 100, and then hop the other paired down player scores 70 or fewer points in order to have a shot at the top spot. It’s not going to happen.

Round 3: vs. Steven’s Necrons

My final game is up against Steven Salazar’s melee Necrons, though these have the support of two big vehicles – a Tesseract Vault and a Monolith. I think I can handle this list, provided I don’t get overrun. That said, they’ll struggle against the Kytan if I can buff it to T9, as Skorpekhs top out at S8. I have about 50 tickets to burn at this point, so my plan is to burn them all keeping the Kytan alive.

Steven's list - click to expand

Steven’s list has some nasty tricks, but I’ve seen the better version of this already at my last RTT from David Miracle. My plan this time around is similar, but more effective: I’m going to mash the Kytan into half the army, then spend money keeping it from getting hurt until it can smash into something else.

The Cards

• Deployment Map: Hammer and Anvil
• Primary Mission: Claim the Battlefield
• Mission Rule: Scrambler Fields

I only have two units which can claim objectives via the action so I need to move quickly and kill stuff to keep Steven’s all-ObSec army from killing me on primary scoring.

I’m going first.

I spend 8 tickets to re-roll my first turn roll four times, getting the first turn.

I power up my Kytan and smash into Steven’s heavy destroyer, wraiths, and Skorpekhs, killing the Lokhust and nearly wiping out the other two units. They only manage 3 wounds back and that doesn’t require a lot of spending on my part. This sets the tone for the game, where Steven is never really able to recover from a T1 Kytan charge and isn’t ever able to kill the thing.

Things get a little bit dicier when the monolith and vault show up, but Vashtor and the Heldrake arrive to take care of them. Well, the monolith anyways. The Heldrake bounces off the Vault harmlessly. I’ll eventually take it down with shooting and table Steven, netting me another 100 points.

Result: Win, 100 – 53

On the whole I had a great time and enjoyed donating to a great cause. It’s a bit bittersweet to only place 2nd at my first 3-0 RTT, but then again I wouldn’t really want my first RTT win to be a less competitive charity event where I was buying re-rolls. In addition to placing 2nd I win Best Painted, and that’s a nice little boost that will cover my drinks at the store for a long time.

Thoughts on Cogs of Vashtorr

It’s difficult to get a good bead on the Cogs from my first event with them, in part because I definitely wasn’t taking an ideal list. I think that in order to run properly you need a list heavy on big daemon engine threats that can make use of the advance and charge and give you some redundancy. The Iron Goad relic didn’t do much for me as the Kytan could already fall back and charge. I think the Master of Possession is a must, since Cursed Earth is really good and the toughness boost from Mutated Invigoration is likewise good. I think you’ll probably want some objective-holding, action-doing goobers in a real setting; I’m thinking 2 units of Cultists and a 10-model block of Black Rune Terminators. And I think you probably want to run at least two Lords Discordant while you’re at it. I think you probably need to start on 2+ CP so you can do some defensive tricks before T1 if you have to, but you can get away with spending 4 CP on relics and traits.

If I had to do this in a real setting with more of the models I needed I’d probably run Maulerfiends and a pair of Lords Discordant and 2-3 Venomcrawlers. At least, that’s what I’d test next. Not sure if the Maulerfiends actually get there, but the point is to overload the opponent with threats while you score VP for Banners, Behind Enemy Lines, and a kill secondary.

Next Time: Back to World Eaters

That’s it for Vashtorr, who sucks so bad I’m shelving him for the rest of the edition. He’ll go back on the shelf while I start in earnest on painting my World Eaters and getting some reps with them before Warhammer Fest and the KC Teams event. Should be an exciting few months ahead.

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