One Month Down

The first month of the Warhammer 40,000 Escalation League at my local Games Workshop comes to an end tomorrow and the point limit goes up to 750pts.  I have to say, I was very impressed with how I fared for not having played in a long while.  I ended first month with a record of 1-0-1.  My first match against the Iron Snakes from Codex: Space Marines was a win.  My second game against Chaos Space Marines ended in a tie.  I learned a lot from those two games and I'm confident that I can carry on what I learned into the next stent of the league.

My 500pt list consisted of the following:

Librarian - 65pts
Mastery Lvl1(Divination), Bolt Pistol, Force Sword

Tactical Squad - 150pts
Heavy Bolter

Tactical Squad - 150pts
Heavy Bolter

Ravenwing Attack Squad - 80pts

Ravenwing Attack Bike - 55pts
Multimelta

Here are my thoughts on my list and what I would change or do differently.

First, in regards to my HQ, I don't think I could have made a better choice, especially at such a small point level.  The Librarian and his squad worked wonders in both games that I played.  The sheer amount of accurate firepower that they were able to put out really allowed me to dominate my backfield.  Almost every turn I was able to cast Prescience.  Prescience alone makes it worth taking a Librarian.  I plan on keeping at least one Librarian in my list as I progress the league.  Again, I have nothing but good things to say about the Librarian.

In regards to the troops that I selected, I feel comfortable with what I selected.  They've done exactly what I intended for them to do, and that is to sit back and hold my objectives.  They're armed to take on infantry and put out a high number of shots.  Combined with the Prescience psychic power, they did this very well.  If I were to go back again, the only thing I would consider changing is the Heavy Weapon from a Heavy Bolter to a Missile Launcher or a Plasma Cannon.

On the the Ravenwing components of my list.  These were the most underwhelming units in my list.  That it not to say that Ravenwing Attack Squads are not good; however, they did not mesh well with my list at this low of a point level.  The Ravenwing Bikers really serve two main purposes.  They act as a very mobile Teleport Beacon for Deathwing Terminators and mobile anti armor when they're toting Meltaguns.  I had neither of those in my list so they really felt like they were a waste.  The Attack Bike did well.  It took out a Land Speeder, helped take out a Techmarine and Nurgle Lord which were both on bikes, and kept a Hellbrute at bay.  The only downside is that I had to invest in an 80pt biker squad to unlock it.  If I were to go back and do things over, I would have traded the RAS in for a Dreadnought or a tank.  Two Whirlwinds or a Predator Destructor comes to mind.  Any of those would have provided good long range fire support which is was the list really lacked.

In summary, I was happy with everything in my list except the the RAS.  The points spent on those could have been allocated to something more useful that worked well with the list at this level.  If I were to start the league over again and wanted to do something different, I would try for a mechanized list.

Until my next entry, thanks for reading!