The Aureus Expand: My First 40k Tournament

Eight armies gathered for the fight over one sector of Konor. The Aureus were keen to make a name for themselves and get vengeance against the Imperium. Six of these armies were Forces of the Imperium, one was Eldar and the other the Canis Aureus. 

The tournament was three games per army, the warlord with the most victory points winning the tournament. The points requirement for each force was 750 and each army had to be battleforged.

Canis Aureus
x1 Chaos Lord (Fenerus) with combi-bolter and powersword
x1 Spawn
x5 Chaos Marines
x4 Havocs with x 4 Autocannons
x9 Khorne Berserkers (Sgt with power fist)
x1 Rhino with x2 combi-bolters
x1 Hellbrute with combi-bolter, fist and multimelta

The boys without their Lord

My first game of the tournament was the one that I dreaded the most.  It was against a veteran Imperial Guard player and a rules buff at that. In my first few months of playing I faced this army in a small 500 point game as was crushed mercilessly, almost putting me out of the hobby. It sapped my fun out of the game and was just nasty.

Now, despite having vowed to never face this opponent again, it was time to try and get my revenge. A few weeks before the tournament I had told Ed about my fears of facing 50 man conscript squads in such a small game.  He advised me to go with the Berserkers in the rhino. 

The first turn of the game I managed go first and took out the heavy weapon las cannon team. I advanced my rhino up to the conscript wall. In the Guards first turn I lost my marine unit and the rhino took a beating. As turn two began I deployed the Berserkers and their two attacks made them devastating. They piled out of the rhino and managed to wipe out 38 conscripts in a round. The rhino managed to pin in the basilisk making it useless for the remainder of the game.

Come the end of turn six the guard only had two models on the battlefield, ending the game at a score of 9-3. Revenge was sweet.

My second game was against an infantry heavy Eldar list. MY good pal David got first turn and rolled pretty badly, allowing me to steam in and hit hard. The hellbrute tore through his first squad like a mallet through butter and the beserkers piled into the nearby building, wiping out another squad.

By turn three it was over, a 10-0 victory. Savage and efficient the Jackals came out on top. Quite literally as F.G. Bio (My Warlord) ascended the tower and killed the rangers hiding above.

The third game was a battle on the harshest battleground. One trench in an open wasteland.  It was against Darren who I had spent the last few weeks playing intro games against. With some skills up his sleeve and some borrowed miniatures, he had worked his way up to the final. We both had 19 victory points and the other contenders were behind us by a long shot. With a firm handshake the game began.

His Salamanders (Dragon Force) hit hard.  The mighty intercessor marines punching my marines armour and tearing the flesh beneath many of them fell in the first round.

The "Relic" in the middle of the open battlefield.

My havocs held their ground and punched back pulling down a few intercessors, while the khorne troop and the spawn tore into combat against the thick masses of tactical marines.  After a couple of successful rounds all of the tactical marines had died, but Vulcan He'stan carried on swinging. Killing most of the khorne beserkers and saving every wound with his 3 up invulnerable save.

Again my Aureus managed to win a large 9-0, enabling me to take the top spot. Sadly Darren came 3rd due to my win but claimed a prize along with David who claimed best sportsman.

My army won best painted and due to my overall win I walked away with £25 in vouchers and a certificate.  

From left to right (Front row) Darren, Me and David