Dark Angels List of the Week: Grzegorz Hellich's Vanguard Spearhead

And I thought the Nephilim couldn't be prettier!

Good day, battle brothers! Another weekend has gone by, and I'm pleased to report that a Dark Angels list has gone undefeated at a GT! At the JP Cup in Poland, Grzegorz "Grzelich" Hellich went 4-0-1 with his Vanguard Spearhead, coming in 2nd out of 46 players. 

Over the past few months, I've reviewed enough list to come to expect to see certain things based on the detachment listed in the rankings. What's cool about Grzelich's list is that it defied my expectations. I did not find the big brick of Centurion Devastators I was expecting to find. Instead, Grzelich's list looks more like what I'd expect to see in an Ironstorm Spearhead, and I was really surprised when I saw a Nephilim Jet Fighter! Here's the short version of Grzelich's list:

Librarian in Phobos Armor - Enhancement: Shadow War Veteran
Librarian in Phobos Armor
Lieutenant with Combi-weapon
Assault Intercessor Squad - 5 choppy boys
Assault Intercessor Squad - 5 choppy boys
Inceptor Squad - 3 plasma boys
Inceptor Squad - 3 plasma boys
Infiltrator Squad - 5 sneaky boys
Infiltrator Squad - 5 sneaky boys
Scout Squad - 5 sneaky lads
Scout Squad - 5 sneaky lads
Scout Squad - 5 sneaky lads
Gladiator Lancer
Gladiator Lancer
Repulsor Executioner (heavy laser destroyer)
Repulsor Executioner (heavy laser destroyer)
Nephilim Jet Fighter (avenger mega bolter)

This is definitely an unconventional list. I'd expect to see this many heavy tanks in an Ironstorm Spearhead, not a Vanguard Spearhead. However, it does make a certain amount of sense. If it's good to have a Darkshroud to protect your heavy hitters, then it's also good to have the same protection from a detachment rule, which saves points and can't be taken away. Along a similar vein, taking Shadow War Veteran saves Grzelich the points he'd pay for a Callidus to Vect an opponent's stratagem. The points saved from those two considerations pays for one of the Gladiators in the list.

It is wild to see a Nephilim in a highly placed list! I spent some time referencing the Nephilim's profile and the rules for Aircraft to get a feel for why Grzelich included one in his list. I think there are a number of reasons for its inclusion. The the most obvious is that it's got a lot of AP -1 D2 shots that compliments the anti-big-thing firepower of the tanks. It's got its own inherent -1 to hit rule that overlaps with the detachment rule, and the detachment rule giving it Benefit of Cover makes it harder to bring down than it would otherwise be. It's got Hover, so it can start off on the table if it's advantageous to do so, but I suspect the reason Grzelich has the Nephilim in the list for is charge-blocking shenanigans. The Nephilim has a pretty big base, and the core rules state that models can't charge an Aircraft unless they have Fly, and even then if Grzelich parks the Nephilim on an objective with, say, a unit of Scouts behind its base, then an opponent would have a challenging time charging the Scouts because they'd have to go around the Nephilim's base to get to the Scouts. And then, if it looks like the charge might succeed, Grzelich can play Calculated Feint and move the Scouts 6" further away

Moving on, it seems obvious that the Gladiators and Repulsor Executioners do the bulk of the heavy lifting engaging and destroying opponents' units, with the Inceptors available to engage 3-wound infantry if Grzelich needs them to do so. I'm guessing Grzelich attaches the two Phobos Librarians to the Assault Intercessor Squads, which gives all of his infantry except the Inceptors either the Phobos or Scout keyword, which means he can use Guerilla Tactics to pick up 2 units a round to have them pop out of Strategic Reserve.  (Edit) It was pointed out that Phobos Librarians can't be attached to Assault Intercessors because of course they can't. In that case, maybe the Assault Intercessors ride in the Repulsor Executioners to give opponents something to think about if they get any funny ideas about charging them, and with all the Phobos and Scout units in his list, he can really exploit the movement tricks offered by the Vanguard Spearhead. He can give Necrons and Grey Knights a run for their money with his army's ability to teleport units around the table, and the 2 units of Infiltrators can zone out a huge amount of the table from other armies' movement shenanigans. 

First game, Grzelich faced Dawid Kozak's Death Guard. It was a low-scoring game, with Grzelich winning 53-39. An interesting thing about Dawid's list is he actually took 6 Battleline units, with 6 min-sized units of Plague Marines, with all but one of them being led by a character, either a Biologus Putrifier or Foul Blightspawn, with one lucky unit being led by Typhus. 

Second game, Grzelich went 87-74 against Wojciech Staniszewski's Tyranids. It was a Vanguard Onslaught list with a lot of Lictors and similar units, so it probably had a pretty similar play style to Grzelich's, which would explain why the score was fairly close.

Third game, Grzelich faced frigging buried an Adeptus Custodes list played by Shurisen (only name listed on TourneyKeeper), with the final score being 85-21. I suppose it's not too surprising Grzelich's list did so well against Custodes. He could potentially pick up 2 of Shurisen's units a turn from across the board, and with the two squads of Infiltrators zoning out deep striking within charge range, Shurisen would have been hard pressed to have any units successfully run up to the tanks to punch them to death without eating at least one round of shooting first.

The fourth game was Grzelich's draw, going 63-63 against Antoni Niezgoda's Blood Angels. Antoni's army was full of jump pack units, so he was able to compete with Grzelich's army in the mobility category, and the pair of Baal Predators with Inferno cannons and heavy flamers probably made Grzelich reluctant to have his units pop out of Strategic Reserve anywhere near them. As an interesting note, this is the second time a list I've reviewed has had its closest game against Blood Angels. Angels of Death, baby!

In the 5th game, Grzelich went 90-29 against Grzegorz Kowalik's Astra Militarum. Interestingly, Grzegorz also took an aircraft, including an Avenger Strike Fighter in his list. Apparently it didn't do him much good against Grzelich's list though. It just so happens that Grzelich's list includes a lot of guns with Anti-Fly, which probably didn't do the Avenger any good.

Congratulations to Grzelich for going undefeated at a GT, all the more so for doing it with a fairly unique list. It's nice to see that one can do well without playing with a rigidly defined list, and it is very pleasant to see a Nephilim can have a place in a competitive list! Keep up the good work brother Grzelich!

Two other Dark Angels lists did well at GTs this weekend. Steven Crawley went 4-1 and came in 8th out of 35 at the Lords of War GT in Madison Alabama with an Ironstorm Spearhead. His list has the expected Azrael, pair of Stormravens, and a couple of Redemptors. Where it varies from the typical Ironwing list is it features a couple Gladiator Lancers and a Storm Speeder Hammerstrike, and it lacks the usual Darkshroud. Plus it appears Azrael is hanging out with a 3-man Bladeguard Squad.

Finally, Sean Lengenfelder went 4-1 and came in 5th out of 22 with another Dark Angels Ironstorm Spearhead. While it has Azrael (apparently he was still allowed to hang around with Company Heroes for this event), a Darkshroud, and a Stormraven, it's composition is a little unusual in that it features a pair of Gladiator Reapers, and while having 3 Redemptors is not unusual in an Ironstorm, it's surprising to see them all with heavy onslaught gatling cannons instead of the expected macro plasma incinerators.  

Here's Grzelich's list as kindly relayed to me by the man himself.

Primarly Primaris Assassins (2000 points) Space Marines Dark Angels Strike Force (2000 points) Vanguard Spearhead CHARACTERS Librarian in Phobos Armour (100 points) • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Force weapon 1x Smite • Enhancement: Shadow War Veteran Librarian in Phobos Armour (70 points) • Warlord • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Force weapon 1x Smite Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (70 points) • 1x Combi-weapon 1x Paired combat blades BATTLELINE Assault Intercessor Squad (75 points) • 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant • 1x Heavy bolt pistol 1x Thunder hammer • 4x Assault Intercessor • 4x Astartes chainsword 4x Heavy bolt pistol Assault Intercessor Squad (75 points) • 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant • 1x Heavy bolt pistol 1x Thunder hammer • 4x Assault Intercessor • 4x Astartes chainsword 4x Heavy bolt pistol OTHER DATASHEETS Gladiator Lancer (160 points) • 1x Armoured hull 2x Fragstorm grenade launcher 1x Icarus rocket pod 1x Ironhail heavy stubber 1x Lancer laser destroyer Gladiator Lancer (160 points) • 1x Armoured hull 2x Fragstorm grenade launcher 1x Icarus rocket pod 1x Ironhail heavy stubber 1x Lancer laser destroyer Inceptor Squad (130 points) • 1x Inceptor Sergeant • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Plasma exterminators • 2x Inceptor • 2x Close combat weapon 2x Plasma exterminators Inceptor Squad (130 points) • 1x Inceptor Sergeant • 1x Close combat weapon 1x Plasma exterminators • 2x Inceptor • 2x Close combat weapon 2x Plasma exterminators Infiltrator Squad (100 points) • 1x Infiltrator Sergeant • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Close combat weapon 1x Marksman bolt carbine • 4x Infiltrator • 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Helix Gauntlet 1x Infiltrator Comms Array 4x Marksman bolt carbine Infiltrator Squad (100 points) • 1x Infiltrator Sergeant • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Close combat weapon 1x Marksman bolt carbine • 4x Infiltrator • 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Helix Gauntlet 1x Infiltrator Comms Array 4x Marksman bolt carbine Nephilim Jetfighter (195 points) • 1x Armoured hull 1x Avenger mega bolter 1x Blacksword missiles 1x Twin heavy bolter Repulsor Executioner (220 points) • 1x Armoured hull 1x Heavy laser destroyer 1x Heavy onslaught gatling cannon 1x Icarus rocket pod 1x Ironhail heavy stubber 1x Repulsor Executioner defensive array 1x Twin Icarus ironhail heavy stubber 1x Twin heavy bolter Repulsor Executioner (220 points) • 1x Armoured hull 1x Heavy laser destroyer 1x Heavy onslaught gatling cannon 1x Icarus rocket pod 1x Ironhail heavy stubber 1x Repulsor Executioner defensive array 1x Twin Icarus ironhail heavy stubber 1x Twin heavy bolter Scout Squad (65 points) • 1x Scout Sergeant • 1x Astartes chainsword 1x Bolt pistol 1x Close combat weapon • 4x Scout • 2x Astartes shotgun 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Missile launcher 1x Scout sniper rifle Scout Squad (65 points) • 1x Scout Sergeant • 1x Astartes chainsword 1x Bolt pistol 1x Close combat weapon • 4x Scout • 2x Astartes shotgun 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Missile launcher 1x Scout sniper rifle Scout Squad (65 points) • 1x Scout Sergeant • 1x Astartes chainsword 1x Bolt pistol 1x Close combat weapon • 4x Scout • 2x Astartes shotgun 4x Bolt pistol 4x Close combat weapon 1x Missile launcher 1x Scout sniper rifle Exported with App Version: v1.11.0 (39), Data Version: v352