Yesterday I played my first games with the Ashen Sentinels, one of which was the first game of the 'Forge of Silence' 40k Campaign at my local gaming group, and the first using the Crusade rules. I was up against a Tyranid army that had some big beasty bugs..! 

My 1,000 point army looked a little meagre against that - here's the thin grey line 

We were playing Linchpin with Hammer and Anvil deployment, plus tactical secondaries, and I chose to be defender and rolled to go second. The battle did not go well for me - in true Astartes fashion I advanced everything to contest the objectives, going up against two big bugs and a pack of Genestealers. The Repulsor got destroyed second turn, then got stuck in to melee's that ground my forces down. 

I didn't do myself any favours - I forgot no end of rules for my army that would've been a massive help 

- Oath of Moment for the first two turns 

- The Intercessor Sergeant's Power Fist for two rounds of combat against the Mawloc 

- The Captain's 'Finest Hour' and 'Rites of Battle', and Lieutenant's 'Tactical Precision' rule - the reasons why I put them with the two Assault Intercessor Squads in the first place (double facepalm ) 

My army was wiped out to a man before my last turn  but it was a learning experience  and my army has it's first Crusade points. Although I had to roll Battle Scar checks on every unit  thankfully only one unit, a squad of Assault Intercessors, failed and got a Battle Scar. I nominated the Intercessor Squad that bravely - but futilely - charged the Genestealers & Broodlord as 'Marked for Greatness'. 

Our campaign runs for 6 months, I'm adding units every 3 or so months (based on how quickly I can paint them ), aiming to get to 2,000 points in time for the finale in March/April. Hopefully by then I'll be able to remember my army's rules, and can get some better game results..!