Inquisitorial File 1874563

[revnow]

Batrep

 

To:

Inquisitor Lord Alaiya Samersch

 

Subject:

Chaos presence on Forma, Second moon of Inach IV

 

Sender:

Inquisitor John Shaft

 

In regard to the presence of heretical forces on the second moon of the fourth planet in the Inach system, know locally (and hereafter recognized) as Forma, so follows my report.

 

Upon investigation into rumors of an unknown heretical presence on Inach IV’s second moon I discovered that an incursion of the Traitor Legion known as The Nightlords was underway in a small industrial center on the Southern continent. After receiving reports that two local Arbites dropships had mysteriously crashed in the town’s commercial district I immediately dispatched my forces to intercept and execute the likely perpetrators. Upon arrival at the crash site, my retinue was ordered to establish firing positions in a small office complex on the Southeast corner of the crash site. My Landraider and two squads of stormtroopers (for whom I had acquired Chimeras from the local PDF) were dispatched to the center of the crash site in order to investigate and intercept the assumed culprits.

 

Mission: Annihilation

Deployment: Dawn of War

Forces: 1750 points

 

Inquisition

4x squads of melta stormtroopers in heavy flamer Chimeras

1x small stormtrooper squad with meltas

Inquisitor Lord with Firebase retinue and Landraider

6x Deathcult Assasins

1x Eversore Assassin

 

Nightlords

Khornelord attached to Berserker squad

2x CSM squads w/ rhinos and las flamer

2x raptor squads w/ flamers

Chaos Landraider

2x Vindicators

 

Discovering that the Captain of these pathetic traitors was my nemesis, the infamous “Rat” (hereafter known as “cowardly vermin scum”) filled me with divine purpose. Luckily, our precision planning and expediency in reaching the site provided my forces with the initiative in the confrontation.

 

Turn 1

The Landraider moved into the crash center and took aim at a pathetic looking rhino sitting hull down behind the ruins of one of the buildings the dropships had crashed into. While the cowardly tactic saved it from the first lascannon shot, the second pierced the hull, and in a matter of seconds the shabby heretic transport detonated in a hurricane of metal and fire. Luckily, this revealed the sniveling filth taking refuge behind the vehicle, a Khornelord and its mindless, rage driven filth. They maintained cover behind the remaining ruins, yet their lurking would not save them as I ordered mancannontank and the heavy bolter servitors to open up on the vermin.

In response, the Khornate dog had its troops take up firing positions among the furthest most wreckage, while it huddled in fear with the remaining Berserkers behind the ruins, lamenting the loss of the dinky transport.

 

Turn 2

The next stage of battle brought an unfortunate turn. Against my better judgment, previous to arriving on this moon I had accepted the “loan” of some Deathcultists from Inquisitor Mathias “Mallethead” Murmacian (a less than shining example of our Ordos as you well know). Although I was initially leery of this suggestion I felt that they might aid the Officio Assassinorum Operative I had requisitioned. I ordered them all to remain in reserve to maintain our flank in case the situation escalated. Unfortunately, the night before they had “patronized” a local “establishment” and somehow acquired a “map” of the city from a “trustworthy” Ogryn pimp. Upon arriving, two of the cultists appeared on the opposite side of the battle with the Eversor Operative close behind (likely attempting to murder them for being idiots). Luckily (though not speaking highly of my hiring practices) two other cultists had been reading their copy of the “map” upside down and arrived on the flank of the Khornate scum just as the stormtroopers disembarked. A furious volley left the Lord with only two remaining traitors, and the ensuing charge left them in close combat. While the stormtroopers preformed admirably, rallying to face and take down a Berserker, the Khorne Lord’s daemon weapon let out an otherworldly howl and consumed one of the idiot deathcultists. Fortunately, the fool dropped its power weapon on the Lord’s foot while being consumed by the maddening device, hobbling the incompetent traitor. Blankly staring on as its fellow was torn from existence, the other assassin was (unsurprisingly) inattentive to the powerfist whistling towards its face. The remains were…insubstantial.

Frustratingly, the cowardly vermin scum had also maintained some reserves, and a squad of the Ordo’s finest stormtroopers were caught unaware when a pack (as they are not much more than animals) of “Raptors” descended upon them. A pair of ill maintained vindicators also shambled onto the site near the position held by the skulking Chaos Marines. These beasts seemed to fire without direction or result, no doubt due to some ill conceived daemonic involvement. Enraged by the ambush of their comrades, the stormtroopers engaging the Khornelord exploited its previous injury and dealt it another. It was at this time that we were rewarded with the battle’s finest moment. In mid swing the Lord’s axe formed into a gaping maw and swallowed the traitor whole. I can think of no more fitting result for the cowardly imbecile.

 

Turn 3

I continued to press the advantage, even after having lost a full squad of the Imperium’s best. The remaining two deathcultists, no doubt also in possession of this “map” arrived behind the Eversor, just as confused as the others. Luckily, the remainder of my stormtroopers arrived to reinforce our position. The gunservitors worked admirably, making a series of stunning kills on the Raptors. A squad of stormtroopers also showed their worth by quickly deploying from their Chimera and eliminating one of the writhing vindicators. With victory apparent, the remaining engaged troopers eliminated the Powerfist wielding Khornate “Champion”.

At this time the greatest hurdle of the battle arrived, a Chaos Landraider appeared. How a weak willed fiend like The Rat acquired one I am attempting to discover. Immediately, the behemoth unarmed an oncoming Chimera. A second squad of traitor marines arrived near the deathcultists and Eversor, barreling over wreckage to halt and unload from their Rhino. While it is quite possible that they also had a copy of this “map”, more likely they were simply being spineless in searching out easy prey. Their weak willed opportunism was only matched by their idiocy though, as they choose to target the Eversor rather than the befuddled deathcultists, resulting in nothing more than dodged bolter rounds. The aforementioned Raptors also assaulted a Chimera, no doubt foolishly seeing these as the source of their problems (rather than their betrayal of the Emperor). The vehicle suffered significant damage to its primary heavy flamer and engines, leaving it next to useless.

 

Turn 4

Again, the gunners of my Landraider showed how faith in the Emperor is tantamount to victory. Their holy guidance resulted in the destruction of the second vindicator. My retinue also proudly eliminated the remains of the pathetic raptor squad, while the Chimeras moved up to allow their cargo to deal with the newly arrived traitors. The Eversor repaid its assailants tenfold as it unleashed a fury of attacks. Somehow, two of the deathcultists also managed to find themselves in the ensuing melee, though that resulted in one finding itself on the receiving end of yet another powerfist. Wounded but resilient, the Eversor and its “aid” managed to drive the scum into retreat, pursuing and eliminating the remaining few.

Even this late in the fight a final squad of raptors came scrambling from the sky (proud “map” owners no doubt). The stormtroopers who had fought so valiantly against the Khornate scum were felled in their moment of respite. The enemy Landraider also found luck at this time, pumping both of its lascannons into an oncoming Chimera, detonating it with a feral shriek. The majority troopers onboard managed to remove themselves in time, but two were eventually discovered under the remains of an engine block. I had “encouraged” the Arbite driver of the other wounded tranport to drive his vehicle onto the traitor marines. As he approached they removed themselves and assaulted the vehicle. The powerfist wielding “champion” tore through the driver’s compartment and left little to be recognized, end both driver and vehicle’s valuable service to the Emperor.

 

Turn 5

Transcribed transmission from squad Gamma

*Sir the Khornate threat has been neutralized we are return…SCREEEEEE…OH GOD MY TORSO! MY PRECIOUS TORSO! static*

 

I turned my servitors attention to this new squad of raptors, but upon realizing that they had drawn the wrath of mancannontank, they scattered, making targeting difficult. The driver of the disabled Chimera nearby showed initiative by turning his remaining hull flamer on the creatures as they scrambled past, though it was to little effect. I directed my remaining forces towards the troublesome Landraider, hoping that shortly it would no longer be of concern.

At this point the enemy realized that suffering further losses would mean complete destruction and began to retreat, delivering parting shots to little effect. While attempting to eliminate the horrific vehicle in its retreat, I lost track of the troopers who had just managed to escape the inferno that was once their transport. In a last minute gambit, the infernal raptors had caught them in the open and killed them to a man, managing to defile the corpses with chaos inscribed drawings before retreating.

 

Result

Loss

7 Killpoints to 8 Killpoints

 

While the damage to my foe was significant my resources have been severely diminished. As I recuperate and resume tracking The Rat I will also be posing some “questions” to Inquisitor Murmacian about his choice in operatives.

[Cheesus]

How did the assassins do for you? I used to run the same setup but stopped in 5th edition.

 

Cool report though, I like Inquisitor John Shaft...

[revnow]

Really poorly. Outflank is a really risky option because you have to roll a reserve die for each assassin and then roll another die for the side each assassin comes in on. Thats how I ended up with the Eversor and two of the deathcultists on the wrong side of the map. Even given that though the new morale check rules really favor the assassins. The Eversor and 2 assassins took out a complete Chaos tac squad with average rolling, but the -5 modifier at the end of the battle and 3 chances at sweeping advance wiped it out completely. The new vehicle rules also encourage big vehicles like chaos Landraiders to limit movement in order to maximize firepower, which is beneficial for using the Eversor's meltabomb. Had we not rolled a 2 on the game continuation roll I would have had a decent chance at eliminating the Landraider with the Eversor, the two remaining melta squads, and my own Landraider.

 

I think they are much better in a non annihilation game where they could contest and harass the objectives. As it was they were just to much of a killpoint sink.

[Pyriel]

Superb battrep. I lughed a lot.

[Ambro]

That was a really cool battle report, im gonna write mine like that as well when I post one so thanks for the idea. Sounded like a really good fight you had but shame about the deathcult assassins although it sounds like you gave them a good beating anyway despite the loss, if the nearby deployment of grey knights had deemed the threat worthy then i'm sure the Chaos filth would have been wiped out to the last man. ^_^

[SinnerBeta]

Feels like reading the Imperial Infantryman Uplifting Primer again... and it feels good. Anyway, it's nice to see that somebody had the balls to make a pure, non-GK DH army. Keep up the fight.

[revnow]

The army was really a test to see how numbers oriented DH would fair, which I think was pretty successful. Had the game gone to turn 6 there was a good chance I could have won or at least tied. One thing I would definitely do is take the second heavy flamer off of all the Chimeras. They have to stand still to fire both, and the situations where that was a feasible tactic were few and far between.

[SinnerBeta]

Ah, forgot one thing: why no love for plasma ? At least one or two teams with it would make your day against power armor armies. I guess you wanted to pack as much of anti-tank you could there, but c'mon, plasma can take one light tanks too.

[Pyriel]

Plasma is really nerfed vs MEQ in 5:ed.

More and more people prefere flamers and meltas and specific anti MEQ units instead of relying on plasmas to handle MEQ.

 

In my standard list that was really heavy in plasma I switched to flaemrs and meltas only as the plasmas simply couldnt keep up anymore.

[SinnerBeta]

Did they ?

 

I actually saw improvement since you can only get "gets hot" on 1s now.

 

What am I overlooking ? Some subtle change in choosing targets or something that hampers plasma and I simply didn't play enough 5th games to see ?

 

Or, maybe instead of plasma nerf, you mean how much better are now flamers compared to plasma ?

[Tfcdogbert]

Plasma is really nerfed vs MEQ in 5:ed.

More and more people prefere flamers and meltas and specific anti MEQ units instead of relying on plasmas to handle MEQ.

 

In my standard list that was really heavy in plasma I switched to flaemrs and meltas only as the plasmas simply couldnt keep up anymore.

 

I dont agree with that, plasma rips up MEQ and although a pair of flamers can be arguably more effective they mean you have to run through their storm of fire and get yourself into rapid fire range, and my 2 plasma squads have gone from strength to strength, ripping up everything with lethal effect.

[boreas]

I guess he meant that more prevalent cover save has nerfed plasma since most of the time MEq will still get a 4+ save. I still love my plasma though. Especially againt MCs that have a harder time getting cover save...

 

Phil

[Tfcdogbert]

Ah, fair enough, i would hardly call it a nerf however.

[Gentlemanloser]

Rev, have I misunderstood Dawn of War? I was under the impression that while only 1HQ and 2 Troops are deployed, everything else not held in reserve came on in the movement Phase of turn 1.

 

But the Choas LR didn't come on till Turn 3 and yours was Turn2? Doh Imperial LR was on as part of the HQ. It was some ST that came in Turn 3.

 

Shouldn't they all have come in turn 1? Or does DoW allow you to hold anything you want back in reserves?

 

And have I got the total Kill Points correct? You had a total of;

 

4x squads of melta stormtroopers in heavy flamer Chimeras (8)

1x small stormtrooper squad with meltas (1)

Inquisitor Lord with Firebase retinue and Landraider (3? Does the Retinue count as a seperate Kill Point?)

6x Deathcult Assasins (6)

1x Eversore Assassin (1)

 

19.

 

While Chaos had;

 

Khornelord attached to Berserker squad (2?)

2x CSM squads w/ rhinos and las flamer (4)

2x raptor squads w/ flamers (2)

Chaos Landraider (1)

2x Vindicators (2)

 

11.

 

I'm starting to like Kill Points less and less. :(

[Tfcdogbert]

Rev, have I misunderstood Dawn of War? I was under the impression that while only 1HQ and 2 Troops are deployed, everything else not held in reserve came on in the movement Phase of turn 1.

 

But the Choas LR didn't come on till Turn 3 and yours was Turn2?

 

Everything else is held in reserve automatically i thought and you start rolling on turn 2.

[Gentlemanloser]

I thought it said something along the lines of "Everything else not held in reserve come on in the Movement Phase of the first turn". :/

 

(Bad paraphrasing on my part. :( )

[Ambro]

Yea your right they come in on the first turn.

[revnow]

We played it as all units not originally deployed being treated as in reserve to compensate for some balance issues.

 

I really think that killpoints aren't as bad as people make them if players compensate their play correctly. I mean you see how unbalanced this game was at the start and the end result was 8-7. Neither of us suffered significant dice issues and my opponent was someone whom I would consider of equal tactical skill as me. And you also really have to consider that had this been either of the other 2/3 of the missions the game would have been drastically different. And yes, the Inquisitor and retinue are 2 KPs

 

As far as plasma goes, I'm of the opinion that melta guns are generally more versatile. Double tapping plasma is a 30% chance to overheat, and as much as people claim S7 is ok against light tanks, it's a 5+ to even glance AV 12. The new advantages of AP1, +1S compared to plasma, and no risk of overheat make meltas my weapon of choice for the stormtrooper squads. Admittedly though, when I run two Inquisitors, the second's retinue is plasma vet gaurdsmen and mystics. The list doesn't have a huge amount of trouble with MEQs just because the firebase is so prevalent, the assassins are built for anti MEQ, and the meltas still do a ok job.

[Gentlemanloser]

What balance issues?

 

Originally, the first game of DoW we played we did the same. It really feels that's how it should be played. But your match would probably have been a bit different if (for example) his LR had moved in on turn 1 and been able to shoot from then.

 

Double tapping plasma is a 30% chance to overheat

 

This isn;'t the case in 5th any more. Plasma only overheats on a 1 now, regardless of how many shots you make with it.

[boreas]

Yes, but on 2 dice, the chance of rolling no "1" is roughly 70% (30% chance of overheat). In 4th ed. rapidfiring a plasmagun got you 45% chance of no "1" or "2"(so 55% chance of overheat)!

 

Phil

[revnow]

Boreas is correct, the chance of rolling a 1 when double tapping plasma in 5th edition is 11/36 or 30.55%. It's not as big a deal with Space Marines who have a +# armor save, but with stormtroopers I'm lot less favorable to take a 30% chance of setting the 20 point model on fire just to be effective.

[boreas]

Yeah, but when that 75pts unit packs quite a lot of punch! I commonly use 2 of them to finish-off MCs that have been previously wounded by my exorcists or TLLC dreads... Add a chimera with 2 HBs (that you don't deploy in, most of the time!) and you also get a nice firebase! Of course, KPs will ruin that plan pretty quick ;)

 

Phil

[Gentlemanloser]

lol! My bad! To used to rolling one dice for Plasma on Cannons. ;)

[revnow]

Heh, I'm actually considering taking the hull weapon off of the Chimeras. Unless a vehicle is immobilized I'm almost always moving it so I hardly ever use the second flamer or HB, I'd like other peoples thoughts on this.

[boreas]

Heh, I'm actually considering taking the hull weapon off of the Chimeras. Unless a vehicle is immobilized I'm almost always moving it so I hardly ever use the second flamer or HB, I'd like other peoples thoughts on this.

 

I use my chimeras in 2 ways: either taxi, moving around troop. So just the minimal turret weapon. I find the heavy flamer, when harrasing the ennemy zone after dropping off my IST, is very good. Otherwise, when used as a firebase, I plug in 2 HB and park it where it can get it's 4+ save. As a final measure, It can always try to drive 12" to the nearest objective to contest it...

 

For the first use (taxi) I put in 5 IST with 2 plasmagun. For the second use, I use an armored fist with either a lascannon or a HB). I also put this unit in cover... The first type always perform well vs nids. The second one I tried vs IG, but didn't go so well. BS 3 on a single lascannon is no help vs a Leman Russ...

 

Phil