Friendly Batrep 2.5k

[Wolf Guard Nostromo]

Its a while since I posted a Batrep, so here's yesterdays friendly. I decided to go troop light and combat heavy - this was a nice chance to try out some different combos and overall balance as well as field some of my current repaint jobs which I could still re-model if they aren't cutting the mustard.

 

Anyway, Dawn of War annihilation, 2.5k v World Eaters.

 

My force, in short: Wolf priest on bike with 4 swiftclaws (pf) and an attack bike, wolf priest with jump pack with 10 skyclaws (pf), wolf priest with 14 blood claws (pf) and a wolfguard (th) in a crusader, dakka predator with extras, rune priest and tda wolf guard in land raider, 2 tooled up 10 man Grey hunter packs in rhinos.

 

WE: Land raider with bezerkers and Khârn, 4 rhinos of csms and zerkers + 10 zerkers on foot, 2 squads of havocs, 3 terminators and 2 obliterators. I think 

 

Here's the table:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00635.jpg

 

I won the roll and decided to go first to cover some ground across the table centrally in order to force WE to meet me head on or split his forces. It worked  ;)

 

Bottom of Turn 1:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00636.jpg

 

So, the forces moved on - I went at full speed centrally, mostly, to try and isolate some part of his force (the two rhinos left and centre were what he deployed to start). My bikes were in reserve. WE moved most of his remaining stuff on my extreme right, with Khârn and his invincible raider (I can never destroy that raider :) ) along with alot of other forces to back him up. He still had two PA squads, the termys and the oblits in reserve. In combined shooting, I managed to immobilise the central rhino with the godhammers - little else was in range or hadn't moved for either of us - good old dawn of war.

 

Bottom of Turn 2:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00637.jpg

 

My bikes arrived, a little early for my taste, so I turbo boosted them centrally to get some cover from the bastion. Everything continued the push forwards and the godhammer popped the rhino it had immobilised and shaken last turn. WE's plasma havocs arrived and he placed them on my left supporting the lone rhino - I have a healthy fear of those 4 plasmaguns! His remaining forces held and opened fire taking down a few swifclaws and skyclaws (my saves were awful despite the rune priest covering everything in the area with a cover save). The decisive turns were clearly still to come.

 

Bottom of Turn 3:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00638.jpg

 

My central rhino immobilised itself on the cover in front, effectively ending its role in the battle. I opened fire on the squad from the popped rhino who were stranded in the open with the crusader and predator, softening them up before the bikes charged in and finished them off. The rest of the army continued forwards in the hope of getting some charges in next turn. The Rune priests storm continued to help the force out in WE's shooting phase, with little damage done from the considerable havoc squad on my right. The wolf priest lost his remaining biker and a wound but managed to make several key invunerable saves and keep one wound on his attack bike - this was to prove vital later. The plasma havocs, now joined by another rhino containing 8 bezerkers to try and stare down my charge, fired at the rushing rhino and popped it despite the smoke - this actually left me in quite a good position for a melta and charge next turn. I was well aware that the oblits and tda had still not appeared.

 

Bottom of Turn 4:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00639.jpg

 

Up to this point, we had only minorly damaged each others forces and it was 2 - 1 to me in kps. This turn I was in charge range however and had isolated the forces on my left. However, it still consisted on 23 space marines and two rhinos including 8 bezerkers, so I commited to wipe them out.

 

The Grey hunters who's rhino had been popped returned the favour and popped the csm rhino in front with their meltas before charging into the content, killing nine of them (2 in the explosion) and 3 from the MoW (love those 6's on MoW rolls) - the wolf standard really helped and I won the combat without loss as the champs power fist failed. He ran, obviously, and I pushed after him to force him off the table in his turn.

 

The crusader and bikes pushed towards the other rhino and plasma havocs (the crusaders ac helpfully cracked the rhino) and so the combat was huge (both size and importance) between the biker priest and the crusader's mass claws + priest v the 8 bezerkers and 5 havocs. It was nearly all I4 (except the 3 fists) so alot of PA died - the re-rolls of the two priests really helped and I killed 10 of the 13 WE's (he was pretty lucky with some wound allocation and saves). I lost 7 claws in return (even off charge bezerkers are hard) and the attack bike, but the bike priest was again noteworthy killing 3 opponents with 4 attacks as he did last turn. WE passed his leadership and fearless saves and so it went into his turn where I finished the job for the loss of several more claws (skull champions have so many attacks for non-ICs). My consolidation roll took me back in range of remounting in the crusader, which was nice.

 

Everthing else this turn was side events - the havocs took a couple of casualties from the predator, the termys arrived on Kharns icon and the WE raider sneaked up behind the bastion now that part of my forces were commited on the far flank.

 

Bottom of Turn 5:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00640.jpg

 

I was now well up on kps and largely consolidated my position from last turn, but crucially didn't react enough to the advancing land raider and its horrible cargo - I advanced, to some degree with what I had left, mainly on the concentration on the right, but didn't really have enough force left to hit that fully in the remaining turns, particularly after the combat below. I continued to pick off the havocs on the hill to my right and had now killed enough to genuinely reduce their firepower.

 

The charge of Khârn was incredible to behold - passin its difficult terrain test, the land raider disgorged its content right on top of my right flank. The skyclaws took the brunt of my mistake (mainly distraction at the events on the other flank - Idiot!) and got wiped out by Khârn and his posse. The wolf priest survived alone against the initial attacks with 1 wound left and killed a bezerker and wounded Khârn before the skull champions powerfist finally smashed him up (nevermind the 5+ fearless saves he would have taken). This cost me my remaining numerical hard-hitters and left me with little to take Khârn on with. The oblits also turned up and I was lucky as they deep struck right on target and blew both the MM and AC off the crusader with twin linked melta hits at 6" range - they were left very exposed by this relative failure.

 

Bottom of Turn 6:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00641.jpg

 

I now faced some real choices - the game was much closer than it had been in the previous pair of turns after the demise of the priest and skyclaws which left Khârn and retinue + raider in a position to charge my immobilised rhino and contents next turn unless I took them on - this might well lose me the game. I thus unloaded the two packs in the area and concentrated my remaining fire on this triple threat. The firepower only killed 4 bezerkers as he had used the cover well, while my godhammer blew both lascannons off the traitor raider in an amazing display of paired dice rolling.

 

The wolf priest double team around the crusader charged the oblits and double crozius was enough to see them off.

 

Having shot up Khârn and his zerkers, and largely crippled the land raider, I decided to charge into Khârn in an attempt to freeze him in place if nothing else - my termies had 2 storm shields and so I was hopeful of at least holding my own. Khârn cut through one of the storm shields like it was paper and wounded Torvind Firestorm (rune priest) while my dice deserted me and I killed only the remaining basic bezerker. In the WE turn this combat continued to go against me - I killed the remaining zerkers but was left with just the rune priest on 1 wound. Fortunately he held but was standing alone aaginst the betrayer, which also stopped me from rapid firing at the little b*gger.

 

End Game:

 

http://i662.photobucket.com/albums/uu349/awalker4/DSC00642.jpg

 

Final turn: At this point the game had become all about the Khârn/Rune priest struggle, and so we largely both held our ground beyond me adding participants in an attempt to finally fell the betrayer. I hid my weakened claws behind the crusader to save them from the havocs, and indeed killed 2 more with the hurricane bolters and the predator - this squad really had taken my fire all game and stayed in the game - the cover save, good placement and threat of the supporting bezerker countercharge had left me with no answer really.

 

So, with me leading 7 kps to 5 and thus everything coming down to this combat, I threw everything at the betrayer - at this stage that meant the biker priest on 1 wound, the thus far largely irrelevant Grey Hunters (who had been weakened by the support fire) and of course, the already enagaged tda rune priest. I didn't really have a choice in holding back as he would have undoubtedly killed poor firestorm on his own and thus charged anything he wanted in his turn with a single kp giving him a draw...

 

Khârn struck first, as usual :) , and WE spread the hits around in an attempt to kill several opponents and both gain kps and reduce the incoming hits. Vitally, both the ICs survived on their last wound with the wound rolls failing on both (T5 of the bike was key) while 3 Grey Hunters died. I decided to give firestorm the chance to finish the job, but his wound rolls failed him (Khârn's immune to the runic weapons ID anyway). The Grey Hunters also flunked, with the MoW a '1 roll' (payback for the earlier 6) and Khârn's weaponskill appearing to completely deny them a telling hit. Khârn's 3 kills were starting to worry me now as they could overkill the wolf priest because of fearless and even allow Khârn and his I5 to run down the other two opponents. So, in true cinematic fashion, it was all down to wolf priest Haktar, my mvp up to this point who had won me 3 combats already. His re-rolls allowed him to hit and wound Khârn twice, and with 2 wounds remaining and his 5++ save this was truly down to the wire. As befits the truly fickle chaos gods, the saves failed him and Khârn went down to Haktar's blows, winning the game and silencing the betrayer. Great game - 8 - 5 kp win for the wolves.

 

...

 

The sound of missile impacts on the hull of the nearby crusader drowned out the latest broken communication from Torvind, and Haktar scanned the field for signs of the Rune Priest. The bodies of the traitorous and malformed monsters at his feet filled his heart with hate, but the battle was far from over and he pushed back the rising bile in his throat at the thought of the depths that the servants of chaos had gone to achieve victory.

 

'Hak.., c... in, ... is Torvind... engaged... betrayer... regroup'

 

Haktar immediately gunned his bikes engine and nodded to Bjarki who, returning his acknowledgement, led his pack of Blood Claws back towards the cover of the crusader. The wolf priest spun his bike on the spot with the skill of one with years in the saddle, and shot back across the desolate field as fast as he dared. He relied on his speed and the uneven terrain to stop the traitor marines firesupport drawing a bead on him as he moved back towards the Rune Priest's locator beacon.

 

As he shot over a rise a scene unfolded below him. His enhanced senses took stock of it in a split second. Torvind's instantly recogniseable land raider was trading lascannon blasts with its treacherous brother with both showing signs of damage as lascannon beams flashed across the open ground in a lethal crossfire. This, however, was just the backdrop to the fierce combat continuing below. Torvind Firestorm, his blade glowing in the half light, stood alone against the whirling savage of a figure in red, its blows almost too fast to register - the bodies of his wolfguard lay behind the betrayer, and Haktar's jaw hardened as he saw the sheer butchery with which they had been cut down. This was no time for hesitation however, and Haktar howled to the moon as he shot down the slope towards the two figures.

 

As Haktar accelerated towards the combat, he could see that the rune priest's terminator armour was both a blessing and a curse - it was scarred and dented, and while it was deflecting many of the world eater champion's blows, it was also making it difficult for Torvind to cope with his opponents savage speed. As Haktar approached and lined up the for a killing blow, the rune priest stumbled under the onslaught of unrelenting blows and his Runic weapon was smashed from his grip as the betrayer hacked deep into his arm at the wrist. The ancient armour had stopped some of the blow but the impact had shattered the lower arm and the Rune Priest was at the betrayer's mercy.

 

Realising that he would not reach his wounded brother in time, Haktar thumbed the activation runes for his bikes bolters and unleashed a hail of bolts towards the warrior of Khorne. To his surprise, even before his rounds flashed towards the target, the world Eater's ornate armour was pounded under a hail of fire from an unseen source. Emerging from the cover of a destroyed rhino, Svengar's grey hunter's charged into the fray, bolters blazing and forcing even the insane bloodthirster away from the still prone form of their Rune Priest commander. Haktar grinned coldly at the timing of the intervention and quickly covered the remaining distance towards his distracted target. Leaning low to his left, he swept his Crozius in a lethal arc, aiming at a weakpoint in the red and gold armour above the hip. Just at the point where he thought his blow had struck, the figure turned and swivelled, trying to deflecting his blow with his pauldron and bring his chainaxe round towards the bikes rear tyre.

 

Both blows struck home. The impact from the speed and experience of the wolf priest's blow still knocked the betrayer from his feet with blood gushing from a blow in his side while the flashing chainaxe also dug deep, shredding the tyre and wheel and causing the bike to slew violently sideways as the rear wheel buckled and gave under the strength of the blow. Haktar was all but thrown from his mount but was able to control the skidding vehicle and bring the bike to a controlled but permanent halt. Cursing under his breath, Haktar jumped from his stricken ride and sprinted back towards the red armoured figure, already engaged with Svengar's hunters and apparently unaware and unaffected by the massive wound in his torso.

 

The Grey Hunters were struggling to hold him back. Several of them fell in the seconds it took for Haktar to rejoin the combat, the wolf priest loping across the ground with murder in his heart. The beast within howled to be sated with the blood of this hated foe, and Haktar steeled himself to again take on this truly monstrous combat opponent. This time the Bezerker champion was truly distracted by the killing rage and the wolf priest would not be denied. He hurled himself full length at the blurring form, smashing his full weight into back of his adversary using the momentum he had learnt from years of combat at speed. The world eater still partially avoided the tackle but even his immense combat experience could not completely avoid the weighted malice and force of the wolf priest tackle, smashing the world eater into the rocky earth, pinning his flailing blades by his sides and rebounding his head viciously off the armour of a fallen terminator which cracked under the incredible impact.

 

As both marines scrambled to rise, the world eater clearly struggling after the previous attack, the world turned upside down as a shockwave knocked all the combatants from their feet. Dust billowed around them while rubble and shrapnel rained back to earth from the impact of the missiles. Time seemed to slow as Haktar shook his head clear. Deep booming laughter rolled across the wasteland, penetrating deep into Haktar's psyche making his ears ring and the beast inside howl in frustration and fear. Turning to see where it was coming from, the wolf priest thought he saw the outline of a red armoured figure lying away to his left. Blood still boiling but slightly disorientated by the blast, Haktar started to rise to his feet. As he did so, the laughter began to fade and stricken form of his enemy seemed to blur. Cursing as he sensed the influence of the warp, Haktar leapt forwards but the form faded before his eyes, dispersing like dust in a fierce gust of wind.

 

The laughter, faint now, stopped and the voice suddenly bellowed 'Foolish mortal... Do you think his life is yours to take?' The wolf priest searched for the source of his tormentor but there was no living opponent to be seen nor any sign of the wounded chaos champion. The relative silence and clarity of the moment faded back into the familiar atmosphere of a world at war, and the wolf priest knew his nemesis was long gone.

 

'Next time, betrayer' he growled.

 

In the far future there is only war...

[CainTheHunter]

Nice report, I especially enjoyed reading the fluff part at the end, and congrats with Your victory!

[Hrothgar Beastslayer]

This is a fantastic battle report and i would love to see another! An ale to you sir,

i particularily liked the story at the end.

[Natanael]

This is a fantastic battle report and i would love to see another! An ale to you sir,

i particularily liked the story at the end.

 

What he said =D

[TiguriusX]

Shining example of batrep and fluff

 

Skoal brother!!!

[spjaco]

Worthy of his own Saga, this Wolf Priest Haktar!!!!

Have another ale on me.

Well met, brother.

[Warhorse47]

Well fought and even better told!

[Black2Jack1]

That last story was awesome! Wish a lot more battle reports were like that!

[happy clam]

First game in along time in which weve both had stuff left on the table!

[Wildfire]

Nice report, and a good nailbiter right down to the last rolls. Sounds like fun!

[the jeske]

how did the chaos guys in the LR get to conga out of their transport so far or are my eyes playing tricks on me, because they dont look like withing 2" of the ramp?

[Wolf Guard Nostromo]

how did the chaos guys in the LR get to conga out of their transport so far or are my eyes playing tricks on me, because they dont look like withing 2" of the ramp?

 

Your right, they are well beyond 2" from the ramp. The pictures are taken at the end of each whole turn, not every phase (that would be so complicated  ), and thus the conga line as you put it is because of the reasonable consolidation roll he made after wiping out my skyclaws in the assault phase. Simple eh?

 

The Bezerkers are far too focused on killing to consider a dance routine anyway  :P