[Pics]Marines Mendicant 1st Company (Deathwing) vs Tau, 1850

[thechosen1]

“Fall back, Brother! The xenos appro-“

 

Honored Battle Brother Cirivel grasped his Boltgun tightly as he ran, turning momentarily to fire a pair of Bolter rounds over his shoulder. The vox from Battle Brother Iruel was nothing but static, and Brother Cirivel had to assume the worst. Reaching the burned out remains of the forward command post, Cirivel’s hands quickly grasped the emergency beacon. In the distance, the Tau began closing the trap. They had ambushed Cirivel’s Tactical Squad, immobilizing their Rhino and forcing the Tactical Squad into a two day battle. All that remained of Tactical Squad Armiasel now was Battle Brother Cirivel, with the rest of his brothers either incapacitated or dead.

 

The beacon’s red light began blinking intermittently, signaling that the device was transmitting a distress signal. As Cirivel stood, he was suddenly blown off of his feet, the smell of ozone filtering in through his helmet as a crackling noise sounded behind him. Rolling to his feet, Cirivel saw a shimmer of light; a Tau Stealth Suit. Raising his Bolter, Cirivel fired in sequential double taps, sending four bolter shells into the shimmering mist. The Stealth Suit immediately decloaked, reeling, and Cirivel rushed the xeno, his combat knife in his hand, as he tackled the suit to the ground, slamming his knife home. A burst of blue blood coated Cirivel’s visor as the suit thrashed, its Burst Cannon firing wildly into the air. Finally, the xeno lay still, dead. Withdrawing his knife, Cirivel saw the advancing Tau in the distance. Retrieving his Boltgun, Cirivel was dismayed as his magazine displayed only two rounds remaining. This was all of his ammunition; he didn’t have any grenades remaining, having used a Krak grenade to start a diversionary landslide that had allowed him and Brother Iruel to escape. Resigning himself to one last stand, Cirivel noticed that the smell of ozone had intensified.

 

A shadow enveloped Brother Cirivel as the sound of a pair of Thunderhawk gunships resounded through the battlefield. The initial strafing run of the two gunships engulfed the Tau lines in a conflagration of fire and destruction, leaving some of the Tau vehicles smouldering wreckage. The Tau were quick to return fire, but thankfully, the reinforced ceramite plating of the gunships withstood this barrage. Circling above, the Thunderhawks quickly touched down, disgorging a pair of Land Raider assault transports. The smell of ozone was nearly unbearable now; suddenly, the air itself crackled, and five hulking forms appeared before Cirivel. Clad in Tactical Dreadnought Armor, Cirivel’s heart soared; not only had his distress signal been answered quickly, it had been answered by his Chapter’s cadre of elite warriors; the dreaded First Company of the Marines Mendicant. The Land Raiders roared forward as the five Terminators took up defensive positions around the bombed out command post.

 

Cirivel’s heart was filled with awe as his eyes scanned the heraldry of the Land Raider Crusader; bearing unmistakable runes and images, Cirivel’s disbelief grew as the voice of Chapter Master Cale Uros spoke softly over his vox, a line from a sermon meditatively murmured, as if in reflection of the situation.

 

“Hope has two beautiful daughters; anger and courage. Anger at the enemies of the Emperor and the Chapter, and courage to ensure that these enemies do not escape our wrath”

 

The Land Raiders rumbled forward as Cirivel watched, in awe, as his Chapter Master thundered into battle.

 

Hello all! As a going away game last semester, a friend of mine played an 1850 game against me. I brought my Deathwing, and he brought his Tau. My list was as follows:

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1121.jpg

 

HQ:

Chapter Master Cale Uros (Azrael)

Captain Iroh Ardias (Belial, x2 LC)

 

Troops:

Deathwing Squad Grayson:

Sergeant (x2 LC)

Banner Bearer (x2 LC)

Heavy Flamer

Apothecary (x2 LC)

TH/SS

 

Deathwing Squad Logan:

Sergeant

Assault Cannon

X3 Terminators (1 Chainfist)

 

Deathwing Squad Roth:

Sergeant

Cyclone Missile Launcher

X3 Terminators

 

Deathwing Squad Markov:

Sergeant (TH/SS)

Heavy Flamer

X3 Terminators (TH/SS)

 

Heavy Support:

Land Raider

Land Raider Crusader

 

My opponent brought the following list (not sure if this is correct; I can’t remember this far back very well)

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1122.jpg

 

HQ:

Commander (Fireknife pattern, with two Shield Drones)

X2 Bodyguards (Fireknives?)

 

Elites:

Crisis Suit Team (x2 Shield Drones, Fireknives)

 

Crisis Suit team (x2 Shield Drones, Fireknives, using proxied Stealth Suits)

Troops:

X2 Full Man Fire Warrior Teams

 

Fast Attack:

Pathfinder Squad (Full, Devilfish with Disruption Pods)

 

Heavy Support:

Broadside Team (x3 Broadsides)

 

Hammerhead (Railgun, Disruption Pods)

 

Hammerhead (Railgun, Disruption Pods)

 

Deployment was Spearhead, with Capture and Control as the game type (using two of my Tactical Marines as objective markers). I won the roll for first turn, and deployed aggressively, knowing I had to strike fast and hard to stand a chance at winning. Losing my Land Raiders first turn to railguns was a legitimate possibility and one I wanted to reduce. Squad Grayson, Ardias, and Uros went into the Crusader, while Squad Markov went into the Godhammer. I deployed Squad Roth on my objective, and put Squad Logan into Deathwing Assault.

 

My opponent castled up around his objective. Picking him out would be a pain. He failed to sieze, and the game was on!

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1123.jpg

Measuring from the center.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1124.jpg

Brother Cirivel

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1125.jpg

Brother Iruel

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1126.jpg

Deathwing Deployment

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1127.jpg

Tau Deployment

 

Deathwing Turn 1:

Both Land Raiders roared forward, their defensive smoke canisters spewing forth a large cloud of concealing smoke that would jam both infrared sensors and eyesight; Battle Brother Cirivel’s helmet sensors could no longer track them in the mist. Beside him, the grim visage of his saviors was lit up by a rocket launch that detonated spectacularly in the Tau lines. Hundreds of meters to the north, Cirivel heard the sound of teleporters, and shortly afterward, the deafening roar of an Assault Cannon. Cirivel could only assume more honored veterans had come to join the battle; with a small, vindictive smile, Cirivel could only hope that the Tau were falling like wheat before a scythe to such a violent hail of gunfire.

 

Squad Logan teleports in on my first turn, due to Deathwing Assault. I tried to deploy them close to the Crisis Suits, but I instead scattered backwards, almost landing in impassible terrain!

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1128.jpg

Squad Logan

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1129.jpg

Final destination

 

The Land Raiders rolled up and popped smoke.

 

Shooting saw Squad Logan attempt to shoot the Suits hiding behind the Hammerhead. I managed to score two wounds with Storm Bolter fire, which nuked a single Drone. When the Assault Cannon opened up, I rolled nothing but 1’s for wounds. Gah! Squad Logan fired at the Crisis Suits on the left with two Krak Missiles, nuking another drone. Morale checks were passed, and the Tau prepared to retaliate.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1130.jpg

FFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

 

Tau Turn 1:

The shattered remains of gun drones did little to break the xeno’s resolve as the suits eagerly leapt forward, angling for better shots at the stalwart veterans. Pulse Rifle fire initially spattered harmlessly off of Squad Logan’s armor, until concentrated plasma fire incapacitated several veterans under Logan’s command. Logan himself fell, roaring litanies of faith and protection until his superhuman body shut itself down, placing him into a deep coma.

 

My opponent didn’t really move much besides shuffling the Suits up a little bit. Shooting saw the right side Crisis Team wreck Squad Logan, taking out 3 Terminators with Plasma fire. Thankfully, solid Railgun shots were stopped by the Land Raider’s smoke, doing nothing to the mighty vehicles. The Suits jetted back behind cover in the Assault Phase.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1131.jpg

Top of Tau Turn 1

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1132.jpg

Squad Logan takes fire.

 

Deathwing Turn 2:

The remains of Squad Logan pressed forward under heavy Tau fire, the Assault Cannon of Battle Brother Arael defiantly answering the challenge presented by Tau Plasma weapons. The Land Raiders rapidly closed the gap between the Tau and Astartes lines, disgorging their contents. Cirivel could see the cloaked, distinctive form of his Chapter Master, holding aloft the sacred Sword of Salvation. Over the vox, Cirivel heard his Chapter’s leader bellow “For the Emperor!” and charge headlong into the Tau lines.

 

The swirling close combat was quick and brutal, and it was then that Cirivel noticed the prone form of Battle Brother Iruel, wounded but alive, among the Tau lines. The Hammerhead tank exploded, and for a moment, Cirivel feared that the squad that had torn the tank asunder would be lost in the raging inferno of the destroyed xeno tank. Like their namesake Angels of Death, the squad, bearing their Thunder Hammers, emerged from the still powerful fireball completely unscathed, scattering Tau warriors across the battlefield with ponderous but devastating strikes with their weapons.

 

I quickly rolled the Land Raiders up to the Tau lines and disembarked my Deathstar squad of Belial, Azrael, and Terminator hit squad, along with Squad Markov and the Hammernators of Doom from the Godhammer Raider. Squad Logan fired ineffectually at the Tau Crisis Suits, while Squad Roth peppered Fire Warriors with frag rockets, scoring no casualties.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1134.jpg

Land Raiders disgorge contents. Face beating ensues.

 

In assault, Chapter Master Uros, Captain Ardias, and the Terminator hit squad devoured a Crisis Suit Team, a Pathfinder Squad, and a Devilfish in one clusterfrack of a multicharge, while Squad Markov destroyed the Hammerhead and sent a squad of Fire Warriors running. The Hammerhead blew sky high, killing a Fire Warrior and doing no damage to Squad Markov.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1136.jpg

M-m-m-multicharge!

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1137.jpg

Stop! Hammertime!

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1138.jpg

Measuring explosion distance.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1139.jpg

End of Deathwing Turn 2.

 

Tau Turn 2:

The Tau offense began to crumble as the Tau struggled to regain control of the situation. Opening fire on Squad Grayson, Cirivel was horrified to see many of the valiant warriors, decked in marvelous, ornate armor, fall to concentrated volleys of Tau firepower. Through the storm of fire, Chapter Master Uros strode, tall and infallible, though Cirivel saw two shots strike home, forcing his leader to a knee as Captain Ardias moved to shield his liege. To Cirivel’s horror, Ardias too took damage, blood spraying from an open wound for a few heart-stopping moments before an Apothecary, clad in the distinctive white armor of his office, stepped forward to assist Ardias. The Tau continued to fire relentlessly as the Terminators pressed forward.

 

My opponent responded to my devastating multi-charges by dumping a metric ton of firepower into the offending squads. Completely ignoring the Land Raiders and Squad Roth, Squad Grayson took the brunt of the firepower, losing most of its members. Uros and Ardias suffered two wounds out of three, with the Apothecary doing a lot to reduce this damage. In assault, the last surviving Crisis Suits jumped away from Squad Markov…though not far enough to escape.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1140.jpg

Top of Tau Turn 2.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1141.jpg

End of Tau Turn 2.

 

Deathwing Turn 3:

The Sword of Salvation carved a bloody swath through Tau lines as Squad Grayson pressed forward, engaging both Fire Warrior and Crisis Suit with indiscriminate hatred. As the wounded Chapter Master dueled with the Tau Commander, Cirivel’s eyes widened as the suit brought one of its heavy weapons around, smashing the Chapter Master and causing the warrior to lose his balance. Pressing its advantage, the xeno rushed forward, pinning Uros to the ground and unloading a barrage of missile fire into the prone Astartes. Cirivel heard a roar of primal rage over his vox, and recognized the voice as Captain Ardias.

 

Cirivel watched Ardias emerge, his Lightning Claws slick with the blood of xenos, and rush the Battle Suits, as Squad Markov mopped up the Broadside Teams and final Crisis Squad.

 

I did very little shooting this turn; my Lascannons from the Godhammer failed to harm the Hammerhead, and the Crusader only felled a single Fire Warrior with its Hurricane Bolters.

 

Assault saw Uros assault a Crisis Team, Ardias a Fire Warrior squad, and Squad Markov multi-charge a Broadside and Crisis Team. Uros was felled, to my immense surprise, while Ardias cut down the Fire Warriors, the survivors fleeing off the board. Squad Markov destroyed both Crisis and Broadside teams with a plethora of Strength 8 attacks, and at this point, my opponent conceded defeat.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/darkjedi908/Deathwing%20Batrep%20April/DSCF1142.jpg

Uros fallen, with Squad Markov in the background.

 

The surviving Tau began to withdraw quickly, leaving the wounded Battle Brother Iruel behind. Cirivel stood, sprinting the distance towards his fallen Chapter Master. The Apothecary was already helping the warrior stand; he had been knocked around by the blasts, but thankfully, the energy shield embedded in his Iron Halo had saved him from the brunt of the damage. The Tau attack had been brutal indeed; though it was a victory for the Astartes this day, Cirivel knew that the price had been high. Sergeant Logan and much of his squad would require intense medical care, and their Chapter Master had nearly lost his life.

 

Cirivel knew that his Chapter Master harbored an intense, burning hatred of the Tau. Uros had fought in the Damocles Gulf crusade, and had seen what the xenos were capable of firsthand. His involvement in this counter-attack was not surprising, but his presence in the sector was. Wondering what his Chapter Master could be planning, Cirivel helped the wounded Iruel to his feet, slinging his Boltgun and helping his Battle Brother back towards friendly lines.

 

- - -

 

Result: Victory for Deathwing (1 Objective to 0).

 

We were both feeling a bit surprised at how quickly I had gotten into close combat, and we re-measured the board. It turns out that we were playing on a 4x4 board, as opposed to a 6x4 (we both assumed that our university’s table length, which is 6x4 throughout most of the campus, was appropriate for this game type…we were both wrong!). I felt really guilty at this point, and my opponent was somewhat miffed as well. Primarily, he was frustrated at his inability to pop at least 1 Land Raider with 5 Railgun shots; usually, his dice work out better than they did here.

 

I usually don’t run Azrael, instead opting for an Interrogator Chaplain in TDA to make my Deathstar’s power weapon attacks silly (re-rolling hits and wounds with 21 power weapon attacks, re-rolling hits with 8 STR 8 hits, and re-rolling hits with 5 STR 4 Power Weapon hits isn’t anything to sneeze at, and has taken down almost everything its been thrown at before). However, I was happy to have used him here; his model is really neat, but doesn’t see much action in my local meta.

 

I love playing this particular opponent; he was my first regular one here at school, and he started 40K after seeing a bunch of models in my dorm room. I give him a lot of crap about playing Tau, but he’s getting really good with them, and is a blast to play. I’ve got a few more batreps with him and others that I’d like to write up as soon as I get free time. My opponent and I are planning a two man campaign to settle our Tau/Marine grudge match; the batreps from that will be posted here. Thanks for reading!

[Utsujin]

Nice batrep and pics! Looks like ya'll had quite a bit of fun! =)