Round 5, Final Assault

[Lysere]

At my local store we recently got around to starting our campaign we've been talking about for the past few months. Points are decided by who's playing but rules are laid out the same.

 

I figured since A: There will be quite a few games for this, and B: Each one will have different rules and objectives, that I should keep track of my outcomes. What better way then to do battle reports? This is also a way for myself and others to look at this and go, "well if you had done that here you might have done better," and stuff like that. Instead of starting a new thread I will probably expand with a new post each time we do a mission. It might also end with a big Apoc game which should be fun.

 

Any way the first mission was to be planetfall in which bastions would not be used. (More from lack of Bastions and not wanting to bog down the game too much then making it one sided) We drew cards and I was matched up with an Imperial Guard player. We agreed 1k, (he could hit that but more then that was hard for him,) and I rolled attacker. So I set about making my 1k list while he set up the table. I'll try to keep the lists streamlined and as accurate as I can. (Couple weeks ago and I didn't write down his list)

 

(We did add a few points above 1k because we didn't want to rework our whole lists to bring it to exactly 1k)

 

Space Marine (Knights Templar joined by Pedro Kantor)

 

Pedro Kantor

Chapter Champion w/relic blade

2 Honor guard

w/ Drop pod

 

Tactical Squad Mortellis

w/ Powerfist (Sergeant), Meltagun (Marine)

w/ Drop pod

 

Tactical Squad Avitus

w/ Power Sword (Sergeant), Meltagun (Marine), Multi-Melta (Marine)

 

Devastator Squad w/ 2 Heavy Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

w/ Razorback armed with Las/ Twin-Linked Plas

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Imperial Force (1k total)

 

Company Command Squad

w/ 2 sniper rifles, banner, vox.

 

3 Veteran Guard Squads

w/ 3 plasma guns each

2 Also had an Auto Cannon

1 Had a Lascannon

 

Scout Sentinel w/ Lascannon, Hunter Killer

 

Lemen Russ Executioner w/plasma sponsons, las cannon hull mount.

 

Not really sure all of the wargear he had on his squads, but everything I've named was used or obvious.

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The Field was pretty straightforward for a Planet fall. He had a large array of walls and high ground in the middle with our 3 objectives placed as towers around it. Lemen Russ was hiding underneath the central structure, one Veteran Guard squad at each tower, Scout Sentinel Hiding like the Russ, and Commander on top of the ruin. I chose one board edge with some ruins and craters as my entry edge and set my Razorback to enter with the devs there while everything else was to deepstrike. (Yes even the squad without the drop pod)

 

Initial Firestorm did nothing but add craters to the surrounding Terrain, so any chance of softening up my foe before landing was gone. So with that pitiful start to my planetfall my drop pod with squad Mortellis and my Razorback entered the fray.

 

Attacker Turn 1

Having one of the 3 melta weapons in my army Mortellis arrived via drop pod behind the Lemen Russ. (Still hiding beneath the building) Meanwhile my Razorback moved 12" and dropped my Devs off on the side away from the snipers and lascannon before popping smoke. Now in position Mortellis let loose with the melta gun and struck the rear armor of the Russ within melta range and wrecked it. Making up for my failed Firestorm and taking care of the biggest threat to the remaining marines.

 

 

Defender Turn 1

His Turn came and he tried to make up for the loss of the Russ by firing his sentinel, and 2 heavy weapons, (1 Lascannon, 1 AC) and his snipers into the razorback, which managed to avoid all of them. Meanwhile his third squad let loose on Tacitcal Squad Mortellis and killed several marines with plasma fire.

 

 

Attacker Turn 2

As the first volley of las fire ended my second drop pod with Pedro and my second tactical squad arrived near the first one. As they made planetfall Tactical squad Mortellis closed the distance towards the Nearest objective and the surrounding Guardsmen. The Razorback also moved so the Devastators could get a clear shot at the Lascannon Veterans, while Tactical squad Avitus combat squaded out to claim more objectives. Now in position to strike, Pedro and his guard let loose on the Lascannon team along with the Devs, both groups from Tacitcal Squad Avitus, and the razorback. The lone survivor fled while Mortellis charged into close combat with the first of the Autocannon equipped vet squads. Only a couple marines fell while several more guardsmen dropped. Guardsmen held and so the combat continued.

 

 

Defener Turn 2

With one squad tied up and two of his units dead the Guardsmen opted to open fire again on my razorback and failed to do more then shake it. Meanwhile the close combat between his Vets and Mortellis continued with no marines dead and several more guardsmen down. They still held.

 

 

Attacker Turn 3

Razorback continued to screen devs from the big guns left while Avitus moved towards the two objectives I had cleared while Pedro ascended the ruins and moved towards the company command squad. Devs opened fire on that same squad firing krak missiles instead of frag, killing both snipers and the vox. The assault continued with the guardsmen losing and being routed by the marines. Who took the chance to duck behind some terrain.

 

 

Defender Turn 3

While the veteran squad re-positioned for better shooting the sentinel moved in and finally killed the razorback, while his company command squad decided waiting for Pedro to charge them was a bad idea and charged him and his guard. This move took Pedro and the honor guard by surprise and they failed to kill the commander, but the banner fell before them.

 

 

Attacker Turn 4

Taking advantage of the relocation of the vets Mortellis again closed the distance and charged into the ranks of the Guardsmen while the devs put an end to the sentinel. Avitus claimed both objectives that had been cleared. Pedro and Honor Guard finished off the commander and climbed up for a good firing position while Mortellis tore into the last guard squad.

 

 

By this point the marines had 2 of the 3 objectives, only had lost the Razorback, and swept the last guard squad aside in turn 5 with the sergeant of Mortellis still standing. Despite the terrible Firestorm results the Marines still carried the day with few casualties. For one who has a tendency to lose or tie I was happy with the outcome in mission 1.

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After action and mission discussions.

 

With the campaign's first mission being won only by attackers it was discussed how it was highly in favor of the attacker. While we didn't use stratagems we did use most of the attacker's rules while the defender simply got to deploy and set up terrain as they saw fit.

 

Although it did feel one sided we agreed that having the attacker win the first fight is fine because it is planetfall, and it is only the very first mission of the campaign. It was also stated that it was random chance who was attacker, and the defender could still have one with a good strategy and some luck. It just so happened that those who ended up as attackers won.

 

I did take time to discuss with the guard player (Who is still newish to playing 40k and planetstrike) and talked with him about some of the things he could have done differently. Namely not setting up his terrain to prevent his Vet squads from supporting each other, and having his tank roll on from reserves would have done a lot of dmg to me. 6"+d6 move, and still fire the main cannon and a plasma cannon would have done terrible things to a squad or two before I could probably kill it. With that game now under his belt and a few new units added to his army he will probably perform better in round 2. Which will be another few weeks I think.

 

(Please don't judge this boring bat rep too harshly. It's been a couple years since I did one, and I didn't bring a camera)

[Kierdale]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! Thanks for posting it, and I look forward to reading the next battle report.

Next time don't forget your camera :), but honestly you did a good job of describing the action so I could envision it. Sounds like an exciting start to the campaign!

[Lysere]

About half a year ago the guy in charge of the gaming group was changed. We've had a lot of fun trying out different games and missions. So when he handed me the report sheet for our game and half the page was for a section he labeled "notes," I made sure to use it.

 

But yes, must bring camera next time. Might be able to get the pic of the table he took.

[Lysere]

Greetings Battle Brothers, it has been awhile since my last campaign update. Unfortunately my second game came without warning and it ended rather brutally. It was two Vanilla marine armies against each other and I was ill prepared to face my opponent. After that I played a fill in game since one of our players didn't show and that ended badly as well. (Not as bad but it didn't count for me anyway)

 

This week I was once again caught off guard by the campaign but I got to play the IG guy again. So while I didn't get pictures (I know I'm sorry) I did pay attention to my enemies list.

 

-------

Space Marine (1250)

 

Cato Sicarius

w/ Command Squad

- Apothecary

- Veteran w/ Power Axe

- Veteran w/ Power Axe, Plasma Pistol

- Veteran w/ Melta Gun

- Company Champion

- Razorback w/Lascannon, Extra Armour, Storm Bolter

 

Tactical Squad Mortellis

- Sergeant w/ Power Fist

- Marine w/ Melta Gun

- Tactical Marine x8

- Rhino w/ Extra Armour, Dozer Blade

 

Tactical Squad Avitus

- Sergeant w/ Power Sword

- Marine w/ Melta Gun

- Marine w/ Multi-Melta

- Tactical Marine x7

- Drop Pod

 

Scout Squad

- Scout Sergeant w/ Sniper Rifle, Camo Cloak

- Scout w/ Sniper Rifle, Camo Cloak

 

Ironclad Dreadnought "Vires"

- Seismic Hammer w/ Melta

- Hurricane Bolter

- Assault Launchers, Hunter Killer x2

- Drop Pod

 

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Imperial Guard (1250)

 

Company Command Squad

- Commander w/ Power weapon

- Banner

- Vox

- 2 Snipers

 

Veteran Squad (x2) (Grenadiers)

Sergeant w/ Power Sword

Veteran w/ Plasma Gun x3

Veteran x6

 

Commisar Yarrick

Veteran Squad (Grenadiers)

Sergeant w/ Power weapon, Melta Bomb, Demolition Charge

Veteran w/ Shotgun x9, Melta Bombs

 

Lemen Russ

- Battle Cannon

- Las Sponson

- Multi-Melta Side Sponsons

 

Basilisk

 

Ratlings x3

 

Armoured Sentinel

- Lascannon

- Hunter Killer

 

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Game was Spearhead Deployment with each side getting a special rule for reserves to use. My opponent had done the first round for the campaign so he was familiar with the rule. I used a mix of drop pods and transports because I didn't want to gamble too much on an unknown rule. Objectives ended up as Capture and Control. Our table had one large ruin in the middle to block line of sight and a wrong of area terrain and walls around it. We placed our objectives in opposite corners next to ruins. He rolled high and picked defender so I began deployment.

 

I placed my scouts in the ruin next to my objective. Everything else went into reserves.

 

He placed his Basilisk in the far corner on the hill with the ratlings, and placed his 2 plasma vet squads and his command squad in the ruins and walls around his corner objective.

His basilisk was the only thing that could see my scouts.

 

Turn 1

- Attacker -

 

Ironclad Vires entered via drop pod at close range to the basilisk. A Full barrage of melta and missile fire tore the main cannon clean off. Scouts were unable to see the enemy and so they fortified their position.

 

- Defender -

 

Combined fire from both plasma squads managed to tear off the hurricane bolter and immobilize my ironclad. Everything else had nothing to shoot at.

 

Turn 2

- Attacker -

All reserves come in, special Rule is revealed. My units are allowed to enter via any table edge thus allowing for a nice concentrated assault.

 

Tactical squad Avitus opted to land near one of the plasma vet squads to try and dislodge them. Squad Mortellis meanwhile closed the gap to the Command Squad and jumped out of the rhino to unleash a withering barrage of bolter fire. The command squad promptly fled. Cato and his command squad moved in. Both transports popped smoke. Squad Avitus does little damage to the vets while Vires' drop pod picks off a ratling.

 

- Defender -

All of the defenders reserves arrive and his rule is revealed. He is allowed to place them within and area terrain or within 2" of any area terrain. His Lemen Russ deploys in the table quarter above my scouts while Yarrick and the Sentinel arrive near the main fighting.

 

The Lemen Russ fails to damage the scouts, but between both Yarrick and the 2 vet squads near him Squad Avitus is wiped out. Sporadic shooting from the Second Vet squad fails to hit squad Mortellis and the remaining Company Commander manages to regroup and move towards his objective. Sentinel destroys Cato's Razorback before it has a chance to fire.

 

Turn 3

- Attacker -

Seeing Tactical Squad Avitus fall, Cato and his Command Squad close in on Yarrick. Meanwhile squad Mortellis boards their Rhino again and charges into the ruins with the objective. The sudden move takes the veterans by surprise and they fall back and off the table. Meanwhile Cato and his squad pick off part of Yarrick's Squad before charging into melee, at which point Cato fought Yarrick one on one and slew him. The rest of the veteran's were promptly routed by the Command Squad. Ironclad Vires tried to scratch the basilisk but being out of melta range he had no luck.

 

- Defender -

With most of his forces now routed the Guard tried to muster his remaining men. Combined fire from the sentinel and the Lemen Russ managed to immobilize the Rhino just out of range of the objective but not kill it. Meanwhile the ratlings and remaining vets took potshots at Cato and his men. Yarrick managed to drag himself back up in time to charge back into the fight with Cato. Who promptly slew the Hero of Armageddon a second time. Yarrick wouldn't be getting back up again.

 

Turn 4

- Attacker -

Cato's men closed with the last remaining squad of vets the guard had left and slew them to a man, meanwhile Squad Mortellis stayed safely inside the Rhino, which failed to repair the damage.

 

- Defender -

Realizing he had no more troops the Guard instead focused fire on the different objectives. The sentinel continued to try for the Rhino and failed while the Lemen Russ closed on the scouts on my side of the table. (They continued to hide in the ruin) Little damage was done.

 

Turn 5

- Attacker -

At this point the guard had no more troops and squad Mortellis climbed out and claimed the final objective. They also focused fire on the remaining commander and brought the leadership of the Guard down at last. Storm bolter fire from the drop pods killed the last two ratlings, and Cato and his men closed on the still moving basilisk. (Their melta gun had died to plasma fire earlier)

 

- Defender -

The few stray forces left focused fire on the two troops in a vain attempt to move them. The Rhino and scouts would not budge.

 

Turn 6

- Attacker -

Cato and his men finally immobilized the basilisk after chasing it down. But little damage was done to the remaining Guard armor.

 

- Defender -

A lucky battlecannon shot claimed most of the scout squad, but the sergeant held and claimed the objective. Mortellis still had a hold on the other.

 

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This game was a lot of fun, and there were a few unit ideas I was tempted to take, but I chose not too in order to be prepared for a rule I know nothing about. This game was a lot closer then my last one with the guy, and it was a lot of fun. The Ironclad taking the Basilisks main cannon off and the Rhino scaring the guardsmen off the objective were two things that really turned the battle in my favor. With the loss of the multi-melta and the razorback, most of my longer range anti-tank was gone. So taking on the Lemen Russ was practically impossible. Thankfully it seemed to accomplish little over the course of the game.

 

We didn't discuss the game in much detail this time as it was a close game that came down to a few key moments, such as the two mentioned above as well as the timely elimination of Yarrick. Turns out there might only be a few games left in the campaign so I will try hard to remember my camera next time. And once again sorry for forgetting to keep track of game two.

 

Record for the Knight's Templar Chapter after this round is 2 wins - 1 loss. Lets see if I can win this next one.

[Kierdale]

An entertaining read and you described things nicely! Interesting that it was a rematch too.

Looking forward to reading the next batrep. :)

[Lysere]

Greeting battle brothers, campaign mission number 4 has come and gone without warning again. (I thought it was going to be a craft night) So once again we have failed to record the results of the bloodshed digitally. So this report will have to suffice.

 

 

Today's game saw me going up against the Imperial Guard player once again. This time neither of us had an advantage in this mission because it was our first time playing it. Game was 1,500 points Imperial Guard defending, Space Marine's attacking.

 

Rules were such: Ambush - Convoy. Place one road spanning east to west, defender deploys their force within 24" of one table edge. They must try to get units off the opposite table edge. Any non skimmer vehicle that start movement on the road adds 6" to their move, this added distance does not change they speed they are driving at. (So combat speed would be 12" and so on) Attacker can deploy all units with 12" of the opposite board edge and 12" in from 24" of his table edge. (Kinda a sideways U for deployment) Attacker also gets d3+2 road blocks to be place on the road. These are difficult terrain, so dangerous for vehicles. Defender goes first with a chance to seize.

 

Victory was worked out as follows. Any unit that the defender gets across is worth 2 vps for defender. Any unit fully destroyed counts as 1 vp for attacker.

 

Our table had a number of rocky spires, (the best ones were on his side while my side had smaller and/or shorter ones) also one wreck was next to the main road near the middle. Craters dotted his side a bit.

 

Table used compass rose to denote table sides, (of which we had a slight disagreement about which directions were right) as such I will use the rose to help describe the battle. Defenders edge was West, my edge was East, and north and south were our long edges.

 

Imperial Guard list was as such.

 

- Imperial Guard Armored Convoy -

 

Company Command squad

- Regimental Standard

- Vox

- Plasma Vet

- Company Commander

- Medic Pack

 

Lemen Russ Demolisher (2x)

- Multi-Melta side sponsons

- Heavy bolter hull mount

- Heavy stubber

 

Medusa Siege Mortar

- Bastion Breacher Shells

- Enclosed Crew Compartment

 

Veteran Squad (2x)

- 3 Melta vets

- Grenadier Doctrine

 

Veteran Squad

- Shotguns

- 3 Melta Vets

- Vox

- Grenadier Doctrine

- Forward Observers

-Yarrick

 

w/ Chimera

- Multi-las

- Heavy Bolter Sponson

- EXtra armor

 

Armored Sentinel

- Las cannon

- Hunter Killer

 

----------------------

 

- Space Marine Strike Force -

 

Captain Romul

- Power weapon

- Melta bomb

- Artificer Armor

 

Command Squad

- Company Champion

- 2 Melta Veterans

- Plasma Veteran

 

w/ Razorback

- Extra armor

- Twin Lascannon

- Storm Bolter

 

Sternguard Veterans

- Powerfist

- 2 Combi Melta

 

w/ Drop pod

 

Tacitcal Squad Mortellis

- Powerfist

- Melta Gun

 

w/ Drop Pod

 

Tacitcal Squad Avitus

- Power Weapon

- Melta Gun

- Lascannon

 

w/ Razorback

- Las/ Twin Plas

- Extra Armor

- Storm Bolter

- Hunter Killer

 

Vanguard Veterans

- Jump packs

- Melta Bombs

- 2 Storm Shields

 

Predator Annihilator

- Twin Las

- Las Sponson

- Extra Armor

 

-------------------------

 

- Deployment -

Defender deploys his force in line going from short edge to short edge. From the south edge to the north his units were lined up as such. Veteran Squad, Lemen Russ, Chimera, Sentinel, Company Command, Lemen Russ, Medusa, Vet Squad. Both the first Vet squad and Company Command Squad were in craters. The chimera was the only vehicle on the road.

 

I deployed my marines to take advantage of the abundance of las cannon fire I had. Tactical Squad Avitus combat squaded the sergeant and melta into the Razorback while the las cannon stood on one of the rocky spires and the bolters stayed below to provide cover. The Las cannon marines were set up on the very front edge of my southern flank, with the Razorback hiding just behind them using a rocky spire to avoid their armor. On the North side my command squad in their razorback were hiding behind the only large rock outcropping on my side of the table, making it impossible to try and sneak around the side, and my vanguard vets were positioned back there as well. My predator was set up in the back using an out cropping to snipe over to get cover. Road blocks were set up in 3-4" intervals from my edge to along the road. I rolled a total of 5. Attackers failed to seize so defenders went first.

 

- Turn 1 -

 

Defender's Turn

The Medusa moved up along the north flank trying to set up a shot for next turn while the vet squad moved to cover it's flank. Meanwhile on the south side both the Lemen Russ and the vets moved up on the gap between the large out cropping that blocked our los and the edge of the table. The chimera jumped off the road to try and charge up the middle and the sentinel moved to support it. Leaving the Company command squad and the second Russ to move to support the Medusa. The Sentinel fired on my Las cannon team and picked off one of the bolters. That was the extent of the imperial turn.

 

Attacker's Turn

All 3 Las Cannon platforms moved into firing positions. The Command Squad Razor, and the Predator moved to open up fire lanes at the Chimea and sentinel while Avitus' Razor moved to fire at the Medusa. Sternguard dropped in behind the Northern Russ and Command squad and promptly placed the drop pod between them and most of the guard army. (They had a rock out cropping on their north side so only the Lemen russ had a clear fire lane) At the same time the Vanguard vets moved up on the Veterans and the medusa.

 

Both meltas from the Sternguard opened up and managed to wreck the Lemen Russ, while a hunterkiller from Avitus' Razor managed to connect with the medusa, but failed to do any damage. Combined Las fire from the Predator and Las cannon Marines hit the chimera, but it was only shaken. The command Razor took a shot at the Sentinel but only shook it.

 

The Vanguard squad closed on the Medusa and veterans and swung into both. Several Vets went down as did a CCW,BP Vanguard. Veteran Squad held. Two melta bombs went into the Medusa but failed to connect. (Needed 6s)

 

VP Total

D:0

A:1

 

- Turn 2 -

 

Defender's Turn

With the Vanguard tied in combat with the Veterans the Medusa moved into position to fire across the table. Meanwhile both the southern Lemen Russ and Vets moved to push up the flank and deal with my Las cannon marines. The company command squad took aim at the Sternguard while the Chimera and Sentinel continued to push putting as much cover to use as they could.

 

With my units now in range of their guns the Imperial Line opened fire. The Bastion Breacher from the Medusa sailed clean past Squad Avitus' Razor, while the southern Lemen Russ took aim at my Lascannon Marines and came up just short. The company command squad declared First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire! and dropped both the sergeant, and the two combi-meltas. They held though.

 

The Assault phase ended with my Vanguard killing a couple more Vets and then Successfully sweeping them as they ran. They consolidated towards the medusa.

 

Attacker's Turn

Undaunted by their losses the Sternguard pushed up on the Company Command Squad, while both Razorbacks and the predator took aim for the Sentinel and Chimera. Tactical Squad Mortellis slammed into the crater the Southern Vet squad had just left and jumped out to open fire on the tank with their Melta.

 

Mortellis managed to stun the Lemen Russ with their melta gun, while combined Lascannon fire managed to take the down the sentinel as well as both shake, and destroy the multi-laser, on the Chimera. The two bolt pistols from the Vanguard managed to pick at but only shake the Medusa, while the Sternguards kraken bolts failed spectacularly, only managing to put a wound on the Company Commander himself.

 

The Vanguards closed with the Medusa again but failed to hit.

 

VP Total

D:0

A:3

 

- Turn 3 -

 

Defender's Turn

Since it couldn't shoot the Medusa did a 180 and plowed through my Vanguard. (who simply jumped out of the way) Meanwhile the Chimera Continued to push it's Way forward, just barely making it back on the road. Both the Company Command Squad and the Remaining Vet squad prepared to fire on their respective targets.

 

The Company Command Squad did the same as the Sternguard had done and failed spectacularly. Killing their own plasma gunner and only scoring 1 wound even with their orders. (Which was saved) Meanwhile the Southern Vet Squad managed to pick off a couple of marines from squad Mortellis.

 

Attacker's Turn

With the Chimera now being in range to run off the edge and earn the defender a total of 6 points in one go all AT fire was moved into a position to kill it. The Command Razor closed and dropped the command squad out and popped smoke, while the Predator and Las/Plas Razor turned towards it with all weapons. The vanguards continued to chase the Medusa, and Mortellis and the Sternguard continued to stare down their targets.

 

A nice solid volley from the Predator and Las/Plas Razor finally ended the Chimera in a fiery explosion claiming a couple guardsmen. With the transport down both the command squad and Lascannon Tacticals opened up on the Guardsmen. Only a couple fell to the fire due to the cover. The Sternguard managed to claim several guardsmen from the Company Command Squad this time, forcing them to run, while Mortellis managed to wreck the Lemen Russ. Vanguards once again failed to hit the Medusa.

 

- Turn 4 -

 

Defender's Turn

With the majority of his armor gone and only a handful of infantry left the Imperial Guard were getting desperate. Yarrick led his men out of the crater and full speed towards safety, while the company command regrouped. His Medusa once again pushed through the encircling Vanguard and took aim at my armor.

 

The Medusa let loose with a bastion breacher shell but only claimed the life of one Command Squad Marine with a melta. Meanwhile another two marines from squad mortellis went down to las/melta fire.

 

Attacker's Turn

With the Guardsmen on the Run the command squad closed in ready to charge, while Squad Avitus rolled up and jumped out of their Razor to provide fire. Mortellis advanced around their drop pod while the Sternguard pushed into a crated to line up shots at the Company Command Next turn.

 

Between both Razors, and Pred, both halves of squad Avitus, and the Command Squads assault weapons Yarrick was left with 2 wounds and only two guardsmen left. Mortellis opened fire with their Melta into the last vet squad, and the Vanguard tried to shoot the Medusa and failed to glance.

 

Not wanting to waste this chance the Vanguard closed on the Medusa and finally nailed it with 3 of the 4 Melta charges left, wrecking it instantly. Meanwhile Squad Mortellis went toe to toe with the vets, and Captain Romul and his Command Squad charged into Yarrick and his survivors. Yarrick and his men were wiped to the last man while not doing any damage to the Captain or the squad. Meanwhile Mortellis lost a marine but one by several wounds. Vets managed to break out of combat and tried to get the Lemen Russ wreck between them and the squad that was right on their tail.

 

Total VP

D:0

A:7

 

- Turn 5 -

Defender's Turn

Yarrick managed to drag himself back up and off the table to safety earning the defender 2 vps. The Company Command Squad moved up on the Stern guard to try and finish them. His last Vet squad continued to run.

 

Attacker's Turn

The Vanguard and Stern Guard advanced on the Company Command Squad as well as my mobile Lascannons. Squad Mortellis continued to close on his last vet squad.

 

Both Razors and the Sternguard opened fire on his Company Command bringing them down to the Medic and one wound on the Commander, while Mortellis claimed another Vet with the melta. Mortellis charged in and dropped the Vets to 2 men. They held.

 

- Turn 6 -

With only a handful of models and several very powerful units about ready to hit what little he had left we decided that if a turn 6 was rolled they were counted as dead. (He didn't feel like playing the 6th turn)

 

Thus Campaign Mission number 4 ended as a victory for Space Marines once again.

 

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A big thing about this game that struck me as odd was how little he used the road. All his armor was equipped for short range, and my Lascannon rolls were aboslutely terrible this game. Had he dropped a few points from the two extra vet squads he could have run extra armor and dozer blades and simply steam rolled through my road blocks, and with an extra 6" of movement he could have gotten those demolisher cannons up to range in no time. Also the fact that he placed his Medusa in a position where it had almost no line of fire (it isn't a barrage weapon) was a bit off, although it took my vanguards a fair amount of time to catch it since my lascannons couldn't take the time to help due to the chimera pushing forward. Had that made it off and I not killed absolutely everything else he had it would have ended as a tie or my loss.

 

As usual we talked about several different facets of the game and I big thing was just how much bad luck he seemed to have. (My lascannons sadly had the same problem) He did decide though to get a Vendetta in a couple weeks, which if that's the case I might need to invest in some more missiles.

 

A big thing like I said was his lack of using the road, that and his lack of long range. While I on the other hand finally have an abundance of Lascannon fire. Looking forward to my next game against him.

[Kierdale]

For the next game: pics or it didn't happen ^_^

 

Joking aside, it was another good read and congratulations on the victory! :tu:

Yes, it sounds like he really could have used the road more.

It sounds like an interesting mission, too. I'll have to try that one sometime.

[Lysere]

I'm loading my camera into my bag with all my game books now so next week it's all set to go.

 

Also there was an extra rule that both of us forgot about. (Not my fault since it was a rule for him to use)

 

Once per turn a unit could deploy a marker within 6 inches, and another with 12" of the first. Roll scatter for both then draw a line. The attacker can not shoot through this line in his next shooting phase. In hindsight that could have worked wonders for him.

[Lysere]

Greetings brothers, today we have another report. This time it was a full on rematch on the original battlefield. Only this time the Imperial Guard were trying to take back the landing zone that the Marines held. It was, to be honest, a very close game. A little bad luck on my part at the start tip the scales in his favor but I didn't plan on going down without a fight.

 

On another note, I have pictures this time. (Although there was a turn in which I forgot to take some so I apologize. Also the camera isn't that good)

 

 

The game was set for 1,500 points, and the rules were as follows.

- Defender deploys first placing all his units in the center area. None of his units can be within 12" of any edge. Attacker deploys within 12" of any table edge. Defender only has deep strike for reserves.

- Defender places one objective in his area. This is worth 5 VP if held by either side. Any infantry can claim it.

- Game type is annihilation. Any kills give that side 1 VP.

- Any hq unit killed is worth 3 VP instead of the usual 1.

- Attacker has first turn with a chance to seize.

 

The lists are as follows. (I might miss a couple things on the IG side)

 

---- Templar Order (C:SM) ----

 

- HQ -

Chaplain

- Terminator Armor

- Storm Bolter

- Digital Weapon

 

- Elite -

Assault Terminator Squad (7 models)

- 4 LC

- 3 TH/SS

- Land Raider Crusader

-- Multi-Melta

-- Extra Armour

 

Tech Marine (Bit of a proxy here)

- Servo Harness

 

- Troop -

Tactical Squad Mortellis

- PF

- Meltagun

- Missile Launcher

- Rhino

-- Hunter-killer

-- Extra Armour

 

Tactical Squad Avitus

- PW

- Meltagun

- Multi-Melta

- Rhino

-- Hunter-killer

-- Extra Armour

-- Dozer Blade

 

- Heavy Support -

Land Raider Redeemer

- Multi-Melta

- Storm Bolter

- Extra Armour

 

To be honest this was kind of a silly list so I wasn't sure how well it was gonna hold up. My idea was to use the tech marine in the Redeemer as a mobile weapons platform (I didn't have many points left after I finished my main list) and the two rhinos were so I could move out and deal with part of his army before moving back to the objective. The Crusader was simply going to be used to steamroll into his main force and blow stuff up. The reason for the Chaplain was it gave me a powerful boost to my terminators, while at the same time making it impossible to deal with my hq which would earn him 3 VPs.

 

---- Imperial Guard ----

 

- HQ -

Company Command Squad

- Master of the fleet

- 2 Autocannons

 

Yarrick

 

- Elites

Ogryn Squad

 

- Troop -

Vet Squad

- Lascannon

- 3 Sniper Rifles

 

Vet Squad

- 3 Meltaguns

- PW

- Grenadiers Doctrine

- Chimera

-- Heavy Stubber

-- Extra Armour

-- Dozer Blade

 

- Fast Attack -

Armored Setinel

- Lascannon

- Hunter-killer

 

Valkyrie

- Multiple Rocket Pods

 

- Heavy Support

Lemen Russ Executioner

- Plasma Cannon Side Sponsons

 

Lemen Russ

- Heavy Bolter Side Sponsons

 

Basilisk

- Enclosed Crew Compartment

 

This list was essentially his entire army and was more of an all comers style then mine was.

 

----------------------------

Both sides deployed and I failed to seize. So his turn starts and the table looked like this.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0081.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0082.jpg

 

My redeemer and other rhino where opposite my crusader and rhino you see in the pic. Figured a land raider in each corner would screw with his target priority more.

 

He placed his Executioner, Valkyrie, and Yarrick w/ the Ogryns off the table. (He was gonna bring in the ogryns via valk bu realized he couldn't)

 

Let the games, begin.

 

- Turn 1 -

- Guard

Knowing full well his lines wouldn't hold against two land raiders the Chimera closed with the redeemer and dropped the meltaguns off at close range. Everything else already had good shots on the armor sitting in the middle.

 

The guardsmen got lucky and took out the redeemer with the lone hit they got and blew it up. Killing 3 of their own men in the same explosion. (The techmarine was fine) Meanwhile fire from the lascannon vet squad opened up the Rhino below the objective. The following fire from the Lemen Russ dropped the squad down to 3 men. Nothing else did any damage. (Things were not looking good for the marines)

 

VP- 2

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0086.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0087.jpg

 

- Marine

Knowing full well he would never survive a shooting phase the techmarine lined up a brutal shot with his servo-harness on the clustered guardsmen. At the same time both the rhino and LRC floored it. Knowing he would have to get crazy lucky to nab the LRC with only a battle cannon and a basilisk the LRC didn't pop smoke. While the rhino really had no other choice but to do that.

 

The LRC opened up on the Sentinel and stripped off it's lascannon, essentially making it defenseless. The techmarine on the other hand went to town on the guard squad dropping another 4 with the lone flamer. (He had armor saves) Surprisingly the squad broke and ran off the table, which sadly left my techmarine stuck out in the open.

 

VP - 1

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0088.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0089.jpg

 

- Turn 2 -

- Guard

The guard called in their reserves, Yarrick and his ogryns came in above the techmarine, while the executioner rolled in behind the company command squad. The chimera rolled up behind the rhino while the vet squad angled themselves for some good shots next turn. The battle cannon Russ simply aligned itself so the LRC would not get cover.

 

The ogryns and yarrick focused on the techmarine and killed him, while the basilisk and Lemen russ went for the LRC and claimed it's Multi-Melta. The executioner, company command squad, and chimera went for the rhino and immobilized it. The Guard were losing steam or so it seemed.

 

VP - 3

 

- Marine

Not wasting any time Tactical Squad Mortellis jumped from the rhino and moved up to the small ruin to give them cover from the multitude of shooting on the board. Meanwhile the LRC drove a wedge in between the Executioner and the company command squad using the Terminators inside.

 

A solid shooting phase from Mortellis pushed what little of the command squad that survived out of cover, while the rhino miraculously repaired it's drive shaft. The LRC opted to deploy smoke this turn.

 

With an Executioner and a command squad sitting withing assault range the Terminators went in for a brutal slaughter. The Command squad was wiped out before they could react, while the Russ lost it's main weapon, was shaken, stunned, and immobilized.

 

VP - 4

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0090.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0091.jpg

 

- Turn 3 -

- Guard

With most of his heavy firepower now dead the tables were starting to turn. The Valk came in via deepstrike but went back into reserves. The unarmed sentinel made it ways from the carnage while the chimera moved up a bit. Yarrick and his ogryns jumped into cover.

 

The basilisk opened fire on the LRC and missed, but hit and killed a LC Terminator. The Lemen Russ battle cannon fired on what was left Tactical Squad Avitus and annihlated them. While the Chimera and Heavy weapons team did not accomplish much.

 

VP - 4

 

- Marine

The LRC moved up closer to the basilisk while the Terminators closed in on the executioner for another round of CC. Mortellis jumped into the Rhino after it finished spinning around.

 

The LRC opened up on the basilisk with it's assault cannon and got a solid hit and wrecked it. The Rhino launched off a hunter-killer at the chimera and missed.

 

The Hammernators took it in turn to dismantle the Executioner finally bringing it down.

 

VP - 6

 

(This is where I forgot to get a picture)

 

- Turn 4 -

- Guard

The Valkyrie finally landed on target. The ogryns and chimera advanced towards the rhino while the sentinel continued to run. The last lemen Russ didn't really have much it could do at this point.

 

With the terminators in the open the Valkyrie opened fire, but came up short with it's rocket pods. Resulting in no casualties. Meanwhile the 3 snipers and the Lascannon scored nothing but pens on the front of the rhino blowing it up instantly. No marines died from that. The ogryns were too far away to do anything but the chimera opened up and killed a marine.

 

VP - 5

 

- Marine

With game getting close to over and the guard starting to close in again there weren't many options left to the marines. The LRC and terminators advanced towards the Valk. Squad Mortellis figured it was safer in their cover for now.

 

The LRC opened up on the Valk but failed to do anything, while mortellis did the same again the chimera.

 

The chaplain and his terminators managed to catch and destroy the sentinel before regrouping at the LRC.

 

VP - 7

 

(Yes he wanted to be in the pic. Unless their some rule against here that I haven't seen then I agreed not to edit him out)

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0092.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0093.jpg

 

- Turn 5 -

- Guard

Making one last push the guard line surged in towards Mortellis while the last vet squad moved towards the objective.

 

The ogryns came up short but both the Chimera and Valkyrie opened fire on the Tacticals while the Lemen Russ fired at the LRC again. Between the Chimera and Valk several more marines went down but the Lemen Russ failed to do anything again.

 

VP - 5

 

- Marine

Not wanting to lose now after a strong comeback the Terminators climbed back into the LRC and moved full speed at the ogryns. Mortellis continued to bide their time.

 

A missile was fired at the Valk but failed to even glance, while the Assault Cannon from the LRC ripped into the ogryns. But failed to kill one.

 

VP - 7

 

--- Game End ---

 

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/Firestorm_Delta/DSCN0094.jpg

 

 

It really came down to the wire towards the end. I was in a good position to do a lot of damage but if placed right I wouldn't have been able to stop him from claiming the objective. I would had to have killed the ogryns, yarrick, and the chimera to win in that situation.

 

Compared to how our games were when we started his guy has really improved. I took a silly list against a guy who doesn't usually run much in the way of solid anti-tank. At least not long range versions of it. Also while I did quite audibly complain about his crazy meltagun kill on my redeemer in first turn. (I mean come on, he missed with two of the three with a 3+ to hit and still blew it up) I also however admitted that had he not the game would have been very one sided from the onset. (I was upset more by the fact that the redeemer that I bought and built has spent less time on the field of battle then the LRC I got that day from someone else)

 

Really though as far as games go it was fun, and it came down to who's luck held out. I couldn't make saves at all early on but after the first turn my luck started to even out by getting some very good Assault cannon shots from the LRC, and even fixing my rhino.

 

Next week we plan on playing some cities of death, (Me and the imperial guy that is) even seeing if we can use some of the terrain our painting and modeling guru at the store has built. (The guy in charge of our group would kinda have to watch the game more but it sounds like it could be done) Even though it's not part of the campaign I will probably take pictures and put up a bat rep as well.

[Kierdale]

Another good read!

Nice to have pictures to go with it this time.

Congratulations on the win.

 

Anything you think you could have done differently? You mentioned that you took a fun list but not such a serious one, how would a serious list have looked

 

Finally, I'd love to see a Cities of Death battle report!

[Lysere]

A big thing I think I would have done was drop the rhinos and put the two tac squads on top of the central structure. (We treat high ground as a 5+ save) Also would have dropped a few points to take a drop pod sternguard squad or an ironclad. My hq wasn't gonna change though, neither were the termies. Mighta pulled one from the unit and stuck the techmarine with them and replaced the redeemer with something else maybe. In the end though it was a very fun game with lots of risks taken on both sides early on.

 

We have yet to decide on the points or level of the cities of death game. I will be contacting him soon to decide that stuff.

[Polythemus]

Hey that looked like a pretty epic battle! It seems like your mission was interesting. I have never played a mission like that though it seems similar to the all out -defense mission from the mission book. Unlucky to lose your LR on the first turn like that but then again... You kinda killed him so... As you get more used to taking pictures you may find that assaults are best captured by a quick before and after pick, that way you can get close up and really show all those nice details in your models! Also a thought your pics were great, and certainly not bad by any stretch (ive used some really blurry ones). Also great dedication to this whole campaign project youve got going, how many more battles in the campaign and what is your status in the rankings?

[Lysere]

As for this particular Campaign I believe it will be over fairly soon. I do have a cities of death game me and the Imperial Guard guy want to do, and there was talk about a large multi-person apoc game some time on a weekend. We will be starting a much more exciting campaign sometime later as well.