FashaTheDog Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I set up the table with a Fortress of Redemption on one side, almost flush against the center of the short table edge, a bunker on each end of it and slightly forward, followed by a line of trenches in front of all of it, giving the impression of a solid defensive line. I then set up a trio of barren stepped hills that blocked most line of sight past it with a wooded hill running the length of the other short table edge (it was our 6' marker since we had a 4'x8' table and needed to mark off where the battlefield ended). My foe agreed with it, and frankly, I think it was cool to have more than a random scattering of terrain or a ruined city to fight in. We rolled for mission and deployment, getting kill points and table quarters. I lost the roll for choice of deployment zone and my foe took a quarter with the trenches and half of the fortress. I ended up with the better half of the hill side, so it was fine. Now we had a clear-ish story. My Force Sigismund (Abbadon) 6 Imperial Fists Terminators - 3 w/ Combi-meltas, 2 Champions w/ Combi-melta & Power Claw, 1 Champion w/ Pair of Lightning Claws & Unmarked Icon 10 Imperial Fists Chaos Marines - Champion w/ Power Claw, 2 Meltaguns, Unmarked Icon, Rhino 6 Imperial Fists Havocs - Lascannon, Missile Launcher 6 White Scar Bikers - Champion w/ Power Weapon & Icon of Slaanesh, 2 Meltaguns 7 Blood Angels Plague Marines - Champion w/ Combi-Plasma & Power Claw, 2 Plasma Guns, Rhino 8 Space Wolf Khorne Berserkers - Champion w/ Power Claw, Rhino 9 Raven Guard Raptors - Champion w/ Power Claw & Icon of Tzeentch, 2 Flamers My Foe's Force Ahriman Daemon Prince (referred to as a Sorcerer) 4 Terminators - Power Claw, 3 Combi-meltas, Heavy Flamer 3 Squads of Thousand Sons with Rhinos 8 Tzeentch Raptors 3 Obliterators in two units Now we were both using Codex Chaos Space Marines, but despite this, one of us had to clearly be Loyalists since I was playing Dornian Heresy models and he was not, which meant that my models were all Loyalists to him and vice versa. Considering that I'm the one writing the battle report, we will assume he was using the Loyalist Thousand Sons Legion and the report will be written as such. Now this also will be the first of many battle reports I will post in this thread detailing one of Sigismund's Black Crusades. Battles will usually be fought on Mondays so check back each week for the progress of Sigismund! The Battle With portents of the beginnings of an impending assault by Sigismund the Despoiler on the world of El'Phanor, Regent Ahriman personally organized a defense around the Imperial fortress located at one end of canyon network. His arrival to this strong point gave his forces just enough time to take up positions in the southern half of the defensive lines. As two of the hulking Legio Cybernetica units advanced along the parapet of the fortress, a third dug in on the roof of a bunker. With their jump infantry rapidly advancing along side the trio of Rhinos, Ahriman and his men rose through the Enumerations in preparation for the upcoming battle against the foul traitors. From orbit, Sigismund watched as the fools who still served the false Emperor moved to oppose them. They had reacted too slowly and would not have the time to secure the entire pass. They would be swept aside with contemptuous ease. A look to his hololith showed his own three Rhinos advancing. The Blood Angels followed his own Legionnaires' while the Space Wolves moved south with the Raven Guard to catch the Loyalist pigs in a pincer. His Havocs found a good firing position from a ridge. The White Scars, however, were still on approach to the field of battle, but at the speed they were traveling, it would not take them very long at all. Motioning to the six Templars he strode from the bridge towards the teleport pads. Moving up and taking a series of shots, the Thousand Sons were the first to fire, but failed to fell even a single traitor Astartes. A krak missile from the entrenched Imperial Fists Havocs stunned one of the Rhinos as the followers of Chaos closed to meet their foe. As they approached, one of the Legio Cybernetica blasted the treads from the Imperial Fist Rhino, drawing curses from the occupants as the Blood Angels' Rhino swerved around it at the last moment. Disembarking from their Rhino, Ahriman and the Astartes accompanying him blasted three Raven Guard from the skies with raw Warp energies. Seeing their commander could not stop the Raven Guard and Space Wolves before they struck, the eight Thousand Sons landed between their Regent and the madmen who burned their world. It mattered little to the howling Wolves as they burst forth from their Rhino and into those who dared bar the way to their prey. With a deafening cry of "For the Russ, for skulls, for the Wolftime" the berserk Khorne worshipers crashed into their hated enemy. Descending upon their aerial counterparts, the Raven Guard joined the melee heralding their arrive with flame and bolt rounds slaying one of the Loyalists. With the fury of coming to grips with those they hated most, the Vlka Fenrika tore their enemies apart limb from limb, reveling in the bloodshed and violence. In anger, Ahriman infused their Pack Leader with pure energy from the Sea of Souls, the resulting mutation to the geneseed transformed the Astartes into a wolfen monstrosity that lacked any reason. A crack of displaced air and a blinding flash was the herald of Sigismund's arrival. The Thousand Sons Sorcerer who had raised mighty psychic defenses and might to levels that transcended even those of the Astartes was astonished at the audacity of Sigismund's entry as the Terminator armored heretics had teleported almost atop of him. With a wave of his pain glove, the five meltas lanced out to the massive psychic bulk before him, yet for all the destructive nuclear power of the weapons, the ether protected the Sorcerer from all harm. Sigismund was not amused at the failure. A moment later, the Sorcerer unleashed an elderitch fire that harmlessly washed over the think cermite plates of some, but seeped through the armor of three others, reducing them to ash. Ahriman used the time to move to command a different squad of his men, unleashing powerful psychic energies that killed the remaining Templars, leaving Sigismund unprotected. The Adeptus Mechanicus unleashed a fusillade upon the Despoiler, wounding him with two of their mighty anti-tank weapons, yet the dark energies that infused the traitor's very essence made the damage that would destroy the heavies of tanks, but a scratch. Knowing full well what it was that granted such unholy power to the Despoiler, Ahriman knew that he must be stopped if the battle was to be won. Directing one of his more powerful psykers to strike down him down, he was dismayed when his man was struck down by his own psychic attacks; such was the Perils of the Sea of Souls, Emperor rest his soul. As the Khornate warriors rushed onwards towards new victims, their former Pack Leader and two full squads of Thousand Sons charged into them. With nearly six to one odds, the sons of Russ fell to the flailing limbs of their former champion and the Warp attacks of their nemesis. None survived the counterattack. Yet for this victory, Ahriman faltered in the face of the pure malice that radiated from Sigismund, even as his second in command rushed to end the Despoiler's threat to the Imperium. Well into the higher Enumerations and at the peak of his psychic potential, the Sorcerer had redoubled his defenses, the Sea of Souls arming and armoring him with such power to make him appear twice his actual size. Yet the Ruinous Powers had gifted their new chosen one with even greater power than the overconfident Thousand Sons Sorcerer could have ever hoped to wield. Demonstrating his mastery of the Sword of Sebastus, Sigismund struck a pair of grievous injuries to the Loyalist who dared challenge him, psychic defenses or not. Reeling from the flurry of blows, the Sorcerer realized his mistake as all of his attacks were either parried or deflected through unnatural means. Taking a step back from the sword master he found himself overwhelmed and cut down. The last thing he saw was the Sword of Sebastus tearing through his ether shield before it parted his neck from his shoulders. As Sigismund finished off his foe, the Raven Guard moved behind the main bulk of the Thousand Sons, dousing many of them in flame and killing two that stood besides Ahriman and another nearby before they moved in for the assault. The Changer of Ways smiled upon their cunning and rewarded them with daemonic invulnerability, causing the Warp energies of the Thousands Sons to pass harmlessly over and through them. Not even the consecrated force weapon could harm them as two blows cut through the armor, but simply phased through the substance the should have been flesh below. Advancing upon Ahriman with his pain glove mounted bolters roaring, one of the red armored warriors fell. A moment later, he was upon them. With one swipe one of the Loyalists was cleaved from hip to shoulder, yet the Emperor protected his followers, shielding Ahriman from three blows that could have felled a titan and saved the remainder from two more of the like. With the roar of engines and a great cloud of dust, the White Scars tore through the hail of fire, from both friend and foe alike. The Slaaneshi bikers had managed to bypass the trench line, although it took them longer than the Despoiler had wished, and were now riding directly for the Adeptus Mechanicus units. Angered that they jeopardized his plans and enraged at the audacity of those before him to not die, Sigismund turned from his foes to the deal with the incompetence of the White Scars only to be struck down by the Regent. Wounded beyond even the dark god's blessing and unable to continue to fight, a blinding flash and crack of air whisked the Imperium's greatest threat to safety. A second later a similar event saw a quartet of Terminators in the heraldry of the Thousand Sons appear next to the Imperial Fists Havocs as they blasted one of the Legio Cybernetica constructs to pieces. Covered in flames and hit by a great barrage of bolt rounds, the traitors were saved from the rocks that stood between them and the Loyalist scum before them. Not all that worship the Ruinous Powers were spared such a fate. Ahriman once more injected more Warp energy than was healthy, even for a disciple of Tzeentch, into the Raven Guard champion, turning him into an avion-esque mewling spawn who immediately fell upon his former men. Even losing another of their number to the Thousand Sons they grappled with, the black clad Astartes refused to yield against the odds as they turned against them. Without their leader, the favor of their patron gods passed on and they soon were wiped out. The Havocs ignored the Terminators as their vantage point allowed them to see the Blood Angels move to their aid. A lascannon shot from them wrecked the Rhino that Ahriman had only just embarked upon while the tracked Rhino nearby gunned down one of those climbing from the wreckage as the Imperial Fists disembarked and began moving towards the fortress. Although the Blood Angels poured out of their Rhino and opened up with a hail of lethal plasma fire, not a single Terminator was harmed. Things were beginning to look grim for the onset of this Black Crusade. Yet the White Scars, heeding Sigismund's threats, tore through the trenches and Rhino wreckage, laughing as one of their own was launched from the saddle when he failed to clear the trench his mates had ramped over. The Slaaneshi Astartes snapping his spine and neck to the point where his lower back touched the back of his head gave the deceased one last new sensation before his mortal life came to a painful end. Brusting through the flaming and twisted metal, the yell of "For the Khan" reverberated as Ahriman took a serious wound and one of his men was decapitated by the surprise attack. For a third time, Ahriman used his power to shape the Sea of Souls to his bidding to twist a champion into...something else, this time an alabaster something else that, like the other two, turned on its former comrades. Again, those that remained soon fell. Turning from the Imperial Fists Havocs, the Terminators gunned down two of the plague vampires before crushing another pair in the ensuing assault, although they did lose one to the Blood Angels' champion in return. As the fight continued, the Terminators finished off the withered and diseased heretics before turning their attentions back to the Havocs they had intended to slay from the beginning. They would see that all but two were smashed upon the ground in the name of the Emperor, but the survivors fled before they too could meet the retribution they deserved. The other Imperial Fists came under fire from most of Ahriman's forces, suffering moderate casualties, but still not stopping The White Scars...thing charged the Imperial Fists that remained and was easily crushed by the massive warped power claw of the aspiring champion. With the Legio Cybernetica severely damaged, approximately 50% so, the Mechanicum's war machine lowered itself to better utilize the cover of the ramparts. Yet the Imperial Fists would vaporize much of the Omnissiah's creation with a blast from their double barreled meltagun. It was a small pair of victories for the Imperial Fists as the Blood Angels' Rhino was torn apart by the wolf monster while the avion beast perched upon the ruins. Their Rhino had spent much of the battle with track damage, but with the fighting now over and the Loyalist forces mopping up, the crew would manage to fix their vehicle enough that the remaining Imperial Fists would be able to flee in it as the Space Wolf Rhino retreated through the pass. Even severely injured Sigismund would not be stopped and if they wished to partake in the glories to come the must first survive this day. After Battle Well, the game ended with 6 kill points for me and 8 for my foe, JamesI. Actually much closer than it looked on the table. I made one big mistake; I could have charged the Space Wolves at Ahriman and left the Raven Guard to deal with the Raptors. I thought Ahriman to be just over 6" when he was under, and as a Dark Eldar player, I should know better. Speaking of Ahriman, he was ridiculous. Sigismund should have killed him. The White Scars Should have killed him. He turned three champions into spawns. Of course, he also ends up saving the Emperor too, so I suppose that maybe I can expect a little awesome out of him every once in a while. There were a few other, "why are my men not doing anything" moments like the meltas into the Sorcerer (Daemon Prince) not even inflicting a single wound or the Blood Angels doing likewise to Terminators, or even many of the combats. There were a few similar things on the other side, but they didn't seem to cluster in those rather critical places like mine did. Mainly Ahriman and the Thousand Sons failing their difficult terrain charge with when all they needed was a 3 to support the Sorcerer (Daemon Prince) or the Obliterators not doing much of anything useful, or hitting all that much for that matter. This was one of those games where we had about even luck overall, but my bad luck was focused on important stuff whereas his was spread out. Fun game just the same. I did, however, have one piece of amazing luck that more than made up for all the rest. Turn 2 I had hoped to get the White Scars in and not Sigismund, but instead I got the opposite. No problem I figured, I'll just be ballsy and nothing bad will happen. So I chose a place where if I scattered I was almost certain to mishap and was so arrogant I just rolled the scatter die, saying I didn't need to 2D6 since it was going to be a hit. I got an arrow pointing in the general direction of the Daemon Prince. I rolled a 5 for distance and it looked like 510 points were getting a mishap role. Well, no. Sigismund landed literally as close to the Daemon Prince that he possibly could have safely. With five Terminators on 25mm bases and another on a 40mm we thought it was certainly mishap time, but it worked out that I was able to just, and I mean just, place every single model without coming within an inch. See, overwhelming arrogance and audacious deep strikes are a good thing. That and well I deserve rolls like that :sweat:. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesI Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 I will say, while my dice were incredibly lucky for saves, especially Ahriman, my models were not so lucky. My original list had a Sorcerer on disk of Tzeentch. He broke. So I glued him quickly to a base to use as Ahriman. He broke later on. Eventually the dead Aspiring Sorcerer got returned to the game as Ahriman. Ahriman must have cast Gift of Chaos 12 times that game. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/#findComment-3078487 Share on other sites More sharing options...
FashaTheDog Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Setting up a small ruined settlement area on one side of the map with forested hills in the center to far end, we played the Death World Battle Mission Search and Rescue with 1,850 points to a side. I had grabbed my Daemon Codex in error as I rushed out the door and had to wing the point values as I rushed to cut 150 points from my list from memory. My foe is in the middle of a move and had only the models he used in today's game available, so once he got past his Blood Claws mounted in Crusaders with Ulric and a Rune Priest he kind of had his army chosen for him tonight. Again as this is my battle report, it will be told from a Dornian point of view. My Force Sigismund (Abbadon) 6 Imperial Fists Terminators - 3 w/ Combi-meltas, 2 Champions w/ Combi-melta & Power Claw, 1 Champion w/ Pair of Lightning Claws & Unmarked Icon 10 Imperial Fists Chaos Marines - Champion w/ Power Claw, 2 Meltaguns, Unmarked Icon, Rhino 5 Imperial Fists Havocs - Missile Launcher 6 White Scar Bikers - Champion w/ Power Weapon & Icon of Slaanesh, 2 Meltaguns 7 Blood Angels Plague Marines - Champion w/ Combi-Plasma & Power Claw, 2 Plasma Guns, Rhino 10 Space Wolf Khorne Berserkers - Champion w/ Power Claw, Rhino My Foe's Force Ulrik Rune Priest - Master of Runes, Chooser of the Slain, Runic Armor 5 Wolf Guard - 4 w/ Storm Bolters, 1 w/ Bolt Pistol & Power Sword, Land Raider w/ Multi-melta 15 Blood Claws - Power Claw 15 Blood Claws - Power Claw Land Raider Crusader- Multi-melta Land Raider Crusader- Multi-melta Whirlwind - Storm Bolter The Battle Regrouping from the battle against the Thousand Sons, Sigismund expressed his displeasure at the failings of his underlings. As he made clear his point aboard the Phalanx, Ulric the Slayer questioned the Despoiler's validity as the leader of the Black Crusade back on the planet's surface. Of the Wolves present, many agreed with Ulrik that only a chosen of the Blood God could lead such an assembly of warriors to glory. Furious at such insolence, Sigismund ordered those rightfully loyal to him to quell any who questioned his command. With such a profane desecration of the natural laws, the encampment of Chaos forces saw reality stretched thin. A breach in the fabric of reality was common place and with the bitter infighting, these Warp exposures turned the battlefield into a realm similar to the worst of death worlds. Such was the case as raw energies of the Immaterium solidified into a physical object that crashed near the Imperial Fists Havocs camped upon a wooded ridge with the fury of a meteor. The traitor caught by the unreal shock wave was torn asunder as he was partly sucked into the Warp as reality struggled to right itself from such debasement. Such a portent went unnoticed as the Sons of Russ howled in prayer to the Blood God and rushed those seeking to rebuke their disloyalty to Sigismund. A beast from the Warp materialized and was fought off by one of the Warp plagued Havocs while a gray Land Raider bedecked in skulls, wolf pelts, and gore had a tread vaporized from a double barreled meltagun. Even as their first missile shot bounced from the hull of a salvaged Whirlwind, sickly pollen from Nurgle's garden filled the air around the Havocs who breathed deep of their continued blessing. The choking spores did little harm to the devotees of Chaos undivided, but was not indicative of of any favor of the gods as a second, a third, a fourth, and even a fifth missile launched from the long ancient pattern of missile launcher ricocheted off the mobile artillery piece's sloped armor. Even though it was fired from the hip, the slender weapon had unparalleled accuracy, yet the stolen artillery piece deflected every shot made. Disembarking from their Land Raiders as the powerful transports rained a ferocious hail of bolter and assualt cannon shells into the Imperial Fists and White Scars on opposite ends of the conflict, felling a few, the baying of the eager young Wolves could be heard from both vehicles as they charged out to meet their enemies. While Ulrik was forced to quell the animosity of the overeager young Blood Claws and was delayed in reaching the enemy before him, the gaunt and wasted Blood Angels opened fire with bolter round and plasma burst killing a fll third of their number. Yet one band of Wolves crashed into the yellow and black armor of Sigismund's Legion, slaughtering them as their Rune Priest read the runes the flow and spray of blood made. The runes of blood fell not to the ground however, but instead drifted into the skies above and with them went the Rune Priest and his charges as the Immaterium made any notion of gravity meaningless at best. Returning to the field of battle through skies now ablaze in cobalt flame, the airborne Khornate warriors bounced from the hull of the Blood Angels Rhino and found themselves veering off in directions lacking reason or logic as the twisted sense of gravity that now held them teased and toyed with them far above the bloodshed they longed to be a part of. As another Land Raider moved in to support Ulrik's coup, the Space Wolf Berserkers who still recognized Sigismund's rightful position as the chosen one of the Ruinous powers stormed from their Rhino towards the fool Ulrik. Even as the last of Khorne's seasoned veterans and murderers stepped from their transport, the bloodthirsty driver gunned the engine of the 30 ton vehicle as he sought the play chicken with the 80 ton behemoth before it. Just as eager, the Land Raider bore down upon the smaller Rhino and in a screech of metal and over worked gears the two unholy tanks rammed one another crumpling metal and sheering paint and dried blood, but doing no real harm to either vehicle as both drivers fought to push back the other. However, the guns of the Land Raider were not content to sit idle in such a contest and ruby lances of energy glanced off the side of the Rhino as heavy bolter shells peppered the top of the Rhino detonating harmlessly inside the now empty passenger compartment while the actinic flare of the multi-melta left a glowing hole through the top hatch and out the rear. It would take a second such fusillade even as the much larger transport tried to overpower the smaller before the corrupted machine spirit of the Rhino was laid to rest in a massive explosion that left no wreckage, but only a gaping crater. One could only wonder if perhaps Khorne had whisked away the Rhino for such brutal devotion. Even as the vehicles fought in a melee of their own, Ulrik rallied his killers to charge the diseased Blood Angels that dared defy him and his profane his god by their very existence. As he drove his men on the plasma pistol in his grip overheated, the lethal escape of heat wounding the old Wolf the instant he pulled the trigger. Barely noticing the radiation burns, he pushed the young ones before him onward, threating fates far worse than death for which no mortal tongue has words to describe. Heeding the dire consequences that awaited failure, the Blood Claws pushed ever forward, finding that even though their weapons could little harm the dessicated Blood Angels they fought, the unrelenting press of their assault was sufficient to bring down all but one of the vampiric triators. Yet their victory was denied as those for whom Sigismund was lord tore into their rear flank as Father Nurgle rose a toxic miasma to obscure vision across the hill strewn field of slaughter and the ground crumbled and became treacherous to all who fought for the dark gods as Warp energies saturated the very soil and rock underfoot. Reeling from the far more expert blows and unrelenting rage of veteran Space Wolves, the Blood Claws had little choice but to turn from the last Blood Angel and fight for their lives before the wrath of those that had killed upon the soil Terra and taken skulls for the Blood God within the very walls of the Imperial Palace. Not even Ulrik could stand before their might as step by step, the newer generation of Space Wolve were forced back before ultimately falling to whirling chainswords, roaring chainaxes, barking bolt pistols, and crackling power claws that had killed for thousands of years. Khorne looked upon the bloodshed and was pleased. Even as the Space Wolves fell among themselves while the last Blood Angel retreated to his Rhino to feast upon his bounty, the White Scars lost more of the number to unnaturally accurate fire from a Crusader pattern Land Raider despite their unholy speed as they sought to flank the mammoth war machine. Clearly blessed from the caress of Slaanesh, no White Scar melta blast could do more than single the gray paint that covered the hull of it and bolters were predictably useless against such powerful armor. Only with the flash that heralded teleportation did the Land Raider finally succumb as the Terminator guard of Sigismund loosed their melta barrels in full upon the salvaged vehicle. Debris flung in a wide radius, bouncing from the thick ceramite shells of Tactical Dreadnought Armor and out run by a pair of Slaaneshi bikers, was all that remained of Ulrik's personal transport. In emulation of the arrival of Sigismund, a bolt of strange pink lightning sought out the Astartes closest to the heavens, striking him to a mewling puddle of living goo as if his vantage point so far from the ground were some kind of random affront to the Changer of Ways. As the slime caught fire and then froze, putting the victim out of his misery, the remaining Blood Claws finally found footing upon the surface of the planet and slew another Havoc in a hail of bolt pistol fire and dark curses from the Rune Priest, mostly out of spite for the forces that conspired to rob them of glorious combat and bloodletting. Their arrival back to terra firma came too late to matter and they knew it as they watched the Wolf Guard advance upon the White Scars with murder in their thoughts, only to be ambushed by Sigismund who powered through the walls of the ruins in a hail of bolter fire to cut down all five of the venerable warriors with contemptuous ease. Without the protection of the Wolf Guard, the two bikers of Slaaneshi tore around to the rear of the Whirlwind to destroy it with a single well placed meltagun shot. ... Wounded but not dead, Ulrik looked up from the mud and gore to see Sigismund standing over his battered form. The Sword of Sebastus spun in the Despoiler's hand and was raised. A quick stroke down and the blade was planted firmly into the ground at Sigismund's feet. Ulrik's head was mere centimeter's from the daemoniacally possessed sword. Knowing that his life was currently spared only by Sigismund's whim, he swore an silent oath of vengeance in the name of Russ and the Throne of Skulls, but kept still his tongue. "Know this, you are spared only because your temerity amused me and your disgrace now serves as warning to others. Consider yourself enlightened; further insolence will not be tolerated." Turning away as if to leave the battered Astartes, Sigismund stopped after a couple of paces and with a half turned finished, "Now go slay the lackies of the corpse-Emperor like a good dog before I change my mind." After Battle Well I clearly threw the turn sequence out the window for a better read, but with a turn 2 gravimetric anomaly sending the Rune Priest and his untouched Blood Claws into reserve only to mishap back into reserve until the last turn, turn 5, I had sealed my victory off on that, especially since it was either them or the Berserkers, who at the time and I could not risk having sent off table as they were in charge range, so I gambled that the Blood Claws would not become jump infantry. It paid off as they would otherwise have been able to zip into the other combat and finish off my Berserkers and Blood Angels along with the Blood Angels Rhino. That would have been terrible as all of my scoring units would have been destroyed and his would not have been. The two characters and untouched Blood Claws would then have been free to deal with, or at least stall, Sigismund and the Havocs while the battered ones could have secured an objective for an easy victory. Instead I won with one claimed by my Berserkers, another contested by the Lone Plague Marine in his Rhino against his Blood Claws, and a third ignored. While it made only a minor difference in the end due to the death world table sending Blood Claws off to the side for the duration of the game, my foe made one big error and forgot to charge the Slaaneshi bikers with the other Blood Claws, letting them live to destroy the Whirlwind that failed to kill a single model or even hit all that often. The end result saw the bikers simply remove a no effect model and in doing so, put themselves out of the game to do so, so no real loss, although in the future I bet he'll remember to curb his blood lust just long enough to finish assaulting before he gets to killing :P . The Berserker Rhino actually did not ram the Land Raider when it came in from reserve as I was only looking to block it from getting into a good position to be useful so I parked an inch in front, side on. The Land Raider, however, did ram it and stunned the Rhino, then finally blew it up after taking two shooting phases of letting loose with everything. Due to the location and not being able to back up due to the table edge and other stuff in the way, the Land Raider's two lascannons could only each see about a third of the Rhino (just like the rulebook example of the obscured Rhino), which was funny as the shooting vehicle's own hull could have granted cover to it's own target if the lascannons had actually done anything. Now Ulrik only actually hit only one thing all game, even though he fired his plasma pistol once and attacked in three rounds of melee, and that one thing was himself on an overheat which he failed to save. Yet he actually was more than worth his points and possibly my foe's MVP. What he did do was allow those Blood Claws to re-roll a vast number of misses and failed to wounds against the Blood Angel Plague Marines winning him combat by a handy margin, thus ensuring that he killed six of them; it was only epic save and Feel No Pain rolls that spared the survivor. It was also interesting to note that most his his re-roll to wounds came up fives or sixes, meaning I had multiple saves per Plague Marine. As an interesting side note, the Imperial Fists Chaos Marines did what JamesI's guys had done prior; they all had multiple armor save to make and only failed a single one each. Poetic justice perhaps, or just my dice having a fun sense of humor. Probably the latter, they are spoiled after all in their cute little tin always being placed in the exact same order with '1's facing up (showing the devils, dragons, light houses, and lobster), and never being touched by my foe, lest they then go back in the tin for the evening. No, U hear you ask, I am not at all superstitious about my dice. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/#findComment-3083514 Share on other sites More sharing options...
FashaTheDog Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Had a 5,000 point Apocalypse game yesterday. My foe brought Necrons, but for the sake of story we called them Iron Hands, well since they are in the Dornian Heresy universe. I came up with a few Iron Hand equivalents for the Necron units, so do try to follow along. Sigismund's Force - Codex Chaos Marines Sigismund (Abaddon) - Warlord 10 Terminator Champions - 2 Autocannons, 2 Pairs of Lightning Claws, 2 Combi-flamers, 2 Combi-meltas, 2 Lightning Claws, 2 Chainfists, 6 Power Claws, Icon Undivided Doomhammer Necronomicon (Doomsday Device) - this is the Forgeworld model that looks just like it Imperial Fists Sorcerer - Plasma Pistol, Familiar, Doom Bolt, Warp Time Imperial Fists Sorcerer - Doom Bolt 10 Imperial Fists Chaos Marines - Power Claw, Icon Undivided, 2 Meltaguns, Rhino - Havoc Launcher 5 Imperial Fists Havocs - Missile Launcher, Lascannon Dark Angels Sorcerer - Bike, Familiar, Icon, Doom Bolt, Warp Time Dark Angels Sorcerer - Terminator Armor, Familiar, Icon, Doom Bolt, Warp Time Dark Angels Sorcerer - Doom Bolt 4 Deathwing Terminators - 2 Chainfists, Power Claw Deathwing Land Raider 10 Dark Angels - Power Claw, 2 Plasma Guns, Rhino 9 Dark Angels - Power Claw, Plasma Gun, Icon Undivided, Rhino Maelstrom of Gore -Ragnar (Khârn) the Betrayer -20 Space Wolf Berserkers - Power Claw -10 Space Wolf Berserkers - Power Claw, Rhino -10 Space Wolf Berserkers - Power Claw, Rhino I traded all my psychic powers for random draws, but due to the number of psykers and the fact I wanted to sample the powers, my opponent agreed that no power could be duplicated, including Primaris ones. This way I just pulled out the three Primaris powers for the Disciplines I had shuffled, and then dealt to a psyker swapping a Primaris if I wanted and continuing on until every psyker had their own set of cards. It was a nice way to ensure I got to try out a variety of powers without any real bookkeeping for who has which power. Iron Hands - Codex Necrons Imotekh (1st Company Captain) Royal Court - Cryptek of Destruction - Solar Pulse, Lord - Resurrection Orb (Techmarine, Company Champion, respectively) Overlord - Warlord, Warscythe, Phase Shifter, Mindshackle Scarabs, Catacomb Command Barge (Commanding Captain on Landspeeder) Royal Court - Cryptek of Destruction - Solar Pulse (Techmarine) Destroyer Lord - Mindshackle Scarabs (Captain on bike) C'Tan (Unknown creature) Triarch Stalker (Dreadnought) 5 Deathmarks (Scouts) 5 Lychguard (Veterans) 15 Warriors (Tactical Marines) 10 Warriors (Tactical Marines) 10 Warriors (Tactical Marines) 10 Warriors (Tactical Marines) 10 Warriors (Tactical Marines) 10 Warriors (Tactical Marines) 10 Warriors (Tactical Marines) 10 Immortals - Tesla Carbine (Honor Guard) 5 Immortals (Command Squad) 5 Tomb Blades - Nebloscopes, Gauss Blasters (Jetbikers) 5 Destroyers - 2 Heavy Destroyers (Bikers) 6 Wraiths - Whip Coils (Assault Marines) 10 Scarabs (Unidentified Swarm) 10 Scarabs (Unidentified Swarm) Monolith (Land Raider) Monolith (Land Raider) Doomsday Ark (Vindicator) Doom Scythe (Unidentified Aircraft) Tomb Stalker (Unidentified Monstrosity) 5 units of 1 Canoptek Spyder - Gloom Prism, Claw Array (Unidentified Machine) Mission Similar to the standard Apocalypse mission, except six placed objectives were worth 3 VP and secondary objectives (per main rules) were worth 1 VP. A few Assets were modified, but the only one that mattered for this game was Hold at All Costs, which made all non-vehicles in a single FOC section scoring or made just the vehicles in a single FOC section scoring or made one super-heavy scoring. While we didn't announce our Assets prior, I chose Indiscriminate Bombardment and Hold at all Costs (Non-vehicle Elites) while my foe took Subvert Machine and Hold at all Costs (Non-vehicle Fast Attack). As per our agreement, I set up the table since I got there first and marked off the deployment zones and then my foe then got choice of side and first turn, although seizing the initiative was still allowed to be attempted. Obviously I failed to do so despite my best efforts to convince my die a 6 was what it wanted to roll. We also stated that outflanking would be from one of the three short table edges with a roll of a 4 on a D4 being choice. No one outflanked anything so it was a non-issue. There was one house rule for the Doomsday Device and that was that my foe could prevent it from being activated that turn if he gave into my demand. Finally for table edges, his was clear, but for mine we flipped a coin, heads it was the long 8' edge near the factory ruin, tails the other side. He flipped and got tails. I provided four objective markers, two 60mm bases with a scene on each (a Dark Angel fighting a Fallen and a Possessed walking his Bloodletter), a 25mm based computer terminal, and a 40mm based skull icon thing. My foe had a matched pair of Resurrection Ark Necrons on medium Privateer Press bases. I handed him the terminal for his third to deploy. We alternated placing them and it ended up where the terminal was in the factory ruin, the Possessed and pet Bloodletter next to the toll bridge, the Dark Angel and Fallen in the fortified corner, the skull icon next to the tower on the hill, a Necron in the heart of the crashed Aquila Lander, and the other Necron in the small ruin near the road intersection. I joked that models needed to pay with exact change to pass through the toll booth and anyone attempting to jump the toll would need a dangerous terrain check. Deployment http://s7.postimage.org/o9ivn7x6j/Deployment.jpg To make the deployment workout so no part of the table was really off limits, I curved the central line of no-man's land using a row of dice and with the larger size made the deployment zones go 12" off either side of that line. Seeing that I could only squeeze a little into the corner on the table that was predominately his, he focused much of his deployment on heading the long ways down the other table, but to be safe left a flank guard. Wraiths with a Destroyer Lord, Deathmarks, Destroyers, and a Doom Scythe of his were held in reserve. http://s10.postimage.org/x3102gxq1/Necron_Deploy.jpg http://s10.postimage.org/41wnt2da1/Necron_Deploy_2.jpg I decided that I would throw the Maelstrom of Gore and Dark Angels at the heart of his force but mount Sigismund, his ten Terminators, and both Imperial Fists Sorcerers in the Doomhammer with the Imperial Fists in their Rhino acting in support. Just in case, I left the Dark Angels Sorcerer on the bike in reserve. http://s15.postimage.org/5y586q92z/Chaos_Deploy.jpg http://s10.postimage.org/t4hkovd89/Chaos_Deploy_Flank.jpg The Battle In the dark of night, Sigismund lead a flanking force of Dark Angels and Space Wolves towards the loyalist lines while his Legion fought the deluded followers of the false Emperor head on. Suddenly, skeletal machines appeared in force barring his progress. In the gloom a scattered series of reports confirmed the heraldry of the Iron Hands. What they had done to their Legion was appalling; had they no pride in who they were? Of course not, they had forsaken the Arch-betrayer on Terra and now their pursuit of their own goals interfered with his Black Crusade. There would be a reckoning this night. Commanding that the Necronomicon be prepared, the unholy book would soon be tested against his machines in preparation for the real battle to come. The very act of laying out the alter turned the river into a blazing torrent of blood as swarms of small mechanical spiders crossed followed by larger ones that seemed to be producing yet more of the smaller ones. The Space Wolves howled at the blessing of their god and expected none to emerge. Indeed the burning river of blood immolated a number of smaller creatures and even visibly scarred one of the larger, but no appreciable harm was done as the swarm relentlessly advanced. Rushing over the fortifications, Ragnar lead his Wolves headlong off the bridge and into the blaze in a blind frenzy. As they splashed into the flow of burning blood Khorne's great blessing claimed two of his own as the seals of gray power armor burned away and the flaming blood drowned then immolated the Berserkers furiously wading to reach the strange constructs. The darkness did not remain unbroken long after as green beams of energy crossed the distance flaying trees and rubble and harmlessly impacting upon ceramite protected by the Ruinous Powers. Imperial Fists disembarking from their Rhino gunned down three of the Iron Hand jetbikes, although two somehow repaired the grievous damage and resumed the fight. The magma cannon of the Doomhammer blasted apart a number of the Iron Hands Tactical Marines, if the squad markings were any indication of what they once were, and Sigismund and his Terminators gunned down the survivors from the firing platform aboard the mighty 312 ton vehicle. A bolt of lightning, seemingly summoned from the Iron Hands' First Company Captain blasted a Dark Angels Rhino, skewing it to a halt as the crew was stunned by the power of the blow. Not to be outdone, Sigismund commanded that one of his cruisers, he cared not which, lay down a bombardment of the area. Knowing better than to ask for clarification, a Strike Cruiser opened fire upon the general location of the flanking force. As the naval bombardment rained down upon near the bridge, the Dreadnought and the swarms around were blasted to pieces, the Iron Hands Honor Guard and their Techmarine vanished while the First Company Captain took only minor damage, the Iron Hands Land Raider took a telling hit, and a pair of Space Wolves were blown apart. Yet through whatever means they possessed the Techmarine rebuilt himself. Through the entire conflict, this was to be common; Iron Hands repairing as if through sorcery, yet the Warp was never tapped. As the dust settled the Berserkers rushed a strange being that seemed to defy all natural laws, hovering just atop the blaze while Khorne claimed yet more of his own, yet it was no daemon. Ragnar refused to allow any other to battle this foe and the two clashed, yet after several exchanges the Betrayer fell. By then the vast swarm had reached the Wolves and battle was eagerly joined as the Deathwing Terminators stepped through the Immaterium nearby, ready to aid their comrades in battle thanks to the foul sorceries of the one leading them. http://s11.postimage.org/4j7jwx137/Ragnar.jpg http://s18.postimage.org/loc0o7n2h/Turn_2.jpg As the Wolves smashed hundreds of tiny spiders and were in turn smashed by the unknown creature, a strange crescent shaped fighter of the Iron Hand strafed the Doomhammer, doing no damage to the powerful vehicle. At that same moment, a unit of five heavily armed Iron Hands marked as bikers simply appeared right in front of Sigismund's transport and managed to stun the driver with a shot from one of their heavier guns. Irritated by this, Sigismund, his Sorcerers, and some of his retinue removed all trace that the bikers had ever been there in a hail of fire nothing could have hoped to survive. Iron Hands Tactical Marines and a Land Raider killed both Imperial Fists bearing meltaguns, but were avenged by the magma cannon vaporizing four times that number of the offenders. Yet for al their firepower, nothing more could the Iron Hands achieve; their floating Vindicator scored a direct hit upon the hull of a Dark Angels' Rhino, yet the incredible energies of the enhanced vehicle did little more than mar the paint upon it. Even the powerful ordnance employed by the Iron Hands' Land Raider bounced from the steep angled shot off the other Dark Angels Rhino. Truly the dark gods smiled upon their servants this dawn. With war cries to Chaos, the Imperial Fists inflicted more damage upon the Iron Hands, damaging the large spider machines, gunning down jetbikes even as the arose from ruin, and felling yet more Iron Hands Marines. In a voice that carried across the entire field of war, Sigismund demanded that the Iron Hands' Vindicator, or whatever it was that was marked as such, be handed over to him or doom would fall upon the Iron Hands the likes of which they could not imagine. Such an offer was met with silence and thus the words "klaatu barada nikto" were spoken and the Necronomicon opened. Reality was ripped apart for but an instant and the full terror and unbridled horror of the Sea of Souls was unleashed upon the Iron Hands. The Land Speeder and a large squad of Tactical Marines were torn to shreds as they were pulled into the Warp alive, feeling pain and terror for the first time since their internment in their new bodies. The Captain who had rode upon the Landspeeder only survived as he has disembarked moments prior to challenge the Deathwing as more of the swarm of large and small spiders. The Ravenwing Sorcerer made a desperate attempt to thwart the slithering monstrosity that stalked towards the heart of battle. Rushing under the segmented bulk of the mechanical nightmare, the warp empowered blade he bore struck true against leg and underbelly many a time, but not once did it penetrate. As he weaved and jinxed out from under the full length of the centipede like machine, a single blow skewered him and plucked him off his bike, sending the heavy vehicle careening of of control into the building nearby. Drawing his pistol and firing into the "face" of the thing, the bolt rounds had little effect before the creature tore the Sorcerer asunder and slithered into the nearby woods, disturbing a Razorwing flock. http://s12.postimage.org/6c186bi71/Turn_3.jpg http://s16.postimage.org/rm10w8jmt/Turn_3_b.jpg With many of the Iron Hands pinned by Chaos firepower, the pair of their Land Raiders pulled their forces back from imminent destruction through unheralded technological prowess. The minor amount of return fire upon the Imperial Fists saw the yellow Rhino blasted, the shrapnel felling one of its former occupants as the Iron Hands fighter soared towards the tower where the Havocs were taking aim upon it. The only other effective firing was the destruction of the Rhino previously vacated by the Dark Angels who took station in the upper floors of the factory ruins. Yet the arrival of the Iron Hands Scouts near the First Company Captain and the appearance snakelike machines marked as an Assault Squad far behind Chaos lines gave the impression that the Iron Hands had not yet fully committed to this battle. http://s9.postimage.org/4lyvmsz2n/Sneaky_Sneaky.jpg A large mechanical spider clashed with Deathwing Terminators, but was cut down even as it ripped open one armed with a power sword. The Deathwing Sorcerer finished off the last of his foes, finding that only one of his Terminators survived only to repeat his earlier trick and step through the Warp again even as the remaining Space Wolf Berserkers charged into the swarm and unnatural monster nearby. Their screams of rage matched only by the fury of being denied the chance to clash with the being who felled Ragnar the Betrayer as that strange entity drifted across the river with his Veterans following loyally after slaying the last of the Sons of Russ who had accompanied Ragnar. The blood lust of the Space Wolves was not limited to the Berserkers as their Rhino drove right through the enemy. One of the large spider machines tried to smash aside a blood coated transport but was crushed beneath the tank's treads as the claw glanced from off the hull. An Iron Hands Marine behind him fired a shot at the rampaging Rhino, but failed to do any damage and was likewise smashed to ruin. The wrath of the vehicle came to an end when the stalking centipede machine managed a glancing hit that finally put the battered machine out of action only inches away from crushing it. Even that Rhino weaved through the street between the factory and an hab block, the other one smashed through an Iron Hands Marine, sending parts under the treads and over the top of the hull even as bolter and plasma shots rained down around them from the Dark Angels in the factory, felling yet more as the Deathwing returned to reality below them. Still, the near complete damage was not enough and the Iron Hands rose again, seeking ever more punishment. Again, the three words were spoke and again the Warp was brought forth upon the Iron Hands. More of the skeletal forms, including the Scouts, were torn from reality as was a portion of one of their strange floating Land Raiders, leaving the devastating and terrible machine a gutted wreck. Even as his transport ground ever forward, mounted guns and embarked troops smiting those before it, Sigismund was pleased with this new weapon, it would make for a devastating surprise when the real battle against the loyalist scum as joined. http://s14.postimage.org/5fy33oj75/Turn_4.jpg http://s13.postimage.org/4exdv5393/Turn_4_b.jpg Having survived a direct hit from a lascannon, the Iron Hands captain leading the attack possessed the Deathwing Land Raider momentarily, sending a stray shot into the tall hill tower the Imperial Fists had claimed. The beam passed through the soft brick, but did no damage, save cosmetic. Yet the violent and intrusive possession ravaged the internal workings of the venerable tank, leaving it on its last legs, ready to break down should it take any more damage. The other Iron Hands captain, on what was now identified as some form of bike, provided more than that a heartbeat later when he cleaved the tank in half with a single stroke that left a smoking crater in the place of the tank as the commanding captain climbed aboard his Land Speeder to join the rest of the battle. The other Space Wolf Rhino finally succumbed to Iron Hands' firepower even as they continued to be gunned down from above and return to their feet. It was as if the Iron Hands enjoyed this or simply did not know any better. No matter, they would fall again and again. Each time, fewer of their number stood. Yet, that was not the cause for concern. The Necronomicon was opened without the words having been said. An ominous glow came from the book as the cultist charged with reading it simply ceased to have ever existed. Such a paradox should have adverted the disaster that was to come, but Chaos cares not for causality. With the Iron Hands rushing back through the toll sensing the danger, the Space Wolves only followed suits as they stomped out the last remnants of the spider swarm that plagued them and were in pursuit of those they perceived as fleeing prey. http://s9.postimage.org/at64slmdr/C_Tan_flees.jpg Even as imminent doom was announced, the Havocs stayed true to their mission of holding their vantage point. With his careful aim, the lascannon cut through the center of the crescent shaped aircraft, sending the craft cartwheeling wildly out of control to crash in a fiery ball harmlessly to the side of the tower, well, harmless to the Imperial Fists anyway. While the mighty Doomhammer continued pounding the Iron Hands' flank to ruin and the remaining Dark Angels Rhino unloaded its cargo of 9 Marines and a Sorcerer, Sigismund and his Terminators disembarked with one of the Sorcerers. Their target was the other Iron Hands Land Raider. The vehicle was smashed to ruin with contemptuous ease as the Despoiler set his sights on new prey. The other Imperial Fists Sorcerer had left in the opposite direction to give chase to the jetbikes that knew not the meaning of death. He soon taught it to one of them as eldritch energies ensured that no amount of technology could save him. http://s8.postimage.org/onryyfsmd/Turn_5.jpg The Iron Hands had been mauled, yet still they fought on for some unknown objective. The Dark Angels Rhino was destroyed by an Iron Hands Techmarine utilizing a strange, but powerful staff that lanced out to the heart of the vehicle to detonate it in a massive fireball. The massive energy cannon on the Iron Hands' Vindicator now took aim at the Dark Angels in the open and fired. Yet the Chaos gods protected all of the Dark Angels who were engulf from harm, their black armor and bone colored robes untouched by the immense energies capable of felling titans. As the Imperial Fists Sorcerer dispatched the last of the Iron Hands' jetbikes for good, the world shook upon its axis as the book inked in blood and bound in flesh floated into the air, its pages rapidly fluttering from cover to cover, yet impossibly never actually reaching the end. With impossible colors and images that could never be, a Warp rift opened upon the plain of battle, expanding so slow, it should have been easy to walk to safety, but with the full power of the Immaterium made manifest upon the world, no one could outrun it, no matter how fast they were or by what means they traveled. The rift covered an area from the the toll booth all the way to the edge of the crashed Aquila Lander. The river of burning blood was not vaporized or dried up, it simply never was. The hill and tall tower upon it where the Imperial Fists had been disintegrated, the fate of those unknown. The entity that had felled Ragnar was dragged out of the material realm to the hellscape of the warp along with one of the Berserkers who continued to fight him even as they were unmade. Ruins, the Iron Hands Landspeeder, wreckage, corpses, trees, even the ground all became part of the Warp and beholden to whatever fancies that would take it. As reality finally reasserted a tenuous grasp and forced closed the breach to the twinkling sound of laughing daemons after what could have been a second or could have been a millennium, there remained but three things. The first was a massive crater, still smoking with colors that should not be. The second was the commanding Iron Hands captain, who survived for reasons best not considered. Finally in the very center, undamaged and closed, lay the Necronomicon Ex Mortis. Still the battle raged on as the First Company Captain of the Iron Hands and his accompanying Techmarine were gunned down by the Dark Angels following the nightmarish opening of a Warp Rift. Despite being told not to, the last of the Space Wolves charged the Iron Hands Veterans who had been far enough to survive the rift. They were cut down with ease. And then the Iron Hands vanished. With them were two stasis pods, one in the Lander wreck, the other a small ruin. What they contained was unknown to Sigismund, but the fact that it was what they were after angered him. The battle had seen the Space Wolves take the worst of it; not a one survived the fighting...or so it seemed. Staggering from the crater, Necronomicon in hand came Ragnar. He was near death and muttering mainly gibberish intermingled with coherent snippets about being returned by the Blood God. Nothing more could be gleamed, but it was sufficient enough to allow the madman to be treated by the vile chirurgeons of the Black Crusade. The loss of the Rhinos was a problem and would slow the advance, but it this would not stop it... http://s18.postimage.org/a4rekn3bd/Doomsday_Device_Explodes.jpg Aftermath The final score was 7 VPs for my foe, 4 VPs for me, and 1 VP for the table: his two 3 VP objectives to my one 3 VP objective, plus 1 VP to each for having a scoring/denying unit in the opposing deployment, and we agreed the table got one VP since the first kill, which was his model, was to dangerous terrain (the game was winning for the first turn). I gave away the game, though. I had two Berserkers claiming an objective at the end of my last shooting phase with nothing he could do about it, which would have given me 7 VPs, but just outside of contesting range sat the Lychguard and no one could tell me that I did not make the right decision charging the Berserkers into them for the glory of Chaos. Had I not, I know my next game would see me only roll 1s for everything in punishment so I do not regret it. You know this to be true. Now, all things considered, I beat the living hell out of his army. The Doomsday Device was simply spectacular, and like always it detonated before the end of the game, although this time it did so when most of my army was far away. The river was mysterious as Fireblood, but why not give credit to the Doomsday Device? Anyway, had we continued on I could have wiped out everything he had left except those Wraiths way off on the far end in another two, maybe three, turns. It makes me think of that Gordon Lightfoot lyric, "sometimes I think it's a sin when I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again." Games like this are always fun, win or lose. Besides, I've been on the opposite end of that a number of times. Heck, my Krieg win most of their games by losing 80% or more of their points and last time I ran a Space Marine Battle Company in 2,000 points, they took 86% casualties and I still won (my opponent lost maybe a quarter of his army, possibly less), so what goes around comes around. Still, we'll call it a draw! B) Remember how I joked about the Gov. William J. Le Petomane Thruway Toll booth? Well, yeah we ended up taking it serious. My foe mumbled something about needing to go back for a load of dimes and went to the register to go make change so he could pass through with Scarabs and Spiders and I did likewise later on, although one of my Berserkers did try to go around it and passed his dangerous terrain test. And yes, everyone did go through single file. http://s14.postimage.org/ceiqn3f3l/Scarabs_pay_toll.jpg http://s18.postimage.org/9lfvs4qrt/Berserkers_head_to_toll.jpg When the one Cryptek got up, we noticed that he and the model he used for Imotekh could high-five: http://s7.postimage.org/rg55i40qj/High_5.jpg We encountered an odd, but kind of cool situation when my Land Raider opened fire on a unit of Wraiths and the attached Destroyer Lord. The closest model in the unit to the heavy bolter and one of the sponson lascannons (which missed) was a Wraith, yet the Destroyer Lord was closest to the other lascannon, so I got to put the heavy bolter shots into the models I wanted and the lascannon into the one I wanted. The Gate of Infinity was great, I used it three times, twice with other Terminators in tow, and once to join him to a Chaos Marine squad who advanced into coherency with him and thanks to my strategic placement of icons, I was hopping all over without fear of scatter, not that my scatter die would let me down. I was also worried that the gambit of putting the Doomhammer and embarked DOOM!!! squad where I did would have backfired and left them out of it or he would swing around and focus so heavily upon it that they would crumble, leaving me in trouble. Instead it was a rather hard pressure in his side he could not ignore and diverted enough attention to keep the rest of the force going, while still allowing it to fold his flank instead. To quote Tzeentch, "Just as planned." I tank shocked a Tomb Spyder, Necron Warrior Squad, and Tomb Stalker all in one spectacular 12" move. The Spyder failed but glanced and left the Rhino with one hull point, the Warrior rolled a 3 and was flattened (but he got better), and then my foe penetrated the Rhino and took the last hull point off, wrecking it. As a what-if, he rolled to see what the penetration would have been had I not run out of hull points. It was a 1. In the last edition, I would have gotten the Stalker too, if it weren't for you meddling hull points and your little dog too! :lol: Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/#findComment-3131258 Share on other sites More sharing options...
FashaTheDog Posted September 29, 2012 Author Share Posted September 29, 2012 My Force - Codex Chaos, 2,000 points Ragnar the Betrayer (Khârn) Canis Bloodborn (Chaos Lord) - Plasma Pistol, Bloodfeeder, Mark Of Khorne 20 Berserkers - Champion w/ power claw 10 Berserkers - Champion w/ power claw, Rhino 10 Berserkers - Champion w/ power claw, Rhino 17 Grey Hunter (Chaos Marines) - Champion w/ icon of Khorne & power claw, 2 meltagun Vindicator Defiler - 3 Dreadnought close combat weapons, twin-linked heavy flamer My foe used a very heavily themed Guard army of a Lord-Commissar, Demolisher, 2 Hydras, 2 Colossi, Aegis Defense Lines, 5 Penal Legion, a small platoon with 3 infantry squads and a heavy weapons squad. The mission was The Emperor's Will with Vanguard Strike deployment. He deployed first and I figured that I would spread out but focus more on reaching him than with minimizing first turn losses as I would just take them the next turn due to terrain deployment. As it turned out I was able to Seize the Initiative and got night fight on turn 1, so I really made out well. The Battle As the long night came to an end the Imperial Army units stationed on the farthest flank of the line of battle prepared for the change of watch. It had been a quiet area as Sigismund had focused upon the center with nearly all of his forces, but a blood chilling howl broke the calm. In the gloom the headlights of several Rhino chassis could be discerned and the howls and war cries of the Sons of Russ ensured that there would be no mistaking the owners. The men, mostly penal reserves called up to fill the line to replace those units reassigned to more active areas, were quickly roused. The Colossus battery was readied while the engines of the Hellhound, Hydras, and Demolisher were started. With their superhuman speed of advance, the Space Wolves were able to reach the enemy lines far faster than the Lord Commissar commanding this sector had anticipated and the first line of defense was abandoned in favor of a more secure position. His only hope was to hold the line long enough for real Imperial Army units to be called up from reserve as this rabble was more suited to a firing line then a trench line. As the Lord Commissar stood at the front line, ready to slay any traitor who dared approach, a battle cannon shell fired from the Space Wolf Defiler detonated directly against the Commissar's ornate breastplate, the explosion instantly killing the heroic man before the eyes of his entire force. With the presence of a great many Commissars, the death of the Lord Commissar failed to break the spirit of the men, but the first shot of the enemy set an ominous tone. Perhaps enraged at the death of such a man, the men of Colossus battery began a pin point accurate rain of fire upon the heretics that would not end until they were dead. Even with the darkness, a number of Space Wolf Berserkers charging the lines lay dead, riddled with shrapnel or blasted to pieces. With the rising of the sun, the crazed Space Wolf Berserkers rejoiced in the blood already shed and were eager to shed far more. They had little trouble crashing into the penal squad closest to them as they vaulted over the Aegis Defense line with Canis Bloodborn riding atop a mighty Juggernaut crashing through the line and Ragnar the Betrayer leading them all with such fury that his very presence was fear inducing. The gruesome slaughter of the condemned men forced the surround penal units and even the Imperial Army regulars to step back from the carnage, so terrible it was. At the far end a pair of Rhinos disgorged yet more Space Wolf Berserkers practically right on top of the penal troops that held the line as a Vindicator and the Defiler slowly pushed the center. Sending his two armored vehicles along the flanks, the platoon commander who had assumed control of the Imperial lines prayed to the Emperor that the Demolisher and Hellhound would blast the traitors and burn the survivors, but while the Space Wolf losses were appalling, the bloodthirsty devotees of Khorne held little regard for the fate of themselves, let alone their allies, and thus what would have made even an Astartes pause went entirely unnoticed. If anything, the sight of more killing may have driven the crazed post-humans into an even greater frenzy as no amount of lasgun fire, no matter the injury, could fell another Space Wolf in the pack led by Ragnar. Fortunately the other flank saw a half dozen of the fearsome traitors fall to the combined lasguns of the penal legionnaires and the anti-aircraft guns of the Hydras. The blood coated Vindicator had a track blown off by the shots from a squad of lascannons, while the Defiler struggled to climb over a bridge to reach the loyalists. The Imperial defenders had hope that they might just repel the Space Wolves. Yet that hope soon died as a large unit of Grey Hunters caught up to the main assault force and blasted the Hellhound with their meltaguns. The resulting explosion sent a great fireball into the air and sent burning promethium flying in all directions, yet none of the more level headed Khornate Marines seemed bothered in the least as their cermite shell was proof against even the fierce heat of that. The Defiler sent another battle cannon shot into the Imperial lines with unholy accuracy, blasting the gun off of one of the Colossus Siege Mortars, silencing half of the Army's most effective weapons. With only the Skull Champion remaining from his Berserkers, Ragnar roared in fury as he pounced upon the Demolisher like a great wolf would its prey. Gorechild tore off the turret with a single mighty swing and the return stroke cleaved open the hull only for the Betrayer to fire plasma shots into the two surviving crewmen, vaporizing them inside the ruin of their vehicle. Canis Bloodborn instead set his sights upon the penal troops nearby, crashing into them only to grapple with his Bloodfeeder as the daemon within rebelled. The Skull Champion fell upon a Commissar and his unit of Imperial Army infantry, crushing the squad's sergeant in a duel with contemptuous ease. On the other side of the field, the surviving Berserkers tore through penal units and moved into the defensive perimeter. Holding firm in their positions, the Imperial units struggled to cope with the loss of so much of their firepower. Felling more Berserkers with autocannon and lasgun fire, it became clear that the traitors would soon breach their line and all they could now do was reap as great a tally as possible so that other would stop them. As if in compliance with an order, the surviving Colossus killed more than a third of the newly arrived Grey Hunters, but the Astartes did not flinch at such losses and pressed onwards, seeking to catch up to the others. Canis finally regained mastery of his weapon and singlehandedly slew the mortals before him with so many blows as to have killed each man twice over. Closing on the survivors, the Space Wolf Berserkers on the right tore apart the Hydra battery and butchered more penal legionnaires, heedless of the losses they were suffering in return. Canis again fought the rebellious daemon within his weapon as Ragnar slaughtered more Imperial Army regulars. The fighting pressed on with the Imperial forces having the noose ever tightened by the encroaching Wolves. Yet not a man faltered until the two Colossus were finally torn asunder by the Berserkers. The platoon commander had dared show cowardice at the eleventh hour and the Commissar next to him put a bolt round through his skull before he could take more than a few steps. That Commissar only lived for another minute before the Berserkers were upon him, their chain-axes, dismembering him and the few surviving men in the platoon's command squad. A single penal unit broke through and rushed toward the point upon the Imperial lines they were order to hold. The move saw the five men hopelessly surrounded by Ragnar, Canis, the Defiler, and the survivors of the Grey Hunters, but those five men stalled the assault by a few minutes, praying to the Emperor that their sacrifice would give the relief force time enough to intercept these butchers... Aftermath Sigismund had not cared what the Space Wolves that followed the healed Ragnar actually achieved, as they were far from subtle in their wide flanking maneuver. With so large a force of Khornate Astartes, the Imperial forces had no choice but to redirect some of their forces to wherever upon the front they had hit. When the madmen hit the apparently weakest point on the line, one far from the rest of the fighting, the Despoiler paused for a moment. Perhaps the feral sons of Leman Russ had retained a modicum of sanity after all. He had not actually expected them to draw off so much of the main Imperial force, but not only had they done that, they had also broken through as quickly as they had. With such success, the time was ripe to exploit such good fortune and break through the Imperial center, crushing any hope that the Loyalist fools had of victory on this pitiful little world. Author's Notes I won 3 VP to 0, all of which were secondary as he contested his objective on turn 7. He had hoped to kill the Juggernaut mounted Chaos Lord who only had one wound left, but wounding was tough and 3+ saves are a pain when all you have is a lasgun. Still, not a bad game as he was learning 6th still and there were a great many things that happened to highlight changes in the rules from 5th to 6th. Plenty of accepted and declined (only by him) challenges, wound allocation, vehicles, squadrons, ordnance, the whole nine yards. Even though he lost, he really got a good learning game out of it and he got to play a fun list that he had wanted to try. He was a little bummed that a turn 1 battle cannon killed his Lord Commissar, but I had not expected the get so lucky. For me, this is a fairly story based list where I took the Khorne stuff from my Dornian Chaos army and added it to the regular Space Wolves I own using the Brass Scorpion without the tail as the Defiler (no autocannon, otherwise I would have left it). I have to admit that I never get tired of that Chaos Lord load out as if I got attacks, it was usually somewhere around 13 or 14 with that one model and Ragnar (Khârn to you official fluff people), missed for the first time ever! I ran out of Berserkers for his 1s to go to. I was actually quite angry over that, as I have play many games with him and had never missed with a single close combat attack ever up until today. Still, he wasn't actually Khârn, he was Ragnar, so my Khârn model still holds his record at least, even if his Dornian counterpart failed to do so. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/#findComment-3191150 Share on other sites More sharing options...
FashaTheDog Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 A friend and I are kicking off a mini campaign representing a single larger battle between our forces. To determine which one of us got to determine the map layout (in other words whose force was able to select where the battle was fought), we fought a 3,000 point Planetstrike. I ran a primarily Dark Angels army with a small force of Imperial Fists and some Khorne Daemons allied in against my foe's Grey Knights. The Battle Having exploited the now thinned Imperial lines thanks to the berserkers and taken the spaceport, Sigismund set a force to fortifying this strategic point. A line of bastions, bunkers, hard points, trenches, razorwire, and tank traps were hastily erected until proper fortifications could be established. Entrusting the actual construction to a small number of Imperial Fists while the defense was left to the newly landed Dark Angel warband as he lead his own force onwards to maintain the pressure upon the loyalist dogs. It was then, as Sigismund's force had already committed to another battle, that Magnus' Grey Knight's struck in a daring raid from orbit. Teleporting into the heart of the least completed section of the spaceport fortifications, the small force found the defenses much hard to break than they had anticipated thanks to the powerful void shields protecting the command bastion. A Dreadknight tore through a bastion, leaving the Imperial Fists Havocs defending it to climb from the rubble. Wasting no time in calling for aid, a pair of Rhinos roared to life and rushed to halt the assault before a beachhead could be established. The entrenched defenders brought their lascannons to bear on the Landraiders and Chimeras dropped in while those manning the defensive lines turned their bolt guns and plasma guns upon the ghostly manifestations of loyalist Astartes, felling most of the specters and glancing a Crusader. The Deathwing Terminators in a nearby bastion eviscerated more silver armored Astartes while the Ravenwing and their sorcerer damaged the Dreadknight through melta blast, bolt round, and psychic assault while the Imperial Fists' own sorcerer began summoning daemons. Almost immediately Khorne smiled upon the traitors with a score of Bloodletters bounding from the tears in reality to tear the damaged Dreadknight apart. Charging into the central battlements, the survivors of the ghostly Astartes felled many of the Dark Angels defending the approach to the main bastion, but the surviving champion held his ground as his power claw smashed two loyalists to a bloody pulp. The Grey Knight armor moved into position to prepare for the final assault on the bastions through the continued rain of enemy fire as their commander and his Paladin guard teleported in the center of the armored line. As the echo of the displaced air passed, once more the Warp spat forth hellish minions of the Blood God, this time a mighty Bloodthirster whose rage only succeed in superficial damage to a Landraider. Unimpressed by the Bloodthirster behind them, the Grey Knight line turned to banish the daemon back to the Immaterium through the massed weight of fire as the Stormtroopers disembarked to ensure the destruction of the physical form of the Blood God's avatar. Yet as the greater daemon was sent back in an explosion of blood and gore, five Bloodcrushers galloped forth from the rain of blood and into the Grey Knight commander. With such a focus on the threat from behind, the reinforcements finally reached the attackers, the Rhinos, Ravenwing, and Bloodletters all moments from pouncing. With the traitors gunning down all but one of the Grey Knights on the battlements and their reinforcements now atop of the main loyalist thrust, Mangus' children found their surprise attack faltering. Pressing on, entrusting their commander to handle the Bloodcrushers, the massed hotshot lasgun fire bounced harmlessly from the Ravenwing devotees of Nurgle as a Landraider blasted a Dark Angels Rhino into a smoking crater as the bastion housing the Deathwing was blasted apart by a Landraider's multi-melta. Shaking themselves free from the debris, the Terminators smashed the offending vehicle into flaming wreckage. With daemons slaughtering Stormtroopers and traitor Astartes gunning down Grey Knights and blasting apart the remaining armor, the traitors knew victory was assured. Thus the ascendancy of the Dark Angel's Sorcerer to daemonhood earlier in the battle was merely the non-linear reward for ensuring that Sigismund's Black Crusade would not falter now. Pressing the advantage, the forces of Chaos opened fire upon the now victorious Grey Knight commander, injuring him and his guard, but failing to kill any of the remaining three as they moved through tangles of razorwire, the las-maze, and finally smashing aside burning wreckage of a Landraider to deal with the Deathwing and claim the ruins of the bastion they once held. The commander would be cut down only steps from the Deathwing along with one of his men, leaving a single injured Paladin to carry back news of the failed assault. Aftermath The traitors thought this was an isolated raid, but it was but the start of a longer and far larger battle that would rage for days. Regent Ahriman had foreseen that a surprise assault from orbit stood little chance of actually breaking the heretic's defenses, thus he had prepared a much larger force to be dropped simultaneously using this smaller raid as cover to prevent the Dark Angels from mobilizing. With Sigismund and the main Imperial Fists forces engaged elsewhere in the theater, the command of the defense of the spaceport, the Black Crusade's most important link to their space borne assets, fell to senior most of the Dark Angels, Second Chapter's Master, and Luther's second in command, Azrael. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/#findComment-3256159 Share on other sites More sharing options...
FashaTheDog Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 My foe and I began our little mini-campaign today. The idea of the campaign is that it is a single battle and each of our games are snap shots from it. We threw together a quick and dirty set of rules where each of us got 7,000 points to spend on two to four Primary Detachments, up to two Allied Detachments, and an optional Warmachine Detachment (1-3 super-heavies appropriate to the army used). There was a misunderstanding where my foe thought that the Primary Detachments could be from different codices, while I had assumed all Primary had to be from the same so he took Grey Knights for two and Guard for a third one. After we realized the issue and since his Guard part was really fluffy, we agreed that the Guard Detachment was an overstrength Allied Detachment and he could not reinforce the parts that exceeded the Allied FOC. No Fortifications could be bought to start as they were specific purchases to a tile from any unspent points. A Detachment could move one tile, Detachments capable of all units moving or being transported 12" to 24" a turn could move two tiles, and if a Detachment could entirely move 24" or more a turn, then it could move three tiles. We also waived the rule of losing a game if you had no remaining models so all aircraft forces were viable choices. Only a single HQ was the Warlord and rolled for Warlord traits. Any random rolls or stats, such as for psychic powers, were rolled for at the appropriate time and remained constant for the duration of the campaign.Each campaign turn saw us start by purchasing one fortification for one tile and spending points to reinforce damaged units or purchase new ones. These units and fortifications would not be available this campaign turn. Then we alternated, starting with the defender (my foe), moving Detachments and fighting games where opposing ones met. Any unit destroyed would be crossed off the roster and any unit below half strength, by models, would be reduced to half strength with owner chosing which options to retain. Any wounded characters or damaged vehicles were returned to full strength following. Units that fled the field were counted as the strength they left the table at. Once each Detachment had moved once or chosen to forfiet its move, the turn ended and all purchases made at the turn start plus the Warlord, if slain that turn, became availble. The campaign would end when someone controlled both bases (mine was the starport, his was a placed command post) for two consecutive turns or when one player had no remaining forces, apart from their Warlord. We also ruled that at the start of any turn a player could withdraw to preserve his forces, but doing so granted his foe one additional round of shooting and resolving one more turn of combat. The Battle, Part IHaving taken the pass, Master Azrael's forces secured the Imperial starport. Entrusting his Warpsmith to the task of securing their forward base of operations begining with defensive lines and gun emplacments, his forces moved forward, nearing a massive crater as they closed in on the loyalist scum and their hastily errected command post. Rushing from the skies above a pair of heavily laden Stormravens zoomed towards his position just before the break of dawn. The pair of silver Astartes aircraft strafed the traitor's lines, blasting the Helbrute to ruin and felling black armored traitors across the trenches they took cover in. Few of the return lascannon beams found their mark and those that did failed to do more than superficial damage until finally a Havoc's shot cut penetrated the rear of one, sending the flyer crashing at full speed into the ground in an exploding fireball. The dreadnought and quintet of Terminator clad Astartes transported by it were all killed in the crash, but a single son of Magnus survived. This survivor was none other than the Grey Knight leading the defense of the loyalist lines and the sight of him sent the pack of Space Wolf Berserkers into a blind fury as they charged over the top of the trenches and into grips with the lone warrior on foot. Their Skull Champion sought glory for the Blood God but found only the Emperor's Wrath as he was cut down before his challenge was complete. With the morning sun rising, the warrior signaled for his surviving forces to fall back, cutting down more of the Space Wolves before he was teleported to away.As work began on an armored bastion at the spaceport, Azrael lead a detachment into the blasted crater. As his men worked down the ash slope, the wind died downand and the ash slowly settled to the ground to reveal an armored contingent from the Imperial Army. Thick as it was, the settling ash obscured long range vision as the traitors closed in on the armored assets, sparing them for a short while from the full armored might before them. As they did so, Azrael and his Deathwing along with the Sorcerer and his accompaning squad were nowhere to be seen. The loyalists, however, failed to notice this as the ash dissipated enough for their many cannons to fire in earnest before the Dark Angels were upon them. In the ensuing bombardment, many of the traitors were caught in the open killing ground of the crater, and the Imperial Army exacted a heavy toll. The traitor's damaged a number of tanks with their own long ranged firepower, blasting through an Executioner's turret and inflicting hull damage on Chimeras while the remaining four Space Wolves tore in a trio of Hellhounds, causing the three to become giant balls of burning promethium. As they emerged from the raging inferno, their armor ablaze, the Imperial commander, a Commissar named Yarrik, and his veterans gunned them down before returning to their transport. Yet this considerable damage was not enough to noticably weaked the loyalist armored battlegroup.As several tanks became stuck in the deep ash and immobile, the missing Dark Angels emerged upon the loyalists' left flank as if from nowhere. The barking of the traitor's bolters saw an armored sentinel destroyed while a second had its plasma coils breached, leaving it unarmed and badly damaged to limp away. This unexpected development saw the Imperial army struggle to realign to the new threat, but the damage had been done and the forces of Chaos had time to fallback to their previous positions where construction had finished upon defensive lines and fresh reinforcement awaited as even more took position in the starport to their south. While not a serious blow to the Imperial lines, it gave Azrael a much more complete picture of the opposition he faced.As the fighting in the ash wastes of the crater reached its bloody crescendo, the remaining Grey Knight Stormraven strafed the fast moving traitor force just to the south. Knowing that there was little hope in stoping the Rhinos, Ravenwing, and Raven Guard, the Grey Knight commander instead focused his air raid on the black Rhinos to slow the force's advance and allow his forces the advantage of mobility. In a single pass, one Rhino was destroyed and a second was heavily damaged with a thrown track. It was a blow that did little damage, but granted a strong tactical advantage and more importantly, the knowledge of just what forces the Dark Angels had brought to bear. With the battle only intensifing, he would need any advantage he could get.Author's Note: We played three campaign turns today and neither one of us revealed our lists to the other (which made scouting battles interesting and worthwhile). Each turn I bought fortifications, an Aegis Defense Line and Bastion, both with Quad Guns, for my starport and an Aegis Defense Line with an Icarus Lascannon for the tile to the north of it (2,3). My foe bought a defense line with quad gun for his base as well. We fought three battles. The first was my first primary against his second primary with Draigo being the lone warrior. Crashing aircraft make me happy. The point value was in my favor, some 1,500 points to my 2,100, but the second saw the 1,850 points of the prior game's survivors face off against 2,700 points of tank heavy Guard in a battlefield we had agreed prior would have little to no cover and be entirely difficult terrain. Still, I gave as good as I got before withdrawing. Then he felt that he needed to see what my two tile force looked like so he sent the surviving Stormraven into my second primary. I had hoped for a sequal of the first game with a crashing transport killing everyone aboard except Draigo, but I lacked the anti-air to down it and lost a Rhino in return before he withdrew. Not the worst outcome, but I had hoped to use the extra speed later. In the third campaign turn both of us had reinforced our forces making up for prior losses and in my case also adding a third primary with some Cultists, a Warpsmith, and some Obliterators who were deployed on the starport. My foe was rather bothered that he did not see any Daemons, but I have yet to summon them (we agreed allied Daemons can be summoned to a battle before deployment by rolling equal to or higher than the number FOC slots they used, failure is a Perils of the Warp to a random Chaos psyker). They are my ace in the hole. Campaign Map http://s16.postimg.org/41w992k3p/Map.jpg Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/#findComment-3334225 Share on other sites More sharing options...
FashaTheDog Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 After a long break due to that pesky real life thing, we continued the campaign today. The Battle, Part II A mounted Loyalist force advanced south from the command post, winding through a rocky field. As they did so, the main Dark Angel's force pounced upon them. Outnumbered and outgunned by the Traitors, the mixed Grey Knights and Alpha Legion strike force took a defensive posture. The Razorbacks took the initial brunt of the Dark Angel firepower, losing weapons, treads, and armor across the line before the salvo began blasting them apart. It was not until the mighty heretic crewed Shadowsword, Blade of Caliban, opened fire with its mighty volcano cannon that the Loyalists realized that it was here that the battle would be fought in earnest. Holding their positions and calling for aid, the sons of Magnus and operatives of Alpharius sought to buy time for reinforcements. Once more proving his tactical genius, Azrael and his Deathwing bodyguards outflanked the Loyalist position and struck at their vulnerable rear, sowing havoc across the lines. With their arrival, the Grey Knights struggled to cope, while the Alpha Legionnaires smoothly reacted. Yet not even the Alhpa Legion's complex stratagems were a match for the immense power of a titan hunter. Directing his operatives from within a Land Raider, the Legionnaire known as Alpharius had just enough time to order every out as the Blade of Caliban turned its attention upon their vehicle. Even with the warning, four of his assassins were killed as they tried to escape. In the wake of the devastating weapon's attack, only a smoking crater remained and any hope of salvaging the situation had died. Battered, the Alpha Legionnaires sought to sell their lives dearly, but were met only with contempt as the black armored traitors gunned them down and the deep forest green Terminators smashed them aside. Only a half dozen survivors escaped the slaughter. Yet their deaths had bought Yarrick the time he needed to reach them with his armored company. Rolling through the burnt out wrecks, craters, and past the corpses of a great many loyal servants of the Emperor and far too few traitors, the Old Man issued the order to attack the regrouping traitors. As they caught sight of the black armored Astartes, a powerful beam of energy tore the entire port track mounting off a Chimera as the Blade of Caliban made it known that Yarrick's advance had not gone unnoticed. The azure light of lascannons cut through other Chimeras' armored hulls with ease, leaving the Imperial Army's infantry to advance on foot, scurrying to reach the safety found behind the large rock outcroppings nearby. Undeterred, the battle tanks of the Imperium opened fire with all their weapons, dropping black armored traitors who had dug into the ruins and forest. Yet it was not enough as they soon discovered that Azrael was cunning to no end. Springing from the conceal positions they had hastily prepared, the Deathwing and their master opened fire into the rear of a tank squadron as they advanced. The rapid firing plasma shots of Luthor's Wrath penetrated into the fuel tank of one, igniting the promethium and detonating the fuel, transforming the fearsome war machine into a widely dispersed field of shrapnel. At the same time, a small team of Havocs burst from their concealed position and fired upon the same squadron, scoring two hits even as they fired their lascannons while moving. The shots cut into the engine and brought one of the tanks to a permanent halt as the Blade of Caliban vaporized the third member of the squadron as it fired once more. The Imperial counter attack began to falter. While traitors eviscerated his force, Yarrick lead his veterans around a large rock to hit the far flank of the Dark Angels. As he and his men raced across the open ground between them and their enemy, the Old Man watched as Sentinels were brought low by Dark Angel fire and the enemy super heavy annihilated his armored assets, seemingly impervious to the great weight of fire brought to bear upon it. As he lead a futile charge, bolter fire erupted from the ruins to his right and from the forest ahead. Most of his men died as mass reactive explosive rounds detonated within them, yet he pressed on only for a large black walker with a winged sword upon its sarcophagus to burst out of the woods ahead and charge into him where he met it head on. The massive fist of the enemy Dreadnought clashed with Yarrick's own power claw, the powered fields of the two weapons sparking off one another as the mortal deflected blow after blow as he inflicted glancing blows, tearing off armor and cabling, but not slowing the monster in the least. Yet he was mortal, susceptible to fatigue, while his foe was once Astartes and now machine, indomitable and able to fight for all eternity; Yarrick was finally felled by the enraged Helbrute, his body battered and unable to continue to fight, yet miraculously somehow alive, if only just. Despite the loss of a second force, the Grey Knights had succeeded in breaking the Dark Angel advance, injuring Azrael and killing half of his honor guard. Along with them, many of the Lion's traitorous children had died to the armored might of the Emperor. With just more than a dozen men and their commander recovering behind the main fighting, the surviving Dark Angels had only a few minutes before the sound of approaching Storm Ravens heralded their doom. Strafing their dug in position in the forest, the silver aircraft slew most before their commander and his men disembarked and finished the job, losing only a dreadnought to concentrated plasma gun fire. The Blade of Caliban was injured by airborne meltagun fire and battered by Terminators, yet it was still mobile. Reversing just far enough to fire upon the Grey Knight commander, the volcano cannon's final word left a smoking crater where once there stool five of Magnus' finest sons. Miraculously the Grey Knight's commander walked out of the smoke entirely unscathed, the blessing of the Emperor proof against weapons that could fell even a might titan. Moments later, the lascannon fire cut through the Shadowsword's hull and brought the mighty heretic engine to ruin, the wreck smoking, but still whole. The fighting in the rocky hills was the heaviest and bloodiest of the battle. It was here that both sides lost most of their forces, leaving the Imperials out numbered and outgunned, but capable of striking hard and fast. Recovering enough to fight, Azrael pushed aside the Apothecary tending him and called for the last of his reinforcements. In orbit above, the pair Deathwing squads stepped upon the teleportation pad while heretics on the ground began obscene rituals to the Ruinous Powers. As they did so, the skies above the battlefield grew dark and unnaturally red as static lightning danced across the clouds... Author's Note: All three games were fought in the same tile, 2,4, and had diagonal deployment so we left the terrain alone for all three. The game was interesting and quite different as we had two very large line of sight blocking mountains on the table that were also impassable (two of the mountains from my Christmas village). It forced us to go around them since the larger was in the middle and the other was on the diagonal line separating our table halves. I kind of liked the large impassable pieces that force you to really consider how you move, even if I was hurt more by it. The Master of Deception warlord trait I had rolled at the start of the campaign has been really cool as it makes Azrael feel like the Dornian version of Creed. Now My foe is looking at 1,800 points or so left while I have maybe 1,200 more. He holds air superiority which means that he can choose which of my forces to attack, the one half way between our bases or if he wants to strike my small base guard instead. It will take me two campaign turns to reach either base so if he grabs my base I will get one shot to either take back the star port or capture his command post to not lose. My foe's only real concern is the AA assets of the fortifications at the star port and which force will summon the 900 points of Daemons, to the 1,600 point strike force, or the 500 point defense force. Of course, I only have a 50/50 shot at deployment per our campaign rules with failure being a Perils of the Warp on one of my character (a psyker if I have one) and no Daemons. Hopefully next week will be the exciting conclusion to this cliff hanger. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/253656-sigismunds-black-crusade/#findComment-3390439 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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