Chaplain Admetus' New Battle Report Thread - Game 7 added

[Chaplain Admetus]

It's been a long time coming, but they're back! The other thread was getting quite long, is quite old, and hasn't been touched in half a year, so I think it's time to retire it in favour of a new one! The last game I can remember playing with my Angels Sanguine was way back at the end of August, meaning that I've not used this army in 6 months - I'm bound to be a little rusty, and the game has changed since then. Nevertheless, I'm going to try them anyway and see if I can shake off the cobwebs.

Game 1 - Space Wolves, 1750 Points

Crusade (4 Objectives), Dawn of War

One of the two armies I like facing least on account of being able to do anything I can do but better and cheaper . I've thrown together a fast, alpha-strike style list for the game.

Angels Sanguine Forces:

Reclusiarch, Jump Pack (Warlord - 12" Move Through Cover bubble)

Sanguinary Priest, Jump Pack, Power Sword
Sanguinary Priest, Jump Pack, Meltabomb

5 Sternguard, Meltagun, 3 Combi-meltas, Drop Pod

5 Sanguinary Guard, Infernus Pistol, Power Fist

10 Assault Marines, 2 Meltaguns, Thunder Hammer

10 Assault Marines, 2 Flamers, Power Fist

5 Assault Marines, Power Sword

2 Multi-Melta Attack Bikes

Baal Predator with Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Storm Raven with twin-linked Multi-Melta and twin-linked Assault Cannon

Space Wolf forces:

Wolf Priest, Runic Armour (Warlord - +1 to charge distance)

Rune Priest, Terminator Armour (Divination - Prescience and Precognition)

15 Blood Claws

10 Grey Hunters, Wolf Banner, 2x Plasma Gun, Rhino

10 Grey Hunters, Wolf Banner, 2x Melta Gun, Rhino

10 Grey Hunters, Wolf Banner, 2x Flamer

3 Thunderwolves, Storm Shield

5 Longfangs, 4 Missile Launchers

6 Longfangs, 5 Missile Launchers

Razorback with heavy bolter

Land Raider Crusader

I know my list is small, but I wanted to pack a punch and pick my battles, hopefully winning on the basis of target selection and cunning tactics. The Sanguinary Guard are one of those units that I deploy because they look awesome, then they woefully under-perform, I return them to the case, and then eventually the lust to field them is strong again.

Space Wolves won the right to deploy first and take first turn.

Deployment. Because I'm a true professional (and forgot to mark them) the objectives are on the hill in the top left, in the shrubbery with the footslogging grey hunters, in the large piece of terrain (on my side), and in the terrain piece nearest the predator. Wolves have (left to right): 5 longfangs, empty razor, 6 longfangs and RP, Plasma GH rhino, flamer GH, Melta GH rhino. I have Sanguinary Guard, then 10 ASM with the flamers joined by the power sword priest and my reclusiarch, and the Baal and attack bikes on the far flank. In reserve are the other assault squad, as 2 combat squads; the sternguard in their pod, and the assault squad and second priest are in the Raven as a reserve force. Sanguinary Guard, attack bikes, one of the combat squads, and something else (can't remember) succumbed to the Red Thirst.

Deployment continued - the land raider and the thunderwolves, which weren't in the original picture. Oh, and that dice with the BA symbol firmly face up? That's my seize the initiative dice

Turn 1 - Angels Sanguine

The pod lands and the Sternguard disembark right in front of the land raider. The assault marines and sanguinary guard move up and run into the central terrain piece for cover against the wolfy shooting. The attack bikes and Baal move up my right flank. I unleash my combi-bomb into the land raider - 2 hits, one penetration, and I only manage to stun the thing... On the other flank, both multi-meltas hit the rhino, and I roll 3s on both armour penetration dice for a pair of glancing hits. The Baal opens fire and successfully explodes it with the assault cannon for First Blood, killing 3 wolves inside and pinning them, and killing one from the other squad in the explosion. Storm bolter on the pod snap-fires at the longfangs, and kills the squad leader. No more wolfy-split-fire for them!

Turn 1 - Wolves

The Thunderwolves move down in a flanking manoeuvre, and the Rune Priest presciences his own unit. The wolf priest and blood claws spill out of the land raider, and look threateningly at the sternguard. Flamer squad advances, and the rhino moves across centrally. Shooting from the 2 plasma guns out of the top hatch kills 3 of my sanguinary guard (I make none of my 5+ cover or 5+ feel no pain saves). On the other side, a combination of missiles and grey hunters kills 4 of my assault marines, and some missiles shake my Baal. The Blood Claws charge my sternguard, but thanks to double 1 on the charge roll not all of them can make it in to fight, and I kill a few for the loss of 3 sternguard.

End of the first turn

Turn 2 - Angels Sanguine

I get all my reserves. The Storm Raven flies in on my left flank, the squad with 2 meltas and a thunder hammer lands next to his rhino, and the fearless squad of 5 regular dudes lands near the objective in my backfield. The Baal retreats 12" out of sight of further missile fire, and the attack bikes advance. The assault squad with characters goes towards the flamer-wolves, and the sanguinary guard advance into the centre. Shooting from the assault marines with melta destroys the other rhino, and again I pin the squad. The snap-firing Baal and attack bikes manage to kill 3 more grey hunters between them, and they fail a morale check but only fall back 2". Storm raven does nothing to the land raider with its multi-melta or assault cannon. Sanguinary Guard attempt a 10" charge against the longfangs to try and tie up their shooting, but fail the charge, losing one to overwatch on the way in (quick stats say that an individual longfang has a marginally less than 1/36 chance of doing that, so I'm not impressed). The assault squad flamers and then charges the grey hunters - I take casualties but wipe them out, and consolidate into terrain. The blood claws unsurprisingly mutilate the 2 remaining sternguard, and consolidate.

Turn 2 - Wolves

Land Raider moves forwards, and the Thunderwolves continue their flanking manoeuvre. The fleeing grey hunters rally, and move along the back of the terrain piece. Most of the shooting is focussed into my Reclusiarch's squad and I end up taking a wound on my warlord, and losing everyone bar him, the priest, and one marine (sergeant got in the way of a Look Out Sir! missile that would otherwise have mashed the warlord). One attack bike takes a wound, and some missiles are snap-fired at the storm raven, only causing a glance which I do not attempt to evade. The Blood Claws attempt a 7" charge through cover at my 5 assault marines, and naturally they make it, wiping them out.

Large grey blob is the blood claws, smaller grey blob next to them is the grey hunter squad. The tiny gold blob is the last Sanguinary Guard.

Turn 3 - Angels Sanguine

I've not made much of a dent, and I'm taking heavy casualties. My game plan now is to throw everything I have into his remaining troops choices, and try and hold the rearmost objective. The last Sanguinary guard has an infernus pistol, and he flies behind the land raider. Raven flies over 18", leaving it right over the blood claws. The Reclusiarch, priest, and last marine move and hide behind the tallest wraithbone spire in the corner of that terrain piece, out of sight. Baal moves back up 6", and the attack bikes move round, chasing survivors. I am able to infernus-pistol one of the longfangs with my last Sanguinary Guard, and dakka down some of the grey hunters and blood claws with the Raven and Baal. The attack bikes shoot and charge the last remnants of the melta- grey hunter squad, wiping them out, and consolidate back to support. The Sanguinary Guard charges the longfangs in an attempt to reduce the amount of missile fire... he ALSO gets taken out by an overwatch shot

Turn 3 - Wolves

The survivors of the plasma-GH squad move back to the objective near the longfangs, which is a skyfire nexus - I'd known this was coming, but hope I'm safe with S7 against AV12. The thunderwolves get really close to my 5 assault marines on the objective, and the blood claws advance. Fortunately, his shooting is unable to do anything of note - an attack bike takes a wound, but crucially the Storm Raven survives without incident. I think the Baal also loses a hull point to a glancing hit. The blood claws eye up my warlord's unit, and manage to make a 10" charge against me . Both warlords get into a challenge with honours even, I cut down some blood claws but my priest and marine both die.

Turn 4 - Angels Sanguine

Now or never to commit my reserves. The Raven goes into hover mode, and moves 6" towards the combat, disembarking the assault squad and other priest. I angle it so that the raven faces the thunderwolves, meaning I face a slightly longer charge as a result. The Baal moves 6" so it can put everything onto the thunderwolves, and the bikes also come round in support. Finally, I move the assault marines out WITHOUT using their jump packs - the plan being to gun most of the thunderwolves down, assault the survivor (if any) and get back to the objective on turn 5, or just run back if I shoot them all. What I am NOT aware of, however, is that the topmost thunderwolf is carrying a storm shield - even though it wouldn't change my plans. The little bugger tanks all of my AP1/2 hits from 3 multi-meltas, bloodstrike missiles, and a rending hit from assault cannons... to recap, this is 2 AP1 missiles, 2 twin-linked assault cannons, 3 multi-meltas, 2 heavy bolters, and 7 bolt shots (bikes and assault marines) for the grand total of... 2 wounds caused (he finally went down). The assault squad charges in as I'm now committed, I lose 3 guys but kill a thunderwolf and a half, leaving one T-wolf on one wound, and 2 ASM. The assault squad from the Raven makes its charge and butchers the Blood Claws, and my Reclusiarch manages to stick a wound on his warlord.

Turn 4 - Space Wolves

From here it gets a bit fuzzy with what happened where... this turn he manages to shoot down my attack bikes and predator, and stick another hull point on the Raven. Both combats are a slap fight as the thunderwolf and I roll poorly, and my reclusiarch can't beat the runic armour.

Turn 5 - Angels Sanguine

The Raven turns round (still hovering) and fires at the grey hunters... kills all but one! (Infuriatingly my multi-melta missed...). I get a wound with the drop pod's storm bolter, but he makes his save. He fails morale, but only runs 4" and will easily come back to the objective. Warlord-fight is still a bust, and the thunderwolf finally kills my last assault marines.

Turn 5 - Wolves

Storm Raven goes down in a fireball; thunderwolf manages to make a long-ass charge into the combat but gets a power sword to the face; warlords continue attempting to spread the word of the Emperor to the other by means of blunt force trauma to the head.

Turns 6 and 7

Going to summarise the last two turns here. I repeat the storm bolter shenanigans, but the last hunter survives again, and then gets a land raider parked in front of him so I can't do it on turn 7. The rune priest splits off to contest that objective in the corner (that, despite being in combat, my assault marines were within 3" of); the longfangs eventually also charge in but are slowly beaten down by assault marines. My warlord takes a wound, going down to 1, and almost dies halfway through turn 6; would have if I hadn't rolled boxcars for feel no pain at one point. I have first blood and linebreaker, but the Wolf Priest defies the odds and makes 17 (yes, SEVENTEEN) consecutive 2+ saves on his last wound, denying me Slay The Warlord.

The massive combat at the end... all my surviving models are in there.

Final Score:

Angels Sanguine have First Blood and Linebreaker for 2 Victory Points

Space Wolves have one objective for 3 Victory Points

Space Wolves victory!

Much as I hate to blame them, my dice were just awful this game, failing saves left right and centre... it didn't help that the Wolves made silly long charges and their power armour refused to fail. I was possibly too aggressive early on, but I thought my plan to hold the rear objective would be a decent safety net - I really didn't expect the thunderwolves to survive the firepower that they did! Even with all that, I still could have, and arguably should have, tied the game, but that blasted Wolf Priest managed to survive what should have killed him 3 times over to deny me the draw. I'm really, REALLY disappointed by the Sanguinary Guard - I know they're overcosted, but they significantly underperform every time and their armour seems to be a magnet to the '1' face on my dice! Definitely worst unit. MVP would have to be the attack bikes - only unit that did well from start to finish, with my Reclusiarch coming second thanks to surviving nine rounds of combat against a wolf priest with 2+ armour AND preferred enemy - had he actually won the fight, he'd be taking home that award!

Good to be back doing these, and hopefully have another one up soon!

[GrunTeufel]

Nice batrep. Looks like you both had fun. 

 

Sanguinary guard are a real let down. For that amount of points I rather deploy a terminator squad. More dakka and more durability. Low mobility sure but if you have a stormraven it isn't a real problem. 

[Blindhamster]

are thunderwolves all characters?

was this image prior to you getting your turn?

if the image is after movement but before shooting, fair enough I guess, otherwise, how on earth did he manage to tank shots from so many different directions with one model?

[RenderDead]

Awesome bat rep, love to see fellow Angels Sanguine forces!

[Chaplain Admetus]

@blindhamster - yeah, that's after the Space Wolf turn. In order to get the assault squad deployed and able to charge the blood claws, the Raven ended up where it is in the next picture, just above the terrain (I could only move 6" and disembark). The Baal only moved 6" to fire at full effectiveness, and the bikes got to roughly where the Baal was prior to movement. As a result, the top-most thunderwolf, the one with the storm shield, was the closest to all the shooting except from the assault squad. Essentially all the firepower was coming from the top and top-right of the picture, and he rolled well for his saves.

 

@RenderDead - thanks! I need to touch up the paintwork a bit on some of them though... I also have a flesh tearers squad in there - it's the squad that was in the Raven.

 

@Grun - totally agree. I'll be shelving them for the foreseeable future... I might run them alongside Dante, but not without. Scoring is a helpful buff that just about makes them viable.

[Blindhamster]

In which case brother, he did a good job on placement of minis, and that is a good example of why we must be observant of our enemies tools, that shield made a huge difference by the look of things!

 

still, looks like a good game and a lot of fun. Looking forward to seeing more. Btw, is the idea that this is a thread for all BAs to post in? or just you? :)

 

p.s. Sanguinary Guard can be extremely good, but they're a finesse unit, you need their placement to be good, and they usually need support. they're best placed to deal with regular squads (I'd have had them deal with the blood claws for example). Run them with 1 fist but otherwise axes and generally speaking there isn't much most basic marine units can do against them unless they have a fist - which you just need to position yourself to hit first.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Yeah - I might give the SG one more run but other than that... for what it's worth my current loadout is 3 sword, 1 axe, 1 fist, with the infernus being on one with a sword.

 

The idea was to have this as a thread for my batreps - I tend to get quite a few of them, and felt the last one had kind of run its course, hitting round about the 30 mark and being quite out of date!

[Chaplain Admetus]

Another game! 4 people from my group went to the club last night to get a game in, so we diced off for opponent... the Space Wolves that I faced last week ended up playing a Crusade game against Necrons, whilst I was facing down Grey Knights, complete with their shiny new Imperial Knight ally!

Game 2 - Grey Knights, 1750 Points

Purge The Alien - Dawn of War

Last week I stated that Wolves were one of two armies I most hate to see on the other side of the table; this is the other. I find that Grey Knights will beat me at range with their storm bolters (especially with Psybolt ammo), and they'll beat me in combat with I6 force weapons... as a result I find it quite difficult to engage them, and tend to try an avoidance strategy and play for objectives. Unfortunately, in a kill point game I don't have that luxury!

Angels Sanguine Forces:

Librarian, Jump Pack (Shield and Unleash, kept my powers), Warlord trait that didn't come into play

Sanguinary Priest with Jump Pack and Power Sword

10 Assault Marines, 2x Meltagun, Sergeant with Thunder Hammer

10 Assault Marines, 2x Flamer, Sergeant with Power Sword

10 Assault Marines, Infernus Pistol, Sergeant with Power Axe and Storm Shield

2 Multi-Melta Attack Bikes

Baal Predator with Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolters

5 Vanguard Veterans, Power Sword, Power Fist, 3 Meltabombs, Jump Packs

Storm Raven (Assault Cannon and Multi-Melta)

5 Devastators, 2 Missile Launchers, 2 Plasma Cannons

Grey Knights Forces:

Castellan Crowe (Warlord, -1 to BA reserve rolls)

10 Terminators, 2 Psycannons, Banner of +1 Attack, Justicar Thawn

8 Purifiers

Dreadknight with Greatsword, Personal Teleporter, no guns (geared for combat)

Contemptor Dreadnought geared for anti-air (6 shot assault cannons, something else)

Imperial Knight with the 2-shot battlecannon, heavy stubber

Everything that can take it has Psybolt Ammunition and a Halberd. The imperial Knight took the roll on its special table (1 it gets worse, 6 it gets better, 2-5 nothing happens) and got no bonus effect.

Grey Knights won the roll for first turn and elected to go first... fortunately, it was Night Fighting on turn 1. I really wasn't confident about my chances as: 1) I have a combat-based list that will get smashed by any of his units in combat, 2) there's a titan, 3) he'll outshoot me with psybolt storm bolters, 4) there's a titan, 5) it's a kill point game and he only has 6 units, and 6) did I mention the titan? My advantages are his comparative lack of anti-armour, so I need to use the Baal and Raven well, and the fact that I outnumber him roughly 2:1. My game plan is to try and trade kill points - make sure I take one for each one I give up - because he'll run out of units first. Once I get him down to the last one, likely the terminators, I'll throw everything at them or run away, depending on the situation.

He deploys his terminators back, behind the Titan. Crowe is on his own with a Contemptor in front of him, both in terrain, and the purifiers are off to one side. I combat squad one unit only, leaving 2 meltaguns in one unit and put the sergeant and 4 grunts into the Raven. The reason is twofold - I'm likely to have to play to table anyway, and he's quite clustered so I want the smallest possible footprint for my deep-strike melta. I keep 3 units in reserve - the Raven, the melta squad, and the Vanguard veterans, and deploy as below:

The devastators are inside that crate in front of the Baal, the side facing the Grey Knights is open. The librarian and priest are both in the flamer squad, to the right. You can just make out the purifiers in the top right. Devastators succumbed to the red thirst (only non-assault unit in the army, go figure!)

Grey Knight deployment (and I felt the Knight deserved it's close-up!)

I roll to seize as there's no disadvantage in doing so, unless I'd played heavy-reserve and tried to deny him kill points, and do so for the second consecutive game. In a mantra to last the entire game, fortune favours the bold!

Turn 1 - Angels Sanguine

Baal passes its test and moves forward, getting the assault cannon in range of the knight. The assault squads both cagily advance a short distance. The attack bikes move up and get into the side arc of the knight. I declare my shooting phase, and he elects to shield the knight's right flank from his perspective. I dump the assault cannon into the front to no effect, ditto the full volley from my devastators. The multi-meltas manage to nip a glance through his forcefield, and drop it to 5 hull points.

Turn 1 - Grey Knights

Everything bar Crowe trudges forwards, trying to get into range. Purifiers get a poor move through cover range and run roll, so are stuck back. Librarian casts shield, but the assault squads aren't subjected to battle-cannons - the Imperial Knight shoots first, putting 2 battlecannon shells into my Baal - 2 direct hits, one penetration... and I'm saved by the night fighting, making my cover. The heavy stubbers blast into my devastators, doing 4 wounds, and I fail every save - a lone plasma cannon remains. The terminators shove a large amount of fire into my bikes, and I fail 3 saves, leaving one biker on one wound, who flees. The contemptor puts it's (frankly ridiculous) output into my warlord's squad, but thankfully my priest is on point to prevent too much damage, I only take one or two casualties.

End of turn 1 - fleeing bike is next to the storage containers. That stung, but I crucially didn't give up First Blood, which I sorely need.

Turn 2 - Angels Sanguine

I begin my reserve rolls, at -1 thanks to my opponent's warlord trait. The assault squad fails, but gets on with their re-roll thanks to Descent of Angels. Ditto for the Vanguard vets. Finally, I roll a 4 for the Raven, which brings it in but only just. The melta squad lands behind the contemptor, scattering 1" towards in. The Vanguard declare a heroic intervention, and a 4" scatter puts them between the contemptor and knight, just outside the small bit of terrain. The attack bike rallies, and it and the Baal move to threaten one side of the Imperial Knight. Finally, balls to the wall, the Raven flies defiantly in front of the contemptor and attacks the knight's -other- flank. I shoot the attack bike and Baal at the knight, but to no effect. The Raven fires, and gets nothing with it's assault cannon and one bloodstrike missile. The multi-melta and second missile, however, both penetrate, dropping it to 3 hull points. One dice rolls a 3, bumped to 4 by AP1, which the superheavy shakes off, and the second rolls a 6, removing an extra d3 hull points...

And it's a 5 ! The Imperial Knight is no more! As an added bonus, that's also First Blood.

It stumbles, and lands on the Dreadknight... I'm not lucky enough to D-explosion that off the table, however, rolling a 1 and it escapes. The meltdown kills 3 of my vanguard. There's worse to come, as I stick 2 meltaguns into the back of the contemptor, and he fails his invulnerable save against my one penetrating hit, and that gets blown to shreds too. I toy with firing the devastator, as every shot now comes with an inherent risk of giving up a kill point, but decide I need it to deal with terminators. I fire it, and nail a lucky scatter that hits 3, killing 2. There's no value in assaulting anything with the vanguard, so I leave them there as a speedbump.

Turn 2 - Grey Knights

The Knight player now points out something that I'd missed... the 2 psycannons in his terminator squad are all he has left capable of scratching the Raven (unless I'm stupid enough to bring it into hover mode near the Dreadknight). Crowe moves out to deal with the assault marines, the purifiers move towards the middle, as do the terminators, and the dreadknight moves towards my warlord's unit. The purifiers handily gun down my last 2 vanguard veterans. The Terminators have nothing better to do so shoot at the Raven, but fortunately the odds are too slim for the psycannons to do anything. Crowe shoots at and then assaults the assault marines, he kills all bar one meltagunner, and they hold. The Dreadknight hits my assault squad and crushes some of them, I do a single unsaved wound in return. My librarian gets one wound, but he makes his save - I was holding back my warp charge just in case I got the chance for a force weapon. I lose combat, break, and make it away, fleeing 11" away. Thankfully, that pulls me up JUST short of the table edge, and I don't give away 4 victory points!

End of turn 2... within 2" of my warlord bugging out with his squad!

Turn 3 - Angels Sanguine

The Raven leaves combat airspace. I'm further ahead than I have any right to be, so I think I can -maybe- get something here. The librarian's unit rallies. The other squad moves 6" closer to the dreadknight, as does the Baal, and the librarian's squad moves 12" to try and get away. That unit's too valuable in a kill point game to risk. The bike, on its final wound, takes shelter behind the containers with a move and turbo-boost. My plan is to put lots of dakka into the dreadknight, get furious-charge assisted attacks, hammer of wrath, and -hopefully- bring it to the point where I can finish it with the power axe. I start with the Baal, get 3 hits, and this happens:

Yep. Triple-rend. It's also taken a wound from the heavy bolters, and the dreadknight drops like a stone. The plasma cannon fires again and takes down another terminator. Assault squads both run. The last assault marine gets hit in the face by Crowe.

Turn 3 - Grey Knights

Purifiers and Terminators both move up, as does Crowe, who runs into the cover of a ruin. The purifiers kill 2 from my not-character'ed assault squad, and the psycannons explode the Baal, as I had to expose my side armour to get all the shots on the dreadknight.

At the end of turn 3, we're level on kill points with 3 apiece - Vanguard, Combat Squad and Baal for him, Imperial Knight, Dreadknight and Contemptor for me.

Turn 4 - Angels Sanguine

Raven comes back on behind the purifiers, and more than 30" away from the psycannons. I move the assault squad 6" towards Crowe, as I've got one trick up my sleeve left to reveal - I can use hammer of wrath to get round the halberds and boost my damage, and I've been trying to bait his squads close enough to use the technique. The lone plasma cannon fires again, but scatters miles away from the purifiers. The storm raven does a bit of damage, and machine-spirits a missile at the terminators to no effect. I wound Crowe with my infernus pistol, but to no effect thanks to his invulnerable save. The assault marines charge, and I challenge. Crowe takes a wound and my sergeant lives, thanks to the axe/shield combo and the fact that I have 1 re-roll.

Turn 4 - Grey Knights

Purifiers and Terminators advance. The purifiers manage to kill one from my warlord's unit, and the terminators seize the opportunity to pick up a kill point by finishing the terminator. Fortunately, my 1:1 plan continues as the sergeant cuts down Castellan Crowe with a swing of his axe, also netting me Slay the Warlord.

Turn 5 - Angels Sanguine

The Raven goes into hover mode, and loiters behind the purifiers with malicious intent. The bike can't make it to the Grey Knight deployment zone for linebreaker, and would only make itself a target, so stays put. The librarian's squad moves as far away laterally from the terminators as it can, for preservation. However, I commit a potentially game losing error in keeping them all together, as I currently have 6 VPs, about to become 7 when I finish the purifiers. My opponent has 4. If he shoots them with the terminators and they break, and the game ends BEFORE they can rally, I lose 8-7. The other squad moves towards the purifiers. Shooting takes out a decent number, and I charge in, killing all but 2, and we remain locked in combat.

Turn 5 - Grey Knights

The last few terminators move across, but fortunately he's not paying enough attention to spot the opportunity. He attempts a charge into the combat but fails, and I finish punching purifiers in the face for an extra kill point. We roll for turn 6, and get it.

Turn 6 - Angels Sanguine

I put the Raven back into Zoom mode and fly over near the terminators, dropping the assault squad out the back on the way - they run to claim Linebreaker in case of incidents. I keep moving the librarian's unit away (again forgetting to fragment them), and put the other assault squad in front of the terminators as bait, compounding this by shooting them with said assault squad and the Storm Raven.

Turn 6 - Grey Knights

The terminators shoot and charge my assault squad, and I issue a challenge which is accepted. The terminators make short work of the rest of the squad, but my sergeant lives and kills Justicar Thawn with his axe. We roll for turn 7, but don't get it.

The Angels Sanguine have killed: An Imperial Knight, a Contemptor, a Dreadknight, Castellan Crowe, and a unit of purifiers, and have First Blood, Linebreaker, and Slay the Warlord for a total of 8 Victory Points

The Grey Knights have killed: a combat squad of Assault Marines, a Baal Predator, a Devastator Squad and a Vanguard Veteran Squad for a total of 4 Victory points.

Angels Sanguine Victory!

And I'm under no illusions - I was very fortunate early on. I was prepared to sacrifice a lot to bring down the knight - I expected I'd at least have to send the vanguard veterans in to finish the job. Turn 2 was absolutely critical, as I managed to get rid of the two most threatening opposing targets in one fell swoop. I'm not going to lie, when I saw the other army and the fact that it was Kill Points I didn't think I had any chance to win outside of extreme luck, and I think I had a decent amount of it. I definitely made a couple of mistakes, like not splitting the characters up... arguably, even deploying them like that was a bad idea, as I've got a unit that gives up a colossal 4 victory points if it goes down, and given that the maximum I could get without a tabling was 8 my opponent could have undone half my work easily.

The Knight itself was quite intimidating, but I happened to have the right tools in the right places to be able to deal with it. The Grey Knight player also played it cleverly, as he had the rear facing guarded by the terminators and the dreadknight helping to block one flank, so without the flier I'd likely have had to knock holes in his defences to get at it.

As ever C&C/discussion strongly encouraged... did I play it well, or was I lucky? Was there much either player should have done differently? Hope you've found it useful!

[RenderDead]

Wait a minute....how did you get those Blood Angel dice..I must know now

[killersquid]

Great report. I really like your list and Look forward to seeing more reports. I really 'ought to get some Attack Bikes, they seem pretty useful. I am also happy to see a knight in a game, and destroyed pretty easily (even with good luck). I've been worried about running into them with my blood angels.

[Chaplain Admetus]

@Renderdead - there was a group buy organised a few years ago (2 I think) by some of the guys on the forum, so I bagged myself 25 as that's normally the maximum I ever need to roll at once: 10 man assault squad dishes out 31 on the charge, -2 because I generally have special weapons, -4 for any characters as they need to roll separately due to precision strike.

 

@Killersquid - thanks :). I bought the attack bikes last year and I've never regretted them... they've quickly become a 'how did I cope without these?' unit. Even against the rare army where they don't have a decent target, they can be a great nuisance unit. BA should be OK for dealing with knights, we get enough fast melta to do the job and meltavets are a great weapon against them. This list is actually going to be my starting point for a 1750 tournament next month... I was swaying between taking my Dark Eldar or my Angels until this afternoon, when I spotted that Kill Points are a secondary objective in 4 out of 5 missions, and are primary in the fifth. So, it's angel time!

[sockwithaticket]

I think you summed it up pretty well, Chaplain, you had your share of luck, but at the same time your target priority was spot on and you used your tools well. On another day, it might have taken a couple more turns to wipe out those threats and the result may have been a bit closer if that were the case, but I don't see any glaring tactical blunders. Even the 4 kill point squad is unavoidable I'd say - the Libby and priest have got to go somewhere and surely the squad with the warlord is the one you want to guarantee FNP for? Not ideal,  but it is what it is.

[Chaplain Admetus]

That is true, but then I had those 2 assault squads next to each other for almost the entire game, and shield//blood chalice are both area-affect buffs. Could have had one in each without diluting my effectiveness too much. Also of note, in this game I stopped casting powers after turn 1 because I no longer needed cover against that sodding battlecannon... Frankly, I'm fully prepared to give up Warlord in most games, as without resorting to Mephy, a librarian is our best value HQ, but 2 wounds and a 3+ save won't get you very far.

 

I'm not 100% sold on the librarian any more, as a lot of the time I don't want to cast powers/it won't do me any good. Considering a Reclusiarch, where 30 extra points brings an additional wound and a 4+ invulnerable save, along with a different kind of utility buff, so the warlord survivability increases. Or just give up and plonk down Angry Space Vampire on the table to give out righteous beatings (unless I face Deathwing, in which case he just has to cower in a corner).

[Captain Idaho]

Always love a good battle report and yours are great.

 

I actually was impressed with the Storm Raven and I do get tempted to get one. GW should pay for your inspiration to others mate!

 

Reckon you'll go to any more ToS in the future? Prospect of SD put me off somewhat if I'm honest but I might give it another go since 1500pts is hard to fit such beasts into and not be totally skewed!

[Chaplain Admetus]

Thanks for the kind words, Captain! The Raven's really been helpful, mostly gets used for anti-air but I've been using the transport capacity more the last few weeks. I'm hoping to get to another ToS at some point, but it's dependent on real-life schedules and when the group I normally go with are likely to be paying a visit. D weapons worry me too, but the crowd that frequent ToS don't tend to be high-order cheesemongers, so it's not likely to be a huge issue.

Glad to hear you're enjoying the batreps, you'll be pleased to know there's another incoming this afternoon - I'm huntin' Nids

[Jolemai]

Is that the Fragioso and Furioso Librarian report?

[Chaplain Admetus]

Fragioso yes, Furioso Librarian no - couldn't fit the latter in cos I was hurting for points :(

[Chaplain Admetus]

This week, we've given up on Eldar tables and Ork shanty towns, and the Angels Sanguine are dispatched to a wartorn Imperial cathedral, charged with liberating an artefact of vital importance from the predations of a Tyranid hive fleet....

Game 3 - Tyranids, 1750 points

The Relic - Vanguard Strike

I've made a new list to try out some new toys, also beginning preparations for a tournament next month. The Tyranid list is also quite a hard one and commanded by a good general, so I hope they'll be evenly matched.

Angels Sanguine Forces:

Mephiston (Warlord - Furious Charge in enemy deployment zone)

Corbulo

Furioso with Frag Cannon and Heavy Flamer

10 Assault Marines, 2 Meltaguns

10 Assault Marines, 2 Flamers

10 Tactical Marines, Lascannon, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter variant)

2 Multi-Melta Attack Bikes

Baal Predator (Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolters)

Storm Raven (Assault Cannon and Multi-Melta)

5 Devastators, 4 Missile Launchers

Tyranid Swarm:

Flyrant, 2 Twin-linked Devourers (I think that's the name...6 shots at S6) (Warlord - Night Vision to himself and nearby units) - Catalyst and The Horror

Flyrant, 2 Twin-linked Devourers - Paroxysm and Dominion

30 Termagants with Spinefists

Tervigon - Onslaught

Zoanthrope - Catalyst

Zoanthrope - Paroxysm

Venomthrope

Harpy

Exocrine (Plasma beast)

Carnifex brood - 2 Carnifexes each with 2 twin-linked Devourers

17 Gargoyles

17 Gargoyles

Yuck. 7 monstrous creatures, 3 of which fly, and almost 100 wounds combined in his army. The Tyranids won the roll for first turn and elected to take it. My game plan is to fight a defensive, counter-attack style game, letting most of the action take place in my table half, and go for a late-game Relic snatch.

First half of deployment... Tyranids are all lined up along the back, with the gargoyles and termagants all along his line. The flyrants are just behind them, as are the tervigon and carnifices. Pyrovore is in the ruin at the back, flanked by the zoanthropes. I have 5 tactical marines with lascannon behind the wall, Mephy beside them, 5 more tactical marines with Corbulo in the razorback, and the 10 assault marines with melta along my deployment line. The Relic is the small base with the Blood Angels glyph on it.

The Baal is hiding out of sight, and I have devastators deployed in the northern ruins. The attack bikes are hidden by the tall tower. In reserve I have the fragioso in pod, 5 assault marines with 2 flamers deep-striking, and 5 assault marines (including sergeant) inside the Raven. I roll to seize, but fail.

Turn 1 - Tyranids:

Powers start to go off - the non-warlord flyrant gets to shoot and run, some of the big things get Feel No Pain, but I can't remember exactly what. The Tervigon rolls snake eyes on Onsalught though, taking a wound. Everything simply moves forward as fast as it can and then runs, the flyrant shooting down 3 of my devastators, who pass morale. The Gargoyles get pretty close, though I'm more scared of them than my opponent is confident that they'll accomplish much (as evidenced by the declaration of "Fear my chaff!" as they encroach on my position). Fortunately, everything is out of range and sight of the exocrine.

Turn 1 - Angels Sanguine:

The Fragioso lands behind the swarm, aiming at his support beasts. Mephiston casts wings and moves off towards the left hand gargoyles, as does the assault squad. The Baal moves 6", and the bikes head up towards the flyrant. Razorback only moves 12", and Corbulo's unit disembarks beside the wall. Shooting, and the Fragioso is able to dump the templates across the venomthrope, 2 gants, a zoanthrope, and clip the Tervigon at the far side, I opt for this rather than dumping lots of templates into the gant squad. The decision is vindicated as I kill two gants, take out the Venomthrope for First Blood, and roll boxcars to wound the tervigon with the frag cannon, knocking it to 3 wounds. Shooting from the razorback forces a grounding test on the non-warlord flyrant, which he fails and takes a wound from faceplanting, losing a second to the devastators/attack bikes. Baal opens fire and hoses a decent number of gargoyles, 6 or 7. Shooting from the lascannon squad takes a wound from one zoanthrope, and the assault squad whittles down the western gargoyles. Mephy attempts to help but his plasma pistol overheats, and he fails his save! Fortunately Corbulo's nearby and gives him a successful Feel no Pain save, along with a smack in the head and instructions to stop being a muppet. The assault squad makes a 7" charge into them, and Meph makes his 10" charge thanks to fleet, and combined they clear out the entire unit.

Overview of the end of turn 1 - having cleared out his mobile cover bubble and more than half the gargoyles

And the Fragioso, being a -colossal- pain in the backside as something now has to come back and deal with him. That flyrant near him is the warlord.

Turn 2 - Tyranids:

More psychic powers, hurrah. No perils. The gargoyles fly over and menace the attack bikes, and the non-warlord flyrant flies over and shoots the devastators, killing one survivor, who flees. The harpy and warlord flyrant vector head south, vector striking my assault squad and killing 6 between them! The Warlord's devourers easily finish the survivors. The Exocrine shoots Mephiston, and I take only two wounds thanks to being in area terrain. The Tervigon rolls 5,3,2 -spawning a unit of 10 and retaining the ability to make more in the future, these move towards the central ruins, as the big squad of 30 gants advances towards the relic. Something shoots Corbulo's squad, but he tanks all the wounds. Carnifices move on the Fragioso, and attempt an assault, but only manage 4" - this is very tight, and difficult to measure given awkward model shapes; it's in or out by a matter of millimetres, so we just 4+ it, and they fail. The gargyoles make their charge against the attack bikes, and do a wound - I wound back, and we remain locked in combat (this combat lasts the rest of the game, so I'll ignore it from here on out).

Turn 2 - Angels Sanguine:

I reckon I can get the Tervigon this turn with my Storm Raven, as well as maybe doing some damage to his FMC's... a plan which is promptly thwarted by it not showing up from reserves. I do, however, get the assault squad, which lands dead on target some 3" short of the big gant squad. Mephy gets Wings, and flies out midway between the Exocrine and Harpy, for choice of targets. The fleeing devastator rallies and moves back into the terrain. Both halves of the tactical squad stay put, and the razor and Baal both move. Dread advances on the 10 gant squad, and flames them, killing a reasonable number. The assault marine flamers do a decent amount of damage to the gants, pushing them far enough back that they can't reach the relic next turn. The Baal and devastator manage to knock the Tervigon down to its last wound. Tactical squad/razor shooting manages to force a failed grounding test on the harpy, which costs it a wound - Mephy assaults and knocks it down to 1, failing to kill it outright thanks to Shadow in the Warp on his psychic tests; he takes only one wound in return, thanks to the charge bringing him back in range of Corbulo. Furioso charges the gants and brings them down to 4.

End of turn 2... I think I might also have finished a Zoanthrope and wounded another this turn... behind the building so it's hard to tell.

Turn 3 - Tyranids:

The gants advance on the objective and assault squad. The Tervigon retreats away from them, so it doesn't make them explode when it dies. It also spawns no gants - found out post-game this was an oversight from my opponent; I assumed it was a tactical decision as they'd probably die when the Tervigon does. Both flyrants move down into my corner, the warlord vector striking my tactical squad with Corbulo, killing 1 tactical marine; he also shoots and kills 2 from the other combat squad. The second flyrant explodes the Baal; rules query since we couldn't find anything otherwise, are FMCs affected by explosions? And if so, do they take grounding tests? We rolled them anyway and they were unaffected, making it a non-issue in this case, but it'd be nice to know. The Exocrine fires at the 5 assault marines that landed, but only kills 1. The termagants shoot them, killing another, and I fail my morale check and fall back 12", denying them the opportunity to assault. Mephiston easily finishes off the Harpy, and the Carnifices make their charge into the furioso this time, destroying it utterly.

Turn 3 - Angels Sanguine:

The Raven does turn up, and comes in from the far left corner, exactly 24" from the warlord flyrant. The assault marines rally, and move right up into the face of the termagants. Corbulo's combat squad moves up into the open in support, and the Razorback moves up to get line of sight around the building into the last zoanthrope on its final wound (this is the one with Catalyst, and I don't want it farming Feel no Pain onto termagants). Mephiston goes for the Exocrine. The Raven manages to knock a single wound off of the warlord Flyrant, who is forced to evade to not take severe damage; I also machine-spirit a bloodstrike missile into the Tervigon, finishing the job (and prepared to use Corbulo's far-seeing eye to do so, but thankfully not necessary). Corbulo's squad piles all of its dakka into the 4-strong termagants, and kills them - the zoanthrope synapse bubble prevents them from going to ground. NOW I try and kill the zoey, but fail to. The assault squad flamers clear out some more gants, there's now 12 left. Mephiston charges in, and takes a wound from overwatch... I consider using my re-roll, but skip to feel no pain and make it, remaining outside of Shadow in the Warp range; he manages to smack down the exocrine before it can do any more damage.

End of turn 3. Mephiston is in the open, but he's away from the Carnifices, and in Feel no Pain range.

Turn 4 - Tyranids:

As you can see, the Warlord flyrant is facing the wrong way, and has to land if he wants to do anything, which he does - going after the squad with lascannon. The gants move forwards, and pick up the Relic. The other flyrant flies back and dakka's Mephy, as do the carnifices, and for the second time I toy with using Far-seeing Eye to re-roll a failed save but decide against it, and am lucky enough to keep his two remaining wounds. The flyrant shoots at the 3 tactical marines, and charges in, eating a wound to overwatch or a krak grenade (I forget which), I'm left with just the lascannon standing, but hold. The gants charge the flamer squad and take no casualties thanks to feel no pain, and kill all but one. The carnifices fail to charge Mephy.

Turn 4 - Angels Sanguine:

Caution to the winds time. I successfully cast wings, and fly Mephiston over towards his warlord. Corbulo's unit moves up to assault the gants, and the storm raven hovers and moves 6" forward, disembarking my last 5 assault marines. I still fail to shoot down that stupid Zoanthrope with my heavy bolter and the devastator's missile launcher. Mephiston charges in, and successfully passes Unleash Rage. I score some wounds on the flyrant, but fail to activate my force weapon due to Shadow in the Warp; I use Corbulo's re-roll but still fail, leaving him able to make Feel no Pain rolls from Catalyst, and the Flyrant fails 2, biting the dust and giving me Slay the Warlord. Even with feel no pain, the termagants on the Relic can't take a combined charge from Corbulo, 4 tactical marines and 5 assault marines, and wipe them all out for no casualties; I consolidate in a number of different directions.

Bottom of turn 4. I'm not entirely sure where I put Mephy, I -believe- he's on the other side of the wall, prepared to be a nuisance.

Turn 5 - Tyranids:

Night falls, not that it makes much difference at this stage. Flyrant comes down and prepares to assault Corbulo's unit, and the 'fexes move after the full strength assault squad. The Zoanthrope fires a warp blast at the lone assault marine but misses, scattering 6" onto Corbulo's unit - Corbulo himself tanks the wounds. The Carnifices fire at the 5 man assault squad, killing 3, but the survivors don't flee. They fail their charge. Zoanthrope makes it into combat with his assault marine but gets punched in the face for his troubles, doing what several turns of shooting could not. The flyrant charges in, taking a meltagun wound from overwatch, and his challenge is accepted by Corbulo as I think I have reasonable chances to drop it with a rending chainsword. Corbulo has other ideas and promptly misses with all his attacks, and gets flattened, but I pass morale. In the biker-gargoyle combat, I reduce him to his final gargoyle.

Turn 5 - Angels Sanguine:

The two remaining assault marines head for linebreaker territory, whilst the one on his own brazenly defies the Carnifices to sit on the Relic under their nose. At this point it's getting late, and my opponent offers the concession, as he'll have to somehow kill Mephiston, the linebreaking assault squad, the assault bikes (who will turbo-boost to linebreaker if we get turn 6, under the safe assumption that I'll kill one gargoyle in 2 assault phases) and all the models I have capable of grabbing the Relic just to tie.

End of the game!

The Tyranids look to have secured linebreaker with the flyrant, for 1 VP; The Angels Sanguine have First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker, and a dubious claim to the Relic, depending on whether I could get in base contact without being within 1" of a Carnifex. Either way, it's an Angels Sanguine Victory!

Well...clearly the list has more game than I thought it did when I put it together! That's a solid Tyranid list helmed by a very competent general, and we were both surprised at the extent of the Blood Angel victory. Mephiston was a complete one-man army, taking out two of the most threatening monstrous creatures on his own. I don't think there were very many mistakes from either side, the only two I can think of from the Tyranids being not spawning on turn 3, and shooting the assault squad with the termagants, as this had a chance of making them flee, which happened. I probably should have prioritised the Tervigon more, and maybe should even have spent Corbulo's re-roll to try and get the Storm Raven in on turn 2 to finish the damn thing off. I'm not sold on the inclusion of Corbulo in the list, and I would like to get some extra gear on my assault sergeants and/or a magna-grapple on the Furioso, so I'm definitely going to be making some tweaks to try and get the list to a more potent level, but I think it's a great starting point. As ever, any comments greatly welcomed, hope you've enjoyed it!

[Captain Idaho]

Nice. Bugs are really shooty, tis scary.

 

You made me chuckle with Corbulo telling off Mephiston!

[Corvus_Danseur]

Likewise love the flashes of humour- not sure even Corb would have the cojones to slap Mephy tho!

 

On a side note- I don't suppose can get photos in focus? Is the camera broken? Spoils an otherwise great read!

 

Many thanks for putting it up :). 

[Chaplain Admetus]

Thanks guys... do bear in mind that this is a successor chapter, so not-Corbulo might have the nads to slap not-Mephy on this side of things ;). I've just realised how key the interaction between those two was... Corbulo saved at least 3 wounds from sticking on Mephy over the course of the game and he ended it with just 2, and you can see how much damage Meph did to the bugs!

 

The reason why the photos are sometimes less than stellar is that I'm trying to just snap 'em on the fly with my phone camera... anything else just tends to slow it down and I sadly don't have a better option. It's impossible to tell how blurry they'll be when uploaded to full as my phone only has a 3 1/2" screen. Will try to get better ones, but I'm afraid I can't promise anything!

[killersquid]

I am really enjoying these battle reports. Definitely makes me think about my list and what I can do with it. Keep 'em coming and congratulations for kicking ass for Sanguinius.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Thanks squid. I think I'm onto a good list here with some tweaks so I've thrown it up in the army list forum to try and get some input... dropping Corbulo for a regular priest with JP for sure, and toying with downgrading the tactical squad to an assault squad; 5 ASM with meltagun in a razor is only 130, and the tactical squad with razor comes in at 240. Minus the sergeant upgrades and the magna-grapple that I want, if I swap the dread's heavy flamer back to a meltagun then I can squeeze in a scout squad. That...sounds actually pretty solid. Might try that...

[Sanguine_Blood]

Your Bat reps were great to read. Also gave me some thoughts on my list as well. You seem to put those attack bikes to good use, and I am glad for that. You used to see a lot of attack bikes for BA taken back in 4th and 5th, then they seemed to disappear. Kudos to you.

 

Your lists look a lot like mine look minus the use of Meph, Attack Bikes, and tactical. I used to use the tactical squad a lot, as I like their idea, but with the way the codex makes you have to take a full 10 to get any special/hvy weapons I opt to go assault squads.

 

I love your use of the Baal predator in all your games. I actually hardly ever take mine, as I find giving up 145pts for one hurts when I can take a Heavy Support pred with Auto cannon/heavy bolters for 100pts. But, then it has scout. Do you ever use your scout moves in your games a lot? Or choose to outflank? How does that work for you?

 

Lastly, I LOVE your dice. I too have a set of chessex custom dice with the wing/drop insignia in-place of the 6's. Like the color you have, it matches your paint scheme (red/black). Mine I just pure red.

[Chaplain Admetus]

Thanks! I've actually only used attack bikes for less than a year; bought them last summer and they have been kick-ass. Such a good all-purpose unit - it's very rare that my opponent won't have a target for them, and they're great for linebreaker/contesting shenanigans. 

 

Re: the Baal - I use the scout move a decent amount, actually. The reason I've not used it in any of these games is because I lost the first turn roll in all 3, and scouting would just have left it in an exposed position. If I'm going first I tend to deploy it somewhere reasonable, then scout it to a better/more annoying position after I've seen my opponent's deployment; if I'm going second then it gets hidden. I sometimes outflank the thing, but not always... only if I think there's value in getting behind a target. It can be good to sneak round defence lines and the like. But this list often uses reserves, and I find I need lots of things on the board, as reserve rolls can shaft you. I have played one or two games where I have lost games to reserve rolls, and the occasional one where I've won because of my opponent's reserve rolls, so I'm hesitant about putting more in reserve than is necessary. 

 

I love my dice too :D (except when they betray me...)  - what's not obvious from my crummy pics is that they actually match the army perfectly as I have red/black armour and all the detailing is gold, set to the gold detailing on the pips. Just ties everything together on the tabletop :D