Sons of San Leor: Redemption Begins in Flames

[Bonzi]

Another great day for the Sons of San Leor.  It was a roller coaster ride which quite honestly saw the game take a total 180 in one turn of movie-guard level heroics and sacrifice.

 

The CCS was a total flop with me messing up my Officer of the Fleet roll, which when combined with my crummy reserve rolls forced my sizable portion of reserves to come on piecemeal.  The Officer of Ordinance couldn't hit anything, even when shooting at giant blob sized concentrations of the enemy.  Then a Crisis squad dropped right next to them and tore the unit apart leaving the wounded Commander alone with two grunts.  The unit jumped out of a second floor window to get away from the Crisis Suits and promptly got hammered by a unit of Fire Warriors, leaving the Commander alone with one wound left.  With no more ablative bodies the Commander made a brave sprint across empty no mans land to get to cover behind my Aegis line while a Taurox Prime raced in from the other side of the board to pick him up.  My Eradicator swung  to the side to bring all it's weapons to bear on the Crisis squad, killing the drones that swarmed around them, and was promptly destroyed by having its fragile side armor glanced to death by Tau missiles.  The sacrifice was not soon enough to save my Manticore which chose to stay in place and fire its third Storm Eagle Rocket, which rolled three blasts and managed to kill.....two drones.  In the next turn the Manticore was smoked by the Crisis Squad.  The Taurox killed two Crisis Suits as it raced in to rescue the Commander, only to see him gunned down because he failed one of eight saves against a second volley of pulse rifle fire.  The remaining Crisis suit then popped the Taurox.  It was a crushing series of turns that saw my whole flank rolled up but it made for a great nail biter mini-drama in the midst of the larger game.

 

As my Commander fell lifeless in a pool of his own blood my PCS arrived from outflank and roasted a unit of Fire Warriors off of a vital objective.  A unit of melta scions dropped in and took a wound off of his Riptide.  The Vendetta pitched in and pulled off more wounds.  My Hell Hound, which had lost two hull points to close combat with the Riptide spun in place and made a snap shot with its multi-melta and took another wound.  Then, at maximum range the Seed of Redemption took aim with its multilaser and scored one hit, then scored a wound and watched as the Riptide was destroyed as it failed its 2+ save and 5+ FnP.  On the other side of the board my Tempestor Primes plasma squad and the other melta scions DS next to his Tau Commander + Broadside unit in a tiny pocket next to the board edge.  Both units landed with no scatter and proceeded to kill the entire squad of Broadsides and drones in one round of shooting, leaving the Tau Commander alone and wounded.

 

As he crippled my whole flank and killed my Commander I took control of his entire deployment area.  The game was decided after that, but we still played out one more turn where we managed to get into two close combat slap fights between my Scions and the Tau.   My Tempestor ended up getting punched to death by his Crisis Suit Commander and one of the melta squads slugged out two rounds of combat with ten Fire Warriors, but lost a challenge and then broke on my poor LD rolls.  An incredibly fun game with a lot of movie worthy moments and some hilarious slap fights at the end made all the sweeter by another solid win against the Tau.

 

 

Painting on the Eradicator is almost finished and I hope to post some pics soon.  Also next week sees season five of our local Kill Teams event so I hope to post a list, fluff and pics of the models for that as well.

[Vash]

Hate to see my fellow Scions fall in battle, but as long as you had fun I am happy :)

[scatmandoo]

Good narrative and sounds like a great game.

 

PCS getting promoted then? Yet to face Tau as no-one near me plays them but I would like the challenge.

[WarriorFish]

A hard victory is all the sweeter! Another fine victory Bonzi well done :D I look forward to the next batrep, they're always exciting reads - made all the better with a Guard victory of course ;) Models too, as we all know painted models perform better on the table top.

[Bonzi]

My first Leman Russ is nearing completion.  Fully magnetized but the only painted weapon options I have right now are the Nova Cannon and Plasma Cannons.  Treads and corrosion are still to be done.  I've dry brushed a third, lighter color of blue green on all the edges and a little on the flat planes to give some contrast that earlier efforts were missing.

 

 

[Bonzi]

My kill team is almost completed!  I'm still working on the Sentinel but the Vets and Chimera are finished.  Because of a purchase promotional I've been granted an extra 20pts of equipment for my Kill Team.  I decided to take Forward Sentries, a Mortar Team, and upgrade a melta gun to a plasma gun for my extra points.

 

 

Pater Sameth and the Redeemers stand in front of their transport, Seed of Redemption, while awaiting deployment.

 

 

Pater Sameth leads the Redeemers in battle and will be in command of a series of scouting and purge missions at the behest of high command.

 

 

Brothers Zypher and Susurri man a mortar to teach the foul xenos and heretics that there is no hiding from the Emperors embrace.

 

 

Penitent Nihlus has been sentenced to death in the Emperors service for crimes too numerous and foul to mention.  His shady past has taught him to be adept at ranged combat from the shadows (Stealth)

 

 

Brother Subtilis and Brother Cognito will bring the light of the Emperor to heretics with blazing plasma.  Brother Subtilis's corpse was reclaimed from a battlefield by the Mechanicus after his plasma gun had exploded in the heat of battle and charred the flesh from his face and hands.  He has been returned to service without any explanation from the Mechanicus or himself, but others in the squad have noted that he never removes his respirator mask or gloves and that he seems to have no trouble spotting hidden enemies (Ignores Cover).  Brother Cognito has made extensive study of all the enemies of humanity and the best way to dispatch them with melta weaponry.  His expertise and zealotry has come to the attention of high command who has forwarded him to the Redeemers squad and issued him a plasma gun for the duration of their scouting deployment (Preferred Enemy).

 

The Sentinel is yet to leave the assembly line, but will join the squad before they deploy for battle.

[scatmandoo]

Well done, your units look great and have great character. 

 

Nice colour scheme too. much nicer than the red normally found on these models. 

 

Have you noticed your plasma on the Russ is upsidedown?

[WarriorFish]

Good work, the colour scheme looks just as good on the Russ :) The troopers in blue works well, a good complementary colour scheme :tu:

[CoffeeGrunt]

You're really tempting me to try Kill Team out, it looks like a lot of fun to make a small but focused force! Nice work on personalising each model. :)

[Bonzi]

Well done, your units look great and have great character.

Nice colour scheme too. much nicer than the red normally found on these models.

Have you noticed your plasma on the Russ is upsidedown?

Yeah, I noticed after I had sized the picture down for internet posting. Fortunately the sponson weapons just sit snugly in their mounts so they are not glued. The Vostroyans were originally painted red when I bought them years and years ago in the fifth edition to ally with my Grey Knights (when Grey Knights were one of the few armies that could have allies). I've just recently dug these guys out of my box to serve as veterans in my AM list. I agree that their great coats look better in this color than the stock red.

You're really tempting me to try Kill Team out, it looks like a lot of fun to make a small but focused force! Nice work on personalising each model.

Kill Team is a blast. It's like 40K on crack. Suddenly things like a missed lasgun shot or making that one 5+ save become game changing events. Great fun if you've got a group of varied opponents to play.

My list for this Kill Team will be:

Veteran Squad: forward sentries

-Sarg [LEADER]: w/bolter

-Veteran [sPECIALIST, Ignores Cover]: plasma gun

-Veteran [sPECIALIST, Preferred Enemy]: plasma gun

-Veteran [sPECIALIST, Stealth]: sniper rifle

-Veteran: lasgun

-Veteran: lasgun

-Veteran: lasgun

-Veteran: lasgun

-Veteran Weapon Team: mortar

Chimera: multilaser, hull heavy flamer

Armored Sentinel: autocannon

It's about the dirtiest AM list I could think of that I had the models for. AV 12 spam in a 200pt game is very difficult to deal with as most kill teams only have one long range heavy weapon and that is easily destroyed after it reveals itself.

[scatmandoo]

Instead of Stealth can you get Shrouded, as it is better? 

 

Bar that this list looks great! very hard to counter due to the amount of armour as you said. 

[Bonzi]

Instead of Stealth can you get Shrouded, as it is better? 

 

Bar that this list looks great! very hard to counter due to the amount of armour as you said. 

 

Sadly no, stealth was the only special rule I could give him that increased his cover save.  Added to the forward sentries this will give him a 3+ cover save in ruins and a 2+ behind aegis and trench walls which we do have on our gaming tables.  He should be tough to kill....until an opponent takes the 'ignores cover' special rule as I have. 

[scatmandoo]

Ah that should be enough and should work well then.

 

Thankfully only being a Sniper should drop him down the priority list!

[Bonzi]

 

Pater Sameth and his kill team stand assembled and ready for battle tomorrow.

 

 

The Armored Sentinel 'Heralds Music' has finally arrived at the staging area!  Sorry for the blurry pics, my phone doesn't appreciate my shaky hands when taking close-ups.

 

[Bonzi]

 

Also an overall army pic update of my painting progress on the Sons of San Leor so far.  Unfortunately I spaced on putting the Scions I have finished in the pic.  As of now my Hellhound is next in line along with a revived Inquisitor from my 5th ed gaming days, a kit-bashed Callidus Assassin and a kit-bashed Vindicare.  I'm also in progress on magnetized lascannons to turn my Valk into a Vendetta.

[WarriorFish]

Excellent, they're coming along very nicely indeed. Good luck for your game tomorrow, High Command is looking forward to news of your victory ;)

[Bonzi]

The Redeemers got three kill team missions in today.  One total loss against a unit of four Grotesques in a Raider (my opponent made 7 of 8 FnP rolls in the first two turns).  One crushing victory against a fellow Astra Militarum player who choose to run a foot slogger Vet/Scion horde.  The third battle was the narrowest of victories against four Ork Nob bikers and a buggy (he had one more vp than me but I tabled him in the bottom of the sixth).

 

Battle Honors:

 

Sniper Nilus is presented with 'Order of the Target', for the valorous catching of enemy fire with his face rather than passing a single 3+ cover save.  He is also presented with the 'Impossible Marksman' badge for Rending with half of every shot he has ever hit with (3 rends from six hits).

 

The Armored Sentinel 'Heralds Music' is presented with the 'Grand Theft Auto' medal for having killed more vehicles in close combat than infantry with shooting (He has kicked to death a DE Raider and an Ork Buggy, but only managed to kill one Scion with shooting.

 

An unnamed Veteran has earned his battle name, Brother Occisor, for defeating a nob biker in close combat.

 

The Veteran Mortar Team has earned the 'Better Late Than Never' badge for killing only one model in each of the last two games and always doing it on turn four.  (Their lucky kill in the last game forced a leadership test on the Ork army which had killed everything I had except my mortar team and Sentinel.  The warlord and remaining biker promptly ran from the fight and left my Sentinel to duke it out with his buggy).

 

 

[WarriorFish]

Well done on the wins, I wish my sniper was that effective! :P I really want to get some more Kill Team in now...

[Bonzi]

Another punishing loss in kill team.  I lost against an Iron Hands tactical squad in a Rhino who were ace krak grenade throwers.  I did manage a moral victory in the continued melee rampage of my Armored Sentinel who added another two tactical marines to his close combat kill list....and more failures to his efforts to kill anything with his much more powerful gun.

[WarriorFish]

IHs would be tougher at lower points thanks to the special rules giving them an edge plus Kill Team plays to the strengths of Marines so it would always be a hard fight! Hopefully you do better next time :)

[Bonzi]

I got another couple Kill Team games in this weekend.  One was a blow out win against a nasty Tyranid list but the person was very young and just learning to play so the victory doesn't really mean much of anything.  The second game was a rematch against the nasty Ork Nob Biker list that I have face previously.  Yet again I tabled the Orks in the last turn but only had 2vps to the Orks 3.  I actually killed the last biker with my last lasgun shot on the last turn, making it the ultimate clutch play.

 

Thanks to some lucky rolls on a campaign table Pater Sameth is now T4 and LD 9, both of which came in handy against the Orks.  He also finally got a chance to put his bolt gun to work by finishing off one Nob Biker and killing a Nid Gaunt. 

[WarriorFish]

The Emperor looks after his own ;) Well done on another couple of victories Bonzi :D

[Bonzi]

Whew.  Six more kill teams played since I last posted.

 

 

The first two might as well be titled 'Everyone Forgets My Chimera Has A Heavy Flamer'

 

#1.  Vs Tau (x1 Crisis Suit, x10ish Fire Warriors, and x4ish Drones

 

We danced around a lot while blasting each other from range.  The Tau player quickly learned that I had far better range than him with my multi-laser, autocannon, sniper rifle & mortar.  He also was running into the problem that his Crisis Suit was the only thing he had that could break open my Chimera but he wasn't willing to leave his cover to get the Fusion gun shot he needed.  He tried flanking some drones around a building to get side armor shots on my Chimmy but I replied by advancing and roasting the bunched up drones with my heavy flamer.  Meanwhile my Sentinel spent the whole game murdering three Fire Warriors who were deployed poorly and spent their remaining time trying to reach cover....none made it.  My mortar also proved effective by killing a pair of hidden Fire Warriors.  Once he was broken his whole army vanished very quickly on poor leadership tests and I was free to capture the hill in the center of the board.  Massive win for the Sons of San Leor.

 

 

#2.  Vs Iron Hands Astartes (12?+ Scouts with cammo.  x4 sniper rifles, x6 bolters, x1 heavy bolter, x1 missile launcher, Landspeeder Storm)

 

Game was three objectives and he infiltrated about half of his force, 2 bolter scouts on the center table objective, 2 snipers in a building just in front of my Chimera and  2 snipers and a heavy bolter deployed in his zone on his objective.  His leader, 3 bolter scouts, and the missile launcher were inside of his Storm behind a building in his deployment zone.  I had my sniper in the top of a tall tower with my objective, my mortar team was on the left flank in a fortified position with the Sentinel on the opposite flank starting behind an aegis wall.  My Chimmy with its cargo of pain was just to the left of middle behind a section of trench works.

 

In my first turn my Sentinel lights up his Storm which jinks one shot but the other gets through and blows off the mounted heavy bolter.  My Chimera advances and burns the two sniper scouts out of the building with its heavy flamer and multi-laser.  My plasma gun with ignores cover shoot through the hatch smokes one scout on the center objective and the other dies to a volley from the lasgun array (gotta love having a mobile pillbox of death).  In kill team terms this was a crushing round which would be difficult to recover from.  In retaliation his Storm races up the mortar teams flank to block LoS to my Sentinel and take a pot shot with its cerberus launcher at my mortar team.  I take a wound and my mortar team is blinded.  His remaining two snipers and heavy bolter all draw bead on my sniper and let loose but I roll all my 2+ cover saves like a champ.

 

In the second turn my Chimera wheels around the side of the building where the Storm is hiding and I douse the vehicle in flames, multilaser, and plasma fire, killing two Scouts on the inside and wrecking the vehicle.  My Sentinel advances towards the middle objective and hammers his heavybolter scout who fails his 3+ cover save and gets splatter across a wall of martyrs.  My Sniper drills one of his remaining snipers who also fails his cover save.  After two turns so heavily in my favor the other team is on the ropes and hoping for a miracle.  Unfortunately it doesn't happen.  His snap shot rocket and krak grenade miss my Chimmy and my sniper makes another cover save against his sniper.  His leader makes a run move into the cover of a building but he knows there is nowhere to hide.

 

In turn three my Chimera advances and roasts the two brave scouts hiding in the wreckage of the Storm.  My Sentinel makes a run move and reaches the center objective.  The mortar team, enraged at wounds suffered and no longer affected by blindness, make an indirect shot at the lone remaining sniper on the objective in his deployment zone.  Direct hit, wound, failed 3+ cover save and the sniper is no more.  This leaves his Scout Sarg leader vs my entire army.  He elects to walk his leader out of cover to stand in front of my Chimera and beg for death.  

 

In turn four he burns to death in the fires of my Chimeras flamer.  A fitting end to a Kill Team that made a mockery of the Scion kill team last season.

 

 

The next game I title 'DIE IMORTAL TAUROX, DIE!'

 

#3.  vs Tempestus Scions (x5 Scions, x2 volley guns, Taurox Prime w/missile launchers and autocannons & cammo netting)

 

We roll the mission that is night fighting for the whole game and you have to outflank any model that rolls a one or a two.  I start out with my sniper, three lasgun vets, and the sentinel on the board......oh boy.  Turn one is is a whole lot of shooting at things that all have 3+ and 2+ cover saves.  I do manage one pen with a shaken result on his Taurox. 

 

Turn two and his leader and two outflanking Scions arrive and shoot my sniper in the back of the head.  His Taurox tries to kill my Sentinel and fails due to cover saves.  My Chimera arrives and burns his leader and two Scions to death with the heavy flamer.  My ignores cover plasma gunner blows his own face off on his first shot.  My prefered enemy plasma gunner dismounts and runs towards the enemy deployment zone and the objective guarded by one scion.  My Sentinel shoots the Taurox and does nothing, then charges and does nothing.

 

Turn three and his Scion in the Taurox bugs out on a failed break test.  The Taurox speeds away from my Sentinel and then tries to shoot it to death but fails due to cover saves.  I retaliate by smoking his last Scion on an objective with plasma and running a lasgun vet onto the objective in his zone for line breaker and an objective point.  The Chimera fails to hurt the Taurox side armor with its multilaser due to cover saves.  My Sentinel immobilizes itself trying to chase the Taurox.

 

Turn four and the Taurox destroys my Chimera when I fail three 3+ cover saves.  All shooting against the Taurox is saved on 2+.  I have units on all three objectives and my leader is hiding behind the Chimera that just got destroyed.

 

Turn five and the Taurox kills my leader, getting slay the warlord.  Continued shooting against the Taurox is ineffective on a 2+ save.

 

Turn six and the Taurox fails to kill a vet on an objective.  My prefered enemy plasma gun finally manages to kill the Taurox.  At no point was I losing the game but good god was it demoralizing to have that unkillable cardboard tank running amok for half the game.  If only my ignores cover plasma gun hadn't blown up on the first shot.

 

 

Games #4 and #5 I title 'Revenge of the Mortar Team'

 

Game #4 was against Necrons (x1 Destroyer w/ heavy gauss cannon, x5 Imortals w/tesla, x5 warriors w/gauss)

 

I basically won the game because I managed to drop his gauss cannon leader in my first turn of shooting.  The guy had a prefered enemy str 10 gauss cannon so he had to go.  After that it was a lot of shooting, but the glory was the mortar teams for the taking.  The mortar team killed three immortals and one warrior in that game.  Two of the immortals were on the last turn and were in my own deployment zone for line breaker.  I managed a direct hit, wounded both and then watched as he failed both his 3+ saves and couldn't reanimate because there were no other Necrons nearby. 

 

 

Game #5 was a quick affair against a fellow AM player (20 vets and 5 scions with sundry weaponry)

 

First shot of the first turn my mortar blind fires at his leader who is hiding inside a ruin with no windows.  Direct hit, wound, and failed save nets me first blood + slay the warlord.  After that my dice couldn't miss and my opponent couldn't save.  He forfeited after turn three because his rolls were so awful (1s and 2s for everything).

 

 

Game #6 was me getting curb-stomped again by the Dark Eldar grotesque army.  We had a lot of fun as his ravening horde tried to chase down my sarg and mortar team as they ran across the board to escape.  My mortar team did manage to would his leader with lasgun overwatch so their streak of amazing continued even in defeat.

[scatmandoo]

Sounds a great evening was had and some great success against the enemy's of the imperium!

 

Seems as though the list couldn't work any better which is great.

[WarriorFish]

I'll cite this as why mortars are great ;) Another riveting read and more successes for the Sons, great work Bonzi you're doing us proud and flying the flag for Kill Team! Unfortunately this only makes me sadder as my last attempts to organise KTs have fallen through :(