Chronicles of the Govannon War

[simison]

Captain Savienti listened to the reports filtering in over the vox. The skirmishers had successfully secured the artifact but were now being threatened as the Khornate rabble had engaged them. One squad now had the unenviable position of fighting a Maulerfiend.

 

"Terminators," he addressed his squad. "Prepare for close combat." Switching vox channels, he passed out orders. "All assault squads, full advance. I want those daemon engines destroyed immediately. Brother Arkhus, take your storm speeder and flank the enemy. We will not fail the Emperor today."

 

Minutes passed before the Land Raider they were in came to a stop. Magnus lifted his relic blade as the assault doors opened. "Charge!" He roared as he and his squad moved out to the sound of jump packs discharging as Blood Angels flew overhead.

 

 

 

Little intro piece to get the ball rolling. Recently, I and five other friends got a campaign going with one friend taking the role of DM, while the rest of us fight it out. So far, we've had two battles. The first was a chaotic free-for-all between the primary forces, while the second was two separate battles of 1 vs 1. 

 

Here are the armies:

 

Comprising one force is the Govannon PDF with regular Guard (Player Sean) allied with an Eldar army (Player Nate). This traitorous alliance began when tectonic activity and natural disasters herald the attempts of a Bloodthirster trying to free itself from a prison within the planet. Panicking, the Guard sent out pleas of help. To their surprise, instead of the Imperium, it was the esoteric Eldar who arrived to save them. Using their profane magicks, they re-strengthened the seals, earning the love of the of the populace as they became seen as saviors. The Eldar, mission accomplished, prepared to fall back into the Webway. 

 

Then a Khornate band (Player Jordan) arrived. Sent by the Chaos god of blood himself, they set about freeing the daemon lord, starting a war as the Eldar joined forced with the Guard to end this threat. 

 

Apparently, Fate said, "Hmmmm, this is good and all, but it could use more punch." Thus, Fate summoned a Tyranid Hive splinter fleet (Player Taylor) to the system. Although the system was tainted by the presence of Khorne's forces (who rarely provided a good meal), the rest of the planet offered a large enough of a biomass buffet to convince the Tyranid fleet to settle in and chow down. 

 

On their coattails (or just tails), came the Blood Angels Third Company (Me). Charged with ending the Tyranid Fleet, the Blood Angels arrived in-system and realized the situation was a bit more complicated than expected. Nevertheless, with prayers to noble Sanguinius, the company prepared itself to not only cleanse the Tyranids from the system, but to also destroy the Khornate mob and end the abominable alliance between the Guard and the Eldar. Never be let it said that the Blood Angels shirked from duty. 

 

I'll be writing fluff pieces and posting batreps. I'll even try to post pictures! None available for the first two battles though, but I do have a camera at the ready for future battles. Let the games begin!

[simison]

Brief OOC history on Captain Magnus Savienti. 

 

In addition to the campaign background and points, each army has a Warmaster and a Rising Star. The Warmaster is one of the unique special characters from the codex, while the Rising Star is a generic HQ who will forge his own road to fame, complete with purchasable upgrades every phase and set gear. A phase is a round of battles so that everyone fights everyone else at least once. The first phase was one battle since it was a free-for-all. Right now, we've completed the first battle of Phase 2. 

 

For the Blood Angels, my Warmaster is Astorath, while my Rising Star is Captain Magnus Savienti.

 

The IG/Eldar have Pask as their Warmaster (who has 'died' twice now), while a female Farseer is their Rising Star.

 

Don't know about the Khornates. Whenever I try to thin-DEATH TO THE TRAITORS!

 

The Swarmlord is here leading the bugs, but all I know of their Rising Star is that it is a monstrous creature. Oh joy.

 

So far, Magnus has taken to the field once and claimed victory. His gear is Artificer Armor, Storm Shield, and a Relic Blade. He is currently 180 points now that he's gained +1 Attack and the vaunted Eternal Warrior.

 

Fun times. 

[BadDice0809]

Well this sounds awesome. Need updates. And photo batreps! Really cool concept

[simison]

"Besides your primary objective," Astorath had explained to Abelay. "It is imperative we deal a blow to the enemy leadership. Your secondary targets are the Swarmlord, a Khornate daemon who is riding into battle on one of their infernal chariots, and Knight-Commander Pask."

 

Three targets, yet each was leading their own armies as five different armies converged on this one spot of the planet. The Sanguinary Priest swung Valour's Edge sliced through more of the Tyranid brood, but they still refused to flee before his assault. He knew now he had made a tactical mistake and only death would redeem him. The xeno filth had surrounded them and clawed at their armor as they attempted to cut through them. Their talons were weak, but with sheer numbers they would bring another Sanguinary Guard down with small but innumerable cuts in his armor. 

 

When a large shadow washed over them, Abelay knew his last chance had come. The Swarmlord roared as it entered the fray. Only two Golden brothers remained to fight with him. Abelay readied himself, hoping he could still break the horde here and now. Moving faster than the marines expected, the Swarmlord's blades were blurs as they cut through their armor. Abelay was pierced through his chest and knew his life was forfeit. Only one duty remains. He grabbed the Veritas Vitae and the Valour's Edge and hurled them to Brother Elio. Elio had been thrown by the attack that had sheared off his leg, but clung to life. "Take them back to the chapter!" Abelay yelled as he triggered his krak grenade. 

 

Elio nodded and swung his sword in a wide arc. The Tyranids momentarily distanced themselves and at that second, he activated his jump pack as he grabbed hold of the priceless relics. Abelay felt a small measure of satisfaction as Elio escaped into the air. With a beep, all of his grenades detonated, the resulting explosion distracting the Swarmlord from any attempt to pursue.

[MrZombie]

Awesome fluff piece. Keep up the good work. :)

[simison]

An update.

 

The Khorne Warmaster is none other than...Cypher.

 

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting that, it'll be interesting to see him fielded next to the stab-crazy daemons.

 

Their Rising Star is Khorne chariot, whose driver is called Urabach. This is how his player describes him:

 

"He is a servant who stokes the coals in Khorne's hearth. He keeps the rivers of blood flowing smoothly from the skull throne and into the great lakes of gore that surround our great lord and master. However, from time to time, a bloodthirster will call upon him to go into "realspace" and gather more skulls. For this task, Urabach mounts a daemon engine from the dark forge and sets upon the beast's back a great golden throne, inset with skulls and gore like gems on a crown. From this high seat he can survey the carnage of the battlefield and inspire the heroic servants of Khorne to acts of bravery and greatness.

 

Basically I have a blood throne and I bought +2 attack."

 

I think I've fought Urabach in the opening battle of the campaign, which I'll write up a batrep for it in the next post. Quick disclaimer, it'll be imprecise since it was 3 weeks ago, but I'll do what I can to make it entertaining.

[spafe]

This is great, loving the concept and execution. Looking forward to more updates!

[Bukimimaru]

Absolutly loving this.

Narrative games for the win!

[simison]

As can be guess by Elio's fate, my first battle didn't go quite according to plan. 

 

The set-up: 

 

To kick off the campaign, our 40k DM decides nothing is quite as hilarious as a 4-way free-for-all. The board has a one-level centerpiece featuring plenty of terrain with an arch going over it. (The arch is wide enough to fit three Land Raiders underneath it, so, it's a big piece.) 4 deployment zones are established, not in the corners, but in the space between the corners. Two zones are 2 by 2, while the other two are 2 by 3, the extra foot extending from the short table edges deeper into the table. There's one multi-level ruined building in each deployment zone. 

 

The armies:

 

The Tyranids have brought nothing but gants/gaunts and the Swarmlord. It's a formation that allows the 'Nids to roll a die with a 4+ ressurecting an entire swarm of gaunts or gants. As it stands, the Swarmlord has, I think, two 30-bug hordes of both types. The Swarmlord is bubble-wrapped in the center of this mess. He is off to my left in a 'long' zone. 

 

Across from me are the Khornates. Urabach is here with two Soul Grinder's, a Maulerfiend, and two rhinos packing with tacticals, one with a Chaos Lord. 

 

To my right, in the second long zone, is the heretical xeno-human alliance. Pask is on the field by himself (DM houserules that he doesn't need the second Russ.) with a Tempestous squad in a Taurox Prime. The Eldar have their Rising Star of a female Farseer with Avengers, some bikes, and guardians with a cannon. Said guardians are in their ruined building. 

 

I have brought Elio with the Sanguinary Squad, two CC scout squads, and three drop pods. One with a Fragioso and melta, while the other two are meltacide squads. Throw in a Stormraven with one of the CC scouts.

 

It is Maelstrom, the quasi-standard one where everyone only gets 3 cards a turn. 

 

The cool stuff:

 

Now, to explain my army choice, you need to know that everyone had a secret objective. Khorne would gain a victory point every time he successfully sacrificed a unit to each different army (masochists!). Eldar-IG needed to kill one unit per army to gain a victory point. I can't remember what Tyranids needed. I'll check with Taylor and edit it in. 

 

My army would get a VP for each warlord I killed. Hence the need for drop pods, which could get to my targets almost without fail and without getting shot up before getting to them. In case they were still alive, the Stormraven would come in.

 

Additionally, everyone was supposed to keep trophies of each entire unit they killed. Whoever had the most trophies at the end of the battle got another victory point. It replaced First Blood and Linebreaker. 

 

The Battle:

 

Like I said, this is going to be the rough and dirty version because it's almost been a month now. I infiltrate my scouts on my right flank to get as close as I can to Pask because each scout sarge has a melta bomb. Elio starts on the top of my building with everyone else in reserve. Turn 1, I drop the Fragioso next to the Tyranids, while I drop the first meltacide next to Pask. Elio and the Sanguinaries jump toward the Nids to support the Fragioso. Meltacide #1 does their job with gusto, exploding Pask before he has a chance to fire. One down, two to go.

 

Then comes my first tactical mistake. Elio and the Fragioso do take out plenty of Nids, but I forgot that they were Fearless so long as the Swarmlord is nearby. So, the two different units get bogged down in close combat. 

 

Khorne, the cowards, completely ignore the Tyranid threat next to them to launch a full-on attack on the Eldar-IG, who are not happy especially with their Warmaster already dead. This leaves me to deal with the whole swarm. The Swarmlord had taken a couple of wounds from the Frag Cannon, but then explodes the Furioso (with some obscene luck) on his first strike. My CC scouts play tag with some Eldar and IG for the remainder of the game, not doing much and trying to score some Maelstrom points. The Swarmlord catches up to Elio and the remaining Sanguinary Guards and slaughters them all, after Elio successfully kills one whole swarm. (Which promptly resurrects....I still get a trophy!)

 

The second meltacide drops in Turn 2, but not the Raven. They successfully kill Urabach, netting me the second point for my objective. That just leaves the Swarmlord. For one glorious moment, it looks I'll pull it off. Somewhere in Turn 3, Khorne finally notices the hordes about to hit them and start fighting with the Soul Grinders taking some shots at the Swarmlord, reducing it to 3 HP. 

 

My Stormraven finally shows up on Turn 4 and reduces the Swarmlord to its last wound. Alright, don't like it, but that Stormraven is coming down and going to shoot everything it can and the Scouts will charge if necessary. 

 

Khorne, being the trolls they are, open fire with the remaining Soul Grinder and hit it. Okay, not happy, but everything is twin-linked so I still stand a so-so chance. Plus the scouts with the melta bomb. Khorne gets a pen and promptly rolls the Velocity Locked.

 

....

 

"Noooooo!"

 

The Swarmlord lives as my Raven has to move deeper into Khorne territory where it tries to get one more Trophy by shooting everything it has at the remaining Soul Grinder. (The other one was swarmed by Tyranids, impervious to harm, but effectively removed from the battle.)

 

The comes the end tally.

 

The Eldar-IG, who have taken a beating this entire game, win thanks to nabbing every Maelstrom objective, the sneaky devils. They get 3 campaign points.

 

The Tyranids come in 2nd place, not too surprised there since they took the least amount of damage. They get 2 campaign points.

 

I come in 3rd, unfortunately. I had a dry spell of nigh-impossible objective cards midway through the game. I have the lone campaign point.

 

Khorne comes in 4th, which has none. 

 

And that was the opening fight of the Govannon Campaign.

[simison]

More campaign info:

 

Just as the Rising Star can get upgrades over time, there are penalties if the Star or the Warmaster are killed in combat. There is a Special Wound table that must be rolled on. At the top, if you roll a 6, no real penalties other than you can't field them as your Warlord for the next battle. Essentially, they need a breather from leading, but can still fight. At the bottom, they take a -1 to their save rolls. So that nice 2+ artificer armor? Now, it's all broken up and is only worth 3+, while your invul is also less effective. In Pask's case, he takes a -1 to every armor value. Everything in-between varies. Might be done a wound or your skills might be a little weaker. 

 

But there are a couple of modifiers. One, either character can choose to retreat at any point in his current battle. Oh look, the Swarmlord is about to massacre that Farseer! *whoosh* Farseer says 'see y'all next time' as she runs off the field. Urabach sees melta everywhere around him! Back to the Warp he goes, pansy! 

 

If you do this, you still roll on the table, but with a +1 modifier. If the character is taken out mid-battle, but his side still wins, that's a +2 modifier. So far, Pask and the Farseer have rolled on the tables and both gotten the best result thanks to them winning their battle. 

 

If you do roll poorly, all is not lost. Simply not field them for the next fight, they'll grab an ilho stick, take a breather, and come back after that at full health. 

[simison]

The Maulerfiend could not last against Magnus and his terminators, but they were too late to save the scout squad. Only Sergeant Serge had survived. The other proved luckier as the cursed Urabach had failed to cover the distance. They were falling back in good order where the Land Raider was to meet them, the relic safe in their possession. "Target priority is the enemy's anti-tank weapons. With the weapons eliminated, and the relic safe in the Land Raider, victory will be ours!" Captain Magnus shouted over victory. 

 

"For the Angel!" The Strike Force answered. 

 

Serge shook with ill-conceived rage as he answered. Magnus glanced at him. "Fall back with the other scout squad. Protect the relic."

 

With a shake of his head, Serge replied as he held up his meltabomb, "Captain, permission to engage the first Soul Grinder."

 

A 'no' was on Magnus' list when one of the heretic rhinos deployed its contents. A corrupted tactical squad marched toward the land raider, two meltaguns in their possession. Both Soul Grinders were operational after the assault squads' meltaguns failed to do more critical damage. The meltabomb in Serge's hands now carried greater weight. Magnus said, "Permission granted. Emperor guide you sergeant." He addressed his own squad, pointing his blade at the chaos tacticals. "Terminators, that squad must not reach the land raider. Forward!"

 

As they moved to engage, Magnus could hear Serge's roar as the lone marine charged towards the daemonic walker.

[simison]

Second battle, first time Magnus takes direct command. Obviously, I'm against Khorne Daemonkin.

The field:
A day or two before the battle, all of the players get a text message. Our next battle is to take place in a volcanic zone, and it is active! With flying debris and clouds of ash choking the air.

With this in mind, I decide my forces will hold no units in reserve and no air units. Since the skies obviously are poisoned, I bring no AA seeing as how only a fool would bring an air unit.

*cue the Heldrake* SCREEEEE!

...sigh.

Right before the battles take place, our GM informs us what the mechanics are. Any flying unit that is swooping must take a dangerous terrain test after moving.

Second, both battles have the Relic mission. Here's the fun part: at the end of every even-numbered game turn (2,4,6), whoever holds the relic gets to drop an Apoc blast on the other battlefield. Strength is D6+3, while AP is the same roll. Roll a 3, you have a Str 6, AP 3 blast hitting.

Now for the actual table. Relatively simple, Dawn of War deployment with three ruined buildings per zone. The relic is dead center with two rock outcroppings on with side of it, along the dividing line. I deploy first.

The armies:
BA - Captain Magnus with a Pries attached to a assault termies with 3 more termies inside a Land Raider Crusader. (Yes, I made a mistake on how many were allowed, but my opponent and the GM let it slide.) 4TH/SS, the LRC had a MM. They deploy just left of the center ruin up to the edge of the zone.

Troops are 2 CC scouts, two melta bombs, while 1 squad has cloaks. They infiltrate as close to the relic as they can, hiding behind the rocks for a cover save.

FA choices include two 'meltacide' squads. Two melats and a combi-melta per squad. They're on the top/third floor of the center ruin, ready to jump.

A 4-man bike squad is left of the crusader, 2 Grav guns. To the left of them on the other side of the left ruined building is my land speeder. Only has a heavy bolter and is essentially designated as my troll unit.

Finally, for H/S, one Predator with auto/las spons. Has engines and is deployed right of center ruin.


Khorne -

In reserve are three chaos termies, a raptor squad, and the Heldrake.

Urabach returns to the field and sits next to a Soul Grinder, staring at my Pred across the way. On the other side of his center ruin is his other Soul Grinder next to a Mauler Fiend, eyeing my LRC.

Behind each Soul Grinder, is a rhino with TACs. The one across from the Pred has 2 meltas and a 10- squad. The one across from the LRC has a Chaos Lord.

The Battle:

Turn 1 - all Blood Angels advance. One scout squad secures the relic, the other waiting by them. The Land Speeder moves flat out and is now in the their deployment zone.

Aaannd...cliffhanger.

No, seriously, I'm out of time. I'll finish the rest of the post tomorrow.

[simison]

Back, and I'm sad I have to pick it up right here. Because it was here that the Blood Angels embarrassed me. Out of seven melta shots, only one hit. It penned the Maulerfiend, who promptly ignored it. Any hopes of securing an early lead are dashed as the Khornates come right at 3rd Company, determined to strike back. The Soul Grinders fire away, one doing no damage to the Land Raider, while the other shakes the Predator as it's reduced to its last hull point. Urabach and the Maulerfiend stare hungrily at my scouts. The Maulerfiend makes its charge handedly. But the Angel watches over his sons and causes Urabach's charge to fail by two inches. The scout squad with the relic is free to fall back. In the assault phase, the Maulerfiend only kills 1 scout, but takes no damage in return. Serge's squad holds for now.

 

Turn 2 - 

 

Determined to repel the Khornates, Magnus and his terminators deploy and surround the Maulerfiend, ready to charge. Both assault squads attempt to make up for terrible performance last turn....and FAIL! Left squad fires on the Soul Grinder and fail to do anything to it. The right squad opens fire on Urabach and also fail to do any damage. I confess, I was feeling the Black Rage tease me and thought about just dropping the game. But that would reflect poorly on our primarch so I continued. The grav bikes fire on the Soul Grinder and fail to do anything, but I was expecting that. Predator pulls back and fires at long range, but misses everything. Fair enough, it was snap firing. Storm Speeder shoots the rear of the Rhino and does a single glance. As in the story piece, the terminators kill the Maulerfiend, but not before it kills off 3 more scouts. Everyone consolidates toward the enemy.

 

Much to my ire, terminator squad deep strike onto the field, and the Heldrake flies onto the field. Thankfully, the terminators scatter out of melta range of the Crusader. Suddenly aware of the meltas staring at him, Urabach does a strange thing: he flees. Yeah, heads back into his deployment zone at full speed. The Rhinos advance, one opens fire on Serge and kills him before he can meltabomb the Soul Grinder he was aiming for. The Heldrake promptly cooks my left melta squad, reducing them to a single marine, who happens to have a meltagun. The terminators fire at my Crusader (poor tactical choice, in my opinion) and fail to do damage. One Soul Grinder lumbers toward the Crusader, while the other holds its position and fires but does little. Nobody charges.

 

*Bonus* Since I still have the relic, I get to drop a blast on the other game. The Eldar/IG have the relic over there. Since that also happens to be the top dog in our campaign, I drop the blast on the two-man Eldar Avenger squad possessing it. It scatters 3D6 and lands on a nearby Guardian squad. I roll a 3, and more than half the squad promptly disappears in the blast. Nate fake-yells that I've costed them the battle. I have a laugh and go back to my game. 

 

Turn 3 -

 

The scouts with the Relic make it into the Raider. Magnus aims to add a Soul Grinder to his squad's list of kills for the day. Predator advances into range, now firing normally, while the bikes turn to engage the terminators. This shooting phase is much more satisfying. The lone meltagunner stuns the Soul Grinder in front of him, while the Pred & other melta squad shear a weapon off the other Soul Grinder trying to charge the Crusader. One terminator dies to grav shots, the Storm Speeder is still trying and failing to take down the Rhino. Magnus charges and the damaged Soul Grinder is destroyed. 

 

*Bonus* At this point, Nate comes back looking for revenge. Seeing it extremely unlikely that he can destroy my Crusader, he aims at my right melta squad that was threatening Urabach, and kills 3 of them, while glancing the nearby Soul Grinder. Darn. 

 

The Raptors make it in, scatter a little, but proceed to finish off the assault squad who was hit by the vengeful Eldar. So, now all I have is 1 assault marine from the other squad. They are significantly aided by the Heldrake which flies over, failing its first dangerous terrain test. The lone Soul Grinder takes shots at the terminator and kills two. The terminators move towards the bikes and open fire, killing one, the nearby Rhino with the Chaos Lord also fires and kills another. The other Rhino advances and dumps the TAC squad with meltas and they fire a couple of warning shots at the Crusader, missing. Urabach has a race with himself in the back field. 

 

Turn 4 - 

 

As the game winds down, another terminator dies to a grav shot. Magnus moves to intercept the TACs with meltas. The lone assault marine finally kills the remaining Soul Grinder. The Crusader fires many bolts at the incoming TACs, but kills only a couple. The Predator tests its luck and shoots at the Heldrake, glancing it surprisingly with the autocannon. Magnus charges, and the rest of the TAC squad melts beneath his assault with no casualties. 

 

With all of the spilled blood, Urabach uses it to turn the last terminator into a Daemon Prince! Who attacks the Crusader and knocks two wounds off it, while shearing off one of the Hurricane bolters. The bikes are finished off by the Rhino, still carrying the Chaos Lord. The Heldrake flies off into on-going reserve. The Raptors, needing a new target, turn to the Storm Speeder and make short work of it in close combat. No line breaker for me. Urabach is still cheering at table edge when he fails a dangerous terrain test and grounds himself on the center ruin. Ha! 

 

*Bonus* I get to drop another blast. Nate still has the Relic and its even the same squad. I target them, but it scatters onto some Scions and a small horde of gaunts. The ensuing explosion kills most of the gaunts, but kills only 1 Scion due to good cover saves. Unfortunately, this works in Nate's favor. 

 

Turn 5 - 

 

With only one more enemy that can threaten the Crusader, Captain Magnus and squad moves to kill it, while my Crusader runs from it. Testing his luck, my Predator aims for Urabach and reduces him to a single hull point. In close combat, Magnus and the onslaught of thunder hammers kills the new Daemon Prince in a single round. The lone meltagunner looks around for targets and tries his luck against the Raptor squad. He misses and is killed in Overwatch. 

 

The Heldrake returns and tries burning the terminators, succeeding to kill 1. The Chaos Lord finally deploys as they attempt to do something, but doing nothing. 

 

We roll and the game does continue to Turn 6. 

 

Turn 6 -

 

Relic safe, few units left, Magnus makes one last charge and kills off the Chaos Lord, earning him greater glory, while the terminators make short work of the retinue. The Pred makes one more try to kill Urabach and is foiled by a successful invul save. Next time, that chariot will die!

 

Raptors and hovering Heldrake take down another terminator, but victory is determined. 

 

Blood Angels win!

 

*Bonus* I drop a final blast and miss almost everything. I think I killed two more guardians, but that was it.

 

In the end, Nate won his game anyway, leaving the campaign as so:

 

Eldar/IG - 4 CP

BA & Nids - 2 CP

Khorne - 0 CP

 

Tomorrow is the next campaign game, and I am looking forward to it!

[BadDice0809]

Great sounding battle! You sbould post some pics of the armies/ batreps. Or at least some of the rising star characters

[simison]

I plan on taking my camera with me tomorrow.

[simison]

Since I always go to bed right after my 40k day, here's a post for today. Another mechanic explanation: campaign points. While, yes, they are primarily showing who's winning overall, the GM is experimenting with a secondary effect. To give a boost to players lagging behind, they get a certain amount of extra points to spend on their list. For example, top dog right now are the Eldar with 4 CPs, while Khorne has none. If these two armies were to fight today, Khorne would get 4% bonus amount of points to spend on his army. Let's say, it's a 2,000 point game, since we did a 1,500 point game last time. That would mean Khorne would get an additional 80 points for that battle, more than enough to add a few more bodies or toys. Whereas if I went against the Tyranids, nobody would get anything since we're currently tied. 

 

And, I think that's all of the overall campaign's mechanics. 

[simison]

Quick update, received intelligence from the field:

 

"Your mission will be to deliver bombs to key locations in your opponent's forward base." 

 

I wonder if I can put them in Stormravens?

[Bukimimaru]

^{I'm really, really enjoying this.
Keep up the great work, and lets see some pics. :D}

[simison]

Uhul watched as the giant, flying Tyrant hovered close to where his fellow specialist was. The creature roared as it fired nearly-endless waves of xeno shot into its target. The Hive Tyrant had already made short work of the rhinos assigned to the two specialist and their guardian squads. He glanced at the Blood Angel sergeant who was in communication with his commander, a Sanguinary Priest named Sezary. After a moment, the sergeant addressed the squad. "We have to abort our mission. We can't make it to the bomb site in time." The sergeant focused on Uhul. "Our new mission is to protect him."

 

"Pity," Uhul murmured before his attention was drawn to the Hive Tyrant. "What name does that monster have?"

 

The Sergeant shook his head. "Only foes give them names, and we see no purpose to do so."

 

"It needs a name," Uhul continued as he heard the screams of the dying. "I've seen the reports. That Tyrant is tougher and more accurate than most of its kind. Its weapons scythe through its enemies, while it laughs off attacks against it. It reminds me of an ancient mythical serpent." He paused. "A basilisk. It should be known as the Basilisk of Govannon."

 

His escorts did not have time to voice their opinion on the matter as a much closer screech drew their attention. The surviving Crone hugged the ground as she came straight for them. The Blood Angels opened fire with bolt and grav as they sought to protect their charge. Still, it came onward, charging into their mist. The Blood Angels fought with ferocity, but they were the subject of the Crone's focus. The three marines were slain, leaving none but the beast and the human. Uhul smiled as he readied his laspistol and his blade. "The Emperor Protects."

[Bukimimaru]

"The Basillisk of Govannon" is the coolest Tyranid name I've ever heard. XD

Sounds like things arnt going so well for the Blood Angels, but then, when have we ever liked things going too easy for us? ;)

[simison]

This is true, and I apologize for their failed splice of sentences. I was using a computer that was horrendously slow and logged me out for some weird reason.

 

Yes, this battle was as grueling as the last. I won't spoil the ending until I have written a proper batrep. I did get a few pics though! I'll try to get it done later today, but I make no promises.

 

So, since time is an issue, I'll get the ball rolling with some set-up.

 

The situation:

 

As hinted, my Campaign Objective was to deliver 3 explosive specialists to three objectives held by the Tyranids.

 

Each specialist had guardsman stat line. Their equipment was a CCW, a las pistol, and a Rosarius for a 4+ invul. And they were Fearles with IC.

 

Limit was I couldn't take them in a transport that had more than more than 34 total armor value. (Adding Front, Side, and Rear armor.) which meant no flying in the Raven. The transport could only move 6' per phase. So, combat speed and half Turbo. Unfortunately, I missed the half Turbo part and suffered for it.

 

Deployment: Hammer and Anvil. Tyranids go first and get to deploy swooping flyers from the get go.

 

Regular mission: Maelstrom - Deadlock

 

The Armies -

 

Tyranids

 

As one might've guessed, I became intimately familiar with the Tyranid's Rising Star. Dubbed the Basilisk, it is a Flying Hive Tyrant with 2 twin-linked devorers. Upgrades? +1 Toughness and +1 BS. ...blargh!

 

In addition, he had 2 flying Crones for wing mates.

 

On the ground were 2 swarms of Hormogaunts, minimum size for troops.

 

A Zoanthrope, and 3 warriors functioned as the rest of the Synapse Network.

 

The rest of the monsters were: Venomthrope, Toxicrene, 2 Carnifexes with devorers, and a ...the big one with the cannon sticking out of it's back. My memory fails me.

 

The pics will show most of their positions.

 

Third Company

 

In command is another Priest, Sezary, with the Veritas Vitae on a bike. 7 bikes are with him, 2 with Grav guns.

 

2 TAC squads are charged with the first 2 specialists. One with 6 men, the other with a melta bomb. Both squads are in rhinos with storm bolters and dozer blades.

 

A scout squad with cloaks is outflanking with the 3rd specialist after the specialist is denied access to the Stormraven.

 

Speaking of, armed with melta, assault cannon, and Hurricane bolters, the Raven is on AA duty. No cargo.

 

In reserves with it are two fragiosos in drop pods. One with heavy flamer, the other with melta.

 

For the big guns, I have a pair of vindicators with engines, bolters, and siege shields.

 

Warlord Traits: Princeps of Deceit (useless) and reroll reserves with +1 steal the initiative.

[simison]

After some hesitancy, I decide to not steal the Initiative. Night Fighting is in effect. 

 

Turn 1 - Tyranids

 

Giant Flying Bugs!

 

The Basilisk and the two Crones come flying towards me, and try to unleash some early dakka with little effect. I think I lost one bike to the Basilisk. Elsewhere, there's just a general advance as half the bugs move towards me, while the other half protect their bomb sites. 

 

Blood Angels

 

Among my six cards are two that require I challenge a character. And the blasted Basilisk counts as one! Oy vey, but two others are securing Objectives 6 & 1, while the last two require I kill something in the shooting and assault phase. Maybe. (And I forgot to take pictures of my forces before the fight, sorry. Still learning.) 

 

While my vehicle force advances, I drop the first Fragioso on Objective 1, literally, he drops and walks right on top of it. All he has to do is kill the venonthrope nearby to clear the Nids from being ....three inches of the Objective. I actually can't remember now, and don't have my book near me. Does a unit have to be 2 or 3 inches to an objective to contest? Moving on, the black-painted Fragioso fails to kill the venonthrope with either the heavy flamer or the frag cannon. The drop pod likewise fails to drop the creature. Not a good start.

 

The vindicators open fire. One fails to do anything due to cover saves, the other wipes out half of the hormogaunt swarm on this side of the board. The rhinos with bolters try to add another wound against the carnifexes, but no luck. 

 

Turn 2 - Tyranids

 

Stupid fearless roaches!

 

The Hormogaunt swarm nearby abruptly changes direction and heads straight for my black Fragioso. Rolling pitifully on Wall of Death, the fragioso is swarmed and will remain there for a loooong time, much to my irritation. (If I had killed just one more gaunt, they would've failed the charge) The cannon guy charges the drop pod and fails to hurt it.

 

The first rhino goes down as the Basilisk rains its side armor with its devorers. The TAC squad with their charge files out without danger, but that's still loss of mobility and hull. Another bikes falls to Crone fire. Worse, the carnifexes box in the entire armored column. Again, if I had remembered the 6 inch turbo, I would've sent my rhinos around. The hormogaunts and the nearby Tyranid warriors hold their ground, guarding their bomb site. 

 

Blood Angels

 

Second pod comes in along with the Stormraven. To my later dismay, I completely forgot about my scouts. The second fragioso scatters a bit and then fails to get into the ruin behind the tyranid warriors. He's still kills one warrior outright, while wounding a second one. The new drop pod kills two more gaunts. 

 

The Stormraven flies in and, thanks to my opponent's overconfidence, wipes out the first crone in a single salvo. We might just regain air dominance yet. But the vindicators are struggling against the carnifexes. I do another couple of wounds, but it's just not the right weapon for this situation, and they're still out of range of the grav guns in the rhino, while the other TAC squad moves farther away from its wreck. 

 

Card-wise, I pull out a second Secure Objective 6 card, so the Priest and bikes hold position and fire on the flying bugs, doing no damage. 

 

Turn 3 - Tyranids

 

RAAARRGGHH!!!

 

This picture is actually from Turn 4 Movement phase, but I took it because of what happens in Turn 3. Now, it seems like a plain picture, but, at the time, it was source of incredible rage. To avenge its sibling, this crone flies and does a vector strike against the Stormraven. Okay, not good, but how bad can it be? Rolls a 1 on the D3. Well, that's good. Rolls a pen. Um, not good. Then rolls a 6 on the damage table.   ......NOOOOOO!

 

Just like that, my air support is gone. And, a second later, another rhino is wrecked as the Basilisk flies past shooting its devorers. Two of my specialists are now on foot. And I feel my poor tactical planning when the toxicrene fires into the second fragioso's rear armor, immobilizing it. Then it charges in and finishes it off. The carnifexes continue to near my vindicators, stripping off hull points with their devorers. One vindicator goes down, leaving me in poor position. 

 

Well, this doesn't look good.

 

Blood Angels

 

I remember the Scout squad with their specialist, and they make the roll. I outflank with my eyes locked on the nearby bomb site. I roll Move through Cover, but only get a 4. Not good, the specialist has to be in base contact with the objective marker to get the point. I skip shooting as I focus on the Run. I need a 3. Hoping my dice don't betray like they've been doing for half the game, I roll it. I get a 4! The scouts and specialist sprint and successfully plant the bomb, the specialist disappearing.

 

Take that, 'Nids!

 

Now, this is something I forgot to explain yesterday. Since the Advance Wars DS mechanic was so popular last time, the GM is keeping it. This time, we're throwing Psychic Screams at the other table. You get one bomb site or kill the first specialist, you get D3 Psychic Screams, no saves allowed whatsoever. Get 2, you roll D6 Shrieks. Get all 3, and you throw down 2d6 Shrieks. I use the opportunity to throw all three of my Shrieks at the Eldar forces. One dud, one weakened squad is wiped out, but not much. It was fun nonetheless. 

 

However, I do some calculations and make a discovery. Only one more specialist (Uhul) is in range of another bomb site. But that means making max runs and movement. Unlikely, but I try it and get a 5 and immediately have them run away from the Tyranid line. The other squad holds position as I try to take advantage of their grav gun and take out the local monsters. No longer needing to milk Objective 6, Sezary heads towards the carnifexes. The Vindicator, too close, decides to try to do damage elsewhere and goes full throttle into the ruins. It fires on the tyranid warriors and wipes them all out, thanks to snake eyes on the cover saves. Woo! 

 

Another couple of gaunts die to the nearby drop pod. The other drop pod continues to fail to kill the venonthrope right next to it. Now, to protect the vindicator, both the bike squad and the static TAC squad need to fire their grav guns at the pair of carnifexes. One's on 1 wound left, the other on two. I have 9 grav shots and plenty of bolters to add for luck. Looking good, right? The TAC squad downs one carnifex, but then Sezary's squad fails to kill the other! I look mournfully at my vindicator. 

 

Turn 4 - Tyranids

 

Indeed, the carnifex turns around and knocks off two hull points with its devorers. With no vehicles to kill, the Basilisk opens fire on the first TAC squad,and kills off one marine and the sarge. The cannon bug moves forward and fires on the other TAC squad, killing a marine and a bike with its big blast. By this point, the remaining Crone hovers and heads toward the same TAC squad. Not a fan of bug sandwiches. 

 

Now comes one of the funniest moments in the game. The GM is watching over the game at this point and is sympathizing with some of my bad luck. Taylor (Nid player) is about to roll the charge for the Carnifex who is breathing on the vindicator already. But the vindicator is in terrain. So, I say, "Roll two 1's and fail." Lo and behold, he rolls two 1's and fails the charge! The GM's eyes become plates as I laugh in triumph.

 

Sanguinius' blessing is upon it!

 

No, it is the scouts who get massacred. After killing the last gaunt in overwatch, the toxicrene charges and murders them all in one go.

 

[Posting right now because the internet is becoming unstable.] 

 

[simison]

Blood Angels

 

Narrowly escaping death, the vindicator (who now deserves a title) guns it and clears away from the carnifex before firing at the bug artillery for a wound. With that done, Sezary and the TAC squad switch targets and fire on the Basilisk, knocking off half of its wounds, thanks to the grav. 

 

I score not one, but two VPs with the Linebreaker tactical objective, thanks to still having two pods and the black fragioso in the 'Nids deployment zone. Still need to kill something in the assault phase, and I pick up a Slay the Warlord card. Working on it. 

 

Turn 5 - Tyranids

 

Need more grav!

 

The carnifex and Basilisk continue to fire on the wounded TAC squad. Between all of the devorer shots, the squad is overwhelmed and the specialist is killed, netting the 'Nids one of the campaign objectives. Uhul's squad is threatened by the approaching crone. 

 

Again, the vindicator surprises all as it survives being shot at by the Tyranid artillery. But then it charges. 

 

Another miracle please?

 

Unfortunately, it goes down. Worse, the crone charges at Uhul's squad.

 

Protect Uhul!

 

Uhul survives as the three Blood Angels absorb the wounds for him and die for the cause. 

 

Blood Angels

 

Faced with the Basilisk to the front and Uhul in trouble behind him, Sezary makes the difficult choice choosing the Basilisk. That beast must die! Then promptly fails to do so as the grav fails to hit or wound, while the bolts bounce off. 

 

Elsewhere on the field, the dark fraigoso finally kills the last gaunt (after two rounds where it failed to hit anything!) and is free!

 

No one to defend him, Uhul faces down the monster who promptly fails to even hit him....yeah, I'm not kidding. It needed a 4+, and it missed. One turn gained, but what if the game continues?

 

I roll for it, and roll a 4. Dangit! 

 

Turn 6 - Tyranids

 

The Basilisk begins a duel between it and Sezary's unit. Two more bikes go down, but Sezary passes his morale test. Nothing else happens as all eyes are on Uhul and the Crone. This time, the crone manages a single hit and wound. But Uhul makes his Invul save! 

 

Blood Angels

 

Sezary avenges the dead on the field as he finally brings the Basilisk down. The fragioso repents of his failure and kills the venonthrope, wounds the zoanthrope, charges the zoan, and kills it! 

 

I am redeemed!

 

It is Uhul's turn and the little guardsman suffers a wound but saves it once more! Now if the game would just end!

 

Taylor rolls it, and it's a 5. The game enters its final turn.

 

 

Turn 7 - Tyranids

 

He ignores his whole army as he focuses just on killing Uhul. The crone swings and completely misses! The sheer amount of luck involved is making up for the earlier disasters.

 

Blood Angels

 

Instead of killing the last carnifex, Sezary detaches from the squad and zooms to safety, while the last two bikes charge at the crone. The furioso engages the toxicrene and does a wound, while being immuned to its attacks. 

 

The crone apparently can see only red as it promptly kills both bikers, but is unable to claim Uhul's life! He survives!

 

The Emperor Protects Indeed!

 

The game ends and points are counted. Only secondary objective is Slay the Warlord, which I got. One specialist succeeded, while another is dead, tie there. Thus it was so, the Maelstrom cards determined victory. Having 7 points to his 2, I claim victory for the Blood Angels and second place in the campaign!

 

 

 

[BadDice0809]

A Flying Hive Tyrant thats an even better shot with better tohghness. That sounds horrible

[simison]

I spent the first half of the game utterly confused because a Toughness 7 tyranid seemed weird when the rest of them were 6's and 5's. It was really confusing to hear about a BS 5 tyrant. It was only when he told me it was his rising star that the lightbulb triggered. And yes, the only counter I can think of is grav. Grav, grav, and grav!