Prot's Deathwatch Quickie-Rep: 1850 Maelstrom vs. Orks

[Prot]

So I promised I would try to batrep more of my games. And even though I said I didn't like to play or batrep armies I haven't painted, most people said they didn't care and would be okay with it. Nonetheless I've skipped some pictures due to too many 'black figs' just melting into the background making for ugly pictures.

That being said I did take some pictures of this blood bath against the horrid Ork Horde.

Prot Batrep: 1850 points. Maelstrom (The Infernus Bolter Experiment Game)

The Ork Biker List:

Zardsnark (?) the guy with skilled rider that unlocks bikes as troops.

Warboss with a bike/fist in the secondary biker squad.

2 very large biker squads with Nobs with Fists, and FnP guys.

2 trucks with 12 boyz (they have 4+ saves)

1 truck with Mega Armoured Nobs (always a threat in my games)

1 truck with Tankbustas (lots of AP3 here.)

Prot's Deathwatch: Blackspear o' Green Death!

Watch master (Beacon Angelis)

Kill Team: Basic squad in a rhino with 2 Infernus Bolters

Watch Company:

Captain Artemis, 3 x Aquila Teams (1 Pod in squad with Librarian with Tome of Ectoclades), 1 x Malleus Team (Artemis here in POD) (2 hammer requirement, 1 Vanguard with Heavy Hammer)

Corvus Blackstar, Infernum Halo.

(Watch Master joins the Aquila team with the Libby in a pod)

We played a basic Maelstrom. The long board edge deployment and 3 Maelstrom Cards per turn.

Early Game:

- I win the roll off for First turn/Deployment. Some stalker bolter dudes take cover with a Cyclone Termie out front in ruins. I plop down a Rhino with 2 Infernus Hvy Bolters in it.

- He deploys a gob of bikes on his back line, and spreads it the length of the table edge. With the Trucks, etc, I am feeling ridiculously outnumbered.

- He fails to seize the initiative.

- My first turn involves a heavy alpha strike: Pod 1 comes down with Watch Master, Termie w/Assault cannon+melta Fist, 3 Frag Cannons, and the Termie Libby (rolled on Librarius... this is huge... I got re-roll all saves).

The Alpha hits mega hard. 6 Flames (no 3+ jink) and a few rends make for 24 Wounds in total.) Even with FnP all bikes but 2 are dead after all is said and done. His Warlord, Zarsnark or whatever, is one of the two remaining bikes. They fail Moral, and run off the table.

+ The Emperor's Wrath knows no fear. The Alpha Strike hits very hard. +

- I tell him to keep his Warlord on the table because he feels so defeated at this point I feel bad, and I know he can still come back as all my games have shown me; the Deathwatch fade very fast.

- His return action is to sand bag my squad with a Truck Load of 4+ save boyz, but the Overwatch (re-roll ones) including all the FragCannons is strong... only 9 Boyz make it in. With all my Re-roll saves, I lose nothing and kill the squad.

- His turn involves a TON of bikes turboing up, and we both score points. His mega Armoured Nobs are a big concern though. They always cause me trouble because of lack of AP2 and they're tough buggers to get rid off.

Mid Game:

- We are slogging it out. My HQ Watch Master Aquila is only missing 2 marines because of Librarius re-rolls. I perils 2 times. But save one of them...

- Unfortunately my Rhino Squad lets the bike squad take two heavy flamers from the truck, but with FnP he saves most. The Rhino is inevitably destroyed, the Kill Team rolls out and prepares for the Xenos charge. The overwatch from the 2 heavy flamers kills a bike outright. He rolls too short to make the charge, however he gets to re roll one of those dice and makes the charge.

+ The Rhino is blown, and the contents (below picture frame) are about to be charged by a ton of bikes. +

The Kill Team just won't die though. Two guys stay there, so I can't shoot him on my turn!

- The Corvus comes in and blows a truck up. The contents spill out and my Stalker/Inefrnum Hvy Bolter/Cyclone Team kill the entire contents (got pretty lucky).

- An empty truck blocks my Watchmaster/Libbie/Aquila squad and they take FOREVER to get anywhere.

- Due to having my Corvus in reserve at start of turn, I get in all my reserves, including Artemis and Malleus squad. They come down with combi Melta's and look to stall the Mega Armoured Nobs. The Truck blows up, but the contents aren't pinned... Artemis prepares for the charge!

- Three Mega Armoured Nobs charge Artemis. The Malleus team is ready though. A Termie with Hammer/Shield is deflecting Fist Blows left and right, but he dies as his shield does not hold long enough.... Artemis takes a challenge from a Nob with Fist (normally I would not do this but I wanted to test...) THE BOMB! I choose the bomb, re-rolling 1's to hit as per my Mission Tactics. Artemis Rolls a HIT! But the result is a 1D wound, which the Nob happily accepts with a bloody mouth, and fists Artemis to the ground in one blow.

The Vanguard with Heavy Hammer watches this unfold, and with unleashed hatred smites the remaining 2 Nobs into dust with the Heavy Hammer. The Malleus squad is hurt, but still able to bite back.

End Game:

- Finally my Rhino squad dies, but in my turn, so the Ork Bikers now turn their attention to the Stalker/Termie squad in my backfield. They die a horrible death unable to handle the mutlitude of fists, and FnP.

- The Corvus spins around in Hover mode and picks up an objective marker, anticpating the use of the Angelis Beacon. I wanted to use the Corvus to grab the Watch Master Aquila because they've been out of the game so long (held back by trucks, then another squad). BUT one bloody Stalker Marine would NOT die! So I had to burn the Angelis to get the Marine out of CC with his Warboss Bike unit so I could actually shoot at the buggers!

So the marine is out of close combat. The 2 remaining Frag Cannons shoot at the Warboss biker squad, I only manage to kill one bike (I'm 2 feet away) and FnP saves the rest of the severely depleted biker squad.

- So the Corvus is now angled to take shots. The remaining Missiles don't do anything (biker jinks 3+) and all I have is the Assault Cannon on it. I pump 4 shots into the bikers, with twin linking all hit, and then I roll to wound.....

+ This is the Corvus "to wound" rolls. This is me crying. This is me wishing the Corvus got to re-roll 1's on "to wound". +

- The war goes on. His 4 bikes are free. My Malleus Kill Team is missing Artemis and the Termie but a Shotgunner, 2 combi weapon guys, and the Heavy Hammer Vanguard remain. I need a challenge this turn to get an Objective point. We are within 2 points of each other. For the first time all game, I get to charge him. Team Malleus challenges.... but all members die before the Vanguard swings. D'oh.

- In the next turn the remainder of that ork squad is wiped by my Corvus shooting. But I lose another squad in the process.

- All I have left is 2 pods, the Watch Master Aquila squad, and the Corvus. All he has left is 3 bikers, including his Warboss and FnP dude. He has drawn his cards and it comes down to this:

+ The Filthy Xenos MUST defeat the Watch Master (my Warlord) to win the game by points. However it's all they have left, and the planet around this battle is burning with the stench of dead Orks.... and Artemis, let's not forget Artemis. +

- In my turn something critical does happen leading to this moment.... in the Psychic phase the Librarian fails his roll for "Force" which I wanted to deny FnP. So the Ork player, greedily hordes his psychic denial dice in anticipation of my next power..... Librarius re-rolls on all saves... I pass it with only 2 dice... a pair of 6's causing me to take another perils wound, and LOSE the power for the rest of the game! D'oh. The Ork player rolls 5 dice, and also gets 2 6's denying my power! WOW did that ever suck.

- His cards and his losing by 2 points means he must kill my Warlord. I and win the Close Combat. He charges, and challenges. Now I know to get a guaranteed win all I have do is send a Sargeant in for the Challenge. It's guaranteed. But instead I send in the Watch Master to the challenge. Stupid? Perhaps, but this is Deathwatch.

- The fight ensues and he loses the bikers giving him FnP. All that's left is our challenge. The Watch Master only does one wound to the T6 Biker! The Warboss in turn hits multiple times with his fist! WAIT I yell... let roll a Block from the Custodes Spear.... and the Watch Maser Fails to block, fails a few 4+ invulns and dies!!!!

- The Warboss is celebrating... beating his chest in victory. My Warlord is dead and he's fist pumping in the air, just as my Librarian with Axe cuts his head off in the middle of his goading. The Orks are dead... completely wiped.

So in the end, even though he needed two points, he got one, but lost combat, and of course even so he was wiped to a man giving the Deathwatch a narrow victory. In other news Artemis was found burried to his neckline in the earth still breathing. it turns out the fist blow deflected off his shoulder plate and drove him into the ground alive. Better yet, Artemis found his grenade. So he'll get another shot with it.

Thanks for reading this batrep!

[Vash]

Great report and an eye opener. 

Alpha strike hits hard I see. I need to re-think some things in my future lists. 

I did know it hit hard, but tend to go on the safe side on spending points on upgrades (frag cannons). 

[Prot]

This is the way all of my games are going lately. The Alpha hits like a truck. And without sufficient weaponry, the Alpha just doesn't hit hard enough. I'd compare it to a 'weak' Skyhammer that is perhaps more flexible, and numerous than skyhammer.

 

BUT because the weaponry required is expensive, and sitting on 22 point models, the army has zero staying power. You feel the lack of FnP access, the lack of Eternal Warrior access. Etc. There is no freebies in here like Battle Co (my Ultras) or War-Convo. It's excruciatingly expensive to field this army.  It's a high learning curve and reminds me of old (like 3rd edition old) elite style armies I ran that had little room for error.

[Vel'Cona]

Great batrep!  Looking forward to more.