Chrysaetos Crusade : Black Templars versus Aeldari

[Khornestar]

(WIP bouncing between devices, sorry for the updates)

This is a log of the crusade games I’m playing with my Templars army, the Chrysaetos crusade. I had written some lore for the army but I’m kind of adapting it and expanding aspects of it for this campaign.

The beginning roster for the campaign, 50 PL:

+ HQ +

Marshal Tigranes: Captain in Gravis Armour [6 PL, 115pts]: Power sword, Tannhauser's Bones, Warlord

Brother-Chaplain Movses: Primaris Chaplain [5 PL, 85pts]: 1. Litany of Divine Protection, Litany of Hate, The Crusader's Helm

+ Troops +

Heavy Intercessor Squad, led by Sword-Brother Erek [7 PL, 150pts]: Hellstorm bolt rifle, Hellstorm heavy bolter
. 4x Heavy Intercessor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Heavy Intercessor Sergeant

Heavy Intercessor Squad, led by Brother-Sergeant Antonios [7 PL, 150pts]: Hellstorm bolt rifle, Hellstorm heavy bolter
. 4x Heavy Intercessor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Heavy Intercessor Sergeant

Primaris Crusader Squad, led by Sword-Brother Konstantin [10 PL, 178pts]: Bolt Pistol and Astartes Chainsword
. 3x Primaris Initiate w/Chainsword & Heavy Bolt Pistol: 3x Astartes Chainsword, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, 3x Heavy Bolt Pistol
. 2x Primaris Initiate w/Power Fist and Heavy bolt pistol: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Power fist
. 4x Primaris Neophytes: 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Primaris Sword Brother: Power sword, Pyre Pistol

+ Elites +

Bladeguard Veteran Squad, led by Sword-Brother Artin, Champion of the Feast [5 PL, 110pts, -1CP]
. 2x Bladeguard Veteran: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield
. Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant: Neo-volkite pistol, Stratagem: Champion of the Feast

Brother-Redemptor Hayk, Redemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 195pts]: 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon

Background Narrative:

A questing force of the Black Templars is patrolling the estranged fringes of their domain, which over three centuries ago had been scoured by the Aeldari as punishment for encroaching too far into a sector considered sacred to them.

Deep in the reclusiam of the strike cruiser Caliburnus, Brother-Chaplain Movses chanted oaths and prayers. An awesome vision appeared in his mind’s eye: he saw a vision of a double-headed eagle, its heads surrounded by a nimbus of golden light. The eagle’s heads spoke with the voice of the Emperor, Movses had no doubt. The eagle admonished humanity for losing ground to its foes. Old enemies lurked nearby, it warned, and must be sought, purged, and the sector reclaimed. Assembling a relic known as the Hands of Piety would be crucial to doing so. Failure invited the jaws of death to begin closing around the the vulnerable Imperium. The light and voice faded from his mind, Movses uttered oaths of duty and honor as he walked to the command deck.

Marshal Tigranes was silent for a moment, humbled by the Emperor’s words Movses shared with him. After conferring with his command staff, a comms link was established with Field Marshal Aleksan Aslanian on the keep-world Cilicium.

The Field Marshal instructed them to begin exploring the sector in earnest to ascertain any potential enemy presence, and  determine the best location for a frontier keep to establish a permanent foothold for the crusade. Reinforcements were en route but would take quite some time to arrive. Until then, Caliburnus would remain solo. The last order of business was to name the crusade and formalize its creation.

Inspired by the golden eagle of the vision Brother-Chaplain Movses received, Marshal Tigranes launched the Chrysaetos Crusade.

Edited September 4, 2022 by Khornestar

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

That’s a tight list… are you gonna kit anyone with the Sword of Judgement? Can’t wait to read some of your batreps !

[Khornestar]

On 8/29/2022 at 3:45 PM, Black Blow Fly said:

That’s a tight list… are you gonna kit anyone with the Sword of Judgement? Can’t wait to read some of your batreps !

Many thanks, sword-brother. I haven't decided who to bestow the Sword of Judgment on, either the sword brother in the crusader squad or bladeguard veteran champion of the feast. 

The list did really well, but my dice were absolute fire during the game. I only wish I remembered to take a single picture... My opponent and I were setting up terrain and noticed a random nurgling on a base at the shop, so that became our objective for...

MISSION 1: THE RELIC

In centuries past, the small planet Euranda once housed a colony of the human civilization that  the Templars of Cilicium now drew their recruits from, and seemed like a good start to their investigation of the sector.

After making planetfall insertion by Thunderhawk, the veterans of the Templars explored the ruins of an ancient temple complex. Fel whispers echoed across the complex, familiar to the veterans among the Templars who had encountered daemons before. Neophytes on edge, Movses uttered prayers beseeching the Emperor to steel their hearts.

It didn’t take the Templars long to find the source of these whispers, a rusted statuette of a corpulent little beast, green slime oozing from its sculpted smile. But the crusaders were not the only ones seeking out the whispering idol.

A grand rehearsal of Aeldari Harlequins was taking place on Euranda, the laughing god having called out the sector as the stage for a grand production. Their shadowseer knew the significance of the idol, having encountered denizens of the warp many times during the aeons of her life. It had to be destroyed. And just as they reached the scene of their rehearsal where they seize and destroy the idol, the knights of mankind arrived to interfere. They could not be allowed to take the relic, as their kind were too easily corrupted by the powers of chaos.

Brother-Chaplain Movses chanted prayers of protection, but for the moment they went unheard, distracted by the presence of the xenos. The Templars gained the initiative, Marshal Tigranes advanced along crusader squad Konstantin up the center, backed up by Brother-Sergeant Antonios and his heavy intercessors. The Marshal grasped one of honored Tannhauser's bones clenched in his boltstorm gauntlet, reminding him of his duty and inspiring him to honor his oaths. Brother-Redemptor Hayk covered their advance from right of center, and Sword-Brother Erek and his heavy intercessors advanced behind the shields of Sword-Brother Artin and his two fellow Sword Brethren out of a ruin.

The advance of the Templars was ferocious. A storm of bolt rounds from the heavy intercessors and the redemptor's panoply of weapons pinned the harlequins long enough for the marshal and crusaders to advance up to the relic in the center of the temple, but just out of reach. Inspired by righteous zeal, Sword-Brother Konstantin and the crusade squad made a devout push to reach the dais where it stood, oozing foul liquid and giggling intermittently. A few of the harlequin players caught rounds during the fusillade, and a skimmer transport carrying a troupe was damaged by a macroplasma blast.

The harelquins advanced furiously, determined to seize the idol before it was too late. A voidweaver blasted a lance at Brother-Redemptor Hayk, but it was only a glancing blow; no meaningful damage was inflicted. Shuriken fire from four skyweaver jetbikes and the damaged transport cut down two neophytes. The troupe disembarked from the transport, flipping out of its open top and onto the battlefield, rapidly closing the distance between them and the templars reaching to grab the relic. A solitaire blitzed behind them, while a second troupe took cover against the back of a ruin opposite the sword brethren and Erek's heavy intercessors. Cegorach played a joke on the solitaire, who tripped over a piece of rubble and failed to meet the chaplain in combat. A death jester set his sights on Movses, but the energy field of the chaplain's rosarius deflected the deadeye shots aimed at his helmet. The emperor protects. On the opposite flank, the Shadowseer used her psychic abilities to pry into Marshal Tigranes' mind, learning vital information about the forces of mankind and their mission. The idol became a secondary concern, as she knew the Imperium was vaguely aware of their presence with major reinforcements en route. The disembarking troupe and the skyweavers charged into the crusader squad and engaged Marshal Tigranes blade-to-blade. The finely wrought gravis armor protected the captain from harm, though dancing harlequins sliced through the crusaders as they made their charge, felling an additional neophyte and causing many bloody wounds to the initiates, but not taking any down. The majority of the crusaders engaged the skyweaver jetbikes, with one initiate and his neophyte joining Marshal Tigranes in purging the troupe that engaged them. The crusaders cut one down, and the marshal slew the remaining four on his own. It was at this point the neophyte and two initiates succumbed to their wounds, retreating to apply medkits and staunch bleeding. Sword-Brother Konstantin reached for the idol...

Movses focused as he chanted the Litany of Divine Protection, the Helm of the Crusader amplifying his voice to boom and echo throughout the temple complex. The remaining templars advanced into closer quarters as Sword-Brother Konstantin seized the relic. The sword brethren and Erek's heavy intercessors advanced up the wall of the ruin behind which the harlequin troupe hid out of sight. Movses aimed his absolver pistol at the solitaire and fired, clipping him in the leg. Guided by instruction by Brother-Redemptor Hayk, Antonios and his heavies opened fire on the wounded xenos flipping through the air, who was nowhere to be found when the smoke from their guns cleared. The heavy intercessor with helstorm heavy bolter split his fire at the transport, causing enough damage to stall the vehicle. Hayk fired rockets and a small plasma blast at the voidweaver as he stomped up the center, whose energy shields protected it from harm. Erek’s heavy intercessors opened fire on the death jester sniping from a rooftop, wounding him. Movses, Hayk, and Antonios' heavy intercessors jumped into the fray with the skyweaver jetbikes. Hayk smashed two of the skyweavers down with his fist, while the crusaders carved another apart. The surviving aeldari rider deftly swung her bike into Konstantin, failing to injure him but knocking the idol from his hands. Brother-Chaplain Movses seized upon her distraction and smashed her off her bike with his crozius. Marshal Tigranes engaged his gravis suit’s full power to charge toward the shadowseer as he opened fire with his boltstorm gauntlet, causing a minor wound. Knowing she only had moments to react, the xenos psyker implemented a feint and swung around to the backside of the ruins she occupied as the marshal charged. In those moments, she telepathically instructed the rest of the players to withdraw. Their rehearsal must be completed; they would have to deal with the idol and the mon-keigh at a later time. Just as she finished her instruction, the marshal burst through the wall of the ruin, thrusting his power sword to pierce through her power field. Seriously wounded, she flipped backwards over a broken column and disappeared into the smoke of the battle. Artin and his sword brethren swung their shields around the corner of the ruins on the right flank to engage the hiding troupe in melee. A troupemaster broke her camouflage to intercept one of their blades with her own. The bladeguard cut down one of the troupe, and was wounded in return by a fellow player.

The deathjester took aim again at Movses, whose rosarius again protected his skull from obliteration. The emperor protects. The transport and voidweaver failed to inflict any wounds on their targets. The transport and voidweaver opened fire on Brother-Redemptor Hayk, but again only inflicted minor damage. The emperor protects. The troupemaster dodged a bladeguard's thrust to acrobatically disengage and summersault her way behind Marshal Tigranes, eager to avenge the Shadowseer. The keen edge of her ancient blade was deadly and wielded with potent skill, but it was repeatedly turned aside by armored ceramite, power field, and faith in the god-emperor. The emperor protects. The two dueled, but the Astartes soon gained the upper hand due to the momentum and protection of his gravis armor. Tigranes stabbed through the troupemaster and bashed him aside with a backhand fist. The marshal looked away to survey the fight, and the troupemaster was gone when he looked back, leaving behind only an aeldari rune of mockery daubed with her own blood. A deadly joke. The remaining troupe members on the right flank continued their engagement with the bladeguard and gained the advantage. Both of Artin's brothers were struck down, but the Champion of the Feast deftly parried or blocked all their strikes but one.

Sword-Brother Erek and his helstorm rifle-armed brothers opened fire again on the death jester and struck him multiple times as they blasted the ruins apart. The luck bestowed by the laughing god left him with the strength to attempt to raise his weapon and take aim. Brother-Redemptor Hayk raised his fist, using an underslung onslaught cannon to end the death jester's luck and a macro-plasma incinerator to blast the voidweaver apart. Marshal Tigranes charged the transport, its disabled thrusters unable to prevent his boltstorm gauntlet from ripping it apart. Movses continued chanting as he led Brother-Sergeant Antonios and his heavy intercessors in a charge across the temple grounds to relieve the beleaguered Champion of the Feast. The players fought back, losing two of their number but again piercing Artin through his armor.

The Champion of the Feast bashed one of the troupe players down with his storm shield and stabbed the other with his master-crafted blade. He bellowed in triumph while blood pumped from deep stab wounds. The surviving Aeldari had escaped the battle, trails of blood vanishing abruptly after engaging their belts to leap through cracks and gaps in the temple ruins above. Sword-Brother Konstantin had secured the idol, which was giggling furiously in observation of the bloodshed. It sounded quite pleased. The Templars tended their wounds and uttered prayers to the emperor, telling tale of honored vows and upheld honor. Brother-Chaplain Movses swung his crozius arcanum down onto the idol, but failed to destroy it. Indeed, all attempts to smash or blast it apart failed as the disgusting little idol giggled maniacally. The Marshal's thunderhawk arrived above the ruins, slowing to find a stable landing zone. Sigismund's sons hefted dead and wounded brothers onto their shoulders and boarded the craft. Engines blasted them back into orbit and Caliburnus. 

Tigranes sent a comminique to the Field Marshal to debrief him on their engagement with the Aeldari on Euranda. Aleksan acknowledged the Marshal's tactical acumen and prowess in battle, authorizing him to unlock the reliquary aboard Caliburnus to retrieve the shackles of obedience. Still, victory and reward did not slow Tigranes. He resolved to establish a keep in the sector, figure out how to destroy the fel idol, and continue the fight against the Aeldari. The Emperor's command to Movses would be obeyed and prosecuted with righteous zeal.

Movses advised his Marshal to seek out the parts of Hands of Piety as they continued exploring the sector, certain their fate was tied to the Aeldari, who would undoubtedly return to avenge their losses. Field Marshal Aleksan concurred, adding a condition of honor to recover and assemble the Hands of the Pious as an additional objective for the Chrysaetos Crusade. 

=======================

Marked for Greatness to the Marshal. He was just so effective and tanked damage like a monster. He achieved some agenda stuff and ended up with 5 EXP, so that will be 8 and allow him to level up. I think I'm gonna go for the Iron Resolve Warlord Trait to go along with the Master of Relics captain honorific and the Shackles of Obedience and, which were a reward for winning the mission.  The crusaders got 4 EXP for capturing the relic objective for the agenda I chose for them. The chaplain, dreadnought, and both heavy intercessors gained 1 EXP each.

It was a good game but really my dice were on fire and my opponent's were super cold. We played this as the small-scale game with 3 CP, so there were minimal shenanigans on either side. Devout Push is what allowed me to get onto the relic, so it was the clutch move of the game. 

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Khornestar

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

That was an exciting report for sure… always good to see the arrogant space suffer !!

I’d arm the BGV sergeant with the Sword of Judgement - it might do more damage their since his squad has shields.

[Son of Sacrifice]

Nice write up,  the foul clown elves got what they deserved. 

[Khornestar]

*EDIT*

Sorry for the format, just click the hidden content. I can't figure out how to edit out the hidden section... so I'll add a second post to finish the report.

Some changes made to the prior 2 posts; corrected the name of the Hands of the Pious relic and decided to not upgrade the Marshal in the same way as I thought I might. I gave the Marshal the Shackles of Obedience and rolled on the battle traits table to select his reward for leveling up. I rolled a 2, which is +1 wound. 8 wounds? That'll work. :D I didn't go with a captain honorific for now.

============================================

Same list as game 1, with the exception of the upgrades listed above:

 

+ HQ +

Blooded: Marshal Tigranes: Captain in Gravis Armour [6 PL, 115pts]: WARLORD: Power sword, Tannhauser's Bones, Shackles of Obedience, Upgrade - +1 Wound

Brother-Chaplain Movses: Primaris Chaplain [5 PL, 85pts]: 1. Litany of Divine Protection, Litany of Hate, The Crusader's Helm

+ Troops +

Heavy Intercessor Squad, led by Sword-Brother Erek [7 PL, 150pts]: Hellstorm bolt rifle, Hellstorm heavy bolter
. 4x Heavy Intercessor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Heavy Intercessor Sergeant

Heavy Intercessor Squad, led by Brother-Sergeant Antonios [7 PL, 150pts]: Hellstorm bolt rifle, Hellstorm heavy bolter
. 4x Heavy Intercessor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Heavy Intercessor Sergeant

Primaris Crusader Squad, led by Sword-Brother Konstantin [10 PL, 178pts]: Bolt Pistol and Astartes Chainsword
. 3x Primaris Initiate w/Chainsword & Heavy Bolt Pistol: 3x Astartes Chainsword, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, 3x Heavy Bolt Pistol
. 2x Primaris Initiate w/Power Fist and Heavy bolt pistol: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Power fist
. 4x Primaris Neophytes: 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Primaris Sword Brother: Power sword, Pyre Pistol

+ Elites +

Bladeguard Veteran Squad, led by Sword-Brother Artin, Champion of the Feast [5 PL, 110pts, -1CP]
. 2x Bladeguard Veteran: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield
. Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant: Neo-volkite pistol, Stratagem: Champion of the Feast

Brother-Redemptor Hayk, Redemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 195pts]: 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon

This was mission 6, which involves both forces getting points for completing an action to exfiltrate the battlefield. Started at the end of the movement phase, finished at the end of the player turn. Vehicles and units with fly take 2 turns (ended up mattering, his starweaver couldn't do it in 1 turn and thus was targeted and destroyed). I knew my army was too slow to really pull that off, but it also turns out you get 5 VP per turn for preventing the enemy from exfiltrating any units. We both scored that second one every turn, since we didn't exfiltrate anything. The templars ended up destroying all units in the harlequin army at the conclusion of turn 3.

I actually remembered to take a single picture this time, of the deployment and quick model repair:

 

Game 2: Securing Martinez V

Having defeated and driven off the harlequins in the first engagement on Euranda, Marshal Tigranes and the Chrysaetos Crusade forces aboard the Caliburnus scanned and analyzed the sector’s habitable planets to find the ideal location for a keep as well as leads on the 3 pieces of the Hands of the Pious. Not only were the Templars unable to destroy the nurgling icon, but a daemonic spirit housed within the nasty little object was beginning to attempt to invade Sword Brother Konstantin's mind. With a stout heart and an implacable faith, he resisted its whispers, but with each passing day, the amount of time devoted to prayers with Brother-Chaplain Movses necessarily increased.

Within the system, sensors indicated the verdant planet Martinez V was the best potential site for a keep within a reasonable distance. Abundant water, timber, and ores gave the planet long-term viability. A series of small moons could provide ideal platforms for planetary defense systems. If secured, Martinez V could serve as the rendezvous point for the reinforcements en route from Cilicium. Once again making planetfall aboard the thunderhawk Phoinix, Marshal Tigranes led the landing force to secure a section of cloud forest located on a sprawling high-elevation plateau. Once cleared and secured, it would have the large surface area needed for a keep, starport, and small human colony. Phoinix returned to low orbit and waited for instructions regarding extraction.

The laughing god's players were ready and waiting. With the knowledge the shadowseer possessed of the crusade's forces and logistics, the logical next step for the Templars was to secure a permanent base of operations. The troupe master called upon additional forces for an ambush. The cloud forest would provide the perfect stage for a play in which the humans were slaughtered with elegance, grace, and of course - good humor. Misty clouds, thick vegetation, and the cover of darkness allowed the Aeldari to get the drop on the Templars before they could establish a perimeter. 

The shadowseer reached out to psychically sense the entire force of Black Templars to mark, prioritize, and assign targets. The troupemaster gave the signal, and the play began. The shadowseer conjured a bolt of etherial lightning to strike one of the bladeguard veterans, shattering his storm shield and rending the warrior's ceramite power armor. She followed with a luminous attack, flinging shards of light at them. These passed through trees, vegetation, power field, ceramite, skin, muscle, and bone with equal ease. The injured veteran and his brother collapsed on the spot. Champion of the Feast Artin was seriously wounded by the attack, struggling but successfully staying upright with sword in hand. Simultaneous to the shadowseer's psychic attack, a beam of energy lanced from the darkness directly through Brother-Redemptor Hayk's sarcophagus. Sparks flew and molten metal dripped from the dreadnought. Large branches and vegetation rained down onto the battlefield as shurikens sliced a path through the forest that ended in Hayk's front armor plating.  Concealed in dense vegetation, a death jester's rifle flashed and bored a hole through the eye lens of one of Brother-Sergeant Antonios' heavy intercessors. Brother Artin's burning flesh and bleeding wounds proved to be greivous, and the champion of the feast collapsed.

Brother-Redemptor Hayk momentarily reeled from the damage he sustained, but recovered quickly and charged down the trajectory of the weapon that tore a hole through him, macro-plasma incinerator glowing hot and illuminating the mist as it overcharged. He was wounded, but still completely in the fight. The emperor protects. Hayk's imaging sensors detected a voidweaver darting through the trees directly toward him. This targeting information was relayed to Sword Brother Erek's heavy intercessors, who opened fire on the voidweaver from their concealed position, but their bolters could not breach its shimmering energy field. The field was breached and disrupted when a bolt of supercharged plasma slammed into it, followed by another that blasted the voidweaver apart. Sword-Brother Erek and his heavy intercessors opened fire at five troupe members, cutting one of them down. Marshal Tigranes watched the sword fall from Sword Brother Artin's fingers, but the champion of the feast's power armor was still transmitting faint vital signs. Tigranes ordered Sword-Brother Konstantin's crusader squad to set up a defensive perimeter around the critically wounded champion of the feast. Brother-Chaplain Movses removed Artin's helmet and laughed as pupils focused from within a hideously melted face on the chaplain's visage. Tough bastard would live, emperor be praised, but victory must come before convalescence. 

The death jester broke cover and fired again at the heavy intercessors as he advanced toward them. This time, he struck only ceramite. The emperor protects. The shadowseer advanced with him, but could not focus on targets easily in the dark. She stopped to survey the battle and communicate telepathically with her fellow players. The solitaire blizted down from the trees and landed atop one of Erek's heavy intercessors. He pulled the marine's helmet to the side, flipped his blade point down, and stabbed into the neck tubing. The bleeding Astartes grabbed the solitaire by the belt and flung him away. The laughing solitaire flipped through the air and landed with a graceful bow. Eleven troupe members then dropped down onto the heavy intercessors and sliced and stabbed in a flurry of attacks through the mist. This troupe wielded weapons more deadly than any the templars had seen before, but their gravis armor and transhuman physiology allowed them to shrug off what might have butchered a less protected target. The intercessors grappled with and swung armored fists and combat knives alike at the dancing clowns. Four were brought down, but the surviving seven launched a second attack and slew two of the Astartes. Four skyweaver jetbikes lanced out of the mist launching a storm of shurikens, one of which sheared through a neophyte's skull. The humans really all should be wearing helmets, after all. They used a large tree to cover their approach close to Brother-Redemptor Hayk, then swung around the tree to engage the dreadnought in close combat. Hayk was not caught off guard, detecting the jetbikes in time to set up an overwatch stance and shoot one of them down. Then were upon him with their spears, successfully stabbing once into his damaged sarcophagus with a deft thrust. Enraged, Hayk swatted two bikes down with his fist. 

TO BE CONTINUED -- EDITING NOW

Edited September 4, 2022 by Khornestar

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

So far so good ! 

[Khornestar]

The four surviving players from the harlequin troupe sprang from the trees onto Brother-Sergeant Antonios and his heavy intercessors on the left flank. Their blades failed to pierce through gravis armor.

As Erek’s heavy intercessors disengaged from close quarters combat with the harlequin troupe on the right flank, Sword-Brother Konstantin swept his pyre pistol in a flaming arc across the solitaire, who laughed as he backflipped  over the burning promethium. He continued flipping and dodging as the rest of the crusader squad opened fire with their pistols. The solitaire engaged his belt to flip directly upward, grabbed a tree branch, swung through the mist, and landed on Brother-Redemptor Hayk. The solitaire sliced through tubing as the skyweaver’s passenger again stabbed into the dreadnought’s sarcophagus. Hayk grabbed the solitaire off his back, crushed him, and flung the harlequin’s body back into the mist. As Brother-Sergeant Antonios and his heavy intercessors brawled with the troupe on the left flank, Marshal Tigranes fired a burst from his boltstorm gauntlet to halt the death jester’s advance, and then joined his heavy intercessor brothers in combat. The marshal’s power sword cut through three of the players, and the fourth was ended by Antonios’ knife. The troupe master, having jumped from the path of the charging crusaders, crept around to Hayk’s legs and attempted to slice through cabling to bring the dreadnought down. However, she was unable to do any serious damage before Hayk and the crusaders noticed.

The starweaver attempted to slink away and exfiltrate the battlefield. The death jester caught a heavy intercessor on the left flank at the heel with his blade and pulled the warrior off his feet. This gave Brother-Sergeant Antonios the opening he needed to stab the death jester with his combat blade. Bloodied, the jester hurled a smoke bomb at his feet and disappeared from the fight and back into the mist. The troupe master and skyweaver continued their fight with Hayk, inflicting only minor damage as they danced around the dreadnought’s swinging fist. The shadowseer gave everything she had to try and slay Marshal Tigranes while she had the chance. She once again exploited her speed and skill with a blade with the marshal, this time stabbing up into the cabling of his armpit and wounding him seriously. The Astartes wasn’t felled, however, and bashed her flying into the forest with a strong backhand from his boltstorm gauntlet. The shadowseer engaged her flip belt and fled through the branches of the canopy. She reached out with her mind and called on all players to do the same.

Erek and his two heavy intercessors fired on the starweaver as it zoomed past them and then was forced to slow down to a halt at the edge of the battlefield due to the terrain. They failed to inflict much damage, so they charged. Brother-Chaplain Movses sprinted toward them and joined the fight. The intercessors slammed their bulk into the starweaver, knocking it off balance. Movses smashed his crozius through the glass of the cockpit and onto the head of the pilot, whose lifeless hands jerked the controls to yank the wrecked craft spinning into the night. Konstantin led his crusaders in a charge that caught the troupe master and skyweaver off guard. Power sword, power fists, and chainswords were enough to seriously wound the solitaire and slay the pilot and rider of the skyweaver.

The harlequins could not prevent the Templars from securing Martinez V. Some perimeter elements of the Chrysaetos Crusade on the planet were attacked to cover the withdrawal of the xenos forces, but only minor casualties were inflicted. Though none of the pieces of the hands of the pious were on the planet, the site of their future keep had been secured with victory on the battlefield.

Tigranes called down materiel and machinery from Caliburnus to begin construction of the keep. He also called down Phoinix to evacuate the dead and wounded. Movses uttered a prayer of healing as they loaded the barely-living champion of the feast onboard. Apothecary Hrair grimaced at the warrior’s injured form, but believed he should recover with minimal issue. Augmetics might be necessary.

The beacon aboard Caliburnus drew the first arrival from the field marshal’s reinforcements to Martinez V. A small ship filled with more supplies than warriors. Sword Brother Konstantin’s crusaders were bolstered by an additional ten brothers. Marshal Tigranes, seeing the devotion of the Sword Brother as well as his skill with a sword, bestowed the Sword of Judgment to both honor the warrior and strengthen his resolve to resist the whispers of the fel idol.

Before long, the foundation of the keep was finished, and additional forces arrived on-planet to construct the rest of the keep and defend the planet. 

The Aeldari reached out far and wide throughout space and the web way to gather more warriors and players for the coming crusade.

======================
 

I spent my 4 RP to increase my PL limit by 10, then reinforce the crusaders, and give the sword of judgment to Konstantin. They leveled up and rolled on the rewards table to get rerolls of 1 to hit.

I chose Marshal Tigranes as the recipient of marked for greatness, as he again defeated the Shadowseer and stood indomitable on the battlefield.

Armor of contempt and T5 were quite hard for my opponent to get through, and he didn’t realize he had the ability to shoot his fusion pistols after advancing with his infantry, so things could have been slightly different as a result. But the emperor protects, and the Black Templars emerged victorious.

Edited September 4, 2022 by Khornestar

[Khornestar]

On 8/29/2022 at 3:45 PM, Black Blow Fly said:

That’s a tight list… are you gonna kit anyone with the Sword of Judgement? Can’t wait to read some of your batreps !

I've had someone tell me the list is quite brutal for 50 PL... do you think it's too much? I intentionally built a strong list, but didn't intend for it to be cheesy or anything. Obviously we have the bias of playing as Templars, but knowing the army, what do you think?

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I don’t play Crusade so I’m not sure but I reckon others here probably can give good advice.

[Khornestar]

*Edit*
Ugh everything got hidden with the spoiler tag again... sorry. Half of the report is within it.

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Well, we had a better result this time. 

I decided not to do the reinforcements as described above. I bumped up my Crusade's Power Limit to 55 with one of the points and had 3 left over. We had a shorter time to play our game today so just decided to keep it at 50 PL, and as a result I decided not to purchase any upgrades and just get rolling. My opponent brought some Aeldari corsairs elements this game: Spiritseer, Rangers, and Corsair troops.

Templars again were victorious, and destroyed all Aeldari models on the table. However, my dice rolls were not as lucky as they had been, and my opponent shifted things up a bit in a way that wound up working a little better than his prior lists.

We rolled the second mission in the crusade section of the BRB, incursion size. 4 objectives, score 10 points/turn for any the following after turn 1: control 1+, control 1+ in enemy deployment zone, control more than enemy.

Here was deployment, I managed to remember to take 2 pictures and here's one of them... before deployment or objectives. *facepalm*

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My army was the same as above:

 

+ HQ +

Blooded: Marshal Tigranes: Captain in Gravis Armour [6 PL, 115pts]: WARLORD: Power sword, Tannhauser's Bones, Shackles of Obedience, Upgrade - +1 Wound

Brother-Chaplain Movses: Primaris Chaplain [5 PL, 85pts]: 1. Litany of Divine Protection, Litany of Hate, The Crusader's Helm

+ Troops +

Heavy Intercessor Squad, led by Sword-Brother Erek [7 PL, 150pts]: Hellstorm bolt rifle, Hellstorm heavy bolter
. 4x Heavy Intercessor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Heavy Intercessor Sergeant

Heavy Intercessor Squad, led by Brother-Sergeant Antonios [7 PL, 150pts]: Hellstorm bolt rifle, Hellstorm heavy bolter
. 4x Heavy Intercessor: 4x Bolt pistol, 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Heavy Intercessor Sergeant

Primaris Crusader Squad, led by Sword-Brother Konstantin [10 PL, 178pts]: Bolt Pistol and Astartes Chainsword
. 3x Primaris Initiate w/Chainsword & Heavy Bolt Pistol: 3x Astartes Chainsword, 3x Frag & Krak grenades, 3x Heavy Bolt Pistol
. 2x Primaris Initiate w/Power Fist and Heavy bolt pistol: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Power fist
. 4x Primaris Neophytes: 4x Frag & Krak grenades
. Primaris Sword Brother: Power sword, Pyre Pistol

+ Elites +

Bladeguard Veteran Squad, led by Sword-Brother Artin, Champion of the Feast [5 PL, 110pts, -1CP]
. 2x Bladeguard Veteran: 2x Frag & Krak grenades, 2x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 2x Master-crafted power sword, 2x Storm Shield
. Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant: Neo-volkite pistol, Stratagem: Champion of the Feast

Brother-Redemptor Hayk, Redemptor Dreadnought [10 PL, 195pts]: 2x Storm Bolters, Icarus Rocket Pod, Macro Plasma Incinerator, Onslaught Gatling Cannon

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The Chrysaetos Crusade was gaining momentum. The foothold having been established some time ago on Martinez V, construction of Chrysaetos Keep was nearly complete. Reinforcements trickled in across the void, reinforcing positions and branching out on a mission of purgation throughout the sector. Victories were hard won, and nowhere near universal. Particularly in the void, the Aeldari fleet had the advantage of consolidated numbers. When they happened upon isolated Imperial vessels, they pounced like a pack of wolves and annihilated them. They avoided pitched engagements of any sort, unable to replace their numbers as readily as the Black Templars. Still, every Astartes extinguished by lances in the void or blades to the throat kept the enemy at bay one moment longer.

Attrition began taking its toll on the harlequins. Certain zones of the sector had to be abandoned or kept at the dearest cost in immortal lives. Still, the war was far from over, and the laughing god's play was but concluding its first act. At the far rim of the sector, a small fleet of corsair pirates passed through on return from a successful voyage. The harlequin shadowseer reached out with her mind, touching that of the spiritseer on board. An old friend, as luck would have it. She informed the spiritseer of the human incursion and subsequent crusade into the sacred sector, and made a plea for alliance and assistance.

The spiritseer consulted his captain, who was both eager to support his race in the fight against the distasteful human invaders as well as seize an obvious opportunity. The corsairs would combine fleets with the harlequins and ensure a strong presence in voidspace in return for assistance from the harlequins seeking a most intriguing treasure. The shadowseer frowned, and shared the offer with the rest of the troupe. It seemed a worthwhile trade, and that there was truly little choice in the matter. Fate toyed with them once more.

The planet of interest was nearly dead in the center of the sector. The corsair and harlequin fleets sent a small number of craft to make planetfall, in hopes that their movements would not be noticed. This was the domain of an ancient enemy, the Necrons. Of course, the corsair captain failed to mention this detail, and the harlequins discovered as much when they looked out the viewports of their transports while descending the atmosphere. Vast structures stretching for kilometers were ruined by the passage of time, crumbling further into disarray with each moment. Within one particular structure came a faint glow. Their score lied within. 

Four large crystal obelisks glowed in the darkness, pulsating rhythmically. The obelisks, the ruined structure, the planet... all were eerily silent. The aeldari knew silent worlds such as this did not always stay so for long. As the spiritseer, solitaire, voidweaver, death jester, and five corsairs began investigating an obelisk on the right flank, one troupe and the shadowseer began investigating runes on the wall of a large structure topped with a green crystal.  On the left flank, a unit of 5 rangers drew their cloaks about themselves and scanned the field from dense vegetation. A large troupe of 11 players danced and flipped toward another obelisk farther along the flank.

And then, the silence was broken. Adeptus Astartes drop pods streaked through the atmosphere and slammed down across the field from the advancing aeldari. Caliburnus floated in low orbit. Marshal Tigranes had been watching the aeldari, curious and determined to put a stop to whatever it was they came to this planet to accomplish. One foul enemy in the ancient domain of another. The necron technology appeared fully defunct, but the Marshal was eager to engage and defeat the aeldari as quickly as possible and then depart.

Sword-Brother Konstantin continued to resist the corruption of the idol. Guided by his faith and bolstered by that of Brother-Chaplain Movses, his mind and heart were steel. The chaplain's prayers gave him confidence this mission could lead to recovery of one of the components of the Hands of the Pious, and enthusiastically encouraged the Marshal to pursue to the foe.

Game 3:

Turn 1:

On the right flank, two pods slammed down. Brother-Redemptor Hayk emerged from one pod, and Sword-Brother Erek and his heavy intercessors emerged from another, quickly taking cover behind a large rock. In the middle, a pod containing Sword-Brother Konstantin and his crusaders, as well as Brother-Chaplain Movses opened, and the marines advanced behind another rock formation while the chaplain chanted the litany of divine protection. On the left flank, another two pods crashed down behind an obelisk amidst a stand of trees. Sword-Brother Artin and his bladeguard were joined by Marshal Tigranes from within one, and Brother-Sergeant Antonios' heavy intercessors emerged from the other to take cover in the trees and began planting meltabombs on the obelisk. Whatever this object was, it was obviously not of mankind's making, and must be destroyed.

Hayk strode into the open, imparting target information and wise counsel on target priority over the vox. He blasted two overcharged bolts of plasma at the voidweaver across the battlefield. One blast shattered its shield, and the other blew a hole through its chassis. Still, the vessel remained aloft, weapons zeroing in. Sword-Brother Erek and his intercessors heeded Hayk's battlefield guidance and took aim at the corsairs advancing in the open adjacent to the voidweaver. Stabilized by their gravis armor, the heavy intercessors set their weapons to full-auto and cut the corsairs down in a storm of bolts. The chaplain led the crusaders to the outer wall of the large central structure, intending to swing around toward another obelisk when the moment was right. Brother-Sergeant Antonios and his heavy intercessors stalked forward through the trees, sticking close to the obelisk but out of the blast radius of the meltabombs as their fuses counted down. No targets presented themselves.

The voidweaver returned fire on Hayk, slicing through a cable with a shuriken catapult but failing to inflict further damage. The emperor protects. The death jester sniped at Sword-Brother Erek, whose helmet deflected the shots. The emperor protects. . The solitaire sprinted toward the dreadnought and intercessors on on the right flank. The shadowseer and smaller troupe of players crept stealthily along the wall of the central structure, careful to remain out of sight. Not careful enough.

Turn 2:

Brother-Sergeant Antonios and his heavy intercessors spotted them and opened fire, pinning them down. On the right flank, Hayk failed to cause any further damage to the voidweaver, but did pepper the spiritseer with storm bolters and his underslung onslaught gatling cannon. Sword-Brother Erek and his heavy intercessors finished the spiritseer off, severing his psychic link to the shadowseer. Both the redemptor and Erek's intercessors charged the voidweaver, but their blows bounced off its formidable xenos force field. Sword-Brother Konstantin led the crusaders up the center left firing lane to begin planting meltabombs on the obelisk there. Marshal Tigranes and the sword brethren advanced up through the ruins on the left flank, on guard but saw nothing within striking distance. Shimmering in the shadows drew their attention, and the four warriors charged toward it. The harlequin troupe master was pinned against a wall and drew her blades defiantly. Tigranes slammed his boltstorm gauntlet into the xenos repeatedly, but the energy field projected around her body held firm until the last strike, which dropped the shield and allowed Tigranes to inflict a minor wound with his power sword. Sword-Brother Artin, champion of the feast, slashed the troupe master as his two brothers closed in and stabbed her down simultaneously. The troupe master laughed as she coughed up blood. The Astartes turned as one, furious to see a troupe of 11 players flipping into striking distance. The bladeguard veterans rushed forward with their shields to meet the foe. Their shields deflected the vast majority of the blades coming at them, though one veteran was stabbed through an armor joint unexpectedly. 

A play was enacted. Five beams of light lanced from the bushes and into the gravis-armor-clad Marshal. Three beams pierced vulnerable spots and injured him significantly. The harlequin troupe flipped away from the bladeguard, unleashing a volley from their pistols as they did so. Shurikens, fusion blasts, and other manner of xenos weaponry found their marks, and the champion of the feast and his brothers were gunned down. Once on their feet, the troupe executed a well-rehearsed dance of death around Marshal Tigranes, darting and rolling in quickly to slice and stab into armor joints. One blade managed to slide into the back of his knee, and aided by its power field sliced the Marshal's leg clean off. Vengeance was theirs. The troupe, seeing the crusaders advance, then flipped away from the mangled marshal and back into the shadows to wait in ambush. The spiritseer used his powers of witchcraft to jinx the dreadnought, but failed to affect Hayk. The emperor protects. The death jester this time took aim at Hayk, melting three deep gouges into the dreadnought's armor. The voidweaver's antigrav engines pulsed briefly to push it away from the melee, then fired another beam that blew a chunk of Hayk's front plating off. Sparks and smoke streamed from the damage, but Hayk stood firm. The emperor protects. The bleeding solitaire fired a shuriken as he blitzed into Sword-Brother Erek, eager to kill the heavy intercessors before they killed him. He was not successful, but managed to stab one of Erek's brothers once before being taken down and stomped with heavily armored ceramite boots. 

Turn 3:

Hayk, now significantly damaged, could not successfully land a shot on the voidweaver with its macroplasma incinerator or icarus rockets. His targeting sensors still partially intact, the redemptor dreadnought detected the death jester's position behind an obelisk, and felled the xenos with return fire from storm bolters and gatling cannon. Brother-Sergeant Antonios and his heavy intercessors advanced along the with the crusaders on the opposite flank and then opened fire on the remnants of the large troupe taking cover in the ruins. One of the players took a bolt to the midsection. Meltabombs detonated on the two obelisks controlled by the Black Templars, crumbling their forms and bringing them down. Brother-Chaplain Movses emerged from behind the large structure and shot at the large troupe, but the bolt was deflected by a power field.

The voidweaver blasted Hayk with another lance beam, gouging another deep hole into the dreadnought but failing to take him down. The dreadnought barely remained upright, flames and smoke billowing from within his chassis.  The shadowseer and smaller troupe rounded the corner and ambushed Konstantin's crusaders. She closed her eyes and unleashed conjured shards of light at them, but she could not focus well enough to strike her targets. The emperor protects. With a twist, she zapped a bolt of energy from the palm of her hand into one of the crusader initiates, severing one of his arms at the elbow. The rangers took aim at Brother-Chaplain Movses, and five beams lanced out of the brush and pierced multiple parts of his power armor. The chaplain went down. The harlequin troupe accompanying the Shadowseer shot their pistols and managed to kill a neophyte before the troupe and psyker both flipped their way among the crusaders, blades singing. Another neophyte dropped, arterial blood spraying from a slashed neck. Konstantin urged his brothers to strike back quickly before they lost their footing. Half the squad dueled the troupe, while the others surrounded the shadowseer. One player was slashed with a chainsword, while another was grabbed and crushed with a power fist. The shadowseer met a similar fate, swatted into a wall with the backhand of another power fist after being slashed multiple times. Sword-Brother Konstantin helped to drag one of his severely wounded brothers to the rear of the battle while the three remaining crusaders fought off the troupe.

Targeting sensors severely damaged, Hayk could not land a hit on the voidweaver as it darted around an obelisk. Sword-Brother Erek's heavy intercessors swung around the obelisk and grabbed hold of the voidweaver, preventing it from moving. Its engines strained as Sword-Brother Erek slammed a krak grenade into its chassis and his brothers let go. The xenos craft exploded spectacularly, causing a spinning fragment of shrapnel to slice into one of his brothers. The wound did not stop his brother from planting a melta bomb on the crystal obelisk. On the left flank, the remaining crusaders pulled pistols during the vicious combat and shot one of the players in the chest. The troupe fought back desperately, but rather than face certain death, activated flip belts to flee the battle. The crusaders set their sights on the rangers taking cover in the brush and sprinted toward them. Brother-Sergeant Antonios gave the order to fire on the remaining troupe taking cover once more, splattering one of the players into a colorful mess.

The troupe, having no choice, fired their pistols into Antonios and the intercessors as they danced their way through the rubble to face them up close. One of the heavily armored Astartes went down. Another was pierced through the throat by a strange esoteric weapon. The remaining Astartes grappled and swung fists, beating back or killing the remaining players. Armor and faith proved indomitable, once again. The rangers calmly sniped down one of the three crusaders stampeding toward them and activated a remote explosive's proximity field in anticipation.

Antonios' heavy intercessors showered the brush with bolter fire, killing three of the rangers. As the two crusaders neared the xenos position, one hurled a frag grenade inside while the other fired heavy bolt pistol rounds. Grenade fragments ripped one apart while a bolt tore through another. The final ranger waited... and then sprang forward as the remote explosive detonated, vaporizing one of her Astartes attackers. The last remaining crusader swung his eviscerator chainsword through the brush, cutting an arc through the vegetation and Aeldari alike.

The battle was won. The ancient Necron crystal obelisks were all annihilated by meltabombs, and the Aeldari had either been slain or fled the field.

Marshal Tigranes crawled through the rubble, bloody stump of a leg trailing behind him. He found a wounded Movses, bloody holes gouged clear through the chaplain, but still breathing. The Emperor Protects.

Before long, the Templars were evacuated back to Caliburnus to tend wounds, collect gene-seeds, and pray vigils for their slain. The Marshal's wounds required surgical intervention, but his life was saved. An augmetic leg was installed to his stump, though it would take time to fully integrate with his body. Reinforcements continued to arrive, and Tigranes used this time of recovery to fortify positions and maintain lanes of reinforcement through the sector. One of the ships bearing reinforcements housed a peculiar reliquary, stocked by Field Marshal Aleksan. Within one of the stasis fields floated a golden seal stamped with the double-headed aquila. Brother-Chaplain Movses recognized it as the Seal of the Pious. If the Chrysaetos Crusade obtained the casket and bones of the pious, then the seal could be affixed to the relic and perhaps permit the Black Templars to destroy the cursed idol that tested Sword-Brother Konstantin's faith and constitution.

Aeldari fleets continued to prowl, destroying ships when they could, and seeking their own reinforcements. The war was far from over, and they were determined to repay the vast toll of life taken from their troupes.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Khornestar

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Great report, thanks !