2024 Battle Report 01 -- Assault at Ardenner Wood

[Iron Father Ferrum]

As the Palachian Crusade ground on, the forces of the Imperium found themselves in the unenviable position of facing dug-in Traitor formations.  In particular, the Davidian Line was a complex and formidable series of fixed defenses that protected the main approaches to the capitol hive clusters.  Breaching the Davidian Line was a slow process, and while this attritional style of warfare suited most of the Astra Militarum officers involved, the Astartes chapters within the Crusade found it to be a contemptible waste of time and resources.

 

The Davidian Line, for all of its strength, was an incomplete fortification.  Its extreme ends were anchored in restricted terrain, relying on the difficulty of the ground to support weaker garrisons.  An Ironstorm assault force of Iron Hands sought to cut through the Ardenner Wood -- which housed the southern end of the defensive line -- overrun the garrison, and outflank the entire fortification completely.  If accomplished, the Davidian Line could either be rolled up from behind or, more likely, the tank column could push on to the capitol hives and unhinge the entire defense.

 

Traitor Guard forces, whether alerted by reconnaissance or else already planning on a build up in the Ardenner Wood, were beginning to gather their strength in the region as well.  Powerful mechanized formations had been diverted to this area.  While the presence of such powerful formations did come as a mild surprise to the Iron Hands, they were not deterred and, once committed, smashed into the defenses like a tsunami.

 

CLAN COMPANY HAARMEK (2000 pts)

 

Gravis Captain with the Flesh is Weak

Apothecary Biologis with Master of Machine War

Iron Father Feirros

Techmarine with Adept of the Omnissiah

 

5x Heavy Intercessors (x3)

6x Aggressors

3x Aggressors

Brutalis Dreadnought

Land Raider

Land Raider Redeemer

Gladiator Lancer x2

 

 

ASTRA MILITARUM

My opponent is relatively new to the game and is still learning the ins and outs of his army.  Additionally, he threw his list together for a theme, and a bit randomly, so bear with me.

 

Cadian Command Squad

Commissar

 

4x Cadian Infantry Squads

3x Leman Russ Vanquishers

3x Chimaerae

4x Basilisks (Rule of Three, I know, but it's not a tourney and he's new.  I figured I'd let him have his big guns)

3x Aegis Defense Lines (using the old trench models)

 

 

GAME SETUP

 

We drew Supply Drop, Supply Lines, and Search & Destroy.  I chose attacker, he deployed first, and I won the roll-off for first turn.  My deployment established my Brutalis, Techmarine, and both Land Raiders with their character & Aggressor complements front and center, with the Lancers on the flanks.  One HINT squad sat on my home objective for Supply Lines, while the other two deployed on the flanks to make runs to the objectives.  The Guard deployed his Aegis Lines across the neck of his DZ and occupied them with infantry.  The artillery was crammed in the back, with the battle tanks and APCs sandwiched in between.  It was, he admitted, an extreme defensive position -- which fits the "trench warfare" theme he really likes -- though I pointed out the severe handicap he'll face to actually get onto objectives.

 

The objective to my "north" was the Alpha objective, and the central objective was the Omega objective.

 

 

TURN 1

 

 

I drew Area Denial and Tempting Target (the "northern" objective).  I thew my assault wave forward, with the flanking infantry rolling low on their Advances as they charged for their assigned objectives.  The Dreadnought and the Land Raider Phobos (with Captain, Apothecary, and three Aggressors inside) maneuvered to the north of the central objective, and the Land Raider Redeemer (with Feirros and six Aggressors) cut to the south.  Stupidly, I forgot to position close enough to that central objective to actually hold it at the start of the next turn.  My opening salvos were quite strong, killing one Leman Russ, one Chimaera, and killing a handful of infantrymen.  Because of my positioning :cuss:, I scored neither secondary objective.

 

The Guard response focused heavily on my Redeemer.  I used Smokescreen, which combined with good save rolls kept the Redeemer alive with just four wounds remaining.  Artillery strikes on my advancing infantry resulted in them being Shaken and slowing them down considerably.  The ragged remnant of an infantry squad made a run for the northern objective.

 

 

TURN 2

It was time to deliver the pain.  My assault tanks drew up to the Aegis Lines and disgorged their cargo before laying on another blistering salvo.  The Redeemer picked up a whole squad despite the 4++ of the Aegis Line, while the Phobos and the Lancers put paid to a second Russ and almost killed another Chimaera.  The Aggressors and their character attachments cut down most of the remaining infantry before charging into the two "ends" of the Aegis Line.  One was destroyed outright, while the other survived with just a few remaining wounds due to some poor dice rolling on my part.  One Lancer had positioned near the central objective, so I scored Area Denial but zeroed on Primary.

 

The Guard attempted a counterattack, but they were rapidly running out of viable anti-tank weapons.  My HINTs were again subjected to bombardments to keep them slow, and Smokescreen and some poor dice rolling by the Guard player meant my Phobos continued to limp along on four wounds.  One HINT and one Aggressor were killed by Guard guns, but I rolled very hot on Feirros' FNP for his squad.  That alone saved me from losing another two Aggressors this turn.

 

 

TURN THREE

 

The flank-running HINTs finally made it to their assigned objectives, which scored me Tempting Target, while I finally got some Primary as well from the Lancer holding the center.  I drew Bring It Down, which fit really well because he had multiple wounded vehicles ready for finishing blows.  Feirros' Aggressors closed in on the remaining Leman Russ, while the Captain's squad was still pounding on the Aegis Line.  The Lancers remained stationary, and the Dreadnought and Techmarine moved up to support the final assault.  Firepower killed one Chimaera and two Basilisks, while the Aggressors took the last wounds off the Leman Russ in close combat.  All remaining infantry were also cleaned up between flamestorms and Aggressors, while Feirros' axe killed the Commissar as his bodyguard chewed up the tank. In addition to Tempting Target, I scored 8 VPs on Bring It Down.

 

The two remaining Basilisks vainly tried to kill some more of my infantry, but his heart wasn't in it since I had ripped apart his army and only lost two infantry models so far.  As we contemplated the board at the end of Turn 3, he conceded.

 

TURN 4 & 5

 

 

In summary: I worked through the two remaining turns to make a reasonable determination of the final score after five rounds.  My Turn 4 draw was Cleanse and No Prisoners (I assumed I would kill two of three remaining vehicles), and my Turn 5 draw was Engage on All Fronts and Extend Battle Lines.  Even removing the Alpha objective in Turn 4, I was still holding the other two, and maxed on Primary points in the last two turns.  Final score was 73-0.

 

 

 

GAME SUMMARY

 

My opponent is a guy I've played before but like I said, he's still pretty new to the game overall and hasn't had a lot of actual table time.  Combined with a rather off-the-cuff army list, I'm not surprised at the rather grinding victory.  After the mistakes of deployment and Turn One, I tried to start coaching him a little by pointing out stratagems he could use and talking through his shooting priorities but the deck was simply too stacked in my favor.  Still, he's a good sport and much good conversation was had post-game.

 

 

The Astartes assault through the Ardenner Wood was nigh-unstoppable.  Though traitor armor was positioned in the region, the Iron Hands proved superior in their handling of their tanks and ruthlessly eliminated the defenders.  Imperial forces were now racing through a breach in the Davidian Line, and the entire traitor position on-world was suddenly very much in doubt.

Edited March 17 by Iron Father Ferrum
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