This was a 1750 battle between Brennan's Chaos Space Marines with Traitor Guard allies, and Todd's White Scars with Tau Allies. The Mission was the Scouring with the corner deployment.
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| The Game Floor |
The Armies
Chaos/Guard
HQ:
- Chaos Lord with Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut, Gift of Mutation, Melta Bombs, Sigil of Corruption,
Axe of Blind Fury, and Veterans of the Long War (Warlord) - 190
- Primaris Psyker (Allies) - 70
Troops:
- 10 Cultists with Autoguns - 60
- 10 Cultists with Autoguns - 60
- 10 Chaos Space Marines with 2x Plasma Guns and Melta Bombs - 175
- 10 Veterans with 3x Plasma Guns (Allies) - 115
Fast Attack:
- Heldrake with Baleflamer - 170
- Heldrake with Baleflamer - 170
- 3 Chaos Spawn with Mark of Khorne - 96
Heavy Support:
- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons, and Lascannon Sponsons - 140
- Basilisk Ordnance Battery with 3x Basilisk and Camo-Nets (Allies) - 435
Fortification:
- Aegis Defence Line with Coms Relay - 70
Total: 1751
This was an interesting list. It relied very heavily on the Basilisks and Drakes to do the heavy lifting. The Basilisks in particular weren't very tough and had the potential to explode early on if Todd had the right stuff to deal with them. The Lord could also serve as a pretty good Counter-Charge unit or distraction.
White Scars/Tau
HQ:
- Chapter Master on Bike with Lightning Claw and Power Fist - 190
- Captain with Lightning Claw, Power First, and Auspex - 130
- Command Squad with Apothecary. 4x Grav-Guns, and 4x Storm Shields in Drop Pod with Locator
Beacon - 260
- Cadre Fireblade (Allies) - 60
Elites:
- 3 Crisis Suits with 2x Plasma Rifle and 1 Fusion Blaster each (Allies) - 201
Troops:
- 5 Bikes with 2x Grav-Guns, and Melta Bombs - 140
- 5 Bikes with 2x Grav-Guns, and Melta Bombs - 140
- 3 Bikes with 2x Melta Guns and Melta Bombs - 88
- 12 Fire Warriors (Allies) - 108
-10 Fire Warriors (Allies) - 90
Fast Attack:
- 4 Pathfinders - 44
Heavy Support:
- 5 Devastators with 4x Heavy Bolters, Sergent with Combi-Grav and Signum - 80
- Hammerhead with Submunition Rounds - 131
Fortification:
- Aegis Defence Line with Icarus Lascannon - 85
Total: 1752
This was a typical Todd list with a twist. We have the standard core of White Scars Bikers fitted to the nines with Grav-Guns and a bunch of Fire Warriors behind a Defence Line with a Fireblade and Hammerhead. Where it deviates is in the lack of Las-Preds and with the addition of the Command Squad and the Crisis Team. The Command Squad has the potential to be pretty nasty, but with Brennan's list lacking much 3+ armour, he probably would have been better off with Melta. Of course, he couldn't have known that ahead of time, but with the amount of vehicles sitting around a bunch of Meltaguns dropping in could have done some really serious damage. The main advantage of this list I think, is in its number of Troops, most of which are quite mobile.
The Game
Brennan won the roll for first turn and decided to go first. He Deployed his Defence Line in the back corner of his deployment zone, with his tanks all behind it and his Primaris Psyker tucked behind one of the Basilisks out of sight. The Veterans went behind the Defence line as well, to make it as difficult as possible for Todd to Drop his Pod and blow something up easily. The Spawn and Lord went in front of the Defence Line a bit behind a building, and one squad of Cultists went behind the bunker in the center. The Infiltrating Marines and Cultists went behind the wreckage on the flank and building on the rock respectively.
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| Brennan's Deployment |
In response, Todd Deployed his Fire Warriors behind his Defence Line in his corner with his Hammerhead in a bit of area terrain. Both big Bike Squads went on the flank closest to the Marines, and the Devastators went behind the Building on the Rock as much as they could. The Crisis Suits and Drop Pod went in reserve along with the 3 Bikes. He forgot he had Pathfinders and so they didn't take part in the battle. Presumably they were held up by a clever trap laid by cultists of the Dark Gods.
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| Todd's Deployment |
Todd failed to steal first turn, and there was no Night Fighting. Brennan begins by casting Prescience on his Basilisks to help direct their barrage where its needed. The Marines move forwards a bit to try and take some pot shots at the Bikes, while both Cultist units move to where they will be well hidden. With a thundering blast, the Basilisks open up on the Fire Warriors and kill a few from both squads, as well as destroying the Icarus Lascannon. The Marines take a few shots at the Bikes but fail to harm them. The Predator fires at the Hammerhead, but is unable to get through its armour. With that, Brennan ends his turn.
Todd begins by dropping his Drop Pod right in front of Brennan's Defence line. The Bike Squad with the Chapter Master moves towards the vehicles, whilst the other Bikes move towards the Marines. The Devastators move to try and get some line of sight on the nearby Cultists. Shooting Begins with all the Grav-Guns firing at the Predator, Immobilizing it and disabling its turret. The Hammerhead tries to finish it off, but hits the Defence Line instead. The Bikes shoot at the Marines and kill two. No assaults this turn.
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| End of Turn 1 |
Turn 2
Both Heldrakes arrive this turn, one Vector Striking the Devastators and causing them to start to flee, the other moving towards the Bike units. The Primaris Psyker Presciences the Basilisks again. The Cultists behind the Bunker move to get behind it better. The Spawn and Jugger Lord move towards the Command Squad, as do the Guardsmen.
The Basilisks open up again, and once again they blow up a bunch of Fire Warriors, but they hold. The Heldrake unleashes its Baleflamer on the Fireblade's unit, killing him along with several other Fire Warriors. The other Drake flames the Chapter Master's Squad, killing all but the Chapter Master and another Bike. The Veterans fire into the Command Squad and kill one Marine.
Assault Begins and the Spawn and Lord charge the Command Squad. The Lord gets Challenged out by the Sergent but rolls a 1 on his Daemon Weapon attacks and doesn't manage to kill him. The Spawn fare a little better and manage to kill a couple more Marines and only take a wound or two in return. The White Scars try and hit and run but roll a 6 on their initiative and get stuck.
The Crisis suits choose this moment to drop in and come in over by the Basilisks, hoping to blow them up. unfortunately, Brennan's Placement makes it tough for them to get into a good position to shoot the tanks. Both bike units move towards the Marines who are on a 3 point objective. The Hammerhead moves to try and get a better shot at the Predator, and the Fire Warriors try and get some rear shots on the Heldrake.
Shooting starts with both Bike units shooting at the Marines and killing a couple, who hold. The Crisis Suits decide to shoot the Guardsmen and kill the Sergent and all the Plasma Gunners. The Fire Warriors and Devastators both fail to harm the Heldrake, and the Hammerhead once again fails to destroy the Predator.
Assault continues with the Lord easily killing the Sergent, only to become a Spawn. One Spawn is killed as well, but another marine is killed. The Bikes, along with the Chapter Master Charge the Marines and easily kill them all. They fan out to try and mitigate the damage from the Heldrake.
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| End of Turn 2 |
Turn 3
Prescience is once again cast on the Basilisks who turn themselves to fire at the Crisis Suits, with one moving back to Heavy Flamer them. Both units of Cultists break cover and start heading for objectives, the ones in the center trying to get around the hill to the entrance of the Bunker, the others moving to try and beat up some Fire Warriors. The Heldrake by the Bikes Moves right into their midst, killing the last Bike from the Chapter Master's Squad with a Vector Strike. The other Heldrake Vector Strikes a few more Fire Warriors, but they hold.
The Basilisks open up on the Battlesuits, and kill 2, leaving one left with a single wound. Luckily, some skilled shooting from the Veterans manages to drop the last Suit. The Drake near the Bikes fires into them and kills 3, chasing the other 2 off the board. The other Heldrake kills a bunch more Fire Warriors from the Fireblade's squad and the last 2 start to run. The Cultists in the middle run and all other shooting was largely ineffective. In assault the slugfest continues with no one being able to get the upper hand. At the end the White Scars Hit n' Run.
Todd begins by regrouping the fleeing Fire Warriors, and bringing on his small bike squad. The other Squad moves towards the Cultists, hoping to kill a bunch, as does the Hammerhead. The Chapter Master Moves over the join up with the Captain and the Apothecary. In the shooting phase, the Fire Warriors and Hammerhead mercilessly gun down all but two cultists, who run for it. The Command Squad then assaults the Spawn, and once again, combat is a draw.
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| End of Turn 3 |
Turn 4
Prescince goes off again, and Cultists continue to run around, with the hurt squad running off the board. Both Heldrakes enter Hover Mode. The Basilisks decide they've had enough of the Hammerhead and blow it to smithereens. The Heldrake decides to torch a bunch more Fire Warriors, and both Squads start to cheese it. In the Assault a Spawn is killed.
Todd's Turn and the Bikes move up to melta the hovering Heldrake. Both units of Fire Warriors regroup. Brave little fellers. Firing their Meltaguns manages to get a Hullpoint off the Heldrake, thanks to its Daemonic Possession negating a stun. In the Assault phase the final Spawn finally bites it, and the Marines consolidate a bit.
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| End of Turn 4 |
Turn 5
The Barrage continues with Brennan Blowing the larger Fire Warrior squad off the map. The Lascannon from the Predator manages to punk the Captain, and the Heldrake kills 2 Bikes and one more Fire Warrior who runs again.
With it possibly being the last turn, the Bike moves to claim the 4 point objective in Todd's deployment zone. The Chapter Master rushes over to try and blow up the Heldrake. The Assault is declared, and he makes the charge, but only manages to strip two Hull Points off the Heldrake.
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| End of Turn 5 |
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| ...And the End of the Game |
Total Points
Chaos/Guard: 8 (7 from Objectives, First Blood)
Marines/Tau: 7 (4 from Objectives, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker, One Fast Attack Kill)
Post Game Thoughts
That was a really close game that hinged on Todd failing to destroy the Heldrake. Had he managed that it would have been a Space Marine Victory. Todd played his list pretty well, though he was always going to have a rough go against 2 Heldrakes. I think that I probably would have deployed the Melta Bikes and Turbo-Boosted them up right away to try and take out a vehicle or two, but they also would have made an easy target for First Blood. He also forgot to call in his Orbital Bombardment which really may have lost him the game. Those Basilisks were completely unprotected from it, and with a hit he could have taken out at least 2 of them, and probably the Primaris as well. Obviously, forgetting about his Pathfinders was also a big deal as well.
I think Brennan did a very good job with his deployment as he deployed in such a way as to make it difficult for Todd to get a favourable position with his Deep Strikers. He got pretty lucky with Prescience going off every time, and also with his scatter dice. Lots of times he didn't even need the re-roll. This was really countered by having his Lord become a Spawn pretty much right away though. Had he gotten something else he likely could have beaten down the Command Squad and then gone to take on the Chapter Master, but such is the life of a Lord of Chaos.
In the end I think both players played a solid game, and it was a lot of fun to watch and record.
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