This was a 1750 battle between my Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines, and Brennan's Nurgle Chaos Space Marines. We played a Crusade with a Hammer and Anvil deployment.
 |
| The Board |
Tzeentch
HQ:
- Ahriman -230
- Daemon Prince of Tzeentch with Power Armour, Wings, the Murder Sword, Level 3, Spell Familiar, Gift
of Mutation - 355
Troops:
- 10 Cultists with Autoguns and Mark of Tzeentch - 70
- 5 Thousand Sons with Meltabombs in a Rhino with Dozer Blades - 195
- 5 Thousand Sons with Meltabombs in a Rhino with Dozer Blades - 195
Heavy Support:
- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons and Lascannon Sponsons - 140
- Vindicator with Siege Shield and Combi-Bolter - 135
- 5 Havocs with 4x Autocannons, Meltabombs and Mark of Tzeentch - 130
Formation:
- Mayhem Pack - 300
Total: 1750
For this list I wanted to have some fun. Originally this wasn't what I was going to take, but Brennan told me he'd be bringing a Nurgle army, and I thought it would be interesting to do the rivalry thing, so with that in mind I built everything to have the Mark of Tzeentch if it could. I also decided that since Brennan's Daemon Prince had the Black Mace that I couldn't have it as well, so I took the Murder Sword instead. Seeing as this army could generate some major power dice as well, and with Daemon Princes being the most reliable daemon summoners in the game (thanks to spell familiars) I decided that I would be summoning in as many Tzeentch Daemons as possible.
 |
| Ahriman's Cabal |
HQ:
- Typhus - 230
- Daemon Prince of Nurgle with Power Armour, Wings, the Black Mace, Level 3, Spell Familiar, Gift of
Mutation - 355
Elites:
- 3 Chaos Terminators with Mark of Nurgle, 3x Combi-Meltas, 2x Lightening Claws, 1 Chainfist - 151
Troops:
- 25 Plague Zombies - 110
- 20 Plague Zombies - 90
Heavy Support:
- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons and Lascannon Sponsons - 140
- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons and Lascannon Sponsons - 140
- Defiler with Dirge Caster, Powerfist, and Power-Scourge - 225
Formation:
- Mayhem Pack - 300
Total: 1751
This list has some pretty obvious advantages over my list. First of all, it has a lot of bodies (pun fully intended) to try and blast through, and really, Thousand Sons tend to struggle in that aspect (5 of them costs more than 25 zombies), and his list really has counters for everything that I have, but more of them. His Preds are more than capable of dealing with my vehicles, not to mention his Termies and Brutes coming in wherever he wants while the Defiler will be able to mince my Havocs and possibly the Sons as well. Hopefully the addition of some summoned Daemons can swing the tide in my favour.
 |
| Typhus' Horde |
The Game
We rolled our many powers. Ahriman came up with Tzeentch's Firestorm, Psychic Shriek, Dominate, Shrouding and Invisibility. The Tzeentch Prince got Tzeentch's Firestorm, Summoning, Iron Arm, and Infernal Gaze. My first Aspiring Sorcerer got Tzeentch's Firestorm and Iron Arm, and the second got Tzeentch's Firestorm and Flame Breath. Brennan's Daemon Prince got Nurgles Rot, Iron Arm, Life Leech, and Inferno. Neither of us got anything good with our Gifts of Mutation. We then roll for sides and I win, picking the side with the hills. Brennan then wins the roll for deployment, and chooses to go first and deploy first.
Brennan's Deployment was simple. The Predators went in the forest in the middle, with the Daemon Prince as far forward as possible. The Defiler and big Zombie unit went on my left flank, while the other unit went on the right. The Terminators and Typhus went in reserve, along with the Mayhem Pack
 |
| Deployment after movement |
Mine was hardly more complex. The Vindicator went on the right flank, hiding behind the forest, with the Havocs halfway up the hill. Both Rhinos went in the center, and the Predator on the left flank. The Daemon Prince went in the back right side. Cultists and Mayhem Pack go into reserve.
 |
| Tzeentch deployment |
Turn 1
Brennan starts the movement phase by flying up his Daemon Prince towards the Predator. The Defiler and Zombies both move up as fast as they can. In the Psychic phase, the Prince manages Iron Arm, despite me throwing 10 dice at it. Oh well. Shooting begins with both Predators unloading everything into the Vindicator who fails all its saves and takes a glance and gets itself stunned. The Defiler takes aim with its Battlecannon at the Havocs, and kills the champion.
In my movement phase the Rhinos start to push forward a bit, and the Daemon Prince takes off towards the small Zombie squad. In the Psychic Phase, the Prince summons a unit of Horrors, casts Iron Arm, and the Aspiring Sorcerer in the lead Rhino casts Tzeentch's Fireball into the zombies, blowing some apart. In the Shooting Phase, the Havocs shoot into the Defiler and do 2 hull points to it. The Predator manages a 3rd, but it survives.
 |
| End of Turn 1 |
Seeing an opportunity, the Mayhem Pack is teleported in, but scatter a little bit. The Defiler and Zombies all continue to move forward, and the Daemon Prince drops down to glide mode, ready to do some assaulting. Brennan attempts to cast some powers and this time I deny Iron Arm. Shooting this turn is awful. All but 1 Helbrute miss their targets, and the one that hits only shakes the Predator. The Lascannons from the Predators all target the Vindicator, but it survives unscathed. The Defiler targets the Havocs again and manages to kill another, causing them to flee. In the assault the Zombies try and assault the Horrors, but fail their distance.
Responding to the new threat, my Helbrutes drop in, with one scattering over a predator, and right beside another Predator, one scattering from rear ark to side ark on a Helbrute, and finally the last locking on. The Havocs fail to regroup, but only run 2 inches. My Daemon Prince moves off into the center of the board whilst the Horrors back off a bit. Both units of Sons jump out to target the Daemon Prince, and the Predator moves over the hill to get some cover.
In the Psychic phase, the Daemon Prince fails to summon more Daemons, but the Horrors summon another squad, using the Icon to keep them from scattering. With that dealt with, the Vindicator blasts into the Zombies, but only kills a couple. The Havocs snap fire into the rear of one of the Helbrutes and glances it, while the Predator snap fires into its front armour and blows off the Multi-Melta. The first Helbrute fires into the Defiler and blows its sky high, killing a few Zombies in the explosion. The second Helbrute blasts apart one of the Nurgle walkers with its Multi-Melta as well, but the third is a little less lucky and only takes off the turret from one of the Predators. Finally, all of the Sons shoot everything they have into the Daemon Prince but fail to wound it, thanks to it jinking with Shrouded for a 2+ save, though a lucky Combi-Bolter shot gets a wound through.
 |
| End of Turn 2 |
With the Tzeentch army having more troops than it began the game with, Typhus picks his time to enter the field, deep striking in with his retinue of terminators right next to a Helbrute. The Zombies shamble forward some more, and the unharmed Predator pivots to unleash its weapons on the Helbrute. The Mayhem Pack rolls a fire frenzy and is unable to move this turn.
In the Psychic Phase, the Daemon Prince gets Iron Arm off again, despite me throwing all my dice at it. Uh Oh. Shooting begins with the wounded Predator trying to wreck the Vindicator, but it misses. The other Predator does better and blows the Helbrute threatening it to pieces. The Terminators manage to destroy another brute with their Multi-Meltas, whilst the last Brute that can shoot immobilizes the Rhino.
In the assault the big Zombie squad assaults the Helbrute to tie it up, whilst the other goes for the Horrors again, and this time they make it. The Nurgle Prince assaults Ahriman's squad and challenges the Sorcerer. The small squad of zombies manages to massacre the Horrors, taking no casualties in return, while the Helbrute smashes down a couple Zombies. The Daemon Prince easily dispatches the Sorcerer, as well as another couple of Sons.
With things starting to turn sour, the Havocs continue to flee. The squad of Sons hop back into their Rhino and move off towards the Zombies that just destroyed the Horrors. The Daemon Prince turns and heads back towards the Nurgle Prince, and the remaining Horror squad moves up the hill a bit to get away from the Zombies. In the psychic phase the Horrors cast the Flickering Fire on the Zombies and kill one or two, whilst the Sorcerer blasts them with Tzeentch's fireball. The Daemon Prince summons some more Horrors, but they are misplaced and land in the back corner near the Helbrute.
The Vindicator turns around to try and pulp Typhus and his buddies with its Demolisher Cannon. It fires and two termies are killed. The Predator shoots at the wounded Predator but its shots are stopped by the trees. The Havocs snap fire at Typhus, but they miss all their shots. In the assault, Ahriman steps forward, only to be smashed down by the Black mace before he can swing, thanks to the Daemon Prince's Iron Arm.
 |
| End of Turn 3 |
With victory close at hand the Zombies move towards the next squad of Horrors. Typhus splits from his remaining bodyguard and heads towards the Havocs, while the Terminator stays put. The Helbrute moves over to beat up the other Horrors, and the other moves to beat up the Rhino and Vindicator. The Daemon Prince attempts Iron Arm, but this time is denied. In the shooting phase, both Predators unload on the Rhino and blow it up, though no Sons are harmed in the explosion. In the assault the Zombies wipe another squad of Horrors off the table, while the Daemon Prince finishes off the unit he's been working on. The Helbrute Multi-Charges the Sons and the Vindicator, blowing up the tank and killing a son, only to be wrecked by the Sorcerer's Melta-Bomb. Typhus fails his charge against the Havocs.
Things are starting to look desperate, but the Tzeentchians aren't done yet. The Cultists finally show up, and the Havocs regroup. The Daemon Prince moves back to the center of the board and the objective, and the Predator drives forward. The Daemon Prince summons another unit of Horrors, and while they scatter a bit, it isn't a problem this time. shooting is lackluster, and nothing really happens. In the assault, the Helbrute crushes some more Horrors, and my Brute continues to pulp Zombies.
 |
| Super Blurry Turn 4 |
With the enemy on the ropes, the Daemon Prince rushes off to try and help the Zombies with the Helbrute to free them up. The other Zombies move down towards the Cultists and their Objective, while the Terminator moves to head off the Thousand Sons. Typhus moves right up to the Havocs. Once again Iron Arm is denied, and Typhus casts Nurgle's Rot, only to kill a bunch of Zombies. With that done, the Predators finish of their rival, wrecking it. Typhus charges the Havocs and murders them. The Helbrute finishes off the Horrors, and the Daemon Prince opts instead to try and take down my Prince, but fails his charge. The Terminator champion charges the Sons and slays their sorcerer.
With my options dwindling quickly, a plan forms. The Horrors move onto the Objective, while the Prince moves over to guard them. In the psychic phase the Daemon Prince fails to summon more Horrors, and the plan takes a turn for the worse. The Cultists unload on Typhus, but he feels no pain. With no other shooting, its on to the assault phase where the Sons and the Terminator have a slap fight.
We roll to see if it goes on...
 |
| End of Turn 5 |
The Zombies and Typhus move over to the Objective and the Cultists, while the Helbrute heads towards the crippled Rhino. The Daemon Prince goes around my Tzeentch prince to deal with the Horrors directly. No powers of consequence are cast this turn, and the Predators fail to harm the Daemon Prince. In the Assault, Typhus and the Zombies kill the Cultists, and the Nurgle Prince kills the Horrors.
Luckily, my Daemon Prince is a Horror making machine and jumps away, spawning more Horrors to replace the ones that died, only to fail its assault on the Predator holding the Objective.
We roll to see if it goes on...
 |
| End of Turn 6 |
The Nurgle prince is getting annoyed now, faced with yet more hated daemons. He assaults them, but surprisingly enough, one or two survive.
The Tzeentch Prince summons one last squad, who drop right onto the Objective, taking it from the Nurgle Prince, before running off and wrecking th wounded Predator.
 |
| End of Turn 7 |
Tzeentch: 5 - (One Objective, Line Breaker, First Blood)
Nurgle: 5 - (One Objective, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker)
Post-Game Thoughts
My god, that was a brutal match. I really felt like I was just getting ripped apart the whole game. I think the major reason for this mostly comes down to army composition. Thousand Sons are just such an expensive unit that it really leaves you with no leeway if the dice turn bad, or you have to deal with Hordes. Compound that with the fact that Horrors are about the worst unit I could have been summoning that game, and you can see why it was a rough match up.
So lets talk tactics here. I think Brennan played a really good tactical game here. He placed his Predators well in the back and out of the way, but also on an objective and with a good line of fire. He did very well choosing his targets for his deep strikers, even if he did a bad job with his melta. Tying up the Helbrute also worked out very well for him, though honestly, if he hadn't I'm sure it would have just been blasted by Lascannon fire, and it did mean that he had one of his two Objective Secured units bogged down, which ended up working in my favour as well.
As for me, I think I made a few mistakes that could have cost me the game. Number one I think was putting the Helbrute next to the Defiler. I really should have put it in front instead to keep away from the Zombies. Number two was that I wasn't as agressive with my Prince as I should have been. I got so focused on keeping it free to summon stuff that I didn't want to drop it down to actually go fight things. My third mistake was not as much a mistake as a stylistic choice, but it should be mentioned. I really should have been summoning Daemonettes over Horrors. Whilst Horrors give me more psychic dice, the Daemonettes would have been infinitely more useful in the game, as there was nothing the Brennan had that they wouldn't have been able to deal with. Thankfully, summoning anything at all is extremely potent, and its only thanks to this that the game wasn't just a complete massacre.
No comments:
Post a Comment