Hi everyone, Michael here with my second game from a recent 40k tournament. For more reviews and analyses, check out the Tactics Corner.
Game 2 of the tournament saw my White Scars taking on Paul and his Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion.
This game was an ETC-type mission, with No Mercy as the Eternal War mission and Targets of Opportunity for the maelstrom of war mission, with Search and Destroy deployment. So, another game with kill points and only one turn to achieve your maelstrom points.
This game was re-published from my own blog, St Andrews Wargaming. If you like the battle reports, be sure to check it out for many more and some regular, great hobby content (if I do say so myself!). You can also join the St Andrews Wargaming Facebook page to keep up to date on all the latest content.
My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment
- Captain- Bike, Thunder Hammer, Shield Eternal, Imperium’s Sword Warlord Trait (C1)
- Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, Master-crafted Bolter (L1)
- 5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)
- 5 Scouts- Bolters (S2)
- 5 Scouts- Bolt Pistols, Combat Knives (S3)
- 5 Tactical Marines- Heavy Bolter (TS1)
- 10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with Plasma Pistols and Chainswords, 5 with two Chainswords (VV)
- 10 Sternguard Veterans- Special Issue Bolters (SV)
- Stormraven Gunship- Twin Assault Cannons, Twin Heavy Bolters, Two Stormstrike Missiles, two Hurricane Bolters (SG)
Outrider Detachment
- Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Combi-Melta (C2)
- 3 Bike Squad- Twin Bolters, 2 Meltaguns (B)
- 3 Scout Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns (SB1)
- 3 Scout Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns (SB2)
Spearhead Detachment
- Lieutenant- Master-crafted Bolter, Chainsword (L2)
- 5 Devastators- 2 Missile Launchers, Lascannon (D1)
- 5 Devastators- 2 Heavy Bolters (D2)
- Thunderfire Cannon (TC)
- Techmarine Gunner- Flamer, Plasma Cutter, two Servo-arms (T)
Paul’s army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment (Alpha Legion)
- Chaos Lord- Blade of the Hydra, Combi-Bolter (CL1)
- Chaos Lord- Bolt Pistol, Chainsword (CL2)
- 10 Cultists- Autopistols, Close Combat weapons (C1)
- 10 Cultists- Flamer, Autopistols, Close Combat weapons (C2)
- 6 Chaos Space Marines- Bolters, Plasma Gun, Power Axe (CSM)
- 5 Chosen- 5 Combi-Flamers, Power Axe (Ch)
Spearhead Detachment (Alpha Legion)
- Chaos Lord- Plasma Pistol , Power Sword (CL3)
- Predator- Twin Lascannon, two Lascannon Sponsons (P)
- 3 Obliterators (O1)
- 3 Obliterators (O2)
- 5 Havocs- 2 Lascannons, 2 Missile Launchers (H1)
- 5 Havocs- 2 Lascannons, 2 Missile Launchers (H2)
- 5 Havocs- 4 Heavy Bolters (H3)
Patrol Detachment (Renegades and Heretics)
- Renegade Commander- Autogun, Close combat weapon (RC)
- Renegade Squad- Lasguns (R)
- Leman Russ- Battle Cannon, Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons (LR1)
- Leman Russ- Battle Cannon, Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons (LR2)
We deployed the objectives as shown below:
Paul won the roll for deployment zone and chose his side. I then started the deployment. We deployed the forces as shown below:
I put the Stormraven at the back of my deployment zone, accompanied by the Thunderfire Cannon, the Missile Launcher Devastators and Lieutenant on foot. I then spread the rest of my units around my deployment zone to block enemy deep strikers. I put one Scout unit in the centre, with the other two units on the ruins on each flank, next to the objectives. I put the Jump Pack units in reserve.
Paul used two command points on the Forward Operatives stratagem to put two units in reserve, as well as the Obliterators. Paul put a unit of Havocs, the Leman Russes, a Chaos Lord and a unit of Cultists in his backfield. The rest of the forces deployed opposite my forces towards the centre.
I finished deployinng first and won the roll off for first turn. However, those sneaky Alpha Legion managed to steal the initiative and took the first turn
TURN 1- ALPHA LEGION
In his first turn, Paul drew Secure Objective 6, Defend Objective 3 and Will of Chaos (secure Objective 1).
The Cultists on the right flank moved up on the enemy Scouts, while the Chaos Space Marines moved around the central pipes to target the other Scouts.
At the end of the phase, the Chosen and Chaos Lord arrived on the left flank, moving towards the Scouts in the ruins to the left. A unit of Obliterators also arrived besides them.
The Chosen fired their Combi-Flamers at the Scouts, scoring 17 hits and wounding 10 times. Amazingly, I passed all my saves and no White Scars perished. The Bolters of the squad managed to kill one.
The Obliterators fired at the Bikers, wounding them 8 times. I failed 7 saves and the squad perished. The Chaos Lord fired at the Tactical Squad, wounding them twice, but failing to get past their armour.
The Chaos Space Marine squad fired at the central Scout unit, killing three of them.
The Predator fired at the Stormraven, hitting twice and wounding once, taking four damage from the flyer. The Havocs in the ruins turned their Lascannons on the enemy flyer, hitting and wounding twice and taking a great 11 damage from the Stormraven. The flyer came crashing to the ground, killing two of the Sternguard inside. That was harsh, losing the Stormraven to three shots, even if they were Lascannons.
The other unit of Havocs fired their Heavy Bolters at the Scout Bikers, wounding one of them. The third squad of Havocs fired at the White Scars Devastators, killing three of the squad.
One Leman Russ fired at the White Scar Heavy Bolter Devastators. The Battle Cannon got an awesome 12 shots, obliterating three of the squad. The Heavy Bolters killed another one. The other Leman Russ split its fire between the Scout Bikers and lone Devastator. The Russ was unable to finish off the Devastator, but killed two of the Scout Bikers.
Paul then used three command points on the Endless Cacophony stratagem to allow the Obliterators to shoot again. They targeted the Tactical Squad, killing three of them.
In the charge phase, the Cultists attempted to charge the Scouts on the south side of the battlefield, but failed to make the distance. The Chosen charged the other Scout squad. They struck at the squad, killing one of them. The White Scars struck back, but failed to do any damage.
At the end of his turn, Paul scored three kill points and First Blood.
TURN 1- WHITE SCARS
In my first turn, I drew Advance, Assassinate and Hold the Line. Unfortunately for me, two of those cards were pretty much impossible for me to score this turn.
The Biker Captain moved up on the Chaos Lord, using the Born in the Saddle stratagem to move up. The two Scout squads moved up on the Cultists on the left. The Scout Bikers moved up on the Chaos Space Marines.
The White Scars reserves arrived, the Vanguard Veterans, Captain and Lieutenant landing behind the Alpha Legion lines.
The two Scout squads and Devastators opened fire on the Cultists, killing 8 of them. The Scout Bikers opened fire on the Chaos Space Marines, wounding them 5 times. Paul failed all 5 of his armour saves, and all but one of the unit perished! The Thunderfire Cannon fired at the lone Chaos Space Marine, killing him.
The Sternguard Veterans fired on the Obliterators, using the Masterful Marksmanship stratagem to do one wound on the unit. The nearby Tactical Squad managed to do another wound on the unit.
In the Alpha Legion deployment zone, the Captain fired his Combi-Melta at the nearest Leman Russ, wounding it three times. The Vanguard Veterans overcharged their Plasma Pistols at the Russ, only managing two hits and one wound, taking two damage from the enemy vehicle. One Veteran perished to the overcharging shots as well.
The Missile Launcher Devastators fired on the Chaos Predator, hitting and wounding twice with one command point re-roll. The shots managed to do 10 damage on the enemy vehicle.
In the charge phase, the Biker Captain assaulted the Chaos Lord, while the two Scout units charged the Cultists. The Vanguard Veterans, Captain and Lieutenant attempted to charge the other unit of Cultists, but all three units failed the charge, not a single unit rolled high enough to make a command point re-roll necessary.
The Biker Captain struck at the Chaos Lord, hitting and wounding four times after using a single command point re-roll and killing him. In true Alpharius fashion, the warlord moved to another Chaos Lord.
The Scouts were able to kill the two remaining Chaos Cultists. In the other combat, the Scouts killed one of the Chosen, while the Chaos warriors struck back and wiped out the rest of the squad.
At the end of my turn, I scored three kill points and Assassinate. Paul also scored a kill point and Defend Objective 3.
VICTORY POINTS:
Alpha Legion- 7
White Scars- 4
That was not the best first turn for me. The failed charged of all three units on the Cultists was a big blow to me. Odds are I could have wiped them out and consolidated into the Havocs and Leman Russ to seriously reduce their firepower, as well as stopping him from scoring Defend Objective 3. I didn’t have much hope for the game going on and figured I would have very few units left at the end of the next turn.
TURN 2- ALPHA LEGION
In his second turn, Paul drew Scour the Skies, Blood and Guts and Hold the Line. Looks like my Jump Pack troops were in serious trouble.
The Chosen moved up on the Biker Captain, while the Cultists moved up on the Vanguard Veterans. At the end of the phase, the second unit of Obliterators arrived, landing on top of the ruins on the left flank.
In the shooting phase, the Chosen fired their Combi-Flamers at the Biker Captain, scoring a great 21 hits from the four flamers and wounding him 6 times. Two got through, while the Bolters of the squad did one more wound.
The nearby Renegade squad fired at the Biker Captain, but failed to do any damage. The nearby Havocs fired at the Biker Captain and Scout Bikers. The Lascannons wounded the Captain once, but he made his invulnerable save. The Missiles of the squad were able to kill one Scout Biker. The Chaos Lord overcharged his Plasma Pistol at the Captain, hitting and wounding, but I made my save once more.
The Heavy Bolter Havocs fired at the two Tactical Marines, killing them.
In the Alpha Legion backfield, the two Leman Russ tanks fired on the Vanguard Veterans, killing four in total with their firepower. The Cultists added their fire to the volley, killing one more.
The Havocs were able to target the Captain as well as the Vanguard Veterans. They were able to do three wounds on the Captain with one command point re-roll, but did no damage on the Vanguard Veterans. The Chaos Lord used the Daemon Shells stratagem to target the Jump Pack Captain, killing him. The Predator fired on the Vanguard Veterans, but the damaged vehicle failed to hit.
The Obliterators fired on the Missile Launcher Devastators, using the Veterans of the Long War stratagem, they were able to kill one of the squad. The other unit of Obliterators fired on the Biker Captain, wounding them 5 times, but he made all his saves.
In the charge phase, the Chosen and Renegade Cultists assaulted the Biker Captain. The other unit of Cultists assaulted the Lieutenant and Vanguard Veterans.
The Cultists did four wounds on the Lieutenant, but he made all his saves. I used two command points to interrupt and attack with the Biker Captain. I only did two hits and killed one of the Chosen. A bit of a waste of two command points.
The Chosen and Renegades attacked the Captain, doing 6 wounds in total, but the White Scars warlord only took one wound.
The Lieutenant and Vanguard Veterans attacked the Cultists, killing off the whole squad.
At the end of his turn, Paul scored two kill points and Scour the Skies. I also scored one kill point for the Cultists.
TURN 2- WHITE SCARS
In my second turn, I drew Secure Objective 2, Secure Objective 3 and Area Denial.
One Scout squad moved up on the Leman Russ, while the other squad moved up on the Predator. The Vanguard Veterans and Lieutenant moved up on the Havocs. The Biker Captain fell back towards the nearby Renegade Commander, accompanied by the Scout Bikers.
The Lascannon Devastator fired on the Predator, destroying the enemy tank. The Vanguard Veterans fired at the Havocs, killing four of the squad with their Plasma Pistols. The Lieutenant fired on the last Havoc, killing him.
The Sternguard Veterans fired at the Chosen, killing one of the squad. The Thunderfire Cannon fired at the Chosen, hitting 5 times with 11 shots, but only managing a single wound! One of the squad perished. The Heavy Bolter Devastator fired at the Renegade Cultists, killing two of the squad.
The Scouts fired at the Leman Russ, but did no damage. The Scout Bikers fired at the Havocs, but also failed to do any damage.
In the charge phase, the Scouts assaulted the Leman Russ. The Vanguard Veterans, Lieutenant and second Scout squad charged the Chaos Lord. The Biker Captain and Scout Bikers charged the Renegade Commander.
The Scouts were unable to harm the Leman Russ, but were able to consolidate into the second one and tie them both up. The White Scars struck at the Chaos Lord, but the combined attacks only did a single wound. The Chaos Lord was able to kill one Scout in reply.
The Biker Captain was able to kill the Renegade Commander.
In the morale phase, 5 of the Renegade Cultists perished to morale.
At the end of my turn, I scored Secure Objective 2, Secure Objective 3, Area Denial (for 2 points) and three kill points.
VICTORY POINTS:
Alpha Legion- 10
White Scars- 12
A poor second turn for Paul and good turn for me saw me take the lead in the game. I was really expecting to lose all the reserves this turn, but the Leman Russ tanks were not firing as well as they did in the first turn. Annoyingly, better unit placement could have saved my Jump Pack Captain from harm and denied Paul a few victory points.
TURN 3- ALPHA LEGION
This turn, Paul drew Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 2 and Psychological Warfare.
The Chaos Lord and Chosen moved up on the Biker Captain, while the Leman Russ tanks fell back from combat with the Scouts.
The Havocs fired on the lone Lascannon Devastator. The two Lascannons missed, while the two Missile Launchers hit and did a single wound, but I made my armour save. The Obliterators fired on the Scout Bikers, wiping out the squad.
The Chaos Lord fired his Plasma Pistol at the Biker Captain, wounding him, but he made his invulnerable save. The Heavy Bolter Havocs fired at the Scouts, killing the squad.
The second unit of Obliterators fired at the Sternguard Veterans, killing four of the squad.
In the charge phase, the Chaos Lord and Chosen charged the Biker Captain. The Lord managed to do two wounds on the Captain. I failed one save, even with a command point re-roll and the Captain died. I used two Command Points on the Only in Death Does Duty End stratagem and attacked the Chosen.
The Captain only managed a single hit of his four attacks, but did kill one Chosen. The other Chaos Lord struck at the last Scout, killing him.
The Vanguard Veterans and Lieutenant attacked the Chaos Lord, doing two wounds and leaving the Lord on two wounds.
At the end of his turn, Paul scored Secure Objective 2, Slay the Warlord and four kill points.
TURN 3- WHITE SCARS
In my third turn, I drew Domination, Defend Objective 2 and Psychological Warfare. Not a great hand to draw this turn.
The Sternguard Veterans moved back from the enemy army. The Vanguard Veterans and Lieutenant fell back from combat besides the Leman Russ.
The Veterans fired their Plasma Pistols at the Chaos Lord, wounding him once. The Heavy Bolter Devastator fired at the Renegade Cultist, killing him.
The Thunderfire Cannon shot at the last Chosen, killing him. The Lascannon Devastator fired at the Leman Russ, hitting but failing to wound.
In the charge phase, the Lieutenant and Vanguard Veterans charged the Leman Russ, doing two wounds to the vehicle, but more importantly, surrounding it to stop it from falling back.
At the end of my turn, I scored two kill points.
VICTORY POINTS:
Alpha Legion- 16
White Scars- 14
A poor turn of maelstrom cards had seen me fall behind again.
TURN 4- ALPHA LEGION
This turn, Paul drew Area Denial, Supremacy and Rise to Glory (kill a character).
One Obliterator squad advanced on the White Scars, while the other Obliterators moved down towards the objective.
The Havocs fired at the Devastator, wounding him three times, but I made all my saves. The Obliterators fired at the Devastator, killing him.
The second Havoc unit fired at the last Devastator, killing him. The Leman Russ fired at the Sternguard Veterans, wiping out the squad.
In the fight phase, the White Scars attacked the Leman Russ, but did no damage.
At the end of the turn, Paul scored Area Denial (2 points), Supremacy (2 points) and three kill points.
TURN 4- WHITE SCARS
In my fourth turn, I drew Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 2 and Defend Objective 3.
The Vanguard Veterans and Lieutenant fell back from combat towards the Chaos Lord.
They overcharged their Plasma Pistols and fired on the Chaos Lord, killing him. The Thunderfire Cannon fired at the Havocs, killing two of them.
At the end of my turn, I scored one kill point and Linebreaker.
VICTORY POINTS:
Alpha Legion- 23
White Scars- 16
At this point, we ran out of time and the game ended. A victory for the Alpha Legion. Not that any more turns would have made much difference, I would most likely have been tabled in a turn or two anyway.
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Thanks to Paul for a great game, it was a lot closer than I thought it might have been after the first couple of turns.
Getting seized on was a tough blow. Had I taken the first turn, I think I would have had a good shot at winning the game, or making it a lot closer than it was. I could have moved the Stormraven up and got to use it firepower, as well as not losing most of the Scouts and Bikers in my first turn. Even if the Stormraven was destroyed, it may have put the Sternguard in a better position to have more of an influence on the game.
After Paul’s first turn, I still felt reasonably good. I had taken a lot of damage, but not anything I didn’t think I could have come back from. The Stormraven being taken out was a big blow. Rolling 14+ on 3D6 is well above average and enough to kill it off with only two units firing at it.
However, at the end of my first turn, I thought the game was pretty much over. My maelstrom cards for the first turn were pretty poor. Advance was impossible for me to score, there was simply no way to get all my units out of my deployment zone. In addition, Hold the Line was impossible to score in my first turn. This left me with trying to get some kill points and get the one maelstrom card that I could.
The failed charged of all the Jump Pack units was another hammer blow. Not a single unit of the three rolled high enough to even make a command point re-roll worthwhile to get in. Had the Vanguard Veterans made it in to combat, they could have probably killed the Cultists to stop them scoring Defend Objective 3 and could have tied up the Leman Russ and Havocs.
One mistake was not going after the backfield Havocs with the Plasma Pistols of the squad the turn they arrived. I could have seriously damaged or wiped out the unit to reduce the firepower available to Paul. Odds are I was not going to do serious damage to the Leman Russ, so potentially killing another unit would have been a big boost.
Another potential mistake was going after the Chaos Lord with my Biker Captain on turn 1. Even though this scored me Assassinate, I might have been better going after the Obliterators. Odds are that I could have seriously hurt or wiped out the unit with my Thunder Hammer and reduced the firepower further.
I thought that I would be pretty much tabled after Paul’s second turn. As it was, he had a bit of a horrendous turn and I made some good saves to keep me in the game. The combination of the Havocs and two Leman Russ tanks should have been enough to kill off my Jump Pack reserves. Had he done this, it would have effectively put me out of the game, killing off most of my mobility and ability to threaten his back-line.
So, with two losses in my games, I was hoping my luck would improve in the next game.
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