Dark Angels vs Dark Angels
My opponent didn't finish putting together some of his demonhunter force so we were up for a Dark Angel on Dark Angel battle. Technically, my models are Blood Angels but i use the deathwing rules for my space hulk terminator heavy list. For the pics below, i generally took them at the end of the movement phase with blue lines indicating movement (including deepstrike), red for shooting, and yellow for assault and fall back. If a unit was wiped out in a certain phase, it'll be crossed out with the appropriate color. Finally, i don't think it mattered in this particular game but we do houserule that vehicles get the same save as infantry in area cover (i.e. if they're in 5+ hedges, they get a 5+ save). We're playing 2500pts and, in order to use all my space hulk figs, my opponent graciously agreed to use two force org charts.
2500pts Seize Ground, 5 0bjectives, Pitched Battle
Sons of Sanguinius
Belial with Lightning Claws
Librarian in Terminator Armor
Grey Knight Grand Master (Marneus on his throne)
6x Deathwing Terminator Squads of 5 (including one
cmd squad with a standard/apothecary)
Sammael
Two Ravenwing Attack Squads of 3 with an attack biker (including one
cmd with std/apoth)
Dark Angels
Azrael
Company Vets with meltagun and tons of close combat upgrades in rhino
Plasma Tactical Squad of 10
Deathwing Squad of 5
Vindicator
Land Raider Crusader
Plasma Devastator Squad
Plasma Tactical Squad
Deathwing command squad with std/apoth
Belial with Lightning claws (modelled as
TH/
SS)
Interrogator Chaplain in Terminator armor
My opponent won both the roll to setup up objectives first as well as go first and chose to do both. He placed his three objectives clustered near the left side of his deployment zone (from my perspective) as close as possible together and then deployed most of his army (everything except the normal deathwing squad) nearby.
I placed one of my objectives near his and the other in the opposite corner with only my ravenwing on the table as far up as possible, waiting to move 12" forward with scout. after vasilating for about 15 minutes with various configurations, i went with a single multimelta attack bike on the left with the rest of the ravenwing swinging around by the lone objective towards the plasma
devs and Sammael bringing up the middle on the broken bridge. after making sure that the plasma
devs didn't have
LOS to my scout moves on both sides, i failed my attempt to steal the initiative and my opponent went first.
Turn 1 Dark Angels
My opponent placed his lone deathwing deep striking squad by my bike conglomeration but deviated back onto the bridge. The terminators opened up on my bikes as well as the plasma gun combat squad but scored only a single wound which was saved by the ministrations of the ravenwing medic. The plasma
dev squad had no
LOS to the bike mass and were probably out of range of Sammael so opted not to fire and risk overheating.
Over on the left, the
LRC advanced its full amount and disgorged its Deathwing Command Squad while Azrael and his vets kept pace but stayed in their rhino. The vindicator inched forward and fired a shot towards sammael but fell a half inch short of his target's range. The few plasma cannons that could see the attack bike opened up on it scoring only a single wound after cover saves and rolling an inordinate amount of 1s to hit and wound (including accounting for the loss of a plasma devastator marine due to overheats). In the assault phase, the terminators fell just short of their charge range and the round was over.
Turn 1 Sons of Sanguinius
Preferring to try something new, i opted to NOT deathwing assault with 3 of my squads. The attack bike gunned its engines and rode up the small building it was taking cover by to get a close range shot at the vindicator that wrecked it. Normally, i'd say that was impassable terrain for bikes but my opponent lobbied in an earlier game chronicled here on dakka to do just that with a dangerous terrain check (and annihilated a squad of my
IG vets in doing so!) with the same building so i returned the favor. i think we'll be playing
RAW on that in the future though...
Sammael tried to outdo his subordinate by moving forward and firing his plasma cannon onto the massed terminators but killed only 2 of the 6 under the template after invulnerable saves and a medic ignored wound.
On the right, my two ravenwing squads split up a bit to shoot up and charge the tact combat squad while the second attack bike went right and aimed at the squad of plasma
devs on the ruin roof. Both attacks did minimal damage with their shooting and the two ravenwing squads charged the combat squad, destroying the remnants and consolidating toward the ruins for a cover save from the nearby plasma
devs.
Turn 2 Dark Angels
Atypical for his force, the opponent had no reserves so we continued with the normal movement phase. On the right, the terminators hopped down off the bridge easily despite their terminator armors' mass (rolled a 5 for difficult terrain) and fired on the trailing Ravenwing bikers, killing one (after one rending was ignored by the nearby medic). The plasma tact combat squad fired in conjuction with the plasma
devs, killing another biker in the forward ravenwing squad.
Over towards objective central, the deathwing command squad jumped back into the crusader who moved 6" forward flanked by Azrael towards my Sammael. In the subsequent torrent of fire, Sammael died leaving only one Sons of Sanguinius on that side of the board. The tactical squad on the ground tried to hastily climb up to the landing pad but didn't roll far enought to get the whole squad up there and in coherency. The mass of plasma gunners opened up on the lone attack bike but continued to roll horribly for wounding and i passed the few cover saves i had to make thanks to the wreckage of the vindicator. The attack biker was alive for at least one more turn.
Turn 2 Sons of Sanguinius
Rolling for regular reserves, three of the six deathwing squads succeeded on their reserves and came in to reinforce the beleaguered Ravenwing bikers left. Two came in on the platfrom on the left thanks to the teleport homer while the other appeared near the enemy terminators also thanks to a teleport homer. Each terminator squad focused on the Dark Angels nearest them, killing all but the sergeant in the devastator squad on the highest platform and leaving two regular marines in the other combat squad. Meanwhile, the attack moved back over to the small building (passing its dangerous terrain check again) but missed the point blank shot to the nearby Land Raider Crusader.
Over to the right, the remaining bikers rode towards the safety of the ruins and focused on the devastator squad to ZERO effect. :( The terminators opened fire on their equivalent enemy squad and killed two surprisingly.
Turn 3 Dark Angels
Incensed that two of their number had died to shooting, the
DA deathwing squad charged towards the newly teleported Sons of Sanguinius terminators, shooting the entire way. While their armor held up well against the incoming bullets, two died in the ensuing combat on each side. The plasma tact squad on the highway fired in conjunction with the plasma
devs again on the ravenewing bikers but only managed to kill one. One plasma cannon deviated off target while the other wounded a biker, only to have its killed stolen yet again by the medic. The highway squad was just out of 12" rapid fire range (only the front bolter marine was in) but still accounted for a casualty on my side, the medic too busy with the plasma wounded marine to save the next.
Incensed that the attack biker survived to call in the terminators, the
DA deathwing command squad with Belial and Interrogator Chaplain got out of the
LRC as it turned and moved towards the small building. Azrael's rhino moved towards the platform and opened fire onto the right most terminator squad along with the crusader, killing one of the first company veterans. The remnants of the tact combat squad moved deftly onto the ruins of the vindicator (making their dangerous terrain and difficult terrain checks) but were too busy avoiding the flames and unexploded shells to score any wounds on the terminators. The lone plasma
dev sergeant moved off his platform to confront the terminators who decimated his squad in these wargames. In the assault phase, the
DA deathwing command easily scaled up the building to kill the attack bike while the
dev sergeant died bravely but futiley in an assault against the terminators.
Turn 3 Sons of Sanguinius
Having three squads still in deep strike reserve, i proceeded to roll nothing but 1s and 2s for them giving me zero reinforcements for the turn. Both
BA terminator squads on the landing platform moved towards and opened up on the
DA terminator command squad, killing two but having the one wound ignored by the medic shortly before he succumbed to his own wounds (wound allocation!). In the ensuing assault, the
DA belial and chaplain nearly decimated the squads, killing 2 each at initiative 5. The majority of the two squads chose to focus on the regular terminators, killing them all. The two powerfists dedicated to killing the heroes utterly failed with the single wound scored out of the 6 attacks being saved by belial's invulnerable save. LUckily, no one on my side died due to fearless lost combat checks though.
On the right, the remaining regular bikers made some daring jumps over the highway divider (no 1s on dangerous terrain) in order to shoot and assault the nearby tact combat squad, killing only one with both meltagun fire and charging assault attacks. The attack bike turboboosted around terrain towards the objective while the terminators killed the remaining
DA sergeant and consolidated towards the objective in loose formation.
Turn 4 Dark Angels
On the right, the Land Raider advanced 6" towards the highway and opened up on the objective claiming
BA terminators along with the remaining plasma
devs, killing only one of the three.
On by the landing pad, the interogattor chaplain in the rhino got out and moved to assist the beleaguered tact squad engaged in close combat with the ravenwing bikers, killing 2 of the them himself on the charge and encouraging the remaining tact marines to do the same to the medic. Seeing that the
DA 1st company captain was in trouble, Azrael disembarked on the other side of the rhino and moved towards the small building, prepping for quick climb into close combat. The now empty rhino moved forward slightly but had no target for its storm bolter fire. The two marines in the vindicator wreckage stayed put while their sister squad finally grappled up the side of the platform to join them. In the assault, Azrael and the megasquad of company vets failed their difficult terrain check to scale the side of the building (snake eyes!). Belial and the chaplain survived versus the remaining
BA terminators but failed to inflict any kills of their own.
Turn 4 Sons of Sanguinius
Reserves were up again and i just barely managed to call them in, scoring two in on a roll of 2 each. Needed to start claiming the objectives, i focused two (including my megacommand squad) onto the platform with another contesting the highway objective. The highway squad landed on target but the normal platform squad deviated off onto the ground and came within a half inch of mishaping onto the enemy rhino. Initially, i had planned to drop my mega command squad by Azrael but my failed teleport onto the landing platform changed things. Needing to destroy the two scoring units there near the objective, i risked all on another teleport (with pretty much a mishap on almost any deviation due to the number of models nearby and the fact that i was teleporting with 8 terminator bases!). luckily for me, i hit on target and spread out with a run roll in the shooting phase. Both of the other terminator squads opened up on the scoring tact squad on the highway but rolled horribly, killing only one marine. In the assault, Belial and his buddy the Interrogator Chaplain in terminator armor finished off the two terminators (representing a squad each!) and consolidated towards my megasquad.
The remaining terminators by the forest retreated deeper near the woods and hopefully out of range of the plasma cannons (but still close enough to claim the objective). The attack bike moved under the bridge and out of
LOS to any enemy units the next turn.
Turn 5 Dark Angels
Feeling empowered by decimating two previous terminator squads, the
DA chaplain and belial moved towards my mega squad, with the chaplain killing the closest member with his unerring fire. Azrael and his vets joined up with the power armor chaplain and opened up on the terminators in the back of his deployment zone, killing several in concert with the tactical squad now perched high up on the landing pad. The ensuing assault phase was a blood bath as Azrael and the power armor chaplain killed the remaining terminators that teleport deviated behind the rhino before any of the power weapon vets even had a chance to swing (let alone my powerfist terminators!). Azrael and the terminator chaplain, putting a wound on my belial and marneus and killing a regular terminator at the loss of both their lives. As a side note, this is the first (and probably last!) time i actually had my opponent out-charactered in an assault! Belial and an Interrogator Chaplain vs Belial and a Grey Knight Grand Master (my Marneus conversion) and a Terminator Librarian.
The rhino turned to support the remaining tact squad who hoped over the edge of the highway away from the terminators. The tightly packed formation worked in their favor and the plasma
devs (along with the rhino and 4 tact marines) left only the heavy flamer alive after their fire. The crusader moved forward over the middle objective and opened up on the my forest terminators with limited fire (only the assault cannon was in range) but still managed a kill.
Turn 5 Sons of Sanguinius
On the right, my remaining terminator stayed put, placing his faith in the emperor and the ravenwing attack bike. The attack bike passed its dangerous terrain check and hopped onto the highway, zooming towards the land raider. Hoping to do what its brother marines had failed, the attack bike fired off its multimelta and wrecked the mighty machine. Further up the highway, the lone heavy flamer terminator fired upon the tact squad before charging, killing one total in the assault without dying himself in the process.
On the pad, the heroes split off from the megasquad and moved towards the remaining tact marines, making short work of them in the assault. The deathwing command squad moved closer to the landing pad objective and fired upon the two remaining tact marines in the vehicle wreckage contesting it, killing them.
We rolled for the end of the turn... and a 2 popped up. The end was here and it was time to tally up the objectives. The blood angels claimed the one objective on the landing pad as well as the one on the other side of the board by the forest. One objective in front of the pad lay unclaimed by either side. Over on the highway, the lone terminator contested one with the tactical squad while the attack bike was just close enough to claim the one under the wreckage of the Land Raider. It was a Sons of Sanguinius win, 3-0. Frankly, if the game had gone another turn, i think it would have been significantly different result. The remaining
DA chaplain would have made short work of my lone terminator contesting the objective in close combat with the tactical squad while Azrael and his initiative 4 power weapon friends with a 4+ invul save would have made short work of my claiming squad on the helipad provided they made their difficult terrain check to scale up to the landing pad. Granted they would probably be annihilated later by my 3 heroes the next turn but neither of us would have any scoring units on that whole side of the board and they would succeed in robbing me of my scoring unit. The plasma
devs stood a good chance of killing my lone terminator claiming the objective by the forest or the attack bike on the highway, leaving the score at 1-1 with little hope on my part of winning. Luckily for me and the Sons of Sanguinius terminator force, the game ended when it did.
So... onto the game chump and MVP.
MVP: the lone attack bike that braved 1000+ points of enemy units to survive two rounds, long enough to destroy the vindicator as well as call in the terminators with his teleport homer.
Chump: the Dark Angel Vets squad all tooled up with maximum bling... all dressed up with no place to go. The only assault they got into, the independent characters decimated everyone at initiative 5 so they didn't get to swing even. The only model to fire more than once was the meltagun and they didn't even get to use their 4+ invul save as i never had to the chance to fire at them or even swing back! They're expensive as all hell and did nothing. I recommended to my opponent that he should probably tone them down as they truly are a point sink with all those lightning claws and power weapons that they don't generally get to use if he runs them with two independent characters. Azrael is such a beast in close combat (especially combined with a chaplain) and the squad is survivable enough in shooting due to his granting the whole unit a 4+ invul save without additional upgrades that the points are probably better spent elsewhere.
Hope you all enjoyed the report!
