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Hails to all that read this. First battle report posted on Dakka, seeing how this works out.

My friend Feldenglas and I decided to finally have a try at Planetstrike last night. We played a basic version of the game and we like it. Will be looking to play this again very soon.

2,000 pt limit, I was defending and he was attacking. His list was from the 5th Ed Space Wolves Codex, my list was from the 4th Ed Eye of Terror.

There is fluff associated w/ this game but my brain hurts too much to be creative right now. I'm going to let the pictures tell most of the story, with a few narratives here and there.

Table before the game. I just finished the basic table before the game so I'm showing the table bare first:







And then the terrain setup:








Pregame setup changed a bit, the one large Administorium was changed into three buildings, two of which became objectives. A total of 5 objectives were deployed. Two of those objectives were Orbital Defense Bastions.




Traitor Guard deployment- Mutants lead by Alpha Legion adviser on ground, Traitor Guard lead by Alpha Legion adviser on rooftop.



Plague Zombies appx 1/2 way between Chem Plant and Bastion objectives.



Plague Zombies on top of Chem Station objective.



Different angle of Mutants lead by Alpha Legion adviser on ground, Traitor Guard lead by Alpha Legion adviser on rooftop, plus some Plague Zombies taking the Administorium offices.



The intended deployment zone of the the Space Wolves (3 pics).




Overview shots





***********************
Space Wolves Turn 1: Orbital Bombardment took out both Defense Battery guns but failed to damage buildings. A handful of Traitor Guard were killed in the blast, as well as their Alpha Legion adviser.



This is Logan Grimnar deciding to not deep strike this turn (mishap- delayed)



Grey Hunters deep strike near the Chem Station




Bjorn the Fellhand deploys from table edge



Grey Hunters spread out



Bjorn "Failhand" shoots Bastion AND hammers it 5 times w/ DCC and does absolutely nothing to it.



Traitor Guard Turn 1: All units hold their positions, no movement orders issues. All reserves hold back except for one very eager squad of recently liberated PDF soldiers who arrive in their shiny new Chimera and open up on the Grey Hunters.



...killing one.



There is much rejoicing in the PDF at having taken down an "invincible" Space Marine.



*************************************************

Space Wolves Turn 2: The strength of the Space Wolves becomes more apparent. Thunder Wolves burst onto the field of battle and engage the horde of Plague Zombies.



Logan Grimnar (take 2) lands it this time and suddenly life as a Traitor Guard Commander becomes less desirable.



Another squad of Grey Hunters and Wolf Scouts both follow Grimnar's lead and deploy in the heart of the enemy.



Things are about to become quite messy.



Traitor Guard HQ with Operation RUN AWAY! in full effect.



Thunder Wolves charge into the Plague Zombies



Bjorn blasts away at the Bastion but again fails to manage any damage in this overview of the battle so far





Thunder Wolves destroy many zombies but are swarmed in return and take damage



Bjorn FINALLY manages to destroy Bastion



Traitor Guard Turn 2: Traitor Legion reserves spring the trap! Traitors lead by an Alpha Legion adviser rush up to engage the Scouts.



One



Two



Three Leman Russ tanks draw a bead on the Grey Hunters!



Overview shots of battle so far:













PDF "button up" and hammer Multi-Laz and Heavy Bolter at Grey Hunters, as well as 2 Leman Russ and 1 Demolisher tank, and there are still 2 Grey Hunters left.



Traitors engage Scouts, but Logan Grimnar calls a Waaagh!... er, I mean "Living Legend" and Scouts get +1 attack.



Mutants pile in on Grey Hunters



Traitor Guard HQ running as fast as they can away from the very scary Terminators.



Plague Zombies are doing fantastic job of holding the objective.



Plague Zombies pile onto Grey Hunters and no one manages to kill anyone.



Plague Zombies and Thunder Wolves- Zombies lose more of their numbers but take down a Thunder Wolf





The Mutant force is CRUSHED by the Grey Hunters with a massive 11 losses in HTH, lose their nerve and are cut down while running away.



The epidemic of fear spreads to the Traitor Guard who do the exact same thing. Lose, run, die.



(this is where I knew I had lost the game and was quite frustrated to have the entire side of the board collapse all at once on one turn and to have had all my armor on the opposite side of the table. Took a break here, had another beer, came back and had more fun )

*************************************************

Space Wolves Turn 3: Dreadnought in Drop Pod pop up in middle of table



Long Fangs deploy on top of Chem Station objective.



Dreadnought stuns Leman Russ tank



Last of Grey Hunters eaten by Plague Zombies who follow up towards Long Fangs




Traitor Guard Turn 3: Massive concentrated firepower results on in the Dreadnought getting both arms blown off (I've 'ad worse! HAVE AT YOU!)



HQ still running tries to hook up with last Traitor Guard squad on this side of board




Thunder Wolves vs. Plague Zombies comes down to the last 2 wounds left.



****************************************

Space Wolves Turn 4: Grey Hunters destroy Traitor Guard in tower (lose, run, die once again) assuring a Space Wolf victory. Decided to play out rest of turn.



Logan Grimnar and friends run down the Traitor Guard HQ finally.



Thunder Wolf vs. Plague Zombie- Plague Zombie Victory!



"Sven the Armless" charges Leman Russ tank and gives it a solid good kicking, destroying 2 weapons



Plague Zombie eat last Long Fang (no pic)


Traitor Guard Turn 4: Concentrated firepower destroys drop pod and Sven. Nothing left to do, Traitors fall back and regroup. Space Wolves claim victory 3-2.



And just for fun, some "artistic" shots my wife took during the game.











And finally, her favorite shot of the game. It is titled "Nerd Tools"

OMG! That is the BEST batrep I've ever read! The photos are awesome, it looks like you had a great time man! I love gaming days, but I bet you are exhausted. and LMAO "Sven the Armless" -what are you gonna do, bleed on me? lol

Lovely! Always fun to see battles on spiffy tables. Guess I'll have to drive out there, some day.

--B.

wow... cool fight... best line definatly for me is

Traitor Guard HQ with Operation RUN AWAY!

lol ... also liked the black knight referrence^^

hopefully you had much fun! and i really loved those pics at the end of the game report... very good to have your wife as a war correspondent! as for game development... i am a rules noob so i can´t possibly say anything about the strategies used here or if the outcome had possibly been avoudable... all i can say is that i liked the read and i think i would love to lpay on such a nice board too!

cheers, vik

@ Briancj- We have to get a game coordinated. I've mentioned it to the wife and she's ok w/ it.

@ dsteingass & Vik- Yeah, I have to admit that I use references from that movie a lot IRL, especially when gaming.



I made some HUGE mistakes in that game, such as deploying a Traitor squad 4 levels up on a platform for no apparent reason AND it was next to an Orbital Defense gun... duh. They were completely useless for the entire game. Having the Mutants so far back was also a mistake. Most of my battles were over nothing. The Plague Zombies held the Thunder Wolves, but to what end? It wasn't victory points, it was objective based. Even though it was my first game of Planetstrike it wasn't my first game of 40K and I made some errors that ultimately cost me.

But it was wicked fun and a great excuse to drink lots of beer and hang out rolling dice and killing stuff.

That game was hands-down the most fun I've had playing 40k for the calendar year.

Your fellow Dakkanuts are 100% correct; the table was amazing. It's awesome to see the project nearing its final stages, and I like the game culture that we've cultivated, where it's ok to play outdated codices because we trust each other to interpret fairly. That's one of my favorite things about our group.

Fun fun fun fun! It's my planet now, dude! You want it back? Come and get it!!

A slight revision to some work I did earlier, ties in nicely with the scenario we have started here.

Tarpeius Gor stood silently on the observation deck of the Maleficent Hammer. Countless hours had passed without notice as he stared at the patchwork-patterned continents of the planet below. Throughout the chamber corrupted servitors performed their functions soundlessly, each an example of mindless efficiency and functionality. Enormous display monitors streamed data from the planet surface, marking base temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and dozens of other readings that he made no notice of. The inconsequential information reflected off the waxy flesh of his bald scalp, scrolling left to right in flashes of white and green light. He was consumed in his thoughts.

Over a century had passed since he was last here, though it seemed only a brief moment to those one who sought ascension to eternity. “Eternity” he thought, and then spat bilious phlegm onto the metal-grate deck. It had already been an eternity since the False Emperor of Mankind betrayed the Crusade and declared war on his most loyal Legions. Countless sycophantic followers of the Enthroned Corpse had fallen since then, but the Long War endured.

“Forgive me, Lord” a voice broke Tarpeius from his semi-meditation “but the Warmaster demands your audience”.

Tarpeius slowly turned his gaze toward the thrall messenger, his visage a contortion of barely-contained rage and virulent contempt. The vox box deep within his ruined throat activated at his mental command.

“Leave”.

The messenger backed away, making obsequious gestures. He disappeared into the near-impenetrable darkness that encircled the random areas of light.

“War-mah-ster” he said aloud, his vox box breaking on each syllable. Tarpeius had known the true Warmaster. He had fought along side him even before the War of Liberation. This bastard child of deceased gene-seed was not worthy of the title Warmaster, let alone be called the clone-son of Horus. With a thought he released the stabilizers in his Terminator armor and made his way towards the lift that would take him to the Grand Hall.

The doors to the Grand Hall were majestic works of art, etched by inhuman hands and polished with the powder of a thousand crushed skulls. Three Land Raiders could drive side-by-side through these doors with room to spare. Tarpeius waited as the doors swung outward towards him. An invisible cloud of anger and death billowed from doorway and washed over him. It felt invigorating. He marched down the ceremite-tiled walkway, a mosaic of heroic deeds starting with the War of Liberation and ending with the beginning of the Black Crusade. Tarpeius walked down the plates treading unnecessarily hard, the echo of his crushing footsteps reverberated off the impossibly high support columns of the chamber. If he had a sense of humor he would have smiled at this obvious display of impertinence. But he did not.

Tarpeius arrived before a massive figure surrounded by a security host. His armor not only did not reflect light, it seemed to readily consume it. To most living things he was the epitome of terror. To Tarpeius, he was a whoreson and obstacle to progress.

“What-do-you-want, A-bah-don?” said Tarpeius, without a hint of deference in his posture or respect in his mechanical voice.

“Mind your station, Brother. Your position is not so lofty as to preclude you from replacement when the opportunity presents itself”. Abbadon’s voice was smooth and silky, but woven with absolute malice and promise of suffering beyond measure. Tarpeius nodded his head ever so slightly. “War-mah-ster”

Abbadon made no acknowledgement of the gesture, his point had been made. “The Imperials have taken the bait. They have responded to the 'uprising' on Galaxis VII and are committing even more resources to that miserable backwater planet as we speak. Our efforts on Hecadauis Prime will remain unnoticed, and the search for the Vortex Alignment Device shall continue unhindered."

Tarpeius said nothing, his face an impassive stare.

“However, to ensure the Imperials remain committed to Galaxis VII the ruse must continue. We have already begun to intercept communications that indicate a very large fleet is responding to this sector, and there will be many Astartes. If we do not support our 'allies' on the surface they will be quickly destroyed and our efforts will have been for naught."

"You are charged with leading the next assault on Galaxis VII. I have selected a force worthy of the task to accompany you. The Imperials will arrive soon."

Tarpeius nodded. It was not the first time Abbadon had assigned him on missions like this.

"Bring death and hatred against the Loyalist filth and hold the line as long as you can. Once the Vortex Alignment Device is in our possession, even Terra itself will stand defenseless against the Black Legion!”

Tarpeius turned to prepare himself for battle.

2,000 points of Black Legion Strike Force looking forward to reclaiming a foothold on Galaxis VII whenever you have the time

Great battle report, and very gracious of the space wolves player to play against an army list that technically is no longer valid. (I had sooo much fun swamping my enemies with plague zombies when it was though, but now I'm down to using them as Dark Eldar pain tokens. ) I look forward to seeing more batreps from either of you.

Well, seeing as you were playing the 5th Ed. Space wolves codex (rated as one of the most powerful out there)

With an old Eye of Terror army. (I miss the old mutant kit)

I gotta say you were facing a downhill battle from the start.

@ warpcrafter- It's what I like best about the group I play with. We're all more into the spirit of the game than the current "rules". If it is fun we'll try it. This is the first of many BatReps we'll be offering.

@ Comrade- Yeah, and I knew I was going to get pasted, but it turned out pretty well. My Plague Zombies held against a unit of Thunder Wolves! My Plague Zombies held out against Grey Hunters and Long Fangs! I held 2 of 5 objectives and I feel I could have won had I made a few decisions differently. The Dice Gods were very kinds to me until it was time to make Ld tests... such is the way of things.

I take that the PlagueZ rules are in Eye of Terror? Without violating GW's IP, could you tell me what the PlagueZs are (not their rules)? Just generalize, like a buncha T2, STR2 hyumies?
Or
2 ccw guardsmen?

Nice dedication on recording the battle.

@Comrade, while we do enjoy a little bit of healthy competitiveness (and one player in our group runs the most brutal Ork army I've ever seen), we're really not so much about the winning or the losing.

That may seem like a glib sentiment coming from the winning player, but my own record is less than stellar. Skalk and I both have been in the hobby for years and years, and rulesets come and go. For us, the real joy is in the narrative, and just playing around with all the neat little toy soldiers. We aren't particularly serious as players; really more just the dedicated, passionate hobbyist type.

Oh, and the beer. Lots of beer. And Vikingfjord shots out of ice shooters.

Feldenglas wrote:Oh, and the beer. Lots of beer. And Vikingfjord shots out of ice shooters.

I think that was part of your strategy... "Hey Skalk, let's do another shot!"

We Fenrisians are famed for our alcohol tolerance.

Next time stick to rootbeers! Ah the ups and downs of being a Traitor Guard commander!

Thoroughly enjoyed - thanks for sharing!

Beautiful table, great game and you've made quite an impressive first BR of it. I hope to see a lot more from you in the future.

Nice to see someone playing planetstrike. Did you use stratgems?

I've always found PS a little unbalanced, always felt like the attacker had the advantage.

Lovely looking table by the way.

We didn't use stratagems this time around. Next time, probably.

Having only played one game, I don't know enough to corroborate or dispute the claim that it is unbalanced to favor the attackers. The preliminary firestorm seems like madness itself (especially with the extra d6 templates stratagem), and an assault-heavy daemon or tyranid army with lots of intrinsically deep-striking gribblies seems like it could make an utter mess of the defenders. I think our next fight is going to see me defending and Skalk attacking, so we'll find out.

Well it seemed to be an interesting game, and I can guess how pleasant it must have been for you to field your LatD army, Skalk!

And, while the reference has already been made by Dsteingass, I can't resist to an hommage to Sven the Armless

"You're a looney"
HAHAHA

Very Very awesome batrep! was top notch.

Thank you one and all. New BatRep coming up on Saturday for Friday's game. W40K, Orks vs. IG, 1,500 pts.

I am predicting a decisive and crushing victory for the Orks, but if we're lucky we'll at least minimize the damage. My goal currently is to not be completely tabled by turn 3.

We'll see how it goes.

well against these odds i hope you let your sirits not falter... good luck mate!

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:
I am predicting a decisive and crushing victory for the Orks, but if we're lucky we'll at least minimize the damage. My goal currently is to not be completely tabled by turn 3.

We'll see how it goes.

Split up your guard blob into a scoring flank and a sacrificial flank, but don't tell your opponent which flank is which. If all else fails, the guard blob with HWTs can always sit still and shoot and break the waaagh when they rush.

Good Luck! The Emprah Protects!