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To view the previous report in this series, click here. To view the next report in this series, click here. To view more battle reports in The Hand of the King series, click here.

To view the tactical overview for this report, click here.

***

"No, seriously, what does it look like?" Melchoir asked, agitated.

"We'll know it when we see it," the priest replied.

"How?"

"It's a relic of great importance, that was all I was told. It was being transported in a valkyrie which exploded, so it will probably be near some debris."

"So we're scouring deep behind enemy lines, looking for debris?"

"No, we're scouring deep behind enemy lines looking for the relic."

"Which we'll find, once we locate some debris."

"Presumably."

"Wait, you don't even know?" Melchoir asked. He hated this kind of shoddy guesswork.

"If I knew, we wouldn't have to be scouring deep behind enemy lines looking for it, now would we?"

Melchoir's group slowly picked their way through the thick blanket of fog. The pace had started to slow as the priest and the officer started to bicker over what to do next.



"Speaking of," Melchoir retorted, "I'm not sure why we HAVE to be doing this anyways. I still haven't received orders from my line commander for this mission."

"Your line commander will be informed soon enough. This mission is of too high of a priority to go through channels."

Melchoir began to bristle. "So we're out here, not under orders, getting lost in the fog, searching for something that we don't know what it is?"

"Peace, Melchoir," the priest retorted, "Blessed is he filled with faith. Cursed is he who yearns for understanding."

Melchoir harumphed loudly as his soldiers continued to trickle forward. They were fanned out, searching through the mist.

Soon they came up to a collapsed wall next to a huge rocky outcropping.



A murmur began to bubble around the two men as the group continued forward.

"What's going on?" Melchoir asked, peering into the fog. The ground cover was so dense, he couldn't even see the troops a few feet in front of him.

"Umm, I think somebody's found something," one of his vets replied.

"There, now that wasn't worth all that grumbling, now was it?" Sanario chided Melchoir.

The officer scowled back before ordering his troops forward to investigate.



The soldiers quickly disappeared out of view into the icy greyness.

Melchoir peered around the wall. It killed him not to know what was going on.

Still no word from the men.

Slowly, a light breeze began to waft in, swirling the mist around him. As it continued, the fog started to break up just a little bit, giving him more than just a few feet of visibility.

Shapes began to slowly dissolve into view. First, his soldiers cautiously advancing, then some ruins. Melchoir frowned as he peered forward.

Not all of those shapes were natural, some were enemy!



Just as the officer began to see the enemy, the enemy began to see the guardsmen. Without warning, the hapless guardsmen at the point of the vanguard were instantly incinerated as an enemy vehicle burst forward a giant sheet of flame from its turret. This was immediately followed by the booming double-blast of a vindicator cannon as it shelled in the general direction of forward.

"Engage the enemy!" Melchoir shouted as assault cannon fire began to peal around him. From everywhere enemy heavy weapons fire poured into them from point blank range, but the officer still couldn't adequately determine where the shots were even coming from in the fog.

From his right erupted a torrent of fire. Assault cannon and heavy bolter rounds ripped out of the mist and sprayed into Melchoir's group from their exposed right flank.

Finally, a target he could see. He ordered the lascannoners around him to open fire on the new threat rolling up into their side. Bright flashes of light pierced the mist, but the shots didn't seem to have any effect. It was hard to see if they even hit.

The enemy vehicle continued to roll forward, spitting out endless streams of hot steel. A few brave meltagunners ran forward only to be brutally gunned down before they could make it into range. As the thing came closer, it slowly began to come more clearly into view.

The lascannons, now with a better target, began to find their mark. Shot after shot ripped into the front armor until one finally made it through. One by one, the weapons stopped firing as a thick pall of smoke began to creep out of the vehicle from several places at once.

Melchoir turned back to the fight in front of him.



His soldiers were bravely funneling into the place between the rock and the ruins. The enemy vehicles sprung forward and poured murderous fire into them.

By the dozens, the guardsmen were cut down and burned alive in front of the steel wall as they desperately tried to advance. Where once was a rushing horde of guardsmen was now quickly becoming an empty field.

"Keep moving forward!" Sanario barked. He looked at the enemy flame tank as it cast another swath of fire over the guardsmen.

"Melchoir!" he shouted, "We must destroy that foul flame vehicle as it greatly obstructs our path."

Melchoir seemed unsure.

"How can you be so heartless?" Sanario demanded, "These are YOUR men out there. They are dying for you right now! Look at how they scream in agony. Look at how their voices cry out for revenge. Who will avenge them? Does not seeing what that tank is doing to your men fill you with rage? Now is the time, Melchoir! Now let us destroy our filthy enemy! For the Emperor! For the king!"

The priest was right. It was repugnant to Melchoir to think of him shying away from doing personally what he would order others to do in his stead. That flame tank wasn't going to get away with killing any more of his guardsmen. Not on his watch!

The officer began to glower. He nodded at the priest. The command squad raced out from cover and began to charge forward.



The priest revved his chainsaw sword as he led the way. With a loud shout, the rest of the group followed him in. A great wave of guardsmen rushed forward against the steel wall.

"Charge!" the priest shouted as the mass of men pushed forward. Melchoir followed behind. He could feel the adrenaline surge through his system. He could see the enemy right in front of him.

The vindicator in front of them turned towards the mass of brown and white and fired.

The explosion landed straight in the middle of them, sending guardsmen and parts of guardsmen flying everywhere. Sanario's refractor field shattered as he was flung clear of the blast. Melchoir had been more behind the rock, and managed to largely avoid the worst of it as debris cascaded into his flak armor.

The officer ducked and looked around. Knocked to his senses, and now suddenly lacking in spiritual guidance, he started to take stock in his situation. This suicide charge was pure lunacy. He never would have tried it in the first place if the priest hadn't gotten him into this mess and then offered his own way out. No, now was time to do things the Melchoir way.

The one thing that was certain is that they couldn't stay here anymore. They needed to fall back to get reinforcements, or to retire on one side and then flank around the rock or something. Mindless suicide had really never been his style.

Melchoir grabbed his standard bearer up from the ground. "Come on, we're getting out of here!" he shouted.

"Where?" the standard bearer asked.

Melchoir looked around behind him in the mist. From behind them an enemy speeder charged forward, letting loose with its guns on the few unsuspecting guardsmen who remained behind him. Melchoir didn't have a plan, but he knew that being trapped wasn't part of it.

"There," he pointed as the skimmer unleashed a gout of fire from its heavy flame thrower. The officer looked at it for a moment to determine speed and direction, then started to sprint forwards, with standard bearer in tow.

The vehicle sped forward, shooting off to one side. It started to turn only to see a pair of guardsmen run full-speed out of the fog directly at it.



The vehicle gunner scarcely had time to react before Melchoir was on them. He jumped through the air, bringing his power fist up in a wide arc. Just as the skimmer was about to run him over, he hammered his massive armored gauntlet down right onto the nose of the vehicle. Under the crushing blow, the front end collapsed and was forced into the ground. The sudden stop nearly flipped the vehicle over and slammed the pilot's head into his armored windshield.

The vehicle cartwheeled over a couple of times as the officer found his feet again. He charged forward into the now flaming wreck. The gunner was still alive, desperately trying to bend his heavy flamer over towards the charging officer.

"No!" the officer stated as he made it up to the crash. He grabbed the flame weapon by its nozzle and crunched down hard with his power fist. The weapon twisted and warped in his grasp.

The stunned gunner tried to shield his face, but Melchoir grabbed him. He jerked up to pull him out of his seat, but he was strapped down into the vehicle. Instead, only the top half of the gunner came out as the officer yanked repeatedly.

Melchoir staggered backwards as the torso gave way to the awesome strength of his power fist. He dropped his enemy as he struggled to regain his footing. The standard bearer rushed up behind him and propped him back up.



"Now what, sir?" the veteran asked as the battle continued at fever pitch around them.

The officer turned and looked into the killing field.

His forces were nearly completely exhausted. In front, he could see one of his junior officers bravely charging straight at the flame tank.



He managed to scramble up on top and shoot the flamer's gunner with his laspistol. The shot apparently had no effect, and the two of them engaged in what appeared to be a fistfight on top of the tank.

The nearby vindicator tried to fire its storm bolter at the officer to clear him from the other tank.

Melchoir could only admire the pure stupid bravery of his soldiers. There wasn't much else he could do than that, though.

Melchoir looked around. There just weren't enough men left. Then, from out of the fog, something caught his eye. Dozens more guardsmen were racing up the way right towards him, and towards the enemy. It was reinforcements!

This changed everything. Melchoir adjusted his powerfist and beckoned for his standard bearer to follow. One final push just might do it now.

The forces of Folera charged forward in a fresh new wave against the dwindling enemy. The reinforcements had brought some flamers, which they used to start clearing a wrecked transport of the enemy. Meltaguns came forward and sent their hissing blasts through the mist. Lascannons from behind began to open up and wrecked another enemy tank, causing a pillar of smoke and fire to rise up in front of them.

"Come on, men! Let's get them!" Melchoir shouted as he charged back up towards the rock.



The officer could see some enemy soldiers disembark in front of him as he rounded the corner. What was left to the enemy shot back feebly, picking off guardsmen as they rushed through them. One of them bent over and picked something up.

"Keep going!" Melchoir shouted as the vindicator fired again, blasting a crater in his reinforcements. Melchoir looked at the various squads, everything was pushing in.



The officer turned and looked at the enemy that had disembarked. They were gone. Somehow, they must have escaped into the mist.

The flame tank in front of him, clear of the previous nuisance unloaded a gout of flame. It was interrupted halfway by a meltagun making it into range. Everywhere around him, the enemy was being quelled.

What was left of the enemy struggled to get away from the swarming guardsmen. Those who could, escaped into the fog.


***

"Are you all right?" Melchoir asked Sanario. The priest looked groggily at the officer.

"Umm..." he started to reply, "Yes?"

Guardsmen continued to arrive out of the mist.

"Who's in charge, here?" came a familiar voice. A moment later an officer strode, or, rather, swaggered up to them.

"Melly?" the stranger asked.

"Rhammy?" Melchoir replied.

"Hey!" the other officer said as the two men quickly embraced, "Seems like they haven't managed to kill you yet, you lucky bastard."

"Brains over brawn, cousin," Melchoir replied, smiling. "Seems you've been giving the enemy your usual runaround yourself."

"Hey, you know me. Why bother hitting them unless they can't see you? Speaking of which, great fog, am I right? By the hand of the king, I love this stuff. Attacking weather!"

Melchoir couldn't quite find it in himself to have the same level of enthusiasm.

"Who is this?" Sanario stammered as he continued to try and make sense of his environment.

"Oh," Melchoir uttered, forgetting himself, "Sanario, this is Marshal Rhamael Theleos. Cousin on my mother's side. This is Sanario, my long time friend and confessor."

"Charmed," Rhamael replied smoothly.

"I... I've heard of you," Sanario started.

"Of course you have. I'm Rhamael Theleos."

"He's even composed a ballad for himself," Melchoir added.

"Did we get it? Did we get the relic?" Sanario asked urgently.

"Umm, no, I don't think so," Melchoir replied, "I saw someone pick something up before escaping into the mist. It could have been nothing, I have no idea. You know, not actually knowing what I was looking for."

"I'd love to give chase," Rhamael offered, "No enemy like a broken enemy."

"Nah," Melchoir replied, "This was a fool's errand anyways. You should stick around, though. You and I could do some actual good here in this," he finished, waving at the fog.

Rhamael returned with an evil smile. The planning had already begun.


***

Tough mission for your army for sure.

I have been trying to make Al Rahem work since the codex came out (as I do play a tallarn army), I am almost resigned to having to put his platoon in chimeras to work, 25 guys are just too easy to shoot down these days. Will be giving it a go tomorrow night (just need to find the third chimera).

I have also been using Chenkov since the start of 6th due to my 2 squads of outflanking penal legion becoming absolutely useless. I love his stubborn bubble, but I wish you could turn it off like when you used to be able to sacrifice your commissar to make your squad run (though I tended to make the 5+ when I didn't want to).

You need to get that Chenkov officer some fluff Ailaros. He's got that massive stubborn bubble and that headstrong attitude, I'm sure you could make an interesting character for him. After all, you made one for Al'Rahem.

It'd be cool to see him as what Melchoir might become if he's not careful, falling into the trap of "who needs tactics when I can send in more guardsmen?" A warning of what he'll turn into if he continues down that path if you will.

That, or you can just make him a drunk russian-esque guy who got transferred to your unit and the only tactic he knows of is to either run at the enemy or shoot it.

Ashwaster wrote:I have been trying to make Al Rahem work since the codex came out (as I do play a tallarn army), I am almost resigned to having to put his platoon in chimeras to work, 25 guys are just too easy to shoot down these days.

I'd be tempted to agree, but not for the same reason.

I usually haven't found there to be much of a problem with durability, the problem is with range. It generally doesn't take long for my opponents to figure out how to not deploy next to a board edge, and once they figure that out, it can really cut down on this unit's effectiveness. If they don't show up until turn 3, and it takes them two turns to get anywhere before they're really in range of anything, then it's very possible that they will wind up not actually doing anything.

Now we've got 6th ed chimera flat-outting, though, which might well be enough to alleviate this problem.

Ashwaster wrote:I have also been using Chenkov since the start of 6th due to my 2 squads of outflanking penal legion becoming absolutely useless. I love his stubborn bubble, but I wish you could turn it off like when you used to be able to sacrifice your commissar to make your squad run (though I tended to make the 5+ when I didn't want to).

Up until this point, I've never had anyone in close combat near chenkov. Well, in close combat and not just get wiped to a man.

Really, I kind of just consider chenkov a tax. He's the 50 points and worse orders I have to pay to get a power weapon and SiTNW.

MrMoustaffa wrote:You need to get that Chenkov officer some fluff Ailaros. He's got that massive stubborn bubble and that headstrong attitude, I'm sure you could make an interesting character for him. After all, you made one for Al'Rahem.

I've been thinking about this for a bit now, especially since it looks like chenkov is going to be a recurring character for the forseeable future. It would also be nice to have an actual guard officer with a power weapon. That way I could give him a mace, rather than being stuck with an unusual power weapon, what with the model I'm using not actually having one.

I've been kind of going back and forth on what he would be. He could just be another guard officer, except this one has carapace and a mace. Perhaps he's an implant from the kingsguard. Perhaps he's some sort of special officer, like a minor member of royalty, and the conscripts are his personal subjects.

Another way I've thought of going is to make him a priest. I kind of have that vibe in my army already, and I can imagine a creepy old guy sending all of those poor sinners forward in a mass wave, promising them absolution on their untimely demises.

Until I know what I want to do, though, I'll probably hold off on making a model.

MrMoustaffa wrote:It'd be cool to see him as what Melchoir might become if he's not careful, falling into the trap of "who needs tactics when I can send in more guardsmen?" A warning of what he'll turn into if he continues down that path if you will.

An interesting character development.

Daxos always had that utterly inconsiderate aura about him. It's not that he was cruel or uncaring per se, so much as that other people literally didn't register in his self-centered world unless he had a reason to allow them to. Melchoir has always been a more fun-loving, caring kind of character, eager to use strategy and contrivance as much as possible more of an Odysseus than a Napoleon. You're right that this is causing a conflict with how I'm using my guard army in this edition.

You know who you could make chenkov. You make him the Commissar lord melchoir hated so much towards the end of 5th ed (forget his name. Is he Daxos?) Think about it. The guy is wearing carapace armor. He's got a power weapon. He gives a stubborn bubble. He has a complete disregard for human life, only results. A commissar pretty much matches up with Chenkov's attitude perfectly. And hey, you've already got the models.

Melchoir has had some screw ups, and surprise surprise, those happened when the commissars left. Now the Administratum has ordered them to be sent in to clean up his mess and keep an eye on him...

But yeah, you already come up with awesome story ideas, just spitballin there.

Great batreps though. Good to see you finding some success with your builds again. I know the transition to 6th was rough on everybody.

 Ailaros wrote:

Ashwaster wrote:I have been trying to make Al Rahem work since the codex came out (as I do play a tallarn army), I am almost resigned to having to put his platoon in chimeras to work, 25 guys are just too easy to shoot down these days.

I'd be tempted to agree, but not for the same reason.

I usually haven't found there to be much of a problem with durability, the problem is with range. It generally doesn't take long for my opponents to figure out how to not deploy next to a board edge, and once they figure that out, it can really cut down on this unit's effectiveness. If they don't show up until turn 3, and it takes them two turns to get anywhere before they're really in range of anything, then it's very possible that they will wind up not actually doing anything.

To tell you the truth the problem I have with durability is Al himself, his squad is too dangerous to ignore a lot of the time and the infantry squads are pretty easy to ignore after they have lost their source of orders. I hate Chimeras in my gunline, they just get in the way, but I am thinking outflanking them would be good. Even if the come in on the wrong side you can still get them somewhere useful by the end of the game.

Thanks for your battle reports I have just found them and they are pretty inspirational, especially as 6th edition has been kicking my ass too (even more than you I think). Though I did okay with a deathstrike conscript list, of all things, in my last tournament a couple of weeks ago somehow. When I take a stupid list it worked better than the "competitive" builds I was trying to use?

Great report!

I have only one thing to about this:

The picture of a powerfist Guard jumping and KILLING a speeder is truly amazing and I would love to someone do a picture of it. True Gold sir, love your battle reports

MrMoustaffa wrote:You make him the Commissar

I've considered that as well, as, you're right, there's a lot of overlap.

Fluff is a little problematic. I've got to justify a commissar in an army that recently purged them. Furthermore, it doesn't make sense for there to be just one commissar, and for him to be filling in for an officer and have a retinue.

MrMoustaffa wrote:Great batreps though. Good to see you finding some success with your builds again. I know the transition to 6th was rough on everybody.

Yeah, it feels nice for me to hit my stride as well. I'd much rather lose close games like this where I know what I'm doing than accidentally win games by stabbing randomly in the dark.

Ashwaster wrote:Though I did okay with a deathstrike conscript list, of all things, in my last tournament a couple of weeks ago somehow. When I take a stupid list it worked better than the "competitive" builds I was trying to use?

Yeah, that's what episode 9 was for me. My impression for the first few months of 6th ed so far is that people really didn't have any clue what was going to work well for foot guard. It was practically a blank canvas. It all took some amount of trying crazy stuff and seeing what sticks.

Ecstasy in Service wrote:The picture of a powerfist Guard jumping and KILLING a speeder is truly amazing and I would love to someone do a picture of it. True Gold sir, love your battle reports

Thanks!

I'll have to bone up on my watercoloring skills.

 Ailaros wrote:

MrMoustaffa wrote:You make him the Commissar

I've considered that as well, as, you're right, there's a lot of overlap.

Fluff is a little problematic. I've got to justify a commissar in an army that recently purged them. Furthermore, it doesn't make sense for there to be just one commissar, and for him to be filling in for an officer and have a retinue.

Make his retinue a commissar training squad? http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Commissar#Commissar_Training_Squads

Commissar comes in, "this is what happens when you remove a regiment's guidance. Now, I'm going to show you how to whip them back into shape."

Would make a cool as hell platoon command squad.