Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Background
Crablezworth and I actually played this game only a couple days after I posted my previous battle report, but I've been swamped with work lately and haven't had time to post it... until now! We decided to up the points this time and I swapped out my Guard army for my trusty Space Wolves. Time for another Marine showdown!

Battle report images were taken by myself and Crablezworth. You can check out his impressive 40k photography on his gallery and his photography thread.

Andilus Greatsword's Great Company


Deathwatch (Nurgle)


DEPLOYMENT
We rolled for the number of objectives and ended up with 4, and got Hammer and Anvil deployment. Night Fighting was not in effect on Turn 1. We placed the objectives (I actually voluntarily set on near Crablezworth's lines because I prefer to take the enemy's zone) and I set up my forces first. When Crablezworth and I play, we always choose Warlord Traits rather than rolling for them randomly. Crablezworth chose Master of Deception, gaining 2 infiltrating units. He kept his Chaos Lord (with Obliterators) and one of the Plague Marine squads in reserves in order to outflank them. I made a bit of a mistake in choosing Legendary Fighter, because my Wolf Lord was going to be in Arjac Rockfist's squad... and Arjac always has to issue/accept challenges.



Oh well, no big deal, maybe Arjac would die or something, but I'm not too cut up about a potentially useless Warlord Trait.

After all of that, Crablezworth rolled to seize the initiative and...





















Yes, I need to paint-strip that plasma cannon Long Fang. Also, yes that is SANTA WITH A SHOTGUN.

Turn 1 – Space Wolves
My Land Raider surged forward, followed closely by one of the Rhinos. Both of them popped smoke, because I knew that Crablezworth was packing a lot of firepower and could potentially blow up both transports. At the north edge of the board, my Wolf Priest's Rhino decided to play a bit more conservatively, hiding behind the bridge in order to acquire a cover save.

Unfortunately, no targets were in range or were damaged by my shooting, and so my first turn ended quite quickly. Hopefully I could weather Crablezworth's shooting, because a storm was about to come...





Turn 1 – Deathwatch
Crablezworth's main force (the Land Raider, Contemptor Dreadnought and Nurgle Bikers) advanced along the northern edge of the board. The large Plague Marine squad inside of the Chaos Land Raider disembarked into the nearby ruins and onto an objective. In the south, one of the Plague Marine squads disembarked from its Rhino, using the vehicle as cover. The Forgefiend also moved to get a shot at the approaching Land Raider with its Hades Autocannons.

In the Shooting Phase, the Forgefiend, Contemptor and the meltagun-armed Plague Marines in the ruins opened fire on the Land Raider. Despite all of these weapons requiring a 6 to glance and the smoke cover on the Land Raider, Crablezworth's troops managed to knock 2 hull points off of the vehicle. The Chaos Land Raider also fired at the Rhino behind the Space Wolves' Land Raider, immobilizing it with its Lascannons. Unfortunately for Crablezworth, none of his units were in range to assault, and so the turn ended.







Turn 2 – Space Wolves
Luckily for me, I hadn't given up First Blood with Crablezworth's first volley and chances were that I'd get to do it myself this turn. I don't generally find First Blood to be a crucial VP to get as my games are usually won by more than 1-2VP (especially in a regular objectives game like this), but I do know that it can be a tie-breaker and so an opportunity to get it is welcome.

Anyway, Andilus' unit disembarked from their Land Raider and moved to charge the Plague Marines entrenched in the ruins. The Grey Hunters in the immobilized Rhino disembarked as well and moved towards the southern end of the board to cover the objective (I was still acutely aware that Crablezworth had a Plague Marine squad, his Warlord and Obliterators which were going to be outflanking within the next 2 game turns). To the north, the Wolf Priest's Grey Hunters disembarked from their own Rhino and then moved to hopefully provide some fire support with their meltaguns if my other weapons didn't destroy the Chaos Land Raider.

In the Shooting Phase, the Space Wolves Land Raider fired its assault cannon at the Forgefiend, but failed to do any damage. It also used POTMS to fire its meltagun at the Chaos Land Raider, but only glanced it. All of the Long Fangs (minus the 2 Plasma Cannons) also fired at the Chaos Land Raider, but only managed to knock 2 more hull points off of it. The meltagun-armed Grey Hunter in the Wolf Priest's unit fired at the Chaos Land Raider, hoping to finish it off with a lucky glance, but failed to do so. Finally, Andilus' unit declined to shoot at the Plague Marines, instead hoping to maximize their chances of getting into combat (and staying there at the end of the turn).

In the Assault Phase, Andilus' unit successfully charged the Plague Marines. Arjac and the Plague Champion had to fight in a challenge, and the pair prepared to exchange blows. The Grey Hunters killed 3 of the Plague Marines, but 2 Grey Hunters were killed in return (Veterans of the Long War + Poisoned weapons is a brutal combo). Andilus then killed 2 more Plague Marines himself. Finally, Arjac and the Plague Champion exchanged blows – Arjac easily crushed the Champion with his hammer, but he suffered a wound in the process as well. The final tally read 2 dead Grey Hunters, a wounded Arjac and 2 remaining Plague Marines. On the one hand, this meant I wouldn't get shot up next turn, but on the other I hadn't gotten First Blood... however, if I could hold off Crablezworth's shooting for another turn, then I would likely get it at the end of his next Assault Phase... Fingers crossed!

















Turn 2 – Deathwatch
Crablezworth rolled for his reserves, and both his Plague Marines and Warlord's unit arrived. The Plague Marines arrived from the south side of the board, while the Warlord and Obliterators arrived from the north. Hoping to cripple my right flank, Crablezworth pressed his units towards the Wolf Priest and his unit. The Bikers zoomed out from behind the Land Raider and moved alongside the Contemptor Dread, both preparing to gun down and then assault the Grey Hunters. Meanwhile, the newly-arrived Plague Marines disembarked from their Rhino and then moved into cover behind the southern bridge, hoping to weather a turn of fire from the nearby unit of Grey Hunters.

In the Shooting Phase, the Wolf Priest's unit came under a hail of fire. Almost all of the Grey Hunters were killed by the combined fire of the Bikers, Contemptor Dreadnought and Land Raider (and even more would have died if not for the Saga of the Hunter conferring stealth, which saved a few plasma and Lascannon shots). Crucially, the incoming fire managed to kill my Wolf Standard-toting Grey Hunter.

In the Assault Phase, the Contemptor tried to charge the Grey Hunters, but failed to make it into combat. However, the Bikers did successfully make their charge, with the squad's Wolf Guard and Biker champion challenging each other. The surviving Grey Hunters and Wolf Priest failed to kill any of the Bikers, and they were all killed by the furious attack of the Nurgle Bikers. In the challenge, the Biker champion managed to kill the Wolf Guard, but the Wolf Guard's power axe also scored a wound, slaying the champion with his dying breath. Meanwhile, in the assault in the ruins, Andilus and Arjac predictably finished off the remaining Plague Marines. Unfortunately it was just too late – Crablezworth's Bikers had acquired First Blood!









Turn 3 – Space Wolves
I hadn't quite expected the furious assault on the northern end of the board, and so suddenly I was in somewhat dire straits and my backfield was at risk of getting swept away. As a result, I had to try to blunt the risk as best I could. As a result, I formulated a plan – Andilus would detach from Arjac's unit and attack the Bikers. The dead Wolf Priest's Rhino would move to tank shock the Obliterators, screening Andilus in case he failed his charge. Finally, my Land Raider would move up and hopefully take out the Chaos Land Raider once and for all. Elsewhere, Arjac's Grey Hunters advanced, hoping to take the north-west objective from the entrenched Cultists. Finally, the Grey Hunters near the southern bridge moved to shoot at the outflanking Plague Marines.

In the Shooting Phase, the 2 squads of Long Fangs split their fire – the Plasma cannons fired at the outflanking Plague Marines (with fire support from the nearby Grey Hunters), while the Lascannons and Missile Launchers split their attention between the Chaos Land Raider and Obliterators. When the dust settled, 1 Obliterator had been killed and 5 of the Plague Marines were dead (leaving 1 survivor). The Chaos Land Raider was also finally destroyed by the Space Wolves Land Raider, leaving nothing but a smoking crater.

In the Assault Phase, Andilus managed to successfully charge the Nurgle Bikers. They successfully put a wound on the Wolf Lord, but he retaliated by killing one of them with his Greatsword – unexpectedly, Andilus remained locked in the assault and therefore would not get shot at next turn!













Turn 3 – Deathwatch
Crablezworth was in a bit of a precarious position at this point, and his options were starting to shrink. He split his Warlord off from his Obliterator and beelined it for my deployment zone – I think he was hoping to deny Slay the Warlord, get Linebreaker and/or contest my backfield objective. The Obliterator headed to open fire at Arjac's unit instead. The Contemptor Dreadnought moved to do the same, but ended up getting itself immobilized (we were playing the rivers as dangerous terrain to represent the strong current and make the bridges more important)! The Forgefiend also moved to open fire on Arjac's unit... this was going to hurt. Elsewhere, the lone Plague Marine moved forward, screened by his Rhino which moved flat-out to cover him. Finally, the Plague Marines to the south disembarked from their Rhino and decided to secure the nearby objective.

In the Shooting Phase the Obliterator, Contemptor Dread and Forgefiend all opened fire on Arjac's unit. The unit received a pounding as 6 of the Grey Hunters (including my poor Wulfen...) were killed. This left only Arjac and 2 Grey Hunters standing. Thankfully, they passed their morale check and held strong.

In the Assault Phase, Andilus whiffed all of his attacks and so he was stuck in combat with the last Nurgle Biker... Dammit! I was hoping to go after Terminator Samedi (my nickname for Crablezworth's warlord) next!









Turn 4 – Space Wolves
In the Movement Phase, the remnants of Arjac's unit moved to get to the Cultists ASAP – they probably wouldn't survive another volley like the one they just endured. The Grey Hunters on the south bridge advanced up the center of the board, moving to get a shot at the lone Plague Marine. The undamaged Rhino also moved to block the LOS of the immobilized Contemptor Dread.

In the Shooting Phase the Land Raider shot at the Contemptor Dread, but once again failed to destroy it (I was having bad luck with that Land Raider's offensive output...). The Long Fangs chose to split their fire. The Missile Launchers and Lascannons fired at the Rhino protecting the full squad of Plague Marines to the south-west, but they only stunned the vehicle. Meanwhile, the Plasma Cannons shot at the only target in their range – the Rhino protecting the lone Plague Marine. Unfortunately, they only succeeded in glancing it. The Grey Hunters fired at it as well, but failed to damage it. However, as a bonus the immobilized Rhino actually managed to repair itself this turn.

In the Assault Phase, Andilus actually managed to kill the Nurgle Biker this time. He got a full consolidation move... with a little bit of luck, he may yet get into combat with Terminator Samedi!







Turn 4 – Deathwatch
Again, Crablezworth was running low on options, but the game was getting close to completion and he had to get some luck. The lone Plague Marine embarked on its Rhino again and then zoomed off towards the south-west objective. Meanwhile, the Plague Marines on that objective then headed straight north in order to capture the objective inside the ruins. The Forgefiend moved again in order to get a shot at Arjac and the surviving Grey Hunters (luckily they were now out of the Dreadnought's firing arc), as did the Cultists. Finally, Terminator Samedi moved further towards my deployment zone.

In the Shooting Phase, the Forgefiend gunned down the last 2 Grey Hunters, leaving only Arjac from that squad. He then faced the full force of the Cultists' guns, but saved every shot like a boss. However, they decided not to assault him just because this would potentially delay Arjac and keep him from getting onto the objective for another turn or 2...















Turn 5 – Space Wolves
We rolled for Night Fighting, but it did not come into effect this turn. Andilus moved to try and get into assault with Terminator Samedi. He got a good start, rolling a for his difficult terrain test to get onto the bridge. Now he'd need about a 9 on a difficult terrain charge test... Meanwhile, Arjac moved to charge the Cultists and the Grey Hunters at the center of the table moved to capture the objective inside the ruins.

In the Shooting Phase, the Long Fangs opened fire on the Plague Marine Rhino which was headed for the ruins. The combined fire of the two units managed to tear the vehicle open like a tin can, killing 2 Plague Marines in the blast. The Land Raider also failed YET AGAIN to destroy the Dreadnought. Finally, for the lulz, Arjac threw his hammer and absolutely annihilated one of the Cultists.



In the Assault Phase, Arjac charged the Cultists. Of course, he had to challenge the squad's champion, but the Cultist failed to do any damage. In return, Arjac destroyed the man many times over, and actually forced the unit to run off the board. Arjac consolidated onto the objective. Meanwhile, Andilus rolled his charge on Terminator Samedi... and actually managed to get into combat! The pair duelled and Andilus managed to get a single wound without suffering one in return (leaving each at 2 wounds apiece).















Turn 5 – Deathwatch
With it potentially being the last turn, Crablezworth disembarked his lone Plague Marine onto the south-west objective. The other Plague Marine squad moved to get to the objectives in the ruins, but one of the Marines failed his dangerous terrain test and actually was swept away by the current! That was... unexpected, not to mention extremely unfortunate.

In the Shooting Phase, the Forgefiend and Contemptor Dread both destroyed my Rhinos – if the game went for another turn, this would allow the Forgefiend to shoot at the Grey Hunters on my backfield objective. In the Assault Phase, Andilus and Terminator Samedi continued to duel, but neither was able to land more than a glancing blow on the other.

I had the game well in hand at this point – Crablezworth could still pull out a tie potentially, but the game would have to continue for that to be the case. We rolled to see if there would be a Turn 6 and...















Turn 6 – Space Wolves
I was time to clean up. The Grey Hunters in the ruins moved to secure and clear the objective. In the Shooting Phase, they gunned down the remaining Plague Marines. The Long Fangs also fired at the Forgefiend, blowing off one of the Hades Autocannons. The Land Raider also finally destroyed the Contemptor Dreadnought with its Multi-melta. Finally, in the Assault Phase Andilus managed to put another wound on Terminator Samedi without suffering one in return. I was getting really lucky with my 2+ saves...









Turn 6 – Deathwatch
The game was practically over by this point, but there were only really 2 things we could do to affect the outcome. The first was the remaining Hades Autocannon on the Forgefiend firing at the Grey Hunters in my backfield, but it failed to kill any. The second thing was that Andilus and Terminator Samedi continued to duel. This time, Samedi failed to wound Andilus yet again (like I said, my 2+ saves were on fire), but Andilus finally managed to kill the enemy Warlord.

We rolled to see if there would be a Turn 7 and...







AFTERTHOUGHTS
That was a fun game, but I just wish it had been a little-less one-sided. I find that the game is always at its best when it's close, and for about half of this I was in a fairly commanding position (especially since my 2+ saves were on fire). Although I'll admit that when Crablezworth annihilated my Wolf Priest's squad, that really took me aback. Speaking of the Wolf Priest, the Saga of the Hunter is amazing, if only for the stealth bonus it confers to the whole squad. I was risking it a bit by not taking a Rune Priest, but you really can't go wrong with a Wolf Priest – they're under-appreciated I find. I'm not sure the same can be said of the Plasma cannons... Maybe it was because of their positioning this game, but they were really useless this game. On the plus side, they never overheated and killed my own men, but still... I think they'd be better with a whole unit of them, but I definitely preferred the Missile Launcher/Lascannon combo. I'll need to do more testing I guess, I'm trying to broaden my Long Fang weapon horizons anyway.

On another note, I think it's safe to say I've gotten quite comfortable with my Space Wolves in 6th edition. Early on I struggled quite a bit, in part due to the changes to assaulting from vehicles, but now I win with them more often than I lose. Still working on getting my first win with Guard though, and I need to make some new purchases with my Nids before I can field a proper list (or wait for a new Codex in half a year... ).

If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out my other battle reports!

Crazy beautifull Deathwatch army!! and a very good battle report!!

Wrong thread/10

It's a beautiful battle report, with a fantastic scenic battlefield. The models are great I really enjoyed them.

Bravo buddy, bravo!

Thanks for the report. That was great. I almost spit my Cheerios all over the computer screen when I saw Santa with his shotgun. That was the best part.

Valek wrote:Crazy beautifull Deathwatch army!! and a very good battle report!!

Thank you!

Goat wrote:Wrong thread/10

It's a beautiful battle report, with a fantastic scenic battlefield. The models are great I really enjoyed them.

Bravo buddy, bravo!

Yeah... my bad. Hopefully a mod moves it to the proper forum soon...

Time 2 Roll wrote:Thanks for the report. That was great. I almost spit my Cheerios all over the computer screen when I saw Santa with his shotgun. That was the best part.

Haha I love that model, literally every time someone see it they go "Is that Santa Claus... with a SHOTGUN!?"

Great report man. I love the little map graphic. How do you make those?

Beautiful report.

The maps come from Vassal, I believe.

Excellent report, fun game, and nice armies! Definitely impressed with the Deathwatch Terminator and Shotgun Santa.

xeen wrote:Great report man. I love the little map graphic. How do you make those?

Yup, it's Vassal 40k. Some quick Googling should bring it up.

cowmonaut wrote:Excellent report, fun game, and nice armies! Definitely impressed with the Deathwatch Terminator and Shotgun Santa.

Thanks, I love Baron Samedi, he's so badass looking. And Santa's totally epic.

Nice report, especially the tabletop-level pictures which are excellent!

Nice report. Great pics. Fantastic models.

Nice to see Anvil Industries "Bad Santa" getting stuck in.

I really appreciate the effort you put into your batreps. Especially the VASSAL maps. It makes everything so clear.

--Brian

Santa with a shotgun is a beautiful beast. I'm a fan of that Forgefex too

And, shame about the plague marines drowning, hah. An interesting turn of events,

Great battle report and nice armies/maps.

I am a little confused by the choice of chaos marines, esp nurgle ones, to represent deathwatch but nvm.

Personal preference I guess but I would probably have gone with pedro kantor and lots of sternguard + scoring scouts or something.

Where did you get santa with a shotgun from?

Awesome report and two beautiful armies!

Great batrep, I'm almost died when I saw santa

Nice batrep.

Awesome batrep!

 rohansoldier wrote:
Great battle report and nice armies/maps.

I am a little confused by the choice of chaos marines, esp nurgle ones, to represent deathwatch but nvm.

Personal preference I guess but I would probably have gone with pedro kantor and lots of sternguard + scoring scouts or something.

Where did you get santa with a shotgun from?

Kantor doesn't work, I've tried.

Briancj wrote:I really appreciate the effort you put into your batreps. Especially the VASSAL maps. It makes everything so clear.

--Brian

Thanks, I'll admit I do it because I always loved the overhead view maps they had in White Dwarf battle reports back in the day.

Hoernakex wrote:Santa with a shotgun is a beautiful beast. I'm a fan of that Forgefex too

And, shame about the plague marines drowning, hah. An interesting turn of events,

It was kind of funny, but bad timing. And yes, the Forgefex is AWESOME.

rohansoldier wrote:Great battle report and nice armies/maps.

I am a little confused by the choice of chaos marines, esp nurgle ones, to represent deathwatch but nvm.

Personal preference I guess but I would probably have gone with pedro kantor and lots of sternguard + scoring scouts or something.

Where did you get santa with a shotgun from?

I got Santa from Anvil Industries, it was a limited edition Christmas mini, there were only like 45 or something produced. I got lucky and managed to snatch up one of the last 2 or 3.

Awesome battle report! Definitely one of the better formats for picture battle reports. Very easy to understand, thrilling battle. I'm completely jealous of both of you and your awesome HQ's. Mine don't have a tenth the personality!

 Unreg1stered wrote:
Awesome battle report! Definitely one of the better formats for picture battle reports. Very easy to understand, thrilling battle. I'm completely jealous of both of you and your awesome HQ's. Mine don't have a tenth the personality!

Thanks mang, mine was the result of a lucky kitbash

Those are some hench Deathwatch. Love the overall theme and direction. Batreps a little confusing though, you should match images to text for a play-by-play (see JY2's Batreps) and not have a large clump of text and then picture dump.

I don't really think the Vassal helps, but I'm just not a fan of it so YMMV.

 Unreg1stered wrote:
Awesome battle report! Definitely one of the better formats for picture battle reports. Very easy to understand, thrilling battle. I'm completely jealous of both of you and your awesome HQ's. Mine don't have a tenth the personality!

Thanks, I like how the Runic Armoured version of my Wolf Lord turned out, the Plaguebearer-impaling Purifier sword looks awesome.

Awesome Batrep. totally digging Santa and his shotgun! I can just imagine him inscribing "Naughty" on one barrel and "Nice" on the other. Who knows, if you got a steady hand?

 Cyrus_StormShadow wrote:
Awesome Batrep. totally digging Santa and his shotgun! I can just imagine him inscribing "Naughty" on one barrel and "Nice" on the other. Who knows, if you got a steady hand?

I should try to do that!