Having recently gotten
CoachNitro hooked on the
WH40K crack we’ve been playing quite a few games lately. Well, I finally got out the trusty notebook and camera and documented our last one so that the entire world could witness the drunken misunderstanding of the rules that happens in my basement every Friday. Nitro was trying the Chaos Space Marines for the first time and I was playing an actual scenario which I’ve only gotten to do about a handful of times since
V5 came out. We’ll see if it’s even possible for me to play anything other than Apocalypse with my guard anymore!
Pitched Battle (Dawn of War)
Armies: IG vs CSM
IG
Doctrines:
Sanctioned Psykers
Rough Riders
Light Infantry
Veterans
Close Order Drill
Company Command Squad – Junior Officer with a Laspistol &
CCW, Commissar with Laspistol &
CCW, Sanctioned Psyker with Laspistol &
CCW and 4 guardsmen with 3 Plasma Guns mounted in a Chimera with Hull Heavy Bolter and Smoke Launchers
1st Platoon - CO Junior Officer with Bolt Pistol & Power Weapon, Sanctioned Psyker with Honorifica, Force Weapon & Laspistol, Commissar with Botlpistol & Power Weapon and 4 guardsmen with 2 Flamers with Light Infantry, Red, Green, and Black squads each have 9 guardsmen with a Plasma Gun and a Veteran Sergeant with a Bolter
2nd Platoon - CO Junior Officer with Laspistol &
CCW and 4 guardsmen with a Lascannon, Red, Green, and Black squads each have 10 guardsmen with a Missile Launcher
3rd Platoon - CO Junior Officer with Laspistol &
CCW and 4 guardsmen with a Heavy Bolter, Red and Green squads each have 10 guardsmen with a Heavy Bolter
4 Veterans with 3 Meltaguns and a Sergeant with a Bolter
5 Veterans with a Lascannon
5 Veterans with a Lascannon
4 Rough Riders with Hunting Lance & Laspistol and a veteran Sergeant with Hunting Lance & Bolt Pistol
Hellhound
Baslilisk with Indirect Fire
Demolisher with Hull Lascannon and Sponson Plasma Cannons
Demolisher with Hull Lascannon and Sponson Plasma Cannons
CSM
Winged Demon Prince with
CCW, Mark of Nurgle, and Warptime
Winged Demon Prince with
CCW, Mark of Nurgle, and Warptime
9 Plague Marines with 2 Meltaguns and a Personal Icon and a Champion with Meltabombs mounted in a Rhino with Smoke Launchers
9 Plague Marines with 2 Meltaguns and a Personal Icon and a Champion with Meltabombs mounted in a Rhino with Smoke Launchers
9 Plague Marines with 2 Meltaguns and a Personal Icon and a Champion with Meltabombs mounted in a Rhino with Smoke Launchers
5 Summoned Lesser Demons
5 Summoned Lesser Demons
5 Summoned Lesser Demons
Predator with
TL Lascannons, Lascannon Sponsons, Demonic Possession, Extra Armor, and Smoke Launchers
Vindicator with Demonic Possession, Extra Armor, and Smoke Launchers
Defiler with 2 Reaper Autocannons, Havoc launcher, Demonic Possession, and Smoke Launchers
Deployment
We roll for objectives and get four total. Apparently this deployment is meant to totally screw
IG since none of my heavies can be on the table to start the game! Not a big deal though since I placed my two objectives within the minimum distance of the one Nitro placed in the cathedral. My plan is to push hard on the right side and just hope to outlast him. With some Heavy Weapon squads on the left along with a Demolisher that should at least hold my flank until the end of the game…right?
Turn 1 IG
Well, it’s night fighting on the first turn too! Whatever. None of my stuff is on the table that can hit anything anyways. I’m beginning to think Nitro has really screwed me by choosing to go second here! The Chimera moves up to block the nearest objective on the left and pops smoke for some reason while everything else basically moves onto the table.
Turn 1 CSM
Nitro moves the rest of his units massed on the opposite end of the table as the objectives securing the one there but leaving the ones on the right side dangerously far away. I’ve blown easier missions than this though so I vow to stay frosty as I crack open another beer.
Turn 2 IG
All right, time to get down to business! With everything settled on the table this turn the guard starts things off right as the Basilisk lands a shot dead on the Defiler destroying it. The Vets nearby use their Lascannon to blow the cannon off the Vindicator as well forcing the units on that side to have to close with my tanks to take them out. The Chimera gets off a lucky shot and manages to score a ‘Shaken’ result on the Rhino on the far right while the rest of the force on that side focuses fire on the Demon Prince almost killing him.
Turn 2 CSM
One of the Lesser Demon units is summoned onto the battlefield and lands almost on top of the objective deep inside their own lines. Fortunately no Plaguebearer ever goes to battle without a tap so they decide to stay right where they’re at on the keg objective for the rest of the game. The Predator lines up a shot to the barely visible Chimera but fails to damage it while the rest of the force pushes forward.
Turn 3 IG
Once again the Basilisk performs brilliantly by taking out the offending Predator. The Demolisher on the left along with a Heavy Bolter squad fire on the closing Demon Prince but can only wound him a couple of times while the rest of the nearby units do equally worthless damage to the Vindictor ‘shaking’ it. The right side keeps pushing forward to greedily seize the open objectives while the Rough Riders triumphantly spring their trap. After hitting the Demon Prince only twice on the charge and failing to wound him they are quickly swept aside leaving him even closer to my lines than before! Now that’s a plan only the guard could fail at so miserably!
Turn 3 CSM
The Rhinos on the left form a congo line behind the Vindicator for cover while the last one pauses long enough to let the Plague Marines out. Some Lesser Demons pop out of nowhere nearby and all of a sudden the command squad on the roof of the cathedral starts to rethink the smartness of infiltrating. On the right things go much worse as the Demon Prince marches up and destroys the Demolisher killing a few guardsmen in the ensuing explosion. I check my watch and realize that the
IG’s least favorite turns must be starting (turns 4-6).
Turn 4 IG
Everything on the right continues to move up while taking pot shots at the Demon Prince finally killing him. Some stray shots also manage to ‘stun’ the Rhino on the far right. The star Basilisk zeros in on the Plague Marines clumped up on the other side of the cathedral and misses in a way that makes the infiltrating command squad rethink their position again. They fire blindly at the same Marines as well but are equally ineffective. The parade of tears continues as the rest of the force fails to wound the remaining Demon Prince or cause any damage to the Vindicator right in front of them.
Turn 4 CSM
The Rhinos on the left spring out of the cover of the Vindicator and the lead one unloads it’s Marines which all but annihilate the guard squad in front of them sending the rest running. The Demon Prince takes out the remaining Demolisher in a scene of déjà vu. The Plague Marines behind the cathedral take down two of the guardsmen hiding above as they make their way closer to the objectives and the last Lesser Demon squad arrives on the table behind the Rhino on the left. I can hang on for 2 more turns! I know I can!
Turn 5 IG
The Basilisk turns and aims at the clumped up Plague Marines right in front of it and fires at them hitting the Rhino and only killing one of them. The gunner just shrugs and says, “hey, two turns is all I’m good for. I’m usually dead by now!” I’m pretty sure the Rhino was damaged but I can’t remember in what way since my notes are starting to get pretty blurry here. Turn 5 is always the ‘beer round’ here. Every time a scatter dice misses you have to pound one. The Meltagun armed vets take revenge on the Demon Prince by decimating him while the rest of the units nearby take out a couple more Plague Marines. On the right some more lucky shots blow the weapon off the Rhino and take out a couple Lesser Demons while the infiltrators on the roof of the cathedral forget to even fire. The Company Command Squad sets up on the objective while 1st Platoon Squad 1 moves up behind them. The plan is to let the
HQ take the assault and then use the fact that they can’t consolidate into the scoring unit to my advantage. Pretty good idea right? Don’t worry, I manage to screw it up in the end. Read on!
Turn 5 CSM
The Plague Marines on the left mount up and prepare for some end-game-awesomeness while the Vindicator moves up to block any shots. The Lesser Demons in the cathedral make contact with the
HQ squad but only cause one wound while receiving one themselves leaving the combat drawn. The Rhino on the right (with Troops still inside) makes a dash for the objective with the Lesser Demons close behind.
Turn 6 IG
The Meltagun armed vets on the left make short work of the Rhino and blow 3 of themselves away in the resulting explosion while the Basilisk and Lascannon team nearby pick off 3 of the survivors. The Lascannon armed Vets also manage to immobilize the Vindicator thus avoiding any ramming, or tank shocking, or other strange chaosy last turn shenanigans. Afraid that the Plague Marines could end up just within 6 inches of the objective when they bail out of the Rhino on the right I move the Hellhound to block the side doors and spread 1st Platoon Squad 1 out to block the other door leaving only the rear exit. Only after I have done this do I bother to ask what the minimum distance is required to claim an objective is. Oh! It’s 3 inches! So then, I just moved one squad out of range of an objective to block another squad who wasn’t even close to claiming another! Good times. The Hellhound makes short work of the Lesser Demons and the Chimera stuns the Rhino while the rest of the force moves up at the last minute to assure that they are at least 3 inches from their objectives. The Company Command Squad hangs in there losing 2 guardsmen and a wound off of the Commissar (I’m still not very clear on wound allocation in 5th) while wounding 2 Lesser Demons themselves.
Turn 6 CSM
The Plague Marines in the cathedral move to take the objective along with their Lesser Demon cohorts. In a last ditch effort to try to dislodge the 1st Platoon Command Squad off of their objective the Plague Marines hop out of their Rhino and fire through the narrow space between their transport and the Hellhound. They manage to kill 2 guardsmen and the Junior Officer thinks about running but the Commissar convinces him that he should stay put. Everyone else just takes a knee and waits the end of the game.
Results:
IG – 2
CSM – 2
DRAW!
Post Battle Report:
Once again I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory! Well, that’s me folks. I can basically start the game sitting on 3 of 4 objectives and still manage to scramble just to come out with a draw. As always though Nitro is a fantastic opponent. Smart alec comments aside, this really was a great game. It was a great learning experience for both of us and it’s always good to end a friendly game in a draw. 2 losers is always better than one right?
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