This last Sunday Chameleoneyes (or however he spells it) got together for a quick "before we have to go back to work on Monday" throw down of my Marines vs. his Tzeentchy chaos. Lists as follows:
Paterno's Lions.
Librarian in terminator armor, Big Boom Power, gate
9 Terminators with 1 assault cannon
Shrike
10 Assault marines, Sgt with fist, 2x flamers
Hellfire Dread
Dread with
CCW and Assault cannon
5 scouts, sniper rifles, missile, cloak
10 Marines, Fist, flamer, lascannon, homer
10 marines, fist, plasma gun, plasma cannon
2 Vindicators
Tzeentchy Men
~approximate~
Sorceror Lord, Warp Time, bolt of change
8? Chosen, 4 power weapons, melta bombs, mark of Tizz
Landraider (possessed)
Dread, Lascannon
ccw
Defiler,
CCW and Reaper
2x 10 man Rubric Boys, sorc with Warptime, melta bomb
10 Lesser Daemons
5 Terminators, some power weapons/fists, 1 reaper, icon of Tizz.
The table is the
GW hill table, with a hill on each short edge, a big ruin in the middle, and some smaller ruins and craters scattered around. Location isn't really relevant since he didn't bother with terrain.
We rolled up Dawn of War and Annihilation for deployment/mission. Which was awesome, because we invariable forget Night Fighting (we did this time too) and he has far fewer kill points than I (11 to 9, but landraiders are invincible so they don't count.)
He won first turn, and started one unit of Rubrics on either side of the board on the middle line on the hill (about 12" from the edges.) The termies and daemons in reserve, the Sorc and Chosen in the Landraider.
I put the scouts in one small ruin on the right side for the 3+ cover save and decided everything else should just walk on. Shrike was in reserve with his assault team, Paterno and the terminators grouped up but were to walk on. Really I don't know why I put the scouts out at all... However, I seized the initiative, so it was cool.
So turn 1
Marines, I rolled one vindicator on the left side to pound the Rubrics there, and everything else walked on the right. The vindicator and dreads taking the lead with the
tac squads hiding behind them. The terminators walked on slightly towards the right side of middle, just in assault cannon range of the rubrics. Shooting: The Lascannon squad ran into the upper level of the ruin the scouts were squatting in. The scouts bounced a few rounds off the rubrics to no avail. The vindicator got a gold star, reducing 3 rubrics to ash. The dreads dropped another 2, while the terminators forced another failed invulnerable. On the left, a few rubrics died, though not many.
Chaos: His army then rolled on, the
LR rushing 12" along the right board edge towards my forces. His defiler strolled through a ruin, flanked by his dread who got really cranky and ran forward a bit. (It occured to me later the dread probably wouldn't roll for crazy since he wasn't on the table at the beginning of the turn, but it didn't matter.) His rubrics on the left staggered forward towards the vindicator brandishing foul language and a melta bomb. On the right his defiler's battle cannon failed to kill a marine thanks to cover saves, and the rubrics were frustrated by 4+ cover saves as well, slaying only one marine in the ruins.
Turn 2:
Marines: Shrike and company show up, and conveniently pop in on the right side board edge. The proceed to fly towards the rubrics, deftly dodging a crater in the process (important plot point). The dreads waddle forward, and the plasma squad behind them spaces out to avoid getting pulped all at once by the battle cannon. The vindicator pokes it's head up over the edge of the hill for a shot at the landraider. The left vindicator's driver lights a cigarette and turns up his Bolt Thrower CD so he can hear it over the sound of the Demolisher Cannon. The terminators walk forward a bit.
Shooting wise, the left vindi mushes a few more Rubrics, leaving just 2-3. Shrike and co. fire up their pistols and flamers, smoking all but two rubrics. The scouts bounce a round off the defiler, as does the dread, to no effect. The assaulty dread plinks into his dread, but does nothing. The right vindicator doesn't quite have a shot yet. He fails to blow smoke.
Assault: Shrike butchers the rubric, and the squad realizes they are standing on a hilltop in front of a LOT of scary low
AP, and try to consolidate into the crater.
Choas: We realize we forgot night fighting, and curse a bit.
His terminators join the party and deep strike just to the left of my vindicator on the left to try and kill it before it plasters the rest of the rubrics. His landraider rushes forward to deliver the chosen into my rear firing line, and promplty breaks an axle on the crater the assault marines are hiding in. Thinking Shrike totally jacked his ride, the sorceror and his crew jump out to exact some revenge. The dread waddles up, and the defiler strides forward half heartedly.
Shooting, the chosen, demonstrating their combat prowess after thousands of years of experience, bounce a few rounds off the assault boys, doing nothing. The terminators, likewise mighty in their art, bounce two shells off the side of the vindicator, making the CD player skip right in the middle of "Skulltaker", pissing off the driver. The dread can't shoot for shyte, and the defiler puts a battle cannon round into the middle of the plasma squad, which Brother Steve throws himself on, saving his battle brothers and misting himself. The landraider, who managed to move less than 6" due to some rocks and dirt, fires its lascannon into the vindicator, immobilizing it as well.
Assault wise, the chosen break out the frags and charge Shrike and crew. Shrike and the Sorcerer face off, precipitating the fiercest bit of slap fighting seen on this side of 90210. The Chosen, sort of put off by the display half heartedly swing their power weapons and chain swords, mortally wounding the pride of 3 marines. The marines, for their part giggle incessantly, causing 2 chaos lads to go home and listen to Bauhaus while painting their nails. The Sgt is laughing so hard, he can't even focus enough to swing his fist properly. The marines, worried that their battle brothers think they had fallen to the "fabulous side of the force" decided to flee, but were caught by the chaos boys, who couldn't bear to see them depart, and promised they would never hit them again and could change.
Score: Marines 1, Chaos 0.
Turn 3:
Marines: After sort of a desuletory first two turns, Paterno decides to gate the terminators over to the left flank to wipe up the rubrics, and arrives right on target. The vindicator on the left flank kicks it into reverse, and backs 6" farther from the chaos termies, drawing a nice bead on them.
The dreads move up to the lip of the hill, lining up shots on the opposing dreads, and being in position to charge into the swirling slap fight before them.
The vindicator on the right, its pride still fierce, fires upon the immobile landraider, only to discover the traitorous vehicle is exactly 24.4" from it's gun. CURSES! The lascannon marine rolls his second 1 to hit for the game, pissing me off pretty well. The plasma cannon squad overshoots the looming mass of the chaos dread by a good 5 inches. Fortunately the hellfire dread is halfway competant, and proceeds to immobilize the defiler and blast off its battlecannon. The other dread stares really intently at the chosen in the crater.
Paterno, for his part, directs his terminators in splattering the last of the rubrics on the left, while the vindicator vaporizes 2 of 5 terminators. There was much rejoicing.
The assault phase was again remarkably pathetic, with Shrike and Slappy the Sorceror again failing to put even a single wound on each other, and the power weapon chosen killing merely 2 marines. The assault marines, for their part, killed another chosen, losing the assault by 1. They then promptly tried to run away again, and were again promptly drawn back by promises of "making it up to you!"
Chaos Rather disheartened, chaos tried to pull itself together. The dread, enraged at its impotence, decided against doing anything useful and ran straight at the melee on the hill. The terminators on the left swung around and bounced a few rounds off the loyalist termies, putting a single reaper round into one's face. The daemons showed up, coming down off the Chosen's icon and getting ready to flail into the fight on the hill. The landraider, giggling at the fact the vindicator was just out of range, put two lascannon rounds into it, removing the cannon. The defiler shook the hellfire dread, and then it was on to assault.
The sorceror directed his attacks at the marines squad, managing to only kill 2 more. Shrike took advantage of the distraction and put two wounds on the sorceror and one on the chosen. The daemons only managed to get into combat with Shrike, and after 27 attacks put two wounds on him. The fist Sgt finally regained his composure and managed to hit a chosen, but not hard enough to wound. The chosen only managed to kill one marine, tying the combat at 3 wounds each.
Score: Marines 2, Chaos 0
Turn 4:
Marines: The left largely taken care of, the vindicator swung around and trundled over to the right flank. Paterno and Co. walked over towards the opposing terminators, and filled one full of bolter fire. On the right, nothing really moved, being either broken or in combat.
Shooting wise, the scouts bounced a round off the dread, of course. The left vindicator put a demolisher round next to the defiler, but it wasn't enough to distract it. The las cannon marine saved his career though, and put a blast right through the dread, sending small chuncks bouncing off its large spidery friend.
The las cannon dread, unable to do anything, popped smoke and charged into the hill melee. The
CCW dread did likewise meeting 2 chosen on its way into the crater. Paterno's terminators charged the two remaining chaos termies, and smashed them to peices. The Sorc Lord finally remembered how his weapon worked, and killed off the remaining assault marines, while the daemons pulled Shrike down under a cascade of warp flesh. The two chosen failed to melta anything, and the dreads, polite fellows they are, obliged by only killing one chosen. With Shrike and Co. wiped out, the dreads lost combat by 1, and the resulting glance immobilized the
CCW dread, and pulled the combat into two seperate battles, daemons and hellfire on one side,
CCW and Chosen on the other.
Chaos With not much to do, the defiler bounced a round off the moving vindicator, and the landraider put some more scratches on the immobilized one.
In the assault phase the hellfire failed to hit a single daemon. The Chosen took advantage of the
CCW dread's immobilization and put 3 melta bombs on him, vaporizing him even as he crushed one. The chaos lads consolidated back towards the landraider.
Score: Marines 5, Chaos 3
Turn 5:
Marines Things wrapped up on the left, Paterno attempts to gate his boys over to the right, but rolls a 12 for drift, and lands right on the chosen, losing one terminator and landing him farther to left than he started due to mishap. Everyone on the right side of the board unloaded into the chosen, but in poor order, resulting in the vindicator being out of range, and one chosen remaining, who then made his morale and pinning check with aplomb.
The dread squished a daemon, killing another due to combat res.
Chaos The chosen dives back into the
LR, which finally manages to blow up the vindicator.
The dread squishes two daemons, who then fail two more saves for combat res.
Score: Marines 5, Chaos 4
... I think I added a turn there somewhere... The game ended turn 5, but I know I spent a turn where I got Paterno behind the Defiler and
LR, and squished another daemon... doesn't matter though, the game ended with Marines winning 5 to 4, though it was REALLY close. Annoyingly I had far more points on the table than he did, having only lost some 500 points or so. Turn 6 would probably have resulted in a dead land raider from chain fisting and maybe a broken vehicle for me.
All in all, a fun game as usual. It also confirms my theory that starting off the board and deploying second can do wonders. That, and landraiders immobilizing themselves on terrain is probably the best way to deal with them
That was crazy luck.
This battle report dedicated to Brother Steve.
The Emperor shalt always remember thee, Brother Steve...
