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Battle Report - Blood Ravens vs Salamanders - 2000 pts

This was a really fun one for me. I was testing a new list type (very troops heavy) and was very pleased with the way it worked for me and the options I had during game.

The Setup - It was objectives. My opponent (rednekgunner) got first turn and placed 2 objectives while I placed 1. All of them were more or less in the table middle. Then I deployed my forces in 2 armor columns (dakka preds in front, rhino and razorback, followed by a speeder). My 10 man assault squad went off to lala land on the farthest objective. That ends deployment (spearhead, up to 12" in)

My opponent decided to take first turn and went all reserves. I failed to seize and away we went.

TURN 1
rednekgunner - No action. All reserves. (bastard)

paulguise - 1 droppod came down on target (bonus) about 10" from an objective. They ran towards it spreading out (my worthy opponent loves his demolisher templates, this I have learned painfully). My two columns moved 12 towards the objective closest and popped smoke. The 2 typhoon speeders spread out to the sides to try to flank. The assault squad moved and ran towards another objective.

End Turn 1 - I hold 1 objective and my assault squad contests another. So far so good.

TURN 2
rednekgunner - He rolls decently for his reserves, bringing his redeemer, 1 scout biker squad, a speeder storm (his newest edition), a razorback, and 2 vindicators. Here is where it starts getting interesting.
Moving - Redeemer moves 12 up to my droppod squad. They pee themselves a little for inside is 5 assault termies and Vulcan. Vindicators move into firing position. Scout squad flanks to my razorback (containing Pedro and sternguard).
Shooting - Demolisher shots go wide (thankfully). Scout squad (w/ a melta sarge) misses and fails to pen.
Assults - Redeemer disgorges assault termies and Vulcan. They take out my droppod squad with impunity. A good laugh is had by all. No casualties on his end. Scout squad assaults razorback and biff all their hits.


paulguise - Reserves: terminators deep strike. Only my assault squad is moved to surround and spread out over their objective.
Shooting - 2 typhoon speeders, 2 dakka preds, my termies, and a rhino squad all shoot the enemy termies. They hit nothing. I re-assign the sarge in charge to latrine duty in an ork camp. The razorback, thankfully, takes out the scout squad harassing it (TL assault cannon for the win).
Assaults - no assaults for me


End Turn 2 - I still hold 1 objective and contest 1. Opponent now contests middle objective.

TURN 3
rednekgunner - Reserves come in. Another land raider (godhammer), razorback and another flanking scout squad.
Moving - Pushes forward towards middle and my objectives. Terminators move into assault position on a predator.
Shooting - He blasts one of my predators, a speeder, and my terminators (except for the sarge), including my termie librarian. Immobilizes my rhino.
Assaults - his terminators assault my last predator, exploding it. Explosion does nothing to them. Scout bikers assault and disable my last speeder.


paulguise - Reserves - last droppod with 10 man tac squad comes down.
Moving - droppod squad move towards far right objective to secure it. Assault squad moves towards middle objective. The rhino squad gets out and moves towards far left objective. Razorback moves foward to cover objective. My one remaining terminator moves towards the enemy terminators, desperate to get the stench of failure and urine off of him.
Shooting - The razorbac takes out the scout squad (again). The terminator and the rhino squad shoot at the enemy termies taking out 1. The droppods take sots at them also with no effect. The droppod squad runs to the right objective. Assault squad runs to middle objective.
Assaults - My lone, brave, stupid terminator assaults the enemy termies and is killed (mercifully quick) by Vulcan. They consolidate closer to my left objective.


End Turn 3 - I hold 1 objectives (mostly) solidly and contest 1 still.

TURN 4
rednekgunner
Moving - Redeemer moves forward menacingly. His razorbacks move forward to secure the middle objective. Vib\ndicators move to higher ground and the speeder storm moves towards the left objective.
Shooting - Vindicators take shots at my razorback but miss. His meltas immobilize and the explode my razorback. Inigo (my HQ) is now pissed they wrecked his ride.
Assaults - His termies and Vulkan assault my rhino squad. I manage to kill one (go sarge) but they wipe out the whole squad. He consolidates ever closer to the left objective.


paulguise
Moving - Not much else to move. Sternguard move to cover the left objective. Droppod squad spreads around the right objective. Assault squad moves towards the middle objective. The remaining speeder and the rhino are immobilized and without weapons.
Shooting - Drop pods shoot at termies without wounding. Inigo and sternguard rapid fire with krak bolts but nothing again. Assault squad runs and contests the middle objective.
Assaults - no assaults (although in hindsight, I probably should have gone after the termies)


End Turn 4 - I hold 2 objectives and contest 1. I have a slim lead for the moment; but will it last?

TURN 5
rednekgunner
Moving - everything moves closer to objectives. His speeder storm moves flat out to contest the left objective. Razorbacks move up to middle objective. Godhammer moves around the corner to get a bead on my assault squad.
Shooting - the vindicators, razorbacks, and land raider take out all but one of my a assault troops (sarge lives). He fails leadership and falls back 11". The redeemer flames my sternguard. Only Inigo survives the firestorm, laughing all the way.
Assaults - His termies assault and take out HQ Inigo. His last words: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to aahh Uggghgggg.. Im dead".

paulguise
Moving - assault sarge regroups and moves back up to contest the middle objective.
Shooting - no shooting, as sarge has lighting claws and the far left squad are out of range.
Assault - no assaults.



End Turn 5 - We are tied. We both hold one objective and are contesting the middle one. Do we go on???

Roll a dice. Its a 4. We go on (damn it).

TURN 6
renekgunner
Shooting - My lone sergeant goes up against 2 vindicator shots, 2 assault cannons, and a land raiders worth of hurt. Does he survive?!?!?



He doesnt. He dies. And that is game.

All in all, it was quite a fun game. There were some things I forgot which would have helped probably. Like the fact that I have a chapter master with orbital bombardment. That could have put some hurt on his razorbacks and vindicators. I should have assaulted with the sternguard to both prevent him getting the assault bonus and to possibly keep him busy on the objective. If that happened, it would have been a tie. But we live and learn, and I had fun.

Thanks for the game rednekgunner. I will be sure to let you know when I find the appropriately sized can of whoop ass to unleash on you.

Cheers

NOTE: Images are processing at the moment. The will be up soon.

It was an awesome game. I had a blast. Though, you did forget to say how Gary the Librarian ate it. If I remember right he tried to show the terminator sgt how to take an invuln vs a las cannon, and went splat......lol. Again great game and we will have to do it again.
Rednek

Nice report.
The Salamanders played too defensively for my liking.

Very nice report, looks very nice with two almost completely painted armies facing off against each other, some close-ups in addition to the excellent top view shots would make it an even better read.

The Blood raven player did some weird moves, dropping the termies right in front of vindicators.. in deep strike formation.. not the best tactical position, maybe it was a good thing that the master died

I think the BR player was a bit too aggressive, letting the salamander player concentrate everything on a couple threats at the time. The entire battle seemed to be 2000pts of sallies vs 1 unit of tacticals/1 unit of termies/1 veteran sergeant. The BR's should probably stick more together next time

Thanks for the report

Thanks for the comments.

@Illumini - From what you said, it seems a bit obvious now. My plan, like all plans involving battle, did not go even remotely right. Deep strike scatter, dice rolls, and, honestly, an opponent who far exceeds my experience lead to my defeat. Things you pointed out make sense and I'll take it into consideration next time.

Also, there were some close ups of the dead piles (or more precisely, his dead mole hill, my dead mountain) and a couple ground level shots. Ill see about uploading those.

great report!

Great Report! Either of you comming up for Conquest NW next month?

I would like to, but I have college commitments.

I would like to, but am only able to get away on Saturdays mostly in the evening. Sounds like fun though.