Hey everyone, here’s a battle fought a few weeks ago against a friend's Chaos Space Marines. Note that the introduction and conclusion bits from the Chaos perspective were written by him.
Just as a warning...this battle report contains a massive amount of background and pictures. Additionally, I apologize for the small picture sizes.
Marcus Goreblight awoke suddenly from his Astartes death-sleep -- the comfortable black death-like coma induced by his cetalsepean node. It was bluntly jarring,rather then the smooth transition to consciousness he has expected.
“A thousand pardons, Lord Goreblight,"
a disembodied voice soothed over the hum of his hibernation chamber. "Welcome back to the realm of the living."
"Poxulissies..." The Traitor Marine commander rumbled as he released the seal of his chamber-coffin. "You have some gall to revive me without the customary Rites of Awakening."
The warrior of Chaos crawled, still stiff from coma-sleep, from his coffin and strode into his personal quarters. The lume globes sat dormant in their recesses on the rot-bleached walls. Still crumpled on floor lay his stained brown robes, where he had discarded them before going into suspended animation. No food lay at ready where it aught to. The hatch to his audience chamber was ajar, murky light spilling into the gloom.
"Where are we, Sorcerer?" Marcus asked.
“In your quarters, my Lord,” came the reply.
“Do not mock me Seer. The crew is still in stasis,” Goreblight growled, seating himself upon a large chair crafted from bone and hardened resin. “Something is amiss, and I suspect it is your doing.”
“We are still in the warp en route for our original mission; still where we be aught to be,” The Sorcerer soothed, offering up a plate of discoloured meat and flagon of cloudy wine. “But you are correct, something is out of place. Or rather, it will be.”
Taking the food, the Space Marine relaxed his demeanour, motioning for the Sorcerer to continue.
“Soon we shall transition from the warp into real space, my Lord,” the Seer began. “But we shall find ourselves off course. While dreaming, our Great Father granted me a vision. A mortal gifted with talents like my own has called out to the Lord of Decay and has been granted many boons, but the False Emperor's whore-brides now descend upon him and his followers. Our Great Father's designs shall be in peril.”
“And I am to stop them?” Goreblight grunted. “Crush them before they can undo what the Plague Father has wrought?”
“To do so would expend too much of our strength, dear Marcus,” Poxulissies smiled, exposing his black teeth. “In my vision, you are to retrieve the human psyker while retaining as much of your strength as you can. You will be outnumbered, my Lord, but enough of this blighted prophet's followers will die for you to make up the balance.”
Goreblight leaned back in his seat, the bones creaking under his weight. “Does this mortal sorcerer have a name, Seer?”
“'Corpse Hatch' is the name he used in my vision.”
“Rouse the rest of my company,” the Plague Commander ordered, standing up and returning to his chamber to dress properly. “I want my men ready before we transition to real space. We'll fall upon these zealots like a locust swarm.”
*****
Ophelia Arcadion, Canoness of the Secondus Preceptory, cursed for what felt like the millionth time that day as yet another of the local insects bit her on the cheek. It took an effort of supreme willpower on her part not to slap it off, knowing that the the augmented strength of her Godwyn-pattern power armour would have broken her jaw in the process. As it was, she had to content herself with brushing an armoured palm across her scarred brown cheek to drive the little parasite off. The motion caused old scars to itch in protest anyway, making Ophelia dimly remember Saint Sisyphus' lecture on futile labours.
“Throne above,” she grumbled, “I hate jungles.”
Rhiannon Livi, the Sister Superior of Ophelia’s Celestian companions, turned her cowled head to the Canoness. The two of them were standing upright in the wide cupola of the Celestians’ Rhino as it bounced uncomfortably across the jungle terrain. Around them, the tanks and transports of the Order of the Blessed Damsel, resplendent in their white and blue livery, advanced forward, slowly crushing and trundling their way through the dense foliage. “With all due respect, Canoness-Preceptor,” she said, “you’ve fought in worse environments before. Skarbrach, for example, or Kalissar during its geologic upheaval--”
“None of those planets had drecking insects,” Ophelia spat, swatting her had at yet another of the enterprising creatures as it buzzed near her. “Emperor curse these little abominations, even Torghal wasn't this bad. The sooner Isobel and her girls get back from their scouting mission, the better.”
If envy weren't a cardinal sin, Ophelia knew, then she would probably have envied Isobel Deschain's superior skill with a jump pack-- it was this that allowed her to lead an airborne scouting mission which could be undertaken far above the jungle canopy, out of the range of its pest population. Then again, she knew, Isobel's mission was also the more dangerous one, as any heretic lurking in the treeline below her would be able to get a clear shot at her. If only the cowardly rebels on this planet had had the stomach for a straight-up fight, Ophelia thought with a grimace, then this campaign would have been over by now. The only reason why they hadn't burned the entire jungle down in the first place was because many of the trees were vital to this world's tariffs.
Kaleb's Reach had been gripped by a rebellion only two months before, when the local mutant population, at the instigation of a mysterious witch called "Corpse Hatch," had risen up against the governor and stormed the primary hive. Of this Corpse Hatch, little was known, save that he was utterly twisted and malformed by the power of the Warp, and that his followers brazenly displayed their allegiance to the Ruinous Powers. Kaleb's Reach had been fortunate that the Sororitas, returning from their campaign on Torghal, had recieved their distress call, and even more fortunate that the mutants hadn't completely overrun them by the time they had arrived. When they had arrived, their counter-attack had been a terrible thing to behold-- countless heretics were scoured with faith and flame, and the heretic armies, on the cusp of their victory, were utterly shattered and routed. For a time, Kaleb's Reach had been saved.
It was not enough, however, that the bulk of the rebellion had been defeated-- Corpse Hatch had not been slain, but instead had retreated into the equatorial jungles of the planet with his remaining followers, fleeing into foliage so thick that communications and radar could not travel through it. Undaunted, the Sisters had pursued them, burning through foliage and the vicious wildlife alike in pursuit of their quarry. More than any other foe, the Adepta Sororitas loathed the witch, and they would not rest until Corpse Hatch had been found and rendered into ashes. After almost a week of pursuit, they were getting close now, Ophelia knew: once the Seraphim scouting patrols found the remaining body of mutants, it would simply be a matter of cutting of the head and expunging the witch once and for all.
“I’m certain that Canoness Deschain and the Seraphim will arrive back soon,” Livi said. In the distance, Ophelia could see the thick treeline beginning to recede. Her bad mood lifted momentarily at the prospect of reaching a clearing. Open terrain would suit the Sororitas transports much better, and they wouldn’t have all of these Emperor-cursed parasites to deal with.
As if on cue, Ophelia suddenly heard the sound of jet exhaust up above. Looking up, she saw eight figures flying down from between the treetops, born aloft of jets of flame. The Canoness warmed to the sight of the returning Seraphim, and even more to the sight of Isobel, easily recognizable by her jetpack fashioned in the image of a pair of majestic wings.
Except, Ophelia noticed, those wings were etched with scorch-marks and bullet holes. Ophelia leaned upwards out of the cupola as Isobel descended directly in front of the Celestians’ Rhino, her face flushed with exhaustion. A streak of blood cheek from an ugly cut across her scalp, and Ophelia quickly noticed that the rest of Isobel’s Seraphim were no better for wear.
“Sister Isobel, what happened?” Ophelia asked as the Isobel landed leaned against a tree to catch her breath. Some nearby Battle Sisters ran to tend to the seemingly injured Canoness. “Did you find the heretics’ location?”
Isobel turned to face her Sister, and nodded wearily, wiping her face on an armoured sleeve. “They’re in a ruined village, just a few clicks ahead,” Isobel breathed as he Sisters attended her. “The mutants were all clustered around some sort of ritual site. I can confirm that the witch is still with them.”
Ophelia almost smiled at the news. “We have them, then, Sister Isobel!” she said. “We can end this once and for all!”
Isobel shook her head. “It won’t be that easy, Sister Ophelia,” she replied. “They have friends with them.”
Frowning, Ophelia was about to ask what Isobel meant when she heard a shrieking, high-pitched whine. A second later, a beam of white light came searing through the treeline, vaporizing tree trunks, vines and leaves in its path before slamming into the lead Rhino. To Ophelia’s horror, the Rhino exploded instantly in a fiery burst, sending ruined metal scything out in all directions as nearby Battle Sisters dove for cover.
Cursing, Ophelia grabbed a nearby vox. “Evasive actions, NOW!” she ordered. In the distance, she could barely see the clearing through the treeline. Blocky, brown objects could barely be seen moving in the clearing. She whirled around to Isobel. “Friends, you said?”
“Chaos Space Marines,” Isobel hissed, shoving the attendant Battle Sisters aside and reaching to her scabbard, pulling her her ornate power sword free. “We counted a full battle force of them, with vehicle support, in a defensive position. They’re ready and waiting for us in there, Sister.”
Cursing, Ophelia slammed her fist against the Rhino’s cupola. Chaos Space Marines. The most hated of heretics, vile traitors who had once been the greatest of the Emperor’s servants. Their very existence was a blasphemy, and the fact that they were guarding this witch made the situation much, much worse.
She snatched up the vox again. “Sisters, advance at full speed and prepare to engage the enemy!” she commanded. “The heretics are waiting for us in that clearing, so let’s not disappoint them! Above all else, make sure the witch doesn’t escape! Ave Imperator!”
“AVE IMPERATOR!” came the unified reply of dozens of voices over the vox. As one, the Sororitas gunned forwards, smashing through trees and foliage as they raced towards the clearing. As they advanced, more enemy fire came lancing in at them through the treeline, blasting apart trees and patches of earth. Behind the armoured column, Isobel fired her jump pack as she and the Seraphim took to the skies once more.
Battle had been joined.
The following battle was fought at one of my local gaming stores, Duelling Grounds, between myself and my friend Andy. We had both agreed that we wanted to try a larger game, and just to keep things interesting, we decided to incorporate some unique units and rules into the battle. I agreed to field Sisters of Battle, while Andy fielded his trusty Chaos Space Marines, thus creating a nice, thematic matchup. To make things more interesting, we decided to include Adversaries from
Codex: Witch Hunters to make the Chaos force a little more interesting.
When LoNC mentioned the prospect of a battle report contest, I knew I wanted to do something interesting. LoNC was debating between his Sisters or his Dark Eldar and I pushed him over to the Sisters, knowing it would be a harder fight, but also knowing that we could do some fun narrative driven gaming with such a flavorful army as well.
I decided I wanted to use the Mutants I had put together years ago to be used during the Medusa 5 campaign as a Lost and the Damned army. Since that list had gone by the way side shortly after, I never got the chance to finish them. They wanted blood and this was their opportunity to get some.
The model I wanted to use for my Witch Hunters adversaries, a Chaos Sorcerer, was no where near complected, but I still wanted to use a nice model to represent this critical character. I ended up using a humanoid Spawn that I had created to represent a Daemonhost for the Inquisition. It wasn't what I had in mind, but it still looked right next to all my Plague themed minis on the table top.[/b]
THE ARMIES
We agreed to a game of 1850 points per side. I took the following army:
ORDER OF THE BLESSED DAMSEL
Canoness Isobel Deschain- jump pack, inferno pistol, blessed weapon, Cloak of
St. Aspira, Mantle of Ophelia, Book of
St. Lucius- 151
Canoness Ophelia Arcadion- bolt pistol, master-crafted eviscerator, Cloak of
St. Aspira, Litanies of Faith, Book of
St. Lucius- 121
-7 Celestians- 2 meltaguns, Imagifer, Veteran Sister Superior Livi with eviscerator- 166
-Priestess Yngvie- eviscerator, carapace armour- 70
-Rhino- extra armour, smoke launchers- 58
10 Battle Sisters- flamer, heavy flamer, Veteran Sister Superior Arias with Brazier of Holy Flame and Book of
St. Lucius- 157
-Rhino- extra armour, smoke launchers- 58
10 Battle Sisters- meltagun, heavy flamer, Veteran Sister Superior Konstanze with Brazier of Holy Flame and Book of
St. Lucius- 161
-Rhino- extra armour, smoke launchers- 58
10 Battle Sisters- meltagun, heavy flamer, Veteran Sister Superior Solemnas with Brazier of Holy Flame and Book of
St. Lucius- 161
-Rhino- extra armour, smoke launchers- 58
7 Seraphim- 2 hand flamers, Veteran Sister Superior Fatima with eviscerator and Book of
St. Lucius- 208
Exorcist “Holy Rites”- 135
Exorcist “Vengeful Choir”- 135
Exorcist “Wrath of the Faithful”- 135
1832
Canoness Isobel Deschain
Canoness Arcadion and her Celestian retinue
I had initially wanted to include some of the more oddball units like Repentias or Retributors, but I didn’t have enough models. Otherwise, mine was a fairly straightforward list, with two powerful
HQ units-- a nigh-invincible flying Canoness who could go to wherever she needed, and a tooled up Celestian squad that could kill anything in close combat with their eviscerators. For Troops, I took three Battle Sister squads in Rhinos, kitted out with as many meltaguns and flamers as possible. These units would be great in close-ranged firefights and their Books of
St. Lucius would ensure that they would hold their ground no matter what. For Fast Attack, I took a unit of Seraphim, which are always reliable, and for Heavy Support I took three Exorcists, which are random on their own but deadly when they fire together.
Andy, meanwhile, took the following:
THE FETTERED HOST
Lord Marcus Goreblight- Mark of Nurgle, Plaguebringer
Corpse Hatch (Rogue Psyker)- enhancer, Soul Shrive, Puppet Dance
Squad Influenza- 7 Plague Marines with 2 plasma guns, Plague Champion with power fist
Squad Lupus- 7 Plague Marines with 2 meltaguns, Plague Champion with power fist
-Rhino
8 Khorne Berserkers- Skull Champion with power fist
-Rhino
10 Chaos Space Marines- plasma gun, missile launcher, Aspiring Champion with power weapon
25 Burly Mutants- 2 flamers, Boss Mutant with power weapon
“Rampage”- Chaos Dreadnought with two Dreadnought close combat weapons, heavy flamer
Predator- autocannon, sponson lascannons, Havoc launcher, Daemonic Possession
Vindicator- Daemonic Possession
Lord Marcus Goreblight
One of the Mutants, the manliest Tau in the galaxy.
Based around Andy’s existing tournament list, this Chaos Marine list is fairly balanced, with lots of combat troops and lots of tanks for supporting fire. His usual Daemon Prince, however, has been replaced by a Chaos Lord, and his force has been bulked out with the Rogue Psyker and a nice big throng of Mutants.
SCENARIO:
We were playing Spearhead Annihilation, with a twist. We decided to borrow some ideas from the Astronomicon tournament by including a primary and secondary objective for the scenario.
Primary Objective- the Sisters must kill the Rogue Psyker to obtain the Primary objective. The Chaos Space Marines, meanwhile, must keep the Psyker alive until the end of the game to get the Primary Objective.
Secondary Objective: Whoever scores the most Victory Points (NOT Kill Points) by the end of the game wins the Secondary Objective.
DEPLOYMENT:
Terrain looked like this:
The Fettered Host deployed ready to attack at a moment’s notice, with the Vindicator, Dreadnought, Berserkers, and Lord Goreblight’s Plague Marines taking up the centre. Squad Influenza hid in a ruined building on the right flank, while the Mutants skulked near the back of the Chaos lines at the left. At the rear of the Chaos lines sat the Predator, while next to them the basic Chaos Space Marines sat in a ruined farmhouse, guarding Corpse Hatch.
The Sisters, meanwhile, deployed as many of their transports behind cover, with Isobel and the Seraphim taking up position behind the Rhino wall to ensure that they had cover saves. My basic plan was to drive up, pop enemy transports with Exorcists and/or meltaguns, and then use flamers and Divine Guidance to burninate the troops inside. My Canoness and Seraphim would be there to hold up enemy counter-attack units, or deal with enemy tanks and walkers. I was expecting that my flying Canoness, in particular, would be able to reach the Rogue Psyker the quickest, and with her Faith, she would certainly be able to make it there intact.
Though I had deployed first, Andy wound up seizing the initiative, and Chaos took the first turn.
CHAOS TURN 1
With the forces of the False Emperor approaching in the distance, the Fettered Host seized the initiative and launched their counter-attack, hoping to put as many warriors between the Sororitas and Corpse Hatch as possible. In the centre, Rampage, the Berzerker Rhino and the Vindicator advanced, with Squad Lupus’ Rhino taking cover behind the hulking Dreadnought. To the right of the oncoming vehicles, Squad Influenza ghosted through the cover of the ruined village, taking cover behind its ruined walls as they prepared to ambush the foolish Loyalists
On the far left flank, the Mutants ran towards the jungle in a bawling, hissing and gibbering mass, goaded forwards by the yells of their Boss.The rest of the Chaos forces held their ground, training their guns on the incoming Sororitas tanks.
Spotting Wrath of the Faithful around the edge of the tower, the Predator fired, its lascannons rocking the tank violently and Shaking the crew inside. The Vindicator followed up by firing its Demolisher cannon at the distant Rhinos, only for the shell to bury itself in the dirt a few metres away from the Celestians’ Rhino. The Traitor Marines also fired their missile launcher at the Celestians’ Rhino, but the range of the shot caused their krak missile to go wide of its target. Instead of firing its guns, Rampage, in a rare moment of sanity, allowed pox-flies to fly out of the rotten recesses of its armour in an obscuring cloud, while the Berzerker Rhino fired their smoke launchers to confuse the Loyalist guns. Everywhere else, Squad Influenza and the Mutants ran as quickly as possible towards cover.
SISTERS TURN 1
With the Traitor Marines advancing aggressively towards them, the Sisters met their advance head-on. On the right flank, Wrath of the Faithful moved around the tower at full speed, its gunners still shaken from the direct hit earlier, while Squad Konstanze’s Rhino moved behind the Exorcist for cover. Behind Squad Konstanze’s Rhino flew Isobel, who took care to keep the Rhino between herself and the Chaos guns.
In the centre, the Celestians’ Rhino, along that of Squad Solemnas, drove towards the advancing Chaos forces and fired their smoke launchers, while the Seraphim advanced cautiously behind them. Squad Arias’ Rhino did the same as it drove towards Squad Influenza, while the Exorcists Vengeful Choir and Holy Rites manoeuvred to gain line of sight on the advancing Chaos tanks.
Picking their targets, the Exorcists unleashed barrages of missiles at the Great Enemy. Holy Rites only fired one missile, which did nothing but scorch the HULL of the Vindicator’s thick front armour. Vengeful Choir had more success,however, lowing off the Vindicator’s right treads and rendering the siege tank immobile, causing its daemonic engines to growl angrily.
CHAOS TURN 2
Although the nearby Vindicator had been immobilized, the Khorne Berzerkers were undeterred, driving forwards to get as close to the weakling Loyalists as possible. Further behind, Rampage stomped forwards, placing itself between the Vindicator and the enemy Exorcists, while Squad Lupus’ Rhino veered sideways, taking cover behind the tower. Further near the rear of the Chaos lines, the Mutants shambled into the cover of the jungle, lying in wait and hoping that the dense foliage would protect them from the guns of the Sororitas.
Eager for revenge, the daemonically-possessed Vindicator belched another Demolisher round at the Sisters’ tank line, the shell exploding against Squad Solemnas’’ Rhino and Shaking it violently. The distant Chaos Space Marines followed suit, sending a krak missile hammering the cupola of the Celestians’ Rhino and tearing its storm bolter off.
Finally, the Predator once again unleashed its arsenal on Wrath of the Faithful, but this time the intervening cover of the tower, and that of Squad Lupus’ Rhino, meant that all of the Predator's shots missed their mark. Rampage, meanwhile, gave a metallic growl as it accelerated its pistons and ran towards the Sororitas as quickly as it could, eager to pulverize the fragile humans up close.
SISTERS TURN 2
The aggressive Chaos advance had left the enemy in striking distance, and the Adepta Sororitas chose this moment to attack. Squad Arias’ Rhino drove towards Squad Influenza, veering to the side and letting the squad disembark into rapid fire range.
The Seraphim flew towards the Dreadnought, intent upon delayingthe metal behemoth, while the Rhinos of Squad Solemnas and the Celestians edged towards the Berzerker Rhino, the squads inside preparing fire their meltaguns atthe enemy transport. Further on the left flank, Wrath of the Faithful edged forward, allowing Squad Konstanze’s Rhino to get into meltagun range of Squad Lupus’ Rhino. Finally, Isobel flew behind the cover of the tower, staying out of sight of enemy guns until her presence she was needed.
Once again, the Exorcists opened fire, the shrieks of their missile launchers heralding a chorus of destruction. Holy Rites sent a cluster of missiles streaking towards Rampage, and the warheads punched through its sarcophagus' armour, tearing the crazed Dreadnought apart in a mighty explosion. Vengeful Choir, meanwhile, targeted the Khorne Berzerkers’ Rhino. Once again, the Emperor seemed to bless its shots, as its missiles pulverized the Rhino with several direct hits and reducing it to a smoking wreck. The Berserkers tumbled out the side, screaming promises of death to the Sisters who had wrecked their trransport.
With their initial target of the Dreadnought now destroyed, the Seraphim instead turned their flamers and bolt pistols on the Berzerkers instead, felling four of them despite their heavy armour. The Celestians and Squad Solemnas popped the hatches of their transports and fired their meltaguns into the Berzerkers, vaporizing two more. Despite their terrible losses, the last two Berzerkers stood their ground, consumed utterly by bloodlust..
Further to the left, Squad Arias chanted for Divine Guidance as they turned their flamers on Squad Influenza. The Emperor honoured His faithful, and four of the Plague Marines were roasted to ashes by the searing firestorm. On the right flank, Wrath of the Faithful fired at the Predator, but failed to pierce the possessed tank’s armour. Popping their Rhino’s hatch, Squad Konstanze fired their meltagun at the Rhino of Squad Lupus, melting the tank’s combi-bolter into a misshapen, fused lump.
Praying for Divine Guidance, the Seraphim charged the Khorne Berzerkers, chanting the Emperor’s name even as the Berzerkers chanted the Blood God’s.. One Seraphim was brutally cut down by a swinging chain-axe, but in exchange, the last two Berzerkers were quickly felled by pistol-shots and combat knives as the Seraphim overwhelmed them. Having dealt with the Traitors, the Seraphim consolidated to deal with the rest of the Chaos force.
CHAOS TURN 3
Reeling from their losses, the Fettered Host seized the moment to strike back. On the left flank, Lord Goreblight and Squad Lupus disembarked from their Rhino to confront the Seraphim, corrosive ooze dripping from Goreblight’s scythe. Elsewhere, the last three Plague Marines of Squad Influenza advanced on Squad Arias, eager to avenge their fallen Plague-Brothers.
The moment Squad Lupus disembarked from their Rhino, the tank’s driver drove forward at full speed in an effort to ram Wrath of the Faithful. Neither tank was damaged in the collision, but the Chaos Rhino did temporarily block the route of Squad Konstanze’s vehicle, delaying the Loyalist advance even further.
Once again, the Predator trained its guns on Wrath of the Faithful, once again rocking it violently and badly Shaking its crew. The immobilized Vindicator had much more success, firing its mighty Demolisher cannon and sending a siege shell slamming into the Celestians’ Rhino, smashing it apart like a child’s toy. Ophelia and her Celestians, battered and bleeding, managed to pull themselves free from the burning wreck. Laughing, the Chaos Space Marines fired a frag missile at the newly disembarked Celestians, but the shot went wide.
Squad Lupus, meanwhile, unleashed a barrage of melta and bolt pistol fire on the Seraphim, blasting three of them out of the air. The last three Seraphim stood their ground, resolving to sell their lives dearly against the Traitor Marines.
At Goreblight’s command, the Plague Marines charged in. The Seraphim prayed for the Spirit of the Martyr to protect them as the diseased Traitors surrounded them, but it was not enough-- the Plague Marines swarmed them, dragging them down to the ground and stabbing them with plague knives until they stopped moving. The martyrdom of the Seraphim sent waves of Faith and anger sweeping through the Sororitas forces as the Plague Marines consolidated away from their mangled bodies.
Further to the left, Squad Influenza slammed into Squad Arias before they could to pray to the Emperor for Divine Guidance. One Sister was disembowelled by a stabbing Plague knife, while another was crushed by the Plague Champion’s power fist. Although they were outmatched, the Sisters held their ground thanks to the strong oratory of their Sister Superior.
SISTERS TURN 3
Enraged by the loss of the Seraphim, Ophelia and her Celestians advanced on Squad Lupus, eager to repay blood for blood. Isobel also flew up from behind the tower, landing in a position to personally confront Goreblight. Elsewhere, on the left flank, Wrath of the Faithful once again moved forward to act as a mobile shield for Squad Konstanze, which remained in meltagun range of Squad Lupus’ Rhino.
Once again, Squad Konstanze fired out of their top hatch at Squad Lupus, and this time the Emperor guided their aim as the white-hot beam sizzled its way into the Rhino’s fuel stores, causing it to explode in a mighty fireball. Both Vengeful Choir and Holy Rites fired at the Vindicator, but this time they only fired a single missile apiece, and each missile detonated harmlessly against the Vindicator’s filth-encrusted armour. Finally, Isobel raised her inferno pistol and fried one Plague Marine as she landed, while Ophelia’s Celestians fired their own meltaguns at the Plague Marines and vaporized another.
As they charged in, both Isobel and the Celestians prayed for the Spirit of the Martyr to protect them, while the Celestians also prayed for the Hand of the Emperor to give them strength. The Plague Marines met their attackers head on with pistols, knives and blight grenades as Lord Goreblight roared for them to hold in Nurgle’s name. Isobel singled out Goreblight, and the two of them duelled, blessed sword clashing against daemonic scythe, with neither of them able to land a telling blow on the other. As their leaders clashed, the Plague Marines laid into the Celestians with pistol and knife, but not a single Sister fell to the Traitors’ blows. In exchange, Ophelia and the Celestians struck with the fury of a hurricane, hacking into the Plague Marines with their eviscerators and brutally slaying all five of them. Stunned, Marcus Goreblight suddenly found himself alone, surrounded on all sides by Loyalists. Gripping his plague-ridden scythe tightly, the Fettered Host’s champion vowed to Grandfather Nurgle that he would not die alone this day.
Elsewhere, the ongoing battle between Squads Arias and Influenza continued, with another three Sisters falling to knives of their opponents, while the resiliant Traitors shrugged off the return blows of the Sororitas. Though they were suffering heavy losses, the Sisters once again stubbornly refused to run, determined to fight and die if need be for the God-Emperor.
CHAOS TURN 4
Although Lord Goreblight was now surrounded, the Fettered Host had at least managed to slow down the Sororitas advance, buying Corpse Hatch more time with which to escape. The left flank, however, was looking vulnerable, and so Corpse Hatch mentally commanded his Mutants to go attack Wrath of the Faithful and Squad Konstanze’s Rhino, hoping that the expendable rabble would at least buy him some time. The rest of the Fettered Host planted their feet in the ground, hoping to make every shot count against the Loyalist scum.
Once again, the Predator targeted Wrath of the Faithful, but it once again only managed to Shake its crew again despite multiple direct hits. The Chaos Space Marines fared no better, rocking Squad Konstanze’s vehicle with a missile hit and Shaking its crew as well. The Vindicator fared even worse, lobbing a Demolisher shell that flew right past Holy Rites to demolish a distance cluster of trees.
At the gruff command of their Boss, the Mutants howled and swarmed both the Rhino and the Exorcist, rocking them back and forth like rioters. Sticking crude explosives onto the Exorcist, the Mutants cackled with glee as they blasted off the tank’s treads and, more tellingly, reduced its missile launcher to a smoking wreck. With the Loyalist tank now immobilized, the Mutants swarmed all over the Exorcist, prying at its hatches to get to the trapped crew within.
Near the middle, the melee continued, with Isobel praying for the Spirit of the Martyr as she, Ophelia, and the Celestians all fought to bring Goreblight down. The Chaos Lord fought like Mortarion himself, his whirling scythe shearing apart two Celestians and inflicting grievous wounds on both Ophelia and the Priestess Yngvie. Isobel’s blessed blade flashed in return, but failed to get past the Traitor’s skilled defence. Isobel’s attack had left Goreblight exposed, however, and Ophelia and her Celestians rushed the Traitor, hacking into him relentlessly with their eviscerators. Within moments, Lord Goreblight had been sawed to pieces, and the victorious Sisters consolidated closer towards the Traitors guarding Corpse Hatch.
The Sisters were much less successful on the left flank, as another two Sisters fell to Squad Influenza, including their Sister Superior. Even without their leader, however, the Sisters fought on, refusing to give ground to heretics and traitors.
SISTERS TURN 4
Knowing that they had to press the offensive if they were to slay Corpse Hatch, the Sisters redoubled their efforts. On the right flank, Squad Konstanze disembarked from their Rhino, fanning out to bring their weapons to bear on the Mutant horde. Further behind, Squad Solemnas drove towards the right flank, hoping to aid Squad Konstanze if the Mutants proved to be a problem.
In the centre of the battlefield, Isobel flew behind the Vindicator to attack its vulnerable rear armour, while the Celestians moved towards the left flank to rescue Squad Arias from the Plague Marines.
As one, Squad Konstanze opened fire on the Mutants, dousing them with flames and bolter rounds. Twelve of the twisted creatures were burned to cinders or gunned down, but the remainder held their ground, cursing and snarling hatefully at the Sororitas. The Exorcists, meanwhile, once again concentrated their fire on the Predator, but all of their shots either impacted harmlessly against cover or against daemonically-blessed armour.
Determined that the Vindicator would slay no more of her Sisters, Isobel fired her inferno pistol into its rear armour. Despite the white-hot intensity of the beam, the layers of filth caking the armour absorbed the intense heat, and no damage was caused. Cursing, Isobel swung her sword at it, praying for the Hand of the Emperor to give her strength. Her prayers went unanswered, and her blade barely even scratched the daemonic tank’s armour. (
Author’s note: failed faith test for +2 strength)
The Sororitas had much more success on the left flank, as Ophelia and her Celestians charged into the surprised Plague Marines. One more of Squad Arias fell before the Celestians’ charge hit home, and the last three Traitors were hacked to pieces by snarling eviscerators. Relieved, the last two of Squad Arias consolidated to take cover behind the wrecked Berzerker Rhino, while the Celestians moved towards the Vindicator to provide assistance to Isobel.
CHAOS TURN 5
With the Sororitas getting closer and closer to his position, the amorphous blob of flesh that was Corpse Hatch called on the power of the Warp to aid him. Cackling, he unleashed the power of the Soul Shrive on Isobel, only for the crackling bolts of lightning he summoned to wash harmlessly against her armour. Shocked, the Rogue Psyker shrieked at his accompanying Chaos Marines to fire everything they had at Isobel. Though bolter rounds and a krak missile exploded harmlessly against Isobel’s armour, one bolter round scored a grievous wound across her thigh, while a plasma bolt burned into her midsection.The hit would have killed her instantly, but Isobel’s faith, as well as her sacred Mantle, kept her standing.
The Vindicator, meanwhile, saw the Celestians clustered directly in front of it, and fired its Demolisher cannon.The Celestians prayed for the Spirit of the Martyr to protect them, but despite the God-Emperor’s protection, three of the elite Sororitas were shredded by the Demolisher’s blast. Picking themselves up, the remaining Celestians, though shaken by the blast, stayed in the fight thanks to Ophelia’s stern rhetoric.
Finally, the Predator, in an effort to get a better shot, trundled forwards, only to immobilize itself as a ruined girder lodged itselfin its gears. Despite this, it still swivelled its guns on Squad Konstanze’s Rhino and gutted it with lascannon bolts, reducing it to a smoking ruin.
Howling for blood, the Mutants crashed into Squad Konstanze, and a furious melee erupted as the two sides laid into each other with rifle butts, blades and fists.The Sisters fought bravely, felling three Mutants, only to have six of their number dragged down and killed by the Mutant tide, including Sister Konstanze herself. Beaten and badly outnumbered, the remaining Sisters tried to flee, but were caught and torn limb from limb by the rampaging Mutants, who surged on towards the rest of the Sororitas force.
SISTERS TURN 5
With time now running out, Isobel flew away from the Vindicator, ignoring her injuries as she flew towards Corpse Hatch and his bodyguard. Even as the Canoness made her daring solo attack, Ophelia and her Celestians advanced on the Vindicator, determined to end the Chaos tank that had claimed so many of their Sisters. Squad Solemnas, meanwhile, drove up and disembarked in front of the Mutants, singing hymns of vengeance as they did so.
As one, Squad Solemnas unleashed their firepower on the Mutants. Caught bunched together in the open, the Mutants were shredded and incinerated by the Sisters’ volley, and were all but wiped out. Only the Boss Mutant was left standing, badly wounded, but he remained unbowed as he roared defiantly at the Sororitas.
The Exorcists, meanwhile, continued to concentrate all available fire on the Predator. Missile after missile slammed again and again into the Chaos tank with no effect, but one missile managed to detonate against the Predator’s rightmost lascannon, ruining it.
Not wasting any time, Ophelia and her Celestians charged the Vindicator. Their eviscerators snarled as they tore through the tank’s armour, rupturing its fuel stores and tearing through daemonic flesh. The possessed tank gave an agonized howl before it exploded violently, throwing the Celestians off their feet but otherwise not harming them.
As Isobel flew up to the Chaos Space Marines, she fired her inferno pistol at them, only for the Traitors to duck behind cover. Cursing, the Canoness gripped her sword and charged them, praying to the Emperor to lend her protection and strength. The protection was granted as the Spirit of the Martyr overtook her, but her faith was not enough for the Hand of the Emperor to bolster her arm.
(Author’s note: ANOTHER failed Faith test for Hand of the Emperor)
As Isobel charged, she swung her blade again and again at Corpse Hatch, determined to slay the witch. The psyker’s power must have been potent indeed, however, as not a single swing of Isobel’s blade hit Corpse Hatch, who stood giggling at the enraged Canoness’ attacks.
(Author’s note: Isobel missed all of her attacks. Unlucky or what?) In response, the Chaos Space Marine swarmed Isobel, dragging her down and hacking into her with their chainswords, but her blessed armour held firm, and the Canoness kept fighting, determined to not to fail in her mission.
CHAOS TURN 6
With most of their forces now dead or dying, the Fettered Host resolved to fight to the bitter end, knowing that they had to ensure Corpse Hatch’s escape. The Predator fired at the distant Celestians, and despite the cover provided by the nearby crater, one lascannon bolt struck the Imagifer, vaporizing her and sending her sacred standard clattering to the ground. Once again, the Celestians refused to run despite their losses, determined not to show weakness in the face of the Great Enemy.
The Boss Mutant screamed his fury as he charged recklessly into Squad Solemnas, howling the names of the Dark Gods. His fury, however, was his undoing, as his wild swings all missed before the Sisters clubbed him down with their rifle butts.
Finally, in the ongoing combat, Corpse Hatch once again unleashed his power on Isobel, casting the Puppet Dance in an effort to make the noble Canoness slay herself. Isobel’s Shield of Faith suppressed the witchcraft, however, causing the Psyker to recoil.
(Editor’s note: Isobel made her special 5+ save against psychic abilities). Shouting the Emperor’s name, Isobel lunged forward and stabbed her blade deeply into the Psyker. Corpse Hatch staggered back, wounded but not dead. Before Isobel could finish the deed, however, the Aspiring Champion of the Chaos Space Marines strode forward, driving his power sword through Isobel’s chest. Gasping, Isobel finally toppled over, beaten.
Although they were outraged by the apparent death of Isobel, Ophelia knew that her Celestians were now too few in number to take on the remaining Traitor Marines. Bitterly, the Celestians retreated behind cover. In a final act of vengeance, the Exorcists targeted the Predator once again, sending multiple missiles punching through its front armour and reducing it to a smoking wreck.
Ophelia gritted her teeth, clutching her eviscerator tightly as bolter rounds tore chunks out of the wall she was sheltering behind, causing chips of wood and stone to fly in all directions. Up ahead, the Traitor Marines in the ruined farm were pouring more and more fire at their position, and she saw the guns of the Predator traversing to track them as well. She ducked back down behind the wall of the ruined building as a bolter round detonated closer to her, narrowly avoiding having her face shredded by the shrapnel. Behind her, Livi, the sole survivor of the Celestians, and Yngvie, the Priestess who had vowed to accompany the Sororitas, hugged the cover as well, praying to for the Emperor to see them through this firestorm. If they stayed in this position, Ophelia knew, they would all surely die-- their cover was rapidly diminishing. Their only option was a long charge across open ground, against an enemy in cover that outnumbered them more than three to one. Bad odds, she knew, but then again, even the impossible could be accomplished with a little faith.
She tapped her vox bead. “Exorcists, intensify your fire on the enemy armour!” she shouted. “We need that Predator gone, NOW!”
In response, the Exorcists Vengeful Choir and Holy Rites loosed another combined volley, sending a streaking swarm of missiles flying out like flocks of raptors. In the distance, the enemy Predator’s luck finally ran out as the warheads all slammed into it at once. The filth-encrusted vehicle came apart in a tremendous explosion, sending metal scything out in all directions as the nearby Chaos Space Marines were bowled off their feet. The fire on their position immediately slackened.
This was the respite that Ophelia needed. “With me!” she shouted to her squad as she leapt over the wall, ignoring the aching knife-wound in her chest as she charged towards the enemy. Livi and Yngvie were right behind her, chanting litanies of vengeance. Ophelia joined in, the prayer causing her blood to burn as she charged headlong towards the distant heretics. The sight of Isobel lying near the ruined farm, possibly dead, only added to her hatred.
To Ophelia’s surprise, instead of renewing their fire, the Chaos Space Marines began to fall back into the jungle canopy, dragging the cackling, mutated form of Corpse Hatch with them. Ophelia grimaced at the blatant cowardice of the Traitors, and ran as fast as she could. “Suffer not the heretic to live!” she shouted as the Traitors disappeared into the jungle foliage. “Let not the witch escape!”
Ophelia and her Sisters were almost at the ruined farm when a shriek of jet exhaust almost deafened them. It was then that a small ship-- a squat, bulky vessel encrusted with filth and rust, and decorated with spikes and grisly trophies-- rose up out of the jungle like some great arboreal bat. Ophelia’s heart sank when she realized that this was the Chaos Space Marines’ landing ship, and, currently, their means means of escape.
Before Ophelia could order her Exorcists to shoot the thing down, the landing ship blasted forwards, swooping over them with a gust of air that almost knocked them over. Spinning around, Ophelia saw the Chaos ship fly upwards, escaping the range of their guns within seconds. Within a few more seconds, the only thing she could see was a the red lights of the ship’s engines disappearing into the horizon.
Biting back the urge to curse, Ophelia lowered her eviscerator. She tapped her vox bead, “Cleanse this area,” she growled. “Burn everything here to the ground.” Nearby, she saw the prone form of Isobel breathing, albeit faintly. “And bring medicae up to tend to Canoness Deschain immediately.”
Around her, she could see the burning hulks of countless vehicles, and the bodies of heretics and her Sisters alike on the ground. They had slain a great many of the Chaos Space Marines today, including one of their fell champions. It wasn’t enough, she knew. With the escape of that witch, it wasn’t nearly enough. For their failure here today, whole worlds would burn.
Silently, Ophelia began to mouth a prayer of forgiveness.
Corpse Hatch cackles madly before making his escape.
Results:
Primary Objective (The Psyker)- Chaos Space Marines
Secondary Objective (Victory Points)- Sisters of Battle
Final Result:
CHAOS SPACE MARINE MINOR VICTORY!
Thoughts:
Argh! Robbed of victory at the last moment by a lack of faith and a sneaky power sword! If only Isobel hadn’t missed with everything earlier, I MIGHT have been able to finish the Psyker off. It looks like Corpse Hatch will now escape to wreak havoc on other worlds.
Unlucky endings aside, luck was, for the most part, on my side in this battle especially during the first few turns-- my vehicles survived the Chaos shooting relatively unscathed, while Andy’s vehicles had a tendency to explode a lot (with the notable exception of the Vindicator, which just wouldn’t die). Andy’s poor armour saves also meant that his poor Chaos Space Marines suffered heavy losses to my shooting. Then again, I had some extraordinarily bad luck on my side, especially with Isobel-- not only did she fail two Faith tests in a row this game, but she also whiffed all of her attacks twice. I’m especially surprised, since usually she does quite well in all my other games.
Andy managed to counter bad luck with good deployment, however. Although I managed to annihilate most of the Chaos forces, Andy had positioned the Rogue Psyker so far at the back of his lines that I had to fight my way through his whole army to get to him. By that point, only my jump pack Canoness was able to reach the psyker, and thanks to minimal Faith and some bad rolling on my part, she couldn’t get the job done. Kudos to Andy for sticking to the objective and making sure I could never present a serious threat to the Psyker.
All in all, though, this was a great game, and a great showing for my Sisters. Andy and I both had bucketloads of fun, and adding new units to the battle proved quite enjoyable. Plus, this was pretty much our last chance to use units (the Adversaries, the super Celestian retinue, etc) which may wind up being nullified when the new Sisters rules arrive.
MVP: The Celestians were amazing in this game, eating through two units of Plague Marines, a Chaos Lord, and a Vindicator.
LVP: Poor Isobel really had it bad in this game.
Opponent’s MVP: I’d probably vote for Andy’s regular Chaos Space Marines, who barely saved the day for him.
It had been a week since Marcus Gorebight had regained consciousness aboard the Fettered Host's Flag ship, the Boil Lance
. One week of floating behind transparent aluminium, suspended in transluscent ichor. One week to allow the agony of his death and subsequent agony of rebirth, thanks to these reconstitution chambers, to sink in, his senses sharpening as nerve endings reformed throughout his rotting flesh. One week for his fury to turn to rage, his rage to turn to frustration, his frustration to turn to boredom and for his boredom to foster new hatred.
Hatred, not only for the self-righteous wenches who had cut him to bloody puss soaked-chunks on that nameless battle field. Hatred not only for the useless mortal psyker who would inevitably become little more then another astropath or navigator in the service of the Fettered Host. Hatred not only for the useless mind-slave Magos Biologus who tended his accursed tank, but also a special form of hatred for the Seer; Poxulissies. Goreblight didn't think he could despise that conniving, small minded wretch any more then he already did, but it was him who had awoken him. It had been him who had insisted that Goreblight be the one to lead this folly of a mission. It was he who had put all these things into motion.
And it was he, Poxulissies the Seer, who now stood before him, eating a worm ridden apple as Marcus waited for his intestines to grow back, who Lord Goreblight hated most of all.
It would be another three weeks before the Space Marine could leave his cylindrical prison, and by then their next mission would be all but over. The Seer had robbed him of glory, and this Marcus Goreblight would never forgive.
