http://imgur.com/tzDuG
Custom deployment; we played a 4x8 table, with seacoast on both sides and a large
LOS blocking hill in the middle. Cliffs are impassable, ridges are difficult and deployment is anywhere within 12 inches of the coastline (notice my cheaty whirlwind >.<
Anything standing in the water is currently held in reserve. Both groups of ultramarine scouts infiltrated.
Turn one, Chaos moves full forward Vector stiking and then burning Telion's scout squad with a deamon prince. All transports flat out, and both the defilers take pot shots at the other squad of scouts up on the ridge. Ultramarines turn opens with the drop of dreadnought in pod which manages to smash a defiler in melta range. This turn also see's the ultramarine land raider smash the chaos one with a well placed lascannon shot. The scouts try to move away from the demon prince, but its futile. All heavy
SM vehicles move up, save the whirlwind that sits on its objective.
http://imgur.com/e5Tik
http://imgur.com/mf6zy
Turn two and the forces of chaos continue their advance, unfortunately stalling a rhino on a ridgecrest. Defiler and the hellbrute turn away from the advance to deal with the drop pod that has landed in their midst managing to blow it up quickly enough to allow a Defiler shot to be sent the way of the backfield scouts. This turn, Loyalist units begin to combust and the race is underway to quench several soulfires that have sprung up in the bodies of several less than iron willed battle brothers.
Bersekers from the stalled rhino move out while it attempts to repair itself, and the land raiders demon devours a Chaos Terminator to keep its deamon boilers running. The demon prince sprays voilence into the scout squad lead by telion, and launches its body at them; Feeling the doom of his force at hand, telion goades the dark lord into single combat, hoping to buy his initiates a precious few moments to orchestrate their escape.
http://imgur.com/iGzBO
Unfortunately for the scouts, Telions tactical acumen has yet to have been passed on to them, and they fail to exploit the momentary distraction. They find themselves trapped by the lord born in the warp.
http://imgur.com/d7z1v
Telions death was not un-noticed, and the Brother Librarian who was tasked with putting down this chaos insurection choose this moment to teleport himself and a squad of terminators into the field. His deployment is accurate, and they land among the back lines. Their actions here buy the front lines precious few more minutes to establish a beach-head at the top of the hill.
http://imgur.com/9lZ6l
The invasion of the librarian sends ripples through the minds of the chaos spawn, and the remainder of their forces are diverted to quash the interloppers.
The Deamon prince easily devours the remaining scouts
http://imgur.com/6CGMW
http://imgur.com/tdszN
Turn three see's the rhino that remains mobile make a brilliant tactical maneuver, launching itself over the hill and creating a blockade that stops both the vindicator and the standard dreadnought from cresting into the back lines of the chaos forces. With only one hull point left, the use of such a conservative asset to neutralize the two most dangerous enemy units is Napoleonic in its brilliance. With a full payload of Berserkers, it manages to be tactically brilliant, and still remain dangerous.
http://imgur.com/0RWOK
The berserkers who got out of the imobilized rhino move backwards to threaten the librarian and his entourage, while the hellbrute destroys the venerable dreadnough and remaining defiler lobs a mutating shell into the midst of the grounded terminators, It is caught in the turmoil however and lands amidst the berserkers, who then fire into the terminator squad and launch themselves at it with zeal after. The demon prince follows suit, leaping from the top of the hill and landing like a hammer among the terminators.
Space marines spend their turn chewing on the chaos terminators through slits in the ruin, and trying to peck their way through the rhino that blocked the way. Despite ignoring direct orders to form a spearhead, sergeant Chronus continues to fail to contribute to the battle, firing blindly over the hill, missing every shot but one, and event then only managing to scorch the ground amongst some berserkers.
Turn four is un-eventfull in that battle lines have been solidly drawn. Many Ultramarine terminators are killed in combat by the demon prince and the blockader rhino is finally destroyed after the berserkers take their leave and position themselves on the hill;
http://imgur.com/8Hq11
once they've surveyed the area however, they launch themselves at the brother in the Dreadnough Sarcophagus, stalling the movement of lines in this area for the rest of the game. Their Dual assault however does manage to demolish an ancient and cherished vindicator of the ultramarines chapter.
http://imgur.com/QpXOG
Khorne meanwhile chooses this moment to strike, and comes out from behind the ruins where he'd been directing his forces. Easily dispatching a full half of a tactical squad and taking a step forward to challenge the land raiders.
http://imgur.com/077Wg
The daemon prince, after vanquishing the librarian takes to the air, and positions himself back on the hill.
A full space marine tactical squad deploys from the front of a land raider, and all lascannons train on the demon prince, bringing it down to within a hair of oblivion when it crashes to the ground, but failing to take it out of the fight. The tactical marines obliterate Khorne in a torrent of fire, and yet again, the swirling mele around the dreadnought continues, this time crushing a single berserker.
Turn 5 see's the battle of the berserkers and the Dreadnought grind on, the demon prince move across the table, thrashing the helmets and heads of a marine as he passes by, and spraying hell fire into the tactical squad afterwards. Backfield bersekers fly up the ridge wanting to tear blood from the scouts for the blood god.
In desperation, Ultramarines turn to their Robute Codex; The situation calls for control of the field of battle, and all squads make a break for tactically significant points on the battleground. Ignoring the demon prince, the berserkers and the defiler, a land raider runs up to control the hill crest, the marines sprint into a small hedgerow to fortify, and the remaining half of the tactical squad that khorne killed move forward along the far field to contest an area of the board held by the far-field bersekers.
Win Ultramarines 8 Chaos 2
