I'm trying something new... inspired by some battle reports I've seen Ploythemus do. They're more of a comic book style narrative battle report rather than a strictly nuts-and-bolts style like I usually do. They do represent what happened in the battle... just not everything. Only the things I took good pictures of that were important or interesting. So... if you're a very competitive nuts & bolts kind of
40k player... you probably won't find much value in them. However... I'm still learning to write in this style, so any suggestions on making them better without making them too complicated or sterile are welcome. (One of the reasons I like this style is that it's a lot easier to put together than my typical report... I'd like to retain that if possible.)
They appear in the order they were played (and written). They feature Solar_lion's Lamenters and my Mantis Warriors. 7th Edition, maelstrom mission.
Please enjoy!
Game #1 We're deploying on the short edges of the board and have drawn the mission where you start with one card and keep drawing up to the number of the turn. This is the first
40k game I've played in many months so Solar_lion is doing a lot of teaching. As a result, he misses some early opportunities to put the hurt on me & is generally playing under his normal abilities (thanks
SL).
The Lamenters... spurred on by Kahn (because you know... Lamenters are actually a White Scars successor chapter
) pour through the towards the center of the table and their first objective!
The Lamenters sternguard drop on another objective, only to be assaulted and wiped out by Mantis Warriors (who then admire the tastefully finished interior of the Lamenter pod... no such luxuries for the Mantis Warriors... they just bounce around on a bare floor like a can of dried beans).
Kahn leads his elite guard into the mandibles of the awaiting Mantis Warrior land raider.
Unfortunately, before they can make contact... a Mantis Warrior scout bike squad with storm talon escort arrives behind them and kills the squad members who have a good chance of damaging the land raider. Leaving Kahn to search for better prey.
The Lamenters bikes are all over the center of the board like a swarm of angry bees. The podded tactical squad must take refuge on a derelict ork construction platform in order to stay out of reach!
Though wanting to join the frey... the
tac sqad must settle for firing down off the platform into the swirling mass of bikes below.
Meanwhile in the Lamenter rear, a
tac squad looses it's means of transportation... but emerges undaunted.
Kahn and his bikes of doom close on the Mantis centurions and terminator psycher. Things do not go well for the boys in green.
The Lamenters air-superiority is starting to take it's toll... and the very plucky
TFC is finally laid low. (Note the awesome objective marker the
SL did. He's got them numbered 1-6.)
In the last turn, the lone surviving scout biker (the sergeant) skims around the massive ork facility and secures one final objective... also securing a TIE GAME!
Final Score:
Lamenters: 11
Mantis Warriors: 11
Very lucky to pull a tie here. This was my first experience using the maelstrom mission cards and I must admit I really loved it. Generates a very different game than standard missions which is much more free-wheeling and fun. You also have to be good at thinking on your feet to deal with the unexpected curve balls the mission cards throw you. My stars of the game? The land raider... for tanking an amazing amount of las cannon fire & never actually wrecking. The assault marines who took out the sternguard, a
tac squad and jumped on an objective or two. Lastly the thunderfire cannon which was just a pain in the butt for the Lamenters... accounting for a few casualties every turn which can really add up. This was also my first time using the
IA rules for the Mantis Warriors and their one named character Ahazra Redth. I like it... but it'll take a bit of thought and practice to get good with the rules.
Game 2: DOW deployment, we share cards (3 per person but can score any.
SL deploys first & spreads across the board but his scary command squad is on my far right. I refuse the flank (deploy far left) with the exception of the snipers who deploy on an objective on my far right... hoping to get a called shot at one of the characters while scoring the objective.
... and so it beings...
The Lamenters have a list that's designed for an alpha-strike and decide to bring the pain. Nearly everything scouts forward then makes a dash for the center of my lines. The vanguard of the charge is the Lamenter bike squad. The attack bike is looking to add another land raider to his kill tally.
The Lamenter sternguard pod in close to an objective and focus their substantial firepower on the "sitting duck" land raider.
Meanwhile the scouts are chillin' on the objective.
Unfortunately for the young scouts... their sergeant couldn't be more wrong. Kahn sees them and realizes their importance to the mission.
The assault squad that had sheltered behind the as-yet-not-destroyed land raider, took exception to the actions of the Lamenter sternguard.
Some flamers, bolter shots and an assault later... it looked like this.
Unfortunately for the Lamenters, the alpha strike didn't have the hoped-for results, leaving the large bike squad open to a hail of fire by the centurions, the land raider and the thunderfire cannon. Many casualties resulted.
A Mantis Warrior tactical squad podded near an objective in the Lamenter rear, hoping to get a quick predator kill. Unfortunately the predator was shaken, but not stirred.
Back on the left, the Lamenters had moved forward aggressively and a tactical squad was looking for some payback. Unfortunately shooting was somewhat less effective than advertised and they were caught in a pincer between the assault marines and a dreadnought approaching from the south-west.
Then the Lamenter air power arrived and cut the big
tac squad in half, threatening to route the only Mantis Warrior incursion deep into their lines.
The remnants of the squad held, and fell back (in good order) to the relative protection of a ruined tower which held an objective. That was a close one!
Having dispatched the scouts and scored the objective, the Lamenter command squad was ready to press the assault. However it was at that point where the objective card "witch hunter" was drawn. The Mantis Warrior librarians were tucked safely away on the second and third floors of a ruin, surrounded by a bubble-wrap of centurions. This left the Lamenter psycher feeling very exposed.
The Mantis Warrior scout bikes arrive on the Lamenter left and a salvo of astartes grenade launchers leave the second Lamenter predator a smoking ruin.
They then seek out one of the Lamenters tactical squads and keep them busy in assault for the rest of the game... safely away from any scoring objectives.
The Mantis Warrior storm talon arrives to take out one of the Lamenter flyers, saving the
tac squad on the objective from certain destruction.
The surviving members of the Mantis Warrior assault squad use their jump packs to claim one last objective.
Lastly, the Mantis Warrior talon hovers over the librarian and claims the "witch hunter" honors!
Final Score:
Lamenters: 13
Mantis Warriors: 16
It should be noted that
SL's dice luck was tragic in this game, while mine stayed pretty good throughout. Solar_lion really bet everything on the success of that first alpha-strike, and when it failed the center of his line was so exposed that they just got eaten up by my centurions and land raider. Nothing wrong with his strategy, just horrible dice. He also immobilized 3 out of 4 vehicles on terrain. That severely limited his ability to scoot around and pick up objective points. Stars for this game were the centurion star (with both Redth and another epistolary psycher with terminator armor and a storm shield) who had a centrally located, elevated platform with an objective on it from which to lay a swath of devastation. The assault marines who basically did exactly what they did in the first game and in the same order! The
TFC which just kept relentlessly whittling away at everything and finally the little storm talon who served up some lethal and timely fire when it was really needed. Actually, everything performed really well come to think of it. The scouts drew his command squad away, effectively keeping the out of the entire game. The podded in
tac marines finished off a razorback and sat on an objective. Even the scout bikes played a solid role and once again the land raider tanked an amazing number of las cannonn and melta shots without being wrecked (though it was down to 1 hull point).
I'd really love to get some feedback or comments if you can spare them. On the battle or the report itself. I realize with a report like this, there's really nothing tactical you can say as you don't have the whole story... but if you liked the report or have recommendations for making it better I'd love to hear it.
Thanks for reading!
