CA18 Adepta Sororitas Brigade vs. Adeptus Mechanicus
2000 Points - Tactical Escalation - Search & Destroy
Mac’s Brigade (118
PL - 14CP - 2,000 pts)
Brian’s Admech
The board was thin on terrain, but we let it ride… Brian knew he had the ranged firepower to make use of the open sight lines, and I needed space to maneuver lots of tanks. He ran Mars dogma and managed to keep the same two Canticles (army-wide cover, re-roll 1s to hit) up all game. I ran Bloody Rose and swapped relics: the Brazier for the Book.
He deployed first with Kataphrons, Kastelans, and the Dunecrawlers packed into overlapping auras with Cawl and the Tech-Priests and a screen of Skitarii to keep me at arm’s length. I deployed with my Exorcists castled up in some cover, objective-grabbing Rhinos on one flank, and four Immolators with various passengers ready to race up the center.
I failed to seize, and I used my Vanguard move conservatively, nudging three Immolators out to the edge of the Canoness & Celestine 4++ bubble. I hesitated in this because I had lots of chaff to clear to get to his big guns, but it turned out to be the right thing.
My opponent took his first turn and shifted his screen forwards, then unleashed everything on the Immolators. Even with the 4++ “Cathedral” in effect, he destroyed two of them, spilling the Celestians and a unit of stormbolter Dominions into the dirt. Had I taken a larger Vanguard move out of the auras, he’d have surely dismounted most of my force in the open with lots of ground to cover and the screening troops still to confront.
My Turn 1 was a big disappointment. I used Divine Guidance on the Canoness and then Vessels of the Emperor’s Will to extend it to the artillery. I rolled four 1s for three Exorcists (yes, even the Command Re-roll) for the Heavy
d6 shots; even with the Hunter-Killers adding their weight, I only got a pair of Kataphrons. Luckily my dismounted stormbolter Doms used Blessed Bolts to knock off a unit of Skitarii, giving me First Strike. I also found the Emperor’s guiding hand in the Tactical Objectives. Sororitas ahead 4-1 at the end of T1.
In Turn 2, Cawl focused all of his Martian tech on the Immolators again in hopes of maintaining his screen of Skitarii infantry. He destroyed the other two, leaving me with just 2 Rhinos and my Exorcists of my mechanized force. His Vanguard were in range to use their plasma weaponry and rad carbines against my dismounted infantry, but the Rangers’ snipers could not fell the distant Canoness.
On my Turn 2, the holes I had punched in the screen with sustained stormbolter fire allowed a Dominion squad to advance their melta guns into optimal range, where they incinerated two more Kataphrons. The Exorcists finished the unit and nearly brought down a Dunecrawler as well. Two units of Battle Sisters descended on a Vanguard squad and finished them over two phases… a Sororitas vs. Skitarii melee was surprisingly effective and dealt the killing blows. The cards went my way again: Sororitas up 7-2.
Cawl’s Martians began Turn 3 by pouring everything they had into the last two transports, each of them now pressing forward with their second set of passengers. Here the God-Emperor of Mankind intervened; a single Sororitas Rhino passed FOUR 6+ Shield of Faith saves in a single phase, shrugging off neutron lasers and heavy phosphor blasters. Both Rhinos managed to stay underway, but the small arms fire from the remaining Skitarii was decimating my infantry in the open. The survivors reformed as best they could and positioned themselves to board empty Rhinos as they veered past.
On my Turn 3, the Rhinos disgorged an angry Sisterhood. On one side of the engagement, meltaguns and stormbolters finally disrupted the firepower of the Kastelans; on the other side, Celestians, two Canonesses, and other characters used their firepower to open a path to charge the Warlord. The Canoness wielding the relic blade cut down the Tech-Priest Dominus in a flurry of attacks. Celestine fell from the sky and dispatched Cawl in the same moment.
My final hand of cards gave points on units destroyed, and I’d just done a fair bit of that. 11-4 Sororitas advantage. My opponent conceded, although we both agreed that while it was over on the scoreboard, it was still looking contentious on the game board. We were both curious what Turn 4 might look like, but we called it.
The game felt really well matched throughout. He methodically cracked my transports, but they got me close enough to get through the screening troops and get my guns in range. The output of fire from that army is incredible; the dice just keep rolling. I rolled four consecutive 1s for Exorcist rate of fire and four consecutive 6s for Shield of Faith. Melee was surprisingly effective. AdMech one-shots tanks, and Celestine and the Canoness one-shot
HQs. Only the cards were lopsided, at least until the end of three turns. Both armies played pretty much as intended… his was dependent on infantry screens and a few rules stacks he achieved very consistently in the shooting phase, and mine was dependent on getting in range before I ran out of transports, which I also managed. In every turn it was a great game that we both enjoyed.
Angels Redemptive: 5000 pts
Plague Legion: 2000 pts 
Finished Forge World Elysian Army 
Finished Tau Sept Cadre 
Finished Ork Waaagh | 
Alaitoc Eldar Warhost 
Finished Order of Our Martyred Lady - Sisters of Battle 
Finished Necromundian Imperial Guard Regiment 
