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This battle report is part of a Dakka-based campaign (a la the old Third War of Armageddon campaign run by GW). More information can be found in the following thread:
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/806665.page

Here’s a rundown of the rules my opponent and I used for this battle:
My opponent and I decided we would be ignoring all the warzone content and that specialist detachments are fair game. This means we use the old starting CP and CP gain rules, mixing subfactions, dedicated transports can start on the board empty, and taking an Emperor’s Blade detachment is legal. We do, however, opt to retain the rule of highest roll must go first. Also, we agreed to pre-select 10 faction stratagems as part of our list building (we automatically get all the non-faction strats and we don’t count stratagems used to build our lists).

We played a Tempest of War match. For terrain, my opponent and I placed the terrain cooperatively, trying to get a good look and distribution of buildings and area terrain. We drew the Search and Destroy deployment (table corners). After looking at the map we laid out, we decided to reverse the corners to put the deployment zones in the corners with the buildings since that made more sense to us. We drew Burn and Raze (5VP for Control one or more objectives, 5VP for control more than your opponent, 5VP for Raze Objective action) as the Primary Mission with Delayed Reserves as the Mission Rule.

+++++++++++++++++++++++ VOX TRANSMISSION RECORD +++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++ FOR ASTROPATHIC FORWARDING TO IMPERIAL ARCHIVES +++++++++++
Commit to: Imperial Record CHG 12/4216
Crossfile to: Heretical Cult Mechanicus, Chigon 17, Militarum Regimentum - Landon II
Input Date: 451.999.M41
Input Clearance: Regimental Commissar Grainger
Author: Colonel Rumbold
Transmitted: 96th Landonian Imperial Guard Regiment Field Headquarters (Chigon 17)
Transmitter: Techpriest Lucas – 96th Landonian Regimental Headquarters
Receiver: Magos Hammond – Imperial Task Force Headquarters
+++++++++++++++++++++++ BEGIN TRANSMISSION BODY +++++++++++++++++++++++
+++ REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE BATTLE OF LAZEPATH TOWNSHIP +++

The following report has been compiled from data collected via a suite of Sensoria Class Servo Skulls. As your lordships are no doubt aware, many regiments raised on the second planet of the Landon system are frequently tasked with supporting weapons research efforts in addition to their work to protect His most divine demesne from those forces which seek to destroy it. This stems from the classification of just under half of the surface of their home planet as a weapons testing ground in support of the Adeptus Mechanicus Forge World of Landon III, third planet of the Landon planetary system. The battle on which this report focuses occurred while a section of the 96th Landonian Imperial Guard Regiment was out on combined gunnery exercises and weapons testing. The goal of our analysis is to determine the root causes that led to the annihilation of these stalwart warriors at the hands of a heretical cult mechanicus.

Our analysis indicates that the 96th Landonian detachment command first became aware of the approaching heretical forces around local noon at which time they redeployed to meet the heretics in the overgrown ruins of Lozepath Township. Based on our analysis of the battle, we have concluded that the likely operational goal was to either take key defensive positions around the ruined township or, if that proved impractical, to destroy those defensive positions in order to render the township strategically useless to the heretical forces. The Imperial order of battle is as follows:

~~~~ Imperial Guard - 96th Landonian - 10 CP ~~~~
Custom Regiment: Gunnery Experts, Spotting Detail
Emperor’s Blade Assault Company
Battalion
HQ:
2x Demolisher Tank Commander w/ triple heavy flamers; one with Kurov’s Aquila relic and the other is the warlord; both have Slow and Purposeful Tank Ace
Troops:
4x Infantry Squad
- Sergeant w/ Plasma Pistol and Power Sword
- 1x Meltagun, 1x Lascannon, 1x Voxcaster
Elites:
2x Astropath; one w/ nightshroud, one with psychic barrier
2x Platoon Commander w/ Plasma Pistol and Power Sword
Heavy Support:
1x Armageddon-Pattern Medusa w/ Heavy Flammer
Dedicated Transport:
4x Chimera w/ Hull-mounted Heavy Flammer
Faction Stratagems:
Mechanized Fire Support, Rapid Redeploy, Jury Rigging, Hail of Fire, Defensive Gunners, Take Cover!, Grenadiers, Fight to the Death, Vengeance for Cadia, Relentless


Our analysis was able to conclusively identify all heretical combat units that participated in the battle. For this, we must acknowledge the input of a representative of the Ordo Hereticus whose insight and experience was critical in positively identifying many of the heretical combatants. It must also be noted that, much to the consternation and objections of the representatives of the Adeptus Mechanicus, our best analysis indicates that the heretical mechanicus forces have pledged themselves to Slaanesh, a conclusion supported by the opinion of the Ordo Hereticus representative. The heretical order of battle is as follows:

~~~~ Dark Mechanicus (proxying Chaos Space Marines) - 8CP ~~~~
Black Legion
Battalion
HQ:
1x The Weaver (Lord Discordant on Helstalker) w/ The Warp’s Malice, Techno-virus injector, Mark of Slaanesh, Baleflamer, Flames of Spite
2x Magos of Possession (Master of Possession): one with Cursed Earth and Possession as powers, Merciless Overseer, and Mark of Slaanesh; the other with Mutated Invigoration and Pact of Flesh as powers, Trusted War-leader, and Chaos Undivided
Troops:
3x Servator Squads (Legionaries)
Elites:
1x Decimator w/ 2x Soulburner petard
1x Possessed w/ Black Rune of Damnation on the Champion
Fast Attack:
Venomcrawler
Faction stratagems:
Veterans of the Long War, Tip of the Spear, Unrelenting Onslaught, Daemonforge, Murderous Perfection, Infernal Engine, Daemon Shells, Excessive Cruelty, Relentless Devastation (my opponent only picked 9 strats)

~~~~

Based on the sensoria records, the Imperial forces arrived at Lazepath Township slightly ahead of the heretics, whose forces arrived shortly before nightfall. Figure 1. is an annotated aerial recording of the disposition of Imperial and heretical forces at the commencement of the Battle of Lazepath Township and our best estimate of the key objectives.



vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

If I get the time, maybe I’ll write the entirety of the next batrep as fluff, but for this one, I’ll leave the body of the report as non-fluff. For ease of understanding, I’ll refer to all the proxied models as “Model name (proxied CSM unit). Either way, I won the roll-off for deployment and picked my corner, so I deployed first, while my opponent won the roll-off for going first.

~~~ Turn 1 - Chaos ~~~
At the start of his command phase, my opponent ticks up to 9 CP and draws his objective cards. He drew Battlefield Supremacy, Grind Them Down, and Behind Enemy Lines. He has The Weaver (Lord Discordant) corrupt his Decimator and uses the Merciless Overseer warlord trait to put The Weaver (Lord Discordant) into Wanton Massacre.

For his movement phase, my opponent moves and advances his Servators (Legionaries) onto Objective D; normal moves another squad of Servators (Legionaries) towards Objective B, getting them into cover; and leaves his third squad of Servators (Legionaries) on his home objective (Objective A). He also advanced his squad of Possessed across the center and into cover on the far side of Objective C, followed by The Weaver (Lord Discordant), which he advanced onto Objective C. Both his Magos of Possession (Masters of Possession) advanced towards the containers on either side of Objective C. Finally, he moved his Venomcrawler and advanced his Decimator towards Objective C, getting the latter into cover.



During his psychic phase, my opponent casts Cursed Earth using the right Magos (Master) of Possession, initially fails the psychic test but succeeds after using his Command Reroll; he farms a CP back leaving him at 9 CP still. I fail to deny his psychic power, so it goes off. The same Magos (Master) of Possession then successfully casts Delightful Agonies on The Weaver (Lord Discordant). He follows this up by having the other Magos (Master) of Possession case Mutated Invigoration on the Possessed, giving them +1T, which I fail to deny.

The Shooting Phase: He spends 1 CP to give +1 to hit to his Decimator and we both farm a CP off of it, keeping him at 9 CP and me up to 11 CP. He fires his Decimator at 1st Chimera, dealing 5 mortal wounds and bracketing the Chimera. He then uses the Demon Shells stratagem, which I farm to go up to 12 CP, and Murderous Perfection on The Weaver (Lord Discordant) and deals 7 mortal wounds to my relic-holding Tank Commander. He then uses The Weaver’s (Lord Discordant’s) Baleful Flammer to deal 2 more wounds to the bracketed 1st Chimera. Finally, his Venomcrawler fires at my relic-holding Tank Commander, but fails to wound.




~~~ Turn 1 - Imperium ~~~
During my command phase, I tick up to 13 CP and immediately spend 1CP for Jury Rigging and 1CP on Relentless on my relic-holding Tank Commander to bring it up to 6W remaining and let it act as though it were not bracketed. For my objectives, I drew No Retreat No Surrender, Secure No Man’s Land, and No Prisoners. I consider dropping Secure No Man’s Land, but decide to keep the CP instead.

During my movement phase, I jostle around my parking lot a bit to correct for some mistakes I made during deployment. Specifically, I wanted to open up room to send my Warlord Tank Commander towards Objective B next turn if I was able to break the center push this turn. I also wanted to wait for the Possessed to commit to one side of the building or the other before I moved my Warlord Tank Commander out. I moved 1st Squad, my Platoon Commander, and my Astropath (Psychic Barrier) towards Objective D. I also moved the heavily damaged 1st Chimera towards Objective D, although it could only move a few inches. I had 3rd Squad hop out of their Chimera to delay the inevitable Possessed charge and had my second Platoon Commander hop out of 4th Chimera so he could issue orders. Finally, I moved 2nd Chimera behind 2nd Squad to clear 2nd Squad’s firing lanes.

In my psychic phase, I attempted to cast Psychic Barrier on 1st Squad, but was denied. I did, however, succeed in casting Nightshroud on 3rd Squad.

To start off the shooting phase, I issued a string of orders: My Platoon Commanders give the order First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire to 1st Squad and 2nd Squad; my relic-holding Tank Commander orders himself to Strike and Shroud, thereby popping his smoke launchers; and my Warlord Tank Commander gives himself the order Kill on Sight. Finally, I have the heavily damaged 1st Chimera pop smoke and hope that it can just soak up attacks and possibly survive.

On to the shooting phase proper. My Warlord Tank Commander fires on the Possessed, killing two models. I spend 1CP for Vengeance for Cadia on my relic-holding Tank Commander, who also fires on the Possessed, managing to kill another two models. 2nd and 3rd Squads both unload into the Possessed as well with 2nd Squad managing to wound one Possessed and 3rd Squad causing no damage. I know I need to blunt the upcoming Possessed charge as much as possible. Unfortunately, neither 1st Squad nor 3rd Chimera manage to deal any damage. Despite knowing I need to blunt their assault, I’m hesitant to put all of my fire power into the Possessed. As such, I have 1st Squad and 2nd Chimera fire on the Servators (Legionaries) on Objective D but neither of them deal any damage. The Medusa, however, does manage to kill off one Servator (Legionnaire).

This brings us to the end of Battle Round 1. I have managed to rack up 15 of the 30 wounds for No Prisoners and discard Secure No Man’s Land as I doubt I’ll be able to break out of my deployment zone in sufficient numbers to complete it. No Retreat No Surrender doesn’t count until the end of my opponent’s next turn. My opponent, however, managed to complete Battlefield Supremacy, scoring him 5 points. This leaves the score at 5-0 in favor of Chaos at the end of Battle Round 1. At this point, we called it a day and planned on picking our game up the next day (a distinct benefit of using TTS is being able to save your game).



~~~ Turn 2 - Chaos ~~~
We pick back up the next day with my opponent’s second turn. In his command phase, he ticks up to 8CP, draws Raise Banners as his new secondary objective card, and he gains 10 VP from primary objectives: 5 VP for holding one or more objectives and 5 VP for holding more than his opponent. This puts the score at 15-0 in favor of the forces of Chaos. Let the Galaxy Burn advances from Wanton Destruction to Wanton Massacre. Finally, my opponent has The Weaver (Lord Discordant) corrupt his Decimator.

The movement phase: The squad of Servators (Legionaries) on Objective D move into rapid fire range of 1st Squad and the squad of Servators (Legionaries) closest to Objective B advances onto that objective. His Possessed move well into charge range of 3rd Squad while he has The Weaver (Lord Discordant) move up next to the heavily damaged 1st Chimera. The Venomcrawler and Decimator both move up onto Objective C while the pair of Magos (Masters) of Possession advance onto the center objective.

During his Psychic Phase, my opponent manages to overcast Mutated Invigoration on the Possessed, giving them both +1S and +1T as well as casting Pact of Flesh on the same squad, healing one wound on each model and returning one downed model to the table. I fail to deny both and his Possessed squad is now back up to seven models all at full wounds. On top of this he also manages to get off Cursed Earth giving an aura of 4+ Invulnerable saves. Finally, he smites 1st Chimera for 2 wounds, which promptly detonates right in the highest concentration of units on the battlefield: 3 mortal wounds to 1st Squad, 3 mortal wounds to 3rd Squad, 1 mortal wound to the Platoon Commander, 1 mortal wound to the Astropath, 1 mortal wound to The Weaver (Lord Discordant), and 1 mortal wound to the Possessed. I remove 3 regular guardsmen from each squad.



Chaos Shooting Phase: My opponent fires his Decimator into 3rd Squad, dealing 6 mortal wounds and wiping out all but the guardsman carrying the meltagun. He then uses the Demon Forge and Murderous Perfection stratagems on The Weaver (Lord Discordant) for a combined 2CP. The Weaver (Lord Discordant) fires Warp’s Malice into the relic-holding Tank Commander for 7 mortal wounds, destroying the Tank Commander. The Weaver then fires its Bale Flamer into 1st Squad and I spend a CP for Take Cover! to give them 6+ armor saves, but I fail to make enough saves and 1st Squad gets wiped anyway. While the Servators (Legionaries) on Objective D fail to kill the sole surviving meltagunner of 3rd Squad, the Venomcrawler manages to kill both the meltagunner and the wounded Astropath with no saves.

Chaos Charge Phase: My opponent uses the Tip of the Spear stratagem on the Possessed, who then charge 3rd Chimera. I dump 3CP to use Defensive Gunners, Overwatch, and Vengeance for Cadia on 3rd Chimera, but fail to cause any wounds. The Weaver (Lord Discordant) then charges into 3rd Chimera as well and manages to do a total of four mortal wounds and four wounds after saves. Then his Possessed rip into 3rd Chimera, which promptly follows 1st Chimera by exploding: 3 mortal wounds to the Astropath, 2 mortal wounds to the Medusa, 2 mortal wounds to The Weaver (Lord Discordant), and 1 mortal wound to the Possessed. He then consolidates his Possessed into the Medusa.



At the end of his turn, he scores Grind them Down for 5 VP and Behind Enemy Lines for 5 VP while I score 5 VP for No Retreat, No Surrender. The score is now at 15 - 5 in favor of the Chaos Forces. At this point, we take a break for about a week or so before being able to fit in another session.



~~~ Turn 2 - Imperium ~~~
During my command phase, I draw Raise Banners and Overwhelming Firepower. At this point, I don’t control any primary objectives, so I discard Raise Banners and hope for something more doable, bringing me down to 8 CP. I draw Bring it Down with the Decimator being the target I need to destroy to score victory points.

In the intervening week, I’d come to the conclusion that I haven’t been using my infantry squads to properly screen my heavy guns. My movement phase is mostly comprised of a last ditch effort to correct this. First, I back the Medusa over to the side of the ruins to make room to push 4th Chimera up. 4th Chimera pulls a sick drift and slides sideway in front of the Possessed squad. The Warlord Tank Commander backs up to the map edge where it is outside of consolidation range, the lone Platoon Commander that was previously with 1st Squad moves into plasma pistol range of the Servators (Legionaries) on Objective D, and the other Platoon Commander moves into vox range of 2nd Squad. Finally, I use the Rapid Redeploy stratagem to dump out 4th Squad at the end of the movement phase such that they are screening the armor parking lot from being charged, leaving me at 7 CP.



At the start of my shooting phase, the Tank Commander orders himself to Kill on Sight, the lone Platoon Commander orders himself to Take Aim, and the other Platoon Commander gives 2nd Squad the First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire order, which is then relayed to 4th Squad. I use the Vengeance for Cadia and Grenadiers stratagems on 4th Squad dropping me to 5 CP and the entire squad lobs grenades into the Possessed; they end up with 28 attacks needing 14 saves, two of which are failed, killing 1 Possessed and wounding another. 4th Chimera then fires at the Possessed, but fails to cause any wounds. The Warlord Tank Commander then puts everything into the Possessed with the Demolisher Cannon killing two of them after my opponent spent a CP to reroll a save; the triple heavy flamers failed to do any damage. I’ve managed to whittle the Possessed down to 4 models. 2nd Squad then fired at the Venomcrawler with the lasguns causing one unsaved wound and the lascannon failing to cause any damage. The lone Platoon Commander fires his plasma pistol on overcharge into the Servators (Legionaries) on Objective D and manages to kill one.


At the end of my turn, I’ve racked up 26 total wounds of the 30 needed for No Prisoners. I discard Overwhelming Firepower and the score remains at 15 - 5 in favor of Chaos.

~~~ Turn 3 - Chaos ~~~
My opponent ticks up to 7 CP, gains another 10 VP for primary objectives, and transitions from Wanton Massacre to Wanton Slaughter. He has The Weaver (Lord Discordant) corrupt the Medusa for 1 mortal wound, bringing it down to 8W remaining. He also draws his secondary objectives: Extend Battle Lines and Storm Hostile Objectives.

In his movement phase, he pushes the Possessed forward and moves The Weaver (Lord Discordant) to the other end of 4th Squad, hoping he can peel away enough guardsmen during the psychic and shooting phases to open a gap to charge my Warlord Tank Commander. His Venomcrawler moves up close to the back of the Medusa and 2nd Squad, the Decimator lumbers forward just into my deployment zone, the Servators (Legionaries) on Objective D perform the Raise Banners action, and the Servators (Legionaries) near Objective B move onto that objective. Finally, both Magos (Masters) of Possession advance up the center.








My opponent casts Pact of Flesh on the Possessed to return a single model to the table and heal 2 wounds on each damaged model, bringing the squad up to 5 models, all of which have full wounds. He also casts Mutated Invigoration on the Possessed, giving them +1T, before casting Possess on the lone Platoon Commander, who dies. Finally, he casts Smite on 4th Squad, dealing 2 mortal wounds as it was a super smite; I remove the lascannon to maximize the number of grenades I can throw during overwatch.

At the start of his shooting phase, my opponent uses the Demon Forge stratagem on the Decimator, who fires at my Warlord Tank Commander, dealing 6 mortal wounds and bracketing the tank. He then uses the Murderous Perfection stratagem on The Weaver (Lord Discordant), but farms the CP back. The Weaver (Lord Discordant) fires Warp’s Malice into my Warlord Tank Commander and the Baleful Flamer into 4th Squad. I spend a CP to use Take Cover! on 4th Squad leaving me with 4 CP remaining. The Warlord Tank Commander ends up being destroyed after taking 6 mortal wounds and 4th Squad loses two guardsmen after making one of their saves. The Servators (Legionaries) on Objective B fire at 2nd Squad killing the lasgun team and a guardsman. Finally, the Venomcrawler also fires into 2nd Squad and kills four guardsmen after my opponent spends a CP to reroll one of the hits. This leaves 6 men in 4th Squad and 3 men in 2nd Squad.





At the start of the charge phase, my opponent spends two CP on Tip of the Spear on the Possessed and farms one of those CP back. Then the Possessed charge 4th Squad. I dump the remainder of my CP into my response and use Grenadier, Vengeance for Cadia, and Overwatch on 4th Squad and Mechanized Fire Support on 4th Chimera. I have the entirety of 4th Squad lob grenades at the charging Possessed. Unfortunately, the Possessed squad is below the 6 models required for the Blast rule on the grenades to take effect. In the end, the Possessed squad manages to make 4 saves and takes 2 wounds from the grenades. 4th Chimera fires its heavy flamer into the Possessed, which fail one of their saves, but my opponent command rerolls that into a success; the multilaser fails to cause any damage. A silver lining of all this, my opponent wasn’t able to kill off enough guardsmen to open up a path behind the screening line, as such The Weaver (Lord Discordant) charges into 4th Squad. Finally, his Venomcrawler multicharges into the Medusa and 2nd Squad and I heroically intervene my Platoon Commander.

The Weaver (Lord Discordant) is the first to activate during the fight phase and wipes 4th Squad with 2 mortal wounds as four unsavable wounds. The Possessed and Weaver (Lord Discordant) both consolidate into 4th Chimera with one of the Possessed also consolidating into the Medusa. Next, my opponent activates his Venomcrawler into the Medusa, using a command reroll on one of his to hit rolls. One of the attacks manages to make it through dealing two damage to the Medusa. The Medusa attempts to counterattack the Venomcrawler, but fails to deal any damage. The sergeant of 2nd Squad manages to inflict one wound on the Venomcrawler, but neither the other guardsmen of 2nd Squad nor the Platoon Commander manage to add any damage to that. Finally, 4th Chimera attempts to counterattack the Possessed, but fails to deal any damage.

At this point, I roll the first and only moral check (that actually needs a dice roll) of the entire match and 2nd Squad fails its moral check, losing only the single model.

At the end of my opponent’s turn, he scores Extend Battle Lines for 5VP and Storm Hostile Objectives for 5VP, making the score 35 - 5 in favor of Chaos.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
At this point, in an effort to preserve a record of the events of the battle and weapons performance during said battle, the acting commander of the detachment, Lieutenant Desmond, the platoon commander engaged in close combat with the Venomcrawler (see attached Figure 13), issues an emergency return-to-base vox command to the majority of the servoskulls making up the detachment's local sensor network. As no additional servoskulls nor survivors of the battle have been recovered in the days that have elapsed since the Battle of Lazepath Township, we have concluded that the heretical forces completed the total annihilation of the Imperial forces before tracking down and destroying all remaining servoskulls before they could report back on the final moments of the battle.



Figure 13 depicts the last known image of the battlefield from the trailing servoskull as it returned to base. Despite ongoing fighting on the eastern edge of the battlefield, the heretical forces in control of Objective D are starting to dig in and fortify their position.



Our analysis examined the influence of a number of factors on the outcome of the battle. These included the transition to night fighting during the course of battle due to the setting of the parent star of Chigon 17, the strategic and tactical decisions made during a rapidly evolving battle, the choice of battle ground and the effects of the terrain therein, the presence of psykers on both sides, individual squad and vehicle equipment, the efficacy of weapons undergoing testing by the 96th Landonian Imperial Guard Regiment, the impacts of any modifications to arms and equipment necessary to support the aforementioned weapons testing, and the detonation of two Chimera troop transports at key positions during the course of the battle.

The results of our analysis indicate the following:
i) The onset of night during the battle had no material impact on the outcome either in favor of or against the forces of the Imperium.
ii) Although the strategic and tactical decisions made leading up to and during the battle are consistent with the standard operating procedures of the Imperial Guard, hindsight indicates a number of instances where alternative strategic and tactical decisions would have materially improved the performance of the Imperial forces in battle. Specifically: the sector of Lazepath Township where the battle took place is heavily forested due to an extended period of unchecked growth and the cover provided by this growth featured heavily in the tactics of the heretical forces; and the decision to secure the battle field objectives as quickly as possible in order to take best advantage of the aforementioned cover had the deleterious effect of leaving the Imperial armored units susceptible to a focused effort by heretical forces to rush into close combat. That said, the decision to mount a combined grenade and heavy ordinance attack on the charging heretical heavy infantry was a resourceful decision that should be lauded.
iii) The effectiveness of the heretical wytches in the battle was only slightly lessened by the presence of two Astropaths attached to the Landonian detachment. Furthermore, these wytches acted as force multipliers and, based on our analysis, managed to return a number of the heretical casualties to the line of battle, turning the tide of the battle at key moments to bring about its disastrous conclusion.
iv) Our analysis indicates that the squad-level special and heavy weapons did not perform up to their expectations. In the rare instances that the guardsman carrying meltaguns were able to close within range, the weapons failed to inflict any harm on their heretical targets. Furthermore, the slow rate of fire of the man-portable lascannons meant that any misses, made more common by the heavy use of cover by the heretical forces, could be easily exploited by the foe. The performance of vehicle mounted heavy flamers, despite their modifications, also failed to meet expectations, although it must be acknowledged that the heretical heavy infantry were not ideal targets for heavy flamers, modified or otherwise. Our analysis was inconclusive on the performance of the self-propelled Medusa siege cannon that accompanied the detachment and more data is needed before a proper evaluation of the weapon for more widespread use by Landonian forces can be made.
v) As previously mentioned, the modified vehicle-mounted heavy flamers did not meet expectations, although, again, it must be stressed that the effectiveness of heavy flamers against heavy infantry is limited. Long standing modifications to the Demolisher Cannons mounted in the Leman Russ Battle Tanks continue to prove their worth and were responsible for most of the confirmed heretical casualties, despite some of those being temporary casualties. While our analysis of the performance of the self-propelled Medusa siege cannon was inconclusive, our analysis did find the experimental propellant charges to be a complete success, increasing effective range of the ordinance by approximately 16.6% over more traditional propellant charges. Finally, it is our conclusion that the detonation of both 1st Chimera and 3rd Chimera during the battle was, ultimately, the result of modifications made to the multilaser power banks in order to accommodate the changes to the promethium storage and delivery systems of the Chimera hull heavy flamers made as part of the experimental upgrades to the heavy flamer weapons system.
vi) As to the effects of the detonation of 1st and 3rd Chimeras, our analysis indicates both explosions occurred at critical moments at the course of the battle and at locations having the highest concentration of combatants on the battlefield. While these explosions did inflict wounds on the heretical forces, their effects were far greater on the forces of the Imperium and undoubtedly had a large impact on the outcome of the battle.

Based on our thorough analysis of the sensor net data and with the greatly appreciated insights of representatives of both the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Ordo Hereticus, we have compiled a list of recommendations to be implemented immediately throughout the ranks of the 96th Landonian Imperial Guard Regiment, presently stationed on Chigon 17. Furthermore, it is our hope that these recommendations be disseminated to all Imperial forces charged with overseeing the retaking of Chigon 17.

Our after-action analysis leads to the following recommendations:
i) An immediate and complete overhaul of multilaser weapon power banks for all chimeras in the 96th Landonian that have received hull-mounted heavy flamer upgrades. Detailed analysis indicates that heavy damage to these power banks destabilized the system, resulting in the explosion of both 1st and 3rd Chimeras during the battle. These power banks were modified to accommodate changes in the promethium storage and delivery system for the hull mounted heavy flamers.
ii) A detailed inspection of all vehicles in the 96th Landonian arsenal that have received upgrades to their hull-mounted heavy flamers to ensure the required modifications to other systems have not introduced unnecessary risks.
iii) Efforts should be made to render dense covering terrain ineffective or unusable by enemy forces either by orchestrating the place of battle, by preliminary bombardment of said terrain features, or by attaching anti-cover ordinance to detachments likely to fight in cover-heavy environments.
iv) A shift in tactical approach favoring protecting the armored units from being exposed to close combat with the enemy, especially given the predilection for close combat demonstrated by both the Orkish and heretical forces. It is acknowledged that this might require less focus be placed on the early acquisition of battlefield objectives but it is our opinion that the increased difficulty in acquiring these objectives later in the flow of battle will be more than offset by extending the battlefield effectiveness of our armor pieces.
v) Combined grenade attacks had a disproportionate effect on the heavy infantry fielded by the heretical forces. In conjunction with heavy ordnance provided by the Leman Russ Battle Tanks and the attached Medusa-class siege cannon, this provided an effective method of reducing their numbers. We are of the opinion that this tactic will be a force multiplier, especially when paired with Recommendation iv.

It is our opinion that, had these tactical changes been implemented prior to this battle, the forces of the Imperium would have ultimately held the battlefield and seen the heretical mechanicus forced to retreat from the battlefield.

Sincerely,
Colonel Rumbold
Commander of His Most Loyal 96th Landonian Imperial Guard Regiment

++++++++++++++++++++++++ END TRANSMISSION BODY ++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++ END VOX TRANSMISSION RECORD +++++++++++++++++++++

Welp, that battle went south quickly. I still haven’t found a good answer to mortal wounds. All the fancy defensive upgrades that guard have gotten over the past year or so don’t help at all when I don’t get any sort of save against the wounds. Also, those explosion wound rolls were comically one-sided. My opponent and I had a good laugh when the rolls came up like that.

As far as the battle itself went, my initial plan was to rush out and grab Objectives B and/or D with my infantry squads while my heavy support hammered away at his center forces as they inevitably pushed forward. In hindsight, I made a huge mistake not deploying them as speed bumps to slow his advance. I’ll have to remember that for future battles, especially given how well the grenadier stratagem worked for me. 9d6 attacks is hard to ignore even if it is low strength and zero AP, especially when the minimum roll is 3 attacks from each d6 and I pair it with Vengeance for Cadia, allowing me to reroll all failed hits and wounds. I’m definitely planning on dropping the lascannons from my list. It seems like everyone says they’re the optimal choice, but I’ve never dealt any damage with them in the handful of games I’ve used them in (I almost never even hit with them in the first place). Not sure yet whether I’ll take mortars, missile launchers, autocannons, or heavy bolters to replace them. Alternatively, I suppose I could just drop the heavy weapon team outright as that would give me an extra grenade when I use the grenadiers stratagem, although a stratagem-dependent extra d6 probably isn’t worth foregoing a heavy weapon. I’ve also been less than impressed with the vehicle-mounted heavy flamers. I’ve been trying them for the past several games, but I don’t feel like they’ve really done much. My opponent tends to take a lot of heavy infantry, so perhaps they’re absolutely amazing against everything else and I’ve just never seen it due to my opponents army preferences. As for the Medusa, I’m still on the fence. I love the Demolisher Cannons (now that they have range on most of the board…I never used to take them back in 5th edition because the range was way too short for my tastes) and I really like the idea of taking an indirect fire Demolisher Cannon. I did run into the issue that my indirect fire couldn’t get range on his home objective, otherwise I would have taken to pounding away at his Legionaries squad parked back there in order to deny him primary objective points. We usually play with a lot of dense cover in the middle of the board, so I’m debating taking one of the weapons that ignores cover, either the Eradicator Leman Russ Battle Tank or the Colossus artillery piece if memory serves. Maybe I’ll simply propose we replace some of the forests with crater fields, which I believe are typically counted as light cover. We’ll see. Either way, I had a lot of fun both playing and writing up the report (especially the fluffy bits heh). Hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading it.