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Crikey, one-a-week?! I don't think I've ever managed one-a-week of anything! Must be because I'm having such a good time with this army. Even my losses have been entertaining.


So this one was a bit of a practice for an upcoming doubles tournament. Ben and I are entering as a team and wanted to test our units tactics, as well as comparing our (rather similar) armies. My force consisted of Shadow Captain Korvydae and my usual Chaplain heading a rapid assault force including Assault Marines, Vanguard Veterans, Land Speeders and all of the Scouts I could muster. I was facing a more Armoured force including Lias Issodon, a Terminator Librarian, two Tactical Squads and some Tanks. We also both had a Storm Talon to call upon, though that went a lot better for my opponent, as you'll see.


We began by rolling Dawn of War and Crusade for our game type, then I lost the roll-off and got Conqueror of Cities for my Warlord Trait. Yes, folks, I began the game by rolling four consecutive 1s. That's just the way I do things, ain't nothing gonna change that. We deployed (with both of us using many Infiltrators) and I rolled a fifth 1 for my Seize attempt.


The First Turn began with a Dreadnought appearing right up my rear-end, before continuing into casualties on my Scout and Assault squads from shooting. My Vanguard Veterans had taken up a position in the only ruin on the board (I was determined to use that Warlord Trait), and then rolled a 1 for their 2+ Cover save, losing a member instantly. My opponent's Whirlwind and Dreadnought failed to hit anything, thankfully, but one of my Land Speeders was Stunned by his Predator. In my side of the turn, all three Land Speeders missed their Melta at the Dreadnought, only for a lone Scout with a Rocket Launcher to Immobilise it with one shot. Meanwhile, my Assault and Vanguard squads both made it into combat against Infiltrated units, with the Vanguard losing another two models to Overwatch, but wiping their target unit.


Ben made the mistake of infiltrating a squad right in front of an Assault Squad.


The Assault Squad would pull of a brilliant first-turn charge which undoubtedly won me the game.


"Ere, Korvis, did you hear something?'


Turn 2 involved more casualties for me. My Vanguard were polished off by the other Combat Squad, with Korvydae then failing his Morale check and fleeing a full 13"! This was followed by my losing a Land Speeder to Autocannon fire, and two Scouts to the Heavy Bolter of a Razorback. The Whirlwind missed again and Issodon and his Sternguard disembarked to bolster the Raptors lines. In return, I brought in my Stormtalon to destroy the immobilised Dreadnought, took members out of the Sternguard, dealt more wounds to the central Tactical Squad, and had Korvydae polish off the last of the Tactical Marines in the fortress.


Luckily, the Lascannon was not functional.


With the Sternguard unable to intervene, the central combat ground on.


With things getting crowded in my Deployment Zone, the Stormtalon was quite welcome.


Turn 3 saw the game start to swing in my opponent's favour. The Land Speeder squadron was reduced to one immobilised model, the Scouts took a third casualty from the Drop Pod's Storm Bolter, and the Assault squad continued to struggle to finish off their prey. Finally, with his brothers now dead, the Terminator Librarian closed to duel with Korvydae, who hadn't managed to consolidate far enough to be safe. One failed Invulnerable save later and the Shadow Captain was violently de-souled. For my part, I brought on my two Scout Squads, one of which demolished the Predator, while the other sped on to put rounds on the Librarian. I also stunned the Razorback, burned the remaining Sternguard alive and finally finished off the Tactical Squad, my Assault Marines consolidating into the enemy deployment zone.


This didn't end as well for Korvydae as I'd hoped.


Luckily, reinforcements arrived to avenge the Captain.


Turns 4 and 5 were where I began to claw back the game, but not before being punished further still. My Stormtalon, stricken from the previous turn, was laid low by its opposite number. The Assault Squad came under more fire as it closed with its second target, but weathered it without loss, and the Whirlwind roared forward to ram the Land Speeder for a glancing hit. In return, the Speeder hopped over and its passengers piled out to deliver bolts in the back, while the other Scouts took the unoccupied objective and sent some fire in the general direction of Issodon, the immobile Land Speeder finally got a Melta shot off and destroyed the Razorback which threatened my objective and the Assault Squad sent the remaining Tactical Marines packing. Shortly after, the Librarian took on the Chaplain, slaying him just as he had the Captain before. Issodon failed to accomplish much, but the Stormtalon tore through the Scouts that threatened his position.


Another improbable charge ended the Tactical Squad's existence.


This Librarian was ridiculous.


One final turn stood between me and victory. my opponent clung onto two objectives by his fingertips and I had units poised to dig him out. With the intervention of someone with better luck than me, Turn 6 was confirmed. A Land Speeder Storm fell to Issodon's bolter and the Librarian took his home objective. Once my remaining Scouts were in position, breath was held as I rolled my final two attacks. In the first, my four remaining Snipers took aim and scored two Rending hits against Issodon, killing him instantly. In the second, my Speeder Squad sent everything they had into the Librarian, hoping beyond hope that he would a second armour save. As that sweet 1 was rolled, a cheer went up. The objective was mine and with it the game; 3VPs to 5.



With such similar tactics, these two armies should make a decent team for the tournament, although we'll also be up against another team from our club, who I suspect will have a more optimal army.

Thanks, I enjoyed the battle. It’s nice to see some Raven guard for a change. I’m really not a fan of video reports so again thanks for this!

Great batrep with awesome looking armies. Quick question, I've seen that assault marine smoke effect before. How do you do that?

 Insane Smile wrote:
Great batrep with awesome looking armies. Quick question, I've seen that assault marine smoke effect before. How do you do that?

Thanks. I aim for friendly, readable, realistic reports, and any ideas you have to improve them would be quite welcome.

The Jump Pack effect is done by mounting the models on bent brass rods. The rods are then clad with putty (I use milliput) so that they taper gradually. Onto this, I then glue Clump Foliage in a few thin layers, taking care to plug gaps and to use PVA liberally to toughen up the foam. The smoke is then painted with a black undercoat, followed by successively lightened drybrushing of grey and a flame colour (yellow, in this case), working all the way up to white at the very top. The trick is to bend the rods in such a way that the model won't overbalance once it's done, without losing the 'lunging' pose. Test it with the Assault Marine while you adjust the rods, or glue a penny to the underside of the base to act as a counterweight.

Wow that does make sense with the way you're doing it. And as long as you keep taking the picture on level with the models, making it feel more cinematic, I'll keep reading them!