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So I finally decided that, come hell or high water, 2006 will not dawn without my Ebon Lions being finished. I have procrastinated on them long enough, and I really like playing them, so it's time to get to finishing them. However, in order to get juiced up for the converting and painting that's going to be necessary to finish, I needed to remind myself why I started them in the first place.

My buddy Tim has been working on his new army as well. He was eager to get in a game with them, so this weekend, we sat down in my kitchen to bang out a game. The rules were simple:

1) You can use any models you already have painted.
2) Any models you have assembled but don't have painted can be used, but are jinxed, and will roll badly.
3) Any models you don't have or aren't assembled can't be used. Any model of the same size can be substituted, but must suffer the embarassment of wearing a paper sign that says, "I am a Space Marine." or "I am a Predator."

There were a lot of paper signs.

Tim's new army looks like this: 

1850 Emperor's Shield Space Marines

Advantages: Honor Your Wargear, No Mercy, No Respite
Drawbacks: Aspire to Glory

HQ
(Unit 1)Chaplain Reclusiarch (107)
Jump Pack, Crozius, Bolt Pistol, Frag Grenades

Elites
(Unit 7) 6 Devestators (153)
Infiltrate
Heavy Bolters x 3 

(Unit 6) 6 Devestators (168)
Tank Hunters
Missile Launchers x 3

(Unit 11) Dreadnaught (110)
Assault Cannon & DCCW
Extra Armor

Troops
(Unit 8)8 Man Tactical Squad (218)
Meltagun 
Veteran Sargeant w/ Power Fist
(Unit 13)Rhino
Extra Armor
Smoke

(Unit 11)8 Man Tactical Squad (209)
Flamer 
Veteran Sargeant w/ Power Weapon
(Unit 12)Rhino
Extra Armor
Smoke

(Unit 2)8 Man Tactical Squad (188)
Plasma Gun 
(Unit 14)Rhino
Extra Armor
Smoke

(Unit 16)6 Man Tactical Squad (115)
Lascannon
Plasma Gun

(Unit 5)6 Scouts (83)
Heavy Bolter

Fast Attack
(Unit 4)8 Man Assault Squad (230)
Furious Charge
Veteran Sergeant w/ Power Fist

(Unit 9)Landspeeder Tornado (80)

(Unit 10)Landspeeder Tornado (80)

Heavy Support
(Unit 15)Predator Destructor (115)
Heavy Bolters
Extra Armor

I, of course, brought the Ebon Lions, which currently look like this:

1850 Ebon Lions Space Marines

HQ

Venerable Brother Granger
(Unit 3)Venerable Dreadnought (183)
Twin Linked Lascannon
Extra Armor
Smoke Launchers

Rune Priest Nenni
(Unit 2)Rune Priest (139)
Chooser of the Slain
Lion Pelt
Belt of Russ
Frost Blade
Bolt Pistol

Lion Guard Battle Leader Rundle
(Unit 1)Lion Guard Battle Leader (160)
3 Fenrisian Lions (Chaska, Mota, and Mai)
Frost Blade
Bolt Pistol
Bike
Lion Tooth Necklace
Lion Pelt

Elites

5 Lion Scouts (120)
2 Plasma Pistols
Meltagun
Power Weapon
Meltabombs
(+ Lion Guard Leader #1)

Lion Guard Leader Brollini
Lion Guard Leader #1 (60)
Thunder Hammer
Plasma Pistol

Lion Guard Leader Crouse
Lion Guard Leader #2 (74)
Thunder Hammer
Bolt Pistol
Lion Pelt
Bike

Troops

(Unit 14)10 Grey Hunters (263)
Plasma Pistol
Meltagun
Power Fist
(Unit 12)Rhino with Extra Armor and Smoke Launchers

(Unit 13)10 Grey Hunters (235)
Plasma Pistol
Meltagun
Power Fist
(Unit 10)Drop Pod

(Unit 6)9 Blood Claws (208)
2 Power Fists
(Unit 11)Rhino with Extra Armor and Smoke Launchers
(+ Rune Priest)

(Unit 7)10 Blood Claws (194)
2 Power Fists
(Unit 9)Drop Pod

Fast Attack

(Unit 4)4 Blood Claw Bikers (150)
2 Power Fists
Flamer
(+ Lion Guard Leader #2)

(Unit 8)Land Speeder (65)
Multi-Melta

We decided that we were having a "paintball training mission" on some backwater planet, and that live rounds were not being used. Wouldn't want to waste the resources whacking the Emperor's finest. We used all the terrain I own, so there were some forests, a couple of hills, and some bunkers and walls to make up a few outposts.

We also decided to play "set 'em up and knock 'em down," but with Gamma level rules.

I won first deployment, and made him go first. He kept his Assault Marines and Chappy in reserve to deep strike. Tim tried to infiltrate his Devestators and Scouts, but my Chooser of the Slain pushed his Devs back into his deployment zone. Only the Scouts were stealthy enough to infiltrate closer to my lines.

Tim won the rolloff for first turn, but Venerable Brother Granger's presence on the battlefield swung momentum back to me with a reroll. I decided I'd play more aggressively than usual, and took first turn.

Deployment:
http://img11.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc24&image=aad_deploy.jpg

EBON LIONS TURN ONE

I was facing an awful lot of purple power armor, so I had to jump out early. Lion Guard Leader Rundle and his retinue of crazy bikers hit the turbo boost and powered forward 20". Not only could I guarantee that the Rhino couldn't go anywhere (it was trapped between the bunker and the board edge), I was guaranteed to be able to assault the Marines inside if they got out, and I took the Dreadnought out of the game for at least a turn. All with a 3+ invunerable save on top of that! I flew the Landspeeder out from behind the trees, hoping my peekaboo pop shot would take out the Predator and then let the speeder die in peace. Both Rhinos sped forward 12", while Venerable Brother Granger moved over slightly in the trees to clear up his line of sight.

Rune Priest Nenni called down a storm around his Rhino to obscure it from view, while everyone else readied their weapons. Venerable Brother Granger lined up his BS5 Lascannon, trained it on the far Rhino, and let loose. It was obscured by the trees, though, and although he hit it, he only succeeded in blowing off the Storm Bolter (which probably wasn't going to get used much anyway). The Land Speeder had a clear shot at the Predator, and watched its shot bounce off the hull of the tank. I hoped the crew was comfortable, because that was where they were going to die.

Rather uneventful first turn.

EMPEROR'S SHIELD TURN ONE

I was going to be in a world of hurt if the dice went badly for me. Both of his Rhinos pulled up and dumped out,. I wasn't afraid of the normal marines, but a melta and a plasma made me a little sweaty. The Land Speeder swung around over the forest to take a few shots at whatever spilled out of the wrecked Rhino. The Predator moved around the corner slightly to draw a bead on my bikes, while the Land Speeder flew around and blocked my assault path to the Rhino. His Dread figured he was out of the game right now, so he trundled away to try and clear some space for the Rhino to back out if need be.

The Meltagun let loose on my Rhino, and the storm came in handy for obscuring the vehicle, turning the result into a relatively mild loss of the Storm Bolter. Tim was a little irritated by the lack of result. He was even more angry when he rapid fired the Plasma Gun, failed to even glance, and the gunner blew himself up. See? That's why I never take Plasma weapons...

The Land Speeder made up for it, though, scoring a glancing 6 on the Grey Hunters' Rhino, and forced the Lions out into the open. Three of them were wounded, and although they were all entangled, at least their armor saved everyone from harm. I put them all behind the wreckage, out of view. The Scouts were forced to shoot the Blood Claws' Rhino, which they failed to damage. The Rhino that still had a Stormbolter fired it at the exposed Lions, but failed to wound.

The Devestators in the middle of the field fired off three missiles at Venerable Brother Granger. Two of the missiles veered off, but one hit the old Dreadnought square in the hip, immobilizing it and making sure it could not shoot next turn.

The Heavy Bolter Devs unloaded on the Land Speeder, and blew off the Multimelta and stunned it. Bad news for the Speeder crew.

The Lascannon marines also went after Venerable Brother Granger, and blew off his Lascannon. Immobilized and without a ranged weapon, he was pretty much out of the game.

The bikes survived the hail of fire from the Predator, shaking off the autocannon and a heavy bolter. One biker went down from the assault cannon on the Land Speeder, and they shrugged off two Heavy Bolter wounds. Not bad survival for those boys. They were really the only ones who didn't get mowed, and that flank was in trouble...

All in all, a horrible turn for me. Tim was pretty pleased with himself.

http://img42.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc24&image=e69_turn1.jpg

EBON LIONS TURN TWO:

The call came in from the Thunderhawk; the Grey Hunters were being sent down. Then a voice crackled on the radio; Lion Guard Leader Brollini had his Lion Scouts in position. If everything went well, Tim was about to be pretty pis5ed off.

The Drop Pod came down about 8" away from where I wanted it to, but I tried to make the best of it. I angled it to block the line of sight of the Lascannon team to the left half of the field, and put the Hunters behind it, so all they could see was the Devestators. I saw another opening that Tim had created himself, and I took it. He had made a mistake by moving his Dreadnought out of the way; he had boxed himself in, and I brought the Lion Scouts in right behind the Rhino. If I could take it out, I'd be plugging up the exits, and all the Marines inside would go boom. Well, it was "paintball," so they'd all have to just sit inside and not play in the reindeer games, but same dif.

The Blood Claws and Rune Priest Nenni piled out of their Rhino, ready to take on the Marines in front of them. Meanwhile, LGBL Rundle and LGL Crouse led their bikes around the Predator and pointed themselves at the Devestator Squad in the trees. I had no frag grenades, but I didn't think that would matter much.

The Hunter squad that had just Drop Podded in took aim at the Missile Launcher Devestators and rapid fired. Two of the Devestators went down, but they were stalwart on a Leadership roll of snake eyes. The Drop Pod completely missed.

The Lion Scouts did what I expected them to do. Both LGL Brollini and one of the Scouts penetrated with their plasma pistol shots, and Brollini scored a 6. The Rhino was painted with a huge orange "X" on the rear, and the Marines inside were duly taunted, as they all counted as charcoaled. The Marines inside demanded that such an explosion would cause at least four of the Scouts to get caught in the blast, but they all made their armor saves, so they gleefully left the Marines inside to pout.

Rune Priest Nenni urged his Blood Claws forward on an assault, slamming into both Emperor's Shield squads at the same time. Nenni plowed in himself, frostblade flashing, and four Marines fell at his feet, stunned. The Blood Claws added another one to the pile. The Emperor's Shield struck back, knocking out one lone Blood Claw. Then, there was the whine of Power Fists coming online on both sides. One Blood Claw completely wiped out what was left of one Tactical Squad, while the other Blood Claw only managed to knock out one Marine. The Emperor's Shield Vet. Sgt. put two more Blood Claws on the dirt. It wasn't enough, however, and the Marines lost combat. Rune Priest Nenni ordered his Blood Claws to re-engage, and they locked the Marines in combat.

The dangerous terrain didn't stop LGBL Rundle and his retinue from assaulting the Devestators in the trees. A 6 on the difficult terrain roll brought them right into the battle. The Devestators quickly found out that Heavy Bolters are better for shooting with than trying to bash someone's head in with, as all of their wounds were saved. Then, LGBL Rundle pulled out his frostblade. Four of the Devestators were knocked out immediately, and Chaska and Mai each pulled down a Devestator to finish off the squad. A 3" consolidation move took them right on through to the Lascannon Tac Squad.

Things were looking up a bit.

EMPEROR'S SHIELD TURN TWO:

The Chaplain saw that the battle wasn't going as well as he had hoped, so he mustered his squad and teleported down. A slightly bad scatter put them out of position, but still in range of doing some damage next turn (although they didn't have anything to shoot at this turn). The Rhinos moved out, figuring their squad was lost, or at least tied up for now. Tim brought his landspeeders and Predator around to target the Grey Hunters hiding behind their Drop Pod. Concentration of firepower...eep! The Dreadnought turned and clanged toward the Lion Scouts menacingly. The Tactical Marines in the forest just moved in closer to the bikes so they would all be in base to base.

The Dreadnought ripped through three of the Lion Scouts with his Assault Cannon. LGL Brollini steeled them, though, and they held their ground. The combined firepower of two Landspeeders, a Predator, a Rhino, and 3 Krak Missiles took down six Grey Hunters, and they started falling back for the hills. With a Landspeeder right there, there was no way they could rally next turn, and would probably be escorted off the table.

The Dreadnought crushed both Lion Scouts in its DCCW, but wasn't paying attention to LGL Brollini sneaking up from the side. Brollini's Thunder Hammer clanged off the Dreadnought's chassis, incapacitating its movement servos and temporarily disabling its ability to attack back. Still, he lost combat, was outnumbered by a lot, and took off running.

LGBL Rundle knocked down three of the Tactical Marines while they were busy fending off the blows of the rampaging Fenrisian lions. The Marines fought back, and pulled one of the bikers from his seat. Then, the two Power Fists and the Thunder Hammer could be heard powering up. With nine attacks against three Marines...I'll let you figure out how that one turned out. LGBL Rundle and crew consolidated 3" further into the forest.

Rune Priest Nenni's frostblade flashed in the air, knocking two of the Emperor's Shield unconscious. The Emperor's Shield fought back, clubbing two Blood Claws to the dirt. The power fists flashed in unison, and when the smoke cleared, only marines with power fists were left. The Vet. Sgt. somehow passed his Leadership check, and the combat pushed in. The Vet. Sgt. would probably go down next turn, but he held the Lions up long enough that the Chaplain and company would probably wipe them out next turn. Ish.

http://img121.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc24&image=19c_turn2.jpg

EBON LIONS TURN THREE:

The Blood Claws finally got their teleport clearance, and their drop pod came screaming down from the sky. A horrible scatter nearly took them off the table, but they settled down in Tim's deployment zone and hopped out, ready for action. The Grey Hunters continued to fall back , but only went 5", and would have a meltagun shot and a plasma pistol shot on the Landspeeder as they fled. LGL Brollini also kept falling back, but would have a plasma pistol shot on the rear of either the Landspeeder or the Predator.

Without a weapon, my Landspeeder initiated "Operation Be Not Victory Points," and disappeared behind the forest. The Grey Hunters scooted around the edge of their downed Rhino, hoping a good difficult terrain roll would let them get in with the Scouts. The Blood Claws' Rhino inched forward to get a shot around the combat.

One of the Blood Claws lost control of his bike in the trees, and fell to the ground. The other biker sped off with LGBL Rundle, LGL Crouse, and the lions toward the Devestators.

The Rhino was ineffective against the Assault Marines, while the falling back Hunters only managed to shake the Landspeeder crew. LGL Brollini nearly blew himself up with his plasma pistol, but his armor saved him from harm. Both drop pods fired off their stormbolters, but neither hit anything.

The Grey Hunters' difficult terrain test was equally as poor, and they milled around, not assaulting the Scouts in the trees. The Devestators were not so lucky, as LGBL Rundle and company barreled into them. Rundle hacked down the Devestators as he advanced, knocking three of them to the ground, and the last one flailed ineffectually as Mai the Lion drug him to the ground. The bikes barely slowed down as they plowed right through the Devestators and continued on toward the opposite flank.

On the far side of the field, Rune Priest Nenni made short work of the Vet. Sgt., and his unit retreated 3" to await the inevitable Chaplain charge.

EMPEROR'S SHIELD TURN THREE:

Having done his first job, the Dreadnought turned and marched off toward the battle he would probably never be close enough to properly join. One Landspeeder couldn't shoot, so it just moved ahead a little bit to guarantee I couldn't rally again. The Predator moved up to get line of sight on the Blood Claws, while the other Landspeeder moved to center field. Tim swung his Rhinos around to bottleneck my bikes out of the action while the Assault Marines and Chaplain moved in for the assault.

The Scouts accounted for three Grey Hunters, splattering them with paint. The Rhino tried to catch a bike, but they were moving too fast to hit. With nothing else to shoot, the Landspeeder popped three of the fleeing Grey Hunters. I left the meltagunner on the table, because I would be looking for a little last-minute retribution on his way out. The Predator tacked on three Blood Claws, and then the Dreadnought fired. We spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out if assault cannons still jam on a triple one result. We decided they didn't because we couldn't find it anywhere, but he still missed big time.

The Assault Marines went into both the Blood Claws and the Grey Hunters. Both the Chaplain and Rune Priest Nenni started swinging, with one Blood Claw going down, and two Assault Marines getting knocked out. Before they blacked out, the Assault Marines swung, and after some pretty poor rolling, only two Grey Hunters went down. The Hunters did even worse, and didn't score a single wound in return. Only one Power Fist was in range, and it was the lone Blood Claw left. He directed all of his attacks at the Chaplain, whose back was turned. One failed invulnerable save later, the Chaplain was instakilled...or instaknockedthefckout. The Assault Marine Vet. Sgt. tried to return the favor to Rune Priest Nenni, but his invulnerable save held. The combat turned out to be a push, and everyone piled in.

The battle was turning out to be closer than I liked...

http://img105.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc24&image=70e_turn3.jpg

EBON LIONS TURN FOUR:

The lone Grey Hunter with the meltagun kept falling back, but readied his weapon. LGL Brollini rallied, now that there was no one within 6" of him, and surveyed the field. The drop pod Blood Claws ran off between the trees to try and get at the Predator. The bikes braved the dangerous terrain once again, and all survived as they entered the trees to get at the Scouts. This time, everyone held their bikes upright. The Blood Claws' Rhino on the far side of the field advanced and popped smoke, just in case the Assault Marines broke, they wouldn't be able to rally.

The meltagun from the Grey Hunter was only able to glance, but because the speeder had move 12", and I scored an immobilize, the speeder came crashing down. I hollered, "Payback, sucker!" Because that's how we do when we play at my house.

The Scouts were unable to score a single wound on the bikes. LGBL Rundle took them to the woodshed, putting three of them on their backs. Mai, Mota, and Chaska took care of the rest, as, once again, the power fist biker and LGL Crouse didn't even get to swing. A nice 5" sweeping advance nearly took the bikes out of the forest.

The Blood Claws roared and climbed up onto the front of the Predator. The two power fists charged up, and pounded down on the tank four times. A glancing 3 and a penetrating 4 put an end to the Predator's day on the battlefield. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective.

Rune Priest Nenni looked irritated. He shifted his frostblade to his right hand, shouted, "Ha! Ha! I am not left-handed!" and ran four of the assault marines through. The one marine left tried to take out the last Blood Claw, but couldn't get past the armor. The Grey Hunters pulled him down as the Vet. Sgt. stared down the Grey Hunter Power Fist and the Blood Claw Power Fist. All three swung in unison, and in the end, only the Grey Hunter Power Fist was left on his feet.

The flank had fallen.

EMPEROR'S SHIELD TURN FOUR:

All Tim had left was two Rhinos, a Dreadnought, and a Landspeeder, but he refused to quit. The Landspeeder flew and turned to face the Blood Claws, while the Dreadnought tried to get a line of sight to LGL Brollini. The one Rhino that could still shoot lined up at the Blood Claws too.

The Dreadnought could just barely draw a bead on LGL Brollini, but I let Tim have it. I immediately regretted the decision as two rending shots put him in the dirt. Combined firepower brought down three of the Blood Claws, but they held their ground.

http://img108.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc24&image=8d1_turn4.jpg

 

EBON LIONS TURN FIVE:

With no one to usher him off the table, the lone Grey Hunter rallied himself, and readied himself for battle. He moved off to do a little Landspeeder hunting. Tim and I argued for a minute that the guy just rallied, and so couldn't move, but I showed him in the rulebook where that rule doesn't apply to Space Marines. He never knew that. Funny, for such a Marine player. The bikes split up, all passing dangerous terrain tests, and LGL Crouse took his Power Fist biker and sped off through the forest at one Rhino, while LGBL Rundle and his lions blazed off after the other. The Blood Claws knew they wouldn't reach the Dreadnought this turn, but maybe next turn. Rune Priest Nenni and the surviving Grey Hunters were pretty much out of the fight now, and just milled around, wondering what was happening elsewhere.

What was happening was that the lone Grey Hunter shook the Landspeeder, making sure it couldn't shoot next turn. LGBL Rundle charged the Rhino, but failed to make a dent. Meanwhile, LGL Crouse finally got to swing his thunderhammer, and gleefully immobilized it. Then, the biker with the Power Fist put the vehicle out of commission.

EMPEROR'S SHIELD TURN FIVE:

The Landspeeder got the hell out of dodge, flying 24" away to the far side of the field. The Dreadnought came clanking into the forest, looking for a little action. In a move that Tim and I have an unspoken rule to try and attempt to do to each other at least once per game, Tim turned his Rhino toward my bikers and went for the tank shock. As is customary between us when the tank shocked unit passes morale, I was obliged to go for the Death or Glory! I had a guy with a power fist and a guy with a thunderhammer, so either one was working well in my favor. I decided, what the hell, and LGL Crouse switched on his thunderhammer. He brought his hammer down on the front of the transport, and it exploded in a massive blast that wounded LGBL Rundle and knocked Mota the Lion unconscious. Tim cackled out loud. Well played, dirty ba5tard. Well played.

The Dreadnought put down one Blood Claw with its assault cannon as it charged in. A decent difficult terrain roll let him get into contact with one Blood Claw, although there was still one power fister in the kill zone. The Dreadnought crushed them both, and the lone Blood Claw couldn't reach. Sorely outnumbered and all alone, he turned and ran for it.

http://img109.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc24&image=f00_turn5.jpg

EBON LIONS TURN SIX:

The Blood Claw rallied and really had nowhere to go, so he climbed into the wreckage of the Predator and hoped for the best. Everyone else just kind of got behind cover and waited.

EMPEROR'S SHIELD TURN SIX:

Tim really wanted every VP he could muster, so he put two assault cannons and a heavy bolter to work to take down the last Blood Claw. Which he did.

http://img101.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc24&image=b22_turn6.jpg

It was all over but the victory points.

I had LGBL Rundle, Rune Priest Nenni, half VP of Venerable Brother Granger, half VP of a Landspeeder, 5 Grey Hunters, one Grey Hunter, two Drop Pods, LGL Crouse, one biker, and a Rhino left.

Tim had a Dreadnought and a Landspeeder Tornado left. 

Tim had incapacitated 957 points of my army.
I had incapacitated 1666 points of Tim's army.

So a solid victory for the Ebon Lions!

All in all, a very good game. Both of us made some mistakes. Tim bottling up his Rhino and giving me easy VP early was huge for an early point swing. Poorly choosing where to bring down my Drop Pods cost me both those squads. Learning experience, but a very fun game overall.

218 reads without a reply?

Well.

Nice report dude. 

Gazzor

well xtapl, after such a solid report and good read, its time for a beer right?

me and the lads have decided to get back into 40k with a vengeance what with the upcoming campaign and all.., and im shamelessly going to steal your idea for the paper signs! Although at a tournament 3 years ago, a buddy and I made a 12 hour drive (i had family there, he some friends) but we also knew some guys from the local RTT from the GT, so they said we'll make a 2 day tourney the weekend you come down.. Anyhoo, my buddy was just putting his Gaunts Ghosts together, and 2 days before the tourney, changes his list to include "Tread-Fethers", but our local GW was out. I was like" Hey man, dont worry, they'll have some down there, and fantasy is day one, so you can quickly paint them up before sundays 40k games"

Of course, we get there, and they are out also! so heavy flamer guys had little strips of receipt paper glued to them saying "Missile Launcher".. and wouldn't you know it, they blew away so many vehicles that tourney.... guess the catachan heavy flamer teams were eager to prove to the coach that they weren't useless. heh.

cant figure this out.................dammit

None of the images seem to work for me... just sayin'

Oh wow, didn't realize this was necro'd

.Thread is being locked due to thread necromancy.