Hey, boys and girls!
This is a battle report 1000 pts of Raven Guard (me) vs. Space Marines (my opponent). This is a game I recently played against a colleague of mine. I have recently started with
40k again, and reading battle reports is one of the things I find really entertaining about the hobby. So therefore I thought I might as well try my hand at a battle report myself for once. You'll have to excuse my mediocre paint-shop skills.
Our armies:
Raven Guard
HQ:
- Korvydae (
FW - ASM are troops) – Meltabombs, Thunderhammer – 155 pts
Elite:
- Ironclad Dreadnought – Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon w. Heavy Flamer, Seismic Hammer w. Heavy Flamer, Assault Launcher, Drop-Pod– 200 pts
Troops:
- 10x Assault Marines – 5 add. Assault Marines, Sergeant; Power Sword – 205 pts
- 10 x Scouts – Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks, Missile Launcher – 180pts
Fast Attack:
- 2x Land Speeder – Multi-Melta, Multi-Melta – 160 pts
Fortification:
- Aegis Defense Line – Quad Gun – 100 pts
Space Marines
HQ:
Master of the Forge
Elite:
- Dreadnought – 2x Twin-linked Autocannons
- Dreadnought – Multi-melta and Missile Launcher
Troops:
- 5x Scouts – Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks, Missile Launcher
- 10x Tactical Marines – Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher
Dedicated Transport – Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannon, Stormbolter and 1x Hunter-Killer Missile
Fast Attack:
- Storm Talon –
TL Assault guns and Missile Launcher (can't remember the name of the thing)
Heavy:
- Whirlwind – Hunter-Killer Missile
Pre-game thoughts: I have played against my opponent once before and beat him pretty soundly last time so he was out for revenge! Last game I had fielded 2 2xMulti-melta Land Speeders, used cover to my advantage, and toasted his entire Terminator Squad. So, I knew he would likely be fielding something more shooty to take them out, as well as his Storm Talon, since he owns one.
I was a bit worried about my list before we started. But my thinking was that at least I had a good deal of flexibility, which is of course always a plus when you don't know what your facing. I had a mobile force (all of which could infiltrate/deepstrike), plenty of troops (I could combat squad for 4 squads), anti-armor (Land speeders, Korvydae), anti-air (Quad Gun) and anti-infantry (Dreadnought).
Game: Purge the Alien
Mission Secondary Objectives: Slay the Warlord, First Blood, Linebreaker
Deployment: Vanguard Strike
Deployed first: Space Marines won the toss. Raven Guard deployed first.
Space Marines failed to seize the initiative.
Night fighting was not in play due to the unfamiliarity with Night-fighting rules. We kept it simple...
Deployment:
I set my
ADL up a little bit behind in case he intended to be aggressive (I hadn't seen his list yet at this point). My Land Speeders were set up on my far left, the intention being to utilize the little cover I could find and sweep up the left flank. I combat-squaded the scouts and set them up separately, the
ML going to the squad behind the
ADL, and the rest of my scouts sitting in some ruins in the middle left corner.
My Assault Marines and Korvydae would deep strike, and my Drop Pod with Dreadnought was in reserve.
Surprisingly, he set up very defensively behind cover. He put his 2x
AC Dreadnought, his Master of the Forge and his entire
Tac squad in some ruins on his right and fortified it for a 3+ cover save. Behind this he placed his Razorback. On his left flank his scouts sat in a high-rise ruin, the Whirlind behind it and his second Dreadnought behind there again.
I beat him pretty bad in our last game using cover so now he was being overly careful. I felt it was a bad deployment for him, but I still didn't feel confident rushing into his mass of armor and troops. Lots of stuff that could hurt me there - and we were playing for
KP!
Tactics: My plan was simple. Rush up the left flank with my Land Speeders and my Ironclad Dreadnought. Hopefully the Drop Pod would provide my Land Speeders with some cover and hopefully my Dreadnought would be so close to the compound that it couldn't be shot at (the walls were almost as high as it). Later I would drop my Assault marines where I needed them, probably in front of the high-rise where there was a minimal chance of a deep striking mishap. My scouts would sit tight and my Quad gun would handle the enemy Storm Talon.
Raven Guard - Turn 1
First thing I did was drop my pod. I was aiming for the open field between the woods and the two ruins on the left hand side of the board, but ended up scattering 7". Bah... right in front of my Scouts! They could barely see anything now! The Dreadnought disembarked and ran towards his left flank, trying to avoid being shot at on his turn. My Land Speeders went flat out towards the drop pod, staying behind cover.
Shooting was uneventful. Quad Gun glanced the left Dreadnought (Let's call him Dreadnought #1) twice! But he rolled two 5's for his cover saves. Everything else shot at his scouts in the high-rise but he saved comfortably with their 3+ cover save.
Space Marines - Turn 1
He didn't move.
His Razorback's Lascannon shot at my Dreadnought, but rolled two 2's to hit and missed miserably. The Whirwind Shot at my Land speeders and scattered 5" hitting one of them and my drop pod. He failed to glance or pen. Everything else was leveled at my scouts behind the
ADL, but they stuck out their butt cheeks and hooted at the enemy army - the 2+ cover save making them all but invincible at long range.
Raven Guard - Turn 2
My Assault Marines enter the fray! They aim for the open space in front of the high-rise, hoping to get close enough to run around the corner. They scatter 6" away from the enemy, barely missing the tank traps out in the mid-field. They run for cover, but roll a 3. My Dreadnought smashes through the walls of the compound where the enemy is cowering and belches out flames and grenades into the enemy's midst, killing 2 marines. The Land Speeders go further up the left flank, itching to hit the Razorback in the rear but they miss three out of four shots and he saves the last with a cover save.
The Dreadnought charges the Tactical Marines and wipes out another two, a couple of plasma shots barely missing its ancient hull. The Space Marines opt to retreat in the face of insurmountable odds.
Space Marines - Turn 2
The Storm Talon enters the battlefield (Edit. Note: It's painted black in the images, but is not a Raven Guard vehicle!) and comes under fire from my Quad Gun taking one glancing hit and saving a pen thanks to Jink (he did not evade, but I read later that he would have had to to save that pen), it promptly fills two Assault Marines with holes and shrapnel, leaving them for dead. His Dreadnought #2 moves around the back of the high-rise to get its sights on the Assault Marines, and fries another with his Multi-Melta. Dreadnought #1 kills one Assault Marine as well. His Whirlwind aims for the Assault marines and hits four and wounds all of them, but all pass their armor save.
My opponent fires the
TL Lascannons at my Dreadnought again, but the dice are not with him as he misses both, again! The Master of the Forge tries to pop off the Land Speeders but misses.
Raven Guard - Turn 3
My mighty Dreadnought and Land Speeders close in for the kill on the left flank. My Land Speeders round the corner of the compound completely and fire four sizzling hot Melta shots at the Master of the Forge. Four hits, three wounds and the enemy Warlord is insta-dead! First blood is mine!
The Dreadnought assaults the Razorback and tears it to shreds!
I then realize I forgot to move my Assault Marines! Damn, it was annoying but my opponent had done something similar the turn before so I let it go. Felt fair. I still didn't like the prospect of being shot to pieces much though...
Still, I felt that I had a large advantage as long as the dice stayed neutral.
Space Marines - Turn 3
He moves his Storm Talon across the table towards my drop pod to get a shot at my feared Land Speeders. His Dreadnought #1 makes a move towards them as well, as he is unable to see the rear armor of my Dreadnought.
The Storm Talon shoots at the Land Speeders and pens twice, but miraculously I save both my cover saves! His Dreadnought's aim is more deadly, however, blowing one up and leaving the other one smoking with -1 hull point.
His Tactical squad Rapid Fire into my Assault Marines, killing one with Plasma. On the other side his Dreadnought# 2 score much the same, melting the lead Assault Marine to particles. His Whirlwind tries for my Assault Marines again the blast template hitting dead on my warlord. I take four Look out Sir! rolls and fail only one. All of my Assault marines Survive the blast but my Warlord takes one wound!
Raven Guard - Turn 4
My Dreadnought moves towards the Tacticals, the Land Speeder moves behind his Dreadnought #1. Korvydae jumps towards the second Dreadnought, intent on taking it out, while my Assault Marines split off and aim for the Whirlwind (Edit, Note: there are actually only four surviving ASM at this point).
The Quad Gun roars to life and punches a number of holes into the Storm Talon, which crashes mid-field. The Dreadnought flames two Tactical Marines, while the Land Speeder effortlessly blows the first Dreadnought up, slicing through rear armor.
My Dreadnought fails his 2" charge by rolling a 1! Blast! (Edit: It has come to my attention that.. duh, of course you're supposed to roll
2d6 for a charge. All charges were actually made with 1d6 in this game. This was the only one that failed...
Read the comments below) Fortunately everyone else makes it into combat. Korvydae does one hull point to the dread who fails to inflict any wounds in return. My Assault Marines throw Krak-grenades and pen the Whirlwind thrice (yikes, good dice)! It spontaneously combusts, the explosion washing over the Assault marines but does nothing.
A good turn!
Space Marines - Turn 4
The Tacticals move towards my Land Speeder, the only thing they can really harm... and blast it with a vengeance! Korvydae strikes the enemy Dreadnought to the ground, with a swipe at the knees. Then brings the Hammer down on its ancient visor, irreparably damaging the cockpit.
His scouts shoot at my Assault Marines. One takes a Missile to the face and dies.
___________________________________________
We decided to end the game there! I felt no need to slaughter the rest of his army as it was pretty clear that my victory was total! Not bad for my fourth game ever in
Wh 40 K... The Raven Guard protects! Victorus Aut Mortis!
Raven Guard 9 - Space Marines 1
A final Image of the Board:
Final thoughts: I felt sorry for my opponent, who is a really nice guy. He got hammered due to a few poor choices, and too much respect for my army. Also, his Razorback whiffed two
TL Lascannon shots at my Ironclad Dreadnought which could have done a lot to even the game.
All in all though, I thought his army could have done well if he had been more aggressive with his deployment and not hidden his Dreadnoughts as much as he did. I didn't really have a problem knowing what to shoot or when, and really only had one good line of attack (the left flank) - which he left undefended. He could have really screwed me over if he had killed my Ironclad (which he should have tried harder to do), but he was too worried about moving out of cover to add enough firepower into the mix. Also, as he himself pointed out, he should have used his Whirlwind against my scouts behind the
ADL to silence that Quad Gun.
MVP: This is a tough one seeing as my Land speeders killed something around 250 pts, inkl. the
HQ! But I have to let it go to the Raven Guard Ironclad, because strategically it won me the game! Assaulting through cover is a terrifying way to do battle.
Thanks for reading! Leave any comments below.
- Corvus_corax
3000 Points
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