Battle report time, ~250
PL armies!
The first contact between Death Korps of Krieg 17th line korps, under marshall Karis Venner, and the XIV's 3rd mechanised,
led by captain-commander Erasmus, had ended with the mobile astartes claiming the area and gunning down all opposition as
the Krieg consolidated their still formidable armoured assets away from the confrontation. Much was learned in the clash,
such as the imposing nature of almost unstoppable Spartans and the fear of destructive if short ranged Demolishers.
* Krieg order of battle *
- Supreme commander marshall Karis Venner, along with his court of aides, medics and 4 squads of 10 infantrymen.
- 40 grenadiers in 5 Chimeras led by a field officer, towing two heavy stubber teams along.
- 6 heavy weapon teams led by a commissar.
- 5 mortar teams led by a commissar.
- 5 Leman Russes with battlecannons led by a vanquisher commander.
- 3 Leman Russes with demolishers led by a battlecannon commander.
All Krieg tanks are of robust make and have Ignore Damage (6+).
* XIV order of battle *
- Supreme commander captain Erasmus (Chaos Lord), leading 4 squads of 10 (plague) marines.
- 4 squads of 10 marines, led by a witch (Malignant Plaguecaster).
- 4 super-heavy Spartan transports with havoc launchers transporting the above two detachments.
- 2 squads of 10 marines, led by a biologist (Putrifier).
- 3 long range support dreadnoughts (Helbrutes) led by a lieutenant (Chaos Lord).
- 3 assault Contemptors with lascannons and soulburner fists.
All marine squads are equipped with two blight launchers.
Our second game turned out to be a raid, with both sides trying to strike through the opposing lines and raze their supplies.
The XIV was still on the attack and like rolling thunder, the 3rd mechanized entered the battle.
Objectives ringed with red,
VP's awarded for controlling and destroying those on the opposing side.
First detachment, led by a plucky biologist, enters the soon to be nicknamed "House of Death" in the center of the field
as Contemptors rain lasfire on the faraway Russes.
Catching the Krieg line in a crossfire, the support dreadnoughts on the
right flank take position to bully the grenadiers' rides. This prompts the Krieg to move towards their right flank in an
attempt to bypass the marines' firing positions midfield and protect their important Demolishers until they are ready to
pound the Spartans to dust.
Midfield, Spartans rumble forwards and pour more lasfire into the flanking Chimeras, half of which explode midway spilling
men and flames everywhere. Return fire from the battlecannon Russes and heavy weapons lays low the squads occupying the
House of Death, leaving the biologist all alone in his tower. Despite losses, grenadiers push forwards through the flank
and speed to their objective, which they manage to take and burn to the ground despite a talon of Contemptors blowing their
rides open with deadly radiation.
The midfield starts crawling with marines as Spartans' ramps crash down under ceramite boots and bolter fire fills the air.
Marshall Venner sees his chance and urges his cohorts onwards to take the building in front of them before the astartes can,
leaving the XIV in the open for a crucial minute that allows the Russ squadrons to blow holes in their midst. This does not
come without cost as the lonely biologist calls an air strike on the Demolishers, taking most of the nearby infantry and
some command personnel to their grave on the side. Unceasing tank fire manages to down one Spartan, which crashes against
the tortured walls of the main building, shaking dead men down like leaves in the wind. More marines took position in the
House of Death, only to be gunned down like dogs by the autocannon teams in the woods while shooting apart some of the
Demolishers in their sights.
Uttering something horrible, the witch pulls out all stops and rampages through the Krieg forces with corrosive winds of
unearthly sickness, blasts apart brave footslogs with mind bullets and bends reality so that the three forward Spartans
blink forwards ready to roll the opposition under their tracks. Both tank squadrons are taken by some surprise and lose
valuable shooting time as the assault tanks from their nightmares are trying to capsize them by force. They try to fall back
as well as they can, taking positions by their own objectives but open themselves for the support dreadnoughts to pour fire on.
At the same time, the grenadiers take the fight to the enemy and charge, shovels in hand, against the Contemptors to tie them
down while their last Chimera bravely rushes deep into enemy territory to take the second objective in preparation. Their
commading officer, who due to much confusion though he was a commissar this far into battle, charges the lone biologist
in the House of Death and ultimately bests him, kicking his broken body down from a window. Orbital lasers sweep the tanks
and evaporate the commander of the mortar teams, who then in turn get wiped almost to a man by the anti-personnel rounds
from the Spartans nearby. Though it seems that the Spartans are next to untouchable, there is a loud cheer in the Korps
as the autocannons kick into overachieving gear again and pour hit after hit on the tank sitting on objective 1, slaying
the beast in a spectacular explosion that also greatly hinders their nearby Russes' survival. Captain Erasmus and his
remaining men charge the last sneaky Chimera, but do not manage to destroy it outright.
Before the poor machine can drive towards the last objective further away, it is surrounded and torn down.
The fighting in the Krieg's left heats up to its final crescendo. The last Russes blaze through their last moments under
dreadnought's fire but manage to almost wipe them out in return with the aid of the autocannon teams on the right side of
the field, but the objective is finally lost under the weight of XIV's wrath as bolt fire tears through the last remaining
mortar team and everything burns to ashes.
On the right flank, the last Demolishers have retreated to the final objective (having given up the midfield where the
infantry holding it was lost to bolter fire after the Spartans' rampage) but cannot hold their nerve under the fusillade
of lascannons coming their way. Krieg is now out of tanks and their morale is wavering, but the battle is not yet over.
Out of the burning wreckage of the last Chimera scramble two heavy stubber teams, coats blown to bits and packs aflame,
but with the gusto of the grenadiers and imperial steel in their hands manage to tear down the enemy commander! Erasmus is
wounded by the assault and as the last proper grenadier squad falls back from the Contemptors, the Krieg actually does have
more units near the objective, bringing the situation to an exciting 2-2 as we enter the final turn.
The final charge of the grenadiers is sounded through a dastardly Seized Initiative by the field officer, who charges the
marines from one side while the grenadiers plunge suicidally into the other squad, buying time for the now free heavy teams
to leg it at the double towards the third objective. At the same time there is a fierce firestorm from the witch and his
marines into the woods holding the last couple of autocannons, but they do not manage to cut their targets down in any
meaningful numbers as they swarm the final objective on their side of the board to prevent the charging Spartan from taking
it as it comes crashing down on the ragtag heroes defending it.
On the other side, the XIV see there is no victory to be had any longer and turn their remaining guns to ensure the grenadiers
won't be smiling in victory either. The marines on the ground slaughter their assailants while the trio of Contemptors turns
around to bathe the would-be arsonists in agonising gamma bursts before puncturing them with over the top lasfire. With a
harsh "KA-FREEEM!" sound and a whiff of burnt flesh, the heavy stubber teams are no longer.
As a final note to a bitter draw, marshall Venner (having already marched through a bombardment, weathered several salvos
of bolter fire and a Spartan assault that crushed the Demolisher's next to him) charges the final behemoth and drives his
power sword through its thick hide in a spiteful gesture of defiance.
Phew!
A 2-2 draw on objectives, with almost complete destruction of the Krieg forces at the end. Bloodied but unbroken, the guard
had only two officers and two autocannon teams left alive in the end while marines had lost about half of their forces in
total. 60 men, two commanders, two Spartans and two dreadnoughts were lost in the engagement. Being mechanized is a HUGE
boon in Apocalypse, as casualties are not taken until the end of the turn you can always get some way up the board and it can
deny your opponent a lot of fire as they don't have light targets available until turn two. Being able to actually get
somewhere helps, too
I'm really enjoying the system, though there are some wrinkles we'll settle among gentlemen anyway (like making it harder
to shoot characters, using some thematically fitting command cards on factions other than those specified, using hidden
Orders through the whole turn instead of revealing them all before acting etc.). I must paint more stuff in this scale for
variation, as my buddy was getting a bit demoralized by the near indestructable Spartans without having super-heavies of
his own to counter them. Well, it's easy to fix that hole given we both have Titanicus armies to go, too
Thanks for looking!
