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For those interested, I'm at about 12 grand with a reaver titan, a knight paladin, a bastion and two defense lines, 6 razorbacks of tactical marines, 3 predators, a whirlwind, a land raider of termies, a redeemer of termies, a redeemer of assault marines and characters, a crusader of death company, 2 Stormravens with thunderhammers in one and Mephiston in the other, two drop pods with a furioso and a furioso librarian, 4 Librarians, 4 Sanguinary priests, 3 Reclusiarchs, 3 captains, all the special characters except Lemartes, 50 assault marines, 20 Sanguinary guard, 2 devastator squads, and 1 tech marine!

Teams are: Blood Angels, a Salamander descendent chapter, and Ultramarines + Minotaurs vs. Dark Eldar with ONE eldar model, orks + necrons, and Chaos marines + Tau.

I'll add more to this later this week.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7039347.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7039347.page GMT
The battle for Bulwark.
Part 1: Gain Ground

The planet Bulwark, close to the eastern fringe, has been enveloped in chaos storms and ruled by daemons of Khorne for decades. Recently, however, reports claim that the warp storms around the planet have dissipated completely, and the Blood God's followers are nowhere to be seen.

This has piqued interest from most every faction in the universe. Many see it as evidence of an artifact or phenomenon that is anathema to the warp, and such an item could change the very state of war in the galaxy. Scouting reports have indicated that among the interested parties are the Dark Eldar, Orks, Tau, Necrons and, of course, the forces of Chaos, who may have the most vested interest of all.

Not too far away, aboard the battle barge "Bloodcaller," Commander Dante of the Blood Angels hears of this news. Among the angelic host, Sir Heathcliff Rampart, a free blade and pilot of the knight paladin "Blood Oath," stays as a guest, having given his fealty to the chapter in return for a place to call his home. House Rampart had once been the ruling house of Bulwark generations ago, but Heathcliff's grandfather, the brother of the head of the house, had accepted a mission from the Adeptus Mechanicus when a Daemon invasion took his home world. Now, bearing the ancestral armor passed down from his grandfather, Heathcliff bags Commander Dante to take action, so that he might accompany the marines and see his family home for the first time.

After requesting the use of the commander's most favored Reaver Titan, the Archangel, from the Adeptus Mechanicus, and gathering over two companies of Blood Angels, The battle barge departed for Bulwark.

Elsewhere, the High Lords of Terra immediately dispatch a small force of Minotaur space Marines led by Chaplain Ivanus that happen to be nearby. Their orders? Help the other Imperial forces win the planet, and then make sure whatever is found finds its way into the high Lords hands.

Two other marine chapters found themselves close enough to respond. Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines, himself, leads a strike force, while Captain Sunburst of the Fireblood Knights, a descendent of the Salamanders, leads another.

Azdrubel Vect entered a dim chamber, already dressed for battle. "How fares my toy, slaver?" "Very obedient today, master" came the reply from another Dark Eldar. An eldar with a noble look about him, once one saw past the recent array of scars and bruises, stepped forward and kneeled to Vect. He was once the farseer Kilithkadya ceifulgaithann, but that was another life, before being captured. Now he scarcely remembered his name, nor his visage in a mirror. He simply knew that following orders made the pain stop. "He should make for good entertainment in the coming battle."


"You was right boss. Soon as dat planet stopped glowin' they all came runnin' fer it." A large ork rumbled. Another ork came running into the room. "Boss! Da darkie guy wants ta talk at ya." A massive heap of metal and ork flesh began to move as Ghazghkull Thraka stood to his feet. "Get da boys ready to fight. Dis is gonna be a fun one."


Farsight grimaced at the thought. "Orks, the metal men...those daemon worshipping maniacs...those Dark Eldar...any one of them may own some of our kind in chains." He studied the information that the Dark Eldar had provided. "...But that many enemies, and with just our few battlesuits...I suppose we have no choice. Message Vect and tell him we accept his offer. We will fight the Imperium together today. If things go well, perhaps our chance to find the phenomenon will come while our enemies distract one another."

On the bridge of the strike cruiser "Barbarus' Sting," Chaos Lord Klophos, a champion of Nurgle and former veteran of the Death Guard legion, watched as the planet Bulwark came into view. "I'm not fond of having this menagerie aboard..." he spoke to a nearby sorcerer of Nurgle. "...The followers of the other chaos gods have no place on my ship." The sorcerer retorted "It was father Nurgle's command. And I believe that this circumstance warrants some cooperation with our poor plague-less kin."
In the halls of the strike cruiser roamed an aspiring sorcerer of Tzeentch, paying attention to the ship's layout should his god ever command him to turn against his hosts. He passed by a large squad of Khorne berserkers, who were howling impatiently for battle and blood. The ship was now a hodge-podge of chaos, with every deity represented.
Klophos continued. "Four chapters of the loyalists...adding up to over 3 companies of the Emperor worshipping fools. Since the aliens were smart enough to declare me the warmaster of our alliance, we will work alongside them for now, at least until they finish shielding us with their bodies. We must find this...thing that has freed a planet from a chaos god's control, and get it before any of the others."




Chapter master Calgar's voice filled the bridge of the Bloodcaller. "Always a pleasure to see you, lord of the Angels. I see that Vulkan's brothers are here too. This feels like Armageddon all over again." Calgar waved a hand acknowledging the Fireblood captain standing by them. The Minotaur chaplain Ivanus was not so much as spared a glance nor a mention. Dante hardly found this surprising, given the history between the Ultramarines and Minotaurs.
"I would think it would be a given," the Ultramarine continued, "but I suppose we should make it clear. Given your impressive record and the fact that your forces far outnumber the others, I would see you as warmaster again, Commander Dante."
Captain Sunburst echoed Calgar's sentiments. "I'm afraid I feel out of place in a room with two of the most legendary chapter masters, but if our brother Salamanders were willing to follow you, then we Fireblood Knights are willing to as well."
Dante's masked face turned slightly to the direction of the Minotaur chaplain, who said almost uncaringly: "I have no issues with that." Dante gave a nod to each of the warriors and pointed to the holomap. "Well then, if we may move on to strategy. Due to the abruptness of this event, I believe we can get our current forces into the atmosphere before our enemies can set up any stellar defense. On the other hand, we will not have the ships needed to stop them from doing the same. Given the possible strategic value of the unknown item, I would say that no side will attempt any drastic measures that would risk the planet's stability. Our target point is a stretch of land near the equator where our readings have been promising."

Mission 1: Gain Ground
Apocalypse 12' x 4' battle



]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7073324.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7073324.page GMT For the Emperor!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7073923.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7073923.page GMT 40k players within 100 miles down here in Arkansas.

(And 4 of the other 5 people are people I got into the game in 5th/6th edition.)]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7074290.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7074290.page GMT
The imperials have forced the xeno alliance into a full, panicked retreat after destroying nearly all their vehicles. The imperials themselves suffered only minor losses.

Dante, as well as the other top commanders, has returned to space to manage the war above, which has become a deadlock after the initial arrival. As predicted, neither side can readily receive supplies or reinforcements without heavy costs to their fleet. Asdrubel Vect, Warboss Thraka, and the other top xeno commanders used the few remaining craft to also return, knowing that their fleet commanders would be lost against the imperium's finest without their command.

Commander Farsight of the Tau was last seen being pulled from his wrecked custom crisis suit by space marines near the feet of the Archangel. Kilithkadya, the Eldar farseer that had been tortured and put into Vect's service, is nowhere to be seen.

The Marines have begun erecting a base throughout the valley landing zone where the first battle took place. The Minotaurs, Ultramarines, and Fireblood Knights quickly established a perimeter under the watchful eyes of the Archangel Reaver Titan.

The Blood Angels, on the other hand, have taken up a different job. Captain Raziatel of the 6th company, and captain Karlaen of the 1st have been assigned to spearhead a sweeping advance against the retreating enemies. With them, the knight Heathcliff is also advancing. The plan being to cull the enemies' numbers while they are defenseless, as while the marines won a crushing victory, the xenos still outnumber them greatly.

Chaos Lord Klophos knows a sweeping advance attempt will be made, and while he could not stop his undisciplined makeshift force from fleeing, he could still maneuver them somewhat. Weirdboy Dakka'ead and the Necron Overlord Tarlkor have been tasked with holding a rear guard for long enough that the main xeno forces could escape with less casualties.

Scenario 2 of the Battle for Bulwark: Pebbles in the Flood




Brandon's initial strategy was...okay I suppose. Write up a list of the most hardy survivable units and toss them in. I think I would have opted for a different one if I was him though. Probably favoring lootas and tankbustas to take out the early arrivals from range. He could have realistically killed off the first turn assault squads and a few razorbacks before things got overwhelming. Additionally, he walked the big boys unit in the center straight up into a blood angels assault, instead of the orks being the ones to assault. Considering how my rolls were fairly terrible and I barely won the assault as is, if he had been the charging party, the ASM squads would've been easily run over. For his list, surviving past turn 8 or 9 or so was probably impossible, but I believe a more offensively minded list could have made it further.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7089860.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7089860.page GMT
With nothing to show but a string of losses, Chaos Lord Klophos, the warmaster of the xeno alliance, knows that he will now be a target for "replacement" by the leaders of the other factions.

Surely enough, the Dark Eldar's ranking archon Acheo sent a message requesting a strategy meeting on neutral ground, at an old ruin in a forest nearby. Klophos quickly realized that the Archon would likely bring an ambush force, and instructed some of his most loyal forces, specifically his nurgle-worshipping brothers mostly, to form a counter-ambush force.

As per their normal procedure for a neutral ground meeting, both commanders left any personal armaments with their attendents several hundred feet back.

The result is the third notable battle in the campaign on Bulwark.






Strategy: Daniel's (chaos) list was fairly good. Had nice variety other than being mostly nurgle. The obliterators performed amazingly well, knocking out two important units, and helping melee a third without losing a single obliterator, even though they were handed a significant amount of punishment, especially early in the game.

Ant's (Dark Eldar) list had a few issues. He loaded up heavy on larger point models, such as multiple haemonculi, all with extra wargear. Points were also spent on equipping the biker champ, and giving the bikes heat lances even though the players were aware there would be no vehicles present. A list that had favored more bodies with more weapons of various types rather than a few squads with FNP would most likely have performed better. Taking the clone field due to knowing about the duel mechanic seems a bit cheesy at first, but given that the archon knew he would be in melee right when the battle started, it makes sense. He didn't at least equip him with slightly better armor, which could've been paid for by not buying a power weapon for every joe schmoe haemonculus.

Tactics: Nothing to complain about from the chaos side. The Dark Eldar side made a few questionable moves. In the 2nd turn, he forgot to use the jetbikes in any way. Near the end of the game, in the large melee involving the archon, he kept targeting the obliterators with his ap3 weapons when he could've killed off a large amount of Khorne berserkers before their initiative step. Lastly, the big units stayed a bit too close to their own table edge, so when they failed their morale checks, he lost big chunks of his force.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7119687.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7119687.page GMT
Having located where the captured Commander Farsight was being held, 8 veteran commanders from his enclave volunteered for an exceedingly dangerous mission: To assault into a base with inferior numbers, rescue Farsight, cause as much mayhem as possible, and get out. Opposing them are the defense forces composed of the Fireblood Knights led by captain Sunburst.

Commander Moonarch gestured to his fellow commanders, pointing at the marine sentries and the solitary unit of terminators that happened to be crossing by. "We're not going to get a better chance than this" he remarked, and the crisis suits whirred to life.




Dem rolls man. Dem rolls. Also I switched to using the youtube video editor. It seems like it diminished the video quality some, but there's no full screen watermark...so...net gain I guess?]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7134608.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7134608.page GMT
Captain Raziatel of the Blood Angels waited patiently with his men miles away from the ork hideout where the Xeno alliance vehicles were being repaired by Big Mek Tankkrumpa. Soon enough, the signal came, and the scouts reported that the ork horde was chasing a small Minotaur force in a blind rage. Raziatel wondered what on earth the Minotaurs could have done to provoke such rage so as to pull the orks into such an obvious trap. "I suppose they're just really good at getting under someone's skin...even the orks'!" He remarked. Another report followed: "All that remains in the hideout is a small contingent of Dark Eldar and traitors that we outnumber heavily sir. As long as they hold the orks out there, we should have time to wreck everything before any other forces show up." Several marines prepared melta bombs in hand as their jump packs flared up...


]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7184107.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7184107.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7184317.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7184317.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7186266.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7186266.page GMT http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7194551.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7194551.page GMT
Sorcerer Vithe awoke with a start in the back of a half-repaired Rhino transport. As he thought back to when his mind was lost in the warp, he recalled a great winged daemon prince of Khorne and a herald of Nurgle telling him to "Find the Blood Angel with the shield and enrage him. Do not kill him, and do not let him die." After a few minutes, Vithe realized that he suddenly knew where this Blood Angel was. He gathered up a few of his fellow followers of Nurgle, and began sneaking into imperial territory, knowing exactly when and where each patrol would be passing at. They approached a ruined battle site where Captain Karlaen had found an odd artifact in the form of a shield, and he was being escorted by a squad of his brethren marines.
"Slay them, but leave the captain be" Vithe shouted, as both sides rushed for cover and brought up their weapons...


]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7202784.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7202784.page GMT
Captain Karlaen was no more. What was left knew himself as Sanguinius, and in his mind, he stood right next to the Emperor, having just slain Horus. Sorcerer Vithe used his psychic hold on Karlaen to speak as the Emperor would. "Excellent, my son. But we still must deal with his forces before Terra falls. Your remaining brothers need our help."

Nearby members of Karlaen's first company were dispatched swiftly, unaware of the scheme that had unfolded. Back in the Chaos forces, a similar scene played out, as the followers of Khorne and Nurgle knew that the followers of the other Chaos gods were no longer needed here. Those with the mark of Tzeentch or Slaanesh were swiftly wiped out.

Across the various battlefields of the planet, corpses suddenly sprang to life. These were no ordinary, clumsy reanimations; The marks of Khorne and Nurgle blessed them with the vitality of their original life, the rage from knowing death, and the durability of having survived it. These would become known as Risen.

Warboss Thrashkilla picked up his lucky stikk, and called to the mob of boys that picked themselves up off the ground around him. For some reason, he badly wanted to see the forces of Chaos victorious this day. He thought of nothing but how to please his lords Khorne and Nurgle. Battle and death would do nicely. They instinctively knew where to go to meet up with the agents of their new masters, and began marching. Big Mek TankKrumpa, Captain Sunburst, Archon Acheo, and even the late Chaos Lord Klophos arose in similar situations. The new Risen troops gave each other nods as they recognized each other as allies for their new dark lords. Even the freshly killed members of Karlaen's first company, and the followers of the other Chaos gods awoke to serve.

Captain Raziatel received word of a communication from Karlaen's company, telling him that the time for a decisive strike to cripple the xenos presence on the planet was here. The message simply said that he would maneuver the xenos forces into a showdown where they could be destroyed. Raziatel would be the hammer, and Karlaen would bring his troops around to be the anvil. He had no reason to doubt his elder captain, and prepared his forces.

Haemonculus Tor, and the new ork boss "Painboy" received a like message from Dark Apostle Maekle. The Orks and Dark Eldar mounted their vehicles, only functional again due to the ork meks, and not as functional as they'd like.

Unfortunately for the noncombatants of both sides, the Chaos aligned forces, along with their new Risen troops, easily infiltrated and captured several base points after the combat forces had left. Their main objective was to take control of any communications that could reach the forces in space. They could not afford to be stopped by orbital assault from the combined xenos and Imperial forces in this delicate stage.

Without knowing that behind them, their servitors, gretchin and slaves were being cut down, the Imperials and xenos began their battle, unable to see the changing tide approaching...










Holy crap. I think before I ever record a battle that big again I'd like to get a real camera instead of an iphone, and some real video editor, not just youtube's. If only our group had some funding to do that. >.>

Also I need to get better at shortening dead time. Daniel (The chaos guy) is especially bad about taking several extra seconds before every roll, which in a giant battle like this, adds up. So apologies for the HALF YOUR DAY length battle report, but hey, there aren't all that many battle reports this huge online that actually get completed AND done in detailed form with rolls, so that's a thing. You could always just watch it in pieces.

Anyway, enjoy the epic 5+ hour battle report if you dare. Should only be a few more normal size missions after this to bring the narrative to a close. This one took a while since we played the game in shifts over like a week and a half, and then editing was hell.

Onto the battle discussion:
I somehow messed up on the rules on gets hot on the Stompa's first shots, and had him roll gets hot seperately from the shots themselves, but that doesn't really change much. I forgot to apply invisibility to my assault marines when fighting the Risen tacticals, and lost a couple because of it. So a few technical errors here and there.

Anthony's double Trueborn charge against the Risen orks turned out to be a doomed venture. I'm normally quite good at quick headmath, but I didn't see them ALL going down when they were the ones who charged.

My Death company are really good at making me cry. They fail such easy charges all the time. Sanguinor had the statistical advantage against the daemon prince (that fight was really just there for flavor,) but the prince rolled some hot dice for saves. I know it was kind of a longshot, but I would've liked to see the knight smack the reaver in a knee with a str D roll of 6 out of 4 attacks. If we got special characters in this, I definitely would've used Corbulo's reroll there to toss one of the 1's.

I'm still chuckling at the empty Trukk diving in the way to block LOS for the shock attack gun, as well as the most eventful tank ram ever between the empty trukk and empty rhino.

Really there was a LOT that went on, and the unique events are hard to recall. I was surprised at how few characters I lost.

Overall it was a big battle that didn't solve much. War, huh? What is it good for?]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7354590.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7354590.page GMT
I still have the clips from the 3rd battle, and I mean to go back and re edit it in youtube to get rid of the horrible watermark soon.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7356419.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/606119/7356419.page GMT