My third game of the London GT was really game four of the tournament. This game would see my Dark Angels take on Steve and his Astra Militarum force.
This game was using a modified Resupply Drop for the Eternal War mission. In this game, at the start of each player's third turn, they choose three objectives and randomly determine one to be removed. The other two (so four in total) are worth 3 pts at the end of the game.
The maelstrom of war mission was Race to Victory. In this game, you get three tactical objective cards per turn. As soon as a player scores 10 cards, the maelstrom mission ends and no more cards can be scored. The first player to score 10 cards also gets 3 bonus points.
We would be using the Search and Destroy deployment zone (table quarters). This was annoying. I was playing Guard on the only mission that didn't use kill points, and also on the furthest away deployment zone.
My army consisted of:
Battalion Detachment
Azrael (Az)
Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle (L)
Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifle (I1)
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifle (I2)
5 Devastator Squad- Heavy Bolter, Bolters, Armorium Cherub (D)
5 Scouts- Bolters, Heavy Bolter, Chainsword (S1)
5 Scouts- Bolters, Chainsword (S2)
5 Scouts- Bolt Pistols, Shotguns (S3)
10 Hellbalsters- Plasma Incinerators (H)
Outrider Detachment
Sammael (S)
5 Black Knights- Plasma Talons, Corvus Hammers (BK)
4 Ravenwing Bikers- Flamer, Twin Bolters, Storm Bolter (RB1)
4 Ravenwing Bikers- Meltagun, Twin Bolters, Storm Bolter (RB2)
3 Ravenwing Bikers- Twin Bolters, Storm Bolter, Plasma Gun (RB3)
3 Ravenwing Bikers- Twin Bolters, Storm Bolter, Plasma Gun (RB3)
Ravenwing Darkshroud- Assault Cannon (D)
10 Command Points
Steve's army consisted of:
Brigade Detachment (Cadian)
Company Commander- Relic of Lost Cadia, Chainsword, Laspistol (CC1)
Company Commander- Kurov's Aquila, Chainsword, Laspistol, Grand Strategist Warlord Trait (CC2)
Primaris Psyker- Force Stave (P1)
Primaris Psyker- Force Stave (P2)
Primaris Psyker- Force Stave (P3)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS1)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS2)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS3)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS4)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS5)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS6)
Platoon Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword (PC1)
Platoon Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword (PC2)
Battalion Detachment (Militarum Tempestus)
Tempestor Prime- Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod, The Laurels of Command (TP1)
Tempestor Prime- Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod (TP2)
Tempestor Prime- Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod (TP3)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Plasma Guns, Plasma Pistol (S1)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Plasma Guns, Plasma Pistol (S2)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Plasma Guns, Plasma Pistol (S3)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Meltaguns, Plasma Pistol (S4)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Meltaguns, Plasma Pistol (S5)
Command Squad- 4 Plasma Guns (CS1)
Command Squad- 4 Plasma Guns (CS2)
Command Squad- 4 Plasma Guns (CS3)
20 Command Points (3 used for two additional Relics)
Damn, if only we were playing kill points! I could clear up in this game. This was going to be a tough one I think, based on the mission and deployment zones. I would expect to see the Artillery deployed at the furthest away corner, with a lot of bodies between me and them, with a ton of Scions in reserve, ready to make a mess of my units. Annoyingly, the Artillery ignored line of sight, so the terrain would be of little use to me. Looks like my Hellblasters will have a long walk in this game.
The placement of the objectives was fixed as shown below:
We then deployed our forces.
Thanks to the number of reserves drops that Steve had, I had to set up pretty much my entire army before he had deployed a single unit.
I put the two units of Intercessors on my left flank, one holding the objective and the other deploying at the end of my deployment zone. I put the Hellblasters and Black Knights as far forward as possible, eager to get as close to the enemy army as quickly as possible. The Bikers were spread around my deployment zone to sally out for the objectives. The Devastators went on the central objective in my deployment zone.
Finally, I deployed the Scouts. I put one unit on the corner objectives that were free. The Shotgun Scouts went in the centre, ready to move up on the enemy army.
As expected, Steve deployed the three Basilisks and Manticore at the rear of his deployment zone. The rest of the Infantry units deployed in front of them around the deployment zone, with the Sentinels spread out as well. The entire Militarum Tempestus detachment went into reserve.
We rolled off for first turn, and I won the roll off. Steve failed to seize the initiative.
I used the Secret Agenda stratagem to keep my maelstrom cards secret. I failed to regain the command point, but Steve managed to steal one. He then used the Scout Sentinel's Scout moves to retreat the vehicles away from my lines.
He then used the Preliminary Bombardment stratagem. Out of my 16 units, Steve managed to roll five 6's and five of my units took mortal wounds!
TURN 1- DARK ANGELS
In my first turn, I drew Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 1 and Secure Objective 4. A pretty good draw for me, as I was on all the objectives.
To the south, the Scouts moved round from the ruins to move up on the Infantry squad. The Meltagun Bikers advanced towards the objective, behind the ruins.
On the right flank, the Bikers advanced on the objective, as the Scouts also moved out to target the Guardsmen.
In the centre, the Hellblasters, Bikers, Darkshroud and Characters moved up on the Guard lines. The Black Knights used the Speed of the Raven Stratagem (for which we both got the command point bonus) to advance on the main lines. The Shotgun Scouts also moved up.
The Black Knights used Weapons of the Dark Age to overcharge and fire on the closest Basilisk. They did 7 wounds with a command point re-roll, obliterating the enemy vehicle. Sammael fired at the Infantry squad in front of him, killing three. His Plasma Cannon fired at the Sentinel, but failed to do any damage.
The Shotgun Scouts fired at the Infantry squad, killing two. The Scouts on the south flank fired at the squad in front of them, killing three.
The Intercessors fired at a Sentinel, wounding it once. The Bikers near Azrael fired at the enemy vehicle, taking another wound, while the Darkshroud took two more wounds. The Hellblasters split their fire between two of the Sentinels (the whole unit could not see both), killing one and wounding another.
The Devastators fired at the Guardsmen, killing two more.
In the charge phase, the Black Knights assaulted the Infantry Squad and Sentinel. Steve used the Greandiers stratagem to throw a bunch of Frag Grenades at the Black Knights, but failed to do any damage. He did get to keep the command point though (again!). Sammael then charged the Sentinel.
Sammael struck at the Sentinel, killing it, then consolidated into another Sentinel. The Black Knights struck at the Guardsmen, but only managed to kill three of the squad. They surrounded one of the survivors to lock him in combat.
In the morale phase, the Guardsmen in combat with the Black Knights passed their morale test. Steve used a command point re-roll (for which he kept the command point) to fail the test and removed the locked Guardsmen. This would allow him to shoot at the Black Knights in his turn, a clever play.
At the end of my turn, I scored First Blood and all three of my objectives for 4 points.
TURN 1- ASTRA MIILITARUM
In his first turn, Steve drew Secure Objective 5, Secure Objective 6 and Blood and Guts. He used two command points to discard Blood and Guts (for which he kept one command point) and got Priority Orders Received (Hold the Line). So far, Steve had spent 8 command points, but was only down a single command point thanks to his warlord trait and relic.
The Sentinel fell back from combat with Sammael, while the Infantry Squads moved around to target the enemy army.
At the end of the phase, two Tempestus Command Squads and a Tempestus Squad arrived from reserve, landing near the Black Knights to target them.
In the psychic phase, the Primaris Psyker cast Nightshroud on the Manticore, having to use a command point re-roll to pass the power. Another then cast Smite, putting three mortal wounds on the Black Knights. The final psyker tried to cast Smite, but failed to manifest the power.
In the shooting phase, Steve used the Ariel Spotter stratagem on one of the remaining Basilisks. He also used the Relic of Lost Cadia.
Several Guardsmen Squads opened fire on the Shotgun Scouts, wounding them six times. I failed all my saves and the squad perished. A few other Infantry Squads fired on the Black Knights, wounding them 6 times. I failed 3 saves and two Bikers perished. The Tempestus Scions fired on the Black Knights, killing the rest of the squad with their overcharging Plasma Guns.
The other Tempestus squad fired at Sammael, getting 12 hits from only 8 shots! This was thanks to rolling a lot of 6's and gaining extra shots thanks to their Regimental Doctrine. Sammael was wounded 7 times, but I only took one with the help of a command point re-roll. The other squad of Scions fired at the Ravenwing Master, finally killing him.
On the left flank, the Guard squad on the hill fired at the Scouts, killing two of them. The Infantry Squad on the right flank then fired at the other unit of Scouts, killing three of them thanks to the First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire order.
The Manticore fired at the Hellblasters and Scouts. The Heavy Bolter killed one more Scout. The Manticore rockets got 8 shots (after he used a command point re-roll). The shots caused 8 wounds, but fortunately, I made all my invulnerable saves.
The Basilisk fired at the Hellblasters, killing one of the squad with its Earthshaker Cannon. The Ancient allowed the slain Primaris to fire at the Manticore, but he failed to do any damage. The Heavy Bolter killed the last Scout on the right flank.
Steve then used the Overlapping Fields of Fire stratagem on the Hellblasters and fired the Basilisk at them, killing three of the squad after a poor round of invulnerable saves. The three got to fire back, killing one of the Sentinels and another Guardsman.
Steven had had an absolutely amazing round of rolling this turn, killing a ton of my Marines and Bikers with simple Lasguns. Plus, he had a seemingly endless supply of command points.
At the end of his turn, he scored Secure Objective 6 and Priority Orders Received (Hold the Line) for 4 points. He discarded Secure Objective 5.
Note, it was only on writing this battle report up that I discovered the error. Steve couldn't score Hold the Line on his first turn. As it was, neither of us noticed the error, so the score will count for the rest of the game.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 4 (3 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 5 (2 cards scored)
TURN 2- DARK ANGELS
In my second turn, I drew Secure Objective 2, Secure Objective 4 and Defend Objective 5.
In the centre, the Hellblasters, Characters and Darkshroud moved up on the enemy army once more. The Meltagun Bikers moved up on the Infantry Squad and Manticore.
The Flamer Bikers used the Speed of the Raven Stratagem (which Steve got a command point for again!) to move up on the Guard lines, while the other Bike Squad moved up on the objective. The Scouts on the right moved into cover to grab the objective.
The Darkshroud fired into the enemy lines, killing four Guardsmen. The Heavy Bolter from the Devastators killed another three.
The Hellblasters fired on the Manticore, overcharging and using the Weapons From the Dark Age stratagem. They only managed 5 hits with the death of one Primaris Marine, but managed to do 12 wounds and destroy the vehicle. The vehicle exploded, but Steve used a command point re-roll to re-roll and prevent the explosion.
The Plasma Gun Bikers fired on the Tempestus Command Squad, but failed to do a single wound with any of their shots. The other unit of Flamer Bikers fired on the Scions with their Bolters. Steve used the Take Cover stratagem on them and they saved four out of five wounds. He used a command point re-roll to pass the last save and kept the command point to rub salt into the lack of wounds. The Flamer killed two of the Guardsmen in the unit in front of them.
In the charge phase, the Flamer Bikers charged the Guardsmen. Steve used the Grenadiers Stratagem once more, doing 5 hits and four wounds, killing a Biker. The Meltagun Bikers charged the lone Guardsman on the left flank.
The Bikers easily dispatched the lone Guardsman. The other unit struck at the Infantry Squad, killing three of them. The Ravenwing Bikers suffered no damage in reply.
In the morale phase, Steve used two command points to keep the unit in combat with the Bikers from failing their morale test, while another Infantry Squad was wiped out by morale.
At the end of my turn, I scored Secure Objective 2 and Secure Objective 4, taking me up to 5 points scored.
TURN 2- ASTRA MILITARUM
In his second turn, Steve drew Secure Objecitve 3, Kingslayer and Supremacy.
The Guardsmen on the hill advanced towards the objective held by the Ravenwing Bikers, the other squads moving up to engage the enemy.
At the end of the phase, the rest of the reserves arrived. One Tempestor Prime landed next to objective three.
One unit of Scions with Meltagun landed near the Hellblasters. I used the Auspex Scan stratagem to fire at them and kill off the squad. The rest of the Miliatrum Tempestus squads landed to the south beside the Hellblasters.
In the psychic phase, one of the Primaris Psykers cast Smite on the Bikers. He failed, but used a command point to pass (keeping the command point as well) to do three mortal wounds. The other Psyker also did three mortal wounds, killing three Bikers in total.
He then used the Arial Spotter stratagem on a Basilisk, keeping both command points. Steve started with 20 command points, had used 24 so far and still had 12 left! His rolls in this game had been phenomenal. I was fighting a real uphill battle just to try and get average rolls.
The two Tempestus units fired at the Flamer Bikers, wiping out the squad with their Plasma Guns. Several of the Infantry Squads fired at the Plasma Bikers, but were unable to do any damage.
The Basilisk fired at the Darkshroud, doing two wounds and taking 6 damage from it. He then used the Overlapping Fields of Fire stratagem to get +1 to hit on the vehicle.
The Tempestus to the South fired their Plasma Guns at it, destroying the vehicle.
Another unit fired on the Devastators and Lieutenant, killing one Marine and wounding the Lieutenant four times. The Meltagun squad fired their Meltaguns at the Lieutenant and the rest of their weapons at the Devastators. They killed one Devastator and wounded the Lieutenant twice. I made both invulnerable saves with one command point re-roll.
The last squad of Tempestus fired on the Hellblasters, killing two. The slain Primaris Marines fired back, killing three of the Scion Meltagun squad.
One of the backfield Infantry Squads fired their Lasguns at the Hellblasters, wounding them three times. I failed all three saves and two Hellblasters perished. One got to shoot back, killing another two Tempestus Scions.
The Basilisk fired at the backfield Bike unit, but failed to do any harm. The Heavy Bolter fired at the lone Meltagun Biker, killing him and finishing off the squad.
At the end of his turn, Steve scored Supremacy for 2 points and Secure Objectvie 3. I scored Defend Objective 5.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 8 (6 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 8 (4 cards scored)
TURN 3- DARK ANGELS
In my third turn, I drew Overwhelming Firepower, Blood and Guts and Secure Objective 3. I rolled to see what objective would be removed and objective 4 was removed for the Eternal War mission.
The Intercessors moved up on the objective, while the Scouts moved up on the Infantry Squad. Azrael led the Hellblasters and other characters up on the Tempestus units.
In the shooting phase, the Intercessors at the backfield fired on the Meltagun Scions, killing off the last two in the squad.
The Hellblasters killed two of the Plasma Scions, the Ancient killing another 2. Azrael kill the last member of the unit with his firepower.
The Devastators fired on another Tempestus Squad. Steve used the Take Cover stratagem. The squad managed to kill two of them.
To the north the Scouts fired at the Infantry Squad on the hill, killing two. The Intercessors added their firepower, killing four more. The Bikers fired at the lone survivor, killing him.
In the charge phase, the Hellblasters charged the last of the Plasma Gun Scions. Steve rolled a double 6 to hit in overwatch and killed one of the Hellblasters. The Dark Angels characters charged in as well. To the north, the Bikers charged an Infantry Squad.
The Dark Angels characters kill the Scion, Azrael consolidating into the Tempestor Prime. The Bikers only managed to kill one Guardsman for no damage in return.
At the end of my turn, I scored Overwhelming Firepower for 2 points and Blood and Guts. I discarded Secure Objective 3.
TURN 3- ASTRA MILITARUM
In his third turn, Steve drew Defend Objective 6 and Master the Warp to go with Kingslayer. Steve rolled to see which objective was removed and it was number 6 in his deployment zone.
With the Dark Angels' number diminished, the Guardsmen decided to advance on the enemy lines. The last unit of Militarum Tempestus landed near the Hellblasters. I used Auspex Scan, but failed to hit with any of my four shots, even with re-rolls!
One of the Psykers cast Smite, causing three mortal wounds once more and killing the Bikers. Another tried to cast Psychic Barrier, but failed to manifest the power. Another cast Nightshroud on the Basilisk.
In the shooting phase, the Guard were on the move. Two of the Scion units to the north were ordered to Move, Move, Move and both units rolled a 6 for their advance rolls. He then used Move, Move, Move on three more infantry units, two advanced another 6" and the last one only got to go 5". Steve's rolling was getting ridiculous at this stage, he seemed incapable of rolling below a 5+!
The Tempestor Prime ordered himself to fight Azrael, but failed to do any damage.
The newly arrived Scions fired at the Hellblaster and Lieutenant, killing them both. The Ancient allowed both to strike back, killing two of the Scions that had felled them.
The Basilisk fired at the Ancient, getting 6 shots once more (he had rolled a lot of 6's for the shots on the artillery). He used the Arial Spotter stratagem and put three wounds on the Ancient. I saved one. Steve rolled for damage and got four wounds. He used a command point re-roll to get 5 wounds and killed the Ancient.
The second Basilisk fired at the Intercessors on objective 4, getting 6 shots once more and killing one Intercessor.
The Tempestor Prime attacked Azrael, wounding him once before being cut down by the Dark Angels' warlord.
At the end of his turn, Steve scored Master the Warp for one point.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 11 (8 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 9 (5 cards scored)
At the end of turn 3, things were mixed. I had taken out a number of Guard units, but there were still plenty left. I meanwhile had few units remaining. I was ahead on points and close to scoring 10 cards to stop the maelstrom mission.
TURN 4- DARK ANGELS
In my fourth turn, I drew Assassinate, Defend Objective 3 and Domination. Quite possibly the worst hand I could draw this turn, as I would be unable to score any of them.
Azrael advanced towards the Devastators, blocking most of the enemy army from targeting him. The Intercessor squad out in the open started to move back towards the home base objective, held by the other unit of Intercessors.
The Devastators fired on the Scions in front of them. Steve used the Take Cover stratagem, but to no avail, as the unit was wiped out.
At the end of my turn, I discarded Domination. Steve scored Defend Objective 6.
TURN 4- ASTRA MILITARUM
In his fourth turn, Steve drew Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 2 and had Kingslayer. He used two command points to discard Kingslayer and drew Mission Critical Objective (objective 1) instead.
The two Platoon Commanders moved up on objective 3 to secure it. The other Guard units moved up on the remnants of the Dark Angels lines.
In the shooting phase, Steve used Move, Move, Move to secure Objective 1 with an Infantry Squad.
The Militarum Tempestus fired at the Scouts, killing the squad with the use of a command point re-roll. The other unit of Scions fired at the Intercessors, killing two of them with their overcharging Plasma Guns.
The Basilisks fire at the Devastators, only killing one with their combined firepower.
At the end of his turn, Steve scored Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 2 and two points for Mission Critical Objective. At this stage, Steve thought he had scored 10 maelstrom cards, so we ended the maelstrom mission and he got the three bonus points.
However, again upon writing this up, I discovered that he had only scored 9 cards so far. I think that we forgot that Priority Orders Received made him draw another card. This card got added to his "scored card" pile, even though the two cards only counted for one. Annoyingly, this was another error in his favour which was not discovered until far too late. Those two errors had cost me at least 7 victory points at this stage!
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 11 (8 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 17 (9 cards scored)
At the end of turn 4, things were bleak for the Dark Angels. Thanks to numerous errors, Steve was ahead on victory points and looked set to win on the Eternal War missions as well.
TURN 5- DARK ANGELS
The Devastators and Azrael moved up on the Infantry Squad, while the Intercessor continued to move back.
The Devastators fired at the Infantry squad, wounding them once, but the damage was saved. Azrael killed one with his Plasma Gun.
The Devastators then charged, the Infantry squad getting two hits and two wounds, but fortunately my armour held. Azrael also charged in, attacking and killing the squad. Both units consolidated in front of the objective.
TURN 5- ASTRA MILITARUM
The Infantry Squads moved up on the objective held by Azrael. The Plasma Scions fired at the Devastators, hitting and wounding once, but I made my invulnerable save.
The Guardsmen fired at the Devastators, killing one with their Lasgun fire. Another Scion squad killed the last Devastator.
He ordered the three Psykers to Move, Move, Move and all three rolled 6's for their Advance roll!
The Basilisks fired at Azrael, only causing two wounds in total, but I made both my saves.
With that, we ran out of time and the game ended. We each held two Eternal War objectives and Steve also had linebreaker.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 17 (8 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 24 (9 cards scored)
A win for the Astra Militarum.
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
That was a really tough game that had a lot of problems. Annoyingly, we had made two errors in points during the game that may have had a big impact on the result.
First, Steve couldn't have scored Priority Orders Received on turn 1, meaning the score at the end of turn 1 would have been 4-1 to me. This would have also had the impact of having him score one less card for each turn.
As it was, we also made the error in the number of cards he had scored, so he would not have ended the maelstrom mission and not got the bonus three points for the mission. That could have swung the game in my favour or at least brought it back to a draw. I only noticed these errors on writing the game up, which was a bit annoying.
Steve's rolling in this game was incredible! He started with 20 command points and must have used about 40 during the game. Every time one of us used a stratagem, he seemed to get all the command points back. It was a big boost to his army, allowing him to use key stratagems way more often than he should have been able to.
In addition, his rolls for Move, Move, Move were amazing. He used the order 8 times during the game and rolled a 6" advance seven out of eight times, as well as having well above average to hit and to wound rolls.
I commented to him that I was getting severely disheartened by the sheer volume of 6's he was rolling. His luck was exemplified by one of the Militarum Tempestus units, who fired 8 shots in a shooting phase and somehow got 12 hits from them! With rolling like that the whole game, it was a real struggle for my army to compete.
I'm not sure what else I could have done in this game. It might have been safer to keep the Black Knights and Sammael back on turn 1. This would have prevented the Scions from taking them out in turn 1 (though I was incapable of making a save, so the Lasguns may have ended them anyway). However, I wanted to take one of the Basilisks out early to diminish the enemy firepower and score first blood.
It might have been prudent to keep my units back and not try to advance on the enemy army. I could have used the Scouts to score the maelstrom points, they moved out towards the end of the game to hit the enemy army and try and score the final objectives.
As I said at the start, I think was a tough one for me. Had we had kill points, I think I may have done enough to win the game, taking out a lot of the enemy army. However, that was not the mission we used and Steve did well to get the win.
The timings for this game were:
Deployment start- 9.35 am
Deployment- 22 mins
DA Turn 1- 23 mins
AM Turn 1- 26 mins
DA Turn 2- 23 mins
AM Turn 2- 28 mins
DA Turn 3- 18 mins
AM Turn 3- 12 mins
DA Turn 4- 3 mins
AM Turn 4- 7 mins
DA Turn 5- 3 mins
AM Turn 5- 8 mins
So, with three games played, I was on two wins and one loss. Hopefully, I could pull out a win in my final game to end the weekend ahead.
Steve's army consisted of:
Brigade Detachment (Cadian)
Company Commander- Relic of Lost Cadia, Chainsword, Laspistol (CC1)
Company Commander- Kurov's Aquila, Chainsword, Laspistol, Grand Strategist Warlord Trait (CC2)
Primaris Psyker- Force Stave (P1)
Primaris Psyker- Force Stave (P2)
Primaris Psyker- Force Stave (P3)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS1)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS2)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS3)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS4)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS5)
10 Infantry Squad- Lasguns, Sergeant with Laspistol and Chainsword (IS6)
Platoon Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword (PC1)
Platoon Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword (PC2)
Platoon Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword (PC3)
Scout Sentinel- Multi-laser (S11)
Scout Sentinel- Multi-laser (S21)
Scout Sentinel- Multi-laser (S31)
Basilisk- Heavy Bolter, Earthshaker Cannon (B1)
Basilisk- Heavy Bolter, Earthshaker Cannon (B2)
Basilisk- Heavy Bolter, Earthshaker Cannon (B3)
Manticore- Augur array, Heavy Bolter, Heavy Stubber, Four Storm Eagle Rockets (M)
Battalion Detachment (Militarum Tempestus)
Tempestor Prime- Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod, The Laurels of Command (TP1)
Tempestor Prime- Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod (TP2)
Tempestor Prime- Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod (TP3)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Plasma Guns, Plasma Pistol (S1)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Plasma Guns, Plasma Pistol (S2)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Plasma Guns, Plasma Pistol (S3)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Meltaguns, Plasma Pistol (S4)
5 Scions- Hotshot Lasguns, 2 Meltaguns, Plasma Pistol (S5)
Command Squad- 4 Plasma Guns (CS1)
Command Squad- 4 Plasma Guns (CS2)
Command Squad- 4 Plasma Guns (CS3)
20 Command Points (3 used for two additional Relics)
Damn, if only we were playing kill points! I could clear up in this game. This was going to be a tough one I think, based on the mission and deployment zones. I would expect to see the Artillery deployed at the furthest away corner, with a lot of bodies between me and them, with a ton of Scions in reserve, ready to make a mess of my units. Annoyingly, the Artillery ignored line of sight, so the terrain would be of little use to me. Looks like my Hellblasters will have a long walk in this game.
The placement of the objectives was fixed as shown below:
We then deployed our forces.
Thanks to the number of reserves drops that Steve had, I had to set up pretty much my entire army before he had deployed a single unit.
I put the two units of Intercessors on my left flank, one holding the objective and the other deploying at the end of my deployment zone. I put the Hellblasters and Black Knights as far forward as possible, eager to get as close to the enemy army as quickly as possible. The Bikers were spread around my deployment zone to sally out for the objectives. The Devastators went on the central objective in my deployment zone.
Finally, I deployed the Scouts. I put one unit on the corner objectives that were free. The Shotgun Scouts went in the centre, ready to move up on the enemy army.
As expected, Steve deployed the three Basilisks and Manticore at the rear of his deployment zone. The rest of the Infantry units deployed in front of them around the deployment zone, with the Sentinels spread out as well. The entire Militarum Tempestus detachment went into reserve.
We rolled off for first turn, and I won the roll off. Steve failed to seize the initiative.
I used the Secret Agenda stratagem to keep my maelstrom cards secret. I failed to regain the command point, but Steve managed to steal one. He then used the Scout Sentinel's Scout moves to retreat the vehicles away from my lines.
He then used the Preliminary Bombardment stratagem. Out of my 16 units, Steve managed to roll five 6's and five of my units took mortal wounds!
TURN 1- DARK ANGELS
In my first turn, I drew Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 1 and Secure Objective 4. A pretty good draw for me, as I was on all the objectives.
To the south, the Scouts moved round from the ruins to move up on the Infantry squad. The Meltagun Bikers advanced towards the objective, behind the ruins.
On the right flank, the Bikers advanced on the objective, as the Scouts also moved out to target the Guardsmen.
In the centre, the Hellblasters, Bikers, Darkshroud and Characters moved up on the Guard lines. The Black Knights used the Speed of the Raven Stratagem (for which we both got the command point bonus) to advance on the main lines. The Shotgun Scouts also moved up.
The Black Knights used Weapons of the Dark Age to overcharge and fire on the closest Basilisk. They did 7 wounds with a command point re-roll, obliterating the enemy vehicle. Sammael fired at the Infantry squad in front of him, killing three. His Plasma Cannon fired at the Sentinel, but failed to do any damage.
The Shotgun Scouts fired at the Infantry squad, killing two. The Scouts on the south flank fired at the squad in front of them, killing three.
The Intercessors fired at a Sentinel, wounding it once. The Bikers near Azrael fired at the enemy vehicle, taking another wound, while the Darkshroud took two more wounds. The Hellblasters split their fire between two of the Sentinels (the whole unit could not see both), killing one and wounding another.
The Devastators fired at the Guardsmen, killing two more.
In the charge phase, the Black Knights assaulted the Infantry Squad and Sentinel. Steve used the Greandiers stratagem to throw a bunch of Frag Grenades at the Black Knights, but failed to do any damage. He did get to keep the command point though (again!). Sammael then charged the Sentinel.
Sammael struck at the Sentinel, killing it, then consolidated into another Sentinel. The Black Knights struck at the Guardsmen, but only managed to kill three of the squad. They surrounded one of the survivors to lock him in combat.
In the morale phase, the Guardsmen in combat with the Black Knights passed their morale test. Steve used a command point re-roll (for which he kept the command point) to fail the test and removed the locked Guardsmen. This would allow him to shoot at the Black Knights in his turn, a clever play.
At the end of my turn, I scored First Blood and all three of my objectives for 4 points.
TURN 1- ASTRA MIILITARUM
In his first turn, Steve drew Secure Objective 5, Secure Objective 6 and Blood and Guts. He used two command points to discard Blood and Guts (for which he kept one command point) and got Priority Orders Received (Hold the Line). So far, Steve had spent 8 command points, but was only down a single command point thanks to his warlord trait and relic.
The Sentinel fell back from combat with Sammael, while the Infantry Squads moved around to target the enemy army.
At the end of the phase, two Tempestus Command Squads and a Tempestus Squad arrived from reserve, landing near the Black Knights to target them.
In the psychic phase, the Primaris Psyker cast Nightshroud on the Manticore, having to use a command point re-roll to pass the power. Another then cast Smite, putting three mortal wounds on the Black Knights. The final psyker tried to cast Smite, but failed to manifest the power.
In the shooting phase, Steve used the Ariel Spotter stratagem on one of the remaining Basilisks. He also used the Relic of Lost Cadia.
Several Guardsmen Squads opened fire on the Shotgun Scouts, wounding them six times. I failed all my saves and the squad perished. A few other Infantry Squads fired on the Black Knights, wounding them 6 times. I failed 3 saves and two Bikers perished. The Tempestus Scions fired on the Black Knights, killing the rest of the squad with their overcharging Plasma Guns.
The other Tempestus squad fired at Sammael, getting 12 hits from only 8 shots! This was thanks to rolling a lot of 6's and gaining extra shots thanks to their Regimental Doctrine. Sammael was wounded 7 times, but I only took one with the help of a command point re-roll. The other squad of Scions fired at the Ravenwing Master, finally killing him.
On the left flank, the Guard squad on the hill fired at the Scouts, killing two of them. The Infantry Squad on the right flank then fired at the other unit of Scouts, killing three of them thanks to the First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire order.
The Manticore fired at the Hellblasters and Scouts. The Heavy Bolter killed one more Scout. The Manticore rockets got 8 shots (after he used a command point re-roll). The shots caused 8 wounds, but fortunately, I made all my invulnerable saves.
The Basilisk fired at the Hellblasters, killing one of the squad with its Earthshaker Cannon. The Ancient allowed the slain Primaris to fire at the Manticore, but he failed to do any damage. The Heavy Bolter killed the last Scout on the right flank.
Steve then used the Overlapping Fields of Fire stratagem on the Hellblasters and fired the Basilisk at them, killing three of the squad after a poor round of invulnerable saves. The three got to fire back, killing one of the Sentinels and another Guardsman.
Steven had had an absolutely amazing round of rolling this turn, killing a ton of my Marines and Bikers with simple Lasguns. Plus, he had a seemingly endless supply of command points.
At the end of his turn, he scored Secure Objective 6 and Priority Orders Received (Hold the Line) for 4 points. He discarded Secure Objective 5.
Note, it was only on writing this battle report up that I discovered the error. Steve couldn't score Hold the Line on his first turn. As it was, neither of us noticed the error, so the score will count for the rest of the game.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 4 (3 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 5 (2 cards scored)
TURN 2- DARK ANGELS
In my second turn, I drew Secure Objective 2, Secure Objective 4 and Defend Objective 5.
In the centre, the Hellblasters, Characters and Darkshroud moved up on the enemy army once more. The Meltagun Bikers moved up on the Infantry Squad and Manticore.
The Flamer Bikers used the Speed of the Raven Stratagem (which Steve got a command point for again!) to move up on the Guard lines, while the other Bike Squad moved up on the objective. The Scouts on the right moved into cover to grab the objective.
The Darkshroud fired into the enemy lines, killing four Guardsmen. The Heavy Bolter from the Devastators killed another three.
The Hellblasters fired on the Manticore, overcharging and using the Weapons From the Dark Age stratagem. They only managed 5 hits with the death of one Primaris Marine, but managed to do 12 wounds and destroy the vehicle. The vehicle exploded, but Steve used a command point re-roll to re-roll and prevent the explosion.
The Plasma Gun Bikers fired on the Tempestus Command Squad, but failed to do a single wound with any of their shots. The other unit of Flamer Bikers fired on the Scions with their Bolters. Steve used the Take Cover stratagem on them and they saved four out of five wounds. He used a command point re-roll to pass the last save and kept the command point to rub salt into the lack of wounds. The Flamer killed two of the Guardsmen in the unit in front of them.
In the charge phase, the Flamer Bikers charged the Guardsmen. Steve used the Grenadiers Stratagem once more, doing 5 hits and four wounds, killing a Biker. The Meltagun Bikers charged the lone Guardsman on the left flank.
The Bikers easily dispatched the lone Guardsman. The other unit struck at the Infantry Squad, killing three of them. The Ravenwing Bikers suffered no damage in reply.
In the morale phase, Steve used two command points to keep the unit in combat with the Bikers from failing their morale test, while another Infantry Squad was wiped out by morale.
At the end of my turn, I scored Secure Objective 2 and Secure Objective 4, taking me up to 5 points scored.
TURN 2- ASTRA MILITARUM
In his second turn, Steve drew Secure Objecitve 3, Kingslayer and Supremacy.
The Guardsmen on the hill advanced towards the objective held by the Ravenwing Bikers, the other squads moving up to engage the enemy.
At the end of the phase, the rest of the reserves arrived. One Tempestor Prime landed next to objective three.
One unit of Scions with Meltagun landed near the Hellblasters. I used the Auspex Scan stratagem to fire at them and kill off the squad. The rest of the Miliatrum Tempestus squads landed to the south beside the Hellblasters.
In the psychic phase, one of the Primaris Psykers cast Smite on the Bikers. He failed, but used a command point to pass (keeping the command point as well) to do three mortal wounds. The other Psyker also did three mortal wounds, killing three Bikers in total.
He then used the Arial Spotter stratagem on a Basilisk, keeping both command points. Steve started with 20 command points, had used 24 so far and still had 12 left! His rolls in this game had been phenomenal. I was fighting a real uphill battle just to try and get average rolls.
The two Tempestus units fired at the Flamer Bikers, wiping out the squad with their Plasma Guns. Several of the Infantry Squads fired at the Plasma Bikers, but were unable to do any damage.
The Basilisk fired at the Darkshroud, doing two wounds and taking 6 damage from it. He then used the Overlapping Fields of Fire stratagem to get +1 to hit on the vehicle.
The Tempestus to the South fired their Plasma Guns at it, destroying the vehicle.
Another unit fired on the Devastators and Lieutenant, killing one Marine and wounding the Lieutenant four times. The Meltagun squad fired their Meltaguns at the Lieutenant and the rest of their weapons at the Devastators. They killed one Devastator and wounded the Lieutenant twice. I made both invulnerable saves with one command point re-roll.
The last squad of Tempestus fired on the Hellblasters, killing two. The slain Primaris Marines fired back, killing three of the Scion Meltagun squad.
One of the backfield Infantry Squads fired their Lasguns at the Hellblasters, wounding them three times. I failed all three saves and two Hellblasters perished. One got to shoot back, killing another two Tempestus Scions.
The Basilisk fired at the backfield Bike unit, but failed to do any harm. The Heavy Bolter fired at the lone Meltagun Biker, killing him and finishing off the squad.
At the end of his turn, Steve scored Supremacy for 2 points and Secure Objectvie 3. I scored Defend Objective 5.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 8 (6 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 8 (4 cards scored)
TURN 3- DARK ANGELS
In my third turn, I drew Overwhelming Firepower, Blood and Guts and Secure Objective 3. I rolled to see what objective would be removed and objective 4 was removed for the Eternal War mission.
The Intercessors moved up on the objective, while the Scouts moved up on the Infantry Squad. Azrael led the Hellblasters and other characters up on the Tempestus units.
In the shooting phase, the Intercessors at the backfield fired on the Meltagun Scions, killing off the last two in the squad.
The Hellblasters killed two of the Plasma Scions, the Ancient killing another 2. Azrael kill the last member of the unit with his firepower.
The Devastators fired on another Tempestus Squad. Steve used the Take Cover stratagem. The squad managed to kill two of them.
To the north the Scouts fired at the Infantry Squad on the hill, killing two. The Intercessors added their firepower, killing four more. The Bikers fired at the lone survivor, killing him.
In the charge phase, the Hellblasters charged the last of the Plasma Gun Scions. Steve rolled a double 6 to hit in overwatch and killed one of the Hellblasters. The Dark Angels characters charged in as well. To the north, the Bikers charged an Infantry Squad.
The Dark Angels characters kill the Scion, Azrael consolidating into the Tempestor Prime. The Bikers only managed to kill one Guardsman for no damage in return.
At the end of my turn, I scored Overwhelming Firepower for 2 points and Blood and Guts. I discarded Secure Objective 3.
TURN 3- ASTRA MILITARUM
In his third turn, Steve drew Defend Objective 6 and Master the Warp to go with Kingslayer. Steve rolled to see which objective was removed and it was number 6 in his deployment zone.
With the Dark Angels' number diminished, the Guardsmen decided to advance on the enemy lines. The last unit of Militarum Tempestus landed near the Hellblasters. I used Auspex Scan, but failed to hit with any of my four shots, even with re-rolls!
One of the Psykers cast Smite, causing three mortal wounds once more and killing the Bikers. Another tried to cast Psychic Barrier, but failed to manifest the power. Another cast Nightshroud on the Basilisk.
In the shooting phase, the Guard were on the move. Two of the Scion units to the north were ordered to Move, Move, Move and both units rolled a 6 for their advance rolls. He then used Move, Move, Move on three more infantry units, two advanced another 6" and the last one only got to go 5". Steve's rolling was getting ridiculous at this stage, he seemed incapable of rolling below a 5+!
The Tempestor Prime ordered himself to fight Azrael, but failed to do any damage.
The newly arrived Scions fired at the Hellblaster and Lieutenant, killing them both. The Ancient allowed both to strike back, killing two of the Scions that had felled them.
The Basilisk fired at the Ancient, getting 6 shots once more (he had rolled a lot of 6's for the shots on the artillery). He used the Arial Spotter stratagem and put three wounds on the Ancient. I saved one. Steve rolled for damage and got four wounds. He used a command point re-roll to get 5 wounds and killed the Ancient.
The second Basilisk fired at the Intercessors on objective 4, getting 6 shots once more and killing one Intercessor.
The Tempestor Prime attacked Azrael, wounding him once before being cut down by the Dark Angels' warlord.
At the end of his turn, Steve scored Master the Warp for one point.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 11 (8 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 9 (5 cards scored)
At the end of turn 3, things were mixed. I had taken out a number of Guard units, but there were still plenty left. I meanwhile had few units remaining. I was ahead on points and close to scoring 10 cards to stop the maelstrom mission.
TURN 4- DARK ANGELS
In my fourth turn, I drew Assassinate, Defend Objective 3 and Domination. Quite possibly the worst hand I could draw this turn, as I would be unable to score any of them.
Azrael advanced towards the Devastators, blocking most of the enemy army from targeting him. The Intercessor squad out in the open started to move back towards the home base objective, held by the other unit of Intercessors.
The Devastators fired on the Scions in front of them. Steve used the Take Cover stratagem, but to no avail, as the unit was wiped out.
At the end of my turn, I discarded Domination. Steve scored Defend Objective 6.
TURN 4- ASTRA MILITARUM
In his fourth turn, Steve drew Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 2 and had Kingslayer. He used two command points to discard Kingslayer and drew Mission Critical Objective (objective 1) instead.
The two Platoon Commanders moved up on objective 3 to secure it. The other Guard units moved up on the remnants of the Dark Angels lines.
In the shooting phase, Steve used Move, Move, Move to secure Objective 1 with an Infantry Squad.
The Militarum Tempestus fired at the Scouts, killing the squad with the use of a command point re-roll. The other unit of Scions fired at the Intercessors, killing two of them with their overcharging Plasma Guns.
The Basilisks fire at the Devastators, only killing one with their combined firepower.
At the end of his turn, Steve scored Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 2 and two points for Mission Critical Objective. At this stage, Steve thought he had scored 10 maelstrom cards, so we ended the maelstrom mission and he got the three bonus points.
However, again upon writing this up, I discovered that he had only scored 9 cards so far. I think that we forgot that Priority Orders Received made him draw another card. This card got added to his "scored card" pile, even though the two cards only counted for one. Annoyingly, this was another error in his favour which was not discovered until far too late. Those two errors had cost me at least 7 victory points at this stage!
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 11 (8 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 17 (9 cards scored)
At the end of turn 4, things were bleak for the Dark Angels. Thanks to numerous errors, Steve was ahead on victory points and looked set to win on the Eternal War missions as well.
TURN 5- DARK ANGELS
The Devastators and Azrael moved up on the Infantry Squad, while the Intercessor continued to move back.
The Devastators fired at the Infantry squad, wounding them once, but the damage was saved. Azrael killed one with his Plasma Gun.
The Devastators then charged, the Infantry squad getting two hits and two wounds, but fortunately my armour held. Azrael also charged in, attacking and killing the squad. Both units consolidated in front of the objective.
TURN 5- ASTRA MILITARUM
The Infantry Squads moved up on the objective held by Azrael. The Plasma Scions fired at the Devastators, hitting and wounding once, but I made my invulnerable save.
The Guardsmen fired at the Devastators, killing one with their Lasgun fire. Another Scion squad killed the last Devastator.
He ordered the three Psykers to Move, Move, Move and all three rolled 6's for their Advance roll!
The Basilisks fired at Azrael, only causing two wounds in total, but I made both my saves.
With that, we ran out of time and the game ended. We each held two Eternal War objectives and Steve also had linebreaker.
VICTORY POINTS:
Dark Angels- 17 (8 cards scored)
Astra Militarum- 24 (9 cards scored)
 |
| End of the game. |
A win for the Astra Militarum.
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
That was a really tough game that had a lot of problems. Annoyingly, we had made two errors in points during the game that may have had a big impact on the result.
First, Steve couldn't have scored Priority Orders Received on turn 1, meaning the score at the end of turn 1 would have been 4-1 to me. This would have also had the impact of having him score one less card for each turn.
As it was, we also made the error in the number of cards he had scored, so he would not have ended the maelstrom mission and not got the bonus three points for the mission. That could have swung the game in my favour or at least brought it back to a draw. I only noticed these errors on writing the game up, which was a bit annoying.
Steve's rolling in this game was incredible! He started with 20 command points and must have used about 40 during the game. Every time one of us used a stratagem, he seemed to get all the command points back. It was a big boost to his army, allowing him to use key stratagems way more often than he should have been able to.
In addition, his rolls for Move, Move, Move were amazing. He used the order 8 times during the game and rolled a 6" advance seven out of eight times, as well as having well above average to hit and to wound rolls.
I commented to him that I was getting severely disheartened by the sheer volume of 6's he was rolling. His luck was exemplified by one of the Militarum Tempestus units, who fired 8 shots in a shooting phase and somehow got 12 hits from them! With rolling like that the whole game, it was a real struggle for my army to compete.
I'm not sure what else I could have done in this game. It might have been safer to keep the Black Knights and Sammael back on turn 1. This would have prevented the Scions from taking them out in turn 1 (though I was incapable of making a save, so the Lasguns may have ended them anyway). However, I wanted to take one of the Basilisks out early to diminish the enemy firepower and score first blood.
It might have been prudent to keep my units back and not try to advance on the enemy army. I could have used the Scouts to score the maelstrom points, they moved out towards the end of the game to hit the enemy army and try and score the final objectives.
As I said at the start, I think was a tough one for me. Had we had kill points, I think I may have done enough to win the game, taking out a lot of the enemy army. However, that was not the mission we used and Steve did well to get the win.
The timings for this game were:
Deployment start- 9.35 am
Deployment- 22 mins
DA Turn 1- 23 mins
AM Turn 1- 26 mins
DA Turn 2- 23 mins
AM Turn 2- 28 mins
DA Turn 3- 18 mins
AM Turn 3- 12 mins
DA Turn 4- 3 mins
AM Turn 4- 7 mins
DA Turn 5- 3 mins
AM Turn 5- 8 mins
So, with three games played, I was on two wins and one loss. Hopefully, I could pull out a win in my final game to end the weekend ahead.