I'm not actually sure if we've played a game of 40k since the new year began. My son and I started to wrack our brains and... I think... yeah! No game yet this year! That being said, I finished painting Roboute Guilliman just before the new year and Lord Calgar just after the new year. But since then, we've been busy and otherwise just working on the painting part of the hobby.
My wife is diligently trying to get her Sisters of Battle painted up and I even pulled out a bunch of bits and finished two old-school Immolators for the force. Unfortunately, there's still not a lot in her army and we decided to make a 1500 point list and include an Imperial Knight- just for fun, I promise! Of course there's a Saint Celestine involved and she's working really hard on that one. Beyond all that, it motivated me and my son to talk about a 'campaign'.
If I were to play the Ultramarines that I'm known for, then why would I be fighting the Sisters of Battle? We're on the same side and, in fact, Lord Calgar is kinda the head guy in the current fluff. And my boy wants to use his new Dark Angels, which could be the source of some conflict between green and blue but just doesn't really make sense (Lord Calgar has decided to 'overlook' the Sons of the Lion's actions on Vigilus while in need of arms). I have to paint the Ultramarines, and I'm more than happy to 'inspect' Azrael's holdings due to their reticence to take the Primaris gift, but I'm also a narrative guy and three Imperials beating on each other is not a good narrative.So I decided, in the interest of good storytelling, to pull out the Chaos marines. Oh how I've missed these guys! To boot, I'm including the Renegade Knight (Gallant, of course) and a bunch of fluffy choices like Possessed and Warp Talons! I figure that the coming of Abaddon is heralded by more than a gaggle of Raptors, including other legions getting involved as quickly as they can. Always up for a scrum against the boys-in-blue are the Word Bearers and they shall be involved in the attack on Vigilus! So our little in-house campaign, based on Vigilus, will include Ultramarines, Death Guard, Dark Angels, Word Bearers, and Sisters of Battle. Toss in some Orks, Eldar, and Astra Militarum and we've got ourselves a ton of actors for our little play! Did I mention that I'm a narrative guy?
All of that just to get to a battle report...
My son and I each chose 1500 points (to match the wife's army later)- his Dark Angels and my Word Bearers. For simplicity (and because my son is learning a whole new army), we decided that playing a simple "12-and-Kill" scenario was the way to go. And to keep it even more simple, we went with a really basic battlefield. This setup even gave me some nostalgia as I couldn't help but be reminded of how battlefields used to look when I first got into the hobby- green and empty!
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| The battlefield in the blaring morning sunlight |
Here's the story:
While the Dark Angels were doing their typical patrols, they received a coded alarm that one of their Chapter fortresses was being invaded. They may not have used the base in centuries, but it can't fall into enemy hands, whoever that enemy is. Grand Master Azrael gathered some forces and immediately made to secure the post.
Upon arrival, he found that the enemy was a hated Legion from ages past- the Word Bearers. Assuming their goal was to secure and utilize the bastion, Azrael's force focused on heavy weapons and speed. He even included a Ravenwing squad to ferret out any hint of the Fallen. Pulling plasma weapons from every broom closet on his barge, he armed his battle brothers to exterminate the heretics.
The Word Bearers had not yet gotten into the locked portals of the ancient battle-fortress, but they brought some vicious forces themselves. Having allied with a Renegade Knight and some rebels from the planet's population, the Chaos forces felt confident that they'd defeat whatever they had to face.
His forces- Azrael, Ezekiel, a Company Master with Relic Blade and Lion's Roar, an Ancient with a bolter, 2 Tactical Squads with a chainsword and plasma all around, a combat squad with a power fist and plasma where it could be sitting in a twin-lascannon Razorback, 2 Ravenwing bikers with a couple of plasma guns, a Devastator Squad with all plasma cannons and a Devastator Squad with a couple of missile launchers and a couple of heavy bolters. Whew! That's a lot of pew-pew of the plasma variety!
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| Deployment |
The mission was even simpler- a Kill Point for every unit wiped out plus the current secondary objectives. I had nine units in my army and he deployed 11. Since he finished deploying first, he chose to go first. Would the Chaos gods permit a seize? Of course not. The controllers of randomness are as fickle as they are tempting...
Battle Round 1
The Dark Angels started their attack by rushing the Razorback over the hill to immediately engage the Annihilator. With combined firepower from the Devastators in trees, enough damage was dealt to destroy the tank. But the gods blessed the ancient hull it survived on one wound (and some Command Point spending). Meanwhile, the rest of the firepower-from-the-forest was able to fell a couple of the Possessed in the ruins, mitigating that threat before they could get started. Finally, the Ravenwing stormed forward and put tons of bolter rounds into the trees to kill a marine and some overcharged plasma into the Renegade Knight. With some good rolling, the ion shields held and the massive war machine only lost two wounds.The response was shocking. The Renegade Knight stomped toward the bikers while unleashing stormspear rockets into the Razorback to instantly destroy it. One Dark Angel was killed in the blast and before they could recover, they were mobbed by Cultists and whizzing ammunition and lascannon blasts, felling almost everyone and leaving the Master rather exposed. The heretic Sorcerer cast some powers on those Cultists, proud to invoke the blessings of the warp. Three of the Ravenwing were stomped to death and the final marine from the Razorback was dragged down by the Cultists, leaving a mighty character locked up with the Chaos-worshiping rabble. The Dark Angels were reeling...
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| Score Round 1: 0-3 |
Battle Round 2
The Ravenwing immediately retreated from the Renegade Knight and hid behind the ruins to determine their next step. The Company Master desperately fought for his life against the Cultists, killing many more with his Relic Blade. But before his eyes, the survivors slunk away into the fog of the battlefield and disappeared... Azrael saw his firebase being pressured by a mob of Possessed and chainsword-armed Chaos Marines, so he ordered all of the guns into the daemon-things and wiped out that enemy unit with prejudice. The Tactical Squad in the middle of the battlefield took advantage of the Ravenwing's retreat and poured plasma into the ion shields until another few wounds broke through the Renegade Knight's shell. Finally, a well-aimed shot finished off the crippled Annihilator that wouldn't die. Frantically, the Dark Angels prepared for the response again.
It started with a Daemon Prince screaming into the face of the Company Master and charging with furious abandon. The Company Master used his artifact combi-plasma in overwatch and exploded, robbing the Lord of Chaos of a sweet victory. Azrael watched in horror as the Cultists that had abandoned the now dead Master appeared behind his Devastator line, guns blazing! When the smoke cleared and more Command Points spent, there were no casualties as the marines' armor proved superior to autoguns. The Sorcerer tried to take advantage of the confusion and used Warptime to speed up the advancing close-combat marines and threaten Azrael's position from the other side. As the marines advanced, they immolated a couple of the loyalist Tactical Marines frozen in defense. The Renegade Knight, without a target now that the bikers had retreated, turned and immediately assaulted the Tactical Squad that had just shot him. Wisely, he was even able to get into combat with Ezekiel, locking down the Dark Angel's most powerful psyker. With might feet, he stomped half the squad, used his massive reaver chainsword to destroy the loyalist psyker, and conspicuously dominated the center of the battlefield...
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| Score Round 2: 2-5 |
Grand Master Azrael needed that moment to take stock of the battlefield. A Renegade Knight was threatening his left flank and Cultists were behind him, while a mob of Chaos Marines backed up by a Daemon Prince and a Sorcerer threatened the position from head on and separated his forces from the fortress they'd come to secure. Assessing the urgency of the threats and determining the tactics to handle them, he quipped orders through the vox and watched his army mobilize. The Tactical Marines facing the Knight retreated and allowed the Ravenwing and elements of the firebase to pound the war machine, bringing it down in an anticlimactic crumble. Other elements of the firebase turned their attention to the sneaky Cultists and shot most of them down, leaving only the Champion standing among the pile of corpses. The Chaos Marines coming straight at the woods despite seeing their war machine taken down, unfortunately took the brunt of the defensive Tactical Marines before they were charged and nearly cut down by the Dark Angels, including the impatient Azrael himself! Azrael's orders were turning the tides...
The Word Bearers, uncaring to the state of the battle, continued the mindless goal of slaughter. The enraged Daemon Prince finished off the Tactical Marines that had suffered stomps and killed two more of the Ravenwing with his daemon gun, laughing maniacally at the slaughter. The Sorcerer decided to take matters into his own hands and leapt into combat with the Dark Angel Tactical Marines after smiting one with his powers. Better yet, reality tore itself apart at that moment as the unit of Warp Talons showed and blinded loyalists all around so they couldn't defend themselves. Unfortunately, the Daemon Prince's mirth was contagious and the daemon-spawn failed to charge as well. The squad of Chaos Marines that were hiding in the trees finally mobilized to join the battle. Still confident, the Word Bearers' efforts were beginning to stall. |
| Score Round 3: 4-6 |
Azrael was now feeling very confident. No longer having a Knight to worry about and seeing the Sorcerer tied up by his marines, he knew that his firebase could handle the last remaining threats. There were Warp Talons looking to charge the trees and a Daemon Prince still aching for slaughter, so he ordered his guns on them. The remaining Ravenwing sergeant focused on hurting the Daemon Prince while the Devastators focused on the Warp Talons. After a torrent of firepower, one Warp Talon remained and the Daemon Prince still laughed...
The Warp Talon leapt over to help free the Sorcerer just in time to watch the renegade warlord get cut down by the Dark Angel marines. In revenge, he hacked with his daemon-claws until only one marine stood, ready to finish him off and get at the loyalist warlord to return the act. The Daemon Prince stared down the Ravenwing sergeant before finally just eviscerating him from the air with his daemon-sword. The chase was over and the bikers were finally finished. Emboldened by this destruction, the Cultist Champion tried to charge into the woods and lock up the marines for his allies, only to be shot down just as he started the dash. The daemon-things weren't concerned as they could only think about getting to Azrael. |
| Score Round 4: 7-7 |
There was not much for Azrael to do. His forces were now dominating the battlefield and only the Daemon Prince and a Warp Talon remained as any threat. With well-place firepower, the Warp Talon was exploded from a storm of plasma. The rest of the Devastators opened up on the advancing Daemon Prince and wounded it so bad that it limped at them. Azrael, fearing he would have to charge into hand-to-hand with this creature, turned his gun and fired the fatal the shot that ended the monster.Their warlord, the Sorcerer, slain and the Daemon Prince now banished from this realm, the remaining squad of Chaos Marines discreetly abandoned the battlefield and mission of taking the Imperial fortress. It was a decisive victory for the Dark Angels.
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| Score Round 5: 9-7 |
Well, that was fun! It was also nice to have more painted models on the table than normal (no thanks to my own lack of motivation these years). My son also appreciated the ability to play his army and learn it a little better. It's funny that he kept forgetting about Azrael's buff in the game- I remember that Death Guard don't have a lot of that!
As for this campaign that we're going to do- this was the first battle to try to place that first flag on a tile. Unfortunately, it fails and this means that the tile will keep its Imperial flag. No worries- there's plenty of other places on this planet to attack and the Chaos forces aren't known for turning away those opportunities.
And I'm really excited to see my wife's Sisters of Battle hit the battlefield for this story. She bought and built a new Sanctum terrain piece that I think her new force is going to have to defend from the Word Bearers. And she has an Imperial Knight (Errant). This ought to be interesting...
Let me know about your games below. As always- Happy Gaming!
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