It was my wife's birthday and she gave me the gift of getting our game on finally. She has been working on painting up her Sisters of Battle so much lately that she almost forgot there was a game to use all those models in! I got her old-school Immolators built and primed (and even fixed the poor Exorcist that I didn't do great with the last time) and we set up for the next battle in our campaign.
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I didn't change the battlefield up too much from the last battle- just replacing the Fortress of Redemption with a new and old Sanctum kit to better represent the Sororitas territory.Here's the continuing story:
After his crushing defeat, the Chaos Sorcerer needed a way to get his forces deep in enemy territory for all the slaughter his blood rituals required. Evaluating his tactical intel, he found an old section of ruins that was considered sacred by the corpse-worshipers. Likely undefended, his forces could desecrate the site and contribute further to weakening reality for his rituals. Unfortunately, the Sorcerer didn't know the whole story.
The Adeptus Sororitas, being alerted to the presence of Chaos on the planet, mobilized a small defense force to secure certain sites. The sacred ruins of an ancient Sanctum could be found outside the densest population center and would be an obvious target. The Canoness prayed for help and mustered all she could for the upcoming battle.
Having no reinforcements since the last battle, the heretic forces remain the same. They consisted a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh with wings, a hellforged sword, and that elixir that everyone loves, a Sorcerer, a squad of 17 autogun-wielding Cultists, 10 marines with a couple of plasma guns and a power fist, 10 more marines armed for close combat and rocking a couple flamers and a power sword under their Banner of Excess, a unit of Possessed with a Banner of Excess, 5 Warptalons, an Annihilator, and a Knight Gallant with a stormspear rocket pod. More for the up-close-and-personal approach- the way Slaanesh likes it!
Her forces consisted of St. Celestine, a Canoness with a bolt pistol and Mantle of Ophelia, 10 Sisters with a power sword, storm bolter, meltagun, and simalucrum imperialis, two small units with power swords and meltaguns riding in Immolators, Retributor with heavy bolters, 3 squads of Seraphim with hand flamers, power swords, and plasma pistols for a couple of them, an Exorcist, and an Imperial Knight Errant with icarus autocannons and a meltagun.
That equals out to four additional Faith Points, using the new beta codex in Chapter Approved 2018. The force was definitely less points than it used to be and it was going to be interesting to see how these basic elements of this army worked. As it turns out, the Faith Points weren't that important in this battle, but I blame that more on the size and limited collection we have.
The Word Bearers deployed in a thin line across the battlefield to face the Imperials. The Annihilator and Daemon Prince held down the woods and kept the Renegade Knight's flank protected, while the squad of shooty Marines deployed atop the hill to be able to pick targets. Finally, a giant horde of Cultists followed by frenzied Marines and Possessed wrapped around the Sorcerer to keep him safe. With a simple strategy of attacking the enemy from every angle, the Warp Talons stayed in the warp to arrive later.The Sisters answered by deploying in a line meant to swing into the enemy. The anchor Exorcist parked in the ruins with the Knight Errant and Celestine ready to leap forward and engage. The other side of the ruins saw the Retributors, a full Immolator, and the mob of Sisters standing ready with their Canoness. A final squad in Immolator took position in the other woods to flank the enemy. With a counterstrike in mind, the remaining squads of Seraphim remained in reserve.
We kept the mission simple again- "Kill and 12". This meant that we got Victory Points for killing units and also the current Secondary Objectives. As before, this battle is more-or-less a chance to learn the armies and add some narrative to the campaign. The forces of Chaos, still burning from their last defeat, chose to go first.
Battle Round 1
The Word Bearers immediately leapt into action, pushing the Cultists-led horde forward to get as close to the enemy as possible. Unfortunately, the Sorcerer was too busy directing the mob to successfully manifest any powers. The Marines on the hill took the initiative and descended to behind the ruins in the hopes of gunning down one of the glowing Seraphim. Unfortunately, their Shield of Faith ability kept most of the target alive. The Renegade Knight stomped forward, ready to kill the loyalist Knight. Knowing that he couldn't reach his target immediately, he ironically took cover behind the Imperial statue and fired his weapons at the Exorcist in the ruins. Damaging the heavy tank, the Renegade Knight fired his stubber into the Seraphim to keep their heads down. Looking up, he waited in satisfaction for the opposing Knight to accept his challenge. In support, the Annihilator blasted the Knight Errant, with some of the damage blocked by the ion shields. The Daemon Prince calmly watched to see where he could slaughter the most, eager to unleash slaughter on something.
The Sisters of Battle rushed up with the Immolators and used one to fry a couple of Chaos Marines right away. The unmounted squad of sisters unloaded their weapons into the Cultists and killed a few but watched in horror as the unit was unaffected. St. Celestine, her Seraphim entourage, and the Knight Errant moved to attack the Renegade Knight and were disappointed to see the shields of the heretical war machine hold. Looking to bypass that advantage, the loyalist Knight tried to charge the Renegade but found the Imperial Statue in the way. Wisely, the Exorcist unloaded her missiles into the Predator hiding in the woods, crippling it and almost destroying it. It was a stressful beginning to the engagement, but Sisters aren't known for their lack of tenacity... |
| Round 1 Score: 0-0 |
Battle Round 2
The Word Bearers became more frenzied as the Sisters closed with them. The mob of Cultists slunk away in the confusion just as the Possessed and close-combat-focused Marines ran up to engage. The Marines made their way through the ruins of the old Sanctum and used their flamers to kill a couple of the Sisters in unholy flame. The Possessed, spurred on by their Sorcerer's power, jumped onto the hull of the nearest Immolator and ripped holes in the tank. Content with that flank, the Sorcerer turned and cast the power of aim on the bolter-armed squad of Marines. They targeted the Seraphim again, this time felling almost all of them. Some added firepower from the rest of the Chaos forces saw the last two angelic guardians fall. It was this act that finally convinced the Warp Talons to tear into reality behind the Exorcist, but they were more happy to simply watch the destruction unfold. The crippled Annihilator poured lascannons into the loyalist Knight, hoping to soften it further before the Renegade Knight charged in. Taking the opportunity, the Renegade Knight deftly moved behind the Errant and used its massive fist to rip the entire fusion reactor out of the war machine. Unfortunately, that fusion reactor exploded and severely damaged the Renegade. But it was worth it...
The Sisters of Battle were terrified to see their allied Knight Errant explode! But this was not the time for consideration and they pressed the attack. Five angry Sisters disembarked from the damaged Immolator, which retreated from the daemon-spawn. With firepower from every unit that could target them, the Possessed were killed off with bullets and melta-beam. Just then, another unit of Seraphim descended and lent their firepower to the big unit's and another Exorcist against the chainsword-wielding Chaos Marines. Once they saw half the Marines downed, the big squad of Sisters drew their combat blades and slammed into combat, wiping out most of the heretics while only losing one. The Canoness hung back and knew that her Sisters had everything under control. Agreeing, St. Celestine charged into combat with the other squad that had killed her entourage, adding her strength to the small unit that had disembarked to do the same. The enemy was locked up and it was looking promising for the Imperials.  |
| Score Round 2: 2-1 |
Battle Round 3
The mayhem had built until the slaughter exploded across the battlefield. Cultists, which had snuck up behind the Sisters and gunned down most of the Retributors, moved and prepared to assault both the Canoness and Retributors. The element of surprise was on the traitors' side and they caught both units unaware. It was going to be a brutal fight. Meanwhile, the two squads of Chaos Marines fought as hard as they could but finally fell to the unerring onslaught of the Bloody Rose Sisters' knives and hatred. The Renegade Knight turned and limped toward the Exorcist missile tank, firing more missiles into it but failing to cover the ground in its damaged state. Angry at the failure, the Daemon Prince abandoned the Predator and ran right at St. Celestine. With an infernal roar, he fired his Warp Bolter into the remaining Sisters and killed them off, turned his attention to the holy leader and hacked her completely in half, only for the living saint to reappear in a flash feet away. The Prince never noticed and stomped towards the Immolator. 
The Exorcist unloaded its rockets into the crippled Annihilator and was rewarded with an explosion from the woods. The large squad of Sisters consolidated back to their Canoness and began killing the Cultists that threatened her and the surviving Retributor. With the pressure building and their bravery waning, the Cultists finally dispersed. Seraphim patiently maneuvered to find the Sorcerer and immediately attacked when they did. He would die for his heresy. The last real threat on the battlefield was the badly-damaged Renegade Knight. St. Celestine hesitantly approached it, ready to fight it herself if needed. But a salvo of missiles from the Exorcist crippled the war machine. Summoning her divine powers in the form of fire jetting from her sword, she melted the Knight and let the wreckage crumble to the ground. It was time to turn her attention to the Warp Talons screaming in the rear.  |
| Score Round 3: 4-7 |
Battle Round 4
With very few assets left, the goal of the Word Bearers was now to cause as much damage as they could. The resurrection of the Living Saint and the inability to finish off the Canoness was demoralizing. Luckily, Daemon Princes and Daemons aren't known for their morale, so that slaughter would continue. The Warp Talons charged into the now useless Exorcist and failed to damage the thick armor. The Daemon Prince shot and killed some of the Seraphim that had just taken the Warlord's head, then noticed that St. Celestine was still alive and killed her a second time with his sword. Before he decided to charge into the flame tanks, they incinerated the Prince and purified the blasphemy. The Canoness would turn her force's attention to the Warp Talons later. It was obvious who the victor was on this battlefield. |
| Score Round 4: 5-9 |
Okay, another battle done and another victory for the Imperials in our little campaign. I think it may be time to amend the Word Bearers army just a bit. It was more than awesome to see the Sisters of Battle in use with the new beta codex rules, as well. The beta codex version isn't bad and I'm not sure I'm ready to face this force once we have more models. A horde of Sisters all shooting bolters at 2+, charging and getting 2 str 4 attacks each... that can pass a Faith test and fight again! Yeah, not too shabby.
Congrats to the wife for winning at 40k. She insists that we play some AoS now, so that may be the next battle report. Stay tuned for more. And, as always, Happy Gaming!
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