Maelstrom of Chaos

  I was able to get quite a few games in a short period of time.  But them I took forever getting the pictures uploaded and blogging about it.  This time my son and I were going to play a unique 40k game.  While it was still going to use a Maelstrom of War mission, we were going to use an army list that my high-level tournie-player buddy made for my son.  This army is meant to claim objectives and put out high damage without depending on static Devastators and expensive characters. 

By Ameeeeba on Deviant Art

  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the armies.  His Dark Angels consisted of two Battalions- Scouts as Troops in one and Combat Squads in the other, armed with heavy bolters and missile launchers to take advantage of the mortal wound-based strategems.  There was also a blob of Deathwing Terminators led by Belial and a Terminator Librarian, and a blob of Black Knights led by Sammael in Sableclaw (his Land Speeder).  Toss in an Ancient and Apothecary and a flyer with Rift Cannon and suddenly the mysterious marines have a lot of options.   

  My army was my typical Word Bearers using Red Corsairs rules (for the obvious reason that Word Bearers' rules suck!).  A single Battalion led by Huron, a Daemon Prince with wings, and a Sorcerer, it included two small squads of marines with heavy weapons and a massive blob that was for dying and recycling using the Red Corsair strategem, plus the obligatory autocannon Havocs.  I added a horde of Possessed led by a Greater Possessed, a unit of Obliterators, and a couple of Heldrakes.  This force is all too familiar and has been destroying the Dark Angels for some time now. 

  The battlefield was going to be our typical 'Cityfight' board with the Mechanicum stuff in the middle.  But my son chose a different mat- not a problem but interesting and so obvious that I kind of felt embarrassed.  That's why fresh eyes are good.  When it came time for deployment, I chose the diagonal style to keep control of how he placed his army.  This was very important because I don't want to have that entire wall of firepower gutting me before I even get a turn.  

  The Dark Angels deployed in buildings where possible, and clustered his Terminators and Bikers around their bosses to start with and keep the buffs.  The Chaos marines deployed with their firepower and Possessed int he middle and the blobs of marines and flyers out on the flanks.  This was in an effort to avoid as much of the loyalist pressure as they could to start. 

Deployment

Battle Round 1

Dark Angels draw

  The Dark Angels, having deployed first, chose to take the first turn.  The flyer immediately jetted forward and launched a salvo into the enemy forces.  Unfortunate dice rolls and great saves meant that the damage was very minimal.  The Ravenwing rapidly jumped out to get in range of one of the Heldrakes, pumping loads of plasma with rerolls from nearby Sammael and knocking the daemon-machine from the sky.  The marines with heavy bolters and missile launchers contributed, using up a number of command points, but easily worth it. 
  The rest of the Chaos forces were ignored, using the 'hammer' tactic and putting pressure right in the middle.  At this point, the Dark Angels had scored First Strike and two of the objectives, giving a respectable score of three to end the turn.   

End Dark Angels Turn 1

Chaos Space Marines draw

 The Chaos marines responded with force.  The Possessed, still nearly full strength after the onslaught by the loyalist flyer, sprinted across the battlefield, took some Warptime from the nearby Sorcerer, and immediately charged the Ravenwing element to wipe out all the Black Knights with the Daemon Prince.  It was a glorious moment to be a daemon!  Behind them, the heavy weapon Marines and Havocs opened up with Veterans of the Long War and knocked the enemy flyer out of the sky.  Finall, the surviving Heldrake flew over the huge mob of advancing Marines on the far flank and engaged the sniper Scouts hiding in the ruins to give allied characters more freedom of movement. 
  Having wiped out the Black Knights, killed the flyer, and even caused some damage to another unit, the forces of Chaos were very happy indeed.  With gathering a couple of objectives as well, the Word Bearers took the lead 4-3. 

End Chaos Space Marines Turn 1

Battle Round 2

Dark Angels draw

  The game was still very close and the Dark Angels had not lost all their teeth yet.  Sammael took the opportunity to fly over the heretic lines to mow some down, then rammed the Daemon Prince in the back and killed him.  It was a very strong reminder of just how powerful the Master of the Ravenwing really is.  The rest of the army had fewer targets and concentrated on killing Havocs and heavy weapon marines.  Again, poor dice rolls meant everyone but the Havocs suffered minimal damage.  The Havocs, however, took mortal wounds after mortal wounds from strategems and heavy bolters/missile launchers and lost almost all their number.  It was brutal, despite cover save bonuses and such.  

  A couple of the objective points were out of range, so the Dark Angels had to focus on killing the Heldrake.  Having evaded the massive amount of firepower from the loyal firebase and weathered the Storm Bolter doom from the nearby Terminators, the Heldrake was annoyingly resilient.  Bravely, the Deathwing Apothecary charged and survived the baleflame attack, assuming that those nearby Terminators would join him.  Unfortunately, the rough terrain of the ruins slowed them down and they just couldn't make it.  Without enough attacks or a powerful enough weapon, the medic was unable to do enough damage to the daemon-flyer and those objective points became impossible.  A perfect example of dice telling a story...

End Dark Angels Turn 2

Chaos Space Marine draw

    Continuing their implacable advance, the Chaos Marines showed no mercy and continued their slaughter.  The Possessed, watching their Daemon Prince get cut down, counter-charged and slammed Master Sammael into the dirt.  The Heldrake jumped into the teeth of the Dark Angels' firebase and feebly tried to flame some to death.  Even with firepower from surviving heavy weapon Marines and Havocs, the attempt was fruitless.  The huge mob of marines continued their swarming through the area and peppered the building with a sniper Scout, finishing the unit off and guaranteeing Huron's safety.  The Sorcerer even emerged from the ruined Shrine to watch the loyalist Master meed his end.
  The biggest problem for the loyalists was when the Obliterators teleported behind the Deathwing and unleashed a volley of firepower that nearly wiped out the unit even with their invulnerable Terminator suits.  Just like that, the Ravenwing and Deathwing were destroyed and the firebase was the only hope.  Unfortunately, the Chaos Marines also couldn't score many points, and now the game was tied. 

End Chaos Space Marines Turn 2

Battle Round 3

Dark Angels draw

  The Dark Angels aren't able to score a ton of points, but they are still in the game with a tied score and plenty of firepower to manage the threats.  Unless the Chaos Marines do something perfidious again...

  Putting as much firepower downrange as they could, the Dark Angels' firebase was able to destroy the remaining Heldrake and remove that immediate threat.  Master Belial and the Librarian decided to handle the Obliterators and turned to face them.  With their combined might, they were able to cut down one of them and severely wound the other.  But their daemonic fists were powerful and destroyed the Librarian.  These daemonic bests were vicious!

  The Dark Angels scored some points despite losing such important models.  But the Chaos Marines also earned points by defending an objective, denying the Imperial forces from pulling away in victory.  The heretics were frustrating...

End Dark Angels Turn 3

Chaos Space Marines draw

  The Word Bearers had Possessed and heavy weapon Marines to hold objectives around the now-cleared battlefield.  The Obliterators killed Belial and finished off the loyalists' command elements.  The firebase was still out of range, until Huron ordered the massive mob of Chaos Space Marines to 'sneak around the back'.  Using the strategem, the full squad suddenly appeared just outside the firebase and began laying bolter death into the ones they could reach.  The Dark Angels suffered many casualties, but most importantly saw their final line of defense breached.  The perfidiousness!
  Scoring plenty of objective points in this Battle Round, including slaying the Warlord and dominating nearly the entire battlefield, the Chaos Marines pulled ahead in the game. 

End Chaos Space Marines Turn 3

  Unfortunately, Chaos now being so far ahead and the Dark Angels have so few forces left, it meant that the Dark Angels had to quit the battlefield.  Another Chaos victory!  It was a truly brutal game and really depended on being able to deal enough damage while also taking it.  We discussed a couple of things after this game-

1.  While this army was a fantastic army considering what we have access to, it's made more for ITC missions where you can control your objectives.  In this Maelstrom, the Dark Angels performed very well but they simply lost the war of attrition and couldn't keep achieving random objectives. 

2.  This Chaos Space Marine army is a blast to play!  It's not nearly as optimized as it could be (and my tournie-bro buddy has already proven it with his own Possessed-bomb force) but it still puts out some insane damage each turn.  With the mobility of the flyers and Legion trait, plus the buff on daemonic Possessed, this army is actually effective AND fun! 

3.  My son isn't interested in this level of gaming.  Using army lists with imbalanced consideration for effectiveness over fluff isn't his jam (I'm so proud- I've trained him well) and he wants to just use good, fluffy forces.  The intricate tactics and advanced army-building concepts are cool, but the story is much easier to enjoy. 

  This was a very good game and it motivated my son to pull out his other army and ask for a game already.  Unfortunately, this other army includes a Mortarion and I'm not sure my Word Bearers can handle something like that.  Gotta give it a go, though...