I finally finished painting my army and my son and I could play our very first ever fully-painted game. This is exciting as I haven't played one of these in over a decade now. I remember how nice a battle with two fully-painted forces and well-done terrain could be and the draw it created for newer players, but I don't get to have it at home where I have a newer player! Now...
I'm using my newly-complete Custodes army against his Death Guard in a Maelstrom of War mission. This means that we'll have random objectives that could determine the outcome of the game, but it's always fun to blame a loss on the cards. We rolled for the mission, "Decapitation Strike". The unique part of this mission is that you get to remove objective cards for slaying characters and warlords. Unfortunately, that rule was quickly forgotten as the use of painted armies on painted terrain was the focus. Well, let's have a battle in the campaign...
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| credit to https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Ka3xgy |
The little campaign that we're narrating with our battles isn't complicated and the Death Guard have taken their fair share of losses so far...
The Chaos forces were in disarray after the disastrous battle against the Ultramarines. The Word Bearers simply abandoned their new allies without a word, which was odd from the most vociferous of legions. The Death Guard and Mortarian were left to figure out their next move and exact their vengeance upon the cursed Imperium. Slipping away into the night, the Death Guard found a nearby world that was all but abandoned and had no strategic importance. Littered with long-dead battlefields and empty fortresses, the planet was a perfect hiding place and staging ground for whatever the next campaign would be. Away from the primary warzone, the renegades focused on summoning daemonic legions and preparing for war.
Unfortunately, the bodyguard of the Emperor were en-route to enforce the Lord Commander's edict and detected a renegade force in the area. With technologies unknown even to the Astartes, the Custodes tracked the Death Guard down and immediately prepared to attack. Captain-General Valoris was in attendance and chose this quick detour as a chance to vent some of his hatred. Their mission could wait until they had destroyed one of the Emperor's heretical sons...
The Battlefield
Because these are fully-painted armies and my collection of fully-painted terrain isn't quite what it needs to be, we went with a simple battlefield. The ever-present Fortress of Redemption dominates the center in order to block line-of-sight and split the battlefield into 'zones'. The rest of the terrain is stock GW hills, craters, and woods, made to add to the dead 'feel' of the area, and rocky water-ponds hand-made long ago by someone else. Not only do these water features add some color to the terrain, but they also match up to the game mat rather well.
The game mat is from Gamemat.eu and we've been using it for some time. It isn't as sexy with unpainted miniatures on the board, so I've avoided taking pictures. Now that we have painted models that can stand out against the detailed ground in photos, it's time to put these mats into rotation! More than anything, this battlefield is set up with showing off the models and testing out photography in mind over tactics and balance. But it is still a game...
The Forces
Chaos-
The Chaos forces consisted of two Battalions and a Super-heavy Auxiliary, grossing him 13 Command Points! Mortarian was of present as one of the detachments, overseeing both Daemons of Nurgle and the Death Guard he commands. The Daemonic Battalion included a Greater Unclean One, a Pox-bringer (Herald of Nurgle), a unit of three Nurgling bases, and two ten-man Plaguebearer units with full command. The Death Guard Battalion consisted of a Lord of Contagion, a Chaos Lord of Nurgle, a unit of Blightlord Terminators armed with Reaper and combi-plas, and three units of Plague Marines- two with Plasma Guns all around and a Power Fist and one with a couple of Blight Launchers and a Power Fist.
Beyond just bringing a Daemon-Primarch with some psychic shenanigans, there is a fair amount of
firepower and resilience in this force. The Custodes are going to have to wade through the sea of daemons that aren't easy to kill to get to the even tougher heretics that are blasting them with some pretty powerful ammo.
Adeptus Custodes-
You can see the whole army breakdown in the last post, but the pic is pretty WYSIWYG. The Custodes force consists of a Battalion and a Vanguard, grossing only nine Command Points. Led by Trajann Valoris, the Battalion also includes a Shield Captain, three units of 3 Custodian Guard, and two units of Vertus Praetors. The Vanguard adds a Shield-captain in Terminator armor, a Vexilla Praetor, a unit of three Wardens, and a unit of three Allarus Terminators.
With only 25 models equaling out to just over 100 wounds, taking advantage of cover would usually be a good idea. Unfortunately, the battlefield is actually a battlefield and lacks the survivable features for this tactic. In that case, keeping a couple of units in reserve is going to be a consideration and then 'blobbing' everyone else up around the banner will be the next best bet.
Deployment
The Chaos forces deployed across the entire board, focusing the daemon contingent around the bunker with the artillery and supporting troops and with Mortarian and two squads of marines taking up the other flank. The general plan was to rain artillery doom on the golden enemies while the daemons trudged across the field and Morty's group caused as much havoc and attracted as much attention as possible. To further reinforce those tactical options, the Death Guard held a squad of Terminators and the Lord of Contagion in teleport strike, hoping to catch a hole in the Imperial defense.
Trajann ordered his small army to crowd behind the fortress and face down the Daemon Primarch directly. A squad of Vertus Praetors hid and prepared to harass the daemon force while everyone else focused on the ad-hoc mission at hand. The other unit of Vertus Praetors, a unit of Allarus Terminators, and the Allarus captain all remained in reserves for obvious reasons (the Vertus Praetors took a command point to hold back).
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| The reserves for this battle |
Battle Round 1
Since the Chaos forces were the first to deploy, they took the initiative and went first. The objectives drawn weren't helpful, so the use of some command points replaced one- which still didn't help! All the objectives meant to be captured and/or defended were on the other side of the table and the heretics weren't going to be able to get any this turn. So the focus was turned to slaughter!
The forces around the bunker moved in and up to take position around an objective point and preparing to receive the incoming Imperial forces later, with the Plagueburst Mortar laying down suppression fire and wounding one of the golden opponents. The other half of the line saw Mortarion float forward menacingly, remembering his long hatred of his father's best buddies. With contempt, he fired his Lantern into the lines only to see the ancient weapon fizzle off the Custodes armor. Even the support firepower coming from the Plague Marines behind him failed to do any damage. It was frustrating for the forces of Chaos already.
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| Chaos Turn 1 |
The Custodes then got their chance. The objectives draw was just as productive as it was for the Chaos forces, with objectives that were on the other side of the table or just not really possible. Luckily, the Custodes can use a single command point to replace one of the cards and... it still didn't really help.
With only a moment to give the orders, Trajann simply pressed forward with his whole army, almost completely focused on the Daemon Primarch threatening them already. A dozen spears and axes unleashed their blessed bolter rounds into the target and drew some blood, but nowhere enough to matter to the chaos-laden monster. The unit of Vertus Praetors was sent into the daemon lines to cause disruption and havoc and hopefully accomplish the 'divide and conquer' principle that such a small, elite army needs. Unfortunately, the jetbikes could only speed toward the tiny Nurglings who, suprisingly, would not die to the power lances. But they fired their other weapons into the daemons just behind on the way in and were able to eliminate one of the threats before being bogged down.
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| Custodes Turn 1 |
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| End Battle Round 1- Chaos 1, Custodes 2 |
Battle Round 2
This mission sees objective cards stack and so the Chaos forces drew three more. Once again, the cards were not in the favor of the plague-ridden forces and scoring points was going to be more difficult than the Daemon-Primarch expected. But there were still Imperial forces to crush and that would be the focus.
The round began with teleport chambers opening up and dropping Nurgle Terminators right behind the enemy lines, ready to spray and splay everything they could. Unfortunately, the Custodes paid no mind to the flash and arrival behind them, still wholly focused on killing the Daemon-Primarch. But Mortarian was not without guile and flew to land right at the end of the Custodes line. With the beam from his Lantern, he immediately felled a couple of the noble warriors and charged into the survivors. Trajann heroically intervened, but found his way into combat just in time to watch two of his squads be scythed from reality and the evil beast smiling in joy. Attempting for vengeance, he swung his massive axe and put some wounds on the the Primarch, but it wasn't enough.
Meanwhile, the Nurglings retreated from the bikers and allowed the Greater Unclean One and his herald to take over. They giggled as they watched one of the bikes be cut down instantly and began hopping around to play with the objective. They giggled more as the mortar unleashed more booms over their heads, watching as another Custodes fell to the cursed ammo. They giggled so hard that the little daemons fell into their position and stole any chance of claiming the objective from the bikers. It wasn't their intent, but the playfulness of Nurglings has its advantages...
In all the mayhem, other squads of Plague Marines simply advanced to secure objectives and lay down firepower in support of their Lord, finding that their firepower simply pinged from the golden armor and powerful force fields of the loyalist bodyguard. Undeterred, they set up to handle the survivors of whatever Mortarian chooses to go after.
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| Chaos Turn 2 |
Unfortunately, the forces of Chaos were far underestimated the morale effects of their efforts, being used to the Imperial lapdogs fleeing from such an onslaught. Custodes are not normal 'lapdogs' and pressed their efforts more. The draw of the cards saw some fantastic choices- the Emperor's eyes were on his soldiers this day!
The Vertus Praetors retreated from the combat with the Greater Daemon and his backup, hoping to put some firepower into the Primarch and save their Captain-General, but Trajann refused to back off to allow this support The surrounding units of Custodes charged in to help their leader and, with the combined might of a dozen blades and the skill of ancient warriors, were able to cut the monster down. The Daemon-Primarch flashed as he was removed from reality, banished back to the warp and forced to heal the wounds of the physical attack and the shock of the power of these recently-released warriors. Maybe a new plan just for crushing these forces would be in order...
Not content with simply accomplishing their mission and focusing on wiping out all the heretic forces, the Custodes brought in their reserves. The second unit of Vertus Praetors descended to lend support to the Wardens holding the flank and the Terminators all appeared near the daemon-line with the plan to banish the Greater Unclean One and advance against the artillery in the backfield. It was the patience of seasoned warriors that kept them from engaging across all fronts, leaving just a moment for the heretics to try to gather themselves together again...
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| Custodes Turn 2 |
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| End Round 2- Chaos 5, Custodes 8 |
Battle Round 3
The loss of their Daemon-Primarch was shock, but the forces of Nurgle were not to be denied. Unfortunately, the card draw still wasn't very helpful and it was going to require a little more than motivation to achieve this victory.
The Plague Marines contingent that was in support of Mortarian continued to press their attack, blasting golden loyalists and then charging in to crush as many as they could. The Greater Unclean One bellowed as he charged into the newly arrived Terminators, slaying one with his massive blade and eagerly eying the Captain. The newly arrived Nurgle Terminators advanced towards the victorious group that had banished the Daemon-Primarch, only to find their targets a bit further away than they expected. And the Plagueburst Mortar could only find one target and felled another of the Vertus Praetors. This was going to take a while...
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| Chaos Turn 3 |
The Custodes knew they were in a great position in this battle- all their simulations and training had led to this precipice of victory. The objectives they drew were great again- the Emperor doesn't abandon his blessings lightly.
Executing the 'mop up' plan, the golden-armored loyalists moved in to attack every single heretic they could get to. The Wardens destroyed one squad and the newly-arrived bikers destroyed another, completely securing the flank. The only worry would be the trudging Nurgle Terminators, but their slowness gave the Custodes plenty of time to get back to them. Their firepower was the only threat, and it was a minor one with the protection of auramite.
The only problematic fight for the Custodes was the Greater Unclean one. The massive, smelly daemon hacked down yet another of the Allarus Terminators and even wounded the captain, taking some damage in return but proving his other-worldly resilience. The help of the Vertus Praetors may be necessaary...
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| Custodes Turn 3 |
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| End Round 3- Chaos 7, Custodes 11 |
Battle Round 4
The battle was becoming desperate for the forces of Chaos, and only a good draw on the objective cards would give them any chance of victory. Unfortunately, Papa Nurgle wasn't paying attention to his armies at this moment and the cards were characteristically difficult.
Unable to score enough points to even tie the game, the forces of Chaos chose to quit the battlefield and rebuild their forces for the next assault. With that, the Custodes were victorious as the planet was denied to Mortarian's army. This should give the Imperial forces in the sector even more time to reinforce their defenses...
Aftermath
This was a very surprising game. Mortarian had his best chance of survival ever in consideration of the unimpressive amount of firepower that the Custodes could put out. But it meant nothing once combat started and every gold guy could put out up to 9 or 12 wounds! The obvious superiority of the Custodes was too much for regular marines and daemons, and the speed they could move allowed them to react to enemy forces AND claim objectives wherever they were on the tabletop. In fact, the objective cards for the Custodes may be the most relevant deck-to-army I've seen so far, with almost none of the draws being unachievable. Wow.
My son has redone his Death Guard army list with the hopes of taking these arrogant glory-hogs down. More firepower, less reliance on daemons, and a bit more psychic focus may mean a much harder battle next time. This should be interesting.
Our favorite part of the battle (besides not taking too long) was seeing all the models and terrain painted up and the imagery it helped conjure. It was so nice to finally have that again, and it's embarrassing that my son has more painted armies than I do (three to one). So while he's redoing army lists, I just need to get on some painting...
Let me know what you think below and Happy Gaming!
The model this time is a Nolzur's Miniatures model of a T-Rex for those RPGs, and a damn fine model it is! It's huge and very well detailed. Better, the plastic is actually good plastic that holds that sharpness much better then the cheaper PVC that Bones models use. And the model is so big that it towered over all my other painting projects- as the King of the Cretaceous should! 
But I still needed to find out what a 'Devil Dinosaur' is. Apparently, the powers that be in Marvel decided many eras ago that a very protective pet monster from every kid's favorite geological period would make a good character, especially against other monsters of the same era and protecting those relate-able kids. I found out that this 'Devil Dinosaur' has protected Moon Boy and Moon Girl over the years. Not wanting to get too deep in my research, I stopped there and got to painting.
