"Make no mistake, Brother- our former commander was every bit the hero that the legends tell. Sicarius was a storm of willpower, leading the Guardians of the Temple to victory after victory. And he made it look easy...
"Before the time of the Great Rift and the return of Lord Guilliman, the 2nd company was everywhere earning glory and accolades like a young Lord Calgar. In fact, there was a series of battles against the Death Guard that became lessons on their own. You see, Sicarius had intelligence and a quick mind, plus the passion to win despite the odds. There was a particular fuel station that was being held by the traitors and their warp-cursed artillery. Sicarius loaded us up in transports and went to work- it was only hours between landing and engaging! In a matter of minutes, we had those sickly traitors completely surrounded and facing defeat. As Lord Guilliman's great work teaches- a battle should be won before boots touch ground. Sicarius was a natural..."
I FINALLY got some time off of work and immediately recruited my son for a game or two. After the last many defeats, he's feeling a little demoralized (and I can't blame him) so I suggested that we try a smaller game AND I use older stuff. He agreed and I developed a little storyline here-
There's an old fuel station, always helpful to warring forces, and the forces of Chaos had taken it some time before. The Ultramarines, of course, have to respond and take it back. This perfectly matches up with our armies' makeup and the scenarios have 'attackers' and 'defenders'. This was before the Gathering Storm, so the Ultramarines were still being led by Sicarius and weren't rocking any of the Cawl-built upgrades. This was one of the smaller battles that led up to the full invasion of Ultramar, with enemy forces looking to fortify there staging points. In any case, the Ultramarines are aware that the Death Guard are using artillery and so brought transports as a response.
And that's it! Now that all the fluff is done, let's get to some versing!
Forces and BattlefieldFirst off is the battlefield- it's a sparsely populated area with ruins and natural features around the fuel station. All terrain features offer cover and while line-of-sight is pretty open to account for smaller forces on a bigger field. We didn't use any of the 'fancy' stuff, like the gaming mats or Cityfight terrain because the armies are going to have unpainted models. (I should note that my goal of getting at least one other army painted this years was definitely derailed due to work.)
The battle was from the new Chapter Approved 2019, called "Scorched Earth", and included 6 objectives to be placed so two are in each deployment zone and two more are in 'no-man's land'. Forces gain victory points, starting in Round 2, for holding objectives and can earn more points by destroying the opponent's. The scenario represented two armies trying to take ground and remove the enemy, which is perfect considering the storyline!
Death Guard- included a brand-new Daemon Prince guarded by three Nightshroud Terminators, a Lord of Chaos to hang out with three Plagueburst Mortars, and a Malignant Plaguecaster. Three units of Plague Marines, a shooty Helbrute, and a couple of other characters rounded out the army for 1500 points.
Ultramarines- led by Sicarius and his Vanguard bodyguard riding in a Land Raider, two full Tactical Squads in Rhinos, a combat squad with a lascannon in a Razorback, and a small Assault Squad led by a Chaplain. There was also a Librarian and a unit of sniper Scouts in there to bring it up to 1500 points.
Since the Ultramarines were the attackers, they had to choose their deployment zone and deploy first. Sicarius assumed that the artillery would be set up in the far corner and wanted to keep the ancient Land Raider safe and deployed it to the left of the enemy lines. The Assault Squad and Razorback would deploy on the side with the artillery and move as fast as they could to disrupt that crippling firepower. The rest of the forces were put into positions to rush up and claim objectives as fast as possible. Sicarius' hunches were correct...
The Death Guard responded by setting the artillery up as far from the hammer of the Land Raider as they could and the rest of the Death Guard were spread to handle comers from any part of the battlefield. The Daemon Prince and his bodyguard stood defiantly in the center, ready to respond wherever the corpse-worshipers thought themselves safe.
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| The board is set. The pieces are moving... |
The battle started with the attackers jumping ahead as fast as they could. The Ultramarines moved all of the transports are fast as they could and claimed objectives everywhere. The Razorback disembarked its troops onto an objective and then provided a screen for the Assault Squad and a shelter for the slower Librarian. Its goal was to threaten the battery but it sprayed some Assault Cannons into Plague Marines anyway, felling one.
The center of the battlefield saw a Rhino disembark half its Tactical Squad onto an objective and then rush forward to claim the center and screen the Daemon Prince. This was followed by the snipers taking advantage of the distraction and felling one of the Deathshroud Terminators and wounding the daemon-lord. Finally, the Land Raider and escorting Rhino moved up to claim the left flank and lay some firepower into the enemies in the trees. Combined bolter fire filled a Plague Marine and focused lascannons managed to damage the Helbrute a small bit. There was little else for the Ultramarines to do and the damage output was minimal. But the loyalists held four objectives and were going to be tough to dislodge.
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| Ultramarines Turn 1 |
The moment of intimidation came when the Daemon Prince and his bodyguard dashed foward. Raising scythe and warp-forged sword high in the air, they eviscerated the Rhino instantly and watched as five marines emerged from the wreckage to face their doom. With a gleeful smile, the Daemon Prince bellowed their fate and prepared for the counter... |
| Death Guard Turn 1 |
The Ultramarines instantly gained four victory points, holding four objectives at the beginning of their turn. But they knew they had to take advantage. The Assault Squad continued to push forward, followed by the Librarian and an especially eager Chaplain. With loud encouragement and a little psychic boost, the jump marines were able to strike through the woods and engage two of the Plagueburst Mortars. The artillery would be lessoned for at least a turn...
On the other side of the battlefield, the remaining Rhino disembarked its squad and immediately rammed the Helbrute. The squad climbed the ruins and established a new firing position, hoping gun down the Daemon Prince's guard. The Land Raider had to reverse course and try to get its occupants towards the daemon-lord but was much slower after taking so much damage.
To try to blunt some of the attack as Sicarius' group crawled over, the combat squad left the woods to the Scouts and moved to support their brothers. With some well-placed firepower and nerves of steel, another of the Terminators was cut down and the last one wounded. The Daemon Prince and his guardian knew what was coming next.
With the battlecry "Courage and Honor!", the surviving Tactical marines charged right into the Daemon Prince. While they knew it would be their death, they knew no fear and meant to fight. The valuable time they would buy their commander was worth the dutiful sacrifice.
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| Ultramarines Turn 2 |
Rhw The artillery tanks simply retreated from the Assault Squads and exposed them to the firepower of the Death Guard squads, now moving to support their tanks. With a few squeezes of triggers, the jump marines were eliminated and the battery could resume their task. The untouched Mortar tank continued to lob shells at the Scouts, felling another one, and trying desperately to finish the Land Raider with no success. The Helbrute, meanwhile, retreated from the Rhino and reclaimed the objective point, leaving a lord to beat at the armored side out of boredom.
The Daemon Prince surveyed it all proudly. It took a moment for him to remember the Ultramarines at his feet. With little effort, he swung his daemonic weapon around and cleaved the squad completely down. He and his wounded bodyguard reclaimed the central objective and eagerly awaited the next wave of loyalists to slay. |
| Death Guard Turn 2 |
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| Battle Round 2- Ultramarines 4, Death Guard 1 |
The crescendo of the battle was finally here and the Ultramarines had to make many decisions to guarantee their victory. They currently held three objectives, gaining three more victory points and pushing their lead higher. Keeping that lead was going to require tactics...
The Rhino, now fighting against a Chaos Lord and doing nothing, retreated to close the retreat angle of the Daemon Prince. At the same time, the Land Raider disembarked the Veterans and Captain Sicarius and crawled forward to surround the prince and keep Sicarius' prey penned in. The combat squad continued to advance and lay down fire until the final Deathshroud Terminator was stripped away. The duel of warlords was at hand...The other flank of the battlefield saw the Chaplain and Librarian, without their support, dutifully charging at the artillery again. The Chaos Lord that was guiding the artillery tried to intervene, but the Chaplain simply smashed him with his holy crozius and consolidated into the vehicles. These characters would let nothing stand in the way of their task.
Most importantly, the duel of warlords began and shook the battlefield. Sicarius, backed up by his Veterans, charged the Daemon Prince and arrogantly declared his challenge. With unmatched skill and masterful swordsmanship, the marine Captain wounded the enemy gravely. But it wasn't enough. With blood spittle flying from his mutated mouth, the Daemon Prince brought his massive warp-forged blade down to cleave Sicarius down. At the last moment, Sicarius brought a flurry of blows in and dispatched the prince with his last breath. When the tremors stopped, both characters lie on the ground, lethally wounded. Both warlords lay slain...
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| Ultramarines Turn 3 |
The Plague Marine Squads continued their advance, even taking some time to shoot into the Ultramarines that were holding an objective point in the ruins. With the trademark Death Guard rapid-fire rules, they put tons of bolter and plasma fire into the unit, leaving only the loyalist armed with the lascannon surviving, then to be shelled by one of the Mortars. With some ridiculous luck, the ruins he cowered in saved him and allowed the Ultramarines to hold that objective.
The other Mortaor continued to shell the sniper hidden in the trees, only to be foiled by the camo cloak some more. The Helbrute tried in vain to take down the Land Raider, but he wasn't able to put enough damage on the hulking tank and stayed content to hold the nearest objective for now.
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| Death Guard Turn 3 |
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| Battle Round 3- Ultramarines 8, Death Guard 4 |
Feeling victory now at hand and controlling almost all of the battlefield at this point, the Ultramarines began the process of consolidating. They had lost Captain Sicarius, but had kept four of the objectives, giving them another four Victory Points. The Death Guard knew that the battle was out-of-hand.
The Veterans picked up their severely wounded Captain and embarked back onto the damaged Land Raider, while the Combat squad did the same thing and embarked back into a Rhino. The Rhino rushed foward and rammed the nearest unit of Plague Marines, hoping to keep them occupied and give the heroes some support. Unfortunately, the Plague Champion with a power fist had different ideas, popping the transport and forcing the survivors to face the traitorous scum. The Librarian and Chaplain continued to run through the lines, now switching their attention a bit. The Chaplain charged away and easily wiped out a unit of traitors while the Librarian added some firepower and then charged at a Mortar. Unfortunately, the daemon-spirit sensed the psyker and blasted him with an entropy cannon. Only dust remained and the artillery were suddenly safe.
The Land Raider and Tactical Squad on the other flank quickly destroyed the Helbrute and the Land Raider even tried to run over the lord still hiding in the area. More than anything, it took that objective away and established even more board control for the Ultramarines. The rest of the army did little but shuffle to ensure that they were able to hold their positions.
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| Ultramarines Turn 4 |
The Ultramarine with the lascannon needed to die and took the brunt of an entire Mortar- and survived! The sniper Scout hiding in the woods also needed to die and took an entire other Mortar- and also survived! The last Mortar tried to damage the unkillable Land Raider and also failed.
The Plague Marines bitterly gunned down the combat squad in front of them and the other squad of Plague Marines watched as the Chaplain mowed some down only to be crushed by a power fist. The Death Guard didn't cause the damage they needed to, but there was some vindication in the destruction they did get.
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| Death Guard Turn 4 |
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| Battle Round 4- Ultramarines 12, Death Guard 5 |
The battle was finished as the Ultramarines were able to clear and claim most of the field around the fuel station. While they weren't able to destroy the artillery, the Ultramarines were able to take down the Daemon Prince but at the loss of Sicarius.
"Don't believe the story is over, young marine. The traitors aren't so keen on quitting and Sicarius seems to fight a lot of battles over and over. This fuel station turns out to be much more than a single victory on his roll of honor. There's more lessons to be learned, some the hard way..."
