The Word Bearers squad jumped foward, hoping to clear the open ground quickly. Although obscured by a big hill, the squad expected to bring their flamers onto the ruins in the west and clear out any loyalists hiding there. Kholack, the Aspiring Champion, raised his power sword and screamed for his warriors to move faster.
The entire ground shook suddenly, and a loud BOOM followed after. As the sprinting Chaos marines looked around to see what had caused the noise only a second earlier, they noticed a massive, armored teardrop atop the hill they were rushing towards. The Drop Pod glowed red-hot from its speedy fall from orbit and rested for only a moment before the massive sides blew down and open. Word Bearers halted only steps from the lying hatches just in time to see a Dreadnought wade into their number. The tall iron monster swung its rotating claws as it grabbed the renegades and crushed them. Kholack ordered the flamers and living members of the squad to unleash their bolters into the behemoth, only to see the bolt-rounds ping off and the flames lick harmlessly over the blocky plates of the Furioso. Knowing no fear, the squad charged the Dreadnought and attempted to place Krak grenades. Unfortunately, the squad was completely wiped out as the Dreadnought simply crunched through them all in a fit of righteous rage.
Another squad of Word Bearers watched from their vantage point atop a hill on the western side of the battlefield. Sensing their brothers' impending doom, they refocussed on any enemy that may close with the ruins. All around the squad, keen eyes followed carefully-aimed bolters in the hope of catching the enemy by surprise. This concentration was finally broken by the growling engine of a Destructer. The tank crested a hill just opposite their own, and the bright red color was unmistakably that of the Blood Angels. With a Dreadnought and a Predator nearby, the Champion realized that there must be an entire force out there. Just as the thought came to him, he ordered his unit of Possessed to charge around the hill and get to the ruins as fast as they could. He ordered his squad's autocannon gunner to blast the Predator and cover his 'gifted' brothers. As quickly as the daemonically-infested marines dashed across the open ground, the autocannon barked heavy-calibre shells into the front plate of the tank. As the tank showered sparks across its front, dismissing the heavy fire, it sprayed fire into the Possessed and blew three of them apart. Before long, the remaining Possessed disappeared into the ruins and the Predator settled atop its hill and took shots of opportunity at the offending Word Bearers.
While the squad in the east was getting chewed up by the Dreadnought and the squad in the west engaged with the enemy tank, a massive beast of metal and warp clawed towards the ruins in the middle. Having four piston-driven legs and a turret-mounted weapons buffet, the Defiler was known to strike fear into any enemy. Taking a moment to survey the battlefield, the daemon inside sensed an Assault Squad flying towards the Word Bearers' battle line. Unleashing his body's cannon, it screamed gleefully as it watched three of the five marines melted and exploded in the same moment by the gory ordnance. Feeling confident that he'd caused enough damage, the daemon-engine crawled closer to its original target- the ruins.
Leaping from behind the cover of the massive war machine, a squad of Word Bearers with sprouting wings flew to the walls of the closest fallen building. They turned the corner just in time to notice the two surviving Blood Angel Assault Marines from the blown-up squad landing nearby. The odds in their favour, the Raptors charged into combat only to find the skill of the loyalists more than a match for their own. Fighting frantically, the Raptors killed one of the Blood Angels and lost two of their own. The Champion, Srekel, still felt victory at hand. After all, one mewling loyalist against three of his 'gifted' brothers couldn't be a fight. Luck only lasts so long, after all. Unfortunately, this truth became all-too-real when a Rhino bearing the bright red and winged-blood drop iconography of the Blood Angels careened in from a distance and disgorged a whole squad right into their combat. Outnumbered 11-3, Srekel realized he may not survive this fight...
The Possessed, wholly unaware of the Raptors' plight, crawled over bricks and crumble to dig deep into the ruins. Although only two remained, they were inhabitted by daemonic beings and so were stronger and tougher than normal Marines. As the Word Bearers hunted, they heard the scream of jump-packs above and saw five of the Blood Angels falling onto their position. The Possessed leapt into the air and attacked the loyalists even before they had touched the ground. The hand-to-hand was vicious, and saw the enraged Chaos marines kill four! The Blood Angel sergeant, however, survived and even 'glowed' somehow. Filled with a divine power, the sergeant swung his power axe and utterly destroyed the Possessed. The ruins were held by the Blood Angels now, even if it was a single, blessed sergeant.
Not one to accept defeat so easily, the Word Bearers' lord arrived. Walking up behind the catatonic Defiler (who was trying to find a way into the ruins and kept slipping back), he used his damon-sight to find the leader of this enemy warband. Seeing a bright beacon of hope and hate, the Lord beat his massive wings and tracked it. He landed far from his own army and saw what the Blood Angels called a leader- a golden warrior with massive wings and emanating great power! Knowing this small victory would lead to a greater one, the Daemon Prince drew his blade high into the air and dived right at his target. Even as a snarl left his lips, the Prince was surprised with he felt a long blade cut from his corded neck to his gnarled hip. The lord's body fell to the ground in two pieces, having been chopped cleanly in half before he even saw the Sanguinor move.
The Word Bearers were defeated. Their Daemon Prince dead, their Possessed and a squad of Marines destroyed, and the Raptors nearly killed, the remaining squad and Defiler took to retreat. This battle saw the renegades crushed...
My wife and I played against one another in a thousand-point game last week. She used the Blood Angels and I used the Word Bearers, and she CRUSHED me. The autocannon could not glance the tank and so is getting replaced by a missle launcher. The Possessed did okay, but they rolled 'scout' (as they always do for me) so I expected little from them anyway. Lessons learned: A Chaos squad with two flamers and a power weapon can't kill a Dreadnought, and a Daemon Prince cannot beat the Sanguinor. Of course, it helps if you can roll ANY successful invulnerable saves.
Despite losing (and it wasn't totally on accident), my favorite moment was when the Sanguinor cut my Prince in half. I charged, she got five attacks, four hits, and four wounds. Before I even get to swing, I roll four invulnerable checks and fail all of them. Just like that! DEAD! That was epic!!!
.JPG)
