Angron and Guilliman

  My son and I were dying to get a game in.  We haven't played in months and have even completed some hobby projects between (which is supposed to be a goal, not an accident).  Moreover, GW had released yet another Balance Dataslate the amended the Oath of the Moment special rule for codex-compliant Chapters, and I really wanted to test how powerful it really was.  So we set up a game of Leviathan- Ultramarines vs. Tyranids.  But my son changed his mind and shifted to the World Eaters (he had finished painting Angron and needed to properly "blood" the daemon primarch). 

Mission and Deployment

  Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to look up the information that I've forgotten, but we chose the scenario that gave 4 primary objective points for holding an objective point, 4 more for holding more than the opponent, 4 points for killing an enemy unit, and 4 more for killing more than the opponent.  The deployment zones were the long edges and there were five objective points around the board.  And, of course, Cityfight, because that's where Primarchs would battle.  This isn't some ancient Mycenean culture here...

The battle

  The Ultramarines were able to snatch the initiative and take the first turn.  Roboute Guilliman was able to use his 2nd Oath of the Moment to give the loyalists their buffs against both mini-knights.  That allowed the boys-in-blue to annihilate one easily, and put some damage on other units.  

  When the renegades finally got to act, everyone rushed forward and staged for the upcoming melee.  The Ultramarines knew better than to fight the World Eaters in close, so they set up firing lines and manuevured their vehicles to shield the lines by blocking movement.  Not to be deterred, Angron and a unit of Chaos Marines charged the Valiant tank and destroyed it.  This left the marines vulnerable to a charge from the Ultramarine veterans and Angron himself standing alone against an astartes gun-line.  

  As Angron was gunned down by well-placed Eradicator fire and the marines were chopped down by Bladeguard Veterans, Roboute took the opportunity to charge into some possessed Eightbound.  Unfortunately, the Lord Commander underestimated their fervour and took significant damage as he swept them aside.  

  Very casually, the surviving mini-knight ("Helldog"?) walked up and melted Roboute while the surrounding troops swept into the loyalist lines.  Before long, that entire flank fell and both sides were now without their Primarch.  And yes, Bobby G failed his "We'll be back" roll...  

  Always with a battle-plan, the Ultramarines continued their slaughter of the World Eaters, laying carpets of high-strength firepower and even a few blades into the enemy.  The fallen flank was cleansed (but not yet reclaimed) and the side of the battlefield where Angron emerged was methodically cleansed as well.  But the tricks weren't done yet...

Conclusion

  In the fourth round, the Ultramarines had completely 'tabled' the World Eaters- there were no models left on the table for them!  The Ultramarines were well ahead in points (breakdown- 1: UM 7-WE 4, 2: 23-20, 3: 35-24, 4: UM 51-WE 32) and the only hope the chaos force had was a Blood Tithe (I think it's called) roll with three 6's- and then he did it.  

  Angron immediately appeared on the table and prepared to make a massive charge during that turn.  He had already charged and destroyed the Bladeguard and was ready to begin tearing through the rest of the loyalists.  But a sneaky Overwatch and a very, very, very accurate Multi-melta instantly took the daemon primarch out again.  And when you see three "accurates" up there- I rolled boxcars three times in a row to pull this one off.  If that isn't Robin Hood-level shooting, I don't know what is!  

  The Ultramarines easily claimed victory, despite losing their primarch, with a final score of 59-32.  The Oath of the Moment change was massive and played a huge role!  Not only getting the rerolls to hit but also adding one to the wound roll...  that's ridiculous.  But as long as my Ultramarines- long ignored and outshined by other Chapters- can benefit from this, I think I'll be enjoying the rule.  Now if I have to face it...

  That's it!  As always, Happy Gaming!