This past weekend our local club held its monthly meeting. The theme of this months battle was 40K. Most of the usual members were in appearance along with one lost brother who made his return after being absent for almost a year. Several players also wanted to try out the new IG Codex that came out last month. So it was agreed that the game would feature the new IG and any other army that showed up. After a short discussion the armies and points for the Non-apocalypse style megabattle were set.
Forces Involved:
Imperials: 5200 Points Total
2K Catachan IG
2K Cadian IG
1200 Salamanders Space Marines
Chaos: 5200 Points Total
2K Alpha Legion & Death Guard
2K World Eaters
1200 Dark Eldar
Mission and Battle Field:
The chosen Mission was Objectives/HQs, and the deployment chosen was Quarters. The forces of the Imperium won the dice off, and got to set up and go first. The forces of Chaos failed to size the initive at the start of the game. The field of battle would be our open field and hills battle board, with a few added bits to give it a 40K feel. The objectives would be two objective markers, the Imperial one would be located on the small island on the river, the chaos one would be on the hill in the chaos deployment zone.
Set Up:
Ready! Set! Go! The battle is joined as both forces are arrayed for the coming battle!
Turn 1: Move! Move! Move!
Turn 1 saw the imperials moving forward, with many of the IG forces employing the new Move! Move! Move! order, with an armored force charging the middle of the line, and Salamander forces flanking to the left side of the imperial lines. Few forces fired, but some like Sgt. Harker's Devils on the far right flank engaged a unit of Death Guard and World Eaters in the woods. This would end bad for the devils because the Death Guard were able to reach them in close combat and take them down in one round. A stray Griffon round meant to take down lots of dark eldar drifted instead onto a passing raider, which turned out to be the HQ Raider of the DE Forces. The lucky shot took down the raider and the commanders retinue.
Meanwhile the forces of Chaos tried to advance as well, with Death Guard Plague Marines shielding World Eater Khorne Bezerkers, and the Dark Eldar forces along with CSM armor holding the center of the line. Finally Chaos fast attack elements swept around the right flank of the army to engage the oncoming Salamander thrust. Alpha Legion Obliterators supported the charge by stopping the armor charge of the Cadian forces. One Hellhound was immobilized and stunned, while another one was blown up by the obliterators. Death Guard forces took down Harker's Catachan Devils, while a massive mob of catachan infantry was cut down by fire from Dreadnought "Baltar" and other Chaos forces in the center of the chaos charge.
Turn 2: Imperials on the Offensive
Turn 2 saw the Imperials on the offensive, as Sly Marbo entered battle, and the Salamanders began a flanking counter attack. Marbo snuck in behind enemy lines and attempted to take down a chaos Predator furthest from the imperial lines. Tossing his Demo Charge, he failed to put enough strength behind the throw, because the bomb came back on him and went BOOM! While it damaged the Predator and took out a lascannon, Marbo also went up in a blaze of glory and called this battle done for him. Meanwhile a unit of Salamanders of assault marines lead by a venerable dreadnought charged into a unit of Death Guard, locking them into a close combat melee, which will turn into a massive battle in the following turns. A unit of unlucky stormtroopers landed in the middle of the chaos right sweep and took a beating. The armor thrust continued with the last hellhound leading the charge and burning its way into the chaos and DE forces. A Catachan Vanquisher also took on Baltar and immobilized it along with help from the other cadian leman russes. Chaos armor took a beating from the imperials this turn as they became the main focus of the imperial charge.
Meanwhile Chaos forces were pushed to the defensive, as the Death Guard pushed forward the World Eaters took a lot of fire from the imperials. One of the DG squads chased down a mob of IG Catachans running back from the center battle with dreadnought "Baltar" last turn. The other DG Squad was locked up by the Salamanders who were unable to take down the whole squad, but stopped them from advancing. Fast Attack elements had to deal with a stormtrooper surprise on the right flank, and chaos armor took a beating from the imperials. Kharn along with his World Eaters continued to charge forward. Meanwhile reinforcements arrived in the form of 3 squads. First was squad of Alpha Legion marines who took control of the objective on the chaos side securing it while the rest of the army moved forward. The next surprise was a squad of World Eater Khrone Terminators who teleported into the rear lines of the enemy. Finally the last squad was another Alpha Legion squad of Chosen Marines known as "Stealth Squad" who outflanked into the enemy rear and made for the Catachan Vanquisher, taking down IG squads in the way, but the tank was well hidden and took no damage.
Turn 3: Turning Point
Turn 3 was the breaking point for the imperials. Several major flashpoints on the battlefield were completed. Starting with the Salamanders, Forge Master Vulcan joined the growing melee on his side of the field began to dish out the close combat death to both Death Guard and World Eaters. A World Eater lord stepped up and challenge Vulcan hand to hand, it was a dead even battle on the first round of the combat, but the second half saw Vulcan smite down the mounted Khorne Lord. Meanwhile on the center of the line Col. Straken and Nork Deddog finished off a small Death Guard squad. A surprise attack on the Chaos objective failed as two squads tried to deep strike into the battle, a Salamanders Terminator squad dropped in and unloaded on the Alpha's guarding the objective, but the CSM held on. A squad of Stormtroopers drifted too close to the Alpha's and was destroyed while deepstriking, finally the Griffon took a shot at the Alpha's and cut the numbers down more, but still the Legion troops held the line and the objective. Catachan veteran reinforcements also joined the battle as they exited their chimeras and headed for the center to plug the hole held by Straken and his command squad.
For chaos this was also a turning point, as the entire right flank was brought to bare on Vulcan's offensive. Khorne Raptor squads from both the Alpha Legion and World Eaters were committed to the melee. The Salamanders dread was finally brought down, by a Death Guard champions power fist. Meanwhile after the World Eater Raptors were given the chance to avenge their fallen lord and failed, Alpha Legion raptors lead by the main Alpha army commander finished off Vulcan and routing the last of the Salamanders from the melee. This battle slowed down the chaos offensive and took the entire turn to resolve, and into the top of turn 4. Meanwhile in the center....FIRE FRENZY!!! "Baltar" unleashed his hatred on a Cadian hellhound that got too close, and paid the price. Kharn took the chance to push forward into the middle of the chaos lines and head for the prize. Another Bezerker squad flanked Kharn's squad and took more losses for being ahead. While the imperials assaulted the chaos objective, a combined gauntlet of fire from Alpha Legion forces and Dark Elder forces was able to stamp out the pesky Salamanders Terminator squad with no trouble at all. In the imperial rear, World Eater terminators had to make a choice on who to fight, and avoided instant death, as the Catachan "Pask" Vanquisher turned to face them down, but failed to take down the whole squad. The Terminators made for the objective stomping all in front of them. The Alpha chosen continued to hunt the Vanquisher and accomplished the mission as the tank went up in a great ball of fire! BOOM!
Turn 4: For Chaos!
Turn 4 saw the imperials falling back to the last lines of defense and preparing to hold to the last man. Imperial Armor was used to stop the charge of the forces of Chaos. The armor was places as a stop gap line in front of the bridge leading to the island where the objective was held. The Cadian commander sacrificed his life as his stayed behind to harass the oncoming chaos raptor forces. Col. Straken along with the last of his squad, finished off another squad of chaos, as a Khorne squad was wiped out. Afterwards he began to a retreat to the bridge and rejoining with his fellow Catachan veteran squads. The imperials knew time was running out and began to set down roadblocks where possible. The Khorne terminators were finally finished off by the last of the Salamanders led by a "Telion" commander.
Meanwhile Chaos was advancing in leaps in bounds. All enemy Leman Russ tanks were destroyed with help from the Dark Eldar dark lances and obliterator forces. On the other side of the river, with the mission accomplished Alpha chosen turned on riding the woods of enemy infantry and making a dash for the bridge on that side of the bank. The chosen attacked several Cadian and Catachan infantry squads at once, and routed all of them in the ensuing melee. Kharn continued his charge forward for the bridge.
Turn 5: At Any Cost!
This was the last resort of the imperials. The plan was simple, bring in all remaining troops and swamp the island with troops to deny the objective to the enemy. Time to fortress up and hold out to the end. Operation massed troops was in effect. Col. Straken held the center to provide support to all the infantry left. The last of the marine forces continued to snipe to the last chance.
Meanwhile for chaos it was all or nothing, all forces that could make a dash for the objective were committed to one last push. Kharn charged the center, chaos Raptors lead the way, with the Alpha Legion raptors being the first to reach the enemy bridge. The enemy Griffon was finally silenced, but was able to pin a unit of dark eldar in the end. "Stealth Squad" of the Alpha Legion continued to push from the other bank and fight its way thru the masses of infantry.
In the end.....The roll for turn 6 was made and it came up...YES! There will be a turn 6...
Turn 6: Hold The Line!
This would be the end as the forces of the imperium had to hold the line. Straken lead the defense, as Operation Flame was put into effect. Heavy Flamers from the Catachan vet squads unloaded on the unlucky Alpha Legion who reached the bridge first. That along with a tank shock on the alphas from a catachan chimera broke the raptors and forced them to fall back, a small victory for the imperials. The Salamander scouts moved to block the other bridge, as all prepared for the coming onslaught.
Chaos was more then ready to answer the challenge. World Eater Raptors along with Kharn assaulted from one end of the river. Alpha Obliterators blew up the chimera that tank shocked the raptors. The explosion caused massed casualties on the imperials in the island. On the far bank the Alpha Legion chosen began to assault that bridge. Trapped between two chaos forces, many imperial squads who failed leadership checks in the shooting phase were destroyed as they were trapped on the island and could not get out. Both chaos forces charged into combat and the World Eaters were able to break thru, and as the last dash for the objective was made....Chaos forces fell short by less then half an inch in coming with in range of contesting the objective....
Final Result: DRAW!
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