Welcome back, this is the battle report for our battle - some details are amended in retrospect, I hope it gives you an insight into the workings of the new rules!
Events by turn:
Turn 1: Stu
<Night time>
 |
| Ultramarine deployment |
Movement:
 |
| Ultramarine movement |
My Rhino’s moved forward towards the first objective, and into the battle zone I was setting up with the placement of these two mid-field objectives.
Terminators and Dreadnought followed alongside, the Dread using a Rhino as cover. (Cowardly, yeah... but its a 5+ cover save, and with the night time rules - I was getting a +2 shrouded bonus due to the range the enemy would be shooting at me from. Thats a 3+ cover save. Nice.)
Shooting:
Missile launchers took a snap shot from the moving Rhino’s
hatches, but failed to hit anything. (New rule: Snap fire - AWESOME! Basically, everything can shoot, but if its move or fire, or its a vehicle thats going to fast to normally be able to fire - it performs a 'snapfire' shot - an opportunistic fire of the weapon that requires a 6 to hit. It is also used as a defensive move against incoming attackers. Some say Orks are broken due to the way assault now works - but if the Orks get assaulted... a big mob has a LOT of shots... that would normally need a 5+?? to hit, instead its a 6... not a lot of difference there. I would opt to run 10 marines into a mob of 40 rather than recieve the charge, but thats 40 shots (less what the flamer hits *grin* and bolt pistols) to save from. (statistically - 6 hits, so 2-3 wounds... thats still a dead marine, and if luck is against you... who knows.).
Assault:
None.
Turn 1: Chris
<Night time>
**Peculiar terrain
identified (Combat squad): Ruin – Targeting relay. Shots that roll a 1 to hit
can be re rolled.** (I cannot remember what the objective's trait was. It was pretty useless I think)
 |
| Marine deployment |
Movement:
Transports advanced towards both objectives, two rhinos positioning themselves nicely next to my entire battle force.
Shooting:
Missile launcher and Lascannon’s shot into the darkness
at the transports but most shots fail to damage anything due to the shroud of
darkness. The closest Rhino however is destroyed *+1 Vicory point for Secondary Objective: First Blood* leaving a
mighty crater, and 3 desintegrated marines as the remaining 7 take cover in the
crater. The Nearside Rhino opened fire on Terminators to no avail.
Assault:
None
Turn 2: Stu
<Night time ends>
Movement:
The second rhino advances on the nearest objective and
unloads its troops into the ruins in front of the two enemy rhinos.
**Objective trait
revealed: Enemies who wish to assault defenders can only move half the rolled
charge distance**
The 7 guys from the previously blown up rhino move
through cover (thanks to the nearby Warlord Librarian granting move through
cover).
The dreadnought and Terminator with Librarian advance on
the closest rhino.
The shooting starts with the troops that mounted the
rhino – firing two melta shots from the top-hatch, shearing the weapon systems
off the closest rhino, but causing no other real damage.
The Ironclad Dreadnought fires its melta gun through the
terminators at the Rhino but fails to score a hit.
The second tactical squad fires from the ruins upon the
rhino’s with two melta shots and a snapshot krak missile – this time shearing
the weapons systems off of the other Rhino, immobilising it, and causing it to
blow up with a final hit. The troops dismount unharmed into the crater in front
of the terminators.
The Librarian opens up with a smite as the Terminators
open up with Storm bolter and Assault cannon eliminating everyone except for
the Sargent, who though sheer luck, is just out of assault range of the
terminators charge roll, and breaks – making a run for his own lines.
Assault:
Terminators attempt a charge, but they roll too low to get through the crater into combat.
Turn 2: Chris
<Night time ends>
The damaged rhino near the Ultramarines unloads its
troops into a firing line along with the command squad who dismount from the
Razorback. The other rhino rumbles up alongside the woodland objective and
unloads its troops into the woods.
**Objective trait
revealed: Enemies who wish to assault defenders can only move half the rolled
charge distance**
**Peculiar terrain
identified: Woodland: Iron Wood. Forest provides a 3+ cover save instead of
5+**
(On a note: I love
this randomness. Normally this would be an objective sat in the woods that
would probably be left with someone nearbye for the remainder of the game… but
with these traits, it means that anyone shooting at the troops inside have to
fend off a 3+ cover save, have to move through cover to advance into woods, and
if they wish to charge, can only move half the distance they roll… Brutal! )
Shooting:
The marine forces open fire with a volley of heavy
weapons fire on the remaining Ultramarine Rhino causing it to explode in a
spectacular fashion, catching the 7 remaining tactical troops inside, their own
command squad, combat squad, surviving sargent and two of the terminators.
Spectacularly, only one marine was lost due to this explosion, and it counts as
friendly fire. (Again, loving the chaos
here!)
The command squad and tactical squad open fire on the two
tactical squads in front of it, killing several of the marines.
The lone Sargent lobs a Krak grenade into the unhelmeted face of an ultramarine trooper before him as he is preparing his charge, blasting the surprised victims head clean off and leaving a fountain of crimson gushing from atop the power armoured foe that lays slain before him...
Assault:
The first assault move of the game! The lone Sargent then charges forward into single battle with the squad of ultramarines in an attempt to get his power axe to bear on the squad, but in his blood lust leaves himself open and is cut
down by a lucky snapfire reaction shot before he can engage.
Turn 3: Stu
The surviving marines in the ruins and vehicle craters
advance on the command squad as the terminators advance on the combat squad
that emerged from the Rhino.
The Ironclad dreadnought advances into the crater of the
first destroyed rhino to line a melta shot up on the Razorback.
Shooting:
The tactical squads manage to slay two more of the
command squad and wound the captain.
The terminators manage to slay one single marine with
their volley of fire, and the Librarian attempts another Smite, but is
nullified thanks to a lucky *Deny the
witch* roll from the tactical squad. (New Rule: Deny the Witch. Psychers are much more powerful now - when they attempt to cast psychic spells, instead of a counterspell attempt that can only be done if the defender has a psycher within range, the unit targeted can attempt to shrug off the spell - with a psycher on the board, the roll improves. Normally this is a 6+ - a quirk that will sometimes help... Normally this is the case...)
The Ironclad managed to hit its target, but rolls a 1 on
its Pen roll.
Assault:
The terminators advance on the combat squad, losing 1 man
to the initial combat before eliminating all bar the marine sargent, who takes
the initiative to run from combat.
The two tactical squads advance on the opposing command
squad and kill the remaining marine, but fail to kill the warlord, who himself
manages to slay the Sargent *+1 Victory
point: Legendary Fighter* The captain then fails his leadership test for
losing by 1, but is caught by one of the squads, and everyone remains in combat
(Rule unclear here. We presumed that because the captain was caught by one of
the squads, he never managed to get the opportunity to break from combat, so
the other squad who failed on their initiative roll would still be in base to
base contact and would carry on fighting.)
Turn 3: Chris
Movement:
The woodland troops spread out a little to take advantage
of the space in the woods and get their melta guns and boltguns into a more
useful distance.
The Razorback backs off from the dreadnought to avoid its
melta gun.
Shooting:
Razorback attempts to destroy dreadnought but fails to
penetrate its thickened armour.
The woodland tactical squad open fire on the terminators –
but their melta gun is just out of reach, and the multi melta fails to wound.
Regardless, they still manage to kill one of the terminators, whilst another
drops to the volley of fire from a combat squad on a nearbye building.
The rhino that has been mostly ignored since losing its
stormbolters moves around to get a line on the Dreadnought to attempt to Ram it
in the next round.
Assault:
The captain starts to dismantle the troops he is in
combat with, causing both units to break and flee. He then consolidates 6” into
the safety of the Iron Woodlands near the remaining full tactical squad.
Turn 4: Stu
Movement:
The terminators advance on the woodland troops.
The ironclad advances towards the captain, and the consolidated
marines advance on the woods from the side.
Shooting:
The terminators spin round and open fire on the sole
sargent – effectively killing him in a hail of bullets (but again, deny the
witch prevents the librarian from doing anything!)
The ironclad unloads its melta and stormbolter at the Sargent but the bolter shots fail to wound and the melta shot is saved by a nearby tactical marine (Note in retrospect: Clearer on the rules now - the captain would have had to be part of that squad to perform this manoeuvre. Regardless, the look out sir roll was high enough that it could have been an iron halo save.)
The remaining tactical troops (1 melta gun from one
squad, and a melta, missile and 2 or 3 other troops from the other squad) open
fire into the woodlands, dropping a solo marine in their hail of fire.
The Ironclad descends into the woodlands catching the
captain in melee. The captain flails helplessly as the dreadnought hits him
again and again and again… but every wound that lands is absorbed by his Iron
Halo.
The two units of tactical troops charge the woodland
marines, the sole melta gunner failing to make the 3” run… and manage to drop a
couple of marines in exchange for the power sword on that sargent cutting some
of them down.
Turn 4: Chris
In a desperate attempt to get the Captain away from the
dreadnought, the combat squad on the nearby roof starts making a run towards
the dreadnought
Shooting:
The remaining terminators are killed from fire
from what units remain, with the exception of the librarian.
Assault:
The ironclad inflicts another single wound in combat –
which is taken on a tactical trooper (The rules do not state anything about
attackers not being able to target fresh combatants – it seems to all be done
on initiative, so we just rolled with it, and the wound was allocated here,
though even if it was not the combat squad could have ‘look out sir! Arrrrghed’
on a 2+ to allocate the wound, so no tears shed. Note in retrospective: This was handled wrong - the Dreadnought would choose a target unit - in this case the captain, and the wounds would not have been distributed to the other unit as they are not the same squad. *The more you know!* :p) The captain and the tactical
squad then opt to fail their morale test, and the captain escapes, whilst the
troops remain locked in combat.
The tactical troops carry on, drawing with a casualty
each again, leaving a single marine fighting the remaining 7 tactical troops. He
shall forever be known as Jimmy the Indomitable!
Turn 5: Stu
In an attempt to get anything that resembles a victory
point in the game, the solitary melta gunner makes a sprint for the objective
in the tower, but pretty much falls flat on his face in the rhino explosion
craters.
The Librarian spotting the wounded captain on the edge of
the woods advances towards him, then after ANOTHER ‘deny the witch’ roll, charges
the captain.
Shooting:
The only shooting this round was the denied librarian
Smite.
Assault:
The ‘epic battle of epicness’ commences. The Warlords
initiate a challenge, and proceed to fail to inflict any damage on each other
what so ever.
The dreadnought proceeds to smash another marine asunder
with its Seismic hammer whilst the tactical troops fight on in a stalemate –
the sole ultramarine trooper passing another 3 armour saves.(go Jimmy!)
Turn 5: Chris
Movement:
The razorback adjusts to get a line of fire on the melta
gunner running towards the objective in the tower.
The razorback fires, but the melta gunner manages to spin
behind a rock and dive out of the way of the incoming shot, laughing at his
luck, he then gets smacked in the face from a long range krak missile and
collapses into the crater with the remains of squad mates from the wrecked
Rhino.
Assault:
The dreadnought smashes another marine asunder leaving
one standing.
The epic battle of epicness continues, librarian and
captain again failing to make any wounds stick.
Turn 6: Stu
It was decided this would just be the last round due to
time and the fact I was no longer in a position to score more than a single
victory point versus the half a dozen he was guaranteed at this point. The epic
battle of epicness continues, the captain managing to land a wound on the
terminator librarian, the dreadnought finishing the remaining marine and consolidating
through the woods deeper into cover from the Razorback’s lascannon, and Jimmy
finally falls to the weight of armour saves he is called upon to make this
round.
Turn 6: Chris
In a final display, the captain cuts down the Librarian
and ends the Epic battle of Epicness, netting another two Victory points for
his forces *Legendary fighter and Secondary Objective: Slay Warlord*
To add insult to injury the tactical squad opens up with
melta fire, lascannons from the dreadnought and a missile from the deployment
zone to cripple the Ironclad, resulting in a total annihilation for the Space
Marine forces.
Final Score: Space Marines: 10 , Ultramarines: 0.
Ok, I got my ass handed to me, but it didn't feel like it as we were playing, and it was a fantastically
epic battle. Apart from a couple of unlucky rolls early on when I had my
entire army facing ¼ of his that I intended to quickly crush, but failed to make a big enough dent in, it
could have gone either way. (Come on - 4 melta shots, two missile shots, melta gun, an assault cannon and a charging terminator squad... very unluck to take only a gun off one rhino and glance the other one to death (weapons, imobilised, destroyed) I must say I'm loving the new rules – the unpredictability of
much of it, the new rules for charging, fleet of foot, move through cover and
the warlord rules – as well as so many new psychic powers just make it so much more
random… and also, evens the playing field between the different forces. I think
I could now have a decent shot at surviving against a Tyranid force, as opposed
to the guaranteed Wipe out I have always experienced in the past.
Most definitely the most memorable moments wherem firstly: when 3 of the Rhino's exploded over the course of two turns turning the main battlefield area into a no mans land. If it were not for the Warlord ability granted by my librarian to all within 12" - Move through Cover - I would have been at an even greater disadvantage at this point. Secondly, the Captain v Dreadnought... Chris's tactics of throwing marines in there to die to allow the captain to use either Combat Tactics or 'our weapons do nothing'(??) rule (same thing, but allows anyone to opt to run from something they cannot damage.) to escape combat. Naturally the final most memorable moment was the entirety of the last round where the Epic Battle of Epicness finally concluded and the remnants of my army were blown to hell.
I cant wait until next week for the next session :)
