Welcome to the first Batrep in a while, a battle between Imperial factions no less. One consisting of 200 power of Astra Militarum commanded by myself and Mark, the other army a 100 power Blood Angels force commanded by Lewis with a 100 power Space Wolves detachment led by Adam aka Fuzz. It had been a little while since we played so we kept it reasonably simple with 6 objectives and drawing upto three cards a turn per side. Secondary objectives as usual, line breaker, slay the warlord and first blood.
"Howls cried in the distance as the mist began to clear from the
nights embrace. Morale was low, although the Cadian 193rd had tried
their best to get the hive gangs spirit lifted in what would probably be
the moment they meet death. Their home, Hive Probatious, had been
obliterated by a crashed starship and the onsuing battles that came
afterwards. Sightings of everything had been seen, from multilimbed
aliens to power armoured giants and even green skins. War had come to
the world of Corbel and what was left had to fight back to survive. Many
of the gangs had fallen but each house still had some strength.
Adelia's father had once been an officer in the Corbel Tank Regiment and
his stories were better than any school for Adelia. The hum of the
engines of this Leman Russ she now commanded made her feel comfortable,
as if her father was at her side. She took a glance at the dataslate and
could see the defences were all in place. The Escher had found an old
factory and apprehended some Leman Russ tanks, a couple Chimera APCS and
given the Goliath gang that still stood, aptly, a Goliath truck. The
Cadians who stood with them also had several of their own tanks, more
Leman Russ, Taurox and even a couple of the Basilish with their huge
Earthshaker cannons. Hope filled Adelia that survival could be a
possibility, until she heard the howls again. "
"The sun never shone that brightly on Corbel but with Give Probatious
in ruins its rays crashed through the dome ceilings, bringing more
light into what was left of the hive than it had ever seen. 'Defenders
of Corbel, death is imminent, but what we take with us is not an option.
You may face the most elite and fearsome enemies today but you shall
stand and you shall fight". Adelia listened as Commander Creed took to
the vox. She looked around as his voice filtered through, the infantry
standing on edge taking some level of courage from Creeds inspiring
words. "Your homeworld burns around you, but your spirits must burn like
an inferno if we are to walk away with victory. Stand for your
homeworld and your Emperor shall stand with you!" Cheers went up all
around the lines as Creeds message hit home. 'So we're gonna die' said
Ophelia, the driver of Adelias Leman Russ. 'Probably, but we have plenty
of guns to try and kill them with, lets pound at least some of them
into death before we get fucked up' Adelia replied. The vox flared
again, and the ruff voice of Ghrox came into life. 'You heard this
Creed, we aint got much chance of seeing this day through but we get to
kill some of them Astartes bastards. Why they attack we dunno, but we
make em pay.' The abhuman was a strange one Adeila was sure, but as
different as he looked there was no doubt he was one fo them. A horned
beast like head whose mouth always had a cigar smoking from it, Ghronx
was a bounty hunter in the Underhive before the war came and had now
become a leader of sorts in the defence force. Birim, one of the few
Demiurgs had also become a figure of command and both were capable
fighters she'd seen. "
I was using my hive gang guard for the first time, and had managed to get together a brigade to give our side 9 command points giving us 18 in total. Obviously we had to take the trait and relic that let us regain or steal command points. The armies were faced were much smaller but very elite. Adams Wulfen and Thunderwolf cavalry were scary, whereas Lewis' Terminators could hit us from anywhere via deepstrike and Land Raiders are always hard to damage.
After both armies had deployed the BA/SW combo won the right to go first. I rolled to seize and rolled a 3. To command point or not? Ah go on, we had 18 command points to use so why not. What did I roll? Lets just say some Leman Russ tanks lumbered forward to get the first shots in! I rolled a six!
We managed to get first blood after the Hellhound burnt up some wolves but to be fair out first turn wasn't the most effective. Now we had some scary Astartes coming at us!
"Her thoughts started to shift to all the people standing with her. Aldreyus the Psyker, whom many still took wide berth of, his powers had saved many of her fellow Eschers and despite his dangerous skills they happily stood with him. Commissar Graven was a very old man as war had come to Corbel but had taken up his bolt pistol and uniform again after being saved by some of the local troops. Birim had got the last of the Demiurg on Corbel together and they hunched together in their Chimera ready to take the fight to the enemies wherever they need to be. The Goliaths had taken an astropath called Nelsium amongst them, their attempts to persuade some local Ogryns to the cause had failed however. The howls started to sound louder as the mist had almost cleared. Adelia realised that battle was upon them as the Cadian tanks engines roared into life, drowning out the wolves. The defences turned to offence, as the Cadian forces lurched forward cannons erupting towards the grey and red lines that opposed the defenders. The enemy opposite Adelias lines began advancing, and the battlefield lit up. Lasers streaked across the battlefield, cannon shells tore holes in both lines. A massively large giant lumbered towards the lines surrouded by huge wolves, warriors in both grey and red armour accompanying it. The Goliaths and one of Adeilas Escher gangs rode forwards in their APC's, autocannons blazing away at the lines but only killing the wolves. It would silence some of the fucking howling she thought as she commanded another tank to concentrate fire where Cadians were firing"
Fuzz'es Wulfen were slicing through a lot of Marks units on the right, but our tanks were making them pay. Logan Grimnar found his wounds cut down quickly but as he made it to combat it was hard to finish him off. The thunderwolf cavalry scared us a lot too, but we were slowly able to push them back.
"Reports on the right flank were that the grey armoured Astartes were advancing with great speed, some like bestial demons leapin forward with great speed, raking the Cadians tanks with claws and axes butchering the troops inside the Taurox. Others rode the backs of massive wolves, pistols firing wildly into the allies lines as they too tried to close the lines and wreak havoc with their own axes and thunder hammers. As Adelias Leman Russ fired she glanced out of the cupola to see the air shimmer and buzz, before 5 huge armoured marines appeared. 'Fucking terminators!' she cursed as they storm forward into the local defence troops, lightning claws tearing their bodes apart and hammers collpasing skulls. Just as Adelia was beginning to lose hope Birim and his fellow Squats disembarked and unleashed a fusilade intot he terminators alongside more of Adeilas fellow eschers. 3 fell as hundreds of lasgun shots bounced of their armoud. Aldreyus concentraded and from his hand another Terminator fell as energy surrounded it and made its armour collapse. One remained however and with a pack of wolves that had sprinted towards the defenders lines smashed its hammer into the Leman Russ Exterminator whos autocannons and heavy bolters had taken its toll on the enemy. The explosion took out most of the wolves, a few of the Demiurg were caught and even a sentinel looked to take some damage from the blow."
Marks lone Cadian sergeant surviving against all odds! Those odds don't include those terminators though that sluaghtered him
After a few of my infantry units and the Veteran Goliaths were able to take down Lewis' Terminator Captain I got duly charged by Bjorn. The battle ended before he did more damage thankfully but I did lose a few transports and a sentinel to him and a couple of meltaguns held by accompanying troops.
After racing out to a 9 point lead in the first two turns our objectives became dry with some difficult ones to attempt. Make the Astartes fail morale and defend 2 objectives for two turns. Both were too far away! The Blood Angels and Space Wolves clawed their way back and on Turn five it was 10-9 to the Astartes.
As turn 5 finished the Astra Miliatrum had managed to collect 11 points to the Astartes 13. It was a close game and if we'd have remembered a couple of things then who knows. Either way we had a cracking game! The amount of tanks that blew up was astounding despite sixes being needed and did a lot of damage.
"The left flank however did seem to be keeping together, although the huge grey Dreadnought still advanced, with 5 of its smaller brethren and five of the blood red troops too. Another Terminator teleported nearby, this time one that looked to be a commander, its armour more ornate than the others that had come into play just moments earlier. Once more Commander Creed took to the vox. 'The Emperor will protect, the Emperor inspires, whatever is sent to destroy us will ultimately fail as our faith shall never fall!' Seconds later Commander Creed was dead, wolf like warriors tearing him and his command squad apart in an attack down the right flank. Scions had been killed, and the Basilisks were now being stalked. One of Adelias Leman Russ tanks had been charged by the wolf cavalry, but survived and reversed as the Executioner Leman Russ behind it levelled its weapons dropping some of them dead. A couple more died from the Cadian firepower, as a wolf pulled chariot that hovered above the ground flew foward into the Cadian lines butchering more of the guardsmen. More vox chatter came in, the Goliath gangers had levelled the Terminator Captain with some of the other troops on the left, but the Eschers nearby were torn apart by the Dreadnought. The red armoured troops had taken down more of the infantry but had also almost been wiped out by chimeras. The centre seemed to be holding but both flanks were collapsing. One of the Basilisks blew up, taking some of the enemy with it but it gave little solace. Wolf cavalry was wiped out by a combination of Leman Russ fire and infantry squads, and the wolf chariot was also blown out of the sky which seemed to anger and confuse the wolfen forces even more. Adelias tank fired again taking more of the red astartes down, but the battle was over. Both forces had taken a pummelling, the Cadian lines were almost wiped out, the Goliaths barely surviving. One of the Escher gangs had been wiped out and only half the Demiurg were left. The Astartes had suffered too, but whatever their mission it seemed to have been fulfilled. The rocky outcrop in the middle of the battlefield seemed to be a point of interest to the Astartes and Adelia could only hope it wouldn't be the end of their world. For now, the defence would rage on."
So my first outing with the Imperial Guard was a very enjoyable one! Compared to Space Marines they are a lot more varied in how well dice rolls do, as you're 50/50 compared to most Space Marine rolls where its 70/30. When you get those good rolls by Emperor you appreciate them! I can't wait to get more games in with them. I'm planning on a box or two of Orlocks to upgrade soe of my infantry, I love the Squat infantry but the models just don't fit in. I'll keep them around if needed but they will probably become retired in time, especially as new gangs are released for Necromunda.
What else to add? I think a couple of heavy weapon units would be useful, and I'd like to try out my Vendetta and Stormlord at some point too just to see how they are in a game. I just love Leman Russ tanks though! I have another two to get painted up which will give me 5 plus the Tank Commander. The sentinels disappointed me although they were my most recent purchase so wasn't surprised. Psykers are fantastic, the power giving you +1 save was especially useful in cover to make my goliath veterans much more survivable.
Hopefully my next game is soon to try out more combinations and remember those bloody stratagems! More soon on all the Necromunda info coming out of the HH Necromunda weekender with thoughts, hopes and holy Emperor fantasies for the game!
The fiction bit was written by myself and is probably terrible. Its been a while so I hope you weren't expecting much!
The fiction bit was written by myself and is probably terrible. Its been a while so I hope you weren't expecting much!
