Testing Out A Scenario
This vassal game was intended as a test of what it would be like using a Warmachine scenario for a Horus Heresy game. I randomly rolled on the latest Steamroller Scenario table and got scenario 4 - Pressure Point.
The main points of difference from a normal 30k rulebook scenario are:
- Asymmetrical deployment zones make it so the player going first has go farther to get to the objectives.
- "Flag" objectives are set in a terrain piece. In Warmachine these can be scored by a single solo or two units of other types, so I'm translating this as either a model from the High Command / Command slot or two other units.
- Scoring in warmachine starts on the defender's second turn. This is half the game done in 30k terms though, so I'm modifying it to the defender's first turn. Both players score in the victory sub-phase of each turn.
The other main judgement call I had to make was to decide how far to move the side objectives in due to 30k being on a 6ft wide table compared to Warmachine's 4ft table. I decided to not adjust the distances, which led to the scenario being pretty spread out. The flags could have been moved 12 inches closer to the centre if I wanted to completely keep the ratios from the Warmachine scenario, or I could have compromised and pushed them 6 inches in.
In this mission, the central objective is worth 2 victory points and each of the flagged terrain pieces is worth 1. I kept the generic secondary objectives from the Warhammer 30k rulebook in, leaving them at 3 victory points each.
The Lists
The Space Wolves come from a recent SN Battle Reports video. They've got 3 nasty terminator units and two big squads of grey slayers backed up by some autocannons and a pair of Casta Ferrum Dreadnoughts. The two Varagyr Terminator units are in land raiders, and the Saturnine Praetor is deepstriking in alongside his Command Squad.
The Alpha Legion are disguised as Blood Angels today. Highlights in this list include Dynat infiltrating in Veterans with Multimeltas, a Primus Medicae leading a squad of venom-sphere equipped Ofanim, and an additional scattering of infantry units, anti tank rapiers, and a Falchion.
Space Wolves won the roll to go first, and I did not roll to seize the initiative as that isn't an option in Warmachine scenarios.
Space Wolves Turn 1
The saturnine command squad deep struck on the left flank, hopefully safe from dedicated anti-tank weapons. With the grey slayers Rushing forward and the Varagyr terminators not disembarking, the Alpha Legion were able to pop up the interdiction cadre without fear of being charged.
The Particle Shredders from the Saturnine command squad were able to line up a lot of hits, so the Chaplain and Techmarine went down trying to tank them on their 2+ saves. This meant that the Space Wolves were able to score 3 points for First Strike.
Alpha Legion Turn 1
The Alpha Legion struck back, taking down two of the Varagyr terminators with the might of two Tactical squads, the Veteran squad, and a pair of Rapier Laser Destroyers. The central grey slayer squad broke due to combined shooting from the Despoilers and the Breachers. Luckily the graviton gun shots that scattered back onto the despoilers did not pin them! Finally, on the right flank the precision fire from the Headhunter Kill Team was able to snipe out the Space Wolves Centurion. On the other hand, this did give the Grey Slayers an opportunity to use the Space Wolves special reaction to move 5 inches further up the board, threatening violence next turn.
With First Blood, and a line 2 unit on the central objective, the Alpha Legion go up to 7 victory points. The Alpha Legion collect a victory point off the forest in the bottom left because there is a Speaker of the Dead sitting with the Heavy Support squad.
Space Wolves Turn 2
This was a big turn for space wolves to charge in, but they only obtained mixed success. The central unit of Varagyr terminators didn't roll that well and weren't able to break the despoiler squad. The unit on the right also didn't fare particularely well, with their Thegn losing a challenge to an Ofanim and the unit being brought down to only two survivors. Both of those combats continued. The units at the top of the board fared better, with the Saturnines wiping out a tactical squad and the Grey Slayers breaking and then pursuing the Headhunters.
The Autocannons and melta-dreads whittled down the veteran squad with damage 2 shooting, with a couple of the autocannon marines dying to return fire. The central land raider also rolled pretty well and took out the two rapiers on the right hand side.
With this, the space wolves were able to capture both flags on the left side of the board and prevent the Alpha Legion from scoring in the centre, taking themselves up to 6 victory points.
Alpha Legion Turn 2
Reaction movements kept the Saturnines alive this turn, as they were able to flee the rapiers and tactical squad above them. They did however get panicked by Dynat's Phosphex bombs and were prevented from scoring.
In the centre of the table, the Breachers pushed out and got some graviton gun fire on a dreadnought to whittle a couple of wounds off it. They were also able to have a model toe in to scoring range on the objective. Somehow the Despoilers held on in combat against the Varagyr, rolling the 3 they needed on their morale check.
On the right hand side the Ofanim and Primus Medicae finished off the other Varagyr unit while the Falchion took out the land raider. The Grey Slayers opted not to pursue the fleeing Headhunters any further, instead consolidating back to prepare to finish off the wounded Ofanim unit.
With all this, the Alpha Legion were able to take 3 victory points in the centre of the table while the Space Wolves continued scoring 1 on their corner forest.
Space Wolves Turn 3
On the left flank, the Autocannons were able to finish off the Veteran squad while the dreadnoughts continued to push up and fire their guns. The Grey Slayers charged back into the fight and were finally able to rout the Despoilers, with the Grey Slayers pursuing to continue the combat. The Grey Slayers on the right charged into the Ofanim but only managed to kill one of them. The Saturnine command squad did successfully regroup!
Scoring was the same as last turn, with the Alpha Legion getting 2 points in the centre and the Space Wolves getting 1 point from their forest.
Alpha Legion Turn 3
The Saturnine once again used a reaction move to great effect, getting back in the forest ready to score more points. Dynat missed with his Phosphex bomb and the mighty terminators easily shrugged off the incoming bolter fire. The Falchion was able to wheel around and take out a Dreadnought, and the Rapiers blew up the Land Raider.
The Breachers had a great turn, shooting down the remaining Varagyr terminators and then charging in to defend the central objective. The lone surviving Despoiler was not able to regroup. The Ofanim broke and then pursued the Grey Slayers they were engaged with.
Scoring was a little funky here. The forest on the top of the board was technically contested by 3 models due to line 2 on the tactical marines. This meant that they controlled the objective, but weren't eligible to score it due to the scenario rules. This meant that the only scoring on this turn was done by the Autocannon squad, bringing the Space Wolves up to 9 victory points.
Space Wolves Turn 4
With 3 points for Slay the Warlord and 6 points for objectives, the Space Wolves doubled their score to 18 and took the lead.
On the final turn of the game the Alpha Legion were not able to turn things around. The Saturnines were able to make a reaction move to safely get away from the Rapiers but this brought them into the line of sight of the Falchion. Luckily the last Saturnine Retinue member made three 4+ invulnerable saves before dying, so the Praetor only took one damage 3 wound from the Lascannon array and survived to score again. The Ofanim also were not able to break the Grey Slayers and score the central objective.
Alpha Legion Turn 4
This meant that the Alpha Legion got 1 point for the crate objective on the right hand side and 3 points for Last Man Standing, but this wasn't enough to beat the space wolves even without taking into account the 4 additional points they got for holding the two flags on the left and the central objective with their Dreadnought.
So What Did I Learn?
The Scenario itself worked pretty well! This is one of the more simple scenarios in the Steamroller 2026 package, but it seemed fine. I don't know if it actually made that much of a difference compared to the default 30k scenarios, but it played well enough.
The army lists were both pretty cool! That extra charge distance on the space wolves makes them a nasty threat, and all three of the terminator units definitely hit hard. On the flip side, the Alpha Legion were really able to weather those charges! The Despoilers got a bit lucky against the Varagyr, but the Ofanim really held their own and got to show off their Challenge prowess.
I was also worried this might be too much terrain for the Falchion, but it was able to take out a Land Raider and a Dreadnought and then almost turn the game by shooting down the Saturnine Command Squad.
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