Time for another practice game as I inch my way towards an actual in person game of warhammer sometime in the next two weeks!
The Lists
Evil Emperor’s Children 2k
Legio Hereticus Emperor’s Children 2000pts
HQ: 3/3 (370 pts)
Legion Esoterist with chainsword, force staff = 60+35 = 95
(WL) Legion Champion with bolt pistol, paragon blade, jump pack, warp scream
= 60+35+20+15 = 130
Warlord Trait: The Broken Mirror. (Anyone in a unit with more than 1 remaining model within 12” can take 1 wound instead of failing a morale check. +1 reaction in shooting phase)
Legion Chaplain with bolt pistol, MC power axe, jump pack, Abhorrent Sensoria
= 60+35+15+20+15 = 145
Elites: 1/4 (250 pts)
Palatine Blades (5)
5 phoenix sabres
Sublingual Glands on unit
=165+25+25 = 215
Drop Pod 35
Troops: 5/6 (795 pts)
Tactical Squad (15)
5 extra guys, 14 chainswords
Legion Vexilla, Nuncio Vox
Artificer Armour and Phoenix Power Spear on sergeant
= 100+50+70+10+10+(10+10) = 260
Assault Squad (10)
2 power axes
Artificer Armour, Warp Scream and Phoenix Spear on sergeant
= 145+10+(10+15+10) = 190
Assault Squad (10)
2 power axes
Abhorent Sensoria, artificer armour, and lightning claws on sergeant
= 145+10+10+(15+10+15) = 195
Scout Squad (10)
5 extra guys
1 shotgun, the rest have bolt pistol + chainsword
Phoenix Power Spear and Sublingual Glands on sergeant
=65+40+10+15 = 130
Lesser Daemon Squad (20)
10 extra guys, Formless Distortion
= 120+100 = 220
Fast Attack: 1/3 (160 pts)
Legion Skyhunter Squad (3)
3 multimeltas
Artificer armour on sergeant
= 105+45+10 = 160
Heavy Support: 1/3 (225 pts)
Deredeo Dreadnought with plasma cannonade, aiolos missiles = 205+15+5 = 225
Death Guard + Iron Hands 2k
++ 1. Crusade Force Organisation Chart (LA - XIV: Death Guard) [1,460Pts] ++
+ Allegiance: +
Allegiance: Traitor
XIV: Death Guard
+ Rite of War: +
Rite of War: Creeping Death (DG)
+ HQ: +
Calas Typhon [610Pts]: Warlord
. Calas Typhon: Psychic Powers
. Command Squad, Cataphractii
. . 3x Cataphractii Chosen w/Lightning Claws: 3x Pair of Lightning Claws
. . Cataphractii Standard Bearer w/Melee Weapon
. . . Power Weapon: Power Sword
. . Land Raider Proteus Carrier: Twin-linked Heavy Bolter
Centurion, Cataphractii [155Pts]
. Siege Breaker: Cataphractii Terminator Armour, Combi-Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Toxin Bombs
. Siege Breaker
+ Troops: +
Tactical Squad [125Pts]
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Armour, Power Fist, Toxin Bombs
. 9x Legionaries (collective): 9x Bolt Pistol, 9x Bolter
Tactical Squad [125Pts]
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Armour, Power Fist, Toxin Bombs
. 9x Legionaries (collective): 9x Bolt Pistol, 9x Bolter
Tactical Squad [125Pts]
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Armour, Power Fist, Toxin Bombs
. 9x Legionaries (collective): 9x Bolt Pistol, 9x Bolter
+ Heavy Support: +
Heavy Support Squad [160Pts]: Lascannon
. Legion Support Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Power Armour, Toxin Bombs
. 4x Legionaries (collective): 4x Bolt Pistol
Heavy Support Squad [160Pts]: Lascannon
. Legion Support Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Power Armour, Toxin Bombs
. 4x Legionaries (collective): 4x Bolt Pistol
++ 3. Allied Detachment (LA - X: Iron Hands) [540Pts] ++
+ Allegiance: +
Allegiance: Traitor
X: Iron Hands
+ Rite of War: +
Rite of War
+ HQ: +
Centurion [165Pts]
. Moritat: Artificer Armour, Cyber-Familiar, Graviton Pistol, Warhawk Jump Pack
. . Chainsword: Chainsword
. . Graviton Pistol
. Moritat
+ Elites: +
Contemptor Dreadnought Talon [210Pts]
. Contemptor Dreadnought: Gravis Lascannon, Gravis Power Fist with in-built ranged weapon, Graviton Gun
+ Troops: +
Tactical Squad [165Pts]
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Fist
. 9x Legionaries (collective): 9x Bolt Pistol, 9x Bolter
. Rhino Transport: Searchlights
+ Allied Detachment +
Allied Detachment
++ Total: [2,000Pts] ++
Setup
Once again this game is taking place on Vassal. Rolling randomly it ended up with a Dawn of War deployment for the Take and Hold mission. Emperor's Children won the roll to go first and declined the use of night fight, and the board ended up looking like this:
Important notes to make sense of this picture:
1. The Death Guard / Nurgle units in Vassal are entirely too chaotic / mutated to use here, so I've opted to have everyone but Typhon be represented by Salamanders since they have the right weapon selection and green is at least vaguely the right colour.
2. The Emperor's Children chaplain is in the assault squad on the left, and the champion is in the unit on the right.
3. Two obvious mistakes in hindsight are that the lone Iron Hands Moritat should have been hidden away somewhere safer and the Emperor's Children Esoterist should have been at the front of the unit. The scouts also should have inched 3 inches closer with their scout move instead of staying 12 away due to infiltrate.
4. The Death Guard failed to seize the initiative
Turn 1
Emperor's Children
The Assault Squads advanced their full 12 inches (without running), not really feeling like they could get the charge but also not wanting to just sit back and let the enemy score. The Scouts were pretty lucky, with bolt pistol fire claiming two of the Heavy Support squad near by. The sublingual gland upgrade succeeded in blinding the unit, but even better was the fact that they failed their morale check and ran off the board. The jetbikes capitalized on the poorly deployed Moritat, who did not survive even with the combination of the Iron Hands rule and a Shrouded reaction giving him a decent chance. The one bright light for the Death Guard side was the Deredeo failing to do anything to the Iron Hands Contemptor. At the end of the turn the board looked like this:
Score: EC:2 | DG:0Death Guard
The Contemptor being slowed down by the Rite of War's difficult terrain was a bit rough, but luckily neither surviving iron hands unit took damage from the dangerous terrain. 30 tactical marines managed to work together fairly well at chipping down the left side assault squad even through the Emperor's Children special reaction. The remaining Heavy Support squad took some return fire as they shot down a bike, and the Land raider picked off another one. The bikes actually failed their leadership roll, but the Warlord Trait meant that the sergeant just lost a wound and stuck around.
The Dreadnought handily made its change and knocked the assault squad down to just the Chaplain and Sergeant, but stubborn LD10 kept them around. Typhon and his unit were not able to reach the other assault squad, but they did kill a couple with Typhon's psychic shooting. At the end of the turn the board ended up looking like this:
(Note - the scared face token signifies a Stupefied unit)
Score: EC:2 | DG:1Turn 2
Emperor's Children
The reserves roll for the Palatine Blades is failed! Undaunted, the Emperor's Children surged in for further combat. Typhon's movement phase reactions were used to move the two tactical squads away from the Champion and his Assault Marines, but both they and the Deamons made it into combat mostly intact. The Deredeo was able to chunk down some of the objective-holding Tactical squads with plasma and bolter shots, as well as clipping one of the lascannons. The lone surviving jetbike only got a glancing hit on the land raider, and the tactical squad managed one wound on Typhon's Siege Breaker.
Combat went quite well all around for the Emperor's Children. The Contemptor only got 1 hit, finishing off the assault squad but leaving the stubborn chaplain alive. The Daemons and Assault squad together broke two tactical squads, failing to catch them in the pursuit but leaving the Death Guard squad on a single model.
Death Guard
If the Death Guard can stop the momentum of the forward units they should be in a good spot. Unfortunately, the Iron Hands tactical squad and the lone survivor of the fleeing Death Guard tactical squad both fail to regroup. The Iron Hands lose 2 to the dangerous terrain from the Rite of War, and the Death Guard legs it off the table.
Looking to inspire its fellows, the rhino does a mighty ram into the Daemons and kills 3 of them. Other units mostly shuffle around to get better positions, with the Land Raider and Typhon's unit working together to pinch the Scouts and prevent them from blocking a crucial turn of scoring.
Shooting was fairly successful, with the Daemons reduced to a single survivor and the assault squad wiped off the board thanks to the fury of the legion and a couple gravis lascannons. Tragically, Typhon's psychic shooting scattered on to the tactical squad and killed two of them. The lascannon heavy support squad once again traded fire with the jetbikes, taking out the last survivor and leaving one lascannon standing triumphant.
The Contemptor was able to finish off the Chaplain and start in towards the enemy objective.
Score: EC:3 | DG:3
Turn 3
Emperor's Children
A second roll of a 2 means that the Palatine Blades once again fail to arrive. The Emperor's Children tried to make the best of it, sending the lone Daemon to chase the fleeing iron hands and sending the scouts the long way around the land raider. The Esoterist broke off from the Tactical Squad in an attempt to block movement a bit for the Contemptor, and the squad moved back to their objective. The lone bright spot was the Deredeo completely wiping out the tactical squad even through the Death Guard advanced reaction.
The lone Daemon did roll high enough to charge the Iron Hands, but they regrouped and gunned it down.
Score: EC:4 | DG:3
Death Guard
It was finally time to address the Scouts! The Contemptor worked his way around the Esoterist and gunned down 1 tactical marine with his lascannon. The lone surviving Heavy Support marine fired at the Esoterist but faild to penetrate his invulnerable save. The Scouts were also dealt with, but at great cost. The Iron Hands lost two more marines to dangerous terrain, panicked, and fled off the board. Typhon's psychic gun once again did well, taking out six scouts by himself. The Tactical Marines finished off the survivors, but were blinded and lost a model in the return fire.
The Land Raider took a shot at the Deredeo but didn't wound. The Rhino immobilized itself trying to drive through the dangerous deployment zone.
Unfortunately, the bad luck didn't stop there. The Contemptor came up 1" short on his charge, leaving the tactical squad free to score their point on the objective.
Turn 4
Emperor's Children
The timely arrival of the Palatine Blades was marred by an 8" scatter, but at least drop pods are not allowed to go off the board. They advanced towards the enemy tactical squad on the objective, who fell back using Typhon's extra reaction. The Palatine Blades lost one model to dangerous terrain, and were not able to take down any tactical marines with their bolt pistols. No units near the Contemptor dared move and provoke its reaction which could contest the objective. Luckily, the Deredeo was able to stay out of the 12" bubble and get a good shot on Typhon's unit. The terminators passed all their armour and invulnerable saves from the plasma, but a single Aiolos missile finally made it through and pinned the unit. Finally, the Esoterist struck down the last Lascannon squad member with his esoteric (d)arts.
Death Guard
The game was threatening to come down to secondary objectives, but the Palantine Blades had to be dealt with first. Their movement reaction would prevent the Tactical Marines from scoring on the objective! The Tactical Marines moved up while the land raider got in position to blast them! The Land Raider managed to take 3 down, but the 4th survived through bolter fire from the Tactical Marines, the immobilized Rhino, and a desperate shot from the Siege Breaker. The Contemptor took down the Esoterist with a Lascannon shot, hoping that might get the edge on secondary objectives.
The Death Guard weren't able to score on their objective, so the final score came down to:
Emperor's Children: Primary: 4 vp | Secondary: 1vp Break Their Ranks
Death Guard: Primary: 3 vp | Secondary: 1vp Slay the Warlord, 1 vp Last Man Standing (6-4)
Final Score: 5 | 5 -- Tie Game!
Conclusions
Wow, what a bloody battle. I didn't think much of the Death Guard's chances at the start of this, but they were able to deal with the incoming waves of Emperor's Children quite handily. It was a bit of a shame that Typhon and his unit didn't get into combat, but Typhon's psychic shooting was quite impressive and they did control a lot of space on the board.
The Palatine Blades really highlighted the risk of putting a unit in a drop pod without any other rules to help you reach that 3+ reserve roll.
The Death Guard rite of war was an interesting one. I think it helped them out a bit, but the fact that it panicked the Iron Hands off the table and immobilized their Rhino was pretty much the worst case scenario. It might be nice to go with an outflanking recon squad instead of the tactical squad? Depends how valuable of a later-game disruption piece that would be.
It definitely wasn't a prefect game for either side, but I think it did a good job of showing off the strengths of each list.
