8th Edition: Imperial Guard v. Grey Knights Ambush!

Round 2! This time we decide to go more narrative, picking up where we left off and deciding that my Inquisitor Boss wouldn't like it if these Grey Knight punks came into town to steal all of the fun toys. It was also our attempt at seeing how forces with different Power Levels would interact with each other- so we went 90 power for the Astra Militarum and 80 for the Grey Knights to represent that the boys in silver are deep behind enemy lines.

Story: 

Warning lights flared within the Stormraven's cockpit as the shimmering silver vehicle passed low over the unnatural forest below. The pilot cursed, shaking his head as the aircraft's machine spirit informed him that two vessel's with Imperial Navy IFF's locked onto his trajectory. After capturing the mysterious warp-tainted meteorite, the Grey Knight forces quickly realized that the stone's aura caused too much interference for accurate teleportation. The only way off the planet was to capture a shuttle at the nearby Imperial Research Outpost.

Apparently, their opposition realized that as well. The pilot yanked his craft into a bank as searing beams of light shot through the air. The first naval craft exploded in violent light as the Grey Knight fired back, but his wingman came on. Silver hull bubbled and twisted as direct hits were scored, warning lights flashing as the engine compartment lost integrity. The Grey Knight guns, even as the ship rolled towards the planet's surface, flared once again... scoring a direct hit. The naval vessel buckled and split apart, raining debris down across the snow-covered forest below.

Moments later the Stormraven crunched into the ground, expert piloting keeping the chassis mostly intact and its cargo safe.

"Send out a distress signal. We will not be alone for long."

Imperial Guard List:
Battalion Detachment-

• Lord Commissar
• Company Commander
• x3 Guard Squads with Autocannons and flamers
• x2 Guard Squads with Lascannons and flamers
• Guard Squad with Plasma Gun
• x2 Armored Sentinels with Plasma Cannons
• Commissar
• Tempestus Command Squad with x4 Plasma Guns

Spearhead Detachment-

• Tank Commander in Russ
• Leman Russ Battle Tank
• Demolisher Battle Cannon
• Hellblaster Squad

Grey Knights List: 
Battalion Detachment-

• Castellan Crowe
• Brother Champion
• Apothecary 
• x2 Strike Squads
• Purgation Squad
• Rhino
• Land Raider Crusader ('Anvil')
• Dreadnought

Stormraven down! Now the Sons of Titan have to ride to the
shuttle port with the relic in tow. 

Convoy established- ready to roll out... but what is
that on the auspex?

Ambush! Multiple contacts! Use the darkness as cover.

Two guard squads with autocannons supported by a pair of armored sentinels
advance from the right flank.

Two Leman Russes, three guard squads (two with Lascannons) and the
Hellblaster's block the route to the shuttle port.

The Tank Commander from the last battle burned Promethium to set up
this ambush, linking up with another company of the 523rd.

A demolisher and guard squad with an autocannon make up the ambushers
on the left.

Despite the darkness, the Company Commander
gives the order to commence fire on the lead tank.

Everything hitting on 5+ the turn!

Sentinels in position to hit that convoy as it moves up the field.

Six wounds on the Land Raider Crusader is the sum total
of damage done on Guard turn 1.

Everybody drives up with the hope of breaking through the lines with the terminators
teleporting in to try and deal with some of the side chaff. 

Sadly the Terminator's targeting systems were
frazzled by the teleport.

The target of their ire taking only one wound from the barrage.

The 'Scions' (really guard with experimental plasma weaponry based on T'au
Tech) drop in, with a clear target in sight.

Unworried at the handful of casualties received, the
Guard push forwards to block the way, a special weapon
melta team jumping out of the Chimera to take aim at the Anvil.

The Demolisher Cannon takes aim at the Terminators even while almost
everything else fires upon that landraider!

BOOM. The Anvil joins its brother Landraider in death as Lascannons, Battle
Cannons, and a single expertly placed melta shot blasts the hull open.

The occupants roll out, three characters and
the purgation squad escaping almost unscathed from
their transports destruction. 

Most of the purgation squad is gunned down
by the rest of my fire.

Between the Demolisher Cannon and four rapid firing plasma guns (not
to mention really good rolling) all of the Terminators are killed in a single
round of shooting.

The Dreadnought charges into one of the Guard
Squads, the autocannon hitting twice on overwatch
and peeling two wounds off before being wiped out.

The Apothecary teleports a squad away even while
the others make their escape even as the guard
close in all around... 

As a parting gift, the Grey Knights bring down an Armored Sentinel and a few
more Guard, escaping off the side to fight another day.

Astra Militarum Victory!

Ending Thoughts:

This was a rough one if I'm honest. List compositions were compounded by the extra power points that we gave my Guard- and so we learned a lesson! In this sort of scenario, we really need to be even or else the sheer number of shots I can bring just is unbelievably overwhelming.

Still, short as it was, it works narratively and we will have to see where a captured apothecary and a mysterious red rock takes us next!

8th Ed. 40k: Imperial Guard v. Grey Knights

My first official game of 8th edition 40k on our newly cleaned off pool table! 77 power, Grey Knights v. Astra Militarum, The Relic mission.

Story:

Istramor IV was a barren world ever since the first Explorator Fleets entered the system five centuries ago. Certain isotopes found in deposits across the ice fields of the planet's surface justified a small refinery but beyond that the system was little more than a footnote in the records of the Administratum.

That is until the planet started to come to life. A chunk of red rock, split off from a comet speeding through the system, had slammed into the world's surface... and from the impact site flora and fauna began to grow. The atmosphere thickened and slowly but surely Istramor was becoming habitable. Hell, some would call it pleasant. Sadly, an entire planet undergoing centuries of ecological alterations couldn't go unnoticed. The Inquisition took notice. Worse, two rival organizations became interested in this strange crystal.

So it was that Guardsmen of the Draconis 523rd supported by Primaris Marines of the Lightbringer's chapter in the service of the Ordo Xenos came in conflict with the dreaded Sons of Titan. One side wanted the crystal for study, the other for containment and destruction- and violence was inevitable.

Imperial Guard List:
Battalion Detachment 'Imperium' Keyword-

• Company Commander with Power Sword and Plasma Pistol
• Primaris Lieutenant with Power Sword
• Lord Commissar with Power Fist
• x2 Guard Infantry Squad w/ Plasma Gun, Flamer, Lascannon
• 20-man Conscript Squad
• 3-man Interceptor Squad
• 5-man Intercessor Squad
• Hellblaster Squad

Spearhead Detachment- 

• Tank Commander in Leman Russ Battle Tank
• Leman Russ Battle Tank
• Demolisher Battle Tank
• Manticore

Grey Knights List:
Battalion Detachment- 

• Castellan Crowe
• Brother Champion
• x2 Strike Squads
• Dreadknight with Nemisis Hammer
• Land Raider
• Purifier Squad
• Terminator Squad

Guardsmen line up to take on the ruthless Grey Knights! 

The 'Hammer' filled with a Strike Squad bristling with hyper
accurate lascannons ready to unload its dangerous payload.

A 20 man conscript squad tank-shield supporting a Demolisher form
the center of the guard line- backed up by a Lord Commissar with a Manticore
looking on from behind.

My Tank Commander joins a Primaris Lt. and his Hellblasters on my left side.
The Hellblasters in paticular show that, even as 12power, they're quite nasty.

Unsurprisingly turn 1 has the rest of the Grey Knight force teleporting in
all around the relic, mowing down nearly a dozen of the conscripts as they
do so.

My turn to drop in! I bring in the Inceptors even as I return fire, peeling two wounds
off the Dreadknight and killing the strike squad protecting Castellan Crowe around
the relic.

In classic 'new model syndrome' my Inceptors only manage to take a single
wound off of Crowe before a lucky purge soul and a few dozen storm bolter
rounds knock my jump troops off the board.

The 'Hammer' is an absolute beast throughout the game, even as it gets more
and more damaged it manages to keep hitting as it deftly blocks my advance to
the objective.

The rest of my forces run closer, even as (amusingly) the Dreadknight takes
two wounds to a psychic miscast on Hammerhands.

Egged on by a stern Commissar, the conscripts charge into the Dreadknight to
hold him in place- which surprisingly works for awhile despite their low numbers.

The Terminator squad, taking only a single casualty strutting up the board easily
kills my Demolisher in melee after gunning down the majority of a guard squad.

Even as the Leman Russ engages on on left flank and my Primaris Intercessors
score some kills with their bolt rifles in the middle my Commissar, Company Commander,
and remnants of the guard squad charge the terminators- whiffing completely.

Huzzah! Concentrated fire from the remaining Leman Russes take down the
Dreadknight even as another guard squad and the Hellblaster's break out
of cover to rush for the relic...

But Crowe already has the ball Relic!

The other Strike Squad advances with the Brother Champion to
protect the now badly wounded Crowe from fire even as the
Terminators move forwards.

"Protect the Castellan!"

Terminators kill the final two conscripts and the Intercessor Sergeant.

The guard are chasing, but their so far away! 

The Tank Commander kills the Land Raider even as the Hellblasters overcharge their
plasma guns to try and deal with the Terminators- in the end, three (!) die from overheating
while taking out two of the remaining three Terminators.

The Strike Squad is killed to the last over the turn of shooting,
but Crowe stays alive and far away from any of my infantry.

With small units charging my Leman Russ's to keep them from shooting and
the Brother Champion taking the relic, the game is over- Grey Knight's victory!

Final Thoughts:

It was a fun game, and so far we both like 8th edition. We're retaining all of the information much better than in 7th edition and we can tell that things will move even quicker once we get all the rules still rattling around from previous editions out of our head.

I also figured out my list building needs some worse. No transports really hurt me, and the Primaris segment of the detachment beyond the Hellblasters (who, while expensive, are really mean with -4 AP and a 30 inch range) didn't do much to add to the 'punch' of my army. I look forwards to getting my revenge!

Let them have their stupid space rock- though I don't envy the Tank Commander's debriefing.