Our plan was to make our opponents pick between two terrible choices. Focus on the Astra Militarum? Get sliced up by Berzerkers. Focus on Chaos? Get blasted apart by the armored might of the Guard. Fight both? Don't do enough damage to defeat either, and get smacked around. Seemed like a pretty solid, if brutishly simple, plan.
What do you expect when World Eaters are added to the equation? Poor screaming bastards really can only handle the simplest of game plans. This was what we brought to the table:
Riders of Ruin -
Astra Militarum 5 command points
Supreme Command Detachment:
[Warlord] Company Commander Chainsword, Laspistol, Kurolov's Aquila (2pow) 30pts
Primaris Psyker Laspistol (Psychic Barrier, Nightshroud) (2pow) 28pts
Primaris Psyker Laspistol (Psychic Barrier, Nightshroud) (2pow) 28pts
Enginseer Omnissiah Axe(2pow) 30pts
Shadowsword Volcano Cannon, Hull Twin-Bolter, x2 Lascannon/TB Sponsons (26pow) 472pts
Spearhead Detachment:
Tank Commander [Punisher] Punisher Gatling cannon, Hull HB, x2 HB Sponsons, Trackguards (12pow) 221pts
Leman Russ, Battle Cannon, Hull HB (10pow) 152pts
Leman Russ Battle Cannon, Hull HB (10pow) 152pts
Basilisk Earthshaker Cannon, Hull HB (7pow) 108pts
Manticore Stormstrike Missiles, Hull HB (8pow) 133pts
Sgt. Harker Heavy Bolter (3pow) 50pts
Infantry Squad- Laspistol/Chainsword Sgt, Flamer (3pow) 47pts
Infantry Squad- Laspistol/Chainsword Sgt, Flamer (3pow) 47pts
Chaos 7 command points
World Eaters Battalion
Dark Apostle with the Brass Collar
Exalted Champion
Berzerkers x8 w/ Chainswords + Axes in a Rhino
Berzerkers x10 w/Chainswords + Axes in a Rhino
Berzerkers x10 w/Chainswords + Axes in a Rhino
Alpha Legion Outriders
Chaos Lord w/ Jump Pack + x2 Plasma Pistols
x5 Raptors w/ x2 Plasma Pistols on Champion + x2 Plasma Guns
x5 Raptors w/ x2 Plasma Pistols on Champion + x2 Plasma Guns
x3 Chaos Bikers
Helldrake w/ Baleflamer
Helldrake w/ Baleflamer
Game 1
 |
| Riders of Ruin deployment- we bottled the Khorne Rhino's too close together and paid for that tactical mistake in the opening rounds of shooting. |
 |
| The foes. Three layers of Poxwalkers, with a crunchy Alpha Legion Center. And OH so many characters- Typhus and Two Daemon Princes to say the least. |
 |
| What's this? Khorne Berzerker's with the Alpha Legion trait to appear right next to my hapless renegades? With all of the Khorne in our list, its no wonder how they managed to get so close. |
 |
| Butchered to a man- anyone surprised? |
 |
| Across the field we have the Helldrake flying forwards to roast so Nurgle while everyone not trapped in burning Rhino's moves forwards. |
 |
| Without a lot of other targets the Shadowsword utterly evaporates a Bloat Drone (with something like 20+ wounds) and smashes the remaining Alpha Legion Berzerkers. You might also notice a squad of deepstriking Alpha Legion Obliterators materializing in the building above my gunline. |
 |
| The entire guard force opens fire, killing a few handfuls of the opponent and reducing the Obliterators to one- who drops my Manticore to 3 health by himself in the following shooting phase. |
 |
| A better view of their lines, pox walkers moving forwards with a blob of cultists holding off our Deepstrike in the rear. |
 |
| The Helldrake (very damaged by shooting) and the Bloatdrone (likewise) have a pointless slap fight. CAW! |
 |
| Far more pivotal is the scrum that takes place between the World Eaters and the combined enemy forces in the direct middle of the table- made all the worse by a Relic held by a nurgle character nullifying all charge bonuses. |
 |
| After a combat phase, the numbers are greatly diminished. The Berzerkers have taken heavy casualties but killed a pair of characters a a handful of pox walkers- clearing the way for the guard's guns. |
 |
| The Berzerkers are even worse off as the second Daemon Prince flys in, leaving just the Khornite characters and a single mad Berzerker holding up both a Prince and Typhus- luckily for us. |
 |
| The Helldrake, after tearing apart one of the Bloat Drones, finds itself pulled out of the sky by cultists and pox walkers... somehow. |
 |
| The Shadowsword fires and annihilates a Daemon Prince, while the Leman Russes blow apart two other characters left open by the Berzerker's charge- giving our side a narrow victory! |
Game 2:
 |
| The second game starts out rocky as the Nurgle/SoB team rockets over the center of the table supported by Celestine to surround and beat up on the World Eater Rhino's. |
 |
| Our deployment. In the distance you can see two or three large units of pox walkers completely covering the enemy deployment zone. |
 |
| Here the SoB player teaches me a new trick about how 'ending closer to an enemy' for pile ins and consolidation can be used to 'dance' around vehicles so as to surround them- a bit of a gross interpretation, but tis the way it goes. |
 |
| Celestine jumps behind my lines in an attempt to assassinate my little character posse, killing the Primaris Psyker. |
 |
| With the first ranks of sister's mostly dealt with, the Berzerkers smack head first into an unmangled Death Guard second wave. |
 |
| Death Cult Assasins likewise join the fight. |
 |
| There is quite the whirlwind of violence, and in the end one Berzerker remains standing, coated in blood and gore. |
 |
| To save Harker and the Tech Priest, the Shadowsword rumbles to life, grinding Celestine beneath its treads. |
 |
| Not that Celestine stays dead for long. Bye bye guardsmen. |
 |
| The Deathguard, finally finished they're long slow walk across the board, burst through the terrain... |
 |
| And the guardsmen are forced to withdraw. Victory to the Nurglite forces! |
 |
| Third and final game against a Blood Angels/Raven Guard army. |
 |
| Black armored Space Marines take up cover on the flanks. |
 |
| You can see the Librarian Dreadnaught in the center acting as the warlord, and some scouts holding an objective at deployment with their tasty 2+ saves. |
 |
| Some scout bikes with a Rhino next to a building full of plasma Hellblaster fury. |
 |
| Our first move has two units of raptors packed with plasma supported by a lord jumping in and executing the poor Librarian with overcharging shots. |
 |
| The poor Raptors are destined to eat most of our opponents fire on the next turn- serving us in death as well as in life. |
 |
| Our first two turns are pretty devastating, rolling forwards with everything and killing unit after unit despite the shadows protecting the Ravenguard at range. |
 |
| The Shadowsword blasts apart a thunder hammer wielding Captain through a window- probably taking the entire building down with it. |
 |
| Lightning claw wielding assault marines try one final last ditch attack, tearing apart a Berzerker squad- but they are quickly put down next turn- giving us a second, and very solid, victory! |
The Shadowsword was a mixed bag. It was scary and impressive, but sadly none of the opponents we faced had the heavy tank/super heavy presence to justify its expense. There was three or four Knights kicking around the world, just none crossed our path. Next time I field it I might try out a brawling Hell Hammer or even a 'normal' Baneblade.
It was a ton of fun, and I can't wait to try out my next list- it involves Valkyries!
No comments:
Post a Comment