Rules used 2011/12 Warhammer 8th Edition

This battle report is done from the perspective of the Nurgle general.

I had played Neil once before and seen some of his league games and found him a very canny player so I was not very confident. My army can be very good or sometimes bad depending if I can obtain enough casualties to trigger Epidemius’s special rule where by all poison attacks wound on a 4+.
Battlefield:- I rolled a 3 on the scenario chart Battle of the Pass the best choice for me, that meant the battlefield was narrowed which helps my limited number of units from being out flanked and if the opponent deploys on the deployment line which is 2 foot from the edge of the battlefield I can deploy my scouts in the rear of the enemies deployment zone.

Terrain: 4 + 3
River, Forest, Building x 1,Steadfast Sanctum 2 buildings 2 fences and a Bane Stone, Charnel Pit ,Wryding Well, Grail Chapel
I tried to get rid of the River but was foiled by the Slann’s high roll. I won the dice off for laying down the first piece of terrain so the river went straight along the base line followed by Neil placing the Pit in one of the corners then I placed the Sanctum next to the river Neil placed the building in the middle of the battlefield I put the Forest towards the rear of the battlefield then Neil placed the Wryding Well along the middle and I finally place the Grail chapel in between the well and Building.

I deployed first and laid down one of my units of Plaguebearers so that it could pass between the well and the edge of the table leaving space for a beast of Nurgle which I put down next. We exchanged deploying units until it was time to put down my characters then rolled to see what spells my 2 level 1’s would get and I rolled a 2 and 3 the almost the worse result for me.

Neil had deployed in a sort of chequerboard fashion right up against the game line with the Slann Mage-Priest sitting proudly within a unit Temple Guard. Once deployment had finished, because we both had scouts we rolled off to see who deployed them first I won again and thought this is a good omen. I managed to deploy both units alternatively of Nurglings to the rear of Neil’s battle line though it was very tight and Neil deployed both of his units of Chameleon Skinks on my left flank within 12” of my Flesh hounds. The idea of my deployment was to either engage units in the rear or try and entice them away from the main battle line, I would have normally gone after the skinks but I was going to try and reduce the number of units my Plaguebearers were going to have to fight.

Turn 1 - I lost the dice off to begin the game even with the +1 for finishing deployment first so it was over to Neil. Neil manoeuvred his Chameleon Skinks to enable them to shoot their blowpipes at my flesh hounds he also manoeuvred his 2 Salamanders so that they could spit their flames at my 2 large units of Plaguebearers . Neil’s main unit of Temple Guard with another unit of Saurus warriors moved slightly forward so that the Slann was within range of his spells the supporting unit of Saurus warriors with the Battle Standard Bearer (BSB) moved slightly to my left and yes Neil took the bait he turned his Stegadon and his small unit of Saurus warriors away from the main battle line to face down my Nurgling scouts. 

The Slann closed his eyes and went a funny colour and from his webbed hands came a burst of light so bright my Plaguebearer unit with my General and my BSB in began to shake and writhe with pain, it was the spell The dwellers Below needing a 21+ to cast as I was 24” away this was easily accomplished with his own +4. This would cause untold damage if the spell could not be stopped holding only 5 dice and only a +1 to the dice roll it was an impossible task but I prayed to the Gods of Chaos and he blessed me with the 2 6’s required to dispel. By using all my dice this left the way open for Neil to cast a couple of bumping spells on his own units. The shooting by the 2 Salamanders was ineffectual by being quite a long distance away 1 missing completely and the other just managing to cause a couple of casualties. However the skinks were running rings around and shooting my Flesh hounds and this would continue all game until they finally wiped them out in turn 5. Not once did the Skinks fail their leadership test to be able to move to my rear if they had they would have got chewed up.

My turn 1 I declared 2 charges both from my Beasts of Nurgle onto the 2 Salamanders which I thought would run away but Neil chose to stand firm. Even with the choice of 2 from 3 dice and a 6” moved they both fell well short. I advanced both Pleaguebearer units so they were in line with the Beasts so that if Neil charged in his turn he would have to fight 2 of my units. I retreated my 2 Nurgling units 2” away from the approaching enemy to maybe make that much more difficult to return to the main battle in the centre. My magic phase was easily cancelled out by the Slann Mage.

Turn 2 - Neil declared 4 charges the Temple Guard and a unit of Saurus onto a Beast and a Plaguebearer unit on my right flank his Stegadon onto a unit Nurglings and the smaller unit of Saurus also onto a unit of Nurglings. The supporting unit made a side shift to try and avoid a possible charge coming their way in my turn, The Salamanders got into better positions to shoot at the unengaged unit of Plaguebearers. In the magic phase Neil had plenty of dice to plan his magic attack stragity, once again I could see the Slann’s eyes beginning to close oh no I thought here it comes again requiring just 18+ on the dice the decision was made just to roll 5 dice for the dwellers but rolling 3 1’s didn’t help the cause and came up short by 1 point thus ended the magic phase. Shooting by the Salamanders was more effectual this turn dropping 6 of my Plaguebearers as I could only use their 5+ ward save and not the 4+ regenerate because of the intense heat issued from the Salamanders mouths. In the combat phase the Stegadon easily beat my Nurgling unit in combat resolution.

I tried to fight the crew instead of the creature because they were easier to wound but I had to get past the defence of the reinforced howdah which gave them a 2+ save so looking for 1’s none. Because I was defeated in combat by 3 I had to roll 4 on my leadership and anything over that I would lose as casualties I lost 4 more dead. The other unit of Nurglings did better in combat because the unit of Saurus they were fighting failed their fear test so were fighting with only WS 1, I managed to kill 4 warriors which my tallyman noted on his tablet Neil in return killed 2 Nurglings but again Neil won the combat resolution due to charging , number of ranks and having a standard so having to make a 5 to not lose anymore Nurglings I rolled an 11 so I lost another 2 bases but at least they were doing their job but it was not pretty. Now to the more serious event where the battle could be won or lost fortunately the Plaguebearer unit Neil was fighting was holding the Icon of Eternal Virulence which gave the unit an additional +1 in combat resolution if Neil’s Lizardmen could not save any poison attacks. The fight went well for the Chaos hordes just winning by 2 in combat resolution but because the Slann Mage was within his aura of influence they used his leadership of 9 but this was reduced to 7 because my other Icon of Despair was within 12” of the Slann but this was passed with ease being cold blooded.

In my turn 2 I charged Epidemius and his horde towards the irritating Salamander which turned tail and ran for home seeing the supporting unit just to his right Epidemius shouted at the top of his voice to change the direction of the charge which his followers heard and clattered into the unit. I charged the reaming Beast into the flank of the Slann’s unit to try and give extra impetus to the fight. In the magic phase I rolled “snakes eyes” so just gave up on the phase and went straight into combat. The Nurglings did get a casualty on the Skinks on top of the Stegadon, this helped the count to reach the magical 8 being number required for all my poison attacks to wound on a 4+ but this would not take effect until my next turn. The Nurglings again managed to hold the Stegadon in combat thus tying him up. The other unit of Nurglings were finding things a lot more tougher now that the Saurus were fighting on a level playing field after getting used to the decay and smell of the little blighters. The Nurglings lost again but like the other unit managed to hold on. I chose to fight the other unit of Saurus that I just charged first to try and make the unit flee with the BSB thus avoiding the rerolls for leadership tests. Encouraged by the loyalty of his underlings Epidemius pushed his way to the front to fight, in the combat as not many “men” were fighting the combat was close but the Pleaguebearers came out on top again narrowly but with 2 rolls on a 7 this was easily made. Because I had won the combat I did a combat reform and slid the whole unit to the right to give more bearers the chance to fight. The main fight again was a close thing and again the Lizardmen held their ground with ease though their numbers like mine were falling rapidly.

Turn 3 – So onto turn 3 with just his Salamander unengaged Neil took the decision to charge my Plaguebearer unit in the main fight in the flank. In the Magic phase Neil bolstered his units with Shield of Thorns and Regrowth which gave him back 3 models not enough for another rank thou Phew. Fighting began again in the centre and the result was again a stalemate as the Slann made his leadership test after a re-roll. The Nurgling fight against the Stegadon finally came to an end as the final base succumbed to daemonic instability. The Saurus unit fighting the other unit of Nurglings defeated them in combat so managed to do a combat reform facing the main fight in the centre this spelled danger for my battle plan. Neil chose to continue the fight in the centre with his Slann Mage and once again lost the combat narrowly and again passed the modified leadership test. The next combat would be crucial fighting now with superior numbers being in hoard formation and 4 ranks deep I could fight with 3 full ranks against Neil’s 2 although those Saurus have 2 attacks each in the front rank with Epidemius adding his weight to the combat they gave the Saurus warrior a good drubbing . After combat resolution was carried out the Saurus warriors needed “snakes eyes” to remain in combat, they failed the first attempt but came so close to surviving with a 1 and 2 on the dice. I elected to chase down the Lizardmen and cut them down where they turned and did a combat reform to face off the oncoming Stegadon.

In my turn 3 I had nothing that I could charge but now all my poison attacks wounded on a 4+. Combat resumed in the centre and now the poison attacks were going to help out combat resolution so much so that once again the Slann would have to make a single leadership test on 7 now that his BSB had gone. The Slann rolled 3 X 6’s that was it the tide had turned and I could feel the wind go out of Neil’s sails. Of course I elected to chase and cut the remainder of the unit to ribbons. Leadership tests now had to be taken for the rout and the Salamander that charged me in the flank took off for home swiftly followed by the Stegadon.

Turn 4 - moved swiftly as both side consolidated their positions.

Turn 5 – and Neil managed to run his Saurus warrior into a building for safety and the skinks finished off the Flesh Hounds. The fight continued in the centre by this time both units were down to single figures and I had lost a Beast and the other only had 1 wound remaining. Neil now changed tactics and concentrated all possible attacks on my Herald of Nurgle and swiftly cut him down to the loss of 215 pts but the remaining Beast and Plaguebearers inflicted enough wounds for the unit to have to test its leadership. With the Slann slain and no BSB and my fingers crossed Neil rolled the dice and failed. You know me I was after them but this time they were less than enthusiastic and fell short, the Beast also failed to overrun them.

One charge to declare and the Beast made contact with the Saurus warriors and killed the remainder of the unit to a Lizard. The remainder of my Plaguebearers (just the command group) turned to chase down the running Salamander but knew they were never going to catch him and his Skink handlers.

Turn 6 - Neil kept the Saurus unit secure in the building and moved the 2 Skink units into the Sanctum. Neil did not attempt to rally his fleeing units so that they would be out of reach of my remaining units and he could save their points.

I passed on turn 6 as there was nothing I could do to change the outcome which in the end was a solid victory to the Daemons of Chaos but it could have easily gone the other way half way through the battle.

Paul B.

Battle Report – Space Wolves v Blood Angels

Hi all,

There were a couple of games played over the last few evenings. Below is a Battle Report from a recent slaughter between myself and Chris R.
On the 13th April, Harry and Mark had a battle. I was playing so didn't get round to look at much. The score was given to me in terms of kill points, so I guess it was annihalation. Mark scored 4 kill points, but was just pipped at the post by Harry's 5. Well done Harry, and its nice to see some progress in that league.

League 3 saw its last game. Bryan and Mike H fought it out. All I saw was the accumulation of piles of green tyranid bodies, but when I went to collect the scores, it had turned into a very bloody draw. This means that Mike had enough league points to match Neil R's score, and then looking at the VP countback, Mike has emerged as the league winner.

 Well done Mike, and congratulations as well to Neil for a very solid second place. And I wont even mention how many league points I gathered this year….
 
I know people have busy lives and there are lots of competitions and campaigns going on, but can those people who signed up for this make a drive to get their games played. There are only about ten more to be played over all the leagues, so with a bit of effort we should be able to get these completed by the end of May. If anyone has played a game and I have not recorded the result, drop me an email.
 
Tony

A copy of the league table as it stands is attached here:

40K League Table April 2012

Battle Report – Space Wolves v Blood Angels

To Logan Grimnar

From:Harald Blacktooth

As per your instructions we landed on the Imperial world of Bex Lei to retrieve 4 artefacts that have lain unregarded for many millennia. On approaching the site, a tumbled down set of ruins on the edge of the dying township, we encountered a force of Blood Angels sent by the Inquisition to dispute our ownership. Once more the blood of astartes would be shed to satisfy the ambition of lesser men. 

The Blood Angels were a primarily vehicle based force with a Land Raider Crusader, 3 Baal Predators, 2 Predators, and 2 Razorbacks. They approached the battlefield from the NW where the cover was densest. We deployed in the SE. The Long Fangs took up forward positions with the 2 AC armed Razorbacks taking the left flank and the two Rhinos with myself and my Rune Priest brother, Torsten, took a central position behind the lines.

The Blood Angels Scouts then appeared on one of the objectives in the SW corner of the board. The Blood Angels came forward but had little success with their initial shooting; a sole Long Fang from the most westerly squad was gunned down by the Scouts.

Torsten drove north from the deployment zone and the 2 AC Razorbacks with their 6 man Hunter squads drove west. Our shooting was as ineffective as that of the Blood Angels. Two vehicles, a Baal Predator with twin-linked AC and a Predator with 2 Las sponsons and an Autocannon turret were shaken, but that’s all.

The Blood Angels advanced further. A Baal Predator with a flamestorm cannon turret appeared behind our lines and killed 4 Long Fangs from the most northerly squad. One of the AC Razorbacks also perished and a Hunter died in the explosion. 

I disembarked from my Rhino and joined the central squad of Long Fangs who were sat on one objective. The Rhino then reversed towards the Baal Predator behind our lines. Torsten moved closer to the objective just to the north of our deployment zone using the hill there as cover. The remaining AC Razorback moved west towards the scouts who were now being supported by a Predator. The Hunter squad that had lost its vehicle headed north towards where a Predator and Baal Predator were baby-sitting another  objective. Sustained fire from the western Long Fangs and myself (using my psychic powers despite interference from the Blood Angels Librarian) wiped out the Scouts. The central Baal Predator was immobilised and the Predator alongside it stunned by fire from the Las armed Razorbacks and the other Long Fangs. A melta gun shot from my squad’s Rhino destroyed the Flamestorm Baal Predator. 

The Blood Angels responded by taking down 2 more of the western Long Fangs, destroying the remaining AC armed Razorback, and destroying one of the Las armed Razorbacks. The Land Raider was now threateningly close to myself and the Long Fang pack. 

One of the small Hunter squads continued its march west, and the Long Fangs on that side moved to try and get a clear shot at the Predator facing them. The other small Hunter squad headed north towards the central objective. Torsten’s squad also headed north to face off against a Baal Predator and a Razorback with a squad of Blood Angels inside. 

A shot at the western most Predator failed to achieve anything. A Las armed Razorback immobilised the Baal Predator facing Torsten’s squad. The gun was blown off the other Baal Predator in the centre by Long Fangs. The small squad heading north failed to damage anything but did stun the Predator again with a melta shot. 

Five terminators with Thunder Hammers and Storm shields emerged from the Land Raider and assaulted the Long Fangs and me. I and 4 fellows were felled without reply; the remaining 2 Long Fangs pulled back. The Land Raider took out one of the Las armed Razorbacks. The Terminators fell back to the Land Raider. The Razorback facing Torsten’s squad destroyed their Rhino. 

The small Hunter squad to the west continued its march and the Long Fangs on that flank moved again to find a target. The other small Hunter squad continued to advance northward and assaulted the Predator they had previously stunned, destroying it. My squad moved back towards the objective previously held by the Long Fangs and the 2 survivors from that squad rallied. 14 hits on the terminators killed one of them. Torsten’s squad attacked the immobilised Baal Predator but merely destroyed the gun. Torsten himself split off from his squad and attacked the Blood Angels’ Razorback but to no effect.  

The Terminators hopped back into the Land Raider and headed back towards the centre to block the small Hunter squad closing in on the central objective. The Land Raider opened fire on them , killing 3 and the remaining 2 fell back. The unengaged Razorback moved to the central objective securing it for the Blood Angels. The Razorback facing Torsten’s squad drove straight through it and over the destroyed Rhino to threaten another objective. The Predator in the far SW corner opened up on the ‘long march’ Hunter squad killing 2 and forcing them to fall back also. 

My squad now consolidated their position on one objective. The two survivors of the small squad assaulted the Land Raider and stunned it. The Long March squad rallied and assaulted the western Predator. It was destroyed and they claimed the objective. The remaining Las armed Razorback took down the Blood Angels Razorback near the objective. Torsten and his squad fired on the squad killing just one. The squad then assaulted the Blood Angels but the gods were against us with 3 Hunters dying to one Blood Angel and the squad fell back. 

As night fell we had recovered 2 artefects and the Blood Angels held one. My wounds from the Thunder Hammer blows I took are grievous. I do not expect to recover.

Yours in death, your servant,

Harald Blacktooth."

As ever Chris, thanks for the battle report, even though its easily denounced as a piece of vile propaganda!

"Another great battle in the 2011 championships. Mike Young’s Orks managed their third cracking victory, this time against Phil Short’s Necrons.

For a warrior robot race with designs on conquering the galaxy, the Necrons were in pessimistic mood…. ”It’s the new Codex” they complained, “It only favours the new models”. Indeed it seemed not to be legions of fearsome ruthless killing machines that faced the Orks, but rather regiment upon regiment of Marvin the paranoid android. “I think you ought to know I’m feeling rather depressed “ the Necrons moaned as their leaders gingerly lined them up.

But was it the subtlety of the Ork tactics that overwhelmed the intellectual might of the Necron. Perfected and fine-tuned over the years … The Ork tactics stood at the pinnacle of their efficiency.

They were:

· Drive directly at the enemy in Big armoured Wagon

· Get out

· Hit them on the head with an axe.

Two moves later it was all over. The Necrons could not cope with the Sheer numbers simplicity and violence of the Ork attack. Despite the Orks several times overstretching themselves and losing by attacking several units at once, numbers told and the Necrons found themselves with fewer and fewer troops, and none that held any of the 5 objectives at the end.

Result Orks held 3 objectives, Necrons held zero… Ork victory. Points lost Orks: 760 Necrons 1412

So league 2 and 3 are very tight. The final games for this are crucial.League 1, John R has a clear lead but we need the other games plyed to see who is second.

If I have missed the results of any games, please let me know and I'll amend the spreadsheet.

Tony

What carnage. Three of the six battles were won by Good and three by Evil. A massive 6360 points were lost in battles with Good suffering losses of 3710 points and Evil losing only 2650 points. Details below.

Rohan 2/700 X Isengard 2/500 > ROHAN WON 550 POINTS REMAINING

Rohan 1/800 X Isengard 6/800 –Siege > ISENGARD WON 490 POINTS REMAINING

Rohan 5/899c X Mordor 5/800 > MORDOR WON 580 POINTS REMAINING

Rohan 3/500c & Rivendell 5/500c X Fallen Realms 2/700 > GOOD WON ROHAN HAD 310 POINTS REMAINING, RIVENDELL HAD 410 REMAINING

Gondor 4/800 X Fallen Realms 6/700 > GONDOR WON (just!) 220 POINTS REMAINING

Gondor 2/1000 X Mordor 3/500 – Minas Morgul scenario > MORDOR WON 280 POINTS REMAINING

Please see attached map & order template.

Orders by midnight on 9^th March please.

Rob

UpDated Map

Order template

Necrons v Blood Angels

The only league game last night was me playing Mike H, me using Blood Angels and Mike using Necrons. The game was anihalation with spearhead deployment.
I deployed first, and put down my red wall of armour in acrescent facing Mike. Having played his army once before, I was aware that AnK'ran the Traveller (Something like that, special character) could take over a vehicles weapons and shoot with it in his turn, so the crescent stopped any rear shots. Mike deployed, with two enormous clumps of scarabs backed up with Spyders, Ankle Iron and a bunch of Lychguard, Imhotek the stormlord and another bunch of Lychguard, with two clumps of warriors lurking at the back. His wraiths were scurrying along the base edge towards the middle. Mike rolled to seize the initiative- a six. Oh well.

First turn- Mike unleashes Impotent's storm. Fortunately, the lightning only struck two tanks and failed to damage them. He pushed forward with AnkhMorpork and his Lychguard, making sure the scarabs gained a cover save. He shot at my scout squad, who had infiltrated to a patch of cover. Three failed saves later, the remnants decided the battle was a lost cause and hightailed off the edge of the table. Ankle joint seized control of my Landraiders multimelta and shot the assault cannon off a Baal predator. Michael only moaned a bit about not managing to blow it up…

My army is predomanantly armed with guns with a 24" range. I went forward to try and shoot the scarabs before they munched my tanks to pieces. Of course, Improbable brings his storm which brings night fighting rules into play. My tanks that could see the scarabs were out of range, the ones that were in range mainly failed the vision test. I shot a couple of bases down. My landraider, remembering who the bad guys were, opened fire on Awkward and his Lychguard. Four went down, and two of them stayed there. The terminators were out, and assaulted them. In a pattern that you may begin to recognise, most missed and the ones that hit failed to wound( I know , anything but a one…) The combat remained locked.

Mikes turn two. Impotable continues the storm. This time, it wrecks a razorback sending the squad scrambling for cover. The scarabs come forward, after being replenished by the spyders. In shooting, the gunless Baal predator was stunned. The scarabs assaulted. Mobility was a great asset for my tanks,m eaning that the Land raider was only immobilised, stunned and reduced to armour 9. A predator was reduced in armour by entropic strike, and then destroyed by the scarabs. Agnostic and his lychguard were joined by the other lychguard. Despite a flurry of choppiness, my terminators made all of their invulnerable saves, which was good. They only knocked one down, which was bad. He reanimated…

My turn two. My outflanking Baal predator turned up, aand drove as close as it could get to a squad of warriors. The librarian got out of the landraider. The other vehichles moved as fast as they could. The machine spirit fired the landraiders assault cannon, the blod lance from the librarian joined in and reduced one of the scarab swarms to one base.The Flamestorm Baal toasted the warriors, knocking five down and four stayed there. In assault, the librarian finished the scarabs off. My terminators sucumbed to weight of numbers and were no more.

Mikes turn three. His wraiths move in preparation to assault the land raider. teh lychguard close in on the (suddenly nervous) librarian. Immortals close down my left flank. Their shooting silences and dismounts the auto cannon from a predator.

The wraiths go in, and destroy the weakened land raider. The librarian is reduced to a red stain in the landscape.
My turn three… whats left moves as fast as possible, and loses of some shots. They cause random killing, but not enough to trouble Mike. 

The rest of the game passes in a bit of a blur. Mike shoots and shocks/stuns/disarms my armour. He grinds them down with assaults. I have a small victory in destroying the wraiths, and my last remaining assault cannon manages to wipe out ankrans lychguard, but I am heartily relieved when the game ends on turn 5. I have oe mobile razorback with a squad, another squad, and an immobilised and mainly disarmed predator left. Michael has lost a unit of scarabs, wraiths, lychguard and Ankran and a squad are damaged. Massive killpoint advantage and victory to him.

A good game and enjoyable to play. Not such an enjoyable result, but that's the way it goes.

Hope that people can get some league games played next week.

Tony

Four more 40 K Challenge Battle Reports for your enjoyment. Click on the links below to go straight to the report

Grey Knights v Orks

Space Wolves v Ultramarines

Necrons v Space Marines

Tau v Dark Angels

 Grey Knights V Orks – Neil H and Max played the Scenario was objectives (3) and deployment was table quarters

Ghazghkull advanced his force and quickly captured two of the three objectives for the mission. The boyz were in good spirits as they surrounded and secured the two points. The Grey Knight moved in position to attack and fired all their weapons managing to disable two trucks and stun the battlewagon on the first move. Not a brilliant start for the Inquisitorials but it showed the Orks what they were up against in terms of firepower.

Snikrot and his commandos failed to appear at first, must have been something in the warp! The Orks reinforced their position and returned fire on the heavy bolter detachments with their big shootas causing quite a bit of damage. However the Grey Knight reciprocated and took out two trucks utterly destroying them. Fortunately they were empty, but the loss meant that any counter attack that the Orks planned would be harder to achieve!

Then a loud cry went up from the grey knights lines as Snikrot and his commandos charged on and the Ork fire was so effective that they wiped out one squad and left another so depleted that Snikrot finished them off single handed! The Ork elation was short lived however as the Grey Knight specialists dismounted fro their landraider and with a combination of psychic powers and sheer force brutality, Snikrot and his commandos were left as smoldering remains.

The Orks reinforced their position and after more defensive shooting, they awaited the Grey Knight onslaught. Emboldened by their overpowering force, the Grey knight advanced at last on either flank and threatened the Ork positions.

Ghazghkull retaliated the only way he knew how and with typical Ork subtlety…he called a Waaaaagh! The Orks jump out and assaulted the two Grey knight razorbacks eventually destroying them both and one of the Dreadnoughts too. They wiped out another squad before being counterattacked and beaten off Ghazghkull cursing as he was overwhelmed by the ferocious Grey Knight counter attack.

So far the Orks managed to hold on to their two objectives and the Grey knight held none however the Orks were depleted and unable to match the strength of the Grey Knights and as darkness fell the Inquisitors secured the remaining objective and challenged both of those held by the Orks.

Despite the fact that the Grey knights could no longer capture any more objectives, the challenge was enough and the single point won them the game.

Grey Knight I objective losses 653 Points

Ork losses 816 point

This leaves Max tied with Steve with a game in hand. Paul G has only played one game, if he wins all three of his it will be a three-way tie and VPs will decide the league. Need to get on with the games Paul…

Neil R and Chris fought an epic battle. Here’s the report

Date 24-2-40012

Location: Verdigris – a jungle planet

Mission : Seize ground

No Of Objectives: 5

Deployment: Spearhead.

May it please your Lord, I write this report from the Excruciatus chamber. I was temporarily struck down by the warp and am being examined for signs of corruption. I feel sure that I will be found pure of spirit and return to active duty soon.

As you are aware Verdigris has been the scene of some conflict with the Ultramarines due to their overly zealous enforcement of orders from the prying Inquisition (may the Emperor curse them!). Our battle force was tasked with retrieving 5 hidden artefacts from the edge of the jungle in sector 205 of the Northern Continent. We were aware that our opponents had scouted the area but they withdrew allowing us to deploy first (Neil won the initiative roll but wanted me to have first turn).

The battlefield was dominated by a large hill in the centre of the table. Another hill sat on the eastern edge, just south of the centre line. There were numerous patches of jungle terrain  and a couple of impassable rocky outcrops.

We deployed in the South East corner of the battlefield. Our deployment zone included 3 of the 5 objectives; one deep in the corner the other two towards the northern and western edges and in open terrain. On the left of our line my brother Rune Priest, Torsten, and his squad and I with my squad deployed in our Rhinos. Behind us were lined up the 3 Lascannon armed Razorbacks. The 3 Long Fang packs were deployed close to the corner objective with 2 on the hill and the third in a patch of jungle. One small Grey Hunter squad in a Razorback with Assault Cannon deployed on the objective nearest the corner. The other deployed at the right hand end (northern end) of our line.

The Ultras deployed a Crusader Land Raider with 6 Terminators in close to one objective. One combat squad of marines stood on the other objective in their deployment zone which was in the far NW corner. Two other combat squads with Lascannons deployed close by. The last combat squad deployed in a rhino hidden behind a rocky outcrop close to the western edge of the board. Finally 5 more terminators deployed as close to the centre of the table as possible and another 5 deployed with a Librarian just behind them. All 16 Terminators and the Librarian carried Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields. A unit of Sternguard were held in reserve together with their Rhino.

We began the battle by rushing forwards. Torsten drove west at all speed and I headed north towards the central hill. The Las-armed Razorbacks moved forward. The northern most AC Razorback also moved north. The zealots had deployed well leaving few targets. 10 missile launcher shots took down a solitary terminator. The Lascannon shots failed to breach the Land Raider’s armour.

The Ultras responded quickly. The Librarian used the psychic power Gate of Infinity to move himself and 5 fellows to within 12 marks (inches in game terms) of the hill occupied by the Long Fangs. Both Torsten and I tried to stop this psychic power but failed. These fellows then ran towards the hill. The Land Raider drove forward but stuck on terrain. The 4 Terminators from the unit we had previously targeted advanced to the west of the central hill. A Lascannon shot took out my Rhino despite the smoke shield we had created and two battle brothers died. The Multi melta on the Land Raider took out one of the 3 Razorbacks facing it. Otherwise the shooting phase was uneventful.

Torsten continued his advance west at full speed seeking to outflank the Ultras line and get into combat with tactical marines rather than Terminators. The 2 Las-armed Razorbacks moved to get better shots at the stranded Land Raider.  My squad moved due east to get line of sight to the Librarian’s squad. Everything opened up on this squad – 15 missile launchers, 2 twin linked assault cannons and the bolters from our squad. 2 terminators and the Librarian were killed. I tried a psychic power but the warp overwhelmed me and I was wounded.  The remaining terminators chose to fall back (Neil used the Combat tactics rule and chose to fail his morale test). One of the Razorbacks blew the assault cannon off the Land Raider.

The Sternguard arrived close to the north eastern corner and drove on at high speed. The 3 Terminators rallied and closed on the Razorback with a 6 man Grey Hunter squad. The 4 terminators in the centre advanced towards the Las-armed Razorbacks. The Ultras in the Rhino moved out to block Torsten’s Rhino and another combat squad moved up to support them . The 6 terminators disembarked from the Land Raider and also moved towards Torsten’s squad. The Rhino carrying his squad was destroyed by a melta gun shot. 2 brave brothers died in the inferno. At the other side of the table the 3 terminators assaulted the Razorback and destroyed it forcing out the 6 Grey Hunters.

Torsten assaulted the zealots’ Rhino and destroyed it forcing out the 5 occupants. The Long Fangs fired at the 3 terminators but failed to kill any of them. I attacked them also but they evaded the gaping jaws of the earth. The Grey Hunter squad evicted from their Razorback assaulted the Sternguard’s Rhino and destroyed it. The Sternguard debouched but were clearly rattled. (They failed their pinning test and could do nothing next turn). My own squad moved onto the northern most objective in our deployment zone.

The trap around Torsten’s squad tightened. The 6 terminators closed in and several tactical squads opened up on them, killing 3 brothers. A combat squad led by a sergeant with a power weapon charged them.  3  brothers fell but 4 of the zealots were killed. The 4 terminators in the centre continued towards the Razorbacks. The 3 terminators ignored the Grey Hunters and headed towards the Long Fangs on the hill and assaulted a squad killing 4 for the loss of 2 terminators. The remaining Long Fangs fell back.

The 6 Grey Hunters fired on the Sternguard, cutting down 2 and then charged in, bravely unfurling their standard. In the ensuing melee the Sternguard’s armour proved tougher than it ought to have and only 2 fell whilst one of the Hunters perished. Torsten and the Wolf Guard accompanying him killed the lone sergeant facing them and advanced. The terminator on the hill was finally shot down as was one of the 4 terminators who were now menacingly near the 2 Las-armed Razorbacks.

The 6 terminators could not catch Torsten if they simply followed him, so they cut across the terrain and intercepted him. The result was predictable and he and the Wolf Guard were cut down in a flurry of thunder hammer blows. 3 terminators assaulted a Razorback and destroyed its weapon. The Sternguard and the Grey Hunters fought on. This time 4 Sternguard fell leaving only the Sergeant with the lightning claw but 3 of our brothers fell also.

A full round of shooting failed to take down another terminator. I tried another psychic attack but was struck unconscious by the power of the warp. The Sternguard and Grey Hunters wiped each other out in the bloodiest of combats. That 5 Hunters and a Wolf Guard should take down 9 Sternguard deserves an entry in the Sagas.

As darkness began to close in the battle was undecided. The Ultras held two artefacts and we had no hope of recovering them. We held two also, but lacked suitable units to take the third even though only we could realistically reach it.

There was one last act.  The 3 terminators charged into the Long Fang squad nearest to the objective we held in the corner. One died but 2 Long Fangs fell. The older Wolves stood firm. A Las-cannon shot destroyed the AC armed Razorback holding the squad on the adjacent objective and they were forced out.

The 6 Grey Hunters moved forward to form a second line of defence behind the embattled Long Fangs. A Razorback moved to stop the terminators running round one end of the line to the objective if they won their combat. The terminators killed 2 more Long Fangs who fell back and the terminators moved towards the other end of the Hunters’ line.

The final moment had come. The two terminators charged in wielding their hammers. One of them was within touching distance of the objective.5 Grey Hunters attacked and took one down. The survivor killed one in return. Now it was the Wold Guard’s turn. He had 3 Power Fist attacks. Two missed. The remaining one wounded. The Storm Shield flickered. And failed. The final terminator died.

Had he lived I would be forced to report a defeat. But by the grace of the Great Wolf we were able to retain two of the artefacts. Two fell to the Ultramarines and one lies on the field of battle still.

It is an ill day that brings us into conflict with our noble brother Astartes, and a sad day when so many great warriors fall

I remain your loyal servant,

Harald Blacktooth – Rune Priest

Neil has now finished his games and ended on 8 points. Chris is halfway there with 4, Michael has 1 and three to play and Bryan and I have not troubled the scorers.

John R played Harry in the youngest match up of the leagues. No quarter was sought or given, and a brief report.

Spearhead Cap/Ctrl. Harry won the toss and decidec to go second.

Both flags were deep in the deployment zones, but not quite in opposite corners.

T1 All the Necrons advance bar the warriors who garrison the home flag.

The marines all pull back! (a cunning plan?)

T2 Necrons continue to slowly advance

A few marine squads take casualties, in return the Landspeeders destroy all bar one of the destroyers.

T3 Final Destroyer eliminates the Librarian who was all by himself. Wariths now assault Landspeeders along with scarabs.

Landspeeders do not last long.

T4 A single lascannon from a tac squad destroys the Mononlith much to John's disgust. By now the Necrons are closing in

on the marine flag. The large amount of marine bodies and vehicles make the table very crowded in this part of the battle.

T5 Lycheguard finally get into assault with a tac squad of which 4 survive, and run away. Wraiths Move to contest the marine flag

which has a Rhino parked by it. Wraiths destroy Rhino only to find it empty!! What commander moved the tac squad from it?

Due to time constraints this had to be the last turn. So the marine turn was spent moving every unit possible to shoot at the wraiths.

After upteen bolt gun, plasma, flamer shots etc one Wraith remained. This turned out to be fairly academic, as no scoring marine unit could get within 3" of the marine flag.

The game had to end there even though there were some other combats (not critical to the result) to be resolved, hence the fairly low VP scores.

So John wins 1-0 with 645 vp, and Harry scored 520 vp.

This puts John R in a very strong position by dint of two massive wins. Only Ben can catch him now.

The last battle was between Ed and Sy, Tau versus Dark Angels. Here's the report

Capture and Control

Pitched Battle

Ed won the roll off and decided to go first.

Tau objective was placed behind a tall rocky outcrop blocking line of sight to it. Death Angels (DA) objective was placed in the centre of the table in the DA deployment area. The Tau deployed along their own board edge in a staggered line with Crisis suits in amongst the tanks providing support. The Dark Angels deployed in a similar manner.

The Tau kicked off the first turn with some spectacularly poor shooting, even managing to hit with all three railguns and after the smoke had cleared both the Rhino and Predator with lascannons were immobilised.

The DA first turn saw 5 Terminators and Belial deep strike right on the Tau objective, there was not much shooting to be had as the rest of the army advanced toward the Tau lines and Rhino repair it’s immobilised results on a 6. The Predator with the Las cannons scored a direct hit on a Hammerhead’s anti grave engine immobilising it.

The second turn for the Tau saw 3 battle suits deep strike and, with support from marker lights, wreck the Predator with  las cannons and a hammerhead blew off the Vindicator’s main weapon. The Tau also concentrated over 3/4 of the army’s firepower of the Terminators on their objective and after the salvoes upon salvoes of rockets and pulse fire came to a close Belial and his 5 Terminators lay dead upon the floor. In the second Dark Angels turn the army again advanced  toward the Tau lines along with the repaired Rhino

Third turn and again with help from the marker lights the 3 Crisis suits managed to destroy the Vindicator in a ball of flames. Marines were picked off here and there by accurate missile fire and in a game defining moment the 5 Terminators making a heading for the Tau objective suffered three wounds and proceeded to roll three 1’s. The Tau piled on the firepower and left only 1 Terminator and the Chaplain standing. The Dark Angel bikers used their speed to rush forward and begin picking off the pathfinders causing them to fall back.

In the Tau fourth turn the Devilfish surrounding the home objective shuffled around with the crisis suits jumping in and out here and there. The pathfinders also regrouped and moved back into terrain. The remaining Terminator was downed and the Chaplain reduced to 1 wound. Several more marines were shot down as they moved across the board. The remaining predator went up in flames with a loud bang from a direct Railgun hit. In the DA fourth turn the bikers again harassed the pathfinders causing them to fall back once again right up to the board edge. The Chaplain assaulted a Devilfish but to no avail.

The Tau used the fifth turn to consolidate around their home objective by killing the chaplain and putting several missiles through the front end of the Rhino hitting the engine and causing a large explosion. The fire was directed at the Elite Squad left alive and the last man of the other remaining troop squad fell under a barrage of Smart Missiles. The Bikers also suffered several casualties from the Railguns. The remaining Bikers then moved and opened fire of the other pathfinder squad causing even more wounds and they fell back also, there was something about the Death Angel bikers that had these pathfinders spooked. The remaining space marine from the Elite Squad assaulted the once deep striking Crisis suits, killing one outright and sweeping the other after the combat was over.

The die was rolled and another turn continued. The Tau killed the last remaining Space Marine from the Elite squad, and then directed their firepower at the Bikers until all that remained was charred and burning Bikers. Finally the Tau caused several wounds on the HQ squad on the DA objective. The DA turn 6 saw nothing in range for the remaining 2 Space Marines from the HQ squad to shoot at. The die rolled once again and the game ended.

The Tau were uncharacteristically brutal leaving only 2 Space Marines of the loyal Death Angels standing after this brutal encounter. It was a good game, Sy was unfortunate at times, and especially when rolling a triple 1 for the terminators saves. However it was the Tau who systematically targeted the anti-tank weaponry and then troop mobility. Without these two assets the foot slogging Death Angels were at the whimsy of the mobility of the Tau and their ability to bring maximum firepower where it was needed.

A good game and thanks to Sy, it was very enjoyable, good luck with the rest of the League.

Control of Objectives

Ed – Tau 1

Sy – Dark Angels 0

The result means that there is now a tie between Ed and Mike Y with Mike having a game in hand. Phil, we need you to get on with your games to resolve this!

So, all in all, its getting very exciting. Hope there are some games tonight. I'm playing Mike H so that should move us on a bit. Ben, Joe, Phil and Paul- let me know if you are going to be able to get your games in- the leagues are getting tight and you will have a crucial role in deciding them.

Thanks as always to those that gave me reports- Ed, Chris, and Neil- it helps people know what went on.

If you play any games, please remember I need the overall result and how many VP each player scored.

Keep rolling high

 Tony

Space Wolves v Tyranids

40k Competition Report by Graham   

1. Grey Knights (Graham) v Orks (Mark)

Mission – Capture and Control

Deploy Forces – Pitched Battle

Mark and I diced off to see who would move first. I won and made Mark player one. He placed his objective behind a piece of difficult terrain in the centre of his deployment area near to the edge of the table. I also placed my objective near centre within my deployment area at the rear of a hilly piece of difficult terrain. All pieces of terrain were covered by plant life so all gave cover saves even on the top of a hilly piece of terrain.

Mark set up with his two elite Lootas on the top of hilly terrain so they could fire over friends and see enemies. The 1st was on his right hand side next to the side edge of table. The 2nd was a quarter of the way along from his right. Between the two pieces of hill terrain he placed his 1st Ork band with a Big Mek. His 2nd Ork band with a Big Mek he placed between the second hill terrain and the difficult terrain that was in front of his objective. His Gretchin he placed within the difficult terrain to cover the objective. Finally he placed his 3 Killer Kans squadrons in front so as to cover the rest of his troops. He kept off table his 3rd Ork band as a reserve.

I placed my Purgation squad behind some difficult terrain so they could not be seen by Marks Lootas which was right in front of his 1st Ork band. My 2 Dreadnoughts were placed nearly on the table edge with a clear field of fire at marks 3rd Killer Kans squadron. My 4th squad (Grey Knights) I place on top of the hilly terrain to cover my objective while to the right of it I put first my Interceptor squad backed up by my 1st Terminator squad. My 2nd Terminator squad and my Brother Captain I placed behind the Objective near to the table edge. My 3rd Terminator squad was off table in reserve. Failed in throwing a 6 to get first move back.

Move 1.
Mark moved all his Killer Kans forward (move and run) as well as his two Ork bands. One band had to slow up as the Killer Kans in front had not advanced very fast. He fired both Lootas bands at my Grey Knights on the hilly terrain. I lost 4 (ouch!) but passed moral.

My Interceptor squad paid a visit to Marks Gretchin (Personal Teleport), fired and 11 Gretchin were taken off the table but Mark passed his moral test (dam). My 1st squad moved forward so they could see Marks 3rd Killer Kans, fired, result one Killer Kan wrecked. I had not read the rule about squadrons in which if the result is Immobilise it results in the target wrecked instead (I like it). My 2nd Squad and Brother Captain both moved and ran forward to support my 1st squad. My last Grey Knight of the 4th Squad retreated behind the hill. The two Dreadnoughts both fired at the 3rd Killer Kans, one more out of action. Finally, though I think I fired them first I fired my Purgation squad around the difficult terrain they were hiding behind at Marks 1st Killer Kan squadron. Result, 1 explodes and 2 wrecked. Not bad for the first round.

Move 2.
Mark tried to get his 3rd Ork band on but failed. He advanced his 4 remaining Killer Kans and both his Ork bands. His Gretchin fired at my Interceptor squad. No casualties. His 1st band of Lootas found that some of them could just see one of my Dreadnoughts. Fired but no hits. His 2nd band of Lootas fired at my 1st Terminator squad. I was able to save all hits. I must say the number of 5 or 6’s that Mark was throwing so far was above average.

My Interceptor squad moved in for the kill and the odd Gretchin still alive after I had fired, failed their moral and bolted for the table edge. My 3rd Terminator squad threw a 6 to come onto table. They did a Deep Strike which nearly ended with them landing on top and to the rear of Marks 2nd Ork band. Luckily I was able to fit them in with 2 inches to spare from the rear of Marks Orks. They fired, resulting with 14 Orks dead. The Orks passed their moral. My two Dreadnoughts fired again at the killer Kans but no luck. Finally, my Purgation squad fired at the 2nd Killer Kan squadron. Result, 3 wrecked Killer Kans (Yes)

Move 3.
Mark again tried to get his reserve on and failed again. He then declared a Waaagh! His 1st Ork band moved around the difficult terrain and attacked my Purgation squad. 5 against 31 screaming mad Ork. They died quickly. His last Killer Kan advanced and fired at one of my Dreadnoughts, hit and took out its long rang weapon. His 1st Lootas fired again at my other Dreadnought and this time destroyed it. His 2nd Lootas fired at my 3rd Terminator squad. I lost one terminator. Marks 2nd Ork band fired and attacked my 3rd squad. At the end, 5 Orks and 1 more Terminators were off the table. What was left of the Ork band, passed there moral. Mark did one important move in that he moved his Big Mek away from his 2nd Ork band before it went into melee.

My 1st squad moved towards what was left of the 2nd Ork band and fired at the 2nd Lootas. No losses. My 2nd squad and Brother Captain about faced and ran back towards my objective which was now threatened by Marks 1st Ork Band. The melee between my 3rd squad and Marks 2nd Ork band ended with the few Ork survivors legging it back to the table edge. My Dreadnought stood waiting for the last Killer Kan and protecting my Objective.

Move 4.
Mark finally got his reserves. They came on next to his objective, fired and then charged my Interceptor squad. 30 charging Orks v 7 Grey Knights. I lost 4 to 1 Ork. Bad dice when I needed a good throw. My last three Grey Knight however stood for another round. He advanced his 1st Ork band and his Killer Kan towards my objective. His 1st Lootas had nothing to fire at but his 2nd Lootas changed target to my one remaining Dreadnought. Hit and I lost my close combat weapon.

I charged my Dreadnought at his Killer Kan and tried to kick him to death (no weapons left). Failed and was wrecked. My 2 remaining Terminators of my 3rd squad fired and charged Marks 2nd Lootas. Who after suffering losses from my storm bolters and melee fled off the table. My 2nd squad and Brother Captain kept on running back and reached my objective. The 1st squad turn left and started to climb the front of the hilly piece of difficult terrain which had my objective at the back. Finally, Marks 3rd Ork band finished off my Interceptor squad and recaptured his objective.

Move 5.
Mark advanced his 1st Ork band and Killer Kan onto the hilly piece of difficult terrain next to my objective. He fired his sluggas but I was able to save the few wounds. His 1st Lootas had no targets and his 3rd Ork Band had a rest by his objective.

I threw in everything I had at Marks forces round my objective. 11 Terminators & 1 Grey Knight. The result was quiet spectacular. Out of around 28 Orks, 1 Boyz Nob, 1 Big Mek and a Killer Kan, when the dust settled, Mark had only 1 Ork, 1 Boyz Nob, 1 Big Mek and a Killer Kan left, and the only loss to me was my last Grey Knight. Survive that but he did with a moral throw of double 1. Marks cry of triumph will not go down in Ork history as the greatest Ork cry but it got everybody looking at him. To cap it off I move my 3rd squad towards Marks objective. I needed to run so threw a dice and got a 1 which was not enough to get within the 3 inches of the objective. Three “1’s” had decided the game.

( For those of you present, this is where Mark shrieked and inflicted temporary deafness on most of Catford- organiser's note)
Time however had caught up with us so we did not throw to see if there was a Move 6. I wish there had been.

So a win for Mark (1 objective and a contested objective to my 1 contested object). Well done Mark

Losses were Mark 1072 point, Graham 1019 points.

Thank you Graham for the report. Hope that people get the games played, and remember, the way to immortalise the battle is to get a report to me.
Tony

As you were aware, there were a load of games last Friday. I have had some mini reports, and the rest of them I will try and cover.

Firstly, Mike Y and Sy fought it out,

2. Orks against Dark Angels

Here's a report

The armies could not have been more different. Sy’s was a small elite army and Mike’s was a tide of green flesh crammed into war Wagons. With Spearhead Deployment the 14 strength armour of the Ork War Wagons proved difficult for the Dark angels to counter, and their Las cannons failed to penetrate. The infamous Ork “drive by” flaming was evidenced a couple of times when 11 templates were fired from the edge of the open-topped battlewagon, earth overlapping 4 terminators for 44 hits. The death rollers were vital in their anti tank role, and the arrival of Snikrot’s commandos from the rear table edge just finished everything off. Sy’s only consolation was a unit of Terminators that deep striked in on move 1 and sat on an objective in Mikes rear, proving impossible to shift. But that one success could not turn the green tide. The net result was a 3:1 win for Mike.

Points Destroyed Mike 1275 Sy 270. A decisive ork victory.

3. Tau Empire against Space Marines

Joe and Ed had a battle, which put the Tau Empire against Space Marines.

Pitched Battle – Present Tense
Seize Ground – 5 Objectives

The Tau won the roll off and elected to go 2nd. So it was up to the space marines to begin deploying their forces

SM – Combat Squad-ed all the units. They deployed the Whirlwind, 2 rhino’s a dreadnought 2 x 5 Space Marines near C with Sicarius. Next placed down is two squads of 5 Space Marines near objective D along with 5 Assault Squad Marines. Near Objective E deployed 2 x 5 Space Marines, 2 Dreadnoughts an 5 Assault Marines placed on the far flank next to E. The Land Speeder deployed behind E and the Scout Land Speeder deployed the left of Deployment

C. Finally 5 Scouts with Sniper’s deployed in the top left corner behind C. 5 Scouts with Telion, where left to infiltrate.

T – Tau deployed 5 pathfinders on A. Then a Hammerhead and 2 Devilfish to the left of A. 2 Hammerhead’s deployed to the right of A. 2 x 3 Crisis Suits deployed either side of A in amongst the vehicles. Kept in Reserve was a 3 Crisis Suits, 6 Fire Warriors, HQ Shas’El and a Devilfish with Pathfinders which was outflanking.

The Scouts with Telion infiltrated onto objective C and with the Tau only rolling a 4 to sieve the initiative the game was under way. It has to be noted the Space Marines Sicarius had wargear that allowed him to re-roll seize the initiative but by going first he could not use it, so a bit peeved created imaginative idea’s how else it could be used, however none of these were allowed. (Smiley Face)

1st Turn
SM – The space marines kicked off by moving everything forward about 6”. They opened the shooting by firing the whirlwind at the pathfinders on A and the Assault cannons opened up from the dreadnoughts near E against the pathfinders. 4 pathfinders where left standing and passed their leadership. Several rockets shot and hammerheads and devilfish however they were saved by the disruption pod. The devilfish in line with D suffered a weapon destroyed the SMS.

T – The tau shuffled the tanks around a bit and starting shooting. The two dreadnoughts near E and D were both destroyed. The other dreadnought was immobilised and a couple of marines were shot down. The Land Speeder was destroyed as well.

2nd Turn
SM – Space marines consolidated near objectives. 5 guys went to A along with 2 x 5 Assault Squads began their approach. The Rhino’s proceeded towards B. The shooting phase saw some more pathfinders fall to shooting and several penetrating shots on vehicles saved.

T – The Tau begin moving toward the left flank whilst holding onto A. There was shooting taking down several marines here and there and several wounds on the scout squad on C.

3rd Turn
SM – The 2 Assault squads of 5 moved towards objective A and the squad of 5 Space Marines in the middle began moving towards the devilfish at the centre of the table. The two Rhino’s on the left flank began their move toward B along with another squad of 5 Marines. The rest of the marines stayed still on the objectives. There was more shooting at the Tanks however the hits failed to penetrate or the disruption pods confused the space marines. There was also an assault on the Hammerhead on the right flank however no hits managed to land.

T – The Tau brought in the Shas’El and 6 Fire Warriors from reserve as well as the Devilfish which outflanked on the right flank near E. The 2 Hammer heads moved toward the left flank and the 2 Devilfish in the centre moved forward. The hammerhead on the right flank moved toward E. The Devilfish that had outflanked also moved toward E. The shooting phase saw the rest of the scouts killed off C. The Hammerhead on the right flank did a long shot on the whirlwind and blew its gun off.

4th Turn
SM – The Assault Squad moved toward the hammerhead on the right flank. The 5 Space Marines in the middle moved toward the Devilfish in the middle. The 2 Rhino’s on the left flank moved toward B and the 5 Space Marines firmly held this objective. The remaining scouts moved forward to hold C. The shooting phase saw the Shas’El lose 2 wounds. Also a rocket hit home on the centre devilfish immobilise right in front of 5 marines with a powerfist. There were assaults on the hammerhead (to no avail), but the Devilfish in the middle was ripped open.

T – The remaining crisis suits dropped in near D. The two hammerheads on the left flank moved further forward. The remaining devilfish in the centre moved toward D and the outflanking Devilfish and Hammerhead on the left flank moved toward E. The Crisis suits moved in front on A to try and prevent the Assault squad. The shooting caused the Land Speeder on C to explode, marines that destroyed the devilfish held on valiantly but were eventually shot away and the assault squad in the centre approaching A were also shot down. The Shas’El managed to immobilise one of the Rhino’s on the left flank.

5th Turn
SM – The Space Marines moved to make sure they held all the objectives near their deployment. The Assault gave up on the Hammerhead on the right flank and moved toward A. The shooting phase saw more saves from disruption pods and a couple of crisis suits wounded. The assaults were on the pathfinders near E and the Crisis Suits near A. The pathfinders were chopped into little pieces and the crisis suits had each of their heads smashed in by the powerfist in the Assualt squad near A. The Space Marines also assaulted the deepstriking suits near D. The score currently stood at space marines 4 to tau 1.

T – The final Tau movement phase was crucial and saw the Shas’El and 1 Hammerhead launch forward and contest B, the next Hammerhead jumped forward and C, the surviving Devilfish in the centre contested D and the Hammerhead and outflanking Devilfish contested E. The shooting phase was also crucial, the 5 Assualt Squad near A were shot down to a man who had the last remaining 4 shots, 4 wounds and only failed 1 armour save. The Assault phase saw the crisis suits near D beat the space marines in combat but they stayed firm.

The game was rolled to see if it would carry on however it was 11 o’clock and the Tau firmly had objective A whilst the space marines had the objective B contested with the Shas’El HQ, the objective C contested by a hammerhead, objective D contested by a devilfish and 6 Fire Warriors and objective E contested by a Hammerhead and Devil fish sitting right on the objective. A win for the Tau, a very tactical game for both and a very enjoyable game.

Tau 1, Space Marines 0, Tau VP’s – 858, Space Marine’s VP’s – 367

Tyranids against Necrons

Its the first time I have seen Ben's army, and a very fetching pink swarm it is. So much so, Ben had worn a matching jumper! I caught a few glimpses of the game, and it looked as though Ben was on the verge of a major victory. The victory points tend to bear this out. However, the game ended on turn 5 and Ben hadn’t secured his objective, which meant it ended a draw. Ben, you need to keep your eye on the ball.

Graham and Mark's contest saw Grey Knights against Orks. I am promised a full battle report, which I am looking forward to. I think the game was capture and control, and it was a classic battle between a small elite force and a mob of Orks.The Orks kept chipping away, and of course, every loss hurts the Grey Knights. Graham managed to take more VP than he lost, But Mark managed to win the game… Come on guys, let us all know the details.

The other Grey Knight battle was Max against Nick's Imperial Guard. This was a fairly tense affair, with Max being concerned about the Guard’s multiple heavy tanks, and Nick worrying about the Grey Knights mass of middle ranged fire. Again, I couldn't closely watch this so I cant give more detail, but it ended with Max winning and gaining 700 victory points, although Nick took 500 from him, so it was quite close.

And the reason I couldn’t watch these games more closely? I was fighting Neil R's Ultramarines. With my Blood Angels on one side, and the Ultramarines on the other, it was unkindly referred to as "Liverpool against Chelsea". My army is designed around keeping moving and shooting, while Neil's relies on having hordes of Terminators. Neil gained the advantage early, when a long-range multi melta shot managed to penetrate a Predator, despite being outside half range, and immobilise it. Another long-range shot hit my Flamestorm Predator and exploded that quickly. Neil moved a unit of Terminators with Gate of Infinity psychic power, losing one in the process. They then had to stand in the open while almost everything I had fired at them, wiping out the terminators and wounding the librarian. This small victory cost me the battle.

I had been very careful with a Razorback, ensuring it was covered so it would be safe from anything being able to get a line of sight on it without moving at cruising speed. Fixated as I had become with this objective, I was then suitably gobsmacked when the Rhino containing the combi melta toting Sternguard completely ignored it, drove up to my Landraider and gave it a barrage of melta guns at close range, comprehensively destroying it. The only satisfying part of that round was Neil's librarian failing a ‘perils of the warp’ test and blowing his brains up.

My terminators wiped out the sternguard, but that was the end of my scoring for the game. The rest of it was trying to keep my Terminators from being overwhelmed by Neil’s (unsuccessfully) and keeping what was left of my armour alive.

So Neil won by the not unconvincing display of 6 kill points to my 3. Well done Neil, and he adds to his comprehensive lead in my league.

I will be able to get around more this week to watch the games, Remember, if you want you battles immortalised in full detail, you need to send ma a report. Thanks to Ed and Mike for theirs.

Tony

Playable Mini Games

Scenario. Command and Control – Deployment Pitched Battle

Ghazghkull Thraka seized his objective and gave the order to advance, more of a gutsy bellow than a discernable instruction but with a roar of motors and a cloud of smoke and dust the boyz charged forward towards the hovering Dark Eldar lines, as the enemy waited in their slender intricately adorned Raiders and Ravagers on the horizon. The boyz cheered as the sight of the delicate elder craft came into view through the dust and stepped on the gas as they sought to rip into the elegant array and destroy them.

However as the Orks careered across the sand the quietly gliding Eldar vessels unleashed a torrid fire from their Dark Lances, and Splinter cannons immobilising, one Ork truck and destroying another while a third disappeared in a massive explosion scattering Orks across the sand. Amazingly few Orks were lost as the trucks disintegrated. Even Ghazghkull ‘s battlewagon was hit by a Dark Lance and exploded violently leaving the Ork leader unwounded but he explosion took out nearly half of his entourage. As they dusted themselves down however the vengeful elder poured a heavy and effective fire onto the survivors and many Orks were lost.

Ghazghkull gave an angry cry as his mob lumbered forward which basically translated as ‘Waaaaaagghhhh!!!’ The call was taken up along the Ork lines as the Nobs and Meganobs ran hot foot from their destroyed vehicles towards the hovering raiders. With a whoop the Nobs crashed into a Raider utterly destroying it while Snikrot and his boyz emerged from cover and leaped onto Venom smashing it to pieces. The Meganobs appeared not to hear the war cry as they failed to charge in and merely lumbered forward.

The loss of so many vehicles became a severe disadvantage to the Orks as the fast Elder manoeuvred around to counter attack. The Orks audacity brought a heavy response. The sloth-like Meganobs paid for their reticence in a withering hail of fire reducing them to four smouldering piles of debris. Snikrot and his brave boys fell foul of the witches and infantry under a vicious attack. Only the brave Nobs survived as even Ghazghkull soon found himself walking alone as his mob had all fallen to the devastating Eldar firepower.

From that point on the Orks suffered at the hands of the Eldar weapons, the Nobs managing to take out another two Raiders. Even Ghazghkull managed to smash one vessel apart and despite the hail of fire raining down on him almost managed to take on another vehicle before a stray round severed his power cable and with a loud groan he fell face forward a crash of metal announcing that he was out of action.

With their gallant leader down, the Orks lost heart and with a final menacing attack the Eldar took the remaining control point as the sun set.

Result a good win for the Dark Eldar taking over 1500 Ork points and losing only a few hundred themselves.