Angels Sanguine Battle Report

This is the Battle Company Build, or Mass of Marines, list I was referring to in a previous post.

This battle report is for the Aftermath Campaign. This battle takes place on the surface of the planet Prox. Lord Sentikan, sensing that his marines have turned the tide of the Ork Waaagh, presses the attack to drive from the planet surface.

Marshall Malgrim and I had an opportunity to play a second game this weekend, as he had Monday off from work. Following our last game, he adjusted his list slightly. He wanted to try out Razorbacks instead of the Rhinos. As my memory serves, the list was as follows:

-Marshall and 7 Terminators, 4 Lightning Claws and 4 Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield in a Land Raider Crusader
-9 Assault Marines
-5 Tactical Marines with Missile Launcher and Plasma Gun in a Lascannon Razorback
-5 Tactical Marines with Lascannon and Meltagun in a Heavy Bolter Razorback
-Emperor’s Champion and 4 or 5 Crusaders in a Lascannon Razorback.
-Shooty Dreadnought, Lascannon and Missile Launcher

I changed my list. I had been playing with the same list, practicing for tournaments and the like. So, I decided that I would change it up. Run something for fun. I wanted to run Jump Packs. I knew I would need some firepower, and every Marine list needs some Tactical Marines. So, I ran the following

HQ
-Dante
-Lemartes
Elites
-Death Company with Jump Packs
-Furioso Dreadnought, Death Company, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor
-Veteran Assault Squad, 3 Power Weapons, 2 Meltabombs
-Veteran Assault Squad, Powerfist and Storm Shield, 2 Powerweapons, 1 Meltabomb
Troops
-Assault Squad, Powerfist
-Assault Squad, Powersword
-Assault Squad, Poweraxe
-Tactical Squad, 10 men, Meltagun and Missile Launcher
Heavy Support
-Devastator Squad, 2 Lascannons, 2 Plasma Cannons

1850 points
Capture and Control
Spearhead

Malgrim won the roll-off and gave me 1^st turn. I chose my deployment quadrant. Then it hit me. I had never run a list like this one. I had not done any research. I had no idea what to do tactically. I came up with a plan. I put everything with a jump pack, and Furioso, as close to the enemy as possible. Behind them, I placed a combat squad of Tactical Marines: Vet Sgt., 3 Marines, and Meltagun. I placed to other combat squad on my objective in the ruined building: Missile Launcher and 4 Marines. Also, I placed the Devastator Squad in the ruined building.

Malgrim deployed his Heavy Bolter Razorback on his objective. He placed his Land Raider in a position to launch a first turn assault on my jump packers as I came across the table. He bracketed the rear of the Land Raider with Lascannon Razorback.

Top of 1: I had no plan except to Jump and run until I could get everything close enough to assault. So, I jumped forward. I anticipated Malgrim driving around the wooded hill and trying to assault as many units as possible with his Terminators. I expected him to do this, because he has bad luck rolling difficult terrain tests for his tanks. Since he generally immobilizes the tank, he drives around if possible. Knowing this, I lined my left flank with Veteran Assault Squaders. I figured they had the best opportunity survive and perhaps deal some wounds as they died. I fired the Missile Launcher and Devastators at the Emperor’s Champion razorback. They destroyed the Razorback with a Vehicle Explosion which killed two crusaders.

Bottom of 1: Malgrim did the unthinkable, the unpredictable. He decided to drive through wooded hill in order to assault multiple units with his Terminators. He picked up the die and rolled it for difficult terrain. We both watched with anticipation as the die rolled around. The result: 1. The Land Raider immobilized while trying to enter the woods. We both laughed out loud. Then I apologized for laughing at his misfortune. He said, “No, don’t apologize. Watch this. I am pretending to roll for vehicle difficult terrain test.” He picked up another die, rolled it resulting in a 1. He unloaded the Terminators and declared his Assault. He was in range of one Veteran Assault Squad, but was unable to engage multiple squads. He destroyed the five Veterans, but my veterans took one Terminator with them. Heavy Bolter Razorback fired on the Death Company, power armor saved them. The Lascannon Razorback fired on the Devastators. Cover saved them. Land Raider fired on the Assault Squad which Dante had joined. It killed one marine.

Top of 2: I surrounded the Terminators and assaulted them with everything except the Meltagun combat squad: Lemartes and DC, Furioso, Dante and 3 Assault Squads, and a Veteran Assault Squad. It was an assault of epic proportions. Two terminators lasted through the Assault. Missile Launcher fired on the Lascannon Razorback, crew shaken was the result. Devastors destroyed the shooty Dreadnought.

Bottom of 2: The Emperor’s Champion squad did not join the assault. The assault raged on in the middle of the table. I managed to wipe out the remaining terminators, and consolidated forward.

Top of 3: Following the Assault with the Terminators, I had the following remaining: Lemartes and 5 DC, Furioso, Vet Sgt and 1 Assault Marine, 1 Assault Marine Vet Sgt, Dante and 1 Assault Marine Vet Sgt, and 1 five man Veteran Assualt Squad. Lemartes and DC fire on and Assault the Emperor’s Champion and Crusaders. Lemartes and the Emperor’s Champion kill each other in single combat. The DC wiped out the Crusaders. Furioso fires on and Assaults the Land Raider destroying the Assault Cannon. Dante jumps forward fires on and assaults the Heavy Bolter Razorback. I missed shooting the perdition pistol, and I chose to use a Krak grenade failing to penetrate. Veteran Assault Squad assaulted the Lascannon Razorback, wrecking the vehicle. Since Lemartes was now dead, I had no one to direct the DC and DC Dreadnought. So, I knew that I needed to finish off that Land Raider. It was the closest enemy unit to them. So, Missile Launcher and Devastators fired into the Land Raider.

Bottom of 3: Reserve rolls turned up Malgrim’s Assault Squad. They used deep strike to make an attempt at contesting my objective. They landed close to the ruins and fired on the Devastator squad. Power armor and cover saves were successful. A Hurricane Bolter from the Land Raider and the Heavy Bolter from the Razorback had a devastating effect on the Veteran Assault Marines wiping out the squad. The Tacticals from inside the most recently destroyed Lascannon Razorback assaulted my Powerfist Sgt who was trying to help finish off the Land Raider. Power fist Sgt killed two Templars and made his saves. He won the assault by two. The tactical failed their leadership test and took two more wounds, failing the save on one of them. So Powerfist Sgt effectively killed 3 Templar Tacticals in one round of combat with 2 attacks. I was impressed. Tacticals unloaded from the Heavy Bolter Razorback. They fired on and assaulted Dante. When the dust settled, Dante was locked in combat with two Templar Tacticals.

Top of 4: Malgrims plasma pistol had been in range of the Devastators. So, I moved my Tacticals from the objective over to the edge of the ruin in order to take advantage of Rapid Fire Boltguns. The true damage was done by the Devastators. They lived up to their names when the Plasma Cannons were leveled on those tightly packed Assault Marines. 9 wounds from the Plasma Cannons which denied armor saved. The Assault Marines were no more. Powerfist Sgt and the two remaining Templar Tacticals continued their assault. When the dust settled, all were dead. The Templar Tactical Marine with a Powerfist and my Powerfist Sgt and destroyed each other (and the other Templar Tactical). Dante killed the two Tacticals he was locked in assault with. I jumped two Assault Marines over who assaulted and wrecked the Heavy Bolter Razorback. Furioso and the DC continued to bash away at the Land Raider (DC was not strong enough to accomplish anything, even with rending). Also, the Tactical Combat Squad Meltagun fired on the Land Raider. All of this managed to destroy the last remaining Hurricane Bolter.

We looked at the table and realized that there was nothing Malgrim could do. All he had left was an Immobilized Land Raider without any weapons. Game over after the top of turn 4.

My analysis: We must be fair and honest about the whole ordeal. I did not draw this list up in order to table my opponent. I just wanted to play a mass of jump packers for fun. I had no idea that the game would turn out like this until I had destroyed the Terminators in turn 2.

I attribute the success of the list to the following: Our local group has been following the Mechanized trend. With each army getting more and more mechanized, we have been taking more and more anti-mech heavy and special weaponry. When I throw down an army with no vehicles, then all that anti-mech weaponry becomes a big waste of points. Furthermore, Malgrim is still learning his army and broadening his tactics. He had never faced a Mass of Marines or Battle Company Build before. Next time, I will warn him ahead of time. I feel like it was a dirty trick to play. However, I did not know that it was a dirty trick until I had already played it.

Marshal Malgrim is a fine sport, and he chalked it up as a learning experience. So, in the interest of learning I would like to pose a question. Is this type of list an answer to the current metagame? Is this how we respond to IG’s Chimelta and the increasing amounts of Mech and Melta? Your comments are always appreciated.

Angels Sanguine vs. Black Templar

This game featured Marshall Malgrim's Black Templar and my Angels Sanguine.

This battle report is for the Aftermath Campaign. It takes place on the Planet Prox.

1850 points
Sieze Ground
Spearhead

Malgrim was running the following (according to my memory):
-Marshall and 7 Terminators in Land Raider Crusader, 4 Lightning Claws and 4 Thunder Hammer/Shields
-Emperors Champion with 9 Crusaders in a Rhino
-5 Tacticals with Plasma Gun and Missile Launcher in Rhino
-5 Tacticals with Lascannon and Meltagun in a Rhino
-Dreadnought, Twin-Linked Lasacannon and Missile Launcher
-Predator, Lascannon Sponsons and Twin-Linked Lascannon

I was running my usual list:
HQ
-Dante
-Corbulo

Elites
-Death Company, Rhino with Extra Armor
-Furioso Dreadnought, Death Company, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor

Troops
-Assault Squad, Powerfist, Rhino with Extra Armor, Pintle Storm Bolter
-Assault Squad, Powersword, Rhino with Extra Armor
-Assault Squad, Poweraxe, Rhino with Extra Armor
-Tactical Squad, 10 men, Lascannon, Meltagun, Rhino with Extra Armor

Fast Attack
-Attack Bike, Multi-Melta
-Attack Bike, Multi-Melta

Heavy Support
-3x Baal Predator, Pintle Storm Bolter, Sponson Heavy Bolters, Extra Armor

I won the roll-off and gave him first turn.

I forgot to set the camera up until turn 2. So there are no pictures of the set up, deployment or first turn. All pictures are at the end of each turn. Nevertheless, we had 5 objectives to place. I had the first placement which meant I was placing three objectives and my opponent was placing two objectives. I placed three objectives in a tight triangle in Malgrim's deployment zone. He placed two objectives in my deployment zone: one in a ruined building and one in the road toward the center of the table.

I reserved everything. He reserved his Assault Squad for deep strike.

Top of 1: He parked one rhino on each of the three objectives in his zone. He moved his Land Raider forward to the center. He knew that I could come on the entire table edge, and he was preparing to react in either direction.

Bottom of 1: I do nothing waiting for reserve rolls next turn.

Top of 2: He positioned his Land Raider, Predator, and Dreadnought in the position which he thought would give them the best opportunity to react to my reserves as they came on the table. The Rhinos remained parked on the triangle of objectives.

Bottom of 2: Reserve rolls turned up Dante, 2 Attack Bikes, 2 Baal Predators, the Poweraxe Assault Squad, and the Tactical Squad. I brought everything in on the far right corner. This gave me access to his three objectives, provided cover for my units while offering me firing lanes. I fired the Assault Cannons from the Baals and the Multimeltas from the Attack Bikes at his Dreadnought and Predator. Both vehicles were Crew Shaken.

Top of 3: Malgrim moved his Land Raider at combat speed angling to get an Assault Cannon shot on my Baal Predator. He moved his Dreadnought and Predator into coverd position as they were shaken. He fired a Missile Launcher and Lascannon out of the top hatch of their respective Rhinos. They achieved a Crew Shaken on my lead Rhino.

Bottom of 3: Reserve Rolls turned up the 2 remaining Assault Squads and Furioso Dreadnought. Furioso moved on without the control of Corbulo. The closest enemy unit was the Land Raider. Furioso fired his Meltagun and then Assaulted the Land Raider Crusader. When the dust settled, the Multimelta and Assault Cannon were destroyed. Also, the Land Raider was Immobolized. I moved the Assault Squads from reserves on the left side of the table toward the free objectives on that side of the table. I moved the shaken Baal and the Shaken Rhino into positions to provide cover for the other tanks and popped smoke. I fired the Assault Cannon at the Land Raider with no result. I fired the Tactical Lascannon out the top hatch at the opposing Lascannon Rhino achieving a Crew Shaken. Dante jumped of behind the Emperor's champion Rhino and fired the Perdition Pistol into the rear armor achieving a Vehicle Wrecked spilling out the Emperor's Champion and Crusader Squad. Dante assaulted them. The assault would last until the following turn. One Attack Bike put another Crew Shaken result on the Predator. The second Attack Bike fired on the Missile Launcher Rhino missing its target.

Top of 4: Malgrim's Dreadnought destroyed a Baal Predator, Vehicle Explodes. He also destroyed one Attack Bike with a Krak Missile from the top hatch of a Rhino. His Predator withdrew to cover popping smoke. He unloaded his Terminators and moved them towards my Baal Predator. They attempted to assault the Baal, but they were too far away. This mistake would prove to be fatal, in my oppinion. The assault ended. Dante killed the Emperor's Champion, but his squad killed Dante.

Bottom of 4: Reserve rolls turned up the Death Company and Corbulo. They drove on to the table near the Furioso. Furioso moved toward the Terminators and fired on them. Following the shooting, Furioso assaulted the Terminators. On the left side of the table, my Assault Squad parked on two objectives. On the right side of the table, I manuevered a Baal Predator to fire on the Terminators. I began the run towards Malgrim's objectives with my Rhinos. The Attack Bike fired on Malgrim's Rhino exploding the transport.

Top of 5: Reserve rolls turned up his Assault Squad. They landed in a good spot. It provided cover, and it gave them opportunity to contest my objectives on the left side of the table. Furioso and Terminators continued their battle. He stopped both of my transports on the right side of the table with shooting (wrecked and immobolized). I unloaded my Assault Squad on the opposite side of the Rhino so they could not be assaulted. They failed the pinning test. He used the Predator, Dreadnought, and Missile Launcher. He knew that he had to stop those transports in order to keep his objectives. Well, done Marshall Malgrim. His Lascannon/Meltagun squad killed my remaining Attack Bike.

Bottom of 5: I had to get him off those objectives. He was ahead 3 to 2. Reserves gave me the final Baal Predator. I fired one on the Crusader Squad and the other on his Missile Launcher squad's Rhino (out of range for the Assault Cannon and no penetration for the Heavy Bolters). I unloaded the Tactical Squad and assaulted the Crusader Squad. I lined it all up on the initial move to have a minimum number of my troops in contact with their assault moves. This would require his using all his reaction move in order to reach close combat. I hoped to draw them off of the objective. My Assault Squad was recovering from the pinning wreck and could not do anything. Also, I moved the DC through a ruined building toward that Missile/Launcher squad and unloaded them. However, they were not close enough to contest the objective. By the end of this turn, the Furioso had been immobolized and both of his DCCW's had been destroyed, but the assault continued.

At the end of this turn, we checked the objectives. My attempt to draw the Crusader Squad away had failed. One of them was still close enough to control the objective. So, the Black Templars controlled 3 objectives, and the Angels Sanguine controlled 2 objectives. Malgrim rolled the die, and the result was a 4. The game would go on to turn 6. If it had ended here, Malgrim would have won. Congratulations to him on a game well played. He did a good job of putting himself in a place for a turn 5 victory. However, the game went to turn 6.

Top of 6: Malgrim jumped over to one of my objectives on the left. He assaulted the Rhino with meltabombs and blew it apart. I was left with 3 Assault Marines and their Powerfist Veteran Sgt. Objective contested. The Crusader Squad finished off my Tactical Squad and settled back toward their objective through consolidation. The Furioso and Terminators continued slugging it out.

Bottom of 6: I was now losing 3 objectives to 1. On the left side of the table, my Powerfist Squad fired on and assaulted Malgrim's Assault Squad. The assault was a draw. The DC assaulted his Rhino in the middle. They wrecked the rhino and forced the Marines out the other side of the vehicle. More importantly, they were now contesting the objective. I moved the Assault Squad which had been pinned over, fired on and assaulted his lascannon squad. I won the assault, but the Templars held their ground. However, this objective was now contested. I drove a Baal Predator around the bunker and pulled alongside the wrecked Rhino contesting his third objective.

Malgrim rolled the die. The result was a 2. The game was over. The objective count was as follows: Angels Sanguine: 1 and Black Templars: 0.

My analysis: Marshall Malgrim played a grand game. He was in position to win on turn 5. That is the position that I want to be in. So, congratulations to him on a great game played well.

Marshall Malgrim uses his Land Raider and Terminators as a Spearhead. He tries to ram it down his opponents throat and disrupt things. I generally try to avoid it and slow it if possible. However, this time I was able to use the Furioso Dreadnought to tarpit that unit. If Malgrim had unloaded and assaulted the Dreadnought, things may have been very different. However, he went for Baals. It was close, but they were out of assault range. This allowed Furioso to get the advantage in the first round. He was unable to destroy the Terminators, but they were unable to destroy him. Both were effectively removed from the game. That trade-off is in my favor.

Also, remember to use Extra Armor. Their were many Crew Stunned results on my vehicles throughout this game. However, Extra Armor kept all those tanks rolling. It is definitely worth the points. Especially on those Rhinos which are carrying troops accross the table toward objectives. This army realies on the Blood Angels speed. You must keep those Over-Charged Engine Rhinos rolling.

In the end, it was a great game. If one die roll (at the end of turn 5) had gone another way, I would have lost the game. Someone once said, "Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good."

Apocalypse Pictures

I just found these pictures on my wife's computer. I played the game 5 months ago. I forgot that I took pictures of the game until just yesterday. My wife's screen saver was running through all the pictures of our daughters. Suddenly, a picture of 40k popped up on the screen. Naturally, I
grabbed the flash drive and transferred the pictures over to my computer.

I thought I would post a few of the pictures up for your enjoyment. I am not going to try a battle report, as I do not remember the details of what happened this far removed from the game.

I do remember that this particular game pitted a combined imperial effort (my Angels Sanguine and my Imperial Guard) against a traitorous branch of the Black Templars who had joined with the Tau to fight for the greater good (High Marshal Hunter's Templars and O'shavo Roger's Tau).

It was a load of fun. I hope we can get another apocalypse battle dialed up.

The Space Wolves are Coming!

I hope that the new codex for the Space Wolves is great. I would really be happy if their codex pushes them up into the top tier. I envision everyone who bought all the IG models at the beginning of the year over on ebay trying to sell of their Guard stuff to buy Space Wolves stuff.

I really love all the sub-codex marines. I should say that I love them more than all the the cookie-cutter marines, or generic marines, or whatever you like to call them.

I just feel that the Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Black Templars, and Blood Angels all have definite flavor. They each have a unique feel. Their fluff shows up in the types of units that they can field and in the way that they play on the table.

I get excited about seeing High Marshal Hunters Black Templars in action. I have the same feelings about Space Wolves, Dark Angels, and of course Blood Angels.

I would like to see each of them find favor with GW and receive a great new codex.

A Disclaimer: This is not an attack on any other armies in 40k. In reality, I do love them all . . . some more than others. But I can get excited about any army for which the owner has a passion. If you put an effort into painting and playing, I can appreciate it.

By the way, I did not paint this miniature in the picture.

For the Emperor!!!

The assault wave crashes over the Xenos scum bringing death in the name of the Emperor.

I love this picture. In the very center of the frame there is the Emperor's Champion surrounded by the Crusaders. They are pressing forward, armed with righteous zeal.

It reminds me of the cover art or art drawn in the GW books.

In this picture, High Marshal Hunter's Black Templar are assaulting Silchias Ruin's Ulthwe Guardians. I could not resist taking the picture, because the spirit of the war saturated 41st millennium seemed so very present in the models on the table. The placement was perfect, the scenario was perfect for the picture. Furthermore, both Silchias and the High Marshal have done such a great job painting their armies.

The close combat prowess of the Black Templars is appealing. The speed and precision of the Eldar is appealing.

Silchias Ruin and High Marshal Hunter, I salute you.