Monday, September 15, 2014

War of the Relics; Fade to Grey

Gunvor fired his Storm Bolter at the Warp Talons threatening the last two members of Marius' Grey Hunters. He did not know if it was his storm bolter or the assault cannon and did not care, he simply felt satisfaction as vengeance was wreaked for the death of the Grey Hunters. Both Warp Talons fell dead.

Marius' Plasma gun and Missile Launcher stopped running and cheered the friendly fire offered by Gunvor.

Luce gestured toward the dreadnought and a Krak missile struck it clearly in front, but the armor defelected it from doing any damage. 
The Dreadnought began making its way through the rubble, firing its Lascannon into Luce's chest, but his armor was as effective as that of the Dreadnought had been.

Zhi recognized he would quickly be surrounded and the pointless long-range fire-fight with the Terminator was accomplishing nothing. He led his men at a run trying to achieve the shelter of the nearby ruins. He hoped to reach them before the rest of his unit got shot to pieces.
Gunvor heard Logan's report over his headset and began moving to set up a fire lane on the approaching Ta Fire Warriors. Marius' Grey Hunters fired a Frag Missile at the Fire Warriors, killing a couple. Logan and Njal fired at them as well and Njal unleashed his Psychic might at them, reducing them to just two remaining warriors. It was too much for Zhi and they began running.

Meanwhile a new unit of Grey Hunters entered the field and began moving toward the relic to Gunvor's right.

The Deathwing moved toward the Ultramarine Dreadnought. This time the Krak Grenade penetrated its armor. Not satisfied, Luce led his men in a charge, and the overwatch fire missed them completely.



 Against all odds he was able to not die to the crushing blow of the Dreadnought power fist.

The Dreadnought, however, was not so fortunate as multiple blows penetrated its armor, killing it outright.
Before he could lead his men back to the relic they were guarding, Grey Hunters appeared to his right. They opened fire with plasma guns and bolters.
The plasma guns were ineffective, as one missed and the other saw the Terminator armor look invulnerable to it. The Bolter fire was more effective and three Deathwing Terminators slumped to the ground.
With that the Space Wolves held the field and the Relics. The cost had been high, but they intended to make sure it was worth it.


Things spiraled out of control. The combination of the order I rolled units to arrive, what units arrived, what their objectives were combined to make this a slaughter. The Space Wolves held the center of the field, had 2 Lord-level characters, 2 full units of Grey Hunters, 2 heavy weapons from one Grey Hunter unit, a couple Terminators...units coming on one at a time would just run into a buzzsaw.

I have learned a great deal about the game, this seemed a good time to end it.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

War of the Relics; Chaos still (doesn't) Rock

The Space Wolf Terminators and the Deathwing Terminators resumed their long-range, low-intensity firefight after a round of fire by the Space Wolves took down the Dark Angel Dreadnought, glancing it to death. As one Cyclone Missile launcher crashed to the ground, Luce recalled the others into the shelter of the ruins.

Meanwhile, the Grey Hunters looked at the on-rushing Chaos Warp Talons and retreated to take advantage of the rough terrain nearby to make the inevitable charge less deadly.

Njal took a wound from Batbayor and would have taken more had he not worn Terminator armor, but the armor proved the difference as he fended off blow after blow, finally dealing two of his own that penetrated his enemies armor, killing the Chaos Lord.

 He moved back under cover of the nearby Hammerhead, mindful of the oncoming Fire Warriors.

Logan continued picking off the Fire Warriors but took a wound himself. The Fire Warriors made it into a running battle, firing at him as they moved across the field toward their objective.


The Warp Talons, their numbers diminished by the fire they had taken, did manage to crash into the Grey Hunters, losing one of their own number but taking down 4 Grey Hunters, causing the remaining two to flee. They tried to chase but were eluded.


Meanwhile, an Ultramarine Dreadnought arrived in the ruins, determined to contest Objective 3 with the Deathwing Terminators there.


I ended up playing two consecutive turns and did not take notes. At this point I am thinking of things to somewhat speed up the end. I enjoy this but the piece-meal entry has given one army too much of an advantage to overcome. The rules are coming much easier to me...rending took out a Terminator as he had to save on a 5+ not a 2+.

Lightning Claws are great against power armor...power fists are great against Terminators. I am definitely learning things like that. Weight of fire matters, too. Just putting out 8 or 10 shots from a unit simply does not do enough damage, and you REALLY have to have stuff capable of taking out stuff like Armor Value 12 Dreadnoughts or AV14 Land raiders or even though they only put out a certain volume of fire, they are impervious to entire units.

au 3 objective x 3, Overwhelming Firepower 1 
Space Wolves 40 First Blood, kill points x8, objectives x29, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 10 Kill Point x2, Objective x 8
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Saturday, September 13, 2014

War of the Relics: Njal v Batbayor

Gunvor gestured toward the Dark Angel Dreadnought. "Take it down!" He ordered. His storm bolter joined the Assault Cannon in hammering away at the dreadnought, weakening its armor.

The Dreadnought's front armor of 12 means only the Assault Cannon can hurt it, and then only with a glance.  So long as the Dreadnought does not come in range of the Power Fists, it is in little danger from the Terminators, the 1 glance notwithstanding.

Luce's men again fired Krak missiles at the Space Wolf Terminators, but their armor was proof against the missiles. Luce began considering charging his men at them to protect the dreadnought.


Njal tried to devastate the approaching Chaos Lord with his psychic abilities but could not damage him. The Staff of the Stormcaller proved more effective, wounding his enemy once.

Marius looked back and forth from the Terminators to the Dreadnought. Pure weight of fire might eventually bring down the Terminators, but only two of his weapons, the missile launcher and Plasma Gun could hurt the Dreadnought. Still, the Dreadnought was the bigger threat to his own Terminator brethren. He gestured toward it and the entire unit fired at the dreadnought. The Krak missile appeared to do some damage.

Batbayor shrugged off the incoming fire from Njal's staff and closed to hand-to-hand with him, swinging the Lightning claws with fury.  Neither could wound the other, however.


Logan continued running towards his objective, making excellent time across the field.

Estienne advanced towards the Terminators, firing as he went. His lascannon shot struck a terminator full-on, but somehow the armor shrugged it off.

Guo led his firewarrior team through the long-abandoned bunkers. He gazed at the field ahead of him. Straight ahead a Space Wolf Psyker was involved in single combat with a Chaos Lord. In the center of the field Space Wolf Terminators and Grey Hunters were involved in a fire fight with Dark Angel deathwing terminators and a Dark Angel Dreadnought. Off to his right a monstrous Space Wolf was running across the field.

With him were his 9 Fire Warriors tasked with the mission of crossing the maelstrom of destruction to recover a valuable dataslate buried in the ground. 


He hoped assistance would arrive because his team had little chance of accomplishing their mission unaided.



Tau 3 objective x 3, Overwhelming Firepower 1 
Space Wolves 35 First Blood, kill points x7, objectives x25, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 8 Kill Point x2, Objective x 6
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Friday, September 12, 2014

War of the Relics; A feeling of Dread is in the air

Gunvor licked his wounds as he returned to his post guarding the objective. He nodded his gratitude to Marius and his men whose willingness to guard it had allowed him to go after the Land Raider.

Luce directed his men to fire on the Grey Hunters. He had the satisfaction of seeing the frag grenades start causing casualties.

Njal knew how powerful a Chaos Lord could be in single combat. He took a few steps back to give himself the high ground and again cast Shroud on himself, then unleashed living lightning at the Chaos Lord. unfortunately the Terminator Armor stood firm against the mystical onslaught.

Marius gestured his men into position. The fury of a Krak missile took down one terminator but the bolter fire could do no further damage.

Gunfire between units guarding objectives can best be described as desultory. An occasional casualty is done and in an open-ended game like this can be effective. In a 6 turn game I need to figure out wat to make shooting more powerful. For me, at least.

Meanwhile, the actions above are mostly just maneuver to get the right models closest to where fire will come from so key models are late casualties, and also to do some more objective seizing. 

Njal got off 3 psychic powers but all it accomplished was giving him Shroud...and a 5+ cover save does nothing except what his Terminator armor already gives him. he also bounced back to take advantage of Difficult Terrain which could give him an advantage against the Terminator Chaos lord.

Batbayor rounded the corner of the building and charged Njal. The Space Wolf Psyker's raven attacked him but could not penetrate his armor. It did slow him down a bit though.

Estienne could not recall how long ago he had become a Dreadnought. Though he saw the Deathwing terminators to his right, he cared not. Nor did he care one whit about the Grey Hunters he saw ahead of him. Unlike his fellow Dark Angels of the Deathwing, however, he felt no kinship with the Grey Hunters. He triggered a blast from his twin-linked Lascannon, obliterating one Grey Hunter as he advanced towards his objective. It was the bad fortune of the Grey Hunters that his objective lay on the other side of them...



Tau 3 objective x 3, Overwhelming Firepower 1 
Space Wolves 33 First Blood, kill points x7, objectives x23, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 7 Kill Point x2, Objective x 5
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Thursday, September 11, 2014

War of the Relics; All Logan, All the Time

Gunvor had enough. Waving his men forward, he moved toward the Land Raider. As they began their charge, the Land Raider opened fire, killing one of his men. Furious, Gunvor and his remaining squadmate hammered at it with their Power Fists, ripping great gaping holes in the side. The smoke billowing forth let him know the Land Raider threat had been removed.

Luce directed his men, once more putting Storm Shields between his men and the withering hail of fire the Crisis Suits could lay down. This time one of his Cyclone Missile Launchers used a frag grenade. It had some effect, blowing up one of the shield drones. The other fired a Krak missile, but is sailed harmlessly by the Crisis Suits.

Marius motioned his men to redeploy. With the land Raider removed, the biggest threat was the Crisis Suit team. They were currently engaging the Deathwing terminators, but should they turn their attention on his exposed me the Grey Hunters would be in trouble. His men fired on command. The withering hail of fire could only take down the two remaining Shield Drones, but it was enough. Bereft of of defenses, the Tau commander led his men in retreat from the field.

The Tau had a run of bad luck culminating in rolling a 9 on a LD 8 test and being mere inches from the board. The difference between LD8 and LD9 is proving HUGE in this game. Something to think about when building units. Bring a pack leader to get that 9.

Njal heard a sound behind him. Always prepared, he again cast Shroud on himself.

Batbayor saw the distraction of the Deathwing and made a run to get behind the building. Though he was trying to get across the field, ahead he saw a Space Wolf Psyker. He readied his Lightning Claws. If he could take down a psyker, so much the better.

Logan Grimnar knew Njal was somewhere close by but it mattered not. His intelligence told him an artifact of potentially tremendous power was hidden on this field. If he saw Njal it would be great. If not, no matter, he would slay anything in his path to seize his mission objective.

Tau 3 objective x 3, Overwhelming Firepower 1 
Space Wolves 30 First Blood, kill points x7, objectives x20, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 7 Kill Point x2, Objective x 5
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

War of the Relics; Is this the end for Stumpy?

Gunvor gestured to the Chaos Chosen. "With no Storm Shield to protect us, we cannot take the Land raider. Lets kill some chosen." Assault cannons and Storm Bolters opened up, killing a couple Chosen.

Stumpy thought momentarily he had destroyed the land raider but then he noticed he had not even damaged it.


 the return fire was a bit more impressive as the Bolters tore through his partner and the lascannon tore him in two.


Well, I guess that answers that question...the land raider outshot the Long Fangs. It took quite some time, 1 penetrating hit and one glance on the Land raider, but it took out all 5 long Fangs. Even more impressive, using the Power of the Machine Spirit rule, it also shot down the Wolf pack leader from the Grey hunters.


"Fire!" commanded Luce. Once more Frag Grenades streaked forth, killing 4 of the Chosen, leaving just one who finally had enough and took off through the nearby brush.

Marius gestured to his missile launcher wielding troop. "Hit the land raider! the missile streaked out but missed wildly.

The Land Raider is a real problem. With armor of 14 the Power Fists of the terminators and the Krak Grenade all need a 6 just to glance, no other weapon is a threat to it at all. It is threatening to run amok on this game right about now...

Zhi ignited his jump pack, landing squarely in front of the Deathwing terminators. The fusion blaster took one out, but they proved tough enough to withstand the other hail of fire from his team. Very aware of the power the Terminators could bring to bear, he led his men in jumping back to safety.


Gaanbatar saw the Deathwing and knew if they saw him he would be slain. He needed to get all the way across the field. Choosing stealth as the better part of valor, he began working his way through the ruins hoping to avoid notice.

Tau 3 objective x 3, Overwhelming Firepower 1 (pending)
Space Wolves 26 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x18, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 6 Kill Point x2, Objective x 4
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

War of the Relics: Chaos in the Middle

Gunvor motioned his Storm-shield bearing warrior to the front. They would advance under cover of the shield to come to grips with the Land Raider and destroy it before it could harm their brethren.


Stumpy punched his brother. "We are not running. Lets take that thing down." Suiting actions to words, he fired his Lascannon 1-handed at the Land Raider, taking away slabs of armor and noticeably weakening the mighty warmachine.

I have been keeping the dice separate for the 2 lascannons. The properly built model has proven incompetent, either missing entirely or failing to glance/penetrate. Stumpy has been devastating in this battle. A story behind the model with the stump..

His prey all but out of sight, Ovidius pointed towards the nearby Terminators. Instantly one was vaporized under the fire of his lascannons. The other lascannon missed and the bolter saw its efforts deflected by armor, but he was making progress.

Trebuchet saw the Chaos Chosen moving by. Instantly he redeployed his  men to restrict entrance into the ruins and give the Cyclone Missile Launchers clear shots, but their missiles could do no damage.

Njal wandered forward considering charging into the battle but choosing instead to keep himself shrouded.

Marius looked at the oncoming Chaos Chosen and redeployed his men. They would hold their objective while taking down the minions of Chaos. Unfortunately the armor of the Chosen proved every bit as stout as that of his own unit.

Batbayor gestured to the hated Space Wolves. "Lets go do some killing, boys." His men unleashed a hail of fire, killing one as they advanced. 

The unmistakable hiss of jetpacks signaled the arrival of Zhi and his crisis suits. They unleashed a hail of fire on the back of the Chaos Chosen. Missiles, Fusion blasters, Plasma rifles and Burst cannons unleashed, slaying three of the blue-clad Chosen.


The Chaos units that have come on just cannot catch a break...though to be fair, the left side of the board has pretty well failed up as almost everyone either enters on that side or has an objective on that side. 

The exceptions to missions are the land raider and Crisis suit teams with Overwhelming Firepower and the Chosen trying to destroy something in close combat...so it makes sense to leave the other side of the field lightly inhabited.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 23 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x15, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 5 Kill Point x1, Objective x 4
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Monday, September 8, 2014

War of the relics; Chaos returns

With Ingvar dead the Long Fangs were going to need even more assistance. Yet Gunvor knew he could not leave his post. no matter how much he wished to leave his post the needs of the Wolves as a Chapter meant more than his desire for personal glory. His men edged ever closer to the edge of disobeying orders but remained in place...for now.

Stumpy took careful aim. Triggering his Lascannon mere moments after the krak missile bounced off the tank and his partner's laser went wide, he found a chink in the armor. The tank veered but kept coming on.

Ovidius shouted for a damage report. The stuttering of his crew's response let him know they were shaken but they managed to trigger their weapons, albeit a bit less accurately. Still, they managed to slay the missile launcher which sent the last two Long Fangs running off the hill. Satisfied, he began searching for a new target.

The Land Raider shot pretty well for firing only Snap Shots, hitting 3 times though only wounding once. Still, the Fangs fled...4". Had they fled 4-1/8 they would have been gone.

Luce directed his cyclone missile launchers to fire at the Land Raider again but they both missed widely.

Marius led his men at a run towards Gunvor. "We will hold this, you go take down that Land raider before it kills us all!"

Batbayor led his men onto the field of battle. Quickly he identified the best target for his men and led them running straight towards the Space Wolf Grey hunters. Soon battle would be joined.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 19 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x11, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 4 Kill Point x1, Objective x 3
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Sunday, September 7, 2014

War of the Relics; Too much of a good thing

Gunvor watched as the Land Raider moved inexorably towards the Long Fangs. If their Lascannons did not get to work soon they would be nothing but smoking bodies on the hilltop. He led his men toward the hill to his own left, on the verge of deserting his post. What meant more, guarding an objective nobody was coming for or the lives of his brethren?

Even as Gunvor began mobilizing his men, Ingvar stepped to the front, exhorting his men to take out the Land Raider. Their shots were striking it but could not penetrate the thick armor. 

The rule is the closest model is the casualty. By moving the grenade launcher, which needed a 6 to glance anyway, and the captain, I protected the two lascannons from the brunt of the fire. Strictly practicing effective defense of the most important models.


Captain Ovidius saluted the courage of the Space Wolf officer. It had been a brave thing he had done, if a bit suicidal. His gambit had been successful, as the lascannon blast had torn him in half but missed the lascannons behind him that were the only real threat to the Land Raider. The bolters rained bullets off the other Long Fangs, but their armor proved up to the challenge.

Trebuchet nodded to his two cyclone-wielding terminators and they launched Krak missiles at the only target they could see, the Land Raider. He did not expect to do much damage but if they could damage it, all the better. And if it came near, they would tear it apart with their Thunder Hammers...

Marius led his men in at the run. Radio chatter told him Gunvor was leaving a vital objective untended. He needed to get there before it fell into the wrong hands. He saw the land raider to his left but there was little harm he could do to it anyway. Rather, his power fist could probably do some damage, but little else in his unit could hurt the behemoth. Better to take over the task of sitting on the intelligence while Gunvor led his unit to destroy the tank.

I almost re-rolled when two more units of Space Wolves came on in the last two turns, but again decided to keep the results as there is no "winning" this game or losing it. 

I am beginning to regret the static objective. I think some interesting stuff could be happening if units were moving around the field. So I have decided to artificially mid-game change the rules. If a unit is relieved (a second unit from the same army with the same objective) arrives, the unit being relieved may make one roll on the Missions table, choosing to keep the current mission or switch to the new mission.

VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 16 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x8, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 3 Kill Point x1, Objective x 2
Chaos Space Marines: 0

Saturday, September 6, 2014

War of the Relics; Enter the Stormcaller

Gunvor ground his teeth in frustration. He so desperately wanted to engage the Land Raider..or the Dark Angel Terminators...and he was here babysitting some unknown relic. Still, wisdom was the better part of valor. He redeployed his men to take care of the difficult terrain and fired a few harmless shots at the back of the terminators.

Ingvar meanwhile watched as the Krak Missiles and Lascannon blasts bounced just as harmlessly off the mighty armor of the Ultramarine Land Raider.

Ovidius looked at the bodies laying around the field. Ahead of him were the Terminators, but closer and far more dangerous were the Long Fangs on a nearby hill. Turning to face them, he smiled as his Lascannon blasted one of them clean off the hilltop. Their armor was proof against his Heavy Bolters, but he had begun inflicting casualties and was pleased.

Commander Tai gestured his men deeper into the ruins. He knew full well his men could not stand up to the Deathwing Terminators in front of him. His men's fusion blasters could not penetrate their armor, however, nor did the cannons. He knew he was in trouble.

Luce watched the cowardly Tau slink away. Doggedly he gestured his men forward, picking up speed to crash into them. The Terminators were not bothered by the snap shots taken by the Tau Stealth team as they went in, nor were the flailing blows of any concern, even though many hit. They counted on their armor to withstand the blows and the thunder hammers to squish the Stealth Suits. Both assumptions proved correct as they surged forward to take the objective they had been given.

It was the bad luck of the Tau to come on by objective three, needing to get to objective one, only to run into the Deathwing scattering to between them and escape, needing to get to objective 3. Again I see the power of the no-armor save power fist. Fully 13 wounds were dished out, and with only cover saves, which you cannot take in cc, the Stealth Team was just another stain on the field. The battle took place on the objective, so the Deathwing got a two-fer, and with 8 left they are going to be tough to dig out of that objective.

Njal knew multiple units of Wolves were on-planet. He was not particularly surprised to see Gunvor holding an objective impatiently and Ingvor involved with a Land Raider. He advanced to his objective and looked around for a target for his mighty psychic powers. Seeing the Deathwing, he unleashed the wolves, killing one terminator, but the power of the warp was so strong he took a wound. He then shrouded himself.

In a fortuitous roll, Njal came on the board by his objective. Hiding behind the wrecked Hammerhead and shrouded, in Terminator armor, he can stick around a while picking up cheap points.


VP
Tau 3 objective x 3
Space Wolves 15 First Blood, kill points x5, objectives x7, Overwhelming Firepower x2
Ultramarines 8;  kill points x2, objective x6
Dark Angels: 2 Kill Point x1, Objective x1
Chaos Space Marines: 0