The Scouring of Myrvaal V: Nurgle Marines Vs Vostroyan AM, 500 Points, Ambush[/i]
"Halt!" Behind him, the trudging ranks of Lieutenant Alexi Volznik's platoon came to stop. Behind them, the rumble of tracked vehicles dulled somewhat as their engines idled. He made a signal for silence. The engines went dead. The mountain silence overwhelmed them. He breathed deeply of the crisp, thin air and smelled the snow and the pine needles mingling. Throne, but he loved the air here. Agriworld cheveks
had no idea how good they had it.
His sergeant, Pyotr, came up beside him and breathed the air, too. Volznik swore the prospect of going to battle without a khekking respirator on was a better morale booster than any dozen regimental standards. Pyotr gazed down at the valley below--a little vale between mountain peaks along the barely-existent road through this pass. "Trouble?" the sergeant asked.
Volznik looked over his shoulder at his platoon. Twenty-five men, a few support vehicles, a Sentinel, and a chem-tank. All of them looked dead tired--the terrain, for all the freshness of the atmosphere, was simply awful for travel. There was something else besides the exhaustion, though: fear. He grunted and spat. He hated when men looked that way. It was a sure sign things were going to get ugly soon.
Pyotr followed his gaze and smoothed his long white moustache. "That Matanza's gotten inside their heads, sir. Slayer of a Thousand Men and all that. Last two supply groups sent up through these mountains didn't come back."
Volznik rolled his eyes. "Matanza. Bah. Warped scum knocks over one observation post and he thinks he's Rogal-khekking-Dorn. It's not khekking mystery what happened to those caravans, either."
Pyotr ran a hand through his thinning hair. "Ambushed."
"Take a look at that valley. We've been at this a long time, you and I, so let me ask you something: if you were going to ambush somebody--"
The sergeant nodded and popped a lopsided grin. "I'd do it right here."
Volznik smiled. "Every time that plague-ridden amphetamine parrot hits somebody, he jams their communications, right?" The two of them turned to look at their Vox man, Vitaly--a bright and shiny rookie from the homeworld, his moustache barely a suggestion above his lip. "Vitaly, have we got HQ on the horn?"
Vitaly wiped his near-permanent sheen of sweat from his forehead and fiddled with some knobs. "Uhh...no sir. Getting some interference."
Volznik nodded and looked at Pyotr. "Slayer of One-Thousand Men my khekking arse. Tell the vehicles to move up, but let's hang back, go the hard way." He pointed up a steep, wooded slope. "Let's see if our tactical genius takes the bait, eh?"
Pytor unslung his long-las from one shoulder and laughed. "Yes sir."Well, it's game two of my group's little Ladder Campaign (as described
here). Game one can be read
here. Since I lost the last game, my Chaos opponent got the opportunity to spring an Ambush scenario on me. This scenario, all by itself, presented an interesting tactical challenge. First, though, the lists:
Volznik's Supply PlatoonAstra Militarum Combined Arms DetachmentCompany Command Squad w/Lascannon, 2x Snipers, Master of Ordnance, Carapace Armor
Grenadiers w/ 2x Plasma
Grenadiers w/2x Plasma
Bane Wolf Chem Tank
Armored Sentinel (Plasma Cannon)
Matanza's ReaversChaos Space Marines Combined Arms DetachmentChaos Lord (Matanza) w/Power Sword, Plasma Pistol, Mark of Nurgle
8 Chaos Space Marines (Matanza's Reavers) w/1 x Plasma Gun, Mark of Nurgle
--in Rhino
9 Chaos Space Marines (Squad Miedo) w/ 1x Plasma Gun, Mark of Nurgle
--in Rhino
My opponent, with only limited models at the moment, kept the same list (it worked pretty well last time, anyway). I, realizing how poorly my lasguns fared against Nurgle Marines, brought along the Bane Wolf to help me keep the bastards away and also stocked up on some longer-range firepower for the CCS. The Master of Ordnance was there just to see if I could get lucky. Never seen the guy pay off before, but he was cheap.
The ScenarioAmbush is a
Battle Missions scenario (anybody remember that book?) which looked thematically appropriate, if pretty brutal for the defender. As the Defender, I had to deploy within 6" of the center line of the board (the long way). The attacker (Matanza) got to set up anywhere on either side, so long as they were 12" from the center line. I could hold nothing in reserve. This meant the enemy was going to start
on top of me and, of course, I had to set up first, so they would be right were they needed to be to hurt me badly. Finally, the mission was for Kill Points, which put me at an automatic disadvantage--my stuff is squishier.
The only edge I had was that the roll to see who goes first takes place
after deployment, so my opponent might be spooked out of deploying too aggressively just in case I won the opening. Of course, if he got first turn and deployed aggressively, he'd just charge me and the game would be pretty much over right there. Well, unless the Bane Wolf lived long enough to melt things.
My ace in the hole (and a risky one) was to see if Warlord Trait could help me out. Matanza opted to keep his Princeps of Deciet trait he earned in the last battle. I rolled on the Strategic table and hoped for Master of Ambush or Strategic Genius. With the re-roll, the odds weren't bad I'd get one of them.
I rolled Master of Ambush. YES.
Deployment and TerrainTerrain was dense, as would be fitting for a mountain ambush. Lots of hills, forests, and rocks on either side of a winding "road" in the center. The most notable formation was a lake in the southwest and a ruined house and some tank traps in the east. Because I got Master of Ambush, my two infantry squads and the Company Command Squad could infiltrate
after the enemy deployed, which means I had just turned the ambush on it's ear--I would be ambushing them.
I deployed the Bane Wolf and Sentinel in the west, backed up to a steep hillside, trying to cover each other's rear armor (not that that would help the Sentinel much). Then the Chaos player dropped Matanza and his Reavers in the south between the lake and a big rock formation, but kept them out of the Rhino to enable a first turn charge. The other squad (Miedo) deployed in their Rhino to the north a bit, on the other side of a forest.
After that, I dropped my two infantry squads and the CCS around the little ruined house and in the forest along the SE end of the board. I had them right where I wanted them. Well, depending on who went first.
Deployment
Matanza is ready to pounce!Miedo is also poised to strike!FOOLED YOU! AHAHAHAHA!Turn 1Well, Drew was screwed over in deployment a little, but only a little. If he nabs first turn, he can wipe out my Banewolf and move on from there.
Except he doesn't get first turn.
I DO. (cue sad trombone)
The Bane Wolf cruises south to bake alive the squad of Nurgle Marines who have, ever so helpfully, clustered together for warmth. Before it melts them alive, though, the Master of Ordnance calls in a
beaut of a shot just slightly off center from their unit, killing about three or four. Then the Bane Wolf dissolves another four or so. Then the Plasma Sentinel kills the rest of the squad save Matanza himself, who is unscathed. And pissed.
Elsewhere, my shooting focused on the Rhinos, killing the enemy's mobility. The southern grenadier squad immobilized the southern Rhino while the Lascannon in the CCS blew Miedo's Rhino sky-high. Then the remaining Grenadiers picked off a few of Miedo, who also lost one or two in the explosion and were pinned in the bargain. Oof. Rough turn.
Top of Turn 1
I would like to make clear that I did, in fact, purchase a Bane Wolf for this mission. It just never showed up in the bloody mail.Turn Your Rhino Into a Crater, for Short Money!In the bottom of turn 1, Drew feels like conceding, but Matanza presses on, assaulting the Sentinel and, thereby, keeping himself sheltered from horrible, acid-cannon related death and dissolution. Squad Miedo and the crippled Rhino fire ineffectually at my Grenadiers. Nothing happens.
Bottom of Turn 1
Turn 2Well, time to hammer the final nails in Matanza's coffin. The Bane Wolf turns around and guns it towards Miedo, but hits a tree and gets stuck (mental note: buy dozer blades for the Bane Wolf from now on). The Master of Ordnance, however, keeps up the lucky run and lands another blast more-or-less on target, killing three more marines and forcing them to Go to Ground. Plasma and lasgun fire rips into them, as well, killing another two. A sniper in the Command Squad aces the plasma gunner. The sergeant is dropped by plasma.
The lascannon from the CCS, thanks to a Smite At Will order, fires into Matanza's Rhino along with the plasma guns from the other Grenadier Squad. I score 2 pens overall, but the chaos bastards make both cover saves.
In combat, Matanza and the Sentinel ineffectually swat at one another as Matanza's Reavers are melted into slag.
Top of 2
Still Pinned, You Pustulent Bastards!In the bottom of turn 2, Miedo makes a few bolter snap-shots and misses. Matanza takes a hull point off the Sentinel with a krak grenade.
Bottom of 2
Matanza's Last StandAt this point, with his army messed up beyond hope of repair and mine barely scratched, my opponent concedes.
Final ScoreVostroyans: 3
Chaos Marines: 0
Campaign ResultBecause of Leiutenant (now
Captain) Volznik's keen tactics, Matanza's Reavers are no more and supplies for the defense of the arctic mountain region can be marshaled to protect the regional headquarters in the area from the main thrust of the Chaos-tainted partisans coming from the south. This means we play a "Trench Warfare" scenario next, instead of the Chaos favorite "Pillage." So, guys in foxholes trying to take objectives while the artillery gets called in. That scenario will be a 750 point battle, so it should be more interesting than these little 500-pointers.
Post-MortemWell, a lot of the reason this game was such a complete blowout has to do with my dumb luck. Getting Master of Ambush was
huge and getting first turn was a giant benefit. That said, however, it wouldn't have been so bad if my opponent hadn't gone for that first turn charge. If he'd held back, used the dense terrain to his advantage, and marshaled his superior mobility to strike me where I was weak, he would have been much better off.
The Ambush scenario is an interesting one. But for that 50/50 chance of going first rolled
after deployment, it would be a complete blowout scenario--the ambushed opponent would get wiped more times than not. With that final caveat, that makes it a gambler's mission. In any event, I have a hard time imagining this scenario going very long. This is a game where somebody gets tabled, and pretty fast, too.
Anyway, both my opponent and myself had a blast and the game was over in less than an hour, so no regrets on either of our parts. I can't wait for the next one. Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, to my opponent!