The Scouring of Myrvaal V: 750 Vostroyan AM Vs Nurgle Chaos, CrusadeThe only thing worse than the bombardment was the quiet after the bombardment ceased. The Vostroyans crouched behind the rubble of a bombed-out diner, their eyes squinting against the rising sun. The mountains glowed blue with the dawn light, their skirts of pine trees peaceful, unmoving. And yet, somewhere in there, their enemy was coming.
"I heard they're three meters tall," whispered Korul, clutching his uncle's lasgun close.
"I heard you can shoot one in the head and he'll just grow another eye," Ivar added.
A new recruit cleared his throat. "Any of you know Ulaf?"
The men shook their heads.
"He was up in the mountains--barely got away. Was wounded with some shrapnel, but now he's got polyps on his lungs. Med-techs say he's a goner. Poisoned, just by a little shrapnel."
The men nodded. This wasn't some bush war. Not a petty uprising for them to crush. This was something else. They knew it in their bones--they could die here.
The sniper--an old man, his moustache white as the snow around them, his head a bald ruin of brutal burn scars--spat. "Buncha children in my trench."
Korul bristled. "Hey! You wanna say that to my face?"
The sniper gave him a long, cold stare. His augmetic eye whirred out to full extension take in Korul's very pores. "Have a little faith, boy."
"In what?" Korul barked, holding out his heirloom rifle. "Pardon, grandpapa, but this khekking thing won't even make those monsters giggle! Everybody knows! You want me to have faith in *this?!*"
The old sniper smiled, showing the gaps in his teeth. "No. In that." He pointed as a rumble came from up the street.
It was a tank, Leman Russ pattern, rumbling down the torn-up roads on the outskirts of Ulther. It bristled with high tech plasma cannons, their heat-sinks already glowing blue. Even as it drove past, the men could feel the heat wafting off it. On the turret were printed the words "Talia Sunshine."
"She'll do you alright, soldier." The old sniper said, looking on the tank as a man looked at a lover. "Just stay close."
Korul frowned. "Don't those explode?"
The sniper shrugged. "Maybe not *too* close." Well, after a six-month hiatus, I finally got in another game against my chaos opponent in our ongoing campaign to save or corrupt the agriworld of Myrvaal V (read about it
here). In this chapter of the conflict, the forces of chaos have corralled the Vostroyan Expeditionary Force into the polar regions of the planet and are now mounting a psychological offensive against the shrine-city of Ulther. In this battle, the leading chaos attack force is seeking to break through the outer defenses of the city for a hopefully quick strike. The Vostroyans, however, have resolved not to make things easy.
The lists:
Vostroyan Ulther GarrisonAstra Militarum Combined Arms ForceCommand HQ w/Lascannon, 2x Grenade Launchers, Carapace Armor (Warlord Trait: Strategic Genius)
Vets (Grenadiers) w/2x Plasma, 1x Sniper, 1x Autocannon
Vets (Grenadiers) w/2x Plasma, 1x Sniper, 1x Autocannon
5 Scions w/2x Melta, 1x Plasma Pistol
Basilisk ("Grosse Gretel")
Leman Russ Executioner w/Plasma Sponsons (Talia Sunshine)
Septimus's RaidersChaos Space Marines Combined Arms Detachment"Septimus"--Chaos Lord w/Power Weapon, Plasma Pistol (Warlord Trait: Exalted Champion)
9 Chaos Space Marines w/Mark of Nurgle, 1x Meltagun
9 Chaos Space Marines w/Mark of Nurgle, 1x Flamer
Forgefiend w/Hades Autocannons
Predator w/Lascannon Sponsons
Mission, Terrain, and DeploymentThe mission was Crusade with a Vanguard Strike Deployment. My side of the board (SW corner) involved a bunch of ruins arranged in a street-like grid, representing the edge of the city the chaos attackers had bombarded. The chaos zone involved a forest and a river in the NE corner, as well as a large hill. It should be noted that my opponent and I rolled for table edge like normal, so it was entirely probable he could have picked my corner (or one of the other corners), but I won the opening roll. Indeed, having the river to shelter behind might have worked out just fine for me.
The board had 4 objectives. One at board center just behind a bunker, one by a statue in a park just to the NW, one behind a double high-rise in my DZ, and another behind a bombed out diner in the southern area of my DZ--so all of them roughly made a square around the middle of the board.
For deployment, I threw the Basilisk way back in the SW corner, out of range of most of my opponent's weapons. The command HQ went in the southernmost ruins, with the lascannon on an upper floor for good LOS and the officer in position to command both grenadier squads. One squad of Grenadiers went behind the high-rises, in range to claim the objective. The other went behind the diner, in range to claim that objective. Finally, the Executioner deployed about centrally in my DZ and the Scions arranged to deepstrike.
My opponent threw his Predator back in the woods behind the river. The melta squad deployed in a redoubt in the north while the flamer squad (with Septimus) deployed about centrally with the Forgefiend backing him up.
Deployment
Vostroyan DeploymentChaos DeploymentMy Opponent's ViewTurn 1The forces of Chaos fail to seize the initiative, so the Vostroyans prime their weapons and unleash hell. Very little movement happens--I shift the Executioner a bit to get LOS with both sponson plasma weapons at the northern squad of marines. It's plasma fire is a bit wild, mostly scattering, but I hit home with enough to kill four marines, which is plenty for me. The Basilisk, meanwhile, drops its first shell on the other squad of marines (including Septimus), killing four more there. Both autocannons and the HQ lascannon focus their fire on the Forgefiend, knocking off one of the Hades Autocannons and taking off a hull point. Not bad for a first turn.
Top of Turn 1
OuchDouble OuchTook this one (HQ Lascannon) because it kinda looks like a newsreel photo. In the bottom half of the turn, the chaos marines all run forwards as far as they can shuffle and the Forgefiend advances as well, laying down some nasty firepower that kills 3 guys, including the Autocannon team, in the southern grenadier unit. The unit also wound up pinned. The Predator fires at the northern unit, killing 2 (and, for a beaut, the Havoc Launcher actually misses--a rare occurrence).
At the end of the turn, the Forgefiend gained back its lost hull point, though its Hades still remained trashed.
Bottom of Turn 1
Turn 2At this point, it seems pretty clear I have the forces of Nurgle wildly, outrageously outgunned. As the mighty Hammer of the Emperor spins up for a second round, I get the sense that my opponent is wincing in anticipation of what is about to happen. The Executioner pivots a bit more and obliterates the northern chaos marine squad with four well-placed shots and one overheat (I lose a hull point). The Basilisk lands another pie plate, this time on the forgefiend and catches another few marines in the blast, killing 2 more as well as knocking off Septimus (though, in retrospect, I think we insta-killed him, which given his Mark of Nurgle shouldn't have been possible--my opponent seems almost eager to remove him from the board. Septimus probably should still have lived).
To add insult to injury, the Scions dropped in and got a beneficial scatter just behind the Predator, giving them rear armor (I was going to be happy with side). One Scion impaled himself on a tree on the way down, but the others did fine. With the two meltaguns, plasma pistol, and krak grenade, I knocked off two hull points and immobilized the steel beast.
Finally, between the lascannon, remaining autocannon, and the basilisk shot, I score one more pen on the Forgefiend, knocking off that hull point again and immobilizing it. It ain't dead, but it isn't going to advance, at least.
Top of Turn 2
Surprise!In the bottom of two, my opponent sees his army is in shambles--he has 3 marines and two immobilized vehicles to his name. He trots forward with the marines and takes a few bolter shots at the closest grenadier unit (I lose two guys), tries for side-armor on the Executioner with the predator (no good--can't scratch the paint) and then calls it a game. The shredded remnants of the forces of Nurgle retreat into the wilderness to lick their wounds. But they'll be back, and in greater numbers.
Bottom of 2
Discretion being the greater part of valor and all that...Final ScoreVostroyans: 5 (1 objective, first blood, linebreaker--not giving myself Warlord, note)
Chaos Marines: 0 (never got across the field)
Post MortemOkay, so this game was a blow-out, as I suspected it might be. Fact is I got tired of permitting my opponent to roll armor saves (see previous matches in this campaign) and decided to bring out the artillery. My opponent made a few key mistakes, here. First, he needs a better way to cross the field if he's going to rely on CSMs to do his damage--Rhinos are basically essential. Second, he kept his guys bunched up, which is pretty much a gift to my low-AP blast weapons--better to spread out and be seen than clump together and lose the whole mess. Third: the Predator is a good medium-armor hunter, but can't stand up the Leman Russ tanks unless it has friends. AV14/13 is best killed by melta or in assault, and to do that you got to get close. This whole game was a bit of him bringing a knife to a gunfight.
As for me, this was an easy game, but I did exhibit some bad habits. It's important to focus fire, and I split it--better to wipe out one whole squad a round than two half squads. I'm splitting hairs here, but it's still true.
Anyway, it was a fun (if brief) game and I can't wait to see what my opponent does for the next round, this time with 1000 points to spend. Thanks for reading and thanks, as always, to my opponent!